《Once Human, Now a Parasite》 Chapter -3 Prologue: A valuable subjects Author''s note: Please excuse my poor English and enjoy. ******** In a distant universe, far from any we know or have seen, lies a completely black planet constantly emitting a dark and dangerous aura. Any being foolish enough to set foot near it would shake with fright and flee in desperation. They knew whose planet it was and they feared his retaliation, anyone found within several light years would be crushed without hesitation. In an ominous black castle that dominated the landscape were two humanoids. A dark figure wrapped between his massive wings with a pair of two-inch horns bursting from his forehead that oozed a terrifying aura. However, this horror knelt on bended knee before an obscured figure lounging upon a throne made of skulls, skulls that used to belong to horrors unseen. His figure was blurred, a cloying mist gathered around him, revealing nothing but his chilling smile. "My Lord, I''ve come to deliver news from the Overgod of Light, he demands compensation for what you have done to his universe. He threatens to retaliate with force if you do not acquiesce to his wishes!" Bizarre laughter spilled from the seated figure''s mouth, "Ah Belos... Indeed, that old fart probably won''t let this go unless I pay him recompense, after all, I did cause a slight mess of his home." The figure''s tone mocking, seemingly unconcerned with his servant''s update. Belos, taken aback by what his Master would call a ''slight mess'' felt a cold sweat from across his brow, "My Lord, please take this seriously! This is no laughing matter!" "My dear Belos... Remember, life is, but a game and we are merely players! Perhaps in several centuries, you will come to realize that this whole exchange is nothing but a way to pass time for beings at our level. Regardless, my mirth is not at all attributed to that old goat''s rage. The beginning of my grand experiment is finally at hand! I have finally succeeded in creating ''it'' and I believe I have indeed found a most suitable ''subject'' as well. I shall be absent whilst I handle the initialization. Look after things for me, send that coot a gift basket or something. I can''t wait to see what he thinks of that." After speaking, the humanoid figure leaped from his throne, patted his new steward on the shoulder, and disappeared from his hall. All that remained was the rapidly dissipating mist that had been clinging to him. Belos, unprepared for the rapid turn of events, stood there in disbelief, unable to react to his master''s speed after delivering his instructions. After a moment he released an enormous sigh, "I thought there was no way a being of the Lord''s power could actually be as bad as those stories..."He then performed a final low bow to the now empty throne and then swept out of the hall, preparing to do as his Lord bid. After all, he may think of the Master as eccentric, but he would never disobey. There was a reason the Overlord of Light had sent a strongly worded message rather than instigate the master directly. Only one as strong as He could behave in such a way among the highest beings in the multiverse. Appearing just outside of Earth''s atmosphere, the being stopped for a moment to adjust his cuffs. Without the mist used to maintain his mystery, the being was clearly dressed in an immaculately fitted black suit, twirling his black cane capped in a golden skull with spiraling horns, he looked on in anticipation at his test subject-to-be. A human torso chained to a chair, every inch of exposed skin mutilated, an oozing socket where his eye had previously been. Badly burnt, unevenly cut stumps were all that remained of his dismembered limbs. It was a wonder that he still lived in such terrible condition, in a situation that would cause any man to break, losing themselves to despair. However, he lived, seemingly in defiance of his fate. Gazing ahead at his tormentors with an expressionless face. Only the being knew what roiled behind the man''s steely visage. The rage. The hatred. The bloody dreams of revenge against those who had wronged him. Holding death at bay with only the iron will be forged in the fires of his tribulations and suffering. "Indeed, I have found the perfect ''subject''. Now, to get his approval and begin." The figure gave a deafening, inhuman cackle before disappearing, eager to finally launch the experiment these millennia of preparation have led to. Chapter -2 - 1 : A second chance Arthur awoke from his sleep, or better call it a nightmare, because of the sound of the Iron door opening. He just knew it would be another day for them to torture him. It has been like that for months now, he stopped counting after passing the 100th day, he couldn''t even scream from pain anymore, as he slowly yet surely, got used to this inhuman torture and all of it, for what? Just money, apparently his so-called ''wife'' just married him and wanted his money, so she plotted to kidnap then torture to force him to give her all his assets and money. They tortured him in all kinds of ways, cutting, whipping, starving him for several days, and even forcing him to watch her as she copulated just so she could see the look in his eyes when she was doing it with another man. First, he was asking her why all this cruelty, but as the days went on, Arthur knew his begging and crying wouldn''t do him any good so he just turned into a mute, neither responding to her questions nor showing any reaction. He just stopped that and accepted his fate, yet the hatred and rage that dwelled within him kept growing every second, in fact, he wanted to kill them in the worst possible way and payback everything they had done to him until now, yet he knew that it was just wishful thinking. He was never a religious man, but he believed in God. Yet after all that happened, he''s sure that God had forsaken him, or just never cared at all. Arthur is but an insignificant being to God, why would HE do anything to save him? And so the hellish days continued and Arthur''s rage only grew greater and greater until one day, while they were torturing him, everything seemed to stop moving, his ''wife'', the man with her, everything. And then he saw a human-like figure appear out of thin air and stand in front of him, he couldn''t really distinguish the silhouette''s face, it seemed blurry, but maybe it was him being dizzy after all the torture and he just couldn''t see right, after all, they had ripped his right eye out, and he could barely see with his left one. "Hello there! Hehe, I can see that you are in a bad situation here, ain''t ya?" Said the ''man'' First, Arthur thought he was obviously hallucinating, after all, how could this be possible? But this ''man'' kept talking to him and waving his hand. "Ara... perhaps you can''t see me with one eye?" The man approached him and touched his forehead with his index finger, and just like that, Arthur''s right eye was back, he didn''t know how to describe it, but his right eyes was fully restored, he felt no pain whatsoever throughout the entire process. He could see with it and even his left eye was completely healed. Arthur stood there dazed for a second before looking at the ''man'' in front of him in disbelief. "Ahah, you finally noticed me ehh? Good, good I am ''X'' it''s nice to meet you" said the ''man''. "Who''re you? And what did you do to me?"-Arthur. The ''man'' replied with a rather nonchalant tone: "No need to get angry, I just said it, I''m ''X'', I''m just a random entity that roams the universe, it''s complicated to explain but I''m here to propose a deal for you." "A deal? What kind of deal?"-Arthur. ''X'' then approached him and extended his hand, suddenly, a black orb with some purple lines in it appeared in his hand, he then said: "I want to give you a second chance, a new life in a different world. I guess you can call it some form of a reincarnation and obviously, being the generous person that I am, I''ll let you keep your memory of this life. However, nothing is free in this life, as a businessman, you know that more than I do, so I have a few conditions." To be honest, Arthur couldn''t believe what he had just heard, a second chance? He thought about that a lot while being tortured and wondered if he had chosen a better wife, would things have turned out differently? Or maybe if he had been more careful, he wouldn''t be trapped in such a desolate place for so long. To become a wealthy CEO of an international company, Arthur passed many hurdles in his life but the only problem he had was that he trusted people easily, to be more accurate, he drops his guard against people whom he''s familiar with. No one would expect a dear friend to backstab you or a wife to betray you, or so thought Arthur before all of this happened. He never had a clear goal in his life, he became a businessman just to obtain money and live an easy life, he had all the luxuries a person could have but such things were only means to an end. He looked at this ''man'' carefully, this strange person in front of him seemed kind of demonic, he wore a black suit and had a gold cane in his right hand, he really seemed like an evil person, but he talked with a friendly tone, so Arthur guessed he shouldn''t judge him by just his appearance albeit feeling a bit cautious. He gazed at the entity before him and said: "Why did you choose me? Surely there are people suffering from a life more miserable than mine, better candidates or suitable choices." "Indeed there are, but you have something special, something that not every miserable person can have. The hatred and rage that have been accumulating in you through the past months are something really unbelievable, I have never seen any person with as much rage as you while still being so calm around the people who caused it, it really is quite terrifying to see, even for someone like me." Replied ''X'' with a praising tone. Maybe he was right, whenever those people came to torture Arthur, he never uttered a single word. It''s as if he was a body without a soul, but that was only because he was keeping his hatred hidden, imagining what he would do to him if he were to escape. "So ''X'', what are the conditions for you to be able to reincarnate me?" X laughed hearing Arthur''s reply then answered "Good, good, straight into business, huh? That''s what I like! Well, first I need to seal your hatred and rage until you can control them, or else you''ll just slaughter everybody in your next life. Second, I need you to ''eat'' this orb in my hand, it is quite special, believe me, it will help you a lot in your next life." "I thought the conditions would be harsher or disadvantageous to me, but if it''s only that, then I accept your offer." "Alright, it''ll be really exciting to watch you grow, I''ll also gift you some unique abilities. By the way, you have to kill yourself to be able to reincarnate, since I can''t interfere in this world''s matters." He then passed him the black orb, which Arthur swallowed straight away. It tasted sour, but it was not that bad, actually, he really couldn''t feel anything after swallowing it, so he asked ''X'' why, but the latter just shrugged while chuckling. ''X'' then sealed his rage, while saying that it would be better to keep it in check, just tapping his shoulder with his cane he had supposedly achieved such a feat. After talking about the conditions once more ''X'' vanished just like he appeared and time resumed once again. Everything returned to normal and the people in the room resumed their movements. Just like that, they continued torturing him like any other day, yet this time he didn''t care, because he knew he would soon die and leave this miserable world. While they were leaving the room after having their ''fun'' with him, Arthur laughed and was noticed by his wife, Claudia. "What are you laughing at? Did you finally turn insane?" asked Claudia. He just ignored her and kept laughingˇ­ "You''ll rot in here for your entire life or until you give us what we want, so no use laughing or searching for pity from me, I''m just your wife on paper, you didn''t even take care of me or say that you loved me even once." exclaimed Claudia. Arthur finally stopped laughing and looked at her "you''ll get what''s coming to you, one day I''ll come back and KILL ALL OF YOU, DO YOU HEAR ME YOU B#*ˇč!" He kept cursing her over and over again until she left while laughing at him. When he was alone, he thought about how his life was meaningless here and how he was going to start a new one and hopefully, not be as carefree as he was here, while avoiding humans who were simple creatures full of greed. After being lost in thought for a couple of minutes he bit his tongue as hard as he could to kill himself, the pain from biting his tongue was almost nonexistent, compared to what he had been through, it was simply nothing. Though biting the tongue would not kill someone instantly, he kept doing it until blood flowed endlessly from his mangled tongue. Time slowly passed and when enough blood leaked out, his breathing became slower and his skin turned paler, a few more minutes passed before he finally took his last breath and died. ''X'' never told him what the world he was going be reincarnated in was and which race he was going to be. usually, reincarnation would lead him to a new life with a baby''s body, while keeping his present memories, but this time maybe not? Maybe ''X'' would let him keep his present body? Void surrounded him for a long time until he felt the fresh air and opened his eyes, it was kind of blurry for a second as he adjusted his vision and tried to move his sluggish body. But what surprised him was that he could see plants as big as mountains around him, first, he thought this was just a weird world, but then he saw some kind of animal that was as big as a mountain. Arthur dazed off for a second before thinking of a possibility... ''No, it couldn''t be, right? ''X'' wouldn''t reincarnate me as a worm or an insect right? RIGHT? ''X!'' Chapter -1 Glossary More things will be added as the story progresses @@ WARNING: THIS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS DO NOT READ UNTIL YOU HAVE FINISHED ALL THE POSTED CHAPTERS. Mortal Realm : Lv1 => Lv999 (According to the System)(This applies only to those who are affected by the system) Spirit Realm: Initial, Medium, Late Heavenly Realm: Initial, Medium, Late Deity Realm: Initial, Medium, Late Immortal Realm: 1st Grade=>10th Grade Divine Realm: 1st Grade=>10th Grade God Realm: 1st Grade=>10th Grade Currency in Most Medium and High Realms: Red Spirit Stones (Low, Medium, Top)@@ Chapter 1 - 2 : A New World While Arthur was gazing around the area and angrily cursing himself. He realized that he didn''t specify what race he should be reborn into, so ''X'' just reincarnated him into an Insect of some sort. He couldn''t even walk properly, in fact, he had to crawl, nonetheless, his speed seemed to be quite fast for an insect. Not even a minute after he appeared, some sound rang in his head ''ting'' You have gained a Skill! [Parasitic Possession]. Parasitic Possession: Allows you to possess any kind of a living being and gain it''s Stats and Skills, once you leave this being you will retain with those Stats/Skills. You have gained a Skill! [Language Comprehension]. Language Comprehension: Once you possess a being you can comprehend and speak its language automatically. You have gained a Skill! [Appraisal]. Appraisal: You can Appraise anything in your field of vision. You have gained a Skill! ["Blessing of ''X''] Blessing of ''X'': You level up and gain experience for Stats/Skills 25 times faster than normal beings. You have gained a Skill! [Swift] Swift: Because you are a parasite, your Stats are lower than any other kind of beings, but you gain +600% Speed. You have gained a Skill! [Orb of the Fallen Overgods] Orb of the Fallen Overgods: Locked until you meet the necessary requirements! You have gained a Skill! [Orb of the Fallen Overgods(passive)]. Orb of the Fallen Overgods(passive): You gain affinity with every element(+65%). This can be raised if you level up, increase resistance to all elements(+25%). You have gained a Skill! [Parasitic use of Mana] Parasitic use of Mana: Because you are a parasite your use of mana if more efficient than any other. Any skills used with mana have a 15% mana reduction and if you are possessing a being the mana reduction becomes 20%. ''Wow'', even though he thought ''X'' screwed up and made him into an insect, he never thought of the possibility of being reincarnated as a parasite in a game-like world. He could guess it was a game-like world by those blue windows which he could ''see'' in his mind, or in his field of vision if he willed it. It''s really new to him as he hadn''t played many games in his previous life, only 1 or 2 when he was a teenager, but he knew the basics at least. Arthur was really surprised when he saw his skills, they seemed really overpowered, normally, if someone is supposedly reincarnated, they would get a blessing or a power, but not THIS many skills. He also wondered if he could see his health and if it even existed, because, in a game, there is a health bar with a number on it and if it reaches zero, you are dead. He pondered for some time before attempting to open his ''status'' by thinking various things, ''Window! status! open up! open up!......status window?'' Finally, after some tries, he managed to achieve something as a large blue window appeared out of nowhere. TITLE : NONE NAME : Arthur RACE : Parasite Strength : 10 Intelligence : 10 Agility : 200 Wisdom : 15 Vitality : 5Dexterity : 15 -- Health : 7 Health Regen : 0.2/s Mana : 11 Mana Regen : 0.4/s Stamina : 7 Stamina Regen : 0.05/s -- Attack : 8 Defense : 4 - - Elemental resistances Holy/light : 25% Fire : 25% Darkness : 25% Water : 25% Wind : 25% Earth : 25% After ''seeing'' his Stats, he felt they were pathetic, in fact, pathetic would even be an understatement, 7 points of health? Wouldn''t he die from just a touch? His agility was high as expected, when he tried dragging his body a bit earlier, he noticed that his speed was rather fast for a parasite with a size smaller than a damn insect. Honestly, he felt depressed thinking of how weak and insignificant he was. After checking his status window once again, he started roaming in the area searching for temporary shelter to last until he can adjust to his new body and environment. After some searching, he found a little hole in the ground, it was pitifully small, but to him, it looked like a massive pitfall. Arthur jumped down hoping for the best, unfortunately, just as he landed, he was surrounded by some disgusting and ugly creatures, they''re more or less double his size and looked a little similar to the ants from his previous world, however, these supposed ''ants'' were green in colour and had some small scales on their body, more like a mantis. Mutated child Ant level 1 Mutated child Ant level 1 Mutated adult Ant level 2 Mutated adult Ant level 3 Mutated child Ant level 2 He stood there dazed for a couple of seconds and only snapped out of it when these ants rushed at him, waving their threatening claws at him. They were double his size and quite scary looking, so having one rush at you would, of course, scare you to death, but even though Arthur was terrified, he didn''t dare stay put and accept whatever was coming toward him without even try to retaliate. He didn''t even know if they''ll hurt him, eat him or whatever, he didn''t have the time to think about such things, in such a dire situation, he made use of his high Agility to dash to the left. Heck! He didn''t even have legs so all he could do was to crawl and ''poof'', in mid-dash; he unconsciously struck a mutated adult ant, which was in the way. The result of was rather unexpected, he expected himself to be cut in two pieces but that wasn''t the case at all, he underestimated his speed and managed to pass through the ant, resulting in a bloody hole in its chest. The ant fell soundlessly to the floor while green blood flowed from its wound. Arthur, not knowing what to do, concentrated on the dead ant''s body and dove into it, blackness seemed to cover his eyes for a second before he opened his eyes, hearing the sound of the notifications; You have successfully Possessed an Adult Ant. You have gained a new skill! [Dig](lvl 6). You have gained a new skill! [Ant Language] You have gained a new skill! [Dive](lvl 2). You have gained a new skill! [Headbut](lvl 4). Due to your possession of an Adult Ant your stats has increased. Please check your status Window for more details. Arthur quickly got up using his new ''body'', he still wasn''t sure if he really possessed an ant or not but he quickly affirmed just by noticing the significant increase in height(although he was still an insect..), there was a gaping wound on his chest but his Health didn''t decrease nor did he feel any pain. He wasn''t sure why but the absence of pain had probably something to do with him, perhaps a wound inflicted by himself isn''t recognized by the game-like system. Surprisingly all the other ants seemed briefly startled as the enemy disappeared from their sight. A few seconds later, with no appearance of the small ''enemy, they dispersed and each went on its way. After Arthur possessed that ant, he tried to sneak up and find a safe place, but it was a huge labyrinth, it took him 2 whole hours to find a place relatively quiet, remote and safe with no ants nearby. He rested for the night and when he woke up, he decided to stroll around the labyrinth, thinking ''maybe I should try to kill some of the Mutated Ants to gain some levels and power up''. He wanted to leave this damned place as soon as he could, moreover, since his Stats increased, he should be able to at least match them in a fight and could probably kill a few of them. After all, being a parasite, he has far more Agility than them. After searching for quite some time, he finally found a Mutated child Ant level 2. He approached it from behind and used [Dive] on it, he thought it would put a little resistance, but it was crushed into the wall and turned into a mass of flesh and broken scales with green blood dying the ground, and just when it died, he got notifications for gaining levels. Life sure is funny, a while back he was tortured and now he is struggling to kill an ant. Although he didn''t start off great, Arthur was still feeling relieved, there is no better thing than being free, doing what he wants and going wherever he wishes, however, that doesn''t mean he forgot what was done to him.... Chapter 2 - 3 : Improving TITLE : NONE Level: 4 Class: Parasite - Strength 36 (+26) Intelligence 15(+5) Agility 224(+24) Wisdom 25(+10) Vitality 10(+5) Dexterity 25(+10) - Health 21(+14) Health Regen 0.4/s(+0.2/s) Mana 19 Mana Regen 0.6/s(+0.2/s) Stamina 7 Stamina Regen 0,07/s(+0.02/s) - Attack: 14(+6) Defense: 12(+8) Elemental Resistances Fire: 25% Water: 25% Wind: 25% Earth: 25% Light: 25% Darkness: 25% After killing that mutated child ant, he continued searching for others but surprisingly after killing other ants he didn''t get any experience, so Arthur came into conclusion that the stronger the opponent the bigger the experience. He continued to slaughter other ants just to be sure but he didn''t advance even half a level, so he wandered around the ant''s labyrinth to find a way out, however, due to his low Stamina, he had to take short pauses every now and then. Arthur was in a dilemma in what to do, he was stuck in this huge labyrinth with no way out, but an idea struck him.. didn''t he learn the ant''s language? So why didn''t he use it? Maybe the idea of talking to ants is what made him disregard such a solution, or perhaps, unconsciously, he still rejected anything due to his past experiences. He struggled on whether he should try to talk to one of them and after some time, he finally decided he should do so for this is a new life and being this passive and afraid would only lead him to a life similar to the past one. He searched for a mutated ant after that and soon enough he found one, he hesitated for a second before walking towards the ant and speaking to it using their language, he didn''t have any prior knowledge about their language but thanks to his special skill, he was able to understand it and speak it fluently albeit how weird it sounds. "Hello, I seem to have hit my head when fighting the intruder and I feel a bit disoriented, mind telling me the closest exit?" Even though he finally mustered the courage to talk to an ant, he made a lame excuse while asking for the exit. His worries were for naught as the other party pointed toward certain direction before it resumed its work. surprisingly, not long after he started sprinting, he found the familiar hole in the roof and guessed it to be the exit so he jumped with all his strength and landed outside of this hellish labyrinth, it really gave him the creeps to be inside it. ''FINALLY OUT!'' Arthur breathed a sigh of relief then checked his surroundings. He didn''t like the ant''s body and found it rather uncomfortable so he concentrated on leaving the body and ''poof'', he was out just like that, instantaneously. Though he had to crawl to move around, that didn''t matter for him as his original body was more comfortable to him than the ant''s. He began to crawl aimlessly with high speed and after a few minutes, he noticed that his body was bigger by a few inches than last time, unfortunately, the difference was too small to make a difference so he just ignored it. When he was roaming in that area where bushes were as big as mountains, Arthur felt a bit anxious as he feared to encounter a large predator, nonetheless, he continued his crawling, searching for a suitable host to possess, after all, he''s a parasite and in such an environment, the best solution for survival is getting stronger. After some time, he finally arrived at big field, there were no bushes or anything except a huge creature not far away, it was gigantic and had a brown body, Arthur guessed it to be a boar-like creature since it really was similar to the boars from his world. What this creature had special is a red gem in its forehead, also its size was larger than a normal boar and it had large legs, but this didn''t startle him much since this was a new world and discovering new races and beasts would, sooner or later, become a normal thing for him. Anyway, He crawled until he reached its legs, fortunately, it didn''t seem to notice him or perhaps it just ignored him for he was too little and insignificant to waste time killing him. He appraised the Boar-Like Creature and he Got this; Forest boar (beast): LVL6 After seeing his status, Arthur gave up on the idea of possessing this boar because it was simply way stronger than him, it could crush him in a second and he wouldn''t be able to resist, his end would be a pathetic and miserable death. He really didn''t know what to do, for the time being, he needed a big enough body to roam the world and discover where he is and with his current small body it would take him forever to do that, so the boar was a perfect target for him. Arthur pondered for some time, not knowing what to do when suddenly, a reckless and idiotic idea struck him, he didn''t know if he should do it or not but he finally decided to go through with it, after all, he was this close to the boar and it didn''t even bother to kill him so he had to grasp this chance. He crawled to the boar''s legs with fast speed and aimed to enter from the hole in its rear, yes, it seemed really disgusting but he had no other choices, he didn''t even know if it would work or not, nevertheless, he decided to risk it. His speed was out of the norm, along with a small amount of luck, his dive was successful. You have successfully possessed a Forest Boar He opened his eyes and was joyful he could see the field in front of him with a better and much larger view, apparently, he is now controlling the boar. You have Gained a new skill(active): [Sprint LVL3] You have Gained a new skill(passive): [Stamina Reduction] Stamina Reduction(passive): Your Stamina Decreases 3.5% Slower TITLE : NONE Level: 4 Class: Parasite - Strength 90 Intelligence 28 Agility 262 Wisdom 30 Vitality 50 Dexterity 60 - Health 71 Health Regen 0.6/s Mana 54 Mana Regen 0.7s Stamina 52 Stamina Regen 0.97/s - Attack: 49 Defense: 37 Elemental Resistances Fire: 25% Water: 25% Wind: 25% Earth: 25% Light: 25% Darkness: 25% Well, his stats rose by a significant amount, he should really thank ''X'' for this amazing cheat Arthur wondered whether he is considered strong or not, almost 100 in strength seemed really a lot but he dared not overestimate his power or be the least be carefree lest he ends in the same fate as his past life. After adjusting himself for some time with his new body, he began to wander around in what seemed to be a forest, but surprisingly, he didn''t find a single creature even after walking for some time. Anxiety soon enveloped him and dangerous thoughts overwhelmed him, he even thought of the possibility of this forest being haunted although it looked pretty normal and peaceful-looking. Whilst he spent time searching for a relatively safe place to sort his thoughts, Arthur managed to get used to the Boar''s body, at least, he will be able to put up a small fight in case dangerous comes. Approximately an hour later, he stumbled into a horrifying scene that made him momentarily startled and frozen in the same spot for several seconds. A big silver wolf 2 meters high and 1.5 meters in length was devouring a boar like him just 100 meters from his location, it was seriously terrifying, the boar was dead, its body was torn apart and blood was all over the ground. He stood there scared, he couldn''t even move from fear, but not even a couple of seconds passed and the Silver wolf noticed him, it stopped devouring the poor boar and stared at him with its ferocious eyes. He could feel its ferocity from 100 meters, while he was lost in thought not knowing what to do, the silver wolf leaped in his direction with fast speed, it resembled a streak of lightning as it made its way toward him. Although he was in a boar''s body, the agility stats was not just for show, when he was searching for a safe place, he tested his speed and Holy Cow was it insane, if someone from his previous world saw a boar run like that, they would just think they are hallucinating or dreaming, after all, there is no way a boar could run like a leopard. The amount of Agility he got from the Boar was very little, fortunately, he was a Parasite and had increased speed, for this, Arthur was pretty thankful. Even though he judged his speed to be greater than his opponent, the fear still rooted him to the ground and he couldn''t move, the wolf finally struck Arthur and bit him in his neck with its sharp fangs. You have Been Bitten(-49 Health) Due to the Effect of BloodFangs: Your stats have been decreased:-10% mana -2 health every second ''ARGH, it fucking hurts!'' The pain was insane but it helped him snap out of it and come back to his senses, he thought of himself dying just like this, he didn''t even get his revenge and couldn''t enjoy a peaceful day in his new life. The rage and anger that were slumbering inside of him emerged, making his breath erratic and his mind blank for a split second. He started remembering all those painful memories and all the torture he received. His hatred exploded and he started slamming the wolf to the tree so he could let go of him but its fangs were so deep in Arthur''s neck that it wouldn''t let go no matter how much he struggled. Furthermore, his health was decreasing with fast speed due of the effect of blood fangs, nonetheless, he slammed again and again, without even caring about the pain, all he was thinking about was his revenge, he even forgot about the current situation. While he was angrily pummelling the wolf on the tree, his mind cleared a bit when he heard sounds in his head but he just ignored it and kept repeating the same action ruthlessly. Arthur only stopped after a while had passed, he felt his body become numb from the excessive blood loss and the depletion of his Stamina, he turned his head and looked at the area the wolf was supposed to be, however, he saw nothing, all that was left of it was meat and blood. Even the tree was destroyed beyond recognition. He stood there, surprised at what he just did, everything about what happened seemed blurry. Although he was gravely injured, the good thing was that he didn''t lose his life, with blood littered on the ground and gory meat paste next to him, Arthur checked his Logs to see what was the noise he heard a bit earlier was about. level up! level up! level up! Congratulations! Since you Attained level 5 all Status: +50 Congratulations! the skills Swift is now level 2 Congratulations! You have Gained a new title: Meat Grinder +10 strength / + 10 vitality if equipped He was happy to see he gained levels, and also he got +50 to all his stats, that really made him even more delighted. To be honest, he regretted doing what he did, had he controlled his emotion and just stopped after killing the wolf, he could have possessed it for tit was a better vessel than a boar, plus, he would gain the wolf''s stats which would really be helpful ''I really should get a hold of my emotions, huh?'' After going through his status window again, he started searching for a place to sleep for the night. He felt mentally and physically tired, after all, it was a long day full of surprises, for a man like himself who lived in the modern society, to experiences all of that is exhausting, to say the least. Arthur wasn''t particularly knowledgeable about the forest-life, but he at least knew that there must be dangerous beasts that hunt at night, it would be too unfavorable for him to roam an unknown territory when such monsters lurk around. Soon enough, Arthur found a little cave not too far from where his ''battle'' occurred, he entered and laid on the ground to rest, today was a tiresome day for him and he needed some to recuperate some Stamina and let his mind relax. His neck was still in pain because of the wound from the wolf''s fangs but his health bar was recovering slowly but surely, and that''s certainly a good sign. He didn''t feel hunger since he ate the wolf or what was left of him, so he just closed his eyes and thought about hiscurrent life and how things were bad from the moment he was reincarnated. The passing of time went unnoticed for the sleeping boar, the light coming from the shiny sun woke him up. He felt energetic as he stretched his body and surveyed the cave just in precaution. The good thing was that his wound was completely healed, his health and stamina bar were also full, he checked his status window again to see if anything changed : Status : TITLE: MEAT GRINDER Level: 7 Class: Parasite - Strength 150 Intelligence 78 Agility 312 Wisdom 80 Vitality 110 Dexterity 110 - Health 121 Health Regen 0.6/s Mana 104 Mana Regen 0.7s Stamina 102 Stamina Regen 0.97/s - Attack: 49 Defense: 37 Elemental Resistances Fire: 25% Water: 25% Wind: 25% Earth: 25% Light: 25% Darkness: 25% Chapter 3 - 4 : sFarmings When he woke up from a long sleep, he headed out to search for a possible prey since this boar''s body is not that amazing compared to the wolf''s, for example, he may have survived against a wolf yesterday but that was just luck and his emotions got the better of him, he can''t possibly win against a wolf in a head-on fight, he has to think of a way to possess his target without fighting or maybe sneak attack it with his high speed. After searching for a while, he found a silver wolf which looked, more or less, the same as the one from yesterday, so he appraised it LightMoon Wolf[Lv8] The wolf''s level was higher than him. When he observed it closely; the wolf seemed quite scary, long sharp claws, silver fur, and a long neck, it seemed more like a lion than a wolf, actually, even bigger than the lion. Surprisingly, the wolf was sleeping or taking a nap as it didn''t seem to notice his presence. It was laying 150m from him, so he decided to approach it carefully and wait for the perfect moment, he began to sneak on it whilst doing his best not to make any sound because if it wakes up and attacks him, he''ll surely be its lunch. After a couple of minutes, he finally arrived 10m behind it and hid in a rather big bush, but to be honest, Arthur was hesitant, he wasn''t a fighter and it would be a lie to say he wasn''t scared, nonetheless, he hardenest his emotions and resolved himself, after all, it''s the jungle and its law applies to all living beings inside it. In his previous life,he never really got in a fight, in fact, he would always avoid it either by apologizing or find another way to talk his way out of the fight, basically, he was just a coward and although he fought the ants and the wolf from yesterday, it was just on the spur of the moment. Very soon, he came back to his senses and used [Sprint] to rush to the wolf and hit it, his speed was incredible, it was his highest stats and the one thing he was good at, he really was thankful for at least having good speed. The ten meters or so were crossed in a matter of seconds and when he was going to hit the wolf, it seemed to notice something and turned its head toward his direction, however,it was too late as Arthur''s ''body'' had already hit its back. you have successfully landed a Sneak attack: Critical hit -95HP He ignored the sound and kept smashing his big head on the wolf''s back without stopping and, unsurprisingly, his damage was so low that its HP decreased only little by little. After landing 2 extra hits the wolf, turned towards him and slashed with its claws but thanks to his high Agility, Arthur was able to dodge with but a hair''s width, he thenjumped towards the wolf with all the strength he could muster wishing for the best and expecting to deal some damage but what confronted him was the wolf''s other claw, which struck him right in his chest ''ting'' -52HP The pain was was agonizing but compared to what he has been through in the past, it''s really nothing, he gritted his teeth and ignored the sharp closed stabbing his chest and used his legs to kick the wolf in its head, though when his legs touched the beast''s head, it was like hitting steel, he could feel his legs go numb from the wolf''s hard body. The strike seemed pointless but since he hit a vital spot, the victim was affected despite the weak attack. The wolf growled with pain and anger, clearly displeased that a creature that was supposed to be its prey managed to hurt it. Arthur didn''t waste that precious moment and struck it again at its face. Unlike the previous strike, he aimed for its skull and mustered all that strength, wanting to finish it once and for all. ''poof'' The wolf died and soundlessly fell down on the ground, Arthur was quite excited as he quickly left his current body and possessed the wolf''s, he knew he was going to get stronger by gainingitswolf''s stats and of course, those stats were probably very high. You Successfully possessed a Lightmoon Wolf You have Gained a new skill(active) : [Slash Claw Lv4] You have Gained a new skill(active) : [Bite Lv2] You have Gained a new skill(passive): LightMoon LightMoon(Passive): Once you are exposed to the moon all stats raised by 5% and speed raised by 15% TITLE: MEAT GRINDER Level: 7 Class: Parasite - Strength 320 Intelligence 140 Agility 542 Wisdom 110 Vitality 190 Dexterity 214 - Health 242 Health Regen 0.7/s Mana 187 Mana Regen 0.7s Stamina 230 Stamina Regen 0.1/s - Attack: 120 Defense: 60 Elemental Resistances Fire: 25% Water: 25% Wind: 25% Earth: 25% Light: 25% Darkness: 25% Seeing his status window, Arthur couldn''t help but laugh in delight. ''As expected from a hunter, its stats are really above average.'' After possessing the wolf, he spent a couple of minutes getting used to the body, stretching and adjusting his control over it, but he soon noticed that the damage he received from ''himself'' in the fight are still here but are healing at a decent speed, the pain was lessening too. Actually, when he possessed the ant with a hole in its chest the same thing happened and the hole healed in just a matter of minutes, he guessed that this is the good part of being a parasite. After getting accustomed to his ''new body,'' he ate the boar since for he was hungry and boar meat was, without a doubt a delicacy. Despite eating it raw (the meat), it was delicious. Next thing on his list was trying out his new body, especially, in terms of speed. He squatted his body then leaped forward, only feeling the strong wind breezes brushing over his fastly moving body. He could see everything blurring when he exercised his full speed, this Agility is really cheat-like. There''s no way any other wolf, at the same Level, would have a speed similar to his, this could prove useful in future encounters, whether it''s for fleeing or battling. Also, he got sharp claws now to attack with and hopefully, he can kill other wolves easily. Unfortunately, the experience he received from killing the wolves wasn''t enough to level him up, this didn''t lower his morale as he decided to try and hunt a few more, to hone his battling ability and gain stats. Arthur started running through the forest,searching for Lightmoon wolves to test his new strength at, soon enough, he finally found some opponents. There were 2 wolves which were both [level 9] eating a boar together. They didn''t seem to notice him, nonetheless, he decided to fight them head-on and charge at them while using his new speed to see if they could react to him and counterattack. Arthur rushed at them with all his speed while using [Dive] to maximize the efficiency of his charge. Before any of them could react, he was already near them so he used [Slash Claw] on the nearest wolf which took half of its HP, then he used [Bite] on the same wolf and didn''t let go as he watched its HP drain little by little because of the continuous damage of the skill did, and within five seconds, the wolf''s body was already lifeless. Without wasting as much as a second, he turned towards the second wolf, which seemed surprised by his actions and as to why a fellow wolf would kill its comrade, unfortunately for the poor wolf,Arthur didn''t let it the time adjust itself to the situation as he jumped at it and used his sharp claws to strike its defenseless face. The hit injured the wolf''s yet the beast still managed to jump back as it tried to run away since it couldn''t fight anymore. His claws luckily hit the wolf''s eyes, blinding it and forcing it into a desperate situation. Wolves are known to be very clever and they would retreat whenever they find themselves at a disadvantage, that was what the wolf did, it ran for its life but Arthur didn''t stand there and watch, his speed was greater than his opponent and in a couple of seconds, he overtook the wolf and killed it after a few more hits. Level up! To be honest, it wasn''t a fight, it was a one sided-massacre, the two wolves didn''t even resist a little and just died easily. Arthur was quite depressed as he only gained 1 level, nevertheless, he continued searching for more wolves to level up quickly and gain some strength, but every now and then, he didn''t forget to rest a little a to regen some Stamina. He roamed the forest and killed every wolf he stumbled upon, usually, he would only see 2 wolves together but he found a small pack composed of 3 wolves yet he still attacked them and it was quite a hard fight, one that he got out from while being victorious. level up! Congratulations! Since you attained level 10 all status: +50 Congratulations! Since you attained level 10 you can now evolve: Void Parasiteor Poison Parasite Poison Parasite: A Poisonous Being, immune to every poison and Can Deadly poison skills, can further evolve Void Parasite: A being capable of using Void magic and gain void skills with growth, can further evolve Arthur was quite surprised, never in his wildest dreams would he have thought he could evolve, and this soon too. He was infinitely grateful for this opportunity, although the small body of the parasite is hindering, the way it gains its vessels'' stats and skills is a bonus that can never be replaced. He pondered on what type of parasite he should evolve into, poison parasite seemed really appealing and by the name he could tell he would be able to use poison but void parasite seemed mysterious and appealing as the world ''void'' was not usual and had many meanings. After thoroughly thinking about the pros and cons of both choices, he decided to choose Void Parasite, after all, in many ancient books, it is said that Void is the source of everything, if one has control over it then there''s nothing he should fear, or so thought Arthur. ''Evolve to void parasite'' ...''ting'' Congratulations! You have Evolved to Void Parasite You Gained a new skill: Void Manipulation (can be used possessing any kind of being) Void Manipulation: Can use Void in different ways, (you gain different void skills when the void manipulation levels up) Congratulations! Due to being a void parasite intelligence and wisdom and significantly increased After those notifications popped up, he felt his body burning and some weird black tattoos started forming on the wolf''s body, they formed strange dark signs which he couldn''t comprehend, after some time, it finally stopped and as he looked at his body, he saw all his limbs were covered with tattoos, he also noticed that his thinking became a bit faster, it wasn''t to an unimagianble degree but the difference could be felt. At first, he just shrugged off the matter of the tattos but soon enough they started bothering him because the other wolves were cautious of him, so he couldn''t get close to them then aim for a sneak attack, all he could do was hide andslowly approach them little by little which wasted a lot of time. It was too late to regret this decision, then again, choosing the other option might have formed tattoos too. Once night came, he received a notification..''ting'' The effect of Lightmoon are now effective : +5% stats / +10% speed His speed got slightly better which helped him hunt and after a long hunt, he got accustomed to this routine. He searched then killed wolves and if he got hungry, he would eat them, I guess you can consider cannibalism but he didn''t care for he was only possessing a wolf and is, essentially, a parasite so eating them is totally normal. Moreover, he didn''t care about cannibalism or whatsoever for he wanted to survive and do whatever he wants, also, whenever his stamina got very low, he''ll rest for an hour or so until it is completely full then he would resume his hunt, he never encountered any other monsters beside a couple of boars and wolves, so he guessed that the wolves are the kings in this forest. At midnight, after having hunted almost all day he checked my status to see if there is any change ... : TITLE: MEAT GRINDER Level: 14 Class: Void Parasite - Strength 395 Intelligence 580 Agility 630 Wisdom 420 Vitality 255 Dexterity 275 - Health 310 Health Regen 0.8/s Mana 420 Mana Regen 0.8s Stamina 295 Stamina Regen 0.2/s - Attack: 143 Defense: 72 Elemental Resistances Fire: 25% Water: 25% Wind: 25% Earth: 25% Light: 25% Darkness: 25 His intelligence and Wisdom really skyrocketed, the idea of using Fire magic or become a mage soon struck him and made him a bit excited at the mere thought of casting flashy magic spells. Actually, he always dreamt of being a mage when he was a kid. ''ahh, it brings back too many good memories ..bad ones too'' After checking his Status window, Arthur started searching again for preys but to his surprise, he stumbled upon a fight... A hundred meters or so from him, there was a jet black bear-like creature fighting a pack of 4 wolves, he noticed that the bear was toying with them, all of 4 wolves were bloodied and in poor shape, it really was a one-sided massacre. Feeling apprehensive of this large monster, Arthur appraised it Hind bear Lv28 It was double his current level so there is no way he could beat this thing alone but maybe if the pack of wolves calls reinforcements, he could somehow attack with them and kill this huge bear. He continued to watch the fight from afar, waiting for the right moment, the wolves were struggling with bear and could only take out 10% of its Health, which was pathetic, until one of the wolves backed away and howled, which he took it as a cry for help to his comrades. In response, the bear didn''t just stay still, instead, it rushed to stop the wolf from howling but the 3 others blocked its way to stop it, which resulted in 2 of them being crushed and slashed to death, they were literally torn to pieces by the huge bear''s claws, it was a disgusting and gory sight to behold, Arthur event felt the urge to vomit what he ate a while ago. Time slowly passed and they continued to struggle until 5 new wolves rushed in to help the remaining ones, tides have turned and now it became a 7v1. They began to attack the bear from different sides with bites and slashes, with their high speed, the bear could not focus on all of them so every now and then, one of them would get caught by the bear and get crushed which resulted in losing almost all of its health, Arthur had to admit that the hind bear really got some amazing strength for it to almost kill a wolf with only a single strike. After the bear''s health reached 15%, Arthur finally joined the fray from behind by jumping with his great speed and using [Sprint] which slightly increased his speed when attacking in a straight line, he landed a critical hit on the bear''s back, but surprisingly it took only about 5% of its Health, however, it was to be expected since the bear had a huge frame and probably a strong defense. The other wolves looked and seemed surprised by Arthur''s appearance since he had tattoos in his limbs, nonetheless they soon regained their senses and ignored him while continuing to attack the bear relentlessly, it was a classic tactic but pretty effective against a large-sized creature, especially when they have the number and sufficient speed and decent cooperation. Arthur didn''t miss that chance, he joined the fray as well and attacked the enemy from blind spots to assure he won''t get hit by a sudden counter-attack, this continued until the bear''s HP was almost gone. He didn''t know if he''ll get the experience if he was not the last one to kill it so he was hoping to ''Kill secure'' the bear. He waited until the perfect moment and rushed with all the speed he could muster and used [Claw slash] at the bear finishing him off and obtaining the kill after a long struggle...''ting'' level up! level up! level up! level up ! level up ! level up ! level up! Congratulations! Since you have attained level 20 all status:+50 You have gained a new skill: Void Slash Void Slash: Using the power of void you can make a powerful slash eating everything in its way TITLE: MEAT GRINDER Level: 20 Class: Void Parasite - Strength 445 Intelligence 630 Agility 680 Wisdom 470 Vitality 305 Dexterity 325 - Health 360 Health Regen 0.95/s Mana 470 Mana Regen 0.95s Stamina 345 Stamina Regen 0.4/s - Attack: 171 Defense: 102 Elemental Resistances Fire: 25% Water: 25% Wind: 25% Earth: 25% Light: 25% Darkness: 25 Chapter 4 - 5 : Zodiaks Tomb After having killed the bear, Arthur pondered for a moment about staying at the wolf''s body or possessing the bear but finally he decided to choose the later , so he checked his surroundings to see if there are any enemies nearby but no one was there even the remaining wolves ran away after the death of the bear, so he left his current ''body'' and ran toward the bear with all the speed he could muster, if some human from his previous world saw him he would only see a black blur. Once he possessed the bear a lot of notifications popped up in his head ''ting'' You have successfully possessed a Hind Bear. You have gained a new skill(passive) [Strong resistance]: your stamina has permanently increased by 250 you have gained a new skill(active) [burst attack]: you charge your claws with power for 1.5 seconds then you unleash it. cooldown time: none cost: 75 You have gained all stats of the Hind Bear. TITLE : NONE Level: 20 RACE: VOID PARASITE - Strength: 875 (+430) Intelligence: 720(+90) Agility: 980(+300) Wisdom: 490(+20) Vitality: 740(435) Dexterity: 450(+125) - Health: 1060 Health Regen: 1.2/s Mana: 620 Mana Regen: 1/s Stamina: 1045 Stamina Regen: 1.5/s -- Attack: 283 Defense: 310 -- Elemental Resistances Fire:25% Water:25% Wind:25% Earth:25% Light:25% Darkness:25% Arthur was quite shocked by the amount of stats that was added , his overall have improved , at least now he can roam the forest without fear of being killed at any moment and since he possessed the hind bear''s body all creatures will avoid him unless it is a big pack of wolves but he thought that even if there was a big pack he could handle himself well. He spent some minutes adjusting himself to the bear''s body and testing [void slash] and [burst attack] which surprisingly can be used together at the same time, he tried used them together on a somewhat large tree and when his claws landed on it, the tree just disintegrated the void ate it away, even the space behind the tree was eating way the power of the attack was truly monstrous, if used on a beast nothing would be left of him, not even his blood. Arthur somewhat satisfied with his accomplishment started roaming the forest and killing every beast he found to level up, he killed boars, wolves, and even other hind bears, he encountered 2 hind bears which seemed a female and male, he didn''t plan on attacking them since he thought they were a family but they rushed at him so he just killed them, all it took was 2 normal slashes from his claws and the 2 bears were insta-killed , he felt bad for killing them for they seemed like a family but life is cruel and he had learned that from his past life, if people are cruel toward you, you have to be crueler toward them and kill them before they could come back and cause trouble for you in the future . If he had an eye for people and could distinguish between who was using him for his money like his wife and who was kind, he wouldn''t have been in hell for all those months, so he decided that in this newly granted life he would be cold toward everyone, he just couldn''t trust anyone after what has been done to him. After spending all day hunting he managed to reach [Level 24] , but that seemed really slow, he killed hundred of preys but all he got was 4 levels, he didn''t even need to rest because of his high Stamina and extraordinary Stamina regen, if some mercenaries or adventures saw his stats they wouldn''t believe their eyes and most likely vomit blood. A normal veteran adventure would have between 300 to 400 [Strength] and if it''s an elite one he would have 600 but that was it, having almost 1000 strength is unheard of, even having 200 [agility] is considered good because Humans normally are slower than beasts but with their numbers and intelligence they can overcome their slow speed. However Arthur''s speed was incredible for a hind bear which normally was slightly slower than a Lightmoon Wolf, but he had the combined speed of a bear and a Lightmoon Wolf, he couldn''t even cope with his speed as when he tried running at full speed he kept bumping into trees and rocks which were completely destroyed because of his raw strength. Fortunately, after a few hours of practice, he managed to get the hang of it. At night, Arthur tried to find a cave to sleep, even though he wasn''t tired at all he couldn''t forget the habits he had from his previous life, so sleeping was necessary, but he had drifted a long way from the cave he was in last night, so he tried finding another one. He spent 2 hours searching for one until he found an entrance to a cave, it seemed really well hidden but he noticed because of his keen eyesight. He felt some kind of chilly feeling coming from the cave but nevertheless, he entered it, he kept walking for a couple of minutes in the darkness until he spotted a light not far away, once he got closer he noticed that it was a torch. Arthur seemed to be in a corridor but what surprised him was that the walls, ground and even the roof were jet black , even the torch seemed to be made from black wood, he could see that was a long corridor because the torches continued as far as his eyes could see, he continued to walk cautiously forward , but surprisingly nothing happened, he expected some traps or mazes but nothing occurred which was even scarier and worrying. After walking for 40 minutes he arrived at the end of corridor and saw a wooden door which was black like the surroundings, the door seemed really ancient and in the center of it was some kind of symbol, it was the head of the skeleton but what''s more surprising is that it had a third eye on its forehead, it gave a cold feeling looking at the symbol. It seemed like it was alive and sucking the life out of him. The door was somewhat small compared to the huge body of the bear, even if he wanted to enter there was no way he could with his huge frame, so he pondered for a moment on whether to leave his body or not , he could always get back to this body but there was the chance that there is danger behind this door so he was hesitating whether to risk it or not but after some thinking he just snorted and left his body "Tsk! Danger or not, that doesn''t matter, it can''t be worse than what I already experienced" Arthur left the body of the bear and entered from under the door since his real body was like 7 inches he could pass easily. Once he entered, he saw an enormous room, because of his small size, everything was big but he could guess that it was a 20x20 meter room, it had dust all over it. There were bookshelves, tables filled with dusty papers and there also was big chests, the very first thing he thought when he saw those chests were "treasures" but he kept looking around the room because even if he wanted to see what''s in those chests, he can''t take them with his small size. He had immense strength even in this body but he can''t use it properly due to his size. There were various other things but he didn''t bother much with them, in the center of the room he saw a half meter black stone be, he couldn''t exactly guess what it was since he was seeing it from downward but he guessed it was some container. Arthur approached it slowly afraid of some sneak attack from an unknown enemy or a sudden trap, but fortunately, nothing happened. With a sigh, he mustered his strength on his lower body and jumped up, because he underestimated his strength and speed, his jump carried him all over to the roof and when he was in mid-air he could see what was this container, it was a tomb containing a skeleton corpse. He landed on the edge of the container so he could have a close look at the corpse, it was really an old corpse, there was dust all over, and by the state of the skeleton, it must have been thousands of years if not more. The skeleton was dusty and old but surprisingly it didn''t have any crack which shocked him greatly. Arthur circled around the tomb to observe more. He noticed that near the corpse was a black book with the same symbol that he saw in the door, also there was a black robe and a cane with a red crystal on top of it, the cane seemed really old and creepy, the red crystal was in the shape of some kind of person with 8 hands, it reminded him of myth of Asura that he heard of in his previous life but this shape had 2 more hands than Asura. He pondered whether he could possess a dead person or not, well he can possess dead animals like the bear and the wolves but is it the same thing for all beings or is it just monsters? He stopped thinking about this and dived right into the skeleton with a hope of possessing it. Controlling a human body is more comfortable and there are things you can''t-do with a beast''s body like grabbing things, after all, you can''t grab with your claws it''s way too difficult. All it took was less than a second and he heard the rewarding notification sound ''ting'' you have successfully possessed Zodiak''s body. Zodiak : in the past, there was an entity called the Dark Magician, he was known for his necromancy and dark magic which was lethal to every being, he was pursued by the holy church and all kingdoms and empires for thousands of years but no one could catch him, every time they find him he would slaughter everyone or keep some for experimenting on them , he was the definition of evil , feared by all he built a small base to escape from all those people and keep researching without disturbance, after years passed the search of dark magician lessened until he became a myth and no one could find him, they concluded that he was dead because he never appeared again. you have gained a new skill (active) Dark magic[Lvl: ???] : you can use dark magic to form an attack, barriers, traps and all sort of things, all research made by Zodiak are available to you to use if you have the ability to do so. Cost:none You have gained a new skill ( active) necromancy[Lvl ??] : you can spawn all kind of underworld beings and command them cost: depends on the being you revive. you have gained a new skill(passive) [dead being] : because you are askeleton, your Stamina is infinite and your defense and vitality have increased: you can regenerate lost bones. You have gained all Zodiak''s stats. TITLE : NONE Level: 24 RACE: VOID PARASITE - Strength: 1040 (+165) Intelligence: 1500(+200) Agility: 1180(+300) Wisdom: 1248(+758) Vitality: 1441(+701) Dexterity: 620(+170) - Health: 1285 Health Regen: 11.2/s Mana: 1240 Mana Regen: 25.1/s Stamina: infinite Stamina Regen: ??? -- Attack: 581 Defense: 1032 -- Elemental Resistances Fire:25% Water:25% Wind:25% Earth:25% Light:25% Darkness:100% Arthur stared for a couple of minutes at his status window, his eyes widened when he saw the increase in Intelligence, Vitality, and Wisdom, his overall stats are all above 1000 except for his Dexterity, this was definitely a cheat, he believed that now he can one-shot everything that attacks him even with raw strength which was completely unbelievable. He got up and tried moving his body, at first it felt really heavy but just after a couple of seconds, he was able to move normally and freely. Everything was alright, It''s the same feeling as being a human-like his previous life except it was kind of strange seeing his body made of bones. How can he eat delicious things like this or drink water, he was made of bones so normally anything will fall to the ground if he was eating or it will spill on his lower bones, but nevertheless he was excited when he tested his movements, he could run to the end of the room in less than a second it almost seemed like it was teleportation. Arthur tried throwing a punch at the air but he underestimated his strength greatly and even when punching the air the wall at the end of the room was utterly destroyed with nothing left, he stood there dazed for a second then he sighed and thought "if I had this kind of this strength in the past who would dare to have mess with me ? Life is really cruel and unfair for some people..." After spending 5 or so minutes testing his body and overall abilities he tried using his new skills and the one which picked his interest is the Dark Magic ability. It says that he can use dark magic to attack or defend but it didn''t explain how, so he focused and thought about a spear in his mind and suddenly ''bzzzt" A dark 2-meter spear appeared near him floating beside his shoulder, he was surprised at first then he felt ecstatic and overjoyed. The spear was jet black it didn''t have any special features except the edges of the spear had some kind of black flames, he tried aiming the spear at the wall and suddenly ''boom'' the wall was destroyed and there was no sign of the spear, the power was truly frightening. The room was made by 4 walls, the wall which was targeted by the spear all crumbled and the spear just continued destroying everything it crossed until Arthur ordered the spear the go back to him, he truly couldn''t believe his eyes as the speed of this attack was faster than what his eyes could see. He tried changing the shape of the spear and it was indeed like he thought, he could change it however he wants, whether it was an axe, a sword, a dagger and even a shield, then it occurred to him that it said in the description that you can use dark magic to form barriers so he thought about that, but the dark shield next to him didn''t change. However, a black aura surrounded him from all directions it seemed like a sphere surrounding him, it was a transparent sphere but it was kind of black-ish, he willed the barrier to disappear and it just disappeared in a split second. It seemed like forming a barrier was slower than forming a weapon but nevertheless, it took only 1 second so it wasn''t that big of a deal. Arthur tried experimenting more with Dark Magic and he discovered that he can make more weapons, he created spears until all the room was filled with them and what surprised him was that it didn''t cost mana to attack or form weapons or barriers which were truly a good yet frightening thing. Next, he tried the revival skill which came from Zodiak as well, and it was kind of Okay, it was not overpowered like the Dark Magic but it could be useful. After some experimentation, he found out that he can summon a skeleton for 20 mana each and a mage skeleton which had a cane with 40 mana each, all kind of skeletons can be summoned. Moreover, he tried thinking about a wolf or bear and it was a success, he could also summon them though they were all bones, he also can summon zombies but they seemed slow and not that strong so he just ignored them , he stopped further experiment with this skill because the room was not that big to experiment in. Arthur was truly happy, he knew that his abilities are considered good even in this world. After all, destroying a wall in a less than a second is a something not everybody can do, what''s more is that he can use magic so that meant that there are people who can use it as well, but he was kind of depressed because his level was somewhat low, even if his stats are cheat-like, he didn''t like having low level he felt kind of insecure. For him, he didn''t want to be put in a situation like the tragic past, he must be in control of his own destiny and not be toyed with by some greedy and evil people. Arthur turned around and went near the tomb to appraise the robe and cane, they seemed ancient but they weren''t destroyed so they may be useful to him Chapter 5 - 6 : Willsden Town ''ting'' Cursed robe of Zodiak : Casting Dark Magic is 50% faster / Mana Regeneration is 100% faster / +1500 Mana // nullify any curse magic Unique skill(active)[Dark cloud]: you Can create a special cloud that allows you to ride it, can be used for flying or carrying things. Cost: 35mana per second. Requirement: must be a controller of dark magic. Arthur was amazed by this robe, its stats are terrifying, increasing Mana Regeneration by 1 fold and a unique skill too? That was too great! This robe increases his overall abilities by a lot. Next thing he did was appraise the dark book next to the robe. ''ting'' Book of the Damned : skill book(type : Unique ) : this book can be used to learn a unique skill : [Death touch] : By absorbing the Live energy of creatures you killed you can earn double the experience ( AN: experience is measurement for leveling, when you reach a specific number you level up ) and when you reach certain number or creatures absorbed you learn new skills. Requirement : 750 Intelligence / 500 Wisdom. ''Jackpot'' He really was lucky in getting this book but he was curious as to why, Zodiak the previous owner of his current ''body'' didn''t learn this book, by looking at the previous stats of Zodiak he could have learned this skill but he didn''t which alarmed Arthur, maybe this book has some side effects which were dangerous but that didn''t mean that he has to throw a precious skill like this after all he didn''t have anything to lose. It''s a new life for him so he should do whatever he wants to do whether it is crazy dangerous or stupid, Arthur mumbled softly "Go big or go home, huh?" And then he learned the skill, a dark flash of light appeared and then he heard the notification You learned [Death Touch]. Arthur didn''t feel anything out of the place when he learned the skill, nothing dangerous happened even after waiting a couple of minutes so he just shrugged it off and appraised the cane to see its stats. Sol''khin''s cane: Unable to appraise. ''That''s weird...'' Once this message popped up, he couldn''t help but feel sad and a bit confused. The cane had a creepy appearance but a unique, almost nonexistent aura was lingering around it, it was too ominous for him to not notice it. He left the best for last but his excitement lessened, the cane looked creepy but it sure as hell was strong and that''s because he couldn''t appraise it and that means it''s too strong for him currently. He has been able to appraise an item such as the robe which was totally cheating so an item which he couldn''t appraise with his current stats means either his level is too low or his stats are too low. Arthur then tried putting the robe on and unsurprisingly it fitted him, since it was Zodiak''s robe so of course, it would, the robe covered all his bony body, it even had a hood which covered the head, if you look at his appearance now you could only see his legs and hands which were bones. "if I''m gonna meet people, I need to find some boots and gloves to cover my body or else anyone would be suspicious if they see bones instead of hands or feets." He searched the tomb for more items and he found 2 rings which seemed luxurious, the 2 were made of black gold and impossible to miss, next to them there was a bronze necklace and 1 feet black crystal, so he began by appraising the rings. ''ting'' Black Magic Ring: Zodiak Was very possessive of his items so he created a storage ring which can only be accessed by using Dark Magic so even if it was stolen, no one but him can open it. Contain a huge space which can contain various items but no living beings, use dark magic on it to use it. Arthur was a little fan of games in his previous life, even though he dedicated his life to his job, when he was a child he also played games or read some manga so he somehow understood what this ring is, it was some kind of inventory to store items, very classic thing in games. Dark Flame Ring : all your attacks will contain black flames which increase the damage by 35% , +175 Intelligence / +500 Health / +500 Mana. Necklace of the Chaotic Evocation of Conjuration: Can be used to strengthen anything created (fire, water, summoned pets,etc..) by 20%, +100 Wisdom. The items were really cheated like, as you would expect from an ancient evil being, Arthur was really overjoyed by the discovery of this tomb, and it seems those items can be equipped by anyone so he could equip them now..... After wearing the rings and necklace, he felt a slight increase in his pool of mana. He also noticed that his thinking is way faster than before and even more rational, he seemed very calm in a situation like this, he got so many things from this place but he was just excited for a couple of minutes if it was someone else they would die from joy. Arthur then went on to appraise the big crystal which was very ominous, it emitted a dark aura similar to the book of the Damned ''Appraise!'' ''ting'' Soul container: Contains the life of many dead beings, they were stored by an ancient dark magician in the past for research but he didn''t get to use Can be consumed by [Death touch] and all this would be changed to experience. Do you want to use [death touch] to consume the lives in this crystal? ''Yes.'' .... level up! level up! level up! .... After having consumed the crystal, Arthur''s level went up by a lot and when he checked his current level he was dumbfounded to see it reach 87. His level increased by a whopping 63, which was really something he didn''t believe until he rechecked his level 5 times, various notification popped when he leveled up so many times, since he was a parasite every 5 levels he got a +50 increase in all stats so overall his stats increased by 650 each, and also he got 2 skills from [Death touch]. ''ting'' Congratulations! since you absorbed 10.000 souls you learned: [Death Binding]: By using this skill you cannot be killed for the next 10 Seconds. Cost: none Can only be used 3 times. 3/3. Congratulations: since you have absorbed 100.000 souls you learned : [Faster than Death](passive): you Can now make instant movement on a radius of 50m / Agility +200 cost: 150 Mana per movement. Those abilities were top even among his abilities, not dying for 10 seconds was really a trump card for Arthur in case of emergencies, he tried activating [faster than death] and pinpointing a location in the room it was almost instantaneous as he found himself at the location where he wished to teleport to, such skill could only be described as Godly! He could also use continuously as long as he has the necessary Mana, but regretfully it cost quite a bit, 150 Mana per use is really a lot so he decided to only use it when he needed it since even without it his speed is incredible. Arthur looked around for more items in the tomb but there were none left, he felt refreshed because of the turn of the events, he shifted his gaze to various corners of the room, checking whether there are some good items hidden or left unnoticed by him. There were some scrolls, ancient books and so on, but before he checked them, he tried using the storage ring he got just now. Since he practiced dark magic for a couple of minutes, and with the knowledge he got from Zodiak his control was somewhat decent so he used it on the ring and suddenly he felt like he had control of a big space, in his mind he could see a big black space loaded with items but even with all those items there seems to be more space left than used . there really were a lot of items which him very happy, what''s more, he found boots and gloves that could possibly wear. Imoogi''s boots: a special boot made of the skin of an ancient Iimoogi: Agility +120 / Vitality +75 / Defense +150 Level requirement: 50 Black Ruby Gloves : +50 Intelligence // +10% Mana Regeneration The stats were not that amazing compared to the other items he got but he didn''t care about that and he equipped them after he got them out of the storage which was an easy thing to do, he just willed them to be out and they popped out of thin air in front of him. Amongst the other items in the storage, there were weapons and armors but they were not as good as the ones he was wearing so he just neglected them, there were some he couldn''t appraise like the cane, so he just put them aside for the time being. He kept looking around until he found an interested cane that caught his attention. Silence Cane : A cane specially crafted by Zodiak : +150 Intelligence / +150 Wisdom / +25% Mana Regeneration // Attack +400 level requirement : 85. Since he didn''t have a weapon right now, he decided to use it in battle, after all, it was better than nothing, the cane didn''t look much special too, it was a black cane with a violet crystal on top in a shape of a skull. Arthur continued looking through the items, but nothing caught his eyes as most of them were either weapons, strange talisman or countless books or chests that had items he never saw in his life, he decided to ignore them for now as maybe his level is way too low for them. There was a mind-boggling amount of Gold, Arthur could guess it was most likely the currency used here, but the amount was just too much. After Arthur finished checking his storage ring, he turned around to search for useful things, he first went to the bookshelves and tables and stored everything, since he can understand the language used by the being he possessed he could read those books, but for now he kept them in his storage he decided he will look through them when he has some free time. Finally there were only the supposedly treasure chests left in the room, there were exactly 3 treasure chests, he approached them then he used a little bit of strength to open the first one, when it was open, all he could see was gold coins but those were very special as they were ancient and dusty but they had a symbol of dragon on them. The first and second chests were full of those coins so he just put the 2 chests in his storage then he went and opened the 3rd chest expecting to see gold coins too but surprisingly he found it loaded with crystals , they seemed to be emitting some kind of energy and they were various sizes and colours , he tried appraising them but all he got was this. ''ting'' Magic Crystal(Type : rare) : ?????????????????? Since he didn''t know what enchanting means, he decided to put the chest into the storage and look at it further when he can comprehend what those crystals are meant for. After clearing all the room he was left empty in this dusty room, he breathed a sigh of relief ''''luck has really a part in life huh". After he readied himself and his clothes and checked everything he left the room and the first thing he saw was the corpse of the bear he left in here, since it was blocking the way he decided to push it with the dark magic but suddenly he stopped and tried using [death touch], he put his hand on the bear and [death touch] consumed the bear. The corpse was absorbed in Arthur''s hand like a black hole, after clearing the corpse he decided to test his speed, since it was a long corridor and with his new stats there isn''t anything that it can harm him so he used his full speed to run through the corridor and what surprised him is what took him 40 minutes with the bear . Now took him roughly 2 minutes, his speed was really incredible, the corridor was approximately 20 to 25km and to do that in 2 minutes is like going 12.5km in 1 minute which was incredible. After he arrived at the end he noticed that it was sunrise right now, he took a breath of fresh air and checked his stats. TITLE : NONE Level: 87 RACE: VOID PARASITE -- Strength: 1640 Intelligence: 2475 Agility: 2100 Wisdom: 2098 Vitality: 2116 Dexterity: 1220 -- Health: 1880 Health Regen: 24.2/s Mana: 3840 Mana Regen: 58.9/s Stamina: infinite Stamina Regen: ??? -- Attack: 1581 Defense: 1782 -- Elemental Resistances Fire:25% Water:25% Wind:25% Earth:25% Light:25% Darkness:100% Arthur was quite happy and proud of his stats even though it was totally luck that got his this strong but nevertheless , he is considered strong now and since he stabilised himself more, he thought that it was time to head to a city or a town to learn more about this world, after all, he doesn''t have a goal in his life now, he decided to live freely and do whatever he wants. Since he doesn''t even know where he is right now, he used [Dark cloud] the black 2-meter cloud appeared beside him he jumped on it, it was sturdy cloud even sturdier and harder than the ground. Arthur willed the cloud to fly up in the air so he can at least see his surroundings as maybe he''ll see a town or a city. The cloud got very high until he willed it to stop, it seemed so natural to control it, it felt like it was a part of his body. When he was high enough in the air, he observed the surrounding and all he could see was a big forest in all directions except the North. On the North, there were fields and a town with high walls but for Arthur, those walls were tiny because he was higher than them in terms of altitude, plus he was quite far away from them. The town seemed to be 30 to 40KM to the North but he was able to see it with his high Dexterity, there was also some kind of camp 15KM in the same direction of the town but it was really minuscule and he could barely see it as there were no trees in that direction and there existed an open grassy field with some fog produced by a flame most likely so he guessed it must be some kind of camp or something similar. He went to the direction of the town with his cloud, and surprisingly the cloud has the same speed as him when he is running full speed. When he was 20Km from the town he descended to the ground and decided to run from there because flying may attract some unwanted attention and he wanted to stay lowkey. When he got down, he willed the cloud to disappear, rechecked his attire to make sure it didn''t look shady but no matter how you look at, anyone would find him suspicious with his black robe that covered his skeletal face and everything, literally, he looked like a black shadow, there is also the cold feeling he was emanating, it was too chilling. Arthur finished the check and started running toward the town, however, he didn''t run at full speed because that would even attract more suspicion than his shady look. If he were to run at full speed, no one would be able to see him, they would only feel a gust of wind passing by them. His current running speed was relatively low, maybe similar to when he was inside the boar''s body and it did not attract any attention but it''s not like he met anyone so far but this situation soon changed when 5 men appeared out of the blue. They seemed dirty and had scars on their faces, one man was burly and had a big frame, and another was skinny with a long pointy nose, and the three others were more dirty looking and wore rusty armors. The burly guy had a big axe at his back and the skinny one had a sword sheathed but the other three guys had just simple axes at both hands. One of the 3 guys approached Arthur and said disdainfully "Hello there, this is a dangerous place, don''t you need some protection from veteran people like us? Say no more, we''ll provide you with protection until Willsden town but you have to give us your belongings so we can keep''em safe ok?" The man approached Arthur with a disgusting smile hanging on his hideous face but when he was 5 meter from him he felt a chill down his spines that stopped his feet from moving another step toward Arthur. One of the other guys saw that his companion stopped advancing and felt something was off so he approached his comrade and shouted at Arthur "Didn''t you hear what second brother said? Hand over your f*cking belongings so we can protect you, or you would die by some ''unfortunate'' accident hehe" Arthur knew from what they said that they were bandits but nevertheless he used appraise on them to measure their Levels and strength, after all, no matter how much he is strong he can''t act rashly unless he knows the general strength of a human in this world, when he used appraisal he could see their Levels Sayo (Bandit Lv4) Kayo (Bandit Lv3) Bago (Bandit Lv4) Silvester (Bandit Lv6) Captain (Bandit Lv8) It seemed that his guess was right and that the burly man was the highest level and apparently the strongest, but he stayed silent and watched as his companions tried to rob someone. Arthur''s Level was 87 which was way higher than these bandits and from observing their Levels and equipment he concluded he could kill them at any given time but he didn''t, after all, killing a human is not like killing a monster. However, his hatred for humans is more than monsters as humans are more dangerous, their greed can change them completely but even so he hesitated on whether to kill them or not, bandits are usually bad people who rob and kill for their own benefit so killing them is like giving service to society but for someone who never took a human life before it was kind of difficult. Arthur remained silent and waited to see their response. The one who shouted at Arthur got angry because he got no response and rushed at him with a short knife, clearly wanting to kill him, but once he got close he too felt the cold and chilling aura emitted from Arthur, nevertheless, he continued to rush at Arthur wishing to slit his throat him. Arthur saw the man coming to him but his speed was so slow that he felt as if he was not moving, he could''ve killed him a thousand times if he wanted to be he didn''t, by seeing his speed he knew that even if this attack landed on him it wouldn''t do any damage because his defense is enormous and he wanted to use this situation to know his limits and how much his bones could hold. He waited for the attack to land, fortunately, or unfortunately for him, it did but it didn''t even go through the robe, it was like it hit metal or something even harder, since Arthur was wearing the armor, it added to his Defense too so the knife of the bandit couldn''t pass through it, not even scratch it or rip it. The bandit stood there dazed, he couldn''t believe his eyes, even a hind bear cannot withstand an attack like that and stand there so casually, so seeing with his one eyes that his attack didn''t even scratch the robe, his hand began shaking as he realized he attacked the wrong person and there will be no coming back. The skinny looking bandit who was Lv6 noticed what happened, his eyes narrowed and his face turned serious, he leaned closed to the burly man and whispered with a low voice. "Boss, this guy isn''t some random man, we should be cautious, do we attack all at the same time?" The burly man''s eyes turned serious for a moment before he smiled and said "Sayo! Bago! Why are you attacking this man? Come back here NOW !" He then approached Arthur slowly and apologetically said : "Little brother, please excuse my comrades, they lack manners, as a way to apologize would you please follow us to our village? We will certainly gift you something that will please you." The burly man''s sudden change in attitude surprised the 4 other bandits but they quickly understood that if their boss was sweet-talking this man it means this person is strong, so they lowered their arms and smiled awkwardly to Arthur. Arthur still didn''t say anything, but the burly man took his silence as a yes and added "Then please follow us, the village is near it will only take us a couple of minutes at most." He then turned around and started walking. The 4 others followed him, Arthur pondered for a moment then he followed them, he walked behind the burly man but the 4 others were circling around him, it was obvious that they were blocking his exit. Just as the man said, after 5 minutes of walking, they arrived at the so-called village. Actually it couldn''t be called a village, there were several tents scattered here and there and a big one in the middle, there were dozens of men around the camp either drinking or sparring, Arthur even noticed that in the sparring, the one who won kept kicking the losing opponent until he killed him but the cheers from the comrades didn''t stop, they seemed unaffected by the death of their companion. On the corner of the camp there was steel cage and what was inside it was really ugly to behold, it reminded Arthur of his past life, in the cage there were several men either torturing women or playing with them, there were even little children with bruised bodies. All these women had lifeless eyes they didn''t even scream, it seemed like it had been some time since they were captured and they either gave up or got used it too, those eyes reminded him of his hellish past and the time he spent in that desolate room, Arthur stopped walking and watched the cage in daze. The burly man noticed Arthur''s action so he laughed and said "Hahaha, little brother need not worry, we''ve got women better than these, but if you like some in there, we can always give them to you, you only need to say the word, for now, let''s head to my boss, he is the ruler of this village" Arthur heard what the burly man just said and he got even angrier but he contained his anger continued to follow the burly man which his name seemed to be Ricardo. When they arrived in front of the big tent, Ricardo told Arthur to wait for a moment, then he entered the tent, after some time he exited the tent with a smirk and said "I have told the boss what happened and he wishes to meet you so he can compensate you and apologize for the actions of my companions, please enter." Ricardo opened the tent for Arthur to let him enter. Arthur didn''t say a single word from the beginning, he just entered the tent. The interior was quite luxury it contained some good furniture but compared to what Arthur had in his storage it was trash, he walked for 10 or so meter until he heard noises "You whore! I chose you because you seemed really good but you''re worse than shit aren''t you? Hurry up and do your job properly! " When Arthur passed the curtain and went toward the noise, he saw someone sitting in a chair with a wooden desk in front of him, he seemed to be doing inappropriate and his eyes were burning with lust, when he saw Arthur, he didn''t particularly stop or anything he just said "Oh oh so you are the man Ricardo was speaking of, wait a moment I need to finish what I''m doing.." After a couple of seconds a beautiful woman seemed to appear from near the desk, she seemed to have been crawling near the desk so Arthur didn''t see her when he came in, she had a collar on her neck and her eyes were more lifeless than the ones on the outside , the man picked her up and bent her over the desk and was apparently going to **** her, Arthur didn''t want to know why she was crawling near the desk but it didn''t appear to be pleasant. Just as he pushed the woman on t desk, the man felt a cold chill and his body began shaking non-stop so he tried to look toward Arthur but before he could even lift his head, his vision turned jet black. Arthur saw a scene he would rather not see but at least he was able to stop it. She must have been suffering for a long time considering the lifeless look on her face but at least he ended it right now or else she would have to suffer for a long time. It reminded him of himself and how he wished someone would kill him or help him from his suffering but no one have done that, but now it was different, now he can help someone who was in the same situation he was in so, of course, he would help this person because he knew what being helpless and alone really means. He couldn''t control himself so he used the dark spear and with but a thought the spear rushed toward the man, it was so fast that it crushed his head until there was nothing left, he couldn''t even react in time, he instantly died when it hit him, the dark spear didn''t stop once it pulverised the man''s head, it continued toward the tent but Arthur stopped it and willed it to disappear. The headless corpse of the bandit boss lifelessly fell on the ground with his lower body naked, showing his disgusting thing, as for the woman, she didn''t even seem surprised by what happened, she just stood there motionless, Arthur walked in front of her and said "Do you want to die?" The woman looked at him for a couple of seconds then tears poured out of her eyes, she just nodded. Arthur made a dark dagger with his dark magic and stabbed her heart killing her on the spot, he knew what she was feeling, even though she was saved but all that was done to her made her want to die more than to live, death was a way for her to escape and Arthur offered her that way because he too wanted to die back then but he couldn''t, so he understood her very much. He walked to the corpse of the bandit and used [Death Touch] on it, absorbing it completely, then he looked around the tent to see if there is something of use or anyone around but all he could find was a wooden chest, so he walked towards it and opened it but all he found was couple hundred gold coins, the same type he found in his storage ring so he concluded that these gold coins were the currency used in this world . After looking around one more time, Arthur headed to the entrance of the tent, he was going to slaughter everyone, since everyone in this camp was either heartless and cruel, he remembered the eyes of the men who were in the cage, they were filled with lust and greed, they acted on their desires and used those women as playthings. ''this world is more rotten than the previous one'' though Arthur. When he exited the tent, he saw Ricardo and some other men chatting, without wasting time, he created dark spears and sent them to the heads of the bandits, Ricardo and the others fell on the ground helplessly without even knowing how they died, it was truly a gruesome and gory sight, there were some other bandits who saw what happened and were terrified, after all, they saw their comrade dying so fast and couldn''t even see what killed them , so they started running away, but Arthur wouldn''t let them do so, he created as many spears as there were bandits and sent them towards these fleeing bastards. In just seconds, all the bandits were dead, no one was left alive as they really deserved to die a million times, and maybe even that was not enough to atone for what they did, the only people still alive were the women and children inside the cage. Arthur started checking the tents for more bandits, and he found 3 of them sleeping so he killed them on spot and headed toward the cage. The women and kids had a look of fear in their eyes, they didn''t seem as desperate and hopeless as the women in the big tent so Arthur didn''t ask them if they wished to die and even they wanted to, they could always suicide so there was no point in doing it himself. After checking if there were any other bandits, Arthur just left the camp and headed toward the town which was called "Willsden town", but his view of this world changed, he knew that people in here might be crueler than his previous world, so he was even more cautious toward anyone, but at least he could defend himself, with his abilities he could secure a good life for himself, as what he is going to do in this town, he still didn''t know yet. However, one thing for sure is that he knew, no matter who it is, anyone who means ill toward him will be dead, be it a kind or evil person, that didn''t matter, his way of thinking is sure hypocritical, or maybe he is more like a tyrant than a living being, but none of that bothered him, he just wants to live however he wants, he was no longer human, so why should he still follow their morals and stupid rules? That''s absurd! Arthur headed toward the town and with a bit of speed he arrived in 5 minutes, it was still morning when he arrived, he saw the walls of the town 10 meters high and made of stone, and there was a somewhat big gate opened, also there was a long queue of people waiting to enter the town , there were merchants in big and small carriages, and people with their families, Arthur didn''t pay attention to them, he just walked towards the end of the queue and began waiting for his turn. All the people close to him felt that cold and chilly feeling from him like he was a ghost, no one talked to him, they even left a space of 2 meters between him and them, but that didn''t bother him at all. After the long wait, it was finally his turn, he approached the soldier or what seemed like one, he was armored and had a longsword attached to his waist, he looked at Arthur suspiciously then said "Hello, are you an adventurer? If yes show me your adventurer''s ID if not, then pay up 10 copper coins" Arthur just retrieved 10 copper coins to appear from his storage ring then passed them to the soldier, then he entered the town. It was a lively town, there were people everywhere, in every corner or alley, he saw merchants selling food or clothes and even furniture but he wasn''t interested in any of that, shops and stalls were displaying their treasures with price tags near the items. It was a bustling town despite it looking a bit primitive compared to where Arthur came from. He continued to roam the town to get to know the places better, he saw a 10 story building which had a symbol of double swords on the front, he guessed it was the Adventurer''s guild, he also saw a luxury road with all kinds of residences, when he tried checking it out the guards in the road said "If you are not a noble you cannot enter, sorry." Arthur didn''t bother with the guards and just passed the luxury road, he was just interested because it was cleaner and more luxurious than the rest of the town but he since he cannot enter it, he will not bother with it, after all, with all the gold he has he surely can be considered rich but he wanted to stay lowkey for the moment and not anger someone who can threaten his life, he won''t be careless like the past him. When night came, Arthur started searching for an Inn and after half an hour he found a 2 story building, which seemed remotely similar to the inn so he entered it..... Chapter 6 - 7 : Reading When Arthur entered the buildings, he could see tables scattered all around and people were either drinking beer or eating something, they were all chatting heartily, but few of them gazed at Arthur when he walked in the building, they threw suspicious gazes at him because of his attire but those glances lasted for a couple of seconds before they continued their laughter and chatter. Arthur ignored them and headed for the reception desk, there was a big muscular lady at the reception desk, she was frightening like a gorilla but Arthur didn''t seem affected by her appearance. The muscular lady saw Arthur coming toward her, she frowned for a second then smiled at him and said "Hello customer, would you like to reserve a table to eat or do you want to stay at the inn?" Because in his past live Arthur was isolated for months, his interactions with people became non-existent, so it was hard for him to respond properly, even when he speaks his voice seems cold and devoid of emotion, he stared at the lady for a second then just said "Inn... a room" The lady didn''t seem bothered by the lack of words of the man before her and just replied "A night at the inn is 1 silver, with breakfast, lunch and dinner it''s 2 silver" Since Arthur was new to this world, he didn''t know if the price was expensive or cheap but he had thousands of silver coins and even more gold coins in his storage so spending 1 or even 100 silver didn''t seem much to him. He merely waved his hand and 5 silver coins appeared, he handed them to the lady and spoke yet again "5 days" He didn''t want to stay a lot of days, he thought that 5 days should be enough to familiarize himself with the town, and if he wanted to stay more, then he would come back and pay for more days. The lady accepted the 5 silver coins and said "Thank you for your payment, if you would like to follow me upstairs, I will guide you to your room" Arthur nodded and followed her, the building was made of stone but the interior was made of wood, it was clean and tidy, even the stairs were clean and well preserved. After walking upstairs he found himself in a 15-meter corridor with doors left and right, he followed the lady until they reached the end of the corridor she then opened the door to the left and showed him the room. "This is your room sir, if you would like a hot water tub then come and ask me, it costs 20 copper coins" she then turned around and left hurriedly to serve the other customers downstairs. Arthur entered the room and looked around, he saw a simple wooden desk and a chair. There was simple candle with a flickering flame, it illuminated the whole room but it seemed that it won''t be long before the flames is extinguished. Despite that, Arthur didn''t mind as his high Dexterity gave him super sight, which allows him to see clearly at night. On the left of the room was a simple bed with sheets tidied up on it but because of his infinite stamina, the bed seemed totally useless for him, he could stay awake all day long without getting tired and even if he would sleep he would only have nightmares about his past so he preferred staying awake and avoid unnecessary trouble. He sat on the chair near the desk and bought a book from his storage, but he didn''t retrieve a random book, instead, he took a history book and began reading it. The reason he chose a history book was because he is new to this world and the better he knows the countries and historical events the better he will be able to understand his surroundings and his current location in the world, furthermore, it will help him better adapt to the environment. He began reading fastly through the pages, because of his tremendously high intelligence, his reading was far better and his memory was strengthened too, so the contents of the books would not fade away from his memory even after some time, he even could remember what he has read letter by letter which was truly amazing, I guess that''s what they called a photographic memory in his previous world. After 1 hour or so he finished reading the book but he wasn''t sure if it was the same or not, after all, this book was very old and maybe many things changed from back then. The contents of the books were about this world and the continents in it, apparently the world was divided into 4 continents, in the South was the human continent which was ruled by a human emperor the empire was called The Nida empire. In the north was the second continent, also called the Demon continent which was ruled by a council of demons and a demon lord. In the west was the third continent which was a wasteland, it is a deserted land with few people living in it, usually, those people were savages and barbarians, you can also find beastmen clans there too. Last but not least was is the 4th content , also called the Itas continent ,the continent was in far to the East and was practically a big forest composed of mountains and rivers with some dangerous places here and there, it is inhabited by elves, fairies, and various other races, it is the smallest continent and the most peaceful one, even though it''s peaceful and small, it''s by no means weak, there are some strong individuals lurking there. Arthur wasn''t sure if the information he got from the book he had just read were still true or false, so he decided that tomorrow he would go look for a history book in a library if there was one, because in a new world, information is everything, and if he goes around and provokes someone powerful, then he would most certainly be doomed. He then picked another book and started rampaging in it and in just half an hour he finished, this book explained various cults and religions, apparently the human continent had the most religions and church, and the main one is the Holy Church which has the highest authority, it is said that even the human Emperor has to listen to the orders of the church and cannot act against it or it would be regarded as treason. Also, the holy church had branches all over the world, even some secret ones in the demon continent, Arthur was surprised about how detailed the book was about the holy church, inscribed its location, army, and even the pope who was a very mysterious person and is rarely seen in the public. Time passed and Arthur continued reading books until it was morning, he learned many things such as the existence of many races like dwarves, Fishman and even the dragons which surprised him even though he believed they existed since he was in such a fantasy world. He also found out that there are various kinds of mages, a mage who can use any kind of attribute ( AN: by attribute I mean fire, water, wind etc...) was very well-known, usually mages are nobles or royalty which were trained to be mages from birth by using either elixir or they got a blessing from the Holy Church so they could use holy/light magic. There were also geniuses who would be born with an attribute and be a prodigy in controlling it but those were extremely rare to come by. Also, any mage who can use 2 kinds of attributes is called a dual-mage and you can find one in every 10 to 100 thousand people, it is said that every dual-mage had good fighting abilities and can be sought for even by kings. As for mages who can use more than 2 attributes it was mentioned that they were unique and almost non-existent, they were also known to be called as ''Wizards''. There was also something that picked his interest, he read that there was a special kind of fighters, it was those who used magic to enhance themselves since they couldn''t use any attribute but the enhancement depends on their skill in using mana, also mages who can use attributes like fire, for example, can use those attributes in their physical attacks, so in general any mage who can use an attribute can either use it by casting spells, for example, a fireball or use those attribute to enhance their physical body and use it in physical attack, for example, a normal slash of a sword would contain fire in it, which will be more deadly. When Arthur read this he immediately thought of his [void slash] which was terrifying, a single slash of his contained the power of the attribute [void], if he could use it in physical attacks doesn''t that mean that he also can use void to perform ranged-attacks too? Arthur ignored the idea of using void magic for now because he finds dark magic more useful, however thinking thoroughly about this, didn''t that mean that he was a dual-mage? He could use [dark magic] and [void magic] but he liked the dark magic more because he found it more easy to use, perhaps because he got the experience or Zodiak in controlling it? ''Let''s not think about this for now'' Arthur shrugged the idea off and put the book in his storage, then got up from the chair to head out of the room. When he got downstairs, he saw that the place was emptier than last night, as to be expected, it was still morning and many people were either sleeping or working. The landlady was at the reception desk helping customers, and sometimes delivering food to them, she seemed very energetic although it was still morning. Arthur just passed by her without giving any greetings and left the building, just as he left he saw that there were many people wearing coats, maybe the weather was too cold but he couldn''t feel it, perhaps because he was a pack of bones, albeit feeling the air touch his bones or the air resistance when he ran at his full speed, he was still perplexed about this body, he couldn''t get hungry not could he know if he was actually breathing, but it''s not like it mattered right? Yesterday, Arthur roamed all the time, although it was called a town, it was considered big, it took him 3 hours to do a full tour of it and check everything except that luxurious road which he couldn''t access to. He remembered seeing some kind of a building with a book symbol in the western part of the town, so he headed toward that building hoping that it was a library. The town was still bustling with merchants and shops even though it was still early in the morning, the cold weather didn''t change the fact that there were many people either working or shopping, after walking for about 10 minutes he arrived in front of the supposed "library" and he entered it. The first thing he noticed when he entered was the strange smell of paper, there were bookshelves aligned next to each other very neatly, even though the room was not that big, probably 30x30 meter, for a library it''s considered small, but it was very clean, there were some customers checking books and observing the bookshelves, but they were all quiet, as to be expected since they were in a library. In the center of the room there was a wooden desk, and an old man was sitting there reading a book, the old man was very skinny albeit looking healthy and somewhat a face full of vigor, he had a long white beard all the way to his chest, and seemed to be reading a book leisurely. Arthur walked toward the old man was, he guessed he must be the receptionist. The old man glanced at Arthur for a second before he continued reading the book without a care in the world but when Arthur was too close to him, the old man felt a cold chill and his hands shook a bit, so he glanced seriously at the man coming towards him and guessed that he must be someone powerful or else he wouldn''t emanate such cold and ominous feeling, the old man strengthened his back and spoke politely to Arthur "Hello there customer, welcome to our shop, would you like to buy a book or borrow one? If so please tell me what kind of book you want" Arthur noticed the change in the personality of the old man, and he knew that it must''ve been his aura, he had long since decided to find a solution to it, maybe somehow turn it off or it would bring big troubles in the future, when he was in front of the old man he unconsciously appraised him, it seemed to become a habit of him to appraise anyone who spoke to him so he can measure their strength. Jeff Kelner(Human): Lv11 "Buy all books.... history " He was quite surprised by the Lvl of the old man, it seemed higher than the bandits, but he quickly concluded that it must have been because he was old and that even working in a library can give experience but compared to hunting it seemed to give much much less experience. Arthur spoke in a weird manner, it even surprised the old man for he didn''t expect the man who scared him to speak in such a manner but nevertheless he brought all the historical books he could find for fear of angering Arthur. After having Brought all the historical books he could find, there were about 20 to 30 books on the reception desk. "Dear customer, these are all the books we have about history, you can choose whatever you want but please note that there are some expensive ones among them" The old man spoke politely to Arthur and waited for him to choose whatever book he liked, but what surprised him more was what Arthur said next "...All" Just one word but it greatly shocked the librarian, he couldn''t believe his ears first so he questioned "Dear customer, are you sure you want all of the books? Some are expensive and not all people can afford to buy even a single one of them". Arthur just nodded his head, after seeing the affirmation of the customer the old man was shocked and couldn''t help but feel a bit suspicious, he didn''t think that Arthur would buy all the books as they cost a huge sum together but nevertheless he still took his time and calculated the price. After 3 or so minutes of checking he told Arthur the amount, he told him the sum he needed to pay and greatly focused on the facial expression of Arthur, however, he was astonished to see that the customer didn''t as much as flinch when he heard the price, his suspicions soon subdued and he concluded that this customer is a noble or something similar or else why would he spend so much gold on those books? It''s not like they were cheap, their sum could feed several households for a couple of years. The total sum was a whopping 220 Gold which was enormous for the old man but for Arthur? Not so much, those 220 gold were just a single drop from an ocean of gold, his storage had mountains of gold coins, so spending some on books is nothing for him. After he gave the gold coins to the old man, the librarian stared greedily at the gold coins for some seconds unable to believe his own eyes, but he quickly adjusted himself and thanked the customer, however, Arthur ignored him, he picked the books and left the building, the old man didn''t stop speaking as he shouted at Arthur to come back if he needed any sort of book . ''He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have'' even though the old man got a whopping 220 gold he still wanted more, human greed is really the worst thing in them. Chapter 7 - 8 : Auction When Arthur left the library, with nothing else to do, he started roaming around the town to pass the time, after 5 minutes or so of walking he noticed a crowd not far from his position, in front of the crowd was some kind of stage. Since he had nothing better to do he went toward it to see what''s going on, the crowd of people seemed to be cheering and shouting from excitement and in the middle of the stage, in front of them, there was a man smiling and trying to calm down the crowd "Now now, ladies and gentlemen if you would please calm down so we can start the auction." After hearing what the men said, everybody calmed down a little except a few who were whistling and shouting, but they soon stopped too because of the angry gazes of the crowd. After everything calmed down the man in the stage noticed the absolute calm in the crowd and took the opportunity to speak "Thank you for your long wait asI can assure you that you will not be disappointed after all the waiting as the ''merchandise'' of today is one of the best we ever had since the opening of our auction. Please, if you would like to participate in the auction all you have to do is raise your hand and name a price when the bidding starts and if your price is the highest, you will get the ''item'', now let the auction begin!". Arthur was quite interested in this auction because in his previous life auctions were very rare and made in private, so he never got to participate in one, though he had everything he needed in his storage, something may pick his interest and the idea of participating in an auction made him a little excited. Arthur appraised the man like always and got to see his name and LVL Edward Fonel (Human): LVL55 Just when Edward finished his announcement, a big muscular guy walked in from the backstage carrying in his hand something covered with a white piece of cloth, he walked near Edward then put the covered item on the table which was in front near him, he then walked where he previously was. "Ladies and gentleman, the first item to be auctioned is something that may interest many of you, I present to you the fire Attribute skill book :[Flame tornado]!, it was obtained in a dangerous hunt made by one of our adventurer friends" "OooOoOoo!" all the crowd was amazed by the skillbook, and that''s because it was extremely rare to find one and even if there was, it will not be auctioned as most people will use it instead of selling it. What was amazing about a skillbook is that even if you are unable to use magic, if you learn a magic skill like this [Flame tornado], you could use this attack even with your inability to use magic, after all, it only costs mana, and every being possess it, so for those not born with capacities to be a mage, using a skillbook to obtain magic skills was like a blessing to those people that allowed them to be a bit stronger or maybe have a trump card to use in a fight, and even for mages who would learn a skill book related to the their attribute when they execute this skill it would be many times more powerful than normal. The crowd was stunned for 1 minute or so, and Edward was grinning at them as he was expecting this reaction from the participants. Arthur was more amazed of the reaction of the crowd more than the appearance of the skillbook because he didn''t expect skill books to be this rare, when he searched his storage he found hundreds of skill books , but he didn''t learn them as they seemed really weak and useless to him, so he just kept them in his storage ring, and now seeing the eyes of people were full of greed and envy toward this single skillbook, he understood that he completely underestimated the value of skills in this world. Since he wasn''t interested in this skillbook he decided not to bid for it and wait to see other items. After waiting some time, Edward said "The starting price of this skillbook would be 1000 gold coins, may the higher bidder win!" Just as he finished talking, everyone started raising their hands and bidding "1050 gold coins" "1060!" "1100" The price of the skill book was rising non-stop, even after reaching 2000 gold, the bidding never stopped, and all of a sudden, a young man from the front of the crowd sitting in a luxurious chair and holding a fan in his hand said calmly "10,000 gold coins" All the crows turned silent when they saw who talked, no one dared to raise his hand and bid more than the young man said because they knew he was someone important and no one dared to provoke him, he was a well-known noble in this town and it is rumored he had strong backing behind him, whenever he wanted to buy something, no one would dare to stop him from buying it. The young man was quite handsome, he seemed to be in his twenties, he wore an elegant white robe with gold symbols on it, he had jewelry in his hands and neck which seemed really expensive, there was also two breath-taking women beside him, they seemed to be his maids since they wore a maid outfit. Truthfully speaking, the price of the skill book could have risen to 20.000 gold coins or even more but since the young noble spoke no one dared to oppose him. The auctioneer Edward seemed disappointed by this turn of the events but nevertheless, he kept a smile on his face and said "10.000 going once, 10.000 going twice, 10.000 going thrice, SOLD! Congratulations to Mr. Feylord for buying this skill book" Everybody looked dejected since this young noble called Feylord was here, no one expected to get anything if it picked the interest of Feylord. The item was passed to Feylord, he then waved his hands and one his maids passed 10.000 gold coins toward the big muscular guy who brought the skill book in the beginning of the auction. 10.000 gold coins seemed a lot to carry with just 2 hands, so in this world they used magical bags that could contain various things and they used them when adventuring or for storing big amounts of money, it was kind of like the storage ring but very limited as those bags could only contain a specific weight(''AN: for example a magic bag that can hold to 50KG, you can put anything into it until it reaches the maximum weight which is 50KG) After one of the maids passed the bag containing the money to the muscular man, Edward proceeded with the auction. The rest of the items were amazing but they didn''t bring much excitement as the skill book, nonetheless there were still some amazing items in the eyes of the people but to Arthur all of it was garbage, the items sold in this auction couldn''t even remotely compare to what he had so he didn''t participate in any bidding and his excitement and hype lessened a lot, his hopes for the appearance something good were long gone. After an hour or so of bidding, the crowd was depressed, and that''s because almost half of the items auctioned were bought by Feylord and they couldn''t do anything about it, he took all the good things, his prices were not even high but because no one could oppose him, he could buy them cheap, even Edward was sad because of this. He expected to earn a quite a lot but all the items sold to Feylord were almost sold at the same price that was on the market if not cheaper. Edward sighed then thought ''at least the last item will sure get us a fair amount of money even Feylord Buy it'' He then exclaimed toward the crowd "Ladies and gentlemen we have approached the end of the auction, and we have saved the best for last, our last item is very special and I assure you it will please a lot of you " After he finished talking Edward waved his hand toward the muscular man, the latter nodded and headed downstairs to bring the last item. When Arthur heard the auctioneer, even though he lost all hope in finding something interesting he still looked forward to seeing the last item, after all, the auctioneer said it was the best thing in this auction. After a couple of minutes the muscular guy came to the stage with the supposedly ''item'' but what it totally surprised everyone in the crowd even Arthur as they were expecting to see an item and not a living being, what accompanied matchless and all the crowd''s eyes were focused on her, even Arthur was stunned by her beauty but she looked devoid of emotion and had gorgeous but cold eyes that. She was dressed in a simple ragged grey cloth that covered her from the chest area all down to her knees and she was chained in her legs and hands and also had a collar around her neck that was connected to a chain which was where the muscular guy dragged her from. She had bruises all over her body except her face, even though her size was of a small, no one would think she is a kid, her demeanor was of a woman, Arthur thought that the idols from his past world were "trash" compared to this girl. Edward couldn''t stop grinning when he saw the amazement of the crowd and shouted "As you may have guessed, our last ''item'' is not an actual item but a slave, and a special one at that, she has a beauty second to none and is a demon! Yes! You heard me right, she from the demon race so there is no need to feel sorry someone for someone like her, she can be used as a simple servant or a sex slave but unfortunately she can''t fight due to her powers being sealed, as you may know, we can''t use slave contracts on demons so we have to seal their power so they can not harm their master, the starting price is 25,000 gold coins. " Some of the crowd were still amazed by the beauty of the demon girl, and others began bidding with all the money they had, deep in their hearts they wished for Feylord not to bid for the girl, but when they glanced at him they lost all hope, he seemed very calm on the outside but some could see that his eyes were burning with lust and obsession and many knew that Feylord liked to have beautiful women around him as you may have noticed from the 2 maids standing next to him, he couldn''t wait a minute before he raised his hand and said "100.000 gold coins I bid 100.000 gold coins, give her to me!" ************************************************************ Lucy''s POV/3rd view of Lucy Lucy was an orphan child, all she could remember was that since she was 4 years old she was alone, she didn''t know her parents or anything about her family, but she did know that she was a demon and she was living in the human continent. She lived her life running from either empire soldiers or Holy Church army who were slaughtering every demon they could find, be it a child or even a baby they were like brainwashed people all they knew was killing demons. She didn''t know why her family abandoned her, but nevertheless she struggled for her life and by the age of 10 she began to understand more about the world, after all the running and struggling with her life she managed to be strong at fighting, she also learned to control magic by herself and little by little she became very skilled at it , you can say that her magic was strong so even when any normal soldier from the Holy Church attacked her she could defend herself, but even with her strong magic abilities she couldn''t win against numbers. As the years passed and the fighting continued she became considerably strong until she wasn''t afraid of the Holy Church, however surprisingly they didn''t come for her anymore, many months passed without any pursuer, so she became a little bit relaxed and less anxious about the danger. She always hid her appearance so she didn''t attract any attention, even if she was a demon no one would guess that as she basically looked more like human than a demon, especially because demons usually have horns, but she knew her beauty would cause big troubles so she lived years hidden and barely communicated with people. She didn''t trust anyone and that''s because she knew that all humans were the same, that they would use anyone for their benefits and because of her beauty they would sweet-talk her to gain her trust until they could lay their hands on her body, but unfortunately even though she vowed to never trust humans, she broke this vow and trusted a man. She fell in love with him because he was kind to her even though she never showed him her appearance and helped her when she was in need, as time passed and she stayed with the man and she fell in love with him and with his kindness, she never had a family who cared for her so having someone kind and warm who managed to break through her distrusting heart was something she always yearned for. As time passed, they began to be closer to each other, and she began to open up to him, she showed him her real appearance but he didn''t seem very surprised, he complimented her beauty but he didn''t have the lustful eyes that all the men had when they looked at her so she felt more secure and trustful towards him. Some random day she wanted to surprise him in his house, but as she was coming in, she heard him talk to some people and after hearing the conversation she began shaking and tears flowed from her eyes non-stop. What she heard was that the man she fell in love with was apparently someone the Holy Church sent to seduce her and bring her to their base. She couldn''t control her emotions and regretted the day that she trusted him and fell in love with him, she realized that all the months she passed with him and all the kindness he showed her was all but a big lie to lure her in. The poor girl was so broken that she cried real blood, she really was mentally broken as she thought she had someone in her life but she was just alone, and all the happy life she had was just an ''illusion, she tried to escape after hearing the conversation but the men noticed her and due to her being shaken and mentally unstable she couldn''t muster up the strength to escape, so they bound her movements and sealed her powers completely, she didn''t even resist as she was still in shock. that man''s personality changed completely after capturing her and he started to laugh maniacally "He-he-he, do you even know how much it was hard for me to put that kind act? Damn slut, do you know how much I wanted to do you? But I had to hold in my desires because of orders from higher-ups, now that you are captured I''m sure they wouldn''t mind right?" Ss he finished speaking he grinned at the other soldiers from the other church, they nodded their head with eyes were burning with desires. Days passed and they used her body however they like, she was physically and mentally broken, and she couldn''t do anything, after some time she stopped reacting to people and all she would think about is just "kill kill kill kill", she wanted revenge for what was done to her, but she didn''t have the strength to do that as her powers were sealed by these guys, so as time passed and they kept using her to satisfy their desires her hatred became more terrifying and she waited for the day she could muster up the strength to free herself from the seal. These soldiers kept her detained for 2 whole years, they lied to their higher-ups so they could have their fun with her more but one day she finally was able to break from those shackles, unfortunately she didn''t have much power to kill anyone of them as she was severely weakened, she waited for the perfect moment to escape with all the strength she muster. She kept fleeing for months, she was afraid they would catch up to her due to her slow speed, but fortunately, nothing happened. Since then she never trusted anyone and she killed without mercy any men she could find as her hatred for men was terrifying, after all, what has been to her, she had the right to loathe them. Time passed quickly and her strength kept weakening until she became barely able to walk and due to that she was captured by some people who claimed to be slave traders, they were also captivated by her beauty but they thought she was virgin and didn''t touch her and they chained her and locked her away in order to sell her at the auction house expecting to get a fortune from a virgin beauty like her. As she entered the auction stage following the muscular man and being chained in all over her body, she stared at the crowd who was eyeing her lustfully, she was used to those disgusting eyes so she just stared coldly at them without emotion, she didn''t care who would buy her as she would kill them when her powers were back. ************************************************************ POV Change to the original one (AN; I mean by that Arthur POV) As he stared at this chained girl, curiosity got the better of Arthur and he was suspicious as to why someone with her appearance would end up in an auction house, he loathed the idea of slavery but he couldn''t really do much about it, even if he supposedly freed all the slaves in this town that wouldn''t save the others in the rest of the world, a man just cannot show and change something which has been here for ages , it was irrational. As he appraised the girl he saw this: "ting" Lucy (Demon): LVL44 He was surprised by her high level, she was the first person he saw with a LVL this high, he guessed that she must''ve been strong when her powers weren''t sealed, and to be honest he was captivated by her charm and appearance, even though she was this beautiful she had such a cold piercing eyes and emotionless face, she was just like a gorgeous sculpture. He decided that he would buy her, as she would be beneficial to him in providing information, but Arthur wasn''t a human from this world so he wouldn''t force her, he would let her choose either to follow him and if not, he will set her free and let her be on her way. He convinced himself with this excuse but deep in his heart he felt that something was special about this girl although he couldn''t let himself think that as he didn''t want to trust anyone, as they say, "A heart has its reasons which reason knows not" Arthur heard the bidding going up, faster than ever before, then he saw the noble Feylord bid 100.000 gold but he didn''t care about all that as he was sure he would get her in the end after all the amount of gold he has in his storage is by no means little. After the crowd heard the bid of Feylord, no one dared to bid, but they were reluctant to let go of the bid because they were captivated by the beauty of the girl and they wanted her for themselves, but whenever someone tried to raise his hand to bid they were stared at angrily by Feylord, if stares could kill he would''ve killed all of them. After some hesitation everyone just gave up, after all even if they won the bid, they didn''t think Feylord would them off easily, he would kill them and claim the girl anyway. Edward was quite happy, as he heard the price Feylord said, 100.000 gold coins was by no means a small amount, even nobles cannot have that much money, Feylord is a Special noble who was rumored to have ties with the royalty so it was normal for him to have much gold than normal nobles and it is also because of those rumours that no one dared to provoke or even anger him as the consequences of doing so would be tragic. Just as Edward was going to begin the countdown of the bid, someone from raised his hand, it was someone from the back of the crowd, everyone stared at him with dumbfounded faces, they couldn''t believe that someone dared to oppose Feylord. The man in question was dressed in black, you couldn''t even see his face, his hand was covered with black pointy gloves, even the auctioneer was shocked by this turn of events as he didn''t expect someone to raise his hand. Everyone stared at Arthur but he didn''t care and just raised his left hand and showed 2 fingers. Edward stared at the black-robed man and saw his hand and said hesitantly "D-dear sir, by 2 d-do you mean 200.000 gold coins....?" Just as he said that all the people who couldn''t understand why Arthur showed 2 fingers were stunned, after all, to bid 200.000 gold coins is something that would happen once in who knows how many years, so to see something happen in front of their eyes was shocking. Arthur just nodded to the auctioneer to confirm his bid and just stayed there waiting silently. At the front of the stages, where there were VIP customers, Feylord stared at Arthur furiously, he couldn''t believe someone was bold enough to bid higher than him, he was determined to get the demon girl no matter what as he was enchanted by her beauty and wanted her for himself to enjoy and no one could take her from him so he just snorted and turned his head toward Edward and said "250.000 gold coins!" Edward was still amazed by the actions of the black-robed men then he heard the voice of Feylord bidding , he was feeling fear and happiness at the same time, happiness because he would get a big fortune and fear because he didn''t want to offend Feylord, he was just a meager auctioneer and if he sold the girl to the black-robed man, there was a chance Feylord would hold a grudge against him so when he heard the bid of the young noble he breathed a sigh of relief but he didn''t dare to relax yet, he glanced toward the black-robed men at the end of the crowd. Edward was not the only one who turned his gaze toward Arthur, everyone turned towards Arthur gazing at him with excitement and fear. Arthur was kind of annoyed by this young noble, he was persisting and he didn''t like stubborn people, so he appraised him unconsciously and saw ''ting'' Feylord Lernon (Human:Fire attribute) : LVL17 His level was quite high, and he also was a mage, plus he had a fire attribute at that, it explains why he bought that skill book at the beginning of the auction, but even him being a mage and a noble didn''t matter much to Arthur as he just raised his left hand again and showed 5 fingers meaning 500.000 gold coins. Just when Arthur showed his bid, there was complete silence, no one even talked , everyone was shocked by the amount that was just bid, they didn''t expect him to just bid the double amount that was previously bid, even Feylord who was usually calm had stunned eyes, his hands were shaking and he started to feel fearful of losing the bid, after all even though he had strong backing, he had a budget he couldn''t surpass so he just stood from his chair and shouted at Edward " I BID 1 Million GOLD COINS!" Just after he finished his shout he turned his head toward Arthur to see his reaction but all he could see was Arthur showing 2 fingers again but he knew that this didn''t mean 200.000 gold coins like previously but it means a whopping 2 million gold coins, it''s not that easy to procure that much amount of money , even him a prestigious noble who had royalty backing, getting 2 million gold is doable but very hard, he couldn''t match up to this black-robed man so all he could do was just sit angrily on his chair with his head shaking from anger and ferocity. Edward dazed for a couple of seconds before he shouted "2 mmmmMillions going once, going twice, going thrice! SOLD ! Congratulations to this esteemed customer who had won this demon girl, please come here to redeem your ''item'' " Chapter 8 - 9 : Questions Arthur arrived in the stage but the auctioneer didn''t dare take his money now because 2 million gold coins are no small amount and he had to do the transaction thoroughly. Edward said a few words to end the auction and thanked the people who participated in it, he then turned toward Arthur and politely said "Esteemed customer, please follow me to the building so we can confirm your payment and hand you the ''goods'' " The tone he used was very polite, it''s like he was addressing his master and not a customer. Arthur nodded toward the auctioneer and followed him to the building, the muscular guy had already dragged the girl to the building some time ago. When Arthur and Edward went on their way, Feylord who was sitting in his chair was shaking with anger , he couldn''t believe he was humiliated this way, after all, he was used to oppressing and humiliating others instead of being the one humiliated, he, a dignified noble lost to an unknown man without being able to fight back in a show-down of money. The one thing he always boasted about and now he had to go back empty handed with his tail between his legs, he soon stood up but you could notice he was furious by the look in his eyes, he went to an armored men standing 2 meters or so behind him , this man seemed to be his bodyguard or servant , Feylord went to the men and said with a low voice so no one could hear him "find out who this black-robed man is, you have until tonight to tell me his identity". He snorted and headed back to his mansion fuming in anger. Arthur followed the auctioneer to a luxurious building, the exterior seemed to be made from high-grade wood and stone, and the interior was even more fascinating, there were gold pillars in the entrance, and a big red carpet which seemed to cover all the floor. He followed Edward until they arrived at the neat and luxurious room, it seemed to be the office of Edward. Edward went to the chair near his desk and sat on it then smiled back at Arthur and said "Please sit." However, Arthur wasn''t in the mood to chitchat, he was a man of a few words so he shook his head not willing to sit, even after standing through all the auction he didn''t feel any numbness in his legs or wasn''t remotely tired. The auctioneer wanted to befriend the man in front of him since he was able to pay up such a humongous sum but when he saw his unwillingness to sit and talk he felt depressed as he wanted to be acquainted with such a mysterious man, "He either must have powerful backers or is from the royalty." thought Edward as he was assessing the man in front of him. After some time passed, with an awkward silence in the room, the muscular men came in with the girl in front of him, she glanced at Edward then toward Arthur but her face was emotionless as though she didn''t care who would buy her. Edward so his men coming and was happy, as he couldn''t wait anymore and wanted to receive the money. "I sincerely apologize for the long wait dear customer, here is your prize, if you would please pass us the gold" Even though Arthur heard the auctioneer to talk to him, he seemed in a daze as he was staring at the girl while of something..but after some seconds he regained his senses and waived his hand and a magical bag appeared. When he was in the tomb and searching through his storage, near the mountains of gold coins he found magical bags and when he got them out to try to find out what they were, he understood they were some kind of a storage ring but limited, he found a lot of bags in his storage and some of them had more gold coins in them, but the good thing is that somehow when he held the bag and sensed what was in it, something like a message popped in his head telling him exactly what was in there, even the exact amount of gold in the bag . He guessed that since everyone uses this magical bag instead means they too will get the message, and will not need to check every single cold coin, after all, if they started counting from 1 to 2 million gold coins it would take forever. He threw the magical back to Edward and the latter caught it excitedly, and held it tightly with his hands as if it would disappear at any moment. After 20 or so seconds, Edward opened his eyes after having sensed what was in the bag, he mumbled something to himself in a low voice then smiled brightly at Arthur and said "Hahaha, thank you for your payment dear customer, I have checked the bag and it was indeed 2 million gold coins, you may take the girl, she is your property now " The muscular received the signal and pushed the girl toward Arthur and said "He is your master now, obey him or be gone forever." Even though the muscular man said that his eyes were cheating him, it seemed he too wanted to have the girl but he couldn''t when he pushed her away it seemed as if he was throwing his own child away. Arthur no more looked at the auctioneer and saw that the girl was still bounded with chains so he used a tiny bit of dark magic to break those chains, and ''poof'' all the chains just fell down from the girl. Edward saw what the black-robed man just did and he knew for sure that it was magic, and a power type of magic at that, because those were special chains that bounded the physical abilities of the demon girl because even with sealed powers she could still be dangerous so he hurriedly said to Arthur "Emm, Dear customer, I see that you are a powerful mage but I must advise to bind her as even though she has her powers sealed, she is still a demon and would be considered a threat." Just after he finished speaking, he saw Arthur glare at him and felt something cold that could suffocate him from within the black hood. Immense fear surged him and made his body shiver uncontrollably for a split second, knowing that it was not a good idea to continue to press on this matter, he could only smile back awkwardly. Arthur did not stare much, he soon walked out of the room followed by the girl. When they walked out of the building, the crowd seemed to be gone, maybe the guards dispersed them to not cause any trouble but there was still some people scattered who stared at Arthur with jealousy. As they were walking, Arthur noticed that many people were gazing at the girl behind him and then at him, and he didn''t want to attract more attention than he already has so he retrieved a grey cloth which seemed similar to a robe. Actually, it was a good item from his storage but he just retrieved it for the girl so she can wear it and hide her appearance, so he stopped walking and passed her the cloth. She stared at the cloth and the stretched hand of Arthur, then she quickly understood that he wanted her to wear the cloth to avoid unnecessary trouble, so she lifted her little white hands and took the cloth from the man then she quickly wore it. If you look at her now you could only see her petite white hands and her bare feet, you couldn''t see her face or even her silver hair. It was such a waste to hide a beauty like her in a robe but Arthur had to do this as he underestimated her charm which attracted nearly everyone they passed by, even the females were either jealous or admiring the girl. Arthur noticed that it was getting late and the sun was setting so he decided to go back to the inn, he also wanted to read the books he bought to get a better view of the world and maybe learn where he currently was. He knew for certain that he is on the human continent, but where exactly, that, he didn''t know. After walking for a couple of minutes they arrived at the inn. As usual, the Inn at the evening was bustling with people, especially adventures who were tired from a long day of hunting, they would go to the inn''s restaurant which was surprisingly famous in this town and drink beer while talking with their comrades. The entrance of the Arthur which was wearing a black-robe and a smaller person behind him wearing a grey cloth which covered him entirely, have caught the eyes of a few people but they recognized Arthur as he came in last night too but they were curious as to who was the person behind him , but of course no one came to cause him trouble and after a couple of glances they continued to chat with their companions. The landlady also was there, serving people and taking their orders, she seemed very busy working alone in a bustling place but with her big frame, she must have a big endurance. Surprisingly, Arthur waited for her to finish with her customers then he walked towards her to say something. The women noticed Arthur walking towards her and seemed kind of surprised as she knew he didn''t talk, he didn''t even greet her in the morning but she didn''t blame him as she was used by some customers being this way. Arthur arrived in front of the landlady and said "Bring food to my room" his voice had a cold feeling about it as it seemed it could pierce any person''s heart, even the girl behind him lifted her head and gazed at him when she heard his voice, as it was almost the voice of a ghost and no a living person. The landlady was taken aback when she heard the voice but she soon regained her senses and said "I''m sorry mister, but we only serve food in here and don''t deliver them to the rooms." Arthur heard her reply but he wasn''t surprised as he expected her to say something similar so he just retrieved 2 gold coins and passed them to her. The woman saw him taking 2 gold coins to give it to her but she just interrupted him and said "Sir, I''m sorry but those are rules, even if you would give me more gold coins I would not break rules that I personally made" She had firm and decisive eyes and a strong personality, she was not greedy about mere gold coins and was strongly against breaking the rules she made for her inn and restaurant. Arthur admired people like that , it was true that the world was corrupted by greedy and evil people but there still existed good people in this world but it was really rare to meet them as they are the first to die by the hands of the wicked, but that nevertheless those good people are a source of admiration for Arthur as he saw the evil the world had, when he saw kind and strong-hearted people who were not swayed by their desires. Arthur nodded toward the landlady who was smiling at him and he headed upstairs toward his room, actually he didn''t any food as he was a skeleton but he the girl behind him is a living being with needs so he wanted to buy food for her to eat, as he was temporarily her master even though he loathed that idea. He will take care of her in the meantime until he could break her sealed power so she can live freely because if he let her go now, she will only get caught again and it would also be a waste of 2 million gold. He also wished to ask her some questions about the world as he saw she was LVL44 maybe she knew quite a bit about the world, so maybe she could explain to him something. As they entered the room he was currently staying at. Arthur retrieved some food from his storage, even though the storage ring was very old, it seemed that every food kept in it was fresh , but surprisingly he didn''t find a lot only some fruits here and there so he wanted to buy a proper meal for the girl but unfortunately he couldn''t and he truly didn''t want to eat at the restaurant downstairs as there were many gazes and he didn''t want the appearance of the girl to be discovered when she was eating so he decided against the idea of letting her eat at the restaurant. After following Arthur to the room, the girl just stayed standing there silent, she for some reason kept cloth he gave her and was standing still like a statue in the middle of the room. Arthur approached her and stretched his hand to pass the fruits he retrieved from the storage ring to her, but there was no response as she didn''t take the food or do anything at all ,so Arthur just put the fruits on the bed then he went to sit in the chair , took a the newly bought pile of books from his storage and put them on the desk he then started reading without a care about the girl ,as he did his job and gave her food , it was up to her to eat it or not. Not even 5 minutes later, Arthur remembered something and turned to look at the girl who was still staying at the same place, he thought that he should ask her about the things he was curious about before reading the historical books ,but he was doubtful if she would answer him or not as he had not heard her speak even once . He turned around and looked at her for a second then said "Do you mind answering some questions?" ******************************************************************* Lucy POV (Point of view) Apparently, the black-robed man was the one who bought her and became her new master, but that didn''t matter much for her and she knew that the seal would not last much longer and when that time comes, not only he but everyone who took advantage of her will be dead , she wanted revenge and death for everyone especially men as they were beasts , she didn''t think that there existed even a single kind person in this world, if there was any they are just pretending to be so to achieve something. She followed the mysterious black-robed man out of the building, she was surprised as to how much she was sold for, and even more irritated and disgusted when saw that someone paid 2 million gold coins to use her body to satisfy his desires. After having walked for a little while, the men passed her a grey cloth and she quickly understood that she had to for she was very beautiful and it would cause trouble for both of them so she took the grey cloth from him then wore it. They continued to walk until they reached some kind of inn, she guessed that the man who bought her must be reserving a room at this inn. When they entered the inn, the black-robed seemed to be unaffected by all the gazes the people at the restaurant threw at him, lucy didn''t mind either as she was pretty much used this kind of looks as she lived her life hiding. The man walked toward the big woman which lucy guessed was the landlady and spoke to her, but what shocked Lucy was his voice, it was incredibly cold and emotionless. She gazed at him curiously, lost in thought. The man demanded some food delivered to his room and tried giving the landlady some gold coins but she rejected him so he just went upstairs. Of course, she followed him, and very soon, they arrived at the room he was stayed in. Lucy was feeling a bit anxious, after all, why would this man buy her if not to use her body, so she expected him to jump at her once they were alone. Surprisingly, however, that never happened, all he did was retrieve some fruits from who knows her and tried passing it to her but she did not dare let her guard down as she was suspicious of everything and thought that maybe this was but a trick and this only ended up with her standing away from him, motionless and silent. The men just left the fruits on the bed and sat on a chair near a small wooden desk, he waved his hands and a big pile of books appeared, she was sure now that he had the very expensive item storage ring , it is rumored that it can hold several things and is many times better than a magical bag, in fact, they couldn''t even compare, but how could he have one? Usually, only very high ranked royalty or a very rich merchant or an important official would have a ring like that. Lucy began to be more anxious as the idea of him being from the holy church crossed her mind, and the mere thought of being captured by them left her restless after she would rather die than be captured again. The man didn''t bother with her and started reading the book very rapidly he was blazing through the pages , Lucy thought that earlier he broke the reinforced chains that bound her and now he she noticed him reading the book very fastly and could one come to one conclusion and that''s he is a powerful magician just by seeing how casually he broke her chains you could know he is indeed very adept at using magic and is no mere beginner. If he is from the holy church, there was no way for her to escape unless she got her powers back she could fight back and escape with her life, but she would never forget her grudges and she vowed to kill everyone involved in what happened so supposedly if he was indeed from the holy church if she successfully escaped, one day will come when she will come back and kill him and that was a big ''if''. Not even 5 minutes passed and the men turned around to look at Lucy then said "Do you mind answering some questions?" Lucy was taken aback slightly by what he said, normally he was her master so he didn''t have to be polite, he would just order her around like any other person but he didn''t, instead asked her politely but his voice still as cold as ever, containing no hint of feelings , it was as if not someone was speaking but a ghost mumbling in your ears. Lucy was standing there thinking whether she would answer or not, after all even though she didn''t trust him the slightest bit, he didn''t do anything particularly bad so she decided to answer him as long as the questions weren''t about her or related to her past or origins. After some time of thinking, the man was still waiting for her answer with his body turned toward her, she couldn''t even see his eyes or features as he was hiding everything from head to toe, she nodded towards him approving to answer his questions. Without wasting any second the black-robed man began talking again with a calm but cold voice "Are we currently on the human continent?" Lucy was slightly stunned when she heard his question as she didn''t expect him to say this, nevertheless, everyone had their reasons and maybe he was living under a rock for quite some time and forgot where he was, Lucy didn''t dwell on it that much and just nodded her head towards him. Having confirmed her answer, the man asked another question "Which Kingdom or Empire are we in" The man seemed to speak very few words and didn''t talk long phrases but Lucy didn''t mind that, she just answered him and spoke for the first time in a long time "We are in the Nida Empire, in the province of Lenuka" She tried to answer him precisely as he seemed very focused on her replies. After some other questions which were common and everybody who lived her knew them, the men stopped his questioning and thanked Lucy for her help and then resumed reading his books. Lucy was quite surprised about his questions, she began to even consider the fact that he was living under a rock for a long time but nonetheless,she answered him truthfully, she felt kind of strange toward this man even though she knew him for half a day. He seemed extremely mysterious, a powerful magician clueless about his surroundings and disguised in a black-robe that covered him from head to toe. Lucy walked toward the bed, grabbed the fruits and began munching them, she took little bites at first, but when she was sure there was nothing in the fruits she ate them all. He decided to eat the fruits because a powerful mage like this man, if he wanted to do her, he could do it anytime using magic and would not use petty tricks like poisoning, also she god the feeling that the way he looked at her was not lustful way but not in a kind way either as his gazes were cold and piercing as they would rip you apart at any second. ****************************************************************** POV Back to Arthur After having questionned the girl about what he wanted to know, he concluded that somethings were different from the books he read last night but it was only minor, he was on the human continent, which was ruled by the nida empire, apparently this empire is very very old and powerful, you can see this by how it is still standing to this day and nothing could crumble it , but that by knowing this he also knew that the holy church must be still here as it was mentionned it is the master mind and the true ruler of the human continent. When he heard the voice of the girl, he was utterly shocked , her voice was melodious and mature , if anyone would hear it, they would not think it is a petite girl but a women in her twenties, he guessed that demons aged differently from humans and she must have a special physic and her age was older compared to her size. Arthur noticed her going to the bed and inspecting the fruits thoroughly then she started eating them cautiously, savoring each bite as if checking if they are poisoned or not. He unconsciously smiled in his heart and thought it was kind of funny but he did not bother with her much and resumed reading the books.... In the luxurious road at Willsden town, there was a considerably big mansion which seemed almost like a castle, it was Feylord''s mansion. Currently, he was in his room being fed some grapes by his maids and in front of him was the same armored soldier he spoke to this morning at the auction house, the soldier was kneeling on one knee and speaking respectfully to Feylord "My lord, as you have commanded, we have investigated the black-robed men but unfortunately, no one has seen his face or knows about his identity, it is said he came to this town yesterday, and he is currently renting a room at the inn " The soldier spoke the information in a slow and polite manner so to not anger Feylord the young noble frowned for a second then said to his servant (AN : I mean by a servant=the soldier) "No one knows about him? Then how could this ''no-one'' pay 2 million gold coins for just a girl? He must be someone with strong backing! but who cares about that, he dared to provoke me! FEYLORD ! I''ll show him what it means to oppose me and the Royalty ! Brian, immediately send highly trained assassins, I want him dead as fast as possible and also bring me that girl I must get her no matter what..." the soldier listened to the command of his master and said "Yes my Lord." he then respectfully excused himself out of the room. Feylord was lost in thought, he was thinking about the beauty he saw today and how much he would like to enjoy having his way with her, he then started mumbling "Ahhh.. it is such a pity, you a nobody would be able to enjoy her before me but your luck has run out, soon she will become mine and you will die!" Feylord then grabbed one of the maids by his side and started groping her and abandoned himself to his desires.... Chapter 9 - 10 : sA Man That Keeps His Words Arthur continued to read books all night and stopped early in the morning, he didn''t get much information than he already had, he finished reading all the books he bought yesterday, some of them were about great battles that occurred in the past, others described the continents and certain events but the books weren''t as detailed as the books he got from the tomb, he didn''t know why but he just shrugged it off as it didn''t matter anyway. The girl stayed on the bed but didn''t sleep she just sat obediently and didn''t do anything special, she seemed lost in thought and kept staring in front of her. Arthur didn''t know why she hasn''t slept, he had read that demons had inborn magic but their physical body was more or less like Humans, they needed a sufficient amount of food and rest to live albeit having a slightly better constitution thanks to the magic. He also noticed that she didn''t even move from her spot, despite that, he didn''t say anything as he let her do whatever she wanted, after all, even if he was ''supposedly'' her master, he didn''t dare think like that or have any strange thoughts about her, because such desires were gone since a long time ago. He just wanted to live his new life as he wished, unobstructed by ''desires''. He stood up from the chair after a long night of reading then looked towards the girl sitting at the bad and asked: "I''m preparing to go out, do you want to come with me or stay here" The girl who was lost in thought looked at Arthur before nodding her head and getting up from the bed. Arthur didn''t understand what she meant by her nod but when he saw her getting up he knew she was going to come with him. Soon, both of them left the room and headed downstairs, Arthur didn''t go outside right away, instead, he sat at a table in the restaurant and waited for the landlady to come take his orders, he was going to order food for the girl who was sitting at the table with him as fruits aren''t enough to satisfy the hunger of anyone, and he couldn''t bear let her eat just that. Yesterday, after thoroughly checking the fruits, she wolved them pretty fast and it was as apparent as the sun itself that she had been starving, he thought about this matter and finally decided that even if there were people gazing at them when they were at the restaurant, it doesn''t matter, he wasn''t going to let a girl starve because of such trivial matter. After a couple of minutes, the landlady came into Arthur''s table with a smile on her face and said "So you finally decided to eat in my restaurant huh? Breakfast will be served in 5 minutes and it costs 1 silver coin per person." Arthur just nodded toward the landlady and passed her 3 silver coins replied "Bring me 3 servings." The women accepted the money from Arthur and nodded her head back at him, she didn''t seem bothered by his way of speaking as she knew he rarely talked. Just as the landlady said, 5 minutes later, the food came and soon, all the table was filled with various kinds of delicacies. Lucy, the girl beside Arthur, although she was covered from head to toe with a cloth, he could sense she was intensely looking at the food, so he just casually said "Feel free to eat all the food, it''s for you, after all." As though she was waiting for him to say this, the girl began eating like a hungry wolf, but after finishing a couple of dishes, she looked at Arthur and then at the food in front of him, so he just pushed the dishes to her and shook his head as if meaning he was not eating it. The girl just grabbed the remaining dishes and gulped them down. Seeing the girl eat that much and remembering her petite frame, Arthur guessed that she didn''t eat much before he ''bought'' her because even though she was insanely beautiful she seemed a little skinny, seeing her like that and remembering the terrible thing that happened to the women and little girls in the camp of the bandits, Arthur''s loathe towards this lawless increased. ''For young girls like this to be sold as slaves just because they are from a different race, even calling those nobles and slave traders inhuman is still a compliment... tch!'' After noticing that she finished all the dishes and seemed full, Arthur got up from the chair and headed outside, the girl noticed his actions and followed him quickly after. Arthur was thinking about heading to the Holy Church as the books about it mentioned that the only way to break the seal restricting the power of a demon is by visiting the Holy Church and asking the help of a Holy Priest or seeking the aid of an extremely skilled water mage as the [Water Attribute] had good purification effect, albeit lesser than the Holy/Light Attribute. Arthur himself could be considered a powerful mage, however, he was new to this world and he didn''t know how to break the seal, so the only way left was to take her to a Holy Priest. It didn''t take them long to arrive in the front of the church, after all, Arthur remembered every single thing he saw and when he was touring the town on the first day he came here, he saw a building which was very similar to the church in his previous world, so he just assumed it is the Holy Church . The Holy Church was not that big, but it seemed majestic, it was a white building with some beautiful gold lines painted on it. While he was proceeding toward the entrance of the church, he noticed that the girl who was following stopped walking and stood there. Arthur frowned for a split second but quickly remembered that demons were hunted by the Holy Church on this continent, so logically, they wouldn''t let her live if they discovered she was a demon which led him into saying "We came here only to lift your seal, do not worry about them as they can do nothing to you". The girl lifted her covered head to look at Arthur but she still didn''t budge. She seemed to not trust Arthur''s word at all, so he didn''t know what to do, after all, he can''t force her to come with him, nevertheless, he still wanted to help her but it seems she was distrustful of him and there was no way she would come with him to the Holy Church on her own free will. Seeing her stubbornness, he let out a helpless sigh and gave up on that idea. ''I would never force her to come, if she''s unwilling then I guess I''ll try finding another solution.'' Just as he was going to leave with the girl, some guard who was wearing white armor shouted toward the girl "It''s a demon, that person is surely a demon, quickly call over the lord!" Just as he finished speaking, everyone who was nearby heard his shout and looked where he was pointing with his hand. It ended up with every person who was present looking fearfully at the girl who was covered with gray cloth. Their eyes held disdain, fear, disgust and extreme hate, some even contained bloodlust. Not even a minute has passed and the Holy Church soldiers were coming out of the building armed with all kinds of weapons, they were looking to the girl as if she was a monster, they glanced at the black-robed figure standing beside the ''demon'' but they didn''t pay him much importance as they could tell he wasn''t a demon, in fact, any Holy Church soldier could distinguish a demon even with sealed powers as they emanated some kind of dark aura. Furthermore, they got the Holy blessing, so, the dark aura related to demon could easily be sensed by whoever got the blessing. To begin with, Holy Attribute and Darkness Attribute were opposed, just like Yin and Yang. To make matters worse, Holy Attribute is usually able to purify darkness, but the opposite could not be said to be totally true. Plus, all demons were born with a good affinity to Darkness attribute, which made them naturally vulnerable to Holy Magic. Soon, an old man came out of the building, he was wearing a white, long sleeved robe, which seemed like an expensive magical item. He was also holding a golden cane which had some flickering light around it. The old man observed the crowd calm, unperturbed eyes. He didn''t utter a single word, neither did his expression change until his pupils shifted to the girl''s figure. The old man knew that she was not a threat but he deeply frowned as he glanced at the black robbed person next to the girl, he lived for a fairly long time and could distinguish between weak and strong. Just one look was able to make him ascertain that this person is not to be messed with. Even though he seemed to notice that Arthur was particularly strong, he believed that he could finish him easily so he ordered his men "Faithful warriors of the Holy Church, hear my commands and erase this filthy existence! Demons have no right to live amongst us, purified and blessed Humans!" Just as he finished speaking, all the soldiers who were looking at him with admiration roared and charged toward the enemy. Even in a situation like this, Arthur was very calm, when he appraised the LVLS of soldiers he saw that they were strong in comparison to normal people but they were a weakling in front of him. their LVLS ranged from LVL16 to the maximum being LVL19, indeed the Holy Church lived up to its name when it was said they were the true ruler of the Human continent. He also appraised the old man who seemed to be their commander and got "ting" Theodor (Old priest) : LVL41 Arthur was a little surprised too that this old man had a high Lv so he was a little excited, as this was the first strong opponent that he encountered in a while. The old man didn''t say anything and ordered his soldiers to attack. There was about 50 of them running toward him but he noticed that they were aiming for the girl near him, there were also some mages who started chanting to execute their attacks. Arthur didn''t move, he just waved his hand and a dark spheric barrier surrounded him, protecting him and the girl. Truthfully, he wanted to check how much this barrier could hold as he didn''t get the chance to test it yet.The soldiers were fast as they closed the distance fast but once they arrived near the barrier they couldn''t pass through as if there is some kind of wall so they started attacking it with their swords, spears, and maces but none of them did work as the barrier didn''t as much shake from their bombarding attacks. They realized that their attacks were not doing any damage so they backed off and waited for their mages to launch their attacks as normally, a single mage attack power was many times more powerful than a normal attack from a sword, so there''s no need to mention an attack from a dozen or so mages. Arthur didn''t do anything and just watched the scene as he waited for these mages to attack. After 20 seconds of chanting, the attack was finally launched and a large blinding wave of Holy Magic struck the barrier, a loud sound echoed and the Holy Church mages were looking at their powerful attacks proudly with smug faces but that didn''t last long as their faces turned from proud to surprised and fearful and that''s because the spherical black barrier didn''t even crack and seemed impenetrable even when it was struck by such an overwhelming attack. Even the crowd of people watching this scene were dumbfounded and couldn''t react in time, which left them even more speechless. The old man was also surprised and furrowed his brows as he didn''t expect the barrier to hold to such a powerful attack, nevertheless, he still maintained his calmness for he was confident of his triumph over this small battle. Arthur was joyful to see his that his Dark Barrier can hold this much and not break. He noticed that the girl beside him was anxious and even shaking a bit so he gave up on the idea of testing other things and decided to end this. Slowly, Arthur started walking towards the old man whilst speaking with a chilling tone "You should stop attacking, this is indeed a demon but ''it'' is also my ''slave'' so there is no need to be so aggressive towards it." He intentionally called her his slave so they could understand that hurting his ''belonging'' is like offending him. The soldiers didn''t seem affected by what he said and acted as if they would attack at any given moment. The old man stared at Arthur then replied with a calm voice "Hohoh, so it is like this... how about you give the demon to us? We will compensate you for it with generous things, we have gold, skill books, treasures, everything you like, you just have to let us kill this filthy being." When Arthur heard the answer of the white-robed priest, he was angered, this Holy Church seemed to be persistent about killing the girl in broad daylight and didn''t even consider her as an equal but treated like an animal, if not worse! They didn''t seem to care about their actions as they were all ''justified'' which made him feel more disgusted with their way of doing things, and this added to the many reasons he had to help the demon girl, Lucy. Arthur could always kill slaughter his way out of here but he didn''t want to as killing a priest of the church would bring nothing but troubles so he searched for another way to get out of this mess. As he was thinking of a solution, he noticed the girl next become even more anxious so he guessed that she must''ve thought as he would accept the offer of the old man and give her away as he had known her for only a day and there was no need to go through such trouble for her, which was a logical thinking from her part, howver, he didn''t know why, but a strange feeling surged in his heart as he looked at her being scared of the Holy Church which made unconsciously pat her head, even though she was short in height, her head still reached his neck so he awkwardly patted her head and said "I am a person who keeps his word, you do not have to worry about them." Just as he said, he used [Faster Than Death] and instantaneously appeared in front of the old man, the distance between them was less than 50 meters so Arthur just teleported next to the priest and, without even letting him have the time to react to his sudden movement, he quickly created a long sword with his dark magic and just chopped off the arm which was holding the golden-cane. He quickly grabbed it with the cane and teleported back using [faster than death] to where he was previously. It took this long to explain but it all happened too fast as not even 4 seconds passed since Arthur used his first teleportation. The old man had shocked eyes as all he could see was Arthur disappearing then just reappearing in the same position holding his chopped arm. Blood poured non-stop from his shoulder as he felt an immense pain but he didn''t dare scream. He felt fear from the black-robed man, he knew that this man was by no means someone to provoke but nevertheless he ended up provoking him by attacking his slave. The old man felt relief as he knew the man didn''t kill him on purpose, nonetheless, he cut his arm off to warn him about what will happen if he dared to attack his slave again. There were no words in such situation, a person of his age immediately understood the intention of the other party. Theodor could be considered a strong priest, but he knew that there were people stronger than him as he saw that his superiors in headquarters where much stronger than him and in their eyes he was just an ant, be once he came to this town he was considered a god and all people worshipped him, he liked this feeling and stayed here to supervise this town. There was an absolute rule in the holy church and that is ''kill every demons you come by'' and whoever didn''t follow this rule would be punished or in worst cases executed, so when he heard there is a demon outside of the church, of course, he had to kill it, but after the turn of events and seeing the power of the opponent he decided to stop being so reckless and warn his superiors about this black-robed man. He couldn''t just ignore his existence as he may become an enemy of the church. The old man grimaced because of the pain but soon many mages who were good at healing magic rushed at him and cast their magic to heal him. He soon stabilized himself then looked toward Arthur who was still standing in the same place and holding his arm and said "Thank you for showing mercy to this old man, we will immediately stop the attack, I''m sorry if we had offended you." After having finished talking, Theodor stared at Arthur waiting for his reply, and after a couple of seconds, he saw the black-robed men Turn around and leave without saying another word. The old man hesitated as for whether to ask for his arm and cane back or not but he soon gave up on this idea as he saw Arthur use some kind of magic to just devour his whole arm until nothing but emptiness remained. He also waved his hand and the white-cane seemed to have disappeared but Theodor knew he had put it in a storage ring. After having erased the torn off arm with [Void Magic], Arthur turned around to leave, the girl which saw what happened was amazed as she looked at Arthur, she was so close to him so he could see her face from within the Grey cloth. Her eyes were stunned and she gave him a complex look but nevertheless, she still followed him when he turned around to leave. Unsurprisingly, no one blocked their way as all the people were amazed and fearful of Arthur because of what he just did, not even a single person dared to follow him as they were afraid he would discover them and the consequences would be tragic. ****** After seeing the black-robed man and the demon going away, Theodor hurried over to his private office in the church, he soon retrieved a blue crystal and used holy magic on it to activate it, after a couple of seconds, the crystal lit up and a voice came out of it. "Theodor, what do you want? hurry up and say it we are busier than someone like you who sits on their ass all day long " Theodor didn''t seem bothered by the rude way the person from the crystal spoke as he seemed used to it so he hurriedly said "Lord Erik, today we encountered a demon..." "Did you just call me to tell me this? if you encountered a demon then just kill it, don''t you dare waste my time brat" "N-nononono, we indeed encountered a demon but as we tried to kill it, it''s proclaimed ''Master'' defended it, and the master was very powerful" "And? If he is powerful just kill him, last time I checked with the appraisal stone your LVL was 40, so someone with your strength should be able to deal with him, right?" "I''m sorry Lord Erik, but this man was not weak, in fact, he chopped my arm off without me realizing it, so I couldn''t do anything about it, and I just let him go with the demon, I request some reinforcement to deal with this man" "Hooooo, this is interesting, we just sent ''Rein'' to your town to investigate about ''her'' as she seemed to have appeared in your town but I will send someone else, just in case. However, I''m sure ''Rein'' could handle it for he is a tamed monster hehe..... in the meantime, keep an eye on this man." "Yes Lord Erik, thank you thank you..." When the conversation ended, the blue crystal seemed to return to normal, Theodor breathed a sigh of relief but he was still somewhat scared of the power of the black-robed man as he just couldn''t react in time, if he wanted to the enemy could have beheaded him easily and he would have died without even knowing how thinking about this he couldn''t stop his body from shaking , he provoked someone he shouldn''t have . Chapter 10 - 11 : Holy Knigh Arthur had a bitter feeling as things didn''t go the way he wished them to, he wanted to free the girl from the seal but he didn''t know even why he would go to such lengths to do so ,he who had been betrayed and vowed to always be alone and never trust again felt some kind of special connection with the girl. In a way, he guessed she was similar to him but he couldn''t guess in how exactly. He knew she didn''t trust him and maybe she would like to be free but she didn''t have the power to so he wanted to release her from the seal so they could each go on their way. For the time being , Arthur knew that the holy church let him go because they could not fight against him, but he was sure that later on they would come back for either for revenge or to kill the demon girl so he decided to leave the town for the time being and stay at ''that'' place for a while, so he bought various kinds of foods. He didn''t hold back and bought everything that he came by and then put it in his storage, as he was going to be out of the town with the demon girl, and she needed food daily, he brought an enormous amount of food that can hold out for half a year.He then headed to the town''s exit accompanied by the girl. Once they were some distance away from the town, Arthur created a [dark cloud] that could fit him and the girl. When the demon girl saw the ''cloud'' she was taken aback slightly then continued to gaze at it for sometime curiously. Arthur chuckled as he saw the girl examining the cloud, he then said "Get on the cloud, it''s much faster and I don''t want anyone following us" He then jumped on the dark cloud and waited for the girl to follow him, he thought he could travel by foot with the same speed as the cloud but he would have to carry the girl and that seemed inappropriate and maybe she would not want to be held by anyone. The girl finally jumped on the sturdy cloud, but as the cloud rose up high into the air, she seemed to be anxious and shaking a little, Arthur guessed she must''ve been acrophobic or never been so high up in the air, as for him? He was never afraid of heights as he traveled a lot when he was a business-man because the job required him to make a lot of contracts in various countries. Even though the dark cloud had incredible speed, Arthur didn''t use the maximum speed as he was afraid the girl would fall off with her fragile physic, but he was surprised to see that not only she had gotten used to the dark cloud, she also was not affected by the current speed. "She must have a good amount of strength, huh?" It took them 15 minutes to reach the entrance of the cave, Arthur landed the dark cloud and got off it followed by the girl who understood they reached their destination. Arthur didn''t waste time as he entered the cave and began walking forward.After 30 minutes or so they finally arrived the empty room which was previously Zodiak''s tomb. The demon girl looked around, surprised to see that they arrived at an empty room as she expected some kind of hideout but not an empty room. Arthur noticed the stunned girl and said "I will try to find a solution to your seal, meanwhile we will be staying here since the holy church is chasing us and I don''t want to bother with them" Just as he finished speaking he waves his hands and retrieved a large bed and some other furniture from his storage ring. He also took out some food for the girl and put them on the bet, then he proceeded to read the ancient books he got from the tomb hoping he will find some kind of clue as to how to break the seal for the girl''s powers. The demon girl saw Arthur reading books and trying to find a solution for her so she had complicated feelings about this black-robed man she didn''t know why would he go to such lengths for her but she soon seemed to realize something and shook her ''You mustn''t fall for his plays! He must need something from you otherwise he wouldn''t help you'' She soon sat on the large bed which was luxurious and made from gold, but she didn''t seem surprised by it and she was used to seeing this black-robed man have many incredible and expensive things, just by buying her for 2 million gold coins showed that he was by no means someone ordinary. As time passed and she saw how strong he is by easily beating the old man from the church , and his strange dark cloud which seemed able to fly with high speed so she concluded that even with her powers back she might not able to escape from him so she began very anxious and she didn''t want to be held prisoner ever again. A day had passed since they arrived at this room but Arthur didn''t stop reading even for a second, he didn''t feel tired or bored, and the more books he read the more he discovered new things. Finally he could find a clue to break the seal, it was said that to break a seal cast on a demon, you either have to kill whoever cast it or you can overpower the seal with a stronger magic which will immediately break the seal, but it was noted that anyone who can seal the powers of a demon is usually very strong so it was considered impossible to break the seal with a magic more powerful than it, but Arthur was overjoyed as he knew he was considerably strong so he wanted to try this method and maybe it will work. He turned around and looked at the demon girl, who surprisingly was asleep, after 2 days or so without sleeping she seemed to not be able to hold it anymore and fell asleep while sitting on the bed. She seemed to be shaking a lot so Arthur guessed she must be having a nightmare of some kind but nevertheless he didn''t want to wake her up as she stayed awake for 2 days or maybe even more so some sleep will help her a lot. Arthur decided to experiment with his magic until the girl wakes up. He started by creating some weapons with his dark magic and trying to create complicated ones, and he easily succeeded as he was able to create a 30 meter long black chain made of dark magic, he noticed too that the chain had some black flames in it, they seemed hard to notice as the chain was black too, he guessed the black flames were the one from the ''dark flame ring'' but to make sure they were from the ring, he retrieve a long sword from his storage and held it , and noticed there was indeed black flames in the edges of the sword, he tried slashing in the air with minimum strength and saw black flames shot out from the slash 2 meters ahead until they disappeared. He also tried summoning skeletons and then killing them but unsurprisingly he didn''t get any Experience for it so he sighed and gave up on the idea to level up non-stop by summoning and killing skeletons.When he was in the middle of doing some tests with his dark magic, an idea struck him so he quickly turned around and appraised the sleeping demon girl. Lucy(Demon) : LVL44 But just as he saw the window which showed the demon''s level name he appraised again focusing on the window and as he has guessed another window showed up. Lucy(Demon) : LVL44Status: bound by holy magic ''I must really be stupid to not appraise a second-time sigh...'' After secretly blaming his stupidity, Arthur checked the status and he was joyful of the results as he could see the Health, Mana, and Stamina, he also noticed that her stamina was very low but that was to be expected after staying 2 days or even more without sleeping or taking a rest. He tried appraising the window again but nothing happened nevertheless he didn''t give up just yet, as he tried appraising every single status but still nothing showed so he stopped any further tries.He continued with his dark magic experiments waiting for the girl to wake up... After 2 hours or so, while Arthur has gone back to reading books since he was bored of training and trying things with his magic, he heard a cry which came from the large bed. "NOO!" The girl''s cry surprised Arthur who was engrossed in reading, he turned around and saw the girl awake and breathing very quickly. She looked around a couple of seconds then breather a sigh of relief, she glanced at Arthur and realised he was looking at her , but when she looked at clothes she noticed that she was not wearing the grey cloth anymore and her face and another part of bodies were exposed nevertheless her important areas were covered with her white tattered dress. She guessed that the grey cloth fell off from her body because of her habit of moving a lot when she is asleep , but she didn''t bother putting the grey cloth again as she was only with black-robed man and she was sure that he would not touch her because if he wanted to he would already have done it. The girl sat on the bed, picked some food which was put on a nearby table and began eating it slowly. Arthur saw the petite girl eating so he waited for her to finish and eating and then said "I might have found a method to break the seal so I''m gonna try it, ok?" The demon girl just nodded toward Arthur but her eyes had no emotion as if she was expecting him to fail. He walked toward her and when he was a couple of centimeters away he extended his hand and released dark magic which looked like a black fog , it invaded the girl''s body who seemed surprised by the action of Arthur but didn''t do anything , after all even if she wanted to protect herself from the dark magic invading her body she couldn''t do it as her powers were sealed , so she just stood there, gazing at Arthur. The dark magic began entering the girl''s body slowly, and after a couple of seconds he couldn''t it push it further as some kind of barrier was blocking the way, he tried forcing the dark magic to break it and suddenly heard a notification ''ting'' Do you want to break the Holy barrier using you dark magic Y/N cost: 500 mana ''yes'' Just as he accepted, 500 Mana was used and he heard a ''Puchi'' sound and his dark magic continued to invade the demon''s body but he quickly called it back and in an instant, all his dark magic which was in the girl''s body exited it and then disappeared into thin air. Lucy''s POV After coming to this room, Lucy just ate and sat at the bad without doing anything, after all, there is nothing to do in this isolated room and she knew that there are enemies outside so she just stayed there quietly. She noticed that the man was focused on reading books to help her and truthfully she was grateful but she just couldn''t bring herself to trust him not even a bit. She was very tired after staying awake for almost a week, she had high enough stamina than an average soldier but she couldn''t stay awake forever, she tried to resist the sleepiness but after so much struggle she couldn''t and fell asleep without realizing it. She was in the same room the men she loved and other people from the church tortured her and had their fun with her, she looked around and was terrified to see them gazing at her lustfully and laughing evilly, she couldn''t hold her body from shaking. Lucy vowed to kill them all but facing the men who betrayed her heart and used her she couldn''t even muster up the strength to move, she noticed she was still bound by the same chains as back then and the men was approaching her with eyes filled with obsession and lust. As he was coming towards her slowly she couldn''t help but scream "NOOO" Seconds passed and nothing happened so she opened her eyes and saw a different room, she was sitting on a large bed, and breathing heavily, she checked her surroundings as to make sure it''s real and then sighed "Mmust''ve been a nightmare again...." Lucy got up from the bed and ate some food which was on the table, the food was quite delicious as the black-robed man bought every kind of food he found in the town, so she filled her stomach until it was full and when she finished she heard the man speak "I might have found a method to break the seal so I''m gonna try it, ok?" She just nodded towards him to expecting nothing as she knew the one who sealed her powers is terrifying and there no way to break the seal just by some ''method'' he found in a book. The man came close to her then extended his hand, some dark fog was created from who knows where then invaded her body, she could feel the cold feeling coming from this dark magic. Demons are beings of darkness and when they a born they get a small affinity with it so she knew that it was slightly similar to the Darkness Magic, but at the same time it wasn''t, it gave a ferocious feeling like it would devour her body at any second. A couple of seconds passed then she heard a ''puchi'' sound and she was showered with a lot of notifications...''ting''.. The seal binding your powers have been broken!All your stats have gone up!The skill [demonic boost] is now available to use! ... ...A lot of notifications came telling her that all her skills are available to use and when she checked her status windows she saw that her stats have gone up to what they previously were before she was sealed. Lucy rubbed her eyes multiple times as to check if she was still dreaming but fortunately she was not, the black-robed men somehow successfully broke her powers even though she had no hope for him to succeed. She could feel the power in her body after a long time being so weak and fragile, her face gained some color and some small wounds and bruises healed slowly. Arthur''s POV He noticed that his attempt was successful so he was happy, he saw the wounds on her body healing up and her face gains back some color, she seemed even more pretty now as her skin became even whiter and her eyes became more alluring and charming. He realized that he gazed a bit too much so he coughed and said "So? Is the seal broken? Are your powers completely back?" Despite knowing he succeeded, he had to make sure that he had done it without making any side-effects. The demon girl nodded towards him and then extended her hand and a ball of fire was on top of it. She moved the ball of fire to show him she now had recovered and was no longer bound by the Holy seal. Since she now had become strong again, Arthur guessed that she will go on her way, but deep in his heart he felt a connection, even though it was thin and he still couldn''t trust her after he had done to her , there was an almost non-existing connection between the girl and him and he didn''t want separate from her . "Good, since your powers are back, you can handle yourself if the holy church came, I think someone like the old man would not be your opponent." The girl nodded towards him and you could see anger and hatred in her eyes when he mentioned the holy church so he guessed they must''ve killed her family or done something to her. "thank you" The girl said those two words then headed back to the exit of the room. Arthur looked at her back walking further away then said "Wait! I want you to take something." He said that whilst throwing a glowing bracelet at her. synchro Bracelet effect): As long as 2 people wear the same bracelet and if the bracelet of one of the 2 people is destroyed, the other one could pinpoint where the bracelet was destroyed. The girl caught the bracelet, looked at it for a second before turning towards Arthur and nodding, after having worn the bracelet she quickly left the room.Arthur stood there lost in thought, he felt empty and a little bit alone, even though he didn''t interact a lot with the girl when they were together, she still accompanied him everywhere and got used to it so now returning to being alone felt kind of unpleasant. He who passed months alone in a desolate room now felt lonely after accompanying a girl for a couple of days, he couldn''t believe what he was thinking ".. Me? Feeling lonely? You must be joking! Being alone is better than being betrayed!" Soon after he went back to his desk and resumed reading the books, after all, there is nothing he could do except reading books or practicing with his dark magic. approximately one hour has passed since the demon girl left and Arthur was still reading books but suddenly he felt something in his wrist so he looked at it and saw the synchro bracelet glowing red, so he quickly knew that it was the sign indicating the destruction of the other bracelet, he received information in his mind telling him where exactly the bracelet was destroyed and it seemed that it was not very far from here, actually it was the bandit camp he had destroyed. Without wasting any second, he quickly ran out of the room with his full speed and sprinted toward the exit of the long corridor. While using his full speed, Arthur was just a blur whenever he passed you only feel the air moving and soon he exited the corridor, but he didn''t stop instead he increased his speed even more while thinking ''How could the bracelet have been broken? With her power and LVL she could handle anything even the priest of the holy church ... did she perhaps destroyed it on purpose?'' With his incredible speed, not even after 10 minutes of the destruction of the bracelet, he arrived at the place where it was the bracelet was supposedly destroyed. He could see traces of battle, trees were destroyed and huge craters were here and there but surprisingly there was no one. While Arthur was examining the place, he suddenly heard loud noises not far away from him so he rushed towards it without hesitating and in just seconds he arrived at the scene. He saw the demon girl standing not far from him, she was bloodied all over, her appearance was slightly different as her hair was violet and she had some kind of tattoos in her arms. On the opposite side her saw Theodor who was grinning and laughing happily and beside him was a red-haired guy, he was quite handsome, he had a two-handed sword on his back and seemed very relaxed, his eyes brows were shaped like a sword and his eyes filled with haughtiness and pride.He gazed at the girl and said "HAHAHA to seem we were able to find you by tracing that mysterious black-robed man , I guessed that it must''ve been you who was with the that guy back then because it is not usual to find a demon so much deep in this continent, truly luck is on my side, to be able to bring you back will get me so much rewards and promotions haha you don''t even know your worth filthy thing" He then dashed towards the girl and struck her in the stomach with his knee, she was sent flying until she hit a big boulder and fell down , she tried to stand up but to no avail, she didn''t have the strength too, she just kept coughing up blood. Arthur quickly appraised the red-haired man as he saw he was quite strong , after all, to win against a LVL44 demon you have to be a lot stronger than it considering demons are more adept at magic than humans. Holy knight :Rein: LVL51 His LVL was the highest Arthur have seen so far, and his speed was almost like his speed so he was considered a strong opponent. Arthur used [faster than death] and appeared in front of the demon girl who was shocked to see him but then quickly realized that her bracelet was destroyed not long ago. Rein saw Arthur appear out of nowhere and was stunned for a second but soon furrowed his brow and looked toward Theodor, but he was shocked to see that Theodor was shaking from fear while looking at the black-robed man. "hey Theodor, is this him? the one who cut your arm so easily? " Theodor seemed to come back to his senses and said hastily "Y-yes lord Rein, he is indeed the one but please be cautious as he is strong and he can use teleportation too" Rein ignore the last sentence of Theodor as he was confident in his skills and power, he turned to look at this black-robed man curiously and said "Hey, you! Why don''t you join the holy church? Since you are supposedly powerful, your position will not be bad, you don''t have to protect this dogshit slave of yours, we can offer you a lot of beautiful women" After waiting sometime Rein noticed that he was not getting a response and felt shame for being ignored so he shouted at Arthur "Do you realize that by protecting this filthy thing, you are making all the holy church your enemy? fine since you won''t respond then excuse me for being impolite." Just as he finished talking, he took the big sword from his back and dashed toward the black-robed man. Arthur checked the girl behind him and noticed that she was heavily injured, it seemed the holy church wanted her alive for some reason, but he doesn''t have the time to think about this right now. He saw the holy knight dash toward him so he too runs toward the knight and blocked with his bare hands the incoming attack of the big sword. Arthur wanted to test his physical body and how much he could hold up without using his dark magic. Once the sword landed on his bony arms, he didn''t feel any pain nor was he pushed back, instead, the sword seemed like it hit steel and couldn''t move an inch deeper. Rein was surprised to see that his attack was just stopped by bare hands, but he didn''t dare relax as he quickly run back, but Arthur didn''t give him the time to run as he rushed towards him and kicked him in his stomach , the kick sent Rein flying a couple of meters but didn''t do a lot of damage, when the kick landed on the stomach Arthur noticed that the armor he was wearing was special as it was very hard and he felt quite numb in his leg. His strength stats was quite low compared to his other stats so he kind of guessed his physical power to be average in comparison of his dark magic.He wanted to know the limits of his physical strength and speed so that''s why he didn''t use any magic during this clash. Rein stood up quickly, he didn''t seem affected by the kick but nevertheless he had shocked eyes as this was the first opponent except for his ''master'' to be able to fight back against him. He looked at this black-robed man with curious eyes and wondered why he didn''t use his magic as he heard from Theodor that this man could use teleportation and create a powerful dark sword. The holy knight stood there appearing to be lost in thought so Arthur just dashed towards and him and kept hitting him, the fight soon escalated and both opponents began hitting each other, but they seemed to be on par. After some time , Arthur noticed that his speed was slightly slower than his opponents and he was quite stunned because he didn''t expect someone to be faster than him, also the attacks of the night seemed to become rougher and rougher while his attack is the same his fists and kicks are doing close to no damage to the knight as he seemed to get up every time he was sent flying. Theodor in the back didn''t dare to interfere in this fight as he could do anything, he didn''t believe his eyes when he saw the black-robed man fight on par ''Rein'' as this holy knight was quite famous in the holy church to be very strong. The old man soon thought of something and began chanting "You ,who is watching us from above , you, the lord of light and holiness, please grant us your power to aid our comrades" soon a bright light came emerged in front of the old man and soon landed on the holy knight who was fighting with Arthur. Just after the light fell on the night, his speed and strength seemed to increase a lot and Arthur was pushed back by his attacks. Even though the Strength of the holy knight was increased his attacks still didn''t even scratch his opponent , so he became quite fearful of this individual , in contrary of this Arthur was quite joyful as he knew his vitality was very high and because of this his defense was impenetrable , so he was delighted to see the attacks of the holy knight cause no harm to him. With the increased speed of Rein, Arthur could no longer fight on par with him, as even though he had a strong defense continuing to fight like this would lead to nothing , he thought of fighting until his opponent has no stamina left but he quickly decided against it as he noticed that the demon girl''s state seemed to have gotten even worse, so he quickly used [Faster than death] to teleport away from the rampaging knight .The skill cost 150 mana peruse and he could regenerate 58 mana per second so he could use the skill every 3 seconds and he would not lose Mana. Rein saw The black-robed mana teleport away and was a little surprised as this was the first time he saw this kind of instant teleportation because usually it takes a little-chant at the very least but this man just used it instantly if he had chanted he would''ve heard it. The holy knight stood there gazing at Arthur, but you could see in his eyes contempt and pride even though was struggling against his opponent and couldn''t win he still didn''t give up his haughtiness and considered himself the best. Arthur was very calm as he watched the holy knight and finally said "Time to finish this little play, I''ve grown bored of it.." When he finished speaking he created many dark daggers, there were hundreds if not thousands of them in the air, it was a terrifying sight to behold as even the holy knight was shocked and you could see the disbelief in his eyes. Arthur just waved his hand and all the spears attacked the holy knight with lightning speed, the opponent couldn''t even react before he was stabbed continuously by the dagger, his armor was pierced easily by flying dark daggers and he died without even being able to scream. Some moments passed and all you could see was a lot of holes in the ground as the daggers continued all the way deep into the earth so Arthur just willed for them to disappear and looked toward the holy knight or what remained of him. All his body was filled with holes, and he no longer had his right arm or both his legs, he helplessly tried to resist the attack with his sword but the sword was literally turned into dust by so many daggers. Arthur looked at his broken armor with sad eyes as he wanted to try because it seemed really special, he heard a small notification as killing the holy knight gave him 2 levels which was quite good. He breathed a sigh of relief and thought back to how the holy knight who was surpassing him in terms of speed and strength couldn''t even resist against his dark magic and thought back to Zodiak who was a terrifying existence back in the days "if I ever meet him, even in the afterlife i, better thank him huhuhuhu" Arthur chuckled but his it seemed like an evil laugh with his cold voice, he then suddenly seemed to remember something and looked toward Theodor. After a minute or so the crystal changed color and some kind of light began enveloping the old man, he soon breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Arthur was also looking at him with strong killing intent "he noticed me !!!" Arthur quickly created a long dark sword and used [faster than death] toward the old man . unfortunately he had to use it twice, but all it took it less than a second to teleport next to the old man, he soon slashed at the Priest who holding a white crystal and emanated a bright light. the sword slash only hit air as the old man seemed to completely disappear into thin air. Arthur knew that he was not successful in killing and the priest and stood there in anger "dammit ! he escaped, how could I''ve been this careless, he will only bring more troubles for me . " He then headed toward The demon girl who was laying on the floor with a pool of blood next to her, she looked dumbly at the dead holy knight and couldn''t belive what just happened. Arthur searched in his storage for a potion as when he was searching for the first time he found quite a lot of miraculous healing potions. He soon retrieved some kind of elixir which had a red blood liquid and passed her to the dazed girl, who did not respond to the action of Arthur so he said "You should quickly drink this otherwise your wounds would only get worse you know?" His sound seemed to snap her out of it and she more so looked at the black-robed man in front of her with a bit of mixed fear and gratitude, she took the elixir of him and gulped it down in one go. Not even a minute passed and she noticed her wounds healing at a rapid pace, but she wasn''t amazed because after what just happened and the fight she just witnessed, she couldn''t be amazed by just miraculous healing elixir. Arthur saw the changes in her body and the wounds healing, there were some serious ones like a big cut in her waist which even exposed her bones but with the help of elixir it seemed to get slowly get better "I didn''t expect less from a potion found in Zodiak''s ring" He walked toward the dead corpse of the holy knight and thought of something , then he quickly sat on a small rock next to the corpse and soon he left his current ''body'' and with fast speed headed toward the holy knight speed, as he was a parasite and could get the stats of this strong knight he wouldn''t mind doing so after all he was already dead but he didn''t plan on staying on that body as it didn''t have any attached leg and there was a missing arm... ''ting'' You have successfully possessed Rein (Holy Knight) Chapter 11 - 12 : Assassins Just when Arthur possessed the dead holy knight notifications came one after another.. ''ting'' You have gained a new skill (passive): [Blessing]: You are now blessed by the lord of light and holiness: +50% to all holy attacks. ''ting'' Because your affinity with dark magic is high, the skill [blessing] has been absorbed by dark magic and transformed into [holy resistance]: You resistance to holy attacks have increased by 25%. You have gained a new skill (passive): [Sword Mastery: Lv8]: When using any type of sword, your attacks deal 20% more damage and have 10% increase in their speed and accuracy. You have gained a new skill(active): [holy burst: LVL7]: this skill is an advanced version of [burst attack]: You charge your hands/legs/weapon with Holy power for 1 second then you unleash it. Cooldown: none. Cost: 100 Mana. Your dark magic has absorbed the skill [holy burst] and created a new one : [Dark burst]: this skill is an advanced version of [burst attak]: you charge your hands/legs/weapon with power for 5 seconds then you unleash it dealing 200% more damage. Cooldown: 60 seconds. Cost: 125 Mana. You have gained a new skill (passive): [basic Wind comprehension]: Since you have understood the flow of wind and learned to be one with it, you gained +200 Agility and 2% increase in speed. Your stats have improved! please check your status window for more detailed information. TITLE : NONE Level: 89 RACE: VOID PARASITE -- Strength: 3122(+1482) Intelligence: 2876(+401) Agility: 4580(+2480) Wisdom: 2410(+312) Vitality: 2754(+638) Dexterity: 2120(+900) -- Health: 2775(+895) //Health Regen: 31.2/s Mana: 4552(+712)// Mana Regen: 67.9/s Stamina: Infinite //Stamina Regen: ???? -- Attack: 2953(+1372) Defense: 2592(+810) -- Elemental Resistances Fire:25% Water:25% Wind:25% Earth:25% Light:25% Darkness: 100% ''Jackpot ! This knight''s stats are unexpectedly high!'' Overjoyed would be understatement for Arthur, he was delighted to see his current stats almost double up especially for the Agility, it became by far the highest one, he was excited to test it right now and with the bonus of [Basic Wind comprehension] it''s like having +450 more Agility since it increased his speed by 10%. He saw that his Intelligence and Wisdom didn''t increase that much and guessed that the Holy knight was a fighter class and not a mage, nevertheless, even with his high strength, he still believed that his magic is terrifying as it''s able to insta-kill the knight without any resistance. He thought of Zodiak and how he was a mythical being feared by everyone but unfortunately, he died because of old age ''Not even a mythical being can overcome time huh?'' He read in the ancient books that most Humans in this world have a life-span of 70 to 80 years and those with high enough level they can even reach 200 years old but that was the limit except some individuals. He also read that there are some beasts that have long life-span that can reach thousands of years old if not more, like the mighty Dragon Race for example. The Demon Race is also an exception, they have a have a long lifespan but their reproduction is extremely slow which results in having few numbers and low populations, as years passed, their populations never ceased decreasing in number, with the war occurring, the process is only becoming faster and faster. Once Arthur checked his status window, he quickly left the knight''s corpse and returned to the old one after a few seconds as the process wasn''t instantaneous. He truthfully didn''t like this body very much as he was unable to feel anything, not feeling pain was sometimes a good but he still wanted to enjoy eating food so he wondered on whether to find a living body or not but he soon decided against it because if he ever wanted a body he would only want one with the same appearance he had in the previous world or something that he liked, not any random person he encountered in the street. Immense strength and unbelievable power surged through his body, he felt as if he could destroy anything with just one punch! When he fought against the Holy Knight he noticed his strength was very lacking as he was not able to damage his armor with his fists or kicks but now he was sure if he could have rematch, it would definitely be different than the previous one, maybe the knight would be defeated with just a fist, or at least be injured. Arthur got up from the stone and felt something special, he felt one with the air as if he was dragged by it and guessed it must be the effect of [Basic Wind Comprehension], he quickly stretched his body and ran with his maximum speed, however, he was unable to cope with the speed as it was very fast and instantly crushed into a big boulder forty meters ahead of him, due to his negligence and the fact that he underestimated his body by a huge margin, he was not even able to feel his body move until the moment he crashed with the bolder. Obviously, the boulder was destroyed to dust by the strong impact and Arthur just stood there, dazed, not knowing what just happened, he couldn''t believe his speed, he wasn''t even able to distinguish anything when he ran, everything blurred and his head met with the rock. He started running trying to get used to his new speed. Slowly but surely he got the hang of it, his speed doubled if not tripled in comparison to last time. Previously, when he tested it, he approximately ran 8.5Km/minute and now, when he tried, he ran 15km/minute, it was not double his previous speed but it still was amazing and if you calculate it, it''s a mind-numbing 900Km/hour and that is almost a Mach 1 speed, if anybody from his previous world knew about this, they would just call him crazy or wouldn''t believe him, hell! Even Arthur himself didn''t dare believe it if not for the fact that he is the one who is able to wield such speed! The demon girl who had long since healed with the exception of a few minor injuries, which were healing at a speed the naked eye could see, stared at the disappearing Arthur and rubbed her eyes, after all, to her, he seemed to disappear and reappear in a different location, it was the same as the teleportation but different at the same time, she knew that it was his speed and not teleportation but she still couldn''t believe it as it was the first time she saw this kind of speed. Arthur was ecstatic due to this joyful powerful, when he got used to his speed, he was sure that unless he encountered some godlike opponent, he wouldn''t lose to anyone. Furthermore, even if he couldn''t win, he still has several ways to escape using his incredible speed or with [Faster Than Death]. Next thing he tried was his Strength, he created a Dark Sword and the moment he held, he felt as if he was one with it, the two of them were like one existence, as if he was training with it from the day he was born, [Sword Mastery] was really amazing for it had many benefits for him, he didn''t regret possessing the Holy Knight for even a second, on the contrary he thought that if he didn''t do it, he wouldn''t have gained so much stats and if he encountred someone way stronger than the knight he would only have to run or use magic, however, although he won using his Dark Magic, he didn''t want to excessively use it as there may be a time when he would be unable to and he would have to rely only on his physical strength. First, he used [Dark Burst] to charge his power and after 5 seconds have passed, he slashed with the dark sword in his hand at the air, when he executed the slash, all you could see was a blur, as his speed at attacking was insanely fast, soon a strong dark wave was created by the slash, it was a 2 meter long dark arc which had black flames at the edges of it, the force of the slash was so amazing that a small crater was formed by the pressure of the attack, the dark arc continued forward and annihiliated everything on its way, trees were destroyed and boulders were crushed and it finally stopped after crossing a distance of 100 meters. This was but a mere slash using [Dark Burst], imagine if he went in an all-out death battle, the result would be more astonishing. Arthur seeing this laughed coldly ''I pity anyone who would be my next opponent!'' He wanted to do more tests but he decided against it as there may be reinforcements still coming and he didn''t want to bother with them. Dealing with one Holy Knight is no problem, even two or three can be managed but if it''s a whole army or a few dozens, then it would be troublesome, especially when he had to keep an eye on the demon girl too. He turned around and headed toward the demon girl, who had already stood up and gazed at him with surprised eyes, she tried to keep an expressionless face but the shock was just too great. For her, someone who fought almost all her life, an existence such as the Holy Knight is uncomparable yet such an existence was flattened and killed like an ant when it faced Arthur. "How about you follow me for a while until things calm down or we get away from this area. After what happened, it''s rather likely that a lot of forces stationed by the Holy Church would roam the surrounding town and cities, hiding would not be an easy feat, especially when you are unable to defend yourself. The Holy Church won''t let you off easily, they seemed to really want to capture you.., in fact, you were lucky I had given you the bracelet and you were close to my location, if you had been very far, I would have arrived very late to save you." Arthur paused for a second then said "... Think carefully, after all, you have nothing to lose if you followed me, in fact, there are many benefits but it''s up to you." The girl seemed to think about what he said, she hesitated for a long time before nodding her a bit unwillingly, however, Arthur could''ve sworn he heard her click her tongue and mutter with a low voice ''Tch! To think I am unable to fight against some trash from the Holy Church!!'' "Alright then, it''s decided! We should hurry up and leave this place as they are probably on their way!" The demon girl just nodded her head again without speaking, affirming what he said. Arthur saw her reply then thought for a moment as said to her "Wait here for a moment, I need to bring my furniture and other things from the cave, in meantime, keep heading West and stay cautious as they may be lurking anywhere, I''ll be right back!" As he finished speaking he turned around and headed toward the tomb to retrieve what he left, he couldn''t just leave them, after all, to him they seemed useful but if other people saw them they would droll non-stop and greed would control them, because even the big bed he put there was made of a special material that can not be found at the present time. Only some royalty or high officials would have luxurious beds like that. With his speed, it only took him more or less aminute to arrive at the tomb, in a span of a single minute he can run approximately 15 or 16Km. Arthur soon retrieved everything and left the room which became empty, it didn''t take him long before he arrived next to the girl, who was surprised to see him back so soon, she thought he was an enemy who sneaked up on her so unconsciously or perhaps instinctively, a fireball was thrown at him. It was too late for her to divert its direction or stop it, Arthur was surprised at first but he just he waved his hand and instantly made the fireball transform into dispersing flames which soon disappeared. Lucy didn''t give an apology as from her perspective, it is his fault that he appeared so suddenly, Arthur didn''t press on the matter either, they both acted as if nothing happened, however, if it was someone other than Arthur, such fireball would have seriously injured the target. Arthur was only able to disperse the Fireball because the difference in Stats between her and him is too big, with a small Dark Barrier around his hand, he pushed the fireball to the side. The duo didn''t linger there and headed back to Willsden Town. Arthur wanted to headback to the town one last time to buy clothes for the girl , truthfully he had a lot of clothes in his storage but they were only for male , and even if there were some for women, with the petite size of the girl they would be much bigger than her , also since the holy church was on his tail he didn''t have to hide the appearance of the girl anymore as he will be leaving the town soon and even if there is some trouble, it couldn''t be worse than the holy church. with decent speed, they arrived at the entrance of the town, The guard was surprised by the beauty of the demon girl but he soon regained his senses and gazed at Arthur with jealousy and envy but the latter just ignored him after paying the entrance fee for himself and the girl. They entered the town and started roaming around searching for a cloth store. Arthur couldn''t remember seeing any building resembling a cloth shop so he just kept searching for the girl following and after one hour or so of searching they found a little shop in the edges of the town, the shop was actually a small house but Arthur knew it was a cloth shop because there were various kind of clothes laid outside with prices put on top of it. The owner of the little shop seemed excited when he saw Arthur and the girl come towards him and checking the clothes, it seemed he didn''t sell very often so seeing customers made him happy. "Hello esteemed customers, what would you like to buy? we have everything here." the shop owner who was a middle-aged man with a small black beard glanced at the demon girl and was stunned to see her beauty, no man could resist to not look at her, she had long silver hair, charming and alluring eyes they seemed cold but they would attract everyone who saw them , her size was petite but you could see she was developed , her skin was as white as snow and her hands seemed soft , but the middle-aged man did not stare for a long time as he was afraid to offend her or the men next to her so he soon averted his gaze and said "Young mistress, I see that your beauty has no limits, I have clothes that would perfectly match your appearance it would make you even more charming how about I show you?" The demon girl didn''t seem interested and just stayed silent, so Arthur turned to her and spoke: "Go see if there is any cloth you like, you cannot stay in this ragged cloth " She seemed unwilling but nevertheless, she still followed the owner of the shop into the store to see the clothes. Arthur followed after them but he just stood at the entrance and waited for her to finish choosing and after a couple of minutes the girl came out wearing new clothes , she had black leather boots, a simple blue dress which perfectly sweeted her and made her body look even more voluptuous, he stared at her still amazed that she can become even more beatiful even with simple clothes but he soon turned around and if he had a normal body you could even see him blush, after all, he too was a man and even with his cold attitude he can be affected by beauty. "haha , esteemed customer she indeed looks more alluring but unfortunately she didn''t want to try other things ..." The girl turned around and looked at the owner angerly as if he said something unnecessary. Arthur saw her react like that and chuckled as it was the first time he saw her act like that but nevertheless, he turned toward the owner and replied "Thank you for your help, give me all the clothes you have with her size " The old man was full of disbelief by what Arthur said as he didn''t expect him to say something like that but he hastily ran toward his shops and in a matter of minutes he came back with hands full of clothes, some seemed luxurious why the others were simple daily-clothes. "E-esteemed customer ,t-this all I got with her size , please check if there is anything you like." Arthur looked at the cloth for a second then glanced at the girl but she was not even looking at the clothes as she seemed uninterested in the clothes but he just said "How much for all of them?" The middle-aged man didn''t know what to say, but he quickly snapped out of it then replied "iii-it''s 102 gold." Actually, the price was a good price for all these clothes, a gold coin for a normal citizen can hold him for half a year so 102 gold was considered a huge sum for small shops like this one which didn''t sell every day. Arthur waved his hand and a magical bag was retrieved from his storage, after checking the amount of gold in it, he threw it toward the owner and took the clothes that were put on a table next to him, he quickly put them in his storage ring with just a wave of his hand and left the cloth store followed by the beautifully dressed girl as for the middle-aged man kept thanking Arthur and bowing non-stop to express his gratitude. Not even after walking 5 minutes , with his high dexterity and fast reflexes he noticed that he was being attacked as fireballs and arrows which seemed to be filled with liquid in the head were shot towards him but their speed was very slow compared to the speed of the holy knight and he noticed that the attacks were only aimed at him and seemed to totally ignore the girl beside him. In fact, the attacks were very accurate and probably made by professionals. Arthur didn''t even move as he waited for the attack to reach for he knew they would do absolutely no damage, those kind of attacks are pathetic and would not even hurt the demon girl who was much weaker than him. Finally the arrows and fireballs hit him but the poisoned arrows just crushed when they hit his black robe and the fireballs distinguished, there were people passing and were surprised by the attacks and closed their eyes when they saw the attacks about to land on the black-robed man. However, to their surprise when they opened their eyes they could see the black-robed man safe and wasn''t even wounded so they wondered if they were hallucinating but they soon realised they weren''t crazy as they noticed that other people were stunned too. As for Arthur, he assessed the situation and quickly found the assailants, there were exactly 5 of them and they were hiding in dark places 50 meters or so away from him, they all wore black clothes and masks on their faces. Without waiting for them to react, Arthur used [faster than death] and appeared in front of the closest black-clothes individual, the assassin was scared shitless by this black-robed man that he and his comrades were supposed to eliminate easily but he didn''t expect his attacks to not even scratch his clothes but to be found out so quickly by him, just as he was going to turn around to run for his life, he blacked out and died just like that. After having beheaded the assassin Arthur used [faster than death] again and beheaded the 3 other assassins and when he was next to the final, he didn''t kill him instead he just chopped his left leg and said "Who hired you, you have 5 seconds or death awaits you." The assassin was screaming from pain, and stared fearfully at Arthur as he was shaking and saw death doors waiting for him so he tried to answer him but he couldn''t do it as his mouth was shaking and couldn''t utter a single a word. "4" "3" "2" Just as Arthur was going to finish his countdown the assassin with a shaky voice "w-wwwait I''ll asnw-weer you , don''t k-kill me pp-please!! it''s Lord F-ffeylord h-hee made a c-contract with u-us as llong as w-we k-kill you, h-he will r-reward us with a lot of g-gold coins." When he finished speaking the assassin didn''t dare move and waited for the black-robed man to let him go. Arthur thought about what the man before him said and his eyes turned cold "As expected, if you don''t eliminate a source of trouble, it will always come back for more!" He then beheaded the assassin as he wasn''t going to let him go in the first place. After killing the last assassin he used [faster than death] and appeared next to the girl who didn''t look particularly surprised as she was used to ambushes and she knew that a single attack like this could kill the black-robed man. Arthur started walking slowly and spoke "I''ve changed my mind, we will stay at the inn tonight and leave tomorrow, I have some matters to resolve before going." The two headed to the inn and in half an hour, they finally arrived. The landlady welcomed with a smile but she soon became stunned as she saw the celestial beauty next to Arthur , she didn''t expect him to bring such beautiful girl with him as he seemed the loner kind. After buying some food and letting the girl eat it, they headed toward their room.night has come, so Arthur decided it was time to act, he turned to look at the girl who was unexpectedly sleeping defenseless on the bed, he was going to tell her he will come back but because she was sleeping, he thought it was needless to wake her up for something so trivial. He used [faster than death] and appeared out of the inn, and soon he started using [faster than death] to head toward the noble district.He preferred using instant moving rather than his speed , even though no one could see him if he was using his speed he still wanted to be cautious and use teleportation to arrive at his destination. With his mana regen he would use it once every 3 seconds without losing a mana, so in a matter of minutes, he arrived at the noble district. He started entering mansions one after another searching for the one Feylord was living in. After going through 7 or so mansions he arrived at big one which seemed like a castle and his gut told him that this is the one. in a 2 continuous [ faster than death] he was already in the building .what he saw was a luxurious hall , white stairs and a big red carpet made by a special animal fur but none of that impressed him as focused on his hearing to affirm if this was Feylord''s home or not. Soon after, he heard a shout coming from upstairs "WHAT! YOU SAID THEY COULDN''T KILL HIM? INCOMPETENT FOOLS, WHAT IF THEY SPILLED THE TRUTH AND TOLD HIM THEY WERE HIRED BY ME?" It seemed Feylord was shouting at somebody and with anger. Arthur smirked and used one last teleportation as he appeared in the same room Feylord was staying in. Arthur could see there were Feylord and his two maids standing behind him and in front of Feylord was a kneeling man who was in a full-plate armor.His appearance caused all the present in the room to stare in shock as if they were dreaming, especially the young noble, his face turned white and he backed away from fear "W-what are you doing in here!! this is a restricted area !!" The noble didn''t even know what to say, he didn''t even question Arthur how he appeared out of nowhere.The full-plate soldier who was kneeling quickly appeared in front of Feylord and readied himself to fight as he stared with fear and caution at the black-robed man in front of him. Arthur didn''t want to waste time talking so he just created a dark spear and willed it to attack the soldier who was protecting and ''poof'' with lightning speed the black spear created a hole in the chest of the soldier who had a eyes full of disbelief , he soon fell on the floor, dead without being able to resist for even a second. The dark spear just stood centimeters away from Feylord who fell on his butt and couldn''t even scream. Arthur didn''t even mind killing the soldier askilling them was akin to killing wild beasts, his past-life taught him that humans are many times worse than any other being, their greed and desires can push them to do things inhuman ,he even wondered why this supposed ''god'' who is watching them from above created such monstrous being . ''Men Are really the cruelest animals.'' Arthur sighed and walked toward the petrified Feylord who didn''t was backing away on all fours as he didn''t even have the strength to stand up to run. "D-don''t you dare kill me! do you know who I am? I am A NOBLE! YOU WILL BE PURSUED BY MY FAMILY! I have connections to royalty, do you think they will let you off easily!!!" Those threats didn''t affect Arthur as he continued advancing slowly towards the young noble.Feylord noticing that his threats are to no avail so he soon changed his tactic and said "Right right ! Do you want money? women? I can give you all and you can keep that demon girl ! I can give you everything, you just have to say the wor..." before he could finish his sentence the dark spear smashed into his head which killed him instantly.A rthur stopped in front of the corpse of the noble , disgusted and with eyes full of contempt. He looked at his headless corpse and noticed a ring in his hand which resembled a little his storage ring so he guessed it must be similar to his. He took the ring from his finger and put it in his storage to check it later. Arthur turned toward the 2 maids who were scared shitless and crying, they didn''t dare move as they knew if they did they will be killed. One of them quickly kneeled and said "please don''t kill me !! I didn''t do anything to offend you, my lord ! if you want I can serve you, I can warm your bed too, I can be useful please don''t kill me!" Truthfully, He was going to kill them both to erase evidence but when he saw what the maid said he was even more disgusted, humans will really do anything to stay alive. Just by what she said, he knew she was someone who will cling to someone with power and use her body to have benefits and would abandon them the second they have a better opportunity. He glanced at the second maid but she didn''t say anything as she looked at him with fearful and tears flowing from her eyes. He killed the first maid who begged him not to kill her but he decided not to kill the second maid as when he questioned her, he found out she was from a poor family and worked for the noble to be able to help her family as they were struggling , true she sold her body to the lustful noblebut she used for the sake of her family so Arthur just let her live and told her to leave the mansion fast and not say word of what happened or he will come back for her. Soon he left the mansion and returned discreetly to his room in the inn.Once he arrived there he found the demon girl awake and staying silent on the bed apparently waiting for him to arrive.He sat on the chair and softly said: "Everything is resolved now, we''ll leave this town tomorrow morning". the demon girl nodded coldly towards him. Arthur suddenly remembered something and retrieved the ring he took from Feylord , he infused mana in it and discovered that it was indeed a storage ring but it was a lot smaller than his, actually it can be considered an upgraded version of a magical bag it had a space of 30x30 and had some items scattered here and there . What picked his interest is an envelope which seemed rather special, when he retrieved it and examined it he discovered it contained a little bit of mana so he appraised it Nemia academy acceptance letter He frowned as he didn''t know what this Nemia academy was, he didn''t even read any information about it in the ancient books so he wondered what it was.H e decided to question the demon girl about this academy as maybe she has some information about it so he turned around and asked "Do you know what is the Nemia academy?" For the first time Arthur saw the girl gape at him with amazement, but she soon snapped out of it and replied with her melodious voice "Nemia academy is a place where all talents from all the continents, they gather up and study magic or fighting classes , usually the academy only accepts nobles,royalty or very talented people" Arthur listened carefully to the girl as to not miss any important information "the academy was formed a thousand years old and it has immense authority as none of the powers in the continents dare to offend it , and it is said that everyone attending it is considered equal and power is determined by strength and even a royalty will be regarded as a simple student there and he cannot use his backing to oppress others and if they did they will be severely punished if not kicked out of the academy . Normally if you want to enter the academy you need to pass the entrance exam which is extremly hard or have an special admission gotten from the academy" the demon girl seemed out of breath so she paused for a second to rest as she was not used to talking this much but she decided to tell Arthur all the information she got on the academy as she deemed him to be a little trustworthy and she noticed that she began to open up to him even if it was a little bit it still changed the whe thought about him . After a couple of seconds, she resumed "Nemia academy is located at the center of the 4 continents on a big island, the whole island is owned by the academy and no army from the others continents is allowed to step on this island otherwise it will be considered an invader. Usually, the academy does an entrance exam once every 6 months but the accepted people are very few but extremely talented in either magic or close combat strength." Arthur was amazed by what he heard as he didn''t know of the existence of such institution and it seemed to be the perfect place for him to stay, since no one dared to offend it , the holy church would not chase him or cause him trouble there andit will be a good experience to go there and check it out , he also noticed that the demon girl spoke of the Nemia academy with expectation and longing so that added another reason for him to go there.He looked at the girl who was out of breath and spoke "The Nemia academy is the best choice for us now, not only the holy church would not dare chase us there, we will be able to learn new things and maybe you will be strong enough to defend yourself against the holy church, so what do you say do you want to come with me there? " he looked at the girl with warm eyes , he didn''t know why but he wished for her to accept his offer as he didn''t want to leave her alone... "enn" the girl nodded and her lips curved a little for a second forming a smile if you could barely call it that , she seemed more energetic after hearing that their next destination would be the Nemia academy as she always longed for it but couldn''t go there as the holy church didn''t stop chasing her and even if she went she didn''t know if she had enough talent to be able to pass the entrance exam.. **************************************************** Just when Arthur killed Feylord , in very far place from willsden town there was a very big castle , decorated with gold pillars and a gigantic garden filled with all kinds of flowers, in this garden there stood a man who was drawing non chalantly and enjoying his time , this man looked like a robust middle-aged man and had short black hair and a scar on his neck all the way to his left eye which looked injured . Soon after a skinny tall man who was dressed like a butler came running towards the middle-aged man and said "My lord ,the light in the life crystal of Mr.Feylord has been shut , it seems he died not long ago!!" The hand which was painting trembled for a second then the middle-aged man screamed angerly toward the butler "WHO ! WHO DID THIS ! TELL ME WHO KILLED MY SON !" The poor butler couldn''t respond, he just extended his hand and showed the middle-aged a crystal, in this crystal, you can see a floating dark spear in front of you and an approaching black-robed man, you couldn''t see the exact features of this figure as he was hiding it with a black good . The crystal showed what happened a few seconds before the death of Feylord, the Robust middle-aged man was shaking from rage as he took the crystal as he smashed the painting he was drawing and roared towards the butler "IMMEDIATELY SEND MEN TO INVESTIGATE WHO KILLED MY SON! DO YOU HEAR ME? IMMEDIATELY!" the butler bowed and quickly left to carry out the orders of his lord. This middle-aged man name was Edward Omond and he was from the royalty, Feylord was his illegitimate son but he cared dearly for him and he took good care of him, he provided him with skill books, money and Eleixirs to boost his magic powers. Edward didn''t have any sons beside Feylord so the death of his only son pained him and ignited an uncontrollable rage within him "You dare kill my son? just wait and see the day you will beg for your life in front of me! see how I will skin you alive !" Edward grinned evilly and turned around to enter his castle with a red face filled with anger and craziness. Chapter 12 - 13 : Journey to the North When Theodor Used the crystal to disappear, he was teleported to the Headquarters of the holy church in the center of the human continent, actually this kind of crystal was very rare as not even high officials in neither the royalty or holy church would have it , it''s a unique item found in the dungeons and the probability of it dropping is near zero . The father of Theodor is a reputable man in the holy church and has somehow gotten his hands on this crystal so he gifted it to him to teleport to safety with it in case of an emergency. The teleportation happened in just a second and he soon found himself in a circular room which seemed to be used as a teleportation room. In This world, the powerful people would not travel for days or maybe even months instead they will use teleportation arrays, for example, to go to the Nemia academy you have to either travel by boat which will take some time or use the teleportation array but it is very expensive so only a few rich nobles would use it. That kind of teleportation arrays is scattered in all the continents as to help people travel faster. Theodor saw 2 guards standing at the entrance of the room so he shouted at them with a shaky voice "Q-QUICKLY BRING ME TO LORD.ERIK I NEED TO INFORM HIM OF AN EMERGENCY !!" The 2 guards were startled as the pale face of Theodor but they soon they ran out of the room followed by the terrified Theodor. After sprinting for a minute they arrived before a big white door which had some ancient runes written on it. "Lord Theodor, this is Lord Erik''s office please wait so we can inform him first" Theodor just ignored him and just pushed the door hastily and once he entered he saw an old man with a long white bear and deep blue eyes writing some kind of letter or document. The old man raised his head and saw Theodor in his sorry state so he frowned and said calmly"Theodor, what are you doing here? how did you even get back here.." even though the old man was surprised he still remained very calm. "L-lord ERIK, Lord R-rein h-he died ! ! he died fighting against the black-robed mage !!!! " The eyes of Lord Erik were stunned when they heard what Theodor said as he would never have thought he would say something like that. "What are you saying? Rein is not a weak person to die , are you sure he is dead or just ran away without checking anything?" the tone of the old man seemed cold and threatening as he didn''t like Theodor in first place and considered him just a mere puppet to use for he is very weak and only relies on his father''s backing to rise in status. "Lord Erik I am absolutely sure, I saw his corpse, not even his legs remained after he died !!! the black-robed mage is a monster!!!!" The old man stood there thinking about something but he could feel that what Theodor was the truth by looking at his terrified face, after some seconds he raised his head and spoke "Alright, tell me the details of the fight and how did this black-robed mage win" Theodor nodded continuously and started narrating the whole fight without even leaving a single detail he even mentioned that the demon ''Lucy'' who they were looking for was with him and was actually his slave and that she regained her demon powers and the seal was broken. ".... After the black-robed men fought with Rein for quite some time, he backed away using his teleportation and just created a LOT of some kind of black daggers which were floating in air, it was REALLY A TERRIFYING SIGHT ! and in just a second those black daggers penetrated Rein without any resistance , even his holy enchanted armor was destroyed without nothing left of it !!!" After he finished Theodor was still shaking as this was the first time he saw someone this monstrous and powerful, he knew the pope of the holy church and many other people were extremely powerful but he never saw any of them fight or demonstrate powers. Having listened to Theodor, Lord Erik was shocked especially when he heard the last sentence ''Why would he use magic just in the end? He could''ve just finished the fight from the start... did he need to prepare it beforehand and it took a long time ?''. Even though the old man was angry because he lost an important knight nevertheless he still didn''t argue any longer and just sighed , Rein was strong but compared to the monsters hiding in the holy church he considered nothing, even he himself could kill Rein with one attack but what made Rein special is that he was young and powerful so he still had a long future but now it''s too late... "Since things have come to this, I''ll have to take the necessary measures against this man , I cannot let him become a threat to us and about that girl hmm to think she was with him, interesting ..very interesting, Theodor go tell ''him'' that we found her and if he wants her he should search for her himself I do not want to waste any more of my men in this useless search " Theodor just nodded and bowed to the old man before quickly leaving, as for the old man he just continued what he was doing before Theodor barged in. *************************************** Morning quickly came and Arthur was feeling quite relieved after he killed the young noble and stopped any future troubles , he learned from his previous world that mercy on evil people is a decision only made by fools or mindless people as those evil people will somehow someway comeback for revenge either on you or your loved ones so you better kill them when you have the chance. Like usual, Arthur passed the night reading and the girl just sat on the bed still excited from the thought of going to the Nemia academy, he thought that she really looked like a little girl seeing her excitment and her feet dangling from the bed and moving non-stop. In a way, she changed from the day he first saw her as now she talked more and didn''t feel as cold anymore towards him that is but when outside she returned to her usual emotionless attitude. Early in the morning, They both left the inn after thanking the landlord for her hospitality and soon they were at the exit of the town. Willsden town was actually deep in the center of the human continent and 400km or so North there is a big city but Arthur didn''t plan to enter it as it will be a waste of time and there is probably a holy church branch there too since there is one in this town. The human continent was in the south so Arthur and the demon girl had to go north until they reached the end of the continent then somehow go to the island which is owned by Nemia academy, actually this ''island'' could be considered a small continent as it was very big and stretched very far. Soon they exited the town and started traveling, Arthur didn''t forget to give the ring he got from Feylord to the girl , the storage ring had quite an amount of gold he also put all the food he bought in it as it could fit since food didn''t take that much place he also put the clothes he bought for her in it. The girl took the ring after thanking and Arthur deemed it to be worth as hearing her melodious and charming voice was pleasing to the ear. The speed which they were traveling was considered fast compared to normal travelers or merchants, even though the girl couldn''t run as fast as him and had to rest, that didn''t matter as he created a dark cloud and they just rode on it non-stop except a little rest in the night because he couldn''t fly at night as they were heading north and the weather would be colder and the demon girl wasn''t like him a body of bones instead she could feel coldness and he knew even if she did suffer from coldness she wouldn''t say it as it was her attitude so he just stopped at night without telling her. They didn''t talk a lot except some questions here and there made by Arthur, the mood was awkward at first but he soon got used to it as there was nothing he could do. A week or so passed since they started their journey to the north and the distance they passed was considerably big, their speed increased more as Arthur thought of a way to increase the speed of the cloud and at the same time protect the girl from the strong air resistance and that''s by making a spheric dark barrier around her. It seemed his barrier had quite a lot of uses and this was one of them. With this method, their speed increased dozen of times and he now could use the dark cloud to fly at max speed all day long and in just one more week they crossed half the distance. Honestly, Arthur was pretty surprised about the mind-numbing speed of the dark cloud, it could travel at a speed even faster than sound. On the course of two weeks, he was certain that the distance he crossed his large than a whole tour around his previous world, Earth. He concluded that this world is definitely larger as only a quarter of the Human continent is way bigger than the whole Earth, one can imagine how vast this mysterious world is. At night, he just got down from the dark cloud to let the girl eat and sleep for some time, they were in a forest full of trees and plants but Arthur just ignored his surroundings and just sat on a nearby rock while gazing at the eating girl with a complex feeling, his thoughts drifted to his past as he remembered his wife. Truthfully he really loved her before she had done anything to him as she was beautiful and caring but that was all an illusion as it was only to trick him and get him money, just for some papers which would buy a few things she was willing to let him go through hell , he couldn''t forget her look when she was torturing him with the other men, she laughed and mocked him for his stupidity. "Haha, to think that I would love you? You''re not even that handsome! I only took the opportunity that was made for me and married you as I saw you were rich and indeed you were hahaha, I''ve never seen someone so stupid with just some words and kiss you fell for me, it couldn''t be easier!!" Arthur''s heard ached as he remembered those terrible memories and couldn''t help shaking a bit, he was sad but angry, lonely but thirsty for revenge. The demon girl seemed to notice Arthur looking towards her but she couldn''t see his eyes as not only was it a night at the moments, he wore a robe which covered him from head to toe, she didn''t even know which race he was from. She became restless because he continued to gaze at her for a long time but she didn''t say anything as she knew he was lost in thought otherwise he wouldn''t stay dazed like that. The girl frowned when she saw his hands shaking as it was the first time she saw him this distressed, usually, he was very calm no matter the situation is, even when he fought the holy knight he seemed relaxed as if nothing could change his mood. Truthfully, she didn''t know what to do, after all this man helped her a lot and didn''t even anything in return , she didn''t particularly trust him but she felt indebted to him and couldn''t repay the things he had done for her so she suddenly thought of something, she stood up and walked toward Arthur who seemed unaffected by her action and lost in thought, when she was a couple of centimeters in front of him she patted his head. She thought of the moment when he too patted her head to reassure her that he will keep his word and then chopped that old man''s hand, back then his pat really relieved her from her anxious thoughts and comforted her even for a little bit. Arthur who was still remembering those hellish memories was startled when he felt some kind of hand patting his head so he quickly snapped out of it and lifted his head to look at the figure who is patting him but he suddenly felt a terrifying sense of danger so he stretched both his arms and hugged the girl who was completely surprised by his actions , he quickly created a dark barrier behind his back and tried creating dark shields around it . "boom" An enormous object struck Arthur from behind and instantly destroyed his dark shields and barrier he was sent flying with the girl in his arms 20 hundred meters until they fell down, Arthur could feel that his left hand was completely destroyed as nothing was left of it and he had some ribs which were shattered, he even heard a notification critical strike ! -901 Health Fortunately, he managed to protect the girl in the last second with his body otherwise she would have been insta-killed by that sneak attack, she only had some minor injuries here and there but nothing serious. As she was surprised by what happened she quickly opened her eyes and saw the skeleton head of Arthur who was now exposed due to the attack, he also had some cracks on his skeleton head which made him look even more terrifying "You...What are y.." before she could finish Arthur threw a healing potion to her and quickly gulped one after quickly adjusting his body and checking his injuries but he was surprised by what he heard saw "ting" You are possessing an undead body you cannot eat or drink any kind of food or potion ''what the fuck ! are you serious .. !!!'' he had no time to curse his luck as he turned around to see the origin of the attack and what faced him completely surprised him, it was huge beast, probably 300 meters in height and 100 meters in length , the creature had long sharp scales which were yellowish , the beast''s head was even more terrifying as it had grey ferocious eyes and sharp teeth , it appeared to be grinning toward Arthur with contempt and pride in its eyes. Young Earth Dragon: LVL129 When he saw the results of the appraisal he didn''t dare believe it so he quickly appraised again and again, after multiple checking he took a deep breath and looked at his left arm which was now regenerating but at this rate it would take a couple of minutes and he didn''t have this kind of luxurious time as there was a boss-like beast in front of him. Arthur didn''t waste any time, he quickly retrieved Zodiak''s cane from his storage as this was his best weapon so far. He saw how his barrier was useless against such a monster so he gave up on the idea to use it to defend from his attacks as the barrier was shattered in an instant but nevertheless he created one around the demon girl as to protect her from the collateral damage of the incoming fight then he created long dark spears, thousands of them were floating in the air and the sight was more terrifying than when he created many dark daggers, he conjured countless dark spears and threw the at the dragon which was also amazed by the dark spears but didn''t even budge or feel afraid. ... Because of its huge frame, all the spears have hit the dragon but to Arthur''s surprise, they didn''t even scratch its scales, hell! It seemed to tickle it a bit. Cold sweat broke out on Arthur''s skeletal forehead, he seemingly mopped it away with his forearm, when he saw that his attacks didn''t do anything he completely understood he was screwed but he wasn''t just going to give up as he couldn''t just run away with [faster than death] and let the girl perish. In the meantime the dragon didn''t just stay there without doing anything instead, it charged toward Arthur and although its frame was huge, it was crazy fast, creating tremors with each step and bringing a never stopping pressure. Despite the surprising swiftness of the dragon, it was still lacking compared to its tiny foe, who was specialized in speed. Just when he was trying to move away to avoid the huge dragon, Arthur was surprised to see that he couldn''t move because some sort of solid rocks which were binding both his legs, as the dragon was going to crash onto him, he used [faster than death] to teleport some distance away but when he reappeared and was going to breathe a sigh of relief, he was surprised to see a gigantic long tail coming right at him with lightning speed so, with no time to react and lesser time to concentrate on a place to use [faster than death]. He was left with no choice but to create a barrier and hope for the best. ''booom!'' The tail was bigger than all his body and when it hit him it felt like a mountain was pressing on him, the dragon''s tail has struck him from above and sent him flying to the ground, as he crushed on it, a huge crater was formed and he lost a whopping 1200 health. Although he didn''t feel pain, he felt that his body was not responding to his thoughts and commands, he could barely stand up, his skeleton body was fully exposed and some places had shattered bones. He gritted his teeth and put back Zodiak''s cane, since it wasn''t useful he decided to change his tactic as his [Dark Magic] was not working. Mayhap it was because he was not skilled with it enough even though he got the mastery and talent of Zodiak, he still didn''t have a better imagination to create better weapons or to use it more efficiently. He glanced at the demon girl who appeared looking at him with a stunned expression and strange complexion flickering in her cold pupils. He had no choice but to shout at her to wake her up for her long daze "What are you dazing for! Quickly go away! I can''t deal with this dragon!" Even though he created a barrier around her, he couldn''t guarantee her safety, he wasn''t sure if he was going to win or not but the probability of him winning was very low considering he lost more than half his Health with one blow and his attacks are doing nothing to his opponent. He created a long dark sword and held it in his still functioning right hand and without wasting a second he dashed towards the dragon, with the insane speed he soon was near the creature and after having used [dark burst] he slashed with all his might at the scales of the dragon , a dark arc was formed by the slash and directly headed onto the yellowish scales and on contact a loud noise was created which could turn normal people deaf. As Arthur checked the place where he aimed, his face immediately stiffened due to what he saw , the scales were not destroyed instead there was a slight crack on them, if he continued like this it would take him ages to completely destroy those scales and he didn''t have the time anyway as the dragon would not stand still and watch. "What the hell is with this defense, how could I beat him!! think think..." seeing the dragon attacking with his sharp claws and high-speed tail Arthur used [faster than death] and teleported 50meter away to gain some seconds to think of a way to beat this dragon "Maybe that will work?... I might as well try it" Arthur started using [faster than death] every 3 seconds to escape the dragon''s attack until 1 minute passed then he quickly Charged a [dark burst] and dashed again towards the beast who was charging at him too. When the enormous dragon was going to finish off its foe, Arthur quickly swung his weapon using [Void Slash] as he knew that his void magic would eat devour things like a black hole, truthfully Arthur didn''t have any hope in his [Void Magic] as he neglected it and didn''t even practice it because he deemed dark magic more powerful. The [Void Slash] landed on the dragon''s scales and surprisingly, it wounded it which caused blood to gush out of its wound. Actually, the scales were not shattered or destroyed but they were eaten and just disappeared when the [Void Slash] landed on them, Arthur hoped the slash would continue all the way to its bones but unfortunately, it did not, so he guessed that it had a relation to his low mastery in Void Magic. He decided to focus more on this mysterious attribute as it was deemed more useful than he thought previously. But all of this is for after surviving this battle, if he comes out alive, that is. [Dark burst] cooldown was 60 seconds and the wound he inflicted didn''t even flinch the dragon , so Arthur knew even if he managed to find a way to harm the beast; he wouldn''t be able to kill it quickly considering the dragon began to understand his tactics of attacks and predict where he would teleport so whenever he used [Faster Than Death] the beast''s tail would come down at him with lightning speed, crushing his already cracked bones on the ground. Just when he was busy dodging the dragon''s claws, a crazy idea struck Arthur, it was a reckless one but he had to gamble on it as there really was no other way to win He noticed that the demon girl didn''t even move from her place even after he shouted at her but he didn''t have to question her actions now. He backed away with a teleportation and created a long dark chain, it was 500meter long black chain, as it floated in the air it seemed like a black snake, Arthur willed it to charge at the dragon and soon it enveloped its legs and tail. The long chain was pretty effective, using the Dark Magic as a conjuring source, he created this long chain and smoothly managed to restrain the dragon''s movements by wrapping it around its crazily swinging tail and its thick legs. He then retrieved Zodiak''s cane as every bit of intelligence is needed for the upcoming attack. Arthur held the cane and raised both his hands and closed his eyes, you couldn''t know his eyes were closed because he was a skeleton and it had no eyes but nevertheless, he closed them and began to concentrate. Soon enough, Dark Magic began to form on top of him but it had a little violet in it , it resembled a miniature black hole as it devoured everything around it, including air and light, the dark-violet energy began to expand little by little while the black chain was restraining the struggling dragon. A minute had passed and Arthur finally opened his eyes, above him was a gigantic black and violet arrow, it emitted a terrifying pressure to the point of alarming the unyielding dragon. The arrow''s length was 60 meters and you could even see it from a long distance, it seemed to be like a magnet as rocks and dust were being sucked into it, it was pointed at the dragon and was a dozen or so meters from the creature. The earth dragon, sensing danger, ferociously struggled out of his bind but he just couldn''t shake off the chains, since he was a young dragon he still hasn''t grown any wings so he wouldn''t be able to fly even if he wanted to. Just when Arthur opened his eyes he heard a notification and a window popped up ''ting'' Congratulations! you have successfully managed to fuse [Void attribute] with [Dark attribute] : any attacks made by mixing [Void] with [Dark] would have 150% increased damage / be aware that attacks requiring the fuse of 2 attributes or more cost a lot more than normal attacks Congratulations! you have created a new skill(active) : [Hell arrow] : By fusing [void] and [dark] you created a gigantic arrow that can annihilate everything in its way cost : 3500 mana cooldown time : 10 days. For creating a skill without relying on any exterior help: 1 skill point Skill point: They are very rare to obtain and you must have completed certain conditions, you can use skill points to increase the level of any skill by 1 Congratulations! your [void manipulation] mastery have improved! a lot of notifications came in but Arthur didn''t have the time to look through them, he noticed his mana pool being emptied and guessed that it must be because of the arrow, without wasting time he waved his hand and the arrow struck the dragon, for an arrow of that size; its speed was truly god-like as it landed on the dragon chest the second he willed it to strike, in a sense, it was instantaneous. It did stop for a second before going through the Scales and creating a hole in the dragon''s chest, blood flowed out non-stop from the hole and from its terrifying mouth, the ground became dyed red along with the stench of this liquid. The beast crashed on the ground, screaming and howling in pain. Arthur watched the scene with joy and surprise, he was happy to see his arrow break the defense of the dragon and fatally wound him, he watched the beast fall and scream in pain but didn''t feel any pity as it deserved what happened to him because the creature attacked first without any reason. Arthur still didn''t know why it ferociously attacked him like that but he didn''t care for any enemy who wanted his life he would kill them without hesitation. minutes passed and finally the screaming ended and the creature died from the serious wound in his chest, Arthur immediately heard notifications "ting" level up! level up ! level up ! level up ! .... Congratulations! you can now use [Necromancy] to spawn a bone earth dragon from the underworld Cost: 50.000 mana He leveled up 6 times, and became LVL95 '' the experience from killing a dragon is really generous... '' Arthur noticed that his bones had grown back again, same as new, and his health bar is full as his health regen was sky-high so it only took a short time to get him back to his peak condition, nonetheless, it didn''t stop the fact that the last fight was hard and a simple mistake would have led to his miserable death. Arthur was quite delighted to see he can spawn a dragon but when he saw the cost he immediately gave up on that idea as he barely had one-tenth of the actual cost. He turned to look at the demon girl and saw her standing not far away with the barrier still surroundings her so he felt reassured but he soon remembered she saw his actual ''body'' so he felt fear because his appearance was by no means normal, you could actually say it was terrifying as if he was a reaper or a lich so her being surprised and scared would be a normal reaction. He saw her staring at him with surprise but there wasn''t any tinge of fear in her eyes, actually, she was looking at him curiously and frowning from time to time. He soon put back his robe in a way so that it covers his body completely as usual and walked towards the petite girl. Arthur felt awkward to talk to her after she has seen his appearance but he still urged himself and said reproachingly "Why didn''t you run when I told you to? Do you even know how dangerous it was? Even if someone like you with a Lv of 44 cannot take a single attack from that dragon!" Just when he finished speaking, he saw the girl''s eyes widen from astonishment so he soon realized he said something he shouldn''t have. He was too focused on scolding her that he forgot that not everyone had the appraisal skill like him. "H-how did you know my lvl is 44.... I never said that." The girl spoke softly but with a cautious gaze as she recalled never saying her Lv to him and if he used an appraisal stone on her, she would''ve known. He didn''t know how to respond so he coughed and splendidly dodged the subject by asking a question in return "S-sooo, how are you ? Did you get injured from the previous attack?" Noticing him dodge the question, she no longer persisted as everyone had secrets they didn''t want anybody to know about, even she was not an exception. She returned to her usual indifferent and cold expression whilst replying "I am fine... thank you" Her voice seemed to change at the end as if containing some concern and gratitude. Arthur hearing her response nodded and headed toward the dragon as it was the time for him to possess it and gain its stats. He sat on a nearby rock and then exited his skeleton body and jumped to the dragon, his real body was so small that it was not noticeable by a normal person, unless a person had high Dexterity stats and good senses, nobody would be able to see him, not his real ''body'' at the very least. In a second, he was inside the dragon''s body and the joyous notifications came one after another You have successfully possessed: Young Earth dragon you have gained a new skill(passive) : [Earth''s aid]: the Earth has given you its help, increased vitality and defense: +1500 vitality / +2000 defense You have gained a new skill(active) : [medium: Earth magic]: you can now use earth magic to either attack or defend or to bind your enemies. You have gained a new Stats: Magic defense: similar to the ''defense'' stats, this stats increases your resistance towards magic attacks in general Your stats have improved! please check your status window for more detailed information TITLE : MEAT GRINDER Level: 95Class: Void Parasite - Strength 6041(+2919)Intelligence4821(+1945) Agility 5247(+667)Wisdom3866(+1456) Vitality 7315(+4561)Dexterity4261(+2141) - Health 8013(+5238)Health Regen77.9/s Mana 6801(+2249)Mana Regen82.7/s Stamina infiniteStamina Regen???? - Attack: 4691(+1738)Defense:7812(+5220) Magic defense : 1781 -- Elemental resistances Fire: 25% Water: 25% Wind: 35% Earth: 45%(+20%) Light/holy: 50% Darkness: 100% Arthur was stunned when he saw his status window because his stats rose by an enormous amount, though he didn''t get many skills from the dragon he still was amazed especially when he saw his defense, it had become god-like and he guessed that his defense now was many times better than the dragon before it died. Even without scales he still had a very strong defense , he also noticed the new stats magic defense and it intrigued him a lot as he never got it from any other being he possessed not even Zodiak so he judged that it must be a unique attribute related to dragons but nevertheless he got it and his resistance toward magic is increased which is a huge benefit. It was a hard fight but the rewards are extraordinary so Arthur didn''t regret for a second not running away as he felt more confident in himself when he saw his stats window. He soon left the dragon''s body and headed toward his previous one. In a matter of seconds, he was back again at his skeleton body and felt his bones become harder and more robust. He could feel them cracking as if transforming and becoming harder in every second, he also got a feeling that with his current strength he could destroy a big boulder with but a finger. Both of them left the area quickly after, and headed deeper into the forest, they soon found a good spot and lit up some fire and both rested on a small rock. For Arthur who lost his ability to trust people after what happened to him, he didn''t want to lie to people or neither cheats them so he thought that he should explain to the girl why was he able to see his lvl and why was he a skeleton, of course he didn''t have to and no one forced him to but if she is going to follow him to the academy he wouldn''t want to lie to her about his identity because he lying for him is like deceiving people and he doesn''t want to become someone like his ex-wife, and to be honest Arthur can''t deny the fact that he trusted her. He who has forsaken his hope for humanity is trusting someone even if it is a demon, he felt comfort being with her and felt warmth when she didn''t leave him alone after he shouted at her to run away, maybe he is overthinking it and she didn''t run because of other reasons nevertheless it still touched him and melted some of his icy and cold heart. As the fire was between them, he gazed at this beautiful and alluring girl and began to speak..... Chapter 13 - 14 : Evolve "Since you asked earlier how I saw your level, I am going to answer you but I would like to keep what I''m going to tell you a secret" Arthur tried to speak with a soft and gentle soft but it sounded cold and threatening nevertheless the girl nodded her continuously with excited eyes as she was a child who was going to hear a bed-time story , Arthur chuckled as the sight and continued to speak "I have a special skill called appraisal, when I use on an item or person it gives me small information about it, that''s how I knew your LVL." The demon girl stayed silent for a moment before speaking "A-and you saw my name too?" , actually, she wasn''t that much astonished because she kind of guessed he had an ability like that otherwise how else would he have known her LVL so accurately. "Yes, your name is Lucy, the skill tells me the name lvl and Race" Lucy still remained silent and stared at Arthur with those breath-taking eyes, she was giving him a glare that could freeze bones, like being nude in the middle of hailstorm, where every chunk of ice was a frosted dagger cutting into her eyes , but soon the glare softened and you could feel some warmth from her cold eyes . Arthur noticing his change in her mood said reassuringly "don''t worry, I would not say your name as it seems you do not want it to be discovered" "It''s ok , since we are considered c-ccompanions you can call me by my name" though Lucy seemed to hesitate before she spoke nonetheless she told him he can call her by her name which really surprised Arthur as he didn''t expect this cold girl to allow him to say her name even though it seemed to bother her that her name got discovered. From the beginning of the conversation, Arthur didn''t shift away from his eyes from her face for he couldn''t, he was mesmerized, her soft lips, her white skin which made her even more gorgeous he couldn''t have enough looking even if he spent all his life doing it. Even though he was staring at her, she didn''t seem bothered or disgusted for Lucy knew he wasn''t someone evil, the way he protected proved that he somehow cared for her safety, to be totally honest she still had some doubts here and there but when he saved her and she saw that he was not human or at least didn''t appear to be . First, she was surprised by his appearance but slowly she just became curious as to what is he? And why would he save her , after all it didn''t seem he was after her body and he also didn''t hand her to the holy church so she got a lot of questions to ask , and when he told her he will reply to her suspicions she wanted to bombard him with questions but even after so much curiosity she couldn''t utter a single word. Maybe she was startled by his stare and focus on her or maybe she was feeling embarrassed she couldn''t tell, but she felt that this was a familiar feeling as to ''back then''. time passed and no one talked, the atmosphere seemed awkward so Arthur broke the silence by finally saying " If you have any more question, you can ask them".As if she was waiting for this moments, Lucy lifted her head and spoke "T-then are you human?" Although deep inside, she knew he wasn''t human when she saw his appearance she wanted to make sure, after all, what humans have done to her she still felt deep hatred for them. "No I am not, I am a race called a parasite." Lucy''s mouth was wide open, she was startled by the reply of this black-robed man in front of her, after all,she expected him to say demon, undead even a beastmen but never would she have thought he would say a ''parasite'' she didn''t know such race even existed as she never heard of them. Arthur seeing her astonishment continued to explain "My real appearance is not this body, a parasite can change body at any time just by possessing, for example, I can possess you now but I won''t because I don''t possess living beings so I just stuck with this skeleton corpse." This time, once she heard what he said Lucy was silent and deep in thought "If he could possess me then why didn''t he do it? if he needed to use me he should have done so right? after all, it would have been easier.." She questioned his actions as she was used to people deceiving her so him saying that is contradicting all her beliefs. A strange emotion surged in her heart and she seemed complexed and overwhelmed by such emotion that she didn''t feel in very long time, she opened her heart to him even though they had not been together for a long time, he didn''t try to trick or even use her and even if he wanted to he could''ve just possessed her albeit the fact that with his strength it should be a piece of cake to do it. It was not like the man she previously loved who deceived her for months to lower her guard, this black-robed man could have killed her, tortured her, raped her ... but he didn''t do it on the contrary he protected, bought food and clothes for her and even told her his secrets. After all those years, she trusted someone again and even felt warmth being with him but she still questions that needed to be answered to ascertain her complex emotions "Why did you buy me at the auction? or protect me from the holy church or even that attack from the dragon, you could''ve just let me die after all we are not family or friends." She asked him then looked at towards focusing on his face to see how is he gonna react or what is he gonna say, after all this was the question she wanted the most answered,he gazed at her for sometime before looking down as if remembering some painful memories and soon he replied with a voice which seemed sad and cold "There was once a man who loved a women and married her, but to his surprise she was just a deceitful women who only married him for his wealth and she used the cruelest methods to get him to give all his wealth to her but he, overwhelmed by anger and revenge didn''t give in and was tortured for months if not years. He learned that humans are but greedy creatures who only seek what their desires and don''t care how they reach them, this man was given a second chance by a certain being and has been reincarnated into a different world into a parasite so he decided to never trust anyone. However, someday he saw a certain girl who reminded him of his past self so he helped her and promised himself to protect her until he could break her sealed powers which he finally did but the funny or perhaps stupid thing is he couldn''t bring himself to part with her as he felt a special connection between them, so asked her to follow him for he will protect her from her pursuers. After that, they began their journey and someday they were ambushed by a sneak-attack so he protected her from the attack and after defeating the opponent, he knew that he felt a special thing for her and didn''t want to deceive her so he decided to tell her the truth about himself because he didn''t want to be a deceitful and lying person like most humans are..." As he finished speaking Arthur lifted his head to look at the girl and was surprised to see her eyes were a bit teary and wore a sad look on her face. Lucy didn''t expect to hear such an answer, as she more and more listened to the story, she knew he was talking about himself and that he had a past similar and had gone through a lot, she was slightly shocked hearing he was from another world but she didn''t bother with it much as it didn''t really matter right now. It''s impossible to say she wasn''t curious about this world but she couldn''t just ask him for it will remind him of his sad past. She couldn''t control her emotions and cry for the first time in years, last time she cried was when she found out that the ''man'' she loved was deceiving her and that was the last time she showed any emotion. After that incident she became cold to everyone and had an emotionless face and a freezing gaze. She knew he wasn''t lying but the way he narrated the story, you could feel he was lonely and sad as he didn''t even lift his head to look at her the whole time until he finished his story and even at that moment he only looked at her for a second before looking down again. She cried for sometime before she returned to her calmness but her cute face was red and her beatiful eyes were swollen from crying, she really felt a strong connection with him and somehow felt strange towards him as for Arthur he didn''t dare lift his head , he heard her cry and seeing her so affected by his story touched him deeply , you could even say he began to have feeling of love towards her , it may sound idiotic for him to love someone after what happened to him but he couldn''t do anything about it as he felt warmth and happiness when he was with her, even with almost no interraction he still felt her company was comfortable so he didn''t want to let go of her and protected her even with his life when the dragon attacked he just didn''t want to admit it but deep down he loved her dearly even more than his ex-life but he didn''t want to confess to her as he was afraid, afraid of being betrayed and used again for benefits, but after seeing her cry like that when hearing his story he couldn''t hold his mouth as he unconsciously blurted out "E-even though it may sound stupid after what I just told you but I have realized that I have fallen in love with you but please do not be mistaken as I only love you for your appearance " Arthur said that while lifting his head and gazing at her , if he had real eyes he would''ve cried right now but unfortunately he didn''t and he cursed his luck as to be reborn in a parasite , he didn''t want to possess a living body because it seemed wrong for him and even if he did, it would still not be his real appearance. While he was thinking about this and somehow confessing so suddenly he heard her speak "Y-you know, I too had a past similar to you, I was chased since I was a kid and when I finally thought I found a man who could protect me and love me for who I really am, a demon, he betrayed my trust and was only someone from the church , he and his friends even used my body as they liked for years, so how could you love someone as filthy as i am when you don''t know anything about my past" Lucy never thought she would tell her past to someone, as she was speaking tears flowed from her cheek and she sobbed silently , she was happy to his confession but she thought that once he knew what they did to her and how they sullied her and played with her, he would no longer want her, after all, who would want a dirty women, if anyone heard her story they would only call her a ''slut''. "Even though the past creates the person, the present is what matters, I say I love you for what you are right now and what happened to you is irrelevant to me and would not change my feelings towards you , you can call me stupid if you want but I only loved once in my life which ended in being a dillusion but from the very first moment I saw you I fell in love with you but I didn''t want to admit it as I was very afraid of being betrayed again and continued to make excuses everytime I helped you" "But aren''t you afraid I will just use you like your ex-wife did?" (Lucy) "If you ever wanted to do, you would have used me from the beginning but you didn''t which shows that you are not that kind of person and even if there is even a little chance that you use me I still trust you for I really do not want to feel lonely again because it''s more painful than death itself"(Arthur) the sobbing girl stayed silent for a moment before she responded "Please give me some time, I have mixed feelings right now and cannot think properly. Arthur just nodded his head, stood up and left as to let the girl some time to calm herself down and think things through. He too didn''t believe what just happened, in such a short time he told her his past and confessed, he didn''t know why but he felt attracted to her and after he heard her past he didn''t pity her instead he felt warmth because she shared her deep and tragic past with him. He stopped thinking about this for the time being as he can''t dwell on it all night but he still promised himself that he will treasure more than his own life as he realized what was important for him when he was attacked by the dragon, ''the dragon! yeah, I didn''t use [death touch] on him, how could I have forgotten" He soon took out the dragon from his storage and used [Death touch] on him, it was a waste to just absorb all those precious scales but the experience was more important for him right now. Just when he finished absorbing it in a few seconds notifications came "ting" level up ! level up ! level up! ... Congratulations! Since you reached Level 100 you can now evolve: soul parasite / advanced void parasite/humanoid parasite Soul parasite: You no longer possess a physical body, and can only live by possessing living beings, your ability to possess creatures will be more efficient and you will gain double the stats of beings you possessed Advanced void parasite: you will keep your current body, and can also possess other beings but your void manipulation will be at a maximum stage and your magic attacks would be more powerful Humanoid parasite: you create a unique body and still can possess other beings, you gain significant raise in stats if you create a unique body and depending on the body you may gain a new skill WARNING: Creating a unique body is an extremely painful experience, we advise you to rethink before choosing this option Arthur was overjoyed by the fact he could evolve as he wondered why he didn''t get it much sooner but as time passed and he didn''t get any notifications telling him he could evolve so he gave up on that idea and judged void parasite to be his final form but now that he saw he could evolve again and he had 3 different choices he was delighted. He wasn''t going to think them over as he long since decided he wanted a body for himself and was sick of possessing Zodiak''s body, first it was all bones and second he couldn''t even enjoy eating or drinking so he wished for a body from the moment he came to this world and he finally got the chance to have one. It specially said that it would be painful but that didn''t seem to be a problem for him as he was used to being tortured for months so enduring a little wouldn''t matter either. Arthur also chose this option because he longed for a real body to be able to touch the beautiful hands of Lucy and be able to feel her body (AN : I MEAN THAT NOT IN A SEXUAL WAY OK?so don''t let your mind take you far away in perv land). "I choose humanoid parasite" Are you sure you want to choose humanoid parasite? "Yes." *The creation of your body will begin immediately, while your body is being created you are vulnerable.* ''Fuck why didn''t they tell me that sooner argggggggggg'' Just as the notifications finished, Arthur was forcefully sent out of his current ''body'' and fell on the ground with his real body, he felt his bones breaking and flesh being ripped apart, it was by no means just ''painful'' , this level of pain was beyond imagination , even the torture he received was completely nothing compared to this pain. Soon enough all his bones were broken and flesh was skinned, if you see him now you would only see a small creature with only bones, a small heart beating, and a brain, it looked really disgusting and anyone who saw him would throw out. He fell unconscious from the pain but he soon woke up again because of it, he couldn''t help but wish for the pain immunity he got when he was in Zodiak''s body it would really help him out now. The pain stopped for a moment so he thought it was finally over but his wishes were soon crushed as a pain even more immense than the previous one enveloped him from every corner of what was left of his body, his mind was blank as he was only thinking of when will this pain vanish. 5 minutes , 10 minutes , 20 minutes.... time passed slowly as he was still suffering and twitching but if someone lookedat him, they would see a humanoid skeleton forming slowly but surely, after 1 hour you could only see half a skeleton head formed and in it there was a brain which was expanding little by little . Arthur was waiting for the moment the pain slowed but he knew it would take a long time as he could feel his head being formed slowly. 5 hours passed since the creating of the body began and now all the bones in his body were formed, he surprisingly could feel his heavy breathingeven with only being a skeleton and he could even talk but he didn''t dare try because even trying to move a little would bring more pain to him so he just remained motionless and waited for his body to finish creating itself while he endured the pain silently. Unexpectedly, the pain not only wasn''t going down, instead, it was escalating rapidly and he couldn''t control himself from screaming with all his might as the pain just didn''t stop increasing, he felt that this was not at a level a human can endure.His screaming was so loud that even though he was some distance away from Lucy, she still heard a screaming voice. The voice seemed slightly similar to the black-robed man that she still didn''t know his name, so she quickly rushed to where the noise came from as it was the first time she heard him scream like that , it seemed like he was in deep suffering and the mere thought of him dying struck her , she felt afraid and anxious , she told him a few hours agoshe would think about his confession but when she heard his loud screams. He who protected her, he who cared for her and loved her, he a man who was reincarnated and had a tragic past similar to her, she thought that if something happened to him she would regret it for the rest of her life. She guessedthat she only cried when she heard his story because of how similar he was to her and even though she felt a special bond between him and her, she didn''t think it was love, so when he confessed to her she was startled a little but she couldn''t bring herself to tell him that she did not love him. But now that hearing his suffering screams filled pain, she dashed toward the voice with tears flowing her face non-stop ''I-I... what am I doing... I shouldn''t repeat my past mistakes.... Lucy! Don''t let your feelings control you! You should flee! Flee far away and only return to slaughter them all when you''re stronger! Ignore such foolish feelings! LUCY!'' Despite her unceasing warnings, her body betrayed was a step acted on its own as it continued to head towards the source of the voice. Her thoughts soon followed, her panicked expression seened to relax a bit as she seemed to realize something, her eyes flashed with a strange light and her breathing quickened. When she arrived at where Arthur was she saw his previous corpse laying down not for away from her and some distance from it there was another skeleton which had bloody flesh on it, she could see with her naked eyes that flash, muscles are beings created rapidly. She soon heard the scream coming out of that scream and it was very very loud, she realised it was Arthur but still didn''t understand what exactly was going on , she rushed next to him and without hesitation held his bony hand as she looked at him with concern, once she realised her true thoughts for him she didn''t want to lose him without even being able to tell him her feelings. Arthur felt something soft and warm touch his hand, he felt relieved and happy as he knew for sure it was Lucy, as his thoughts drifted the pain still increased but her being with him helped him calm down a little and the screamed lessened bit by bit until it completely disappeared even though the pain continued. His body was forming and after 5 more hours he could feel that it''s almost finished as his exterior body was the same as a human except he had an extremly pale white skin and he was completly naked but Lucy embarassed by the sight grabbed the nearby dark robe and put it on him but even after she did that she still didn''t let go of his hand as she was very worried about him but she calmed down a little because she noticed that he somehow managed to create a body but the cost was tremendous pain as anyone may have noticed from the intense screaming. One more hour passed, and finally the creating of the body finished, his appearance was exactly the same as in his previous world except his eyes were blood red which made him more handsome , actually his looks were average compared to famous actors or models but with his red eyes and pale white skin, he really looked extremely charming and handsome. Once the Creation was completed a lot of notifications came ''ting'' ''ting''.... Congratulations ! you have successfully created a body thus became a humanoid parasite The body has been according to the host''s wishes and imagination ''Huh, so I always wanted red eyes apparently?" All your previous stats remained and skill can still be used Your newly created body hasspecial characteristics :[fire magic]: affinity with fire greatly increased, you can now use fire magic to either attack or defend Your [fire magic] absorbed by [orb of the fallen overgods](passive) and became = [Godly fire]: you can use fire to either attack or defend your newly created body has special characteristics: Your physical powers have been greatly increasing, please check your status window for more details Your newly created body has special characteristics: your magical powers have been greatly increased, please check your status window for more details Because of the creation of your new body, you have experienced a lot of pain thus acquired the skill(passive) : [pain immunity]: you cannot feel pain anymore, you can turn this skill on/off The first seal of [orb of the fallen overgods] has been broken due to you have your own humanoid power [orb of the fallen overgods] stage 1: The blessing of the Tul''ah the overload of misery would be accessible once you reach LVL:200 Now that you have a humanoid body, your soul power is much weaker than when you had a parasite body so you can only possess Dead beings TITLE : MEAT GRINDER Level: 107 Class: Humanoid parasite - Strength 10780(+4739)Intelligence 12491(+7670) Agility 11213(+5966)Wisdom 9134(+5268) Vitality 13476(+6161)Dexterity 8347(+4086) - Health 12498(+4485)Health Regen 107.1/s Mana 14731(+7930)Mana Regen 137.6/s Stamina infiniteStamina Regen ???? - Attack: 9571(+4880)Defense: 10317(+2505) Magic defense : 2174(+393) --- Elemental Resistances: Fire: 100% Water: 25% Wind: 35% Earth: 45% Light/holy: 50% Darkness: 100% Arthur was brimming with happiness but not because he saw his overpowered stats and new skills but because when he opened his eyes he saw Lucy smiling at him with her breath-taking beauty, her eyes that would suck you in at any moment, he felt somehow magically drawn to those serious and silent features. Though she always avoided his gaze or would only stare for a moment, he couldn''t help but notice a tinge of redness on her cheeks, and along with beautiful long silver hair, it made her look like a goddess. Lucy noticed Arthur waking up and tried to separate her hands from his but was surprised to see him not letting go of her, she struggled a little before finally giving up. Arthur who was laying on the floor naked only covered with his black robe soon realized that it was anawkward situation so after enjoying the feel of her hands he soon let go of her and quickly got up and changed but he still didn''t forget to say "thank you" to her, his voice seemed more gentle now and his smile was alluring. Lucy blushed a little when she saw his face as she seemed to remember something embarrassing to she soon turned her head as to not look at him changing. After having worn the black robe, Arthur headed toward Kodiak''s body and took the boots gloves and wore them he also put the 2 rings in his fingers then he turned around to Lucy and spoke gently "I somehow managed to create my own body but I only was able to go through that hellish pain with you , it may not seem a lot for you but holding my hand really helped me calm down and forget the pain even for big, also I sincerely apologize that you had to touch my body as I know you hate humans and men especially, I am really sorry." The girl was surprised by what he said, but she her lips curved to form an enchanting smile on her face and said with her melodious voice which didn''t contain even a hint of coldness in it "You know , when I heard you screaming I feeling of urgency, as if I would lose something important and when I saw you in that state my heart ached, and soon realized that I too have to come to love you, maybe I''m being foolish again and acting upon my feelings, but I just couldn''t turn back and go." Just as she finished speaking she unexpectedly ran to Arthur and hugged tightly without letting go, as for him he was dumbstruck he didn''t believe what just happened as not even in his dreams did he think she is in love with him because he heard her past and knew she absolutely hated man, so even touching them would be considered a miracle and now seeing her hugging didn''t register in his mind but nevertheless he unconsciously hugged her back but did not use much force, instead he did it gently and as caring as possible for he didn''t want to remind her of what happened to her in the past and what those guys did to her. time slowly passed as they both stayed like that,Arthur finally broke the silence by saying softly "I didn''t get to tell you my name, I am called Arthur as for my last name I don''t have one and I don''t wish to use my former one" after he spoke their hug finally come to an end but nevertheless he kept patting her head, he quite liked that feeling and she didn''t seem to mind it that much so he just continued at it. Chapter 14 - 15 : Entrance Exam Arthur and Lucy soon got back to their little camp not far away from their current location, but he didn''t forget to put Zodiak''s body into his storage. They sat next to each other but they didn''t do anything weird, when Lucy thought of what she did a while ago , her face reddened as she didn''t think she was this daring, after all, they are considered lovers but that didn''t mean she had to rush up to him and hug him nevertheless him hugging her back made her happy and brimming with joy as she felt comfort when she was in his arms. They talked all night and Arthur learned that she was proficient in fire and her average stats are between 900 and 1500 with intelligence being the highest one at 1800. Even though they sat next to each other, they only held hands but simply doing that made his heart palpitate. He didn''t get to test his new strength or new skills, and he was quite interested in [godly fire]. Lucy was showing him her skills with fire as she created various things with it like fireballs, fire weapons and even a small barrier she also explained to him that depending on someone''s strength the power of the fire and hotness could increase,so he tried testing his newly [godly fire] and what came out was a blood red fire , it was completely different from Lucy fire as this one excluded great pressure even though it was a tiny fire ball. Lucy who was standing next to him gaped when she was that and she bombarded him with a question. "W-what''s that !! I''ve never seen a fire like that, even in full mastery of the attribute" Apparently, the color of the fire changes depending on the mastery of it, if you have [basic fire mastery] you fire would be yellow-ish, and if you have [medium fire mastery] it will be orange fire at the beginnig then changes to complete blue at the end , and finally there is the [complete fire mastery] which is the highest anyone could get and only the very best of fire mages could attain that , and the color of fire would be violet so when Lucy saw the red fire of Arthur she was dumbfounded and curious at the same time. Arthur wasn''t that much surprised because he expected something similar as the name of the skill contained the word ''god'' and it had relations with his mysterious skill [orb of the fallen overgods] so of course it would be something special. He discovered his control with fire was very good even on par with the dark magic if not more, and when his red blood fire ball approached Lucy''s orange fire it totally engulfed it in a second and the red fire ball semed to get even bigger, seeing the intensity of his fire getting stronger was overjoyed to have gained this strong fire manipulation as it will help him, he soon called back his fire as it was too close to Lucy and he knew she wouldn''t be able to handle even a single fire ball. His stats were ten times that of hers but those numbers don''t decide the results. One can have higher stats and still lose to the scheming and tactics of his foe. He recalled having some skill books which might be useful to Lucy so without hesitation he retrieved them and passed them to her, to be honest those skill books were not that amazing but they probably will help Lucy get stronger even a little , she is considered High LVL compared to most people but he didn''t know what the level of Strength of students in the academy was so he had to boost her strength even a little, as for him? He was sure that he would not have troubles as he knew that LVL107 is by no means little but he can''t forget the fact that there might be people way stronger than him, seeing he struggled against a young dragon, so the very thought of meeting an adult one sent shivers to him even though he got stronger by gaining the stats of the young dragon and if he can fight him again he might insta-kill him either by another [hell arrow] or by using the [godly fire] as he knew this fire is by no means just a normal and it had devastating power. Actually, he tried launching a small 5-inch fireball into a tree and holy hell was it monstrous, even with a little fireball the impact sound was so loud that even Lucy covered her ears and not even seconds passed and what was left of the tree was mere black ashes. Just when he was thinking about his skills he remembered he gained a skill point but he didn''t read what it did , so he quickly checked it by using appraisal on it and after reading the information he became overjoyed, because increasing the level of any skill by 1 is considered incredible seeing that since he got here he never leveled any skill and got them all for free "But if I use it on an already maxed skill will it increase or stay like that? what if I lose the precious skill point" Arthur was in a dilemma, he didn''t know what skill to chose as there was many he wanted to upgrade [godly fire] , [dark magic] and even [faster than death] as it proved very useful to him. Arthur already told his skills to Lucy which was listening like a little child, it didn''t seem necessary but he felt he should do it and after asking for her opinion on what to level up she answered him after pouting cutely with her beautiful face "Seriously such a cheat to be able to earn a skill point and can use up to 4 attributes! that''s so unfair but since [void mage] helped you in your last fight why don''t you give it a shot" Lucy''s personality seemed to have gotten a 180 degree change after what happened last night but truthfully Arthur adored her cute behavior and wouldn''t mind even if she kept her cold demeanor, when he heard her reply, it indeed struck him, why didn''t he think of [void magic] after all he underestimated a lot and without it he wouldn''t have won against the young earth dragon, but he still hestitated because he thought that [void magic] is still in primary LVLS and can be leveled up easily but other skills which cannot be leveled such as [faster than death ] or skills which already have reached max lvl like [dark magic] seemed more appealing. After thinking for a long time, Arthur decided to use the skill point on [godly fire], though [dark magic] is indeed very strong and what it had special is it''s penetrating power, it can cut through almost every but what [godly fire] had was destruction power . A small fireball of a few inches did that damage to the tree so what if he did an enormous fireball? what would the results be and after all some of his dreams when he was a kid is to be fire mage, it seemed really cool and powerful. Once he used the skill point he had, a sound entered his ears followed by the appearance of the familiar blue windows...''ting'' You used a skill point on [godly fire] The skill [godly fire] has been upgraded to [Ancient fire] [Ancient fire] : this is a unique skill , the ancient fire is the mother of all flames and it has a big destructive power with extreme hotness it can absorb any other type of flames as long as the host has sufficient intelligence and +200% damage if faced with any ice or water attribute cost : none Arthur was very ecstatic as at first he was doubtful and hesitating because there was a possibility that the [godly fire] would not be upgraded and he would have lost a skill point which apparently is very rare to obtain, hell! even the pope of the Holy church might not be able to obtain one even though he is very powerful. Arthur didn''t waste time as he quickly formed a small fire ball but this time its colour was not blood red instead it was dark red with some grey in its edges , and the heat was just unbelievable, even though it was him who created this little fire ball he could feel it''s hotness was several times more than the [godly fire], he threw the fire ball to a large tree 20 meters or so away from him...''BOOM'' this time the tree was turned to ash immediatly and what surprised him more is that even all the tree in its entourage were either turned to ash or destroyed beyond recognition. Lucy''s mouth was wide open this time as she rubbed her eyes several times to check if she was not hallucinating or dreaming then she turned toward Arthur and ran up to him excitedly "So you upgraded [godly fire] , thi-is is incredible, I''ve never seen such flames" She extended her petite soft hands and held his with excitment and happiness as if she was the one who got the skill and not him. He looked at her joyful face and deep black eyes which were staring at him with warmth, he unconsciously patted her head as it had become a habit of him and of course, she didn''t refuse him, quite the opposite, in fact, she seemed to really like being patted. Both of them continued chatting all day long about various things, each second passed their relationship deepened and they became, even more, close but Arthur did not try to do any obscene thing and only held her hands, and he was satisfied with that and didn''t want to ruin it. The very next day the finally continued on their journey, they both sat on the dark cloud and chatted non-stop, with his current speed Arthur could run up to 50km/sec which is almost mach 3 speed as to speak the dark cloud cannot be seen by normal people when it''s going full speed and they would only speed a dark blur , they continued to travel for approximately 13 hours a day , Arthur would let the girl sleep and eat and he didn''t forget to bring the luxurious bed he had in his storage as to make it more comfortable.... as for him? With infinite stamina he didn''t need sleep and but he still gazed at the beautiful sleeping maiden near him everytime she slept but he didn''t dare do anything. A week passed since they resumed their travel and they finally arrived at North of the human continent at a city called Govore city , it had a big port which was full of all kind of boats , Arthur also noticed that the city was very prosperous and it had many visitors but that must be because of the incoming Nemia academy entrance exam which will be today . Arthur entered the city with Lucy who was beautifully dressed in a red robe which added to her beauty and made her look like a Goddess, of course whenever they passed in the city everyone would gaze at her. She seemed to return to her emotionless attitude when in public but Arthur didn''t mind it as he knew that this kind of attitude will let others think she is but a cold maiden and they would not dare talk to her or even approach, they would only stare at her with lust and amazement. They both didn''t waste time roaming the city instead Arthur asked the guards at the entrance of the city about the city about the location of the teleportation array. Even though it was costly he didn''t mind because he got enough gold and the entrance exam was today, so even if he went by boat there will not be enough time. Once they arrived at what seemed to be a big square in the middle of the city, there was a long line of people who seemed to wait for something and at the very front there was a burly man who seemed to be in his thirties and just behind hit there was a 5 meter radius circle with runes inscribed at the ground and every time a person stepped on it they would disappear . When Arthur guessed saw that he immediately judges it to be the teleportation circle so he went with Lucy at the end of the line and started waiting for their turn. He noticed that all the people who were waiting were wearing luxurious clothes full of jewelry and had arrogant looks, they looked at the city''s citizens who were passing by with contempt and complete disgust as if they were looking at animals and not humans. Arthur just ignored those kids but he still didn''t forget to appraise some of them and he was shocked to see that the average level was between 25 to 35 with some of them being above 40. They surely had strength to back up that arrogance of theirs but he didn''t worry about them as they seemed weak compared to him but he was worried about Lucy as she may not be able to handle herself so he decided he would not leave her side even in the academy as people there might be even more powerful and even if the holy church can''t touch them there they may use underhanded means. Lucy''s looks attracted the attention of these noble kids and some of them tried to talk to her but where completely ignored so they didn''t dwell on it but still kept looking at her with burning eyes, they didn''t dare to be forceful because they knew she was going to the entrance exam and if so she must be a powerful figure and talented too or else why would she go to Nemia academy after all not everyone can attend it. One hour passed and their turn finally came, the burly man looked at the black-robed figure in front of him and a petite beautiful girl who was beside him and he too was dumbfounded by her beauty but he soon snapped out of it and said "20.000 gold coins per person." Arthur was surprised by the enormous price nonetheless he handed the burly man a magical back containing 40.000 gold coins and prepared to step in the teleportation array with Lucy but at that moment he heard cheers and girl cries from behind him so he turned around to look at what was going on. A handsome looking young man was walking towards him, he wore a blue robe which had a golden dragon symbol on it, he held a fan in his hand, is facial features were kind of babyish, big eyes, soft skin, and a small nose nevertheless he looked handsome and would even be considered an idol in Arthur''s previous world. This young man just ignored the queue and headed directly towards the burly-man "It''s lord Christian, he''s the second prince, ohhhh I wish I can marry him, he''s so handsome." random girls just shouted their affection to this man but they were ruthlessly ignored as if they didn''t exist, some guys were looking at him jealousy but fear as they didn''t want to offend him, after all, he is the son of the emperor and a prince at that "So he''s finally decided to join Nemia academy? I heard he was a talented mage, it''s rumored he is a dual-image and can use water and wind magic " "Not only that, apparently his LVL is very high, I''m sure he will enter the Nemia academy without doing the entrance exam" Arthur was curious about this ''prince'' so he appraised him ''ting'' Christian Terence (Mage) : LVL46 His level was quite high compared to the others but Arthur knew that LVL wasn''t everything, a low lvl mage can win an against a high lvl mage if he got good skill and better fighting experience. Once the burly man saw the ''prince'' his attitude change completely and he spoke respectfully toward him "Lord Christian, please enter the teleportation array you don''t have to pay !" No one from the long queue spoke to complain about waiting for hours to get to the teleportation array while this prince not only didn''t wait like them, he didn''t need to pay, of course, a lot of them were displeased but they couldn''t offend the prince, he is the Emperor''s son! He is getting this treatment only because he is still at the human continent but when he enters the Nemia academy''s island all his status would mean nothing because of there only strength matter no matter who you are before you came here, as long as you are strong you will be respected and well treated there. Seeing what just happened, Arthur frowned "No matter if it''s my previous world or this one, it seems some things never change.." He wasn''t going to stand there and let the so-called prince go before him while he and Lucy waited for a long time so he spoke with a cold voice "We arrived first, and first come first served. You will have to patiently wait for me and my comrade to pass first." Lucy who was near him turned her head to look at him but she didn''t say anything, as for the long-line behind him, almost all of them were full of disbelief for they didn''t think someone would dare speak so boldly like that without any fear if the consequences. "He''s done for, I''m telling you he is totally done for, to say something to the second prince it''s like slapping him in the face" "how could he say something like that! is he insane or doesn''t know what the word ''prince'' means?" Many people started pitying this black-robed man as someone who dared to say that to the prince of all people, he surely won''t have a fun time. Christian who was going to enter the teleportation array stopped and looked toward Arthur who was still wearing the black robe and covering all of his body, he raised his brow for a second before turning his head towards the burly-man expecting him to resolve this matter. "WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY? YOU WANT TO ENTER FIRST BECAUSE YOU CAME FIRST? HE IS YOUR COUNTRY''S PRINCE TO IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE AN HONOR TO GIVE HIM YOUR PLACE! AS A PUNISHMENT YOU AND YOUR COMRADE WILL GO BACK TO THE END OF THE QUEUE" The burly-man shouted at Arthur while saying a lame excuse, as for the prince he just had a smug smile on his face as he stared at Arthur but he suddenly saw Lucy which was standing behind him so he couldn''t see her when he was passing because of her petite frame, he obviously was amazed at her beauty , he licked his lips while having a disgusting look in his eyes "ah ah , senior Jack, no need to be angry at this young lady, after all, she didn''t do anything wrong" The prince seemed to ignore Arthur completely as if he didn''t acknowledge his existence and kept staring at Lucy. The burly man noticing Christian interest at the girl, so he turned toward Arthur and said: "WHAT DID I SAY? go back to the end of the line as for your companion, Lord Christian has to take a liking to her so she will go with him." Arthur was beyond angered when he heard that, he couldn''t hold himself back and was going to behead this burly-man with the prince but just as he was going to act he felt a soft thing touching his hand, it was Lucy who held his hand while smiling at him. She shook her head and said softly as to not let anybody hear "No need to make enemies before even entering the Nemia academy let''s just wait again, I know this seems unfair but we will get our payback once we are in the academy." his heart warmed when he heard her speak so he just nodded at her turned around to walk back to the end of the queue, Lucy also followed him without letting go of his hand and completely ignored the prince who was dumbfounded at her actions. "Hey you, I said the prince has to take a liking to you so you better stay here!" the burly man ran toward Lucy intending to grab her hand and bring her forcefully but he soon froze up as he felt immense fear. He glanced at the black-robed man and he could''ve sworn he saw 2 red blood eyes shining from his covered head, he didn''t dare advance any further and retracted his hand and stood there awkwardly without uttering a single word. Christian noticing this, also glanced at Arthur and felt the overwhelming killing intent coming from him, it would be a lie to say he didn''t feel fear but he was confident, not in his powers but in his backings, he was a prince and his father was the emperor so what could this insignificant man do to him? even if he is really strong, Christian didn''t think this black-robed man would dare kill him so he just waved his hand while snorting and walked toward the teleportation array. Arthur and Lucy waited again for an hour before they were again at the front of the queue, he didn''t have to pay since he did pay earlier and the burly-man didn''t say anything either, actually to use a teleportation array all you had to do was inject it with a little bit of mana and that''s it , it will take you to your destination, so doing that Arthur and the demon girl were teleported to the Nemia academy . The teleportation was only a couple of seconds before they found themselves in a big square filled with people , there were thousands of people and they all seemed from different races , there were what seemed like elves , they had long pointy ears and all looked beautiful, also there was what seemed like beastman and various other races which included demons too , but every race seemed to be grouped together and you couldn''t see any race talking with another one except for a few insults here and there especially toward the demon race as it was the most hated one because of the nature of demons. Arthur noticed that the second prince was here not far away from him accompanied by 2 beautiful women who wore armors, they seemed to be his bodyguards and came here before him. To be honest, he was quite surprised as he didn''t expect this prince to be here, normally someone with his status would have an acceptance letter from the academy without doing the entrance exam. He heard from Lucy that all people with acceptance letter from the academy would not teleported here instead the teleportation array would sense the mana injected in the letter and would send the one who got it to a different location from this one , so he was curious as to why the prince did not have one but he soon shrugged that idea of, after all, it was none of his business but he didn''t forget what happened earlier and would certainly get his revenge. To most people it did seem like the prince only wanted Lucy for himself , but Arthur found that unforgivable for he was very protective of her and didn''t even want anyone looking at her but he didn''t want to cover her appearance as she may not like it so he just let those people gaze at her but if someone dared to touch her or take her forcefully he will surely cut that person''s head off. 3 hours passed since they arrived at this big square and more people seemed to be coming here every second , it was packed with various people and when Arthur appraised them he was quite surprised as there was a lot of hidden tigers in this crowd of people , he found some people with lvl higher than 50 and the highest he saw was a skinny demon with a lvl of 54 , in the appraisal it was indicated that he was a mage so Arthur was curious to see his strength. There was big stage not far away from the square, from the moment he came in , Arthur noticed this stage but it was empty so he didn''t pay it that much attention but now some people walked on the stage , most of them were middle-aged and surprisingly they were different races but they chatted happily among themselves, they sat on the chairs and gazed at the big crowd of people as if assessing them and distinguishing the strong from the weak. Arthur appraised those people on the stage and was surprised to find out that most of them had been beyond lvl 70 with the highest one being 86, it was a middle-aged man who seemed to be from the beastman race , he had a long sword attached to his back and some scars on his face, he gazed at the crowd with excited eyes.20 minutes or so after these people come on the stage, the second group of people came in but this one seemed special, they were exactly 9 people and when they came on stage everyone from the crowd closed his mouth and did not dare speak. Of course, Arthur appraised those 9 people and was dumbfounded when he saw their LVLS Lamorti Schink(Elf) : LVL146 Morin (Demon): LVL158 .... All of the 9 people LVLS was higher than the last one, there was 2 elves, 3 demons, 2 beastmen and 3 humans and the highest leveled one was a demon male who was LVL166 , truthfully Arthur didn''t expect their LVLS to be that high ,but after some thought, he judged it to be reasonable after all the Nemia academy was a great force and none of the 4 continents dared oppose it, so it is to be expected that they have powerful people. Arthur thought of the people he encountered from the holy church and thanked his luck he only encountered weak ones if he stumbled upon someone like one of those 9 he was sure he wouldn''t have gotten out alive. Those 9 people, walked up and sat on 9 golden chairs which were in front of the normals chairs which the others people sat on. Just as those people sat, a figure entered the stage and considering it the last person to come after a long time. Arthur guessed this person must be thei chair-man or something like that so he was expecting an old man with a long white beard or something similar but what he saw was totally the opposite , it was a red-haired woman , her hair was dark-red and stretched to her waist. Her voluptuous body would steal the gazes of everyone and her facial features were the definition of beauty ,she was wearing a witch hat and held wore a green robe which added to her charm, Arthur would be lying to say he was not stunned but by no means did she attract him , he simply didn''t expect the chair-man to be a young woman so he appraised her to make sure she really was the principal or not Sonia Ma (human) : LVL189 "Holy shit, lvl 189? "He was now completely sure she was either the principal of the academy or someone who has a great status in this academy because her lvl was many times higher than the other 9 people. The young woman walked to the center of the stage and gazed at the crowd as if examining it and soon began talking "Greetings, I see that this year''s participants are abundant, However, not everyone would be able to succeed. Only people with great talent would be accepted, there will be 2 tests to pass the entrance exam. The first one is to test your aptitude and see your lvl, and the second is a tournament for the people who passed the first test." As she finished speaking, everyone from the crowd was surprised , usually the entrance exam would be an aptitude test and some sort of race of treasure finding or even dungeon exploring but this time it was a tournament and that meant that even fewer people would pass compared to the past so many of them had a burning eyes full of desire to succeed and become a student in this academy. The principal sat on the chair near her and gazed at the crowd of people with curious eyes, and after some time, people who were apparently from the academy came in and started shouting "Choose a line and wait for your turn to test your aptitude, no pushing or fighting or you will be immediately disqualified" Soon people began to form long queues and waited for their turn. Chapter 15 - 16 : Tournamen Time passed slowly as the two of them were waiting,apparently, the way they test your aptitude is by using a special kind of stone, which could pinpoint what kind of attribute you have the most affinity with and there was a second stone to see the level. This was so because not everyone here was a mage, there were talented fighters as well, who excelled in close-combat and to let them have a chance they would all be judged by their level even if they didn''t have an affinity with any attribute or couldn''t practice magic. For example, anyone who has a good affinity with the wind attribute, can''t practice their magic very easily, since if their family was poor they may not know if they have an affinity with an attribute or not and that''s why most talents are from nobles. Usually, noble families have enough money to afford an aptitude stone and use it on their children to see if they have a good affinity with some attribute or not. Every being in this world has an affinity with an attribute but it can be strong or almost non-existent and that''s what differs talents from normal people. While Arthur and Lucy were waiting, a commotion broke out in a nearby line, these types of commotions happened a few times when someone with a good affinity or high level showed up. This time Arthur was a little curious as to who was the origin of this commotion, for there is a lot of noise and exclamations and when he turned his head to look, he immediately recognized the person, it was the skinny demon who had the highest lvl among the participants, to be honest, he was not surprised when he saw that this demon attracted so much attention, after all his level was high and without a doubt he would be considered powerful and talented to these people. In front of him was a cubic crystal which looked a little weird, Arthur had been watching it for a while and whenever a person touched it, it had a different color to pinpoint which attribute the person who touched was compatible with. For the skinny demon the crystal glowed with yellow light and some blackish too, he was considered a dual-mage and with a strong earth attribute at that, everybody looked at him with admiration and envy, the demon just smiled but didn''t say anything and just as he was going to leave the stage, someone appeared near him. It was one of the 9 people who had a high level. Arthur heard from the people around him that those 9 people are the council of the academy and each one of them was extremely powerful, each year they picked talented people from the participants and nurture them while giving them elixirs and skill books. The demon Molrihn who was LVL158 appeared near the skinny demon and seemed about to talk to him, as for this skinny demon, he wasn''t surprised by the appearance of someone from the council for he was confident in his strength and proud of his talent, he stood there for a second before he bowed to the man before him without saying anything. Molrihn didn''t mind that behavior, in fact, he liked it, to see someone from his race with this much talent, of course, he wouldn''t let the chance to rope him under his care and help him in his training slip by, moreover this young demon seemed really talented, he was a dual-mage and a high leveled one at that. "Young-one, I see your talent is indeed outstanding, how about your become my student when you pass the entrance exam? I will be delighted to have a student such as you." The skinny demon smiled when he heard what the man said, he soon replied with a calm voice "It would be an honor, Master Molrihn", he immediately started calling him ''master'' as to indicate he accepted the offer. Molrihn just nodded and went back to his seat with a happy face, after all, he gained a new student who seemed rather talented. "Yo, old Molrihn, seems you got a nice catch didn''t ya? I bet you''re brimming with joy now, hehe but don''t worry I''ve got my eyes on someone too and I hope he won''t disappoint me" One of the 2 beastmen of the council spoke with an excited voice, it was a female beastman who had a large build and huge 2 handed axe on her back. She gazed at a particular beastman who also had a huge axe on his back and seemed to be calmly waiting for his turn in the queue, in contrast to many other people who, even though they knew they were talented, weren''t confident enough to be able to pass the second test. The other members of the council also praised Molrihn for choosing a good seed and then returned to observing the crowd, looking for students for themselves as well. Not long after the skinny demon passed the first test, another commotion came up followed by a stream of cries. This time, it was the second prince, since he too was a dual-mage, of course he piqued the interest of many. He held a smug smile on his face as if showing his might and waiting for a members of the council to come invite him, and indeed someone came. It was an elf male who was quite handsome and his LVL was 155. Arthur frowned since he didn''t expect an elf to recruit the second prince to be his student. Christian accepted immediately when the elf male proposed to him and after hearing the prince''s answer the elf returned to his seat with a pleased expression hanging on his face. An hour passed and many talents came up with several dozen dual-mages, almost all the members of the council chose a person. Even that female beastman chose the beastman she was looking at previously, even though he didn''t have any good affinity, he had a lvl of 52 so she invited him anyways, for the beastman race was famous for their overwhelming strength and very few of them were talented at using magic. Finally, it was Lucy''s turn, who was in front of Arthur, so naturally she was considered before him in the queue. She walked for about 3 meters until she stopped in front a table with 2 crystals put on it. There was a person overseeing the results of the participants and deciding whether or not they pass. She placed her little white hand on the attribute crystal and waited for the results, but she already knew what they would be. Soon enough a bright red light came up followed by a dark light but it seemed a little dimmer than the red and unexpectedly a third color appeared, it was blue but red with some blackish in it. Even Lucy was dumbfounded since she didn''t know she was compatible with such an attribute, actually that color indicated the attribute magma. In this world there were unique people who could use normal attributes plus other ones, such as magma, ice, lightning, void, etc. These types of people were very rare and impossible to find, but almost all of them would grow up to be legendary figures, as these special attributes were many times more powerful than the normal ones. Once the inspector overseeing the results saw this he couldn''t even utter a single world, for he was shocked beyond belief. "HEY look sh-shee got affinity with 3 attributes! There is magma!!!! How amazing." Many cries came up from everywhere and all the participants gazed at this gorgeous girl who, not only was alluring and pleasing to the eyes, but she was apparently a wizard as well. This word was not mentioned before, because mages who can use 3 attributes were unique; nonetheless, some existed and they were called wizards and every single one of them was by no means weak. Actually, it was rumored that the principal of the academy was a wizard but no one could confirm this rumor. The red-haired principal who was seated lazily and watching the crowd was stunned when she saw the colors in the crystal "3 attributes, and magma is one of them. Indeed... some of this year''s participants sure are wolves in sheep''s clothing" She chuckled for a second before just nodding her head in satisfaction. Surprisingly one of the 9 members of the council, the demon with the highest lvl, who seemed not interested by this test, stood up from his seat in astonishment and rushed with great speed toward Lucy, as if he was afraid she would slip from his hands at any second. "Little girl, how about you become my student? No need to even finish the second test, you''ll be directly accepted as a student in Nemia academy". Once he finished speaking, he looked at Lucy with expectant eyes. If she accepted his offer, not only would he treat her well and offer her a lot of materials to enhance her magic and strength, but he would also let her pass the entrance exam directly. You must know that even the skinny demon, who was considered to have tremendous talent, didn''t have this kind of chance. So anyone in her place would accept this offer, plus it was Lord Zephir, the vice-principal and the head of the council of the academy who wanted her to be his student. He had a status second to only the principal and had a lot of resources, so whoever became his student was sure as hell to have a comfortable and easy life. Not even the seniors in this academy would dare bully someone under the care of Zephir, as he was known to be very strict and would punish anyone who would break any kind of rule. Zephir didn''t have any students since a long time, as he didn''t find anyone with enough talent, but once he saw this girl he knew for sure she was the one, and he must by no means let her slip by, she was also a demon, so it would be easier to interact with her. Lucy was still in disbelief when she saw the magma attribute, it would be a lie to say she was not happy, in fact, she was very joyful, but she didn''t want to express her emotion in public. Only when with Arthur would she be so carefree and easygoing. She turned toward Arthur, who was standing a couple of meters behind her and saw him nodding at her as if complimenting her. A dozen of second after she saw her results she heard the proposition of some middle-aged man who somehow was now near her, he invited her to be his student but she didn''t care a lot about that, she liked this academy and liked studying and practicing magic but she still wanted to be close to Arthur and maybe being his student would restrict her movements or something similar to that, so she just shook her head towards the middle-aged man who seemed very excited. Everyone knew what she meant when she shook her head, it was obvious to reject his offer, but only someone crazy in their mind would do that? After all, all sorts of benefits would come from being his student, so why reject him? Even Zephir didn''t dare believe what he saw and only after some seconds passed did he came back to his senses and stared at the girl. Even though her refusing him lost him a bit of face, it didn''t matter, as he didn''t care for face and only wanted her to be his student and have someone to pass his skills to. He didn''t dwell on it much and spoke calmly "Alright, if you ever change your mind, just come looking for me and I''ll accept you at any time, as for the moment, I know for sure that you will succeed and even if you don''t, I''ll make sure you join the academy, consider it a welcoming gift from me" after speaking he walked back to his seat and sat down. Zephir knew that even though she refused him now, it didn''t mean she would always do, and he too had a lot of means to rope her in, such as precious skills books, elixirs and even gold. He had them all, so she would surely be interested in something and when that time came, he would give her what she wanted in exchange for becoming his student. Soon after, Lucy put her hand on the Appraisal stone and it showed her level and race. Unlike the previous crystal, this time there was not a lot of surprises as her lvl was average compared to other geniuses; nevertheless, even with a low level, she was still a wizard and her future accomplishments will be limitless. After passing the first test Lucy didn''t go upwards toward the place where all the people who passed the first place were, instead she moved a little to the left and waited for Arthur as if she was unwilling to go without him. Arthur walked toward the table but he was not calm, in fact, he was anxious, after all he had an affinity with 5 attributes, with wind being the weakest one. His level and race would also be exposed, so he wanted to find a way out, because if people saw his level and especially his race, a race never seen or heard of before, they would probably accuse him of being an alien of some sort. When he put his hand on the attribute stone he heard a notification ''ting''. An aptitude stone is appraising your body and checking what attribute you are best compatible An aptitude stone is appraising your body and checking what attribute you are best compatible with: Dark On/OFF Wind On/Off Earth On/Off Ancient Fire On/Off Void On/Off Confirm In the beginning, he didn''t know what it meant by on, off but he soon judged that if he put them all on off, then the crystal would not show any light, which meant that he didn''t have any affinity with any attribute. Of course, he didn''t do that, since he wanted to enter the academy, so he turned them all off except his dark magic. Dark magic was similar to darkness magic, but in the same time different, usually, darkness magic is for curses and is rarely used for attack, while his dark magic had a strong attack and defense power, with incredible penetration power. It was like nothing could withstand it and it would go through steel as if it was nothing. When he checked if he turned off all except magic a second time, he finally confirmed and a light began to show on the crystal. This light was very special, it was dark but it wasn''t just light like the other people had, since it was the same shape he saw on the door when he first entered the cave leading to Zodiak''s tomb. The symbol was really creepy and would send shivers down anybody''s spine. The skull head which showed up on the crystal was really terrifying, especially with its third eye. The inspector who was in charge of overseeing the results and deciding who passed and who failed was shocked, since it was the first time he encountered something like this. The council members and the principal were stunned as well, they had continued observing the line which Lucy was in, because they noticed that the black-robed man was with her, since they were very close to each other and seemed like companions. When they saw the strange skull head, they didn''t know what to do, no one had ever seen an aptitude crystal show such a thing and none of the known attributes would show something like this. They tried to think of it as a darkness attribute, but even a person with a strong affinity with darkness, such as the demon lord, would not have such results when touching an aptitude crystal. The inspector didn''t know what to do, so he just waited for Arthur to put his hand on the second crystal and see if he could decide the result depending on the level. Arthur noticed the surprise and strange gazes of everyone but he didn''t mind, he wanted to gain some fame because the holy church was on his tail and having some backing wouldn''t really hurt, especially if that backing was from a strong power like the Nemia academy. Soon enough, he put his hand on the appraisal crystal. Actually, there were 2 kinds of appraisal objects: the appraisal crystal and the appraisal stone. The former was for showing the general information, like level and race, while the latter showed more detailed things, like which attributes the person used or even his name and age. Appraisal stones were very expensive and the academy would not just use them for an entrance exam. Arthur wasn''t particularly anxious anymore and by the time his hand touched the stone he heard a notification "ting". An appraisal crystal is being used on you , do you want to show your level and race ? yes / no After some pondering, he said ''no'' because if those information was to be known, it would be a catastrophe and everyone except Lucy would regard him as an enemy. Just when he clicked the ''no'' the crystal stone broke, it literally shattered, which caused Arthur to panic a little but surprisingly the inspector didn''t seem bothered. In fact, appraisal crystals sometimes brake from excessive use, so seeing one brake now wasn''t very unusual. He soon retrieved one from behind him and put it in front of the participant, but Arthur was sure that the crystal broke because of him, so he didn''t know what to do. He just put his hand on it again and refused to show his information and ''poof'' the crystal shattered once more. This time there was a little shock in the inspector''s eyes; nonetheless, he picked another crystal, after all, it might be coincidence, but the 3rd 4th and 5th crystals also broke, so he stared at Arthur in disbelief and suspicion. Even the other participants in other queue lines were dumbfounded by this turn of events. The inspector didn''t know what to do, after all, he couldn''t judge the results, for he didn''t even see his level, he so said hesitantly "emm, unfortunately, you have no..." before he could finish, there was another calm voice which spoke: "He can pass the first test" The inspector was startled by this voice, but he soon snapped out of it and nodded toward the origin of the voice, which was unexpectedly the principal, who didn''t speak since the beginning of the test. She let him pass because she was curious about this individual, first the aptitude crystal showed a strange symbol and then the appraisal crystal broke many times It was by no means mere coincidence and she considered him worth paying attention to; moreover, if her judgment was false and he was weak, then he would just lose in the second test. Arthur was happy since he somehow managed to pass the first test, without revealing his information. Nevertheless, he wasn''t grateful or anything to the principal, since even if she didn''t let him pass, he had other means in store in case of emergency. He walked toward Lucy who was waiting for him, he couldn''t help but smile when he saw her. He felt warmth and happiness to have someone such as her love him, she was truly a maiden, especially with the red dress she was wearing today. When he was close enough, he took her hand and continued to head upstairs toward the area were the accepted participants were. Although she was surprised by his sudden actions, she neither was mad or disgusted by his action, quite the opposite in fact. She also held his hand firmly and walked cheerfully beside him, you could notice a small smile hanging on her pretty face. They found a quite spot and sat there waiting for the first test to finish. Since they had time and there was nothing to do, Arthur decided to spend the remaining time chatting with Lucy, since he liked talking with her and felt happiness when he did. Even when they sat on the stone chairs which were neatly put in a big square, Arthur didn''t let go of her hand for even a second. "To think you got a magma attribute, good, good! You should try to practice with it!" when he mentioned the magma attribute, Lucy seemed to become excited. While looking at her other free hand she replied "En! I didn''t believe it either, last time I used an aptitude crystal I only saw 2 attributes, I wonder how I got the third one" "hehe no use bothering to think hard about it, the good thing is that you got it, so you will become even more powerful! And when the time comes, if you want I''ll personally take you to take revenge, I promised you didn''t I?" While he said that, Arthur used his remaining hand and patted her head gently while smiling towards her. His face was close to her so she could clearly see him smiling and looking at her with soft and caring eyes. She could feel his honesty when he spoke and knew he would sooner or later take her to end the unfinished business. Lucy''s eyes seemed to contain some tears but she wasn''t sad; on the contrary, she was happy, to have someone who would care for you to such an extent was rare and she wouldn''t want to be separated from a person like that. Arthur was shocked when he saw some tears and he thought he reminded her of her tragic past, he regretted what he said immediately and with an apologetic said "I''m sorry... I shouldn''t have reminded you of your past.." he looked down, not daring to look at her face for he felt guilty in his heart but surprisingly, he felt a warm feeling on his chest, and was surprised to see her hugging him. There were some nearby people looking at him with eyes burning with jealousy and hatred but he ignored them and stared at this girl who was hugging him. To be more exact Lucy was considered a woman, she told him her age when they were traveling, even though she didn''t like the fact he asked her about it. She was 28 this year and even though she was petite, she was a fully matured woman, she may be petite in size but her chest was well developed and her face looked more like an adult woman than a little girl. Lucy was crying but smiling, so he quickly realized she was not sad, but instead happy and blamed himself for being this stupid, since he couldn''t even understand the emotions of his lover; nonetheless, he hugged her back and closed his eyes as if enjoying this precious moment. It was the second time they hugged and even though they were lovers, Arthur didn''t cross the line, only either patting her head or holding her hand and she didn''t seem to dislike that. It would be a fat lie to say he didn''t want to hug her whenever he wanted, or even kiss her, but that would be too much for her to bear right now, since it could even remind her of those beast like men who used her body and never in this life would he want to do that. He could even stay like this forever and only hold hands rather than harming her and causing her to be sad or angry with him. They stayed like that for a couple of minutes before Lucy let go, but unexpectedly she leaned on him and seemed to close her eyes as if wanting to relax. Of course Arthur let her do as she pleased, he wrapped his left arm around her shoulder, to let her lean more comfortably and she didn''t refuse it or anything, instead she just looked more relaxed and carefree. Time passed and the first test seemed to be still going to take some time, but Arthur didn''t mind as he stared at Lucy who was now asleep. He was rather happy to see her sleeping face, which was breath-taking, also he felt warmth because she, who felt disgusted with men and loathed them, managed to sleep while leaning on his shoulder and having his arm around her shoulder. He felt like he made a big accomplishment and his heart was beating like crazy, with every second that passed, he would fall in love with her even more. After 2 more hours, the first test finally came to an end and the final participants who passed the first test was truly shocking. From the thousands of people who came, only a hundred or so were accepted, the Nemia academy seemed to be very strict in choosing talents, of course, there were those who protested but they were slapped by the inspector and sent flying hundred meter or so from their previous location. In this island their status and power had no effect, the inspector could do whatever he wants with cocky brats like them. The hundred or so participants who passed the first test were gathered in the big square which was accessible only by going several steps up from the previous square where they passed the first test. This square was much bigger than the previous one and there were many fighting arenas, so Arthur guessed it must be where the tournament was going to be held in. Lucy seemed to have woken up a dozen or minutes ago, but she still remained in the same position, lost in thought and didn''t realize the second test was about to begin. In this square was a stage as well, all the teachers who were seated in the previous stage came in to this square with the council members and the principal. Arthur guessed that the people who previously came first on the stage were the teachers and their average level was 75-80, it was somehow lacking but he paid it no heed. The principal soon reached the center of the biggest arena and spoke "Congratulations for passing the first test, even though it was just checking your abilities, the second test is about to begin, this board contains your names and your opponents'' names" The academy didn''t knew all of their names, except who chose to say it or the famous figures like the second prince, so when the board appeared, all the names were kind of awkward and stupid. Lucy was named ''Ice Queen'' and Arthur was named ''black-robed man'' it seemed funny, as their sense of naming was somewhat strange, but he soon shrugged it off since it wasn''t that what seemed to concern him. He was worried about Lucy, she might fall against a powerful enemy and even if Zephir said she would pass whether she failed or not, he was afraid she would get hurt so he said: "Lucy, please be cautious and surrender when necessary, remember that demon guy said you either way passed, so don''t force yourself, okay?" She looked at him with warm eyes and nodded before saying "en! don''t worry, even though compared to you I''m nothing ,I at least can handle myself against those people, after all I fought so many people from the holy church so how could I lose to mere nobles and rich brats" SECTION A Black-robed man VS Elf Zehn Second Prince VS Jackie Beast Ice Queen VS Huge build Beast-man axe VS Human Archer Priest VS Skinny Demon ''They really got no sense for naming huh?'' Arthur still complained when he saw the names again, apparently, Lucy was obviously Ice Queen and that''s because of her cold eyes and emotionless face, all the other names were made based on the person''s appearance, except the ''elf zehn'' and the second prince. The tournament was divided into 11 sections and the winners of each section will have passed the second test, but there were also exceptions as there may be participants who pass the tests even though they lost, but that''s only if they were good at fighting and had considerable strength. Arthur looked at his opponent for a second before turning his head, because it was only a lvl38 elf who got a strong affinity with wind, which was to be expected from an elf. He was sure of his victory, but when he saw Lucy''s opponent he was worried. It was a huge beastman who had a pair of one-handed axes on his back, he was almost 3 meters tall, with huge hands and a muscular body, while he was looking at this huge beastman, the beastman looked at Arthur in return, but soon turned his face towards Lucy and licked his lips excitedly, as if he was going to enjoy a meal. His lvl was 53, so Arthur judged his strength to be quite close to the holy knight Rein, if not more, after all beastmen were famous for their enormous strength and Lucy was petite and only excelled in magic. She was indeed not bad in physical attacks, but compared to this huge beastmen folk, she was nothing. Soon the fights began and the first fight in his section was between the skinny demon and the priest. The fight was not even 5 minutes long, the priest struggled a bit but he didn''t have the power to resist the skinny demon''s attack. The demon was indeed ruthless and powerful and deserved having the highest level among the participants, except Arthur of course, his use of darkness attribute and earth magic was not bad. He first attacked with a curse to weaken the priest considering he used holy magic and darkness magic was completely its opposite, and secondly he used earth attack, earth spikes and small meteors so the priest finally lost after a small struggle. To be honest , his use of earth magic was lower than Arthur, who almost never used his, he got it from the young earth dragon and it was a [medium earth magic], he could even bind his opponents if he caught them off guard and could raise a 5 meter wall and do other various things, but compared to his dark or ancient fire magic, his skills in earth magic were considered pathetic; nonetheless, if he showed it to those people, he was sure he would get their attention, but what if he used his [hell arrow] what would they do? How would their reaction be? Arthur was excited to try that out, but of course he didn''t, as it was foolish and childish. The second fight soon began and it was the beastman with a huge axe on his back, it was the same guy who got chosen by the female beastman from the council members. Contrary to the other huge build beastman, this one had a normal body with some scars here and there, but he seemed somewhat friendly even with those scars. The fight was even quicker than the first one, as the human archer was not the beastman''s match, he could only kite him for some time before he got knocked down by the axe and fell unconscious. The conditions to win the fight were to either surrender or fall unconscious, of course Arthur noticed that in some other arena there were some ruthless opponents who would not let their enemy surrender or even fall unconscious, they mercilessly injured them purposely causing them serious damage as they seemed to enjoy doing that. The third fight was Arthur against the elf Zehn. Arthur quickly jumped onto the arena, but didn''t take any weapon, as for the elf, he took out a wooden cane and looked seriously at his opponent. Once the referee announced the start of the fight the elf started chanting to attack his enemy but he was soon struck by a dark dagger in the shoulder and wailed in pain. Truthfully, Arthur did not care even if he killed this elf, for that had nothing to do with him, but killing is prohibited and you would be disqualified if you did that, even if you didn''t do it on purpose, so he used a dark dagger and aimed it at the elf''s shoulder, of course the dagger went through the elf''s shoulder and struck the ground behind him. The elf''s painful cries soon reached the teachers and council member''s ears and they turned their heads in curiosity, to see why someone would scream like that. When they saw the black dagger floating next to Arthur and the wailing elf, they were stunned and tried to observe the dark dagger, especially the principal, she gazed seriously at the dark dagger but she couldn''t guess what it was, she could only feel an ominous feeling coming from it, as if it was going to devour her whole. Arthur stared coldly at the elf expecting him to surrender, but he surprisingly didn''t. After screaming for some time, he stood up while shaking, it seemed he was not used to pain at all, when he stabilized himself he started chanting again, but before he could even finish the first word another dagger pierced him in his other shoulder and blood flowed endlessly. This time his screams even reached the ears of the other participants, they stared with fear at Arthur and thanked their luck for not being in the same section as him. The elf finally surrendered after being pierced by 2 daggers and left the stage while stumbling with shaking legs, Arthur couldn''t help but shake his head, to not be able to resist that much pain, what if he experienced the same situation Arthur was in and had his body created from nothing? Would he die from pain or would he go crazy? Arthur went to his previous location where Lucy was waiting for him with a small smile on her face, to have someone wait for him made him delighted and joyful but when he thought of the next battle his thoughts quickly began to be erratic and his heart started beating faster, he was truly afraid of Lucy being hurt. She noticed his anxiousness, so she ran up to him and gave him a long hug while not minding the jealous gazes, and then she headed toward the stage. The huge beastman was already waiting for her and you could see his eyes were burning with desire as he gazed at her body, he regarded her as an object and a toy, not as a human or a demon. That look made Lucy even more disgusted and angry, she hated those kinds of men the most, since they only thought of their desires and would do anything to achieve them. The fight soon began and the beastman rushed towards her with great speed, but he didn''t use his axes. If you looked closely, not even his hands were shaped like a fist, instead they were claws as if wanting to rip her clothes off. Of course Lucy didn''t just stand still, she backed away and a dozen fireballs were fired at him, her aim was perfect and all fireballs hit him and he was sent flying a couple of meters before falling down. He knew she was considered a wizard, but he regarded women as sexual toys and never thought of them as fighters, so being sent flying by a skill made from a women did not cause him to be angry, quite the contrary, it made him even more excited to touch her body and rip her red dress ''hahah such a ferocious girl , I wonder how she will be in bed, I''ll enjoy her first, then someday I''ll get my hands on that principal too haha , with that body of hers I''m sure she''s perfect to satisfy me'' he rushed again at her, but his speed seemed to increase nonetheless. Lucy casted a curse which slowed his speed by 10% and his strength by 5% then bombarded him with fireballs, her use of skills was really amazing and her actions were coordinated. ''boom'' ''boom'' the beastman was sent flying again and he had small burn marks on his fur and some other corners of his body, yet he was still grinning evilly and as he couldn''t get more shameful a huge tent rose up in his lower body. Seeing this Lucy became even more contempt towards him and her attacks became even more ferocious. After 10 minutes of one-sided attacks from Lucy, the beastman grew angry; nonetheless, the tent in his lower body was still there. He took his double axes from his back and rushed at Lucy with great speed, the curse she put on him was finally over, so his speed had gone back to normal. Lucy was quite tired, she kept hitting him with a lot of fireballs but he seemed to be extremely resistant and not damaged that much by them. Her mana pool was not like Arthur''s and her fireballs costed some mana, so after launching more than a hundred of them and using some other skills like flame tornado and flame lance, her mana was almost emptied out. She had to buy some time for her mana to regen a little, but the beastman rushed at her, so she couldn''t do anything but create a desperate flame barrier. Even though flame was usually for offensive, it could also be used to form barriers but they were not that useful and would only negate a little of the incoming attack. The flame barrier formed by her was shattered and she was sent flying a dozen or so meters, her rose dress was tattered and it seemed to be ripped a little from the bottom, you could even see her thigh. She quickly stood up while some blood came up from her pretty lips, even though she had good physical strength, she couldn''t withstand a powerful attack from a beastman who excelled in strength and was 9 levels higher than her. You must know that even the difference of one level was considered a lot, so 9 levels was like heaven and earth, it was already excellent that she could hold up until now, but she didn''t want to admit defeat, since he was a man like those who raped her, was he going to win again? Doesn''t that mean even if she got the chance to face those who used her, she wouldn''t win and would end up in the same situation? Soon all those memories and tragic days passed in that room came to her, she remembered when those guys came in everyday to use her body as they pleased and would laugh at her and her stupidity. The beastman noticed she was lost in thought and grinned while licking his lips again and his tent never stopped from getting bigger, he rushed toward the girl with extreme speed and slashed with his axes toward her chest area. Lucy, sensing danger, quickly snapped out of her daze and tried to dodge, but it was too late as the axe had already torn off half of the top of her dress. Some of her chest was now exposed and she wasn''t wearing anything under the dress except panties, since the dress was long enough to cover her, but now that she was almost naked. A deep fear came to her and she covered her exposed chest with her hand, she was trembling and her eyes had fear in them, but it was not fear of the beastman in front of her, but she was reminded of those days and the suffering, and seemed to experience those memories again. It was as if she was back in the past, defenseless and bound while those men played with her. The beastman laughed and put his axes behind his back while stretching his left hand and grabbed Lucy''s free hand which was not covering her exposed chest, but just as he touched her hand, he felt cold and ''poof'' his stretched hand fell onto the ground and blood flowed endlessly from his shoulder, ''poof'' the tent in his lower body was also chopped off and his ''thing'' fell onto the floor. Arthur was watching the fight with great anxiety, he was very worried for Lucy, and seeing her struggle against this lunatic made him even more helpless, he saw the beastman sent flying several times but got up like nothing happened, so it got him even more anxious as he thought of stopping the fight, but when he glanced at the principal at the others, he saw them all focusing on the fight between Lucy and the beastman, especially the principal and Zephir, who seemed to be assessing Lucy''s skill. As time passed, Arthur saw the tent on the beastman''s lower body and his killing intent rose up, the air around him turned cold and his hands twitching. He really wanted to kill this bastard right now, but he didn''t want to be disqualified or let Lucy be disqualified. After all, he was considered her companion and him helping her out would be considered her fault, even though she was already accepted to the academy, his actions may not please the principal and she might not accept her. The fight continued and he noticed she was starting to slow down at attacking and seemed exhausted, so he judged her mana pool to be almost empty. His face was distorted and he was barely holding himself back from interfering, and when he saw the beastman tear her dress, he decided he was going to kill him and ignored the consequences, but before he did that he noticed the eyes of Lucy, they were unwilling to lose and full of determination. It seemed she was fighting her past memories and wanted to get past them, so him interfering was like not letting her have a chance to overcome her tragic past, so he just stood there with an aching heart while looking at her with a worried look. Arthur''s mind went blank when he saw the beast man tear the top area of her dress and expose her chest. Even though she quickly covered it, the beastman grinned and held her hand forcefully, so Arthur couldn''t control his emotions anymore, he didn''t care about either the principal or anything else, he loved her, he wanted to protect her, so her being this humiliated was unforgivable and he would not tolerate it. He teleported in front of her and immediately created a dark sword and chopped the beastman''s hand and ''thing'' off, without hesitation he then kicked him in the stomach with full strength and you could even hear the beastman''s bones shattering completely. He was sent flying across the stage until he hit a wall which was where the spectators were watching. The wall was also destroyed by the force of the impact and there laid the beastman who was coughing blood non-stop and his screams of pain resounded through all of the big square. Everyone looked at what happened with disbelief, even the principal didn''t expect someone to interfere, she didn''t like what the beastman did, but she had no right to interfere, as this war a 1 on 1 fight and she personally set a rule that anyone who interfered would be disqualified, no matter who it was. Arthur quickly retrieved a white cloth from his storage and wrapped it around Lucy, who was still shaking. His heart really ached and he couldn''t control his emotions anymore, he hugged her tightly and said "Don''t worry Lucy, I''m with you, did you already forget that I said I was going to be with you forever?'' Lucy, sensing someone hugging her, came back to her senses and looked at Arthur who was smiling back at her. Tears flowed uncontrollably from her eyes and she buried her face in his chest "Arthur, I couldn''t do it, I couldn''t do it...." She kept repeating the same words, Arthur knew that by those words she meant that she couldn''t forget about her past and overcome her fears, he didn''t really know what to say to her, so he just did something that even he didn''t expect to do. He kissed her on the forehead and kept hugging her while saying "It''s okay, if you couldn''t do it, I''m here so I''ll do it for you" She seemed shocked by his kiss but she stopped saying those words and just sobbed silently in his embrace. Time passed, but no one interfered, the beastman was still screaming from the pain and the spectators were confused as to what was happening right now. "Lucy, do you want to kill this man or should I kill him for you?" Arthur asked her gently while still embracing her, she stopped crying and just stayed there silently, when she heard his question, she didn''t say anything for a while before replying with a shaky but somewhat relieved voice "It doesn''t matter. I''m you and you are me, I''m happy as long as you are by my side." She paused a second then resumed with a low voice ".... but next time I''ll be the one to save you, hmpf!" just when she finished speaking, with her soft and charming lips she gave him a small kiss on the cheek, it seemed insignificant to others, but to him, it was like he was in heaven. He was dazed for sometime while he thought of that kiss, that pitch black loving gaze of hers was so charming as to cause the fall of cities and the lovely smell of the fragrance that came from her made him feel like he was dreaming, but he didn''t dare think anything strange and after hugging her again he finally let go of her. After adjusting her clothes, he held her hand and looked at screaming beastman not far away. He advanced slowly with Lucy beside him, he didn''t let go of her hand as he approached the beastman. The principal was seriously astonished, she didn''t even see him run into the arena, so how could he have appeared out of nowhere? Is his speed that fast? No way, even if it was someone with the extreme speed they wouldn''t be like that, that was an instant movement! Teleportation! "Who is he? To be able to use teleportation, and this fast too, he is not someone normal" She looked at him chop that beastman''s arm and ''thing'' off without hesitation and with but a kick he sent him flying out of the arena, that was not a strength a simple participant would have. She then observed him as he covered the girl who was still shaking and then hugged her and seemed to tell her something, she guessed they must be lovers or family, for he seemed to really care for her a lot, after some time had passed he let go of the girl and headed slowly toward the crying beastman, while accompanied by the demon girl. Truthfully the principal was quite angry because someone dared to interfere and not only that, he injured the enemy that much in front of her face, at least other people would pretend this was an accident, but this man didn''t care and ruthlessly chopped his opponent''s hand off, he also seemed to want something else from him as he walked towards him. "Stop right there! Not only did you break the rules by interfering in the fight, you also seriously injured a participant" The female Beastman from the council shouted at Arthur, even though what that beastman did was shameless, he was still someone from her race. So seeing him suffer like that didn''t seem right to her, especially when he already got what he deserved and had his arm and ''thing'' cut off. Arthur completely ignored her and continued walking towards the beastman, no matter who it was, even if god himself tried to stop him, he wouldn''t stop. This man dared do those things to Lucy, the most precious thing he had, so how could he forgive him, death was a way out for this beastman, but he didn''t care and was determined to kill him. Soon he was finally in front of the beastman who turned to look at Arthur with extreme fear and rage. He believed he was only sneak attacked and in a normal fight he would have won, but now he couldn''t fight, so he just stared hatefully at this black-robed man. Arthur used his free hand and grip the beastman around the neck and with great strength lifted him high up in the air while increasing the force he was exerting on the neck. The beastman first tried to struggle with his remaining hand but after a couple of seconds he began to suffocate and breathe heavily, his face turned red and he began to wriggle as he was unable to breathe. The female beastman was angered as she rushed towards Arthur with great speed, she was a member of the council and she shouldn''t use her power to bully the weak, but she also couldn''t stand someone from her race being brutally killed like this Her speed was incredible, but to Arthur not that much, as she was closing in he put a little more strength and ''poof'' the head of the beastman was separated from his body and both his head and headless corpse fell to the ground. The female beastman was full of rage as she made a fist and struck toward Arthur''s head intending to kill him instantly. But he didn''t move, for he had confidence in his defense, after all, he got the dragon''s defense and his new body gained a lot too, so he didn''t even bother creating a dark barrier. The punch landed on his head which was covered with the black-robe and the female felt as if she had hit a mountain, cracks could be heard as some of the bones in her hand broke, she retracted her fist and backed away while having a mix of astonishment and rage in her eyes, she stared at Arthur while saying "Who are y...!" Before she could finish, there was a loud shout and a strong wave of energy came out of nowhere pressuring everyone on the stage except the council members and Arthur. He could feel that it was a kind of a skill, if one was skilled in mana manipulation, they could use it to pressure enemies and that was what happened now. "ENOUGH" The principal stood up and stared angrily at Arthur... Chapter 16 - 17 : Unexpected Encounter Edward Omond, the father of Feylord, was sitting in his office while in front of him were 2 figures dressed in black. They seemed really similar to the assassins hired by Feylord, but they excluded a colder and creepier feeling. He looked at them for a second before speaking "Speak, what have you found out about ''him'' and where is his location?!" One of the 2 black clothes figures bowed respectfully and said with a calm voice "Lord Edward, apparently his travel speed is beyond ordinary, in less than a month he managed to arrive at Govore city and it was reported by our spies there that today he took the teleportation array leading to Nemia academy accompanied by a lady who was the same one he bought at the auction in Willsden town." Hearing this, Edward''s face boiled with anger ''bastard! To think he would go to the academy, how can I capture him now!''. After pondering for some time he waved his hands toward the 2 figures and they disappeared without saying anything else. Edward picked a paper and began writing on it for a couple of minutes before he called his butler who was standing outside of his office and told him "Deliver this letter to Frederic in the Nemia academy, but you have to hand it to him personally, do you understand?" The butler nodded continuously, not daring to disobey and soon enough he left the room after bowing respectfully toward Edward. The Principal seemed really angry at Arthur and with that shout of hers, not a single person dared speak, since they were even afraid to make a noise by breathing. She used a special magic and slowly flew towards Arthur while staring daggers at him. Even the 9 council members quickly followed after her, as they saw how the female beastman who was named Mary couldn''t kill or even injure the black-robed man, so they knew he was dangerous. Probably a spy from some continent or something similar, because to have that amount of strength why would he pose himself as a mere participant? If he had shown his talent, he could have easily become a teacher in the academy. They also noticed how Mary''s punch didn''t even as much as scratch him and he just stood there doing nothing, so he was by no means someone to underestimate and they knew why the principal interfered and stopped Mary from doing anything reckless. Arthur wasn''t surprised when he saw all the council members and the principal coming toward him, for what he did was truly excessive and brutal, but he didn''t care and if he was given a second chance to redo it, he would do the same thing with no hesitation. Lucy was everything to him and seeing her hurt was something he couldn''t handle and watch, he wondered why they didn''t stop the fight, after all the beastman clearly was perverted and wanted to touch her and it was obvious he was winning for it, so why didn''t they finish the fight or stop it? Didn''t they care about what happened to her? Or they simply accepted the strong no matter how they behaved? Just a couple of seconds passed and the principal was in front of Arthur and Lucy, she was standing near Mary who was still holding her hand, which had some broken bones; nonetheless, she stared at Arthur with anger and a little bit of fear, for she knew he was strong and maybe stronger than her. She was a beastman and also a member of the council with a very high level and still couldn''t injure him, or even scratch his robe, so of course, she would be a little afraid, but she only used her fist and didn''t use any skills so she couldn''t gauge his power. "Mary told you to stop, so why didn''t you listen to her, moreover, you clearly got your revenge by injuring him that much, so why continue any further and brutally kill him? Do you have no heart?" The principal scolded Arthur angrily while still using her special skill which emanated pressure, but of course it didn''t affect him; nevertheless, he still created a small dark barrier around Lucy, since she was not like him and clearly the pressure from the principal affected her and made her pant heavily, so he had to make that barrier to ease the pressure, yet surprisingly the barrier completely blocked it. "No heart? You must be kidding, right? If I don''t have a heart, then what about you? Didn''t you see my companion struggling and clearly losing? So why didn''t you stop the fight? He clearly had a bad intention and everyone could see that, but none of you made a move or spoke up, do you even have morals or do you just worship the strong?" Arthur replied with another scolding as if blaming them for what happened to Lucy. The principal seemed surprised by what Arthur said, she expected him to make poor excuses for his action but instead, she got harshly scolded by him. Normally a person who interfered would be disqualified, so of course, she planned to do that, but when she saw that Mary''s punch didn''t even scratch him, she seriously was astonished. She thought that he may be a spy but soon gave up on that, for if he was one, he wouldn''t try to attract this much attention and would instead lay low. To send him away would be like losing a good seed, especially when he was going to join her academy, it would bring her more benefits if she kept him in the academy rather than letting him go, it was true that he broke the rules she set and even killed a participant ruthlessly, but what if he broke some rules? She didn''t have to just let him go because of some stupid rule and to be quite honest, she felt a little guilty, after all, she saw what that beastman intended to do but nevertheless, she just watched. After some thinking she spoke: "You and your companion, follow me" Once she finished, the principal returned to her seat followed by Arthur, Lucy and the rest of the council members of course. Once everyone sat down except for Arthur and Lucy, the principal said loudly "No need to stare, this participant was using a high leveled enchanted item and used it to kill ''huge build'' and defend against Mary. Continue with the tournament at once!... As for black-robed and Ice queen, they are both disqualified from the second test" None of the participants dared to say anything back to her and resumed the tournament as if nothing had happened, but you could still notice some who were glancing at Arthur every now and then. Just when the tournament resumed, the principal looked at Arthur who was still standing not far away from her and said "Wait until the tournament is finished and we selected those who passed then I''ll see how I can punish you, for the time being, wait here!!" Her tone was quiet but angry, still Arthur was confused since he thought that he would just be disqualified together with Lucy and be sent away, yet surprisingly the principal told him to wait here, so he was curious as to why she did that. Truthfully he thought of the possibility of her wanting to rope him in because he displayed a decent amount of strength, but he snickered and felt disgusted toward the principal, if she really wanted to rope him in because of his power, then that really made her no different from greedy people, she would let him join her academy just because he was strong, even though he broke the rules and killed a participant. The tournament finally finished and some participants, who even though they didn''t win, still got accepted. The skinny demon won in section A and there were some powerful individuals in the other sections too, the beastman with the axe on his back and the second prince were also accepted. The principal soon left the stage followed by Arthur and Lucy. They walked past many big buildings and Arthur was quite amazed when he saw them, even Lucy never stopped gazing as she seemed more cheerful. Since she was a child she dreamt of coming here, so of course, she was happy, even though she still didn''t forget what happened earlier, but with Arthur, by her side, she felt comfortable and joyful. After half an hour or so of walking, they entered a 5-floor building. The building was decorated from head to toe either with symbols or gold lines, even the structure of it was fascinating. Arthur couldn''t help but be amazed at how well constructed this building was and not only this one. When they passed through the academy grounds, each and every building was luxurious and they were all connected by long hallways, except this particular building, which they entered right now. They finally stopped walking when they reached a big office which was obviously the principal''s office, it was quite a large room decorated with paintings and runes, and there were also a lot of bookshelves put next to each other neatly. In the center of the room there was a desk with 2 chairs in front of it and a large chair behind it, there was nothing on the desk except for a few scattered papers and a crystal. The principal sat on her ''chair'' and gazed at Arthur with cold yet curious eyes. She broke the silence by finally saying "Now that we are alone, how about you tell me who YOU really are?" she said that with a smile hanging on her face. Lucy remained silent as she gazed coldly at the principal while Arthur replied with a mocking tone: "No one you should have heard of, I''m simply someone who wants to join your academy along with my comrade here" He chuckled softly after saying that and stared at the principal to see her reaction and what she would do to him. If she tried anything against him, he was prepared to go all out and escape with Lucy, even if she was high leveled, he still had confidence in his power and if he couldn''t win he would just escape. When he was attacked by Mary earlier he could feel that she was strong, but compared to the earth dragon, she was a little weaker and to him, who had gained the dragon''s stats plus his previous stats and also got the bonus stats from creating a body, so he should be several times stronger than the dragon and that''s only physically. If he used his magic, especially the destructive ancient fire, none would be able to guess the outcome of a battle between him and this principal, so a person with Mary''s strength was no threat to him at all, even if he didn''t do anything all day, she couldn''t hurt him and if all the council members had more an or less the same strength as her, then he shouldn''t worry about them. After seeing Mary''s power and judging that he was stronger than her, he guessed for someone with his level he was overpowered, no! Overpowered would be an understatement for he was god-like. Even though the principal told the participant that the black-robed man was cheating and had used a powerful enchanted item, that was because everyone saw how he wasn''t hurt when he was hit by Mary, who was one of the council members and if she didn''t say that, Mary would have lost face and would be probably called weak to not be able to injure a single participant who didn''t even defend against her attack. The principal had to make an appropriate lie or else how could she protect the honor of Mary, but deep in her heart she was curious about this black-robed man ''Just who is he? To be able to take a bare attack from Mary and still not budge'' "How about you take that hood off so I can have a good look at your face." To be honest, Arthur didn''t hide his appearance for special reasons, he was just used to hiding it because when he was in Zodiak''s body he didn''t want to show his creepy appearance. However, now that he had a body for himself he didn''t mind showing his face, but he found it unnecessary so he just covered his face the same way he did when he was in his previous ''body''. When he heard the principal he wasn''t surprised, for he knew she would ask him that since anyone would be curious as to who he was after what he did. It would be the second time he showed his face to someone, the first time it was Lucy, Hell she even saw when his face was being created. He soon pulled down his hood and his appearance was finally revealed. His face was stern with cold blood red eyes, there was the same long-boned face, tapered to a pointed chin; nonetheless, he looked quite charming and pleasing to the eye. The principal was stunned when she saw his face, the steady but slightly cold gaze of his made her dazed for a second but what astonished her most was his red eyes. You must know that even though there were different races in this world, none of them had red eyes, only beasts could have them and even for beasts, it was quite rare to find one with that eye color. She soon snapped out of it and stabilized herself "I don''t recognize you, you are neither royalty nor a noble, speak honestly, why did you come here?" her voice this time contained a threat and the air around the room seemed to turn cold. While keeping a poker face Arthur replied with calm voice "I already told you, I''m not going to repeat myself, as for what happened earlier I will not apologize doing something right." He then proceeded to ignore her, not paying any heed to her flushed face, which turned red from anger. "Y-you!!!.." the principal stood up while slapping her hands on the table with anger, she thought Arthur was mocking her and just playing around while not telling the truth. After staring at him for some time she sighed and sat back down, truthfully she was in a dilemma, either to send him off and lose such precious fighting figure or take him under her care and gain a powerful figure in this academy, but she knew that Mary would be against it, since she seemed to be very angry and would hold a grudge toward this man. Minutes passed and finally, after some pondering, she crossed her hands and was about to say something when Zephir barged into the room and seemed in a bit of a rush. He came near her and whispered something in her ear. Arthur saw Zephir coming in and his whispering next to the principal''s ears but he paid it no heed as he was not interested. Once Zephir finished whispering, he stood behind the principal while waiting for her to say something, which she finally did "You two, go sit there and wait for me to finish speaking with our guests then I''ll see what I''ll do with you." while speaking she pointed at a corner of the room where there were a comfortable sofa and a small table. Arthur didn''t say anything, he just held Lucy''s hand and sat on the sofa with her. Not even 5 minutes passed when 2 figures entered the room, it was 2 old men, one had a long white bear and deep blue eyes while the other one was an old man with a missing hand. Arthur immediately recognized one of them, since it was Theodor from the holy church, but he didn''t know the other so he immediately appraised him Erik Vilsmore (human) : LVL118 It was the same person who spoke with Theodor through the crystal. When Erik heard from Theodor that Rein died fighting a mage, he was honestly surprised and even though he said he wouldn''t search for the girl anymore he still had to, after all, it was a direct order from the pope. He was curious as to why the pope was so interested in this lady, but he didn''t dare ask him, for the pope was considered a god-like figure in the holy church and all his orders must be obeyed without question or doubt. He didn''t want to lose more men to the black-robed man, but since the girl was with him, he had to send men to monitor the black-robed mage''s location and soon his spies told him that this ''man'' was last seen using the teleportation array leading to the academy, so he suspected that this man was one of the members of the council, but he soon gave up on that idea as the man was supposedly using a strange kind of magic that none of the people in this academy had. Nonetheless, he used a teleportation array which teleported him directly from the holy church headquarters to the Nemia academy and he took Theodor with him because Theodor knew the appearance of the black-robed mage, so if they encountered him on the academy grounds he should be cautious. Erik didn''t go to the academy to look for the black-robed mage but was ordered directly by the Pope to head to the academy and retrieve the girl at any cost, he was even permitted to use force but he must first consult the principal and ask her if he could take away the girl without resorting to force. That was why the first thing he did was coming to the principal''s office, he was going to ask her if she saw any silver-haired demon in the entrance exam and if she did, he would ask for her permission to take the girl for she was a fugitive from the Holy church and also is someone evil whomust be taken away. But never in his wildest dreams would he think to bump into her when he just got here. When he entered the room he first saw Zephir and the principal and in the corner he saw a black-robed man and a silver-haired girl who wore a green dress, she truly was pretty and Erik immediately recognized her, after all, every single person in the holy church was instructed to try to capture the girl when they saw her. Erik didn''t do anything suspicious and just gazed at her for a second before continuing to walk towards the principal, whereas Theodor stood there stiff, you can see fear in his eyes when he looked at Arthur, but he soon regained his senses and followed Erik; nonetheless, his behavior didn''t pass unnoticed by the principal who had keen eyes. She saw Theodor look at Arthur and then freeze up with fear and she was astonished since she didn''t actually think the holy church would have relations with this unusual individual; nonetheless, she didn''t say anything and simply smiled toward the guests while speaking "Hello lord Erik, what brings you to my academy? The continents meeting is not until a year from now, so what does the holy church want from me?" Even though she was smiling her tone was domineering, she didn''t like the fact that the holy church would come and not only that, but the pope didn''t even come personally, as if she wasn''t worth the time so her pent-up anger from earlier was released on these guests. "Ohoh, Ms. Sonia, please excuse us for coming uninvited, but we are merely seeking someone who came to your academy and if you permit it, we would like to them away with us" The principal frowned to the old man''s request, to think the holy church would have the gutts to come here and demand to take someone away, they seemed to forget that the Nemia academy had a power equal to them and only sent a little representative like this old man to make such a shameless request ''they really are thick-skinned!" even though she was angered by what he said she still remained calm and replied: "Ohhh? And who might that person be? To make the holy church personally came, it must be a very important person." her voice contained some sarcasm as if she was interested in who this person was and was going to hand this person to them. "Ohohoho, Ms. Sonia, luck is on our side as it seems, the person we are looking for is that girl over there with the green dress, she really caused us big trouble, if you would permit us to take her away" when saying that he pointed with his hand at Lucy who was also gazing at him with cold and piercing eyes. Arthur was slightly surprised when he saw Erik lvl but he wasn''t the least worried for he knew he could handle him with ease. He just laid on the sofa with Lucy while looking with interest as to why these people from the holy church came here, but he already had a guess and when he heard Erik say he came searching for a person his guess turned to be true as Erik pointed his finger toward Lucy. Arthur seemed calm, but he was ready to fight at any moment if he heard the principal accept the old man''s demand he would immediately bombard them with ancient fire and all kinds of attacks then try his best to get out of here with Lucy. Sonia was quite surprised when she saw where the old man was pointing, for the holy church to go to such means to capture a girl, she must really be important to them, or else they wouldn''t dare come like this and be this shameless; nonetheless, she wasn''t going to accept their stupid demand in the first place, she was merely surprised to see they were looking for the demon girl. "I don''t think that''s possible Mr. Erik, this girl was just accepted as a student in this academy and every student here is protected by us, moreover she is Zephir''s personal student so you taking her is out of the question." She smiled smugly at Erik observing his reaction, and indeed it was priceless, his face was red and he looked angry, for he didn''t expect the principal to refuse his demand. After all, he came here representing the pope, so refusing him is like refusing the pope and he didn''t think she would dare to reject his demand so openly and without hesitation, he gritted his teeth and tried to keep a smile on his face but it only made him look uglier. "You see Ms.Sonia, The pope personally ordered me to bring her back, since she''s really dangerous. Even to you and your academy, so it would be wise to let go of her" Even though he was plainly rejected, he still persisted and tried again, but he was suddenly caught by an immense pressure and he heard the principal snort while gazing at him coldly so he no longer talked. He just bowed and left the room with Theodor but before he left he stared daggers at Lucy ''little pest, don''t you think you got away just because you are here, don''t forget we have means to capture you even if you escaped to the end of the world!''. When the 2 old men left, the room regained its silence and the atmosphere became kind of awkward, Sonia glanced at Arthur who was laying on the sofa relaxingly while Lucy was leaning on his shoulder and seemed lost in thought ''Now it''s time to think of what I should do about them'' Chapter 17 - 18 : A Be The principal, who was sitting on her desk, she turned head towards Arthur and said while chuckling "I see that the holy church is searching for that girl but no worries since I said she is a student then I will not go back on my words, plus it was you who interfered and she didn''t do anything, as, for you, you would only be staying he as a GUEST!" She continued to stare at Arthur expecting to see his reacting but to her surprise the man didn''t even bulge or seem the least surprised, in fact, he just smiled at her and nodded. "A guest or whatever, but remember I will not leave my companion''s side, so deal with it!" Arthur didn''t particularly care what his status was, guest or student, as long as he could stay here for the time being, it would be enough after all he wants to just get stronger to be able to crush the holy church and when he has that strength staying in this academy would only be meaningless. Actually it would be a lie to say he wasn''t interested in this academy, quite the opposite, in fact, he wanted to learn new ways to use magic since he was still considered inexperienced and he wanted Lucy to get stronger and have fun, she seemed really excited and happy to be here so, of course, he wouldn''t take her away from here unless she says so, but seeing the Holy church coming here to look for her, he decided to never leave her side, not even for a second, as they may use underhanded means to take her away and he would not tolerate that. Which is why the best way to avoid that is by constantly being near her, also, he was sure she would not be bothered if he were to follow her everywhere as he trusted her and he knew she trusted him back too. Sonia seemed startled by the way he spoke, it seemed like he had zero respect for her nonetheless she didn''t mind it for she got used to his cold and shameless behavior and she knew he deeply cared for the girl beside him, she didn''t dwell on it any further and spoke "It''s settled then, Zephir would lead you to a room for you 2 to stay together in." She waved her hand and Zephir nodded as if understanding what she meant, he walked toward Arthur and said calmly but with a cold voice "Follow me, I will guide you to your room." To be honest, Zephir didn''t like Arthur, in fact he hated him and hated his behavior, he thought he was reckless and a savage especially when he saw how he killed that beastman, even he, someone from the demon race, which is infamous for its brutality, would never do that. Furthermore, he was with demon girl who he wanted to rope under his care but unfortunately, he has seen how powerful Arthur is and how he always sticks close to Lucy which made it difficult for him to try to recruit her. Arthur and Lucy soon got up from the comfortable sofa and followed Zephir towards their room but of course they never stopped holding hands and Arthur didn''t want to let go either, the feeling of her soft but cold white hands was something he would never want to forget and she didn''t seem bothered when holding his hands, sometimes she took the initiative to do so and when she did, Arthur would be overjoyed. Just when Arthur, Lucy, and Zephir were going to leave the room, someone barged into Sonia''s office, it was Mary the female beastman, she was still angry about what happened and she held a grudge towards Arthur for what he did to someone from her race. "Big sister Sonia! why did you stop me earlier! didn''t you see what he had done!" Mary and Sonia were friends since childhood and were very close, whenever they were alone she would always call her ''big sister'' rather than principal, when Mary finished speaking she glared with dagger eyes at Arthur who now had his face revealed but she wasn''t surprised by his appearance, she just wanted to rip him to shreds. "Now Mary, if you would be please calm down, he became a guest in our academy so you have to treat him with care" Sonia replied with a teasing voice, she knew Mary would always act by her emotions and when she saw that beastman killed brutally it hurt her emotionally nonetheless it was careless of Mary to just dive at a participant intending to kill her after all she had to consider her position and act accordingly, The principal stared at the angry Mary then continued speaking "Plus, didn''t you see what that beastman was going to do? even if he was someone from your race, it doesn''t change the fact that he was shameless and savage and you attacking out guest here based on emotions is completely disregarding your position as a council member!" She continued to scold the female beastman for what she did, not only did she attack Arthur she didn''t even hurt him which made her lose a lot of faces and force Sonia to make up a fat lie to cover up the Mary''s recklessness. The female beastman didn''t talk for some time, she just stood there not knowing what to do, she was angry but what the principal said was true and she shouldn''t have done that nonetheless she still couldn''t forgive Arthur "B-but! big sister Sonia, I still can''t forgive him for doing that!..." She dropped her head down while saying that as if showing the principal her pitiful side and maybe changing her mind. Sonia''s heart softened as she saw Mary, they were childhood friends and she was older than Mary so she always took care of her and solved her problems, while she was thinking this an idea struck her, a smile soon formed on her breath-taking face and she spoke "Fine! since you are so persistent, how about we make a bet?" Hearing this, Mary''s eyes sparkled and she could see some hope for revenge so she replied with an excited voice "Bb-big sister, quick tell me! what sort of bet? as long as you let me kill this bastard! I''ll accept any kind of bet" Seemingly impatient, Mary turned her head towards Arthur and stared at him with killing intent and anger in her eyes, so Arthur couldn''t help but think ''what a crazy woman, seriously, the hell is wrong with her?'' he just stood there waiting for the principal to speak while being curious as to what this bet was about, since she said he would be a guest, she wouldn''t let Mary just kill him or attack him so the idea of a ''bet'' intrigued him. "Haha you will fight against him and if you win you can do whatever you want with him but if you lose then you have to stop nagging and leave him alone.." The principal made this bet for two reasons, first she wanted to see what this man was about and gauge his power, after all, she didn''t see him fight seriously and second she wanted to help Mary even for a little bit Once Mary heard the bet, she jumped with happiness for she didn''t expect her big sister to help her this much ''finally! I will be able to kill this bastard!'' "Thank you big sister Sonia!" Although she was happy, she looked at Arthur to see his response, after all, a bet has to be accepted by both sides or else it wouldn''t be a bet, also he could just reject the bet, the principal stared at Arthur expecting his answer while a meaningful smile was hanging on her face. Arthur was truly delighted, by quickly winning against this pest he would finally get rid of a nuisance and she would no longer bug him so he just waved his hand while saying "whatever, tomorrow at noon, how about that?" hearing him speak with a carefree tone, Mary was even more angered but she soon remembered what her big sister said and controlled her emotion she just replied "fine!" and turned around left with a "hmph!". Arthur and Lucy didn''t stay there any longer and proceeded to follow Zephir and surprisingly they didn''t leave the building to head toward the dorms instead their room was in the same building that the principal''s office was at, a couple of minutes passed and they finally reached their room, Zephir escorted them to the room''s door then left after gazing coldly at Arthur. The room was quite decent, there were 2 beds and also 2 desks, a big veranda and some beautiful paintings hanging on the walls which were also amazingly constructed. Still holding hands, they both went towards a bed and sat on it while still not talking. He looked at Lucy who was quiet for some time now, he couldn''t get enough of her charm and wanted to stare at her all day long but he thought it may be unappropriated so he soon turned his head and let go of her hand while saying "It''s already night, you must be tired after all that happened right? why don''t you take some rest and sleep?" Hearing what he said, Lucy blushed a little and dropped her head down which was completely red, she was alone with him and after what happened today and that kiss she gave him, she couldn''t help but feel embarrassed but at the same time happy. Unlike him who had infinite stamina and didn''t need to sleep, she was normal and like anyone else needed some sleep, she wasn''t physically tired but she was very exhausted mentally but having him with her calmed her and made her forget about her memories a little. When she previously slept in his arms, it was really comfortable and warm, it had been a long time since she had that kind of comfortable sleep so after hesitating for a while she spoke with her melodious voice "W-wait, can l-let me sleep on your shoulder like e-earlier?" Her ears were bright red and she didn''t dare look at him in the eye as she very embarrassed and she couldn''t even believe what she just said. Arthur was startled by what he heard for he didn''t expect her to say that but nonetheless he smiled and looked at her being embarrassed and fidgeting a little, he approached her once again and gave her a small hug and said "No need to feel embarrassed Lucy, you can ask me anything." While saying that he sat next to her and held her pretty white hands. Lucy couldn''t muster the courage to talk to him, her heart was beating madly fast and her face burning up and when he hugged her it only made her even more embarrassed but she felt happy and blessed to have someone like him beside her, her heart was slowly opening up to him and wished for this moment to last forever. Soon enough both of them laid on the bed and she leaned on his shoulder but was surprised to see Arthur wrap his left hand around her back to let her feel more comfortable, of course she wasn''t angered or anything of the sort, instead she just smiled and got closed to him and closed her eyes intending to sleep, it was like heaven to her a warm place to sleep with no worries of someone of the holy church chasing her, she really couldn''t think of what would have happened if she didn''t meet him. She first thought he was using her but as the time went on he only showed her what being loved really meant, he even went to such lengths as to kill someone in the academy grounds because he dared touch her, she unconsciously snuggled deep into his arms until her face on his chest but she didn''t care and she soundlessly fell asleep. Arthur was surprised by this turn of events, he didn''t think she would get this close to him, hell even when he wrapped his left arm around her back he thought she would be against it but instead she not only accepted that, she also got closer to him, he could feel her cold body and petite white hands on his chests along with her head, he gazed at her enchanting sleeping face. It was truly breath-taking as if a goddess was sleeping and not a demon, he couldn''t feel more blessed to have someone like that besides him and love him too, deep in his heart he couldn''t help but thank ''X'' for giving him this new life, it allowed him to love again and enjoy the warmth of someone for the first time. It was true he loved his wife, but when he thought about it again, it was not like this one, maybe he was merely attached to his wife for he just wanted someone next to him and when that person betrayed him he finally understood what it was like to be lonely. When he was a businessman all he did was work and gain money, his friends were only ''friends'' for benefits and he was an orphan who got adopted by an old couple, they raised him and took care of him but they soon died of old age and he was left alone, so he just worked until he reached the pinnacle but he felt nothing, just empty, so he sought the warmth of a woman but that ended up badly for him and in contrary to his past life, he now had Lucy with him. Yes, he didn''t have family here and yes, he didn''t have friends here, but he got her, and it was more than enough to make him feel relieved. For the first time in ages, he, who had been cold and emotionless had cried, yes, he cried for a very long time. Lucy was sleeping so she didn''t notice him but nonetheless he cried, it was tears of grief but at the same time tears of joy, if he hadn''t met Lucy he would have just continued to be alone in this world and be chained with his distrustful heart forever, he would have become a robot rather than a human being. While crying Arthur thought of something he never did in his entire life, he thanked god for what was given to him, though he never believed in god, and never was a religious man, instead he cursed this ''god'' for he was given a miserable and lonely life and it only got worse when he was tortured so the idea of a god watching them from above was completly erased from his mind, because if there really was one he wouldn''t let people do as they please and give the kind people a miserable lives while the greedy people would have a luxurious and good life. In fact, the reason behind their very existence crossed mind, more precisely, ''why would this ''god'' create such greedy and wicked creatures!'' this thought bugged him a lot especially when he was in that desolate room being tortured every day. Only after a while did he stop crying but his eyes were swollen and his face a bit red, since he got infinite stamina he didn''t need to sleep but he wanted to so he just closed his eyes and tried falling asleep.It had been quite a long time since he slept and every time he did he would have nightmares but this time he didn''t. He neither had good dreams nor did have nightmares and while sleeping he unconsciously hugged the sleeping Lucy and didn''t let go of her as if she would disappear if he let her go. Morning came and Lucy woke up, but she dumbfounded to feel Arthur hugging her with both his arms and when she lifted her head to look at him she was more astonished to see him sleep nonetheless she noticed his eyes were swollen so she soon guessed he must have cried and hugged her so she didn''t mind and stayed in his embrace. She didn''t wake him up for she knew he never slept and him actually sleeping is rare, in fact, she never saw him sleep not even once since they met, so, for now, she stayed silent and enjoyed the feeling of being in his embrace, she wrapped her arms around him and smiled while gazing at his sleeping face. 1 hour or so he finally woke up and didn''t expect himself to be hugging her he immediately let go of her in panic while saying with an apologetic tone "S-sorry, I must have done it unconsciously!" As he let go of her, Lucy hugged him even more tightly as if indicating she didn''t mind, she looked at him with those charming eyes, you couldn''t even see a tinge of coldness coming from them, she smiled towards him and to be honest, when smiling her face was even more enchanting "What are you apologizing for? Aren''t we lovers?" Arthur heart softened when he heard that, because he knew she was trying her best and she still had some fear and hatred towards man but nonetheless she hugged him and even didn''t mind being hugged by him, so he once again wrapped his arms around her and they started chatting about various things including the Nemia academy. Lucy talked with excited tone, she was joyful for she finally became a student of Nemia academy and her childhood dream became true and when seeing her cute side Arthur couldn''t help but chuckle as she really seemed like a child when talking about the academy, if someone saw her right now they would surely not think she was the same one as yesterday, in public not even a tinge of emotion could be seen on her face, she was like a goddess statue and unapproachable by mere humans. After talking for some time, they finally separated even though Arthur seemed reluctant to do so as he enjoyed hugging while laying on the bed and didn''t want to let go, Lucy seeing the reluctance in his eyes approached her head closer to him and gave him a small kiss on the cheek like yesterday, this caught him by surprise and his ears turned red as he was embarrassed but happy at the same time. They both adjusted their clothes, Arthur wore something different today, he retrieved new clothes from his storage ring, Zodiak had a lot of clothes and most of them were exceptional, he wore a blue robe which suited him perfectly, it had golden lines on it and the same symbol the black robe had but this symbol was white, he looked even more handsome and charming wearing this robe, as for Lucy she wore a green dress which made her look like a fairy. Soon they left their room and headed towards outside to tour the academy and go to classes, actually since Lucy is a student now she can attend classes and the principal put her in the magic class. In fact, this academy was divided into 2 classes close-fighting class and magic class and these two in return were divided into several other minor classes, for example, the magic class was divided to mana manipulation class, attribute training class and several other classes. Since Lucy was put in the magic class she can choose whatever she wanted from the minor classes but there were some restrictions, for example, there are special classes for senior students and these classes are teaching difficult magic tricks which a new student can''t possibly do. Lucy decided to first head to the attribute training class and see what was it about. The principal didn''t forget to give them a small map so they can easily find their way in the academy as it was extremely big and one would get lost easily. While they were walking, they passed by many students, some who were new and others who were old, but every one of them, especially the boys, stared at Lucy who was wearing a green dress with disbelief, you could even see lust in their eyes but of course none of them dared to approach her and speak to her. They also looked at the man beside her with jealousy and envy, he not only was handsome and charming he had a girl like that beside him so wouldn''t be jealous of him? Though none of the boys did dare talk to Lucy, many girls rushed at Arthur and began speaking to him, there were many senior girls and even new ones who joined yesterday. "Hello handsome, are you new here? how about I show you around ?" "Let me show you around too.." "Me too. please." "Kyaa!! So handsome, I wonder if he is willing to be my boyfriend" Truthfully, Arthur ignored them at first but they were persistent like cockroaches and he hated that kind of women the most, they were similar to his ex-wife they would cling to someone if he is handsome or seemed wealthy to gain fame or power, if he was ugly or average looking they would not even spare a glance at him. Lucy who was beside him didn''t do anything but he could feel a cold feeling from her gaze as if she was a little jealous and to be honest he felt happy, for her to be jealous is really rare but he was bothered by those girls so he looked at them and lifted his hand as if signaling them to quiet down and when they finally did expect him to speak he just said with a cold voice "Fuck off!" just as he said that he took Lucy''s hand and walked past them ignoring them completely. Some of the girls just shrugged it off as they didn''t care, others just seemed little depressed while there is some who snickered and said "Who does he think he is? just because he is a little handsome he gets to be this bossy? Hmpf just wait and see." A boy who heard this, approached the girl who said that and mocked "Can''t you see he have such a beauty beside him? so why would he bother with ugly girls like you" "YOU!!!!!!" Seemingly angry, the girl snapped at the boy and slapped him with all her strength which of course sent him flying a couple of meters and a stream of laughs soon came in from the nearby boys when they saw what happened to their poor ''friend''. Arthur and Lucy continued heading to where the attribute training class is going to be held in. 20 minutes or so of walking they finally reached their destination, it was a gigantic room, it looked exactly like the conference rooms from the universities in his previous life except this one was much larger, it could hold up to 200 hundred students and in front of the row of seats there was a stage which was where the teacher would probably demonstrate his magic. When they entered the classroom, there were already a lot of people either chatting or sitting and waiting for the class to begin. When they saw Lucy they were extremely shocked, one has to know that what happened yesterday became extremely famous and almost everyone knew who this girl was but they didn''t expect her to be accepted, instead they thought she was disqualified and when they looked at the man beside her they felt curious. They knew there was a black-robed man who protected her yesterday but this man beside her now looked completely different from yesterday and didn''t have the same cold atmosphere around him nonetheless they just stood there dazed and amazed by the girl''s beauty but they didn''t have the guts to talk to her for they were afraid of Arthur. They still didn''t know if it was the same person because the black-robed man never showed his face but they knew she only had 1 companion and since today she is with a man and yesterday she also with a man so the natural conclusion would be that it''s the same man as yesterday and thinking like that, their body stiffened and even averted their gazes for they knew Arthur was brutal and would kill anyone who would dare harm her. They soon found a seat in the back of the room and sat there waiting for the class to start but of course they didn''t just stay silent, instead they started chatting and Arthur loved the way she acted excitedly as if she couldn''t wait anymore, it seems it''s her first time being in a classroom and actually learning, all her skills and strength was gaining through combat and she never had the chance to be in an institution such as this one. It pained Arthur thinking she had gone through all that but that was the past, even though she still kept her cold attitude, her excitement didn''t escape Arthur''s eyes he could see her eyes sparkling, he could even guess her mood even if she kept her cold attitude for he got used to it and learnt how to differentiate between her moods by looking at her eyes and her movements. Time passed and finally what appeared to be the teacher finally came, it was a human male who was LVL84, he wore a white robe and some leather pants under it, he looked refined and amiable, when he entered the classroom soon became quiet as the people who were chatting closed their mouth and headed towards their seats. The human male''s name was Julian and once he saw all the class quiet and waiting for him to begin he spoke "Hello there, my name is Julian and I''m your teacher in this class, I hope we can get along." When he finished, the students applauded but didn''t talk, so Julian resumed speaking "Without further ado, let''s start the class, many of you are already in their second or maybe third year and are experienced in attribute training, but some of you are new who joined us yesterday so I''m gonna go through a brief explanation of what this class is exactly about." He took a breath of fresh air then continued "I am sure that since you are in this class then you must have a good affinity with an attribute, and the goal of this class is to train you in using it, for example, a newbie using a fire attribute can only create a fireball but an expert in fire attribute can create weapons,barriers with fire there is even cases where they invent skills." Just when he finished, he created a small ball of water which floated on top of his hand "I am a mage in water attribute, as you can see this is just a small ball of water, it can be used to attack but its power is nothing compared to a fireball or a wind slash or even an earth spike" He then changed the water ball to a sharp arrow made from water there not even a drop of water that dropped to the ground and the arrow seemed very solid "What i did here is exert my control of the attribute and changed the water ball to a sharp arrow made from solidified water, the process is not that hard but one has to train to be able to do something like this" Julian then created a dozen more of water arrows before he resumed speaking again "As all of you may know, we all have a mana pool and every time we use the attribute we excel in we lose quite a bit of mana, for me I can create just 21 water arrows before my mana can be emptied out but don''t underestimate those arrows as they can be deadly if it hits any of you." Some of the new students were astonished but the old one just listened carefully and took some notes, as for Lucy, she listened carefully trying to not miss anything but to be completely honest, she can change her attribute into weapons, she already did that in the tournament. Nonetheless, she continued to listen while Arthur was just lazing around almost falling asleep, he could create thousands of dark arrows without losing a single point of mana, the same thing for ancient fire so listening this was boring, he can also create weapons and barriers with those attributes. Truthfully Arthur was interested in mana injection or better say attribute injection, he read it in a book when he was in Willsden town, attribute injection is to use one''s attribute internally not externally, for example, your raw physical attacks will contain your attribute, he can do it with void slash but that was only unconsciously so he wanted to learn more about it, it is said that those who do not excel in magic also use attribute injection to strengthen their physical attacks even for a bit. For example, a close-melee fighter who have a little affinity with the wind attribute can use attribute injection to make himself slightly faster and his attacks would contain a small portion of normal wind slashes. It was minor change to the power of the attacks but it still was a change so Arthur was interested in it and he wanted to know how exactly can he do it, he tried questioning Lucy about it but she told him she never used it or read about it as she didn''t need to attack physically she always used her magic. He decided to go to the library later, maybe he could find something worth reading, on the map the principal gave him he could see large building which was the library so he was quite excited to go see it, he wasn''t much of a reader in his past life but now he quite enjoyed it and wanted to learn more about this world for his knowledge was very limited right now. Once Julian showed them few more tricks he said "Why don''t you try training your attribute now, for all the old students they must form a barrier as for the new one, just try to change the shape of your attribute and create a simple weapon of it" Actually, creating barriers is much much more complicated than creating a weapon, in fact, even if someone succeeded in creating it, it usually would hold up only for some seconds before disappearing, even Lucy couldn''t hold it permanently and hers was weaker too because fire is not used for defense. Soon enough the students began practicing and there were cries of surprise here and there from those people who succeeded easily in creating a weapon, they had smug smiles hanging on their faces and quite proud of their achievement. As for Lucy she tried using her new attribute, the magma, firstly she couldn''t even create it but after some time concentrating she finally managed to create a strange ball of magma, it really emanated a strong heat and looked like a ball of red liquid with some blackish in it, it''s heat was really incredible but compared to Arthur''s ancient flames, this heat is considered nothing. The strange ball of magma soon began to change shape, as minutes passed the magma ball changed into some sort of sword or a saber? beads of sweat began forming on Lucy''s forehead while her eyes were closed and she seemed to concentrate a lot. Actually to control an attribute like magma, lightning, ice etc.. it is much harder and complicated but that was to be expected as even though it''s hard to control if you manage to do it you would become a legendary figure because those special attributes are way stronger than the normal ones. 10 minutes or so passed and Lucy finally managed to make a weapon of that magma ball, the weapon emanated a small pressure but nevertheless, almost all the students gazed at the weapon in amazement and envy for they wanted to have a special attribute too Julian who was standing at the stage also saw that scene and was astonished, he heard from his friends that there is a demon girl which rejected Lord Zephyr and didn''t want to be his student. He also knew she was a beauty and was a wizard at that with a magma attribute, to have such a student in his class made him proud, he knew she wasn''t disqualified for the principal already spread the news to the teachers about Lucy becoming a student, she also said not to bother her in any way or approach the guy with her. Julian glanced at Arthur who was sitting next to the demon girl, but he noticed him not doing anything not even creating a weapon so he frowned but didn''t say anything, he didn''t know Arthur was a guest and thought he was just a student. After 2 hours or so, the class finally ended, they passed almost all of the time practicing except a few times when Julian needed to explain something or correct the mistakes of some student. In these 2 hours, Lucy improved greatly and was able to create a magma weapon in just 2 minutes, it was considered an amazing feat to do that so Arthur guessed she must be a genius or else how could she improve this fast? They soon left the classroom and headed toward the building where the principal office was, actually, there was an underground arena under that building and the principal said that the fight would be there for she did not want students to watch the fight. It''s almost noon and that''s the appointed time for the bet so Arthur was kind of excited to beat the hell out of that female beastman for being that arrogant and persistent ''It sure will be a fun fight! hehe''.....'' Chapter 18 - 19 : Like sA Frog In A Wells After half an hour of walking, they both arrived at the underground arena where the principal, Zephir, and Mary were waiting for them, actually, the principal didn''t want the fight to be known to anyone, not even the council member, only Zephir was present because he was her most trusted subordinate. The arena was quite big, a rectangle shape with some kind of runes in the edges, when Arthur saw the runes he guessed it must be some sort of magic to hold off the fight inside the arena and protect those who watch it. Mary was very excited as she couldn''t sleep yesterday night, she let her emotions got the better of her and even though it was the fault of the beastman nonetheless she held a grudge against Arthur, hell she didn''t even care about what happened to Lucy. When she saw Arthur coming entering she couldn''t help but snicker "Finally here? i thought you would run with your tail between your legs but i guess you are at least courageous for coming, hmpf!" as she said that she jumped to the arena while waiting for him to come up too, to be honest she was confident in herself, of course she didn''t dare underestimate him because she knew he was powerful but she believed herself to be stronger and the reason she couldn''t injure him yesterady was because she didn''t use her weapons or any skills and simply judged him to have a strong defense that''s all. Arthur didn''t waste time replying to her and advanced slowly towards the arena but he could feel Lucy''s hand hold his sleeve so he turned towards her and saw her worried face. "Silly girl, no need to be that worried, do you not trust my abilities." Hearing his reassuring voice, Lucy let go of him after mumbling softly: "Good luck." The principal was also curious and couldn''t wait any longer, she knew Mary was strong but she didn''t dare assume it would be an easy win for Mary for she knew Arthur was just too mysterious especially his magic, she even had suspicion about him teleporting because yesterday she couldn''t even see him run to the stage to save Lucy, she gazed at him with suspicious eyes while he was making his way towards the arena. Finally, Arthur and Mary were facing each other, they were separated 50meters or so, no one talked and they just gazed at each other, rage and anger filled Mary''s eyes while Arthur''s seemed relaxed. He knew how strong he is and he more or less has guessedher strength, even if she used skills or weapons that wouldn''t change the fact that he could easily win, with his Dark Magic and Ancient Fire he had absolute confidence. The principal sensing that both of them are ready spoke with a serious tone "Since you too are ready, there is just one rule, no killing! If your opponent gives up or falls unconscious then it is considered the win of the still standing person." "B-but big sister!! you said I could do whatever I want with him and I want to KILL HIM!" Sonia smiled towards the nagging beastman and responded: "You can request anything if you win..." Mary hearing this didn''t reply and just turned her head towards Arthur while taking the big axe from her back, she didn''t just charge recklessly like yesterday, she will go all out on this man before her. She didn''t even wait for him to take his weapon and just charged at him with incredible speed. When he saw her come at him, Arthur just smiled but didn''t attack her or even tried to defend, he first wanted to enjoy the fight and teach the difference between her and him. Just as she was going to strike him with her ax. He used [faster than death] and teleported a couple of meters behind her. Obviously, his action astonished everyone present including the principal for teleportation is not that simple and even there is someone who can use it, it takes time to teleport and not instantly. She previously had a guess he could teleport but not this fast, as for Mary, who missed her attack and noticed his disappearance, she sensed him behind her and indeed he was a couple of meters behind her, with a smug smile on his face. "What''s wrong? Can''t hit me?" Arthur mocked as if he was playing with her, though she was surprised by his teleportation she nonetheless rushed at him again but this time you can see flames appear on her axe and the air around her become much hotter. She was going to use a skill and it seemed really powerful but like last time when she was going to hit him, he just teleported away again. It would be lying to say she wasn''t angered, quite the opposite, in fact, Mary was boiling with rage, the fact that she had the chance to kill him but couldn''t even touch him angered her to no end. After all, no matter how fast someone is they can''t surpass teleportation unless they can stop time which pretty much impossible. Like this, Arthur continued to teleport away every single time he was going to be hit, and after 5 minutes the female beastman finally at him and shouted "What do you keep running away with your cheap trick? Are you perhaps afraid of fighting me head on?" Although she said that, she couldn''t help but feel a bit fearful of this man, he could teleport away with ease and he doesn''t seem to be the least tired after 5 minutes of teleportation so she guessed that prolonging the fight would only make her tired, that''s why she called out to him and told him to stop running, otherwise it would be a fight of who would be exhausted first and obviously, she would as he didn''t move and only teleported. Hearing this, Arthur just shrugged it off but he judged it was time to stop this play and finish this ''fight'', though the principal said no killing that didn''t mean he can''t injure her so he decided to do so, after all, he hated her who just hated him killing some savage beastman and the excuse of her wanting his life is just because he killed her kin brutally even though he deserved it. Mary was in a dilemma as what to do, but she finally came back to her sense and backed away, she held her axe firmly and suddenly, her body seemed to grow a little, her muscles looked more robust and her fur changed red, she appeared more savage, her eyes were burning with fury and she emitted a bit of pressure around her. Actually what happened now was a special skill all beastman had it was [berserker mode], every beastman with high enough level would acquire this skill automatically, this particular skill would double the stats of the person using it for a couple of minutes but it has some side effects, after the effect wears off the user would have his stats halved for an hour, so it was only used by beastmen in case of emergencies only, the cooldown for it was supposedly 10 days so it can''t be used every day. Arthur noticed the change in Mary but he merely frowned that''s all, he did read about the [berserker mode] skill but never saw it with his own eyes and truthfully he wanted to have that skill as welll so he hoped someday he would be able to possess a high leveled beastmen to get the skill. The female beastman didn''t waste any second and charged at her opponent with insane speed and when Arthur saw her coming he too was surprised but nonetheless he wasn''t worried, apparently her speed was almost his if not slightly weaker, so in place of teleporting away he stayed there and awaited for her to struck him, she lifted her axe and used the same skill with the fire attribute then she struck down at Arthur with earth-shaking strength and in response for that Arthur just crossed his arms to defend. "BOOM" the impact sound was very loud and a small crater was formed under Arthur''s legs and he was pushed back a little, he couldn''t help but be astonished, her strength was more than his when she is in her [berserker mode], he could feel a little numbness in his arms but his health didn''t decrease, this attack of hers made him want the [berserker mode] skill even more and he was excited for the day he would acquire it. When Mary saw Arthur not willing to teleport away, she was delighted for she knew he couldn''t handle her next attack and expected to injure if not kill him with that attack of hers, after all, she was in her [berserker mode] and only a handful of people can withstand her when she is in her current state and when she saw that her attack didn''t even injure him and he was only pushed back a little she didn''t dare belive her eyes, hell even his arms were in good shape, Mary remembred he moment when her axe landed on his arms, she felt like she had struck a mountain and not mere arms, ''th-this defense in unearthly...'' Zephir who was standing next to the principal, had also watched the whole fight and was in disbelief for he didn''t expect this ''man'' to be able to teleport non-stop and the more the fight continued the more surprised he became, he knew that this individual was by no means weak, he was even toying with Mary a member of the council, even though she was not fromt he strongest ones, her strength was decent and to be able to just play with her like that is not doable by just anyone. Truthfully he just thought the fight would continue forever because Arthur just teleported to dodge every attack from Mary, but when he finally didn''t, Zephir thought it was the end of ''him'' despite having enough defense to resist Mary''s punch, it was a world''s difference between a punch and an attack buffed with a skill and adding that the Berserker mode, which further boosted the attack. Nonetheless, such thoughts never crossed Arthur''s mind as he just crossed his arms and successfully defended her attack while only being pushed a couple of meters so Zephir couldn''t help but wonder ''why a mysterious figure like this would come here? What are his motives?'' simply coming here to be a student is meaningless to him when he is this strong so Zephir turned his head towards Lucy who wasn''t far away and became dazed as if he was thinking about something.. After receiving her head on attack, Arthur just teleported away and thought it was time to finish this nonsense, she is indeed strong and her strength is admirable, and he knew if hefought her in close-combat he would surely lose or just prolong the fight but he had magic and strong one at that so why doesn''t he use it? but if he did, he didn''t know what the consequences would be, because dark magic or the ancient flames are extremely strong and something like the ancient flames can annihilate humans completely so he looked at the beastman and spoke "Now that we have played a little, you should know you are no match for me, so how about we finish and we consider my sin otherwise i can''t guarantee you will end up uninjured" His tone contained some threat and a warning as if she didn''t back out now, he would show no mercy, but Mary didn''t seem affected by that and simply rushed at him again. Her time in [berserker mode] was limited so every second counted. Seeing her act like this, Arthur just sighed and teleported away one last time before creating a small ball of ancient fire, it was a dark red ball of fire but it contained some grey here and there, the pressure it emitted was extraordinary and could be felt from some distance, even the principal frowned, normally the arena was supported by a strong barrier to protect the spectators and even if sound of impact could be heard, no after effects of a skill would affect it, so when she noticed this strange fire appear above Arthur hand, she felt a strong pressure followed by some heat. Albeit being was quite some distance away from it and the presence of the barrier, she could feel that this ''thing'' is dangerous... very dangerous. Arthur didn''t waste time, and threw the ball of ancient fire which was smaller than a man''s first at the female beastman standing not to far from him, the speed of the fireball was lightning fast, even faster than Arthur speed, so Mary who was already surprised by the sudden turn of events and the appearance of this strange fire couldn''t react in time to defend against it and could only stand there. Sonia who sensed the danger and saw Arthur about to throw his small fireball quickly rushed at the arena why retrieving her chain and chanting a skill with fast speed, she didn''t care about the fight anymore and she knew this was no normal fireball and if it hits Mary it''s for sure she will most likely die if not be seriously injured. Before the fire ball could hit the 2 women, a huge barrier made of ice was formed it was very thick and extremly cold, once the dark red fire ball hit the ice barrier, an ear-breaking sound came from the impact, the whole underground arena shook and some of the walls started chattering, as for the ice barrier it held out until the dark red ball almost extinguished before breaking, nevertheless, a small 5 inch flame still remained and headed toward the femalebeastman who was still astonished and couldn''t react in time. Sonia who was beside her quickly pushed her and crossed her arms in reflex as the small flame was extremly close and she didn''t have time to even form a small mana barrier to reduce the attack intensity. The flames hit her left arm and it totally burned her robe and some of her skin, great pain soon filled her, even though it was a small burn and she was wearing quite an amount of items which protected her, nonetheless she was injured and couldn''t help but be astonished and hold some fear towards this flame, for her ice barrier which was perfected and almost unbreakable to just be demolished by a fist-sized fireball, this was unheard of! Arthur wasn''t surprised by the damage made by his ancient flame as he already tested it when he was in that forest, but what surprised him is the principal interfering and protecting the female beastman, he also saw her ice barrier and guessed she too was someone with a special attribute like Lucy but none of that matters to him, he even saw her left arm slightly burned but he didn''t intend to apologize as this was a fight and it was already against the rules for her to interfere. Mary who was pushed by the principal, fell on her butt and was still in a daze as if she couldn''t comprehend what just happened, she already returned to her normal appearance and the effects of [berserker mode] already ended, her mouth was wide open and her eyes filled with disbelief, a couple of seconds passed before she came back to her senses and rushed at Sonia while speaking to her with shaky voice "B-big ss-ister Sonia!! Are you okk?" She still couldn''t understand what happened, she only remembered Arthur making a strange fireball than throwing it at her and then her mind went blank and a loud sound struck her ears but she could distinguish Sonia her big sister rushing at her and pushing her to the side to protect her and in return getting injured in her left arm. The principal retrieved a potion of some kind from what appeared to be her storage ring and quickly consumed it, she breathed a sigh of relief and responded to Mary who was already beside her "No worries, I''m fine!" After speaking she turned her head and stared at Arthur but you could see some anger and caution in her eyes "Did you want to kill her? If I didn''t interfere she would really have died if not seriously injured!" Arthur hearing this, shrugged his shoulder seemingly not caring and replied nonchalantly "We were fighting so was I supposed to hold back? I don''t think she did hold back anything, so why would I? Plus, you interfered with the fight which is against your own rules and you''re still blaming me? Pathetic ! You can''t even accept the fact that I won. Moreover, I already warned her but she was persistent and didn''t heed my warning, she was basically asking for it." The principal couldn''t even reply to him as she knew she broke her own rules and interfered but it couldn''t be helped because if she didn''t her friend would probably have died. Still, she dared not underestimate his powers and knew he is not someone to mess with. She sighed and said with an apologetic tone "It was indeed my fault, it''s your win and she will no longer bother you." As she finished speaking she looked at Mary and waited for her to declare her defeat, the female beastman was ashamed but had to admit she lost and couldn''t even withstand a single attack of his, if not for her big sister she could''ve died because of that small fire ball. At last, she had a chance to take revenge but she wasn''t able to and also her big sister got injured because of her, she felt guilty but she had to give up her reckless revenge for a stupid cause, she sought revenge for a death of someone she didn''t know, plus this person was shameful nonetheless he was the same race as her and it is known that all beastmen share a great bond between them and all like one big family. Mary clenched her fists while saying "It''s your w-win.." she dropped her head after speaking as if feeling guilty and remorse. "Truly like ''the frog in the well'', even with my warnings you are still naive, now then I should excuse myself." Arthur snickered at Mary then turned around and left with Lucy as if nothing happened and all the fight earlier was just a play. When the principal saw his nonchalant attitude she was sure he was confident of his win from the very beginning and all of this was just entertainment. It would be a lie to say she didn''t hold a grudge against him for he almost killed Mary when he could have beaten her with just a weak attack since he was that powerful, but he didn''t, and just threw that terrifying fireball which injured even her, bypassing all her protective items and burning her skin. The injury had yet to heal even with the help of the potion, though the recovery was slow it was happening nonetheless so the wound would be sooner or later healed but Sonia was fearful, to have a man like him for an enemy is really no good so she to warn everyone from the council about him and not to provoke him or even she couldn''t protect them if he attacked them. Yes, she was strong but if he were to attack someone of Mary''s strength when she was not present, that person would surely die if he doesn''t have any counter to that fireball. In fact the president was really a wizard but the ice attribute was her strongest and to that small fireball to break her ice barrier just like that made her anxious but she didn''t know that the ancient flames would have 400% increase in damage against any ice or water attribute. ********************************************* Edward Omond''s butler finally arrived at Nemia academy, he has been instructed by his ''master'' to deliver a letter personally to one of the 9 council members, it was a human called Frederic, he was one of the 9 council members Arthur had appraised and his level was 162, it was quite high compared to the others, the butler who was named James was at Alex''s office handing him the letter. "Lord Frederic, my master told me to deliver this letter personally to you as he couldn''t trust anyone." As he finished speaking he gave the letter to Frederic, who was sitting on his desk, he was a blonde middle-aged man with blue eyes, he is also the newest member of the council members and only joined it for 2 years, though the reason he managed to do so is that of Edward. Edward was Frederic''s benefactor and helped him when they once met, Frederic was seriously injured and was saved by Edward who happened to pass by. Since then they became like blood-brothers and vowed to help each other if they encountered an enemy or a problem occurred. Frederic quickly read the contents of the letter which explained what happened to Feylord and how Edward wants revenge, of course, Edward changed some facts and exaggerated things. He even made Arthur seem more evil and ruthless, when he finished reading the letter Frederic knew that this person Edward was talking about was the same one as the black-robed man from yesterday who caused that commotion. He saw that this black-robed man was mysterious but he didn''t judge him to be strong and even with the principal''s warning not to disturb him, he thought the others were overestimating this guy. Actually Frederic was obviously stronger than Mary, and he didn''t even place her in his eyes, in fact, he hated all other races and his belief was that humans are superior, though he was on a council with other races, he felt disgusted when he talked with them but he bore with it, so when he saw Arthur block Mary''s punch he only thought of her being weak and not him being strong and never pay it any heed. "Go back and tell Edward I will think of a way to deal with this guy." James thanked Frederic and quickly left the room after respectfully bowing. Frederic was a usually cautious but he didn''t deem Arthur to be dangerous or a threat so killing him would be just a piece of cake but the letter from Edward told him to capture Arthur alive because Edward wanted to personally kill him, so even though it''s more troublesome Frederic didn''t think much of it and started planning how he is going to do it... Chapter 19 - 20 : Seeker Of Knowledge Once Arthur left the underground arena with Lucy, they both headed for the next class, Mana manipulation. Actually, Lucy may seem very good at using her attribute but Mana manipulation had many other uses too, so she was quite excited for this class, the same thing applied to Arthur, heneeded to be more acknowledgeable about the Magic and how to control it and since Mana was the origin of all, it was more of a reason to attend this class. They soon arrived at a classroom similar to the previous one except it was slightly bigger, it was filled with students but most of them were seniors and there were almost none of the new participants in this class and that''s because Mana manipulation is extremely hard and it''s not something a new student can handle. Lucy and Arthur ignored the gazes thrown at them, they were used to it so they nonchalantly chose 2 seats at the back of the classroom and sat there, still not minding all the curious gazes they were getting. Since it''s still a little early for the teacher to come, Lucy began practicing again with her Magma attribute, as for Arthur he started fiddling with [Void Magic]. [Void Magic] was really special and hard to handle as it can''t be used like normal attributes, for example, with [Dark Magic] and [Ancient Fire] Arthur can make a weapon or even a simple fireball but with [Void Magic] he couldn''t even materialize anything, besides the skills of the Void, he couldn''t conjure anything, like a sword or something similar to a fireball. The only way he could use the Void Magic is by the [void slash] or [Hell Arrow]. After many tries, he gave up and decided to seriously practice when he was alone because now many people were glancing at him and he didn''t want to anyone to discover he had [void magic] as it was his trump card. Finally, the teacher arrived, this time it was a young woman, a young-elf to be exact. When Arthur appraised her he saw this: Teharissa Crara (elf) : LVL76 The elves were truly beautiful, she had long pointy ears, eyes as pretty as diamonds coupled with a curvy body which would attract any man. Teharissa stopped at the center of the stage in front of all the students and spoke with a soft voice "Hello, I''m your professor for Mana manipulation, I hope we can get along." Many males students cheered for her, but that was just an act for they just wanted to grab her attention as they were charmed by her beauty but she was still lacking a bit in comparison to Lucy. Nonetheless, she would still be considered kingdom-toppling by any man. The female teacher just raised her hand to quiet the class down then resumed talking "You probably came here knowing that Mana manipulation is much harder than attribute training. Mana is the source of everything so training it isn''t as simple as wielding an attribute you have a strong affinity with. In fact, any attribute no matter what is it is formed by mana and when, for example, someone creates a fireball, he would subconsciously change the flow of mana into the [fire attribute]. This transformation is referred to as conjuration by many famous and wise mages. Mana''s uses are not only this and to try and list them all is not possible as our current knowledge is not that big." She paused for a few seconds and stared at the silent crowd, which was listening carefully to her explanation. She showed a soft smile and resumed: "You can use mana to permanently strengthen your bones or muscles, or to form a small protective barrier covering your body to reduce the damage for a bit but that''s too difficult for you. Even old students wouldn''t necessarily be able to do that. First of all, let''s begin with the easiest thing, to strengthen your body with Mana. To be able to do that, it depends on the individual and his talent, you must concentrate and sense the flow of Mana in your body and try to push it into your bones and muscles and like that, you may gainbonus stats ranging from 50 to 100 if you''re decent, a genius may reach 300 increase." Even though her explanation was too plain, the students closed their eyes and proceeded in trying their best to achieve such a difficult feat, after all, 100 increase in stats is crucial for everyone one of them, who wouldn''t want to have an indestructible body or a light as feather body. Arthur too was curious about this and tried it, he could sense the Mana since he possessed Zodiak''s power but the Dark Magic is a transformation of Mana. It''s not like a conjuration of an attribute from Mana but it''s the Mana transformed to some kind of a special type of Energy that works exactly like Mana so he always used the Dark Magic as a catalyst to form attribute. He concentrated and tried to sense the flow of pure Mana in his surroundings but it didn''t work as he expected. Not knowing what to do, he switched the Mana form of the Dark Magic and slowly guided it to his marrow, bones, and muscles. Very soon, a notification popped in front of him which was a proof that what he did was right, more or less. Congratulations! you were able to strengthen your body permanently with [Dark Mana] : +400 strength / +200 agility / +3000 intelligence ''huh, Dark Mana? Wasn''t it Dark Magic?'' Arthur was confused for he didn''t know of the existence of Dark Mana. After a much thorough checking with the help of the system, it ended up really being Dark Mana. Arthur unconsciously used it when he attacked with Dark Magic. This transformation from Mana to Dark Mana occurrs as pure Mana isn''t compatible with Zodiak''s powers. [Dark magic] is the magic formed by the Dark Mana, it seems Zodiak was able to create some type of special Mana different from the normal one. He was startled by the amount of intelligence added, 3000 is a big amount and some mages can train their whole life without even reaching half of it. Just when he was wondering about this Dark Mana another notification came up ''ting'' Congratulations! A portion of Zodiak''s power had been unlocked due to reaching necessary requirements! You have gained Zodiak''s research about the forgotten continent You have gained Zodiak''s title: Seeker of knowledge Seeker of knowledge: When equipped +10% cooldown reduction to all skills : can be stacked with other titles Your [dark magic] has improved and became [Chaotic dark magic]! [chaotic dark magic]: it''s the second transformation of dark magic and is more powerful: +50% damage when using [chaotic dark magic] if you receive an attack from a holy attribute, the attack will deal 30% more damage to you. [Chaotic dark magic] (passive): +1250 wisdom / +4500 mana Your stats have improved! please check status window for more details Arthur was startled when he saw all those notifications, he didn''t even understand what happened ''a portion of Zodiak''s power? I thought when I possessed him I already got all his powers?..'' Truthfully he was confused but that didn''t mean he was unhappy with this turn of events, however, he couldn''t help but ponder for a bit and organize his thoughts. After some time, he came to a personal conclusion. He concluded that when he possessed Zodiak''s power, he only got a portion of it and couldn''t access the rest due to his low stats, which is exactly why another portion was unlocked now, but he still didn''t know how it was unlocked, perhaps it was the increase of intelligence or maybe other criteria. Zodiak was a very strong mythical being, but he when he possessed him, the stats he received was not that amazing so he wondered why would this Zodiak, who was feared by all, only gave him this meager amount of stats. Now, he understood that he only got a small portion of his powers so he dared not underestimate Zodiak ever again, plus, he was excited because he unlocked a ''portion'' of Zodiak''s power and which means there certainly is more portions, powerful portions! All he has to do is reach the requirements, which he obviously knew nothing about, as he thought about that, his happy mood lessened a bit. He tried forming a small ball made of his new [Chaotic dark magic] and what was created was a dark blue ball, everything seemed the same except the color was different but Arthur knew this new magic was much more powerful than the previous one. Once he finished inspecting his new magic, he opened his status window to see the changes: TITLE: MEAT GRINDER / SEEKER OF KNOWLEDGE Level: 107 Class: Humanoid parasite -- Strength 14180(+3400) Intelligence 18491(+6000) Agility 14413(+3200) Wisdom13384(+4250) Vitality 16476(+3000) Dexterity11347(+3000) -- Health 15498(+3000) Health Regen 122.1/s Mana 22231(+7500) Mana Regen 176.6/s Stamina infinite Stamina Regen ???? -- Attack: 12571(+3000) Defense: 13317(+3000) Magic defense: 3174(+1000) -- Elemental resistances Fire: 100% Water: 25% Wind: 35% Earth: 45% Light/holy: 20%(-30%) Darkness: 100% Arthur''s breathing became heavy as he saw his stats. Apparently; each stats was increased by 3000; which really made him astonished, he even rubbed his eyes a few times as he thought he was dreaming or just imagining things. Fortunately, he was not hallucinating ''if this was only a portion of Zodiak''s power then exactly how strong was he...'' After checking his stats a few more times, he remembered seeing a notification about some memories and indeed he kind of felt like some new memories had been added, though they were very blurry but what there were some clear ones which showed him all the information Zodiak had about this forgotten continent, actually Zodiak research was never finished and he only investigated it for a bit before he mysteriously died. Apparently, this forgotten continent is on the far edges of the world and it''s impossible to enter by normal beings, it had some kind of supreme illusion barrier protecting it and you have to break it to be able to enter. In those memories, Zodiak searched thousands of books for information about this continent but he found none, even though Arthur searched in the memories, or more precisely, the bits and pieces of blurry information he had gotten from the dead body of the mythical being, he discovered naught so he brushed these thoughts away as it did not matter for the time being. Class continued and the teacher tried her best to explain how to use Mana more efficiently, many students tried to strengthen their bodies but they couldn''t as, normally, it would take days to succeed, a genius would take a day or two while a normal student would take 10 days. Even Arthur when he tried for some time with normal Mana, nothing happened but with the Dark Mana, it was instantaneous, so one must know that this dark mana is by no means normal, hell if anybody found out that Arthur had this kind of Mana, no one would let him off and they would be greedy to get their hands on it, after all, greed was a nature of every being and they would desire strength and power no matter the form of it, be it money, magic, authority etc.. Arthur also noticed that the Dark Mana also changed and seemed to become [chaotic Dark Mana] which meant that every kind of dark magic he had was upgraded too which included his barrier to, so he was excited to test it when he is not in public. One hour passed and the class finally ended, Lucy seemed dejected as she couldn''t succeed in strengthening her body in a short time even with her amazing talent, Arthur chuckled while seeing her pouting face and just patted her head while saying "Why are you so dejected? the teacher said that even a genius would need a day or 2, so doing it in one hour is impossible." Of course, he did it in a second but that was with his Dark Mana and even if he wanted to, he can''t give her the Dark Mana as it is not something to be given but to be created by transforming normal Mana. Arthur did it unconsciously because he had gained the talent and skills of Zodiak while Lucy didn''t, so it is impossible for her to acquire it unless she was a parasite and were to possess Zodiak''s body. They soon left the classroom and headed towards the library, Arthur wanted to borrow some books to read, especially the historical ones.20 minutes or so, by following the map they arrived at a big building which apparently was the library. As they entered, Arthur was amazed by how much books there were, there were circular stairs at the center of the enormous hall, they led to the top of the buildings and he noticed there were many floors, as he gazed around the hall, there were bookshelves as far as the eye can see, a few tables were here and there with some students reading silently and far to the left of the hall there was what seemed to be a reception desk with an old man sitting there also reading a book. The old man noticed Arthur and Lucy and knew they were new students because if they weren''t he would have seen them, he was the loner type and never really gotten out of this library much, he didn''t even attend yesterday''s entrance exam so he didn''t know about what happened. He didn''t stare too long at them before he resumed reading while saying with an aged voice "You can''t take skill books unless you have enough contribution points, as for borrowing normal books you have to show them to me so I can write their names down and if you steal or lose them you have to pay double their price!" Hearing this, Arthur nodded his head even though he thought the punishment was kind of excessive, he didn''t mind it much since he wasn''t going to lose either steal any books. He started roaming around searching for interesting books with Lucy quietly following him. After half an hour of wandering, he finally picked a dozen of books and took them to the old man so he can write their names, then he exited the library with Lucy and went searching for a calm place, the academy was quite big and there was a lot of open spaces for the students to exchange points or to duel or even to relax a bit. They arrived at what seemed like a park of some sort, there were several students either practicing their magic or dueling. Arthur sat on a bench and took a book to read while Lucy sat next to him and began practicing her magma attribute trying to improve it, her excitement never lessened and whenever she was practicing it you could see her fidgeting a bit as if happy to have the ability to use this special attribute. Their arrival attracted a bit of unwanted attention but none was courageous to come forward and talk to Lucy or Arthur. As for Arthur, he took a book he just borrowed from the library and began reading it, it was a historical book describing the western continent, which was actually a big forest. The elves were the leading race there and apparently they live in seclusion and do not welcome any sort of visitor, the book even mentioned that in the center of the western continent there was a gigantic world tree which was very special but the information about it was very lacking so he couldn''t comprehend what that world tree was. Not willing to give up, Arthur searched in his storage for a book about elves or precisely that world tree and he did indeed find one. It was one of Zodiak''s old books, he quickly read it and was surprised to see the contents of it. Apparently, that world tree was a very source of the Eastern continent, the Itas continent, that tree spreads a huge amount of natural Mana to the rest of the forest to keep it alive, also, if per say, that tree gets destroyed, all the eastern continent will crumble for it cannot live without receiving a constant flow of pure Mana. The cause of this is an ancient curse cast on that continent by a being who claimed to be a devil. It was mentioned that the tree was extremely big, it more than a thousand meters thick and you could see it for thousands of miles as its branches spread from all direction and cover the sky. While reading this; Arthur really became interested in this World tree and wanted to personally see it but unfortunately, he couldn''t, for the time being , that is. Time passed and he continued reading, and Lucy who was beside him was still practicing either her new attribute or focusing on strengthening her body with Mana. As they were each doing their own thing, 2 individuals approached them, when Arthur glanced at them he totally recognized them it was Theodor and Erik from the holy church, apparently they too were staying here as guests like him and since the academy welcomed them they shamelessly stayed, though even if they wanted to leave they couldn''t for they received direct orders from the pope to capture the demon girl and bring her to the headquarters. "Why hello there, isn''t it a coincidence to meet in such a place? could you spare us a bit of your time?" Erik spoke with a playful tone towards Arthur and completely disregarded Lucy who was beside him, he didn''t even spare a glance at her and ignored her existence but she didn''t mind and just continued practicing her magic. Arthur was also bothered by this person from the holy church, even though he came here to get rid of them they still followed him and persisted on getting Lucy. He closed his book and lifted his head to look at Erik then said with a threatening tone "We have nothing to tell each other, so you better get the fuck out of my sight or else I wouldn''t mind teaching you a lesson" He spoke with a harsh and cold tone, in fact, he wanted to kill them both but he wasn''t sure the academy would protect him if he did that, anyway that didn''t mean he had to accept the fact they come to annoy him. He knew they wanted Lucy and they just wanted to bribe him or propose a deal with him for her, so he didn''t want to waste time on useless talk. Erik seemed surprised by what Arthur said as he didn''t expect him to curse at him and tell him to go away, nonetheless he didn''t move to his position as if waiting for Arthur to accept his proposal, as for Theodor, he was a little bit anxious because the fear he got from Arthur still remained and even though he was with someone as powerful as Erik, he didn''t dare to be relaxed, when he saw Arthur cursing at Erik he mustered his courage and spoke "Lord.Erik has personally come here to propose a deal to you and I assure you it will certainly please you." he respectfully but his voice contained a hint of anxiousness. Arthur furrowed his brows when hearing this and turned his heads towards Theodor "I guess losing an arm is not enough! you still haven''t learned the difference between the two of us!" As he finished speaking a dark blue axe was creating and in lightning speed, it chopped Theodor right leg. His actions caught Theodor by surprise who didn''t think Arthur would dare attack him with Erik around but nonetheless, he not only did dare attack, he also chopped his leg! Theodor screamed in pain as blood flowed out endlessly, as for Erik his eyes were filled with disbelief but not because Theodor was injured, it''s because he couldn''t even react in time to stop the attack, all he saw was a dark blur flash for half a second before he saw Theodor''s chopped leg fly in the air. The dark blue axe was still floating near Arthur, he purposely kept it to frighten Erik and warn him about the consequences if he dared annoy him again, as for his actions just a second ago, he did it because Theodor simply got on his nerves, just because he had someone who seemed strong beside him, he dared open his mouth and insist on the proposal even though Arthur plainly rejected them. A couple of seconds passed before Erik came back to his senses and decided to back away before analyzing the situation and judging Arthur to be a strong enough opponent. He came here willing to propose a good deal to him in exchange for Lucy and if he refused he was going to sneak attack him then capture Lucy and escape, quite a simply plan but now that he saw how strong Arthur was he decided against that idea, he quickly gave Theodor a potion to ease his pain and heal his wound then turned around and left without saying a word. Many students who were present saw what happened and were astonished, they knew Arthur was not someone to mess with because they saw what happened yesterday and how he brutally killed that beastman so when they saw him cut the old man''s leg they were not very surprised, but what more stunned them is that he dared injure someone from the holy church, a supreme existence in the human continent. Arthur did not bother with the fearful gazes of the students and turned to look at Lucy who stopped practicing and was also looking at him, he held her hand and say "We should retire for the night, let''s head to our room." She nodded without speaking and firmly held his hand. Soon enough they both left and headed towards their room, the sun was setting and it was time to rest. It was not a tiresome day for Arthur but he knew Lucy might be a little tired since she trained all day. ****************************** The events of today soon reached the principal''s ears who was sitting in her office while drinking some tea, she didn''t seem surprised and just continued sipping from her cup of tea. ''I already expected them to try something but not this fast, they seem to really want that girl huh..'' Zephir who was in front of her spoke after some hesitation "Mrs.Sonia, will the holy church act against us because of what happened today? it may get troublesome" The principal just laughed for a moment before responding "hehe , they wouldn''t dare attack us, heck they wouldn''t even dare send someone powerful here that''s why they sent those 2 weaklings, they know we have ''that'' and simply engaging in a war with us will end up in them losing horribly, the pope is indeed strong but against ''that'', he and his holy church are simply nothing" Zephir just nodded his head and left the room as he was a vice-principal he had many things to do and couldn''t just stay there watch the principal enjoy her cup of tea. He felt reassured when he heard what that principal said. At first, he was little afraid that the holy church might act up, but since they have ''that'' they surely have a big advantage. Actually, the Holy church is the only power from the 4 continents which is always trying to oppose the academy as for the other powers they are passive and don''t dare to do anything. Chapter 20 - 21 : Ghost island Erik and Theodor didn''t waste time and immediately headed towards the teleportation array, they went back to the holy church''s headquarters to report what just happened, Erik is not stupid enough to try to bring back Lucy forcefully as he saw how strong the black-robed man with her was. Even though the Pope personally ordered him, he can''t do something impossible so he headed back to report what happened. Erik''s position in the Holy church was considered high, actually, the Holy church was divided into 2 divisions, the first one is the army division which included soldiers, healers, and some mages and this division is led by astrong commander known as the Holy general, as for the second division; it''s composed of 6 Cardinals, 3 Bishops, and 1 Archbishop. The 6 Cardinals are the weakest ones and must obey the 3 Bishops, which in return, must obey the Archbishop. Erik was one of the Cardinals, which is considered a high position in the church. The difference in power between a Cardinal and a Bishop is very big, so no Cardinal dares to provoke or oppose a Bishop, much less the archbishop. Of course, the Pope had the absolute authority and can command both divisions at will and no matter his orders, they must obey without questioning. Once Erik arrived at the Headquarters, he quickly headed towards where the Bishop Arnold was. Arnold was one of the 3 Bishops and also the ''master'' of the deceased Holy Knight Rein, he was the one who took him under his care and trained him. Erik usually receives the Pope orders from Arnold except in some unique cases where the Pope personally talks to him. The old man soon arrived at what seemed to be a garden, he spotted a handsome middle-aged man with long green hair and charming eyes, he had a sheathed white sword at his waist and seemed energetic, the man wore a long sleeved blue robe with golden patterns on it. His appearance was of a definite ladykiller. "Lord Arnold, excuse me for disturbing you but I have some urgent matters to report." Arnold who already noticed the presence of Erik, continued to stare at the sky as if he didn''t hear what Erik said, after a couple of seconds he spoke with a calm yet overbearing voice "Mhm? if it isn''t Erik, weren''t you in the Nemia Academy per the orders of our Lord?" Of course, Arnold and every other Bishop knew that the Pope wanted that demon girl but they didn''t know why. They only knew he was obsessed with her and he chased after her for years without catching her. When he questioned why did the Pope not send any of the bishops to just capture her, the Pope replied saying that doing that would attract a lot of unwanted attention so he just kept sending normal soldiers from the church. Erik didn''t waste time and replied with an uneasy tone "Yes, about that, it seems she has someone powerful by her side and I judged that person to be more powerful than I am, so I cannot take her forcefully even if I wanted to. That black-robed man actually ..." He then continued to narrate what happened in details including how he couldn''t react to the sudden attack of Arthur. When he finished speaking, Erik awaited for Arnold to give him his new orders but nothing happened, the middle-aged man just ordered Erik to stay here for now until he speaks to the Pope about this. ***** Late at night, in a long and enormous hall, with a throne at the end of it, there was an old man sitting on it, he seemed on the verge of death, he wore a simple white robe and had a wrinkles all over his face, a couple of meters ahead of him was a kneeling Arnold. Arnold already told the events of today to the Pope and waited for his orders with the utmost respect. The old man, who obviously was the Pope, was stroking his beard seemingly lost in thought, and after some time, he finally spoke with his an aged voice. "Since it''s like this, we cannot capture her if she is in that academy. Young Arnold: I want you to wait for the moment she gets out of that island and capture her, and this time I don''t want any failure, do you understand?" "Yes my Lord, your servant obeys." Arnold soon left the hall prepared to carry out the pope''s orders, while the pope was still sitting on the throne, a flash of cold light appeared in his eyes as he thought about that demon girl ''Ahhh if I wasn''t afraid of those powers lurking in the darkness, I would have long since captured you myself, little girl!" ********************** Arthur and Lucy soon arrived at their room when night has finally fallen. It was too early to sleep and with his infinite Stamina, he didn''t need any sleep in the first place so he wanted to try something new today. He was still curious about the attribute fusion he did against that dragon and wanted to try it again, as for Lucy she was little tired so she laid on the bed to rest for a bit. The room was spacious enough for him to practice without wasting time so he began doing his tests. The first thing he did was create a fireball with his ancient fire and tried adding the chaotic dark magic but to no avail, he couldn''t do it as the same notification popped up again and again You don''t meet necessary requirements to do that! You don''t meet necessary requirements to do that! You don''t meet necessary requirements to do that! After multiple tries, he gave up on fusing the ancient fire and chaotic dark magic as it was deemed impossible for the time being, nonetheless, he tried fusing the chaotic dark magic and the void magic which worked perfectly, he created a weapon with their fusion and it was a dark blue spear with some violet in it. Surprisingly, creating it did cost quite an amount of mana. The exact cost of making this spear was 400 Mana, which was by no means a meager amount but that did make sense since the Hell Arrow did empty his Mana pool but its power was extraordinary too. As he was musing over this idea, a crazy thought struck him ''What if I were to fuse Void Magic and Ancient Fire? A Hell Arrow constructed from them both would be an interesting sight to behold..'' Arthur continued practicing for 2 more hours but no matter how hetried he couldn''t make a weapon made of void and that bugged him, the only thing can do is the [void slash] or fuse the void attribute with the chaotic dark magic or ancient fire to make a weapon. In fact, when he fused it with the ancient fire it didn''t cost that much mana and he noticed it that the weapon made by void+chaotic dark magic was slightly powerful than ancient fire+void so he guessed that the void and the ancient fire are maybe not that compatible, after all, if he fuses ice and fire it may work but the weapon or whatever he creates might not be that powerful. Lucy has already fallen asleep some time ago and Arthur decided to sleep too, he wasn''t the least tired but he enjoyed sleeping next to her for it was comfortable and warm, he soon joined her on the bed and slept next to her, he held her hand and closed his eyes to sleep. The night has peacefully passed and morning soon came, Arthur opened his eyes and felt Lucy hugging him again like yesterday, she was also looking at him with soft eyes and a bright smile hanging on her face "You finally woke up huh? so much for infinite stamina." She teased him with her charming voice while hugging him tighter, to be honest, Arthur couldn''t believe this was the same cold and emotionless girl he met in the auction house but nonetheless he stretched her arms and hugged her back while saying "A little more, let me stay like this a little more." He was unwilling to just wake up, he liked the feeling of her hugging him and felt his heart melting being next to her, to just wake up now and leave her warm embrace would be such a waste. Lucy didn''t say anything and just kept hugging him while leaning her face on his chest, though they didn''t do anything obscene or didn''t even kiss each other, they were quite close and enjoyed being the presence of one another and that was enough to let them forget their past for a little and free them from their loneliness. They stayed like that for some time without even talking, it was kind of awkward at first but Arthur soon got used to it and enjoyed this feeling. Time passed quickly and it was time to finally let go of each other, though this time Lucy seemed more reluctant about it, there was nothing he could do after all classes were about to start and they can''t stay like that all day, for now at least. When they were adjusting their clothes and preparing to head out, someone knocked on their room''s door and said : "Mr and Mrs, the principal wants to see you, if you would please head to her office when you are ready." Actually Arthur didn''t share his name or Lucy''s to the principal so they were just called by ''you'' or ''Mr,Mrs'', it was embarrassing for Arthur as he thought being called like that meant they considered them married, it''s kind of childish to be thinking that and he may be overthinking a lot but that''s just his attitude, when facing others he is as cold as ice and when with Lucy his personality changes completely, same goes for her. Arthur replied to the man outside of the room and said he will head out immediately with Lucy. A couple of minutes later, they arrived at the principal''s office, when they entered Arthur noticed the principal talking with Zephir and another man who was a beastman and had a long sword on his back. Sonia seeing Arthur come with the demon girl, smiled at them while saying "Good morning, I see that my subordinate has informed you" her tone seemed slightly different and contained some seriousness in it. With an expressionless face, Arthur walked in front of her while ignoring the beastman and Zephir and replied "Yes, so why did you call out for me? is it maybe because of those dogshit people from the holy church? " "No no, that''s irrelevant, they got what''s coming to them, I called you here to propose a deal for you."-the principal Arthur furrowed his brows for a second before speaking again "A deal? please enlighten me"-Arthur The principal looked at Zephir who was standing near Arthur and nodded towards him, seeing that the demon bowed and left the room with the beastman. She then turned her head towards Arthur and said "I see that the holy church really want that girl, I can protect her from them if she stays in the academy but on one condition." Arthur was surprised by what he heard and was a little delighted, he really wanted the academy to provide protection for him and Lucy, for the time being, actually he was going to ask her for protection but he didn''t expect the principal to propose to him instead, but when he heard a condition he hesitated for a bit for he was fearful that she asks something unreasonable "What''s the condition?"- Arthur "It''s really simple, I want YOU to join the council and become a member." To be honest, he never thought she would ask him something like this, he pondered for a moment before replying "Why do you want me to be a council member?" Sonia chuckled for a bit and gazed at him while saying "Because of your strength, of course, I saw your power yesterday in your fight against Mary, and I must honestly say I''m speechless so having someone as powerful as you in my council would help me and the academy as a whole." "Then just because I''m a bit strong you want to use my strength in exchange for keeping the holy church away?"-Arthur "That''s a bad way to put it but I suppose it''s like that hehe"-the principal "What if I was a weak person? what would you have done?"-Arthur "If you were weak you would have died to Mary''s hands and we wouldn''t be talking about this right now." The principal dodged the question but Arthur was disgusted by people like her, after all, everyone was the same, and he was sure if he was weak she would''ve just the holy church take Lucy and would not be proposing this deal to him, nonetheless he stared at her with cold eyes and replied "Since it''s like this, then I accept your deal, but you must know I will still follow my companion and don''t want to bother myself with politics or anything of the sort." Though Arthur disliked the idea of being used by someone the most, he truly couldn''t do anything about it right now as he really needed protection or else he wouldn''t be able to protect Lucy from all the holy church if they attacked with a large scale force. The principal put her hand on her chin as if thinking about something then said "To join the Council you have to pass a test and be accepted by all it''s members or else you can''t join, even though I saw your power yesterday, not all council members will believe you are strong unless you show them" To be honest, Arthur was quite irritated when he heard this, not only he needs to be a council member, he needs to pass a test too? he took a large breath and said "What sort of test?" "You just need to slay an imoogi, you have beaten Mary so I''m sure killing an imoogi will be easy"-the principal "And where will I find an imoogi? do you expect me to search all the continents to find one?"-Arthur "No need, there is an island nearby which have various dangerous beasts and imoogi is one of them"-the principal "OK, and when will we go?"-Arthur "Today would be great since I already called all the council member, we should head out in 10 minutes"-the principal "Alright, let''s head out and finish this quick"Arthur Hearing what he said, the principal just smiled but didn''t say anything, an imoogi is weaker than a dragon but it shouldn''t be underestimated nevertheless she too doubted he will fail, after all, seeing his small fireball yesterday, she knew just that would be enough but there are some persistent members in the council who would not accept Arthur unless he shows his strength in front of them. She soon stood up from her chair and prepared to go out with Arthur, as for him he turned to look at Lucy who was beside him and softly said "You should go to the classes, since it''s safe here and I know you are excited about these classes, don''t worry I''ll be back soon" Even though he very reluctant to leave her alone, hell he wanted her to accompany him but he didn''t know how strong an imoogi was and what would happen, so.... the best decision was to let her stay here and just attend classes. Surprisingly Lucy glared at him with an annoyed look and said with her cold yet worried voice "I want to go with you!" she didn''t need to explain what she just, he could understand what she meant just by looking at her eyes, classes and such are irrelevant if he was not by her side, it''s true she liked attending those classes to learn new things but what of it if she is alone, without him accompanying her, she would just go back to being lonely like the old days. She stretched her small white hand and held his while still looking at him. Arthur look softened and he just nodded at her and firmly held her hand, then they followed the principal out of the office. The three walked for quite sometime before reaching a teleportation array in an open area, there were 9 people waiting there, of course, it was all the members of the council. Once they reached their destination and were going to teleport, Zephir spoke "We will be going to the ghost island, it''s an ancient battlefield between and is full of dangerous beast so you better not head out deep into it or else no one of us would be able to help you and also for the girl next to you, it would be better not to take her as it will be dangerous and we don''t want to lose a genius like her." Arthur glared at the demon and said "Mind your own business, whether she comes or not, that''s for her to decide!" he knew Zephir wanted Lucy to be his student and he said that because he wanted her to be safe for she is indeed a genius but since she wanted to come, of course, Arthur would let her come and he would protect her at the cost of everything. Actually, he was interested in this ghost island, Zephir said it''s an ancient battlefield so a thought struck him ''since it''s a battlefield, could it be.....'' soon enough they were teleported, and in just seconds they appeared at a deserted place. Arthur looked around and noticed that they were in some kind of forest, there was fog all over the place and it was kind of hard to see for normal people, but for him? it was totally normal, in fact, it was as if the fog didn''t even exist, the sky was cloudy and it seemed as it was night even though it''s early in the morning. Also, he was totally astonished when he saw what seemed to be a corpse, or better to say a skeleton and not just one but many, dozen probably, there were even some strange skeletons which not human. The principal noticing Arthur reaction quickly explained "As Zephir said, this place is an ancient battlefield and it littered with corpses of various beings but what makes it more special is that it''s full of strong beasts, actually it is rumored that if you go deep enough you can even encounter dragons, which are supreme existences with magnificent strength." Arthur just nodded at her, but deep inside of him, he was full of excitement, since it''s full corpses and he is a parasite who can possess them, it could only mean one thing.... The principal continued "We can find an imoogi a little deeper in the forest, we will not help you in the fight, remember we are only here to watch so you better show us your worth." Just as she finished speaking, a female human who didn''t talk from the very beginning said "Mr. Sonia this is clearly a waste of time, just because he could defend a punch from Mary doesn''t mean he has the right to join our council, Mary! why are you silent! I thought you are the one who will be the most opposed to this!" Mary who was standing not far away, lowered her head and stayed silent, after all, she got no right to oppose Arthur or anything of the sort, she lost a fight with him and also lost the bet so she can''t bother him in any way possible. "I also agree with what Selina said" One of the female elves also spoke and seemed to look down on Arthur, but all the members didn''t say anything and stayed silent. "Whether he is strong or weak we will see in the near-future." The principal replied with a playful tone as if she was mocking them for being this naive, though they were right to look down on him since they didn''t see yesterday''s fight, however, she and Zephir knew what this man was capable of, and how with just a small fireball he almost killed Mary. Frederic who was also present, was a bit shocked as he didn''t expect the principal to try to invite Arthur to join the council but nevertheless he was overjoyed as he got a chance of a lifetime to capture Arthur. He began thinking of a plan to somehow take Arthur without warning any of the other council member, especially the principal who seemed to overestimate Arthur''s strength but Frederic could only sigh and blame her naivety and short sight. Chapter 21 - 22 : Ghost island 2 Soon, they started heading deeper into the forest in search for an imoogi, Arthur noticed some beasts here and there, but their levels were not that high, there were some that attacked but they were quickly killed by one of the council members. Just in case, Arthur created a barrier around Lucy who was beside him, as he was going to fight and there is the possibility that something unexpected might occur. To be honest he wasn''t the least bit worried about defeating an imoogi for he knew dragons were much much stronger and he already defeated a young dragon, so even if he encountered an adult imoogi it will only be slightly stronger than the young dragon. The appearance of the barrier surprised those present, but they soon understood that it was made by Arthur because they knew how much he cared for her safety, so of course, he would not let her unprotected in this place. Though no one questioned about the barrier, that didn''t stop them from observing it, especially the principal who gazed at it with curious eyes. Actually, the barrier was different from the old one, this one was a dark blue in color and seemed to emit a transparent dark fog around it, though the fog surprised Arthur for a second as he didn''t what''s it''s purpose, he soon shrugged it off and decided to examine it later. Quite some time passed since they arrived and the more they walked deeper, the more Arthur noticed the creatures LVLS increase, finally they encountered what they were looking for. Probably 200 meters in height and 150 meters in length, it looked similar to a snake yet at the same time it had some resemblance to a dragon, though it didn''t have wings, it looked menacing. Adult Lightning imoogi : LVL 175 ''What! Lvl 175?'' Truthfully, Arthur was surprised when he saw it''s LVL, for the principal said imoogis are usually strong but not that high leveled, he turned to look at the principal but he was stunned to see her eyes become serious. "Adult imoogi? we''re not even that deep into the forest so what is it doing here?"-The principal "So I am supposed to just kill right?" Arthur asked her while focusing on her reaction, earlier she told him killing an imoogi is not that hard since he won against Mary but it seemed she was surprised by the appearance of this imoogi, was he supposed to kill a young one or what? "N-no, for the test you have to kill a young imoogi, this one is an adult, and an old one at that, though it''s not impossible to kill it but it will be troublesome so it would be better to search for another one" She replied with a reassuring tone but just as she finished, the human female who spoke earlier said with annoyed voice "Why waste our time to search for another one, he should be able to beat this thing since Mr.Sonia personally wanted to recruit him, right?" she kept grinning and looking at Arthur with contempt. "No! how can you say that Serena! I remember you killing a young imoogi to join the council and not an adult one!" Sonia glared at the human female, apparently angry at what she said. To be honest, Arthur didn''t want to look and waste time too so he shrugged his shoulders and spoke with a calm yet cold voice "Let''s just get this over with, I''ll kill this one, after all, I don''t want to waste time." Hearing what he said, the principal just accepted as he didn''t seem against it and she knew he was powerful and could handle something like an adult imoogi but usually to pass the test a young one would do, plus every member of this council killed a young one except Zephir who founded this council. Arthur turned his head towards Lucy and nodded to reassure her, then he headed to the imoogi''s location, it was approximately 100 meters and seemed to be devouring something. Since he needed to show his ''power'' to those people, he was going to just install this beast and be done with it, he didn''t want to be bothered and just wanted to be left alone. Serena, the human female watched him go, but you could see arrogance and contempt in her eyes, she didn''t approve of him for she climbed her way from the bottom to attain her position, but he, in less than a week''s time, was personally invited to the council, that made her extremely jealous. She didn''t want to admit that he was strong enough to kill that imoogi ''Soon enough, everybody will see that you are just trash! just because you showed some strength in the entrance exam you think you''re qualified to join our council? dream on bastard!''. Everybody looked at Arthur seriously as they wanted to see, just how strong is he and how will he beat this imoogi, though Mary and Zephir already knew the outcome, especially Zephir, he saw the abilities of Arthur and knew a flame like last time would obliterate that imoogi, but that didn''t stop him from looking at Arthur attentively to examine his flames or whatever he was going to attack with. When Arthur was a dozen of meters away from the imoogi, it finally noticed him and glared at him while screeching, it was an ear-piercing screech as if it was angry it was disturbed from its meal, the adult imoogi stared angrily at the human in front it before charging at him. He didn''t waste time either, his control over the ancient fire was considered top notch, but he wasn''t going to attack it for the destructive power of the fire was humongous and it may reach the others, but he wasn''t worried about them but about Lucy, there was a chance his barrier would not hold against the destructive power made by his fire. He came here wearing Zodiak''s robe so a dark cloud soon formed, he jumped on it and soared to the sky. The imoogi cannot fly, so all it could do was stare at him with malice and ferocity, it would try to jump in the air to catch him but he was just too high and it couldn''t reach him. He led the imoogi away from the others, then he created a 10m spear made out of the ancient fire, the heat and pressure it emitted were astonishing and the color or the spear was dark red, if someone looked at it from afar they wouldn''t believe it was made of fire. The principal saw the familiar fire, quickly formed an ice barrier around her and all the others, she knew what a small fireball did back then, so a 10m spear would do hundreds of time worse than that. You could see some fear when she looked at the spear, even Mary was slightly afraid for she almost died from that, as for the others, they were confused and some of them frowned, they didn''t know why the principal formed the ice barrier, so one of them asked, it was Serena the same one who complained earlier "Mr. Sonia, why did you make a barrier? Surely there''s no need for it, that imoogi cannot inflict damage to us from that distan.." Her tone seemed as if she was mocking Sonia for her naivety but Serena was cut off by Zephir who was calm from the beginning "She did not create the barrier to defend against from the imoogi but from THAT SPEAR!" Arthur focused on the imoogi and the spear blazed through the air and in lightning speed, it struck the screeching imoogi. "BOOOOM!" A sound incomparable to any other, deafening to all ears was created by the impact, it was as if a meteor struck the ground, an astonishing light from the dark fire soon enveloped all the surroundings and destruction soon came after it. Nothing was left from the imoogi, not even its ashes, hell! even all the surroundings, including trees, boulders were either destroyed or turned into black ashes. the destruction reached the principal and the others, but fortunately, the ice barrier protected them even though it shook for a second. When everything calmed down, you could only see a black ground for 200 meters radius around where the imoogi was, the sight was terrifying, for a single spear to do that? that''s insane. Serena''s mouth was wide open as if she couldn''t dare believe what she just saw, not just her all others were astonished, even the principal, who gazed around and saw the destruction made by the flame spear, her body couldn''t help but shake a little, she expected the spear to be strong but not THIS strong and destructive. She breathed a sigh of relief as this man was her ally and not her enemy, but having him as an enemy could only end up bad. Once the imoogi died, notifications soon came up to Arthur level up! level up! level up! ..... He leveled 19 times, but he clenched his fists and regretted ever using the ancient fire "Damn my stupidity, if I have killed it normally I would have been able to use death touch and earn 19 more levels, damn damn!!'' He continued to blame his naivety while descending from the air on the dark cloud. The rest of the people are still silent, no one talked they just stared with eyes full of disbelief at the approaching Arthur who seemed to be annoyed for some reason. Only Lucy seemed to guess why he is annoyed and just chuckled a little. Arthur ignored the dumbfounded gazes and just nonchalantly said: "Now that''s done, I''m finally a member of the council right?". "Yes, from now on you are part of the council, I guess no one is opposed to this?" the principal replied while she glanced at them, but none dared speak, not even Serena who seemed against it earlier, they just nodded while still not moving their eyes from Arthur, as if he was some monster and not a human. "Now that it''s settled, we should go back to the academy"- the principal "Actually, I''m little interested in this place, how about I stay for some time?" Arthur really wanted to stay here to get stronger by possessing all the corpses he could find, but he didn''t want to do it in front of them so he asked the principal to stay and go back later. The principal suspiciously looked at him for a second before nodding, seemingly accepting his request, after all, she was the one making decisions and her status far overwhelmed the council members, moreover, they also listened to her decisions and didn''t dare oppose. Frederic, who was thinking about capturing Arthur, stood there agape after he saw what just happened, and how nothing was left from the imoogi or his surroundings, all surroundings were burned to the ground ''The f*ck Edward? you want me to capture this f*cking monster? are you insane?'' all plans he thought of just a while ago were now erased from his mind, a single spear like that could erase him from existence so why would he even think about fighting him head on? Soon, they all left except Arthur who stayed there, He also told Lucy to go on ahead and this time she didn''t insist on staying for she knew he needed to possess a lot of corpses and them staying alone together may raise some suspicions from either the principal or the council. Not wasting any second, Arthur began roaming the forest and searching for corpses, though after some time, he began to feel depressed and that''s because every time he tried to possess he got this notification You cannot possess this being! It would be a lie to say he was not pissed, quite the opposite, in fact, he was angered, the notification didn''t even precise why he can''t possess them, he wondered maybe because they were only bones? but he soon gave up on that idea for he already possessed Zodiak who also was corpse made of only bones. After multiple tries, he finally found the reason he couldn''t possess those corpses, and that''s because they were not whole, apparently if it''s an old corpse but not a whole one with a big part of the body missing that he can''t possess it, he wondered why he can''t but he soon shrugged the idea off, maybe it had some relations to his new evolution ''humanoid parasite'' ? Nevertheless, he found a significant amount of bodies and successfully possessed them, since it took him just a couple of seconds to enter the body again its stats, skills and leave, he did it to any corpse he encountered. You have gained a new skill(active) : [Heal]: can minor injuries You have gained a new skill(passive) : [Spear mastery] : when using a spear as a weapon : +20% damage / +10% piercing power You have gained a new skill(active) : [Basic water magic]: you can now use water to attack or defend You have gained a new skill(active) : [Poison fangs]: cannot use in a humanoid body You have gained a new skill(passive): [basic wind magic]: you can now use the wind to attack or defend You have gained a new skill(passive) : [poison immunity]: you are now immune to all poison, can be turned on/off. Your stats have improved please check your status window for more details. Your stats have improved please check your status window for more details. Your stats have improved please check your status window for more details. ...... Like that, he passed 2 hours possessing bodies, even though the amount he possessed was not in thousands, he still got a LOT of skills but they were quite useless except a few ones who picked his interest, what benefited him more were his stats, they increased by a huge amount, almost all the bodies he possessed seemed to be soldiers so the stats they got were not a lot but he still possessed some powerful and gigantic beasts, for example, a huge snake like beast who was even bigger than the imoogi and he got the [poison immunity] from that snake-like creature. Though, one more solid stats was not a lot, but by possessing hundreds of them and some unique beasts, his stats changed by a huge amount TITLE : MEAT GRINDER / SEEKER OF KNOWLEDGE Level: 126 Class: Humanoid parasite - Strength 26314(+12134) Intelligence 32994(+14503) Agility 27008(+12595) Wisdom25137(+11735) Vitality 29371(+12895) Dexterity24831(+13484) -- Health 34827(+19329) Health Regen 157.1/s Mana 41395(+19164) Mana Regen 266.4/s Stamina infinite Stamina Regen ???? -- Attack: 21178(+8607) Defense: 24691(+11374) Magic defense : 5718 -- Elemental Resistances: Fire: 100% Water: 35%(+10%) Wind: 35% Earth: 45% Light/Holy: 20% Darkness: 100% After searching for quite some time, he didn''t find any other corpses that he can possess, and he didn''t want to venture deeper into the forest just yet, the principal warned him that there may be an adult dragon, and the difference between a young and old dragon is like the difference between heaven and earth. He read in some book that a young dragon like the one he beat, is most likely ranging from 1 to 10 thousand years old, and an adult one is at least 100 thousands of years old, it is also mentioned that adult dragons can speak human language and the ancient dragon language and not even someone such as the pope or the demon lord can beat one in a 1 on 1 fight so Arthur decided to be cautious and just go back to the academy for the time being. He got extremely strong from coming here, and he had much more confidence in dealing with the holy church. He decided to ask the principal later about the pope and how strong is he, if he is her level and his strength is slightly stronger than her, then Arthur would not have to worry for he was absolutely sure he could beat someone like the principal after all with his new stats he is a cheat. To be honest, he wanted to go with Lucy to the holy church to get her revenge, and he wanted to do it as soon as possible because he knew how pained she was as every day passed and the guys who did that to her were still alive, she always mentioned to him how much she wanted to rip them to pieces and kill them but she didn'' have the power to do it. Now that he has enough power, Arthur is confident he can handle himself against the holy church but for now he won''t leave the academy, firstly because Lucy seems to really be excited to be here and secondly. He needed to know just how exactly powerful the pope making any reckless actions, in fact, he didn''t trust the Academy the least bit and knew perfectly what kind of person the principal is, but he had to accept being used by her for the time being for the sake of Lucy. Once Lucy tell him she wants to leave, he will immediately go with her away from the Academy for the people there are no different from the greedy ones outside, he just didn''t want to force Lucy to leave this place as it finally seems she is enjoying her life after what she has been through.... Chapter 22 - 23 : Kneel! Having stayed for quite some time at the Ghost island, Arthur finally decided to go back to the Academy, with his actual speed, 1 minute or so was required to arrive at the teleportation array. He injected it with a bit of mana and it teleported him back to the Academy, it should be around noon now so he guessed that Lucy must be practicing magic somewhere, so he rushed to her location. At the same place Arthur fought with the holy church, there was a white-dressed maiden sitting there, apparently practicing her magic, you can see a strangely shaped magma a couple of centimeters above her hands. She seemed to be concentrating a lot, but nonetheless, all you can see on her face is coldness and emotionless, as if she was a statue of a goddess and not a person. No one dared to even approach her for they knew what would be the consequences, first They would have to receive Arthur''s wrath, secondly she was more than enough to take care of almost all of them, so they could only stare at her with lustful eyes. While she was busy practicing, a black shadow so fast that no one could even react to it, dashed towards her with immense speed, even Lucy couldn''t react in time even though she felt someone coming at her, all of a sudden, that someone hugged her from behind and all she could do was struggle for a second before she turned her head and saw the familiar face. She stopped struggling and just relaxed and let Arthur hug her, but after some time she couldn''t suppress it anymore and said "A-Arthur we''re in public.." Arthur chuckled and kept hugging her as if he didn''t care "So what, they can only stare at us with jealousy, hmph!" Hearing this could only drop her head down in embarrassment, her ears had a tinge of redness in them, even though she protested a second ago, she felt comfortable and joyful to be hugged, it was like a behavior of an elementary kid. After some time, he decided to let her go, but he sat next to her on the bench and just gazed around with lazy eyes. As for Lucy, she continued to practice her magic but you could notice her throwing some glances at Arthur every a couple of minutes. To be honest, apart from reading books or sometimes practicing his void magic, Arthur didn''t have anything to do, but that didn''t cause to him to be bored, in fact just being next to his gorgeous woman besides him made him beyond happy, and just passing days like this is more than enough for him, but he knew the holy church just wouldn''t let go and give up chasing Lucy. Having nothing to do, Arthur laid his head on Lucy''s lap and decided to take a nap, though his action may have surprised her, she nonetheless didn''t say anything and continued practicing. Just a couple of days ago, he wouldn''t have the guts to do what he did now, but now he knew she trusted him, he discovered that when he found her hugging him in the morning, and that she wouldn''t mind him just using her lap as a pillow and to be honest he totally enjoyed the feeling, a very soft yet relaxing lap pillow. He could feel her soft legs, and heart-warming fragrance, he soon closed his eyes and drifted into a deep sleep. Lucy, who was still practicing noticed how he quickly slept, and she couldn''t help but smile, even though she didn''t want to express her feelings in public, seeing sleep like that made her happy yet embarrassed. She stopped practicing and just gazed at him sleeping so defenseless. She stretched her hand and began stroking his hair gently while ignoring the burning gazes of the male students. Half an hour passed and she never got enough of seeing his face, even her hands never stopped stroking his hair, you could see a tinge of redness on her face now and then as if she thought of something embarrassing, all of a sudden a commotion broke out and people began cheering and shouting. "It''s the princess, she''s beautiful every time I see her" "Look at that waist.." Some students gazed at her while drolling non-stop. "SHHH, do you want her to kill you? Last time someone disrespected her yet she crippled him and used her status to drive him out of the academy....." ".." A tall girl, with a long blonde hair, mesmerizing legs, and breath-taking waist was walking at the park, she wore blue tight clothes that revealed, even more, her waist and the two huge peaks. She had a look of arrogance and pride as if all people around her were mere mortals and she was an immortal... that''s to be expected from a princess. behind her was the second prince and two other women bodyguards from last time. They seemed to be heading towards where Arthur was, and you could notice the prince staring at Lucy as if he already owned her. Since he is with his big sister and she has a lot of authority in this academy he decided to be more arrogant than ever. They soon stopped before Lucy and the Sleeping Arthur on her lap, you could see jealousy in the second prince''s eyes, and if looks could kill he would have killed Arthur a thousand times if not more. Arthur who was peacefully sleeping, was obviously awakened from the commotion, but he ignored it and decided to just continue his nap, but who would have thought that troubles would come non-stop, he already detected the princess and her brother coming towards him, so he couldn''t help but sigh, it was such a beautiful and calm day, enjoying a nap on Lucy''s lap... what could have been better than that? And to be disturbed by those kids was the worst possible way to wake up. Christian, seeing both Arthur and Lucy not paying any attention to either him or his big sister, became enraged and shouted "Hey, you! don''t you see who is in front of you? you have to at least be respectful towards your princess." Nonetheless, Arthur kept ignoring the shouting idiot, and pretended not to hear him, he was already annoyed he was disturbed but he didn''t want to fight, for now, it was a peaceful day and he wanted to keep it like that. "Now now, Christian, stop shouting, we are on the academy grounds and my title doesn''t matter in here" The princess spoke but you could feel arrogance and contempt in her voice. Although she tried denying the importance of her status in this academy, her haughty expression and the tone of her voice said otherwise. It was easily noticeable that she didn''t even believe what she just said. "Sorry about what my little brother said, he still is used to being arrogant, I have come today because I heard about you from my friends and about your performance in the entrance exam, so how about we talk Mr..." Normally, seeing her like that, the princess she seemed very polite and kind, but Arthur knew better and just by her eyes and that heaven-defying arrogance, he knew she is only acting kind for whatever benefit she wanted from him, but since she is acting like that he decided to just play her game and see what she is after. He woke up from Lucy''s lap and stared at the girl in front of him "Arthur, My name Arthur, so what does ''the princess'' want from me or my comrade?" "Mr. Arthur, how about we talk in private?" Though she seemed extremely polite, one can see she only looked at Arthur and totally ignored Lucy even when He mentioned her, in fact, that''s to be expected since demons and humans are enemies from ancient times and never ceased fighting against each other. "No need to talk in private, just say whatever you came here to say." Arthur replied nonchalantly rolled his eyes towards the surroundings ''ah! can''t even pass a day in peace, this academy is more troublesome than outside'' Christian, who was standing next to the princess, was infuriated by the attitude of Arthur, his big sister is one of the most respected people inside and outside the academy, her strength and LVL were one of the highest and she is considered a genius, so seeing someone talk like that to her angered him. "Big sister came all the way here to talk to you, but you are not even grateful and just speak disrespectfully towards her? even though her status as princess does not apply here, she is nonetheless one of the top-ranked students AND your senior, so you better watch what you say and be respectful!" As if he didn''t hear the second prince, Arthur just relaxed and laid down on the bench, and stared at the princess to see what she is going to do. "Since you want to talk here, alright, I came here to invite you to join my me, you will be under my care, and if you are outside of the academy you will be even considered one of the royalty." "Ohoho, that''s indeed a good proposal, but I wonder? why did you only invite me? after all my partner talent is decent too." Despite knowing what her answer will be, he still wanted her to say it, and affirm his thoughts, when he came here he thought the students in the academy lived without fights or disrespect towards each race, but each day passed and he never saw 2 races talk to each other, only the council had different races that talk with each other. Hearing Arthur answer, the princess was a little joyful when she heard him say that the proposal is good, recruiting a man like him who isn''t half bad would benefit her a lot, especially her father, the emperor would praise her, but when she heard the last sentence she was emotionlessly said "Filthy things have no right to be invited, even breathing the same air as me is considered a gift, so she should be thankful I didn''t do anything, once you join me, you can be sure you would have enough beautiful women by your side" Arthur frowned for a second, as he didn''t expect her to just insult a demon just like that in the academy grounds even though it was prohibited, it''s true he anticipated here saying something about not accepting a demon but to just insult her just like that? that truly came unexpectedly. Arthur stared at her for a second before appraising her to see if she really is that powerful. Lisa Terence(human): LVL95 Her LVL was indeed high, even higher than some teachers but that didn''t mean she has to be this arrogant, he stared at her for a second before coldly saying "You should apologize to my partner while you can.." "Apologize? you must be fucking dreaming, a filthy thing like her can only be useful to be a bed partner, in fact, I wouldn''t mind taking her! haha" Now that he is with his big sister, the second prince didn''t act polite like last time and straight-up proclaimed his desire and lust for Lucy, his arrogance has reached the skies and he never ceased to lick his lips while staring at the demon girl with burning eyes. Lucy never spoke a word from the very beginning, she glanced at the second prince with disgust for a second before just leaning on Arthur and closing her eyes seeming not caring about the situation. As for Arthur, seeing how those 2 kids in front of him are acting high and mighty, not caring about the Academy rules about not insulting other races, and abusing their power, he became slightly angry, but soon a grin appeared on his face.. "Kneel, you are not leaving this place before you kneel and apologize to my partner"-Arthur Hearing what Arthur just said, Lisa laughed for a couple of seconds before speaking "Hahaha, Mr. Arthur must be joking, why must I kneel or even speak to a dirty creature like her? Let us put that aside and talk about my proposal." She seemingly dodged the topic and resumed talking about her proposal while smiling, but Arthur didn''t reply and just stared at her with a poker face. A minute passed, but both parties kept silent, Lisa noticing how Arthur was not going to respond, clenched her hand for a moment before calming down and saying "Since you are not going to accept, then I''m going to leave, hmpf!" As if angry, she snorted and turned around to leave with the second prince who was also angry, he really wanted to get that demon girl but in this academy it was not that easy to get someone, if it were outside he would just order anyone and they would get it, but here his power and authority are very limited. "I said, you are not leaving before you kneel to her and apologize." Arthur spoke threateningly at the leaving prince and princess. Surprised by the tone of Arthur, the princess turned her head to look at him, but she snorted again and continued walking. Seeing her still ignoring his threats, Arthur sighed and decided to get more serious, to call Lucy something like that is by no mean forgivable, especially when the one who did it was not willing to apologize. While Lisa, Christian, and their bodyguards were leaving, 3 dark blue spears appeared in front of them, blocking their way, being so close to the spears, Lisa could feel they were dangerous, the aura they emitted was like it would suck everything around it, like a black hole. She furrowed her brows for a second before turning to look at Arthur, to think someone would dare attack her? now if she attacked it would only be self-defense, moreover she wanted to teach that demon a lesson, but to be honest, she was a little jealous of Lucy. The demon was a wizard and she was only a magician with 1 attribute, anyone would be envious of someone who has 3 attributes, including a special attribute, plus it was a demon, the race she hated the most. the 2 women bodyguards, who were accompanying the prince and princess, were surprised when they saw the spears, but they snapped out of it and looked at the sitting Arthur, one of them advanced a couple of steps before shouting at the man "What do you think are you doing? attacking a student in Academy grounds is punishable!" "I am merely educating them not to disrespect others, it was them who insulted my partner." Frederic, who followed Lucy since they left the ghost island, was not far away observing the situation, he wanted to kidnap her to force Arthur but quickly gave up on that idea when he remembered the flame spear of Arthur, his body couldn''t help but shiver. Nonetheless, he kept observing Lucy from afar until Arthur arrived. Judging that he has no chances if Arthur is here, he decided to return for the time being, but just as he was going to do so, something unexpected happened and it''s the arrival of the princess. Deeming the situation interesting, he stayed there to observe the outcome, with his high stats hearing what they were speaking is nothing, and so he heard all the situation and how the princess invited him. He also heard how Arthur plainly rejected her and told her to kneel and apologize, but he didn''t think it was neither stupid nor arrogant, for he had the ability to say that, a simple flame spear like the one earlier could annihilate all the park with the students in it, hell nothing was left of an adult imoogi! Seeing Arthur creating a different kind of spears, Frederic became anxious ''What the fuck? A dual mage!'' Athough he was very fearful towards Arthur, this situation was a one of a kind chance for him, if Arthur a council member dared to attack a student, that would result in a heavy punishment, but knowing Arthur''s behavior he didn''t think a punishment would stop him from massacring those people, so he decided to rush there and stop him. "Hey what''s happening here!" Frederic shouted while he appeared next to the princess, but when he was close enough to the spear he could feel the ominous feeling it emitted. "Uncle Frederic! thank god you''re here, This ''Arthur'' is trying to attack us!" Lisa, having no shame, quickly blamed Arthur and accused him of attacking her, even though all he did was create the spears. "Calm down and explain the situation." Frederic pretended not knowing the situation and tried to resolve it in a peaceful way, even though he was a little shocked for he didn''t know ''Arthur'' was the name of this black-robed man. As he said that, the princes began complaining as if a child complaining to a parent, Frederic was considered one of the royalty and close to the princess, so every time she has a problem she would always complain to him and ask him for help. Of course, while telling what happened, she changed things and made Arthur look faulty. "I see, so you tried to invite him but he disrespectfully rejected you and demanded you kneel and apologize for insulting his companion?" Frederic pretended to think for a second before resuming his talk "He shouldn''t have attacked you but Lisa, you must know that he became a council member and you, accusing him of that, is disrespectful too." "...." Lisa stood there shocked, not knowing what to say, never in her wildest dream did she think the man she wanted to invite was a council member, how long was he in this academy? less than a week! but he is already a council member and everyone knew that to be a council member you need to not only be approved by every member of the council, but you have to be extremely strong. She began to regret acting recklessly, acting arrogantly and not being respectfully towards a council member is punishable, after all, he is considered her superior and she MUST respect him. She began fidgeting not knowing what to do. Frederic noticing her change in behavior, waved his hand and said "It''s fine, just apologize to him and go for now"- Though she loathed the idea of apologizing and still didn''t believe this ''Arthur'' was a council member, since Frederic gave her a way out without being punished she must take it, she clenched her fists and hesitantly said "I''mm ss-sorry.." though she said that, you cannot even feel a tinge of regret in her tone, it seems as if it was forced. Once she finished speaking she turned around and prepared to leave, the second prince also apologized but like his big sister, his apology seemed more of a threat than an apology, as if warning Arthur if he didn''t back down he will regret it. Hearing them, Arthur didn''t do anything, not even his spears disappeared, them apologizing like that is not even the least bit satisfying, plus he said that they should kneel and not even someone like Frederic can stop him. "Seems like you are deaf so I will repeat myself one last time, none of you are leaving before kneeling and apologizing SINCERELY towards my partner." As he said that, more spears were created and blocked the way the princess and Christian were heading at. The sharp and chilling edges of the dark spears were pointed at the duo, making them unable to advance a single step. "Arthur, what do you think you are doing! attacking a student in broad daylight? they already apologized so you should let them go!" Frederic shouted at Arthur without even respecting him and calling him ''Mr.Arthur'', after all, every council member should respect one another, even Zephir the head of the council doesn''t dare act arrogant or disrespectful. Frederic wanted to cause problems to Arthur since he can''t capture him with his own strength. Arthur just ignored Frederic and kept the spears pointed at Lisa and Christians. "Lisa you don''t have to worry, just go! he won''t dare attack or else I''ll have to attack him too" though Frederic was truly afraid of Arthur, and knew that with only one attack he can be dead but he had to show his strength in front of the students and not lose face. Some time passed and still the spears didn''t disappear, as for Lisa and her brother they too didn''t dare to move for the spears were just too close to them and they can''t pass unless the spears disappear. Seeing this Frederic got no choice but to act even though he is weak compared to Arthur, he got no choice but to attack. Just as he was going to attack, dark blue chains appeared from the ground and bounded him from all angles, his legs, torso, and arms were all covered in chains, they emitted same pressure and feeling he felt from the spears. No matter how Frederic struggled, it didn''t help, he was literally bounded and couldn''t move a muscle. "You are also a member of the council, so I thought maybe you had a reasonable thinking but I guess not huh?" Arthur spoke with a calm yet cold voice, he didn''t even move but the chains appeared, Frederic also noticed he did not even do an incantation or anything of the sort. Lisa seeing this, was now scared stiff and truly guessed she provoked someone she shouldn''t have, nevertheless she didn''t kneel because her pride didn''t let her do so, she was confident he would not dare hurt her, after all even if he is a council member, hurting a student was punishable and even if he did it he wouldn''t kill her or seriously injure her. She turned towards him and spoke "I''m not kneeling! nor am I apologizing to this dogshit creature beside you, since you are not letting me leave, fine I''ll just stay here and wait for the principal to come." She put her hands on her hip and took a provocative stance, but all of a sudden one of the spears floating near her rushed at her with speed no one but Arthur could see. The spear formed a hole in her knee, but without waiting for her even to respond the spear attacked her other knee, and with that all she could do was fall down in a kneeling position, overcome with pain, the only thing she could do was scream in pain as bloody holes were on her knees. Even though Arthur hurt her, he controlled her spears and didn''t seriously injure her, after all, if he wanted to he could''ve made her disabled and unable to ever walk again. Christian, dumbfounded by what he saw, unconsciously kneeled with shaking body, he knew now that Arthur didn''t care about them, and by seeing how his big sister was kneeling and screaming from the pain he didn''t want to be in the same situation so he gave up on his pride and knelt towards Arthur. "I''m going to f*cking kill y-you..." While screaming, Lisa cursed Arthur but she couldn''t stand as the pain was agonizing and blood was flowing non-stop from her knees. "You could try whenever you want, but now kneel and apologize to my partner or else your hands will be next." Christian, being the coward he is, knelt towards Lucy who was still leaning on Arthur not caring about the situation, and apologized with tears on his face, after all, he cared for his life and even being disabled scared him. "I, I''mm sorry, please forgive my insolence, i should not have called you that" Even after saying that, Lucy didn''t seem affected and didn''t speak, for her no matter who, she didn''t care about them and hated them all, especially human males, before she encountered Arthur she didn''t trust anyone, hell she didn''t even accept help from anyone, even someone who seemed remotely kind, and now she only trusted Arthur and seeing some kneel in front of her didn''t bring her joy but her heart softened when she knew Arthur did that for her just because they insulted her. Christian soon became anxious, seeing Lucy not saying anything, his thoughts drifted and he thought maybe it wasn''t enough and Arthur would just injure him like he did to Lisa, so he just kept kneeling without saying anything, he didn''t even dare move or breathe heavily for fear of Arthur''s wrath. As for Lisa, even though she was kneeling, she didn''t apologize nor she say anything. "Your brother has atoned and apologized, what about you Princess? you got 5 seconds, after that it would be your arm" She looked at him angrily and spoke "F*ck you, wait till my father hears of this and you and this filthy b*tch are dead, you hear me? DEA.." before she could finish, a spear pulverized all her right arm, nothing was left except her bloody shoulder. Having her arm turns into minced meat off, her screams become even louder and all the people in the surroundings had fearful eyes, even the 2 bodyguards didn''t move for fear of simply dying just like that. Though she just cursed him, Lisa began to fear for her life, her right arm is now gone and if she didn''t treat them soon, she will be disabled, and if she died now how could she get revenge on this bastard, she decided to put away her pride and just apologize for now "I''m sorr-yyy.." She said that while kneeling towards Lucy, who was also looking at her with cold eyes. Strange thoughts soon struck Lisa, what if this demon didn''t forgive her? if so then she dead for sure and no one could save her! "It''s fine" Lucy just waved her hand as if accepting the apology, she then continued leaning on Arthur''s shoulder as if nothing happened. "Now you can leave.." Arthur''s voice soon followed, allowing them to leave, the bodyguards soon came back to their senses and held the princess who was shivering from pain and took her to the Academy''s infirmary to get healed as soon as possible, as for the second prince he followed them soon after... Chapter 23 - 24 : Judgmen Quite some time passed since Lisa and Christian left the park, but Arthur still didn''t let go of Frederic and the chains were still bounding him, the surrounding people were astonished but none dared speak to protest, they just watched from afar excited yet fearful of what about to come. finally, the principal came flying using her weird flying magic, accompanied with Zephir, though she didn''t seem angry, in any case, she was smiling, she was surprised to see Frederic bounded by those chains but nonetheless, she didn''t talk. Arthur noticing her arrival, retrieved the chains from Frederic and willed them to disappear, he turned his head towards the principal as if expecting her to say something. "Well, hello there Miss Sonia." "Hahaha, Mr. Arthur, I see you caused some problems with Lisa, but that doesn''t matter since she was the one who provoked you, I''ve come here because I need to talk to you, and it would be nice if we talked in private." To be honest, Arthur was quite surprised to hear she knew her name, but after some thought, it''s to be expected, after the commotion that happened earlier, there''s got to be some students who heard his name, he just shrugged his shoulder then nodded at the principal. He stood up from the bench, and followed her with Lucy, the principal, of course, didn''t say anything when she saw Lucy following for she knew Lucy and Arthur almost never separated from each other. They walked for quite sometime before they reached the edges of the Academy island, what Arthur saw was a gigantic building, probably the biggest one he ever saw since he came here, it was only made of stone and seemed more like a tower than a habitable building. Sonia noticed the slight shock of Arthur and began talking "You may or may not have noticed, that although we do have some powerful individuals, they are not very strong, I mean if I fight you, I''m certain that I will lose but if we are so weak, why do you think the Academy is feared by other continents?" It''s true, Arthur always wondered about that, he was sure with his new stats, he was the most powerful in the academy, but he has never seen the pope power or LVL so he couldn''t guess how much they are powerful but he judged him to be a little higher than the principal but if so, why do they fear the academy since they are more powerful than it? The principal chuckled for a bit then resumed talking "Actually, the holy church manpower is way stronger than us, in fact, the pope''s LVL is extremely high and he can kill me with but a single attack, but we have a weapon, a dangerous one, and as long as we have it, they won''t dare attack us" Just as she finished that, she and the other council member mumbled some incantations, then the tower blurred for some time before it changed to a metallic object. Arthur observed the object, and to be honest, it looked like a cannon? but an extremely big one, with runes and patterns all over it. "It''s called ''Judgment'' and it''s an ancient weapon the founder of the Academy made with his companions created, it only used twice since its creation, but you must know a single use requires a LOT of mana, if it''s used, maybe half the Holy church''s Headquarters would obliterated. That''s why none of the leaders of the continent dare attack us, because they fear this weapon, but the problem is, to prepare a single use we must inject it with mana for a week at least and we cannot fire it consecutively. Sigh, since you are a member of the council, we thought you should know about this but be aware not to divulge this secret or else..." ''Judgment huh?'' He never read about it in Zodiak''s book so it must be made after his death, nevertheless he was still amazed by this weapon, he couldn''t help but swallow some saliva, and imagine what if he was hit by a shot from that cannon, without a doubt it would be his doom, I mean the height of this weapon is 400 meters and it''s length is about 250 meters, that''s completely ridiculous. He continued gazing at it for sometime before turning his head towards Sonia and just nodding as if understanding what she said. Though she was still suspicious of him, she nevertheless decided to tell him about ''judgment'' for he is not someone to mess with and since he is a council member now, he has the right to know. The principal only wanted to show him the weapon, so when everything was done, everyone got back to their respective duties, as for Lucy and Arthur they headed to the mana manipulation class, since it was about time to start. As always, Lucy was excited about the class and couldn''t help but shake a bit from excitement, every time she is going into a class, she is happy because learning magic and becoming more powerful is her goal. Though Arthur was in a dilemma, as he wanted her to get stronger faster and just going to class is not helping that much apart from teaching her new ways of using magic. Too bad she wasn''t a parasite or else she would power-up fastly like him, nevertheless he decided to try the leeching way, it''s when he lowers the opponent''s health to near zero and she finishes him and takes the XP. Though it''s slow but effective so he decided to try it when they got free time. Soon, they reached class and took their seats. The same teacher as yesterday came and began explaining about mana manipulation and as always Lucy listened to him carefully, afraid of not missing anything, as for Arthur he lazily watched the students practicing and injecting mana in their bodies to get bonus stats, since he succeeded yesterday, all this gibberish is useless to him, if not for Lucy wanting to be in this academy, he would have gone adventuring and visiting all the continents. Class passed peacefully, and the pair left the classroom and headed for their private room. Once they reached it, Arthur decided not to practice, it''s been a long day, from killing an imoogi to dealing with that lousy princess and also finding of the secret weapon. As for Lucy, she too was tired, after all, she doesn''t have infinite stamina. Since both of them got nothing to do, they began chatting why sitting next to each other on the veranda. They held each other''s hand and began happily chatting about various things, though Lucy seemed really curious about Arthur''s previous world, nonetheless, she didn''t ask him a lot, but that didn''t slip unnoticed by him, so he just patted her head and said "Silly girl, don''t be shy to ask me about my world. If you want to say something just say it, no one is going to hate you." As he said that he stroked her hair and began describing his world, the cars, machines etc.. Hours passed, and Lucy never ceased to listen to him, whenever he mentioned something new, she would stare dumbfounded at him, Seeing her like that he couldn''t help but chuckle, the Lucy right now seemed completely different from the one in public, in fact, it''s like 2 different people. Since he told her to not hold back her curiosity, she bombarded him with questions but whenever he answered her, her heart softened and warmed for she knew he had a tragic past and just reminding him of that would hurt him but nevertheless he always answered her and that made her open to him more. When it was time to sleep, they both laid on the bed, but this time, they hugged each other like the past days without embarrassment, Arthur knew she would not be angry not will she feel disgusted and just by hugging her when going to sleep made him feel as if he was dreaming. Just like that, they both fell asleep in each other''s embrace, and even though Arthur had infinite stamina, he decided to sleep for it was very comfortable and to wake up and see Lucy in his arms is something that cannot be replaced, after all what''s better than to be with someone you love? Just like that, 2 weeks peacefully passed, the holy church didn''t attack and the princess never showed in front of Arthur again, maybe it was fear or maybe she learned her lesson, but Arthur happened to see her, and her legs seemed fine, however, her arm is still not regrown. It would seem to get a limb back is hard but still possible, since Arthur read in a book that with a powerful healing magic, or a miraculous potion, you can get a limb or anybody member back. In these 2 weeks, They attended classes and practiced whenever they got time, Lucy seemed to have strengthened her body in the first week and apparently, her stats increased by 250, as for her control magma attribute, it had become near-perfect, she could even create a barrier with magma even though it was weak. As for Arthur, the principal never contacted him in this time, and that really made him happy, to not be disturbed by anyone and just live his days peacefully is all he ever wanted, as for his relationship with Lucy, every day they would get even closer. Actually, Lucy seemed to get bolder, she would always hold his hands, and whenever a girl would come talk to him or ask him for advice, she would stare coldly at this girl as if the girl would steal him away. Arthur, of course, didn''t mind that, as for the girls he always ignored them as he didn''t care about them but it was kind of funny to see the jealous side of Lucy. When he first saw her stare coldly at that girl as if telling her to back off, he couldn''t help but laugh, and that only resulted in Lucy pouting and letting go of his hand while going ahead of him. There was that one time when she even threw a puddle of lava at him while snorting, of course, the lava didn''t affect him and she was aware of that. Furthermore, she didn''t talk to him for the rest of the day, so he had to apologize even though he had done nothing. As for the leeching idea, Arthur did indeed take her every day after classes to the Ghost island and would let her last hit the monsters, and like that her LVL rose to 56 in these 2 weeks, that may seem a little for Arthur, but for her it''s a miracle, for one to advance a level without killing monsters, they would need months if not years, and with killing monsters they would rise quickly, but who from the students in this academy would have someone like Arthur who would nearly kill the monster and let them last hit it. Everyone must take care of himself and level up alone, so Lucy is considered very lucky to have Arthur give her a hand. Though she never wanted help from others, when Arthur asked her to come with him to help her level up, she didn''t even protest, she just followed him obediently. to be honest, Lucy never even disobeyed him, it''s not like he ordered her around, but whenever he suggested something, she would instantly agree. She didn''t know why but she held something akin to blind trust toward his decision and never in those 2 weeks did she have a nightmare about her past. She would always wake up in his warm embrace and cuddle herself close to him while staring at his sleeping face, though, he may not know it because he was asleep but she would sometimes give him a kiss on the cheek, and just doing that made her blush and her ears would turn bright red. Today was a special day, apparently, some students were picked to go a dungeon to experience real fighting to enhance their strength and Lucy was picked too since she was a new students, the one overseeing them normally would be a teacher but surprisingly Frederic volunteered to go, of course, Arthur was going to accompany Lucy, first because he can''t let her go alone, Secondly because he was excited to see a dungeon for he never entered one since he came here, he only read about them. Actually, they are going to a dungeon named ''El Kassia dungeon'', it was a low leveled dungeon and apparently the dungeon-boss is only lvl 115, for the students it was high but for someone like Frederic it''s nothing, plus the students were only going there to practice and there was no need kill the dungeon-boss. There was approximately, 30 students which are going and surprisingly, Lisa was going too, though Arthur was suspicious and guessed she may try to do something, after all her and Frederic going is by no means an accident, nevertheless since he was going he was sure he can crush them if they dared to do anything to harm him or especially Lucy. Princess or not, that didn''t matter Arthur, if someone causes troubles, they are dead, nothing more nothing less. All the people going finally gathered near the teleportation array and prepared to head out to the dungeon, it was on the human continent, far in the south but since they have the teleportation array it would take them near the dungeon, they would only need to cross a mountain to arrive there. Chapter 24 - 25 : Despair Soon, they used the teleportation array and appeared in a small square, Arthur noticed they are in some kind of a small town, there were some people passed, they were surprised by the appearance of the students for a second, but they soon resumed what they were previously doing without a care in the world, it seems students coming here is a frequent thing. The group of students didn''t stay in the town, they immediately headed for the dungeon, it was still morning so they would arrive early to the dungeon. An hour or so, after crossing a small mountain, they arrived at the entrance of a rocky cave, there was a sign which surprised Arthur. El Kassia dungeon entrance: recommended LVL: 40-90 He didn''t expect to see a sign like this, nonetheless he shrugged it off and followed them inside the cave, truthfully there was nothing special about this dungeon, it was more like a labyrinth than a dungeon, after walking for sometime, the cave showed 2 different ways, and the deeper they went the more complicated the dungeon became. Finally, they encountered some lizard-like monsters Salamander Lvl 67 It was a red-like lizard with some fire coming out of its tail, it didn''t seem intimidating though because of its small size, but they always roamed in groups of 3 or more. Just like that, the students began training and attacking together to kill the salamanders, team-work necessary but for new students, it was quite hard for them to work together, especially for someone like Lucy. To be quite honest, with her magma attribute, a simple magma lance was enough to pierce and melt the creature, even Frederic was surprised by how powerful the magma was. As for Lisa since she was high leveled, she didn''t need to attack, she just stood there watching Lucy with jealousy, though she glanced sometimes at Arthur and you could notice some anger and rage in her eyes but she didn''t dare act for she knew the difference in strength between them, she even saw how he easily bound Frederic with those chains. As for Arthur, he didn''t attack nevertheless he made a transparent chaotic dark mana around Lucy, it wasn''t noticeable by anyone, and it was much weaker than a normal barrier, but it should hold out against attacks from those monsters. He knew it was against the rules to protect those students for they had to experience real danger to grow up but he didn''t care, it''s not some stupid rules that are going to stop him from protecting the person he loves. Just like that, they kept advancing in the going deeper in the dungeon, and the monsters increased until it was hard for the students to kill them, even Lucy could only some minor damage to the salamanders. So Frederic decided to stay there and encourage the students to try their best and win against those monsters, but he actually was thinking of a way to separate Lucy from Arthur, but it seemed near impossible for Arthur kept sticking to Lucy even when she is fighting even though he didn''t help her. Even if he wanted to force a fight he knew it would end up badly for him, so, for now, he decided to stay low until a chance comes up, after all, he brought up something special with him, it was a talisman curse, it''s very rare to find and more difficult to create. The one he had is to reduce the stats of the one it touched by 5%, so it''s like reducing the stats by half and he believed if he can decrease Arthur''s stats by at least half he would have a chance to get Lucy, because for him if he can kidnap her and use her as a hostage to get Arthur, it would be the best way to lure him, even though his stats would be reduced, it would only be for an hour and just 1 hour is not enough for him to either win or capture him. Evening soon came, and all the students except were exhausted and could barely walk, they found a safe area in the dungeon and camped there. They made tents and some fire here and there and split into different groups, friends stayed with each other while some other male students accompanied Lisa, as for Lucy and Arthur they sat alone in a corner. Arthur appraised Lucy and saw her LVL became 58, to raise 2 LVLS in one day but apparently the experience one gets from killing monsters in a dungeon is better than killing normal monsters in forests or other places. Actually, Arthur was curious as to what exactly is a dungeon, how is it created or why? but even after going through a lot of books he still couldn''t find anything so he decided to give up his search for the time being. Night slowly passed and all students soon went to their tent to sleep, Lucy was also tired by she just leaned on Arthur''s shoulder and soon soundlessly fell asleep, it seemed uncomfortable for her to sleep like that so he used his lap as a pillow to let her sleep more comfortably. Truthfully, it was the first time she slept in his lap and felt kind of awkward but nevertheless he stroked her hair and stayed awake all night, he wasn''t worried about Frederic or Lisa but you never know when danger comes and since he wasn''t the least bit tired, staying awake all night didn''t matter to him. Morning finally came, and all the students woke up including Lucy who was slightly surprised to see herself sleeping in his lap, nonetheless she didn''t stand up, she smiled at him with her enchanting face and he couldn''t help but blush a little, to gaze at by this beauty no matter how many times, it still makes him embarrassed even though they were lovers. Since he already gave her a lot of food, she retrieved some food and began devouring them, seriously every time he saw her eating he wondered where all the food goes, it''s like there is a black hole in her stomach. After breakfast, they continued hunting the salamanders and if they ever encountered a small-boss it will get dealt with by Lisa, honestly she was considered strong, her magic attack was weak but damn she was savage at attacking, her strength is no joke for a human even Arthur was slightly surprised, though with a punch from him it''s sure she will turn into minced meat, nonetheless her strength is decent, at least for now she is considered more powerful than Lucy. Another day peacefully passed, and the students seemed to get more excited, even Lucy managed to level up one more time, her strength grew every second she fought and her control over magma was perfect, she didn''t use the fire attribute anymore for it was useless compared to the magma, even Arthur wanted the magma attribute as it seemed powerful but compared to his ancient fire it was truly a joke nevertheless that didn''t stop him from wanting to have the magma. ********* Outside of the El Kassia Dungeon, Arnold stood there alone, grinning as if he was mad, finally his spies informed him that the demon girl got out of the academy grounds and it means he can act and retrieve her, to be honest, he wasn''t worried about Arthur for he was very confident in his powers, he heard Frederic also came but since the holy church was close with royalty he was sure Frederic wouldn''t dare oppose him, in fact, he may even help him. Without wasting time, he entered the dungeon with incredible speed as he was happy he finally going to capture the girl and be rewarded by the pope since he seemed to really want to get his hands on the demon for some reason but of course he didn''t dare question his orders but after 2 weeks of patience finally a chance came. He came alone because he was already a bishop and no matter who came with him it would only bother him except other bishops came with him. ********* As the students were fighting the salamanders like usual with Frederic, Lisa watching them and Arthur staying close to Lucy to watch her, a man suddenly came dashing in their direction, it was a handsome middle-aged man with a green-hair and a white sword sheathed to his waist. His arrival seemed too surprised everyone including Frederic and Arthur. Feeling suspicious of this man, Arthur couldn''t help but appraise him for he seemed not someone weak or a pushover Arnold Kloer(human) : LVL204 ''What! 204? that''s higher than the principal, who is this man!'', though Frederic was little shocked, he soon smiled and bowed towards the man while respectfully saying "Lord Arnold, pleased to see you, what brings you to this low-level dungeon?" It would be a lie to say Frederic wasn''t overjoyed, quite the opposite, in fact, he was delighted, a chance finally came, he already knew the holy church tried to get Lucy, but he didn''t think they would send someone Arnold a bishop! he was just guessing but what else would a bishop appear here, it''s not like this dungeon has a precious treasure or anything of the sort. "haha, Mr. Frederic, I''ve come here just to retrieve something." While saying that, Arnold directed his gaze at Lucy who already finished killing the salamander. Lucy, hearing the man''s name and seeing his appearance couldn''t help but tug Arthur''s sleeve and softly say "He''s one of the 3 bishops..." Although she trusted Arthur, Lucy was a little anxious, because bishops are known to be extremely strong and rarely come out to carry out missions but seeing him here, it was obvious it was to retrieve her, but she was curious why would they go to such lengths. She always wondered about that, after all, she was only a normal demon so why would the holy church chase her to the end of the world just to capture her, it really intrigued her. Arthur seeing the Lucy little anxious, giggled for a bit before patting her soft head as if reassuring her, he then turned his head and looked at Arnold, the man seemed an upright and kind man, but who would have thought he would be in the holy church? maybe not all the people there are so greedy and evil but since he came to retrieve here, kind or not that didn''t matter. "I presume you are that famous black-robed man who slew my disciple, I believe you have met him? he was a swordsman like me." While laughing, Arthur stared coldly at him and replied "Indeed I have met him, unfortunately, he was so weak that he died in just one attack." Arnold was a little angry to see someone mock his deceased disciple, but he didn''t let his emotions get the better of him but he really wanted revenge for his disciple for he really doted on him and raised him since he was a child and seeing die just like that made him quite sad, plus his killer is in front of him is in front of him why wouldn''t he take revenge. "I believe you know why I''m here so why not cut to the chase and begin fighting, I''m really interested to see how would you handle yourself against me." As he said that, he unsheathed his sword and took a fighting stance, one hand holding the sword and the other behind his back. As for Arthur, he was little curious to see how powerful he is, after all, he didn''t get a strong opponent since the young dragon, and to finally meet one made him rather excited. He wanted to go full out and see what would happen. He slowly walked forward and waved his hand at Arnold as if indicating he''s ready, to his signal the middle-aged man charged at him with incredible speed, to all watchers it was incredible speed but to Arthur it was nothing much, in fact, if he didn''t possess the corpses from the Ghost island, he might have a little problem, however, with his new stats, the man''s speed is almost like a crawling turtle in front of his eyes. Arthur also rushed at the man while holding a dark red longsword, just as the two clashed, a huge crater was made under them and the nearby students were blown away, as for Lucy since Arthur created a barrier around her, she was completely safe. Arnold frowned for a second when he clashed with Arthur, he knew he was pushed back and his strength is way inferior to his opponents, nevertheless his mastery in sword and skills are no joke, he backed 2 steps and quickly sidestepped to the left and used [tripple stab] it was a unique skill to swordsman and only professionals had it, with it you can stab 3 times instantly at the same place while inflicting double the damage every hit. As his stabs were going to hit, Arthur simply disappeared and appeared behind him ready to hack at him, ''teleportation! Without incantation?'' thought Arnorld as he saw the instantaneous movement of his foe, he was flabbergasted for a split second but thanks to many years of battle experience, he snapped out of it quickly and turned to defend against the incoming attack. As he was expecting the attack, Arthur vanished again and appeared behind him, but this time, the swordsman could feel a dangerous aura from the sword, and some violet energy seemed to pour out of the strange long sword. Arthur prepared the [dark burst] with [void slash] and attacked Arnold who surprisingly reacted in time even though Arthur teleported two times in a row, the middle-aged man blurred for a second before he somehow backed away with amazing speed, but the slash of Arthur created a violent dark arc lengthening 3 meters, it continued all the way until it reached the dungeon''s wall and shaking the whole cave. To be honest, Arthur could just use the destructive force of ancient fire or (hell arrow] but he didn''t do it, he wanted to see how he handles himself in a normal fight without using those, of course, if things began to be problematic he would use them instantly, but for now he wanted to test his physical strength. After he noticed he missed the slash, he created a spear and willed it to pierce the retreating swordsman and with its lightning speed, even Arnold couldn''t react in time and was pierced in the shoulder. Though he seemed to wear some special armor like his disciple and it almost resisted the spear, but nonetheless, some blood came out from the wound, it wasn''t that serious but it could hinder anyone in a fight. Arnold couldn''t hind the astonishment from his face, he truly was surprised, for someone to be able to wound him and come out unscathed, plus he can use teleportation, hell he even used it 2 times in a row, his look soon turned more serious and he took some elixirs and gulped them, they were boosting elixirs than increased his power for some time, he noticed he held no advantage whatsoever, in fact in terms of strength and speed he was weaker so he had to find a way to win or use strong skills. Frederic in the back stood there dumbfounded at the fight, normally only the principal could win against a bishop like this, even though her LVL was not higher than this bishop, her skills and magic was extremely powerful, but for this Arthur to injure a bishop is really surprising, and what made it surprising is that he didn''t use that strange flame spear. He truly was afraid of that flame and of its destruction that he guessed that Arthur didn''t use it because if he did it he would injure all students including Lucy and destroy the cave and that would bring more problems, but unfortunately that Arthur couldn''t care less about those students and whether they live or miserably die has nothing to do with him. As for Lisa, she watched from afar, with her hands on her mouth and her legs shaking, it''s the first time she saw powerful individuals fighting, heck! She couldn''t even follow them, their speed is just beyond her, and even while concentrating, she only managed to barely see their clashing shadows. She didn''t voice out her thoughts but it was clear on whose side she was, alas, if she was more thoughtful, she would have recruited this individual under her father, the Emperor''s wing. The fight continued, and the 2 men clashed together many times, but every trade ended up in Arnold being hurt, whether pierced by a spear or sent flying by a punch or a kick from Arthur, even his armor showed signs of breaking, ''he is not human! simply a monster!'' Arnold couldn''t help but shiver a little as he stared at the man a couple of meters in front of him. Arthur was smugly smiling at him. "A bishop can only hold out this much? it''s truly regretful and here I wanted to have a good fight, I''m not even seriously fighting" Through the course of the fight, Arthur judged himself to be slightly more powerful than the bishop, moreover he had teleportation and a lot of magic so of course, he would gain easy advantage and his chaotic dark magic has a strong piercing power, so even the swordsman''s armor couldn''t hold out much and many wounds soon emerged after a couple of attacks. While gazing at the struggling Bishop, Arthur sensed a great danger and looked at Frederic who was standing not far away, but it was too late and the man somehow teleported next to Lucy who was not far away, he then quickly a yellow weird talisman at her. The object seemed to exclude some gray energy that alerted him, he didn''t even have confidence in his barrier and didn''t think it would be able to stop that talisman, it looked more like a mental attack than a physical attack and the barrier only defended normal attacks. Without a second to waste, he teleported between the incoming talisman and Lucy, he extended his hand as if wanting to crush it with his chaotic dark magic, but surprisingly the talisman went through the chaotic dark magic as if it didn''t exist and struck Arthur''s hand. A couple of seconds passed without nothing happening and just as Arthur was about to sigh a breath of relief a notification came : WARNING: Cursed! -50% all stats ''Cursed?'' it would be a lie to say he wasn''t surprised, nonetheless, he sighed, at least it wasn''t some dangerous attack, but for Frederic to have the guts to sneak attack, and at Lucy, why would he ever do that? Arthur didn''t remember offending him except when he bound him but that wasn''t something big to hold a strong grudge and why did he aim at Lucy. Just as Arthur lifted his head to look at Frederic, he saw him smirking at him with a smug face, Frederic expected Arthur to try to protect Lucy, after all, everyone knew he was overprotective of the demon girl and him trying to take the talisman is to be expected. Now that his plan has succeeded there was a little bit of hope, he turned to look at Arnold and said "Fear no more Lord. Arnold, he has been cursed for an hour, his power is halved you can take him down but please do not kill him I need him alive, as for the girl she''s yours." Hearing this, Arnold was startled for a second before he nodded at Frederic, now that his opponent has halved strength, his confidence rose, because no matter how strong he is, with a halved power he had the confidence to be able to win. Arnold dashed at the weakened Arthur with the sword in his hand ready to slash, but Arthur just teleported away while still looking at Frederic "I don''t remember ever being in a conflict with you, so why would you attack me?" Frederic furrowed his brows before laughing and replying "Hahaha no conflict? You greatly offended Royalty and you expect to get away with it? There are a lot of people who want your head." Truthfully, Arthur was quite pissed, for even royalty to butt in, he had to take precautions later and warn them about what would be the consequences but one thing for sure, playing time is over and none of the 2 men would get away alive from this dungeon. The cave they were fighting was quite spacious, you couldn''t even see the roof, and the students were a hundred meters or so, watching the fight with fearful eyes, they didn''t know why the council members were fighting among themselves but of course they didn''t dare question it or try to understand, all they cared about it getting out alive. "You know, I wish I could tell you how grateful I am, you showing your true colors and attacking me is giving me a chance to get rid of you." As he finished, Arthur raised his hand and closed his eyes but he nevertheless continued talking "How cold and harsh is this place? Everywhere people want something, greed envelops all people and there is always conflict and unkindness, I think God has forsaken this place, if there is a god that is, I believe I have seen hell and I''m sure you will see it soon, for you have met despair the moment you have met me!" Soon, the dark blue magic began to form rapidly above him and just a matter of seconds it began to form into an arrow, though this time, it had a blue and violet color,actually, the pressure it emitted is even more terrifying than the previous arrow. It had the same size as the last arrow, and all nearby rocks began flying towards it as if it was some kind of black hole sucking everything around it. Every student including Lisa got to their knees as they saw this horrific arrow, the sheer pressure was enough to make some students fall unconscious, as for Frederic and Arnold they only stared at the arrow dumbfounded, Frederic began shaking and Arnold only stood straight but he didn''t dare attack, you could see a tinge of fear in his eyes even though he tried to calm down he couldn''t, the arrow was facing him and he knew for sure he was doomed. "Do you think you will get away with this? The Pope is not like me, he is god-like and not even this pitiful arrow can injure him." "Whether it is pitiful or not, we''ll see soon." The hell arrow was already formed, but Arthur waited for a second before launching it at swordsman and Frederic, luckily, they were not far away from each other and the arrow length was very big so it could ravish them both, and indeed it did. The arrow passed through both of them as if they didn''t exist and struck the dungeon wall, literally nothing stopped it, not even the armor of the swordsman was left, even their blood didn''t show, only some dark fog remained where arrow passed, though it struck the wall, it continued as if the wall never existed. Itpassed through various walls and a lot of monsters until Arthur willed it to disappear but it seemed to have massacred hundreds of creatures, and living a gigantic hole in the walls, in fact, you could see all the way to where the arrow disappeared, only a dark fog was left and nothing else, as if a huge black hole ate everything there. The walls appeared eaten and not even the creatures were left just like Arnold and Frederic. Arthur sighed for a second before he turned towards Lisa who was shaking non-stop while looking at him "It seems I need to make a little visit to your father to give him a little warning for I do not want unnecessary troubles coming from royalty again." The girl could only nod continuously, what she saw today was obviously going to traumatize her, that''s not a normal strength a human should have, to completely erase a bishop from existence, not even the best magician in the Human Empire can do that. Just remembering the sight made her wet herself a bit due to the extreme fear, after all, she''s still young and was born with a golden spoon, so naturally, she never saw something as terrifying and fear-inducing as this, her life has always been laid back and relaxed. As for the other students, no comment.... some were unconscious and most of them were shivering nonstop, they were low-leveled compared to Lisa so they couldn''t handle the pressure albeit the fact that it remained for only a few seconds. Lucy stood there emotionless, she was neither surprised not terrified, she already saw that arrow when he used on the dragon, and she knew he killed the bishop for her sake, that alone made her joyful. Since he is this powerful it would be soon for her to go take revenge on them, especially that ''man'' and the mere thought of it made her excited to finally get her revenge on those bastards. Arthur turned around walked towards Lucy and held her hand as if to comfort her "Silly girl, I told you to not worry, a bishop is not a big deal, soon I will take you there, I promise!" As he finished talking, he bent down and gave her a little kiss on her forehead... Chapter 25 - 26 : s Ism sorry...s When Arthur had just slaughtered the bishop, also known as Arnold, the pope who was sitting in his office writing something suddenly stood up, well to be more precise he stared at a shattered crystal not too far away from his desk, his eyes were full of astonishment and disbelief and he seemed to mumble something with a low voice. Actually, that crystal was a special object also known as ''life crystal'' and its function is to indicate whether the last person who injected Mana in it is still alive or not, and it only brakes when the person dies because every being is full of mana and if for example they ran off it and can''t cast skills they still possess Mana but they can''t use it. It''s just like air, once you can''t breathe you are obviously going to die, so when there is not even a single drop of mana in your body, you die... Normally, when the person runs out of mana the crystal turns to the white color but now it only broke suddenly, the pope was not paying attention to it so he didn''t notice changing color for some time and that''s because, in the fight against Arthur, Arnold used quite a bit of mana, but it was negligible. The crystal was really rare, in fact almost non-existent as one may know the pope only had 7 of them each for a bishop including the archbishop, but unfortunately, one crystal was now broken and no longer functioned but he paid it no heed he was astonished to the fact that a bishop actually died. The pope can, of course, remember ordering Arnold to get the demon girl but her killing him is literally impossible so he could only ponder on who might have been able to kill Arnold, ''Could it be those geezers from the demon clan or that bastard elf? No no that''s impossible! They are not this stupid as to rush and kill a bishop like that! Then who....'' Returning to the dungeon, just after some time passed since the fight ended, a rain of notifications came to Arthur who was busy reassuring Lucy and giving her a light hug, he was momentarily startled as to why the notifications came late but that didn''t matter that much right now. [You have killed El Kassia mid-boss ''dijin'' :+2 Lvl, it will respawn in 6 hours] [You have killed El Kassia final boss ''Raa, the Lightning bug'' :+5 lvl] [You have conquered ''El Kassia dungeon and obtained the title :Dungeon Conqueror: +20% EXP inside any dungeon / can be stacked with other titles] [level up! Level up! Level up!...] Since he killed Frederic and Arnold who were both very high leveled a lot, the amount of EXP he got was enormous, he even killed the final boss but that''s to be expected since the arrow was just gigantic and massacred everything in its way. Arthur was rather joyful his lvl became 148 and he was more close to obtaining the mysterious blessing of the Overgod, after all, he had high hopes for it to be a positive thing that can help him improve his strength, but he had a little sour feeling. He actually wanted to use [death touch] but since there is nothing left he can''t do it otherwise he would have gotten double the EXP, he could only blame his stupidity, why didn''t he just kill them with normal means instead of that big show? maybe he wanted to appear scary or terrifying to show off his powers? Or maybe he didn''t want to appear weak? even he didn''t know why he used the arrow... Lucy also didn''t mind the students who were almost all unconscious and she hugged Arthur back, him killing a bishop gave her joy and happiness, after all, seeing the beginning of the end of the organization which pursued her all her life is by no means a bad thing. After some time enjoying each other''s embrace, they finally let go. When he looked at the students, he noticed that all of them seemed to have woken up, but no one dared to speak or move, hell! none even stood up as if afraid of angering Arthur and disturbing that lovey-dovey atmosphere he had with Lucy. He looked coldly at them and said "No need for me to explain right? Frederic betrayed the academy and attacked me as for that stupid man from the church..hmph! he got what he deserved, if you dare lie or tell anything about my abilities don''t blame me if you are killed!!" he spoke with a chilly and threatening tone that made everyone tremble even more and nodded continuously towards him. Even, Lisa who was supposed to be rebellious and wanted revenge didn''t oppose, her face was ghastly pale and she cursed herself for even thinking about revenge, that arrow showed her what despair really is and just having her arm cut is nothing compared to what happened to Frederic and Arnold, not even their blood was left. The students didn''t stay there long and soon left the dungeon with Arthur, they rushed to the academy and by subset they arrived. If he wanted too, Arthur could''ve arrived in a minute or so but he was a council member and he had to at least accompany them, even though he didn''t care about what happened to them. So with decent speed and some breaks, they arrived at the teleportation array and used it. Seemingly relieved, the students soon dispersed and each went on their way but Arthur didn''t forget to warn them a second time, he then headed for the principal''s office to tell her what happened, of course, Lucy accompanied him. The couple arrived in just five minutes or so and entered Sonia''s office, she was slightly surprised to see Arthur since he wasn''t supposed to come back until a week or so later. Without further ado, he explained what happened while changing some facts here and there, he, of course, didn''t mention the arrow at it was a trump card and not even the principal had to know about it. One must know that Arthur only trusted Lucy and no one else, yes he is working for the principal and yes he is a member of the council but he didn''t have even the least bit of trust, quite the opposite, in fact, he judged the principal to be a manipulating b*tch, she may not look like it but she surely is as crafty as a fox and as wise as an old man, heck! He even heard that she is over 150 years old even with her appearance so she must be an old woman inside. Though she was surprised a lot by what she heard, nonetheless she dismissed Arthur while praising him on what he did but once he left she couldn''t help but sigh and feel a bit of fear, she had some suspicions on him being more powerful than her but now that she heard he killed both Frederic and a bishop, she was certain he can kill her too so she began having some regrets on inviting him in, because if he turned against the Academy it would truly be a disaster. Add to that she just lost a powerful council member, but that was life and to be totally honest she knew Frederic wasn''t the kind of guy to get along with others but she didn''t expect him to attack Arthur so she thought of the possibility of him holding some grudge against Arthur... ******* having been dismissed and with nothing better to do, Lucy and Arthur went to their private room, since night has fallen and Lucy was a little bit tired from all the fighting in the dungeon, Arthur asked her if she wanted to rest and she agreed so they ended up going back home. Arthur was fine even after all what happened, he even was a bit happy to get rid of nuisances, but something bothered him a little and that''s what Frederic said, apparently some people want his head but even though he opposed some people they weren''t that powerful and all have been dealt with except the holy church... While Arthur was laying on the bed Lost in thought, Lucy who has just gotten out of a warm shower, laid beside him, she was still a bit wet and wore black pyjamas that made her look extremely enchanting, the clothes were tight and showed some of her round and perky butt and developed chest, though it was not big, it was not flat either. She noticed him dazing and blushed for a second as if she thought of something embarrassing. Lucy finally mustered her courage, grabbed Arthur''s hand and put it on her chest, as for him, what just happened snapped him back to reality and shocked him, he could feel the soft feeling from his hand and it would be a lie to say he disliked it. "Lucy, you...." He was rather confused as to why she suddenly did that, after all, he knew her body was a taboo for him and he only hugged her, though hugging can be extreme he never touched any strange places, in fact, he always kept his urges in control. One must know having a beauty like her sleeping beside you and not doing something is crazy, no normal man can do that, and Lucy was well aware of that... that''s why she decided that tonight will be the night she finally gave her body to him, after all, she knew he was a man that truly loved her and even after a long time didn''t even ask for a kiss, he only hugged her, but every time he did that, she noticed he would look at her as he wanted to check if he angered her or not by doing that. "I-it''s okay, you can do it." Though she tried to hide it, you can notice some shaking in her voice and Arthur definitely sensed that he guessed she wanted to satisfy him and give her body to him and that really touched him, for her who treasured her body after what happened to willingly let a man touch her and at her breast. That required an immense courage and determination and she lacked none of both. Seeing her beautiful and long silver hair, extraordinary body and charming curves that would attract all men, urges began to surface, and he couldn''t help it, gazing at her body plus touching her soft breast made his face flush red and his mind to shake, though he didn''t do anything, moreover he retracted his hand which was touching her breast. Though it would be a lie to say that seeing her like that didn''t excite him and that he didn''t think of eating her up, but he just couldn''t do it, he knew she was willing but just from her eyes and heavy breathing he knew she still had a bit of trauma and that really pained him so doing anything further would only cause her harm. Lucy was surprised by the turn of events, she lifted her head and noticed him smiling at her, sometimes passed without him doing anything so she guessed that he wasn''t going to do anything and at that moment she could no longer control her suppressed emotions and started sobbing "Arthur..*hikk* I''m sorry, I-I..." She cried silently while apologizing to him, he knew she tried her best and he really didn''t blame her, he extended his hand and wiped the tears from her face, then he patted her face gently while saying "There''s nothing to be sorry about Lucy, you know I''ll always love you." After hearing that, her crying seemed to have increased and she kept at it until late at night, he couldn''t anything but stay by her side. Unknowingly, when she was sobbing she hugged tightly and leaned her head on his face and just like that she slept after crying silently for some time, seeing her sleeping face and swollen red eyes, Arthur chuckled then hugged her back and stayed like that for quite some time. It was 2 am or so when Arthur got up from the bed after gently putting down the sleeping demon, he struggled for a bit to free himself from her grip as she tightly held him, as if he would disappear, after some effort, he managed to be free, he gave her a blanket to hug instead. After some pondering earlier, he seemed to have thought of who might want to harm him and that''s humans, after all, he was only on the human continent and never went to the other continents. Furthermore, he killed Feylord who was rumored to have royalty backing, and since he had enough power right now, it was the perfect time to visit this Emperor and warn him to stop any past or future harassment. He wasn''t sure if Frederic was from the royalty but the best way to get rid of the enemies is to kill their leader so he decided to threaten the emperor and tell him to keep his dogs near him and stop sending people to either harass him or Lucy. Chapter 26 - 27 : Warning Arthur soon got up from the bed and got ready to travel, in fact with his actual speed, going to the main city of the empire where the emperor lives is an easy thing for him as he was confident with his speed. He didn''t know how powerful the people there are, but he guessed them to be at most like Bishop Arnold if not slightly stronger, and since it''s only a matter of hours he didn''t want to bring Lucy, plus she was resting and wasn''t like him with infinite stamina. After he wore Zodiak''s robe and put a mask that he found on his storage, he decided it was time to go even though he was reluctant to let Lucy alone. He pondered for a bit before he created a barrier around her plus another one around the room, but the one around her was special as he fused it with void magic to strengthen it more. Actually, he didn''t know if it would strengthen but he did it anyway. Arthur glanced at the Sleeping Lucy one final time before he dashed from the veranda. He jumped on the dark cloud and used his max speed to go to the capital of the empire. Actually, he indeed used the teleportation and immediately arrived at the city but the Emperor lives outside of it, in an enormous castle a couple of hundred kilometers of the city which was known as ''Laksy''. Once he arrived at the city, he didn''t waste any time and headed towards the castle by following the map he got from the principal. With his current speed, a hundred kilometers is just done in minutes so it didn''t take him long to spot a white castle, it looked extremely large and spacious, there was a garden entering it and apparently a river behind it, he also noticed a lot of soldiers guarding it. Even though it was late at night, they didn''t seem sleepy, quite the opposite, in fact, they were looking around cautiously with serious eyes. Arthur didn''t mind being noticed but he didn''t want to bother fighting them, it would truly be a pain the ass and since he came here only to warn the Emperor, killing them would only be like adding oil to fire. He tried to find a way to at least sneak to where the emperor is but the reality is sad and even if he successfully sneaked in, he didn''t know where the damned man is so the only way to meet him is by making a commotion. He landed in front of the gate where 2 guards were standing and just stood there. the guards were startled to see someone appear so suddenly, nonetheless, they unsheathed their swords and tightened their grip on the weapons, one of them shouted at Arthur "Who dares trespass in Lord''s castle!" Arthur looked at them coldly before finally speaking "I wish to speak with the Emperor" "What nonsense are you spouting? you come in the middle of the night and expect to meet him" Arthur could only sigh, this will be a long night since those guards are going to be stubborn, so he decided to not bother with such a matter and only speak when it''s necessary, wasting words and time with them will lead to nothing. With lightning he dashed towards the 2 guards and sent them flying by attacking them with his palm, he exerted minimal strength but nevertheless, some bones were definitely broken but their lives were not in danger. The 2 guards started groaning from pain and couldn''t even get up but one of them took out some crystal and crushed, of course, could have prevented that from happening but since he wanted to create a commotion he let the guards do as they pleased. He ignored the guards and kept advancing but not even 20 meters ahead, armored guards began to show up, there was a dozen if not more coming his way. With his insane speed, no one could even react before all of them were either KOed or sent flying, some were unconscious and some groaned from pain but absolutely no one had been able to get up, Arthur''s control of strength was almost perfect and not even one was able to withstand a simple palm attack, if he used magic, it would literally become a bloodbath. 5 minutes hadn''t even passed before Arthur arrived in front of the gigantic gates of the castle, if you look behind him you would only see more than a hundred soldiers on the ground. **************** Inside the castle in a big hall, with white pillars and golden walls, there was a middle-aged man sitting on a throne, to be honest, he was quite handsome with blue eyes and a blonde hair; he was lazily looking at the people in front of him and resting his chin on his hand. there were 3 people in front of him, while there was another throne next to him where a woman wassitting, she seemed to be chatting with a maid and giggling every now and then, as for the 3 people, it was an old man with white hair that reaches down to his chest, a bald man with scars on his face and last but least is a woman who held a staff and Had a witch hat on her head, she was pretty young and seemed energetic but she kept looking at the emperor respectfully. As they were apparently speaking about important matters, a soldier came to the hall while heavily breathing as if he was tired, he didn''t stop for a second before reaching a dozen or so meters in front of the Emperor and kneeling then he respectfully said "Your majesty, there''s an intruder! even after we sent our reinforcements, they were severely beaten!" The emperor who appeared non-caring a second ago furrowed his brows and spoke with interest "Ohhh~ an intruder? that''s indeed interesting, and to take down my soldiers, he must be up to something if he showed himself like that, Buzo why don''t you go there and see what''s happening" Buzo was the general of the army and one of the most trusted subordinates of the emperor, he was that bald man full of scars, he had a huge build and was full of muscles, one must say he was rather intimidating, especially if he stood before you, but that''s to be expected of someone who fought in a lot of wars. "Yes, your majesty! Your subordinate obeys! Plus my body has been itching for a fight, I just hope this intruder doesn''t get beaten before I arrive there." As he finished speaking, Buzo made a courteous bow towards the emperor and headed towards the existence of the big hall, but just as he was approaching the big door leading to the outside of the hall, it(the door) got completly destroyed and parts of it were sent flying every where. Everyone one present was momentarily startled, including the Emperor too, even his wife who waschatting happily a moment ago stopped talking and directed her gaze towards the source of the sound a black robed man who wore a strange mettalic mask was walking slowly towards their direction. Buzo who was the closest one to Arthur came back to his senses quickly and rushed at the black-robed man. After some beating, one of the soldiers finally told Arthur where the emperor is, so of course Arthur wouldn''t waste any second,although soldiers kept coming non-stop, they were easily disposed of and in just minutes he appeared in front of the big door leading towards the hall but he heard the conversation the emperor had with Buzo due to his insanely high dexterity and guessed the one addressed to by Majesty should definitely be the emperor, he breathed a sigh of relief and destroyed the door blocking the way. Once he entered he saw a middle aged man sitting on a throne, a woman next to him, there were also other people present but he paid them no heed. Just as he was approaching the emperor to finally talk to him, a bald man with a huge build rushed at him, to be honest his speed and the aura around this bald man were quite unique as Arthur judged him to be someone who has been through a lot of battles but anybody can conclude that if they saw Buzo. In no time Buzo arrived next to Arthur and threw a punch at him, but to Arthur, the attack speed of his opponent was a joke! heck, the Bishop Arnold was faster so someone of this caliber was just weaklings to Arthur and though he could evade, he didn''t, he also threw a punch while not using too much strength. When the 2 punches collided, you could only hear a loud cracking sound and in a half a second the collision came to an end but the result was not how the emperor and the others had envisioned. Buzo was sent flying with extreme speed until he crashed into a nearby wall, and the hand which was used to punch was completely broken, even it''s shape right know looked weird, the injury seemed quite serious as some bones can be seen, he was unconscious and didn''t seem he would wake up anytime soon. The emperor''s eyes turned serious as he saw what just happened and he unconsciously clenched his fists, he turned his head towards Arthur, only to see him slowly coming to his direction. The young women wearing the green robe and witch hat ran to Buzo with a worried face as she kept looking at his horrible injury, as for the old man next to her, he turned towards Arthur and gazed at him, but Arthur could hear him chant some incantation in a very low but quick voice, and when he appraised all of them he noticed that the Emperor was the second highest and this strange old man to be Lvl242 while the king is 211 and the women with the staff is Lvl199 as for that bald man he''s Lvl197. Having proved his strength, Arthur thought it was uncessary to continue fighting so he spoke with a cold yet threatening voice "I have come tonight to speak to the Emperor, not to fight, I have only been defending myself, now if you could stop attacking and let me talk." Seemingly surprised to what he just heard, the emperor who was also named Alexander Louis the II, frowned and seemed to be deep in thought as to how to handle this situation. As for the young-women, she became angry and yelled at Arthur "Haa? Who do you think you are? Barging in here and hurting people including Uncle Buzo and claiming it to be only self defense, plus you speak disrespectfully to our majesty" just as she finished she lifted her staff and began quickly chanting.. Not even 5 seconds passed before a violet fire speak appeared in front of her, as expected of a mage working under the emperor, she could control the highest flame excluding Arthur''s of course. The spear radiated some heat and pressure and it soon flew at Arthur, but the latter didn''t lift his hand to defend and just let the spear hit him. But what surprised the onlookers including Celcy, the young women who threw the spear is that the violent spear only hit the black robe and nothing happened, not even a scratch but that was to be expexted since he had immunity against all flames. The old man who seemed to be muttering something since a while ago was astonished when he saw what just happened but nevertheless, he smirked and shouted "Cubic earth cage." This particular skill was quite famous in this world and powerful earth mages could use it, like fire, earth magic is divided to basic medium and advanced and each has a specific colour, yellow for basic, brown for medium and jet black for advanced, of course, this skill is only used by people who achieved advanced earth magic and it is known to be one of the most binding logic as it is almost impossible to break free from the black cage for earth magic is known to be the best for defense. The old man cast the skill a spheric black earth surged from the ground and enveloped Arthur from all sides, from afar it looked like a black dome. As he saw the cage, the old man breathed a sigh of relief and nodded as if praising himself but not 10 seconds passed before Arthur appeared in front of the old man, with no time to react, he(the old man) could only stare with disbelief at the black robed man in front of him. Actually, Arthur could have easily broken that pathetic cage, hell even his dark barrier was tougher but he just teleported away, he also created black chains and made them bind the old man and Celcy to stop them from attacking recklessly and aimlessly like that, after all, it would be a waste of time and truthfully he didn''t come here to play. No matter how the old man struggled or how many magic spells he used, they were all useless and he couldn''t free himself so Celcy also couldn''t escape her bind, she could only stare maliciously at Arthur. Now that everything was calm, Arthur walked until he was 4 meters or so from Alexander he stood there waiting for the Emperor to speak. Alexander was truly afraid, he was strong, that''s true! but not as strong as Gen the old man who was bound by chains, and seeing Arthur just teleport like that, made him realise he is really someone dangerous and if he came here to assassinate him then he could only await his death, but he noticed earlier that the man in front of him said he was only here to talk so he decided to go along with that and see where that leads "W-what do you want?" To finally get a reply, Arthur was quite joyous, finally, someone talked instead of attacking, it seems the emperor was indeed a rational person. "finally speaking huh? Well I''ve only come here to warn you." "Warn me? Sorry but we do not even know you." "Whether you know me or not, keep your dogs away, especially your children, anyone from the royalty who dares disturb me again would die with you, you better watch yoursubordinates and tell them they provoked someone they should not have to!" Arthur''s tone was quite threatening and contained some killing-intent. Even though Alexander didn''t know exactly what happened, he couid grasp the general idea and it seems someone provoked this man, and this someone is surely from royality, he honestly didn''t have any choice right now since he didn''t know everything but he swore he would punish who ever was this reckless and idiotic to provoke this man. "Thus friend, you need not worry, no one will ever bother you" even though he was an emperor he spoke respectfully as he didn''t to just die like that by angering this man. "Since you understand then I have nothing to do here, also don''t call me ''friend''or I''ll cut your tong-" Before he could finish, the woman sitting beside Alexander, the queen could no longer hold her anger and shouted "Who the heck do you think you are, you are in front of the emperor, just because you are a little strong you dare be this arrogant, wait until the holy church come and we will see if you dare be this bossy!" She was flaming with anger and looked with contempt at Arthur, even though she saw him easily teleport and bind Gen and Celcy, she still shouted at him. *paaf* a loud slap noise soon came, Arthur came in front of her and slapped her with his hand, she was even sent flying a couple of meters. There was a red hand sign on her face and it seemed a little swollen, she was utterly shocked and could only hold her cheeks and glared fearfully at Arthur. Even Alexander was angry by what happened but he remained silent and held back his emotions. Arthur then turned around to leave but just after some steps he said "Remember, if I ever saw one of your dogs annoying me or my companion, not even God can save you, much less a petty church." Just as he finished speaking he disappeared from the hall, the chains binding Gen and Celcy also are gone and the hall became deathly silent. Finally, Alexander sighed and spoke with a loud tone "Gen, immediately investigate who is this, since he mentioned my children then they must know something, go ask them, also if anything happens just withdraw, we do not want to provoke someone like him." Gen just nodded and swiftly left as for Celcy she brought Buzo and left, but you could see she was still angry by what just happened, but some fear nonetheless grew in her heart as she saw how powerful Arthur was, at least she didn''t get slapped... Chapter 27 - 28.1 : Yamak After having dealt with the Emperor, Arthur used [Faster than death] to teleport away from the hall and with a dozen more teleportations, he arrived out of the castle. Since he achieved what he came here to do, it was time to return, so without staying any longer he started running towards Laksy city. It didn''t take him long to arrive there, so he used the teleportation array to go back to the academy. Just when he was making his way to his room he came across the principal who surprisingly was near the teleportation array. Though he noticed her and saw her smiling at him, he bypassed her without speaking, after all, he had nothing to tell her. "Sneaking away in the middle of the night, I wonder where were you?" She couldn''t help but finally speak and ask him because she honestly was curious, naturally, he would not sneak around at night and tonight was the first time he did, so she was wondering why he did that. In fact, she only saw him leave the academy earlier, but that was purely by accident so she decided to wait for him to come back, I guess you could say curiosity got the better of her. Arthur turned around to look at Sonia and coldly replied "Though I''m a member of the council, I don''t have to tell you everything I do, or do I?" As if expecting this kind of answer, Sonia giggled for a second before speaking again "Hehe~of course not Mr. Arthur~, I was just wondering that''s all" Arthur was quite irritated that his name was discovered, though it''s not like he was purposely hiding it, but the way the principal said his name seemed Like a teasing. Since she didn''t insist and he had nothing else to say he turned around and continued walking. Though she was disappointed he didn''t tell her what she wanted to hear, she could do nothing about it, after all it''s not like she could read minds and get the answer but him acting unfriendly made her feel a bit sour, she wanted to build a friendly relationship with him but he kept acting cold and unwilling... To be honest, Arthur hates people like the principal because behind that charming smile there is surely some schemes or plans, though she is kind and friendly on the outside, she must be crafty on the inside, as to be expected from a principal of apowerful magic academy, but of course that was only how Arthur thought of her, maybe his past made him think badly of everyone he encounters. Arthur never believed himself to be remotely kind, or right, he just does what he wants, maybe it''s bad or evil to others but that''s just how his mind works, for him everyone who might cause troubles to him is an enemy no matter if they are kind people or bad ones, they are all the same as long as they provoke him. He finally reached his room and found Lucy awake, she was sitting on the bed without doing anything apparently lost in thought, and when she saw Arthur come back, you could see her expression brighten and a breath-taking smile formed on her face. Arthur quickly sat beside her and softly said "I was just warning some idiots, why don''t we go to sleep?" Though she didn''t question him about what he was doing, he knew her nature and after some time with her he comprehended a little of her personality, he could pinpoint her mood just by looking at her face, though in public she kept an expressionless face, when she is with him she started to smile often and speak a lot and her heart seemed to open to him more and more, so when he saw her gaze now, he immediately knew she was a bit curious so of course would tell her. "Um!" She nodded at him and soon both of them slept in the usual position, she used his chest as a pillow and he wrapped his hands around her, hugging her tightly. Morning soon came and both of them quickly got ready and headed to class like usual, though it''s a bit weird for a council member to be attending class, however, Arthur didn''t particularly care about that and enjoyed the company of Lucy very much. Like this a few days passed peacefully until Arthur got summoned by the principal along with Lucy, so after classes, they both headed to Sonia''s office. It didn''t take them long to arrive, and once they entered Arthur saw that there were 3 council members present, Mary, the male beastman who apparently was named Mach and last but not least is the female elf. Arthur ignored them and sat with Lucy on a nearby sofa, seemingly nonchalant, once he got comfortable he looked at the principal as if expecting her to speak. This time the female elf who was quite arrogant last time didn''t dare talk and provoke Arthur for she honestly was afraid of what he was capable of, heck she even heard from the principal that he(Arthur) killed Frederic, who compared to her was many times stronger. "I see you finally came Mr. Arthur, well I have summoned you here for a special mission for you and 3 other council members" Sonia didn''t waste time contemplating Arthur and spoke directly about the mission, she knew his attitude so she didn''t waste time prolonging the talk, when she finished speaking she gazed at him to observe his reaction but he kept a poker face without even as much as flinch. Sonia waited for him to speak but even after a minute he still didn''t talk so she took his silence as a confirmation and continued talking "This mission will be quite dangerous, deep in the ghost island there is a true adult dragon who has been residing there for a long time, I want you 4 to try to steal an essence crystal from him" She posed for a second as if still observing Arthur, but with still no reaction, she smiled and said "What I want you to steal is an essence crystal. An essence crystal is a catalyst for using ''judgment'' and without it, we cannot use it, as for why we need it now, you should know very well how threatening the holy church had become and I want to take precautions..." To be honest Arthur was quite surprised, first as to why would she choose him to partake in this mission, and second is why would she need the essence crystal now, I mean normally they should have it always with them to prepare for any sudden attacks, so this was completely illogical, suspicions grew in his heart as he began to be more and more distrustful against the principal, there surely is a scheme behind this. "Alright, but my comrade will come with me" Since he was sure there is something going on, he had to bring Lucy, he had an uneasy feeling and he absolutely couldn''t let her stay here alone. "Of course, that''s exactly why I summoned her here too." As if expecting him to say that she immediately replied back to him while smiling. "Since it''s decided, you will head to the ghost island tomorrow morning." Sonia continued to talk about some other matters about the trip, and after half an hour, Lucy and Arthur left the office and headed towards their room. As they entered their room Arthur softly said "Lucy, sorry but I had to.." Before he could finish Lucy interrupted him and spoke "I know, something is suspicious about this mission.." It seems even Lucy found it strange, surprisingly she put a hand on her hip and began to think deeply about something. Arthur patted her head reassuringly while chuckling to himself as he found her pose very cute and enchanting especially with that green dress she was wearing, though he patted her head, he didn''t say anything, after all, words are meaningless between them, she knew he would protect her no matter what and he knew she would do the same even though she is not as strong as him. The night passed rather quickly and it was now morning, Arthur and Lucy went to the meeting place and found the 2 beastmen and elf waiting there. No words were needed and they proceeded, as usual, they took the teleportation array and appeared at the ghost island. As they were heading deeper in the island, Mary finally broke the silence and spoke to Arthur "The adult dragon is a lightning type and he is extremely strong but we do not need to beat it, just distract it for some time until we get the essence crystal, it is located in his(the dragon) cave with all the other treasures" Dragons were the greedy type and loved collecting treasures of all kinds and would never let go of them even if they died, so just stealing the treasure in front of it would enrage it even more. Arthur heard her but still remained silent which greatly angered her but nonetheless, she snorted and spoke again "You need to know that you have to distract him until we get the essence crystal, we picked you to do that because apparently, you are the strongest among us and with teleportation, you should win sometimes against him" Arthur still didn''t reply but this time she didn''t mind and kept walking ahead with Mach. Along the way, they encountered some strong monsters but the female elf waved her staff and killed them with her wind magic. Arthur could only sigh and repress his emotions, every time he bypassed a dead corpse without possessing it would be such a huge waste, after all, every single point of stats matters, he thought to himself that on the way back he would use the excuse of training and possess those corpses. They did indeed encounter some imoogis but they discretely bypassed them to not cause unnecessary troubles or attract even more beasts. After 3 hours of walking with decent traveling speed, a black mountain came in to view, it was very high and could be seen from a long distance, Arthur noticed it from earlier due to his keen senses but to normal people like Lucy the towering forest trees blocked almost all the view, plus the cloudy sky with no sun made it even harder to see. The mountain was very normal except it was jet black and extremely high, but the more they approached it the more Arthur noticed the surroundings become darker as if they were at night, but you can see various lightning around, striking the ground now and then and as they become closer to the edge of the mountain the lightning become more frequent. Mary and the female elf seemed a bit afraid as for Mach he held a poker face which surprised Arthur a little, he never heard the man talk but he somehow appeared special with his silent yet cold demeanor They finally reached the foot of the mountain and stopped there, Mary turned around to look at Arthur and said: "The dragon is probably at the summit of the mountain, his home is there so the treasures are likely to be there, we need you to distract him and bring him a little further from his home so we can sneak in and take what we need" Arthur was curious as to how she knew he lived above or even how she was so sure of that, but he gave up on that idea for the time beings and made the dark cloud and jumped on it along with Lucy. He decided to just get done with this quickly but he was overly cautious of the people here more than the dragon, sure he was way stronger than them but there were some strange things in this world that he still didn''t know about and those things can probably harm him even if he is this powerful. He created a barrier around Lucy, he made sure it''s complete and perfect and then he flew to the summit with her using the dark cloud. He then retrieved his staff, and also made a barrier around him, he didn''t know how powerful a dragon can be but a young earth dragon gave him a headache, so an adult one must be extremely strong too. He can use [hell arrow] but that was his trump card and he didn''t want to show it to them plus he was sure there is something plotted and to straight up use his trump card would put him at a disadvantage, also what if the arrow don''t work?that would only bring his doom. Once they reached the summit which looked like a huge crater that spanned a kilometer or so, Arthur saw a silver creature laying not too far away, seemingly asleep. The dragon had silver scales which honestly looked very beautiful and made him look majestic, lightning descended on him now and them but he seemed to be completely unaffected by it, not too far away from his there was a cave that could barely fit him, Arthur guessed that the treasures must be there. He contemplated the silver dragon for a second before he was interrupted by a deep yet calm voice "Who dares disturb Yamak?" The dragon opened his eyes for a second before closing them again when he saw that it was just a puny human as if not caring about these beings, he wanted to kill the ones who disturbed him but since it was just some weak humans he found it useless and a waste of time to do it so he resumed his nap. Dragons are creatures who didn''t love traveling, they always stuck to one place and made it their home, also they would sleep for a long time, especially the adult ones as they can survive without food for a very long time. Arthur was startled as it is the first time he heard a beast talk but that''s to be expected from a legendary being, after all, dragons are known to be able to talk human language when they reach adulthood. The First thing he did was appraise the dragon and he got this [Named lightning dragon(Yamak, the Unforgiven): Lvl637] ''Are you kidding me? How am I supposed to distract THAT!'' Arthur gritted his teeth in anger, the dragon''s level was completely out of his expectation after all the young earth dragon was only 100 and something but this one was a whopping 600, no matter how confident Arthur was, he didn''t even have the assurance to be able to win against Yamak, fortunately, he only had to win some time and if he couldn''t he would only run with Lucy and abandon the others, after all, who cares about their petty lives. He soon created a dozen or so dark spears and threw them at the silver dragon.... Chapter 28 - 28.2 : Might of Yamak Arthur threw the dark spears at the sleeping silver dragon, and with insane speed, they blazed through the air and struck him. But as Arthur expected, spears like that didn''t even scratch him, but the dragon seemed to have woken up. He stared coldly at Arthur for second before speaking with an annoyed tone "damn ants, you dare disturb Yamak even though he spared your petty lives!" As he finished speaking, he didn''t waste any second and charged at Arthur, but what was more terrifying is that he completely transformed into yellow lightning and his speed cannot be seen by naked eye, it was far more superior than Arthur''s. Fortunately, the distance between them was not small so Arthur quickly came back to his senses and teleported a distance away. Just when he reappeared, he was astonished to see that the dragon who was in the form of lightning was already in front of him as if he predicted his teleportation, and with a simple slash of his claws, Arthur was sent flying until he hit the ground. Yamak, seemingly sure he killed Arthur, turned his gaze towards Lucy who was very high in the sky, standing on the dark cloud, but surprisingly he didn''t attack her, instead he returned slowly near his cave. Arthur groaned from pain since he didn''t want to shut off his sense of pain, and that''s because if he did, he wouldn''t know if he was injured or not, moreover, this pain was nothing compared to what he experienced while evolving, but it still hurts! there was a deep cut on his chest, you could even see some bones, a simple slash from that dragon was really no joke and must not be taken lightly. Fortunately, his vitality was special and exceptionally high, so the wound was healing at fast speed, you could see the flesh and organs healing with the naked eye. Arthur got up and quickly created a dark spear again but this time he fused it with void magic. To be honest the spear looked quite strange and it emanated an ominous feeling. He created around 30 or so of those spears then he willed them to attack Yamak. As for the dragon who was leisurely returning to his home, he didn''t expect the human to survive and even counter-attack. One must know that humans who can survive a blunt attack from him are extremely rare. This time, Yamak didn''t stay still and receive the spears because he felt they are no ordinary ones and they can be harmful so he easily dodged them. As the attacks continued, Arthur became depressed, he couldn''t even hit the dragon, much less match him with speed, it seemed as if he was being played by Yamak. The dragon''s speed was just crazy, every time he moves he transforms into a streak of lightning, sometimes there is some lightning attacking him from above but he barely dodged them with [faster than death]. Arthur created more spears and weapons to attack the dragon but it didn''t hit him even once, and what made matters worse is that the council members who were supposed to come back shortly are still in the cave even though 5 minutes have passed. Yamak finally began personally attacking and tried to slash Arthur with his claws again, while he was charging at him(Arthur) with his extreme speed, Arthur decided to face him head on, since he knew even if he teleported, the dragon can predict where he will teleport to and that made him stressful and depressed, in fact even the earth dragon could predict where he will teleport, which confused Arthur but he paid it no heed for the moment as it was not the time to think about something like that. Arthur created a flame sword this time, it was dark red and it emanated an extraordinary heat that could melt everything. He held it firmly and used [dark burst] and [void slash], he knew how powerful the claws of the dragon were so he used everything he got. The dragon quickly reached him, and once he was just a couple of meters in front of Arthur, he transformed back to his original form and slashed with his claws but this time you could notice some green lightning in his claws. ''BOOOOM'' The impact of the sword and the claws were just earth-shattering. All surroundings trees and rocks were annihilated, and the place of impact was divided into 2 parts, one seemingly black as if burned by flames and the other part was much less bad but nevertheless ravaged and destroyed with some green lightning striking from the sky now and then. Both the opponents were pushed back, Arthur was gravely injured, the arm used to strike with the sword was now gone, and blood flowed endlessly, he also seemed to be breathing heavily. In fact, that attack from the dragon was extremely strong, not only was his arm gone, even his internal organs seemed to be injured, somehow that green lightning invaded his body and injured him internally. As for the dragon, he was less hurt than Arthur but his claws were melted and some of his arms were burned, you could see gold blood flowing from his arm. He groaned for some time before speaking "This flame..., you! Who are you? why are you attacking Yamak!" After receiving this kind of injury, the dragon became cautious, andhe couldn''t help but ask for the identity of his enemy, because someone who can hold his grounds against a dragon and even injury it is by no means someone weak, he surely must be known in this world, so why would this person come here to attack him?maybe for his treasures? "My identity is none of your business, as for why I came here? well let''s say it''s for entertainment" Arthur had only wanted to distract him for some time but even after a decent period of time, those bastards didn''t come back, ''Did they run away? Or they encountered some problem? Nevertheless, I''m only going to distract him for a few minutes before running with Lucy, this dragon is out of my league...'' Arthur adjusted his body, and prepared to continue fighting, his vitality was helping him and his wounds were slowly but surely healing, even his lost arm will regenerate but that will take a more or less an hour, so he has to fight while missing an arm. This time he created chains from chaotic dark magic and void magic and made them chase the dragon to bind him, actually using the chains against big targets is very efficient, but unfortunately the dragon kept dodging. After multiple tries, he managed to wrap the chain around Yamak''s leg but somehow he broke it with a whip of his tail, which astonished Arthur as it was the first time some weapon created by 2 attributes was destroyed, though he was surprised, he didn''t dare daze off because a second can decide his life or death, one must know a single slash from the dragon did 7000 damage, as for the last attack, it did 12000, so it''s to be expected for him to be seriously injured, after all, he was in the bring of death. He gave up on the idea to bind him and created flame spears which lengthened 10m, and once the dragon saw them he became extremely alert, heck! he even backed off a bit. Yamak knew how dangerous those flames are, and he obviously didn''t want to face them head on like earlier. Creating flame spears didn''t consume mana so Arthur abused the hell out of it and created spears, arrows, swords, and threw them at the dragon, but to no avail, when Yamak transformed into lightning, Arthur could not cope with him(Yamak), and all of his attacks missed, the dragon even kept being passive anddidn''t dare approach Arthur. Finally, Arthur got enough of this prolonged fight and decided to retreat, the council members didn''t seem they were going to come back anytime soon, and he is being attacked by the streaks of lightning, and to be fair, being struck by hundreds of them did injure him. If one looked at him, they will only see a bloodied figure, even his black robe was covered in blood, he was wounded all over, and the injuries spanned from minor cuts to deep bloody holes which looked painful. Lucy who was watching the fight from afar in the sky, was clenching her small hands until blood came out, she gritted her teeth and blamed herself for being weak, if she was strong enough to fight beside him, he wouldn''t have been this gravely injured, whenever she saw him in this state, her heart ached, she regretted coming to this academy, because if coming to the Academy makes him suffer then there is no meaning to it, she knew he is doing this for her and it pained her even more. ********************* Back at the academy, Sonia was in her office and surprisingly Mary, Mach, and the female elf was in front of her. "Big sister! Are you sure we have to do this?" Mary seemed anxious and unwilling for what about to happen and even with her blind trust to her big sister, she couldn''t help but ask. The principal seemed lost in thought and tapped her pretty white fingers on the table as if she was struggling with something. "What do you mean by that, Mr. Sonia''s decision is wise! who would want that monster living with us, plus what if he turns against us? that would be our disaster, you are still young so you don''t understand! Hmpf!" The female elf snapped at Mary and shouted at her as if lecturing her, so all Mary could do is look down and shut up. The principal who was silent from the very beginning finally spoke and said "Mr. Mach, what do you think about the current situation" Surprisingly, she asked the silent Beastman who almost never talked, as wanted to hear his opinion, actually he was one of the first members of the council and his opinion is important for her to make a decision. "Mr. Sonia, actually, I think it was not wise to do ''that'', but it''s too late right now and we can only proceed as planned" Once she heard that, Sonia could only sigh and wave her hand saying "Alright, I will contact Mr. Molrid" She then took a crystal and injected some Mana into it and after some seconds, a connection was established between another crystal which obviously belonged to the demon Molrid. "Mr. Molrid, is everything ready?" After some seconds without a response, Molrid hastily replied "Yes yes! Mrs. Sonia, it has been completely charged, and it can fire 3 shots, indeed after a long time without use, it has accumulated a big amount of Mana." Even after hearing that, Sonia was not happy, quite the opposite, in fact, she was depressed, she could only sigh. She never wanted this but her ''big sister'' told her that him staying in the academy would only bring its destruction, even that demon girl was dangerous. Actually Sonia was from a very secretive and powerful clan that not many people knew of, and the clan controlled the academy for a long time, she usually took all decisions about the academy herself, but sometimes her big sister, who also is the current clan master, would order her to do things in the academy and she can not disobey for she knows that her sister is NEVER wrong, and disobeying her is like betraying her clan and her own family. Plus; between Arthur and her big sister, of course, she would choose her sister, after all, blood is thicker than water. And this time, to her surprise, her big sister ordered her to get rid of those two at all costs, and there was no room for denial, and if she didn''t, her sister will personally come, and see exactly how her sister handle things, so she decided to just be done with it. To be honest, Sonia didn''t dislike Arthur, even though he acted cold and indifferent, she knew he was kind and you could see that by the way, he treats Lucy, he is overprotective and never leaves her side, so killing him like that made her feels evil and disgusted with herself but there is nothing she could do. For someone like her sister, the holy church or whatever are just ants so even if she killed Lucy, her big sister told her that she will handle the church, so there is no need to be afraid of it being angry because she killed the person they were looking for. She mustered her courage and seriously said "Use it! Fire at the ghost island, exactly at the lightning mountain!" When he received the order, Molrid didn''t delay any further and fired the gigantic cannon, also known as ''judgment'', surprisingly the cannon immediately fired, in fact, the cannon was enormous so obviously the attack would be crazy big too, what was special about this weapon is that it fired a special kind of mana which annihilates everything in its way. Though it''s strong and it can indeed erase something like the holy church HQ from existence, it cannot completely destroy ghost island but it was enough to destroy the lightning mountain along with the other mountain in a radius of 200 kilometers around it, and even after that, the land would be poisoned, so there is absolutely no way to survive such a terrifying thing. The cannon fired a blueish light, the light was very bright and the pressure it emanated was no joke, someone with a normal strength would piss their pants seeing it, as for its speed, it was even faster than Yamak. ******* Arthur has decided to retreat so he had to distract the dragon until he dashes to Lucy and bring her with him. First, he created many flame spears and threw them at the dragon to lure him into a specific location, while the spears were doing their job, he began creating the hell arrow, and in no time it was created. As always, the arrow looked terrifying, even the silver dragon narrowed his eyes and felt a little fearful. Though it made him feel some fear, he still didn''t back off, actually, he doubled in size and transformed into a green lightning dragon, streaks of green lightning never ceased to stop hitting him, and every time it did, he became more and more powerful. As the 2 opponents prepared strong attacks and readied themselves, and as Arthur was going to fire that spear at the currently green lightning dragon, his expression abruptly changed, and panic showed on his face. Even though he didn''t have any strong skill to detect danger, he knew a disaster was coming and once he turned his head he saw a bright blue light coming towards him, it would engulf everything surrounding him including Lucy and Yamak. "Lucy!!" Sensing the great danger, he teleported 4 times to arrive in front of Lucy and immediately began creating a large barrier, but unfortunately the time it took him to teleport was barely enough and when he was going to create that barrier, the dazzling blue light already arrived. He had high intelligence and wisdom so he could clearly think but there was no absolute safe solution, if he used that skill that made him unkillable he would surely survive but what about Lucy? will she survive if he covered her with his body while using that skill? He was in a dilemma and was running out of time, ''live together, or die together!'' While thinking that, he hugged Lucy while covering every inch of her body and faced his back to the light, preparing for the impact, last thing he did was commanding the arrow and willed it to charge at the blue light, as for the dragon, he dashed at the blue light while roaring.... Chapter 29 - 29 : A Long Winter While Arthur braced himself for the impact, and the [Hell Arrow] accompanied by Yamak charged at the blue light, a deafening sound was created for the impact. It seemed the Blue light targeted the mountain but Arthur and the others didn''t escape the danger. The sound was so loud that it could be heard from afar, even the students in the academy did hear it. From afar, it was as if a nuclear attack struck the ghost island, moreover that blue light is a condensed mana and its power is immeasurable. Once the blue light struck, Arthur could feel his back disintegrating and burning like hell, it was as if it''s being eaten by the blue light, but soon the light covered all his body and the pain increased even more. even the black robe showed signs of breaking, blood flowed and wounds covered his body, the light never ended so he could only grit his teeth and cover Lucy, he knew if she was exposed to this light like him she would die as she didn''t have stats like him. Even when he tried his best to protect her, the light managed somehow injure her in her arms and legs but compared to Arthur, it was literally nothing. Even his conscience began fading, he could no longer hold and the light didn''t seem to stop, heck! Even his ears were bleeding from the sound of impact, though it''s supposed to only be the sound of the impact, it didn''t stop and the ringing made his headache like hell. Fortunately, just as he was going to fall unconscious the light disappeared but if one looked at the scenery, they would be dumbstruck, especially if one knew the previous scenery. Now it only looked like a huge pit, you could only see darkness as if it was a long forgotten abyss, there was not even a place to land in. Arthur didn''t have the time to be surprised, with barely any strength left, he commanded the cloud to quickly find a place to land on. After a dozen of minutes they finally find a place, actually it was a huge cliff, and on the far horizon you could see the forest, but it seemed unusually quiet as if all beasts were afraid. Arthur paid that no heed and with his last strength he landed the cloud at the cliff, then he finally fell unconscious, he knew Lucy was fine so he breathed a sigh of relief. If one would see him now, they would surely not recognize him as a human being, his left leg is gone and his right one is half gone too, with some bones sticking out, his chest isbloody and full of holes as big as fists, as for his back, there is nothing left of it, it''s as if he didn''t have a back, no bones, no blood, just nothing, if one saw him they would surely think he is dead for sure. Lucy was trembling as she saw his state, she thought he was dead yer she subconsciously began calling for him while shaking his body. "A-Arthur!..Arthur!..." Even in the middle of calling out for him, she began sobbing as she was afraid of the possibility of him dying, then she would come back to being alone in this world, but of course she can''t handle that anymore, not after experiencing true warmth, and being cherished and loved by someone, for her death is way better than being alone again. After some time, she still didn''t get any response, nevertheless she didn''t give up that easily, she dragged Arthur''s body or what was left of him and didn''t stop until she found a small cave, she knew it''s a dangerous forest, so she made a curse allowing her to cover the cave, it was a simple curse that distracts weak beasts or makes them feel as if the place was ominous, it may work on weak animals but against powerful beasts like an imoogi, they would be easily discovered, so she could only hope for the best. Lucy really didn''t know what to do, she didn''t have any powerful healing skills, even normal healing was not available for her, so she could only use the miraculous healing potion he gave her. She had hundreds of them, so she made him drink them. This time she didn''t restrain herself in any way and made him drink those portions using her mouth, it can be considered kissing, but she didn''t care, as long as he is healed then it''s fine, though it''s the first time she kissed him on the lips, and she didn''t do it in the past because she was afraid of her fears resurfacing again, but for the time being what most scared her is him dying, and if he wakes up she would no longer be shy about something like this. She had a lot of objects in her storage ring, so she took out a bed which Arthur gave to her from his storage back then, and then she put him on the bed. Her mind was much calmer now, and after some thinking and observation, she saw that his wounds were healing but for some reason or another, his healing is extremely slow. Lucy would feed him a potion twice a day and never ever leave his side, she had enough food to eat but she didn''t eat, she would fall asleep while sitting next to him. She held his healed arm gently as if afraid of hurting him, and would sometimes start sobbing silently while calling out for him "Arthur*sob* please wake up *sob*, I-I would never reject you again*sob*, please*sob*.....I love you.." Days passed quickly, and after 2 weeks his body was half-healed, only his back is still gone, Lucy didn''t lose hope but she still felt extremely depressed. Not even once did she leave his side, she only ate enough for her to live, and every day she would shed tears while calling out to him. Her heart ached, looking at his state and his back, she knew he protected her using his body, and she would rather die than make him suffer this again. Lucy would stroke his chin with her beautiful white hand while lovingly smile at him but become worried the next second and anxious thoughts would overwhelm her. ... A month passed and Lucy never stopped giving him the potion, in any case, she started giving him more, and fortunately, his back started slowly healing. She became extremely joyful as she saw that, she couldn''t wait for the day he would wake up. ...... 2 months passed since the incident, and now his body is completely healed, including his back, Lucy was beyond happy and waited for every second with impatience, hoping to see him open his eyes, but that never happened, a week even passed but he still didn''t wake up. Having passed 2 months taking care of him, Lucy became anxious seeing him not wake up, however, she didn''t feel lonely, even though he was unconscious, he is still next to her, and even if there is a chance in a million that he will wake up, she would still stick with it. Every day passed like the previous one, from morning until night, she would stay next to him on the bed, the cave was sealed with a huge rock, and a fire was lit not too far from them. In fact, it was winter right now, and even with the cave being sealed, it was still cold, so she lit a fire and she would sleep next to him under the blankets. What was more surprising is that she would take his and her clothes off and stick to him closely for better heat, first she felt embarrassed but after that she no longer felt shy or anything of the sort, more so, not even once did she become afraid of him even when sleeping naked with him, quite the opposite, in fact, she hoped he would wake up and hugged her back, but to no avail, he never woke up and she would end up soundlessly crying... There were some accidents when strong monsters discovered the cave, but she fought them until the bitter end, then she would come back to his side with bloody wounds on her, if he saw her like this, Arthur would fly into an endless rage. There was even a time an imoogi found out about the cave and attacked them, so she had to lure it very far away then barely escape, but she didn''t come out unscathed, she was seriously injured and could barely walk, the imoogi was too much for her, nevertheless she never gave up or even thought of giving up, heck! Even when she was luring the imoogi she was worried about the snow wolves that might ambush Arthur. She knew his body somehow became very vulnerable even though he was completely healed and even a Lvl 45 snow wolf can hurt him if not kill him. She was deathly worried and only when she finally came back to the cave and found him safe did she breathe a sigh of relief. That time she was so injured that she had to rest for a week, but that was a damnable week as the wolves sniffed her blood all the way to the cave so she had to take care of them regardless of her wounds. After completely killing them and getting rid of the danger, she would as always come back to his side. Sometimes, when she is on the brink of death in a hard fight against a beast, she would think, now it''s time for her death as the opponent is stronger but at the last second she would muster her courage and fight until the very end to survive. Though all of that happened just before winter came. However, when it finally came, monsters stayed home and would come out rarely, with the exception of snow wolves of course. Not a day passed, she didn''t wish to find him awake when she opens her eyes after a long sleep, but all of that became hopeless dreams as time slowly passed. To be honest, she didn''t know why he didn''t wake up but she guessed maybe it had to do with his soul, maybe that bright blue light was also a soul attack? In fact, in this world, there are physical attacks and soul attacks, but the soul attacks are almost non-existent and only certain beings can use them. It is said soul attacks are terrifying as they use your worst fears and nightmares to destroy your soul, and of course, without a soul, you would only be an empty shell and your body will soon deteriorate. Lucy was sure he didn''t die and his soul is still existing, if not he would not have been completely healed, but him staying unconscious made her guess that surely his soul is affected and is either slowly weakening or slowly healing itself, but she had no way to know for sure, so she was confused as what to do, but in the end all she could truly do is wait and hope for the best. Days passed and Lucy no longer stayed next to him all day, well technically she did, but she didn''t hold his hand and wait for him to wake up, No! Instead she began practicing magic in the cave, right next to him, moreover, she would read books related to souls. Actually, all the books Arthur got from Zodiak are now stored in a single storage ring, which is available for him and Lucy and of course, he handed her the ring and would only ask for it when he needed a book. She read numerous books that contained information about souls and soul attacks, and one must know that those books belonged to Zodiak, so every one of them was very special and detailed. Though her reading speed was not like Arthur, she managed to get decent knowledge about souls, and with the practicing and previous fights, her strength skyrocketed and her level became 112. One need to know that to level up is by no means easy, Arthur can do that quickly because of ''X'' blessing, but she didn''t have that, nevertheless she managed to level up so much, so that totally proves how much she struggled and worked to become stronger to protect him from those beasts, she even stored the corpses for him to possess when he wakes up, a gentle and enchanting smile would form on her faceevery time she remembered him patting her head while smiling or when he hugged her or slept in her lap, those were the best memories she got, and never will she forget them... Her usage of magma was now nb the beginning of [Advanced Magma Magic] and that was something extraordinary, one must know that to get to advanced in an attribute, one needs to practice for dozen of years, and even more years to reach advanced in special attributes as they were more powerful but they took more time to muster, while she practiced for less than a year, she guessed it must have to do with her family or blood, since she didn''t know her origin, she didn''t think much about it right now. ................. It has been 7 months since the incident and Lucy managed to finally find a clue and maybe a possible solution. As for her practice and strength, she managed to reach advanced in Darkness magic and perfection in fire magic, her fire was now Violet, the strongest kind, also in this long winter there were numerous fights with yetis(AN:google the name to know what it is), and snow wolves, so she accumulated hundreds of those wolves, her level rose again and she managed to reach LVL131. However, that was only after thousands of bloody fights that injured her, every one of those battles was a struggle to her, nevertheless, with every fight that passed, her control in darkness, fire and magma became insanely good, the coordination in using them was beyond perfect. Her [Advanced magma magic] reached the middle level and can now be considered quite terrifying, and with the strong curses of darkness magic she would win every fight except when those damned snow wolves would attack in a big pack of hundreds, they were very clever and very persistent, nonetheless Lucy always won even when she was covered with injuries. She read a lot of books and finally found something that may wake him up, it was ''soul search'', it''s very ancient ritual, while there is a strong darkness curse similar to this ritual, it is not near as strong as this ritual. The book mentioned that this ritual is used to invade the target''s soul, and get its memories or bind it with your blood so you can control it. It is indeed a sinister ritual, as to be expected from a book which belonged to Zodiak who was known as a mythical being, however, Lucy wanted to use this ritual to her advantage and see what is happening to Arthur. She missed his touch, his voice, and his behavior, it has been a long time since she talked to him but she still didn''t lose hope and since she found something that may help him then so be it. To use ritual you need some ingredients, but they were all very simple and within her reach, so in no time she managed to assemble them, what was left was a drop of her blood and some of his hair. As the last 2 things were acquired, she drew the mysterious circle and strange symbols like the book indicated, then she put the ingredients, after saying some incantations with some strange language that even she didn''t understand, the circle excluded a black light and in a matter of seconds, her surroundings changed and she no longer was in a cave. She was floating in some sort of dark space, there were stars all over, with all kinds of size. Lucy was astonished as she didn''t think the inside of someone''s soul is like this, or maybe it differs from person to another? She began floating until she saw a dim light not too far away from her location, so she slowly flew towards to check what it is, since the ritual is meant to bind someone or steal their memories then surely it can do other things, it was just that Zodiak used it for evil things. When she touched that light, she was transferred to another place. Lucy now is in an empty room with an iron door, the room reeked of blood and other disgusting things, the smell alone was agonizing, and in the middle was a man she recognized at first sight, it was obviously Arthur, but his state was horrifying and his eyes seemed empty as if he didn''t feel anything. Since she knew of his past, she totally guessed that she is in his memories, nonetheless, she tried calling out to him but that was useless of course. She saw as the memories accelerated, and people came torturing him, there was also a particular woman who came to mock him or torture him in a disgusting way, it would be a lie to say Lucy was not angry and sad but no matter how she tried she couldn''t change the past. Memories changed and she saw his childhood, high school, etcetera.. She was astonished to see the new world, by that I mean the world he lived in, the towering buildings or strange machines, she stared in disbelief at all of that. Very soon, she was cast out when she saw enough and she started roaming the dark space in search of the problem in his soul. After some time, she finally found Arthur naked, while being bound by blue chains, he seemed to be in a sleep-state. Lucy tried to approach him but a strange orb above him seemed to exclude a terrifying pressure, it didn''t let her get even a little closer, so she only could call for him, endlessly without stopping, until she could no longer do it. Time seemed to be running out, and the distance between them became wider, but even with that happening she never ceased her calls and yells. At some point, her efforts and yells did indeed reach him and his body twitched, the chains began shattering slowly until they disappeared when were strangely sucked of the strange orb above him, nonetheless even after the chains broke, he seemed to be still asleep, Lucy did clearly see that and only then did she stop and let the energy cast her out of his soul. To be honest, she didn''t know if she was successful or not, but her guts told her that the chains were definitely the problem but now that they are shattered, he would wake up soon, hopefully. She didn''t retry the ritual and continued with her practice while sleeping next to him every night. ....... 2 more months passed since the ''Soul Search'', and now it has been 9 months since the incident, Arthur''s hand twitched a little and he slowly opened his eyes at last.... Chapter 30 - 30 : An Unbreakable Bond Arthur opened his eyes for the first time in a very long time, just as his eyes opened, he heard notifications come one after another ''ting''... [Your soul have been weakened by (Pure Mana chains) for a certain period of time : 1 year / 3 months left] [Due to your weakened soul -99% to all stats for 1 year : 3 months left] [Orb of the fallen Overgods has absorbed the (Pure Mana chains), the restriction on the blessing of Tul''ah has been lifted] [The blessing of the Overgod of Misery, Tul''ah is now available] [Blessing of Tul''ah : Known as the tyrannic and evil Overgod, always being alone until he fell in love with a mortal, he shared his powers with her to make her immortal like him, by doing that he was punished by the heavens : Can link your strength to one person, you will gain 50% of his stats, while he gains 60% of yours] [Congratulations! You have obtained [Peak Sword Mastery](passive): While using a sword, +30% damage/ +15% speed] [Congratulations! You earned the title: One with the sword: you do not need a sword to attack, even your fingers can be one, and the bonus from sword mastery still applies] [You have gained a new skill(active) : [Lone sword] : You unsheath and sheath your sword at lightning speed and a pure sword slash is created which have strong cutting power] [Having gained Tul''ah blessing, your stats have been increased please check your status window for more details] Arthur could barely read the notifications, his body was sore and he couldn''t even get up, so he only looked around, only to see Lucy who was training stare at him with wide-open eyes, as if she couldn''t believe what she was seeing. "H-hey..." His voice seemed a bit weak, he barely talked and he is already feeling a little tired, the astonished Lucy soon jumped on him while crying non-stop. Before he could even react, she was already hugging him tightly and sobbing, it was as if he was gone for a long time, which he obviously was. Arthur mustered some strength and hugged her back, his body seemed to be heavy and surprisingly he was naked under the blankets but he paid it no heed for the time being. Even after some time passed, Lucy was still crying so Arthur finally spoke again "Now now silly girl, there is no need to cry, I''m awake, see?" He continued stroking her silver hair gently until she calmed down, nonetheless, she kept hugging him and laid down comfortably next to him, it seemed she didn''t mind him being naked which surprised him a lot. The first thing that was on his mind was how long was he unconscious so he asked her "H-How long was I unconscious" Lucy looked at him joyfully, one couldn''t believe that she was crying a while ago, she felt beyond happy, for him to finally wake up, it is like a dream for her, after waiting for such a long time, he was finally awake, she held him so tight as if afraid he would disappear if she let go. She gazed at his face, though it seemed a bit pale it was still charming, his blood red eyes that would terrify anyone were now looking at her with softness and love, that alone made her heart beat so fast and her cheeks to redden, the love she held for him was immeasurable. She quickly approached his face and kissed him directly on the lips, and to be honest he was dumbstruck by her bold act. He never kissed her like this and never tried to, so, her doing this abruptly, made him surprised, however one would be lying to say he didn''t enjoy the feel of her soft lips resting on his, that feeling was like travelling into a dream world, so he didn''t push her back and instead kissed her back, and she seemed to be neither disgusted or angry, quite the opposite, in fact, she felt even happier. After some time enjoying the kiss, they finally separated, Arthur''s face was a bit flushed, as for her she didn''t seem the least bit embarrassed, she smiled back at him coquettishly. After having slept naked next to him for months, there is nothing to be afraid of, moreover she no longer felt hesitant and she would wholly give her body to him if he ever desired, her tragic past was nothing compared to what she has been through these 9 months, the fear of losing him was more intense than the fear of those men, in any case, she didn''t fear them anymore. Arthur was still in a daze after what just happened and stared dumbly at demoness in front of him. As for Lucy, she could not help but giggle a bit after seeing his dumbfounded look. Arthur snapped out of it after some time, but he did something unexpected, he reached for her face with both his hands and put them on her soft cheeks and slowly kissed her again on the lips, though his action surprised her, she did not struggle and kissed him back. Arthur could not forget that feeling so he unconsciously kissed her, he thought he screwed up, but seeing Lucy welcoming him, he continued kissing her, even his tongue invaded her mouth and you could hear her moan a bit. "Mn..." Lucy did the same and soon their kiss became extremely erotic but he didn''t go any further and only kissed her but that kiss was enough to hold him for another hundred years, it would be an everlasting feeling of pleasure and happiness for him. One must know Lucy is an extreme beauty, her long silver hair, alluring black eyes that could steal every man''s heart, also not to forget her snow white skin and voluptuous body, she was indeed petite compared to normal women, but only by a little bit and her breasts are considered well developed, adding her perky and round butt and her curvy waist, that made her look like a goddess that descended from another realm. She was wearing a simple leather shirt and some black pants, nonetheless she looked gorgeous and seeing her made him fall in a daze, but he didn''t dare touch her in anywhere for he still respected her and her decisions, even though she kissed him there were still limits. After some time they separated again and both of them were panting heavily. It was the first time for them they experience something like this but nonetheless, they both liked that feeling, to be close to the one you love and to be totally accepted by them. This time, Arthur didn''t apologize for what he did as he knew she didn''t mind and there is no need for pointless words. Lucy wrapped her hands around his neck and smiled brightly at him, and it was really a breath-taking sight. After they both sat up comfortable on the bed, Lucy being on his lap still not letting go, she finally spoke "..9 months, you have been unconscious for 9 months" To be honest, he expected himself to be out cold for long but not THIS long was just astonishing, 9 months is not a short period, it''s true the notifications also indicated 9 months but he didn''t focus much on it and he wanted to hear it fromLucy. It really pained him when he thought about it, for 9 months she must have been struggling alone and even taking care of him, he could only blame his weakness "I-I''m sorry..for 9 months you.." Before he could finish, she interrupted him by kissing him and stopping him from further speaking. The kiss ended quickly this time, she then looked at him and softly said "Don''t apologize, I''m more than happy to see you awake, as for the 9 months, just being by your side was enough" Arthur didn''t how to reply, actually he didn''t even know why the sudden change in Lucy but maybe many things happened in those months, anyway, his view of her never changed, and he would always love her dearly, even more so now when he saw how worried she was. As he was thinking about the past, the memory of the bright light resurfaced, and he remembered being attacked by it "that blue light...." Once he mentioned this, even Lucy became angry and killing intent emanated from her eyes, she replied while clenching her fists "It''s surely those bastards from the academy, I''m sure it was their weapon, ''judgment'', there is no other weapon that can cause that much devastation..." Arthur didn''t have 9 months to think thoroughly like her, but once she mentioned that, it seemed logical, plus he believed her guess to be on point. He truly was enraged and angry, he gritted his teeth and had already begun to plan how he is going to slaughter all the academy, especially that damned principal. ''Just you wait! My revenge would be bloody, and no one can save you. Sonia...'' Though he was angry, there was no need to show it to Lucy and since he is greatly weakened right now, he could only wait. After reading the notifications again, he was both happy and sad, first sad because he needs 3 more months to recover, but happy because of the new blessing and powerup, since he is weakened right now, it was useless to check his status so he decided to do it once he recovered, the same thing applied for the link. If lucy is going to get more than half his stats then he would be much less worried about her, and of course, the link would be with her, who else would he chose besides his dear woman. Both of them spent the day speaking, Lucy never let go of him for even a second and would even kiss him every now and then. He came to learn that they are not far from the impact, in a small cave, and after some observation, it was indeed a cave, though now it was decorated from bookshelves to tables and chairs, it seems Lucy decorated it well, and it resembled a small house rather than a cave. the entrance was blocked by a huge boulder and some runes, in fact, she learned some sealing spells from Zodiak''s books and used them on the entrance to block the enemies. Arthur became even more surprised when he learned about herLvl which was 140 now, she almost reached him, though she didn''t tell him it rose because of the fights, he already knew that, because that was the only way to level up really quickly in a short amount of time. She told him about her improvement in darkness and magma and showed him her new violet fire, she looked very proud of herself and showed her new skills and techniques to him, so he couldn''t help but come hug her from behind and imprint a deep kiss on her lips. she was startled for a bit before relaxing and letting him kiss her, it had already become a usual thing for them to kiss, especially Arthur who would kiss her a lot, and that made her giggle and tease him "Hmph! You never stop with your kisses!" Every time she would tease like this he would become depressed and feel guilty as if he angered her but also every time that happens she would giggle and kiss him while he is lost in those guilty thoughts, actually she didn''t know why but she loved teasing him and would always do that, even though she never did it in the past. She more than anyone else knew that she changed, and became more open when she is with him, she didn''t hide any emotion and never ever acted cold towards him. Passing one day with him made her forget all she has been through in her past and the bloody fights she had in those 9 months, just one day made her feel as if she was dreaming, never did she know that the company of a lover can be this comfortable. It''s indeed true, they were lovers even before the incident, but the interractions changed, before she hugged him and held hands but still felt embarassed, and when she offered her body but then couldn''t do it, that was evidence proving she didn''t forget her painful past yet, she even didn''t directly kiss him, but she changed. When he saved her and nearly died, it affected her, and being without him for 9 months made her realise what''s more important, and a past is still past and she should focus on him, who loves her more than anything and would sacrifice everything for her. She knew that so that''s why she fed him the potions like that, she knew that so that''s why she slept next to him naked not caring if it''s embarrassing or not, to provide heat for him for she knew he somehow became very vulnerable and his body is like any normal commoner and the cold of the winter would freeze him. She knew that so that''s why she fought endlessly to protect him from every danger and cause herself to be gravely injured, nevertheless she didn''t regret any of her decisions, and decided she would live just for him just as he only lives for her. She now knew his past as she saw his memories, and she understood his feelings more than anyone, so there was no need to hold back anymore. .... At the end of the day, Arthur managed to walk some steps with the help of Lucy who was supporting him, he already wore a white robe to cover himself. Lucy was deathly afraid so she didn''t let him walk alone even with his insistence. "No means no! You should rest, since it said 3 months then we have to wait 3 months, there was no need to rush" Even her behavior seemed to have slightly changed, she would become panicked every time he falls and would forbid him from walking alone, it''s like a mother worried about her child, every time he saw her behave like that, he would burst into laughter. She would pout when she see him laugh at her, but a smile would soon form on her face, she just couldn''t get angry with him even if she wanted to. Arthur body seemed to still be very slowly recovering and even after 3 days, he could not walk alone. Those 3 days were like heaven for Lucy, she didn''t practice and would pass all day long with him, either chatting or helping him stabilize his body, every second passed, their relationship deepened even more, and Arthur was no longer embarrassed of kissing her, moreover he told her he would kiss her everytime he wakes up in the morning, and indeed he held his promise. Though they kissed intimately, they never did anything beyond that, to be honest, Lucy didn''t mind at all, but she didn''t say anything, as for Arthur he was hesitating, after they become this close, he didn''t want to ruin it, and he didn''t know what she would think of him if he ever did anything obscene, maybe she would leave him? Curse at him? Or even worse, he could not think about that, his heart would really break if she ever left him, or if he hurt her in any way possible, so he decided not to do anything for now and wait to see what happens. On the morning of the fourth day, while they were both sleeping, a loud sound woke them both up, they were obviously wearing clothes but still hugging each other, while sleeping soundlessly on the comfortable and big bed, but the sound woke them up and especially Lucy, she was on high alert and jumped from the bed with fast speed. She definitely knew this sound, it was of an imoogi, she lured a dozen or so imoogi out of this place in those months but she had gotten injured in return, so she obviously would recognize their sound from afar. Arthur gave her his gloves and boots since she can equip them and with high leveled staff, she readied herself while saying "Don''t worry, an imoogi coming here is not unusual, I will lure it away then come back here." Though she said that, Arthur was deathly worried, even though he knew she became very strong, he also knew an imoogi is not a simple monster, so he was anxious, he could only clench his fists and curse his luck because he is weakened, or else a petty imoogi would be nothing to him. Before she went outside, Arthur grapped her soft hand and brought her to his embrace, he couldn''t help but tightly hugg her, he was afraid of losing her, since she didn''t tell him about the fights that she had, he clearly wouldn''t know about them but now she is going to fight a strong beast and he didn''t wish for that to happen, after all when he was strong, never did he let her be in danger except in entrance exam and that was the first and last time. "Lucy...please be careful and come back safe" He could only say that and it truly made him feel pathetic and useless, as, for the beauty in front of him, she approached her face to his and imprinted a kiss on his cheek before dashing out of the cave. Just as she left, she began waving her staff and magma spears with violet flame balls began charging at the black imoogi which looked creepy. For someone at her LVL, Lucy was overpowered, plus her special attribute and her perfect control in magic, all of that made her really strong, even the imoogi found it hard to attack her straight on and could only use other methods to attack. Arthur who was in the bed, unable to even walk, heard the sound of the fighting and the explosions, the sounds became weaker and weaker until they disappeared, Lucy did not forget to close the cave when she left, afraid of other beasts coming. A lot of strange thoughts came to his mind, and he began to feel and more anxious for Lucy. One hour passed but there was still no signs of her coming back and Arthur started panicking, and he began to think that something really happened to her. Time slowly passed and she still didn''t come back, as for Arthur, he could only stay there and hope for the best, he never ceased blaming himself over and over again and he clenched his fist until his nails cut through his skin and blood started flowing but he paid it no heed as his thoughts were on Lucy''s current state. ..... It was now sunset, and finally, the boulder blocking the entrance moved, Arthur jumped from surprised and leaned his head to the side to see who came but he deeply wished for her to be the one who came. And it was indeed her, though her state was horrible, the blue robe she was wearing was covered in blood and she had a deep bloody hole in her left shoulder. She was a complete mess, with a staggering walk, she barely managed to walk inside and somehow close the entrance with the strange seal, after that, she collapsed. "Lucy!!" Seeing her current state, he couldn''t help but call out to her in panic, he got up from the bed and tried walking to her, but he collapsed after some steps, nevertheless, he crawled till he was next to her and used all the strength he could muster to drag her body to the bed, he tried to be as careful and gentle as he can, afraid of wounding her even more. Lucy was awake but the fight really made her exhausted and that wound on her shoulder made her even more tired. Seeing Arthur dragged her until the bed also pained for she knew his body was still recovering but she couldn''t utter any single word. Soon enough he laid her on the bed and removed her clothes not caring about seeing her naked, he didn''t even have time to enjoy the view, he took out healing potions from his storage and fed it to her, he also took some golden powder and sprayed it on the bloody wound on her shoulder. When the powder touched the wound, the pain was agonizing, and she couldn''t help but twitch a little but she knew he was doing that to heal her, so she didn''t dare scream. Once the treatment was done, he held her hand, and stayed by her side, as time passed, the wounds closed and she no longer was in any apparent danger, he breathed a sigh of relief and smiled while looking at the sleeping beauty, even wounded, her body was as alluring as ever, but he didn''t stare for long and covered her naked body with the blanket. He soon joined her in the bed, but he didn''t hug her and only stroked her head, actually, he didn''t know why even with infinite stamina he couldn''t move and even get sleepy, but he guessed it must''ve been related to his soul. As he was lost in thought, he fell asleep without realizing it. Next morning, he woke up only to see Lucy staring at him, first, he was startled but joyful to see her awake and well, he kissed her and then noticed himself hugging her, it must have become a habit of his, as they always hugged each other in sleep. "What are you hugging me for! Don''t you know I''m injured" Arthur seemingly startled, released his hands off her but just as he did that he heard her complain again. "What are you doing!" Honestly, he was confused and could only say "Since you are injured, I shouldn''t hug you or it will open the wounds" "Hmpf! Who said that! Quickly hug me back or else.." Lucy teased him as always while giggling non-stop and the day passed with them laying on the bed all day long chatting endlessly. ..... Several days passed since Lucy got injured and she was now fully healed and she could move freely, as for Arthur, he got a little better but he still got difficulties in moving, he would get exhausted quickly if he did a lot of movements. ..... One night, as they were going to sleep, Lucy became silent and she took his hand and boldly put it on her chest. "..." Arthur was dumbstruck and he couldn''t anything to react in time, the feeling was superb, but he was confused as to why she would do that out of the blue. Lucy lifted her head to look at him and asked "Arthur, am I dirty?" He didn''t why would she ask this but nonetheless honestly replied. "Lucy, how could you say that I have never considered you dirty and never will, please don''t say that" It was truly his true feelings and he blurted that out unconsciously. A charming smile covered her face and she asked again "Then why don''t you touch me?" "I-I...., It''s just that I didn''t want to hurt you..." As he said he dropped his head down seemingly feeling guilty, as for Lucy she approached her face to his and kissed him intimately. ------------- IMPORTANT AUTHOR NOTE!!!!! : This part is irrelevant to the story and can be passed, it contains sexual content. You''ll see a line of ********** to indicate when it ends. PS: I''m not good at such scenes and not a very big fan, so the description will be omitted next time, this is only a one time deal. *************************** Lucy kissed him intimately while her tongue invaded his mouth, she already decided on this and was completely willing to do it with him. As for him, he was surprised at first but soon snapped out of it and kissed her back, his hand pressed on that soft and round chest, and it felt really good. Soon their tongues were in each others mouth and they were sucking like crazy, as for his hands they were gently squeezing her chest, and every time he did she would cutely moan. It was the first time for her to feel like this as those who played with her were always rough, so this feeling made her moan from pleasure. Their mouths finally separated, and she began breathing heavily, as for him, he began sucking on her soft breast, though they were not towering peaks, there were well developed and it fit his whole hand, as he sucked on those breasts, her moans became even louder. As for Arthur, you could see his little brother become rock hard, and erect a tent in his lower body, but that''s to be expected, how could he not be excited when he is with a maiden like her and a body like this, no man can resist this charm, not even he. They took off all of their clothes, and Arthur enjoyed the full view of her enchanting body, snow white skin with a perfect body features, it only made his rod more erect as he couldn''t hold himself, and his head made his way to her lower body, soon his tongue penetrated her pink fortress(AN: strange naming I know, but bear with me), and he began furiously licking, though it sounded rough, he tried to be as gentle as possible to not bring any bad memories. Her moans only got harder until she couldn''t hold it anymore and finally, the holy water came out, now that it is wet, Arthur thought it was time but he hesitated a bit and looked at her, and surprisingly as if she understood his behavior, she nodded towards him. With this confirmation, he inserted his little brother into her cave of wonders and engulfed himself into a heavenly pleasure with her. they hugged each other and made love with passion until they were out of breath ************************************************************************************************ After passing the night in pleasure, they laid down both naked, while a blanket was covering them, nevertheless, they were hugging each other and she was leaning on his chest, seemingly lost in thought, but neither of them was embarrassed, not even a little bit, it''s as if it was normal and as if they were together for a long time. In fact, Arthur felt more close to her than ever before, he noticed her being lost in thought so he said "...Do you regret it?.." Though he knew the answer, he nonetheless asked. As for her, when she heard him, she coquettishly smiled at him and responded "Yeah, we only did it a few times how about another time?" As she finished she jumped on top of him and they went at it until morning. ..... This time she was happily humming while drawing circles on his chest with her beautiful little white hands, as for him, he was wrapping his hand around her waist and enjoying the soft touch of her skin, but she didn''t seem to be minding him and continued humming. They didn''t particularly do anything special today, they chatted a lot and just rested. Now that they were more open, her interactions were bolder and they would make love very often. Moreover, it seems Lucy was more into in than Arthur and she would be the one engaging first if his body wasn''t recovering she would do him all day, he was sure of it. But to be honest, he was extremely delighted, to see her forget about her past and do this kind of activities without a care meant she surpassed her fears and that made him happy. ... Like this, days passed peacefully, they would not do anything special except when some monsters came but they were handled by Lucy and she didn''t injure herself either, also after some insistence from Arthur, she resumed practicing but on one condition, is that she will do it on his lap, so he immediatly agreed, there was even a time when he would jump at her when she was in the middle of practicing and either squeeze her perky butt or softly massage her breast which startled her but she in return would jump at him... ..... 2 months passed since Arthur woke up and now he is able to freely move, so sometimes he and Lucy would come out from the cave to search for the dragon. In fact, he truly hoped to find his body, because the stats he would get are no joke so they would sometimes go out to search and he vowed to thoroughly search that huge pit once he regains his strength. He was delighted when he saw a number of corpses Lucy got for him and at the same time angry because she risked herself but she reassured him saying it was no big deal. They also picked some old corpses which seemed more or less in a good state and stored them in their storage. ... the last month passed at last, and the day he regains his strength finally came so he braved himself and could not wait any longer... Chapter 31 - 31 : Powerup The day he regains his strength finally came, and Arthur couldn''t help but feel a bit excited. He doesn''t remember the exact time he lost them, but he could only wait. And to make it more ironic, while he was doing it with Lucy, notifications came in and he sensed his body completely recover, but he didn''t stop what he was doing and enjoyed his time with Lucy. As for her, she also noticed the changes, because normally, he would be the one exhausted at the end of the deed, but this time around, she was the one exhausted while he was as energetic as ever. She looked at him and spoke with a depressed tone "So your body has recovered...." Actually, she was happy for him, but part of her was a little bit depressed, because she quite liked taking care of him, and even bullying him now and then, but now that he recovered, she could no longer do any of that, so she couldn''t help but release a deep sigh. Arthur looked at her and then chuckled while saying "I''m the one doing the bullying now, hehe" As he finished speaking, he jumped on her and his hands landed on her chest, feeling it quite thoroughly and enjoying the sensation, they obviously went for another round before finally stopping. Arthur then wore some clothes to cover himself, not that he felt the least bit embarrassed in front of her, but he was going to possess the bodies she got for him plus the ones he picked when he roamed the forest with her. There was exactly, 364 snow wolves, 72 Yetis and 102 corpses of demon and human soldiers, and last but not least is a dozen or so of big ancient creatures corpses, which seemed quite strong and in a good shape to be possessed, because as Arthur has already tested, he could only possess corpses with a rather complete body or half complete, if all it''s left from the corpse is just a hand or a head then he can''t possess. .... It took him quite some time to possess all of them, but in the end, he still finished them all, and was excited to seethe changes in stats, as for the skills, he picked the most interesting and looked at them You have gained a new skill[passive]: [medium ice magic]: You can now use ice to attack or defend You have gained an enigma skill! ; [Telekinesis]: You can now use soul power to move objects, power depends on the soul. You have gained a new skill[active]: [advanced earth magic]: You can now use earth to attack or defend, your earth attribute is now at the max transformation: jet black You have gained a new skill[passive]: [wind fly]: Using the power of the wind, you can fly but your speed would be greatly decreased while flying You have gained an innate ability : [titan blood]: You have titan blood running through your veins, as titans are known to be terrific mythical beings, capable of crushing gods and devils, they have an extraordinary physique: your strength is doubled TITLE : MEAT GRINDER / SEEKER OF KNOWLEDGE / ONE WITH THE SWORD Level: 195 Class: Humanoid parasite - Strength: 273 502(+247188)Intelligence :171409(+138415) Agility: 169021(+142013)Wisdom: 166398(+141261) Vitality: 159661(+130290)Dexterity:154375(+129544) - Health: 180922(+146095) Health Regen: 401,2/s Mana: 177410(+136015) Mana Regen: 486,9/s Stamina infinite Stamina Regen ???? - Attack: 152609(+131431) Defense: 149001(+124310) Magic defense : 24196(+18478) -- Elemental resistances Fire: 100% Water: 43%(+8%) Wind: 35% Earth: 65%(+20% Light/holy: 20% Darkness: 100% Arthur was dumbfounded when he saw his status, he stood there, mouth wide open and eyes full of disbelief, he couldn''t even believe what he was seeing and checked his status window a few times before being sure, he indeed felt himself powerup, but not that much so seeing his status really did surprise him. His strength is beyond high, he even thought it may be bugged or something similar, but after some logical thought he gave up on that idea. Also, seeing new skills, like the enigma skills and especially the innate ability really caught him off guards, he didn''t read enough books about skills, so there are many things hedidn''t know, but he was sure that titan blood is by no means easy to obtain or simple, I Mean it literally doubled his strength, that''s just straight out cheat. As for telekinesis, he was interested in it, as it may be useful in some normal needs, but he didn''t think it woud help him a lot in fights, anyways, it''s better having it so he thanked his luck and especially Lucy, as she is the one who struggled and amassed this much corpses, his noticed his lvl also sky rocketed as he, of course, used [Death touch] on them, and considering they were not that much high leveled, the snow wolves didn''t give him much, but the ancient corpses of beasts and yeti really gave generous experience. He couldn''t hide his happiness, so he brought Lucy to his embrace and gave her a deep and lovely kiss as if thanking her for all her efforts, he was one hundred percent sure he could handle the church now. He even judged himself to be able to sustain a shot from ''judgment'', but what made him the most happy is that Lucy would gain 60% of his stats with the help of the blessing, and she would be even stronger than his previous self before the incident, so he would no longer be very worried about her in fights, plus she would even help him if they ever encountered a powerful enemy. Arthur didn''t waste any time and he began using the method to link himself to Lucy so she would powerup too, he first wrotewith his blood some strange symbols and runes on her chest, near her heart area, she did the same for him using some of her blood, and just as she finished, the symbols and runes began burning yet freezing at the same time, but they both endured it and after some time, it finally ended, and he guessed it was done. Lucy, felt a strange feeling engulfing her body, power surged on all parts of her body, and her thinking became much clearer, she didn''t waste time and opened her status window to check how was the changes, but something happened which surprised Arthur, he could, in fact, see her status window, also some notifications soon came, telling him of the success of the link. The link between Arthur and Lucy has been successfully completed: Both of them would gain 80% of the other''s stats The title : [Unseen bond] has been added to both parties: Your souls are now connected TITLE : Level: 144 Class: Half demon\ ???? - Strength 218701 Intelligence 138390 Agility 136742 Wisdom134639 Vitality 128042 Dexterity125756 - Health 148756 Health Regen 330/s Mana 143523 Mana Regen 348,8/s Stamina infinite Stamina Regen ???? - Charm : 25 Attack: 122489 Defense: 120987 Magic defense : 19356,8 Elemental resistances Fire: 65% Water: 10% Wind: 10% Earth: 10% Magma 100% Light/holy: 0% Darkness: 80% This time, it was Lucy''s turn to be shocked, hell! her mouth was as wide open and she rubbed her eyes a few times seemingly not believing what she was, she even thought she was just having a good dream and cutely tried pinching her hand but that only resulted in her cry of pain as she didn''t control her strength and used too much force to pinch. Arthur was delighted when he saw the status window, but just as he looked at her, he noticed some changes, her skins became literally as white as snow, it seemed more clear, her features slightly changed, for example her black eyes, changed to blood red eyes like his, and she seemed to became slightly just slightly taller, though it was not noticeable, and she was still considered short. Arthur gazed at her, as he was lost in thought, contemplating her appearance, she really looked like a celestial being, a goddess, this little change made her look even more pretty, he couldn''t help but feel lucky to have someone such as her be his lover. Lucy didn''t seem to notice her change, nonetheless, she was jumping from happiness once she realized she was not dreaming and that was truly her own status window, she started jumping like a little girl, and as Arthur saw her, he couldn''t help but chuckle and shake his head. Soon after, he showed her his own status and she understood that the link made them be able to see each other''s stats, but what was bizarre was that the blessing clearly mentioned the bonus stats to be 60% but the notification earlier said 80%, it really confused Arthur but he paid no heed, since it turned out for the better, then there is no need to bother with it. There is also some special thing he felt, he somehow could feel her mood, by that I mean deep inside he could pinpoint her mood without looking at her, for example, right now, he felt her happiness, though it was very clear, the strange feeling still existed and it allowed him to feel closer to her. Lucy also noticed this change, and she clearly saw the notifications, so she judged it to be a cause of the link and the result of the linked souls, she was totally happy and this only made her even more joyful, if it''s like this, they both would know if one of them is angry or happy or anything of the sort, basically they would feel the simple emotions, and that made them feel like they were one. It seemed Lucy also gained his infinite stamina, and she too noticed that too, she grinned evilly and jumped on Arthur who was still enjoying the view of her body, she, of course, could somehow feel his desires, and with infinite stamina for both them, that only meant one thing... Like that, they passed the night making passionate love, but even with not being tired, they still slept after doing it sometimes, sleeping is not necessary for them, but they quite enjoyed sleeping, especially in each other''s embrace, Arthur''s hands would always be enjoying the sensation of her perky and soft butt, it was just heavenly, as for her she would call him a big pervert, but she would not push him away, quite the opposite, she would press herself even closer to him. Like this, they would sleep, with Arthur enjoying the feeling of her breasts pressing on his chest. Morning soon came, and they both woke up at the same time, the first thing that happened was Lucy leaning her face closer to him and kissing him intimately, and would only let go when she had enough, Arthur would be out of breath, still enjoying that feeling of her lips. Arthur was in no rush right now to leave, so he and Lucy soon wore clothes and exited the cave, actually, they started sparring, Lucy wanted to get used to her new strength, and their speed was really inimaginable, in fact a normal person seeing them from afar would literall see nothing, even simple punches and kicks would cause the trees behind Arthur to be broken in half from the force of the attack. Soon, she got used to it, but it was really a pity she could not use her magic on him, as magma and fire won''t do anything against him, so she could only use her physique to spar. Arthur, made sure to teach her thoroughly, and every now and then he would sneak behind her and touch a private spot, then back away and pretend nothing happened, as for her, she would only pout and say it''s not fair fighting against him as he was clearly stronger and more experienced than her in close fighting, nonetheless, the next second she would coquettishly laugh and attack him again, to be honest. She quite enjoyed that feeling, the feeling of beeing strong, and fast, her control in attributes became smoother, and she can do voiceless magic, just like him, even when using curses, so how could she not be delighted. The next day, both of them left the cave, and used the dark cloud to go the huge pit, Arthur wanted to search for the Yamak, because if he died, it would be a huge harvest for him. Everytime he thought about that lightning he skills, he drolled, I mean, whenever Yamak transformed into lightning, he would be so fast that Arthur could not even follow him with his eyes, but of course right now, with his new stats, his speed was even faster than Yamak, but that didn''t stop him from wanting to possess the dragon. They reached the huge pit rather quickly, and the dark cloud, descended slowly, while Arthur started focusing his gaze around, searching for the dragon or his corpse. In a matter of minutes, they reached ground, it was extremely dark, but both of them had god like dexterity, so there was no problem, and they could see clearly, they jumped down from the cloud, and resumed the search and surprisingly, they quickly found Yamak, or to be more precise, his corpse. Even when Arthur tried appraising him, the dragon didn''t seem to move, so he presumed he is dead, but it''s amazing that his body was able to sustain the damage from the blue light. As to be expected from a true dragon. Arthur was very excited, before possessing the dragon, he looked around to confirm if there is any danger nearby, but it didn''t really matter that much as Lucy was near him and with her current strength, she is unbeatable. ''ting'' You have successfully possessed Yamak You gained a new skill(passive): [Advanced lightning magic] ; you can now use magic to attack or defend You gained a new skill(active): [Natural lightning] : it''s a special kind of lightning gained after thousands of years of amassing normal lightning, it can be used to attack the enemy with strong vibrations that injure him internally You have gained a new skill(active): [lightning step]: you can use lightning when you move, transforming into it, and your agility will double when you are in that form You have gained a new skill(passive): [dragon blood] : you have dragon blood running through your veins, you gained the skill :Transmutation your stats have increased, check your status window for more details ........ Chapter 32 - 32 : Katrina, the Overgod of Knowledge Transmutation : You use natural lightning, and cover yourself with it, your stats will be increased by 25% for 10 minutes but you will receive 20% more damage cooldown : 6 hours cost : none Your titan blood and dragon blood had successfully fused: LVL +50 You gained a new skill(active): [Essence creation]: With the power of natural lightning, you can create essence crystals : an ingredient for alchemy, rituals, spells,etcetera... Orb of the fallen overgods has unlocked various lightnings types : Demonic lightning : colour : black/ effect : it''s a special type of lightning, but it''s rather weak, however, it can be used to destroy all curses and seals : to unlock need 400.000 intelligence, LVL 450 Godly lightning : colour : white / effect : it''s a special type of lightning, it has the most destructive power amongst all lightnings, it can slay gods and devils: to uncloked 1Million wisdom, LVL 900 Natural lightning : colour : green / effect: it''s a special type of lightning, it can be used to attack the opponent with small vibrations that can cause deadly damage, already unlocked! Beastly lightning : colour : blue / effect : it''s a special type of lightning, it cannot be used to attack, instead, you summon a lightning beast with great powers, and it will obey your commands, the beast will die when it''s health reach 0, and can be summoned back after a certain amount of time: to unlock,350.000 strength, 300.000 agility, LVL 300. Heavenly lightning : ????????? Seven colored lightning : ??????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????? TITLE : MEAT GRINDER / SEEKER OF KNOWLEDGE / ONE WITH THE SWORD Level: 424 Class: Humanoid parasite - Strength 321734(+48232)Intelligence215477(+44068) Agility 223896(+54875)Wisdom204687(+38289) Vitality 199430(+39769)Dexterity209007(+54632) - Health 256472(+75550) Health Regen 522,7/s Mana 236060(+58650) Mana Regen 614,2/s Stamina infinite Stamina Regen ???? - Attack: 215390(+62781) Defense: 208732(+59731) Magic defense : 24196(+18478) Elemental resistances Enigma abilities : Telekinesis Fire: 100% Water: 43% Wind: 35% Earth: 65% Light/holy: 20% Darkness: 100% Lightning 100% Ice 10% The second seal of orb of the fallen overgods has been broken : The blessing of Katrina, the overgod of knowledge, is now unlocked : to get the blessing, you need to reach LVL 300 and have 300.000 intelligence To say Arthur was not shocked by the great amount of information he just read would be akin to lying to oneself, he was dumbstruck, he couldn''t help but read the blue windows again, it''s true he was delighted seeing his stats once again greatly increase, but that new blessing and those types lightnings intrigued him even more. ''Holy hell! fucking 1 million wisdom? LVL 900?....''Seeing the conditions to unlock the lightning, he became more and more depressed, nonetheless, just having at least one type of lightning is enough for now, plus he liked that green lightning, I mean, to injure the enemy with vibrations and cause damage internally, that''s awesome isn''t it? and it''s too damn Overpowered. He had more trump card to use in fights now, his dark magic had strong piercing power, the ancient fire is terrifying with its destructive power, as for the green lightning, it''s for sneak attack, as it only deals damage inside the body, the enemy would only notice it once it''s too late, plus Arthur got all the experience Yamak had on using the lightning, so he could use as if he was born with it, and attacking with it is akin to breathing. Arthur was now sure if he encountered the dragon once more he would be able to fight him and possibly win, no scratch that! he would absolutely win, he even doubted if there is anyone who could compete with him. The holy church doesn''t have a long time to live as he would destroy it just after he gets his revenge, if his calculations are on point, then the pope should LVL300 or even 400, and even if that''s the case, he was confident in his win, as his strength now was just godlike, but he didn''t dare be overly arrogant and act high and mighty because he was sure there are some terrifying monsters hiding somewhere, just like Yamak. Soon, Arthur exited Yamak''s body, but he didn''t use [death touch] on him directly, first, he got as much golden blood as he possibly could, he didn''t know if it''s precious or not, but it didn''t hurt him to do that, he also wanted to get some of his scales, maybe he would find a good blacksmith to forge some good equipment for him and Lucy. To be honest, he quite enjoyed fighting with magic, but now, even his strength is sky-high so why not use it, if he gets used to attacking with his body while at the same time coordinating that with a precise attack from his magic, he would truly become unbeatable. He pondered for a moment as to how to cut the dragon''s tail as he really didn''t have any magic capable of cutting, his fire burns or annihilates everything as for the chaotic dark magic, it only has extraordinary piercing power. Just as he was thinking about a solution, an idea struck him, of course, how could he forget about his sword mastery, and especially his title. As the title mentioned, he could use any part of his body as a sharp sword and attack with it, so he soon extended both fingers and concentrated a bit... ''bzzzt'' Just as he expected, around his two fingers, there was some kind of white energy, it didn''t emit anything special but Arthur knew that was some kind of sword energy, he tried cutting the tail with his fingers and it indeed worked, it seemed as if he was cutting tofu and not a dragon, but since the tail was enormous and the energy sword was only in his fingers, he could not cut the tail thoroughly, so he used his whole hand and the sword energy covered it in a second. With a simple slash, Arthur was able to smoothly cut the tail, he felt really delighted and quite licked the feeling, since he had that peak mastery sword, he decided to find a good sword and use it in battles, he didn''t know why, but ever since he got that peak sword mastery from the blessing of Tul''ah, he was itching to try a sword, but unfortunately, it seemed Zodiak was not a sword fighter and he only used magic, so even though his storage contained a lot of treasures, none of them was satisfactory, so Arthur felt depressed. He could, of course, create a sword with magic, but let''s be real here, having a real sword is way better, plus if he can get his hands on a good one, it would raise his stats greatly, just Zodiak''s robe. After he finished storing the tail, Arthur finally used [Death touch] on him and once he did that, the sound of notifications telling he leveled up never stopped until a while later.. Level up! Level up! Level up! Level up!..... ..... Once he opened his status window again, he was shocked to see his LVL become 422, it seems the experience from the dragon was generous and he gained more than 100 LVL. What surprised him, even more, is that Lucy''s stats sky-rocketed too, first he thought she would only gain 60% of his stats and that''s it, but it seems everytime he powers up, so would she. Lucy became very excited once she saw how much her stats have risen, she started running around and testing her magic, she dashed with incredible speed at a big boulder a hundred meters or so from her current location, and with a punch, the boulder was pulverized. Arthur could only shake his head, he felt pity for whoever would be her opponent, that person would really be transformed into the minced meat if she used all her strength. As for him, he tried the new lightning transformation, first he activated the skill and dashed at place far away, and holy hell was it terrific, he didn''t feel strange once he became just lightning and the speed was just out of his expectations, it was several times faster than Yamak, even Lucy who was proudly showing off a second ago became dumbstruck, she pouted and pretending as if she is jealous, but he knew she felt extremely happy for him, the soul link is really an amazing thing. He tried several times, and indeed, just as the skill said, his speed in lightning form is double his speed without it, he experimented with it a few more times, and surprisingly once he transforms into lightning while holding Lucy then dashing off, she will also transform into lightning and would not be harmed, so he tried using [faster than death] while also holding her and it worked too. Previously, he couldn''t teleport her with him, but this time he was sure it was due to the soul link, and to be honest, he couldn''t be happier, he couldn''t help but wrap his hands around her delicate and enchanting waist and give her a long passionate kiss, it was a wonderful occasion, plus he felt like kissing her, so why not do it? While kissing her, his hands which were holding her waist, descended a bit and landed on her butt, of course, he did it on purpose, he then started squeezing those buttocks, and damn was it a heavenly feeling, it was very soft and he couldn''t get enough of that, his desires surged, and his little brother began waking up, but he knew he shouldn''t do it in a place like this so he restrained himself and let go of her, though he felt a little bit bitter and relucant even after letting go. As for Lucy, she panted and her face was flushed from the kiss, she stared at him and said "There''s no one around, so why did you stop? hmph!" He didn''t expect her to say that, so he could only retort with a lame excuse "Well... I thought it may be inappropriate to do it here..." Lucy snorted and interrupted him saying "Inappropriate or whatnot, who cares!....." As she finished talking, she jumped on him kissing him again, while her petit white hand grabbed his little brother, and this time, of course, Arthur would not show any reluctance. Soon they were both passionately making love while ignoring their surroundings, it was as if they were in their own world, in the spur of the moment, Arthur retrieved a sofa and that was where the deed was done. After they were done, they laid down on the sofa, still not caring that they are in the dark pit, actually, if it was a normal person they would see nothing in this darkness, but for both of them with their strength, it was no problem. Lucy looked at him who was brightly smiling for no apparent reason and asked "Why are you grinning like that! you look perverted!" Actually, both of them can be considered perverted, as they do it every day countless times, especially since they got their infinite stamina, but it was only because there was no one around, they would of course not do it in the public, still Arthur was really happy about the current development of things. Who could have thought he and Lucy would be this close, have sex whenever they feel like it, share everything and be strong enough to not fear any church or enemy. He quite liked this turn of events, in fact, he loved it, he noticed their personalities change dramatically, but that change was for the better. In fact, he liked his attitude now better than his attitude before the incident, he was now more open and talkative, just like Lucy, and to be honest, he regretted somethings he did in the past, for example, hurting that princess, even though she was very arrogant, he didn''t have to be that ruthless, a simple spanking would have been enough, after all, she was only a child. He always viewed the bad side of the world, and only looked at the bad habits of the people, he treated them all coldly, even if it was a kind person, he didn''t care and considered that that person has some bad in him. Basically, he saw the bad side of the people more than the good side, which was really idiotic, but that was his character, he was tortured for a long time, and his point of view towardsthe world changed, so you cannot blame him for what he has done, nonetheless, he decided to try to change, and only act ruthlessly against someone who deserves it. He even decided to seek that princess, and apologize for what he has done, sure she might not accept the apology, but he would feel at ease if he did that. Maybe this change of attitude and his decisions now would make him be betrayed by those people who treated kindly, but he didn''t care for he had Lucy and he was surer than ever that she will stay with him forever, so he turned his head towards her and seriously said : "Lucy, I want to talk to you about an important matter." She also noticed how serious his tone is, so she stopped teasing him and listened carefully. Seeing that she was all ears to him, he breathed some fresh air then said : "Would you become my wife?" Though they loved each other, and can be considered lovers, or even more than that, he still wanted to ask her that question, and even though he knew what her answer is going to be, he nevertheless felt a bit of anxiousness, after all, any man who proposes to the woman he loves is bound to be nervous. As for Lucy, she stared in shock for a second, before smiling coquettishly, she didn''t respond, instead, she lifted her head and imprinted a kiss on his lips, then she retracted her face and said with a happy tone "How''s that for an answer, Dear..." Arthur smiled back at her then retrived two simple rings from his storage, he put one of the rings on his right hand, then grabbed her small white hand which looked delicate, then he put the remaining ring on her finger, he felt that doing that may be useless to others, but to him, it was a moment to be proud of, doing that is akin to claiming her to be his woman and any other man can''t and defintiely should not lay his hands on her, heck if he even dared to talk to her, Arthur would show him what Hell really is. Lucy almost died from happiness, this moment to her was very precious, she even began about the time when she will brag about her husband to everyone else, especially that man who did all those things to her. She was excited for the moment she meets him, oh that would be the day she does her revenge and make him suffer for all he did to her, but she was in no rush, and for the time being, getting revenge on Sonia was more important, heck! she would do anything as long as Arthur is with her. The newlyweds didn''t linger off a long time relaxing on the sofa which was in the middle of nowhere, instead, they prepared to head off and exit the pit since there is nothing left to do here. But before leaving, Arthur decided to do a full swoop around the pit, as one may know, Yamak surely had treasures and even with the blast from judgment, there may some treasures which survived, just like Yamak''s body. With their speed, the pit which spanned hundreds of miles was crossed in a short amount of time, especially when he used the lightning form, it was as if time stopped, everything was in a VERY slow motion, and if people saw him they would only see a yellow streak of lightning moving at an insane speed. They circled the pit a few times, until Lucy spotted an object stuck to the ground, without delay, Arthur brought her and went to the object''s location, and what they found was really astonishing, it was really his lucky day, he even thought of the possibility that he may be blessed by the gods or heaven itself. What was on the ground was a sword, or to be more precise, a katana, a dark katana, even its steel is made of black steel, which had some grey in it. The ground around it was jet black too, and right next to it was a black sheath, which obviously was its sheath but it''s was strange how the katana and the sheath somehow remained close to each other even after the blast. Once he was close enough, Arthur stretched his hand and pulled the katana from the ground, then appraised it. Makaze, evil wind : An ancient katana, that has been laying here for thousands of years, due to its high affinity with darkness and lightning, a mountain was formed on top of it, and lightning would descend, striking the base of the mountain and nourishing the katana. It''s origins are unknown LVL requirements : none Stats required : none to equip you need to have at least [advance sword mastery] stats : Depends on the owner :calculation... :+25.000 agility / +15.000 strength / +25.000 dexterity Unique skill(passive) : [Devourer] : this katana can devour any kind of sword and by doing that its stats would significantly increase, you need to know that it needs to feed to strong swords to increase its stats significantly, otherwise the increase would be very low. Arthur was overjoyed, seeing the result of the appraisal, he became delighted, he didn''t regret the decision of swooping the pit for more treasures, it seems the gods have not forgotten about him, that is if they even existed, but that didn''t matter, as he had the weapon now, he soon put in its sheath and put the sheath on his waist. He felt dignified and proud as if he looked really cool, Lucy could only chuckle when she saw him like that, of course since he can see her status window, she can see his, plus she can see whatever he appraises so that gave her a huge advantage. Once he readied himself, Arthur thought of trying the unique skill he got from the blessing of Tul''ah, and that is [Lone Sword], as the description says, it a simple but deadly attack. He held the sheathed katana, and used the skill, he didn''t much power, just enough to see how it is, and oh my god was it earth-shattering. His figure blurred for a milli-second before reappearing, the sword slash was also white, but very thin, he could almost not see it, the slash was so fast, that he could not follow it, heck it was faster than him in lightning form, and once it hit the wall, it cut it in half and kept going, as the pit was huge, and the slash continued to cut everything until it stopped after a certain distance, the results were surprising. Very soon the wall started collapsing, so Arthur just backs off with Lucy. He then again tried the skill again, since it didn''t mention any cost of cooldown, then maybe he can abuse the shit out of it? And indeed, he can, he just concentrated a bit, and his figure blurred again, and just like that, 3 sword slashes almost invisible to the eye were created, plus it seems he could control the length and power of the slash with ease, which made him more cheerful, even Lucy was clapping excitedly at him. With the bonus of peak sword mastery plus Makaze, his stats would rise a lot, his future enemies would sure have it rough, that''s for sure! Arthur and Lucy quickly left the pit using the dark cloud and returned to the cave, in fact, they were not going to leave now, instead Arthur wanted to stay one more week and of course, Lucy happily agreed. Days passed peacefully, they enjoyed their relaxing life, at night they would either snuggle or have sex as usual, as for the day, they would either spar or separately train. Lucy''s control over her strength became really good, and her magic never ceased increasing, either in power or precision. As for Arthur, he adjusted his control with Makaze, his new katana, and in just a day he managed to grasp it, he had the peak mastery, so it''s like having trained sword his entire life, what''s more, he enjoyed roaming the forest and just slaughtering the monsters with just a slash from his sword. He even encountered an imoogi, which was LVL195, pretty strong for one of it''s kind, but with but a [Lone sword] the poor beast was cut in half, he could not even resist, the attack was too sudden and fast, the last thing he saw was lightning coming his way and stopping not too far away from him, then his vision darkened and he died. With much hunting, Arthur rose his Lvl by 2, not too much but that was enough, as his stats also increased but also that much, approximately 12.000 for each stats. He also read books about sealing and memorized some spells to use them, it seemed the books that Zodiak left were indeed amazing, and he managed to obtain quite a bit of useful spells that can greatly help him. The last 2 days, he tried to fuse the void magic with others, it indeed worked, but that didn''t change the power a lot and it consumed a lot of mana, only when fusing it with chaotic dark magic did it really became a frightful result, as for the others, it was useless, and for some bizarre reason, whenever he tried fusing two attributes together, he couldn''t, every time a notification would pop up telling him that it''s impossible to do that action, though he was a bit reluctant, he still gave up on that idea. The remaining days quickly passed and they packed all of their belongings and readied themselves, Lucy wore an enchanting white dress that reached to her knees, her chest area was quite developed, and if one saw them, they would definitely want to feel them or even squeeze those round balls, with blood red eyes and silver hair, she really looked like an unparalleled beauty that could destroy kingdoms and start wars. As for Arthur, he wore long black pants, with a black shirt, and some kind of strange cloth that resembled a vest, he didn''t really like it, but Lucy personally picked the clothes and insisted on him wearing it saying that it suited him a lot so he could only obey but in one condition, it''s that he picks her clothes too, so she immediately agreed. After one final look, they both set off, he wrapped his hand around her waist and dashed using her lightning front, and the destination.... well it was obviously the academy grounds! ''Sonia.. ahh Sonia! Do you dare plot against me and my wife? even though all I did was help you, and didn''t oppose your orders, you dare try to kill me? fine, let''s see who will be dying because my revenge would be bloody and your petty followers would save you when I arrive!'' Chapter 33 - 33 : War? Actually, Lucy and Arthur were pretty deep in the ghost island, but they did not reach the deepest part and to be honest, Arthur was quite interested in it, but for the time being, he gave up on the idea of exploring it, but one must know that he met an adult dragon in here, so what if he went a little deeper? Even though they are quite far, it should not be a problem as his traveling speed is incredible. Actually, they didn''t travel slowly, nor did they use the cloud, instead, Arthur held Lucy and transformed into lightning, then he ran towards the academy''s location. With his speed, not one monster could stop him, heck! even those who were too close to the lightning became dust and instantly died, it''s a pity, but they could only curse their own luck. In a short time, they reached the teleportation array, and to be honest, Arthur was proud and surprised by his speed. Seeing himself be this fast, he could not help but feel a bit excited, even Lucy complimented him. Surprisingly, the array was not destroyed, it looked fine, there was nothing suspicious about it, so after some pondering, Arthur guessed that since the principal fired at him with ''judgment'' then she might have thought that he was killed and didn''t even have any suspicions of him being alive. he took a breath a fresh air before stepping on the array with Lucy, then he teleported himself along with Lucy. In fact, he was perplexed as to why the principal would do that, after all, he didn''t anything to oppose her, in any case, his thoughts of revenge never subdued and he couldn''t wait for the moment he kills her or whoever did that, but he was almost sure she was the one, as only the principal have the right to use that weapon. .... Once they appeared on the array located in the Academy ground, Arthur looked around to observe his surroundings, but to his surprise, there was no one there. One must know, the teleportation array was in the heart of the academy, so normally, there would be a dozen or so students either practicing or just relaxing, but this time, there was no one, even with his good eyesight, he couldn''t sense any student. What astonished him, even more, was that the nearby buildings seemed a bit off, some of them were half destroyed and some others were fine. Seeing this, Arthur grew suspicious, nonetheless, he didn''t dare be careless even with his godlike strength. He retrieved a green talisman from his storage, and he threw it to the ground, and in a matter of seconds, the talisman lit up and the strange runes on it formed a symbol, then a notification appeared to Arthur. The space sealing talisman has been used, any kind of teleportation is impossible within a radius of 400kilometers. Arthur didn''t pass the week just playing around, instead, he read many books that Lucy showed him, and he became quite skilled in making sealing spells or talismans, though it required some time, they were absolutely useful, especially this one, so he made a dozen or so of them just in case. Actually, he too can''t teleport now, but that didn''t matter as his speed in lightning form is akin to teleportation, so that''s why he used it, plus what if the opponents use teleportations to get away, just like that old man from the church once did, that would really be troublesome for Arthur so using this was the best way stop them from fleeing. After he used that, he held Lucy again and dashed to the principal''s office, he didn''t know what happened, but most of the academy was destroyed and there were no signs of life. Just as he approached the main building which was where Sonia''s office was, he saw a few soldiers who looked like the holy church''s soldiers. Arthur couldn''t help but frown and wonder what the hell actually happened here. He didn''t waste time-fighting them, and he passed them quickly, the lightning was enough to annihilate them and to be honest, he didn''t feel guilty or anything of the sort, they were from the church so they were enemies, kind or evil, that didn''t matter, because when the church hunts demon, they don''t care if these demons are kind or not, they just slaughter and blindly follow orders, so why would he show mercy. In just seconds, he was already in her office, and every soldier he met was killed without even knowing how he died. Once he reached her office, he noticed that there were 3 people. One was someone Arthur definitely know, as for the other 2 he didn''t know them, it was Mary, the female beastman, and two people apparently from the church, Arthur was able to guess that one of them was a bishop as the other was a cardinal, since in the past he already met a cardinal and a bishop and Lucy told him that every rank has a specific robe, he was able to distinguish their identity rather quickly. Mary was tied by a white rope which seemed special, her hands and feet were tied, and she was sitting in a chair, as for the other two, who was a woman and an old man, they were chatting about something not too far away from Mary. Arthur''s arrival did attract their attention, after all when he is in lightning form, one would hear the ''bzzt'' whenever he moved. He didn''t rush in and kill right away, instead he transformed back to his original form with Lucy, then he stood there assessing the situation, one would be lying to say that his blood was not boiling and he wasn''t holding back his anger and rage, he really wanted to kill the female beastman right away but he didn''t, he first wanted to know what happened, then decide what to do, but he was sure if it was him of the past, then he would have killed them all right away, no questions asked. While Mary was dumbstruck seeing Arthur and Lucy, the woman and old man from the church were first surprised then alert. Mozu : LVL 227 Lara Singlore : LVL 138 Arthur appraised them both, and with the soul link, Lucy could see the appraisal too, she could only feel grateful to have this ability as it was very useful. The first one who spoke was Lara, the woman, she was a cardinal and her looks was decent enough to be considered a small beauty, but in front of Lucy, she was straight trash, but of course one should not judge a person by his appearance. "You! Who are you! and how did you manage to come here" Lara was really frustrated, this duo appearance out of nowhere, and not even she could sense them. As for Mozu, the old man, he stayed silent for a moment, gazing at Lucy as thinking about something, and after a couple of seconds, he spoke "You....You are Lucy!! We knew you weren''t dead, the war was not futile after all, ah! the pope will be joyful to hear this" Lucy didn''t seem surprised that he knew her, even though her appearance changed but not that much, and she knew higher ups knew her exact appearance, as for the soldiers only knew they must capture every silver-haired female demon they encounter. Arthur remained silent and refrained from speaking for some reason, as for Lucy, she decided to speak, normally it would be the opposite, but she changed the course or this one year and she had the power to stand up for herself, even though Arthur would still protect her, she wanted to be strong enough to not burden him. "I am indeed Lucy, care to tell me what that ''war'' was about?" Hearing her confirming her identity, the old man chuckled then replied "hahaha, so the cause of the war don''t know anything about it? hahaha, then this old man will tell you. As you know, we the holy church are searching for you, and when the Academy rejected our offer to hand you over, the pope personally came here to retrieve you, but the principal told him that you died fighting a dragon....so the pope became so angry that he declared war on the academy. There was bloody fights, especially the fight between our pope and the principal and with that weapon of theirs they managed to hurt us pretty badly, but hehe, the pope finally came victorious but he couldn''t kill the damned headmaster as she somehow fled, after that the academy became the church''s propriety, hehe so how about that? now you know how much suffering you caused to the people around you, how about you peacefully go with this old man, I don''t like to bully little girls, especially beautiful ones.." To be honest, Arthur was astonished, he really didn''t think a war would break out just because of Lucy, is she that important to the church that they would be so reckless and attack the academy, they even won somehow, but Arthur knew the pope must have been injured or else how could Sonia escape, it''s true she''s strong but definitely not as strong as him, and that''s because a bishop was LVL237 so the pope might be in the 300 if not 400, and it''s impossible for her to escape from his grasp. As for Lucy, she didn''t seem affected by what Mozu said, blaming her and telling her she causes suffering, for her only what Arthur says matters, and if she caused calamities or wars, that still had nothing to do with her, plus the Academy got what''s coming for it and totally deserved what happened to it. "What happened to the other council members?" Finally, Arthur spoke, his revenge was not only to Sonia but to whoever plotted to kill him, including those people, so he wanted to know where they are, as for Sonia, he would surely chase her down until he died or else his heart cannot be at ease knowing that a cunning person like her is still alive and well, but at least her Academy got destroyed, that counted as some payback, right? Mozu, who was still heartily laughing, shifted his gaze to Arthur, who was standing next to Lucy, he stared at him for a second before speaking again "Ohhh! You must be Arthur, right? the pope told us you managed to kill Arnold, I must really congratulate you, you do have some skills, but do not think I''m like Arnold, this old man is more experienced than that brat, plus I really want to know how you survived against that dragon, even our pope won''t come back alive fighting it so...it''s quite intriguing" This old man seemed quite talkative, but in the end, he still didn''t reply to Arthur''s question, which irritated him quite a bit but he kept calm and said "Sigh...I asked you a question, so why are you babbling about useless things" This time, it was Lara''s turn to become more enraged, she retrieved a silver long whip from her waist and shouted "Who do you think you are to be bossy like that, haha?? Even though you somehow killed Lord. Arnold, it''s a whole matter to be able to fight Lord. Mozu and me!" Arthur thought it''s useless to ask further questions, this duo didn''t seem willing to answer more questions so he would question Mary after dealing with that trash, but just before he was going to kill them with [lone sword], he was stopped by Lucy, she tapped his sleeve and said in a somehow excited tone: "Le.Let me fight that old man, I wanna see how I do! you deal with that woman, but don''t do anything perverted! I''m watching you! hmph!" It seemed Lucy really wanted to test her current strength and see how she does against a bishop, but that last sentence is like throwing a bucket of cold water at him, it seems even in a situation like this, her teasing never ceased. Arthur nodded his head and murmured quietly so no one could hear him "Let''s see how I punish you tonight..." Even though no one heard that that didn''t include Lucy who was next to him, and had extraordinary senses, nevertheless, she didn''t react and only giggled and turned her head to look at the old man. Seeing them not engaging first, Lucy didn''t stay still, with unimaginable speed and explosive strength, she appeared right in front of Mozu in lightning speed, and landed a kick on his abdomen. The poor old man, could not even react in time, he was sent flying until he hit a nearby wall, and a huge crater was formed on the wall and he was still laying there, not moving. In a panic, the woman who only saw Mozu being attacked and sent flying, she stretched her whip and mumbled something with fast speed then attacked with her long whip, blue flames appeared on the whip and its speed was pretty fast. Without transforming into lightning, Arthur appeared in front of the attacking whip, with his great speed it was a piece of cake, in fact using his max speed, he could see the whip slowly move, it''s almost as if time stopped. After appearing in front of the incoming flaming whip, he stretched his hand and held the whip with it, just like that, it couldn''t be more simple, an attack of this caliber can not even scratch him, the blue fire on the whip disappeared, he easily absorbed, then he exerted enough amount of strength to firmly hold the whip and not crush it. The woman who attacked in panic, and expected her attack to land on Lucy didn''t expect this black-clothed man to appear out of nowhere and easily block her attack, but once she saw that, she knew that she is screwed. Lara is an old member of the church, and can judge a situation rather quickly, just by seeing Mozu defeated with one kick and her attack blocked, she guessed that those two are not as the pope mentioned, they are way stronger, especially that Lucy, I mean to defeat a bishop with just a kick, who can do that? plus rumors said that he is stronger than Lucy, she rubbed the cold sweat from her forehead and felt her body shivering, right, she was experiencing fear, the situation is unfavorable, and most likely she would die if she can''t think of something. After some hesitation, Lara retrieved her teleportation crystal, actually, every cardinal or above, did possess one like those, and can only be used in emergency situations, but how could this not be an emergency? As for Arthur, seeing her take out the familiar crystal, he only shake his head as if mocking her, and he waited for her to finish the long chant and see her reaction when the crystal won''t work, of course that was due to his talisman, and damn was it a great idea to use it. "Oops, hubby~, It seems I still can''t control my strength, I overdid it again...is he already dead?" Lucy walked slowly towards Mozu who was stuck at the wall. Once she was close enough, she reached her hand and pulled him out, she then threw him to the ground and said "oh! He is still alive but seriously injured, I just simply kicked him, it''s so boring like this..." Arthur could only shake his head, this woman still doesn''t know how strong she is, her strength is a whopping 300k, of course, she would crush him with just a kick, hell! if she used all her strength then the poor guy would be crushed to death. Also, he felt quite amused, first because she called him hubby in front of people, and it made him feel quite proud, though when they were in the cave, he told her to call him ''hubby''and not by his name, but she strongly objected, nonetheless, she started calling him that since then, and she even did it now, plus her attitude really changed, in the past she would not talk in public, even when fighting, but now, she seemed extremely relaxed and carefree, and he really thought she looked cute. Even though she seemed like a new person, her coldness remained a bit, but that only added to her beauty, but do not be mistaken, she had a hint of coldness when dealing with this old man, and even though she was happily talking right now, that deep inside her, she was feeling delighted to finally begin her revenge towards the church with her own hands. To be honest, the miserable appearance of the old man was really pitiable, he was coughing blood non-stop, almost choking from it, his ribs were all broken, and his internal organs were crushed into dust, even with a specially divine armor from the pope, it still couldn''t hold and he knew his death is nearing, he could only stare at Lucy with fear as he seriously did not expect her to be this strong, one must know that she was very weak just a year ago, and even a cardinal can take care of her, but now, with one kick, she defeated him, a bishop, he felt he had to tell the pope of this this, but unfortunately he can''t.. The woman who was mumbling the incantation for some time, finally finished, and a grin soon appeared on her face, she breathed a sigh of relief, and prepared herself for the teleportation..but it never happened, first she thought she did something wrong or made a mistake in the incantation, but that was impossible, so the only reason is that...there is something obstructing the teleportation.. She lifted her head and saw the grinning Arthur as if he was a harbinger of death, she knew she was done for, so her legs grew weak and she almost fell down. "So you finally understand that there is no way out, how about you take a seat and calm down a little" Arthur spoke in a mocking tone while waving her hand nonchalantly, a near chair was moved to Lara, since her legs grew weak and she was barely standing, when the chair came out, she unconsciously sat on it, then dark blue chains appeared out of nowhere and bound her legs and hands. The telekinesis was really useful thing, and even though Arthur could not use it in fights, it still was good to have it, he trained with it for some time, and he managed to even lift a boulder which was quite big, he became quite skilled in it, but it still was useless in fights, maybe it''ll be helpful in-house labor, if he ever had a house.. As for Lucy who was still looking at Mozu, she pondered for a moment before slowly extending her petite hands and taking off Mozu''s storage ring with a ''hehe'', no matter how rich she and Arthur were, if a storage ring which was probably full of treasure was thrown in front of them, of course, they will take it. Mozu saw her actions, but he could only gaze at her grudgingly and curse her in his mind. As for her, she injected her Mana and inspected the storage, and to her surprise, there was some books, items and even enchanted weapon, plus there were gold coins, but the amount had in his storage ring was just unbelievable, he even gave her more than 1 billion gold coins, but the mountain of gold still didn''t diminish. She put the ring in her own storage ring then walked near Arthur, she knew the old man was going to die anyway, so why waste her time with him. Since things were done now, Arthur headed to Mary, who was still silent, her eyes showed astonishment and fear. She really was beyond surprised when she saw how much both of them improved in terms of strength, especially Lucy, heck! if she received that kick then she would surely have died, that''s for sure. To be honest, she never was willing to kill Arthur and Lucy, it''s true, she hated Arthur in the beginning, but later on she felt neutral, she neither liked him or hated him, and the decision of her big sister seemed rushed, even though she tried to persuade Sonia to not proceed with plan, her efforts were futile, and she had to follow the orders of her big sister. She felt guilty towards this duo, they didn''t deserve to die yet they were ruthlessly killed by the cannon, she really couldn''t accept that but what was done is done and no one can change the past. But not that she saw them alive and kicking, plus they became even more strong, she felt complicated, she felt a tinge of happiness to see them both alive, but at the same time ashamed to face them, after all, she plotted behind their backs, so how could they not hate her, she even knew they come back today for revenge, or else why would they come back? She saw a Bishop, who only her big sister can defeat, easily killed by Lucy, with just one kick, and how helpless Lara was against Arthur, so she knew they became extremely strong, but if it was anybody else she would be saved, but these two would surely not let her live, nonetheless, she wanted to die peacefully and not feel guilty. "I-I''m sorry, even though I know it''s too late, but I''m sorry for what we did, I-I really tried to persuade them not to do it, but alas...." Arthur and Lucy walked up in front of the tied female beastman and coldly looked at her. "Do you think apologizing now would change anything? If you really feel guilty, then tell us where is the rest of the council members and SONIA!" (Arthur) Even though she expected this kind of harsh treatment, Mary still felt sad and guilty at the same time, nevertheless, she mustered her courage, breathed some fresh air and replied to Arthur "I-In the war, a lot of people died, and only 4 council members remained, me, Mach, Veronica, and Zephir, as for their locations. I really don''t know, we dispersed in the war, and each went fighting, I have been captured 3 months ago, as for them I don''t know if they are even still alive or not but last time I have seen them in 3 months ago" Even though Arthur hated her guts, he still felt some sincerity in her tone, and she didn''t seem to be lying. "Fine! then how about Sonia!"(Arthur) "B-Big sister is...Arthur, you must know! big sister really didn''t have a choice, you know..she is part of a clan, the Ma Clan, and very few know of it, even I only visited a few times, It''s really secretive but have a lot of experts, and basically, the clan controls the Academy through big sister, really!! she only obeyed orders, she can''t oppose them! please believe me! it''s not her fault!" The identity of Sonia known to all council members, but Mary was Sonia''s little sister, they grew together so she obviously knew of her circumstances, that''s why she followed her here to the academy and stayed with her, when she went begging Sonia to not kill Arthur as he was an innocent bystander and didn''t do anything wrong, Sonia could only shake her head and tell Mary that she received direct orders to kill Arthur and Lucy no matter the cost. Arthur was a bit shocked to hear this and pondered for a bit ''A clan why would they want my death? I don''t remember messing with any clan whatsoever, there is only one way to resolve this, it''s to pay them a LITTLE VISIT!'' "Hmm, and where is this clan? Since it''s very secretive, it''ll be quite a pain to search for it, so since you visited it a few times, how about you tell me where it is"(Arthur) "I..I cannot do that!" (Mary) She seemed quite stubborn in this matter, she shook her head continuously and seemed unwilling to say the location. Arthur just smiled at said "Huh? And why is that?.."(Arthur) "Obviously because I know you want to kill big sister, how could I tell you her location! She wasn''t at fault! I''m not saying, just take my life instead and consider it the end of your revenge." "Either you tell me or not, that doesn''t matter, sooner or later, I will find the clan''s location!" As he said that, he lifted his hand, and white sword energy formed on his hand, he used the unique skill of his title to make a sword out of his hand, he planned on beheading the female beast-man, but for some reason, he felt unease. He didn''t know why but mayhap these 12 months really did change him? Did he become soft or did he feel pity for this woman? How could he feel that! that''s absurd! look at what they have done to him, they tried to kill him and Lucy, and were almost successful, so why would he feel sympathy for someone who plotted behind his back, didn''t that make him weak? he came here for revenge and not to save lives! His hand was lifted for a couple of seconds, and even Mary who already prepared herself for her death was confused why it never happened, but finally, Arthur''s hand twitched and was about to cut the female beastman when Lucy interrupted him and said "Hubby~ how about you forgive her? she indeed plotted against us, but she admitted her wronging, and it''s not like she did it willingly, I feel she didn''t lie to us and really tried to save us" Arthur was really surprised by what he heard, for Lucy to say that out of nowhere made him dumbfounded, he didn''t think she would say that or even defend Mary, thanks for the soul link, he kind of grasped what she felt so just a couple of words from her were enough to make him understand what she was trying to say. In fact, his hesitation a moment ago was a proof that he didn''t want to kill her, it''s true he came to extract revenge and pay back what was done to him, but this woman seemed sincere and really apologized, she even closed her eyes and accepted her fate. It''s true he hated her, but to hate someone doesn''t mean you have to kill him, heck! if it''s the previous him, he would have killed her if not tortured her more then killed her, but now he changed, it may be a good or a bad change, but he nonetheless changed and since even Lucy spoke up, he had to think this through and make a wise decision. As for Mary, hearing what Lucy said, she was dumbstruck, but she didn''t dare anything, as it was not her place to do so, she just stayed still and closed her eyes, awaiting her fate, in fact, she wouldn''t blame him even if he killed her, as she deserved that. Arthur''s lifted hand, soon descended at lightning speed, and even Lucy was a little bit panicked, because to be honest, she really pitied Mary and knew she had to do that due to her circumstances, she was forced to, nonetheless she apologized and even accepted her death, so why not forgive her? but seeing Arthur''s hand descend, she couldn''t do anything. It''s true she wanted the female beast to be forgiven by Arthur, but even if she wasn''t forgiven, it doesn''t matter, because no matter his decisions she would always support him, if he decided to spare her then it''s good if he killed her then so be it. The hand descended at lightning speed and even Mary felt as if a sword descended on her, but even after some seconds passed, she was still breathing, she also noticed that the white rope tied her legs and hands were now cut, it took her quite some time to realise what just happened before she lifted her head to look at him. "Hmpf! Consider yourself lucky! if not for Lucy then you would be already dead! since she forgave you then I''ll make an exception and let the matter go.... but only you and not the others!" Mary didn''t know what to say, she still couldn''t believe he spared her after what she had done, ''he really is kind'' was what she thought, it seems she was on point, and even though he doesn''t want to show it, he indeed is kind-hearted, she also noticed his attitude slightly change from back then. "Th-Thank you...."(Mary) "You should be thanking Lucy, not me!" Mary hastily turned to look at Lucy and then bowed her head saying "R-really thank you, you forgave me even though I did all those things... thank you"(Mary) Lucy only nodded without saying anything, she felt her attitude changed, she forgave someone who tried to kill her, that may be stupid to others, but for her, it was her own choice, and it seems even Arthur respected that choice and supported her, he let go of his revenge and urge to kill just because of her. Lucy then turned around to look Lara who was still shaking from fear and looking at her and Arthur, afraid of dying, but this time she didn''t feel any sympathy nor pity for this woman, a sharp dagger was soon created, it was made from the violet fire, the most powerful type of flames, the dagger went for Lara''s heart with extreme speed ''poof'' In less than a second, the Cardinal woman was stabbed exactly at her heart, the dagger melted her heart along with other organs and she died instantly, as for her storage ring, it flew towards Lucy, Arthur used telekinesis and made the ring fly toward Lucy who was looking at it with expectant eyes, he couldn''t help but think ''This chick really does love stealing others rings, hehe'' .... Since there was nothing else to do, both of them didn''t bother with Mary anymore and were about to leave the office which was pretty much destroyed, but all of the sudden, Mary who was silent for sometime spoke again, with a hesitant voice. "I-If you want..I can take you to the clan, but on one condition!" Arthur who was about to leave heard that and turned his head to look at Mary, who was clenching her fists and looking back at him. "Speak, what''s the condition." To be honest, he was quite interested, if she can take him there, that would save him a lot of trouble to look for Sonia" "Y-You must promise me to not kill b-big sister, if you want to punish someone then punish the clan." "Not kill her? Well, if you take me there, I''ll think about it" "No! You must promise me, and a man cannot go back on his promise!" This woman was pretty persistent, deep inside, she knew he would find the clan someday, and her big sister would surely die at his hands, if she can make him spare her too by guiding him there, then it was worth it, as for the clan? Mary didn''t care, pretty much all the people there are selfish and arrogant, except a few people, just because they are strong, they think they are gods among humans. This time, Arthur did not talk, instead, Lucy was the one who spoke "Fine, I promise you that we will not touch Sonia unless we investigate this further, but if she really is guilty, then don''t blame us for breaking the promise." Mary was hesitant for a second before nodding her head and responding "Since that''s the case, then I will take you there..." Chapter 34 - 34 : Travelling Together After finishing the deal with the female beastmen, Arthur stored Lara and Mozu''s corpses in his storage as he didn''t want to possess them in front of Mary because that was his big secret and only Lucy can know about it. To be honest, even though Mary said she would guide them, she felt awkward now that she thought about it thoroughly, I mean, she clearly knew they were a couple, heck! Lucy called him ''hubby'' earlier, so wouldn''t come with them is considered interfering? nevertheless, what was done is done and nothing can change it since she promised to guide them to the Ma Clan, then she would do it. Arthur made sure to look around and see if there is anything worth taking, but there is none, it seems that principal took all the goods and ran away... He then turned around and asked Mary "Since you are going to guide us, how about you tell us where this clan is? I''m quite interested." Mary was taken aback for a moment before stabilizing her posture and hastily replying "Err...It''s in the Itas continent, as for exact location, it''s very difficult to describe, plus there are various magical arrays that distract any invaders, but I know them all, plus a lot of the people there know me, so they will probably welcome us.." Once Arthur heard her response, he was 2 parts delighted and 3 parts excited, because he loved traveling and discovering this world, and he wanted to go to the eastern continent for a long time now. It is said that it''s a small continent compared to the 3 others, but it has some strong individuals. It has no official ruler, but everyone knew that the elves were the one in control there and opposing them is like opposing all the other races. In fact, the elves were a peaceful race and very rarely fought, and many similar races living there also didn''t like fighting, such as fairies and spirits. The continent is one giant forest, but of course, there are some scattered cities, but they were not as big as in the human continent. One of the most famous cities is Rondo, it is the city located near the world tree, and it''s where the Elves mainly live, except some others who are scattered here and there. As for fairies and spirits, they liked living in forests and enjoy nature, they are rarely seen and aren''t hostile against visitors, they would only attack if you invade their terrorism and try to steal or kill someone or something. .... Very soon, the trio left the office and headed out of the building. Actually, Arthur didn''t want to leave just yet, he wanted to get the library! he really hoped there are some good books left so he can take them. To be honest, he enjoyed reading, and enjoyed even more discovering new things about this world, it''s true he still didn''t read all of Zodiak''s books as they were a lot, but he still wanted to amass even more and read them in his free time, which he would most certainly have a lot of from now on, because since Mary joined them, he can''t transform into lightning and carry her with him, first because they were not soul linked, and even if it was possible he would not do it. One must know that to do it, he needs to hold her, and he would never touch another woman when he has Lucy, moreover, she is with him so how could he shamelessly touch another woman, so the travel this time would not be fast but not too slow either. He had the dark cloud and with his speed, it should be fine to travel at fast speed, but he wanted to enjoy travelling more and pass time exploring, in fact, he wasn''t very rushed to get to the clan as it would obviously not disappear in a day or two, so it doesn''t really hurt to take some time and enjoy his life with Lucy. There were some holy church soldiers still patrolling not too far away and didn''t seem to notice what happened, so Arthur disposed of them in a flash using his lightning form, then he entered the library. As for Lucy and Mary, they stayed outside to stand guard if anyone came plus Lucy wasn''t interested a lot in reading, in fact she hated it, she only read a lot of books in the cave for the sake of Arthur, so now that she is given a choice, she would rather do nothing than reading. Mary saw how Arthur became lightning and in a split second all those soldiers instantly died, she couldn''t even follow him when he was in his original form much less now, she could only mutter some things with a low voice, still not believing what she saw "S-So fast..., I can''t even follow him with my eyes.." Unfortunately, this did not pass unheard by Lucy, she turned her gaze at the still surprised Mary and proudly said "Hehe, of course, you can''t, no one can beat my hubby now! in a way it''s thanks to you hehe" Lucy seemed so proud as she bragged about Arthur, she indeed said some arrogant words by saying he is unbeatable but Mary knew they were not just some arrogant words, and he is pretty much unbeatable, heck! even Lucy herself became such a terrifying individual, and Mary would shiver every time she remembered that kick of Lucy. Lucy behavior seemed to suddenly change once Arthur was mentioned, and she continued to talk about how strong he is his magic, etcetera.... Even Mary was dumbfounded when she saw how much Lucy changed in the course of this one year, she never heard her talk in the past, but now she seemed rather talkative, especially when her ''hubby'' was mentioned. .... Once he was in the Library, Arthur looked in excitement, indeed his hopes didn''t betray him and the library had some books, in fact, pretty much 40% of the books are still here, as for the others, they were either taken or burned as he noticed there were some black ashes here and there, fights must have occurred there but it was not that much damaged. Without losing a second, he began rampaging around the library, he stored bookshelf after bookshelf without even seeing the books names, he would do it later, as for now, he would take all. He didn''t care if it was stealing or not, the Academy didn''t belong to anyone right now, so it''s like he found a treasure and simply took it. Surprisingly, the area where skill books were supposed to be was totally empty, it seems someone was smart enough to take them but neglected the other books, and that someone was a complete idiot in Arthur''s eyes. ''How could you ignore such precious books? damn fool'' 5 minutes later, everything was stored in his dark ring, he didn''t know why or how, but this storage ring had a very big space, even with all the furniture, gold, books, items and everything else, the storage was still empty, Arthur never ceased thanking Zodiak for leaving such a wonderful thing. he transformed into lightning yet again and in a split second left the building, and just by chance, he happened to hear Lucy talk and brag about him and his skills. "You know, my hubby can use ice magic, yes you heard right! ice magic, just like your big sister, so what''s the big deal if she can use it? hmpf! my hubby can use lightning magic too, and many other things, hmpf hmpf! that Sonia is nothing compared to my hubby" Though he was partially glad she was bragging proudly about him, he still didn''t like Mary hearing about his abilities, so he decided to punish Lucy with something. With his incredible speed, he rushed at Lucy, she was still happily talking so she didn''t notice him, and even if she did, she can''t react in time due to how fast he is. Just as he was going to crash into her, his left hand stretched and landed on her butt, squeezing it a little, but he soon retracted and appeared next to her, as if nothing happened. "Oh yeah, I didn''t tell you about his....Ah~~" being interrupted like that, Lucy couldn''t help but moan after she felt someone squeeze her buttocks, she then noticed Arthur appear out of nowhere, so she quickly pulled the strings together and knew he was obviously the culprit. As for Mary, she didn''t see what happened and was only taken aback when she saw Arthur appear out of thin air, nonetheless, she came back to her senses in a second and looked at Lucy, though she didn''t see what happened, she heard Lucy and her moan so she became confused. Lucy glared at Arthur for sometime before finally saying "You....." Arthur pretended that he didn''t hear her and began whistling and looking away from her piercing glare. One must say his acting his skills are so poor to the point that he can be seen through in a second, nonetheless, he continued with that act until Lucy retracted her gaze after snorting, seemingly not caring about him anymore. Of course, she was not angry nor did she blame him, she just felt a little embarrassed as she was in front of Mary and that happened, so she could only pretend to be angry with him. The trio didn''t stay much longer in the academy, instead, they used the teleportation array leading to ''Laksy city''. Nothing special really happened, they did meet some holy church soldiers, but Mary finished them off this time. Arthur and Lucy would chat without a care in the world and seemed to completely forget about the existence of Mary, which made her a little sad and cast out, but she didn''t utter a word and silently followed behind them, after all, she was only a guide, so why did she expect to become their companion or their friend? It was around noon when they arrived and the city was bustling, stalls were put as far as the eye can see, and many buyers were bargaining with the sellers about a decent price, there were blacksmiths, cloth shops, etcetera. What angered Arthur a little, is when he saw the slave traders selling their slaves who were put in a cage made out of steel as if they were animals, he came from the world where slavery has long since disappeared, so seeing living beings treated like that didn''t seem right. He felt pity, but he can''t just buy them all then release them, because he was not some savior or a hero of justice, but he also was kind a black-hearted person, however, there really is nothing he could do except wish them a good luck to at least get a good master, maybe someday he will stop this nonsense and make slavery disappear completely. Even Mary didn''t like what she saw, especially when almost all the slaves were beastmen, in fact, beastmen were the most common slaves, either for fighting, house labors, or even sexual needs, very rarely would you see demons or elves, as for other races, they were hard to find in the first place so to find a slave of one of them is near impossible. Once the trio appeared, they attracted a lot of attention, especially Lucy, white robe, blood red eyes, silver hair, a voluptuous body, a curvy waist and an enchanting figure, who would not be attracted to her, her figure really looked like an angel or a goddess. "Hey, W-who is this beauty?..." (random citizen A) "I don''t know bro, maybe a princess or a noble?" (random citizen B) "I don''t know who she is, but damn! I''ve never seen someone as beautiful as her, even the emperor''s daughter is not her match" (random middle-aged man) "ah! When I see her then I remember that when I return home I''ll only see my ugly wife...how could life be so unfair.."(an old man) " ''Slap'' Who did you say was ugly? you are ugly! your whole family is ugly, back in the day, men chased me all day long but I chose you, damn that was the dumbest mistake I''ve ever made, come with me, NOW" The old man''s wife slapped him a few times before dragging him from the collar to a nearby alley, people around could only sigh and pity the man. As for Lucy, she was used to this gazes and reactions, so she didn''t pay them any attention and continued walking with Arthur and Mary, she actually was holding Arthur''s arm intimately, even her breasts were pressing on his arm. Arthur enjoyed the feeling of her chest, those soft round balls, he really wanted to touch them right now and enjoy them, but he didn''t do it, they were now in public and he couldn''t do something this reckless, just her holding her arm like that was enough for him. He ignored the burning gazes of the surrounding men, and just kept walking and observing the stalls seeing if there is anything worth buying. They roamed the city for 2 hours, but none of them bought anything as they didn''t anything worth it. Finally, they stopped in front of a renewed inn and entered it. Even though it was in the middle of the day, it was still bustling as many soldiers, mercenaries and citizens were either eating or drinking. Like always, Lucy attract a lot of attention yet again, and all present men were looking at her body up and down, while drooling, it would be a lie to say they were not enchanted and mesmerized by her beauty, they lusted over her body, and some of them even began shaking from excitement, while other sneakily put their hands on their pants and ''began training''.... Arthur, Lucy, and Mary headed towards the reception desk, where a muscular guy was standing, he was also looking at Lucy and was attracted by her prettiness but he didn''t dare hold his gaze for a long time as he looked at Arthur and Mary as if assessing them. And to be honest, he was jealous of Arthur, as he saw the beauty hold his arm like that. Actually, Arthur''s appearance wasn''t bad, to begin with, it''s ordinary, but with his red eyes, it added to a touch of charm to him that made him eye-catching. Very soon, they arrived in front of the muscular man, and Mary handled the talking, she booked 2 rooms, one for her and the other for Lucy and Arthur. When the muscular man received the payment, he headed off to get the keys for the rooms. The trio stood in front of the desk, patiently waiting for the muscular man to come back when some people headed to their direction. It was 4 people, they all seemed to have a tattoo on their shoulder, it was a scorpion, they all seemed like experienced fighters, and they had either swords or sabers sheathed on their waist. 3 of the incoming people had an ordinary appearance, just like any other citizen, except they excluded a cold aura, as if they killed countless lives, as for the 4th one, he was slightly taller than the rest, with scars on his neck and chest. "Hello there little girl, how about you come with this uncle? This uncle is from a mercenary group called ''The Black Scorpions'', you should know about it, right? I will surely treat you well." The man who seemed to be the boss was the one who spoke first, he cut through the chase and shamelessly invited Lucy to join him. Even though the other men were sizing her up and lusting over her, none dared to speak to her as they suspected her to be a noble or someone with a strong backing, but this man from a mercenary, casually came and asked her to come with him, his tone even contained a bit of threat. Arthur was really pissed that this man dared to take his wife like that and speak disrespectfully towards her, but he calmed himself, he didn''t want to start a slaughter just for this, he should be more reasonable, however, that didn''t mean he should sit by and watch. "I think you misunderstood something, she is my wife, so how about you on your way and we go on ours?" Once he heard that, the tall man, burst out in laughter, and after some time, he looked at Arthur with a mocking gaze and said "Your wife? So what! she must be with you because you maybe are a little rich, but I, Bill, am richer than you, plus I''m a sectional leader of the mercenary black scorpion, it''s not something that You could possibly match.." Bill then turned his head to look at Lucy and continued speaking "So how about it little girl? I see that you are pretty so why won''t you come enjoy the night with this uncle?" Lucy was unfazed and still nonchalantly held arm, she didn''t pay Bill any attention, she didn''t even spare a glance for him, for her this kind of scumbag was not worth her time. As for Arthur, he was sure that peacefully talking his way out of this is an impossible task, heck! if it was the past him, these 4 people would already be dead for sure, but he wanted to take a different route, a better one, so just killing is by no means the best outcome. he stretched his free arm, which was not held by Lucy, and gently put it on her chin, his face descended to match her height and soon, his lips landed on hers, he didn''t hold back and kissed her intimately. He thought that the best way to deal with those people is to show them that she is his woman, and it''s not that just simple words from them that would change that. His actions surprised Lucy, she didn''t expect him to kiss her out of the blue, and in front of all these people too, she was not used to that, but she didn''t struggle, in fact, she kissed him back. The surroundings people were dumbstruck, even Bill was astonished, he didn''t expect this to happen, every time he mentions that he is from the black scorpion mercenary, everyone would show him respect and every girl would come with him right away, even noble girls were tainted by him, so when he saw this gorgeous woman, his desires surged up, and he thought that he must get his hands on her. Mary who was behind them didn''t know what to do as she saw what happened, a tinge of red appeared on her face, she dropped her head down not daring to look anymore as she felt embarrassed. One must know, she is indeed an experienced fighter but except that, she knew nothing, for all her life, she followed her big sister, Sonia, so apart from fighting and magic, she didn''t experience love, or had a boyfriend. It was a simple kiss between a couple, yet it angered almost all people present, they stared maliciously at Arthur, with envious eyes, their jealousy now could even reach the skies. I mean, who wouldn''t be jealous if they saw a beauty like that kiss someone in front of them, they could only blame that someone, as he was the one who got the kiss and enjoyed the feeling, as for them, they were nothing but viewers, and could only watch from afar. Their kiss finally came to an end and their lips separated, though Arthur was still reluctant to let go, as he didn''t enjoy as much as usual, he had to, though he dared to kiss her, he didn''t do it that intimately. As for Bill, he was shaking from anger, not only was he rejected, with this simple kiss, it''s like Arthur didn''t give him any face and ignored his existence, and that made him even more enraged. In the spur of the moment, he unsheathed his saber and viciously slashed toward Arthur with no intention of holding back, he really didn''t care anymore, someone who disrespected like him must certainly die or he would lose so much face that he will no longer be feared or respected. Seeing what just happened, neither Arthur nor Lucy were worried, instead, they were as calm as a toad in the sun, this slash of his was a joke to them, even for someone like Mary, it was a child''s play to block it, much less for them. Arthur didn''t take action this time, Lucy did, in a split second she crushed that sabre by just putting a little force in her fingers, then she grabbed his stretched arm and threw him at the 3 people behind him, even though she tried using minimal strength, it didn''t matter that much as the 4 people were sent flying until they hit the tables and chairs not too far away from their current location. The 3 people were not heavily injured, even Bill was not, but nonetheless, he screamed in pain as his wrist was crushed by her arm, it seems she still can''t control her strength and unconsciously crushed his wrist. "This is just a warning, scram! before I become serious!" Lucy''s cold voice swept over all the inn, and everyone didn''t dare even breathe heavily, her voice contained a chill that made them rub the invisible cold sweat in their forehead. In reality, they all understood that she was not kidding, they literally couldn''t see what happened, they only saw Bill slash at Arthur, then he somehow was sent flying towards his 3 lackeys. Bill was helped up by his subordinates, but he was still groaning from pain and holding his swelled wrist, it was truly an agonizing pain, but this time he didn''t dare say any bold words, he maliciously stared at her, then turned around and left while saying "Don''t think you can get away from this, black scorpion mercenary is not just for show and it sure as hell does not let its people get bullied, I''ll remember this!" Silence ruled over the place and none spoke, they shifted their gazes from the trio and seemingly resumed what they were previously doing. The muscular man finally came back, but he paid no heed to what happened as if it was a usual thing, he passed the keys to the trio and told them the location of their rooms. Just as they were going to enter their rooms, Arthur turned to look at Mary and said "Stay in your room for tonight, me and Lucy will go out to resolve some matters, we will go back in a few hours" Mary could only obediently nod and enter her room without speaking any further. As for Lucy, she was confused as she doesn''t remember them needing to go anywhere, so she looked at Arthur appearing questioning him on what he was doing. "Don''t worry, I need to go see the Emperor, and I want to bring you along, plus I want some alone time with you~~ or is it that you don''t want to come?" Arthur relieved her puzzlement by saying that, to be honest, he wanted to go back to see the emperor only to apologize to his daughter, he really felt uneasy about what he did, and it was really excessive to do that to her, she was only a child after all, there was no need to be that ruthless, plus last time he shamelessly barged in there while hurting that many soldiers while they were only doing their duty, it was really inappropriate. His point of view of many things dramatically changed, and he wanted to correct some mistakes he made and act more reasonably in the future, it''s true some people need severe punishment or even death, but he didn''t have to dismember them or heavily injure them just because they said a few things, that''s only what a tyrant would do. "Who said I don''t want to come!" (Lucy) Lucy pouted and crossed her arms seemingly furious, but even with that act, a smile formed on her captivating face. They both left the inn, then Arthur wrapped his arm around her waist and rushed towards the emperor''s castle using his lightning form, he used the lightning form in the city because he knew even like that no one would be able to see him, they would only see a yellow streak of light of lightning pass by them for a split second, so it was no big matter. ... With his speed, it only took them a short amount of time to arrive at the familiar castle, but in the way, he possessed Lara and Mozu''s bodies, and the familiar sound of notification soon rang in his head, and the blue screen appeared in front of him. You successfully possessed Lara Singlore You gained a new skill(passive) : [Advanced whip mastery] : when using a whip as a weapon : +15% damage/+5% agility You gained a new skill(active) : [fire storm]: you use fire attribute to cause a blizzard which burns everything in its way Cost: 250 mana Cooldown: 1 hour ..... To be honest, all skills she got were useless and weak, so Arthur passed them quickly and didn''t bother with them, the only good thing he got from her was getting her stats, she had about 7000 intelligence, so it''s at least better than nothing. He then proceeded to the big prey, Mozu You have successfully possessed Mozu You have gained a new skill(active) : [Light bullet]: using a Light attribute, you can create bullets which attack with an incredible speed. WARNING: You cannot use any skills related to light attribute if you do that nevertheless, that would cause too heavy consequences and your possible death You have gained a new skill(active) : [Sara''s blessing]: Your blind faith to the goddess of light, Sara, would be rewarded once you call out to her, and your stats would be doubled for 30 minutes Cost: none Cooldown: 1 month WARNING: You cannot use any skills related to light attribute if you do that nevertheless, that would cause too heavy consequences and your possible death You gained a new skill(passive) : [Advanced wind magic]: you can now use the wind to attack or defend You gained a new skill(active) : [Soul essence flame] : It is a flame condensed by your soul, and each person has a unique flame, either in colour or power, this type of flame can be used for Alchemy and other things, but cannot be used to attack or deal damage. You gained a new skill(passive) : [Basic Alchemy]: You can now concoct pills and create elixirs that strengthen you, increase your stats, heal injuries, or even poison your enemies: the quality of the pills, elixirs depends on your soul essence flame and Alchemy''s skill Lvl. Your stats have increased, please check your status window for more details ...... Honestly, Arthur was delighted by what this old man has, it was really a good harvest, he did indeed read about alchemy, but never expected Mozu to have the alchemy skill, it''s really a great occasion, even his stats increased by quite a bit, the average stats of Mozu were 15k with only his intelligence being 19k, he really was strong, well compared to normal people of course, but to Arthur? he''s nothing. Arthur wanted to try the essence flame, so he concentrated for a bit and indeed a ball of flame appeared in his hand, it was a weird flame though, it was half white, half black, and didn''t emit any heat or pressure or anything else. Since the notice said it wasn''t meant for attacking, so that may be why it didn''t emit any heat. Arthur shrugged that idea off and walked with Lucy toward the gates of the castle. He was somehow lost in thought about another thing, which is why he can''t use the light attribute, but since he can''t why bother with it right now? if he ever found a solution then it''s good, if not then so be it, it''s not like he didn''t have other magic, hell! he can all 6 of main attributes, plus ice, void, and lightning, that''s just insane. Even his control in wind, earth is really good, as he had them both in advanced, he even gained strong skills for wind and earth, such as the black earth cage the old man next to the emperor used, but that cage was only strong to them, with a simple slash from a condensed sword energy, he can cut that cage in half...what a pity.. There were 2 guards standing near the gate, patrolling the area with great vigilance, and once they spotted someone coming, they held their swords and shields and shouted "Who''s there, for what purpose did you come here?" Arthur couldn''t help but chuckle seeing the guard, it was the same one who he injured last time, it seems he was somehow safe and back to his duty, he overdid it when he injured all those guards as they were only doing their job, so this time he decided to try another thing. "haha, Little brother, did you already forget about me?" Once Arthur was close enough, the guards saw his features, they were confused, they surely didn''t know them, and them, as experienced fighters had a good memory because of high stats. Arthur laughed then retrieved a mask, then seemingly put it on his face for a second before taking it off. Seeing that the guard''s bodies immediately stiffened and their faces paled, how could they forget about him? he was their nightmare! The emperor himself even told all the guards to treat him courteously if they ever crossed his path and never anger him, so of course, they knew him. Seeing as he was not coming to fight or didn''t attack immediately, the guards relaxed a little, they lowered their weapons to not anger him and forced a smile on their face. "hahaha, my lord, please for me, I''m a bit short-sighted, I see you come here to meet the emperor right?" The guard also saw Lucy walking beside Arthur, he was stunned for a second but didn''t stare for too long for fear of the wrath of Arthur, he opened the gate and adjusted his posture to appear more respectful. "Indeed, I have come here to meet the Emperor" The guard didn''t seem to mind this time when Arthur called his majesty like that, instead, he bowed his head and replied: "In that case, please wait a moment, we will immediately inform his majesty of your visit, in meantime, please enter!" Arthur couldn''t help but smile, this guard seemed to have learned his lesson and was very respectful towards him, in a way he felt happy and guilty, he didn''t say anything else and entered the enormous garden which surrounded the castle, it was indeed a fascinating garden, decorated with many statues and had a lot of flowers of all colors, the view was just spectacular. The guard then ran off to inform the emperor, he ran with his full speed as if his life depended on it, it was quite a funny sight, to be honest. As for Arthur and Lucy, they walked around the garden, enjoying the view and chatting happily, Lucy was contemplating the roses and praising them so Arthur just told him to take whatever she liked, but for some reason she refused. After a dozen of minutes, it was not the guard who came back, instead, it was the old man, who apparently was named Cylmar, his speed was way faster than the guard and with each step, he passed 5m or so. To be honest, once Cylmar heard what the guard said, he didn''t have time to inform his majesty, he didn''t want to anger Arthur, so he wanted to personally welcome him and see what he wants, hopefully, he wouldn''t cause trouble like last time. In fact, he investigated his identity, but all he could find is that he was a council member of the Nemia Academy until he disappeared a year ago and he couldn''t find what happened to him, and in a way he was relieved, as along Arthur don''t cause trouble to his majesty then it''s alright. Cylmar soon arrived near Arthur, he also spotted Lucy but he didn''t pay much attention to her, instead, he was more worried about Arthur, but seeing he did nothing to the guards this time, he felt reassured, nonetheless he didn''t let his guard down. "My, if it isn''t Mr. Arthur, I''m sorry for the poor welcome but the guards were only doing their job" Actually, last time Arthur came he was wearing a mask, nonetheless Cylmar managed to find his identity because of his clothes, his robe was quite unique with that symbol on it so he was easily discovered, nevertheless, Arthur only put that mask for show, it''s not like he was trying his best to hide his identity back then. Now that he saw his features, he was quite surprised to see that he was a young man, to have such strength at that age, just who is he? Arthur softly laughed then replied "No problem, I''m not mad about that, anyway, no need to be overly cautious Mr. Cylmar, I only came here today to have a little chat of the Emperor" The old man was momentarily surprised by two things, first because Arthur was strangely different, last time he was ruthless and cold, but this time he appeared respectful and well mannered, though he still called his majesty the emperor, the second thing he was stunned about was that he knew his name, but after some logical thinking, it''s to be expected, after all, Cylmar was famous for being a counselor of the emperor and almost everyone knew him so how could Arthur not know him? "Oh, is that so, then I''m relieved, Please follow me, His majesty is currently on the other side of the garden, I''m sure he''ll be delighted to see you" Cylmar then put his hands behind his back, and walked slowly, guiding the duo towards the Emperor''s location, so Arthur''s followed him with Lucy without delaying any further. ..... Alexander, the human emperor, was currently enjoying his day with his family in his castle''s garden, he was with his wife, his eldest son, the crown prince and Celcy the female mage, she was actually a disciple of Cylmar and had a close relationship with the royal family so the Emperor treated her as family. He was sitting next to his wife, Lynessa, they were both eating some fruits and watching their eldest son practice with that Celcy. Actually, Alexander rarely took some time off, but when he did, he would only pass it relaxing at home, it would only be a few days, and he would tell higher-ups of the empire to handle the political matters in his short absence. He had 3 children, but the most he was proud of was the eldest, Syth, he was very talented in fighting, and was a genius in handling swords, in fact, he was amongst the best in the country, plus he had a good affinity with lightning, one of the special attributes, and the most uncommon one. Syth excelled in using that attribute, his attacks with lightning were frightening and could not be easily blocked. He was currently sparring with Celcy, he was older than her, but he still regarded her as a little sister and would always spare some time to teach her a few tricks, since she was only a mage, he would teach her sometimes how to use mana in an efficient way or other good tricks. In fact, Syth was not a playboy like his little brother, in fact, he never showed any interest in opposite sex, he always devoted his life to training and becoming strong, for him strength equaled power, he had no interest in ruling the empire, he just wanted to become the strongest. ...... As they were currently having fun and relaxing, they noticed Cylmar coming their way, and behind him, they saw 2 figures. Though Syth and Celcy were sparring, they didn''t notice them immediately, but Alexander with his high stats, saw them instantly and once his gaze landed on Arthur, his body stiffened and he became slightly anxious. Actually, he and Cylmar knew Arthur''s real appearance, and that''s because when they investigated, they managed to find someone who imprinted Arthur''s face on a crystal, also, his daughter told him about Arthur, his behavior, his features and other things, so when he saw him now, he immediately recognized him, heck! those red eyes alone were enough to confirm his suspicions. Celcy and Syth also stopped sparring to see what is happening and who are these people. After some seconds, they finally arrived a couple of meters near Alexander, his wife, and the two others. Syth gazed at the 2 unfamiliar people with indifference, he first looked at Arthur but wasn''t that much interested in him until he saw that black sheath and what looked like a sword, he as a swordsman and a fighter, really liked challenges, and wanted to be the best swordsman, so seeing the sword, his fighting spirit ignited. He then looked at the woman beside Arthur, and he was momentarily surprised, even someone such as him who had no interest or whatsoever towards the woman, was mesmerized by her beauty and couldn''t help but stare at her for some time, apparently lost in thought. Cylmar heartily laughed and said "Your Majesty, It seems Mr. Arthur have come to speak with you, so I brought him directly to you." If he brought any other person, Alexander would have been irritated, but it was Arthur, he already saw what he was capable off so he dared not be arrogant or be rude. "Ohh! it''s Mr. Arthur, yes yes! it''s been such a long time, why don''t you sit so we can have a little chat?" This time, Alexander became respectful, he feared Arthur and knew he can''t beat him and can be easily killed, plus he didn''t know that the behavior of Arthur changed, so he acted overly courteous and didn''t dare anger him like last time. "Your majesty is so courteous, please don''t be alerted, I didn''t come to cause trouble this time, I only want to chat with you for a bit, that''s it" Arthur called him ''your majesty'' this time around. Actually, he didn''t want to call him that, but he wanted to build a good relation ship with him, and forgetting about the past, because if he ever needed some help in political matters then maybe this man would help him. Celcy also knew about Arthur, so when she heard his name, she became slightly angry and clenched her fists, last time she and her master were easily beaten by him so she trained all year to not end up in the same situation, she trained for hours and hours to overcome her weakness, as she felt bitter about what happened that night. As for Syth, he was confused, his father didn''t tell him about Arthur, so he obviously didn''t know what happened in the past, even his sister didn''t tell him about what happened to her, as he was quite reclusive so he rarely engaged in those matters, but now that he saw his father become this respectful and appear quite frustrated in front of this individual, he became interested and intrigued at the same time. Lynessa, who was sitting next to her husband, became afraid once she heard of this man''s name, it was the same one who slapped her, one could be lying to say she wasn''t afraid of him, she deeply regretted saying those words, as it seems this man didn''t care about her background or her status and could have easily killed her, so this time she didn''t dare open her mouths and stayed silent. Alexander breathed a sigh of relief once he heard that and said : "So it''s like that, in any case, I''m very grateful for your visit and this young lady...?"(-the emperor) "She is my wife, her name is Lucy"(-Arthur) "So it''s Mrs. Lucy, thank you for your visit, you and your husband, why don''t you take a sit?"(-the emperor) Lucy just nodded toward the Emperor without saying anything and sat on a nearby chair, as for Arthur he also did the same. The atmosphere seemed a little awkward, as the emperor, his wife, Arthur and Lucy were the only people sitting, while Cylmar, Syth, and Celcy were standing a couple of meters away, still staring at Arthur and Lucy. Alexander, noticing his son and Celcy standing there without doing anything, hastily said "Syth, Celcy, weren''t you sparring? you can continue doing that, I''m going to have a little chat with Mr. Arthur here." Though, he said that both of them didn''t continue sparring, in fact, Syth walked closer to his father and said "Father, we just finished, so how about we join you? would you mind Mr. Arthur?" Even though he spoke to his father, he was looking at Arthur and brightly smiling, but Arthur knew it was this kind of people he didn''t like the most, very shrewd and cunning, talented at hiding their motives. Though he thought like that, Arthur just waved his hand and said "No problem no problem!" Whatever he wanted, Arthur didn''t mind, he might be very cunning or planning something, that didn''t matter either, he had enough strength to be able to stay confident against a brat like this. Soon, Celcy and Syth took a seat next to the emperor, as for Cylmar, he preferred to stand so the emperor didn''t insist and let him do as he pleases. Time passed and no one talked, the atmosphere seemed awkward as no one dared take the initiative to speak, Alexander couldn''t take it anymore and said "Mr. Arthur, about what you want to chat about..." The emperor seemed very disorganized, as he spoke with a hesitant voice. As for Arthur, he was leisurely sitting in the chair, admiring the view and when he heard the emperor, he snapped out of it and coughed a few times before replying "Well, I''ve come here to apologize to you and your daughter for what I have done, it was ruthless of my part and I shouldn''t have done that, so I would be very pleased if you could call your daughter so I can properly apologize" Hearing this, Alexander sat there, dumbstruck, he couldn''t believe what he just heard, I mean, who would right? just a year ago, this man heavily injured his daughter, and even barged in his castle injuring people left and right without a care in the world, he even threatened him, but here he is now, apologizing, it seemed like it was a different person, but his eyes are most certainly not lying to him so what was going on here? In any case, he came back to his senses and didn''t think much of it, true, it''s astonishing and strange he changed like this, nonetheless, the truth was in front of him, and since this man came to apologize then he will just let him do so, because, after some logical thoughts, it would be better to have a good relationship with a strong figure like this one. "Good, good! about that matter, it''s really alright, it was our fault, to begin with, as for my daughter, I will call her right away...." Alexander then turned his head towards Cylmar, and the latter understood what he meant so he nodded and headed towards the castle to call for the princess. ... Syth, who was silently sitting there, was still confused, what did this man do to my sister and my father? he really wanted to know what happened, but he couldn''t ask his father now, so he just remained silent but he would sometimes sneak glances at Lucy who was nonchalantly gazing at the garden, ignoring the emperor and everybody else, it seemed as if she didn''t care about the conversation. As they were waiting for the Lisa to come, none of them talked and silence ruled over once again, but that didn''t last long as the princess finally came with Cylmar. Cylmar only told Lisa that her father called her and she needs to go see him hastily, so she headed to the garden with Cylmar with fast speed. Once she was close enough, she saw her father with the usual people from her family, but there were 2 strangers, and when she was in range to distinguish their features, her heartbeat quickened and she felt fear. In fact, she told her father about how Arthur injured her, but she sure as hell didn''t tell anyone about what happened in that dungeon, that was her most terrifying nightmare, every time she remembered it she would shake non-stop, and now that she saw Arthur from afar, the fear from that time once again engulfed her. Nonetheless, she didn''t stop and headed to her father. With her speed, she arrived next to him in a matter of seconds, she didn''t dare look at Arthur and only looked at her father. "Oh, Lisa, you''re finally here. Do you know who this Mister is?" The emperor gently talked to his daughter and pointed at Arthur. Lisa had to turn to look at Arthur, so she mustered up courage and turned her head to look at him, only to see him smiling at her, surprisingly, there was no hint of coldness or killing intent like before, nevertheless, she still felt afraid. "Y-yes father, It''s Mr. Arthur" When Arthur saw her current state, he really felt guilty, this girl became completely terrified by him, she could barely look at him, the arrogance she had when he first met her didn''t show, it''s as if she is another person. "Mrs. Lisa, no need to be afraid, I came here to apologize for what I did, if you do not mind, I''ll give you something in return, it may be not enough, but please accept it" Actually, Lisa was surprised by what she said, but that didn''t appease her fear, she only wanted to get done with this and return to her room, the farther from this man the better. "D-Don''t worry Sir Arthur, It was my arrogance and bad personality that angered you. I totally deserved that." Arthur couldn''t help but chuckle when he heard her say that a child was a child after all, after a lesson she seemed to have become more obedient and didn''t act high and mighty anymore, but still, his actions were unnecessary and ruthless so he should at least pay her back in some way or another. "Hahaha, it''s good that Mrs. Lisa understood her faults, one should not be overly arrogant even if his strength reaches the skies, but even so, I hope you accept my gift, I know you are suited for close-range combat, so I brought you a good item" Once he finished speaking, he waved his hand, and a 3m long red spear appeared from his storage, it was actually the ''Flaming Sky Spear'' it was one of the treasures Zodiak left behind and he had a LOT of power weapons, they just were not suited for him or a bit weak for him, but for other people, these weapons are national treasures. When he took out the spear, everyone except Lucy was taken aback, they stared with disbelief at the spear, it was a red spear with a bit of orange in his pole, it had a flame engraved in its shaft, and this symbol of flame was very famous in this world. Actually, any weapon that had that symbol is the work of an ancient legendary blacksmiths, his weapon and armors are renowned to be the best and the top of the notch, anyone wielding his weapons is surely a powerhouse that cannot be reckoned with, so when they saw the spear, they couldn''t believe their eyes. Arthur stood up, walked in front of the princess, who was also looking at the spear and still in a daze, noticing her be still lost in thought, he spoke again "It seems, you know of this weapon, it''s called ''Flaming Sky Spear'' and it''s not bad, I''m sure it will help you, you can test it if you don''t believe me" he then stretched his hand and handed her the spear, she unconsciously took it and regained her senses. "That''s impossible, this spear was lost for ages! H-how could you have it!"(Alexander) Alexander was really stunned, and he couldn''t believe it was the real deal, but when he said that, he immediately regretted his words, who was Arthur? he was a mysterious figure with incredible strength and unknown background, so what if he got a legendary weapon? "Ahem, I''m sorry for my outburst, I was not thinking properly, please excuse my rudeness"(Alexander) "haha, it''s okay, it''s a normal reaction to have, but you can test it and see if it''s really fake or not" Lisa already forgot her fear of Arthur and was contemplating the spear, she began feeling it and even when holding it, she felt her strength greatly rise and her speed slightly increase, even her senses seemed to become better. She distanced herself from them then started waving the spear with a practiced manner, and each time the spear moved, flames would appear. What was special about this weapon is that even a person who is not a mage can use it and it will produce flames, plus the power of the flames depended on one''s stats, so that made it even better. The handling felt really smooth and the spear was neither very heavy nor too light, it was at a manageable weight. After passing sometimes testing the spear, Lisa felt really excited, she even forgot that she was very afraid of Arthur. Surprisingly, she turned around to look at her father and others and said "It''s real, it''s really genuine, I can feel its power, I''ve only done a few moves but I Feel like this spear''s ability is incredible" She then walked toward Arthur and said "Mr. Arthur, I graciously accept your gift, thank you!" Arthur could only shake his head and laugh in his heart, after all, she is still a child, and to please a child, you only need to give him a candy, of course, he knew she wasn''t that stupid, but he was sure she liked the present. "No problem, no problem! I just hope you can forget about the past and start anew" Lisa, who was brimming with joy, as if she never was afraid of him in the first place, nodded her head and said "Yes!" Chapter 35 - 35 : Friends Lisa was quite happy right now, she received a good weapon which will greatly help her. Even her father, the emperor, can''t get her a weapon like this spear, after all, it was a weapon of legends. In fact, every weapon or piece of equipment that was created by that ancient blacksmith is extremely strong and priceless. That blacksmith was named ''Juda'', not much was known about him except that he created incredible weapons, and he would engrave his mark on them, which was a flame symbol, it had some unique mana fluctuation that cannot be imitated, so basically, no one can easily copy his weapon or just put a flame symbol then claim that it''s a weapon of Juda. Though she felt happy, that didn''t mean Lisa had totally gotten over her fears of Arthur, after all, it needs some time, nonetheless, her view of him slightly changed. She knew it was her fault when she got her arm ripped off, but thankfully, her father bought a miraculous medicine that healed her, however, it cost him a tremendous amount of gold and treasures to do so. As for Alexander, hearing what his daughter said and seeing her wave the spear left and right while flames were coming out of spear, all of this really made him stunned and he no longer had any suspicions. Originally, he doubted Arthur, after all, he feared him but that did not mean he trusted him. But seeing this turn of events, he couldn''t help but believe his daughter, it was really a genuine legendary weapon and it was handed to his daughter just like that. To be honest, he was still perplexed about Arthur''s sudden change of behavior, but since it turned out for the better then he could only smile and just accept it, after all, it was a joyous event, with this spear, if his daughter keeps improving then she can become a strong individual. .... Syth, who was sitting next to his father, was looking intensely at the spear, I mean, of course, he would. Even though he wasn''t skilled in spears, he was still slightly jealous of his sister. He, who was more talented than her and even good at magic, didn''t get any awesome weapon like her which seemed a bit unfair to him but he still remained silent. After all, he can''t just straight out complain to Arthur and blame him for not giving him a cool weapon too, only children do that and he was an adult, but he still envied his sister. "hahaha, Mr. Arthur is sure generous, Thank you for giving her such a strong weapon, it means really a lot to us" After saying that, the emperor personally poured some tea to Arthur and Lucy, then he passed it to them. As for Arthur, he sipped from the cup then said "It''s nothing, hahaha, I hope his majesty can consider me his friend, that''s all" Actually, Arthur quite liked the his change of behavior, now that he interacted more freely with others and became more open, it made him feel a bit of delight. His previous way of doing things was way reckless and idiotic, he only killed or injured without trying to solve things peacefully, he guessed that back then, maybe he was still overwhelmed by his past and he didn''t overcome it. Fortunately, Lucy was here for him and she did what he thought was impossible, she changed him for the better and supported him, he saw her past just as he saw his and neither was disgusted by the other. Arthur really couldn''t think of a life without her, actually, he can''t live without her as she was his only purpose of living. ... Alexander was surprised to hear that Arthur wanted to befriend him, he didn''t know if it was some trick or he was just honest, nevertheless, he smiled back at Arthur and said "Of course! I would be happy to have a friend such as yourself" Arthur didn''t dislike the emperor that much, quite the opposite, this man seemed up-right and was even very respectful towards him, but that must''ve been because of his visit last time, nonetheless, for an emperor to lower himself this much, it was indeed rare. .... Time slowly passed and none of them talked, Arthur enjoyed his tea while Lucy also drank the cup of tea and gazed at Celcy, as if thinking about something. As for Alexander, he calmed down a little but he still felt awkward when silence ruled over the place. Lisa was not far away, still excited, she practiced moves and skills with the spear to get used to it. From time to time, the emperor or Celcy would compliment Lisa to break the silence and lighten up the mood a little. ˇ­ Syth, who was silent from the very beginning, was a little angry, for his father, the emperor to be this modest and respectful towards this man, just who was he? Finally, he couldn''t hold back himself anymore and spoke with a cold yet unyielding voice "Mr. Arthur, I see that you have a sword with you, do you mind exchanging some pointers with me?" He was quite intrigued by this guy''s strength and skills, for his father to treat him this good, he must surely be strong. But even like that, he had quite the confidence, with advanced sword mastery and advanced lightning magic, there is few people who were his match, he was practically a prodigy, even his LVL was a whopping 230, even higher than his father, only Cylmar was his match. So that''s why he invited Arthur for a spar, he wanted to see his strength with his own eyes, and if he ended up being weak, he would be extremely disappointed. ... Arthur heard that so he turned his head to look at Syth, the latter was also looking at him with a cold yet piercing gaze, as for Arthur, he only laughed in his heart. He obviously knew the intentions of Syth, but he wasn''t worried or angered, quite the opposite, a bit of action to lighten up the mood is not bad. The emperor suddenly stood up from his chair and angrily shouted at his son "Syth! How could you say that. Mr. Arthur is a guest, not a fighting partner!" His actions may seem stupid to others, but he knew how strong Arthur was, he can even teleport freely, so his son''s provocation might anger him(Arthur) and even if it doesn''t, he didn''t believe his son had a chance. "hahah, no need to be angry your majesty, your son only wanted to spar, and I would be happy to oblige, plus, some action is not bad once in a while, don''t you think so" Arthur said that while still looking at Syth, as if he was talking to him. "Indeed, just as Mr. Arthur, we are only exchanging pointers, so no need to fret about it" Hearing this, the emperor could only sigh and sit back, he only hoped that Arthur would be merciful. As for Lucy, once she heard that Arthur was going to fight, her interest was immediately picked, and she eagerly stared after Arthur who walking to an open space with Syth. She loved watching him fight, so her eyes never left his figure. Soon, both of them arrived at where Celcy and Syth were previously sparring, it was an open space approximately 30 meters from Lucy and the others Both of them were standing while facing each other with a 10meters distance separating them. Syth didn''t waste any time and took his sword right away, it was a green sword with a bit of whiteness in it, it had some gems on one of its edges and it looked like a decent sword. Actually, it was one of the best swords, but compared to the spear, it was still lacking. "Mr. Arthur, why aren''t you drawing your sword? I don''t want to seem like a bully who attacks unarmed men" "hahaha, Prince Syth, no need to worry about that, I''m not going to use it" Actually, Arthur was not purposely acting arrogant, he just truly didn''t need his katana to deal with Syth To be honest, Syth was quite angry when he saw his opponent underestimating him, nonetheless, he didn''t speak any further and rushed at Arthur with fast speed. Arthur stood there, observing the incoming prince while gazing at him, interested in what this prince can do as he appraised him and saw his LvL. In reality, Syth''s speed was quite decent, it was on par with Arnold, the deceased bishop, if not slightly faster. He firmly held his sword and already started hacking at Arthur with precision. As for Arthur, seeing this, he only smirked and easily side-stepped, successfully dodging the attack. Though Syth was shocked, he didn''t dare daze off, he rotated his body and slashed at Arthur, this time, his sword contained some lightning in it. But just like a second ago, Arthur perfectly dodged the slash and the sword could only hit the air. Syth gritted his teeth and backed away some meters, then he charged at Arthur again, but soon enough,3 lightning balls appeared out of nowhere and headed for Arthur. This time, Syth had more confidence, first, he wanted to only use sword skills but after only 2 exchanges, he decided against that and immediately use his magic. He was an experienced fighter and just seeing Arthur easily dodge his attacks like that made him become more serious and cautious, it seems this man is really not ordinary after all. To be honest, it was only Syth who was surprised when he saw Arthur dodge, as for the others, they could only sigh. Even Celcy and Cylmar combined could not win against Arthur, much less Syth alone. ... Seeing the incoming lightning balls, Arthur just waved his hand and they disappeared, just like that. Actually, his control of the lightning was incredible, these types of attacks won''t even hurt him, quite the opposite, being struck by lightning would only make him feel comfortable. He got all the talent and skills Yamak had, so his control over lightning is as if he used it for ages. The incoming slash was also evaded by Arthur. This time, Syth was stunned, he saw Arthur simply wave his hand and his 3 lightning balls suddenly disappeared. He was sure it was Arthur''s doing, so he began to feel more excited and fearful, excited because he met a strong opponent, and fearful because he began to feel hopeless against him after only a few attacks. He continued attacking using everything he got, lightning bolts, sword skills but the lightning would always disappear and Arthur would dodge every single time. ... After 3 minutes of this scenario, Syth could only feel depressed, but he didn''t give up and relentlessly attacked. It''s the first time he encountered such an opponent, he felt admiration for Arthur even though he somewhat disliked him just earlier. After an exchange which of course resulted in the same outcome, Syth backed away, he was softly smiling while tightly holding his sword "Mr. Arthur is indeed strong, to think, I, with my advanced lightning magic and sword mastery, could not even hit you once, that''s incredible" Even Arthur quite liked this brat, Syth wasn''t that old, to begin with but he is still skilled. Even though earlier he was quite provocative and acted cold, that was only because he regarded Arthur as a stranger, and for some reason, his father, the emperor, had to treat this stranger respectfully, so he couldn''t help but feel annoyed. Arthur observed Syth''s fighting and judged him to be a genius, because, how else would he be able to be this good, his sword mastery were top of the notch, but to say the truth, Arthur''s peak sword mastery was way better. He grasped all secrets to the sword, and wielded it as if it was part of his body, his control over his katana is beyond perfect. Since this prince seemed like a good person and didn''t even give up even after understanding that he cannot win, Arthur decided to truly teach him some things and maybe give some advice, after all, he liked the kid''s behavior so it wouldn''t hurt him to help a little. It''s quite ironic though, who would have thought that him, who never trusted anyone, killed in cold blood and interacted coldly with people, would decide to give a little help to someone except Lucy. Maybe he matured? Or his heart softened? That didn''t matter, what really mattered is that he changed and learned how to forgive, and here he is now deciding to help. "I see you are an interesting fellow, so I''ll teach you a few things." Arthur then retrieved a simple steel sword from his storage then he held it with his right hand. His stance changed and he excluded some pressure, him holding the sword appeared elegant and refined and that''s exactly what Lucy adored. Even Syth was surprised by what happened, he was overwhelmed by the pressure but he didn''t back off and instead mustered his strength and fought this invisible pressure. Arthur rushed at Syth using enough speed for his opponent to barely see him, in a second he crossed the distance between them and slashed with his sword. Syth was startled as he could not react in time, he only unconsciously lifted his sword to block. ''tinggg'' Syth sword was thrown to the ground and he backed away a few steps with a slightly pale face. "Your offensive is good but it seems you are lacking in the defensive....pick up your sword and attack.... what are you dazing for, a man should not give up because he lost once." Syth was surprised and came back to his senses, he didn''t expect Arthur to lecture him like that. Back then, he couldn''t hold out for even a second, that attack of Arthur was overwhelming and powerful yet it had some precision in it, it cannot be described, it really seemed like he did that movement for millions of times. Syth walked next to his sword and picked it up, he had a bitter feeling as he was embarrassed from losing like that, nevertheless, what Arthur said was right and he shouldn''t give up easily. Once Syth picked his sword, he charged at Arthur while attacking with his sword and magic again. But Arthur got rid of the magic and once again knocked the sword out of his hand "No, you rely too much on your magic, try distracting the enemy first, then attack them from behind with your magic, the way you are fighting now is too shallow, it''s like reading an open book, anyone can predict what you are going to do next" Just like that, Syth would attack again and again, everytime his sword would fly out of his hands and every time he would pick it and attack again. "You should control your strength, don''t just attack with your full power.." .. "Your blocking is horrible, trying side-stepping or using a barrier to decrease the damage." ... "This skill of yours takes ages to charge and it''s very obvious, I could have killed you a thousand times now.." .. An hour passed, and Arthur never stopped lecturing him, over and over until Syth was panting heavily from exhaustion, he was a normal person, he had a lot of stamina, but he couldn''t fight all day like Arthur. He had some scratches here and there but they were only superficial. Even Alexander and the others were surprised by Arthur, they didn''t expect him to spend a whole hour just to lecture Syth. "It seems you''re at your limit, good, maybe if you practice every day like this, then you would surely become better because now, your reflexes are lacking." Arthur stored the steel sword and walked up next to Lucy and sat there as if nothing happened, he took a sip of the cold tea and spoke again "Though I was harsh, that was only because you indeed have some talent in fighting." Syth was really happy right now, even though he was so tired and he could barely stand up, the beating he took opened his eyes and helped him a lot. Arthur pointed a lot of his flaws and taught him a few tricks, never had he thought that this ''spar'' would benefit him this much. Arthur''s sword skills were beyond his comprehension, they were flawless, delicate yet deadly, and compared to him, Syth skills were considered just average. Syth bowed his head for the first time in a long time and said "Thank you very much, Your help benefited me a lot, also I would like to sincerely apologize for my behavior earlier, it was rude of my part" Syth now understood why his father valued this man and treated him with respect, it seems he is extremely strong and mysterious as well. Even Alexander, his father was surprised, for his son, Syth, who never bowed his head to anyone but him to do that to Arthur indicated how much he was feeling grateful. Actually, even the emperor himself was overjoyed right now, it seems Arthur did indeed change, plus Arthur said that he liked Syth''s character and even helped him, so what did that mean? that means there is a chance of building a good relationship with Arthur. "Hahaha, no need to be so thankful, the only thing that matters is that this hour did benefit you, even if it''s by a little" Arthur chuckled, then he returned his attention to his tea, still enjoying it even though it was cold, then all of a sudden, he seemed to remember something and said to Syth, who just sat on the chair to relieve some exhaustion. "Oh, by the way, that sword does not suit you, in fact, it hinders you and you cannot release your full potential if you use it" Arthur''s words surprised Syth, he looked at his sheathed sword in a complicated manner, he used it because it granted a lot of stats and was powerful, he never thought that it was unsuited for him, after a couple of seconds, he breathed some fresh air and responded "Mr. Arthur''s skill with a sword is formidable since you said that then it must be the case, I will look for another sword" Hearing that, Arthur nodded continuously at Syth, his view of this kid never ceased to escalate, he really followed his advice without questioning so he couldn''t help but feel slightly moved. He retrieved a violet sword from his storage, it had a snake engraved on it and in its sheath, there were some words: ''Heavenly Snake'' "Then you can make do with this one until you find a better one..." Without waiting for his reply, Arthur threw the violet sword at Syth, who unconsciously caught it. The weapon emanated some strange aura, and its demeanor was more overwhelming than the spear. This time, none knew of this sword or if it was legendary or not, but it''s aura alone was enough for them to understand how precious it is. Syth was dumbfounded, he didn''t think Arthur would give him a sword and a powerful one at that. "T-thank you, Mr. Arthur" In fact, even Arthur didn''t know why he became this generous and gave him the sword but he just did it and it''s not like he regretted it. ..... They passed one more hour with the emperor, but this time, the mood seemed to become much better as they chatted about simple things such as fighting, the garden, and flowers which Lucy liked, the emperor even started naming each and every flower. Finally, Arthur decided it was time to head back so he bade them farewell and disappeared with Lucy. All they saw was a yellow streak of lightning flash by and disappear in a split second. ... Soon, they reached the inn and went to their room, it was almost night and it was a long day so they decided to stay in their room. "Who would have thought you are a good mentor, hmpf! why didn''t you teach me too!" Lucy was pouting again, she turned her head away from him seemingly furious. As for Arthur, he grinned and said "Don''t worry, I''ll teach you too~" He then appeared behind her and groped her chest from behind while kissing her neck. "Ah~" Actually, she was only teasing as usual, because if she really liked sword fighting, she wouldn''t be embarrassed to ask him and he would teach her everything. The heavenly feeling of her chest was as incredible as ever, never would he get enough of it. He groped them until Lucy was panting, she tried not to moan but some cute cries would escape from time to time. They soon engaged in passionate and affectionate sex but this time they went at it until very late at night. After having finished, they both laid on the familiar bed which Lucy retrieved from her storage. They liked doing it only on that bed, it had a special meaning for both of them. They were both laying naked next to each other, Arthur was wrapping his arms around her waist and would sometimes squeeze those soft buttocks, as for her, she was stroking his hair and smiling. "Do you think what I did was excessive? Should I not have given him the sword?" Arthur asked for her opinion about today''s matter. "No...that kid was not bad, I think he deserved the sword....but how come you didn''t give me, your wife, anything?" As she said that, she pinched his cheeks but in truth, she didn''t put force into it, in fact, it felt warm and good to him rather than painful. In just seconds, that pinch transformed into a gentle stroke, her alluring eyes stared at him lovingly, she lifted her head and kissed him, for her, that was the best way to express how much she loved him, no matter how much they kissed or had sex, it was never enough. Neither of them was ever tired of the other, and not once did they reject anything from the other, no matter how he touched her, she never struggled, she let him do as he pleases and she actually enjoyed that, she never told him to stop or even thought about doing that. And even him, no matter what she did or how many times she kissed him, he didn''t push her away, moreover, why would he do that? He loved her so dearly and seeing her hurt would pain him, plus he would never forgive himself if he hurts her. Their tragic past was long forgotten and they already started their new life. Today was the first day they interacted with people since the incident and even made friends, they may not be real friends but they were at least acquaintances. ˇ­ Arthur kissed her back, and after some time they separated, but Lucy didn''t seem to have had enough so her lips pressed on his yet again. Only after fully enjoying it did she let go. Even Arthur liked that feeling, her delicate lips, and that tongue....one just cannot dislike kissing her. "...Lucy, I love you..." He then hugged her tightly without letting go. She also wrapped herhands around his back, hugging him back while saying "I love you too..and that will never change" And in that position they fell asleep, enjoying the warmth of each other, for either of them, sleeping in each other''s embrace is the best thing they can wish for. .... Morning came after a long night of love and warmth, they both got up from bed after some snuggling. They wore their clothes and readied themselves, today they would be leaving this city and heading to the Itas continent. Lucy wore some tight clothes instead of a robe or dress, these clothes revealed her body and showed the alluring curves and the perky butt. ... As they left their room found Mary waiting for them in front of her room, silently waiting. Honestly, Lucy felt a little embarrassed as maybe Mary heard her moans but it was too late to regret it now, not that she regretted doing it though. The trio didn''t waste time roaming the city and immediately left it, heading towards Itas continent. Actually, Mary told them that because of the war that happened between the academy and the Holy Church, the magic arrays leading from a continent to another were blocked and to travel they will have to go by boat. But Arthur was going to slowly travel by foot and when they arrive at the sea, they would ride on the dark cloud, it''s way faster and better than a boat. Chapter 36 - 36 : Dragon Rider Laksy city was located at the center of the human continent and it was considered the capital. Basically, Arthur, Lucy, and Mary need to head far east until they reach the sea separating the 2 continents. Arthur could have used a teleportation array to lower the distance, but he didn''t do so as he wanted to enjoy traveling a little bit and not just straight out rush towards their destination, it would be boring to do so, and it''s not like the Clan matter is an urgent thing. The distance they have to cross is quite big, I mean for a merchant or a normal person, they would need months to reach their destination but for Arthur? if he uses his lightning form a few days would be enough. To be honest, their speed was neither too fast nor too slow, they would camp at night and let Mary sleep for a bit, as for Lucy and Arthur, they would just stand guard and chat. Though because of the presence of Mary, they didn''t do anything obscene and only kissed a few times. They didn''t travel the same path merchants do, instead, they crossed dangerous forests and places to shorten the time, but it''s not like they were in a hurry, nevertheless, Arthur preferred passing by those dangerous places, you never know, maybe he finds a treasure of some sort, after all he found Zodiak''s tomb. The trio did encounter some enemies, from beasts to bandits, but they were all mercilessly killed by Arthur and Lucy. As for Mary, she was too slow compared to them, this crazy couple would dispose of the enemies before she could even take out her axe, they never ceased to amaze her. She was even more surprised when she saw Arthur use all kinds of magic, and high leveled one at that. In fact, Arthur would try out his earth and wind magic on any beast they encounter, he wanted to see if they are decent or not, and to be honest, they were deadly and strong, but just not up to his standard. In the course of this trip, the relationship between Mary and the couple seemed to get a bit better, especially Lucy and Mary, they seemed to become some kind of friends as they would chat and Arthur would be left alone. Lucy would even happily tell Arthur every night how she became a friend of Mary, and that this female beastman is truly kind and friendly. Even for someone like Lucy, she managed to open her cold heart and became her friend, so Arthur''s view of Mary slightly changed but he still didn''t talk to her a lot except when he needed to ask something. He usually read books, especially at nights when they were resting, Lucy would sometimes sleep with Mary as she liked sleeping, but Arthur would stay up the whole night either reading books or practicing some magic. Lucy''s POV It has been 1 week since they began traveling and even though they encountered some annoying bandits, that didn''t trouble them much. Lucy was overjoyed, though not for an important reason, just as she was traveling with Arthur and actually made a friend, it was Mary. Even though the first few days they didn''t talk, that didn''t mean it would always be like that. As days passed, Mary began asking Lucy about magic and other stuff. It''s quite ironic though, one year ago Lucy was a student and Mary was a council member, but seeing how Lucy became so good at magic, especially her control over magma and her godlike physical strength, so she abandoned her pride and asked Lucy a few things. Actually, Mary wasn''t very proficient in magic, her specialty was close-range combat and her strength was considered decent, but after seeing Lucy''s strength, she couldn''t help but feel depressed. Lucy didn''t actually hate this female beastman, it''s true at first she disliked her when she thought she plotted to kill Arthur and her, but after Mary sincerely apologized and even accepted her death, Lucy couldn''t help but acknowledge the sincerity of this woman and change her point of view about her. When Mary asked Lucy about her strength and even demanded to have a little spar with her, she felt elated. Each time she explained some basic magic to Mary or sparred with her, this beastman would bow her head and say "Thank you very much for your help, Mrs. Lucy" Lucy would only chuckle and nod her head when she heard this, Mary was truly too respectful towards her and Arthur, she even didn''t dare to look at them in the eye. First, Lucy didn''t mind her attitude, but as time passed she told Mary to act more natural and there is no need to act like that towards her or Arthur, but Mary refused to do that and kept at it even with the insistence of Lucy. Lucy really noticed that her attitude changed, if it was her past self, she would never talk to Mary, heck! she would not talk at all, but here she is becoming more and more talkative and open to others except Arthur. She felt ecstatic, her relationship with Mary really became better as time passed, this beastman finally managed to speak freely and get rid of her respectful attitude towards Lucy but when talking to Arthur, she just couldn''t talk like that and she would be polite to him. It truly was not as easy as it was with Lucy, after all, they were 2 females and can be considered friends now, but Arthur rarely talked to Mary, and he didn''t seem to be open to her as he is with Lucy. Though Mary was a little sad because of that, she didn''t try anything and just kept things as it is. ... Lucy was in a tent with Mary as they were heartily chatting, Mary was cleaning her axe as for Lucy, she was hugging a pillow and grinning. "Hey Mary, why are you cleaning this axe, if you want, I can tell Arthur to give you a better one" Hearing this, Mary''s hand trembled for a second before regaining their posture. "N-no, it''s alright, this one is not that bad, so there is no need to do that" Lucy really wanted to give a good weapon to Mary, it''s been already 3 weeks since they began their travel and their friendship bloomed, even more, they became more intimate and even she, didn''t believe that she would open up to someone other than Arthur, she became more approachable and easy to talk to. To be honest, she felt that Mary is special, apparently, this female beast-man was younger than Lucy, and even though she had a hot temper back in the past, now it seems she changed and became silent and calm. "Hmpf! it seems you still don''t accept me as your friend!" Lucy snorted and turned her head away from Mary. In fact, she just was a little bit sad that Mary didn''t want to accept her gift, she tried multiple times to give her good equipment but this woman would always decline. Lucy even unconsciously broke Mary''s leg guards but the famed beast-man refused to take any compensations, so Lucy couldn''t help but feel a bit guilty. Hearing what Lucy just said, Mary became a bit panicked and replied "How can it be like that! I-It''s just that I don''t deserve to be a friend of Lucy..." As she said that, Mary dropped her head down and her eyes became watery. "I told you that was already in the past, Me and Arthur have already forgiven you, so there really is no need to feel guilty, I truly know that you are kind and didn''t mean to do that and that''s precisely why I want to become your friend" Lucy retorted with a smile hanging on her face, she didn''t feel any disgust, loathe or anything of the sort towards Mary, she somewhat came to understand this baseman''s behavior, plus she was a good judge of people after what happened to her in the past and she sensed that Mary was definitely not acting kind to gain their trust or anything like that. In fact, Mary is a person who is always controlled by their emotions and would act upon them. It''s like when she attacked Arthur in the entrance exam, her kin''s death affected her and she didn''t want to stand there and watch, she just acted on impulse. "But..but I-I..." "There are no buts, I''m already considering you my friend, so please consider me yours" Lucy gently stretched her hand and took Mary''s, and shook it as if indicating the start of a friendship. The best man could only slowly nod her head and softly smile at Lucy, it would be a lie to say she wasn''t happy, the guilty emotion really engulfed her, but little by little they began to disappear, and hearing Lucy say that she could only comply and decide to forget about the past little by little, deep in her heart, she decided to fix her mistakes and start anew, as the saying goes ''In looking back, I see nothing to regret and little to correct'' Seeing Mary finally accept her and shake her hand back, Lucy really felt excited, though she already considered her a friend. This was an official beginning of their friendship and it was her first friend since a long long time, so how could she not feel thrilled and overjoyed? "Since we''re friends now then there is no need to be shy or refuse anything, tomorrow, I''ll give you a good weapon and good equipment, you cannot refuse!" Lucy grasped Mary''s hand and said excitedly, she already sparred with Mary and saw her style and gears, she indeed had good ones but Lucy already saw what Arthur had and compared to Mary''s equipment they were far better so why not give her first friend some good things, after all, she was not like them who had super stats, she was far weaker. "....Um!" Mary nodded her head towards Lucy, she couldn''t refuse this time, and to be honest, she felt a bit excited to get a new equipment. Since Lucy told her they had good gears, and she saw that Arthur''s sword was insanely strong, she couldn''t help but feel ecstatic about what she was going to get, she really felt grateful to have Lucy as a friend. First she thought it would be impossible for them to get close, but as time passed, Lucy seemed to accept her and completely forgive her, so some hope appeared but she didn''t dare step out of the line and consider herself deserving of Lucy because of what she did, but after hearing Lucy saying again and again that the past is the past and she should forget about it just as Lucy did, after all, sooner or later, we''ve all got to let go of our past. Lucy and Mary continued to chat for an hour or so before going to sleep, though Lucy didn''t sleep near Mary this time, instead she exited the tent and leaned on Arthur who was sitting on a rock near a fire camp and silently reading a book. Soon enough she fell into his embrace, he brought her to his lap and let her comfortably sleep then he continued reading after implementing a kiss on her lips, she couldn''t help but giggle and say "You don''t seem to feel jealous because I left you alone and went to talk with Mary." Arthur just used his free hand to stroke her hair and calmly replied "hehe, don''t worry, I know you really like that Mary and became friends and you are feeling excited about that, how can I selfishly tell you to be with me all time? plus I know you will never my side" Lucy didn''t reply to him and only pressed her head on his chest and fell asleep. .... Early in the morning, Lucy woke up only to see she was still sleeping in his embrace and he didn''t seem to have moved, he was still reading a book and didn''t seem to be bored. "nnn...good morning" Arthur noticed her so he kissed her like usual, he already said he would kiss her every morning so he was keeping his promise, Lucy stretched her petite hands and held his warm cheeks and kissed him back. Only after a moment did she notice Mary sitting on the opposite side of the camp, but that didn''t stop her from kissing him, however a tinge of red appeared on her cheeks, she felt a little embarrassed to do that in first of Mary, her friend. After they kissed, Mary looked up to Lucy with a red face and said with a low voice "G-good m....morning Lucy" "En! Good morning Mary~~hehe" Lucy still didn''t calm down and was happy to have a friend. While lost in thought, Lucy remembered she told Mary that she would give her the equipment so she turned her head to Arthur and said "Arthur, give me the storage ring that has the weapons and other equipment, I want to give Mary some" In fact, Arthur had gone through his black storage ring and managed to get some of the weapons he found there into a single storage ring that he also stored in there, he did that to various other things like clothes, furniture, books, gold... So basically, in his black storage ring, he has several storage rings inside, each containing the same type of thing, of course, he couldn''t rearrange everything like the gold for examples but he nevertheless organized most of the things except some scattered things. The gold was the biggest problem as there really was a lot, even after taking some and dividing it in several other storages, the gold didn''t seem to lessen so he could only give up. "mmm"(Arthur) Arthur nodded his head, he waved his hand and a storage ring appeared, he immediately put it in Lucy''s hand. In fact, even if she told him to give her the whole storage ring he still wouldn''t mind since she wanted to give good weapons to Mary then he wouldn''t oppose her, in any case, he was happy to see his wife this excited about having a friend. There was no need to thank Arthur as it was needed between them two, Lucy soon injected mana to the ring and began seeing the good axes there. .. Soon enough, Lucy got up from Arthur''s lap and headed to sit next to Mary, then she waved her hand and several big axes appeared from the storage. "Here, these are all the good ones I found that suit you and are on your level" Mary was surprised to see the axes, each and every one of them seemed extremely powerful and good, her eyes couldn''t help but gaze at them seriously and try to pick one, she was really feeling excited, she even began fidgeting and shaking a little as if she didn''t choose quickly they will disappear. Lucy, seeing the state of Mary, could only giggle and pat her shoulder while saying "Hehe, no need to feel pressured, if you want, you can take them all, after all, we don''t need them, they are only laying on the storage so having someone use them is better" Mary didn''t reply as she still felt nervous, all axes were really excellent, and after 5 minutes or so, she finally picked one. Surprisingly, it was also a work of ''Juda'' the famous blacksmith, but Mary didn''t know about him, still, the axe really pleased her. It was just like the spear, and each time she waved it around, flames would come out, plus Mary had a good affinity with fire, so combining her fire skills with this would be extraordinary. She felt extremely happy as she tested the axe, compared to her old axe, this one is several times better, though it was big and overbearing in appearance, it wasn''t that heavy, it was manageable and easy to handle and that only made her appreciate it even more. Realising she became too caught up with the axe, Mary snapped out of it and turned to Lucy and bowed her head while saying "T-thank you, Lucy, really!! I like this axe a lot, it''s so good!" As for Lucy, even though she wasn''t the one receiving the item, she was pleased with Mary and didn''t regret giving the axe, in fact, she wanted to give her a better one, but the ones still in the storage and way too strong for Mary so she didn''t take them out. "Hahaha, I Told you there is no need to thank me! We''re friends now so of course, I would help you get stronger, hehe~~" Mary nodded then excitedly said "Right Lucy, let''s spar, with this axe maybe I have a chance against you..." Though she said that, Mary didn''t believe it, but she only said that to joke around. "Alright, let''s see how you do with your new weapon, but wait I still have to give you other things" After that, Lucy handed Mary some good leg guards and a good armor which was slightly better than the previous ones, then they began sparring. Mary felt ecstatic, the axe was beyond her imagination, it''s power was really insane and every time she attacked with it, she couldn''t help but feel more and more excited, but even with a new weapon and a high strength, Lucy would block her attacks bare handed, her skin was not even scratched. Mary even used the [berserker mode] but the situation was still hopeless and Lucy was able to win easily, even a full swing of the axe while using a strong skill and being in [berserker mode] was stopped by Lucy''s hand as if it was a baby''s punch. She felt 1 part depressed and 4 parts admiration for Lucy, she really idolized her, for them beastmen, they took pride in strength, and seeing someone with this much strength, she couldn''t help but deeply admire her and feel proud to be her friend. Arthur''s POV It has been 5 days since Lucy gave the weapon to Mary, they would spar every day, Lucy did that to train Mary and would sometimes advise her, Arthur couldn''t help but shake his head, he taught Lucy and here she is teaching someone else even though she is not that good at close combat. It was only due to her high stats that she is very good at it, as for him, he was more than good at it, he got all the people''s talent and experience in fighting, whether it''s with magic or close combat, so his fighting style is nearly perfect and flawless, as for his sword mastery, then that truly was godlike. He was now trying the necromancer skill, he never used it on fighting, but he remembered getting a notification saying he could now summon the earth dragon, but surprisingly he can''t summon Yamak. He concentrated for a second and then the ground in front of his changed, it was as if it was a dark pit, though it had some kind of ominous aura, very soon a bone dragon came out of it, it was extremely huge, heck! it looked very terrifying, it was the bone earth dragon, it cost him 50.000 mana to summon him. He looked at the big dragon and appraised him RACE Dragon ORIGIN UNDERWORLD LVL 150 NAME NONE Strength 10.000Intelligence::4.000 Agility: 5.000Wisdom:1.000 Vitality: 15.000Dexterity:7.000 Health 20.000Health regen 12/s Mana 5.000Mana regen 1/s Stamina ?????Stamina regen ????? You have summoned bone dragon : It will follow your orders until it dies, once dead, you can summon it again after 1 day. Maximum bone dragon number : 3 ''!!'' Arthur truly didn''t expect to be able to see the status window of the bone dragon, plus why is it this strong? originally the young earth dragon was not this strong, does the summoned monster have a connection with his own stats? Confused about this matter, he summoned skeleton warrior, and it was indeed the case, this time, the skeletons had special black armors, though they were beyond weak for Arthur, they still felt slightly more powerful than the ones in the past. The bone dragon howled, then it obediently waited for Arthur''s orders. Mary who was chatting heartily with Lucy, became dumbstruck as she saw the bone dragon, her eyes almost popped out of her head "Y-You''re a..n-necromancer too?..." She really couldn''t believe what she was seeing, adding to what he already got, he can summon this beast, this is beyond common sense. Arthur didn''t reply to her, he smugly grinned and jumped on the dragon to ride him and see if he''s decent in flying or not. Just as he hopped on the dragon, a notification came ''ting'' You earned the title: Dragon rider : When riding a dragon, the flying speed of the dragon increases by 25% The dragon soon flew towards the sky, he really had a huge frame and looked terrifying, if one saw this bone dragon, he would definitely pass out or piss his pants, the dragons were known as strong existences and none would dare anger them. The bone dragon''s speed in the air was not bad, it truly was decent, though compared to the dark cloud it was far lacking Arthur delighted, he had another method to fly, if he ever can''t use the cloud then he can use this bone dragon, plus it''s good for fighting, this kind of dragon can probably fight against a bishop. That day, Arthur decided to travel on the dragon, Mary and Lucy also got that title, Mary was beyond happy, tears of joys even came out of her eyes, it was truly a rare thing to get a title, plus one like this is certainly a good one, I mean ''Dragon Rider'' is sure a cool title. Just like that, they continued their journey towards the east on the back of the bone dragon for some days..... Chapter 37 - 37 : Lumbra City The next few days, the trio traveled on the bone dragon and to be honest, their traveling speed was quite decent. Mary was dumbfounded when she rode on the dragon when she saw its speed. Lucy could only chuckle as Mary didn''t even experience Arthur''s speed when in lightning form so she was amazed by only this. In truth, Arthur only planned to travel on the dragon for a few days but the two girls enjoyed traveling on the dragon as it was surprisingly comfortable so they continued to use the dragon. .... It has been a month since they started traveling on the bone dragon, they did stop sometimes to rest and other things or else they would already arrive at the east of the continent. Lucy and Mary continued to spar almost every day, as for Arthur he just read books or tried a few things with his magic, in fact, he came to learn many new spells thanks to Zodiak''s books and even after 1 month he still didn''t finish them all, plus he took all the academy''s book so his collection is humongous. There is also something that bothered Arthur, it''s that he almost didn''t get some alone time with Lucy, so they didn''t anything except a few kisses, he felt a bit depressed but he couldn''t do anything about it since Mary was here. When they were traveling, Arthur asked Mary about the clan for more detailed information so she answered him and explained everything she knew about it. Apparently, the clan specialized in martial arts, almost everyone there is a martial artist with immense power and skill, only a few are mages but they are weaker compared to the martial arts, even Mary she didn''t know why but they have some special methods to train themselves and raise their stats by a big amount. Since Sonia didn''t have a talent for martial arts and she only was good at magic, she was sent to become the headmaster of the academy. Mary also mentioned that the clan had more women than men, and it was because that for a mysterious reason, only women would inherit the good talents and are more suited for those special martial arts, there was indeed some men who were good at it but they were extremely few. Also, the clan apparently controlled many facilities and had some people who attained key positions in various powerful forces in the continents, plus Mary added that the clan is very secretive, only a few people knew of its existence. When he asked her who was in the control of such a powerful clan, Mary said that it was Sonia''s big sister. Mary even mentioned that she disliked Sonia''s big sister as she was ruthless and cold-blooded, she was even a professional assassin, her skills are deadly, it was said that her talent was unimaginable and she was a true prodigy in martial arts, she controlled her clan even though she is still young. But there is something that confused Arthur, why would anyone from the clan want him dead? Mary told him that probably Sonia''s big sister is the one who wanted him dead, but why? he didn''t even know that woman so why would she want him dead? Nonetheless, he wanted to kill the one who gave that order, he did indeed promise Mary that he wouldn''t touch Sonia until he investigated but he didn''t know if he can control his emotions when he sees her. He already swore that the culprit will die but there is just no reason to start massacring everyone without giving it a second thought, he didn''t enjoy killing, he only killed it because he had to, so if he ever met any of the council members, he would see their reaction first and observe how will they react, will they apologize? or do something else? The only way he would lose all rationality and start a massacre is if someone dared to hurt Lucy, at that time, none would escape from his grasp as he will mercilessly kill them all, but he hoped that time will never come and peaceful days like this would continue as he really like the current situation, just travelling with Lucy and exploring new places. .... After 2 weeks, they finally arrived at the city which is in the far east of the continent, it was called ''Lumbra City'', it was the only place people go to for a trip towards Itas continent, it had a big port full of large and small boats. Arthur called back the bone dragon several miles from the city then proceeded by foot with the others, it was better not to attract attention to avoid any unnecessary troubles. Actually, Arthur planned to travel the sea on the bone dragon but Lucy and Mary wanted to go by boat so he could only give up on the idea of traveling on the dragon. By boat, the trip would take a long time but he just couldn''t refuse a request from Lucy. Very soon, they arrived at the city and entered it after paying some money for the entrance fee. Lumbra city was considered a bustling city, as it was in a very strategical place, it was near the sea so merchants would often come and go to trade things they got from the other continent. Arthur also noticed that there is a lot of beggars and poor people in here, there was a lot of stalls set by rich merchants, they were selling various things at outrageous prices, other than that there were some kids and old people selling flowers or simple things, they looked in a bad shape, ragged clothes and dirty appearance. Mary couldn''t help but stop walking, take out a gold coin from her storage than say "I like your flowers, how about you give this big sister the flowers and take this and buy a good meal?" Mary really couldn''t handle seeing little kids working like this, they were very young and still didn''t learn anything about life yet here they are work every day to get money for food and shelter "T-thanks big sister, but I can''t a get meal until I sell all my flowers or else Uncle bald will beat us again" A little boy, approximately 5 or 6 years old accompanied by 2 other kids took the gold coin excitedly and replied to Mary. A gold coin could let them leave for a year if they preserved right and didn''t waste anything on useless stuff, but unfortunately, this money was not for him and he had to give all his earning at the end of the day. Mary could only nod towards the boy and patted his head gently while forcing a smile, seeing kids like this smile made her heart ache as she was very sensitive towards things like this. One must know she met Sonia when she was 6 years old, and before that, she lived in the western continent, the wasteland, it was truly an awful place, full of bloodshed and wars, she lived a couple of years in poverty, so she in someway is similar to those kids. After a short while, Mary reluctantly let go of the kids and turned to Arthur and Lucy, she apologized for the delay but Lucy told her it''s alright. They went for the port to search for a boat to travel on, actually it''s almost impossible to find a boat that will travel immediately as it needs passengers and preparation, nevertheless they headed to the port to reserve some places and wait until it''s time for the trip, though Arthur wanted to find the boat which will travel sooner as he didn''t want to stay here for long. .. It didn''t take them long to arrive at their destination, however, the port was bustling with people, there were even some stalls which sold fish and other sea food. Seeing the seafood, Lucy''s eyes lit up and she hurriedly went to buy some, she also dragged Mary with her. As for Arthur, he began to search for a suitable boat, in fact, there was really a lot of them, there was even some with a symbol of some sort on them, so he guessed they must be owned by a power such as the church or maybe a guild. The most eye-catching ones were ones which had a symbol of a horse, all those boats were built by some kind of dark red wood which looked quite sturdy, plus it all those boats had a special demeanor, there were armed guards standing there and they looked like experienced fighters. Arthur picked random boats which had this symbol and went on it to talk with the captain to reserve some places if possible. Just as he was going to enter the boat, the armored men standing there to guard rushed at Arthur and pointed their arms at him while saying "This is a private property, please turn around and go away, or else don''t blame us for attacking you!" Hearing this and seeing their attitude, Arthur furrowed his brows and retorted "I am only here to talk with your captain, Since this boat is heading towards Itas continent, I want to reserve some places" Actually, due to his good hearing, he managed to eavesdrop and get some useful information, apparently those boats with the horse symbol are all going to the Itas continent, and they all belong to the ''E-Clips Company'', it''s a trading company and it has a large influential power, it has many branches in all continents and it''s said that its fortune is unbelievable. There is 2 main Headquarters of the E-clips Company, one is on the western continent and the other is in Itas continent, and to be honest, it''s quite a smart and wise decision to make the headquarters there, considering that those 2 continents don''t have an official ruler so they can freely act there. There are many other trading companies like this, but this one was the most known, be it slaves, legendary items, strong skill books or even simple things, they handled them all and this company is renewed to be the best amongst its peers. Arthur also heard that those ships are transporting items from this continent to the Itas continent and apparently the head of the E-clips company is also here. While looking around, Arthur saw a ship bigger than the others and many times more luxurious, it even had gold in it and looked more majestic, he guessed that it''s definitely the main ship which the head of the company will be, but in truth, which ever ship suited him as long as it takes him to his destination so he chose a random one which looked ordinary much like the others ones except the main ship of course. The guards were stunned for a second before saying "This is not some inn or a carriage to reserve a place, this boat is used to hold ''goods'' so you cannot travel in it" The guards relaxed when they heard what said and they replied to him calmly, in fact, they thought it was a spy or some thief, as those kind of accidents would happen a lot. "It that so? but I''m willing to pay a lot, are you sure the captain is not interested?" The guards didn''t react and kept solemn faces. "Sir, please leave, even if you pay a lot, you still cannot ride on this ship!" Just as they said that, a middle-aged man came from behind them in neither quick nor slow pace, he appeared quite irritated for some reason, once he arrived near the guards, he started yelling "Damn fools, this lord proposed to pay a lot just for some places yet you refuse? don''t you even know the motto of our company? ''if you have a chance to earn money then take it!'' , ahh! what a bunch of ignorant fools, get out of my face!" This middle-aged man snapped at the guards for sometimes, when they hurriedly left he turned towards Arthur and bowed his head while saying "Please excuse my subordinates, normally we were instructed to refuse anyone who wants to ride on the ship but I just happened to hear you are willing to pay a lot, so why not accept your request? Please don''t think bad of our company, it''s just that every gold coin counts for us and whatever profit we gain is beneficial to us so when an esteemed person like you proposes a good offer, of course, we have to graciously accept" The middle-aged man spoke respectfully, but he truly was too shameless, he announced his intentions right away and declared that he only accepted Arthur''s proposal because he would pay a lot. Though Arthur despised this kind of people, they would grasp any opportunity to gain money, even though gold coins are mere objects and in a life and death situation, it''s not those gold coins that will save you but your strength, nevertheless he didn''t speak his thoughts and kept them to himself, each and every person had a thing they liked to obtain, this man, for example, was hungry for gold coins. "Hahaha, no problem! Since you are accepted, then let''s cut to the chase, I want to reserve 3 places, name your price" There was no need to talk about needless things, Arthur straight out asked for a price, he didn''t want to befriend this kind of people, he just wanted to get this over with. In fact, greedy or evil people, that had nothing to do with him, if they didn''t provoke or annoy him then he would ignore them too, so as long as this man doesn''t go over the line then it''s fine. "Oh, so this esteemed man want to reserve 3 places, right..., how about 1.000 gold each!" Normally, a trip from Lumbra city to Itas continent would cost at most 200 gold even though the trip is long, there may be an attack from pirates or monsters, so the price cannot be that high, but this man asked for a whopping 1.000 gold, he really is shameless. "Deal!" Without any thought, Arthur agreed, for him, this amount of gold is nothing, heck! even if he asked for 10.000 gold coins each he would have accepted either, it''s not like he was lacking either, the gold he had would last him for a few lifetimes, Zodiak was filthy rich, Arthur could only continuously thank Zodiak for leaving all his fortune behind. Once he thought of Zodiak, a thought struck him, why did he not get another portion of his power, I mean, his intelligence already increased by a lot, but still, he didn''t unlock another portion, maybe there is a specific condition he needs to trigger? Well it''s not like he was in urgent need of it, he was just wondering, he shrugged that idea off and decided to think about it later. .. As for the middle-aged man, once he saw Arthur agree right away, he felt happy yet depressed, he was happy because he managed to earn 3.000 gold coin this easily but he felt sad because he didn''t ask for a higher price. He smiled back at Arthur and spoke "Great, tomorrow morning we will begin our trip, as for the payment you can pay me tomorrow, this one''s name is Koez, I will instruct the guards to not block you like today.." Arthur just nodded towards Koez while saying "Since that''s the case then I will come back tomorrow with my companions, I''m called Arthur" After they shaken hands, Arthur left the ship and went to look for Lucy and Mary. It didn''t take him long to find both of them, they were still buying sea food, especially Lucy, it seems she bought a whole lot of it and stored them in her ring, she loved this type of food so she spent a lot of gold on it. She almost emptied the whole shops. Actually, the central cities did not always sell seafood and only nobles or rich people can afford to buy them, plus their cost would be many times higher than in here so Lucy grasped this opportunity and bought whatever she liked. She already got a ring which contained a billion or so gold coin given to her by Arthur, he wanted to give her more but she refused to say that if he ever needed more then she would ask him, so basically, she had no shortage of money. "I already reserved places for us in a ship, we will depart tomorrow morning" Arthur informed them about the trip''s matter, Lucy only nodded while smiling at him as for Mary she stared at him curiously then said "T-this fast?.. did you perhaps pay more than the normal price?"(Mary) "Indeed..but that doesn''t matter, it''s not like we lack gold, hehe~~" Hearing his answer, Mary could only nod her head, in fact, she knew that they had a lot of gold, Lucy vaguely told her that their fortunes is immense but she didn''t precise, so Mary only guessed that they had a couple of thousands gold. A million at best, and even with that, paying a lot for a trip seemed a huge waste, especially when there was poor people struggling even to gain a gold coin, but it''s not like Arthur cared about them, he pitied them but every person has to care for himself just like Arthur did, sometimes he would help when the situation is extreme but other than that he will not interfere. ... They soon found an inn and booked two rooms for the night, the inn wasn''t that bad and it had some good hospitality, but unlike last time, there was no problem, though Lucy still attracted a lot of attention, none dared to take action. It was already sunset when they went to the inn since the day is almost over, Mary went to her room, as for Arthur and Lucy, they went to theirs. It was not until an hour passed did they start enjoying themselves, in fact, they didn''t make love for more than a month now so they fully released their desires and went at it for hours, but in the middle of the deed, Arthur happened to hear Mary leave her room and head downstairs, however, even after hearing that, he paid it no heed and continued enjoying himself with Lucy, after all, Mary was an adult and she can take care of herself. Arthur and Lucy only stopped late at night, they held themselves because of Mary, but now they released all their pent-up desires, especially Lucy, she missed doing that more than Arthur but she had to hold herself for the sake of Mary, after all, they just couldn''t do it in her presence. As they were snuggling and chatting happily, Lucy remembered something so she looked up at Arthur with hopeless eyes. Arthur sensed her gaze so he looked back at her in return and once he saw her expectant gaze and that hopeless look, he shook his head and said "Alright, I know, you''re worried for your friend, but she''s an adult, she surely is strong enough to take care of herself, maybe she''s just taking a walk" "B-But, but it''s been more than 5 hours! she previously told me she was going to see who is taking care of those little kids we met today, I thought it was no big deal so I payed it no attention, but something must have happened..." Seeing her sad look, Arthur''s heart ached a bit, he sighed and replied to her "Alright alright, we''ll go look for her.." Thought it was a pain to look for her and he didn''t particularly care about her, she was nevertheless Lucy''s friend and Lucy seemed worried about her so he has no choice but looks for her. Both of them quickly wore clothes and readied themselves, then they headed downstairs and asked the inn keeper about any nearby orphanage. They didn''t have a clue about where Mary is, the only information they got is that she went to look for that ''bald'' guy the little boy was talking about. The inn keeper didn''t hold back and answered them earnestly, so they didn''t waste any time and headed for the orphanage, apparently, there was only one, and the kids who are selling flowers or other things indeed live there. Once they left the inn, Arthur held Lucy and transformed into lightning, for some reason, Lucy wanted to go there fast, so Arthur could only comply. Even though they didn''t have a map of the city, it was quite easy to find the orphanage, it looked like a warehouse more than an orphanage or an habitable-building. Arthur didn''t just knock or the door or anything, he barged in without caring since his speed was godlike, no one was able to notice him. Once he and Lucy were there, they saw no one, it was empty but with their keen senses, they managed to hear some cries from a corner of the buildings, actually it was indeed a warehouse, there was scattered beds and destroyed furniture everywhere, it was quite spacious. Within seconds they arrived where the crying noise originated from, it was actually a group of kids, most of them were crying why the others were clenching their fists and holding their tears. The little boy from earlier was also present, he had fresh bruises on his body and some scratches on his face, they were not serious wounds but they are still painful, especially for a little kid. The appearance of Arthur and Lucy startled the kids, they crawled back and hugged each other as if afraid, however, the little boy seemed to recognize Lucy from earlier so he ran up to her and said "Yo-You.., you were with big sister this morning right? p-please save her! she came earlier to talk with us but she was taken by Uncle bald and other guys" Lucy was quite surprised when she heard that, Mary? taken? how is that possible, with her strength, there is few people who can match her, was she maybe poisoned or drugged? She hurriedly patted the little boy and responded to him "Okey, little boy, don''t worry, we will save ''big sister'', where did uncle bald take her?" Even though Lucy appeared calm, she felt anxious, she really cared for Mary, and if something happened to her she wouldn''t forgive herself, if she went with her then this wouldn''t have happened. "T-the basement, it''s that way!" The little boy pointed at the nearby door not far away. Seeing her state, Arthur wrapped his arm around her waist and transformed into lightning, he noticed the door from way earlier but he just wanted the boy to confirm if Mary was taken there or not. In a split second they arrived at the door, it was turned into dust by the lightning but Arthur didn''t stop, there was actually stairs leading down, there was some candle on the wall to provide some light, it appears those stairs lead very far down. With their speed, it only took them a couple of seconds to arrive at the end of the stairs, what they saw was a simple room with no special decoration, there was 2 people there, a bald man and another skinny man. Fred(Human): LVL 97 Loyk(Half-human/Half beastmen): LVL 81 Arthur appraised them both and they seemed quite high level, it was really strange, normally people would have low levels, at most 20 or 30 but these two had strangely high LVLS. The baldy Fred and the Loyk were startled by the sudden appearance of Arthur and Lucy, they only saw a streak of lightning then these two appeared out of thin air. Before they could even react, Lucy leaped on the skinny guy, one punch was enough for his head to fly out of his body, then she jumped on the bald guy and snapped both of his arms in lightning speed. Lucy was really angry, it was sure these two guys took Mary since the little boy said so but once they entered the room she didn''t see Mary around so hopeless thoughts soon engulfed her and in the spur of the moment she killed that skinny guy but she held back and didn''t kill the bald guy, she needed to question him first. "That female beastman that came earlier, she was taken by you, where is she now? SPEAK!" The baldy was screaming from pain, he couldn''t even react and could only helplessly watch as his comrade was killed in an instant and he got both of arms broken, the pain was agonizing but once he heard Lucy, he couldn''t help but feel fear. Arthur saw what happened and he knew how Lucy felt, but he didn''t want her to do those ruthless things, instead, he preferred to do that for her, so he walked in front of the wailing baldy and coldly said "Didn''t you hear? she asked you where is that female beastman and what did you do to her! you got 5 seconds, if you don''t speak, I''ll cut off one of your legs" Hearing this, Fred shivered as deep inside him, he knew Arthur wasn''t just joking, nonetheless, he didn''t answer and kept staring at the couple with a fierce glare. 5 seconds passed and the baldy still didn''t reply, it seems he planned to act stubborn so Arthur stretched his hand, white sword energy appeared on his hand, he waved it with fast speed and ''poof'', Fred''s right leg was cleanly cut and blood gushed out endlessly. ... The baldy regretted not replying as the pain was even more torturous than the last one, in fact, he disliked pain, so when his leg was cut off, it was like hell for him. "S-She was taken..." Lucy panicked when she heard that, her killing intent surged out, even more, she coldly looked at the screaming baldy and said "Who took her? and where! SPEAK, don''t try to delay!" Arthur waved his head again and the right arm of the man went was cut off too, a pool of blood soon formed under the baldy, his face even paled and his screams increased, even more, he didn''t think Arthur would cut off his arm out of the blue, but he didn''t dare waste any more time as the pain was intense and he knew they would only torture him more if the didn''t answer truthfully. "B-behind that wall, there is a long corridor, they are probably still dragging her.." Fred looked at the wall at his left, indicating to Lucy that it was the wall he was talking about, he then breathed a sigh of relief, even though he already lost an arm and a leg, he gave them what they wanted to they will probably let him live. But to his surprise, with the last wave of his hand, Arthur beheaded the baldy but he didn''t forget to store the corpses in his storage, then he crushed the wall and rushed towards the corridor with Lucy in his hands. Even under his lightning form, it took them 2 minutes to finally arrive at the end of the dark corridor, one must know that 2 minutes on his lightning form is a humongous distance, it''s even more than 50 kilometers, just where did this lead? and why did it even exist? At the end of the corridor there was a steel door which had some runes on it and behind it, Arthur and Lucy could hear some voice "Julian, what do are we going to do with this one?" "she is a previous member of the council of the Nemia academy, she must hold precious information, we''ll try to get it out of her, if it''s not possible, we''ll just dispose of her" "ahh, such a waste, and here I wanted to have some fun with her~~~" "You and your disgusting hobbies....anyways, later, you have to go back and dispose of those kids too, they saw us and they need to die, our existence must not and cannot be known by anyone, do you hear me?" "Yes Yes! You already told me that a thousand times.." "I''m just reminding you of the rules, you are a new member of ''Medusa'' so you need to follow the rules, otherwise, they would send one of their ''assassins'' to dispose of some trash like us, don''t forget that our position is tight since we failed two missions already!" "Alright alright...., the infiltration to E-clips is successful, we probably would get rewarded this time.." "Rewarded my ass! the mission is still not complete, don''t let your guard down!" Arthur have heard enough, it appeared that there are only 2 people and they are from ''Medusa'', the name seemed weird but it was not the time to think about things like this. Lucy advanced slowly and punched the steel door which seemed sturdy but unfortunately, she didn''t hold back and used all her strength. The door was pulverized, it was literally crushed into bits and pieces, even the ground seemed to shake by the punch, everything which was behind the door was also destroyed by the force of the punch. The two who were talking a second ago were surprised by what they saw, they were happily chatting a second ago, but all of the sudden, the reinforced door was smashed to pieces along, the small room was wrecked and even the ground shook. There was dust all over the small room and it was quite hard to see, nevertheless, they managed to see a dark clothed woman with a man next to her, they entered the room leisurely. It only took several seconds for the dust to disappear, Arthur could now see those two. It was two black-clothed people who wore masks, they didn''t have anything special on them, only a black robe and a mask, that was it. He didn''t waste time and appraised them right away Julian(human) : LVL 243 Bony(human) :LVL187 He was stunned for a second to see their LVLS, one of them even had a LVL similar to a bishop, ''Who are they? the church? no that''s not possible! why would they be secretive if they are from the church? they said ''Medusa'' earlier, but what exactly is it?...'' Though their high LVLS impressed him, he was still the least bit worried, in fact, he was as calm as water, people of their caliber are not his match, but they indeed were capable of capturing Mary. Speaking of her, she was unconscious on the ground not too far away from the 2 masked men, she had some injuries but she didn''t appear to be dead or heavily injured. In a flash, Lucy appeared next to Mary and began checking her condition, as for the other 2, they were astonished as they couldn''t react in time, they only saw Lucy disappear and appear next to the unconscious beastman. "Who are you..." The one named Julian, even though he was surprised by Lucy''s speed, was still calm, he turned his head to look at Arthur and calmly asked about his identity. Arthur only smirked and responded "It should be me asking that, but I managed to somewhat grasp your identities, what was it again?... ah yes, ''Medusa'', well it''s not like it matters, you will die today" Julian was startled once he heard that, for this man to know all of this, he guessed that their conversation was heard earlier, he was someone with keen sight, just seeing the door was smashed into pieces and that explosive strength and incredible speed, he judged them to be extremely strong, so he began to think of underhanded means to take care of them, after all, it was his speciality. "Friend, it''s only a misunderstanding, why not just let go and each will go on his way?" Lucy affirmed that Mary was alright, she was merely unconscious and she didn''t have anything serious like a deep wound, once she finished checking her friend, she turned her head to glare at those two and her killing intent covered all the room. Even those 2 experienced fighters and cold-blooded killers felt a shiver down to their spine, they couldn''t help but shake a bit from the strong killing intent emanated by Lucy. "I don''t care if it''s a misunderstanding or whatnot, I''m going to ask you some questions and if you answer me, I may consider sparing you" Bony, who was silent from the beginning, snapped out of it, he saw what that couple was capable of but he still believed himself to be stronger, which was idiotic, nevertheless he shouted at Arthur and said "EVERYONE WHO SAW US SHALL DIE, NO ONE CAN KNOW ABOUT OUR EXISTENCES, WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO ACT SO BOSSY, JUST DIE!" He then disappeared and reappeared behind Arthur. To be honest, Arthur was surprised to see someone teleport like that, this easily and without incantation, nevertheless he didn''t feel worried or in danger, just as Bony appeared behind him and stricken with his dagger, Arthur teleported just a couple of meters to the left, his decision making and calmness were far greater than someone like bony, after all his wisdom and intelligence were sky-high. Feeling that his dagger only hit air, Bony could only stare in disbelief, he had a special skill for that teleportation and he even attacked the opponent by surprise, but his hit missed and his enemy teleported away with lightning speed, he couldn''t believe that this man could react in time and dodge like that. Arthur felt that it was hopeless to keep this man alive, he seemed to be the crazy type and would not answer his questions, plus he didn''t feel like torturing him. He put his hand on his katana, and his figure blurred for a split second, he used [Lone sword] on Bony, and the poor man could not even react in time, he was beheaded and could only see Arthur''s figure blur for a bit before his conscience blackened. A headless body soon hit the ground and the head of Bony flew away before landing a couple of meters away from its body. As for Julian, he could only stare in disbelief, now he was absolutely sure he was not their match, he could not even see what killed Bony. The only thing he saw was Arthur''s figure blurring for a split second... ''Was he that fast to behead Bony then get back to the same position?... Nonsense! This is illusion Magic!'' Arthur then turned his head to look at Julian and said while evilly laughing "Now, shall we talk?" Chapter 38 - 38 : Shadow magic Julian stood there, petrified by what just happened, never did he expect Arthur to be this strong, heck! When he saw how Bony died in a flash and how he couldn''t even see what killed him, he immediately gave up any idea about sneak-attacking Arthur. He had the best skills and tricks to sneak-attack, anyone but against this man in front him, there is just no way he could succeed, that teleportation from Arthur and quick reaction speed was enough for Julian to understand that with his strength, it is just not possible to beat either this guy or the silver-haired girl. When he(Julian) heard Arthur talk, Julian snapped out of his daze but the fear was still lingering in his heart, he had really bad luck to meet this kind of enemy here, he even regretted taking Mary as apparently, they are her companions. Left with no choice but try to talk his way out of this, Julian looked at Arthur and replied ? What do you want to talk about? ? ? It''s pretty simple actually, I just want some honest replies to some of my unanswered questions, who knows, maybe if you answer sincerely I might let you live? Julian knew that even if he answered honestly he would still die here, this man in front of him was ruthless and he learned that by the hard way, he saw his companion beheaded like that but Arthur didn''t have any change in his expression as if he was used to killing, and for someone like Julian, who is experienced in assassinations and such, he knew that these type of people would dispose of you once you are no longer needed. He unconsciously rubbed the invisible cold sweat on his forehead and began thinking of a way out of this dangerous situation, though it''s clearly impossible either way because if he answered he would most likely die and if he didn''t then he''ll die too.. ? Friend, as I said, it''s only a misunderstanding, if answering a few questions will solve it then so be it ? ? Great ! Since you are willing then it makes things much easier, alright, first what is ''Medusa'' ?" It''s to be expected that Arthur would ask the most obvious question, he already had a guess but he just wanted to confirm it so that''s why he straight out asked that, as for the honesty of the answer, that for him to decide. ? Thisˇ­.Friend, don''t make things difficult for me, we cannot talk about that or else we''ll be automatically killed by a curse put on us, so how about your ask other questions? ? ''A curse ? '' Once he heard that, Arthur was confused, he had advanced darkness magic when he acquired the dark magic, but since it''s useless and mostly relies on curses he never used it, as for the curse Julian talked about it, even after searching through his memories he still couldn''t find any curse like that, so the only logical answer is that it''s a lie. Of course, there is the possibility of him saying the truth and Arthur not knowing about the curse but that chance was slim as Arthur read a lot of books about dark magic and spells but there was not a mention of a similar curse or spell. Arthur also thought of the chance of it being a completely different thing and the people who put it on Julian just told him it''s a curse, in any case, he still had other questions for him so whether he is lying or not that didn''t matter, sooner or later he will know about this ''Medusa'' as he already killed one of their own, so maybe they will chase him, and maybe they won''t, either way, he will slaughter them all. ? Hmm, Alright, then why did you take our companion and not just straight out kill her? ? ? Our organization already know about important figures like her, so I thought about extracting some information from her and maybe get a decent rewardˇ­ ? ? What kind of information? ? ? It''s about a secret weapon of the places she worked at and other things. ? ? I''m warning you, don''t try to play around with me, what are these other things? ? ? Friend, it''s just that they may not interest you but since you insist then I''ll tell you, our network of information is very wide so there is little that we don''t know, this girl here has some information about a certain clan so I wanted to get it out of her ? Arthur immediately guessed he was talking about the Ma clan, what else could he be talking about except that. ? Oh, so it''s like that, well,next question, who is the boss of the organization? ? ? I can''t answer or else the curse will kill me ? ? How many people are there in the organization? ? ? I can''t answer ? ˇ­ After some minutes, Arthur grew tired of this useless talk, the only question he answered is the one about Mary, everything else was left unanswered by the pretext of ''I will die if I answer '' Since it''s unnecessary to continue talking, Arthur decided that it''s time to end this, he was going to kill him, well, it''s not like he was going to spare him in the beginning, he just said that to give some hope to Julian so he can honestly reply. ? It seems our talk is going nowhere, it''s time to end this, don''t you think? Julian ? Julian was scared shitless when he heard that, he never mentioned his name and apart from a few comrades, no one knew about his name, so how could this man know it! ? Howˇ­.Who are you? How could you know about my name! ? Arthur just shrugged his shoulders and retorted ? Sorryˇ­I can''t tell you, you see I''ve been cursed, if I tell you, I will most likely dieˇ­ ? ? Youˇ­ ? Julian didn''t know wether to laugh or cry, he understood it''s his end and there is no way he can escape by his own strength, thoughts raced through his mind and he began to hesitate on wether to make a move or not. ? Friend, let''s not be rush here, I admit that I could have answered some of your questions, but the curse''s matter is really not a lie, if you really want answers, then how about you join our organization, I''m sure you and your comrade will be accepted, with your strength, you''ll even be put in a high rankingˇ­So what do you think? ? ? Quite a good offer I must say,but I honestly want to lead a peaceful life so I have to refuse your offer ? Hearing this, Julian became more panicked as this was the last trick he had, if he could successfully escape danger and invite such a powerful individual to ''Medusa'' then he would be handsomely rewarded by the higher-ups. ? Any last words? ? Arthur started walking slowly towards Julian while his right hand touching Makaze(his katana''s name), he thought that [Lone sword] was the quickest way to eliminate enemies, plus it was quite effective and deadly so why not use it? Knowing that it''s hopeless now and he was at death''s door, Julian decided to abandon his friendly attitude and shout at the approaching Arthur. ? Do you really think our organization will let you go after you kill me? Even with your strength, you cannot fight against it, it will be you and your comrades'' doom! ? Once Arthur saw the change of behavior and the sudden burst of anger from Julian, he only snickered and calmly replied ? I would love to see them try ? Then without delay, he activated [Lone sword] and in a split second a sharp and almost invisible white arc formed from sword energy was released from Makaze, the slash was small, probably1 feet, but it was more than enough to finish Julian. The speed of the attack was faster than Arthur in his lightning form, so of course, someone like Julian can''t block or react in time to dodge it, the poor guy just died in the blink of an eye. Soon enough, his(Julian) corpse fell on the ground with his head not too far away from it. As for Arthur, he took a breath of fresh air then he looked at Mary to see if she is awake or not. ? It''s fine, you can possess them now, she is unconscious and will only wake up after a while ? Hearing Lucy''s confirmation, Arthur brought Bony and Julian''s bodies next to each other, he also put their heads near their corpses or else he can''t possess them, it''s actually strange but when he was in Ghost island and tried to possess many corpses, the only ones he can possess are the ones in good shape, for example, they have a complete body or are missing a limb. It''s quite bizarre because, before the evolution, he could possess any kind no matter if it''s half a body or a complete one, but now it seems to have changed, he guessed that maybe it was due to his evolution to humanoid parasite, but it''s not like he regretted that, perhaps, if there is the next evolution, he would be able to possess any kind of corpse, that would truly be fantastic. Come to think of it, why was there no evolution even though he reached is above lvl 400, it''s strange but there is nothing he could do, maybe he needs to reach a specific LVL to evolve again. You have successfully possessed Bony! You have gained a new skill(passive) : [Medium Shadow magic]: you can now use shadows to either attack or defend You have gained a new skill(active) : [Shadow step] : you can teleport in a specific shadow position in your field of view Cost : 500 mana cooldown : 1 minute You have gained a new skill(active) : [Shadow clone]: You can create a shadow clone of yourself which can attack enemies for a period of time: 30 seconds Clone''s strength : 10% of your stats Cost : none Cooldown : 10 minutes WARNING : The Clone''s strength increase if the mastery in shadow magic increases .... Your stats have increased, please check your status window for more details Arthur was rather confused when he saw these notifications, firstly, he didn''t know about the existence of shadow magic, isn''t it the same as darkness or dark? secondly, he didn''t think that shadow magic even existed, it''s true there is a lot of special attributes that are unknown or not discovered yet but never did he imagine that shadow magic existed. Well, since he got it then there is nothing he could do but feel delighted, it kind of intrigued him to have this shadow magic, he wanted to test it right away so he focused on a shadow in this room and used [Shadow step]. Just as he used it, he appeared in that shadow''s place, it truly was instant teleportation just like [faster than death] but it cannot be used continuously plus it cost more so Arthur decided to stick with his previous teleportation since it''s more efficient. Next, he tried using some of the shadow magic but unfortunately, no shadow spears or anything of the sort appear, he didn''t know why nothing happened so he focused and tried multiple times but their result was the same, he could only give up and use the last skill which is [shadow clone]. As the skill was activated, a black shadow rose from behind Arthur, it had the same silhouette as him, with a sword on its waist, you could not see its face nor its features, it was jet black. The controls of the clone were exactly the same as with the skeletons or the bone dragon, he just needed to order it in his mind and it will follow his orders. It may be useful to deal with weak enemies but it only lasted half a minute so summoning the bone dragon was way better. Actually, he received quite a bit of skill from Bony, such as dagger mastery, wind magic, but he already had all of that, so they didn''t help him with anything. When he possessed so many corpses in the Ghost island, he acquired almost every weapon mastery, except a few special ones, though not all of them were advanced, most of them were. Arthur didn''t waste any more time, he turned towards the corpse of Julian and possessed him in a split second. You have successfully possessed Julian! You have gained an enigma skill(passive) : [Ancient Threads]: You can now use tiny strings to attack or defend WARNING : The string''s durability and power will depend on the owner''s stats. ... Your stats have increased, please check your status window for more details Apart from that [Ancient strings] there was nothing special about his other skills, an advanced mastery in spears and some weak attacks which Arthur couldn''t bother with. Though that enigma skill caught his attention, it was the second time he got an enigma skill and the first one was not that bad, it was not used for combat but it had many other uses, as for this one, he still didn''t know. With but a though, the skill [Ancient Threads] was activated and some very thin, almost invisible thread came out of his hand, it extremely tiny, even Arthur had to focus to be able to see it. The threads came out endlessly out of his hands until he willed it to stop, then with small concentrations, the threads moved on their own and formed a small sword of 3 inches. When Arthur tried attacking with the threads, the speeds were pretty fast, as for the power of the threads, it was terrifying, how can threads be this deadly, the wooden chair which was not far away from Arthur, was cut in several thousand pieces with those threads, even he felt that their power is outrageous. After passing some minutes to get used to the threads, his control over them became almost perfect, it seems Julian did his best to become good with those threads so Arthur naturally gained all his skill in using those threads. Arthur felt ecstatic, [Ancient threads] were really beyond broken and would be very useful especially in sneak attacks as those threads are almost invisible and only one with very good eyesight can see them. After consuming the two corpses with [Death touch], he retrieved the baldy''s corpse and the other one and he possessed them two to get their stats and skills but unfortunately, he didn''t get anything good, that half-beastmen didn''t have the [berserker mode] skill so he felt a bit depressed. After consuming the last 2 corpses, he opened his status window to check how much his stats increased. TITLE : MEAT GRINDER / SEEKER OF KNOWLEDGE / ONE WITH THE SWORD Level: 431 Class: Humanoid parasite - Strength: 374234(+53076) Intelligence:279258(+63781) Agility: 274995(+51099) Wisdom: 258504(+53817) Vitality: 237882(+38452) Dexterity: 252100(+43093) - Health: 256472(+49174) Health Regen: 596.2/s Mana: 284067(+48007) Mana Regen: 702.4/s Stamina infinite Stamina Regen ???? - Attack: 262301(+46911) Defense: 250027(+41295) Magic defense : 24196 -- Enigma abilities: Telekinesis / Ancient Threads -- Elemental Resistances: Fire: 100% Water: 43% Wind: 35% Earth: 65% Light/holy: 20% Darkness: 100% Lightning 100% Ice 10% Shadow 30% -- Arthur rather happy, especially when he saw his agility, just a bit more and he unlocks another type of lightning, he looked forward to that moment, the natural lightning was already overpowered, adding another one would make him even more powerful. After he finished checking everything, Arthur took their storage rings to see if they had anything valuable but surprisingly, they didn''t have anything, except a few healing potions there was literally nothing in their storage, Arthur guessed that they may have hidden their real storages but it''s too late to ask them now. There was another door at the end of the small room, it was similar to the one Lucy destroyed, Arthur didn''t know where it led nor did he care at the moment, if this organization chased after him then he''ll wipe it out just like what he''ll do to the church, if they left him alone then he will not bother with them. As a matter of fact, Arthur wanted to wipe out the holy church before going to the Ma clan, but for some reason, Lucy didn''t want to go immediately and told him to go once they took revenge on whoever plotted against them, she also told him that even though the bishops were indeed weak to the current him, they still had a lot more tricks up their sleeves and they can be quite troublesome. Though even with her warning, Arthur still thought he had the strength to destroy the church and whoever is in it, I mean, the pope cannot be that strong, even if he was as strong as Yamak, a true adult dragon, he would still be pulverised by Arthur so there was no need to fear the church but since Lucy didn''t want to go now then he complied with her request, after all, he was going there for her sake, so if she didn''t want to go then there is no need to insist. As they had nothing to do in there, Lucy and Arthur prepared to leave, it was almost sunshine and the E-clips boats will be leaving soon so they better hurry a little. Mary was still unconscious so Lucy asked him to carry her, though with her strength she could also lift Mary, however, Mary''s frame was bigger than Lucy so it would be uncomfortable for her. Arthur refused to carry her so he used his telekinesis on her to make her body slowly float. Like that, they left the small room and headed back to the warehouse, however, because he was focusing on Mary so she couldn''t fall, they couldn''t run, they had to walk at a fast pace. Fortunately, Mary woke up when they almost finished crossing the corridor. She seemed rather confused when she saw Arthur and Lucy next to her and that she was floating, she stared dumbly at her surroundings to remember what exactly happened. Seeing her awake, Arthur deactivated his telekineses, so her body fell down and her butt hit the ground, which resulted in a small yell coming out of her mouth. "Ah!!" "What is the last thing you remember?" Arthur didn''t want to waste time as the appointed time he discussed Koez was almost up so he had to hurry or else he has to find another ship and it may take some time, but after seeing Lucy asking Mary, he had to wait for them to finish talking. "I-I remember yelling at that baldy then someone knocked me out from behind..." Hearing that, Lucy just giggled and said "You''re alright now, next time, be more careful or just ask me to come with you, I was worried about you earlier.." Lucy was truly worried as Mary was her first friend, though she opened her heart to Mary, it wasn''t like she did with Arthur, but she still treated Mary kindly and took care of her, though maybe Mary is an exception as apart from her, Lucy still despised other people, especially men, she could not think of herself being friendly with any men, except her husband of course. "eh...oh! I''m sorry....I''ve caused you troubles didn''t I?" Arthur turned his head to look at Mary then calmly said "You indeed caused troubles, jeez..can''t even take care of herself, I can''t believe you are an adult since you never act like one...." Mary, who was sad because she caused troubles to Lucy and Arthur, was both depressed and angry when she heard him, he not only blamed her, he even mocked her, so of course, she became angry, but she did not dare to retort and only turned his head away as if acting furious. "It''s almost time for the trip...we must hurry"(Arthur) Both of the girls nodded then they rushed towards the corridor''s exit. The kids were still sitting there, though some of them were already asleep. As she saw the kids, Mary dashed to them to see if they are hurt, she appeared very worried about them as if they were her own children, she truly was sensitive and caring. The little boy from earlier didn''t seem to be asleep, once he saw Mary, he got up and hugged her, then he said "B-big sister, are you okay? I''m sorry...because of us.." Mary patted his head while saying "Hehehe, this big sister is alright, the bad guys are gone now so you can relax okay?" The rest of the kids also woke up from the noise, they soon began to heartily chat with Mary. Seeing this, Arthur got irritated, so he walked to Mary and coldly said "Oy! I just said we were late and here you are chatting as if you don''t care, don''t forget you are our guide" Being suddenly interrupted, Mary lifted her head to stare at Arthur ''How could he be this indifferent towards this little children..'' Though she was cursing him in her heart, she stayed silent and nodded her head. "Since the bad guys are gone, you can do work and earn money for yourselves without worrying, big sister have to go now okay? take care of yourselves" As she said that, Mary stood up and prepared herself to go but the little boy from earlier, who was named John, stretched his small hand and held her sleeve, he gazed at her with a sad look and hesitantly said "B-big sister...c-can''t you take us with you? we''ve got nothing here, please..." The kid''s look appeared pitiful as he really liked Mary and wanted to go with her, of course, all the other kids were the same as Mary was friendly and helped them a lot. Hearing that, Mary''s heart softened, she pitied those kids and wanted to do her best to help them, that''s exactly why she came here last night. Though they asked her to take them with her, she couldn''t immediately accept, firstly because she was going to a dangerous place, secondly, it''s that Arthur had to accept, after all, he was the one making decisions, she turned her head and looked at Arthur with a helpless look. "Absolutely not!" It''s true he felt pity for these kids, but that does not mean he had to take care of him and feed them, his heart did soften in these days but not to this point, he won''t just go around helping whoever is in need. Hearing Arthur immediate rejection, Mary couldn''t help but feel depressed, she clenched her teeth and said "P-please Mr. Arthur, I''ll find a good place for them to stay when we reach Itas continent" "I said No! No need to insist, I will not change my decision" As he said that, Arthur turned around to leave, he was not going to bother with this problem, it''s not like these children were his responsibility. Even Lucy didn''t try to help Mary, since Arthur didn''t want to bring them then so be it, it''s true Mary was her friend but between her and Arthur, of course, the choice would be her husband, plus she felt quite similar to Arthur, these children were not hers to take care of so why bother with taking them all the way to Itas continent and find them a good place? they can work here like they did previously and earn money little by little. Once she saw Arthur turn around to leave, Mary felt really helpless, it seems he was hellbent on taking these children. "Fine! since you won''t bring them, then I will, you can go ahead of me to Itas continent and I''ll follow you in a few days!" She could only do this, Mary didn''t want to leave this kid alone since they asked for her help so the only way for her to take them is to do this. Arthur stopped in his tracks and turned to look at Mary, killing intent soon emanated from him and the surroundings turned icy cold, even the children were frozen from fear while some of them fell to their knees, his cold glare made Mary''s body shiver for a short moment. "You already promised to take us to the clan, are you already breaking it?" Even though she was afraid, she mustered her courage and replied "It''s true, I did promise and I''m going to keep it too, I just said I''ll catch up to you since you won''t bring the children then I''ll bring them on a normal ship once I find one, It''s not like I''m running away!" What she said made sense but Arthur didn''t like this idea, it will only hinder him more, what if she doesn''t find a ship for one month? then he and Lucy would have to wait for her until she comes, that would be troublesome. After a minute of thorough thinking, he sighed angrily and said "FINE! you can bring those damn brats! But I''m warning you Mary, when we reach Itas continent, you better get rid of them or else our agreement will come to an end!" Chapter 39 - 39 : Kraken Since Arthur agreed after the persistence of Mary, the group exited the warehouse and headed towards the port as it was almost time for departure. There were exactly 7 kids, including the little boy from earlier, these children were extremely happy when they heard Mary say that she will take them with her. They can indeed live in Lumbra city while selling things or doing odd jobs, but that was no way of living for little kids like this. As they were rushing towards the port, Arthur turned his head to Mary and solemnly said "They are your responsibility, whatever happens to them I''m not going to bother to save them or whatever, also, you will pay for their shares" Mary only nodded although he said that, a smile was covering her face, it didn''t matter if she had to take care of them, as with her strength, it should be no problem, the payment was even more so not a problem, as she is a former council member of the Nemia academy, so her fortune is not small, a few thousand gold coins are nothing to her. ... After 20 minutes of running, the kids were breathing heavily and panting while Lucy and Arthur were fine due to their fine infinite stamina. Arthur thought about this infinite stamina a lot, he even judged this to be a bug, it''s literally system breaking, having infinite stamina is impossible for any living being, it''s just that he got it from a skeleton corpse, so he automatically got its infinite stamina. Normally, something like this is absurd, but he was a parasite, something that breaks every rule and allows one to be overpowered just by possessing corpses, it''s really absurd, however, since he was reincarnated into one, so why not enjoy its advantages? Once they reached the port, it didn''t take Arthur long to notice Koez standing not too far away on a ship, he was looking around as if he was searching for someone. Arthur and the others proceeded towards Koez and when they were close enough for him to see them, he waved his hand at Arthur while brightly smiling. ''Damn! his acting skills are impressive..'' Arthur couldn''t help but praise this middle-aged man, if he didn''t say that he will pay a lot, then Koez would by no means act like this. Well, it''s not like it bothered Arthur, it was merely a trade between them and once they reach Itas continent then they will separate and each will go on his way, so there is no reason for him to hate or loathe this man. He came to know that every person has ambitions and dreams, though the way they try to reach them is different, some use evil means, some work-hard, it''s needless to coldly treat anyone who seems greedy, Arthur decided to treat them all equally and if they tried anything against him, then the treatment will change. "Good morning Mr. Arthur, for a second, I really thought you wouldn''t come" Though it''s still very early in the morning, Koez''s voice seemed as energetic as ever. Hearing Koez, Arthur heartily laughed while saying "We already made a deal, how can I not come? I''ve also bought several more people, the price will be the same, I assume you don''t mind?" "Of course not, of course not! quite the opposite, I''m happy you bring more people, we will provide good rooms and food for all of you, our service are among the best, no need to worry" Arthur nodded towards Koez then turned his head to Mary, waiting for her to hand him the money for the children. First Mary was confused, she tilted her head while showing a dumb expression, but after some seconds, she managed to get a hold of herself and retrieve the money. She quickly handed Arthur 7.000 gold coins, and he in return added another 3.000 and gave them to Koez, who couldn''t be happier when he saw the payment. After taking the gold coins and storing them in a flash, Koez slightly bowed his hand and said in a humble tone "Thank you very much for your payment Mr. Arthur, You can pick whatever rooms you want as all people except you are only slaves or some labor workers" Actually, pretty much all the shops belonging to E-clips company were full of slaves or weapons, Arthur noticed the immense number of slaves, they were almost all beastmen, whether it is children or old people, as for the weapons or miscellaneous items, they were put in a wooden box then in a large container. The slaves were in steel cages, they were also chained in some of their limbs to bind their movements even more, their state looked horrible, even Arthur became slightly irritated as he saw them, this world was really rotten, slavery is what Arthur despised the most, he really wanted to get rid of it but just saving a couple of slaves won''t fix it, so he could only sympathize with those beastmen. As for Mary, when she finally saw all those beastmen chained up, she became enraged and almost acted on impulse but a simple cold glare from Arthur made her stand her ground and suppress her anger. It didn''t take them long to find suitable rooms, the 7 kids all preferred staying in the same room, Mary took one for herself, and Arthur chose a random room for himself and Lucy of course. The interior of the ship was stunning, even Arthur was astonished, it was luxurious, red carpenters and a big golden chandelier in a central room inside of the ship, one would definitely think it''s a ship for tourism or relaxing, not for importing slaves and other items. The more Arthur observed and saw how the ship was well built and luxurious the more he got curious about this E-clips company. This ship was only one of a few others which were exactly similar, so if these normal ships were like this, then how was the main ship that the head of the company was currently in? That ship was double the size of the one Arthur was currently on, it looked more majestic and beautiful, it even had some golden carvings here and there, which made it look even more stunning. ... The boats finally departed and the trip to Itas continent began, their speed was decent, though if Arthur went on the bone dragon or the dark cloud then it would have been faster and more convenient. It was the first time for Lucy to travel on boat, since she was a child all she could remember is being on the human continent so finally leaving it was a relief to her, she felt really thrilled as it is also the first time she was on a ship, she didn''t linger off in the room and went outside to observe the sea. Arthur followed her but the sight was not as he expected, the beastmen were doing some labors and sometimes they would get whipped by the guards, it was truly a pitiful sight, nevertheless, Arthur didn''t do anything. Lucy, who came to enjoy a good view, felt a bitter taste in her mouth and the idea of enjoying the sea was already out of her mind, for someone who was already captured and treated as a slave, or even worse than that, seeing people treated similar made her angry. Her ecstatic mood vanished and what replaced it was a cold an emotionless face, the one she once had when she met Arthur. She turned around, held Arthur''s hand and dragged him to their room, she didn''t want to stay outside to watch more of that, so the best solution was to go back to her room and find something to do. ... When they finally arrived at their room, they both silently sat on the bed, Arthur knew what she felt, so he wrapped his hand around her back and made her lean on his shoulder. "Do you want me to stop those guards? just a word from you and it will be done, Lucy..." His actions already snapped her out of her daze, she felt his warm hand around her back and his soft voice talking to her, that emotionless face instantly disappeared and what replaced it what an enchanting, breath-taking smile which blossomed on her face. "Hehe,~~ No need, these slaves have a bad fortune but they have nothing to do with us...." After she said that, she stayed silent again for a dozen or so seconds before speaking again "....Arthur, kiss me...." This really surprised Arthur as usually, she wouldn''t ask him this, she would kiss him without warning and he would do so too. Arthur complied with her request and imprinted his lips on hers, but they didn''t intimately kiss, it was a simple yet warm kiss. No words were necessary, both of them laid on the bed, they hugged each other and started chatting. After the kiss, Lucy''s mood seemed to got better, whatever saddened her seems to have vanished and her usual behavior resurfaced, they even ended up doing it after Lucy insisted many times. .... The trip will approximately take 1 to 2 months, depending on the weather and the circumstances. It has been 10 days since the trip began and everything passed smoothly, Arthur and Lucy would sometimes come out but most of the time they stayed in their rooms. It was also the case for the children and Mary, she would visit them often to give them food and take care of them, plus she didn''t let them go outside for fear they would see what is happening to the slaves, maybe it''s too much for them to handle. Arthur was silently reading a book while Lucy was taking a nap next to him, it was a normal day like any other and nothing seemed out of the ordinary, except, Arthur heard the cry of a guard from outside, with his good hearing, he can hear anything if he focuses a little. "EVERYONE, PREPARE YOUR WEAPONS, KRAKENS! KRAKENS ARE ATTACKING THE SHIPS" Everyone panicked when they heard that, it seems whatever it attacking is dangerous. After he heard that, Arthur had a rough idea of what''s happening but he still remained calm, he knew what a Kraken is as he already read a book about some sea monsters and compared to a dragon, it''s nothing, though for normal travelers it was a pain in the fucking ass as it had many limbs and tentacles and it''s hard to kill it. The book he read was one of the Zodiak''s so the information about the Kraken was detailed. Apparently, a Kraken can use some water magic but it''s stronger in physicals attacks, especially with its tentacles. Koez, who was the current captain of the ship, began shouting and commanding the guards left and right "IMMEDIATELY HAND THE SLAVES WEAPONS TO FIGHT! USE THEM AS CANNON FODDER AND TRY TO HURT THE KRAKEN AS MUCH AS YOU CAN, BE WARY It''s NOT JUST ONE KRAKEN, THERE IS A LOT OF THEM!" Normally, Krakens were solitary, so Arthur was a little confused as to why they are attacking in groups, nonetheless, one or ten, that''s still the same for Arthur. The book he read also mentioned that a Kraken''s LVL ranges from 100 to 150 and it''s impossible to find a stronger one, though he found a note of Zodiak saying that he encountered some Kraken Lords and Kraken kings deep in the southern sea. He even mentioned that he cooked some of them and their meat was delicious, plus he added that these Kraken lords and kings are way more powerful than the normal ones. Lucy, who was soundlessly taken a nap, awoke from the noise, people were yelling everywhere so how could she not have awoken by that loud shouting, she could only grunt and curse them ''damn bastards! scared of a few Kraken..'' "Let''s go see what''s happening, if it goes out of hand I''ll interfere, if not then we''ll just watch"(Arthur) "Un!"(Lucy) They slowly left their room and made their way outside to observe the situation. Mary and the kids were also outside, as, for the female beastmen, she seemed a bit worried, after all, she was not like Arthur and Lucy, a few Kraken with high levels were troublesome for someone with her strength, so for those guards, it was almost impossible to deal with the Kraken. As Arthur looked around, he saw 3 ships already wrecked and sinking, these Kraken were enormous with disgusting tentacles that had some kind of sticky substance. Though 3 ships were sinking, the others were doing well, he managed to see that on other ships there is some strong warriors and mages who were able to hurt if not kill the Kraken that was attacking their ship. Slaves were holding spears, swords and various other weapons and sluggishly attacking the gigantic tentacles, but that only ended up badly for them, they were either sent flying or fell from the boat, however, excluding those weak slaves, there were others who were skilled at fighting and managed to injure the Kraken, which impressed Arthur. As for the guards, they were ruthlessly smashed into minced meat by the Kraken or blown away, they only stood in the backline and attacked using arrows or crossbows, but even staying in the back didn''t mean the tentacles would ignore them, actually, it seems it purposely targetted them or maybe was it just coincidence? no one knows. Koez, who was the captain of the ships, never ceased attacking using his wind magic, he would mumble some incantations then wind slashes or cyclones would ravage everything in its way, he didn''t even care about the lives of the slaves. Koez Laflamor (human) : LVL104 Arthur appraised him to assess his strength but he wasn''t anything special, though, for normal people, his LVL was indeed quite high. .. At some point, the tentacles became more violent and attacked randomly, one of them even headed for Arthur and Lucy who were standing next to each other. Since an opportunity appeared, Arthur decided to test his [Ancient threads], the tiny threads came out from his hand in a split second and headed for the incoming tentacle with lightning speed. It was but a tiny threads, almost invisible, but it cleanly cut the gigantic tentacle, it''s as if it was cut by a big sword. The Kraken, sensing that one of its tentacles has been cut, became furious and concentrated its attacks on that location, it even excluded some howls which sounded terrifying. As for Arthur, he was joyous by the result, the threads were strong enough to cut the Kraken''s tentacle, it was like his white sword energy, but it these threads can be used in a lot more ways than just cutting. ''sigh...I guess it''s time to end this, the boat is almost destroyed'' Though he was not an expert in boats, he still noticed how wrecked this ship became, its sail was completely destroyed and even the ground began cracking. When he(Arthur) looked around to see the stats of the ship, many of the guards seemed to have disappeared, even Koez strangely vanished. There was the possibility of them dying, but it was strange, too strange because only the slaves and his group remained, Koez and all the guards seemed to have gone somewhere. With his good eyesight, he a few escape boats not too far away from this ship, of course, the one in it was Koez and the other guards, they were using all their strength to get away from the Kraken. ''ho ho ho, so they abandoned the ship and now fleeing....'' Arthur realized he misjudged Koez a little, it''s true he seemed a bit greedy about gold, but he didn''t think he would straight out abandon them in a situation like this. The ship he was on currently began breaking bit by bit and it was obvious it will sink soon enough. The tentacles never ceased to attack but Arthur put a dark barrier which enveloped him and the other as he pondered on what to do, he was not in a hurry for he was not the least bit afraid of the Kraken, quite the opposite, Zodiak''s note intrigued him and he wanted to taste their meat... There were about 30 slaves left, give or take, and he honestly didn''t want to abandon them like Koez did, it''s true he said he didn''t care about them, but the situation is different now, if he decided to abandon them then they can only wait for their deaths. The slaves noticed the barrier of the Arthur so they slowly approached it, they saw how the tentacles couldn''t break it no matter how it tried. After some thorough thinking, Arthur decided to save them, for no special reason, he just decided to do so, also while he was thinking about that, a strange idea struck him, but he put it in the back of his mind to think about it later as it was clearly not the time for it. Normally, no one could enter his barrier without his permissions, the incoming slaves were able to pass the barrier safely, Arthur obviously did let them pass, plus he enlarged the barrier so it covered all of them. Then, he turned around and walked inside the breaking ship, since Koez left it in a hurry, then the imported items should be here right? After looking in some of the storage rooms, the containers which had the weapons and other items were still there, intact, though some of them slipped through the big cracks and fell in the sea. Arthur stored all the containers in his storage since it was left then it''s his now, he''ll not give it back to E-clips Company. The tentacles were becoming more and more annoying so Arthur created a dozen dark spears and threw them into the sea, exactly towards the Kraken''s position. In just seconds, the sea around the ship became dyed red, the tentacles became lifeless as they fell to the ground and began slowly descending to the sea. The spears instantly killed the Kraken, with their strong piercing power, of course, the Kraken could not defend, he was killed in an instant as the spears left many holes in his big body. Normal darks spears should not have killed a big body like him even if they penetrated him, so when Arthur created those spears, he made them bigger, approximatively three meters in length, so with a dozen spears like that, the Kraken could only meet its cruel fate and die, but it could only blame itself as it is the one attacked Arthur and not the other way around. After a minute of storing all present containers, Arthur breathed some fresh air and calmly said "Guess it''s time to go now, huh?" The slaves followed him silently since earlier since his bizarre spheric barrier protected them, then they didn''t care where they went. Arthur firstly thought about using the dark cloud, but unfortunately it had a specific maximum size and at best it could hold ten people, while he had more than 30 with him, so the only solution for him is to use another flying thing....yes you guessed it right, it''s his dear bone dragon. With a frame like the bone dragon, even a hundred people could fit on his back, he was seriously enormous. Arthur didn''t know why, but Yamak''s body was smaller than the young earth dragon, he was confused about this for several hours but he then judged that every dragon had something special, Yamak had incredible speed and strength with godlike magic, while that young dragon had a big body with high defense. With a mere thought, he summoned the bone dragon, soon the ground in front of him disappeared and what replaced it was an ominous dark hole. In just seconds, a terrifying bone dragon came out howling from that hole. The appearance of the dragon petrified everyone excluding Mary and Lucy. The slaves were shaking and many kids were crying, even the 7 kids who Mary brought were shaking with fear. A dragon was more terrifying than a simple Kraken, more so a bone dragon, just his appearance would make anyone piss their pants and pass out. "Calm down, he isn''t dangerous" Though Arthur tried to calm them down, it didn''t help at all, their eyes were glued on the flying dragon and all of them already fell on their knees, not capable of standing. There were some of the slaves, who showed good fighting skills earlier, managed to control their fear and stay standing, though their bodies remained standing, their eyes showed fear and anxiousness as they were looking at the bone dragon. The ship was already on the verge of breaking completely, so Arthur didn''t waste time and said "I''m not going to repeat myself, if you want to live then get on the dragon, if not then just stay here" As he said that, he ordered the dragon to come down so the others could get on it. The bone dragon obviously obeyed and slowly landed on the wrecked ship, it didn''t exercise too much strength to not deal more damage to the already destroyed ship, its state was more like a wreckage of wood than a ship. Arthur then jumped on the back of the bone dragon with Lucy, Mary soon followed as she urged the kids to come with her, after some little comforting and persuasion they finally followed her. As for the slaves, they were hesitant at first, but seeing that they only got this choice or else they would die, they clenched their teeth and one by one got on the dragon''s back, they even helped each other and the few elders to get on the dragon as it was quite difficult for weak people. Once he confirmed that everyone was on the dragon, Arthur ordered it to fly away. Their ship already sunk and as he looked around, he noticed that almost all Kraken were either heavily injured or killed by some way or another, though 5 ships completely sunk excluding theirs. Arthur also saw that from the other 5 ships which got destroyed, their guards and captains escaped the same Koez did, he didn''t even see one slave in those dozen escape boats, there were only guards and the captain. Though their ship was destroyed, that didn''t mean the deal was over, they paid 10.000 gold coins for nothing, he still wanted to finish the deal and travel by boat. He then ordered his bone dragon to head to the biggest ship, the one the head of E-clips company was occupying. Chapter 40 - 40 : Strange Dream Arthur decided to go towards the biggest ship just because he wanted to, of course, he could have chosen the other surviving ships but he didn''t. The ship wasn''t that far, to begin with, plus the bone dragon''s body could have been seen by miles away, so when the guards in the main ship saw the incoming dragon, they freaked out and stood there, petrified from fear, after all, a dragon is a completely different thing from a Kraken, heck! it was even a bone dragon. "DRAGON INCOMING! PREPARE TO FIGHT" The guards and fighters in the main boat began shouting and preparing themselves, that shout snapped almost all of them out of their daze, they mustered what was left of their strength and courage and tightly held their weapons. An old man who stood on the main ship with the guards gazed at the bone dragon, but he appeared calm, he raised his hand and declared "No need, it''s a bone dragon, it must surely have been summoned" The old man apparently knew about the bone dragon and immediately guessed that it was not coming to attack, he was a mage expert and lived enough to know the difference between and a bone dragon and a normal one. When they heard him, all guards relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief, this old man was the captain of this main ship and he was extremely strong, so they obviously trusted his words. It didn''t take long for the dragon to arrive near the main ship and land on it. All the people backed away to let some place for the dragon or else they would be squashed to death by the dragon. As for the old man, his gaze landed on the people on the dragon''s back, especially on Arthur, he was the one in the lead, standing on the dragon''s head, anyone would judge Arthur to be the leader or boss of this group behind him. Just when the dragon landed on the ship, Arthur jumped from it followed by Lucy, Mary, and the rest. Arthur looked around to observe the boat and he indeed was a bit stunned, this ship''s structure and decoration were on another level compared to the previous one, even though it was only the exterior of the ship, it really looked extravagant. The old man advanced towards Arthur in a flash then said "Friend, what brings you to our ship?" Arthur noticed the old man from way earlier, he saw how he took care of the Kraken which attacked the main ship. When Arthur watched how the old man fought, he immediately guessed that his attribute is light and metal. Metal magic was also one of the special attributes and it was pretty rare too, usually, it''s not very strong in the offensive but it has a strong defensive power, it is even rumored to be amongst the best. He didn''t waste time and appraised the old man who was approaching him, he didn''t do it earlier because he wasn''t in range, the distance was just too far. Bedic Qin(Human) : LVL 294 ''What!'' Arthur couldn''t help but exclaim, this old man was the highest person he had ever appraised, even the bishops from the church weren''t this strong. Though he was surprised by the old man''s LVL, he never felt fear or anxiousness, heck! the bone dragon was enough to deal with this old man, even if he can''t kill him he would most likely heavily injure him. "Hmm, nothing special really..I paid for a trip from the human continent t to the Itas continent, I was on one of your ships, but your guards and captain abandoned us when the ship began breaking so I simply switched ships" Arthur''s opinion about this E-clips company changed a lot, this Company was by no means a small or weak one. He heard from Mary that this company did not participate in any political fights or wars, in fact, it provided weapons to anyone who was buying, it had strong individuals that were specifically paid to protect it from any danger, plus no one from the strong powers in this world would want to fight E-clips company, as it provided them everything they needed. He did think they had strong figures, but not to this extent, if money could buy people like this Bedic, then the powers couldn''t be balanced like this, this old man must be someone special, at least that''s what Arthur guessed. Though, someone special or not, that didn''t matter, he paid gold coins for the trip on a ship from their company, so if it was destroyed or whatever, that didn''t matter, he will travel on another one, heck! if this old man refuses to welcome them, he would just forcefully stay here, after all, it''s not like anyone can stop him? "Oh! So it''s like that! Well, no worries, there is a lot of other ships, you can choose whichever you like, and we apologize for the behavior of the captain and guards, it''s just that they were instructed to flee when in danger, don''t blame them" Bedic acted friendly because someone who can use a bone dragon must certainly be insanely strong, and of course, Arthur was the one who was controlling him, it was as obvious as the sun! "No problem, I like this ship so I''ll stay here, me and my companions" The old man was stunned for a second before retorting to Arthur "this....I cannot do, Friend, this ship is where the head of our company and many other strong individuals are staying, we cannot disturb them" "I do not care about that, I said I want to stay here and I will, it''s not my fault that your petty subordinates couldn''t even protect the ship" Bedic was distressed, it seems this man in front of him was quite stubborn and only wanted to stay here, he didn''t think he could forcefully kick him out, he barely can handle the bone dragon, so if the owner was the same strength then he''ll be easily defeated, he was wise enough to judge the situation logically. " *Sigh*.....Alright, we will provide rooms for you, but the slaves will go to the other ship" This was the only solution, if he refused, a fight would be inevitable so he decided to comply with Arthur''s request. Arthur just nodded at Belic and said "They will go to another ship, but they are no more slaves since your subordinates abandoned them then they are free" A random guard who was behind Belic, heard what Arthur said so he pointed his spear at him and said "What are you trying to be righteous for! those slaves belong to the E-clips company, can''t you see the symbol in their col.." Before he could finish, he was interrupted as he saw all the collars fall from the slave''s neck, they were cleanly cut by a sharp object. "These...are mere objects, they do not decide if a person is a slave or not, I said they are free so they are free, you do not have the right to negotiate that with me" Arthur glared at the guard, his killing intent soon engulfed the surroundings and the atmosphere became slightly colder, the guard felt a chill down his spines and he couldn''t move, much less talk. As for the old man, his eyes were glued to the collars, he focused on the on the part which was cut ''How is that possible! they are special collars which are imprinted with a strong seal, anyone who attempts to break them will suffer a strong rebound..." The more Belic looked at those collars, the more he felt afraid of Arthur, he didn''t even see what exactly cut those collars. "Of course, these slaves are now free" (Belic) With that, the slaves jumped on the dragon''s back again, then Arthur ordered it to head to a nearby ship, a guard also went with them to inform the captain of the ship. Mary also brought the kid and went with the slaves, after all, she cared for them and wanted to uphold justice, so she decided to go with them to make sure they are not mistreated. The only ones left are Lucy and Arthur, who stood silently in front of Belic and the rest of the guards. Just as the dragon flew away, the luxurious golden door which led to the interior of the ship slowly opened, and a lady came out of it. Each time she took a step, her body will make an ''S'' shape and her waist will sway left and right, she looked gorgeous with an enchanting face and two towering peaks in her chest area, they almost bulged out of the tight dress, they looked like two soft melons that would make any man drool. the red lipstick in her lips made her look even sexier, plus the red robe she was wearing only added to her beauty. "Grandpa! did you deal with the Kraken?" Robin Qin(Human) : LVL47 It would be a lie to say Arthur wasn''t surprised by her appearance, but he didn''t have any strange ideas about her, he merely thought she was pretty, but just not as beautiful as Lucy, his wife. He unconsciously appraised her but her LVL was quite low, but she had the same surname as the old man in front of him and by what she said, she seemed to be his granddaughter. "Hahaha, little girl, how can mere Kraken''s stop this old man? it was a trivial thing, no need to be worried everytime they attack" Robin happily went near the old man but when she saw Arthur and Lucy, plus the flying bone dragon which was not far away, she frowned and showed a confused look. She icily glared at the strangers and said "Who are you?" Just as she said that, Belic softly laughed and said "Now now little girl, no need to act cautiously, this friend was on board of another ship but it was destroyed so he wanted to stay in this one as they had already paid one of the captains for the trip, as the head of the company, what do you think?" Though Robin was weak and had a low LVL, her ability to run the company is outstanding since she took hold of the company, it never ceased growing and expanding all around the globe, the profit she managed to earn had already outtakes her peers. She was a true genius when it came to trading and managing business. Even Arthur was slightly astonished when he heard she was the head of E-clips company, he didn''t expect this lady to be the head, of course, he didn''t look down on her but the thought of her being the head simply didn''t cross his mind. Robin kept coldly glaring at Arthur while saying "Hmpf! what if they paid? that didn''t mean they can stay on THIS ship, there are several others so just go there!" Her attitude really irritated Arthur, nonetheless, he kept a calm attitude and suppressed the urge to beat her down(AN : just a beating, not a f*cking ****, don''t misunderstand....). "I do not want to waste my time arguing with a spoiled brat like you, I will stay here whether you like it or not" Arthur didn''t really want to cause a scene but this lady was making things different for him, he just wanted a room to stay here, not all the rooms. "You!!!!" Robin pointed at him with anger, she didn''t think he''ll shamelessly call her ''spoiled little brat'', it made her enraged as it was the first time someone dared to say that to her face. Arthur then turned to look at Belic then coldly said "As I have already said, whether you like it or not, I am staying here, deal with it" He then began walking towards the interior of the ship followed by Lucy, who was silent from the very beginning. She wasn''t interested in any of this, she didn''t even spare a glance at anyone except Robin, for any woman, having someone who has the same beauty or even slightly less would make her feel a bit troubled, as she would consider her like a rival. As she saw Arthur and Lucy leisurely head inside, Robin almost choked, they completely ignored her and Belic and walked inside, it''s like not giving them any face. "Guards! what are you dazing for! CAPTURE THEM!" (Robin) Her yell made all the guards who were either drooling over her body or Lucy''s came back to their senses, however, after she said that, Robin and everyone present, felt that their body couldn''t move, not even for an inch, no matter how they tried, they just couldn''t move a muscle, heck! even Belic was unable to move, he stared at disbelief in Arthur''s direction, even with his high LVL, he was bound like this. It was actually Arthur''s threads, in a split second a lot of threads came out of his hand and bound all the enemies, no one would be able to break free if they do not have the sufficient strength, maybe someone like Yamak would be able to easily break free but not those weak people. He was really feeling grateful, these threads are used in a lot of ways, and this was just one of them. He didn''t linger off there a lot and entered the ship with Lucy, as they were searching for a free room, they would hear moans from almost every room, of course, it was people having sex but Arthur wondered why are there so many, however he didn''t bother them and proceeded to search until they finally found a large and luxurious room which appeared to be unoccupied. Just when they entered the room, Arthur released the bound guards from the threads, which fell to the ground and disappeared in a flash. "G-Grandpa..W-What happened?" Robin stared at her grandfather with a bit of fear and curiosity. "Robin, do not bother with those two, just let them stay here, you already noticed that flying beast out there right? it''s a bone dragon, he most likely summoned it, even I, am not sure I can beat it, and you have already seen how he easily bound us, I couldn''t break free no matter how much spells I used, they are not ordinary so better not provoke them, since they are only staying here then let them be, don''t act recklessly" Robin is indeed the head of the company, but Belic would always advise her and protect her, he was with her all day long to protect her from any assassins, as the company was a strong power, there are obviously people who would want to get rid of it, for example, other clans. Belic and Robin were from the Qin clan, it was not a strong one but it had control of the E-clips company plus other known facilities, so its strength is decent, but not enough to fight against the other clans. Their clan was not like the others, which had strong fighters, the Qin clan only had a few geniuses but compared to the other clan they were still lacking, even Robin was not strong albeit being an intelligent girl who managed to rise E-clips Company into a never before seen glory. "Alright Grandpa, since you said so...but he was so arrogant, calling me a spoiled brat, tsk tsk!" She was still feeling resentful towards Arthur, but since her grandfather told her to not act recklessly she could only obey, after all, he was the one who helped her since she was a little girl. Belic then ordered the guards not to bother Arthur and especially not anger him, then he and Robin went to the office Robin had on the ship. Once they were alone, Belic turned his head to look at his granddaughter then softly said "Little girl, you are still young so you don''t know what''s out there, people like today should not be provoked easily, I''m absolutely sure he could have killed us in a second, I couldn''t even see what bound us, a spell, a skill or whatever it was, it sure as hell didn''t let me move an inch, so forget about what he said and don''t act rebellious, I know you always scheme behind my back.." Belic warned her again as he knew she was a crafty little girl, whenever someone angered her she would pay him back in any possible way, so he couldn''t help but warn her again to explain how dangerous those two individuals were, he didn''t even see Lucy act but she most likely was strong too and that only made the situation worse. "But but.." Robin appeared distressed as it was unusual for her grandfather to seriously warn her, even if he did, he would not insist like this time. "No buts! Did you not hear what I said or are you pretending to be deaf? They are dangerous! don''t act up against them, this is an order from your grandfather!" Hearing this, Robin could only silently nod her head, it''s the first time Belic ordered her like this to she understood how serious the situation was. ... Arthur and Lucy relaxed in their room as if nothing happened, he sat on a comfortable sofa and retrieved a book from his storage and began silently reading, as for Lucy she stared at him with dagger eyes and said "Hmpf! I saw you stare at her for too long, especially those fat balls in her chest! hmpf hmpf!" Arthur who just began enjoying the book, was startled by what he just heard, he lifted his head only to see Lucy stare at him intensely "You must be joking! I only spared her a glance..." It was really the truth, he merely looked at her for a second, maybe his eyes landed on her chest area but it was only for a split second. The only conclusion he could think of is that she was teasing him yet again, but then again, if she was indeed joking then why the intense glare. He put the book down and went to sit near Lucy who just sat on the nearby big bed. "You can''t be jealous...right?" "Hmpf! who would be jealous of her!" Arthur stretched his hand and began enjoying her soft breast, though it was not as big as Robin''s, it was more than enough, he could never get enough of them. "Though I prefer yours so why the need to feel jealous..." Lucy didn''t respond to that, she only let him massage her chest while moaning sometimes though this time they didn''t end up doing it, it was not because she was angry at him or anything of the sort, in fact, she was happy with what he said and couldn''t be more overjoyed, but the two of them just didn''t feel like doing it, so she merely let him do as he pleases. The two of them passed the night in the room, no one bothered them, and it was for the best, Arthur continued reading the book after he enjoyed groping Lucy''s breasts to the fullest. She fell asleep as she wanted to continue her previous nap, and he resumed reading the book. But, as he was silently reading the book, he remembered about the thought that had struck him earlier. He wanted to build something, more accurately, make a mercenary or even an academy, he saw how powerful the Nemia academy was, it''s probably because of the Ma clan controlling it, nevertheless it was feared by all the powers in the other continents, so if he established an academy, with his power and Lucy''s it would be easy. He liked traveling and he was planning to do a lot of that, but an academy or something similar would be interesting, first, he would have a place to return to, and it would have a power strong enough to face up against other continents, if not stronger than them. Of course, it was only thought so he wanted to thoroughly think about it then decided what to do, for now, he was going to deal with Ma clan and the holy church then he will see if he is going to do that or not, it depends. Arthur read a book for about an hour before joining Lucy in bed, he hugged her then went to sleep. .... This time, in his sleep, Arthur had a strange dream, it only lasted a couple of seconds but it was nonetheless a dream. He was in a small wooden house, it was very small but it felt really familiar and warm, he was chopping some wood while a melodic voice came from behind him "Honey, it''s almost time...." It was the only thing he heard before the strange dream ended and he suddenly woke up. Lucy was still soundlessly sleeping, as for him, he was sweating a little, he quickly changed his clothes and got back to sleep yet again, however, this time, he didn''t dream of anything strange like earlier and only woke up the next morning. ...... Both of them got up from bed early in the bed after a deep kiss, he wore a blue robe which perfectly suited him, as for Lucy, she wore those sexy tight clothes, which made her look like a true demoness who would steal anyone''s heart. Arthur wanted to go outside to breathe some fresh air, he noticed that this ship is not like others and there were only guards and not a single slave, so why not enjoy the view outside. They soon left their room and headed outside, the ship was really big with a lot of rooms and a big main room which had some round stairs, a red carpet was put on them which made them look more stunning, an enormous chandelier was on the roof, at night, it provided light with some special magic, there was also some beautiful paintings on the walls, they looked very fascinating, the one who made them must surely be a famous artist. After a couple of minutes, they were finally outside. Their appearance raised the alertness of all the guards, they stared intensely at Arthur but none dared to bother him or even talk to him. As for Arthur, he didn''t pay them any attention too and leisurely walked with Lucy. He noticed that there were people he didn''t see yesterday, they seemed to be nobles or something similar, they wore luxurious clothes and had a lot of jewelry, there were women and men, and when Arthur appraised them, they were all between LVL20 and LVL30, it was high but not high enough. Nobles had money to buy elixirs and mercenaries to protect them in dungeons while they killed monsters so it''s rather easy for them to LEVEL UP, but even with high LVL, their fighting strength can be considered weak. Every one of those nobles had some bodyguards, and Arthur was honestly surprised when he saw the bodyguards LVLS, they were all above LVL130, they emanated some a slight pressure and looked like experts. The only possible explanation for this is that these people were very important, or else why would they have such strong bodyguards, there really was a lot of powerful people out there. The Nemia academy was considered powerful because of its council member and principal, very few knew of the ''judgment'', but those who knew didn''t dare attack, they may have people stronger than even the principal but they still didn''t have the courage to attack as their fear from that weapon stopped from doing so. The strongest bodyguards he saw were 2 twins, they were both LVL 143 and had green hair, they were handsome and appeared more like a nobles than a bodyguard, what was worst is who they were protecting, it was a fat ball of meat, this guy was seriously so fat that from afar, you would see a round ball, he looked really disgusting. Even though he was wearing some luxurious clothes, you could see the sweat on them, his look was disgusting and sweat was coming out of his forehead every now and then, he would take some cloth and wipe it but that didn''t help much. He was sitting on a chair that almost broke because of his weight, but he didn''t seem to mind it as he put all his weight on the poor chair, if it was a human, he would surely be squashed to death by this fat pig. Next to him was sitting what seemed to be a female beastmen, she wore a collar so she obviously was his slave. Even she looked disgusted by her master and couldn''t handle staying next to him even another second, but she couldn''t go against him so he obediently sat there. The pig had his right hand holding a chain which stretched from the collar of the slave, as for his left hand, it was caressing the naked thigh of the girl. He didn''t care about the surroundings and kept stroking her thigh while licking his lips every now and then. Arthur coldly stared at the fat guy but didn''t do anything, this was the kind of people he hated the most, buying a slave then forcing him to do anything he wants. He didn''t feel a pity for all slaves, but he pitied this girl, to have a disgusting freak for her monster must have been a nightmare, in bed he would surely suffocate her with his weight, truly a poor girl. He and Lucy approached the pig, and once they were near him, the twins who were protecting him blocked Arthur''s path while coldly glaring at him. They heard from the guards that there was a special someone who came and he is dangerous but they didn''t know his appearance, plus they assumed Arthur was a noble, as he clearly looked like one, he was handsome and looked clean and wore a luxurious blue robe, so how could they not think he is a noble. Seeing the twins block his path, Arthur didn''t particularly mind, he stared at the fat pig and said "Hey you..." Arthur already appraised the fat guy and he saw that his name was Robert Yan, quite a good name but didn''t suit someone like him. Arthur loathed guys like him but he didn''t want to act rashly and just kill or injure him just because he hated him, he just wanted to give an option to the girl beside him, that''s all. He was probably a couple of meters away from Robert, so the latter heard someone call for him, he lifted his head which was contemplating the girl''s body and stared at the origin of the voice, once he saw it was a well-dressed young man with a beauty next to him, he became quite cautious, there was a lot of powerful figures like him on the ship, and he didn''t know all of them, so he couldn''t act recklessly, however, that didn''t stop him from looking at Lucy''s body with eyes burning from lust. "Y-Yes...What do you want?" He only replied after fully enjoying the view of Lucy''s alluring body, even with his fat stomach which covered his lower body, you could see a small tent in his lower body. Arthur didn''t like anyone looking at Lucy like that but since it happened a lot of times, there was nothing he could do, it''s not like he had to take out the eyes of every one who could see her, but to have his wife sized up by this disgusting pig irritated him, nonetheless, he remained calm and responded "I would like to speak with your slave for a second, do you mind?" Robert was startled by this question, but since it wasn''t an extravagant request and it wouldn''t hurt he decided to accept Arthur''s request. "S-sure.." He still didn''t know what is this man and beauty next to him, but he didn''t dare offend anyone even though he had a very special status, his old man told him many times to think about his actions before acting, plus his mind was already thinking about Lucy and how would she be in bed, he just couldn''t get her out of his head, just like Robin, every time he saw her he would become excited and his desires would surge up, he would release it on his slaves all night long. Robert gestured for the girl next to him to stand up to talk to Arthur, of course, she didn''t dare disobey, she slowly went next to Arthur and softly said "S.Sir...." Arthur brought her a little away from Robert and the bodyguards then said "If you want, I can free you from your master" She thought he would propose to be her master or buy her for a night, just like any other noble would do, but never did she think she would hear this. There was a time where someone asked her the same thing, and she accepted, that person tried to fight against her current master, but that only ended up with his head on a stick, and she was beaten by her master so severely that she couldn''t move for a week, that was a nightmare for her that she would never forget in her entire life. When she heard him, she was grateful that Arthur requested her help, but her heart couldn''t take it if she was beaten like last time and kind people would die for her sake, so she shook her head to Arthur while saying "I''m Okay...." Though Arthur really wanted to help her, he couldn''t do it forcefully, plus since she didn''t want help and said she was alright, there is nothing he could do, he already tried to help her but she refused, he could only sigh and say "Alright, just tell me when you need help, even a scream would be enough.." Arthur wasn''t this soft usually, but after what happened to Lucy and after he saw her past, he couldn''t handle seeing other women being forcefully raped or do something against their will, it''s just that something like that angered him and made him loathe slavery even more, truly a disgusting system which only brings pain and misery to people. People would play with the lives of the slaves and use them as if they were toys, people like that are even worse than animals, one would truly think if those people are devils and not actual human beings. Actually, in this world, it was humans who made the slavery system and only them who used it, demons never used it and elves did not use it either, only those greedy and crafty humans resorted to such low and sinister methods so to subdue enemies and people against their will. Even in his previous world, humans were no less cruel than this one, they slaughtered, tortured, made wars, killed so many animals to the point that almost all of them went extinct, to this very day, Arthur could remember what the old lady from the orphanage always said to him ''We humans, if we are given the choice to live without violence, we are also given the choice to center our meals and harvest around slaughter, slavery or war. Unfortunately, we have chosen slaughter. We have chosen war, we were dumb enough to choose something that would only bring our end, for the sake of what? Just the greed for ''power''....'' In a way, it is true that other beings can be evil and sinister like humans, but humans excelled in those things, when one mentions humans, they would mention their cruel acts more than mentioning their good actions, which truly is a sad thing, ''one would always remember a famous war between humans us but would not remember a peace treaty between nations'' This thought was always on Arthur''s mind, he felt ashamed to be human in the past, at least he is a parasite now.. ... Anyway, the female beastmen soon went back next to her master, who was still daydreaming while gazing at Lucy''s figure, who in return, didn''t spare a glance at him, he made her feel so disgusted that she wished to go and punch him to death, but of course, she didn''t do that. Arthur and Lucy went to a near bench and sat there to relax a little, he didn''t pay Robert or his slave any more thought, he wrapped his hand around Lucy''s back and made her lean on him, and just like that, both of them relaxed why staring at the beautiful view of the sea. As for Robert, he felt envious when he saw Arthur act that intimate with Lucy, he gritted his teeth and regretted accepting his request earlier, but what done is done and there is nothing that could change that, he turned to look at one of the twins and said "Go bring me that little girl from my room, now! I feel like playing with her now" When he mentioned the little girl, the slave beast men next to him felt a bit of anxiousness and pity towards that little girl that Robert mentioned. One of the twins nodded and headed inside to bring the girl as for the other one he stood there, still doing his job. Roughly 5 minutes passed and finally the twin brought a little girl with him, she was following him while staggering every now and then, one of her hands were holding the bodyguard''s sleeve. She was about 5 years old, with a slightly long brown hair which looked messy and a bit dirty, she had multiple bruises and injuries in her small body and her eyes were closed, she was most likely blind so that''s why she was holding the sleeve of the bodyguard, to not crash into anything, after all, there were many nobles, and causing them troubles would bring a disaster for her. She was a beast, with dog ears but she surprisingly didn''t have any tail, she also didn''t wear any extravagant clothes, only a small black cloth that covered her body. Her state really looked horrible, she was even younger than the kids Arthur brought yet what she has been through must''ve been worse than them. Once the little girl appeared in front of the fat pig, she bowed and said with a low voice "M-Master..." Her voice contained a bit of fear and anxiousness, she was truly afraid of her master. When he saw the little girl in front of him, Robert suddenly slapped her, the sound of the slap was quite loud as almost all the present people looked to see the origin, once they saw it was a slave and the fat pig, they ignored it and resumed what they were doing, after all, none wanted to provoke him. "F*ck, every time I see you I want to beat the sh*t out of you...take this *slap*" Even though he was a noble, he used such vulgar words and kept slapping the little girl who didn''t even have the chance to get up, her small lips and nose leaked some blood as the slaps were powerful, especially when it was a noble who had high LVL, well technically he didn''t have a high LVL, but she had a fragile body, and even with his meager strength, a slap from him would still hurt her a lot, she was a little kid after all not an adult with a sturdy body. Arthur, who had his back facing Robert and the rest, didn''t see the scene and only turned his head when he heard the slap, and what he saw now really enraged him a lot. Previously, he gave a choice to the slave, however, she didn''t accept so he could only give up, but now, it was an entirely different thing. Even if it was the previous him, he would still feel angered by this sight, he indeed hated everyone as they were bad and greedy but little kids like this one didn''t do anything wrong, heck! they don''t even know right from wrong. They barely lived enough to be able to talk and move and had yet to discover the world, so he couldn''t blame nor hate them, in fact, he would like to help them if they are in a bad situation. It''s also true he didn''t want to bring those kids with him, it''s just because they were free now and they looked alright, they could handle themselves and provide food and shelter if they work, but this little girl was a slave, not only was she blind, so she cannot enjoy life to it''s fullest, she also is a slave, that only made it worse. He really couldn''t hold himself back, the little girl''s state was horrible, even some of the present nobles pitied her, what this fat pig what doing is extreme and ruthless. Robert bought this slave not too long ago, he didn''t use her as a sex slave as he wasn''t into little girls but he enjoyed beating her up, whenever he was angry, he would whip her or just slap her, it was a stress relief toy for him, there was even a time he had to spend a potion to heal her or else she would die, he hated that but he used it nevertheless just to keep beating her more, though she begged him to stop at first, as time passed, she stopped doing that and accepted her fate. He quite liked her begging and struggling and when she stopped, it angered him even more and he became more violent and vicious, he truly was a sadistic fat pig. ... "How about you stop?" Arthur appeared to Robert and the little girl, since he was holding Lucy, she was teleported with him, he held Robert''s hand, stopping it from slapping the girl, while gazing coldly at him, strong killing intent emanated from him, this time, he was beyond angry, as black-hearted as he could sometimes be, there were times he just couldn''t sit and watch, not after seeing a helpless little girl like this, being beaten like this with no way to defend, her state was miserable. When he appraised her, he saw she was named Saly and was only LVL1, she never LEVELED UP, and her stats probably never increased, a body full of bruises and injuries with some scars here and there, and add to that she was blind, if that''s not miserable, then I don''t know what is. "Hiiii!!!" (It''s like a cry of fear and it''s not ''hi'') The fat pig fell from the chair, his body was trembling as the glare and the killing intent was directed at him. The twins sensed the change in atmosphere and the sudden appearance of Arthur but they couldn''t react in time, but that didn''t stop them from charging at the close Arthur, they unsheathed their swords and slashed at him with perfect coordination. But, the next second, all they could feel is their body beeing sent flying until they hit the wall of the entrance leading inside the ship. They didn''t know what happened, but they felt immense pain in the abdomen and they both started coughing blood, the damage was to their abdomen but their ribs were broken with some shattered bones, even their shoulders were broken, of course with this sort of damage, they couldn''t possibly get up. It was Lucy who interfered this time, she saw the state of Saly and sympathized with her, she also felt the rage of Arthur and totally understood how he felt, from the soul link she felt how angry he was at this fat pig in front of her. She only needed two quick punches and it was enough to deal with those twins, she didn''t want anyone to disturb Arthur from whatever he is doing. Robert already pissed his pants as he saw his two precious bodyguards easily defeated. "Let me ask you a simple question....Why did you beat her like that? it''s not like she disobeyed you right?" Arthur finally spoke, however, his killing intent never ceased to increase, even the surrounding people didn''t dare make a noise. Robert was scared shitless from Arthur, but after some seconds, he seemed to remember his status and that he is from the strong Yan Clan so he regained a bit of confidence, but that didn''t stop him from still feeling afraid of the man in front of him. "She''s my slave, my property, I can do anything with her! Who are you to judge my actions?" Arthur laughed evilly when he heard that then spoke again "HAHAHAHA, SO she''s your slave then you can beat her down?" "Y-yes! So what?" "And why exactly did you beat her?" "I already told you, she''s my slave, whether I beat her or not, that''s my own business." Seeing that Arthur was only talking and didn''t do anything beyond that, Robert gained even more confidence. "I ASKED YOU A QUESTION!" Black ancient threads came out of Arthur''s hand, they emanated some black fog, they soon wrapped around all the fatty''s body and held him in the air, he was floating a couple of centimeters in the air and his limbs were stretched like a star. (AN : You know that knife or ball game when someone is put in a wooden circle in the star shape then someone throws the knife or ball at him? it''s like that but without that wooden circle, if you don''t know then google it) The threads were tightly holding Robert, and as he started feeling some pain he began wailing like a pig. "Ahhhhhhhhhh!" Arthur loosened the threads a bit then looked at Robert, waiting for his answer. "STOP STOP! I''ll tell you!..." As he said that, Robert panted for a couple of seconds before speaking again "I did it for fun okay? I liked beating her, is that e-enough?.." This time, he felt afraid, he no longer had the confidence from earlier, he knew Arthur was dead serious and if he angered even more, maybe even his life would be in danger. As he said that, Arthur was going to speak again but what interrupted when a small hand held his foot. Slay, who couldn''t muster the strength to get up, crawled a little before she managed to reach Arthur, she softly said "Mi--Mister, I-I''m a-alright, f-ff-forgive m-master.." She couldn''t even talk properly as her voice was low and almost non-existent. Hearing this, Robert became a bit happy, he looked at Saly and said "That''s right! Tell him Saly, you like being beaten right, right??" In the spur of the moment, he created an idiotic and lame excuse to make Arthur calm down. Saly was still small, but she had been a slave since she was born, and there is one thing she learned, is that her master is like a god, and she must obey him no matter what happens, she learned that the hard way and since then she never dared to fight back or retort to him. So that''s why she begged Arthur to stop, for her, Robert is a god, she was blind since birth so she couldn''t see but she could hear and whenever someone defended her, that only ended up in him being killed, she would always hear that person die and Robert laugh evilly, so even though she heard the cry of Robert, she still thought he was a god, a scar of years cannot be removed in a second. She sincerely wanted to stop Arthur from fighting Robert or else he would end up like the others, after all, she is blind so she can''t see what''s currently happening. Arthur heard what she said but he didn''t reply to her, he kept staring at Robert "A lame excuse, can''t-fool me since you enjoy beating her then I also enjoy beating you" As he said that, he punched the fatty on his big stomach, he didn''t put much force into it, just enough to hurt him yet not kill him. Robert screamed from the pain, he was not used to fighting and hated pain, so when the punch struck him, he yelled non-stop. Arthur didn''t stop and kept punching him in his legs, arms, abdomen, face, everywhere, he didn''t leave any place, it''s like he was a punching bag. .. The golden door leading to the inside of the ship opened and Robin accompanied by Belic came out running. "Stop!! What do you think you are doing!" (Robin) They both rushed at Arthur and the bloody body of Robert, his face was now unrecognizable, chunks of meat was missing from his body and he looked gory and disgusting as blood flowed endlessly from various injuries he had. Lucy interrupted both of them as she appeared out of thin air and blocked their way "I advise to stay back, he is only getting punished for what he has done, if you come any closer don''t blame me for being ruthless" Even though Robin and Belic heard her they still rushed at Arthur trying to stop him. Metal needles appeared out of nowhere, there were thousands of them, they looked sharp and terrifying, with a thought, they rushed at Lucy, who was calmly looking at the incoming attack. A 10m magma ball appeared, the pressure and heat it emanated was overwhelming, it''s speed was also shocking, in a split second it melted all the incoming needles and headed for Belic and Robin. Startled by what just happened, Belic grabbed Robin, who was next to him and backed away with all his speed. He was smart enough to see that the magma ball was enough to melt him and Robin, and if he had been a second slower then it would have been their doom. A magma ball from someone who has 150.000 intelligence is not the same from a magma ball of someone with 10.000 intelligence, they are entirely different, one was obviously way stronger than the other, Belic managed to think fast and guess that it was not a mere magma ball and its strength is horrifying. He quickly understood that Lucy is out of his league, she was way stronger than him and he would not be able to beat her, heck! he almost died a second ago by just one move from her, that explains everything. Robin still didn''t give up, by seeing her grandpa''s face she realized that this silver-haired beauty is also dangerous and they could not pass and forcefully stop Arthur so she could only look at him(Arthur) and shout. "Stop! You have injured him enough, he is from the Yan Clan! It will be troublesome if you hurt him further!" She was right in a way, the Yan clan was equal to the Qin clan and had a decent strength, though it was not THAT strong it had some strong people and killing their young master, who was Robert, would only bring trouble to her and Arthur. The Qin and Yan Clan have a good relationship and if the young master got killed in their care, their relationship would obviously disappear and they will probably become enemies, they would even suspect her clan of assassination, and she definitely could not afford that. .. Arthur looked at the gory body of Robert, he calmed a little but he still felt irritated, he stared at the fatty''s face, with intense killing intent and said "You must have regretted your actions right? Or you probably didn''t, maybe you just feel fearful towards me and that''s it, or maybe you are angry and want to kill me? No one knows what you''re thinking but I wonder what it feels like to be beaten like this? Does it feel good? Painful? Agonizing?....that''s exactly what you have been doing to this little kid, except, you did it every day, I''m sure of that, after all, that''s what the likes of you do, they feed off the suffering of others, they enjoy making others miserable and look down on everyone....that''s all there is to it, nothing more, nothing less..." ".....You made people despair, perhaps many people died by your idiotic and sadistic methods and beatings, you must have enjoyed it right? feeling superior and having someone else''s life in your hands? that''s what I''m feeling right know...." "...You probably think that I''m a monster, beating you like this, Well I suppose I am, but your thoughts or anyone else''s don''t matter as I don''t care what you or anyone cares, but know that what I did to you is nothing compared to what you to her, if I''m a monster then you''re worse than that..." As he said that, Arthur stretched his hand and began strangling Robert ".....Ahh, I wonder how does it feel when you know you''re about to die? You know what makes me disgusted and angry even more? It''s that there are people like you still breathing in this world, they are oppressing and using others lives like toys, it really makes me feel sick and outraged, but sooner or later, they will meet their fate too, sooner or later...yes.." The fatty couldn''t scream anymore as he didn''t have the strength to do so, but he heard Arthur and the only thing he did was laugh, he laughed as if he turned into an insane person and even with Arthur strangling him he still laughed... Arthur could only sigh and mumble " *Sigh*....Indeed, the only real laughter comes from despair." As he said that, he exercised more strength and after a couple of seconds, the laughing stopped and his body stopped twitching, Robert died like that, with a simple squeeze of Arthur''s hand. His corpse, or what was left of it fell on the ground, which was now a pool of blood, the sight looked really gory and disgusting, however, no one dared to make a sound, not even breathing heavily as they watched what happened.... Chapter 41 - 41 : Saly Silence ruled over the place, no one dared to move or talk, they just watched Arthur with fear, after all, what he did is brutal, and for them, who passed their lives in luxury, they never saw something similar to this, of course, there may be some exceptions. Once the corpse of the dead fatty fell to the ground, Arthur didn''t bother with it and turned towards Saly, who was still on the ground, but she stayed silent while sometimes softly groaning from pain. Her body had scars, injuries, and blood all over, she would not die but she sure as hell was in a pitiful state. She had several broken bones, Robert didn''t bother with her health or injuries, instead, he would beat her more so she always tried to hide them, but that only made her condition worse. He provided her enough food to survive but not enough to satisfy her hunger, she never had a full stomach or enjoyed food until she was no longer hungry, her master was stingy and would sometimes leave her starving for days. Arthur ignored the gazes of the surrounding people and squatted down near Saly, just her appearance made his heart ache, usually, he would only feel pity and that''s it, but today, when he saw this little girl condition and how she was beaten without being able to defend, that angered him, to think there are people like this in this world, that made him feel disgusted towards humans even more. "Little girl, It''s okay now...your master is gone, no need to feel afraid" From way earlier, even though she was silent, he noticed that her shoulders were trembling, though she didn''t express it, it was apparent that she felt fear. When she heard Arthur''s voice, which seemed very close to her, she back away a little as it startled her, but that only made her groan again from pain, her injuries were not light yet not fatal too, but for a fragile body like hers, bruises and injuries like these are painful to her, but after years passed, she somewhat had gotten used to this, however, that didn''t mean she no longer felt pain, quite the opposite, in fact, the pain was the most thing she felt afraid of, excluding her master of course. Seeing her react like that, afraid of him, Arthur kept a solemn face and softly said "There is no need to be afraid, your master is truly gone, you are free now......." No one else could understand how he felt right now except Lucy, thanks for the soul link, she felt his sorrow and pain. He came from another world, so things like this would not happen in broad daylight, so when he saw something this extreme, he couldn''t control his emotions, for this wasn''t something he can ignore, as for her, she saw a lot of things similar to this, so she was a bit used to it, nonetheless, that didn''t mean that what happened didn''t anger her, she was just better in controlling her emotions than him. Though Arthur said that, for some reason, Saly became even more afraid, she started trembling and said "M-Mister...y-you should go...o-oo-or m..master would kill you too..." It seems she didn''t believe Arthur and even tried to help him by telling him to go, her fear of Robert was imprinted deep in her bones, she couldn''t just believe he was gone for good. Arthur stretched his hand a patted her small head, she was trembling so much and his action made her body flinch, she didn''t think a hand would pat her, instead, she thought it would be a punch or a slap on her face, though she was scared, she didn''t dare push that hand away, or else the consequences would be horrible, that''s what she thought at least. "Little girl...It''s unfortunate you cannot see with your own eyes, but your master is already dead, I killed him...." It''s surprising how she still believed her master to be alive after all that happened, even though she cannot see, she still heard his wailing and screams, but that wasn''t enough to erase her deep fear she held for him. Feeling that the unfamiliar hand didn''t hit her or do anything but gently pat her head, she knew it was the mister she was talking too, Saly knew he was a kind person as he tried to help her, that''s why she didn''t want him to be killed like any other person who tried to rescue her. " *Sigh*....How about you come with me? You are free now and can do whatever you want, if you want, you can come with me..." Saly always wished for freedom but that was only a dream, many people said the same thing to her but that only ended up badly for them, she clenched her little fists with what was left of her strength and said with a hesitant tone "M-Mister...I cc-can''t, my master will b-be a..angry if I disobey h-him" Even Arthur was surprised by her strong belief in her master, he understood that Robert was like a god for her so no matter what he says would be futile. He stretched his other free hand and carried Saly, who began struggling with all her strength to free herself from him while yelling and telling him to stop. He held her in a princess carry and she never ceased to struggle, but she soon was exhausted and could only lay there, however, she felt some warmth coming from the one who was carrying her, and it felt really comfortable, so she wanted to enjoy this moment to the fullest before her master appear again, she felt sadness because she can''t see who this mister is, he was so gentle and kind to her, so how could she not feel curious about him. Once Arthur held her, he headed inside the ship to go to his room, while Lucy silently followed him. Robin, who watched what happened, wanted to protest and shout at him, but a piercing glare from Arthur was enough for her to shut her mouth and stay there, petrified, she didn''t dare say anything, in fact, no one spoke, they let him pass and watched him disappear inside the ship. Robin''s POV YESTERDAY NIGHT Ahhh! I can''t believe that I can''t do anything to him! Even with grandpa''s warning, I will still find a way to pay back what he did for me... How can he be this arrogant and call me a spoiled brat....., I''m a genius, a prodigy! my skills and talent are not things he can have, did this mature and alluring body of mine seem like a child''s? tsk tsk! wait until I get my hands on that bastard. I feel so pissed just thinking about his smug face, guess I''ll take a shower then go talk to grandpa about the deal with the other companies, I can''t let this fall down, especially with the Yan clan. ........ Waah! I feel refreshed, what a good shower that was, I don''t regret buying this boat for even a second, his structure and functions are unbelievable, I guess those 200 million gold coins were worth after all. NEXT MORNING As I was talking with grandpa in my office, I heard a small shaking and once I turned my head to see what''s happening outside, I was dumbfounded to see the two bodyguards of fatty Yan on the ground, they seem pretty injured...that looks painful... WAIT! It''s not the time to think about this, who? who did hurt them? My eyes soon landed on that woman with silver hair, hmph! she''s ugly compared to me....wait did she do that? and what is that bastard doing to fatty Yan? "Robin, this is troublesome, we should stop him before he causes more problems for us.." Grandpa seemed to have grasped the situation faster than me, we soon left the office and headed to where that bastard is with fast speed. However, that ugly woman stopped us, thank god grandpa helped me or else I would have been cooked meat....tch! how come this woman is strong and beautiful, that''s just not fair! wait..no! she''s ugly! yes ugly..... That man started beating Fatty Yan non-stop, even I, who loathed fatty Yan, felt pity for him, he looked like a pig being slaughtered, his screams made my ears hurt, he sure can yell.... We couldn''t even get close to stop him, and even with my warning, that bastard kept beating Fatty, again and again, I could only watch, if he ends up dying, then that would be troublesome, the Yan clan would surely blame us...ahhh what can I do? After a while, that bastard stopped his punches and said a few words which I could not hear to Fatty Yan before he strangled him to death, at that time, I could only sigh and try to find an excuse to the Yan clan, maybe I''ll them that it was this bastard..but will they even believe me? even with so many witnesses, no one would want to provoke someone like this bastard too..even grandpa told me to stay away from him. I seriously couldn''t move an inch as his killing intent was way too terrifying and the pressure he emanated made me petrified, I never felt more afraid in my life than this second, arghhh! I can already feel myself having nightmares about this...*sigh* That monster carried the slave girl of Fatty Yan and went inside, I couldn''t even speak and blame him, a mere gaze from him was enough for me to know I shouldn''t anger him in his current state.... You know, I too felt that what fatty Yan was doing is bad and heartless, but just saving a little girl won''t stop everything, is he an idiot or what? well whatever, it''s not like I can change anything..... BACK TO THE ORIGINAL POV. It didn''t take them long to arrive in their room, Saly already stopped her struggle long ago and stayed silent. Though only a couple of minutes passed, she still didn''t hear her master yells or laughter, so she felt some hope and began believing what Arthur said as usual, when someone takes her away from her monster, in only seconds, that person would die by the hands of his bodyguards or him. When they finally arrived, Arthur sat on the bed while still carrying Saly, he began using his healing magic, but unfortunately, he never possessed anyone who had strong healing magic so his heals were not that good, but that didn''t stop him from doing so. He retrieved the miraculous healing potion he had in his storage and softly said to Saly "Don''t worry, as I said, your master is gone, he will not come back so you can relax...drink this, it will make the pain go away.." He had a lot of potions like this, Zodiak left a big stack of it and with Arthur''s vitality, they were practically useless for him, so why not use them. He placed the potion in her little hands as he didn''t want to force her to drink it. Surprisingly, she was obedient enough and she drank the potion with help of Arthur, she barely could lift her small hands so Arthur helped her a little while not exerting too much force to not scare her. The bruises she had and injuries, began healing, though it was not extremely fast healing, it was effective and very soon, the bruises disappeared, only the injuries were left, slowly but surely recovering. Saly was startled by this, the pain began to fade away and she felt that many of her injuries healed, she no longer felt heavy and unable to move, though she recovered a bit, she didn''t struggle or push Arthur away as she knew for sure he was kind and only wanted to help her. Unconsciously, she fell into a deep sleep, the pain went away but she was exhausted mentally so sleep soon took over and in his warm embrace she slept. Arthur and Lucy both saw her soundlessly sleep, he didn''t put her away immediately, only after a dozen of minutes did he put her on the comfortable bed, he then covered her with the blankets. Lucy giggled while covering her mouth and said "hehe~~ I never thought you were good with children" To what she said, Arthur only scratched his nose and replied "I am not good with them, it''s just that she was...." Before he could even finish, Lucy interrupted him by putting her finger in his mouth to stop him from talking, she then smiled and said "I already know, did you already forget about the soul link? there is no need to explain your actions to me" "mmm" Arthur merely nodded and hugged her tightly, to have someone who understands you without explanation is rare but he had one, and he couldn''t feel more grateful. They both sat near the bed and gazed at the sleeping Saly. "Her injuries will heal sooner or later, but the scars and the blindness...the potions are not enough *sigh*" Arthur already read in books that deafness, blindness, and even scars can be healed, you just need a strong healing magic, such as the light magic or strong spells, and he didn''t have that. He only met her for a short time, but he wanted to help her, her blindness is like a curse, and he wanted to get rid of it, she is still a kid, so he can''t call her a bad or greedy person nor can he dislike her, she still didn''t learn anything from life, she was still pure so how can he hate a kid? Whether it is the current him, or him from the past, they both would have helped her, but their actions would have been different, now, he only killed the fatty, he didn''t even take his body as he didn''t want to possess such a disgusting body, if it were him from the past, then everyone in the boat would have been killed with no exceptions. He just couldn''t handle people seeing such a little kid, who was even blind, be beaten heartlessly like that, it''s true he overcame his past, but that didn''t mean he forgot about it and would let people like Robert do as they please, that was two different things. Arthur and Lucy just stood there, waiting for Saly to wake up, they chatted with a low voice as to let the little girl rest a little. Arthur really was distressed, he was helpless as he literally had nothing he could use to heal those scars, he even noticed when he carried her that her tails were cut, nothing was left of it, that only made his heart ache, for all of this to happen to a mere 4 to 5 years old was really pitiful and miserable. 6 hours have passed since Saly fell asleep, no one came to bother them in their room and they both patiently wait for Saly to wake up as they wanted to talk to her and maybe ease her fear for even a little bit. The fluffy dog ears of Saly twitched a little, and she her breathing changed, she woke up but for some reason, she appeared startled and abruptly sat up. Since she couldn''t see, she didn''t know where she is, but after some seconds, she remembered what had happened before she slept, so she relaxed for a bit. "So you have woken up, no need to be a be afraid......do you still feel pain? is your body alright now?" When she heard the gentle voice of Arthur, Saly calmed for a bit, now that she thought of it, she realized she could move and she didn''t feel the least bit of pain, her body seemed alright and she can even stand up if she wanted to. Even her broken bones were healed, she was surprised but she didn''t think much about it, after all, she only knew a thing or two about healing and seeing something new wasn''t out of her expectations. "M-Mister, thank you..." Arthur''s heart softened, he stretched his hand and patted her small head, the feeling of her fluffy ears was really comfortable and her appearance was cute albeit her being blind. "No need to thank me, it''s been 6 hours since you slept yet your master didn''t come, do you believe me now?" As she heard that, Saly felt relieved, an unspeakable feeling covered her heart, Arthur''s hand delicately patted her head, and for some reason, she quite liked that, it made her feel safe. Even though she still held fear from her master, since this mister said her master didn''t come, then she would of course not willingly go back, being treated like this was like a dream for her and she didn''t want to let it go, she would enjoy it as much as she can until her master comes, if he is still alive that is. Arthur didn''t pat her head for too long as he didn''t want to scare her. As for Lucy, she sat up next to the little girl and said "Little girl, what''s your name?" Saly was startled when she heard a different voice, one of her ears was not functioning so she couldn''t hear Lucy until she spoke, though she kind of opened up a little and calmed down when speaking with Arthur, she still held fear from strangers, so she backed away a bit from Lucy unconsciously but then she remembered she shouldn''t struggle or back away as it was her master''s orders, so she hesitantly sat up next to Lucy yet again. "It''s alright, the woman next to you is my wife, she won''t treat you badly" Saly slowly nodded her head and replied to Lucy who was sitting next to her "M-My name is Saly, I''m sorry for my behavior...." Lucy merely giggled then suddenly hugged Saly, who in return, was started but she didn''t struggle or anything of the sort, she was just surprised. "Hehehe, my name is Lucy, and this man here is Arthur" Lucy''s actions were rather bold, as she didn''t hate this kid, in fact, she liked her and her cute appearance, like Arthur she wanted to treat her injuries, it''s just that she is not good at expressing her emotions in public, but now, only Arthur was present so she would act normally. She only let go of the little girl after a couple of seconds, the latter was still surprised but she didn''t fear Lucy as much as she did, maybe it was only a hug for others, but for Saly, it was something special, it was warm and gentle, she couldn''t feel that Lucy was evil like her master, she felt like Arthur, the man who carried her and helped her. .. As she stood there, lost in thought, her stomach made some noise, it seems she was hungry, actually, she was starving, she didn''t eat for two days as her master kept beating her. She was startled by the noise of her stomach, she panicked and said in a hurried tone "N-no, this is not what you think....I''m not hungry..please don''t beat me" Since she was small, she learned from her master that she has to never say she is hungry or else she would be beaten, of course, she thought it applied to all people and not just with her master, and for fear of a beating, she tried to lie and cover up saying she was not hungry. She didn''t know that only her master would beat her when he heard her stomach, she thought even those two kind people would do the same if that happened, it''s just that she thought it was a normal thing, you can''t blame her as she was raised knowing that. "Listen Saly...you must forget those things you learned from your master, we would never beat you, if you are hungry, just say so...." (Arthur) As he said that, Arthur retrieved some food from his storage, the good thing about storage rings is that they keep the food fresh, and although he didn''t need to eat, he still enjoyed eating sometimes, so he kept food in his storage, he even had Yamak''s meat, which tasted extremely delicious when he ate it, he still had a lot of it so he took out some from his storage, it was already cooked, he also took some fruits for Saly. Since she had a master like that, he guessed she didn''t eat much. Soon, the smell of the cooked meat covered the room, it was such a delicious smell that even Saly couldn''t help but drool, she never ate something besides bread, and she only drank filthy water she found in the stables, it was disgusting, but she had to do that in order to live, sometimes she would get sick but her master didn''t mind and only beat her more. In a flash, Arthur cut the meat into several small pieces and began feeding Saly who unconsciously opened her mouth, the flavor was just heavenly as it was the first time she ate something like this. When she took the first bite, she thought it was enough but Arthur surprisingly told her to open her mouth again, so she obediently did that, she ate until she was full, while Arthur gave her the meat, Lucy fed her some delicious fruits when she finished the meat. While she was enjoying that meat, she couldn''t help but feel overjoyed, she even suspected being in a dream as never did she think something like this would happen to her, if her eyes were okay, she would be crying right now, but for some bizarre reason, she can''t cry, maybe because of her blindness? or perhaps another reason? she didn''t know but she could only accept her fate. Saly can indeed eat by herself, but Arthur preferred feeding her, he didn''t think it was troublesome, quite the opposite, he liked doing that. Once the little girl was full and couldn''t eat anymore, Lucy and Arthur stopped feeding her, Saly ate a lot because she thought it was the last time she would have this chance so she enjoyed it to the fullest. They didn''t do anything special after that, they just chatted, Arthur asked Saly about her past and various other things and the latter replied to him without hiding anything. Saly left the bed and tried walking and it seems she was still staggering even though her body healed a lot, Arthur guessed that maybe it was a deformed bone, he could only sigh and feel depressed, if he had a good healing skill than her blindness along with the scars would be gone, she would become fine and maybe even enjoy life more. A day peacefully passed like that and the three of them got a bit more closely. Saly became more open, she didn''t feel fear or distrust against Lucy and Arthur, they both treated so well that she pinched her arm many times to confirm it was indeed reality. She would silently sit on the bed and do nothing, Arthur asked her if she wanted to go outside but she refused as she still felt that her master was waiting for her outside. Albeit feeling hungry after a couple of hours passed, she didn''t dare ask for food, so Arthur and Lucy only discovered when they heard her stomach yet again, they gave her meat and various things and fed her. "Saly, next time, please tell us when you''re hungry okay? we will not get mad at you" (Lucy) Lucy softly said that while gently patting the girl''s head, she doted on this kid and it pained her to see how much scars she had on her body. Saly merely nodded without saying anything, she would always sit on the bed motionless without doing nothing. Arthur and Lucy couldn''t force her to do anything, so Lucy would stay next to her and play little games with her to cheer her up. In the first few days Saly only acted like that, however, as time slowly passed, her behavior gradually changed for the better, she would now ask for food and even engage in conversations with Lucy and Arthur. ....... Chapter 42 - 42 : Banque It has been a few days since Arthur rescued Saly from Robert and brought her to his and Lucy''s room. Saly no longer acted obedient and silent, after a lot of persistence from Lucy and Arthur, she became more open, she would ask for food when hungry and even play little games with Lucy, who surprisingly was good at dealing with children, especially with Saly. No one came to disturb them, not even Robin, so the days passed peacefully without any disturbance or anything of the sort. Although the ship''s speed was considered fast, it still needs more than a month to reach Itas continent, but it''s not like Arthur cared about that, he was more focused on finding a cure for the little girl. every time he saw her walking in a staggering manner or saw her closed eyes, his heart couldn''t help but ache, to not be able to see for a child like this is considered cruel and unfair, he even heard from her that she was blind from birth, so she never saw anything, and that made him more depressed. Furthermore, no matter how many books he managed to read, he didn''t find any solution for this issue, Zodiak''s books mentioned almost everything except healing and a few other things, which irritated Arthur, I mean, how could someone such as Zodiak, known as a mythical being didn''t leave any good healing spell or skill, that was strange. He was perplexed about that matter, he didn''t focus on it too much right now, what he wanted to do at the moment is cure Saly. She mentioned that she didn''t have family, or more precisely she doesn''t remember having one, furthermore, he liked this cute little girl, so he and Lucy wouldn''t mind, but he was still hesitating as to whether take her with them or not, after all, they would encounter a lot of dangers and maybe a life like that is not suited for her, so he didn''t know what to do. He wanted to heal her and keep her with him, but at the same time, he wanted her to have a good and safe life, and that would be impossible if she remained by his and Lucy''s side. ... Arthur possessed a lot of corpses since he became a parasite, he got their stats and skills, but he also got their experience in other things, be it cooking, tailoring or other things, they were not the best, but they were helpful. For example, he would play the violin for Saly, since she couldn''t see, the only thing she does is hear, so he would always play some symphonies for her, she enjoyed it a lot and would ask him to play for her every now and then. It''s a pity she can''t see so he can''t show her magic or teach her reading, but hopefully, her blindness won''t last long, at least that''s what Arthur wished. .... After 2 weeks since the incident with Robert, a guard came to their room and after knocking the door a few times, he slipped a letter from under it, then he left in a hurry. When Saly heard the knock, her body stiffened and she tugged Lucy''s sleeve who was next to her, keeping her company. Though she changed and she no longer was afraid of everything, she couldn''t help but feel a little anxiousness when she heard the knocking sound. Lucy giggled and softly said to the little girl who was tugging her sleeve. "Hehe, there is nothing to fear Saly, we are with you..." The little girl merely nodded but her hand didn''t let go of Lucy''s sleeve, she felt safe by doing that, and Lucy didn''t mind, in fact, she brought Saly closer to her as if reassuring her. The letter flew towards Arthur and landed on his hands His control of telekinesis never ceased to increase, and a simple action like this was nothing to him. He didn''t waste time and opened the letter to read it. ''Hello Sir, I am the head of the E-clips Company, Robin, we''ve met already but I haven''t properly introduced myself, also, I apologize for my rude behavior. Tonight, we are holding a banquet and I would like to invite you and your comrade, feel free to come if you have the time. Sincerely, Robin.'' Arthur couldn''t help but chuckle when he read this letter ''that woman can be respectful after all, then why the need to act haughty? I can''t help but think she''s a little spoiled..*sigh* " After reading that letter, Arthur discussed its content with Lucy, to see if they should attend the banquet or not, after all, it''s not like they had a better thing to do, so why not go? Lucy also didn''t oppose, since it was only a banquet then there is nothing to fear or worry about. Though after firmly deciding, they wanted to ask Saly too, as they can''t let her stay here alone, firstly because they couldn''t bear to, secondly, they already recognized her as one of them and if she didn''t want to go then they too won''t, Lucy and Arthur already discussed the matter of Saly and they decided to keep her until they find a cure for her blindness and other injuries, then they''ll see. "Saly, there is a banquet tonight, and we were thinking about going, what do you think?"(Arthur) Once she heard that they were going, Saly became silent for a couple of seconds before speaking with an anxious and hesitant tone "P-Please don''t l-leave me, I''ll stop bothering you about the s-songs, please!" Saly totally misunderstood Arthur, as she didn''t know what a banquet means, she knew how to talk but she learned that alone and there is a lot of words she didn''t know, plus when she heard they were going to go, she thought they were leaving her and will never come back, so how could she not panic? Seeing her panic, Arthur stretched both of his hand and carried her like a princess. Moreover, she loved being carried like that and she would always calm down once he did that. She was small and light, so it didn''t bother Arthur, furthermore, he liked carrying her, her fluffy fur had a good sensation, especially her ears, they looked so adorable, it only made her look cuter. They didn''t have clothes for kids so Saly only wore Lucy''s clothes which were bigger but at least it was way better than what she was previously wearing when she was with Robert, it was a mere piece of black cloth which was dirty and ripped. "How could we leave such a cute little girl ha? we were only asking you if you wanted to go" (Arthur) Arthur replied to hear in a teasing manner while pinching her little nose, his way of treating her was very gentle and he didn''t want to see this little girl said, maybe it was similar yet different from Lucy. Saly''s POV Ever since mister Arthur took me from my master, I felt like every day was like a dream. I even tasted delicious food, I think it was meat?? anyway, he and aunty Lucy treat me really nice. I firstly didn''t dare to cause them troubles, so I silently sat on the bed to not disturb them, but...but for some strange reason they get angry if I act like that, they always tell me to do whatever I want. But I didn''t want to trouble them, even when my tummy hurts, I won''t tell them to give me their food, it was so delicious...it must be precious....but it was yummy..... I-I..I managed to ask them for ''meat'', and they-they didn''t get angry! instead, they gave me more meat and other things which I couldn''t remember their names, it was so delicious, I ate until my tummy almost exploded ''poof'' waaah, I wonder why they would help someone like me..... .. It''s been a few days, and Mister Arthur and aunty Lucy insisted that I only call them by their names without adding any honorific, but...but I can''t do that! they helped me so much, how could I speak disrespectfully to them...master said never to call someone by their names or else he would beat me....*hic*. Waah, I like it when Mister Arthur carries me, it''s comfortable and warm, whenever he does that, I get very sleepy....so warm... I wish I could see them both, I wonder how they look like?..... I don''t even know how I look like... ..... When Mister Arthur said that they were going to a ''banquet'', my heart almost stopped! I don''t know what''s a banquet but he said they were going....did I do something bad for them to leave me? Maybe because I troubled Mister Arthur by telling him to play songs for me? I knew I shouldn''t act like that, I should have stayed silent and acted obediently..... Or maybe is it b-because my master threatened them-m?? n-nno! it''s not possible, Mister Arthur said my master is gone, he would never lie to me.... "P-Please don''t l-leave me, I''ll stop bothering you about the s-songs, please!" I could only beg, I don''t want them to leave me *hicc* *hicc*, I don''t want to be alone again... Mister Arthur held me in his arms again and it felt very pleasant....he reassured me and asked me if I wanted to go the banquet with them...''feeew'' I thought they would leave me, I really can''t handle being alone after staying with them.....it''s like being in a dream..I could eat a lot and it''s very delicious, I never got beaten and Aunty Lucy would always play with me...was it too much to hope for things to stay like this?...Maybe I have been a bad girl... I nodded my head so they would take me...and they didn''t refuse, they were very happy. Mister Arthur put me on something comfortable, it was like the bed but it seemed to be floating...I think? since I can''t see I don''t really know but my feet were dangling and I couldn''t touch the ground. We left the ''heaven'' I was in the last 2 weeks, it''s such a good place, I want to stay there forever..but without Aunty Lucy and Mister Arthur, that place is nothing....hehe, I''ll go with them everywhere if they don''t throw me... In just a few minutes, I think we arrived in a place with a lot of people, I was from the dog kin race so my hearing was not bad..but I can only hear with one ear, Master tested his new sword on me and it hurt my left ear...it was so painful.....at least I can hear with my right one. Saly agreed on going to the banquet, so after Arthur put her on the dark cloud since she can''t walk properly and it may be painful for her to walk, they left the room and proceeded towards the main room in the ship. A couple of minutes were enough for them to arrive at their destination. It was a luxurious room, tables and chairs of famous brands were scattered, nobles wearing expensive and elegant clothes were either chatting with each other or drinking some wine. Arthur was stupefied by the ''banquet'', it was well-organized and it didn''t lack anything. It didn''t take long for them to find a free table, Lucy sat on a chair and put the cute little Saly on her lap. Though the nobles glanced towards their direction, none dared to come talk with them, after what happened previously, who would have the guts to talk to Arthur, they were terrified by him, however, there were some unique people who appeared nonchalant and resumed their matters after glancing at them for a split second. Not all of them were present that day, they indeed heard what happened from their friends or rumors, but seeing is believing, right? since they didn''t see with their own eyes then they won''t feel what the witnesses felt. Arthur didn''t come here just for a breath of fresh air and some ''fun'', he wanted to discuss with Robin and maybe ask her something, since she was the head of a famous trading company, she must have a lot of resources so why not ask her? Though, her answers will depend on her alone. Arthur didn''t treat her kindly or respectfully so he had some doubts if she will respond to his questions or not, if she doesn''t, then so be it, there was no need to make a fuss about it, he isn''t going to sweet-talk her for favors. He spotted her almost instantly, she was wearing a golden dress, her curves were exposed and her body looked more erotic than ever, however, he didn''t focus too much on it. He turned towards Lucy and nodded, the latter understood his meaning and smiled, he already told her he''s going to talk with Robin so there was no need for words between them. He then patted Saly''s little head while saying "I''ll be right back okay? Lucy will stay with you" This time, Saly was more relaxed, with a ''Un!'' she nodded her head and brightly smiled, she didn''t feel as worried as she was earlier, she herself didn''t know the reason but she just believed in Arthur''s words. Arthur didn''t waste time, he headed towards Robin, who was chatting with some nobles with Belic by her side. She noticed Arthur coming her way, her body stiffened for a moment before calming down again, the smile never left her face, she ended her conversation with the nobles and turned towards the incoming Arthur. "Sir Arthur, so you came...I hope this banquet didn''t disappoint you" Robin naturally learned his name from Koez, she questioned him about Arthur and how he met him, but all she got were '' I don''t know'', that irritated her but she didn''t dare vent her anger on Arthur, she actually felt that was he did was right but excessive, it''s true Robert was heartless towards his slaves but that''s how all nobles act, if you kill everyone who acted like that then there will be no end to it, literally. Albeit her anger, she took care of the slave of Robert, that young female beastman, she made her a free person and sent her to another ship, informing the captain to give her some gold and send her on her way once they arrived at their destination. Arthur stopped in front of Robin and Belic, he smiled at them and replied "Indeed, it''s a good banquet, I''m amazed, but I didn''t come here to enjoy it, I want to talk about some matters with you, I wonder if you can spare me some of your time?" Honestly, Robin was startled by what she heard, nonetheless, she kept her smile and spoke yet again, however her mind was confused, ''Why is this bastard acting kind and respectful all of a sudden? multiple personalities? or maybe he''s insane? anyway, since he''s come here to talk then it''s alright...I think?'' "Of course, of course, Sir Arthur, please follow me" She then led him to a nearby free table, and the three of them sat, Belic was silent from the very beginning but he was suspicious of Arthur, however, he didn''t act nor did he talk, if a fight broke out because of a reckless thing he did, then he can only wait for his death, a monster like Arthur is out of his league, even Lucy can pulverise him.... Once they sat down, Robin stared at Arthur with her two crystal eyes, if it was any other man, they would already be enchanted by those eyes, but unfortunately it was Arthur, he had Lucy, and even though this Robin was a beauty, he didn''t have any strange ideas about her. "So, Sir Arthur, what would you like to talk about?" Arthur leisurely crossed his arms, leaned his back on the chair and replied "First of all, I will not apologize for what I did, that fat pig deserved what happened, so don''t expect an apology, I have come here today to ask you about something if you can do it, I assure you that you will receive of equivalent price" Although Robin was irritated by what he said, she didn''t yell or burst out in anger like last time, she has already learned her lesson, she suppressed her angry emotions and decided to take a calmer route "Ohh..I wonder what Sir Arthur would want from me~~" She said that in a coquettish manner, however, that had no reaction whatsoever on Arthur, he just fixed his eyes on her and kept a solemn face. "I will spare you the useless talk, do you know any method of healing blindness and other deep scars" As she heard that, Robin glanced at the sitting Saly, she was sure he was talking about her, but what perplexed her is that why would he go to such lengths for her? he only met her 2 weeks ago, right? Robin was startled by his demand, however, that didn''t stop her from smirking and replying "What if I do?" Arthur''s cold eyes changed for a split second before regaining their coldness yet again. "I''m willing to pay for it, just name whatever price you want" Robin was ecstatic right now, an opportunity to pay back what was done to her finally came, he wanted something from her, and she actually had a solution for what he asked but it was not easy to do it, so how could she just accept Arthur''s offer, he, who mocked her, and caused a mess in her ship. "I''m sorry, but we cannot help yo.." Before she could finish, Arthur interrupted her and said "10 million gold coins!" Robin seriously stared at him for a couple of seconds before softly laughing while replying "Heheh~~, Sir Arthur, I''m sorry to disappoint you, but even if I accepted your request, 10 million gold coins would never be enough, to cure blindness requires a very strong healing spell or skill" What she said what completely true, normally, only extremely rich nobles would afford to obtain strong healing spells for missing limbs or recovering from deafness, blindness, etcetera... Arthur didn''t seem fazed by what she said, he unhesitantly spoke again "100 million gold coins!" This time, Robin was stunned, this amount of money is by no means little, even some nobles would not reach that amount, only royalties, and other special figures, so she began to ponder about his identity. "I''m so..." "1 billion!" Yet again, he interrupted her, but the amount he said made her and Belic stand agape, mouth wide open. 1 Billion gold coins are such an astronomical price, even she wouldn''t dare joke about such an amount. The E-clips Company had at most a few hundred billion, it''s a lot but that was obtained after a lot of generations, though Robin managed to earn a lot, a billion gold coins is still a freaking huge sum. It''s true the company''s money is in the hundred billion, but that didn''t mean she can use them however she wants. Robin couldn''t reject like earlier, he heart was swayed by the amount for a second, but she soon snapped out of her fantasies about the huge sum and was about to reject yet again when all of the sudden, she heard Arthur speak again "Just tell me how much you want, 100billion? 1000 billion? name a price, I can give you legendary weapons too.." For him, such things as those treasure or gold coins, he had a lot of it, so much in fact that he could not use it in this lifetime or even the next one, especially the gold. For the weapons, there were thousands of them but not all of them were good, however, even the worse weapon can amount to a few hundred million in the auction. As he finished saying that, he retrieved a long red axe, it was the work of ''Juda'', since the Emperor recognized then Robin would surely recognize it too, he decided he would do anything to cure Saly, such useless items are really not worth it. Regaining her sight and getting rid of her scars was the best thing he could wish for. Seeing her staggered walking, no matter how many times, he would feel sad, her state was as miserable as one could be, she couldn''t even see! how can it be much worse than that? she''s only 5 years old! not 10 or 20, just 5! how can a kid like this handle all of that...even when Arthur suffered that tragic torture, he was already above 30, however she was but a small and fragile child. Once Belic and Robin''s eyes landed on the red axe and that flame symbol, they couldn''t believe what they were seeing, Belic unconsciously snatched the axe from Arthur''s hands and began examining it, he was a mage expert and he lived long enough to see one of ''Juda''s works, so when he saw a similar one, how couldn''t he be astonished? "This...this is real!"(Belic) He didn''t need to test it, just by holding it for a few seconds, and sensing that strange mana fluctuation coming from the flame symbol affirmed his guesses. He couldn''t help but turn his head to look at Arthur and ask "You...just who are you?" Chapter 43 - 43 : C12 "No one you should know of, I''m but a mere traveler, more importantly, what is your price?" Belic was really stunned and confused right now, for someone to take out such a weapon is not a mere ''traveler'', the E-clips Company doesn''t even have a single legendary weapon like this one, even though he saw one in the past, that didn''t mean he had it Although Robin is the head of the company, Belic, as her grandfather, can take decisions in her place if the situation is serious, after all, she is still young and she may do something reckless. "Friend, please do not misunderstand, your offer is very good, in fact, we would very much like to accept it, but it''s that......the method to cure the blindness is not easy....." Belic stopped speaking for a second before he resumed explaining "Curing blindness is not the same as regrowing a limb or healing a serious injury......we indeed have a method to heal that little girl, however, it requires the world tree...you see the elven chief owes us a favor, we can use the world tree''s extraordinary healing powers to heal her but such a big favor should be kept and we are not willing to use it on a stranger...please understand" Belic didn''t want to anger Arthur, much less disappoint him but he really couldn''t use that favor for a stranger like Arthur, they barely knew each other and their relationship started badly, no matter how much money he proposes, it''s still not enough. The world tree can do many things besides healing, like blessings, increase stats, etcetera...and to use it just to cure blindness is laughable and isn''t really worth it, however, it''s true that Belic was drawn by the weapon he was currently holding, but after a couple of seconds of pondering, he reluctantly gave it back to its owner. Arthur was truly depressed right now, no matter how much he had, it was still not enough, but at least he got a clue about the world tree. He had already read about it when he was in Willsden town, it had immense power, it even fed the whole continent''s ground so it can survive and without it, the land would crumble and most likely disappear. He received the long axe from Belic and stored it, then he looked at the old man and asked "Is there any other method? I''m willing to pay just for information" He still didn''t give up, after all, getting the world tree to cure Saly might be hard, so having other options may be helpful. This time, it was Robin who replied, though she was in a daze because of the long axe, she regained her senses moments earlier and her view of Arthur dramatically changed. "There is an elexir...it''s called ''Rebirth Elixir", it''s very expensive but I''m sure you can buy it...the problem is....you cannot find it easily, usually it''s only available on the black market and there is a high demand for it, so you have to be lucky to find one...however, if you announce that you will trade that axe for an elixir, I''m sure there may be people who will be interested...." She felt perplexed, firstly because of his identity, she only knew very few people that had a weapon like that, and all of them were terrifying figures, secondly, she pondered about why? Why would he be willing to even let go of a legendary weapon such as this just to cure a slave he never met, assuming he just met her of course, but that appeared to be the case and there is no way he is acting, I mean, what would he gain from doing that. Arthur nodded towards her and stood from his chair while saying "Well, thank you for your help, I won''t be disturbing you any further, have a good night" He could threaten her and Belic but he won''t, he was not that kind of man, he was desperate to cure Saly, but he won''t resort to such means, it''s not like Robin was a bad person, she may be hot-headed but she''s not cunning or evil. Arthur didn''t linger there any longer, he headed towards the sitting Lucy and Saly and took a seat right next to them, he took Saly from Lucy''s lap and put her on his. He enjoyed patting her head and enjoying the feeling of her fluffy and cute ears, they were just adorable, it''s really a pity she can''t see or else he would teach her some fighting techniques, not a serious training but just enough so she could defend herself if they ever separated, he didn''t want her to be a slave ever again. Nothing special happened, they passed the night eating the delicacies served there and relaxing there, other nobles chatted non-stop or danced, no one came to bother them, only a few glances here and there but nothing too serious. They went back to their room late at night, Saly fell asleep in Arthur''s arms, she completely ignored her surroundings and soundlessly slept. She held Arthur''s clothes tightly without letting go, it was a rather cute scene, Arthur and Lucy couldn''t help but laugh, seeing her do that. ... He gently put her on the bed and covered her with blankets then sat next to Lucy on a nearby sofa, they both leaned on each other and stayed silent until some time passed. "So...is there a way?" Arthur gazed at her alluring eyes, there was a tinge of hope and warmth in them, she wanted to cure Saly as she already considered her more than a friend. "There is, 2 actually, the first is impossible, it requires the world tree and the other is by an Elixir." He then explained what Robin told him without missing a single detail, he and Lucy could be considered one person and he didn''t and couldn''t hide anything from her, they would both consult each other when making a decision and would never decide alone selfishly. "Are we going to buy the elixir then...?"(Lucy) "I still don''t know, maybe there are other ways....when we reach the Itas continent, we''ll try to seek the world tree''s help first, if it''s not willing then the elixir is the only option left. Lucy only nodded at him then gave him a deep kiss. .... Days passed slowly as the three of them would pass every day either having fun or sometimes going outside to breathe some fresh air, of course, no one had the guts to provoke or anger them. One day, when Arthur and Lucy were leisurely sitting on a bench outside, Saly was between them humming and giggling, her behavior changed for the better and she became more cheerful as the days passed, she managed to barely forget about her master and his orders, and she now called Arthur and Lucy by their names without adding anything like ''Aunty'' or ''Mister''. Although at first, she said it a few times after both of them insisted, as time passed, she had gotten used to calling them like that. It was like any other day, they were outside to enjoy the view, however, something unexpected happened. The cool and calm weather changed and the blue sky turned black, it happened in a split second, Arthur and Lucy, who were enjoying their time, were both startled by this, however, that didn''t mean they were afraid, they were merely stunned. It only took Arthur a second to understand what actually happened "Teleportation.." They were no longer in the vast sea, they were in some kind of an isolated place, there was no sky, just a wooden roof and some lights here and there to provide vision, the other ships were not teleported. Saly who was humming, heard Arthur but she still didn''t understand "Tel-teleportation?" A term like this was confused as to why he would suddenly say that, she noticed the slight coldness but maybe it was some wind, she couldn''t see the surroundings so how could she not what just happened. "Little girl, don''t worry, it''s nothing, just stick with Lucy okay?" As he said that, he looked at Lucy, only to see her nodding at him, she understood what he meant immediately, though they had enough strength to be called gods or monsters. One never knows when something unexpected may happen so he wanted her to watch Saly. He observed his surroundings and noticed that it was indeed a place similar to a port, there were some small boats here and there but they were either destroyed or unfunctional, there were also a lot of black-clothed people. He immediately knew their origin as he saw people like them not long ago, that''s right, it was the two people from ''Medusa'' they were dressed the same as Bony and his comrade. There were a lot of them and once he appraised them their LVLs were ranging from 50 to a whopping 200. ''They already found us? not that''s impossible....that''s right! I heard them talking about infiltration, so their target is not us?..'' Although they may not be targeting Lucy and Arthur, they were surely not kind enough to let them live right? after all, what would you expect from an evil organization? The nobles who were also relaxing outside of the ship completely freaked out by the sudden turn of events, albeit their surprise, no one dared to curse or shout out loud, there were just too many black clothes people and anyone with a good thinking can understand that these people were not friendly. It did not take long for Robin and Belic to come out from the ship with a panicked face, they already saw what happened to the outside and they immediately understood that they were either under attack or something unexpected occurred. Once they saw the several black clothes figures, their bodies stiffened and their faces paled, especially Belic''s. Just a simple glimpse of those people made him affirm his suspicions, though ''Medusa'' is a secretive organization, how could someone who holds much power like him not know about it? Furthermore, this organization already made several attempts to attack them. As Arthur was observing the situation and pondering on what to do, a voice came out from one of the black-clothed people, he had nothing special and resembled the others. "Hahaha, Belic, we meet yet again....although this time you won''t be as lucky as last time...." The person who talked suddenly flew from the air, and landed on the boat, he completely ignored the nobles and only stared at Belic. "C12.....so it''s you....what do you want?" Belic''s face turned ugly, it was not the first time he crossed paths with C12, he was a member of Medusa and had a high rank. He didn''t know a lot about Medusa but what he knew was already sufficient for him to know that C12 is not someone to mess with. In this organization, when someone is of high rank, their names will be changed as to not discover their identities, and there was a special naming to every person. each letter is a category of people and the number indicated that person'' strength in that category, C12 is obviously in the C category and was ranked 12th, the higher the ranking the stronger the person. it is said that people who have names with A in Medusa are extremely strong, as, for those with S, that was confidential. C12 was already considered strong, though not as strong as someone like Belic. However there were a lot of people with him and Belic can''t face them all, even his guards can''t handle that much. C12 took off his mask and smirked at Belic, he didn''t care if his face was shown as all witnesses will die anyway. "You know damn well what we want, f*king geezer, you better give ''it'' to me or else I assure you, we would not give you an easy death, especially for your granddaughter." C12 didn''t stop grinning as he stared lecherously at Robin''s body, sizing her up and down. As for Belic, he didn''t know what to do right now, what C12 want cannot be given to him, however, he doesn''t want to send his guards to their death or fight until his last breath against those people, it was obvious he had no chance, C12''s LVL was indeed lower than his, but that didn''t mean he is weak or should be underestimated, quite the opposite, people with high ranking like him can use special magic that is rather troublesome so it would be wise to avoid a fight against him. Belic unconsciously glanced at Arthur, if there is someone who can get him out of this mess, it would surely be him. He never suspected Arthur to be from ''Medusa'', because if he was, then this ambush would be completely useless, he, more than anyone, knew how terrifying Arthur is, and he would be able to wipe out all his guards without the help of these people. As his eyes landed on Arthur, Belic was surprised to see that he(Arthur)was still sitting on the bench leisurely with Lucy and Saly, he didn''t appear the least bit worried and observed the situation as if he was watching a show. Arthur was still cautious of the enemies but so far, they didn''t seem that threatening, even that C12 or whatever was not impressing, with a LVL of 239, he sure was strong to other people but for him? pfft! he was mere trash. However, for some odd reason, he felt a familiar presence from C12, he didn''t know but he felt some kind of connection. He noticed the gaze of Belic but he pretended not doing so, he has no reason whatsoever to help them get out of this mess, only if those people attacked him will he kill them, but a thought struck his mind and made him decide to proceed in a different way. There was a moment of silence before Belic, in the blink of an eye, he appeared next to C12, a metal gauntlet formed around his hand, he then punched C12 hazard. Just by his punch, Arthur immediately concluded that he was a beginner in close-combat so he was confused as to why he would use that instead of attacking from afar, that seemed idiotic and reckless. Just as the strike was going to land, a black barrier formed and completely blocked the incoming attack. Arthur who had his eyes on the punch, was flabbergasted,that black barrier astonished him, for a second, he couldn''t believe what he was seeing, it was the same as his before his dark magic evolved, though it was a bit weak, it nonetheless was from dark magic, so how could he not be surprised? A lot of thoughts raced through his mind, he was confused as to why this man can use dark magic, normally, only he could use it so how? ''did he discover the use of dark mana and dark magic by chance? no that''s impossible....but I could feel the dark magic from that barrier, I''m sure of it! I can''t be wrong!'' After C12 defended against the sudden attack of Belic, his hand transformed into a dark sword and without wasting time he slashed at Belic, who was centimeters away from him. ''What? his hand?'' Though he had perfect control in dark magic, Arthur can''t transform his body into dark magic, after all, it was still mana, but a different kind, no matter how proficient he was in using it he still can''t do something like that, it was not possible, literally, but he was someone doing it now, which confused him a lot. Maybe his control is lacking? but C12 sword or barrier was beyond weak, they even weaker than Arthur''s when he just possessed Zodiak. Unlike Belic, C12''s usage of his dark sword was of an expert, it seems he was good with a sword and even his movements were not useless. Though it took a lot to explain this, it happened in just seconds, from the first attack of Belic to the slash of C12. .... Belic was no fool and he fought in countless battles, his high LVL was proof of that, so when C12 slashed at him, a 3-meter metal shield was created in a second, he lifted it to defend against the slash. Soon enough, the sword landed on the metal shield, Belic backed away a couple of steps, even with that metal shield he still can''t defend against that strange sword. Even in the last fight between him and C12, it was the same, he was heavily injured, but fortunately, someone came to save him at the last second, or else he would surely have died at the enemy''s hands. His shield was almost destroyed, even a simple slash from that weird sword was deadly, if not for his quick reaction he would have been injured if not killed. Whenever he came too close to that weird magic of C12, he would have the chills and feel it''s ominous aura. Last time he tried fighting from afar, but that was worse as C12 would bombard him with weird dark balls made from this magic, they were not that fast but he can make a lot of them so dodging becomes rather hard. Now that the situation is dire and he can''t do anything to C12, he began to feel hopeless as even if goes all out in fighting C12, there is no way the other black clothed people would stand there and watch, furthermore, there surely is some powerful individuals amongst them so how can he fight against them? ..... Chapter 44 - 44 : Rinotsu Being stuck in a dilemma, Belic couldn''t decide on what to do, he just backed away and only stopped when he was next to Robin. There is no safe solution out of this mess, he turned his head to look at Arthur yet again, but this time, he didn''t remain silent, instead, he spoke in a somewhat loud tone. "Sir Arthur, could you give us a hand? We will greatly reward you." This time, Belic didn''t call Arthur ''Friend'' but respectfully called him ''Sir'', it was a small change but it was apparent that he was demanding help, however, he didn''t lower himself as to beg for it. Arthur, who had his eyes glued on C12, came back to his senses when he heard Belic''s voice, he totally expected the old man to ask him for his help, after all, it was very clear that he and his guards alone are not enough to deal with those people. "Oh~~ Well, you know what exactly I want, if you are willing to do that, then I don''t mind helping you" Since an opportunity like this came, of course, Arthur would grasp it, for him, killing that weakling can be done in seconds. C12, who was enjoying the moment of glory, he finally was going to finish his mission and may be handsomely rewarded, probably even rank up, however, hearing the old man ask for help from someone else alarmed him a little, because, the old man was really strong and for him to respectfully ask for him, it is unusual. He glanced at Arthur, who was leisurely sitting on the bench with a silver-haired beauty and a kid, he frowned and stared cautiously at this man. He wasn''t an idiot to underestimate anyone, everything should be done carefully, or else the consequences would be bad. Hearing what Arthur said, Belic regained some hope, though what he demanded was a lot, if he didn''t escape from here today then forget about that favor he owes the elven chief, he would even lose the item C12 came to get. He didn''t need Robin''s confirmation in such matter, he would accept and then when the time comes he would try to repay Arthur with another thing with an equal value if possible. Belic gritted his teeth and replied with a somewhat hesitant voice "F-fine, if we get out of here alive then we will give you what you want." "Excellent excellent! hahaha" Arthur began laughing, he was overjoyed when he heard that, with the help of the world tree, Saly would surely be healed so he felt quite happy. He didn''t want to end this quickly, furthermore, he always wanted to test the bone dragon''s power and the skeletons, he never got to use them on enemies, so why not use them now? He waved his hand and a huge dark pit appeared out of nowhere, it''s appearance startled everyone present. C12 who was already cautious of Arthur, backed away when the pit appeared, he felt ominous aura from it and some danger. Very soon, the familiar bone dragon flew from the huge dark pit, it looked as big as ever and its appearance couldn''t be more creepy and terrifying. With a loud roar, it came out from the pit and flew above Arthur, the port was small, to begin with so it can''t fly too high, however, that didn''t mean the small place would trouble it a lot. C12 gasped looking at the bone dragon, never did he think a dragon would come out, and a huge one at that, his confidence almost disappeared as he stared at this humongous beast. "Ne-Necromancer....You! who are you? no one should know about necromancy magic!" He started to have suspicions because there were some people in ''Medusa'' who are good with necromancy, he didn''t know all high rankers so he wasn''t sure of Arthur identity, however, he suspected him to be from the same organization as him. Arthur merely grinned and replied "So what if I can use it? More importantly, you should think how you are going to deal with my baby boy and his brothers....I swear you all from ''Medusa'' always cause trouble..." Just as C12 was going to shout at Arthur yet again for answers, he was interrupted as several skeletons came from the dark pit. There were skeletal warriors wearing black armors and holding a sword and a shield, skeleton archers and even skeleton mages which held either a book or a staff. They never stopped coming out from the pit, and they didn''t just stand there, they charged at all the black-clothed people. One would expect skeletons to be slow or weak, however, they were so fast that few of the enemies who were closer to the skeletons got instantly killed by the magic attack or sword slashes. Arthur ordered his little army to only attack the enemies and spare no one, he wasn''t that merciful to let them go. The bone dragon also engaged in the one-sided slaughter, it flew at C12 while ignoring the others. Although some of the enemies were killed, there was some who reacted in time and defended against the swarm of skeleton, the powerful individuals even managed to finish some skeletons but the ranged ones which used magic and arrows were bothersome as they(the black-clothed people) couldn''t reach them because the skeleton warriors were blocking the way. The dark pit never stopped summoning the skeletons, the mana it cost was nothing and Arthur could summon non-stop without losing any bit of mana, only the dragon cost a lot, however, a couple of minutes are enough for him to recover that 50.000 mana. He was very impressed with the skeletons, though they can''t win in a one on one fight, with their large numbers, they could even overwhelm high leveled people, but there was also some enemies which dealt with the skeleton easily and were not injured. The fight between the bone dragon and C12 has long since started, numerous dark balls would strike the dragon''s body, however, except a few scratches and some half destroyed bones, the damage was not great, but for C12 it was much worse. He managed to defend against the ruthless strikes of the bone dragon as he was slightly faster but the bone dragon was able to hit him with its fast tail. It was faster than the young earth dragon in every aspect, so an attack from its tail with its high strength stat would hurt a lot and of course, that''s what exactly happened to the poor C12. He was sent flying by the tail, if it were not for his subordinates barely catching him then he would have been injured even more by the impact of the crash. After coughing some mouthfuls of blood, he lifted his head and angrily gazed at the bone dragon, he was weak compared to the high rankers in ''Medusa'' but he was not THAT weak, to be this damaged by a single strike from the dragon indicated that this dragon is no ordinary bone dragon because he already saw a bone dragon previously and it was sure as hell that it was not this strong. .... Belic still couldn''t understand what happened, he indeed knew Arthur can summon the bone dragon but he never thought he can endlessly summon skeletons, furthermore, they were strongly armed and attacked with coordination. He knew a bit about necromancy but one thing for sure is that to control this many skeletons you need a lot of wisdom or else your mind can''t handle it, and to make them be this coordinated, one must have immense wisdom. His view of Arthur already completely changed, he even started regretting accepting his offer, since the beginning he was not going to give him what he wants, he was going to offer him a compensation that would appease him, but seeing now he started of other ways, otherwise he would meet his end at Arthur''s hands. However, his mind calmed a little when he thought about the old fogeys in his clan, he was considered weak compared to them so that''s why he was sent to guard his granddaughter, though they didn''t give him face, he didn''t mind but they would surely act if someone dared to kill him or Robin. .... The large-scale battle already reached its peak intensity, there were hundreds who died at the skeleton''s hands, but a number of skeletons were far greater, however, their numbers never decreased by even a single one, they came out endlessly from that dark pit, so the dark-clothed people couldn''t help but feel hopeless, if this continued, their stamina would run out and they would surely die. After being struck by the dragon''s tail, C12 started dodging the beast non-stop and focused on evasion more than attacking, he was more powerful than the others so he still got a lot more stamina to spare, the problem wasn''t that, but that this freaking bone dragon is troublesome to deal with so he was puzzled on what to do. His control with his ''power'' is not yet good, it was given to him by a high ranked so he could use some of it, but it was not enough, so he switched to his wind magic, he already reached advanced in it so maybe it would be more effective against the dragon. Wind magic is known to be the sharpest amongst all the other normal attributes so he had high hopes to cut the bone dragons into pieces. A long time ago, he managed to find a very powerful wind magic skill, it was called [Rinotsu], a weird name but that didn''t depress him, when he read it''s effect, he was dumbfounded for some time. By using this skill, he would trap a volume of air in a circular invisible barrier and compress it until it''s a fist''s size, once he releases the condensed air, it would create a huge explosion. Normally, Wind magic uses the air to create slashes or cyclone or whatever is the attack, however, to be able to control air, that''s impossible to do, even for someone who perfected Wind magic, so when he had gotten his hands on this skill, he became overjoyed. Although the skeletons and the bone dragon were very powerful, C12 didn''t think that Arthur is strong like them as a necromancer is usually weak, his way of attacking is by curses or his summonings, so in his mind, if he gets rid of the bone dragon, then killing Arthur would be a piece of cake, he was also sure that he can''t summon another dragon immediately or else he would already have done it. ... C12 retreated one final time, the dragon came at him slashing with its claws but he managed to barely dodge it and back away from the huge beast. Then he began channeling his mana to use [Rinotsu], it would take half a minute or so to finish the skill and he can''t be disturbed so he turned his head towards his subordinates, who were engaging in an intense battle against the skeletons. "D18, D3! Come hold this f*cker for a second!" Just as he said that the figures came out from that group of people and stood in front of C12, they didn''t have anything special, just like any other black-clothed people, however, Arthur could see that their LVLs were 173 and 189. Arthur was really impressed by this ''Medusa'', he was not interested in it that much in the beginning, but once he saw that dark magic, he couldn''t help but feel intrigued, he already decided to ''thoroughly'' question C12 about that magic. Moreover, for a secret organization to have this many high leveled people, it seems that the holy church and the others being the most powerful existences in this world is but a mere lie to cover up and to fool idiots, this C12 is already considered stronger than a bishop. D18 and D3 rushed at the dragon wielding daggers, they also created small dark balls which were as big as a baby''s fist, truly pathetic. This small balls may seem weak to Arthur, but to others it was deadly, he just compared them to his dark magic, so of course, he would think they are weak. They only needed to hold out for a short period of time, however, that easier said than done. When they charged at the dragon, in seconds they were already close to it, each activated their strongest skill and launched their small dark balls, however, none of their attacks injured or scratched the dragon, in fact, it only made it angrier, it''s tail pierced D3 at lightning speed, the poor guy could not even react in time before he fell on the ground, the tail made a large hole in his chest, it was a horrifying sight. D18, who saw what just happened, froze there without even moving, he knew it was already his doom, in a flash, D3, someone stronger than him was instantly killed. The tail then attacked the petrified D18 horizontally, cutting him in two, his eyes were filled with disbelief and fear, he saw C12 fighting almost equally against the dragon so he thought he and D3 had a chance but they could not even hold a minute against this beast. As it got rid of the two annoying ants, the bone dragon lifted its head and howled, then it headed towards C12 who was still condensing the air. Even though D18 and D3 died, fortunately for C12, they managed to gain 20 seconds or so, it was enough for him to barely finish completing the skill, a bright orb was floating a couple of centimeters above his hand, it emitted strong pressure, and there was white light coming out of it. Arthur, who was watching the whole process, was slightly astonished when he sensed the pressure from that orb, it may not even injure him, but it nevertheless was extremely strong, the pressure alone was enough to prove that. Although he could interfere, he didn''t, he was still sitting on the bench enjoying the show, he wanted to know what can this orb do, even if the dragon dies, he could summon him in a few days, it''s not like he needed him. C12, satisfied by the Orb, gently pushed toward the incoming dragon and backed away with his fastest speed, he was not afraid of the dragon, but that orb, it was his skill but it could hurt him too, normally a skill you make can never hurt you but this one did, maybe because his control over it was lacking but that didn''t matter, what really matters is that he needs to retreat far from it, cause he once used this attack and its destructive force is earth-shattering. The speed of the orb was very slow, however, since the dragon was already coming in its way, ignoring the small little orb, it didn''t take long enough for it to touch the bones of the beast, and once it did. A bright light emanated from it, all the surroundings had to forcefully close their eyes, and accompanying that bright light was a very loud screeching sound, yes, it was a screeching sound, as if a beast was howling. A barrier was already formed in front of Arthur and the others so nothing happened to them, but all the skeletons and the black-clothed people were either sent flying away or cut into pieces. The small port was full of the stench of blood, the disgusting red liquid dyed almost the entire ship, even the roof. The skeleton was destroyed with only the ones far from the impact managed to barely stay unscathed. There was no sign of the bone dragon, even part of the ship was gone, fortunately, the impact was on its edges or else it would have sunk long ago. Arthur was momentarily stupefied, that orb could cause damage equal to his past ancient flame, it was truly a terrifying attack, even Yamak would be injured by this, perhaps not seriously injured by he will nevertheless be wounded, that was a fact. Arthur was stunned and happy, since this enemy had this skill, then it naturally belonged to him, he could no longer wait to get his hands on it, even Lucy was slightly surprised but she didn''t say or do anything, she continued chatting with Saly to distract her a little from what''s happening, though it was barely working, it''s enough for the time being. The little girl somehow grasped what''s happening, but she didn''t feel that much scared, Arthur and Lucy were with her and it was enough for her to feel safe, they managed to get rid of her master, who was like a god for her, so anyone else is a weakling for her, as her master was the considered the strongest, that''s just how she thought. She was a child after all and her way of thinking is still immature and limited. .... They were only a few black clothed people still alive, most of them were ravaged by the explosion, no more skeletons came out of the pit, which had already disappeared. The skeletons which were left continued attacking non-stop, they didn''t care about the explosion and only followed orders. As for C12, he was feeling proud of his skill and happy, he saw how the bone dragon got obliterated, and that meant that the troublesome opponent is finally down, now only he has to do is finish Arthur. He rushed at Arthur, his plans were perfectly proceeding, and it''s not a little bastard like this ''Arthur'' that will stop him. A distance of a hundred meters or so was crossed in seconds by C12, he already changed his hand into an axe and prepared to behead Arthur, who was still sitting leisurely and staring at the incoming C12. "Hmmm......I think it''s time to finish this little play, don''t you think?" Just as he heard Arthur''s voice, C12 body froze, it literally froze, he thought it was an illusion or something similar, but no! he was frozen in mid-air. No matter how much he struggled, he couldn''t free himself, even the dark axe could not cut what''s binding him, he already felt it was some kind of threads but he couldn''t see anything. "We are going to have a long chat~~ you better answer me truthfully, or else...I assure you that you won''t be having a pleasant time" Arthur finally stood up and slowly walked toward C12, who was still confused at what just happened. "You...what did you do!" C12 didn''t know what happened, a lot of thoughts raced through his mind and he couldn''t comprehend how he was frozen like this and what the actual f*ck did this bastard do, so he couldn''t help but shout at Arthur, as if shouting would help him.... "Nothing special...no need to think about this, more importantly, focus on honestly answering" Even in a situation like this, C12 didn''t feel like obediently answering, he was a strong figure and he had a decent position in ''Medusa'' how can someone except his superiors talk to him like this? "F*ck you! who''s going to answer you?" He continued to curse Arthur and use vulgar words, however, Arthur just acted like he didn''t hear them, he turned his head towards the still living subordinates of C12 and was pondering on what to do with them, question them or kills them right now? After a couple of seconds, he concluded that they are useless, and C12 was enough, even if he didn''t answer him, there''ll be someday when he personally goes to ''Medusa'' Headquarters if it existed and forcefully extract his answers from its people. Streaks of lightning fell from above, the wood couldn''t withstand the lightning and soon crumbled, there was exactly 27 streaks of lightning, the same number as the still standing black-clothed people. The speed of the lightning was just beyond them, the only thing they managed to see before their death was hearing the ''bzzzt'' sound of the incoming lightning. Arthur controlled his lightning so it would only kill them and not turn them into ashes, his control over the lightning magic was obviously perfect so something like this can easily be done. The streaks of lightning contained some natural lightning which literally tore theirs hears, they instantly died without being able to defend or react in time. Belic, Robin, and the other nobles, who were standing a dozen of meters behind Lucy and Saly were dumbstruck by the sudden appearance of the lightning. Belic brought them all behind Lucy because he knew it was the safest place, though they kind of sneaked behind Lucy and did not just ask for protection, which was rather shameless, Lucy didn''t mind and completely ignored them. As for C12, who was cursing Arthur, he paused and stared at his subordinates with eyes full of disbelief, even someone such as him, couldn''t see the lightning in time, he only managed to get a glimpse of it when all of his subordinates already died. His pupils constricted and he no longer cursed or shouted at Arthur, just by seeing the 27 or so figures die instantly, he knew that from the very beginning, it was within Arthur''s plans. He was easily bound like this and they died in a split second. He now understood this opponent is no mere necromancer, the lightning was the proof of it, however, he had something in case of emergencies, so he didn''t waste any time and began mumbling some incantations with a low voice. Obviously, Arthur noticed the change in C12 and heard him chant, however, he didn''t stop him, it was not a teleportation since there was no crystal, maybe it was a strong spell? no matter what it is, he wanted to see what this person would do when he discovers that his trick is useless. The chanting lasted 10 seconds before a violet pendant in his chest began vibrating. It flew out of his chest and floated in front of his face, Arthur stared at this pendant and sensed that something was coming out of it. C12 began laughing out loud "HAHAHA, you are f*cking doomed now, you piece of sh*t!" All of a sudden, the violet pendant shattered and a dark figure came out of it, it stood in front C12. It was a silhouette of an old man, he had both of his arms behind his back and very soon, his figure became clear. The old man wore a violet robe with some symbols and runes in it, he looked like he would die at any moment, a long beard stretched from his chin all the way to his chest. He raised one of his hands and began stroking his long beard while the other free one was still on his back. The old man didn''t say anything, he merely looked around to grasp the situation, once his eyes landed on Arthur, he furrowed his brows for a second. Except gazing a little longer at Arthur, he didn''t do anything, when he finally finished looking around, he turned his head and saw C12 frozen a couple of meters above the air. Seeing the old man look at him, C12 felt a cold chill round down to his spines, however, he didn''t dare be disrespectful. "Lord A, I''m sorry to call you like this, but I encountered someone unexpected and I couldn''t handle him so I had to call you, please forgive this one" C12 had a special pendant which can summon this old man, not all people had it, but it was given to him because he managed to finish a high difficulty mission so the higher-ups gifted him this. He also knew that there is a handful of people in the category A, however, he when he spoke to the old man, he didn''t dare say his rank too, or else it would enrage him, so he just called him ''Lord A''. The old man already understood the situation before C12 even talked, he also knew that the man in front of him was the person C12 was talking about. Seeing that the old man remained silent, C12 continued to talk "L-Lord A, this person is a necromancer...I barely managed to defeat his bone dragon..he also used lightning magic...." He didn''t waste time and informed his superior about what Arthur was capable of. When Lord A heard that, his gaze landed on Arthur yet again, his eyes turned serious and a smile formed on his aged face. For someone to be able to use necromancy and lightning magic, he must be a powerful individual, plus C12 he fought a bone dragon...so that means this person can summon one? all of this piqued the interest of the old man. "Indeed, you weren''t wrong by summoning this old man, how can this old man miss such an opportunity to meet someone such as this...." When Arthur saw this old man, he couldn''t feel happier, he heard how C12 addressed him so he must certainly be a high-ranker in ''Medusa'' so maybe the answers he would receive would be more than he would get from C12, isn''t that something to celebrate for? Arthur grinned at the old man who was staring at him, he lifted his hand and a dark blue sword was created, it was floating a few inches from his hand "Old man, what do you think this is?.." Chapter 45 - 45 : Heavenly Arrow The calm eyes of the old man abruptly changed when they landed on the floating sword. His control over the dark magic was better than C12 so he immediately sensed a familiar feeling from the sword, however, it was countless times stronger than his magic or any dark magic he has ever seen. The cold and ominous feeling it emanated, how could he not know it was the same magic as his, yet at the same time different. C12 saw the sword too but he didn''t feel anything special about it, perhaps because he didn''t get enough dark magic so he can''t sense the sword''s power, for him it was just a simple sword created from magic. The old man stood there agape with wonder, his attainment in dark magic is considered one of the best in the A category, but even with that, he still couldn''t create such a sword, also, what''s up with that blue color? he never heard of the dark magic being like that? He started having many suspicions and didn''t snap out of his daze until a minute has passed. Arthur kept silent after he asked his question, just from the look of the old man he understood that he(Lord A) could feel that this sword is made from dark magic. Lord A''s mind never ceased thinking about a lot of ideas as to who this person is, but seeing this sword, he could only come up with one thing, without hesitation, he bowed his head toward Arthur and said "Forgive this old man, esteemed one, you must be Lord S, your existence is a taboo for us and none of this lowly ones know about your identities" The only thing he could think of is that this person is someone from the S category, he never met anyone of them since he joined ''Medusa'', even his powers were given to him by a stone, he only knew that there was an S category, but their identities were completely unknown. Hearing this, Arthur chuckled for a second before his demeanor turned serious and his killing intent engulfed all his surroundings, the temperature seemed to drop, C12 and the nobles couldn''t help but feel fear and their bodies began trembling. "So you think I''m that Lord S? Truly pathetic! I asked you a question, so why are you not answering it!" His tone was heavy and his words were like piercing knives to the old man, he didn''t dare to be disrespectful and even his calm behavior vanished, whether he is Lord S or not didn''t matter, he was just sure that this man was from ''Medusa'' and was someone above him in the rank, that''s for sure, or else, how could he create such a powerful sword? "I-It''s a sword made from the dark magic..." ''So they even know the name of the magic?'' Arthur became more and more curious about this organization, for them to know Zodiak''s dark magic, they may have discovered it differently from him, but that was most likely not the case, dark magic is not that simple to be easily found like this, even for him, if he didn''t possess Zodiak, he wouldn''t be able to use it. "Indeed it is, now let''s get to the thing I want to know the most...WHY are you able to use it? you and that idiot behind you" Lord A was afraid of Arthur that he was not an idiot, he lived long enough to know this from that, and by the way Arthur talked and his angry tone, he understood that he completely misunderstood his identity and believed him to be a person from the S category, however, if he was not from it then why is he able to create such a strong dark sword? With that thought, confidence came back yet again to the old man, though Arthur may be stronger than him, he was not in his real form here, he was summoned by the pendant so he can only use half of his power, and even if he was killed here doesn''t mean he will truly die. He wanted to test Arthur''s strength and see if he could deal with this troublesome person right now, because a person who can wield Dark Magic yet not be a part of the organization is unheard of, he is dangerous and must be eliminated. Lord A remained silent for a couple a second until several arrows from dark magic were created, he also created a spear and thrust at the nearby Arthur, the arrows also blazed through the air and rushed at Arthur with incredible speed. However, for some reason, Arthur felt the intent of the old man, he could feel the arrows being created from the very beginning, he didn''t know why but he just felt it, same thing for the arrow, even with the sudden attack of the old man, he remained motionless and waited for the attacks to hit him. Soon enough, the dark arrow and the spear thrust struck him, the spear''s tip hit him in his neck while the arrows in his abdomen and legs, it was very precise but unfortunately for the old man nothing happened. As he was holding the spear, it seemed as if he was hitting an unmovable mountain, it reached his skin and couldn''t even scratch it. The arrows disappeared when they hit Arthur, his clothes remained the same without any holes from the arrows. Arthur grinned at the still shocked old man and said with a cold voice "What? Is that all you got? such pitiful arrows and a slow strike, not only did you not answer, you also attacked me, heh, you must surely be ready to face the consequences right?" Arthur didn''t care about the answers, these two fools didn''t seem they were going to answer, but that didn''t matter, he was not in a rush, sooner or later, he will find out. With a quick teleportation, he appeared 20 meters from his previous location, the old man and C12 were dumbfounded and still couldn''t believe the attacks just now were utterly ineffective. When the figure of Arthur disappeared and reappeared some distance away, they came back to their senses and stared with disbelief at Arthur. Even the nobles and Belic had their mouths wide open, the sudden turn of events made them fear Arthur more and more, especially Belic, he seriously regretted making that deal with Arthur. "...You....No matter who you are or how powerful you are, you cannot escape from ''us'', just because you got some little tricks doesn''t mean you can face ''us'' ." Lord A thought things through and said that after calming himself down, although he said that, he didn''t believe it that much, it''s just that he never saw the powerhouses of ''Medusa'' so he can''t compare them to Arthur, plus he was using half of his power, but even with that he couldn''t damage Arthur so he concluded that even full power he at best would have scratched him. "Hahaha, so now you''re acting arrogant, I just loathe double-faced people, anyways.....you said little tricks? then why don''t you see this and judge if it''s a little trick or not..." Just as he said that Arthur channeled his dark man and the [Hell Arrow] was activated, previously, he needed half a minute or so to completely create it but now, it was almost instant. The big ship began shaking and some parts were drawn to the huge arrow, the atmosphere changed, strong winds arrived and the sunny sky totally disappeared, the clouds covered the sky as if a strong storm was coming. Even Arthur didn''t expect the arrow to cause this much change as last time he used it didn''t cause this much mess, even its size seemed to have gotten bigger. What''s more surprising is that even without him doing it, the natural lightning descended from the sky, striking the arrow and combining itself with it, the lightning strikes never ceased and the sounds was just deafening. An arrow formed by 3 attributes, just it''s appearance caused the old man''s face to pale, he seemed to have aged a lot and the spear he was holding in his hand had already fallen to the ground, he had no strength to hold it anymore, but that wasn''t the end. Just as it hit the ground, the spear flew to the huge arrow, completely fusing with it, not only the spear, the chairs, tables, everything was being absorbed by the arrow, either strengthening it or turned into nothingness by it. Green lightning enveloped a part of the arrow but the lightning never ceased to strike from above, in fact, it increased and it even began hitting the water and small boats, completely disintegrating them. ''ting'' [Hell Arrow] has transformed into [Heavenly Arrow] : the Natural lightning is now part of the arrow: Damage +300% Cooldown : 1 Day Cost: 10.000 mana Congratulations! because you created a skill containing 3 skills you received +15.000 to all stats The sudden appearance of the notifications shocked Arthur for a bit, but once he saw them, he felt satisfied, though he didn''t intentionally add the natural lightning, it was at least a good thing, the arrow already deals tons of damage, but with the bonus of 300% it will deal even more, plus the bonus to stats was not that bad. "Wha.....What...is t-t...this" Lord A could barely talk as he gaped at the arrow, anyone who saw this arrow felt it''s terrifying power and the overwhelming pressure. Belic, who was standing not too far away obviously saw the arrow, and never in his life did he regret a decision as much as he did in this moment, just the mere sight of the arrow made feel immense fear, however, in a way, he was fortunate that it was not pointed at him, for the time being.. "Fuck! You''re af-ffucking mm-monster!" C12 was in a desperate situation. He felt that there is no way out, no one was going to save him from this, not even lord A, who he had high hopes for him(Lord A) to get him out of this bloody mess. .. Lucy and Saly who were still sitting didn''t feel any pressure from the arrow, even the streaks of lightning didn''t touch them or strike near them, Arthur had absolute control on the lightning and the arrow so of course he would not cause them to feel uncomfortable. "~Hmm~~ So, what do you think about this? Is it a little trick? please enlighten me" Arthur spoke sarcastically to Lord A while looking at his petrified state. Even though Arthur created the arrow and all, he wasn''t going to use it, or else the whole ship, or what was left of it would be eaten by the [Heavenly Arrow], not even this small port would survive such an arrow, he just wanted to scare the old man and show him what true power is. "No matter where you have gotten that power from, remember that one day, I''ll come looking for answers and not you, or anyone else can stop me" Arthur already knew he can''t kill the old man when he appraised him nothing appeared, so he was sure that he this old man was not really here, maybe it was a temporary summoning. After he finished what he had to say, the arrow disappeared into thin air, followed by the dispersing clouds and the lightning. Everything seemed to return to normal, the sun was as bright as ever and the sea calmed down, it''s as if nothing happened. Arthur didn''t waste time anymore, with a simple slash he beheaded the old man, who was still silent and petrified after his head fell down, it immediately disappeared along with his body, as for C12, he was struck by one final green lightning which instantly killed him. Since Arthur wanted to possess the corpses now and there were witnesses, he transformed into his lightning form and began possessing them, however, Belic and the nobles could only see an almost invisible streak of lightning rush from corpse to corpse. Arthur would take a couple of seconds to possess several corpses, he had gotten used to the feeling and can now enter and leave a body way faster than before. There were exactly 279 corpses, including C12''s, and it took him approximately 300 seconds to possess them all, no one moved or dared speak, they just watched the lightning disappear and reappear from a place to another. Lucy knew what he was doing so she continued to chat with Saly, who also didn''t bother with what happened that much as she couldn''t see so obviously she wouldn''t be able to see the lightning or the arrow, Arthur even made sure she won''t feel a strong pressure. ''ting'' ''ting'' ... You have gained a new skill(passive) : [advanced water magic]: you can now use water to attack or defend You have gained a new skill(active) : [Rinotsu]: By compressing a volume of air to a small size then unleashing it, it would create a devastating explosion: power depends on owner''s wind magic attainment and his intelligence stats Cooldown: 10 days Cost: none [Rinotsu] has been absorbed by [Orb of the fallen overgods] and changed to [Rizaki] You cannot use [Rizaki] until you unlock [Space magic] and have over 1.000.000 intelligence / ??????? Just as Arthur was pondering about this [Rizaki] and [Space magic], another long notification came ''ting'' Another portion of Zodiak''s power has been unlocked: Your [void magic] and [Chaotic dark magic] have fused together into [Lost magic] [Lost magic]: A very ancient magic used in the first era, you can now use it to attack or defend. You have gained a new enigma ability : [Sixth Sense]: By using it you can locate any being within a radius of 100 meters The range increases depending on your stats. You have gained another portion of Zodiak''s stats, please check your status window for more details WARNING! WARNIN...! WARNI....Ahh I managed to decode it...well emm, I don''t know who you are, but I''m sure you must be someone who managed to obtain [Lost magic] whether by yourself which is an almost impossible case or by using the things I left scattered in Astria...I can''t say a lot because this b*tch is trying to interfere but remember one thing! DO NOT GET DISCOVERED! They will come for you sooner or later..WARNi...find the...WARNING WARNING... Initiating System Reboot......System Reboot successful. ********************* Sitting on thrones made of creepy skulls, ''X'' was leisurely humming and playing with a human skull, he appeared to be lost in thought but he was indeed in a good mood. "It''s been more than a year right? I wonder what little Arthur is doing? hahaha~~ he must be a crawling baby right now, right? Hahaha I''d love to see that...why not give him a visit...maybe help him out a bit?" Just as he said that, he disappeared from the big gloomy hall and all that was left was the fog that was encouraging him. .... He appeared in front of an enormous planet, several times bigger than the earth, he gazed at it for a couple of seconds before he disappeared yet again. His divine sense already covered the whole planet in search of Arthur, he already can recognize anyone by just sending them one time. However, even after a first and second divine sense, he found...nothing! his humming halted and some dark fog emanated from his silhouette. "What''s the meaning of this? How can''t I find him?" ''X'' started teleporting non-stop all over the planet, he appeared in front of every baby on this planet but he still couldn''t find what he was looking for. "It''s impossible! Even if he was reincarnated to a beast, he should still be HERE! WHY! WHERE IS HE!" His demeanor completely changed and he seemed to be a different person. He came back to his castle and sat on his throne, however, he was still angry and confused. "Belos..." Just as he called that name, a figure with two big wings and a horn coming stretching out from his forehead appeared, he was kneeling on one knee and his head was dropped down, not daring to look at ''X'', just from the tone of his master, he understood he was furious. "Immediately search every planet in Zutis! do you hear me? Every planet, search for him, you need to find him! FIND HIM" Belos already knew who his master was talking about, with a final bow he vanished from the hall, he knew his master was very angry and he could be ''accidentally'' killed by his hot-temper. As for ''X'', he crushed that skull he was playing with it earlier and roared, just by that roar, the whole castle shook and the dark fog emanating from him increased even more. ''I don''t know how you managed to escape....but I''ll find you...my precious little toy...you are my subject after all....hahaha~~~" Chapter 46 - 46 : Astrith The Beastly Lightning is now available! The Demonic Lightning is now available! The blessing of Katrina, The Overgod of Knowledge is now available : She was the sole being who was known for her extreme thirst for knowledge, known to have created the largest library the multiverse has ever seen, she even managed to decipher symbols from the Void Era, furthermore, she was one of the founders of ''The Council of Creators''....CANNOT GAIN THE BLESSING UNTIL YOU BREAK THE SEALS. SEAL 1 : LVL 750 : Gain the skill [Life State] SEAL 2 : UNLOCK Knowledge stat : Gain the skill [Saint Hands] SEAL 3 : ACHIEVE ??? Intelligence : Obtain the key to the 9 Earths and 8 Moons. SEAL 4 : Use The Book of the Damned....ACHIEVED........Miscalculation...UNACHIEVED...: You cannot summon ''Radolf'' SEAL 5 : Use The Book of Eternity: You cannot summon ''Midolf'' Just as this row of notifications came, Arthur became flabbergasted, first the weird message, then the new skills and last but not least, the blessing of Katrina, He really didn''t know how to react, too many things appeared so he couldn''t choose what to focus on. After a couple of seconds, he decided to think about all of that once everything calmed down, he still didn''t check his status window but 279 corpses ranging from LVL 50 to 200 must have a lot of stats, that explains why unlocked a lot of things. He didn''t forget to store all of the corpses to his storage so he can use [Death touch] on them when he''s alone with Lucy, after all, he can''t use it in front of the nobles and Belic, the process takes time, it''s way longer than possessing bodies. After he breathed some fresh air to calm his mind, he opened his stats to see the changes, however, even without that, he could feel that he became much much stronger, the stats he got are seriously no joke, I guess this ambush can be called a fortune to him rather than a misfortune. He was not so heartless as to invade a city and slaughter all citizens for stats but if there was an army of evil and ruthless people out there, then he wouldn''t mind cleaning them up and gaining their stats, it would truly be fantastic. TITLE: MEAT GRINDER / SEEKER OF KNOWLEDGE / ONE WITH THE SWORD Level: 431 Class: Humanoid parasite - Strength 0 Intelligence 0 Agility 0 Wisdom 0 Vitality 0 Dexterity 0 - Health 0 Health Regen 0 Mana 0 Mana Regen 0 Stamina 0 Stamina Regen 0 - Attack: 0 Defense: 0 Magic defense : 0 Elemental Resistances Enigma abilities: Telekinesis / Ancient Threads Fire: 0 Water: 0 Wind: 0 Earth: 0 Light/holy: 0 Darkness: 0 Lightning 0 Ice 0 Shadow 0 ''WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!'' As he saw his stats, Arthur couldn''t help but stagger a few steps, he even rubbed his eyes multiple times to check if he was dreaming or not. However, after a minute passed, the stats didn''t change but a notification popped up SYSTEM ERROR! Can''t calculate stats....SYSTEM MALFUNCTION........RE-INSTALLING SYSTEM CALCULATION SYSTEM...... ''....'' Artur seriously didn''t know what to do, since the message from Zodiak came, the system seemed to be malfunctioning, he didn''t know why but it''s not like it mattered because even though it indicated 0 in all stats, he didn''t feel weak, he even felt like his power doubled, or even tripled, same goes for the sitting Lucy, power surged through her muscles and she felt the change in her stats. Arthur checking his status the last time but to no avail, he walked toward Lucy and Saly, they didn''t know where they were but it didn''t seem they were still where they previously were, the port was completely destroyed and you can now see the surroundings. There was nothing but sea in the West, however, when you look East, there was a forest, a big one at that, full of trees, you could see greenery as far as the eye can see, even Arthur could only see trees with his good eyesight. Just when Arthur was a few steps from Lucy, he noticed her shocked face, she even imitated and rubbed her eyes, he could only guess that she must''ve seen her stats and they were ''0'' too, at first it was confusing why it''s happening to her too, however, after some thorough thought, it''s to be expected since they are soul linked. He wanted to ask her about the system error or the other things but he pushed that for later. Although she was shocked when Lucy lifted her head and saw Arthur slowly nodding at her, she immediately understood that she was not the only one, so she shrugged that off and kept gently brushing Saly''s brown hair. Belic and the others, who were still dumbstruck, were awakened when they heard Arthur voice "You should know where we are better than me, so enlighten me..." Even though he wanted to know where they were, it was almost obvious they were at Itas continent, but he wanted to confirm that, furthermore, he was only staying with Belic and Robin just for the deal to heal Saly, or else he would have gone with Saly and Lucy already. Belic snapped out of his daze and looked around, however, his eyes were still full of disbelief and he didn''t dare approach, Arthur. Once his eyes landed on the enormous forest that stretched on all the land, he sighed then replied "It seems were are in Itas continent, I don''t know the exact location but I''m sure we are there, these special trees are only located in Itas continent" He paused for a second before resuming his talk "We''ve got no choice but to travel near the sea and not venture into the forest, there is a lot of dangerous places in there, plus, our destination is the little town called ''Lopel'' it''s just like ''Lumbra city'', once we reach it, we''ll wait for the other ships to arrive. Though he said they were in Itas continent, Arthur didn''t want to waste time in search for Lopel Town, so he turned his head to look at Belic and calmly said "No need to waste time searching, wait for me, I''ll find it then come back, I''m faster after all" As he said that, he nodded at Lucy one final time before he disappeared from the ship. He transformed into his lightning form and headed South at his fastest speed, he just chose South hazard, maybe it was the wrong way but with his speed, he should be able to go back easily. He was totally dumbfounded by his speed, it really seemed to have doubled, he could see the environment surrounding him blur when he ran, he was even able to run in the air, I know, it seems impossible but he somehow managed to do it, gravity didn''t affect him anymore, maybe because of his speed or another factor? He didn''t really know why but he just could do it, no need to make a fuss about it right? Just like that, he headed South with speed that may be regarded as godly, you can''t see a streak of lightning if he passed near you, only strong winds would be left, that''s all. Arthur really wanted to test his new [Lost magic] and two new lightnings types right now but it would waste time, in seconds he would cross a long distance, his speed already broke the laws of this world, he even thought that maybe in this world there is no match for him, if all dragons were like Yamak, then they would be instantly killed, as for that weapon ''judgment'' he was sure as hell that he could withstand a shot from it with no injuries. ''Ah...being the only strong person is sure lonely....'' After 20 minutes of flying through the air whilst running at the same time, he found a small town with a port, the first thing that came to his mind is that this town is indeed ''Lopel'', he didn''t stay there that much, there was a signboard near the port which indicated the name of the town and it was indeed ''Lopel Town'', Arthur didn''t linger there that much, he immediately returned where he came from. .... 20 minutes later, he arrived at the half destroyed ship, the nobles went back to their rooms and only Robin, Belic was staying outside a couple of meters near Lucy and Saly. Arthur appeared out of nowhere, just his sudden appearance scared the shit out of Robin, she even yelled and fell on her butt, she was chatting with her grandfather with what happened and what they should do when Arthur appeared from thin air just like a ghost. Arthur ignored her and faced Belic while saying "I found Lopel Town, with your speed, you could reach it in half a day more or less, as for the others, I don''t know" Though he was startled by what just happened, Belic kept a calm demeanor and smile and nodded toward Arthur, however, deep inside him, he was cursing himself for being foolish ''Belic O''Belic, you really screwed yourself right now, this freak is going to use YOU as a punching bag once he discovers you lied to him...those damn geezers probably won''t be able to face him.....that freaking arrow...my hand is still shaking!'' Belic brought Robin inside their office and headed to the office to talk things through, only Arthur, Lucy, and Saly were left there. Arthur sat next to them just like earlier and resumed talking with Saly to cheer her up, though he didn''t want to tell her he''s going to heal her because he was not a 100% sure about that. To avoid being heard, he used the dark cloud and jumped on it along with them and went up high the sky, Saly couldn''t feel cold or pressure of course thanks to the barrier surrounding her, however, even though Arthur unconsciously created the barrier, this time, it was white, pure white, he saw a light barrier before but it was completely different from it. He was startled by that, the strongest barrier he had was the dark magic one, so he used that but he quickly remembered that it evolved into [Lost Magic]. With a thought, he created a sword from [Lost Magic] and a white sword was formed, it was as white but it had some orange lines, they looked like veins, quite weird yet satisfying to look at. Surprisingly, the sword didn''t emanate any ominous aura or anything of sort which astonished Arthur, he guessed the sword could be excluding a strong aura, however, this one looked like a normal sword apart from its appearance, albeit his confusion, he never looked down on it and was sure that this [Lost Magic] is better than the chaotic dark magic, it was the fusion of the void and dark magic, so it couldn''t be weak right? Next thing he tried was the Demonic lightning, a black lightning spark appeared in his hand, it was nothing special but from the description it said that it can break curses and seals, which is good, however, he had the cape which made him invulnerable to the curses, but you never know, maybe there are things the cape can''t protect him from. He used the beastly lightning next, as the notification said, this one cannot be used to attack but to summon a lightning beast. Just as he concentrated and activated the beastly lightning, blue lightning streaks came from the sky non-stop, but there was literally no sound, just blue lightning striking in front of them, high up in the sky. The blue lightning finally stopped striking, but only after a beast lightning was created, it looked like a huge wolf, probably 3 meters in length and 2 meters in height, with two red eyes and the rest of the body formed of blue lightning, it looked really ferocious and overbearing. "This one greets master" "!!!" Both Arthur and Lucy were stunned by what they heard, normally, a beast shouldn''t be able to talk except a few unique monsters or mutated beasts, however, this one just talked after a few seconds of his birth. Arthur naturally knew the beast was talking about him, who else did create him apart from him? The beast was flying mid-air, his huge body was bigger than the dark cloud so he couldn''t fit it, but it''s not like it mattered as he was able to fly. "Good good, so you are able to talk....and fly" "Naturally, this one was created by you, this one''master" The beast spoke with utmost respect which kind of bothered Arthur, so he waved his hand and replied "Do not call me ''master'', my name is Arthur." "This one can''t do that, you are this one''s master." Arthur felt hopeless, he knew insisting would only lead to a headache sohe decided to give up on this matter and ask another thing "Alright, then what''s your name?" The beast remained motionless and stared at Arthur whilst responding "This one does not have a name..." "..*Sigh* then your name shall be Astrith!" The beast''s eyes seemed to flash for a second as it heard it''s new name, it inclined its front legs as if bowing to Arthur then respectfully replied "This one thanks master for giving it a name" Arthur merely nodded at the beast before he began thinking about something, he just wanted to test the blue lightning and had thought a simple beast would be created, just like a skeleton. "So, you can hide? or go back to the blue lightning and then wait for me summon you? how does it work." He felt that it would be troublesome to have him with them all day, just his appearance would scare everyone. Just as Astrith heard him, master, he dived into Arthur''s chest, then after a few seconds, he got out from his chest, the process only took 10 seconds at most. "This one can enter master''s consciousness and wait for your call, this one can only leave your consciousness if master allows me, just now, master unconsciously or consciously let this one out." Arthur comprehended everything when Astrith entered his consciousness, as he was going to come out, he felt like he could either block him there or allow him to come out, it seemed complex but it''s rather simple. "I understand, for now just stay here until I re-summon you" "This one obeys" Arthur then descended to the ship along with the others. The nobles, Belic and Robin already readied themselves and were going to head to Lopel town, after all, they can''t just stay here. When they saw Astrith, some of them couldn''t help but cry out, since it''s their first time seeing something like this, even Belic had his eyes wide open and stood there agape with wonder. Arthur just waved his hand and casually said "Do not mind him" Since Astrith now had a name, he felt it would be degrading to call him a beast or ''it'', he was indeed a beast, but he just felt like not doing that, there were some humans who deserve to be called ''it'' or beasts more than him for what they have done.. "You go at your own pace, we''ll arrive before you but we''ll wait for you there, I accomplished my end of the deal, time to accomplish yours" Just as Arthur said that he, Lucy and Saly jumped on Astrith''s huge back and they disappeared into a streak of blue lightning. Since Astrith was considered Arthur''s subordinate, more or less, why not ride him? it would be convenient and he wanted to see this beasts'' speed and power too, plus Astrith didn''t mind so why not do it? The Lightning didn''t hurt either Lucy or Saly as per Arthur''s orders, he didn''t need to create any barrier as he knew Astrith wouldn''t dare hurt them. Just like that, they made their way toward Lopel Town... Chapter 47 - 47 : Ace As they headed toward Lopel town, Arthur was delighted to see the speed of Astrith, it wasn''t comparable to his or Lucy''s but it was decent, he guessed his agility to be around 150.000 more or less, furthermore, it was very comfortable riding Astrith, as his back was huge and it could fit the 3 of them. Time passed quickly and after almost two hours, they finally arrived at their destination. It was a small town with a port, it had several buildings but none of them looked special, they were ranging from 1 floor to 3 floor buildings made from wood, albeit the town is small, it was bustling, boats were coming from every direction and merchants were busy unloading their belongings to start selling, there were also people who immediately set off to the ''elven city'', which was also the only city in this continent, it was right next to the world tree and governed by elves. For those merchants, selling their items in the elven city would be much more profitable than doing it here, so the majority of them would stay here a day or two to relax from the long journey then head to the centre of the continent, but fortunately for them, the trip would be devoid of dangers as the forest is peaceful except a few forbidden zones. In this short trip, Arthur came to learn from Astrith that he can alter his appearance by a bit, that blue lightning would be changed to black fur, but his length or height cannot be changed, it was a pity but that would do, since he looked more like a big wolf than a lightning beast. He didn''t mind keeping him around as in this world there were beast tamers, they are known to only live in the western continent but there were few scattered here and there so the bystanders would mistake him for a beast tamer, which was for the best, plus the appearance of Astrith may scare some arrogant nobles who may come to flirt with Lucy. The main order Arthur gave to Astrith is to use all his strength to protect Lucy and Saly, especially the little girl since she can''t even walk properly. Without questioning his master, Astrith obeyed and vowed to protect them, he already sensed that there was some connection between Lucy and Arthur when he was in Arthur''s consciousness but he didn''t know anything about Saly, however, he didn''t dare disobey his master so he decided to protect the little lass. Speaking of Saly, when Astrith transformed into a black wolf, Saly began praising his fur and in just minutes she fell asleep on his back, she was a beastmen so she felt a connection between her and him even though in reality there was none. Arthur and Lucy no longer sat on Astrith''s back when they entered the town, there was only the sleeping Saly still on his back, however, no matter how she moved, she cannot fall as his back was quite broad and he too, paid close attention to her so she won''t fall. Since they were ambushed and directly teleported to their destination, Arthur guessed that the rest of the ships would probably come in a few weeks more or less. They started roaming the small town, and their appearance grabbed too much attention, especially the huge Astrith, whenever they saw him, they would stand there, petrified, there were even some people who ran off when they saw him. Not even 10 minutes passed when some guards holding long bows came to block Arthur''s way, they appeared to be elves, they looked more handsome than humans with long pointy ears and white skin, they didn''t wear metal or steel armors, instead, they wore green clothes which seemed to be made of leather, it would not provide protection but it''s easier to move when you wear them, there was also a symbol of a tree in the clothes which obviously was the world tree, I mean, what else could it be? Arthur didn''t even let them talk before he waved his hand and said in an annoyed tone "I''m a beast tamer, no need to be afraid of ''it'', now..can you let us pass?" The 2 elves were startled for a second before they courteously bowed to Arthur and the others then resumed their duties, they were not as persistent as humans and had a pure heart, however, that didn''t mean that all elves were kind, there were some evil and cunning ones, but it was few, as this race is known to be the most peaceful, along with the fairy race. It didn''t take them long to find an inn, it was the only one in this town so it''s pretty easy to locate, Astrith was unsummoned and Arthur carried the sleeping Saly in his arms. Lucy quickly reserved a room for them and they soon headed to it, they had nothing to do in this small town so they were going to just wait until Belic and the others arrive then wait yet again for the other ships to come. The room was as usual, very small, a wooden desk and a chair, and a bed which would fit 2 people, no decoration or anything of the sort, it was just a simple plain room. Arthur retrieved the familiar big bed from his storage and place Saly on it as she was sleeping, then he retrieved a sofa and sat on it with Lucy, there was nothing to do now but chat or maybe read some books. He began using [Lost Magic] to get a better grasp on it, and after a few tries, all the created weapons were white with the usual orange veins. He wanted to try the sword on something, so he took out a good armor from his storage and slash at it with the sword, however, the outcome was completely unexpected, the sword couldn''t even scratch the armor, Arthur could only stare at the armor, dumbfounded as he didn''t expect this. he tried a few more times but to no avail, no matter which weapon he created, it would deal zero damage to the armor, which was pretty strange, so Arthur tried another way of attacking. He created a white ball just like a fireball and threw it at the armor but yet again nothing happened. Arthur became more and more confused, if it''s a strong magic, then why is it not working? an armor like this would be easily pierced by an arrow from his previous dark magic so why is this [Lost Magic] not doing anything? As he was pondering about this, a strange yet crazy idea struck him, he even wondered why he never thought about it, without wasting any time, a huge white ball was created and in just seconds it began to deform in a weird shape. Just after half a minute, there was a sniper rifle floating above his hands, it was pure white but this time there was no orange veins in it, which was a bit strange but Arthur totally ignored that, he was eager to test this new weapon. In fact, he tried creating the sniper using the other attributes but it didn''t work and when he used the [Lost Magic], the process was very smooth, with ancient flames for example, once he started imagining a sniper rifle or simple gun from his previous world, the fire would start forming it until it crumbles, even after a few tries it still didn''t work, only with this weird magic. Just as the Sniper rifle was created, notification came...''ting'' You have gained a new stats : Creation : By using [Lost Magic] you created a powerful weapon which cannot be created at the current era You have successfully created [Ace] : Sniper Rifle created by ''Arthur'' Bonus effect : There is 1% chance to cause a fatal-attack You can shoot once every 3 seconds. ''Haa?'' Arthur didn''t imagine a notification to pop up as everytime he creates a weapon from an attribute nothing happens, but maybe [Lost magic] is not an attribute? It''s kind of hard to know what it is exactly since there is no information about it but with this new discovery, he began to have some thoughts. The white sniper rifle soon changed colour to a jet black colour, however, it had the same symbol as the cane Zodiak had besides its body, Sol''khin''s cane, to this very day, he still can''t see it''s stats, he would always try whenever he leveled up but the same notification would pop up non-stop. The symbol in the rifle was exactly the same as the skull on the cane, even the colour was the same, when he held [Ace], he felt it was heavy, well not for him but for others it may be very heavy, it''s was approximately 100Kg, quite a lot for a weapon like this, even a bazooka would be at best 10kg. .. ''ting'' You have gained a new skill(passive) : [Basic gun mastery] : When using any type of gun or rifle, you will deal +10% damage and will gain +5% accuracy He only held the gun yet he obtained the basic mastery, it was really funny, he didn''t even know if it was a characteristic of the parasite race or it''s from the blessing of ''X'', well, either way, it was a good thing for him. However, he felt a bit dejected as he was not outside to test the weapon, he didn''t even know how much power it is, but that didn''t stop him from feeling overjoyed, if this [Lost magic] allows him to create anything then he would truly become a god...but reality was cruel, once he tried creating a simple gun, he couldn''t as a notifications kept coming again and again Not enough mental power! Not enough mental power! Not enough mental power! ''Alright, fucking bitch! no need to repeat it three times!'' Arthur heard the feminine voice of the notifications too much these days and got fed up with it, it really became as useless as trash, so he couldn''t help but mentally curse the system but something unexpected happened after he snapped at it. Not enough mental power! Not enough mental power! .... It kept saying that for 20 minutes before stopping, Arthur almost burst out from anger and destroyed the whole inn, but he managed to subdue his anger, the system was clearly messing with him which annoyed him and astonished him, he thought it was a mere system with informing every person of stats or new things he did or gotten, however, never did he thinks it would retaliate and disturb him, the sound became louder too, as if it did it on purpose, fortunately, it stopped after some time or else he would have become crazy. Once he thoroughly thought about it, he found it strange as he didn''t even know what''s mental power, there wasn''t anything of the sort in the status window so perhaps it''s related to his soul? As a matter of fact, when he evolved into a humanoid parasite, the system told him that his soul became weak compared to his last form, so maybe that was the case? Sadly, no one here could answer him so he could only keep those unanswered questions to himself. .. Lucy gazed at the sniper rifle in Arthur''s hand in astonishment, she indeed saw his memories but not literally everything, just fragments and it was fast paced so she couldn''t focus on everything, so when she saw this strange weapon, it immediately interested her. Arthur chuckled and passed her the heavy weapon, however, for someone like her, with immense strength, it was not that heavy for her but she could felt it''s weight, she stroked it a few time and held it in backwards, it was really a funny scene, since she didn''t know about it, she naturally don''t know how to use it. "W-what''s this..." Arthur took [Ace] from her and held it in his hands in a practiced manner then he put his left eye on the scope and said "It''s a weapon from my previous world..it''s called a sniper rifle, apparently, the new magic I got lets me create things..I think?" Lucy obviously saw the whole process of its creation so she understood what he''s talking about, plus he told her about the [Lost magic] and the 2 lightning types he unlocked, but seeing the sniper rifle now, she became interested in it, maybe she was the kind of person to love military weapons? There were things even Arthur still didn''t grasp, like what about the bullets? must he create them or are they already in the weapon? Since he didn''t try it, he didn''t know yet, but sooner or later, he would understand how this [Lost Magic] works. Lucy try imitating Arthur and held the sniper rifle, but she found it uncomfortable and her interest soon vanished, however, Arthur laughed while saying "Hahaha, don''t worry, there are other weapons I maybe can create, there surely some that may suit you, don''t feel dejected" As he said that, he imprinted a deep kiss on her soft lips and didn''t let go until he enjoyed that sensation to his fullest. But just as he was going to let go, Lucy''s tongue had already invaded his mouth and she sucked vigorously, as things turned out like this, he didn''t hold back and his hand snaked under her skirt and dived into her private part, as for his other hand, it began squeezing that round and soft chest. Just like that, they ended up doing it a few times, however, they were careful as to not wake up the sleeping Saly, after all, it would be embarrassing if she woke up by Lucy''s passionate moans. ..... A few hours have passed since then, Arthur wore some clothes and began using [Death touch] on all the corpses he stored, his LVL was too high so they didn''t give a lot but when he finished them all, he managed to become LVL489, again thanks to the blessing of ''X'' or else his LVL right now would be very low, maybe like Lucy or even lower. Saly had woken up when Arthur was in the process of absorbing the corpses. she didn''t disturb him and obediently sat next to Lucy, chatting with her, the little girl became cheerful and very close to Lucy and Arthur, almost inseparable, Arthur even wanted to train her a bit, but it''s a shame she''s blind now so it was not possible yet. .. The next morning, Belic managed to find Arthur''s room so he came to inform him that he finally arrived with the others, but he was still feeling fearful, even more now when he saw how long the distance they crossed and Arthur managed to cross it twice in less than a fucking hour, so how could he not feel afraid of his speed and strength after all he saw in that ambush from ''Medusa''. ONE DAY EARLIER Just when Lord A was killed by Arthur, in an underground room was a sitting old man, he was sitting in a meditative stance, however, all of a sudden, he was sent flying from an invisible force, he hit the nearby wall and fell on his knees. He coughed blood a few time but you could notice his hands trembling as he was mumbling some things with a very low voice, almost non-existent "T-that.....I-I must inform the others....M-MMoonster...I-I have t-to..." He got up and left the small room in a hurry, though he was killed by Arthur, it only damaged him a little, the injuries will heal in a week, but what he saw would never leave his memories, just the mere sight of the arrow made him shiver, it was as if a god created it and not a mere human. From the trembling, he fell a few times as he was heading to inform his superiors, the fear was still lingering in him and the sight of the arrow just couldn''t leave his mind, he was powerful, very powerful yet he never could create something like that, heck! he believed no one can do that, fortunately, he was not in his real form or else he would have been killed easily. After 10 minutes or so, he arrived in front of the statue, it was a rock statue, the figure was a woman as you can see that by the two huge peaks in the chest area, and the somewhat curvy waist, he didn''t dare look at it as he kowtowed and said "O-Our Lord...Please hear me....I..." Just like that, he informed the statue which was motionless and devoid of life, he didn''t leave any details, even describing the features or Arthur without missing a thing, the statue would shine slightly every now and then, however except that, nothing happened... Chapter 48 chapter 48 : Loli Belic came and informed Arthur that he, Robin and the rest of the nobles would be staying at the Inn to wait for the other ships, then they''ll head to the elven city as the Head Quarters of the E-clips company is near the city. The days passed very quickly and all Arthur and the rest had done is stay at the inn room except going to take a few meals downstairs at the restaurant, they also went out shopping and bought some cute clothes for Saly as she was wearing Lucy''s clothes and they were bigger, so Lucy bought all the clothes she could find for Saly even though the little girl insisted that a single piece of cloth was enough. As for the baths, usually, Arthur and Lucy would use big wooden tub, Arthur would fill it with water then use a bit of fire to make warm, he did the same for Saly but he didn''t join her and Lucy as he felt it may be uncomfortable for the little girl, but surprisingly, it was Saly herself who invited him to join. It''s not like he had strange thoughts about the little girl but he just didn''t want to make her feel disgusted or anything of the sort, however, when she invited her, he couldn''t refuse so he joined the 2 girls in the big tub. Lucy and Arthur didn''t do anything obscene, they just relaxed in the bath tub with Saly who seemed to really like it as it was the first time she used it. In reality, it was not the first time she had a bath, when they were on the ship, Lucy and Saly would always have a bath together and it''s at that time when Saly wanted Arthur to come bath with her, she seemed so innocent when she said that, thank god Arthur wasn''t a person with an ulterior motive. ..... In the blink of an eye, almost 3 weeks had passed since they arrived at Lopel, Arthur managed to sneak out from the town and test [Ace], however, he was greatly surprised when he saw the fire power of the weapon, it was insane. But it''s very slow, 1 bullet every 3 seconds is considered slow to Arthur as every second can change the outcome of the battle, so he decided not to use it right now, perhaps against big targets such as dragon it may work, but against moving enemies it''s almost impossible. He also created some guns but unexpectedly, they were plain and simple, they were exactly the same as the ones from his previous world and against magic, he guessed it would be totally useless, a simple earth barrier can block those bullets, but for some reason [Ace] was a bit special as it''s his power is considered decent, for example, a shot from it may injure a dragon such as Yamak, which can be considered reasonable. Arthur tried to create things from his previous world but to no avail, he couldn''t create anything but weapons which frustrated him, after all, there were so many useful things, like the flash grenade which can help in battles. After a lot of thought, he knew it was because of the insufficient mental power which he had no idea how to increase, so he could only give up and think of it when an opportunity arises. In these 2 weeks or so, Belic never came to visit Arthur, neither did Robin, however, Arthur didn''t mind and knew they feared him a little, after all, who wouldn''t? After what they witnessed, there is literally no one who would not feel afraid except if they saw something more dreading than that arrow. .. The ships finally arrived, there were several less but that may be due to another Kraken attack or pirates, anything can happen in the sea, and it''s not like Arthur cared, he only needed Mary, that''s all. Arthur, Lucy, Saly, and Astrith were in the port along with Belic and the others, the ships already came and the guards began unloading the items and such. Saly was riding on the big black wolf''s back, even Belic was curious about this beast''s sudden appearance, however, he didn''t dare question Arthur, he just threw a couple of glances at Astrith now and then, as for Robin, she was unusually silent, too silent, as if she became a mute, maybe she became traumatized by what happened? Or her grandfather warned her to suppress her hot-temper? Arthur glanced among the ships in search for Mary and in no time, he located her, she was as usual with the 7 little kids, first, she was looking around in worry but when her eyes landed on the familiar figures of Arthur and Lucy, she smiled and hurried toward them. She nodded at Arthur then gave Lucy a bear hug, she failed to notice the big wolf at first as she was more focused on Lucy and Arthur but when she was so close to him, she couldn''t ignore him anymore, however, she didn''t think much about it right now and hurriedly spoke to Lucy "W-what happened...your ship suddenly disappeared.." Lucy giggled as she heard the anxious Mary and replied with a nonchalant tone "Nothing much...we just took a shorter route, no need to be worried" Belic who was close enough to hear that could only sigh and curse in his heard ''Nothing much? Shorter route? my fucking ass! we were ambushed by ''Medusa'' and you call that nothing...'' Of course, he kept all his thoughts to himself or else no one can tell what Arthur would do to him... As Mary and Lucy were chatting about what happened, a commotion broke out not too far away from them. "Where do you think you''re going? You are our slaves!" A person was yelling at some slaves which were heading into the town, they were the slaves Arthur helped, furthermore, he said they were now free and no longer are slaves, the female beastman which was with Robert was also amongst them. And unsurprisingly, the person who was shouting was that damn Koez, the very person who abandoned them, guess he is really that shameless after all. One of the slaves, a muscular male beast clenched his fists and replied at Koez "You already abandoned us when the Kraken attacked! You really are too thick-headed, even our benefactor said we are free, you were just not there to witness it" Koez obviously knew about that, and whenever he thought about the actions he made, his would feel a shiver down to his spines, he abandoned Arthur, who could summon a bone dragon, he saw how monstrous that dragon was, so how could not feel afraid of Arthur, however, he saw the ship disappear and so even if he is alive and well, he was not here to save those slaves, so his arrogance and confidence came back to him. "Benefactor? So what? By the law, you are OUR slaves, so if you try to run away we will either execute you or forcefully drag you here, guards!" As he finished talking, several armed guards charged at the slaves with their weapons already unsheathed. The faces of the slaves paled and some of them raised their fists to fight, they no longer wanted to be enslaved by nobles or rich people, they wanted to be free. fortunately for them, Arthur saw the whole process and was infuriated by Koez, this man really crossed his boundaries. In a split second, Arthur arrived between the charging guards and the slaves and mockingly said "Oh?? I wonder what is intending on doing....raising your weapons like that...it''s like you are going for the instakill right...isn''t that quite heartless" The sudden appearance of Arthur startled the soldiers and the slaves, however, one was relieved while the other was confused, even though the guards were wondering how Arthur suddenly appeared, they didn''t intend to pause and charged straight at him, even though he was a bystander, they were still going to attack him. Firstly, Arthur was just going to stop these guards with his threads, however, when he saw their attitude and their aggressiveness, a few broken bones would help them realize not to mess with someone you don''t know, just like the guards in the emperor''s castle. Even without using his lightning form Arthur still sees they moving in slow-motion, their speed was so pathetic to the extent that they were basically non-moving targets, in a split second he dashed at them and one by one he punched them at the same place, he didn''t exert too much strength, just enough to break a bone or two. Then he just returned where he was before, as if nothing happened, as for the bystanders like Koez and Belic, all they saw was the guards being sent flying in several directions, when they fell on the ground, not even one of them could stand up, they were unconscious. Arthur turned to look at Koez who was standing there agape, still not knowing what just happened, he was looking at Arthur as if he was facing a grim reaper. "So Koez...you still want to capture those slaves?" Koez stood there, neither talking nor moving, he was depressed by this turn of events, however, in the middle of his panicking he coincidentally saw Belic, and at that moment, his hopes rose and his fear almost vanished, since he saw Belic, who is known to be very powerful then what''s the point of being afraid of Arthur. "I do, they are our company''s, whether I abandoned them or not doesn''t matter, furthermore, they are our belongings, whether I abandon them or kill them, that''s my problem, you were just a guest on our ship" Hearing this, Arthur frowned for a second before a bright evil smile was formed on his face, slowly, he began to walk toward Koez, since this double-faced bastard doesn''t understand what''s best for him then Arthur wouldn''t mind teaching him some manners, it''s not like Belic or anyone can stop him. "Ohhhh? Is that so?...." Koez, who was acting confident a second ago, began sweating when he saw Arthur coming to his direction, so he unconsciously glanced at Belic with a helpless look. The old man saw what just happened and also saw Koez gaze, deep inside himself, he was strugglingwhether to interfere or not, after all, an individual like Arthur should not be messed with, however, Koez was his subordinate, he can''t just stand there and watch him get killed, injured or whatever Arthur was going to do. "Sir Arthur, can''t you forgive my foolish subordinate....It was indeed his fault and he will be properly punished, so have mercy.." Belic mustered what was left of his tiny courage and spoke, it was the only thing he could say as he can''t forcefully stop him, it would literally be him going straight to his death. Arthur stopped walking and changed his gaze to Belic, who was standing a dozen of meters away from him, the smile was still hanging face, however, it looked terrifying rather than charming. "Well...since Sir Belic said so then I will stop." He then turned to look at the petrified Koez and spoke yet again "You should thank the old man for saving your life." Arthur wasn''t going to kill him in reality, but he wanted to scare him a little more, plus, a sentence from Belic is not going to stop him from teaching this shameless man a lesson. In the course of these 2 weeks, Arthur accomplished quite a few things, and one of them is lightning threads, or that''s how he named it, basically, while using his threads, he added the natural lightning to it, so it becomes more effective, it will be visible, but it''s not like anyone can stop it if they saw it, it''s speed is beyond them. The lightning threads came out from Arthur''s hand and in a split second it enveloped Koez''s right arm, however, it didn''t tear it off or cut it, the lightning invaded the interior of Koez''s arm and broke its bones, as Arthur''s control with the natural lighting is flawless, something like this can be done even with his eyes closed. As his left arm''s bones were broken, the pain abruptly came and Koez face paled, he began wailing and screaming which surprised Belic and the others. "Consider this a small punishment, those slaves are all free the moment you abandoned them, say that again and believe me when I say this, not even the old man can save you..." As he said that, Arthur nodded at the slaves, who in return bowed toward him, there were even some who personally came and thanked him. Arthur wasn''t going to help them, they are now free and independent, he was not as merciful as to give them gold or food, they can take care of themselves. .. Belic, who saw how Koez started holding his and screaming, was a bit angered but didn''t dare do anything, it was fortunate enough that he didn''t kill him, or else nothing would be left without any honor for someone with his status. When Arthur finished speaking with the slaves, he walked next to Belic and softly said "So, are we departing now?" Belic snapped out of his daze and shook his head while replying "We can''t, we will head out tomorrow morning, it''s better that way.." Hearing this, Arthur merely nodded and left with Lucy and the others. Mary reserved rooms for her and the kids and Arthur went back to his room along with Lucy and the little girl. ... NEXT DAY Time quickly passed and it was already early morning, Arthur was waiting for Belic, Robin and the rest of the people as it was going to be peaceful yet long trip, there were many guards and shipments to move so when they finally came, there were about fifty to sixty carriages full of goods, excluding the slaves of course. There were a lot of people, hundreds, even if it was a strong beast, it would probably be cautious and not attack a big number of people like this, but fortunately, the forest was peaceful in this area and there should be no danger whatsoever. Saly was playing with Astrith fur, Lucy was also on the beast, chatting with Saly, as for Arthur, he was on foot. The trip soon began, however, their traveling speed was slow, too slow, they were literally walking as there were many people and it doesn''t make sense if they start running. Just as Arthur was cursing this damn lucky he got, a notification suddenly popped up. ''ting'' ... New System installation complete! Reboot.... System Loli is now functioning! ''Loli?'' Arthur was surprised by this sudden strange notifications, even the name was bizarre, what kind of system was named Loli? He remembered that when the message of Zodiak came, not long after that, there was a notification telling him of the system installation, however, he didn''t pay it too much attention. Since this ''installation'' was complete, then maybe his stats can be shown now? Arthur tried to open his status window right away to check if he was right or not ''Alright Loli or whatever, status window!'' Hmpf! ''...!'' ''Status window'' ''STATUS WINDOW'' No matter how much he tried, he couldn''t open it, it was worse than the last system, plus he could''ve sworn he heard a snort, and why was this window pink? ''Stop messing with me! this is worse than the last system, this is shit!'' Who are you calling ''Shitty little girl'', YOU ARE SHIT, YOUR WHOLE FAMILY IS SHIT! ''...'' Arthur was flabbergasted, he truly didn''t know how to react to this, it''s as if he was speaking to a little girl on the phone, furthermore, her screaming almost made him deaf. ''S-system reboot?'' He thought perhaps it''s a bug so maybe if he rebooted it if possible, then it would be fixed, because this is not a system anymore, it''s an annoying little girl. Hehehe, you can''t reboot it, you meanie, only I can do it! This sudden turn of events made Arthur confused, he began pondering on this matter and took some time to think through thoroughly because right now, he doesn''t know what the fuck is actually happening. After taking some minutes to ponder, he called again ''So...you are the new system?'' Yes! Loli at your service ''My service? Better say you are here to annoy my ass..'' What did you say?! ''I said you are a good girl! Good girl!..'' ''So, first, can you change the color back?'' ....But pink is my favorite color... ''Didn''t you say you are at my service? Yet you refuse to do this'' Ok...It''s done *hik* *hik* ''She''s crying over this? Why must they give me this brat...'' ''Alright...stop crying....tell me what happened to the other system....'' It was deleted....it got decoded by some stranger so it was forcefully deleted and replaced by ME! I''m much more advanced than the last system ''I really doubt that..but let''s move on..why are you a little brat..and why can you see speak like this..unlike the other system'' I don''t know! I was created just now, I''m the AI of this system..that''s all I know.. ''AI? well never mind that....show me my status window then..AND DON''T make it in pink colour..don''t you dare'' Hmpf! FINE! Spoiler: Spoiler TITLE : MEAT GRINDER / SEEKER OF KNOWLEDGE / ONE WITH THE SWORD / Level: 489 Class: Humanoid parasite - Strength: 683751(+309517) Intelligence: 546311(+267053) Agility: 525129(+250134) Wisdom: 508135(+249631) Vitality: 441796(+203914) Dexterity: 448471(+196371) - Health: 456296(+199824) Health Regen 893.4/s Mana: 486438(+202371)Mana Regen 1012.1/s Stamina infinite Stamina Regen ???? - Creation : 10 Attack: 500373(+238072) Defense: 469368(+219368) Magic defense : 24196 -- Enigma abilities : Telekinesis / Ancient Threads / Sixth sense -- Elemental Resistances: Fire: 100% Water: 60%(+17%) Wind: 35% Earth: 65% Light/holy: 20% Shadow 30% Lightning 100% Ice 30%(+20%) ''You Fucking...!'' Chapter 49 - 49 : Elven City As he saw his stats, Arthur was not really surprised, he sort of expected when he saw how his speed doubled, however, he still can''t get used to those big numbers, it''s really a blessing that he was reincarnated into a parasite, or else even with hard-work and amazing talent, there is just no way he would have achieved his current strength. Arthur didn''t think too much of the stats and asked Loli a few more questions, but all he got was I don''t know... I''m not authorized to answer. There is a good thing which is that she changed the color back, however, she didn''t answer even a single question which irritated him, she was no different than the last system, except being more annoying. At least, unless he talks to her, she never engages in a conversation, and like that, he can be more at peace from that brat. Arthur asked Lucy to open her status window, and surprisingly, it was a blue one and there was no sound of the girl, it was just a usual system, he was first confused because Lucy had the ''0'' stats like him, however, she didn''t get a new system, it was intriguing but he decided to give up thinking about that as it will only lead to more questions. .. The journey proceeded slowly toward the elven city, even after 10 days have passed, nothing happened, they would rest at night and resume the trip early in the morning. Saly would sometimes go play with the kids who were with Mary, as for Lucy and Arthur, they did nothing, Lucy would train when she''s bored, she is unlike Arthur, with a bit of training, she can raise her stats, however, he can''t, no matter how much he tried, he can''t raise them unless he creates a new skill which is extremely hard, or possess corpses. It didn''t bother him that much, he would hop on Astrith and read books whenever he''s free, thanks to [Sixth sense] he could sense if there were any enemies, but except a few beasts which observed from far away, there was nothing worth paying attention to. Arthur even sneaked out of the camp every night to search for a monster to kill, he wanted to gain more stats, even if it was a little, the trip was so boring and they were very slow, he was sure that if he went with Lucy and Saly, they would have already arrived at their destination. Since it''s going to be too bothersome to stick with them and travel slowly, Arthur informed Belic that he would go ahead with Lucy and Saly. He could bring Mary and the kids but he didn''t, they were going to go on Astrith and he can''t possibly fit all of them, even if he can, Arthur decided against it. On the 11th day, Arthur and the other went ahead, and with Astrith speed, it would surely take them less time to arrive. ... The trip on Astrith''s back was comfortable and relatively smooth, in just 15 hours, they already arrived. However, what stunned Arthur and the rest is that they could see a humongous tree, even from hundreds of kilometers, it was still visible, it was so gigantic that can no longer be called a tree. Once they were close enough, the sky was no longer bright from the sun, there were several branches which were like small mountains and leaves which are as big as a carriage, it was fascinating to see. This tree was obviously the world tree, Arthur already read that its thickness is several kilometers, and it is nourishing the whole continent so it would not collapse, but seeing is believing, reading something on a book is not the same as seeing it with your eyes. ... Furthermore, in the course of this short trip, Arthur discovered a few things about [Lost Magic], when he asked Loli why he can''t use the previous attributes, such as a void, and why did darkness disappear, she surprisingly answered him. Apparently, they did not disappear, it''s just that they are no longer an attribute, but were transformed into their original form. Lost Magic ? Creation : Mental power ? void magic : Mana ? Chaotic dark magic : Dark mana ? Eclipse magic {Void + Chaotic dark} : Dark Mana ?????????????????????????? ????????????????????????? .. Loli showed him this window and told him that [Lost Magic] has many functions, it''s just that he needs to discover them alone or else they won''t show up, and the reason he couldn''t use Void Magic or Chaotic Dark Magic is because he can''t right now. Fortunately, her explanation was rather detailed so he kind of grasped the reason behind that, it''s actually because of him, more precisely, his strength, the two attributes are no longer normal magic, but evolved into a terrifying magic which cannot be used with his current power. Loli even said that void especially, is one of the ancient magic and it is the more fearsome one, as there were universes completely made from the void. As for dark, she didn''t know about it, it''s just that Zodiak somehow invented it, nothing more than that. Arthur asked her to give him approximately how much his stats need to rise so he can use them again, however, she didn''t know either. There was also the [Eclipse Magic], he heard from Loli that he can use it right now and it''s indeed a powerful magic, but his control over it will not be perfect as he was still too weak to completely grasp it, nevertheless, Arthur wanted to test it, and that''s what he did. With but a thought, a gray sword was formed, it emitted the familiar pressure the chaotic dark magic did, plus the suffocating feeling the void magic exuded, it was no doubt a fusion of the two, plus it seemed very powerful. Arthur then tried several other things with the new magic, such as spears, barriers, etcetera.... Everything seemed smooth, he didn''t know why Loli told him that his control won''t be perfect, but it was really easy to control it, it was exactly the same as dark magic if not slightly better. He didn''t really lack any form of magic, but he always favored the dark magic, as it was the first magic he grasped and one of the powerful ones, and it still is. [Eclipse Magic] and [Ancient Fire] are the most powerful magic Arthur currently have, there was also the lightning, but it was slightly weaker than them. The normal lightning wasn''t that powerful, to begin with, however, the natural lightning can deal internal damage which is quite good, as, for the demonic lightning, it''s only for breaking curses and seals so it''s practically useless for him, at least for the time being. As for the beastly lightning, he felt grateful to have it, Astrith seemed loyal and he was strong enough to defeat Yamak, so having such companion is not bad, plus he can be used as a mount and a fast one at that. ... Going back to the trip, the Elven City can already be spotted from afar, there were gigantic trees scattered here and there, with Arthur''s good eyesight, he managed to see those trees even though they were still quite far from them, he saw a couple of elves on those trees, which appeared to be houses. There were also towering buildings, like literally ranging from 10 to 20 floors, even in the capital of the human continent, he didn''t see such things, which surprised him a lot, the buildings were approximately a couple of kilometers away from the big trees but they were quite noticeable. They finally arrived at the entrance of the city, Astrith had already descended from the sky to not attract too much attention, he also changed back to the fake form. The entrance to the city was plain, there was not a big gate or high walls, instead, there was a small wooden gate and 2 elven guards patrolling, to be honest, it was more like a village than a city, it was very big, but it certainly didn''t look like a city so why did they name it like that. The elven guards didn''t stop Arthur, even when they saw the wolf, they didn''t seem surprised, they just stared at Astrith for a couple of seconds before resuming whatever they were doing. As for Arthur and the others, they roamed the city, which was very different from what Arthur expected. It was bustling with elves and other weird races he had never seen, it was bustling with people, merchants selling their merchandise and elves selling medicine or plants. Unlike a human city, the elven city prohibited slavery, no one has the right to bring slaves into the elven city or else they would be forcefully kicked out, it was the one and the only rule in this city. As a matter of fact, the elven race held a bit of disgust toward humans, as these humans would enslave elves, demons and even their own kin, which was heartless. After some roaming in the city, Arthur came to know that these tall buildings he saw earlier were not part of the city, they were the headquarters of the E-clips company, the elves allowed the company to build an HQ nearby as it provided them with a lot of things, however, some of the elves were a bit against this idea, but they couldn''t do anything about it. As for the rulers of this elven city, it was obviously the elves, there were an elven chief and 4 elders under him, they took care of the political matters in this city. Arthur didn''t know what he will do here, maybe he will reserve a room in the inn and wait for the others to come, but that would be boring, that''s all he did the past weeks. He wanted to find a way to heal Saly, but the only solution is that Elixir or the world tree. .... The 4 of them arrived at big square, it was like a park, little elven children were playing, while other elves were fighting amongst themselves to train, it was a peaceful place and there were no arrogant people who act high and mighty, Arthur''s view of elves never ceased to increase, they were really a peaceful race. He also spotted some 15 inches or so flying humanoid figure, he already read about this race and it was the pixie race, they usually seclude themselves in a specific zone and don''t like intruders, however, there were some exceptions of course, like this one for example. It was a red pixie, with small transparent wings, they fluttered with great speed as to keep the pixie flying. She was a female pixie and she emanated a red light, from afar, it''s as if a red lantern was flying by itself, quite a funny sight. As he appraised her, Arthur came to see that her LVL was 62, which was very high, but maybe that race can LVL up faster? He still didn''t know everything about the races, so perhaps there are things he missed or didn''t know about. Just as he was observing the flying pixie, he heard a commotion from not too far away. "Hmpf! Who do you think you are? Just because our parents vowed to marry us to each other, that didn''t mean I''m going to accept a trash like you" Once Arthur turned his head to look at the origin of the voice, his killing intent was unconsciously unleashed and his eyes were filled with rage. Lucy who was beside him obviously saw that woman too, she stared at her with piercing eyes and coldly said "It''s her...." It was a female elf, who had one of her legs on a kneeling man, she was looking at him with a disgust and hate as if looking at some trash. The woman was Veronica, that elf from the Council of the Nemia Academy, she was one of the 4 surviving members, plus she was the one Arthur hated the most. She was always against him joining the council and was against him in every matter, so no matter if she''s involved or not, she''s surely going to die, as she led him to Yamak along with Mach and Marry, how could he forget that? Arthur repressed his rage to not attract attention, then he walked away from the square, followed by Lucy, Astrith, and Saly. He didn''t want to kill her right away, in front of all people, or else the elves would not help him in Saly''s matter, however, that did not mean he would spare her, quite the opposite, just the thought of killing her made his blood boil from excitement. ''It seems luck is on my side....I''m definitely going to enjoy killing you...that''s for sure..'' Chapter 50 - 50 : Os Sweet Revenge 1 Arthur didn''t linger in that square and headed off to the inn along with Saly and Lucy, after all, just seeing Veronica''s face made him angry, he barely managed to control his boiling rage or else he would have already ripped her head off. She was very different from Mary, who even though she betrayed him, she apologized in the end, but this slutty elf had a disgusting attitude and was always against him, just by seeing her behavior towards that poor guy was enough to know she''s conceited and evil. He even began to suspect her race, I mean, how the bloody hell can an elf act like that? He thought they were supposed to be peaceful and kind...or maybe she''s an exception? Or she''s pretending to be an elf..it''s certainly one of the two. Soon enough, the three of them reached their room, which was pretty decent, it was actually in a big tree which surprisingly was the Inn. From the outside, it may not look that good, but when Arthur entered it, he was fascinated, although it''s only made from wood, the interior was decorated with natural grown plants and flowers, with some furniture here and there. It didn''t look like an inn but strangely it was, even the reception was different, a young female elf was at the reception desk, she spoke politely to all customers and smiled brightly at them. Arthur could only sigh as he stared at that beauty, the elves really deserve to be known as one of the most beautiful races, however, his stare didn''t last long as Lucy pinched his waist. In response to that, he could only smile wryly, he merely stared at the woman for a couple of seconds, but Lucy was already jealous, must be hard being a husband....but it''s not like he regretted marrying her, in fact, it was the happiest moment of his life. .. The room they were staying in was large, way larger than the ones from the Human continent, the difference is just too big to compare them, even the decorations, the beds, etcetera. It was literally on a whole other level, the treatment here was considerably better, even though Arthur looked human, no elf insulted him or treated him unkindly, however, if he was an elf in a city full of humans, they would surely either enslave him or treat him as a lower being, it''s just how humans are, Arthur had seen enough from them to know that the bad things they did outweigh the good things they did. Saly soon fell asleep so Lucy put her on the comfortable bed, as for Arthur, he sat on a nearby chair and began thinking about how to handle Veronica. There is just no way he will let her off, now that he knows she''s here, no one can save her, not even that elven chief. It''s really too bad he can''t possess a living being, that would make things much easier, it''s not like he can''t kill her in a flash with anyone knowing, it''s just that possessing her than showing her what hell truly is seeming more fitting for a revenge. This thought really troubled him since he evolved, I mean, isn''t he a parasite? From what he knew, parasites should be able to any possess any living being, heck! They can even possess plants, trees, anything, so why can''t he? It''s truly a confusing thing, it''s not like he never tried possessing plants, however, when he did that, nothing happened which made things even more perplexing. The only logical conclusion he could come up with is that his LVL is too low or he screwed up when he evolved into a humanoid parasite, just thinking about the Soul parasite made him drool, as it was able to gain double the stats of the possessed being, if he had chosen that evolution then he would be more powerful than he is now...It''s really too bad but having his own body is the best thing, he didn''t want to rot in someone''s body, perhaps having his own body and possessing other bodies may be good, but not having a body is a no-no for him. While Lucy and Saly stayed at the room, Arthur headed out at night to check Veronica''s status in this city and her residence if possible, a simple fast kill would not subdue his thirst for revenge, oh no nono, he wanted to make things more interesting. Of course, the elves didn''t know his intentions so they answered him honestly, which made things easier for him. Apparently, this Veronica is the granddaughter of the first elder, one of the 4 elders who are under the elven chief, so it''s no wonder she''s acting high and mighty even here. As for her house, she is currently staying at her grandfather''s house, which was a giant black tree at the northern part of the city, it was decorated with lanterns which made it look beautiful at night. Arthur made his way to that tree with a few teleports, he may be very fast but with teleportations, he was assured there won''t be any noise to alarm any guards patrolling nearby. In just seconds, he was already next to the black tree. Although it was just a tree, when Arthur touched it, he felt how sturdy it was, its defence can be considered decent, however, it was a pity as he can destroy with but a punch, but it''s not like he was going to do that, he only came here to check if she''s here or not. The good thing about [Faster than Death] is that you can teleport through walls, it may be not as instant as teleporting to a nearby place, but it is doable, it just takes 20 or so seconds as Arthur needs to focus a bit so it can work. Arthur just did that and appeared in that tree, he already activated simple skills he got from all the corpses he possessed such as [Sneak] or [invisible presence] which by the way were already maxed and can be effective in that kind of situations. As a matter of fact, Arthur has hundreds if not more of skills, they were just not that useful to him except a few ones which can be used in situations similar to this, though he never used them, they were still there and can be used at any time. The interior of the tree surprised Arthur a bit, how can I say it...it was a bit extravagant? There were just too much furniture and decorations, golden paintings, vases, weird tables and even some naked statues, one would think it''s a house of a noble and not an elf, to be totally honest, the inn he was staying in looked way better even though it contained much fewer decorations, after all, sometimes simple things can be better than complex ones. No one was in the room he just teleported to, however, Arthur could hear voices coming from upstairs, though it was a tree, inside, it was like a goddam mansion. It really hard to believe he was currently inside a tree. Arthur didn''t go upstairs, he could hear the voices rather clearly, as he heard the sounds for a couple of minutes, he came to guess they were dining together. "Grandpa! Today, that trash Sebas came begging me for marriage again...he''s so annoying!" "Ha ha ha, little lass, I remember when you were young, you used to like that boy" "Hmpf! That was in the past, I never thought he would become a useless weak dogshit, I don''t want to marry him, dad, mom, why aren''t you stopping the marriage.." "Veronica, you must understand that Sebas is the second elder''s grandson, and that geezer is going to help me in my plans, we can''t stop the marriage, however, no one can do anything if that boy were to die ''accidentally'' after marriage..."(the grandpa) Then Arthur''s head began to ache as he heard the evil laughter of that bitch, though he heard that, it didn''t concern him, he just wanted to eavesdrop as maybe he will learn a thing or two, but I guess not...As these idiots were talking about some boring things, that Veronica girl was complaining non-stop about that Sebas boy, it''s like hearing a bad song on the radio over and over again, how can it be not annoying? Arthur gave up on eavesdropping as it became needless now, just hearing more would make him rush out there and murder that woman, if it was the past him then she would be already dead. However, just as he was going to teleport away, something interested came up and he paused, he heard something that caught his interest. "Little lass, it should be time now to go to that auction right?" "Um! Ever since that crazy day, my right hand cannot use any skills, it must be that weird magic those bastards used, hmph! If it were not a surprise attack then I would have killed them all!" "Hahaha, no doubt about that! You should have enough money or treasures to obtain the ''Rebirth Elixir'', it''s a rare chance so don''t miss it" "Yes, I know....I''ll go prepare myself" Then Veronica apparently left that room and headed to hers. Arthur was still there, lost in thought, not only was he fortunate enough to meet her again, he also got a chance to get that Elixir, he never thought a chance would come. It''s indeed true he was going to heal Saly with the world tree''s powers, however, Belic and the others may take some time, and since an opportunity arose, why not grasp it? If he can get his hands on that Elixir, then the deal with Belic would no longer matter, the only reason he cared for that deal is that it will heal Saly, but if he can heal her using that Elixir then screw that deal! It''s not like he needed anything else apart from curing the little girl. He had a loving and caring wife who loved him and enough money to live the rest of his life comfortably after he finishes the matter with the Ma Clan and the holy church, he wanted to continue traveling and maybe just maybe establish some kind of academy or something similar. .. Arthur also guessed that the auction must certainly be an auction made by the people from the black market, so he was pondering on how to enter it. He teleported out of the black tree but didn''t leave the area, he planned to follow Veronica so he can find where the auction is held. Soon enough, that woman came out of the black tree, she was looking around as to see if there was anyone following her then she sneakily dashed between the buildings, she wore a mask which covered half of her face and some luxurious black clothes. Someone like her, who was previously a council member of the Nemia Academy, surely doesn''t need any bodyguards, she had enough strength to be able to defend herself, however, even with her current strength, she still couldn''t sense Arthur, who was following closely behind her. With some skills activated and his high stats, there is just no way she can sense him or hear him, that would be impossible. After 30 minutes of running through alleys and circling around, she stopped at a particular alley, nothing was special about it except it was too dark, no normal person would be able to see. She knocked on the wooden door 5 times, then a muscular man came out, he looked around suspiciously than he turned his head to look at the masked woman. "Password?" Without hesitating, Veronica instantly said "O-Ohh those thighs..." The muscular man nodded then stretched his hand as if expecting something from her. Veronica passed him a magical bag which probably had some money in it, actually, even though she had a special status in here, the black market had nothing to do with it and anyone would have enough money can participate, in this auction, her background doesn''t matter, only money or treasures do. .. ''What the hell is wrong with that password?..'' Arthur, who saw what just happened, stood there stupefied for a second, they used a password, and a weird one at that, so how could he not feel surprised, he really thought that one needs an invitation or some kind of letter to enter and not just a password and money, anyway, it''s not like it mattered, in fact, if it''s like this then it''s for the best. Arthur waited 10 minutes before he came in front of the wooden door and knocked 5 times. He wore simple clothes, he already wore that metallic mask, with dark clothes from head to toe and Makaze unsheathed at his waist. Just like earlier, the muscular man came out, he looked around to confirm there were no guards or anyone suspicious then he turned his gaze to Arthur. "Password?" "Ohh those thighs" Arthur immediately responded, it''s a bizarre password but that didn''t matter, he was a bit worried about the magical bag, he didn''t know what he was supposed to put in it but he assumed it''s money so he took out a magical bag containing 1.000 gold coins and handed it to the muscular man before he could even stretch his hand. He can forcefully enter and wreak havoc here, but there is a slim chance that they would flee with the Elixir or maybe it''s not even here yet, being careful would be better than acting recklessly. The muscular man held the magical bag and injected some mana to inspect it. Normally, those magical bags would contain minor money for the participation in the auction, it would range from 10 to 500 gold, so when he saw those 1000 gold coins, he was a bit startled, however, he soon regained his professional look and invited the black-clothed man in. ... Arthur was brought to a relatively large room, there were no decorations, just a small stage, and some wooden chairs, there were already several masked people sitting on the chairs, while there were what appeared to be guards standing at the entrance of the room and at the edges of the room, they were monitoring the places, wary of ambushes as it happens a lot in those sort of occasions. He was given a number by the muscular man then he took a seat next to a random person, he noticed that every person holds a number just like him. By the way, his number was ''31'', he just sat there and waited for the auction to begin. Arthur specifically took that seat because of it exactly behind Veronica, he already knew her clothes and mask so he discovered her the moment he entered the room and he purposely sat there. She was happily chatting with some people as if they were friends, perhaps they were but that may not be the case if they are competing for the same item. Half an hour passed since Arthur came and the room became crowdy, not all seats were taken but most of them were. There was some chatter here and there, but nothing too big or noisy. Finally, someone came on stage, it was a woman...in a bunny suit, no don''t get me wrong, it''s not that bunny costume for kids, but the one that is sexy, and alluring, the figure of the woman''s round butt swaying left and right as she moved attracted a lot of attention from the men. She was a beauty in the true sense of the word, long dark hair accompanied with deep dark eyes which made her look even more enchanting. Everyone held their breath as they saw this woman get on stage. "Good evening everyone! I''m Bunnie and I hope you are ready for tonight''s auction, it will hold a lot of precious items! I''m sure you won''t be disappointed" Just as she finished, some people from the front rows began whistling and shouting her name as if they were her fans. "You are as beautiful as ever Bunnie!" It was actually a youth who didn''t have a mask on, he stared lecherously at Bunnie and he couldn''t take off his eyes of her. "Mister Klaud, thank you for your words, well then let''s begin.." Bunnie didn''t fully answer him as he would always come here and pester her so she got used to it, he had a somewhat powerful background so she didn''t want to offend him, she could only thank him for his praises. Two other beauties walked on the stage, carrying a covered item, it was the same process as a usual auction except for the items in here are very precious and rare, of course, the cost would be sky high but all the present people have special backgrounds or are filthy rich with nothing better to do than collect precious items or wasting their money. Bunnie uncovered the item and said "The first item is...a dungeon core." What was under the cloth was a jet black orb, it was quite big but apart from that, nothing was special about it. All the guests were surprised, the only known item is the Rebirth Elixir, apart from that, all the auctioned items are unknown so when they saw the first item, most of them were a bit surprised. "As you may know, a dungeon core is a very rare drop, and on top of that, this is a dungeon core for a medium dungeon!" Bunnie breathed some fresh air then resumed with an excited voice "A dungeon core would increase a random stat for the user, a basic core would give 1 to 100 as for medium it''s from 100 to 1000 and the high dungeon core it''s from 1000 to 10000, however, the latter is nearly extinct" The participants were astonished but they didn''t raise their hands to bind haphazardly, one must be wise, first, they waited for the beginning price, because if they bid a high price from the beginning then they may be losing a bit. Bunnie so the dumbfounded looks of the participants, a smile was formed on her mesmerizing face. "Hehe~~ the beginning price is 100.000 gold coins" For an item like this, it was a reasonable price as 100 stats are considered goods for normal people. Arthur appraised some of them but they were all low leveled with only Veronica being the highest, compared to commoners they sure had decent LVLS but for him? It''s nothing, even if someone with a LVL of 500 showed up, Arthur would still feel calm as he can defeat Yamak who had a LVL over 600. Soon enough, the bidding began and people began raising their hands non-stop. "110.000!" "125.000!" "128.000" Only after a minute or two did the bidding almost stopped, the price reached a whopping 243.000 gold coins which is a really high sum of money, but for people like them, it''s nothing. Arthur wasn''t that interested in anything except the Elixir, however, the orb piqued his interest so why not try it? If he''s lucky then he will get a bonus of 1000 stats, maybe it was very little but it still strengthened him. The youth, who was previously praising Bunnie, raised his number and calmly said "Friends...why don''t you give me some face and let me have this?" There were already few people who were still bidding for the orb, however, when they saw this youth talk and ask them to let him, they could only clench their teeth and accept his request, he had no weak background, just the fact that he doesn''t hide his face is proof that he fears no one, most of them cursed him but none dared to oppose him, there were also some who didn''t care and were just not interested in the orb. One must not judge by appearance or LVL, there were hidden tigers and crawling dragons in here, they won''t show themselves until the item they were waiting for comes out. As for Arthur, he couldn''t give a rat''s ass about the youth or others, it''s a competition of bidding, so what if he wanted the Orb? Everyone wanted, they just didn''t have the guts to compete for it once he talked. The number ''31'' was soon raised and was followed by a voice "260.000" The youth who was delighted and was going to bid the last price, was surprised, he turned his head to look at the man who just bid and glared at him with piercing eyes, however, that didn''t seem to affect the man as he was leisurely sitting on his chair, not even glancing at the youth. "Hmpf! 270.000!" Klaud snorted and bid then he stared at Arthur yet again, but he saw was the masked man raising his number and bidding again without a care in the world. "280.000" Klaud was truly enraged, but he restrained himself, smiled at Arthur and said "Friend, I really need this orb...how about this, let me take this orb and I, Klaud, will owe you a favor" To have someones like him with a powerful background owe you a favor is surely a good thing, but such a thing is useless for Arthur, he raised his number yet again and said "300.000!" The youth''s eyes flashed for a second before he turned around and just acted as if nothing happened, he didn''t come here for the orb but it''s interested him, however, this man didn''t give him any face and bid anyway, furthermore, he can''t spend more than 300.000 gold coins for an item like this. After some time passed without anyone bidding, Bunnie softly said "300.000 going once... twice... thrice.. congratulations to the number ''31'' who won this item" The items bought will be given at the end of the auction, unlike a normal auction, so just like that, the second item came and the third, etcetera... All the items were sold at a high price, but most of the people came for that Elixir, except a few ones, so they eagerly waited for it. After 40 minutes of bidding, the time has finally come and an Elixir was shown to the participants, it contained black liquid and was quite small, it looked ordinary apart from that liquid. When Arthur saw it and hear Bunnie say that it''s the ''Rebirth Elixir'', he was truly flabbergasted ''What the fuck.....HEY! Loli, answer me!! Isn''t that....'' Chapter 51 - 51 : Os Sweet Revenge 2 ''.... Loli.. isn''t that the Minor Healing Elixir I have in my freaking storage?'' ....Y-Yes... '' %&$#?@! Why didn''t you tell me from the very beginning?'' You didn''t ask.. ''*Sigh* Then why is the name different...Those in my storage are called Minor Healing Elixir while this one is Rebirth Elixir, despite them looking exactly the same...'' Each operating system personally chooses the name of the item, usually, they all use the same but there are some....exceptions..your previous system had a lot of abnormalities.. Arthur really wanted to roar right now, for more than a month, he has been searching for the goddam cure for the little girl but the ironic thing is that he had it with him, and not just one or two but thousands of them, however, how could he know it''s the same, it was called ''MINOR'' while there was the miraculous potion, one would obviously use the better one rather the bad right? Arthur repressed anger and breathed some fresh air then talked to Loli yet again ''THEN DO YOUR JOB! Change the names back to their original if there are some others like this...why are you so useless'' All he got in response was a cold snort for the annoying system, he really preferred the last one even though it was malfunctioning. After pondering for a moment, he felt relief and joy, since he already had the cure, then there is no need to buy the one on stage, he was really excited about this matter, just imagining little Saly regaining her eyesight and walking properly made him unconsciously smile under his metal mask. Albeit his excitement, he didn''t leave yet, there is still unfinished business here. Just to be sure, Arthur checked the Minor Healing Elixir he had in his storage, and they were indeed exactly like the one on the stage, the most confusing thing is that he had Medium and Advanced Healing Elixirs, but he never used them, he only used the miraculous one, kind of dumb but he never bothered to test the others. The healing Elixirs and Potions are a bit different, the latter''s effect is instantaneous. The Elixir''s effect is over time, it may take years just like it may take a few seconds, it''s just not as instant as potions which is exactly why Arthur didn''t pay the ones in his storage any heed, he deemed them useless compared to the Miraculous Healing Potions. It seems even though the Loli system snorted and ignored Arthur, she still did her job and changed a lot of the names in his storage, but for some reason, she kept the names of the healing potions and Elixirs, maybe it was to annoy Arthur or some other odd reason? He was in no mood to argue with her so just ignored that and waited for the biding to begin. Almost all present participants looked at the black Elixir with awe and greed, their eyes were burning from the desire to get it, for them, this could save a life or cure blindness, deafness and so on, so how could they not want it? Bunnie smiled at the crowd, she obviously saw their dumbfounded state but stayed silent to let them observe the Elixir for a while then she softly spoke with her melodic voice "Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the most precious item our auction will sell tonight, due to its rarity, the beginning price would be 5 Million gold coins" It was a huge sum, even for those present, this price was really high, however, it was reasonable, the Elixir is known for its extraordinary healing so they kind of expected a price like this. Just as the cute Bunnie finished speaking, half of the participants started raising their numbers and shouting prices, in mere seconds the price already escalated to 25 million gold coins. Arthur silently observed without caring that much, first, he was going to compete, but it was needless right now, he was only gazing at Veronica who was sitting in front of him. She surprisingly didn''t raise her hand to bid, which confused him a little but he soon shrugged that off, her getting the Elixir or not wasn''t of his concern, he was just a bit curious as to why she didn''t bid. The answer to his question soon came as many of the silent people who didn''t bid at first started bidding when the price reached a whopping 80 million gold coins. No matter how much someone''s fortune is, not all of them can have this big amount of money, some were hoping the price wouldn''t increase beyond their budget but it was hopeless. All the big figures started bidding, which included Klaud and Veronica. 5 minutes after the bid began, there were only 4 people left still bidding, it was 2 masked people, Veronica and Klaud. The price already reached 156 million gold coins but it started to increase little by little unlike previously. The 2 masked people soon withdrew and the only ones left are that annoying woman and Klaud, Arthur was quite delighted to see the struggle between the two, if he was participating, he would have bid 200 million to just let them feel despair and give up, ohh he really wanted to see the look on their faces if that happened. "Miss, give me some face please, I really need this Elixir." Klaud used the same trick again but he was sure it would not work, he already knew the identity of the woman as he had many spies inserted in several places, so how could he not know her? Albeit that, he still wanted to get the Elixir, his status was no lower than hers, so even if a fight broke out, he would not be losing. It''s true he''s far weaker than her, but he had hidden powerful bodyguards outside just in case so he wasn''t that afraid of her or anyone else. Veronica just snorted and ignored the youth, she raised her number and said "I bid 170 million gold coins." Unexpectedly, she raised the bid by a lot this time, contrary to earlier when she only added 1 million per bid, it was obvious she wanted to get her hands on the Elixir. As for Klaud, he gritted his teeth and slowly raised his number while speaking in a somewhat angry tone "I bid 180 million." "200 million" Veronica didn''t leave him the time to feel proud as she bid again increasing the price by a lot yet again. Klaud''s face was already red from anger, he amassed a lot of money to get this Elixir, he suffered internal injuries last year and some of them didn''t heal because of a strange curse, only this Elixir can heal him so he wanted to get it no matter the cost. He gave up on trying to save some money and bid all his money not caring about anything anymore. "270 million gold coins!" Veronica, who was ready to raise her number to bid, was stunned and sat there motionless for a couple of seconds before slowly putting her hand down, unfortunately for her, she didn''t have that much money to bid more than him, she could only suppress her anger and gaze maliciously at the youth who was grinning back at her as if showing off his victory. Bunnie was also a bit astonished by the price, but she soon came back to her senses and waited a bit more to see if there were anyone who would bid but there was none so she said "270 million gold coins going once.... twice.... thrice, the item ''Rebirth Elixir'' is sold to the Sir Klaud, congratulations!" The youth nodded at the beautiful bunny girl then looked excitedly at the black Elixir, he couldn''t hide his excitement as he grinned to himself and seemed lost in thought. The Rebirth Elixir was the last item, so everybody depressingly got up from their seats and left the room after bidding farewell to some of their friends. .. Arthur was only focused on Veronica''s figure, she angrily left the room, one could see she was enraged and wasn''t happy with the outcome. She didn''t think that this bastard Klaud would come and compete with her, if she knew that, she would''ve asked her grandfather for more money. In fact, you can also bid treasures, but bidding money is better and more suitable, so it was very rare when someone bids a treasure or another item. It''s been5 minutes or so since Veronica left so Arthur decided it was time for him to leave as well, he left the room and exited the building, finding himself in the dark alley. Even though she went ahead, with his speed, he can find her in a matter of seconds, furthermore, he already knew the route she took to come here. With but a thought, he disappeared from the dark alley and teleported a few times until he found Veronica in a small alley. She took off her mask and angrily stomped her feet, just like a little girl, however, it didn''t seem cute, her face looked ugly as she showed her angry expressions. Arthur smirked and thought that this small alley seemed like the right place. With one final teleport, he appeared a couple of meters in front of the angry Veronica, who didn''t notice his presence until a dozen seconds passed. Although she was startled by his appearance, she didn''t feel alert, moreover, she wanted to vent her anger on something and a target appeared, it was as if the heavens were blessing her after cursing her with some bad luck. Arthur didn''t take off his mask, so when Veronica saw him, she didn''t recognize him, even when he spoke earlier, he already altered his voice a little, there was a lot of skills that allowed him to do so, it''s too bad there are none that change appearances, although he read about illusion magic which is good to trick people. The atmosphere was awkward as neither talked, but that didn''t last long as Arthur slowly took off his mask while coldly saying "We meet at last...Veronica" Veronica, who was just going to shout at Arthur then attack him on the pretext of a dumb excuse, was petrified as she heard the voice and saw two blood red eyes shining, the alley was dark with only some light, and that only made his eyes more terrifying. She only knew two people with similar eyes, seeing the face of Arthur, her body shuddered, she stood there motionless as if still not believing what he saw seeing. "Ha ha ha, What''s up? Did the cat eat your tongue? You were talking just seconds ago...." Arthur then slowly walked towards as his killing intent exploded, he was still evilly smirking at her. "You don''t even know how much for the day I meet you..or any other who betrayed me..." Veronica who was silent finally opened her trembling mouth as her eyes were wide open staring at him in disbelief "H-How..." "Hm? How? You mean how am I alive? None of that matters right now, don''t you think?" Although, she was afraid of him as in the past he was already stronger than her, no matter how much she tried to deny that, it was a fact that he was stronger, plus she is injured now so her winning against him is impossible. Seeing him slowly come toward her, Veronica turned around attempted to flee at top speed, the only way to get away from him is to lure him near her house, that way, her grandfather can save her, she didn''t think Arthur is stronger than her grandfather. But to her surprise, just as she was going to turn her body, she couldn''t, it definitely was not because of fear but it was something else restraining her, even with her injuries, she shouldn''t be this powerless against him, her look transformed from surprise and fear to horror, it was as if she was seeing the devil himself. Just the matter of him being still alive confused her and made her feel afraid, how could he survive against Yamak? Supposedly he managed to defeat Yamak, then how could he escape the fire from that cannon, its range is huge, no one should be able to escape. "O''ho ho ho ho, it''s funny seeing you trying to flee, it''s like seeing a little rabbit trying to flee from a tiger, truly pathetic..." Arthur finally arrived in front of the petrified Veronica, from the very beginning she didn''t utter many words, she was still not believing what''s happening, as if she was in some sort of nightmare. Arthur coldly stared at the shivering woman in front him, however, he didn''t felt hesitation or pity like Mary, she didn''t even apologize like Mary, she just stared at him with fear. He retrieved a talisman and threw it to a nearby wall, very soon, a light emanated from the rune and a notification came, Arthur ignored it and asked Veronica "I think you know why I''m here...right?" Although she was very afraid of him, the thought of apologizing never crossed her mind, she gritted her teeth and replied "Screw you, do y..." Unfortunately, before she could finish the sentence, blood splattered all over the alley, it took her several seconds that her right arm has been ripped off and blood splashed endlessly from her shoulder, it was literally like a fountain, the pain soon followed, it was so agonizing that she screamed loudly. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGGGGGGGGH!" Veronica wasn''t used to this amount of pain which came surprisingly, her screams were deafening, however, no one came or heard her screams except Arthur. The talisman he used before was used to stop any sound from leaking out from a specific range, he made it specifically for this situation, there were thousands of spells in Zodiak''s books, but all of them were ruthless so he only picked the useful ones and made them, then he imprinted them into talismans. "Yes, scream, scream louder! That''s what I felt when that attack hit me! Ha ha ha...You must think I''m crazy and a monster, right? Well, I definitely am, but at least, I never betrayed anyone, unlike you people..." ''ting'' You gained a new title : Psychopath : Each time you brutally kill someone +15% stats increase for 10 minutes. If you kill another person brutally when the buff is on, the timer will reset. Arthur ignored the notifications and looked at the wailing woman, still not feeling sympathy of pity. "Arrrrgg--Hel---------Help!!...-mmm-me...ARRGG" While she was screaming, Veronica tried her best to ask for help but to no avail, no one came, it''s like they were isolated, and it''s at that time that she realized that she''s done for, she turned her head to look at Arthur who was looking back at her with cold and piercing eyes. "Ahhh... I''m s-sorry.... shouldn''t.... done... that.... ahhh... mistake.." Veronica couldn''t talk properly as she was panting, the pain was just too much for her as she barely managed to let out these few words when she was suddenly interrupted by Arthur''s voice "It was a mistake you said... but the cruel thing was, it felt like the mistake was mine, for trusting you or any other from that damned academy....." Veronica shivered as she stopped struggling, she couldn''t even hold her arm to stop the bleeding, the only way for her to stay alive is to beg. "P-Please ahhh..... have mercy.... don''t be cruel... We.. I really regret...that." Arthur burst out in laughter for a couple of seconds before he shouted with frightful vehemence, stamping his foot, and groaning in a sudden paroxysm of ungovernable passion "Cruel? Me? Hahaha, You say I''m cruel when you don''t even know how cruel what you have done is...ha ha ha" He laughed for a while before his killing intent exploded yet again, enveloping all the alley, his blood red eyes turned jet black and his voice sounded like the devil itself "You teach me how cruel you''ve been..cruel or false, why did you and the others betray me? I didn''t do anything for you to despise me...yet you have done the unspeakable...for you Veronica..I have no word of comfort. You deserve this. You have killed yourself. Yes, you may beg, cry or even call for help, but all of these will only blight you...they''ll damn you..curse you! What right did you have to betray me? ANSWER ME! Just because a simple order comes from above, you are just like dogs who obey without thinking....You know...be it misery, degradation or even death itself, I can accept all of them, but betrayal is the thing I despise the most...you and the others did it, on your own will....yet even after that...you still live comfortably knowing what you have done...." Veronica couldn''t even talk as she heard that, even though she was frozen by the ancient threads, her body shivered non-stop and she even forgot about the pain, facing Arthur made her fall into a bottomless abyss, especially when she looked at those black eyes. "It''s truly a pity....to see an elf act like that.....If it were not for your appearance, I could''ve sworn you are human as you behave exactly like them....I''m sure one day..you would betray your family if an opportunity arise...it''s just what people like you do...now then it''s time to meet your maker..if he exists that is...rot in hell or whatever the place you are going is" With this last sentence, natural lightning entered her body and killed her on the spot, her eyes became lifeless and the low groaning stopped, the alley became silent, and the killing intent subdued a little. Even when he killed her, he wasn''t completely satisfied, however, there''s nothing he could do now. He promised Mary to investigate first, but he didn''t know if he could control himself if he saw Sonia, hopefully, he could. He really wants to rip her to shreds, but she may really have been forced or tricked, anyways, whoever made that order would surely die by his hands, that''s for sure. Arthur didn''t linger off and returned to the inn after storing Veronica''s body. His eyes returned to normal not too long after she died and when he arrived at their room, he surprisingly found Saly and Lucy awake this late at night. Lucy was gently brushing the little girl''s hair, who was silently enjoying that and humming a song. The sudden appearance of Arthur didn''t startle Lucy, and Saly who was blind couldn''t see so she didn''t know, only when Arthur talked did she know. Arthur went next to the little girl and patted her head. "Naughty girl, still awake this late at night?" Although he was pretending to scold her, he was patting her small head with extreme gentleness. "I-I wanted to wait for A-Arthur to return...sorry" The little lass dropped her head down as if she committed a grave crime. Arthur merely laughed and replied "Don''t worry....by the way, I got a gift for you" As he said that, he retrieved that Minor Healing Elixir from his storage and held it in his hand, even the calm Lucy looked at him with surprise, she immediately guessed what that was and softly smiled. "O-Ohhh..." Arthur would always give her things but he never once said it was a gift, so hearing this, Saly felt overjoyed and excited at the same time. He put the small bottle in her petite hands and softly spoke "Drink it, okay?" Naturally, Saly had complete trust for Arthur and Lucy, for her, they were her sole family and she felt grateful towards them, if they didn''t save her, she would have died or would be still suffering from the beatings of her master. She didn''t hesitate and gulped the whole bottle, although it was very bitter, she endured it and finished it all. She was very cute as she displayed her reaction to the bitter taste. "Now, relax for a bit, alright?" As he said that, Arthur stretched both of his arms and put the little girl on his lap as he sat on the bed. He didn''t know when will the Elixir take effect, so all he could do now is wait with her. Following what he said, the little girl leaned on Arthur and enjoyed the warm sensation. A minute has passed and finally, something happened. Saly began to emanate some light and Arthur noticed the scars on her neck and arms began to disappear very quickly, he also felt a fluffy feeling in his leg, so he guessed it to be her tail as he learned from her that it was cut in the past. The light lasted for half a minute before it disappeared, Arthur clearly felt the change in Saly, part of the malfunctioning ear was restored and all the scars seemed to have disappeared. The little girl was still unable to comprehend what just happened, she felt her tail moving non-stop as she was not used to it, and she surprisingly could hear with both ears, it was very clear and comfortable feeling, however, what came next astonished her even more. Her two closed eyes were unconsciously opened by her, she saw things for the first time, it was blurry for a couple of seconds before it became clear. She didn''t know what people looked like, she only had a rough idea, but when she saw the red-eyed man looking at her while smiling, tears flowed from her eyes non-stop, she didn''t know what this liquid was so she touched it in a confused manner. "Fool, those are tears" (Arthur) He smiled at her while stroking her brown hair, she was still dumbfounded and couldn''t react, her eyes were fixed on him contemplating his appearance, she soon turned her head to see a silver-haired person also smiling at her, Lucy already stretched her hand and held Saly''s little hand to reassure her. " *hik* thank *hik you.." Saly cried while thanking both of them, she really couldn''t believe what was happening, everything happened too fast and it felt like a dream, seeing both of them acting so affectionate and caring towards her and being able to see them, furthermore, she no longer felt pain from her internal injuries, how could she not feel happy? It was literally the happiest moment in her life, tears flowed endlessly as she cried her heart out that night until she fell asleep in his arms, her eyes were swollen and her breathing was heavy but Lucy and Arthur knew that this little girl was overjoyed, they didn''t wake her up and merely looked at her sleeping face, which seemed very peaceful. Arthur already told Lucy what happened without leaving any details, however, he didn''t put Saly into the bed and let her sleep in his arms as she seemed to like that, plus, it''s not he disliked that either. ... Chapter 52 - 52 : Ma Clan It''s been three days since the little girl was cured, and seeing so many new things for the first time, she couldn''t hold her excitement, she became more cheerful and energetic as she listened to Lucy while she was teaching her what this and that were. Arthur couldn''t help but feel joyful as he watched her jump and stare at certain objects, she would praise him and especially Lucy on her appearance, saying that she was very pretty, her big round eyes were cute and funny as she behaved more like a child than ever before. At first, he was planning on consuming that Medium Dungeon Core, however, he changed his mind, Saly was still LVL1 and with extremely low stats, even though she could move, she could get injured very quickly so he decided to give it to her. To consume the orb, you just need to inject some mana in it, but as Saly didn''t know how to do that, Lucy helped her and with that, the little girl managed to gain stats. As she saw her status window for the first time, she stared at disbelief and tried touching it with cute motions, but of course, she wasn''t able to. Saly told all her stats to Lucy and Arthur, and fortunately, the orb increased her overall stats by 250, it was not that good but not that bad either, considering a soldier or a guard would have between 200 and 300 stats. If she fought against a soldier, she would obviously miserably lose, as she was inexperienced and still a child, she had never fought in her life, however, Arthur was certain that she would become very strong if he and Lucy helped her, he didn''t lack skill books and good items, and he will not hold back and give her only the best. In these three days, surprisingly, Saly didn''t want to go outside, she wanted to stay with Lucy and Arthur and continue to have fun with them. .. Arthur and Lucy were laying on the bed and the little Saly was between them, she was softly giggling as she felt extremely happy for all what happened to her since she met them both. Lucy, seeing the girl giggle to herself, smiled at her and gently hugged her small body while saying "What''s wrong? Why are you giggling secretly." Lucy really doted on this girl, she couldn''t bring herself to dislike her, she was just too adorable, although she seemed very excited when she recovered her sight and healed from her injuries, she wasn''t noisy and never pestered them, she would obediently behave like she previously did except she smiled a lot and would sometimes ask about something related to the room. Saly knew most of the basic objects by names, but she never saw them so how would she know what would they look like, furthermore, the colors and many tiny objects grabbed her attention as she would gaze at them for several minutes wondering what they were. "He~he~he, I''m just happy to be with Lucy and Arthur." As she said that, the little girl stretched her two small arms and hugged back the smiling Lucy, she really loved them both and couldn''t think of life without them. Seeing this, Arthur chuckled as he stared at the cute little girl, then he pondered for a couple of seconds before he said in a somewhat serious yet gentle tone "Hey Saly, now that you''re healed, what are your plans for the future? Do you want to come with us or go alone?.." Saly, who was brimming with happiness a second ago, trembled and looked at Arthur with teary eyes, although she knew he and Lucy doted on her, she also thought that she may be a bother to them and hinder them so these strange thoughts soon cover her mind. "A-Am I a bother..?" The little girl almost cried as she didn''t want to part ways from them. Lucy, who heard that, softly laughed and said to the confused Saly. "Little Saly, don''t worry, we won''t leave you, in fact, we want to bring you with us but we don''t want to force you so that''s why he asked you that." Then she resumed patting the kid on her little head, it would be a lie to say she didn''t enjoy that as even Arthur did, her fluffy ears were soft and adorable, coupled with her brown and smooth hair, it was truly a good feeling. Saly kept silent for an unknown amount of time until tears flowed from her big round eyes, she was crying but smiling so one would guess they were tears of happiness. "Un!... I want to stay with Lucy and Arthur..." She then stopped for a second before continuing ".... Forever..." She then buried her head in Lucy''s chest, silently sobbing, it was clear she was happy and just by looking at Arthur and Lucy''s expressions, she knew they agreed, there was no need for unnecessary words. .... In the blink of an eye, 2 weeks passed, Lucy and Arthur took Saly outside and roamed the city and the nearby forest to let the little girl discover new things. She seemed very attached to Astrith as she loved riding on his back, sometimes, she would go out alone with him as they would fly around the forest to explore new things. Honestly, Arthur wasn''t that worried about her, with Astrith''s strength, even an adult dragon would not match him, much less those pathetic people from Medusa or the elven city so he let her do as she pleased. It was unfortunate that there were no nearby dangerous places or dungeons to gain experience, he really wanted to possess some corpses and help Saly get stronger. In these 2 weeks, he gave her a bunch of skill books that suited her, she obviously learned them and used a few times even though it was clumsy, with some practice she would be able to handle them perfectly. Lucy also taught her a few things, for example how to control mana, it was just basic knowledge but for a little girl, it was a bit hard so it took some patience to do it, it went relatively well as Saly was a diligent and hardworking kid, she followed every instructions and didn''t complain. Arthur and Lucy liked that side of her, she was not like other kids who would only play, she was a quiet and obedient girl, maybe it was partially because of her past but she was a good girl, although they taught her a few things, they didn''t spend too much effort, only 2 hours a day as they didn''t want to tire her out, they would also take her out to play or buy anything she wants, be it clothes, food or anything similar. The girl opposed in the beginning and only watched from afar, but after some encouraging from Arthur, she no longer held back, however, that does not mean she bought everything that caught her attention, quite the opposite, in fact, she merely bought 2 stuffed toys, nothing more, nothing less. After Saly managed to somehow control mana to a certain extent, Lucy taught her how to open a storage ring and take out an item, it was relatively easy, way easier than controlling mana, so Saly learned it in no time. Controlling mana is divided into several levels, her control is the most basic, she can''t create a simple mana barrier or strengthen herself with it, she only felt the flow of it in the air and barely managed to control it in certain directions which were enough for someone at her age. Lucy then gave the little girl a storage ring with a bit of money to buy whatever she likes, there were times she would go outside with Astrith and there is a chance she might like something, so why not buy it? Though I said a little bit of money, that little girl had a few million gold coins in her storage ring, Saly knew that the money in the storage is a lot, but she couldn''t understand how much exactly, she knew basic numbers but big numbers are unknown to her. Something unexpected also happened, Astrith who firstly was against accompanying Saly, changed dramatically as he began to like Saly and change his point of view towards her, at first, he only respected Lucy and Arthur, and when Arthur told him to go with Saly, he obeyed but only with reluctance, but he soon came to know how kind and gently this little girl, although Arthur told her she could order the beast around, she never did that and instead she would ask him to take her here and there with pleading eyes. She even bought him a lot of different kinds of meats which he enjoyed devouring, although he didn''t need to eat, enjoying those delicacies is the only thing he could do apart from sleeping, so when she bought him a lot of food, he began to like her even more, one would obviously think she bought him with food but he changed his behaviour towards her way before she bought him any food. He would even occasionally play with her or show her some tricks with his lightning and each time she would clap non-stop and stare at him with excitement with her big round eyes. ..... After these two weeks passed, Belic and the rest finally arrived, some of the nobles presents went to the city, as for the city, they accompanied Robin and Belic to the HQ of the company. It was located several kilometers away from the elven city. Arthur went to find Belic and informed him that he will go back again and at that time he will use that favour from the elven chief as he was no longer interested in it now, right now it''s time to go to the Ma Clan, his blood was boiling as he could not wait any longer. Surprisingly, Mary had a house in the elven city, she said that she bought it in the past and would stay there when she visited Sonia, she invited Arthur, Lucy, and Saly to the house and they stayed two days before they were finally ready to head off. As for the 7 kids, Mary told them to stay there and wait until she comes back, she left some gold for them and there was enough space in the house for them to live together. .. It was finally the day, Lucy and Mary were chatting together as Marry narrated what happened in that long trip, as for Saly, she was on Astrith''s back, sitting on Arthur''s lap, she enjoyed staying close to him, especially in his embrace as she felt warm and comfortable laying there. Mary and Lucy also sat on Astrith''s back and enjoying the beautiful view, although Mary was a bit distressed as she still couldn''t believe the black wolf not only can fly at immense speed, he could also talk and is a lightning beast. There was just too much to grasp and she needed a couple of minutes to comprehend what''s happening. They were all on Astrith''s back as he was speeding in the sky and looked like a streak of blue lightning, one would see a mountain far away and the next second they would already bypass that mountain, it was really a god-like speed. Mary said that the Ma Clan is situated in the eastern part of the continent, so if they travelled by foot, it would take them a long time, especially since Mary is slow compared to Lucy and Arthur, however, fortunately, there was Astrith, as even if Arthur used the bone dragon, it would still take more time. Mary also added that the Ma Clan used a very powerful illusion seal to confuse the enemy, there was also a strong barrier, so she said that it''s pretty much impossible to break through it, they had to wait for someone to come out of the Clan to talk to them and either force him to let them in or ask him. Arthur was not so sure about what she said, illusion or barrier, he judged them to be useless against his demonic lightning but he still had some doubts, the notification indicated seals and not illusions so maybe it wouldn''t work, in any case, a meager illusion is not going to stop him. .. The trip passed peacefully, Saly fell asleep in Arthur''s lap and Lucy kept Mary company as for Arthur, he leisurely read a book as there was nothing he could do in this current situation. After 15 hours of continuous flying, Mary finally told them to stop as they appeared to have reached their destination, as for Astrith, he didn''t seem to be the least bit tired, something like this is nothing to him. The place they stopped at was normal, nothing special about it, Arthur didn''t even know how Mary could precisely know the place but he didn''t say anything and got down from Astrith along with the others. Arthur put the sleeping Saly on Astrith and instructed him to take care of her as he didn''t know what kind of power did the clan possessed, however, he was not that worried, but being a bit cautious would not hurt him. .. Apparently, Mary can pinpoint the exact location is because there is large bolder, very noticeable from afar, it was the edge of the illusion and the barrier, so she remembered it from before. "This is it... I''m sure of it, now we have to wait for the-" Just as she was finishing her sentence, a black streak of lightning came out of nowhere and struck the boulder and the air around it. When the lightning touched the huge boulder, a shattering sounded from it, actually, Arthur wasn''t sure if it would work, but seeing the notification telling him he shattered a part of the illusion and barrier, he smirked and felt happy. He purposely didn''t use that much lightning, he didn''t want to completely destroy them as he wanted to sneak in. A part of the big boulder seemed shattered as if it was a mirror and a piece was taken from it, it looked very strange. Soon enough, all of them entered through that small entrance which could fit only one person, and Mary followed behind with a look of disbelief in her eyes. The illusion put around the Clan or the barrier was not some basic spells but they were very high-leveled skills and spells, too much effort was put to create them and with just a shot from his strange lightning, he opened a crack in both of them, so how could she not be dumbfounded? Just as Arthur passed by the crack, the surroundings changed, the trees looked completely different and some of them bore strange symbols, there were also those pink cherry trees which looked absolutely stunning, it was like stepping into another world, this forest looked extremely breath-taking and the atmosphere seemed calm. From afar, Arthur could see a very tall pagoda, it was like a big mountain, there were also few others shorter than it but it was the most eye-catching, it was red with some black bricks on its roof. Mary noticed his surprised look so she hurriedly said "Actually, the Ma Clan has a very big territory, approximately a radius of 500 kilometers, there are scattered villages and secluded mountains to train in, there is even an exclusive dungeon, they have great resources and powerful experts, that tall pagoda is the main HQ of the clan" Hearing her explain everything with details, Arthur was very pleased, his face showed an evil smirk, he held Lucy''s waist and jumped on Astrith. Mary silently followed and yet again they were on the beast''s back. "Astrith, go to that tall pagoda, fast" "This one obeys" Astrith then sped toward that pagoda, all that could be seen is a blue streak of lightning. Arthur saw several robed individuals rushing toward where they came from and when they saw the lightning they turned around and chased it, Arthur didn''t want to bother with them and told Astrith to just ignore them. In no time, they were already near the pagoda, they entered an extremely big yard, it was very beautiful, a small bridge with a clear river running under it, some medicine aroma lingered in the air and it looked very peaceful, but the appearance of Arthur and the others disturbed this peace. Just as they arrived, dozens of people soon arrived too, they were staring at the big beast and the individuals on it, they circled around them and blocked all their way, they basically left them no way to flee from here unless they fly. Arthur looked at them with a grin on his face, he already appraised most of them and saw how high-leveled they are. Of course, it was compared to normal people, as for him, they were crawling ants. An old man also came out from the Pagoda entrance, he wore a yellow robe with a golden dragon symbol on it, he emanated a strong pressure and gazed at Arthur with a bit of alert and anger. Seeing this current situation, Arthur couldn''t help but say "It''s Showtime..." Chapter 53 - 53 : Fight and Slaughter Seeing the big crowd circling them, Arthur became excited, as for him, they were precious stats and skills, it''s indeed true he promised Mary he would investigate this, if they attack him first then it''s self-defense right? He previously appraised them and the old man and they were indeed very high-leveled, the old man was even higher LVL than the Yamak, he was LVL729, but Arthur had complete confidence, he knew his stats are not for someone of his LVL. In theory, Yamak was over lvl 600 and had 70/80k stats, so Arthur who has 500/600k stats should theoretically be someone with a lvl of over 2000. The old man was angry but he acted calm, he glanced at Arthur, who was the only one not on Astrith''s back and assessed him, however, he didn''t have any appraise skill so he couldn''t guess his exact strength, even so, he wasn''t threatened or worried as he was enough power to deal with a bunch of invaders but why bother when there are so many disciples present? Arthur was just about to talk when the old man waved his hand randomly indicating to the disciples to attack, he didn''t want to hear Arthur or waste time on him. After he did that, he turned around to walk away, although it''s surprising they managed to get in, it was not impossible and there were several cases in the past so he judged them to be weak, and even if they were strong, against so many opponents, it''s quite hard to stay alive. Arthur was quite irritated by this the nonchalant attitude of the old man, he sneered and transformed into lightning, rushing at the incoming enemies. He noticed that all of them had no weapons and seemed about to punch him, he was momentarily surprised but still didn''t care about them, whether they pitied him or were going easy, that''s a matter he paid no heed about since they were attacking him then that means only one thing... Death! Their speed was fast, but not faster than Yamak, however, it astonished Arthur as they were the fastest opponents he faced except the dragon of course, albeit their great speed, it was useless against him. Each time he passed by a disciple, he would stab in their hearts with sword energy then store the body in his storage in a flash, from other people''s view, they only saw the disciples disappearing one by one, which was very strange. When Arthur uses lightning form, one cannot even see the streak of lightning anymore, it''s at a LVL where one needs immense eyesight and stats to be able to see him, much less dodge him. Arthur held no mercy, the hundred or so disciples who were rushing at him were literally cleared in 10 seconds, no more than that, and the only reason it was this long because he had to store their bodies. The yard was now quiet, there was only the old man who walked a few steps away from his previous location, he noticed how there was no noise so he abruptly turned his head and saw that there was only Arthur standing leisurely there, staring at him with a long grin hanging on his face. Arthur laughed heartily then said while staring at the old man "Ha ha ha, what''s the matter? Please don''t make that face, I came here only to talk but they attacked me, it''s self-defense, I tell you, self-defense hahaha" The man only stared at Arthur with disbelief, more than a hundred disciple vanished in a mere 10 seconds, that''s obviously no natural thing, he didn''t even see what happened as he was walking away. He was strong enough to defeat them or kill them all but not in just 10 seconds. Mary, who was sitting on Astrith, had her mouth wide open, she saw Arthur fight many times but she knew how powerful the disciples in the Ma clan is which is why she was flabbergasted when she saw him finish them in a short amount of time. She jumped from Astrith and said to Arthur hurriedly "Arthur...this place is the male area..." Arthur was sneering and mocking the old man heard her and turned to look at the female beastmen while furrowing his brows showing his questioning look "Male area?" Seeing his confused look, Mary continued to explain "..A-Actually, the Ma clan is divided to 2 areas, the female area and the male area, the female area is stronger as the bloodline affects females better than males, but there are some strong individuals in the male area.." She then rested for a couple of seconds to breathe some fresh air as she talked non-stop "...That old man must be a section chief, his position is considered decent, from what I know, there is section chiefs, lords, and elders, with the elders being the highest rank besides the master of the clan and the grand elder" "We''ve been together for months and you only tell me this right now?..." Mary pouted when she heard this and retorted in a somewhat angry tone "....I''ve already told you all that but you were reading a book and nodded continuously...tsk tsk!" Arthur pretended to not hear that and turned to look at the old man who was still staring at him maliciously but he didn''t dare attack for some odd reason. He just killed more than a hundred disciples but unfortunately, they were unrelated to that matter, they can only blame their bad luck for picking the wrong side or being born in the wrong family. Actually, every disciple or person in the clan is surnamed Ma except very very few individuals who were recruited, there were some talented ones who became disciples and others who lived normal lives in the villages. ".. You told me this was the Headquarters, then there are no females disciples?" Mary was startled before replying in an embarrassed manner ".. Um... I forgot to tell you... there is two headquarters, one for the female area and the other for the male area, this one should be for the males, and no one from each area is allowed to go to the other except in few occasions if they break this rule they will be heavily punished..." Arthur could no longer bother with her, it''s not like he can do anything to her since he was in the wrong area, he will go to the female area, he only needed Sonia to tell him who gave that order, and if she refuses then she''ll just die, easy peasy. "Who are you?" The old man finally decided to talk after some thorough thought, he didn''t have the guts to attack recklessly, he was confident a minute ago but now he was not, after what happened, how could he be so? Arthur laughed yet again and replied "I''ll let you guess" Just as he said that he rushed at the old man, however, this time, he didn''t his lightning form nor did he use his fullest speed as he wanted to see how strong a LVL 729 person can be. The old man was shocked by this but soon regained at his senses and took a defensive stance. Arthur already knew this clan was a clan for martial artists and they rarely used magic so he was curious about their way of fightning. When he was very close to the old man and about to kick, he saw a green aura envelop the old man''s body as if it was a shield. Arthur possessed hundreds of corpses, be it beasts, monsters or people, so he gained all their fighting experience, instincts or whatever it was they excelled at, so even though he never fought in his previous life, his fighting is akin to an expert, it was beyond perfect, flawless and fast. He controlled his strength and punched the man on his crossed arms, he already talked with Loli and came to know that when attacking, if he thought of an accurate number of strength points then it will be used. For example, if he thought of 10.000 strength then that attack would only contain that amount of strength, it was similar to unconsciously lowering his strength but doing that will only lower it to a random number, it may be too weak or too strong, so doing this was really useful. Of course, not everyone could do that, she told him that it was a unique trait of a parasite and others cannot do that, Lucy would always try to control her strength but she would fail on certain occasions, like against that Bishop for example when she shattered almost all his bones with a simple kick. The punch landed on the old man, however, he was only pushed back a meter or so, he looked surprised for a second but his fear disappeared because if Arthur was only thing strong then it was no problem to face him, he was only fearful of the opponent being incredibly strong and beyond his league. With his confidence back up, he didn''t waste time as he dashed at Arthur in a weird manner, everytime his foot touched the ground, he seemed to blur for a split second, it was weird and his speed was fast too, unfortunately his enemy was Arthur so he already ran out of the luck the moment he met with him. Arthur excitedly punched again at the old man when he saw him come at him, he enjoyed fighting like this but it''s too bad he was only using so little of power, if he used all of it, a single sword slash from Makaze would be enough. Actually, the old man was not that weak, Arthur guessed his stats to be around 50 to 60k, close to the dragon but having the same stats doesn''t mean being equal in strength, there was still skills and other things that played a huge role in a fight. Surprisingly, the old man used a palm to attack Arthur, the palm turned into golden colour and emitted a bit of pressure, even Arthur couldn''t guess what that attribute is, and honestly, he was stunned by its power, it was seriously no joke and would have hurt him if he was him from back then, before he fought Yamak. The old man who was expecting his palm to heavily injure Arthur was in disbelief as he saw the palm striking at the enemy''s incoming punch, however, nothing happened, he was pushed back yet again in the same manner. Just like that, the old man continued to strike again and again, but to no avail, he was blocked by simple attacks from his enemy, even after 10 minutes he couldn''t do anything and his confidence shattered, it was obvious that Arthur was playing with him. Some disciples came but only watched with awe at the strange fight, it was one-sided and the old man was panting heavily, although Arthur didn''t directly injure him, he increased the strength of the punch in each attack so the old man had some bruises in his body, it was not life-threatening or even regarded as a serious injury but it would surely be a disadvantage in a fight. After an exchange, Arthur backed away some steps and cheerfully said "Ha ha ha, well I had fun fighting you, if you properly apologize then I can consider living you alive" What Arthur didn''t like his arrogance, when he saw the old man leave previously and act high and mighty, he didn''t like that but after fighting, he discovered a lot of new things, like the strange mouvement he used or the attacks he displayed so he decided to forgive him and be merciful for one, after all, he just slaughtered a lot of disciples just earlier. Arthur can never be considered kind or a good person, he is sometimes merciful or kind and some other times evil and acts like a psychopath, that''s just his nature, he acts kind only towards people who deserve it as he apparently learned that the hard way. The old man was breathing heavily, he knew he stood no chance against this man so he said in an apologetic tone "...This old man was foolish, I should not have acted rashly.. welcome to the Ma Clan" Although it''s shameful to say that to someone who just invaded their clan and slaughtered disciples, he threw away his face and decided to hang on to his life, after all, it was more precious for him. Arthur merely nodded at him while smiling then turned to look at Mary and asked "Where is the female area?" Mary was now calm as after some pondering she managed to convince herself that Arthur is way stronger than she originally thought. "It should be several kilometers in that way.." She then pointed to the North with her hand. "Very well, let''s go then" Mary had already jumped back on the big black wolf and was soon followed by Arthur, then they disappeared into a blue lightning, even the stunned old man could barely see it and was more and more afraid, he broke out in cold sweat and praised himself for apologizing or else he would have died just like that. ... Several kilometres can be crossed in a short time by Astrith and yet again there were some disciples following them as they felt something was suspicious and caught a glimpse of the lightning but after a certain boundary, the males disciples stopped chasing and went back from where they came from, invader or not, they didn''t dare go to the female area as it was prohibited. Arthur also this but didn''t think much of it, furthermore, contrary to the male area, the female area seemed more peaceful and with fewer disciples, they only encountered a dozen at best but like earlier, they ignored them and headed toward the second pagoda which was not seen earlier by Arthur because of the trees and the long distance. This pagoda seemed very similar to the last one, practically the same except it had a different color, this one was jet black with dark red bricks on the roof, making it look domineering. The Pagoda was approximately 20 kilometers away from the first one and there was a somewhat large bridge separating the two areas. When Arthur and the others were just a kilometer or so away from the pagoda, they were stopped but an unexpected thing. While Astrith was dashing through the trees in an incredible speed, a shadow suddenly appeared out of nowhere and attacked them, the attacker seemed to be able to see Astrith, a golden slash came out of nowhere and headed straight at Astrith. Arthur, who was leisurely observing the surroundings was startled by this, he didn''t expect someone to be able to see Astrith, much less attack him with precision. A barrier made from Eclipse Magic was created in a flash and blocked that incoming golden slash, however, Arthur didn''t expect the opponent to rush at behind him and take Mary then back away. Astrith stopped and stared maliciously at the figure in front of him, as for Arthur, he was startled as the enemy seemed to be not bad, his speed was good but not as good at him, however, this geezer in front of him seemed to be strong, that''s for sure. Ma Wuji(Human) : LVL 1074 ''hmm'' Even after his LVL he was not astonished, just from the LVL of that section chief, he expected people with high LVLS but LVL didn''t mean strength, look at him, just LVL 433 but his strength is many many times stronger than what a normal LVL400 person would have. .. Saly has woken up since earlier but she didn''t say anything, she was surprised by all what happened by she didn''t cry or feel afraid, for her, Lucy and Arthur were the strongest. Lucy sat next to the little girl and gently rubbed her head, she liked how this girl is obedient and just watched from behind silently without asking any questions. .. Mary was still trying to comprehend what just happened, a second ago she was on Astrith and the other she was being held by an old man, when she lifted her head she immediately recognized him as he was Sonia''s grandfather, one of the few male people who can stay at the female area. "Child, are you okay?" The old man''s voice was full of vigor and energy as if it was a young man speaking, he knew Mary as she was Sonia''s friend from childhood and she came a few times so he recognized her appearance, but he thought she was held captive and forced to lead these people in here. "Ehh..Uncle Wuji" Wuji smiled at Mary then turned his head to look at the ''enemies'', he was sure of deductions, after all, it couldn''t be anything but that, however, after much look at Arthur and Lucy, he seemed to have thought of something but soon rejected that idea. The high ranked people in the Ma Clan obviously knew about Arthur and Lucy, even Wuji but they were dead, so seeing those people, he first thought it was them but soon rejected that as it was practically impossible. Amused, Arthur looked at the old man and had the urge to fight him, he wanted to go all out against someone, although it may not be this old man, but if there are more people like him then his wish will not be impossible to realize which made him a bit happy. "Who are you?" The old man asked the usual question, and Arthur could not help but burst out in laughter. "Ha ha ha, you people only know to say that question or what? I''m here looking for Sonia~~" The old man was startled when he heard that, Sonia was not known to be from the Ma clan and only very few people knew about that so when he heard a stranger say that, how could he not feel surprised? "I''m sorry, there is no ''Sonia'' in here." Even hearing this, Arthur continued smirking at the old man while saying "That''s not what the person you''re holding told me." Then Arthur stared at Mary who stabilized herself and stood up. Seeing his piercing gaze, Mary knew he was signaling her to clear things up or else he wouldn''t mind adding another victim. "U-Uncle Wuji... t-they are ''them''.... Arthur and Lucy" Wuji was seriously dumbstruck right now, Mary didn''t have any reason to lie to him, however, what she said was unreasonable as Arthur and Lucy were dead from the cannon blast. He thoroughly looked at the couple and focused and their appearances, by what he previously knew, they indeed looked exactly like the descriptions he got on them, what made them stand out even more were those blood red eyes. "How is that possible... weren''t they dead?" He seemed to be directing his question to Arthur and Lucy, expecting an answer. "Unfortunately for you, we survived, of course, no thanks for you guys, now then.... how about you tell me OR guide me to where Sonia is, or I won''t be polite anymore" Receiving no answer, Wuji was discontented but he didn''t show it, he stared at Arthur angrily seemingly not liking his bossy attitude and retorted "No matter what happened, I''m not going to take you where she is, if you leave right now you may keep your life, you and your comrades" He didn''t know what exactly happened, but he didn''t want to kill people so he gave them a way out, even though these were people the clan wanted to kill, he wouldn''t do it as it was complicated but that doesn''t mean he will let them act like this in his clan. Mary tugged the old man''s sleeve and said "Uncle Wuji, don''t worry, they only came here to investigate who gave that ''order'' they promised not to hurt big sister." Even after hearing her, Wuji showed no reaction and coldly said to Arthur "Please now, or else the consequenc.." Before he could even finish, Arthur teleported in front of him and kicked his abdomen with his knee, he only lowered his strength by half, even so, the old man was sent flying like a rocket smashing to several trees until he stopped 100 meters from his previous position. he was kneeling and coughed several mouthfuls of blood, if he wasn''t already on alert and covered his body with Qi, the damage would have been more serious, fortunately, he was a cautious person and was always on guard against any enemies. Nevertheless, this attack made him completely surprised and fearful from Arthur, a year or so ago, he wasn''t this strong, his LVL was known to be 98 but due to special reasons, he had to be killed, as for Lucy, there were unique circumstances too. That attack managed to injure him a bit, some of his bones were broken but it was not that serious, he still could fight but decided against it, he was wise enough to see the difference, he couldn''t even see Arthur rush at him, he just appeared suddenly, so he concluded it was teleportation, as Arthur was known to be able to teleport freely which was very troublesome. Fortunately, there was the clan master who was very powerful, she hopefully can take care of this man, that''s what Wuji thought so for the time being, he decided to cooperate with this man. He walked toward Arthur and said "I''ll guide you to Sonia, since Mary said you promised not to hurt my granddaughter then I hope you hold your promise, you''re a man after all.." Wuji could only say that and head toward the pagoda expecting Arthur to follow, but deep inside him, he hoped the clan master notice what happened and come as she was currently in the clan. "That''s the way I like it, Sir Wuji, you are indeed a wise person, ha ha ha" Arthur then slowly followed the old man without riding Astrith. The lightning beast soon followed closely behind Arthur while being full alert again ambushes like earlier. After walking for a couple of minutes, they were already in a similar yard in front of the Pagoda, there were already several female disciples following closely as they saw the strangers heading to the pagoda with Wuji guiding them. .. Just when Arthur was calmly following the old man, something sudden happened, first thing Arthur heard was Loli shouting RUN! QUICKLY RUN!!! However, it was too late as black chains appeared from the ground and in a split second covered Arthur limbs and waist, they bound him onto the ground, they emanated black fog and tightly held Arthur, you could even hear the bones shattering. To this sudden turn of events, Arthur was surprised but not scared, the pain was agonizing for other people and even for him but he didn''t shout as he experienced far worse than this, however, he couldn''t help but clench his teeth as it was really painful, he was confused as to why this would happen, he didn''t sense anything and was sure it was not someone from the clan, after all, the clan is for martial artists, so this made him confused as to what those chains are. Very soon, the chains pressed harder on his body, shattering every existing bone and even blood flowed endlessly, a thicker chain came out from the ground and immediately struck him at his chest without any notice, which made him finally roar and shout from pain. It seemed this chain was sucking the life out of him and touched his soul, this pain was many times worse than physical pain and soon his cries resounded in all the yard. Lucy was already rushing at him but she was interrupted when she heard Arthur shout at her "D-DDDon''t! Sta------ay back! T-these chains are nnn-n-ot norma-l AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHHH!" The shouts never ceased to get louder and even Saly was worried for Arthur as she saw him scream like that, however, she was stopped by Astrith who backed away, he could feel the ominous feeling from the chains and unconsciously stepped back. Lucy also reluctantly stood away however her face was full of worry as she saw him like that, she knew how much strong he is and that he rarely scream from pain like that, the only time she heard him scream like that is when his body was in the process of being created, so she couldn''t help but feel anxious. Killing intent emanated from her as she looked at Wuji who was nor far away, for her the only possible cause of these chains is him, but to her surprise, even the old man was looking at Arthur with surprise and disbelief as he couldn''t comprehend what happened. As Arthur screamed from the pain, notifications began to come one after another RUN! YOU MUST RUN AWAY FROM IT!! System malfunctioning........System Shutdown....... System ''Loli'' has been forcefully sealed for breaking rule number 102 Installing new system....... Just at that moment, a crack in the air appeared and a silhouette gracefully came out of it, Arthur who was held on the ground was not able to see her until she came near him... ........ Chapter 54 - 54 : Be Gone The woman who just appeared from the crack approached Arthur and assessed him while smiling. "Boy....To think I finally found you, this will surely bring me a lot of benefits, It won''t be long before I arrive here, wherever here is.." Then she looked around but she couldn''t find out where exactly she is, in what planet.. She just found Arthur by using a forbidden spell which cost her a lot, she bet on it and fortunately, it worked. Just as she said that, Arthur storage ring vibrated then a skeleton came out of it, surprisingly it was Zodiak''s corpse which was only a skeleton now, it appeared more alive than ever and its eyes were jet black. Even the woman seemed surprised by this, the other witnesses couldn''t normally see her except for Arthur and the appearance of this skeleton startled her a little. The skeleton didn''t speak, it only raised it''s hand and immediately, a huge black vortex appeared next to the woman, it was like a vacuum attracting everything, even the woman''s face whitened as she saw this vortex. She began to write some strange white lines on the air however it didn''t seem to work as she was being pulled by the vortex at a rapid pace. After several seconds, she was almost sucked in and at that time, the silent skeleton finally broke the silence and coldly said "It''s too early for you to come here, be gone treacherous woman from Heavenly Snake Clan" Then, the vortex began to shrink followed by the woman''s yells and in no time everything returned to normal, the skeleton turned to look at Arthur for a second before returning to his storage as if nothing happened. All of this was only visible to Arthur, the others only saw the black chains holding Arthur, even Lucy didn''t see the skeleton nor the woman. ˇ­. Arthur''s body began to regenerate at rapid speed, his high vitality was really useful, however, his body was bloodied and his limbs twisted in a weird manner which made it look even more disturbing. Such pain was nothing compared to what he was feeling a couple of seconds ago, he sighed and his mind calmed down a bit, but he was feeling a bit fearful, he couldn''t resist for even a split second if that woman wanted to kill him then he would have been killed. Lucy, who has been standing not too far away from him, rushed next to him and began observing his injuries, her face was full of worry as she looked at Arthur''s state. She retrieved the Minor Healing Elixir and the Miraculous Healing Potion and fed them to him with extreme gentleness however they did nothing, it was as if he only drank some water. .. Saly also came running toward Arthur, her face full of tears as she was very anxious, she didn''t want anything to happen to him and when she saw him screaming like that she obviously thought he was going to die. She hugged Arthur''s bloodied body forgetting that he was injured and began sobbing and calling out to him. Arthur let her do as she pleases and tried using some minor Healing on himself which surprisingly worked, it didn''t do anything big but it helped ease the pain by a little. Mary and Wuji were still dumbfounded by what happened, the old man gazed and seemed lost in thought, he didn''t know what exactly happened, but for those chains to be able to let him scream like that, a person with his strength, they must not be ordinary or the least bit weak. Soon, his surprised gaze turned to a serious one as he seemed to have come up with a dangerous idea. Wuji charged at Arthur and Lucy, wanting to finish them off, from the very beginning he didn''t want to invite them into the clan but as he couldn''t win against Arthur he had to stop but now since the man is heavily injured, he wanted to kill them and end it. His speed was very fast, however, Lucy who was almost as strong as Arthur, sensed him and lifted her head only to see the old man coming her way with his palm prepared to strike, she was already worried about Arthur and seeing someone use this opportunity to finish him angered her. In a split second she rushed at an old man who was equally surprised by her speed as he never expected her to be this strong, unfortunately for him, Lucy was in no mood to spare him, whether he is important or not, she launched a punch with all her strength intending to instantly kill him. If he is struck by this he would obviously die or would be heavily injured if he''s lucky, previously Arthur only used half his strength and sent him flying so if Lucy used all her strength then he''ll be dead for sure, of course, Wuji didn''t know this so even though he saw her coming at him with a speed faster than his, he was abruptly startled, nonetheless he didn''t back off and already readied his strongest attack. An almost invisible golden dragon was formed around his hand, it roared and made his palm more brilliant, the palm itself emanated a strong pressure with a dense green fog enveloping it. The two strikes were going to touch each other when all of a sudden, something or rather someone came between them. Lucy''s punch was stopped as a cold palm completely stopped it as for Wuji''s palm, it was also stopped in a similar way. If one would look closely, they would see a black-haired woman between them, she wore black clothes from head to toe and had what seemed like daggers in her waist, she literally looked like an assassin. Lucy, who was expecting to kill the old man was startled by what happened and gazed at the pretty woman in front of her. The black-clothed woman, had a breath-taking face, it was extremely beautiful, however, it contained coldness, her eyes were icy and not a single emotion was showed on her face, it''s as if she''s a painting. The woman stared at Lucy but the latter couldn''t see what that woman''s expression is as she seemed skilled in hiding it. Lucy backed away a few steps in a flash and continued to stare suspiciously at the woman. As for Wuji, once he saw that woman, he sighed and became even more relaxed, he was already in despair that''s why he used his strongest attack, he was not embarrassed that his attack was easily stopped by this woman as he knew how strong she really is and he simply cannot compare to her even though she is way younger than him. It was his eldest granddaughter and the master of the clan, albeit being very young, she already took over the position of the clan master and no one could oppose her, at the day of the ceremony, a few elders challenged her for the position but were mercilessly killed by her. She is Anastassia Ma, her talent in martial art is considered non-rivaled as for magic she is also not bad, from a young age she showed unparalleled talent and she never ceased to train which resulted in her being the strongest in the clan at the time being. "Clan Master!" Wuji called happily, in front of the public he had to call her like that but in private he would call her by her name as she is his granddaughter. Soon, a cold and piercing void resounded as she finally spoke while turning her head to look at Wuji "What is this?" She did not know what happened, she heard a loud scream so she came immediately and what she saw was her grandfather almost dying by this woman''s hands in front of her. .. Just as Wuji was going to speak, someone came flying from the pagoda, at a closer look, it was a red-haired young woman with a witch hat who obviously was the long-awaited Sonia. She too heard the scream and was curious about what happened as she saw her sister disappear suddenly. Once she was close enough, her eyes landed on Mary then Lucy then Arthur who was on the ground, her eyes widened and her mouth was wide open, she was going to call out for her big sister but now she''s dumbstruck by what she is seeing. ''That''s impossible! How could it be them?'' Even though she wanted to deny that, her eyes were clearly not lying to her, those two were certainly Lucy and Arthur, just by their eyes one can be sure of their identity, plus, someone with Lucy''s beauty and appearance cannot be found anywhere. She landed a couple of meters behind Wuji and hesitantly said "L-Lucy?..." Lucy was merely staring at Sonia with eyes full of killing intent, although she promised Mary to not kill her that didn''t mean she forgave this woman, after all, she was the cause of everything, perhaps she was ordered but she did that willingly, or at least that''s what it was said. Arthur was also conscious and saw the incoming Sonia, he hated her guts, just looking at her made him enraged yet again, if he wasn''t injured maybe he would not have been able to control himself and would have already killed her, it''s truly a pity those damn black chains injured him, furthermore, he saw how that black clothed woman stopped Lucy''s punch which could turn an adult dragon into minced meat. He honestly felt cautious toward her, just by what happened earlier he already concluded she is very strong, at least she would be equal to Lucy if not stronger, he only saw her stop a punch so he can''t judge her strength unless he fought her himself, he tried appraising but the damn system wouldn''t respond. Fortunately, his vitality was no joke and the visible injuries were healing at a speed that the naked eye can see, the only problem is the crushed organs and bones which will take a few hours to heal or regenerate so he can''t fight right now. .. For someone like Anastassia who was a clan master for few years and had good guessing, she immediately knew that this silver-haired woman is Lucy, who the clan ordered to kill and that man is certainly her comrade, Arthur. However, something doesn''t add up, those two should be dead by ''judgement'' 1 year ago and with their previous strength, they shouldn''t be able to survive moreover, she sensed how strong the punch of Lucy is and for someone to improve like this in a year is unbelievable. She knew Lucy was merely a student in the academy and was considered a genius, but no matter how talented a person is, they can''t just power up like this in just a year, that''s heaven-defying. Lucy ignored Sonia who was looking at her with eyes full of disbelief and returned next to Arthur checking his body. Arthur nodded at her reassuringly and used his right hand which could barely move to stroke Saly''s back to comfort her, this little girl soaked his chest with tears, she really seemed afraid to lose him which moved him a lot. .. As silent ruled over and no one talked, a streak of blue lightning struck at Sonia. Astrith was basically linked with Arthur so he could feel how much his master hates his woman and want to kill her, so even without receiving an order, he launched an attack. With insane speed he jumped at her intending to finish her off, he was already in his lightning form, his appearance looked threatening and ferocious, even Anastassia frowned but didn''t show any trace of surprise. The streak of blue lightning was dispelled by Anastassia who appeared in front of her little sister, she was already grasping one of her daggers and looked angrily at the incoming beast. Soon, the two of them engaged in a fight, albeit Astrith''s low stats compared to Lucy, his fighting was domineering, he would open his mouth and attack with some sort of yellow beam of lightning but to his surprise, it was easily blocked by the black clothed woman. She merely waved her dagger around and the attacks would vanish as if nothing happened, however, he didn''t give up, his attacks were focused only on Sonia. Naturally, Arthur saw Astrith''s action, but he didn''t stop him, he wanted to see what will be the outcome of this battle. .. Astrith created two other clones of himself and rushed at the standing Anastassia, after some exchanges, he deemed to be hopeless to aim at Sonia so he switched his focus to this black clothed woman. None of his attacks did anything to her and she seemed not be fighting seriously so he could only use trump card. In seconds, the bright sky darkened and clouds covered the sky, blue lightning streaks hit him endlessly and his body became twice it''s original size, he now had two big wings made of yellow lightning and sharp teeth which looked terrifying. Arthur was surprised as he didn''t know Astrith could do that, still, he didn''t stop him and continued to watch as Lucy already helped him adjust him and lean on her to feel more comfortable. This time, Anastassia furrowed her brows as she looked at new form of the lightning beast, she felt a bit of pressure from him which surprised her a little, for someone with her level of strength to feel pressure is very rare, so that only indicated one thing; this beast is strong, very strong! For the first time, she was the one to attack, she seemed to disappear from her location and appear in front of the beast, however, it was not teleportation, she was just too fast so that seemed like teleportation. Astrith was astonished by this by he didn''t dare daze off, several streaks of lightning were aimed at her as he backed away but to his surprise, his left wing was somehow cut and he couldn''t even see her wave her dagger. The streaks of lightning hit her but they didn''t do any damage, she just rushed at the beast yet again to attack. With no way to escape, Astrith decided to go all out and gamble on it, he opened his large mouth and in just a split second, a red beam which didn''t look like lightning came out of it and was aimed at the incoming enemy. The red beam was even faster than Anastassia which surprised her, she couldn''t help but turn serious, she took out her second dagger and in a strange manner, she slashed both of them which resulted in two black arcs coming out of the daggers. The beam and the black arcs crashed into each other, the sound was ear deafening but there was no damage to surroundings as fortunately both Anastassia and Astrith were fighting high in the sky. The red beam resisted the two arcs for 20 seconds or so before it vanished while two arcs continued forward until they struck Astrith and cut him in four pieces, he was immediately killed as for Anastassia, she was merely pushed back a little by the impact as it was closer to her than the beast. Though she only needed to attack seriously once, she didn''t dare think that this beast is weak, if she wasn''t here, that beast could easily kill Wuji, maybe he can''t face all the elders alone but there was still Lucy. After she sighed and prepared to head down, she suddenly stopped and a look of surprise appeared on her emotionless face, it''s rather rare for her to be surprised multiple times in a short amount of time but this time she really was stunned. She reached her hand to her cheek only to find a 1 inch cut on it as some blood leaked from it, it was most certainly a cause of the red beam but what''s strange is that she didn''t notice it hitting her cheek, perhaps it was due to the impact but it was highly unlikely, she couldn''t help but feel a bit of admiration for this beast as even though he was leagues weaker than her, he managed to make her attack seriously and even injure her albeit being a mere cut. She soon went back near Wuji and her sister who was still dumbfounded by the fight a moment ago and became more so when she saw the cut on her sister''s cheek, even Wuji couldn''t help but feel fearful toward that blue lightning beast. As for Arthur, he only sighed as he somehow expected an outcome like this, he didn''t think Astrith was this strong, he really was extraordinary, never did he regret having him by his side, as for his death, it doesn''t really matter as he can summon him again after the cooldown is done, maybe it will be not Astrith but he got a strong feeling it would still be the same beast. "Soniaˇ­ we meet at last, very glad to see you." Arthur spoke sarcastically to Sonia who was awakened by his voice, she turned her head to look at him was a surprised and complex look. "A-Arthurˇ­ How are you alive?" "Again with that questionˇ­ that''s in the past, more importantly, we have some matters to talk aboutˇ­ however, it''s really a pity, if I didn''t promise your friend, I assure you, you would have already been dead by now" As he said that, Arthur stared coldly at the beauty as his killing intent began to spread but it was unexpectedly overwhelmed by the killing intent coming from Anastassia who was looking at Arthur with a piercing gaze. "T-Talk about what?" Sonia asked with a confused look hanging on her face, it was totally different from her usual demeanor. "You still have the nerf to say that? Did you already forget what you did?" Although he said that, Sonia was still as confused as ever, she looked dumbly at Arthur not knowing how to answer. Anastassia put her daggers down and retorted "There is nothing to talk about, I have decided to spare you, go back to where you came from." Then she turned around to walk away seemingly not caring anymore, however, to her surprise, Arthur burst out in laughter for a couple of seconds before speaking "Ha ha ha! Spare us? What a joke! I will NOT leave this place until I find out WHO WANTED US DEAD!" Suddenly, Arthur who was leaning on Lucy stood up and his killing intent resurfaced again, but this time it was many times stronger and thicker, as if it would suffocate anyone, his eyes turned jet black as he stared at Anastassia who was also looking back at him. Anastassia was perplexed now, the matter behind that ''order'' is quite complicated so she gave them a way out but he refused to leave to it left her in a dilemma on whether to finish them off now or do something else. After a couple of seconds of thorough thinking, she sighed and said "..... Alright, as you wish, since you want to know what happened then follow me, it''s better to talk inside.." She didn''t want to cause a bigger commotion, plus she knew that dealing with him and Lucy would not be that easy, probably Lucy alone can be defeated by her but if he attacked too it would be troublesome, she noticed his current state but regardless of that, deep in her heart she felt that fighting him now will only lead to disastrous results. Arthur gazed at her surprised for a couple of seconds, he didn''t think she would easily accept, he held some suspicions as maybe she would ambush him, nevertheless, he followed her with Lucy and Saly. Lucy was already holding Saly as they followed behind Arthur. Sonia and Mary were with each other and Wuji was next to Anastassia, all of them entered the pagoda as for the few female disciples who were present, they soon dispersed but they all knew they must keep what happened a secret or else the only way out is death. In a certain Palace which was entirely white, there was no decoration whatsoever, it was literally empty. There was a middle-aged man sitting on a similarly white chair with a kneeling woman in front of him, she seemed to be afraid of him as she didn''t dare raise her head and look at him in the eye. "Explain what happened.." Although he only said 3 words, the woman knew by his tone that he seemed irritated and that was definitely not a good sign. "Lord Kem, I found what you were looking for, however, I was interrupted by someone.." The man slammed his fist on the chair angrily and retorted "Don''t dawdle around like that, explain clearly, don''t make me angrier than I already am!" The woman trembled yet again and replied with a somewhat shaky voice "Y-yes.. It was a skeleton... I don''t know how but it used some kind of vortex to throw completely out of the lower realm, it even erased my memories about which planet it was..." "A skeleton you say? Fool! Can''t even finish a simple job! That staff is beyond important and you lost it just like that, DO YOU EVEN KNOW HOW LONG I HAVE BEEN SEARCHING FOR IT? I only sensed it''s existence again a year ago, and in the lower realm too, just how is it there..." The woman only stayed silent and waited for the man''s orders, after a couple of minutes of silence, he waved his hand indicating for her to leave so without delay she left without speaking and left the man alone pondering about something. ''Almost...I almost got it....'' In an endless dark void where you cannot see anything but stars far away, there was a man flying around and laughing maniacally, he seemed to be crazy but if one knew him they would certainly know he is enraged. ''X'' searched for his ''subject'' for quite some time now but he never found it, not even a trace of him, it''s like he doesn''t even exist anymore, he even managed to somehow return to Earth but he was not there, what angered him is not losing Arthur but what''s inside him, he spent millions of years if not more creating that with the help of some luck so losing it like that angered him to the extreme. It just didn''t seem logical for him to disappear like that, he should have been reincarnated to the designed planet, so how come he isn''t there? He searched his whole area but to no avail he found nothing, even in the neighboring areas he wasn''t there, this left ''X'' astonished, if he wanted to search everywhere for him that would take a LOT of time but that''s the only solution so he began roaming randomly into planets and searching them one by one, of course, he instructed Belos and his other subordinates to the same and immediately inform him if they find anything suspicious or even a trace of that bastard. ''You won''t run away... Arthur, don''t forget I have something you need...don''t forget'' Chapter 55 - 55 : Explanation and Rage Soon, all 7 of them entered the pagoda and headed to a room there, although it was very neat and beautiful there, Arthur didn''t pay it much attention, his attention was focused on the black-clothed woman, he was still suspicious of her and had a feeling she may sneak attack them, so even with his injured body he still walked alone without the help of Lucy. He was still using the Minor Healing on himself non-stop but that helped him only a bit, he was still feeling pain all over his body so he canceled his pain with [Pain immunity] he didn''t want to use it but in a situation like this, the pain will only hinder him. A passive skill like this may be useful for others but for him it''s the opposite, once he canceled the pain and walked properly, the healing wounds will take longer and the blood flower faster than ever. It didn''t take them long to arrive at a somewhat large room, the style seemed really familiar to Arthur, it was similar to the Chinese style houses which dated from hundreds of years ago. Anastassia, Mary, and the others sat around a long yet short table seemingly forgetting that Arthur and Lucy are staring at them angrily. As for Arthur he only stood there waiting for them to talk, he doesn''t want to chat happily with them, it''s not like he can forget what they have done, so even with the insistence of Mary, he and Lucy stood there near the entrance, Saly was also next to Lucy starring at Arthur and the blood coming out from him. After an unknown amount of silent, Anastassia finally spoke "I don''t know what you exactly want to know so I''ll tell you the whole matter... You see, even though I''m master of the clan, it is only by name, there is an internal conflict between the two areas as you may have noticed..." She then turned her head to look at Sonia for a second before continuing "Actually... Sonia has also a twin sister who look exactly like her and that twin fell in love with someone from the male area and she would do anything for him... it was too late to warn you two as last year her sister replaced Sonia after you came to the academy and followed that man''s order to kill you.." Arthur was stunned for a couple of seconds as he didn''t expect this, however, he didn''t completely believe this. "And where is her twin sister right now?" "She''s probably at the male area" Arthur pondered for a bit before speaking again "That man, who is he and why did he give that order?" "He is... the son of the Grand Elder of the Clan" "Is that so... well then, I''ll go over and see if that''s really true, and trust me when I say this, if you are lying then even you can''t stop me from killing you sister" Just as he said that, Arthur turned around to leave the room, he wanted to get done with this matter as soon as possible. "What are you going to do?" Hearing Anastassia say that, Arthur paused for a second before coldly replying "What needs to be done." Then he exited the room along with Saly and Lucy. As they quickly got out from the Pagoda, Arthur turned toward Lucy and softly said ".. Stay here, It''ll be done quickly." Surprised by what he just said, Lucy turned to look at the bloodied Arthur with a worried face and said hesitantly "I-I can fight you know... besides you are injured.." Arthur brought Lucy to his arms reassuring her "Don''t worry, if you come with me then who is going to protect little Saly?" Lucy couldn''t help but reluctantly nod her head as she watched Arthur disappeared from her view. Saly merely watched this as she knew she isn''t strong enough now, deep in her heart she vowed to train harder so that one day she can fight with him too. Arthur already transformed into his lightning form and headed to the male area, along with the way he coughed some mouthfuls of blood as his internal injuries are still not healed. He stopped in a somewhat quiet place to possess the bodies of the hundred or so disciples he killed, he didn''t know how strong the grand elder is and he didn''t dare to be overconfident anymore, not after what that woman did to him, just thinking about how helpless he was made him depressed. There were 124 disciples and Arthur took about 10 minutes to possess them all, he felt his strength increase by a lot, and a lot of information came to his mind, unexpectedly not even one notification came which confused him but he doesn''t have time to thoroughly think about it now. He knew the stats he must''ve gotten from the disciples are enormous but due to the heavy injuries, he has now he can''t quite know how much his strength increased. As he searched in his mind what skills he got, he was surprised to see a strange method, there were a lot of skills required using ''Qi'' and apparently, these disciples would stay for hours to absorb the ''Qi'' from the surroundings to strengthen themselves. He tried condensing some Qi in his hand and it indeed worked, it was that strange green fog he saw it earlier when he fought Wuji and that section chief. He could also use a lot of new skills, ''Buddha palm'', ''Metal Finger'', they all required ''Qi'' to use and seemed strange for skills as Arthur never obtained something similar to this. Albeit all the new skills and so on, he didn''t dwell on them much, it''s not like he would use them now, he would thoroughly test them later when things calmed down. He transformed yet again into his lightning form and went to the male area. In no time, he was already in the same yard as earlier, there were some disciples sitting cross-legged seemingly training, Arthur didn''t pay them any attention and immediately entered the pagoda. It was very similar to the one in the male area, with his godly speed, he searched in the pagoda but it was strangely empty, however, he stumbled into the section chief from earlier who seemed to be talking with another old man while calmly drinking some tea. The appearance of Arthur startled the two old men, especially that section chief who was named Yuxi, when he saw Arthur appear out of nowhere, his face turned white as he thought he came back for him. Arthur gazed at the old men and coldly said "I''m only going to ask once, where is that twin sister of Sonia?" The one with Yuxi was another section chief, he was just chatting with his friend on what happened earlier, and when he heard Arthur, he became irritated, he obviously didn''t know it was the same man Yuxi was talking about, but even if he knew, he would not be scared as he is stronger than Yuxi and he thought his friend was exaggerating things. He jumped on Arthur without replying intending to finish him off and get done with this intruder but to his surprise, just as he launched himself on Arthur, he vision darkened and he just died. From the perspective of Yuxi, he only saw his friend jump on Arthur then his head rolled over the ground, he couldn''t even see what killed him, then the corpse of old man disappeared along with his head. Yuxi couldn''t help but tremble at this sight, this man in front of him was literally a monster, he was a bit confused when he saw why such a monster is injured like this with blood all over so he had a bit of hope to get rid of him with the help of his friend but now all his hopes were crushed. Arthur walked slowly toward the remaining old man intending to finish him off, whether he answered or not didn''t matter, he would search the whole area for her. "W-Wait! I''ll tell you! Spare me!" Hearing this, Arthur stopped and gazed at the old man waiting for his answer. "She''s most likely at the top of the pagoda, she never leaves that place as she is disliked by the female area!" As he said that, Yuxi breathed a sigh of relief as he thought Arthur was going to spare him this time too, after all, earlier, although he slaughtered all the disciples, he didn''t kill him but to his surprise, a sharp pain came from his chest and he looked down he saw a deep cut into his chest area where his heart is located. Just like that, he dropped to the ground with eyes full of disbelief and unwillingness to die. From the very beginning, Arthur wasn''t planning to let him off, he didn''t want him to go and inform all the others plus he had a good idea. Very soon, he entered Yuxi''s body by possessing him and adjusted himself, although he possessed him, it seems the injuries he got from that woman are still present and every now and then he would cough some blood. He intended to go around using this body so that not all the people would block him, it would be relatively easier this way. He dashed out of the small room and headed to what seemed like stairs, he didn''t run and merely walked to not attract attention and in 15 minutes he arrived at the top, it was broad and strangely calm. Arthur didn''t know what room she was in, so he planned to check them all, hopefully no one bother him but just as he was hoping that, a grey-robbed man came out of a random room, he wore a grey robe with a golden dragon on it and by Mary''s descriptions, he seemed to be an Elder. The Elder stared at Yuxi confused before saying with an annoyed tone "Section chief Yuxi, what are you doing here? You are not allowed to come here! Go back now and wait for your punishment when I finish what I''m doing! Don''t you know the rules?" Arthur could only sigh, he just got here and an elder already showed up, he didn''t know how strong an elder is, and if there was too much noise then others would come too. He took Makaze and teleported next to elder to finish him off quickly. Unexpectedly, the elder managed to react in time, but he wasn''t able to dodge, just slightly move his body to avoid the slash of Arthur, but that was useless and the slash was wider than he thought. He was sent flying a couple of meters with a deep cut on his chest, seeing this, Arthur frowned, he was honestly confused as a slash like this is supposed to kill him no matter how strong he is, maybe against Anastassia it wouldn''t work but against him, it should be enough. He didn''t think much about it and rushed at the Elder again using his lightning form, fortunately, the elder didn''t get up and was pierced in the heard by Arthur, thus like that he died adding another victim to Arthur''s list. .. The situation became even uglier to Arthur, this fast fight already attracted attention as there were 6 grey-robbed around him, he didn''t know how they got here this fast or how they discovered them but that didn''t matter anymore, right? The 6 elders stared at their dead comrade with shock and disbelief, then they shifted their gaze to the culprit only to see it''s a section chief, it''s practically impossible for a section chief to kill an elder so the only conclusion they could think off is that he is a spy from an enemy clan. They didn''t daze off and attacked together each using a skill. Arthur who was going to teleport a distance to avoid them was interrupted as large amounts of blood came out of his mouth. As he was coughing blood, he managed to somehow shift his body to the side avoiding 4 of the incoming attacks but the two other landed on him, one on his back while the other on his right arm. He couldn''t feel the pain since he disabled it but unexpectedly the attacks damaged him as he was pushed back a couple of meters, seeing this, Arthur was sure it was because of the black chains, they must have debuffed him or damaged his soul making weakened, or there is the possibility of these elders being strong but even if they were, he already possessed a whole lot of disciples which had high LVLS so the stats he should have gotten are unimaginable. Arthur didn''t waste time and launched himself on a nearby elder, he used a quick [Lone sword] on him while 5 spears were already created and thrown to the remaining enemies. This time, the slash cut the Elder in half but the spears only pushed them back burning them slightly. He didn''t know why it didn''t damage them and he didn''t care now, with another thought, 5 dark red spears were created and thrown at them again. The problem with the [Ancient fire] attacks is that they are slightly slower than the others albeit having the most destructive power, so the elders managed to dodge them, however, that didn''t mean the spears disappeared, they streak the wooden floor which resulted in a huge explosion. The top of the Pagoda was in flames and the top floor was like an inferno, the elders flown to the air while staring at Arthur with fear and shock, they just witnessed how he cut that elder in half so how can they not be surprised by it? As for Arthur, he was depressed he couldn''t use the [Heavenly Arrow] but it''s not like he was could do anything about it now. Due to the top floor being burned down by the flames, all the elders in the surroundings came in a hurry and soon the sky was filled with 23 Elders all gazing at the red flames and the man inside of them. As Arthur gazed at the elders who surprisingly could fly, he wasn''t shocked that much as it was no time to be shocked, he could sense his state worsening for some reason, maybe this fighting is not letting his recovering ability properly function. Among the flying Elders, he spotted one who was holding a red-haired girl, who looked exactly like Sonia, she appeared surprised and confused at what just happened. She was just in her room when all of a sudden, an elder appeared next to her, he held her and flew to the air, then at the next second, she heard a deafening explosion. Arthur cannot fly like them but he can use his lightning form to speed in the air, it seemed similar but it was different. His eyes already changed to jet black and his killing intent arose, his only target now was that red-haired woman, all the elders are mere obstacles. Unfortunately, he cannot teleport at a certain position in the air or else he could instantly kill her, but he didn''t give up, in his lightning form, he dashed at her direction while green streaks of lightning struck from the sky, they were all aimed at the elders. There were just so many streaks of lightning so the elders who were going to intercept the incoming Arthur were busy evading them, however, Arthur didn''t just do that, he also created all kinds of weapons from [Ancient fire] and [Eclipse magic] and launched them at the elders so hinder them and buy sometime. His speed was insane as he was already a dozen of meters from the red-haired woman who was being held by the elder, who was surprised by what just happened, he saw how the attacks were only focused on the others and nothing happened to him, furthermore, he saw the yellow streak of lightning come at him. His face paled as he turned around while holding the woman and prepared to flee. Just as Arthur closed on them, several Elders who managed to dodge his attacks came at him using various attacks, the streaks of lightning weren''t fast enough to hit them as they moved together to block this monster. ''Tsk! annoying bastards!'' Seeing the incoming opponents, he changed his direction toward the closest enemy and in lightning speed pierced Makaze in the old man''s heart, it was just too fast for the poor old man to react, he just instantly died. Arthur didn''t stop at that, he quickly left Yuxi body and immediately possessed the old man, to gain more stats and perhaps attack them by surprise. All they saw was how the yellow streak of lightning changed back to Yuxi then he stabbed the old man, then they saw Yuxi fall from the sky so they charged at him. As for Arthur, it took him a couple of seconds to adjust himself to the new body, then he charged at the fleeing elder yet again. This time, the fleeing elder who didn''t say what just happened, was relieved when he saw a comrade coming to help him protect the ''miss'' but to his surprise, his ''comrade'' pierced his heart with his bare hand, as if that wasn''t enough, he felt all his organs and bones shattering and turning into dust. Arthur used Natural Lightning to pulverize that elder then held the red-haired woman who was still shocked and looking at him with a pale face. .. The elders who rushed at Yuxi who was falling, were relieved when they checked his and saw that he is definitely dead, however, when they turned their head to look at the fleeing elder to check if he successfully brought the miss to safety, they were surprised to see the supposedly ''dead'' elder holding the miss by her neck and there was no trace of the other elder who was supposed to protect her. They didn''t waste time as they flew in the air and headed there to see what happened, by as they were half their eyes widened as they saw the elder who was holding the ''miss'' by her neck, literally beheading the poor woman with his bare hands, however, what seemed more surprising is that black flames were coming out of his body. Arthur was already very enraged as he held her and couldn''t control his urges to kill her, he wanted to tell her that he is alive and well then see her surprised face then slowly kill her but he couldn''t do it, he killed her brutally but it didn''t satisfy his thirst, so he turned to look at the incoming elder with a grin hanging on his face. ..... It has been an hour since Arthur went to the male area, and there were several sounds of explosions and streaks of lightning, even though there was a distance between the two pagodas, Anastassia, Lucy and the others could hear those sounds. Lucy and Saly were standing outside along with Anastassia and the rest, they were waiting for Arthur, Lucy was very worried as for Anastassia she was just curious about what would happen. She no longer considered Kali, who was Sonia''s twin sister, her little sister as she already betrayed her and all the female area when she went to that ''man'', so she didn''t stop Arthur but seeing his bloodied state, she wasn''t sure he could handle all the elders, after all, she didn''t see him fight. Lucy finally couldn''t handle it, she held Saly and dashed toward the male area, and was surprisingly followed by Anastassia. In no time, they finally arrived at the scene but this time, Anastassia was dumbfounded, her eyes were locked on the red figure standing in the middle of a somewhat big square near the pagoda. All the ground was dyed red as the man was standing alone there, on his knees and staring at the sky. Lucy was the first to rush next to Arthur, seeing his state, tears couldn''t help but flow from her eyes as she was worried about his state. "Arthur....Arthur!" No matter how she called, he wouldn''t respond, and after some observation, she noticed he was unconscious, although his eyes were still opened, he seemed to have fallen unconscious. Saly was hugging Arthur while crying as for Lucy, she fed him all the healing potions she had, he was bloody all over, even his face was no exception, and if one looked around they would see pools of blood here and there, however, there was no sign of a disciple or elder. Anastassia was still shocked as she looked at this, she couldn''t sense anyone nearby, not even one breathing soul, the only one left was him. Chapter 56 - 56 : Spirit Realm .. After an unknown amount of time, Arthur finally opened his eyes, only to see that he was in a room strangely decorated. One look at it and he discovered that he must surely be in the Ma Clan area or else this Chinese style wouldn''t be present, he became anxious for a second before he noticed he wasn''t bound or chained so his mind relaxed a bit. Arthur didn''t know why but he didn''t feel injured or unable to move, quite the opposite, in fact, he felt he was in great form and as if he was never injured, to begin with. Unsurprisingly, Lucy was sitting next to him, when she saw slightly move and open his eyes, tears flowed down from her beautiful eyes as she looked at him while smiling, yet despite the smiling, the tears couldn''t help but come out endlessly. Saly was sleeping in a not far away bed which was similar to his, he also noticed her swollen eyes, it must be because she cried a lot waiting for him, his heart ached when he thought about how much he caused her and Lucy to worry. As if predicting what he was going to ask, Lucy leaned next to him, giving him a tight hug while saying "5 days, you have been unconscious 5 days since... then" Seeing how much she was worried, Arthur didn''t ask anything and hugged her back while giving her a small pat on her forehead. They laid in each other''s embrace for quite sometime before Lucy let go and leaned her head on his shoulder. "... What happened?" Arthur finally asked what he wanted to know the most, the only thing he could remember was killing Kali, then he blacked out, all that happened afterward was unknown to him. "When we arrived there.. only you were there, apparently you killed 29 elders and 4 section chiefs of the male area, to the public, it was only known as an attack from a strong spy from a rival clan and only a few higher-ups knew the truth." Lucy didn''t hide a thing from him and narrated what happened in details, and somethings really stunned Arthur as he didn''t expect that cold-blooded Anastassia to help them in that matter, furthermore, she asked Lucy to stay here until he heals. Arthur thought that maybe Anastassia also had plans for him but Lucy reassured him saying that Anastassia felt grateful toward him as he got rid of troubles, as she already said, the two areas weren''t cooperating so him killing a few elders made the female area gain absolute control as they were now much stronger. .. They talked for an hour or so before Arthur got up from the bed and retrieved a decent robe to wear then the first thing he did was summon a lightning beast hoping it was Astrith. His hopes weren''t for nothing as after a short amount of time, the beast was created and it was indeed Astrith, he was same as the last and also kept the memory of all that happened. Next thing Arthur did was check his status but the system still wouldn''t work, not even a notification popped up so he shrugged that off for later and retrieved the corpses he had in his storage. He honestly didn''t know what happened at that time, but when he checked his storage he was surprised to see 26 corpses of grey robbed old men and 2 corpses of what appeared to be section chiefs. Seeing that, he couldn''t help but feel delighted as these were precious stats, however, since he woke up, he got this strange feeling as if everything was much clearer, he could feel his senses increase by a tremendous amount, even his enigma ability [Sixth sense] enlarged to a radius of 250m which was pretty awesome. He already possessed those hundred disciples so his strength must''ve sky-rocketed, it was unfortunate he couldn''t demonstrate it in that fight as his soul was weakened but there was nothing he could do, his soul was weaker than others and those chains almost instantly killed him. What Arthur was happy to discover was that he can control [Dark magic] again, the good old dark magic is back so he was overjoyed, in terms of piercing and speed, that was his fastest, [Eclipse magic] may be the combination of void and dark but for some odd reason, it was weaker than dark magic or maybe his use of it is different. Unfortunately, he couldn''t use [void magic] but that wasn''t that important as he didn''t use it that much compared to [Dark Magic]. Previously dark magic was named [Chaotic Dark Magic] and had a blue-ish colour to it but now it was dark green, it was the same as the last one except it was green, it also had an additional thing, which is its pressure, it seemed to have risen by several times, Arthur didn''t feel a thing because he was the one who created but Lucy said that she felt heavy when she was next to it, maybe it had something to do with gravity or the pressure was just too great, who knows? Also, even without the notification, Arthur subconsciously knew that he could use the [Godly Lightning], however, contrary to the other types lightning, this one needed some concentration so it could not be used instantly in a fight, but, if he can fuse it with [Ancient fire] then the result would be devastating, he must try that when he finds a quiet and secluded spot! Surely! After 3 hours of possessing and consuming the corpses with [Death Touch], Arthur was finally done, fortunately, he woke up at night and neither Anastassia not Saly noticed what he has done except for Lucy of course who was brimming with happiness, she felt how strong she became everytime he possessed a body. After these 3 hours, Arthur didn''t have time to check what skills or strength he has gotten before Lucy jumped on him kissing intimately. It has indeed been quite a time since they did it plus these 5 days were stressful for her so she wanted to vent it all out in a passionate sex, which she did. With a simple sound-proof talisman to block the moans from getting out, Arthur and Lucy went at it for 2 hours before they stopped, the sun was rising and Saly would be waking up soon, they didn''t want to make her see such a sight, she was still a kid after all. As Arthur and Lucy were laying on the bed, she had her head on his chest while he wrapped his left hand around her waist and used his other hand to caress her long soft hair. As he was doing this, he suddenly remembered that Lucy could use the system, he thought she didn''t have one too but earlier she told him she had one which was different to the pink one so he asked her to show him, since she had 80% of his stats, he should be able to guess his own. TITLE : ??????????? Level: 1000 Class: Half demon\ ???? REALM : Spirit - Strength: 3.55m Intelligence: 3.40m Agility: 3.39m Wisdom: 3.35m Vitality: 3.34m Dexterity: 2.9m - Health: 3.30mHealth Regen: 3415/s Mana: 3.01mMana Regen: 7899/s Stamina infiniteStamina Regen ???? - Charm : 49 Attack: 3.49m Defense: 3.27m Magic defense : 19356,8 --- Elemental resistances Fire: 65% Water: 10% Wind: 10% Earth: 10% Magma 100% Light/holy: 0% Darkness: 80% Due to reaching the necessary requirements, your level has risen to 1000(Spirit Realm) "...." Arthur was dumbfounded as he saw this, he even thought he was hallucinating and the injuries were still affecting his eye-sight but it wasn''t the case, fortunately. Lucy was just as dumbstruck as him, albeit feeling extremely power, she didn''t think her stats were THIS high. After several minutes of silence, Lucy broke it by laughing as if she was controlling the world, she was so happy to become this strong that she couldn''t contain her excitement. What was more fascinating is that both Lucy and Arthur could fly now, it''s not like using wind magic to fly but to actually fly, they floated a meter or so to test it out and it worked out smoothly and perfectly, it''s like they used it all their lives. Now, they wouldn''t need Astrith or the bone dragon or even the dark cloud to fly, however, using Astrith once in a while wouldn''t hurt either. After cuddling with Lucy for a bit, Arthur began analyzing the skills he got from the disciples and elders, there were a lot, just so much new things. They all relied on this new kind of energy which was called ''Qi'', he can freely be used it and absorb it from the surroundings as he appeared to have gotten all the talents of the poor deceased disciples. Unfortunately, he didn''t have the system to explain the skills more thoroughly, but he grasped them and comprehended them, sort of, he also could use them. There were palm attacks, punches, kicks, various fighting styles similar to Karate and Kung fu, with all the experiences from these people, Arthur''s fighting is literally considered peerless now. He even got some foot techniques which increased the mouvement in combat, it was extraordinary, these foot techniques can be used along with normal skills which made them much more convenient, Arthur picked the best one he found and tried it. Even without the system, he still got the information about the skill, and its name, except it didn''t say what it exactly does, he knows it''s a technique to increase speed. Without wasting time, he proceeded in testing in and to his surprise, it was mind-blowing, this [Petal footsteps], left him astonished, this technique required the owner to move in a certain manner and gently step on the ground or air as if they were soft flower petals, it was a strange yet relaxing feeling, once Arthur used it, it was akin to teleportation, literally. Now all he got to do in fights is use the talisman which seals all teleportations then uses this, it apparently can be used with lightning form too but they were not compatible, plus [Petal footsteps] seemed to increased his speed slightly better than the lightning form, however, that didn''t mean he would give up on the latter, after all, each had it''s uses. As he ran around the room using this skill, you could see several after images of him, his speed was godly, or rather say, it was overpowered, even Anastassia''s speed, which previously dumbfounded Arthur cannot really be compared to this. Arthur also tried a few other techniques such as the golden palm of Wuji which he also has, it was strong but he didn''t completely unleash it for fear to destroy the place or wake up the sleeping Saly. He decided to try those offensive techniques later, next he tried the defensive techniques, they were all focused on Qi and when using it in a unique manner, they could form a defensive layer around their bodies. For example, there is a skill called [Turtle Shell], it uses ''Qi'' to create an invisible armor around your body to defend against physical attacks, it is weak in the beginning but if cultivated to its end then you can create a golden turtle shell that can even defend from the frightful soul attacks. Apparently, those new skills that were based on ''Qi'' are divided into several comprehension realms, each time you advance to the next one, the skill becomes better and stronger, the realms are respectively: Mortal, Spirit, heavenly, divine and godlike, however, that was only based on what Arthur has, maybe there were things still unknown to him. But, he honestly liked those skills and techniques better than the ones he had, he felt they were stronger and harder to practice. .. Last but not least, Arthur checked the strengthening techniques, it consisted of acupoint clearing, breathing techniques and so on. He only picked the best of them and ignored the mysterious ones which they seemed strange to him, for now, he only wanted to try the simple breathing technique and the acupoint clearing skill, unfortunately, it only cleared 1 acupuncture in the right arm but it was enough for now. Without delay, Arthur used it on himself and just as it was cleared, he felt as if some energy entered through that acupoint, it filled his arm, he felt his right arm become more solid and refreshed, it was a strange feeling yet satisfying at the same time. Next, he cleared Lucy''s acupoint in her left arm, the result was a cute and lovely moan from her, the feeling was just too great so she couldn''t contain it, she even blushed a little as it embarrassed her, but that only ended up in her getting a passionate kiss from Arthur. He couldn''t help himself when he sees he act like this, it''s just too stimulating. ..... Two more hours passed before the little girl finally woke up, as she rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, her sleepy gaze immediately changed as she Arthur sitting next to her while smiling. She jumped on him while sobbing, on the course of these 5 days, she and Lucy never left his side and since she saw his bloodied corpse she was deathly worried about his safety, she would pass the whole night crying beside him until she fell asleep and Lucy carries her to her bed. Now that he woke up, she couldn''t feel happier, nothing is worth having him by her side as only hugging him and feeling is warm embrace is enough for her to feel relaxed and comfortable. After enjoying the feeling of the fluffy ears of Saly and chatting with her for some time, the three of them left the room to look for Anastassia. Lucy already informed Arthur that Anastassia came looking for her these past few days and told her that if Arthur isn''t healing, she can give her(Lucy) a few Elixirs which might be effective, however, Lucy strongly rejected as she knew that if her potions and Elixirs didn''t work then there is no way in hell Anastassia''s Elixirs or whatever would work. Arthur was no longer angry or thirsty for revenge, he doesn''t know why but since he woke up, he feels calm, extremely calm, no anger, no irritation, nothing, just the usual emotions such as love, happiness and so on. His mind didn''t think of the culprit anymore as if that matter never happened, he didn''t know why but he didn''t think too much about it. Furthermore, he thought Anastassia despised him but she surprisingly offered her help, maybe because he helped her out in some way or she is feeling, whichever the case doesn''t really matter, what matters is she provided him, Lucy and Saly a place to stay when he was gravely injured and that is a big favour. It''s true he hated this clan''s guts but all of that seemed far away in the past for him for some odd reason, it felt like it was thousands of years ago and that he should let go of it, but you cannot deny that there is some reluctance deep in his heart, it doesn''t want to let go and let the real culprit go. He indeed killed Kali, however, she was not the only culprit, there was also the young master, fortunately for him, he was not there when ''that'' happened but Arthur never thought of letting him go even though he felt peaceful about this matter. Plus, it''s not like Anastassia is going to stop him, after all, she let him kill her own sister so that proves that she treasures loyalty more than family and her own sister betrayed so there is nothing else to talk about, only death awaited Kali from the very moment she betrayed her elder sister. Although Arthur became strong, incomparable strong, he never ever will act overconfident again, what happened last time was proof that there will always be someone stronger and more powerful, so just for precautions, he used his mental power and tried to create flash grenades. In the past, when he created Ace, he couldn''t do this, however, since he became stronger, maybe his mental power increased? And it indeed did, it was just by a little by but it nonetheless increased and now he managed to create flash grenades. Since they are items from a different world, not everyone would expect them, plus they would buy him some time to escape from that woman if she reappears again, hopefully, not.. .. The interior of the pagoda was as magnificent and fascinating as ever, Arthur quite enjoyed this style, it was total to his liking, if he ever built a house, it would be much like this. They soon found what appeared to be a servant as she wore an outfit relatively similar to a maid, she held a plate which contained teacups. As Arthur asked for instructions, the maid appeared frightened for a second but she then relaxed when he told her they were visitors, and it just so happened that she was serving Anastassia and Sonia right now so she asked Arthur and the rest to follow her. Not long after that, they arrived at a big room, it was not full of decoration but it had some ancient paintings and redwood vases and status, the floor was covered with some kind of soft carpet which was pleasing to walk on, and there was a beautiful view of the yard which had a small river and some medicinal plants, the fragrance could be smelled from dozens of meters away. This room was literally like heaven, quiet and beautiful, one could enjoy the rest of his life living here, a book in one hand and the teacup in the other, enjoying the full view of the yard and the bright moon at night, none would disturb you and the food will be delivered, what can you ask more? A dark-haired woman was sitting in a seiza stance( AN : google it) on the floor while her sister, Sonia was sitting normally, they both seemed to chat but in reality, only Sonia was talking and Anastassia was nodding in response, since Sonia was used to this kind of behavior from her sister, she didn''t mind that. Anastassia was wearing tight black clothes, they seemed more formals than in the past and suited her quite well, you can see her mature and elegant body and curvy waist, she would not lose against her sister Sonia, in a way Anastassia looked more mature and refined as she also held a cold demeanor, it seemed impossible to see through her. Noticing the arrival of the maid followed by Lucy, Arthur and Saly, Anastassia was momentarily shocked, because not too long ago, Arthur was on the verge of death, yet here is walking normally as if it wasn''t him that looked bloodied just several days ago, it was really illogical, but she was not the kind of person to dwell on matters like this, naturally everyone has their secret and she has no right to ask about it. As for Sonia, it took her a bit longer to notice their arrival, as she saw them coming, especially Arthur, she looked at him with a complicated gaze, she felt guilty, although it was not her fault, she should have been more cautious, because if she did, that thing would not have happened. It''s a pity the past is the past and nothing can change it, not even apologizing a hundred or a thousand times, nonetheless, she bowed her head at the incoming Arthur while saying "Sir Arthur, I''m deeply sorry about what happened, it was out of my expectation and didn''t know until recently about what happened." What she said was actually true, when her sister took her place, they only told her Arthur and Lucy died at the war, so she believed that, it was only recently that her grandfather told her the whole truth, which saddened her and made her feel extremely guilty. Arthur did not want to bother with that matter anymore, only the young master was done and then everything would be over, perhaps he would ask Lucy to go over the Holy Church to finish them too, it should be enough to completely erase their existence and pull them from their roots, then he would think about what to do. "It''s okay, the matter is almost solved, only one person is left, it has nothing to do with you anymore" After saying that, he sat opposite to Anastassia, there was a table separating them which was quite long, Lucy and Saly sat next to him, the little girl didn''t want to let go of him as she sat on his lap and hummed with a cheerful tone. Arthur looked at Anastassia deeply for a minute or so before speaking yet again "For what you did these past few days, thank you, without your hospitality maybe things could have been much worse for us, I''m a person who does not want to owe favors to others, just tell me what you want" Although she helped him only a bit and they were enemies, Arthur decided to let go of stupid grudges and to begin with she had nothing to do with that matter, he felt that when she told him the story, he could not bring herself to call her a liar, she seemed honest enough, for him at least. It was a meager help but it was enough to win his favor, for people like that, albeit them previously being enemies, she extended her hand and helped them in need which was more than enough for him to feel a bit grateful. Several minutes passed and the atmosphere became a bit awkward, Anastassia didn''t reply to Arthur and merely stared at him up and down as if assessing him, for Arthur, it felt strange yet funny, it''s as if he was a girl being gauged by a playboy. The silence had been finally broken by Anastassia''s sentence "Join my clan...." Chapter 57 - 57 : Boy, Be Careful As Arthur heard her say that, he was a bit shocked, to be honest, he didn''t expect her to say this, he indeed decided to let go of the enmity between them, however, that didn''t mean he wants to join her clan or whatever, that was a whole different thing. It may be a good offer to others, heck! people wish to join the Ma Clan but can''t so what she told him now is very rare, especially when you know the Ma Clan almost never recruits people from outside, it may have been a bold move from her, but for Arthur, he didn''t think much of it. Firstly, he didn''t want to be restricted by a Clan as he liked travelling, but it may be a lie to say he never thought of establishing some kind of institution or something similar, it''s just some trait he got from his past-life, in the past he established several companies and became filthy rich, the money didn''t interest him, what he quite enjoyed is raising that company to the very top. Arthur stared at Anastassia who was looking at him with cold eyes and emotionless face, she didn''t even seem eager to hear his answer so it seemed confusing as to why she would ask that. "I cannot do that..." She didn''t seem surprised by his answer, and when he just finished those 4 words, she talked yet again "How about a guest Elder? You and your comrade." Her insistence perplexed Arthur for there is no apparent reason for what she asked, did she think the clan would gain better protection or what? "Why do you want me to join your clan or become a guest Elder?" To this question, Anastassia remained silent as if struggling between answering or not, finally, after spending some time thinking thoroughly, she replied to Arthur. "The Grand Elder won''t let you live after what you did, especially if you plan to kill his grandson, so if you join us and stay in the female area, the probability of you surviving is better." Hearing this, Arthur burst out in laughter and retorted "Ha! What a joke! I know you are not this kind and this is not the real reason if you don''t plan on telling it then nevermind, it''s not like I''m willing to join with a clan with its master being a liar!" Sonia, hearing Arthur badmouth her sister, became a bit angered and shouted at Arthur "Who are you calling a liar!" However, she soon realized who she was shouting at, so she shrank back behind her big sister, afraid to even glance at Arthur, she did that on impulse and it was completely out of her character. Arthur ignored Sonia and just kept staring at the black-haired woman with a smile on his face. Having no choice but to say the truth, Anastassia sighed and slowly said "Fine... that reason was only secondary, I was interested in your strength and your comrade, after all, you managed to kill 29 Elders. Furthermore, each and every one of them is a powerhouse not to be reckoned with, so I wanted to rope you in to increase the power of the clan and at the same time protect you from the Grand Elder" In fact, Anastassia wasn''t the kind of person to easily say her motives, but this time, she got no choice, Arthur is not someone she can easily mess with, she didn''t see him fight but from the result of that incident, it was certain that he was very powerful, plus it was mysterious how he healed from those horrifying wounds in just 5 days, one must have a godlike recovering ability or some heaven-defying Elixir than can instantly heal all wounds. "Hoo.. so you finally speak honestly, good! good! I like that, but I think it''s unnecessary to protect us.." "I know you are strong, but the Grand Elder is not like those normal Elders, he is almost on par with me, he has been concealing his strength for a while now" Anastassia obviously didn''t think Arthur became much stronger by possessing so even though he managed to kill all those elders, for her, it was a simple thing, an achievable feat even by her. although for others it may sound like a miracle, she can kill them easily but that didn''t mean she can kill the Grand Elder easily too. She also thought he was very lucky as the day he attacked the male area, the Grand Elder was out of the clan and not all elders were present, nonetheless, he slaughtered half of them which is incredible. "I think you misunderstand something too, I''m not as weak you think, I was merely injured last time because of an unexpected thing, if you do not believe me then.. how about a spar between us?" This time, she was taken aback a bit, she never expected him to ask her to spar with him, Anastassia felt a bit of contempt toward him as he was certainly not the first to ask her for a spar then end up half crippled. After staring at him with piercing eyes trying to find his motive, it was futile so she could only nod at him indicating her confirmation about his proposal. The two of them didn''t linger off in that room any longer and headed outside, there was a private training ground not too far from the pagoda, it only needed 5 minutes of walk and they decided to make it the place of the spar. Anastassia was yet again shocked when she saw the familiar Astrith outside, she thought he was dead for sure so how in the blue hell did he come back? Astrith too was staring at her, he wanted to fight her again now that he becomes stronger, one must not forget that his strength increases when Arthur stats increase, it may not be like Lucy, but it nevertheless strengthened him a lot, he became more confident in his victory against her. The place was quiet and suitable for a duel or a spar, it was a big square devoid of people of anything, it was just green ground with some wind blowing making the place seem very peaceful and pleasant. Anastassia didn''t change her clothes, she only retrieved her two black daggers and put them in her waist, as for Arthur, he took out Makaze and also put it his waist, unsheathed. They stood 50 meters from each other while Lucy and the other spectators were not far away. Although has new skills and techniques now and his stats sky-rocketed and became insane, that didn''t mean he should underestimate her, especially her, he previously saw her speed and offense and it was no joke, even with his new strength he didn''t dare act overconfident like last time, furthermore, he was on full alert as maybe that woman with the black chains will come back again, after all, they appeared suddenly and if not for Zodiak, he would have been killed by her. He took out Zodiak''s corpse earlier and inspected it, but no matter how much he called for Zodiak''s name, nothing happened, it just returned to a normal skeleton corpse, it was confusing but he didn''t dare absorb it or throw it, after all, it saved his goddam life. One other thing that bothered him is his soul, it was very weak, thinner than paper, even a simple soul attack would heavily injure him so he wanted to find a solution to strengthen it, it was too bad that the system won''t work right now, as he wanted to thoroughly inspect the skills, see his LVL and so on. "How about we make this more interesting?" Arthur said while grinning at Anastassia. She only stayed silent, unwilling to speak for some odd reason so he continued speaking. "Let''s make a bet, if you win I''ll become a guest Elder, and if I win.... I''ll decide what I want at that time.. what do you say?" Anastassia''s eyes widened for a second before regaining their normal sharpness and coldness, she pondered for a dozen of seconds before nodding at Arthur. .. Wuji stood between them and counted down from 3 and just when he said ''Go!'' both of them charged at each other, this time Anastassia took both of her daggers from the very beginning, just like him. Arthur didn''t use [Petal Footsteps], he wanted to see his speed without it and compare it to her. As they were rushing at each other, although the distance was extremely short, he was able to guess that she was fast, very fast, faster than him, it made him more and more surprised, his agilitiy must be in the 4 million, no matter how high her agility is, it can never reach that, that''s going by logic of course, because Arthur is a parasite, he only reached it by possessing countless corpses, and Lucy had the blessing which is considered literal cheat, but how did Anastassia do it? He didn''t dare to relax anymore and launched [Petal footsteps] in the middle of the charge, his speed more than doubled and he finally clashed with her, he didn''t use any dangerous skills such as dark magic or anything similar, after all it was just a spar. Makaze and both the daggers struck each other, and the impact was incredible, just the strength of the clash was enough to create a 30m radius crater under their feet. Anastassia''s eyes were wide open, her face looked like she has seen a ghost as she stared with disbelief at Arthur, never did she think he not only was fast but had immense strength, although it looked like both of them clashed, she was pushed back a couple of steps by that simple slash of his. Makaze was pressing on both of the crossed daggers, she could barely hold on as she was slowly but surely being overwhelmed by his brute strength, with no choice left, she jumped back with lightning speed and sneakily sent hidden needles at Arthur. They were not dangerous, but they were precisely aimed at specific Acupoints to make him paralyzed, her accuracy was no joke, but unfortunately for her, as if hitting an invisible wall the needles fell on the ground once they come into contact with Arthur body. Actually, Arthur picked a good defensive technique from all the ones he got, it was called [Suppressing Mountains], it was originally an offensive technique but it is used to defend more than to attack, by using it, the owner will be extremely heavy and his skin and bones would be hardened to the extreme, once active it would make the user 75% slower but his defense would sky-rocket and would become almost like a fortress. Arthur used it in a flash as his reaction speed was unbeatable, he noticed the needles the moment they were thrown at him and since he didn''t want to use magic in this sparr, he used that technique. He didn''t know if those needles would hurt or not if he didn''t use [Suppressing Mountains] but he won''t lose anything from using it. Arthur then used [Lone Sword] at her, then he followed the two supersonic slashes but jumping on her using a palm attack he gained, it was one of the few which was practiced to a high realm and is decent, it was called [Buddha Palm] and is strong at crushing enemies. .. Anastassia wasn''t holding all her hopes on the needles, she had already retreated several dozens of meters from him, while doing so, she saw a wide black slash coming at her with illogical speed, it was a 1 meter curvy black arc, it''s speed was many times faster than her, but fortunately, she managed to react in time to defend, it''s basically impossible to dodge that as she was already backing away, so the only left solution is to counter it or successfully block. For someone like her, who experienced countless battles and even managed to take hold of a powerful clan, her fighting reached a heavenly level. She used a secret defensive technique that she practiced since childhood, it was her main one, although she didn''t use it much, it was nevertheless useful. In a slow yet strangely fast motions, she waved her daggers sending two slashes of her own, then she waved her left hand in a weird manner which resulted in a dark shield appearing in front of her. The slash of [Lone Sword] and those of Anastassia''s finally clashed but her slashes only managed to slow down his by a little bit, it was still charging at her. When it finally hit the dark shield, there was a loud ringing sound before it vanished leaving cracks on the shield, however, that wasn''t all, Arthur was following behind that slash as he struck the dark shield with his [Buddha Palm], his palm turned into a golden colour, emanating an overwhelming pressure, the dark shield instantly shattered, leaving Anastassia exposed to the sudden attack of Arthur. With no way to defend, she crossed her hands in a defensive stance and awaited for the palm to hit her, which it obviously did, it sent her flying very far away, until she hit a tree a hundred or so meters from her previous position. Soon, she got up from the ground with some blood leaking out from her pale white lips, she was still unable to comprehend what just happened in this exchange, she was totally overwhelmed by him, she barely managed to block his attacks only to receive stronger ones, also, how is he able to use those techniques of her clan? That mouvement technique or that palm... She was curious, but she didn''t ask him, it was a spar, he can use whatever he want, however, it nonetheless was intriguing as even if he managed to get a hold of the scrolls of those techniques, there is absolutely no way he can use them like that. Anastassia, didn''t waste time thinking as she rushed at him yet again, but this time her speed seemed to have increased. Arthur was excited as he tested the new skill and enjoyed the spar, he also rushed at her but even with her increase, she was still slower than him when he used [Petal Footsteps]. They clashed yet again but this time, they flew to the sky and from afar, you can see two black shadows appearing and disappearing in the sky with strong impact noises here and there. For spectators like Saly, Astrith and Wuji, they could only see blurs, only Lucy barely managed to see both of them, a smile bloomed on her enchanting face as she saw Arthur fight, he was totally suppressing Anastassia. Although to others it seemed like both of them were relentlessly attacking each other in the sky with explosions here and there, it was all Arthur''s doing. He was hit a few time by her but it didn''t even injure him, as for her, she was sent flying several times, he didn''t exert too much strength to not kill or heavily injure her, nonetheless, she had superficial injuries, she just couldn''t block his monstrous strength, the only way is to dodge which is even more impossible to do seeing that he is faster than her. Anastassia had a few deadly techniques or skills that would strengthen her by a huge margin, but that would cost a lot and this was just a spar, so there was no need to use them. She was flabbergasted the more she fought him, no matter how she attacked, it was useless as it would be either dodged by him or blocked. At a certain exchange, one of her daggers finally couldn''t hold on and suddenly shattered, shocked by this, she hastily retreated and looked dumbfoundedly at the shattered dagger as if it was just an illusion. Arthur felt a bit guilty as he didn''t do it on purpose, Makaze was a deadly weapon and it''s already surprising those daggers managed to hold on many exchanges against him, it was a matter of time before one of these daggers would shatter, however, even if he have told her that earlier, he was sure she wouldn''t have believed him or would have simply continued so he refrained from doing that. This outcome was anticipated by him, so when he saw her stare at the dagger like that, he descended from the air and calmly said "Let''s stop here... I didn''t mean to break it but it just happened.... anyways, I''ll compensate you for it." Hearing this, she snapped out of her daze and looked at him coldly before retorting "The spar isn''t over yet, the winner has not been decided yet." Arthur merely waved his hand non-chalantly while saying "There is no need to continue, none of us fighted seriously, I held back a lot and I think so do you.. because if that''s your real power, then I''m really disappointed... you can consider yourself the winner and I''ll be the guest Elder... Just for the time being, it''s only until I leave the clan" Arthur wanted to stay here for a certain amount of time, first to find some solutions to his weak soul and finish that young master, then he would probably go to the Holy Church or something else, depends on what he plans. Anastassia could only angrily descend and stare at Arthur''s back with ferocity, even though it was apparent he was suppressing her and he should be the winner, he said she won, this kind of undeserved victory is unwanted by her, it sounded like a pity more than victory. It was rare for her to show expressions, and this time was one of the rare times she did, her face looked a bit distorted as she looked at him going with Lucy and Saly back to the Pagoda. It was a good thing he became a guest Elder, and now that she knew he is very strong, probably stronger than her, then someone like the Grand Elder is no threat to him, plus he said he will stay here for a while so that means her clan would gain many benefits. Her decisions weren''t wrong after all, it was a wise idea to help him that time, although they were firstly enemies, that didn''t mean they will always be like that. ********** Arthur, Lucy went back to their room while Saly stayed with Astrith in the yard, even though she wanted to stick with Arthur, seeing him fight like that, she resolved herself to become stronger and immediately began training, after all, she vowed to become strong enough to be able to fight by his side. Just as Arthur and Lucy went back to the room, his black storage ring vibrated intensily before the familiar skeleton of Zodiak got out of it. It looked as creepy as ever and suprisingly it wore the black robe, it looked around for a second before it''s lifeless eyes landed on Arthur''s figure, it didn''t remain silent as it hastily spoke. "Boy, I don''t know who you are but I can sense my magic within you, I sealed some of my consciousness into my body so it can activate once it is near a divine being, I only managed to win a couple of years for you, that treacherous woman will find you sooner or later... anyways, I don''t have much time left. I said what I had to say, hopefully, we meet again in the future.. boy." Chapter 58 - 58 : Unexpected Encounter Arthur was momentarily surprised by the sudden appearance of Zodiak, he stood there dazed for some time before he came back to his senses when Lucy called out to him. Like last time, she didn''t see Zodiak''s corpse appear, the only thing she saw was Arthur looking in one direction and carefully listening as if he was hearing someone. After Arthur managed to calm down, he sat down next to Lucy and explained what just happened, she naturally knew what happened with the black chains as he already narrated that to her when he woke up, and now he told her what Zodiak just said. He honestly surprised as he didn''t think Zodiak was this powerful, he easily got rid of that woman with that vortex, it was horrifying, every time Arthur remembered it he would unconsciously shiver. Previously, he only thought that Zodiak was a mythical being, true he must be very strong, but not THIS strong, although he died he still managed to insert some of his consciousness or whatever it was into his dead body. He also mentioned ''Divine being'' which was an indication to that woman, unfortunately, Arthur didn''t mean what it exactly meant and he was hoping to get answers from Zodiak but he had gone back to his storage too quickly for him to react in time. The rest of the day, Arthur continued testing some techniques then chatted with Lucy, as for Saly, she passed the whole day practicing, she had Astrith with her who helped her a lot plus she was wholly dedicated to becoming stronger. Arthur obviously wasn''t stingy and had already given her every item or Elixir that could strengthen her, he even cleared the Acupoint which increased her stats by 300, although she is 5-years-old, her prowess is no joke, she just has to gain combat-experience and learn some good skills. .. The next day, Arthur went to talk to Anastassia privately about some things, plus he was going to compensate her because he shattered his dagger, it''s not like he was too concerned about that, he just picked a somewhat strong dagger from his storage and decided to give it to her. There were many weapons and treasures still inaccessible by him or some which cannot even be appraised, he discovered that everytime he powers-up, he would be able to yield some, it was not a lot of items but there were some nonetheless and the dagger was one of them. He was sitting in front of Anastassia in the yard without anyone disturbing them, Lucy stayed with Saly in the room and Astrith is inside Arthur''s consciousness. Wuji, Sonia, and Mary went to the elven city as Mary wanted to bring the little kids here and after some persistence from Sonia, Anastassia finally accepted. As they were both staring at each other, Arthur could see that Anastassia was still angry about yesterday but she could not bring herself to talk about it, so he didn''t either, he merely retrieved a dagger from his storage and threw it at her. She easily caught what seemed like a normal bronze dagger, she frowned for a second before her eyes widened, although it looked like a completely normal bronze dagger, she felt an icy feeling coming from it, she couldn''t guess what it is but she definitely knew this was not a mere dagger. She began inspecting it and casually slashing in the air, and after a couple of minutes, she nodded with a satisfied look on her face, she didn''t fully use it but she kind of grasped it, from her perspective, it was not stronger than her previous dagger but Arthur knew the truth, and that dagger most certainly way better, it''s just that Anastassia still didn''t uncover it''s truths. He, who had [Peak sword mastery], it worked on all types of swords, although daggers cannot be considered swords, the passive skills strangely worked with daggers and when he tried using that dagger, it''s prowess was by no means weak. He felt some kind of bloodlust and coldness coming from it, however, he didn''t dwell on it that much, it was a reasonable compensation so he gave it to her, now it was time to talk about some things. "From the look of it, you are satisfied... then let''s move on to the other things." She finally stored the dagger and lifted her head to look at him, she slowly nodded as she knew he wanted to ask her a few things, just by his look she can tell. "First, where is that young master?" "... He is currently out of the clan along with the Grand Elder to finish some matters, they should be back soon.." Arthur put his hand on his chin as if thinking about something then he proceeded asking other things "So it''s like that... then what''s the difference between the Mortal Realm and Spirit Realm?" He kind of knew some information about that but it was not detailed so he wanted some explanation. Anastassia was shocked when she heard that, for someone like him who is this strong to not know about this basic knowledge left her confused and stunned, however, she didn''t question him about why he is asking that and just replied to him. "The Mortal Realm is for those who are under LVL1000, as for Spirit Realm, it''s for those above LVL1000 such as me and you, once you reach LVL1000 there will be a slight boost in your stats, but there are some cases when some people in the Mortal Realm defeat those in the Spirit Realm but that''s very rare..." "... There is also several Realm above the Spirit Realm but unlike the two first ones, the next Realms are not biased on the LVL but on the strength, I was told that one must achieve a specific condition" Arthur listened carefully to not miss anything, then when she finished, he moved onto the next question without letting her rest "Hmm and what about Acupoints?" "There is 361 Acupoints in our bodies and by clearing one or several, your strength would significantly rise, it was said that if someone managed to clear them all then he would become an existence above gods or deities.." "... For example, I cleared 12 Acupoints in my feet which is why my speed is like that, just clearing one Acupoint in someone''s foot increases the agility by a tremendous amount and I only managed to clear 12 with the help of my master..." Once she talked about her master, her tone seemed to become slightly sad yet you can notice a hint of killing intent, Arthur didn''t ask much about that matter and continued asking her about what he didn''t understand. She was surprisingly helpful unlike what he thought her to be, perhaps it''s because he became a guest Elder which is considered to be a member of the clan, plus him being an Elder is a huge help to the clan, especially if it ever faced danger or an attack. After 1 hour of asking and answering, Arthur came to know a lot of new things such as the existence of several other strong clans like the Yan Clan, the Xi Clan, and the Aristocrat Family Yun, these were the ones Anastassia said to be on par with the Ma Clan, and like them, these clans were not known to the world. Each Clan has it''s unique techniques except a few known ones such as the breathing technique and so on, there were some friendly clans while rival ones, the competition was fierce between them but they would not engage in a reckless war like kingdoms or the war between Humans and Demons. .. After talking with Anastassia, he went back to his room only to find Lucy and Saly there, the silver-haired beauty was brushing Saly''s hair with gentleness while chatting heartily with her. Just seeing this warm sight made Arthur brightly smile, it was heartwarming to go back to your room and see your family waiting for you. Although Saly is said to be his companion, he already considered her to be his family along with Lucy, he treated her like a father would treat his daughter. Yesterday, he gave her the breathing technique and taught her how to absorb Qi, he guessed that for a beastmen with superior strength, practicing those martial art techniques may be better than magic, of course she can use her skills that he gave her but using the martial arts with them would lead to a better result. What was kind of annoying is that sensing ''Qi'' and absorbing it way harder than Mana, which is why people who can manipulate Qi are very few. The little girl sat cross-legged on the carpet with Arthur behind her, she used the breathing technique and tried her best to sense it but it was just too hard, fortunately for her, Arthur was behind her and guided the Qi around him toward her so it would make things easier. Lucy didn''t want to practice martial arts, she was already proficient with magic and a decent fighter, furthermore, she wasn''t someone who could gain someone else''s skills like Arthur, she had to begin from scratch so she was unwilling. Naturally, Arthur didn''t force her and spent the next few days helping Saly who finally managed to sense the Qi after the thorough and huge help of Arthur. Compared to the other 5-year-old kids, she would be considered a little monster as her stats are unbelievable. Arthur urged her to go around the area to meet new kids and perhaps make some new friends and even spar with them, Saly happily agreed but not after Arthur ordered Astrith to go with her. He told him to not let anyone, literally anyone harm her, it''s alright if she practices with others but if the opponent tried to heavily injure her then Astrith was instructed to protect her and punish whoever wanted to hurt her. Arthur and Lucy were sitting on the quiet Yard enjoying their time, he was absorbing Qi as he discovered that after passing some time absorbing it, he is getting strong, slowly but surely, it was a very meager increase but it is nonetheless an increase in his power so every day, he would use some of his time to absorb some Qi from the surroundings, or more precisely, the earth. Qi is much abundant in the earth, Anastassia also told him that this place, where the clan is located has a high density of Qi, which is why they built the clan here. There were several yards around the pagoda, some of them are used for practice for the female disciples and others are private, Arthur and Lucy were using a private one given to them by Anastassia, since he was considered an Elder now, he had his private room and yard in the pagoda. Lucy was leaning on his shoulder and staring at his face while smiling as for him he was using the breathing technique and relaxing his mind. All of a sudden, he sensed 3 powers with [Sixth Sense] coming with extreme speed toward the Pagoda, from their speed, he was sure they were not just disciples as it is impossible for them to be this fast. Since they were not bothering him, Arthur didn''t pay them any heed and continued what he was previously doing without a care in the world. However, not even 10 minutes have passed when some people barged in, it was Anastassia and 3 people, there was an old man wearing a black robe, another old man wearing a grey-robed so it was obviously an elder, and the last was a youth, he was wearing some tight black leather clothes, with a somewhat long vest which looked kind of weird. Just as Anastassia was about to talk, the black-robed old man advanced toward Arthur while roaring angrily "So you are the one who caused that mess and killed the elders, what right do you have to do that!" The Grand Elder was only told by Anastassia that an individual killed the elders and he was staying at the clan, he was confused on why she would keep him alive but after some thought, it was to be expected as the two areas were not getting along recently, it''s as if it was two different clans. Arthur ignored the roaring old man and gazed at Anastassia while calmly saying "Who are these people and why did you bring them here" "It''s the Grand Elder, his grandson, and Elder Chenyu." Arthur only grasped the ''Grandson'' part and as soon as he heard that, his eyes landed on the haughty youth not far away, it wasn''t that hard to guess from the very beginning but he just needed some confirmation, he wanted to go there and finish him but it seems he willingly came to his yard, how is that not fortunate for him? It saved him a lot of trouble. Arthur turned his head to look at the Grand Elder and casually said "Ask your grandson and he will tell you who we are" Momentarily surprised, the Grand Elder stood there dazed for a second before he abruptly turned his head to look at his grandson, expecting some answers, but all he received was a confused look from Chenqi, his grandson, who shrugged his shoulders as if indicating he doesn''t know. Seeing this, he looked back at Arthur again, however, his face was flushed and was ready to explode as he felt he was being played with and was merely tricked. "Stop playing tricks and tell me who you are, or I''ll stop being merciful" Arthur burst out in laughter and retorted mockingly "Ha ha ha, I''m not playing any tricks, your grandson clearly knows who we are, after all, he ordered to kill us.." Chenqi, who just heard this, was slightly astonished but he still couldn''t remember who these two were, after all, he ordered many of his surbordinates to kill countless people so how could he remember all of them. Arthur also noticed the perplexed look of the youth so he continued while smiling "... A year ago.. at the academy, blasting a demon and a new member of the council.. do you remember now? Or should I refresh your memory?" Chenqi''s pupils constricted and he immediately remembered that matter, he sent his wife to replace Sonia and ordered her to kill a man and a demon using judgment. "Oooh! So you remember, good! good! It''s better to die knowing you were killed, right?" Just as he said that, Arthur used [Petal footsteps] and rushed at the nearby Chenqi, his sudden actions were too quick for the Grand Elder to react, by the time he wanted to stop him, Arthur was already holding Chenqi''s neck, who was also shocked. "W-What are you doing!" Roared the Grand Elder as he saw this, his doted on his grandson and although his behavior wasn''t the best, he still went along with it, but now he understood that Chenqi provoked someone he shouldn''t have. Anastassia didn''t do anything, for her, the life of Chenqi or anyone in the male area was not her problem, the Ma clan can still remain powerful even without that trash, furthermore, Arthur just became an Elder of the clan which boosted its strength by a huge margin. Arthur turned his head to look at the Grand Elder who didn''t dare to attack as he knew Arthur can kill his grandson with just a simple squeeze. "What am I doing? Well, I''m returning what has been done to me and my wife obviously.." Then he turned he stared at the panic-stricken Chenqi and coldly said "Maybe if you tell me why you did that... hmm let''s say I may spare your life.. what do you say?.." However, Chenqi wasn''t intending to reply as he slowly spoke "... Grandpa.. Help m-me!" His eyes were fixed on his Grandfather, expecting him to help and get him out of this mess, but the Grand Elder knew he can''t act recklessly, just now, he couldn''t react in time as Arthur''s speed was insane, so he knew he wasn''t weak. "What do you want?" The Grand Elder, Leiu, spoke to Arthur with a low tone, his angry shouting stopped as he thought that dealing with this situation calmly may lead to a better result and perhaps there is still a chance to save his grandson. "What do I want? I already said that, I want to know why he did that" Leiu honestly didn''t know the reason, he just thought of it as a normal matter of Chenqi as he always kills whoever he doesn''t like so he began thinking hastily, trying to come up with a reasonable excuse. 1...3...5 minutes passed without anyone speaking, Chenqi''s face became pale white as he could barely breathe, he couldn''t even move or resist, as for Leiu, he couldn''t do anything, he urged Chenqi to speak the truth but the latter stayed silent but after 5 minutes, he finally understood that there was no way out so he said the truth. "I-I wanted t-to... control the a-academy, and you w-were tro-ublesom-mme *gasp*" Hearing this, Arthur wasn''t angered or anything, for some reason, he felt calm, there was this urge to kill him but it was not as intense as last time, he released his grasp from Chenqi''s neck, but not after Natural lightning invaded his body and instantly struck his heart, turning it into dust. The lifeless body of Chenqi fell on the flour, and just as Leiu was going to rush toward Arthur as he sensed that Chenqi is dead, just from his lifeless eyes one could tell he died, however, to his surprise, he felt intense pain in his chest and when he looked down, there was a huge hole in his chest. His organs were melting at rapid speed and the pain was agonizing, blood flowed endlessly from all his face, his ears, his nose and mouth, his heart was melting from the heat as drops of red liquid were visible on his bloody chest. He soon fell soundlessly on the ground, just like his grandson. Actually, Lucy used her magma magic to eliminate him, although he was strong, he didn''t expect her to sneak attack him, plus how could he resist an attack from someone with 3million intelligence, even Anastassia probably can''t resist it. Chapter 59 - 59 : Sacred Soul Steal As Leiu''s incomplete corpse fell on the ground, Anastassia stood there dazed for a couple of seconds, she knew Arthur could kill the Grand Elder, but that previous attack was most certainly not from him but from Lucy, her hand motion was sure. What truly shocked her is not that Lucy attacked but is that she freaking one-shotted Leiu, and a couple of days ago, she didn''t seem this strong, that''s for sure. The corpse of Leiu was still melting, but after some time, Lucy stopped the magma from spreading further, after all, that was a harvest for Arthur. "Ehh! Fierce! Fierce! That''s my wife, ha ha ha" Arthur complimented Lucy while patting her head and enjoying her soft hair, he couldn''t feel more proud, Leiu was absolutely insta-killed by that magma attack, he didn''t expect her to attack but he didn''t mind that, it actually made him feel happy to see his woman show her power. He then turned his head to look at the still dazed Anastassia and laughingly said "Ha ha ha, well, I guess you don''t mind one more victim? Ha ha ha, I''m sure you don''t" ''One more victim? He''s the goddam Grand Elder!'' Although she thought that, she didn''t openly express it, albeit Leiu being a Grand Elder, him dying is a good thing for the clan, now she can unite the two areas and take control of the remaining Elders from the male area, they wouldn''t dare oppose when they hear the news. As she was thinking about this, she saw Arthur store the two bodies, he then returned to the bench and sat with Lucy as if nothing happened, he was humming and smiling brightly, maybe because he killed that young master? Who knows, Anastassia didn''t object to him taking the bodies as she can tell the others his body his gone, what she was curious about is why he did that? If he wanted the storage ring he could''ve retrieved that alone, so why did he took the corpse? She was very curious but she didn''t dare ask, she turned around and returned from where she came from. After checking the surroundings with [Sixth Sense] and confirming there was no one around, Arthur took out the two bodies and possessed them quickly, then he used [Death Touch] on them, completely absorbing them. A lot of information was added to his head, unfortunately, no system was present now, however, that didn''t mean what skills and techniques were added. Leiu was also in the Spirit Realm, and by the feeling of immense power he gained, he was sure that old man was strong, very strong, it''s a shame Lucy''s magma was stronger. By the way, the Realms from low to high are respectively, Mortal Realm=> Spirit Realm=>Heavenly Realm=> Deity Realm=> Immortal Realm=> Divine Realm=> Godlike Realm. Anastassia said that her master was in the Heavenly Realm and he was very strong, she couldn''t even last a second against him, she didn''t know how one can break through from the spirit Realm to the next one so there were some unanswered questions in his mind. Arthur was surprised to see a lot of new skills, it seems the Grand Elder some weird techniques, but a lot of them caught his attention, especially one technique named ''Sacred Soul Steal'' It is similar to [Death Touch] but instead of absorbing the body, it steals the soul of the victim and fuse it with one''s own soul, it was somewhat dangerous as if the corpse''s soul is stronger than the user, then he will receive heavy backlash and in some cases even death. Furthermore, using the skill would bring the evil spirits of the corpse you stole their souls, they would come from the underworld and torment you. Arthur wasn''t particularly worried about that, he was a necromancer and he had Zodiak''s knowledge, something like tormenting evil spirits are nothing to him, heck! With a flick of his hand, he can make them disappear. Not long ago, he discovered he could summon more amazing undead such as Death Knights and wraiths, the former was a dark armored horrifying knight riding a huge black horse, he emanated a strong death aura and looked particularly creepy, as for the wraiths, they were transparent and looked disgusting, they were not that strong but they were good at scouting. Arthur felt so depressed when he thought back on when he absorbed Leiu''s corpse if he stole his soul first it would have been much better. The old man also had 4 techniques to clear 4 Acupoints in the chest, so he used them on Lucy and himself immediately and as he did that, he was surprised yet overjoyed to hear the familiar sound ''TING'' System installation complete...Rebooting.. .....Reboot complete, System 1.2 is functioning properly.. Congratulations! You have entered the Spirit Realm! Congratulations! You have entered the Heavenly Realm! Congratulations! You cleared the Acupoints : Kisha, Reikyo, Kyo-in, Kyosen : Effect : +20% Defense, +50% Mental power. Due to reaching Spirit Realm! You gained +100.000 to all stats You can now evolve due to reaching LVL1000: ? Adult Humanoid Parasite : An evolved form to ''Humanoid Parasite'', you will be able to possess plants and all other possible beings, you will gain 115% of their stats, you would be able to possess any being with weaker soul power than you and stay dormant there, without disturbing the host. ? ARK Human : A lot race from long ago, almost all records of it have been deleted, it was known to be one of the most powerful races, apart from that, all information on the race is unknown. The notifications didn''t stop until 10 minutes after the first one, it informed him of the skills he got from Leiu, the Elders he previously killed and so on, especially that ''level up'' it was annoying as hell. He was a bit surprised but delighted it was a normal system this time, also, it said he was in the heavenly realm which astonished him, he didn''t even know how he reached it or what the required conditions are, nonetheless, he reached so he didn''t think much of it right now, what interested him more is the evolution. He was wondering why he didn''t evolve since forever, but here it is again, finally, although the ARK Human seemed mysterious and powerful, for him, being a parasite is still better than that, but that only his opinion as in a mere year or so, he became this powerful while it would take others decades. Without much hesitation, he chose the Adult Humanoid Parasite and clicked ''yes'', just as he did that, he body began burning intensely while his left eye began bleeding. Lucy saw this and began to feel anxious, she knew he was evolving, but last time the pain was agonizing so this one would be too, but she hoped that it would not be like last time. The pain was not much for him, he endured as he held Lucy''s hands and sat on the chair, and after half an hour, it finally stopped. Nothing seemed different in his appearance apart from his left eye, which turned from blood red to grey color. Congratulations! You have evolved into Dark ARK Parasite! ''What!? What is this..'' You have gained a new skill(passive) : [ARK] : available at Divine Realm Your stats have improved due to the evolution, please check your status window for more details. As a Dark ARK Parasite: you can now possess living being without controlling them, if you stay a sufficient amount of time, you can steal all the host''s stats which would kill him, you can also stay dormant there observing the host. The innate skill of parasite [Swift] has evolved to [S-Speed] : Your speed is now higher than other being, +1200% agility (AN: Previously, it was +600%, just so you know) The thing that irritated Arthur the most is that he needed the System to evolve, or else he would have done it ages ago, it''s such a shame but that how things work, unfortunately. As he reassured Lucy and gave her a kiss, he opened his status window to check his stats and so on. TITLE : MEAT GRINDER / SEEKER OF KNOWLEDGE / ONE WITH THE SWORD / ARK??? Level: ???? Class: Dark ARK Parasite - Realm : Heavenly - Strength: 6.7m Intelligence: 5.9m Agility:10.4m Wisdom: 5.7m Vitality: 5.3m Dexterity:5.1m - Health 5.6m Health Regen 3405/s Mana 5.5m Mana Regen 7994/s Stamina infinite Stamina Regen ???? - Creation : 10 Attack: 6.0m Defense: 5.6m Magic defense : 2.9m Enigma abilities : Telekinesis / Ancient Threads / Sixth sense / ARK Mental Power : 255 Elemental Resistances: Fire: 100% Water: 60% Wind: 35% Earth: 75%(+10%) Light/holy: 20% Shadow 30% Lightning 100% Ice 30% Arthur stood there, flabbergasted for a second before he snapped out of it, even Lucy, who saw his stats was surprised, after a quick check, her stats seemed to have risen too, which was a joyous event. What seemed illogical is his LVL, it didn''t show anything, so he was quite intrigued about it, but it seemed the strength was judged by the Realm now, it was basically the same thing except the LVL seemed more accurate. Nevermind that, Arthur was delighted about his new stats, especially his speed, he was already fast but wow, the [Swift] skills evolved and if not for that then his speed would have been half of that. Plus, the race seemed not as the system indicated, many things were strange about that, but mysterious things never ceased to happen since some time ago so adding another one would do nothing but complicate things, answers would come sooner or later so he didn''t bother with it much. He was excited about all of this, he couldn''t wait to go hunting monsters and steals there souls, he didn''t know much about the process of soul fusing, but since it would strengthen his soul then he would do it non-stop until his soul was strong enough. Arthur and Lucy soon headed to their room only to find Saly sleeping there, she seemed to have gone back a little while ago and she was pretty tired so she slept, that''s what Astrith said so Arthur didn''t wake her up and let her sleep. He and Lucy engaged in a passionate deed before going into a deep sleep. ....... It''s been 1 week since Arthur evolved and nothing interesting happened, Anastassia killed a few elders which were opposing the fusion of the two areas, they even wanted to take the disciples and create another clan but they were easily killed by her, after all, they were just Elders, they didn''t have the right to oppose the master of the clan. Although there the two areas were still separated in some way, there is still some male-female disciples chatting or sparing here and there, the atmosphere seemed less tense and the disciples were not afraid of being punished anymore. As for Lucy and Arthur, they headed for the dungeon of the clan, it was a medium-level Dungeon, the monsters were not that strong for him, nonetheless, he killed all the monsters, they were going to respawn anyway so he killed them every day. However, what was irritating is that once he used [Sacred Soul steal] on the boss of the dungeon ''Abhuva'', he couldn''t use it anymore, he didn''t know what happened exactly but it just wouldn''t work anymore, nevertheless, he didn''t stop as continued earning stats. The boss would take 1 days to respawn, as for the monsters it would take half a day, so each day he would do two runs which make 14 times a week, and the approximate corpses he would get in each run is about 150. The monsters were ranging from 100 to 500 with Abhuva being 700, only a week passed, just one, yet he managed to increase his overall stats more than one million, he could do that for a year or a decade to become invincible but he didn''t want to spend all his days hunting, after all, he wanted to enjoy his life. Although he thought like that, a genius idea struck him, once he goes to Robin, he would use that favor and tell her to collect thousands of corpses for him then he would harvest, it would be good, he would get stats without doing anything. As for possessing plants, it indeed worked, he can''t move once he possesses a tree or a small plant but he nonetheless got stats, but it was very low, a small plant would barely give him 1, as for trees, it would be at best 10, so he gave up on doing that, the only good thing he got it [Nature Magic], he even got it to ''Advanced'' after possessing several hundred trees, it was really nothing special, it allowed him to grow trees and plants. Actually, every plant he possesses now can be grown by him in mere seconds, it was the effect of [Nature Magic], it wasn''t useful in a fight, that for sure, but if he ever created a home or something similar then it would look much better with a beautiful and lush greenery. He even thought of visiting the emperor again and possessing his garden so he can be able to grow those beautiful flowers too since Lucy seemed to like them a lot, with his speed it wouldn''t take much to go there and come back, so he decided to go when he was free. .. In this week, Arthur came to discover Anastassia''s LVL, she was 1891, pretty high but he was sure he was higher since he is in the Heavenly Realm. His speed now was broken, just literally broken, a single step with [Petal footsteps] would allow him to cross several kilometres, that''s not normal, if it''s like this then it would be better to use that mouvement technique than teleportation, but teleportation had its uses too and can be used in other useful ways to it''s not like he gave up on it. Apparently, [Petal Footsteps] is at the Spirit Realm, it is the only skill at that Realm along with [Buddha Palm], Leiu used that palm attack the most and trained it hard so that''s why it is in that Realm, it''s power is several times more powerful as even a palm technique in the Mortal Realm used by Arthur would become deadly, much less a skill trained until Spirit Realm. There is also one thing that was surprising, it''s Sol''khin''s cane, the cane he found near Zodiak''s corpse, now it didn''t show ''unsufficient Level'' but it said ''Usable at Immortal Realm'' which at least better in some way.. right? Robin was sitting in her office in the HQ of E-clips company, it has been quite some time since that incident with Arthur and Lucy and he disappeared suddenly. In a way, she is relieved, since he wanted to use the world tree relying on the favor the Elven chief owe''s them, if he doesn''t come back then that''s for the best. Even her grandfather became more cheerful when Arthur didn''t come back, however, one day as she was having a meeting with all the company''s important figures. A black-clothed man appeared out of nowhere, scaring the shit out of the sitting people, even the nearby guards were startled but due to their experience, they came back to their senses and prepared to attack, but to their surprise, they couldn''t even move a muscle. Obviously, the black-clothed man was Arthur who came from the Ma Clan, all it took him was literally several minutes to arrive here, which was a bit funny when he remembered Mary taking 10 days to go and come back. He came alone now because Lucy was chatting with Mary and Saly was training, the little girl seemed to change a bit, not in a bad way of course but she became much more dedicated to training, she would play after some hard work but the good thing is that she seemed to enjoy training, furthermore, Anastassia was kind ENOUGH to let the little girl teach the girl some things, it was surprising at first but the cold blooded woman was, in fact, a kind woman, it''s just that toward strangers she act indifferent. She only opened up a little to Saly because she was a good and cute kid which didn''t do any harm, also, as time passed, she discovered how heaven-defying that simple bronze dagger was and her curiosity about Arthur never ceased to increase day by day. "Hello there, Robin" Arthur smirked at the stunned Robin who looked at him with round eyes filled with disbelief and lingering fear, it seems she was still feeling afraid of him, after all, who wouldn''t after seeing that arrow. Speaking of the [Heavenly Arrow], Arthur wanted to test it but the Clan wasn''t a good place since it would cause much destruction so he decided to open space empty of people to test it, adding the godly lightning instead of the natural lightning plus trying to add the [Ancient flames], even if it is without the void magic then it would sure be very powerful. Seeing he got no response, Arthur revealed a puzzled look and said "What''s up? Cat got your tongue? Don''t worry, I''m only here to receive what belongs to me, I ended my part of the deal, so it''s time for you to do yours" As he said that, he turned his gaze to Belic, who was also astonished by what just happened, he couldn''t move for a moment but once Arthur''s cold gaze landed on him, his body shivered but he was somehow free from what restrained his movement. Arthur used his threads to bind all the sitting people except Robin and Belic, he only needed them to collect the corpses and wait for his return. Quite some time has passed but Robin still didn''t understand what to say or what to do, Arthur sighed at how idiotic this woman is, he wanted her to kick those people so they can discuss the matter but she didn''t seem she was going to do it anytime soon. "... You really are slow-witted, kick these people out, I don''t want to do it myself or else they would only leave this room as corpses as I know they won''t simply leave when I say so" Suddenly hearing his voice, she trembled for a second before she hesitantly and politely told these old geezers and other figures to leave, although they were unwilling but no one dared to oppose, she is the head of the E-clips company, even though it''s only by name, they have to do follow her orders, furthermore, just now they were bound by some invisible thing, and even the trained guards couldn''t move which just explains how powerful this man is. When everyone exited the room, only 3 people were left, Robin looked at Arthur and said "W-What do you want?" Arthur really wanted to smack her, she was really dense, very dense, he was here for the deal, what else would he come here for? To propose to her? "I want you to do what you promised, however, never mind that healing matter, just gather beast corpses, as much as you can, the higher LVL the better, that''s all, remember, they need to be DEAD" Belic, who was just to speak as he saw Arthur was annoyed, was momentarily stunned before he smiled and nodded continuously at Arthur, if it''s only this, then it''s totally doable, plus it much easier. He was going to apologize and beg Arthur to choose another thing as he couldn''t use that favor of the elven chief but now it seemed the heaven-blessed him and Arthur wanted another thing. Arthur didn''t waste more time and said "Alright, since you understand then you better begin now, I''ll come back in a month, I hope you gather a lot... oh and before I go, since you are her grandfather then teach her common sense and to stop being so dense, it''s really irritating.." As he said that, he disappeared from the room, one would think he was still nearby but after a mere second, he was several kilometers away. "That Bastard, he dares insult me again, who''s dense? He''s so annoying!" Robin out loud as she remembered what he just said, she couldn''t muster the courage and say that in front of him but when she saw him leave then she released all her pent up anger, she even punched the table. Belic only helplessly shook his head but he was relieved because it ended up peacefully, he only needed to gather what Arthur wanted. It didn''t take Arthur much to arrive to the Ma Clan, with a special token he didn''t have to break the barrier again and just as he was passing by the clan area, he saw Anastassia standing in his yard as if waiting for him. He stopped a couple of meters away from her, Anastassia, who was waiting for Arthur patiently was alerted by the sudden appearance of the black-clothed man, she couldn''t react in time as he was next to her the next split second, even with her extremely keen presence senses, she couldn''t locate him until he was near her which made her even more amazed and curious about him. Arthur didn''t say anything and waited for her to talk, as for her, she didn''t want to talk nonsense and talked about the main thing she came here to talk about straight away. "There will be a ''friendly'' competition soon, it''s between the powerful Clans and the Ma clan is obviously one of them, it''s a team fight or a one versus one, it''s pretty important to keep the honour of the clans so everyone would be participating and bringing their strongest fighters, I wanted to invite you too, it will be a great show, so what do you think about it?" Arthur pondered for a bit about this, it''s not like he had anything to do, but he was a bit interested, he loved tournaments and competitions, so he really wanted to join and fight, but will it be possible? Sure he would win easily, but it would still be fun, anyway, he will see if he''ll do it or not, as for going, then he will surely go. He accepted Anastassia invitation and headed to his room to inform Lucy or wait for her if she''s still with Mary. Anastassia said that the competition will begin in 2 weeks so there was still time, plus he wanted to farm in that dungeon more and get used to his new stats further. He wanted to be able to fight that woman with the black chains if she ever came back, at that time, he would not be as helpless as before, definitely! Chapter 60 - 60 : The Competition Arthur was a bit excited about the upcoming competition, he liked those kinds of events so after some thorough thinking, he decided to join it, yes, you heard right, he wanted to enter the competition as a normal martial artist. It didn''t indicate that outsiders are forbidden from entering it, actually, many powerful individuals would join it, there are also some people would want to try their chance in it, but it''s not a simple competition, there will be a lot of strong people from the clans. The competition was kind of like a tournament, it was divided into three tournaments, one for disciples and those who joined, the second is for sections chiefs and the other is for Elders. Anastassia also told Arthur that the winner from the disciple tournament can participate in the section chief tournament and so on, it happens a lot of times as there are some genius disciples from the clans who are considered very powerful, there were even some exceptional ones who even managed to get second place in the section chief tournament. Arthur told Anastassia that Lucy would be attending and as for him, he is busy with some important matters. She was a bit disappointed, but she couldn''t force him to go, it was his choice after all. He already thought about how to enter the competition and planned everything, he had Zodiak''s corpse and with some good clothes, it would be easy to hide his appearance. Lucy already knew about all of this, it was kind of unfortunate that she can''t change her appearance or else she would have joined him, but they already for something like that too. The 2 weeks passed just in the blink of an eye, nothing interesting happened, Lucy and Arthur passed their days, as usual, either snuggling and raiding the dungeon or playing with little Saly, who with their help and Astrith''s, managed to reach LVL39. She was just leeching in the dungeon and finishing the monster when it was near death, although at first, she was unwilling, she quickly got used to it, after all, they were just monsters. If she could kill them alone then her LVL would have been much higher as their LVLS were high too, but considering she only dealt the final blow, the experience she got was not that much. Her lvl is low compared to others, but for normal people, she was a genius, she was very hardworking and trained every day so she never ceased to improve, furthermore, while Arthur cleared the dungeon a lot of times during his stay in the clan, she luckily found 3 medium cores of the dungeon. It is really hard to find them as they rarely dropped from the boss, he had no use for them so he passed them to Saly, who consumed them, fortunately, her stats have risen once again. Her overall stats were in the 2-3k, she was considered very strong, no matter how exhausting the training was, she bore with it and never complained. Seeing her dedication and strong will, Arthur told her to rest for a few days and go with Lucy to watch the competition, training too much may lead to negative effects so why not rest from time to time? Compared to her, he only needed to hunt a few monsters and possess them, it was really a big difference. Clearing a dungeon would only take seconds as he would pass by the monsters and they would explode into blood and gore, if they could respawn immediately then his stats would rise by millions in just a day, such a pity.. Nonetheless, in these 2 weeks, he hunted quite a few of monsters, it was not like last time but he killed and possessed a few as he went with Saly to the dungeon. Today was the day of the competition, it was held in a big a Colosseum in a secluded place in an island South of Itas of the continent. Lucy, Anastassia, and the others headed there a couple of days ago to arrive in time, as for Arthur, he didn''t need to do that as it would only take him a few minutes at best. He already knew the location of the island, he went early in the morning after possessing Zodiak''s corpse and wearing that familiar dark robe along with some black gloves and boots. It was as if he was him from back then, in Willsden. The island was nothing suspicious from the outside, however, once he got too close and stopped a few hundred meters from it he saw a couple of people guarding it, it was just a 5 kilometer radius, it was small and appeared to be a forest for travelers that used boats, they only thought of it as a deserted island so no one bothered to check it. Arthur sensed the illusion barrier around it much like the one in the Ma clan, of course, he could break it with but a wave of his hand but he didn''t, he didn''t come to bring trouble but to participate in the competition. The guards suspiciously looked at Arthur but once he told them he is here to participate, he just had to pay a small fee of 50 gold then he was allowed in. The big colosseum could be seen from far away, and it was apparently full but people were still coming from all directions. After inquiring about the location of the place to sign himself in the competition, he went there and did a simple strength test to measure his power, after all, they can''t accept anybody who came, one must at least have a certain amount of strength. He didn''t need to pay anything for the entrance which surprised him but what Arthur didn''t know is that simple strength test was considered very hard, but he only needed to pretend to punch at that brown rock then a number showed on the crystal near it. He was an extremely low amount of strength so to not attract attention and it seemed his control over his strength is as perfect as ever. Of course, there was some who used martial arts or magic to attack the rock, everyone can do whatever they wanted, they just needed to pass. Actually, this competition is not made by the collaboration of the several participating clans, it was made by the Locus Clan, Anastassia didn''t say much about it except that it was the most powerful one and that its master is known to have exceeded the Heavenly Realm, it didn''t arrogantly control the other clans because if all the clans help each other they can manage to defeat the Locus Clan. However, that didn''t mean that it(Locus Clan) is on equal footing, it had many strong individuals which made it a terrifying force not to be messed with. Arthur noticed that the guards outside and the people measuring the strength of the applicants are all dressed in violet robes or violet clothes with the word Locus imprinted in it so he immediately knew they were from that clan. To be honest, he didn''t care about it, he just came here to have some fun so there is no need to meddle with them. Each participant had his own waiting room, they can also go to a certain place which is near the big arena, all participants who are waiting for their turn can observe the matches from there. Arthur directly went there, just when he exited the long corridor, what faced him was a big stone arena, probably 200x200 meter, it was broad, the Colosseum was 100 meters high and full of people sitting on the stone chairs, they were already cheering loudly. All those people were either random people who knew about this event and exclusively came to watch or disciples from the various clans. 70% of the Colosseum was filled with people, however, there was an area where it was kind of empty, there were old men and women sitting there, just as he saw Anastassia sitting there with several Elders from the Clan, he knew it was some kind of VIP area where the Elders of the clans sat. It was divided into 4 areas, there was an area where the Ma clan sat, the other three is for the Xi Clan, Yan clan and the Aristocrat Yun Family. Also, there was a special place above that place where the place looked more luxurious, just one look and Arthur guessed that it must''ve been a place where the host of the competition will be staying. He observed the several clans which apparently were strong, the Xi Clan Elders wore a red robe with a fire lizard symbol on it, Anastassia previously told him that this Clan is known for having powerful fire magicians and warrior which excelled in using close-combat fire attacks. As for the Yan Clan, it was like the Ma Clan, it was known for having strong disciples, it is also known that they are the descendants of the White Tiger of the West which is a legendary beast known to have ascended to godhood and left this world, same thing for the Azure Dragon of the East, Black Turtle of the North and last but not least is the Vermillion Bird of the South. Four Legendary Beasts which defended this world from what was known as the ''Calamity'' Ten thousand years ago. The Aristocrat Yun Family strangely only has female disciples and Elders, it was a mysterious clan, not much was known about it except that they used ice magic and they were very skilled at using it, there was even a time when the young master of the Yan family took a liking to the direct disciple of the Aristocrat Yun Family, however, he was crippled as he fought her after making a bet with her. Since it was a fair fight, the two clans didn''t fight but an enmity was grown since that time and they were on guard against each other. Arthur used the name ''Moonstar'' as his nickname, every participant from outside was allowed to give whatever name he liked, it''s not like there was a rule against that, he couldn''t come up with anything but that so he went with that. The first Tournament was obviously the one for the disciples as to be expected, after all, they were the weakest ones. There was a big board on the Southern wall of the Colosseum, and in it there were all the names on the of the participants, the names written were extremely small but almost everyone could see them as it was not a bothersome matter if someone had just a bit of dexterity they could see them, even someone such as Saly could see them. Arthur almost immediately found his name, his first enemy was ''BegMe'' who also seemed to be a participant, if not then his name would not be like that, it didn''t matter anyway, his blood was boiling. Maybe for others, it may not look like it an exciting thing when someone with strong power fights against weaklings, but he can adjust his power so he can fight on par with them and enjoy some fighting even if it was for a little bit. The rules were simple, if one of the two fell from the arena or was knocked unconscious then it''s the win of the other one, pretty simple, it was prohibited to kill or cripple but ''accidents'' could always happen. The first tournament didn''t begin until the host clan, the Locus Clan members finally arrived. There were several golden armored guards followed by the clan master, he was a middle-aged man with a golden hair, he appeared to be his forties, he emanated a strange majestic power and wore a white golden armor which suited him and made him look even more handsome. Arthur already appraised all the present Elders from the other clans but their LVL was not that high, however, when he appraised this man, he was a bit shocked by the result. Tenhi Larin(Human) : Deity Realm The reason he was surprised is because he didn''t expect him to be a deity, he could feel some mysterious aura coming out of him but he couldn''t guess what it is. Even the guards were above lvl 1000, which means they were in the Spirit Realm, of course, they must be no common guards for them to be able to be next to such a strong individual, furthermore, why in the bloody hell would he need guards when he is this strong? Is it perhaps for show? Tenhi walked leisurely to his sit and sat, then he looked at the clan master and Elders of the several clans, he nodded his head at the clan masters then he turned his head and said "Thank you all for coming! Ha ha ha, I cannot wait to see this year''s champions! I''m sure it will be as exciting as ever, let the competition begin" He wasn''t a man who would pass minutes talking non-sense, just a couple of words to start the competition and brighten the atmosphere was enough. Loud cheers and yells from the came from the disciples who came to watch, they were very excited, every fight would be thrilling so wouldn''t be excited? Arthur merely sat there, there were some nervous participants nearby, some were trembling while others coudn''t wait any extra second to begin the fight, there was also some similar to him and kept silent, a couple of individuals caught his attention. The first was a bald man who looked like a Buddhist, he wore a ragged yellow robe and went around the area saying to every participant "Hello, this penniless daoist is hungry, could you contribute a little by donating some gold?" Most of the people ignored him while there were some who were angered and attacked him, but to their surprise, he swiftly dodged and went to the next person. The next person that Arthur was interested in was a girl, she looked to be around twenty more or less, she wore tight grey clothes with a violet sword behind her back, she maintained an emotionless face as she closed her eyes and sat cross legged in a cornor, perhaps she wmeditatinging or using some similar skill, no one bothered her as everyone was busy with their own matters. She wasn''t particulary beautiful, she had that natural charm but nothing was too outrageous or stunning like Lucy, nevertheless, she may be considered a beauty for some people. The third person was a bandaged guy, he had bandages all over his body as if he was a mummy and mumbled some words every now and then, he would cautiously looked left and right every two seconds as if afraid, Arthur could feel some strong aura coming out of him. The girl and the bandaged guy were in the Spirit Realm but the bald daoist was surprisingly in the Heavenly Realm, Arthur was momentarily surprised by that as seeing a person in the Heavenly Realm here is very rare. As Arthur kept observing the participants nearby, his eyes landed on a black robbed man not too far away, once he saw him, he furrowed his brow for a second before mumbling ''huh.. so they are here too, annoying fucking pests... well let''s ignore them..'' Except for those participants, there were also the disciples from the 4 clans who were respectively staying in their clan''s area, each clan only had 5 disciples who participated and each one of them was considered a genius. Arthur merely glanced at them then ignored them, although there were some who seemed strong, he was more interested in the three he found here. ... Chapter 61 - 61 : First Tournamen The first tournament soon began without any disturbance, Arthur''s match was not the first so he sat back and watched the fights. They were not that exciting yet not that boring too, in most of the matches, the participants fought each other except a few matches were a participant fought a disciple of one of the four clans. Tenhi, the master of the Locus Clan watched from above, each time a talented or strong participant joins he would nod in satisfaction, all people knew he would recruit everyone that pleased his eyes to his clan and that was an opportunity no one would want to miss so everyone that fought tried to show off the best he can as to maybe grab Tenhi''s attention. After 13 matches, it was the bald daoist''s turn to fight, Arthur waited for this match since the beginning as he wanted to see what this man was capable of, after all, he was in the Heavenly Realm and he was the only one amongst the participants to be in this Realm. Actually, all the clan masters were in the Heavenly Realm except Anastassia, Arthur didn''t why but he was sure that although she''s still in the Spirit Realm, her strength was probably much stronger than that. The bald daoist went up to the arena while rubbing his hands awkwardly, his opponent was a disciple from the Xi Clan, since each clan only put 5 disciples to participate then that only meant that each of these disciples is very strong. The rules were simple, once the two of them entered the arena, they have 20 seconds to get ready then the battle will automatically begin whether they are ready or not. The disciple from the Xi Clan looked at the bald daoist coldly and hastily retrieved a short cane which had a small red gem on top of it. As for the bald man, he just walked while staggering toward the disciple, he literally looked like a beggar or a homeless person. "Youth! This daoist is willing to spare you for some gold.. what do you say?" The disciple furrowed his brows for a couple of seconds before he felt he was underestimated and given a ''chance'' by this beggar, he was easily angered and wanted to teach this bald man a lesson. Once the 20 seconds were finished, the disciple waved the cane in the air which resulted in 3-meter fire cyclone to spawn and charge at the bald daoist. Although a fire cyclone was quite simple, that didn''t mean it was slow or weak, the more the person has intelligence the more his attribute will deal more damage to the enemies, for example, Lucy''s magma melted the Grand Elder who was considered very strong. The bald daoist looked at the incoming fire cyclone with surprise, his face paled and he appeared frightened and scared shitless. He jumped with what seemed to be all his strength to the right, barely dodging the cyclone, but unfortunately for him, the disciple was very adept at controlling the cyclone as it immediately follows after the bald man. The daoist looked like a chicken as he jumped around multiple times, everytime dodging by a hair''s breath, however, his ragged clothes was slightly burned in the sides. He really appeared to be struggling and trying his best to evade. The disciple got more irritated, with another wave of his hand several 30-inch fireballs were created and thrown at the daoist. The bald man just landed on the ground after evading the cyclone when he saw the fireballs coming at him, so for the first time in the match, he used his magic or skill or whatever it was, a metal shield was created around his hand, he quickly raised it and prepared himself for the impact. He, fortunately, managed to dodge 12 balls just by ''luck'' like always then, also by a streak of good luck, managed to defend against the rest, each time a ball hit him he would advance little by little as if he was struggling against them. The disciple was surprised by this but he didn''t dare attack lightly anymore, he created 2 other fire cyclone and soon they rushed at the poor bald man. Arthur looked at this while laughing inside as this bald daoist really deserved the Oscar prize for his act as there is no way in hell he is not acting, he was in the Heavenly Realm so struggling against a Mortal Realm is simply nonsense. But he got to give it to him, he really knew how to act, his expressions and actions are precise that even he would be fooled if he didn''t appraise him and see his Realm. The daoist, seeing all 3 directions blocked by the fire cyclones, showed a terrified face and created a metal sphere around himself to protect for the fire. In no time, the cyclone hit the metal sphere and began melting it easily, however, for some odd reason, metal was being created as the last one was melted, it was a continuous process and it lasted until the cyclone disappeared. The disciple was satisfied by his attack but when he saw the bald man come out of the sphere with only several burns on his arms and face, his eyes widened. The daoist was running at the disciple, who unconsciously backed away as he was weak in close combat, after all, he was a fire mage. While backing away, he threw fireballs at the incoming enemy non-stop but they all missed as he was not concentrating enough and couldn''t aim right. The bald man was extremely smart as he slowly chased the youth until he led him to the edges of the arena then punched him weakly making him fall from the stage, as per the rules said, if one of the two people fell out from the arena then he''s disqualified. And just like that, the daoist won after a long ''struggle'', as Arthur glanced at Tenhi, he too didn''t appear to be able to see through the bald man which indicated how much is good at acting. "This penniless Daoist is in need of gold... if you gave me you might have won, you are very strong after all" After he said that, the daoist strolled out of the arena then he resumed begging the people for some gold again, he didn''t seem to get tired of it. The next few matches weren''t worth watching, Arthur simply took a book and began reading leisurely, he would sometimes glance at the fights if they are a bit interesting, but except that he didn''t do anything. He already saw Lucy, Saly sitting in the back rows of the audience, Mary and Sonia were also present and sitting next to them, Saly was watching excitedly, as for Lucy, she too was observing the fights but she didn''t seem much interested, she would sometimes throw some glances at Arthur. She knew him best and immediately recognized him even with that robe, after all, there was only a few who were covering themselves and Zodiak''s robe was a bit unique and hard to miss. As he heard the next announcement, Arthur put down his book and stared at the arena, it was not yet his turn but the mysterious bandaged guy was going to fight right now and he was curious about his abilities, he was in the Spirit Realm but he emitted a strange and somewhat suffocating aura. His opponent was a participant from the nearby crowd, it was an old man in the Mortal Realm, he was LVL834 and had a long cane as a weapon. Unlike last time''s fight, this one ended very fast, the bandaged guy kept mumbling some incomprehensible words as he went to the arena, as for his opponent, he stayed silent and cast some barriers around him before the 20 seconds were up. The bandaged guy slowly lifted his hand which caused his white bandage to suddenly stretch out and with lightning speed strike the old man. Fortunately, the old man was an experienced mage and cast several barriers but they were easily broken by the fast bandage, it struck his rib cage and he was sent flying out of the arena. He was shocked and stared with disbelief at the bandaged guy, he was unwilling to lose like this but rules were rules and he didn''t dare protest, he could only angrily go out of the stage. The bandaged guy also went back and sat at a corner by himself. The matches resumed and after 2 more matches, Arthur name was announced, so he got up and headed for the arena, and as for his enemy, it was a disciple from the Ma Clan, he wanted to fight others but his luck was apparently rotten. His opponent was a tall muscular man, he wore the disciple robe of the Ma Clan, Arthur obviously didn''t know these disciples, him being Elder doesn''t mean he had to know all disciples and just by the look of it, this muscular man appeared to be a brainless fool who relied on strength too much. Arthur wanted to fight people like the bandaged guy or the daoist, not this one so he decided to finish fast and hope his next match would be against a better opponent. The 20 seconds were quickly up and the muscular man activated his defensive skill and rushed at Arthur. For someone with his build, he was quite decent but for Arthur he was slower than a turtle, he didn''t want to attract much attention by a one-hit win so he clashed with the muscular man and exchanged a few hits with him, although it was called an exchange, he evaded all the attacks and weakly used simple punches and kicks to overwhelm the muscular man. The poor man was pushed back again and again until finally, Arthur what seemed to be a strong wind wave to push the opponent out of the arena. For the spectators he only appeared to be a good fighter who did a surprise attack to win, they didn''t consider him that strong. Arthur then returned to his previous location and retrieved his book to read. After Arthur''s match, the girl from before fought a disciple from the Yun Family, although the disciple seemed a strong girl as she attacked with ice spears and formed several thick ice barriers to defend, she was easily defeated by an elegant kick from that girl. The crowd was just crazy over her as they were attracted by her charm, the cheers didn''t stop until a couple of minutes later when the next match began. At the 30th match, the first round of the tournament was over, and the participants were given a 30-minute pause, although they truly didn''t need it, it was only a lame pretext for them to arrange the name and the opponents. 30 minutes passed in the blink of an eye as Arthur was reading the book, he could finish the book in minutes but he enjoyed slowly reading a book, it''s just that he liked it more that way. The names and opponents were arranged and this time, Arthur''s name ''MoonStar'' was called at the first match which surprised him a little but it made him feel a bit more excited too. His opponent was a disciple from a clan yet again, it was a woman from the Yan Clan, and just by appraising her LVL, he guessed she is the strongest, she was LVL973, almost at the Spirit Realm and she had a small dagger on her waist. The two of them headed for the arena and stared at each other waiting for the 20 seconds to pass. Arthur wanted to fight her, of course not seriously but just have some fun, after all, that''s what he came for right? When the time was up, she didn''t attack him but continued to stare at him arrogantly, she saw him fight earlier but wasn''t that impressed, she held complete confidence in herself. As for Arthur, he slowly walked toward her while attacking with his wind attribute, although it was not as fast as dark magic or as destructive as the godly lightning or the ancient fire, it was not weak, after all, he had it in advanced, which is the peak unless he unlocks a special kind of wind or special skills. Invisible wind blades were attacking her from all directions, Arthur held back and didn''t create strong wind blades but if he did, they would, at best, hurt someone like an Elder, and just lightly, it would not even scratch someone like Anastassia. Sensing the incoming attacks, the woman struck the air with her hand which emitted a faint white light, and just by doing that, the wind blades vanished easily. Arthur had already guessed that attacks of that caliber wouldn''t work but he wanted to try it anyway. While she was defending against those wind blades, he was already rushing at her with a moderate speed and in just seconds he was near her, he struck with his palm aiming at her waist but she surprisingly evaded and rotated her body while sending a kick straight at his head. ''What a ruthless woman!'' Although it was only a match, a kick like that would surely kill, if he was the muscular man from earlier, for example, he would have certainly died by that kick. With a perfect reaction time, he raised his left hand defending against the incoming kick, but once he blocked it, he saw the woman throw her dagger exactly at his heart. She was really going for the kill, opponents can accidentally die so she didn''t care but what unfortunately for her, Arthur was no ordinary opponent. The dagger was caught by Arthur right arm, he could let it struck him and he would still receive no damage but that would bring too much attention, for a fast and piercing dagger like this one to not deal damage to him seemed rather suspicious. As the woman was going to retract her leg which was used to kick him in his head, she was surprised to see Arthur use his left hand and tightly hold her leg, no matter what how she struggled, she couldn''t free her leg, so she used her other leg to kick him again but this time, her leg emitted a strong white light followed by a tiger roar as it was directed at his abdomen. Arthur was smirking as he saw her try to free himself which was impossible, then she used her other leg but before it could reach him, he lifted her up in the air and slammed her body into the ground, if he used all his strength, then she would literally turn into a minced meat or a blood pool, so he used minimum strength. Despite doing that, the attack was ruthless as there was a small crater on the ground, he backed away 2 steps and watched as the woman got up from the ground with some blood leaking down from her lips. Her clothes were dirtied by the previous impact and her slender legs had a few bruises, she couldn''t help but feel a bit of fear from him as she couldn''t retaliate when he slammed her down, even someone such as her, who is the best disciple in the Yan Clan younger generation, couldn''t measure to his strength. She was quick-witted and understood that he had some immense brute strength, there was still a hand sign on her leg, it was the place he gripped her from, she even felt some pain coming from it, the bones were surely cracked. She stared intensely at Arthur, she previously thought he was not that strong after observing him in his last match but he surprisingly was a monster, he didn''t show off that much so she clearly underestimated him. The only way for her is to overcome his strength and strike him with a strong attack, she wasn''t a good mage to kite him or she could only use her speed to attack him. .. Diyun, the woman who was fighting Arthur, was now depressed as she discovered that he not only had immense strength, his speed was equal to her, she could only circle around while trying her best to evade his attacks. After 5 minutes of continuous struggle, an opportunity finally arose so she didn''t waste it as she appeared behind him and strike with her hand, which was doing a claw sign, behind that hand an illusory image of white and golden claws appeared. What Diyun didn''t know was that Arthur purposely created that opportunity for her to finish this, he had gotten bored quickly, she was not that strong, to begin with, and he wanted to fight the bald daoist and not this one. The claw attack was almost going to hit him when he half turned his body and used [Rotating punch] which was a martial art technique, it was not that strong but he didn''t want to beat her with just a normal punch to not attract the attention of Tenhi, he didn''t want to bother by him later on. Just as the name indicated, [Rotating punch] was a punch which had a rotating Qi inside it and it would create something similar to a tornado wave from the punch. The two attacks struck each other and strong winds were created from the impact, a heavy sound resulted from the clash and after just a few seconds, Diyun was sent flying out of the arena. She struck the wall of the Colosseum and fell on the ground, she coughed some mouthfuls of blood before being helped by her fellow disciples, they carried her to their clans Area while giving Arthur some furious gazes, but he completely ignored them and left the arena. Chapter 62 - 62 : A Beautiful Yet Dangerous Lotus The next matches were slightly better than the ones on the next round as it the fighters were better, but that''s to be expected considering they won the first round. There were martial artists, mages, and some dual classes but the most common one was mages. It is known that not all people can use ''Qi'', so that''s why there was not a lot of martial artists from the participants. Of course there can be some fighters and people who use normal close combat skills using mana, but the techniques which required Qi are stronger, this didn''t apply on all cases but generally, the techniques and skills with the Qi are better. Most of the participants were mages, and that''s totally normal as mages can kite and even without Qi, people can still deal a lot of damage and possibly one shot someone. So although there were people unable to use Qi, they relied on their talent for magic to become great mages and came here to try their luck and show their flashy skills. The matches proceeded normally, the bandaged guy and the pretty woman won easily like the last round. As for the bald daoist who was named Gobu, he won exactly like last time, he struggled against a girl from the Yun Clan before pushing her off the arena, simple yet effective. The audience opinion about him seemed to decrease, they didn''t like his way of fighting as he was always evading and didn''t attack, he would sneakily come from behind and strike so they kept booing him. Very soon, the 15 matches were done and the 15 winners were given another half an hour pause. Since there were 15 people, there is a person who would be left alone without an opponent so they decided to let him fight against a random person from the winners of this round. This person was decided by luck, and apparently, it was a disciple from the Ma clan, it was a short girl who appeared to be shy but Arthur knew she was powerful, just previously she nearly one hit her opponent, too fierce! As for Arthur, his opponent was a person from the Xi Clan. The matches were even more exciting, the skills and techniques used damaged the arena, but fortunately, it was a large one so it didn''t cause any problems. Arthur''s match was decent, he won again by attacking consistently with his kicks and punches while using some wind cyclone and tornados every now and then to suppress the enemy. It worked perfectly, plus he was weaker than Diyun so it didn''t take him long to lose The third round was finished after an hour of fighting, the shy small girl won against a random person who also won in the third round, he was disqualified because he lost to her and she proceeded to the fourth round. Same thing for Gobu, the bandaged guy, and that pretty girl. There were 7 participants left, the girl from the Ma clan, Arthur and the 3 other monsters and 2 final people, one was a girl from the Yun Family while the other was the dark robed person from earlier. Arthur was surprised when he saw this dark robed person proceed to the fourth round, nonetheless, he had already decided not to let him leave this island alive, that''s for sure. This time''s competition was surprising as usually, the people proceeding to the fourth round and 70% disciples from the clan, but this time, the majority were participants coming from outside. .. Yet another half an hour was given and the names and opponents were arranged. Arthur''s opponent was the little shy girl from the Ma clan, and surprisingly, the bandaged guy and the pretty girl who was named ''SilentFlower'' were against each other, as for Gobu, he was against the guy from the Xi Clan, while the girl from the Yun family will fight later against a random winner. Arthur''s name was called first followed by Mia, the shy girl''s name, she kept an embarrassed look as she slowly walked to the arena. Arthur also headed for the arena and waited for the time to pass so the fight can begin. To be honest, he wasn''t interested in fighting her, well fighting anyone from the Ma clan generally, because it''s needless, he wanted to fight others, why not was he not put against that guy from the Xi Clan, he appeared to be pretty good, his purple fire was very strong and his attack seemed accurate and his decisions were perfect. Arthur observed him from the very beginning and was a bit interested in him, unfortunately, he will lose against Gobu, that''s for sure. The 20 seconds soon passed and Mia rushed at Arthur using [Petal Footsteps], she was fast as she dashed towards him while throwing her punch at him. Arthur easily blocked that punch with his palms but what special about this girl is that she is fast at attacking, she continuously attacked him as if she was boxing, but no matter how fast her fists were, they were unable to pass through his palms. With each punch, he noticed her attacking speed increase a by a small amount and after dozens of punch, it became incredibly fast, this girl was really talented, if he was not her opponent but someone else, maybe she would have won, of course, if her opponent is not Arthur or either of the 3 other monsters. Arthur decided to finish it fast so he lightly kicked her abdomen and sent her flying, he defended from the very beginning so Mia gained a bit of confidence but his high-speed kick which was like lightning surprised her and she couldn''t react in time to evade or block. She somehow managed to stabilize her body at the edges of the arena and crouched down holding her abdomen and showing a pained expression. She only groaned for a couple of seconds before she adjusted her body and stared at Arthur with fear and excitement. Mia loved fighting, especially when she met opponents stronger than her, so she rushed at Arthur yet again, but unfortunately for her, he wasn''t in a mood to fight her so with a speed much faster than her, he rushed at her and while doing that, four walls of flames were created around her, completely shocking her as she thought he was only good at wind magic but those flames were clearly purple. After he did that, he willed them to encircle her and strike her at the same time, however, she clever and jumped high in the sky to avoid them but that only resulted in being struck in the back by Arthur, who jumped behind her with lightning speed and attacked her without giving her enough time to react. This time she couldn''t stop her body from hitting the ground out of the arena, as she stared at him with shock, she was depressed as if this wasn''t a tournament she would have continued the fight, it''s such a pity, she pouted and headed back to her clan''s area. Arthur walked back to his previous place and gazed at the arena waiting for the next fight, he really wanted to watch the fight between SilentFlower and the bandaged guy. Luckily, the next match was that fight so he relaxed his body and stared at the two of them, he really wished for something to eat right now, it''s as if he was in a cinema about to watch a movie. The two of them soon faced each other, the bandaged guy named Tianqi kept mumbling some nonsense while SilentFlower coldly stared at him, this time she unsheathed her double blades and prepared herself as she knew her opponent was simple like the others. Those bandages were very fast and strong, the pierced several barriers like they were paper and even broke bones easily. Just as the waiting time was done, the bandaged guy used the same attack to strike the girl, the bandage headed for her with fast speed but this time, it was blocked. SilentFlower elegantly slashed her double swords at the bandage, her attack contained a hint of ice yet when Arthur saw it, it was clearly ice but it had a pink color. The bandages were cut this time and some of it was deflected to the site, as for her two slashes, they transformed into two ice arrows which were aimed at the bandaged guy, their speed was faster than the bandage and they emitted a freezing aura, Arthur could feel it from that big distance. The bandaged guy didn''t move but the bandages got left his body and created a thick wall which blocked the arrows. The wall was so thick that even after the arrows struck it deep into it, it couldn''t pass through, no matter how much bandages left his body, they never ended. SilentFlower didn''t stay still and had already appeared near Tianqi who didn''t seem surprised or startled by her speed, the bandages were already around him, forming another wall from that direction while some of them transformed into sharp spikes and attacked Silent Flower. She sent several slashes at the spikes and avoided some of them, and in just seconds, she was in front of the thick wall of the bandages, she crossed both the blades and muttered something with a very low voice. The crossed blades shined for a second before the ground turned into a weird colored ice and the thick wall was covered with ice, then with a hack from her, it crumbled. The legs of Tianqi were covered in some ice as it was the cause of her previous attack, he was greatly slowed and before he could back away, the wall already crumbled and Silent Flower slashed with both the blades in a weird manner and to make matter worse, 3 ice arrows came flying at him from behind. She was really strong and capable, not only did she managed to break through his strong defense, she even counter-attacked and managed to attack him from both sides, she was really powerful. With not enough time to defend against those two incoming attacks, Tianqi lifted both of his hands and the white bandages in his hands turned black then they blocked the two slashes of Silent Flower, they wrapped themselves around the blades with insane speed and froze them in mid-air. Of the 3 arrows, one of them managed to strike his back as for the 2 others, they were blocked by a black bandage. The arrow didn''t heavily injure him, nonetheless, blood leaked out from the bloody bandages and he couldn''t help but become alarmed. He discovered that this was not a normal ice, the arrow dissipated and the ice invaded his body trying to freeze him from the inside, even when he tried to fight back he could barely hold on, after all, he had to fight her back too. Seeing the arrow hit its target, Silent Flower smirked and back away 10 steps, the bandages were no longer wrapped around the blades. When she looked at the bandaged guy, she frowned a little before regaining her usual expression. The bandages on his head came off a little and showed a blonde hair and a blue eye, unfortunately, only part of his head was shown so apart from his right eye and half of his hair, nothing else was shown. Even Arthur was shocked, he expected an ugly person behind the bandages or at least some hideous scars and not some blondie with a blue eye, maybe the other part of his face was injured, who knows? What intrigued him more was the bandages and the ice, he was the fight with his blood boiling. Very quickly, all the bandages turned black and some violet fog was coming out of it, the aura was chilling and he emanated an intimidating pressure. Silent Flower was not surprised by this, she expected him to have something up his sleeve and it seemed he finally became serious so it''s time for her to become serious too. She put her blades on their sheath then she drew some strange symbols in the air, and in just 10 or so seconds, a blue circle with a star inside it and some strange runes appeared mid-air where she was waving her hands a moment ago, the runes and symbols were pink coloured and began to shine brightly until it vanished inside her chest. And at that moment, all the arena ground turned was frozen by the ice and she transformed into ice, literally, all her clothes were gone and she turned into an ice pink woman, well it was pink yet purple, a little of the two, she held both of her blades which turned into ice too but they were normal ice and charged at Tianqi. She really emitted chilling cold and even the audience began feeling it, her speed more than doubled and with but a simple slash of hers, a big ice wave would be created, it was terrifying. Tianqi also wasn''t weak, his aura was not suppressed by her ice and they both clashed creating explosions and craters all over the arena which was already frozen. The only place which wasn''t frozen was where he stood, and whenever he moved, the ground he stepped on would either be melted or the ice would disappear, he became more and more ferocious as the battle continued. They were equal in power but because she somehow could use the cold environment and the frozen arena, she held a slight advantage, ice spears or arrows would appear out of nowhere to attack him, it was endless, furthermore, she used strong skills to overwhelm him but his black bandages were like a vacuum, sucking out the power of her attacks and making it almost non existent. It continued like this for almost 10 minutes when suddenly, Silent Flower backed away and stared at Tianqi angrily, he was pretty persistent and even with her personal ice domain, she couldn''t win, it was almost time for it to run out so she could only use her strongest attack and gamble on it. .. Tenhi, who was enjoying the fight from way earlier, was smiling as he looked at Silent Flower ''To be able to create an ice domain since a young age, truly a genius ha ha ha.... however, she''s unlucky to be against that guy'' Then he looked at Tianqi with a somewhat interested gaze, he too didn''t know what those bandages were even with vast knowledge and it would be a lie to say he wasn''t interested, maybe if he won he''ll ask him to join and then ask him about it. Silent Flower threw both of her blades up in the air, they floated a couple of meters above her head, she then closed her eyes and lifted her hands and soon, all the ice in the arena began to concentrate at the same location which was where the blades floated. Tianqi looked at this from afar and didn''t waste this opportunity to use his black bandages to secretly attack her, a lightning fast back spike came flying at her but it was completely blocked by an invisible barrier. He continued doing that but it didn''t work as the invisible barrier blocked everything, and after 30 seconds passed, the ice began forming and its coldness seemed about to freeze the whole Colosseum, some spectators were even trembling while others stared with awe at the big pink lotus flower with now was formed. it 70meters in height and 10 meters in length, pretty big and beautiful, truly too beautiful yet it emitted a freezing aura, Arthur stared at it with curiosity and excitement. He wished to fight her as she was really strong, just this fight made him not regret participating in this competition. Tianqi backed away several meters as he felt the terrifying pressure and coldness coming out of the big lotus, it was very dangerous so he had to take the appropriate measures. The bandages began unfolding and soon a black sword formed in front of him, it was floating and had some black bandages in its hilt, the rest of it was made from the violet fog but now it seemed much denser, the sword was created in an instant but you could notice Tianqi staggering as he created it, it seems the process to create it quickly did something to him, maybe a backlash of some sort? Silent Flower then mumbled some final words to finish her attack then waved her hand toward Tianqi and in the next moment, the ice lotus flower was thrown at him, it wasn''t that fast but nor that slow either, although it''s slow, Tianqi had no place to escape and he didn''t intend to do so, he gritted his teeth and willed the dark and violet sword to charge at the incoming attack. Compared to the big lotus, the sword was very small, but at the moment of the impact, an ear-deafening sound was created and the arena split in half, strong waves of ice were emitted from the lotus as for the sword, the violet fog formed some sort of invisible wall which stopped the lotus from advancing further. Albeit the violet fog creating a transparent wall, the lotus began suppressing it and slowly advancing toward Tianqi, but surprisingly, 2 other similar swords flew from his position and struck the lotus completely stopping it from advancing. The clash remained like that for half a minute, and just 30 seconds, the arena was broken in half with a huge crater formed under the impact of the attacks and a ringing sound was coming from the lotus. It suddenly lit up and exploded creating a big explosion, only a small portion was left from the arena and the 3 swords seemed to vanish. Some of the spectators were hit by the impact too and some had some parts frozen, Arthur glanced at Lucy to check but nothing happened, a simple barrier was created by her which protected her and the nearby people from any harm. Dust was around the arena, blocking the view of almost everyone and the had to wait a couple of seconds for it to vanish and went it did, they saw 2 figures, one was kneeling on the ground while coughing blood non-stop, there was even a bloody wound in his leg, while the other was struggling to get up from the ground while having her hand burned up and there was a deep scar near her shoulder. At a closer look, the bandaged guy was still in the arena but Silent Flower was out of it, although she first tried to get up, once she saw the wall of the Colosseum so close, she knew she lost so she stopped struggling, as for Tianqi, he breathed heavily as he swallowed a couple of pills and tended to his wounds. He was very hurt and now you can see his face as he had an exceptionally handsome face with blue eyes, small nose and straight nose and sword-shaped eyebrows, and a blonde long hair. His face was pale as blood leaked out of his mouth, he soon realized his face shown so very quickly white bandages were covering him again and he returned to his mummy appearance. Chapter 63 - 63 : The Penniless Daoist, Gobu The battle between Tianqi and Silent Flower was so intense that the crowd stayed silent after that last explosion, it took them a couple of minutes to realize what just happened. The cheers were loud as they called out both their names, however, Tianqi walked back with some mustered strength, as for Silent Flower, she layed on the ground for some time before she could stand up and walk back, she gritted her teeth and was unwilling to accept defeat but she was sent out of the arena and she can''t refute that. .. Due to how damaged the arena became, the other match will be held up in an hour. Some disciples of the Locus Clan came and started fixing the arena, it didn''t even take them 10 minutes to fix it so it''s confusing on why they said 1 hour. Anyways, Arthur didn''t just stay still, instead, he surprisingly walked next to Silent Flower, who was tending her wounds and said "Here, drink this" He said that while stretching his hand which hat the Miraculous Healing Potion. The reason he decided to give her and not Tianqi is that she seemed more approachable? He seemed to be the kind of guy to not like others, Arthur even guessed that he would be ignored if he talked to him. Silent Flower was lifted her head and saw a black robed person covering his head, handing her fist-sized red Potion, but she didn''t take it and stared at him with a confused look. Seeing her act like this, Arthur put the Potion on the ground then went back to where he was, he only did that because he wanted to form a friendly relationship with her, someone who can use a special kind of ice is by no means normal, she must have a powerful backing or something similar, if not then she perhaps was born with that kind of ice. Maybe if they became friends, she could teach him how to use that ice. He didn''t bother with her anymore and retrieved a book to read until the next match is up. Silent Flower frowned at his actions and didn''t pick the potion until 20 minutes later, she didn''t know why a complete stranger would do this but she couldn''t find a reason he would hurt her, a direct reason that is, he may want something in return but since he didn''t say it then it doesn''t matter right? First, she drank just a little bit to confirm it''s not poison, but just when it invaded her body, a warm feeling covered her and her wounds were healing much faster. Surprised by this, she gulped the Potion straight away which made her wounds heal at an incredible speed. Just after 5 minutes of consuming it, all her wounds healed except that serious one on her shoulder, although it didn''t fully heal, it was less painful. She gazed at the empty bottle with widened eyes then she shifted her gaze to Arthur, who was leisurely sitting and reading a book. She doesn''t want to fill indebted to someone so she slowly walked next to him and hesitantly said "T-Thank you, I owe you a fav-vour.." Arthur lowered the book and chuckled before replying "No problem, no problem! Ah ah, for that favor, I would like to use it now.." Startled by this, Silent Flower began regretting even coming to thank him, she guessed he would ask for something precious or ridiculous so she clenched her fists and retorted "W-What do you want?" "Hai! Let''s become friends then.. what do you say?" She stayed silent for an unknown amount of time before she spoke with a low voice "Isn''t it e-early to become friends? I just met you..." Hearing this, Arthur waved his hand as if he was annoyed and said "Ah.. then consider it a gift.. no need to return the favor." Silent Flower would feel guilty if she did that, her honor and pride wouldn''t let her do that. ''He just wants to be your friend! What are you afraid of?'' After successfully reassuring herself, she stretched her hand as if she wanted to shake his and said "Pleased to become your f-friend.." Arthur laughed heartily and immediately replied while shaking her hand rapidly "Ha ha ha, the pleasure is mine, sit sit!" He indicated at the chair next to him, telling her to sit as he wanted to chat with her about that ice, he was very curious about it. However, from a while back, he could feel killing intent coming from the audience, he didn''t dare look as he knew Lucy was gazing at him with piercing eyes. It''s not like he was flirting with Silent Flower or wanted her to become his woman, he approached her for different reasons, but it seems Lucy misunderstood or is being jealous for no apparent reason. .. From the very beginning, Silent Flower impression on Arthur was not that bad, she just felt he was a bit strong as she saw him fight earlier, she didn''t think he could win against her, but he was decently strong and after he helped her, he seemed like an friendly and kind person, although it seemed strange as to why he covered his face. The two chatted for a couple of minutes before they stopped, they only talked about simple things like the participants and the bandaged guy, Arthur discovered that it would be hard to make her speak of her strange ice so he stopped talking and resumed reading his book. The silence was awkward but he didn''t mind that and acted normally, as for her, she closed her eyes and seemed to be trying to treat her shoulder. The one hour was finally done and the next match was announced, Arthur was extremely overjoyed as he heard the announcement as his opponent was Gobu. He finally gotten what he wished for, he really wanted to see what will the great actor do when he realises his opponent has seen through him. Arthur jumped on the new arena followed by Gobu who acted the same. Arthur didn''t know how strong a Heavenly Realm person is, but he knew he is strong, at least compared to others, however, he didn''t dare to be reckless so he decided to fight seriously, he would only use Makaze, if it gets hard then he will use his dark magic and the others. He wouldn''t use his full speed as he it but he would fight seriously, at least he wouldn''t hold back his attacks. Soon, the two of them were on the arena, Gobu was barely standing as if he would fall at any moment, as if Arthur, he already took a special sword stance while holding Makaze. .. Anastassia, who was watching the next match with depressed eyes because her clan was out was shocked once her eyes landed on that black katana. There is no way there are other swords similar to Arthur''s, with just one look, she was sure it was the same sword, so the one holding it must be Arthur.. ''damned fool! Why would he disguise himself to join?'' She was irritated because he not only participated disguised but also because he beat the only clan member still in the competition, plus, why would he even participate, with his strength, it''s a piece of cake to win the first tournament and even the second. .. Once the 20 seconds were up, Arthur used [Petal Footsteps] to rush at Gobu, who was dumbstruck by the speed of his opponent. The speed Arthur displayed was just slightly slower than Anastassia, so Gobu who was preparing himself to start the act was caught off guard. As he was rushing at the daoist, Arthur already used [Lone sword] 2 times and sent 2 slashes ahead of him. This time, the bald man didn''t dare act and retrieved a golden shield from his storage. It was a big gold shield which was 1 meter in height and 10 centimeters thick, it looked dazling as a bright light came out of it. Even the calm Tenhi who was leisurely watching the fight was stunned 2 times in less than 5 seconds, first because of the fast and powerful attacks of Arthur which were very fast, then by the golden shield, he couldn''t help but mumbly "Artifact..!" Once the two slashes of Arthur struck the shield, they vanished, it was not cut or destroyed, and that greatly shocked Arthur, however, he didn''t dare back away, instead he increased his speed even more. Even if it was a shield, it was not a normal one for it to be able to block a slash from [Lone Sword], it''s true he didn''t use all his strength but he used quite an amount that would even injure a Spirit Realm. With his godly speed, he appeared behind the still startled Gobu and thrusted his sword at his back with accuracy and fast speed. Somehow, the golden shield which was put in front of Gobu, appeared behind him and blocked the thrust of Makaze, but this time, it didn''t stay put, but it was pushed back a couple of meters, pushing Gobu with it. Although astonished that Makaze couldn''t go through the shield, Arthur didn''t stop there, instead, he used Natural Lightning which descended from the sky and kept striking Gobu. The bald daoist was completely with what just happened, he still couldn''t believe what he is seeing, he just thought of Arthur as a regular participant, maybe slightly stronger than others but he by no means did he think he was a Heavenly Realm like him. As to why he thought he is Heavenly Realm? Well, obviously it''s because with that kind of speed and power of attacks! Only people in that Realm or above could perform like that and show mind-numbing strength. He desperately dodged those lightning but a few of them hit him, it didn''t hurt for a couple of seconds until he felt his inside twist a bit and the pain followed that. With no way but to take out his few treasures, he retrieved yet another shield which was purple and held it in the air, he then quickly mumbled some few words and the purple shield floated above him, completely blocking the streaks of lightning. Then he flew high in the sky, to avoid the incoming Arthur, but the latter was coming at him even when he flew and his speed seemed to increase even more. Although the daoist''s speed was not that fast, he had that golden shield which would teleport at every place Arthur slashed or thrusted his sword, the priest would be sent flying 50 or so meters until he stopped and adjusted his body. He couldn''t even counter-attack as Arthur speed was too fast for him to be able to accurately hit him. The golden shield protected him from all direction except above, but he had the purple one to do the job from that direction, they two shield had similar runes and symbols except the purple one was a bit smaller. Arthur increased his speed even more until he was like a black blur, the audience was flabbergasted as they saw the flying priest get pushed a couple of meters every second by an invisible force. Arthur tried his best to attack him but the shield kept blocking so he finally raised his speed and strength to the max and decided to use powerful skills. The Godly lightning would take 10 seconds to hit which is a big amount of time in a battle like this one, he first prepared a Godly lightning which will be followed by a 10m ball of ancient fire to strike Gobu from above then he flew around Gobu with his full speed making the enemy unable to locate his exact position. Even the calm Tenhi stood up from his chair and stared with widened eyes at Arthur, even him someone in the Deity Realm can barely keep up with him, much less Gobu who was depressed right now as he never thought he would encounter such an enemy in the first tournament. As the 10 seconds were up, a white thick streak of lightning came from above, as it was descending, it fused with the ball of red fire and transformed into a 15m red and white arrow, it''s speed was outstanding as it struck the purple shield, Arthur also appeared in front of Gobu and used [Dark Burst] to slash at the dumbfounded bald man. Unfortunately, even with his godly speed, the golden shield appeared in front of the slash and blocked it but this time, but the impact of the slash and the arrow on both of the shield made a deafening explosion. The shockwaves were ravaging as even though they are fighting high up in the air, the shockwaves broke the arena and the colosseum, some of the nearby spectators fell unconscious or were sent flying from the power of the impact. The golden shield managed to block that powerful strike of Arthur but the purple shield only lasted for a second before it broke in two, almost all the arrow vanished, it was now only a 2m arrow, it struck the pale-faced Gobu who created a metal shield from his magic just in time to block the arrow but it was not that effective as he was sent flying down until he struck the broke arena. He was quite lucky as he hit the center of it, but it was broken into pieces and a huge crater was created from that impact, it couldn''t be called an arena right now, it was just scattered rocks. Gobu barely managed to stand up as there was burn marks on his face and shoulders and blood leaked out of his lips, he stared at Arthur with a anger and some fear, that arrow was reduced to just 2 meters but the damage it did to him was serious. He could feel some of his organs to being melted by that fire and his bones were crushed by that lightning. Not only his opponent was a monster in close-combat, he was a freaking Wizard and could use a special type of fire and lightning. Arthur was delighted by the outcome, he expected no less from that arrow, now that the purple shield is gone, the streaks of nature lightning resumed attacking Gobu who started dodging. He looked more pitiful than ever, with a burnt clothes and sorry state, he previously was acting but now he was dodging for real, he couldn''t help but laugh at himself as he wanted to try fooling Arthur too. Arthur didn''t just stay in the air, he rushed at the bald man with his fastest speed and attacked with slashes and kicks, he didn''t want to win by pushing him out of the arena he wanted to defeat him normally, furthermore, the golden shield annoyed him and he really wanted to break into to, but unfortunately he was unable too, even with a slash supported by [Dark burst]. He appeared behind Gobu and was ready to slash yet again when he felt extremely heavy and was slowed down by a huge margin, and to make thing worse, the golden shield appeared in front of him and brightly shined then the elephant symbol which was imprinted in it seemed to move and an illusory image of the creature came out of it and slammed into him. It felt like he was struck by a mountain as he was sent flying, for someone with his defense to be sent flying like this was really shocking, that attack was very powerful as he almost fell on the ground out of the ''arena'', so long as he flying, even if it''s out of the arena range then it''s alright but if he touched the ground then he''s out. Some of his bones appeared damaged, but it was nothing serious, fortunately. Gobu, who thought the attack now was enough to win, stared at Arthur with eyes full of disbelief as he really couldn''t believe this was a person in front of him. The golden shield is a strange artifact he had gotten his hands on and it is by no means weak, it can defend against attacks from a person in the Deity Realm and it''s offensive is great too, that attack can slaughter Heavenly Realm people like chicken so why was he not dead? It only left one conclusion and it''s that Arthur is certainly a Deity Realm. Tenhi could not calm down, this fight was not like anything he had seen before, that previous attack of the golden shield could even hurt him, and what''s with that speed of the black-robed man? He began to feel suspicious about the two of them and was on full alert, he must investigate properly their identities. Chapter 64 - 64 : Madman Arthur stabilized his body and stared intensely at the golden shield, the previous attack was powerful and he really wanted to have a similar shield, however, he was not going to rob it or murder Gobu then take it as he had good ones in his storage too, they just didn''t entirely suit his style of combat. this time, he didn''t rush at Gobu, instead, he put his katana back at its sheath then flew a bit high in the sky. Gobu was surprised to see this strange act of Arthur, he knew something was fishy and he was probably changing tactic, nonetheless, he didn''t budge from his position and glared cautiously at his opponent. .. Arthur started concentrating and in just seconds, several dark red fireballs were created, each ball was was 3m and emitted some intense heat, in just seconds there were dozens of those balls. Gobu was petrified as he felt a shiver down his spines, that 5m fire ball from earlier almost melted him, so when he saw this many, he couldn''t help but feel afraid. Arthur then threw all the balls at the same time toward Gobu, he made sure they struck him from all direction while Godly lightning struck him from above. The poor daoist clenched his hands and formed several metal walls around him hoping for the best but they were easily melted and by the fireballs, they didn''t hold them even for a millisecond as they passed through it as if it was air. Fortunately, the shield was very fast, even with all the balls attacking from all directions, it would teleport instantly and block it, but with several hitting at the same time, it was practically impossible to defend against all at the same time no matter how fast it is. None of the balls hit Gobu, but some of the fire landed on his body and burned him a little, although it was just a bit of the fireball that managed to hit him, it was enough to cause damage to him, especially when several bits of fire landed on him. Even to a strong destructive fire such as the ancient fire, the golden shield was able to defend which astonished Arthur, but even seeing that, he didn''t stop his bombarding. The Godly lightning was even more destructive than the ancient fire, but it''s only con is that it''s slow so with Gobu''s speed, he managed to evade it, but it caused more flames to touch him, his state became even more miserable as he was almost naked, his ragged clothes were almost fully burned and he had much more burn marks each time the fire touched him. The bombarding continued until Gobu finally fell into despair and yelled "I give up, I give up, stop! This penniless daoist cannot fight anymore, have mercy!" Arthur smirked when he heard this and stopped, he knew that the tactic he just used was very useful and if it continued a couple more minutes, he would''ve been able to defeat him and seriously injure him but it seemed Gobu was wise and knew when to give up or else the consequences would have been dire. He could have used [Dark Magic] but he didn''t, he didn''t want to show it for several reasons so he refrained from using it yet. The arrow from earlier did some considerable damage to Gobu and as time passed, he felt that his insides are melting and each time the fire touched him, the pain became even more agonizing, he could not hold off anymore, if he continued, it would have been life-threatening, he wasn''t dumb enough to fight to death with this madman. ... Silent Flower, who was not that interested in the fight from the very beginning, closed her eyes and was tending her injured shoulder, but once the fight started and she heard the cries of surprise of the spectators, she opened her eyes only to see a shocking scene. Arthur''s speed was so fast that she literally couldn''t follow it and his attacks were extremely strong, she also was stunned by those shields. Once the big arrow struck the purple shield and broke it in two, and the huge impact happened, her eyes and mode were wide open as she stared at the scene in disbelief, she previously thought of Arthur as a somewhat strong participant but not a monster. Even if she used her ice domain she can''t defend against that arrow, no way in hell, she would die miserably, her opinion of him greatly changed as she stared at him with awe and curiosity. When she saw him bombarding the poor daoist, she felt a bit fearful of those flames as even though some distance were separating them, she still felt the strong heat and pressure coming out of it, Gobu was really lucky to have a shield like that or he would have been roasted by those fireballs. As the fight was done, nothing was left of the arena, even some of the walls of the Colosseum were either melted or destroyed by the impact of the explosions and fireballs, to say that Arthur is weak right now is just spouting non sense, previously none thought he is that strong but now they believed he will surely win this tournament. This battle was even more ravaging and shocking than the previous, the damage was done to the surroundings numerous times higher than the last one, at least previously some part of the stage was left intact, however, the arena looked became miserable with several big craters scattered in all its corners, it couldn''t be called an arena anymore. Gobu was breathing heavily as he summoned back his golden shield and panted, he walked back while staggering and holding his chest, he would cough some blood every now and then. Arthur wasn''t feeling tired or anything like that, that attack previously did hurt him a bit with his illogical recovering speed as the injury was healing at fast speed, it would be fine in 10 minutes or so. He went back to his previous location and was going to resume reading as if nothing happened when all of a sudden, an explosion resounded in the ''arena''. The black-robed man who was going to fight the disciple from the Xi Clan was floating a couple of meters in the air while removing his black hood. It revealed a very sinister and hideous face full of scars, the man was hysterically laughing and staring at Tenhi. Arthur thought they were here for a reason but he didn''t think they would act up this early, this person emitted the familiar aura the people from ''Medusa'' did, well not all of them but the ones which were a bit more experienced in using [Dark magic]. When he appraised him earlier he discovered his LVL to be 561, it was not that high compared to the other participant but for some odd reason, he kept winning, he didn''t use dark magic earlier not to alert him as he didn''t want to attract his attention, he wanted to know what they were here for, last time they attacked Belic and Robin for some item, so they must be here for a reason. Although it was only one guy, he was sure there are some others hiding somewhere, each time he met paths with them there was always more than one person. Tenhi furrowed his brows when he saw the ugly man laughing while staring at him, then he sensed danger, he suddenly disappeared from his sit and appeared high up in the sky, and in his previous location was a dozen of black daggers than appeared out of nowhere. Arthur also this process and was a bit shocked when he saw the dark blue daggers, it seemed this person was using [Chaotic dark magic] which was the first evolution of dark magic, also, why were the daggers speed very fast? He appraised the ugly man again and was shocked to see his LVL, it was literally increasing at a rapid pace. When he appraised it was already 1403 but only 10 seconds passed and it was 1600+, this was insane and incomprehensible. The aura around the ugly man was becoming more and more overbearing as he began attacking Tenhi and everyone else, the dark magic attacks were aimed randomly at everyone and his Lvl kept increasing rapidly. His attacks were so fast that he killed more than a hundred spectators in just seconds, even some of the nearby participants got struck by the dark magic and fell soundlessly on the ground. The area of the clans was protected by the clan masters as they formed a barrier to protect from the dark magic but it didn''t hold much at is began shattering when the attacks become more ferocious. In less than a minute, the appraisal showed Arthur that this man was already in the Heavenly Realm, however, his aura didn''t stop rising, instead, it kept increasing even faster which shocked him. He became full alert, he didn''t know how much it would increase but it didn''t it would stop soon. The clan masters already retreated and none attacked the ugly mad man, dark magic chains, spears, spikes were beeing created endlessly from all around him as he threw them at everyone while he kept laughing. Suddenly, Tenhi appeared in front of him and struck with his fist, but to his surprise, it was blocked by the ugly black-robed man, he unexpectedly managed to react in time and form a dark blue shield in front of the punch, but it was not able to hold on much as it shattered and the fist sent him flying until he struck the Colosseum wall. .. ''Astrith!'' As Arthur called out for Astrith, the blue lightning beast appeared and dashed towards Lucy and Saly where at, he was previously instructed to protect Saly and this ugly man was dangerous so he had to send Astrith. Astrith was fast and appeared near Saly and Lucy in seconds, he took Saly, Sonia, and Mary and flew out of the Colosseum with lightning speed, as for Lucy, she appeared next to Arthur, who was staring at the ugly madman. He doesn''t have anything to do with him but anyone who wanted him dead is his enemy, no matter who he is, maybe this man wasn''t aiming for him, but he sure as hell seemed non-caring about the lives of who he killed. Tensui, which was the name of the ugly man, stood up from the ground and continued to laugh although he was sent flying by Tenhi not oo long ago. This time, he dashed at the middle-aged man while wielding a dark blue sword in both of his hands, he madly slashed out at Tenhi while sending the random dark magic attacks to his surroundings. The clans already evacuated and only the clan masters were flying not too far away and observing the situation, as for the spectators, more than half of them died and the rest managed to escape from the Colosseum. The sight was gory and nauseating, blood was all over the walls and ground and hundreds of lifeless corpses were laying on the ground. The appraisal of Arthur was still ON, and by this time, he already reached the Deity Realm, the madman was fighting with Tenhi, albeit being sent flying much time and being struck by numerous skills of the middle-aged man, he would always get up and strike again. At some point, Tenhi couldn''t suppress him anymore and felt like Tensui''s aura become even more ferocious, he didn''t know why ''Medusa'' would attack him or his competition suddenly but he didn''t have the time to think about it right now. Obviously, someone with a clan like his and a strength in the Deity Realm, he knew about the existence of Medusa and he knew there was a lot of strong people in it, but what was confusing as to why they would act against him now. "Careful, he''s in the Deity Realm and his strength is still increasing.." Arthur warned Lucy before they engaged in the fight, unlike him, she wasn''t immune to the dark magic so a strike from him would hurt her and he knew he couldn''t convince her to escape. Very soon, both him and Lucy rushed at the madman who was fighting Tenhi, Lucy waved her hand and several big magma balls were thrown at Tensui while Arthur unsheathed Makaze and launched [Lone Sword] 5 times using all his strength. 5 dark arcs made from the skills were aimed at Tensui and rushed at him with a speed faster than Lucy''s magma balls. Tensui, who was busy fighting Tenhi, was surprised by the sudden sneak-attack and was barely able to dodge 3 slashes before the 2 others hit him and made 2 deep cuts, one in his abdomen while the other in his shoulder. He was shocked by the force of the slashes but he didn''t have time to think about it as several big magma balls were coming at him, they were fortunately slow enough for him to dodge but just as he dodged, a silver-haired woman appeared at his right and sent a kick at his waist. The strength of the kick was so strong that it shattered some of his bones and sent him flying with so much speed that he couldn''t even stabilize his body in mid-air, for him, a person in the Deity Realm to be damaged like this with just a kick is astonishing, however, it didn''t just end like this. He was sent flying in the air by that kick which was instantly followed by a black shadow appearing above him and using both of its arms to strike his stomach and sending him flying to the ground yet again, but this strike was more powerful than the first one as he coughed blood continuously, his insides were totally crushed. Arthur not only used all his strength, he even slipped some natural energy in that strike, it invaded Tensui''s stomach and damaged his organs, but surprisingly he was very tough and had a high defense for some reason, maybe because he was in the Deity Realm? The poor ugly man struck the ground and a huge crater appeared, Tenhi who was fighting the black-robed man was caught off guard by the attacks of those two and was more surprised when he saw them continuously attack Tensui and send him flying numerous times as if he was a ball. Arthur descended and stood next to Lucy as he stared at the huge hole in the ground where Tensui landed, he didn''t know if he was unconscious or not but that last strike surely damaged him greatly. Soon enough, a hand stretched out from the hole and a pale Tensui appeared, blood came out of his mouth and eyes but for some reason, his aura never ceased to increase, there was even black fog coming out of him and there were dark symbols shining in his back. .. Tensui was angry, he didn''t expect those two to be this strong, it''s true Arthur demonstrated amazing power earlier but he didn''t pay that much attention as he was busy channeling the spell. In fact, he was only able to increase his strength like this because he used a forbidden spell which consumed the soul energy of the subordinates of ''Medusa'' to strengthen him for some time. The lives spent to increase his energy to Deity Realm were countless, probably in the tens of thousands and it didn''t seem to diminish, he could feel himself almost breaking through to the next Realm. He could feel his body healing at godly speed and powerful energy surge in his body, he felt like a god, even the wounds he had gotten from Arthur and Lucy and not painful anymore. He was in the A category which is considered very high in the organization and he got a mission from the ''statue'' to perform a spell and use the subordinates life, he had to cause disturbances in the competition and kill as many people as he could, he wasn''t given a reason and he didn''t ask for one as it was an order from the ''statue''. Not even 10 seconds after he got up from that hole, his hands and legs turned got bigger and claws came out of them, there were some brown scales on them and he felt something come out of his head. .. Arthur''s expression turned ugly as he saw the ugly man change appearance just as the statue indicated ''Immortal Realm'', the aura he emanated was no joke, even he felt suppressed and a bit fearful. He didn''t hesitate as he used [Transmutation], his body transformed into a green lightning and he became covered with it, he looked like Yamak when he used that skill. His stats were risen by 25% but only for a short amount of time, he needed to take this seriously and just by the pressure coming out of Tensui, he knew there is no time to think about it. "Stay back and assist me with your magic, remember don''t come close!" As he Arthur said that, he launched himself at Tensui while several dark spikes were created and thrown at Tensui... ************ Author''s Note: Hey there, it''s crow, obviously... So, there''s this guy called Baisiwa1 who is going around and giving 1 star to all stories for no specific reason, he is making reviews left and right every single minute and I checked his profile and it''s full of 1 star reviews except one. it will really help me if you would report him. Much thanks. PS: I''m not saying my story doesn''t deserve 1 star, perhaps it does, however, I would appreciate it if you point out anything bad about it in the review, so I could at least fix it.. or improve it. Chapter 65 - 65 : Struggle Arthur transformed into a green streak of lightning as he dashed at Tensui, who was laughing and checking his body. The pressure was too overwhelming, even for someone such as Arthur, who have insane stats. He didn''t use [Petal Footsteps] because when using [Transmutation] and the lightning form, his speed would be higher than when using that mouvement technique. Fortunately, the chaotic dark magic used by Tensui didn''t damage Arthur, he was quite worried for Lucy as she may be hit but he can always instant teleport if something were to happen. Tenhi, who was dazed from a while ago, snapped out of it as he felt the terrifying aura coming from Tensui, although right now, he didn''t look like a human, not in the slightest, his skin has already turned black and he grew 1 meter taller. It''s better to call it a monstrosity, hideous face with long sharp claws in his arms and legs with a violet tail coming out of his lower back, he had what appeared to be violet scales in his knees and shoulders and a dense black fog was emanating from him. .. Arthur''s speed could be considered godly as he appeared next to the monster in a split second, he didn''t hesitate as he used all his power and launched a [Lone Sword], but that wasn''t all of it, several orange and dark red spears were coming at Tensui. Arthur didn''t use Dark magic this time because he had a feeling that it may do the opposite effect, maybe it was just his imagination but he didn''t dare use it until he is sure it would not strengthen him. The good thing is that his power ceased to increase once he reached the Immortal Realm, but just being in that Realm made him a terrifying being, his appearance was no longer recognizable. The slash of Arthur finally landed on Tensui''s abdomen, followed by a bombardment of spears made from ancient fire and eclipse magic. Surprisingly, Tensui didn''t move as he grinned at Arthur and looked at him as if looking at a struggling ant, but that look changed dramatically when the ancient fire spears struck him. The slash didn''t even scratch him but the spears clearly injured him as was pushed back a couple of meters with blood flowing from the newly made wounds, clearly the ancient fire was effective as it melted his black body. His arrogant look changed as he gazed at the incoming spears, the Eclipse magic also injured him but it not as much as the ancient fire did. .. Arthur didn''t sit around during this time when Tensui was pushed back, he teleported behind him and used [Buddha Palm] his strongest palm attack currently, and struck the monster''s back without holding back. Just as his hand touched Tensui, he felt a bit numb and there was not any apparent damage to him, he was only pushed yet again but just 2 steps. .. But just those two steps were enough for Tensui to be distracted by Arthur as suddenly three 5 meter Magma balls struck him. For some reason, he was quite vulnerable against fire or magma, the three balls struck him successively as he was sent flying while black blood came out of him, his scales began melting and he was wailing with a deafening sound. Tensui never reached the Immortal Realm so he was not accustomed to his new power and strength, moreover, those two were very powerful, although Arthur''s physical attacks didn''t injure him, his magical ones were deadly, same goes for Lucy. He quickly got up from the ground as he gritted his sharp teeth and screamed from the pain, but suddenly, he could feel a mysterious energy, it didn''t even take him a second to realize that this is called ''Immortal Energy'' and it is quite special. He began using it unconsciously and with its help, the pain became less and less and a black transparent energy covered his entire body. Tensui felt lighter and the wounds he received from the spears and balls were healing rapidly, as he discovered that, he couldn''t help but smirk and launch and stare at Arthur and Lucy. Dozens of dark blue spikes were created in a second and thrown at both of them, their speed was godly and they emanated some ominous aura, but his smirk soon turned into shock and astonishment. The spikes didn''t as much as scratch Arthur, they just struck him and disappeared, as for Lucy, they shattered when they hit what appeared to be a black barrier surrounding her. .... Tenhi, who was previously fighting Tensui, already flew away and stared at this fight from afar, just from their speed and powerful attacks he already knew he got no chance, that one spike can severely injure him so why should he risk it? .. Since Physical attacks like [Lone Sword] and [Buddha palm] are not working, Arthur decided to try another tactic, while still bombarding Tensui with his fire spears, a white streak of lightning struck him and a white spear formed in his hand. With a ''bzzzt'' sound, the spear kept hitting the ground and making a few craters, he knew that trying to hitting Tensui with godly lightning is close to impossible since it was slow, even the fire spears were slow but it''s just that Tensui previously underestimated them, but since he knew their effect, he would surely be much more cautious. Arthur dashed at Tensui yet again while lucy seemed to be chanting something, normally she never used them but if she is going to do a very powerful attack then they are needed to make the process faster. The distance separating them was more than 50m so he couldn''t instantly teleport, but he already had an idea, with his insane speed, he crossed the distance separating them in a split second and just as he entered the 50m range. He teleported while leaving a shadow clone of himself, unfortunately, the duration of the clone was just too short but it was enough to distract Tensui. He reappeared just behind the monster and thrusted the spear with all his strength, Physical attacks don''t work, but a magic as destructive as this lightning will surely harm him. What Arthur didn''t expect is that Tensui reacted in time and inclined his body to barely dodge the spear, normally it would literally be impossible to do this, however, he just did it, although he ''evaded'', some of the lightning managed to strike him on the left side of his waist which made a bloody wound, it didn''t look that serious but on a closer look, one can even some bones which now looked black too, just like his skin. Arthur''s clone had only 10% of his stats but he wasn''t that weak either, it dashed at the monster using [Petal Footsteps] and struck with a [Dark Burst], of course, it may not hurt Tensui but it would probably push him back. The reason his clone managed to came and attack without Tensui countering is that the latter was dazed for some reason but once he saw the incoming punch of the ''clone'', he used the new Immortal energy and stricken the clone. It was just a simple punch but the clone was sent flying with a fast speed until it crashed into the wall of the Colosseum which was followed by a notification telling Arthur that his clone is dead. Tensui didn''t just stop at this, his tail which was now 1m in length, struck Arthur who was behind him with a speed that dumbfounded Arthur, he couldn''t do anything except cross his arms to try and block it. Arthur was flying in the air as the force of the strike was too immense, he could feel the bones in his hands flying away, even with his fast regeneration, recovering both of his hands would take minutes. As he was flying in the air from that attack, Tensui dashed at him with no attention to stop and used his knee to strike Arthur''s stomach, making him fall on the ground and make a hole similar to the one he was in earlier, but this one was deeper and wider and even a crater was formed. Next thing he did was turn his head to stare at Lucy who was still preparing her skill, he grinned and rushed at her. His speed was unbelievable, it was slower than Arthur but that didn''t mean it was slow, quite the opposite, there were approximately 250m meters separating Tensui and Lucy but it was crossed in a flash. .. Although felt his body numb as he managed to ''leave'' Zodiak''s corpse at the final moment before he crushed, albeit that, he still was injured as Tensui''s attacks were ruthless and powerful, now that he is using his original body, blood leaked out of his lips but he didn''t care about that. He transformed into lightning and immediately followed Tensui without even recovering Zodiak''s body. His speed was faster than Tensui but the monster already dashed at Lucy a second or so before him so even with incredible speed, it was akin to impossible to catch up to him in time. But that wasn''t what he wanted to, he just wanted to be just 50m from him to be able to stop him which finally happened, Arthur exercised all the speed he could muster and managed to teleport in front of Tensui who was dumbstruck by the sudden appearance of Arthur. Arthur didn''t waste time and stabbed with his white spear, not only that, 2 fireballs were prepared in advance and thrown at Tensui from both directions, leaving him only a single route to escape from. Although Tensui knew he was very powerful and just by how he sent Arthur flying a second ago, he knew he held a big advantage, nonetheless, he felt fearful toward this strange lightning and that fire, his injury in the waist was hurting him albeit using the Immortal energy. Furthermore, no matter how many attacks landed on Arthur, the wouldn''t work, only physical attacks would, he thought that his black magic is supposed to even slay gods yet it couldn''t scratch this fellow which made him perplexed. He honestly didn''t want to face this one head on, plus, the fireballs were very big and emitted intense heat, even with his newly discovered energy, it would still heavily injure him if it struck him. .. Arthur already expected him to do so, he knew that this monster would choose not to confront his attacks head-on as they would damage him, it seemed only his appearance changed and he still had rational thinking. It was a bit of a pity, he was betting on the chance of him turning into a beast so that he can defeat him with clever tactics but it didn''t it would work. Just as Tensui backed away, Lucy finally finished what she was preparing so she immediately spoke "Arthur.. it''s ready!" When he heard her, he felt a bit delighted but he was still tensed and on full alert. If one looked above, high in the sky, they would see a gigantic bow, yes, it''s a bow, precisely it''s a bow made of very dense magma, it didn''t even look like magma but like red iron, it was so condensed that the heat it emitted was overwhelming Tensui, someone in the Immortal Realm. When his eyes landed on that terrifyingly big bow, he furrowed his long brows and stared at it wth disbelief, he could feel pressure coming from that bow. As for Arthur, he just smirked and nodded at Lucy, he fastly descended from above and landed next to Lucy. "Buy me 20 seconds... no 15 seconds are enough, just 15!" Lucy didn''t reply as she nodded her head and rushed at Tensui, who was still dumbstruck and staring at the bow. Sensing danger, he turned his head only to see numerous lava waves coming at him, they looked like huge water waves, but instead of water, it was magma, a very strong magma. The range of her attacks was very wide and he got no choice but to back away and evade it, since Lucy only needed to buy time, there was no use coming near him but what she didn''t expect is that Tensui suddenly rushed straight at the magma waves. Some sort of a cubic dark wall was formed in front of him, and just as he hit the magma waves, the wall melted slowly until it was finally gone which resulted in him being slightly injured by the waves, fortunately for him, he managed to pass the waves, so he continued to rush at Lucy. Seeing him come at her with insane speed, Lucy didn''t just stay still, two 3m big magma hands appeared from the ground and slammed at him, who was just 20m away from her. Although the attack appeared suddenly, he kind of expected it, so with a wave of his hand, more than 10 dark blue shields appeared around him, pushing the hands and letting him through. No matter how fast Lucy is at launching attacks, the last attack of hers was barely enough, if she wanted to thoroughly block him, she needed to create a magma wall or barrier or something similar, but even that would not be created in enough time. Tensui finally arrived in front of the silver-haired woman who gave him a headache, he still felt fearful of the bow so he decided to take care of her first, or else he would surely regret it. Tensui''s attack was simple but deadly, he launched a punch at Lucy who tried to back away but the punch was faster, fortunately for her, the barrier made of dark magic was still surrounding her so his punch was stopped a little before the barrier shattered and it finally landed on her. She managed to cross her arms to try to minimize the damage but what she didn''t expect is the black tail striking her waist from who knows where, she instantly coughed blood as she was sent flying until she struck a nearby wall, but it was also destroyed and she kept flying from the force of the tail whip until a few walls were destroyed. Her state looked pitiful as there was a bloody wound on her abdomen, unlike Arthur, her stats were lower than him, and even without the stats, he had defensive technique while she didn''t, from the very beginning, she was a mage, and a mage clearly doesn''t have a good defense, it''s just that she has better defense than others because of the soul link. Tensui didn''t stop there, he wanted to thoroughly kill her so he can get rid of the bow, she is the one who created it, so naturally, if she''s dead then it would disappear along with her. Arthur watched this but he could only grit his teeth and continue to concentrate, he wanted to rush there and interrupt Tensui but just couldn''t or else all the work she did would have gone to waste. .. Tensui appeared next to Lucy, who was trying to stand and used his tail to hold her by her neck, he started exercising some strength into his grip to suffocate her, however, things didn''t go as planned as a violet fire spike struck him from the ground, it was so sudden so he couldn''t dodge, all he could do was try to use his Immortan energy to receive less damage. Even with the help of the new energy, the fire spike was very sharp and emanated a heat that could even suffocate him, both of his legs were damaged as some of the scales in his knees were melting. He, fortunately, had the Immortal energy or else his legs would have vanished, Tensui naturally backed away from his previous location while letting go of Lucy. The pain from the fire was seriously no joke, Tensui was both fearful and curious about that pair, not only they were very mysterious, they were also extremely powerful so how come he doesn''t know about them? He never even heard about people similar to them. This time, while observing the surroundings and confirming that there is no hidden traps or spikes, he launched himself on Lucy, who was panting heavily and when he was just 1 meter in front of her, he disappeared and appeared right behind her, and unsurprisingly, yet another fire spike appeared in the same location he was just in. A look of surprise appeared in Lucy''s eyes, but it was too late to react now as she felt intense pain in her back, apparently, Tensui punched her back, breaking some of her bones, even the ribcage was damaged, which explains how much his strength is insane. She couldn''t stabilize or body as she was sent flying in the opposite direction but suddenly, two warm hands appeared from nowhere and gently held her, stopping her from flying any further and adjusting her body while not touching the heavy injuries. Who else could it be but Arthur? He already finished what he was appearing, as he saw the bloody body of Lucy, his face turned ugly but an evil smile couldn''t help but form on his face, normally, although one of his eyes turned grey, it would only be like that when he fought, in normal days, both of his eyes are blood red but now, one eye was grey while the other was black. A notification was shown in front of him which made him a bit relieved as his plan worked. [Heavenly arrow] and [Heavenly Bow] have successfully synchronized! Chapter 66 - 66 : Complete Devastation Just as the notification showed in front of Arthur, the atmosphere around the island completely changed, it''s like changing from a peaceful and quiet island with a few sounds of explosions here and there to a literal Hell. The calm sea became raging and even a few tall water cyclone appeared. The clan masters who sneakily watched the fight from afar became more alerted since the red bow appeared but now the horrifying arrow appeared, they didn''t dare stay close, they left the island perimeter and gazed at the Colosseum from very far. With their stats, seeing from that distance with no big deal, furthermore, sensing the overwhelming aura of the arrow, how could they still near it? Anastassia who already knew about the identity of the black-robed man was now extremely shocked, here she thought that Arthur was equal to her in terms of strength but now, with her own eyes, saw him fight face to face to a peak Deity Realm if not Immortal Realm. She couldn''t exactly confirm the monster''s Realm, but it was very apparent that he was above Deity Realm, even Tenhi couldn''t face him before he transformed, much less now. Tenhi also backed away when the arrow appeared, since a while ago he felt helpless against that monster much less now, it was kind of fortunate those pair were here or else he would certainly have died earlier. .. The arrow was pure black with a sharp white edge in the front from the godly lightning, and in the back corners of it there were several sharp ancient flames spikes, it didn''t exactly like an arrow but it was rather similar. The [Heavenly Arrow] synchronized itself with the bow as it positioned itself in the middle of the bow and was ready to be launched at any second but every second passed its aura became more and more terrifying. Streaks of white lightning struck the Colosseum, completely destroying it until it looked no more than ruins, but it didn''t stop and kept striking the ground surroundings the arrow. .. Tensui who sensed the sudden change in atmosphere and the great pressure noticed the arrow, his face whitened as he stared at this dangerous combination of two attacks. He turned his head to Arthur and Lucy and was going to launch himself on them but he felt that the pressure coming from them is way stronger than the arrow. Lucy and Arthur were already under the arrow so if Tensui wanted to attack them, he would be surely struck by the arrow. The monster surprisingly used one of his sharp hands and stabbed his heart, and even after 10 seconds, he didn''t seem to have died, instead, violet energy surrounded him and a violet sickle was formed from that energy. It looked like an ancient sickle, very ancient, it emitted some ripples around it, and even Tensui''s hand which was holding it was shaking non-stop, blood oozed from all the holes in his face. Arthur didn''t wait for the monster to finish preparing, gently, he held Lucy''s soft hands and took a stance with her as if they were holding a bow. Just like that, transparent white hands appeared in mid-air, these two hands were very big, as big as the arrow as it held it firmly, the pressure became several times stronger and a mysterious silver metal formed around the arrow. Arthur and Lucy, who were holding what appeared to be an invisible arrow, closed both their eyes, if you look closer, you could even notice that their breathing is absolutely synchronized. Tensui felt fear and danger, all his instincts were alarming him and telling him to flee but it was too late for that, the sickle almost flew from his hand as it''s power was too much for him, without hesitation, he flew in the air, toward the direction of the pair while slashing furiously with his violet sickle. Anyone could guess that the stance the pair were taking and the motions as if they were holding a bow were the cause of the appearance of the two transparent big hands which were holding the bow. With a calm look, both of them released the arrow and that at that time, the two big hands which held the arrow and bow, released it instantly, creating a sound so loud that it created powerful soundwaves, Tenhi who was the closer was sent flying until he sunk deeply into the sea, one could even see blood coming out of his mouth as he was pushed by the soundwaves. The arrow seemed to disappear when it was thrown, Tensui who just slashed with his sickle, was more than shocked as the sound shockwaves already stopped his slash, only a little was left of it, but that wasn''t all, the arrow''s speed was so fast that it was already in front of him in a split second. It was a very big arrow, approximately 100 meters in length and 5 meters thick, it may be smaller than the previous arrow Arthur created but it is the most powerful, that''s for sure. The tip and sharp edge of the arrow which had a tinge of silver shining metal on it struck Tensui chest, surprisingly, it stopped there, previously Arthur would let the arrow continue it''s way even though the enemy was dead, but now, he specifically controlled so it strikes Tensui and completely kills him, after all, even making all his body vanish may not be enough, perhaps an Immortal Realm may have tricks to survive that. As the arrow struck Tensui, a deafening shriek came out of his mouth, he seemed to be as if he was being purified, there was an extremely bright silver light when the arrow struck him and even the pale clan master who was very far away were blinded by this light. They were pushed back even further by the sound shockwaves and there is even some who were injured, so they retreated even further but the light still blinded them. The explosion caused after the shiny silver light was a complete terror, fortunately, the arrow was created by Arthur, so he wasn''t injured, neither was Lucy but all the nearby people who thought they were safe received heavy damage due to the explosion. The whole island literally vanished, there was just nothing left, just a gigantic hole with the sea filling it rapidly, the sight was horrifying, furthermore, there was a huge wind and dust cyclone which spanned 3 kilometers, from afar it looked like it''s a calamity. It wasn''t that harmful in reality but it limited the sight of many people. Anastassia and a few lucky clan masters managed to only receive light injuries but the Xi Clan master had lost his left leg and blood flowed endlessly as the elder of his clan helped him, he had a pale face and had a look of extreme regret, he thought that with his protective armor and divine fire shield, he would be able to withhold the damages but they were both easily shattered. ..... Lucy and Arthur were quite weak, this synchronization wasn''t easy and it consumed a lot of energy, albeit their infinite stamina that didn''t mean they can use this endlessly, the result was much more astonishing than what Arthur was expecting. He held Lucy in his arms as she was more injured than him and left the area, surely the body of Tensui wouldn''t be left and even if it was, he seemed to be using a special kind of technique and it was not his real strength so even after possessing he would only gain his original stats, which is a real shame. He fed her a Minor and Miraculous Healing Potions which helped her recover faster and treated the heavy injury on her back and waist. He was feeling weak too but it shouldn''t be a problem for him to fly and move. After 10 minutes, he arrived near the Itas Continent where he found Astrith waiting there along with the others, even Anastassia somehow came here. She looked at Arthur with eyes full of disbelief, that arrow what just heaven-defying, it obliterated the whole island along with that monster, and here she thought he was only in the Spirit Realm, was he acting that day against the elder of in the spar? Although she had countless questions, she didn''t dare ask them, she saw the weak and pale Lucy in his arms and knew that he greatly cared her so she kept silent. Arthur ignored the others and descended on Astrith''s back, mentally telling him to go back to the clan, now that Astrith was transporting them, he felt a bit relaxed as he gazed at the weak Lucy. He layed her on Astrith with her upper body leaning on his chest, Saly was worried but she didn''t cry or show childish behavior, she just sat next to them while holding Lucy''s hand and stared at her. In a gloomy underground rocky room, there stood a kneeling man, he had a pale face and wore a black robe, he was involuntarily shaking as he didn''t have the guts to look up to the stone statue. The statue was in the shape of an adult woman, a voluptuous body with two peaks in her chest that would seemed as if they would explode at any moment although it was only a statue, it looked very real, she had a book in her waist and if Arthur saw it, he would immediately recognize it, it was exactly like the book of the damned he found near Zodiak. "Reporting to the Lord, t-the mission ff--faile-ed..... please forgive this one, an unexpected problem occurred!" His body was trembling even more as he spoke, his voice was shaky, if one saw him act like this they would be astonished, he was one of the people in the S category in ''Medusa'' but he was still so afraid of the statue to the point of shaking non-stop. A snort came out of the statue followed by a very cold and piercing voice "Incompetent dogs! Since a while ago, all you do is failing missions, this was supposed to be important, how can a person in the Immortal Realm be killed like that and you are just saying ''Unexpected Problem'' this is a big problem, tell me! What exactly happened!" While still kneeling, the old man didn''t dare delay as he replied immediately. "Reporting to the Lord, Tensui used the forbidden spell as instructed and by sacrificing exactly 54.314 soul, he managed to ascend to the Immortal Realm, we don''t know who exactly killed him but what we know is that it''s a black-robed man and a silver-haired woman, their attack apparently obliterated the whole island, leaving no trace of Tensui, that''s what our spies saw." As if pondering for a bit, the statue finally spoke again after a couple of minutes of silence "Black-robed man? Silver-haired woman? A few months ago, one of the dogs also told me of similar individuals... but I just ignored them... it seems I have to personally come?" As she said that, the lifeless eyes of the statue shined with a dark and violet light and the big statue shook for a couple of seconds before it regained its usual state. Even after a couple of minutes passed, no sound came from the statue, so the kneeling old man concluded that ''the Lord'' is gone, for now. He breathed a sigh of relief, and after a final kowtow, he left the room in a hurry, he couldn''t help but wipe the invisible cold sweat in his forehead as if he avoided death by a hair''s breath. Chapter 67 - 67 : Pure Dark Essence Arthur and the rest went back to the Clan, he and Lucy passed the next few days resting as the last fight consumed a bit of their power, it wasn''t only mana, but the synchronization needed the stats ''mental power'', Arthur didn''t fully comprehend how to grasp it but he managed to find a few uses for it, one is for the lost magic and the second is the synchronization but the latter would make him exhausted after using it. The incident became known very quickly, although the clans usually keep a low profile, an explosion like that cannot be unnoticed, heck! A whole island disappeared. After 5 days, Arthur and Lucy went back to where the explosion happened, he wanted to find Zodiak''s corpse as he may be useful to him, you must know that it saved him last time. When they arrived there, they saw several disciples of the clans standing guard, however, with their insane speed, they easily passed without being caught, and even if they were caught, it''s not like anyone can stop them? .. Arthur already had [Advanced water magic] which allowed him to create a special bubble allowing him to breathe underwater for a couple of hours, he created one for him and Lucy and they dived into the water. The explosion made such a big hole that from afar, it looked like a huge black hole albeit it being filled with water. He didn''t know if Zodiak''s body is still intact but he strongly believed it''s still undamaged, knowing how powerful Zodiak is, even an explosion like may not injure his bones, they survived countless years in that tomb so that shows how hard they are. Especially after Zodiak saved him last time, he felt a strange aura coming out of them, it was almost non-existent but he still managed to sense it, he didn''t pay it much attention at first but it was surely an after-effect of the sudden revival or Zodiak. The duo searched for Zodiak''s water for an hour or so before they finally found it very deep in the sea, you can''t see any light in there, there was some big and strong beast but the strongest one was barely LVL 817, he was easily killed by Lucy''s magma, even the water couldn''t stop it or slow it, it melted the huge beast until nothing was left of it. .. After storing the corpse, they didn''t immediately go back, Arthur wanted to search for Tensui''s corpse, maybe if he possessed him he would gain his previous power but the chance was very low as he probably was obliterated by that arrow, nonetheless, they kept searching for two hours until they stumbled upon something. It was actually the violent sickle he used in his last struggle, it was shining and emitting dark fog around it, Arthur''s familiarity with dark magic was extremely strong, so he managed to sense it for miles away. It was dozens of kilometers away from the explosion, maybe it was sent flying from the impact, none of that mattered, Arthur picked up and as soon as he touched it, it shined even more brightly and dispersed, it no longer was a sickle but just violet fog, it entered Arthur body slowly. All it took is 5 minutes for it to completely fuse with Arthur, and in when that was happening, he was feeling very comfortable and he sensed that his powers are growing at an astonishing speed, and when it finally vanished, a notification popped. ''ting'' [Dark magic] pure dark essence absorbed: Intelligence and Dexterity increased, check your status window for more details. Another portion of Zodiak''s powers has been unlocked! You gained a new skill(passive) : [Pure Dark Essence]: All your movements, be it skills or techniques or simple attacks will contain Pure Dark Essence which will increasingly make them deadly: +25% damage Your stats have increased! Please check your status window for more details. Congratulations! You reached the Deity Realm! ''Already?'' Arthur was a bit startled as he saw the last notification, it hasn''t been a month since he became Heavenly realm yet here he is in the Deity Realm already, what surprised him, even more, is that when he appraised Lucy right now, he discovered she is in the Deity Realm too. He still couldn''t understand what are the requirements but they must have to do with stats? Or else why would Lucy jump 2 whole Realms, she was in the Spirit Realm but suddenly became in the Deity Realm when he unlocked a portion of Zodiak''s powers. Without hesitation, he opened his status window. TITLE : MEAT GRINDER / SEEKER OF KNOWLEDGE / ONE WITH THE SWORD / ARK??? Level: ???? Class: Dark ARK Parasite - Realm : Deity - Strength: 7.2m Intelligence: 7.4m Agility: 10.9m Wisdom: 6.2m Vitality: 5.7m Dexterity: 6.6m - Health: 6.4m Health Regen: 5781/s Mana: 7.0m Mana Regen: 11843/s Stamina: infinite Stamina Regen: ???? - Creation : 10 Attack: 6.9m Defense: 6.3m Magic defense : 2.9m Enigma abilities : Telekinesis / Ancient Threads / Sixth sense / ARK?? -- Mental Power: 503 -- Elemental Resistances: Fire: 100% Water: 60% Wind: 35% Earth: 75% Light/holy: 5%(-15%) Shadow: 30% Lightning: 100% Ice: 30% ***** His stats have definitely risen but it''s not that much, he thought that the threshold of 10m is for the next Realm but it wasn''t the case, only his Agility is above 10m, Arthur pondered for a moment before he made a theory. It''s that the Realms have something to do with the Mental Power and nothing else except that, the sudden rise in stats is because of the upgrade of a realm and not because of the portion of Zodiak, sure his portion must give a lot of stats but not enough to do add 1m or more. His Mental Power has just passed (500), so maybe just maybe it is the cause he passed to the next Realm. As a matter of fact, the Mental Power stat was also added to Lucy since a while ago and when she opened her status window right now, he saw that her Mental Power was 501, so it affirmed his theories and he strongly believed that Mental Power has a relation with the Realms. But he had no way of increasing it, possessing monsters or people will not increase it, he didn''t even know how it increased right now, maybe that violet fog increased it? .. He didn''t dwell on it that much, he decided to stick with that theory until he discovers something else, he also decided to try to increase his mental power, since it''s the requirements for upgrading to the next Realm, furthermore, in the previous fight, he saw how big is the difference between the Deity Realm and the Immortal Realm, the difference was just too big. While they were searching for those 3 whole hours, they killed close to 30 big beasts which had a decent LVL, Lucy stored them for him so he can possess them later. .. They didn''t go back home immediately after that, it has almost been a month since he went to Robin to ask her for that favor, so it''s time to visit her and see if she gathered enough. With Arthur''s speed, crossing half of that continent required him half an hour, it is quite illogical, and everyone would call him a liar if he said that, but it was the truth, if he was on Earth then it would take him a very short time to travel from a continent to another considering Earth was much smaller than this planet. Arthur wanted to check something before going to Robin and Belic, thus he and Lucy went toward the gigantic World tree. He was curious about it since a long time and wondered if he could possess it, but deep inside, he knew it''s a bit difficult, he could feel pure nature energy coming out of it and surrounding it completely, like some kind of barrier. Once he was half a mile away from it, the natural energy around it became denser and it became quite difficult to move. Without hesitation, he launched his Demonic Lightning, trying to destroy what seemed to be a barrier but to no avail, the lightning passed through it, it didn''t seem to be a barrier, nonetheless, when he was 200 meters from the tree, he could no longer advance, literally, it''s like a mountain is pressing on him. Suddenly, when he was struggling to take another step, a deep yet melodic voice rang in his ears "Go back, this is no place for you, I can smell ''his'' aura coming out of you from miles away" Just as the sound stopped, Arthur was sent flying in the air, he couldn''t even stabilize his body until a couple of miles away, fortunately, he didn''t bring Lucy this close and told her to stay away or else the same would have happened to her. It seemed as if that dense energy condensed into a huge palm and pushed him which resulted in that sudden attack, it seemed simple yet fatal, he could feel his rib cage damaged and some of his blood vessels blocked by that nature energy, only after he managed to get up with the help of the nearby Lucy did the nature energy back away. The tree was already far away from him but he could feel it still staring at him if he dared come any closer then maybe it wouldn''t be as merciful as before. The power that struck him felt even more powerful than Tensui, he was completely helpless against it, it was merciful or else he would turn into a corpse in a split second. He rested a couple of minutes to let his body recover and heal its injuries and in no time, he was fine, as if nothing happened. "Let''s go, time to collect the favor" Lucy nodded at him while holding his arm and they both flew toward the HeadQuarters of the E-clips Company. A few minutes later, they were already flying above the tall building which Arthur barged in last time. They disappeared one last time and appeared in that meeting room, but unlike last time, it was totally empty which was a bit surprising. It''s not like they came in the middle of the night, and this room is the office of the head of the company, so where could she be? It''s not like Arthur and Lucy had anything to do, they sat on a comfortable sofa not far away from the window and snuggled into each other''s embrace as if they were in their home. 2 hours passed when finally the door leading to outside opened and a pretty young woman entering, she was wearing a long white dress. "But Grandpa.. Why do we have to go that meeting.. it''s not like our Clan was participating in that competition..AHH!" She shrieked once her eyes landed on the pair sitting leisurely on her sofa, she couldn''t even finish her sentence as he stared with widened eyes at Arthur and Lucy. Belic who was following Robin was a bit startled by her cry, but he soon understood why she reacted like that when he saw Arthur. Unlike her, he remained calm and smiled while saying "If it''s not Sir Arthur and Mrs. Lucy, it''s good to see you, we have already accumulated enough corpses as per your request" Belic knew that the only reason Arthur would come is because of that request, so he immediately dived into the matter without delay. Arthur who enjoying his time with Lucy, looked up at the smiling old man and nodded "Good, why don''t you show me how much you gathered and their LVLs, I''m thrilled!" He and Lucy soon got up from the sofa and went near Belic to inspect the corpses. The old man didn''t waste any time and handed Lucy and storage ring which had the monsters'' corpses. As for Arthur, he injected a bit of mana and began inspecting them, there was exactly 1098 beast corpse with the lower one being LVL124 and the highest being 273. The result was quite satisfactory, so he smiled back at the old man and said "Um! You did a great job! Why don''t you keep gathering, this time, I will pay, gather as much as you can and I''ll pay whatever the cost it, what do you say?" This time, it was Robin who talked, she seemed a bit angry as Arthur didn''t seem grateful enough "Hmpf! What do you know? It took great effort to get all those corpses yet you want more? Even if you payed a lot we won''t do it!" What she said what true, for them, although being a powerful company, killing so many beasts in a month required a strong manpower that they could not afford so they had to hire mercenaries all over the continent which cost them quite an amount. Even Belic looked a bit distressed, this was no easy matter for him to accomplish and getting more will be more difficult so albeit knowing the power of Arthur, he didn''t dare accept. Arthur merely chuckled and added "I seem to remember you guys are from the Qin Clan? Furthermore, you were talking about a competition when you entered, so I presume you were talking about that Martial competition that happened in that island? I was there and I just happen to be an Elder from the Ma Clan, so maybe I could help you out in exchange for gathering the corpses again?" Hearing this, the angry Robin had her mouth wide open and was goggle-eyed, she didn''t seem to believe it at first but Arthur retrieved a golden Token from his storage and showed it to them so they could believe him without further questioning. As for Belic, he was mentally shaken by that, it took him several minutes to realize and absorb what just happened, he hastily took Arthur''s hand and shook it while resuming his smile "Of course, of course, why didn''t you tell us that from the beginning? Please sit so we can talk about it." The four of them soon sat and Belic expression was of fear and happiness, he was fearful because Arthur''s statue was very high, their clan is not considered powerful and the Ma Clan could crush them, plus he was an Elder from the Ma Clan so he must be at least in the Spirit Realm! He first didn''t believe him but there is no way you could fake that Token, it emitted a strange yet powerful aura that was unique, and each clan had its own token, only Elders, and grand Elders had one, of course including the clan master, so when a person has it then he must be very powerful. His view of Arthur escalated dramatically and he couldn''t help but feel overjoyed to encounter him, he previously thought Arthur was a strong traveler, but now that he saw the token, everything became Clear. Chapter 68 - 68 : The Long Awaited Day After spending half an hour discussing the terms of the agreement, Arthur and Lucy finally departed. Belic and Robin would gather corpses for them as long as their clans create an alliance, for the clans, it may be a big thing but for Arthur? It didn''t matter, he asked Belic for the day of the meeting of all the clans, he would surely attend it and ask Anastassia to make the alliance. Surely the Qin clan would not refuse it, neither would Arthur, he already had the strength to become the clan master but he doesn''t want to, and even someone such as Tenhi can''t oppose him. He eagerly went back to the Clan and directly headed home along with Lucy, he had more than a thousand corpse to possess, and that''s a lot of stats. He didn''t start harvesting right away, Arthur spent some time playing with Saly and giving her some pieces of advice, the little lass already reached LVL64 with the help of Astrith who guided her to the dungeon every day to let her practice and gain experience. No matter how powerful the monsters are, they couldn''t defeat the little girl, first because Astrith protected her and second because she was strong. Not overpowered but she really trained every day and became more and more strong, in terms of strength, she can probably fight evenly against a lvl 100 beast, which is considered pretty good. She specialized in speed and defense, Lucy gave her a couple of strong Earth skill books, such as [Earthen Waves] and [Earth Pillard], they usually help her either sneak up on the enemy or attack them by surprise, however, those are only support skills, she mostly relied on her strong physique and Qi techniques to overcome her enemies. She trained the defensive skill [Turtle Shell] which is a very powerful defensive technique, as for the mouvement technique, Anastassia personally taught her the strongest mouvement technique that existed in this clan, it''s called [Imaginary Steps] Anastassia didn''t use this technique because she was not compatible with it but Saly''s affinity with the technique was beyond Anastassia''s expectation. Even though this woman is usually cold and rarely talks when she''s with her sister or Saly, she becomes quite talkative, she would even sometimes ask Saly some questions about Arthur. .. After spending some time with Saly, Arthur went to his room with Lucy and they both engaged in their usual routine of passionate love, although Arthur thought that with Saly''s presence, it would be impossible to make love to Lucy as they can''t just do it in front of the kid, Saly used all her day either practicing or playing with Astrith, she didn''t bother them a lot, but it''s not like they ignored it her too. Lucy would sometimes spend all day long chatting and playing with the little girl, same goes for Arthur, it''s just that these past few days, with what previously happened and so on, there wasn''t much time. Fortunately, Saly was happy and always smiling, albeit fighting monsters every day in the dungeon, the thought of becoming stronger made her train even harder. .. Arthur was laying on the bed with Lucy in his embrace, his hand was snaking around her body as he groped her round chest, he never disliked this feeling and would sometimes spend a whole day doing that. Lucy was leaning her head on his chest while a smile was hanging on her enchanting face, she was calm yet Arthur could feel she was feeling overjoyed. "What''s the matter?" Seeing her so happy, he couldn''t help but blurt that question. "He he he, nothing, I''m just happy that we are getting stronger." Arthur smiled and put one of his hands on her chin and lifted her head gently until their locked into each other, then he softly said "Then, why don''t we go there? I think it''s time to end the unfinished business" Hearing this, she didn''t seem startled, her smile blossomed even more and after a couple of seconds, she slowly nodded at him, then she buried her face in his chest. She never asked him to go to the Holy Church because she was afraid that he would get hurt because of her revenge, but now, their relationship was special, he was her and she was him, no matter what happenes, they would always stick together and there is no need to be reluctant or shy to ask anything from the other. Lucy wasn''t planning on telling him to go there, it''s not like she forgot about that matter but it didn''t bother her that much anymore, however, since he didn''t mind going too then why not just go and finish this once and for all? .. After snuggling for some time, Arthur finally got up from the bed and started possessing those corpses while Lucy began training, unlike Arthur, by using [Meditation] she can slowly but surely increase her stats, due to her stats being so big, the amount increased would not be a lot but it still strengthened her, so when she got time, she would use that skill to improve herself. Possessing a body would take a second if not less, and leaving it is also shorter than a second so basically, to possess more than 1100 corpses, it would at least need 1000 second. After more or less 15 minutes, he possessed all the beast and absorbed them with [Death Touch], his stats have risen by a ridiculous amount, it was literally mind-boggling. Each stats have at least risen by 8m, which is already more than his current stats, so his overall stats became even more astonishing. TITLE : MEAT GRINDER / SEEKER OF KNOWLEDGE / ONE WITH THE SWORD / ARK??? Level: ???? Class: Dark ARK Parasite - Realm : Deity - Strength: 16.5m Intelligence: 16.7m Agility: 20.4m Wisdom: 15.8m Vitality: 14.1m Dexterity: 15.5m - Health: 14.9m Health Regen: 10242/s Mana: 15.7m Mana Regen: 18724/s Stamina: infinite Stamina Regen: ???? - Creation : 10 Attack: 15.4m Defense: 15.0m Magic defense : 2.9m -- Enigma abilities : Telekinesis / Ancient Threads / Sixth sense / ARK?? -- Mental Power : 503 --- Elemental Resistances: Fire: 100% Water: 75%(+15%) Wind: 35% Earth: 75% Light/Holy:5% Shadow: 30% Lightning:100% Ice: 30% **** Due to having all stats above 10Million average in stats : +150 Mental Power Arthur was delighted, first because of the stats and most importantly is the Mental Power, it''s true he has gotten so powerful but raising his Realm to the next one would surely make him even more powerful which made him very excited. He didn''t get any important skills, the disadvantage of possessing beasts is that not all skills he gets can be used with his human body, some required being a beast''s body which is quite unfortunate, however, just getting the stats from them is already enough for him. With the increase of his Mental Power, his [Sixth Sense]''s radius became one thousand meters and his other enigma abilities became more efficient and powerful. Furthermore, with his [Lost Magic] the number of things he can create became broader, for example, except for weapons, he can now create clothes, it''s not powerful equipment but he can create comfortable clothes and decent ones at that. He tried creating a dress for Lucy and the result was a stunning black dress with made her look even more breath-taking. Arthur also created more powerful flash grenades, he forgot to use them in the last fight but surely next time, he would remember, he also created several bombs, not powerful ones but they could be useful in some ways. He came to understand that this Mental Power is the base of everything, even Necromancy, he already reached the limit of powerful summons with his stats, the more his Mental Power increases the more powerful his summons is. A simple skeleton now wears a black armor with shoulder and leg guard, a black shield and a long dark sword, their speed and strength increased and they also had a more cold and domineering aura around them. He planned to use his summons with the Holy Church, although he can manage to get rid of all their guards, it would surely be a pain in the ass and a waste of time, an army of skeletons can manage those guards, as for him and Lucy, he would get rid of the bigshots. It''s a bit, unfortunately, the Holy/Light attribute is the weakness of the skeletons, but with the numbers, he can overcome this disadvantage. He can summon a dark knight, which can command up to 1,000 skeletons, and with the Bone Dragon, it would surely be enough. What''s even more fascinating is that he can summon skeleton mages which had long black staffs and strange bows, they would be able to bombard the church and obliterate it, he couldn''t wait for that show. They planned to head to the Human continent in a few days, and albeit Saly''s begging, Arthur refused to take her along, it''s true the Holy Church is weak compared to the clans, but he didn''t dare act overconfident, not after what happened with that woman, it''s better to keep Saly out of danger for the time being. With Astrith guarding her, even Anastassia can''t hurt her, one must know that whenever Arthur gets stronger, so does Astrith. The lightning beast can probably fight Anastassia head to head and perhaps come out victorious, although Anastassia is in the Spirit Realm, she has the strength of a Heavenly Realm, so one must not underestimate her, or else, how come the Ma clan is one of the powerful clans? .. A few days passed peacefully, Lucy and Arthur finally departed after telling Anastassia that they had a matter to take care of. Their speed was godly but the distance they have to cover is by no means small, they didn''t stop at town or cities to relax, with the dark cloud, they simply sat on it and chatted. After 15 hours of continuous travel, they finally arrived at the capital of the human continent, Itas continent was the smallest one, so they crossed it in less than an hour, but the distance between the two continents is so big so that''s what prolonged their travel. Arthur already knew where the HQ of the Holy Church is, but he didn''t immediately head there, first, he and Lucy went to the emperor''s castle, first to pay a visit and tell him on what''s about to happen. .. This time, Arthur didn''t respectfully go near the gate and wait for the guards to guide them since last time, Alexander told him to immediately go in. They arrived around midday, so the first place Arthur and Lucy headed to is the main Hall, where the emperor''s throne is and where the meetings are located at. He didn''t know where the emperor is so he decided to head there first and unsurprisingly, Alexander was indeed there with his son, Syth and his adviser, Cylmar. They were discussing something when all of a sudden, 2 people appeared out of thin air, they stood next to Cylmar, who was startled and was taken aback by what just happened. It took them a couple of seconds to snap out of their daze and the first one to react was Syth who walked toward Arthur and gently bowed while saying "Sir Arthur, it''s been a while!" The youth was still using ''Heavenly Snake'' the violet sword that Arthur gifted him, when Arthur appraised him, he was surprised to see that this youth is already LVL322, his progress is really astonishing. He nodded at Syth, Lucy also smiled back at him as Syth acted extremely respectful toward both of them so there was no need to act emotionless or cold toward him. Soon, Cylmar and Alexander came back to their senses, the emperor walked up to Arthur while smiling and shook hands with him as if greetings him while speaking some good words, as for the old man, he simply bowed at the pair and greeted them too. "Sir Arthur, Mrs. Lucy, come come! This is no place to talk" Alexander guided them to his lovely yard, Arthur already possessed the whole garden before he came here since every plant he possesses can be grown by him at any time, he didn''t miss a single one, furthermore, Lucy adored those flowers so there was no need to hold back. The four of them sat and a servant brought some desert and whine, unlike last time, Alexander offered them some of his finest wine and insisted on drinking it with Arthur, so the latter didn''t refuse. They chatted happily for half an hour, then Syth asked Arthur for a spar, he wanted to show him how much he improved. Just like that, both of them sparred and the youth indeed greatly improved, his sword mastery has gotten way better than last time, it may not be flawless but it''s considered very good. Arthur spent a whole hour sparring with the youth, telling him what to improve and what to fix in his swordplay, and when they finished, the youth was panting heavily as always, he got a good beating from Arthur. This time, Arthur only used a sword made from ice magic, for no special reason, he just felt like using one made from ice magic. .. After he went back to sit near Lucy, he finally spoke about the important matter. "Your Majesty, the reason I came here today is just to warn you about something" Just as he said that, Alexander''s face stiffened and he thought that some of his relatives did something to anger Arthur yet again. "No need to be anxious, it has nothing to do with you, I just want to warn you so you don''t employ you soldiers to fight with the Holy Church... Tomorrow, I will obliterate that Church and if you employ your soldiers to defend, they will only perish with it, so I''m only giving you a friendly advice as I consider you my friend" Alexander and the company were dumbfounded, first, they thought they heard wrong, but once they saw the expressions on each other''s face, they knew they didn''t hear wrong. "Sir Arthur... what.." Arthur immediately interrupted him and said "I''ve already tolerated them for some time, it''s time for them to perish, I''ve already held some deep grudges on them and it''s time to end this, I know they are very powerful from your point view, but for me, they are mere ants, I''m sure you will benefit from this, you will be the true ruler of this continent once they are gone.." Alexander stayed silent for a couple of minutes before his demeanor turned serious, he looked at Arthur and said "Alright, It''s not like I have any choice, I will not send my soldiers to help them but are you sure you make the Holy Church vanish?" Arthur heartily laughed and replied "Ha ha ha, absolutely sure, no need to worry, since I''ve told you this, then I''ll be on my way, I''ll come visit you after the matter is over, stay tuned for the good news" As he said that, he gave a final look to Alexander and Syth then disappeared with Lucy. .. The emperor stood there silent as if pondering about something. "Your Majesty, are you sure about this?.." Hearing his adviser talk hesitantly, Alexander turned his head toward Cylmar, who appeared distressed and calmly said "I''m willing to bet on him.. It''s not like I have anything to lose, right?" The Holy Church HeadQuarters is located, South of the Human continent, it is in the Holy City, a flourishing city which had a strong force and is probably bigger than the capital of the continent. It is filled with guards from the Church and no one would dare to cause trouble. 50 kilometers from the city, Arthur stood there along with Lucy, and in front of them was a huge dark hole where countless skeletons are emerging every second. There was black armored skeletons, mages skeletons and so on. The bone dragon look completely different right now, it had some crystalline armor around its body and a violet crystal above its lifeless eyes. It was bigger than last time and had a more domineering aura. Arthur already used some wraiths to scout, they were invisible to other so, within the perimeter of the city, there were a hundred or so guards but they can''t see them from that distance. He spent 7 hours summoning skeletons, and in front of him was an extremely big organized army of skeletons. Exactly 50 dark knights, which means 50,000 skeletons with a bone dragon flying in the sky, roaring loudly. There were 15,000 mages, 10,000 archers and the rest were skeleton warriors, the sight was terrifying as they were marching slowly toward the Holy city, Arthur planned to eradicate the whole city, only sparing the innocent bystanders, he already gave the orders to the skeleton to only spare those who do not resist and kill all those who fight back. 50 dark knights were leading the army, a big dark horse with a big framed figure riding it, it had either a huge axe on it''s back or a huge violet sword, they were LVL350 and had immense fighting strength. Maybe it was overkill, but Arthur planned to finish it once and for all without acting recklessly or go there alone while being overconfident. They may be weak but they must surely have a trump card, or else how could they still exist albeit having the weak strength? Arthur didn''t create enough, but he gave 150 firearms to the skeletons, he couldn''t create a lot as they consumed a lot of Mental Power, so he only managed to create 150 of them. Their power was normal but they may be useful, with a few grenades here and there, the army could even defeat another with double it''s number, as skeletons didn''t feel pain or get tired so that was a bonus. Arthur was already informed that the Holy Church had a lot of guards and people in it, maybe a bit less than his army but since they use the Holy attribute, they have an advantage, which is why he summoned so many skeletons. He could summon more, but he thought it was enough, he was also there with them so nothing should go wrong. As they marched toward their destination, slowly but surely they were nearing the Holy City, which can now be seen by the naked eye. Chapter 69 - 69 : Confrontation 1 At the Holy Church Headquarters in Holy City, guards were running around in panic and warning each other, the undead army was only several kilometers away from the city and it is visible. Holy City was kind of situated in a deserted area, so all its surroundings is void of any trees or forests which allowed the guards to see the army from some distance away. The Pope, who was in his office handling some matters, was disturbed as by a very burly middle-aged man, he was covered in armor from head to toe and had a golden spear in his back, his appearance looked quite domineering. The Holy General walked in front of the Pope and bowed respectfully but you could see his eyes flashing coldly, he then spoke in a somewhat hoarse voice. "Our Lord, an army of undead was spotted marching toward Holy City, their numbers are in the thousands." Although he looked a bit in a hurry, he didn''t show any anxiousness about that matter, he stopped for a second before he resumed "... there was also a bone dragon and apparently a strong one at that." The Pope already heard the commotion before the Holy General came, he was sure something must have happened, however, never did he expect an undead army to invade his city! He pondered for a moment "Deploy the first division, I''ll immediately tell the second division to help with the army too." The Holy Church was divided to two divisions, one with which his like an army, and the Holy General was in command of it, as for the second one, it''s commanded by the Archbishop, it included priests and mages as for the first one it has the soldiers and warriors. Usually, each division handled its own matters, but in times of crisis like this one, they would obviously join hands, after all, they were from the same Church. Without further talking, the Holy General, Uguria, nodded at the Pope and left the room. The Pope stayed alone in the room, his hand stroking his long beard and his eyes emitting a white light which pulsed every now and then. ''Demons? No, it can''t be, although they have necromancers, they can''t summon this amount of them.. who could it be?'' The Holy Church has several enemies, so he couldn''t exactly guess the one who is currently attacking, nevertheless, it doesn''t matter right now as he will try to fight them back anyways. The undead army was slowly approaching the Holy City, Arthur and Lucy were on the black cloud which floated a couple of meters in front of the army. By their current speed, they would arrive after approximately 20 minutes, more or less, Arthur didn''t rush ahead and wanted to invade with the army. .. Time passed slowly but finally, the army was just 200 hundred meters away from the city, there were countless white armored soldiers from the Holy Church, there were formations and spells prepared, mages and priests at the back prepared to bombard with their magic and several cannons which didn''t look quite impressive. Arthur already guessed they would be prepared, so he just gave a single order to the dark knights and in just a second, the skeleton army which was slowly walking as if crawling, completely changed, all skeletons rushed at the enemy with insane speed, while the mage skeletons and skeleton archers already launched their spells and attacks. The sky was filled with all kinds of attacks, from afar, it looked like fireworks. Soon, the two sides clashes and although the Holy Attribute was lethal to the skeletons, they overcome this weakness by their numbers and strength, they were easily crushing the lines of the Holy Church soldiers. In mere minutes, the ground was red from the blood of all the dead soldiers, as for the skeletons, they would fight until the end, even if their legs were crushed, they would slowly crawl toward the enemy, they had infinite stamina and felt no pain so that was in itself a huge advantage. Arthur and Lucy didn''t linger there that much, since the undead army was doing a great job taking care of the small fries, he flew away from the battle and headed toward the HeadQuarters of the Church. It was actually a very tall white building with a golden bell on its roof, there were several buildings glued to it which almost made it look like a gigantic castle. Excluding the army which was fighting outside of the city, there were thousands of soldiers still in the city, either keeping their position and guarding or waiting to see if there is any skeleton which managed to invade the city. Arthur previously saw 4 cardinals in the fight outside, however, the dark knights alone were more than enough to finish them, those dark knights have immense strength and were quite ruthless, with a wave of their axe dozens of soldiers would be cut in two or turned into minced meat, the sight was very gory and brutal, but Arthur gave the order to spare those who do not resist, it''s not his fault that those soldiers are fighting. What if they are doing their job? It''s not like he forced them to fight, one must know when to give up, when they saw how powerful the dark knights are, they must be wise and concede or else only death awaits them. .. While he was slowly roaming the city and seeing those guards, he would summon quite a few skeletons on the roof, which would jump on the cautious soldiers and start a fight with them, he already summoned more than hundred skeletons which managed to ambush quite a few soldiers. He could summon dark knights, but unlike skeletons, they required Mental Power, and he didn''t have that much of it, a single Dark Knight would requite 150 Mental Power and for it to completely recover, it needs around 30 minutes, so he didn''t recklessly summon them, for now, skeletons were enough. As he continued flying with Lucy, who kept silent from the very beginning, he spotted something that caught his interest. In a somewhat big square, there stood 10 rows of well-armored soldiers, each had a golden shield and a white saber in their arms and each row had about 50 of those soldiers, so in total it was 500 soldier. And in the very front, was a burly man with a long spear on is back, his back was facing Arthur so he couldn''t see his appearance, but it was easy to guess that he was their commander. He seemed to be talking to them but when Arthur jumped from the dark cloud followed by Lucy, they landed 100 meters from the soldiers, Uguria, who was previously ordering his subordinates was startled by the sudden noise behind him and when he turned his head, he was shocked to see two individuals. One silver-haired woman who wore white leather clothes which suited her perfectly, and next to her was a man who was smirking at him. The first thought that crossed Uguria''s mind is how those two managed to come here, moreover, the fight only started several minutes ago, so it''s near to impossible to have made it here unless they could fly? His eyes then landed on the strange dark cloud above them, but it only lasted a short moment before it disappeared into thin air. Being the Holy General, Uguria obviously knew about Lucy and how the Pope insisted several times for him to memorize her appearance, so after calming down, he guessed that it''s definitely her, although she looked a bit different from the previous image he saw of her. She now had blood red piercing eyes, and she looked more pretty, the atmosphere around here seemed completely different from what he was told. .. Arthur looked at Lucy and softly said "I really don''t want you to dirty your hands with them, but I also know that you want to do it personally, so I would only stand by your side and assist you, if you don''t want to do it, all you got to do is say it, I''ll handle it all." As he said that, he gently patted her head as he resolutely looked at her, a smile was blooming on his face. Lucy returned his smile with a more enchanting smile as he stared at his deep red eyes, she nodded her head and replied to him "Um! I want to do myself, thank you...." "Silly... still thanking when we are already husband and wife? There''s nothing to thank me for, now go on, do whatever you feel like doing" Lucy nodded yet again before she turned her head to look at the still dumbfounded Uguria, her gentle and breath-taking look suddenly changed, as she gazed at the burly man, killing intent emanated from her to the point of making all the white armored soldiers shiver non-stop, even Uguria couldn''t help but slightly tremble, but he was able to somewhat resist her killing intent. He was a warrior who fought countless battle, unlike those Cardinals or normal soldiers, his job was to conquer cities or do the dirty job of the Holy Church, he murdered countless people, so when he felt this strong killing intent he couldn''t help but be amazed yet at the same time a bit fearful. "Yo-you''re Lucy, right? Why did you come here? Is the undead army yours?" Lucy''s hatred was mainly focused on the man who betrayed her and the Pope as they were the main ones who caused the suffering, but this Holy General also caused a bit of trouble of her as several of his trained soldiers chased for her quite some time, so how could she spare him? She already knew he slaughtered innocents without care, and the only excuse he would declare is that ''it''s for the sake of good'' or ''It''s the Lord''s orders''. Lucy didn''t reply to him, she merely launched herself at him. After some practice with Arthur, she managed to control her power a bit and her physical prowess is not to be underestimated. Uguria, who was expecting an answer, was a bit shocked to see her rush at him with a great speed, however, due to his countless life and death experiences, he managed to react in time and take the spear from his back with lightning speed and counter-attack with a swipe of his spear. He was known to be very ruthless, and that swipe proved it, from the very beginning, he used one of his strongest attacks risking it all, he felt danger from her, and her speed was slightly faster than his, so how could he not go all in? He used the skill [Mad Swipe], it was one of the basic skill gained from [Spear Mastery], obviously Arthur had it too but he never used spears, as for swords, the skills similar to this, would most certainly deal more damage if used but they would slow down the attack, it was just by a little bit, but it was enough to change the outcome of the battle between two people in the Heavenly Realm for example. Being proficient in the Holy Attribute, that swipe had some holy aura around it, Uguria was confident with his swipe and guessed that it would at least injure the opponent but no! His eyes were wide and full of disbelief as he saw Lucy''s left hand catch the incoming spear with great ease and simply deflect it away with a wave of her hand, then she kicked with her right leg, aiming for the waist. Lucy wanted to let him suffer first or else she would have finished him from that distance with her magic, it was a piece of cake for her to do that, but she wanted him to feel despair just like he did to her, she may not make him despair just like he did to her, but as long as she made him suffer that was enough for her. She may have overcome her past but that never meant she had forgotten and forgave them for what they did, that was a completely different thing. Uguria was pushed back a couple of meters, he barely had been able to stay standing as he supported himself while crouching on one knee. Lucy didn''t even put any force in her kick, this was just the beginning, her eyes flashed for a second as her killing intent intensified, she walked to the long spear which was deflected from his hand a moment ago and picked up. "What are you staring at her for? Charge, all attack together!" Uguria shouted at his subordinates, he knew that he was not her opponent so he had a sliver of hope and that is numbers! Yes, perhaps with numbers he could win, however, his pitiful hopes were mercilessly crushed as when he turned his head to look at his subordinates, he was shocked to see them all standing still, not moving an inch. "Ha ha ha, now now, why don''t you guys sit back and watch this show, it''s no good to gang up on a woman." Arthur spoke mockingly, he didn''t even move from his location but all the soldiers couldn''t even move a muscle, he already used his threads to freeze them, they could never free themselves unless they are at least in the Heavenly Realm. It was time for Lucy to enjoy her revenge, so how could he let them interfere, he would wait all day and a week if needed until she finishes with every single one of those who harmed her, specifically those higher-ups like this burly man. Once he saw his subordinates struggling and red faces and heard Arthur, he was sure that this man used some kind of trick to bind them. He merely gritted his teeth and got up from the ground, he could feel the intense pain coming from his waist, his spear was in Lucy''s hand, so that made him more depressed. One exchange! Only one exchange and he was already without his weapon and was injured in the waist, him, the Holy General, either the Pope was bullshitting him about Lucy''s power or it''s not her! .. Lucy''s eyes were looked on Uguria, who in return was looking at her with rage, anger, and fear. She grasped the spear and snapped it in two, with a bit of force it was easily done, but this action of her made Uguria''s expression turn extremely ugly, his face whitened and he seemed to be muttering something. "This is impossible... it''s a legendary weapon.. impossible!" His spear was a special treasure of the Church and it was a legendary weapon from ancient times, yet it was snapped in two just like that, no matter how much the fights he fought were long and hard, the spear never suffered as much as a scratch, but here it is broken in two! He became just speechless, he already gave up on the idea of trying to retrieve it, what could he two with a broken spear, it would not display its full strength, even the skills would probably not work. "Fortunately for you, although you caused suffering to me, I do not hold strong grudges for you, what you are going to receive is merely justice for all what you have done, all the innocents you killed and the despair you caused me." Lucy''s voice rang in his ears, it was devoid of emotions and cold, he lifted his pale face to look at her approaching figure, she already threw the two pieces of the spear and slowly walked toward him. .. In panic, Uguria waved his left hand and 3 dark pills appeared in his hand, with no hesitation, he threw them into his mouth, but just as they were going to enter it(his mouth). They stopped in mid-air, then they flew toward Arthur, who was looking at them with curiosity. His [Telekinesis] was very useful in situations like this, although Uguria actions were fast, it was not THAT fast, for Arthur and Lucy, who had speed incomparable to him, if they used their full speed, those pills flying to his mouth to literally move at a very slow speed, so retrieving them with [Telekinesis] is as easy at it could. Uguria stared helplessly at the flying pills and he began feeling despair and uneasiness, every step Lucy took toward him, he could feel his body unconsciously tremble on its own. When she was only 1 step away from him, she lifted her head to look at him as he was a bit taller than her, then her figure blurred for a split second which was followed by two snapping sounds. Uguria was already on his knees before he could realize it, he felt the agonizing pain coming from his knees, they were literally crushed into dust, blood flowed endlessly from them, there were no bones left, the two invisible strikes of her already turned his bones into nothingless. He made some groaning sounds but he didn''t scream loudly. "... A bit brave to not laugh from a like this, but that does not change anything.. your fate remains unchanged" Uguria couldn''t concentrate with her voice as the pain was truly more than he could bear, if he wants to recover his legs, he needs a personal blessing from the holy goddess, which is close to impossible to have, he already sunk into the depths of despair as Lucy''s figure was in front of him emitting some suffocating intense killing. Now that he was in front of her, the pressure was more overwhelming, her cold voice invaded his ears and engraved deep fear into his hear which was supposed to be a heart of a fearless warrior who experienced countless battles. .. Lucy didn''t make any mouvement, however, very soon the ground under Uguria changed, it turbed from it''s usual appearance to dark red then white fog came out of it, then it completely transformed into lava which slowly rised and began to envelop the scared Uguria who no longer could keep his dignified and confident look. His eyes stared at the lava, he finally couldn''t hold it as it was melting him from all direction, the pain was more agonizing than before when his knees were crushed. The screams and wails became louder and louder until they ceased after 5 minutes or so, there was literally nothing left of him, not even the strong armor he wore, his bones, skin melted along with everything else, he screamed until the last second as Lucy made sure to make him suffer without killing him. The soldiers were stunned and scared shitless, although Arthur ordered the skeletons to spare those who do not resist and those soldiers probably would surrender too, but these were special, they were with Uguria, who was infamous for murdering innocent and even bystanders, and those soldiers naturally did the same thing. Athough there was some good people in the Holy Church, the majority of them are corrupted which made Arthur perplexed, this kind of Church is supposed to aim for peace and have a lot of wise and good people and not this kind of individuals, it was really a pity. With a mere thought, the long threads which were holding the soldiers flashed with green lightning and in an instant, all 500 of them fell on the ground, lifelessly. Maybe spare those guards who did not participate on wars and slaughter as they were only doing their job and if they surrender now then it''s alright, but spare those soldiers? Hell no! They maybe even raped helpless women, this kind of acts is usually conducted by those kind of people, Arthur would not be surprised to see them act like that, if not more heartless and ruthless. Anyway, he disappeared and in just seconds, he stored all their bodies and appeared next to Lucy, who was still looking at where Uguria died. He gave her a deep hug and patted her lovely head. Responding to him, she burried her head in his chest and tightly hugged him back. They stayed like that for a minute or so before they finally seperated, although she was taking revenge, Lucy was softly smiling to Arthur. She turned to look at the tall tower which is the HQ of the Church and coldly said "That''s one less scum, there are still others, let''s go" Arthur nodded, and both of them flew toward the tower, however this time, they didn''t use the dark cloud. Chapter 70 - 70 : Confrontation 2 In the Holy Church headquarters, precisely in that tall white tower which Arthur and Lucy are heading to, the Pope was sitting on the golden throne while 3 people are kneeling in front of him. There was also an old woman standing next to him, she emitted a gentle and ancient aura around her, she looked extremely old and her face was full of wrinkles. The 3 people kneeling were the 3 current bishops, 2 are new since the 2 former ones were killed and the last one is still alive, as for that old woman, she is the Archbishop. "Are you sure about that?" The Pope''s domineering voice rang out in the big and empty hall, it was full of coldness, for the bishops, the Pope was like a god to them, he is the messenger of their holy goddess and he would sometimes communicate with her which gave him a position much higher than the others, his strength is not to be reckoned with too, so since a long time, no one dares to mess with him or even disobey with him. One of the kneeling bishops, who wasa handsome young man, replied to the Pope "Yes, my Lord! Several soldiers came a few minutes ago and informed me about the situation outside, it seems the undead army is winning and breaking through our defense, 3 Cardinals are already dead! What''s more is that there were sneak attacks from the undead skeletons inside the city" The Pope''s wrinkled face turned ugly, he kept stroking his long white beard while gazing outside through the huge glass windows which had a picture of their goddess, Delia. "Mhm.. Alex, you go to the frontline and stop them, it shouldn''t be a problem for you, right? Cara, you go too" Two of the kneeling bishops nodded and left without a word, only the handsome young man stayed behind, still kneeling in front of the Pope, he appeared calm although he was in front of the Pope which was surprising, but none of them were impressed, neither the Archbishop nor the Pope. Arthur and Lucy flew to the tall tower, and just when they were in front of the front gate, it opened and several soldiers came out of it, holding their arms and shields. There were hundreds of them, priests and mages are at the back and the close-combat fighters at the front. Arthur knew that Lucy didn''t want to deal with them and only wanted to deal with the big shots, such as the Pope, so mercilessly and easily slaughtered them with the Natural Lightning, it only took him a simple wave of his hand to end their lives, After all, their LVL was just too low, even lower than the disciples of the Ma Clan. It really left him confused, why such a force is still existing even with the clans around? Even the weakest Clan would probably have a Spirit Realm, and he was sure that the Pope is at best LVL500, so it would be very easy to finish him. As they were entering the gate after collecting the corpses, two figures came at them with fast speed, if you look closely, it was a middle-aged man and a woman, each of them was heading for a target, the woman wielded a blue lance and the man had a white saber. Just from their attire, Arthur knew they were bishops, and he also knew they were probably new, as he killed two and generally there are only 3, of course, he could be mistaken but who cares right? Lucy didn''t have a grudge with them, so there was no reason to thoroughly torture them, since they were higher rank in the Holy Church and not like the soldiers, maybe they would have some common sense, so he used his threads to totally freeze their movements then he calmly said "I''m only going to say it once. If you surrender now, I''ll probably let you live, if not then you''ll die in despair and be slaughtered like a pig!" In fact, he wasn''t going to live them alive, he just wanted to get some answers from them. "Ignorant! Wh.." Before the man could finish, he was beheaded by Arthur, the threads were more than enough to do the job, then Arthur''s cold gaze turned toward the terrified woman. It took her some time to realize what just happened, a second she was attacking the intruders and the next one she was frozen mid-air and her companion was already beheaded before he could resist, with fearful eyes she looked at Arthur and Lucy and hesitantly said "Wh-what do you w-w..want?" Arthur smirked and spoke again "Simple, I''m going to ask you few questions and you have to honestly reply" The reason he wanted some answers is because he found out that he can''t use his [Sixth Sense] to determine the position of the Pope, maybe there was some kind of array making him unable to do that, and he wanted to thoroughly finish the big shots before proceeding with the soldiers and such. The woman slowly nodded, she was still scared shitless of those two, she saw how her comrade was easily killed and truthfully, she didn''t want to end up dead like him because of her stupid pride, if there was a way out then she would take it. From the very moment she was frozen in mid-air, she discovered that albeit her strong armor or the great enchantments on her gear, that was useless against what was restricting her movements, no matter how she struggled, it was utterly meaningless. "Alright, where is the Pope" "O-our lord is in the main hall, i-it''s at the top of the t-t..tower.." Arthur pondered for a bit then looked at Lucy, after all, she was the one who was going to take revenge, so maybe there are more people who she is looking for, for example, Sebastien, the man who she previously thought she loved but ended up horribly betrayed by him "Then what about Sebastien, do you know who he is?" The terrified woman didn''t dare delay and immediately replied hastily "S-sebastien, y-yes yes! I know, you must be talking about the Bishop Sebastien, that''s the only person with the name ''Sebastian'' that I know of!" As he heard that, Arthur turned to look at Lucy and saw that her eyes were cold and full of killing intent as she heard about that name, he, obviously, knew about that man since she told him and he saw her memories, she didn''t hide anything from him just as he didn''t from her. He had many other questions, but for now, that was enough, just as he was about to behead her too, Lucy''s soft voice rang out "Don''t kill her" He was a bit confused but since she said that, then he let the scared bishop go, after all, Lucy had her reasons and if she didn''t want that woman killed then she won''t be killed. "Consider yourself lucky, you are probably the only person who would come out of here alive, if we ever meet path again, then that would truly be your end.." As he said that, Arthur and Lucy disappeared from there and flew to the top of the tower. The woman shivered there for a couple of seconds before she ran out of the building without even looking back, she knew it was the end of the Church, not even the Pope made her feel that afraid, it was really terrifying and since she was somehow spared, she decided to flee. .. With their speed, Arthur and Lucy appeared in the big hall in a matter of seconds, it was empty, not even one soldier was there, only 3 people. The appearance of two individuals naturally surprised the Pope and the rest, yet before they could react, they heard a loud scream. The scream was coming out of the handsome young man who was kneeling a second ago in front of the Pope, he was now held by the back of his neck by a silver-haired woman. The Pope and the old woman couldn''t move as they felt something binding them, and in the next moment, a black-robed man appeared in front of the Pope, his back was facing the old man as he was silently looking at what was happening in front of him. .. When Lucy saw that handsome man, who was obviously Sebastien, she just couldn''t control her emotions, she appeared behind him and instantly broke his knee then held him by the back of his neck while exerting enough force to cause him immense pain yet not kill him. This sudden turn of events shocked all those who were present, the Pope had many tricks up his sleeves but this mysterious force binding him was too powerful and he couldn''t dispel it even after muttering countless spells. As for the old woman, she didn''t try anything and merely gazed at the scene. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...." Lucy''s killing intent reached its climax, the hall''s atmosphere became extremely cold as even the Pope felt a shiver down his spines, he was afraid yet a bit happy when he saw Lucy''s silhouette, he never thought she was the one who came, after several years searching for her, she finally came to his doorstep but surprisingly, he felt extreme fear as he looked at her and at the man in front of him. "It''s been a very long time.... Sebastien!" Hearing the familiar yet chilling voice, Sebastien didn''t need to turn his head at see her to know who it was, he was usually a scheming and cunning person and wouldn''t expose his motives until he was sure he held the advantage, but never did he think this day would come. "L-Lucy?.." She didn''t respond, instead, a small ball of magma began melting his left hand, and his loud screams resumed. When almost all of his hand was gone, melted by the magma until it reached his shoulder, it suddenly stopped and vanished, what was left was only blood flowing endlessly and a gory scene, Sebastien face was extremely pale and he could barely hold his consciousness. Actually, he passed out several times, but he somehow awakened by a mysterious energy which made this like hell for him, the pain was seriously unimaginable. Lucy didn''t even let him time to breath, she picked him up easily and then slammed him down on the ground, a small crater was a formed, blood and foam was leaking out of his lips as he stared fearfully at the cold Lucy in front of him. His face was finally facing her, it took him a few seconds to adjust and focus on her face, his pale face became even paler as he shrieked, yet because of his special nature, he managed to calm down after breathing for some time, however, that didn''t lessen the pain, his left shoulder was aching like crazy and all of the bones in his back were crushed. "Hahaha *cough* *cough*, So it was you, hahaahhah" He started laughing hysterically after seeing her figure, that calm attitude he showed normally wasn''t present, just by what happened and seeing how he couldn''t even retaliate, he knew it was his doom, so he exposed his true face, although he was on the verge of death, he still stared intensely at her while laughing, his gaze even had some lust and lewdness in it. "S-So you *cough* came, hahaha, did you perhaps miss me? Or miss my.." Before he could finish, a sharp golden sword was thrust into his body''s lower part, and what followed that is a scream even louder than any other one, this time, the pain Sebastien felt by far exceeded the previous ones, even his right hand is broken so he couldn''t even move it to hold his lower part, he could only bear and stare at the sharp golden sword penetrating his precious body part. Lucy''s evilly smirked as she saw him stare at the sword, she didn''t only do that, instead, she moved the sword while it was still thrust and caused him to wail even more, and while doing that she said "Emm? It seems you are no longer a man? Here, let me help you out.." As she said that, a small yet terrifying magma ball, the size of a finger, rushed at his lower part, melting the sword and his body. Sebastien never once stopped screaming, even his voice changed from all that wailing yet he couldn''t stop, as for Lucy, her killing intent subdued a lot, she didn''t torture him like he did to her, it''s true, but all of this satisfied most of her urges, if it was back then, before she met Arthur, then if she ever caught him like then, she would have tortured him for years, but now, she overcame what he did to her, and this was merely punishment. Several minutes passed and the Pope never ceased trying to dispel the strange spell cast on him, it was a pity it was not a spell but invisible threads, the more he witnessed what''s happening, the more danger he felt, he only thought it was an attack by slightly powerful necromancer, and not by Lucy and Arthur. Speaking of Arthur, the Pope already knew about him, he knew he was Lucy''s companion when he was in the academy, and he helped her a lot, and he felt even more danger coming from this black-robed man. .. After some time struggling with the threads, he gave up and began chanting something else. Obviously, Arthur knew about this and heard him chant but he knew it was useless, but once he heard him change his chant, he became alert, he already used the talisman to prevent any teleportation, however, although he knew how powerful he is in comparison to the Pope, he didn''t dare act overconfident. When the chant changed, he spared no time as Natural Lightning circulated in the threads and immediately damaged his vocal cord, permanently preventing the old man from ever chanting again, not only that, he even broke the bones of both his hands and feet. Never would he underestimate someone again, especially not this man, if not for Lucy, he would have already killed him along with this old woman, it''s just that he wanted Lucy to personally kill him, and perhaps ask him why was he so persistent to catch her. With his voice gone, the Pope couldn''t even scream from pain, his eyes were locked onto Arthur as he stared at him with a bit of fear and anger, he was still unwilling to give up, he lived more than 400 years and would never let his fate in the hands of this monster. .. "*Cough* *cough* Lucy *cough* hahah, good! Good! It seems I didn''t educate you enough last *cough* time, even if you do this, you are mine! MINE! HAHAHAH! BITCH! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? JUST A MERE DITY DEMON!" Although he was provoking her while cursing continuously at her, Lucy appeared calm as her gaze shifted to Arthur, in a split second, she already appeared next to him without even killing Sebastien. Arthur patted her head while smiling softly, ignoring everything around them, since she wasn''t going to kill him, he would do it instead, with a wave of his hand, dark red flames ignited on his body and began burning him very slowly. The cursing stopped and was replaced by loud yells from him, and from time to time, you would even hear begging but it was useless, as Arthur and Lucy totally ignored him and turned to look at the Pope. Now that he thought of it, what Arthur did was a bit stupid as now, he can''t get answers from the Pope, but the didn''t matter anymore, he knew the Holy Church''s Pope was famous for his soul attacks and his soul was apparently weak, he didn''t know if it became strong or not, but since he devoured ''Abhuva''s soul, he couldn''t devour anymore. Lucy''s didn''t seem she was going to kill the Pope either, so Arthur didn''t waste time and guided his Natural Lightning to finish the Pope, but just as the green lightning was going to crush his heart, a deep yet melodic voice rang out in the big hall, completely dispersing the lightning and binding Arthur''s movements. "Boy... stop" Even though he heard that, Arthur didn''t stop and concentrated his powers on the Pope, sending all the green lightning on to his heart, the threads also tightened and started to crush all his bones and trying to behead him. "Ignorance! I told you to stop!" As the voice rang out again, Arthur hastily held Lucy and covered her as they were both sent flying away from the Pope, what followed that was a bright light descending from a white crystal above the throne, it was 50 meters or so above it and had a diameter of 20m. It emitted a very bright light, and a woman''s silhouette came out of it, she seemed transparent as you couldn''t see her features, but the aura she emanated was very overwhelming yet at the same time calm. Arthur could barely stand, not even against the Immortal did he feel that. "Ohhh! Pope Geroge, you indeed managed to get that demon, It seems I need to reward you.." As she said that, the woman floating in the hall, stretched her bright white hand, and in the next second, a strong force came at Lucy, pushing her toward the Pope and the woman. The woman''s figure was very big, she was approximately 10m, the aura increased every second, Arthur couldn''t even move to defend Lucy, he could only look helplessly. As Lucy''s was closing in slowly toward the woman, a cold yet deep voice rang out yet again, it was soul piercing and appeared angry. "Delia! A goddess like you dares to bully juniors? Seriously gods these days think they are above all or what?" A black-robed skeleton appeared in front of Lucy, the force that was controlling her a second ago vanished and the pressure coming of Delia didn''t affect Arthur either. Chapter 71 - 71 : Bloody Day "Delia! A goddess like you dares to bully juniors? Seriously gods these days think they are above all or what?" Zodiak''s skeleton appeared in front of Lucy, when the pressure was lifted, Arthur appeared next to Lucy to support her, a moment ago, he couldn''t even move from that pressure, it''s like something was restricting his movements. Delia, who was floating and only gazing at Lucy, was startled by the sudden turn of events, and when Zodiak''s voice rang out, don''t speak of her body, her entire being became afraid, she spoke in an inconsistent and hesitant manner while her bright silhouette seemed like it was shaking. "S-senior Z-zodia-k? I didn''t know you are in this L-lower Realm.." Zodiak slowly advanced toward her while lifting his right hand and snorting "Hmpf! Scram from here, but before you go, give me your soul essence.." Delia, who was acting majestic a second ago, became extremely flustered, to meet someone as tyrannic and terrifying as Zodiak, she surely has one hell of a bad luck, yet seeing Lucy, some stubbornness appeared in her eyes, she unconsciously clenched her teeth and replied "Senior Zodiak.. This..." Before she could even finish, a small vortex appeared next to Zodiak, and the silhouette of Delia was sucked by it with a fast speed, the goddess shrieked as she was being sucked by that vortex, even with her godly powers, she couldn''t resist. Just as she was going to be sucked, the vortex stopped and what appeared what a woman who was about 1.75cm, long blonde hair and snow-white skin, the most astonishing thing is that she wore almost nothing, just a white cloth that barely covered her lower part and her bulging double peaks. She was truly a goddess, but unfortunately, her hair looked disheveled, she looked fearfully at Zodiak, or more precisely, his corpse which was made of only skeletons. "Girl, don''t try to play things with me, give me your soul essence!" Although he threatened one more time, Delia still stood there, shivering in front of him, as if it was a mouse in front of a cat, she didn''t even dare attack or even look up to him. "Senior Zodiak.. You know that it''s f-forbid-den for u.u...us gods to g-give our s...soul essence.. please.." The lifeless eyes of the corpse flashed red for a moment before Zodiak hand was lifted and a vortex several times bigger than the previous was created, this time, it wasn''t a black vortex but a violet one with some loud screams coming out of it.. "You know what''s this right? I''ll give 5 seconds, you better not play tricks and give me your soul essence or suffer the consequences, I don''t have time to play with brats like you which still didn''t even reach adulthood!" Slowly, the goddess was being pushed into the vortex, and this time, her face paled even more as she saw the vortex and heard the screams, so without delaying for even a split second. She spat a golden blood out of her mouth, it was just a drop but she seemed a lot weakened when she did that, the drop of blood slowly floated toward Zodiak who was looking at her coldly, prepared to finish her at any second. Just as the skeleton was about to touch the golden drop of blood, it suddenly disappeared along with the goddess. First, Delia wanted to get Lucy too, but seeing Zodiak here, she didn''t even dare try to get Lucy, if she escaped that in itself is a goddam miracle, much less escaping with another one. Delia suddenly disappeared and the big white crystal began shining even more brightly. The eyes of the skeleton glowed blood red as a grey mist came out of the skeleton. "Girl, you''re overestimating your abilities" As he said that, dozens of black talisman were created out of thin air and in lightning speed struck the glowing crystal, blocking all the light, in just seconds, the white crystal which was brighter than the sun, became a black ball covered with talisman. Then the figure of Delia appeared yet again, she floated slowly to the ground while heavily panting, she didn''t look like a goddess right now, if you add a collar then you would surely think she''s a pretty slave. Her majestic aura or calm demeanor disappeared since the skeleton appeared, for her, this is her worst nightmare, for someone like her, a lower God to meet him shows how unlucky she is. Zodiak didn''t stop, one golden talisman was created again and struck her at her abdomen, the poor Delia shrieked for a second before she calmed down, her face was so pale that anyone would think she''s a corpse. She already fell to the ground and could no longer get up, she didn''t even have the strength to move because of the golden talisman along with the black talismans that struck the crystal. Soon, the golden talisman entered her abdomen as if it was melting, then all of a sudden, the figure of Delia began shrinking slowly until it was the size of a fist. It stayed like that for a couple of seconds until it transformed into a big white pearl, it looked breath-taking, and every now and then, it would glow with a blue light. Zodiak held for a second before he turned toward Arthur and spoke after gazing at him for some time "Here, this is your new pet, consider it a gift, but boy, don''t count on me everytime you mess with someone more powerful than you, this corpse only has a bit of my conscience and can only awaken a few times, by sealing that girl, I already used a lot of my reserve, don''t go around causing a mess everywhere..." As he was talking to Arthur, he frowned for a second before he said "Deity Realm... I''m quite surprised, last time, I came you were barely in the Spirit Realm, yet now... never mind.. here, use this talisman, put it on your companion, her origins are special and any god can guess that so this will help her for the time being" A violet talisman was created and floated next to Arthur, he was still shocked by what just happened, nonetheless, he took the talisman and nodded. "Ahh, you are some troublesome brat! This should be Astria.. go look for the remains of my powers, there should betwo portions here, it may help you a lot..." Arthur nodded again without speaking, he somehow got the feeling that even if he asked, his questions will not be answered so he just didn''t ask anything. .. Zodiak turned to look at the Pope and the archbishop, then appeared before them, they were astonished by this turn of events, for their goddess to become a ''pet''? This is simply a crazy nightmare for them, but none of that mattered as they knew it was their final day living when he appeared in front of them. The Pope''s body got sucked into that big vortex, as for the Archbishop, after Zodiak gazed at the old woman for a second, he struck her with a dark green talisman then appeared next to Arthur yet again. "That old hag is not a bad person, so I spared her, her memories of what happened have already been erased, now then, I exhausted more than half of my reserve power in this conscience, remember, try to find the portions of my power, it''ll surely help you, I don''t know why but my magic fused with you completely, it is synchronized with you more than me, it''s creators, it''s really mysterious... now now.. it''s time.." After he finished saying that, his corpse entered Arthur''s storage and became lifeless, its eyes were not glowing anymore and the robe he wore disappeared. When Zodiak was gone, the atmosphere calmed in the big hall and the silence ruled over the place, no one talked, Arthur gazed at the big white pearl for sometime before he stored it and took the talisman and gently put it on Lucy. She was calm and for some reason, she was gently smiling, maybe she was relieved that her revenge is finally over, she felt at ease. The talisman melted on her abdomen just like it happened to Delia, some changes happened to her, fortunately, it wasn''t anything bad, only strands of her silver-hair turned violet, which made her look even more stunning, apart from that, nothing else happened. ... Arthur already knew that his army already broke through the gates and invaded the city, all the cardinals were killed and more than 70% of the Holy Church army was killed and the rest finally surrendered, after all, they couldn''t bear it, orders or whatnot, it was clearly shown that it was a one-sided massacre. His army withdrew from the city, the same thing for Lucy and Arthur, only the Archbishop was left and the rest was killed with only the surrendered soldiers kept alive since they achieved their purpose, then Arthur decided to spare them for now. The city was literally in ruins, only some of the main buildings were kept intact and the rest were demolished, the war outside of the tower was bloody as the ground was dyed red with the blood of the deceased, this short yet devastating war between the sudden invasion of the undead army and the Holy Church was sure insane, this day would be known in the future as the ''Bloody Day''.. The news of the Holy Church spread to the surroundings continents in just 2 weeks or so, the control and power of the Church became non-existent and several of the branches located in several cities have withdrawn to the HQ. The emperor took control of the continent and became the official ruler, he couldn''t be happier as he trusted his guts and didn''t send soldiers. As for the Demon Lord and such, they tried sending some attacks to the Human continent now that the Holy Church is no more, but they faced strong resistance from the royal soldiers as they were stationed in all corners of the continent, surprisingly, Arthur''s undead was also among them. Since he thought it would be a waste to send it back, he let the emperor borrow it, it would follow his orders for the time being until something happens and he needs them again, with the dark knights here, not even the Demon Lord would dare attack head-on. Of the 50 dark knights, 47 were left, only 3 were barely killed by the 6 cardinals, however, Arthur summoned 3 others, to make it equal, and from the 50,000 undead, 39,000 were left, compared to the emperor''s army of hundreds of thousands, it may seem a lot less, but their prowess is insane. .. Arthur already returned to the Ma Clan with Lucy, and he possessed all the corpses he managed to store in his ring, they exceeded 2,000 but unfortunately, they were not high leveled, their stats ranged from 800 to 1,500 with only the cardinals being 10,000+. Basically, his stats increased by 2.2 million, more or less and his mental power surprisingly increased by more than 200, he didn''t forget to possess the Pope, however, all his skills were for the Holy attribute, which was a pity, there was even a strong soul attack. Nothing interesting happened in those two weeks for Arthur and Lucy, she seemed a bit more cheerful now that the burden of the revenge is gone, they would pass every day either snuggling, being intimate or playing with little Saly, who with the help of Astrith, managed to LVL up to 79, it was really insane for a 5 years old to be that LVL. Maybe it was even unprecedented, after all, who is like Lucy, who had a lightning beast which would leech her monsters in dungeons and let her easily kill them, there was also Arthur and Lucy who trained her and gave her the strongest skills. In terms of strength, she can match a person LVL140, her stats were outrageous and her fighting style is perfect. one cannot stop praising her when they see her fight. .. Today, Arthur and Lucy were staying in their yard, relaxing with Saly, who was meditating. Astrith was taking a nap next to her. Arthur was pondering about the skills Zodiak used, that terrifying vortex or the strange talismans, he also knew how to use them but didn''t know how to create them, well technically, he did know how to, but not like Zodiak, who did it instantly and from thin air. Just to create that Talisman to prevent teleportation, he needs a lot of materials and a spell, so creating it would at least need half an hour, while Zodiak made dozens of them in a split second. He was really intrigued by them and wanted to learn how to use that, but unfortunately, he can''t know, not until he finds the two portions. He decided that he''ll search for them, but for now, he''ll stay here for some time with Lucy and Saly and when the time comes, he will go with them, perhaps if Saly is still not strong, she''ll stay here, but there''s no way he''ll go without Lucy, not only he was afraid that woman would come again, Lucy also was a strong fighter and can help him a lot. .. In those 2 weeks, Arthur checked that big white pearl much time, Zodiak told him that it was his new ''pet'' but he couldn''t sense anything from it which confused him greatly, nonetheless, he didn''t dwell on it that much and decided to check it when the time comes. Lucy''s revenge was done, and the only one left was his, his wife, Claudia... one day, he''ll return to Earth and make a bloody river in it from the blood of all who wronged him, especially his ex-wife. ''Oh... Claudia, just wait... I promise you it won''t be long before I come for you and all the others...'' Chapter 72 - 72 : Hunt 1 A month has passed since the ''Bloody Day'', a lot of things occurred, but nothing too dramatic, Arthur passed his days peacefully with Lucy and Saly, the little girl worked harder and harder, as for him, he just relaxed with Lucy, and would sometimes train his techniques. He checked the orb that Zodiak gave him many times, but he just couldn''t figure out how to use it or even activate it, it''s a shame but there''s nothing he could do about it, yet. Arthur decided to rest for a bit more in the Ma Clan then go look for Zodiak''s remaining powers, he knew that people are coming for him, Zodiak''s warning and that woman who attacked him last time were enough to alert him and make him on guard. Zodiak said that there are portions of his powers left in this world, it may be hard to find them immediately but at least he got a clue, yes, it''s ''Medusa''. Since the moment he met them, he knew they had a relation with Zodiak, or else, how could you explain their ability to use the ''Dark Magic'', it''s just a pity that he didn''t know their headquarters, or else he would have gone there immediately. Nonetheless, he didn''t plan to give up, he had the Ma Clan and other forces in his side, with their broad net of information, there''s bound to be some clues about the whereabouts of this secret organization. ... "B-but Arthur, I want to come with you two!" Saly was sitting on Arthur''s lap while he was stroking her fluffy ears, she was pouting and acting angry because Arthur told her that they would leave in 2 weeks to look for something but no matter how she begged, he didn''t accept her request to come and told her to stay here as it is the safest place. "I told you, the place we are going is not that safe, if you can reach LVL300, then I''ll think about it? Alright?" Saly was still pouting, although she''s young, she wasn''t an idiot, moreover, her high intelligence allowed her to act more like an adult than a child, but in front of Arthur and Lucy, she would always act like a spoiled brat. "Hey Lucy! Please tell him to take me too!" Saly looked at Lucy, who was leaning her head on Arthur''s shoulder, she took her hands while pleading to her, she knew that only Lucy can change Arthur''s choice, furthermore, Lucy always doted on Saly and granted her all her requests. Lucy gently smiled at Saly while softly saying "Hehehe~~, little Saly, I know you have become very strong, but we can''t bring you this time, it''s extremely dangerous, please stay here, don''t worry, next time, we''ll surely bring you along, that''s a promise, okay?" Hearing this, Saly could only slowly drop her head down and stay silent, no matter how stubborn she is, she can''t insist too much, since she said she can''t come then she can''t come, maybe if she was stronger then they would have taken her, so while tightly gripping Lucy''s hands, she slowly nodded her head while saying "Okay.. Saly understands.. I''ll go train and you''ll take me if I reach LVL300 right? It''s not too far away, I''m already 97!" With that, she jumped from Arthur''s lap and went outside to train, Astrith who was taking a nap not too far away, disappeared from his position and followed her, after all, it was his duty to protect her while she was not with Arthur and Lucy, and he himself didn''t really dislike doing this, his relationship with her strengthened, plus she treated him to a lot of delicacies. .. The remaining time passed in the blink of an eye, Arthur and Lucy prepared themselves, and after saying their farewell to little Saly, they departed, the first thing they did is head to the E-clips company headquarters in the Itas continent to get the corpses. It''s been quite some time since he asked Belic and Robin to gather more corpses, their stats may be low, but if he possessed thousands, then his overall strength would increase by a significant amount. .. The journey didn''t take more than 10 minutes, the trade proceeded as usual, the reaction of the old man and Robin was not like last time, I guess they got used it after experiencing it a few times. Unlike last time, Arthur paid Belic for gathering the corpses, they gathered 1,012 beast corpses, Arthur didn''t know how much they cost and he wanted to pay the old man for them, but Belic insisted on not receiving anything, saying that getting the help of the Ma Clan is enough. Mentioning this, Arthur remembered that he promised Belic to help his Qin Clan, so yeah, maybe for him, helping out his own Clan is better than getting loads of Gold Coins, well, each got their preferences. .. After they finished the deal, the duo went to a secluded cave a couple of kilometers away from the Elven city and rested, well it was not resting but to allow Arthur to possess the corpses. The stronger he got the better if an unexpected situation occurs like it always does, he better be powerful enough to cope with it, or else, the only outcome would be his and Lucy''s death, which is something he definitely didn''t want. Before he left the Ma Clan, he asked Anastassia about ''Medusa'', however, she didn''t know much about it, but she gave him a useful information, which is to look for them in the Western continent, apparently, they show themselves a lot around that area, and all the continent is considered a wasteland devoid of any rulers except a few powerful beastmen clans here and there, there is no one who can truly threaten their existence. So, the first destination for Arthur and Lucy is going to be the Western continent, it''s on the other side of the planet or world, but with their speed, it wouldn''t take much time to arrive there, so it was not that big of a deal. .. Their trip already began after he finished possessing all corpses, like last time, nothing special appeared, like a unique skill or something similar, however, his stats rocketed yet again. TITLE : MEAT GRINDER / SEEKER OF KNOWLEDGE / ONE WITH THE SWORD / ARK??? Level: ???? Class: Dark ARK Parasite - Realm : Deity - Strength: 19.7m Intelligence: 18.0m Agility: 23.4m Wisdom: 17.6m Vitality: 16.2m Dexterity: 16.8m - Health 16.4m Health Regen 13871/s Mana 17.02m Mana Regen 23299/s Stamina infinite Stamina Regen ???? - Creation : 10 Attack: 17.01m Defense: 16.8m Magic defense : 2.9m -- Enigma abilities : Telekinesis / Ancient Threads / Sixth sense / ARK?? Mental Power : 844 Elemental Resistances: Fire: 100% Water: 75% Wind: 35% Earth: 75% Light/holy: 5% Shadow: 30% Lightning: 100% Ice: 30% --- His stats were really unbelievable, what''s more amazing is his ''Mental Power'', his guesses were that once he reached 1000 in Mental Power, then he will breakthrough to the Immortal Realm, and he really wanted that to happen because he knew that the difference between the Immortal Realm and the Deity Realm is much bigger than the Deity Realm and the Heavenly Realm, heck! He and Lucy barely managed to kill Tensui, taking in account that their stats are overpowered, if it were 2 normal people in the Deity Realm, there is no way in hell they could have done that. ... The trip was peaceful and without any problems occurring in the middle of it, they didn''t travel at full speed, more at a moderate one, and in just one day, they were already on the borders of the Western Continent. The first thing Arthur saw was a barren land, almost like a desert, but with no cliffs and mountains of sands, the weather was a bit hot compared to the other continents, and there were no sights of cities or towns, it''s literally like a deserted land, well, he expected that much when he read lots of books about it, the problem is, where will they go now? Do they roam randomly or search for living beings and question them? The Western continent is known to be the biggest one albeit it being a wasteland, too many wars occurred in it making it dyed red with the blood of countless races, it''s also the continent which contains the most dungeons, furthermore, it is widely known that almost all the dungeons here are the most dangerous, they contain high levelled creatures, even Anastassia warned him not to enter dungeons recklessly. Although she warned him, he didn''t care much about that warning, he got Lucy with him and if it''s not someone in the Immortal Realm or higher then they could deal with it easily, hopefully. Arthur and Lucy decided to roam for a bit and search for any living being, then they can question him/her about the location of a city or a village, after all, they have to start from somewhere. If he can only get his hands on a higher up from ''Medusa'' then he can use ''Soul Search'' on him, although it''s a bit risky, it''s worth it, he''ll be able to know the whereabouts of their HQ and it''ll save a lot of time. .. Fortunately, with their overpowered speed, it didn''t take them much time to find someone, approximately after an hour or so, they found some people, or what appeared to be beastmen. Normally, an hour is enough for him to travel thousands if not millions of kilometres, yes, it''s insane, but he and Lucy were not travelling, they were inspecting every corner of the wasteland, if not, they would miss something, so that''s why it took them that much time, although, it''s considered a short amount to other people. ...... Jackob was currently fighting an Earth Worm, it''s the most common monster in the Western Continent, and probably the most annoying one, it never gives up on it''s preys, it will even die trying to catch their food, they have large frames, probably 2 meters in height, plus, they are 4 meters long, their appearance is too disgusting, and their mouth contains hundreds of sharp teeth. Right now, he was on an expedition with some other clan members to secure some medicine, although it''s called medicine, it''s just the saliva of the Earth Worm, as apparently, their saliva is an important material for alchemy crafting and can be used to heal curses or diseases. His mother was a bit sick, and the only way to cure her is by an expensive Elixir or the saliva of the Earth Worm, it was not only his case, several other clan members needed that saliva for personal reasons, so they formed a small party and went for the hunt. What they didn''t expect though, is getting ambushed by 4 Earth Worms, they are not particularly strong if fought individually, but if you got surrounded, then it''s troublesome to deal with them, plus, Jackob and the other 3 were not that strong, their LVL was only in the 60, as for the Earth Worm, they were between 50 and 70. He wielded a two-handed mace, it was rusty and hard to wield, but that''s all he could procure, as for the rest of the members, they had either bronze swords or bronze lances, poor weapons but they got used to them after countless battles. Since youth, they fought for their survival, so having poor weapons didn''t mean they are weak, in fact, some beastmen can fight bare-handed and tear the Earth Worm into pieces. "HAA" Jackob jumped to the side and smashed his mace on the side of the Earth Worm, it was not an accurate hit but it dealt some damage to the Earth Worm, the disgusting creature dived into the ground after being struck, but he didn''t dare relax as another Earth Worm came at him from behind. With almost perfect reflexes, he kicked the ground and jumped backward in a cool manner, the Earth Worm''s sharp teeth struck his previous location and some green toxic liquid came out of its big mouth. It was its poison, it was not deadly but it caused the ''paralysis'' status for 10 seconds, which was more than enough for the Worm to devour its prey. As he was delighted to have dodged that poison, he was caught off guard when another Worm came flying at him from below, since he was in the air, he couldn''t dodge or do anything besides block with his mace, but it was too late as some of the green liquid already landed on some of his body, making him unable to move. His jump was quite high and amazing, but the fall was pitiful and full of despair, he couldn''t move, so when he hit the ground, he just layed there, motionless, but now that he took second and thought about what happened, it seemed a bit weird doesn''t it? I mean, they got ambushed by 4 Worms, so why the hell did 3 attack him? Where were the other 3 party members? Surely they didn''t die, they were not that weak to die in just seconds. As he was thinking about that, his eyes happened to land on running figures about 70meters away from his location, they were indeed those 3 party members, each held a fist-sized bottle filled with transparent liquid, he could already guess it''s the Worm''s saliva, and by the look on their faces, he knew they abandoned him, however, he didn''t hate them or became enraged. In this land, each has to take care of themselves, that was an untold rule, so what if they abandoned him? Each must only care about his own life, why should they sacrifice themselves for something as absurd as camaraderie? Jackob''s only regret is his inability to procure the saliva for his mother, nothing mattered apart from that, he layed their motionless, unable to move because of the saliva, and look at the incoming Worms which dived toward him like hungry dogs, their mouths were wide open as if they were going to tear him into pieces. Chapter 73 - 73 : Hunt 2 The distance between the giant disgusting worms and the bound Jackob is shortening each second, until it was less than 5 meters, albeit their huge frame, the worm''s speed is quite fast, which make it more troublesome to deal with it. Jackob already gave up on escaping, there is no way he could free himself from the paralyzing saliva, so what is only left is just give up and accept his death, he closed his mouth and layed there, silent, his thoughts about his mother.. However, even after a couple of seconds passed, nothing happened, the first thought that crossed his mind is that perhaps it''s done? Maybe he died painlessly? It was a happy thing yet depressing, happy because he didn''t feel pain, yet sad and depressing because he died and can no longer help his mother, but if so, then where is he now? The afterlife? With that absurd thought in mind, he opened his eyes only to see the disgusting body of the 3 worms around him, but what was even more surprising is that they were frozen in a big block of ice, each and every one of them. Apart from them, two figures appeared a couple of meters away from him, because he still felt a bit weakened, and couldn''t comprehend what just happened, he couldn''t exactly see their appearances, but he was sure it was a man and a silver-haired woman next to him, both of them slowly walked toward him. As for the giant worms, they didn''t move since they were frozen, Jackob was relieved as he breathed a sigh of relief, he didn''t die, so why not feel a bit delighted? Yet he also felt a mix of cautious and fear toward those mysterious individuals. First, why did they save him? For someone like him who fought countless battles and grew in a harsh environment like this place, it''s weird to save someone out of kindness, there surely must be a reason they saved him, so he raised his guard against them although they saved his life. Arthur and Lucy finally found a living being, well to be more precise, it was a small party, but as they approached, it seemed 3 of the people in that party left the last one alone and fled, it was kind of expected and neither Arthur nor Lucy was surprised, such acts were very common in this world, especially on this continent. First, they were going to go question the 3 fleeing people, but after some thought, they decided to save the other one and question him instead, he may give some honest answers because they saved him, and the others may spit some lies. Arthur doesn''t particularly care about that beastmen''s life, he was kind, yes, but not to the point of saving everyone that was in danger, he would only help friend and relatives, probably helpless people that were kind of his acquaintances, but helping strangers was a no-no for him, but that seemed really ironic when he helped Lucy, a complete stranger to him right? And Saly? I guess his character may have changed a bit after all that happened, maybe he softened or became colder, whatever happened, it doesn''t matter as long as he did was he thought was right. .. Dealing with such weak worms was truthfully extremely easy, even Saly could slaughter hundreds of them, they didn''t even seem strong, just disgusting. With but a thought, all the 3 attacking worms were frozen with his Ice Magic, he didn''t use it often or tried it, but against such weak creatures, this kind of magic is very effective against , furthermore, after possessing thousands of creatures, his Ice Magic is the most common amongst the special attributes, so he already got it in advanced, but what he really wanted to have is that strange ice the woman used in the tournament back then. After having possessed a significant amount of corpses of numerous races, Arthur came to know that special attributes are really very rare, Ice is the most common, although I said common, it''s just that it''s the attribute that is commonly found amongst all the other attributes, from all those corpses, he never got the metal or wood or another attribute, which is a pity. .. Lucy and Arthur walked toward the beastmen who appeared to be paralyzed and layed on the ground, he looked at them with fear and cautiousness, but Arthur wasn''t going to hurt him anyway, he could only chuckle and speak loud enough for the beastmen to hear him. "Hello there, no need to panic! We were just passing by, we''re definitely not suspicious, I saw you were in danger, so I saved you..." Hearing this, Lucy could only sigh and slowly shake her head while mumbling "You... from all the things you could have said, why say that?" Arthur just scratched the back of the head while smiling, now that he thought about it, what he said was a bit suspicious, plus with their sudden appearance, how could the other party not feel fearful and suspicious towards them? Anyways, he kept looking at the beastmen, expecting an answer. As for Lucy, she didn''t try to correct or do anything, talking to strangers was not something she excelled at, only when talking to Arthur can she express her feeling and talk about whatever she wants, as for others, it was not like with Arthur, for example when talking to Anastassia or Sonia, she wouldn''t talk much, maybe Saly was an exception as she loved chatting with that little girl, but other than her, there was none. Of course, that didn''t necessarily mean she can''t talk, she just didn''t want to talk to strangers, she also found it useless, plus there was Arthur to do the talking. .. Half a minute passed with no response, the atmosphere was a bit awkward, Jackob managed to sit up as the paralysis began to wear off bit by bit, plus his resistance to it was stronger than normal people because he had been exposed to it numerous times. "W-who are you?.." Jackob finally managed to utter those words, he escaped from calamity but he could not relax yet, maybe those two are even more dangerous than the worms, it''s just that every person from here would feel suspicious and confused if they were saved like this. "Ehh? I know that in this continent, everything is messy, but I think that most people know that if a person got saved by someone, they have to thank them first before asking anything else, or am I wrong perhaps?" Arthur kept a distance of 5m or so between him and Jackob, he knew that his beastmen felt very cautious, so he didn''t want to cause him more fear than he is already feeling, he just wanted to know the whereabouts of the closest city. To be honest, with Lucy and Arthur''s traveling speed, circling the continent a few time a day would be easy, crossing it all would not take a lot of time, it was possible, but what he needed was information, just going to random cities would not really help that much, if he just searched every village and city one by one, and inspecting its people and so on, then that would take a lot of time, so having someone provide necessary information for him is very crucial. Jackob somehow managed to stand up, he cautiously stared at the couple while replying "Y-yes, I apologize for my rudeness, thank you for saving my life.. uhh.." After thanking him, he couldn''t think of anything else to say, if they truly helped him out of kindness, then he would eternally feel grateful, but such thoughts never crossed his mind as events like this where people are saved by strangers without expecting anything is impossible to occur in this wasteland. "Good, so you know how to appreciate kindness, well then, we saved your life, what have you got to repay us?" ''I fucking knew it!'' Jackob gritted his teeth as he unconsciously backed away from Arthur, he obviously has nothing to give him, so he could only helplessly gaze at Arthur and hesitantly say "I-I have a couple of gold coins back home, if you''re willing to follow me, I can give them to you.." Jackob did many contributions to his clan and village, so he was rewarded with money, and after more or less 5 years, he managed to save a couple of gold coins, it was not lot for rich people, but for the beastmen and the inhabitant in this continent, every coin, be it copper, silver or gold, it''s worth a lot, after all, they were short on food, water and so on. Unlike other continents, this one is very special, as recorded in the history books, this continent suffered from countless bloody wars, it was a battlefield for hundreds of years, it was not a place to live, no more grass or trees grow anymore, it''s just ''rotten earth'', there were canyons, cliffs, dungeons, but every single one of them didn''t even have a single tree, it''s a pity but that''s to be expected after all these wars that happened here. .. Arthur walked toward the restless beastmen, still smiling, hearing what Jackob said, his smile became wider, but to Jackob, it looked evil rather than appealing. "Ohoho, such things like gold coins.. they are useless for me" Jackob really wanted to get the hell out of here, he didn''t know what would this person do to him, after seeing him come toward him while smiling, he regretted not dying, maybe his fate was going to be worse than death? That''s what most people in his situation would think. "Then what do you want? Apart from that I really don''t have anything else..." Arthur was finally a meter or so in front of the beastmen, he gazed intensely at him while humorously saying "No no! You indeed can repay me with something apart from the gold coins, hmm..... for example, your body?" As he heard that, Jackob stared at him with a confused look, he really couldn''t understand what he just heard, after a couple of seconds, he seemed to have realized something, with a still confused look, he shifted his gaze to Lucy, who was next to Arthur. ''Maybe he swings that way?... eh!? then this woman is maybe his sister? No way... or perhaps he wants to dissect me?" Many absurd and crazy thoughts rampaged in his mind, but outside, he didn''t utter a single word. After an unknown amount of time, a cold yet pleasant to hear voice rang out. "You really should stop, your joking scared the boy a lot..." It was Lucy who talked, Arthur didn''t joke around this much usually, so why would he do that now? Well, either way, it didn''t bother her but the beastmen seemed to become more and more afraid and restless. After stopping for a second, she resumed talking again while facing Jackob. "We just want answers from you, that''s all" Hearing this, Jackob was momentarily startled before he managed to process what she just said, his mind was still confused by what Arthur said, but the woman finally said something reasonable, he unconsciously sighed and stared at Lucy. Now that he took a closer look, he couldn''t help but feel a bit of shock, this mysterious woman is really a top-class beauty, even amongst all the women he saw in his entire life, she can be considered amongst the top, well, he doesn''t have the time to contemplate her beauty, plus, just by the way he coldly looked at him, he felt cold sweat and chills over his whole body. "O-oh oh... if so, then I will try to answer as best as I can!" He still didn''t let go of his suspicions, but if it''s only questioning, then it''s no problem, he resolutely looked at the duo while waiting for their questions. ''Hopefully, they let me go after they are done with me... fuck! My luck is so bad, why must I run into them, especially this man! If he was really joking, then it''s not funny! Not funny at all!'' Arthur nonchalantly clapped his hands as if a bit excited, then he said "Alright alright! Just answer some questions okay? Hmm, first, tell us about the cities here, are there any major city or a capital? Any important places for the people to gather.." Just from their demeanor and appearances, Jackob already guessed they were not people from this continent, the worms were easily frozen, someone with strong magic like this would definitely be known if he was from here, plus the woman, how can someone with her beauty not be popular? Strong beastman chiefs loved collecting beauties, especially from other races, so such person wouldn''t escape their radar, so the only guess is that they are from beyond the sea. As he heard Arthur, Jackob didn''t hesitate and earnestly answered. "There does not exist any cities in this continent, only territories, each beastmen clan have a territory, depending on the force of the clan, the territory''s size also varies, however, there is a somewhat big town on the west of the continent, it''s called ''Kal Town'', it would take more or less 3 months to arrive there, as far as I know, that''s the only place where ''tourists'' such as yourselves can go, there are some merchants and private auctions too" Arthur touched his chin, deep in thought, then he proceeded to ask other question, Lucy stood next to him, silent and listening to Jackob.. Deep underground, precisely where the statue of the pretty woman that Lord A previously kneeled in front of, there appeared a crack in the air, as it was shattering glass, the sound was not loud, almost non-existent. It expanded until it was the size of a door, then a black-clothed woman got out from it, she was exactly the same as the statue, voluptuous body with pretty curves and enchanting waist, and a dark ominous book hanging on the dark belt in her waist. The room she appeared in not that big, but currently, it was filled with 8 people, each and every one of them was kowtowing toward the woman, not daring to look at her face without permission. "Damned ''Lower Realm'', can''t even maintain my full powers, tsk tsk! I guess even with my current powers, it should be enough to deal with ''them''.. hmpf!" The arrogant yet sweet tone of the woman rang out in a silent room, she sounded a bit annoyed and angry, and when her eyes landed on the 8 figures present, for some reason, she became even more annoyed "HMPF! Can''t you even finish a simple mission yet daring to show your ugly dog faces? I can''t even believe I have to come to clean up your mess you made up! If it was not important for my plan, why would I come to such insignificant place?" She then remained silent for half a minute before speaking again "Divine Realm should be enough huh?....." She then remained silent for a second before speaking again while pointing at a random old woman from the 8 figures "You! You''ll be in charge of completing the mission from now on" The old woman didn''t dare talk, she merely kowtowed, again and again, all of them worshipped this mysterious woman and considered her their god, so how could they dare talk back to her? Much less disobey her. The pretty dark-haired woman then disappeared from the room and appeared in the sky, floating above a forest thick of trees. ''They appeared in the East right? To think I have to come to deal with some ants because of these useless dogs! Nonetheless, they managed to kill an Immortal... I have to deal with them even if I have to search all this damn planet!'' With that, she disappeared once again, beginning her ''hunt'', but what she did not know that Arthur himself was also looking for ''Medusa'' to get Zodiak''s powers and soon enough, the hunter will become the hunted! Chapter 74 - 74 : Hunt 3 "....Our clan is not far from here if we begin walking now, it''ll probably take us 2 days or so." It''s already been 15 minutes since Arthur began asking the questions, and the good thing is that this beastmen Jackob answered perfectly, almost as if it was planned, Arthur knew that the other party was not telling lies, so he just clapped at Jackob a few times while saying "Good good! It''s really great to encounter someone so cooperative, I tell you what, why don''t you guide us to your clan" Jackob, who barely had the time to breathe, was momentarily startled, he hesitated for a second before replying "S-sir, as I have already said, h-humans are prohibited t-to come to the c-cla..n" "Ha ha ha, no worries, we''re demons, ain''t that right, Lucy?" As he said that, Arthur playfully looked at Lucy, who has been silent since a while ago. The silver-haired woman nodded at Arthur while muttering ''Yes'', but albeit that, Jackob was still restless and continued "S-sir, demons are e-even worse than h-humans, the c-clan will not s....s-spare you! The relationship between our race and the others are very chaotic..." "Will not spare us? Ha ha ha, alright alright, just guide us there and that''s it, we''ll not bother you anymore.." Jackob knew that insisting will not matter, this man is extremely stubborn and persistent, he sighed and nodded at the couple. Arthur summoned the black cloud, which is the fastest way to travel while carrying other people except for Lucy, Astrith wasn''t here so that was the only way, he could also use the bone dragon, however, it was much slower than the cloud. Previously, the cloud matched his speed but since his stats reached the millions, it''s speed didn''t match him anymore, which is a pity but it nonetheless was very fast, probably a bit slower than Astrith. The sudden appearance shocked Jackob, he stared at it with eyes full of curiosity and fear. "With this, we should reach your clan much faster, so why don''t you hop on?" Arthur didn''t wait for Jackob as he embraced Lucy''s waist and jumped on the cloud, it was approximately 5 meters long, so it''s wide enough for the three of them. Few seconds passed before Jackob snapped out of his daze and jumped on the cloud, it was not floating very high, so for someone with his stats, even when weakened, he still managed to easily do it, however, his gaze was on the nearby frozen worms. They were probably dead, so getting some of their saliva is easy, he was very reluctant to let this chance go away. "W-wait, can you p-please remove your i-ice? I need something from the wor-ms.." It seems that it took him a lot of courage to say that, which confused Arthur a bit, there is no need to be this scared of them, maybe demons or humans are like monsters to beastmen? But it can''t be to this degree, right? Anyways, with but a thought, the ice melted and the dead bodies of the worms fell on the ground, they instantly died since the moment they were frozen by the ice, it''s coldness is just too much for weak creature, especially when Arthur''s intelligence is so damn high, of course, he didn''t use all his strength, but even 1 percent of it is a lot.. Jackob jumped from the cloud and went near the worms, he then skillfully removed their sharp teeth and some transparent yet disgusting liquid from their big mouth. It only took him a few minutes to finish collecting all he needed, a broad smile appeared on his face, he now had so much saliva that he could make a fortune out of it, well by fortune, I mean a few gold coins. He then hurriedly jumped on the cloud and sincerely said "Thank you for waiting, these things are very important for me" He didn''t have a storage ring so he put all of that in his backpack which was thrown a couple of meters away, the smile never left his face, it''s like he never was fearful of Arthur and Lucy earlier. Since he got the cure for his mother''s illness, then that''s all it matters, so what if they come with him, they could take of themselves. "The clan is toward the Wes.." Before he could finish, his eyes widened and he couldn''t utter a single word, he even forgot to breathe from the shock. A dark barrier was already formed around the cloud to protect from the wind resistance, and the cloud was flying with an extreme speed, even after half a minute, not a word came out of Jackob''s mouth, he was just too shocked to be able to speak, basically, he became speechless. It took them almost 2 hours to arrive at what appeared to be a populated area, the cloud''s speed was heavenly for Jackob, but for Arthur? It was beyond slow, if he flew here, then it would barely take a dozen minutes. "Hey, is this your clan''s territory?" Arthur finally spoke after a long silence, well he had been silent toward Jackob, but in the course of this short trip, he chatted with Lucy and read some books, as for Jackob, he just stood there, motionless, watching the surroundings which are blurring and changing every second" "A-ah, w-what? O-oh, y-....yyyes yes! It is" He could barely talk, he still couldn''t process what just happened in the last hour, ''Fuck! What the hell! 1 hour? I couldn''t even see the surroundings, this strange cloud is so fast...maybe I brought doom to my clan?'' "Alright, why don''t we go to your home first? We don''t want trouble from your clan..." Although he said that, if they attacked him on their own, then he doesn''t mind ''fighting back'', after all, he and Lucy came in peace, whether they hated Humans or not, that was not Arthur''s problem, furthermore, he''s not Human, neither is Lucy. "M-my home? Alright....." Jackob didn''t really want to bring trouble to himself, however, he can''t refuse Arthur''s request, after witnessing his ice magic and the cloud, how could he have the guts to refuse? A weakling like him will die with a single attack like that Ice magic. .... It didn''t take 5 minutes for them to appear in Jackob''s house, it was just a one-room wooden house which barely looked like a house, calling it a tent is is better. Jackob separated from them a distance away, as for Arthur and Lucy, they just teleported from above to inside the small house. Jackob was already sitting next to an old woman laying on a bed, she was profusely sweating and twitching a bit, as for her son, Jackob, he was mixing that transparent saliva with some powder, then he gently lifted her head to make her drink it. The saliva was known to be very effective so Jackob was relieved the moment he saw his mother drink the medicine, after putting her back on the bed again, he turned around and bowed while saying "Again, thank you for saving me and bringing me here, If I died, I would not have been able to save my mother, I''m not sure if you know or not, but in this clan, although it''s called a ''clan'' , each takes care or himself, it''s just someone powerful leading weakling and calling it a clan.." Arthur merely nodded at the thankful Jackob, he just was lucky because he and Lucy happened to be passing by, or else he would have died, unfortunately, but it wasn''t the case. "Well, then... we will st-.." Arthur was just about to finish talking, when all of a sudden, a strange bell sound rang outside of the ''house'', it was very loud, and rang many times, following it, cries and shouting came out of the several houses and tents. Even Jackob''s face paled a bit, he gritted his teeth and looked at the confused Arthur while saying "It''s called the ''War Bell'', it''s only used when an enemy Clan invades our territory or launches an attack.." Hearing this, Arthur didn''t seem shocked or afraid, unlike Jackob, as for Lucy, she was as indifferent to that matter as ever. The couple just sat on nearby chairs while and relaxed. "If it''s like that, then no worries, I see that you only got your mother right? If so, just stay here with us and you two won''t be hurt, of course, if you want to flee or go, then that''s your choice" Arthur was not interested in those clans or wars, he just wanted to spot some people from Medusa, there must be spies here, right? Or else, where would they be, last time he found underground rooms, so there must be countless here too right? Going by the logic that is. Jackob, still feeling afraid and anxious about the incoming enemies, was confused by Arthur''s calm attitude, but thinking about the cloud and the ice, then this calmness is to be expected, nevertheless, he didn''t stay silent and carefully said "I know you two are strong, but an army of another clan, is huge, ours is probably in the hundred thousand, theirs too will have an astronomical number, furthermore, my house is in the borders of the clan''s territory!" Hearing this, Arthur merely chuckled while responding "He he he, well, do whatever you want, but if you stay here, I can guarantee yours and your mother''s lives, if you go, then I''m not going to save you.." .. Jackob was stuck in a dilemma, he couldn''t make a decision, and thinking about it, moving his sick mother is dangerous, the medicine effect needs time, so with that thought in mind, he gritted his teeth and sat again near his mother while looking around anxiously, cries and yells sounded, even the clashing of weapons can be heard. "Relax, ha ha ha, I think you are underestimating us, boy..." Arthur reassured the panicked Jackob, but it didn''t have any effect, so he just shrugged his shoulders and leaned on Lucy, his head laid on her lap, with a final sentence, he smiled back at her and said "I''m going to take a nap, I''ll leave the rest to you, alright?" Lucy softly smiled and nodded, then she continued stroking his black hair, this situation is not dangerous for them to take it seriously, but although Arthur was acting like that, a strong dark barrier was surroundings both of them, you may never know when powerful enemies can come. He had confidence in Lucy''s strength and unless an Immortal Realm person showed up, then no one can beat her, even a person in the Deity Realm will be melted by her magma. What he was sure about is that, the people who reach the Immortal Realm will either gain a special power, or have a big boost in strength, or else, how can you explain Tensui''s power? When he reached the Immortal Realm, his speed, strength, were defense incredible, even surpassing Arthur. Also, when he arrived in the clan''s territory, and with his [Sixth Sense] which increased to 5Km range, he was confident to be able to react in time. Most of the people''s Levels in this clan was between 10 and 60, maybe because it was in the edges of the clan''s territory as Jackob said, but Arthur was sure that the strongest is at best LVL300. Chapter 75 - 75 : Sea Of Flames Cries and weapons clashes resounded non-stop, Jackob sat next to his unconscious mother while looking anxious and afraid, after all, his house was located at the edges of the clan''s territory, and in no time, they will be surrounded by enemies. He would shot glances at the sleeping Arthur and the nonchalant Lucy every now and then, but he didn''t have enough confidence in them to deal with the whole army. It has already been a few minutes since the fighting started and the enemies roars and crazy laughs could be heard, every second passed the sounds got closer and closer. These armies of beastmen are basically savages, Jackob knew that when he heard those laughs, a single clan popped in his mind, one that has cruel and ruthless people, which only care about themselves, although called an army, they destroy villages and other clans, slaughter all elders and men and keep women for slaves. Beastmen are usually known to have a good relationship with themselves, even between clans, if a war happens between them, they would not completely slaughter the opponent, if one of them surrenders, then the winner will spare them, but the ''Savage Beast Clan'' is not like that. They had crazy people, even their leader is known to be insane and behaves, however, he wants, sometimes he would even kill his own people for entertainment, so apart from a few powerful beast clans, the ''Savage Beast Clan'' is known to be very dominating and powerful. Furthermore, Jackob''s clan is considered powerful, but not to the point of being able to resist the ''Savage Beast Clan'', one because once the savage clan attacks another clan, then they will deploy all their troops and spare none, and second is because Jackob''s clan didn''t have many troops like the invading enemy. If the Savage Beast Clan has 100,000 troops, then Jackob''s clan would have at best, 40,000, the difference was just too big, even if there was someone very powerful, he can''t deal with thousands of people, that''s what Jackob thought at least. He already made a plan in his mind, once they were surrounded, he would surrender and hope they spare him, it was a slim chance but that''s the only thing he could do, as for Lucy and Arthur? He thought that they would get rid of maybe hundreds then will be overwhelmed. .. After a dozen or so minutes, 3 beastmen holding machete-like weapons, dripping blood entered the small house. They had a huge frame and numerous scars on their body, especially one of them which had a hideous face and an evil grin. His gaze landed on Jackob and his mother but he didn''t pay much attention to them, however, once his eyes saw Lucy, they began burning, even his hands seemed to shake from excitment. Unfortunately for him, he didn''t have time to contemplate Lucy''s beauty, neither have lewd thoughts or anything of the sort, as he and his two comrades soundlessly fell on the floor. It hasn''t been 10 seconds since they entered yet they just fell on the floor like that, even the terrified Jackob stared dumbfounded, not understanding what just happened. He may not know what happened, but it was just a simple attack from Lucy, for her, killing beasts like this is similar to killing monsters or ants, no difference at all, she didn''t even turn her head, she was staring at the sleeping face of Arthur while stroking his smooth black hair. Lucy had many ways of attacking, her advanced purple fire, the overpowered magma, even her physical attacks are extremely deadly, but she didn''t show off much. Two small yet dangerous needles were created and penetrated the enemies'' heads, the needles were very small, but with the magma''s heat and power, there''s no way one could survive, this needle would even be dangerous to a person in the Spirit Realm, he may have a way to dodge it or somehow resist it, but it would cost him something in return, only against someone in the Heavenly Realm or above would Lucy need to be serious. Plus, with stats like hers, creating such needles and attacking with them, who would be fast enough to dodge such fast attacks? One must know that the more stats one have the faster and powerful their magic is. Lucy didn''t stop at that, the bodies of the three beastmen floated next to her then disappeared suddenly, why would she waste such previous corpses, Arthur would ''harvest'' everything later. A minute did not even pass when more beastmen barged in, this time it was 5, and one of them held a staff, yet just like last time, they helplessly fall on the ground just like last time, they couldn''t even talk or react. Lucy didn''t care if it was Jackob''s clan or the invading clan, anyone coming in would be an enemy. Enemies entered the small house again and again until the corpses count surpassed a hundred, Jackob''s eyes were wide open, he didn''t even notice that even his mouth was wide open. Each person who entered instantly died, it''s like a death reaper was standing and welcoming them, the more people died the more he came to understand why Arthur had that leisurely attitude. He couldn''t even see what killed them, they would suddenly fell to the ground with disbelief filling their eyes, then they would float toward Lucy and disappear. .. For the invading clan, a dozen or so people from the army disappearing were nothing, even a hundred, but the problem is that, all houses were destroyed, except a small house which looked like a tent, it was like a black hole, each person entering disappeared. It didn''t take much time for the enormous army to notice that, first they didn''t pay it much heed, then they began focusing in it and noticed that each and every person who entered would not come out, it was really like a black hole. "Hey! Fools! This is not a fucking show, go destroy that tent! Or else I will strip you and feed the horse some aphrodisiac!" A high in command beastmen ordered and yelled at his army, so without hesitation, more than 500 beastmen bombarded the house, there were a lot of mages obviously, although a beastmen aptitude to magic is not that great, they still can use it, it was not just that, arrows and axes landed on the poor house. So, like that, the small house was annihilated, however, what surprised that commander and the rest of the army is that, although the house was gone, the attacks couldn''t penetrate what seemed like a transparent yet dark barrier which enveloped 4 people. Lucy and Arthur were sitting on chairs, the position of Arthur was a bit awkward as half of his body leaning on Lucy and his head was on her lap. As for Jackob, he stared at his surroundings, dumbstruck, there was no more roof, walls or anything, just him and his mother sitting on the half-destroyed bed. Many eyes stared at him with fury, anger, confusion and many other complex emotions, he truly didn''t how to react or what to say, he awkwardly tried to smile but the smile wouldn''t come out. As for Lucy, she just acted coldly and didn''t mind, if they dared attack, massacring them all wouldn''t be a problem, after all, they only needed Jackob, so why not spare those? ... Mad Dog was a famous commander in the ''Savage Beast Clan'' his position was second only to the clan master, he was a proud and arrogant person, he was also the one who gave the order earlier. He felt suspicion about that small house so he ordered his army to destroy it, but what happened next dumbfounded him, his eyes landed on that barrier-like thing around the people who were in the house. Apparently, there were 2 beastmen and 2 ..humans? For him, humans were just slaves, women are used as toys and human men are slaughtered with no mercy, he gazed at Jackob and his laying mother for a second before he focused on Arthur and Lucy. He was of course mesmerized by Lucy''s beauty, for him, such beauty would be fun to play with, but he wasn''t stupid, countless wars taught him that this woman is not easy or weak. Hundreds of attacks were not enough to even crack that barrier, so he advanced until he was a meter away from the barrier and smiled while saying "Hello there, I see you two are humans, I apologize for the previous attacks, I thoughts there was only beastmen here, hahaha, don''t worry we''re not here to cause trouble, so why not have a talk?" He never paid Jackob any attention, he didn''t even spare him a gaze apart from the first one, he talked while staring intensely at Lucy, who from didn''t even spare him a single glance. She didn''t react and continued busying herself with Arthur, although she heard him, she totally ignored him. Mad Dog cringed for a bit and didn''t know what to do, he was not used to this kind of cold attitude toward him, who was he? He was the Mad Dog! He takes what he wants, so what if she''s powerful? He will subdue her! He first tried to be respectful and sneakily attack, but it didn''t seem it''s going to work. "Hmpf! Don''t say I didn''t give you a choice! Attack! Demolish this dogshit barrier! NOW!" As he said that, he used [Berserker mode] increasing his stats and took the red big two-handed axe from his back and struck the barrier, the nearby army also focused on the attacking. Thousands of attacks landed on the barrier, the army was huge, a lot of it advanced to demolish the clan, but half of it attacked the barrier, basically, the long-ranged attackers and mages stayed behind to help Mad Dog and attacked from far behind, and the close fighters advanced to finish Jackob''s clan. 10 minutes passed yet the barrier didn''t budge, didn''t crack or shatter, didn''t even seem like it weakened, and that''s to be expected, isn''t it? It was made by Arthur, it''s a superior dark magic barrier, only a Heavenly Realm would be able to break it, anyone under that Realm can only dream about doing that, so what if there is dozen of thousands attacking? Their attacks were beyond weak, for Lucy and Arthur that is. Jackob has already held his mother carefully and retreated close to Lucy, his face was pale and he was shaking a bit, he was hoping again and again for this barrier to not shatter. 20 minutes passed, and something finally happened, well, not to the barrier, of course, it''s just that... Arthur''s nap was over, with somewhat sleepy eyes, he sat up and gazed around him leisurely. "Ah ah, stats everywhere... am I still dreaming?" Jackob was confused, as for Lucy, she just giggled and softly nodded at him. She then looked at Mad Dog, who was still attacking and using fire-based skills to demolish the barrier, his hatred intensified every second, he swore to never end until he broke this barrier. "Fucking bastard! Wait until I break this barrier, I''ll fucking play with you until you die!" Mad Dog cursed again and again, but he never got a response, for 20 minutes, he was ignored as if he never existed, him and his army, however, when Arthur finally got up, Lucy cold gaze landed on the thousands of beastmen along with Mad Dog, she only said one word before hell surfaced on this bloody battlefield. "....Annoying.." After that, there was a sea of purple flames, as far as the naked eye can see, it was terrifying yet a spectacular view, raging sea of flames burned the beastmen army, it''s like they were in hell. They felt intense and agonizing pain, yet they did not die, it was worse than dying, some even committed suicide and other loudly screamed. Lucy''s control of her flame was flawless at this stage, Arthur''s ancient flames may be stronger, yet his control is a bit weaker than hers, she used flames since she was young, so how could her control of it be lacking? The flames killed thousands easily, the most dumbfounding thing is that their skin didn''t burn, no no no! they just cried endlessly until they just.. died, what actually happened is that they experienced pain, but not from the outside, but from the inside. Arthur couldn''t possess half a body or a burned body, but the strange thing is that he can even an empty shell, even if all organs, heart and brain was gone, he can still possess, but if the exterior was fully burned or missing a head or half the body, he can''t. He made a lot of experiences when he was in the clan and made a lot of conclusion and results which helped him learn more about his ''possessing'', so that''s why she killed them by burning their insides. Hell''s door opened and the huge army was burned to the ground, the sea of flames prolonged enough to burn the whole army, yes! You heard right! The whole damn army! With almost 20 million points in intelligence, what''s a sea of flaming which had a radius of dozen of kilometers? Maybe some of Jackob''s clan army was burned too, but why would Lucy care? Unlike Arthur, she may be kind sometimes, but there were times when she has to be cold too, her attitude may have changed, but she was not kind enough to spare what seemed like ''kind people''. .. Jackob almost fell unconscious from the shock, he stared and remained speechless, now he felt fear not from the army, but from Lucy. ''Fuck fuck fuck fuck!!!!! Why am I the one to meet them?'' In a way he was fortunate and unfortunate, they saved him, it''s a good thing, but seeing their power right now, he felt like he did the wrong choice when he brought them here. As for Arthur, he didn''t express sympathy or pity for the dead, he just licked his lips and hugged Lucy while saying "Ah, such a good gift from my wife when I just have woken up, I cannot be happier, ha ha ha!" But Jackob didn''t think like that, he gritted his teeth and fearfully gazed at Arthur and Lucy ''I met lunatics, definitely lunatic people, I''m doomed, they seemed kind earlier, but she just slaughtered thousands and didn''t even flinch!'' He used to fear Arthur more but now? Pfft! Lucy was like a true death reaper, one must not be allured by her Beauty, she''s the devil himself! But oh well, she was a demon, so a demon or a devil, it''s similar right? "This should be 50,000... no no 100,000? Should be that amount, HAHAHA, I cannot wait, however, it''ll take time to get them all.." With that thought in mind, Arthur waved his mind, and right away, a bottomless pit appeared, and 2 dark knights and countless skeletons appeared, Arthur just gave them one order, ''Be good delivery boys and gather those corpses for me'' The skeletons obviously followed his orders, with the dark knights leading them, it would also be much easier, although it cost a bit of mental power, it''s no problem, it''ll recover in no time. After he did that, Arthur turned to look at the dumbstruck Jackob while still tightly hugging Lucy from behind and said "Well, it''s about time to visit you clan master, I need to ask him something, then we''ll be gone from your life, promise! ''kay?" He showed an honest smile toward Jackob, for the latter, it rather seemed like a demon god''s evil smirk! ''Be gone my ass! You told me that earlier and you''re still here!'' Although he thought that, Jackob could only nod in reality and silently guide Arthur, however, he was still reluctant, but he before he could speak, Arthur spoke again. "Ah, about your mother, don''t worry, I''ll let someone protect her, plus, who would hurt her when everyone is dead? Right?" A couple of heavily armed skeleton warriors were enough to protect the mother, in an empty battlefield which contained countless dead bodies, who could hurt a sick woman laying who is unable to move? .... Chapter 76 - 76 : No Mercy 1 Jackob''s house was a hundred or so kilometers from the main base of the clan. For high-leveled crossing that distance would not take much time, Arthur would cross it in less than a minute but for them, it''ll be around 10 minutes, more or less. Currently, Arthur, Lucy, and Jackob were back on the dark cloud, flying toward the main base of the clan. Arthur had some questions to the master of the clan, after all, Jackob was just a normal beastmen, he didn''t have any authority, so how could he know any information about Medusa? As for the clan master, Arthur guessed that he definitely knew, why? Because Medusa is known between powerhouses here, they feared it and didn''t dare attack or scheme against it, that was an information Anastassia herself told him. As they were flying with high-speed, a house which looked like a small manor was built, it wasn''t made of expensive materials, just normal stone and some wood, but its appearance was too eye-catching in a deserted place like this. Around this small manor, there were countless houses, either made of stone or wood, there was also a lot of people tightly holding their weapons, be it spell-books, staffs or axes. They were obviously waiting for the enemy, although they saw the purple sea flames, they didn''t know what''s happening, and Arthur was not planning on explaining. "You stay here, no one would be able to threaten you" After saying that, Arthur and Lucy disappeared from the cloud and teleported inside the manor, with his [Sixth Sense] he could already pinpoint the exact the location of the clan master. Not only [Sixth Sense] allowed him to sense enemies from a high radius, he could also sense which Realm or Lv the inspected person is. Even if he couldn''t, it wasn''t hard to find the clan master as a dozen of people were sitting around a table in a big room, except them, there was no one in the rest of the manor. "Leonardo! You bastard! I didn''t make you a general to just fool around, tell me what the fuck just happened! Didn''t you just wake me up telling me that the enemy just attacked?" A huge beastmen which looked like a tiger with some red fur and scars all over his body, roared at another beastmen in front of him, spit and saliva came out of the tiger-like beastmen as he yelled and roared. "Clan M-Master, the ''Savage Beast Clan'' was definitely attacking us, but all of a sudden, a strange purple sea of flames appeared, more than 2,000 our troops were burned!" The clan master didn''t seem to believe his subordinate and kept yelling and blaming him "Did you turn fucking nuts or what? Sea of flames? Why am I not seeing any flames right now? Quit spitting bullshit and tell me the truth" He saw many strange things in his life, but a sea of flames? And it killed 2,000 of their troops? He simply couldn''t believe it. .. "Oh my! But your subordinate is not lying though.." A cold yet mocking voice resounded in the room, all the generals and higher-ups of the clan were present, including the clan master, they were surprised by the voice. All of the generals were sweating profusely and cursed whoever dared say that, because whenever the clan master is angry, he would randomly punish one of them. They turned their heads to the source of the voices, but once their eyes landed on the two figures, they were shocked, suspicious and angry. For an enemy to invade their main base without anyone knowing, that was a disgrace to them, what was more annoying is that they were both Humans! "No need to look so surprised... we''re just paying a little visit" Arthur kept his playful attitude while gazing at the beastmen, all of them had a LVL between 200 and 300 with the highest one being 384. Kolan(Beastmen) : Lv384 His level was quite high, no wonder he''s the clan master, with that high-level, who would dare oppose him? They would surely be courting death. "You! Who the fuck are you.." All the beastmen took their weapons and readied themselves, even the clan master was no exception, he took his sword from its sheath roared at Arthur. It''s surprising to see a beastmen who uses swords as most of the race uses two-handed weapons which are usually heavy, and that''s to deal more damage. They already got superior Strength, so all they needed is a good weapon. Arthur didn''t want to waste much time in here, just get his some of his questions answered and leave. "No need to know that, so... I''m going to ask a couple of questions, each time you don''t reply, one of the present people here would die, it''s up to you to decide" Although he said, Arthur wasn''t too sure of this tactic, people like these rely too much on their strength and don''t believe on friendship or ''saving a friend''s life'' each wanted to save his own life and that''s it. Kolan, who was the clan master, almost had his head explode from anger, his face turned ugly as he listened to Arthur. For someone to act this arrogant in his territory, not only that, they were Humans too. He didn''t know how they arrived here, neither did he care how they did it, he just wanted to relieve his anger on those two. Not only him, all the other beastmen couldn''t control their attitudes as they launched themselves at the Human. Not all of them attacked, but most of them did, there were 12 beastmen and 9 were already leaping at Arthur. They were all melee fighters and had various weapons. Arthur didn''t move and didn''t seem surprised, he just shrugged his shoulders and casually said. "I was going to spare some, don''t say I didn''t give you a chance" As he said that, there was an almost unheard sound which was followed by 8 heads rolling on the ground. 8 headless corpses fell on the ground, they were precise all those who attacked Arthur except Kolan, who was now frozen in mid-air. Arthur''s threads were more than enough to behead weak people like them, he wasn''t someone who killed anyone he stumbled upon, however, if one dares to attack him then it''s automatically his enemy. The 3 beastmen who didn''t attack where Leonardo, the one was yelled at previously, and two other beastmen, they looked at Arthur with wide eyes, they didn''t even dare breath heavily. They could only see 8 heads falling on the ground, they couldn''t even resist or emit a desperate sound before dying, it was just too abrupt. Arthur didn''t even look at the headless corpses, he just coldly stared at clan master and calmly said "Now, do you understand your current situation? Either you answer or you will miserably die" Surprisingly, Kolan, who was super angry a second ago, completely changed his attitude, being held in mid-air and unable to resist terrified him and made him fear this Human. He wasn''t stupid, his life was more precious than anything else, so what if he lowers himself to answer some questions. "Yes yes! Please forgive me, I had eyes but couldn''t recognize Mt.Tai! I''ll answer so please have mercy!!!" Even the calm Arthur was surprised by this sudden change, he never expected such change, it''s like he''s talking to another person, no wonder he''s a clan master, he''s cunning and knows when to bow his head. Lucy furrowed her brows for a second as she witnessed this shameful behavior, but she didn''t comment or do anything. "Alright then, what do you know about ''Medusa'' " As he was respectfully listening to Arthur, Kolan''s eyes constricted and he began sweating a bit, while shaking his head he humbly replied. "This lowly one doesn''t know what that is, please forgive me." Arthur didn''t even flinch, he just waved his hand dismissively and coldly said "Since that''s the case, then I don''t need you.." "Wait wait! I happened to remember something... ah yes yes! It''s some kind of cult I think, they are very secretive and no one knows about their base.." Arthur listened but since nothing new was said, he became even more annoyed and spoke yet again while adding a bit of killing intent in his tone "Not enough, you''re just telling things I already knew, as I thought, you''re useless" Just as Arthur was going to behead Kolan, the latter interrupted him again, this time his face was pale and his eyes a bit teary, to think someone like this is a clan-master. "Wait please please... Sir wisdom and patience and incomparable to any other, please spare this lowly one, I still know something about ''Medusa''!! Ah ah, they... they apparently have many bases under the several dungeons in this continent, that''s all I know, please spare me!!" ''Dungeons? Hmm, it''s a good place to hide, indeed...'' As Arthur pondered about what Kolan said, Lucy finally made her move and used magma magic to finish the crying beastmen. It''s not like Arthur was going to let him live, a person as cunning as him may be troublesome, even if he''s this weak, no one knows what could happen. The magma completely melted his body, leaving nothing in just seconds, which made the 3 surviving beastmen terrified, they didn''t dare move as they gazed at Arthur and Lucy. After some time, Arthur gazed at the 3 remaining beastmen and said "Don''t move, in a moment, someone will arrive and you have to obey him, if someone dares to even talk back to him, he will be immediately executed, understood?" The 3 continuously nodded, after all, who dares refuse and die miserably like Kolan? Not even a minute passed when Jackob arrived, the dark cloud flew through the window and disappeared when Jackob jumped out of it. Jackob stared at the 3 petrified beastmen, he knew they were 3 generals of his clans, but no matter how much he looked, he only saw those 3. "From today onward, you''re the temporary clan master, establish a base here, ahh! This is not a clan anymore, it''s a sect, the Moonstar sect." As he said that, a bottomless pit appeared suddenly, making the present people even more fearful. What came out of the pit was even more terrifying, it was a gigantic bone dragon, it totally demolished the small manor and flew in the air while roaring. Not only that, but a bony skeleton that was about 3 meters in height was summoned too, it was a Death Lich, it had a staff in its hand and a black robe. It costs 500 Mental Power, it''s a lot but totally worth it, this Lich can battle with a low leveled person in the Spirit Realm so it''s considered pretty strong. "Those two creatures would obey you when I''m gone, from now on you will be recruiting people in the sect, doesn''t matter the sect, as long as you think they are strong and loyal, then recruit them, anyone who dares rebel or betray you, kill them, the Lich and Dragon should be enough!" After he said that, Arthur disappeared with Lucy, not leaving any room for discussion. Jackob couldn''t even react in time before Arthur and Lucy disappeared from the already demolished manor. ... As Arthur and Lucy flew toward the nearest dungeon, Arthur calmly said to Lucy "Hahaha, it''s rare to see you confused, as you heard, I spared them because it''s time to establish a force in here, I don''t know when that woman would come back and at that time, we must be prepared!" Lucy merely nodded, a sect or a clan, it doesn''t matter as long she was with him and they were both alright. Arthur planned to finally establish a sect, no matter the races, or the genders, as long as it''s someone who obeys him and is strong, then it''s fine. The reason he left in a hurry is because he felt a bad omen of death, some kind of uneasiness in his heart, he didn''t know why but he just felt he had to hurry. Far in the East, in the Ma Clan, all the surroundings were destroyed, the trees were cut off and there were big and small craters all over the place. Anastassia was in mid-air with Astrith next to her, both were in an extremely bad shape, in fact, she had one of her arms cut off and blood leaked endlessly from that wound, as for Astrith, his figure is a bit transparent and surprisingly dark blood was coming out of his body. Not even 50 meters from them was a woman, she was holding a book in her hand and gazed at Astrith and Anastassia with contempt, a smile was hanging on her alluring face. "Although you are in the Spirit Realm, you really are decent, it''s a pity you''ll die here.." As she said that, she razed her hand a mysterious energy rushed at Anastassia, who was breathing heavily. But before that energy could reach its target, a strange black light came out of Anastassia, tattoos appeared on her body, and the dagger she held in her remaining arm became bigger and had some black light in it too. Astrith also became much bigger, he opened his mouth and a red and blue beam was being compressed and ready to explode. The two faced that energy, Anastassia speed became unbelievable as even the woman squinted her eyes in surprise, by the time she reacted there was only a black light left, her energy was somehow blocked by that beam of Astrith, as for Anastassia, there was no sign of her, she disappeared with Astrith. "Tsk! To think she knew a forbidden technique, she''s not ordinary, but oh well! Where could she run in this small world? Hahahaha" As she said that, she transformed into a beam of light that flew into the horizon. Chapter 77 - 77 : No Mercy 2 The dungeon Lucy and Arthur were heading to was not that far away from them, so considering their speed, it didn''t take them more than 10 minutes to arrive. The dungeon was called ''Underground Mines'', a shabby name, however, Arthur didn''t mind that and dived into in along with Lucy without even posing for a second. It was a high-level dungeon as the monsters were at least Lv350, there were ogres, double-headed ogres, minotaurs and similar creatures. They were strong, if someone Lv350 or a bit lower entered the dungeon, then it will be extremely hard for him to clear it, but for Arthur? Each group of monsters he passed by was slaughtered mercilessly. His threads did their job pretty well, they were sharp and fast, invisible to the monsters and able to insta-kill them. He was going to stop for an hour or so before entering the dungeon, he wanted to possess all the corpses he gathered, there was a lot, although he didn''t manage to store all the corpses of the army. Nonetheless, there was no less than 10,000 beastmen corpse in his storage ring, which is an astronomical amount. If you consider their stats to be around 5-6k then altogether it''ll be around 6million! That will boost his strength by a lot, he''ll also gain a meager amount of Mental Power from them, however, perhaps it''ll be enough for him to breakthrough to the Immortal Realm? He wasn''t sure exactly on how much Mental Power he needs to break through, but his guess was 1,000 Mental Power. Anyways, the reason he didn''t possess them is because he felt something wasn''t right, Arthur had a strange feeling inside him telling him to hurry up so trusted his guts and traveled as fast as he could to the dungeon to find the ''Medusa'' organization, even if he didn''t find anything, he''ll still go back, the feeling he had was like a call out from the Itas Continent. Notifications popped non-stop in front of him, Arthur didn''t pay them any heed and dismissed them, monsters were killed left and right, if they were not in range of his threads then their fate was being burned by the purple fire of Lucy. 10 Minutes That''s the time it took them to arrive at the final room which had the boss, they didn''t clear all the dungeons monster but they nevertheless killed all the monsters they stumbled upon and it definitely wasn''t a meager number of monsters, it was at the very least 500 monsters of various races and Lvls. There was a mid-level boss which was a 5-meter minotaur, but the poor thing was instantly melted by the magma of Lucy, he couldn''t even stand up or flinch before dying. The final boss was also a minotaur, however, this one had red skin and a thick and long blade on his back, it was Lv500 and looked threatening. Arthur contemplated it for a bit, he didn''t kill it as a strange thought struck him. While he was in the Ma Clan, Anastassia informed things he wasn''t aware of, such as the dungeons. Unlike the mid-level and low-level dungeons, the high-level dungeons are special, once you kill their final boss, it won''t respawn, well it would but wouldn''t be the same, the respawned boss would be much weaker compared to the original. He didn''t know if this dungeon was cleared or not, but if ''Medusa'' really is here, then they would make sure this dungeon is not cleared to cover up their hideout, but that''s a big if. They could have cleared it and just didn''t mind if the dungeon was cleared or not. Arthur pondered for a bit before he summoned a ''Death Knight'', this summoned knight was a bit similar to the ''Dark Knight'', it had similar armor and weapon, but it cost double the amount required for the ''Dark Knight''. Arthur''s Mental Power recovered earlier than ever before, usually, it would take much more time but now that his stats have risen, the recovery became faster too. 500 Mental Power, that''s how much it costs to summon them, their strength was immense as they could fight head-on with a person in the early stages of the Spirit Realm. It was strong but compared to the bone dragon it was slightly weaker, it''s a shame the bone dragon is with Jackob or else Arthur would have summoned it. "Ahh, it would be a waste to kill you... really" Arthur groaned while saying that, then he ordered his ''Death Knight'' to attack the minotaur but he forbid it to kill the boss. He just wanted to subdue the minotaur, it may be extremely hard and he was in a hurry so that''s why he summoned the death knight to take care of it. The reason he wanted the subdue the minotaur is for his sect, having a more powerful beast to protect his newly established sect would be amazing, after all, these monsters have potential to grow, unlike the skeletons. It''s true that the skeleton becomes stronger along with him, but the already summoned always keep the same strength, unless he summons new ones when he had his strength boosted, then nothing would change. Arthur and Lucy are considered the sect masters, however, he wasn''t planning on always staying in this word, much less in his sect, he may expand it in the future, but not for the time being. There is still Earth and many other places that he had to go to, he cannot stay here for the rest of his life. Anastassia also informed him a secret, well it was not a big secret but not many people of this piece of information. It''s that this world, or rather, this planet which is called ''Astria'' is only considered '' A lower Realm'' and that ''Gobu'' and probably that woman which used the pink ice certainly came from another planet which is most likely a planet which is a ''Middle-Level Realm''. She told him that unlike this planet, the place is thousands of times bigger and clans and sects are numerous there, her master was also from there but due to some reasons, he descended to this planet. Even without her saying that, Arthur already had a guess about this, after all, he always wondered how powerful ''X'' is, or how powerful is that damned woman who attacked him? He only knew that there are 3 Realms beyond the deity Realm, which are respectively, Immortal Realm => Divine Realm => God Realm. His guess was that the woman who attacked him was in the late stage Immortal Realm or probably a Divine Realm, as for ''X'' he got to be in the God Realm. Speaking of ''X'', Arthur was a bit confused as to why ''X'' didn''t show up since that time, but he didn''t think much about it, whether he comes back or not, it won''t make much difference, he just wanted to thank him for what he did. .. The Death Knight ruthlessly beat up the red minotaur who stopped resisting after a couple of minutes, he truly couldn''t react in time as the opponent didn''t let him breathe for even a split second. Arthur and Lucy were already gone from that room, Arthur was sure that the minotaur would be subdued, it''s just a matter of time, a monster like him would be useful, he may be weak to him, however, to people like Jackob or even the clan masters, it is a powerful beast. The dungeon was not big, to begin with, but it would take time to thoroughly search it, inch by inch, so Arthur split up from Lucy to make things easier, after all, two people searching together is useless, better split up. . Arthur inspected the walls, the roof and grounds everytime he passed by a room, the dungeon was really like mines, there were mine routes and some pickaxes here and there but there wasn''t any living being except the monsters. He killed every beast he stumbled upon and focused on every detail as maybe there is a secret room or trigger to open up the hideout of ''Medusa''. .. Lucy was silently roaming the dungeons, monsters were falling left and right, she didn''t need to move her hands or say any incantations, her overpowered purple fire burned everything in its way. She was less focused that Arthur as her method of searching is completely the opposite, she destroyed the walls she found suspicious, if there is something suspicious then she''ll inspect what''s inside, if there is nothing, she''ll continue searching. Like this, half an hour passed with no results, Lucy and Arthur were inside the boss room, the minotaur was in a corner, it was looking fearfully at the Death Knight. It didn''t dare even raise its blade to defend, it just received the attacks and emitted some pitiful screams. Arthur didn''t pay much attention at that, he was pissed that he didn''t find anything, he didn''t doubt the words of the clan master, in fact, he totally believed him and was more certain when he heard where the hideout is. Hiding in this dungeon is really the perfect place, so the only problem is that he just couldn''t find the place. First, he didn''t want to warn them but seeing that it will not work like this, he waved his hand and countless dark lightning bolts were striking everywhere around him. They caused zero damage to the surroundings, nonetheless, he kept throwing them everywhere, his range increased as the demonic lightning struck everywhere until he heard a shattering sound. The shattering sound came from a small room not far away from where he and Lucy were. Without wasting any second, they headed for that room and once they entered, they saw that the wall which was blocking the route and making it a dead end was no gone, what was in place of it was a staircase leading down, there was no lights or torches. Well, all the dungeon was dark as it was underground, but where the stairs lead to was even darker, however, something like dark and inability to see was a joke to Lucy and Arthur. Darkness attribute may be focused on curses and such, but the main thing is ''darkness'', so with both of them having that attribute in max advanced, seeing in darkness is the same thing as seeing in broad daylight. After ordering the Death Knight to drag the minotaur to Jackob, he dashed to the staircase with Lucy, their speed was incredible as it seemed as if they were teleporting. The only thing you can see in that total darkness was a yellow streak of lightning descending at a speed which the naked eye cannot see, even someone in the Spirit Realm could barely see a small streak of lightning, he can even mistake it as yellow thread extremely thin. They descended for 1 minute before finally reaching a door, this underground staircase was really surprising, it only took them 1 minute because they were fast. But the distance was hundreds of miles, if not thousands, to be able to build something this deep underground, it''s fascinating, the door they faced was the same as the last one in Lumbra City. It was a 2-meter iron door, reinforced with what seemed to be a magical barrier. However, even when he saw this door, Arthur didn''t stop and dived into it, something of this caliber was not worth stopping for. With a loud crashing sound, the door was completely demolished and the two black-robed men who were supposed to be guards were dumbstruck by what happened. "Wha.. what the fuck just happened! Who goes there!" One of them shouted as he took out a dark sword which was on his waist, as for the other one, he was still dumbfounded as he stared at what was left of the metal door. Arthur didn''t speak as the only thought in his mind was to hurry up and return to the Ma Clan. ''Kill!'' Chapter 78 - 78 : Extermination and Uneasiness When Arthur saw the two black-robed men, he disregarded the option of questioning them. First, because it would take time, usually people like them would only speak after getting tortured for hours or even days, second, he doesn''t need to question them anymore. Since it''s confirmed that this is a secret base of ''Medusa'', his only goal now is to kill all of them and try to find the boss or Zodiak''s power. He wanted to find it in here, but the likeliness of ''it'' being in this base is almost non-existent, for such an organization like ''Medusa'', it must certainly have at least a dozen secret bases, so what is the probability of Zodiak''s power being here? Anyways, whether he finds it or not, he decided to go to the Ma Clan to check on Saly. The connection between him and Astrith was still on, however, since the distance separating them is too much for him to know if Astrith is in a battle or anything similar. He even suspected that he would not realize it if Astrith died, he could barely feel the connection between them, much less know if Astrith is dead or not as even if he''s dead, the connection will still exist. This kind of strange connection was established when Arthur summoned Astrith the second time, he didn''t clearly know its purpose, so he didn''t think too much about it, for the time being, that is. .. The two black-robed men were instantly killed and absorbed into his ring. Right behind them, there was a metal door similar to the one which was demolished, the room was small and there was nothing in here besides a table and 2 chairs. It''s amazing to think about those two men, sitting here and doing nothing, isn''t it boring? The metal door was melted by Lucy''s magma in a split second, as the metal door vanished, two fast figures rushed from it and continued to run deeper and deeper into this underground base. What layed behind the metal door was a dark and long corridor, it was not very wide, approximately 1 meter. It only took them 10 seconds or less to arrive at the next metal door, the distance between the two rooms must have been a dozen or so kilometers. Such distance is considered big, but for Arthur, crossing this distance in seconds couldn''t be easier, even Lucy, who couldn''t use any movement techniques could do it, their stats were just too high so it''s to be expected to be able to do at least this much. The metal door was melted yet again, but unlike the other room, what was in front of Arthur and Lucy was a huge room, probably a hall of some kind? There were several black-robed figures, some were talking and others were sitting in a meditative position. However, everyone noticed what happened o the entrance, what was supposed to be a metal door reinforced with some protective spells was now gone, they didn''t even have time to react before the door disappeared. The magma turned it into nothingness, what was in place of the door were two people, one dark-haired man with red eyes, and next to him was a woman with silver hair and similar blood red eyes. "Ahh, it seems this is no ordinary base, good good" Arthur gazed at the numerous enemies with a smile, some hope surged in him as the probability of finding Zodiak''s powers in here increased. ''It would be great if this is the main base'' Although Arthur wished that, he really didn''t believe it was the case, maybe because it was too easy to find it? If some people heard what Arthur thought, and that finding this place was rather easy, they would surely cough blood and curse him non-stop. The illusion barrier laid to hide the base was similar to the one hiding the powerful clans, only someone extremely skilled in barriers and seals would be able to discover, yet he just bombarded all the place with his Demonic Lightning... .. Purple fire and countless invisible threads rampaged left and right, people were dying at a rapid pace as Arthur and Lucy showed no mercy, they didn''t even speak, they just advanced and killed everyone they saw. The place was like a maze as there were no more corridors or stairs, just big halls, and some small rooms, there were hundreds of black-robed figures, and their numbers increased by the second. Some of them even used ''Dark Magic'' and tried resisting the invisible sharp attacks or the purple waves of flames but it was utterly useless, they were either cut into pieces or burned to ashes. After they have advanced for about 500 meters, an old man and several figures behind him appeared out of nowhere and blocked Arthur''s path. Just as Arthur was to slaughter them, he stopped as he saw the old man''s Lv. Kenishi(Lord S) : Lv1273 (Spirit Realm) Honestly, Arthur kind of expected to see people in the Spirit Realm, Tensui was Immortal Realm so seeing some people in the Heavenly or Spirit Realm is not surprising. "Stop! Why have you com.." The old man was planning to try to stop them and question them, however, once he looked at their appearances properly, especially Arthur, his eyes widened and he couldn''t even continue speaking. "Y-you...!! How come you are here?" As he heard Kenishi, Arthur furrowed his brows and causally replied "Ah? So you know about me? This makes things easier.." The old man didn''t seem to have heard Arthur as he stared at him with great shock and disbelief. It was like he just saw a ghost, Arthur became more confused as the behavior of the old man was strange. Even some of the people behind him appeared surprised, some stared coldly at Lucy and Arthur and some had a mix of fear and shock mingling in their eyes. "Yo...you should not be here!!! How are you even alive.." Arthur who was confused a second ago suddenly appeared in front of the old man, then without even letting the enemy react, he grabbed him by the neck and squeezed tightly, almost choking the old man, who snapped out of it and gazed at Arthur with fear. The people behind the old man didn''t just stay there and watch, they were preparing to attack Arthur when all of a sudden, dark red magma hands came out of the ground and bound them, the pain was agonizing as the parts being held by the magma hands were being melted by the second. These people were obviously trained and a bit used to pain, although some of them groaned, none issued a loud scream or yelled pitifully, they just tried to struggle but it''s didn''t work no matter how they did. "What do you mean how am I alive? Speak! If you''re just going to waste time then I''ll just try to find another one who will answer" Arthur wanted some answers to his questions when he saw the weird behavior of the old man, so that''s why he did all that, although these answers he sought for were not urgent since an opportunity arose, then why not grasp it and try to force this old man to answer? "..*cough*...you... it''s definitely *cough* you!! You are that man who killed *cough* Tensui! You''re alive, it''s *cough* *cough* impossible!" Kenishi then gasped for breath and continued after he managed to breath for a couple of seconds. "....Ha ha ha, you are *cough* so dead... *cough* Lord has *cough* descended to get you...and you *cough* delivered yourself to our doorstep *cough*..*cough*..... ha ha ha ha" Listening to the old man, Arthur frowned and pondered for some time, the uneasiness he was feeling was definitely not fake, and this old man said ''Lord''... "Your lord or whatever, where is he?" The old man didn''t respond to Arthur and continued laughing while coughing from time to time, anger arose in Arthur as the man didn''t answer, so he tightened his grip on Kenishi''s neck, choking him and slowly killing him. "You have 5 seconds to answer or else you''ll be killed! Where.is.your LORD!" Albeit the threats of Arthur, neither Kenishi nor any of the bound people uttered a single word. 5 seconds passed and nothing happened, so Arthur didn''t bother with Kenishi anymore, he snapped his neck, killing him which was followed by the deaths of the other people who died by the hands of Lucy''s magma. "Something is not right.... Let''s go back. now..." "I know, I have been feeling uneasy since some time ago...."(Lucy) Arthur picked Lucy and transformed into a streak of lightning, he didn''t bother with the other figures as he left the secret base, the uneasy feeling become stronger as he felt something calling out for him from the East. He didn''t stop as he flew toward the Itas continent, he used his max speed to arrive faster and earlier. The more he got closer to the Ma Clan the more the uneasy feeling became stronger. .. The distance between the Western continent and Itas continent is by no means short, it''s at least a million kilometers. And with Arthur''s speed, he could cross 700 or so kilometers in a minute, so going by this speed, it would take them about a day to arrive, and that''s considering the distance is just one million kilometers. .. It has been 26 hours since Arthur started flying non-stop with Lucy near him, he didn''t go to Jackob to check about the sect or even bother with the Red Minotaur. He just entered the Ma Clan territory but just by seeing the broken illusion and protective barriers, his face paled, the ground was totally destroyed as if a power happened here. What was in the past a calm and dense forest is now a ravaged and destroyed land, there was a dozen of craters the size of a building scattered everywhere, making it look more like a battlefield than what was essentially a peaceful habitable environment. In the middle was an extremely big crater, its width was approximately 500 metres and it was located exactly where the big pagoda belonging to the female area of the Ma Clan was. There were no signs of living being, even with Arthur''s sixth sense, he couldn''t sense any living being, he wasn''t worried about the disciples. Only Saly mattered for him, of course, he cared for Anastassia and the others, but not like Saly, he regarded her as his own daughter, so how could he not feel anxious. Even the usually calm Lucy was anxious, she tightly held Arthur''s hand while gazing at the destroyed area. With their speed, it doesn''t take much time to inspect the whole clan area, after all, its territory is only a hundred kilometers at best. Arthur and Lucy landed on the ground and carefully searched for a living person, Arthur''s Sixth Sense was constantly activated. It didn''t take them much time to find a person, it was actually Anastassia. She was laying in a small pond, which turned red from her blood. It didn''t seem she was fighting recently, she was unconscious and she looked absolutely horrible. One of her hands was cut off and the other was no worse as it was probably broken. There were bloody holes in her chest and wait and some cuts in her legs, one look at her and would assume she''s dead. Arthur picked Anastassia as it was not time to follow his own rule about ''not touching any other woman''. No matter how cold he was toward another woman, Anastassia was a good person who helped him and gave him a shelter, he considered her a friend so it was not time to act like that. Lucy retrieved a small bed from the storage and put it near Arthur, who slowly put Anastassia on it. Then he retrieved all the healing potions he had and slowly put it in her mouth, it was not easy to make her drink it but there was no other choice. He could only guide the potion''s liquid to her throat with his telekinesis, in times like this, it was very useful but using telekinesis inside a person''s body is very difficult, it even cost a lot of Mental Power. "I''ll go look for Saly, you wait here and check on her..." Lucy spoke with an anxious tone, although they found Anastassia, she couldn''t calm down, Saly was equally important to her just as she is to Arthur. She could not afford to lose her! Lucy ran as she circled around the area, checking any place which could hold living being, any rubble or houses, albeit the destruction, there was some intact houses, however, all of them were empty. After checking all the female area in no less than 15 minutes, she proceeded to the male area.... 30 minutes passed and finally, Anastassia''s eyes opened, she had no strength to move, much less raise her head, she could only open her eyes slowly. She was a bit delighted to see that she was alive but that happiness on lasted for a split second before she felt bitter and sad. "You finally awakened.." She heard a familiar sound but she couldn''t lift her head to look at the origin of the sound, but she didn''t need to, this voice was obviously Arthur''s! "Art.. *cough* *cough*Arthur *cough* " "Take it easy, you survived with these dire wounds, it''s already fortunate.. take things easy and only talk when you think you can.." Arthur wanted some answers quickly, but he wasn''t heartless to the point to force Anastassia into speaking even though she''s this injured. He gave her potions that even gods would wish for, but she was surely going to die, so it''s already a miracle that she survived, one could say she only survived until now because of her strong will. Albeit hearing Arthur, Anastassia struggled to talk and tried lifting her head. "No time *cough* a woman came.. She ...*cough* very strong... *cough* I couldn''t fight back *cough* ... she told me to inform you that she''ll be waiting for your arrival." After struggling to blurt that out, Anastassia finally passed out again..... Chapter 79 - 79 : Arthurs resolve It has been 3 days since Anastassia passed out, Arthur and Lucy took her to a small house which was not devastated by what happened at waited for her to wake up. Lucy became more and more anxious as after searching the whole clan''s territory, she found no trace of Saly, even Astrith was missing. Apparently, a lot of people died, it''s like a clan extermination as the Elders and the section chiefs all died, Arthur didn''t know what happened exactly, but one thing is certain, it''s that the opponent is very strong. Anastassia spoke of a woman, so his first guess was the woman who attacked him that time, but if so, then why would she attack the clan instead of him? That was a bit confusing, nonetheless, he couldn''t guess the whole truth so he patiently waited for the unconscious Anastassia to wake up. .. "Hey Arthur, d-do you think she''s okay?" Lucy was leaning on Arthur as she asked him with an anxious and sad tone, after searching many times, she couldn''t find Saly. She deeply loved the little girl and considered her part of her family, if something happened to her then how could Lucy forgive herself? Arthur was also restless and worried, but in situations like this, one cannot act recklessly, although he was very fast in terms of traveling and such, he can''t search the four continents for Saly, it would take a lot of time, especially if he were to search every corner. Anastassia was present and she most likely knew what happened here and to Lucy, so it''s better to wait for her to wake up. ... At the 6th day, Anastassia finally woke up, the serious injuries were healing slowly which was a good thing but she still couldn''t move properly. It took her a lot of effort to lift her head and sit on the bed instead of laying on it. Arthur and Lucy were near the bed, sitting on wooden chairs and staring at Anastassia, who had a sad look on her eyes. "Are your injuries okay?" Arthur didn''t bombard her with questions right away, no matter how worried he was for Saly, he couldn''t ignore Anastassia and just expect some answers from her while disregarding her current state. "Not fully healed but it''s possible to move" Before Arthur could open his mouth to talk again, Lucy interrupted him as she spoke to Anastassia. "Where is Saly?" Anastassia wasn''t particularly surprised by this question, after all, she knew how much they deeply cared for Saly and for Lucy to ask her that was expected, but anyone could see sad and regret were shown in Anastassia''s eyes as if it was her own fault. "She was taken by that woman..... I''m sorry" It was too late to apologize but she nevertheless did it, it was the only thing she could do right now, with her body in this state, unable to even walk, how could she help them? "Taken? Where was she taken? And who is that woman?" Lucy never ceased asking questions and she wanted to immediately rush to the place where Saly was taken to save her. "She didn''t say the exact place... that woman only said ''Underworld'' " "Underworld?" Lucy was confused, she stared at Arthur but he too was as confused as her, it''s the first time he heard of this place. Usually, when thinking of the Underworld, it''s like the hell, or the opposite of heaven, or in some cases a place where the dead resides. After staying silent for a while, Arthur spoke again. "What about Astrith? I''m sure he is not dead because if he was, then I could summon him again.." "I don''t know either, the last time I saw him was when he followed that woman in some kind of a portal." Lucy was gripping Arthur''s hand as thinking of Saly being alone in an unknown place made her even more worried. That kid just got out of hell when they took her with them, but it''s not been that long yet she was taken again, and this time it''s by an even more powerful person. ... Arthur knew that he won''t find Saly easily, If he were to begin searching through the books and asking people, it would take some time, but the woman said she''ll be waiting, but for how much time? 1 day? 10 days? A month? He wanted fast answers and the only one he could think of was... As Lucy was thinking about Saly and Anastassia was resting on the bed while gritting her teeth, a skeleton appeared out of nowhere. Arthur decided to ask Zodiak, he didn''t know if he would reply or even wake up, but he should at least try. Anastassia stared at the skeleton with a puzzled expression, as for Lucy, she didn''t react as she was absentminded. "Sir Zodiak, can you hear me?" Honestly, Arthur didn''t know if this would even work, Zodiak only wakes up in dire situations and up until now, he woke up only 2 times and last time he said that he didn''t have much energy left, so the possibility of him waking up is quite slim, however, Arthur chose to bet on that slim chance. Arthur called Zodiak many times, he repeated the calling over and over again until something finally occurred. The skeleton rose by itself and like last time, a black robe covered its body. "..*Sigh* brat, I may be dormant, but I can still hear what happened, if not for your annoying callings then I wouldn''t have woken up, every second I''m awake is consuming what''s left of my energy." The lifeless eye-sockets of the skeleton beamed with bright red as a dark aura enveloped the small room. Anastassia stared at Zodiak with wide open eyes, still not believing what just happened. "Senior Zodiak, please forgive me, but I need your help in something.." Arthur was not someone who begs for forgiveness like this, in fact, he never did it before, but Zodiak was a special case. Not only has he gained Zodiak''s powers and treasures, this Senior also saved his life two times, he didn''t seem a bad guy like the myths said. Zodiak waved his skeletal hand dismissively at Arthur while saying. "I know I know, you want to ask about the underwork right? I''ve been with you this whole time so I know your attitude" Zodiak sighed again before he continued speaking. "Underworld, if that woman was talking about the same Underworld that I know, then I must tell you that going there right now is impossible for you. It''s a dangerous place, in fact, it''s one of the most dangerous Realms, so that woman must be at least in the God Realm. If I''m correct, then she went back to her world quickly because her powers in this Realm are restricted and if she stays too long then she''ll weaken permanently, this is also part of the reason that you don''t see any powerful being in the Lower Realms." As he carefully listened to Zodiak, Arthur''s face turned ugly as he unconsciously clenched his fists. To think that Saly is at a place like this made him even more nervous. Zodiak noticed how Arthur became even more anxious but he(Zodiak) didn''t say anything, he just kept staring for sometime before he resumed speaking, but this time, it''s with a softer tone. "I know what you are thinking, brat. But I have to warn you that going there is simply suicide, you''ll die before even reaching that woman. For her to even be able to come here indicates that she has a powerful backing!" Even though Arthur heard that he still couldn''t hold himself and just obediently stay here. Without hesitation, Arthur got on his knees and said. "Senior Zodiak, I beg of you, send me and Lucy to there, we only need to way to go there and that''s it!" Arthur''s action was followed by Lucy, who got on her knees too next to Arthur. Begging was always something not to be done easily, some people would rather die than beg or get on their knees and perhaps Lucy and Arthur would have never done that in the past. But now it was different, they were begging for a chance to save Saly, there was clearly no other way to go to the Underworld with their current strength so Zodiak was their only way. "...*Sigh*, Usually I only think rationally, even in situations like this, brat, sooner or later you''ll know that decisions like this, made from the heart are reckless and will only lead you to your death! If you want to save someone then you have to prepare.... . It seems I''ve got no choice but to send you, however, you have to know that this will be the last time as all my energy would be spent to send you both, only if you get another portion of my powers will I be able to wake up again.." The small room began to distort and twist itself and in just seconds, what seemed like a space rift which was about 2 meters was created. "Go... you''ll appear in a random place in the Underworld, oh and one more thing, if you somehow manage to meet the woman, get her book! I can sense that it''s the other half of ''the book of the damned'', it''ll be a great help for you.... I hope we meet again, brat.." As he said that, Zodiak''s body went back to Arthur''s storage, and the only thing left in the room were the three of them and the space rift. Anastassia was still dumbfounded and couldn''t process everything, as for Lucy and Arthur, they were preparing to go into the space rift. Before they entered, Arthur turned to look at Anastassia, who was sitting on the bed and said while waving his hand. "Almost all your clan was wiped out, I''m really sorry about that, I don''t know if you want to stay here or not but It''ll be better if you go away since the other clans won''t stay still. You can head to our sect on the Western continent, these 3 will obey your orders and will take you to the sect if you want." After he said that, Arthur and Lucy disappeared into the rift, the space rift vanished too leaving only Anastassia in the small room. Just as the rift disappeared, a bottomless hole appeared in the room and seemed to stretch even outside of it and suddenly 2 huge bone dragons and a Death Knight which was riding on a 2m dark steed appeared out of the hole. The bone dragons were a bit smaller and weaker than the one in the Western continent, Arthur didn''t know why but it seemed that the first bone dragon mutated and became much stronger. As for these bone dragons, each was Lv650 and the Death Knight was at the Spirit Realm, it cost Arthur 700 Mental Power but it was worth it as it''ll at least protect Anastassia if something happened. The small room was destroyed by the bone dragons and what was left was only a bed and a person sitting on it. Anastassia finally snapped out of her daze and looked at those 3, after some time, she struggled to stand up and said with a low voice "Let''s go..." Chapter 80 - 80 : Underworld When Arthur and Lucy stepped on that spatial portal, their surroundings blurred for a couple of seconds before they found themselves in some kind of a blurred tunnel. It remained like that for a couple of minutes until they suddenly found themselves in a barren land. The sky was gloomy and red, there were no clouds and the ground was black-ish with some strange rocks which Arthur couldn''t recognize. All around them was just desolate lands, no trace of living beings, monsters or even vegetation, some would even describe it as hell. Although Arthur came here with Lucy, he didn''t think things through and didn''t know what to do from here, he doesn''t know anything about the Underworld except a few things he read from Zodiak''s books. For example, the one and only ruler of the underworld is some immortal individual who is known since ancient times to be extremely powerful and overbearing, his name was Hades. It has been a long time since he was seen but no one believed that he died or was injured as he strength was unquestionable in the Underworld. "This...." Arthur didn''t notice it at first but when he tried to move, he found it a bit difficult, of course not to the point of being unable to move but it''s just that it was harder, he felt an invisible pressure which limited his movements. Lucy also couldn''t move freely as the pressure affected her. They were both puzzled about this but it''s not like they can get rid of it. Arthur even tried using the Demonic Lightning inside his body and at the surroundings but to no avail, it didn''t seem to be a curse or anything similar. As they were pondering about the cause of this pressure, Lucy said. "It must be because it''s a higher-Realm compared to Astria." It was the only plausible conclusion they could come up with at the time being. Astria, which was the world Arthur was reincarnated to, is known to be a lower-Realm and compared to the Underworld, which is a High-Realm. After getting adjusted to this ''pressure'', they didn''t stay still but instead, they began flying north. It was just a hunch but Arthur felt it was the right direction, moreover, since they were blindly traveling, it was better going with a hunch than roaming the place randomly. ... Albeit Arthur and Lucy''s current strength and their strong attacks, Arthur still felt anxious and worried as unlike Astria, this was a world full of strong people and people in the Immortal Realm may be everywhere whereas they can barely defeat one when they pair up. He has Makaze and his various powerful magic, but even so, the difference between a Deity Realm and an Immortal Realm is just immense, just remembering the fight from back then made Arthur worry even more. Arthur already took Makaze out of the storage ring and tightly held it in his hand as he prepared himself for any sudden attack from unknown enemies. ... After about 15 minutes of flying through the barren lands, they finally encountered what seemed to be people. It was actually a huge group of people, unlike Arthur and Lucy, they were slowly walking on the desolate ground and some of them looked horrifying. They were actually zombie people, some didn''t have limbs and others didn''t have eyes, they wore tattered and dirty clothes and seemed to be following specific paths and not roaming aimlessly like the movies Arthur saw in his past life. It was fortunate Arthur discovered them with his [Sixth Sense], which can stretch to a couple of kilometers. Arthur didn''t fly toward them immediately, first, he landed on the ground with Lucy and began walking toward the huge crowd of zombies. Their appearances were covered, he wore black clothes and a somewhat huge hat that covered his facial features, it slightly resembled a bamboo hat, as for Lucy, she wore deep blue clothes and covered her head with a grey hood which was even more effective than the hat. So, with Makaze sheathed at his waist and Lucy at his right, Arthur strolled toward the zombie army but the latter didn''t seem to notice them even when the two of them were a hundred or so meters from them. Noticing that the zombies were ignoring them, the couple closed the distance slowly to not attract much attention. When they were just 30 meters away, some shouting could be heard from the front of the crowd. Unexpectedly, neither Arthur not Lucy could comprehend what was spoken, but that''s to be expected as they were in an entirely different world. Arthur''s knowledge about languages would be endless, he could speak so much languages that he stopped counting after 100, although most of them were weird sounding languages belonging to beasts, it still counted as a proper language. Beasts and animals do not talk and only speak in a rather simple manner such as screeching or roaring, due to possessing countless corpses, Arthur learned many languages. Maybe they were talking a special language of the Underworld and to learn it, he just needs to possess one corpse but unfortunately, there were none. "____________________?" "________!" "_____________" Two people seemed to be talking at the front, Arthur didn''t dare spread his Sixth Sense from this close range, you never know what could be hiding amongst those zombies. He didn''t appraise all of them but most of them were at the Spirit Realm with some of them being at the Heavenly Realm! It has to be known that at Astria, a single Spirit Realm individual can be considered a king if not a god, yet here, a bunch of dirty zombies was all without exception in the Spirit Realm. Seeing this made him dread attracting attention even more. The crowd of zombies was consisted of at least a few thousand zombies, Arthur''s Sixth Sense only spread to the edges as he didn''t dare sense what was leading them but one could easily tell that it''s a powerful person. ... Finally, Arthur and Lucy joined the zombie crowd, all of the zombies seemed to be walking silently with no reaction, but some were quite lively as they chatted among themselves with an unknown language. Arthur and Lucy stuck together as they walked slowly with the crowd, they didn''t talk nor make any unnecessary movements and just silently followed. The talking from a while ago subdued and the zombies didn''t seem to mind the shouting as if it was a casual thing. Very soon, Arthur started seeing some zombie corpses on the ground, there wasn''t a lot, just a dozen or so but each one of them was headless with no trace of the head. Normally, possessing a headless corpse would be useless but it may not be so if it were a zombie, or so thought Arthur. He couldn''t go near a corpse and casually possess it, so he waited for a chance to stumble upon a corpse without deviating from the crowd and he finally did but he still couldn''t possess the corpse. Even after that failure, Arthur still didn''t give up, he decided to try something risky, which was possessing a zombie. Since his last evolution, he became able to possess living being without controlling their bodies, it should be enough to gain his stats and skills so Arthur decided to try that. The problem was; would the zombie notice something amiss? Even if it was just a Spirit Realm zombie, it could still alert the crowd which would be a disaster. Dealing with the crowd is an easy thing for Lucy alone, let alone adding Arthur, but if there are some dozen or so Deity Realm zombies or even an Immortal Zombie then it would only be suicide, even escaping may be a problem. ... Arthur didn''t say anything to Lucy, he just grabbed her sleeves and lead her near a zombie which was close to them, he was more or less like the other zombies, with some injuries all over his body but no blood whatsoever, the clothes were stained and dirty and in a horrible state. A stinking smell was coming out of each and every zombie but Lucy and Arthur still held it in and ignored it. The zombie was just 2 meters from them so Arthur closed in and swiftly possessed him. The process of possessing was quite weird as his figure would suddenly become a small black whirlpool, the size of a finger and enters the target''s skin. By the next second, notifications began popping up as Arthur invaded the zombie''s body. You have successfully possessed Zombie #487157 Your stats have been increased, for more details please check your status window You gained a new skill(passive) [Odor] : You emit a stinking smell but gain 10% additional defense against magical and physical attacks. This can be toggled betwen ON/OFF You gained a new skill(passive) [Underworld Language] : You can now speak/read/write Underworld Language ... Arthur gained a couple other skills but they were weak compared to what he already had so he disregarded them, zombies seemed to rely on their strong physics to attack and defend coupled with that passive. TITLE : MEAT GRINDER / SEEKER OF KNOWLEDGE / ONE WITH THE SWORD / ARK??? Level: ???? Class: Dark ARK Parasite - Realm : Deity - Strength: 29.99m Intelligence: 29.99m Agility: 29.99m Wisdom: 29.99m Vitality: 29.99m Dexterity: 29.99m - Health 29.99m Health Regen 19999/s Mana 29.99m Mana Regen 29999/s Stamina infinite Stamina Regen ???? - Creation : 10 Attack: 29.99/m Defense: 29.99m Magic defense : 3.2m -- Enigma abilities : Telekinesis / Ancient Threads / Sixth sense / ARK?? --- Mental Power: 943 -- Elemental Resistances: Fire: 100% Water: 75% Wind:35% Earth:75% Light/holy: 5% Shadow: 30% Lightning :100% Ice: 30% ************ He checked his but unfortunately, his stats didn''t change except the Magic Defense. When Anastassia was unconscious, Arthur already used those 3 days to possess the corpses he stored from the beastmen army, he possessed more than 10,000 corpses but after his stats reached the 29.99 million, they stopped there. The only stats that still increased is the Magic Defense, but it was pretty hard to increase it due to it only present in special existences. His prowess did indeed increase by a lot but he still didn''t have a lot of confidence against people in the Immortal Realm. Arthur didn''t continue possessing the corpses as it would be a waste, even the Mental Power ceased increasing which made him feel more hopeless, it was the only factor for him breaking through to the Immortal Realm and it was most likely the 1000th mark, it was close yet so far. He still had a lot of corpses in his storage which can grant him skills but he already had so many skills that he didn''t need anymore, it would be useless as he wouldn''t use them. From simple cooking or tailoring to blacksmithing or fishing, he had them all, some are even in Advanced but that''s only because he possessed too many people who had that specific skills. As to why he never uses the simple sword skills like [Slash] or a speed skill [Rush] is because it''s useless at this stage. His speed was faster than activating a skill like [Rush], in fact, it would only make him in a disadvantageous position, and [Slash] is a skill which creates a minimal slash made from sword energy but Arthur was a person who mastered swords and sword energy can be created at will, even with his fingers or legs. His only way now was to find a solution and try to break through to the Immortal Realm as it was probably the only way to increase his stats too. Chapter 81 - 81 : Malark Arthur became able to understand what was happening. After he possessed the zombie, he didn''t linger off inside it much longer. He left the body and appeared beside the walking Lucy. The language of the Underworld sounded a bit weird at first but since he got the skill, it became much easier to understand the current situation. It seems this crowd of zombies is going back to their territory which is also known as ''The Silent Graveyard'', not too much was said about this place except being the homeland of the undead including zombies, skeletons, ghouls and so on. As for why there were scattered corpses of zombies here and there, it was because they were rebelling zombies. It was quite simple if you follow the leader you live, and if you try to revolt you get instantly beheaded, pretty easy thing to grasp, however, some zombies would try run off or cause trouble which results in them dying. The leader of this crowd is known as a Zombie General, Arthur also heard that he was a ''4th-grade Immortal''. He didn''t get what that meant but one thing was certain, it''s that the leader was an Immortal, which made things even harder and worrying. There were random conversations about fights and loots but these were not important so Arthur ignored them and focused on what''s important. ... The crowd kept slowly marching non-stop, Zombie''s didn''t have endless Stamina like skeletons, however, they still had an immense reserve of it, so it can be considered endless in a way. Even after walking for 4 days, there didn''t seem to be an end to those desolate lands. Lucy and Arthur had infinite Stamina. As for eating, it really wasn''t anything necessary, someone like Arthur can spend years without eating because he just got too many skills and characteristics he got from the corpses he possessed that allowed him to leave without food. Lucy was not like that, nevertheless, she could still hold on more or less 10 days, plus, it''s not like it''s prohibited to eat in this crowd. Due to zombies not needing to eat, none of them bothered to do that, moreover, even if they wanted to, they can''t as there was no food unless they eat each other, there was nothing else to eat. ... "We are now entering our territory, so we''ll move faster!" Arthur heard someone talk with a very loud tone, just from the domineering presence and the power of the shout, he immediately guessed that it''s the General. Although he didn''t know what he meant by moving faster, he didn''t pay it much heed as it was probably running or flying and doing this was beneficial to him and Lucy as it would make the travelling easier and faster. Walking with this crowd is simply too slow and boring so a change of things is rather good. As Arthur was pondering on the meaning of ''moving faster'', his eyes landed on a grave not too far away. It was a crude looking grave with parts of it destroyed and not a couple of meters from it were other graves. He didn''t focus too much on his surroundings as they were still in the desolate lands, however, there were some graves here and there. It must''ve been because of this that the General decided to travel faster, these graves must be some kind of mark indicating the border of their territory. ... When the zombies heard the General, all of them stopped walking and just stood there. Not knowing what was happening, Arthur and Lucy also stopped and patiently waited. Arthur couldn''t help but tense up for a bit, it was very unlikely that they were discovered, but anything can happen in a place like this. He saw a figure flying high in the sky, it was a zombie, but its appearance was very different from the normal ones. This zombie was wearing a silver armor accompanied by an iron helmet and leg guards, there was also a 7 feet lance on his back. He didn''t look threatening but he emitted an invisible pressure that made others fear him. This was the zombie General who shouted at the crowd earlier. He looked down at the crowd of zombies, his eyes were full of contempt and superiority. It was obvious that he didn''t value those zombies, they were a meat shield for him and a mean for him to earn some military achievements. ..... With a wave of his hand, Malark, the Zombie General summoned a huge floating boat. It was a very big boat, made from special black wood and reaching the skies, its frame completely shocked Lucy and Arthur as it was the first time they saw something like this. This boat could probably hold thousands of people. The boat floated on the air while sometimes emitting some creaking sounds, it looked a bit old but that only made it look greater. "Now line up and proceed in order toward the Spirit Boat!" Malark said that then flew on top of the boat which was called a Spirit Boat, he sat on a corner and completely ignored the zombies, acting as if they never existed. .. The zombies didn''t seem bothered or angry about his behavior, they followed his orders and made neat and quiet queues and proceeded one by one onto the Spirit Boat. Arthur and Lucy did the same and joined a random queue and began waiting, but each time they advanced, Arthur felt more and more anxious, he really had a bad feeling about this but it was too late to back off now, if he diverted from the queues and escaped with Lucy, the Zombie General wouldn''t stay idle and would probably give chase. Actually, Arthur had confidence in his speed, when running in a straight line, his lightning form was the best, but what if this Zombie General was stronger than the Immortal Demon they fought in the tournament? What if he catches up to them in a split second? ... Time slowly passed and the pair were advancing in the queues until finally, it was their turn. Arthur and Lucy slowly flew to the ship while trying to not attract the General''s attention, who was sitting in a corner. Contrary to Arthur''s expectations, nothing happened, the General didn''t even flinch or react when they flew to the boat, although their clothing and appearance were definitely weird, he either ignored them or viewed them as weaklings. The boat was very big and although the zombie''s numbers were high, there were still a lot of empty areas, so Arthur and Lucy sat on a corner with few zombies. The tension finally subdued and the boat began moving after a few more hours, the Spirit Boat could still hold more people, which was surprising but what shocked Arthur, even more, is its speed. It was extremely fast, if it was compared to his speed, it was at the very least 4 or 5 times faster than him, so while feeling astonished, a sense of dread was also lingering in his heart. If it''s only a Zombie General and he has this Spirit Boat, then what about Hades? Or the woman who took Saly.. .... Arthur being a parasite, there are things that are limited and undoable by him, for example, he can''t Lv up normal skills he got from corpses. Even though his dark magic power is increased when his stats rise, the same thing for all skills, it''s still not the same as increasing a skill''s Lvl. By Lvling up a skill too many times, you can master it and even create a magic unique and only used by you. Zodiak is a good example for this as he created the dark magic. Arthur can''t do things like that, he can only lvl up his dark magic if he gets the other remaining power portions of Zodiak. There is no skill except the Lost Magic that he can Lvl up. And even for the Lost Magic, only the one which creates weapons or clothes and so on can be upgraded by increasing his Mental Power. It was an unfortunate thing but that''s how things are, he is already a cheat race, so if he could do that then he would become undefeatable. Despite being unable to Lvl up skills, it was not the case for Qi related techniques. Be it a defense or offensive technique, or movement techniques, they can be upgraded by constant practice. But the requirements are very hard and almost impossible to achieve. Take Arthur''s movement technique, for example, it''s already in the Spirit Realm but it was only due to possessing someone who already had it on that Realm if not, Arthur would need years to do that, if not decades. Excluding all those techniques, there were simple but effective techniques such as meditation, which allowed one to absorb the Earth''s Qi and relax one''s mind. By absorbing enough Earth Qi, one would be able to increase his strength and achieve greater results so this kind of techniques are used by everyone who practices in Qi. Anastassia also told him that Mana and Qi are forms of energies that are commonly used and that her master told her that there is countless other forms and types of energies, some are dangerous and some are miraculous. In this Underworld, Arthur could not feel any Qi even after mediating, besides calming his frustrated mind, he couldn''t absorb Qi, maybe not all worlds have Qi, Earth for example. As for Mana, Arthur could feel it but compared to Astria, the amount of mana present in here is very meager. He could also feel another form of energy, but he could not absorb it or manipulate it so he didn''t pay it much attention for the time being. .... It has been a few hours since the boat started flying at high-speed, normally, nothing should have happened, however, while it was flying it suddenly crushed into something which resulted in tremors and a bit of destruction. The shock was so strong that some of the Zombies flew out of the boat, it was fortunate that they could fly or they would have died from that fall as the height the Spirit Boat was flying at was extremely big. Arthur was also startled, he shifted his gaze to inspect and see what happened and what faced him was 5 floating figures. 3 of them had a lizard appearance with a green skin and some scales in the legs and neck, as for the remaining two, they had bull faces and burly bodies, each held big hammers which were double their size. They were grinning and intensely staring at the Zombie General. "Malark! Come out! You dare steal the ''Yin Flower'' and slaughter our comrades and you want to run away just like that? Dream on!" ........ Chapter 82 - 82 : Malark 2 The 5 people looked angrily at Malark, ready to erupt at any second, but you could see arrogance and contempt lingering in their eyes. They seemed to look down on Malark for some reason. As for the Zombie General who was peacefully sitting on a corner, once the Spirit Boat crashed into that invisible barrier, he was already standing. Although there were 5 opponents, and each one of them appeared strong, Malark didn''t seem startled or anxious. Arthur already appraised Malark when he first saw him and he knew that he was a 4th-grade Immortal, he didn''t know what 4th Grade meant but he was certainly an Immortal. When these 5 showed up, the first thing he did was appraise them to see their Realms and have a grasp about their strength. Lizard Kimu (Monster Race) : Immortal 2nd Grade Lizard Kima (Monster Race) : Immortal 1st Grade Lizard Kimo (Monster Race) : Peak Deity N¨¤khbu (Monster Race) : Peak Deity Kashron (Monster Race) : Immortal 1st Grade Arthur was not surprised by this, he expected them all to be Immortals, but two of them were at the peak of the Deity Realm which was a bit reassuring, however, that didn''t mean that the situation was good. He didn''t know the difference between the grades, but he already guessed that the higher the grade, the more powerful you are. And by seeing the calmness of Malark made Arthur even more sure of his guess. ... Malark stared at the five them while saying "The five of you are not my match, you''re simply courting death by coming right at me" As he said that, he took out his lance and pointed it at the five of them, specifically at the Lizard Kimu, who was most likely the strongest among them. "Just because you''re a 4th Grade Immortal you think you can hold all of us together? ha! Laughable" Lizard Kimu retorted while sneering at Malark. Of the five of them, four charged at Malark while the last one flew toward the Zombie army, clearly planning to finish it. The one who headed toward the Zombie army was N¨¤khbu, since he was at the peak of Deity Realm, he would be mercilessly killed if he fought against Malark. But surprisingly, the other Lizard, who was at the peak of Deity Realm too, didn''t rush at the army but went with the others. Each of the four charging at Malark wielded a special weapon, the bull-like person had a gigantic hammer, as for the three lizards, they had similar swords which were covered with some green liquid. The green liquid was spit by their mouths and it was a special poison which their race can use and produce. The fight already began and explosions and energy waves began emitting from the several clashes. Despite fighting 1v4, Malark completely suppressed them with his absolute strength, a single sweep sent a lizardman flying a hundred meters. His prowess was just too great, one man and one lance fought marvelously against the enemies, albeit receiving attacks from all directions and sword slashes filled with poison and mystical laws, he managed to withstand them either by dodging or dissipating them with a counter-attack. Arthur flew back with Lucy, getting away from N¨¤khbu, who was fighting against thousands of normal zombies, despite him being more powerful than him, it was not that easy as there were some Heavenly Realm Zombies. He slaughtered left and right and received some minor injuries, but those injuries were healing at a very fast pace. The normal Zombies only used primitive attacks such as grabs, punches and kicks, most of the time it was useless, as for the ones in the Heavenly Realm, they would wait for a good opportunity to deal some damage before succumbing to their death. Zombies don''t feel pain so it made them even more crazy in fights, which was a good thing as they would not be held back by the immense pain coming from having one''s limb chopped off or severely wounded. Arthur hid in a corner while he watched the occurring fights and assessing their strength, he didn''t want to join them and doesn''t want to get involved in their fights as it was dangerous. By seeing the main fight between Malark and the other four, he regained a bit of confidence, the four were powerful, but he was sure he could deal with them as they are not good at cooperating. Well, the three lizards have good synergy, but the bull creature only attacks randomly, even Anastassia had more accurate attacks. But the accuracy is not everything, a single strike from his can cause a lot of damage, well not to Arthur but Lucy can suffer a bit. ... Malark''s might was unbelievable, his lance caused tremors and huge pits on the grounds despite the fight being at the sky, a simple sweep or thrust of his lance would produce energy whirlpools that strike his enemies. Kashron, the bull-like monster was now in a bloody state, he was struck by Malark''s lance and it struck his chest which resulted in a heavy injury. He was bleeding profusely and panting heavily, the exterior wound was nothing as it would heal after sometimes, but Malark''s attack hit his meridians. The meridians, acupoints were the main thing for people in the Immortal Realms. Once someone breakthrough to the Immortal Realm, they construct energy meridians and a dantian which are very important. They help the person absorb special kinds of energy and produce attacks from it, whether it''s skills or techniques, they would be much powerful if you used energy refined by the meridians and stored at the Dantian. The attack of Malark managed to break through his defenses and injure his meridians which greatly reduced his fighting ability. Malark stared at Kashon''s state and at the three lizards while sneering. "A bunch of weaklings, you ambushed me and wanted to snatch back the ''Yin Flower'' with this pathetic strength?" "You...." One of the lizardmen was angered by Malark''s taunting words as he didn''t like being looked upon, but he was stopped by another lizardman. "Third brother, don''t fall into his trap, he''s provoking us to make us attack him recklessly due to rage" Kimu, the strongest lizardmen, held his little brother''s shoulder while saying that. Although they didn''t receive injuries similar to Kashon, they were still a bit injured and they felt a bit of fear from Malark. Malark is known amongst the undead to be a strong and overwhelming individual, he''s one of the top generals and is respected by many. They indeed overestimated their capabilities, but for someone with their strength and age, they always have a plan B and a precaution. "We cannot beat him like this, we are in their territory, it won''t be long before reinforcements come, Malark is not stupid to not use a voice talisman to inform the Headquarters of our ambush, we must get done with this quickly!" Lizard Kimu spoke with a low voice and told his brothers to use ''that''. Malark stood there, without doing anything, he only needed to gain some time for the reinforcements to come, he could beat them but to kill them all would be too hard. The more they waited the better it was, so why would he just go there and attack them. ... N¨¤khbu was still fighting the zombies while laughing, he massacred half of the crowd of zombies and he was closing into Arthur and Lucy. "Hahaha, these are free points, too easy too easy!!" He laughed maniacally as he crushed yet another zombie with his hammer, he didn''t use any special attacks, just brute strength was enough as his Realm as already very high compared to these weaklings. Simply showing up and engaging with both parties would be reckless and stupid, Arthur decided to help Malark, whether this zombie general would be thankful or attack him would be unknown but that''s the best choice for the time being. "Lucy, you finish this idiot and I''ll help the Zombie General, alright?" Lucy nodded as she didn''t question his intentions, she knew she couldn''t beat an Immortal Realm, even Arthur could barely fight equally against a first grade, as for second grade, it would be quite hard. He had many attacks and trump cards such as the heavenly arrow and the ancient flames, but even those are insufficient against Immortals. People at the Immortal Realm had augmented physique and a special kind of energy is like a layer around their body, it constantly protects them. The Heavenly Arrow Arthur used with Lucy against that demon back then managed to instantly kill him, however, that consumed way too much Mana, he would only be left with 20% if not less. As for Lucy, she would be unable to fight if they used it, so that was the last trump card and they would only use it at a desperate situation. As for now, they would wait until N¨¤khbu gets too close to finally strike, he would somehow attack the four above, and Lucy would deal with N¨¤khbu, with her ability, it should be enough. ... The three lizards finally made a move, Lizard Kimu gritted his teeth as he took out a worn out yellow scroll from his storage ring. It was crude looking and dirty, it didn''t look like anything special, but this scroll was a special item given to him by his superior and the cost of using it is heavy. Malark, who was nonchalantly gazing at them was a bit alarmed, he was not afraid, however, he felt a bit of unease seeing that scroll, they were also generals of the monster race so seeing Kimu taking this scroll, it must be at least a Mystic Item. Items in the Underworld and in the high-Realms in general and separated by different Realms too, just like people''s Strength. It is Common, Spirit, Mystic, Heavenly, Godly, Mysterious with Common being the lowest and Mysterious being the highest. People who had high enough position can have this kind of items, even Malark had one but that was only for emergencies and the cost of using it is no joke, it could save his life but there is a high chance of dropping an entire Realm if not becoming a cripple in some extreme cases. Malark tightened his grip on his lance and stood in a defensive stance, ready to dodge or back off at any moment, he was not dumb enough to receive a straight attack from that scroll, assuming it''s really a Mystic Item. What Malark didn''t know is that it''s actually not a Mystic Item, but a peak grade Spirit Item. Whether it''s a common or Spirit item or whatever it was, it was divided into 3 grades with 3rd grade being the highest. This yellow scroll was a 3rd grade Spirit Item, its prowess was equal to a Mystic item. As Kimu took out the scroll, his two brothers spit two golden drops of blood which flew toward the scroll. As for Kimu, he spat two drops too, which resulted in 4 drops entering the scroll, then without hesitation, Kimu opened the scroll toward Malark, who had already backed off more than a thousand meters. But it was already late by this time, an ancient rune was drawn on the yellow scroll and an immense scroll fell on Malark, completely sealing his movements and crushing his insides. He felt like he was suppressed by a mountain, mouthful after mouthful of blood came out of his mouth as he retreated, but no matter how much he retreated, the pressure didn''t stop, instead, it increased by the second. His face turned pale and he couldn''t fly anymore, his body was sent flying as he struck the ground like a meteorite, he seemed to be restrained by an invisible pressure that was crushing him, the sound of muscles snapping and bones cracking could be heard from miles away. Just as this time, N¨¤khbu, who was enjoying his slaughter, finally arrived a couple of meter from Arthur and Lucy, who were supposedly sitting in a corner and not doing anything. N¨¤khbu frowned for a second as he saw two weird zombies that were sitting and didn''t attack, but he didn''t pay it too much heed and struck down at both of them with his hammer, however, what he expected didn''t happen. A terrifying flame tornado that appeared out of nowhere came clashing with his hammer, it was not even a clash as his hammer was pushed away, but that was not the end, a meteorite came from out of nowhere, it had some red liquid in it and it was surrounded by purple flames, it was just 10m in size, but the size it emitted is unimaginable. N¨¤khbu''s face paled as he couldn''t even lift his hammer which was struck down by the flame tornado, all he could do is try to forcefully move his body to dodge but that was not going to happen as the mysterious enemy who suddenly attacked was already in front of him, launching yet another attack.... Chapter 83 - 83 : Isll Skin you Alive Lucy has prepared the meteorite for some time now. Since N¨¤khbu started closing in on her and Arthur, she prepared this attack, it was one of her strongest offensive attacks and is very deadly. It had a combination of three attributes which are Earth, Magma, and her Purple Fire. It''s potential and destructive is unimaginable. She created this attack not too long ago, so her achievements and control over it is not perfect, it can even be considered lacking, however, that didn''t mean the attack was weak. The only flaw in this attack was the time it takes to prepare it, but that was taken care of as she had more than enough time to do that. The Meteorite came flying with incredible speed, the pressure and heat of the 10m huge rock were not to be underestimated. Even N¨¤khbu, who was momentarily shocked by the sudden appearance of the fire tornado, was dumbstruck by this meteorite that came flying toward him. His face paled as he was unable to lift his hammer to block. The fire tornado deflected his hammer at the perfect time so he couldn''t muster the energy to block or dodge. The bull-like N¨¤khbu, who was at the peak of the Deity Realm, was fear-stricken by this deadly attack, he sensed death approaching and he was already at its door. As he was facing a desperate situation, N¨¤khbu spat a golden drop of blood which instantly transformed into a transparent and golden shield, faced against the incoming meteorite. He expended some of his precious Soul Essence to resist the incoming strike, but even that was useless as the golden shield was shattered after resisting the meteorite for no more than 5 seconds. Lucy had already backed off some distance as she coldly watched N¨¤khbu getting struck by her Meteorite. Blood splattered and bones shattered as his body was smashed into the Spirit Boat, however, the meteorite didn''t stop as it continued drilling into the Spirit Boat for a couple of meters before it subdued. What layed in the huge pit made by the meteorite was a purple flaming rock and some blood at its bottom. This sudden explosion caused energy waves all over its surroundings, it even caught the attention of Malark and the others. Malark was busy resisting the pressure from the yellow scroll, once he saw the explosion and the pit on the boat, his face became ugly as this was his precious Spirit Boat and to repair it or buy a new one is not a simple matter. Unfortunately, he was busy defending against the scroll or else he would have ripped apart the one who damaged his Spirit Boat. As for the three lizards and the injured Kashron shifted their gaze to the Spirit Boat, only to see the flaming rock and the blood under it. Kashron, who was a close friend of N¨¤khbu, was enraged as he sensed his friend''s life force under the flaming rock, it was diminishing bit by bit, if nothing was done then he would die in a minute or so. He ignored the fight with Malark and flew toward the Spirit Boat with red eyes, him and N¨¤khbu and very close as they fought countless battles together so they could be considered brothers. Due to him being heavily injured by Malark, his flying speed was not that fast for someone at the Immortal Realm, but nevertheless, he used his energy to heal his meridians slowly as he charged at the Spirit Boat to save his friend. The three lizards didn''t pay much attention to N¨¤khbu, if he died then it''s his fault for being weak. They were allies but not friends, after glancing at the flaming rock for a second, Kimu resumed exerting the yellow scroll''s pressure on Malark. "Getting done by these zombie weaklings, truly pathetic" Lizard Kimu sneered as he saw the blood under the rock and N¨¤khbu life force decreasing. ... Kashron was flying toward the flaming rock when all of a sudden, he felt a cold sweat down his spines, a sudden chill covered his body. Before he could comprehend what happened, a shadow appeared in front of him and with lightning speed, a dark katana was trusted toward his chest, precisely at his beating heart. The attack was fast and decisive, and before Kashron could react, his heart was already penetrated by the sharp sword, what followed was some deadly energy that went through all his injured meridians and bones and caused tremors and strong vibrations that broke all of his bones and muscles. Kashron never expected such a sudden attack, coupled with his heavy injured he received from Malark, this strike killed him instantly. Actually, Kashron already died when Makaze struck his heart, however, Arthur used his green lightning to cripple his body just in case, better safe than sorry, he was dealing with an Immortal so he must make sure his opponent is one hundred percent dead. As he sensed the enemy''s death, Arthur immediately transformed into a small black whirlpool as he entered Kashron''s body. You have successfully possessed Kashron (Monster Race) ... Arthur dismissed all the messages about the skills at it was not the time to check them, then he continued slowly flying toward the flaming rock. For a parasite like him, despite possessing an already crippled body, it made no difference, as long as the body is whole, then whenever he possessed him, it will regenerate instantly. Arthur did not know anything about Immortal Energy or the meridians since he didn''t break through the Immortal Realm, they can''t use that energy or use the meridians to make his techniques even more powerful. The reason he continued flying toward the flaming rock is to not attract too much attention, he would act for a bit then strike the lizards when they have lowered their guard. He calmly approached N¨¤khbu, who was buried under the rock, when he was next to the rock, its purple flames disappeared and what was left was only a dark red rock which had some steam and magma coming out of it. Arthur pushed the rock and looked at what was under it. There layed a bloodied corpse, there were no signs of the left arm and some of the waist. N¨¤khbu was barely breathing as he was slowly dying, his wounds were too serious. The meteorite was just too strong, despite using his Soul Essence, it didn''t hold for even a minute. When the bloodshot eyes of N¨¤khbu landed on Kashron''s figure, he felt happy yet a bit embarrassed. He was really thankful to have a close friend such as Kashron. However, before he could muster the strength to talk, Kashron pointed at the spot between his eyebrows and said with a low voice that only N¨¤khbu could hear. "Die.." A white beam of lightning came out of Arthur''s head and penetrated N¨¤khbu''s skull, killing him on the spot. The Godly Lightning burst N¨¤khbu''s head as brain matter and flesh exploded out of N¨¤khbu''s head, it splattered on the surroundings and some of it even landed on Arthur. Arthur was not going to let an enemy live, he came here to not attract attention and to finish this person. After killing N¨¤khbu, Arthur glanced at the not far away from Lucy and slowly nodded, he already planned everything with her earlier. ... The lizard trio was still dealing with Malark, who was still being suppressed by the scroll, his face was filled with disbelief as he panted heavily, he couldn''t advance no matter what he did, but this was enough, he just needed to buy some time. As the three lizards were injecting their energy to the yellow scroll, an enraged Kashron flew toward them, he was holding a small-sized person who had a hood on his face. Kashron was holding this person by the back of his neck, he had a ruthless face and bloodshot eyes as he stared at this person. "Oh? Kashron, did N¨¤khbu die? And who is that person?" Kimu, who was the strongest out of them, asked Kashron with a frown, although he already knew the answer, he still wanted to ask, he wanted to humiliate him(Kashron). They were allies but Kimu always believed that his blood lineage is better than Kashron and the others, moreover, he always looked down on their way of doing things. People like Kashron were ruthless and reckless, they would not think before acting which made them the first to die. "He''s dead!!" Lizard Kima snickered as he heard that and said "Tsk tsk! To think he died while fighting a bunch of weaklings... is he really a general?" Kashron''s face turned even uglier as he retorted while yelling loudly "You!! Kima, don''t take things too far! N¨¤khbu was killed only because he was ambushed by this bastard" As Kashron said that, he tightened his grip on his hostage''s neck as if causing more pain and suffering. Lizard Kima ignored Kashron, he glanced at the hooded person''s figure for a second before he resumed injecting his energy to the scroll. He already knew this hooded-man''s strength was at the Peak of the Deity Realm, but he still believed that he was an ant, a weakling who is not worth paying attention to. Kashron slowly floated near the trio''s location, he continued cursing at his hostage as if he was angry. "Wait till we go back! Hehe, I''ll make you wish you were dead!! I''ll skin you alive you little bastard!" The act continued, Arthur, who was possessing Kashron''s body, managed to approach the trio without alerting them. Once he was 10 meters away from them, he stopped and faced Malark, who was struggling against the immense pressure. He loosened his grip on the hostage, who was also Lucy, all he did was acting, he of course never tightened his grip on her neck or whatever was acted out. With a quiet tap on her back, he indicated that he will act out. Arthur never looked down at Lucy, her strength was almost equal to his and in some aspects, she overtook him by a long margin, the reason he brought her as a hostage is to help him take care of these three with a sneak attack. After he readied himself, Arthur began channeling the Godly Lightning to strike from above, it takes a dozen of seconds to strike so he patiently waited for the most perfect moment. Before just a second that he thick white streak of lightning struck, Arthur used [Faster than Death] and teleported behind the lizard trio with Lucy. Makaze was already when he appeared behind them, at the same time, a bolt of lightning came down from the sky, the sound was deafening at stricken Lizard Kimu. Arthur was not hoping to kill this second-grade Immortal, he just needed to paralyze him for a split second so he could finish the other two. With his Peak Mastery in Sword, Dark magic embodied around the sharp sword edges and [Dark Burst], Arthur slashed at Kima''s neck, aiming to behead him, as for Lucy, she punched with all of her strength. Lucy''s strength was leagues above someone at the Peak of the Deity Realm, coupled with the purple fire, the punch was not something that should be looked upon. This sudden turn of events was not left unnoticed by the trio, however, they never expected someone to suddenly appear behind them, not only that but that someone is Kashron, who was supposed to be their ally. "Wha..." Before Lizard Kima was able to react, Makaze sliced his head off, it was a clean slash and there was no resistance whatsoever from his neck. The Lizard''s head flew out of his body, blood splattered on his two brothers, who were dumbfounded by what just happened. Kimu was still numb from the lightning, although it didn''t kill him, it still caused a lot of damage, he used his Soul Essence not long ago, so he was weakened and was caught off guard so he couldn''t protect from the strike. He coughed a mouthful of blood as his control with the yellow scroll began weakening. As for the last Lizard, he received Lucy''s fire punch just right at his abdomen, his intestines, organs, and bones shattered, the purple fire burned his flesh and scales and his body was sent flying hundreds of meters. Chapter 84 - 84 : Blooming Rose By the time Kimo was sent flying, Lizard Kimu regained control of his body, the numbness is gone, so, without hesitation, he spat a golden drop of blood and retreated with incredible speed away from Arthur and Lucy. However, Arthur was not planning to let him flee, Kimu''s speed was very fast due to him using his Soul Essence and some mysterious techniques, but Arthur was very fast too. With his movement techniques, Petal Footsteps and his high Agility stats, his speed was only slightly slower than Kimu. He was chasing the lizard and slashing with Makaze, long and black slash arcs were produced, this powerful sword energy was even faster than Kimu, no matter how fast he was, he couldn''t be faster than Arthur''s slashes. Not only that, Arthur was closing on Kimu while using dark magic to follow up with countless dark spears. Lizard Kimu, who just breathed a sigh of relief as he backed away from Kashron, was dumbstricken when he saw this slashes and the enemy''s bombardment of weird dark spears. Kashron was never this strong, he also didn''t use this weird magic, moreover, he was a hammer user but this Kashron clearly had a long black sword. Arthur slashed exactly two times, these two black arc slashes which contained his sword energy, struck Kimu, but the Lizard used the scroll in his hands to shift the pressure from Malark to the incoming attacks. He was powering the scroll by himself, which made it ten times more difficult, not only that, by shifting the pressure, Malark was now free so it made things even more dangerous. The pressure clashed with these two slashes and the countless dark spears, although it was an invisible pressure, you could see Arthur''s attacks facing some barrier which stopped them, their momentum was being lost every second and some dark spears even shattered. Seeing that he blocked these attacks, Kimu was relieved but by the next second, Kashron who was flying at him, suddenly disappeared from his view and appeared behind him. A chill ran down his spines as he felt strong killing intent aimed at his back. With his sword in hand, Arthur slashed with his sword at the lizard''s neck, he wanted to behead him just like the last one. However, just as Makaze was going to cut off Kimu''s head, a violet liquid came out from his scales situated at his neck, this liquid was aimed exactly at Kashron chest. Arthur didn''t know what this liquid, but he was absolutely sure that it was not a good thing, he sensed danger from it, it was most likely the lizard''s trump card. Without hesitating for even a split second, Arthur left Kashron''s body and appeared next to it. Once the violet liquid touched Kashron''s body, the body started melting and deteriorating, it was a gory and horrible sight. Makaze flew from Kashron''s hand to Arthur''s, then Arthur used [Faster than death] to appear a distance away from Kimu, who was overjoyed to have successfully landed his most deadly poison, but it came at a cost. This poison was his life-saving trump card, it was too deadly and could even heavily injure Malark if not kill him, but the cost of using it was no laughing matter. He dropped to the Immortal 1st grade, but at least he managed to get rid of Kashron. Kimu didn''t dare celebrate his victory yet, he shifted his gaze to Malark, but the latter was already flying at him with lightning speed. Lizard Kimu just used a heavy price to kill Kashron, he needed a couple of seconds to recuperate and use the scroll, but unfortunately for him, he was not given this time. A meteorite even bigger than previous one was flying at him from above, its speed was faster than Malark, but was even worse was that this meteorite had dark red flames instead of purple flames. The pressure he felt from the meteorite made him freeze, facing this desperate situation, he didn''t know what to do, even if he tried dodging, it would result in his death. Kimu could only lift the scroll and inject all the energy he could muster to activate it, not only that, he spit 2 golden drops of Soul essence which integrated with scroll to strengthen it more, but even with that, he still felt the pressure of the incoming attack. Malark, who was flying toward Kimu was alarmed from the huge meteorite which was double the size of the previous one, he stopped in his tracks and gazed at it. He didn''t dare attack Kimu as he feared the flaming rock very much, he could feel its head even from a long distance. The yellow scroll''s pressure faced the meteorite, trying to stop it. The meteorite was unstoppable as it faced the invisible pressure, the scroll''s power only managed to slow it for a bit. Kimu used this time to flee, he abandoned the scroll which was now floating by itself and facing the meteorite. But what faced him was a black-clothed person whit a big bamboo hat and the previous hostage of Kashron. Despite seeing them blocking his escape route, he charged straight at them, after all, facing them was better than facing the meteorite. Arthur already expected this outcome, dark strings, which were almost invisible were shot from his fingertips and wrapped around Kimu. These strings were very tight and strong, their speed was incredible as in a matter of seconds, they restricted Kimu, who was already weakened from Arthur''s attack and using his Soul Essence too much. In fact, Soul Essence is the most important thing for people at the Immortal Realm and above, if one used Soul Essence drops, they can never recover it no matter how much time passes, moreover, if one expands all his Soul Essence, he would most definitely die. Kimu used too much of his Soul Essence and his Realm was too weak, so how could he resist these threads. "Yo-You!!!..." He gazed at Arthur and Lucy with hatred, he was unwilling to die here, but no matter how he struggled, he couldn''t free himself. The scroll, which was not powered by Kimu anymore, lost its effect and fell from the sky, as for the meteorite, it resumed its fast momentum and finally struck the immobile Kimu, but that was not the end. In a matter of seconds, Kimu was crushed and burned to ashes by the dark red flames, the meteorite kept falling from the sky at fast speed until it struck the ground. Boom!! An earth-shattering, ear deafening explosion happened when the meteorite struck the ground, dark flames burned the ground and a huge pit was made from the explosion, it was a terrifying sight. A very large dust cloud was formed on its surroundings, blocking the view, but one could feel energy ripples all over the place. What followed that was a gigantic blood red rose made by the ancient flames, it rose very high up in the sky and illuminated the gloomy sky. Dark red flames raged as the rose emitted a hellish heat, the desolate ground was turning black and the zombies'' corpses which fell from the Spirit Boat were turned into black ashes. Lucy stood beside Arthur as she gazed at the dark red flaming rose, she couldn''t help but mutter "..Beautiful..." It was attacked which combined her meteorite attack and Arthur''s ancient flames, its might was not something Kimu could withstand, not only that, after the meteorite struck its target, a dark red rose would bloom and cause even more destruction, it would burn everything in existence, including the energy of this world. In the Underworld, far away from where Arthur and Lucy were, there was a dark-haired middle-aged man with a good build, he was sitting cross-legged and had his eyes closed. It has been countless years since he moved or even opened his eyes, however, at this very moment, the middle-aged man opened his eyes and said with a very deep voice. "...This pressure, the heat... it is unforgettable but it''s still too weak from the original... how come it is here?" The man stroked his chin as he was reminiscing about the past. After some time, he sighed and said "... I can''t even perceive its user..." Then, as if he felt something, a look of surprise appeared on his normally emotionless face as he continued muttering "Zodiak... how come I feel your magic too.... old friend, where are you...." Malark was shocked by the power of the meteorite, he could not help but unconsciously tremble at this mind-numbing sight. He only snapped out of his daze when he saw two individuals slowly fly toward him. It was the black-clothed man with a big bamboo hat and the supposedly ''hostage'' of Kashron. He didn''t know if they were enemies or allies, they indeed helped him but they could be aiming for the ''Yin Flower'' and only got rid of the enemies to deal with him after. Arthur noticed Malark''s anxiousness, so he didn''t waste time and said "Senior, do not worry, we mean no harm to you or your people" Malark relaxed a bit when he heard that, but he dared not put down his lance. "W-Who are you?" "We joined your zombie army not too long ago and marched with it, we are a couple who were cultivating in seclusion for a long time, we happened to meet with the zombie crowd and decided to join." Malark stayed silent as he stared at Arthur and Lucy, after some time, his face turned from caution to disbelief and fear. "Y...You...you''re both at the peak of the Deity Realm? How is that possible!" It was indeed shocking to see two people at the peak of the Deity Realm deal with those lizards, who were at the Immortal Realm, normally, it should be impossible. "Senior, we cultivate a special technique that increases our attacks if we join forces, the cultivation divides our Realms and make it harder to breakthrough but with each breakthrough, our strength increases by leaps and bounds" Arthur fabricated some lies and spoke with an honest tone, he only explained to not cause Malark to be too suspicious. He wanted to befriend Malark to learn more about the Underworld and the woman who abducted Saly. "Oh... So it''s like that... but even so... for the attacks to be so powerful..... ." The reason it sounded so believable is because the world is so big, many techniques and cultivation manuals are mysterious, so it is not surprising to see one which divides the Realms of its users but make them stronger than the ones at the same Realm as them. Despite somewhat believing them, Malark kept a cautious attitude, their strength is not just ''decent'', it''s too damn terrifying. That meteorite attack could have killed him too. What didn''t know was that meteorite attack was also one of Arthur and Lucy''s trump card, of course, it could not be compared to the one used at the tournament, but this one expended a lot of Mana and Mental power too. Especially for Lucy as she used it two times in a row without resting, she prepared the second one in just 20 seconds whereas she needs 2 or 3 minutes to normally make one, so she was currently depleted of her Mana. Moreover, the Mana in this world is not like Astria, the quantity is meager so it made the recovery a bit slower albeit her having very high Mana recovery. Silent ruled over the place as none of the parties spoke, so Arthur decided to cut this silence and spoke again. "Senior, as I said, we were cultivating at seclusion and very rarely go outside to roam, if you don''t mind, we would like to accompany to ask you about the recent matters of the Underworld and perhaps become friends at the future" Arthur was too direct as he stated his intentions without much hesitation, he had a strong feeling that being honest toward Malark would be better than making up lies, although he just lied about the cultivation bull-shittery a second ago. Malark was the calm type, but he appeared to be a person who regards friendship highly and is not like some crafty people. "Hahaha, friend, I like your attitude, stating your intention straight out! How can I be uncourteous to someone saved my life!" It was a bit exaggerating to say that Arthur saved his life as the trio lizard couldn''t possibly kill Malark, but what astonished Arthur even more than that is the very sudden change in attitude. It just too abrupt for him to keep up, he expected Malark to be suspicious or even reject him, he never would have predicted that this Zombie General would do a 180-degree change in attitude when he said that.... Chapter 85 - 85 : The Silent Graveyard Not long after the meteorite explosion occurred, several beams appeared in the sky. These beams were the reinforcements Malark was expecting, however, they arrived a bit too late for the show. When these people arrived, the first thing that caught their attention is the still burning rose, although its size decreased, the pressure and heat it emitted were still present, coupled with the destruction it caused, it''s no wonder it caught their eyes. They were precisely 3 people, or rather, it was 2 people and one.. skeleton. The first two wore a battle armor and were twins, as for the skeleton, it just wore a long grey robe and held a long black staff in its hands. After dazing for a couple of second at the sight, the trio snapped out of it and shifted their gaze toward Malark, who was still chatting with Arthur. "Malark, what''s going on here!" One of the two twins, which was apparently a zombie too, questioned Malark as they came to help him yet here he is happily chatting as if nothing happened. Malark was with Lucy and Arthur on his Spirit Boat, although it was a bit damaged, he didn''t get angry too much on them, his attitude change was still shocking Arthur. The Zombie General turned his head in surprise as he someone calling out to him. It has been only a few minutes yet he already forgot about the previous fight, Arthur and Lucy''s existence shocked him and left an unforgettable imprint on his mind, especially their powerful attacks. "Oh? Velice?" Only now did Malark remember he called for reinforcement at the previous fight. "Don''t show us that look, didn''t you crush the sound talisman?" Velice said that as he glanced at the flaming red rose, he and the other two purposely stayed away from it as they sensed danger. ... Arthur, who was on the side, stared at them as appraised them when they were in range as the appraise skill can''t be done from a very long distance. Velice (Undead) : Immortal 2nd grade Karnal (Undead) : Immortal 2nd grade O''lex (Soul) : Immortal 3rd grade ''Soul?'' Arthur was a bit confused over this ''Soul'' Race, it was clearly a skeleton and it should be regarded as an undead, so why does it say Soul? ... After a short conversation, it was apparent that Malark held a higher position than the other three, although they were a bit angry they come for nothing, they didn''t dare shout or blame him. They boarded the Spirit Boat and proceeded deeper into the Silent Graveyard. The two zombie generals sat a corner and mediated, as for the skeleton, O''lex was scribbling some notes on a shabby looking book. Arthur got to knew a lot of things of Malark, this Zombie General was really not bad. It seemed that he looked down on weaklings, especially the ones who do not try to get stronger, that is why he never held the simple and lazy zombies in his eyes. "The Underworld is divided into 3 Territories, the first is at the south, it''s called ''The Abyss Valley'' and is ruled by a single entity, its called the ''Void Behemoth'', it is the biggest territory in the underworld and no one dares to recklessly invade it as there are other strong beasts lurking there. At the North-West, there is the ''Monster Archipelago'', it''s ruled by the monster race. As for the North-East, it is the home of the Undead, also known as ''The Silent Graveyard'', it''s ruled by the Lich king Aborak. The only remaining area is the middle of the three territories, it was a rectangle area, small than the others but it is ruled by a mysterious alliance which does not join the fights of the three territories. It is also not attacked by neither of the three factions as it had some strong individuals" Malark explained thoroughly to Arthur, not missing any details. He had long since believed that Arthur and Lucy were really a couple who were in seclusion for a long time. In fact, Malark was 500 years old and it was considered very young in the Underworld. If he heard Arthur''s age, he would surely spit blood. Moreover, despite Malark being at the Immortal 4th grade, he was considered weak compared to the undead elders or the Lich King. There was a rumor that the Lich King had already broken through the God Realm, but none confirmed it yet. "Oh, so it''s like that, then Senior Malark, could you explain the grading system in the Immortal Realm? Since I and my comrade are still at the Deity Realm, we do not know much about the higher Realm except that between the Deity and Immortal Realm, there is a huge power-up." The pale-faced Malark nodded continuously at Arthur and resumed explaining, he seemed rather enthusiastic about this matter. There was always competition about the generals, so very rarely would he sit like this and spend time chatting. "It''s actually pretty simple, after breaking through to the Immortal Realm, it will be different from the Deity Realm, The Immortal Realm and above are divided into 9 grade with the first being the lowest. Each breakthrough to a higher grade would make much stronger. for example, two people at the Immortal 3rd grade will necessarily not be able to defeat me, a 4th-grade Immortal" Arthur slowly nodded as he listened carefully, his guess about the grade was correct, however, the 9 grades thing was a new thing to him. "I see.. thank you for your help, Senior" "Hahaha, no problem no problem, always glad to help my life savior, hahaha" Malark laughed heartily while the other three stayed silent and threw Arthur and Lucy a couple of suspicious gazes. Although Malark said that they saved him, these three were still suspicious about Arthur and Lucy''s identities. If they came to help, why would they cover their appearances, anyone would think they are suspicious! It''s just that Malark is either stupid or doesn''t particularly care. But if they knew that the flaming rose from earlier and the destruction was caused by them, they would surely freak out. Malark didn''t give too many details, he just casually said that they helped him kill the enemies, he didn''t even say what Realm the enemies were so they just assumed the enemies to be at most 1st Grade Immortals. The trip back didn''t more than 2 days, the Spirit Boat arrived at an enormous city, there was no end to it. There were black walls at its edges, they had a height of a whopping 40 meters, buildings with various sizes were scattered all around the city. It was bustling with people, Arthur saw zombies, ghouls and even death knights which had a black aura around them. The Spirit Boat landed outside of the city, they proceeded at feet from then on as it was prohibited for them to fly inside the city. "No one is allowed to fly inside the city unless they are important figures such as Commanders, Elders and so on.." As he noticed Arthur confusion, Malark kept explaining everything to Arthur. "These walls are made from the Void Stone, which is a very rare material and is able to withstand attacks from any Immortal Realm head on without being damaged... moreover, this wall creates a defensive barrier around the whole city, protecting it from sudden enemy attacks" When Arthur heard that the wall can withstand any attack from an Immortal Realm, he wanted to test his heavenly Arrow with Lucy and see the results. After the previous fight, he regained a lot of confidence. It appeared that he underestimated himself because he could barely beat that Immortal demon from before, but now his stats were different from the past so his prowess is obviously better too. If it is 5th or 6th-grade Immortal, there is a big chance to defeat them with Lucy, as for higher, he didn''t know. He never thought or imagined the strength of a Divine Realm individual as it was too dreadful, just thinking about the woman at the God Realm which Zodiak sealed in that orb made Arthur feel amazed by Zodiak''s strength. He sealed her so easily, which made Arthur curious about his Realm. He never heard of a Realm higher than the God Realm, perhaps his strength is not enough to know that.. He still didn''t reach the Immortal Realm yet he wants to know what''s beyond the God Realm, it seemed rather funny. Chapter 86 - 86 : Untitled After they entered the city, Malark proposed to Arthur and Lucy to stay the army''s headquarters, however, his offer was rejected as Arthur wanted to tour the city and learn more about Saly''s location. From what he already knew, Saly was most likely at the mysterious place in the middle of the three factions and that''s because the woman who abducted her is not a monster or an undead, so the only plausible place for Saly to be, is there. "Don''t forget, if you need anything, just go to the Army''s headquarter at the West of the city and call for my name" As Malark said that, he handed a badge to Arthur, it was a silver badge with a skull engraved on it, apparently, it''s their symbol. After they bid farewell, Lucy and Arthur began roaming the undead city. It was full of undead left and right, with all kinds of shops and weird places. The most shocking thing is all of the people Arthur saw, the lowest one was Lv700, There were also a lot of Spirit, Heavenly or Deity Realm people in the city. Arthur even spotted numerous Immortals, they didn''t look like an undead and were probably strangers traveling and just came here to visit or ''sightsee''. There was even an old man who was an 8th-grade Immortal. He had a long red horn and a black-ish skin. From his appearance, one could tell he came from the Monster Race. It was easy for them to find a place to temporarily stay at with Arthur''s comprehension of the Underworld''s language. There were several inns in the city as it was extremely huge, it spanned dozens of miles, so it was hard for them to explore it. Moreover, they were not planning to do so, their only purpose in coming to this world is to retrieve Saly and possibly go back to Astria. They chose a random inn and entered, it was a five-story building made from unknown grey stones, it didn''t have a bad appearance and compared to the inns in Astria, this one can be considered top class. The problem was the currency, Arthur did not ask Malark about the currency because it would be too idiotic, no matter if he was in seclusion for decades or centuries, it was basic knowledge to know the currency used here. He didn''t know if Zodiak has been here or not, his storage contained so many things he couldn''t use or didn''t know its use. The couple didn''t immediately head to an inn, they observed the shops to see the currency used and in just minutes, it was obvious that the currency was some form of a stone. It was small, the size of a thumb and had a red color. Arthur rampaged through his storage ring, which used to belong to Zodiak, he tried finding similar red stones. The search took a couple of minutes as the storage was extremely big, he didn''t search all of it, he stopped when he stumbled upon a clump of red stones. They were all sizes, there was another batch of blue and violet stones too. He ignored the other two and checked the red ones. They had three sizes, one the size of a thumb which had the lowest numbers, the other was a size bigger and the last one was the size of a fist. Seeing this gem resembling stones, Arthur remembered that when he found Zodiak''s tomb, he found a chest full of gems too. He brought his consciousness toward the chest and checked its contents, they were indeed stones with various color, however, these ones were different from the previous ones. These stones or rather gems had a cluster in them and were all the size of a fist. Be it black, red, white or yellow, there was all color, moreover, the big chest was full of it. There was also another chest full of unknown material, it looked like gold, it was full of coins with a unique symbol on them, he still didn''t know what the contents of these chests were exactly. Arthur checked the red stones one more time to ascertain that they were the same as the ones used in this world. After he was one hundred percent sure, he split all the red stones and put them in storage rings. He handed Lucy some storage rings which small and big red stones and kept some for himself. In fact, storage rings cannot be put into other storage rings, however, this law didn''t apply on Zodiak''s storage as it could hold countless storage rings. Whenever they retrieved the rings of their dead enemies, it was always put on Arthur''s storage as it was more convenient. He wanted to hand the large storage ring to Lucy, but it was unfortunate as she can''t use black mana so she can''t open it. As they walked toward the inn''s reception desk, a ghoul female welcomed them with warm smiles as she didn''t mind their appearances. "Welcome to the Misty Inn, how could I help you?" The female displayed a very warm and friendly attitude, but that''s to be expected for someone who works as a receptionist. "We want to book a room" The receptionist continued smiling as she respectfully replied "Honoured customers, would you like a normal or VIP room?" Hearing this, Arthur frowned as this concept of VIP room was not present in Astria, there was a larger room which cost more, but there was no such thing as VIP rooms for rich customers, moreover, in Astria, no nobles or wealthy people would stay at an inn. "VIP?" "Hai! VIP rooms have denser Nether Energy, they are also more comfortable and bigger than normal rooms, what''s more is that...." The receptionist kept babbling about the advantages of VIP room for a couple of minutes, as for Arthur, he was curious about this Nether Energy.. "....The cost of the VIP room is 20 Red Spirit Stones per day, as for the normal rooms, it''s 3 Red Spirit Stones per day." "We''ll take the VIP room then..." Arthur casually replied, in fact from the very beginning he decided to choose it, all the babbling was a bit needless. The female receptionist was ecstatic as she saw that her 5 minutes non-stop talking paid off, she accepted the 20 Red Spirit Stones from Arthur and guided the customers to their room. .... The room was indeed very wide, it had luxurious furniture and a large bed. Although people at the higher-Realms don''t need to sleep, it doesn''t mean that they can''t. Some people prefer sleeping every day instead of mediating, for them, it made them calmer and in a better mood. For Arthur and Lucy, sleeping is needless yet they still do it, nothing is better than sleeping in each other''s embrace. When they entered the room, Arthur didn''t feel much, as for the dense Nether Energy, he couldn''t feel it or absorb it. However, Lucy sensed the thick Nether Energy, when they were outside, she could feel an unknown energy but she didn''t pay it much heed, however, now that the energy is thicked, her body became unconsciously absorbing it like a whirlpool. "This.... it''s absorbing it on its own?" Lucy was confused as she felt her strength rising at an alarming pace and the unknown Nether Energy entering her body at a very fast pace. She sat cross-legged on the comfortable bed and began assisting her body in absorbing even more Nether Energy. As for Arthur, he sat next to her and stayed silent, he knew she was most likely breaking through, there was a very meager amount of Mana present, but it was noticeable by Arthur, he could clearly feel it being absorbed by Lucy, she was like a bottomless pit. Nether Energy invaded her meridians, slowly opening them, her strength never ceased rising. When all her meridians were fully opened, they started madly absorbing the Nether Energy, which made it much easier for Lucy. The Meridians are meant to absorb the Energy and transform it into attacks or barriers or anything the host wishes. Lucy''s facial features matured by a bit, it was almost unnoticeable, but her height also increased by a few centimeters. Parts of her body changed and some areas which were a still growing became fully developed. Her womanly charm increased and her skin became softer and smoother. After an hour, sweat began coming out of her body, she was like a sponge filled with water. She absorbed too much Nether Energy, her body felt like it would explode at any given second. Lucy patiently guided the energy to her a specific place, it was a bit under her stomach, that''s where the Dantian is formed. The energy began compressing, it was extremely painful, but Lucy didn''t stop, if she failed this process then she would most likely not breakthrough and would instead receive a backlash. One more hour passed, Lucy''s body was soaking wet and her face was red, at her Dantian area, a very small ice blue orb was formed from the repeated compression of the Nether Energy. It was when the blue orb was formed did Lucy stop madly compressing the Nether Energy. She finally broke through to Immortal Realm. She could feel her body surging with power, her meridians no longer absorbed Mana and only focused on the Nether Energy as it was better. If she didn''t focus and absorb the energy herself, her meridians would still absorb but at a slower pace. "Lucy, Congratulations!" Arthur gave her a warm hug as he appraised her and saw that she was already at the Immortal Realm. Her prowess sky-rocketed and she would probably not lose if she faced Malark alone! She wrapped her arms around Arthur and rested on her head on his chest as smiled. "Hehe, thank you.... You''ll breakthrough very soon too, I can feel it... then we''ll go take Saly back.." Arthur nodded at her as he embraced, they rested for a couple of hours to calm their minds, too much happened since they came, and her breakthrough was just the beginning. TITLE: NONE Level: ???? RACE: Half Demon/ ?????? - Realm: Immortal 1st Grade - Strength: 45m Intelligence: 60m Agility: 45m Wisdom: 60m Vitality: 45m Dexterity: 60m - Health 34m Health Regen 30000/s Nether Energy 40m Nether Energy Regen 35000/s Stamina infinite Stamina Regen ???? - Attack: 75m Defense: 39.9m Magic defense: 9.9m -- Enigma abilities : Ice Spirit Mental Power : 1008 -- Elemental Resistances: Fire: 85% Water: 5% Wind: 0% Earth: 25% Light/holy:-50% Magma 60% Lightning 5% Ice 100% Chapter 87 - 87 : Treasure Pavillion The next day, Lucy and Arthur headed out of the inn, there were so many things to do and staying on the room all day won''t help them solve the problems or neither find the location of Saly. Each second passes, the two of them became more anxious and worried about their daughter Saly, she was an important existence for them. The destination they were head to is called ''The Treasure Pavillon'', Malark informed Arthur about that place and told him that it''s a very famous place to exchange, sell or buy weapons or treasures. This Treasure pavilion is merely a branch from a more famous power, and its expansion is not only in the Underworld, what''s more, the pavilion located here and in other cities cannot compare to the ones in the higher-Realms. Although the Underworld is considered a Higher-Realm, it is in fact kind of a prison, no one can get out of it unless they have a very high-Realm, not even people at the God-Realm can escape this world. The Underworld is very vast and chaotic, it is not a planet but sealed world, there were numerous rumors about the reasons it was sealed, but none of them were confirmed yet. The two of them exited the inn and walked to the Treasure Pavillon. Since the city was extremely big and flying was prohibited, they had to walk, they could also teleport multiple times but they would rather walk as it was much better moreover, teleportation is still a big deal even at a place like this, especially a skill like [Faster than Death] which let him teleport without any cost and unlimited usage. The problem with [Faster than Death] in a fight, is that you have to focus on a location then teleport, just focusing would take more or less a second, and this second can change many things in a fight between two individuals at a very high-realm. It was not a fight between two Mortal Realm people, their speed would be slow and exchange would last a couple of seconds, comparing it to the fight of powerhouses is a joke. Back when Lucy broke through to the Immortal Realm and with the apparition of the ice blue orb in her Dantian, she subconsciously transformed whether in power of appearance. Her body became more developed and she unconsciously emitted a bit of frost energy, it was quite ironic knowing that she practices fire oriented magic. Moreover, after checking her Status Window a second time, she discovered that her resistance to Ice is 100% and she could use Ice magic proficiently, it was a strange occurrence which surprised both of them. Not only was she able to use Ice magic, her Ice magic was a bit special in itself. Arthur could also use Ice magic, but he only had Medium ranked Ice magic, as for Lucy, she had Peak Ranked Ice magic, just like Arthur''s sword mastery, adding to that is that her Ice is a bit special. The color seemed pure and the coldness of her Ice is at another Level. The only conclusion she could think of is her origins. She only knew she was a half-demon, so there is a strong chance that one of her parents or ancestors was good at Ice magic so she inherited it, there was no other explanation other than that. If one broke through to the Immortal Realm, they would not gain such things as her, it was preposterous. There was also one more thing that was quite surprising for both of them, it was the system. The status window, the blue notifications that pop up when something happens to them, these things do not exist in this world. One''s strength is judged based on their overall prowess, for example, if one becomes able to fly, then they are most likely at the Spirit Realm. If he could condense a normal protective barrier around one''s body, then he''s at the Heavenly Realm and so on. The Immortal Realm is like a threshold is the higher-Realms, if you become an Immortal then you can be considered a proper cultivator. All the Realms below that are disregard by the strong individual as the difference between them is meager. A young genius would easily be able to defeat a Deity Realm while being at the Heavenly Realm, however, to defeat an Immortal Realm while being at the Deity Realm is nonsense. Arthur is able to do that because of his cheat like race, stealing stats is an outrageous thing, moreover, Lucy gains 80% of his stats, so it is understandable that she is powerful too and even if she does not gain 80% of his stats, she would still be powerful, not to this degree of course, but she would have been at the Spirit Realm at the very least. ... It took them about an hour to arrive at their destination, it was a very big building, it had 5 floors and looked luxurious. It was made from some unknown red stone that made it look even more eye-catching, with a golden door and a notice at the front. This building could be considered top of the crop, from what Arthur has seen since he was reincarnated, this was by far the best building he saw, except the huge castles and manors of course. Next, to the golden door, there was a glass wall which exposed several weapons and treasures, they looked grandiose and alluring to the eye, many passersby would stop for a couple of seconds to assess these. As for Arthur and Lucy? They had the appraise skill, nothing can escape their eyes, whether it''s a fake item or not, they will immediately know it. What was displayed was a couple of treasures, there were sets of equipment, an armor, gloves, and boots, they were purple in color and had a tiger symbol inscribed on them. There was a price under them, with Arthur''s comprehension of the Underworld knowledge, he managed to comprehend what the weird symbols are written on the wooden plate under the equipment meant. However, even if he didn''t do that, a simply appraise could tell him what that was about, at times like this, the legendary appraise skill could not be more useful, especially for Lucy, who had yet to understand or learn the language. Agony Spirit (Full set) : 2,500 Medium Red Spirit Stones. There was also a big brown halberd, it had some blood stains on it and even through the glass, Arthur could feel the stench of blood coming out of it. Blood Halberd of Massacre : 15,000 Medium Red Spirit Stones. The prices vary, but from the displayed items, the halberd was by far the most expensive one. Arthur didn''t have as many Red Stones as Gold, but the amount he had was by no means meager. Buying these treasures is not a problem, but the reason he came here was not for that. Be it halberds, axes or even swords, he had tons of them in his storage, some are weak and others cannot be used by him. Lucy tested some of the unknown treasures and weapons he had on his storage, not all of them could be used but there was a bunch that worked when injecting Nether Energy on them. Their prowess was amazing, but there are some strange treasures that they didn''t know their uses, so they ignored them for the time being. The two of them came here today to look for weapons, precisely sabers. Lucy wanted to buy a weapon for her to practice with. She liked sabers the most and from all the sabers they had on the storage, not one suited her tastes. She was a fire-oriented mage, but now the Ice magic was added, it was on equal footing with the Magma and Purple Fire, if not stronger, she wanted to get a good saber that works with both attributes. It was practically impossible to find something like this, as Fire and Ice are considered opposites and even using them both in combat would only result in hurting the meridians. This simple concept that was known by everybody, didn''t apply on Lucy, it was true that she couldn''t attack using both attributes, but she could channel both of them and attack successively with them. After looking at the exposed items and not finding interest in any, the duo finally entered the huge building. The interior was just as good as the exterior. There were many guests in the big room, a red carpet was laid on all the floor and there were luxurious stairs at the end of the room leading to the next floor. Standing next to the staircase were 2 men, they had tall build and muscular bodies, they were most likely security of some kind. Arthur and Lucy were not in a hurry, they started checking the items displayed on the first floor first, what didn''t catch the interest of many may be a hidden treasure to them, who can use appraise... Chapter 88 - 88 : The Indignant Young-Woman Arthur followed Lucy as she browsed through the treasures. The first floor contained low-grade weapons and items, so there wasn''t anything interesting that caught their eyes. The floor had a lot of customers, some were even looking longingly at these treasures. The prices of these treasures were considered low for Arthur, but for normal cultivators, it was an astronomical price, moreover, each and every one of those items was good. They were all common ranked items, however, albeit the low rank, their prowess is by no means meager. Even if an Immortal used the axe displayed outside, which is a 3rd-grade Common item, the destruction and power he could do with that are unimaginable. After looking around for a couple of minutes and finding nothing worth their attention, Lucy and Arthur decided to head to the second floor. As they headed toward the staircase, the two tall men standing near it stopped the couple and said "Stop! To proceed, you need to pay 100 Red Spirit Stones" Hearing this, Arthur frowned as he stared at the man who spoke. ''Maybe because of our appearance, he wants to take advantage of us and gain some money? Or..'' "Pay?..." Seeing the confusion of Arthur, the man explained "The second floor is not allowed to anyone, you can''t proceed until you prove you have enough money to go there, it''s not a place to sightsee after all" It was kind of sad that in most worlds, rich people are treated way better than poor people, but there was nothing he could do, with a wave of his hand, Arthur threw the Spirit Red Stones to the tall man then he proceeded upwards with Lucy. Even if they ended up not buying anything, it was certain that they would not give back those 100 Spirit Red Stones and it''s not like Arthur minded that, it''s just that he didn''t like this way of doing things. ... The second floor was another level compared to the first one, with less people and more treasures, there were some decorations and ancient paintings that added to the luxury and demeanor. The number of people here was less than half the people on the first floor. When they entered the second floor, a young female walked toward the duo while showing a bright smile. She had a voluptuous body and wore tight purple clothes that showed her two mountain picks and her curves. Although people at a high-Realm are mostly not interested in things like woman and sex. There is some who do, by properly dressing this young woman and making her serve the customers, it would make the atmosphere more lively and in some rare or extreme cases, the girls would ''serve'' the customers at a price. Although it''s a treasure pavilion if the girls are willing, and with a reasonable price, anything would work. "Welcome to the second floor of our Treasure Pavillon, customers, please inform me if you are looking for something specific so I can help you.." Despite her exceptional beauty and charm, Arthur didn''t stare too much, first because Lucy would quickly get jealous and ditch him for a day or two, and second because it was neither the place or time for that, finding Saly and saving her is what''s important at the moment. He waved his hand nonchalantly and replied to the young woman "No need, we are just looking around." The young woman''s smile twitched for a second before it returned to its brightness, Arthur''s reply was a bit unexpected so she was a bit taken aback, however, she regained her attitude in a split second and merely nodded. What she thought was completely different to what she showed, for a customer to not want any help and paying a whopping 100 Spirit Red Stones. After years of experience, the young woman knew that Arthur''s partner was a woman. Seeing that her charm didn''t affect him, it was obvious that he either was not interested in women or the person next to him was his partner. Lucy''s head was covered with the hood, however, her clothing didn''t completely hide her womanly features, especially after her breakthrough. Whether it''s her waist, hips or chest area, they all have grown significantly and you could easily guess that she''s a woman with a glance. It''s not like she didn''t have any womanly charm before, but the difference from before is apparent and exposed even more of her beauty. Soul Instrument (Spirit 2th Grade); Effect : Could be used to strengthen one''s soul and heal it if it''s injured Cost : 25 Medium Spirit Red Stones There was a box which had a green feather inside of it, Arthur cast appraise on it to see its effects and it greatly interested him. This was not for him obviously, but for Lucy. He had [The Sacred Soul Steal], and his soul could be considered strong now. Since he devoured "Abhuva''s Soul", the soul of the Ma clan''s personal dungeon, he was not able to devour any other souls. Inside his consciousness, the blob of light, which was his soul, became brighter and had its size increased by more than three times. There were still chains enveloping it and the mysterious Orb of the Fallen Overgods floating above his soul. "I''ll buy this." Lucy calmly said that as she gestured to the young woman from earlier, she was standing not far away and gazing at both of them. When she saw Lucy waving at her, she walked toward her with her usual bright smile. "How may I help you, dear customer?" Lucy said that as she pointed toward the box with the green feather inside of it. Kara glanced at the red box and the green feather and was a bit shocked, this Soul Instrument is not the most expensive item on this floor, but its price is by no means small. 25 Medium Spirit Red Stones is an astronomical price for her. She didn''t focus on cultivation, so she was only at the middle-stages of the Spirit Realm, she has been working here for a couple of years and the rich people she encountered were countless. No emotions were showed on eyes or facial features, with an earnest nod, Kara picked the red box and held it in her hand. Lucy did not appear she was done purchasing, so Kara obediently held the red box and followed the couple as they roamed the second floor. Fruit of corruption (Spirit 3th Grade) ; effect : Eating this would make the user gain 200% Strength increase and 100% Dexterity increase for 1 minute, after that the user would gain a debuff which decreases all his stats by 20% for 5 minutes. Cost : 10 Medium Spirit Red Stones. The fruit had the shape of a strawberry and was jet black with some grey gas emitting from it. After a bit of pondering, Arthur decided not to buy it. As for Lucy, she doesn''t like items like these, especially those which give a debuff. She can''t use appraise, but since she could see anything Arthur appraises, nothing escaped from her. Arthur appraised every single item to see its effect. Most of them were average with some having a special effect, but besides the Soul Instrument, nothing caught Lucy''s attention. Kara silently followed them, she started explaining the item effects for them non-stop, until she was out of breath yet they seemed like they were ignoring him completely. Albeit being ignored, she continued doing her job and thoroughly explained what was good and what was average. Finally, she got some attention from Arthur as he turned to look at her. She was prepared to answer his question no matter what it was but what she heard next made her mind go blank for a second "Emm, do we need to pay to go the third floor too?" Kara''s job was to try to sell these treasures and appeal to the customers, such dumb questions are not asked to her but to the two tall men standing in the staircases leading to the third floor. ''Kara, calm down, calm down, it''s your job to answer every question!'' "Yes, dear customer, to proceed to the next floor, you need to pay 100 Medium Spirit Red Stones to prove that yo..." Before she could finish, she was interrupted by Arthur, who withdrew a bunch of middle-sized red stones and stuffed them in her hands, which were already busy holding the red box. Some of the stones even fell on the floor, but Arthur ignored that and headed to the next floor. ''You... why was I dumb enough to try and help them!'' Kara was uncertain about what to do. She called the two tall men and instructed them to collect the red stones, then she hastily followed the duo whilst pouting and stomping on the floor. She disliked dealing with these kinds of customers the most, she could only keep the anger inside of her and customers and gods for them and they are obliged to obey them and serve them or else she would be fired or severely punished. "Dear customers, please wait!" Chapter 89 - 89 : The Mysterious Man The third floor of the Treasure Pavillon was even emptier than the second. In Arthur''s view, he could only see 8 people, and most of them are at the Immortal Realm with two being at the Divine Realm! The one at the Divine Realm was a scholarly middle-aged man, with azure clothes that were made from expensive silk and jade. The strange thing is that when Arthur appraised him, something weird happened. Azure Bai (Race : ????) : Divine Realm 9th Grade (Debuff) Not only was his race not show, there was the word ''Debuff'' displayed after his Realm, Arthur was puzzled about this, but he didn''t probe any further. He did not want to do a reckless thing and cause trouble, he came here along with Lucy to buy some stuff, not to create unnecessary troubles, especially with such individual. This azure-clothed man had an attendant next to him, she already held 2 red boxes and patiently waited for the man to finish his tour and pick whatever he liked. Despite being at the Divine Realm, he didn''t emanate any strong pressure, quite the opposite, in fact, he looked like a mortal scholar. He had a peaceful expression on his face as he was contemplating a treasure piece in front of him. The other seven people also had some kind of special attire and none of them looked like any normal cultivator. Some youth even had an old man beside him and that old man was a 3rd Grade Divine Realm. Although he was weaker than the scholar who was a 9th Grade Divine realm. Apart from the scholarly man who threw Arthur and Lucy some glances, the others completely ignored their presence, which suited them way better than attracting unwanted attention. The third floor didn''t contain as many treasures as the other previous floor, however, these treasures were covered with a glass and the price and effect were under them, it was much neater and properly prepared, unlike the chunk of treasures in the first floor. The prices here were sky-high and it was not even the last floor, this building had 5 floors and they were only at the third yet the treasures here were not bad. Arthur was not sure if all the floors sell treasures, but it was most likely the case and of course if he wants to proceed further, he needs more Spirit Red Stones, well, it''s not like he was out of them, as long as Lucy still didn''t find anything that suited her, they''ll look at all the present treasures. Apocalypse Gem ; effect : if it is enchanted with a proper Mystic ranked weapon then the weapon will be able to display Lightning and will deal double the damage. Cost : 175 Medium Spirit Red Stones Lucy was not interested in this, however, this finger sized purple gem was caught Arthur''s attention as he could use lightning freely. The good point is not the lightning effect but that it doubles the damage of the weapon! Since he didn''t breakthrough yet, Arthur needed much more damage. With his current ability, dealing with a 5th Grade Immortal may not be a problem, but compared to Lucy, he was far off. Before she broke through, Lucy was able to handle 1st or 2nd Grade Immortals, but now that she broke through, with her outrageous physical strength and her Purple Fire and the new Ice magic, her power increased by leaps and bounds. She most likely could handle even an 8th Grade Immortal. She still didn''t test her new strength on any opponent, but just by her stats, one could say she''s very strong. If we assume that a 1st Grade Immortal have an average stats of 10 million, and that''s only an assumption, then Lucy could be considered a 6th Grade Immortal. However, it was not the case, Mental Power is what counts, increasing it makes the person more powerful. It''s not that increasing the stats is useless, but increasing Mental Power is faster for the cultivators here, even for Lucy. Just by absorbing Nether Energy for no more than an hour, Lucy increased her Mental Power by 40. Hence it is obvious that people would lean toward absorbing Nether Energy to increase their Mental Power as gaining million of stats is way difficult. Due to Arthur''s race, he can''t absorb Nether Energy to increase his Mental Power, the only way to do so is by possessing countless people and even with that it only increases by a meager amount. There was also the possibility of him being unable to absorb Nether Energy even after breaking through to the Immortal Realm, if that was the case then he''s totally screwed as it would take ages to increase his Mental Power. "We''ll take this too" Arthur spoke to Kara, who was standing a couple of meters behind them. She was still holding the red box and waiting for his next purchases. Since she couldn''t hold everything in her hand, Kara stuffed the two red boxes in a normal storage ring and resumed following them. The gem was pretty useful to Arthur, he doesn''t know how to enchant, neither does he have an enchantment skill, but it was not difficult to find an enchanter in this city, after all, enchanting is a major thing in this world and higher-Realms. His only weapon, Makaze, is a black katana that grows with him, so he never needed to change it, if there is a way to increase its potential by a fair bit, then why not do so? Makaze was a Mystic ranked weapon, it was 2nd Grade. It''s to be expected and it grows with him and whenever his stats are increased, it''s sharpness and power also rises. It is an extremely sharp and deadly weapon, one can easily deduce that by the way it easily cut through the Immortal Lizard''s neck. As for the armor and so on, he didn''t rely much on them. For Arthur, wearing heavy armor would slow him down, what''s more, he found them pretty uncomfortable. He just wears Zodiak''s black robe in fights as it increased Mana Regeneration and it is comfortable to wear. He had a guess that once he breaks through, the robe would change too and it was most likely the case. Zodiak, a mighty figure like him would not use such trashy robe when he was at such a high Realm, there must be a secret behind the robe or else why would he still be wearing it when he died? Energy Recovering Pill(Spirit 3rd Grade) : effect ; Recover some of the user''s Nether Energy at a faster pace for a short period of time Stock : 300 Cost : 1 Medium Spirit Red Stones per pill ''So there were such things?'' Arthur assessed the pill as it was not bad at all. For some reason, Zodiak didn''t have a single pill in his storage, so he presumed that the pills are useless and there is no need to use them anylonger. Furthermore, alchemy is pretty much non-existent in Astria. He possessed a person that gave him basic Alchemy skills but he didn''t have the time or materials to try them. Some of the materials were present in Zodiak''s storage but some were not which made him give up on that idea. Thinking about Alchemy, Arthur also had that mysterious Soul Flame, which was a grey flame, it was not harmful and apparently, it could only be used to refine and make pills. "We''ll take all the stock of these pills too" Lucy was the one said that, in desperate fights, especially versus strong opponents, such pills are needed to recover some of their Nether Energy. Nether Energy was not like Stamina and it was certainly not endless, it also depleted faster than Mana so Lucy didn''t hesitate over buying these. "A-all of them?" Kara was taken aback as some people would take a stock of 10 or even 50 but not the whole stock! It was quite wasteful! Even if they needed such pills for fights, it was crazy to buy them all. One pill would be more than enough to allow them to recover in a fight, it''s not like they are going to war to buy them all. Albeit her surprise, Kara went to the reception desk at the third floor and talked with another attendant. The other attendant remained calm despite what was told to her, she was working on this floor for ages so seeing a couple who was willing to buy the whole stock is not surprising. Compared to her, Kara was still shocked, she didn''t come to the third floor very often, in fact, it was only her second time here as she was not allowed to come here, she was only able to come because she ''became'' the customer''s personal attendant. There was a rule in this Treasure Pavillon and it stated that once you become a customer''s personal attendant then you must serve him until he steps out of the building, no matter where he goes, the attendant must follow him and help him buy whatever he wishes, and in some cases, explain to him about the effects of certain mysterious treasures. ... The attendant left to prepare the pills for Lucy and Arthur, as for Kara, she returned to their side and continued doing her ''job''. One more reason Arthur wanted to come here is to purchase a Spirit Boat, the highest quality there is! Simply traveling without a Spirit Boat is way slower, so with their immense fortune, it would be a waste not to buy a good Spirit Boat. They once saw the speed of Malark''s Spirit Boat and it left a strong impression on them. "Oh come on! It''s just the fourth Volume, can''t you lower the price a bit more?" As they were browsing through the displayed treasures, Arthur and co heard someone speak with a rather loud and annoyed tone. It was actually the Peak Grade young man from earlier who had an old man next to him. He was talking to an attendant while pointing at a yellow book. The attendant remained calm despite being yelled at, the authority and power of the Treasure Pavillon far exceeded the power of the factions here, the branch in here is just one of many in this Underworld and the headquarters of this powerful force is not even in this world. "Young master Yun, you are a VIP customer at our Treasure Pavillon and have a 20% discount on anything you purchase, we cannot reduce the price any further, it is the rules." The attendant spoke respectfully, but you could sense a hint of contempt in her words. She didn''t show it as she maintained an expressionless face, but she actually looked down on people like him. He already had enough money to buy it even without the discount yet this bastard kept nagging about lowering the price. "Rules or whatnot, I already packed 12 things to buy! 12! So what if you lowered the price a bit more, it''s not like you''ll lose anything.." The young master named Yun kept insisting as he acted displeased and was about to burst. "Hmpf! If it''s like that, then I mist as well not buy anything, since the treatment is this bad in here..." As he said that, Yun looked at the attendant but his face turned ugly when he noticed that she was neither angry nor worried from his words, it''s not like no matter what he said, it would still be ineffective. "Young master Yun, it is up to you if you want to buy from our Treasure Pavillon or not, please lower your voice as you are disturbing other customers." The tone of the attendant changed as she reprimanded him and kept her calm attitude, she was not the slightest bit afraid as she knew that if he dared do anything, the higher-ups of the Treasure Pavillon would not stay still. When she mentioned the other customers, Yun looked around and stared at the 7 other customers with disdain and extreme arrogance, it''s like he was looking down on ants, his gaze rested on the scholarly man for a second before he snorted and retorted "It''s just a few bumpkins with little money to spare so they wanted to come here to try to show off, hmpf!" ... Not far away from young master Yun, Arthur was looking at this youth with a strange glint in his eyes. He didn''t like what Yun said neither did he have a good impression of him, but he still remained silent as it was not the time to be provoked by such a useless and arrogant person. He turned toward Kara and said with a low voice "That person, who is he?" Before Kara could reply to Arthur, a calm voice rang out near Arthur''s ears. "He''s the Young master of the Peng family from the Monster Race." It was the azure clothed man who said that, he walked near Lucy and Arthur and spoke with a friendly tone. His steps were elegant and there was some mysteriousness in them, with a warm smile displayed on his face, he walked next to the couple. Chapter 90 - 90 : Extreme Yin Body Azure Bai, walked next to the duo as he showed a friendly face. When they entered the third floor, he threw a couple of curious glances at them as their attire was a bit weird. All the other customers were wearing luxurious clothes, only Lucy and Arthur had their normal clothes that covered their appearances. "Senior, you are?" Arthur kept a respectful tone as he spoke to the Azure-clothed man. He knew this man was at the peak of the Divine Realm, so he didn''t want to offend him or cause a dispute with him. Bai didn''t seem to mind Arthur''s respectful attitude, he waved his hand nonchalantly and replied. "Ahh, forgive me, I didn''t introduce myself, I''m Bai Lingyue but they call me Azure Bai, pleased to meet you two..." As he said that, his gaze focused on Lucy for some time. Unlike the other gazes, he wasn''t having strange and obscene thoughts, but he seemed like he was probing her. "I''m Arthur and this is Lucy" Arthur introduced himself to the scholarly man and didn''t lie about their names as there was no need to. Bai Lingyue nodded to Arthur as he continued staring at Lucy. "I''ve traveled to numerous Realms and Worlds, yet it is very rare to find an ''Extreme Yin Body'' in a world such as this one...." Hearing this, Arthur frowned and Lucy unconsciously tilted her head a bit as she couldn''t understand what he was talking about, however, one thing was for sure, he was talking about her. Noticing their puzzled actions, Bai Lingyue was a bit shocked at first then he smirked and said "I thought it wasn intentional but perhaps it is an accident?" Azure Bai kept muttering to himself as if he was presuming somethings on his own about Lucy''s body. "Senior Bai, what is an ''Extreme Yin Body'' ?" This term is completely new to Arthur and Lucy, and since it was related to them, more specificallyLucy, he had to ask about it. "An Extreme Yin Body is a special kind of a body that allows the host of the body to have a peerless body that increases his talent and potential of growth. It is very rare, just like the Extreme Yang Body, and it is only obtained from special bloodlines or other unique methods such as cultivating in a dense Yin environment since birth. Seeing that your friend, Lucy, has an Extreme Yin Body, I presumed that she used one of the special methods but it appears I was wrong. But this makes things even more surprising because as far as I know, there is no family or sect here that focuses on Yin energy or techniques, much less producing people who have this body." Lucy was a bit taken aback when she heard that. She knew that this Extreme Yin Body was not cultivated by her but just earned from the bloodline, however, what made it even more complicated is that she doesn''t know her own origins. "Senior Bai, you said it can also be earned from bloodlines, how does that work?" Lucy was the one who questioned him this time, she was eager to know a bit of information about her origins, and this man in front of her may be able to provide some hints. Azure Bai''s eye flashed for a second as he continued smirking and replied to her with another thorough explanation. "To earn the Extreme Yin Body from a bloodline is even more difficult, as even if you were from a family or heritage that focuses on Yin cultivation techniques, you would have a very low chance of obtaining the body through the bloodline. Not only do you need to stimulate the bloodline to be able to awaken it, you have to first have an extremely pure bloodline and be at a sufficient Realm to bear through the pain of the transformation of your body, moreover, the Yin body obtained through the bloodline is much better than any other." Lucy furrowed her brows as she carefully listened to Bai Lingyue, it was a bit complicated but what astonished her is she didn''t feel any pain nor did she stimulate her bloodline, so how the hell does she have an Extreme Yin Body? ''Perhaps he is mistaking?'' This possibility crossed Lucy''s mind but was soon extinguished as it was impossible he was wrong. First, he was at the peak of the Divine Realm, so his strength and knowledge far exceeded hers and Arthur''s, second, her Extreme Yin Body can be proven by the fact that she can use Ice magic very easily when she broke through to the Immortal Realm. Arthur couldn''t feel it because he was soul linked with her, but Lucy''s body emitted some kind of chilliness and coldness. Lucy could use the Ice magic because she has an Extreme Yin Body, but if we''re talking about the Yin energy, it isn''t only Ice, actually, Ice could be considered the very basic stuff that her special body could do. "Senior Bai, please excuse us for this many questions" Azure Bai didn''t seem to mind answering their questions, in fact, he appeared to be pleased with the two of them for some reason. "No problem, if you have any more questions, do not hold back." Arthur understood Lucy the most and immediately understood why she asked that, so he followed her question with another one. "I thank Senior Bai for his kindness, then does Senior Bai know of any faction that focuses on Yin techniques?" "If we''re talking about Yin related cultivation techniques, there are countless factions, you must know that the Universe is very big so there must be some that even I do not know of, however, as far as I can remember, if we''re talking about strong factions then there is one. It''s called ''The Yin Lotus Sect'' it is part of the Milky Alliance, situated at the Local Milky Globe" ''Yin Lotus Sect? Milky Alliance? Local Milky Globe?'' All of these names were new to the duo, especially for Lucy, who never left Astria prior to this. Despite the presence of some clues from their questions, Bai Lingyue didn''t question them about their identity or origins, he just answered them truthfully without leaving any details. Azure Bai rested his chin on his hand as if he was pondering about something, then after spending a dozen of seconds in this pose, he resumed talking. "Leaving Miss Lucy aside, friend Arthur''s body is even more strange. I encountered countless people with various types of bodies, but yours could be considered the most perfect, every cell, every bones and muscle and strangely ''perfect''? It''s like they are alive and independent... what''s more is its aura, It is rather... how should I phrase it.... ''Unique''?" After he finished saying that, he continued staring at Arthur from head to toe, assessing him and trying to find out the secrets of his body, he was looking at him as if he(Arthur) was a new species. Well, technically, he is a new species but that will be left a secret and should never be told. Only Lucy is allowed to know his deepest secrets such as his unique race and skills, anybody else will only be kept in the dark. Lucy was not accustomed to thanking people, especially men as she was still disgusted by them. However, that doesn''t mean that she takes everything for granted, as much as there are bad and greedy men in the world, there is also kind men. That doesn''t necessarily mean that Azure Bai is a good person, but at the very least he answered her questions and gave her some hints and clues about her origins. She cupped her hands and bowed to the azure-clothed man, Arthur also did the same. It was a casual bow to express their gratitude. They would show hostility and ruthlessness to enemies, but to friends, the most basic thing to do is to help them when they are in need and thank them if they were helpful. "Many thanks, Senior Bai" Lucy thanked Bai Lingyue, now that she had a clue, when they are done saving Saly and when they have sufficient strength to roam other Realms without the fear of being killed by strong enemies, they can check the Yin Lotus Sect. Maybe one of her birth parents is there, she always wanted to meet her parents and know why was she thrown away on the Human continent in Astria. She was half-demon, so there was a possibility that one of her parents is in the Demon continent in Astria. She didn''t have the time to go check it, perhaps after things cool down, she and Arthur would go check it out. ... Young Master Yun was fuming with anger, he was rather famous as he was amongst the young geniuses of the Monster Race. He was always treated with respect, some people would suck up to him to leave a good impression yet this attendant not only reprimanded him but also treated him coldly, she completely disregarded his status as the young master of the Peng Family. Young Master Yun leaned close to the attendant and said with a low voice that only he could hear. "You know, if you lower the price a bit, I could provide you with some good cultivation techniques from my family. There is even some that make the user younger.." He was VIP customer and always purchases treasures from here, so Young Master Yun presumed that if he bribed her a bit, it would work easily. However, what the content said next made him dumbstruck. "Young Master Yun, if you try to bribe me a second time, I would be obliged to call for the Treasure Pavillon and throw you out" Her tone was not very loud, but it was loud enough for all the present people to here. She maintained the expressionless face and a look of disgust appeared on her eyes. "You..." Young Master Yun was about to erupt and most likely cause a ruckus here, but just as he was about to burst and cause trouble, the calm yet the friendly voice of Bai Lingyue resounded in the third floor. "Friend, it is unwise to try and cause trouble, you better follow the rules or the consequences would be dire not only for you but for your whole family." He was not worried for Yun but it is a pity that his whole family which has a good reputation in the Monster Race to suffer because of his reckless actions so he tried to stop that from happening. Offending the Treasure Pavillon would only result in a lot of endless trouble. The Treasure Pavillon is merely a small branch and the power of this faction is levels ahead of the Peng Family, it has a lot of powerful individuals, heck! Just the guard in this branch is probably a lot stronger than Young Master Yun. With his face red with anger, Yun shifted his gaze to Azure Bai and yelled furiously "Who the hell are you? I can do whatever I want!" Azure Bai didn''t seem to mind being yelled at, he just shrugged and retorted "I was just warning you, whatever you do is obviously up to you." Then without minding the young man anymore, he turned his head toward Arthur and casually said. "So, Friend Arthur, is there anything you are searching for in this Treasure Pavillon? I could be considered a bit acknowledgeable about the treasures in here, so I can lend you a hand, moreover, I could buy it for you then you''ll pay me, so you can have the 20% discount." This sudden kind treatment was a bit unusual, Arthur didn''t know if he should accept or not, maybe by accepting, this mysterious man would ask for something in return... Chapter 91 - 91 : Dragons "We are not looking for anything specific yet, but thank you for your offer anyway, if we happen to find something worth purchasing, we''ll graciously accept Senior Bai''s generous offer" Arthur didn''t how to properly answer, so this was all he managed to come up with at the moment. Senior Bai was mysteriously kind to them, not only did he thoroughly explained various things, he also proposed to help them in that way. Young Master Yun was still fuming with anger but after hearing Bai''s warning and seeing the calm attitude of the attendant in front of him, he forcefully held back and kept his rising anger inside of him. His handsome face turned extremely ugly and he was unsure of what to do, if he left now, it would seem like he was afraid of the Treasure Pavillon, however, if he stayed, it would be much more embarrassing. "Since it''s like this, then fine! No need to waste my money buying expensive treasures from here" After saying that, he harrumphed and left the third floor. The old man beside him remained silent from the very beginning, his only job was to protect the Young Master. Of course, if the Young Master was going to do something reckless, he would have stopped him as it is absolutely idiotic to provoke the Treasure Pavillon. With a sigh, the Divine Realm old man sighed and followed the young man out of the floor. As for the attendant, she acted as if nothing happened and returned to the reception desk on the third floor, she stood there silently and didn''t pay much heed to what just happened. Situations like these rare but they are not non-existent, it is always handled by her or old attendants and usually, the angry customers behave just like Young Master Yun and leave after being warned. Very few would dare attack her or cause any trouble in here, especially on high floors. In the Treasure Pavillon, the higher the floor the stronger the attendant. Kara was an attendant on the second floor and what just the Spirit Realm, as for this attendant, she was already in the Heavenly Realm. Perhaps the fourth floor would have a Deity Realm attendant. It sounded a bit hard to believe as although there were numerous Deity Realm people in the Underworld, who would spend their time working as an attendant. Seeing that there are no more treasures that are worth buying, Arthur decided to head to the next floor with Lucy. Followed by the smiling Bai Lingyue, Arthur and Lucy headed to the fourth floor. When they were in front of the stairs, two tall men were standing like pillars there without moving. Arthur appraised them and was surprised to see that they were both 1st Grade Immortals. "Dear Customer, you need to pay 1 Top class Spirit Red Stone to proceed to the 4th floor" The attendant who was speaking with Young Master Yun previously came up to the couple and said that. She noticed them from the very beginning and when she ascertained that they were heading to the next floor, she told them the price to head upwards. With a wave of his hand, a big red stone floated toward the expressionless attendant. Without reacting much, the attendant grabbed the Top Class Spirit Red Stone and stored it in her storage ring, then she shifted her gaze to Kara, who was still dazed from seeing the red stone. Just from her gaze, it was obvious that she was telling Kara to leave and the rest of her. The attendants working in the Treasure Pavillon were paid quite well, but there was also another method to gain money and that''s by pushing the customers they serve to buy more treasures. Arthur and Lucy already prepared two items to buy, both their prices were astronomical, so Kara would get a very small percentage of the full price. Seeing that the other attendant was telling her to go away, Kara was very displeased, however, she didn''t dare to show it, she merely nodded and planned to follow the orders. She was an attendant of the second floor, as for this one, she worked at the 3rd floor but she appeared to have a higher position in this Treasure Pavillon, so she was considered like her boss, why would Kara dare oppose her or disobey her? Just as she was about to remove the storage ring and pass it to the other attendant, she heard the customers she serves suddenly talk. "She''s our attendant, let her follow us to the next floor" Even the other attendant, who was named Nongying was momentarily surprised by this, she didn''t expect Arthur to say that. Her face returned to its expressionless state after a second, she slightly bowed to Arthur and Lucy while saying "Dear Customers, this attendant is only an attendant of the second floor, her knowledge about the treasures at the fourth floor is very limited so she would be of no help, let me serve you for the rest of your tour in our Treasure Pavillon" "No need, we don''t need her knowledge, just let her do her job and prepare the items we''ll buy" After Arthur said that, he and Lucy headed to the next floor. As for Kara, she didn''t know what to do, follow them or just back off. "As you wish, dear customers" Nongying didn''t insist anymore, she glanced at Kara and urged her with her eyes to hurry up and follow them! ... Arthur didn''t know when did Bai Lingyue pay the fee but he followed them to the fourth floor. He didn''t even see the man pay so it was very strange as to why he was let in without paying. Perhaps because he is a VIP customer? If so then he and Lucy need to get the VIP thingy too or they would have to pay each time they came here. The fourth floor was totally empty, except the attendant at the desk in the center, there were no customers here. The treasure displayed here appeared even more amazing than the third floor. The treasures here were a bit special. In the first three floors, treasures would be pills, cultivation techniques, and most weapons. But here, there were fewer weapons and a lot of cultivation techniques coupled with weird looking treasures. Golden-Body Strengthening technique (Volume 4) Cost : 10 Top Class Spirit Red Stones. The price was astronomical for all treasures, such as this one for example. 10 Top Class Spirit Red Stones are equivalent to 10 million Spirit Red Stones, it is by no means a meager number! Seeing that Arthur was checking this cultivation technique, Bai Lingyue shook his head and said "Friend Arthur, I advice you not to buy this body strengthening technique. It is indeed a very good one for the people in the Underworld, but it could only be considered so-so compared to other legendary techniques. The price is a bit too high and it''s only the 4th volume. This technique has 7 volume in total and if you do not have the all the volumes, you will not be able to display its full potential." Arthur read the sign of this cultivation technique and when he saw there was no description, he used his appraisal skill. Golden-body strengthening technique (Volume 4) (Mystic ranked : 1st Grade) : Effect ; By practicing this skill, you can use Nether Energy to turn your body golden and increase your defense and offense by leaps and bounds, it is said that when mastered, you can use one golden palm to flatten skies and crush mountains. ''Only so-so?'' Arthur believed Bai Lingyue at first, but when he read the description of the technique, he was hesitating on whether what Azure Bai said is really true or not. Maybe the system managing the description is exaggerating things? After all, problems occurring in the system are not a rare thing for him. "If you want, I can sell you a body-strengthening technique better than this and at a lower price, what do you say?" Kara, who was flabbergasted by the price of the technique, was astonished when she heard Bai Lingyue said that. Not only did he belittle their treasures, he even dared to sell his own stuff in their Treasure Pavillon, it''s like slapping them in the face. Nongying, who followed the trio just to explain the things Kara wasn''t able to, frowned as she didn''t like the attitude of Bai Lingyue, however, she didn''t warn him or even open her mouth. He was not someone she could reprimand or threaten. Her boss repeatedly told her to treat Azure Bai with the most respect and act as if he was her own boss! "Hahaha, thank you, Senior Bai, for your offer, but I was just looking at the technique, I''m not planning to buy any cultivation technique for the time being." Hearing this, Bai Lingyue didn''t appear displeased, he merely nodded at Arthur and kept following them. It was kind of strange as for why he was following them all around, but Arthur didn''t mind nor did he say anything, as for Lucy? She couldn''t care less about him, he helped her but it doesn''t mean she had to pay him special attention. All the treasures displayed here were at the least 3rd grade Spirit Ranked, and some were Mystic Rank like the body strengthening technique. Geo Dragon''s Marrow (Mystic ranked 2nd Grade) ; effect: By consuming this dragon marrow, one would have 0.5% of obtaining the Geo Dragonic Bloodline. Additional effect : Clears the Zhongfu, Yunmen, and Tianfu Acupoints cost: 100 Top Class Spirit Red Stones. "Geo Dragon? It is not the marrow of a real Geo Dragon or else the price would be thousands of times higher... *sigh* what a pity" Bai Lingyue appeared disheartened as he said that. It was truly a pity as dragons are known as majestic and legendary creatures. What Arthur fought way back was indeed an Earth and Lightning dragons, but they were weak because they were not true dragons. A true dragon, who has the bloodlines heritage of one of the three legendary dragon race would be born in the God Realm automatically. They would have intelligence superior to humans and other races and their power is enormous. The Geo dragon race is one of the three legendary dragon races, the other two are known as the Black dragon race and the Empyrian dragon race. The three ancestors of those three dragon Races were three dragons gods, their power was monstrous as they could shatter space and wipe planets with only their physical body! The marrow of the Geo dragon displayed here must be the marrow of a Geo Dragon who had a very limited bloodline coming from the Geo dragon race or else the effects of the marrow would not be this trivial. But this in itself is impressive, the Geo dragon''s marrow here is also very rare, not only that, the original dragon must have been at least a 5th Grade Divine Realm dragon. "We''ll take it" Arthur said that as he looked at Kara and pointed at the crystalline dragon marrow displayed in front of them. It was 2 foot long and was green in color. Even the expressionless Nongying was pleased when she heard that, for her Treasure Pavillon to sell such an expensive treasure is a good thing, especially for Kara, who would get a percentage of the full price. Seeing Arthur choose the marrow, Azure Bai smirked and didn''t comment, whatever the couple bought is none of his business, he was just here to advise them and help them a bit. In a place where there was nothing but void all over, stars and planets would be seen far away and space is shattering here and there, from afar it looked like some glass was falling from this dark void but this small glass was the size of a planet! A lone figure stood there as he gnashed his teeth, his facial features were blurry. "Damn you Arthur, I clearly put a Spiritual Imprint on your soul! How did it get erased! It''s impossible unless it''s someone in the same Realm as me or a very powerful charm! No matter the case, I''ll find you! I will not let my millions of years of planning to go to waste!" ''X'' cursed as he was in a bad mood, it has been more than a year since Arthur disappeared and he was still searching along with his subordinates. But there was no trace of Arthur! "Even if I wanted to! I can''t recreate that orb! I was lucky enough to make it due to the war back then... but now, how am I supposed to create it again!" Space began to distort and more shattering occurred as ''X''''s mood began worse. "I know you, Arthur, that anger and rage that I helped you seal will resurface and when that happens, you''ll seek revenge and there is only one place you''ll head to... sooner or later, we''ll meet Arthur..... I''m sure we will." After he said that, he turned into black smoke as he disappeared from that empty black void. Chapter 92 - 92 : The Calamity After buying the Geo Dragon''s marrow, the couple continued searching for a good weapon for Lucy. Lucy preferences were not specific, she just wanted a good weapon that matched her Extreme Yin Body and her magic. Speaking fo specific weapon, she leaned more towards sabers more than swords or daggers. So it would be great if they found a good saber. Since it was the fourth floor, the treasures present were much less than the other floors, however, the quality is another level compared to the first three floors. Each item displayed has a unique effect that attracted Arthur. There were many strengthening pills and protective charms. Protective Charm (Spirit Rank 3rd Grade) ; effect: When infused with Nether Energy, can provide a temporary barrier that protects the user from incoming attacks. Cost : 5 Top Class Spirit Red Stones. They found 5 of these protective Charms so they decided to buy them all. In such a dangerous world, having more means to protect from strong enemies can only be something good. If they relied too much on Charms, it would affect them negatively and they would get used to only using exterior means. But Arthur and Lucy were not buying them to use them whenever a desperate situation occurred, these charms are one of the last trump cards that will be used only in a fatal situation. At the corner of the fourth floor, there was an area designed for weapons. Lucy walked there as she browsed through the weapon, she was eager to buy a good saber but it didn''t seem there were any good weapons, much less a saber. As she was looking at the Mystic Ranked weapons, Lucy''s steps halted as her eyes were fixed on a certain weapon. Arthur was near her and without needing to hear her say it, he appraised the weapon. Featherfall (Weapon : Saber) (Mystic Rank 2nd Grade) : +120,000 Strength / +85,000 Agility / +25,0000 Dexterity Unique Skill: Can produce special feathers made from wind Attribute, these feathers could be used to defend and attack and are very sharp. Cost : 95 Top Class Spirit Red Stones. ''Wind Attribute?'' This saber was not bad, the stats and Rank were perfect for Lucy''s Realm, however, Lucy specialized in Magma, Fire and more importantly, the new Unique Yin Attribute. As for the saber, it would be well matched with a Wind Attribute user, of course, Lucy could still wield it and even its Unique Skill but she was not satisfied with the saber. "Still no good...." Lucy mumbled as gave up on the idea of purchasing the saber. Arthur had some amazing sabers in his storage, some even added astronomical numbers of stats, yet Lucy didn''t like them too and the sole reason was that she didn''t they suited her! "I see that Miss Lucy is interested in sabers?" The one who talked was not Bai Lingyue but Nongying the attendant who has followed a small distance behind the trio and Kara. She heard Bai Lingyue call Lucy''s name earlier so she remembered it. Since they are buying a lot of expensive items, it would be a bit rude to still calm them ''Dear Customer'' so she changed the way she addressed Lucy. She had keen eyes and noticed that Lucy paid a special attention to the saber, so she concluded that this silver-haired woman was searching for good sabers. Despite covering her head with a hood, Lucy''s long silver hair was still shown, her hair was naturally long so it couldn''t be fully hidden, but that was no problem for Lucy. As long as she hid her face, it would be fine. There may be some old perverted fogies or some young masters who would be attracted by her appearances so the best choice is to hide her face. Lucy nodded to Nongying, which made the latter confirm her gaze, so she resumed talking "Since that''s the case, please wait for a second, we have a few hidden sabers that are good in Quality, I''m sure Miss Lucy would not be disappointed" With another bow, Nongying disappeared for the fourth floor, she headed toward the mysterious fifth floor. In fact, the fifth floor is not like the other floors, no one can access it, even Bai Lingyue is prohibited for going there, the Treasure Pavillon kept its most amazing treasures there and would take them out for special customers. The reason Nongying decided to bring those hidden sabers was because she confirmed that Arthur and Lucy are no ordinary and they most likely have an immense fortune, so to sell expensive treasures would benefit both parties. ... Azure Bai stood silently a bit behind Arthur and Lucy. A friendly smile was still hanging on his serene and calm face. He would sometimes glance at the treasures displayed in front of him but it appeared none interested him, it''s like he was looking at trash. For someone who lived as long as him, seeing ordinary treasures like these is not impressive, maybe a Heavenly Ranked Treasure would be a bit worth of his attention but these treasures? They are but disposable items for him. "Oh? A scale from the Black Tortoise Shell? Hmm" Azure Bai seemed a bit surprised as he strode toward a normal looking scale. It was two feet long and didn''t exude any kind of Energy. Arthur''s curiosity was also picked when he saw Bai Lingyue react like that so he unconsciously appraised the scale. Degenerated Scale of the Black Tortoise; Effect: Contain some leftover Energy of the legendary Black Tortoise WARNING : Absorbing the leftover Energy would lead to a fatal backlash to the user''s soul and cause his life deteriorate ''Black Tortoise?'' Arthur heard that name in the past. It was something about a calamity that happened in Astria ten thousand years ago. The Black Tortoise, Vermillion Bird, White Tiger and the Azure Dragon were mentioned. "Senior Bai, what is the Black Tortoise" Arthur could not help but ask as he was really curious about this topic. Only some myths and scary stories were told about the calamity that occurred in the past, but all of the stories were vague and most of them are most likely fake. "You don''t know about the Black Tortoise?" Azure Bai furrowed his brows for a second as he seemed to be pondering about something. "Friend Arthur, may I know how old are you and Miss Lucy?" Arthur was expecting an answer and not a question from the azure-clothed man. He didn''t know much about the age of people here, but there was one thing for certain, he is considered a Junior, whether it''s him or Lucy. He didn''t dare lie as in Zodiak''s books, he read that there are some techniques that powerful individuals use to ascertain the bone age of weaker people, so in front of someone like Bai Lingyue, it would be futile to lie about their age. But there was also the chance that Azure Bai couldn''t use that technique, or he could but he wanted to see how Arthur would answer. "Answering to Senior Bai, I''m 37 Years old and Lucy is 44" Lucy was a bit older than Arthur, but the difference was just 7 years, moreover, age doesn''t matter in a world like this. Silence ruled over the fourth floor as Azure Bai''s eyes widened, for the first time, he showed a surprised expression and couldn''t utter a word for a dozen of swords. "37 and 44 you say..... that''s amazing..." Kara who was standing not far away, was left speechless as she really couldn''t believe what she heard. Arthur wasn''t sure on what this was about, he just stated his and Lucy''s age, there was nothing to fret about, or maybe he done goofed and said something unnecessary. "Amazing?" Lucy was the one was uttered that, she didn''t find anything particularly special or amazing about her age or Arthur''s, so she was left confused. "I-It''s really amazing... amazing would be an understatement... I cannot sense Sir Arthur and Miss Lucy''s Realm so you must be at least in the Heavenly Realm... to be at that Realm at the age of 37 is incredible... compared to you, I''m already 76 and I''m only at the Spirit Realm..." Kara was the one who spoke as she couldn''t hide her astonishment. "Just as Miss attendant said, it''s unbelievable, If I didn''t see it with my own eyes, I would not have believed it... The peak of the Deity Realm at 37 and First Grade Immortal at 44... that''s something only the peak geniuses do in the sect at the higher-Realms..." "What! Immortal?!" Kara suddenly cried but she quickly covered her mouth with both of her hands, you could see a look of surprise and disbelief in her eyes. "... is that so..." Arthur didn''t know how to react, he should''ve lied but it was too late to regret it now, so he could only act normal and play it cool as if he already knew he was a genius. Well, he is not a genius but it''s just that his race allowed him to steal the power of whoever he possessed so it is to be expected to reach this Realm this fast. If he said that it only took him about two or three years to climb from Level 1 to the Peak of Deity Realm, both of Azure Bai and Kara would spit blood! It didn''t take long for Azure Bai to regain his calmness, whatever Arthur and Lucy did or their origins, he didn''t ask, he was very curious but he managed to hold himself back. " *Sigh*... returning to the Black Tortoise topic, since you''re young, you may not know but ten thousand years ago.... Chapter 93 - 93 : Exchange "... Ten thousand years ago, the four mythical beasts which are The Black Tortoise of the North, The Vermillion Bird of the South, The White Tiger of the West and last but not least the Azure Dragon of the East, these legendary beasts that are known to have died a long time ago had suddenly appeared. Not only that, but almost every world had been attacked by them at the same time. It may seem impossible but they somehow had an avatar technique that allowed them to multiply but their strength decreases a lot, albeit the decrease in strength, these four caused tremors and destruction in all the worlds. There were some worlds with strong experts that managed to barely withstand the attack but most of the worlds had been demolished. No one knows why they did so as these beasts are known to be peaceful and tend to defend the Humans from invasion by some alien races.Even the principal Clans of the four beasts received some punishment and attacks by sect alliances, they declined a lot but they managed to defend their territories and heritage. From that year, the four legendary beasts are known as evil creatures and regarded negatively by almost everyone." As he spoke of the calamity, Azure Bai seemed to remember sad memories, there was no anger in his tone but only some regret and sadness. "Why did they attack all the worlds?" Arthur was shocked as he heard this story, he was a bit confused on why they suddenly attacked everyone. "No one knows, they focused on destroying ancient heritages and killed everyone that tried to stop them, it was hell to fight them as their power was unimaginable, especially when they combine their powers. The only world that was almost unscathed is the main world they attacked, which is also known as the ''Divine Planet''. This main world had too many experts so thanks to combining their strength, they pushed the four beasts out of the planet and they even severely injured the Vermillion Bird." "What happened then, where the four beasts go? Did they get sealed or?" Hearing this, Bai Lingyue chuckled and replied with a smile "Sealed? It''s practically impossible to seal them, especially if they''re together. As for their whereabouts, no one knows, just like they suddenly appeared, they disappeared suddenly, no one could trace their location, even the legendary figures in the Divine Planet." Arthur could not help but sigh, it seems that this calamity was a big deal, it happened at Astria too but the damage was not that bad, after all, not everyone talked about it which means the impact was not that catastrophic. Moreover, there was the clan that had a tiny portion of the White Tiger''s bloodline and they were not hated, in fact, they were respected. ... Nongying finally came down from the fifth floor, unlike what they expected, she didn''t hold any saber, so Arthur guessed that they the sabers are either sold or she didn''t want to take them out as the manager refused to do so. "Sorry for the wait, here''s all the good quality saber we have here" As she said that, she waved her hand and four sabers appeared from her storage, they were put on a small pillar stone not even 1 meter in height. Lucy was excited as she saw the sabers, there was some description of them but she didn''t pay it any much heed as the appraisal is way better. Banished Gold Saber(Mystic Ranked 3rd Grade) : +480,000 Strength / +185,000 Dexterity Effect: Metal Attribute attacks deal 45% more damage Unique Skill : Can produce a temporary golden orb that lasts for 1 hour, it can explode and deal 135% of the user''s Strength. Cost : 500 Top Class Red Spirit Stones Bloodied Mageblade (Mystic Ranked 3rd Grade) : +200,000 Intelligence / +275,000 Strength / +120,000 Wisdom. Effect : Absorbs the victim''s blood and increase the weapon''s power by 0.5% for each blood absorption. (100 absorption MAX) Unique Skill : Use all the blood absorbed to recover 10% of the missing Health of the user. Cost : 850 Top Class Spirit Red Stones. Burning Fate (Heavenly Ranked 1st Grade) : +1m Strength / +1m Intelligence / +7.5% Nether Energy Recovery Effect : Any fire attribute related skills or attacks have a 15% chance to deal double the damage / +5% incantation speed when using Fire related skills. Unique Skill : Lock into an opponent and slash at him, a Fire beam will follow the target and strikes him(Cannot be avoided) Cost : 10,000 Top Class Spirit Red Stones. Twilight''s Vow (Heavenly Ranked 1st Grade) : +1m Strength / +1m Agility / +125,000 Wisdom Effect : Water and Ice attributes deal 20% more damage Unique Skill : Creates a saber array that slow the opponent''s movement speed by 15% (1,000 Nether Energy per second) Cost : 10,000 Top Class Spirit Red Stones. ''10,000!?'' Lucy was alarmed when she saw the prices, the last two sabers were not bad, but their prices are outrageous, it''s like they put the price high purposely. Although they could afford it, It would cost a lot, they didn''t have unlimited Spirit Red Stones like the Gold so she wasn''t sure in what to do. "We''ll take the last two" Arthur calmly said, he knew the last two sabers suited her, so the moment he appraised them, he decided to buy them, moreover. Nongying, who was hoping that they buy at least one of the first two sabers, was dumbstruck, she couldn''t react as her eyes widened. "Sir Arthur, could you please repeat what you said?" She thought she was definitely hearing things, after all, 20,000 Top Class Spirit Red Stones are not something anyone could have. Even the calm Azure Bai was a bit startled when he heard that. "Friend Arthur, although these two sabers are good, it is a bit reckless to spend that much Spirit Stones on them, if you are lucky, you could find them at a lower price in an auction." Lucy also was unwilling to spend that much money just for a two sabers, she looked at Arthur and was about to stop him when she suddenly felt his hand patting her head, he was reassuring her and telling her it was alright, it was his usual behavior, for his wife, he would spoil her. "Thanks for the advice Senior Bai, however, we''re still going to buy the two of them" Azure Bai kept silence when he saw that his advice didn''t help at all, it was not his money that will be wasted, but he still didn''t want his newly made friends to spend so much Spirit Red Stones for just two sabers. Once Nongying heard that the couple really intended to purchase the two of them, she gasped and didn''t know how to react, go prepare the weapons, or inform the manager. As she was stuck in a dilemma, she heard an old yet excited voice. "I presume you are Miss Lucy and Sir Arthur? Nongying told me about you two earlier." The old man who came had a long white beard, albeit his age, he had a muscular body and you could see he was full of Vitality. He wore some strange golden tight clothes and had a thick and long sword on his back. He assessed Arthur and Lucy, after probing them while stroking his beard, he resumed his talking. "Emm, I see, your Realms are not high, but to be bold enough to buy these two expensive sabers, I''m intrigued about your identities, but since I can''t dive into personal information, I can only speculate..." Albert (Race : Human) : Divine Realm 5th Grade. This person was no doubt the manager of this ''Treasure Pavillon'', Arthur guessed it immediately, after all, who else would come out from the 5th floor and have a high Realm except the manager. "Hahaha, Senior must be joking, we just earned a bit of money so we decided to spend them on good items." Arthur kept a humble attitude as he faced the old man, he knew that he was probed by Albert but it was a natural thing, after him and Lucy''s identities were mysterious and they were not known in the Underworld, so how did they manage to get this much Spirit Red Stones. Only the huge Clans or Sects in the Underworld are able to spend this much money on items and not just two strangers who came out of nowhere. "A bit of money huh? But aren''t you afraid that people will target you both because of your wealth? It''s a natural thing in this kind of world after all." Arthur kept a calm attitude as he shrugged his shoulder and responded to Albert. "They are very welcome to try." Although he said that, he was a bit worried about this matter. If it''s not a Divine Realm person who is after them, then there is a high chance of escaping. "Alright, alright, since that''s the case then good, so, you sure about buying the two sabers?" Albert too was a bit startled when he saw that they decided to buy them both, but years of experience taught him to be cool and calm in a situation like such. "Yes, along with the other items, we would like to buy these swords... however, I heard that it is possible to purchase with Spirit Red Stones and also trade with an item with an equal value." Arthur heard this accidentally, moreover, he had some good items he that is almost priceless in his storage, so why waste the limited Red Stones. It is way better to give a good item which has a value of 20,000 Top Class Spirit Stones versus the two sabers. As he heard Arthur say that, the old man frowned as he was not pleased. To be honest, he had the right to be a bit displeased, he was expecting to receive Spirit Red Stones and not an item, the reason he''s not much happy because most people who claim that they want to exchange an item for another usually take out trash treasures. There has not been a time when he was pleased with an exchange, selling is way better and he even thought of removing this rule, but unfortunately, he didn''t have the authority to remove it, he was just a manager of this branch and didn''t have a high status in the Treasure Pavillon in general. "I wonder what Sir Arthur will propose against those two sabers?" Albeit feeling a bit displeased, Albert didn''t show it on his face, he smiled and talked friend to Arthur and co. Arthur waved his hand and a book appeared from his storage, it looked a bit dusty and didn''t look like anything special. Albert was even more displeased when he saw that, his first thought was that Arthur was treating him like a fool. The appraisal skill is obviously not available for Albert and co, so the only way to know what the book is about is by recognizing or just checking it. Astral Body (Heavenly Ranked 2nd Grade) (Body Strengthening Technique) ; Volume 5 Arthur had Heavenly Ranked cultivation books, he even reserved some for him when he breakthrough to the Immortal Realm, after all using a technique to strengthen your body and increase your prowess is a common thing people at the higher-Realm do. This body-strengthening technique is one of many that Arthur has, from the all the items he had, he picked the one who would not shock the people a lot. In fact, in Arthur''s storage, there are even items that are Godly Ranked! However, neither him or Lucy could use them, they lack too much power. From these Godly Ranked items, there were a couple of cultivation techniques that Arthur stored for himself. Lucy picked a Heavenly cultivation technique related to Fire Attribute, but since she discovered that she had an Extreme Yin Body, she already decided to change to a Yin related cultivation. "This is..?" Albert didn''t seem to recognize the book, so Arthur handed the book to him to check it whilst saying "Senior, this is a Heavenly Ranked body-strengthening technique called Astral Body" Bai Lingyue, who was gazing at the book, was momentarily stunned when he heard that. "Astral body? I know it, it''s a rare technique that makes the body able to control and crush stars when mastered. Friend Arthur, If I remember correctly, this technique has 6 volumes, which volume is this one?" "It''s the 5th volume" It was Albert''s turn to be shocked now, he had heard of this technique but never had seen it, moreover, it was the 5th volume! Even if it was a Mystic Ranked technique and this was the volume before the last, it would be priceless. The old man unconsciously gulped some saliva as he checked the contents of the book. He didn''t read the whole book but he just ascertained it was real. "To have the 5th volume of Astral Body, Friend Arthur, I find you more and more interesting." Bai Lingyue laughed as he praised Arthur, it hasn''t been long since he met Arthur but he never ceased from being surprised. Albert suddenly took out a transparent orb the size of fist, then he immediately injected some Nether Energy while approaching the dusty book toward it. Astral Body (Heavenly Ranked 2nd Grade) "What! 2nd Grade?" The old man couldn''t believe what he said, he even checked the grade again to make sure he was not hallucinating. The Heavenly Ranked items are different from the lower Ranked items, each grade upgrade is a big difference from the previous one. One could even say that the price of a second Grade Heavenly Ranked Item is worth 4 or 5 times the price of a first Grade Heavenly Ranked Item, if not more. "Senior, are you satisfied with the item I proposed?" "Yes, it''s acceptable." Hearing this, Azure Bai chuckled and retorted "Acceptable? Even the value of those 4 sabers together does not reach the 5th volume of Astral Body." Albert, who was holding the book as if it was already his turned a bit angry hearing this, but he didn''t dare snap at Bai Lingyue as what he said couldn''t be truer. "*cough*... *cough*, Sir Arthur, what you proposed is indeed an extraordinary treasure, how about this, all the items you are going to buy will be exchanged against this book." Arthur expected the book to be enough for the two sabers, but he never did imagine that it will be much more expensive than the 4 sabers together! "Since Senior said that, then we''ll not hold back, hahaha." After listening to Arthur, Albert realized he said something a bit unnecessary, but it was too late to take that back, he could only helplessly smile at Arthur and stroke the dusty book. As for Lucy and Arthur, they continued roaming the fourth floor and taking what they found interesting, after all, all of it will be exchanged for the book. Chapter 94 - 94 : Two Words After the exchange, Arthur found some protective charms that were not bad so he took all of them, without exception. Each time Albert saw Arthur pick a treasure, he felt like his heart was bleeding, he would hold his breath whenever Arthur gets too close to very expensive treasure. But what was most terrifying is Lucy, she literally held nothing back and picked anything as if it was her own shop, be it a cool looking armor, a cultivation technique or whatever it was, she would take it. She doesn''t need them of course, but she had a hobby of collecting everything, just like when killing their enemies, she would be the first to check their storage ring. She always wanted to see what the items inside Arthur''s storage were but it is impossible since she can''t use Black Mana. Even when injecting Nether Energy, it won''t open no matter what. From the treasures she bought, there were some that may be helpful in fights and other occasions like these ones. Mask of Truth (Mystic Ranked 1st Grade): effect; If used, the host can change his/her facial appearances however they like. WARNING: Can be seen through by people who have: Heavenly eyes(skill), Godly/Demon eyes(bloodline/heritage) or individuals at the Godly Realm or above can also see through the Item. Cost : 10 Top Class Spirit Red Stones. Eradication Bell (Heavenly Ranked 1st Grade); effect : Each time the user rings the bell, it creates a strong outburst of energy. Each time the user rings the bell, the next ring would cost 100% more Nether Energy. Cost : 750 Top Class Spirit Red Stones. These were only a few of the good things they found. Albert was even about to burst out and forcefully take the items back. Although he got the rare body-strengthening technique from Arthur for all of these items, it is absolutely not worth it, however, if he does really take them treasures back, he would have gone back on his word, not only would he lose a lot of face, rumors about him deceiving his customers would be spread in the city in less than a day. "S-Sir Arthur... isn''t that enough? M..M-Miss Lucy took almost all the treasures on this floor.." Albert''s face whitened and he appeared to have aged quite a bit when he saw the emptiness of the floor. Lucy was ruthless as she didn''t spare anything, the more she took the more he felt pain and anxiousness. "Oh... we''re almost done Senior Bai, we just need... a good quality Spirit Boat." Having gotten more than they wished for, Arthur wanted to get Spirit Boat and be done with this, he knew that taking any more would anger Albert even more and perhaps he would try to seek revenge one way or another. Hearing that they are almost done, Albert''s face bloomed, with a wave of his hand, a fist-sized Spirit Boat appeared, it was red in color and didn''t have anything special about it. "If that''s the case, I''ll give you this Spirit Boat, it''s called Blood Curl and it is one of the best out in our Treasure Pavillon, here! Take a look at it." The mini-Spirit Boat floated near Arthur as Albert gave it to him to check its quality. All it took was a simply appraise to see the Spirit Boat. Bloood Curl (Mystic Ranked 3rd Grade) : An ancient Spirit Boat that has a fast speed. Consumes 100 Nether Energy Per second or 1 Medium Spirit Red Stones per day. Normally, people would never waste their Nether Energy on their Spirit Boat, they would use the Spirit Red Stones to power it since it''s better and less consuming for them, after all, you never know when a fight might break out in here so it is better to always have your Nether Energy full at any time. "Indeed, as Senior Bai said, this Spirit Boat is really good quality, moreover, it''s a Mystic Ranked." Arthur stored the Spirit Boat in his ring and patted his clothes while looking around the fourth floor. More than half of the treasures that were here have disappeared forever, they are now stored in Lucy''s storage ring along with the items they were going to buy in first floors. ... Finally, after taking whatever they liked and getting what they wanted, Lucy and Arthur left the ''Treasure Pavillon'' accompanied by Azure Bai who, for whatever reason followed them. "Hahaha, it''s the first time I see people taking advantage of the ''Treasure Pavillon'' like this, Friend Arthur and Miss Lucy are indeed very special and interesting. Bai Lingyue was laughing as he said that, he walked with both of them and seemed he was going to follow them to the inn. "It''s nothing special, we just did a fair exchange, isn''t that right, Lucy?" Arthur humbly replied to Azure Bai as he added Lucy in his little scheme, it was obvious he was taking advantage of Albert but he didn''t want to directly say it. Azure Bai kept laughing for some time as he elegantly walked along the duo, his eyes were fixed on both of them and sometimes he would furrow his brows or chuckle. Lucy wore the Mask of Truth, her hair turned black and her facial appearances transformed into an average looking woman. It was not like the breath-taking beauty like earlier. In public, she would wear it but if she''s alone with Arthur, then she would not wear it of course as it is not needed. "Friend Arthur, I have long since considered you and Miss Lucy friends of me, Bai Lingyue. I do have a lot of friends but not all of them have my respect, I would be lying to say I''m not curious about you two, especially after what happened earlier, so, I would like you to come to the Grand Banquet that will be held in 2 months. You can use this token to enter it." As he said that, Bai handed a simple white token to Arthur before even listening to his answer, by the time caught the token that Azure Bai threw toward him, the scholarly man had long since disappeared. Even Lucy who had been focusing on him didn''t know what just happened, but that''s to be expected as he was at the peak of the Divine Realm, so his strength must be unfathomable. "It doesn''t seem we''ll be able to go to that banquet huh?" Arthur was going to reject Bai Lingyue''s offer as they were only here to search for Saly and not have some fun. "Maybe if we find Saly and get rid of that woman, we can go there if we have some free time." Surprisingly, Lucy was the one who said that, she didn''t have a negative impression on Bai Lingyue, apart from the usual disgust she feels from all men, there is no loathe or dislike toward him, moreover, he helped them a lot so it would fun to a banquet with Saly. Contrary to Lucy, Arthur was not very optimistic about this matter, he wanted to find Saly before everything else, it had been some time since she was abducted, was she tortured? Killed? Or even worse, no one knows what that woman would do to Saly, just thinking about this made him feel more anxious and worried for her. ... The couple went back to their room in the inn to prepare and to try and find some information about Saly. The problem is that finding her just by asking is too hard in a world as big as the Underworld. The only clue they had is that the woman who attacked the Ma Clan is definitely a human, or more precisely, she looked exactly like a human. If she had been an undead or another race, Anastassia would have noticed, so the only place they could search into is a mysterious faction in the center of the Underworld and the Monster Archipelago. Arthur handed all the cultivation techniques he had in his storage to Lucy so she could pick whatever suited her, with her two new sabers her Extreme yin Body, with an appropriate technique, her prowess will increase by leaps and bounds. After much pondering on what to pick, she decided to go with ''Nine Star Yin Technique''. It is only a 3rd Grade Spirit Ranked technique, there was even a Yin related technique at the Heavenly Rank yet Lucy chose this one as she felt it suited her much more than all the others. Moreover, she also planned to practice ''Liberating Heavenly Fire'', it''s a Mystic Ranked technique which is so-so, but just like the first technique she chose, she felt it suited her a lot. Normally, it is impossible to practice with two cultivation techniques, much less two cultivation techniques which are the total opposite of each other yet Lucy wanted to try it. She is considered a genius in cultivating, whether it''s her bloodline or due to the soul-link with Arthur, whatever it was, it made her absorb Nether Energy faster and better, advance in her skills at an unimaginable speed and add to that her Extreme Yin Body, it made her progress unstoppable. Lucy could use both Fire attribute and Ice attribute without receiving a backlash, but what she aimed is to use them spontaneously and even try to fuse them, the result is unknown but that made it even more exciting for her. ... Several days passed without them leaving the inn room, Lucy kept practicing in her two techniques while learning Saber Mastery from Arthur. They did not even fight each other, she just imitated what he showed her whilst channeling her Nine Star Yin Technique. She would use Twilight''s vow with Nine Star Yin Technique and Burning Fate with Liberating Heavenly Fire Technique. Once she manages to merge the two techniques, she would try wielding dual sabers, but it is very early to do that. She just started practicing the two techniques. Her Extreme Yin Body helped her a lot when practicing the Nine Star Yin Technique, her surroundings will freeze bit by a bit and she would emit a bone-cold chilliness then when she switches to the Liberating Heavenly Fire Technique, the surroundings would slowly become hot and purple fire would burn at the edges of her clothes. There was no contradiction between the two techniques, even the sky-blue orb in her Dantian had some purple-red strands in it. As for Arthur, there was not much progress in his Realm, he can''t absorb Nether Energy, no matter how match he wracked his brains, he couldn''t breakthrough. Seeing Lucy leaving him far behind, he started feeling a bit depressed, at this pace, he won''t be able to help much in fights against people at the Divine Realm and he couldn''t afford to be that weak that he can''t even help or protect his wife, Lucy. Since he couldn''t forcefully absorb the Nether Energy, Arthur decided to calm down and focus on Zodiak and his powers, if he could unlock another portion of his powers, then he could possibly breakthrough. He sat cross-legged next to the mediating Lucy and began remembering the Ancient Magic, Dark Magic, Zodiak''s weird attacks and seals and so on. He sat there for hours, Lucy didn''t disturb him and kept mediating, even after five days, which was the time they agreed upon to go to the city and find some information about Saly, Arthur didn''t wake up from that ethereal state. Lucy took notice of this and didn''t wake him up, this may be his chance to breakthrough, waiting a bit more would not hurt since they can''t find immediate information about Saly. .... Another five days passed and by that time, a black and weird looking talisman had been conjured above Arthur, it started condensing above his head and it was about 25% done. Although it was only 1/4 of the talisman, Lucy recognized this talisman as it resembled the ones Zodiak used at against the Holy Church Goddess. The talisman was pure black with some black gold runes and symbols on it, what''s more, is that very small black flames are burning on all of it, which made it look ominous. Lucy didn''t know what was going on, but she guessed that perhaps when the talisman is completely conjured, he would break through, but just as she was speculating on what might and might not happen, Arthur suddenly opened his eyes. From the looks of it, it didn''t seem that he broke through. Having been in a mysterious state for more than 10 days, one would naturally feel a bit of dizziness or numbness, however, Arthur felt relaxed and his mind was as calm and clear as the water. "... Astrith... he just died... I felt it." Lucy was expecting him to speak about what happened these few days, when she heard him say that, her eyes widened for a second and a nervous look appeared on her usually expressionless face. "Are you sure? Perhaps the connection between you two has been disrupted." Arthur nodded as he unconsciously clenched his fists. "No. I''m definitely sure he just died, moreover, I received a message from him too... fortunately we came to the Underworld or else I wouldn''t have received it...." Lucy kept silent as she could no longer remain calm, Astrith disappeared with Saly, they first presumed he died, but Arthur couldn''t summon him so that meant he was still alive somewhere, but now, he had died. What if he died protecting Saly and she doesn''t have much time left? Moreover, they don''t know where he died, so that made things even more complicated. "He only said two words... ''Grand Banquet''..." Chapter 95 - 95 : Reclusive Training. "Grand Banquet? Isn''t that the party Azure Bai invited us to?" This specific name was remembered by Lucy, but unlike Arthur, she would not call him Senior when he is not here, she just didn''t respect him to that point, well neither did Arthur but he just got used to calling him that. But why did Astrith only say those two words, does it mean that Saly would be there? That would be too contradictory as she is only a small girl with no status in the Underworld, the only conclusion they could come up with is that the abductor of Saly would be there. They had a detailed description of that woman from Anastassia, so they should not miss her if she comes to the Grand Banquet. The banquet would be held after a few months, but would Saly be safe in these 2 months? What if the woman gave up on dealing with them and had already killed Saly? "Do we wait for the banquet or continue searching?" Arthur didn''t want to make all the decisions, he should discuss it with Lucy first as Saly is considered their daughter. "Since it''s Astrith who said that, we better trust his words, it''s futile to waste time on searching for her, we better prepare for the upcoming event." Lucy really wanted to find Saly immediately, but it was impossible, the only thing they could rely on is what Astrith said, if they found the woman, the finding Saly would not be too hard. Since it was decided, both of them entered closed door training, Arthur reserved the inn room for the next 5 months to not be disturbed when they are practicing. Lucy had already broken through the Immortal Realm, but in 2 months, she could still improve further and stabilize her foundation. There is much to do in a few months, if it were old fogies that had lived for thousands of years, a few months or a couple of years are nothing, they could even pass centuries in reclusive training. There was also a thing that surprised Arthur; it''s that woman''s weapon, Anastassia said that she only used a book and only at the last moment did she use it. The main point is the book, its description was rather vague but from the look of it, it looked very similar to the Book of the Damned. In the past, he thought learned it all, but after breaking the seal of the overgod of Knowledge, he came to know that there is another part to the book and her book is most likely that part. Considering that the first part gave him [Faster Than Death] , [Death Touch] and [Death Binding] . Lucy and Arthur didn''t waste time roaming on the city, the stayed at their room and began training non-stop. Lucy practiced in both her techniques and honed her saber skills, her progress was unbelievable and her Strength rose very fast, by the 12th day, she already broke through to the Immortal 2nd Grade. Her Mental power had to reach 2,000 but with her talent and fast progress, it was done rather quickly. As for Arthur, he managed to enter the ethereal state again, the black talisman started conjuring again with a slow pace. The black flames kept burning and the black gold symbols shined even brighter when the talisman was almost finished. After one month of this meticulous and non-stop training, the black talisman was 90% done. Arthur had his eyes closed and looked extremely serene. It''s like he was sleeping and not breaking through. Deep in his consciousness, Arthur was actually having a dream, a strange dream. It happened once before but this time it was much clearer as he could distinguish himself in the dream. He was looking at his body from above, the him in the dream was a bit older and had a beard. He wore a simple and long white robe and didn''t emit any strong pressure or chilliness. He was holding a small baby, who didn''t even open his eyes yet, he was touching the baby''s nose and heartily laughing as he was teasing the baby in his hands. It was a peaceful scene, anyone would think it''s a father teasing his child. As for the surroundings, all of it was plains of grass except a small hut, it was very small and had some plants stuck in it. As Arthur was contemplating the scene and wondering what was this about, he sensed a presence behind him so he turned his head only to be dumbstruck as Zodiak''s skeleton was floating behind him. It looked at him with its lifeless eyes and seemed to be thinking about something as it remained silent. "Kid.. you sure have some strange past." "Past?..." Arthur didn''t understand what Zodiak was implying, these scenes never happened in his past, he didn''t even know what this place was, much less who the baby is. "Senior Zodiak, I don''t think this is my past." Arthur didn''t try to hide it as his relationship with Zodiak is not that bad, this man, who had unbelievable strength helped him more than one time, whether it''s by saving his life or giving him a hand in some matters, such as the portal to the Underworld. Zodiak''s skeleton kept floating as it didn''t show any emotions or gestures, after a couple of seconds, the cold and emotionless voice of Zodiak rang again in Arthur''s ears. "Not your past? You must be mistaken kid, this cannot be a dream as it is too realistic, so the only plausible possibility is that it''s your past, I heard of some people practicing Fate laws but I''m sure you are not one of them so this cannot be a dream of the future." After pausing for a split second, Zodiak continued talking. "Anyways, I didn''t come here to learn about your past, this is only a late message I left for you when you are about to breakthrough. Since you got my corpse, then you surely have my storage ring, inside it, there is a cultivation book for you, it''s named ''Dark Anguish Technique'', all the volumes are there, moreover, practice the ''Dark Star Body-Strengthening Technique'' it''s only 1 volume but it compliments the first one. Oh! And stop using that lowly soul absorption technique, your souls is filled with impurities, that way to increase your soul power is totally wrong, either reach a high-realm or find a Godly treasure for that! And one last thing, don''t break through in a public place, find a seclusive place to breakthrough or troubles will come, especially if you''re in the high-Realm." Just as he finished talking, Arthur found himself sitting cross-legged in the inn room with Lucy practicing her saber skills. He didn''t even thank Zodiak for his help, he was suddenly ejected from that strange dream and found himself awoken here. "Lucy, we have to change to another place" ..... In a mountain range named The Decayed Tips, approximately in the central mountains which were sky-high. Lucy and Arthur built a cave very deep underground. It was rather easy with Arthur Advanced mastery in Earth Attribute, his physical strength and so on. They got here using their new Spirit Boat which had an insane speed, it was much faster than Malark''s. They followed Zodiak''s advice and moved to a very reclusive place, this mountain range doesn''t have any strong monsters, in fact, it doesn''t have any monsters and it was just a border between the Silent Graveyard and the Void Abyss. It was the perfect place for Arthur to Breakthrough. Lucy is rapidly advancing in her saber skills and new Yin power. She managed to create that meteorite attack in just 10 seconds, not only that her attacks with Yin power are very strong and freezing. If Arthur doesn''t use the Ancient Flames, he can''t defend, moreover, the red flames could barely withstand theYin power as he is weaker than Lucy. Normally the dark red flames can burn anything, but this time, they couldn''t burn Lucy''s attacks which contained Yin power and that''s because it had been enhanced by her special meridians and what''s more is that she is using Nether Energy and he''s using the meager Mana present in this space. Arthur and Lucy sparred a few times as sometimes, the talisman would stop conjuring unless he consumes all his Mana. It is rather hard to consume it all, so he would create big and slow attacks that only cause destruction and are easily dodged, Lucy in return would try to defend with her saber skills and Yin power. While wearing a sky-blue robe with long sleeves and with Twilight''s Vow in her hand, she seemed like a fairy. Each saber strike would create an ice beam that headed straight at the enemy, it is beautiful but deadly. .... 40 days passed since they received the message from Astrith and as this specific day, the black talisman was finally conjured fully, its size was of a normal talisman but it emanated an ominous aura that made others look away from it rather than staring at it. Arthur was focusing on the black talisman and slowly, this dark flaming Talisman started melting and going inside his head all the way to his Dantian area. He felt his body burning hot and all his clothes he was wearing were burned by the mysterious black flames. He was literally a ball of black flames and all his surroundings were engulfed in the flames. Lucy stepped back and did not dare approach it, despite the soul-link, she still felt danger from the black flames. As Arthur was feeling his meridians opening and the Nether Energy entering his body, a sudden black beam of light rushed from his body all the way to the sky. It was very noticeable and it started thickening by the second, even Lucy was engulfed in it but fortunately, it wasn''t harmful. ARK Race Bloodline awakening! .... initiating process... As the black beam was thickening, Arthur''s hair which was pure black and a bit long suddenly transformed to grey, but that was not the end, his veins and muscles started convulsing and you could see their greyness even from his skin. The pain was agonizing, he totally forgot about the black beam due to the pain from the convulsion. He was closing his eyes but if he opened them, Lucy would be surprised as they too turned to grey. All his body was pulsating and transforming. The black beam of light started decreasing in size and transformed into a huge whirlpool in the sky, this whirlpool was absorbing Nether Energy and Mana like crazy, even the decaying mountains started falling apart as their natural Nether Energy was forcefully absorbed by the Nether Energy. All this Nether Energy and the meager Mana absorbed went to Arthur''s Dantian through his meridians, just like Lucy, a jet black orb was condensed from the Energy, it continued increasing in size for some time until it reached its maximum and at that time, the whirlpool disappeared and what replaced it was just the sounds of the nearby mountains falling as they were out of energy. The greyness in Arthur''s body disappeared but his hair was still grey, it even grow a bit longer. As he was steadily breathing, Arthur felt the Nether Energy being absorbed by his Meridians and he could see the black orb in his Dantian. It had black flames all over it and a purple light was pulsating in it as if it was a heart. He checked his body condition but there was nothing wrong, in fact, he was feeling great, he wanted to fight and unleash all the stocked up energy in his body, it''s like he was a sponge filled with water. It was fortunate that they changed location or else this would have been a serious problem, the black whirlpool was noticeable from hundreds of miles but the distance from the Undead city is not just hundreds of miles but millions of miles! So unless someone was passing from this area, no one should have seen it. The cave they built in the underground was no long gone and what replaced it was just a very deep pit. "Congratulations!" The silver-haired Lucy softly smiled to Arthur, she went next to him and gave him a cloth to wear as he was naked, if it was like usual, they would have enjoyed their time as it was a joyous occasion, but now was not the time, saving Saly took priority. "Hehe, thank you, it seems we''re going to spar more often now." Arthur was hugely overwhelmed by her strength before breaking through, but after he grasps his techniques and stabilizes his foundation, sparring equally with her would not be a problem. The first thing Arthur did was obviously check his status window, after all, it was the most precise thing that indicated his strength. He may have stats higher than Lucy or a Divine Realm individual but that didn''t mean he is stronger because stats aren''t everything, they are just numerical values, one had to rely on his wit, techniques to overcome his enemies. TITLE : MEAT GRINDER / SEEKER OF KNOWLEDGE / ONE WITH THE SWORD / ARK??? Level: ???? Class: Dark ARK Parasite - Realm : Immortal 1st Grade - Strength: 72.3m Intelligence: 63.4m Agility: 65m Wisdom: 45m Vitality: 59.9m Dexterity: 52.8m - Health: 50mHealth Regen: 29999/s Nether Energy: 48mNether Energy Regen: 29999/s Mana: 35mMana Regen 19999/s Stamina infiniteStamina Regen ???? - Creation : 25 Attack: 95m Defense: 65m Magic defense : 15.5m Enigma abilities : Telekinesis / Ancient Threads / Sixth sense / ARK?? Mental Power : 1027 Elemental Resistances: Fire: 100% Water: 75% Wind: 35% Earth: 75% Light/holy: 5% Shadow 30% Lightning 100% Ice 30% ---- The increase in all the stats was very obvious as all of them increased by more than 10m but that was not it, he still had a lot of corpses in his storage so without hesitation, Arthur started possessing them like crazy. Lucy didn''t disturb him and continued practicing, as for him, after possessing all of them, he fed Makaze as many swords as it could devour, it didn''t devour all of the swords in storage as there were just too many but Arthur purposely fed it the better ones so after having devoured 40 Mystic Ranked swords and 3 Heavenly Ranked Sword, it stats didn''t increase anymore. Makaze, evil wind (Heavenly Ranked 2nd Grade) Origins : Dark Supreme World. LVL requirements : Immortal 1st Grade or above Stats required : 1000+ Mental Power to equip you to need to have at least [advance sword mastery] stats : Depends on the owner :calculation... :+2.5m Agility / +4m strength / +2m dexterity Unique skill(passive) : [Devourer] : this katana can devour any kind of sword and by doing that its stats would significantly increase, you need to know that it needs to feed to strong swords to increase its stats significantly, otherwise the increase would be very low. Chapter 96 - 96 : Friendly Spar The changes that occurred to Arthur were not just inside his body and appearance. Even the items Zodiak was wearing were mysteriously upgraded. Including the Dark Flame Ring and Zodiak''s robe. dark flame ring : all your attacks will always contain black flames which increase the damage by 50% Cursed robe of Zodiak : Casting dark magic is 75% faster / Nether Energy Regeneration is 10% faster // Nullify any curse/illusion/barrier magic cast on the user. Unique skill(active)[Dark cloud]: you Can create a special cloud that allows the user to transform it however he likes. 250 Nether Energy/second requirement : must be a controller of Dark Magic. This upgrade was great for Arthur, not only his damage is greatly increased, the Dark Cloud can now be transformed however he likes, but the question is; Can he make a weapon out of it? So far, it has been only a mean of transport but it appears it isn''t just meant for transport and he had been using it all wrong since the beginning? Arthur wore the long black robe of Zodiak, since breaking through, he could feel himself bursting with power, his Meridians are constantly absorbing Nether Energy even without him focusing on doing so. In the past, he had thought that due to his Unique Race, he would not be able to absorb Nether Energy, but it didn''t appear to be the case, fortunately. The familiar dark cloud was condensed out of thin air when Arthur wished for it. It was as strange looking as ever, it resembled a dark nebula and had a small purple luster in it, it is very hard to distinguish it if you don''t focus enough. With a mere thought, the dark cloud transformed into a sword, moreover, there was no longer the dark nebula around the sword, just as Arthur imagined, it transformed into a golden sword which was brightly shining. Arthur kept changing its shapes several times until an idea struck him, so he tried doing it. The dark nebula transformed into a humanoid figure, it started clearing every second until this humanoid figure was exactly like Arthur, moreover, it didn''t seem to be weak either. He didn''t know how strong it was compared to him but it was not weak to the point of losing to a Spirit Realm person, that''s for sure. Knowing this is already more than enough, if this can be used a bait it would be great! Next thing Arthur did was take out the two cultivation techniques Zodiak told him to practice and started checking them. ''Dark Anguish Technique'' was a normal cultivation technique that made the circulation of his Nether Energy special and had a bonus power in it, just like any other technique. This technique used the Dark magic attribute as its core and if one doesn''t have it, he would have a very hard time practicing it. As for the second technique, it was only a body-strengthening technique with only one volume, but once Arthur read it, he understood why Zodiak adviced him to practice it too. Apparently, ''Dark Star Body-Strengthening Technique'' is enhancing one''s body permanently by creating a layer of black magic around the whole body whilst limiting the use of Nether Energy, also, if mastered, the overall physical strength of the user would rise dramatically if he uses Dark Magic. Basically, it feeds on Dark Magic to make the body stronger and vice versa, with the use of Dark Magic, it creates a protective layer from incoming attacks. Arthur started practicing these two techniques without wasting any time, only a dozen of days are left and he had to at least stabilize his foundation. ... The Grand Banquet is in two days. Arthur and Lucy were sparring against each currently, the surroundings decayed mountains were long demolished by the spars and could not hold on for even a day. Craters and pits of all shapes are scattered everywhere, with some places totally frozen and others burned. Arthur was flying at high speed while holding the flaming black sword in his hand, he didn''t use the movement technique he got from the Ma Clan and instead practiced a new one. It is a simple one called ''Slow Steps'', it was a basic movement technique that anyone can practice but it is usually ignored as it was not that great. It was mastered easily by Arthur and even with his great speed, he looked very slow yet moved at an extremely fast speed. He didn''t need a movement technique that was great for the moment, with his lightning form and this simple technique, it should be enough. As he was rushing at Lucy, she too was tip-toeing on the air, each step created an illusory Ice lotus under her feet, her speed equal to Arthur and it was very beautiful and pleasing to the eyes. Contrary to Arthur, she left some after images after her as she was just too fast, with her ice-blue saber in hand, she swung it elegantly at the incoming Arthur. The two blades clashed, despite Arthur''s special black flames and the sword conjured from Dark Magic, it couldn''t break Lucy''s ice saber, the two attributes opposed each other and clashed in the air, causing small tremors and energy waves. Arthur suddenly teleported behind Lucy and slashed down with his sword, the Dark burst was activated and an overwhelming black beam came out of his flaming sword, what''s more, is that this strike contained some small green Lightning streaks in it. He didn''t just slash at Lucy, a loud clap of lightning rang out, it was deafening as it came down from the sky, it was very thick and white in color, its target was obviously Lucy. The target in question was very calm, despite seeing the two incoming attacks, she didn''t panic. An ice lotus appeared just above her, completely blocking the white streak of lightning and shattering it, but that was not the end, another Ice lotus the same size as the previous one was flying right at Arthur''s incoming sword beam. The two clashed for a split second before the black beam was shattered and the Ice lotus continued its way toward Arthur with an amazing momentum, its speed was unbelievable and it emitted a strong coldness that could freeze anyone nearby. A black barrier was created in front of Arthur, while conjuring a dark red flaming sword, he slashed with both the swords in his hands at the incoming Ice lotus. A cross-shaped beam which had the ancient flames and the dark magic of Arthur was launched at the incoming Ice lotus. The clash between them created a blinding light that lasted for a second, although the fight was in mid-air, that clash alone caused another mountain to fall apart. Arthur and Lucy retreated repeatedly while gazing at the clash''s location to see what attack managed to survive, but it was like usual, the Ice lotus was still floating unscathed and the cross-shaped beam disappeared. "Tsk! I got no choice then.." As he said that, his two swords disappeared and what replaced them were orange swords with black flames burning on their edges. They were made from Eclipse Magic. Seeing the two orange swords, Lucy frowned and circulated her Nether Energy to recover and defend. 2 Ice lotuses were floating around her systematically, it was the core technique of the Nine Star Yin Technique, it focused on using Ice Lotus to defend and attack. It is said that if the user creates 9 Ice lotuses then their power would be godly! She already managed to conjure two, which is considered pretty good for a beginner like her, normal people would take years to do so yet she did it in a few months. Arthur rushed at Lucy and at the same time, two figures identical to him rushed at her from the her left and right side. Each held two orange swords and came at fast speed. But you could notice that one was slower than the original Arthur and the second had an average speed, probably half of Arthur''s max speed. Lucy was already prepared for this, so she focused on the original Arthur and disregarded the other two clones as they are long since dead after what she prepared. The first clone was made from the Shadow Magic and the second was the transformed Dark Cloud which was named Dark Clone by Arthur. A 3m flaming meteorite with a speed even faster than the Dark Clone came crushing at it, totally annihilating it and making it regain its normal nebula form but you could sense its weakening and turning hazy. As for the Shadow Clone, it couldn''t react in time before a mysterious and almost illusory wave of sky-blue Energy rushed at it, freezing it at the spot and then shattering into beautiful little fragments that looked a bit shiny in the air. The main clash has yet to happen, the two Ice lotuses appeared in front of Lucy, with an Ice saber in her hand, she tip-toed on the air as she charged at Arthur. The two orange swords slashed at the two Ice lotuses, dark flames erupted and space distorted for a split second due to the powerful clash of two strong attacks. The Ice lotuses were slowly spinning as they struck the two orange swords, but you could see that there were some cracks appearing on them, if this continued on, they''ll shatter in no time. "Mooo, using Void Magic is no fair... it easily devours my Yin Lotuses...." Lucy complained, as every time, her lotuses would get countered by the Eclipse magic which had Void Magic. Void magic was like a devourer and it apparently is like an opposite attribute of the Yin magic, it would devour it whenever it''s too close and that''s why the lotuses are shattering, they were being devoured by the Void magic in the orange swords. As she said that, Lucy concentrated on the Ice Lotuses and they both started spinning faster than usual, the cracks stopped appearing and the orange swords were pushed back by them. Snowflakes were falling from the Ice lotuses and slowly enveloping the small area around Arthur, before he could retreat, a sphere of snowflakes had enveloped him, he started feeling a chilling coldness, even his bones were freezing and not even the protective layer managed to withstand it. "You lost, hehehe." As she said that, the snowflakes disappeared, so did the Ice lotuses, everything returned to normal, only Lucy was showing a victorious smile as she walked near Arthur and gave him a deep hug. "I can''t counter that attack yet... hahaha. but the score is 15-15, it''s a tie." Arthur didn''t care much about winning, he only sparred with Lucy to train and hone their skills with combat experience. He won many times just like her, there were no bets whatsoever, he just started calling a score when Lucy teased him and won in the first spar so wasn''t willing to give up. "Sure, but what''s so point of the score? It''s not like the winner gets anything special." Lucy was confused about this, she would always ask him this but he would not answer her, however, surprisingly, today, he finally replied. "The loser has to do whatever the winner says..." Lucy didn''t seem surprised by what he said, in fact, she chuckled when she heard that. "But you''ll do anything I say just like I''ll do anything you say even without winning, that''s not a prize now, is it? hehehe~~" Arthur couldn''t help but scratch the back of his head as he couldn''t think of some good prize. In the end, he just shrugged it off and changed the subject to avoid being teased any further. "Anyways, the banquet is in two days, we should head out right now..." "Ehhh.. but you still didn''t tell me about the prize.. I want to know." Arthur didn''t reply as he summoned the Spirit Boat and entered it in advance as he wanted to avoid that question... "Come on dear, why are you not telling me..." Chapter 97 - 97 : Grand Banque With their new Spirit Boat, it didn''t take them long to arrive at where the Grand Banquet will be held. Not only is the Spirit Boat was extremely fast, it was very comfortable too. In the Underworld and all the higher-realms, Spirit Boats are very commonly used, be it by wealthy people or rogue travelers. The Grand Banquet will be held in the mysterious factions in the center of the Underworld. This faction was actually an Alliance of three Human clans. Arthur didn''t know what their names or any information about this faction, but at the very least, there is a strong chance that the woman who abducted Saly is from that clan, and her position must be very high as her strength is much greater than Anastassia, it could be said that she toyed with Astrith and her, apparently, she didn''t fight too seriously even when Anastassia used her forbidden techniques, which meant she''s at the very least a peak Grade Immortal Realm. The Grand Banquet will not only have the important figures of the Silent Graveyard, Abyss Valley or the Void Abyss and the Monster Archipelago, ancient clans, and sects would also come over. Arthur didn''t know the real reason behind the Grand Banquet, but he never thought It is just for entertainment, after all, leaders of various forces would gather there, and it surely wouldn''t be just to have fun, right? The Lich King Aborak and the leader of the Monster Race would be present too, as for the Behemoth, which is the leader of the Void Abyss, it is unknown if it would come or not. Nobody has ever seen it for thousands of years, so it highly unlikely that it would show up, but that doesn''t mean that its surbordinates will not come. It is widely known that the Behemoth is the strongest of the three leaders of the factions, it is leagues stronger than them but it is very quiet and doesn''t show up very often. Its territory is the largest and it has many strong subordinates, some are even at the God Realm. There was a rumor saying that Aborak, the Lich King, has just broken through to the God Realm but Arthur Lucy doubted that rumor, if the Lich King is just at the God Realm first Grade, then he doesn''t have the right to be a leader of a strong faction like the Undead, his true Strength must be hidden. Moreover, a lich is deadly for its summons and not its true strength, the creatures and things it summons can be way stronger than it is, even an Immortal Realm lich can put up a fight against a Divine Realm person if it can summon some unique and powerful species. The Summoner class and the summoning of the lich are two different things. Alich summons dead creatures with no soul, so there is never a problem in controlling them as they would over it mindlessly, as for the creatures summoned by an expert Summoner, if they are much stronger than the Summoner, they could break from their shackles and defy their master. Arthur could also summon undead with him Necromancy skill, but they are way weaker than what the lich could summon for that the summoning needs a lot of Mental Power, as for a lich, it uses special skills and techniques coupled with Death Laws. ... Despite the Mysterious faction in the center of the Underworld having the smallest territory out of all of them, it was surprisingly flourishing, with many bustling cities and various places to cultivate or have some fun. The cities appeared more grandiose than the Undead City Arthur and Lucy visited back then, it was surprising as despite the cities being smaller, probably the size of a normal city in Astria, they had something unique about them. Maybe because it was made by humans and not a different race? Each race has its advantages and disadvantages, perhaps humans are a bit better in constructing cities or it''s just that Arthur prefers these ones over the others. His taste may have been affected by his previous life. When the two of them departed from the Decayed Mountain Range, Lucy broke through the Immortal Realm 3rd Grade and Arthur became a 2nd Grade Immortal. It may be surprising to others but if you practice technique that suited your body and have very high stats like them, your Realm will increase very fast to match the stats. The Grand Banquet will be exactly held in one of the three main cities of the Human Alliance of the three ancient clans. The city is called ''The Royal Stronghold''. The Royal Stronghold was an extremely big city, probably the only city that rivaled the Undead city, even the two other cities that belonged to the two other ancient clans weren''t this big. The reason is that the Royal Cobra Clan is the strongest out of the three, although it is said to be an alliance between the three, this clan is the one that almost always makes the decisions. The two other clans are called ''The Doom Bringer Clan'' and ''The Lightning Fox Clan''. Despite The Royal Cobra Clan holding the power over the other two, it doesn''t mean they are weak, in fact, they are only slightly weaker than the Royal Cobra Clan and if they join hands, they can easily demolish it, it''s just that they would never do that. The alliance was made to join their powers and stand equally with the other strong factions in the Underworld. Considering they are unwelcomed powers that came from other Realms, they weren''t very welcomed when they first came here two thousand years ago. The Royal Stronghold has a towering 50m wall surrounding it, it is not only a huge city but also an impenetrable fortress. It also had a very strong barrier that defends it from any sudden invades. Arthur and Lucy disembarked from their Spirit Boat as they approached the city, it was prohibited to fly inside the city even if you have a high status, only people like Aborak were allowed to fly. The building structures inside the city strongly resembled the ones in Astria with them being grander and better looking. There were one main road and several other alleys and roads branching from it. As the Banquet was going to be held tomorrow night, the city was bustling with all kinds of races, young masters were visiting expensive restaurants or buying some treasures from the various stalls put in the main road. Arthur and Lucy did not come here to sightsee, they headed to an inn and booked a normal room for a few days. After paying the Spirit Red Stones to the receptionist, the two of them went to their room and readied themselves. Unlike everyone that was going to come to the Grand Banquet, they were not going there to have fun but to find that woman and hopefully save Saly. If that woman is indeed there, they would not sit idle even if strong figures would be present. No matter what happens, they won''t let go of that woman unless they retrieve Saly safe and sound, and if something had really happened to little Saly, no one could predict what would happen. "Hey, Arthur, do you think Saly is safe?" As Lucy was sitting in Arthur''s lap as usual, she leaned on his chest as her hair was being stroked by Arthur. She displayed a calm attitude and practiced hard for tomorrow but it''s a few months are not enough for them to be able to overwhelm someone at the peak of the Divine Realm or the God Realm. She was afraid that the woman is at very high Realm, at that time, nothing could be done. "Don''t worry, I''m sure that despite being abducted by that woman and imprisoned in some dark place, she would not be crying but training hard to get stronger, she''s no longer that frail girl after all." Arthur comforted Lucy as he remembered the cheerful Saly, after being cured of her blindness and injuries, she became very cheerful and ecstatic, every day she would train either alone or with Astrith, despite being very young, she didn''t complain and only wanted to get stronger to fight with them, it was a childish but doable dream that motivated her every day. He didn''t want to accept the thought of her being hurt or even dead as he didn''t know who he would react to that... .... At the center of the Royal Stronghold was a natural river that stretched all the long of the city and cut it into two halves. It wasn''t a big river but it was very special. It had natural Spirit Water very rich with Nether Energy and beneficial to every person who practiced near it on in it. The Cobra Clan specialized in Water attribute techniques with some techniques related to Wind Attribute, so this river could be considered a blessing to them. At the center of the city, just near the river was a small tower and wide garden decorated with special magic lanterns that made the place look breathtaking, especially at night. The garden which was decorated with the lanterns and beautiful plants was where the Grand Banquet was held. There were tables everywhere, they weren''t crude tables but special ones made from rare wood materials. Not only that, very expensive and rare food that helps one''s constitution was served on the tables, coupled with ancient and delicious wine, the feast was grandiose and deserving of this occasion. Many important figures were enjoying the food or the wine whilst sitting and chatting with each other. The garden was separated in two parts, one for Juniors and the other for older generation people, like clan masters and so on. Just near the river, there was a small stage where seven empty chairs, these were where the most strong and important guests of the banquet would sit. People like Aborak and co were the ones allowed to sit there and held the highest position in the Grand Banquet. Although the factions were considered sort of enemies, that didn''t mean they had to treat each other with hate in such events, they were neither archenemies or at a war. The night has just begun and the important figures had yet to arrive, not even all guests had come. At a time like this, Arthur and Lucy finally entered this place. Lucy changed her appearance to a normal-looking black-haired woman and wore a beautiful green robe, she didn''t look very beautiful, in fact, her appearance was only average, but despite that, she emanated a serene and fairy-like atmosphere around her. As for Arthur, he possessed a male body from his storage, he didn''t know if the woman would recognize him if he came with his real appearance but better be safe than be sorry. To enter the banquet, he showed the token he got from Azure Bai to the guards outside, apparently, that token allowed him and Lucy to sit amongst the important figures of the older generation, so he and Lucy casually took a sit in an empty table far at the corner. Chapter 98 - 98 : Gathering of Experts Since the two of them sat a table for the important figures of the older generation, many people threw curious gazes at both of them. Some even thought that these two didn''t know the rules and just sat there randomly. They wanted to go and mock both of them in front of everybody but there was some part of them that stopped them from doing so as there is also a chance that these two strangers do indeed have a high status. But if that''s the case then why does everyone know them? No one went to greet them or chat with them which indicated that no one knows them or they are enemies with all of them. Back at where the juniors sat, Malark and a group of Undead Generals sat at a corner discussing what''s going to happen, they are generals but still considered young as their Realm was too low, so was their ages. If Arthur and Lucy didn''t change their appearances, he may have recognized them, but now he just threw a couple of glances at them before continuing to talk with the others. He didn''t have good friends but that didn''t mean he was a complete loner. Not only was there Undead Generals, there were also Monster Generals and some youths from various sects and clans that were either quarreling about who''s better or enjoying the feast. It is common for juniors to fight in events like these, but now it was too early, they would fight to entertain the strong figures and perhaps impress them to gain favors from or to build a good impression. Arthur wasn''t going to participate in this useless fights, he needs to spot the woman and attack, quite simple but very hard to do. Attacking wouldn''t allow him to find where Saly is, but if he successfully takes the woman with him and Lucy, he would be able to get Saly''s location from her, for someone who was brutally tortured, he didn''t lack ways to make her talk. He remained calm on the outside, but he and Lucy were anxious, if people like Aborak and co got involved and try to stop them then it''ll be very troublesome. As they were waiting for the important figures, Lucy didn''t hold back as she ate whatever she liked, even Arthur ate ravenously as if he was a beggar who didn''t eat for years. Well, the food is not going to eat itself so why not benefit from this and eat whatever is displayed? It''s not like it''s prohibited. Time passed slowly as it was quite boring for a banquet. After an hour or so, one of the powerhouses finally came, it was a middle-aged man with a long red hair, he had a sturdy body and scars on face and neck. From the description he heard from people, he knew that it''s the clan master of the Doom Bringer Clan. Two old men and a youth followed him, the two old men were probably elders of the clan, as for the youth, it was his son Tyga. The boy had a red hair just like his father and had a long red two-handed sword on his back. He emitted strong killing intent and thick blood sent. "I''m welcome everyone to this Grand Banquet, I hope you can enjoy your time here." The clan master said that with a deadpan face, he didn''t seem like the guy who loves to talk, he only said this because he was one of the hosts and simply ignoring everyone is disrespectful. After saying that, Meyzu, the clan master sat at one of the 7 seats on the stage, he looked a bit bored as he checked the guests one by one. As for the youth, he went to a random chair in the juniors area and sat there silently, he didn''t seem to have any friends and no one mocked him or wanted to pick a fight with him. Followed by Meyzu were the rest of the powerful figures, they arrived just after him. There was a bearded old man with a black robe, he sat at the central chair. As for the clan master of the Lightning fox clan, it was a blond old woman with wrinkles all over her face, despite her old age, her eyes were sharp even though she was displaying a friendly smile. Arthur felt his body being probed several times by them, clearly, they didn''t know him or Lucy, so they were curious about him, after all, someone who sits at such an area without them knowing his identity if a bit shameful for them. They didn''t dare straight out ask them so they just kept staring at him, especially the clan master of the Royal Cobra Clan and the old woman. As they were checking the guests and elders of the three powerful clans, Lucy''s eyes constricted when her gaze landed on a black-dressed woman, she was sitting with the elders of the Royal Cobra Clan and enjoying some Spirit Wine. "Arthur, it''s her, I''m sure of it!" Lucy didn''t even bother to confirm her guess, the description they got from Anastassia is very precise, with a black long hair and a mysterious tattoo that could barely be seen in her neck. She was very pretty and albeit not seeing the book that Anastassia mentioned, Lucy had a strong feeling that it''s her. Lissandra (Race : Human) : God Realm 2nd Grade. ''What! God Realm?'' When Arthur appraised her, he was seriously shocked, her being at the God Realm make things hundreds if not thousands of times more difficult. Being appraised by Arthur wasn''t noticed by her obviously as the appraisal is a unique skill and it''s not like the probing the strong figures do. If he tried to probe her through Nether Energy, because she''s stronger than him, she would instantly know, even if she is weaker, she would still feel it, so Appraisal could be said to be very beneficial. Lucy''s fists were clenched as she wanted to jump on Lissandra immediately, she knew she wasn''t her match but she just couldn''t stay still, after all, this woman killed almost all the Ma Clan and hurt Saly, a person who she(Lucy) considered as her daughter! "Calm down, it''s not the time yet." Arthur held Lucy''s hands and calmed her down, he too was angry and enraged but he knew it would be suicidal, especially when Lissandra is in the God Realm. Not only was she in the God Realm, there were elders from the Royal Cobra Realm in the God Realm too. As for the clan masters, each and every one of them was at least at the 4th Grade God Realm. ... After a couple more minutes, a crude-looking Spirit Boat that had some cracks and dust all over it flew above the huge garden. From it descended an illusory-looking figure. It was the Lich King Aborak. He looked like a reaper, with a long black robe and skeletal hands, he looked very creepy and terrifying, as for his face, it was blurry and you could only distinguish a somewhat skull face with two purple beams in its eye sockets. The Lich King Aborak (Race : Undead) : God Realm 8th Grade. Arthur gasped as he saw that, he knew that the difference between one grade in the God Realm is just too big, much less a difference of two or three. The strongest person the in the alliance of the three clans was the clan master Jizung of the Royal Cobra Clan who was at the God Realm 6th Grade, but he still was far weaker than Aborak. What followed Aborak was a luxurious looking Spirit Boat that stretched for more than a mile! It had many decorations and a big symbol on it. Several figures descended from it. Arthur guessed that they were the Monster Race. The one leading was a white-haired male, he looked very young, probably in his twenties. With a golden robe and a pale white skin, he was waving his hand friendly at the people in the banquet while displaying a very angelic smile. "I thank you dear friends for inviting me to this banquet." He slowly descended from his Spirit Boat and sat next to Aborak. He seemed like the talkative type as he started engaging in conversations with Meyzu, who only grunted and nodded in the process. "Kilan, As friendly and forceful as ever, huh?" The red-haired Meyzu was an old friend of this white-haired man so despite Kilan never ceasing to talk with him, he didn''t appear disgusted or irritated. "Oh come on don''t say that, I was very happy to come here you know, it''s been centuries since we met." This man was called Kilan, the current leader of the Monster Race and a person at the God Realm 8th Grade too. Many Monster generals and elders came with him too and sat a corner like the others too. Only the Abyss Valley people didn''t come, no one did expect them to come anyways but that didn''t mean they were afraid, it was the strongest faction and the most mysterious one, no one would be brave enough to belittle it or pick a fight with it. It is said that the Void Behemoth had long since transcended the God Realm, so people like Aborak and Kilan are no match for him even if they joined hands. Aborak didn''t seem to mind that Lucy was wearing a mask, with his Realm, it was very easy to see her real appearance but he didn''t bother to dig further. As for Kilan, he frowned as he inspected Lucy then Arthur, they were only at the Immortal Realm and weren''t special or strong enough to sit where they were sitting, so he was kind of curious. "Hey Meyzu, who''s those two over there?" As he said that, he pointed at the two of them with his eyes. The red-haired Meyzu glanced at them but didn''t seem interested or curious like Kilan, after looking at them for a couple of seconds, he shook his head whilst replying "I don''t know, probably some people from one of those reclusive sects, they are like flies after all, why are you so interested..." Kilan slapped Meyzu''s shoulder while chuckling, he didn''t reply to that question, no one knows what he was thinking at that moment. ... Arthur obviously knew he was probed by Kilan more than one time but he wasn''t worried much as someone such as Kilan wouldn''t dare act in here. Lucy''s gaze never left Lissandra, who was enjoying the banquet to its fullest, she would talk with some of the elders or gaze at the guests with a seductive smile on her face. She was considered a god to the people in Astria and she was indeed at the God Realm, she only stumbled upon Astria by chance and made a small organization there as she found a portion of Zodiak''s power there, so she instructed people to look for more but apart from 2 portions in the Demon Continent and 1 portion in the Western Continent, there nothing in the rest of the world. The Grand Banquet livened up as Juniors began showcasing their skills and techniques in front of the elders, whether to display their power or entertain the older generation. "We proceed as planned, begin preparing." Arthur reminded Lucy so as she would not lose focus because of her anger, things need to be done according to the plan, It''s true Lissandra is in the God Realm but they would still follow their plan. All 6 of the 7 seats were now full, there was only one seat left empty, many people wondered who that person was, maybe it was for the leader of the Abyss Valley? But the behemoth''s body is way bigger than the whole garden so it left them curious about the identity of this mysterious person. As the atmosphere was as its peak, a floating figure appeared in the night sky. It was an azure-clothed middle-aged man, he had a serene and calm face and showed a friendly smile as he was coming down. "Excuse me for being late." Bai Lingyue apologized as he descended on the stage. "Hahaha, no need for Senior Bai to apologize, the banquet had just begun." The one who spoke was the old man from the Royal Cobra Clan, he wasn''t offended by the lateness of Azure Bai and welcomed him to sit in the chair right next to him. Bai Lingyue just nodded and sat next to the old man, just as he sat, he began chatting with old Li, who was the clan master old man of the Royal Cobra Clan. Their relationship couldn''t be considered great, they were just being respectful to him because his position was rather high. Although he was only at the Peak of the Divine Realm, he was respected by all the three clans masters. As for Aborak, he remained silent since he got here, only lifelessly staring at the riven just below. Kilan was opposite to Aborak, he wanted to build a good relationship with Azure Bai so he butted in and tried to give a good impression. "I see that the juniors are exchanging pointers, good good, I heard that there are some amazing talents in here." Bai Lingyue said that as he gazed at the stage that was put in the center of the garden, it was meant for the juniors to fight each other and learn from each other. His gaze passed Lucy and Arthur for a second before he stared back at them again; Arthur had a completely different aura to him, he also broke through to the Immortal Realm, so no matter how much he thought, Bai Lingyue couldn''t guess who the person next to Lucy was. As for her, he just nodded at her while smiling, he was very curious about why Arthur is not here and who the person next to her is, but he didn''t go and ask. No matter was he thought, the idea of the male near Lucy being Arthur never crossed his mind. He had unfathomable strength and could see through Lucy''s mask, so he probed Arthur''s current ''body'' and couldn''t find even a strand of Arthur''s presence, for someone as talented as him, that only meant one thing and that it''s not Arthur but a different person, too bad he is totally wrong and that Arthur had a special race. The fighting that occurred from the start was considered just a beginning, the real show will begin only when all-powerful figures are present and paying attention, with that in mind the talent youths readied themselves to begin and show their awesomeness and improvement to their elders. Arthur circulated the two techniques he practices and absorbed Nether Energy to ready himself. "It''s time to begin...." Chapter 99 - 99 : Overconfidence Leads to Death The plan was simple for Arthur, he was going to participate in the junior fights. They were meant to just exchange pointers and learn from each other, however, everybody knew that it was not that but it''s just for the powerful factions to flaunt their powers and see who from their juniors is better, after all, the younger generation is the future of these factions. The real appearance of Arthur was of a handsome middle-aged man, with his hear turning grey and his breakthrough, it changed his appearance. Anyone from his previous life would certainly not recognize him if he saw him now. As for the body he possessed, he purposely chose a young body of a youth, it looked like a 19-20-year-old young man with short black hair and an average facial features. He maintained a deadpan expression as he sat next to Lucy. There plan was thought after thinking for a long time, it wasn''t just the usual ''win all these fights'' and try to impress the older generation or claim for a good reward or even try to frighten the enemy with his power. No, their plan began the moment all the strong figures appeared, Lucy began channeling her Nine Yin Star Technique and preparing her skill. As for Arthur, he first sat next to her and when all of the powerful experts arrived, he walked to the area where the juniors gathered and sat randomly at an empty table. There was a middle-sized arena in the middle of the garden, which was meant for the youths to battle, an array was layed there to prevent the after-effects or the explosion from the fights to reach the spectators. "Ha ha ha, thank you all for coming to this Grand Banquet, as all of you know, there has been a lot of spatial turbulences these past years, so it is very likely to be a lost world that has been directly or indirectly connected to our world, I wonder what are your thoughts about this?" Jizung, who is the main host of this banquet, finally spoke to the 6 figures sitting next to him, his voice was not very loud but even the people sitting below could clearly hear his old but spirited voice. "Old Jizung is right, it is quite strange for this many turbulences to occur, it is precisely why I came to the Underworld. The appearance of a lost world may bring a lot of benefits to whoever enters it." Azure Bai spoke his opinion as he was speculating about this world, the turbulences were only part of the reason he came here, but he was not planning to tell the full truth to these people, on the outside they may be his friends, but only the granny from the Lightning Fox clan was a dear friend of his. "Senior Bai is right, an opportunity like this cannot be missed." Kilan, being the clever and ass-kisser that he is, started agreeing with Bai Lingyue right away, it was very apparent that he wanted to build a friendly relationship with Bai but it didn''t appear that the latter was impressed or pleased with this Monster Race leader. "It is not yet confirmed that it''s a lost world, and even if it was, do you think it''ll be easy to access it? Just the location of these Spatial turbulences is very troublesome!" The red-haired Meyzu was not in the mood for banquet or chitchatting, he wanted to just finish talking and get done with this banquet sooner than later. "Hmpf! Obviously, we know, or why else would we have gathered here?" The granny, who appeared to be so old that she would die at any second, snorted and sarcastically replied to Meyzu. Despite her appearance, she was the clan master of the Lightning Fox and her strength was no lower than Meyzu, it could even be said that she''s stronger despite being in the same Realm and Grade as she was way older than him, so whether it''s her wisdom, knowledge or fighting strength, she is beyond him. Meyzu had an angry look on his face but he didn''t dare retort, he just stayed silent and waited to hear the other opinions. All people have talked beside Aborak, who remained since he came here. He was the most reclusive and strange out of all of them, despite the Undead Race having some small wars with the other factions, his name is not widely spread as never participates in these things. Even when the Race is offended or provoked, he would sit still and ignore what happened. It may sound surprising, but except Kilan, no one saw Aborak fight, however, just by the fact that Kilan didn''t provoke or talk to Aborak, one could know that he is not someone to mess with. The Monster Race and the Undead Race had long since been enemies, they would wage wars for small lands or simple treasures, Kilan was someone very tricky and annoying yet he didn''t directly provoke Aborak, so the others were wondering how powerful this skeleton Lich King really is. Everyone shifted their gaze to Aborak, as he is the one who had yet to speak his thoughts. His face was still blurry with two purple lights emanating from his lifeless eyes, no one would deny his creepy and ominous atmosphere around him. "The location of the turbulence is deep into the Abyss Valley, I and my Race will neither help you or get involved, you simply don''t know what you guys are doing by dividing deep into the Behemoth''s territory, it''s simply seeking death!" With a cold and piercing voice, Aborak voiced his thoughts, he was not optimistic about this matter, he just wanted to clear things out and separate himself from this bunch. After pausing a second, Aborak continued talking "You think only the Behemoth is worthy for you to be on guard but you are strongly mistaken... I''m just saying this so you bunch don''t get obliterated and cause other forces to invade the Underworld." Just as he finished speaking, his lifeless eyes stared at the three clans leaders, he never liked them as they came here and established a base and even took a territory, of course, he wasn''t reckless to start a fight with them, but it doesn''t mean he''ll keep silent and welcome them with open arms. For him, if they perish it doesn''t matter, but Kilan must at least so they could keep the balance. The Underworld could be said to be a dead and mysterious world, no one knew much about it except it''s ruled by the ancient Hades, so none were brave enough to proudly claim its lands, but that didn''t mean they can''t come and slowly make a faction in here, like the three clans. "Ha ha ha, Sir Aborak is indeed right, but isn''t Sir Aborak underestimating us? If we combine forces, especially with Senior Bai here, fighting the ancient beasts lurking in these won''t be much of a problem." Jizung didn''t seem bothered by Aborak''s remark and kept a friendly attitude, he didn''t hold Aborak''s words too much in heart as he was overconfident, especially with Azure Bai with them. "Underestimating you? Ha! Don''t make me laugh, it''s you who are underestimating the Abyss Valley, a bunch of old fogies at the God Realm wanting to dive deep in there? You''re overestimating your strength too much, even if you were at the Sovereign Realm you would still perish. I said what I had to say, it''s up to you to decide, I''m not going to beg you to not go there but remember carefully Kilan, you should know what''s there, right? Never forget that overconfidence leads to Death! You should have learned that the hard way." Aborak''s tone was full of mocking as he seemed to enjoy seeing Jizung''s confident and hearing his honest words, but it was simply too unrealistic for them to even get close to those Spatial Turbulences. In fact, they were only able to know of these turbulences because they were too big and could be seen from afar if not, they would never have known. When Kilan heard this, his smile froze for a second as he seemed to remember something, he didn''t retort to Aborak and remained silent while showing a somewhat forceful smile. "Anyways, it''s still the beginning of the banquet, let''s see how our younger generation is, after all, they are our future and they would benefit a lot from the lost world if we access it. I''m not trying to boast but my Royal Cobra Clan has some talented youths." Jizung still didn''t directly reply to what Aborak said, he kept his confident look and from his words, you could tell that the lost world was already in his hands. He switched the subject as he gazed at the youths from the Royal Cobra Clan near the arena. "Old Jizung is right, it''s not time to discuss such serious matters. Speaking of our juniors, ou clan''s young Miss is not bad too... she awakened the bloodline with a nearly perfect bloodline." Granny Shishu, the clan master of the Lightning Fox was full of smiles as she said that, her wrinkled face had a wide smile hanging on it as she lovingly looked at a green-haired girl sitting on a table with a few youths next to her. The girl had a calm demeanor and wore a stunning short purple dress. She was considered a fairy with her appearance and gentleness. Each faction had a genius or two they relied on, whether it was the Undead Race, the Monster Race or the three clans. .... The fights that will occur in the arena will not be like a tournament or a championship, it''ll be completely random and whoever wants to challenge someone will jump on it(arena). Currently, a wolf-looking person stepped on the stone arena. He was from the Monster Race and looked a bit similar to a werewolf except he was not tall and he looked creepier. "Excuse me for stepping first. This lowly one only wants to exchange some pointers with a friend, what do you say, Brother Junki?" His gaze was directed at a Ghoul from the Undead Race, the male Ghoul was sitting with the other Undead and when the wolf-looking monster stepped on the stage, he knew he would be called. They knew each other since long as they always fought when they met in caves or dungeons. Slovar, the wolf-looking monster would always try to steal his treasures or cause troubles, they enmity never ceased, whether it''s mocking, robbing or harassing, the two races did all kinds of things to each other, just like what happened to Malark when he stole a treasure from the Monster generals. Chapter 100 - 100.1 : Lethality of Blood Magic The ghoul-looking person who was named Junki stepped on the arena when Slovar called him, it would be too embarrassing to forfeit or ignore him, all the elders were looking at him so how could he refuse. Although he knew he was weaker then Slovar, he walked to the arena and faced the wolf-looking monster. His weapon was a sword. Ghouls were a bit similar to zombie yet had their small differences too, such as they were not as smelly or disgusting as them. All ghouls had a soul and a consciousness, moreover, they are a level stronger than normal skeletons. They have powerful physics and can only be killed when you damage their soul, otherwise, it''s useless to harm their body. They do not have an infinite Stamina and they could feel pain like normal humans. You could say that they are mutated humans and corrupted by Death Laws after their death. Slovar didn''t take any weapon as he grinned at Junki, he was looking forward to this since a long time ago. Junki would always run if they ever meet outside but currently, there is no place to run to. No referee was present, they just had to say they are ready and begin. "Brother Junki, I presume you''re ready?... unless you want to forfeit?" Junki''s face became ugly as he knew Slovar was mocking him, clearly, he wasn''t taking him seriously. "Who do you think you are?" Junki was someone easily provoked, after hearing the mocking of Slovar, he could not hold himself back and charged at him whilst wielding his sword and using several sword skills. Three consecutive sword beams were launched at Slovar, but the wolf-looking monster blocked them easily with his bare hands. His thick brown fur withstood the powerful beams as if they were nothing. ... Arthur who was watching from afar, focused on the battle to analyze what he should do, until now, nothing was very interesting. Both the parties were at the middle stages of the Deity Realm but one was way stronger than the others. For him, he just needs one attack to finish them both but that''s to be expected after seeing his stats and Realm. The fight continued but it was one-sided and no matter what Junki did, it was useless, Slovar wasn''t even serious and only blocked the incoming attacks while continuing to mock and sneer at ghoul. Back at the stage near the river, where the seven were sitting, Kilan grimaced and casually said "Yo Aborak, seems the youths from your side are still lacking huh?" The creepy looking Aborak didn''t seem to mind what Kilan said, he was not someone who is interested by these fights or wants the younger generation of his Race to win as it was useless. So what if they won? There may be some rewards from each one of the 7 people to the strongest Junior, but that''s it, for someone as old as him, rewards like that are not needed and he won''t be the one to get the reward. He is considered a selfish person, but he didn''t completely disregard his Race, it''s just that he had goals he had to achieve and simply winning this little competition won''t do him any progress, so after hearing Kilan mock the youths of his Race, he remained silent and acted as if he didn''t hear anything. Kilan and Aborak were old friends, but they were enemies too, it''s a complicated and strange relationship, Kilan may be mocking him but he was not provoking him, it''s just having fun as Kilan''s personality was always like this. ... The fight lasted for 15 minutes before Junki was forcefully thrown out of the arena, he was dead but he was injured all over his body, from bruises to claw slashes, he was in a terrible state. All the people from Undead Race were looking angrily at Slovar, who kept sneering and grinning. "What? If you want revenge then come on up on the stage." The wolf-looking Slovar crossed his long arms and gazed at the juniors from the Undead Race. It would be a lie to say he was confident to beat them all, after all, like any other Race, the Undead Race had some strong youths too. Malark could more or less be considered a youth but he won''t be participating as it would be losing face rather than gaining it. He was a couple of centuries old and these juniors were at most 100 years old, so fighting someone much younger than you is a disgrace even though he can beat them and if by chance he loses, it would be more embarrassing. Another Undead youth jumped on the arena after hearing the infuriating mocking of Slovar, he was a ghoul too but unlike Junki, he was at the Peak of the Deity Realm. Normally, one would be embarrassed to fight against some lower Realm than him but this ghoul didn''t care as his junior brother was injured so much whilst he couldn''t do anything but watch from the side. "So it''s brother Bija, aren''t you ashamed to fight someone at the middle-stages of the Deity Realm?" With an ugly face, Bija took out a long silver halberd and retorted "Cut the crap, I''m attacking!" While wielding his halberd, Bija rushed at the sneering Slovar, who still wasn''t anxious about fighting someone stronger than him. The fight was exciting to weak people but couldn''t be more boring than it already is for strong figures. For them, such slow movements and weak attacks are not worth paying attention to. At the end, Slovar managed to hold for 10 minutes before he and Bija were out of the arena. Although the ghoul won, he didn''t have any face remaining to stand on the arena and challenge anyone else, so after throwing Slovar out, he walked out of the arena with a lowered head. .... Fights between Deity Realm juniors continued for about an hour or so before the quality of the fights finally changed. From Deity Realm to Immortal Realm. No more Deity Realm dared to step on the arena as it was practically impossible to beat anyone in the Immortal Realm, geniuses could leapfrog a few grades or sometimes a whole Realm but that was for the Immortal and Divine Realm, or the Heavenly and Deity Realm but to leapfrog from the Deity Realm to the Immortal Realm is considered absolute non-sense. The difference between the two Realms is just too huge, just like the Divine Realm and the God Realm and that''s exactly why Arthur felt a bit worried when he saw the Realm of the person they were going to attack. A black-haired youth from the Doom Bringer Clan stepped on the arena, he was at the Immortal Realm and had a saber sheathed on his waist. He stood erect on the arena and gazed at the youths sitting on the junior area, with an expressionless face he said "My name is Buo Bing, I welcome anyone who wants to challenge me." What he said may sound arrogant but everyone knew he had the power to back his words, he was one of the geniuses of the Doom Bringer Clan and someone not to be underestimated. ''Finally!'' Arthur felt ecstatic when he heard that, he didn''t want to challenge anyone or it would bring suspicion, if he challenged any person from a clan, it would cause troubles as the clan would target him, however, if someone in return said he would challenge anyone who dares, he would immediately join as then it looks like he just took up the offer that was proposed. Just as he was going to stand up and jump on the arena, someone already appeared in the opposite direction if Buo Bing. It was also a handsome looking youth, he appeared to be in his mid-twenties, he had blonde hair and was holding a fan in his hand. He displayed a calm attitude and a broad smile was hanging on his face. "Since brother Buo said so, then I''ll graciously accept your offer, it''s been a long time since I fought seriously after all." Coneli, the blondie spoke proudly as he gazed at the expressionless Buo, he was not fearful or worried about the incoming fights and kept fanning himself with a calm attitude. As for Buo, he didn''t say anything and simply unsheathed his saber, he knew Coneli since a long time as he was from the Lightning Fox Clan, their two clans have an alliance, so it''s to be expected that the geniuses from each clan know each other. They didn''t need to say outloud that they are ready, just from their actions one could know. "The real fights are finally starting, ha ha ha" Granny Shishu chuckled as she saw the two youths preparing themselves, she was not worried about who might win and had already placed all her hopes on the green-haired girl from earlier. Of course, she didn''t give up on the other geniuses from her clan, it''s just that she held the most confidence on that girl. ... The Doom Bringer Class practiced the mysterious Blood Magic, it is one of the most powerful but dangerous attributes, it is used by the ancient Vampire Race and very few humans use it as it is lethal to them, if one is reckless and use it in the wrong way, he will surely die a miserable death. There is many special techniques and attributes in the world, the normal ones could be practiced by whoever has a good affinity with them, but some could be practiced even without having a good affinity with them and such ones are the Blood Magic. There is also Spatial Magic which taken from the Void Magic, so if you could use Void Magic then mastering the Spatial Magic is only a matter of time. There was also the Death and Life Laws, the Yin and Yang Attributes and so on. After Buo unsheathed his saber, the weapon started reeking of blood and thick killing intent emanated from him. His eyes were very sharp as they intensely gazed at the Blondie, who kept fanning himself and ignored the changes that happened to Buo. "As repulsive and aggressive as ever, huh? Men must be delicate you know?" As he said that, purple lightning began twirling around his fan and legs. Sparks would explode near him and none did any damage to the arena or the surroundings. The moment he stopped fanning himself, his white robe transformed into a purple lightning coat and his fan was like a sharp lightning weapon. The pressure around him increased by several folds but his face remained calm. The two youths charged at each other, one waving the saber and the other gently waving the fan at his enemy. A mysterious looking blood wave was created from the saber edges, its target was the incoming blondie, the attack didn''t damage the arena but spectators could feel the strong power of the blood wave. Coneli didn''t try to dodge the blood wave but instead, he waved his fan at the blood wave, creating a spheric purple lightning ball that clashed with the blood wave. The wind became erratic and the two sides backed off, none of the two attacks managed to overcome the others and the only result was a small crater under the clashing place. If it were not for the strong protective array placed inside the arena and around it, the clash would have destroyed it whole. For the rest of the fight, the arena transformed into a river of blood and a purple lightning storm, it was an amazing sight, even the elders enjoyed the fight unlike the other weak and unentertaining fights. The winner was the blood user Buo Bing, who managed to win with great effort. Coneli was someone to underestimate, his lightning attacks are powerful and fast, even with his Blood Magic, he barely emerged victorious. Coneli walked out of the arena with a not-so-good appearance, his heard was disheveled hair and tattered clothes with a lot of blood stains on them. He lost but he pushed Buo to use a lot of effort to win, despite losing, their strength''s difference is meager. It''s just that Blood Magic is too mysterious and dangerous, if he gets hit his blood would get sucked and it would heal Bui in return, so getting hit is equal to losing against people from the Doom Bringer Clan. Seeing that Buo Bing was not going down from arena despite being injured by Coneli and panting heavily, Arthur was confused on whether this youth couldn''t move or was planning to still fight until he lost? Either way was fine for him, Buo was at the Immortal Realm 4th Grade but he had absolute confidence in winning, he was planning to fight the strong figures and juniors are nothing to him. He had a lot planned with Lucy, it''s not some youth who is going to ruin it all. Buo Bing kept stabilizing his breathing and took a red colored potion from his storage. Arthur didn''t know what that but he knew it was going to help him, he was not in a hurry, Lucy was still preparing so the longer it took the better. Without minding the amazed and envious eyes of the youths while staring Buo Bing, Arthur walked to the arena casually. His appearance was average, he wore Zodiak''s black robe and some black tight clothes under it when he went to the junior''s area. The good thing about the new dark cloud is that it could create an avatar of him, it would take the appearance of whoever he is possessing so it''s useful. Seeing that an unknown youth walked toward him, Buo Bing frowned as he didn''t who is the black-robed young man was, of course, he was not planning to kick him to mock him, he welcomed any challengers, so his identity didn''t matter. Moreover, for this youth to challenge meant he was not weak, or else he would be coming down to the arena to embarrass himself and get injured. With a simple probe, Buo came to know that Arthur was an Immortal 2nd Grade which made him furrow his brows for a second. It was okay for a genius from one of the clan to challenge with him whilst being in the same Realm as him or a Grade lower, but for an unknown person with two Grades lower than him to dare come and fight him made him a bit displeased. Even the people sitting on the stage were curious about his identity, Meyzu was even angry that a weak youth like him dared to come and fight Buo Bing, who was considered one of the geniuses of his clan. "Who''s this brat? Why don''t I know him?" Meyzu spoke with a displeased tone as he sharply gazed at Arthur while probing him. Kilan shook his gaze to Meyzu indicating that he didn''t know the black-robed youth''s identity. Seeing that even Kilan didn''t know, Meyzu was a bit surprised, his gaze shifted to Granny Shishu and the others but all of them had a strange look, it was apparent that they didn''t know either. "What''s with this, if no one invited him then what the hell is he doing here? Someone kick him out!" Meyzu didn''t like the idea of some frail youth fighting Buo, it would lower his self-esteem, so he immediately ordered to kick Arthur out but before any person could head toward him(Arthur), a calm voice rang out from the stage. "No need, that person along with the black-haired woman wearing a mask are guests I invited, they are friends." Azure Bai was still curious about who the identity of the black-robed youth was, but since he was with Lucy then he was a friend so why be harsh toward him? What he said surprised the five of them, Meyzu had a strange look as he was feeling uncomfortable, for Bai Lingyue to invite them they must be quite special. "Oh! If it''s people Senior Bai invited then they''re welcome to stay, please excuse our rude behavior, we didn''t know." Jizung stroked his beard as he displayed an apologetic look to Bai, he didn''t want to create a bad relationship with him and simply apologizing is nothing to him if could gain the favor of a character such as Bai Lingyue. "Oh!! Since it''s people Senior Bai invited then they must be special, especially that junior, what does Senior Bai think, will he be able to resist Buo Bing?" It was Kilan who spoke, he was very curious about Arthur and Lucy, especially when he came to know that Lucy had an Extreme Yin Body. God knows how he managed to know but nonetheless, he did so he was interested in them the moment he discovered that. Azure Bai just shrugged his shoulders and replied to Kilan "We shall see in a moment, ha ha ha." Although he didn''t know who the youth Arthur was possessing was, he was sure he was not some weakling, after all, everything about Lucy and Arthur is mysterious, be it their bodies, fortune or background. Chapter 101 - 100.2 : Initiating The Plan When Arthur finally arrived at the arena, he stood in the opposite direction of Buo and patiently waited for him to finish recovering. Buo Bing was sitting cross-legged and from time to time, he would take a small sip from the red colored bottle, some blood drops would come out of his skin and circle around for a couple of seconds before melting in his hands. This process was repeated a few times but each time it would take only a couple of seconds so, by the time he recovered a bit of his strength, only a few minutes passed since his last fight with Coneli. Arthur was not planning on using Eclipse Magic or Dark Magic as he didn''t want to warn Lissandra about his presence. She uses Dark Magic so once she sees it, she would be able to ascertain his identity and that was something he didn''t wish for. Their only advantage right now is that they are not discovered by her yet. He wasn''t certain if she knew Lucy''s real appearance or not but even after seeing through her mask, Lissandra didn''t seem affected and totally ignored Lucy. Perhaps she only heard some description about them and never saw them in reality? None of that matters, they have the advantage of not being discovered so sneak attacking her is the best way to capture her. The only troublesome thing is that her clan would not stand still, as for others, it is unknown how they would react. Arthur remained silent and didn''t introduce himself or speak to Buo Bing, once the black-haired youth stood up and unsheathed his sword, he said "Are you sure you recuperated fully?" The reason he said this was only to sound like a kind and patient person, basically, it was acting cool and friendly. But what he said was obviously misunderstood by Buo Bing, who was displeased from the beginning. "To defeat you, it''s more than enough." As he said that, he unsheathed his saber and took a fighting stance, he was not someone who underestimates his enemies and despite saying that, he was not going to go easy on Arthur. Arthur shrugged his shoulders and stood there calmly, he didn''t take Makaze or any other weapon, he was not willing to show any of his skills, especially the Peak Sword Mastery. His Sword Mastery is at flawless, whether its sword-dancing, executing perfect attacks or special slashes, he knew them all, after all, he possessed countless sword-users and had the Peak Sword Mastery, there is literally no one who could beat him in using swords. He had many things besides the Sword Mastery, such as his Ancient Fire, the several Advanced Mastery Attributes and so on. Although he was not excellent in using them, that didn''t mean they are weak, just adding them to his normal punches or kicks would deal bonus damage but he was going to focus on one Attribute and that is Lightning. It was one of his Unique Attributes and second to none in speed, once he transforms into the lightning form or uses [Transcendence], he becomes much more powerful, add that to the Godly and Natural Lightning, he would become almost invisible in the Immortal Realm. Although he circulated the Dark Star Strengthening technique, he was not going to use the Dark Magic, but albeit not using it, the protective barrier around his body would still be present, moreover, his attacks would contain the black flames too. It was unknown if Lissandra would sense the dark magic or not but the black flames were not a form of Dark Magic but something completely different, even Arthur didn''t know what they were except that they add damage and are very lethal, even to Lucy''s Ice Lotuses. Although they could barely block them, they can''t do so permanently. The more intriguing thing is that the ring he wore also added black flames the same as the one he got from the breakthrough, previously, when he wore it before breaking through, no one black flames showed in his normal attacks but currently, even a normal punch would produce them, he had no way of cancelling that, even with the help of the System. ... The battle has finally begun, Buo charged at Arthur with great speed, a huge blood wave was created by a wave of sharp saber and its target was Arthur, who was still standing still. Seeing that a blood wave was aimed at him, Arthur was confident that a Dark barrier or the dark protective layer around his body could easily withstand it, but he decided to not do that, it would be too obvious and he wanted to show a bit of struggle in front of ''them''. Yellow Lightning twirled around him and many lightning streaks whistled through the air and blocked the Blood wave. They looked like normal lightning streaks but they soon formed a net bigger than the blood wave and completely blocked it from advancing further, what''s more, is that Arthur was already on the move. It was unknown how but he appeared at the right side of Buo and sent at the enemy''s arm, making him back away a couple of steps. He almost put no strength in his kick as to not seem overly strong, with his astronomical Strength stats, he could have crushed all the bones of Buo but he restrained himself and held back a lot. However, this one-sided exchange was more than surprising to the spectators, especially Meyzu, who was going to enjoy seeing Arthur get beaten badly by Buo, but unfortunately, it was the other way around. Not only was his blood wave blocked by his lightning, he managed to kick Buo and push him back. Granny Shishu frowned when she saw the lightning, although it was the most basic lightning with yellow color, she, as a lightning user, could feel its extreme intensity and power. Such powerful lightning despite being only a basic one is terrifying, what if he could use the special lightning of her clan? Moreover, she and the other six could see him transform into lightning and appear near Buo, that speed was not something the black-haired junior could match. "Granny Shishu, what do you think about that brat''s movements? He clearly used Lightning." The one who asked was the irritated Meyzu, despite being displeased with what happened, he had to admit Arthur''s movement and attacks were a bit fast and overwhelming to an opponent such as Buo. "It''s just that Basic Lightning, you could notice that just from the color, but his use of it is perfect and flexible to a terrifying degree, I say Meyzu, your junior is no match for him, you better call him back or he''ll just embarrass himself." Granny Shishu didn''t hold her thoughts and spoke honestly, it was obvious just from one exchange that Arthur was stronger, it may seem like nothing to others but just by the way the blood wave was easily blocked and his speed, an expert could ascertain that Arthur is stronger despite being at a lower Grade. "Buo, you''re not his match, forfeit." It was unknown what he used but Meyzu telepathically to Buo, no one but the two parties could hear what he said. Hearing the clan master say that, Buo''s face turned ugly and his expressionless turned into one of anger and unwillingness, albeit losing the previous exchange, he was still confident he could hold his ground against Arthur but since it was a direct order from the clan master, he couldn''t be stubborn and disregard the order. Currently, everybody was gazing at the arena. The blood wave had already dissipated but the lightning was still floating a couple of meters above Arthur, it transformed into a huge lightning spark. If Arthur wanted, he could use the Natural Lightning, but that was too deadly, if it touched Buo, the strong vibrations could crush his bones and possibly his Meridians if he could not resist them, crippling such genius would make Meyzu thirsty for revenge, after all, he appeared to be someone who takes care of his clan''s disciples. You could see that just by the fact that he told Buo to back off, he didn''t want this junior to suffer a set back by losing miserably to Arthur, as an experienced and old expert, he knew who would win in this fight after that exchange. After staring at Arthur for a bit, Buo Bing unwillingly walked out of the arena after saying three words. "I admit defeat." What he said was expected by the elders but the juniors were dumbfounded, the battle lasted barely a minute and Buo already admitted defeat? How could that be so? Many were unable to believe what just happened, after all, Buo was considered very strong, he even won against Coneli, so it was kind of strange that he admitted defeat this fast. Azure Bai was smiling as he gazed at Arthur, he didn''t know who the youth was but he was very curious, especially after seeing what happened. One other person who was curious was Aborak, but he was not curious about Arthur but the robe, precisely the symbol on its back. The skull symbol that changed to blood red color, it was a creepy looking skull with a third eye on its forehead, the Lich King kept staring at it for some time and pondering about something. Of course, he didn''t voice out his thoughts and kept them to himself. Even Lissandra was staring at the arena, she was not curious about the symbol as she never saw it, despite having gained a portion of Zodiak''s power and the strange book, she never saw that symbol. She was only curious about the youth but him being Arthur never crossed her mind. She came here to enjoy here time and have fun, for her, the junior fights are some kind of entertainment to pass time, it''s a bit funny when you know that all the things Arthur and Lucy prepared and specifically for her and the ''fun'' she is having is not something that will last long. .... The atmosphere was dead silent as Arthur stood in the middle of the arena and gazed at the juniors sitting not far away. After some time, seeing that no one was willing to come here and fight, he showed a friendly smile and said "I''m MoonStar, I wonder if anyone is willing to exchange some pointers with me?" He didn''t say any arrogant word and only spoke what was on his mind, or so the listeners thought, his goal was something else but he had to act and couldn''t rashly provoke everyone. Whether it''s the Royal Cobra Clan, the Lightning Fox Clan or the other factions, each had one unique Genius they relied on him. For the Monster Clan, it was there were two, one was very familiar to Arthur, it was Young Master Yun and the other was a white-haired youth that looked a bit similar to Kilan. The Undead Race had a lich at the Peak of the Immortal Realm, the lich looked like a skeleton and wore a grey robe, from the beginning of the banquet, he didn''t speak or move, he was even more bizarre than Aborak. The Doom Bringer Clan had the youth that came with Meyzu, the youth had a sword on his back and red-hair like Meyzu, he emitted thick killing intent and stayed silent with his eyes closed since the beginning. The Lightning Fox Clan had the green-haired and fairy-like girl and last but not least the Royal Cobra Clan which had a woman. It was a woman in her twenties with an alluring body. She wore a tight dress and sat next to other girls while enjoying some dessert. She completely ignored what was happening on the arena and simply chatted with the other girls, even her outfit was not meant for fighting, clearly, she came here not to fight with others but to enjoy her time. All of these geniuses were at the Peak of the Immortal Realm and they represented their own faction. ... After Arthur spoke, no one jumped on the arena, the juniors just gazed at him with envy and curiosity. They were intrigued by his identity, although they didn''t understand how he still made Buo admit defeat. "Fuck! Senior Buo just admitted defeat because he was injured from the previous fight, who does this punk think he is? I''ll take care of him." A short youth jumped from the crowd, he wore the outfit of the Doom Bringer Clan and held a gold scabbard with a short sword sheathed in it. He was displeased by the previous fight and wanted to regain the little bit of face his clan lost, all the juniors felt he was courageous but extremely stupid, especially the elders. "It seems Brother Meyzu''s clan disciples are talented and courageous." The praising words of Bai LIngyue were like needles piercing Meyzu''s ears, he was angry because of Buo''s defeat but here is another idiot jumping to his doom. "Let''s begin!" As he said that, the youth unsheathed his sword and leaped at Arthur without even waiting for his answer. A weak-looking Blood Ball was conjured from a blood gem engraved on his gold sword, the blood ball flew toward Arthur''s head. The youth followed that by a slash of his sword from afar which created20-inch blood snakes that swirled around the blood ball and increased its speed. Seeing this, Arthur didn''t budge, the huge lightning spark above him came down and with a speed faster than the incoming attack, it struck the blood snake and the ball, shattering them instantly. The yellow lightning didn''t stop as it hit the youth''s chest before he could react. The poor youth was sent flying out of the arena with a bloody wound on his chest, his clothes were burned from the attack and blood flowed out from his injuries. Arthur purposely avoided any vitals but he still broke some bones and dealt some damage to the youth''s body. He waiting for the right time to begin the plan. No one was surprised when they saw what happened, it was kind of expected, although most of them were confused on why Buo admitted defeat, no one thought Arthur was weak and simply jumping on the stage like that youth is totally idiotic. The lightning spark returned to where it was an kept floating there, if Arthur wanted, he could make it bigger but he decided to just let it be like that. He was not planning to display all his power. The atmosphere returned to its usual silence, no one spoke or went to fight Arthur, which made it awkward. After some time, a person could not bear it and leaped on the stage. It was a youngster with a golden-robe and handsome looks, he was Young Master Yun who Arthur met in the Treasure Pavillon. "It''s time for the big shots to fight right now, why don''t you go down from the arena?" Yun was not planning on being respectful toward Arthur, so he cut through the chase and said what''s on his mind. Arthur''s presence made thing awkward and stopped the fights since that''s the case, the fight between the geniuses is going to begin so he told Arthur to go back and it was not his place and he was not worth fighting. However, but what he heard next made Yin almost cough out blood, his face turned ugly and his smile disappeared. "Why should I? Defeat me and I''ll step back from the arena, that''s how things are, or perhaps you can''t do that?" Yun was not expecting Arthur to retort like that, so he remained silent for a bit before grinning and arrogantly saying "Fine! It''ll be done in a second, let''s not waste our time!" As he said that, Yun took out golden black gauntlets from his storage. The gauntlets were big and had some spike on their edges. Yun didn''t waste time as he hastily wore them and took a bizarre fighting stance. He was overconfident in his win but he simply was not going to fight bare-handed against Arthur, he saw what he was capable of and had to be a bit serious. A golden light emanated from his robe as his long hair fluttered in the wind. His appearance was dazzling as it made many young maidens heart beat rapidly. Seeing that Yun was going to attack, Arthur secretly took out a blue talisman from his storage and stuck into his wrist under his sleeves, no one was able to see his actions as it was in a very secretive and fast manner. After doing that, Arthur shifted his gaze to Yun and displayed a provoked and sneering gaze, as if he was saying ''Come on! Attack me, I''m waiting for you..'' Yun rushed at Arthur while punching out with his gauntlets, various golden energy bursts were created by his countless punches, although he was still far from Arthur, he kept punching and each punch created a strong golden energy burst that was aimed at Arthur. Clearly, he was planning to finish this from the start. Arthur didn''t hesitate as he circulated the lightning spark and created 4 feet lightning shield planning to block the energy bursts. He also moved from his position and made his way toward Yun while making a huge detour to avoid the energy bursts. Two small needle-like streaks of lightning were launched from his fingertips, their target was obviously Yun''s body, precisely his two eyes. Arthur''s speed was a bit slower than Yun but in no time, the two of them arrived in front of each other and clashed. The two lightning sparks were shattered by Yun''s gauntlets, after blocking that, he rooted his legs into the arena and punched out with immense strength. Blinding golden light was emanating from his gauntlet as a strange looking seal appeared in front of the gauntlet. A strange looking lantern appeared on Arthur''s left hand, he waved around and placed it where the gauntlet was going to hit him. The grey looking lantern was shaken a bit by Arthur''s hand and yellow fog came out of it, the process was very fast and by the time the golden seal hit Arthur''s chest, the condensed yellow fog was already around it. Arthur received the attack head-on, blood came out of his mouth as he was sent flying, but before he did, he clapped his two fingers, making an unnoticeable sound and at that time, several thunderclaps rang out in the arena. The thunder streak out the condensed yellow fog and all its surroundings, including Yun, who was happy that he landed his hit but the happiness disappeared as the pain followed, the thick thunder explosion sent his body flying high-up in the air, some blood leaked out of his lips as he fell to the ground and slowly stood up with an ugly face. The item Arthur just used was a Mystic Ranked Item that stores Lightning energy and condenses it, then when released, it transforms into thunder explosions that deal tremendous damage. The only reason Arthur was sent flying is because he acted it out, such strike from Yun would not hurt him normally, not after he started practicing the Dark Star technique, but he nonetheless acted as if he was injured and spit some blood. After stabilizing his body, Arthur rushed at Yun yet again with several lightning balls circulating around him, they formed a star-shaped lightning with each ball on an edge of the star, then it started increasing in size until it was the size of a normal human. Arthur pushed his hands on the star-shaped lightning and with ''bzzt'' sound, it flew with an extreme speed at the panting Yun. The golden-robed Yun was surprised by Arthur prowess, seeing that another attack was coming at him with fast speed, he roared and punched the air yet again, but this time you could feel the arena''s ground shake. A bigger golden seal was formed, this time it emitted an incredible pressure as it struck the star-shaped lightning and shattered immediately. Seeing this, Arthur''s eyes sharpened, he charged at the huge symbol while waving around a long lightning whip in his hands, the last thing the spectators saw was a bright flash before Arthur''s body was sent flying out of the arena and Yun staring at it with a daze. After a few second, Yun grinned and crossed his arms in a proud manner as if he expected this outcome. Chapter 102 - 100.3 : Initiating the Plan 2 "It seems the guest you invited is actually not bad, Senior Bai." Meyzu said that while having a smug look on his face, the disgrace he suffered earlier was returned when he saw Arthur''s body sent flying out of the arena. "Indeed, Senior Bai, that young man has a promising future, for him to cause Yun to be in such a miserable state is a great feat." Kilan, who was supposed to side with his Race, praised Arthur and completely disregarded Yun for he didn''t care about Yun a lot, what he cared about most right now is appealing to Bai Lingyue and possibly gain a favor or two." He showed his usual friendly smile as he gazed at Arthur, who slowly stood up and went to the table he was sitting at previously. Bai Lingyue didn''t comment on this as his eyes were fixated on Arthur, who was making his way to his seat. He didn''t appear depressed about Arthur''s lost as his(Arthur''s) face was expressionless without regret or unwillingness. "Ha ha ha, I told you to back off earlier but you didn''t heed my warnings, serves you right! It''s for the strong people to fight and not weaklings like you." Yun''s mocking voice rang in the silent garden, he looked at Arthur with eyes full of contempt and sneering. Although he was saying that, his appearance didn''t look that good, to be honest. With wounds all over his body and most of his robe ripped apart from the thunder explosions, his exterior appearance couldn''t be worse. With Zodaik''s black robe covering his body and head, Arthur silently sat on the chair and didn''t speak a word, after a few seconds, he grabbed a piece of meat and stuffed it in his mouth, he chewed slowly and the chewing sound could be heard as no one spoke and merely stared at him. "Ha ha ha, he is an odd entity, although he lost, he is so calm. I wonder if you could introduce me to him?" Granny Shishu had an interest in Arthur when she saw his skills with lightning. Despite being only basic lightning, he used it in so many manners and his prowess with it is unbelievable. Her relationship with Bai Lingyue was very close so she rarely called him ''Senior'' like the others as she was older than him and they were close friends. If he could introduce Arthur to her and this junior accepts joining her clan, it''ll be beneficial to her. "Would you believe me if I said I never talked to him or met him?" With some kind of strange technique that allowed Bai Lingyue to speak with Shishu telepathically, he transmitted that to her with some a curious and surprised tone. Granny Shishu frowned when she heard that, she didn''t maintain her frown as to not alert the others and replied to him "You do not know him? Then how come you said you invited him?" She knew him for a long time and he would not casually things like that, especially to help or protect a total stranger. "It''s true, today is the first time I see him, however, that woman with the mask is the one I invited, she was supposed to be with a man but apparently he did not come such a shame." The sharp eyes of the old woman shifted from Azure Bai to Lucy, who was calmly sitting at a table in the area designed for experts and clan masters. She was sitting alone and wearing a simple dress and her appearance was average, or so the people thought but she had a stunning beauty under that mask. Shishu saw the silver hair and the real face of Lucy but she wasn''t that surprised. In high-Realms, beauties were everywhere, when women reach a high-realm, they can practice techniques that allow them to maintain their youth. There is treasures and ancient items that could do as well. Even Shishu used it back then but she aged after a long time passed as she didn''t break through for a very long time which made her body age as well. "Does they come from a high-Realm? That boy has a perfect control over the Lightning, it''s even better than ''Miya''." "Even I do not know what their origin is, I met them at the Treasure Pavillon and we became friends then. I didn''t see them fight but even without that they had many... many unique and special things about them." Bai Lingyue didn''t say any details but just from the way he spoke, you know he gave them a high evaluation which surprised granny Shishu. "Anyways, it is quite unfortunate that the boy lost, I guess the opponent was a bit too much for him to handle." Listening to her, Bai pondered about the last battle as was unsure of what happened, after remaining silent for a period of time, he spoke telepathically to her again. "About that.... he should have won, I''m not sure if controlling Lightning like that consumes his Nether Energy at a very fast pace or if it''s another thing, but I''m sure he could have won but...." "But what?" "... But he didn''t. It''s whether he purposely lost or he has a very weak defense to not withstand even a simple punch." Bai Lingyue put his hand on his chin and continued thinking about the fight while gazing at Arthur''s figure. He simply couldn''t believe that his assumptions are incorrect as he was never wrong to this degree. Unfortunately, the truth layed before his very eyes. ... Yun sat cross-legged and recuperated some of his energy, the last battle was tough for him as Arthur was not some weakling, he only mocked him like that to not appear weak, he wanted to maintain his oppressive and arrogant attitude to display his might in front of the old ones. After spending 15 minutes recovering and using some expensive Healing Potions he had in his storage, Yun changed his robe and wore another one which was exactly the same. As he finished readying himself, he did not descend from the arena but looked at the top geniuses left from each faction, his gaze only focused the five of them. One was the other genius of the Monster Race, the lich from the Undead Race and the three youths from the three clan alliance. "I wonder if this Young Miss is free to exchange some pointers with me?" Yun was gazing at the green-haired girl from the Lightning Fox Clan, he didn''t recover fully but he could still fight so he chose his next opponent by challenging her. Miya, who was silently sitting at a table with her friends was a bit startled to be picked first, however, she didn''t show it on her face. With a gentle smile, she nodded at Yun and said "If Young Master Yun is fine with me then I would be glad to exchange some pointers with you." As she said that, she got up from her seat and slowly floated toward the arena. She was like a fairy as her long robe fluttered by the passing wind. She had a serene and calm face and held a soft and long white saber. Her floating seemed slow but she arrived on the arrived in the blink of an eye. Seeing that she already unsheathed her saber from its scabbard, Yun took a fighting stance and said "Whenever Miss Miya is ready." Her only reply to him was a quick dash to his direction, purple lightning twirled around her saber but it appeared to be calm and not raging like the normal nature of any lightning. Miya''s speed was incredible as few spectators couldn''t keep up and only saw a purple blur rush at Yun. Seeing the enemy coming at him, Yun punched the air with his gauntlets which created a tremor through the whole arena but didn''t cause any actual damage. No golden light appeared like earlier, not even the golden seal was present, it was only a simple but terrific punch. The wind twisted where the gauntlet punched and a horrifying outburst of wind compressing was created from the punch. It looked like the air was twisting from afar, even the incoming purple snake created by Miya''s slash was sucked in the twisting wind. The calm Miya retreated hastily when she saw that, she didn''t dare get near it as she felt imminent danger from it. No explosion happened, after twisting for a bit, the wind returned to its usual calmness and what was left was the figure of Yun punching the air. After blocking Miya''s attack, Yun jumped toward her with a speed equal to hers. Being the genius she is, it took her only a split second to recover from that powerful attack of his. Purple lightning appeared all around her body and even strands of her hair turned purple. ''bzzt'' ''bzzt'' Lightning sounds rang out in the arena and soon, a 2-meter purple lightning snake twirled its body around Miya''s. It hissed at the incoming Yun. Once he was close to it, it spat a huge purple lightning ball which flew at Yun with insane speed, he couldn''t react in time at it was already upon him in a split second. In such a desperate situation, he lifted both of his gauntlets to defend against the lightning ball but unfortunately, it was futile as the lightning ball sent his body flying high in the air and it quickly invaded his body. Seeing that he was severely injured by the ball and falling to the ground with blood gushing out of a grievous wound created by the lightning ball. Yun bit his tongue to remain conscious and shifted from falling to crazily flying to Miya. She presumed the fight ended and was about to call the snake back when she suddenly noticed the crazed Yun fly toward her. She panicked as it was only a spar and there is no need to injure him any further or he would die, however, seeing that there was no choice, she lifted her white saber vertically and pushed the tip of it on the arena''s ground. Once that happened, the snake turned into a huge purple lightning net that circled above her and formed a huge lightning sphere similar to a net that covered her and Yun. Of course, this did nothing to him apart from imprisoning him inside it but he could care less about that, with a roar Yun punched out again at Miya when he was only a couple of meters away from her. The moment he punched out, the purple lightning compressed in an unbelievable speed and struck his back, the golden robe he was wearing burned and he was pushed on the ground making his punch useless as his gauntlets hit the ground just like he did. While groaning, Yun struggled to stand up but the purple net was pressing against him so he could not retaliate. Seeing his desperate tries, Miya sighed and approached him, she squatted and softly shook her head as if indicating for him to stop but she was surprised to see him show a smirk once she squatted near him. She didn''t know but she felt danger, the purple net that was containing him suddenly enveloped him and threw him outside of the arena, making his body all bloody. ... Seeing this scene, Lucy who was quietly sitting alone took out a talisman from her storage and secretly slammed it under the table. Although she intended not to alert anyone, her actions were instantly seen by Bai Lingyue, who was keeping a close attention to the fight and her at the same time. He didn''t what the talisman did and was curious about why she was doing, he didn''t say anything and remained silent while frowning. No one knew what he was thinking as he gazed at her and the talisman stuck on the table. Miya remained silent but a bit startled by that grin of Yun, maybe it was disgust or her instinct telling her to retreat, fortunately, she reacted before he did anything and sent him flying away from her. Unlike the previous matches, she didn''t remain on the arena and returned to her table, she didn''t want to show off and would only fight when her name was called. People from clan were cheering for her and the Monster Race was feeling a bit gloomy seeing what happened, they were angry but could not vent their frustration as Yun lost fair and square. They were only a bit angry for she didn''t need to injure him this much, especially the last attack, it was too vicious for a fairy like her. No fights continued and after resting for thirty minutes, the white-haired youth from the Monster Race walked up the stage and challenged the lich. This was a fight everyone was excited to see, their attention was fully focused on the fight as the lich summoned some powerful specters that are tough to deal with. These decayed and creepy looking monsters that floated around the lich and damaged the white-haired youth from afar were quite annoying to deal with. The youth surprisingly used a big red bow that shot magical arrows filled with a destructive and unique fire. Fire and Thunder are considered the weakness of all evil, including the specters, so when he continuously shot the almost invisible arrows from that bow, specters were falling left and right. The crow of spectators was cheering for both parties and the battle reached its climax after a few minutes. At such a time, Arthur, who was silently eating some meat for a while ago finally made a move. His body floated close to where Lissandra and the 7 strong figures were sitting. He didn''t float too high to not attract attention. Although he wished not to be spotted, his action was seen by the 7 seven figures, who unlike the others, still paid attention to the surroundings, especially Azure Bai who was intrigued on why Arthur approached them slowly as if he was trying to sneak. Meyzu, who was displeased with Arthur since the beginning had enough of it and glared angrily at the incoming Arthur, he waved his hand as if getting rid of a bug and said "Wh---" Before he could finish, Arthur did something that made him swallow back his words. Countless cylindrical objects appeared around him, they were grey and green in color and had some weird words on them. There was a mind-boggling amount of them as they fell from the air. Meyzu didn''t expect Arthur to do that, he didn''t what they were but just doing this was disrespectful to them so he was planning to punish Arthur no what happens, after what he did, not even Bai Lingyue can help him leave unscathed. Contrary to what the others thought, this was totally intentional by Arthur, he was grinning under the black robe as countless objects were taken out of his storage ring Chapter 103 - 101 : Ruining the Grand Banque Some of the strange objects that appeared fell on the ground and the rest were covering the whole sky, there was an astronomical amount of them. Arthur''s figure could be seen in the middle of them, he was raising both of his arms and gazing at the 7 sitting figures from under his dark hood. Before anyone could react or speak, the cylindrical objects were activated. A white flash so bright covered the whole banquet, no, scratch that, at least the whole city was blinded by the sudden flash. No person could resist the intensity of the light, not even the people at God Realm, there were some exceptions of course, such as the Lich King, who didn''t have physical eyes, so he wasn''t affected but the light still bothered him. This flash didn''t just last seconds and even if it did, it would take seconds for the blinded people to recover as it was just too sudden, especially the weak people at the Deity Realm or lower. Flash Grenade (modified) : After throwing it, the user can activate using the Nether Energy connection with it. Creates a blinding flash that causes ''Blind'' effect for 30 seconds. The blinding effect is lowered when the target''s Realm is higher than the user (5 seconds less for each Realm above the user). Cost : 50 Mental Power The intensity of the flash can be stacked by using multiple grenades. However, the effect''s time would remain the same. In the last few months, Arthur created countless of these grenades using [Lost Magic]. Since he broke through to the Immortal Realm and with a high Mental Power, he became able to create many things that were useful. Flash Grenades were just one of many. Although the people were blinded, they still could open their mouth and speak. Some shouted in surprise and some were enraged, such as the Jizung, who got up from his seat in fury whilst yelling loudly "Who dares!" He was obviously extremely angry as someone attacked them in such an important event. Jizung was the main host and even if nothing occurs, this alone could be considered a huge loss of face for him and his clan. "Don''t panic! Use your ''Nether Sense'' and find the perpetrator!" Meyzu kept a calm attitude despite not being able to see, he ordered the elders and supervisors of the banquet to search for the criminal. But most of the wise ones knew it was Arthur as they saw him coming toward them, but it wasn''t certain yet as they didn''t want to recklessly blame Bai Lingyue. Speaking of Azure Bai, he remained silent and calm as he was sitting near Jizung. First, he frowned as he discovered he couldn''t get rid of the blindness no matter what he did and his surprise intensified when he thought about Arthur''s figure previously as it came toward them and the sudden appearance of the countless strange objects. ''Friend Arthur, what are you thinking?'' He didn''t see Arthur but he knew he was here after this happened, someone like this youth can''t do such a thing and blind people at the God Realm. Just thinking that it was a person at the Peak of the Deity Realm doing that made him greatly surprised. He only thought it was Arthur because there was no enemy willing to do this bold action in the presence of so many strong figures. Since the moment he threw the flash grenades, Arthur didn''t waste time as he rushed toward Lissandra, who was also confused about what just happened. He was not blinded by the flash grenades as he had a connection with them. They were modified so they would not harm the user but contrary to him, Lucy was also blinded for half a minute which was unfortunate but there was no other way. His speed was extremely fast as he flew toward Lissandra while holding a long silver sword in his hand. Aborak, who was not affected much by the flash was able to see the actions of Arthur. He didn''t like the fact that someone as insignificant as this junior dares to do that, so despite seeing him charge at Lissandra, who wasn''t from his faction, he still interfered. It was only a wave of his hand but the force behind it was not something someone like Arthur could handle, he may not die but he would be severely injured. Such actions were predicted by Arthur when he was making the plan with Lucy, all of this was accounted for and when the illusory grey fog created by Aborak was going to hit Arthur something unexpected and even more shocking than the bright flash occurred. Lucy''s previous preparation was not for nothing as more than 20 huge flaming meteorites came flying down from above. Each and everyone was empowered by Arthur''s dark red flames, what''s more, is that these meteorites were way stronger than the ones used last time. The combined pressure of the several meteorites which suddenly appeared out of nowhere completely shocked the audience, especially the strong figures who felt the enormous pressure emanated from them. They were stunned to see them appear out of nowhere as it was impossible for people at the God Realm to not notice them until they were so close. This was yet another skill that Arthur created using some of the Eclipse Magic. He used Spatial Magic, which is a small part of the Void Magic. Spatial Passage (U) : a Self-created skill which hides anything that is put in the small Spatial Passage. It cannot be felt by anyone and can hide any non-living thing for a certain amount of time. Cost: 100 Mental Power (You will lose them permanently and they cannot be recovered) Cooldown: Cannot be used until the user reach the next grade of his Realm. Lucy was previously channeling her Nether Energy to keep the meteorites active so they would not their power inside the Spatial Passage. Such an attack may not hurt people at the God Realm who have a lot of techniques to defend against it, but juniors or other people at a lower-Realm would be totally annihilated by this attack. The whole garden would be burned to the ground if they did not act. "Pretentious!" Jizung roared as he formed a seal in the air, it was a dark green seal which resembled a cobra. Following that, he took an ancient looking black scene and pushed into in the middle of the dark green seal. His actions were the fastest amongst the 6 of them, it was unknown how he managed to see the meteorites but he nevertheless did, Kilan and the others also took out some items and in a split second, the items covered their respective disciples and elders. But Jizung and the others were a bit too late as the meteorites were too close from the start so the damage could not be blocked. ''booom!!'' ''boooooom'' Earth-shattering, deafening explosions resounded in the ears of everyone present, blood dyed the ground and several gigantic red roses burned in the already black-ish garden. The spiritual Riven was nowhere to be seen as it was turned into a fog by the dark red flames. The explosions added to the blinding effect, with some rubbles, dust clouds all over the place, the garden turned into a battlefield and could no longer be recognized as the place where the Grand Banquet was held. Lucy backed away in a corner as she previously aimed the meteorites at all places except the area she was in. Despite being unable to see, it was rather easy to retreat. As for Arthur, he didn''t manage to reach Lissandra in time. The grey fog emitted from Aborak almost vanished by the surprise attack of Lucy but it was not totally deflected. Some of it reached him and sent pushed him to the ground as if a huge mountain was pressing on him. The black robe was not affected but some of his bones shattered to ashes and his skin began melting in a very weird way as the grey fog integrated with it. Not even a single cry came out of Arthur''s mouth, he ignored the damage done to his possessed body and rushed toward Lissandra. The blinding effect for the God Realm was almost over, the time was too tight for him to care about pain or cry out. With the silver sword in his hand, he appeared behind Lissandra and coldly stabbed the sword exactly to her spine. For someone at the God Realm, their bones are one of their main defenses, so he did not have any hope to crush her spine but simply damaging them would be enough. Unfortunately, the stab didn''t even go through her dress, much less penetrate her skin. Some kind of dark green layer was covering Lissandra. The moment Arthur appeared behind her, she instantly noticed him despite being currently blind. When he stabbed and didn''t do any damage, Arthur was planning to retreat but Lissandra was way faster than him as a dark whip was suddenly wrapped around his waist very tightly, crushing his bones and making him unable to move. "Where do you think you''re going? Such insolence!" Lissandra wanted to kill him but she couldn''t as she wanted to know the reason he attacked her and why. She couldn''t see him so she couldn''t know his identity but just by probing him, she saw that he was only at the Immortal Realm. Her cold yet angry voice rang out in his ears, the dark whip she was using tightened around him, almost cutting him in two but he still didn''t emit any sound. The only thing he did was stare at her with thick killing intent coming out of him. Second by second passed slowly as the eyes of the eyes of the God Realm people began to recover, the 20 seconds were almost over. Nothing happened after the explosions but these were enough to cause a huge ruckus as many people died despite the elders using items to protect them from the meteorites. It''s not that the items they used were weak but it was too late for them, if they weren''t at the God Realm then all the people here would have died, with the exception of them and some elders at the God Realm of course. With their eyes recovering and nothing occurring, some began to relax for a bit but that only lasted for a second or two at most as suddenly, another deafening sound rang out. The sound came exactly from where the elders of the Royal Cobra Clan were sitting, more precisely it was where Lissandra was standing. She didn''t think this weakling could hurt her but what she didn''t expect is an extremely thick and terrifying bolt of white Thunder. Yes, it was Thunder and not Lightning and it is the upgrade of the Godly Lightning which became Godly Thunder. It takes more time to generate and it is slower than the previous one but it is much more destructive and terrifying. The bolt of Thunder was even thicker than Lissandra as it came down from above, it is slower than Lightning but it''s still fast, coupled with terrifying pressure and ear-deafening sound it brought, Lissandra''s face changed as she hastily let go of Arthur and backed away without hesitation. Her decision was very fast, in just a second she appeared a distance away from the bolt of Thunder. The white bolt struck Arthur and the area around him, creating dust and a huge pit where it struck. He was not hurt but the ground turned jet black and the pit was several meters deep. Eyes were very important things, even for people at the God Realm. However, they were not everything, such strong figures could sense danger from miles away and don''t need eyes to dodge them but being blinded still affected their fighting abilities. Just when the bolt of Thunder struck its target, the vision of the people at the God Realm was finally recovered. They were dumbstruck by the sight in front of them. If one called it a battlefield, no one would rebuke him. With part of the ground dyed red and the other jet black, adding countless big and small craters, the sight couldn''t be more dumbfounding. The red roses were still burning and emitting intense heat as they burned the ground even further, the meteorites were all over the place and some elders were hurt by them as even with the protection of the powerful six, they still received damage. "What the hell..." Granny Shishu couldn''t find words to describe what she was feeling, the first thing she did was ascertain the safety of Miya, but since she used her wooden statue of the lightning fox to create a barrier around Miya and the juniors, nothing happened to them, fortunately. Even Bai Lingyue had widened eyes and full of disbelief as he gazed at the flaming roses and the destruction, then his gaze shifted to where the last explosion occurred, exactly where Arthur was currently standing. His eyes landed at Arthur, he saw his terrible state but what was more astonishing is that he was emitting thick killing intent which was directed at an elder of the Royal Cobra Clan. Not only Bai saw that, Jizung, Meyzu and the rest also saw that, their first guess was that Arthur was the one who did all of this and it was fairly obvious. "You!! You''re courting death, boy!" Jizung was the first to act as he suddenly vanished and appeared in front of Arthur but the latter''s eyes were still focusing on Lissandra without minding Jizung. As if the situation couldn''t be more surprising, 2 Ice lotuses appeared behind Lissandra, who was gazing at Arthur with anger, rage, and curiosity. The sudden appearance of the lotuses startled her but didn''t scare her, the next thing she saw was the cold blade of Lucy coming straight at her neck without slowing down or stopping. She sensed that Lucy is only at the Immortal Realm, however, Lissandra felt imminent danger from this attack. A book suddenly appeared in front of her, it was suddenly opened at a specific page and a creepy black hand stretched out of the book to block the cold blade of Lucy... Chapter 104 - 102 : Fusion The cold and icy saber of Lucy struck the creepy black hand that came out of Lissandra''s book. The hand was started to freeze from the cold tip of the saber but it suddenly moved and shattered all the ice, what''s more, is that it deflected Lucy''s saber and made her retread a few steps. Some blood leaked out of her lips as this strange black hand was weird and strong. She didn''t hold back in the last attack, moreover, it was a sneak-attack yet Lissandra blocked it easily. The difference between them was truly great. Having suffered in the last exchange, Lucy didn''t retreat, instead, she rushed at Lissandra yet again. The Ice lotuses behind Lissandra started blooming slowly and rotating, each one flew at one of Lissandra''s sides while Lucy took out ''Burning Fate'' and held in her left hand while wielding Twilight''s Vow in her right hand. Ice and Fire attacks were launched by Lucy, she successively slashed down with her two sabers without stopping, the purple fire raged and cold and freezing Ice rampaged as she went all out against this woman. She had a deep hatred toward Lissandra and if not for Arthur reminding her to not try to kill her, she would expend her Soul Essence to finish her. Although he said not to kill her, even if Lucy wanted to, killing Lissandra is impossible but if she could injure her then it''s more than enough. Lissandra was alarmed by the aggressive attacks of Lucy but what''s more aggravating is those two lotuses. They were blooming very slowly but the damage they are doing to her is not a joke! Some of her bones began freezing from out of nowhere and even her Meridians began shaking. She was a person at the God Realm and the enemy was at the Immortal Realm, this was a huge disgrace to her clan and especially to her and her pride. A dark whip conjured from her Dark Magic appeared, she held the whip and slashed at Lucy, but that was not the end. In place of two hands, a sharp claw appeared out of the book and stabbed right at Lucy''s heart! The two simultaneous attacks were very strong and someone such as Lucy couldn''t withstand both of them. Seeing death approached, Lucy crossed both of her sabers in front of her chest and mumbled "Shatter!" Her two blades shined with purple and Icy-blue colors, they intersected and created a cross-shaped slash that went against the whip of Lissandra. As for the sharp dark claw, it was met with the two lotuses which appeared in front of it and shattered instantly into countless pieces. The explosion created by the lotuses was very destructive as Lucy was pushed down high in the air whilst coughing blood. Lissandra retread three steps as her whip clashed with the cross-shaped slash of Lucy. What was surprising is not the explosion of the Ice lotuses but this weird slash that contained a minor fusion of two opposite attributes! Once the whip and Lucy''s attack struck each other, the whip shattered into dark matter and vanished, as for the slash, it continued its way and hit Lissandra. Fortunately, someone such as she, had a protective layer that was fairly strong, coupled with the treasures she wore, her defense was very good, even for someone at the God Realm. Yet even such defense was penetrated by that small but weird slash of Lucy. Blood leaked out of Lissandra''s lips as she stared at her, exactly where Lucy was floating. You could see deep hatred and rage in her eyes but there was a mix of fear. For some in the Immortal Realm to injure her is considered nonsense but it just happened, moreover, in front of so many strong figures. Even Jizung, who was about to kill Arthur, was momentarily surprised as he was looking at the blood leaking out of Lissandra''s lips. He first thought it was some kind of act,but Lissandra was a very proud character, she wouldn''t humiliate herself like this. "You.... who are you? Why are you attacking me?" Lissandra didn''t know why Lucy attacked her, although she saw her true appearance, she didn''t link it with Lucy as it was impossible for such an insignificant and weakling person like the couple from Astria to deal this much damage to her. Her first guess was that she provoked a powerful sect from one of the higher-Realms and they sent an assassin or someone to finish her. However, as far as she knows, she never did anything like that. Although she was a very proud person, she wouldn''t act arrogant in front people who have a powerful background. Back at the stage, Bai Lingyue stood up from his chair as he was looking at Lucy with disbelief. He had a good impression of her and knew she was very strong, but to fight against Lissandra and injure her? That''s not something you see every day. Heck! If someone said that, no one would believe him unless they witness what just happened. Everyone was amazed by Lucy''s prowess but no one knew that she used a bit of her Soul Essence in that last attack. To simply fuse Fire and Ice is impossible for her current self, so she forcefully did it which resulted in a backlash and some internal injuries. "Hey Bai! Did you say this woman is your friend? Do you know what she just did?" Granny Shishu secretly contacted Bai Lingyue as she cared for him. No one could harm him despite what Lucy and Arthur but that didn''t mean that the criminals would be left alive. She knew him since a long time ago and knew his character, he would always help his friends so if he interfered, it would be troublesome for her as she is from the alliance and had to stand against him in such situation. "She is, but I never saw her fight nor do I know why she and that boy did that." His voice contained a hint of surprised and uneasiness. Even someone with his status may not be able to rescue them. Hearing Lissandra''s question, Lucy remained silent as she gripped both her sabers. Two Ice lotuses appeared beside her and rotated with fast speed. "Not willing to talk? I guess we''ll have to force you then!" Lissandra then turned her gaze to the elders and harshly said "What are you dazing for? She''s an enemy and dared attack an Elder of the clan you are still watching? Help me capture her." It was totally shameless to say that, for several elders at the God Realm to gang up on Lucy would be unfair. But since she was the one who attacked first and caused so much death and destruction, no one opposed or commented on that. Moreover, Jizung was in front of Arthur, so he(Arthur) couldn''t help her. 4 shadows flew toward Lucy, they were all old men and they exuded terrifying pressure that weighted down on Lucy, who had a pale face. Shattering the Ice lotuses and that slash drained her a lot, she was facing a God Realm so it was not easy to fight equally with Lissandra even for a couple of seconds. If 4 more God Realm figures were added, there is no way she could cope as she would be instantly killed or captured. Despite knowing the situation, Lucy remained calm and stood there, watching the five of them attack her. The four old men were not like Lissandra, they appeared near Lucy and launched their attacks, willing to finish Lucy but Lissandra was a bit hesitant as she just exchanged some attacks with Lucy and knew that she was not simple as to let them all attack her like that so she purposely slowed her speed to watch the situation. Her guess and uneasiness were on point as when the four old men were just about to finish Lucy, something unexpected occurred. Just a couple of meters above Lucy, two meteorites engulfed with black flames came down from above, bringing with them an intense pressure and a weird, yet chilling heat. However, what''s strange is that these two seemed to be flying for some time yet no one noticed them till now. Even Jizung frowned as he saw that, he couldn''t sense them at all. He started to think about other possibilities such as the existence of another enemy! If she was not the one who created them then it must be another hiding enemy. His eyes started shifting from one guest to another but he knew all of them and he was confident that no one was brave enough to oppose all of them but if that was the case, then how does this Immortal Realm woman able to do that? The meteorites were too close to the old men, it was too block, much less avoid them. The dark red flames already reached them. The heat was intense and the burning flames were merciless as they started burning their clothes and diving into their skins. It was fortunate that it couldn''t penetrate their layer of defense around their body but this was just the flames, what was to come is the meteorites which were more dangerous! Jizung, who saw the two meteorites, was prepared to act but deep inside, he knew that it was impossible for him to save them from the impact and more importantly, this strange youth could not be left alone. No one from the other factions interfered, first because they enjoyed the misfortune of the Royal Cobra Clan, especially the enemies like the Monster and Undead Race, secondly because it had nothing to do with them. It''s true that Lucy and Arthur attacked all of them but it was shown that their target was specifically Lissandra. Lissandra was confused as she tried to remember who she provoked, she was fortunate as she didn''t go with the elders but she still felt a bit of fear from Lucy. For someone in the Immortal Realm to be capable of doing that is simply terrifying. As her thoughts were in a disarray and surging forth trying to find a solution, a weird or more precisely a crazy thought crossed her mind. It seemed impossible at first and completely idiotic to even think about it but she nonetheless did. Her eyes gazed at Lucy''s silver hair and unique facial features and seeing this only confirmed crazy guess. "N-no.. it couldn''t be...It can''t be her!" At such a time, the two meteorites struck the four old men, three were hit by the first one and the last one who somehow forcefully shifted his body to dodge it was struck in the back by the second one. You could hear bones breaking and the screams of the old men but more importantly, in such a situation. The surprised Lissandra heard a cold but gentle voice ringing in her ears. "What if I say it can?" The source of the voice was not a male but a female. Just as she heard that, Lissandra saw a black flash aimed at her neck, it was too sudden and just looking at the attack made her feel an instinctive fear that created a shiver down her spines. She knew death was approaching and she was at its door. Chapter 105 - 103 : Deceived The soft sword of Miya had a tinge of darkness as it slashed toward Lissandra''s neck. Its sheer speed was something that made the target baffled as she subconsciously lifted her dark book to block it. This time, not a hand or two came from the book but a horrifying and ugly head, it had black skin and no teeth, its appearance literally couldn''t be creepier or uglier. The head opened its mouth as it wanted to swallow the sword whole but it couldn''t as the weapon was too strong. The strike was successfully blocked, once Lissandra was going to breathe a sigh of relief another dark and long sword was stabbed at her right shoulder. This time, not even her protective layer could withstand it, blood gushed out from the injury and the sword didn''t meet any resistance. As the fights between the two powerful figures are about to begin. Kilan, Aborak and Bai LIngyue are still calmly watching what is happening. No one commented or lifted a finger. As for Meyzu, he appeared in front of ''Arthur'' to replace Jizung, however, he was not as kind as Jizung as he stretched his hand to cripple him to get rid of any future unnecessary trouble that would perhaps come from him. The person who did this was surprisingly Miya, who is the genius disciple of the Lightning Fox. She wielded two swords, one was her sword and the seconds was... Makaze! Granny Shishu didn''t notice the sneaky movements of her disciple, only when Miya attacked Lissandra did she notice the disappearance of Miya from the specific area of her clan. Her normally sharp and piercing eyes were wide open as she stared at Miya, Granny Shishu was astonished by this, even Lissandra didn''t understand what is happening. Miya could not be a traitor or an enemy of hers but she nonetheless attacked her, which made her confused. She hesitated as she was not brave enough to attack her, if she killed Miya, her clan would not stand still, especially the clan master. "What are you doing?" Lissandra''s panicked and confused voice was totally ignored by Miya, who had an expressionless face. She gazed at Lissandra and twisted Makaze to inflict even more damage to her enemy. Arthur already used Natural Lightning and managed to slip some of it in the wound created by Makaze. He possessed Miya since the time she fought Yun. Going back to his fight again Yun, he managed to successfully posses Yun as he killed him instantly by the Natural Lightning. It was hidden in his last strike with the Thunder explosion and it burst the young master''s heart. He remained hidden and acted as if he was Yun to not attract any attention. Contrary to what he did to Yun, he didn''t kill Miya but simply possessed her. It is impossible to possess her in a normal case, but he, fortunately, got a new skill when he broke through and that''s what allowed him to possess her. Possess, possess and possess (U) : As long as the target is within 2 meters of the user, the user can possess him for a certain amount of time. Cost: -1 million to all stats(The stronger the enemy the higher the cost) (Cannot possess God Realm and above) Cooldown: None With this cheat skill, he possessed Miya and stayed dormant inside of her for some time, only when the clash of Lucy and Lissandra began did he fully take control of Miya''s body. He could feel her resisting his possession but she seemed to be locked in some kind of cage in her consciousness. Even she, didn''t know what the hell is going on but she kept attacking the cage. Too bad it was futile and it only exhausted her Mental Power even more. Natural Lightning invaded Lissandra''s body and with Arthur controlling it, it began breaking her Meridians and attacking her Dantian, attempting to destroy it completely. Due to her being two Realms above him, his Natural Lightning couldn''t even damage the Meridians, much less the Dantian so they moved to the bones and tried inflicting any damage to them but it was still useless. He was still too weak to damage her internally. Arthur let go of the soft sword of Miya which was being blocked by the creepy head. What replaced her sword was a short dagger that was purple in color and devoured the air around it. It was made from the Void Magic, however, this was only the beginning. At the same time that the dagger appeared, black chains conjured from Dark Magic appeared around Arthur''s waist and wrapped around Lissandra''s waist in a split second. Coupled with [Dark Burst], Arthur struck his dagger to the creepy head and used Makaze which was in his left hand to stab further into Lissandra''s new wound. Lissandra didn''t stay still when he did that, but due to her being used in attacking with Dark Magic, she instinctively used it and a black demon head opened its mouth to eat Arthur. The result was not something she expected, the dark demon head didn''t even scratch Arthur, it actually seemed to strengthen him as the chains which were wrapped around her waist tightened and became bigger and longer. "I-it''s you!!!" She could feel the power behind the chains so she immediately recognized it but what stunned her is that she could not resist it. She was a person at the God Realm, it should not be possible to restrict her movements this easily, even for Arthur, but what she didn''t know is that because she''s a Dark Magic user and because Arthur is considered the original source of Dark Magic, she''s like a part of him, or more like, a toy. He forcefully used the strong connection that the Dark Magic had with her to weaken her and make her vulnerable to him. The only reason he was struggling to capture her is that despite her being weakened, her body wasn''t. She was in the God Realm, after all, her physical body is extremely strong. The Void dagger cut through the creepy head as if it was butter, it''s as if the head didn''t exist, it was engulfed by the humongous absorption force coming out of the purple dagger. Makaze slashed at the other shoulder of Lissandra, but due to her being expecting this slash, the dark blade only managed to cut some flesh off her. "Do you think you can hurt me? See how I''ll skin alive that girl of yours!" Lissandra''s look changed as she yelled at Miya. She didn''t know how he did it, but she knew it was him as no one but him could use Dark Magic. He was the only one besides her subordinates who could use such powerful Dark Magic. Her current guess was that he was controlling her from a distance, her eyes shifted to ''Arthur'', who was standing in front of Jizung. Lucy, who took down the elders with the help of the meteorites, flew toward Lissandra as her blood red eyes were staring intensely at Lissandra. Her two Ice lotuses were formed again and circled around her, snowflakes appeared out of thin air and her strongest attacked was launched at Lissandra. It was not an offensive or a defensive attack but a restricting one. It imprisoned the target in an Ice domain that deal continuous damage and froze them the longer they stayed in it. The elders she took down were obviously not dead but they were seriously injured. Such meteorites took her quite a bit of time to prepare and maintain unlike the normal ones, their damage was immense and was enough to get rid of them for some time. With the Ice domain of Lucy and the black chains around her waist, linking her to Arthur. Lissandra was not in a favorable position. Although she was attacked by their combined attacks, that didn''t mean it''s the end for her. The black book shined with a black light and a creature similar to scepter but way darker and visible appeared out of one of the book''s pages. The creature screeched and bit down on Miya''s shoulder. Its mouth was not large but once it bit down on the girl''s shoulder, it took a big chunk of flesh and gore with it. Arthur felt the agonizing pain as this bite was not ordinary, he felt drained of his Nether Energy and weakened. You received the debuff ''Death Specter Drain'': -70% Nether Energy Recover / -50% Nether Energy (2 Minutes) -15% Health "Miya!!" Granny Shishu couldn''t stay still after she saw that, no matter what Miya was doing, she couldn''t let her receive heavy injuries and just watch from the sidelines. The Granny transformed into Purple lightning Fox and with a speed uncomparable to Arthur or Lucy, she flew toward Miya but someone appeared in front of her and blocked her from proceeding further. It was Jizung, for some reason he stopped Granny Shishu from helping Miya. "Granny! What do you think you''re doing?" "What do I look like I''m doing? I''m going to help Miya!" Granny Shishu had no time to argue with an old geezer like Jizung. She waved her hands dismissively and bypassed him. But what she didn''t expect is that a dark cobra the size of a hand leaped at her and hissed dangerously. Fortunately, she was not someone who is inexperienced, before the cobra could get close to her, it was vaporized by her purple Lightning. "Old Ji! You dare attack me?" This time, Granny Shishu''s aura turned ferocious as she looked angrily at the old man. Responding to her, Jizung chuckled and shrugged his shoulder whilst saying "The disciple Miya has committed crimes and should be properly punished. Perhaps she is from allying with an alien race or one of our enemies." It was obvious that Jizung didn''t think like that, but he just said that to stop Granny from interfering. Miya was attacking one of the elders of his clan, that in itself is too disgraceful. If she is saved by Granny and nothing is done to her, it would be like slapping his clan in the face and getting away with it. "If you don''t get out of my way right now, you''ll regret it, old Ji!!!" Granny didn''t listen to what he said as she neither cared nor wanted to care. Miya was her granddaughter and she wasn''t going to let her be hurt because Jizung wants to keep his stupid pride. Chapter 106 - 104 : All Ou Before the outstretched hand of Meyzu reached ''Arthur'', he transformed into a dark nebula in an instant. Even Meyzu was dumbfounded by the process, one second ago he was looking at a black-robed youth and the next one there was no youth or whatsoever, only a floating black nebula that emanated an ominous aura. A drop of blood came out of Meyzu''s index, just as it came out, it enlarged to an insane degree until it became the same size as the weird nebula. The blood pool was beast''s mouth, it started taking bites from the nebula but no matter how matter or how long the mouth bit down the nebula, nothing happened. It was if the nebula didn''t exist there. "W-what''s this?" Meyzu was confused as he could not feel anything from the nebula, it was neither a treasure or an attack, it just stood there, floating peacefully. ... The garden was destroyed beyond repair and the fight between Jizung and Shishu made it even worse. Purple Lightning and green seals accompanied with a dark cobra attacks damaged the surroundings. The juniors could not follow the two with their eyes as they were too fast, the only thing they saw was green and purple sparks. One thing was noticeable is that Granny Shishu held a slight advantage. She was oldest out of the three leaders and she was at the God Realm the longest. They didn''t go all out but they didn''t hold back either. Lightning raged as it struck the ground and turned into black ash, pillars fell and tables were turned into nothingness. As for Jizung''s attacks, they were simple but oppressive, the green seals were like poison as they melted everything they touched and the cobra would spit some gas that suffocates the target and sucks the vitality out of them. ... ''We must hurry'' Arthur saw that the situation worsen and decided to wrap things up. Once Miya''s body is damaged, the Granny won''t hold back but he was not so ruthless to cause the young girl to be crippled or even killed. He was using her, yes, but he never wanted to ruin her future. With her and Lissandra being chained, he would be able to temporarily gain the Granny''s protection for she will not let her disciple get killed by Lissandra or any person. A small black whirlpool appeared next to Miya, who finally regained her senses. What appeared was a wolf, a big silver wolf. "...Eh?" Miya was surprised as she sensed that she was unable to move, moreover, she felt a heart-wrenching pain coming from her shoulder. In front of her stood Lissandra, who was bombarded by Lucy''s attacks and imprisoned in her Ice domain. Lissandra defended against Lucy but she couldn''t pay attention to Arthur as Lucy was very crazy, she would attack and abandon all defense. Whether it''s her book or the Dark magic, nothing was useful. To begin with, her Dark Magic was ineffective as a Dark Barrier was around Lucy permanently, since Arthur''s Dark Magic is way stronger than Lissandra''s, she wasn''t able to shatter it. She could only use her clan''s green seal techniques but they were much weaker than Dark Magic. Seeing the silver wolf appear, Lucy silently nodded her head and backed away. Her two Ice lotuses rotated near Lissandra and fully bloomed, activating the full potential of her Ice domain. The chains around the two women tightened and wrapped them from the waist to the upper half of their chest. Miya could barely breathe as her face was pale. "Miya!!!" Granny Shishu could not pass Jizung as he used his tricky moves to lock her there. Seeing Miya''s condition, the old woman could no longer hold it. Killing intent emanated from her sharp eyes as she stared at Jizung. "Old Ji! If you don''t move out of my way right now, I''ll abandon all thoughts and go all out against you!" The sleeves of her robe turned turned purple and her hair long white hair became filled with small and twirling lightning streaks. A purple and majestic Fox appeared behind her, it was a bit illusory but the pressure that it emitted was real and domineering. "Granny! You''re letting emotions rule you. You are one of the three leaders of our alliance! Rules should be followed and whoever crosses them must be punished. Even clan masters are no exceptions, by attacking me now, you''ll be considered a traitor!" "Traitor? You say that as if you never broke any rule. Don''t make me state every wrong thing you did, that is something neither of us wishes to hear." With a sneering tone, Shishu looked at him mockingly and pressed her hand to her forehead. The dark night was filled with purple Lightning as endless bolts of lightning enveloped her. The fox roared and leaped at Jizung, who had an ugly face after he heard what she said. "You asked for it!" Just like Granny Shishu, a big dark cobra appeared behind Jizung, it looked creepy and some black gas was coming out of its illusory body. Contrary to the domineering aura that the fox emitted, this cobra had a very cold and chilling aura around it. The cobra hissed at the incoming fox and dived at it with its mouth spitting green gas. The fight was only between the two of them but the collateral damage reached the juniors and even Arthur, who was some distance away from them. ''Not good'' Not only did they to fight seriously, Meyzu abandoned the black nebula and appeared in front of the silver wolf. This silver wolf was only Lv850, Arthur possessed it some time ago and kept it because it was exceptional. From all the corpses he possessed, it was the only one that activated many passives that are related to beasts. He could also use Nether Magic and skills with it, so it was his perfect form. The silver wolf turned into a green lightning wolf as Arthur activated [Transcendence] but that was not the only skill that was activated. The passive of the light moon wolves, the passive of snow wolves, the passive of poisonous snakes. hundreds of passives were activated and his stats rocketed by leaps and bounds. The aura around Arthur changed as black flames burned on his body, he was a mass of green lightning and black flames as he clashed with Meyzu. All that was seen was a red shadow clash with a mix of green and black shadows. Arthur did not hold back anything, Gigantic dark red flames raged through the sky and countless dark spears rushed at Meyzu, who deflected them with a blood red long sword. His blood magic was terrifying as it engulfed everything in its way. "You.... who... what are you!!!" Meyzu exchanged a few hundred attacks with Arthur, who did not lose one bit to him. He was unable to sense the Realm of this wolf. Weird attacks flew at him, from burning flames to strange and small purple orbs that ate his blood. The Void Magic was very effective against any other magic so Arthur countered with it whilst slashing at Meyzu with his claws. A dozen or so skills would be used at once and his Nether Energy reserve is depleting very fast. With a loud howl, Arthur used [Faster Than Death] and appeared behind Meyzu, then he bit down at the enemy''s shoulder. His sharp and long fangs mercilessly cut through the red-haired Meyzu and penetrated his skins. "Arrrrrrrrrrgh!!!!" A loud scream was heard as various poisons and effects were hidden in those fangs. The stress on Arthur was too overwhelming but he still endured it and pressed his fangs further. Blood flowed from Meyzu''s injury but it did not fall down, instead, it transformed a fog. "You''re dead! I don''t care what you are or where you came from but you''ll die today!" Meyzu shook his body violently to get rid of the big wolf that was biting his shoulder ruthlessly but no matter what he did, the wolf won''t let go of him. He even tried stabbing the wolf but the creature didn''t react, no blood came out of the stabs and it seemed as if he dealt no damage. As he was holding Meyzu, dark red flames ignited from his fangs and started burning the insides of Meyzu but just as Arthur did that. The atmosphere around Meyzu had a dramatic change. Like the two other clan masters, a figure appeared behind him, it was very big and looked like a Blood Asura! Thick killing intent was coming out of it, but that was not all, the blood stench around it was not something like Miya or any other junior could handle. Arthur obviously saw the fight between Jizung and Shishu and knew that these illusory figures are extremely strong and probably the trump cards of these clan masters. Although he was alarmed, he didn''t let go of Meyzu, he bit harder and used both his claws to cling to the target. With the empowered body and the Natural Lightning, it should have been easy to cling to Meyzu just like he bit his shoulders but by the next second, Arthur''s body was sent flying from above. He crashed violently on the ground, he didn''t even see what happened and only felt a tremendous force pressing down on him. Meyzu was descending from the sky while coldly looking at him, he had a sinister smile and the Blood Asura was behind him, emitting an overwhelming pressure. A huge chunk of Health disappeared from Arthur''s bar, he disabled the pain so he could fight better, the stress from all those accumulated skills brought a heart-wrenching pain, so such injuries were not enough to stop him. A simple glance to the side allowed him to see a 30 meter long Ice-blue and purple bow. The bow didn''t emit any pressure or didn''t do anything, it just silently floated there near the Lucy, who was concentrating on completing the bow. The bow was almost complete and Lissandra was captured, all he needs now is to retreat with Lucy and co. With the big wolf''s body, Arthur opened its huge mouth and aimed it straight at the incoming Meyzu. Fortunately, Meyzu was an arrogant prick and thought he had just won because he summoned his Blood Asure, so he didn''t finish things fast and dive at him with all his speed, or else Arthur could not resist. While channeling his Nether Energy, a grey orb of energy appeared in the wolf''s mouth. It started increasing in size with a fast speed in just a couple of seconds, its size was the same as the wolf''s head. Arthur didn''t look at Meyzu a second time as he spat the orb from the huge mouth, the grey orb was thrown straight at Meyzu and at the same time, Arthur left the wolf''s body and teleported a distance away. It has to be said that the mysterious orb''s speed was not something Meyzu expected, it was even faster than Arthur while using [Transcendence] and possessing the wolf''s body. The red-haired man raised his sword to block and the Blood Asura opened its closed eyes. A bright red light appeared in its cold eyes, a strange and ear-deafening sound came from the illusory Blood Asura. Meyzu was engulfed in a big blood wave that covered the whole sky, the wave was like an unpenetrable wall in front of the orb, which looked very small in front of the blood wave. Even Jizung and Granny Shishu stopped their fight as they heard the sound of the Blood Asura. "Meyzu is using his Blood Shura?" Jizung frowned as he found it unbelievable. There should not be an opponent for Meyzu to be serious, except the two other Race leaders and Azure Bai of course. But none of them would be so stupid as to fight Meyzu in such situation, so old Ji was curious on why Meyzu used his Blood Shura and on whom. ... Back at the stages, Kilan frowned as he saw Meyzu summon his Blood Shura. He saw the strength of the wolf but it was not enough for someone such as Meyzu to use his summoning. It''s true that the mysterious wolf was an odd and dangerous entity, but it can be dealt with easily if Meyzu was cool-headed. "Ahhhh, that Meyzu must have been angered to use that..." "You''re the fool. That wolf is not ordinary, it uses very weird attacks. Not even your strong fur could withstand its flames or those spears. You''re not in his position so you can''t tell the strength behind those unoriented but ferocious attacks." Aborak snickered as he heard Kilan, they were old friends but he rarely talked. Silence ruled over again as they continued to watch. When Arthur launched his grey orb, Kilan furrowed his brows and was ready to act. Meyzu was one of his dear friends and he could feel a very strong engulfing power behind that small orb. It may look harmless at first but it was beyond dangerous. "Friend Kilan. The weather is wonderful and the sight is amazing, we should relax and enjoy the show." Bai Lingyue''s calm and friendly voice awakened Kilan, he felt an invisible pressure press him down. Seeing that Bai Lingyue was guarding him, he couldn''t help Meyzu, he could only force a smile and remain sitting. Chapter 107 - 105 : Nothing Can Stop I The grey orb that Arthur threw passed through the blood wave created by the Blood Shura of Meyzu. It passed through it as if it didn''t exist, moreover, its speed was not something Meyzu could cope with. The red-haired Meyzu was confident in his blood wave and didn''t expect this insignificant attack of Arthur to pass this easily. The reason he executed blood wave to block it is that he didn''t feel any energy from this orb and that''s what''s alarming about it. The fatal and deadly attacks are the unseen ones, the ones that come by surprise or burst from nothingness. Arthur had already arrived behind Lucy. The two of them took the usual stance as if they were pulling the string of an invisible bow. Contrary to Lucy, Arthur''s preparation only needs a couple of seconds to conjure and this one is different from the last one. At the same time that a black and purple arrow was being created at an insane speed, the orb passed through the blood wave and was just going to hit Meyzu. With no time to launch another technique, Meyzu raised his blood red sword to block the incoming orb. Everyone was expecting a huge clash or some kind of an explosion, however, none of that happened as the orb shifted its direction at the last second. What clashed with Meyzu''s sword was a big flash grenade triple the size of the original one. Arthur didn''t hesitate as he willed it to explode which created a blinding flash. Because the grenade very close to Meyzu, he was affected the most by it, but it won''t be like last time as his eyes brightened with a red glow and the Blood Shura behind him shot two blood rays to where the grenade exploded. This happened very fast but it managed to gain enough time for Arthur to finish what he was doing. Surprisingly, the grey orb which frightened Meyzu was now merging with the bow and sharp purple arrow. It was the last touch of the arrow, it transformed into a feather at the end of it. It was a long grey feather which added the speed and pressure of the combination of bow and arrow. Unlike any other attack, precisely the [Heavenly Arrow], this one only contained pure Dark and Void Magic. It was not the merging of the two but they were separated with the Void Magic being the core of it and the Dark Magic only at its edges. It has to be said that its aura was too horrifying, not only Meyzu was astonished, even the calm Bai Lingyue was frowning and had a worried look as he gazed at the sight. Tables, grass and even the ground was being pulled to the arrow, big and small wind whirlpools were created around it and sucked the air itself. Some of the juniors were forcefully pulled towards it, if not for their elders which created several barriers, they would be engulfed by this monstrosity. Arthur and Lucy had their eyes closed and were focusing on the attack, at any second, they could let go of the invisible string of the bow and launch the arrow. Heavenly Arrow [Void] has been completed: +1200% Damage (Guaranteed crit) Defiance Orb (buff) : +250% speed / 4 million damage/s (15 seconds) Nine Star Bow (Add) : +400% speed / +400% damage Complete Sync with the target (Lucy : Soul Link) : +40% to all stats for 2 minutes. The sky was no longer the same as even though Arthur didn''t add the Lightning to the bow, clouds appeared and a storm was about to ravage this place. Not even the clouds escaped the engulfing power of the Void Magic. "T-this..." No matter how old or strong he is, Meyzu could not help but feel fear from that arrow, especially when he saw it was pointing at him. It was fortunate that Meyzu was in the same direction as Granny Shishu and Jizung, so this final attack could slow them down. Arthur did not have confidence in killing them alone or even with Lucy, but at least, this attack should be able to deal some damage to even people at their Realm. Conjuring the bow and the arrow, coupled with the feather, it almost exhausted all his Nether Energy. As for Lucy, after using this attack, she can''t fight anymore, so this has to work or else they would have to abandon Lissandra. "Y-you.. I don''t know who you are or why are you attacking one of the elders of my clan, but we can talk this out, your attack may not injure us but the juniors have nothing to do with this." Old Jizung had already stopped fighting the granny after seeing that arrow, it was not the time to fight amongst themselves when they have one common enemy. Although he said that, Jizung still felt fear from that this thing, the ground, and the sky were being sucked out by it, it''s not something to just block or dodge. He knew that the moment he tried to move or attack suddenly, Arthur would not hesitate on letting go of the arrow, so he resorted to the peaceful talking. "T-that''s right! You came for the little girl right? She''s still alive, I''ll lead you to her, she''s safe!" Lissandra was panicking as she not only was unable to move, she also felt that her Energy was being drained by the chains. Seeing this sight, and the power of the couple, she didn''t hesitate in trying to calm them down. That arrow struck fear to every single person present, even Bai Lingyue was unsure of being able to withstand that. He recognized Arthur after he appeared, although he saw him wearing a big hat at the Treasure Pavillon, he still had many techniques to see what''s under that hat. Arthur had a different hair color but the rest was the same. He was still curious about why they would do this, but what surprised him the most if their power. For a mere two Immortal Realm couple to cause this much damage in the presence of so many experts is unheard of! Arthur opened his eyes while still holding Lucy''s hands from behind and maintaining the same stance. He completely ignored Jizung and coldly gazed at Lissandra. Never did he think about what he said, he just wanted to make things a bit faster and make sure she absolutely gets captured. In the middle of the sky, just a bit under him and Lucy. A bottomless and jet black circle appeared and from it appeared two huge bone dragons. They were not that powerful, only at the first stages of the Spirit Realm but they were more than enough for their designated job. The two dragons bit down on the chains wrapped around Lissandra and Miya then they flew off behind Arthur. They didn''t stop and continued to fly outside of the garden. No one stopped them, not even Jizung, who had burning eyes as an elder from his clan was captured and abducted under his eyes and he couldn''t do a thing to stop it. Everyone knew that if any person moved, that arrow would be released, so the figure of the two dragons disappeared onto the horizon and only when they vanished from everyone''s view did Arthur relax a bit. He ordered the two dragons to head to the Abyss Valley, at that place, none would dare to venture recklessly. "Now then, I would like everyone to let us go but I don''t think it''ll be that easy, huh?" Arthur spoke casually as he stared at Meyzu and co. The attack was still ready to be released and every second its prowess is increasing. It was absorbing everything, including the Mana and Nether Energy in the air. If it isn''t shot after some time, Arthur and Lucy may lose control of it. Void Energy is strengthened when it absorbs something, even a small grain of sand may strengthen it but that increase is almost non-existent. However, if it''s like this arrow and it absorbs too many sands, air, Energy and so on, it would increase its power second by second. "If you stop what you''re doing and calm down, we can discuss this rationally. Don''t be rash." Aborak''s illusory and black figure appeared a distance away from Meyzu. He felt it too and didn''t want this arrow to be released or else it would be too catastrophic. He may be able to dodge in time or find a way to block, but all the juniors would perish, including the ones from his Race. He could not stay still and just let it go, after all, no matter how unconcerned he was about the people from his Race, he can''t let them die under his eyes without lifting a finger to save them. "Right right, listen to your elders. There is no need to be so violent." Kilan joined the fray, he slipped through Bai Lingyue as the latter ignored him completely after the purple arrow appeared so he grasped this opportunity to fly next to Aborak. Granny Shishu didn''t say anything but you could see she wanted Arthur to stop, she didn''t speak as she was afraid that she may anger Arthur and Lucy and make them kill Miya. It was apparent they only aimed for Lissandra but they used Miya to cause trouble between her and Jizung. "Don''t be a fool. You two can''t face five of us at the same time. The moment you release that ''thing'' would be the moment you guys signed your death contract. Think carefully." As Jizung was speaking, a dust cloud was formed above the bow, it was the signal Arthur was waiting for. He only needed to add the last touch to their attack to make it more complete and add to its power. ''boooooom!'' ''bzzzzzt'' ''boom'' Several thick thunderbolts struck from the dust cloud. It seemed like a huge tornado that spun above the bow. It was like doomsday for the spectators as the arrow''s length became wider and countless thunderbolts were exploding around it. Endless white thunderbolts struck from above, the bow became bigger and the pressure increased by leaps and bounds. With Lucy, this was the strongest Arthur could use, it may not exhaust all his Nether Energy but it was not far off from that, adding the stress he felt a bit earlier, if he turned the pain immunity off, he would collapse immediately. "Friend Arthur, it would be unwise to attack them, no matter what you are planning, this is their territory and you can''t possibly run from that with your Realms. If you stop right now, I may be able to save you and I promise you I can guarantee your safety." Bai Lingyue spoke telepathically to Arthur as he knew it won''t end well for both of them. Albeit seeing the power of this attack, he still thought it won''t be a good idea to make all of them their enemies. he had a special status so he could somehow fix things up a bit but if they dare attack, even someone such as him would be unable to save them from their fate. "Fighting one God is already exciting, so fighting five at the same time would be even more thrilling, what do you say, Lucy?" Arthur smirked as he held Lucy''s hands and gazed at the five figures not far away from them. "En! I''m sure it''ll be an unforgettable experience." The moment Meyzu, Jizung and co heard Arthur say that they knew it was too late to try to reason with him. Each person had a beast or some kind of humanoid figure appear behind them. A Lightning Fox behind Shishu, a black Cobra behind Jizung. The Blood Shura of Meyzu shined with a bright red light and an ugly and rotten dragon roared and circled around Aborak. As for Kilan, an illusory White Tiger image much bigger than the rest of the images appeared behind him. Bai Lingyue stared at both parties and couldn''t help but sigh and shake his head ''This is madness!'' He knew the arrow couldn''t kill them, but for someone as powerful as him, he knew they won''t bet unscathed and simply facing it head-on is too idiotic. But they are clan masters and Race leaders with high pride and a lot face, simply dodging or escaping is too shameful, or so they thought. ''TING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'' The ear-deafening sound of the string being let go by Lucy and Arthur''s hands were heard by everyone present. The sound was just too loud but that was nothing compared to what happened next. It didn''t seem like an arrow but a huge mouth that ate everything in its way, the dark and gloomy sky shattered, thunder explosion resounded everywhere and a loud howl emanated from engulfing attack. Each one of the leaders used their treasures and special techniques to block the arrow and stop it from advancing but none of them ever expected it to be this horrific. Once it was too close to them, they felt their Nether Energy being forcefully absorbed and even the fantom images behind them started fading due to the overwhelming Void. Once Arthur and Lucy released the arrow, they disappeared from view as they turned around and left with fast speed. They used their Spirit Boat as it was the fastest way and in just a split second, only a rainbow-colored light was left behind them. ''BOOOM'' As they were flying on the Spirit Boat, they head endless explosions from the city, it literally turned to hell as thunder struck from the sky and the arrow advanced without anything that can stop its destruction. The first one who was struck was Meyzu, the closest one to it, he was not killed but his whole left arm vanished. It was not cut or chopped off, it just disappeared from existence as the thing which struck him wasn''t stopped by his strong barrier or tough skin. Against it, he was like paper, but that was not the end of it, one of his Meridians was bent and compressed to a terrifying degree, making him immediately drop one Grade. His bloody body was sent flying to the ground, smoking from the Thunder explosion and bleeding profusely because of the Void and Dark Magic in the attack. All the five God Realm leaders were struck but only Meyzu suffered the heaviest injuries. Aborak was the one who was almost unscathed, followed by Kilan. Shishu had a fist-sized hole in her abdomen and Jizung was even worse and the right side of his head was burned and you could even see bone. They were all sent flying and crashed heavily on the ground. They focused their barriers and techniques on the juniors so most of them suffered, only Aborak had a special way to protect himself and the juniors from his Race. Despite their efforts, the arrow still struck a specific area. From the beginning to end, it didn''t even stop for a second and what was agonizing was that the whole elder area of the Royal Cobra Clan vanished. No blood, no explosion, nothing. There was a gigantic hole in that area and there were no sights of the elders. Some of the juniors of Meyzu''s clan disappeared too. The arrow had already disappeared but thunder explosions still occurred all around the area and the huge dust cloud was still spinning slowly high in the sky. "This is....." Shishu gazed at the huge hole in the ground with wide eyes, no sound or nothing was emitted from that it when it struck its target, this only made it much more terrifying. It could be said that they were injured just because the arrow passed next to them, if it was aimed at one of them, especially Meyzu, he would have been crippled or have disappeared like those elders. "*Cough* ...*cough* those fucking two! I''ll kill them!" Meyzu was in a very bad state as he continuously coughed blood. Blood gushed from his shoulder and his face pale but despite that, he used his sword to get up and gazed at the direction Lucy and Arthur ran off to. "We must not let them get away, everyone, catch them!" Jizung was the one to act as he transformed into a green light that flew toward the South, where Lucy and Arthur. Aborak, Kilan, and Shishu also followed. Chapter 108 UPDATE @@ So, quick notice, I found out that I posted less than half of the actual chapter (chapter12), it is now fixed and a lot of things are clearer. I thought it was a misunderstanding but due to numerous people saying something is missing, I had to re-read from the beginning, thanks all and sorry for this dumb mistake.@@ Chapter 109 - 106 : Desperate Situation The couple''s mean of escape was their Spirit Boat which they bought from the ''Treasure Pavillon''. It was amongst the fastest Spirit Boats, whether it''s its quality, speed or even decoration, everything about it was superior to normal or even high-class Spirit Boats. Such Spirit Boat is one of a kind, even people like Meyzu and co who are at the God Realm may not have like that. To begin with, once you reach the God Realm, you can easily teleport a distance away from your current location. Same goes for these powerful figures too. But what they didn''t expect is that Arthur had already prepared a counter-measure for that, before escaping or even when coming to the Grand Banquet, he put several talismans that disabled teleportation. Albeit restricting their special teleportation, Aborak, Kilan and the rest still managed to catch up to them with unbelievable speed. They didn''t immediately reach them, however, slowly but surely, they were getting close. Lucy was breathing heavily as she sat up on the Spirit Boat and tried to recover some Nether Energy but it wasn''t possible as she consumed too much. Fusing the two opposite attributes, conjuring the bow and launching the arrow, a single of those three would normally make her exhausted. What''s more is that she fought for some time against Lissandra making her even more mentally tired and unable to even move properly. Arthur''s Nether Energy depletion is much slower than her as he had many passives and skills to limit its decrease, nevertheless, with so many attacks covered from the view and the use of [Heavenly Arrow], he wasn''t in his best shape. Especially if he disables the pain immunity, he would instantly collapse from the unbearable pain he is receiving by the countless activated passives. Normally, activating so many passives should not hurt like that, but when he possessed that wolf''s body and activated them all at once, because their number was just too great and they changed many things, his body nor soul could handle such change. Unlike his wife, Arthur stood at the back of the flying boat and gazed at the 4 beams chasing him. Aborak seemed to be the closest, he gazed lifelessly and coldly at Arthur and waved his cane and creating a grey cube. The cube didn''t attack Arthur or his Spirit Boat, instead, it enlarged at a very fast speed, its size kept increasing endlessly. At one point, it has covered the area around Arthur and the other 3. Unfortunately, Arthur could only stare at the cube with a wary look, he knew to fight would be meaningless and futile so he concentrated on injecting all his Nether Energy on the Spirit Boat to make it fly faster. He even took out precious Spirit Stones and used them. Even the big Red Spirit Stones were useless but once he put one of the gems and bright stones in that special chest, something mind-boggling and unexpected happened. The Spirit Boat literally vanished from the four''s sight, it didn''t just disappear into thin air, it''s just that its speed was far to great, it broke through the grey cube and became a rainbow-colored beam that lasted for merely a second or so. "T-that Spirit Boat.... is it a Godly Item?" Kilan had a look of greed as he saw the speed of the Spirit Boat, he was not worried that they would escape as he and the other leaders were personally chasing the enemy, there is no way they could escape even with a fast Spirit Boat. Godly treasures are extremely rare, even for him, he only had one Godly treasure and it must be used only in emergencies, which is clearly not the case right now. "It''s not the Spirit Boat but what''s channeling it..." Aborak eyes were as lifeless as ever, but contrary to the others, he was not angry over what happened, no one beside him knew why he was chasing after Arthur but one thing was for sure, unlike the others, he didn''t want to punish or kill them for what they did. Jizung''s face became uglier as he saw the Spirit Boat disappear, he didn''t remain calm like the others. An illusory and big black Cobra appeared behind him, the beast hissed as its two eyes shined with a green color. They were ominous and creepy to look at. Jizung''s speed increased by several times, he surpassed the other three and began to catch up to the Spirit Boat of Arthur, but all he could see was the faraway light left from the enemy''s Spirit Boat. Whilst gritting his teeth, Jizung performed several seals in the air as he was flying, each seal was green and had an ancient aura around it. In total, he created 8 seals and every one of them floated behind him and landed on the black Cobra. Once they touched the black beast, its size increased by two-fold at the very least. It was like a small black mountain, but that was not the only change. the old man Jizung became like a green beam that whistled in the air. His speed couldn''t be compared to the previous one. "That geezer.. why is he stubborn, sooner or later we will catch them. No matter what they are using to fuel the Spirit Boat, it''ll end and at that time we''ll catch them yet Old Ji is willing to resort to such means.... does he know them?" Granny Shishu was feeling unease, confusion, and suspicion as she pondered about Jizung''s behavior. Shen never saw the grey-haired man or that woman, so abducting Miya was probably to make her fight Jizung. It was obvious they didn''t want to fight with her clan, but just their actions made them her archenemies as Miya was her precious granddaughter. ... In no time, a green beam appeared behind Arthur''s Spirit Boat, Jizung laughed madly as he closed in on them. He didn''t need to act calm when no one was around, moreover, he was very enraged by what Arthur and Lucy did. Destroying the garden and ruining the banquet, attacking his clansmen, abducting an elder under his very eyes and then escaping, if this isn''t a slap in the face I don''t what know what is. Arthur tried putting more of these mysterious gems but after using the first one, the boat didn''t accept any other for some odd reason. Jizung was closing in and was half a mile away and every second that passes he becomes closer and closer. "It''s better for you to stop chasing, there is no way for a mere Immortal to escape from me!" Jizung roared and waved his hands, creating hundreds of finger-sized black snakes that rushed at the Spirit Boat. They were biting the air and creating a disgusting sound. A green fog came out of their small mouth, their bodies twirled in the air and their speed was insane. In an attempt to block that, Arthur could only create several big sized fireballs conjured from ancient flames to try and smite these dangerous little things. There was nothing his flames can''t burn, as long as he is powerful enough, anything can be burned to ashes. The fireballs hit the black snakes and burned most of them but because there was a lot of them, some of them managed to slip between the flames and strike the Spirit Boat. They didn''t attack Arthur and started biting the Spirit Boat, eating it and becoming larger in size everytime they took a bite. Arthur didn''t waste time as he used basic lightning to kill them, their size became very large due to biting too much of the Spirit Boat but the good thing was that he managed to kill them all. Unfortunately, by the time he breathed a sigh of relief, Jizung was already a dozen of meters away from the Spirit Boat, the huge black Cobra was still hovering behind him and hissing at Arthur while emitting the same green fog the small snakes did. Arthur knew that Jizung needed only one attack to destroy the Spirit Boat and once the others arrive, there would be no hope of escaping, much less taking Lissandra with them. He turned toward Lucy and softly said "You know how to control the Spirit Boat, use the gems in this chest and wait at the place we agreed upon." Arthur didn''t wait for her to reply, a storage ring was thrown toward her. Lucy didn''t try to convince him, she just gripped the storage ring and dropped her head down while clenching her fists. She was depressed as she couldn''t aid him and could only escape. She wasn''t idiot enough to blindly stay there and hinder him so she just sat there silently without saying a word or moving. As for Arthur, he jumped off the boat and faced Jizung, who was coming straight at him. Makaze was already at hand and in just a second the sky darkened as White Thunder was going to strike and hundreds of dark spears were aimed at the old man. He didn''t even pause for a second as he rushed at the black robbed Jizung and slashed down with Makaze, [Dark Burst] and [Void Magic] were used in that slash as to maximize the damage and slow down the old man for even a second. The slash was indeed strong, too strong, it would have hurt Meyzu or even Jizung if he didn''t use those strange seals on the black Cobra. But there were no if''s in this world, the reality was cruel and life is always unfair. Makaze couldn''t descend further as it was blocked by Jizung''s black sleeve. It was unusual for Makaze to not be able to cut through something, especially a simple sleeve, but that only showed how strong the old man was compared to Arthur. Arthur''s wasn''t fazed by this block, a purple Void sword was conjured in a split second, Arthur used his left hand, which was holding this purple sword to stab at Jizung''s Dantian. To no avail, this stab was yet again blocked by the other sleeve of Jizung, moreover, the green fog emanated from the black Cobra reached the purple sword and made it shatter into countless little fragments. Not only that, several notifications popped up indicating that Arthur''s Health is rapidly decreasing. The poison was too strong and it drained his life second by second. "Quite ruthless huh? Aiming at my Dantian without hesitation." Only enemies who would despise each other to the bones would aim for the Dantian and cripple the opponent, Arthur''s second strike clearly indicated how indifferent and cold he was toward his enemies. He and Jizung could not be considered archenemies yet he struck at the old man''s Dantian, that in itself showed what kind of person he was. Nonetheless, whether he struck his Dantian, heart or brain, Jizung didn''t pay it any heed as it won''t change his opinion on Arthur, in fact, it just worsened by a huge margin. He was a cultivator first and a clan master second, there were unspoken rules in high-Realms and not striking the Dantian is one of them. If the Meridians are hurt or broken, they could still be healed even if it''s near impossible but if the Dantian is destroyed then it''s practically impossible to recover. You would become a mere mortal with a very weak and fragile body, you could even say that a simple gust of wind could kill you and that''s not even an exaggeration. The Dantian is created when one reaches the Immortal Realm, but before tha,t it also existed in another form, it was only in a dormant state. The Immortal Realm could be considered its awakening. Simply destroying it would make the body exposed to any sickness no matter how trivial it is, a punch would deal more damage to that fragile body and even a simple cold can end its life. For someone like Jizung, Arthur''s actions were obvious. An invisible and forceful pressure pressed on Arthur and sent him flying until he crushed on the ground, blood came out from several bloody holes in his chest and shoulders. He looked very pathetic and haggard. Jizung''s first goal was to retrieve Lissandra, so with a final glance to Arthur, he turned around and chased the Spirit Boat. "Oh no you won''t!" Arthur roared as white Thunder struck down from above, several thick white bolts shot toward the black Cobra. Whether it''s a an evil spirit or a manifestation, he guessed that Thunder would hurt it and it actually did! Although the damage was minimal to the huge black Cobra, it still roared painfully and stared with dagger eyes and anger at Arthur. Jizung was forcefully stopped as he sensed that the black Cobra was enraged. The white Thunder didn''t stop as it kept striking the Cobra, moreover, Arthur threw the grey lantern toward the beast, creating even more explosive Thunder. The whole area was covered in countless white lines which created deafening explosions, the black Cobra writhed and roared. Channelling the white Thunder was too consuming for Arthur yet he didn''t stop, he noticed that some blood leaked out of Jizung''s lips and his complexions whitened a bit. Finally, the black Cobra couldn''t take it, an enormous green seal appeared above it and acted like an impenetrable barrier that blocked all the lightning. Following that, Jizung accompanied by the Cobra appeared in front of Arthur and striked. A green fog entered his body and a fast hand struck his abdomen, it penetrated his skin and bones and made blood gush out endlessly. Arthur maintained an expressionless face, he couldn''t feel pain but he saw his Health decreasing so without hesitation, he created a miniature Heavenly Arrow. It was the size of a normal arrow and was made from Ancient Flames and Void Magic. The pressure was not something to laugh at and it conjured just in front of Jizung, who was freaked out from the arrow. He retreacted his hand and backed away, only until he was a hundred meters away from the arrow did he relax. No matter if it''s small or not, its terrifying might earlier was imprinted on his mind, he can''t be careless around it. Seeing that, Arthur smirked and waved his hand, sending the arrow at Jizung. Far away, 4 beams could be seen coming their way with the one leading being Aborak. Chapter 110 - 107 : Warning The situation wasn''t looking good for Arthur as all the powerhouses arrived. Even a single one of them could deal with him, so for him to deal with all of them is not only impossible, it''s absurd! The arrow''s speed is unmatchable even for someone like Jizung, fortunately for the old man, his Black Cobra intercepted the arrow and blocked it before it could strike him. The Black Cobra seemed to be the main strength of the old man so it wasn''t destroyed by this small arrow, nonetheless, it still received quite the damage. Albeit it is an illusory phantom of the Black Cobra, blood came out from a small hole created from the arrow. The blood was green in color. Jizung''s complexions turned paler and he couldn''t help but cough a mouthful of blood. If the arrow hit him, although it''s a lot weaker than the last one, it would have damaged him greatly nonetheless, which proves how strong the Heavenly Arrow from earlier. It was fortunate for him or any other leader that Arthur aimed at the elder area of the Royal Cobra Clan. If it was aimed at one of them, it would have been hard to escape unscathed. Heck! Meyzu was heavily wounded by it although it just passed close to him, such power is not something that can be neglected or blocked. Void Magic had always been one of the most mysterious laws, not only is it lethal, it is hard to control and even the user can be injured while using it. What''s more surprising is that the people that can use it are extremely sparse. It was as apparent as the sun that the Heavenly Arrow was made from Void Magic mainly, that gigantic pit created by its impact is the most indisputable fact. Jizung had confidence in dealing with Arthur but he still feared the Void Magic, he didn''t want to take any risks so he shielded himself with the Black Cobra. It may have injured him but it''s way better than receiving the piercing power of the arrow head-on. ... As Arthur floated silently in the air, 4 beams of unique colors appeared around him. Granny Shishu, Aborak, and Kilan, each of these three leaders appeared around Arthur. Only Bai Lingyue stood a bit farther. It was too late to help Arthur, not only did he kidnap Lissandra, he made all the leaders lose a lot of face and such thing is unforgivable by such people who cares a lot about face. "Brat! Where is Miya!" Granny Shishu was not a patient person, when she only saw Arthur and no signs of the silver-haired woman or her granddaughter, a sense of panic and uneasiness surged through her. Before Arthur could even reply, Jizung''s old and angry voice was heard "That woman took your disciple and Lissandra on the Spirit Boat, if you go now you may be able to catch up." Jizung wanted to get Lissandra back but he gave up on that as Arthur simply angered him too much. If he didn''t deal with him right now then he better crawl into a hole and never come out of it because of shame. More than half of his clan''s elders disappeared, one of the powerful elders got abducted under his eyes and the banquet he hosted got literally obliterated into black ashes and resembled a bloody battleground currently. Hearing the answer she was waiting for, Granny Shishu was not willing to listen to Arthur anymore and prepared to chase after Lucy. At such a crucial time, Arthur finally decided to break his silence and speak at last. "You should be Senior Shishu, right? As long you don''t try to obstruct my way, I can promise you that your disciple won''t suffer anything." Arthur didn''t look in his best state, not only was he mentally exhausted, his clothes were a bit disheveled and his grey hair was messy from all the previous fights. It was better to call it a final struggle better than a threat, nevertheless, Shishu didn''t chase after Lucy and just stared angrily at Arthur. "Hmpf! Why should I believe a shameless brat like you? You used me earlier and you could be using me right now too." Granny Shishu wasn''t like Jizung and co, losing face or whatnot didn''t matter as long as Miya was alright. It''s true that Arthur caused havoc in the banquet, but if he really would not hurt Miya, for the sake of her granddaughter, she would back off just this time. "Granny! What are you hesitating for? Don''t fall for his threats! Go chase that Spirit Boat and get Miya and Lissandra back, he can''t do anything to stop you." Jizung''s loud voice snapped the old woman out of her daze, she stared at Jizung then shifted her gaze at Arthur, she was still hesitating as maybe chasing the Spirit Boat will lead really lead to Miya''s death. With uncertainty and hesitation, she kept staring at Arthur, who in return just shrugged his shoulders and casually said "I''m not going to beg you, if you chase the Spirit Boat or try in any way to block me, I can guarantee you that you''ll never see that girl ever again." Arthur was really not bluffing, if Lucy saw the Granny chasing her, she would not hesitate on killing Miya, the girl may be innocent but that has nothing to do with her, from the very beginning, neither her nor Arthur were kind people. Innocent people die every day. What''s more, if Arthur got captured, Lucy would undoubtedly try to save him but not after she kills Miya and get the information needed from Lissandra. Arthur and she had already discussed this and saving Saly took the utmost priority. Everyone remained silent and only the dripping blood from Arthur''s countless wounds resounded in the surroundings. The Black Cobra was healing at a rapid pace and Granny Shishu kept frowning as she intensely stared at the white-haired man. After an unknown amount of time, Granny Shishu flicked her sleeve in annoyance and floated near Bai Lingyue, clearly indicating her response. The once who didn''t expect this the most was Jizung, he stared dumbfoundedly at the old woman, his eyes were full of disbelief and confusion. No matter what is the situation, a person at the God Realm like Shishu, with unfathomable strength shouldn''t back off just because the other party said one or two words. "Granny Shishu! Did you go nuts or what? A few words from the enemy made you back off? Did you forget you are a clan master and should also follow the rules?!" The old man''s face became uglier than it already was, he was extremely angry and couldn''t understand why would she act like that. Granny didn''t retort to Jizung and merely kept a silent attitude whilst locking eyes with a calm Arthur. All of this was very beneficial to Arthur as buying more time meant recovering some Nether Energy and Health. Even a second could allow him to recuperate even the slightest bit of Nether Energy, no matter how insignificant it is, it would still be helpful in such a situation. He got rid of Granny for the time being but there was still three and by the look of it, neither Kilan nor Aborak will listen to him and back off, even if he had a disciple of theirs, they wouldn''t stop. One could say he was lucky to capture Miya as Granny seemed to care for her too much. "Playing time is over, how about you go back with us..." With a chilling smile, Kilan approached Arthur whilst a white tiger phantom appeared behind him, it was more domineering and frightening than the Black Cobra. Golden chains that were as thick as a human''s waist appeared out of nowhere and wrapped themselves around Arthur from his legs all the way to his chest. What surprised Kilan is that he met no resistance whatsoever, even Jizung was dumbfounded by this as he expected Arthur to retaliate. ''Could he perhaps have really given up?'' Such thoughts invaded Jizung''s mind but they were all rejected as after all he has done, it''s certainly impossible that he would give up but in such situation, surrendering would be the safest decision so he was confused... From start to finish, Aborak didn''t utter a single word but that didn''t mean he stayed still, with a wave of his hand a cubic black cage made from black bones appeared around Arthur. Grey fog seeped out of the bones and the smell too pungent. Arthur felt as if thousands of mountains are pressing on him but even such godly techniques can''t block him using magical skills such as Dark Magic and such so that''s why he let them restrict his movements. What he is going to do is too dangerous and it''s certainly not such seals that are going to stop him, he had the system that helped him use the skills in a more efficient way, some skills only need to be spoken or thought of to launch them which made it more advantageous to him. "What are you going to do now? Arrogant bastard... with two godly seals put on you, there is no way in hell you''re escaping from us!" While Jizung was rejoicing by the fact that Arthur was captured, Kilan and Aborak were feeling unease as they noticed Arthur calm attitude. He was too calm for someone who has been captured and sealed by their powerful techniques, it''s too strange! Arthur turned his head to look at Azure Bai and Granny and smiled, from outside, it looked only like a small but secretly, he used a one-time use talisman that allowed him to transfer his thoughts to a specific target. Creating this talisman required too many materials so he didn''t make any, which is why he rarely used them. "Senior Bai, Senior Shishu, it''s better if you evacuate right now, if it''s right now, you may be able to make it...." Arthur didn''t say anything further than that, from their point of view, it sounded like he was telling them to save themselves but if you look at the situation, it''s quite funny from his part or so would think normal people, but not Bai Lingyue. Adding his calm attitude despite being captured and his warning right now, it absolutely certain that he has something up his sleeves, a trump card and not a weak one at that! One has to know that even when he used the Heavenly Arrow with Lucy, he didn''t tell Bai Lingyue to escape, so what he is about to do could be more dangerous. Bai Lingyue''s guess was on point as Arthur''s preparation had already began since the time the four of them arrived, he was concealing the attack while it is being readied. If the Heavenly Arrow is his strongest attack then this once could be considered his most dangerous and lethal attack, even to himself. He was unwilling to use it in the presence of Lucy and it would undoubtedly hurt her if not instantly kill her, same goes for him but in such a desperate situation, he had no choice but to use it and hope for the best. Perhaps his godly recovery or insanely high stats would allow him to survive but one thing for sure, even people like these leaders cannot escape unscathed from this, it impossible and that''s because Arthur had already tested a weak version of the attack and the result was mind-boggling. Several days ago, at the mountain range they were secluding themselves in, nearly twenty mountains were obliterated with no remains of them except huge boulders and rubbles. Arthur was hurt, he lost his whole left arm but it recovered in a matter of minutes, the astonishing thing is that he only put so little energy in the attack and yet it dealt so much damage, it''s fortunate Lucy was not near him when he experimented with it. ... Bai Lingyue''s calm face turned serious and after gazing at Arthur for a couple of seconds, he showed one last friendly smile before vanishing into a multicolored fog, Granny Shishu also vanished with him. They disappeared secretly without emitting any noise whatsoever because they were behind Aborak and co, they were not noticed yet which made it even better for Arthur. Chapter 111 - 108 : Rizaki WARNING WARNING!!! ''Just screw off!!'' Countless warning notifications appeared in front of Arthur as the skill was being prepared inside the Spatial Passage. It didn''t take a long time to be readied but it even that small amount of time is precious for him as the enemy won''t let him prepare when they see it. Rizaki, previously named Rinotsu, a skill Arthur received when he arrived at the Itas continent in Astria. From the moment he received he was never able to use it even when completing the two requirements. 1 million intelligence and the use of Spatial Magic were easy to achieve when he possessed countless corpses but albeit achieving them, he wasn''t able to use it. Just like that mysterious scepter that he found with Zodiak, this skill is extremely unique. When it was used in the fight back then, although it was done by a very weak individual, the damage was unimaginable. It was precisely this skill that destroyed the twenty mountains. The skill transformed into Rizaki but he still could use a simplified version of the skill which is Rinotsu with the help of Wind Attribute. Arthur knew that using Rinotsu would deal damage to the surroundings but it would most likely not hurt any of those three even if by chance it did, the damage won''t allow him to escape as he needed them completely unable to chase after him if he survived the impact, that is. Rinotsu relied on Wind Attribute, by compressing a certain volume of air into a volume way smaller than its original size then suddenly letting go of that compressed air, it''ll create a devastating explosion. A simple Rinotsu managed to rip off his whole arm and injure him here and there so Rizaki must at least deal twice the damage. Rizaki(U)(Active) : Compress a volume of a certain attribute(No attributes currently) or pure Nether Energy into a small ball then open the ball and create an explosion. WARNING: Can hurt the user. Cost: 150 Mental Power (Lost permanently) Cooldown : 1 Week. Silence ruled the area as the chains tightened around Arthur and the cube made of black bones was also decreasing in size. Arthur was suffocating, even breathing became harder but all of this was totally futile as he was wholly concentrating on finishing Rizaki. ''ting!'' A small sound was heard by Arthur, it was the signal he was waiting for. He lifted his head and gazed at an empty air not far away from him. His actions were obviously noticed by Kilan, Aborak, and Jizung but all they saw was empty air and nothing else. They inspected it with their Godly Sense but they still felt nothing, the only conclusion they could come up with is that Arthur was messing with them. After all, if they, people almost at the Peak of the God Realm couldn''t feel anything from that area, then obviously nothing was there. "Hmpf! Captured yet you still dare to mess with us?" A long green lance appeared near Jizung, the old man floated next to Arthur and struck the green lance into his chest. The move was ruthless, what''s more, is that the lance was purely made of condensed poison that was created by the gigantic Black Cobra. Jizung was expecting a painful shout or at least something from Arthur after he struck with his poison, after all, the poison was very lethal and painful. It would melt the skin then the bones and muscles, it was a slow yet agonizing process. The moment the poison entered his body, it was definite that he will die, the question is when? Jizung had total control of the poison, if he wanted, he could kill Arthur right now but he couldn''t, it''s not just him that needed Arthur if he killed him now, he had to deal with an angry Lich King and a howling White Tiger. The strike of Jizung was indeed painful but for Arthur, who disabled the feeling of pain, it only managed to take a big chunk of his Health. Blood flowed from the huge hole created by the lance. The green weapon was melting on Arthur skin and very soon, all the chains were dyed red. "Don''t kill him." Aborak noticed the situation and saw how Arthur''s body was filled with holes and slashes, it was a miracle that he was still awake and alive. He had to say something to stop the enraged Jizung as unlike him, he didn''t want to kill nor torture Arthur, he needed him for something else. Kilan kept a calm attitude and merely gazed at what''s happening, a smile was hanging on his face as he stared at Arthur, even he, had his own agenda and wanted something from Arthur. WARNING! You have dropped to the Deity Realm! ''As expected huh?'' After using so many skills that permanently took his Mental Power, it''s bound to drop him a whole Realm as, to begin with, he was only at the Immortal Realm 2nd Grade. Arthur turned his head and coldly gazed at Jizung whilst speaking at last. "See you at hell." Immediately after he muttered those words, a blinding flash covered the whole area, not just where Aborak and co, but the light stretched for thousands of miles. "Senior Bai, what is the meaning of this?" Whilst Granny Shishu was trying to get an answer on why Bai Lingyue forcefully took her with him, the bright light suddenly appeared and even managed to force both of them to close their eyes. Bai Lingyue''s hands turned blurry and in just a second, a shield as big as a mountain appeared, the shield strongly resembled the one that Gobu used but it was way more majestic. The shield was golden and managed to block the flash for Shishu and him. "I''m saving you from that." With a serious expression, Bai Lingyue channeled his power to try and block what''s about to come. The distance Arthur crossed was not short when he escaped from the city. Yet even the people from the city saw a flash at the horizon, it didn''t reach them but they still saw a flash that resembled a divine punishment. The light was just the beginning, what followed was the true hell. As the flash blinded Aborak and co, they couldn''t see what''s happening, but them being ancient experts, each one of them took their most precious treasures to block whatever is going to attack them. Their fear from the Heavenly Arrow was present and even though Arthur was just in the Immortal Realm, the power he showed off is at the very least at the peak of the Divine Realm. The closest ones to the impact were Jizung and Arthur, followed by Aborak and Kilan. No sound came at the beginning as winds whistled and a heavenly explosion occurred. Arthur felt his Meridians burning and Dantian shaking heavily, he could feel his body being sent flying far away but he still could feel the explosion following him. He was not the only one that was flung far away, Jizung and co were sent flying, each took out a Godly defensive treasure yet all of them were injured with no exception. Because Aborak was a Lich and with mysterious treasures, he was the one who managed to stabilize himself but he still couldn''t stop his body from being pushed by a terrifying force. "Thi-this is not someone at the Immortal Realm could do...." .... Lucy, who was riding the Spirit Boat and escaping to the designed destination, turned her head as she saw a bright flash cover the sky and ground. It was blinding and bright, she couldn''t focus her pupils on them. What followed that was an explosion that made the flying Spirit Boat shake. Because the Boat''s speed was extremely fast, she was not hurt by the explosion but some winds still reached her and made the boat shake violently, it even made it deviate from its direction and almost made it crash into a tall mountain. Dust and wind were twirling everywhere and an ear-deafening explosion rang in every person who was near the explosion. Even people at the cities heard that explosion. It was not wrong to call it a divine punishment carried by a true God who was angry at someone who disobeyed or ridiculed him. Blood flowed out from Lucy''s ears as she covered them, there was no serious damage but the constant ringing sound was still present inside her head, no matter how much Nether Energy she channeled, she couldn''t get rid of the ringing sound. For a couple of seconds, she couldn''t hear a sound, it''s as if she literally became deaf. For people who were in close proximity to the explosion, such as Aborak and Kilan. Their Meridians were heavily injured by the sheer force of the sound waves emitted from the explosion but that was nothing compared to the damage they sustained from the explosions. At a far away place from the explosion, the middle-aged man from before, who was reminiscing his time with Zodiak was awoken from his deep thoughts. He gazed at the North while frowning. Although the distance was unimaginably great, he still was able to see what was happening, the bright flash followed by the explosion and the deafening sound waves. His frown deepened and after a while, he sighed and muttered. "Too many guests cause trouble nowadays... seriously, they can''t keep themselves at check." Then he waved his hand in annoyance and closed his eyes to rest as he couldn''t bother with it anymore. Although it was only a wave of his hand, an invisible barrier was conjured around the whole perimeter of the explosion, it completely blocked it and stopped it from advancing any further. No matter how much force was behind the explosion, it couldn''t penetrate the barrier or even shake it. This was a good thing for the nearby cities or travelers but a bad thing for the ones inside the barrier as the explosion multiplied because it couldn''t expand further. It''s like it had a mind of its own. Shishu gazed at the surroundings and saw the destruction of ancient mountains, rivers turned into white fog and the ground was no more. If it wasn''t for the big golden shield that Bai was using to defend, she would have been heavily injured if not killed. "After all... who are you really, friend Arthur.." Whilst using all his Nether Energy to block the incoming damage, Bai Lingyue was trying to guess Arthur''s identity, to cause this much destruction with his attack, even someone such as him can''t do that. What''s more surprising is that a crack formed at the far right edge of the golden shield it was a small one but it stretched for a couple of meters. This made Azure Bai gasp and hold more admiration and curiosity for the couple, especially Arthur. .... An hour has passed and the explosion didn''t stop, the intensity decreased by a fair amount and it was possible for the likes of Aborak and co to move inside it but only while using defensive treasures and with a slow speed. As for Arthur, he was currently layed on the ground with a huge pool of blood under him, his eyes weree tightly closed and he appeared like a dead person. It was a gory and horrifying sight. He didn''t have his lower half and his left arm, moreover, he didn''t appear to be breathing. Arthur was quite lucky as he was flung at the edges of the bottom pit, his body struck the invisible barrier in the explosion and he luckily landed on a small land that wasn''t annihilated by the explosion. Anyone that saw him would definitely think he''s dead. The fortunate thing, even when he''s unconscious or half dead, the recovery was still present and steam came out of his stomach as his body was healing itself on its own. Slowly but surely, his waist and legs were being healed and created from nothingness. .... After three full hours, the explosions stopped and was what left was only a deep and dark pit that no one could measure how deep it was. It was like a bottomless abyss, cold and chilling was emitted from it and the more you dive deeper the more uneasy and fearful you feel. All that Aborak, Kilan and the rest could see was total darkness, there was no longer any mountains, rivers or valleys. The mysterious barrier that blocked the explosion from expanding was a spheric shape so from afar, you could see a gigantic dark hole that covered at the very least a thousand mile. Arthur was not the only one that was hurt, Aborak lost his skeletal left arm and Kilan was better off as he covered himself with some special white fur that deflected most of the damage, apart from cuts and wounds here and there, nothing was done to him. As for Jizung, blood flowed from his forehead and made his face look creepier and scary. He had an ugly expression as he roared loudly, one of his Meridians was permanently burned to a crisp by the pure Nether Energy and he dropped 2 Grades. It couldn''t be worse, literally. His body was full of blood and he was stinking of the usual blood stench. It has been 1 hour since he recovered a bit and since that time, he never stopped searching for Arthur as he knew that even the user couldn''t escape unscathed from such explosion. The place was filled with dust and it was very hard to see but with their Godly Sense, it''s pretty easy to search for living beings. Jizung tried probing what''s deep into the bottom abyss but he felt nothing except an extremely chill and a since of fear. He was not the only one that was searching for Arthur, Aborak and Kilan were contacting each other and searching everywhere. After what he did to them, there is no way they were going to give up chasing right now. Although they were endlessly searching, their searching speed was too slow because of their injuries, someone like Jizung was slowly floating in the air. He would even stop for a couple of seconds to cough mouthfuls of blood. Chapter 112 - 109 : Mission; Protect Arthur Time was tight for someone like Jizung, who was searching for Arthur. He should be resting and recovering from his injuries and not expanding Nether Energy and using multiple techniques to find Arthur. The reason is, if he didn''t kill Arthur or at least torture him to his heart''s will, he(Arthur) will become a knot in his heart, like a demon that stops him from advancing any further in cultivation. He already dropped two whole grades so it''s obvious that his clan will suffer a lot, in fact, it may even be kicked out as most of the elders disappeared and he became too weakened because of the explosion. The only was who was almost unscathed is Granny Shishu and Azure Bai, who used the golden shield. Kilan was also managed to avoid danger, he was currently flying with high speed with Aborak on his left. Both of them used techniques to locate Arthur. Since the area of the explosion was within the range of their techniques, it didn''t take them long to find his location, it was to the far north of the bottomless abyss. Jizung was slower than them as he couldn''t use high-levelled tracking techniques or else he might drop more grades, his Nether Energy is already depleted so using more techniques would make things much worse. The situation is becoming worse for the unconscious Arthur as there was no sign of him waking up any time soon. His body was still healing itself but unless someone forcefully tried to wake him up then he would remain like that. ... The first person who found Arthur was the Lich King and Kilan. They didn''t recklessly dive ahead and strike him as it was too idiotic after what happened. He was layed unconscious with a pool of blood under him, he looked in a very miserable state yet the two of them stayed far away and simply stared at him. "What do you think we should do? He looks unconscious." Kilan questioned his friend as he was not brave enough to go and restrain him again after what happened, no matter if he''s unconscious or not, he''s a dangerous man that should not be underestimated. "He''s at the Deity Realm? Perhaps he''s trying to make us get close again.... let''s restrain him from here." Aborak pondered for then made some strange seals in the air, black gas came out of his sleeves and suddenly, two ugly looking beasts appeared out of nowhere. They resembled a griffin but they were much smaller, more or less the size of a lion. They were jet black including their skin and they had a foul stench. The two beasts flew toward Arthur intending to restrain him. Kilan took out a long white chain from his storage and threw it toward the Griffin, the chain had two shackles which are used to lock someone''s limbs. Each one of the two griffins bit the end of the chain and flew toward Arthur. Surprisingly, they were met with no resistance when they put the shackles and wrapped the chains around him yet a second time today but all of this made Aborak and Kilan frown even more. It would have been fine if some kind of mechanism was activated but nothing happening made them worry even more. Very soon, the griffin flew again while restraining Arthur between them in mid-air, slowly but surely they were making their way toward the two. At such a time, a green beams came from the South, it was Jizung in a very haggard state, blood was flowing out from the forehead and his face almost dyed with blood yet he didn''t seem to mind it as his eyes were focused on Arthur who was held in mid-air. "FOUND YOU!" Without even minding Aborak and Kilan, Jizung madly rushed at Arthur and attacked. Multiple small green snakes twirled in the air and flew toward the unconscious Arthur. The old man showed no mercy and his actions were too sudden, by the time Aborak and Kilan reacted, it was too late to stop the snakes from reaching Arthur, even for strong figures like them, to begin with, even that godly teleportation needed at least a second or so to activate yet they didn''t have such precious time to block the snakes. Unlike Jizung, they didn''t want to deal with Arthur immediately, there were too many questions they needed to ask and things needed to check before killing him so Jizung''s actions were too rush from their point of view. At such a desperate time, just when the snakes were going to invade Arthur''s mind and soul and slowly poison him to death and cause him unimaginable pain, a blue light suddenly appeared. A fist-sized white pearl appeared out of nowhere in front of Arthur''s chest, it glowed with a blue light and it pulsated every now and then. The pearl sudden appearance was surprising but what was even more shocking is that all the snakes with no exception were burned into a crisp by a blinding white flash. Jizung''s face turned paler when he saw that, he retreated repeatedly from that white flash until he was near Aborak and Kilan. The fear from that blinding flash from earlier was still engraved inside of him, never to be forgotten so when he saw a similar light, he couldn''t help but back off and feel afraid. If another similar explosion occurred, it''s without a doubt that he''ll perish and it''s unlikely that neither Aborak nor Kilan would spend their Nether Energy or treasures to protect him, after all, they were friends on public but in reality, they were bitter enemies albeit not fighting. After throbbing for half a minute, the pearl glowed with a blue light constantly until the pearl transformed into a miniature figure. If you look closely, you would notice that it''s a pretty woman with long blond hair and two alluring blue eyes. In a matter of seconds, her size became that of a normal human as her size increased, one could see the unmatched beauty, whether it''s her curvy body or two snowballs in her chest area, everything about her would make any man love stricken. Although she only wore a golden piece that did not cover anything but her lower regions and some of her chest, that only made her more pretty. It was, in fact, the Holy Goddess Delia that was sealed by Zodiak. The famous Bloody Day was the day she lost her freedom and was sealed by Zodiak into this pearl but it came at a cost, she lost her freedom but what was surprising is that every day, her power increased by several folds. It''s only been a short time but she advanced from the God Realm 6th Grade to the peak of the God Realm. Normally, it would have taken her at the very least a century to advance a grade or two if she''s lucky but in less than a year, she advanced 3 whole grades. She didn''t know what Zodiak did but she was both happy and depressed. Happiness because of her rise in strength and depression because she literally became the toy of a human. Zodiak made sure that no matter how strong she became, she has to obey Arthur''s words and he also added missions for her to follow and she absolutely cannot disobey. The main mission is to protect Arthur and Lucy but she had to put priority to Arthur. In case of a life and death situation, she would automatically be summoned to protect him so when the green snakes attacked, the pearl came out of Arthur''s storage and started to function like Zodiak planned. ''Argg!! A Holy Goddess like is me a slave! How can that be! If the Holy Order heard of this then I would be burned to death by the Holy Fire as punishment...'' If she didn''t protect Arthur then she would die alongside him and that is something she certainly did not want to happen. Seeing that there were only three enemies, one only at the 6th Grade and the two others at the 8th Grade, it didn''t look that bad for her as she was at the Peak of the God Realm, moreover, the Lich used death energy mainly and that''s something a Holy goddess can easily block or destroy. Holy magic has always been the weakness of evil magic in general, whether it''s darkness, dark or death magic, there was also other magics that are weak against Holy attribute but just like Holy magic is strong against those, it is very weak to Fire especially and Lightning secondly. Delia turned her head and saw the miserable state of Arthur, with bloody injuries and slashes all over, his state couldn''t be worse, he was on the verge of death. "Gosh, what kind of man requires a woman to save his ass...." As a Holy Goddess, she was supposed to be kind and polite but since she was sealed, her mouth became rotten and she never ceased insulting Zodiak and especially Arthur, her new master. Fortunately, her new master was an idiot who didn''t know how to use the peal or else it would have been disastrous. ''Hmpf! If he dares touch my body, I''ll smite him and erase him for existence!'' She always thought he would try to make a move and force things but she never was summoned since she was sealed which was surprising. She couldn''t see what''s happening outside but at least, inside of the pearl was a comfortable space and every day that passes, she became much more powerful. Delia raised her hand toward Arthur''s figure and healed his wounds, although it was not instantaneous, his lower half was healing at much faster pace, moreover, the chain that was put around his waist was shaking violently as [Holy Ligt] was trying to break it. Seeing that her Holy magic couldn''t break the white chain and the shackles around his two arms, Delia frowned, her focus shifted from the chain to the two griffins that were holding the two ends of it. With a wave of her hand, countless Holy Bullets the size of a thumb struck the two griffins and once they penetrated deep into their bodies, the bullets started burning their corpses easily. After merely 10 seconds, the two griffins vanished without a trace. With no support, Arthur''s body should have fallen but Holy Light surrounded him and at the same time that it was healing him, it made his body floated steadily and a barrier was created all around him, blocking any incoming attacks. Now that Delia was certain that Arthur would not die, she turned her head to look at the astonished Aborak and the rest. It was obvious she was looking down on them, not because she was higher Grade than them but just because she was an arrogant person and she considered anything that has to do with evil magic as something corrupted. It''s to be expected as she was a Holy Goddess. Arthur was safe right now but the white chain was still wrapped around him and even the Holy Light wasn''t able to burn it or destroy it. "What are you gazing at me for? Hurry up and get rid of this damnable chain!" Her crisp voice awakened the three of them, they were just too shocked by her sudden appearance, no matter if she''s at the Peak of the God Realm they should have at least sensed her from a mile yet no one suspected anything. "A goddess from the Holy Order at the Underwork?" Kilan was acknowledgeable about the strong factions and the Holy Order was one of the main ones, it''s just that it''s practically impossible to find any of its followers in the Underworld as this place is considered enemy territory for them, moreover, she''s protecting Arthur? This matter was getting more and more confusing and complicated. "It doesn''t matter if she''s from the Holy Order or not, we''re already their enemy so whether we kill her or not, nothing will change." Aborak spoke coldly as his lifeless eyes were fixated on Delia, he can fight her but he prefers not too, after he remained silent for a couple of seconds, he resumed speaking. ".... I''m going back, it''s futile to waste more energy in fighting another God, moreover one that is stronger than us." With that, Aborak stared at Arthur one final time before he turned around to leave but before he did so, Kilan held his shoulder and said "You''re leaving just like that? After all, that man has done to you and us?" Jizung was also dumbstruck by Aborak''s sudden retreat, seeing that Kilan tried to stop him, he joined the conversation and said "Lich King, that man not only destroyed the banquet, he hurt people of your Race and humiliated you, how can you leave just like that?" It was one thing that his friend was Kilan but Aborak didn''t like the fact that Jizung reprimanded him and tried to stop him. With eyes full of thick killing intent, he stared at old man Jizung and retorted "Whether I leave or not is none of your business, try to use me again and we''ll see what happens." After saying that, Aborak disappeared into a black beam that flew toward the East. It was obvious that Jizung was injured and couldn''t find Delia alone so he wanted to use Kilan and Aborak to fight with him and grasp an opportunity to finish Arthur but his plan was clearly seen by the Lich King. Kilan was also aware of what Jizung was planning but unlike Aborak, he was not going to let Arthur go for certain reasons. After Aborak''s figure disappeared, he sighed and stared at Delia whilst showing a creepy smile. "So it''s Holy Goddess, It''s a pleasure to meet a beautiful goddess, I wonder what business you have in such a lowly world like the Underworld?" Kilan didn''t attack immediately and replied to Delia''s question with another question. Although she was at the Peak of the God Realm, he was not worried about getting killed as he had something up his sleeves, moreover, he is considered strong even for someone at the 8th Grade God Realm. You could easily deduce that by the fact that he was unscathed by Rizaki. ''So it''s the Underworld? No wonder that I don''t like the atmosphere.....'' Just as Delia was going to speak again, two beams appeared from the horizon. It was actually Bai Lingyue and Granny Shishu, they were the farthest from Arthur so it took them a bit more time to arrive. They were first confused by the situation but after seeing Delia in front of Arthur and the Holy Light covering him, it''s obvious that she''s his comrade. Even the calm Bai frowned as he saw Arthur with a Holy Goddess. "Jizung, what''s the situation?" Despite knowing more or less what happened, Shishu still asked Jizung to ascertain her assumptions. "Just as you see, I was going to kill that bastard but this unknown goddess appeared out of nowhere, no one could sense where she came from." As he was replying to Shishu, Jizung was looking at Arthur and trying to find a golden opportunity to strike with a deadly attack to finish it once and for all. As for Shishu, seeing Arthur unconscious, she started to have doubts and hesitation. She didn''t interfere earlier but this time it was different. ''If I capture him alive, I can trade him for Miya with that silver-haired woman.... perhaps..'' Suddenly, Granny Shishu appeared a couple of meters near Kilan and Jizung and stared intensely at Delia. An illusory and big Lightning Fox emerged from her back and emitted ferocious aura all around itself. Purple Lightning started raging as the fox appeared, what followed is the White Tiger behind Kilan and the Black Cobra behind Jizung. All of them prepared themselves as they were going to face Delia. They didn''t know how strong she was but a one Grade difference in the God Realm is a very big deal. Bai Lingyue was unhappy with Granny''s sudden change in actions but even though they were friends, he can''t forcefully stop her, he just stayed at the back and silently watched. Delia wasn''t happy either, fighting Jizung and Kilan is no problem but adding Lightning if not favorable for her but she can''t escape in such situation, fighting would be the best. Unlike the illusory images from those three, no beast or anything appeared behind Delia, instead, two big and golden wings spread out from her back, making her look even more majestic. The aura around her became several times more overwhelming and she emitted a blue brilliance. A blue whip appeared in her hand and there were some water drops surroundings it. Chapter 113 - 110 : Battle of Gods The first one to strike was Delia who swung her whip. Coupled with her power Holy Magic, the whip was mainly for Water-attribute and fortunately, Delia was good at using this attribute. It was not the point that it is the same as her Holy Magic but it''s not that far off. Since she was against three enemies, her she whipped the air three times, creating 5-meter long water snakes that twirled around in a weird manner. Not only were these three water snakes big, they spat Holy Light balls at Shishu and co. The sound of the whip hitting the air was loud and crisp. The first attack of Delia was just a show-off, after sending the snakes she disappeared from her position and transformed into a bright light that dived toward Granny Shishu. For her, dealing with the lightning if the most important thing. For someone like her, she could easily make Arthur fly far from here but then she would be unable to save him if someone unexpected attacked him so the only thing she could do is let him close to her and keep an eye on him. The good thing is that his body was fully healed and he only wore torn clothes. No knows when but he was suddenly golden pants. Delia couldn''t just let him have his lower body naked in such situation. She hated him but not to the point of loathing, he was just an enemy of the Holy Church and she was summoned to kill him. There was the slave thing but there were several conditions that were complicated that gave her a big headache so she didn''t try to humiliate him or anything of the sort. No matter how strong the water snakes were, they were easily deflected with a wave of Kilan''s hand. With merely his pure Nether Energy, he dissipated the three snakes as if they were nothing but simple snakes but Delia was not fazed by this. Her whip whistled in the air as it struck Granny Shishu who already took out a purple ribbon from her storage and clashed it with the whip. What she didn''t expect is despite Delia using mainly Holy Magic, she couldn''t deflect the whip. Shishu was forced to retreat a few steps but that was the end, Delia grasped this opportunity and with a wave of her gracious hand, the long whip instantly wrapped around Shishu''s arm. After successfully doing that, Delia flung her whip and sent the old women flying with high-speed toward the ground. Her attack was simply but deadly. Lightning may be the weakness of Holy Magic but she was at the peak of the God Realm and she would probably breakthrough in the next few months, the difference between their strength is too big. As Delia sent Shishu flying and crashing into the ground, Kilan appeared to her left and used a curved white blade to slash at her neck. He was still smiling creepily but the killing intent he emitted was too thick and overwhelming. Even Delia was surprised by such a killing intent. The Holy Goddess raised her hand and a bright white shield instantly appeared, it looked very durable and impenetrable. Soon, the curved white blade struck the white shield and caused it to have multiple cracks but fortunately for Delia, the shield didn''t break. Seeing the result, Kilan was not surprised or depressed, he performed a weird movement technique and his figure began turning blurry but before he could completely vanish, Delia''s fast whip came striking at his head with amazing momentum, what''s more is that the whip became like a straight weapon and at its tip was a sharp water edge. Although it was only water, it had pink-ish color and the aura emanated from that small tip was not something to underestimate. Kilan didn''t lag behind as he performed strange seals in mid-air and held his blade horizontally to block the whip. In reality, the curved blade didn''t clash with the whip, it was the big white tiger behind Kilan that moved and used its gigantic and long sharp claws to clash with the incoming whip. The wind whistled and ringing resounded in the surroundings when the clash occurred, the claws were able to block the whip and even after a couple of seconds, the whip didn''t manage to break the claws. Kilan smirked and his figure began blurring yet again but as he was staring at Delia''s expression, he was astonished to see her sneering and showing a playful smile. "N.." Before he could mutter a single word, the big wings behind Delia finally moved, they flapped just one time but that alone created a bright flash and an overwhelming pressure, it was like a mountain was pressing on Kilan. With a speed even greater than Shishu, his figure crashed into the ground and destroyed huge boulders, he even went deeper into the ground and created a hole. "Ah too easy, come on at least fight back a bit." Delia was grunting as she was not pleased, she showed her wings but she didn''t fight seriously as none of them pushed her to do that, she was depressed as she was eager to see how strong she became. She didn''t fight for a long time but it was obvious that her prowess increased multiple times. As she was feeling ecstatic, she suddenly remembered Jizung who didn''t attack, her sense soon caught him a couple of meters Arthur, he was laughing madly and a long saber was in his left hand, he was already prepared to stab Arthur''s heart. Even after seeing him so close to Arthur, Delia was not the least bit worried or anxious. Her wings flapped a second time and this time, no bright flash or pressure was emitted from her but she suddenly appeared next to old man Jizung. The clan master was terrified by the sudden appearance of this Goddess, he was so close to his target yet he was blocked by her. He was not recovering and every time he used Nether Energy or moved around, his state worsened. As he saw death coming so he gave up on retreating and was willing to seriously injure himself and in return at least kill Arthur. All of Jizung''s skin turned green and the Black Cobra behind him hissed loudly, it shrunk in rapid speed and merged with him. His eyes turned jet black and his skin became dark green with gas coming out of it. "Scram!" Delia was not here to see the show of him sacrificing himself to hurt Arthur. A 2-meter long spear made from Holy Light was created by her, she held the spear and throw it at him whilst her wings flapped yet another time. Her throw was strengthened due to the power of her wings, the spear transformed into a white straight line of multiple meters and its speed was not something Jizung could cope with. He was happy with his new transformation but before he could even use a technique or a treasure to block the spear, it had already stabbed his stomach and came out of his back, not only that, but he was flung with it far off from where Arthur was. While the spear was still stabbed in him, Jizung coughed blood endlessly, after being flung more than 500 meters, the spear vanished and reappeared in Delia''s hand. Shishu and Kilan had already got up from the ground and flew to the same level as Delia. Both of them stared at the Holy Goddess with fear and anticipation. Granny Shishu was already regretting her actions but it was too late to back off, the only thing she could do is fight seriously. Kilan also knew he was no match for Delia even if he fought with Shishu, the only way for them to defeat her is to fight seriously. White fur that resembled a coat was taken out by Kilan, he wore it and covered his whole body, at the same time, the white tiger behind him merged with his body and soon, cracking sounds were heard as Kilan''s appearance changed dramatically. From his humanoid figure, he transformed into a large white tiger with yellow eyes. The pressure around Kilan intensified, he growled once but the sound was deep and terrifying. His two yellow eyes gazed at Delia with contempt and anger, killing intent never ceased being emitted from this two frightful eyes. As for Granny Shishu, she didn''t transform into a purple Fox but her whole demeanor changed from raging lightning to complete calmness. From head to toe, she was covered in purple lightning, her eyebrows were longer and purple too. Dual purple blades were held by her two hands and although Lightning struck her from above, no loud noise resounded, which was weird. "Hoooo, so you''re finally being serious? But isn''t it a bit late?" As Delia said that, she glanced at Jizung who could barely flight, he was literally on the brink of death, another attack from her and he''ll certainly die but it doesn''t look like these two would let her do so. Since both of them turned serious then Delia had to fight seriously too. Her wings started flapping and soon, what looked like rain but weren''t started falling all around her. It was countless little white sparks that made her look even more majestic and beautiful but prettiness wasn''t their function. The sparks enveloped the whole area, including Shishu and Kilan who were dumbfounded by this. "A high-leveled Holy Domain...." Shishu mumbled those words but she didn''t back off, instead, she was the one to attack, whilst spontaneously slashing with her two blades at Delia, purple lightning sparks enveloped her and shot off toward Arthur. Kilan did the same and leaped at Delia with his new body, he didn''t use any skill and purely relied on his physical strength but what''s surprising is that he was faster than Shishu. Seeing both of them come at once, Delia was unfazed, her whip somehow transformed into a long golden blue spear that had some white feathers at its, the feathers resembled her wings. Her wings flapped non-stop as she swept with the spear toward both of them and merely a sweep was enough to create a mind-boggling water-wave that covered the sky and made the area a bit dark. The big water wave clashed with the lightning and the white tiger but it did nothing more than slowing their charge for a couple of seconds. The fight started and Holy light coupled with mysterious water attacks raged all around the area. The fight was in mid-air but since their fight shifted out of the bottomless abyss, destruction occurred everywhere and mountains were flattened by monstrous water waves or lightning strikes. Since they were in her domain, Delia could attack from anywhere she wants and can create Holy Light attacks that strike them from the back. It was a disadvantage to fight two versus one but she overwhelmed both of them and in a matter of minutes, Shishu was panting heavily and Kilan had an ugly wound in his back. As for Delia, she only suffered minor injuries and the worst one was a frontal slash from Kilan''s long claws yet even this was healed in a matter of seconds by the little white sparks. Bai Lingyue was not at the back anymore, nobody knew when but he had long since disappeared from the area, maybe he had gone back or went off to a specific location. He could do nothing to help Arthur and although it''s a bit interesting to watch a fight between gods, he was not in the mood for it after all that happened. The more the fight lasted, the better the situation turned for Delia, she had more Nether Energy reserve thanks to the pearl and was stronger, so the injuries for Kilan became more numerous and Shishu''s figure began blurring and some Lightning was being removed from her body every second, it was obvious that she could not maintain this form too long because of Delia relentless and strong attacks. Just as Delia''s spear clashed with the dual blades of Shishu, the Holy Goddess hurt a slashing sound from behind. Because she immersed in the fight, she didn''t focus much on Arthur but she didn''t completely ignore him too, moreover, some of her sense was locked in Jizung at the back so nothing should have happened, or so she thought. With an angry sweep with her spear, Shishu was flung a hundred meters away and Delia hastily turned around only to see the bloodied Meyzu stabbing Arthur with his blood red long sword. Meyzu''s state was even worse than Jizung and the reason she didn''t sense him was that he''s dead, it seems he used all his remaining Soul Essence and lifespan to push himself to remain unnoticed and sneak attack Arthur, which turned to be successful. After he stabbed Arthur, he grinned madly and fell from the sky with an evil grin hanging on his face. His blood red sword was still stabbed into Arthur back and came out of his chest. In just a few seconds, all the blood in Arthur''s body was absorbed by Meyzu''s sword, he literally turned white and by the time Delia appeared beside him and started using the full potential of her domain to heal him, he was already on the brink of death. Delia was so angry and depressed, she didn''t particularly care about Arthur as a person but his death meant hers too so how couldn''t she feel depressed? No matter how she healed and even after the sword was taking out, Arthur''s wounds didn''t seem like it was healing and he didn''t have any drop of blood. Normally, his heart should have stopped beating but miraculously, it was beating very slowly. Delia could feel it but she didn''t know why he didn''t die. As she was frowning, a sound of a crackling chain was heard inside of her head, not only her but even Shishu and Kilan who were surprised by this turn of events. The first thought that struck them was that it''s the sound of the white chains wrapped around Arthur''s was tightening or causing this sound but after a simple glance, it was apparent that it wasn''t the source of the crackling chains. After hearing this sound for half a minute, a loud heart thumping sound was added and it was even louder than the previous sound, the weird thing is that they heard it inside their heads and no matter what they did, it couldn''t be stopped or removed. The heart thumping was getting slower until it finally stopped after one full minute, as for the crackling chains, it became louder until Kilan started howling loudly and Shishu clutched her ears. Even Delia was no exception but she didn''t do anything and merely gazed at Arthur. No one knew where that sound came from but one thing for sure, if it didn''t stop then they''ll seriously be injured. Their meridians started shaking from the sound and they felt as if they would turn mad at any second. If one looked at Arthur''s consciousness, they would see that the bright light which was his soul which was wrapped with tight black and purple chains was now being released. The crackling chains sound was indeed because of those chains as they were being slowly released from the soul. Previously, they were tightly held around his soul but after his heart stopped beating, the chains were being released and his soul was emitting a blinding light. It''s like the blinding light of the sun was present in the consciousness of Arthur. Chapter 114 - 111 : Drastic Changes From North to South, from East to West, every inch, every corner of the Underworld was suddenly covered by a cold Sense. Every living being felt it, it''s like they were watched by something or someone, it gave them the chills and some even fainted because they were too weak, besides fainting, nothing dangerous happened to them. At the quite and grand palace, the middle-aged man who blocked Arthur''s Rizaki was awakened by the sense, he felt it clearly and he knew he was probed and discovered. He stood up and probed the whole Underworld but he still felt nothing. He then shifted his sense to where Arthur and co but he was surprised to see that all of them were present except the supposedly dead Arthur. ... Going back to where Arthur, Delia, and the rest were. The white tiger Kilan and Shishu were mind boggled and in total disbelief. The reason for this was because Arthur, who was supposed to have died is now calmly floating above Delia. Even the Holy Goddess was confused and stunned, the crackling of chains ended by seeing Arthur completely healed and fully awake startled her. Everyone present looked at Arthur with confusion and astonishment but the target of all attention didn''t even spare them a glance. He stayed silent for a long time and gazed at a specific distance whilst being lost in thought. No one dared to disturb him for some reason, the feeling, and demeanor around him was completely different from the previous Arthur, it could be said that they are two different people. While the previous one was aggressive and had a hint of arrogance or maybe overconfidence, this one was calm, too calm and serene. It''s like he was another being and didn''t even hold them in his eyes, even a goddess such as Delia felt that he was way superior to her. Even after a long time, no one dared to move or speak, they just floated there silently without doing anything. Suddenly, the spirit sense arrived and covered the whole Underworld. No one was able to know who was the source of it but those three, it''s because this was their only guess. He transformed in such a short time and his behavior coupled with the serene but domineering aura around him ascertained their guesses to a hundred percent. Anyone who knows Arthur would surely know that this person was not him, he had his appearance but it was not him. At the majestic palace in the far South of the Underworld, the surprised middle-aged man was perplexed and felt unease so he was going to personally leave this palace after a very long time and go check Delia and the others as it was the most suspicious place because Arthur disappeared. However, just as he was going to teleport and arrive next to the three gods, the silent Arthur finally spoke with a slow but crisp voice. "You didn''t repent enough to leave that palace and it is still not the time for you to show up." It was only a sentence but the meaning behind it made the middle-aged man freeze. An invisible pressure pressed down on him and didn''t even let him move a muscle, even breathing was very hard, much less move. ''H-how did he know? How? Who is he!'' A lot of thoughts and questions surged him but they were left unanswered, he couldn''t do a thing as the pressure was too strong, it''s like the whole sky or the whole world was pressed on him. Not only Arthur''s voice rang inside his ears, it was also heard by the present gods near him, they didn''t know his meaning and were left even more confused. After dealing with that middle-aged man, ''Arthur'' no longer paid attention to him. When he stretched his sense earlier, he easily found what he was looking for. As silence ruled the place once again, something happened yet again. In front of Arthur, an unconscious Saly appeared, she didn''t have any injuries and appeared to be simply sleeping. "Hold her." Two words from ''Arthur'' were enough for Delia to snap out of her daze and unconsciously follow his order and hold the sleeping Saly in her arms. For no apparent reasoning, she was afraid of the present Arthur and didn''t dare mock him or even disobey his words. For the first time since he arrived, ''Arthur'' glanced at Kilan and Shishu but after glancing for less than a second, he didn''t bother with them anymore. Kilan no longer could hold it and be going to act but after blinking his eyes once, Delia and ''Arthur'' disappeared into thin air. No matter how much he tried and probed with his Godly Sense, he didn''t find any trace of them. "H-how could this be, I couldn''t even move...." Kilan was shocked as he really couldn''t move in ''Arthur''s presence, it''s like he was an ant or even less than that and if he dared stand out, he would be erased from existence. Granny Shishu was silent but you could notice her sleeve shaking a bit. A single glance that didn''t even last a second was enough to cause her to feel terror. He had a calm attitude and was not particularly angry or aggressive toward her but she still felt an overwhelming pressure that suffocated her. "I''m going back." Without minding Kilan anymore, the old woman turned around left. As for Kilan, he didn''t give up and continued roaming the area to find ''Arthur'' and Delia. What he didn''t know is that ''Arthur'' appeared in a secluded cave near the Abyss Valley. Lucy didn''t arrive yet as the distance between the cave and the banquet was too far but that didn''t stop him from teleporting her and the two hostages next to him. Lucy, who was still riding the Spirit Boat and heading to her destination, was startled by the sudden change of environment, by the time she came back to her senses. Arthur and Delia were in front of her, what was even more joyful is that little Saly was sleeping in Delia''s arms. "Saly!" Without hesitation, Lucy dashed to Delia and took Saly from her arms while hugging the little girl tightly, she was extremely happy to see her only daughter alive and well. She checked her with her conditions but she seemed to be in perfect shape. After confirming it again, she shifted her attention to the calm Arthur. Just one look and Lucy was sure that he was not the real Arthur. She didn''t want to jump into conclusions so she asked him "Who are you?" The cold and serene eyes of ''Arthur'' softened when he looked at Lucy, he didn''t have much time left yet he still replied to her. "I''m no one. Time is tight and the Underworld is not safe at all, albeit facing the leaders, there are things lurking here much more dangerous than you think. After 10 days, there should be strong spatial fluctuation and there would be one who is green, that one will lead you ''home''. Don''t stay here any longer." After saying that, ''Arthur'' gazed at the roof but in reality, he was gazing at the gloomy gray sky of the Underworld. ''It''s too early, way too early for me to appear. This is not good.'' Hearing this, Lucy seemed to have thought of something so she said after some hesitation. "Are you Senior Zodiak?" Her question made ''Arthur'' frown for a second, he then laughed and spoke "Hahaha, I''m not that geezer, I''m no one, really no one...." Lucy wasn''t willing to give up so she retorted with another question "If you''re no one then where''s Arthur and why are you possessing his body?" ''Arthur'' wanted to scream some words to her but he held back and calmly replied to her without feeling annoyed by her endless bombardment of questions. "Your dear lover is safe and sound, he''s sleeping and he should be waking up soon." What no one saw is that inside Arthur''s consciousness, the bright soul that was like the sun was slowly blurring and the intense light was diminishing. Thicker and longer chains appeared and started to wrap themselves around the bright soul, making it return to its normal size. ''It''s almost time huh? I guess I''ll help him one last time.'' ''Arthur'' used a special Energy to help Arthur and make his breakthrough to the Immortal Realm yet again, some changes were made to his body. After doing that, he seemed to have become tired so he silently walked toward Lucy and softly said "It''s time to part, I''m sleepy so I''m going to rest for a bit... just a bit." As he said that, he leaned on Lucy and closed his eyes. Obviously, Lucy still had tons of questions but she knew none of them would get answered so she sat at a corner while Arthur was leaning on her shoulder, a smile was hanging on her breathtaking face as she stroked Saly''s fluffy ears and gazed at the sleeping Arthur. Delia, Lissandra, and Miya gazed at what happened with surprise and confusion, too many things happened, especially for Delia, so she wasn''t able to fully comprehend what happened. One thing for sure is that the Arthur that was awake just a moment ago was not the real one. The Holy Goddess walked near Lissandra and Miya and used Holy Light to create white shackles that bound them to the wall, restraining them completely, then she stood silently near them without making a word. For now, she''s Arthur''s servant and slave and she can''t fight back, after what she witnessed, there is no courage left for her to rebel. At the white and empty palace, the middle-aged man was finally able to move after ''Arthur'' fell asleep. Cold sweat ran down his back and his body couldn''t help but shake for a second. He didn''t dare leave the palace and went back to his usual place and sat cross-legged, after a couple of seconds, the aura around him change and he seemed to have gone into a deep sleep. The only sound that could be heard is the whistling of the wind in this big and empty palace that was devoid of any object or living being. ... Earth, the original place Arthur lived in before dying, a lot of things changed on this planet, including its main system. Countless companies fell and many rose. Money became much more valuable but there is another currency that also became valuable and it''s items, magic items. About a month ago, weird and mysterious caves appeared all around the planet, whether it''s in Africa, Asia or even the north pole. These places were called dungeons by the government as they strongly resembled them. In fact, these dungeons had weak and strong monsters in them. Albeit the sudden appearance of these dungeons, nothing major happened, the monsters were aggressive but they never left the dungeons and it''s not obligatory to enter it but almost every person wanted to enter the dungeons. Not all people were lucky, life has always been unfair, some people thought that God blessed them with the dungeons so they can rise further and discover more things. Just like they walked on the moon, people wanted to aim higher and further and this was like a blessing for them. Some rare people gained abilities on Earth, it a very meager amount of people but they still existed. All the abilities defied physics and science, ranging from fireballs to wind tornado. The public was surprised and those people that had special abilities became famous and rich in just a month. They would explore dungeons and gain magical items that would be sold for millions of dollars if not more. So like that, a unique government was created and ruled by those people and in just a week, this government became international and welcomed any person with abilities... Chapter 115 - 112 : Wicked Mouth ''International Hero Organization'' A.K.A ''IHO'' is the name of the company that is ruled by those special peoples. Some even had abilities which were only average and allowed them to have a bit more physical strength than normal humans but they were still regarded highly and valued. What''s more is by going to the dungeon, these people can become stronger, the only bothersome thing is that leveling is just too hard, only one month and passed yet the highest level is just 28. Auctions were organized almost every week in any city that had a dungeon and rich people would fight to buy one or two magical items. Many important people, despite not having any powers still had a high status such as officials and filthy rich people. Before Arthur died, he was a very famous businessman, he was originally from the Philippines but somehow he managed to go to South Korea and build a good life there. Not only was he very rich, he had many successful companies whether it''s cosmetic companies, electronic companies. It''s no wonder his wife was greedy about his money. He even had a special brand called ''LobiSoft'' and it specialized in selling computers, TVs and such. It was his main company and the one which had the most income. Now that he was declared dead, all his companies, restaurants, everything he owned was currently the properties of his wife Claudia. Being the CEO of all these companies, he had the most shares so even after his death, no one from the other shareholders could take over the CEO seat. His wife was merciless as she fired or ''dealt'' with any person that was opposing her in any way and just like that. She became the known CEO of LobiSoft and the other companies. Claudia didn''t marry a second man but that didn''t mean she was still single. Secretly, she dated many men or used some to satisfy her ''desires''. This woman, who Arthur couldn''t wait to kill was living peacefully and happily and enjoying her life to its fullest. As if life couldn''t get any better, Claudia was fortunate enough to gain an ability like the special people but her ability was shallow and useless in fighting. Wicked Mouth(Passive) : +25 Intelligence; In an argument with another party, no matter what you say, you have 25% chance of winning over the other party and 0.5% of making him/her blindly trust you. The second effect has a cooldown of 10 days if it''s activated. Despite having a shitty ability, Claudia was still invited to IHO and with an enormous amount of money investment and coupled with her high status, she was able to win a good position in this company. She had many backings, from government officials she seduced to other famous companies. For example, currently, Claudia was sitting in a VIP room at a 5-star hotel in the US. She sipped from the expensive red wine in her hand as she stared at the break-taking view in front of her. The room was at the top of the sky-high building and the room was luxurious and have anything that a person needs, even a jacuzzi. Claudia was only wearing a violet robe that covered less than half of her body, she was practically naked. Just a while ago, she was on the bed with a middle-aged man who was the CEO of a powerful company in the US. "Hahaha, although it''s only 0.5%, it''s the second time that it''s activated in just a month. Maybe the watching gods are with me?" As she played with the transparent glass of wine in her hand, Claudia gazed at the night sky full of stars and playfully smiled whilst saying "It''s all thanks to you, Arthur, though it''s a shame you died too early... there were some things you hid from me that I cannot find... a real shame indeed. *sigh*" After she finished talking, she walked toward the bed and leaned her naked body on top of the man. Her voluptuous body and two mountains peaks pressed on the man and woke him up from his sleep. "I''m still not satisfied." Like that, the two of them continued doing their business... It''s been two days since Arthur fell asleep yet he didn''t wake up. Lucy was not worried about his condition as his body fully recovered, moreover, Saly had finally woken up. She didn''t know what Lissandra did but after Delia slapped her a few time, the miserable woman confessed and told her the way to get rid of the sleeping magic she used on little Saly. On the course of these two days, apart from staying with Arthur, Lucy happily chatted with Saly and even played with her. What''s more surprising is that the little girl liked Delia a lot and would often ask her to perform some things with her Holy Magic. Delia could ignore the little girl but since she''s Arthur''s daughter, she couldn''t refuse, moreover, she didn''t have any reason to refuse. At least taking care of a little girl is better than being stuck at the pearl. She sensed that the tremendous and fast increase in strength which usually occurred every day had slowed down but it was still existent. At this pace, she guessed that she would break-through in about three to four months and if she''s inside the pearl, two months or less would be more than enough. "When will father wake up?" It has been some time since Saly started calling Arthur ''father'' and Lucy ''mom'', since they already considered her like their own daughter, they were more pleased to hear her call them that. While combing Saly''s brown hair which had grown a bit since the first time they met, Lucy showed a soft smile and said while looking at the sleeping Arthur next to her. "It won''t be long, don''t worry." Saly nodded her head silently but after a couple of seconds, she hugged Lucy and said in a low voice. "I, I''m sorry, I caused you a lot of troubles... *sniff* '' Very soon, Lucy''s clothes were wet from Saly''s clothes but she didn''t mind, she hugged the little girl back while repeatedly telling her that it''s not her fault as it really wasn''t. Lissandra was in another part of the cave as it was carved by Delia, she made many rooms and a cell for Lissandra. Miya stayed in one of the rooms, despite the fact that she was free from her shackles, she couldn''t leave yet as Lucy didn''t let her, since Lucy didn''t let her go then Delia did not either and put a strong seal outside of her room to imprison her. Lucy heard from Delia that Zodiak forcefully made her(Delia) Arthur''s servant and she had to protect him with her life otherwise she would die, even disobeying him is not an option. As for Lucy, Zodiak only said that she had to try and obey her and she could still refuse but the Holy Goddess didn''t dare as she felt that Lucy is more cold and ruthless than Arthur and angering her would be a disaster. Lucy did not bother with Lissandra for the time being but she didn''t ignore her either, after making sure she cut both of her arms and sealed her legs with her ice. The sight was gory and Lissandra''s shrieking was too loud but Delia blocked the sound so Saly couldn''t hear, even she wouldn''t be able to do that to someone so when she saw Lucy doing that with an expressionless face, she really felt a bit of fear despite knowing she''s stronger. Lissandra sat there silently, she was first arrogant and tried threatening Lucy with her clan but it was futile so she switched from threatening to try to make a deal. After countless tries, she apologized for what she did but it was still useless as Lucy turned a deaf ear to her. Apologizing would not work not now and not ever, especially after what they had to go through to capture Saly. If Arthur didn''t bring her back then maybe this pest wouldn''t have given them their daughter''s location and would have to bargain her life out of this place. Apologizing turned into begging when her arms were cut off and legs were frozen yet it still didn''t work. Delia made sure she shattered Lissandra''s Dantian, making her a mortal and destroying her Meridians. ... Late that night, Arthur finally woke up from his long sleep. His headache a bit and he felt a bit dizzy but after a couple of seconds, he managed to see his wife''s figure beside him. "Emmm, L, Lucy?" His voice was not too loud but it instantly woke up the sleeping Lucy, she didn''t respond to him and jumped in his arms. Nothing made her happier than seeing her own daughter alive and well and her husband waking up from that long sleep. Thoughts like ''What if he never wakes up'' or ''What if it''s not him'' surged her many times but each time she would shrug them off and hope for the best. "Mnnnn" Saly moved her small body as she leaned on Lucy''s leg and used her thigh as a pillow but when Lucy hugged Arthur, that soft pillow disappeared so the little girl couldn''t help but sit up and rub her sleepy eyes while looking at the two in front of her. It did take her a few seconds to realize what''s happening when she saw Arthur smiling at her, she exclaimed. "Father!" A lovely smile blossomed on her face as she jumped between Lucy and Arthur and hugged them both, her head was buried in her father''s chest. Even after some time, the girl didn''t let go of Arthur and she felt that he would disappear if she did so. While wrapping his left arm around Lucy and Saly hugging him, Arthur leaned on the pillow positioned vertically behind him and checked his surroundings. "Where are we? I can''t remember what happened after the explosion..." Just as he said that, Delia entered the room and happened to hear his question but before she could ask anything, a dark spear came flying at her. It was easily blocked by her but she was still surprised by the sudden aggressiveness or Arthur, she looked at him with confusion before Lucy finally explained the situation. "It''s fine, she''s not an enemy, she helped us." Listening to Lucy, Arthur frowned and still didn''t restrain his killing intent as he stared intensely at Delia, who barely had any clothes on her. "Not an enemy? She''s the bitch who almost killed us. Wasn''t she sealed by Senior Zodiak?" Delia was expecting to hear him apologize for him thoughtless attack but was met with a harsh insult. "You.... what did you just call me? Hmpf! You should listen to your wife and thank me because if not for ME, YOU would have died. hmpf!" After saying that, Delia left the room without speaking further, she was pretty angry since her kindness was met with insult and ungratefulness, she began even regretting not humiliating him or letting him die and die with him as it''s better than being treated like this, after all, she''s a goddess and not a mortal. "I don''t know what happened when I left but you suddenly..." Lucy started to explain what she saw and she didn''t miss any detail, she even told him the words the unknown person who used his body said. Saly already fell asleep while hugging him and Lucy continued explained the events from two days ago. Chapter 116 - 113 : Book of The Damned The next day, Arthur and Lucy accompanied by Delia went to where Lissandra was imprisoned as it was time for revenge and punishment. From the second they caught her, they were never going to let her live, even after torturing her and planning to exchange her for Saly, they would have found a way to secretly kill her. As she saw the main person who captured her and caused her to become a mortal, Lissandra froze and started shaking. She didn''t have her godly and mighty demeanor and instead, she stared with fear toward Lucy and Arthur. "Y, You already got your daughter back and I apologized many times, w-what e...else do you want?" Lissandra tried to look composed and calm but her body betrayed her as it was shaking non-stop. In the past, she was a very strong figure but facing death and being reduced to a weak moral completely changed her attitude. Arthur could kill her and possess her and albeit not having her Dantian, he''s still gaining a meager amount of stats but the most important is that but the fact that she has a portion of Zodiak''s powers. He walked near Lissandra and crouched, his actions were not aggressive but just seeing him approach her made the terrified Lissandra shiver faster. Arthur didn''t attack her or anything of the sort, he just snatched the dark book from her waist. If she still had some Nether Energy, she still could have used it but now she''s but a weak mortal, even Saly could kill her. Book of the Damned (Second Part) A simple appraise allowed him to know what the book is. When he found Zodiak, he found the book of the damned with him, of course, he absorbed it and it gave him two cheat skills. He also knew that he didn''t absorb the whole book as when the seal for the Overgod of Knowledge was lifted, the system clearly stated that he still didn''t absorb the whole book which left him confused at first but after some thoughts, he guessed that there is missing pages or another part. Arthur wasn''t rush and didn''t absorb the book immediately, he stored it in his ring and shifted his attention to Lissandra, who dipped her head down and didn''t dare stare at him. ''She''s seriously like another person....'' Lucy also told him that she''s like another person and seeing her reverting back to being a mortal and her fearful attitude, he didn''t suspect that it was all an act. What she did was unforgivable yet he found it quite hard to kill her right now. He''s a cold-blooded killer but since they adopted Saly and Lucy became his wife, he no longer cared about killing and was much more merciful. There were parts of him that relentlessly urged him to skin her alive than kill her but a small part of him insisted that he let her live. Arthur scratched the back of his head as he looked at her with a somewhat helpless gaze then he turned his head and looked at Lucy whilst saying "What do you think we should do?" Hearing Arthur says that Lucy stared at Lissandra''s frozen legs and the empty space where her arms should have been, she shook her head and said. "I already vented my anger on her, you can kill her or throw her into a pit, what you want to do, I''ll support you." Arthur nodded back at her and transformed into a small black whirlpool that vanished in just a split second. You have successfully possessed Lissandra (Human Lv10) You gained another portion of Zodiak''s powers: Forcefully taken from the host Lissandra. Dark Heal (Active) : Dark Magic to heal the user, the effect is quadrupled if the user has a body made from Dark Magic. Dark Magic now deals 40% more damage. You gained a new skill(passive) : Death Laws: The more your Health decreases the stronger you become. If your Health reaches 1%, you stats are increased by 400%. You gained a new skill(active) : Black Scorpion Body Strengthening-technique.... Your stats have increased, please check your window status for more details. TITLE : MEAT GRINDER / SEEKER OF KNOWLEDGE / ONE WITH THE SWORD / ARK??? Level: ???? Class: Dark ARK Parasite - Realm : Immortal 4th Grade - Strength: 90.1m Intelligence: 107.9m Agility: 79.0m Wisdom: 88.4m Vitality: 68.4m Dexterity: 66.6m - Health 80m Health Regen 41721/s Nether Energy 75.5m Nether Energy Regen 47000/s Mana 120m Mana Regen 85177/s Stamina infinite Stamina Regen ???? - Creation : 80 Attack: 140.8m Defense: 92.4m Magic defense: 15.5m -- Enigma abilities : Telekinesis / Ancient Threads / Sixth sense / ARK?? -- Mental Power: 1497 Elemental Resistances: Fire: 100% Water: 75% Wind: 35% Earth: 75% Light/holy: 5% Shadow: 30% Lightning: 100% Ice: 30% Arthur only possessed Lissandra for a couple of seconds but her body already started recovering, the two arms were already halfway grown right now. He didn''t activate any healing but there were many passives gained from self-recovery of the ancient beasts and so on that can be activated in a humanoid body that was doing the work. By the time Arthur left Lissandra''s body, her arms were fully grown and healed, it''s like she never lost them. The only evidence that she didn''t have any is that the sleeves and the whole arm part of her clothes vanished so both her arms were not covered with anything. There were two kinds of possessing Arthur could do. The possessing of the dead corpses and the possessing of living creatures. He could only possess weak creatures but if he leaves their body again, they would still regain control of their body. There is the forceful possessing but the cost was too great so it would only use in case of emergencies. Actually, Arthur planned a lot to make his ex-wife''s life a leaving hell, with his possessing, he would every person she trusts betray her, they would act against her, he would literally make her feel real despair but that plan won''t start until he manages to arrive on Earth. Lissandra felt as she blacked out for a short time, by the time she woke up, she found that her arm was fully grown. She wasn''t surprised because they are back but why they are back? From their look, it was obvious that they loathed her to death so she was confused but she didn''t speak and remained silent. Even if her power is back, she still wouldn''t dare escape in the presence of Lucy and the rest, especially when Delia is next to her. The Holy Goddess was even stronger than Jizung, much less Lissandra so she lost all her courage from the moment her she became a mortal. "Alright, let''s start the questions. There is only one rule, I ask, you answer, if I feel you''re lying, I''ll cut your arms off. If you don''t answer, I''ll cut your both your arms. If you take time to answer, I''ll cut off your arms. Oh, and one more thing, I can heal them immediately so be prepared." Lissandra nodded her had and replied with a shaky voice "Y, yes yes. I''ll answerI''ll answer." From her fear, Lissandra couldn''t help but repeat the words more than one time so Arthur could hear her and not just cut-off arms left and right because he heard no answer. "First question; How did you go to Astria and how did you come back here?" Lissandra didn''t waste any second and replied instantly and didn''t dare tell any lies. "I-it''s with the help rare spatial stone and a special energy people at the God Realm have... it, it''s the same thing for coming back." Arthur remained silent for a while before asking another question. "What is the book you were holding and where did you find it?" "A, ah, it-iit''s, n-no I mean I found it in a cave at the western continent of Astria. It was within a dark temple which held the Dark Magic. It''s a tool for attacking and defending and despite being at the God Realm, I,I.. I couldn''t fully use it and can only spawn some creatures or conjure a fog that makes any object wither." Lissandra disclosed everything she knew about the book, her life was already doomed so maybe if she told the whole truth, there is still a chance she can live. She still wanted to live despite becoming a mortal, she didn''t give up yet. "Are you the part of Medusa?" Lissandra nodded continuously and responded "Yey yes! In fact, it''s me who created it for the purpose of finding other dark temples." "Have you found any dark temples then?" "I didn''t personally search as even with my God Sense, I couldn''t sense them but my subordinates found 8 other temples scattered in the four continents but none of them had anything special." "You''ll tell me the full details of their location later. Where do I find those spatial stones and what do they look like?" This time, it was Delia who replied before Lissandra could. "It''s an old stone that absorbed too much spatial matter in the void and managed to fall in a world. It''s very random and extremely difficult to find it. If you want to go back, then you better use special spatial doors or spatial turbulence but the latter choice will lead you to a random place, even a desolate world or a destroyed one, it could also throw you into the void." Seeing that she wasn''t able to answer, Lissandra face paled, although Arthur got the answer he wanted, she still felt afraid as she was not who replied but it appeared that she was too afraid and her worries were needless. "Do you know of any way to go back to Astria besides the spatial stones?" "In fact, traveling between worlds is easy if you''re at the Immortal Realm. At this age, almost all worlds have spatial doors that lead to different precise worlds, it''s just that the Underworld is unique and no one knows the frequency of the world. Astria is also a very, very remote world, even my summoning took some time, usually, it''s instantaneous." Arthur was confused by those new words but he didn''t ask about them currently, he needed to go back to Astria with Lucy quickly as he too knew that they''ll not last long. They offended everyone in the Underworld and sooner or later, they''ll find him. He continued asking Lissandra for a whole hour before he left that dark room with Delia and Lucy. Most of his questions were answered and he didn''t need to cut off her arms even a single time. "You said that the one who possessed me said that we can go back after 7 days through a green spatial turbulence?" "Yes. His tone sounded like he was confident about it and was sure that it''ll lead us ''home''." Lucy recounted every word the ''person'' said but Arthur was still hesitant. He didn''t like the fact that someone possessed him, it felt strange and uncomfortable. "We''ll check that then, it''s our only choice currently." "En!" Lucy just nodded and followed him, as for Delia, she remained silent but after some time, as if something was ushering her to talk, she finally spoke. "What about that abominable existence? Shall I burn her?" "Let her ber, we need her for now." Delia didn''t like the fact that Arthur let Lissandra live, the Holy Goddesses regarded everything evil as their enemy, including Lissandra so she wanted to purify her by burning her with her Holy Light. Even Arthur is considered evil but since he''s her master, she couldn''t act against him or she would instantly die. While gritting her teeth and showing an annoyed expression that didn''t suit her mesmerizing face, she retorted. "... Why? You already asked her everything you needed to know, moreover, I can answer if you still have anymore." Arthur ignored her and went to his and Lucy''s room where Saly was currently at. Delia could only stare at him begrudgingly for a moment before turning around and walk away but she was stopped by his voice. "You were captured just like her and sealed to become my slave, I spared your life and let you live so why shouldn''t I spare hers too? Moreover, I make the decisions and not you, If I say you let her live then you do so. The day you become free, you can do whatever you want but for now. You.are.my.slave." With that, Arthur no longer paid attention to Delia and sat on the bed with Lucy. He took the book and finally absorbed it to see what''s going to happen. Chapter 117 - 114 : Departure You have absorbed Book of the Damned (Part 2) You have fully absorbed The Book of the Damned Faster than Death: Range increased from 50 to 150 meters. Death Binding: The effect is now increased by 5 seconds. Death Touch: absorbing corpses in the Immortal Realm or above will allow you to gain 1% from their Mental Power You gained a new skill(passive) : Death Manipulation: Summon The Book of the Damned and used it as a mean to attack or defend. Can only use 10% of the book''s capacity. To unlock more functions of the Book of the Damned, the user(Arthur) have to be in a higher-Realm. It''s to be expected that the results of absorbing the book would be like this but Arthur felt a bit disappointed as he only gained one skill. With a thought, the dark and ancient book appeared in front of him, floating. He didn''t know how Lissandra controlled her book but after hearing some of her answers, he found it rather easy to control the book in such way. All he had to do is open the book and in its pages, there are pictures of certain creatures and some details about them, for example, their attacks, weaknesses and so. In total, Arthur was able to use 3 creatures. One was a creepy and zombie-looking hand which is mainly to absorb incoming attacks and store it as temporary Energy. That temporary Energy can be used with ''Radiun'', it''s also a monster that can be summoned from the book. It''s a two-headed bone lizard with a black flaming tail. The stored energy would make him 20% more powerful. Moreover, Raduin is an attack-monster and is at the peak of the Immortal Realm at the very least, its power will increase when the user is at a higher-Realm. The monster lasts forever until Arthur falls unconscious, dies or his connection with the monster is cut-off forcefully by an exterior pressure or anything of the sort. Last but not least, ''Death Golem'', its strength is unusually weak, to the point of not matching even a Deity Realm person but its defense is almost unpenetrable by any individual at the Divine Realm or less. Seeing the new strong creatures, Arthur was absolutely sure that under the God Realm, he''s the strongest albeit not reaching the Divine Realm yet. After a couple of minutes checking the new skills and such, Arthur heard a ting and knew it was a signal. It was unknown why it occurred now and even he was hella confused but he didn''t think too much about it. With a wave of his hand, a blue lightning fog formed in the room and after only a few seconds. A huge wolf''s figure was created from the blue fog, unlike his previous appearance, Astrith was bigger and looked more domineering. With two pointed fangs coming out of his upper mouth and a surprisingly smooth blue fur, he looked like a legendary beast and not just a lightning beast. "This one greets master." Astrith performed a bow with his huge bow and dropped his head toward Arthur to show his respect. His body was made of out of lightning but unlike last time, there was now blue fur. "Is this your new cover?" "This one doesn''t know exactly, however, this one isn''t using anything. This one thinks that he evolved after master grew stronger." "Um! Good to have you back." Arthur nodded and checked Astrith with his appraisal only to be wide eyes from astonishment. He was supposed to be Astrith''s master but the blue wolf was at the peak of the Divine Realm. He even checked multiple times but the result remained the same. Logically, his Realm is not a bug or mistakes it''s just that a servant''s power is based on his master''s. Arthur may be an Immortal 4th Grade but his strength is of a God Realm, even Lucy. With Rizaki, he could even reach the peak of the God Realm but that move is too dangerous, he hoped not to be forced to use it a second time. Death Binding could have saved him if he activated at the moment of death but what of Lucy was nearby? If he lived and she died because of him then he would rather die with her. With Randuin, Astrith, Delia and the Death Golem, Arthur pretty much has his own squad that has godly strength. He is confident that if all of them ganged up on Jizung or Meyzu, they would probably be able to kill him, especially if he and Lucy prepare the Heavenly Arrow before fighting. Albeit wanting to try that, he wasn''t going to as it was almost time to depart. .. Saly woke up and was overjoyed to see Astrith, she jumped on him and wanted to ride him outside but was strictly forbidden by Lucy but Delia, fortunately, stepped in and proposed to join them so Lucy could only sigh and accept after seeing Saly''s puppy eyes. "Seriously, I can''t reject her when she does that to me..." As Lucy was sitting on Arthur''s lap and getting her hair combed by him, she complained about Saly''s puppy eyes that made her heart unable to be strict. "Hahaha, It''s okay to let her play once in a while, she''s been through a lot after all." Unlike Lucy, Arthur was easy-going with Saly and always let her do whatever she wants if it''s not dangerous. Seeing Astrith going with her, he knew it would be safe and the God Realm individuals won''t find this place today or tomorrow as it''s filled with illusion techniques laid by Delia and some old talismans of Zodiak. However, after seeing Lucy refuse, he couldn''t speak up as gave up his own rights the moment he married her. If it''s about decision-making, he would make all of them but if it''s about Saly or simple things, Lucy was the ruler. He couldn''t even retort or he will be ditched for a day or two or she would pinch him very hard THEN ditch him for a week. Between ditching or not ditching, of course, he would pick the latter so he shut his mouth and agreed with Lucy. "Hmpf! You''re always easy with her, as her father, you should be stricter. What if she comes back with a man someday, you''ll still accept him like that? Hmpf!" Arthur laughed it off and heartily replied "Hahaha, she''s still young, how would she bring a man home, moreover. Where would she bring it from? We''re in the middle of nowhere...." Lucy didn''t speak and merely snorted and remained silent. She liked having her hear caressed and combed by him so she just laid on her back on his chest and relaxed. They were still not out of the danger but they are temporarily safe so she wanted to enjoy her time with him. Having all the important and serious matters sorted out, she felt extremely relaxed and happy. ... The next day, Arthur and co departed for the Abyss Valley. Their destination was a very dangerous place and on the way, they met many dangerous beasts, even some godly ones but they were all pushed away or killed by Delia or Arthur''s new bodyguards. A black rocky Death Golem with the height of 4 meters, a two-headed lizard, and a blue wolf was flying around Arthur and Lucy. Saly was riding Astrith and Delia was flying next to her. On the shoulders of the golem was the poor Miya who was forcefully taken from her clan by the cruel Arthur who she despised to the bone. She didn''t know why he decided to take her with them but she couldn''t resist or flee as it was impossible in their presence. As for Lissandra, Arthur told Delia to seal her in the white pearl for the moment, it was only a temporary solution as the pearl would kick her out sooner or later. After a couple of hours spent flying, they finally arrived near the spatial fluctuations. The reason they didn''t use a Spirit Boat is that it''s very sensitive to spatial magic and even a bit of it can destroy it so Arthur decided to keep it hidden for the time being. "It''s going to get dangerous from now on, better stick close to me to avoid any incidents." Delia spoke as she gestured to Astrith and Arthur to come closer. The blue furry wolf shrunk in size until it was the size of a normal wolf, Saly was still riding him. Arthur and Lucy who were riding also got next to Delia. Miya was miserably thrown by the golem toward Delia, who waved her hand and made Miya stop her fast air charging. "You.... was it necessary?" Miya was a very calm person, even after what has been to her, she never snapped in anger or shouted but this time she was unable to hold her emotions in check and raised her voice a bit. She quickly realized it and turned red from embarrassment. She resented Arthur so much, she saw he was not a bad person but she really wanted to strangle him right now. The 5 of them were surrounded by Delia''s Holy Light. When she was sure everyone was protected, the Holy Goddess proceeded toward the spatial fluctuations. The mysterious person said ''Green'' so they searched for a green spatial fluctuation but it was hard. There were thousands of them, one the size of a fingernail and the other the size of a mountain. Some were colorless and some were blood red but none was green. .... "It appears there is no green colored spatial fluctuation and it''s dangerous to head further as itwould invade the territories of ancient beasts." "So?" Arthur didn''t appear to care as they had Delia but the Holy Goddess showed an annoyed look and explained. "I may be your servant for now but I''m not going to head for my death if you want to die then go by yourself. These territories are ruled by Sovereign Beasts and above, even ten of me can''t beat or block them, much me alone. What''s more is that the evil Energy here is more concentrated than any other place, if we head deeper, it''ll weaken me and I''ll be unable to protect you with my Holy Light." Hearing this, Arthur felt depressed as they found no sign of the green colored spatial fluctuation and the situation is getting dangerous by the second. At such an important and desperate moment, the silent Saly pointed at the far distance and exclaimed. "It''s a green one, a green!" She wasn''t smart enough to understand the whole process of the going back to Astria but at least she knew that they were looking for a green portal of some kind so when she noticed green she spoke. The green spatial fluctuation was about a kilometer or two at most from their distance and since it was surrounded by many other ones, it was hard to see it, it''s a miracle Saly somehow discovered it. "It''s indeed a green one but is it the right one?" Delia was still not willing to take the risk of diving there and then passing the wrong one, she was quite hesitant. "Wrong or not, we''ll still try it, now go and stop wasting time." Arthur didn''t hesitate as he gave Delia a direct order she can''t disobey. Whilst gritting her teeth, the Holy Goddess spread her white and breath-taking wings, they flapped multiple times and the Holy Light around them became brighter and more powerful. The speed they were advancing at was a bit faster but Delia''s Energy was expanding at an unbelievable pace as she was using Holy Magic in such an environment, it''s like trying to ignite a fire inside water. Not long after, the 6 of them reached the green spatial fluctuation. It was the size of a 2-meter door and the width of two normal humans. So as they do not get separated, they held hands and Astrith went back to Arthur''s consciousness. Just as they were ready to enter the blurry green portal, a terrifyingly loud noise resounded in their ears to the point of almost making them deaf. When Arthur turned his head to look, he was dumbstruck to see a gigantic dsungaripterus, its wingspan is at the very least 50 meters. It was opening its mouth and ready to devour all of them in one ago. Fortunately, the Holy Goddess noticed it before them and stepped ahead while her wings flapped and a flash of blue light was emitted from them. Some kind of cubic blue barrier was formed in front of her but it was instantly shattered after holding no more than a second. Delia was struck by the creature and her left wing was torn off forcefully while the right one had some of its feathers fall. Arthur grabbed Delia''s hand and formed a Dark Magic while jumping to the portal along with the three others. It was fortunate enough that the creature couldn''t fit in the portal but its angry screeching was heard even after they passed the spatial fluctuation. What laid in front of them was a dark space with countless flashing stars and planets all around, they seemed to be in some kind of tunnel that led to a specific world. The road was silent and after just two minutes, another portal was at the end of the tunnel. Since the distance was too far, they could only see a spatial fluctuation but couldn''t see what type of world it was. Arthur was going to breathe a sigh of relief when suddenly, Zodiak''s skeletal corpse appeared in front of him, his two lifeless eyes flashed with a purple light. The skeleton forcefully grabbed Arthur''s arm and said "I don''t know what happened but just in case, I put a seal into my corpse so It would forcefully bring you to Astria when you''re going back from the Underworld, if you''re hearing this it means the place you''re going to is not Astria, it may even be more dangerous than the Underworld so I thought it''ll be good if I helped you a bit." Before Arthur could react or even utter a word, the skeleton dragged him out of the tunnel and opened another tunnel on its own, the tunnel was endless and you could not see the end of it. Before any of the people present could react, Arthur was no longer seen and the tunnel created by the skeleton disappeared. Lucy''s face paled as she heard what Zodiak said, just like the others. The things she feared was what kind of world would they go to? The man said ''Home'' but Astria was their home. ''Unless?'' Just as a thought struck Lucy, their surroundings flashed and by the next second, a semi-dead Holy Goddess, a small beast girl and half-demon silver-haired woman and a wide-eyed green haired girl along with a two-headed lizard that appeared out of nowhere, appeared in a very narrow alley. The place reeked of a foul stench, it seemed like piss and just a couple meters of them was a gray cubic box that emitted a more horrible smell. All of them stared at the end of the alley as they heard people speaking and the sound of countless footsteps, what''s more, surprising is the presence of a four-wheeled gray or black boxes that were moving on their own..... Chapter 118 - 115 : Earth "Hey you fucker, move the fucking car or I''ll go there and beat the shit out of you!" A muscular man driving a black BMW was yelling at an old man who was blocking the road with his slow car, apparently, it stopped midway and wouldn''t move no matter how much he tried. Other people were annoyed too but didn''t yell like the muscular man they just glared at the poor old man. When Lucy sensed the muscular man and all the others, she was surprised to see that they all are weak, just simple mortals like in Astria, perhaps a bit weaker. She couldn''t use appraise but with her sense, it was easy to probe them. Delia was half-conscious and floating behind Lucy with the help of Miya. One of her wings was nowhere to be seen and the other one seemed to be withering. "W-we are we?" Miya was surprised by the sky-high buildings and the cars, it''s the first time she saw things like these. The only one who immediately recognized the place is Lucy. Arthur told her many things about Earth and when she saw his moments, although it was blurry, she managed to get a glimpse of some of the advanced technologies in here. "It''s Earth." Lucy''s tone was of absolute certainty so Miya didn''t doubt her but Delia did. Although she was half-conscious, she could still speak and hear so when she heard an unfamiliar name of a world, she was alarmed. "E-Earth? *cough* There is no such world with that name." "There is and we are in it. It''s Arthur''s former home before he..---, it''s his real home." The little Saly gazed at the multiple cloth shops and the different types of cars. Everything was so different from Astria of the Underworld. Unlike the Underworld, Earth had almost no Nether Energy but there was Mana and the concentration of Mana here is more than Astria but if it is like this, how come no one from the present people discovered it in the past? Arthur clearly told Lucy that Mana was just a thing in stories or games on Earth but there is a huge amount of it here so she started having doubts about the world. ''Perhaps it''s not the same world? Just a small resemblance?'' The muscular man kept shouting but none of them comprehended what he was speaking, they just stared at the surroundings from the narrow alley. Lucy scanned the area around them but except buildings of all sorts and kinds, those cubic cars and countless people, there were no empty places. She stretched her sense further and managed to find an empty building which was actually a desolate factory. A dark talisman appeared from her storage, without hesitation, Lucy threw it on the ground and by the next second, she and the rest were teleported to the factory. It was one of the few teleport talismans Arthur did. With the help of Zodiak''s notes and some experiments, he managed to create some of them and passed all of them to Lucy since he doesn''t need them. In such a new world with no one who could comprehend the language and no home to live in, this was the best place she could find for the time being. "Lay her down on this." With a wave of her hand, a luxurious bed was taken out of her storage ring. Miya moved Delia on the bed without an opposition, she was the weakest out of all of them except Lucy and she knew they were in a strange world so the best thing she could do now is stick with them. The double-headed lizard stayed close to Lucy and Saly and merely scanned the surroundings whilst remaining silent. Its mission is to protect both of them, especially Saly and unlike them, it had an ability to turn invisible so no human could see it. If it wants, it could pass undetected by people at the Divine Realm or less. It looked ferocious with its body made of bones and its black flaming tail and long sharp fangs, it was a monstrosity but none of them was afraid of it as they were used to seeing monsters, however, if any of the humans in earth saw it, they would freak out and might even pass out. Lucy walked near the sweating Delia who was on the brink of death and passed her 4 kinds of Potions. Each was high-quality and each did something. Arthur was not stingy and in fact, he gave Lucy astronomical amounts of potions, talisman, and other things. She had storage rings inside her personal storage rings that had weapons, armors, and artifacts. It was useless to use them but he insisted on her having them in case of emergencies such as this one. "Drink all of them." Delia gazed at Lucy for sometime before she nodded and drank the potions but it was done with great difficulty so Miya stepped in and gave her a hand. The Holy Goddesses was in a terrible state, it was fortunate that her Dantian or Meridians were not broken or destroyed by that attack but it would take her some time to recover as her wings were torn off. She would recover to her full strength in a couple of months but to regrow the wing it would at least take a decade if not a century. The potions were quite effective as Delia''s face color regained some of its redness. She definitely looked much better and she could finally move a bit. She sat up on the bed and leaned on a big cushion behind her. "So you said we''re on Earth?" Her question was obviously directed at Lucy, who only nodded in response. Delia pondered for a bit before asking another question "You also said your husband was from here but you offered no explanation about the important stuff. Is it a dangerous world? Are there other gods? Sovereigns? Or perhaps more powerful beings? Seeing the strength of your husbands and his connections, I feel uneasy when I know that I''m in his world right now." While checking the empty factory and the dust all over, Lucy kept scanning the place while replying to the curious Delia. "As far as I know, it''s not a dangerous world. Arthur told me that all of the humans here are mortals and there is no such thing as magic or cultivation, they rely on science and live peacefully with no wars whatsoever. It''s basically a paradise on the surface." As Delia was going to breathe a sigh of relief, the last sentence shook her a bit. "On the surface.....?" "Yes. Humans here may be weak but they have numbers and advanced technology that can deal damage to even high-leveled people. I don''t know if they can hurt a god-like you but I think that''s far-fetched, what''s more, bothersome is that despite being weak, they are intelligent and cunning, the world is corrupted by money and power, just like any other world." Delia remained silent as she pondered about what Lucy said, if there is no threat to them then it''s fine but it''ll be quite bothersome if there are other aggressive gods, especially if this small world belongs to one as most gods don''t like anyone who invades their territory. After sorting things out inside her head, Delia nodded and added. "I never heard of this world and I have gone to countless worlds, being summoned or going intentionally. I can feel some Holy Magic in the surroundings but it''s almost non-existent as far Holy believers, there is none here so there is only one explanation. It''s either a private world of a mighty god or reclusive one, or it''s a deserted world or in a worst-case scenario, it''s an abandoned world." This time, it was the calm Miya who asked, she wanted to go back to the Underworld and hearing the word ''abandoned'' made her despair a bit. "Yes, abandoned. An abandoned a world is a place where the gods deemed useless and fruitless, it''s a discarded world that was sent away from the other worlds. There are many reasons to abandon the world, no mana source or similar Energy or if it''s going to extinguish itself soon, it''s corrupted or poisoned by a strong poison that could destroy it etc....." Silent ruled the place as all of them were worried about what''s about to happen. Only Lucy remained calm and said after a long silence "Either way, we have to adjust until Arthur is back or we find a way to go back where he is but the best solution, for now, is to remain here, I know he will come here." Earth was not a big place compared to Astria or the Underworld, in fact, it''s too small. For someone like Lucy or Delia, it could be crossed in one hour, literally. A few dozen kilometers a second is their normal speed, so crossing the Earth or traveling from a country to another is done in a few seconds. Later that night, after ascertaining no one saw them. Lucy and the rest went to a forest a few hundred miles away from that city. Lucy couldn''t understand the language but because her intelligence was astronomically high and with the help of the system. Hearing a bit allowed to her understand a few words such as Hi and Thanks. The system said it was Korean language and like the language in the Underworld, learning it with the system''s help the intelligence stats is very easy. Lucy built a normal house with the earth magic, it was only temporary as they needed a place currently. Delia was recovering quickly with the help of the potion albeit the meager presence of the Nether Energy. Saly was feeling down because Arthur was not here so Lucy stayed with her and comforted her. She just woke up a few days ago and didn''t enjoy her father''s presence enough and yet they are separated again in less than a week. She didn''t cry and held in here and she knew the situation was complicated, she was intelligent enough to understand that crying right now won''t do anything good so she obediently stayed in the house with her mother. She would go with lizard and roam the forest. Except for a few deers, she didn''t see anything dangerous, moreover, the deer was very weak and caught by her in a flash. She had enough food in her storage to live for a few years but she still liked hunting so she brought a deer back and roasted it to eat with the others. Although they were a bit depressed, eating a good meal raised their morale a bit. Even Delia, a god, ate with them even though she could live without eating. Most gods if not all would usually eat, not to because they were hungry as they obviously didn''t feel hungry but because it was tasty. Some food was even priceless and legendary chefs were respected in higher-Realms. Chapter 119 - 116 : We Meet At Las In South Korea, where Lucy and the rest were teleported to, there was only one dungeon and it''s located in its capital S¨¦oul. Actually, almost every dungeon that spawned was precisely in the capital of a certain city except very few peculiar and mysterious dungeons that either cannot be entered or have insanely strong creatures that no one could beat. It was not just the special people with new abilities that went to the dungeon. Several governments didn''t just stay still and decided to send soldiers with guns and bombs to dive deeper into the dungeon but none of them succeeded. Guns were effective, so bombed, in fact, against the weak monsters such as slimes or goblins, an accurate gunshot in the skull would kill them but that was only for weak monsters. Hobgoblin was completely unaffected by bullets and only special thick and fast bullets from a huge machine gun or destructive C4 but these are not endless and each group of soldiers can only carry a certain amount of them. What''s more is that each floor of the dungeons have a boss of some kind and these bosses cannot be killed by bombs or whatnot, only people with special abilities can manage them as they have superhuman strength. Such a famous people like the flame emperor or the indestructible had their fame rise in the past months and each time they went to the dungeon, they would come back with new items or miraculous objects. .. It''s been a week since Lucy and co appeared in South Korea and after passing a week in the deep forest with no news and only resting, it was finally time to move. Delia recuperated a bit and was able to move freely but her she didn''t fully recover. Arthur didn''t show up and they only thing they would do is explore the forest or just sit at the small earth house all day. Lucy decided to go the city and check things as they can''t just stay there forever, what if Arthur comes back after a month or even a year? She decided that she must prepare things for him, prepare them thoroughly so when he comes, he doesn''t need to bother with small things. One thing was for sure, she must search for Claudia, his ex-wife, she remembered her face and looking for her won''t be too hard as Earth is just too small. She can''t search the whole Earth but Delia can and the Goddess would obey her orders so when Delia was able to move and use Nether Energy, Lucy told her to search for Claudia. Obviously, Delia didn''t know who Claudia is or her appearance and no matter how strong she is, she can''t find someone she doesn''t know. Lucy thought things through and gave Delia a special talisman. It was practically useless in battles but it a small part of one''s memories can be imprinted in it and the next person who injects any kind of Energy in it, they will automatically see that memory. The bad thing is that you can only imprint a memory of no longer than 5 seconds but even a second was enough for Lucy. After imprinting Claudia''s appearance, she passed the talisman to Delia who injected Mana in it and saw the memory. "So it''s her that I need to find? Just who is she for you to use such desperate means to find her?" Lucy coldly looked at her and retorted "Just find her and stop asking questions." "Hai Hai! I''m not even treated like a Goddess anymore, it''s truly not fair." Despite complaining like that, Delia spread her sense all over the planet, not missing a single inch and in less than a minute, she found the target. "I found three people with that appearance with one who has 95% resemblance to the memory, she''s also the closest to us, exactly 7400 kilometers from here." "Then take me to where she is and cover our presence completely." Delia didn''t like the fact that Lucy didn''t even say ''Please'' and straight out ordered her but she didn''t dare refuse. She didn''t fully recover and she heard from Miya the other day that Lucy was able to fight against Lissandra, who was also a God. She may be able to use Godly powers right now but losing her wing made her greatly weakened and in a proper life and death battle, she probably wouldn''t last against Lucy. What''s more is that she knew Lucy''s character more or less, and she knew that she would achieve her means one way or another, even if it means killing her or forcing her to do things for her. Holy Light covered her and Lucy and by the next second, they appeared next to a sky-high building in the middle of S¨¦oul. The building was made of transparent glass that cost several thousand dollars a piece and a luxurious pool was on the rooftop. There was also an ''H'' sign that Lucy didn''t understand but her focus was not on that. Sitting on a chair near the pool was a middle-aged woman who wore a red bikini and laid on her stomach. The woman was enjoying the sun and sometime she would drink from a cocktail next to her. "It''s her?" Because the woman was laid on her stomach with her head down, Lucy couldn''t see her appearance but her instinct told her that she''s definitely Claudia. "The one in the shameful looking clothes, the red ones." The two of them were floating not far from Claudia and with Delia''s Holy Light, no one could detect them. Despite feeling unstoppable hatred for the woman in her vision, Lucy held her killing intent from leaking out. After staring at Claudia for a couple of minutes, she coldly smiled and mumbled "Fine then, our roads finally crossed and hell shall fall upon you.... but not yet, not just yet... I''ll let you enjoy life until he comes reaping your soul... I''ll just prepare things for him, just like a good wife would do." After saying that, Lucy no longer bothered with Claudia and flew away from the buildings. She descended in a deserted alley and wore the mask she bought from the ''Treasure Pavillon''. Her hair became dark but her appearance was only altered a bit, as to not attract too much attention. She still looked as pretty as ever but only slightly worse than her normal appearance, she purposely did that so that Arthur would notice her when he comes. Sitting around and waiting for him is not doable anymore, she would do her best to make things better and easier for him. First thing is learning to live in here, slowly gaining fame and approaching Claudia, doing it abruptly and kidnapping her then torturing her is too plain and not satisfying enough. If Arthur ever wanted to do that when he comes back, Lucy would even prepare the room for him to do to her what he wants, nothing sexual of course or it''s him who would be punished not Claudia. ''You better not cheat on me whenever you are or.... Hmpf!'' While wearing black leather clothes, a brown jacket, Lucy left the alley and headed to the main street. She had gold but it didn''t appear that it was the currency used in here. There were many people who wore gold rings or jewelry but most of them were fake. In the past week, she traveled around and managed to comprehend the Korean language but she still didn''t master it yet. As for Delia, she knew a couple of words, even a God can''t learn that quickly unless they have an ability like Arthur. Delia didn''t bother changing her appearance but only wore some clothes but they were still too eye-catching as they were golden. "What are you doing? Change your appearance!" Lucy snapped at her but Delia just shrugged her shoulders and said "They can''t see me so why bother? Moreover, changing my appearance is a disgrace to all gods! They should kneel before me instead of me changing my appearance." "I said change your appearance and stop hiding your presence, now! I don''t need you if you''re just going to hold me back." Lucy was going to seek fame and attention but she didn''t want it that way. Delia told her that there were hundreds of dungeons here but all of them were low-leveled for beings like her. There were also some strong people but they''re still ants for a Goddess like her. "*Sigh* This is bullying!" Delia stomped her feet and her figure flashed for a second before her clothes changed to a purple dress that covered a small part of her body. Her figure was as voluptuous and alluring as ever, with two snow peaks on her chest area and her beautiful curves. She obviously didn''t change her appearance but Lucy didn''t insist further as she knew how stubborn Delia was, it''s fine as long as she gets rid of that single piece of cloth she was wearing. It literally only covered her nipples and lower body part, nothing else apart from that, even the calm Miya would turn red when she focuses on her cloth. "Where are you going? I''ll just teleport us there." Delia didn''t like the fact that she was walking alongside mortals and some of the men would sometimes gaze at her with perverted eyes, she couldn''t help but cover her chest and change her purple dress into more appropriate clothes. Lucy was also breathtaking but compared to Delia''s true appearance, she was ignored by them, which was a fortunate thing. What was good is that unlike Astria, people on Earth didn''t openly gaze at them or try to talk to them, apart from a few daring men, none stared for more than a couple of seconds. Lucy didn''t fully know all the shops or merchants in here but she saw a shop that sells jewelry and gold in general so she and Delia headed there to see if the gold she has could be traded for money. Money in here was iron or bronze coins or mostly paper bills that looked odd and had some characters and a picture on them from time to time. She remembers 3 of those money bills and each of them had a number of them, obviously, each number indicated the value of the paper. There were 1,000 Won, 10,000 Won, 5,000 Won and 50,000 Won, there was also a rare 100,000 Won that she didn''t see often. Lucy could very easily steal money from any bypasser with them not noticing a thing but it was degrading to rob when she had so many golds. The shop they entered displayed various golden rings with diamonds and stuff on them, there were necklaces or earrings too. The shop had a few middle-aged women gazing at the products and the receptionist was standing next to an old lady and showing a diamond necklace to her. ''Ring ring ring'' When the shop door was opened, a ringing sound was made. It was a mechanism the shop owner put so any customer could be heard when they left or entered the shop. Seeing two gorgeous looking ladies, one of the employees dashed to them while rubbing his hands. A greedy smile was plastered on his ugly face as he looked at Lucy and Delia. It was obvious from their appearances that they are not poor and have a good background, so he wanted to grasp this chance and sell a few expensive stuff. It was their shop''s lucky day as the old lady on the corner was also a well-known rich individual who spent money on jewelry as she adored them. Chapter 120 - 117 : How About This? Lucy didn''t waste time contemplating the displayed items. There were some exclusive and good-looking rings or diamonds but none of them caught her interest as she had countless ones like them if not better in her storage. Arthur possessed thousands and thousands of people, he wasn''t too interested in their storages as they were weak so it''s unlikely they had any legendary weapon but Lucy was fond of checking the storage rings and taking all their treasures. It was her small hobby that she never missed a storage ring a victim wore. It could be said that her fortune was literally priceless, the mountains of gold and useless things for her were everywhere in the storage, especially in Arthur''s since his storage ring was special. She liked collecting the treasures not because of the gold or diamonds but for the weapons, armors and all the weird stuff. Although her storage wasn''t that big compared to Arthur, she still had hundreds of rings inside her main one and each had a specific thing. Lucy''s goal in coming here was clear, she wanted money, not the kind used on Astria but the one used on Earth. With just the gold Arthur gave her, she could easily become a millionaire if not richer but the problem was; Would the country or this shop more precisely be able to give her the value of the gold she currently had? She was not stupid enough to show all of her gold and even if she did, the shop would be destroyed by it, literally. For now, taking one or two diamonds would be enough, she didn''t need that much money, just enough to buy a normal house in S¨¦oul. "Dear customer, please tell me if you are looking for anything specific, our shop has any kind of jewelry and even rare pendants." The ugly employee arrived next to Lucy and Delia who was behind her. No matter how much he tried to put up a friendly smile, it still looked disgusting as he originally looked way ugly with a big deformed nose and some broken teeth. Lucy didn''t judge people based on their appearances but she caught him gazing at them somewhat lustfully when they just entered the building, fortunately, she noticed that or else she would have thought he was just ugly but a kind person. As it is the job of the employees here, they have to appeal to the customers, especially the special ones and Gun was trying his best to do that. Seeing the appearance of the new customers, he didn''t miss the opportunity and walked next to them and respectfully said that but to his surprise, Lucy didn''t as much as give the displayed goods a single glance. "I want to sell things." Lucy was able to talk Korean but her accent was a bit weird and she would stutter sometimes as it was completely different from the one used in Astria or even the Underworld. Gun was not very pleased with what heard as customers who come to buy or to sell in two different categories. He didn''t hate or dislike Lucy for what she said, he just felt disappointed for he expected to sell expensive things to these two pretty ladies. This shop mainly sold and there was rarely any person who comes to sell if some come, they would show a fake gold ring or show a bronze ring and yells ''It''s a magic ring!''. This is a famous shop was this rule of buying good jewelry was just for show, this happening maybe occurred one or twice at most in a year''s time. If people wanted to sell gold or jewelry, they should just go to a gold bank or a normal jewelry store and not come here to show some lowly rings or fake gold. While trying to maintain his happy mood but failing to do so, Gun still nodded to Lucy and replied "Of course of course, what would you like to sell?" With an expressionless face, Lucy took out a fist-sized purple diamond that had a breathtaking luster inside it. Its appearance looked alluring and by no means did it look fake, the sudden appearance of the diamond surprised Gun who was expecting just a gold ring or some casual thing. The lady was special but taking out a diamond out of nowhere and a fist-sized one would surprise anyone. "T,Th--this is?" It was as clear as the sun that the object she took out was a purple diamond yet the employee still asked which made Lucy frown. Such is just one of countless she had but it didn''t have a great value compared to the nail-sized but special ones, the reason she took out this was because she thought it''ll fetch her a good price because its appearance would draw anyone and attract their greed and attention. It took her a second to think of the needed words than with the usual weird accent, she retorted while still frowning "It''s a diamond. Are you going to buy or not?" Lucy was not attracted to this store and on Earth, there were countless of them, being famous is not something that she cared about. Moreover, she didn''t want to play games or just stand there and watch their surprise. Gun was not able to react as he couldn''t make that decision, he was not a professional to check if the thing is real or not and even he was, he can''t put an exact value for it, just its size was enough to raise the price by at least ten times. Just as he was going to call the store''s manager, an old but unhappy voice rang out in the shop. "It''s a fake." The origin of the voice was a man in his 50''s, he wore casual work clothes and looked at the purple diamond for sometime before he continued talking with the old woman from before. He held a nice-looking necklace in his hand and showed the small but shiny diamonds around it to the woman on his right. "Seriously, why are we sinking so low just for you to trade some random diamonds?" Delia just followed Lucy because she was ordered to and even Arthur repeatedly warned her to protect his wife and daughter when they were in the cave. She didn''t pay attention when coming here as her mind was troubled about the loss of a wing and her weakening. What she just said was transmitted telepathically inside Lucy''s head so only she could hear it. Lucy ignored Delia and stared coldly at the man who just talked, she displeased and in a bad mood from the start due to missing Arthur and having to waste time doing this and hearing that a priceless diamond in this world is called fake triggered her. If it were in Astria, she would have at least crippled him if not mercilessly killed. She naturally loathed men except for Arthur and liars above all were bad from her point of view. To begin with, she was never a kind person and killing is a casual thing in high-Realms, even in Astria but it appears that such thing is prohibited in this world. There was a strict law and even hurting a person is punishable. She came to learn this when she saw a young woman get assaulted by hoodlums but quickly rescued by blue-clothed men with special long black sticks that emitted a weak intensity of lightning. That man was dragged out into a car and escorted somewhere. Without speaking a word, Lucy stored back the diamond without minding Gun''s dumbstruck look as he could not believe that the diamond disappeared into thin air, for a second he thought that he was definitely hallucinating and thought back to the drugs he tried last night at the bar. On the right side of Lucy was a sturdy wooden table of high quality, it was the reception desk. There was some papers on it and a pen but nothing besides that. Lucy stretched her hand toward it and in less than 10 seconds, a lot of small-sized diamonds appeared on the table. "How about this?" Lucy showed a small-sized and transparent diamond to the old man whilst speaking with cold and chilling tone, it was clear she was unhappy. The thing is, diamonds or gold are usually mistaken for fake ones and unless one is professional or use a special material, they can ascertain if it''s real or fake but for someone like the manager, who was experienced with diamonds and such, he immediately knew that the small diamond she just showed him is genuine. He previously stated that the fist-sized diamond is purple and he wasn''t lying, it''s just that that kind of diamond is unheard of on Earth, perhaps it never appeared so for him, despite the shining and alluring appearance, it looked fake. Before the man could speak or react, Lucy picked another diamond a bit bigger in size and showed him again "Or this?" This process was done a few time until the man was left speechless. This time, Lucy purposely chose diamonds that were made from the same material as the ones displayed on this store so there is no way he could say they are fake. She just wanted to smack his face for what he said. "Are they all fake?" A dozen diamonds were put on the reception desk, all the customers looked at them with disbelief, they didn''t know if they were real or not but such a big amount of diamonds if not common, unless one had a special background, they couldn''t just take them out so their only guess was that it was fake but the old man thought the total opposite. His mouth was half-open and he completely forgot about the old woman next to him. "*cough* Ehm.... *cough* These are real." Lucy didn''t bother with him after hearing that, the diamonds were collected in a split second and disappeared into her sleeve. After a final snort, she turned around and left the store with Delia, who couldn''t be happier after leaving such a boring place. Gods spend most of their time cultivating in a peaceful room, some are more lively but not to the point of going out of their way to exchange gold for money in a lower-Realm. The old man was not able to react in time and by the time he and snapped out of it, the ringing sound of the material that he put rang in his ears and all he could see was the fading figures of the two ladies. What depressed him even more was that the old woman he was trying to persuade a second ago also left the shop in a hurry, maybe she was angry he ignored her a second ago but if so then her reaction was too extreme as he only ignored her a for a few seconds, it''s not a big deal, at least to him. While trying to follow the two ladies, the old woman who was wearing expensive but good-looking noble clothes called for Delia and Lucy with an anxious voice "Wait please." Lucy was angry on the shop manager but she didn''t have any negative feelings toward the woman, she just regarded her as a normal citizen and ignored her when she saw her at the shop but the woman called for her, she turned around to respond. If it was a man, maybe she would have ignored him as his intentions are clear but what about this lady? She couldn''t be thinking of robbing her, right? It''s practically impossible with that old body of hers. Seeing that Lucy turned around to face her and stopped walking, Lady Sinyu was elated. Her eyes were sharp and she was a fan of jewelry, she collected lots of them and one look at the diamonds was enough for her to ascertain her guess. She didn''t see the purple diamond as her back was facing Lucy when it was shown but she didn''t miss the other ones and she was immediately interested by them. "Thank you for waiting. I''m Fan Sinyu, they call me Lady Sinyu. I saw your diamonds and I must say that I''m interested in them, how about it, are you still willing to sell some of them?" Looking at the respectful and excited voice of Lady Sinyu coupled with the small bow she performed and her expensive clothes, Lucy knew she had a respectable and high status or else she would not go around searching for expensive jewelry. "If you propose a fair price, I''m willing to sell all of them." Sinyu''s old eyes flashed for a second when she heard that, she thought Lucy showed those diamonds only to prove the manager was wrong but it didn''t appear to be the case. "If that''s the case then why don''t we go to a quiet place to discuss this?" In response to the old woman, Lucy nodded and followed her. Soon the three entered a white Bentley Mulsanne grand limousine, it was a luxurious and eye-catching car. Lady Sinyu sat at the opposite side of Delia and Lucy and was surprised to see their beauty, previously she was to engrossed into the diamonds that she didn''t focus much but now that she had a look, she was stunned. Delia was still as bored as ever and wanted to end things quickly but it didn''t appear to be the case. The good thing was that the car was too comfortable, so she layed there and crossed her arms which made her two snowballs jiggle a bit to the point of almost exploding out of her clothes as they were too tight for some odd reason. Suddenly, as if she remembered an insignificant but had to be said thing, she transmitted to Lucy a message. ''I just can''t understand why would you waste time on this for those useless money bills. I can create them easily you know....'' Chapter 121 - 118 : Ignorant Lucy At that moment when Lucy heard Delia, she really felt like killing her or ripping her to shreds. The damn goddess didn''t speak earlier when she clearly stated that they needed those money bills but here she is now telling her that. Lucy had some suspicions that Delia is just lying to get out of here hastily and she didn''t fully trust the Holy Goddess, what''s more, is that there is already a buyer in front of her, so what''s there to lose except a few useless diamonds? "Can I have a look at the diamonds?" Whilst stretching her bony and old hand, Lady Sinsu asked Lucy, her tone was neither arrogant nor domineering, it was a bit hoarse and low, clearly indicating the age of the speaker without having too look at him. Lucy didn''t mind and with a wave of her hand, small nail-sized diamonds floated and gently landed on the outstretched hand of the old woman which made her even more surprised. ''Are they one of them?'' The first thought of Sinyu is that Lucy is one of those people who gained special abilities as the diamonds clearly appeared out of nowhere so it must be one of those magical items that are found in the dungeons. Lady Sinyu didn''t think much about it at first, as whoever Lucy was, it has nothing to do with her, their relationship was not that deep or strong for her to ask that. They were just a buyer and a seller who met at the right place and at the right time. A couple of minutes quickly passed, Sinyu was totally immersed in checking the diamonds and from the second her eyes landed on those precious diamonds in her hands, she couldn''t or didn''t want to let go of them, she was even reluctant to stop gazing at them luster. Unlike the old lady, Lucy was not going to wait the whole day, neither was the bored Delia who acted out of her own way and used a bit of magic to move the little diamonds from the clutched hand of Sinyu and made them float back to Lucy but what surprised her is that the old lady quickly closed her hand and caught them back with an anxious look. After making sure she still held them, Lady Sinyu gazed at Lucy with cheerful eyes and said happily "State your price, I''ll buy all of them. If you have more I''ll still buy all!" There was no bit of hesitation in her tone, it didn''t seem like she was going to buy a couple of diamonds but more like a dedicated soldier who is prepared to immediately hand over his life to protect his honor and country. Such an expectant look would make anyone uneasy or uncomfortable but Lucy. In return for the passionate and excited gaze of the old woman, Lucy just kept an expressionless face and stared back at the other party with a somewhat cold look. It wasn''t intentional but with the techniques, she''s practicing, her Yin body and personality, such a look is to be expected. To anyone but her friends, especially Saly or Arthur, she would unintentionally have that cold demeanor around her. Since she had to give a price, Lucy decided on that price based on the diamond''s price on Astria and just said that but just replaced Gold Coins with whatever money is used here, however, that was the first and biggest mistake she did as Gold and Money bills are completely different. One Gold Coin may not be a lot but a million gold coins are not equal to a million dollars, not in the slightest. On Earth, the price of the gold is based on its purity and weight, so imagine a chunk of gold made from a million gold coins, it would literally be priceless, it could be said that1% of that chunk is a million dollars if not more. "I''ll sell them all for a million." Even after hearing the price, Sinyu didn''t seem to mind and instantly replied "A million won? Or dollar?" Lucy thought for a second before adding "... Dollar." For Lucy, these diamonds combined are not worth a million gold coins but on Earth, it''s worth much more but since she''s still new to the world, it can''t be helped. Very soon, Lady Sinyu took out a small paper which seemed to be a stack of checks and took one then wrote 1,000,000 and circled the ''Dollar'' option on the right corner of it then she handed the paper to Lucy and continued playing and feeling the diamonds. As for Lucy, no matter how much she learned from this world, there are countless things she never saw or heard of, such as this check. The first thing she thought is that she was scammed or made a fool of. Fortunately, she didn''t erupt immediately, instead, her look became colder and a chilling aura was emitted from her two beautiful but sharp blood red eyes. ".... What''s this?" Lucy chilling aura coupled with her question snapped the old woman from her fantasies and plans for her new diamonds. She lifted her head and couldn''t help but tremble for a second from the look she was getting. "I, It''s a check." No matter how much Sinyu thought, she couldn''t understand why would Lucy give her that look and ask that weird question. Even if she came from a poor family, the concept of checks is still known albeit not used by poor people. "..... And what''s a check?" The more Sinyu listened the more confused she became, for a second, she thought that Lucy wanted more money or the diamonds back, she was afraid, however, she still remained calm and went back to her composed look after a few seconds passed. While calmly putting the diamonds away, she stared back at the somewhat angry Lucy and explained. "A check is to facilitate money trading. No one can travel around with a million-dollar every day, so checks are used, you can take it to a bank and they''ll give you the cash." Lucy was still suspicious but she calmed down after hearing that and nodded, after all, it made sense since no one had a storage ring in here. Some wore rings but none of them were magical rings that had storages, if Arthur was here, he would surely mock her and say ''Ahh, it''s a shame all those points wasted on the intelligence stats'' Then he''ll get ditched by her for some time of course. Just like the diamonds appeared out of nowhere earlier, the check vanished into thin air in front of the confused Sinyu which made her ascertain her previous suspicions about Lucy being one of ''them''. The car finally parked followed by Lady Linyu speaking "Pleased to meet you. If you have more, don''t hesitate to contact me." As she said that, she gave a small card to Lucy who accepted it and gazed at it. All there was on the card is a telephone number and an address. ''So it''s a business card.'' Such cards were commonly used by merchants in Astria so she recognized it immediately, it was a bit different though. On Astria, there was no telephone number but the name of the merchant and the cities he''ll be traveling to coupled with where exactly he''ll do the trades. Lucy didn''t add another word and prepared to get off the car with Delia but the hesitant Sinyu couldn''t remain silent anymore and spoke again "Excuse me, could you be a Hero?" People with special abilities were called either a Hero or an adventurer, there were some exceptions of course, like the flame emperor who earned his special title but those were too sparse. ''A Hero?'' Better than a Hero, it would suit Lucy more if she is called a demon lord or demon king as she is literally a demon. Lucy understood the lady''s question but she didn''t speak, she merely shook his head and left the car with Delia but the old woman was quite persistent when she received such answer, she became even more excited than before and added "Since that''s the case, are you interested in joining my team?" There were a lot of people who didn''t join the IHO (International Hero Company) and prefer working alone or under sponsors who pay them even if they don''t come back with any magical items or do any progress. Lady Sinyu''s was had one of those teams under her, she was their sponsor but they were still registered into IHO. Finding one or two rogue Heroes would benefit her a lot, even if they are not willing to do much, just their presence is enough. "I want to hear the details." Lucy wanted to find such proposal, she sought fame for now but she didn''t want to do it too suddenly, after all, it would be easy for her to just go destroy a city and be famous all over the world as a bad person. No, she wanted to slowly gain fame and climb all the way til she reaches the same place as Claudia, then she would gain her trust and just stay still whilst patiently waiting for her dear husband to come back. "Currently I have something to do, how about tomorrow morning at my place?" Lucy replied with a nod and the two soon parted ways. The lady''s car went to the opposite side, as for Lucy and Delia, the teleported near the closest bank to exchange the check for cash. Chapter 122 - 119 : Piss Off A million dollar is not a meager amount of money, if it''s converted to cash, it''ll take at least a thousand money bills, especially if it''s Korean money bills. After going to the bank and exchanging the check with cash, Lucy put the black bag full of money stacks into her storage ring and teleported back where Miya, Saly, and Randiun were. The two-headed lizard made of bones would make anyone freeze with fear and terror but it was surprisingly friendly with Saly and would often play with her or go hunt with her, after just a week from their first meeting, the two of them became almost inseparable. Randiun had a special invisibility skill so no human can see him if he wishes to so there was no fear of being spotted by a human. Well, technically, the lizard doesn''t fear a thing as he is a summoned create from the book and belongs to the dead, what the creature fears is Lucy and only Lucy. He follows her orders to the details and doesn''t dare to disobey for some reason, maybe because Arthur ordered him to do so or because he felt fear from her albeit him being higher than her in Realm. In the past week, Lucy wanted to test his strength so they fought many times and he would literally be behalf-dead with many of his broken bones either freezing or melting by her attacks but he didn''t lose immediately. He was quite tough and agile, what''s, more is that he can produce ''Amaterasu'' from his burning tale. It''s also a special kind of flames that have only one purpose, burning something until that thing is dead. Lucy was hit in her left hand by the flames and even Delia couldn''t get rid of it, so Lucy could only cut off her hand and waste one of the precious potions that recover a lost limb. Unlike Arthur, she won''t recover a limb if it''s cut unless she drinks that potion, she still has a lot of them but they are not endless so they must be used with caution and should never be wasted. Once she saw his black flames, Lucy was relieved to let him go with Saly as he had the power to protect her from any danger, at least on Earth as the strongest person right now is merely Lv43, it''s increasing day by day but it''s still too weak. Heck! The five-year-old Saly is Lv118 and her stats have been strengthened by dungeon cores, mysterious techniques or miraculous potions. If she is to be compared to all the humans on Earth, she would be the strongest by a huge margin. She may be only Lv118 but her power is unbelievable, she relies on martial arts coupled with the Earth Attribute while sometimes adding a few support techniques relying on the Wind Attribute. What''s more is that Randiun is next to her day and night, there is literally no one amongst those humans or those puny dungeons that can hurt her. Delia told her that all dungeons are weak, the strongest dungeon is a High-level Dungeon which has a Lv250 boss, but even that is considered weak, with some effort, Saly can probably beat it. .... The night soon passed and by the next day, around 8 AM, Lucy and Delia headed for Lady Sinyu''s house, or to be more precise, to her mansion. The old woman lived in a big mansion with a wide garden, an artificial fountain and some sculptors made from simple grass, all of them were diamond shaped for some reason. Even the fountain had some small sized green diamonds, god knows if they are real or fake but they most likely were fake because who would be stupid enough to put real ones. A thief wouldn''t need to go to the mansion to steal, he just has to take some from the fountain, that is if he can get past the hundreds of guards all around the mansion''s perimeter. Lucy saw the countless black-clothed guards with sunglasses and big build and was annoyed, she wasn''t bothered by them but by the fact that she''ll probably be stopped then questioned by them. They''ll ask her many useless questions like ''who are you'', ''how did you get here'', ''why are you here'' and so on. It is a piece of cake for both of them to enter unnoticed so they just did it like that, quick and easy with no time to waste. Lady Sinyu was laying on a comfortable chair in a big room in the second floor of the mansion, she was sipping from a cup of tea while looking at several small-size diamonds put on a small boxes just in front of her. A maid was standing behind her and holding a tea pot, there were also several people sitting on the opposite side of her. "So you''re saying, some woman who knows who is going to join our team?" One of the two men present spoke with an irritated voice, he sounded like he was reprimanding her for something she did, he was totally unhappy and against what Lady Sinyu just said. Lady Sinyu didn''t seem to care, she glared back at him with an emotionless face and retorted "Gulan, I make the decisions, not you. You just have to do your job properly." The old woman right now was miles apart from the excited one from yesterday, even Lucy was a bit taken aback by her current attitude, it''s like she''s a serious person but yesterday she was clearly blinded by the diamonds and her attitude was way different. Gulan was a man with a normal build, a bit muscular with a long brown hair and fancy clothes. There was a tall man sitting next to him, he was both tall and burly with bulging muscles all around his body. The remaining two were both women, one appeared to be a teenager, probably 16 or 17-year-old high-school student and the last one was a middle-aged woman with makeup on her face and expensive red lipstick, she was by no means ugly, in fact, she''s the prettiest woman in the room, if we exclude Lucy and Delia of course. Gulan banged his fist on the table from anger but he didn''t speak further, he was very angry but he didn''t dare utter a single word after Sinyu said that, she was, after all, the one who found him and recruited him, if not for her taking care of him and the other three, they wouldn''t have the money to register in the IHO and rise in fame. They were still C-class Heroes but they weren''t bad, in fact, they came back with a few unique magical items from the Korean dungeon and managed to gain some popularity. D and E class Heroes are everywhere but from C-class and above, they became rare and idolized. Some D-class heroes may be stronger than an A-class Hero but he prefers to remain hidden. After a few seconds, Lady Sinyu sighed and took another sip before speaking again. "Anyways, the guest will be arriving shortly and when they come, you guys better not show any hostility, after all, their identity is mysterious and I highly think they are from a secret organization. Well, for me that doesn''t matter as long as they are willing to join the team." As Sinyu said that, she turned to look at the maid and ordered "Go instruct the guards and everyone to not cause trouble if two ladies show-up, they have to immediately bring them here and treat them with respect." Just as she finished her sentence, not even a second passed when all of a sudden, Lucy''s cold voice rang out in the big room "No need, we are already here." From the point of view of others, the two women appeared out of nowhere, they were already standing not far away from Lady Sinyu and both had a cold demeanor, especially Lucy. "W, Who are you? Guards!" The first to speak was the tall and burly man next to Gulan, he stood up and shouted to the guards while taking a fighting stance, other than him, the rest just stared dumbfoundedly at Lucy and Delia, who in return remained silent and awaited an answer. Lucy wanted to show up suddenly to not bother with the guards but most importantly to show off a bit, if they underestimated her and tried to a play useless trick, it would only waste more time and she didn''t want that. Of course, she won''t show off too much, but as long as she doesn''t surpass that limit, it''s alright. It took Sinyu a couple of seconds to react to the sudden appearance of Lucy and Delia, she wasn''t angry because they sneaked in or trespassed, she was just shocked. She had many guards and some of them were even E-class heroes so this only added to her approval for both of them. "Welcome to my home, I still didn''t ask for your names." "I''m Lucy Moonstar and this is Delia." Lucy only did a simple introduction and didn''t state where she came from or anything else. Her last name is obviously not her or Arthur''s real last name but they decided on it a long time ago, even their sect has this name, it''s a simple but good name that will shatter skies or shake mountains if it''s heard but that is something in the long future. "So it''s miss Lucy and misses Delia, I''m very pleased to meet you. I''m also happy to see that you showed up." Lady Sinyu pointed at the empty sofa near the four-man team and gestured for Delia and Lucy to sit. She used a special etiquette as she stood up and performed a low bow to show her respect and politeness. Of course, Lucy and Delia didn''t just remain standing and simply sat up. When all of them sat up and relaxed, silent ruled the room for sometime before Lucy finally spoke. As for the tall burly man, he just remained standing up with his mouth wide open as he stared at Delia with yearning and hopeful eyes, he either was thinking a lewd thing or was mesmerized by her beauty and still didn''t snap out of it. "I would like to hear the details about what you proposed yesterday." Lady Sinyu had long since turned from anger to ecstasy when Lucy showed up and when she heard this, she became even happier. "Does that mean that miss Lucy agrees to join my team?" "Not after I hear the full details, then I''ll think about it." Lady Sinyu nodded and started explaining or at least tried to explain "If you join my team. You''ll become an official hero sponsored by me, you''ll get a monthly income and if you bring items from the dungeon, you''ll get even more mon.." Lucy interrupted her right away and said "Spare me the money talk, I want to hear more about the ranks, how to rank up, how to join up the International Hero Organization." The old woman didn''t expect to hear such a thing, she thought that Lucy wanted more money as yesterday she came selling diamonds but it didn''t appear to be the case. She nodded back to Lucy resumed speaking "Hero ranks are from E to S with E being the lowest. If you want to rank up from E-class to D-class for example, you have to either clear a floor, kill a unique boss, bring a unique magical item and so on, there is many things you could do but the most used is bringing magical items and giving them to the IHO. As for how to join the IHO, you have to pay up a fee at first then get tested by their members, your first rank is based on your Status Window." "Status Window?" "It''s a blue window that has numbers in it, there are specific stats for specific things and the higher the numbers, the higher the rank you''ll get. There are some cases of rare or inborn skills but I''ve only heard rumors." All these things were old things for Lucy as she uses a Status Window too but is it the same as the one used here? And how can they see the Status Window of others, even in Astria there isn''t something like that. "Alright, I''ll join your team." There is a lot of questions in her mind but it''s not too urgent, Lucy wanted to rank up faster and gain fame then her questions will be answered on their own. Lady Sinyu clapped her hands in happiness and was about to reply when Gulan repeated the same action he did earlier and shouted "You want to join our team? Dream on! If joining professional teams like ours is as easy as saying two or three words then everyone would be a hero! To begin with, we don''t even know if you have a special ability or high stats, you have to be tested first!" Gulan launched a bombardment of words at Lucy whilst sounding unhappy with what''s happening. He was surprised by their beautiful appearance but since he became a hero, he enjoyed all sorts of beautiful women, albeit them being uglier than Lucy, they were enough and for him. He didn''t like the fact that a woman showed out of nowhere and was going to join his team while he suffered to become like this and reach this position. "Gulan! Didn''t I tell you to shut up? Wasn''t the previous display enough for you?" Sinyu snapped again at him but he seemed like he became deaf and kept glaring at Lucy and shouting "Plus, you didn''t even say what your role is, are you a support? A mage? Or are you just good at wearing clothes?" This was just straight out insulting and mocking but Lucy didn''t even spare him a glance, as for Delia, she wasn''t as calm as her. A god-like her being disgraced wasn''t something she was used to, Arthur mocking her was alright as he was extremely strong and had some backings behind his words but this was just a mere mortal who can only run his mouth non-stop. "Hmpf! And what makes you think you are qualified to talk to us?" Delia displayed an arrogant pose as both of her hands were on her hips and her face turned toward Gulan who didn''t expect the ever so silent Delia to finally utter a word of retort. "I, I''m only speaking facts, you have to follow the rules and show us what you got, either show your Status Window, special ability or whatever you got, don''t just say you join us and think it''s enough!" In response to him, Delia looked at him as if he was an annoying fly, she just waved her head dismissively and coldly said "Piss off." This time, Gulan, Lady Sinyu and all the rest except Lucy were momentarily stunned, they didn''t expect such words from a figure like Delia, with her appearance, attire and so on, she didn''t seem like a person with a rotten mouth but the sad truth is that she is, since she became Arthur''s slave, she could no longer bear it and would curse whenever she''s annoyed. Sure it didn''t suit her who had a status of a Holy Goddess but that was not important in such situations. "W,W--What did you say?" "I said Piss off. Such low-life, disgusting, annoying person who can only run his mouth, you want us to be tested? Alright, you''re clearly one of the team, so go get your weapon and fight me.... come on, go get it, I''m waiting." Gulan''s usually handsome face turned red from anger, he was insulted and mocked this much but he didn''t reply, he furiously got up and was ready to go get his blade from the other room but suddenly, his body flew up in the air and was roughly smashed into the air. It didn''t deal much damage but his mouth and nose were hurt, blood came out of his nostrils and he lost a teeth. Such unusual thing was obviously done by the Delia who looked at him with contempt and had an evil smile hanging on her face "You!!!! So shameless." Delia shrugged her shoulders and waved her hand, making Gulan''s body float and crush again on the floor, then she retorted "Shameless? Is that what you''re going to say to a monster in the dungeon when he attacks when you''re without a weapon? Just because you don''t have your weapon you are crying and calling the other party shameless, now now, who from both of us is so shameless as to do that?" Delia then smashed him yet again, making more teeth fall out and spoke again "Such weak and frail body, with such strength you are bold enough to talk about testing us? I can beat you without lifting a finger and I''m just a support class, truly pathetic, why don''t you get out of my sight." As she said that, Gulan was literally thrown from the windows and fell from the second floor, you could only hear his cry. All the other team members were dumbstruck by what just happened, as for Lady Sinyu, she looked at Delia with sparkling eyes and thought ''B-class? No definitely A-class, yes yes, it''s A, surely an A!'' Chapter 123 - 120 : Codename At the sight of their comrades being thrown off the window by something mysterious or rather strange, they all knew who the one who did it is but none dared to voice out any word of complaint or blame. Even the dazing burly man was awakened from the shattering of the window glass, he tilted his face for a second by after a few more seconds, his eyes shone, even more, it''s like what happened now made him even more attracted to Delia. Seconds passed but all that was heard was the guards and maids from outside yelling around to nurse Gulan, some black-clothed guards barged in the room and raised their weapons and stared at the two strangers with hostility. If not for Lady Sinyu raising her hand and gesturing them to back off and resume their usual job, they would have attacked at any second. "Please excuse the previous behavior of Gulan, he''s still a beginner and a bit impulsive." "A bit impulsive? He was straight out bad mouthing us, he al--" The ranting Delia was quickly Lucy who coldly said "Enough! Lady Sinyu, we''ll join your team but you''ll have to kick that useless Guban or whatever his name is. As for the test, I don''t think we need it anymore, or do we?...." Lady Sinyu hesitated for a second, as she was pondering on whether kick Gulan or not, she remembered the fact that Delia was only a support class yet she did that, even if she was a mage or an attack-oriented class, it was enough to accept as they seemed to be reclusive people with abilities. ''It must be something like telekinesis but much stronger..... that''s at least B-class even if it''s normal telekinesis.... it''s jackpot!'' "O, Of course, you two are accepted to the team. It''s a C-class team and named ''Diamond Jades'', I can guarantee that you''ll never see Gulan when you''re working." The first part was what Lucy wanted but once she heard the last part, she frowned and retorted immediately "I don''t like to repeat the same thing. Kick him and we''ll join, he stays, we can always choose another team, after all, it''s not like there is a shortage of them." Lady Sinyu tried to persuade them without having to resort to that, Gulan is a person she took since the beginning and despite his rotten attitude, he''s a good person but between him and them, she didn''t know who to choose. After being stuck in such a dilemma for some time, her strong desire to earn more precious diamonds and after the previous display, she couldn''t hold back her urges anymore. With a resolute look, she looked at Lucy and nodded confirming her approval. "You to deal with some minor paperwork but it''ll end shortly, please wait for a bit until my subordinate brings what''s needed." Lady Sinyu explained then she dialed a person with her phone, the call didn''t last a long time and after sending out some orders, the old lady resumed speaking to Lucy and answered all the questions that were asked. .... About half an hour later, a maid came in with a stack of papers in her hands. From her look, she seemed to be rushing for some time and when she handed the papers to Lady Sinyu, she felt extreme relief. Lucy came to know that to join a team, she can be tested by the IHO then join that specific team or just get tested and remain a solo-Hero. A solo-Hero, of course, can join temporary parties to raid the dungeons but they are usually not that effective as the party won''t have too much coordination. There is also an alternate method to enter a team and that''s only if the person doesn''t want to have any ties to the IHO, they can be tested by the leader of the team they to join in. As for the Rank, it depends on the result of the God Knowledge Stone, or so it was named by the citizens of Earth. The God Knowledge Stone is a highly looted stone of one-time use, it can test people and see their Status Window and check if they have any special skills, bloodline or anything similar. The drop rate of this stone is extremely high but that doesn''t mean it should be wasted and that is precisely why that to get tested by the IHO, you have to pay a 50,000 dollar fee and even if you''re a normal human without any powers, you''ll not get the money back. The basic of the Status Window is just like Astria except that the average power of normal people here is lower than the ones in Astria, their growth rate is also very limited. On Astria, with sufficient training, people can reach high levels and stats ranging in the tens of thousands but Humans on Earth couldn''t. Lucy didn''t probe much into it and only asked about the average strength and so on and it seems it''s only 20 with the ones using the gym or the muscular having their Strength in the 30 or 35. Leveling gave people special points that can be added to one of the stats the user desires but it''s still not much. Lucy refused to get tested because if the people saw her stats, they would literally freeze from fear or awe. They were in the millions and it''ll bring trouble instead of fame, even if it brings fame, it''s not the kind of fame she''s seeking. "Miss Lucy, these are the papers needed, you just have to sign on the top left corner of this main one." Lady Sinyu pointed at a specific position in the paper full of words, Lucy wasn''t in the mood to read the whole thing and even if she could understand most of the words, she was sure that the old woman wouldn''t take advantage of her more than she already is. Lucy didn''t actually sign but she just wrote a blood symbol which had the two character MS referring to ''MoonStar''. As for Delia, she just put a seal with Holy Light, the seal shined a bit and had a unique luster. The two signs were magical and impressive which left the spectators yet again dumbfounded but Lady Sinyu had just received too many surprises so this one only left her speechless for a moment. After confirming the signs, the old lady smiled and added "The last thing to do is choose your codename, every Hero has a good name, you can also choose your own name but it''s highly advised not to do that. Speaking of codenames, the other team members also have codenames." A simple glance from Sinyu urged the three remaining people to finally speak and introduce themselves. "I''m Saku also known as Snow Peaks." Lucy''s coincidentally landed on the two mountains peaks in her chest area, they were about to bulge from the clothes, even a simple movement makes them jiggle non-stop. ''Snow peaks huh?'' Lucy then looked at Delia''s perfect and rounded boobs and this made her more depressed, she subconsciously glanced at her chest, it was developed and not too bad but they were far off from Delia or Saku. "I, I''m Alin, m-my codename is ''Legendary Shooter''." "Hahaha and I''m Guan Gi, they usually call me ''Silver Tank''." The three members introduced themselves but Guan, the burly and tall man was too enthusiastic as he almost leaped next to Delia and shook her hand but he restrained himself for fear of being played with like Gulan then thrown like trash. "I want my codename to be Holy Goddess!" The concept of codenames pleased Delia, without restraint she voiced her thoughts and the codename was noted by a maid on the side. The last one was Lucy, who spoke after a short silence "Loyal Wife." "Eeeh?" No one reacted for some time until Saku covered her mouth and exclaimed. Even Lady Sinyu didn''t expect such a codename, each person would try to choose a domineering nickname but she chooses a rather simple and plain one. It''s not like it mattered, everyone had the freedom to choose a codename as long as it''s not offending. Very soon, the paperwork was done and the atmosphere calmed down a bit. "So, you said that to rank up we have to clear dungeon floor or bring magical items. I want to go now." Lucy said that with a deadpan face, she didn''t want to waste time and start ranking up immediately but it didn''t appear to be this east as Lady Sinyu frowned and said "Unfortunately, today is impossible. The team has to prepare equipment, bandages and also be ready mentally." "Isn''t it fine if I go by myself or with Delia?" Sinyu didn''t expect such a request and that made her startled. ''Solo a dungeon? Even A-class Heroes don''t dare to go alone. The first floors would be easy but when the traps, bosses and such start to appear, it''ll be like suicide.'' She wanted to say that out loud but after seeing Lucy''s attitude, it didn''t seem like it''ll change her opinion so she could only say "Just wait until tomorrow morning, it''s not much, right?" Lucy could only sigh and nod, by the next second, she disappeared into thin air with Delia without adding a single extra word. Lady Sinyu''s hands shook as she clutched a diamond, her thoughts were in disarray. ''First special telekinesis then invisibility?'' .... Later that day, Lady Sinyu spoke privately with Gulan but that only ended in him banging the table and crushing it, he was so furious earlier but this time, he could no longer endure it and shouted ferociously "Fine! Fucking bitch, after all, I did for you and your shitty business you dare kick me out of my own team? And just for two sluts? You''ll regret it greatly when you see me rise and gain more fame in another team, hmpf! We''ll see!" After he finished saying what he wanted to say and vented some of his rage, Gulan angrily left the mansion while fuming in anger. It was around 11 PM and the streets were bustling, he didn''t head home but circled in a few deserted alleys before stopping at a narrow one. He picked up his phone and called a friend, it rang for a few seconds before someone picked up. "Gulan, what is it?" "Raki! You previously invited me to your team right? I''ll join, I''m sick of mine they are a bunch of twats! Also, you have a wide circle of friends and connections, I want you to find me where two women live and everything about them." "whoo whoo! Gulan! Calm down! You''re speaking too fast and want too many things at once. Why do you want to investigate two women? You''re usually calm and reserved but it sounds like you''re exploding from anger.." "IT DOESN''T MATTER OKAY? JUST FIND THEM! One is a silver-haired and the other is a blonde, the first one is named Lucy apparently and the second is Delia." Just as he finished speaking, Gulan felt chills down his spines and felt the atmosphere around him drop by tens of degrees at once. His phone instantly froze and he felt like he was suffocating from an invisible pressure. He was going to turn his head but it was too late as purple flames engulfed him and before he could scream he already turned into black ashes. A gust of wind dispersed the ashes and within seconds, the alley returned to its usual calmness as if nothing happened, the only thing that was heard was the cold and emotionless voice of Lucy. "Always get rid of a future trouble, no matter how insignificant it is, isn''t that right, Arthur?....." Chapter 124 - 121 : Just Stay Back After killing the scum that needed to be finished, Lucy returned to a private residence that Delia bought earlier. They didn''t waste the whole day after talking to Sinyu instead Delia was ordered to buy a house to live in. Although the price was high, they still managed to buy a modest apartment which contained 3 rooms. They were only four people and a beast so it was more than enough for them even if each one took a room. The one-million-dollar they earned yesterday was almost gone, only a hundred thousand was left but it''s not like it mattered to Lucy. Having a house to live in is more than enough. As for the furniture and such, it was needless to waste money on them since she had a couple of beds and such in her storages. The apartment was in the center of S¨¦oul which is precisely why the price was sky-high. The advanced technology and the new machines strongly attracted the young Saly who was mesmerized, each time she discovered a new thing, she would either stare at it for a long time or ask permission from Lucy to inspect it. She wasn''t a thoughtless kid, not like those from Earth who were too ignorant. True, she''s not fully developed, mentally and physically but that didn''t mean she''s brain-dead and does whatever comes to her mind. Even with Randiun next to her constantly, she didn''t dare to act or do things without permission as it would bother Lucy. When Lucy arrived, she found Miya and Saly watching the TV, they were still ignorant about how to use it but somehow, the calm Miya spent some time and grasped the basics on how to switch channels. They both had wide eyes as they listened to the high-quality audio and amazing visuals. The TV wasn''t something Lucy bought but instead, it was Delia. The Holy Goddess had a miraculous ability to produce the money bills, in just an hour, she created millions of dollars and that''s only done in aleisurely and slow way. She stacked money endlessly and created it for 4 long hours before stopping and giving most of it to Lucy whilst keeping some for her. She grew a bit fond of this lowly yet amusing world. Unlike Lucy, she didn''t want to gain fame but merely enjoy the delicious delicacies and the advanced technology like the TV, computers and even the clothes. Lucy was surprised to see her wear a different dress model from this morning, usually she would change a bit of her normal Holy Goddess clothes but right now, she copied a dress she liked and was now wearing it, from Delia''s perspective, she''s already a resident of this world so at least she had to enjoy it. Delia was sitting in a seductive pose on a nearby chair in the veranda and drank some of the ''Red Wine'' she happened to stumble upon earlier. She wasn''t as courteous as Lucy and simply flicked her fingers and the Red Wine teleported from the shop to her hands. She only used the money she created to buy the TV as Lucy prohibited her to take them away without paying, that''s why the secret of the Red Wine must be kept hidden for EVER. Once Lucy''s presence was felt by the small Salyn, the little girl jumped from the sofa and leaped into her mother''s embrace. For Saly, the best place to sleep in is either Lucy or Arthur''s arms, it was the most comfortable and warm, it was also the safest. "Mom!" "Ha! I''m back. Did you behave?" "En!! Aunt Delia brought this weird but amazing treasure, look look! It displays a lot of funny things!" While being held by Lucy, Saly pointed at the TV, coincidentally it was displaying a comedy show. The poor Delia almost choked on her wine when she heard "Aunt". She was not even that old. ''Tch! I''m still so young! Only a few hundred centuries.... or maybe a couple of thousand years? Am I really an old woman?'' Delia began to question herself as she felt her face with both her hands and only breathed sigh of relief when she confirmed that there were no wrinkles or anything indicating that she''s old. Individuals in the God Realm can pass thousands of years without aging but that depending on their constitution and the laws or techniques they are cultivating. Since she uses the Holy Magic, she should be fine until she reaches ten thousand years or so. Lucy took Saly and sat next to Miya who was still immersed in the TV. Surprisingly, this young and calm maiden didn''t complain about what happened and obeyed Lucy''s orders to the letter, she knew that these people who abducted her weren''t bad people and them arriving on Earth is but a mistake, she had no right to blame them so the best thing to do is coexist and help each other. What''s more is that Saly is friendly and cute, in no time, both of them became very close, she would even accompany the small girl in the forest for fear of her safety albeit the presence of Randiun, a creature who could kill her easily. Delia and Miya witnessed the fight between Lucy and Randiun, they couldn''t help but shiver unconsciously when they saw the inextinguishable black flames that he could manipulate and use. Amaterasu is a skill that cannot be countered if you''re touched you''re dead. It was fortunate that Randiun held back and Lucy was strong or else she would have lost more than just a hand. "Mom Mom! I heard from Aunt Delia that there are many dungeons here, I wanna go, pleaaaaase, Miya agreed to go with me, also... e-em Randiun is going too.... pleaaase." As they were relaxing on the sofa, Saly voiced her thoughts, Delia told her of the existence of the low-dungeons and since she cleared the private dungeon of the Ma Clan many times, such weak dungeons are nothing to her. Astrith was with her when she went last time but this time, not one but two peak Immortals are coming with her with one of them having the power of a God. Lucy combed the little girl''s hair as she was lost in thought, hearing Saly speak she instantly snapped of her deep thought and looked down on Saly who used the puppy eyes trump card while clenching her small fists. Lucy could only sigh and shake her head as a soft smile hang on her face, from the very beginning she was planning on letting Saly try them, it''s just that it''s too soon for her to go, especially because she''s strong compared to the weak humans of Earth and her appearance would attract too many attention. If she appeared and Saly appeared at the same time, it would not be a favorable thing for her plan. "Alright, I''ll let you go but you have to wait some time." Seeing that her pleading was successful, Saly giggled and nodded toward Miya who nodded back at her and smiled. She was fond of this girl and loved taking care of her, it was a shame that her parents and her grandmother started on the wrong foot. Very soon, the excitement and happiness from having her request accepted slowly died down, Saly soundlessly fell asleep in Lucy''s arms after spending half an hour or so watching the TV. When the little girl fell asleep, Lucy grasped this opportunity to talk with Miya "Since you are going with Saly, you have to properly watch over her, is that clear?" Although her tone did not contain the usual coldness or any kind of threat, Miya did not dare to stutter or ignore what was said, she nodded and said "Yes Madame, I can guarantee her safety." Seeing the serious Miya, Lucy lightly smiled and waved her hand to gesture to Miya to sit down as the maiden has got up from the sofa and faced Lucy while bowing, it was too uncomfortable. "No need to be so serious, I just needed to remind you. Remember, no matter who or what, if Saly''s life is threatened then you must kill it without hesitation or escape if you are unable to finish the opponent. Do you clearly understand?" Her speech was not directed to Miya but Randiun who was dazing off to the size, his size was a bit big but since the room was wide enough, he didn''t take much space. Hearing the strict voice of Lucy, the lizard stood and repeatedly nodded non-stop. "Alright, since you understand then I''ll start explaining the plan...." Although a bit tense, Miya listened to Lucy''s every sentence and focused to not miss a single word. Just from her serious demeanor, it was obvious that she was instructing her with an important plan. .... The night passed in the blink of an eye, Delia finished 4 whole bottles of Red Wine while enjoying the view in front of her. Miya spent the whole night watching the TV and switching channels until she stumbled upon a golden channel that aired an action movie that got her hooked. As for Lucy, she put Saly on the bed and sat cross-legged next to her. Nether Energy was non-existent on Earth, Delia said that there was an extremely meager amount in some volcanos South of Korea, in Australia precisely but apart from that place, there were no Nether Energy. With the absence of Nether Energy, her progress slowed down by a lot but that didn''t mean she couldn''t advance in Grade or in stats. Mana was present on Earth surprisingly, and with its help, she could practice her techniques. It may take her ten times the time to advance a single Grade but it''s better than doing nothing. The sun has long since risen and the sky turned from dark to blue. The weather was nice and enjoyable. By the time Lucy finished another training session, she exhaled a breath of frost air from her mouth which slowly diminished and disappeared. It was a good thing that she had a special body as it appeared that her Yin Body was good at absorbing any kind of Energy at a very fast speed. Nether Energy was stronger and an upgraded version of such energies like Mana, Qi and such but Lucy felt a mysterious yet comfortable feeling when absorbing Mana, she felt it was purer than Nether Energy, or perhaps more efficient? In term of advancing speed in cultivation speed or strength, Nether Energy was almost without equal but whilst absorbing Mana for a few hours, she had an indescribable feeling surging inside of her. It was almost time for the meet-up, Lucy got up from the bed and spoke with Miya, instructing her about some things then she headed to the meeting place with Delia who was still reluctant to get up from the chair and part up with a wine. She literally became a wine addict in a single night, to call her a Holy Goddess is a disgrace to every existent God on this universe. "Ughh! Can''t we just achieve whatever you want to achieve with my Godly Powers? It''s too annoying to go with this whole slow and irritating process, I want to enjoy my wine." Delia floated behind Lucy and kept complaining, unfortunately for her, Lucy turned a deaf to her and ignored her existence and she could not be bothered anymore. As they flying to the destination, Delia managed to secretly ''borrow'' more than ten wine bottles from several shops. She covered a small area from S¨¦oul with her Godly Sense and took what she liked, of course, it was all free. Her mood rose a bit as she tried to imagine the taste of the wine and how she was going to enjoy it later at night. Since both of them were unimaginably fast, what was supposed to be a one hour trip by car was done in less than a minute. The two ladies appeared in an alley near the dungeon entrance. There were many parties preparing themselves and such, surprisingly, there were government guards standing on the two sides of the entrance and each party that entered had to pay some kind of a fee. Once Lucy spotted the rest of their team waiting near the dungeon, she headed towards them with Delia. Saku was chatting with Alin, as for Guan Gi, his eyes were looking left and right trying to spot any presence of Delia. When his eyes landed on the voluptuous and breathtaking figure of the dressed Delia, his eyes nearly popped out of their own sockets, the burly man even forgot to greet them as he dazed whilst looking at her. "A,Ah Miss Lucy, M-mmmiss Delia, good morning." Alin became shy and a bit reserved when she noticed their presence, she bowed to show her respect and greeted them politely, Saku followed right after but unlike the girl, she didn''t bow and merely greeted. Lucy nodded back to them without speaking but Delia was feeling chatty right now after looting the wine so she didn''t hold back and spoke "Ah, it''s Snow Peaks and Legendary Shooter right? Nice seeing you again." God knows why she became this friendly, it was weirding the hell out of Lucy who knew Delia, one second she''s complaining and the other she''s friendly. Perhaps the slave thingy brainwashed her or her mind simply high wired? Alin was still feeling a bit awkward after the display of Delia yesterday, as for Saku, she was calmer and started chatting with Delia. "Oh oh! Good morning Miss Del..." The excited Guan Gi wasn''t able to finish his sentence before the four other disappeared from his sight and entered the dungeon. Snow Peaks gave some card to one of the guards standing at the entrance but Lucy didn''t pay any heed to that. "W-Waittt!!!! We still didn''t discuss the formation....." Guan Gi chased after them with a round silver shield behind his back and a Steel Sword sheathed on his waist. He was expecting them to wait and seriously discuss what to do or how they should proceed but Lucy only replied with "Just stay back and watch." Even Alin and Saku were surprised by such reply, it''s true that strong Heroes would find it easy to get rid of the monsters on the first floor or the even second one by they were a C-class team, no matter how confident they were, they didn''t dare barge in mindlessly. "This.... Miss Lucy..." Snow Peaks wanted to speak but Delia just shook her head while smiling and said "Talking won''t matter much, just watch." Alin also wanted to speak but she couldn''t muster the courage to do so, she only looked at Delia then Lucy with tearful eyes as if she is about to burst out crying at any second. She already took out a wooden bow with some red lines on it and prepared herself for the fight. Saku also retrieved a short scepter followed by Guan Gi who dashed in front of the ladies and proudly said "Fear no more my ladies for Silver Tank would shield you!" As he said that, he emitted used an encouraging skill named [Warrior''s Triumph] which boosted the attack of the party by 5% then he rushed toward the swarm of small lizard a dozen of meters ahead of the team. He imagined himself to be regarded as a brave and strong person from the point of view of Lucy and especially Delia but what he received when he sneakily looked back was the emotionless and cold face of Lucy and the smirking of Delia. The smirk wasn''t of happiness or admiration but it''s as if she was mocking him. The monsters on the first floor are lizard which uses fire-attribute attacks, they mainly bite or spit fireballs, they are strong but too slow so it''s easy to dodge. Guan Gi braced himself for the impact and raised his shield to the front but what he expected didn''t happen, instead, from behind the shield he saw a purple light and when he shifted the position of the shield just a bit so he could see what''s happening, he was met with nothing, literally nothing. All that could be seen is a small speck of purple fire that was extinguished the second he looked... there was no sign of the dozen or lizards that were coming at him. No wails, screeching or anything was heard. After a silence of several seconds, a notification popped in front of the stunned Guan Gi waking him up from his daze. Fire Lizard Lv2 was killed ! +147 Experience Fire Lizard Lv1 was killed ! +120 Experience Fire Lizard Lv2 was killed ! +140 Experience Fire Lizard Lv1 was killed ! +118 Experience ... Chapter 125 - 122 : Thats Ours! For Guan Gi, the surprise was way less than Saku and Alin, who witnessed everything that happened a second ago. The battle was too one-sided, if it''s called a battle that is, to be more precise, it was a complete annihilation. One second the lizards were charging at them and the next they were engulfed in purple flames and were burned into ashes. The process didn''t even take a second, no sound came out of the suffering monsters, they couldn''t even react before dying miserably. "What in the...." Saku was in total disbelief from the previous display, she even muttered those words unconsciously. The high-school girl Alin hid behind her friend Snow Peaks for fear of being struck by the purple flames which appeared too suddenly. As for the last one, Guan Gi, his head moved between the place where the lizards perished and Lucy, who was standing in front of the other three. He wasn''t sure but his gut told him that she''s the one who did that, unlike his admiration for Delia, fear grew inside of him as just the heat from the flames made him suffocate. Guan Gi walked next to the black ashes scattered everywhere and saw no signs of lizard corpses, just ashes and nothing else. They didn''t drop anything too but that''s to be expected since they are too low-leveled and only on the first floor. Amidst the confusion and astonishment of the three team members, Delia giggled and said "Hehehe, told you to just stay back and watch. Don''t try to be heroic and waste our time, it''ll be best to stand behind me and enjoy the show." As she said that, Delia winked at Guan Gi. Being the simpleton he was, he totally forgot about what happened just a second ago and happily walked next to her instead of standing behind her, his eyes were glued to her which was pretty uncomfortable. Lucy ignored all of them and proceeded deeper into the dungeon. Obviously, the rest of them followed after her but not before questioning Delia on what the hell just happened. "Emm, Delia, could it be Miss Lucy who did... that?" Although they only met earlier, after chatting for some time, Delia became friends with Saku who was not as shy and reserved as Alin who remained silent. Delia took out a wine bottle from out of nowhere, a cup floated next to the bottle and with her telekinesis, or so thought the others, she poured the wine in the cup and casually replied to Snow Peaks "Who else would it be beside her? I''m but a support-type and she''s the one who''ll take care of everything... ok enough about this boring stuff, how about you tell me from where you bought that robe?" Delia actions seemed too natural as if she was not in a dangerous dungeon but in her own house. After some thought, Delia decided to enjoy the wine now as she had nothing to do except following Lucy, she doesn''t need to heal or attack as all of that would be handled by her boss. The first floor was rather big, usually, to pass to the second floor, it takes about two hours or one hour if the team is strong. The problem is the huge number of lizards, individually they are weak but if it''s a big number then they can pose a threat even to A-class team. What was supposed to be a two-hour trip was finished in a mere 20 minutes. Not once did they stop walking, every single lizard that charged at them was instantly obliterated by the purple flames. No monster managed to get close to them. It''s like walking into a museum and enjoying the artwork but instead of that, it''s a dark cave filled with creepy looking monsters. The three newbies calmed down after witnessing the process several times but they were still in awe of such powerful ability. The silent Alin managed to finally muster some courage and talk to Lucy as she admired such a powerful figure, she always looked up to people like the flame Emperor and the Holy Knight so seeing someone so strong, she couldn''t keep silent and miss this opportunity. "Emm, Miss Lucy, why are the flames purple?" Talking was not her strongest suit, she had many other questions but she was curious on why the flames had that specific color, however, unfortunately for her, Lucy only replied to her with a simple and unsatisfying answer. "They just are." It took Alin a lot of determination to ask that but she asked the wrong question. Seeing the sad look of Alin and her strong desire to know, Delia, who was enjoying her wine and feeling a bit chatty, started her lecture. "Flames are separated into three color, orange, blue and purple with orange being the weakest and purple the strongest." As she said that, Delia raised her hand and created a blue flame spark. They looked at the produced blue flame as if it was some kind of rare treasure, they never heard of flame ranks. Even the flame Emperor who is known to be the strongest flame user on Earth can only use normal flames. "Does that mean you can use the second strongest flames despite being a support-class?" After being able to ask the first question, Alin didn''t stop asking Delia until she was satisfied. As for Lucy, she burned every lizard in their way and even after arriving on the second floor, they continued with the same pace. Starting from the second floor, there were minor traps but Lucy didn''t pay them any heed, she didn''t even shift the direction and purposely stepped on some of them but they were all nullified thanks to Delia''s permanent Holy Barrier. A meager trap of such a lowly-dungeon could never shatter her barrier, not even an attack from a peak divine Realm can crack it much less destroy it. ... One hour later, the team finally entered the fourth floor, although Lucy could literally destroy the whole dungeon if she wanted to, she would rather do it slowly with witnesses around. 4th Floor and so on is a place for expert Heroes and not a C-class team. Only A-class Heroes are here, what''s good is that the probability of finding some treasure on the fourth floor is extremely high. When they were clearing the first three floors, nothing dropped which confused the newbies but it''s totally natural since Lucy killed them. She''s over level 1000, killing such weak monsters gives no experience and the probability to drop an item is decreased by an enormous margin. ''Kiiiiiiiiir'' ''kiiiiiiiiiir'' A group of gnomes equipped with shields and weapons charged at the group of 5 while emitting strange sounds. Lucy didn''t even need to raise her hand, with but a thought, the poor gnomes were turned into black ashes before they could react. "I can''t believe it.... even the Lvl10 gnomes are killed so easily....." Saku covered her mouth and gazed at the black ashes in surprise, she thought it''ll become harder so she finally took her weapon but it didn''t appear to be the case. What''s more is that Lucy didn''t look tired, there were no signs of fatigue in her face, it was as emotionless and cold as ever, it''s like she was killing ants and not dangerous monsters. The pace never slowed and albeit being on the fourth floor, the monsters died one after another. From the beginning, there never was a serious battle and the three newbies had long since relaxed and stopped feeling anxious. Alin asked questions endlessly but since Delia was feeling like it, she patiently replied whilst enjoying her wine. Over the course of the last hour, god knows how many wine bottles she took from all over the world. She literally whatever she liked, be it Franca, Italy or the U.S, her sense easily covered the whole planet and nothing escaped from her. She didn''t bother with any person and only focused on wine. Being a person not from Astria, Delia couldn''t use the system and couldn''t see it or else she would have been given a special title related to wine, definitely.... Half an hour after arriving on the fourth floor, which by the way was way bigger than all the previous floor, the team finally stumbled upon a treasure chest. Guan Gi was as mesmerized as ever, he tried talking to Delia but except a few short answers, she didn''t bother with him so he merely stared at her and imagined things that are better not said. "Ahhh! Finally a treasure chest!!" The one who was the most excited was Saku, who ran up to the chest to open it and see what''s inside. Midway to the chest, something unexpected occurred. A man appeared from the wall behind the chest and grabbed it, he was just as excited as Saku as he held the chest as if his life depended on it. His eyes were greedily inspecting the chest and after a few seconds, he opened the chest and took a brown book with a flame mark on it. "Ah!! It''s a skill book, Luckyyyyy!!" The man waved the book to the side, where a group of 7 appeared out of nowhere. It was an 8-man team and each had a unique attire. "Rony! What did that chest have? Quick quick, show us!" (Person A) "Hahahaha! My super duper [Lucky Hands] skill is indeed godlike! I found a magic skill book!" (Rony: the person who opened the chest) "Hahahaha! This day couldn''t be any better, this is the 4th chest we found today!" (Person B) ... As they were enjoying the time and reading what the book was about, Saku stood there for a second before snapping at them "Hey! We found this chest first so the loot belongs to our team!" Obviously, the 8 of them all heard her and turned their gaze towards her, none of them seemed to take her seriously, instead, the one who looted the chest advanced forward and said "Hmm? Who is this babe?" "It doesn''t matter who it is! What does matter is her appearance, maaaan! Look at those boobs!! I wanna squeeze them." Another person from Rony''s party marched toward Saku and made a grabbing motion, his hands were big and dirty, coupled with his ugly appearance, the sight could only be described as disgusting. Saku unconsciously covered her chest and spoke again, not willing to abandon the book that easily. "Stop messing around and give us the book! The rules say first come first served!" Seeing her being so persistent and her pretty appearance, all of the 8 men started slowly circling around her and looking at her with perverted eyes. Some of them even saw Delia and Lucy and this only made them drool further. "No need to bother with that, let''s not waste our time and go." Lucy finally spoke, she ignored their existence and started walking again after directing her sentence to Saku, who was very reluctant to let go of the treasure. After seeing her party continue advancing and the men closing in, Saku could only back away and join her team. As for Rony''s team, they were not dumb enough to attempt anything, they just wanted to tease her, even if the government couldn''t see what happens inside the dungeon, it doesn''t mean they should try anything, after all, to reach the fourth floor, that team cannot be weak. "No need to be so depressed! Is that book so important? It''s just a book...." Delia shook her head as she saw the disappointed and sad look of Saku, it was apparent that she didn''t want to let them have it but being the naive god she was, she didn''t find the book worth the trouble. "What do you mean it''s just a book! It was a magic skill book so it''s worth at least a million dollar and that''s only if it''s a bad one!" Chapter 126 - 123 : No One Will Be Forgiven "Arghh! Those bastards... so shameless and greedy.... our skill book. *sigh* It was priceless yet we just let it go..." As Saku complained, her eyes glanced at Lucy as she was confused about why this powerful person didn''t move a finger and just let that party get away. She and the other two were feeling bitter about what happened earlier as for them, a skill book is very rare and a magical one at that is more so. Feeling bitter and sad, Saku and Guan Gi blamed Lucy for not acting but none of them dared speak loudly as they do not have any right to do so. As for Alin, she was a bit sad but she didn''t fret about it and could never blame Lucy, instead, she admired her so much that it almost turned into worship. After witnessing Lucy''s greatness for more than two hours, none of the three newbies doubted her ability to take the book back from the 8-man team with ease but for some odd reason, she simply let them have the book and continued doing her own thing. What they didn''t know is that Lucy had almost an infinite number of skill books, be it melee or magical skill books, she had them all. Since she met Arthur, she didn''t stop collecting them, although it was useless she still enjoyed having more. Some of them were given to Saly as they were just a bit useful but as time passes, it''ll become useless for little Saly too. Skill books are only useful for weak mortals and people below Lv1000. Once you enter the Spirit Realm, those skill books become irrelevant and needless because any person would be able to create an upgraded version of those skills without having to resort to them. Let''s take for example a simple yet strong such as [Flame Tornado], Lucy, who is an expert in Fire Attribute can create a Flame Tornado much bigger and stronger than the one the book provides without needing to use the skill itself, just the Flame Mastery is enough. Saku continued ranting and complaining for some time before she realized it was futile as Delia resumed enjoying her wine and Lucy obliterated every Gnome that charged at them. They thought the fourth floor would be harder, even by a little bit, however it didn''t appear to be the case. The pace never slowed instead it accelerated by a fair bit. The fourth floor was bigger than the previous ones and Lucy picked up the pace as she thought it was too slow. To be honest, she could finish the whole dungeon with one attack and if she can solo raid it, it would take less than a minute, more like a couple of seconds as the monsters were just too weak. Weak to the point that Saly could solo it, the boss may be a bit difficult to beat but it''s not an impossible task. ''Kiiiiiiiiir'' ''kiiiiiiir'' Another group of Gnomes was burned to ashes before they managed to get close to Lucy and co. A radius of thirty meters around the team was a barrier laid to protect them from any traps and any monster that entered the barrier would be burned instantly. Lucy made it this way so she doesn''t have to personally deal with every monster, the barrier would do its job properly with no problems since the monsters are too weak to break it. It''s supposed to be a defensive skill and the collateral damage of the flames is not supposed to kill the enemies but since Lucy''s intelligence is sky-high and the Gnomes are only Lv10, it''s no wonder they died instantly. Even if it was a lv100 monster, it''ll meet the same fate. By the end of the fourth floor, the team was lucky again and found another treasure chest in a secluded corner. Like a crazy mother who just found her lost kid, Saku charged at the treasure and embraced it tightly. With lightning speed, she took it and dashed back next to Lucy for fear of anyone appearing out of nowhere like last time. Once she ascertained that Lucy is nearby and the chest was in her arms, Saku breathed a sigh of relief and finally expressed her joy although it was a late reaction. "The Gods have not forgotten about us at least!" "Quickly open it! Quickly!" Guan Gi was also excited, he walked next to Saku and eagerly waited for her to open it. He couldn''t forcefully take it from her as she would literally jump at him like an angry cat. After hugging the chest for a couple of seconds and being urged repeatedly by Guan Gi, Saku threw a piercing glare at him then opened the chest. With excited and shaking hands, Saku took out a curved brown saber. There was a sliver of disappointment flashing in her eyes for a split seconds before diminishing and going back to their usual happiness. Curved Bone Saber : +15 Strength / +10 Agility Effect: If the user lands a critical hit, he''ll gain 10% increased defense for 15 seconds. Cooldown: 1 minute. Description: A saber made from Gnomes bones, it is frequently used by Gnomes Chiefs. Level requirement: 5 "Woaaaaah! It''s a saber! Gimme gimme!" Guan Gi snatched the saber from Saku''s hands before she could celebrate, unlike what she was thinking, Guan Gi wanted to use this saber instead of his weak Steel Sword. He always wished for a stronger weapon and this one fitted his criteria as it added a lot of stats. "You brainless fool! This saber does not belong to you! You didn''t even contribute! We''re going to sell it and share the money, this kind of weapon can easily fetch us 100k!" Saku put both her hands on her waist and glared angrily at him, making the poor burly man back away and reluctantly look at the saber before letting go of it. He was too excited to the point that he forgot the fact that he literally did nothing since they entered the dungeon, he just was watched from the side and Lucy did all the work. Hopefully, Lucy would be kind enough to share the money with them. "Whatever, you can take that saber, use it or sell it..." Delia waved her hand nonchalantly whilst saying that. It was only one sentence but it made Saku and Guan Gi flying from happiness. Since Delia said that then there was no need to hold back, Guan Gi made a deal with Saku, he''ll use it for now and sell it when they go back, however.... he forgot that he will not use it as long as Lucy leads the team for she won''t let him the time to even charge at the Gnomes or even see them. Alin didn''t argue with them about the saber, she was still young and even a thousand dollar is a great amount for her. Every time she went hunting with her time, Lady Sinyu would give money and for someone as young and naive as her, it was more than enough for her to enjoy her life, buy clothes and so on. What she sought was a strength like Lucy''s, every time her eyes saw the purple flames, they would shine with admiration. "M,Miss Delia... e-emmm, is there a way to obtain purple flames like Miss L,Lucy?" With flushed face and a stuttering tone, Alin asked Delia and waited to hear the answer that''ll either crush her dreams or give her some hope. "I don''t think it''s possible for you if you don''t have Fire affinity..." As if struck by lightning, Alin stopped walking for a second and a dropped her head, she clenched her small fists and nodded her head with a sad expression hanging on it. "Hahaha, I said if you don''t have an affinity, no need to feel sad immediately..... kids these days get depressed very fast. Hahaha." "I''m not a kid! I''m already 16-years old! A fully grown adult!" ... Just like that, the team arrived on the fifth floor after spending a bit more than half an hour on the fourth one. The furthest floor any team explored in this dungeon is the 10th floor and it was only done by the S-class teams of Korea. The fifth floor had fewer traps but more monsters, their Lvl increased to 15. The monsters on this floor were called ''Bomb Huggers'', they are just like the name states. A slimy humanoid creature with a height of one meter. They can only run up to the enemy and cling to them tightly then they would self-explode, dealing a lot of damage and in almost all cases, if you''re hugged by one, you''ll die or become paralyzed. On the first floor of the dungeon, where the small lizards lived. The 8-man team that took the magical skill book were still celebrating the treasures they looted today. They were an A-team and had decent strength. They managed to arrive at the 6th floor but no further than that. Coupled with the skill book they found in the treasure chest, they found 2 chest armors, one dagger, and rare boots. Their revenue of this hunt had long since exceeded 2 million dollars. "Brooooo! This book is amazing! Why don''t you let me use it, after all, I''m the only spell caster on the team." One skinny guy patted Rony''s shoulders and attempted to get his hands on the book. They were a team but each one of them was greedy and thought only of his own benefit, a team like that wouldn''t usually last long but they surprisingly managed to climb the ladder all the way to A-Class. "Fuck off, will you? This book will be sold at millions of dollars and you want it to be wasted on you? Get the fuck out of here and find someone else to mess with!" Rony and the others snapped at the skinny guy and insulted him several times to the point of making him drop his head and remain silent. The entrance to the dungeon was close and there were no more lizards, the team relaxed as they chatted about what they are going to do with the money. Being an A-class team, each member was filthy rich but not to the point of having millions of dollars in their bank account. A team can be A-class or S-class without being rich as it all depended on what they looted. Clearing a new floor would automatically give you a million dollar and the team will gain fame but only S-class teams managed to do that. "H,Hey! I SAID HEY!" One of the main tanks of the team shouted hysterically, interrupting the laughter and happiness of the rest of the team. They switched their attention to him, who unconsciously pointed his finger to the front. When the seven of them looked up front, they were dumbstruck to see a horrifying flame beast standing there and baring its fangs at them. It had a height of two meters and a length of three meters, it was absolutely huge and terrifying to look at. What''s scarier is that it was a flame beast made from purple flames. The beast growled and roared loudly, scaring the hell out of the eight men. All of them without exception had disgusting and smelly yellow liquid coming out of their crotch, some of them fell on their buts from fear. They were used to fighting small creatures like lizard and gnomes but such huge beasts like this one can be considered their nightmare. They did it for the money and not for the thrill or excitement of hunting. The only outcome when a bunch of dimwits and cowards meet with the real danger is complete annihilation. The skinny dude from earlier mustered some of his leftover courage and cast a fireball spell. A fist sized orange fireball launched itself at the beast but in no time, the fireball was literally eaten by the beast as if it was a snack, the beast even burped. "W,what''s this? I-----iiiiisn''t thisss the first f-floor?" Rony talked with a trembling voice, his body was trembling and he didn''t have the strength to raise his sword and charge at the beast. No one of his teammates answered him, it was only after a coupled of seconds did a cold and chilling voice ring in their ears simultaneously. "The weak don''t get to choose how they die." After that was said, the beast growled one last time before leaping at the team and beginning the bloody massacre. "Nooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!" Chapter 127 - 124 : Fiddle The massacre didn''t even last a minute before the flame beast killed the whole team. There was no resistance whatsoever as they were just too weak to handle even a single strike from such a monstrosity The flame beast was obviously the doing of Lucy, on the outside she let them go but she was never that kind of person, especially toward men, her hatred never lessened. For greedy men like those, death is their only escape, there was no way in hell she would let them leave the dungeon safe and sound. Creating a flame beast is a simple thing for someone in her Realm. It was not efficient in a fight between Immortals but it could deal with any individual under Lv400. Compared to Randiun, it was far off as the double-headed lizard was literally a God of its own. The fifth floor was as easy as the other floor and Lucy was beginning to feel bored. Her goal today was to break the record and clear one extra floor, she could clear them all but none of the public would believe her, one step at the time is the way to do it. "I,I can''t believe it.... an S-class hero, definitely...." Saku covered her mouth as she watched the Bomb Huggers get burned instantly, just like any other previous monster. Lucy didn''t even break a sweat and was as calm and composed as ever. If she was not an S-class then what else could she be? Only an S-class can deal with the fifth-floor monsters this easily. An A-class Hero, even if he was decently strong, he would need to move or do something but Lucy was not lifting a finger. "Y,Yeah! Miss Lucy may even rival the Flame Emperor!" Alin agreed with Saku as she looked around and found no trace of the thirty or so Bomb Huggers that were running toward them a second ago. Delia rolled her eyes when she heard that and thought to herself. ''Ha! Rival the Flame Emperor? This woman is crazier than whatever Emperor bastard that you have! She would burn down the whole planet if she''s angry.'' Delia shivered unconsciously when she remembered how Lucy tortured Lissandra the other day, it was a terrifying sight to behold, even for Holy Goddess. ''My soul was tainted that day and my purity was stolen... *sniff*'' The poor Goddess reminisced about old times as she took a sip from the famous red wine named ''Domaine de la Romance-Conti''. It''s one of the treasures she borrowed, never to be given back ever again. ''Explode Explode Explode'' The Bomb Huggers repeated the same words as their chest had a thumping red color resembling a timed bomb. They were very fast and had short legs. Another big group of BH (Bomb Huggers) was annihilated by the purple flames and finally, a cloth armor was dropped by one of them. Saku crazily ran towards it and inspected it then started jumping around while waving it around. Seeing her happiness, Guan Gi was pleased too but not for the same reason, he was pleased with the jiggling pair of boobs that went up and down every time Saku jumped. They were bouncing nonstop and the sight was heavenly for any men to look at. Unfortunately for the burly man, Saku discovered his lecherous eyes and sent a piercing glare that made him stop staring and cough awkwardly. It was a usual thing for him to be this perverted, at the very least he had a good heart and only used his eyes and nothing else. The fifth floor was almost done and when Lucy was going to tell them that she''s going to pick up the pace, a humanoid creepy looking monster appeared. Obviously, the first thought that came to everyone''s mind is that it''s a boss, as it was the only plausible explanation. The thing that appeared was very similar to a scarecrow, it had a long cane with a black crow in its tip and its mouth was strangely big. A name and a Lvl appeared above the scarecrow''s head. Fiddle, The Deceitful ScareCrow: Lv350 "W,What?" Guan Gi rubbed his eyes continuously but he still saw the number 350 hovering above the monster''s head. He couldn''t believe they were so unlucky to the point of encountering a boss. At this point, they thought it was the dungeon''s boss. "Chi chi chi! Annoying Humans disrupting my nap! I had to personally interfere.... chi chi chi!" With a weird clicking sound, Fiddle spoke, his voice was weird and uncomfortable to listen to. Lucy knew this was the boss and she sensed him the first she explored the dungeon, she didn''t kill it and let it but for some reason, the boss came out of his way to stop them.... or fight them? "Ara Ara! This is one ugly boss! My eyes are hurting....." While playing with her glass of wine, Delia whined and mocked the boss, she wasn''t tense like the other three. Alin was even scared to the point of hiding behind her, she couldn''t look straight at the boss for fear of being targeted. It was too much to handle for a 16-year-old girl. "That''s a b,boss isn''t it?...." Saku was the most courageous one, she stood next to Delia and raised her cane, ready to fight. She was surprised and afraid, however, she was not going to let Lucy fight the boss alone, it was suicidal and she was not that kind of person. "Why did you decide to come out?" Lucy finally talked, her tone was as cold as usual and it even contained a bit of killing intent. Fiddle, being totally oblivious to what Lucy said, laughed maniacally and waved his cane and attacked. A green crow appeared from the tip of his long cane and flew toward the team with slow speed but it expanded in size for every meter it flew until it was the size of a normal human. Unfortunately for the boss, he appeared at the wrong time, the green crow couldn''t even scratch the barrier laid by Lucy and it was burned by the flames. It took a bit more time for it to die unlike the BH or Gnomes, nevertheless, it died. "Chi chi chi! Such desperate means won''t work against the one and only lord Fiddle!" The hand of the scarecrow blurred and by the next second, countless green crows appeared from behind him and charged at the barrier with lightning speed. Each Crow was fist-sized and emitted the same ''Chi chi'' sound as Fiddle. ''Creeeeek'' ''Creeeeeeeek'' ''Creeeeeeek'' ... One crow after another fell on the ground, writhing from pain and transforming into black ashes after a couple of seconds. The barrier was like an unpenetrable fortress, even the boss was left dazed and could only react when all the crows perished. "Why did you come out now? I''m not going to repeat my question, this would the last time I ask that and the last chance I give you." Seeing that his attack was futile and adding the fact that he can''t see Lucy and Delia''s Lvls, Fiddle was starting to have some doubts and suspicions. ''To hell with it!'' Resolutely, Fiddle let go of his cane which floated in front of his chest and expanded in size until it was the size of an elephant. The long and big cane then transformed into a gigantic green crow that had two glittering red eyes. Fiddle jumped on the crow''s back and laughed "Chi chi chi! This will be your end!" Seeing the boss ready to do his ultimate attack, Lucy turned around and told the rest to get back. When all of them retreated a dozen meters, she canceled her barrier and let Delia take care of their safety. The gigantic crow didn''t wait for Lucy to get ready and rushed toward her while screeching loudly to the point of shaking the whole floor. Fiddle used the same attack again and summoned countless green crows which followed the big one. "Bow to down to the one and only Lord Fiddle and KNOW how weak you are!" As he was celebrating his victory which was not going to happen, Lucy raised her hand for a split second and in that extremely short moment ''Whoooooooooooooooosh'' The gigantic green crow, fiddle and all the other crows were instantly frozen with ice. From the ground to the high roof, everything around or behind Fiddle was frozen to ice. "Boomm!" The green crow which turned into a big ice statue fell from the air and crashed into countless pieces. The small crows turned into beautiful ice sparkles that fell from the air and created a breathtaking sight. Only Fiddle wasn''t broken into pieces, with his frozen state Fiddle fell on the ground and rolled all the way to Lucy''s feet. Since he was frozen, he couldn''t react or emit any sound or move. What could be seen through the ice is only his wide-open eyes which were ugly and uncomfortable to look at. His body was made from some leather cloth and his head was a round black flesh that seemed rotten. With but a thought, the ice around Fiddle''s head melted and within seconds, the boss was able to move his neck and see what''s in front of him. What laid in front of his sight was the cold and emotionless Lucy who stared at him with so much killing intent that he was suffocating and unable to utter a word. Only after she withheld some of her killing intent was he able to speak and express his shock. "W,What did you do? Using such trickery to fool the one and only Lord Fiddle?" Seeing that he still didn''t get what kind of situation he was in, Lucy didn''t hold back and began her sweet plan. ''Crack!'' A chunk of ice was taken out of the still frozen body of Fiddle, his left and thin leg was taken out from the whole body. "ARRRRRRRRRRRRGHHHH! CHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" A screeching sound came out of Fiddle''s big mouth, his wails were loud and as annoying as his behavior. After cutting off his leg, Lucy stared back at him to make him understand but the boss was still feeling the pain. When he finally recognized he was in a difficult or rather desperate situation, Fiddle started looking left and right for help but he soon realized he was the boss of the Dungeon and no one was strong enough to save him. If he wasn''t able to save himself then he''s doomed. After coming to this conclusion, Fiddle looked at Lucy and suspiciously said "Who are you?" .... Still no response from Lucy "I''m the boss of this dungeon, why did you attack me?" "Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Why are you doing this?" "I surrender I surrender, just stop doing this! STOP!" "You filthy Human! Have you no shame? I''m already so powerless and I surrende--- ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! CHIIIIIIIIIIIII CHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII" ... This process continued for half an hour before Fiddle finally calmed down. Alin, who was watching from the back felt some pity and wanted to speak up and tell Lucy to spare him as he appeared to be suffering. Chapter 128 - 125 : Disturbing The Plan The more they witnessed Lucy torture Fiddle the more they discovered about her cruel and cold side, not one of them did wish or even imagine to be her enemy or else their fate would be the same, especially if they don''t cooperate. "CHIIIIII-- A,Alright! I''ll answer....... *cough* just s-sstop!" With three of his limbs going and the agonizing pain, Fiddle could no longer handle it and finally decided to spill the beans because if he didn''t, only endless torture would await him. Lucy was by far the cruelest person he even encountered since he was born, she''s become his nightmare. While gasping for air and looking at Lucy with fearful eyes, he paused for a coupled of second before he resumed talking "Look! I don''t know any details! All I know is that I was told to come here and kill you." Lucy remained silent as she heard that but Delia didn''t like the fact that someone is plotting behind their backs so she retorted to Fiddle with a rather icy tone, different from usual friendly one. "By whom?" Fiddle didn''t seem to be fearful of Delia and ignored her question, his whole attention was focused on Lucy''s expression. What the poor scarecrow didn''t expect was that Delia was not the easygoing type, in fact, she''s the total opposite, she would be triggered and angered easily, just try calling her an old hag and you''ll see... "An ugly piece of shit dares ignore me?" Delia snapped at him and waved her hand making the frozen statue containing Fiddle body shatter and instantly, Holy chains wrapped around him and just like Gulan, he was swung high in the air and then struck the ground. Delia used him like a toy and kept smashing him again and again until she felt satisfied. She then stood there with a proud expression and mockingly said "And now... are you going to answer or do you need a bit more exercise?" Scarecrows can''t cry but Fiddle did, the poor boss was treated like a toy and played with, he felt pain in every inch of his body and he was at death''s door. "Miss! Please stop! Miss is the most beautiful and kind person in the world, this foolish one was hurt in the ears so he wasn''t able to hear you, please excuse this lowly fool, MISS!" ''Crash!'' Delia threw him on the ground yet again as his ass-licking skills weren''t pleasing to hear, coupled with his voice, it only made the compliments sound too forceful, which they obviously were but it''s better not to mess with an illogical and irrational person such as the one and only Delia. "*Huff* *Huff* chii chii chiii.... I, I don''t know who sent me the message, I truly don''t! Miss, please believe me! Please stop the violence... chii chii." Fiddle was now more afraid of Delia than Lucy, at least Lucy was reasonable but Delia could attack even if you did nothing, fearing the unpredictable is what anyone would do. "Violence? I''m just playing around... how could you could you accuse me of being violent.... such a foul mouth. Ha! You need punishment." "No-" Before the poor bastard could scream, his body floated a couple of meters above ground and ''BANG'' he heavily crashed on it creating another small crater but that wasn''t the end, it was merely the start of the hellish roller coaster Fiddle was going to experience. ''BANG'' ''BANG'' ''BANG'' "ARGHH! MISSS PLEA-''BANG''..SE..... IT WA--''BANG'' THE SYSTEM ''BANG'' ''BANG''''BANG''''BANG''''BANG'''' only when Fiddle only had a sliver of Health remaining did Delia stop and sarcastically apologize "Oh.. my bad my bad! I didn''t hear your answer, I was too busy practicing my handling you see....." Fiddle was still able to talk even after such a beating and a hellish torture, he''s surely one tough bastard. He kept emitting that clicking sound and breathing heavily. The Health bar above his head had only a tiny line that was decreasing bit by bit. Seeing that he''s going to die too early than expected, Delia cast a simple heal, regenerating about 10% of his Health and stopping him from dying. "Why don''t you explain in details?" Lucy still remained silent since Delia picked up the interrogation. She just waited for the answers but she was not very patient, if he wouldn''t answer, it wouldn''t matter because after all, if someone wants them killed, sooner or later he''ll come personally and at that time, she wouldn''t mind sending him to join Fiddle in Hell! "Chii chii chii! I don''t know either! I,I j-jjust received a message from the system that told me to kill you, that''s it!" Delia didn''t know much about the system, neither did Lucy but it could be said that Lucy had a bit more knowledge than the goddess as many frequent weird situations occurred with the system, especially when that narcissistic annoying little girl replaced Arthur''s system, it was truly annoying! "Why did you blindly do what the system said?" When he heard that, Fiddle stopped whining and seriously looked at Delia while replying "You guys may not know, but we, the dungeon bosses were locked in a prison and it''s the prison that teleported us here to this low-Realm and provided us with a private home, it''s like our savior, the only condition that was set is that we have to follow it orders when we receive them..... normally, I''m not supposed to say th--" Before he could finish, Fiddle''s head burst and he died instantly before finishing his sentence. At least he managed to say something before he died but what''s strange is how he died. Delia''s Godly Sense covered the whole Earth but she couldn''t find the thing which killed Fiddle. "W,What happened?" Guan Gi walked close to Fiddle and inspected him with cautions, he wasn''t disgusted with the sight, instead, after hearing everything, he was wondering if there is any loot. To his surprise, Fiddle actually dropped 3 items, one skill book, a staff and a ring. Before he could take a look at them, a black shadow dashed past him and looted the three of them with lightning speed. Saku, with her professional looting hands, managed to get her hands on all of them. Symbol Of Loyalty Ring ?: +40 Intelligence / +40 Wisdom Effect: The user gains 20% Mana reduction when using skills. Fallen Crow Staff? : +95 Intelligence / +40 Vitality Effect: Can use the skill (Crowstorm); A storm of crows rage around the target and deal constant damage per second for 8 seconds. Description: Once belonged to the one and only, Fiddle the deceitful scarecrow. Created from the black wood of an infected tree and copy feather of the ancient "All seeing Eye Crow". Skill Book(Magic) : [Zap]: The user sends a streak of basic lightning toward the target and causes the effect ''daze'' for 1 second. Deals 120% of the user''s Magic Attack. Cost: 40 MP. Cooldown: 1 minute. With a dumbfounded and funny look, Saku gazed at the three items in a daze. She just couldn''t bring herself to believe what laid before her eyes, it was too good to be true. Guan Gi couldn''t stand it anymore and snatched the items from her arms. His action woke her up but surprisingly, she wasn''t angry but happy, she acted like a little girl and jumped around from joy. Next one to be embraced by happiness is Guan Gi, who had wide eyes and half-open mouth when he inspected the items. Alin didn''t join the fray and merely thought about how Lucy instantly froze Fiddle and how easily it was done. Her admiration had long since turned into total worship and by any means, she wanted to become Lucy''s disciple. "R2150 requests help. Receive." A mechanic voice rang in some kind of machine and after a couple of seconds, a voice with same exact tone rang out from the other side of the machine. "To R2150, requiring further explanation..." "Unknown specimen disturbing the plan." "To R2150, execute the security system." "Unable to execute the security system... unknown specimen: 1 Sovereign, 2 Gods, 2 Immortals." "To R2150, send Snory. Ending Call...." ''Beeep'' ''Beep'' The only sound remaining was a constant beeping sound that was emitted from the strange machine. In S¨¦oul, precisely in the alley where Gulan was killed. Raki, the one Gulan was talking to before dying was currently standing there and inspecting the surroundings. He was a good friend of Gulan and his sudden disappearance was too strange. He traced back the call all the way to here but nothing was found, literally nothing, the man vanished into thin air. "Sir! There is nothing, no fingerprint, torn clothes or any signs of recent fights." Raki sighed as he looked at the empty alley and shook his head. "He said something about two women.... Lucy and Delia... is it?" Raki turned toward his subordinate and said "Go find the whereabouts of two women, Lucy and Delia. Apparently, they are easy to spot as one is blond and the other has silver-hair. When you find them, thoroughly investigate their origins, I want full details!" "Sir Yes Sir" The subordinate bowed and left the alley to do what he was ordered to do. As for Raki, he took a cigarette from his pocket and started fuming it whilst looking around for a final time but it was still futile. Whilst Saku and Guan Gi were enjoying the loots, Lucy brought Delia to the corner and coldly said "Go back now and check the whole Earth, every corner and see if you missed anything...." Delia snorted in response and retorted "Hmpf! How can I miss anyone with my Godly Sense?..." "Just go back and do another check!" Delia could only drop her shoulders and angrily teleport away, obviously, her teleporting would surprise the other three but since they saw her trash a boss, it''s normal to teleport, or at least that''s what Lucy thought. Chapter 129 - 126 : 11th Floor Just after Delia teleported, the other three were worried about her sudden disappearance and thought that something happened to her. It was only when Lucy explained that Delia went back did they breathe a sigh of relief. No one doubted Delia''s prowess as it is clearly on par with Lucy so getting out of the dungeon is no big deal. Delia went on to do her job and Lucy was not planning to stop mid-way, she just was going to pick up the pace. The others had already seen what she''s capable of. "What happened here should remain here, I hope no one would be dumb enough to talk about it." Their relationship improved since the first time they met but Lucy didn''t trust them yet. To make them gain her trust required more than this. A simple warning from Lucy made them nod their heads continuously. "W,What about Lady Sinyu?" The shy Alin wasn''t a talkative person but women like Saku usually like to brag so she could unconsciously blurt out unnecessary things. "I''m not going to repeat myself." Lucy''s demeanor added with her chilling voice made everything she says sound like a threat. "Remember, what''s about happen and what happened should never be revealed and if it is..." "We got it we got it...." Guan Gi waved his hands proving his sincerity. To begin with, this was a favorable thing for them, she does everything and the loot goes to them as she didn''t appear to have the slightest interest in it. Just as the three were going to follow Lucy who went on ahead, they were suddenly enveloped in some sort of transparent ice-blue sphere and their vision turned blurry for at least 10 seconds. When they finally could see again, their surroundings completely changed from the boss room to another gloomy room filled with torches on the side. "W, What happened? W--WWhere are we?" Saku was terrified as she looked around, she heard about teleportation traps but those are usually on higher floors. As if to bring her more despair, Lucy replied to her with an answer she never wanted to hear "The 11th floor." Seeing the dumbfounded looks of the three, Lucy sighed and resumed talking, explaining a bit of the situation. "The boss that was killed was the whole dungeon''s boss. Since you already witnessed me and Delia''s power, there is no need to act and do it slowly." "Act? Slowly?" Since they are part of her team, Lucy needed to explain her plan, of course, she won''t go into the details but some basic stuff about it won''t hurt. "Yes, from today onwards, we''ll clear a floor every 3 days. Of course, you''ll share the loot amongst yourselves as I have no need for it, you can even take me and Delia''s share of the money. Give and take, it''s simple, all you have to do is remain silent." "Deal!" With a happy and straight face, Saku agreed on behalf of all the three, money is all she sought, just like Guan Gi. She just has to keep Lucy''s strength a secret, not a big deal. "Alright then, just stay behind me and do as usual." As Lucy said that, a flame barrier just like the last one was created around them and the team resumed the clearing. The monsters on this floor were wooden puppets. The height of a normal human and a body made of wood, they had no face and wielded weapons ranging from wooden shields to steel swords. Since the wood''s weakness is fire, the poor puppets were killed even faster than the monsters on the first floor. The clearing didn''t even take 10 minutes before all the monsters on this floor were killed. Lucy used the barrier she created to make the other three move at a fast pace and that accelerated the process by a lot. "Ah ah! It''s another skill book! We looted 4 already! We''re rich!" Saku waved around the skill book and showed it to Guan Gi who hit his chest proudly because he was the one who opened the chest. But if they have to give credit to someone, it has to be Lucy. "The floor is cleared, that should automatically raise our rank by one, right?" Lucy wasn''t too sure about the rules of ranking up so she asked them. "Yes, and if we show them what we looted, I''m sure we''ll jump straight to A-rank!" "Mmm... let''s head back then...." Before the other three could react, their vision blurred and after a couple of seconds, they found themselves back on the first floor, just a small distance away from the dungeon''s entrance. ... As they passed by the guards standing at the entrance, whilst he was checking them, he frowned and said "Wasn''t there another person on your team?" Saku was smart enough to realize that he was talking about Delia and he won''t let them off before they report her disappearance or death so she pondered for a second before saying "She''s still here but under the Stealth skill since her clothes were ripped by those damned lizards..... *sigh* I never knew animals could be perverted too...." Taken aback but he just heard, the guard coughed awkwardly then backed up without speaking further. The team didn''t waste time there and went back to Lady Sinyu''s mansion to report what happened, their achievements and show their loots. Lucy preferred going back immediately to her house so she didn''t accompany them and only warned them one last time to remain silent about what happened. Ever since leaving the dungeon, Lucy noticed a hooded-person following her closely but it was a pity he chose the wrong person. She wasn''t in the mood to question another idiot because a certain person is interested in her or wants to investigate her. She turned to an alley and when the person followed after her, he found no trace, she vanished into thin air. After looking around hoping to find a clue the hooded-man turned around and left without making any noise. It was apparent he was an expert as he didn''t emit any noise and his presence was barely sensed by mortals. If Lucy was not such a godly individual and instead just a Lv20 human, she would never have felt his presence. .... When Lucy returned to the apartment, she found little Saly watching the TV, Miya was at the side sitting cross-legged and trying to cultivate for a bit and as usual, Delia was on the balcony enjoying whatever wine she ''borrowed''. Seeing Saly''s eyes glued to the TV, Lucy couldn''t help but feel a bit intrigued so she shifted her attention to the TV to check what made her daughter like that. "It''s been 5 years! 5 years since the legendary VRMMO Hell Gate was launched and as of now, it has more than 4 Billion active players and it keeps increasing day by day. What''s more is that Lobisoft announced the release of a new game capsule that would increase the realism of the game and make it more immersive...." ''It''s just a game...'' Saly couldn''t understand what was said but she could see what was displayed. A world full of action and magic, similar to Astria but much more fun as there were events and such. For Saly, fighting and becoming strong like Lucy and Arthur is her dream so seeing something like this ignited her desires and strengthened her determination. "Mom mom! What''s this?"* "It''s just a game....." "A game?" For Saly, games were never like this, on Astria the concept of games is very rare as only rich or nobles would have the luxury to play games and even if they do, it''ll only be simple ones. "Yes. It''s a game, do you want to play it?" Lucy had more than enough money and Saly''s happiness mattered most so she obviously would try to spoil the girl as much as she could, after all, the little girl had gone through so much hardship, from her evil master to being kidnapped. A trauma like that cannot be easily forgotten. Hearing this, Saly was very ecstatic, she jumped in Lucy''s arms and shook her head while smiling. She was happy that her mother was willing to do anything for her and she wasn''t that stupid to not have realized that. "No it''s fine... plus you promised to let me go and have fun in the dungeons... he he he." Seeing that Saly still didn''t forget about that matter, Lucy shook her head and rubbed the fluffy ears of Saly while smiling "You''re becoming more and more clever aren''t you..... *sigh* where did my naive little Saly go...." "Mooooooooom I''m not naive.... I have more than 3,000 Intelligence, hehehe, Dad told me it''s higher than you when you were at my age." "Did he now?..... I will make sure to properly educate him when he''s back, hehehe...." Lucy codly laughed but if Arthur heard her, he would be soaking of cold sweat. Wives are really scary sometimes. "WHAT! You said you cleared a new floor?" The expensive cup of tea that Lady Sinyu was sipping from fell on the floor and turned into countless small pieces. Her calm demeanor had a drastic change when she heard that. Her team wouldn''t usually joke about this kind of stuff, especially when they knew how serious she is about matters like this. "H-How is that possible? You must have mistaken the floors...." "Come on Lady Sinyu! As the leader of our team, you must praise us for our hard work and not call us liars!" With both of her hands on her waist, Saku reprimanded the old woman with a disgusting grin hanging on her face. Ever since they left the dungeon, her lips were smiling on their own from happiness, the income of this short expedition is in the millions. Guan Gi followed Saku and patted his chest proudly and added "Here, if you don''t believe us then look at these babes...." He took out the black box hanging on his back and retrieved all the treasures they looted. 4 Skill books, two magical ones and two melee. 2 blades. 1 staff. 2 Shields. 3 Rings. 1 Necklace. 17 Health Pots. 5 Mana Pots. Health and Mana Pots are not very expensive but they still are worth selling. One Health Pot can easily be sold at 15k. It''s a life-saving material in life and death battles. It was a shame that these pots were the lowest-quality. Lucy had miraculous ones and their number was in the thousands. "Th-...This...." With shaky hands, Lady Sinyu stretched her hand and inspected the staff Fiddle dropped. It had a unique appearance and even though Lady Sinyu was not a Hero herself, she was already tested and entered the system so she could see the stats and description of the staff. In fact, every person that entered the system of Earth could automatically use appraisal but it was a lesser version of the one Arthur has. After spending a couple of minutes inspecting all the loot, Lady Sinyu raised her head and looked around, once she found not trace of Lucy and Delia, she said "Where is Miss Lucy and Miss Delia?" Saku, being the most talkative one and the brain of the trio. She didn''t stutter or hesitate and answered. "Miss Lucy was feeling tired so she and Delia went back to their house to rest. It was quite tiring after all." Lady Sinyu didn''t believe they were tired as it was not that simple but it was apparent Saku or the other two were not willing to talk about it so she didn''t insist. Just when she was about to ask about the details of what happened, Saku spoke yet again "Ahh, my hands are sore and my knees are aching. We''re tired so we''ll excuse ourselves. Don''t forget to auction the loots Lady Sinyu." The other two bowed and followed after Saku. When they left the room, Lady Sinyu turned to look behind to talk to someone but Guan Gi barged in the room with a helpless expression on his face and took the curved saber and a round blue shield whilst saying "I looted those, they are my prize, sorry Lady Sinyu. Cya..." Before the old woman could react, the burly man dashed out of the room. Lady Sinyu could only sigh and ponder for a couple of minutes before she turned around again and spoke to the air behind her "Find out what happened exactly, this sounds fishy. Also, send someone to Saku''s room and tell her to hand a written report of the monsters on the 11th floor...." A black shadow appeared from thin air, it turned blurry until a figure''s silhouette appeared. It was a black-clothed man with two short blades in his waist. "Ha! My lady!" The shadow blurred again and disappeared just the same way he appeared. For someone with such a high status like Lady Sinyu, there is no way she''s going to go around the jewelry shop without special guards. She had two hidden S-class Heroes constantly protecting her from any assassination or sneak attacks. These two experts which were proud of her their Stealth skills were long since noticed by Delia and Lucy but both of them chose to remain silent to not attract unnecessary attention or trouble. Lucy wanted to build a good relationship with Lady Sinyu and not become her enemy. Chapter 130 - 127 : This Is Not Mercy The news of Lucy''s team clearing the first floor was soon made public. All kinds of journalists and important figures such as CEO''s of popular companies or famous individuals wanted an audience with Lady Sinyu, who is the leader of the team. The mansion gates were almost broken as countless people wanted to enter and possibly take some pictures of this famous team. It is said that the team was only C-class yet they managed to achieve the impossible for a team like that, after all, it was only a C-class team. A team of this caliber should only roam in the 5 or 6th floor, not clear one out of the blue. Nevertheless, this incident attracted a lot of attention, whether from the public or the IHO itself. Many journalists wanted to sneak in but Lady Sinyu dispatched an A-class guard who also was the head of the guards to detain and block the journalists as they were too stubborn and troublesome to deal with. For two whole days, the gates were filled with journalists, even late at night so Lady Sinyu could not rest properly. Not that she was angry, in fact, she was pleased but curious and a bit confused. It''s to be expected, after all, no one but her knew her team''s capabilities and by no means are they capable of doing that, the only reason is... the two new recruits. On the third day, when the news was still spreading, another bomb fell in and the same team cleared the 12th floor. This caused an uproar, some calling it a fraud and blaming the team for lack of evidence and some were jealous. The S-class teams did not admit the achievement of team''s achievement and were rather arrogant, calling the team ''a bunch of liars'' or ''pretending newbies''. When they were clearing the 12th floor, something unexpected did occur. Two people followed the team inside the dungeon, the first one was Lady Sinyu''s S-class guard, who was a bit more sneaky and hard to detect. The second was the same guy that was following Lucy the other day. His skills were not bad and if it was a Lv20 or Lv30 person, it would have been hard to sense his presence but it''s his bad day to be following the wrong person. On the 4th floor, the second invisible person was met with a flaming beast who appeared out of nowhere, he was dumbfounded and confused on how he was detected by when he saw the beast''s level being ''???'' he knew he should run. Unfortunately for him, the beast was not so merciful and it ended up with him being ripped to shreds. The man screamed for help but no teams were around and if there were some, none would be brave enough to face such a horrifying monster. As for the last man, when they were about to enter the 12th floor, Lucy turned around, facing his direction and coldly said "Isn''t it time you show yourself? It''s basic courtesy after all." Despite hearing that, the man remained silent and immobile, he didn''t know if he was sensed due to a mistake he made or the woman just randomly said that to check if there is anyone around and IT happened to be his direction she turned to. Saku, Alin, and the dared Guan Gi were puzzled about Lucy''s behavior, Saku even thought that Lucy was feeling a bit tired and probably hallucinating. From the first floor until here, no monster appeared in the vicinity which was rather surprising. Usually, swarms of lizards or gnomes would be patrolling or randomly going around but this time, there was not even the sound of a monster. Even the guard was confused and didn''t think much of it at first but then, it got consistent and it seemed as if they were taking a stroll and not in a dangerous dungeon, he took note of that and kept following. Lady Sinyu instructed him to keep a close eye on Delia and Lucy but didn''t seem them fight for even a second. The truth is that Lucy got rid of them before they managed to show themselves, with her fire, she burned every last one of them and only black ashes blown by the wind remained. She did it because she didn''t want to expose any of her abilities yet, she could use simple Earth Magic but she refrained and used this simple method instead. Hearing no response and no reaction, Lucy lifted her hand and instantly, the ground, ceiling and even the air itself froze from her feet all the way to where the guard was. Being an S-class guard, his reaction was pretty quick as he tried to jump away from this ''Absolute Zero'' but his body didn''t bulge when he commanded it to. The reality was harsh and life was cruel, by the time he looked down, his left all the way to his stomach was frozen by ice. He could feel the chilling coldness, his body shivered on its own and his senses became a bit dull due to the very cold atmosphere. The floor transformed into a beautiful crystalline ground and small snow particles fell slowly on the ground, it was a breathtaking sight ruined by the man in the center who was trying to move around but it was futile. Delia put her hands on her waist and stared at him with an annoyed look then said "Are you deaf? I''m not as kind as her, you better talk or I''ll not be kind anymore." Hearing this, Guan Gi and the rest unconsciously gulped some saliva and remembered the time where Fiddle was trashed and played with like a toy by her, it was a sight never to be forgotten. Delia obviously knew he was Lady Sinyu''s guard but she didn''t like his cocky attitude, or at least that''s what she thought. From her idiotic point of view, he remained silent because he thinks he''s stronger and doesn''t want to bother with them. Thank god not all people share her opinion and a bit more open-minded. A minute passed yet the man stopped struggling and stood there, motionless and as silent as ever. Lucy gave one final sigh before glaring at him with a suffocating killing intent. She gave him a final warning then acted "What I hate most is being followed. This will be the first and last time I spare you, this is mercy but a warning. Delia." Lucy gestured to Delia then condensed an Ice spear which quickly penetrated the man''s shoulder, making blood splatter on the crystalline floor. The blood soon transformed into tiny red crystals, the man didn''t emit a sound albeit being heavily injured. With Lucy''s signal, the guard was teleported back right next to Lady Sinyu''s, who was couldn''t react for a couple of seconds and only snapped out of her surprise after the second S-class guard spoke. ... The rest of the journey was stable and without worry, in less than 10 minutes the 12th floor was finished but Lucy told them to wait more time before coming out or else everyone would be suspicious as they entered it not even half an hour ago. Clearing a floor is an amazing feat but doing it in less than an hour is an impossible feat, that''s what everyone thought at least. The day after, Lucy was sitting on the couch with Saly next to her. Saly was watching a commercial about the popular game Hell Gate whilst Lucy was meditating and trying and circulating her technique. Randiun was snoring on the side and Delia with pouting lips sat on the balcony and drank a cup of Tea since Lucy forbade her from drinking any wine in the apartment. Seeing that Lucy was busy meditating, Delia sneakily took out a bottle of wine and poured a glass before putting it back on in her storage, unfortunately for the Holy Goddess, who thought she got away with it and was about to enjoy the wine and relax, Lucy suddenly opened her eyes and glared at her. "Did you check again?" Delia sighed when Lucy spoke about another topic but she was still annoyed when she heard it nonetheless. "For the love of your darling! Would you stop repeating the same thing? I already told you I checked the whole planet 5 times in the past three days, there is no sign of any lurking God, Divine being or anything of the sort, just stop nagging like an old woman.... *sigh* it''s so tiring even for a God you know?" Lucy''s glare sharpened, for a split second, her eyes glanced back and forth between the glass Delia was holding and the woman, she ignored it for now and added "How about the void outside of Earth''s atmosphere?" Delia gave her ''Are you kidding me look'' with wide open eyes, for a couple of seconds she just stared at her with a dumbfounded look then retorted "Are you crazy? I may be a Holy Goddess but I''m not that strong to search the whole void outside. This is an abandoned world and what does that mean? It means it is thrown into a secluded place, possibly away from all other realms so the whole area around here is most likely just void. Moreover, outside of Earth, the energy is made from Dark Matter, it''s similar to Nether Energy but over time, it can kill Holy beings, it''s like a deadly poison, a TIMEBOMB! If your darling was here, he would be able to go around freely but not me, what''s more, it would take an eternity for a God to search all of it, you''re asking the impossible...." Lucy remained silent for a second before shooting Delia dagger eyes and saying "... you talk too much. Also, didn''t I say no wine in here? For a Goddess, you sure are deaf." As Lucy said that, she appeared in front of Delia, who out of reflex, teleported hundred of miles away from Lucy but not after half of her hand which was holding the glass was frozen by Lucy. Delia could only grunt unhappily and curse out loud while dispelling the ice with her Holy Light "Damn violent woman! Curse you and your ice. Hmpf! If it wasn''t for your Yin power, you wouldn''t be able to hurt me..... wait till I get rid of that slavery bullshit! Then the age of Holy Overgod Delia will rise, yahahahahahaha" Chapter 131 - 128 : Breaking News Lucy was watching the news talking about her team''s achievements. The clearing of two floors in less than a week is something that grabbed the attention of countless people. Even foreign countries and secretive organizations took note of that. Only a day passed yet their team''s popularity sky-rocketed, they already became an S-class team and the report Saku made was later reviewed by Lady Sinyu and proved true when another S-class team dived to the 12th floor after bitter fights and found the monsters. Their loots were more generous than the last run and Saku, Alin and the burly Guan became millionaires. Their revenue this time was above 50million dollars with all those skill books and items looted. Delia took a bit of pity on those weaklings and since they were on the same team as her, the one and only Delia. She talked with Lucy and agreed to give them a decent equipment so they don''t fall behind. They are now an S-class team so at least, their members should be a bit strong and not just leech off money and fame from her and Lucy without doing a thing. If Lucy''s plan goes well, she would leave the team after a short while. They may be Delia''s friends but for her, she only had one thing in her mind and that is, to gain Claudia''s trust and earn a good position so no one could oppose her. It can be done easily but she had to do it the hard way for some reasons that shall not be disclosed. As they were watching the TV at home, Lucy suddenly grinned when a woman appeared on the screen and the message ''Breaking News'' was shown at the bottom of it. All channels had this breaking news, even foreign countries. In the news, it showed Miya shaking hands with a man with long dark hair and a thick beard. A few days earlier. Claudia was enjoying a dinner in a high-class restaurant in her usual 5-star hotel that she was staying on these days. An expensive wine was poured for her and the gentleman in front of her who was grinning as he was enjoying the beauty of the woman in front of him. It''s clear he was lusting for her body but he was definitely in love with her too. "Ahh, it''s a shame.. truly. I heard you were going back to Korea tomorrow because of what happened...." The man shook his head in sadness and gulped some wine to ease his mind. "It''s fine, darling. It''s all fabricated lies to attract attention, something most likely went downhill and they wanted to create an uproar but they dragged us into it too...." "Ahhhh! My love! I''ll miss you a lot. Just stay here and forget about this boring job, I can give you money if that''s what you need..." The woman inclined her head and closed in on the man''s lips, soon, their lips touched each other and their tongue linked. Fortunately, the restaurant was specially reserved for just both of them as what happened next is better kept unseen. Claudia was currently in New York''s airport, she was heading toward a private jet sent by the IHO. Since the event of Lucy''s team happened, Korea summoned back all the S-class Heroes residing in the U.S and Claudia was one of them. It may be surprising that she became an S-class Hero but it was definitely not because she was strong but merely due to her money and connections. Money can do anything and to please a man, you only needed to give him money, food or a beautiful woman to warm his bed and that''s exactly what a clever person like Claudia did. Sleeping with a man to gain benefits is a usual thing for her, as long as it''s worth the cost, she''ll do it again and again until that person could no longer be benefited from so he''ll be discarded and onto the next one... "Damn old fogies, they do whatever they want. I guess I''ll hunt one and subdue him to not be in the similar situation as this one, it''s such a bother, for fuck''s sake!" With a servant holding her bags, Claudia walked to the private jet prepared for her but when she entered, she was surprised to see 5 other people sitting. There was a tall and muscular man with a long scar on his neck, he had a purple long sword hanging on his back. Two twins were playing chess in the corner of the jet, they were calm and had a handsome appearance, a bit feminine but the charm was there. At the right side sat a short loli with a plump breast and blonde hair resembling a doll. The loli was humming and reading a black book, she threw a glance at Claudia but didn''t greet him or even utter a word. Last but not least is a young man who was wearing a white-suit. He had a handsome face, blue eyes, and a blonde hair. He was the perfect prince charming that every girl dreamt of. What''s more is that he was the one and only ''Flame Emperor''. Usui, the strongest man on Earth A.K.A the Flame Emperor. He always had a polite yet strange attitude, no one ever saw him angry, he would uphold a calm and respectful attitude toward everyone. "If it isn''t CEO Claudia, it''s very nice to see you." Usui got up and performed a polite bow before sitting again. Claudia didn''t know exactly why but she felt the creeps whenever she interacted with him. After greeting him back, she ignored him and selected an empty chair and minded her own business. Each person was silent and the atmosphere wasn''t too friendly. Apart from Claudia, the rest was a team but except inside the dungeon, each did their own thing and Usui was the friendly one who would try to befriend or get close to them. He was half Korean half British and was from a well off family, coupled with his current status, he was sought for by many powers. Several assassination attempts failed as none could single-handedly kill him, he was too strong and even when he''s sleeping, he always sets some kind of trap. Claudia thought to herself when she saw him ''He''s one clever bastard! The further away from him the better'' In normal cases, she would have tried to seduce him but he has her a strange feeling, she felt unease whenever she talked with him so she backed off. On the same day. In the Headquarters of the IHO, at the meeting room, there were was a big table with seat circling around it. Several old men were discussing the issue of Lucy and Lady Sinyu. They were the high-officials of the IHO and by the look of it, they weren''t pleased by such heroic achievements done by Lucy. "That old hag kept her mouth tightly shut! She didn''t even accept meeting us! She grew some nerve!" One of the old men with wrinkled face shouted while spitting some saliva on the table, it was disgusting but he didn''t care and kept complaining. It only got worse when the rest of the old bunch joined the fray. "That''s right! She should be expelled from the organization! Being a partner is too good for her! She forgot that we are the ones who fed her and helped her!" A woman with a curvy and voluptuous body, dressed in a furry robe and waving a fan at herself snorted when she heard about Lady Sinyu and said "Hmpf! Why don''t we just finish her off and rope her team? She''s just an outdated piece of bones..." Hearing her say that, some of the old men agreed by most of them glanced at a middle-aged man with black hair and a thick beard. He was Zalon, the head of the organization and one of the strongest men alive. He is second only to Usui and his sword play is unmatchable. With his hand on his chin and with a pondering look, Zalon sighed and spoke after the room turned silent "We cannot offend Lady Sinyu.... the power behind her is not something provoked this easily... let''s put it on hold for now." Hearing this, the old men nodded and agreed with him, some of them started ass-kissing. "Leader Zalon is indeed wise, your thoughts are more advanced because of your stats and your leadership is extraordinary, indeed indeed, we shouldn''t offend her. She can enjoy a bit of peace for now...." As they were discussing the matter, the dark room which was illuminated by only a small spec of light suddenly turned into an incredibly bright room, almost blinding. A purple flash of light which soon transformed into some sort of a portal appeared in the meeting room. Some of the old men stumbled and fell on their butt from fear of surprise, some only gazed at the portal with awe of astonishment. Even the usually calm Zalon was a bit startled. A figure appeared out of the portal, a gracious body with a short green dress that matched her long green hair. She had a soft blade sheathed on her waist and breathtaking face, if her appearance could be described with one word, it would be ''Godly''. She resembled a Goddess, with that entrance and portal, coupled with her appearance, Zalon first thought is that she''s a superior being. To be honest, since the dungeons appeared on Earth, he had a feeling that stronger beings would soon come, perhaps devils, gods or something more outrageous. Seeing her figure landing on the room and gazing at her features, Zalon was ascertained that she''s not from here. He didn''t know how to react or what to say, fortunately, the Goddess was the first to speak. Surprisingly, she spoke English, albeit not fluent, it was still English which could be understood. Miya merely introduced herself and the room soon exploded in noise, whether it''s the exclaiming old men, senseless questions or telephone rings. ....... Lucy looked at the message displayed on the TV. It only said that a Goddess has descended and Zalon, the head of the IHO was ready to announce to the world that this is not a lie. Many people would protest or do not believe if you just tell them you met a God or that person is a God, but if the person in question saw with his own eyes what a God could do, then he could do nothing but believe, after all, seeing is believing. Another uproar soon rose, websites worshiping were created in just a few hours and admirers from all over the globe cheered for her. In terms of beauty, she was almost without equal and adding her dramatic entrance and the support of Zalon, her popularity rose by leaps and bounds in the course of one day and one night. To prove her identity as a Goddess, Miya was going to battle the strongest S-class Korean Team consisting of the Flame Emperor, The Raging Warrior, The Twins and The Loli. The match was being held in a stadium in S¨¦oul, right after the team arrived, they were struck with this sudden news but none of the disagreed to fight except Claudia who only wanted to watch the show as she was not a combat-type. Zalon didn''t insist as she would be a burden and at 8 AM, the stadium was full of people with countless others at its entrance, demanding to enter and view the show in person and not just by the TV. Miya was obviously not a Goddess but Lucy instructed her to say she was one, she was a peak Immortal and to such weak mortals, they would regard her as a Goddess if she displays a bit of power so there was no problem. Miya was smiling softly as she faced the 5 man team on the opposite side. Usui was as always, displaying a friendly smile and wearing a red robe whilst holding a long cane with a red crystal in its tip. The tall and muscular man with a purple sword was next to him, he took his sword from his back and tightly held it. He didn''t know what''s happening but all he had to do is defeat that delicate lady in front of him, it''s such a pity but that''s how life is. The twins held a bow each and sharply stared at Miya and as for the last one, the Loli, she wielded a book as a weapon. "It''s such a pleasure to be able to fight a real Goddess, please go easy on us." Usui performed a bow to Miya and expressed his thoughts. Miya responded with a similar bow and a soft smile that would mesmerize any men, she had a special serene demeanor around her that made anyone look at her feel calm and at ease. With the introductions done, the battle has finally started. The Flame Emperor began with a simple yet devastating flame tornado which was followed by the Raging Warrior who leaped from the side and slashed down at Miya with his sword. Simultaneously, The twins shot an arrow each, one having the Wind attribute and the other having the Water attribute. As for the Loli, she was one of the unique people who can use a special attribute. The Loli with plump breast can use Mana and control it freely, she needed high amounts of Intelligence and Wisdom but that didn''t stop her from earning a few strong skills. She opened her books and lifted her hand, shooting a transparent blue Mana bolt at Miya. Chapter 132 - 129 : Phoenix Descen Seeing all the attacks coming straight at her, Miya didn''t even bulge or perform any action, she just kept the smiling softly and stood there, motionless and calm. The shiny attacks traveled the long distance in a matter of a few seconds and when it was just about 2 meters away from Miya, they all dispersed into countless light sparks that vanished soon after too. Every spectator, including Usui and his team seen the whole process and knew that Miya certainly did not lift a finger or chant any spell. If it was not seen clearly by their eyes, none would have believed it, even a person as open-minded as Usui who had a small confidence when he cast his [Flame Tornado]. It is but a Tornado made of flames but with his high intelligence and upgraded equipment, this simple yet deadly tornado could even damage a Lv70 monster so that''s why The Flame Emperor was in disbelief for a brief moment when he saw that he supposedly strong attack was dispersed in a split second by who knows what. Miya didn''t even need to use her Lightning to win this fight, just a simple control of her reserved Nether Energy to attack and defend is more than enough, even if she chose to fight physically, the fight would still be easy. To compare an Immortal with a Mortal is a joke and not even a million of the Flame Emperor could defeat her, it''s a pity that no one knew that. When she saw the Flame Tornado, Miya remembered the terrifying flames of Lucy and Arthur and felt a cold shiver down her spines, no matter how much of a genius she was, she could never handle Lucy''s flames or Ice, for Miya, Lucy was like a demon god albeit being kind to her. Despite seeing that attacks getting blocked that easily, except some astonishment, none of the five lost their confidence. "A tough one ain''t it?" With the purple sword on his shoulder, the Raging Warrior gave Miya a second evaluation and nodded his head continuously, seeing that he was sent stumbling from whatever barrier or wall was around Miya made him more excited to fight her and eager to unleash his powerful skills. "Yihahahaha! I could never go all out since the brat kept telling me to follow the tactic, it''s time to unleash the beast!" The purple sword shined as the warrior leaped at Miya and twirled in the air, creating a whirlpool with his fastly spinning body and his sword in its center. He was not the only one to attack, the others followed with their own attacks without holding back. Two arrows merged and flew in the air, aiming at Miya''s head. As for Usui, he spent two seconds to chant something then he waved his weapon and several red magic circles appeared all around Miya. The loli right after and executed [Nova] which is a similar skill to Rinotsu but weaker. A transparent sphere was decreasing in size above Miya and when it was the size of a nut, it flashed with a bright light and exploded, devastating the stadium and creating a cloud of sand. At the same time that the sphere exploded, the arrow struck its target and the whirlpool created by Lozo successfully hit Miya''s chest. This time, to show them how truly weak they are and the true difference between their powers, she didn''t even block them and simply stood there, receiving their combined attacks without flinching. ''Pew'' ''Crank'' Two noises were heard after the explosion, because of the dust, the spectators couldn''t see clearly but the closest one, Lozo, was able to see what happened. The explosion only managed to make Miya''s dress move by a bit because there were wind waves but except that, literally, nothing happened to the smiling Goddess. He felt as if he hit a mountain with his sword as it couldn''t dive in deeper, instead, he was pushed by it and was forced to take a couple of steps back. The arrow was split into two pieces and hit the ground. The dust cloud soon cleared and the audience could see Miya standing there, totally unscathed and in perfect form. A broken arrow and a dumbfounded tall man were next to her. As for her, she was still smiling innocently. "I think this fight is over." She didn''t do this to mock them but it was the sheer truth. Each released his strongest attack yet she''s still standing and she didn''t even counter-attack. The tall and muscular man was standing there, dumbstruck that his attack did nothing and instead he was pushed back. "It''s not over! Disperse!" Usui shouted in retort and ordered the team to retreat. Hearing his word, Lozo backed away, so did the loli and the twins. The red magic circles around Miya were emanating a bit of fog and in an instant, they all connected to each other, forming a red and clear star with Miya in its center. [Phoenix Descent]! The Flame Emperor shouted before the small circles formed a pillar that stretched all the way to the far clouds in the sky. The star transformed into a rainbow-colored star and soon, a Phoenix-cry could be heard from above. All present people lifted their head to see the source of the sound only to be amazed by the sight. A flaming bird which had a wingspan of 3 meters was flying in the air and diving straight at Miya. Through its beak, it kept screeching and flapping its flaming wings. It was a breathtaking sight to the point that even Miya praised Usui in her heart. The attack in itself was weak, pretty weak to injure her but for someone as weak as him to be able to perform it is amazing. He''s either lucky or a genius, either way, he''s worth the praise. Lucy was also surprised that he could use such an attack. Saly was impressed and imagined herself using a similar attack but the foul mouthed Delia only snorted and thought to herself. ''Hmpf! Bunch of idiots! Being awe-stricken by a trashed copy of a Phoenix? A real one is even bigger than your trashy planet!'' ''Xiaoo!!'' The Phoenix descended on Miya and used its sharp claws to rip the target into shreds but nothing of such happened. The Phoenix transformed into little specs of flames when it touched Miya, it was like a rain of flames, truly awe-inspiring. Usui watched what happened with a smile, he knew it wouldn''t work yet he still tried it. With a satisfied smile, The Flame Emperor bowed politely to Miya and expressed his thanks "The purpose of battle is to attain the greatest heights within your own limits. That is what my mentors always told me, so I thank Goddess Miya for her kindness and for letting me unleash all my power." "Your thanks is unnecessary as you have provided quite the beautiful show." ... After the battle, no one doubted Miya''s powers and some even started worshipping her as the real Goddess. She didn''t display any power but just by the fact that she withstood all of that without lifting is a finger is proof of her power. She was invited as a guest in the IHO and treated well, Zalon even issued several announcements saying that from now onwards, Miya will be the Vice-leader of the organization. Zalon insisted that Miya takes his place but she wasn''t willing and only accepted the vice-leader position. Many geezers with high status were against this but none dared to open his mouth. A few even had dark thoughts like assassinating Miya but they were all given up after seeing the battle. Usui and his team decided to stay in Korea for the moment and planned to clear a few floors before heading back to the U.S. Claudia wanted to go back immediately but Zalon was stubborn about the matter and didn''t let her go back. She is considered an S-class Hero but that''s only because her stats were a bit higher than average Heroes due to special items and due to her special status. She is filthy rich and had countless connections with government officials, whether it''s in Korea or the U.S. "Aunt Delia, do you know where Mommy went?" Saly sneaked behind Delia who was busy enjoying her wine in the absence of Lucy. When she heard Saly, she hid the bottle of wine from Saly''s vision and retorted "Lil brat! It''s not because you''re cute and young you can call me aunt! Call me big sister Delia..... I''m only 26! As for your mother... I don''t know, she went off somewhere and she''ll probably be back soon, don''t worry." The little girl nodded and didn''t bother Delia anymore, she turned to search for Randiun and happily shouted "Randi! Where are you? Let''s play!" Although she said play, she meant going outside and riding him while he''s flying around the city and sometimes even visiting other cities too but let''s keep that for another time. .... In the outskirts of S¨¦oul, there was a very big grassy land. It was a valley which had a beautiful view if you were to visit it in the sunshine which is what Lucy was doing right now. This place was the one and only graveyard of S¨¦oul. Amidst the countless tombs and erected pillars which had innumerable names and numbers. Lucy sat next to a specific one with a lonely look. Arthur Bilgart Birth: 20 March 2009 Death: 31 November 2039 So many times, Lucy wanted to destroy it, burn it, shatter it but she couldn''t. She felt a bit close to him when she sat here, if she gets rid of it now, she won''t have anything to ease her loneliness. She missed him a lot albeit the short amount of time they have been separated. She wondered what he''s doing right now, if he''s in danger or if he''s already on his way. Of course, there are dark thoughts that surged her but she would quickly cast them away and hope for the best. "I will wait forever...just make sure you come back...." Chapter 133 - 130 : A Visi Since the Flame Emperor''s team came back to Korea, they managed to clear the 13th floor, heating the public and raising more fame for themselves. Korea''s dungeon is considered a bit easy compared to the one in the U.S, the loot was also lacking that''s why Usui and the rest decided to travel the U.S. Now that their record was broken by an unknown team, to preserve some of their faces, they immediately entered the dungeon the day after the stadium battle and managed to clear a floor. The monster Level at the 13th floor is above 50 which is why it wasn''t particularly easy for them. It took them a bit more than four hours but they were victorious. As they were celebrating their achievement, Lucy''s team entered the dungeon they after and cleared the 14th floor, slapping them on the face before they could enjoy the sweetness of victory. ... "Seriously, how are they doing this..." Sibon, one of the two twins complained as he was repairing his bow, the news traveled fast and in no-time, it reached their ears. Lozo was fuming with anger and kept insisting on entering the dungeon again, he was a fighting maniac and wanted to be the best, such a blow to him ignited his fighting spirit even more. The calmest was Usui, who laid on a chair next to Zalon and seemed to be lost in thought. "What do you think, Usui?" Seeing Usui remain calm even after hearing the news, Zalon waited for a bit before he asked for his thoughts. Their team was one of the strongest teams on Earth if not the strongest so having another team what they couldn''t do is more than enough to prove that the two teams are equal or theirs lacking a bit. To be honest, if they pass the whole day inside the dungeon, it would be possible to clear the 14th floor but with a few difficulties. They weren''t like Lucy who could clear a floor in a few minutes and that''s only to not startle her teammates. She could obliterate the whole dungeon if she wanted to. Be it the Flame Emperor or the rest, they do not have infinite Stamina. Unlike Mana or Health Pots, the loot for Stamina Pots is very very rare and after dodging and jumping around for a few hours, anyone would feel exhausted and that''s not counting the mental fatigue due to repeated use of skills. "I honestly do not know.... I have read the information about the team but except the two new members, all the others seem average." Usui spoke whilst holding a report describing Lucy and Delia but there were no pictures of them. Seeing Usui unable to come up with anything useful, Zalon sighed and shook his head as there was nothing he could think of too, they knew nothing of Lucy and Delia, literally nothing. "At least we have Goddess Miya, if we ask her maybe she''ll help us clear a few floors. As for that team.... we''ll let them be for now, as long as they don''t provoke us then it''s fine. From the reports I have read, that Lucy and Delia do not care about loots or money...." Usui merely listened and remained silent, thinking about something. When Zalon was about to stand up and leave the room as the conversation was over, he was interrupted by Usui who suddenly something unbelievable. "What if..... they are like Goddess Miya? It would much more sense but then again.... why clear one at a time and why every three days?" Listening to Usui speculating several theories, Zalon couldn''t help but laugh and sarcastically say "Hahaha, do you think it''s raining Gods or what? One Goddess came doesn''t mean two mysterious ladies are Gods two.... they must be hidden S-class individuals that were trained by some of the secretive organizations." Usui completely ignored Zalon and with a final look at the papers in his hand, he stood up and left the room after telling Zalon that he''s going for a stroll. "Mommy! You said I can to the dungeon..... why can I go now?" While fidgeting, Saly pleaded Lucy so she can immediately to the dungeon, she was bored and wanted to fight but Lucy kept refusing ever since yesterday so she could only persist until she accepts. Seeing that it wasn''t working, Saly pointed at the snoring Randiun and added "Look, even Randi is excited to fight and he''s getting rusty from all the sleeping he did... come on come on pleaas-" Before she could finish, there was a knocking on the door, Saly was happy because only Miya could knock before entering, she dashed to the door and happily opened it hoping that Miya could able to persuade Lucy. Unfortunately, to her disappointment, Miya was not the one who knocked, instead, it was a young man with blonde hair and dark tuxedo. Saly had special ears and a tail but Delia had cast a small illusion her unless it''s a strong individual, normal mortals can''t see through it, they''ll just see a cute brown-haired girl with round eyes and a lovely face. "Hello little girl." Usui stretched his hand to greet Saly but the latter disappeared from his view and dashed back to Lucy. She was surprised as it''s the first time a stranger knocks on their door, the only solution she could come up with is run back to Lucy and tell her. Such thing was obviously unnecessary, Lucy detected when he knocked on the door and knew he was the Flame Emperor but why would he come here? She walked to the door to talk him but Usui was momentarily mesmerized by her beauty. Miya was beautiful too but it''s the first time he felt like this. He was not like any other men, he kept a calm attitude and snapped out of it in a split second. Lucy coldly stared at him for second before speaking with her usual tone "You are?" "A-ah please excuse my rudeness. My name is Usui Airborn, I''m a Hero from the International Hero Organization." Lucy frowned and remained silent, expecting him to continue talking or at least state the reason he came but it didn''t appear he''ll say anything besides that. Without bothering with him too much, she closed the door straight on his face. Seeing the door closing, Usui stretched his hand and hurriedly said "Aren''t you going to invite a guest in?" Unfortunately for him, his hopes were crushed by Lucy''s immediate reply "Guests are not welcome... neither are men." ''Bang!'' The door closed and Lucy went back to the living room and sat cross-legged, completely forgetting about what happened just now. Flame Emperor or whatnot, none of that attracted, in fact, Arthur would be fuming with jealousy if he saw her talk to such a handsome and successful young man. Just as she easily gets jealous, so is Arthur but since Lucy naturally despises men, situations like these never happened before. "Who was that man?" Saly was curious about Usui but Lucy did not provide her with an honest answer, she just said "No one." Unfortunately for the mother, Saly was quite intrigued so she pondered for a moment then added "Is he one of those children in TV who asks for a candy or trick?" "... No, he''s the security guy." Delia came in with a haughty air and a cup of Tea, she sat on the couch, one thigh on another and spread her arms, taking more space than needed. She looked at the ceiling and mumbled "Seriously... such advanced technology yet weak residents.... why would they cast this world so far...." ''Ring Ring!'' The day after, Saly did the same thing and ran to open the door only to be welcomed by the same security guy from yesterday. Usui was wearing a different suit but he still had the usual friendly smile and polite etiquette. Before he could utter a word, the little girl disappeared and ran back to Lucy. Unlike last time, Lucy didn''t waste time to speak with him and Delia went in her place. Delia much more annoyed by clingy people. She didn''t even give Usui the time to greet her or bow before she snapped at him "We did not call for a plumber!" ''Bang!'' Poor Usui was left dumbfounded and confused, he did not have the chance to talk before he was cast out and treated for a ''plumber'' ''I''m a plumber?..... a plumber.... plumber..'' Chapter 134 - 131 : Snory On the third day that Usui came to visit, Lucy and Delia went to the dungeon to clear an extra floor and only Saly and Randiun were left in the apartment. Usui came at the perfect time because he wanted to build a good relationship and possibly learn more about these mysterious people, his goal, for now, is to become the little girl''s friend then he''ll try befriending the two others, although becoming buddies with Delia is something impossible, it''s unfortunate that he didn''t know that yet. Opening the door for the third time and seeing the same face she was curious about, Saly was in a dilemma on whether to let him in or do the same as Delia. She couldn''t speak Korean and only one or two English words like ''Hello'' or ''Thanks''. After standing there for half a minute, not knowing what to do, Saly decided to invite him as she could feel he is weak and the stranger danger rule doesn''t apply if she can beat him, what''s more, is that Randiun is here. Seeing that he was welcomed after trying for several days, Usui was overjoyed. He just wished it doesn''t go wrong when Lucy comes back and finds him, judging by her character, it''ll be a miracle if he''s not trashed by Delia and Lucy or even killed as Lucy loathes men. Just when Usui entered the living room, he suddenly stopped and stared with astonishment and wide eyes at a creature sitting near the TV. It was a large two-headed lizard made of bones, its tail had a burning black flame on its tip and it doesn''t seem to be a temporary fire. Usui couldn''t see its level or if it was even a monster but he was scared the hell out by it and couldn''t keep advancing. Saly noticed Usui''s face turned white as paper and sweat on his forehead, she waved her hands innocently and crouched next to Randiun, stroking his bony head. The creature waved his tail around and kept snoring without minding Usui as he didn''t feel he was a threat. As for the Flame Emperor, he was almost about to cast his spells at the lizard but once he saw it didn''t attack him, he breathed a small sigh of relief. He was still cautious and afraid of it, nonetheless, he sat on the couch and smiled at Saly while glancing at Randiun every now and then. Two people sitting silently on the couch and both of them couldn''t speak the language of the other, quite a tricky situation but Usui came prepared, he took an exclusive and unique candy from his pocket and gave it to the curious Saly who sniffed it. The 15th floor was full of evolved versions of the lizards on the first floor, they could spit fire and had several parties with warriors and defenders, nevertheless, these monsters were still easily obliterated by Lucy who finished all of them in a few seconds. An hour later, the team let the dungeon with a hopping Saku and a laughing Guan Gi, their loot was extraordinary, to the point of not having enough space to stock all of them. Guan Gi had to drag them on the ground which made him tired but he ignored that fatigue and happily did the job. Lucy was not going to bother helping them in this, she gave them decent equipment which allows them to solo few high floors on their own and that was more than enough, in fact, she did that only because Delia kept pestering her. Once they left the dungeon and separated, Lucy glared at Delia, who kept drinking again and again to the point that it became annoying. "You can''t check the whole area around Earth but go check the Moon, it is rather close." "Arghh! I told you it''s useless to do that! There is NO ONE AROUND!" Cold air circled around Lucy as her Yin power was slowly being unleashed, she coldly stared back at the complaining Delia and seriously said "Go now! Or when Arthur comes back, I''ll have him lock you again, never to see the light of day again or taste whatever you''re drinking." Being locked wasn''t a problem for Delia but having no wine? That''s a catastrophe. Delia harrumphed and turned into a flash of light before disappearing. .... "Why do I have to follow her orders? I can still hide away and wait until he comes back.... but what if he never comes back?" Honestly, she wanted to say that to Lucy but she knew if she said it, Lucy would not hesitate on attacking her and seriously try to kill her. Lucy was quite sensitive about Arthur''s topic. If she really said that, she would have to face a bitter fight against that cold witch. As she left Earth''s atmosphere and felt the Dark Matter around her, Delia felt her body weakening. It was a bit suffocating and uncomfortable to move around as if imprisoned in a dark room devoid of air. Fortunately, the Moon wasn''t far so in just a few minutes, she arrived near the small planet. It was only a sphere covered by gray dirt and nothing else, what else could she search in here? If it the surroundings did not have any Dark Matter, teleporting next to the Moon was easy but her powers are limited here, moreover, she lost one of her wings which made things even worse. A few minutes were spent circling around the Moon but nothing was found. When it was finally time to go back, Delia happened to catch a glimpse of a humanoid figure. To have a clear view, she floated a bit closer only to be surprised by the sight. If she saw this on Earth, it would have been normal but not on the Moon, where no mortal could survive without air or special live-saving treasure. There, laid on the gray dirt of the Moon was an old man with a long white beard. What''s more surprising is that he was hugging a pillow and a pink blanket was covering him. "What the-.." With cautious, Delia drew closer to him but no matter how much she probed him, she couldn''t guess his Realm so the only reason is.... ''Flash!'' The remaining wing of Delia appeared and a long Holy Spear materialized in her hand. To be like this in a place devoid of air and with the presence of such thick quantities of Dark Matter, this cannot be a normal person, if it is a person that is. ''At least a Sovereign, at least.....'' When Delia was only a hundred meters away from him, the old man woke up and looked at her with sleepy eyes. He seemed to be on the verge of falling asleep and if left alone, he''ll really sleep. "Ah... you... I think... think you are one of the Gods down there?" His tone was slow and he would doze off for a second before continuing to talk, it was a weird sight to witness, even Delia was left speechless. "Who are you?" For a Sovereign to be leisurely sleeping in here, it''s not a good sign, Delia could already foresee the trouble that''ll come. Fighting in a disadvantageous place with half of her wings lost, it''ll be impossible to beat a peak God, much less a Sovereign! "Me? I''m Snory but I should be the one.... asking you that... not you.....*snore*" Seeing the old men hug his pillow again and resume sleeping, a vein appeared from Delia''s forehead and her anger meter was rising like crazy. Despite knowing he''s stronger, being treated like air is not an everyday thing for her. Her Holy Spear was suddenly thrown at him, you could only see a flash of light charging at the sleeping old men with unfathomable speed. Delia was expecting a movement from his at least but he didn''t even lift a finger. The Holy Spear struck a small thing that suddenly appeared in the air. When the Holy Spear dispersed and vanished, all that could be seen as a pillow. Yes, it was a pillow. A pink pillow with two eyes, a wide mouth, and 4 very short limbs. Chapter 135 - 132 : Ism The One For You "I-I''m seeing things right? Too much wine is a bad thing after all...." Delia rubbed her eyes as she stared at the jumping pillow. Her Holy Spear was just stopped by a living pillow, how is that possible? Again and again, Delia looked back and forth between her hands and the pillow but the thing didn''t disappear, it merely chuckled and stuck its tongue to her, clearly mocking her. Delia''s wing flapped and created countless Holy Spears that charged at the pillow, willing to finish it once and for all. Delia thought she was hallucinating but after some reasoning, it didn''t appear to be the case, it''s certainly that old man''s ability. What was seen next left her speechless yet again, the pink pillow started jumping at an incredible speed and when the spear was going to hit it, it would open its mouth and gulp the whole spear, like it was a just a snack. It was supposed to be a devastating and deadly attack not just food for the living pillow. More than a hundred Holy Spear was eaten by it and when nothing was left, the pillow burped and faced Delia again. "This is not possible..... even a Sovereign cannot be this strong...." The difference between the Sovereign Realm and the God Realm is big, but not to the point that a peak God like her cannot even make the other party lift a finger and rely on a pillow. Her wing started flapping rapidly, she retrieved a special Holy Spear with golden runes and symbols around it. She tightly held the shaft and rushed at the pillow. ''To think I would be struggling against a pillow.....'' Even her confidence was a bit hurt when she imagined herself going all out against a small pillow that could move. Delia was a Holy Goddess that was very good at using Holy Magic but she was the strongest in wielding spears. As she appeared in front of the pillow, she mercilessly stabbed the pillow and said "Die you annoying little shit!" The white spear stabbed right through the pillow, creating a hole in its center, the mouth and one of the eyes disappeared and before Delia could celebrate, the pillow turned blurry and appeared a few meters to the right, without any wound. It''s as if it was not struck. When she saw this process, Delia backed down and stared at old man whilst angrily yelling "Stop messing around! I know you''re using an advanced illusion, come and fight me like a man!" Illusion, that''s the thing that was happening right now. A very advanced illusion, this Sovereign must be good at using illusions. It is not just about making the target hallucinating, if the user is good enough, he can easily kill his opponents with illusions. Whether making them relive an endless cycle and killing them in reality or make them be tortured endlessly until their mind and soul are broken. There are countless types of illusions and Delia was stuck in a simple but deadly one. If he wants it, she can be imprisoned in here and have to fight a living pillow for the rest of her life unless she can unleash a stronger power than the laid illusion or have a special item to get out of here. The most effective way to get rid of illusions is either lightning or spatial magic. Those two are very effective and can easily dispell it. "Shuush... let me take a short nap." A voice entered Delia''s ears, the figure of the sleeping old man disappeared and only the pillow was still there, to make it even worse, it multiplied to three pillows moving around and dancing. "WHAT? FIGHT ME, YOU OLD DIRTY DRUNKARD!" "You are so loud.... let me sleep in peace...." "Then let me out of your sick illusion! Fucking old man!" Delia, enraged by the pillows, swept with her spears, blowing them away and making them disappear, every time they appeared, she would jump at them and stab again and again. As if he could not handle her loud and annoying voice, the old man stopped whatever he was casting and finally, Delia was out of the illusion and the countless little spawn devils vanished. Seeing the old man still sleeping in the middle of nowhere and not minding here, she stored back her spear and seriously said "What''s a Sovereign doing here?" It was apparent he wasn''t going to hurt her for some odd reason so she started her interrogation. Hearing her speak again, the old man covered his head with his pillow and complained "Come on.... I let you out so quit being noisy." "I''m not stopping until you answer me! Not stopping Not stopping Not stopping Not stopping!" The old man couldn''t handle it anymore, he got up and stared at her with his usual sleepy eyes and replied with a lazy tone "Look... just go back to Earth and mind your own business...." ''What an annoying woman! It''s as if I''m dealing with a noisy baby...'' "You said I was one of the Gods previously, what does that mean?" "It means... that... too lazy to explain so let me sleep now." Snory didn''t mind Delia anymore and continued sleeping, even after Delia kept making noise, he still didn''t wake up so she could only go back to Earth with all her question unanswered. Lucy sensed the presence of an extra person in the apartment. When she probed that person, she found out it was Usui, the person who kept coming, again and again, every day despite being ditched. Usui kept a close look at Randiun, fortunately, the lizard was sleeping since the moment he came. If the lizard woke up, he didn''t know how to react, he really couldn''t get used to sitting next to such a monster. The good thing is that his relationship with Saly improved by a bit, the candy trick worked and Saly seemed to enjoy eating them. They couldn''t communicate freely but despite that, they still became friends due to his character. "Mommy!" Seeing that Lucy just came in, Saly rushed to her and leaped into her arms. She would do this everytime Lucy came in and it has already become a habit of hers. "Didn''t I warn you not to open the door to strangers?" Lucy pulled her cheeks and reprimanded but she wasn''t particularly angry with Lucy as she was still a kid and she must have felt that Usui is not dangerous. "B-But mister security is not a bad person.... he gave me candy and didn''t steal anything!" Saly tried to persuade Lucy that Usui was not a bad person, which he wasn''t obviously but Lucy didn''t like persistent people, much less if they are men. With Saly walking behind her, Lucy headed toward Usui who was smiling back at her. "I see that you invited yourself in." "I would never! It''s this little girl who welcomed me in." As he said that Usui waved his hand to Saly, who waved back at him. Lucy ignored both of them and glared at Randiun, who instinctively felt her stare and was jolted awake from his sweet nap. It took him a few seconds to comprehend that he did something wrong. Being glared at by Lucy was the thing he hated the most, the poor lizard didn''t even know why she was angry so when his lifeless eyes landed on Usui, he found a perfect target to vent his frustration on. With his mouth opening wide and showing those long fangs, the sight was scary to behold and Usui couldn''t help but back away, even his smile stiffened and face turned pale like earlier. "Grrrrr" Randiun, with his tail waving around and the black flame burning on its tip, began closing in on Usui only to be suddenly jumped at by Saly, who rode him like a horse and said "Stop it, Randi! Uncle security is a guest! Let''s play..." Randiun could only obey and dash to the other room with Saly to avoid Lucy''s stare and get some rest from her piercing cold eyes. Now that the kid is not around, Usui had no one to rely upon, he could only smile back at Lucy and wait for her to talk. "You have stayed long enough, get out now." With the front door open, Lucy coldly said that. She didn''t even wait for Usui to do that before turning around and ignoring him. "Wait wait! Please wait a moment Miss Lucy!" Despite him telling her to wait, Lucy did not pay him any heed. Usui was depressed when he saw that even begging didn''t help so he could only cough and resume speaking "Miss Lucy... the reason I came in is to propose something to you.... I want you and Miss Delia to join our team but that''s not the main reason. To be honest, my wish is to become the strongest but since Goddess Miya appeared, all I want is to surpass her, seeing that you and your team cleared floor after floor, I came to the conclusion that you too have powers equal to Goddess Miya so I became interested in you two, just like any other person. That''s what I thought before I meet you but I''m an honest man and I repeatedly came here not to just say propose that offer, that''s only a secondary reason. The main one is to confess my love to you, it was love at first thought and I really think I''m the perfect man for you. Me, the strongest man and you, the strongest female, we''ll be the best couple." Lucy stopped walking for a second but hearing the second part, she smirked and thought to herself ''Hehehe, if Arthur heard you right now, you''ll be crippled.'' Usui''s eyes glowed as he confessed his honest love but Lucy walked to her room and ignored him so he could only go back with a dejected face and dropped shoulders. Before leaving he said ''I''m not giving up yet!'' then he closed the door and left. Delia, who arrived just in time to hear the confession, grinned and followed Lucy whilst saying "Isn''t that an honest and honorable man? It''s so manly.... ahh, your heart must have been moved by what you heard, right?" "If it''s so manly, then why don''t you take him as your man?" Hearing Lucy saying that with an emotionless face, she knew that despite what Usui said, Lucy considered it as air, it''s a pity for him but he really doesn''t have a chance. The Holy Goddess hugged herself and retorted "I can''t date him, he''s too young for me...." "Tch! Noisy old hag." Delia was immersed in imagining her golden age and the time where people would worship the Overgod Delia but these dreams were crushed by what Lucy said "What?! I dare you to say tha-" ''Bang!'' The door was slammed at her face, Lucy left her talking alone and joined Saly in the room. Delia couldn''t find the courage to destroy the door and barge in despite being angry so she stomped her feet and went to the balcony. Chapter 136 - 133 : Silence Before The Storm In a desolate black castle, devoid of any light and emitting an ominous aura, there were two figures inside its biggest hall, one was sitting on a throne made of bones and the other was bending the knee to the one in front of him. The one sitting on the throne had a blurry figure and no facial features, he strangely wore a black suit and was angrily tapping his finger on the throne''s edge. As for the servant, it was a humanoid figure with two dark and wide feathery wings and a horn sticking out of his forehead, he was Belos, ''X''''s most trusted subordinate. "Argh! This is getting more and more troublesome." Bad news came one after another, he didn''t even have enough time to deal with one, much less two or three. Belos was annoyed as always, for his master is complaining here instead of taking the necessary measures for the upcoming catastrophe. "Master! Please take this seriously. The other parties have already announced their truce and even the Overgod of Light has stepped down, the only one remaining is you." "I know I know... what about Earth, is there any good news?" Remembering the small planet he visited to get Arthur, ''X'' became angrier and he couldn''t help but cough mouthfuls of black blood. His mouth couldn''t be seen, neither his face but black blood still came out of his unclear face. "Nothing. The God we sent didn''t spot Arthur and the only strange this is the appearance of the dungeons. They were most likely put there by the System." "Ah! The System and its weird plotting! Last time I sneaked in their property, that lazy old bastard almost killed me, I didn''t even disturb anyone yet they are so aggressive. Talk about strict! *Cough* " Belos didn''t know why his master was so persistent on getting Arthur, sure, the orb was a priceless treasure but it''s not worth provoking the System, not worth at all! He kept his thoughts to himself and waited for his master to give orders. "Go and announce that we''ll be stepping down too. We''re abandoning this place too, I can''t fight ''them'' with my current state, we better hide and wait for it to pass." "As you command!" Belos vanished from the hall and left ''X'' alone in the vast and gloomy hall. You could only hear the angry tapping of ''X'' as he thought about the rising problems and how his luck is getting worse after he met Arthur. ''If I had that orb... no calamity or person would be able to stop me....'' Just thinking about the precious orb that he spent countless years creating it and now it inside a mere mortal made him feel bitter and depressed, maybe it was foolish to put it inside a subject in the first place?I In the Underworld, the strong factions had suddenly united and the leaders are currently facing each other and are discussing an important matter. Granny Shishu and Jizung in a side and facing them were Kilan and Aborak. Jizung dropped in Grade but he was barely able to join this meeting, his position dropped and his influence decreased by a lot, his clan has already become a second-grade Clan as most of his elders were obliterated by Arthur and Lissandra is still missing. "Are you sure about this, Lich King?" Granny Shishu had sent several elders to search for Miya but to no avail, she wanted to personally search but this sudden matter popped out of nowhere and she had to halt the search for now. She didn''t totally believe in legends as she was not an original citizen of the Underworld so she doubted Aborak''s words. "You may not know this but the last time the Behemoth woke up is ten thousand years ago and it was only to defeat the calamities. Since then, it has been slumbering and didn''t bother with the disputes in the Underworld. You heard its howl a week ago and if it woke up then something is coming, there is no doubt." With his two lifeless eyes pulsing with purple light and his cold tone, Aborak explained the situation as he gazed at the South where the Abyss Valley. Kilan also had a grim face and a furrowed brows instead of his usual creepy smile, it was apparent that he was in a bad mood and the matter was not just a joke. "But isn''t it the Underworld a...." Before Jizung could finish, Granny Shishu glared at him indicating that he should shut up and refrain from saying unnecessary things. Far to the South, in the secluded palace, where the meditating middle-aged usually stayed, there was currently a large purple beast, the beast was so big to the point that you could see it from hundreds of miles away. It had one missing leg and a huge burn mark on its belly all the way to its neck. The middle-aged man from before was standing on the beast''s head and staring at the starry sky with a complicated look. "One strange thing after another... it has only been ten thousand years yet you''re so impatient to act.... it''s not going to work... it''s not enough, not in the slightest..." The beast roared loudly, shaking the ground and creating a thunderstorm which raged and spread around all the Abyss Valley. It has been a few days since Delia came back and recounted what happened to Lucy, who only nodded and didn''t comment, she didn''t even ask her what the old man looked like which confused Delia. But less work meant more relaxing time for her, she completely forgot about Snory and resumed drinking and enjoying the high-end life. Usui kept visiting every day but he would be rejected at the front door, he thought that his honest confession would allow him to enter the house at least but Lucy became even colder toward him, with a sigh, he could only turn back and leave every time the door was slammed in his face. A week passed yet Lucy didn''t go to the dungeon, Saku contacted her but Lucy only said that she''s taking a break and they are free to enter the dungeon if they want. They earned enough money to live their lifetimes in happiness so why would they enter the dungeon on their own? They earned fame, good items, and money so unless Lucy comes with them, they aren''t courageous enough to deal with higher floors. Today too, Usui came in but was told to leave by Delia who mercilessly threw him out using her Holy Magic. The poor young man didn''t even resist, with dirtied clothes and a sad expression, he bowed at Delia who was smirking when she saw his trashed attire and then he left dejectedly. Delia just slammed the door and was going to the balcony when the ringing sound was heard again, her first and only guess was that Usui came back again. The door was opened abruptly and just as Delia was going to throw him out of the balcony, she was met with an old man with a pajama. It was Snory, unlike his usual sleepy and lazy expression, his face had a serious expression and he didn''t seem to be here just to joke around. Since he knocked and didn''t barge in, Delia was not bold enough to kick him and be stuck fighting living pillows so she coughed and forced smile as she let him. .... Five years passed since Lucy and co arrived on Earth. On a deserted island in the Pacific Ocean, a black whirlpool materialized slowly until it was the size of a small bus. The black whirlpool didn''t spin for a long time, only for a couple of minutes and it only vanished when a couple of figures appeared. The most noticeable one was Arthur, with long gray hair. His appearance was a bit different as he had only one eye opened, the left one had a sword-scar. He was holding Makaze, the dark katana but it was half its original size and it seemed to be broken. Taking a breath of fresh air, Arthur looked at his surroundings and commanded with a cold and domineering tone "Disperse, search for it." The first who acted was Astrith, who was way bigger and was no longer a blue wolf but was jet black with two red eyes. "This one obeys." The wolf transformed into a black shadow that disappeared into the horizon. "As you wish." "Hai Hai! I''m on it." Several other figures followed after Astrith and went on ahead. The only ones left are Arthur and a short Loli girl who resembled a Doll, she had long black hair that reached the ground and was holding a white teddy bear. .... Chapter 137 - 134 : Changes On Astria Not even a second passed after Arthur was separated from Lucy, and here he was, standing in the same deserted room that he used to travel to the Underworld. Only the Golem was transferred with him to Astria, as for Lucy and the rest, he didn''t know where they were sent to which infuriated Arthur. "Fuck!" Fron anger, Arthur started furiously slamming the wall with his fists until there was nothing left yet he continued doing it until for a couple of minutes. It was helpful as releasing some of his frustration was the only thing he could do. Not only was he not able to teleport with them, he doesn''t even know where they are. Maybe a dangerous world? Maybe his wife and daughter are fighting while putting their life on the line? So many things could happen and it was partially the mysterious man''s fault. Zodiak should not have interfered too but Arthur couldn''t blame him as Zodiak probably did so before they went to the Underworld so he could assure that Arthur comes back. After Arthur managed to calm down and think things through, he left the room and found himself in the old territory of the Ma Clan which was destroyed by the fight between Lissandra and Anastassia. With no one around, Arthur didn''t linger around for long, he turned around and headed West. The only place he could go to right now is the Western Continent, where he officially founded his and Lucy''s clan. Every time he thought of Lucy, his heart would ache and his feeling would storm, leaving him stressed and anxious about her and Saly''s safety. Delia and Randiun were with them, nonetheless, there is the small chance that they too, were separated and that is a possibilityArthur would rather not think about. With his speed, Arthur arrived on the Western Continent in no time, his destination was the place where he talked to Jackob for the last time. Time flows differently on Astria and the Underworld. Arthur and Lucy stayed a couple of months in the Underworld but On Astria, it has already been one year and a half, almost double the time spent in the Underworld. The MoonStar sect had spread in almost the whole continent and its influence is on par with the Human Empire and The Demons. Unlike other clans and sect, per Arthur''s orders, the sect didn''t remain reclusive. It announced itself to the world and despite a lot of forces joining to eradicate it, they weren''t able to. One because the clan had an incredibly strong leader, second because there were three bones dragons with one being unbeatable. There was also a Lv800 Red Minotaur which is permanently guarding the sect''s territory and roaming it every day. Surprisingly, the Minotaur was not aggressive against the sect members but any intruder was brutally killed by it. The Human Emperor expressed his neutrality and didn''t act against the sect knowing that it belonged to Arthur, moreover, Arthur was his benefactor as he gave him an army of skeletons which are constantly staying on the border and defending the humans from any sudden attack from the Demons. Currently, Anastassia was temporarily taking the position of the Patriarch until Arthur and Lucy came back. Jackob trained hard in the past year and a half and raised his Level all the way to 674. It was an infinite grind but he took care of the miscellaneous stuff related to the Sect. It recruited strong warrior and countless arrogant ones were kicked from the sect. They belonged to the old tribe of Jackob but it was cleaned when he and Anastassia took over. Although the sect was situated in a desert, there were countless buildings created and with the presence of some Oasis, it wasn''t too shallow. Anastassia brought all her remaining clan members to the sect. She managed to breakthrough to the Heavenly Realm and her little sister, Sonia, finally reached the Spirit Realm. "What''s the situation?" With her usual expressionless face, Anastassia asked Jackob who was busy writing on some scrolls. He paused for a second to reply then he resumed writing "Nothing. The Yan Clan made an alliance with the Demons and are pressuring us but nothing too dangerous. If we launch a serious attack with the three dragons, we''ll annihilate them in two days at most." "Remember, we yearn for coexistence not wage war against any enemy that pops against us." "Yeah yeah, I know, that''s all you have been saying for the past year." Jackob didn''t seem to be scared of Anastassia despite her strength and cold attitude, in a funny way, the two of them got along pretty well. After the short talk, Anastassia went into a corner and sat cross-legged, she would do this all day and it was a good way to practice and increase her strength. She is at the middle-stages of the Heavenly Realm, if it went well, she would break through to the next Realm in the next 6 months. It''s a strange occurrence but the amount of Mana and Qi on Astria thickened and became denser once Arthur left. Just as Anastassia was going to enter meditation, her eyes suddenly opened and her daggers were unsheathed with lightning speed, she was looking sharply at a certain corner of the room, where a black shadow appeared. After gazing at the shadow for a second, Anastasia put her daggers down but she her eyes were still glued on Arthur. "It''s been a while." Jackob was focused on writing and by the look of it, he was immersed in it, only when Arthur''s sound rang in his ears did he freak out, almost falling from the chair. With a dumbfounded look, he looked at Arthur, appeared out of nowhere, but it isn''t a strange thing since it''s Arthur, the reason Jackob was surprised was due to how suddenly Arthur appeared. "A,ah.... Ar--*cough* Patriach Arthur.... hahaha, it''s nice to see you are back." Contrary to Jackob, Anastassia remained silent for some time, it''s not that she hated Arthur, but she was feeling a bit guilty after what happened. From her point of view, it was totally her fault that Saly got abducted since she couldn''t properly protect her, so basically, she didn''t know how to face Arthur. "Why the long face? Is that how you greet an old friend?" Arthur walked to Anastassia and stretched his hand to shake her hands. He had a positive impression of her, she helped him and provided shelter for him and Lucy back in the days. She wasn''t a bad person, she was just bad at communicating with people to the point of making it awkward most of the time. After a moment of awkward silence, the slim white hand of Anastassia was lifted and soon, both parties shook hands. Anastassia was feeling a bit strange, she truly didn''t know what to do, fortunately, Jackob was here to liven up the gloomy atmosphere that SHE created. As if they are old best friends, Jackob walked up to Arthur and patted his shoulders whilst saying "Did you forget about me? I sacrificed so much for you and worked hard for the task you entrusted me to do....." His attitude changed a lot but it''s a good thing at least that he was not fearful of Arthur. Moreover, Arthur didn''t dislike such attitude, Jackob was an honest man, albeit he did nothing for him in the past, from the look of it, he worked hard as he noticed that his Level rose by a lot! "I didn''t. I remember you quite well, I see that you worked hard in my absence but I''m sure I don''t need to reward you since we''re friends, right?" Poor Jackob who was expecting to receive a dragon as a mount became dejected as his smile stiffened for a second. He patted Arthur''s shoulder a second time before bitterly saying "Urgh... it''s fine, being the vice-patriarch is more than enough for me." ... After finishing the short reunion, Arthur, Anastassia, and Jackob sat around a table to discuss the serious stuff. Arthur was about to speak when the ever-so silent Anastassia finally uttered her first words "Where is Lucy?... And Saly?" Her relationship with Saly has always been good, she even trained her sometimes and showed her some special techniques, she deeply cared for her that''s why she was feeling guilty about what happened. For a second, Arthur''s eyes gleamed with a cold light and turned gray just like his hair but it disappeared by the next second. "A lot of stuff happened.... we got separated on the way here." Jackob didn''t know what exactly happened, Anastassia only told him that Arthur went to far away place to search for Saly, hearing that they got separated on the way, he pitied Arthur and said "Patriarch, I''ll dispatch a few groups to search around the continents, we can also send the drag-" Jackob was interrupted as Arthur waved his hand to stop him from doing something foolish and useless "No need, they are not in any of the continents... if it was that easy, I would be able to find them in a day... *sigh*" This time, it was Anastassia who talked, her tone had a hint of anxiousness in it. "D-Do you know where were they teleported to?" With another sigh, Arthur shook his head and answered "No... but I have a few guesses...." Arthur didn''t even know a way to search for them. When they were in that spatial tunnel, he saw a car shadow so they are most probably on Earth but he wasn''t too sure of that guess as he might be hallucinating. Maybe the end of the tunnel only showed his past memories, past life.... so many possibilities. The atmosphere turned dead silent as no one talked. Jackob knew that it was not his place to interfere so he just remained silent, as for Anastassia, she seemed to be lost in thought, pondering about something. Arthur waved his hand, retrieving a blue orb from his storage which quickly transformed into Lissandra, who wore tattered and torn clothes and wasn''t in the best condition. Being locked in that orb and to top it off, whilst being a mortal, it was surely not pleasant. "You!" Anastassia appeared in front of Lissandra, crouching and holding the two daggers on her throat. "Don''t kill her, she''s but a mere Mortal now, no need to bother. Plus, I need her." Seeing the figure of the person she mocked and trashed a few months ago, Lissandra face paled and she couldn''t help but shiver. It''s fortunate that she didn''t slaughter the whole clan and focused on finding Saly and fighting Anastassia or else the clan master would not have shown mercy despite what Arthur said. Anastassia begrudgingly lowered her daggers and backed away from Lissandra but she was still looking at her with cold eyes, emanating thick killing intent. She was like a tiger that would leap at its target in any given second. Chapter 138 - 135 : The System "W-What''s hˇ­ happening?" Lissandra was petrified when she looked at Anastassia but she managed to calm down just a bit after hearing Arthur. This didn''t stop the fact that Anastassia was furious and wanted to vent her anger. Knowing her attitude, Arthur could only sigh and add "She destroyed your clan, she suffered enough... at least for now." He walked behind Anastassia and whispered into her ears with a low voice "When I''m done with her, you''re free to do whatever you want." With killing intent still lingering in her eyes, Anastassia could only step back and hold back her anger. As for Arthur, he crouched in front of Lissandra and smiled while saying "It''s interrogation time." Lissandra forgot about her origins, past strength and everything that has a connection with what she did, her only thought is not dying, if it meant replying to him honestly, then that''s what she''ll do. "Y,Yes, I''ll answer!" A Dark dagger appeared on the tip of Arthur''s finger, who played with it and smirked. "I don''t have to repeat the rules.... or do I?" Heavily shaking her head, Lissandra unconsciously backed away when she saw the dagger and tried her best not to infuriate him. Jackob, who was sitting at the back, felt his heartache when he saw such a beauty was the enemy. It appears that Anastassia and Arthur didn''t like her. ''Well... I have Anastassia, I just need to take it slowly.... yes.. slowly.'' "Do you know who to access Earth?" "E-Earth?" Lissandra was confused as it''s the first time she heard about that. For her or anyone that doesn''t know about Earth, the word ''Earth'' is referring to the ground or maybe the attribute... which is why she was left speechless without answering. "It''s a planet but it hasn''t any dungeons, magic or anything of the sort. The technology is advanced in it." Arthur kind of expected this kind of response, so he tried to describe it perhaps Lissandra has some hints. "N-no... There i-is a lot of planets that do not have magic and is home to mortals but as far as I remember.. t-there is no planets with that n-name..." Sighing, Arthur shook his head in disappointment as he got nothing from her, just as he was about to stop this useless interrogation, Lissandra spoke again "T-there is a chance that it''s a planet that belongs to The System...." "What do you mean by that?" "It''s complicated to describe what The System is, you can consider as an unknown e-entity. It controls a universe of its own and no one is permitted to enter without its consent." "U-Universe?" "A-Ah.. y-you don''t know about the Universe Trinity? Ah ah, let me e-explain. A-after you become a God and start visiting many Realms and planets you will come to know that there are three known Universes. The one we are currently in is called The Cloud Sea Universe. The second one is the one that belongs to the System, it has a strange name. It''s called the X-TR 500. As for the last one, it is called the Heaven and Hell. Usually, no Universe interferes with another, no wars or anything. People are free to go to the three of them but the second one is hard to enter as you need access from the System, you''ll be forced to follow a lot of rules, so it''s the biggest Universe but it''s almost devoid of people." Lissandra stopped talking for a couple of seconds to take some breather, becoming a Mortal made it even difficult for her to walk. She was so low-leveled that she may be weaker than a normal human. "..... E-Earth, the planet you mentioned is most likely in the System''s Universe because, in the two other Universes, there is no such planet with that name.... but you said that there is no System on E-Earth, so I cannot be s-sssure...." Arthur''s face was gloomy when Lissandra glanced at it, for a second she thought she was going to get tortured. With shaking hands, she waited for him to react but when he did, she couldn''t help but back away from him until her back was facing the wall. "See! You can do it when you try." Arthur patted her shoulder and at the same time, an invisible force broke the chains around her feet and hands, making her feel a bit comfortable. It''s not like he was setting her free, she''s still his prisoner but she''s just a mortal, she can''t escape even if she tried, neither can she sneak attack him. "You are free to roam wherever you want as long as it''s inside the sect''s territory.... you can consider ''it'' your guard." What Arthur referred to was a 2 meter tall Death Knight that had a long axe on its back. Its two lifeless eyes were staring at Lissandra and it didn''t seem it''ll stop anytime soon. Arthur ordered it to protect her from any dangers and stop her if she tries to do anything suspicious. Lissandra was surprisingly obedient, she slowly backed away and left the room after ascertaining that it was not a trap. The Death Knight right after her which freaked her at first but when he did nothing, she breathed a sigh of relief and walked away. "Why did you let her go...." Anastassia was against this as she wanted to imprison Lissandra so she could not plot against them again. "No need to worry, she''s a mortal.... or even weaker than that. I took her storage, powers. Plus, that guard is at the Spirit Realm." Despite hearing this, she wasn''t pleased, she snorted and sat angrily on the chair. As for Jackob, he was feeling depressed when he saw Arthur spawn a Spirit Realm in a second. He trained for a year yet he is still weaker than a Death Knight that was created a second ago, his sense of accomplishment vanished and his thirst for strength was ignited. "So... I''ll let you two handle the sect, I need to do something." With that, Arthur teleported out of the room before the two of them could complain. He searched for a place to seclude himself for while. The search was not long, in two hours he was able to find a perfect place. It was at the center of the Human Continent and precisely in a thick forest full of dangerous beasts. Behind a big waterfall was a wide cave that suited his desires. With a simple play of his Earth Magic, he was able to build a decent room for himself. He can''t go around aimlessly although he wanted to find Lucy immediately. Things need to be done properly. If what Lissandra and Delia were true, he needed a Spatial Stone but amongst the things he found in Zodiak''s storage, there were no Spatial Stones. There sure were a lot of stones that resembled the description Delia gave him but none of them were named Spatial Stones. He thought that maybe the System made a mistake again but gave up on that idea soon after. What he also needed to do is properly learn Alchemy. He already has it in Advanced but the trick was not just having it in Advanced, he doesn''t have any experience it and it''s the main key to use the Spatial Stone. To travel to a specific world, especially one like Earth, which has no spatial tunnels in it, one needs to be a very good alchemist to transform a grand quantity of Spatial Stones in one Spatial Tunnel then direct it to Earth. What''s that got to do with alchemy you say? To burn or melt or even use a Spatial Stone, you need the Flame Essence, the same gray flame that Arthur possess. It was useless in battles but very effective in concocting pills. Not only pills can help him breakthrough faster, it can heal wounds, recover Nether Energy at a faster rate and many other wonders. Arthur was currently a 5th Grade Immortal. There was no Nether Energy on Astria so he has to rely on Mana which is not a very efficient way. Fortunately, the techniques he practices are unique and he had a special race. Possessing corpses can only give him a meager amount of Mental Power if not none. But the Stats are still increasing, he decided to possess endlessly until his stats reach a limit, then he''ll focus on breaking through. Standing alone in the empty room he just created, Arthur waved his hands and more than ten beast corpses appeared. He started possessing them like crazy but since their stats are not that high, it was quite a slow process. What''s a bit surprising is albeit possessing hundreds of thousands of corpses, he was still earning unique passive skill and new active skills. Most of them were useless of course but some are really helpful. His Poison Resistance had already reached max level so poison doesn''t affect him as much, he had 30% damage reduction from poison. But that was not the only resistance skill he had it maxed. Be it Sword Mastery, Spear Mastery, Dagger Mastery, Wind Magic, Water Magic, Healing Magic, he had them all on advanced. But none of them would be useful in a proper fight against a God, if he does not rely on his powerful skill, he can''t win. Putting Rizaki aside, he had his Dark Magic, Ancient Fire, flawless Sword Mastery coupled with Makaze''s sharpness. There were also the countless passive skills he could activate if he found the perfect body. Unfortunately, he only had two bodies left that could activate most of the passive skills, and procuring similar ones is very very difficult. Chapter 139 - 136 : Paying Back A Favor About three hours after he began possessing like crazy, Arthur ran out of corpses and his stats still didn''t reach a limit. With no other choice but to leave his new home and go find some, his only destination is his one and only provider. He forgot to talk to Anastassia about Robin and ask about her location, it''s been a while since they met so he was not sure if she is still amassing corpses for him but he sure hoped so. In the clear blue sky, Arthur whistled through the air, creating lightning sounds as he was in his lightning form. All that could be seen was a white line that would appear and vanish every split second. As he was focusing on flying at top speed while adding the bonus Agility he got from all those previous corpses, his speed increased yet by another level. He was heading to the Itas Continent first as the Headquarters of E-clips Company is there. A trip that takes a month or even more was finished in an hour by Arthur, who relied on his lightning form and Agility. In no time, Arthur appeared outside of the main building of the E-clips Company. "End all connections with the Yan Clan! I don''t want to get involved with their stupid wars!" Robin, who had drastically grown from the last time he met her, was currently sitting on a desk and ordering a few subordinates. Her grandfather was nowhere to be seen and she seemed to be another person, if not for the appraisal, Arthur would not have recognized her. She wore glasses now and she seemed more mature. Arthur decided to enter normally and not just appear out of nowhere like the old fashion way. ''Knock knock! "What is it, Nelson.... I told you to not bother me until you finished the tasks I assigned you with." The person wasn''t the one Robin expected, it took her a moment to recognize Arthur. Unlike any time they met, she didn''t yell at him or complain, she just stared back at him and remained silent. "I see that a lot of things.... have changed." Glancing back at the empty room and the new Robin, Arthur frowned for a second before he guessed something. "It''s been a while... Sir Arthur." "Indeed it has. The small girl has matured into a responsible lady it seems.... Where is Belic?" Hearing him, Robin''s eye sharpened and her eyes turned a bit cold. She was calm on the outside but her feelings were in total disarray inside. With a resolute and deadpan face, Robin lifted her head and stared back at Arthur, who welcomed himself and sat in the seat opposite of her. "My Grandfather has unfortunately died." ''So I was right.'' Their relationship was merely built on business but the old man was respectful to Arthur and helped him a lot, he doesn''t mind taking revenge if he was killed by an enemy. "How did he die?" "Sir Arthur, we are business partners, I would like you to refrain from interfering in personal matters." Not minding what she said the least bit, Arthur stared back at her with an even colder look and repeated "How?" "Sir Ar-" "If you are not going to tell me, I''ll learn from another one, so why not spill the beans right now." Robin had no choice but to answer, as if not wanting to remember what happened, she kept it brief but Arthur noticed that she clenched her fists so tightly to the point that her nails dug deep into her flesh, making blood flow from them. She hid them under the desk but with his sense, nothing can escape from him. It was as clear that his death was unfair but she somehow overcame it and became a responsible person to take care of his company. Just by the fact that she didn''t go back to her clan and managed everything by her own prooves it. "I-it was a simple trip to the Demon Continent to deliver an item but w-we were ambushed by a Black Mage and his troops, he killed everyone but m-my grandfather t-teleported me away..." Robin couldn''t even finish the sentence before starting to silently cry. That event was an emotional scar that she could not forget yet she repressed it deep into her mind, now that it resurfaced, she couldn''t keep her emotions in check. "Do you want vengeance? For it is the only thing I can offer as an old friend." Arthur speaking made Robin realize that she was not alone in the room, she rubbed the tears away and looked at Arthur with a strange look. "W-Why would you help me?" "Help? I''m paying back a favor. Nothing less, nothing more." Yes, he was helping her but he didn''t say it out loud. She was putting up a cold front yet she was emotionally weak, if he said he was helping her, she may not have accepted it and would even have considered it as pity. "Now then, what is your reply?" Arthur patiently waited for Robin, who kept staring back at him seemingly lost in thought. After an unknown amount of time passed, she snapped out of her daze and said "It can''t be helped! Since you''re paying back a favor then I cannot refuse, However! I must accompany you." There was a hint of happiness and relief in her tone. As if a huge burden has been lifted when she said that. She struggled over whether to accept or not but in the end, she decided to yield to her emotions. "Alright, we will depart immediately." Arthur got up from his seat and was going to take Robin and fly to the Demon Continent was but he was stopped by Robin. "Wait! We cannot just go blindly! That Black Mage is strong and we don''t know where he is right now. We need to investigate first." Her serious demeanor returned and the glasses were pulled back in a classy manner. In some way or another, she liked being a bit bossy, even towards Arthur. "That''s futile. I''ll find him quickly, you need not worry, just stay back and watch." Robin expected him to say that so she retorted while snorting "Hmpf! Alright but I need to make some preparation, the trip is long to the Demon Continent after." "That is also unnecessary, we''ll arrive in an hour, more or less and we''ll come back after a day at most so no need to prepare anything." Robin was prepared to retort again but she choked on the words when she heard him, she stared at him as if he was a clown. Clearly, she didn''t believe what he said, while putting her hands on waist and glaring back at him, she tsk''ed and said "It''s not because I accept your offer that you can mock me. I''m not the little girl from before." ''You clearly are but whatever....'' Arthur could only sigh and nod at Robin. He left the room after he told Robin to hurry up but he was relieved when she told him that everything will be done in five hours at most. So, with nothing to do, Arthur strolled around the Elven village and contemplated the buildings and people. From boredom, he went to the public park and sat near the fountain to relax and enjoy some fresh air. Kids were playing as usual and couples or easy-going people were lingering here and there. With nothing to do, he laid on the grass and looked to the sky only to see several thick branches high up in the air. His vision soon shifted to the gigantic tree not far away. ''Isn''t that....'' The tree he was looking at was the World Tree, the same tree that sent him flying miles away when he tried getting close to it to possess it. A mysterious voice rang in his ears last time and he didn''t dare go back as the blow from the tree was by no means a simple blow, it was a fatal and deadly one. It spared his life but nonetheless, he was injured. He had a bit of confidence now that he was way stronger than the past him who got beaten by the tree but he was still hesitating on whether to approach it or not. His thoughts were urging him to do it but an alerting feeling kept stopping him and pulling him back. Chapter 140 - 137 : Force Waves Not even 5 minutes after he started looking at the World Tree, Arthur started flying toward it. He just couldn''t hold back his urges. Something about it was drawing him near it. Just for precaution, Arthur possessed a Griffin made of bones. It was a weak race of Griffin but it nevertheless was one. With a body of a lion and a head of Eagle, all made of bones, Arthur flew toward the tree and activated [Eyes of The Noble Sea]. [Eyes of The Noble Sea]: Lets the user see any kind of energy. Range and intensity depend on the intelligence stats of the user. Cost: 500 Mana per second. The lifeless eye sockets of the beast flashed with a blue light, dazzling and eye-catching. All around him, he could see blue lines of Mana in everything, be it the grass, plants or even air itself. When his eyes shifted to the towering World Tree, he was surprised to see a cluster of Mana condensed in it and around it. It was so dense that Arthur front view was covered in blue. The Mana seemed to be spinning like a whirlpool and some it would disperse to the surroundings, merging with the ground. It''s the first time he saw such a high density of any Energy, even in the Underworld, when he possessed that wolf, none of the Gods had such high reserve of Nether Energy. This was beyond his imagination. Seeing the beautiful yet worrying sight in front of him, Arthur''s confidence wavered. Too many strange things happened all around Astria but this surpassed them all. He knew that the World Tree was giving life to the Itas Continent but the sheer quantity of Mana really made him feel a bit fearful. The thing is, he was once attacked by it, so if it''s sentient and decided to go all out, no matter how resistant he was, he can''t defend against an attack containing that much Energy, not even a God could. A thick Dark Barrier was created around him, and to be safer, he circulated the Dark-Star Body Strengthening-technique which created an extra defensive layer around his bare bones. The bones already turned jet black and illusory black claws appeared on the ancient shattered claws of the Grifin. With an appearance that would scare anyone, black flames burning around the edges of his face and his two eyes still pulsating with a blue light, Arthur continued advancing. When Arthur reached the exact place he was attacked on last time, his cautiousness rose and ''The Dark Anguish Technique'' began circulating, making the black flames more intense and increasing the ominous aura that was being emanated from him. 5 meters... 10 meters... He passed the place where he was attacked last time but his speed was very slow and it didn''t seem he was going to accelerate. Slowly but surely, the distance between him and World Tree was decreasing. A few minutes later, Arthur was still as tense as before if not more. His senses were on high alert and as he was advancing, his eyes caught a small fluctuation of Mana, without even thinking about the cause [Fasther Than Death] was executed and he teleported a hundred meters back. His eyes were gazing at the place he was previously at but nothing happened, instead, he felt a pushing force coming right at him so he teleported once again, backing away further yet the pushing force appeared to be way faster than his teleportation. The Griffin emitted a loud noise, making the air turbulent and spat an incredibly big flame ball. The Dark Red Flameball was twice the size of the Beast and in less than a second, the invisible pushing force and his attack clashed with each other. In terms of size, the flame ball that Arthur spat was not the biggest but he consumed 10% of his Mana and that is certainly not a meager amount. Ancient Flames normally doesn''t consume Mana but if the user wishes it, he can sacrifice his Mana to make it a bit stronger. ''Whoooooooooooosh'' ''Baaaaaaaang'' As expected of the destructive Ancient Flames, it created a loud explosion once it crashed into the invisible force. Arthur could see that this force was like a wave, it was not dangerous and it only meant to push him further back. What''s even more surprising is that his attack only managed to reduce the force by half before it vanished. The damage done by his Ancient Flames was not enough but it''s not like he''ll just sit there and watch, with his Dark Barrier still up and the force being a dozen of meters away from him. Arthur opened his mouth again and started condensing a small Void Orb. If destruction is not the solution, then being eaten by the Void is! A small, harmless-looking violet orb condensed inside the Griffin''s mouths before it was spat at the incoming wave. The second he spat the Orb, Arthur teleported some distance to the left and simultaneously activated the orb''s power. The Void Orb exploded at Arthur''s command, transforming into countless creepy mouths. On the outside, it seemed they were eating the air but if one had eyes similar to Arthur''s, they would be able to see the mouths devouring not only the air but the dispersed Mana around it. Endless devouring, they were small in size but the expected clash didn''t happen as the force was being devoured by the small mouths, which made them a bit bigger and more effective at devouring. Arthur grinned, proud of the new skill he invented but it wasn''t permanent and there is a limit to how much they could eat. Fortunately, the force almost disappeared and by the time the mouths were called back by Arthur, the pushing force was extinguished. With a sigh, Arthur turned to look at the World Tree, which was as silent as ever. He knew it wasn''t over, it was merely one attack but it took some effort to stop it. Just as he was going to continue advancing, his eyes and sense caught several similar forces coming from all direction, as if wanting to crush him. The forces were two times stronger than the first one, which made Arthur shiver unconsciously. The Griffin screeched and Its wings, which were just bones suddenly became two wide flaming wings. ''Merge Fire with Darkness, Darkness with Void!'' Arthur has never been able to merge attribute except in the Heavenly Arrow and even in that, he can''t choose whatever he wants. Unlike Lucy, who managed to merge two opposed attributes, he was only successful in fusing the Darkness and Void which later became the Eclipse Magic. It wasn''t strong which is why Arthur never used it but it nevertheless was a fusion of the two, it''s a pity he didn''t know its true function. Two dark red flaming wings with a span of 5 meters each, a special body made of unknown dark Energy that covered it whole. Last but not least, a 15-inch purple horn, which was the most crucial thing in all the body. The tip of the horn was like a mini black hole, absorbing the Mana around and taking it to an endless void. ''Let''s see who''s better!'' The pushing forces arrived and Arthur acted, his two wings flapped and created two enormous flaming waves to both sides. As for the front, the longhorn vibrated making the air slightly twist and twisting with it the force, bending it and making it completely vanish in just a second. Arthur was going all out now and it was not the time to hold back since it''s this dangerous. He was not fast enough to block the one to the back but since the beginning, he was willing to take the full brunt. ''Crack... crack!'' The Dark Barrier held for a while but at the price of pushing Arthur a bit to the front. The Barrier shattered only after three seconds, which was more than enough time for Arthur to forcefully bend it and extinguish it with his horn. Arthur couldn''t even take a second to breathe before 10 more force waves came at him, stronger and faster. ''Hahahhaha, more! More! BRING IT ALL!!'' With a high-screech, the Griffin dived right toward the waves with its wings creating destructive flame waves and the horn in between, vibrating and twisting the air. Explosions and clashes happened all around the area. People at the Elven Village could feel the air fluctuation and sudden energy waves in the air, it was all remnants yet it was still dangerous. ''Whoooosh'' The ground was burned to ashes by the ancient flames and the flaming wings were only getting stronger. It got the point where Arthur just attacked randomly and it would still strike an incoming force wave. Countless waves were trying to push him away from the World Tree but he was still advancing. Amidst the raging flame tornado, boulder-sized Fireballs, and a twisting air, here he was screeching and flying toward the World Tree. ''Almost there!'' He could see a thick trunk that had a diameter of more than a mile, it was too big to see all of it. In some point in the middle of the battle, the force waves lessened bit by bit until there were only one or two at a time. Chapter 141 - 138 : Mysterious Green Hands ''Did it give up?'' Still cautious, Arthur slowed down and sensed the surroundings with his sense and glanced at the World Tree while activating the special eyes but nothing was too strange. At this point, no force waves were attacking him but it didn''t make Arthur feel safe, on the contrary, he was feeling unease and confusion. Getting close to the target, whatever or whoever is attacking him should attack more not just suddenly give up. The two wide flaming wings wrapped around him and the horn started vibrating more intensely. Arthur strengthened his Dark Barrier and advanced. Unfortunately, the second he resumed advancing he was met with something that made feel a shiver down his spine. It wasn''t a chilling or ominous aura of any sort, in case, the attacks were made of pure Mana but the alarming thing is what was coming towards him. For the first time since he started this fight, he felt a bit of killing intent from the incoming attack. It was a force wave like another one yet way bigger and faster, by the time he reacted, it had already struck him and sent his body crashing to the ground. ''Booom!'' Trees were razed and a crater was formed, some plants and grass were burned due to the collateral damage caused by the ancient flames. He couldn''t even react in time to teleport, the Barrier didn''t even slow it down and was practically shattered in an instant. Fortunately, his wings reduced the damage by quite a bit so he wasn''t heavily injured. Some of the black bones shattered but it''s not his body so no problem. With his wings still wrapped around him, Arthur slowly floated up only to be struck again by the same force, crashing him into the ground creating a bigger crater. His Health was reduced by the benefit of possessing a corpse is that dying inside it won''t kill him, he''ll be forcefully pushed out of the body he was possessing with 20% of his Health and his stats would be halved for a day. So yeah, dying inside Griffin''s body won''t necessarily kill him a bit it''ll greatly weaken him. There was the option of transferring to another body before his current one is dead but the effect would be multiplied by 4 times, it really wasn''t worth it. ''It''s playing with me.... motherfucker!'' Arthur erupted in fury as every time he got up and tried to fight back, the strong force wave would flatten him to the ground, not letting him a chance retaliate. ''Bzzz bzzzz'' Arthur teleported high up in the air and spat 4 Void Orbs which instantly transformed to innumerable small mouths. The largemouth of Griffin opened again and this time, a Fireball ten times his size was created, the heat was so strong that the plants on the ground showed signs of withering. That was not all, [Transmutation] was activated and the Griffin grew double its original size and Natural Lightning covered its body. ''Let''s see if you can block this'' Arthur followed after the big fireball which struck the force wave and exploded, creating a rain for flame, burning the ground and setting fire to the green forest. The mouths kept doing their job and ate bits and bits of the force wave yet it didn''t seem it was weakened by even one bit. ''Hahahaha'' The Griffin became a streak of lightning which charged at the force wave, just before he struck it, The Griffin''s body suddenly teleported to the back but all of that was not just an act, but to buy a couple of seconds, confusing the one doing this and perhaps cover whatever is whistling behind him. When he teleported behind, a Heavenly Arrow half of the size of the original was whistling in the air and rushing at the Force Wave. The smallmouths seemed to realize something and all flew to the Heavenly Arrow and merged with it, making it bigger and faster. Just like any other case, the Heavenly Arrow was unstoppable, the Force Wave was eaten in a second but that didn''t stop the Arrow from advancing toward the World Tree. Wave after Wave appeared to block the Heavenly Arrow but they were devoured in a few seconds. Arthur grinned as he watched them being absorbed as if they were nothing. After all, there was nothing that could stop the Void, not even Pure Mana, or so Arthur thought. For 200 hundred meters, the Heavenly Arrow was an unbreakable existence, its only purpose is to strike the World Tree. Arthur followed after it slowly but was astonished when he saw an illusory blue hand appear in front of the arrow. The hand was double the size of the arrow and surprisingly, the Void couldn''t eat the hand. The Heavenly struck the palm of that hand and at the moment of the impact, the small space between the tip of the arrow and the palm, the space shattered and a gray starry sky appeared from the other side. It was repaired in a split second but such a thing was noticed by Arthur, who gasped and retreated as he felt an absorbing power far stronger than the arrow come out from that small shattered space. Moments turned into minutes but the Heavenly Arrow couldn''t penetrate the palm neither could the hand extinguish the arrow, it''s basically a stalemate. When Arthur was ready to act, three extra hands appeared, they each took a side and started pressing the arrow, trying to crush it or suppress it. When the process started, the hands turned green and a thin green line appeared between them. Half a minute after they appeared, the arrow was suppressed and a bright green light flashed the area before it disappeared, leaving only the four hands. Soon, the hands dissipated too leaving only a strong force wave rushing at Arthur, who was not the least bit worried. Since it took it a lot of time to get rid of that Heavenly Arrow then what about the real one? Or the empowered one with Lucy''s help? One thing was for sure, this thing wasn''t invincible. Whilst grinning, Arthur used his lightning form and started flying in a circle with an insane speed. In just a few seconds, before the force wave struck him, a towering lightning tornado was formed but that was only the beginning. Streaks of white lightning descended on the ground, creating pits and destroying trees. The tornado was getting bigger by the second and when the force wave finally struck it, it was stopped by a creepy looking hand that came out from a dark book. The hand was made from rotten flesh and it had a very ominous aura around it, nonetheless, it easily stopped force wave. [Lightning Golem]!* Arthur had left the Griffin''s body and was currently standing on the Golem''s shoulder. The Golem was 10 meters tall and had a special armor made from White Lightning, a large hammer made from Natural Lightning and a shield in its left hand made from condensed Thunder. "Let''s see if you can stop my ultimate living creation!" Arthur proudly said that then jumped back from the Golem''s shoulder and let ordered it to attack. The creature followed its master''s will and roared while it advanced toward an illusory blue hand that was clenched into a fist. ''Roaaaaaaaaar'' Being reinforced by the Lightning, the golem was fast albeit its size. With a loud roar, it swung its hammer at the blue fist, which caused an ear-deafening and created Godly Thunder that struck the hand from the high-above. The Golem was like a moving fortress, it was meant for defense by with Arthur''s help, it was like having a God for a puppet. The green hammer struck the blue hand, again and again, creating strong and fast vibrations inside its target and decreasing the size of hand by each strike. Like last time, having no choice but to suppress the Heavenly Arrow, the thing that was fighting Arthur had to use four hands. This time, now that it saw the strength of the Golem, three extra hands appeared and in just a second the four linked and glowed with green light. "Ain''t gonna work." Arthur smirked and folded his arms to watch the show. He knew the Golem capabilities and he wouldn''t just send it to its death, after the reinforcement of the lightning, it wouldn''t be suppressed easily. Soon, the four hands were linked again and each palm pressed one of the Golem''s side. In response, the Golem raised its Thunder shield to the air and roared. When the glowing yellow shield faced the sky, a thunderous sound resounded in the surroundings and a rain of thunder descended from above. Countless thick streaks of thunder descended, striking the four glowing hands endlessly. The Golem followed with a powerful swing of his hammer, which had twirling wind around it. ''Boooooooom'' It only struck one hand but the strike was so strong that the link was disrupted and the thin green line vanished. Although it started materializing again just after it vanished, the Golem was not as going to sit around and watch it reconstruct again. The Golem let go of the shield which kept floating above it and sending Thunder at the four hands, then it used both of its hands to hold the large hammer and spun 360 degrees whilst holding the hammer.... Chapter 142 - 139 : One Blow "Stop." A deep voice rang in Arthur''s ears just before the Golem was going to launch the second phase of its attack. The voice contained a hint of surprise and anger. As per Arthur''s orders, the Golem put its hammer down but it didn''t back away or dispel the lightning for it was not ordered to. With his arms still folded and a cold smirk hanging on his face, Arthur looked up to the World Tree and asked "Why should I stop?" "..." Hearing no reply, Arthur just shrugged his shoulders and ordered the Golem to keep advancing which it did but after only one step, it was once again stopped by the mysterious voice. "... It is useless to fight. What you are seeking is not here." "And who are you to know what I''m seeking? Even a God can''t so what makes you so sure about my goal for coming here?" ".... Nonetheless, battling here and ruining this precious land is not worth it. Turn around and leave." "What if I don''t leave?" "Then suffer the consequences of your foolish questions, Arthur." Hearing his name, Arthur''s eyes narrowed and his look turned serious. Makaze appeared in his hand and black flames burned in its edges. "So you even know my name?" A period of silence passed before whoever was talking spoke again. It was either purposely remaining silent or thinking of an answer, maybe it was both? "Arthur. Appeared on this land precisely 38 months ago. The race is unidentified but one of its properties is stealing the power of whichever target the user enters. These are some of many things I know about you...." A bit of killing intent was being emitted by Arthur as he heard the voice talk about him in such a calm manner as if it knew everything about him. He didn''t burst out in anger and maintained a rather calm attitude despite the cold killing intent aimed at the World Tree. ".... I do not need to hear it from you to know that you came here seeking to enter me and steal my powers just like you did to the others... It''s not going to happen... not now and not a decade or a century later... it''s but a waste of time. Turn around and leave." The voice was right about a few thing. First, if Arthur possessed a target, if it is alive, he''ll gain its stats but the target will still have its stats if he leaves it without killing it. If it''s dead, its stats are just transferred to him, so what was said was partially true. Sure, Arthur wanted to try possessing the World Tree but he was more curious about it as a whole and not just gaining its powers. It would be great if he can increase his stats by possessing it but his main goal was just to inspect it first. He was not sure if it was the World Tree talking to him but his guts told him it is, and if that''s the case, possessing it became an impossible feat unless he kills it and definitely wouldn''t do that. If it dies, the Itas continent perishes with it and Arthur valued Astria no matter what happened to him on it. He considered it as his home and wouldn''t purposely destroy one of its continents. For him, Astria was his one and only home, Earth was just a place he lived on in his past life. ".... I thought you were a World Tree nourishing this continent... not a sentient being." "The truth is never so simple.... it''s too early for you to know it. Turn around and leave, Arthur." "You know.... I hate it when someone tries to boss me around... or when I''m cornered and helpless or when I''m saved by an unknown bastard... or when someone lies to me or hides the truth with some bullshit they think it''s righteous. I can only tell you one thing, I''m not leaving until my curiosity is fully satisfied." Makaze vibrated in excitement, seemingly impatient to cut some things and stab some hearts. Arthur fed it countless sword until it reached a certain limit, he has to break through for it to start devouring again but its sharpness and power now is unbelievable, it''s by far his best weapon. The four hands that vanished since a while ago, appeared yet again and instantly merged into one big green hand that faced him. Arthur heard a long sigh followed by the sound of the voice. "Foolish. That''s what higher-beings call you Humans. Although I know your Race is not human. However, your action cannot be more humanly..... fine, if that is your decision then I''ll allow you to know a bit of the truth if you can block one my blows." "Bring it on then" With his katana unsheathed, Arthur readied himself for the incoming blow. His stare with fixed on the large green palm that pulsated with a small blue light in its center. ''I''m counting on you, buddy'' While tightly holding Makaze, Arthur activated as many passives as he could with his body as well as turning on his Pain Immunity to not fall unconscious from the continuous painful pressure. The wind raged as the large palm rushed at Arthur, making the air whistle and creating small wind tornados. It was still far from Arthur yet he could still feel the enormous pressure pressing on him as if he is being crushed by a mountain. The previous force waves were nowhere near this attack''s intensity. "[The Boon]!" Arthur shouted, making the motionless Golem flash with a yellow light and appear in front of its master. Without wasting any second, the lightning armor, shield, and hammer disappeared and the Death Golem which was made from black boulders transformed into an ominous looking Shield which decreased in size until it fit Arthur. The Shield was pure black and only had a symbol on its center, black fog emanated from it and it was extremely heavy. Arthur was certain that to be able to properly use it, you need at the very least 50 Million in the Strength stat. This particular skill can only be used with the Death Golem. It transforms into a shield that the user can use, the Shield increases the defense and magic resistance by a huge amount. The Boon, Death Golem (Shield): +35% Defense / +35% Resistance to any form of magic attack. Effect: +5% chance to reduce the damage received to 0. Unfortunately, Arthur can''t use this shield permanently as it only lasts half an hour but it should be enough for now. While holding Makaze in his right hand and the shield in his left hand, Arthur lifted the shield and prepared himself for the impact. The dark shield was lifted to cover his head and chest, after doing that, Arthur raised Makaze and banged it several times at the front of the shield. At first, this didn''t do anything but then the air around the shield began twisting bit by bit and the amount of black fog around the shield became denser and thicker. [Bucker Of The West: Max Lvl ](active): The user sacrifices 20% of his Health to increase reduce incoming attack by 10% Cooldown: 1 day. Cost : 10,000 Mana. This was one of his strongest shield attack he has. He received it from a dead legendary warrior that created this skill by himself. [Armageddon Shield Aura: Max Lvl ](active): Your Shield is your ally, it is as infuriated as you are. The Shield spreads its aura, slowing the time around the user and creating time waves in all directions dealing 120% of the user''s defense as damage. Cost: 500 Stamina per second ''If I go all out in defense, not even that annoying Holy Goddess can damage me!'' Arthur let of Makaze, which rotated itself and pointed its tip toward the incoming palm. Arthur pushed his shield a bit to the front and activated the last skill. [Death''s Glory: Max Lvl ](active): Death Chains are briefly summoned to wrap around the user''s shield and reinforce it. Cost : 9,999 Mana. Cooldown: 10 days. Rusty looking chains appeared from behind the shield and in just a second, they wrapped around it and made crackling noises continuously while tightening around the black shield. ''Let''s see what a World Tree can do!'' With that thought in mind, Arthur roared and charged at the large green palm. Makaze floated without Arthur''s help and flew toward the enemy with its master. ''DANG'' At the moment of impact, Arthur could feel his left hand turning numb but he wasn''t pushed back neither was the shield cracked or destroyed. To the right, Makaze stabbed the palm with its tip while dark flames moved from the katana to the green palm, invading it and heading toward the pulsating blue light with insane speed. As for the shield, it was motionless, like an unbreakable fortress. Albeit the increasing numbness and the cracking of some of his left arm bones, Arthur bashed his shield to the front with all his Strength, making the rusty chains open up a small hole in the front of the shield and soon, a dark beam was shot from that tiny hole. The dark beam penetrated the palm and created a hole in it, which surprisingly weakened the pressure pressing on Arthur but this was at the cost of losing his left arm which by now, had every one of its bones broken. Arthur dismissed the idea of switching the shield to the right arm as it had already done its job of blocking the palm. The dark shield returned to the Book of the Damned, which floated in front of Arthur and with his right hand, he caught the book and summoned the creepy and rotten hand. An ominous and cold aura came out of the book, followed by a long rotten hand that touched the large palm and infecting it with [Death Plague]. [Death Plague](active: Only with Book of the Damned): A plague is transferred from the book to the target, inflicting continuous death damage and absorbing it for the user to unleash. The hand gripped the illusory green palm and something similar to a whirlpool started spinning and decreasing the size of the palm and at the same time storing it in the book. Arthur felt proud to have so many powerful tricks but the joy soon vanished as the palm suddenly rotated and the only remaining finger pointed at him. At that split second of danger, one that many people could have the time to react in, Arthur''s instincts told him to go back, retreat from the finger pointed at him but knowing the kind of person he is, he didn''t listen to those instincts. Without any hesitation, Arthur stretched his handheld Makaze then he immediately executed [Thousand Waves] accompanied with [Dark Burst]. [Thousand Waves]: Combine the user''s heart and soul to create a powerful slash that is worth 1,000 sword strikes: 400% damage in 2 seconds. Cooldown: 25 Hours. Cost : 125,000 Mana. When both the skills were unleashed, a dark slash that could split the skies was created. It was unstoppable as the finger with all the rest of the hand was cut in two with no resistance. The slash continued further ahead, cutting the clouds in two and reaching the World Tree. A deep cut more than a hundred meters was engraved on the thick trunk of the World Tree. Chapter 143 - 140 : Open Your Eyes, Learn The Truth Looking at the long slash he engraved on the World Tree. Arthur proudly smiled and said "Is that all you got?" His question was met with silence, an eerie silence that even made Arthur a bit uneasy. He didn''t unsheathe his katana and instead held it with both of his hand while raising his aura indicating that he''s not giving up. The more time he waited, the better it was for Arthur to recover some of his Mana and think of some measures in case the World Tree goes all out. "..... It is always said that curiosity killed the cat, so tell me mortal, don''t you fear death? Or are you foolish enough to die because of the stupid thing you call curiosity?" "Hahahaha, it''s true that curiosity killed the cat but it''s also true that satisfaction brought it back." "... What you''ll experience may not kill you, but sometimes.... the truth can be deadlier than a blade in the heart. Are you still sure you want to be foolish and learn how insignificant you really are?" Arthur just shrugged his shoulders and stored his katana away. It didn''t seem that the World Tree was angry on wanted to still fight. He didn''t know what it will show him but he was intrigued and wanted to know what all of this was about. Very soon, a green light covered Arthur, who was about to resist but was stopped by the voice. "Do not resist, let it enter you." Albeit a bit hesitant, Arthur tsk''ed and didn''t activate anything, leaving his body exposed. ''If this a trap, I''ll cut that tree, I swear!'' The feeling was pleasant and in just seconds, Arthur felt his mind calm down and a wave of serenity cover him. He could no longer move and found himself in a white world with only him and a blue blob of light floating in front of him. "What you''re about to see is... what I am and... what happened." The white blurred and the surroundings warped becoming a mix of gray and red until Arthur found himself in an extremely large broken ship. A fog was all around it and the atmosphere was gloomy with some ghostly wails emitting from its inside. Seeing Arthur becoming cautious and trying to activate Dark Barrier, the World Tree, which took a form of a blob of blue light, spoke "You do not need to worry, we''re only viewing events of the past, whatever you do will not affect what''s happening, neither can anyone see you or feel your presence." ''Anyone?'' No matter how much Arthur inspected the surface of the ship, he could not see a single living being except the few ghostly and creepy wails coming from the inside. Two shadows suddenly appeared a few meters away from Arthur, the distance was close and albeit the presence of the dog, he could see their features. One was an old man holding a purple box in his hands, he had a thick black and white beard and wore a black robe. The other person was a middle-aged man with a long red staff. He had a domineering presence and a long brown-hair, sword shaped eyebrows and a pointy nose. What''s special about this man is that he had three horns sticking out of the back of his head, each had a unique color. Arthur''s knowledge about races was quite fast due to the enormous amount of corpses he possessed, he was not one hundred percent sure but he had a strong guess that this man was from the Demon Race. Most of them had pale white skin and an appearance very similar to Humans but some strong Demons have horns which are a way to show off their powers. He only knew that the Demon Lord on Astria had one horn, as for two horns, he never saw or heard of anyone like that. "Ha... those ugly beats were sure a pain in the ass.... it''s all thanks to you, Zodiak." The demon patted the old man''s shoulder and then shifted his attention to the insides of the ship. He held his staff in both of his hand and the weapon was instantly emitting a red luster and in some weird way, it began stretching and bending around but at a second glance, it returned to its normal appearance. ''Zodiak?'' Arthur assessed this old man who had the same name as that skeleton. There cannot be such a coincidence, he never saw Zodiak''s real appearance so he was confused. The robe was not the same so he couldn''t ascertain his guess. The two of them began marching to the interior of the ship when a flash of light brightened the surroundings and three extra figures appeared. This was not the end, to the other side of where the flash of light appeared, the air was split apart by something and a hand stretched out from the starry sky. It was actually a bald man with a monk attire. He also had a golden staff in his hand and a small white beard. "Ah.. it seems I was not late." The monk scratched his bald head as he gazing around the ship. His gaze passed the demon and Zodiak and fell on the three other figures. These three were exactly similar to what an angel would look like. Majestic aura, long white wings made from pretty feathers and an appearance that would make anyone jealous. Two of them were men and the last one was a female. "Filthy Demons! You''re still trying to steal our treasure!" One of the angels, a man with long blue hair and a long spear who appeared to be the leader, stepped forth and angrily stared at the demon with disgusted and enraged eyes. "Your treasure? Don''t make me laugh! I passed the trials successfully and arrived here by my own effort, not like some narcissistic, weak-looking, sissy angels." "What did you say?! We, the angels are higher-beings blessed by God himself! Not corrupted beings like you who only live to do evil things?" The Demon sharply stared back at the blue-haired angel and pointed his staff at him whilst rebuking "You say we do evil things yet you, who follow a lord you never met are but stupid and ignorant beings. Evil isn''t the real threat to the wordbut stupidity is." The demon no extra word, he just vanished and suddenly reappeared in front of the angel, slamming his bending staff at him. The angel was not weak, to begin with and his senses were on high-alert since the moment he appeared here so when the attack came, he was ready to block. He swept forth with his long spear and the two weapons soon clashed, creating a strong shock wave. If Arthur was here, he was sure he would not even be able to withstand the shock wave, much less an attack from one of them. Seeing the two of them engaging in the fight, the bald monk watched the show with a funny grin for a couple of seconds before he turned around and headed for the interior of the ship. One step... two steps.... three steps.... His advancing was stopped by the two other angels who block his front and back, they raised their weapons and pointed them at the old man. "Don''t move. You may be from the Thousand Buddha Sect but this is a matter of our Universe." Unfazed but what he heard or their actions, the monk picked his nose nonchalantly and gazed at the beautiful female angel with him with a lustful. When he realized his own thoughts, he shook his head furiously and repeated "Calm as water, emotionless as Buddha. Calm as water, emotionless as Buddha. Go away go away lustful thoughts, go away go away large boobs.... you should not exist.... calm as water..." The monk slowly walked onward while repeating this chant continuously, the two angels were both confused but didn''t have the time to think about it. With no hesitation, they rushed at him and pointed their spears at his heart and the back of his head, aiming for the skill with no mercy whatsoever. The bald monk stabbed his golden staff to the ground and in a very blurry yet slow manner, he performed a roundhouse kick that not only crushed the front spear, it also sent the woman flying, you could even hear bones cracking. With the same mysterious technique, in a way which seemed slow and visible to the eye yet it was way faster than any attack Arthur has ever seen, the bald man backflipped and palmed the angel aiming from the back of his head. The palm attack didn''t emit any strong pressure or aggressive aura, it seemed like a simple palm attack but the back of the poor angel was crushed as he was flattened on the ground, unconscious with foam coming out of his mouth. "Calm as water, emotionless as Buddha...go away go away, filthy thoughts, go away go away.." While continuing his chant, the monk picked his staff and resumed walking toward the interior of the ship. As for the demon and the angel. Their fight was reaching its climax as the bending red staff and the long spear clashed multiple times in just a second, creating one shock wave after another but it was visible that the demon had a slight advantage. No signs of Zodiak could be seen as he seemed to have disappeared since the others came, as for the bald monk, he was completely oblivious to their fight as if it didn''t exist, for him, all of this was a child''s play. ...... In a room inside the broken ship, Zodiak was performing dark seals in the air and creating several dark talismans while a gray nebula was twirling around him. A couple of centimeters in front of his face, a small green seed was floating and emitting a blue luster. The talismans were neatly positioned around the seed and the gray nebula linked between them, by the look of it, Zodiak was trying to either suppress it or get his hands on the seed. Chapter 144 - 141 : ? Joker ? At first, it seemed that Zodiak wasn''t able to completely suppress the seed, his face was becoming pale and sweat trickled from his forehead, it was apparent that he was having a lot of trouble. For a second, the old man dropped his hands and sighed in frustration. With no choice but to use it, Zodiak pressed his hand on his forehead, increasing the ominous dark aura around him by several times. Then he performed the strange seals in the air again with a faster speed and conjured a black talisman bigger than the rest. The newly conjure talisman didn''t spin around the seed, instead, it wrapped around it and stopped its green light from being shown, all that was seen was a black ball a bit bigger than the green seed. As Zodiak was going to breathe a sigh of relief and depart from this creepy ship, a playful voice rang in his ears. "That''s some good toy you''re wielding there..... mind letting me see it?" The voice originated from behind Zodiak, who was petrified and couldn''t move because of this sudden appearance of an unknown pressure coming from behind. With great effort, the old man managed to turn his head and glance at what''s behind him. It was a humanoid figure, a funny outfit, and a sarcastic posture. All about it was strange, whether it''s its Red Burgundy hair or the wide smile hanging on its face. You could even see a dark clover on its face. The most striking thing is its two bright yellow eyes which could be seen clearly in this total darkness. This was the Joker, or rather, it dressed a Joker. Zodiak never heard of a person or a monster like that but he was feeling afraid and it''s the first time he ever felt like this. "Oh? My my.... hahaha I forgot to cancel my aura.... there you go, now you can talk." Having the pressure lifted was like getting rid of a huge burden, Zodiak spent some time panting heavily then he secretly stored the seed before turning around to face the Joker. "T-thank you Senior." "Hahaha seniority is meaningless! Now now... show me what''s is that power I just saw... I can''t wait any longer." With shaking hands, the Joker clenched his fists which made cracking sounds, the grin widened and his posture became more exaggerated. Zodiak didn''t know what to do, his abilities were a secret that no one should know of, not even his master knows. Even someone above than him by a whole Realm cannot escape his sense but this Joker did, which made Zodiak more hesitant afraid. If he''s two or more Realms above him then he''s screwed if he doesn''t obey. ''That''s definitely Senior Zodiak!'' When Arthur, who was watching from the side, saw those black talismans, his guesses were confirmed. He couldn''t appraise him no matter how he tried but he could feel he was way stronger than Delia or the Lich King. "I-it''s really nothing... I can conjure attacking and sealing talismans from Nether Energy." The Joker straightened his back and walked toward Zodiak while still grinning. "Hahahaha why do you have to be so mean to me and lie? It''s fun if people are stubborn but you should not exceed a certain limit yahahahahaha! Plus.... I can see they are not just normal talismans.... it''s as if.... yeah like ''that'' hahahahahhaha" The Joker kept laughing as he approached Zodiak but he suddenly stopped and looked back. "It''s getting heated outside.... ahhhhh I''m getting excited already.... well, you''re but a Sovereign anyways so I''ll leave you with a gift." With that, the Joker disappeared from Zodiak''s view, only leaving a floating card which was the 4 of ?. Unknown to Zodiak, this was not just a card but something much more dangerous. Zodiak was smart enough to use his trump card and use his instant teleportation right away. He was relieved when he was teleported out of the ship but before he noticed, a huge chunk of his abdomen has been cut by some form of scissors. Arthur then found himself at the entrance of the ship, where the Demon and the Angel were still fighting. No matter how much godly attack they unleashed, the broken boat remained unscathed and not even a scratch appeared on it except from the ancient ones that were unrelated to those two. The battle reached its climax as the blue-haired Angel had an ugly scar on his shoulder and the demon only received minor injuries. As they were both clashing with each other, two incredibly fast objects with small size rushed at them. These two objects came from the inside of the ship, however, they were only noticed by these two only when the objects were going to touch them. The angel was a bit lucky as he was just pushed back the demon so he grasped this momentum and barely dodged the incoming object but the demon was not as lucky. The small card easily penetrated his defenses and cut his right hand. The fight was temporarily halted as the two of them looked at the inside of the ship only to hear a whistling sound followed by a figure coming out of the darkness. The two of them were more surprised by the fact of the monk''s death more than the figure who is dragging the dead body. After they ascertained with their sense that the monk was really dead and this was not a silly distraction that was laid by the monk, they shifted their glance to the Joker, who was grinning. "Who are you?" The angel felt more threatened by the Joker''s existence than the demon, who was currently holding his injured hand and angrily staring at the Joker, from the look of it, it seems the demon didn''t like being sneak attacked like that and to top it off, he wasn'' able to dodge such a simple attack. What''s more embarrassing is that he was injured by a mere card, not a knife or an arrow. The angel could feel a terrifying aura coming out of the Joker so without hesitation, he pointed his spear at him and unleashed his majestic aura. He was expecting something but all of that was futile, the Joker wasn''t fazed by his aura, neither did he frown or react in any way, he just threw the monk''s dead body near the two unconscious angels. "I''m a bit itchy right now..... that monk couldn''t even entertain me one bit... so at least you guys entertain me... I don''t want to regret coming here... let''s play!" After humoristically saying that, the Joker dashed at the two of them while throwing two cards that magically appeared in his hand. His face still had the usual mocking grin even in the middle of a battle. His speed was so fast that he arrived in between the two of them in no time, his first target was the blue-haired angel. The Joker performed a simple fast punch that was met with no resistance or reaction from the angel, who could barely see the Joker appear before him so how could he have the time to lift his spear and block or sidestep away? All Arthur saw was the Joker vanishing then reappearing again between the two others, then his hand blurred and the angel was sent flying in the air. When the punch landed, bones could be heard shattering, at the very least, the angel''s chin was broken and his face no longer looked as handsome as before. The demon, who was planning on taking revenge, abandoned all these thoughts and backed away from the Joker but his decision was a bit too late as this eccentric figure in front of him was not something he could match. It was but a kick to the abdomen, but the demon was instantly dead. It''s practically impossible to clear people in a high-realm with pure physical attack and with just one but Arthur just witnessed an unbelievable thing. The angel, who was sent high up in the air managed to use one of the forbidden treasures he brought and was lucky to teleport out of the ship. All that was left was the dead demon, the dead monk, the two unconscious angels and the Joker who was sighing and shaking his head in disappointment. "Ahhhhhhhhhhh life is so hard without any opponents!" With his back inclined 90 degree and his eyes facing the sky, the Joker lamented and complained but nothing replied to him, it was just him talking alone like a maniac. "Then.Let.Me.Be.The.One.To.Face.You." Amidst all the complaining, a chilling voice rang in the dead silence ruling over the broken ship. The Joker, who was just going to leave, stopped walking and turned his head to look at the person behind him. It would be more precise to call it a thing rather than a person. It had no body, no hands or legs, just an enormous gray skull with two empty eye-sockets which emitted a thick fog similar to the one around the ship. "Ah! I know you! Should you be the last boss or something like that? Yahahahaha" "No.One.Can.Leave.This.Place.Alive." "My my... but two people already left.... not that it matters to me." "No.One.Can.Leave.This.Place.Alive." As the skull repeated this, the blue-haired angel''s dead body fell from the skies. It was a headless corpse, the skin withered and it looked like a zombie with a blue-hair. "Ohhhhh interesting interesting... is that withering laws? Show me show me!" It seemed that the Joker forgot about Zodiak or simply ignored him as he already sent something to get rid of him. It''s a pity though, no one would have imagined that a mere old man in the Sovereign Realm can escape from both the large skull and the Joker. ... The surroundings warped again and this time, it showed Zodiak, who was standing in a grassy land. There was a servant kneeling behind him, his appearance was covered but Arthur had a hunch that it was a woman. "This is the perfect place." Zodiak assessed the dirt and even tasted it before nodding and saying that. He dug a small hole in the ground then took out a box from his storage. It was the same box he was holding when he came with the demon on board that broken ship. He opened it and took out a black ball. The talisman that was wrapped around the seed vanished and Zodiak instantly buried in the hole and covered it with dirt. "Are you sure about what you''re doing? Master." "Hmm... it can''t be helped. This is the only seed that the World Tree in Heaven left before it withered, if I don''t hide it here, sooner or later, the archangels will find it and that is not something I can afford." "..." The servant remained silent and waited for her master to finish. Zodiak didn''t waste time either, he looked around the area and nodded his head again in approval then he looked back at his servant and said "You stay here.... there is still a chance they find it so I want you to protect it... at least until it grows." "But master...." The servant was going to object but Zodiak disappeared into a black fog that was soon dispersed by the passing wind. Chapter 145 - 142 : Blessing "What you saw a moment ago happened two hundred thousand years ago." One blink was all it took for Arthur to find himself returning to the present, still floating a distance away from the World Tree. A blue blob of light was in front of him, just like earlier. "Two hundred thousands years ago?" Arthur still couldn''t believe the disparity in power between and him and individuals like that Joker or the Demon but the surprise was even bigger when he learned that it happened a long time ago. If that Joker was alive until now, he would have become much more powerful, which is something Arthur would rather not think of. ''There''s no way.. right?'' "Yes.... for you it''s been a long time but for me, it wasn''t that long. A World Tree fully matures when it reaches a Million years. So I''m considered young." Arthur remembered when he heard earlier and asked the World Tree without holding back, after all, it showed him its past so why not answer a few questions now that the truth was seen. perhaps it would help him see think more clearly. "So you''re the seed of the World Tree of Heaven but what does that even mean?" "The ancient World Tree of Heaven is what the angels and archangels relied upon to fight the demons. It''s at the same time a blessing, a fortress. I don''t know too much apart from what Zodiak told me but It is highly valued by the angels." "And why did Senior Zodiak steal it from that ship?" "He purposely did it to weaken the angels. He didn''t tell me the exact reason by I know for a fact that he hates them." Arthur subconsciously put his hand on his chin and began pondering on all that happened. There was just too many information so he needed a bit of time to let his mind process everything. There was the thing about the ship, the skull, the seed and the relation of Zodiak and the angels. "Do you have any more questions?" ".... One last thing. What happened to the Joker?" Hearing about that Joker, the World Tree remained silent for some time before answering. "I don''t know. Zodiak apparently went back to where the ship was supposed to be but all he found was shipwrecks and nothing else. I can only assume he managed to escape." Arthur nodded his head but he wished he didn''t hear that answer. It would have been alright if the Joker died but knowing that a strong and eccentric figure like that is still lurking somewhere made him a bit fearful. If he ever encountered him, he really doesn''t know what to do. An unknown amount of time passed and the silence was broken by the enigmatic voice of the World Tree. "Now that your curiosity is supposedly satisfied, let me ask you a question: Arthur, what are you going to do?" It''s true that his curiosity was satisfied, not completely but more or less. But what was asked by the World Tree is in fact what''s important, because after all, what matters is what you do and not how you interpret it. "Honestly... I don''t know." He saw all of that but as for what to do, he really didn''t know. Does he search for Zodiak before finding Lucy? What does this World Tree want him or expect him to do? "Then let me give you two options. One: You turned around and leave, however, you will never come back here again. Two: Make an oath with me." In response to it, Arthur frowned and showed some dissatisfaction. To make an oath he doesn''t know the contents of is an idiotic thing. "An oath? Be more detailed." "It''s as it sounds. You swear to protect me from any invading angels if the time comes and in return, you receive my blessing which is something not easy to earn." ''A blessing huh?'' It sounded simple and he would be the one benefiting from the oath but in reality, it''s a dangerous choice. He saw the angels and how strong they were, he can''t beat them like how he is now. If they were to invade right now or even a month later, it would be his doom. Everything was about Strength, whether it''s finding Lucy, protecting the World Tree, securing a stable and safe life for his wife and daughter. If he wants all of that, then he requires strength and strength he shall get. He was given this race for a reason and he isn''t the kind of person to sit around and watch when something bad happens to his home. "Let''s make the oath then." "A good choice, however, you must know that in case the angels or anyone destroy me or uproot me, not only this continent perishes but this whole world. I am the source of Mana in this world as it does not have a core for it was destroyed by the calamity that happened ten thousand years ago. I was forced to start nourishing all the five lands. It decreased my growth but I can still manage." ... "I, Arthur MoonStar swear that I will protect the World Tree from any invading enemies that have ill intent." "... The oath has been made, should you break it, my and every plant''s wrath should befall upon you." Congratulations! You received The World Tree''s Blessing! World Tree''s blessing: +10% to all stats / 100% resistance to Nature and Plant Magic / 50% decrease in the cooldown of any Nature or plant related skills / You can now use Plant Magic / +500 Mental Power / +100 Creation / You gained the special ability (Child of Nature) More benefits earned if the user reaches God Realm. Child of Nature (Passive): In the presence of any kind of living plant, your Health, Mana and Stamina recovery is increased by 30% Child of Nature(Active): If the user''s Health is less than 0.5%, he can sacrifice all the nearby plants to inflict the same injuries the user have to a specific target. Cost: All nearby plants. Cooldown: 1 Year Arthur was expecting a more cheated blessing but this will do for now. All he could do is hope the new benefits unlocked at the God Realm are decent. With nothing more to discuss, Arthur planned to leave but a sudden thought crossed his mind so he faced the blob of blue light and asked "Could you... create specific spatial tunnels to a certain planet?" "That is not possible. You''ll have to wait until I mature." ''Screw that! I ain''t waiting eight hundred thousands years!'' Although Immortals can live thousands upon thousands of years, that does not mean it''s easy for him to wait that long and by that time, a lot of things could have happened. He isn''t going to let Lucy wait that long! Arthur shrugged his shoulders and turned around to leave but he was stopped again. "One more thing..... I saw you can use Zodiak''s powers, so I''ll tell you a good thing. If you can find his servant, she can take you whatever you want, after all, she specializes in Spatial Magic." In response, Arthur waved his hand then left the area. It was easier said than done, three universes and countless worlds and planets, how in the bloody hell is he going to find her? Moreover, he doesn''t even know what she looks like! .. It didn''t take him long to go back to the elven village. Many things happened but the five hours didn''t pass. That moment he was taken back to the past, only a second passed when he came back and the fight with the World Tree was long either. To pass the time, Arthur stopped in a secluded area near the Elven village and tried the plant magic he just acquired. Since he just got the skill and didn''t obtain it by possessing, it was still Lv1, nonetheless, it is useful... for playing. He can create thorns and vines that could attack or defense. If it is advanced, then maybe it''ll deal more damage but as far as damaging a God? That was probably not possible which was such a pity. In a way, it was similar to the Nature Magic he had. Nature Magic allowed him to instantly grow any tree or plant he possessed, but he can''t control them. As for Plant Magic, it creates a limited amount of things and they can be controlled. He can also control the already existing plants but since they are weak and his intelligence is high, they break too fast. When the five hours finally passed, Arthur managed to upgrade his skill to Medium. Normally, it would take a long time but with his race, passives and many other factors, such a thing is easy. Chapter 146 - 143 : Hazy Memories "You''re late." With her cold eyes and deadpan face, Robin reprimanded Arthur, who so was immersed in trying the new things with the Plant and Nature Magic that he forgot about time. He only arrived at the meeting location half an hour after the agreed time. "You told me to wait 5 hours and you''re still complaining?" Arthur didn''t bother arguing with her much, he summoned the dark cloud and told her to hop in. She hesitated for a bit before she jumped on it but she still seemed stressed as she is now used to high heights. "Relax. You won''t fall so don''t keep looking around and just sit." "W-who afraid! I was just ascertaining that no enemies are lurking in the darkness." She folded her arms and sat on the dark cloud. Since it was rather big, it was more than enough to fit both of them. Arthur also didn''t dare get too close to another woman, not because he hated her but he would not want to face Lucy''s wrath. That wife of his was so overprotective and gets jealous so fast, it''s crazy. Even if they are separated by an unimaginable distance, a woman''s instinct is pretty strong, or so they say. With a playful smirk and a mocking tone, Arthur jokingly said "You better hold tight or you might fall." Robin, confused by what she just heard, tilted her head while facing him but before she could utter a word, the dark cloud accelerated and disappeared from the elven village. It was soon by a cry coming out of her mouth. Her face became paler and her two hands were clutching the dark cloud as if her life depended on it but the sad truth is that even if was standing, she still wouldn''t fall as Arthur put a barrier around the dark cloud. She would suffer no wind resistance, shaking or anything of the sort, it''s like an open first class seat in an expensive private jet on Earth except the sight was much more beautiful and it was way safer. "Get me down! Get me down this instant!!!" Poor Robin could no longer maintain her cold and calm demeanor, she was freaking out as the surroundings blurred and she could only high and small mountains appear and disappear in seconds. "I told you we''ll arrive fastly.... yet you didn''t believe me." While shaking his head, Arthur created a small sprout that came out of his finger and grew into a two feet long green vine that wiggled in the air. "You... you''re the worse! I''m telling Miss Lucy you bullied me!" While playing with his plant, Arthur shrugged his shoulders and nonchalantly replied "Go ahead." .... With the dark cloud''s speed, to go from the Itas Continent to the Demon Continent, it wouldn''t take more than an hour if not less. Arthur enjoyed the trip and kept using his new magic, as for Robin, she gave up and closed her eyes as she felt a bit dizzy. As the dark cloud was traveling above the ocean, Arthur''s focus suddenly deteriorated and his control over the dark cloud was almost cut. With the last bit of sense he got, he ordered it to halt and float above the ocean, however, his state became much worse for some odd reason. It only started with a small headache which turned into an unbearable pain that didn''t go away even after activating the pain immunity. He held his head with both of his hands and rolled on the dark cloud until he fell into the ocean, leaving only the panicking Robin looking at his falling body with nothing to do but call out to him. His body was sinking in the ocean but he didn''t have the time to move, he gathered his Mana and tried to get rid of the thing that''s causing him pain but there was no poison, illusion or anything of the sort, which left him confused. A sound similar to a banshee, very loud and deep, resounded in the ocean, making the calm water rage and the aquatic creatures shake with fear as they retreated away from the source of the cry. Arthur didn''t know what''s wrong with him but he unconsciously emitted that banshee cry, his vision blurred and he seemed to be losing consciousness. He even entered his consciousness to check if there is any evil being there but nothing odd was there, apart from his soul and the orb above it. The pain was mainly situated in his mind, it''s as if it was taking a huge load and couldn''t bear such a sudden burst and a side effect was created due to that. The pain lessened after a few minutes but when Arthur opened his eyes, he saw a rocky valley in front of him. He had arms and limbs but not of a human but of a beast. With a long tail and a furry body. He was in a red bear''s body and a large one at that. He turned around only to see three lion-like beasts with a horn erected from their forehead, these lions were growling at him seemingly angry. Arthur found himself that he wasn''t able to fully control the body. If he wished to turn around the view, he can but to move the body was another thing. The fight that occurred afterward was brutal, to say the least. Blood and gore, a horrifying sight that no one would be able to cope with if they are not used to things like that. Whether it''s cut off tongues, separated limbs, corpses cut in two pieces and even scattered eyes or hearts. The red bear fought hordes after hordes of lions, they were almost endless but this savage beast managed to finish them all. Arthur could feel the body move, he felt the pain coming from the slashes and bites of the lions. Despite all the injuries it received, the red bear fought over and over until no enemies were around and only dead bodies lingered in every direction. A few days passed and the red bear finally succumbed to its injuries, it was just wounded too severely to survive, it could be said that only the bear''s strong will let it survive for these past days. Even for Arthur, who was temporarily stuck in the bear''s body, it has been a short yet painful journey. He was never a fan of pain but he received an endless amount of it and it only ended when the bear''s body lifelessly fell on the ground. He thought it was over, he thought this experience was ending and everything was going back to normal, however, life was never so simple, neither was this strange matter. It happened in the blink of an eye, just like the first time and by the time his eyelids opened, he found himself stuck in another bear''s body. This bear was a normal bear. a Dark hind bear with sharp long claws, it''s nothing special but this one too fought endlessly. This time, Arthur was not stuck for just a day but for 18 months! Only when the hind bear died due to a fight with a chimera deer was he finally able to leave its body. After passing 18 months stuck in that body, Arthur started feeling numb but unfortunately for him, this was but the beginning. Following the two first bears, he was inside 20 bears in total with the last one being the strongest. Its power was at the very least in the Spirit Realm as its body was ten feet tall and it was as large as a school bus, calling it a bear is an understatement. 7 years, that''s the time Arthur was stuck in this some sort of loop, he didn''t know how to get out of it and could only bear with it. When the 20th bear finally died, Arthur found himself in a very dark place with water in all directions. He released a long sigh that was contained for a whopping 7 years. It''s finished at last so that''s a good thing but the real question was if 7 years passed here too or was it just a second like with the World Tree. He was sure all that he experienced previously were memories, old memories of the bears he possessed, maybe not all the bears but the strongest ones at least. Congratulations! You received the skill(passive) : [Bear Affinity] : +50% stats when possessing a bear. Lasts until the host body dies or the user leaves the body. Congratulations! You received the skill(active): [Fierce Calling]: Conjure an illusory image of a bear that can help you attack and boosts your Vitality. Cost: 500,000 Mana per second. ''Oh well... at least I got something in return.'' These skills he just obtained could be considered the second prize. The main one and the most important thing he learned or rather obtained in this 7-year long journey is his battle experience, his senses, and instincts. They were honed and sharpened by experiencing thousands upon thousands of battles, whether it''s his hearing, sense or vision, they were enhanced to another level. Usually, when raising Dexterity, those are increased too but this change was a bit more different. He was sure that he wouldn''t be ambushed ever again, even by a God Realm. Maybe he doesn''t have an alerting skill but the beastly instincts he gained would warn him of any incoming danger. While clenching his fist, Arthur looked up and flew toward the Dark Cloud, where Robin was still panicking. Apparently, he was unconscious only for a short time, once he spread his sense and found Robin, his guess was confirmed. Chapter 147 - 144 : Hidden Cave "I told him to go slower.... tsk tsk..." Robin failed to keep calm, she looked down and was only able to see the raging ocean and the bottomless darkness, there were no signs of Arthur whatsoever. She can''t fly and she''s stuck in the middle of nowhere. Fortunately, the dark cloud was high up in the air or it would have been hit by the chaotic waves. A few seconds passed since Arthur fell from the dark cloud and when Robin was still thinking of a solution, an ear-deafening cry rang in his ears, making them bleed. Robin didn''t hesitate as she drank a Health Potion and covered her ears but even doing that wasn''t that helpful as the cry was too loud. The ocean raged and gigantic waves were created. The good thing is that the cry lasted for just a couple of seconds before disappearing but the results it caused were catastrophic as countless weak aquatic creature died instantly by the sheer power of the sound waves. Robin was in the air so she was safer, however, she still received some damage and her ears were bleeding. When she tried looking down, she saw some creatures floating on the surface of the ocean, it was apparent that they were lifeless corpses. One fish after another showed up, even a young Kraken was killed by the sound waves and it was unlucky to be near Arthur when he emitted that cry. ''Calm down.... *pheeww* we''re talking about that ''Arthur''.... there''s no way he''ll drown... no way... he was just thirsty, yeah thirsty!'' Time passed slowly as Robin tried to process what just happened. Luckily for her, Arthur reappeared and flew out of the water. By that time, Robin regained her usual deadpan face, while pushing her glasses to the back and looking as composed and calm as possible, she glared at him and voiced her dissatisfaction "At least warn me before you roll around like a crazy person then jumps into the water." "How can I warn you when it was unintentional?" Seemingly surprised, Robin pondered for a moment then added "Weren''t you thirsty?" ".... I knew it. You''re just as dumb as ever." Arthur ignored her outburst and resumed his trip toward the Demon Continent. It''s a bit illogical to call it a trip since they arrived 10 minutes later but for Arthur, it was a very long trip, one that took 7 years. He still couldn''t believe that he experienced all of that, it was surreal. He thought about it in the past 10 minutes and came to the conclusion that these memories were indeed from the bears he possessed, though he couldn''t remember them all, he could remember possessing a stack of bones which resembled the outer appearance of the last bear. "This is the D-Demon Continent?" Looking at the strange dark trees and the roaring monkeys which jumped from a tree to another, trying to follow the dark cloud which flew with a slow speed right now. They were on the East side of the continent, precisely above the dark forest, which is known to be a one the dangerous places in this continent. The Monkeys had an average Lvl of 150 and have strong arms but no matter how much rocks they threw at the dark cloud, the stones shattered once they hit the Dark Barrier. "We''re on the East side of the continent. Where were you ambushed by the black mage?" "In one of the roads leading to Bunglan City. South-West of the Continent." The more they got close to where the incident occurred the more painful memories resurfaced in Robin''s mind. How the subordinates of the black mage slaughtered her party, how her grandfather perished just before he teleported her away from there. The last thing she saw before she vanished from that place is a bone spear piercing Belic''s back and endless blood gushing out his the gaping hole followed by several mouthfuls of blood coming out of his mouth. A sight she didn''t want to remember but was forced to as she absentmindedly stared at Arthur. "South-West huh?" Arthur mumbled as he spread his sense to its limits and flew with a slow speed toward the West. The black mage ambushed them there but his hideout is most likely in a secluded place which is exactly why his sense was spread out constantly. If it was an underground or a hidden cave, he''ll be able to spot his with his sense. There were two senses he was capable of using. One is the Sixth Sense, which is more effective but has a short range of only 2 and a half kilometers. The second one is the sense he gained when breaking through to the Immortal Realm. It can spread more than 30 kilometers but it''s not very effective. The Sixth Sense allows him to sense every living creatures, whether it''s bugs, beasts or even plants. Basically, nothing would escape from him if it''s inside his sense''s range. As for the second sense, it''s mainly used to find being which use Nether Energy. Of course, it can track beings which use Mana but compared to the Sixth Sense, it''s lacking albeit having a wider range. Slowly, the dark cloud advanced to the West while his Sixth Sense was spreading all around him and allowing him to sense any abnormality. Although their traveling speed decreased by several folds, it''s better this way, after all, he wasn''t a God to be able to search the whole continent in a second. Having a strength equal to a God and being a God are two different things. If he stayed on Astria, the probability of becoming a God is very low due to the lack of Nether Energy, he needs to find a high-Realm world similar to the Underworld which has a dense quantity of Nether Energy wherever you are. ... Three hours later, they finally arrived on the road where the ambush happened. To not make Robin relive those painful memories, Arthur didn''t linger there a lot, he just inspected it and decided to head West to check the dense forest ahead. ''This will be harder than expected.'' Finding no traces albeit permanently spreading his Sixth Sense, Arthur thought that this vengeance would not be as easy as he expected it to be. From Robin''s description, the black mage was pretty strong so he guessed that his Lv should be in the 500 or even higher. He was not worried about the mage''s strength but about the amount of time that will be required to find him. It''s a bit late to stop and give up the search, after all, he promised her he''ll help her. All he could do is put Lucy''s matter aside just for the time being. Of course, he was unwilling to do that but he wasn''t a traitor or someone who breaks his promises, if Lucy was with him, she would have helped Robin before searching for him as she considered her(Robin) as half a friend. *Grooooooowl* Hearing this sound several times, Arthur turned around only to see a red face Robin who was looking away. The growling sound was obviously coming from her, or rather, her stomach. This woman is hungry, is what Arthur thought. He retrieved a roasted meat from his storage and casually said "Five hours to prepare yourself yet you forget to bring some food?" With her hands crossed and her head proudly held up high, she retorted "I can''t h,help it, okay?! I was busy with a lot of things that I forgot to put my rings after taking a shower!" The sweet smell of the roasted meat entered Robin''s nose and enticed her, her eyes were following the meat which was being waved around by Arthur. "Is that so... you forgot your food, but I proposed to help you but not babysit you." "Hmpf!" Robin turned her head and gazed at the sunset after snorting, she was unwilling to ask him for some food after hearing that. Plus, she is as easily infuriated by him as before, it''s just that she learned how to not snap at him every time he angered her. "I take it you do not want this delicious roasted meat? Alright then..." Arthur acted as if he was going to throw the meat away but was stopped when Robin uttered a soft cry. Her hands unconsciously stretched forwards and snatched the meat from his hand. "It''s such a waste to throw it, let me have a bite." Although she said she would only take a bite, she began devouring it the big piece of meat. At least her eating was a bit lady-like as she took small bites and cleaned her hands from the oil by a handkerchief that she took out from god knows where. ''Didn''t she say that she forgot her storage rings?'' Arthur''s focused suddenly shifted from the hungry Robin to a certain part of the forest. His eyes narrowed and his Sixth Sense focused mainly on that part. Since all his Sixth sense was directed at one point, it was easier to see what is there. Apparently, there were 4 robbed figures which raised their hands and chanted some incomprehensible words. In the center of them laid a dissected corpse of a horned deer, the sight was gory as its belly was open and the organs were taken out. The heart was put in a small silver cup and a circle with a symbol inside of it was drawn under the feet of the four robbed figures. The circle was made from the blood of the deceased deer and what''s creepier is that the heart inside the silver cup is still pulsating. Before he went to them, Arthur spread his sense deeper into the cave only to find a narrow corridor leading further down. He focused his sense deeper and was surprised to see more than 10 rooms which had 4 robbed figures performing the exact same ritual except the corpse was different. There was a bear corpse, a snake, a large rabbit and even a human or rather, a demon without a horn. "It seems we found something....." Robin stopped eating and listened toArthur carefully, expecting him to lay out a plan but knowing his strength and attitude, it was meaningless. "Just don''t do anything rash and cause yourself to die." Arthur warned her then the dark cloud descended slowly until it was a dozen meters away from the hidden cave. Robin was fidgeting as they approached the cave, she was worried and a bit afraid, after all, she could not forget how her party was slaughtered, the sight was too brutal for a young person like her. "Alright, so we are going to immediately head to the last room without wasting time with the extra." The first room they entered reeked of blood as four robbed figure laid on the floor, lifeless. Arthur used his threads and added Natural Lightning to instantly burst their heart and kill them. Every room they entered, Robin would see the same subordinates of the black mage which killed her party, but this time, they were the one brutally killed. It seemed Arthur liked a bit of change as he would sometimes cut their limbs, heads or burst their heart. It didn''t take them long to reach a big room, with several large pillars reaching the roof. The room was devoid of any light except a light circle in its center, illuminating the surroundings. Only two figures were standing inside the light circle. One was a bearded old man and the other was a boy. Arthur looked at Robin, waiting for her to confirm the identity of the old man but from the look on her face, it didn''t seem she knew him, she was just repulsed and disgusted. ''I''ll not bother asking questions then.'' Arthur didn''t even want to know why they were doing those rituals, if they''re dead then they can no longer do it. A lightning fast invisible thread shot out of his hand and beheaded the old man before he could even react. All that was left was the boy standing next to him. From the look of it, he didn''t appear to be a hostage so Arthur was going to eliminate him too but was stopped by Robin, who grabbed his hand in panic. Chapter 148 - 145 : Rey "Wait! What do you think you''re doing?" Robin resented the black mage and his subordinates for what they did but she couldn''t tolerate Arthur''s actions. She couldn''t bear to watch him brutally behead a little boy. Her reasoning was obviously wrong as the boy may be just young in appearance, he may even be a monster or some kind of shape-shifter. Having a weak heart in such times can be quite troublesome. If you spare someone because of pity or sympathy, there''s bound to be terrible consequences, no matter how insignificant the person you spared was. "I''m getting rid of an enemy. Stop pitying enemies and try to remember what this crazy cult did to your grandfather. I''m not trying to be cruel to you but it''s because you let appearances trick you or you spare anyone that looks weak is exactly leads to consequences you are not ready to face." As her friend, Arthur had to wake her up and tell her that this is not a world where every little boy is innocent. Just from the dazed face and unwilling expression, he knew she was not convinced yet so he retrieved his threads and spared the little boy. He had short black hair, pale skin, and a thin frame. He was strangely quiet but emitted a creepy aura, to be more precise, it''s blood aura, the same as the ones from the people in Meyzu''s clan, the ones who used Blood Magic. ''So it is Blood Magic after all.'' He had a small guess when he saw the blood circles and the hearts inside the silver cups but he wasn''t too sure, when he felt his blood aura, he was able to ascertain his guess. The boy was shocked by the sudden death of the old man, he gazed at the headless corpse for a couple of seconds before he turned his head and noticed Robin and Arthur. First, his eyes narrowed but they sure turned moist and tearful, then he began crying. ''Yeah... talk about shallow acting...'' Arthur shook his head and ignored the crying kid as he inspected the gloomy room. He noticed several corpses to the side which were missing their hearts but except that, nothing was worth paying attention to. Robin ran to the kid to see if he''s alright. She clearly didn''t even doubt his acting and thought he really was innocent despite being in such a dangerous and creepy place. As for the little boy, he was happy when he saw the target approaching him with her defense open. Unfortunately for him, a hidden killing intent that suffocated him and stopped him from acting surfaced and rendered him unable to breathe normally. All his secretive plans to take this defenseless woman as a hostage were soon abandoned when he felt the killing intent from Arthur, who staring at him from the corner with two eyes shining with a gray light in the dark cave. "What''s wrong little boy.... are you alright?" Seeing Robin crouch down and check the little boy, Arthur really wanted to knock some sense into her. ''How can she not see he is acting? tsk... women.. always so kind to any kid they see.'' Even Lucy had a weak heart toward kids which is why she insisted too much to help and adopt Saly. Well, he was going to help her anyway but Lucy was the first to voice out her thoughts. "T-they forced me *sniff*.... I''m s-sorry.... *sniff**hikk*" Arthur could barely hold himself back, he didn''t like lying and acting bastards, much less if he or a friend of his is easily fooled by such a simple act. With the little bit of self-control he managed to muster, he held himself back from cutting this boy into pieces. He wasn''t as merciful as to spare a boy, for him an enemy is still an enemy no matter his appearance, race, or gender. The three didn''t linger too much in the dark cave. They left the underground cave system along with the boy who apparently was named Rey. Robin held his hands and talked to him and tried to reassure him but honestly, any person would feel suspicious of him, it''s confusing on why a smart lady like Robin is oblivious to all. Rey, who was playing it the pitiful little boy act was shocked when he saw all the beheaded corpses in all the other rooms. He was expecting some reinforcements but none but him were left alive. He wasn''t stupid and instantly realized that Arthur, who was walking behind them was the one who did all of that. He had such immense strength yet he couldn''t see through Arthur, he wasn''t able to react before the old man was beheaded in front of him. He would have been dead like them if not for Robin who interfered. "So... Rey is it? What were you doing in such a place?" Once they left the hidden cave, Arthur faced the little boy who was holding Robin''s hand and questioned him while staring at him with confused yet piercing eyes that made the kid feel a deep chill down his spines. ''T-This person is crazier than master! I,I have to use this woman!'' "M-Mister... T-they kidnapped me and my friends... w....we couldn''t retaliate..." "And when was it?" Arthur casually sat on a rock and crossed his arms, he knew this going to be a long, very long interrogation. "About a w-week ago...." "Then why are you the only one alive? Where is the rest? If they died then where are their corpses? Why were you with that old man?" A bombardment of questions came out from Arthur''s mouth, each harder to answer than the previous one. Stuttering and unable to properly give a good response, Rey hid behind Robin and played ''the scared boy'' card which marvelously worked since Robin had long since fallen deep into his Oscar-level acting, or so he thought. "Knock it off, would you? Can''t you clearly see he''s injured, plus he''s just a little kid, what can he do in such a situation? Of course, he has to do what he is told so quit your questioning and give me something that relieves his injuries." Robin walked toward Arthur and dragged Rey with her, she pushed her glasses back and stretched her hand to Arthur, expecting to receive some good Healing Potions. Since it was quite boring with Robin always complaining all along the way, it wouldn''t hurt to add a bit more spice and have this kid on board, for the time being. At least he could enjoy having a liar who has been seen through trying to hide his real intentions. With a flick of his hand, a Health Potion appeared in his hand, he passed to Robin and watched how the kid boldly consumed it while glancing at him a few times. Since all Health Potions Arthur has are of good quality, the wound on Rey''s shoulder healed in a few seconds which made him speechless. The boy rubbed his hand on his shoulder to see if he could feel any pain but no pain was felt or blood was seen. ''T-This is one of the precious healing potions Master talked about! I must get them all!'' Rey glanced at Arthur with dark thoughts rampaging in his mind. He was trying to come up with a clever plan but it''s a shame not even a thousand of him could beat Arthur. One thing ascertained Arthur''s guess was when he saw Rey being Lv94 and being a Demi-Human. Although his daughter, Saly could beat this kid, she would still come out injured despite winning as Blood Magic is lethal to everyone, including the user. .... Arthur wanted to continue searching for the black mage or other hideouts until they found him, however, Robin insisted they headed to the nearest city to let the kid rest as he witnessed enough horrors. Rey, who knew that going to the city is a bad idea since the lies about his family would be exposed so he supported Arthur''s opinion and said that he wanted to bad guys who hurt his friend to be punished. Four hours later, Arthur had just killed another old man who was doing the same thing as the previous old man. This was the 5th hideout he found after they ''found'' Rey, no other kids were found which made Robin believe Rey even more but not Arthur. Rey, as for now, was completely terrified by Arthur after witnessing how the people died all around them without him lifting a finger, he wasn''t even able to see what''s killing them but his guess was that they were razor sharp invisible blades. "Kid, enjoying the sight?" Arthur smirked as he played with an old skull, these past five hours were quite entertaining with Rey telling one lie after another and Robin sympathizing with him and promising she''ll take care of him. "B-Bad people should b,b-bbbe punished..." "Ah, is that right? I mean like... I could have sworn I was attacked by some kind of Blood Magic more than one time in the past five hours..... must be my imagination, right?" Rey, seeing that all his secretive attacks were seen by Arthur, began sweating and feeling uneasy and panicking. For fear of being killed, he hid behind Robin yet again and leaned his head, peeking at Arthur and trying to see his expression. Robin was going to defend him again but Arthur was not going to just ignore it, it was time to head to the big boss. Telekinesis was used and Robin was easily pushed toward Arthur. Before she could react, Arthur used Advanced Earth Magic and used [Earth Cage] to imprison Rey in a cage made from Black Earth. The little boy reacted fast and waved his hand, shattering the cage with a small wave of blood magic that kept floating above him as he stared at Arthur coldly. "Good good, entertain me more!" As he said that, Arthur used Plant Magic and a long thorny vine appeared from the ground and wrapped around Rey''s legs, disabling his movements. The kid was smart and had fast reflexes, the blood above him transformed into a two-edged sword and without hesitation, he slashed at the vine. Unlike what he expected, the vine was cut only after five desperate slashes. Since Arthur injected a bit more Intelligence in that vine, it was a bit durable than the Black Earth but if he used all his strength to create a thorny vine, only Heavenly Realm or above can cut it. The difference was just too big to even compare him to Rey. Chapter 149 - 146 : Playtime Is Over Rey managed to get rid of the long thorny vine created by Arthur but it was only done after a series of continuous slashes from his condensed blood sword. When he saw the vine fall and noticed that his legs were released from the entanglement and only pain received from the thorns remained, the little boy jumped a couple of meters back while raising his blade toward Arthur and staring at him with fear and anger. He passed five hours with Arthur and he knew that it was impossible to defeat such a monster but there may be a chance to escape if he played his cards right. "R-Rey?" Robin stared at what happened with wide open eyes, she couldn''t believe that the little boy who seemed so fragile and weak to be able to use such strong magic. She knew more than any person how strong Arthur was, to be able to block his attacks or deflect them is no easy feat. Unfortunately, she didn''t know the whole truth and that Arthur is only playing around. ''Argh! I have to escape quickly!'' Rey didn''t reply to Robin, instead, he glanced around the dark room but the only way to escape is from the main entrance, which is behind Arthur. With no way but to gamble on that chance, Rey threw his sword at Arthur then circled around him to escape. The blood sword suddenly transformed into a large bloody beast claw, its target was not Arthur but Robin. Rey guessed that Arthur would try to protect Robin and that would buy him a second or two at least to escape, that should be enough for him to create some distance then try to hide in a secret place. What the boy didn''t expect is that the bloody beast claw struck a dark barrier that turned visible once it was struck. It was but a simple Dark Barrier, however, it was more than enough to stop the claw and completely disperse it. "Boy, we ain''t done playing yet, stick around for a bit more." An invisible force wave which was caused by Telekinesis had suddenly sent Rey flying backward, he could not react until his body hit the wall. With blood leaking out of his mouth and a haggard state, Rey angrily stared at Arthur, wanting to kill him immediately but he knew that he was helpless and weak as the enemy didn''t even lift a finger. "Stop hurting the kid." With her righteous attitude, Robin stopped Arthur from making any more movies. She thought it would work like last time but Arthur was done playing, the lie has been stretched for far too long, it''s time to stop! "Enough. You should stop being so dumb and open your eyes, the truth is in front of you. He''s obviously not a normal kid that got kidnapped, he never was and never will be innocent.... one look at his eyes and you know...." "Stop spouting nonsense!" "Nonsense? It''s because you''re too soft that you didn''t notice. But as a cold-blooded killer, I can recognize a fellow mate when I see one,just one look at the aura... the eyes....." Arthur then pointed at Rey, who was cautiously moving around and said "I mean, can''t you feel it? The bloodlust, the killing intent, the chilling feeling you get when you''re looked at by his eyes, however.... it''s too weak." After he said what he wanted to say, Arthur ignored Robin and focused on the kid while seriously saying "Brat... let me show you what real bloodlust really feels like." Just when he finished his sentence, a chilling, bone-freezing bloodlust was emitted from his two eyes. They turned gray and a cold aura was being emanated from his body. It''s like he turned into another person, even Robin unconsciously took a few steps back. Fortunately, the killing intent and bloodlust was not directed at her or else she would have fainted. As for the target himself, Rey felt like he fell into a bottomless abyss, the two gray eyes of Arthur were like two star-sized whirlpools that are ripping him into shreds millions and millions of times. Bloodlust (1st Level): Release a portion of your bloodlust to pressure and intimidate the target. Cost: none. Cooldown: none. It was a skill Arthur gained when he woke up after the banquet battle. It was probably obtained when he was unconscious, he didn''t know how he acquired it but it''s pretty effective against weak opponents, such as this little boy for example. Rey, who was currently holding a blood bomb in his hand, was trembling non-stop and the blood bomb was dispersed due to his focus being lost and shaken. Fear covered him and he no longer had any will to use the Blood Magic. It was standing naked in front of a hungry lion, totally helpless and waiting for death to come. Even his legs betrayed him and as he knelt on the floor and stared at Arthur with a dumbstruck expression and a shaking body, it was apparent he can''t fight or even stand after receiving a head-on attack from the horrifying bloodlust of Arthur. Since he was reincarnated on Astria, Arthur killed countless people and he never regretted killing anyone. There was only the matter about the princess when he overreacted and cut off her limb but he apologized for that. Now that he is alone again, albeit being a short amount of time, he felt the same loneliness and emptiness he had before he met Lucy. Maybe he was too dependant on her? Nonetheless, it was slowly affecting but it was not too dangerous as it didn''t reach an irrecoverable state. Arthur stood in front of the petrified little boy and mockingly said "No more tricks? Let''s start the questioning then..... I like this part a lot." ... Surprisingly, after experiencing his bloodlust, the boy confessed what he knew about the black mage, which turned out to be his master. Robin was still acting kind towards him albeit knowing he is a bad person, maybe she pitied him because he was tricked into becoming something that or just sincerely hoped to save him from the evil he succumbed into. Apparently, Rey''s master is a very strong mage who came from another planet called ''Green-Bean Planet'', it''s a middle-Realm and it had endless wars, unlike Astria which was too peaceful in comparison. Rey tried to answer the best he can, he didn''t even dare trick or lie after what he had experienced. He killed many people and is and will always be a murderer, but he was also a kid and after what Arthur did to him, the little boy kept a rather passive and polite attitude. For a second, Arthur thought that maybe this kid is acting again, but it didn''t appear to be the case as Rey would shake every time he was talked to by him. In just a few minutes, he came to know that the black mage is hiding in an underground cave right under the main city of the Demon Continent. Hiding under them is the place they would least expect, a daring yet smart move from his part. Unfortunately for the black mage, his grim reaper is coming, and he''s coming fast! The main city of the Demon Continent is called The Demon City. It''s a large city and it even had an adventurer''s guild so Humans and Demons are forbidden to fight inside of it, though there is still some discrimination toward the Humans no matter their status, it was the demon''s home after all so there is bound to be some lingering between the two parties. The Demons are ruled by a Demon Lord and a council of elders advising him, he''s known to be pretty strong, rivaling the deceased pope if not stronger. Arthur''s sneak skill and the countless camouflage skills were maxed out so he was able to sneak out easily, as for the remaining two, they just paid the fee and were told by Arthur to just stay at an Inn for the time being until he locates the black mage. Since Rey said his master was underground, then Arthur began searching the sewers, he possessed a Lv3 Sewer Rat and dashed between the small holes with lightning speed. Since he was possessing a creature and not a human, Arthur activated the special camouflage skill which let him merge with the surroundings and decrease his presence by 80%. It was an ancient skill named [Silent Statue] gained by an ancient invisible Lizard, by the time Arthur possessed it, it was only a pack of bones. Be it poison, invisibility, or even magic, Arthur could use them all in just a Rat''s body which is an amazing thing to sneak attack people, it''s just that God Realm individuals would be able to sense him rather quickly. They may find it strange for a rat to be this strong but at the very least, they would be able to sense that the rat is at the Immortal Realm which something unreasonable so their guards will be raised instantly. As he was dashing through here and there, the lightning rat crashed into a wall and a banshee''s cry was soon heard in the deep underground. ''Not again!'' Noticing his vision darkening and the agonizing and intense pain surging his mind, Arthur knew the same cycle would be repeated. Last time it was 7 years then how long will this one be? Chapter 150 - 147 : Eagle Eyes Last time this happened to Arthur, he was stuck inside for 7 years. It is a long time for him although he only watched from inside bear''s body. It may not be as long as literally living 7 years but it''s still a long time, moreover, most of the time it''s fighting and the pain is unbearable. When the darkness disappeared and Arthur was able to open his eyes again, the first thing he saw was an endless sea of clouds. It did take him a couple of seconds to know inside what creature he was stuck currently. From the two wide wings and long beak, Arthur was sure he was inside an eagle and a big one at that. The process was just like the previous except the lack of battles. The eagle would rarely fight and would only join in to steal a prey or to finish a wounded creature. With its powerful beak and sharp claws, it did quite the damage but the most outstanding thing about it its eyes and speed. It could see a prey from miles and miles away and with just a few flaps of its wide wings, it would travel that distance in seconds, especially when it''s descending, its speed multiplies by four or five times at the very least. The struggle had just begun as the long life of the eagle was displayed in front of Arthur''s eyes. He only wished this process to be shorter than the last one as he really didn''t want to spend all the time alone. The more time he passed without Lucy, the lonelier and sadder he became. To say it was exciting to watch an eagle fly for a whole day would be a big fat lie. The thrill may remain for the first couple of minutes but by the second, third and fourth day, it becomes boring. And so, the boring life of a big eagle began, Arthur was forced to watch it all until the damnable eagle died because of a poison it received from a mysterious mushroom. His luck was not so good to be able to finish this process this early, from the body to of an eagle he transferred to a bird''s body, this bird was weak and died in just four months, fortunately. ... It was only 7 years later that Arthur was finally finished. It lasted the same amount of time as the previous one but for Arthur, it felt like 70 years rather than 7 since it was so eventless and boring. At least he gained some perks after he opened his eyes. Congratulations! You gained a new skill(passive): [Eagle affinity]: When possessing any kind of flying creature, you gain +50% stats and your flying speed increases by 15%. Congratulations! You gained a new skill(active): [Piercing Eyes]: The user can activate this skill to lock on a target. If the user is chasing that target, his speed is increased by 200% Cost: 125,000 per second. Cooldown: none. ''This could be useful..... but the cost....'' It was really a good skill to have but the cost was just so high so he can''t permanently have it. His Mana pool is pretty big, enough for him to use this skill for more than an hour but it''s not the same thing as having it permanently. If it was Stamina then it would have been much better, since he has an infinite amount. With the small body of the rat, Arthur continued dashing between the small holes but this feeling was a bit nostalgic as it had been a long time since he moved on his own. The Sixth Sense was spread and in just a couple of seconds, he was able to locate several strong presences. The closest one turned out to be a rat king, it had thousands upon thousands of small rats with it being the biggest and highest in Level. It had the size of a normal lion and it was quite high-leveled, unfortunately, it was instantly killed by Arthur. He didn''t even need to kill it, just forcefully possess it and kill it when he was inside of it. Arthur decided not to move with this large body since it isn''t so practical in these narrow sewers. After he gained what little stats the rat king had, he possessed another rat and dashed out of the swarm or rats. The second strong presence he felt was a carnivorous bug that resembled a cockroach, truly disgusting to the point that Arthur didn''t possess it, the stats it will give would be meager so it''s no problem if he ignored one. When he dug deep underground, Arthur finally found what appeared to be a ritual room, similar to the ones he found in the hidden caves but this one was way bigger and creepier. There were two people standing around the blood circle, one of them was a foreign Race and had an appearance totally different from humans, as for the last one, it was a hooded figure. Arthur just stood to the side and watched them both, since he was in rat''s body and he didn''t do anything strange, there is nothing t worry about. What''s more is that both of them were at the Spirit Realm so they didn''t unlock the Immortal Sense yet. "Tsk tsk, I''ve told you to clean up and start the operation, what is taking you so long?" "I,I''m sorry but the d-demon lord of this world is a bit weird, he uses clever tricks to locate me and one of my subordinates told me that the demon army is invading the underground in two days." The hideous looking figure appeared annoyed by the complaining of the hooded-figure, he spat on the ground from annoyance and retorted "*sigh* You can''t even take care of such a simple thing? You just need to connect the two worlds! I didn''t hire you to mess around and do some experiments, the boss is impatient and it''s not you who is going to suffer from his anger!" Spit came out of the monster''s mouth every time it talked. It was over two meters tall and had an ugly face with a pointy nose, a row of strangely curved teeth with two long fangs. Basically, if we add its black skin, this monster''s appearance is the nightmare of every little kid. The monster took out a cylindric object and after injecting some of its blood on it, a light soon covered it and teleported it out of the underground. What was left was the hooded figure who Arthur guessed must be the black mage. Despite the fact that he could have killed both of them, he stood still and watched from the side. He still wanted to know what''s happening in here, moreover, after hearing what was said, he became more curious and confused. The monster clearly stated ''Two Worlds'' and judging by his appearance, it should not be from Astria. Surely, killing the black mage without any answers would bring more troubles, especially if it''s not dealt with correctly. "Fools.... you think I''ll help you after I discovered how precious this world is? Hahaha" The hooded man started laughing hysterically as he waved his staff and surprisingly summoned two skeleton warriors. He looked around for a second to check if the monster is still present or not then he took out a box from his sleeves and looked at it for a couple of seconds while laughing. Arthur was surprised to see him use Necromancy too, not only can he use death laws, he can also use Necromancy? The two are close and strongly related but Necromancy is not something easy to obtain. ''Perhaps it''s similar to Necromancy?'' The skeletons warriors were just like the ones Arthur uses but they were way weaker since the black mage''s Intelligence and skill level are probably low. The black mage handed the brown box to the two skeletons then he ordered them to slowly open it while he backed away and raised his staff in preparation for something. Arthur was not afraid so he didn''t back away and instead, he sneakily approached the two skeletons. In any case, he always had a Dark Barrier around him, it already became a habit. When the box was finally opened, the box instantly disappeared and what replaced was 6 feet long portal. From the other side of the portal, you could see a starry sky and soon, the unimaginably strong suction force followed. "What!? Wh-Where is the tunnel?" Astonished by what he''s seeing, the black mage turned and around and prepared to leave the room as the suction force was too strong but what terrified him is not that force but what he saw, it was that starry sky which seemed harmless at first but it''s actually a very, very bad sign, however, it''s unfortunate for Arthur as he didn''t know that and simply stood there, watching what''s occurring. "Haa..... you made things easier for me." A deep, bone-chilling voice originated from the portal, it was soon followed by a handmade from bones stretching out from the starry sky and holding on the edges of the portal. Arthur didn''t even have the time to curse or react before a long gray scythe was swung at him, cutting the rat body in two halves. His reaction was late but at least he managed to leave the body before he was killed instantly. Albeit successfully leaving the rat body, Arthur still had a long scar on his abdomen all the way to his neck. It was caused by the gray scythe which was currently held by a tall hooded-skeleton. Steam came out of its mouth as it looked at Arthur with its two pulsating red eyes, even Arthur felt chills when he looked at the what''s in front of him, for the very first time, he felt as if he was at death''s door! Grim Reaper (Lv???) Realm???? Chapter 151 - 148 : The Reaper Has Come "Arthur Bilgart, your time of death had long since passed and that is something ''Death'' doesn''t allow." With terrifying death aura around it and a chilling voice that would make anyone fearful, the Grim Reaper slashed its scythe in the air and created what seemed to be a small dimension that enveloped the whole cave. Unfortunately for the black mage, it was too late for him to escape by the time the weird dimension was created. The only thing he could do was desperately bang his staff on the transparent barrier but to no avail, his attacks were totally ineffective. ''This is not good.'' Arthur glanced around him but his Sixth Sense couldn''t penetrate the dimension. If it was a barrier, his sense could have spread easily but a dimension is a whole other thing. Zodiak''s books mentioned that whoever or whatever could create dimensions should not be messed with as they either have unique abilities or strong attainment in Spatial Laws. Just from looking at the ''???'' from the appraisal and feeling the aura emanating from this Reaper, Arthur knew he has no choice but to fight seriously but he was confused on why a Grim Reaper would suddenly attack him after saying that. "Why don''t you explain yourself. I don''t want to die without knowing why...." Arthur suspiciously asked the Grim Reaper whilst circulating the Dark Anguish Technique and activated the defense layer from The Dark Star Strengthening technique. He wanted to buy some time to prepare himself and also get some answers. "You should know, better than anyone, why I''m here, and if you are purposely acting dumb then let me explain. Arthur Bilgart, death at the age of 32 by suicide. You have cheated death and lived more than your designated lifespan and that is not something easily forgotten." "Designated lifespan? Bullshit, I died when I killed myself and was reincarnated and to begin with, who are you to judge how much I''m going to live!" The Grim Reaper wasn''t angered by the unpolite attitude of Arthur, he just stared at him for a while before calmly replying with his usual chilling tone. "I''m but an emissary... a messenger but it is not the same thing for what designated your lifespan. Fate is an entity that hates anyone who betrays or cheats it and it is exactly my duty to eliminate whoever bites more than he could chew." Still not understanding what was said, Arthur tried processing all the new things that was just said about Fate or whatever it is but he still couldn''t comprehend how does that have anything to do with him. He died and born again! He even had a totally different Race! How is it unfair? Even if it was unfair, he''ll never submit, his life has finally become better after meeting Lucy and marrying her, having a cute daughter and lovely wife, what else could he wish besides that? He''s not going to let his life end because of some idiotic thing called ''Fate'' that thinks it can decide who lives and who dies. "Fate... is it? If it really exists, I would really love to kill it with my bare hands, after all, isn''t it the one responsible for all the miseries I experienced, all the suffering I had to go through, but I''m sure I am not the only one who thinks like this." "*chuckle* Kill it? You are far too weak, Arthur Bilgart. Even with an enigmatic Race like yours, it would take you forever to even have the qualifications to meet it, much less beat it. You say your life was full of miseries but you are not the only one, neither were you the first or the last one to suffer. Of course, some suffer more than the others but even if you blame ''Fate'' it isn''t going to change anything, you decided what to do and every action led to another. Fate may decide how you die and when but it doesn''t decide what you do in your life." "Whatever..... and what does a Grim Reaper have to do with ''Fate''? Aren''t you related to the dark side?" It took the Grim Reaper a couple of seconds to understand what Arthur meant by the dark side, it kept the nonchalant attitude and chuckled again before responding" "It''s complicated so let''s start, after all, this world is quite aggressive." Although he said ''let''s start'', the Grim Reaper just stood there and stared at Arthur without moving an inch. Arthur thought maybe it was a trap but at second thought, a Grim Reaper wouldn''t do that as after experiencing his scythe, he didn''t seem to be the tricky type. Since the enemy is not attacking and there is still time, Arthur didn''t hesitate as he took out a large body of a silver wolf and immediately possessed it. What followed was a torrent of notifications and a pressure pressing on his mind. Arthur was forced to activate [Pain Immunity] due to the intense pain he was experiencing but even with the skill activated, he still felt an invisible burden. You activated [Solid Max Lv]: Your defense is increased by 15% You activated [Wind Charmer Max Lv]: You Agility is increased by 10% You activated [Extreme Poison Fangs Max Lv]: Your attacks now contain a deadly poison that deals 5% of the user''s attack every second. You activated [Deadly Stare]: Your eyes permanently cause a debuff to any targets the user looks at: -10% movement speed, -15% attack speed. ... You activated [Transmutation]: +25% stats, +20% damage received (10 minutes). The large silver wolf transformed into a green lightning beast with a domineering aura and a fierce appearance. "You achieved such strength in a short amount of time... that''s applaudable so come at me with all you''ve got, you''ll die an honorable death and come to know how big the difference between us actually is." When all passives were activated, Arthur vanished and teleported behind the Grim Reaper, which still stood there motionlessly. The green lightning beast was merciless as the sharp long claws were slashed at the back of the Grim Reaper. *Cannot damage! 0. Phy.Atk* Albeit shocked by the notifications, Arthur bit down with his lightning fangs and poured all his poison and endless Natural Lightning inside of the Grim Reaper''s bones but the same notifications popped up again. As he was close to the enemy and felt the deathly aura around him, Arthur was momentarily shocked and was unable to make a reasonable decision after seeing both of attacks dealing nothing. Each second was longer than the other, at the spur of the moment, Arthur teleported away from the Grim Reaper before not before spitting two large fireballs. *Cannot damage! 0 M.Atk* *Cannot damage! 0 M.Atk* Arthur stared at the Grim Reaper whilst crouching the wolf''s body and taking a defensive stance. The enemy didn''t attack but it wasn''t injured too, it was unscathed from even the ancient flame which is something Arthur never saw. Even the Gods in the Underworld would be damaged by his flames so witnessing this sight, he was truly in shock. "Do you understand now? I cannot be injured, neither can I die, I''m a Grim Reaper, I take lives and not the other way around, that''s my purpose." The Grim Reaper started approaching Arthur with its scythe held horizontally, ready to slash at any moment. ''What honorable death? It''s just one-sided!'' Arthur cursed the Reaper as it was not a fight, he could do nothing but back away from the enemy but even that simple tactic was useless as he was met with the Dimension''s wall after retreating a dozen of meters. It was only one exchange but Arthur knew he can''t win, it was obvious from the second he activated that appraisal and it was later ascertained when he dealt no damage, not with his flames nor his claws and fangs which would kill a God if they are touched by them. With no way out and zero chance of winning, Arthur''s focus shifted to the surroundings until it landed on the black mage, who was scared stiff and fearfully looking at the Grim Reaper while trying not to grab his attention and be killed alongside Arthur. ''Maybe....'' A reckless idea crossed his mind, it was suicidal but in such a desperate situation, it was better to try it than dying without resisting. The book of the damned appeared in front of Arthur, growled at it and the black book flashed a second before rushed straight at the Grim Reaper. Once it was close enough, the Death Golem and the rotten hand came out of the book and attacked the Reaper at the same time. The golem smashed its fist at the Reaper while the rotten hand stabbed the Golem and poured all the saved energy to it. ''Bang!!!'' An explosive sound rang out in the silent and dark cave but nothing happened to the Grim Reaper. His dark tattered robe and his bones were still intact. However, the state of the golem was not so good, the hand it used to punch the Reaper was gone as it shattered the moment it touched its target. Following its master''s orders, the death Golem swung its second fist but this time the fist transformed into a sharp drill that was spinning and emitting a dark fog that swirled around it. With no hesitation, the drill stabbed the skull head of the Reaper. ''Dang Dang Dang Dang..'' The sound was similar to a drill but no matter how fast it spun, it couldn''t penetrate the skull or deal any damage, it was as if it was cutting an unpenetrable unique metal. A few seconds passed and the drill showed signs of breaking but the Grim Reaper was not that patient, it swung its scythe just one time and it was enough to cut the death golem in two and immediately kill it. Fortunately, the rotten hand was a bit lucky as it was not in the scythe''s range but it still received a bit of damage as a small blade wound appeared in one of the rotten fingers. Black blood leaked out of the injury but it was soon stopped as the rotten hand performed a weird gesture and pointed at the Grim Reaper. "You also have a real specter hand.... that is rare to see in such a place, nonetheless, it''s useless against me." As he said that, the Grim Reaper raised its free hand and the palm made of bones was suddenly clenched. All that was done was clenching a hand but this simple action managed to extinguish the rotten hand and make it turn blurry until it vanished. When the rotten hand disappeared, the Grim Reaper turned his attention to Arthur but the lightning wolf was no longer there. It looked around for signs of Arthur but there were no wolves around and it is impossible to escape from its dimension. With its two creepy eyes, the Grim Reaper turned its head and stared at the black mage, who had long since lost his composed behavior and was freaking out, especially when the Grim Reaper started looking at him. Arthur grasped the opportunity and diverted the Grim Reaper''s attention just for a couple of seconds just to possess the black mage. He didn''t completely possess him, he''s just hiding there without controlling the body. Since the black mage is weaker than him, doing such a thing is easy and he doesn''t have to resort to a skill that spends Mental Power. Since the Grim Reaper came for him then there is a chance he won''t kill the black mage as he''s not its target and maybe he''s not allowed to kill someone who didn''t reach the end of his lifespan yet. "I see.... it''s a clever trick, especially since your Race is unique but.... you forgot that Grim Reapers reap souls and not bodies." The long gray scythe was swung down at the black mage, it easily passed through his body and was precisely aimed at Arthur''s soul. Since he was dormant inside the black mage''s body, leaving it would take a bit more time than usual, Arthur could only take control of the black mage''s body and immediately use [Faster Than Death] to teleport away. It was a close call but the risk he took was futile as a small part of his soul was grabbed by the tip of the scythe. "A soul fitting of its owner.... truly!" The Grim Reaper stopped marching slowly and charged at Arthur while stretching his free hand and clenching it again as he pointed it at Arthur. Arthur was going to teleport away yet again but a gravitational force pressed against him from all directions, crushing his bones and almost turning him into minced meat. If not for abandoning the black mage''s body at the last second, he would have died. Seeing the black mage turn into nothingness, Arthur knew that the Reaper didn''t care about the black mage which disappointed him and made him feel a bit helpless. At such a crucial moment, where the black mage''s body was crushed and Arthur hurriedly left it, the Grim Reaper smoothly switched his rushing path and swung his Scythe at where Arthur was at. The scythe was like death itself at it approached Arthur centimeter by centimeter and he could only watch helplessly as he does not have enough time to use [Faster than Death], plus, shields or barrier are useless against it as it can pass through them easily. The gap was shortening centimeter by centimeter, the scythe already passed his chest and was about to rip his soul out of his consciousness. Just when the end was coming, the chains around Arthur''s souls tightened, not letting the scythe take more portions of it. It''s as if it was claiming property of the soul and not letting the invader take what belongs to it. ''Clack Clack Clack...'' The chains wrapped around the bright light which is Arthur''s souls and it totally deflected the gray scythe and forcefully pushed it out of his consciousness. Arthur did nothing but the Grim Reaper was sent flying until he crashed into the invisible wall of the dimension. it sustained no damage but the Reaper was surprised by what just happened. The Grim Reaper''s eyes stopped pulsating and became devoid of any light, the skeletal figure remained motionless as it stared at Arthur. "No wonder ''Fate'' personally ordered your death...... but this makes it much more interesting." With a final chuckle, the Grim Reaper launched itself at Arthur, who was bending on one knee and panting. His soul just clashed with that deadly scythe, the clash alone made his body tremble and feel extremely heavy. Arthur teleported further away and threw a large Void Orb at the incoming Grim Reaper, who had an unbelievable speed. Arthur could only see a gray shadow charge at him, if not for his fast reactions, he would have died many times already. Surprisingly, the gray shadow didn''t dive straight into the Void Orb, instead, it avoided it and then slashed at Arthur. He wasn''t able to fully see what happened but he knew for sure that the Grim Reaper avoided the Void Orb which only meant one thing, it didn''t want to be hit by it as maybe Void Magic is deadly for it. It''s to be expected since Void Magic can hurt anyone even its own user. Truthfully, Arthur didn''t expect this, it was a Grim Reaper that can''t die, what''s there to be afraid of? With a bit of self-gained hope, Arthur jumped back and fired as many Void Orbs as he possibly can. Just as he expected, although the orbs were fast, they were easily dodged by the incoming doom. Expecting such a situation, Arthur activated the Void Orbs and made them explode into countless devouring mouths that launched themselves at the gray shadow. "Arthur Bilgart, you really are a unique existence.... but you can''t beat Death." The Grim Reaper appeared before Arthur and stretched its hand toward his chest, planning to rip his soul with its bare hand. The hand was very close to his chest when all of a sudden, the Grim Reaper was pushed backward by a terrifying force. Arthur only managed to react when the Grim Reaper was pushed more than a dozen meters. An illusory green palm and a blue blob of light soon emerged from a crack in the dimension and floated next to Arthur. Their appearance was soon followed by thick plant vines appearing from the ground and wrapping themselves around the Grim Reaper without letting him have the room to breathe. "This is your chance, use that arrow of yours." Chapter 152 - 149 : Head Maid Without even thinking why the World Tree was here, Arthur raised his hand and started conjuring the Heavenly Arrow. In the past, it would take him half a minute more or less but right now, after his stats rocketed and he broke through so many times, only three seconds are enough to fully create it. When he fought against the World Tree, he only used a miniature Heavenly Arrow, it was weaker than the original one and it didn''t have a cooldown so it''s practical. Moreover, it was instantaneous which made it more efficient. The Grim Reaper was immune to almost everything, so Arthur decided to use a Heavenly Arrow only made from Void Magic. Usually, he''ll add other attributes to have some extra effects but to also reduce its devouring effect, after all, he can''t fully control it in its normal state, much less if it''s only made from Void Magic. "Alright, you better back off or you''ll get eaten too!" Arthur warned the blue blob of light then fired the Heavenly Arrow. Since the cave couldn''t hold the full size of the arrow, he had to reduce its size but that only made it more terrifying. A 40m long purple arrow that devoured the sand, rocks and everything in its way. He was sure that if he stood in front of it, he would be devoured it despite being the one who created it. Amongst all the attribute, the Void Attribute is the most lethal one, not only is it too mysterious, it''s almost impossible to stop it. It contained many sub-attributes such as Spatial Laws and Time Laws but Arthur wasn''t able to extract one of them to use it individually. If he mastered Spatial Laws, traveling back to Earth or wherever Lucy was teleported to would be extremely easy. But to master these laws, it would take a long time so the only way for him is to possess someone who has mastered it and obtain his mastery, however, to find such a person on Astria is a difficult thing. The devouring arrow ate away the thick vines as if they were nothing and finally reached the Grim Reaper, which was entangled deep into the vines. Arthur first found it weird that the Grim Reaper didn''t get out of the vines but when he saw how the deeper vines resisted the Void Arrow for a couple seconds, he understood how powerful these plants were. To make it easier for Arthur, the World Tree withdrew its vines in a split second and left the Grim Reaper floating in the air and facing the incoming arrow. With its long gray scythe in its hand, the Grim Reaper stared at the incoming Heavenly Arrow and raised its free hand to use the same gravitational attack from earlier. This time, the intensity of the attack was raised several times until the space around the arrow turned blurry and started twisting. The arrow was stopped a few meters away from the Grim Reaper but its devouring force and the ominous aura around it was still being unleashed. All the gravitational force could do was freeze the arrow mid-air but even that, was not going so good as the arrow was resisting fiercely and trying to absorb that foreign force pressing it down. "Arthur Bilgart, I have misjudged you.... Void Laws are a forbidden magic that should never be used... even in death fights." With its lifeless eyes, the Grim Reaper shifted its attention to Arthur. It''s easy to tell from its voice that it was disappointed but it''s not like Arthur cared about its opinions or mood. "Forbidden? Hell if I care, you''re trying to kill me and I''m retaliating. Facing death, I''ll use anything, forbidden or not so.... die!" Multiple Void Orbs circulated around the Grim Reaper and exploded into countless small devouring mouths. They slowly crept toward the Grim Reaper while devouring the air and the bits of sands flying around due to the intensity of the arrow''s aura. Seeing the incoming creepy mouths, the Grim Reaper finally took action. It raised its scythe and slashed at the frozen arrow, creating a gray deadly arc made from an ancient aura. To fight the Void, it is useful to use Withering Laws and that''s exactly what The Grim Reaper did. It thought that if countless years passed while the arrow is frozen, then it''ll dissipate, however, things didn''t go as expected. The Withering Laws were working and countless years passed in the small space around the arrow yet the monstrosity didn''t dissipate, instead, it appeared to be breaking through from the space imprisoning it. Unfazed but what he''s seeing, the Grim Reaper contemplated the approaching arrow for a moment before it raised its scythe again but this time it was not to slash but to block the arrow which suddenly broke through and rushed at it. The gray scythe and the tip of the purple devouring arrow collided but no sound was created, it was dead silent yet the space around the clash distorted for a few seconds before the Grim Reaper cried out in surprise, however, it was too late as the arrow devoured its scythe and struck its bones. It all happened too fast, Arthur could only see the scythe disappear and the Grim Reaper turning into a pile of gray ash that fell on the ground. Since it struck its target, the purple arrow''s intensity lessened by a bit but it still dived to the ground and continued eating whatever in its way until stopping after a certain distance. All that was seen was a gaping hole in the ground, clearly showing how destructive the arrow was. "It''s over." Hearing the relieved voice of the World Tree, Arthur breathed a sigh of relief and looked around to check if the dimension was still present or not. There were some traces of its presence but it seemed to be dissipating at a very rapid pace, but that''s to be expected since its owner was just devoured by the Void. It''s a pity he couldn''t possess the Grim Reaper but at least he got rid of him. Thinking back, if it wasn''t for the help of the World Tree, it would have been practically impossible for him to defeat it without entangling it for a few seconds to prepare the Heavenly Arrow. "Thanks for helping me." Arthur was sincerely grateful, if not for its help then no one knew how that fight would have ended but the chances of him dying was far greater than surviving against a Grim Reaper. "... No need to thank me, we made an oath and I''m making my end of the deal. Helping you defeat any enemy that invades Astria." The blob of light vanished after saying that, it didn''t even wait for Arthur to reply, maybe it was in a hurry or it didn''t want to talk. ''... First time I see a shy tree...'' With the black mage killed, Arthur had no reason to stay here but after further thought, this was a golden opportunity. He didn''t know where that monster from earlier disappeared into but since it was speaking about two worlds, then most likely, what it used was a teleportation item. All he got to do was wait for it then kill it and take away its item, furthermore, since it was only at the Spirit Realm, killing it would be a piece of cake. The sad thing is that he couldn''t bring Robin to witness the black mage dying, neither could he bring her his body since he turned into minced meat. He could only hope she believes in his words. ... After leaving the death golem to guard the cave, Arthur went back to the Demon City to look for Robin and inform her of what happened. He needed to catch that monster and get that item because if it''s really a teleportation treasure that leads to another world, it''ll be a golden opportunity. He needed to leave Astria and go to a world where he might find a Spatial Laws master or a way to go to Earth. "So you''re saying he''s dead but the corpse is lost?" With her arms crossed under the chest, showing those monstrous peaks, Robin glared at Arthur with piercing eyes, making him feel a bit uneasy. ''Weak or not, women are scary...*sigh*'' "Yes... more or less." While still glaring at him, she pulled back her glasses as usual and turned around after adding "Fine then.... I believe you." "R-really?" "Why wouldn''t I? I can rest at ease now that he''s dead, I do not need a proof as it is YOU who faced him after all, I do not need to worry." Now that the matter of the black mage is done, Arthur didn''t know what do with her. She''s a friend and things like this can occur again so it''s better to have her in a safe place but knowing her attitude, she wouldn''t like being guarded constantly. "So what are you going to do now?" "I''m obviously going back to the company''s headquarters." Arthur hesitated a bit but he finally decided to send someone with her, it''ll be much safer. "My sect is on the Western Continent, It''s already ruling the whole continent. You should move your headquarters there, sect will provide you support and you''ll support it with materials, it''s a mutually benefiting relationship." The leaving Robin stopped when she heard about a potential business, especially if it''s with his sect. She heard of the MoonStar sect, although its patriarch is a woman, she knew that Arthur had a relationship with it, especially when it managed to control all the tribes and clans in that continent. "What! Y-your sect isn''t the M-moonStar sect right?" Rey, who appeared behind Robin, stared at Arthur with fear as he hesitantly asked that. He was still scared of Arthur but apparently, since they separated, his relationship with Robin deepened and reached to the point where he became attached to her. He''s a cold-blooded killer but he found it fun to be with her and a life like this wasn''t that bad. Arthur came to know that he was absent for 1 month, unlike last time when it was only a few seconds, that 7 years dream was not instantaneous like last time. He was afraid that the next time it happens, more time will pass... "Why don''t we talk about the details?" With a serious look, Robin sat on an empty chair near Arthur and looking at him with a strange look as if expecting him to sit too and chat for a couple of hours. Unfortunately for her, Arthur was not that fond of talking, except with Lucy, so he just said a few sentences to end the deal. "No need to bother, if you want to details then talk to Jackob or Anastassia once you get there. I''ll give you one Death Knight and one Bone Dragon, you can go back to your Headquarters or head immediately there, it''s your choice." Arthur then glanced at Rey, who was still hiding behind Robin and not daring to show his face or talk again. "As for you.... I think it''s time yo-" "He''s with me." Robin cut him off and stared at him with a ''Got a problem'' look so Arthur could only sigh and wave his hand in approval, after all, he doesn''t have much of a choice now does he? Since she said so then it should be fine, judging from his character now, he still didn''t change but maybe one day he will. .... Arthur stared at the bone dragon disappearing into the horizon, Robin had already departed to the Itas Continent to start preparing things. With a Bone Dragon and a Death Knight, it should be enough to keep her safe unless a Heavenly Realm attacked but the probability is low. Now that he doesn''t have to worry about her safety, Arthur was just going to go back to the underground cave when someone suddenly stopped him. It was a white-haired maid with a small horn erected from her forehead and inclined backward just like her hair. Taliya[Head Maid] (Race: Demon): Lv487 ''Now I see... I see hahaha'' Arthur didn''t need to ask her to know from where she came from, one appraisal was enough to answer many questions. But what does a Head Maid from the Royal Demon Castle doing here? There were only the two of them in this empty road a couple of miles away from the Demon City. Arthur''s Sixth Sense was constantly active so if he was being followed. Inside the Demon City, he felt a lot of presences sneaking up behind him but he left the city so fast so they must have sent someone to follow him but that certain someone managed to catch up to him only when he was returning. Since neither of them was talking, Arthur decided to just relax on the Dark Cloud and wait for her to act. The Death Golem was guarding the dark cave and if it is attacked by anything, he''ll immediately know it. The golem may have the attack of a Spirit Realm but its defense is unbelievably high. "Sir, the Demon Lord wishes to speak with you. Please follow me." ''Straight to the point, huh?'' Staring at the figure of the maid, which slightly resembled Lucy, Arthur felt a bit lonely without her around. He missed talking to her all day without being bored, teasing her or embracing her. It may have been more or less a month in reality but for him, it was14 years ago. "Is that a request or an order?" The maid was cautious of Arthur from the start, any sudden move and she''ll act. She''s an experienced fighter yet she couldn''t feel him when he was far away, it was only by chance that she saw him flying on that weird dark cloud. "Sir, I''m afraid that you''ll have to follow me to the castle." With cold eyes and a threatening glare, the head maid unsheathed two short and sharp blades from under her sleeves and prepared to fight in case he tried to escape. With his [Sixth Sense] Arthur already knew that she had 2 other blades hidden in her thighs and a red knife reeking of blood in her elbow, covered by the outfit. "I like it when people get straight to the point. Wasting less time and being straightforward is the kind of people I like but I don''t think that glare or those blades are enough to force me. Better try harder next time." The maid''s eyes narrowed and her blades were raised and pointed at him. "Sir, I would have to use violence then. Please excuse my rudeness, Ha!" With that final word, she launched herself at Arthur and slashed with both of her swords. Her movements were perfect and her speed was excellent, it seemed she was best at speed from the look of it. Before she could reach Arthur, a dark figure appeared in front of her and swung its two-handed long dark sword at her. Fortunately, she was quick and had fast reflexes, she sidestepped to the left, barely dodging the incoming sword which struck the ground and created a gaping hole. Death Knight(Race: Undead): Lv500 "Maybe if you beat this one, I''ll follow you." The head maid looked at the Death Knight with surprise. It was over two meters tall, a body covered with a dark armor and a skeletal head covered with a big black helmet. It was a lesser version of the powerful Death Knight that Arthur could spawn but this was intentional from him as she wouldn''t be able to last a second against the other one. -------------------------- The sky was as dark as ever, with some stars shining very far away, a distance even Gods couldn''t cross. In such a place, where no living should exist, a small portion of the dark space warped and a figure was ejected from what seemed to be a portal. At a closer look, it was a skeletal figure with tattered black clothes that matched its surroundings and two pulsating red eyes. The Grim Reaper calmly looked around it and after confirming he was indeed in the void, it just chuckled and casually mumbled "*chuckle* Arthur Bilgart, I told you that you can''t kill what''s already dead, however, I must say.... you''re a very interesting person in a strange world strange world indeed....." With a wave of its hand, the gray scythe, which was absorbed by the Heavenly Arrow, appeared out of nowhere, it was in perfect shape as if nothing happened to it. The Grim Reaper turned around and left, not minding the spatial tears and the infinite fluctuations happening around him. "Fine then, it shall be like this for now in a boring world like this, a bit of entertainment isn''t that bad *chuckle*. Now onto the next target." Chapter 153 - 150 : A Meeting With The Demon Lord Swiftly, the head maid performed a roundhouse kick at the Death Knight''s head but it appeared to be a feint as the kick suddenly stopped when the knight raised its hands to block. Her two hands blurred as she slashed at the armored legs, trying to cut them off and make the fight easier. Arthur thought this tactic wouldn''t work as she inferior to the Death Knight in Lvl and most likely in stats too, however, to his surprise, the leg guards and the bones were cleanly cut by those short blades. As the Death Knight lot its balance, Taliya grasped this opportunity and magnificently yet ruthlessly cut both of its arms then stabbed its skull, finishing it off once and for all. From the look on her face, she didn''t seem to be exhausted by the fight, she the first strike of the Knight, which was also the last and defeated it in just three moves. *clap* *clap* *clap* "That''s good." Arthur clapped his hands as he stared back at her, who coldly glared at him, prepared to leap with her blades at any second. "Sir, please follow me to the castle." Taliya assumed that she had won the little bet, she turned around to started walking away but unfortunately, Arthur still wanted to see what her limits are so with a flick of his fingers, the defeated Death Knight which had all of its limbs cut off and its skull pierced, slowly got up while a black fog reattached all the missing parts. In just two seconds, the Death Knight was reanimated but compared to the previous one, this one was stronger. Of course, she had won the bet but Arthur made it look like it''s still not done. He would politely follow her to the castle when this matter is done, he lost the bet after all. "Humans are truly despicable..." The maid coldly said that whilst raising her short blades and preparing to fight yet again. "I never I was Human. You guys must have assumed that on your own." "What part of you does not look Human?" No matter how long Taliya looked at Arthur''s appearance, every inch of him resembled Humans except for his gray hair and blood red eyes. There is the chance of him being a Vampire but that Race is almost extinct and there are only a few secluded Vampires on Astria and from his behavior and demeanor, it doesn''t match with the Vampires. "Maybe this?" Arthur raised his hands in the air and in a matter of seconds, the two hands transformed into long green vines that danced in the air. It was one of the perks of the Plant Magic, they are not as resistant as his normal hands but they could be useful in many ways. With another thought, his chest erected sharp thorns that had some poison leaking out of them. "A druid?" The head maid inspected the vines and thorns with astonished eyes, her master, the Demon Lord thought the Human Empire sent a strong individual in here to carry out a secret plan but maybe it was not the case, maybe it was just baseless assumptions. "Still wrong.... anyways, you should look behind you, the battle has already started." Hearing Arthur''s remark, the head maid did a backflip and evaded the horizontal sweep of the knight''s sword. Her thighs landed on the wide shoulders of the knight, then without hesitation, she stabbed both of her blades on the opponent''s skull. It was supposed to be a clean stab that finished the battle, however, the Death Knight was not just sitting idly and awaits for its death, it grabbed the maid''s hand and slammed her body on the ground, crashing the ground and creating a small dust cloud. The Death Knight soon followed by a swing of its sword which was aimed at Taliya''s chest. The attack contained a special skill of the knight as its dark long sword whistled in the air and emitted a loud battle cry. Facing the imminent danger, all she could do was raise both of her blades to block the incoming sword, she didn''t have enough time to dodge as her body was aching from the earlier slam. Just as the clash was about to happen, the long dark sword suddenly halted in mid-air, only a few inches away from the maid''s blades. "That''s enough, you''re not bad." It was a very short fight and Taliya appeared to be the physical type due to not using any magic, or maybe she was keeping it for a life-saving situation but it was unlikely as her life was threatened just a moment ago. It''s her bad luck that Death Knights have an incredibly strong defense and are strong warriors. Moreover, this reanimated Death Knight was Lv750, so that''s to be expected for her to lose. She silently stood up and cleaned the dust lingering in her clothes due to the fight, then she shot a glare at Arthur, it was apparent that she was not willing to admit defeat but from the earlier fight, it was obvious who is stronger. He didn''t even lift a finger and let his Death Knight fight yet she couldn''t beat the second one so what qualifications does she have to fight him personally. Nonetheless, she achieved her goal as he was going to follow her back to the castle but the bitter feeling of defeat still wouldn''t leave her. She is the head maid and an expert in fighting, for her to be defeated this easily proves that this person has a strength matching the Demon Lord, or so she thought. "Please follow me." Begrudgingly, Taliya said that and started walking toward the Demon City. Arthur followed after her while riding his Dark Cloud and in no time, the two of them started running, or more precisely, the maid picked up the pace and the walking turned into jogging which soon became full speed running. Since he was riding the Dark Cloud, Arthur didn''t have to run but he had to admit that her speed was quite fast. Prior to his earlier judgment, she was really hiding her power as her current speed is at least double the one she used in the previous battle. Nevertheless, no matter how fast she was, it was a simple thing for Arthur to follow her, his Agility was in the millions so he wouldn''t be left behind whether it''s flying or running. If he used the Lightning Form, arriving at the Demon City in seconds would be a feasible thing. Since the Demon City was not that far from the place they met, it didn''t take them long to arrive at the gates. They passed it without stopping and headed for the huge black castle situated north of the city. The weather was quite cold since it''s the Northern Continent and the snow was covering the roads, people were either at home enjoying some warmth or at the bar drinking some ale. "How about you switch masters?" After saying that, Arthur received no response so he thought it might be because she is running which led to her being unable to hear what he said. He waited until they entered an area devoid of people and with noise around and repeated his sentence "How about you switch masters? I think you''re quite capable." ".... I beg your pardon, Sir?" Arthur was in no way interested in her romantically or sexually, he would not even dare to have such absurd or obscene thoughts or Lucy''s damnation would befall on him. It''s just that he was feeling lonely and bored, a bit of company would not hurt so much. After experiencing a few days with Robin, it was not so bad to have someone to talk to, especially after those long dreams which made him feel even lonelier. If he stayed alone until he found Lucy, it may lead to dire consequences as he began feeling frustrated at sudden times and felt like behaving evilly for whatever reasons. Maybe it is his rage from back then or it is his loneliness but not staying alone is definitely not a good thing for him right now. If he knows for sure that he''ll find Lucy in a month or two, he''ll definitely bear with it but the problem is, he doesn''t know that. What if the weird occurrences of the dreams keep happening, then he''ll be doomed. To have someone to chat with, pass the time until he meets Lucy, then he wouldn''t mind but then again, Lucy will kill him if she ever sees him with the maid, however, he was prepared for that, if he could see her again then whatever is going happen let it happen. Although he should be worrying about Taliya''s safety and not his, Lucy would most likely accuse her of seducing him and not the other way around.... well that is if she agrees to his offer in the first place. Since he couldn''t hear him properly, Arthur used Telekinesis to lift her mid-air and float her on board the Dark Cloud. His actions were met with a red dagger flying straight at him but unfortunately, it was easily caught by his two fingers. "Relax, I''m just doing this to make the trip faster and to chat. Stop being so aggressive." She was still glaring at him, she glanced at the caught dagger between his fingers and couldn''t help but feel a bit surprised. Of course, she didn''t show that on her face as it was kept emotionless. Purposely, Arthur made the Dark Cloud go slow to be able to talk about his offer with her. Well, he picked her because she seems strong and the loyal type, if she refuses, he could still go look for another person, even a talking pet wouldn''t be so bad but that''s very rare to find. Feeling unsafe, Taliya stood up on the Dark Cloud and faced Arthur with both of her blades raised and pointed at him. From the look of it, she didn''t trust him one bit. "Why are you pointing those blades at me when you''re the one who invited me to the castle?" Arthur played with the red dagger in his hand as he talked to the maid, who still taking a defensive stance. After a moment of silence, the two short swords were lowered but Taliya remained standing and her glare never left him. Arthur had no choice but to sigh and give her back the red dagger, since she was so cautious around him, he even used Telekinesis to pass the dagger because if he approached her, she would definitely freak out and slash both of her blades at him which would break her weapons and that would be such a pity. "We''ll arrive in a few minutes, why don''t we chat in meantime? It''s basic courtesy for any maid to entertain the guest... isn''t it?" "...." He was only met with silence but Arthur still didn''t let the matter go. "Do you love the Demon Lord?" Arthur wanted a companion for the time being but he wouldn''t forcefully take her. Loyalty can be changed after time but love is harder, if she loves the Demon Lord or has a family then so be it, he''ll just search for another one. Jackob or Anastassia won''t be a bad choice too but since they are the ones taking care of his sect, then it''s better to leave them out of it. There''s Robin too but she has to manage her company too. Aside from those, there''s nothing else. Azure Bai would have been a good pick too, it''s a shame he can''t go back to the Underworld for numerous reasons. Flustered and stunned by such a sudden and weird question, the maid retorted almost immediately. "What are you saying? I''m but a servant, I''m a loyal subordinate of the Demon Lord and I have no right to love or have any special feelings towards my superiors, be it my master or anyone of the royal family!" ''Hm? Did I hit a soft spot or does she respect her master that much?'' "Since you''re so optimistic if it''s about your master, then tell me more about the Demon Lord." Except for a few known facts about the Demon Lord, such as him having one fully grown horn indicating how much strong he is, or his good ruling and how much he is loved by his kinsmen, Arthur knew nothing more. He didn''t even know how he looked like. He never had the time to come here and sightsee with Lucy but since he is going to meet the Demon Lord anyway, he might as well ask him about Lucy when the time comes. If there is a chance in a thousand he could find her parents, then he would try his best to do so. "..." Taliya didn''t talk anymore albeit hearing him question her about the Demon Lord. The atmosphere returned to its usual boring silence which Arthur didn''t like. He was not the talkative type but he would rather chat than remain silent forever. With nothing to do but wait for the Dark Cloud to arrive, Arthur picked up the pace and increased the speed by multiple times so they could arrive faster. Taliya wasn''t willing to discuss his offer, it was a blunt rejection so he could only ask the Demon Lord, maybe if her master agrees, she would too. ... Three minutes later, the Dark Cloud entered the vicinities of the huge black castle and various guard patrols could be seen walking around the wide garden around the castle. Be it Humans or Demons, it seems that their Royalty likes to have a luxurious castle and a wide beautiful garden around it. Arthur contemplated the garden and made a not to possess a few flowers that were unique. Lucy was a fond of flowers and thanks to his Race and Nature Magic, every plant he possesses he would be able to grow it back again whenever he feels like it. Of course, it would cost him a bit of Mana but the amount was so little that he could recover it all in just a second. Seeing Taliya with him, the guards backed off and let the weird Dark Cloud pass the gates and enter the black castle. Although it had quite a unique appearance from the outside, the interior of the castle was honestly breathtaking. With pretty decoration and a cozy furniture. Unlike the mansion of the Human Emperor, this one didn''t have any guards inside of it, it was devoid of any guards, there were butlers and maids but no guards patrolling inside. A few seconds after the Dark Cloud entered the castle, a teenager boy with a small horn excitedly came down the stairs and seemed to be eagerly waiting for Taliya. "Taliya! Practice time has already started, I''ve been waiting for half an hour!" The boy had short silver hair and a handsome face, one look and you can guess he is from the Royalty. No one knew why but the majority of the Demon Royalty had silver hair, which is why Arthur had a strong guess that Lucy had some relation to them in some way or another. Even if it''s the Demon Lord, if he is really her father and he abandoned her, he is not going to forgive him. He would kill him but he would make him regret his decision then he''ll drag him to Lucy and let her deal with him, if she wants to forgive him or kill him, either way, he''ll support her. "Young Master, it''s not the time for practice. We have an important guest and I have to lead him to master." "Jeeee! That''s no fun, you promised to teach me." The young man started pouting with an unhappy look but one cold glare from the maid made his face stiffen and his pouting stop. He scratched his head in embarrassment and left as quickly as he came. She may just be a maid but her position is surely high for her to be able to talk to the prince like that. Taliya jumped off the Dark Cloud and led Arthur to a room deep into the castle. It''s been a while since he saw any butler or a maid around which means that this area is probably restricted. However, if it''s a trap laid by the Demon Lord, he wouldn''t really care much as they do not have the power to imprison him. His [Sixth Sense] was constantly spread around him so he could feel several presences lurking in the darkness but they must surely be some special individuals guarding the area against any sneaky invaders. "The Demon Lord is already expecting you, please come in." Taliya stopped in front of a metal door and showed Arthur in. Behind the metal door was a room, devoid of any windows with a round table in its center and several elderly figures sitting around it. ''This must be the council of the demons.'' He read in a book that the Demons have a council of elders that decide about the political matters of their race. Obviously, the Demon Lord has the highest authority but these elderly also have some saying in the matters. If they oppose a decision made by their leader, things could become troublesome. There were exactly seven people in the room, excluding Taliya and Arthur. Five old men and one middle-aged man, last but not least is a woman who appeared to be in her twenties, she was sitting next to the middle-aged man. All the present people had silver hair but the old men had a darker color, probably due to age. "Master, I''ve brought him." Taliya gestured for Arthur to enter and then bowed to the present people. She was a maid so she had to show some respect, the maid then turned to leave but an invisible force pressed down on her and a quiet voice rang in her ears. "Wait for just a second, this matter includes you too." Arthur didn''t use too much force with the Telekinesis, he just stopped her movement for a bit then let her go. Unfortunately, she turned a deaf ear to him and continued heading out of the room. She only stopped when the middle-aged man, who supposedly was the Demon Lord, finally talked "Ah, Taliya... good job. You can stay in the room." As per her master''s orders, Taliya walked behind the middle-aged man and stood there, motionless. "Esteemed guest, please sit." The middle-aged man gestured for Arthur to sit in the only empty seat left. He had an amicable smile hanging on his face and he seemed to be friendly. Zadahl (Race: Demon): Lv599 Mikayla(Demon Lord) (Race: Demon): Lv794 ''I see now... I see... hahahaha'' Arthur laughed inside of him when the results of the appraisal were displayed in front of him. From the look of it, all present people seemed respectful towards the middle-aged man but the System would never lie or falsify information. When someone is worshiped by many, such as a God or a Demon Lord, a title would be shown just like this one so the blue window in front of Arthur clearly shows that the woman was, in fact, the Demon Lord and not the middle-aged man. He didn''t know why they were acting as if she''s just the loyal wife but he wouldn''t blurt out that out of the blue, he was curious but he did not want to cause a ruckus and raise suspicions. "Thank you for your hospitality. Now onto the serious matters, could you enlighten me while would the Demon Lord himself personally invite me here?" Arthur sat comfortably on the chair, with his back leaning on it and his arms crossed, quite an ambiguous stance but it''s not like he cared that much at this point. "How could you talk to our Lord like that! Behave yourself! Filthy Human!" One of the elderly men stood up and angrily shouted at Arthur. It was just a Lv210 old man with old bones and wrinkled face, despite his level, Arthur was sure that a blow of wind could take his life. He did not like to be underestimated and he was certainly not a rash or reckless person but he did not like being yelled at by weaklings either. Combining the invisible threads and Telekinesis, Arthur ruthlessly crushed the old man''s vocal cords without mercy. Having created his own humanoid body, Arthur''s human anatomy was matchless. Demons were a bit different to Humans but if it''s about the body, they were exactly the same except the location of the heart which was the opposite of the Humans. The old man started coughing blood nonstop, his hands were holding his throat as the pain was too much to bear. Only a few seconds passed yet the old man was already unconscious on the ground. Taliya was the first to react as she took out her blades and was about to jump at Arthur when the middle-aged man raised his hand and blocked her. "I don''t like being talked at like that by someone who is only good at running his mouth and when it comes to fights, he''s the first one falling.... pathetic." Arthur didn''t even spare a glance at the unconscious old man. The other geezers were fuming but none of them dared to speak or complain. Seeing that the Demon Lord himself did nothing meant that this guest is not a normal one. Moreover, they didn''t even see or how Arthur managed to cut the man''s vocal cords and this only made them feel more afraid. Even the middle-aged man gasped for a second, he knew Arthur was so strong but it''s the first time he sees him act. The only one unfazed by this was his wife, the real Demon Lord. She had a long silver hair and a breathtaking appearance, young facial features with two black eyes. She maintained an emotionless face and stared at Arthur whilst remaining silent, she didn''t even bat an eye when the old man was wailing from agony. "Please excuse the rude behavior from our part." "No problem. I took out some competition from the play.... don''t you think? Demon Lord~~" Arthur talked to the middle-aged man but he glanced at his wife for a second, it was but a glance yet it was instantly noticed by her, who had her eyes glued on him since the second he stepped into this room. From the outside, what Arthur said was directed to the middle-aged man but Mikayla knew it was directed at her, just from that one glance. Arthur could easily guess that the council was like a second Demon Lord, so getting rid of one of the old men would benefit her, but he didn''t do it for her sake but because he didn''t like the attitude of that annoying old man. He didn''t want to go too far and kill him or else it would have been interpreted wrongly by the Demon Lord. With the usual friendly smile, the middle-aged man nodded and was about to say something when Mikayla leaned her head and whispered something in his ears. "Let''s talk privately." Her voice was so low that no one but her husband could hear, or so she thought. Arthur easily heard that due to his Dexterity. Excluding his Dexterity, he could come up with at least five skills that enhance his hearing, he just didn''t need to use them since his stats are so high, it would just be a waste of time. The fake Demon Lord nodded to his wife and after coughing a few times he looked at the elderly present and said "Thank you for granting us your audience, we''d like to talk with our esteemed guest privately." He didn''t need to say anything else for these wicked bastards to understand his meaning. They were afraid of Arthur so they didn''t linger there any extra second. Very soon, the room was empty of any elderly, there were only four people remaining and the atmosphere was silent and a bit awkward. Looking at the middle-aged man, Arthur noticed the horn erected to the back, matching the color of his hair. The woman didn''t have any horn which was confusing but he didn''t question it albeit being a bit intrigued. ... When Taliya ascertained that the old men left, she whispered something to the fake Demon Lord but he just waved his hand and gestured for her to directly tell his wife since he too came to know that this ''esteemed guest'' found out about the real identity of the Demon Lord. Just from his wife''s actions, it was easy to conclude that. Even the council didn''t know about that matter since it was their trump card and the one and the most important secret they had to keep. "What do you want?" Listening to the soft voice, Arthur was a bit surprised since this voice came out from Mikayla''s mouth. He was stunned due to how contrary her voice is to her appearance. Usually, a person with cold eyes and emotionless face, just like Lucy, for example, would have a cold and chilling voice except in unique situations but this Demon Lord had a voice softer than any other person Arthur have ever heard, which is why he was momentarily surprised. "What do I want? Last I heard, it was you who invited me in here." Seeing Arthur talk disrespectfully to her master, Taliya was going to leap at him in any given second, it was a pretty funny sight, to be honest, Arthur was barely holding his laughter as he glanced at Taliya who displayed a serious face yet was in a funny pose. "Speak your mind, no need for riddles." Still insisting he voice out his thoughts, Arthur could only shrug and dive into the matter. He wanted to know why they invited him but if the Demon Lord is going to insist then why not? While pointing at Taliya, Arthur gazed at Mikayla and casually said "I want her." A moment of silence passed quickly as Arthur corrected his sentence. "Don''t get me wrong, I want her to be my follower not as a toy or whatever you thought. I already asked her but she won''t reply, so I''m asking the master instead." The smile on the middle-aged man''s stiffened, he tried to keep it but he couldn''t as he was dumbstruck by what he just heard. As for Mikayla, she was as unfazed as ever, it''s either she was expecting that or it just wasn''t that surprising to hear that from Arthur. "Taliya is not an object to be given to anyone, she''s a loyal servant for our household.... she is also my sister." ''Is that so.'' Arthur didn''t expect this but his intentions still didn''t change, if she is willing to accompany him then it''ll lift some burden off him. He just needs someone from the time being, and it''s for the better if it''s a strong person and someone you can trust. He didn''t trust Taliya but judging from her behavior, she isn''t a bad person, after some time, maybe he''ll learn to trust her a bit. The people he really has confidence in and fully trusts can be counted on one hand. Arthur was prepared to talk again when the surroundings suddenly blurred and his vision darkened. Nothing besides that occurred yet it was enough for him to know that it''s happening again and he''ll have to endure for another 7 years. ... Unlike what he thought, Arthur found himself in a white space with nothing but him around. He looked around and tried walking in all directions but it leads to nowhere. Seconds... minutes and even hours passed yet nothing happened. It was just Arthur roaming the endless white space. At some point, he even thought he might have died but the probability of that being true is extremely meager. "Hello there, Arthur." Another figure, exactly similar to Arthur suddenly appeared in front of him. It had the same facial features, same hair, eyes, and nose. Even calling him his doppelganger would be an understatement, the figure in front of him is his literal copy. Arthur had one guess in mind, it''s that person who possessed him when he was unconscious after fighting the Gods in the Underworld. "Who are you?" It was a bad idea to follow this person''s advice and Arthur was truly angry at him but he still maintained a calm attitude and politely asked. For a person to cut him off reality, invade his mind and even possess his body, it''s better to be not aggressive against him for the time being, at least until he found a way or a solution to get rid of this invader. "I''m Arthur." "With my appearance and my name? Who are you?" Arthur''s eyes narrowed as he stared at his smiling copy, he couldn''t even use any magic or create any weapon or he would have beheaded this smiling bastard although it looks exactly like him, it is not him. "Who am I? I told you I''m Arthur hahaha" While barely holding the urge to punch himself, Arthur coldly glared at his copy and said "Why am I here? What are you doing here?" The Arthur copy put his hand on his chin and closed his eyes as if he was pondering about something. After maintaining that pose for a couple of seconds, he laughed again and replied "Hahaha, did you really think I''m here? This is just a message I left but I could guess what you''re going to ask so I gave you early answers hahahaha.... now onto the serious stuff." ''There is no way this is me. He''s so lame....'' "You see how wide this white space is? I created it. It''s literally endless so that you can fight at your heart''s will." "Fight?" Confused by what he heard, Arthur sensed a foreboding danger but he couldn''t fathom from where. There were only him and the douchebag in front of him. "Now before you complain, listen to what I have to say. Did you ever wonder what''s that ARK thingy in your status window? No? Well if you did, then you''re going to have your answer, and if you never wondered... well it''s a shame but you''ll also be forced to learn to the truth whether you like or not." The Arthur copy raised his hand as if he was holding something in it then he resumed talking "The ARK is something I created to help you specifically. It does not any kind of Energy, neither does it rely on Magic and keep in mind I''m talking about real Magic. It is purely scientific and its only goal is to help you." A cubic object appeared above his hand, it floated in the air and had countless small lines engraved on it. The lines would turn from blue to red every now and then but aside from that, its appearance was quite normal. It was a bit bigger than a fist and was white in color with countless lines on it. Arthur couldn''t fathom what''s so special about it. "I know it looks ordinary but the appearance doesn''t matter. One of its many functions is to train you, and that is why I''m here today. This message is scheduled to set off when your body has met the minimum requirements to support the weight of the ARK. Since all of this is new to you, we''ll start off easy and just to let you know, your Energy, Health and Stamina Recoveries are increased to 100%. All your stats are lowered to 100 for the sake of the training and your weight is increased by 15 times. All the skills are disabled except the basic ones such as weapons masteries. There is no time limit and no matter how much you''re here, not even a second will pass in reality. Oh and don''t die, alright? Having a 100% Health Recovery doesn''t help if you''re insta-killed, right? hahaha" Arthur could not even process the first part before his copy suddenly disappeared, leaving the cubic object rotating slowly. *Countdown beginning: 10..9..8..7* "Countdown for what?" Arthur trying shouting for the robotic voice to explain what''s going to happen but there was no response. The countdown reached 0 at last and what''s about to happen finally happened. TITLE: MEAT GRINDER / SEEKER OF KNOWLEDGE / ONE WITH THE SWORD / ARK HOLDER Level ???? Class: Dark ARK Parasite Realm: Immortal 5th Grade- Strength:100 Intelligence:100 Agility:100 Wisdom:100 Vitality:100 Dexterity:100 Health:100 / / Health Regen:100% Nether Energy:100 / / Nether Energy Regen:100% Mana:100 / / Mana Regen:100% Stamina:100 / / Stamina Regen:100% Creation : 0 Attack:100 Defense:100 Magic defense : 100 Enigma abilities : Telekinesis / Ancient Threads / Sixth sense / ARK(ACTIVATED) Mental Power : 100 Elemental Resistances: Fire: 0% Water:0% Wind:0% Earth:0% Light/holy:0% Shadow0% Lightning0% Ice0% ''It really changed!'' Even his infinite Stamina was turned back to 100. He trying clenching his fists but the godly physical power he previously had disappeared. Since he entered this space, he could still feel his power but he couldn''t use it but now, it literally all went away in just a split second. From the clean white ground, a big silhouette popped up. It was a three meter tall white humanoid creature. From head to toe, it was all white with no facial features or clothes, it didn''t even have a gender. *Please pick you weapon.* *List: One-handed Axe: 10 attacks. Two-handed Axe: 25 attacks. Small Shield: 5% block, 5 defense. Large Shield: 15% block, 25 defense. .... A long list of weapons was displayed in front of him, the list was so long that he had to scroll down for a couple of minutes. There were all kinds of weapons but their disparity in attack and defense was not that large. Arthur just chose a katana that looked similar to Makaze and closed the transparent window. He can wield other weapons but he was more comfortable with swords. *Are you ready?* ''No.'' Arthur clicked no and spent some time getting used to the katana. He still had his sword mastery but the peak mastery is lost which is a shame or else he wouldn''t have to worry even with such low stats. What''s more is that his Stamina will run out so quickly so he can''t drag out the fight for very long. ''Alright, I''m ready.'' *User approval obtained. Countdown beginning: 10..9..8..7..6...* Arthur tightly held the katana and faced the weird white thing humanoid creature in front of him. It didn''t wield any weapons but it still had a tall height and a big size which was worrying a bit, especially since Arthur had a very low Agility and Dexterity. *Battle: Start!* At the robotic voice''s sign, the white creature charged at Arthur and stomped its feet at him. It''s been forever for Arthur since he fought this slowly and struggled against such a weak enemy. He may have lost his skills and stats but at least he still had the experience he gained from all the countless battles he had to go through, whether it''s in reality or in those 14 years. Arthur side-stepped away from the incoming foot and slashed his katana horizontally at the white foot. He was expecting to deal some damage but the Katana easily cut through the foot as if it was tofu. It was met with absolutely no resistance and the foot was cut off instantly. Losing its balance, the white creature fell on the ground but albeit being unable to stand up, it still did a grabbing motion, trying to crush Arthur into minced meat. Arthur didn''t miss this opportunity, he avoided the hands by rolling in between and then did a vertical swing with his katana, cutting off the neck of this weird creature. *Congratulations! You passed the first phase.* Arthur was going to breathe a sigh of relief when the other copy of him suddenly appeared. "Hi, there! If you''re seeing this then it means you successfully passed the first phase. It was pretty easy, right? Hahaha, I knew you could manage it. Well, there are two other phases left to finish the beginner phase but it''ll come with benefits, trust me. For the second phase, your stats are increased by 10 times but the enemy''s strength is multiplied by 50. You can also use the physical skills but only the basic ones, you can check them before fighting. Oh and here''s a precious advice; Don''t die! Hahahahaha" ''Lame fucker...'' Arthur cursed his copy repeatedly as he wiped the sweat off his forehead and sat down to rest. For some reason, his Stamina decreased by more than half just by doing three moves which are not a normal thing. He had infinite Stamina since the moment he possessed Zodaik so he never felt tired no matter how much he fights. The only thing remotely similar to fatigue he experienced is whilst activating all those passives and having to bear with the endless pressure pressing on his mind and causing him mental pain. ... Another creature appeared, this time had a normal humanoid height but it was still strangely white. It took a stance similar to the karate from Earth, either way, it resembled a martial art stance. *Please pick your weapon.* *List: One-handed Axe: 100 damage. ....* Arthur picked up his Katana and the second he touched it, the robotic voice rang in his ears again. *Available skills for swords: Cross Slash Lv1/ Hole in One Lv1/ Dance Harmony Lv1/ Enforcement Lv1...* A list longer than the weapons appeared in front of Arthur. He didn''t even bother reading all of the skills, he picked a few that seemed useful in critical moments and ignored the rest. To read all of those skills, even a day wouldn''t be enough as the list kept refreshing and increasing every second. *Are you ready?* ''... Ready..'' Honestly, he didn''t even know why he had to do this but for now, he had to take his copy''s word and hope these phases would give him decent rewards when he''s out of this space and his stats better come back to normal or else he''s screwed. "Come at me, whitey" Since they are all white, Arthur decided to call it ''whitey'', it suits them and he isn''t going to waste time to pick a name for each one of them if there''s going to be multiple phases then more of these weird creatures will pop up. A burst of wind was heard as whitey charged at Arthur with incredible speed. Seeing the opponent coming, Arthur didn''t just stay idle, he raised his katana and used [Singular Point]. It''s a sword skill that allows the user to see what''s the weakness of the opponent at the cost of 150 Stamina. As Arthur expected, it was not just one red point, the whole white figure was in red so it appears that wherever he strikes, it''ll deal lots of damage. [Cross Slash] was executed and two sword arcs made from sheer sword energy were thrown at the incoming whitey, which marvelously evaded the arcs and appeared on the left side of Arthur. Having no time to dodge, Arthur swung his katana at whitey, performing a backward slash which failed due to it only hitting the air. Whitey crouched down to avoid the slash and did a fast roundhouse kick that sent Arthur flying 5 meters in the air. Whitey didn''t even wait for Arthur to fall on the ground, it dashed at where he''s going to fall and kicked his exposed back, sending him stumbling on the ground which was dyed by the blood coming out of his mouth. Fortunately, Arthur was able to stabilize himself and quickly got up. What''s more, his Health was instantly recovered but the pain was still agonizing him. His broken bones were repaired in just a second but the pain was way slower and it took more than a second for it to disappear. ... *Congratulations! You passed the second phase.* "Hi again! It seems you''re owning this beginner phase! I like that! To motivate you more, the stats will be raised ten times but the next enemy will be 25 times stronger. All your attributes will be unlocked but you won''t be able to abuse the strong skills, only basic ones will be available. oh and by the way, after you defeat the next enemy, you won''t hear another message from me, you''ll just earn you rewards. You can leave if you want after that but you can also train in this space, it cost a bit but you''ll find it worth it I think... anywayyyyyy I got distracted for a second. I''m going to give you three warnings. One, don''t mess with the System or provoke them or even fight against one of them, the fact that you''re doing the beginner phase shows how weak you are currently. Two, it is really unlikely but if you ever meet someone named ''The Joker'' then don''t mess with him, don''t even talk to him, he''s one of the only remaining Magic users and you''ll just die by his hands, just pray you don''t meet him. Three, Don''t mess with the Dragon Race, don''t anger them or steal anything from them. That is all I can say, good luck and don''t die!" Arthur was sitting and panting heavily as he barely managed to beat whitey. The martial arts it used was pretty basic but it hits pretty hard and he was sent flying in the air for more times than he could count. Now came the warnings of his copy which left him startled and confused. He never intended to mess with the Joker after witnessing him fight, neither did he plan on angering the dragons. He fought one in the past but apparently, that was not a real dragon. As for the System, Arthur was skeptical about it, it helped him in many ways but he still found it a strange existence, it even had a universe of its own. Thinking back to Astria, it''s probably in the System''s universe since all people on it have access to the System and are able to use it. It was previously said that this beginner phase has only three phases, he just finished two so there was only one remaining. Thinking back to the previous enemy he just faced, Arthur decided to rest a bit and get used to his stats a bit more. With the attributes added, Arthur can now fight more efficiently. Once he checked the attributes he could use, he was delighted to find out that the fire attribute is switched to the ancient fire attribute but there was no Dark Magic, no scrolled down but there was no sign of the Dark Magic. Cursing the smug face and lame attitude of his copy, Arthur closed the window and picked a weapon and started preparing for the last fight. ''This better be worth it or I''ll swear I''ll beat the living hell out of him if he shows up in front of me again.'' Chapter 154 - 151 : Generous Rewards Having his stats increased by another ten times hugely boosted Arthur''s capabilities and battle power. With the ancient fire and the other attributes now unlocked, albeit only being able to use basic skills, it''ll surely be useful in countless ways. Whether it''s the Shadow Attribute or the destructive and unextinguishable flames. Arthur used more than an hour to get used to his current strength and to test several magical attacks. He was still going to use a katana but this time, he''ll make proper use of his attributes to either slow down the opponent or even blind his vision to guarantee a successful attack. *Please pick your weapon* *List: One-handed Axe: 1,000 damage ....* ''Give me the usual Katana.'' *Do you wish to pick ''Sharp Katana: 850 damage?* ''Yes'' A long katana which was a bit curved appeared in Arthur''s hand. He swung it a few times and confirmed the beginning of the last phase. He picked a katana when he started adjusting his body but when he tried slashing the ground, the weapon broke into countless pieces. Not even his flames could scratch the clean white ground. *The last phase will be against yourself. Your opponent will wield the same weapon, skills, and techniques but he will have stats that are higher than yours. .... Countdown beginning: 10..9..8..7..6...* ''Myself?'' Once he heard he''s going to fight himself, Arthur was first confused than surprised. He thought that maybe he''ll fight that lame copy of his but that seemed rather unlikely as when it talked to him an hour ago, it said that they''ll not meet after he cleared the phase but then again, it never said that they''ll not meet when the phase begins. As he was contemplating and pondering what ''himself'' meant, Arthur was interrupted when a weird sound rang in his ears and diverted his attention to its source. Usually, whitey and his brothers would pop from the white ground and began to construct into a humanoid shape but this time, a strange black door appeared. The door slowly opened whilst emitting some creaking sounds and from the other side, Arthur could only see total darkness and nothing more. It was only after a few seconds that a figure similar to Arthur entered the white space through the black door. It wore the same clothes as him but the face was sinister as it was grinning evilly and displaying an unpleasant face. If Arthur had to pick, he would definitely pick the lame copy over this one. At least the copy was just lame and talkative but this one was silent and creepy, if not for its appearance, he would never have thought that it''s him. Arthur''s copy also wielded a katana but its katana was jet black and looked a bit threatening with a black aura around it, in some ways, it resembled Makaze but this weird system training Arthur wouldn''t be so unfair as to give Makaze to his opponent, right? The battle began when Arthur''s copy launched itself at Arthur, the black katana slashed the air and created several dark arcs made from pure sword energy, at the same time, it used the Earth attribute to raise three walls around Arthur to stop him from dodging its attacks. It was quite a clever tactic, even Arthur was momentarily startled as he thought of using it not a second ago yet here it is using his plan against him. Seeing the incoming materialized sword energies, Arthur used [Earthen Wall] under his feet to raise a small wall that flung him 60 degrees toward his copy. With the boost gained from the ball and adding his high stats, Arthur rotated his body mid-air and swung his katana down at the incoming attacks. He only swung it one time, it was a slow swing but you could hear a loud sound emanating from his katana. [Hole in One Lv1]: The user sacrifices 15% of his current Health to unleash a devastating attack (can be used with any weapon or with bare fists). Arthur didn''t hesitate as he used [Hole in One] and added Natural Lightning to his slash to further strengthen it and to ascertain its success in blocking the sword energies and hurting his copy. Unlike the sword energies created by his copy, the attack he just unleashed was not in the form of a curved arc but it was a bright green beam that shot at the black arcs and cut through them all. All that was left was dissipating sword energies that slowly vanished in the white space. As for the green beam, it shot at his copy with an unbelievable, its momentum and power were truly incredible. Unfortunately for Arthur, he was fighting himself and albeit using a strong attack and perfectly blocking such strong sword energies, it will not be easy to fight an opponent several times stronger than him. His copy passed its hand on its black katana, making it glow with a dark red flame then it leaped at the green beam and stabbed its katana at the green beam. With its flaming katana, Arthur''s copy kept grinning as it cut the green beam in two and was only pushed back a few steps by his attack. It sustained no damage and to further worsen the situation, it didn''t just linger there after deflecting his attack. It suddenly teleported in front of Arthur and struck with its flaming sword, clearly aiming for his neck. In response to that, Arthur raised his Katana to block and used his other free hand to punch his copy''s chest. A katana was met with another katana and his fist was also blocked with his copy''s fist, a totally symmetric position. As they were trying to overpower each other, Arthur used [Flame Spear] and tried to stab his copy in the back but the dark red spear was blocked by an [Earthen Wall] that suddenly appeared from below. The spear easily destroyed the wall but it was met with another wall and so on until it was dissipated. ''It seems the ancient flames was weakened... definitely! No matter how many walls are raised, a flame spear like that would be able to easily penetrate all of them with ease yet the flame spear he just used dissipated after destroying four walls. Seeing his copy still smirking, clearly mocking him for using such weak and useless tricks. Arthur let go of the Katana, which was instantly cut in two pieces but he didn''t care about that, he concentrated his power in his leg and used [Enhancement] then he performed a roundhouse kick and struck his copy in its waist on the right side. [Enhancement]: The Physical damage done by the user will be increased. Cost: 75 Stamina per sec. His copy was a second too late to block the incoming kick but it was only sent flying after a bit of its katana penetrated two inches in Arthur''s right shoulder. It was a fair trade but that''s what any spectator would think, however, Arthur''s kick was way more powerful than his copy''s strike. The copy was sent stumbling on the ground and rolling dozens of meters away from Arthur. The right side of its waist was completely shattered due to Arthur''s kick, it took it a couple of seconds to properly get up and stabilize its body. "Wipe that creepy ass smile off your face and come at me." Arthur was the one smirking right now, he didn''t even bother checking his wound, it was not too serious and with his current Vitality, it wouldn''t take much for it to heal. The same thing goes for his Copy but shattered bones would take a bit more times even though the copy has higher stats. Having his weapons cut in two pieces, Arthur had physical weapons to use so he could only conjure two sharp flaming daggers in each hand. He didn''t wait for his enemy to recover, with two flaming daggers in his hands, he rushed at the opponent and when he was around 10m away from the grim faced copy, he suddenly created a clone of himself using [Shadow Magic] and instantly teleported behind his copy. It''s a bit surprising that the clone skill of the Shadow Magic was considered a basic skill but Arthur was not going to complain, it''s available and useful so he had to use it. The clone did as ordered and used the two fakes flaming daggers to slash at the knees of the copy. As for Arthur, who just teleported behind his opponent, he sliced with his daggers, using the assassin''s two deadly skills [Backstab] and [Slice and Dice]. [Backstab]: The user attacks from behind guaranteeing a critical hit and dealing 350% damage. [Slice and Dice]: A fast hack of both the user''s daggers (185% damage). It can be used as a combo after using [Backstab] and in that case, it''ll also deal a critical hit and deals 370% damage and activates the bleeding effect for 15 seconds. The copy was not an opponent to be underestimated but albeit being created by the ARK, it was by no means a stupid opponent, it could even be considered a sentient being. It realized that the frontal Arthur was just a clone when it felt a chilling aura behind its back. It was too late to use [Faster Than Death] but blocking is another thing. It tried to mimic Arthur and used [Earthen Wall] to fling itself high in the air, avoiding the flying daggers and Arthur''s deadly combo but such tactic was already foreseen by Arthur. "Oh no you won''t!" As the combo was going to land, Arthur made use of the Ice attribute and froze all the ground around him and his copy to make it impossible for a fast and sudden earthen wall to pop up from the ground. It may not stop the wall from coming out but it''ll drastically slow it and buy him enough time to land his combo. With it being in such a desperate situation, the clones abandoned any thoughts of facing the flying daggers and turned around and used its black katana to block the flaming daggers of Arthur. "Haha, fool!" As Arthur mocked his copy, his two daggers were met with the katana and his combo was blocked before the second skill was activated but all of this was expected by Arthur. The two flaming daggers which his clones threw at his copy suddenly merged together and transformed into a big fireball. The copy turned its back and ignored the daggers because it deemed Arthur''s combo to be more dangerous and deadly than two flying daggers which were thrown by a clone made by Shadow Magic but what it didn''t expect is that those daggers were real ones and Arthur planned this from the start, the moment he teleported, he secretly passed his daggers to the clone and conjured another pair just as he appeared behind his copy. ''BOOOM'' The fireball his the copy''s back, burning its clothes and making it wail and fly high up in the air. Arthur decided to fall back just as the fireball was going to hit or else he''ll be hurt too since his fire resistance has been lowered. "Now the final touch." Arthur let go of his flaming daggers and jumped at his copy, which just crashed into the ground and wailed from pain caused by the flames. ''It''s sentient after all.... fascinating yet scary...'' Arthur showed no mercy as he stood next to his copy which was rolling on the ground and trying to touch its back. ''ting ting ting'' Low noises made from the invisible threads were heard, the threads twirled around the copy''s limbs and without any hesitation, Arthur used a bit of force and severed all the copy''s limbs then he looked at its eyes, which were staring at him fearfully, and said. "A copy can never beat an original, you may have my skills but not my memories or battle experience. So what if you''re a lot stronger in terms of stats? Numbers are not everything and this clearly shows it." A white drill the size of a fist was created by countless small threads, it spun with a fast speed and penetrated the copy''s skull, killing it on the spot and finishing this beginner''s phase once and for all. *Congratulations! You passed the third phase.* *Congratulations! You finished the Beginner''s Phase.* *Performance: Physical Score: 97/100 Skills Score: 71/100 Magic Score: 66/100 Battle Score: 78/100 Weapon Score: 6.5/10 Time Spent: 134 minutes 49 seconds. ''Average'' Overall score: 75/100 ''Great Job'' * Rewards: +4 Grades, +40% to Health/Stamina/Energy Regen. +25M to all stats. +40 Creation.* ''These are definitely worth it...'' Arthur contemplated the rewards and was ecstatic as they were really incredible, especially the increase in Grades. Each breakthrough in a grade makes the limit of his stats a bit higher than the last one, so he can possess more corpses and add more stats each time he broke through to a higher Grade. Moreover, he gained another boost in stats too. Although he doesn''t use the Lost Magic which was related to the Creation stats in battle, it''s nevertheless useful in many ways. There is also the tactic of flash bombs, it was quite useful last time so Arthur was planning on creating more in times of despair so he could use them to escape or the blind an enemy. He can also create simple clothes and countless weapons, be it swords or guns but they are not very powerful, the stats are considered cheat for normal people but compared to Makaze, it''s literally nothing. On his own, Makazer increases by 4 million in Agility and 5 in Strength and it stopped at that only because Arthur had to breakthrough as the sword''s power matched its master''s. "So how can I leave this place?" Arthur faced the rotating cube and questioned, there was only him and that object in this endless white space and he was given no information or instruction on how to leave. *You can leave by holding the ARK and saying ''Dra''lim''. You can also choose to stay and train more, all your stats and skills have been recovered and they will only be revoked again in case you enter the next trial." "Next Trial." *You do not meet the necessary requirements for the next trial: Divine Realm 5th Grade.* "But my battle power is way above the Divine Realm, doesn''t that count? If we''re talking about Stats, mine should equal a God''s." *Numbers are irrelevant. To gain access to the next trial, you need to reach the Divine Realm 5th Grade.* "Irrelevant you say.... we''ll see about that in the future. How do I enter the ARK again from outside?" *To enter the ARK, all you need to do is say ''Dra''lka''. You cannot enter the ARK whilst being in battle-mode.* Arthur nodded and walked to the cube, ready to leave this place. For now, he''ll settle his matter with the Demon Lord and he''ll return here to investigate more. ''Dra''lim'' Arthur said the words and instantaneously, his surroundings warped and his mind became hazy whilst his body felt as if it was carrying a mountain. It was the same exact feeling as when he was experiencing those weird dreams, however, this one was a bit tenser than usual. The process took mere seconds but for Arthur, it felt like an eternity with the pain striking his mind and disturbing his thoughts, making him unable to move properly or think of a way to stop it, he was totally helpless. It finally ended when Arthur''s eyes opened and landed on Mikayla, the Demon Lord. He couldn''t help but cough a mouthful of black blood. It was a sudden action made by him which alerted Taliya and the others but none of them acted, they just stared at him startled and confused. After all, he just coughed blood out of nowhere. The husband and Taliya thought that the Demon Lord used her special eyes to damage Arthur but the silver-haired woman softly shook her head as she was just as confused as them. Arthur was stuck in the white space for a long time but in reality, it was just two seconds, just enough time to blink his eyes. The black blood was not a bad sign but Arthur felt a strong headache for some reason. He could feel his muscles and bones strengthening and hardening, his Mental Power grew to an unbelievable degree and he could feel an immense power inside his Dantian. He just grew by four Grades and earned a lot of stats, so such a feeling is common but the weird thing is an annoying headache which wouldn''t stop even after a couple of seconds have passed since he came out of the ARK. ''I wasn''t warned about this!'' Arthur activated the pain Immunity which lifted some of the pain away but not all of it, nonetheless, Arthur bore with it and shifted his focus to the three others. "Do not mind that." Arthur waved his hand, burning the black blood which splattered on the ground. He didn''t know what it was exactly as it clearly wasn''t normal blood but he had a strong hunch that they are impurities or something that was inside of him and hurting him, now that it''s out then there is no need to think about it. Now that the pain quietened and the matter of the ARK has been put aside, Arthur went back to the main topic. "So you''re saying you don''t want to negotiate?" Arthur clearly heard what the Demon Lord said earlier and it seems she regards the maid highly and trying to win her over would be practically impossible. He wasn''t interested in political topics and since Mikayla didn''t seem to be the kind of person of who abandons her people, just giving priceless treasures wouldn''t change her decision. Moreover, Taliya is the Demon Lord''s sister so that adds to her importance for Mikayla. Although it was regrettable, Arthur wasn''t going to insist too much, if he''s lucky, he''ll find a person like Mikayla so he can pass the time with him, at least until he finds Lucy. With nothing more to do here, Arthur got up from his seat and prepared to leave the room as there is nothing else to talk about, at least nothing he was interested in talking about. There was the matter of Lucy''s origins but seeing Mikayla''s demeanor, he was absolutely sure she wouldn''t talk whether he talked to her with a friendly attitude or tortured her. "Wait." With the usual cold and calm voice, the Demon Lord stopped Arthur as she kept staring at him but there was a soft frown on her face as if she was struggling with something. "The negotiations are over. Except for your maid, I''m not interested in anything else, no need to waste our time talking about something that will lead to nowhere." Arthur didn''t even bother turning to look at Mikayla as he continued walking out of the room but he halted in his steps once heard the next sentence. "I never said I won''t hand my head maid to you, you just assumed that by yourself. However, I won''t give my sister for an unknown person for a treasure or an object that is but a means to an end." "Then stop talking in riddles and get straight to the point. What do you want?" Arthur faced the Demon Lord and stared into her eyes, it was but a stare but for Mikayla, she felt as if she was engulfed by a dark abyss. His eyes were sharp and cold as if she was going to be devoured alive at any second. It was just the effect of [Bloodlust], it was quite effective since she''s weaker than him but she managed to resist it, contrary to Rey who couldn''t even lift a finger after being affected by it. The Demon Lord dropped her head and stared at the floor, seemingly lost in thought. She only snapped out of it when the middle-aged man tapped her shoulder. There was a hint of sadness and bitterness lingering on her face, especially in her eyes. Some unwillingness and hesitation, as if she wasn''t sure about what to do. ".... I want you to destroy the Human Empire." As if expecting to hear that, Arthur gave an almost immediate answer. "That is not possible." "... Then help the Demons invade the Human Empire." Whilst shaking his head, Arthur shrugged his shoulders and casually replied "That is practically the same thing. I can''t personally help you invade the Human Empire but I can give you an army." Mikayla had some hopes after discovering how strong Arthur was but these two replies crushed all her hopes. She didn''t need to see his real strength to know the difference between the two of them. He immediately knew she was the real Demon Lord and just a stare from him made her body shiver on its own. That is more proof than needed. "Army?" Arthur nodded his head and waved his hand, spawning a normal skeleton warrior. The strongest normal skeleton that he could summon is a Lv150 Skeleton but that is if he doesn''t Mental Power. Necromancy didn''t use Mana since the moment he broke through the Mortal Realm but if he uses Mental Power, then the spawned undead would be much stronger, however, the regen of Mental Power took hours if not days. The skeleton wielded a rusty blade and a black shield that was half of its size. He could also spawn a mage or archer skeletons, as for Death Knights and such, the price would cost more and he wasn''t willing to give the Demon Lord such strong Undead under her command. It would cause a lot of trouble if the current balance on Astria is broken because of him. The current situation is calm despite a few small wars but it isn''t too threatening. The clans are reclusive and just compete against each other, as for the Humans and Demons, it''s fine as long as the current stalemate situations remain for some time until his sect starts establishing peace. He wasn''t going to order Anastassia to rule over Astria, but he''s still going to stop these two Races from battling any further and causing countless casualties. The enemy may come at any second to attack the World Tree and they should unite instead of doing needless wars for small pieces of lands or stupid political reasons. "This is a normal Skeleton with a Level of 150, I can spawn as many as you want of these, however, you must first tell me the reason you want to destroy the Human Empire." Each time the word Human was mentioned, a look of disgust and hatred would appear on their faces, their loathe and hate for the Humans seemed to be really deep so Arthur wanted to know why is it like this. As for as he knew, the Human Emperor didn''t seem to be the tricky and evil person who only seeks power, he could also be mistaken but that was far unlikely. Mikayla didn''t seem the rush or idiotic type too, so he was curious on why these two rulers are battling each other and waging wars when they can remain in their own continent and just stay at peace. After all, there were countless perks in creating an alliance between them. Humans and Demons may loathe each other but there can be reconciliation, maybe not today or this year, but after a decade or a century of an alliance, a change may occur. ... The middle-aged man was the one who couldn''t hold it any longer, with a clenched fist and a shaky voice, he explained to Arthur the real situation. "W-we never wanted to rule Humans.... maybe the previous Demon Lord had other motives... b-but" As he was going to finish, Mikayla stared at him, motioning him to stop talking but he just softly smiled back at her and took her hand, reassuring her and resumed speaking. "It''s fine. If we got the number we can finally....." With a resolute look, the middle-aged man looked at Arthur and added "It was about five years ago, the Human Empire had a spy who managed to attain a high position in the Demon Ranking. The spy managed to invade our manor and successfully kidnapped out beloved daughter.... since that night, we never stopped our assault on the Humans and sent many experts to try and retrieve her but we couldn''t even locate where she is." Hearing this, Arthur was a bit confused because when he visited the Human Emperor last time, he didn''t see any strong presence guarding him. It was obvious that the Demon Lord was way stronger than the guards around the Emperor but why is it that they were not possible to retrieve their daughter? ".... Humans are a weaker Race than us, however, they can reproduce quickly and their numbers far exceed us, albeit having more power, we cannot foolishly engage in all-out war and risk the lives of all our Race just for the sake of our daughter. Moreover, the Human Emperor has two many experts around him at all times, even my wif-- The Demon Lord cannot beat them." ''Two guards? That''s impossible!'' Arthur would have definitely sensed them. Although he wasn''t that strong when he visited the Emperor last time, his level was low but his strength was quite frightening compared to mortals. Moreover, he slapped the Emperor''s wife last time, if there was indeed two guards, they would have acted last time. There''s got to be a mistake somewhere. "Are you sure? Two guards? Last time I checked, he had no one strong next to him." "Last time you checked?" Taliya never had a good impression of Arthur, hearing what he just said, her suspicions of him being a human spy were strengthened even further. "Yes, I visited him a few years ago and he didn''t have any powerful guards with him." Mikayla pieced somethings together, and before her sister could talk, she hesitantly spoke "D-don''t tell me the large undead army stationed around the Human Continent is yours?"-Mikayla "Yes, it was a gift from me to the Emperor." "A-a gift? I knew it! You''re with the filthy Humans!" Taliya couldn''t maintain her calm attitude, she unsheathed both her short blades and charged at Arthur, intending to finish him once and for all. Taliya didn''t even cross the small distance of a dozen meters before she was frozen mid-air but Arthur''s strings. She was a bit rash but not idiotic, Arthur was not ruthless to the point of killing her for doing this. Taliya struggled and tried moving her blades to cut the strings but that was only wishful thinking as she couldn''t even move an inch. She could only stare at him hatefully, with piercing eyes, wishing she could rip him into pieces. ---------------- In the endless Void, the surroundings were as creepy and ominous as ever, with countless bright flashes far away and small destroyed planets everywhere. The Grim Reaper was floating in the Void with its long gray scythe in its hands and its two eyes pulsating with a red light. It was silently floating in a specific direction and all the spatial tears and unusual fluctuation didn''t affect it one bit. It passed through them as if they didn''t exist in the first place. The Grim Reaper floated for an unknown amount of time, it didn''t care about time nor did it care about what''s happening around it, it had a job to do and nothing can kill a Grim Reaper except Death Itself. The trip was boring and unexciting, the Grim Reaper only stopped after he was met with an unexpected encounter. With its two eyes still pulsating but a bit more rapidly, as if it was happy, the Grim Reaper looked ahead and spoke with a cold and chilling voice "You''re the top target on my list, I would say what a coincidence to meet you here but I can''t think of it as a coincidence, knowing who you are. Am I wrong, Joker? Or should I call you ''The Playful Magician''? Or Godslayer? Or even ''the last surviving person from the Omega Universe?''" A funny-looking joker that resembled the one in a normal deck of cards appeared a distance away from the Grim Reaper. It played with two cards in its hand and displayed a wide grin on its face. "Hahahaha, it''s nice to meet you again, really nice! Hahahaha, I remember last time you put up a good fight!" The scythe in the Grim Reaper''s hand transformed into a bigger black scythe with a white skull in its center, the appearance was horrifying and its size was simply too big for the Grim Reaper to wield it as its weight alone must be astonishing yet the skeleton easily swung it around as it was weightless. "Last time huh? It must be before I died.... the life of a Grim Reaper is quite long after all.... now there will be no distractions or interruptions.... shall we begin?" "Hahahahahha! That''s how I like it! Less talking and more fighting, it''s always fun to play a game!" With a strange posture and an inclined back, the Joker stared at the Grim Reaper with its yellow eyes and added "It isn''t a game if there is no prize right? Hahahahah, name what you want!" ".... You really live up to your reputation.... if it''s a game you want then it shall be! I have a lot of free time you see... I wouldn''t mind how you survived and were the only surviving person of your Universe. Even my master, Death itself it quite curious about that... I can''t say I''m not too." Hearing about this topic again, the aura around the Joker became colder and more domineering, his eyes sharpened but his smirk remained. After keeping silent for a few seconds, he laughed again and replied "Hahahahah! So it is the truth you seek, you''re not the first one but..... truth comes with a price, hahahahaha! The only way to beat me if to kill me, to defeat me without killing me is.... hahahahahahha! Let''s play let''s play!!!! In return, if I win, I want your life!" ----- The battle finally began when the Joker charged at the Grim Reaper. Although there was no place to walk or run on, the Joker was casually running on the Void which is not something that can be easily done. Even the Grim Reaper had to float or fly to move around. From what Arthur previously saw, on board of that old looking ship, the Joker had an incredible physical strength, he overpowered all his enemies with simple roundhouse kicks or punches. He would sometimes use his cards but he focused mainly on his physical ability. The distance that was separating them was crossed in a very short time by the smirking Joker, he did a push kick straight at the Grim Reaper''s chest but his talon boot was stopped by the big scythe which covered almost all of the Reaper''s body. The Joker ignored the Scythe and just as his boots were going to meet with the scythe, he rotated mid-air and used his other foot to perform a back kick which hit the sharp side of the scythe. His movements were flawless and incredibly fast, by the time the Grim Reaper was able to react, he was already flung away by the strong power behind the Joker''s kick. Although his weapon blocked most of the attack, he was still pushed back. "You know that Physical attacks won''t work on me, it''s just a waste of time." Whilst saying that the Grim Reaper stabilized his body and faced the Joker, who was still grinning creepily. Turning a deaf ear to the opponent, the Joker laughed and ran towards the Grim Reaper, clearly planning to use physical attacks just like a second ago. The Grim Reaper may be practically immortal, but albeit not sustaining any damage from the Joker''s physical attacks, he isn''t going to underestimate his enemy and just stay still and let himself be flung around in the endless Void. It fully knew the Joker''s capabilities and although it told Arthur it was Immortal, it is actually not. It had died many times in the past and there is a number of things which can hurt it. The Joker was on top of its list for a reason and it is certainly not going to hold back. The large scythe slashed the Void and conjured several old looking skeletal heads that wailed and dived at the Joker. At the same time, the Grim Reaper opened a small rift in the Void and entered it. It didn''t take it a split second to appear from another rift just behind the Joker. "It is not good to be stubborn, Godslayer!" The Grim Reaper activated another special power, it gripped the Void and rotated its free hand creating a purple whirlpool which was a bit similar to the one Zodiak used against Delia. With a large whirlpool behind him and a dozen wailing skeletal heads to the front, the Joker was in a bad situation but he didn''t even show a worried look, in fact, his laugh became louder and his smirk widened. "Hahahahaha! Yes yes, this is what I want!" The Joker lifted his left hand which had a normal looking card and said "3? Serpent Creed!" Seeing the Joker using the cards, the Grim Reaper knew that the fight finally started. Everyone who knew about the Joker or heard rumors, they would know he is a Real Magic user but no one knew how he used the Magic. He didn''t rely on any kind of Energy but pure Magic, the one told in ancient tales and legends. He came from a Universe that didn''t have any Energy so its inhabitants used Magic but something happened and the universe was obliterated with no survivor but this psychopath Joker. A black snake appeared around the hand that was holding the card, it was barely fit around the Joker''s hand. Its eyes were empty and everything, including its sharp fangs, were black. The serpent blurred after it just appeared and soon, it turned into a serpent looking claws with its fangs being the sharp edges of each finger. The Joker didn''t even spare a look to his new claws, he just swung his hand at the wailing skulls and instantly got rid of them. It was hard to explain what happened as the skulls just turned blurry and then dissipated into the Void. What was left was the fearsome whirlpool. It spun slowly yet the aura and pressure it was emitting were horrifying. The Joker backed away a few steps, pointed his claws at the whirlpool then closed his fist. "What do you think is more powerful, your attack, or my lovely serpent? Hahahahaha." The fist pointed at the whirlpool turned into a black blob which in turn transformed into a serpent head that was hissing. The serpent head opened its mouth and spit what seemed to be a black foggy beam which shot straight toward the whirlpool''s center. Such whirlpools were quite enigmatic and unlike any usual clash, no explosion happened, the black beam kept shooting inside of the whirlpool but the latter was devouring all the attack as if it was nothing. Despite seeing his attack not doing a thing, the Joker kept laughing and the serpent never stopped spitting the long endless beam, powered by whatever power the Joker was using. The Grim Reaper didn''t stay still and watch, it vanished again and used the same method as earlier to appear behind the Joker. The large Scythe was slashed at the back of the Joker yet the target was still laughing as if he was never in danger. The Scythe was just going to strike his back when two more Jokers appeared from both directions of the Grim Reaper. Both of them punched the Grim Reaper on its chest, sending it flying far away. " 2? Heart''s Haze!" At the same time the Grim Reaper was sent flying, the whirlpool couldn''t hold it anymore and exploded in countless purple dots that were made from Void. "Hahahaha! It is quite simple when you figure out how the Void works! You have to try harder or else it''ll be boring! Come on come on!!!" The Grim Reaper still sustained no damage from the two punches but it wasn''t that happy because dealing with the Joker wouldn''t that easy. Honestly, it never expected or even wished for its whirlpool to work, it was only meant to slow the Joker for a bit. After getting rid of the whirlpool, the Joker turned around and dashed toward the Grim Reaper again but this time, two more Jokers joined the fray and charged at the Grim Reaper too. They immediately charged at the opponent since the moment they punched it so they were a bit ahead of the real Joker. They attacked from the left and right side of the Grim Reaper, they didn''t even let it adjust its body or stop it from being flung away, they were just too fast compared to it but their attacks were not dealing any damage. The first Joker to reach the Grim Reaper did an Axe kick aimed at the target''s head, as for the second Joker, it sidestepped behind the Grim Reaper before it was sent flying down and used his knee to strike the Reaper''s back, pushing it toward the incoming real Joker. With no way to retaliate against such a speed, the Grim Reaper could only raise its scythe and spin its body like a car''s wheel as it was pushed toward the Joker. Using the serpent again, the Joker made a grabbing motion with his serpent. The black serpent head appeared again and the serpent''s mouth was opened horizontally with its black fangs ready to kill anything in its way. The Grim Reaper spun its entire body along with the large scythe, from afar, it looked like a sharp black wheel. A gray fog was being emanated from the large black wheel as it made its way toward the Joker, who was happily waiting for it with a creepy smirk. It didn''t take long from the black serpent head and the large wheel to clash with each other. Sounds similar to lightning were ringing in the Void, long lines exactly similar to lightning streaks were raging around the Joker and the Grim Reaper. The purple lines were hitting everything around it, whether it''s scattered rocks or spatial tears that were occurring around them. The clash lasted for twenty seconds before both of them were pushed back. The Joker was surprisingly pushed further and a ten-inch blade slash appeared on his left shoulder. You could even see blood stains on his clothes. As for the Grim Reaper, it didn''t look like he suffered any damage but the Joker was not that weak or stupid to the point that he could not deal any damage even with his Magic. "You cannot be injured? Hahahahah, this is the funniest joke I''ve ever heard since a long time hahahaha" The Joker examined his wound but when seeing the bloodstains, he became more excited as his yellow eyes brightened. He touched his wound and licked the blood that appeared on his finger. "2? Heart''s Haze! 3? Serpent Creed!" As the Joker shouted this again, both the black serpent and the two Jokers behind him turned into a card but this wasn''t the end. The two cards floated in front of the Joker, he caught them and spoke again "5? Magician''s Hat!" The two cards merged together and a black Magician''s hat appeared along with a red stick above it. The Joker grinned and grabbed both of them whilst saying "Do you wish to see a magic trick? It''s simple hahahahah! What do you think will come out from here?" The Joker pointed the stick toward the hat in his hand and asked the Grim Reaper, which was already flying at him. The Scythe was no longer in its hands, it now wielded a decayed bronze sword that had countless terrified faces engraved on it, it was a creepy looking sword with a withering aura around it. "Giving me the silent treatment? Hahahaha, then I''ll answer for you... it''s a PIGEON! Hahahahahha" The moment he finished his sentence, the stick tapped on the black hat and instantly, a white pigeon which couldn''t be more normal came out of the hat. The pigeon landed on the Joker''s shoulder and as it did, the wound caused by the Grim Reaper was healed in a split second, even the ripped clothes were recovered as if they were brand new. This was not the end of the pigeon''s role, the Joker put the hat on his head and took a funny posture as he waited for the Grim Reaper''s broken and decayed sword to hit him. The Grim Reaper may be slower than the Joker but a huge margin but his speed could be considered terrifying compared to his foes, it''s just that the Joker had a speed that exceeded all limits. When it was a short distance away from the Joker, the Grim Reaper did a grabbing motion and used its Gravitational Laws. An invisible yet strong grabbing force pushed the Joker closer to the Reaper, which stabbed its sword straight at the Joker''s heart. As he was pushed straight toward the incoming danger, the Joker raised the stick that came out with the hat and tapped the Void just before he was going to be stabbed by the sword. That tap seemed simple but a sword exactly similar to the one the Grim Reaper was using instantly appeared in the Joker''s hand and replaced the stick. Using the newly acquired sword, the Joker stabbed the Grim Reaper in the same way it was done to him and the two decayed swords struck each other. "Do you really think you Magic can mimic something Death personally created?" As it was saying that, the Grim Reaper''s decayed sword easily shattered the copy created by the Joker and directly stabbed the Joker''s heart. No resistance was met as the decayed sword penetrated the Joker. Still smirking despite being hit, the Joker''s other free hand which was hidden behind his back was lifted. The hand was holding yet another card. "5? Cape of Deception" A white cape appeared on the Joker''s back, it flapped by itself and created rainbow light that covered the Joker and the Grim Reaper. The pigeon that was standing on the Joker''s shoulder suddenly disappeared but so was the decayed sword. Both of them disappeared and in just a second, the two switched places, the Joker immediately grabbed the sword and slashed at the Grim Reaper, which was now holding the pigeon. The pigeon tried to break free of the creepy hand of the Grim Reaper but it couldn''t and was instantly killed by the strong grip of the enemy. Seeing the decayed sword being slashed at it, the Reaper was alerted, it used Gravitational Laws to push itself away from the Joker but just as it used the special laws, the white cape of the Joker flapped again and the same rainbow lights circled around both of them, making the Reaper unable to execute his laws. Unable to avoid the decayed sword, the Grim Reaper stretched its hand toward the Joker''s new wound created by the swords stabs. Clearly, the Reaper was prepared to trade a wound for a wound since it couldn''t avoid the sword. "Hahahaha!" The Joker ignored the stretched hand and slashed at the Grim Reaper, cutting its whole left arm. The sword was met with no resistance as it cleanly and easily cut the supposedly hard black bones of the Reaper. As for the Reaper itself, its hand dived through the Joker''s flesh and attempted to grab his heart bit it found nothing. "Hahahah, I can switch your weapon with my lovely pigeon, what makes you think I can''t change the position of my heart? Hahahahaha" Despite not being able to successfully grab his heart, the Grim Reaper''s hand still did significant damage as a withering aura dived deep into the Joker''s lungs and created a gaping hole in his chest. Blood came out of his lips as he was pushed back. One left an arm and the other was internally injured yet the Joker didn''t show any signs of anger or rage, he was still smirking even with an injury like that. "You entertain me everytime we meet, always with a new thing, Hahahahahaha" The white cape and the hat disappeared as the Joker lifted his hand which was holding a card but this time, the card contained the image of a Joker... Chapter 155 - 152 : When Blood Flows "Please do not misunderstand. It''s true that I gifted the Emperor an army but that it does mean I''m his or your ally. I''m neither Human nor Demon and the war between of you does not concern me nor do I want to waste my time with that. Although I consider him as a friend, I''ll not help him rule the world or something like that, his matters are none of my business. I can give you an army too but I''ll not personally help achieve your goals, I''ll just provide means for you and do my end of the deal if you accept my offer, that is." Still frozen mid-air, Taliya glared at Arthur but chose to remain silent. As for the Demon Lord, she stared at Arthur but it was apparent she was absent-minded. "We do not want an army." Whilst trying to keep a straight face and a deadpan expression, Mikayla calmly replied to his offer. It was a bit regrettable, Arthur did not speak anymore, he retrieved his invisibly threads and unbound Taliya then he resumed walking out of the room. "I still haven''t finished talking." The Demon Lord really didn''t want to let go of Arthur just like that. He was willing to help them for Taliya but she just couldn''t be selfish as to sacrifice her big sister for her daughter. She had a small hope that maybe, just maybe she would be able to persuade him to help them get her back. ''That''s it!'' "If--If you help us get our daughter back, I''ll pass the Demon Lord title to you." It took her a lot of conviction to say that but for Mikayla, and even her husband, their daughter was more important than this position. Honestly, since she became a Demon Lord, her life became messier and more problematic with the council trying to find a hole and gain the title but she persisted, however, none of that matters if her family was divided like this. Arthur finally disappeared from their view after he left one last sentence to reply to her. "Demon Lord title? Is that how much your daughter is worth to you?... you can find me at the usual place..... I''m sure you know it." Three people were left inside the room, remaining silent, each having their own thoughts and struggling to come up with a good solution yet even after a couple of minutes, no one of them uttered a single word, they just stood there, motionless and silent. ... Arthur had long since guessed that the Demon Lord sent someone to get him because he invaded the city and got rid of the black mage. That mage must have been causing trouble for them and since he disappeared so suddenly, they must''ve been suspicious or thought something bad was going to happen. He didn''t know how they tracked him but there is a chance that they tracked Robin and Rey he just happened to be with them but it''s not like it matters right now, they can''t threaten him or hurt him. With nothing to do and no one to talk to, Arthur went back where his Death Golem was. His goal, for now, is to wait for that hideous looking creature to teleport back to the same location, if he could kill him instantly and take his treasure then there may be a chance to travel to another world and find a way to travel to Earth or find a master of Spatial Laws to possess. The chance may be slim but it still existed and that is more than enough to push Arthur to try it. It''s better than staying on Astria and loiter around. Knowing that Astria is a desolate world, it''ll be quite hard to get out of it easily like the Underworld for example. It''s a world that is most likely in the Universe belonging to the System so the requirement to enter it is even more difficult which makes the plan to wait for a Space Master to come here is impossible to achieve. Arthur sat at a reclusive corner in dark cavy room which was the same place the black mage was performing his weird ritual in. The Death Golem was guarding the exact place the ugly creature teleported from and the second anything out of place happens, Arthur would act immediately. His sense was spread all the way to the surface and everything was ready, all he had to do was wait. With nothing else to do, Arthur opened his Status Window to check the changes as he gained quite an amount after passing the beginner phase. TITLE : MEAT GRINDER / SEEKER OF KNOWLEDGE / ONE WITH THE SWORD / ARK HOLDER Level: ??? Class: Dark ARK Parasite Realm: Immortal 9th Grade Strength: 135.9M Intelligence:143.7M Agility: 112.9M Wisdom:127.8M Vitality:104.4M Dexterity:102.1M -Health:115M-Health Regen:72894/s Nether Energy:110M / Nether Energy Regen:85800/s Mana:185M / Mana Regen:124514/s Stamina: Infinite /Stamina Regen: ??? Creation : 125 Attack:218M Defense:156.4M Magic defense : 39.7M Enigma abilities : Telekinesis / Ancient Threads / Sixth sense / ARK(Activated) Mental Power : 1999 Elemental Resistances: Fire: 100% Darkness: 100% Wind: 35% Water: 75% Earth: 75% Light/holy: 5% Shadow: 30% Lightning: 100% Ice: 30% His stats have definitely risen by a huge margin and he is just 1 Mental Power away from breaking through, however, he won''t be able to break through with just possessing, he needs to cultivate just a bit of Nether Energy and break that barrier. Moreover, he still didn''t reach the limits of his stats so he wasn''t planning on breaking through the Divine Realm until he reaches that limit. He already told Robin to collect all kinds of corpses for him and what made him happier is that she had an enormous stack of corpses in her storage rings, it''s just that she forgot them in the Headquarters so he just told her he''ll come when he''s free. The most important matter right now it finding a way out of Astria, as for possessing the corpses, he could do it in just a few hours and it''ll be done swiftly. ... A few days passed with nothing happening. Arthur sat there, silently waiting for the target to appear but it didn''t seem the monster will appear anytime soon. Plus, his Dark Anguish Technique can''t be channeled with Mana, adding the fact that there is literally no Nether Energy in this region, Arthur could only give up on cultivating a bit. Seeing that waiting here will lead to nowhere and he''s simply wasting precious time, Arthur used all his Mental Power to summon the strongest Death Knight he could spawn with his current strength. He had to wait for his Mental Power to recover for a whole day before consuming it on a Warlock. The two Death Knights were at the middle stages of the Heavenly Realm and one of them was a Warlock. With his Death Golem and two strong summons, Arthur was sure that if that hideous looking creature appeared, these three would be able to apprehend it immediately and retrieve that item from it before it could escape or teleport away. Arthur was going to enter the ARK so he made all of this preparation. His lame copy said that no time will pass if he entered the ARK but he couldn''t believe what he said. It may be the truth but he would rather plan things ahead and take some precautions rather than believe someone he just met. "Dra''lka" Just as he said that word, Arthur found himself standing in the endless white space yet again. His strength wasn''t reduced and he could use the Dark Magic and anything else. He just entered the ARK but he honestly didn''t know what to do exactly. *Welcome to the ARK* *Please choose what do you want to do* *List: Phase Training. Rest. Materialize. Fuse.* ''So basically, I can''t-do nothing but rest?'' Previously, the robotic voice, which apparently was the one controlling the ARK, told him that he couldn''t undertake the next Phases until he breaks through to the Divine Realm. It was frustrating, especially when his power is equal if not stronger than normal Gods but his Realm is limiting him. ''What does the Rest do?" *As the name suggests, the user ''Arthur'' will be put in ''Rest Mode'', increasing the Recovery rate by 200% and makes the time flow slower than outside.* "Flow slower?" *Yes. if the user ''Arthur'' is in ''Phase Mode'' then no matter how much time passes inside the ARK, no seconds will pass in Reality. As for ''Rest Mode'', a Day in the outside is a month inside the ARK. The user ''Arthur'' only has 10 years of rest currently. It will only increase if the user ''Arthur'' passes other Phases in the ''Phase Mode''.* ''So that bastard was lying after all! He didn''t explain it like this... tch! I knew it.'' His condition didn''t require any recovery and he can do nothing in here besides walk in this endless space or maybe test his skills but Arthur wasn''t in the mood for that. After pondering for a couple of seconds, Arthur left the ARK. As his vision was back to the dark cave, he was momentarily startled as Taliya was standing a dozen of meters in front of him. She was just silently staring at him through the darkness. Since he was not in ''Rest Mode'' the couple of minutes he passed inside the ARK also passed in reality. Even if he stayed longer, with his Defense, there is no way he could be injured even if he just laid there without moving. It''ll even be hard for a Heavenly Realm to injure him, much less a Demon Lord or a low-leveled maid but sneak attacking Arthur was not the reason Taliya came here. "If it isn''t the head maid. What you brings you to my humble home?" While folding his arms, Arthur leaned his back on the cold wall and stared back at Taliya. The silver-haired maid kept a straight face and seriously said "I''ll follow you but on one condition." Hearing something that caught his attention, Arthur smirked as he could more or less guess what she''s going to say "Please pray tell then, I''m all ears." "I''ll follow you if you get back Alina, the daughter of the Demon Lord. She must be safe and I''ll not accept just a corpse." To be honest, Arthur didn''t think this ''Alina'' would be alive after all these years. Humans despise Demons and knowing their attitude, she must have been tortured, raped or even worse by them, the probability of her being safe is rather unlikely. Even if, supposedly, she''s still safe, then what about her mental health? There are countless ways to break someone and it is harder to recover from a mental breakdown than a physical injury. "Those are harsh conditions you.... however, I accept." A sigh, that could be barely heard, escaped from Taliya''s mouth when she heard his answer. She didn''t know how strong he was but there may be a chance and if it means giving herself up then so be it! Her focused attention was distracted when she heard a noise to the left, she thought it was an enemy but was dumbstruck when she saw an enormous scary looking golem and two creatures next to it. She recognized the knight but the Warlock had a more creepy and ominous aura around it, its staff had a dark crystal that emitted a black fog and it wore a robe made from ancient bones and black tattered leather. Arthur slowly got up and talked as he patted the dust off his clothes "So let''s make this clear. I bring the girl back, safe and sound of course, and you''ll follow me?" Hearing his voice, Taliya snapped off her daze, she shifted her eyes from the golem back to Arthur and nodded her head seriously. "That is right." Only Taliya came to talk him which made Arthur a bit confused. It was the Demon Lord''s daughter and not Taliya''s, so why is she the one coming to speak to him? There is only one explanation, it''s that the Demon Lord didn''t know about Taliya coming here. Arthur expected that they will come looking for him sooner or later but he didn''t expect it to be that way. His assumptions are not yet confirmed but he is positive that it''s the case. Arthur raised his hand and pointed at the where the Death Golem and started injecting an astronomical amount of Mana to create a cage. "Alright then, I''ll depart whenever you want me to. But let me tell you one thing, I do not like being lied to, nor do I like being betrayed or people who break their promises. Should you not follow your end of the deal when I return the girl then.... let''s just say you''ll regret it." "Don''t treat me like a Human. Demons always keep their promises, we''re not like those filthy tricky humans." Arthur just shrugged his shoulders and kept creating the cage of thorny vines around the Death Golem. Vines as thick as a tree trunk twirled and wrapped around themselves as they made an unbreakable cage around the Death Golem, imprisoning it and creating some sort of a prison around that area. Arthur didn''t want anything getting in or out of this small area, should someone even try to cut the vines, it will automatically attack it and kill it at all costs. "So, when do we depart?" With a serious look and a deadpan expression, she replied "We depart right now." She didn''t even tell him to go prepare himself, Taliya was too direct as she demanded they depart immediately which was a bit rude of her part since he''s going to retrieve the daughter of her sister and someone very close to her. Taliya wanted to go straight ahead because her little sister, who is also the Demon Lord, does not know what she is currently doing and will probably oppose her decision which is something she could not tolerate as every day that passes, Alina would suffer more, if she is alive that is. "Then off we go." Arthur waved his hand, taking out the Dark Cloud and immediately jumping on it and sitting comfortably on it then he looked at Taliya, clearly waiting for her to jump on the ominous dark nebula he was sitting on. Of course, the head maid recognized the cloud and was not so optimistic about riding it for various reasons. "You wanted to depart now so hop on. We''ll never arrive if I wait for you or travel with your slow speed." Feeling a bit regretful, Taliya sighed and leaped on the cloud whilst trying to keep as much distance from Arthur as possible but it wasn''t that easy. The cloud was wide but not to the point of keeping the distance she wished for, all she could do was just stand at the edges of the cloud and cautiously stare at Arthur. The other party could feel the intense glare of Taliya, he shook his head and said "I don''t think we''ll get along if you keep acting like that, I suggest you start practicing your role rather than being cautious, I''m not going to eat you or hurt you. Remember that I''m helping you and I''m certainly not the enemy." Albeit hearing what he just said, the silver-haired maid kept being cautious and the intense stare never went away so all Arthur could do was just sigh and try his best to ignore her, for now at least. As usual, a dark barrier was created around the Dark Cloud, for safety purposes, and for Taliya, since he wasn''t going to hold back in terms of speed, the wind resistance would surely crush her and push her out of the cloud so the barrier is there to nullify that. Not even a minute after they rode the cloud, they were already out of the cave and even out of the city which was something Taliya''s brain couldn''t process. The city wasn''t outrageously big but it still was one of the main cities and the presence of the castle belonging to the Demon Lord proves hit, however, the cloud''s speed was so fast that Taliya could barely see what''s blurring all around her, it was too mind-numbing to witness. "You see the difference now? If I wanted to hurt you then you would not even be able to retaliate so why not relax?" With his arms folded and a plant twirling around his body, Arthur grinned as he noticed Taliya''s astounded expression, it was a rare occasion, since she always keeps that deadpan face. The trip was not going to take long but it won''t be just a few seconds either. Seeing that Taliya was not the talkative type and there is a lot of time to spare, Arthur tried practicing with the Plant Magic and wanted to try to create a useful plant that may help him against Divine beings and above. There were countless uses of such Magic and he wanted to find a helpful one. ... A couple of hours later, the cloud entered the perimeter of the Human Continent. Arthur fiddled with the Plant Magic since the trip began and Taliya, still goggle-eyed, stared at the blurring surroundings again and again whilst throwing a couple of curious and astonished glances at Arthur every now and then. With a speed like this, her hopes of retrieving Aline rose by a huge margin, the lingering regret had long since disappeared and what replaced it was a boundless hope. She had a close relationship with Alina and even considered her as her own daughter, so the thought of saving her and having her back is something she had long since yearned for. No matter how strong she was, she couldn''t abandon her duties and forsake her status to just infiltrate the Human Empire and get Alina back, she just didn''t have enough strength to achieve such a difficult feat which is why, during all these years, all she did was hope Alina is safe till the day she becomes powerful enough to go there and forcefully get her back, however, that day was never close and no matter how strong she became, she was not near enough of obtaining the required strength. Fortunately, Arthur wouldn''t have to resort to violence if the Emperor did really kidnap Alina. He was sure that the Emperor would be kind enough to hand over the girl if she''s alive, and if she had been killed a long ago, he really didn''t know what to do but for now, he hoped that such an outcome won''t happen. One thing for sure, Taliya would certainly rage and try to murder the Emperor or do the same thing that was done to her family and try to kidnap the princess which is a dumb thing to do in the middle of all those guards. He would do his end of the deal but he wouldn''t help her extract revenge, however, he wouldn''t protect the princess either. If the Emperor really did torture Alina or worse, then he deserved whatever will happen to him. "So, where do you think the Demon Princess is?" Arthur won''t waste time in searching every inch of the Human Continent, it would take a lot of time albeit his Godly speed so having a general location so search on would make things much easier. "No matter how many spies we sent, we couldn''t find any information about her location." "Then we''ll have to visit the Emperor after all." Arthur planned to do that from the start but if she had a useful information, he wouldn''t mind heading there first but it didn''t appear to be the case so the Dark Cloud made its way toward the Capital of the Empire. The Capital was more or less at the center of the Continent, with the Cloud''s speed, they reached the flourishing city in just a short time. Obviously, the castle where the Emperor resides is not located inside the city so before reaching it, the cloud diverted to the East. Noticing that they''re almost there, Arthur looked at Taliya, who finally sat up on the cloud, and warned her one last time. "Do not forget that I am the one retrieving the girl, your job is only to spectate and confirm the girl''s identity if we find her. If you act then I''ll not help you and you''ll just be killing yourself." All he got was a slow nod from Taliya, she didn''t seem to be listening to him as all her attention was focused on the enormous mansion just ahead. The cloud was a bit high so she was looking down from above. Arthur also glanced at the mansion and was a bit surprised when he saw so many guards. There were at least six times the usual number of guards. It may have been a long time since he came, however, the change was too sudden, or so he thought. Even the average Level of the guards has become above 120. Seeing such strong guards, suspicions and guesses started rampaging inside Arthur''s mind. As the Cloud was slowly descending, Arthur spread his Sense and covered the whole mansion and its surroundings. He could feel some strong individuals but they were not particularly threatening, not to him at least. His destination was the Emperor himself, it''s better to head to him immediately rather than question each and every guard. A frown appeared on Arthur''s face as he sensed the Emperor, his frown deepened when his Sense spread even further. He said nothing but it was sure that something was amiss. Taliya, who had a bit of confidence after seeing Arthur''s strange cloud, became anxious when she noticed his frown. She decided to remain silent but her thoughts were in total turmoil. "There isn''t anyone with the description you gave me, however... there is a teleportation circle deep underground." With his Sense, it was easy to figure out all of that but Arthur was still going to talk with the Emperor to ascertain a few things. Alina didn''t seem to be here or else he would have sensed her. "A-Are you sure she''s not here? We haven''t even entered the mansion...." Taliya didn''t fully believe him as she didn''t personally search the mansion. She wasn''t the kind of person to give up this easily, especially when it''s about a member of her family. Albeit how she looks on the outside, she''s a very caring person. "No need to give me that face, we''ll ask the Emperor before concluding false assumptions." Arthur was at the Peak of the Immortal Realm and with the use of a bit of Nether Energy, it''s easy to cover his and Taliya''s aura from the guards. It''s a simple thing when the difference in strength is outrageously big. The Dark Cloud slowly navigated through the guards like a fish in the water, even after passing a couple of meters away from the guards, no one of them seemed to hear or notice anything, it''s as if they didn''t exist in the same dimension. ''As I thought, it''s definitely not the same. Better finish it before it gets worse.'' At last, Arthur got up from the cloud and jumped on the ground. His face grim and cold as he stared at the dumbfounded guards who turned their heads towards him, obviously surprised by the sudden appearance of this intruder, moreover, he appeared in the middle of them without them noticing him. But by far, the one who was the most confused and startled was Taliya, she never thought he''ll reveal himself so casually and for no apparent reason. She couldn''t find a good reason to do that. Whilst still standing on the cloud, Taliya cautiously looked around as she raised her two short blades. With his two cold eyes staring at the closest guards, Arthur spoke with a domineering voice as his two pupils turned gray and pulsated every second. "What is the meaning of this? The dead should not be walking around so blatantly." Revived Soldier(Race: Human): Lv142. Revived Soldier(Race: Human): Lv133 Revived Soldier(Race: Human): Lv124 Revived Soldier(Race: Human): Lv138 Every man, albeit having the appearance of the living, had the same title when he was appraised by Arthur. It was a strange thing that Arthur was confused about when his Sense probed them. He felt their strength but he couldn''t appraise them if can''t see them so when the results were shown in front of him, he was a bit surprised. All he had to do was piece this and that together, and that allowed him to easily guess why the Emperor was like that and everyone was this strong, even simple maids and butlers were strong which is not something commonly seen. "What are you talking abo-" Before Taliya could finish, she was interrupted by the guards, who unsheathed their weapons and attacked Arthur immediately. It was not an uncommon thing as he was an intruder but their lifeless expressions and almost robotic movements were more strange. "It''s always good to have a meal served to you for FREE!" Arthur raised his hands and lowered them with a fast speed, each of his fingers had countless threads which followed his movements and cut everything in its way, including the lifeless rotten corpses coming straight at him. What followed was a literal bloodbath, or it''s more precise to call it a blood river. The red liquid was all over the place, everywhere you stepped, it''s either a dismembered limb, head or a small pool of fresh blood. It was just one move from Arthur yet all the hundreds of guards in that area were killed almost instantaneously with no one surviving. No grown or wails were heard, everyone but Taliya was alive, who was dumbstruck and wide-eyed by the gory and bloody sight in front of her. Even with a Level such as hers, she can''t do that, at most, she would kill a few dozens then attempt to escape due to the disadvantage in numbers. She was not afraid, nor was she petrified, she was surprised by this turn of events, she was also somewhat happy. She loathed humans, was disgusted by them, what else would be happier than seeing them being massacred like this. Plus, they belong to the Emperor, the true enemy of Demons. If she had the power, she would make them suffer even more and kill them in a crueler way. Unfortunately, or maybe, fortunately, she didn''t have that kind of power. "Enjoying the show so far?" Arthur glanced at Taliya, who just stared back at him with no response whatsoever, it was apparent she was shocked but also a bit happy. If he has this much power then getting back Alina is just a matter of time. Her doubts and suspicions disappeared in a matter of seconds. Perhaps all he had to do from the start is just show her a few his destructive skills and it would have been enough but he was not someone who liked bragging that much and her believing in him was not something he was concerned about, sooner or later, this was bound to happen. Arthur turned around and started walking toward the entrance of the mansion. He could sense hundreds of guards approaching his locations but he was still unfazed by that. There was also a specific location inside the mansion which has a dense amount of guards and a couple of strong individuals. That was most likely was the ''Emperor'' resided. With a cold smile and two pulsating gray pupils, Arthur burned the tall main door and entered the spacious hall. --- Floods of lifeless soldiers charged at Arthur and Taliya just as they entered the mansion but albeit their outrageous numbers, they were simply walking to their imminent death. It was as if the area around Arthur and the maid was Death''s door, anyone who got close to them would be cut to pieces by invisible threads, they were so sharp the physically enhanced bodies of these walking dead were cut through so easily with no resistance whatsoever. "These Humans are not normal...." As she stared at their lifeless looks, their complete oblivious expression of losing a limb or experiencing agonizing pain, Taliya came to a conclusion but it was a bit too late from her part. "Took you a while to figure it out, huh. Yes, these are not humans, they are walking abominations." If Necromancy was bringing the dead from another world, then the magic used on these soldiers are much crueler and disgusting. Instead of summoning the dead from another world, this magic brings back the dead corpses to life in a much stronger state than when it was alive. It sounds like a good thing to have but the souls of these corpses would stick with the corpse until it really dies, it may be today just like it may be after a century. They don''t age, they don''t react to pain neither do they disobey the master, the one who revived them. In a sense, the skeletons used by Arthur are a bit smarter since his stats are so high but in terms of strength, they are weaker than these abominations, but that is only the case if he doesn''t use his Mental Power. Although the sight was something Taliya would love to continue seeing, she couldn''t help but speak up and try to stop the slaughter. "L-leave someone alive, we can question him about Alina''s whereabouts." Turning a deaf ear to her, Arthur waved his hand and spread his web of threads in all the surroundings, killing those who were coming to attack and those who were about to charge again despite losing a limb or a weapon. With his two eyes pulsating with a gray light and a cold aura around him, Arthur looked at the flowing blood and lifeless look of the corpses and said "Dead men tell no tales. Those are but a shell without a mind. Souls are traped, tortured and in pain without a chance of retaliation. It''s not something that can be easily undone. You may not feel anything when you see them but for me, at least I can release these poor souls from this endless hell *sigh*" Memories that he didn''t want to remember resurfaced inside his head. Thoughts he didn''t wish to think about, feelings he had long since abandoned, a darkness that had been buried for ages. It didn''t completely resurface but he could feel it crawling back to the surface, trying to turn him insane, thirsting for vengeance, hatred for all things, rage towards who wronged him. As he finished his sentence, Arthur vanished from Taliya''s view, all that was left was dispersing black flames. Before he teleported away, Arthur left a Death Knight near her in case something happens but what was about to happen is better not seen by anyone, even if she could handle witnessing a massacre, what''s about to come is not a pleasant memory to have. All it took him was four teleports to appear in the big main hall of the mansion, where the throne usually. In the past, when he barged in without an invitation, this hall had no soldiers or anything of the sort, however, right now, there were at the very least a thousand soldiers. All of them without exception were revived ones, and at the throne in the end of the hall, there sat the Emperor and the Queen. Arthur could only sigh again as he looked at the familiar face of the Emperor yet the appraisal showed a different name, a different Race. ''Albeit it was only a short period, I considered you like a friend. All I could say is... I''m sorry for what about to do...'' The Emperor didn''t even talk, neither did the Queen or any other soldier. Arthur also saw two people standing behind the Emperor, they were cloaked in some kind of Stealth skill but due to the difference in strength, he was able to see them albeit the use of their skill. If he was going to ask someone, it better be one of those two hidden figures, the others are but walking corpses, only meant to obey the one and only master who certainly was not in this room. ''It was barely two years yet so much occurred.... inexplicable things, frustrating matters, and strange people. Where did they all come from.'' Arthur''s eyes sharpened as he took out Makaze and looked at the crowd of lifeless corpses, they were all charging at him yet for him, it was all happening so slowly due to their slow speed and his high Agility and Dexterity. *How can you forget? How can you just live your life happily? Do you think you deserve it?* An angry yet sad voice rang in his ears, it sounded exactly like him but it was chilling, sad and above all, lonely. *All must be killed! None can live! Kill! Kill them all, ARTHUR! KILL THEM!* While clutching his head and dropping to his knees, Arthur tried to cast away the voice but he couldn''t, no matter how much passives or skills were used, none were helpful. It was at this moment that the first enemy arrived upon him. The soldier thrust his iron sword yet it was just the beginning, the second and third soldiers also attack from behind Arthur, aiming for his back and skull. "Where!" With a cold and loud voice, Arthur shouted this word as the sharp black katana vibrated and slashed the air with incredible speed. You could expect the soldiers around him to die but that was literally nothing compared to the damage that was done later. The 360 degrees done by Arthur, which was not seen by any of the enemies, transformed into some kind of a black circle that slaughtered all the soldiers in the hall, at least all the ones which were at the same level of the circle. The walls were cut by the circle and the ceiling began falling down, crushing the already dead corpses along with the Emperor, the elite guards near him and Arthur, who was looking at the ground with a confused expression. Cloud dust and loud noises caused by the falling boulders and pillars was heard from afar, even Taliya who was far from the Hall felt the earth shake due to the explosion and its aftermath. As the surroundings were clearing from the dust, the two guards, who were alerted by that attack, managed to react in time as they appeared in front of the Emperor, each holding a long sword. They could feel the chilling bloodlust being emanated from Arthur, who was the only figure alive after the ceiling fell on the soldiers. He was looking up and still had that confused expression. "Where.. Where!" The two guards were just going to start evacuating when Arthur suddenly vanished from his position and appeared in front them. The guard on the left was a bit faster as he managed to react in time and swung his sword, trying to behead Arthur on the spot but a thorny vine had long since stabbed his chest, making a hole as big as his head and killing him on the spot. As for the second guard, he wasn''t able to dodge as Arthur''s hand was stretched and grabbed his neck, lifting him off the ground and suffocating him, he could even hear his own bones being pressured and crushed. In just seconds, his face turned red. The Emperor, the Queen and the elite guards, who were also lifeless corpses, were fast enough to circle around Arthur and attack with their strongest attack. They never uttered a single word and their Levels were much higher than the normal soldiers with the Emperor being the highest at a staggering 911. "Scram!" Arthur didn''t even need to move his hand or body to send all of them away. Not even the Emperor survived as a dark red flame burned all of them into ashes except the second guard, who was still being held by Arthur. His two hands were trying to push Arthur''s stretched hand yet no matter how much force he put, he couldn''t move a finger. Strength was leaving him and the bloodlust of Arthur was suffocating him. "Where is she! Where is she! TELL ME WHERE SHE IS!" Unknown to Arthur, in such a strange state, he couldn''t think properly and let the guard breath and answer him normally, the thought of letting go of the guard never crossed his mind. All the guard could do was tap Arthur''s hand to try and reason with him. He was clearly indicating his surrender but it didn''t seem to be working. With two eyes resembling a bottomless foggy abyss, Arthur stared at the guard. The other felt himself in real hell as that stare was like the devil''s stare, he felt that all his weaknesses were exposed, all his memories stolen and his soul devoured by these gray eyes. Hearing no answer, Arthur crashed the guard''s body on the wall behind him, crushing his bones and making blood flow endlessly from countless injuries he suffered just from that attack. Knowing the difference in strength between the two of them, it''s quite normal for the weak party to suffer like this but it was but the beginning. "WHERE IS SHE! TELL ME WHERE IS LUCY! TELL ME!" Arthur kept crushing the guard on the wall until the supposedly sturdy wall of the hall was crushed into dust. All that was left was the guard who had a lifeless look. It took Arthur a couple of minutes to realize that the guard he was still holding was already dead. He let go of the corpse which soundlessly fell on the ground. With his Sense still spreading, he quickly found another target which was deep underground, where the teleportation circle was located. ''What the hell is that?'' A black shadow was running at full speed, his destination was the teleportation circle under the mansion. He has seen what happened in the garden and in the hall. Fortunately, he was smart enough to escape the second he sensed the aura around Arthur. He was at the middle-stages of the Deity Realm, something that is practically invincible on Astria yet he was petrified just by Arthur''s aura, that in itself proves how terrifying the enemy was. He had seen quite a few powerful individuals on the West and East but they were not that threatening so he ignored them and stayed low while manipulating the Emperor just as his master ordered but now, change finally came and a dangerous enemy appeared out of nowhere. A particular memory resurfaced in his mind as he thought of Arthur. It was the last words of the Emperor before he was killed and revived. "Hahaha! You can kill me but when he comes, you better be prepared!" It was unknown what method the Emperor used but both his son and daughter were teleported to an unknown location. No matter how Elias searched, he couldn''t find a trace of them. He was afraid they would tell the truth about what happened, however, after two years of nothing happening, he dropped his guard and the alerting feeling slowly dissipated. He was not afraid of the truth being divulged to the public, he was afraid of the punishment he would receive from his master if he ever disobeyed him or messed up the plan. It didn''t take Elias a lot of time to arrive at an empty room with only a few blue lights put in a specific position around a circle engraved on the ground. Without wasting any second, he lifted both of his hands and started channeling his Mana to activate the teleportation and get out of here. The process was going on with no problems so far, but what Elias feared ended up happening. First, it was a chill that made his body tremble uncontrollably, then it was a deadly stare that landed on his back and made him sweat. Before he could execute any secret technique to escape from this room, countless threads wrapped around him, from his neck all the way to the tip of his toes. He was covered in so many threads that he looked like a spider''s cocoon. Elias didn''t immediately give up, albeit feeling the thick killing intent covering him, he spat a purple acid that fell on the threads and quickly dissolved them. Out of reflex, he looked behind him but was astonished when he saw no one behind him, even the killing intent disappeared the moment he turned his head. Trying to stop his hands from shaking, he lifted them again and started channeling the Mana again and poured all his reserve to start the teleportation faster so the enemy doesn''t catch up. A sigh of relief escape his mouth when a blue light covered him and the teleportation started at last. Seeing his whole body engulfed in this blue light, he felt so safe as no matter how powerful someone is, they can''t stop this teleportation. Taliya, who stayed with the Death Knight, slowly advanced inside the mansion but everywhere she looked, there were mountains of corpses and rivers of blood, this didn''t look like a royal mansion anymore, not after the previous explosion and the damage done by Arthur. It seems that the black circle created by Makaze did more damage than expected, the ceiling had long since fallen and walls were shattered to mere rubbles. The stench of blood never left her nose as she wandered in the mansion, searching for a sign of Alina but after making two full tours of what was left of the mansion, she never found the girl. The Hall was no more and what replaced it was a huge area with endless amounts of corpses and boulders. After searching for a bit more, she managed to find stairs leading underground, she was a bit hesitant but after glancing at the Death Knight which never left her side since earlier, she resolutely entered the dark underground with hopes of finding Alina. Chapter 156 - 153 : Foreign World A few seconds passed since the teleportation began. Elias''s heart calmed down and the shivering had stopped when he opened his eyes and found out that he was no longer in that underground room. The world he was on right now was definitely not Astria as the sky was starry and blood red. The place reeked of blood and you would hear desperate every now and then. "I''m safe *sigh*... anyways, what was that?" Thinking back to the aura he felt before teleporting, Elias couldn''t help but unconsciously shiver from horror. It was unknown what he took out but a blackboard was put under his feet and he started surfing the gray and destroyed ground as if they were waves. His speed rose drastically when he started using that weird object. His movements were smooth and no matter how much craters or monsters he bypassed, none were powerful enough to stop him. Elias didn''t travel for a long time, it was just for a couple of minutes before stopping in front of a red castle that had color matching the bloody sky. The castle wasn''t particularly wide but it was extremely high. Its central tower stretched for more than a mile with a four-armed monster statue in its peak. Elias hesitated for a second as he stared at the castle, he hid a green coin under his sleeve and entered the castle with an uneasy expression. The horrors that were seen once he entered the castle''s ground was not something that can be easily forgotten. Hundreds of people with skinny bodies and bloody lashes on their body were carrying rocks or doing hard labors while hideous monsters were guarding them. It was a sight even Elias, who has been here for ages, could never get used to it. After all, these people were his kin, the same Race as he is yet he can do nothing for them. While gritting his fist, he bypassed the monsters who gave him a contemptuous look before they resumed torturing the slaves. The smell of blood was present in the air, never leaving it and intensifying every step he took towards the castle. More loud wails echoed from behind the stone walls, ringing in Elias''s ears and igniting his fury but despite all of that, he kept a calm attitude and didn''t show any bit of expression on his old face. He was, in fact, an old man in his 50''s, with a short gray beard and blue eyes. One look at him and you know he has been extremely handsome when he was young, it''s unfortunate that he was born in the wrong world and at the wrong age. "Damn useless piece of garbage! *lashing sounds* Do your job properly or just die already!" A voice he didn''t like to hear rang in his ears. Subconsciously, Elias turned his head only to see a black horror with long muscular arms, brown scales all over its body and a horn erected from its back with a pair of wide bat wings resting on his back. The sight couldn''t be scarier, it was the nightmare of every normal Human. This monstrosity was using a whip to lash at a middle-aged man who was trying to stand up and carry what seemed to be a blue crystal which pulsated with a light similar to Mana Energy. "I-I''m sorry! My leg felt numb just a second ago so I couldn''t help but t-trip." The monster didn''t even pay attention to what the slave said, it swung its whip and without much strength put in the grip, it easily wrapped the whip around the man''s neck and pulled his head off his neck. A gruesome and gory sight was displayed yet all the other monsters were grinning or laughing as if this was a source of enjoyment. Elias maintained his expression and after staring for a couple extra seconds, he turned around and entered the castle. Such occurrences appeared daily and it was not one or two times, it''s at least ten times a day. It pains him to witness it but it also helps him remember his purpose and never forget who he is. For the next part, Elias just used his high Dexterity and a special technique to navigate through the castle and reach its peak. The reason is, he couldn''t bear to see what was inside. Be it living people frozen in mid-air as if they were statues. People tortured on the side with instruments never seen before and many other things that are better kept unsaid. What''s more is that those monstrosities are enjoying this so much that their laughter never ceased. There were elderlies, women, children, they were all alive and if they died in the process, they would just be tossed to the side as if they are disposable toys. It''s sad when he knew that with his strength, he can slaughter all of these monsters but not their boss. To put it simply, he would just make his kin suffer even more than this so he decided to hold it in him just for now. He followed his master''s orders, slaughtered the Emperor of a foreign world and all its soldiers, used a forbidden skill to revive them and manipulate them and albeit feeling a little bad, if it''s for the sake of helping his kin, then no matter the cost, it''s definitely worth it. A few minutes later, Elias arrived at the castle''s peak, where his master stayed. It was a wide room a the very top, with only one living being there. Staring at the metal door in front of him and feeling the chilling atmosphere and the ever-so-long silence, he mustered his resolution and pushed the metal door. What faced the old man was an empty wide room with only a four-armed monster sitting cross-legged in its center. It had four eyes, sharp long scales around its neck, legs and arms and a very long horn erected from its back. It resembled no animal or insect, it could only be described as a living horror. "It''s you? What are you doing here? It''s too early for you to come here.... that means something went wrong?" "Something u-unexpected happened. I had to retreat immediately." The monster stared at Elias for some time, seemingly lost in thought. Its four blood red eyes were too creepy, especially when they are focused on you. As if it felt something, the monster suddenly got up and shouted "What have you done! Foo-" Before it could finish, a black shadow appeared from inside Elias, the shadow wielded a long black sword that was a bit curved. The monster crossed its four arms to block the katana while using its leg to kick the incoming enemy. What it didn''t expect is that the opponent suddenly vanished and reappeared behind it with the katana slashing at its back. ..... In his frustrated and confused state, Arthur chose to lay dormant inside Elias and let him teleport back to is home. In that case, he''ll find a way out of Astria and eliminate this hiding enemy that was controlling the Human Emperor. He didn''t get the thousands of corpses he intended to posses from Robin, neither did he take Taliya with him as intended. Lots of things have been left unfinished on Astria but an opportunity arose and his most important goal right now is to find a way out of Astria. He was going to a get that monster which was talking with the black mage but since Elias seemed to be teleporting away, might as well follow him without alerting him and since his Race is special, such thing is easily doable. The possessing was pretty successful and in no time, Arthur laid dormant inside Elias and shared the same point of view as his victim. The first thing he noticed was the totally different world he appeared on. The most astonishing thing is the total absence of any kind of Energy, no Mana, no Qi, no Nether Energy. It was like Earth but here, the sky was blood red and the ground seemed rotten and dead. Elias traveled at a fast speed but Arthur was able to witness everything, he saw no plant or any form of living thing except those wandering monsters that are either killing humans or banging their head on the floor for no apparent reason. Fortunately, since he possessed Elias, his mind calmed down and the weird state he was in previously had disappeared. It''s no wonder he was desperate to find Lucy, his loneliness coupled with his subdued anger are driving him crazy and he needs a quick solution. The shock never lessened, especially when the victim arrived on the castle''s ground. Witnessing the sight, Arthur started feeling utter disgust and dislike for these hideous looking monsters. It''s the first time he ever saw such creatures and he doesn''t remember Zodiak mentioning similar creatures in his notes or books. Arthur was never an evil person and albeit being dormant and not being able to appraise, he could more or less feel their power. He knew he could kill them easily but this would ruin his plan. It''s an unfortunate thing but he isn''t going to sacrifice his plan for them when he doesn''t even know them. He arrived in a new world, that''s a fact, but what kind of word, that is the real question. Perhaps it would be better to search for a Spatial tunnel on his own and leave Elias and these monsters alone, however, there is the possibility of not finding any. To begin with, he doesn''t even know how to find a Spatial tunnel. Thankfully, he had some description about them and a way to locate them, it was not precise but it would work if he used Eclipse Magic. Eclipse Magic had the Dark Magic and the Void Magic, it''s the perfect way to use the Spatial Magic since he can''t use it individually. He can also use Void Magic directly but it''s too unstable, at least the Eclipse Magic is not that dangerous. Arthur was not going to act until he learned something useful but after seeing the living statues and the true nature of such creatures and the possibility of them invading Astria, he was forced to act. He regarded Astria as his home and he had to admit that he cared for his friends there, he isn''t going to let such evil creatures invade his home and cause chaos. If he didn''t go to save Alina, maybe he would never have discovered them until it was too late. Better wipe the danger before it comes, at least that''s how Arthur take care of things. No matter how weak the enemy is or how insignificant he is, it had to be eliminated because even a Lv10 mortal can hurt you one way or another, it''s that carelessness that causes tragedies to occur. When he saw the master of his victim, Arthur waited for a couple of seconds and when a chance arose, he immediately left Elias and charged at the monster with Makaze in hand. He was able to appraise when he was out and the result was a bit surprising, nonetheless, Arthur didn''t stop and added Natural Lightning around Makaze to deal more damage. Bucama (Race: Khin (Mutated)): 9th Grade Divine Realm. ''I can manage, it''s not a God.'' Arthur teleported behind the monster just as he was going to strike him from the front. As the exposed back of the creature was laid in front of him, Arthur didn''t hesitate as he swung his katana at its horn and wings, trying to deal as much damage as possible. While vibrating uncontrollably, Makaze clashed with the horn, which surprisingly was extremely hard. Makaze couldn''t even damage it, much less cut it. The horn, in response to Makaze, bent in a weird way and pointed at Arthur and fired an ominous black beam at his face. Arthur used [Faster Than Death] again and teleported away whilst leaving a Shadow Clone in his place to confuse the enemy. Obviously, the Shadow Clone received the full blunt attack which was the black beam and died instantly, transforming into dispersing black fog. In this split second, when the Shadow was dispersing and the monster was confirming the death of the enemy, Arthur replaced himself with another clone created from the Dark Cloud and possessed an extremely long snake made from long white bones. It could barely be called a snake as its size was so massive that it covered the whole room. The newly created clone caught the flying Makaze and leaped at the four-armed monster, which was clever enough to realize the trick and shift its attention to its front. ''Let''s begin with getting rid of this castle.'' The large snake opened its mouth and started spitting huge dark red fireballs randomly, the ancient fire hit every possible place, it burned walls and destroyed floors, nothing could withstand its head. It didn''t take much time for the four-armed monster to finish the second clone with its back horn. The black beam was just too strong and weird, the clone, albeit being much stronger than the Shadow Clone, was easily extinguished with just one black beam. The dark nebula was absorbed instantly by the snake which confronted the monster after completely destroying the sky-high tower. Elias was dumbstruck and petrified, not knowing what to do, he retreated the moment the fight began. He felt the endless tremors as he descended using his blackboard. Not caring what happened, he flicked the green coin which vanished immediately and what replaced it was a green sphere enveloping. Every monster that met Elias was killed by him, he showed no mercy as he beheaded every last one of them whilst trying to save whoever can be saved. As for the main fight, two figures were floating high up in the sky as rubbles fell from above and the castle was crumbling. Arthur finally shifted his attention to Bucama, who leaped at him with four dark spears, each one is held by one of its hands. The snake, which was made of bones, was quickly enveloped by thorny vines all over his body. A sticky purple liquid was coming out of the vines, so was the fangs of the snake which had a very lethal poison. Arthur was going to fully rely on poisons to finish this monstrosity, there''s no crueler way than this one. By the time Bucama clashed with Arthur, the snake was totally covered with the thorny plants. With a loud hiss, the snake opened its mouth and used its thirty inch long fangs to bite at Bucama, which crossed its four spears together and created a black tornado that clashed with the fangs. The black tornado materialized by the four spears and the sharp long fangs soon clashed with each other. An impactful clash that caused the two parties to back away but it was apparent that the snake had a small advantage as it was only pushed back for a tiny bit and managed to withhold the pushing force with its unimaginable strength and large body. As for Bucama, the monster was angry as it looked at Arthur with its four eyes, glowing with rage. Unfortunately, the monster was suddenly held by the long tail of the snake, which instantly wrapped around its body, stabbing the thorny vines all over its body and injecting endless amounts of lethal poison inside this monstrosity. However, that was not the end, Arthur tightened his grip on the body and used the whole body of the snake to wrap around the monster, covering it all and crushing its body. All of this was going smoothly until the snake body began pressing on that long horn sticking out of its back, Arthur felt an ominous aura and a chilling sensation. He didn''t know what that horn was but one thing for sure, it was dangerous. He knew that it was a bad idea to continue pressing on the horn and trying to shatter it so he backed away with the snake''s body after using the tail to send Bucama flying down until he crashed on the ground, killing a few of his fleeing kin and creating a small hole. Not even a second later, the hideous creature stood up, unscathed as if nothing happened. With its four raging eyes, it stood there silently for a moment before it began speaking coldly to Arthur "What are you? What brings you to my world." If Arthur didn''t possess Elias, he wouldn''t have understood what Bucama just said. It was a weird language, even in pronunciation but with his unique skill, he learned it instantly. He could use simple telepathy to answer the monster but he decided not to. He didn''t come here to negotiate or talk, he had one goal for now and that is to eliminate this danger. He could more or less predict why these monsters wanted to invade Astria and if it''s confirmed then part of his hopes will be crushed but at least he would have killed a potential threat to his home. The snake''s body twirled in the air as it made its way toward the four-armed monster. Bucama, in response to the opponent, stabbed its four spears on the ground and curled itself like a ball. As the snake was almost upon the enemy, it opened its mouth and spit a small Heavenly Arrow totally made from Dark Magic and White Thunder. It was quite difficult to get rid of the Void Magic in the Heavenly Arrow but as long as it is a small Heavenly Arrow and it''s not the real one then it can be done. Arthur was still hellbent on killing Bucama using poison but first, he had to immobilize it in order to slowly kill it. In all his previous attacks, Arthur was reluctant to finish the enemy using his powerful tricks and that is because he wanted the monster to suffer a bit before dying or else his mind would not rest. The small Heavenly Arrow tore threw the wind barrier as it rushed straight at the four-armed monster. The creature could not react in time as white thunder struck it and Dark Magic penetrated its abdomen, literally pinning its body on the ground with no way of resisting it. This was but a small doable feat that Arthur could do, his stats were outrageously high and dealing with a peak Divine Realm should never be a problem even if the opponent is a bit strange or stronger than what the appraisal indicates. Arthur''s overall strength should match Delia if not a bit stronger and if he uses Rizaki then that is a whole other matter. Bucama, full of surprise and disbelief, stared at the arrow pinning it down and coughed blood continuously. The Godly Thunder was invading its body and smiting its organs and the Dark Magic was consuming its life force. Slowly descending toward the creature, Arthur left the snake body and stored into his ring then stared at the hideous being in front of him. "I''ll give you a chance if you tell me the location of one Spatial Tunnel." Hearing the unfamiliar Human speaking its language, the monster was first surprised then confused. With eyes burning with hatred and rage, the creature still kept a rather calm expression albeit its eyes that was betraying it and replied to Arthur "*cough* Spatial Tunnel? *cough* you came to the wrong world *cough* *cough* you think I would try to invade your world if such a thing existed here? Are you that weak or pretend not to *cough*notice it? There''s no Energy here! We were a *cough* forsaken and thrown in this hell but we learned how to cope with it, *cough* *cough* invented our own energy and became the dominant Race, we even killed all other living Races and left the weakest ones to control yet after acquiring so much power, Fate is still not willing to accept us! *cough* *cough* hahahah I never *cough* thought there will be someone dumb enough *cough* to come to my world!" ''Just like I guessed.'' Arthur was not moved by what he heard, he just felt a bit disappointed, however, one look at this broken world and it is quite apparent that the existence of Spatial Tunnel is rather unlikely. Even a desolate world like Astria is much better than such a prison like this place. Just as Arthur was going to shower Bucama with all kinds of poisons he possesses. A bright blue light flashed on his left, it resembled the one that he saw when Elias used a teleportation circle. The reaction of the monster was much more surprising than Arthur''s. Its eyes glowed with a blood-red light and its four-armed started smashing the arrow in a crazed manner as if it didn''t care about its arms, it just wanted to break free. "T-that fool! HE REALLY IS DOING IT!" While looking to the left, the monster banged its arms at the arrow but it wasn''t helping at all, no matter how much it banged the bulging muscular arms, it couldn''t scratch or disperse the condensed Dark Magic. .... A couple of hundred meters away from Arthur and Bucama, Elias stood in a large blue circle with fifty or so people with him. They all stood close to him and stared fearfully at the surroundings. The place was littered with Khin corpses, no matter where they looked, there was a beheaded corpse. Elias resolutely activated the big teleportation circle whilst the green coin protected them from the mage Khin monsters that were throwing ranged skills from afar. This teleportation circle was the one Bucama was going to use to teleport all the Khin army with it but it didn''t use it yet cause the preparation wasn''t ready yet, or so thought the four-armed creature. Fortunately, Elias was able to alter the destination and use it as a transportation means to take as many people as possible, this way, they wouldn''t be tortured daily and the hellish life would be no more. He knew that Arthur somehow followed him and he was thankful towards him but he wasn''t going to wait for him to start the teleportation. If sacrificing their savior is what it costs to live freely then so be it. .... Arthur sensed that something was off, the ground was heavily shaking and the sky was turning darker and darker, these were definitely no good signs. He abandoned the thought of finishing Bucama slowly, the arrow will kill it anyways. He darted off toward the bright blue light on the East and transformed into lightning to arrive faster. With such speed, the distance of a couple hundred meters would be crossed in a split second, literally yet even such Godlike speed was not enough. Nothing can be faster than teleportation, that blue light was the indication that the teleportation has begun. As Arthur tried to grab Elias, his hand passed through the old man''s head as if he didn''t exist there. Apologetically, the old man nodded his head to Arthur to express his thanks but he still felt a bit fearful after seeing the cold eyes of Arthur that glowed with gray light and the black flames burning around him. "... So you used me to get your people out, good! Good!" Arthur didn''t linger there any extra second, he turned around and charged to the West, heading to the small teleportation circle that Elias appeared on when he arrived in this world. There may still be a chance, he didn''t need an explanation to know that this world is literally crumbling after Elias did whatever that blue light was. The ground was being opened in half and skies were falling. As he was charging toward the West, Arthur noticed a thick red beam of light, it was like a pillar penetrating the dark sky. Just one look was enough for him to know that Bucama did that as it originated from where he left the monster. Either way, he wasn''t going to bother as time was of the essence, the destruction of this world was happening at a faster pace, especially when Elias disappeared with his people. The annihilation was fastening by the second, as Arthur was bypassing lands after lands, which shattered or was devoured by the open ground, he soon arrived near the small teleportation circle which Elias used to appear here. The problem was, he doesn''t know how to activate it. If it was a normal one then he simply needed to inject Mana but Elias did much more than that to make it work. By the time he started pondering on what to do, the ground under the circle began shaking and some cracks appeared, the sky was literally falling and if he does nothing, Arthur is going to be devoured, just like everything else. Arthur focused his attention on his Dantian and gathered all his remaining Nether Energy. The Dark Anguish circulated through his body and black flames started burning his body yet dealing no damage. ''This should hold on for a while.'' Arthur raised his hands and did some strange black seals with his hands on the air and said "Darkness shall fall, naught shall be done!" As the incantation was done, a cubic barrier jet black was formed around Arthur, its size was not that big, only five cubic meters in height and length but that was only the appearance. The Cube also enveloped a bit of the ground for the circle not to shatter. The shaking stopped and a small area around Arthur stopped shattering and whatever was eating the word couldn''t cross his cube. Arthur could see what''s happening outside but the outsiders would only see an ominous dark cube, if it was a sphere then anyone would mistake it as a black hole. Everything around the cube was destroyed, in just seconds, it was only a floating black cube with distortions in space all around it and the rumbling sound of the shattering sky. Once he laid the cube, which was one of the techniques related to the Dark Anguish-technique, Arthur turned his attention to the blue circle on the ground and tried to imitate what Elias did. The old man chanted for a short time before he injected some Mana in the circle, it seemed like an easy process but Arthur knew that a small mistake would lead him to nowhere or even the Void if it worked, that is. Remembering something he experienced was no big deal with such high intelligence, within seconds words were coming out of Arthur''s mouth, some were incomprehensible while others sounded weird, almost like gibberish. It didn''t take a long time for him to finish the chant, he soon followed by injecting a bit of Mana to the blue circle and waited for a reaction.... which never happened. Seconds passed yet nothing occurred, there was only a confused Arthur standing motionless and staring at the teleportation circle. He thought it might be because of the cracks but that it didn''t seem to be the case as he could feel a bit of Mana inside the circle, maybe its what''s channeling it. Time was slowly running out as his Nether Energy was being consumed to keep him safe but that won''t last long. The cube created a small space, just like what the Grim Reaper did previously but this was a smaller and weaker version. With the constant strong pressure from the outside and his lack of Energy, it will shatter sooner or later. "This can''t be happening. Think Arthur, think!" Countless plans surged his mind but each was more dangerous and risky than the other. He could choose one but the probability of surviving is meager. If he gets engulfed by the Void, he either wander endlessly or dies from the powerful explosion that''s happening. Either way, it''s not a good outcome. The dark cube was beginning to crack and Arthur began feeling some strange heaviness weighing him down, making him unable to breathe properly or think straightly. ''Here it comes!'' With but a few seconds left but he is exposed bare to what''s about to come, Arthur decided to risk it all. He took one of the two last remaining perfect corpses for him, the silver wolf one and instantly possessed it without hesitation. [Transmutation] was activated along with all the other passives which could be used, none were spared and the agonizing Mental didn''t lag behind either, it struck Arthur''s mind and made him feel dizzy for the first few seconds. *Crack* *Crack!* The cube shattered and the small space vanished, Arthur felt a surge of unstoppable pressure pushing him behind with no ways of resisting it. With a loud howl, two wide flaming wings appeared on the wolf''s back, the wings flapped nonstop and helped Arthur resist the pushing pressure, he dared not look behind. Even for someone who has complete resistance to Fire, he could feel a deadly heat coming from behind. Boulders, dust and even air were pushed to the same direction, all clustered together into a ball or just being devoured by something. ''Damn! All this for a girl I don''t even know!'' *ROAR* The green lightning wolf ran against the pushing force, managing to overcome the strong pressure but wound after wound appeared on its body as spatial tears would appear everywhere and even a small one would kill an Immortal Realm like Arthur. Arthur''s attention was focused on one direction, his goal was to not lose sight of the blue circle. Obviously, it had disappeared but not its Spatial Tunnel, it wouldn''t vanish that fast, he wanted to ride the tunnel before it disappears, it is a difficult thing to achieve with all the destruction that''s happening but it''s not an impossible feat. He just had to find it before the grand explosion happens, because at that time, even with multiple bodies, he won''t survive and even if he did, his soul itself would be hurt by the impact, he would be severely weakened and would just wander into the devouring Void. [Griffin''s Bloody Switch]: You choose one specific stats to reduce its value by 90% and add 50% of that value to another stats. Cost: 50 Mental Power (Permanently) [Mother Of All]: The user can produce Golden threats, unbreakable yet soft. Cost: 10 Mental Power per second. Arthur both of these techniques the second he spotted a Tunnel a distance away from him. The problem was that the wolf''s body was being pushed back so he had to rely on there albeit that the cost is Mental Power. At least the second one didn''t take them permanently, still, the cost was outrageous so it doesn''t matter. The lightning Wolf spit golden threads that stretched to its back and began pouring on it like crazy until it formed a golden circle. Arthur also strengthened the circle with his own threads and activated Griffin''s Bloody Switch to add to his Vitality by sacrificing his Wisdom. When his Agility was boosted by millions, the Wolf transformed into a green streak that bypassed the Spatial Tears and the devouring Void. When he was almost there, the golden threads had already made a gigantic sphere, or to be more precise, it looked a bit like the tip of a cannon. When Arthur was rejoicing due to the Tunnel being within his reach, a force similar to sturdy iron wall crushed the wolf''s body and literally sent it flying hundreds of kilometers away but this was the good part, the worst part is that his Health was reduced by 70% and the left flaming wing dispersed which reduced his Speed yet again. What followed was a blinding light similar to the one created by Rizaki''s, at that split second, Arthur realized that he''s doomed if he''s engulfed by it. He abandoned all thoughts of flying to the Tunnel and used the Griffin''s skill three times in a row to add all the stats into his intelligence. The golden threads brightened a lot, illuminating the gloomy surroundings, they also became fast and more beautiful to look at. As he was being pushed back, Arthur focused his absolute attention on creating the thing on his back, the process took but a few seconds, however, few seconds were all it took for the pushing force to send him flying thousands upon thousands of kilometers. .... Exactly thirty seconds later, Arthur was almost going to crash into an extremely big orb that was devouring everything and emitting a blinding light and a deadly heat. He knew that it''s going to explode soon yet he could not resist, not after he gave up on his Strength and Agility Stats. When that half minute was done, the lightning wolf now had a large golden cannon on its back, it was twice its size and looked breathtaking. ''It''s ready! Now let''s try it and hope it works! Please....'' With all of his hopes stacked on the cannon, Arthur closed his eyes, cut off his hearing and activated [Rinotsu] using the Wind Attribute. The skill was used inside the cannon, which quickly made an engine-like sound and fired the compressing air which just exploded. The explosion was nothing compared to what''s happening Arthur. Albeit noticing that he was not pushed against the force with that try, Arthur was not angry or sad as he felt his body advance a few inches. ''84.9 left, alright then'' ''BOOOOOOM'' Ten million Mana points, that''s what Arthur just consumed to powerup a Rinotsu using the Wind Attribute, the force of the explosion which was fired by the cannon pushed Arthur way ahead and further from the bright orb. The pushing force was strengthening by the second so Arthur didn''t wait for it to lose its momentum, twenty million Mana points were used again to use a third Rinotsu. Fortunately, he can use it again if he is in the wolf''s body with the help of [Blood For Blood]. Blood For Blood: By sacrificing continuous Mental Power, the user could ignore the cooldown of a chosen skill. Cost: 150 Mental Power for each use. Falling a few Grades or even a Realm is much better than dying or suffering an endless hell. He regretted every thought of saving Alina, he never thought it''ll end up like this. It was foolish to come unprepared but the original criminal is Elias, who caused this world destruction by launching the big teleportation circle at the cost of this world''s essence coupled with Stored weird Energies. First thing he does is killing that bastard when he goes back to Astria, but that was rather unlikely as Elias, more than anyone, knew that there are people who can beat him and be the clever geezer he was, he must have thought of a plan of some sort and teleported his kin to a safer place. .... The distance between him and the Spatial Tunnel was shortening with every use but Arthur''s Mana pool was almost not recovering due to the absence of Energy in this godforsaken world. ''Crack'' The golden cannon started cracking after four shots so Arthur could only expand his remaining 38 million Mana points into one last Rinotsu. For the last time, and the last hope, Arthur used the ancient flames in Rinotsu, creating a deafening explosion and shattering the golden cannon the second it was shot. A dark Red beam appeared in between the Spatial tears, burning boulders and destroying flying lands, even the Void could not contain it or devour it, it was like a moving calamity. Arthur on the hand was literally pushed ahead with no way of moving a finger due to the intensity of the force pushing him, in comparison, the earlier force was nothing, it was like comparing the strength of a mouse to an elephant''s. The unfathomable distance that was separating Arthur and the Spatial Tunnel was crossed in mere seconds. With his Mana Pool totally Empty and no present Mana to recover, Arthur could only rely on what''s left of his Strength and Vitality to overcome the Spatial Tears and force his body to divert for a bit and head for the Tunnel. Fortunately, with the help of the earlier explosive blast created by Rinotsu, Arthur was able to more or less arrive near his destination. Although he achieved his goal, just when he was a few meters away, the long-awaited explosion of the gigantic orb has finally occurred. As if the light that it was emanating was not bright enough, at the moment of the main explosion, a white blinding ray of light covered Arthur''s vision just as he opened his eyes and the next thing he felt was a heat that immediately extinguished his remaining wing and deactivated [Transmutation] by consuming the green lightning. With a final push, Arthur was able to use the main explosion and his earlier momentum to enter the tunnel but not after the wolf''s body was ripped to shreds and devoured by the Void. He only entered the Tunnel with his real body, which was ejected from the wolf''s. It is the first time he dies inside a corpse.if he didn''t possess the wolf If he didn''t possess the wolf and didn''t have those countless passives activated then he would have long since died due to the Spatial Tears and the dangerous Void. With his Mana Pool empty, His stats lowered and in an exhausted Mental State, Arthur abandoned any thought of controlling his body and let the Tunnel drift him to its destination by its own. His main body was intact at first but as seconds passed, the wounds he suffered inside the wolf''s body began appearing, he was in a disastrous state, literally and he had no power left to move properly. The good thing is that his Mana began regenerating at a rapid pace by absorbing scattered Mana which helped him greatly as he made use of this to use simple yet effective Healing Skills. It was a one minute trip but for Arthur, it seemed like a one-year trip. He thought of many things, his weakness, his helplessness in such a situation, his wife Lucy, who he missed so much. If she were with him, maybe he would have been more careful, maybe things wouldn''t have gone wrong, so many things would have been different yet there are no ifs in life. When the short trip was finally over, Arthur appeared in a destroyed room, it looked a bit similar to the one Elias teleported from but the only difference is that rubbles and dust were all over the place. With the bit of strength he managed to muster, Arthur got up and looked around only to realize that he was back at the same place. Albeit receiving all these injuries, he breathed a sigh of relief as he was back in a safe place. He didn''t linger there any longer, he left through the door, or what was left of it, and arrived at the shattered mansion in no time. The place was still broken and dusty, just like he left it, with corpses all over the place and its reeking smell of blood, if not for the golden broken pillars and some structures that were still left, anyone would think this was a place where a bloody war occurred and not the mansion of the Humen Emperor. Without sparing a glance to the deceased soldiers, Arthur left the mansion and spread his Sense as far as he could only to be surprised when he sensed someone not far away but his surprise soon turned into astonishment and anger as he sensed the second presence. His Mana was recovering at an astonishing speed but he had to rely on his body for now. He retrieved Makaze and held it tightly whilst staring at a specific direction. "Looks like I need to rely on you again, friend." In response, the black katana vibrated intensely and black flames started burning on all of its edges, seemingly ready to cut anything in its way. Arthur took one final breath before he squeezed every last bit of strength he got and darted to the North. ..... The Royal Garden, which once was one of the most beautiful things is now dyed with blood, the breathtaking flowers died and the trees were cut down or destroyed by either sharp weapons or from the previous explosion. Taliya had decided to wait a bit longer for Arthur, she had inspected the dark room underground but found nothing except that blue circle. She knew its function yet didn''t know how to activate it, furthermore, she had to evacuate as the roof was falling and the ground kept shaking. She couldn''t die in such a place after going all the way here. She had high hopes for Arthur and wished he would return with Alina but an hour passed and still, nothing happened. After waiting for so long and hearing or seeing nothing, dejected, Taliya could only shake her head in sadness and remorse and turn around to leave. She felt a bit bad for involving Arthur and causing him to suffer so much. She didn''t know what happened to him but by the look of it, it doesn''t seem to be going well, just by the fact that he didn''t return. But she felt sadder for Alina, who is still young yet had to suffer at the hands of the filthy humans just because she had special origins. Seeing the destruction and rubbles all over, her mood worsened. With the death knight next to her, Taliya left the mansion and was just about to leave the main gates, which didn''t exist anymore, when she heard a loud explosion just a hundred meters away from her. Before she could see what just happened, another explosion happened a distance away from the first one and this continued for a few more times before it stopped. .... Arthur somehow managed to catch up to whoever is aiming for Taliya, with Makaze in his hands, he used [Faster Than Death] to appear next to Bucama and swung the sword, cutting one of the monster''s arms. Arthur then lifted his free hand and fire a dark red flaming ball which instantly hit the hideous creature due to the distance between them being just a couple of inches. With his state being so bad, Arthur couldn''t afford to relax. As the monster was sent flying away, he followed after it with a few teleports and appeared behind it while it was still trying to stabilize itself. Again, Makaze stabbed the back of the monster, where its horn used to be, this time, it was met with no resistance. Blood gushed out and a gaping wound was formed by the sharp katana but that was not all. Arthur injected Natural Lightning and his special black flames and made them invade Bucama''s body and destroy its cells one by one, aiming for the Dantian and Meridians. Honestly, Arthur was confused and surprised at how this monster managed to come here. His knowledge of that foreign world was limited so perhaps there was an extra teleportation circle but how did Bucama manage to reach it so fast with all those Spatial Tears. It definitely had something to do with that weird horn and the red beam which penetrated the sky, nevertheless, what is done cannot be undone and this monstrosity has to be killed on the spot! .... With only two arms remaining, Bucama got up and stared angrily at Arthur. It received severe injuries due to the destruction of its world and it was in a very bad state. As it found a prey to absorb, Arthur attacked out of nowhere. Fortunately for Bucama, Arthur was also injured all over his body which made them in worse states. With a disgusting grin, the monster stared back at Arthur and shrugged its arms while saying "Friend, I can see why you want to kill me but let''s stop for now. Don''t you see our states? Fighting further would be meaningless. In return, I can promise you that I will leave this place as soon as I recover." Although the creature was speaking to him, Arthur ignored it and ordered the death knight to take Taliya further. It was apparent that Bucama needs her for something and if having her means it can recover then she retreats immediately. When he was in the Spatial Tunnel, Arthur tried many times to enter the ARK but it didn''t work no matter how much he said the word. Even when he was rushing here, it didn''t work either. It''s either malfunctioning or he is still in battle mode but he didn''t know how to leave that mode as the System never mentioned it or specified how. ... As she was in total disbelief of the calamity that appeared before her eyes, Taliya snapped out of it when the Death Knight grabbed her and put her on its shoulder then it jumped away from the monster while taking big strides similar to wide jumps on each step. The Knight only stopped when Taliya struggled and slashed continuously with her short blades. Due to the shock, Taliya didn''t have time to glance at the second figure but she knew it was Arthur, as far as she knew, he''s the only one strong enough to fight such a monster. ... As the monster kept speaking nonsense and making peace treaties on its own, two thick black flaming chains sprang out of the ground and wrapped around the monster instantly, making him unable to move a finger. Arthur held Makaze with his two hands and didn''t waste a second, he teleported in front of Bucama and used [Thousand Waves] straight at the monster''s chest. With such a close distance, coupled with a sharp blade and a peerless wielder, Bucama was literally cut in two vertically and you could see its four eyes filled with disbelief, unwillingness, and anger. ''poof'' ''poof'' Two pieces lifelessly fell on the ground, not moving. the chains dispersed soon enough and what was left was a panting Arthur who was bending on one knee and using Makaze as support. Such a strong strike could not be resisted by Bucama, which was already injured and weakened. Despite winning, Arthur still felt regret over the stupid decisions he made, at least he managed to clear the danger. As he was about to get up and leave the place before more unwanted enemies come, the two pieces of Bucama shined with red light and the remaining scales vibrated and exploded and created countless tiny sharp pieces which struck everything in the small area around the monster''s body. Arthur, who could not react in time, was left defenseless against this. The sharp pieces were just about to hit him when a black shadow suddenly appeared behind him and grabbed him by the back of his head then darted away from the area. The shadow was even faster than the pieces as it barely saved Arthur from being hit. .... Taliya, who was confused and still scared of the monster, mustered her courage and decided to head back. Her resolve strengthened when the Death Knight suddenly dispersed and vanished from sight. The distance the knight crossed when it grabbed her was a bit far so she pushed her speed to the maximum to return to the mansion yet again but as she was almost there, a tall figure appeared in front of her. With a long black hair, a bronze skin and a two-handed large axe on his shoulders, Jackob smiled at Taliya and said "Now now, what is the Head Maid of the Demon Royalty doing here?" Although the MoonStar sect is in the West and didn''t expand further, Taliya fully know who Jackob was, she also knew his Strength and immense brute power. She held her two short blades and stared coldly at Jackob without uttering a word. "Those are two dangerous blades missy, I would recommend you to not be so careless, as long as you cooperate, nothing will happen to you." As he said that, Jackob held his axe and pointed it at Taliya as his two eyes glowed with a hazy red light.... Chapter 157 - 154 : Sect Meeting With the little bit of consciousness he has left, Arthur was able to distinguish Anastassia''s figure, who managed to make it in time and save him from the final attack of Bucama. It may be a mechanism laid by the monster in case it died. In normal cases, such attack wouldn''t hurt him too much but in his current state, it would''ve been deadly, especially with his stats lowered. Still panting heavily with his katana supporting him, Arthur looked up to Anastassia, who was in a black outfit that covered her whole appearance, seemingly like a ninja. "Thanks, I owe you one." "No need to thank me, more importantly, what happened here?" Surveying the surroundings and witnessing the bloody ground and the destroyed land, Anastassia was truly shocked. She came here for an investigation yet stumbled upon a wounded Arthur and a mass of bodies. Before he could start explaining what happened, a massive wave of pain and shock overwhelmed Arthur, it crashed into him at the same time, making him unable to see properly, blackening his vision and making him lose consciousness. After all the effort and strength he exerted, it''s to be expected, especially the burden from activating all the passives. The wolf''s body may be the perfect one for having them all activated but it''s only the perfect one amongst the one he possesses in his storage. There must be a more suitable body out there, he just needs to find it. ... The passing of time went unnoticed for one unconscious. When Arthur finally opened his eyes, he found himself laid on a comfortable bed inside a wide room. No one but him was present there and by the look of it, his body seems to have recovered fully, even the stat loss disappeared which is a good thing. What''s left to find out is how long was he unconscious? He hated being so defenseless and helpless, anyone would be able to kill him with the proper weapon if he''s unconscious. It can be considered fortunate that it was Anastassia who saved him and not some crazy or weird stranger. As Arthur''s Sense spread, he was able to find out that he was currently located inside of his sect''s area. Ma Clan disciples trained or spared outside, with some old tribe members trying to learn the use of Qi or challenging disciples. There was no shortage of people, but the defense was tight with three bone dragons permanently guarding. There was also two death knights around. One was located a couple of hundreds of meters away from him and it seemed to be the one who was guarding Taliya. As for the remaining knight, it just entered the room he was in along with Lissandra, who Arthur almost forgot about. So many things happened, from hunting a black mage to the phases of the ARK and last but not least is facing that hideous looking monster. Unconsciously, Arthur opened his status window but was sad when he saw his Realm drop by 6 whopping Grades. His stats also dropped but compared to his Grades, it was nothing. The cost of preserving his life was indeed high. If he didn''t use those forbidden skills, he wouldn''t have survived or even resisted that shocking pushing force, neither the countless Spatial Tears. .. Lissandra entered the room with a rather serious yet calm face, she was not as fearful as was last time. From the look of it, she either gave up on escaping or accepted her fate as Mortal, there was also the small possibility of her plotting to cheat him or someone close to him. Still ignoring her, Arthur spread his Sense further yet found nothing weird that is worth paying attention too. When he ascertained that there was no danger around, he turned his head and looked back at Lissandra, who stared at him silently, as if she was the same rank as him or was never his enemy, to begin with. Time slowly passed with no one of them uttering a single word, this silence was broken at last when Lissandra spoke with a straight face and a resolute tone. "I know it''s not my place to say this but I have come to make a request." "Denied. No requests, no trades, no offers, nothing. I''m not going to negotiate with a double-faced person." Seemingly unaffected by the instant answer and the rejection, Lissandra didn''t leave and kept staring back at him with serious eyes, she remained silent for a moment before adding "W-what if I told you I have a way to send you wherever you want?" It was an alluring proposal, Arthur is impatient and wants to go to Earth and check if Lucy is really there or not but he''s not that idiotic to believe whatever she says. Furthermore, let''s just say she''s speaking the truth, there must be some catch, she won''t give precious information for free. "Still a no. It doesn''t matter what you can provide, I''m not negotiating or trading with you, go back." This time, Lissandra became a bit annoyed, it''s indeed true that he has countless reasons not to trust her but he isn''t even willing to listen to her, which made her unable to voice out her thoughts. "At least listen to what I''m going to say! It''s really ser-" Before she could finish talking, she was interrupted by the Death Knight beside her which raised its axe, showing that it''ll strike her if she spoke an extra work. Begrudgingly, Lissandra left the room after throwing one last glare at Arthur, he didn''t allow her to speak so she could only go back the way she came from. As for Arthur, he ignored her and closed his eyes and entered the ARK, he had something he wanted to try and hoped it would work. --- After softly saying the required word, Arthur surroundings blurred and he found himself standing in the familiar endless white space. Every time he entered the ARK, he felt like he was in some kind of prison. if you look at this incredibly big space, by no means would you think it''s a prison but maybe the thought of him being alone in such a huge place made him feel sadder and lonelier. Without wasting much time contemplating the white surroundings, Arthur browsed through the available options and proceeded in entering the ''Beginner Phase'' again. He wasn''t sure but there''s the possibility of obtaining the rewards again if so then he can spam it until his stats reach a limit and if he doesn''t receive anything then he''ll just rely on possessing until he goes to another world and cultivates. The process and opponents were exactly the same, the only difference was that his lame copy didn''t appear this time, he only heard the robotic voice of the ARK telling him to choose a weapon and so on. Since he knew the attack patterns of the opponents, especially the hard ones like whitey, it wasn''t that hard to defeat them for the second time and at the end of the third phase, he was given a score just the last time but you could see some improvements. *Congratulations! You passed the third phase.* *Congratulations! You finished the Beginner''s Phase.* *Performance: Physical Score: 97/100 Skills Score: 77/100 Magic Score: 73/100 Battle Score: 80/100 Weapon Score: 6.75/10 Time Spent: 111 minutes and 7 seconds. ''Average'' Overall score: 79/100 ''Great Job'' * Rewards: +4 Grades, +40% to Health/Stamina/Energy Regen. +29M to all stats. +0 Creation.* ''It''s working!'' Feeling overjoyed, Arthur opened his status window and felt happier upon noticing his Grade increasing. If he repeats the Beginner Phase again then he would come back to being a peak Grade Immortal. Without much hesitation, Arthur signed for another challenge and immediately began the first Phase. The third time passed as smoothly as the second one. The score was only 77 but Arthur didn''t pay much attention to it. His eyes were waiting for the rewards to pop up but his excitement lessened when all he saw as a reward was two grades and no advancement in stats, which was such a pity but at least he received something. *You cannot do the Beginner Phase until the loading time ends. (9 Years, 11 months, 29 days, 23 Hours and 58 seconds).* ''10 years!'' Arthur had eyes full of disbelief when he saw that. Even though the time outside passes at a much faster pace than inside the ARK, as an inhabitant of this weird ARK, he had to go through ten literal years and wait patiently, and that is something he wouldn''t do. Heck! Even if it was a year, he would still not do it as it would worsen his mood, and make him go mad. Before leaving the ARK, Arthur decided to try a few things with the Plant Magic and his other attributes, trying to fuse them and he was met with a bit of success. It was not overwhelming but it''ll surely help in the upcoming fights. ''Dra''lim'' TITLE: MEAT GRINDER / SEEKER OF KNOWLEDGE / ONE WITH THE SWORD / ARK HOLDER Level: ??? Class: Dark ARK Parasite Realm: Immortal 9th Grade Strength: 172.4M Intelligence:189.9M Agility: 155.6M Wisdom: 146.2M Vitality: 137M Dexterity: 137.4M ******* Health:140M // Health Regen: 73718/s Nether Energy: 145.6M // Nether Energy Regen: 90500/s Mana: 220M // Mana Regen: 132378/s Stamina: Infinite /Stamina Regen: ??? Creation : 125 Attack: 264.1M Defense:187.7MM Magic defense : 48.1M Enigma abilities : Telekinesis / Ancient Threads / Sixth sense / ARK(Activated) Mental Power : 1999 Elemental Resistances: Fire: 100% Darkness: 100% Wind: 35% Water: 75% Earth: 75% Light/holy: 5% Shadow: 30% Lightning: 100% Ice: 30% ---- Death Count: 1 (2 more to obtain ''Unbound'') In his current state, Arthur was the strongest he has ever been, if not for his long cooldown cheat skills that cannot be used currently, he would be in a much safer position. However, relying on Makaze whilst deploying then ancient flame or Dark Magic is more than enough to overwhelm a Divine Realm. Even against a God, Arthur was sure that he wouldn''t be pushed back and he would have a good advantage, especially with such high stats. He had a guess that every God had at least 100M in all stats which is a boost if they breakthrough godhood, but that was just an assumption, but if it''s true, then he would be much stronger than a normal God. In prowess, if he were to face Meyzu or the Lich King right now, Arthur had a lot more confidence, and if Lucy joined him, getting rid of them wouldn''t be much of a problem, even if they use the strange illusory phantoms behind them. One Heavenly Arrow is all it took to scare them and if he learns to use Rizaki properly, there''s no end to what he could achieve and truthfully, he doesn''t seek fame, power or riches. He just wants more strength to protect Lucy and Saly, to have them live a peaceful and easy-going life. Earth would be a perfect choice but he would rather live on Astria as he considered this world a home more than Earth ever was. ... "Jackob! What did you think you''re doing by bringing the head maid of the Demon Lord to our base?" With a cold tone and an expressionless face, Anastassia reprimanded Jackob whilst glaring at Taliya, who was silently standing not far away. "Well... hahah you know, she had a Death Knight besides her so she can''t possibly be an enemy, right?" Scratching his head embarrassingly, Jackob tried to find a suitable excuse. He would take the risk of bringing a powerful enemy to their base rather than killing one of Arthur''s friends because that''s an irreversible thing which will make him receive the full wrath of Arthur, who would most likely not let him live. Shaking her head helplessly, Anastassia could only sigh at Jackob''s behavior and actions. Ever since they met, he would always do things the wrong way or screw the plans, nevertheless, he at least knew how to correct his mistakes. Compared to when they just met, he is way stronger and smarter, or so she thought. She could remember having a headache anytime she argued with him. He was not that powerful, to begin with, however, Arthur had a good impression of this young man, who in the course of eighteen months or so, managed to grow way taller and become a lot stronger. If she could name one of the good things about Jackob, it had to be his hard-working attitude, the man never slacks off and he''s battling comrades and enemies every day, whether it''s for training or to eliminate a threat. "Didn''t the thought of her being the one who summoned that knight ever cross your head? She''s a Demon, she can''t be trusted!" Anastassia was fully capable of dealing of the Death Knight standing next to Taliya but she didn''t, for the same reason as Jackob''s. The knight looked exactly similar to the one accompanying Lissandra, so Anastassia was hesitating a bit, moreover, it can''t be just coincidence to be where Arthur was, especially when she knew what the identity of Taliya was. Before everything else, Anastassia was Human, so like any other of her Race, she held a negative impression of the Demons albeit not interacting with them that much. It''s like an inborn disgust or loathes, can''t be explained properly and it''s something you develop naturally when you grow in an environment where every Human talk bad or hates Demons. As they were both arguings, Taliya remained silent and tried to grasp a good opportunity to sneak up and retreat. With the Death Knight protecting her back, there is a high chance of escaping despite all the defenses and strong figures here. After all, she saw how powerful the Death Knight was, monstrous strength and swift despite its size, one swing of its axe can easily crush her. Taliya was no fool, she knew that Jackob or Anastassia could easily apprehend her so she patiently waited for the black-haired woman to drop her guard or look away, only she needed is for the enemy to be distracted for a second and that was more than enough. She can''t escape far after witnessing the three bones dragons and a terrifyingly big minotaur guarding the gates of the sect but with her being the head maid of the Demon Lord, she got a few items that may be helpful in such desperate situations. Unfortunately for her, the Death Knight didn''t take her orders and seemed to follow only one straight order and that is to protect her from any danger. With the long sleeves of the maid dress covering part of her hands, Taliya sneakily shook her arms, making the hidden sharp blades slowly descend and when they were just about to be exposed, she stopped shaking her hands and surveyed Anastassia and Jackob, who were still talking without minding her. ''So arrogant to the point of not letting me unguarded and not sealing my powers. Humans never change'' Taliya they were the leaders of the most powerful sect in the western continent, and that the black-haired woman it that sect master, who is much stronger than her sister, the Demon Lord. But no matter how strong you were, you must never underestimate an enemy and let him be unguarded, that is an iron rule Taliya followed since childhood. Seconds passed and the moment she was waiting for never came, despite that, Taliya didn''t give up, she waited a bit more before launching her offensive. She unsheathed her short blades with lightning speed when a black shadow appeared before her and pinned her body against the wall. It was Anastassia, who never dropped her guard for even a split second, it''s true that she was talking to Jackob but her attention was focused on the enemy, who shouldn''t be here, listening to their conversation. Having expected something like this, Taliya dropped a black object that soon emitted a smelly yellow fog that obscured the view. The Death Knight also reacted and stretched its hands to grab Anastassia, who swiftly dodged the hand and kicked the Knight, sending it crashing into a wall a few meters behind it. Anastassia''s right hand, which was supposed to be pinning Taliya down, was now feeling the empty air. Cautious and startled at the same time, Anastassia crouched her body for a few centimeters before disappearing into a black shadow and chasing after Taliya, who was just about to leave the room. The Death Knight quickly recovered by Jackob''s large flaming axe came crashing down, pushing the knight and leaving it stumbling for a few steps before it stabilized its body, by the look of it, Jackob''s attack was not strong enough to damage it. As for Taliya, she couldn''t step pas the doorstep before a cold chill ran down her spines and a dark and red dagger appeared a few inches away from her neck. Anastassia was standing behind Taliya, with her dagger at the enemy''s throat, ready to finish her but only stopped when she sensed an additional presence in the room, clearly stopping her from slicing the maid''s throat. "It''s useless to fight any longer, she''s not an enemy, for now at least." Arthur appeared in the center of the room, wearing the usual black clothes with his grey hair which grew a bit and two cold eyes, one blood red and the other having the same color yet pulsating with grey light every few seconds. ---- "She''s a demon, I cannot let her be unguarded anymore. We should at least seal her powers to eliminate any further danger." Still not convinced about Taliya''s true intention and doubtful towards her, Anastassia insisted that the appropriate measures should be taken and the Demon to be apprehended and sealed. Unlike Arthur, who had a broader view and an open-minded opinion about the Demon Race and all other Races in general, she didn''t like this silver-haired one bit. Moreover, to add oil to the already burning fire, this maid was the head maid of the Demon Lord himself, the archenemy of every Human. As for Arthur, after experiencing so much and living on Earth, where wars and racism are not that spread as they are here, he didn''t have any negative effect towards Demon. Honestly, he hated Humans much more than Demons, considering that his wife is half-demon, he leans more towards them, and that is one of the reasons he wanted Taliya as his temporary follower. "She is a demon I brought, there is no need to be so cautious. If she tries anything, then I''ll be the one to act but I''m sure she wouldn''t try anything, right?" As he finished his sentence, Arthur glanced at Taliya, who was looking at him with a reproaching expression and blaming eyes. What happened just now was witnessed by Arthur and fortunately for the maid, he teleported in time or else Anastassia would have seriously killed the Demon as she is not someone who jokes around. Not minding the looks of bewilderment from Jackob, confusing from Anastassia, Arthur picked an empty seat and laid on it comfortably then he gestured for them to sit too while folding his arms and patiently waiting. The thought of explaining his sudden appearance here never crossed his mind, anyone who knows him would know that he always appears out of nowhere. Jackob didn''t linger there dazing, he sat there with a smile hanging on his face. He matured from the first time he and Arthur met, he became a trusted leader and a strong warrior. ''My past choices were not for naught after all.'' As he glanced at the tall Jackob, Arthur nodded his head and shifted his attention to Anastassia, who was still hellbent on not leaving Taliya unguarded. As he let a sigh of helplessness, Arthur couldn''t help but be forced to use Telekinesis to move the unwilling Taliya to an empty seat and making her slowly sit on it. It was a difficult feat as he is not used to making people sit, just making objects or living being float at best. He tried countless times going a bit deeper, like cutting off air from the opponents, shaking organs or reversing blood flow but that is not possible, for now at least, maybe if he ascends to the God Realm, it''ll be possible but even at such stage, his gut told him that it''ll not be that easy. With a cold and angry look, embarrassed and enraged due to what has been to her, Taliya could only glare at Arthur with piercing eyes, seemingly going to jump and slice his throat at any second but she didn''t even when the powerful pressure was lifted from her. Anastassia reluctantly gave up after seeing that but she still sat next to the maid. She hid her daggers again and glanced at the Death Knight who was standing at a corner of the room, silent and motionless. "It''s not the time to bother with that." Arthur waved his hand, sending the Death Knight back from where it came from and forcing Anastassia to finally focus on him. ''She''s really hard to deal with.'' Sighing yet again, Arthur resumed talking once all of them were listening attentively and not trying to act or do something in secret. "First thing I want to ask. What were you doing near the Emperor''s mansion? No matter how fast you were, it''s not possible to come that fast." Logically, if Anastassia learned of what happened and the mansion explosion, it would need sometime before she managed to personally come, but he didn''t stay inside that hellish world that much, two or three hours at best. "We were investigating something. Following the disappearance of Mary, my sister also disappeared when she was sent on a mission, it has been a few days since I heard from her and apparently, she was last spotted near the Emperor''s mansion. I along with Jackob decided to pay a visit to the Emperor and personally ask him." "Disappeared you said?" Anastassia''s eyes softened a bit as she remembered her sister, who volunteered to do a simple mission but went missing. "Yes, her party was killed and only she was missing. We searched the whole perimeter but found nothing. On my way, I heard a loud explosion and after fighting countless crazy soldiers, I stumbled upon you and that monster." Remembering the four-armed monster, Anastassia felt a chill down her spines, it was imprinted in her mind and couldn''t be forgotten, just its aura was terrifying yet Arthur was able to kill it. She also had the usual expressionless face but in all honesty, she admired and trusted Arthur, despite the first meeting which went horribly wrong and the conflict, they managed to become friends and she wouldn''t think twice before risking her life to help him or Lucy. There was also little Saly, who Anastassia considered as her non-related little sister. "When did Marry disappear exactly?" Curious and worried about the female beastmen, Arthur asked again. "Eight months ago. Miss Sonia pleaded countless times to send search parties so we sent six of them in five weeks but nothing was found, not even a single trace." We assumed she died or kidnapped by scheming enemies. Jackob, who was the one who just answered, glanced at Taliya on his right as he uttered the last sentence. "Don''t compare us to you lowly humans! We would not resort to such trickeries to win against you!" Snorting, Taliya didn''t even spare a glance to Jackob as she retorted with an angry tone. With a hand stroking his chin and a pondering expression, Arthur remained silent as he tried to piece things together and make some guesses but he couldn''t find any good leads, the Demons are not the ones who kidnapped Mary as there was no need to, as for the other clans, it was rather unlikely too. If they needed to exchange hostages for a treasure or power, they would have done so ages ago yet nothing happened, which led him to think of that hellish world. Just like there was a teleportation leading to that world, there must be others leading elsewhere too, just like that hideous creature which was talking to the black mage. Thinking back to the black mage, Arthur decided to head out to that cave to check things when he has enough time. The Death Golem didn''t notify him of anything or he would have felt it but it''s still better to see what''s going on with his own eyes. .... As silence ruled and no one talked, the atmosphere became a bit awkward. Arthur was trying to remember something, maybe he missed a clue or something, as for Anastassia, she kept glancing at Taliya every now and then, assuring that nothing gets out of hand. And last but not least was Jackob, who was smiling awkwardly and scratching the back of his head, trying to talk or lighten up the mood. After an unknown amount of time passed, this unusual atmosphere was at last broken when Taliya spoke "Alina, did you find her?" Obviously, her question was directed at Arthur, who was brought back to reality as he heard the maid talk. As he shook his head helplessly, Arthur replied to Taliya, however, unfortunately for the desperate maid, he didn''t speak words she wanted to hear and didn''t reply with the answer she yearned for. "No signs of her, not even someone who has an appearance that matches the picture you showed me. That world.... it was not a place for Demons or Humans to live." Trying to keep a straight face, Taliya expressionlessly looked at Arthur and added "That means you didn''t finish your part of the deal." "Deal?" Hearing that word, Anastassia shifted her attention to Arthur and stared at him with piercing eyes, questioning the meaning of that word and demanding an immediate answer. "It''s just a deal, no need to give me that look." A bit amused yet also fearful, Arthur waved his hands in innocence, he found that looks of hers similar to the one Lucy would throw at him when he talks to a woman, not even flirting or staring at a woman, if he talks to another woman who she doesn''t know, he would be ditched by her and he is completely helpless, unable to defend himself or explain the matter. "Y-you made a deal with the Demons?" "That is right, I made a deal with her. Now would you get off my case? I''m not Human so I do not share your hatred for the Demons nor do I want to share it." Albeit a bit angry at his choices, Anastassia didn''t pursue the matter further, he was her friend and he wouldn''t do anything to harm her or the sect. "You are the sect master, you are free to do anything you like, hahahahaha now now Anastassia, stop being so stubborn and let''s change this topic." Still scratching the back of his head embarrassingly, Jackob joined the conversation and tried to smoothen things up but all he did was make Taliya flabbergasted. She had wild guesses and most of them were that Arthur had a connection with the MoonStar Sect as they witnessed the sect master help him but now that she heard the vice-sect master said that Arthur is the sect master, all things were pieced together and things became much more understandable. Still in disbelief to this sudden truth, Taliya looked at Arthur with a mix of surprise and anger. He never told her or the Demon Lord about his identity, maybe it was on purpose but if he did say it, they would have been a bit friendlier. The relationship between the seclusive sects, clans and the demons was a bit weird and complicated, there were a few Human Clans that are cooperating with Demons and although the MoonStar sect is the dominant one in this continent and is not from the ones helping the Demons, it is not hated by Taliya or the Demon Lord herself! Since Arthur''s sect never attacked the Demons or their continent, they regarded it as a silent peace treaty and the Demon Lord was even willing to send a messenger to negotiate. But what''s strange is that albeit hating Demons, Anastassia didn''t launch an attack at them but maybe it was due to not having enough confidence or boldness to do that. After all, it was not her sect, it was Arthur''s and Lucy''s, she was like a vice-sect master. Her Clan merged with the sect and she had a lot of authority but the couple is the original masters. Anastassia harrumphed as she glared at Jackob, reproaching him for saying unnecessary things but she didn''t speak further, she merely crossed her arms and remained silent. As for Jackob, despite receiving angry glares from Arthur and Anastassia, he just awkwardly laughed it off as if nothing happened. "Speaking of the deal, it is temporarily halted until further investigation." Another bomb fell on Taliya, who still didn''t completely give up on her nephew. "Halted? W-what do you mean by halted?" "I have more important matters. It''s just a deal for me and nothing more, I need to prepare things and recuperate. Moreover, the search of my friend is more important than a stranger." With a cold tone, Arthur voiced his thoughts, making Taliya feel even more depressed. "Y,You!!" "Resent me if you want but just like you care for that girl, I have people I care for too." Shrugging his shoulders, Arthur ignored the angry stares of Taliya and added "For the Human Emperor matter, don''t let it spread. Just send someone to talk to the Holy Church and tell them to control things before it gets out of hand, as for the disappearances.... I''ll investigate that personally." Arthur was just about to conclude the short meeting when Taliya spoke after some hesitation "Actually, there were a lot of disappearances from our side too. The locations are random but we never found a trace." This was a secret information that should not be known but Taliya was forced to say it to convince Arthur not to abandon the deal right now. Technically, he was not abandoning it but halted is like abandoned for Taliya, who wanted to get her nephew back as soon as possible. "I''ll tell you more if you agree to continue the deal immediately." As she said that, Taliya stared at Arthur, expecting a positive answer but he just smirked and said "We''ll see about that later. We have some friendly visitors at our gates." "Visitors?" Whilst frowning, Anastassia looked at Arthur with confusion. Since they established the sect and spread all over the continent, there were no forces pressuring them, not with the three dragons, the death knights and her in the lead. .... The authority of the sect stretched all over the continent and a bit on the three others too but its main headquarters is not that big. With a radius of few miles and countless building and a tall wall around it. As the disciples of the Ma Clan were used to their style, some tall Pagodas and similar buildings were built for their sake. As for the main tower, where Arthur was talking with the others, it was located in the center of the territory, standing high and proud with three dragons circling around it every now and then. ---- It didn''t take long for the four of them to leave the tower and head outside to welcome the visitors, who Anastassia and Jackob were curious about. On the way down, Arthur ordered the Death Knight accompanying Lissandra to act and to bring her to them immediately. Anastassia had long since broken through the Spirit Realm so flying wasn''t undoable, as for Jackob, he relied on his ''friendly'' attitude to build a good relationship with one of the bone dragons on the course of the last year and whenever he needed a quick lift, he''ll ask that dragon. Being one of many which were summoned by Arthur, the dragons obviously would only obey their master but when time passes, they would become sentient yet not to the point of defying the original order that was given to them, hence the bone dragons became a bit more intelligent, obeying Anastassia and Jackob as they were the leaders and doing their job of protecting the sect''s territory. Arthur rode on his Dark Cloud along with the silent Taliya and Lissandra, who just joined them. Because Arthur forbade her from uttering any extra word earlier, she didn''t try to talk and just kept an expressionless face. Obeying his orders, she got on the cloud and sat on it without questioning her presence here. As for Taliya, she merely glanced at Lissandra then turned her attention to Arthur, who was sitting at the front. Anastassia soon followed by flying on her own and Jackob was a bit late as he had to wait for the dragon. With a constant speed, they arrived at the large metal gates of the sect, standing tall and having quite a domineering presence, fitting the sect''s name. A large circle with a star inside of it were engraved on the gates, they represented the sect''s symbol and an emblem not many would be pleased to see as it''s something to fear, admire or respect from afar. The permanent guard for the large gates is the one and only unique red Minotaur which Arthur apprehended. The creature was a dungeon''s boss but with a little trick, Arthur managed to subdue it and order it to protect the sect, just like the bone dragons. It wasn''t particularly strong compared to Arthur, Anastassia or the bone dragons but it''s not something to be underestimated either. With a whopping Level of 872, a large blade and axe on its back and a five-meter height, it was a terrifying existence which made any enemy sweat from fear. Usually, it just spends the hunting all kinds of desert beasts or just sleeping near the gates, Jackob would also spar with it when there''s time but it could be said that all of its time is spent snoring near the huge gates. After consecutive fights with Anastassia and experiencing her deadly and cold daggers, the minotaur never tried to rebel or slaughter any sect member, it did its job and defended whenever an enemy attacked. With such a horror guarding the gates, no enemy has ever gotten past that point which strengthened the creature''s role and position in the sect. ''ROAAR'' As they approached the gates, a loud dragon roar was heard from behind the metal doors. If not for the three bone dragons being behind them, Anastassia would have judged that roar to be one of theirs since it sounded so similar. In total, Arthur summoned four bone dragons with the main one slumbering near the sky-high tower and two active ones helping in missions or circling the sect territory. Jackob was currently riding one of those two and the last one was behind these gates. Arthur sensed it earlier and knew that Robin has finally come, but she was not alone. There were a couple of other individuals with her and from her distressed expression, you could guess it wasn''t intentional on her part. ........ Going back a few hours, as she was sitting on the dragon''s wide back along with her secretary, they were met with an unexpected thing. The bone dragon was quite useful as it could fly with a fast speed and avoid terrestrial creatures but there was one problem, the thing that stopped their trip was neither a terrestrial monster nor was it even a dangerous beast. It was actually a group of black-robed people, with a shady look, ominous aura and chilling eyes behind those dark hoods. She tried to avoid them but they purposely flew in front of the dragon''s way. Robin was no dumb person, she had a bit of knowledge about flying people, like Arthur for example and one thing has to be known about them, they are insanely strong. She only saw a few of the Elders of her Clan capable of flight which means that these people, which most likely were not kind, are definitely at the Spirit Realm which is not something she could face. Fortunately, the bone dragon threatened the black-clothed people a bit as it roared at them but that wasn''t enough to shoo them off. One of them flew a bit toward the dragon which stopped in its track, the person took off his hood and showed his ugly old face and dirty yellow teeth. The old man grinned hideously at Robin and her secretary and said "Missy, you appear to be heading towards the Western Continent." Robin and co were currently at the far Western edges of the Human Continent, just about to cross the sea separating the Western continent and Human continent. With her glasses pulled back and an expressionless face, she replied to the old ugly old man "Our destination is none of your concern and if you don''t get out of our way, I''ll have no choice but to resort to violence." She knew that they had no chance if they fought against them all, none with just one dragon, however, she will not be a coward like last time and escape, not like it''s possible anyways. Taken aback by her aggressiveness and boldness, the old man''s grin widened and his row of pointy yellow teeth was shown clearly. "We are not here to fight, with the same destination, we could somehow make things works, that is what we intended to do." .... What happened next does not need to be known as the old man started spitting utter gibberish and nonsense as he and his shady party followed the bone dragon. He would also glance at the dragon but apart from that, he remained passive. Not knowing what their purpose was and being completely helpless, Robin could only wish Arthur is in his sect so he can take care of them. She had a few guesses when she pondered about their identity but she couldn''t confirm any of them. --------------------- After arriving at the sect''s gates and noticing the shady black-clothed people still following them with the old man in the lead. Robin just snorted and headed to the gates, where the large red minotaur was sleeping. Hearing close footsteps, the beast woke up and stared at the bone dragon whilst dazing for a bit then as if it realized something, it snapped out of its daze and stood erect instantly. For it, the bone dragons were like its elders as it could never beat them, seeing one of its elders staring back at it, the minotaur started feeling a bit fearful as it was clearly slacking off and sleeping but the bone dragons rarely bothered with it so it felt confused. It may not be able to sleep but after fighting countless battles and gaining more stats, its intelligence was not that low. It had a bit of wisdom and it could understand a bit of the Human language. Seeing Robin getting off the dragon and staring at it, the minotaur thought for a second before turning around and opening the tall gates for this woman. It was smart enough to know that she''s not an enemy, however, after letting Robin and her secretary enter, the minotaur closed the gates and stared at the incoming group of people, who ignored it and used their flight power to just bypass the gates. With its long blade on its back, the minotaur clutched the sword and used all the strength on its legs to instantly jump toward the group of black clothes people and swung its sword at them, creating a twirling wind tornado that pushed all of them to the back except the leading old man. The Bone dragon which was protecting Robin joined the fray and flew at the old man as per Robin''s orders, it roared and spit an alarmingly powerful breath of black fog which dispersed in the air and made a couple of the pushed back people wail in agony. The old man''s grin transformed into an even uglier expression as he waved his hand, creating some sort of a black sphere around him and comrades. He waved his hand again, conjuring a dark staff which was pointed at the bone dragon. "Insolent creature! Go face your creator!" A black beam shot out from the staff, it was faster than the bone dragon''s reaction, which only managed to lean its body a bit but it was not enough to completely evade the beam. Such a creature as the bone dragon couldn''t feel pain but that beam still managed to injure its right wing, completely shattering its bones and making the large creature fall near the minotaur. What followed was a loud roar coming out of the dragon''s mouth, from the looks of it, it was calling its nearby allies but what it didn''t expect is that it''s one and the only master happened to be here. The familiar dark cloud appeared near the minotaur. Robin was elated as she saw Arthur on the front, with him here, she felt safer as his powers are unfathomable and his strength is extraordinary, she never doubted his strength, especially after witnessing it more than one time. Arthur spared the old man a couple of glances before turning to look at the silent Lissandra and coldly saying "Go take care of your dogs." Chapter 158 - 155 : Changes Inside the Sec Upon hearing Arthur talk to her, Lissandra snapped out of her daze and turned her head toward Arthur, who was looking at her with a cold and reproaching look, after all, it was partially her fault that these black clothed people came here with Robin and from their look and aura, they certainly didn''t come looking for peace.*In fact, just by the fact that the old man used one of his skill to damage the bone dragon, Arthur had already considered him as an enemy that must be eliminated, the question was, how would he kill it. Since Lissadndara is considered their godly figure and she can easily command them, it would be the best choice to let her take care of things. Albeit becoming a Mortal, Arthur thought none of them would dare to oppose her or even raise his tone or mock her, their worship was not for show and they obeyed her orders letter by letter. In fast, Lissandra didn''t even need o raise her voice or utter a single word. The second the old man laid his eyes on her figure, his eyes turned into complete shock and disbelief. "G-Goddess?" Eyes wide open, shaken voice and utter astonishment, that was the state of the old man, he couldn''t even keep his composure. He instantly descended from the sky and flew to Lissandra and jumped in front of her, prostrating himself. He needn''t an answer from her to confirm her suspicions, there was no way he was wrong, not with the proud demeanor and cold look. Although he felt that something was strange, what was she doing here and why is the pressure he usually feels from here is gone but he dared not say that loudly for fear of punishment or even worse. "What do you think you are doing? I did not order you to come here. Are you revolting against your master''s orders?" Seemingly startled but her anger and displeasure, the old man didn''t dare raise his head, he kept kowtowing whilst replying with the still shaking voice. "I,I dare n-not, master! We didn''t receive any contact from for more than a year so we thought you...." The old man realized what he just said and more sweat covered him as he became more nervous and stressful. Whilst snorting, Lissandra got off the dark cloud and stared angrily at the old man, it was obvious that she didn''t pay attention to what he just said, she was just acting like this purely to follow Arthur''s orders as apparently, he was her new boss since she became a mortal. Moreover, she can''t try anything with the death knight guarding her every second without even letting her breathe, she tried to persuade Arthur or removing the annoyance as she clearly isn''t able to flee but he was still rejecting that, completely distrusting her, which is the right thing to do. "Stop spouting nonsense and go back where you came from, I don''t have the time to deal with you bunch." Although anyone can see she is but a Mortal if they have the necessary strength, none of the black-clothed people dared to reply or retort, they just turned around and left with the old man in the lead. The process took just a couple of minutes and the situation was easily solved. Seeing the disappearing shadows of her subordinates vanishing from her sight, Lissandra turned around and looked at Arthur, waiting for some kind of reaction or an order. She could have ordered them to attack Arthur or take someone hostage but that would be too idiotic and reckless, she knew more than anyone how terrifyingly strong he is so it was better to remain calm and just follow his orders like any normal prisoner. It''s a pity she couldn''t warn him about what''s bothering her but since he didn''t want to hear it then even if he blamed her later on, she wouldn''t care. "Now that nuisance has been taken care of, let''s welcome our guests." Arthur glanced at Robin, who was not far away from him, standing behind the half-closed gates. After she saw the black-clothed people disappear, she sighed and walked toward Arthur with a relieved expression. "I apologize for the trouble." Heartily laughing, Arthur waved his hand indicating that it was okay and added "No worries hahaha, it''s just a small matter, now why don''t you follow us to the headquarters, where we can talk." ... It didn''t take long for them to return to the same meeting room with two extra people who were Robin and her assistant. She still maintained that cold look but Arthur noticed that she was less reserved than a few days ago when he met her in the Itas continent. Although it''s a few days for her and everyone else, for him, it''s been years, he just couldn''t afford to enter another one of those crazy long dreams. Just recently, he went crazy and could have hurt Taliya, who was supposed to be his ally, and that alone proves how unstable he was currently. "I''m glad to see you safe and sound. Now onto the more important matters, by coming here I presume you accepted my offer?" Arthur would not mind spending time talking with Robin as she is a good ally and an important friend but he just had too many things in his hands right now and he could not afford to sit leisurely all day. With Lissandra help, he is going to expand his search territory, first to look for the missing people such as Mary and also look for anything out of the place, anything that has relations with the black mage or the four-armed monster. The second plan was called ''Purification Plan'' as it was his first step into cleaning up his home and making it a better and peaceful place. The war ongoing between Demons and Humans can be solved later but for now, he should focus on the more important matters. -- Robin pulled back her glasses and glanced at the present people to ascertain about a few things then she stared at Arthur and replied resolutely "Thanks for the welcome and helping me yet again. Just as you said, I discussed your offer and I''m willing to collaborate with your sect and a build a future where my company and your sect can flourish further and further." Her tone held some excitement as she could think of countless benefits earned by their alliance. With their incredible manpower and strict laws, coupled with her company''s wealth and materials she could provide, the two can help each other in many ways. Powerful guards or even dragons could guard an expedition, assuring that no attacks from bandits or such occur and vice versa, she would provide Gold, materials and so on for the sect to expand on all of the continents, basically, it''s a win-win situation. Arthur clapped his hands two times, indicating his approval, then without hesitation, he waved his hand and took out many delicious dishes coupled with rare juicy meats and unique drinks he made personally. If we''re talking about support-like skills, Arthur literally had all of them, whether it''s cooking, liquor making, tailoring or blacksmithing, he had all of them in Advanced, moreover, he had few special skills earned from unique individuals. With the help of those skills and other skills he earned from ancient beasts, he was able to make a diluted liquor while adding a couple of fruit flavors. Jackob and the rest didn''t hesitate as they started devouring the luxuries. Robin also didn''t hold back, she merely followed the noble etiquette and ate slowly. Only the reserved Taliya refrained from even lifting her hand as for her, Arthur could only shake his head and ignore her, it''s her choice, after all, he''s not going to force her to eat anything. The silver-haired maid silently glanced around her only to see everyone enjoying a hearty meal, Jackob was even dumbstruck by the burning sensation and the strong flavor of the liquor, despite that, he took several gulps, never stopping and requesting Arthur to retrieve more. After fully enjoying the meal, Jackob and Anastassia left to handle sect matters and Robin also went outside to tour the territory and familiarize herself with the new environment. The only two people left were Taliya and Arthur, as for Lissandra, she was ordered leave long before they began to eat. Robin didn''t forget to give Arthur 6 storage rings and explained how she divided the corpses. ''It''s a good thing I decided to visit the Itas Continent'' Arthur thought as he played with the six rings in his hands, each one had one thousand five hundred beast corpses with the worst ring having only corpses which had a Level ranging between 30 and 70 and the best ring having corpses which had a whopping Level of 350. It wasn''t easy to acquire such corpses as Robin didn''t have enough manpower to slay such a beast and at a continuous period, so the only thing he could guess was that she able to lucky find the corpse. One more thing Arthur decided to do is fix his territory before embarking to the cave under the Demon City, he had to take care of his and Lucy''s sect and make sure that it''s properly managed and is totally safe. He also has to possess all those corpses since he didn''t reach his limit yet. After a bit of pondering, he decided to sacrifice one week to do all of that, then when the time is right, he''ll fly to where his Death Golem is and patiently wait for the hideous creature to teleport back, no matter how much time it takes, he was willing to wait for it but once he''s there, he''ll never leave the cave. It was a trip without return, he had to leave Astria! The silence was getting on Taliya''s nerves, Arthur was usually talkative and this atmosphere was quite awkward, especially when she noticed that the other party is completely ignoring her existence. After throwing some glares at Arthur, Taliya was forced to spit out her thoughts. "About what we talked about earlier." Taliya''s usually calm temper vanished whenever she''s talking with him. When she saw that he was still lost in thoughts, dark and ruthless thoughts rampaged inside her mind. ''He''s so strong, I''m sure he wouldn''t die, right?'' Although she was hesitating at first, she could not hold back her anger and frustration anymore, with a swift and flawless movements, she withdrew one of her short blades and threw it at Arthur. Unfortunately, nothing happened even after throwing her sharp blade, when it was about twenty centimeters away from Arthur, the short blade broke into small pieces as if it hit an unbreakable barrier. What she didn''t know was that Arthur constantly had a Dark Barrier around him, after so much time has passed, it became a habit of his. Furthermore, is Lucy was here, he would unconsciously create two kinds of barriers around her, making sure she''s always protected from any sneak-attacks. Even though the goal she wished for wasn''t reached, at least her attack awakened Arthur from his deep thoughts. With a confused expression and tilted face, he looked at Taliya, demanding an explanation for her previous actions. "You were lost in thoughts, it was the only method I can think of." ''Only method my ass, if it was another person, he would have been dead!'' Keeping his thoughts to himself, Arthur coughed and added "So you were saying?" "A-ah, about our deal...." Whilst dismissively waving his hand, Arthur didn''t bother giving an appropriate answer "I think Alina most likely disappeared the same way the others did meaning is we find the source, we find all of them. As for the temporary pause, it''ll last for one week, in meantime you go back to the Demon Continent and inform your sister and I''ll send scouts all over Astria to search for clues, that is all I can do." Taliya knew that it''s the best answer she could get for now. But what she was stuck in a dilemma, go back or not. Technically, he didn''t do his part of the deal so she can''t honor hers but he clearly tried to retrieve the little girl so she could only sigh and force herself to make a decision that she didn''t want to take. Taliya sat up and left the room after leaving one final phrase "For now, I''ll not leave, I will only leave when the deal is done as I promised to help you retrieve my niece." With that, the head maid left the room, leaving Arthur alone. ---- It was only after a couple of minutes that Arthur sat up from the chair and prepared to leave the room but once again, he was interrupted. A black shadow materialized in front of him until it formed the silhouette of an individual. It was, in fact, Anastassia, who was wearing her usual clothes which covered her appearance. Knitting his brows, Arthur looked at the silent woman in front of him, expecting her to say something but the latter coldly glared at him for sometime before saying "Lucy will kill you if she knew that you''re making a deal with another woman." Seemingly carefree, Arthur shrugged his shoulders and casually replied "It''s just a deal. I''m not cheating on her and I do not have any thoughts of laying my hand on the maid." "I already asked the maid about the deal. You want her to follow you? That''s even more of a reason for Lucy to kill you AND her." The relationship between Anastassia and Lucy was not that close but they were not strangers too. Lucy took care of her when she was injured and they would chat from time to time, as someone who witnessed how much Lucy loves Arthur, she also knew that she is an overprotective woman who easily gets jealous, even when Arthur talk to her! So seeing that Arthur was traveling with a maid, and a pretty one at that, it didn''t sit quite well with Anastassia, she first thought he was an unfaithful man but he doesn''t seem to be that kind of person so she didn''t immediately jump to thoughtless conclusions. "I only love two people and they are my daughter and wife and I know you are fully aware of that, right?" His tone was still casual but a hint of seriousness and resolution could be felt from it, Anastassia retracted her cold glare and sighed. She was not an expert in communication but she was able to see the loneliness in his eyes, even though he kept a carefree attitude, there is no doubt that he is missing his family. ''It seems I was overthinking.'' Yet again, Anastassia''s figure blurred and disappeared from the room. "Don''t forget that you always have a friend to speak to. As my benefactor and friend, I cannot let you fall into a despair or else Lucy would never forgive me...." ----------------------- The very first day Arthur literally did not leave his room. Anastassia and the others didn''t come to bother him in his private room. Although they don''t know his Race or just presumed he''s a Human, they know at least that he has countless secrets and didn''t insist on knowing the truth. With so many corpses to possess and stats to gain, Arthur didn''t hold back when he got back, he immediately started possessing corpses left and right and then he absorbed them using [Death Touch]. The thing is, he is probably getting experience by using that but it was so meager that it''s basically useless right now. He tried reading the content of the letter again but it didn''t help at all. Such a skill cannot be this limited, especially if it''s compared to [Faster Than Death] which is a godly skill that never betrayed Arthur''s expectation. The thing is, this instant movement skill is not that perfect, it''s certainly helpful in many ways but some enemies such as the dragons, can predict where he will teleport to, he also cannot spam it in a short amount of time. It is possible to activate it after a second or two but in close-range combat, a second is enough for a God to pierce his heart or finish him. There was also strong skills such as [Bear affinity] or [Fierce Calling], the first was helpful if he possessed a bear but he would rather possess a unique body of a Griffin than an ancient bear due to the accumulated passives, they would bring much more advantage to him than 50% bonus stats, especially if his stats reach a certain limit. As for the latter, which conjures an image of a bear, the cost is simply too absurd, just ten seconds would consume 5 Million Mana points. This amount is but a drop of his Mana Pool but it''s still outrageously high which is why he refrained from using it against Bucama. The list goes on and on, numerous skills, forbidden spells or mysterious techniques, he had so much that it became mind-numbing, so he focused only his primary skills and would rarely use the other ones, to conserve Mana and attack more efficiently whilst doing more damage. Overall, he can be considered both a physical and magical oriented fighter, it depends on the enemy and environment. He would rather fight in a long range to avoid deadly attack such as Bucama''s last desperate attack but that could only blame himself as he dropped his guard and was exhausted. He longed for his wife and daughter so he sought for more power, it''s only logical, however, he didn''t forget his friends residing on Astria, for this purpose, he decided to sacrifice this week to prepare things for Anastassia and the rest. After he finishes possessing all those corpses, he would clean the territory from any possible enemies, spies or anything, they may be insignificant for him but Arthur doesn''t know how much time he would be absent. He also needs to make this land a bit more convenient. Unfortunately, the western continent was a wasteland covered with dry earth and mountains of sables, it was literally a hot and dangerous desert which is exactly why the other powerful factions ignored it and didn''t think of conquering it. But Arthur thought of it differently, with the use of his Nature and Plant Magic, along with his Earth Attribute and other special skills, he was going to create something worth fighting for, not just a desolate territory that people take shelter in for fear of the unknown laying all around them. --------- It took Arthur 7 hours to possess 9,000 corpses, he would look at his stats every 1,000 corpses possessed. As for the skills, he either already possessed them or earned a few ones but none was worth mentioning. This was to be expected since he possessed so many species that it''s unlikely to get a new skill, so that means if he stays on Astria, the probability of possessing a powerful being or obtaining a new strong skill is very low. When this boring job was done, Arthur was bewildered to see that his stats still didn''t reach a limit, but the result was truly not bad. TITLE: MEAT GRINDER / SEEKER OF KNOWLEDGE / ONE WITH THE SWORD / ARK HOLDER Level: ??? Class: Dark ARK Parasite Realm: Immortal 9th Grade - Strength: 195.6M Intelligence: 207.6M Agility: 179.1M Wisdom: 156.7M Vitality: 153.9M Dexterity: 150.2M - Health:162.4M // Health Regen: 77941/s Nether Energy: 145.6M // Nether Energy Regen: 90500/s Mana: 244M // Mana Regen: 141378/s Stamina: Infinite /Stamina Regen: ??? Creation : 125 Attack: 288.8M Defense: 209.4M Magic defense: 50.4M Enigma abilities : Telekinesis / Ancient Threads / Sixth sense / ARK(Activated) Mental Power: 1999 --- Elemental Resistances: Darkness: 100% Wind: 35% Water: 75% Earth: 75% Light/holy: 5% Shadow: 30% Lightning: 100% Ice: 30% --- Death Count: 1 (2 more to obtain ''Unbound'') With an average increase of 10 Million points, that was enough for Arthur to feel his muscles itching and his bones hardening, immense power covered him and a strange yet stimulating feeling surged inside of him. The black orb inside of his Dantian was emitting a strange black light and an almost invisible talisman was rotating around it, it was burning with black flames and had runes that were incomprehensible for Arthur. Seeing his body in such a state, Arthur knew that with or without Nether Energy, his body will soon reach its limits and will force itself to evolve and become a Divine Realm, however, he didn''t know if that''s a good or bad thing. After spending an extra hour trying a few things, Arthur left his private room and began his work. First, he circled around the sect main territory a few times to get a better view, then he floated near the central sky-high tower of the sect and closed his eyes. Endless amounts of Mana were gathered from his Dantian, emptying it bit by bit, Arthur slowly raised his hands upwards and concentrated on channeling his Mana toward the specific location in his mind. His focus was totally on put on this process, so he was defenseless but that wasn''t a big problem as a Dark Barrier was around him and his loyal main bone dragon was surveying the surroundings, moreover, to make it even safer, Arthur summoned the Book of the Damned made it the rotten hand stick out of it and float next to him, protecting him from any sudden attacks. Very soon, the main territory of the MoonStar Sect, which was undoubtedly huge, began shaking violently. The earth seemed about to shatter at any moment and gloomy clouds covered the shining sun, making the atmosphere ominous and dark. People panicked and some experts retrieved their weapons and cautiously stared at the sky. Even Anastassia and Jackob hastily left their rooms and looked at the sky only to see Arthur standing high up in the sky, with his two hands stretched high and a strange book with a hand floating next to him. Anastassia sighed upon seeing this and returned to her room as if nothing was happening, as for Jackob, he stared at Arthur in awe and admiration. His dreams were to be able to fly like Anastassia, soar the sky and look at the sect from above, that feeling of freedom is what he sought, along with the absolute strength of course. -- From a corner of the tower, in a room that was specifically given to Lissandra, the woman was silently sitting on a chair and staring at the gloomy sky. Due to her extremely low stats, she wasn''t able to see Arthur who was hundreds of meters above, she only saw a black dot but she didn''t need to see that to know that he was the source of this sudden change. ''Just what are you....'' She kept staring for a couple of minutes before she resumed doing her experiment. From the point of view of an outsider, she was merely mixing useless materials but more than anyone, Lissandra hoped that this desperate experiment works or else everyone will be doomed, including her. She had no choice but to rely on such a stupid idea that she previously thought to be just nonsense and it was all Arthur''s fault, who didn''t even spare a couple of seconds to listen to her. Gritting her teeth, Lisandra took a simple iron knife with one sharp edge and stabbed the tip of her finger, making some droplets of blood drop into the wooden bowl and mix with the salt and the other ingredients. --- Changes were occurring all over the edges of the MoonStar sect territory, the walls that were made out of weak stones and simple mud were slowly but surely replaced but an enforced black earthen wall with thorny vines stuck on it. The consumption was enormous but thanks to his incredibly high Mana recovery, Arthur was more or less able to cope with this. Walls as high as thirty meters were raised from all the edges. Thirty meters in height, four meters thick along with thorny vines that had paralyzing poison glued to the walls. He only left the roofs of the walls empty of such plants so the members of the sect could defend from there. This was but the first step yet it was not an easy thing to do. Drops of sweats appeared on Arthur''s forehead, it wasn''t Physical fatigue but Mental exhaustion, he wasn''t consuming Mental Power but to simply spread his magic as far as dozens of kilometers in all direction and fusing two attributes, it wasn''t an easy thing to achieve. As he was doing this, chaos covered the sect as they thought their territory was under attack. Fortunately, Jackob snapped out of his long daze and commanded the army made from the past warriors and such to calm down and organize themselves, as for the disciples of the Ma Clan, they were much calmer and experienced, one word from Anastassia was enough to settle things. There were two main armies the sect possessed, one belonged to Anastassia and it was called the first army, and the second one belonged to Jackob but overall, he was the commanding general and even had the authority to command the disciples of the Ma Clan, Anastassia would only step out if there''s an enemy stronger than Jackob, or something that he could not cope with, such as leaders of other seclusive clans or sect for example. The Sect had fought many battles, since they suddenly appeared on the western continent, many tribes and clans were not so pleased with that so they made alliances and attacked in succession but all of that was totally futile, with the assistance of the red minotaur and the prowess of the disciples, the sect didn''t suffer any big damage and even the mud and weak stones walls remained unscathed until now. The mud and stone walls were only ten meters tall but now these walls shattered and now, a glorious and enormous wall replaced them. "W-what is that?" One of the stationed guards near the gates dumbly stared at the towering wall in front of him with a stupefied gaze, he stretched his hand to touch the thorny vines only to feel a sting in his hand which was followed by a strong numbness. He was only shaken off his daze when his friend, the second guard shook his shoulders violently and slapped him a few times before warning him to not act recklessly and do stupid and unnecessary things. "Stupid fucker! Not only do you look like a monkey but you also act like one? Pull yourself together and come with me to guard the gates or what was left of them!" With that, the burly tanned guard held his bronze spear and darted to the falling gates. Even the red minotaur, which was guarding the main gates situated at the North, was panicking as it saw the wall rising from the ground and feeling the heavily shaking ground, making it unable to stand properly. At first, it was confused due to not knowing what''s happening, however, its limited intelligence at least made it able to grasp its sword and turn around whilst staring at the empty and deserted horizon. Steam came out of its two nostrils and some blood veins appeared as it tightened its hold on the sword, seemingly fully ready to fight, its only thought was to defend the sect territory and it thought the shaking was due to a huge monster coming or an unimaginably big army of enemies heading its way. ---- By the end of the process, which took a quarter of an hour, all the guards were standing near the newly constructed gates and walls, in revelation and shock, they couldn''t fathom what''s in front of them, even the red minotaur was dumbfounded at it raised its head and stared at the two black gold gates, they were towering and inconceivable, as if they were not just gates, but Holy gates leading to a superior world. The same symbol was engraved on all the gates with the biggest one being on the main gate, a circle with a red star inside of it, it didn''t seem like anything special at first but for those who were part of the sect, they knew it was the sect''s one and only symbol. "By the three gods...." The monkey-looking guard stared at the walls in amazement, wide open mouths and eyes full of disbelief. Again, he couldn''t help but touch the gates, which were made from a special black gold material, extremely hard but smooth when touched. It was a unique kind of Gold that can be used when mixed with a few minerals. Using the Metal Attribute along with a bit of fusion with the Nature Magic, Arthur was able to create 4 of those gates and a big one. It took him a lot of effort and by the end of all of it, he completely emptied out his Mana Pool. Although in just a few seconds, it regenerated greatly but nonetheless, creating this protective walls and gates was not doable if he didn''t have that much Mental Power and control over his skills. All the main territory of the sect was enveloped by the black earthen walls with thorny vines stuck into them. There were four gates with a fifth one being at the North, which was the main one leading to the sect. This was his home and he wished that when he brought back Lucy and Saly, he''ll prepare a proper wedding, it''ll be the greatest wedding ever done on Astria. They are officially married right now, that''s for sure, but he didn''t want it to be just an exchange of rings, he wanted to be more special and a memory that shall never be forgotten. ---- Later that day, when night has fallen and the sky became jet black, Arthur stood at the top of the tower, contemplating the starry sky with a strange look. It was so peaceful yet lonely. As families were either eating dinner in their homes with the illuminations of the candles, he was standing alone, reminiscing about his happy memories with Lucy. Now that he thought about it, he didn''t pass that much peaceful time with her. Every time they wanted to settle for some time, an accident occurs or danger knocks on their door. He wanted to tour Astria slowly with her, visit every possible place and enjoy their life as much as they can. He didn''t want such life for her, truly! From fighting the church to invading the Underworld, facing Medusa and many troublesome enemies, he didn''t sign for this and neither has he the power to protect everything. ''Why couldn''t life be as easy as on Earth? Just with a little bit of money, you can live peacefully...'' Endless fortune and never stopping gain of strength but that wasn''t enough to compensate for the danger and fights they had to handle. In all honesty, he wanted to bring Lucy and Saly back and then establish the sect with his wife, never bothering with other affairs, however, such a wish is not reasonable, at least not right now. He made a deal with the World Tree, and there are many mysterious things happening on Astria and adding that to the plans Fate has prepared for him, having a peaceful life should be the last of his concerns yet despite all of that, he still longed for it. ... After one final sigh, Arthur was going to return to his room when all of a sudden, an overwhelming amount of power suddenly covered him, in every muscle bone. It resembled the feeling of strengthening when his stats increased but this one was more intense and even a bit painful. He had a strong urge to release all this pent-up power, in any way possible but without even trying it, he knew it''ll be dangerous and there will be a lot of casualties. "Argh" While half kneeling and clutching his abdomen, exactly where his Dantian is, Arthur''s half kneeling soon transformed into squatting, almost laying flat on the ground. The feeling was soon replaced by an unimaginable stomachache as if it was going to explode at any given second, his facial complexions became paler and even though he tried to hold it, a groan couldn''t help but come out of his mouth. Seconds passed slowly and no matter how many times he tried to teleport out of the territory or fly high up in the sky to release this sudden power, he couldn''t even properly stand up much less fly, even summoning his Dark Cloud didn''t work. In the spur of the moment, when he felt that it was going to explode at the next second, Arthur spontaneously entered the ARK as it seemed the wisest and safest choice he currently had. *Welcome to the ARK.* The usual robotic voice rang in his ears, making breathing in relief as he didn''t sense any discomfort and the unusual pain residing in his stomach, precisely his Dantian, has disappeared. He got rid of that feeling for now but he didn''t completely get rid of it. Moreover, Arthur had to instantly enter ''Phase Mode'' to stop the flow of time outside, he still had to pass the beginner Phase again but at least that''ll buy him sometime. Entering the ARK is something he couldn''t fully comprehend yet because if he didn''t enter the ''Phase Mode'' then the time won''t flow faster but it''ll stop if he enters the ''Phase Mode'', he just couldn''t find any clue on how this cube or whatever it is was doing this time-stop thingy. It''ll surely be a golden skill if he could stop time, he would literally never lose, even against a powerful enemy, especially if he can stop it as long as he can, however, all of that remained just wishful thinking on his part. *Please choose your weapon.* The good thing right now is that he can use this small loophole. Although it specified him to choose a weapon, it didn''t specify when so he can remain silent for hours and it''ll still not force him to enter the first Phase. If this thing was really artificially made, then its creator surely would not miss this loophole but then, did he purposely let it be? So many questions about this ARK were unanswered inside of Arthur''s mind but for now, he put them all to the back of his head and focused on the urgent matter, which was this inexplicable surge of power. He possessed the corpses earlier today and he did indeed feel his body strengthening but although this feeling was a bit similar, it was too intense, especially the pain. Maybe it''s because he didn''t activate the pain immunity but when he activated it, nothing happened, it''s as if he never did a thing! Which is why he could only lay on the ground and groan for a bit before entering the ARK. First, he thought his body automatically evolved to the Divine Realm but that possibility is rather meager and it was soon rejected when he opened his status Window and saw his himself being at the peak of the Immortal Realm. ... One hour was wasted wracking his head over all the possibilities of this sudden trigger but he couldn''t come up with a good guess or even a logical theory. It couldn''t be an enemy attack, neither could it be a soul attack as it was clearly happening around or inside his Dantian. Sitting cross-legged and frowning from time to time, Arthur kept thinking for three straight hours before he decided to give up trying to solve the matter by himself. He searched through his memories and re-read the notes of Zodiak and the ancient books but he found nothing similar, which confused him even more. With nothing to do, he decided to give it a try and ask the ARK. "Do you know what''s happening to me?" Several seconds passed without hearing any answer and when he was going to sigh and continue searching, the robotic voice was talked *Negative, unable to inspect the surroundings of the user ''Arthur'' due to locked options. Possible inspection can be issued by the user ''Arthur''* "Explain what''s an ''inspection''." *Detailed inspection of the user''s physical body." After pondering for a few seconds, Arthur nodded and said "Execute the inspection." *Affirmative. Inspection beginning in 3..2..1* Even with the countdown reached ''0'', Arthur felt nothing happening to him or around him, there was just the endless white space with only him there and the cubic object was still rotating and floating a couple of meters away from him. He didn''t rush things and waited for this ''inspection'' to finish which it did just when he was about to ask when it''ll be done. *Inspection finished. Results will be displayed in 3..2..1 Result: Bones : 206 (Undamaged) (condition 100%) Muscles: 50,100,000,701 (17,417,579 Damaged) (Condition 70%) Nerves: Undamaged. Meridians: Undamaged. Acupuncture points: 649 (6 Opened) (Undamaged) Dantian: Excess energy, over burst.* Arthur gawked as he saw the results, the last one gave him a shock and made him stare in astonishment for some time before he was able to recover. "What do you mean by ''over burst''?" *The energy inside the user ''Arthur'' is running rampant, damaging the Dantian and invading unnecessary body parts.* "Isn''t there a way to stop it? Maybe try to forcefully absorb the Energy or push it out of the body?" *Negative. Such things are not possible, by mathematical calculations, the over burst will only last six more seconds before the body of the user ''Arthur'' is going to explode to 12.481 pieces.* Arthur''s face stiffened as he heard that, even hearing it made him sweat but what''s more terrifying is albeit knowing the cause, he doesn''t know how to solve it. "Do you have any solutions." *Affirmative. Using a magnetic energy field can suppress the over burst, however, the user ''Arthur'' will suffer two: consequences. One: Sealed body due to the evolution of the physical body. Two: Physical seals limiting the movement of the user ''Arthur''.* Without even thinking about it, Arthur spouted "Just do it!" Chapter 159 - 156 : Final Preparations As Arthur gave the order, a strange, almost mechanical voice started ringing in his ears and after a few seconds, it seemed that the source of the ringing was coming out of his body. A strange occurrence yet he didn''t fret about it, it was not that coincidental, especially when it started happening after telling the ARK to fix the problem. The sound was getting louder and louder and after only half a minute, it became almost unbearable, even his superior stats were not negating the numbing feeling he was experiencing. Then, drastically, the sound disappeared instantly, in place of slowly dissipating, it just vanished, he could hear or see nothing in such a place, his view was covered by white except a small rotating cube not far from him. .... By the time Arthur opened his eyes, he was relieved to see that his body was still intact and the absence of the agonizing pain. He stared at the sky, which was still jet black with countless stars, some were bright and others could barely be seen. Feeling his body full of vigor and life, Arthur exhaled a long sigh and thought back to what the ARK said *Operation: 100% success. Restricting physicals seals were put on the user ''Arthur''. The physical body has evolved to the God Realm. Mismatch with the Mental Real=> forceful restriction. It is unadvised to break the physical seals or the user ''Arthur'' will experience an overdrive and die 17.4 seconds later.* He asked a few questions but he didn''t get the answers he expected, which was unfortunate but at least the urgent crisis was solved. The most important thing he needs to remember is that to break the seals, he needs to match his body Real with his Mental Realm and that is only the minimum requirement. He had a small guess that this accident happened due to the overwhelming stats numbers, however, when he asked the ARK about that, he was met with an incomprehensible answer that he would rather not remember. A few seconds passed and when he completely grasped control of his body again, he felt a certain heat coming out of his Dantian but was what more astonishing is the existence of chains. Not illusory chains but literal ones, two thick chains restraining his hands and feet, as if he was a death-sentenced criminal. There was also a thick metal wrapped around his abdomen, covering almost the half of it. Surprisingly, it appeared under his clothes but his hopes were crushed when he tried getting up and heard the unpleasant sound of chains crackling and feeling the restriction of his feet and hands. Basically, he can''t free his hands, he can''t get them away from each other, same as the feet, if he wore orange clothes, he would be regarded as a prisoner on Earth. Arthur tried exerting some strength into his hands and try to distance them from each other again but to no avail, nothing happened. For a moment, Arthur stood there, dazing and not knowing what to do. Obviously, with those chains, he would literally be unable to fight properly, especially for close-range. He can''t even perform a normal kick or punch. Heck! Even wielding Makaze would be hard this way. If not for witnessing his status window in front of him and showing the high stats, he would believe that he became a weak mortal by no means to defend himself, a helpless mortal! ''How am I supposed to fight like this?'' The chains around his feet were a bit loose so he can walk but running is not an option which made him more irritated. Arthur was not something to fess about things for a lot of time so he calmed down after some time and teleported back to his room. With these chains, albeit keeping his stats, fighting close-range would be disadvantageous, so he has to rely only on his long-range magic attack and only uses Makaze and such if the enemy manages to come closer. He tried possessing a few Humanoid corpses but the chains never disappeared, what''s worse is that the chains still existed if he used another beast''s body. If the beast doesn''t have feet or hands, then it''ll be wrapped around its body. It gave him quite the headache to even think about the upcoming fights but he shrugged these thoughts off and sat cross-legged on the bed, meditating. It may not be very effective in raising his strength, but it''s an extremely useful skill for calming the mind and entering a serene-line state. Plus, he would rather meditate rather than sleeping as without Lucy''s presence, he''ll only suffer from more loneliness and possible nightmares. ... The night passed in the blink of an eye and Arthur only opened his when he heard the knocking on the door. It took but a split second to sense who''s behind the door. He was not in the mood to talk toe head maid, who always had something to say about him, nonetheless, he opened the door and let the silver-haired woman enter. Seeing her figure, his focused landed on the hair which was a lot similar to Lucy, however, that only made him reminisce about his times with her. Shaking his head to get rid of these thoughts, he gestured for Taliya to enter. ... Taliya wore a startled expression when she noticed the chains around his feet, the ones on his hands were covered by the clothes by the one below were quite thick and with only a simple movement such as raising his hands, the crackling could be heard. After a moment of surprise, she shifted her focus to the deadpan faced Arthur and started speaking without further delay. "..." Her mouth opened but no words came out, she seemed to hesitate then she shut her mouth and stood there, silent and motionless like a log. The atmosphere obviously became awkward with him sitting on the bed and her standing there and staring at him. "What?" Unable to comprehend such strange behavior, Arthur looked at her and furrowed his brows, seemingly confused as he thought she''s going to tell him to search for Alina or demand something. A few seconds passed and the hesitating Taliya finally uttered something. "I,I come here to fulfill my duty, since the deal has been done. I''m required to follow you everywhere, right?" "Yes, but I didn''t find your niece yet." Whilst shaking her head and showing a resolute face, the maid retorted "You started doing your end of the deal and even dived into the Human Emperor''s mansion, it is natural for me to begin upholding my promise too." Looking at her expression and tone, Arthur began to question himself and the reason he even chose her. It''s not like he hated her but she was just too serious, nonetheless, he isn''t going to refuse something like this, especially in such a dire time. "Nevertheless, following me as a companion doesn''t mean following me to my room. I meant that we''ll be comrades." Taliya, as if she reviewed a certain script a hundred times, replied instantly again, without stopping to think or anything. "No, that is not what I heard when you were speaking with the Demon Lord. It was clearly stated that she''ll give ''me'' to you." "As far as I remember, the deal was made NOT when the Demon Lord was present BUT when you came to the cave underground." Taliya was just going to retort again but she was cut off as Arthur added "Furthermore, I''m not looking for a slave or a dog who follows me wherever I go, I just need some company until I achieve my goals, then you''ll be able to return to the Demon Lord or do whatever you wa-" Just as he was going to finish his sentence, Arthur received a signal from the Death Golem, which he left to guard the encircled cave in case the hideous creature teleported back to the same place. Arthur didn''t hesitate as he summoned the Dark Cloud and jumped on it, ready to depart to the Demon Continent immediately. Taliya, on the other hand, was startled by his sudden actions and only reacted when he turned to look at her, clearly expecting her to hop on too. ... With a Dark Barrier around the black flying nebula, the two of them passed mountains and rivers in seconds and bypassed many farms, cities, and villages. Everything around them was blurring and Taliya was flabbergasted as this traveling speed was considerably faster than last time. Arthur was thinking about the situation inside the cave, he already put a cage made of thorny poisonous plants and with the Death Golem''s defense, it shouldn''t be hard to apprehend the monster, as it is only at the Spirit Realm. But there is always the chance of something unexpected happening. Arthur put all his efforts into traveling faster to not miss this opportunity. He could still sacrifice his Mental Power to gain more Agility, which will lead the Dark Cloud to travel faster, however, the cost was Mental Power! That is not something easily gained if we exclude the ARK of course. Furthermore, there is the chance that the rewards of the ARK won''t give him any Mental Power, and with the absence of Nether Energy, he wouldn''t be able to regain the lost Mental Power Possessing countless corpses may lead to increasing the Mental Power, but the amount increased would be too meager and not worth the time but it''s not like Arthur will reject any free corpse that is left unpossessed. The two remained silent but curiosity got the best of Taliya and after glancing at the chains several times, she could not hold back and asked "What is the deal with those chains?" Arthur, who was pondering in thought and spreading his sense as far as he could, heard Taliya talk and only know did his mind focus back on her. He raised both his hands, making the chains crackle then he replied with a smirk. "Ah, those? They are just a countermeasure, you can ignore them." Taliya didn''t speak another word but she was still feeling curious. She wasn''t totally convinced by what he said. ''Countermeasure? For what? And didn''t you say we were comrades? Comrades should be honest with each other.....'' She didn''t dare voice out her thoughts for some unknown reasons, however, she didn''t follow him out of her own free will, she just had to follow the deal as after seeing how he went to the royal mansion, she had to act too or else it would look like she''s just using him for her own benefit and she wasn''t that kind of petty person. ..... No conversation occurred for the rest of the trip and within six hours, Arthur and Taliya arrived in the city. Without delaying any second, both of them dived underground and appeared in the underground cave in a short time. The place was still as eery and gloomy as before, the plant walls around the Death Golem were still intact but just as he entered the cave, Arthur was dumbstruck as the small signal between him and the golem suddenly disappeared. [Faster Than Death] was used and Arthur''s black figure appeared next to the tall wall made of thorny plants. Abiding by his will, a small gap was opened in the wall, it was barely enough for him to pass. The first thing that his eyes laid upon was a tall hideous figure holding a suspicious orb and panting heavily some distance away. With the help of his Sense, Arthur was easily able to discover another presence which was invisible and dashing straight at him, or more precisely, it was trying to pass through the gap that was closing behind him. Unfortunately for this invisible presence, a thick green thorn was suddenly erected from the wall on its right side, instantly penetrating its body and forcing it out of its invisibility. Upon a closer look, the creature looked similar to the hideous one a distance away. It was not literally the same appearance but they resembled each other, more or less. They were probably from the same Race, or so thought Arthur. The one who was pinned down by the thorn wailed in agony as a lethal poison invaded its organs and slowly killed him. No matter how sneaky and fast its skills were, it was just at the middle stages of the Spirit Realm and Arthur was way stronger than him. ''They must''ve thought that the wall of plants was harmless, heh!''Arthur was joyful as he saw the orb in the creature''s hands, it was the same one that it used last time for teleportation. "Who are-" Before it could finish its sentence, Arthur teleported in front of the creature and used his chained hand to grip the creature''s neck and crash its body on the wall of plants. Then, almost harmoniously, the plants wrapped around its four limbs and waist, completely binding the hideous looking creature. The only thing it could do right now was either speaking, breathing or just staring fearfully at the gray-haired man in front of it. There was a blue bruise on its neck, from the force impact done by Arthur and its eyes showed fear, especially when Arthur''s cold piercing eyes landed on it, it felt its body turn cold and a shiver down its spines. It didn''t take a genius to know that it was going to die soon, just like its comrade. After confirming with his sense that no extra presence was hiding and that the monster was fully bound, he willed the wall made of plants to dissolve, which it did. Slowly, the sphere cage made of plants started descending and melting with the ground and within seconds, it all disappeared except the part where the hideous creature was. Arthur did not want to underestimate his enemy, especially when he knew nothing about this thing in front of him so he injected paralyzing poison into its blood veins, making it completely unable to lift a finger. Since his Wisdom was soaring high in the hundred million, his control over the several magic skills is also flawless, it was no problem for him to make the monster bound from neck to toe whilst still maintaining its ability to move its mouth and talk. As the monster laid in front of his eyes, Arthur could have a closer look at his appearance and the details. The face looked a bit similar to an orc, or a pig? A row of ugly teeth, a pointy nose exactly similar to a pig''s and ears that had no difference to a human. It had large eyes, which would terrify any kid and the most striking point was its skin, this one had a green-ish skin as for the other one which died not too long ago, it had purple skin. "What''s this?" Taliya maintained a straight face as she walked towards Arthur and stared at the bound monster with a surprised and curious look. She didn''t seem to be afraid of it, at least not as much as she felt afraid of Bucama. This monster and the ones from Bucama''s race were both horrors but there was something about Bucama''s Race that made Arthur feel uncomfortable, as if.. they were born from pure evil and nothing else and later, this was confirmed when he saw their horrible and nightmarish means and the way they laughed and danced when they were torturing the Humans. Even Arthur, who experienced a tragedy after another, could not forget that scene, especially the one inside the castle. "That is something I want to know too." Arthur held the mysterious orb that he took from the monster in his hands and appraised it. Warp Devise: The user can open it and close it at will with a cooldown of five minutes between every opening or closing. Can only warp three users at most, and between two specific locations which cannot be changed unless this item is upgraded. Requires: Mingal Ore (10 Kg for each use). As he read the appraisal multiple times, Arthur understood its function, although he didn''t know how the process was, at least knowing how to use it is enough, for now. What''s left is this Mingal Ore, he never heard of such Ore and if it existed in his storage ring, he would have remembered, after all, with his photographic memory along with the sky-high intelligence, there is no way he can forget anything he read or saw. It''s just that all the information has been put in the back of his mind and would only resurface when he tries to remember a specific thing, such as a name for a material or a weapon. "Who are y,you?" Not bearing the silence, the creature finally talked, it knew that it''s the final day of its life yet it didn''t want to die a miserable death like its comrade. If there is a way out, then why not take it? It didn''t hold any special loyalty to its tribe and if not for fear of the leader, it wouldn''t have come to such a dangerous place. It knew that invading a foreign world without further inspection and planning things without fully knowing the situation is a dumb move and it tried to tell its thoughts to its superior but to no avail. However, their ignorance will bite them at last, when people with this man''s caliber strike back and annihilate its tribe. Its name was Gutcha, a warrior, a spy and a scout for its clan and has been since as far it could remember. Arthur heard the prisoner''s voice so he looked back at it, only to make it shrink back and not dare to look at him anymore. "I think you''re not in a place to ask questions, right?" "Let me handle the questioning, I''m quite good at getting answers from stubborn people." Taliya took a small silver dagger and advanced toward the monster but she was soon stopped by Arthur, who was honestly surprised by her actions. ''The prisoner didn''t show any stubbornness or anything similar, the interrogation didn''t even start yet she jumped to conclusions and wants to begin the torture? ''I pity all the prisoners she interrogated, really...''.While shaking his head, Arthur tightened the bound around the creature and asked "What''s this?" He pointed at the orb in his hands and looked at the hideous creature with an expectant look. He liked cooperative prisoners and if he''s really telling the truth then he wouldn''t mind letting it live. Obviously, he wouldn''t set it free but any prisoner would feel grateful if his life was spared, no matter what it had to do, it''s better than death as no one is unafraid of dying. Even he, when he was told that he has to die to begin a new life, hesitated for a split second but the torture and the mental break led to him committing suicide. "W-wait! Please wait! I know that. It''s a warp device!! I can even tell you how to use it." Hearing a positive answer, Arthur''s mood increased by a bit, having an enemy life this every once in a while is not a bad thing. If Gutcha continued being honest, then obtaining some information about this creature''s world, its forces and such would be beneficial for Arthur, who was planning on heading there. "What''s your name?" "I-It''s G..Gutcha." Gutcha didn''t hold back at all, no matter what Arthur asked or was planning to ask, he was willing to reply honestly. Although the other party didn''t particularly say that he''ll let it live if he was honest, but it''s better than keeping its mouth shut and suffering from torture and then dying in a dark and gloomy room. What gave Gutcha the chills was the woman beside Arthur, she was staring at it with a piercing cold look and it made the prisoner feel more frightened, its voice couldn''t help but become shaky. "Alright Gutcha, how come you can speak our language." "W-we captured a few people from t...this world and made them teach us the basic and most common language." Gutcha felt a tap on its shoulder and that made its heartbeat fiercely as if it was at death''s door but in the end, it was just Arthur who tapped on its shoulder to encourage it in answering the remaining questions with the same amount of truthfulness. "What about your world, where you came from, tell me more about it. The more details, the better." Arthur grinned as he looked at Gutcha, which didn''t hesitate and spit out everything it knows. "I don''t know everything about my hometown. My tribe is called the Pigolo and we are one of many other tribes. I didn''t venture far from my tribe''s territory as it''s forbidden unless you''re a scout and I don''t like being one unless it''s f-forced." I know that we''re only a part of our world as our ancestor often said that beyond the wall of flames, there is a fertile land that is like a Holy Ground but no tribe managed to overcome it." Arthur attentively listened to the explanation and didn''t miss anything. ''It seems that this wall of flames it like a barrier? Or maybe it''s a seal separating them from the outside world? Nevertheless, it''s worth the try.'' --- The thing with interrogation is that you can never be sure the other party is always saying the truth unless you have a lie detector skill or something remotely similar. Unfortunately, Arthur doesn''t have such skills, however, he has high Dexterity and that leads to having a superhuman hearing capacity, almost to the point of hearing Gutcha''s heartbeat. It''s obvious that his(Gutcha) heartbeat would be fast as he was in a dangerous situation, plus he was afraid of dying and receiving Taliya''s torture. But, there were many odd occasions where the prisoner would have a calmly beating heart, or there will be slight change whenever he or she tells a lie. It requires a very close attention to the heartbeat to notice these changes, nevertheless, it is possible. Arthur relied on his superhuman hearing and Gutcha''s expression to judge whether he was hearing all the truth or it was just 50/50. "You said you kidnapped people to teach you the language. How many did you kidnap, from where and when exactly, I want to know all about that." Taliya, who was focused on Gutcha, frowned and seemed to realize something. If Alina, Sonia and Mary''s disappearances had to do with these, then there is a high chance that she''ll find her niece sooner than she expected. Gutcha didn''t pause, he didn''t even want to anger or displease Arthur or he will let Taliya have her way with him so he wracked his brain and spit everything he knew about the kidnapping operation. "W-we kidnapped a hundred person. T,The locations were random and we would not wander far from the place we warped into as to not attract attention." "Tell me everything about the kidnapped people, their name, age, appearance..." Every question answered would lead to another being asked, this continued for another thirty minutes before Arthur finally stopped. Gutcha was panting as his mouth was dry and his body totally numb, even this kind of interrogation felt a bit like torture with his body bound and paralyzed and him forced to answer over and over again. What''s relieving though, is that he answered everything with all honesty, he wasn''t particularly close or attached to his tribe, his life was way more important than a couple of information that they''ll know sooner or later. ... Out of the hundred people kidnapped, thirty-six were uncooperative and were killed on the spot, as for the rest, they were still held in a prison under the tribe''s main Hall. The sixty-four remaining hostages were apparently from various races and Gutcha couldn''t remember their appearance or name quite well but when Taliya barged in and stretched her hand and rubbed the dagger''s smooth and sharp edge over his neck, the hideous monster pleaded for another chance and then closed his eyes for a minute or so, trying to remember some faces. Presuming what he said was true, there were two individuals that stood up from all the others. The first, when she was mentioned, the dagger that was next to Gutcha''s neck, uncontrollably shook as Taliya was startled by what she heard. The person that was described resembled the so-called Alina, a young girl with long silver hair, a calm temper but the most outstanding thing is that many people from Gutcha''s tribe treated friendly due to her cooperative and kind attitude. Not only that, she also used her Healing Magic to cure some injured warriors. As for the second person, it was a young man, he apparently was kidnapped in the West of the Human Continent and his eccentric behavior along with high always smiling face is what made Gutcha remember him. He wasn''t sure but it was rumored that he was tortured multiple times because he mocked the tribe warriors but that torture didn''t even make him flinch, the smile never left his face. ''Right now, he must be locked in the furthest room in the prison.'' or so said Gutcha. None of that matters if they cannot go there, but simply teleporting there using the Warp Device is a dumb idea. From Gutcha''s description, there were a lot of warriors stronger than him and they didn''t know about the concept of Spirit Realm and such, they gauged their strength using a stone that showed a specific color. Going to an unknown land with this much information didn''t seem right and if it''s really a big world, then he isn''t planning to return soon, he needs a way to go to Earth and check if Lucy is really there. What about Saly and the rest, did they teleport to the same location? So many questions that need to be answered and the only way for that to happen is to go to Earth! Furthermore, the Death Golem was sent to the location where all the warriors that were coming back from Astria appear on, so currently, many warriors must be uniting to defeat the Death Golem. Simply going there when all their forces are on high alert would be foolish. "We need to go there immediately, the princess is in grave danger!" Taliya protested and snapped at Arthur, bugging him to go there immediately. He tried explaining the situation but she didn''t listen. She even proposed going alone to scout things and assure that he can come but it''ll only be a suicidal attempt. With her strength, there is no way she''ll survive, even a Heavenly Realm is unlikely to survive if there is a batch of Spirit Realm people ganging up on him. She kept glancing at the orb in his hands but she knew that she can''t snatch it from him, it''s an impossible task. With a final piercing glare, Taliya turned around and headed to Gutcha to release her frustration. Fortunately for him, he didn''t suffer brutal torture but he was still punched a few times in his stomach, which he couldn''t feel at all due to the poison. As for Arthur, he pondered about what to do right now, it''s either go or not go. For now, he needs to finish the preparation for his sect then he''ll go there, but knowing Taliya''s character, she''s won''t let him go alone which will complicate things. If he could alone, then just possessing the dead comrade of Gutcha would be enough to fool the rest of the tribe but if she came then that''s another whole deal. And to add more oil to the fire, there was the problem of the chains which are hindering his combat abilities and making things a bit more troublesome. He could hide them under clothes but they would still produce the crackling noise, that is if we exclude how much they limit his movements and making him absolutely unable to do a punch or a kick, or even wield Makaze, which is one of his strongest weapons and even a simple slash with the black katana is enough to injure a Divine Realm or even a God. ... The very next day, early in the morning, Arthur headed back to the MoonStar sect after informing Taliya to guard Gutcha and prepare herself before they depart, exactly six days later. As he was riding the Dark Cloud toward the South-West, Arthur waved his hand, making blue lightning condense at a rapid pace in front of him until Astrith''s figure appeared before him. The lightning wolf was as domineering and big as ever, with two red eyes and wide back, its appearance is becoming more and more ferocious. Having a spiritual link with the lightning wolf, Arthur was finally able to summon it back a few days ago but he refrained from doing so unless he needs him as the wolf seemed to be evolving. In fact, he didn''t want to disturb him right now but this matter was urgent and it needs to be taken care of. Arthur laid a map in front of Astrith and pinpointed six locations all over Astria. "Look around these places, if you find any creature similar to Gutcha, capture them and kill if they resist." Anymore kidnapping would be troublesome, they could also be building outposts or underground caves, which is a no-no, especially when Arthur is planning on uniting Astria. Astrith bowed his large head a bit and replied "This one obeys." Without delaying any further, the lightning wolf transformed into a blue streak that vanished into the horizon in just a few seconds. Although he was weaker than Arthur, his strength increased with his master''s so Astrith could be considered quite strong. What''s strange is that evolving state, it''s like a slumber and it started the second he returned to Astria. He refrained from summoning him against Bucama and the rest due to this, maybe if he was interrupted, a backlash would happen. This state seemed to be reaching its final state, so Arthur decided to give the wolf one final mission before the real revolution begins. ... The journey back the sect was smooth and fast, once he was there, Arthur started clearing things again and laying what''s needed. He called for Anastassia and Jackob to the meeting room at the top of the tower and when they were all gathered, he retrieved three objects from his storage. As he laid the three small objects on the table, the tall Jackob was excited to see something new. Since he got ''Ace'', he didn''t stop using it for hunting. What''s good about it is that the bullets are self-conjured if you inject a bit of Mana, the cost is too small to the point that it can be ignored. The efficiency, power and precision of this sniper rifle pleased Jackob a lot, so he was looking forward to the next thing Arthur is going to introduce to him. "Boss, what''s this!" Even Anastassia looked curiously at the three objects, she was acknowledgeable enough yet she never saw such things. "These are called bombs, grenades. They are something I can mass produce but they must only be used in urgent situations." While stretching his hand and grabbing a sphering green grenade, he explained "Just pull this metallic trigger and throw this to a specific target and it''ll automatically explode after five seconds. It''s quite simple but if someone is not careful, they can be injured by the aftermath of the explosion so don''t throw it randomly." "Isn''t it like a fireball." Anastassia was not that impressed, in contrary to Jackob, who wanted to snatch the grenade from Arthur''s hand and try it immediately. As for the vice-sect leader, she was more curious about the chains around Arthur, the way he moves his two hands in sync and the crackling couldn''t be ignored. "If someone has high intelligence, producing a fireball stronger than the explosion of the grenades is possible. But that requires strength and an experienced mage, as for this, even a kid can use it, it doesn''t require Mana nor Qi." He soon put down the grenade and grabbed the gray cylindric object and said "This is also similar to the grenade but they are used as traps. Covered by dirt and put in places that are likely to be stepped on by enemies, it''ll explode the moment a small pressure is put on them, their damage is considerably higher than the former grenade." Arthur then grabbed the last object, which was black, circular and a bit lengthy in size. It had a metal trigger just like the grenade and had some strange symbols that Jackob couldn''t understand engraved on it. "As for this, it''s flash grenades and the most important one of those in my opinion. As for its use, I''ll just demonstrate it." As he finished his sentence, Arthur just pulled the metal trigger and let the bomb roll on the wide table. Of course, he didn''t forget to close his eyes and smirk. Anastassia instinctively activated her defensive technique, as for Jackob, he just eagerly stared at the flash grenade with wide open eyes, full of excitement. ---- After only a few seconds, a low voice was heard followed by a numbing sound ringing in Anastassia and Jackob''s ears. Especially the latter, who was so close to the flash bomb, what followed a total blindness covering their eyes. The ringing and the blindness brought dizziness but what was more surprising is their absence of vision. All they saw was white everywhere this lasted for a whopping thirty seconds before the two of them could see again. Jackob regained his vision after Anastassia but that''s due to being so close to the impact. Arthur smirk became wider as he saw their dumbfounded expressions. This could be a revolutionary weapon if it could be mass-produced. No enemy would expect such a thing, which will lead to them not closing their eyes and that will cause their death. In a fight between Spirit Realm and above, a second can change everything, so thirty or so seconds can allow the user of the flash grenade to either escape or cut his opponent to countless pieces without suffering from retaliation. "T-this is..." Anastassia stretched her hand and held the black object, she inspected it several times but she could not sense any Mana or Qi and that startled her even more. "You can mass-produce this?" Her voice had some excitement in it. As a former clan master and a powerful leader, the thing she yearned for the most is a safe place for her clan disciples and family to stay in. Such useful weapons can give them a humongous advantage if the enemy ever attacks. Even a Deity Realm would suffer from such a grenade if it''s stacked of course. Last time, Arthur used thousands of flash grenade to blind the present Gods at the Grand Banquet, although the cost was high, it nevertheless was useful and managed to win him some precious time. "If I have enough time, I should be able to produce a fair amount." Without beating around the bush, Anastassia held the flash grenade and stared at back at him while adding "How many?" "I''m going to leave in five days, so I''ll probably manage to create around one thousand three hundred and sixty, and if I had the current ones I have, then it''ll be two thousand five hundred. That should be enough, right?" To be honest, such an enormous amount is more than enough to last for a long time. Unlike him, who fights random enemies left and right, they are a sect and besides competing with outside forces, they won''t be needing that. Moreover, such objects should be used only by strong individuals as they cannot give every person flash grenades until they can be mass-produced at a faster rate and the most important fact is that they have to be used only in an emergency situation. Flat out using them at the beginning of the battle is a foolish move and any person who wants to do that should not be given such a precious weapon. Anastassia nodded her head enthusiastically and Jackob just stared at the flash grenade with wide eyes and half-opened mouth. The rest of the meeting was just talk about procedures and what should and should not be done. Anastassia was given all the grenades for fear of Jackob using them all just to satisfy his curiosity. He is no doubt a trusted leader but he isn''t a match for Anastassia. She really is good at handling sect-related affairs and on the course of one and a half years, she took care of the sect quite well. .... Arthur retired to his room at noon and took out the best furnace he had in his storage and some tools and then proceeded in creating a weapon. He was going to use his advanced blacksmithing skills along with all the useful other skills to forge a weapon for Anastassia and Jackob. It''s true that he gave them high-leveled weapons not too long ago but he decided to personally craft them weapons to match their skills and needs. With his Ancient Flames, raising the temperature to a high-degree was no problem, adding that to his swift and precise hand-skills, blacksmithing skills, and forging skills, the process was done quite smoothly. First, he took out two kinds of metal, one is called [Substitue High Metal] and the second is a rare hard ore also known as [Meteoric Iron]. Substitute High Metal: (Spirit 2nd Grade): A special Metal that changes by the will of the user, it can transform to the desired attribute willed by the user. Quality: High Meteoric Iron: (Spirit 1st Grade): A metal that is much stronger than regular iron and often has magical properties as well. Quality: High Although they were not the best materials he had in his storage, he was certain that they would match with Anastassia, with his skills, it wouldn''t be difficult to create a perfect weapon even reaching the Heavenly Rank with weak materials. Arthur put the two metal into the melting furnace which burned with an intense heat that none with sufficient Fire Resistance could sustain. Usually, the crafter has to wait for the materials and melt in liquid but this process happened in merely one minute for Arthur, who used his flames to personally melt them with the help of the Furnace, which facilitated this step. Very soon, an orange liquid came out of the furnace and laid on a metal table in front of Arthur, who began doing the next step. Since he was going to begin by crafting a two-handed axe, he had to make it big enough for Jackob and easily wielded. With a bronze rusty hammer, Arthur hammered the orange liquid which was transforming into a hard material. He shaped the axe with two sharp edges and each strike was strong enough to achieve the desired state. With a Strength like his, he didn''t need to hammer it thousands of times like any normal blacksmith but albeit that, he kept hammering for an hour as it is the heart of the forging, it could be considered the most important factor of making a perfect weapon. At the end of the hour, the shape of the axe could be seen but this was but the beginning. Arthur then started heating the axe again and when it was hot enough, he allowed it to cool down slowly whilst he sat cross-legged on the bed and started meditating. The annealing process takes twenty-four hours and there is no need to rush so Arthur breathed periodically and calmed his mind as he absorbed Mana from the surroundings to replenish himself and relax. After silently meditating for a few hours, Arthur finally opened his eyes and stared at the chains binding all his body. Every time he felt the cold sensation around his hands or waist, he would just sigh. It''s so unpractical to fight like this and he was still hesitating on whether to go to Gutcha''s world or not. He should not have any problem fighting a peak Divine Realm even with the chains, but if it''s a God then it''ll be a tricky situation. Normally, the completed Heavenly Arrow will certainly erase a God from existence, even a miniature version of the arrow can heavily injure a God but just as it can hit a God, it can be evaded or blocked as its power is not that strong compared to the original, especially if it''s not created using Void Magic. Up to now, he can create Heavenly Arrows made from Lightning, Void and Fire with a bit of Dark Magic. The main structure of the arrow has to be either Void or Lightning, anything else would make it self-explode. As for Rizaki or Rinotsu, its potential is incredible but it is self-harming. Fortunately his recovery is incredible as he healed from all the injuries of the spatial tears in just five full days. But the matter of those creepy and ugly monsters still couldn''t leave his mind. Sooner or later, he''s bound to face them if he travels around. Something about Bucama gave him the creeps, he wasn''t a fearful person but it''s like meeting a natural archenemy, an abnormality that should be erased from this world. It''s good that he got rid of them before they invaded Astria or else it would have been catastrophic but for that four-armed monstrosity to survive the spatial tears with just being at the peak of the Divine Realm, how is that possible? Arthur barely survived but it''s only after sacrificing one precious corpse and using forbidden Mental Power costing skills to escape, however, that didn''t apply for the monster. ''That horn.... Makaze couldn''t even scratch it. there was also that red light back then....'' For now, Arthur put that at the back of his mind and raised both of his chained hands. In just a second, a small plant sprouted from his palm and started growing until it was twenty inches tall. Arthur opened his mouth and spit a purple liquid which fell on the plant and started melting it and resulted in a steam with the same color to appear. ''Not much resistant to poison....'' He would always experiment with his Plant Magic as it is not as useless at it sounds. Its efficiency is boundless and its usefulness is endless. Whether its paralyzing or lethal poisons, plant cages or strengthening plants, he could grow them all and with the help of the Nature Attribute, it''s way easier but their power, for now, is still weak for some reason. It''s weak in Arthur''s opinion as he always compared his things with an attack from Gods and no less. If he used all his Intelligence in launching an attack using Wind or even Earth Attribute, although he doesn''t specialize in them, the attack can be quite powerful and may even hurt a Divine Realm but it''s better using low-cost and stronger attributes that wasting Mana on weak magical attacks. Plant Magic is granted by the World Tree, an existence that the so-called angels venerated and searched for all over their universe, it''s not something that should be underestimated, however, its use is not easy too. Arthur''s main purpose is to try and merge it with another attribute, preferably Void but it always ends up being eaten by the bottomless purple orb that he conjured. Fire would burn it and Lightning would do nothing, so all that was left was Dark Magic. --------------------------------------------------- To the far East of Astria, specifically on the North-East of the Itas Continent. There was high mountain surrounded by a dense forest but on a closer look, you could see several pagoda-looking buildings and a high white tower in their center. Stretching a mile to each direction, there were some small houses, neat and ordered. This was where the headquarters of the Yan Clan was. Known to be the descendants of the White Tiger of the West and to have an extraordinary physical power along with powerful legendary techniques. Previously, they suffered in the tournament and the explosion killed two high-elders. Inside the sky-high white tower, at the top floor, there existed a wide Hall with golden pillars at both sides. The Grand Elder of the Clan, the Patriarch, and two other Elders were currently discussing something with a tall individual who wore a big black coat which covered almost all of his appearance. "W-we tested the effects of the pills. T-they were beyond anything we''ve seen!" The Grand Elder talked with an excited voice as he stared at the black-coated person in front of him, sitting at the other end of the circular table. "Of course, that is to be expected from our Demon Strengthening pills... hehehe, the cost to make them is quite worth it too." While creepily chuckling, the coated person talked with a deep and unpleasant voice. The Patriarch was also full of smiles as he inspected the red pills in his hand, they were quite ordinary in appearance but once consumed, the user would experience a tremendous increase in all stats along and the pain immunity will have risen to its maximum. Such pills are considered very precious yet this coated individual was willing to hand them thousands of those pills. Of course, as a Patriarch, he wasn''t that stupid so he didn''t accept immediately, that is why, last week, when this individual came, he asked him to stay at the clan until they thought about their offer. In return for the pills, the black-coated person said that the Yan Clan has to provide him a constant amount of Aether Crystals each week. Aether Crystals are a material used to recover Mana, it is similar to the Mana Potion but what''s different is that it can be charged again after consuming it, it''s limitless if you wait a sufficient amount of time. The Yan Clan happened to have a mine of Aether Crystals just at the foot of the mountain, so it shouldn''t be too hard to provide fifty kilograms of crystals each week. "We have tested the efficiency of the pills and discussed your offer. As long as the amount of the Aether Crystal we should provide does not increase then we accept." Honestly, they could even provide 200 kilograms each week and still have a large amount of stock but the patriarch didn''t want to be taken advantage of albeit the fact that such pills are too godly to pass on them, this is a golden opportunity. ''With such pills, the continuously growing force of the MoonStar will finally end!'' Although the two forces didn''t clash directly, the influence of the MoonStar Sect has exceeded the Yan Clan, especially after it established its foothold on the deserted continent and unified all the rebellious tribe, all of that under the command of a former warrior of a tribe and Anastassia, the former leader of the Ma Clan. That is of course not enough to make the Patriarch of the Yan Clan fear the MoonStar Sect, the main reason is the flying undead dragons and the terrifying skeletal knights that exclude a cold and death aura around them. .... When the deal was done and the black-coated person left, the Yan Clan elders began celebrating and planning what to do next, as for the mysterious individual, he took a ring which had fifty kilograms of Aether Crystals and left the territory of the Clan, promising them to come back after a week. When he was a fair distance away from the Clan, the black-coated person took off his hood and the appearance he had was a horror to behold. It was a monster exactly similar to the one Arthur saw in that hellish world, not a bit different. It had two arms and with two ugly eyes, a hideous face, a unique skin color and a foul stench around it, it grinned as it played with the ring in its finger while laughing maniacally. Chapter 160 - 157 : Master Blacksmith The testing with the Dark Magic was strange, at first it left Arthur confused but he the more he tested the more confused he felt. The test was quite simple, before successfully growing a plant, he would fuse a bit of Dark Magic into it and try to merge them and if that doesn''t work, he would try to fuse them together after the plant grew. The latter is the method he used with the last few attributes as the first one rarely works, even in case of the Heavenly Arrow, he has to add the attribute after the core of arrow is created. The simply grown plant wriggled on top of Arthur''s hand, seemingly happy to be born, it wasn''t completely sentient yet it was not unsentient too. When the most important part occurred and the Dark Magic slowly entered the plant''s small body, the wriggling became fiercer and surprisingly, it started emitting screeching noises that were not so pleasant to the ears. A few seconds passed and the screeching finally stopped with the death of the plant. This process made Arthur furrow his brows and watch in confusion and surprise. To make sure he didn''t mess anything up, he tried doing it again but the result was exactly the same. The third time he tried that, he possessed the plant he just created and just laid dormant there, without taking over the incredibly small body of the plant. He noticed that the Dark Magic that invaded the plant''s body was eating away its body and slowly but surely, trying to possess it but that only ended up in the plant yet again. It seemed that the more forceful the Dark Magic was in possessing the plant, the stronger the backlash which will automatically lead to the death of the invaded body. Arthur didn''t know why the Dark Magic was not trying to merge but wanted to take over the body, maybe after so long, it started imitating the actions of its original master? Some time was spent pondering about what just happened and then Arthur decided to do a few more tests. He created a dark red fireball the size of his fist. The fireball floated in front of him and burned with intense heat. It was just a small fireball yet the temperature of the room rose to an alarming degree. A black fog came out of Arthur body and encircled the fireball, gradually merging with the ball of flames. Arthur couldn''t believe his eyes as he witnessed this. Such a thing would never have occurred in the past, no matter how many times he tried, normal fusion like Lucy did was impossible for him unless if it''s inside the Heavenly Arrow. There was the case of the Eclipse Magic but that is something he obtained, as for right now, the fusion was happening smoothly and in normal cases, the Dark Magic would be just repelled just like pulling two magnets with the same sign close to each other. A few seconds passed and the system notification rang in his ears. ''ting'' You have successfully fused [Ancient Fire] with [Dark Magic]. You have created a new skill(Active): [Sensor Detonator]: A special fireball that chases its target and detonates, dealing huge destructive damage. Please note that the user can detonate it at will, no matter the distance. Please note that it will automatically detonate if the user is unconscious or dead. Cost: 1,000 Mana (Please note that the more Mana is injected into the skill, the bigger and the stronger the Sensor Detonator will be.) Cooldown: None. For Successfully fusing two Attributes, you gain +500,000 Intelligence / +400,000 Wisdom. The Dark Red flaming ball received huge changes. First, it was its size, it tripled in size and but the heat intensity dramatically decreased. There was also its appearance, two dark abyss-like eyes appeared on it and a grinning mouth was just under the eyes, it looked creepy and adding its massive size, it could by means be compared to a normal looking dark red fireball. It seemed as if it was laughing but no sound was emitted by it, its color drifted a bit toward orange and only the top of its head had some red flames burning as for the rest, it looked like a big ball. Although there were no flames burning on its body, with naked eyes, anyone will see that its insides are like raging red flames of hell. ''Just what exactly is Dark Magic....'' Arthur stretched his hands to touch the Sensor Detonator and in response to his movements, the strange-looking fireball floated under his hands and kept staring at him with its two eyes while still maintaining the motionless grin. Its body surprisingly felt soft as if he was touching a teddy bear. With but a thought, Arthur called back the Sensor Detonator and was left alone in the room. He let out a sigh and tried fusing the Dark Magic with the rest of the attributes but as he guessed, it didn''t work. It must be that either because the flames were special that the fusing working or because his affinity with the ancient flames is stronger than the rest. The meditation was resumed when a couple of extra tries were done but naught was discovered, however, the creation of such skill is not bad too. He didn''t try it yet but it''s bound to be strong, especially if he pours enough Mana, furthermore, it chases its target and detonates on contact or by his will, so it may be good to bait someone and with these damnable chains, obtaining more powerful magical abilities would only make things easier for him if a fight ever breaks out. ... The darkness brought by the fallen night disappeared with the appearance of the sun rays and the blue sky. Arthur was in deep meditation, preparing himself and waiting for the hot Material to slowly cool down. He could have used Ice to fasten the process but doing it the old-fashioned way it better. If he wanted it, he could create one in an extremely short time but the more effort you put into forging a weapon, the better it''ll be when it''s done. When the twenty-four hours mark passed, Arthur finally got up from the bed, making the chains emit the noisy crackling noise but unlike the usual reaction, Arthur was not annoyed. More than ten hours were spent meditating, he was in a serene and calm state, a calm temper and strong heart is needed to craft the best weapons. The next step is Grinding, the blacksmith usually needs a grinder to work out the edges and the point of the desired weapon, this would also when any engraving could be added. This is not a completed version of the weapon as it is still soft but Arthur didn''t miss this opportunity, he took out a normal grinder and started meticulously grinding and when he was done, he didn''t forget to engrave the very symbols of his Sect on the huge axe. When this step was perfectly finished, Arthur took out a quenching tank and heated the axe to a terrifyingly high degree and then put it in the tank. This reservoir looking tank is used to cool the heated axe and harden the metal or any material the weapon is made of. This step shouldn''t take much, he waited for fifteen minutes before he took out the axe and inspected it closely while rotating it in the air using telekinesis and observing every inch of it. Its color changed to brown and had some red spots randomly scattered on its wide body. The long hilt was still not made and will only be added to the overall axe when everything is done. After this quick inspection came to the tempering phase, it is basically a repeated cycle of heating and quenching but a much lower temperature, this will help the weapon to be strong yet not brittle whilst also providing it with a certain amount of flexibility but still maintain the sharp edges. The cycle was repeated 27 times, using a unique skill he got from one of the thousands of humanoid corpses he possessed. [Heart of Fire: The 27th Tempering]: The user activates the skill and the skill, the tempering cycle should be repeated 27 times, no more, no less. The stats of the created weapon will increase by 40% whilst grant a bonus of 10% critical hit to it. Please note if the temperature of the 27 repeated cycles is exactly the same, the weapon will have 100% chance of obtaining the passive skill (Blessed By Fire) Blessed By Fire: All kinds of attacks will deal Fire Damage over time. Once this final part was done, all that was left to be done is the completion part where the hilt of the axe needs to be added. In contrary to what anyone would think, Arthur retrieved a red looking wood from his storage, cut it using a sharp dagger and shortened it to a good length and attached it to the axe. As he contemplated the finished product, he couldn''t help but feel a bit proud as it is the very first weapon he created on his own. It''s a shame that he doesn''t need one with the presence of Makaze and its extraordinary power and sharpness, but that didn''t stop him from having thoughts about crafting some special ones for his daughter and wife. Congratulations! You just crafter a Mystic first Grade Two-handed axe. Please give it a name. Arthur held the axe and swung it a few times, creating small airwaves. The grip was firm and the movement was flawless, of course, there is the part where his advanced axe mastery played a huge part but nonetheless, the finished product was pretty good, just from its rank, you would know that. ''Let''s see..... I''ll name it Skullcleaver.'' Are you sure you want to name it ''Skullcleaver'' Y/N? ''Yes'' ''ting'' Skullcleaver(Mystic 1st Grade): A two-handed axe created by a master blacksmith. Received the effect of ''Heart of Fire'' and ''Blessed by Fire''. Stats: +75,500 Strength / +40,000 Vitality / +5,500 Agility / +5,500 Dexterity. Heart of Fire: +40% stats / +10 Critical Hit Blessed by Fire: All kinds of attacks performed by Skullcleaver will deal Fire Damage over time. Perfect Foundation: If it is used to block, 25% of the damage will be negated (only applies to frontal damage). With the blue window laid in front of his eyes, Arthur felt ecstatic as he saw such a good weapon. Of course, if it is compared to Makaze, the stats bonus are hugely different but for a Lv800 warrior, an increase of 75,000 in Strength is like increasing his attacking power by another fold, who would refuse that. Unfortunately, Jackob can''t this window like Arthur but he''ll surely feel the immense strengthening when he uses it. With a few more tests, Arthur was satisfied so he wrapped the long axe with a red cloth and put it in a large box that he took out from his storage. The box was put in a corner of the room then was completely ignored by Arthur, who wasted no time and proceeded in crafting a pair of daggers for Anastassia. For those, he used only one very special material to create the edges and the sharpness. As per Zodiak''s notes, the black rock in Arthur''s hand was called Shadow Stone and is created by the formation of large densities of a small liquid mineral called Pondium. It is formed only after a very long time has passed and the rock is fully condensed when an enormous amount of liquid was solidified over the passing years. Arthur didn''t have a large amount of these shadow stones, barely two rocks the size of a football, it was a meager amount but he doesn''t need them currently and using one to craft a friend a good weapon isn''t a bad decision. The process was similar to the crafting of an axe but there were a couple of steps that are done differently. Unlike the Axe, since the stone couldn''t be hardened or melted, he had to forge it using a different way. ... It was only a few hours later that he was done, a pair of two jet black daggers with a gray hilt were being inspected by Arthur. The symbol of the MoonStar sect was engraved on both hilts and the daggers were curved at the end, revealing a sharp pointy edge and an appearance that instantly merges with the darkness. Anastassia was like an assassin, attacking from behind and hiding in the shadows, a fitting weapon for her it a weapon who matches her abilities and this pair of daggers would be considered weapons only meant for her, or people like her at least. ''Appraise!'' Shadowfall, Blades of the MoonWalker(Mystic 3rd Grade): A pair of daggers made by a master magic blacksmith. Received the effect of ''Heart of Darkness'' and ''Shadowfall''. Stats: +175,000 Dexterity / +250,000 Agility / +35,000 Strength / +12,500 Vitality. Heart of Darkness: +75% Agility bonus (Can be activated once every 10 minutes) (Duration: 20 seconds) Shadowfall: If the user is in the shadows, he gains an additional 15% in Dexterity and Agility and upon leaving the shadow area, the effect Shadowfall is activated. Shadowfall(active): The user deals a huge amount of shadow damage over time. (35 seconds) Since the material used and the method were a bit different, the grade of the weapon was obviously higher, Arthur couldn''t properly slash with his two daggers when his two hands are chained, so he refrained from testing them and hoped Anastassia will like them. Now that these were done, the last weapon was for him but he''ll not craft it right now, he needs to take care of other things first. Just as he was about to teleport out of the room, his sense caught a running presence coming straight to his room. It was actually a disciple of the Ma Clan, he knocked a few times before barging in and hastily saying "S-sect master, sorry to bother you b-but it''s about Miss Lissandra.... s-she''s..." The disciple hesitated for a few seconds and only finished his sentence when Arthur ushered him too "She''s turned crazy and tried to kill herself!!" --- Upon hearing to the Ma Clan disciple, Arthur frowned as he found it strange. His retracted Sense spread instantly and located Lissandra, who was struggling as two Ma Clan disciples were restraining her but since they didn''t want to put too much force, the grip was not strong and at this pace, she would break free soon. From her desperate look, it was obvious that she wants to jump off the balcony which was over ten floors above ground. She lived in a private room in the main tower of the Sect. The Death Knight didn''t stop her from suiciding as an order like that was useless, or so thought Arthur as he didn''t need her much at this time so if she really wanted to kill herself then so be it, however, that was a couple of days ago, in the upcoming expedition, he needs her to come with him for various reasons with the main one being her vast knowledge about other worlds. Arthur''s figure teleported away and with just two teleportations, he was already next to the struggling Lissandra. He motioned to the two disciples to let go of her and said "Thanks for your help, I will take it from here." The disciples nodded and left, leaving only Arthur and Lissandra there. With a little use of the Telekinesis, it wasn''t that hard to restrain her movements. "Let me go!" Lissandra didn''t even spare him a glance, she kept struggling but to no avail, the Telekinesis was freezing her mid-air with no way to move an inch even if she was a thousand times stronger. Witnessing the weird behavior of the usually obedient Lissandra, Arthur used [Eyes of the Noble Sea] to inspect the Energy inside her but there was no poison, infection or any entity controlling her. The only explanation is that she willingly attempted to kill herself but why would she do something like that, furthermore, right now of all times? ''Could she not cope with being a Mortal anymore?'' Arthur remained silent as he waited for her to stop resisting the pressing force and calm down. .... It was only a few minutes later that the ex-God managed to calm down a little. With an emotionless expression and deadpan face, she stared back at Arthur without uttering a single world. It''s as if she was dead on the inside, it was the same expression an emotionally devastated person would have, however, there were no reasons for her to become like this, at least not any that Arthur could think of. She was the calculative type who never cared for anyone but herself and she doesn''t have any close relatives or anyone she tried to protect or loved, the biggest loss she suffered could be considered when she became a Mortal and lost all her accumulated efforts of the past centuries. "So, care to explain what happened and why do you want to kill yourself?" Ten seconds passed yet he heard no reply, not even a word came out of her mouth. She just vacantly stared at him with a strange look, it contained neither hatred, blame nor sadness or rage. Arthur tried to touch the subject from another perspective so he added "I''ll let you do whatever you want if you tell me why you wanted to kill yourself." "... It doesn''t matter, it''s too late anyway." And those were the last words Lissandra said before resuming her silence, no matter what Arthur said, whether it''s setting her free or anything, she didn''t even show a reaction, with the same look, she looked at the ground and stuck to ever-so-long silence. Reaching no success, albeit he was quite curious about why she would try to commit suicide, he couldn''t get answers from her lips so he gave up and withdrew his telekinesis. As to not let her do more foolish actions, Arthur told her to follow him to his room so he could keep her close and would be able to immediately react if she tried to kill herself in any way. He still needed her knowledge and losing such a resourceful person would be a waste. In her current state, she wouldn''t be able to retaliate and what would be bothersome is to get her to talk as torture probably wouldn''t work anymore. .... As the two of them were heading to Arthur''s room, Anastassia and Jackob met them in a four-way intersection inside the tower. From the look of it, Anastassia called Jackob and went to look for Arthur to see what''s going on. "Follow me." Arthur only said that and kept walking toward his room. Jackob followed Arthur with Ace on his back, which replaced his axe''s place, he also seemed to have the used shell of the grenade on his belt. His eyes were shining and eager to see the next inventions Arthur is going to show them for he assumed that Arthur told them to follow him to show them new powerful weapons. Soon, the four of them with the Death Knight previously which was previously protecting Lissandra standing at the far back, entered Arthur''s room. Arthur gestured with his hands toward the two boxes, one small and a large one. "The big one is for Jackob, the other is for Anastassia, test them and see if it''s good and if there is a problem, tell me so I can fix it before I go." The second he finished his sentence, Jackob leaped next to the large box and used his large arms to open it only to be welcomed by a sharp-looking, strange-colored huge axe. Instinctively, Jackob picked the axe only to find it a bit heavy which surprised him. For someone with his body and Strength, there were very few things he would find heavy. Unlike the inpatient Jackob, Anastassia stared at the axe in his hands and turned to look at Arthur, who looked at Jackob''s surprised expression with a proud look and a smirk hanging on his face. "This is?" The only reply to her question was a shrug from Arthur so she could only walk to the small box and open it. There, under a smooth looking purple cloth, laid a pair of daggers, their hilts were made from a gray material but what caught her eyes is the sharp jet black edges. They were a bit too long and curved a bit, she also noticed a circle with a seven-edge star inside of it. Just like Jackob, she stretched her hands and held the daggers, the feeling was smooth and opposite to Jackob, the daggers were as light as feathers. To begin with, Shadow Stones were a liquid, even after solidifying, their weight diminishes the older they are, it was noted that in some chaotic worlds, these Stones would be found floating high-up in the air in place of deep underground. Recently, Arthur noticed that she broke through to the late stages of the Heavenly Realm, only a step away from being a Deity. For someone who doesn''t rely on possessing, it''s considered a good cultivating speed, although compared to Lucy, she''s a bit lacking. Lucy managed to do what no one could do, fuse two opposite attributes and use that result to fight, the potency and effectiveness were extraordinary and albeit the high cost, it still allowed her, an Immortal to fight on par with Lissandra, who was a fully-grown God. There was also the case where her stats are augmented due to the soul-link, nonetheless, it was by her own efforts and skills that she withstood the attacks of a God and assisted him in his operation. ... "This is incredible! I can feel the infinite power surging in my body hahahaha! I want to smash things now!" Jackob happily swung his new axe but in mid-swing, he was stopped by Anastassia who appeared in front of him and blocked the axe with the tip of the black dagger. She knew that he was rather reckless and just that swing would destroy this room if he is not careful. "Thank you for these weapons. Even without any tests, I can feel that they are totally fit for us." Anastassia seriously bowed at Arthur, showing her gratitude but that only made Arthur wave his hands and moving the chains with them whilst laughing and replying "Hahaha there is no need to thank me, we are long-time friends. I took your skills in consideration so they shouldn''t hinder you if you get used to them, especially you Jackob, with a bit of effort, it won''t be a problem to fight a Spirit Realm with Skullcleaver." Jackob nodded continuously as he scratched the back of his head embarrassingly. Not only did he swing without holding back, he also swung at the direction of Lissandra, who stood there motionless and dead silent, he couldn''t help but feel guilty and awkward when he realized what he had done. "Then we''ll be off." Anastassia glared at Jackob, clearly telling him to leave with her as he was still nodding with his two eyes glued to the axe in his hands. As for her, she sheathed her daggers and put them under the dark sleeves on her waist. She didn''t show it but she was honestly pleased with this pair of daggers as it was true, the moment she held them, she could feel the boost. She just needs to sheath them for the system to activate the stats of the weapon equipped. As they left the room, Anastassia stopped Jackob and coldly stared at him while smirking "Look, you have a new weapon so let''s have a friendly spar." The joyful smile on Jackob''s face stiffened and the hold on his axe tightened, a drop of sweat appeared on his forehead as he looked around in panic. He didn''t give any reply, instead, he grabbed his axe and darted off the place. It is, however, unfortunate for him as Anastassia softly smiled and disappeared from the hall in hot pursuit ************ Two days later, Arthur finally completed his preparation and did whatever he needed to do. Lissandra remained dead silent and except eating whatever Arthur handed to her, she literally did nothing. He tried asking her a few more times but it was totally futile so he busied himself with the plan and didn''t pay her any more heed. He didn''t need to warn Anastassia about enemies or Sect affairs as he knew she could handle them all so he just gave her the batch of grenades, mines, and flash grenades and departed to the North with Lissandra. Arthur didn''t specifically organize a small meeting to say farewell as he hated them so he just went to Robin and talk over a few things with her but he was surprised to hear from her that she left the management of the E-clips Company in the East to the little boy Rey who insisted on doing that. Honestly, Arthur didn''t trust the devilish boy at all but it was Robin''s choice so he wasn''t going to interfere. --- "Why do I think that it''ll be a long time since we''ll see him again?" Jackob muttered those words as he watched the disappearing Dark Cloud on the horizon along with Anastassia, who was silently standing next to him. "Instead of worrying about that go train with your toy as you can''t even wield it properly, it''s a waste in your hands." Anastassia snorted and disappeared into a black mist that soon dispersed due to the whistling wind. .... At noon the very same day they departed to the Demon Continent, the Dark Cloud entered the perimeter of the Demon City and in just seconds, it had already dived underground and arrived inside the cave. To make it easier, Arthur had already dug a special route to not circle around the countless rat-infested tunnels. He made a large hole from the first tunnel underground going all the way to the cave, one jump would suffice to arrive there, but that only applies for those who can survive that jump. The only presence he felt in the cave was Gutcha, who was still pinned down by the vines and paralyzed by the poison, Arthur wouldn''t let such a dangerous foe roam free even if there is a cage made of thorny vines around him. Taliya didn''t seem to be here but from the appearance of Gutcha, he noticed that the head maid used some torture means to get some information out of Gutcha''s mouth albeit the fact that he forbade her to get near him. ''Ha! Talk about a stubborn woman, at least Lucy is stubborn but will listen to me if I tell her not to do something..." Arthur shook his head while letting out a long sigh, at least she didn''t straight out kill him or the plan to take her along would never work. He needed Gutcha as he is extremely crucial for the plan. He wasn''t sure how strong the enemies were, if the leaders of Gutcha''s tribe is a God and adding the countless warriors with him then it''ll not be easy for Arthur to save the prisoners, he would be able to escape and would also be able to annihilate the whole territory with a Rizaki but that would injure him and most definitely kill everything as it did not discriminate. "Hey, are you still alive?" He could feel the heartbeat of Gutcha but the latter seemed to be unconscious. He had multiple blade wounds on his arms and legs and an unpleasant bloody hole in his left shoulder. Taliya was really merciless, maybe it was a dumb move to leave him exposed to her treatment. Seeing the hideous monster in such a state, Arthur was forced to take out High Healing Potion and feed it to the unconscious Gutcha. The warm red liquid entered the huge mouth of the monster and in just a few seconds, the miraculous effect of the Potion began showing. Even to Arthur, an injury suffered from a God would heal Gradually with or without a Potion but it''s certain that it''ll fasten the recovery by a fair bit. In fact, Arthur''s Vitality is insanely High, even a God wouldn''t have that high recovery as it is one of the hardest stats to increase. It is only thanks to his High Vitality that he recovered in merely a few days after being injured by the Spatial Tears and the enormous explosion. The blade scars began healing bit by bit and the bloody hole was slowly but surely closing. Arthur didn''t pay any more attention to Gutcha and walked to Lissandra, who was still in a dead-like state. The woman was always looking down since her black hair was quite long, it covered her face and made her look a bit scary, but with a well-proportioned body fitting to a God which is probably the only thing she kept, no one would think she has an ugly face. Since talking to her wouldn''t help him, Arthur just retrieved a small bed and a table filled with food and put them near Lissandra. She doesn''t react but she still eats her fill every day and that at least showed that is not completely broken. ... The day of the departure is growing near and the final preparations are almost done, what is left is something that Arthur wanted to craft for himself, it''ll be impossible to use with these annoying chains on but he''ll keep it just in case. With the use of his blacksmithing, Lost Magic, rare and unique materials and many miscellaneous skills that are helpful for crafting, he began at last. Material after another was taken out of the storage rings, some were melted some were used immediately, Arthur was so busy that he didn''t notice Taliya, who had arrived a few minutes ago but as to not disturb him, she stood in a corner and simply watched. His sense was retracted and his attention was wholly focused on what''s before him. At some point, when an unknown amount of time has passed, sweat drops trickled down his forehead, indicating how Mentally Exhausted he was. This long and certainly burdensome and tiresome process was done exactly five hours later when a long string of notifications popped in front of him. Congratulations! You have created ''Star''. For creating a special weapon, you obtain +50 Creation. ... Arthur calmly contemplated his new creation with a soft smile on his face. He didn''t even bother to test it, he just took out a small red cloth from his storage and wrapped the weapon with it then he put the weapon in the one storage ring he never used. It was his engagement ring, Lucy gave him one and he gave her one too. It was a low-quality silver ring but for Arthur, its worth is much more than any other storage ring. He tapped the silver ring as he dazed off, lost in thoughts and was only woken up when Taliya walked up to him. "Ah, you''re here?" Taliya cast a glanced at the healed Gutcha and replied with a snort "Hmpf! I have been here since a few hours ago." She didn''t want to admit it but seeing Arthur craft something with various unknown techniques and skills, she was quite engrossed and didn''t sense the time passing, it was only when he was done did she remember that she was standing for five straight hours. She caught sight of Lissandra, who was quietly sitting on a bed at the side but that only made her annoyed as her opinion of Arthur kind of dropped a bit, seeing another woman with him, she thought that he''s collecting them on the purpose of having ''a comrade to pass the time with''. "Alright, enough useless talk, I''ll start explaining the plan so you better listen up closely, and if you are unwilling to follow it to the very letter, I''ll not bring you along." Arthur walked to Gutcha and gestured to Lissandra and Taliya to come. He was only afraid that Taliya would lose control and start rampaging if something were to happen to her niece, that would ruin her plans. There was the possibility of Gutcha backstabbing them but fortunately, he found a way to counter that. With a strong enough slap from Arthur, Gutcha was woken up from his unconsciousness, he looked around dazedly and the moment his eyes landed on Taliya, he couldn''t help but curse at her "You crazy evildoer!" He already told Arthur everything he knew but when he left, Taliya started torturing him and asking him questions that have no sense or simply cannot be answered by him yet she still persisted until he fell unconscious. Taliya maintained an expressionless face as if she did nothing and stared at Gutcha with cold eyes, forcing him to shut up. Arthur didn''t mind and ignored what just happened when everyone calmed down and he could hear nothing but silence, he started explaining the exact process of the operation. "The plan is simple if you follow what I say. We three are hostages brought by Gutcha when a fight occurred which resulted in the death of his comrade. Since we''re hostages, I don''t think they''ll kill us but will imprison us with the rest, which will let us confirm the identity of all the other hostages." Lissandra didn''t show any reaction but Taliya wasn''t totally convinced so she retorted "What if they decide to kill us instead?" "They won''t, unless you purposely provoke them and at that time, I will not step out to save you, each their own when we are there." Gutcha was flabbergasted as he heard that Arthur and co were planning on letting themselves be held prisoners. He found the idea idiotic and too favorable for himself, however, before he could have any malicious thoughts, Arthur raised his hands and an orange creepy looking thing appeared. It had flames on its top and its insides burned with raging flames. Its size was small than a fist and the second it appeared, it dived straight at his chest and entered it. He closed his eyes, expecting to feel pain but naught came, it''s as if nothing happened. "W-what did you do?" Gutcha didn''t know what happened but he wasn''t dumb enough to think that the creepy thing with scary facial features that entered his chest was nothing but a small show. "It''s just a precaution and a warning. If you try anything out of place, say anything which does not comply with the plan, I assure you that by the next second, your body will exist no more." The bound monster gulped his saliva and stared fearfully at his chest, he could feel nothing but that was for the best as Arthur implemented a ticking bomb inside of him, the one and only Sensor Detonator. He was able to successfully reduce its size and potency, it can enter a target''s body and wait for him to detonate it. He ordered it to detonate if the distance between him and Gutcha reached a certain limit as in this way, Gutcha can''t escape or act against him or he''ll just meet his own demise. .... Arthur passed the next hour to fully explain the plan to the very last detail without forgetting to warn Taliya to not act rashly again and again. Gutcha didn''t dare oppose anything and would continuously nod his head whilst swearing to do his best to let them successfully infiltrate his tribe without bringing any suspicions. The long talk just ended and when Arthur was going to take out the Book of the Damned to try something, A blue streak of lightning flew straight at him and entered his consciousness. Astrith had returned from his missions and instantly resumed his evolution after telling Arthur that he disposed of every single member of Gutcha''s Race that was hiding on Astria. He didn''t search every corner of Astria as that would take a very long time even with his extreme speed, however, with the help of Gutcha, who provided various hideouts of his comrades, the wolf was able to easily locate them. To Arthur''s surprise, all of the other comrades of Gutcha resisted and fought to their last breath, which made him think. ''Is this Gutcha a smart person or is he just so cowardly and afraid of death that he would denounce his comrades?'' He saved his own life by telling the truth but at the same time, he had forsaken his own tribe and comrades. Arthur didn''t know that Gutcha didn''t hold any special connection with his tribe so he presumed that this hideous looking monster is just a coward who, like everyone else, would do anything to not die. With the threat of these monsters gone from Astria, Arthur felt a bit of relief as another invader was taken care of. .... Arthur took out the Book of the Damned and summoned the rotten hand, which stretched out of the yellow and old looking page and wriggled in the air. He sat in front of the book and closed his eyes, crossing his legs and putting his hand down, he focused and would take out a few materials out of his storage every now and then. The concept of the rotten hand is easy, it would block any incoming attack if possible then store that energy and release it when the user wills it. The released energy is usually a big blast or some kind of beam, but Arthur wanted to store energy but release a small concetrated result. He took out a small red ore and raised it to the hand whilst unleashing astronomical amounts of Ancient Fire. The Red Ore and the Flames released by Arthur were fully absorbed by the rotten hand, which in return pulsated with a red light. Arthur patiently waited for the result to come out and only after an hour did a small red object come out of the disgusting skin of the hand. Seeing that the result was what he wished for, Arthur felt ecstatic and without further ado, he took out another Red Ore and repeated the process. ----- The morning of the sixth''s day, Arthur opened his eyes after a long meditation and said with a voice neither too loud or too low but enough for the people present to hear him. "It is time to depart." Gutcha said that if he wasn''t defeated he had to go come back to his tribe to report every week and if something happened, the delay can be prolonged to ten days. The ten days didn''t pass yet but Arthur didn''t want to stretch it to the last second as the plan would seem plausible only if he came back right now. He was ambushed and lost his comrade by he managed to get rid of the opposing parties and caught those who surrendered. As for Arthur, he was one of the ambushing enemies, however, he was apprehended by Gutcha and chained to restrict his movements. Quite a simple plan indeed but it all fell on Gutcha''s way of describing what happened. Taliya also needs to hold back her anger and act calmly, it would be perfect if she acted like the current Lissandra. Chapter 161 Side Story 1.0 The sudden appearances of the dungeons on Earth brought a lot of panic from all over the globe. Some officials even tried to revolt against other countries or create trouble this was all subdued when the International Hero Organization was created. Usui, who was later known as the Flame Emperor, was enjoying his time on his balcony, reading a history book when the event happened. No matter whom or where, every person on Earth experienced an earthquake with a magnitude of 9.8. Surprisingly, there were zero deaths and no buildings fall which dumbfounded several scientists who later claimed that it wasn''t an earthquake but something more mysterious. Usui graduated from Oxford University but he didn''t directly find a job. His family was quite well-off and they didn''t lack any money, moreover, he was a prodigy since he was young. Whether it''s painting, poetry or even acting, he had numerous skills and excelled in every one of them. What he liked most was reading stories but since his parents always insisted he takes classes of this and that, his free time lessened every day. As for the romantic side, his mother prepared a blind date with some lady of another rich family more than one time, but truthfully, he hated that. The girls would fall in love with him and some of them were even a bit clingy but he would always reject them in a kind manner. Years passed and he managed to develop a unique nature, he never got angry or yelled at anyone, even when he was irritated by something, nothing would be shown on his face. When the world changed, and what was supposed to be an earthquake struck the Earth, a blue window appeared in front of him. Congratulations! You have gained a skill(passive): [Affinity with Fire]: Any fire-related skills deal 35% more damage. Your resistance to the Fire attribute has increased by 25%. Due to [Affinity with Fire] you obtained 2 new skills (Fire Wave) and (Upgraded Fireball) Congratulations! You have gained a skill(passive): [Born to be a Mage]: +250 Mana (+75 Mana every level) / 10% Mana reduction when using mage related skills / +100 Intelligence (+25 Every Level)/ +50 Wisdom (+10 Every level) You have 5 unallocated points, please use them to enhance your stats. Status Window Name: Usui Age: 21 Race: Human -------- LEVEL: 0 Strength: 21 Agility: 15 Dexterity: 9 Intelligence: 138 Wisdom: 78 Vitality: 10 -------- Health: 40(0.05/s) Mana: 250(0.1/s) Stamina: 30(0.09/s) -------- Fire Resistance: 25% -------- Skills(active): Fire Wave Lv1, Upgraded Fireball Lv1. Skills(passive): Fire Affinity, Born to be a mage. ------- Unallocated Points: 5 ------- Usui gazed at the blue notification in front of him for several minutes before he managed to comprehend what just happened. To be honest, he never was a fan of games, he tried playing a few of them but he didn''t find them as amusing as reading books whilst enjoying a cup of tea. He may not be good at games, but he was acknowledgeable and after reading his status window a few times and checking his skills, he managed to comprehend a couple of things. Such a sudden increase in Intelligence made him think a bit faster and remember some things from his infancy, the Wisdom was also helpful in coming up with more logical and better decisions or opinions. He remained calm and picked up his book to try something, it was only a guess but it was confirmed when he found himself reading one page in a very short time. His reading and processing speed was augmented by a fair bit which pleased him but with power comes responsibility. Although he received something that should not exist, he was sure he was not alone and this was but the beginning. The butler in their house rushed to Usui only to find him softly smile as he was looking at the book in his hand. He was worried for the safety of this young man but nothing out of the ordinary happened except that earthquake. No bookshelves fell and no ground was split apart. ''Now then...'' Usui took a breath of fresh air and sat up from his chair, he looked at the blue sky and raised his left hand while mumbling with a low voice Chapter 162 - 158 : The Pigolo Tribe The preparations were complete, the plan was thoroughly explained by Arthur and the foolish ones were warned several times, all that was left is to activate the Warp Device. Due to his chains, Arthur didn''t need to be physically restrained by anything, as for Taliya and Lissandra, Gutcha has advised him to tie them with a special rope in his storage as the story more believable. "Everything is in order, all that is left is for Arthur to come as well." The two women and the hideous creature stood near each other, waiting for Arthur, who was sitting in a corner with his eyes closed seemingly focused on something important. This began a day ago and he didn''t stop for a second and after a few hours, a bright flash would blind their sight and when they recover, he would still be laying in the same position. The three patiently waited for him to finish with Gutcha being a little bit anxious as he wasn''t totally willing to go along with the plan, however, he really does not have any choice in the matter or else he would have hidden in a remote cave somewhere on Astria and seclude himself for a long time before coming out. Fortunately, Arthur finally stood up after a few minutes after the predicted blinding light. He had a proud and happy expression as he walked toward them. As a final precaution, Arthur summoned The Book of the Damned and hid under his black robe. If he were to be sneak attacked, the rotten hand would instantly absorb the damage and unleash the little bit of Energy he stored into it along with the recently absorbed attack. "So, is everyone ready?" Lissandra silently stared at the floor, Gutcha hesitantly nodded his head and Taliya resolutely nodded her head with clenched fists. Seeing their response, Arthur took out the Warp Device and activated it without delay. He didn''t need Gutcha''s help to use it with the presence of the Appraisal. Very soon, the four of them experienced a pretty discomforting feeling, even Arthur felt that his body became a bit sore, the experience felt completely different from using a Spatial Tunnel. Gutcha had already told him that the Warp Device is not very practical and it is only used when Spatial Tunnel does not exist, it is like a primordial version of teleportation. The warped people would also experience dizziness and in some rare cases, they would pass out, especially those with a weaker body, so Arthur laid a Dark Barrier around Lissandra as she is but a Mortal. As for himself, he wasn''t worried about falling unconscious with such a high Vitality, his defensive layer from the Dark-Star Strengthening technique is permanently activated too. ... Contrary to the Spatial Tunnel which only took a couple of seconds or minutes if the distance is large, the Warp Device takes between half an hour and an hour for the users to arrive at the destination. All he could see around him is a grey world with blurring environment, it was unpleasant to the eye and a discomforting feeling surged him, it wasn''t to the point of annoying him yet it was still unpleasant to have. A little bit more than thirty minutes, the four of them appeared in a big square with a large rune engraved on its floor. The weather was a bit hot and the sun was blazing hot. Arthur was not bothered by such a hot weather, however, that was not left unnoticed by him. His only guess is that this strong heat is due to the wall of flames which is a distance away from here. Its intensity must be huge to cause its surroundings to suffer a rise in temperature. One look at his surroundings made him certain that growing plants or anything in such a soil is practically impossible. The place resembled a desert but there were countless structures around the large square, they were buildings made from normal stones as wood would make its interior much hotter. The very second they appeared, yelling sounds could be heard from all around them, several hideous creatures similar to Gutcha surrounded them with long yellow spears pointed at them from every single direction. ''There must be at least 50 around us.... let''s see....'' Appraisal was activated and a stream of blue windows appeared in his sight ''Hmmm between Lv800 and 999 with three at the Spirit Realm?'' It was quite a terrifying force, and this was only at this square, what about the rest of territory. From Gutcha, Arthur knew that his Golem was sent here so it must have caused quite the ruckus and caused them to be alerted which forced the higher-ups to stationed a remarkable force to guard this place. ''Quite the clever ones, huh?'' With his Sense, Arthur could sense more than a hundred extra spear-yielding monster hiding in the buildings around the square with a few ones who were quite skilled in hiding their presence, it''s a shame that they couldn''t escape from his Ability. "C-captain Gutcha?" One of the spear-yielding monsters hesitated before he stared at Gutcha with a confused expression. Clearly, he recognized his captain and dropped his spear whilst breathing a sigh of relief. The others were not as relieved as that soldier for they were not all under Gutcha''s command. There were just too many captains in the tribe that it is quite hard to remember them all unless one had done distinguishable feats. Gutcha was a newly promoted captain but in the past, he did the infiltration and scouting jobs, so his identity was not that famous. "Drop your weapons, I''m Gutcha, a Captain in the third army, I have come back and brought a few hostages with me." Even after saying that, none of the soldiers dropped their spear. They only took orders from their direct superiors and Gutcha is but an unknown captain so they still maintained a serious expression, a cold glare and an intent to stab their spears at any sudden movements from the enemies. "Drop your weapons." The three present Captains which were standing at the back spoke at the same time. When the spears were dropped, the huge crowd of soldiers who were surroundings Arthur and co, opened a path for the three captains, who made their way to Gutcha and his hostages. "If it isn''t Captain Gutcha, we didn''t hear you for a while so we assumed you perished." Laughing heartily, a captain with a burn scar on his neck addressed Gutcha but his eyes were full of mocking and contempt. Albeit being at the same rank as Gutcha, he didn''t seem to respect him and instead, belittled him in front of everybody. Oblivious to the other party''s mocking, Gutcha shrugged his shoulders, not caring about that and said "A few unexpected things happened and I was ambushed by a strong group which led to the death of Captain Drok''e but I managed to defeat the enemy." Gutcha didn''t offer a detailed explanation as that was planned for his superiors, not this captain. The other party did not hold enough authority to be able to force him to explain himself. Just by bringing precious hostages, he is considered to have achieved good merits in the Third Army. Upon hearing Gutcha, a frown appeared on the laughing Captain, the other two also had a serious expression. "What kind of strong group?" Another captain was the one was talked, he had a pig face and was quite fat which made him look a talk fat pig. "The details will be reported to the Major." "Captain Gutcha, this is no time to be holding on important information. Because you were so busy apprehending whatever hostages you brought, our tribe suffered heavy damages a few days ago when a monster suddenly appeared on this very spot." From his tone, it can be seen that he feared whatever he saw a few days ago. There was only one monster that was sent by Gutcha and that was the Death Golem, which also gave him a fright. It was called a Golem but its appearance was scary and by no means did it slightly resemble a normal golem, only its size was similar. Obviously, Gutcha wouldn''t be as stupid as to say he sent the Death Golem because he was going to be killed by it so he decided to send it to his tribe to take care of it. All the Warp Devices the other captain who invaded Astria took, lead to this destination so any one of them is a suspect. There was another piece of information that Gutcha was unaware of, it''s that Astrith disposed of every one of his tribe and none were left alive. Feigning a look of shock, Gutcha stared at the three captains with a loof of surprise before speaking "I-is that true?" The pig-faced captain nodded his head seriously and added "Not only did it cause a lot of destruction, it killed more than a hundred soldiers and two captains, it required Major Bull and Major Billard to apprehend. It was only due to luck that they won, the monster suddenly fell on its own and died then its body turned into a black ash." "Major Bull was also promoted to a Lieutenant Colonel due to sacrificing his arm to protect his soldiers." The first captain who mocked Gutcha said proudly with a smirk. Major Bull was previously his superior and their relationship is quite good. ''Now that Major Bull is promoted, I expect that in no time I''ll become the next Major of the 5th platoon of the Third Army hehehe'' Captain Reek didn''t voice out his thoughts but from his expression, anyone can tell he was happy, not only that but almost everyone knew that he was close to Major Bull so the free position of the Major would necessarily be passed to him. "Is that so... well then, I''ll have to go report to Major Kal and bring those hostages to the prison." Gutcha grabbed the string which tied Taliya and Lissandra and bypassed the three captains. His reaction was a bit lacking to what happened recently but it wasn''t a family but just a tribe made of random warriors, despite this, its heritage and prowess are long and powerful and it is a force that should be reckoned with. Arthur remained silent and stared at what''s occurring, his attention was diverted to his Sense, which spread with every step he took forward. As far as he could tell, there was no imminent danger and it was going smoothly, he just needs to arrive at the prison and see if Sonia and Mary are there, there was also the Demon Princess but the two women came first as they were his and Lucy''s friends. "Wait a minute." After walking a few steps, Captain Reek turned to look at Arthur and frowned. "What is it, Captain Reek?" Displeased that he was stopped yet again, Gutcha turned to look at the annoying captain and harrumphed. As two people with the same rank, the other party should at least speak to him with respect. ''Wait a minute'' should be replaced with ''Please wait a minute'', as Gutcha is not a person who cares about that, he was not bothered by it but the way he acts right now played a huge role in Arthur''s plan and he did not dare to divert from it, especially after witnessing the weird and scary looking ball that entered his chest. *** "Oh it''s nothing important, I just happen to have something to do with Major Kal so why not head there together?" Without waiting for Gutcha to reply, captain Reek strode toward the same reaction with an unpleasant grin on his ugly face. Gutcha didn''t press on the matter as he really didn''t care about being mocked or disrespected, as long as Arthur and the rest to their destination without any problems, everything will go smoothly. As per Arthur''s orders, he had to do a few things and the idea of fleeing far away from the tribe didn''t cross his mind. Each nearby tribe had their own unique Race so venturing into unknown areas is simply suicidal from his part, as for crossing the wall flames, that is even more unlikely. There have been cases where experts would emerge from the flames and rest in one of the tribes, although they didn''t help in any way, just by the fact that they rested in that specific tribe, its reputation, and status in the surroundings would soar astronomically. The two other captains didn''t follow Gutcha and Reek, instead, they instructed their soldiers to keep watch then left to one of the buildings near the big square. Arthur silently surveyed the area but nothing was special or deserved to be paid attention to. They walked away from the several stones buildings and by the look of it, the prison is quite the distance away from the tribe''s main territory. There were mountains and hills made from sand, coupling that with the intensely hot weather and the fast pace the captains were walking, it became hard for the weak-bodied Lissandra to catch up to them which systematically made her fall and be dragged a few meters before Gutcha noticed her. As a hostage, if he were to treat her with respect as she is Arthur''s comrade, it would appear suspicious and if he were to yell at her or execute her on the spot, it would incur Arthur''s wrath. Helpless, Gutcha glanced at Arthur who was far at the back, he was not bound by the special ropes and instead, had chains around his feet and arms, but his face excluded total calmness as if he was not a hostage, to begin with. Captain Reek didn''t pay much attention to him and only frowned when he saw Lissandra fall. "Captain Gutcha, it seems that the hostages you brought are way too weak! To think that they gave you a hard time, this is a disgrace to the Third Army. Even a Captain died *sigh* I''m afraid that our reputation will decrease dramatically if anyone hears about that." Reek didn''t need to say it out loud for Gutcha to understand. Lissandra needs to be killed for such a stupid reason, however, Gutcha wasn''t a pushover either. With a snort, he continued walking whilst saying "Each extra hostage adds more rewards for me, moreover, it is not up to Captain Reek to decide what I do with hostages that I caught." Although a bit risky, he decided to leave Lissandra''s case into Arthur''s hand and hoped it would be solved, if he made a move and tried to execute her, he feared that he''ll be the one to die instead. ''Even with a Dark Barrier around her, she''s still this weak?'' It was indeed weird for Lissandra to fall like this. She''s a Mortal, yes, but that doesn''t mean she''s that fragile. The intense heat is not even affecting her thanks to the barrier and all she had to do is walk, it can''t be that hard to simply walk, even for a Lv1 Mortal, much less for an ex-God. ''Appraisal!'' Lissandra (Race: Human): Lv8 (Suffering from ''Mind Break'', ''Soul self-devouring'', ''Against Death''...) A whole list was displayed in front of Arthur, who stared at it with gobbled eyes. Last time he appraised her is when he stripped her away from her powers, she was weakened to Lv10 Mortal but none of the statuses of the above were present. There were at the very least 20 debuffs with names more astonishing than the others. It seems that her sudden change in attitude and silence is strongly related to this and it was way foolish for him to not appraise her immediately but how could he ever think that she is suffering from all of those? She''s just a Mortal and what could a Mortal suffer from except illnesses. Arthur picked one random debuff and appraised to see its contents only to be flabbergasted Against Death(Passive)(Permanent): Becoming a fallen God, the lower the Realm the stronger the effect and the shorter the time for him to live is. Gods age differently than Mortals but once the balance is broken, the past rules will apply to the fallen user, he will be marked by a Death Reaper and soon his soul will be reaped! ''Are you kidding me? A Death Reaper?'' Remembering the fearsome Death Reaper he had to fight, Arthur couldn''t help but shiver unconsciously, it''s true that he got rid of it but it was only thanks to the World tree''s help and since he is not on Astria anymore, he can''t request its assistance. If a Death Reaper were to appear right now, the plan will be totally disrupted and things would get pretty messy. To be honest, Arthur was not afraid for Lissandra, quite the opposite, in fact, he couldn''t care less if she died by the Reaper''s hands as he is not her guardian angel, if it''s a beast or someone he could cope with then he''ll save her but against a Reaper? Hell no! Especially with his body restrained by these damnable chains. What he was more afraid of was that the Reaper will also sense him and will try to execute him along with Lissandra, getting two birds with one stone. Furthermore, what if the incoming Reaper is more powerful than the previous one? Feeling a headache, Arthur didn''t even bother reading the rest of the debuffs, just this one is practically impossible to deal with, so if he reads the rest of them, it''ll only make him feel worse. The only thing he could do is push the matter to later when this plan ends at least then he will see what to do. The safest choice is to kill her right now but he was reluctant to do that. She did a lot of horrible things, that''s true, however, if he were to execute her after all the torture he did to her, he would be no different from her. Secretly, Arthur used his Ancient Threads along with Telekinesis to move Lissandra''s body. She was barely conscious and she didn''t struggle when the threads wrapped around her body and moved it on its own. The Telekinesis was only used at the beginning to adjust her body then removed. Taliya kept a passive attitude and disregarded the falling Human woman, even if Lissandra would die in front of her, she would not bat an eye. Her hatred for the Human Race far surpassed the feelings of pity to a miserable being. As they continued walking toward the prison, Arthur''s body was like a dry sponge absorbing all the water around it. This world had Nether Energy and not a small amount of it. It lacked a bit compared to the Underworld but nevertheless, it was enough for Arthur''s body to start absorbing it like a massive a whirlpool. His empty reserve of Nether Energy began filling up in a matter of seconds and the chains around his waist, hands, and feet began vibrating intensely, making loud noises and even making a bit of the sand under his feet float for a few millimeters. It fortunate that Reek ignored the noise and Gutcha only threw a couple of glances whilst walking next to the other Captain. The black orb inside his Dantian began rotating intensely and emitting a dark steam, an illusory talisman also circled around the orb. Arthur started feeling his body heating up on its own and the Dark Star strengthening technique along with the Dark Anguish technique acted on their own. Being at 1999 Mental Power, Arthur was just one point away from breaking through. With no presence of Nether Energy on Astria, his body started to become a little bit to such atmosphere but now that it was thrown to a world with so much Nether Energy and adding that to Arthur''s extremely high Nether Energy Recovery, breaking through was something that was bound to happen sooner or later, even if he didn''t intentionally try to break through, with such accumulated stress and after holding back for quite sometime, stopping it from happening is almost impossible. While gritting his teeth, Arthur closed his eyes and dived deep into his consciousness, where his soul laid. In the starry sky, Arthur floated to the bright light in its centre, which was his soul. He didn''t know much about the Orb of the Fallen Overgods which didn''t act since a long time ago, or about the thick chains around the big blob of light but it didn''t take a genius to know that they are means to restrain something, as for what it was, he didn''t know yet. Arthur noticed a slowly rotating cubic object which resembled the one he saw inside the ARK, the cubic object was silently rotating next to the Orb and the two have the same size, more or less. Breaking through will bring countless benefits and if he''s lucky then the chains would disappear, however, that was what he would think a few hours ago, not right now! He honestly didn''t know how strong he would become if he became a Divine being, but there was still the possibility of powerful experts laying nearby, he won''t be reckless anymore and dive into their territory expecting to save everyone and come back safely. Such actions will only be done when he holds complete confidence in battling Peak Grade Gods. After thoroughly thinking about his decision, Arthur floated near his bright soul and grabbed the end of the thick chains at the bottom half of the blob and pulled it with all of his strength. It was only after a lot of effort and full-strength pulling that he was able to bulge the chains and make them tighten just a bit around the soul. It may not be a good idea to do that but it is the only way to stop the breakthrough, it''ll buy some time for him at least. He was willing to break through when he is in his prison cell, but not in front of Captain Reek. He could still kill him and possess him but he was not sure if breaking through will remove the chains and everyone would find it suspicious if a captain is loitering around with chains all over his body. ''Argh!!'' As the chains tightened around his soul, Arthur experienced unimaginable pain along with an unpleasant cold feeling surging his physical body. The heat emanated from his Dantian lessened and the fastly rotating Orb was forcefully stopped. As for the talisman, there were no signs of it. Arthur was relieved to see that, however, before breathing a small sigh of relief, he couldn''t help but spit a mouthful of blood, freaking out Taliya who was sizing up Captain Reek and making some secret plans. Obviously, such actions were seen by the two captain, who turned to look at Arthur since the second his chains started making very loud noises. When they saw that the hostage was acting strangely then suddenly spit a mouthful of blood, captain Reek shook his head in disappointment and continued walking, as for Gutcha, he was really surprised by the fact that Arthur, a person who he could not fathom his strength, was spitting a mouthful of blood out of nowhere. Such thing was not mentioned when the plan was explained, nonetheless, he remained silent and followed captain Reek. "With such weak hostages, they''ll surely die in a matter of days. To think that a captain died just to bring them here...." Captain Reek kept complaining about how fragile and weak the hostages Gutcha brought. The turned a deaf ear to him and marched toward a yellow tower made mud with a cave entrance next to him. It was the prison of his tribe and it can be considered a desolated place. "Are you okay?" Taliya stared at Arthur with a strange face, since she met him, he would always say or do weird things but this topped them all. Who in their right mind would spit such a big mouthful of blood out of nowhere, even if it was acting, it would be too exaggerated so she couldn''t help but feel a bit anxious as if he is injured then the probability of escaping if they are discovered lessened by a huge margin. All her planned actions to take care of Reek fell and she could only glare at Arthur, who gave her no explanation and continued walking with his eyes closed. ''Hmpf! I just need to ascertain that Alina is in that prison then I''ll figure a way out of here!'' **** *shiii* *shiii* The long chains were dragged in the sound as they entered the cave, which was supposed to be the prison of the tribe. Arthur''s sense had already spread underground and he was able to notice a considerable amount of living beings. One was in a corner quite a distance away from the rest and from the looks of it, he is the one Gutcha described as weird. "Now that we guided your prisoners as you wanted, let''s head to the Major and hear your detailed explanation, there''s no time to waste." Reek still insisted on hearing Gutcha''s explanation about the ambush. It was unknown whether he wanted to learn the truth or find a mistake and blame it on his comrade to earn more merit or perhaps earn the rewards in his place. After glancing at Arthur and obtaining the confirmation from him, he nodded to Reek and handed the rope binding Lissandra and Taliya to a guard stationed at the entrance of the prison. "Yes sir, you can rest assured!" The guard took the rope and pulled the two woman to the inside of the cave followed by Arthur who was ignored due to the visible chains restraining him. .... The prison, which was practically a cave with a few rooms dug inside of it, was not big at all, however, that is to be expected as they usually kill and don''t take prisoners. This was only a special case where they needed to extract pieces of information from the captured prisoners. Gutcha said that they rarely resorted to torture as the prisoners are always scared senseless when they just see their appearance and they would spill everything they knew. As for the uncooperative types, they are, of course, tortured but they would give up after a few rounds too, with the exception of the weird young man. "Come on! I don''t have all day, I have to guard the entrance!" The guard''s attitude changed 180 degrees when they walked away from the two captains. Violently, he pulled the rope binding the two women, almost making them fall which resulted in receiving a piercing glare from the maid. It didn''t seem like he was looking at living beings but just inferior livestock which is normal as Humans are an alien race in their territory. However, what seems a bit off is that from Gutcha''s mouth, Arthur heard that the strong beings who came from beyond the wall of flames looked similar to Humans, so what lingers in the guard''s mouth should not be contempt but fear as these prisoners are of the same Race as these strong experts, or so thought Arthur. Since the prison was not big, it only took a few minutes to reach a large room which had thick iron bars blocking its entrance, inside the room was a large crowd of people, each minding their own business and divided into several little groups. The guard used some kind of cylindric device to make the iron bars open up a small hole, enough to fit both ladies, who were pushed by him. As for Arthur, who was expecting to be thrown there too, he surprisingly wasn''t put in the same place. The guard gestured for Arthur to follow him without coming close to him and when they descended a few stairs, an extremely small cold room laid before his eyes, only a figure was silently sitting on what seemed to be a rough bed and when the two of them entered, the young man opened his eyes and lifted his head whilst happily smiling. ''I guess I should have expected this.'' Seeing that he was dumped next to the strange young man, Arthur shook his head and remained silent. With an appearance like his, he wouldn''t look that shady but if we add those long thick chains all over his body, it''s perfectly normal for the guard to think of him as a dangerous fellow. He wasn''t even tossed like the two ladies, the guard just opened the gate and waited for him to enter without uttering a single word then he darted out of the cold room in a split second. "Oh! A new roommate, pleased to meet you!" The young man walked to Arthur and stretched his hand in greeting, however, the latter ignored him and didn''t even spare him a glance. He may have fooled the others with such a friendly attitude but one appraise was enough for Arthur to know who he is and how strong he is. Vyncent (Race: Human): Realm: Immortal 6th Grade. ''No wonder he was not broken by all that torture, must''ve been an act from the very beginning. But what are his motives for all of this?'' It was indeed intriguing but Arthur does not have the time to ponder about that or waste it on this young man. Vyncent looked like any normal teenage boy, a blonde hair and hazy green eyes, it could not be denied that he was handsome and except his poor attitude from the current circumstances, anyone from Astria would mistake him for a Noble or a wealthy figure. Arthur''s goals are to first locate and rescue Sonia and Mary if they are here then he''ll need to either find if this world is isolated like Astria or not, if it is not then he needs to go to Earth and if that doesn''t work then he''ll need to find a good Spatial Master and possess him, in that way, he''ll create a Spatial Tunnel himself, however, the chances of finding a Master in Spatial Laws is extremely meager, even in high-Realm World or Planet. "Oh! I didn''t notice the chains in your hands, excuse me!" After seeing that Arthur was not going to talk to him, Vyncent said that and bowed his head in apology whilst keeping the usual friendly smile. This kind of character reminded Arthur of good old Kilan, the leader of the Monster Race in the Underworld, however, Kilan had a unique cold aura around him which made him less friendly than Vyncent, who really looked like a friendly guy. Arthur would have greeted him back, if not for the appraisal result and the things he heard from Gutcha. The room they were in only had one bed and nothing else, although the coldness didn''t affect Arthur, he could still feel it and there was even a small layer of steam on the roof, which had many water holes. It was an unusual place to build a prison, especially with the presence of water, which should not be here when the surface is a literal desert. They are not that far underground for water to exist, barely ten or so meters. ---- Despite being totally ignored by the other party, Vyncent still kept his smile and sat on his bed while throwing a couple of glances to newcomer every now and then. It has already been an hour since he arrived yet this grey-haired man sat cross-legged in a coin with his eyes closed and did nothing. Vyncent started to contemplate the chance that his new roommate is a mute or an eccentric person. He tried probing him but wasn''t able to perceive anything which meant that either the other party''s Realm is higher than his or it is covered by some kind of treasure or technique. It''s been a while since he got a roommate and Vyncent was feeling talkative yet this black-robed man was just sitting there, completely silent. Vyncent tried beginning a conversation more than one time in the course of the last hour but he felt as if he was talking to a wall, heck! At least the wall will stare at him but Arthur just didn''t pay him any heed whatsoever. ''Maybe I should give him a gift before he can talk?.... but they took my ring so I have naught but two dry pieces of bread and if he is Spirit Realm or above, going hungry is the least of his worries.... *sigh* what to do....'' As Vyncent stretched his hand from under a torn cloth to grab a piece of bread to enjoy it, the figure at the corner of the room finally made a move. Vyncent''s hand froze as he stared at Arthur, waiting for him to do something or strike a conversation to relieve the boredom of the last long hour, yet what the young man expected never happened. All he saw was a black nebula forming in front of the grey-haired man, then the nebula contracted until it took the same exact appearance of the grey-haired man. ''What just hap-ppened!'' At the middle of his surprise, another astonishing thing occurred, the grey-haired man before Vyncent''s eyes transformed into black flames which quickly dispersed into the air and vanished in a matter of seconds. Curious and flabbergasted, Vyncent stood up and approached the grey-haired man who was formed from the black nebula. He looked exactly similar, even the chains were present. The man sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, just like the previous posture. "E-emmm, friend..." -------- ONE HOUR EARLIER When Taliya and Lissandra entered the big cell full of people. The head maid looked around in a rush and dragged the silent Lissandra with her, almost making her fall again. Her head turned left and right, searching for her missing niece. The usually calm Taliya looked distressed with flushed face and fastly beating heart if Alina is not here then it only means that something happened to her. Gutcha described the famous girl with silver-hair and from his descriptions, Taliya was sure that he was talking about Alina, the Princess of the Royal Demon Family. "Alina!" Once Taliya saw the figure of a silver-haired girl come out from a small group of people, she immediately dashed toward the girl and hugged her before the latter or anyone around could react. As they were both new prisoners, many people gathered around them due to their curiosity, Alina was one of them and since she was famous and helpful, all of the prisoners present respected here and followed her instructions. The princess was just in the middle of talking about something with her group when she heard from nearby that two new prisoners had been thrown inside the cell so she wanted to welcome them and assure them as mostly every prisoner who is thrown here is either scared stiff or had been tortured then thrown here. She is known for her miraculous healing skills, so very few did dislike here if not none. "A-aunt Taliya?" Unable to believe who was hugging her, Alina stood in total disbelief, she couldn''t comprehend why her aunt is here. You have to know that this is not Astria and simply getting here is extremely hard. She was kidnapped more than a year ago so she managed to accumulate quite a bit of knowledge, and the method to come and go between this place and Astria was also known by her. "Yes! It is me, your aunt. I have come to get you back!" With a relieved smile on her usually cold face, Taliya stroked her niece''s head lovingly and checked the condition of her body, ascertaining that there were no injuries. "Alina, who is he?" A white-haired demon with a half-grown horn and an eye-patch on his left eye walked near the duo and looked warily at Taliya. A well-hidden short ten-inch blade was under the cloth on his back, his hand was touching it as he walked near Taliya. From the looks of it, he was not that trustful of her, especially on how she suddenly appeared and hugged their leader. He just needs one word or signs from Alina to attack. It is quite unfortunate for this young man that Taliya was an expert compared to him, their Level difference was just too big and such a movement was easily perceived by the maid, who pulled Alina behind her and stared at the eye-patched young man while coldly saying "To even think about raising a blade against me, you must be reckless, boy." She may not match Arthur or even his Death Knight, however, these prisoners are not experts either and amongst them, very few are high-leveled and fewer are of the same level as her. A cold killing intent emanated from Taliya''s eyes, suffocating the young man and forcing him to take a step back, nonetheless, he didn''t back down and was about to take out his short blade when the silent Alina interrupted him and got between the two. With a panicked face, she motioned for him to stop and hastily said "Lucas stop! She is my aunt! The one I''ve talked to you about!" Alina may be their leader, and he has blind trust towards her, furthermore, she is liked by quite a lot of people from the Pigolo Tribe who go as far as giving them extra meals thanks to her healing hands and friendly attitude, however, there are still some who wants to get rid of her due to an internal conflict, and for a tribe with such a prowess, it shouldn''t be too hard to capture her aunt and use a strange technique to make a clone or an illusion that would fool Alina, or so thought Lucas. **** Somehow, Alina managed to calm down the young man and make her aunt refrain from literally cutting him down. Taliya may be gentle to her family members but except for them, she is a ruthless warrior and if not for Arthur being strong enough, he would have been tortured by her at several occasions with the first one being when they just accidentally crossed each other''s road. "A-aunt Taliya, how did you come here?" This was the question that was bothering Alina the most. She knew how difficult it is to come here from Astria with her aunt''s ability, although she''s decently strong, she shouldn''t be able to come here without any external help. Gaining the trust of most of the prisoners and making some tribe members like her, the demon princess was easily able to deduce such a conclusion. Her line of sight changed as she stared behind her aunt, specifically at the silent Lissandra, who hasn''t spoken or moved an inch since they got here. Even Alina was able to notice her due to the rope tying the two ladies. Taliya didn''t give a detailed or honest reply to Alina, she slashed the thick rope wrapped around her waist and instantly cut it, freeing herself from this useless binding. She then surveyed the crowd around them and casually replied "How I got here does not matter, we have to go back immediately, this place is dangerous." Taliya looked to ascertain if the two friends of Arthur, Mary and Sonia are here or not. He did help her a lot but for now, her highest priority is to get Alina out of here, it''s no place to live and if she finds Arthur''s friends, she''ll bring them along too repay the favor. By no means did she think of breaking her promise but she''ll only be willing to follow Arthur if Alina is back safe and sound. As her eyes looked around and inspected every person, her sight fell on a laying figure not too far from her position. From the description that Arthur gave her, the figure laying on some torn clothes appeared to be Sonia, the younger sister of the woman managing his sect. She looked a bit similar to Anastassia but only a bit, her hair was different and her facial complexions were a bit pale. A bit annoyed that her aunt ignored her and gave her a half-assed reply, Alina didn''t fret about it albeit her inner annoyance and frowned when she saw her aunt focus on the female human laying a couple of meters away from her. The demon princess only knew that the female is called Sonia and she had another friend who kept taking care of her. She tried giving her a helping hand but her friend and even her strongly objected, saying that they did not need a help from a demon, a royal one at that. Before Alina could ask again, her aunt walked near the laid Sonia to examine her only to be stopped by a tall female. It was Mary, who went missing way before Sonia, she didn''t have the axe that Lucy gifted her and a scar could be seen on her neck despite covering all her face with a veil. Back then, Mary had a sort of childish behavior, being easily enraged but that didn''t stop her from being forgiven by Lucy and they even became close friends. Lucy would always tell Arthur how much she missed talking with Mary when they were in the Underworld. The relationship between Lucy and Sonia is still a bit weird, as for Arthur, he stayed out of their way and rarely talked to them, even when Lucy persisted that he should socialize more, she was rejected by the pretext of having her is more than enough for him. It was kind of true as Arthur only needed his wife and daughter, however, that didn''t mean he doesn''t have any friends, it''s just that he does not have the necessary will to fully trust someone other than Lucy, perhaps his past played some part in this. ..... "What do you think you''re doing?" quite some time have passed and Mary grew a bit stronger but she is still weak compared to an old expert like Taliya, despite that, she didn''t back down and stood tall in front of the head maid, not letting her get close to Sonia. It''s been a short time since Sonia came here, she was captured in a very sinister way and since then, the poison that they used to immobilize her worn off but the after effects were not something the captains who captured her had expected. It is slowly draining her of her Vitality stats, which was extremely weird, even after trying to inquire what type of poison was used, Mary was rejected and almost beaten up. As per Sonia''s words, her status window showed that her Vitality is slowly but surely decreasing and the speed is fastening every day. In just a month, she became unable to walk and a few days ago she fell unconscious with no signs of waking up. "I''m just trying to help your friend." Taliya was not going to force her way, now that she confirmed the presence of both of Arthur''s friends, then he certainly knows, as for when he''ll act, that is not something she knew because for her, getting out of the prison must be done immediately. The silver-haired maid took out a Healing Potion that Arthur handed to her and put it on the ground then she turned around and walked toward the prison''s thick iron bars. Mary ignored the bottle and continued taking care of the unconscious Sonia, stroking her cheeks and measuring her temperature. As for Taliya, she went to the prison bars to try something only to be stopped by Lucas who blocked her way and said "There is no use trying to get out of here, you think that after all the time we passed here, we didn''t try anything? You''ll only make more noise and annoy the guard which will result in him not bringing any food for us today!" This time, the eye-patched young man didn''t hide the blade and instead, pointed it toward Taliya, trying to make her step down but all he got was piercing glare and a chill down his spines. Alina also sided with Lucas this time and with a flustered expression, she hurriedly said "Aunt, please calm down! These iron bars are not something that can be cut easily, it''ll only bring trouble, please believe me!" The head maid remained oblivious to the pleas of Alina and the panicking crowd. She retrieved her two short blades and motioned for the people block her path to go to the side while seriously saying "We won''t know until we try." ..... AN HOUR LATER. Arthur used his Dark Cloud to create a clone of himself that''ll act as a decoy then with the use of [Faster Than Death], his Race ability and the Nature attribute and Plant Magic, he was able to freely leave the prison and inspect the territory of the tribe. His sense had already found Mary and Sonia, with the latter being in a tricky situation but it wasn''t death threatening so he didn''t immediately act. Now that the first stage of his goal has been achieved, all that was left is to send them back. It shouldn''t be too hard to get them out of the prison and bring them to the big square. He had the Warp Device but he can''t just lead them there with his real appearance, he needs to possess someone of high importance or else the whole tribe will gang up to kill him. He teleported multiple times while he was possessing a body of an extremely small plant. He traveled through the Earth, barely visible to anyone. It was a small green plant appearing and vanishing in a split second, each time, it''ll cross a distance of 150 meters. The reason Arthur waited one whole hour is for Gutcha to finish his part of the plan and proceed to the next phase. First, he should speak with the Major as it is necessary then he is tasked to ask every possible person about any Spatial Master in this tribe or the other two. Arthur could not just go around and search every person by possessing them. Having someone do the hard work for him is way easier and more practical. Arthur spent a couple of minutes to thoroughly investigate the surroundings of the prison but all he saw was desert, the soil was dry and unfertile, the weather was as hot as ever and apart from stationed guards, there was nothing amiss. He followed Gutcha''s description and headed straight to the living area of the high officials and experts of the tribe. Gutcha was a bit uncertain but he said that all the Majors and above lived in that place. With the body of an extremely small plant, Arthur used the ground to teleport countless time and head straight to his destination, expecting to find a suitable prey to possess. Chapter 163 - 159 : Invasion Rows of well-built houses made from a special stone that Arthur never saw were lined up in front of his sight. His Sense quickly spread and covered part of the residential area and searching for an official. Gutcha said that this area was the high officials of the tribe live, so anyone he finds here is most definitely a good prey. Arthur had a lot of limitations in the abilities of his Race after a couple of evolutions, they were not too drastic and some of them even gave him unimaginable benefits. For a short amount of time, he can possess someone with a higher Realm than his but Peak Grade Divine Realm is the maximum limit. If it is someone who has lower Realm than his then possessing him would be an easy feat. As for God, it becomes a bit trickier. He can still lay dormant in a God''s body as long as he wasn''t discovered, or he could weaken the Mental State of a God then possess him. Coping with the recovery of his Mental State, even a God is not strong enough to resist a sudden invasion from an alien party into his body. In the body of the small plant and adding [Faster Than Death], Arthur was undetectable as he appeared inside a house after another, appraising one person after another. He was searching for a specific person and that is Gutcha''s direct superior. If he randomly possessed someone useless, it would disrupt the plan by a fair bit so if he just patiently searched for this Major Kal''s house and possessed him, then with a decent authority, there would be no problem navigating through the territory and safely guiding Mary and co back to Astria. ''Oh?'' As his Sense spread with every teleport he made, his stumbled a house bigger than the rest, it''s a bit false to call it a house as it is at least five times wider than the rest and there were even two guards stationed at the front gates. Since a big fish appeared, Arthur didn''t hold back and teleported inside of it, all that was seen was a small green plant suddenly appear on one of the empty room inside this house. Arthur could sense four presences with three being weak, only in the Spirit Realm and one who is at the peak of the Deity Realm, only a step away from becoming an Immortal. Without hesitation, Arthur teleported near the strongest presence only to see a well-dressed monster. He wore a red noble-like dress with three small metallic pieces hanging on his chest. Honestly, Arthur didn''t know how to differentiate their ages by looking at their appearances as they all looked hideous with some scarier than others. ''Appraise!'' Hakim (Race: Pigolo): Realm: Peak stages Deity. He could be considered a real powerhouse on Astria, even the strongest, but in a place like the Underworld, there would be hundreds of peak deities or even Immortals roaming the city. There was even an army of thousands of zombies and ghouls being at the Spirit Realm. Individually they are weak, but defeating an Immortal with such a big number shouldn''t be a problem, however, the consequences wouldn''t be light either as half of the zombies would perish in the process. Hakim was peacefully writing something on a parchment, his expression was calm and he didn''t seem to have noticed the plant that grew out of his stone floor just a few meters away from him. Arthur waited a couple of minutes as he was pondering on whether he should possess this one or just continue to search for Kal. If this was a Major then it would be ideal to control him. Unfortunately, Gutcha knowledge about the upper echelons of the tribe was not sufficient so Arthur didn''t know how to find out a person''s rank from their clothes. Suffice to say, this Hakim sure looked like a high-official and not a mere captain. ''Well, at least his position shouldn''t be too low for him to own such a big house.'' With that thought in mind, the plant vanished and a split second later, a black whirlpool appeared next to Hakim, before he could even react or blink, his vision turned black and he was possessed by Arthur. You successfully possessed Hakim .... A row of pointless notifications, it''s either skills he already had maxed or a stats addition. ''It would be convenient if there is a way to fuse skills or create something like an upgrade of all these useless ones.'' Just as he possessed Hakim, the chains sound rang in his ears, forcing him to remember their damnable existence. It''s fortunate that Hakim''s robe was quite long so it shouldn''t be hard to cover them, as for their noise then he''ll just activate [Sneak], [Terrain Focus] and [No sound, no action]. Sneak can be permanently activated if it''s maxed and it''ll make him less detectable and the noise he emits unnoticeable. Terrain Focus(Passive)(Max Lv): The user has 10% of passing unnoticed when he does any action, he will also gain 5% Dexterity as long as he remains undetected. No sound, no action (passive)(Max Lv): The user chooses one object he is wearing to make it emit almost no noise, the effect is tripled if it''s used for daggers and decreases by one fold if it is used on heavy weapons This was originally a skill obtained from someone who had the assassin class, it is rather useful and in almost every fight, Arthur has it activated. With those three and a concealment skill, there should be no one who is able to notice the chains. Arthur didn''t bother hiding them on Astria because he didn''t need to but in such situation, he had too. Surprisingly, this newly possessed body was easy to adjust too and the feeling was similar to controlling a Human or any humanoid being in general. With the chains concealed, Arthur dropped his head and looked at the parchment which was being written by Hakim. Half of the smooth looking paper was written in a weird language. ''En! This is the Pigolo Language.... easy as always.'' With a skill letting him learn any language of any new Race he possesses, Arthur was able to acquire their language the moment he possessed Gutcha fallen comrade, who died at his hands. Upon a further look, Arthur was a bit shocked to see that the internal conflict that he heard of from Gutcha was more serious than he thought. Moreover, the second written part, which was not finished, explained how the attack that was going to happen, as for what attack and on who, it wasn''t mentioned. It''s a shame that Arthur couldn''t obtain the memory of those he possessed, it would be useful yet it would cause serious damages to him. Imagine having the memory of thousands upon thousands of lives, it would make him go mad if his mind didn''t burst already. He experienced a few lifetimes of beasts and it already damaged him, so what can be said about thousands of them? It would be catastrophic, even if he did survive that, he wouldn''t be himself anymore. Arthur folded the parchment and stood up to leave the study room. His destination was obviously the prison. The further he got his friends out, the better. He needs to focus on finding the Spatial Master and to do that, he needs to ensure their safety first. He already got rid of Bucama and his people, and with all the defense lines he put around his sect, there shouldn''t be any danger. ... Soon, Arthur left Hakim''s house and was greeted by the two guards at his house''s gates. They performed a formal weird bow and shouted loudly "Greetings! Colonel Hakim!" Although he didn''t know Hakim''s behavior, Arthur wasn''t a fool either. He waved his hands in response and nodded his head. He walked towards the direction of the prison. The two guards followed him leaving only a small distance between them. They vigilantly looked around, afraid of any sneak attack. Arthur was inwardly shaking his head as their behavior is a bit exaggerated, however, maybe he''s mistaking and this Colonel Rank is higher than he thought? He wasn''t well versed in the Army ranks and didn''t know a lot about them, even in his past life. For him, a Colonel is probably something at the middle of the echelon, not too bad yet not too good, but it is certain that it''s higher than a Major so he did indeed strike a big fish. Having only walked a hundred meters, there wasn''t a person who didn''t greet him, they would stop doing their chores and perform that bow. Only a few minutes have passed yet Arthur felt like he was a president, having everybody look at him with admiration and respect. It felt good yet a bit uncomfortable as he is not the actual person. With a friendly smile plastered on the ugly face of Hakim, he made his way to the prison with no one stopping him or questioning him. ''It isn''t a difficult plan after all...'' ---- Arthur just exited the residential area for the high officials when a strange earpiece that he appraised earlier suddenly vibrated and a panicked voice rang in his ears. Apparently, this was a communication device used by the high-ranked officials and they would only be used in emergency situations. Arthur really wanted to ignore it and pretend as if he heard nothing but the damn earpiece that was like a small grey sphere suddenly emitted a secondary loud noise which was similar to a beast''s screech. Such noise was obviously heard by his two guards behind and some of the people around him, who were either respectfully greeting him or admiring him from afar. ''Tch! Someone is definitely playing with me!'' He was just rejoicing about the easiness of the supposedly difficult plan when this happened. If this wasn''t instant karma then what the hell could it be! Fortunately, the emergency he heard was about several mysterious figures invading the Purple Fading Crystal Mine that belonged to the Pigolo Tribe. The Purple Fading Crystal was a special type of material used to activate instant teleportation and several other mechanisms. In a way, it can also be used as a currency along with Red Spirit Stones but the latter was of much higher quality. Albeit that fact, the Pigolo Tribe paid special attention to the mine, protected and valued the enormous amount of Purple Fading Crystal that was procured from it. By no means was it a meager amount and twenty percent of the tribe''s wealth came from that mine, accidents such as this one could be said to never have occurred as the mine is extremely close to the main headquarters of the tribe and there was a Major permanently staying next to it, to protect and guard against any suspicious actions or invading enemies. If this strange earpiece, which was called ''Clarity Call'', rang in any Colonel''s ear, it means that the situation is dire. It''s unfortunate that Arthur didn''t know that but he was still planning on checking what was going on as he could not just act oblivious to the whole matter after the loud noise was heard by all the surrounding people. "Call the three Lieutenants and tell them to bring their Companies to the Purple Fading Crystal Mine North-East of here!" With an authoritative and cold voice, Hakim ordered the two guards following him and darted to the North, heading for the Mine. Using his Immortal Sense, which was less accurate but could spread wider than the Sixth Sense, he sensed a gigantic cave which was most likely the mine, it was exactly thirty-two kilometers to the North-East and there were hundreds of living beings present inside of it. There was turbulent and chaotic airflow at the entrance, which was probably where whatever is occurring is happening at. Thirty-two kilometers, that is a distance Arthur could cross in literally three seconds on Astria, however, due to the thickness of the Nether Energy and the difference between the two worlds, albeit having a sky-high Agility stats, his speed significantly decreased and he was only able to arrive there after half a minute.... He kept his original form and didn''t rely on any movement technique or the lightning form or else the time spent would be halved. There was an almost invisible dome enveloping the Mine from outside, it was very similar to a barrier, it had a greenish light that was barely unnoticeable. Arthur was only able to distinguish it using his [Eyes of the Noble Sea]. The eyes of Hakim pulsated with a dazzling blue light as Arthur squinted his eyes and stared at the entrance of the cave, where hundreds of presences could be felt. Almost everyone belonged to the Pigolo Tribe except six figures which wore a long brown robe covering their whole body from head to toe and each one of them was wielding short daggers. ''*sniff* *sniff* Oooooh..'' Arthur smirked as his nose caught the sense of poison, with maxed [Poison Mastery] and a suitable body like Hakim''s which could activate quite a few of good passive skills, Arthur was able to notice the poison which was perfectly hidden as no liquid appeared on the sharp edges of the short daggers. Not only could he sense the poison, he also knew that it was the lethal type, which would instantly invade the person''s heart and drain every last bit of life in it. Whether it''s [Poison Immunity] or even [Acid immunity] Arthur had them all maxed, however, he could not help but feel a bit startled and curious. This was close to the headquarters of the Pigolo Tribe, one of the three leading forces in this large desert, so it is not common to see some bold people who are willing to invade such a large force foolishly. ''This does not seem right....'' From the looks of it, these six figures were strong but not to the point of being able to overpower the hundreds of raging warriors charging at them. A single soldier is at least Lv500 with some being Lv800 and above, there were even two captains clashing with the six figures, who were only at the peak of the Spirit Realm. Arthur didn''t even have to interfere but if the situation was like this, why did the Clarity Call activate? This question was soon answered as a loud ''boom'' noise entered his earlobes, it was soon followed by the change of the winds, which turned from calm to raging tornados. A fight between Spirit Realm can cause a lot of damage and even change the atmosphere if the intensity of the attacks is high, but not to this point. Arthur was five kilometers away from the entrance yet he could feel the raging airflows. ''It must be a fight between Deities!'' His Sense spread even further, following the source of the noise only to sense two peak Deities fighting high in the sky, ten kilometers to the west of the mine. ''So it is indeed serious, however.... even with such force, it is still foolish from their part... unless...'' With his hand crossed and a calm expression, Arthur closed his eyes and pondered for a few seconds before opened them again and turned his head to the South, where the prison was. ''Unless this is merely a diversion!'' Just as he was going to turn back and head for the prison to hasten the plan, his sense caught two additional Peak Deities joining the fight, now it was three versus one and from the looks of it, the Colonel belonging to the Pigolo Tribe was the one who was in a disadvantage. Even when he saw the colonel in danger, Arthur didn''t even flinch as he wasn''t going to waste his time with them but he never expected such a serious situation to happen, this wasn''t merely a diversion as he predicted, it was a full-scale attack from another unknown party. With such noise and fighting, no one would notice a few prisoners fleeing, especially with his help. He wanted to send Astrith but the lightning wolf was in deep slumber, after calling a few times and hearing no response, he gave up and decided to personally go. He wasn''t planning on returning to Astria but the others had to as it is not a place for Mortals to live in, a small aftershock of an attack of a Deity can easily kill a Mortal like Alina or even heavily injure Taliya if not cripple her at the spot. As he was flying using his lightning form, a yellow line passed through countless battlefields where invaders and soldiers and their captains defended against the enemies. Chaos was everywhere, a couple of buildings were being destroyed due to the fights of the big heads and the ground was slowly but surely being bathed in a mix of black and red blood with a stinking bloody stench that Arthur had could never forget, not after what he saw in Bucama''s world. Albeit the sudden invasion and the extremely big number of the unknown brown robbed enemies, the Pigolo Tribe had a well-composed and strong army, with the orders of the captains and majors, they were slowly pushing back the invaders, however, not all places had a favorable situation. Actually, before he transformed into his lightning form, Arthur sensed the death of the Colonel who was fighting the three peak Deities. He purposely let them go them live as killing them would cause more trouble to the tribe and buy him more time. Arthur just passed a certain location in a flash but a moment later, he reappeared in it again with a complex look. He sensed Gutcha''s presence along with Reek and another who was at the Heavenly Realm. Surrounding those three were four robe individuals with two at the Heavenly Realm, one being at the early stages of the Deity Realm and the last was only at the peak of the Spirit Realm. These were not that strong compared to the ones Arthur saw earlier, however, they were more than enough to defeat these two captains and the Major. After hesitating a bit, Arthur rushed beside them, completely taking them but surprise. Their distorted faces, which were way uglier when their present expression, drastically changed when Arthur appeared. Reek''s angry eyes stared at the Colonel with proudness and arrogance. "How about you repeat what you just said!'' With both of his hands on his thick waist and an arrogant posture, Reek faced the four robed individuals whilst showing a row of pointy teeth and a sneering expression. Gutcha stared dumbly at Hakim before he did a quick low bow and faced the enemies with his spear in hand. As for Major Kal, his eyes, which was worried and anxious relaxed but he didn''t dare spout nonsense and could only glare angrily at Reek, who was proudly showing off when the colonel appeared. ''A second ago, he was scared witless and even proposed to us that we surrender... to think that his true face would appear only in extreme situations...'' Major Kal shook his head in disappointment and tightly held a long silver spear which was pointed at one of the Heavenly Realm figures. Every Colonel was at least in the middle stages of the Deity Realm, so Major Kal had to only take care of the rest, only the Deity Realm person was the one that bothered him as he was not his match. Only freaks like Lucy and Arthur, who can defy the nature of everything would be able to frog jump a Realm or two to face Divine beings and Gods. For a Heavenly Realm, it is almost impossible to defeat a Deity, the same thing applies for a Deity and an Immortal, the difference was just too big, adding the variable which was the techniques and circumstances, this would make it more so impossible. "Go help the East side, the Batallion is falling and the death count is increasing, there are some innocent bystanders too." Arthur looked at the resolute Major Kal and instructed him with the same authoritative tone as before, his expression was calm and his voice was cold with a hint of killing intent. Being only a Major, Kal nodded his head seriously and left with his silver spear in hands, he didn''t even bother instructing the two captains. Just as he was their superior, Hakim was the superior of his superior, and in times of crisis or even training, they must obey the orders immediately with no questioning whatsoever, such rules have been forcefully engraved in their mind since the moment they joined the army of the Pigolo Tribe. Reek paid no heed to the departing Major Kal, as long as the Colonel was still present, his contemptuous look and arrogant look never vanished, instead, it grows stronger every passing second. "Audacious! To think that a mere captain dares to act so arrogantly in front of us!" One of the two Heavenly Realm individuals dashed toward Reek and stretched his hand, preparing to smash his head. In return, Reek maintained the arrogant posture, not the least bit afraid of the incoming danger as he was certain that the Colonel would save his life and defeat these enemies, however, reality was always cruel and Reek came to know this when the enemy was just a few meters away from him yet the Colonel didn''t even move a single finger. His face froze and his smirk stiffened, he was just about to raise his weapon to act but it was too late, he was but a Spirit Realm, facing a Heavenly Realm, more so giving him time to approach, there was no way he would be able to block or dodge. ''poof'' The hand crushed Reek''s head, making blood splatter across the ground and throwing brain matter all over the place, Gutcha''s face turned white and a look of shock appeared on his ugly face, as for the enemy, he just kicked the headless corpse of Reek and harrumphed. He too, was surprised by the fact that the Colonel didn''t act, when he raised his hand to look at Hakim, he saw the other party look back at him with his hands folded and a look of amusement plastered on his ugly face. ***** "C-colonel...." The words couldn''t come out of Gutcha''s mouth, he was just too afraid and surprised when he saw a comrade of his, despite his dislike for him, die brutally in front of his eyes with no means of retaliating or even a simple resistance. The disparity in strength is just too great. Anyone present, including Gutcha, expected the Colonel to interfere, after all, the enemy attacked a subordinate of his, someone of his tribe, so it is his duty to defend the weak, just as it is his job to protect the tribe from invaders. "Don''t mind him, he was a nuisance that should have died long ago. Now that we''re alone, how about we speak for a couple of seconds?" The astonishment of Gutcha never stopped increasing as he heard the weird words the Colonel just uttered, it''s as if he wasn''t on his side. This thought crossed the captain''s mind and made him soaked with cold sweat, he unconsciously took a step back. Before he could think of a suitable route or an efficient plan to flee from this place, Gutcha saw the colonel advance toward the brown-robed figure who stood there, gazing at Hakim from under the dark hood, which covered his facial features and his whole appearance. Arthur didn''t have all day, he wasn''t going to personally waste time to fight these small fries as it was unnecessary, however, to gain a better knowledge of the whole situation, possessing one wouldn''t require that much time. If he is planning to stay here on a longer term, having a broad knowledge about the enemies would facilitate things for him if he wants to change sides, especially with a suitable body to possess. From the Appraisal, Arthur was able to see their Race, which was the Desert Gargoyles, however, from his knowledge and from the stories and notes of Zodiak, who adventured in many stars and planes, Gargoyles have never resembled Humans or Humanoid figures, not even the least bit. With a talent in manipulating pure Darkness and an evil nature, they are usually despised and cast out in the edges of the world, so this confused Arthur quite a bit, nonetheless, by possessing one, he would gain a fair amount of knowledge about their body, skills and so on. After only walking a few steps, when he was only five meters from the closest enemy, the one who just killed Reek, Arthur''s figure suddenly vanished from their sight and by the next second, you could only hear a small noise resembling the fall of a corpse on the ground. A second is a short time for Mortals, but a mere second is enough for Gods to kill thousands of Mortals, with a power equal to a God, killing these four, who are slightly stronger than a Mortal, is nothing to the current Arthur. Although saying they are slightly stronger than Mortals is an exaggeration, for Arthur, a Mortal or a Deity are no different, they would die with only one attack. The four lifeless corpses of these Desert Gargoyles fell on the ground, under their brown hood, their eyes were full of disbelief and unwillingness to die, it was too sudden and even if they were a hundred times stronger, the result would have been the same. With a small manipulation of Dark Magic, invading their minds and corrupting in an instant is but a child''s play for Arthur. It was a function he just discovered as he usually uses this strong Magic in a physical way rather than a mental one. It is unknown if it works on God or not but it is unlikely as they are beings who transcended and the difference between them and a Deity is big. ... Gutcha stood there, petrified as he could no longer move a muscle when he saw the four enemies die instantly. He didn''t even see how they died, although he was stricken with immense fear, he wasn''t dumb enough to think that a Colonel would be that strong. Strange and incomprehensible thoughts surged in his mind, he even assumed that the Colonels were hiding their powers from the very beginning but that assumptions were just too biased and stupid. Soon, Gutcha''s eyes witnessed the Colonel appear near one of the four corpses and transform into a black whirlpool which lasted less than a second and disappeared inside the corpses. If he didn''t see this process in the past, he would think that he was surely hallucinating. Back on Astria, Arthur did the exact same thing to his comrade. It was something inexplicable and adding his position, he didn''t dare to question what was done or even think about asking, after all, the most dangerous thing in this world is the unknown, you could fear the gods but what is more fearful than these beings is what you don''t know, that if you knew them, you would rather die than live any extra second, that is how Gutcha thought. For him, bowing and kneeling for anyone is worth keeping his life, it is still a much better fate than death. However, Arthur wouldn''t share his thoughts, for someone who seeked death more times than he could count, sometimes it is better to just die than face horror no one would be able to fathom. Ranging from something as tragic as Lucy''s past to the torture the people from Bucama''s world experienced. The fastly beating heart of Gutcha calmed down after a few seconds had passed, when he saw that strange whirlpool, he was certain that it is Arthur. Since ancient times, there was only one evil Race known to be able to possess or corrupt other beings, and that is Devils, a Race matching the Angels if not stronger. Gutcha also thought that since Arthur was able to leisurely use someone else''s body then he must be a Devil but there was a few inconsistencies, nonetheless, what he was sure about is that Arthur is by no means Human. He wasn''t sure that if someone tortured him, he would or would not spit everything he knew about Arthur, but for his life, he would do anything so it is highly probable that he would spit the beans. He feared Arthur the most, but that is only second to Death itself. It is unfortunate, however, that with the detonator that Arthur planted inside of him, coupled with a special poison, the second he diverted from the plan, started planning behind his back or spoke even a single word concerning Arthur, the tall and hideous body of Gutcha would only turn into minced meat and leftover liquid from his burned brain, a tragic death indeed, unwanted by anyone. What''s more unfortunate is that Gutcha didn''t know that, he only knew that Arthur planted something weird looking inside of him, as for its function, he assumed it was like a radar, assuming the original user to locate his position wherever he was. ''ting'' ''ting'' A row of notifications appeared in Arthur''s vision. He stored the Colonel''s body in his ring and entered this one, the process was smooth as always and the same second he possessed the Desert Gargoyle, he was able to move the body freely as if it was his own. Arthur didn''t exactly know how his Race functioned but the amount of time it takes to possess and move the body has become a lot shorter when he just came to this world, it would take about three seconds to possess and more than ten seconds to stabilize the body and get used to it. ''You have successfully possessed Gilot (Race: Deset Gargoyle): Realm: Deity Early Stages. ''You have obtained a new skill(passive): [Gargoylan Language]. ''You have obtained a new skill(passive): [Gargoylan Bloodline]: 00.07% (99.93% to fully awaken) You have obtained a new skill(active): [Earth Attribute: Advanced] You have obtained a new skill(active Lv14): [Dark Wings]: Gargoyles are angels of night, with fully grown black wings, the user''s flying speed would be multiplied by 1.5 times. Additional effect: Releases Evil Aura causing any target within a hundred meters to weaken by 3% and cause damage equal to 0.5% of their full health every 10 seconds. Cost: 25,000 Mana every second. Cooldown: None. The list was long but only [Dark Wings] and [Gargoylan Bloodline] caught Arthur''s attention, especially the bloodline thingy, it was too sudden but enticing. Gargoyles are not weak creatures, it''s true that is disliked by many but that''s because of their evil nature and cruel behavior. Arthur recalled a note written by Zodiak which stated, quote by quote ''I once stumbled upon a mysterious Shrine at the corner of the Heaven and Hell Universe, it was an isolated star called ''The Dark Ice Star''. Honestly, I got in a big trouble with one of the local Devil Lords but what was more troublesome is entering it, the thick miasma was harmful even with my Dark Cloak.... I seem to be diverting from the main issue, what I found in that shrine is beyond belief and in the process, if it was not a nest full of gargoyles, I would have dived deeper. I was lucky to survive as they seemed to be enslaved and couldn''t come out of the shrine or else I wouldn''t be here, writing this journal....'' Such strange places that he never heard of were often mentioned in Zodiak''s notes which is why he didn''t pay them much importance at first, but as time passed, he came to discover that these were not just simple notes, a mighty figure such as Zodiak wouldn''t just write a journal of all of his experiences just on a whim, what was weirded is that it is not full, it was a thick journal but half of it is empty, only yellow paper, which became dusty due to its extremely old age. ''Show me details about the Gargoylan Bloodline'' A lot of people didn''t know but the System could be used in a lot of ways, whether it is detailed information about a skill you have or something else, it''s helpfulness is beyond limits, even to someone such as Arthur. Bloodline: A sequence of direct ancestors especially in a pedigree, it can be of any ancient creature as long as it was strong enough to produce a bloodline which carries special characteristics or unique skills. Currently, the user has 4 active bloodlines. Gargoylan Bloodline: 00.07% Geo Dragon Bloodline: 0.004% Titan Bloodline: 50% Wyrm Bloodline: 74.8% ************* Seeing something completely new, Arthur was flabbergasted for a few moments as he stared at the blue window in front of him. It''s the first time that he discovered this, previously, he thought that all bloodlines were the same, for example, once he got a drop of titan''s blood, he would have its bloodline but it seems that there is a large difference. Of course, different bloodlines grant different kinds of powers, just like there are ancient and godly bloodlines, there are also useless ones, however, for Arthur, nothing can be useless, even if it increased his strength by a mere 1%, it is still worth acquiring. From the looks of it, the Wyrm bloodline has the highest percentage. It''s to be expected since Arthur possessed a lot of ancient corpses made only of broken bones, most of them were snake-shaped which were subspecies of the Wyrm, which is an ancient Race with a high standing and a commendable power. It was unknown what will if the percentage reaches 100 but it must only be a good thing for Arthur, however, reaching 100% is easier said than done. Arthur possessed more than ten thousand snake species, coupled with different elemental Wyrm and so on, and to obtain more, it''ll take some time, even on Astria. ''Maybe I can ask the ARK later about it. From his annoying clone, Arthur knew that the ARK is a purely scientific creation that has a vast knowledge no one could obtain, it must be like a Heavenly Library, but the problem is if it''ll answer him or not. Arthur pushed all these thoughts to the side and stared at Gutcha, who remained silent and just looked at him with a mix of fear and hesitation, it''s as if he wanted to say something but didn''t have the guts to do it. With a solemn voice, Arthur used the Gargoyle''s mouth to talk "Go hide in a safe place..... also, it is better if you focus on finding the Spatial Master, the sooner the better." Now that his suspicions were cleared, Gutcha clenched his fists tightly and nodded his head before turning around and rushing far away from this hellish place. The deal between them was clear, if Arthur successfully achieves his goal then Gutcha will be freed. Although Arthur seemed like a ruthless and cold person, he never was a person who didn''t uphold his promises. They started off as enemies, that is indeed true, but that didn''t mean they should be enemies for life. They weren''t archenemies, no one held a grudge against the other and if we''re talking about a grudge, Gutcha only disliked Taliya as she was the one who tortured him, apart from her, he didn''t even think of double-crossing Arthur or acting against him, quite the opposite in fact, he would rather build a good relationship with him. If anyone of his tribe heard his thoughts, they would treat him as a traitor and execute him on the spot, but he was sure that apart from him, there are countless people in this tribe who wanted to leave. The life is not bad, each had their own shelter and never starved but a monotonous life was boring and in times of war, even the civilians would be used as disposable pawns. When Arthur was sure that Gutcha was out of danger, he waved his hand and stored the Gargoyle''s body into his storage and maintained his real appearance. Since there is chaos everywhere, the plan to send the prisoners back to Astria wouldn''t be difficult. With the body of the Gargoyle and the Colonel, it would a piece of cake to infiltrate the tribe once again once everything was settled. Arthur''s body emitted cracklings noise as Arthur started walking but the sound soon stopped as his figure transformed into a black shadow that crossed a thousand meters within the blink of an eye, with such a speed, amongst the various fights scattered in the territory of the Pigolo Tribe, no expert was able to notice him. Surprisingly, Arthur spotted a few Immortals clashing against each other but he completely disregarded them and headed toward the prison. As he was heading toward the prison, Arthur noticed something that kept bothering him since he arrived at this world. He felt as if his speed, or maybe his overall powers decreased, it wasn''t a big deal where his whole prowess was affected, but the change was still felt. The numbers on the Status Window didn''t change and the presence of the chains proved that his body still had immense strength, it''s just that something didn''t feel right. Another inquiry was added to the list of questions Arthur prepared for the ARK. ********* The tension in the prison increased as explosions were heard from the roof, which was the desert around the cave, what was even more frightening is horrific shouting and painful yells were heard, accompanied by helpless cries of help and loud orders of the captains, who were commanding their subordinates. It wasn''t hard for the prisoners to figure out what''s happening, the guard didn''t even come to inform them or even bother with them, he was so afraid that he locked himself on top of the tower near the cave entrance and hid there. It was a cowardly move but he valued his life and was not a brave warrior or a soldier, in fact, he only did a couple of spars and never had to fight for real, he would only act haughtily in front of the weak prisoners. "Wh-what should I do? The metal doors of the tower could defend against an attack from a person at the early stages of the Spirit Realm.... I shouldn''t panic too m-much..." With shaking hands and a distorted face, he sneaked a glance at the usually empty area around the prison only to be thoroughly flabbergasted by the sight. More than a dozen figures were running straight at the tower with three brown-robbed shadows behinds them. Clems, the guard of the prison recognized the person who was bleeding intensely and was helped by three soldiers, he was amongst the dozen rushing straight at the tower and the injured one was a newly appointed Captain. There were eleven soldiers and an injured captain chased by three enemies, two seemed to be under the Spirit Realm and the last one, who held a long wooden staff, was at the early stages of the Spirit Realm. Clems didn''t know that his fear grew more intense when he saw that a dozen of soldiers were fleeing from just three people, he came up with a crazy assumption which is that these three are insanely strong. While keeping his head ducked to not be spotted, he shivered as he covered his small ears and ignored the banging sound which was caused by the soldiers, who were shouting and banging on the metal door of the tower. They desperately banged on the door, wanting whoever was responsible to open it for them as they may survive or have a chance at least. Fortunately, the soldiers were a bit ahead of the three people but the distance was shortened as they spent a whole ten seconds banging and when no response came, they finally knew that this was it. Although unwillingness lingered in their eyes, their resolute expression proved that they aren''t just going to beg the enemies, they were soldiers after all. Clems turned a deaf tear to the cries of his fellow tribe members, in a way, he was like Gutcha but way more cowardly. Even someone like Arthur wouldn''t blame him if he didn''t feel any closeness to the tribe and had no friends to help or protect, keeping himself alive is the best choice. The banging sound, which lasted an eternity for Clems, finally stopped as the soldiers turned around, raised their spears which were dyed with the blood of their fallen comrades or the blood of the enemy. A soldier stayed at the back, helping the captain stand up and the remaining ten pointed their spears at the incoming enemies and charged with loud roars. There is no escaping from death, at least they must die an honorable death instead of simply waiting for it to come. Just as the clash was going to happen, a strong gust of wind that none of the present people could resist, the fourteen bodies were sent flying hundreds of meters away from that area, even the brown-robbed Spirit Realm couldn''t resist the wind which sent him flying. He was only able to stabilize his body after he was flung four hundred meters away from his previous position. A cold shiver ran down his spine and fear surged through his heart. This was by no means a mere gust of wind, even a tornado wouldn''t send them flying this far. What was an attack that could not be resisted was actually only Arthur using a bit of his Wind proficiency to push them back, their fighting was none of his concern, however, he would rather send the prisoners out of here with no eye-witnesses, including the shivering Pigolo on top of the tower. Unlike the fourteen others, Clems''s body was sent flying toward the opposite direction, you could only hear his loud cry as he was scared witless when he realized he was mid-air with no proper means to land. Arthur surveyed the surroundings one more time using his Immortal Sense then he entered the cave. ************ "What should we do? Alina." "W-we should try to find a way out, I can hear the explosions nearby and the roof wouldn''t hold on much longer." Although the fights were not that close, the roof was showing signs of destruction as clear long cracks appeared on it and small stones fell one after another, if not for the hard and resistant iron bars, it would have fallen a long time ago. The helpless prisoners surrounded Alina, seeking hope and a solution, they relied so much on her to the point of being unable to think properly in any risky situation. Taliya clicked her tongue and stood next to Alina, emitting a cold aura and sharp killing intent, resulting in the crowd being pushed from fright. Lucas stood at the other side of Alina and said "When Alina sought your help multiple times, you turned a deaf towards her and now you expect to be saved? See if I do not finish you immediately if you keep pestering her and spouting useless words!" The reason he was annoyed was due to the people who were talking. Some were even blaming Alina, they were the ones who would talk or try to get close to her in such situations, there were some likable characters who were helpful, but those kept silent as they knew that Alina was just as helpless as them in such place, however, some unnecessary parasites would show up when an opportunity shows up, and their main purpose is to take the leader position and at the same time, getting rid of Alina. Being shouted at and feeling the terrorizing killing intent of Taliya, they could only back away as their knees trembled and their faces paled. ************************** Chapter 164 - 160 : Curtis With both of her blades unsheathed, Taliya scared the crowd and forced them to drawback, then she shifted her attention to the still intact iron bard, which blocked their way of escape. Although the bars were unscathed, it won''t be too long before the roof will fall on them, Taliya may not die, even Alina will only suffer minor injuries, however, the maid and Lucas were not going to let this happen. ''bang!'' Lucas was the one who acted first, he walked near the iron bars and struck them with his legs, the attack did close to no damage as the iron bars shook by a little bit. Lucas didn''t flinch and continued with a violent series of kicks. As if they already agreed on this, Taliya followed him and used her sharp blades to slash at the iron bars, trying to cut them or weaken bit by bit. Although they looked like normal iron bars, these were reinforced with a special kind of iron found in nearby mines, if Taliya was in the Spirit Realm, breaking out of them wouldn''t be that much of a struggle, unlike now. The difference but the Mortal Realm and the Spirit Realm is a big deal, after all, only by overcoming their Mortality and feeling the Energy of the world would the person be able to break free from the shackles that were holding him down. Precise and powerful slashes landed on the iron bars, unlike Lucas, who couldn''t do any damage to the bars, Taliya was slowly but surely causing these bars to weaken and tremble, the never-ending fast slashes of Taliya coupled with the big pressure the roof was exercising on the iron bars, it wouldn''t be a long time before they finally fall. Taliya fully knew that shattering the iron bars would result in the roof falling, but she was confident in being able to get Alina out of this underground room before it collapses completely, the stairs were just a couple of meters away from the cell. Alina was standing at the back, with an anxious expression, she looked at the roof and couldn''t hide her worry. She knew that her aunt will save her but the others would surely die miserably. She sneaked a glance at the female beastmen and Sonia, but the redhaired lady was still unconscious with a pale face. Mary kept a stubborn attitude and didn''t take the potion that Taliya put on the ground. Some prisoners joined Lucas and Taliya and started banging on the iron bars with all their strength but it only resulted in them being tired and panting heavily as they didn''t have a strong physic and their Stamina was bottom-low. As they were struggling to get out of here, a whistling noise came from the other side of the room, which led to the cell where Arthur was held. The whistling noise obviously attracted the attention of the everyone, including Taliya, who had stopped her slashing. It didn''t even take a minute before the source of the whistling arrived near the iron bars, he had a calm look despite his tattered clothes and poor state. With a playful smile, he turned to look at the prisoners and casually said "If it isn''t my ex-roommates! Are you doing alright, Alina?" He didn''t seem to be bothered by the falling stones all over him, it''s as if he had all the time in the world. His gaze swept everybody before it fell on the figure of the Demon Princess, Alina. Vyncent was someone who had been imprisoned in the same cell as them but his behavior was eccentric, he was way too friendly and despite being tortured for a long time, that smile never left his face. Quite honestly, Alina used to talk a lot with him so their relationship wasn''t that bad. "A-ah it''s Vyncent! hurry up and get us out of here, please!" Alina was surprised and happy to see her friend, she didn''t know how strong he was but she was not a fool to think he was a weakling. Just by the fact that he is standing in front of her eyes proves that he managed to escape his cell, one way or another, moreover, his cell''s iron bars must''ve been stronger than these ones, which were on the brink of shattering with a little push. Vyncent didn''t seem to object, he nodded his head and lifted his head to look at the slowly falling roof. He put a hand on his chin, pondering for ten seconds before he shook his head and said "It seems the situation is a bit tricky. if I cut the iron bars, you''ll only have a few seconds to escape and judging by your numbers and the narrow escaping route, the outcome is easy to predict and most of you bunch will die whilst you are trying to escape together." He stopped for a second before he lifted his hand and showed one finger "One, that is the number of people I can save from this place." As he said that, Vyncent''s focused on Alina''s expression ''Let''s see what choice are you going to make, Demon Princess.'' He talked a lot with her, so he knew about her exaggerated kindness and her will to save everyone, now that she is stuck in such a desperate position, he wanted to see what choice will she make. .... With clenched fists and a pale face, Alina stared back at Vyncent without retorting, she knew that saving everyone with only her power is impossible, even a person such as Vyncent wouldn''t be able to save them unless he showed all his power. An Immortal could easily use his Nether Energy to stop the roof from falling, it''s an extremely easy feat, but he wouldn''t do such a thing, he didn''t owe these prisoners so it''s needless to sacrifice being found out just to save their pitiful lives. "F-fine then, I want you to save my aunt!" Alina felt guilty as her aunt came all the way from Astria just to save her yet she would die when she almost succeeded. Although Alina wanted to save the silent woman who came with Taliya too, perhaps her selfishness and her love for her aunt made her made this choice. Many people looked at her with a sad and begging expression but she ignored them all and chose her aunt, who was flabbergasted as well when she heard that. The maid walked to the young girl, held her shoulders and said "Alina! What are you saying! Quickly tell him to get you out of here, I''ll follow right after!" Taliya was a bit relieved as she thought the whistling was coming from Arthur, who finally decided to show up after so much time have passed, however, it was a complete stranger, nonetheless, he seemed to be friends with Alina and she could feel a strange oppressing aura emanating from him, if he''s that strong, then he may be able to get her niece out of here, she was confident in being able to sustain the damage from the falling roof. Alina resolutely stared at Vyncent, from the look on her face, anyone could guess that she wasn''t going to change her choice. Vyncent''s smile became a wide grin, he shrugged his shoulders and said "Are you sure?" In response to him, Alina nodded her head and gestured for him to hurry up as the iron bars started shaking. Seeing that her words have no effect, Taliya turned around and walked to the iron bars and resumed fiercely slashing her blades. The blades were emitting a frosty aura due to using Ice related sword skills, the aura around her intensified and the iron bars started freezing with one of them shattering the instant the blades struck it again. "Vyncent! After all the time we passed together, you still try to maintain that stupid pride!" Lucas wasn''t happy about the presence of Vyncent, he stared at him with eyes radiating killing intent, it is as if he would leap at him through the bars and tear him to shreds. The grinning young man chuckled as he waved his hand, binding Taliya''s movements and stopped her torrent of slashes, then he nodded his head as he looked at Alina ''Indeed, I did not choose wrongly, she is perfect!'' Just as he was going to take Taliya and Alina out of the iron bars, a chill ran down Vyncent''s spines and his grin disappeared. It was because of the sudden appearance of a tall black shadow in front of him. The iron bars all fell at the same time as they couldn''t hold the roof anymore, the big boulders and dirty sand fell on the big crowd of prisoners, who cried desperately and covered their heads. Five seconds passed yet none of them was hurt, just as the tall shadow appeared, the falling boulders froze mid-air and not a single grain of sand fell on the prisoners. With a slightly long grey hair and smooth white skin, a man appeared in front of Taliya and Lucas. It was Arthur, who was using his real body, he flung the people outside far from this area and teleported inside the cell. He was going to act immediately but he chose to patiently wait for a second just to see what this Immortal young man was going to do. Using [Eyes of the Noble Sea], Arthur was easily able to see Vyncent''s Nether Energy circulate and lock on Alina the moment he appeared in this room. From the very start, he was planning on saving the princess. He said he could only save one person to see her reaction and choices and at last, he chose to save Taliya too since Alina said so. Although it was a strange skill or technique, Arthur was able to feel the Nether Energy slowly transforming into a yellow mist of magic belonging to the Earth Attribute, it wasn''t hard to guess that this young man specialized in Earth Skills. Navigating underground or getting them out of the room shouldn''t be a problem for an Earth-attribute user. Lucas stared at Arthur with a bewildered expression, the words he wanted to blurt out got stuck in his throat with the sudden appearance of Arthur, his eyes also landed on the frozen boulders mid-air, it didn''t take a genius to guess who did it. Alina had wide eyes as she lifted her head from Taliya''s chest, who instantly appeared next to her and hugged her as to protect her from the falling boulders. "A-ah...." With the exception of Lissandra, who had a vacant look, all the prisoners were staring at the stranger who appeared out of nowhere. Taliya soon followed as she turned around and saw Arthur. Before she could mutter any word, another person talked "A-Arthur..... is that really you?" The appearance of Arthur changed drastically since Mary last saw him, whether it''s his left eye which would rotate between grey and red every few seconds or his long hair, he became a bit taller and the aura around him was a bit different. In the past, he would always radiate a negative cold aura, which pushed everyone from him, but now, despite the fact that the cold aura lingered, it wasn''t as intense as before, and the look in his eyes didn''t emit disgust when he stared back at her. "Yes, I''m sorry I was late, I had a few things that needed to be taken care of." No matter what she had done, Mary was Lucy''s friends, and in his heart, he had already forgiven her for what she did to him and Lucy, her and Sonia''s safety was his highest priority as they could be considered members of his family. ************* As he said that, Arthur glanced at the unconscious Sonia, who was still suffering. With appraise activated, he was able to see what the debuffs were, as he previously assumed, one high-quality Healing Potion or a Medium-quality Poison Resistance will drive away the lethal liquid out of her body. Although she was suffering, her condition was not urgent, even if he did not interfere, she would survive for a few more days. However, he wouldn''t be so mean and ignore her completely, if he did that and Lucy came to know, he''ll surely be glared at and ditched for at least a week. It''s kind of funny how Lucy never yells at him when she''s angry, she just snorts and ignores him completely, if he tries to embrace her, she would just dodge and throw him a piercing glare, making him break with cold sweat. Arthur paid no heed to the dumbfounded looks all the people were giving him, he walked near Sonia and fed her the Potion that was left alone earlier by Taliya, since no one came to proclaim it or touch it, it laid there on the ground for quite an amount of time. Gently, Arthur lifted Sonia''s head and used his telekinesis to drive the liquid of the potion down her throat. Its effect should be near instantaneous so Arthur didn''t bother ascertaining. Seeing the worried look Mary had on her face, Arthur gave an honest smile and said "She should be okay, you don''t need to worry. Just get ready to leave this place, it would be better if you held her." Arthur didn''t explain the reason but Mary obviously knew his character, even if it''s an urgent or desperate situation, he would rather not carry a woman, much less touch her. Neither he nor Lucy would like that, what''s more, Mary was not injured so she should be able to carry Sonia with her high Strength. Now that things quietened again and silence ruled over this cold and crowded cell, Vyncent stared at Arthur''s back with startled eyes, only know did he managed to react and say "I-if it isn''t my new roommate! I''m so glad to finally be able to see you again, you left so fas-" The last word had not yet finished and was instead swallowed down by Vyncent, who received a cold glare from Arthur, it was but a glance, however, the thickness of the killing intent and the oppressing aura coming out of it was something Vyncent never expected, he couldn''t help but shiver for a split second. It only took a glance for him to determine that he was not Arthur''s match. Previously, when he saw Arthur disappear from the cell and create a clone exactly like himself, Vyncent had a high impression of him and was both curious and surprised, but now, all he felt was an impulse to run away, which he didn''t by the way. He had a certain goal in mind and going back empty-handed is not a choice he can consider, not in this lifetime at least. Arthur didn''t focus on Vyncent after that, he turned to face Taliya and the Demon Princess and was about to speak again but he was interrupted by Taliya, who harrumphed and said in a reprimanding tone "Hmpf! What took you so much time! We almost died in here!" Although she was partially blaming his lateness, Taliya was secretly relieved, with Arthur around, there is no fear of danger as she knew that he has monstrous strength, even her big sister, the real Demon Lord, could never dream to match him, they were just in different leagues. Shrugging his shoulders, Arthur was already used to such attitude so he didn''t particularly get angry "Some things are more important than others. Now, less talking and more walking, we need to go immediately." Using his Immortal Strength, Arthur was able to see who was heading toward the prison, since the range of his Immortal Sense is quite big thanks to possessing thousands of beings who possessed Mental Power. It is quite complicated to fully explain, however, Arthur''s Immortal Sense is a bit unique. An Immortal, even a Peak Grade one, would have a Sense that could spread at most for five hundred meters around him, if it''s stretched to only one direction, it would become 1 kilometer, it is indeed a long range. However, Arthur can spread his sense up to 1500 meters around him and 3000 meters to one specific direction, what''s odder is that Lucy, who is supposed to be weaker than him in term of stats, have a range that is more outrageous than his. Just when she was the third Grade Immortal, her Immortal Sense could spread up to 5000 meters around her and ten kilometers if she focused only in one direction. Lucy said that it is maybe due to her special Yin Body, but Arthur thought differently, he told her that it may have a relation with her Race, the status window showed Half-Demon with the remaining half shown as ''????''. No matter what it is, for her Sense be so outrageous and her talent to be top-notch even better than him, who possessed so many beasts and corpses, it''s just cannot be explained with only her special body. ... Sensing no threatening presences around the entrance of the cave, which obviously was the prison, Arthur gestured for the rest to for Mary to follow him before heading out of the room. The rest of the prisoners only stared at him with a mix of awe, fear and some curiosity, as for Taliya, albeit fuming with anger, she grabbed Alina''s hand and followed closely behind Arthur. Lucas had long since snapped out of his daze, unlike the other people, he stared at Arthur''s departing back with a strange look, with clenched fists and a resolute expression, he followed right after. The big boulders were still frozen mid-air and by the time the room was empty, they finally fell down, creating loud crashing noises and making huge amounts of dust fly out of the small path leading upstairs. A small Wind Barrier blocked the dust from disrupting their vision and like that, the group of prisoners with Arthur leading headed left the prison at last. "A-aunt... who is he?" Alina nudged her aunt''s sleeve and asked with a low voice. It''s unfortunate for her that Arthur''s hearing is inhuman, so it seemed as if she was talking next to his hear, much less this low voice, even if it is multiplied by ten, he would still be able to hear it and not just him, even Vyncent or a Deity would have extraordinary senses. "Actually, I don''t know much about him either, a lot of things happened since were went missing. He is the Patriarch of the sect controlling the Western Continent, in comparison to your mother, his strength many time higher." Taliya didn''t hold back and told Alina everything she knew about Arthur, she wouldn''t keep secrets from her niece and since they were a distance away from the crowd, only Mary was close enough to be able to hear it, but the beastmen didn''t pay attention to the maid and stared at Arthur with a stunned and complicated look. The young man, Vyncent, felt conflicted too, he was in a rather difficult dilemma as he needed to bring Alina with him, bypassing Taliya would not be hard at all, however, under Arthur''s watchful gaze, especially when he knew nothing about his abilities, it would be too risky! Heck! It wouldn''t be wrong to call it suicidal, with just that one glare, he knew that the other party wouldn''t hesitate to kill him on the spot if he tried to do anything. With a shiver down his spines making him feel uncomfortable, Vyncent threw some glances at Arthur but he dared not act, at least not immediately. Speaking of the leader, Arthur walked slowly while focusing his attention on the surroundings. Approximately five hundred meters away from the group of prisoners, there were three brown-robbed figures, they were squatting near a small sand valley. They were looking at Arthur, who was leading the large group of prisoners in the middle of nowhere. In fact, it didn''t take them much time to return here, however, they were afraid of death and since the enemy was able to fling them so far without being able to retaliate, they couldn''t act recklessly. "What do we do, leader?" One of them spoke in the Gargoyle Language, he shifted his head to the middle figure, who had a staff behind his back. As he was their leader, they had to follow his orders in such situations. Their mission was to kill as many people as possible and create havoc, this goal has been achieved thanks to their great number, but an unknown entity has shown up, they sent someone to report what happened and possibly bring reinforcement and the rest stayed to either buy some time or deal with this matter personally, if possible that is. "That grey-haired man, I can''t help but shiver every time I look at him.... we should just watch them from afar and see what they are up to, we are no match for him, much less all of them combined." As he said that, the leader couldn''t help but gulp some saliva and rub his forehead to get rid of the invisible cold sweat. What they didn''t know is that Arthur had long since caught their presences but he wasn''t going to bother with them. As long as they didn''t cross that boundary and stayed passive then it is fine as well. .... Taliya told Alina about the recent events, the new rising powers such as the MoonStar Sect, what happened in her first meeting with Arthur and so on, the young girl had her mount shaped in an ''o'' as she listened carefully to her aunt. The more she heard the more incredible Arthur sounded, it''s like he''s a living legend, to be able to control such a strong sect and even come here to save her, she felt deeply moved, however, such thankful emotions vanished when she heard that her aunt agreed to follow him once he did his end of the deal. With a flushed face, furrowed brows and a somewhat angry looking expression, Alina snapped as she couldn''t control her surging emotions and shouted "No! You can-" Fortunately, Taliya was fast enough to cover her mouth while seriously saying "I''m a demon born in the Royal family, as long as you are brought to the castle safely, I will keep my promise. It''s not like he asked me to die so don''t cause too much trouble, Alina." Hearing them argue, Arthur chuckled but still maintained his silence, just as he was about to tell Vyncent to go on his way since they were close to the big square, his body became numb and his movements froze. A familiar pressure and agonizing pain struck his mind but no cries were emitted from his mouth, knowing that this event is re-occurring at this very second, Arthur didn''t waste any second as he used the last bit of conscience he had left to immediately summon the Death Golem and the Book of the Damned, which simultaneously appeared next to each other, with his last breath, Arthur muttered ''Dra''lka'', unfortunately, his last try was futile as he didn''t enter the ARK and instead, the pressure on his mind intensified and his vision blurred before it blackened. ******** The familiar yet unpleasant feeling covered Arthur body, making his body feel numb, almost nonexistent as if he was but a wandering ghost with no physical body. Arthur couldn''t help but curse his bad luck, out of all possible times, this happened right now. Fortunately, he managed to summon the Death Golem and the Book of the Damned, which had the rotten hand to support it, with such a powerful duo, protecting them from enemies from the Divine Realm and below should not be a problem. Furthermore, although this process would last years for Arthur, only a few seconds would pass in reality. He was hoping the ARK would activate and he would be sent to the endless white space but the reality was never that fair and instead, he was soon thrown into the body of an unknown entity, observing from their vision, feeling their pain and experiencing their life. What surprised Arthur, even more, is that the second he began sensing things around him, his vision was still blackened, however, he could hear baby cries, loud baby cries that were kind of annoying, yet accompanied with these cries, he also heard the laughter of a man and the gentle voice of a woman, who most certainly was carrying him in her embrace, as he could feel her warmth. The baby cried for ten minutes but he quietened down, his cries became louder when the man held him but after being scolded by the woman, he could only give her back the child. Arthur was no fool, it didn''t take a genius to figure out this situation and honestly, he was not the least bit angry or depressed, in fact, he felt extremely relieved. ''At least, passing a few years in the body of a baby or a kid is better than experiencing bloody battles every day in the bear''s bodies! That pain is unbearable, I can''t even activate my Pain Immunity!'' Although he felt like that, he didn''t hate the benefits that it brought him. It is unfortunate that he didn''t know what''s about to come, but for him, now at least, experiencing the life of a baby is much better than countless bear species. The skills he got from the Bear and Eagle are not bad, especially the latter, but compared to his outrageously Godly offensive skills, they lacked a bit. Perhaps it had to do with the species, or maybe he was just underestimating them but when he tried them, they were a bit weaker than a mini Heavenly Arrow, or a bombardment of fireballs, plus, Dark Magic and the Ancient flames literally cost nothing, if he injected Mana into them, they would become stronger, but only by a little bit as they were special. At first, Arthur was confused on why he can understand their language without possessing any one of them but he later guessed that this ''sharing bodies'' thing is considered possessing too, it''s just that no notification popped up to confirm his thoughts. Three days passed and without them needing to introduce themselves, the warm and gentle voice that whispered in his ears from the morning till late at night is none other than the mother of this baby, as for the man who always laughed and lifted him up high in the air, making him feel dizzy and cry, is obviously his father. Three days passed and an issue occurred, the parents of the baby, who was named Curtis, appeared to be nobles as albeit his inability to see, for the time being, Arthur was able to hear a fear ladies talking to the parents respectfully. They invited an old man and had him check the pulse of the baby. Arthur was unsure what''s happening, but he was able to feel the withered hand of the old man touching his small hands and then his chest. After half an hour, a sigh came out of the old man''s mouth, he looked at the parents, who were looking at him attentively whilst keeping their silence, and said with sorrowful voice accompanied with a forced sad smile "Unfortunately, the young lord has a red magic core indeed, as may have suspected." Although he did not display it, the old man felt sad too, as it is a miracle they were able to have a child, but to expect another accident to happen to them, they were indeed hated by the gods. Without speaking any further, the old man got up and left after giving a light apologetic bow. The woman did not utter a word, she just picked the baby and tightly hugged him, afraid of losing him, as for the man, he stood there dazed with a blank look for an unknown amount of time before his lips quivered and his eyes landed on his son, who was peacefully sleeping in his wife''s hands. He did not shout in anger, nor did he blame the unfair heavens, he just clenched his fists and calmed down then he laughed heartily whilst patting his own chest "Hahaha so what if my child is ordinary, if he can''t be a king then he''ll be a general, if he can''t be a general then he''ll be a soldier... and if he can''t be a mage then he''ll become a knight!" The woman maintained her silence, but from the look in her eyes, you could say she approved what the middle-aged man said. Arthur didn''t particularly feel any sorrow, it was not his life, nor was it his body, he was just here as a spectator, unable to do anything but watch how things proceed. In a way, it''s like watching a 3d movie, but in much much more realistic way. The worse thing that he experienced til now is feeling the hunger of the baby and the urge to relieve himself, of course, the baby did not hold back and let it all out then he would start crying loudly. Surprisingly, however, after just one week, only a few days after the baby gained his sight although a little blurry at first, he didn''t cry as much, it could be said that whenever he was with his mother, he would become docile and silent. Curtis''s mother was a beautiful lady, with blonde hair and deep blue eyes, as for his father, he was a man with short dark hair and a short beard, he looked like a man in his prime, full of vitality and energy, even early in the morning. Arthur felt as if he wronged Lucy when the baby, Curtis would use his mother''s breast to feed, although he didn''t do it willingly, he still could feel it and that added to the guilt, maybe it would be better if he kept this part of his experiences to himself when he meets her else she gets angry. The love the parents provided for Curtis is limitless, although they knew he had no talent whatsoever, they cared for him and weren''t the least bit strict. Curtis grew in a warm family, filled with happiness and no mishap happened. Unknown to him, Arthur was slowly but surely merging with Curtis''s body, it''s as if he was the one living that life and not just spectating it. After seven years have passed, Curtis grew from a small baby to a healthy boy, he had a blonde hair and blue eyes, just like his mother and he was extremely handsome albeit his young age. His father, being a mage, couldn''t teach him combat skills related to knights, so he hired a knight and had him teach his child. Curti didn''t complain a single time, showing a resolute expression and training every day. Maybe it had to do with Arthur possessing him, his intelligence was higher than other noble kids, who would spend their time pranking maids or playing around. It is not that talented and hard working children didn''t exist, but Curtis was a bit unique in a special kind of way, even his parents would secretly talk about him, they knew their child was different from others, whether it is his temperament or attitude, but they didn''t bring this matter to him and still cared for him deeply. By the time seven years have passed, Arthur''s memories were in total chaos. Living a life of a Human and a beast is two different things, even for someone such as Arthur, his stats had no effect and after a certain amount of time has passed, his consciousness was slowly merging with Curtis''s. At this point of time, despite the fact that he knew he was still a spectator, something sparked inside of him, a longing and a bit of envy of Curtis, who had caring parents that Arthur never had before, a happy childhood that any orphan would yearn for every day and night. He didn''t know when it happened, but in his own way, Arthur started considering Alexa and Thordan like his own parents. Too much time has passed and unlike the experiences with the Bear and the Eagle, this life wasn''t so unbearable, instead, it was filled with warmth and gentleness. Characteristics of Arthur merged with Curtis, just like some of Curtis''s merged with Arthur. At the first few years, Arthur was shocked and had to admit that albeit being born without talent, this kid, Curtis, had an unbelievably serene Spirit, a calm attitude and the only time he ever cried was in the first few days he was born. This serenity was added to Arthur, making his mind calmer and more serene, no more was he angered by a simple thing, no more was he urgent in solving everything. Similar to Arthur, the chilling coldness that was always attached to Arthur, like a hidden pressure, was added to Curtis, although it was like Arthur''s so obvious and overbearing, it still lingered in the young boy, who was of a few words but had an unextinguishable resolve. Unknown to Arthur, or Curtis, inside the former''s consciousness, another huge blob of light, a bit smaller than Arthur''s was being dragged by the chains around Arthur''s soul towards it, forcefully. The process was slow but Curtis''s soul couldn''t resist the power of the thick chains, which wrapped around it and dragged it near Arthur''s soul in this vast starry sky. The rotating object, which was the ARK, had sent countless red beams directed at the chains, but none of them were even close to harm it or stop it, it''s as if it had no effect. In just seven years, the distance between the two souls never ceased decreasing, although the distance was still large, the chains were still persistent and in sometime in the future, the two souls would soon merge, becoming a single, strong entity. Souls are a fragile thing, just like the heart and the brain, if they are damaged then the individual will die, however, there are many exceptions. Whether it''s instantaneous recovering, forbidden resurrection skills or Soul Transfer the devils use. Souls could be devoured, they also could be controlled or injured, but merging? That is something not many would dare to do. If the opposing soul was stronger then its owner will control, likewise for the other one, even if the two souls have the same exact power and with the consent of the two owners, merging is still something illogical, and that is because of one thing, balance. ******* Balance is what makes everything stable, there cannot be darkness without light, day without night, fire without water. If anything is suddenly wiped and its opposite is left alone, the balance would be broken and only chaos and destruction will happen, although these cases are extremely rare, almost impossible to happen, however, it''s ''almost'' and not ''never''. Each time the balance was broken, even by a little bit, then a catastrophe will befall on that place. Curtis''s temperament never ceased changing due to the slow fusion, or perhaps due to his soul being grabbed by the chains in Arthur''s consciousness. It didn''t affect his Vitality or Life Energy, however, he was unusually calm, too calm to the point of being a bit scary. Years passed and by the time the young boy became twenty years old, a loud noise rang in Arthur and Curtis''s ears, almost making them deaf. The latter had blood leaking out of his ears, as for Arthur, he could only bear with it. By now, Arthur basically thought of himself as Curtis, of course, he still remembered himself but he loved his new life, felt with warmth and love. As if he was struck by lightning, Curtis writhed in the ground due to the agonizing pain torturing him, the pain coming from his soul was unimaginable, it was so extreme that he couldn''t even scream.) Arthur didn''t feel anything besides that loud noise, however, in his own way, he suffered too. His vision blackened as he no longer saw through Curtis''s eyes and in a split second, more than thirty years of memories flashed in his mind, forcefully snapping him out of the happy life he was spectating. He saw how he first met Lucy, the betrayal of his wife, how Lucy almost died to the ''judgment'' and so on. As if a cold bucket of water was poured on him, Arthur not only snapped out of his long daze, he no longer was inside Curtis''s body, instead, he was back on the desert with Taliya and the rest, however, the situation was vastly different to how he left it. ****************************************** The moment Arthur froze on the spot, Taliya and the rest were a bit startled and puzzled. After he froze for a split second, he waved his hand and instantly, a tall weird looking golem and a black book in their view. The Golem emanated a cold dark fog, with a height of a whopping five meters and a thickness of two meters, it was literally a moving fortress, a giant! The book, which was small compared to the Golem, was ignored as all the eyes of the crowd landed on the Death Golem which abruptly turned to face the other way and stood there, motionless. "W-what''s that?" The first to talk was the Demon Princess, who stood next to her aunt, with a mix of surprise and fear, she stared at the terrifyingly big golem, not knowing why it suddenly appeared. Obviously, she knew Arthur was the one who summoned it, however, the real question is why would he do that, and all of a sudden at that. She diverted her attention to Arthur, only to notice that he is standing still, with a blank face and empty eyes, it''s as if he was asleep. Even Taliya, who knew Arthur''s strength more than anyone present, didn''t dare think that he just decided to fall asleep in such a place and time, it was too bizarre and he was not that kind of person. She knew something wrong occurred, as for what it was, she couldn''t ascertain on what it was. ''If he summoned that thing, then there must be something wrong!'' Arthur only summoned the Golem when he needed to catch the invaders when he was away from the cave, she never saw the golem fight, but just from its aura and size, it could not be underestimated. Furthermore, there was that strange book, not everyone noticed its presences, but how could Taliya not see it? It was the book Arthur always kept on him since they came here. Without hesitation, Taliya unsheathed her double blades and spoke in a serious tone "Prepare to fight, defend the princess." She was directing her speech to Lucas, who didn''t retort and silently nodded before he wrote a strange sign on his hand and by the next second, a water sword was created. The water sword was ordinary, only its color was leaning toward white rather than blue. Vyncent, who was still trying to come up with a plan was surprised as well, however, unlike the crowd, which panicked, he was a bit happy and relieved. To begin with, he wasn''t that far from Alina, he sneakily got closer and stopped around five meters behind her as it was the range of his skill if he wanted to take someone with him. ''I just need to wait.'' He glanced at the blank-faced Arthur, he wasn''t sure if it was a trick or not, so he had to be sure or else he would suffer greatly. He may not be able to defeat Arthur, perhaps die with only one blow, however, Vyncent had confidence in escaping alive using his [Earth Travel]. It''s an advanced Earth Attribute skill, extremely hard to obtain and more difficult to train. If mastered then the user would be able to merge with the Earth and travel long distances in a matter of seconds. It''s akin to teleportation, but whilst one used the Spatial Attribute, the other used the Earth Attribute, Teleportation is instantaneous and cannot be disrupted if it is a quick one, of course. Unlike the Teleportation skill, [Earth Travel] can be disrupted if the user''s concentration is cut or if he is injured mid-skill. It could be said that one was absolute and the other one depended on the terrain, user and so on. Very soon, all the people who were able to fight circled the weaker ones, it was a simple formation but it allowed them to have a vision in all directions. The Death Golem by itself took a large portion of the formation, it laid there, silent with the dark fog still being emanated from it. ..... A fair distance from the group of prisoners, the same brown-robbed figures were hiding behind several boulders clustered near each other. Previously, there were just a few people, however, now there were more than thirty brown-robbed figures! Moreover, the leader of the previous four was no more, he was behind another brown-robbed figure with small red lines on its edges. Just by looking at the previous leader, who was squatting behind him and the respectful attitude he was displaying, it was easy to guess that this Gargoyle with a unique robe has a high status. "Sir, what do we do?" Although he has to follow the order of his superiors. The grey-haired man gave the leader with the staff an unknown feeling as if he should never get involved with him, it just gave him the creeps and if he was in charge, he would have decided to retreat and search for another area to destroy. Alas, it didn''t well as they met with another group, far bigger in number and had a regiment commander with them. The staff-wielding Gargoyle was a rank lower, so in times of war, he had to obey his orders. The front Gargoyle, who had a unique robe, tapped his finger on the boulder as he stared at the tall Death Golem and the motionless Arthur, after an unknown period of time, he stopped tapping his finger and resolutely said "Charge toward the sides, I''ll take care of that Golem. Uyo, you support me from behind. Kill everyone but the grey-haired man." In response to him, the thirty plus brown-robbed Gargoyles nodded their heads and waited for his signal. Chapter 165 - 161.1 : Against the Gargoyles it didn''t take long for the leader to raise his hand slowly as he was gazing at the big crowd of prisoners. The Death Golem was as silent as ever, however, what these Gargoyles couldn''t see from their position is the presence of a strange, ominous dark book floating behind the Death Golem. After thirty breaths, the leader signaled for his subordinates and ordered them to charge as he took the lead. His movements were swift as a white energy circulated under his feet. To be able to release Nether Energy from the Dantian and using it to support one''s self, it could only be an Immortal at the very least! There are many ways to differentiate between the Realms from Immortal above. Of course, the most efficient and precise way would always be Arthur''s Godly Appraisal, that''s a skill that can be activated with no cost and he just needs a target to use it on. The second way is by using one''s own Sense, however, you can only sense the Realm of someone of the same Realm or lower than you. There is also the last rare method, which is not always used and it is by seeing the color of the Nether Energy released from the target. For example, this leader used Nether Energy and supported the movement of his legs to move faster, the increase is not very high, however, it isn''t meager either, but if compared to movement skills, it is far lacking. For Immortals, they would release White Energy, Blue for Divine beings and Purple for Gods and so on. Perhaps the leader did that on purpose to scare off the enemies, or so thought some of his subordinates or the scared prisoners, who caught sight of this dashing hooded figure and the energy under his feet. In reality, it''s not that he was showing off but the Gargoyles are known to be melee fighters and even if they have techniques, they would be physical-oriented too, it is too difficult to find mages and that has to do with their Race, their natural constitution. Furthermore, their tribe is declining year by year and the resources are becoming so sparse that even a Regiment Commander such as this one does not have a single efficient movement technique that could help him, that in itself shows their desperation and one of the reasons they decided to boldly attack the Pigolo tribe. Followed by Uyo, the staff-wielding Desert Gargoyle, the two of them rushed toward the big Golem, planning to take care of him as fast as possible. The rest of the Gargoyles, numbering thirty-one, circled around the crowd of prisoners and attacked from all sides. Fortunately, they were not as strong as Uyo or the leader, their average Lv was 400, even so, the prisoners had a few strong and capable fighters, so each fighter would have to deal with two or three Gargoyles at the same time. The first clash was supposed to be between the Death Golem and the two fast Gargoyles, however, an unexpected thing happened. When Uyo and his superior Esdik stepped into the area ten meters away from the Golem, they both crashed into a barrier that was not visible previously. On a closer look, it strongly resembled Arthur Dark Barrier, with a transparent color which some dark in it and an infinite number of squares on it which created a spheric barrier enveloping the whole group prisoners and even a small area around them. Due to not being strong enough to sense the Barrier, Esdik''s body rebounded five meters, he literally hit a hard wall so he was in a stunned state for one second. Uyo was luckier, he was slower than Esdik so he managed to see the process and react in time. Using his long staff, he lifted it with both hands and struck the barrier to stop his fast momentum. The strike allowed him to bounce back and land safely after performing a big backflip. The other Gargoyles, who were much slower than these two, didn''t even to do the same thing as Uyo, they witnessed what happened and weren''t dumb enough to charge recklessly at this invisible wall. One of them cautiously walked near the Dark Barrier then used his spear only for it rebound and force its user to take two steps back. "T-This is?" Uyo looked at the other Gargoyles who started striking the barrier with their weapons, some of them even used their skills but to no avail, futile attempts that are only expending their Stamina and Energy reserve. Esdik finally snapped out of his stunned state, he wasn''t in a good anymore, although he managed to kill quite a lot of Pigolo officers, all of that pride disappeared when he crashed into a wall and brought this upon himself, it was too embarrassing for someone of his rank to suffer like that. He needed to regain his face, however, he was not a fool either, for the enemy to have made such a barrier, they must be quite strong. Esdik''s eyes landed on Arthur, who was still standing there but surprisingly, his eyes now closed and he was standing there without any movement whatsoever. Taliya had already unsheathed her blades and guarded Alina along with Lucas. Vyncent was hiding a few meters away with a thoughtful look on his face. He disregarded the incoming danger and had his focus all rest on Arthur, whose back was facing him. This barrier which caused this much trouble when the clash didn''t even begin yet was laid by Arthur. After countless fights with strong beasts and Gods, conjuring Dark Barriers around him had become like a second nature to Arthur. They didn''t cost Nether Energy or Mana and from all his attributes, the Dark Barrier was the most effective, its defenses are really incredible. The Dark Barrier was never put to a proper use due to Arthur always fighting people way stronger than him so such barriers would shatter almost immediately. "Regiment Commander, what do we do? It seems that there is a strong barrier protecting them." With Uyo talking, all the other subordinates stopped their useless attacks and turned to look at Esdik, waiting for his orders. The person in question was still silently standing there, when he hears Uyo talk to him, he diverted his attention to the strange looking barrier and yelled with a loud tone "What else can we do? Strike it until it falls, I do not believe it can withhold our relentless attacks forever!" With that said, Esdik retrieved a Scimitar from his ring and viciously slashed at the Dark Barrier, creating sparkles of Nether Energy as the skill dissipated after landing on the strong barrier. Esdik didn''t flinch as he slashed multiple times whilst unleashing powerful skills. Uyo and the rest soon followed, they started fiercely smashing their weapons on the Dark Barrier, which didn''t even have a crack on it despite all their combined attacks. **** ".... It won''t hold that long, we need to prepare ourselves!" Taliya had good discerning eyes, although the Barrier didn''t have any cracks, she noticed that each time the Regiment Commander attacked, it would shake violently, adding to that the non-stopping attacks of the other thirty-two Gargoyles, the power behind all of that is not something they could withstand. For her and everybody else, it''s already a miracle that the Barrier lasted that long. In fact, if Arthur was conscious, if he wished for it, they would never be able to shatter it or crack it as he would reinforce it if it weakens, but with him in this state, he won''t be able to influence it, it''s good enough that he laid it around them before succumbing to his ''dreams''. "W-we should surrender!" One of the helpless prisoners, who were staying at the center, expecting to be protected, was frightened by the attacks of the Gargoyles, he couldn''t help but utter those words with a trembling voice and shivering body. What''s worse is that he''s a young healthy Demon, just like Lucas, he could pick a weapon and protect his Princess but he just told them he cannot wield a weapon and would start crying whenever something bad happened. It didn''t even take a second for the rest of the cowards to join him and support what he said as they saw the savage looking at the hooded-figures, which were banging on the barrier as if they were Grim Reaper banging on the door of their home. "Y-yes! They''ll kill us all if we resist!" "This is pointless, let''s just surrender and go back to the prisoner, at least it''s better than dying!" As their emotions were surging up and fear took control of them, the shivering prisoners started protesting but that didn''t last long. Lucas''s short personal blade arrived near the young demon''s neck, with a cold look, Lucas stared down at the terrified demon and said "One more word from your mouth or any other person, I will not hesitate to kill you. You''re going to die anyway, so I''ll kill you all in advance so you cannot hinder us later." Alina wanted to step up and stop him at first but she was stopped by Taliya, who also thought Lucas was doing the right thing. From the looks of it, not everyone here deserves to be saved. Even if they go back to Astria, she wouldn''t turn a blind eye, instead, she would certainly punish those who only thought about their survival and would sacrifice anything to live. Of course, there were elderly and some children that are unable to fight, but what about the healthy demons like this young man? Even if his Lv is low, that didn''t matter, one would pick a sword and swing it around randomly if necessary, all to protect their princess and fight as a group, not just surrender when the tiniest danger arrives. ".... Truly pathetic." The head maid only said a few words before turning to face the Gargoyles, however, her senses were on high alert as she noticed Vyncent was nearby and he was suspiciously keeping an extremely silent attitude but that didn''t stop him from stealing a couple of worrying glances at Alina. Taliya decided to keep her niece close to her while at the same time positioning herself near Arthur and the Death Golem, it could be said to be the safest place possible. **** ''Damn, what kind of barrier is this?'' Uyo''s attacking power is extremely high with a blunt weapon like his staff, he was known to have a high offensive power but despite that, his skills did nothing to the barrier, no crack, no reaction. Only Estik''s pierces coupled with his techniques as an Immortal allowed him to make the Barrier shake violently. Albeit reaching no success with his attacks, he didn''t give up and swung his long staff continuously, he wasn''t foolish enough to relentlessly release all his techniques and trump cards, because, after all, this was but the first hurdle. More so, they weren''t afraid of reinforcement coming because of two reasons, first, the Pigolo tribe''s population is much much less than the Desert Gargoyles. Second, this invasion was planned to last at least two days, they needed to turn the Pigolo Tribe upside down. Eradicating it all is close to impossible as they have strong powerhouses residing in the central tower, but getting rid of the nearby villages, plundering goods and treasures and killing a few Major and Colonels should be possible with the advantage of numbers. Chapter 166 - 161.2 : Matchless Pair The situation was getting worse by the second. One''s Stamina would become astronomically high if they broke through to the Spirit Realm, so if it is just slamming their weapons fiercely on a barrier with a minimal use of powerful skills, then they can continue doing this for a long time if not forever. The Gargoyles didn''t have forever of course, however, from the looks of it, the barrier wouldn''t hold on for much longer either, at most, it''ll hold for a few more minutes. The atmosphere became tense as some prisoners were shivering and others were begging Taliya and the other warriors to lay down their weapons and surrender but to no avail. Despite the cold and resolute look Taliya was showing, she was feeling desperate too and hoped that Arthur would wake up soon. She didn''t have absolute confidence in protecting her niece from the Gargoyles and this Vyncent, who didn''t stop staring at Alina since earlier and they were not just simple curious glances but ones full of malicious intent. The 2m long Scimitar viciously struck the dark barrier as it shined with yellow light with every strike, slowly but surely, a small crack was forming where the sharp point of the scimitar stabbed. The crack further spread as Esdik increased the potency of his attacks. The Dark Barrier should have been shattered a few minutes later, however, due to Esdik''s powerful nonstopping attacks, it shattered earlier than predicted. The Regiment Commander expanded thirty percent of his Nether Energy and power to finally get rid of this obstacle. Uyo, the staff-wielding Batallion Commander only relied on his superior Strength to strike with his long staff, he was clever and wouldn''t use his Nether Energy when the fight hasn''t started yet, especially when the strength of the enemies is still unknown. In fact, the behavior of Esdik was rather irrational but that was due to being horribly humiliated in front of his subordinates, if he didn''t get rid of the barrier, he would not have been able to retrieve the bit of face his had lost. "Protect the princess!" Taliya yelled at Lucas when the barrier was shattered, thirty brown-robbed figures launched at them from all sides, fortunately, Taliya and Alina were between Arthur and the Golem, so it wasn''t easy for the brown-robbed to reach them unless the either got rid of the Golem or Lucas. Surprisingly, Mary was also going to fight, she put the sick Sonia near Arthur and retrieved her axe without hesitation. She couldn''t just watch the enemies injure Arthur or her best friend. The unwanted clash occurred at last when Esdik stabbed his scimitar at the motionless Death Golem. From his point of view, this weird Golem was strong so he didn''t hold back at all, furthermore, he was enraged due to the Dark Barrier so that caused his attack to be more fearful. A yellow aura twirled around the sharp curved edge of the scimitar which stabbed at the head of the tall Golem. The attack was swift and deadly, alas, Esdik was surprised to see a strange black book appear right in front of where his scimitar was going to hit. A weird looking rotten hand came out of the book and literally stopped the outburst of his attack. His hand felt numb and his body lost its balance as he was in midair. Before Esdik could retaliate, the motionless Golem used its large hand to punch the small figure of Esdik. The punch had a yellow light around it just lie Esdik''s attack. The Regiment Commander, who never expected the Death Golem to be this fast, could only try to cross both of his hands in front of his chest to block but that was totally futile as his body was sent flying like a kite for a hundred meters before he rolled on the ground and somehow managed to stop himself from being pushed any further. Never in his wildest dreams did he think that he would suffer from his own attack. He could feel that the Golem''s attack was the exact same as his own, he could feel his own organs vibrate intensely, it''s fortunate that he had a strong resistance to the Earth Attribute or else he would have been heavily injured. Although he wasn''t heavily damaged, his robe was severely damaged and that caused his face to be uncovered and shown to the public. Meanwhile, Uyo wanted to grab that split second that his superior bought to strike the Golem in his legs to make him fall, but the same process occurred, the book blocked his incoming staff while pushing him back a few steps. Just as the Golem was going to punch again, Uyo''s retreated several meters away from the Golem to avoid its punch but what was unexpected is the enemy''s punch that quickly transformed into an open palm which emitted large amounts of black fog that reached Uyo instantaneously. One had extreme defense and the other had attack absorption and phenomenal attack prowess, if combined then nothing can stop them. Feeling his body became half as fast, Uyo was yet again startled, as he saw the Golem raise his other hand and strike the ground, his face paled and he quickly struck the ground with his staff to forcefully send his heavy body in the air. Uyo''s fast reactions allowed to him barely dodge the full blunt attack but that didn''t mean he avoided the aftereffect, the mere shockwave of the attack caused a strong wind tornado to smash onto the Gargoyle and cause several cuts to his body. Blood splattered on the ground as Uyo landed on it with an ugly expression, in this short exchange, the Golem and that book were able to easily take care of them, the Golem didn''t even move a single step. Even the angry Esdik began hesitating as he saw Uyo being pushed back and feeling the pain all over his body. This side of the battle was easily handled by the Golem book pair, however, things weren''t going smoothly at all for the other part. The thirty or so Gargoyles clashed with the few warriors. At first, it could be seen that the warriors that decided to fight were strong, but fighting three our four Gargoyles at the same time was extremely difficult and in a matter of second, five of the eight warriors were either stabbed to death or crushed into minced meat by the big hammer and sharp spears of the robbed-figures. The prisoners shouted in fear and grouped next to each other, forming a big group of people which crouched on the ground and covered their head in fear. Taliya didn''t like their cowardly behavior, they were over fifty prisoners, excluding the elderly and children, if they ganged up on the enemies, they would be able to buy some time. Of course, she kept those thoughts to herself and stayed near Alina to protect her. From the thirty Gargoyles, four were killed and twenty-six rampaged and killed without mercy. The three remaining warriors, which had big builds and wielded illusory double-handed axes were hard to deal with. Each warrior dealt with five Gargoyles yet they were not at a disadvantage. at some point, their bodies began shining with red tattoos and a bloody aura emanated from them, their attack power nearly tripled and the pressure they were suffering from the enemies lessened by a huge margin. Vyncent hid next to the prisoners, however, unlike previously, his face was filled with disbelief. Unlike Taliya and Lucas, who were focusing on the princess and the thirty Gargoyles, his senses were sharper and he was able to sense that the Regiment Commanded fighting the Golem was at least a 3rd Grade Immortal yet he was sent flying so easily. Not only that, the presence of the book which teleported between place at lightning speed made him a bit afraid and reluctant to engage in his plan. The terrifying speed and the mysterious rotten hand, he saw how it stopped the stab of the scimitar to easily, at the moment of contact between the two, the burst of yellow light and the fast stab were stopped and pushed back, then the book teleported in front of the Golem, the rotten hand touched the Golem before it teleported yet again. From the three things Arthur gained from the Book of the Damned, the Golem could be the one with the biggest defense, it even had multiple transformations if he provided it with the necessary Attributes. The Lizard was the most powerful one, as for the hand, it was the strangest and creepiest thing he had in his arsenal. It even had the power to absorb attack from Low-Grade Gods and store that attack, ready to be unleashed whenever he wished. For that purpose, Arthur stored in the book quite a few attacks in case of emergency situations such as this one, which is exactly why he his the book under his robe and didn''t put it in his storage when he came to this word. As for the summoning of the Golem, he did it as a precaution. This pair cannot be beaten by an Immortal, even if it was a peak Grade Immortal. Even a Divine being would have a lot of trouble to break through the defense of the Death Golem, so if the hand is added, it would be close to a miracle to defeat them. Unless a God shows up, there is no way in hell Esdik and Uyo can bypass the Golem or defeat it. Chapter 167 - 161.3 : A Book And A Rock It was but a small and short exchange between two parties, and albeit the fact that the other side was winning, more or less, Esdik''s face showed an ugly expression along with a pale face due to his injuries. Uyo was in much better condition, however, that didn''t stop the fact that he was hesitant to attack again. The Death Golem had yet to move a single step, and the strange black book was floating next to the Death Golem. "Sir, what should we do?" Uyo had to ask again as he was not sure about the situation. Seeing Esdik''s ugly expression and the bit of blood leaking out of his lips, he knew that the previous strike of the Golem was powerful. He suffered a fierce attack too, but his defense was rather good and he managed to react in time or else he would have been in worse case than Esdik. The black fog''s effect was still present, he tried to push away the dangerous black aura lingering inside his body but it was futile. His speed was halved and anyone could see the difference between the two parties. "There''s no need to sacrifice ourselves just to cause them trouble, you help the other side and I''ll try to buy some time for some reinforcements to arrive." Esdik ordered Uyo then took out a yellow stick from his storage, he injected some Nether Energy into it and threw it in the air. Its effect was instantaneous as it flew two hundred meters in the air and emitted a blinding yellow light that covered the sky. This was a special signal that only needed to be used in emergency situations, only Regiment Commanders and above could have one. Esdik''s judgment was correct, he knew he couldn''t handle the Death Golem so he called for his allies without hesitation. Now that he calmed down and thought things thoroughly, his previous anger diminished and he no longer was enraged, instead, he became calm as he patiently waited whilst Uyo darted toward the other side. The Death Golem''s orders were to protect the prisoners in general, but if it was not possible, then its priorities are Sonia and Mary, then Taliya and Alina. Although it was a Golem, its intelligence was not that low, seeing Uyo make a big turn and dash toward the prisoners, it reacted and moved toward the unconscious Sonia and Mary, who was wielding her axe and defending her friend. Fortunately, only a single Desert Gargoyle managed to reach her, and since she was not as close to the Golem as Taliya was, it was inevitable that some enemies would attack her. With every wave of her double-handed axe, Mary created many flame tornados that were directed at her enemy, who was stabbing her attack with his spear. Her Lv was only 297, compared to her enemy, who was Lv640 and was raised in a harsh environment, the difference in strength between the two of them was just too big. With but a simple stab, her multiple flame tornados were dispersed easily, Mary didn''t hesitate to enter the [Berserk State] and leaped at Gargoyle, who purposely swung his spear at the unconscious Sonia, who was laying behind Mary. Coupled with a bestial roar, Mary leaped high in the air and didn''t hesitate to activate her strongest skill [Unbreakable Flame Slash]. A famous skill on Astria, used by the strongest Beastmen warriors, it is said that in the past, a legendary warrior from the wolf tribe used this skill to defeat a Wind Dragon. The temperature rose by several degrees and a three-meter-long flaming arc flew toward the gargoyle, who was a bit startled by the potency of the attack. He forcefully stopped his stab mid-way and spun his body to face the sky, then he raised his spear to meet with the arc. The point of the bronze spear shone with a blue light that quickly transformed into a blue beam, which broke the flaming arc in two and headed for Mary''s head. In such a desperate situation, where she could not dodge as the beam was too fast, Mary could only close her beast. ''At least I managed to buy some time... I hope Arthur wakes up b-before he attacks Sonia!'' With that last thought, she firmly closed her eyes and waited for Death to come. ..... The pain she was expecting never came, only a second passed and she could feel her body falling from mid-air, her jump was quite high but what surprised her is that she isn''t dead. The first thing she saw when opening her eyes was a book, although a bit ancient looking, it was still a dark book, floating in front of her and coming out of this book, a hand with rotten skin, an unpleasant stench covered the air around it. The hand grabbed the blue beam and easily absorbed it then it pointed its index toward the unprepared Gargoyle and shot off an exactly similar beam. Suffering from the same attack as Esdik, the gargoyle was not able to react as the beam of light struck his forehead and sent him flying a few meters away before his body laid on the floor, lifeless. To suffer from your own strongest attack, unprepared, no one could achieve that unless they have total immunity to that attack. With one less enemy, the pressure lessened, the four-strong warriors became like raging bulls as they slaughtered twelve other gargoyles, no one of them died, however, they suffered multiple injuries and their simple white clothes were now dyed red but you could notice that their tattoos became brighter the more blood they had on their body. Swiftly, Uyo joined this side, being the superior one in terms of strength and Realm, it only took him a single swing of his long staff to smash the neck of one of the tall warriors and kill him. Although he killed him, he couldn''t help but astonished, being at the Deity Realm, he should be able to kill a Mortal with the flick of his finger, but his staff met some resistance when it hit that warrior. Furthermore, seeing their brother die, the three remaining ones became even angrier as they roared loudly and ignored the other gargoyles whilst charging at Uyo, who wasn''t fazed by this and reacted calmly. ''Mortals but wielding the strength of Spirit Realm cultivators.... no... almost Heavenly Realm?'' He didn''t need an Immortal Sense to gauge their strength, being near them, he could feel their strong bloody aura, even their killing intent reached an extreme intensity. The three of them leaped at him at the same time, each from a direction, one aimed to grab his legs, the second punched at his chest and the last made a grabbing motion at his neck. If it was someone at the Spirit Realm or even at the Heavenly Realm, they would have trouble dealing with their combined attacks. Their speed was unsuitable for Mortals and their sheer strength is not something that should be underestimated. Uyo used his free hand to meet the incoming punch while swinging his staff at his back, without needing to look, as for the one who aimed for his legs, he didn''t physically block him, instead, he used his Nether Energy to conjure an Earth Shield which surrounded all of his body. Despite being only at the Deity Realm, his whole life was a non-stop train of battles, putting aside his great military achievement, his combat abilities are top notch and it wouldn''t be long before he gets promoted again. The Shield focused on his legs, despite that fact, the incoming punch and grab were unable to break through it and the two tall and muscular warriors were hit at the same time by Uyo. The staff smashed into the warrior''s chest, sending him flying high in the air, as for the other one, his hand, which was stopped by the shield, now met with Uyo''s hand, which broke the big hand''s bones, even the shoulder was disclocated, yet the warrior didn''t even emitt a cry of pain, he didn''t even flinch, abandonning his right hand, he used his left to swipe at Uyo''s head but it was totally futile, his leg couldn''t even crack the shield. Uyo didn''t just watch, when he shattered the warriors hand, he grabbed his staff again and smashed it at the last man, who wanted to grab his legs, the staff smashed into his back, shattering his spine and by the next second, the long staff struck his skull, killing him on the spot. As Uyo was going to deal with the warrior who didn''t give up and continued kicking his shield, his calm face had a drastic change as a book literally appeared in front of his face and the rotten hand stretched from it and touched his hood. ''Damn!'' The Batallion Commander ignored the warrior and hastily retreated from the stretching hand, however, it was too late as by the time he retreated back, the hand touched his head for a full second. He suffered no injuries whatsoever, but what made him despair and feel terrified is that thirty percent of his Nether Energy reserve disappeared. ''Fearsome! Too fearsome!'' As he cautiously backed away with both of his eyes fixated on the book, Uyo felt an instinctive fear as he couldn''t even see or detect the book, it just popped in front of him from thin air. ''If this book and the Golem are THIS strong, then how about the one who summoned them.'' Uyo glanced at Arthur, who was still standing in the same position. He wanted to attack him first but he soon abandoned such foolish thoughts, even if he knew Arthur couldn''t respond to his attacks, he just didn''t dare to attack him as there may be traps or perhaps those two strange things would become offensive because he attacked their master. Chapter 168 - 161.4 : Red Fog Mary carefully pulled Sonia''s body and put it near Alina and the maid. She held her axe and looked around her to make sure that no enemies are attacking her. ''This position is relatively safe.'' The female beastmen sighed and glanced at Arthur but he was still there, motionless. Taliya noticed Mary''s actions but she didn''t speak her thoughts, all her efforts are focused on protecting Alina along with Lucas, who was a bit further acting as a vanguard to push off anyone Gargoyle who tried to sneak attack them. Esdik, albeit being injured, was still able to fight, he flew around the golem and landed near Uyo, who had a pale face as his hood was torn off earlier when the rotten hand touched him. "Forget about the Golem and the book, reinforcements have come, we''ll kill the rest then deal with that guy." Esdik was obviously talking about Arthur. The Gargoyle stared at the two surviving warriors, who were still raging and killing small fries that are circling them. They were strengthening every time they killed someone but the superior number of the Gargoyles put them at a big disadvantage. Apart from the two warriors, there was another group of fifty prisoners who were approaching Arthur as they knew he was their only savior, however, they weren''t spared either as someone of them each time the Gargoyles launched an attack. If it was not for the two raging warriors, who were focused by ninety percent of the enemies, this group of prisoners would have been obliterated long ago. The Batallion Commander was reluctant to follow the orders of his superior, all of his senses were alerting him to retreat as he looked at the motionless Golem and the floating dark book. Despite his hesitance, he still nodded his head to Esdik but all his body was soaking with cold sweat, he knew that the moment Arthur woke up or acted, none of them would survive. Secretly, he glanced to the North, where his home was and sighed. His hands gripped the long staff and his focused shifted back to the Golem, he was waiting for the reinforcement Esdik was talking about. .... Fortunately, he didn''t need to wait for a long time, merely twenty seconds later, just when one of the two remaining raging warriors succumbed to his injuries and was stabbed to death by dozens of spears, another wave of gargoyles rushed from the back. Leading this big group were four shadows which were way faster than the rest. Three of them had a robe similar to Esdik while the latter didn''t cover her head. It was actually a female gargoyle, compared to the male gargoyles, she resembled more a female wood elf than a gargoyle. Her cheeks had small stony scales and a long tail was swaying from her lower back. The female gargoyle arrived near Esdik in just a few seconds, a sword soaking with blood was held in her hand and there was a small slash injury on her shoulder where blood was leaking out and dying her green armor. "Regiment Commander Esdik, we saw your signal, report what happened." Although she was talking to Esdik, her eyes locked on the Golem, who was towering and standing motionless near Arthur and the rest. A look of relief flashed in Esdik''s eyes, he performed a quick military salute and spoke with a respectful tone "Reporting to General! We found unknown enemies and tried to finish them but their powers were beyond of ours." Despite the fact that he was relieved to see the General, a sense of shame submerged him, his face turned slightly red as he spoke. It didn''t take a genius to see his condition, there was blood dying his rob, especially his abdomen and he was panting now and then. ... General Rosie nodded her head and stared at the prisoners one by one, she didn''t ask Esdik who the enemies are, as long as they are enemies, she will finish them. She spared each prisoner a glance but apart from Vyncent, she didn''t focus on the rest. Her brows furrowed for a split second when she looked at Arthur but she then continued probing the rest. Excluding the fact that he was an Immortal, she was a bit surprised to see him in an unconscious state, the rest of the Immortals could only sense that Arthur was motionless with his eyes closed, but for someone with her power, she was able to sense that he was unconscious albeit his standing position. It is quite a common thing that when you''re unconscious, in most cases at least, your body functions will cease, that doesn''t mean your heart will stop or you''ll die, it just means you''ll fall if you''re walking as you would not be able to control your body whilst being unconscious. Rosie didn''t even inquire about who are the troublesome enemies, she remained silent for a couple of seconds before she lifted her sword and resolutely said "Charge! Get rid of all of them!" She was ordered one purpose and it was definitely not these guys that are going to stop her. The army that was following Rosie was not a mere hundred gargoyles, there were at the very least a thousand brown-robbed gargoyle dashing at the prisoners and Arthur. Being the fastest amongst them, Rosie darted not at Arthur or the Golem, but the silent Vyncent, who was hiding in the center of the prisoners. The young man''s face paled as he saw the green-armored gargoyle charge at him. Without hesitation, he entered the Earth and disappeared from the crowd. It was but a mere second but the Immortal young man had crossed at least two hundred meters, his speed was even more outrageous than Rosie, who was also surprised by his speed. Nonetheless, the surprise didn''t stop her charge, she lifted her free hand and punched the ground. From the force of the punch, the ground shook and dirt flew in the air, this punch caused the fleeing Vyncent to be pulled out from the ground and stumble on it for a few times before he quickly stabilized his body and try to enter it again. Unfortunately for him, Rosie''s speed was not something that he expected, it''s as if it tripled compared to her previous charge. Before he could melt in the earth again, she appeared behind him and grabbed him by the back of his neck then mercilessly smashed his body on the flat ground. Without being able to resist, Vyncent''s ribs were broken and blood oozed out his nose as he coughed blood nonstop. Rosie was just about the insert he sword on his back when Vyncent hurriedly waved his arms in desperation as he retrieved a certain object from his storage. Rosie didn''t care at first and thought of it as the last struggle, but once her eyes saw the medal that the young man took, a look of disbelief flashed in her eyes and the sword stopped a few inches away from his back. No one knew what was happening but the witnesses could see that Rosie and Vyncent talked for a few seconds before she stepped back and rushed at the Golem. She didn''t kill Vyncent and shifted her killing intent toward Arthur. She found the Golem strange and wanted to get rid of the Immortals first then take care of it. Being a remote area of the Pigolo Tribe, no soldiers or strong officials came here so the thousands of gargoyles rushed at the prisoners and slaughtered without restraint. Mary and Taliya were not in a good position either as the crowd were going to attack them in any second. Even with the presence of the Golem and the dark book, the head maid felt anxious as she saw the horde of enemies charging at them. The three foremost figures were the three Regiment Commanders, they had a power equal to Esdik and were Immortal too, what''s more, is that the three of them seemed to ignore Alina and the weaklings and use their weapons to attack Arthur. At such a desperate moment, a loud roar emitted from the motionless Golem. It was a chilling cold roar that terrified everyone, including Rosie, who was a few hundred meters away from it. Although its orders were to protect Arthur''s friends, by instinct it knew that the top priority was its mastery albeit the fact that he didn''t order it to protect him. Seeing dangerous individuals aiming at its masters, it could no longer sit still and changed to the offensive. The two black holes that were supposed to be its eyes shone with a bloody red light, which was followed by the book of the damned which opened by itself and emanated an extremely strong deadly aura. The aura of death took the shape of a dense black liquid that flowed from the upside down book and instantaneously melted with the Golem''s rock hard body. It was but a second but a that was all that took for the Death Golem to shine with a bloody red light, a red fog that blocked the vision of what''s inside it surrounded Alina, the golem and fifty meters around it, all that followed was a never-ending series of painful screams which came out of the mouth of the gargoyles. Rosie, who was rushing straight at the golem, felt a sense of fear and an inexplicable feeling stopping her from charging yet she didn''t stop and instead increased her speed. Her bloody sword increased from 1.5 meters to 3 meters in length and a brilliant green shield was conjured on her left hand. Chapter 169 - 162.1 : Red-Haired Youth Being internally injured, Esdik didn''t charge along the three other Immortals, instead, he rushed at the raging warrior with a dozen soldiers behind him. Albeit being injured, he was still able to manifest strong power but he frowned as he got closer and closer to the warrior. Although his aura didn''t belong to an Immortal, he was still close to it, each second passed you could see figures flying away from him, sent away by his ruthless kicks and savage punches. The tall bronze-skinned warrior with a bloody tattoo roar loudly as he was dyed with the blood of his foes, his brothers perished and he had no thoughts of living, as long as he could kill a lot of enemies, he can feel relieved. Despite the fact that he was startled by this raging man, Esdik didn''t stop his charge, he was an Immortal and killing a Deity is a simple thing for him. Unfortunately for the Regiment Commander, his charge was bound to never happen as he was startled yet again when a big bloody fog suddenly appeared out of thin air which then was followed by inhuman screams and painful wails, he could feel his body unconsciously shiver as he heard those screams. The gargoyle halted and looked at the big expanding fog, an uncontrollable fear submerged him and forced him to take several steps back. In the midst of his surprise, Esdik felt a small pain to his lower left back, it appeared that the raging warrior was unaffected by the fog and screams as he kept getting rid of enemies and heavily punched Esdik, which caused the latter to stutter a few steps back and regain some of his senses. For an Immortal, it is an absolute disgrace to be pushed by a mere Mortal, however, Esdik ignored the warrior and turned around left without even hesitating, the fog was expanding at an alarming speed, the hair on his body stood erect and all his senses kept telling him to run. ''What the hell is that thing!'' Spectating from afar, Uyo''s hands tightly clenched his staff, with his mouth half open and contracted pupils, with nothing else to think about, he directly turned around and escaped from this place, not caring about orders whatsoever, for him, his life is much more important and the sheer killing intent he felt from that fog made him unable to run properly as his legs shivered. The only person who didn''t back off was Rosie, who courageously dived straight into the fog and used her sense to locate the source or more specifically, the thing which is causing the wails. The fog was expanding at a fast pace, however, all of a sudden, Rosie found herself standing in the middle of a deserted land, with nothing but her, Mary, Taliya, Alina, Sonia, Lucas, four kids, three elderly demons, and Arthur. A hundred meters away from Arthur laid the injured body of the warrior, he still didn''t die but he was already at Death''s door. Before she could process what the hell just happened, Rosie was dumbfounded as a figure landed ten meters in front of her. The general''s eyes landed on the youth in front of her, he had a short blood red hair, snow white skin, and two closed eyes. He didn''t emit any aura, even after probing him, Rosie couldn''t guess his Realm which meant two things, either he''s a God or a Mortal who never cultivated Nether Energy. To Rosie''s surprise, the youth was wearing a weird attire, or more accurately, it was unfit for a fight. It was a black suit, a bit similar to a tuxedo, the one which nobles would wear to a banquet. The youth had both of his hands behind his back as he faced Rosie, his lips were curled up, showing a cold smile. "Milady, I see thou art brave, but I humbly advise you not to cross this line. Thy fate only depends on thy actions." Much suiting to his appearance, the youth had a calm, unaggressive voice, however, it had a hint of arrogance, or you could call it superiority. Snapping out of her daze, Rosie looked at where the slim hand of the youth pointed. All around Arthur, there was a red line which circled him, with a diameter of a hundred meters. The warrior was included in the circle but since he was one of the prisoners, he was spared, but apart from the people Arthur ordered the Golem and book to protect, none of the rest are allies, they all are enemies that have to be killed. Rosie was clever and indeed powerful, after all, she was a divine being, however, she could not just walk away and let bygones be bygones. A lot of her people died and despite that the majority was still at the back, staring at the red-haired youth was awe and fear, waiting for her orders. If she just leaves now, not only will she be despised by her people, even a simple soldier will not show respect towards her and instead, she would be mocked. The appropriate decision is to go back and not fight this dangerous young man, but Rosie was not going to follow this decision. With her sword in hand, Rosie wiped the blood off it and snorted as she retorted "Hmpf! crossing line? What about the hundreds of soldiers you killed? Do you think I would just turn around and pretend as if nothing happened?" With a small still plastered on his young face, the youth added "Milady, thou are misunderstanding the situation. I simply followed what I was instructed; to protect. Thy people attacked so I was forced to defend, if I''m not wrong, it is called self-defense." Hearing his strange way of talking, along with the small he was showing, Rosie''s anger increased by another level. "Y-you.... I do not believe you can stop me or my army! I''m also sure you cannot be a God! You''re bluffing." Even she, herself, wasn''t convinced by her own words, her lips were uttering nonsense yet she didn''t stop "Let me see how you''ll stop me!" "Hahaha, Milady sure has a funny humor. Me? A God? I am but a humble servant, I''m neither a God nor a living being, I live and die following my master''s will, as for our enemies..." With his eyes still closed, he advanced two steps and shrugged his shoulders carelessly "Only death awaits them. Thou should treat carefully, Milady, as Death does not differentiate between age, gender or Race." By the time he finished speaking, Rosie already entered the circle and fiercely stabbed her sword at him with unprecedented speed. ***** A person who became a Divine being, which is but a step from Godhood, should never be underestimated, especially if it''s a famous General like Rosie. With the sharp edge of her sword stabbing at the young man, a formless red tentacle stretched out from the sword, quickly encircling the youth''s waist while the sword was stabbing at his throat, aiming for a fatal strike. Rosie was at the peak of 8th Grade of the Divine Realm, so she could be considered a peak Divine Realm, however, even with such insane speed, precision and prowess, she was rendered speechless as she saw the red tentacles get absorbed in some kind of transparent whirlpool which rotated in the youth''s right hand. The tentacle didn''t even last a second before it vanished, as it was instantly absorbed by that strange whirlpool. What followed was even worse for the female General. The youth, who still hasn''t opened his eyes, magically disappeared from her field of vision and before she could locate him, she felt pain in her back. By the next second, her figure was stumbling thirty meters from her original position, Rosie couldn''t even react before she felt pain a second time, this time it was at the right part of her waist. She was flung another fifty or so meters before she laid on the ground coughing several mouthfuls of blood. The agonizing pain never stopped, she could feel that several of her bones were shattered and her spine was barely holding, if it was also shattered, she wouldn''t even be able to retaliate anymore. ..... Standing four hundred meters away from the battlefield, Vyncent stared at the red-haired youth with a mix of fear and astonishment, his calculated plans he thought of were thrown to the trash bin as he saw the General, who was a Divine being, get trashed so badly like that. It cannot even be called a fight, it was a one-sided beatdown. "Milady, thou have been warned, it is a pity but you must die." With a tone devoid of emotion whatsoever, the red-haired youth slowly walked toward Rosie, who was struggling to get using her hands. With the usage of her sword, Rosie somehow managed to barely stand up, but with the pain dominating her and her sorry state due to the powerful strikes of his, she couldn''t properly stand and hold her sword. Actually, if not for her green armor, she was certain that the last two strikes would have seriously injured her. ''He can''t be a God! That''s impossible! Yet he is so.....'' A foolish yet a bit reasonable thought crossed Rosie''s mind, she secretly glanced at the motionless Arthur and thought of a possibility. Her focus shifted back to the incoming youth, with a hint of ridicule, she mocked "You... you''re a puppet." The red brows of the youth furrowed for a second before his face became deadpan again, he let out a small chuckle and shrugged his shoulders and raised his hands a bit as if feigning innocence. "If that is what you want to think of me, then sure, I am a puppet, hehehe~~~" Puppets, commonly used by puppet masters, those masters are not strong individually, however, if they deployed their puppets, which had strong abilities and unique powers, they would be able to overwhelm most of the enemies. Furthermore, puppet masters excel at fighting a big number of enemies and are relatively bad against a fast opponent as their death means the deaths of their puppets. Rosie thought that Arthur was a puppet master, as that was the only explanation she could think of right now. The red-haired youth''s strength, his aggressive attitude when someone attack Arthur, all of that led to this conclusion. It''s a pity that she''s mistaking but there is one to tell her that. Resolutely, Rosie stabbed her bloody sword on the ground, which penetrated it easily, the red-haired youth was alarmed and appeared in front of the General to finish her off, however, unfortunately for him, Rosie''s ability was way faster than he predicted. He wasn''t injured, neither was Arthur, but Lucas, Taliya, Alina and the other two were wrapped by a thick tentacle each. The tentacle wrapped around their waist and from their white faces, anyone could guess that these tentacles were suffocating them. Surprisingly, the tentacles ignored the five remaining prisoners which were a distance away from Arthur and focused on the people who were surrounding him. It was a wise and lucky guess, which may, or may not turn things upside down. Although she was still hurting, Rosie showed a triumphant smile as she saw the red-haired youth stop his strike and look at her with a strong murderous intent, she could even feel her body uncontrollably shiver for a few seconds albeit the fact that he wasn''t staring at her and had his eyes closed. "Oh? Why aren''t you attacking? If my hearing isn''t wrong, I''m pretty sure you just said that I will die yet I''m still alive and well." Rosie taunted the red-haired youth as she tightened the grip of the tentacles and caused the bound people to groan from pain, only the unconscious Sonia didn''t utter any sound. But for low-leveled people, especially Alina and Lucas, such a strong grip on their waist will cut them in half pretty soon if they continued tightening, it was just a matter of seconds. The youth backed away five steps and replied with a calm yet a cold tone "Milady, thou art underestimating me, even if you kill them, you will still die by my hands but now that I''m bound by my master''s orders, I would not kill you, however, I can assure you that what you''re doing will only lead to your downfall along whichever faction you come from. My master is not someone you want to mess with." Having a special connection with Arthur, the youth knew perfectly well what his master was capable of, if he were to become extremely enraged, there will be no end to his slaughter unless a miracle happens and Lucy appears, but the probability of that happening is close to zero. .... Rosie showed an oblivious attitude as she walked toward the hostages without being stopped or blocked by the youth, he didn''t even move a single inch since the last five steps. He wasn''t even facing her anymore as he stood there, but that uneasy and bloody aura he was emanating never disappeared, it gave Rosie, who was a famous and strong General who fought in countless battles, endless creeps. "I''ll be taking them and retreating, if you were as much as move a single step, I''ll cut them in half immediately." There was no room for negotiation, Rosie focused her control over the tentacles and made them slowly move out of the circle as she focused her Sense on the red-haired youth. She wasn''t a fool and wouldn''t insist on killing Arthur anymore, her mission was accomplished as she managed to kill four colonels of the Pigolo Tribe along with killing thousands of soldiers, she wanted to add another Immortal to the list but didn''t expect things to go this badly. She would lose some face and reputation, but that''s nothing compared to her life, after all, everyone has but one life. She knew that she wasn''t the youth''s match, she was injured twice and despite not suffering heavy damages that would become permanent injuries, she was still injured by whatever she was hit with earlier. Heck! She couldn''t even see how he hit her or from where, all she could feel is the unending pain. It only took Rosie twenty seconds to get out of the circle along with the hostages. The second she got out, Vyncent suddenly appeared next to her with an excited and hopeful face. He whispered something to her and after a few seconds of pondering, she nodded and released the grip of the pale Alina, who could barely breathe properly. Vyncent caught the girl in his arms and slightly bowed to the General then he melted in the ground with the Demon Princess in his hands. "Y-you.... *pant*... what di...d you d.d-doo to A....*pant* *pant*...." Taliya couldn''t even speak, her face was devoid of any color, it''s as if she was already a corpse. The others were in no better condition either, it was even worse than the head maid since they didn''t struggle fiercely like her, their body condition was relatively better but they were still on the verge of death. "Milady, that was unwise.... too unwise, you''ll regret this." Still not moving from his location, the red-haired spoke with a cold and chilling tone, not like the previous one. His main priority is Arthur, then Sonia and Mary, Alina happened to be his last priority so he didn''t go save her as it would lead to the death of the others. He may have let Vyncent take Alina, but if it were Mary or Sonia, he would have been forced to act as it was his orders. However, without Vyncent noticing, a small red stone suddenly appeared on his lower right calf, as if it was glued to his clothes. The young man didn''t notice this strange stone, which actually served as a GPS which will locate him wherever he went. The red-haired youth turned his head to look at his master and thought to himself ''It should be soon, really soon.'' Chapter 170 - 162.2 : Awakening In just a couple of seconds, Vyncent had crossed a large distance yet he never stopped using his secret technique albeit the fact that it consumes a big amount of Nether Energy. He would stop for a couple of seconds to restore for a bit and swallow a pill then continue fleeing. Alina couldn''t struggle as she was knocked unconscious and after a couple of minutes passed and sensing that no one chased him, Vyncent breathed a sigh of relief. .... Back at the large area where the slaughter occurred, the red-haired youth stood near Arthur whilst facing Rosie, who ignored him and talked with her subordinates. The tentacles were still wrapping around the hostages but all of them fell unconscious due to the pain with the exception of the head maid, who had a strong willpower and managed to barely hold herself from fainting. The pain was excruciating yet all her thoughts were centered around her niece, who has just kidnapped again and to top it off, it was under eyes, she was completely helpless against such strong enemies. ''If only he would wake up....'' Knowing that she would follow the rest and fall unconscious in the upcoming seconds, Taliya couldn''t help but stare at Arthur, wishing that he would wake up already and do something, he was her only hope for retrieving Alina. For the head maid, today was probably the worst of her life yet as if the heavens were listening to her wishes, the motionless Arthur who had his eyes closed finally had finally woken up. The very second Arthur regained consciousness, a series of notifications popped in front of him yet he disregarded them all and spread his senses. He did nothing but open his eyes yet the aura around him had a drastic change, it was too abrupt and that was followed by an overwhelming pressure that forced Rosie to stop talking midway and stare at him with surprise. She was just planning to take the hostages and retreat but from the looks of it, it was too late. Despite the instinctive fear she felt from him, she wasn''t overly anxious as she had many hostages and she could kill them the moment he tried something. The first one to react was the red-haired youth, he did a 90-degree bow with his hand on his chest and said with a respectful tone: "Master, congratulations on your breakthrough." The reason the Golem and the book transformed into this youth from the first place was due to Arthur''s sudden breakthrough, it actually stimulated both of them and resulted in this. Living through Curtis''s whole life and experiencing countless things, Arthur''s soul had undergone an unimaginable change and that pushed him to automatically breakthrough into the Divine Realm. Not only was his stats increased, his Sense, skills, and Mental Power were also affected. Compared to the cold aura Arthur had around him in the past, the current one was completely different in every sense. The cold aura had disappeared with not an ounce of it remaining and what replaced it what an unusual serenity around him, an extremely calm expression hang on Arthur''s face. He was deeply surprised by his breakthrough and the innumerable changes, yet nothing was shown on his face. Furthermore, he was able to understand a bit of the situation without needing an explanation, just by using his Divine Sense for a second and seeing the hostages, and the gargoyles, he was able to guess what occurred, more or less. Since he had no time to check the notification log and the status window, he scheduled that for later when things calmed down, but even without seeing numbers, he could feel himself become several times stronger. His Divine Sense could stretch for a whopping thirty miles and his Sixth Sense, which had a meager range, now have a range of two miles in all directions. This, in itself, proves how much strength he had become. However, this was but the tip of the iceberg, the most drastic change he had was his temperament. Now that his soul fused with Curtis''s, albeit forcefully, he no longer felt the urgent need to solve every problem, find Lucy or feel the loneliness that affected his sense of judgment. Of course, he still longed for his only love, and still wanted to find her as soon as possible, however, his thinking became more subtle and the nonending sense of urgency had disappeared. He felt inexplicable calmness, the same the knight, Curtis, had. If it were before, if he saw Sonia and the rest injured like this, he would have gotten angry and attacked from the getgo yet now, he did naught. Carefully, he analyzed the situation, sensed the surroundings and appraised everyone in his view. Then he locked his stare on Rosie, who was equally staring back at him with a wavering expression. Without needing an appraise, anyone could guess she''s their boss and the perpetrator, she was also injured but as she was a Divine Realm, no Immortal could defeat her and unless a Divine Realm faced her, no one can stop her from leaving. Knowing this, Arthur glanced at the bowing youth next to him and nodded at him without speaking a word. The red-haired youth didn''t talk back either and just stood behind Arthur with his eyes still closed. Feeling lighter than air and somewhat refreshed, Arthur took a step towards Rosie, who was about three hundred meters away from him and in just that single step, he appeared twenty meters away from the female gargoyle. Rosie, who was thinking of a plan on how to get away, was momentarily dumbfounded. She knew that Arthur broke through but not even her, a peak Grade Divine Realm was able to see how he appeared in front of her. His speed was just inconceivable. It was at this moment that she knew that Arthur was really the red-haired youth''s master and albeit his Realm, he was by no means inferior and perhaps even stronger than that strange youth. With such a speed, Rosie knew that she would not be able to escape from him and even if he wanted to, he would have rescued his teammates without her realizing. The General started panicking and subconsciously tightened the grip on the tentacles. Due to her anxiousness and fear, she tightened the grip on her sword which in itself tightened the grip of the tentacles. Alas, the tentacles were already tightly gripping the hostages, any more force and they would literally be squashed to death. By this time, it was too late to retract her actions, she could only look helplessly as those hostages were going to die. However, different from her expectations, once she glanced at where the hostages were, she saw nothing, there was not even a sign of the tentacles. Without even knowing why or how Rosie spat two mouthfuls of blood and the red light emanating from her sword dimmed a lot and became almost nonexistent. "You are quite ruthless." A voice entered Rosie''s ears, it was a calm tone, devoid of coldness or anger. She knew it came from Arthur, but she didn''t know why she felt that it wasn''t hostile at all. "I''m in a good mood, so I''ll allow you to go if you cut off your left arm." The voice contained no hostility but the words were still shocking. Rosie could only glare angrily at the grey-haired man a couple of meters in front of her. She didn''t know how he got rid of the tentacles but all the hostages were laying on the ground behind him and he didn''t even lift a hand. Rosie couldn''t rebuke his words, she knew the odds were against her and even if she wasn''t injured, she wasn''t the red-haired youth''s match, matchless his master. After a couple of seconds, Rosie resolutely used her sword and cut off her arm. A small groan came out of her mouth but it was only for a second. She quickly gulped two pills and stopped the blood from leaking out then she crouched to take her arm but found that it was gone. "Your actions have consequences. I do not know why you attacked this tribe nor do I care, all I know is that you attacked my people and punishment is needed." It should be a miracle that Arthur let her live but with the addition of Curtis''s memories and soul, he changed a bit and cherished lives. It''s true that not all people should live but he wasn''t going to kill everyone or else he would make enemies everywhere. If he were to kill a General, the force behind him would never sit still and sooner or later, they would retaliate, if not against him then it''s against his friends. The female General gritted her teeth and swallowed the shame and anger she was feeling. She couldn''t curse at him or attack, after one last glare, she turned around and left with her subordinates, who were equally terrified by this grey-haired man, who easily overwhelmed their superior. "Now then, I should catch the fleeing rabbit, you guard them." Without needing a response, Arthur disappeared from that area. Arthur didn''t even need to use skills or tricks to free the hostages, it was easily done using raw strength. When he took that step, he already free''ed them and used Telekinesis to force them to swallow a Healing Potion. It was just that Rosie didn''t notice that as she was too focused on Arthur. His speed was so unfathomable that even Arthur thought that it was too absurd. Previously, using his lightning form, he could cross at least fifteen kilometers each second but that was nothing compared to his current speed. Of course, now that he is in a world with a higher Nether Energy density, his speed would decrease compared the one on Astria but thanks to the boost and breakthrough, there was no decrease anymore but a large increase. Thanks to the mark the youth left, he knew which direction Vyncent fled to, so using a new movement skill he acquired, Arthur took a step at a time and each one crossed an extremely large distance, it''s as if he was chasing a nonmoving target as Vyncent speed was too slow compared to Arthur''s. Chapter 171 - 162.3 : Bring Me To Your Nes What Vyncent crossed in a couple of minutes using his fastest speed and his secret technique was crossed in mere seconds by a few steps by Arthur. Each step looked as if he was stepping on a hard ground, he would appear in an area and vanish in less than second. His speed was simply inconceivable. ''So this is the speed of a God.'' As he walked on air and chased after Vyncent, Arthur used exactly fifteen seconds, no more, no less, to locate Vyncent by his sense. However, he didn''t attack immediately, instead, he followed closely behind as he wanted to know why Vyncent took Alina with him despite how dangerous it was. Hiding from an Immortal was an easy thing for him so he just passed unnoticeable by Vyncent, who was a bit relieved after sensing no one chasing him. With the unconscious Alina in his arms, Vyncent would melt into the earth with the girl and cross a large distance then come out for a few seconds to recuperate and at the same time gulp a few pills. Even Arthur was a bit shocked as he witnessed Vyncent''s speed. Even a mid-Grade Divine Realm or even a peak one may not be able to match his speed, such a technique is definitely out of the ordinary. ''Still, it''s insufficient.'' Arthur''s evolution is completely different from all the rest, this breakthrough brought a lot of new things to him aside from the rise in stats. One of them was something similar to the Sense. Adding his Sixth Sense which evolved, a new feature was added to it which was a ''map''. Just like a game map, it stretched as far as his Sixth Sense could and recorded every area he crossed. With such a thing, getting lost would be near impossible. As he followed after Vyncent, Arthur stood a mile away from the young man and gazed at him with a calm look, devoid of anger or rage. His new state was something Curtis once had and was one of the main factors that helped him rise in ranks. Not only did it make him much calmer, his process of thinking was actually divided, a bit like multiple personalities but every one of them was ruled by the same. Normally, even Gods wouldn''t be able to think of multiple things at the same time without suffering. The brain of a God is the same as a mortal''s brain, it''s extremely vulnerable and easily burdened. If he didn''t gain this state, Arthur wouldn''t have been able to think like this. .... As he stood there, Arthur''s figure black robe fluttered for a bit before calming down. Undiscernable to the eye, Arthur threw a small black object which glued on Vyncent without the latter realizing it. Upon a closer look, it was an electronic thing, similar to the small capsule used to find the locations of enemies in those Holywood films. Using his augmented Creation attribute and the Lost Magic, Arthur created this capsule which gave him a more detailed location of Vyncent. He wrapped it with his Nether Energy as to keep it unnoticed and as long as Vyncent''s Nether Energy is weaker than his, he won''t even be able to find it unless he stripped and checked every inch of his body and even in that case, it is still glued to his skin. For ten more minutes Arthur followed Vyncent until the young man reached an ancient tower in a large mountain gorge. The tower was thirty feet tall and seemed to be deserted. Seeing a yellow dot on the map, Arthur didn''t even need to spread his sense to know that someone was in there. A yellow dot means that it''s a neutral entity, neither an enemy nor an ally, red is enemy and green means it''s an ally. ''Finally, the prey reached its den.'' Arthur chuckled and vanished from his position. Vyncent came out of the ground, he spread his sense and once he detected no one but the figure sitting in front of him, he breathed a sigh of relief. "Why so cautious, I already checked this place and its surroundings." Vyncent put the demon princess on the ground and looked at the young man in front of him with an expressionless face, his eyes contained a hint of anger but he didn''t show it. The white-robbed youth in front of him didn''t notice the look of Vyncent, he glanced at Alina and nodded continuously as he was very satisfied. He looked back at Vyncent and added "I have to give it to you, you sneaked into their prison and got her out, it''s really an amazing feat. Although these savages are weakling, there are still some annoying dogs amongst them." Vyncent''s usually friendly smiled was absent this time, he kept his expressionless face and spoke with a calm tone "The task is done, let''s go back to the sect." Hearing Vyncent, the youth waved his hand and laughed "Hahaha! Are you so afraid that you want to go back now? We''ll have to wait for an Elder Tian to retrieve us. Furthermore, I found another candidate in the Gargoyle Tribe and already sent the Dun brothers. We''ll wait for them and then go meet with Elder Tian." Then, without minding Vyncent, the youth leaned on the bed and closed his eyes. The two of them minded their own business as they sat in the dusty room. Vyncent sat cross-legged and seemed to be cultivating, as for the youth, from his breathing, it could be seen that he was sleeping. The silence didn''t last for long, a small rustle broke it and forced the sleeping youth''s ears to twitch for a second. He calmly looked at the wall in front of him and spoke with a hint of coldness "Who''s there? You better show up or else you''ll end up more miserable." Despite saying that, nothing occurred. He looked at the wall and spread his Sense but he found nothing. The youth glanced at Vyncent and said: "You brought unwelcomed guests! How could you not notice them!" Although it was just a noise, the youth was sure that it was not the wind or some rogue beast. However, unlike the youth, Vyncent was sure he was not followed and only thought of it as a hiding snake. Vyncent shrugged his shoulders and retorted "Why would I be followed? How about you?" "Nonsense! I came here three days ago yet nothing happened but the moment you came, something happens!" At this point, the youth was panicking a bit. His Realm was high and he wasn''t able to notice the opponent, which only meant the enemy was stronger than him and good at hiding. If he were to be sneak-attacked, he would only die miserably. In a fit of fear, the youth punched the wall in front of him shattering it and creating a huge whole, even the whole tower shook as it suffered a strong shock. Seeing nothing but huge boulders belonging to the mountain, the youth calmed down but the panic didn''t vanish yet. "We need to leave this place immediately, we''ll meet with Elder Tian and the Dun brothers will catch up." As he said that, he prepared to jump from the building but the rustling noise entered his ears again. The youth felt chills run down his spines and before he could speak again, an explosion rang from behind him and at the same time, held felt at the lower part of his body. As he looked down, the youth saw a dark green vine as thick as a thigh penetrating him from his back and coming out of his chest. Blood leaked out of his mouth as he stared dumbfoundedly at the hole creating by the vine, which already retracted from his chest. Vyncent was as shocked as the youth, however, he didn''t linger for an extra second, the moment he saw the vine strike the youth, he used his secret technique and melted in the earth along with Alina, who was just next to him, still unconscious. Unfortunately, when he melted on the ground and was preparing to start fleeing again, a cool and calm voice rang in his ears and his body was forcefully ejected from the ground and rolled two times before he was able to stabilize it. Vyncent''s hands were involuntarily shaking as he immediately recognized that voice, it was rooted in his memory the moment Arthur appeared in the prison and was further deepened when he saw how strong were his Golem and the weird book but what''s scarier is that red-haired youth. Raising his head, Vyncent saw the black-robed man with long gray-hair and two deep gray eyes that looked at him calmly. "Y,you..... how did you find me?" When he was asking that, he heard rustling noise near him and subconsciously trembled, he then saw Alina''s body being enveloped by a thick dark green vine then disappeared into the hole at the center of the tower. "If I''m not wrong, you are not in a position to ask me, am I right?" Clenching his trembling hands, Vyncent''s mouth opened but he couldn''t utter any word, he knew that begging for his life is useless. After spending a few seconds in fear and thinking of a solution, he sighed and spoke: "Fine, I give up, what do you want from me?" Arthur clapped his hands and comfortably sat on the hard bed, his eyes never left Vyncent. "Now that is wise, it''s unnecessary to cause pointless bloodshed...." He stopped there for a second as he glanced at the pool of blood near the youth, who had already died from the lethal poison of the vine. "... of course, some people need to die but some can be spared.... if they are useful and first and foremost, honest." Nodding his head in approval to Arthur, Vyncent lifted his hands and replied with a somewhat forced laugh "Hahahaha.... you are correct. If I may, what does Mr. Arthur want from me?" Arthur sat on the bed with a pondering expression and a hand on his chin, after a few seconds passed, he lifted his hand and pointed a finger at Vyncent whilst saying "First, eat this." As he said that, a strange fireball the size of a thumb appeared from his finger, it had a creepy looking eyes and some kind of crone merged on the top of its head, it slowly floated toward Vyncent, who stared it with complete fear. Chapter 172 - 162.4 : Back To Home Unwillingly, Vyncent opened his mouth and let the strange orange flame enter his body. At first, he felt a weird feeling as he sensed it going down his throat but its presence instantly disappeared once it reached where his DanTian was. "Good, a wise man knows when to give up. Since the simple stuff is done, let''s discuss the main topic." As he finished speaking, Arthur waved his hand unceremoniously and took Vyncent''s storage ring directly from his finger. Gazing at the violet storage ring whilst playing it with his hands, Arthur spoke again "I may not be acknowledgeable about this godforsaken place, however, I know that Humans aren''t supposed to be here which means...." Stopping there, a cold glint flashed across his eyes as he glanced at Vyncent but it soon disappeared in a flash, as if it never appeared. Vyncent, who was staring back at Arthur, noticed such a change and couldn''t help but feel a cold shiver across his body. At this point in time, the young man was soaking with cold sweat as he sat in front of the black-robbed Arthur and didn''t even dare try any tricks or breath heavily. Nether Energy was injected into the ring, he met a slight resistance at first but it was soon crushed by the overwhelming pressure coming from the invader. Arthur browsed through the storage ring, which had the biggest space compared to all the others he had seen, except Zodiak''s, of course. There were a bunch of cultivation techniques, a couple of hundred Top Spirit Red Stones and even a dozen of Green Spirit Stones, which were a grade higher than the Red Spirit Stones. Although they are used as currency, some people use them to refine into pills which recover Nether Energy, however, their efficiency is not great so it could be considered as a loss. Unless someone was filthy rich, he would not refine them into pills. In fact, how much Nether Energy a person recovers in a specific amount of time depends on the Cultivation Technique they are practicing along with their Realm, but what not all people knew is that the Wisdom stats also played a huge role in Mana or Nether Energy Recovery. Seeing the different foreign pills, a good looking saber, and a few materials, Arthur chuckled as this young man was quite rich, at least compared to the people in the Underworld. What confused Arthur is that how a Medium-Realm like this one have Gods and Divine beings but a High-Realm like the Underworld have close to zero Gods as only the factions leader were so. Just as he was going to finish his quick browsing, Arthur caught sight of a metal emblem, it emitted faint threads of Nether Energy. The emblem was a three-eyed eagle, it had some kind of royal aura, it''s as if it was superior to all things. Disregarding the violet ring, Arthur took out the emblem and waved it at Vyncent, who paled once he saw the emblem. "I see.... now that is much more interesting." It didn''t take a genius to know from where Vyncent came from, Arthur was able to deduce it immediately once he saw the emblem. He kept the emblem in his storage and along with the youth''s ring and added "Now here comes the real question. How did you cross the wall? Don''t forget that you have been given a second chance.... so don''t ruin it." Vyncent''s face turned green as he saw his ring and emblem got taken without being able to resist, however, he didn''t dare raise an objection. He gripped his fists tightly and reluctantly replied after a moment of silence "An elder from my sect would get us past the wall of fire. Unless you are a God Realm, you can''t pass through." ''God Realm, huh...'' Arthur current prowess could match up to a peak Grade God, like Delia. In fact, he had the confidence and power to deal with the three bosses of the Underworld alone if he were to face them again, with the drastic change that happened to him, his confidence was boosted by a bit. "And how does this elder get you past the wall? Is there a teleportation array?" "N,No.... he wraps our bodies with his Nether Energy to defend against the Yang fire or else we would explode." After he contemplated what was said for a bit, Arthur talked again "Yang fire?" "It''s a fire condensed from a huge quantity of Yang Energy. Males have harder times passing through the wall as we have Yang residing in our bodies, as for females, even one at the Divine Realm can pass through the wall of Yang fire thanks to the strong Ying in their bodies." Vyncent spared no thought as he explained everything he knew, against such a terrifying existence like Arthur, he couldn''t try his sly tricks. Even when talking with an Elder of his clan, he didn''t feel such fear and pressure albeit the fact that Arthur wasn''t going out of his way to use raw power to suffocate him with pressure. Just his calm voice and how he behaves uncautiously in front of him proves that he didn''t even consider him as a threat. ''Gulp'' Unconsciously gulping some saliva, Vyncent thought back to when he tried to kidnap Alina and how, at first, he was ignorant enough to think he could deal with Arthur. .... As he thought about the Yang fire, Arthur wasn''t sure if his immunity to fire will be helpful or not and even after checking the system, there is no option that specified which kinds of fires he was immune to. After letting out a sigh, Arthur got up from the bed and smiled friendly at Vyncent whilst saying "Brother Vyncent is sure an honest boy, I hope that next time we cross paths, you would not do foolish things again.... oh and I will be taking your stuff as compensation. Till we meet again." Arthur''s figure gradually became blurrier until it disappeared from the room, leaving only a stupefied Vyncent, who only managed to get up after a few minutes passed. He felt a cold chill from that ''friendly'' smile, he didn''t even dare to talk back and only sat there. At first, he thought about asking for his emblem at least but he would only be slaughtered so he kept his mouth shut, which ended up being the right choice to do. The young man looked at the lifeless corpse of the youth and the hideous hole in his chest before sucking a cold breath. That youth was a 2nd Grade Divine Realm yet he was killed so easily, if that vine was pointed at him, he would have died without knowing how. As his eyes stared at the eyes of the youth, which were full of disbelief and unwillingness, Vyncent mumbled "A miserable death indeed...." Without staying any extra second, Vyncent melted in the ground and disappeared from this room which reeked of a bloody stench. .... Arthur headed west with Alina with him, who is still in an unconscious state, and in a half an hour, he managed to get back to where the previous battle occurred. "Astria could be considered a tip of an iceberg compared to this world." Just this huge desert alone is bigger than the Demon continent and the Western continent together. As he appeared on that battlefield, he saw the red-haired youth calmly staying at the same place he left him with Mary and the rest cautiously staying behind him. There were a few new corpses scattered here and there which belonged to both factions but none of them were strong enough, the strongest was a peak Grade Immortal who was slaughtered like a pig. Taliya and co were already up thanks to the potions he fed them, their effect on Mortals were miraculous and although their injuries were a bit serious, the bones healed at an astonishing pace. Only the Head Maid, Taliya, was still a bit injured and unable to move properly. The silver-haired maid was panicking and seemed to be restricted by a thin red thread. No matter how much she struggled, she wasn''t able to free herself. "Welcome back, master." The youth bowed and briefly explained what happened whilst indicating that Taliya wanted to venture alone so he bound her. Then without lingering much longer, he vanished into a red fog white quickly dissipated with the passing wind. As he looked at the remaining four, Arthur sighed and waved his hand, wrapping them around his Nether Energy before they disappeared from this huge area and headed toward their destination with an mind-numbing speed. Taliya didn''t even have the time to question Arthur before she found herself in a strange square surrounded by towering pillars. Her eyes then landed on the unconscious Alina, who floated beside her. "It''s for you to go home." Arthur stared at the surprised faces of the five while speaking with a calm voice. He didn''t waste time as he activated the warp device which resulted in the strange runes engraved on the ground to shine with dim white light. As they were about to be teleported, Taliya lifted her head and shifted her eyes to Arthur then said "Wait! Take me with you. Since the Demon Princess is saved then you did your end of the deal." Then without waiting for him to reply, she turned her head to Lucas, who had his mouth wide-open, unable to believe the fast turn of events. "Take care of the Demon Princess and take her back to the Royal Castle." Without further ado, she struggled and tried to go out of the big square but a pressure pressed on her which was followed by a calm voice "That is unnecessary, the deal is done and I don''t need a weakling following me, it''ll only hinder me." Arthur knew that without being harsh, he wouldn''t be able to stop her stubbornness, he could only use her weakness against her. Without minding Taliya, who looked at him with anger and unwillingness. His eyes shifted to the silent Mary, the beastwoman was holding Sonia and gently stroking her head as she looked at her rosy cheeks which indicated that she was healing and was no longer poisoned. "You are welcome to stay in my sect. You''ll find Anastassia waiting for you. farewell." As his words ended, a bright flash followed and their figures soon disappeared from the huge square. Arthur couldn''t help but sigh as he gazed at their disappearing figures, children and elderly died due to a war that didn''t concern them and although they weren''t related to him, he didn''t wish for them to die in such a place, far from home. Looking at the towering pillars and the dimming symbols, Arthur waves his hands, causing the pillars to shatter and fall down and the ground to shake. The square was crushed by a huge force and cracks appeared on the ground. Very soon, what was supposed to be a special teleportation array was transformed into a huge put, as if a meteor crashed here. Arthur wasn''t a fool to let the Pigolo Tribe a chance to invade his home again. As for the matter of getting back to Astria, he would figure it out when he possesses a Spatial Master, before that, he wasn''t planning on going back. And for Taliya, the reason he didn''t bring her with him was that this transformation that occurred inside of him forced him out of his desperation and loneliness, he no longer needed a companion and it was indeed true that having her with him will hinder him a lot as he would need to spare some of his focus to protect her. Even Lissandra, who he planned on keeping next to him was sent back, this place was too dangerous and he doesn''t have the luxury to protect Taliya, much less her. Chapter 173 - 163.1 : Die With Glory Since he had nothing to do there, Arthur didn''t linger around any longer, his figure blurred and in with just a step, he was already a long distance away from that square, or what was left of it. Along the road, he saw many bloody battles between the two factions and from the looks of it, the Pigolo Tribe started their retaliation as there was an astronomical number of these hideous looking creatures. Obviously, he didn''t meddle in their affairs as they had nothing to do with him or his plans, he already instructed Gutcha and gave him specific orders, as for himself, he planned to seclude himself for a while until the Pigolo Tribe manages to avoid this disaster and the atmosphere outside calms down. With his abilities, finding a quiet, undisturbed place wasn''t much of a challenge, using the Earth Attribute along with a skill similar to Vyncent''s albeit a bit lacking, he merged with the ground and dived deep underground until he arrived into a closed cave approximately eight hundred meters from the surface. This place had dense Nether Energy and it was a perfect place to cultivate. as his body got out of the roof, Arthur sat cross-legged in the center of the cave and closed his eyes. He was eager to check the system logs and see the benefits of his breakthrough, however, he wasn''t that impatient. First, he revolved his Dark-Anguish Technique and circulated the Nether Energy in his body which led to black flames appearing around his body. Along with his Dark-Anguish Technique, he also activated the Dark-Star Strengthening Technique which allowed him to create a very powerful defensive layer below his skin. In the blink of an eye, half an hour passed and Arthur finally opened his eyes again. Hearing the crackling noises of the damnable chains, he sighed and showed a pained laugh "Although I managed to break through, they are still here.... fortunately, their restrictive power decreased by a huge margin." He tried breaking the chains but no matter how much strength he exercised, it was futile and only a pointless struggle. After trying a few more times and reaching no conclusion, he gave up and shifted his attention to the system. As he saw the long list of system logs, Arthur licked his lips and started browsing through them. Your soul has successfully devoured curtis'' soul: +1000 Maximum Mental Power. You have obtained a new title: [Live with Honor, Die with Glory]: +10% Maximum Health. When your Health is under 30%, your damage is doubled against a specific target of your choosing. Can be activated once every five hours. (If the target is not dead within five hours, the effect still lasts even after another target has been chosen.) Your stats have increased, please check your Status Window for more details. You have unlocked a new state: +9,999,999 Wisdom. Ethereal State(Passive Lv2)(Activated): Soothes the heart, calms the mind and allows a more rational thinking. (Cannot be affected by Time/Void/Nether/Dark Matter). ?+500,000 to Vitality, Strength, Intelligence, Agility, Dexterity, and Wisdom. ?+5% Damage. ?+5% Reduced Magical and Physical Damage. ?+2,500 Maximum Mental Power. ?Water-based attacks deal 150% more damage. ?You received 30% reduced damage from any water-based attack. ?Immunity against the debuffs: Fear, petrification. Due to devouring another soul, you gained a new stats: Soul Defense: The higher the value, the stronger your defense is against soul attacks. Due to devouring another soul, your Soul Defense value increased: +5,000 You obtained a new skill(Passive): [Peak Sword Mastery] .... Since the user ''Arthur'' already has [Peak Sword Mastery], the two skills will be merged, please hold... Merging successful! You have obtained a new skill(Passive): [Heavenly Sword Mastery]: Whilst using any kind of sword, you gain +40% increase in damage and +20% increase in speed. ? Able to condense Sword Energy ? Can use the skill : [Heavenly Slash] [Heavenly Slash]: Using any kind of sword, the user would create an overwhelming slash that could cut mountains and split seas. Cost: 50m Nether Energy Cooldown: None You have successfully broken through to the Divine Realm 1st Grade. You have successfully broken through to the Divine Realm 2nd Grade. Your stats have increased, please check your status window for more details. Your ''DanTian'' increased in size: +50m Maximum Nether Energy / +150m Maximum Mana. Your Meridians have been cleansed: +19,999 Nether Energy Recovery/ +19,999 Mana Recovery. Several Functions of the ARK have been unlocked. Congratulations! Your body has gotten rid of 90% of impurities: +10m Strength / +10m Vitality / +10m Agility / +10m Dexterity. An overall maintenance has been launched, please hold..... Maintenance finished: 2 minutes, 48 seconds. Details (-): ? 80% of skills have been modified, please click on (+) for more details. (Please keep in mind that all previous ones can still be used too.) ?Evolution of the system, more diverse functions. (+) ?Appraisal can now see the target''s name, Realm/Level, age, Race, buffs, debuffs. ?Status Window has more details for the user to explore. ?A map has been added to detect neutral, friendly and enemy presences around the user. ?A new detailed window has been added to show the number of possessions the user did. ?Bug fixes... TITLE: MEAT GRINDER / SEEKER OF KNOWLEDGE / ONE WITH THE SWORD / ARK HOLDER / LIVE WITH HONOR, DIE WITH GLORY Level: ??? Class: Dark ARK Parasite Realm: Divine Realm 2n Grade - Strength: 354.4M Intelligence: 322.6M Agility: 301M Wisdom: 289.7M Vitality: 315.9M Dexterity: 302.1M - Health: 378.4M // Health Regen: 145781/s Nether Energy: 384.2M // Nether Energy Regen: 138877/s Mana: 418M // Mana Regen: 224814/s Stamina: Infinite /Stamina Regen: ??? ----- Creation: 192 Attack: 397.4M (+65% Damage) Defense: 388M (+25% Damage Reduction) Magic Defense: 87.8M Soul Defense: 5,000 Enigma abilities : Telekinesis / Ancient Threads / Sixth sense / ARK(Activated) Mental Power: 5499 --- Elemental Resistances(+) Darkness: 100% Wind: 35% Water: 75% Earth: 75% Light/holy: 5% Shadow: 30% Lightning: 100% Ice: 30% --- Death Count: 1 (2 more to obtain ''Unbound'') --- Possessions (471,981) Races: ?Humans (282,971) ?Demons (84,997) ?Beasts (+)(101,514) ?Unique Beasts (2498) ?Mythical beings (1) ----- Seeing the long list of notifications and the increase in stats, Arthur let out a hearty laugh, just by gazing at the stats alone, his confidence was boosted again. His stats doubled ad facing a Peak God is certainly achievable, even killing one is not a far-fetched thought. For the next hour and a half, Arthur checked all the details about the skills and techniques and picked a few that pleased him. He had chosen three martial art skills, one movement technique, and three sword-based skills. The martial art skills are: [Raging Bronze Platform](Mastery: Spirit) (3rd Grade Mystic Rank) [Heavenly Mountain Fist] (Mastery: Mystic)(1st Grade Heavenly Rank) [Unparalelled Golden Palm](Mastery: Heavenly)(3rd Grade Heavenly Rank) The movement technique was something he was already familiar with, it''s an evolution of petal steps. He unconsciously used it earlier, each step would allow him to cross distance and all that was left was his afterimage. [Petal Leap](Mastery: Mystic)(2nd Grade Spirit Rank) Although its Rank was not high and he had a few other good movement techniques, he still chose this one as he felt it was quite compatible with him, moreover, it suited his tastes. Last but not least were the sword-based skills: [Heavenly Slash] [Golden Lone Sheath]: Unsheath and sheath your sword at an incredible speed, creating a devastating sword attack. Cost: 100,000 Mana / 25,000 Nether Energy Cooldown: none [Thousand Waves]: Unleash a sword attack that is the combination of thousand sword strike. Cost: 1m Mana/500,000 Nether Energy. Cooldown: 20 Hours. With the help of the ARK godly time manipulating ability, which allowed him to spend a long time inside of it without a second passing outside, he was confident in raising his mastery of these skills. What''s more, the presence of Makaze, his beloved katana, those attacks would become more monstrous and if the enemy is a God, he would not come out unscathed after receiving such formidable attacks. Chapter 174 - 163.2 : New Functions Once he finished thoroughly checking the logs, Arthur passed the rest of the day meditating and absorbing as much Nether Energy as he could. From time to time, he could feel slight tremors despite being so deep underground. The only plausible explanation is that the Gods residing in the Pigolo Tribe headquarters finally decided to show themselves and started their full-on retaliation to drive out the invaders. Arthur paid them no heed as he concentrated on cultivating. His body was like a gigantic black whirlpool as Nether Energy was devoured and entered his body as if it was a bottomless hole. As they passed by his Meridians, the Nether Energy transformed into a big formless blob of energy which entered into his DanTian and was refined at an insane pace. The black talisman floating around his DanTian would emit a strange black light, accelerating the refining process and facilitating the process. In only a mere night, Arthur''s Mental Power increased by three hundred and if he were to cultivate for a few more days, he would easily breakthrough to the next Grade. Others would take months to breakthrough and some geniuses would take weeks at least, but Arthur was a monster and the accumulated talent he absorbed from all those corpses finally showed its usefulness. Actually, it would be a strange thing if his cultivating speed is not fast, his stats were already so high, so naturally, his Realm should suit the stats and that is only achievable if that was done as fast as possible. Furthermore, Arthur was more or less sure that once he broke through to the God Realm and became a fully-fledged God, the restricting chains will finally be gone as he had absolute confidence to break them. ..... As the curtain of night has fallen and the sun rose, Arthur opened his eyes at last and breathed some white steam. He could feel that things calmed down and there were no more tremors so he decided to go outside after a few more hours. ''But before that, I should check the new functions of the ARK'' ''Dra''lim'' By the next second, Arthur found himself in the familiar white space. At first, it was a bit mind-numbing to stare at endless white space with no limits, but after a few more times, he got used to it. A few meters away from him, a cubic object slowly rotated a few feet above the white ground, it had a mysterious feeling to it and there were new ancient runes engraved on its sides. *Welcome to the ARK* As usual, the robotic voice rang in his ears, it made him feel as if he was in a sci-fi movie or some sort of a game. However, before Arthur could ask about the new functions, a bright golden light flashed in front of him before his ''copy'' appeared in front of him with a bright smile plastered on his face. Contrary to the actual Arthur, his copy had black eyes and dark hair, somewhat shorter than his actual grey hair. "We meet again, my friend!" The "copy" then stretched his hand wanting to shake hands with Arthur but the latter was still disgusted by his copy and despite all what happened, he was still a bit unwilling to communicate with him. Furthermore, he knew it was just a spirit, some sort of a message left behind by the creator or the previous owner of the ARK, however, what confused him is why does the spirit resemble him so much, heck! It''s not even resemblance anymore, it''s a flat-out doppelganger if you exclude the minor color change in hair and eyes. Arthur folded his hands and calmly stared at the awkward behavior of the spirit, waiting for the "copy" to deliver the messages that needed to be heard. "Ahhh! No need to be so distant! We''re bros, aren''t we? Anyways.... I see that it hasn''t been long since you saw me.... hmmm let me check." As he said that, the "copy" waved his hands and started tapping on a transparent screen in front of his face. After a couple of seconds, he nodded with a wide grin on his face and resumed speaking "I see I see.... that''s formidable indeed! Did you know, from the six things I expected you to become, you became the choice which had the lowest probability! Even less than 1%! If that is not being lucky, then it only means you favored by the heavens but that will be contradicting since you''re defying them.....hahahaha" The "copy" stopped for a bit to catch a breath as he contemplated the screen in front of him, after scrolling down a few more times, he looked back at Arthur and added: "Actually, I expected you to become either a special Elemental Spirit or a frost titan but my expectations were exceeded! That can only be good news! A parasite... that''s way better!" As he heard his "copy", Arthur wasn''t the least bit shocked, he already expected that his Race will be found out, this spirit or "copy" knew a lot of things and to hide his Race from him would be extremely hard, after all, he managed to find out his Race in a few seconds. "You have to know that a Parasite can not only possess but do other heaven-defying things too, you use your Race in a simple way but you''ll eventually learn.... now that''s not what I came here to talk about, but since I discovered a good news, I''ll add another function for you! My generosity has no limits, so you better be grateful!" Saying that, the "copy" focused on the screen in front of him then, he used his left hand to grab the cubic object floating near him before pressing on it in a very weird manner. The copy only stopped after ten minutes, his figure became a bit blurry and a golden light started enveloping it. After one final glance at the ARK, it looked at Arthur and said "Since my time is up, I''ll let the ARK explain the new functions! Enjoy and we''ll probably meet soon, if you don''t die, of course!" From start to finish, Arthur didn''t utter any word, he just stood there, arms folded and spectated. Now that the "copy" is gone, he was a bit eager to see the functions. Since the current functions of the ARK were already so good and miraculous, he had huge expectations for the new ones too. "Display the useable functions." *List: Phase Training. Rest. Materialize(+) ?Martial Arts. ?Magic. * The first two functions are nothing new to Arthur but to the third one is completely new, moreover, it''s a bit intriguing. "Explain the Materialize function." *Materialize allows the user ''Arthur'' to train and perfect the Martial Arts or Magical skills he possesses. Unlike Phase Training, the time will not stop, instead, it''ll be faster, one day spent in the Materialize function is equal to two days outside.* ''Double the time?'' Since it allows the user to perfect his skills, it''s certainly useful but if one loses himself and trains for a week, then two weeks will pass outside, It''s both good and bad at the same time. Someone like Arthur, who is very tight on time, can''t spend months of days perfecting skills, at most, he''ll spend a day. "What if I spend an hour in the Materialize function?" *Once the user enters the function, he can only go out after a day has passed.* It''s a very alluring function especially for the old hermits who would pass years or decades in seclusion, such a miraculous environment which helps them grow immensely stronger is even rarer than a phoenix''s feather. "What about the new phases?" *Currently, the user ''Arthur'' can access to the Beginner''s Phase and the Trainer''s Phase.* "Then let me enter the Trainer''s Phase for the time being." *Are you sure you want to begin the Trainer''s Phase? Once you enter, you cannot stop.* "Yes." *Countdown beginning:10..9..8..7... * ... *Please pick your weapon.* *List: One-handed axe:1000 Attack. .... * "No need for a weapon, proceed." *Please pick an armor.* ''Oh?'' Once he heard that, Arthur was a bit taken aback, in the Beginner''s Phase, it never allowed him to pick an armor, he just wore Zodiak''s robe, so seeing the list of armors, he was a bit delighted. Since his stats are reduced and the opponent is decently strong, even if it''s a low-grade armor, it''ll benefit him greatly. As he browsed through the long list of armors, Arthur picked a green leather armor which added a few points of defense but added a bonus of 5% in speed. With an armor and bare fists, Arthur waited for his companion ''whitey'' to show up. *Are you ready.* "Yes." With that said, a weird clicking noise rang in his ears before ''whitey'' appeared at last, however, contrary to last time, he had an armor and a long black bow in his hands. Without waiting for Arthur, the bow was pulled and a sharp metal arrow was thrown at his face. Swiftly crouching and avoiding the arrow by a hair''s breadth then he applied force on his left foot and pressed on the ground before his figure turned a bit blurry and in just a single step, the distance between him and ''whitey'' was crossed. Since it''s the Trainer''s Phase, he can now use Movement technique along with his Martial Arts, so he didn''t hesitate as he quickly did some strange seals in in the air and by the time he appeared in front of ''whitey'', a five-meter-long bronze platform appeared above him. Arthur followed by a punch towards the enemy''s chest which caused ''whitey'' to retreat back a few steps, however, unfortunately for it, the punch was merely a feint as Arthur waved his right hand down, throwing the bronze platform at whitey, who wasn''t able to get away in time. What followed was brutal as poor ''whitey'' was literally crushed by the platform which came down from above, it crushed it on the ground until it died with no ways of resistance. Standing a few meters away from the bronze platform, Arthur smiled and waited for the next phase to begin.... Chapter 175 - 163.3 : Trainers Phase ''ha..'' Arthur took a large breath as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. Laying in front of him is a gigantic white corpse with no face, it held two blades, one in each hand and currently, its legs were crushed to a pulp. *Congratulations! You passed the third phase.* *Congratulations! You finished the Trainer''s Phase.* *Performance: Physical Score: 86/100 Skills Score: 95/100 Magic Score: 25/100 Battle Score: 88/100 Weapon Score: 0/10 Time Spent: 481 minutes 55 seconds. ''Low'' Overall score: 60 ''good''. Rewards: +100 Mental Power, +10,000 to all stats. "What? Why are the rewards like this?" Arthur was momentarily dumbfounded as he saw such low rewards. Even the rewards he got from the Beginner''s phase after the first clear were not this bad. In fact, they were extremely generous. He tried asking again but the ARK didn''t reply, so he could only sigh and try the Beginner''s Phase to see if all the rewards have been nerfed or it''s only this phase. .... *Congratulations! You passed the third phase.* .... ... Rewards: +10, +100 to all stats. ''.... Seriously? How can this be counted as a new function... it''s clearly nerfing the rewards.'' Although he was angry, a formless serene aura took hold of him and suppressed the rising anger. All he could do was sigh and leave the ARK as there was nothing to do here. Despite not getting generous rewards, he was still able to practice his new Martial Arts and get better them which is why he got a 0 on the weapon score. He only relied on his fists and kicks and managed to defeat the opponents. However, what''s surprising is the second and last phases were incredibly hard to beat. At the second phase, he had to dodge nonstop from the bombardment of whitey, who used magic skills. As for the last boss, it was a battle of endurance which ended up with him winning with his bronze platform, which he used to flatten the boss and crush its legs. ... Once Arthur left the ARK, he retrieved the corpse of the youth who was with Vyncent and possessed him. He didn''t take his corpse at first as he wanted to see what will Vyncent to do to him but when he saw him just leave after glancing at the lifeless body, he unceremoniously took it. In fact, he was only eager to obtain the same skill Vyncent used which allowed him to melt into the earth and travel at a speed which a person in his Realm could never achieve. Unfortunately, except a stats addition and a few techniques which are not useful to Arthur, there was nothing that caught his attention. The technique he was waiting for didn''t appear. To be fair, Using Petal Leap, he could outdo Vyncent easily but if he were to use it, his speed would probably be faster than when he''s using Petal Leap. To be more precise, Petal Leap is suited for battle. However, Vyncent''s technique is for traveling or fleeing, if it''s combined with lightning forth, Arthur was sure that even with a Spirit Boat, no one can catch him, at least if it''s not a Unique Spirit Boat like his. The Spirit Boat he bought with Lucy was in her storage ring, so he was left with nothing but that was also fine as he would no openly use it. He preferred to be hidden and avoid any troubles, especially in such a chaotic world. "I guess it''s finally done." Arthur flicked his hand, retrieving the colonel''s body and possessing it on the spot. He checked his clothes and made a few deliberate cuts here and there to make it seem as if he was in countless battles. He also added some dust and dirt to make it seem even more realistic then he vanished from that underground cave and appeared on the surface, where it reeked of blood and was quite crowded as soldiers were running around with spears in hands. Very soon, soldiers recognized him despite his haggard state, they bowed and resumed doing their jobs, it''s seemed things didn''t completely calm down but the enemies were repelled. Arthur nodded back at them and returned to his residence since his position was quite high in the tribe, he didn''t need to do simple jobs like them. His choice of prey was good as he picked a rather high-positioned individual. In merely ten minutes, Arthur was already inside Hakim''s luxurious residence. Just as he was about to go to his office and meditate before sending someone to fetch Gutcha, the main door of his residence was slammed open and a burly hideous Pigolo barged in. He had a happy expression as he saw Hakim unscathed body. He walked toward Arthur and patted his shoulders whilst saying "Big brother Hakim! Hahaha I knew that those damnable reptiles cannot get to you! They were going to declare you as missing but I insisted they wait for one more day." Abel (Race: Pigolo): Realm: Peak Stage Deity Age: 37 Arthur showed a friendly smile, albeit a little ugly due to the hideous appearances of the Race. "Colonel Abel, it''s nice to see you safe too. So what brings you here?" Hearing Colonel Hakim talk, Abel laughed even loudly before he patted Arthur''s shoulders yet again and said "Hahahaha what ''Colonel Abel'', were you so worried about me that you became respectful? Hahahaha call me ''Abel'' like always, else I feel awkward." "Alright Abel, what brings you here? I just got back and I need to rest for a bit." Hearing this, Abel backed away two steps and thoroughly checked Hakim''s body, once he was certain that there were no injuries, he sighed and said in a serious tone: "We have been summoned to the headquarters. This time, the reptiles were very sneaky and launched a full-on offensive. From what I''ve heard, we lost about thirty percent of our military power, if not for the tribe chief who became enraged and began a full-on slaughter, killing every reptile in the way, they would not have backed away." ''Thirty percent, huh? Those Gargoyles sure are vicious.'' Since they have been summoned, Arthur couldn''t reject due to possessing the body of a colonel, so he followed Abel and headed to the headquarters of the Pigolo Tribe. It took them more than an hour to reach the headquarters as Abel stopped many times to give orders to several captains and sort problems. He was an able leader and it seemed that he had a very good reputation amongst the soldiers. Even with the help of various passive skills and so on, Arthur was never a man of many words, neither was he born to be a military leader. It''s true he founded the MoonStar sect with Lucy, but at the end of the day, it was Anastassia who took care of it. The only reason he decided to found a sect with Lucy is to have a home to return to and to possess a strong power as to not be looked down but others in Astria. Whether it''s them or their children or grandchildren, they wanted them to live a better life than them, in a safe place and a peaceful era, devoid of meaningless wars for territories which can be shared without resorting to bloodshed. ..... Before Arthur and Abel laid a thousand feet palace, it had a majestic feeling and was made from a material very similar to red jade. It was luxurious and breathtaking. Even Arthur was flabbergasted at the sight as it was the first time he saw such a magnificent awe-inspiring palace. "Hahaha everytime I see it, I cannot help but be shocked too, it is said that this was built below a volcano which is why the material became blood red, just like lava." With reverence and amazement in his eyes, Abel gazed at the palace in front of him as he talked about it to Hakim. In fact, this kind of situation would happen every time he comes with Hakim, it has become a constant routine so the deceased Hakim had long since started ignoring Abel in such moments. The duo soon entered the majestic palace and met with a Pigolo which surprisingly had a white beard. It was the first bearded Pigolo Arthur had ever seen, and he couldn''t help but think it was a too unfitting to have a beard with such a hideous face. "You two finally came, the meeting is about to start so let''s hurry up." The old Pigolo didn''t wait for them and walked in front. He was their direct superior and had the rank of a ''Commander.'' Kieran (Race: Pigolo): Realm: 4th Grade Immortal. Age: 52 Chapter 176 - 163.4 : Tribe Chief A few minutes after following Kieran, they met up with another group led by an elderly man which had the same attire as old Kieran. A colonel was a pretty high position compared to mere soldiers but there were a few ranks higher than that, just like these elderly people. Moreover, it doesn''t seem to be easy to reach them as all people who reached that rank were elders, more or less. Arthur saw four people with the same red robe as Kieran and three of them were elders with the last being a middle-aged Pigolo. It''s pretty hard to guess their age but thanks to his Appraisal, discovering their age was a piece of cake. There was even an old Pigolo who lived for more than a century. Approximately twenty minutes later, after crossing a few turns and heavily guarded rooms, they finally arrived at a grandiose hall. Twelve pillars stood erect from each side of the hall till the end of it and an extremely large table was at the center of the hall. There were thirty-six seats around the table and more than half were already taken. From their attire, Arthur was able to guess that they were of a Rank higher than his, even higher than Kieran''s as they wore a grey robe with a red hideous face similar to theirs engraved at the back of it. ''Appraisal'' was activated and Arthur discovered that all the seated people were all in the Divine Realm. Abel, Arthur and eight other Colonels followed Kieran as they were under his command. The old Pigolo walked to a specific direction and stood behind another elderly Pigolo which had taken one of the thirty-six seats. Elbel(Race: Pigolo): 3rd Grade Divine Realm. Age: 84 ''Not too strong, still.... an amazing military power.'' Although he was confident in beating any person who didn''t ascend to Godhood, he was still amazed by the numerous Divine beings and Immortals this tribe had. This was a desolate land cast out from the rest of the world due to the wall of yang fire, so to build such a grandiose palace, have a humongous army, that''s clearly shocking. This lacks in comparison to the Underworld, where Immortals can be seen everywhere in cities, they are still a power that should not be underestimated. Arthur was sure that the tribe chief has to be a God and there is the possibility of the presence of more than a God in this tribe. He was not sure that he can escape from so many experts. One Divine Realm cannot hurt him but thirty-six of them along with hundreds of Immortals, adding to that a God, that''s not something he can cope with. .... Except for a few friendly talks, no one dared to talk loudly as the atmosphere was a bit tense and when half an hour passed, all seats were taken except three big red seats at the center of the table. From the information he got thanks to the Appraisal, Arthur was able to understand the composition of ranks more thoroughly. One General had five Army Commander under him. One Army Commander had Ten Colonels under him. One Colonel had 25 Majors under him. One Major had 10 Captains under him. And since there were thirty-six Generals, then there were three hundred and sixty Immortals, if we don''t include hidden experts or trump cards that the tribe surely have. .... At last, footsteps rang in the ears of all present people in the hall, which was followed by an invisible pressure that made the atmosphere tenser. Three silhouettes appeared from the end of the Hall. Calm footsteps, overwhelming presence and godly aura, there were no doubts that the newcomers were Gods. Despite having the complete confidence in dealing with a Peak Grade God, Arthur still felt a slight pressure. It happened each time he met with a God, this kind of pressure cannot be shaken off with just a raise of stats, it''s the aura of superiority, whilst he is still technically a mortal, he has a long lifespan thanks to ascending to the Divine Realm, but it''s not endless and one day or another, if he doesn''t become a God, he will definitely die of old age. However, a God never dies of old age unless there are special circumstances. "Hehehe, I apologize for my lateness. My bones are getting old and I have been forced to move a lot these couple of days." From the shadows covering most of the hall, an old aged Pigolo accompanied by two other elderly Pigolo strode from afar, heading towards the table. ''Appraisal'' Ti Eru (Race: Pigolo): 4th Grade God Realm. Age: 501 Ti Buo (Race: Pigolo): 3rd Grade God Realm. Age: 480 Ti Fuer (Race: Pigolo): 3rd Grade God Realm. Age: 481 The two figures behind the chief tribe were at the 3rd Grade and the leader himself was a 4rd Grade God, that was not as strong as the Lich King and Kilian but they were still Gods and should not be looked down upon. The leading silhouette, which wore a golden robe and had a long white beard unmatching with his amazingly hideous face, unceremoniously sat on the central seats followed by the remaining two. The three of them were like three huge boulders pressuring the present Generals and Commanders, none dared to keep chatting and remained silent as they were a bit reluctant and afraid to receive the full-on anger of the chief tribe. Arthur kept his Divine Sense in check and retracted his Sixth Sense, not daring to draw too much attention to himself. He didn''t even look at them straightly, but unlike the rest, he was not the least bit afraid. He just didn''t want to get found out or bring unnecessary troubles upon himself. His mission in this tribe is partially complete, he just needs to find a Spatial Master. He is going to wait for Gutcha to find some information for him and if in a week''s time, nothing is found, he''ll try crossing the wall of yang fire and venture outside to seek spatial masters. He just needs to possess one and gain the necessary skills to create a long enough spatial tunnel leading to Earth''s frequency. It''s not going to be easy but he has to try it, even if there is only one percent chance of Lucy being there. "Now let''s get on with bullshittery and cast away your shameless embarrassed attitudes! THIRTY PERCENT! I''m sure you know what that number means!" The calm and easy-going attitude changed drastically when Ti Eru sat, he even spat some saliva which landed on the Commander''s faces not far away from him yet none dared to protect or get angry. One burly Pigolo with a humongous height of 2.5 meters hesitated a bit before he spoke "T-Tribe chief, we were caught u-unprepare...." ''BANG!'' Ti Eru interrupted him as he banged his fist on the table, shaking it whole and scaring the burly Pigolo witless. He gazed at the General venomously and retorted "Unprepared my ass!! There are no such rules that they have to wait for us to prepare! For god''s sake, we''re enemies and you''re not even prepared when they launch such a tiny sneak attack and send only their trash troops? I did not build this tribe to be bullied like an injured dog!" Hearing the bombardment of the chief tribe, the burly Pigolo could only drop down his head and not dare to look back at Ti Eru for fear of being humiliated further. ''BANG!'' The more he talked, the angrier he became, Ti Eru''s fist caused cracks to appear on the table. His face flushed and his body started shaking for sometime before he finally calmed down. Although he suppressed his anger, Arthur could feel an extremely cold chill emanating from him. "I''m not someone easy to bully! Our tribe will declare war at once with these dirty reptiles! So what if they have a one-star array master, we won''t back down!" Followed by his declaration, the generals kind of regained their couarge and started encouraging him and shouting in excitement. Very soon, the tense atmosphere but nobody dared to say reckless words, they just cheered for while before calming down. "Ti Buo, you lead five Generals along with all their troops and pulverize those cockroach holes they dug a few years ago. Ti Fuer, you lead twenty Generals and pressure them." "As for me, I''ll go to their headquarters with the rest and demand compensations! Hmpf! I don''t believe that they would try to sneak attack us with nothing up their sleeves. There must be something that happened! Hmpf! Damnable reptiles!" Chapter 177 - 164.1 : Plan After spending the next two hours talking about the details of the plans and the losses suffered from the sudden attack, the tribe chief dispersed the large crowd of Generals. Arthur was under Kieran, who was under a General. Kieran''s superior was also an old pigolo who was chosen by the tribe chief to go with him to the headquarters of the Desert Gargoyles. Obviously, all his strong subordinates will follow him too. All in all, eleven generals, fifty-five commanders, five hundred and fifty colonels will go with the tribe chief. The lowest rank that was allowed to go were Colonels, so Arthur was a bit lucky. He had a strong interest in joining them as his goal in coming here was still finding a Spatial Master. Moreover, he was not concerned with not being picked, with the level of power of colonels, it wouldn''t be hard to kill and possess another one. The only threat to him in this place are the three Gods, he had confidence dealing with them separately but if they combined forces, it will get tricky as every God had unique attacks and powerful trump cards, he can''t be careless and waste time, due to some pointless fights against them. For now, or probably until he goes back to Earth, Arthur decided to never show his appearance, he would always be possessing something, if not Hakim then a plant, if not a plant then a beast, whatever it was, he would possess it and secure himself a second life. This was not Astria, which is exactly why he can''t be careless, he can''t go around provoking anyone who annoys him. He spared Vyncent partially due to that. It''s true that he killed that white-clothed youth but that was because he was sure that he wouldn''t be as obedient as Vyncent. No matter if he was affected by the soul-devouring or not, if his personality changed or not, he had one simple rule that he and Lucy would always follow and that is to eliminate any potential danger, never let any enemy live, no matter how insignificant he or she is. Gutcha and Vyncent already followed his fireball, no matter where they are, if he willed it, he can instantly kill them and no one, not even a God or someone in a Higher-Realm could take it out. The second the detonator senses an opposition from the host, it would explode and all that will be left would be meat remains and a ground littered with the blood of whoever was foolish to resist. ..... After having finished the meeting, Arthur spoke a few words with the excited Abel then returned to Hakim''s residence. It''s been a short time since he broke through and albeit his high Wisdom stats and amazing recovering power, he already stabilized his cultivation and even increased his Mental Power, he still wanted to meditate a bit more. The change he experienced was just too big, especially of new skills he obtained. In fact, they were not completely new, just evolved versions of old ones, ones that he didn''t use or didn''t find a lot useful. What''s a pity about most of these skills is that most of them cannot be used on Humanoid bodies, like those passive skills, to activate them, he needs a different kind of body. As he meditated and revolved the Dark-Anguish Technique to revolve the Nether Energy and stimulate his Meridians to absorb this energy, his cultivation was steadily increasing. Actually, when Arthur had gotten this cultivation technique, he felt a bit hesitant. Although Zodiak insisted that he should practice this one, he didn''t find it particularly miraculous, at least it could be considered quite lacking compared to Lucy''s. If Arthur''s cultivation speed could be considered like a genius''s, then Lucy was similar to a monster''s. Previously, when they were in secluded training, she was alarmingly fast at absorbing Nether Energy and increasing her Grade. It was just too fast, whilst people take months, or weeks for geniuses to advance a Grade, she would take days or perhaps even a day, it was just too mind-numbing. Her talent was unparalleled even compared to Arthur, who should be unmatchable, so this made him think of her origins, adding her special physique, it just made things a bit more mysterious. For her to just originate from Astria, that was a bit hard to believe but then again, what was she doing on Astria if she wasn''t from there? Opening his eyes and gently caressing the ring on his finger, Arthur''s eyes turned absent-minded as Lucy''s figure flashed before him. "Time passes but we''ll forever be bonded... isn''t that what you said, Lucy?" Unknowingly, Arthur spent one full hour in this state, reminiscing about his memories with Lucy. Even though merging with Curtis''s soul did help him, it still couldn''t completely extinguish his ever-lasting longing for his wife and daughter. ..... The plans ordered by Ti Eru were scheduled to begin three days from now, and with him being a Colonel, Arthur didn''t need to do anything. Besides Abel who would come once a day to chat with him and talk about his excitement to kill gargoyles, there were no uninvited guests. Even Gutcha seemed to have disappeared, he was not dead but he didn''t come to visit Arthur. There was no way he was dead or else Arthur would have felt his detonator vanish, he was not brave enough to dare to run away. The poor captain was actually spending all his resources and connections to locate a Spatial Master, no matter how unimportant the information was, he would try to get it. In the tribe''s hall, where all the high-officials gathered, Ti Eru and the two elders were discussing something. Facing them was a Pigolo with a horrifying scar on his face and a missing arm. Surprisingly, he excluded an aura similar to the three so he was a God with no doubts. No one besides those three knew the existence of this one. Actually, those three were brothers and this scarred Pigolo was their fourth brother. He remained hidden since his birth and was nurtured by their father to be a well-trained assassin which took care of all the shady stuff related to their tribe. His loyalty to the tribe was never questioned and amongst the four, he was slightly stronger than Ti Eru, being a peak 4th Grade God Realm. "Did you discover anything, Ti An." Ti Eru and the other two faced the scarred Pigolo with an uneasy expression. Although Ti Eru declared that he was not afraid of the Desert Gargoyles, in all truthfulness, they were only slightly stronger and can''t eliminate them without suffering any losses. Furthermore, to completely eradicate all the enemy''s roots, the price would be extremely heavy and in by no means would it be beneficial to them. He said that in a fit of anger but he would still not give up on his plans. Maybe eradicating the gargoyles is not entirely possible, however, causing them some losses is a doable thing. The top experts of the Desert Gargoyles must have to know that they''ll visit in three days and all their forces would be stationed in their headquarters, so the other two groups lead by Ti Buo and Ti Fuer have a strong possibility to complete their tasks. If they could destroy the holes, which are the main source of income of the Gargoyles, then Ti Eru would be satisfied. Those ''holes'' were actually wells. Being a Race proficient in Earth techniques and a terrain surrounded by rocky mountains, the Desert Gargoyles were able to establish such a big force due to these wells, which link up to a deep underground mine. A mine which provided a large amount of Red Spirit Stone and Green Spirit Stones, there was even a modest amount of Earth Essence Stones. Those Earth Essence Stones are condensed from the accumulation of thick Earth Energy Attribute. They can be used to forge strong artifacts or create the ''Earth Bead'' which can be sold at a high price to outside forces. "The situation isn''t very clear, however, from I have gathered, they found an old Earth Spirit and were able to make a deal with it." Although his tone was calm, there was a hint of anxiousness in his voice. Followed by what he said, three gasps and astonished cries came out of their mouths. Their eyes were full of surprise from what they heard. "E-Earth Spirit? Ti An, are you sure about this information?" Nodding his head seriously, Ti An replied "Absolutely sure, my source is reliable. The Desert Gargoyles managed to form a contract with an ancient Earth Spirit, however, it doesn''t appear to have its full potential. The information about its status is very limited." Although its potential was not fully awakened, it still brought fear and worry to them as a spirit, no matter of which attribute, is not something they could find. Heck! Even in High-Realms, spirits are very rare and strong existences, just like dragons. The shock was too strong and no one talked for some time before Ti Eru forcefully calmed his mind and said "What is the reaction of the Naga Valley?" "Nothing, besides fortifying their security, they are just watching from the side. Since they saw the Desert Gargoyles attack us suddenly, they must think they are next, but their unusual is worrying." Ti An was never the talkative kind yet he said so much which proves how anxious he was. Their position was very fragile as an Earth Spirit is not something they can face. "Brother, how about we ask the Naga Valley for a cooperation to take down the Desert Gargoyles." proposed Ti Buo. With the addition of the spirit, the power balance between the three factions is now broken, so if the Pigolo Tribe and the Naga Valley unite, there is a strong chance to eliminate the Gargoyles. Ti Eru just snorted and said with an annoyed tone "Hmmpf, those crafty snakes are very careful, they would not fight against an Earth Spirit, even if we cooperated. We should carry on the plans and cause them big losses. Hmpf! Even at the cost of my people, I won''t back down after what they did!" The other three nodded in affirmation with their eyes burning with rage. Having launched a full-scale attack on them from out of nowhere was a huge blow to them, Ti Eru was not someone who would back down. "Ti An, you stay in the ancestral Hall this time and guard it." The scarred Pigolo nodded his head and swiftly left the hall, his figure transformed into a black shadow which soon vanished from the huge hall. Ti Eru discussed a few more matters with the two before each busied himself with preparations, leaving only the chief tribe, sitting around the big table all alone. "The calm is finally broken but.... an Earth Spirit? This is too fishy, such a thing cannot pass unnoticed by those from outside yet they did not react either... this is too strange." ... All that occurred was unknown to Arthur, who remained in the colonel''s residence, unwilling to go outside to waste time ordering orders that weren''t his, to begin with. Within the blink of an eye, three days passed and the scheduled plans were going to be executed on this very day. Possessing Hakim''s body and wearing a spirit Ranked armor that Hakim had in his storage ring, Arthur stood beside Abel and eight other Colonels behind Kieran. There was a large group of officials standing in front of Ti Eru with eleven generals at the front, wearing mighty armors and emanating an overwhelming pressure. "I only have one thing to state, don''t cause trouble or talk unless talked to! We''re going there to demand an explanation and mainly to probe the situation, not to experience a life and death battle." After having warned them, and sternly gazing at the prideful Generals, Ti Eru turned around and waved his hand, retrieving a gigantic boat. The boat was similar to the ones Vikings used back in the day on Earth, it was four hundred meters long and fifty meters wide. A large emblem was engraved at its bottom along with a fluttering red flag erected from the center of the big Spirit Boat. Chapter 178 - 164.2 : Visi The distance between the two factions was quite big, even with a Spirit Boat, and a good one at that, it would still take quite some time. Although the chief tribe, Ti Eru, could travel at a speed faster than the Spirit Boat if he tried, it would still consume Nether Energy and it isn''t as practical as using a Spirit Boat. Separating the Pigolo Tribe and the Desert Gargoyles was a long mountain range with the name of ''Yellow Streak Mountain Range''. This vast mountain range actually divided the barbarian land into two parts and took a large part of the South-West of this desolated land, outcast from the rest of this world. Even people like Ti Eru didn''t dare venture deep into the mountains were strong creature lurked such as The Flame Devouring Worm which can rival Gods. Fortunately, the Northern part of the mountain range was safer and they could safely and easily travel East to the territory of the gargoyles without having to fight dangerous beasts. The excited atmosphere lessened as some of the colonels and generals chatted but most of them sat cross-legged and meditated, preparing their spirit for the upcoming fight, if there was going to be one, that is. ... The speed of the Spirit Boat was fairly decent as it was fueled by Spirit Red Stones and in three days, they managed to cross the mountain range. Arthur was still in awe of how big this world is. With his speed alone, he can cross all of Astria yet it took them three full days to cross this mountain range. It made him think of how tiny Earth and Astria were, and how vast the universe and the outside world is. He even heard that this huge desert was but an outcast land and the wall of yang fire was like prison bars, blocking the inhabitant of the barbarian land to explore the outside world. It required a skilled God to be able to cross such intense yang fire, one either needed to be skilled in Spatial Attribute or Fire Attribute or have a special artifact allowing him to resist the yang fire. Of course, if it was a female, the process would be much, much easier, more so if she was someone like Lucy, with a Yin body, she could pass through even whilst being at the Immortal Realm. However, special physiques like those are extremely rare and they have grades too, Arthur didn''t know which grade Lucy''s body was as they couldn''t measure it in the Underworld and didn''t even want to, but he was sure that it couldn''t be low. The humidity seemed to have increased and the hot weather became even hotter. Obviously, for such strong experts present on the boat, it didn''t affect them, much less Arthur, who had Fire Resistance. Looking at the incomparably vast deserted land with hills made from dry sand, Arthur sighed and silently shook his head. He had to praise these gargoyles as this environment was worse than the Pigolo''s. "We have arrived." Ti Eru stood up at last and gazed at the front, his determined and cold gaze penetrated through the vast land and long distance all the way to the wall situated at a far distance from the Spirit Boat, which halted mid-air. "Still no response, hmpf! It seems they are not going to resist." Flicking his hand angrily, a cold glint flashed in Ti Eru''s eyes as he guided the Spirit Boat. A red streak of light flew into the skies bringing with it an overwhelming pressure of all the strong individuals boarding it. Very soon, the land was not as deserted as it used to be, holes filled the ground. Countless holes which had humongous sizes, there were also a few habitable huts. It resembled a deserted ancient village, devoid of any life but everyone on the ship knew that countless gargoyles were lurking in those holes, gazing at them cautiously. In the span of a few minutes, the red Spirit Boat crossed a large distance and stopped in front of a large tower made of literal mud. It is unknown how it is still standing but it was a fact that it laid before their very eyes. Ti Eru, who had already left the deck of the boat, was floating before that turret and facing him were two gargoyles. Bronze skin and long ears similar to elves. Both of them were yellow-armors and had long staffs behind their back. Contrary to what the Appraisal showed, the two gargoyles looked extremely long and were fairly handsome. Tarathiel (Race: Desert Gargoyle): 4th Grade God Realm Age: 197 Ehrendil (Race: Desert Gargoyle): 3rd Grade God Realm. Age: 473 Tarathiel, in this barbarian land, his name was spread wide and far. Being the youngest faction leader, he was a genius born since he was young and reached Godhood at the age of 150 which is considered a remarkable achievement. It is said that he was nurtured outside this land and was sent to a prosperous sect outside. With efficient training, good teachers and enough resources, it is no wonder he was able to achieve this. Not only did he achieve Godhood at an early age, he even advanced three grades in less than fifty years. As for Ehrendil, it was his big brother and his right hand, he was not as talented as Tarathiel, however, he was still a God and should not be underestimated. Despite being older than the Desert Gargoyle''s leader, Ti Eru didn''t dare to be rush or erupt in anger in the middle of the territory, even with the huge force he brought behind, they wouldn''t match. He only brought this much force to show off and not be easily oppressed. "I''ve expected elder Ti to come, please follow me." With a respectful bow, Tarathiel turned around and headed for the mud tower along with Ehrendil. Ti Eru paused for a second, his pupils sharpened but he still followed after he beckoned to his people to enter too. Tarathiel may be young but by no means was he stupid. Although he knew that the enemy wouldn''t try to trap him, he still didn''t fully trust him so he decided to bring his Generals with him, after all, better safe than sorry. For Tarathiel to dare attack him with such a big force, he would also dare to trick him or use some underhanded means. After all, in a war, all that matters is victory and any means can be used. .... Upon closer look, Arthur was taken aback when he entered the mud tower. Contrary to his expectations, the interior of the tower was too grand! Too overbearing and luxurious! Towering sculpture made of gold, a medicine garden with a cool weather extremely suited for growing plants. There was even a room that was full of cauldrons, surely meant for pill-making cultivators. The blue windows never ceased appearing in front of him, behind that bleak and hideous face of Hakim, shock filled Arthur as he discovered many new things. What interested him a lot was that garden full of plants, some were rare and the whole greenery area emitted a strong, enchanting fragrance, very pleasant to smell. In a few short minutes, they crossed a few rooms and arrived at a wide room which a had ten-meter wide hole. Furthermore, at the end of the room was a three-meter-long throne with a silhouette sitting on it. Upon a closer look, Arthur saw an armored knight made from pure earth sitting on the big throne. The pressure coming from it was pretty obvious, it was even more overwhelming than Delia or any other God Arthur had ever met. Feeling the pressure, Arthur wasn''t stupid to dare probe the knight, he activated his appraise skill but was shocked to see that there was an ''error'' showing in front of him. He tried a few more times but to no avail, he couldn''t appraise the knight but he knew that it wasn''t just a statue meant for show. Ti Eru''s eyes also narrowed but he didn''t to probe it either, he knew about this Earth Spirit beforehand and this knight was obviously it. His guess was further confirmed when he saw Tarathiel walk to the knight and bend on one knee, showing his respect and reverence. As silent dominated the big room, which was big enough to fill all the people Ti Eru brought with some space remaining, Arthur felt a strange fluctuation, almost unnoticeable but he was still able to feel it as if his body instinctively reacted to it. His eyes shifted from the big earth knight to an empty place in the corner of the room. He was disappointed upon seeing nothing but after a few more seconds, his body felt the same sensation again. It was like a vibration, slightly familiar and in a way, it seemed to resonate with him. Appraise didn''t show anything and there were no dots on the map, which confused him even more. A few more seconds passed and the sensation was felt again, however, this time it was in another place. Feeling this vibration, Arthur''s mind shook as he seemed to realize what was happening. ''Spatial fluctuation! It''s actually a disordered Spatial Energy!'' Shocked, Arthur waited a bit more and felt it again, which confirmed his previous guess. Having the Void Magic, which was had Spatial Magic as sub-attribute, and experiencing the destruction of a small world, which had Spatial tears and countless disorderly spatial energies, Arthur''s instinct couldn''t be wrong. Excited, Arthur kept feeling this fluctuation and tried to track it but unfortunately, it wasn''t very easy as he sensed it randomly and couldn''t guess who was emanating such strong Spatial fluctuations. His only guess was that it was this earth knight, but if it were the case, the situation would be a bit tricky. He knew how much stronger he got, but the sense of danger he felt from this unmoving statue was unprecedented. He only felt such helplessness when he was facing ''X'' in that dark torture room. ... Five full minutes passed before Tarathiel stood up and with an elated expression, he looked back at Ti Eru and said "I wonder why would Elder Ti is gracing us with your presence today." "Bullshit! Tarathiel, don''t try to play tricks on me! You think you can attack my tribe and get away with it whilst trying to play innocent?" Ti Eru''s couldn''t contain his anger, he shouted at the handsome gargoyle and didn''t seem to mind the Earth Spirit. Although he felt fearful towards it, it didn''t mean he would back down. He lived for too long and his pride was on the line, in front of his people, he couldn''t be cowardly. It''s true that he could play it calm, however, that was never his style and it was not someone half his age that was going to bully him by slaughtering a large number of his kin. In fact, Pigolo was usually despised by the Naga and Gargoyles for the sole purpose of their appearance. It is said that they resemble the devils and many accused them of doing ''evil'', so they are pretty unfamous which led to decline over the years. In the past, the Pigolo Tribe was the strongest in the barbarian land but with the passing of years and with humans invading the land, their reign deteriorated. Spreading his hand innocently and showing an honest face, Tarathiel retorted: "Elder Ti, you are being unreasonable. We did nothing to be faulted for." Ti Eru''s expression turned even uglier, he seemed to be on the verge of explosion from rage. If not for one of the generals at the back who advanced and grabbed him to calm him down, he would''ve leaped at Tarathiel and that will only lead to a disaster. Inhaling large breath with a distorted face, Ti Eru roared "Tarathiel! You better give us fair compensation or else you better not think of leaving this place in one piece!" Chapter 179 Zodiaks Episode 1.1 The weather was cold, snowflakes were falling, making the ground filled with white snow, as much as it made the road prettier, it also made it much colder. People were wearing fur coats, protecting them from the freezing cold. Amidst the busy road, where people were going back to their homes to enjoy the warmth from their fireplace, there stood a short boy with no shoes. His feet were red from the coldness and his body was involuntarilyshivering, he rubbed his hands together to warm himself whilst cursing with a low voice "Filthy beings, disregarding eyes, indifferent attitudes yet so different when faced with fear, true colors can''t help but show themselves. Just what are we...." As he pondered about this, he unconsciously followed the road back to his home with a shivering body that wasn''t coated or protected from the weather. This city was quite a remote one in the empire and it wasn''t bustling like the capital yet there were still merchants, rich nobles. Different city but the same kinds of people, same kind of system and same kind of lives, it''s only the faces that are different. With resentment to those enjoying their lives whilst feeding off the essence of the miserable, the bald-headed boy who never ceased rubbing his hands against each other made his way home with a very slow yet steady pace. He didn''t seem to mind that he wore so little and although a bit reluctantly, he still returned to the hut in the slums and opened the half-broken door which had many holes where the cold wind passed through. In this very small hut, the bald-headed boy faced a drunk man, he was swaying in front of the kid and when he caught sight of the small figure in front of the door, he slowly walked to him and didn''t hold back as he delivered a vicious punch on the kid''s stomach. As if expecting such treatment, the boy didn''t scream, he just let out a low groan before he listened to the rambling of the drunk man along with the hitting. After a few minutes, the man seemed to be tired, he stopped kicking the kid and grabbed a cup and wanted to drink it only to be disappointed that it was empty. His vision shifted back to the kid, who was going to enter a small corner of the hut which seemed to be a very small room. "You dirty waste! Go bring me alcohol, I want alcohol!" Not pausing or even listening to the man, the bald-headed boy walked to the small room and put down the small curtain to block the view then he proceeded to ignore the man, who kept screaming for a while before he stopped. A few seconds later, the door of the hut was pushed open and the man left, clearly not minding the freezing cold weather as if alcohol was more important. Sitting on a mat with an expressionless face. He inspected the few blue spots on his body before he put down his dirty shirt and stared at the cracked wall with a deadpan face. "Hah! A father? A family? None of that matters, humans are versatile beings, bound by emotions, easily influenced, and so fragile. The so-called nobles also have red blood, same as us yet they are regarded as higher-beings, such absurd logic, such idiotic policies, such idiotic public!" He sighed and used a sharp object to slash a small line on the wall which had countless other lines. ".... They speak of hope but I only see darkness, they speak of faith but I only see desperation, should I also abide by their rules?.... what are humans after all........" "Huff... huff" Standing in the small hut, which had an almost broken door and most of the little furniture present was now in a complete mess. The cold ground was now dyed with red blood, flowing and expanding to all its corners. In the middle of such a small place stood a bald-headed boy, panting heavily as he held a sharp metal object in his hand, it had blood dripping from it but surprisingly, the boy was not shaking from fright or regretting his actions. In front of him, laid a lifeless corpse of a middle-aged man, his eyes were full of anger and disbelief, showing how unwilling to die he felt when facing death. He had a hideous slash-wound in his throat, it was precise and deadly, just one slash and no other bruise marks or slashes in his body. Blood kept gushing out from that wound, like a fountain, a completely disgusting and gory sight. With cold eyes, emotionless and devoid of pity or regret, the boy stared at the dead body of his deceased father. He stood there unmoving, for a full minute before he looked down at his hand, and mumbled with a low voice "Good people should live whilst bad people should die they said, but what if bad people pretend to be good and vice-versa? Ha! what a world, what a world indeed!" Then, without any slight hesitation, he crouched down and dragged the lifeless corpse out of the hut. With unwavering expression, he literally cut the corpse in pieces and sneakily throw them into a large garbage dump a bit away from the hut. Since the weather was freezing cold, the small and pieces won''t be found out anytime soon. As he went back to the hut, he did a quick clean up and picked what was important to him, which was the sharp metal object he used to kill that man along with a rectangular paper with a red symbol on it. After one final look at the small hut, which could barely be considered a place to live in, he threw the lighten-up match inside and left without taking a second look. In the freezing cold of the winter, in a normal night, a small hut was burning for two hours before the flames subdued and all that was left was black ashes. Tonight was colder than usual, the city was empty as it was pretty late. The usually bustling road was now devoid of any person, however, at a certain point of time, a boy, with ragged clothes and bare feet, slowly walked down that road and left the city. Not even the guards were on duty, so his actions went unnoticed, as if he never existed as if he was but a meager existence, not meant to be known or pitied..... Chapter 180 chapter 164.3 : Taking Action Followed by Ti Eru''s roar was his strong Godly pressure, although he was facing two gods, he didn''t back down and tried to intimidate them. Anyone can tell that his previous words were not just for his show, knowing his character, such bold words were not just boasting. In response to the tribe chief, Tarathiel remained completely calm. As the pressure of Ti Eru rushed at him and his brother, they didn''t back down and the two unleashed a similar pressure, forcing Ti Eru''s to be slightly suppressed. For two gods to only be able to slightly suppress Ti Eru''s pressure, that in itself shows how strong the old pigolo was. Even facing the two of them in a fight, despite Tarathiel being a genius, he may not be at a big disadvantage. He lived longer than them and cultivated for centuries and held the position of tribe chief before Tarathiel was even born. Two Gods at the same grade may not necessarily be matched, one can outdo the other easily if the comprehension of their skills is higher. The treasures and artifacts played a role in the fights too. Not long before Ti Eru roared, countless footsteps were heard which came out from the only dark hole in the room. Seconds after, rows of desert gargoyles were armors popped out of the hole, each one stronger than the other. Together, they emanated strong pressure and a domineering presence. With two large groups opposing each other, the atmosphere became tense and the two opposite parties were glaring at each other with unfriendly and sneering gazes. Surprisingly, amongst the crowd of desert gargoyles, the green-armored general Rosie, who lost her arm to Arthur was also present. Furthermore, two human twins, with burly figures and bald heads were also here. Without a doubt, they were the people sent by the white-clothed young man who was with Vyncent, they were here to bring the candidates or whatever that youth was referring to. In any case, Arthur was totally oblivious to them, not caring about them or even sparing them a single glance. Whatever their purpose was, it didn''t have anything to do with him, he only killed that young man because he was in the way and as long as they don''t cause him trouble, he won''t openly attack. He wasn''t even interested in the dispute between the two factions, his mind was concentrated on the Spatial fluctuations. The more he felt them, the more confident he was that it was due to the motionless earth knight. It was a good and bad news, he found something that had to do with Spatial attribute, but the bad news is that he can''t possess it. Even if he were to fight it right now, which he wouldn''t, he won''t come out victorious with Tarathiel and his brother present as they won''t sit idle. As his thoughts were beginning to spin, a cool sensation surged through his body and stretched to all his limbs, it entered his consciousness and calmed down the excitement he was feeling. "It seems I must act." Although he didn''t have full confidence in possessing the Earth Spirit, he still was sure of his abilities in escaping safely. If it was about confusing and slowing enemies, no one was better than him. Almost non-costly teleportation, free access to strong ancient flames and penetrating Dark Magic. Worst comes to worst, he would imprison himself in the dark cube, its defenses are not something a god could break, especially when his stats increased more recently. The atmosphere was still as tense as ever and Ti Eru was still silently glaring at Tarathiel with a deadlock expression and full of killing intent, not intending to hide it. From any person''s point of view, the fight was going to break at any given second, however, the truth was totally different. Ti Eru was trying to oppress, or rather, scare Tarathiel but he wasn''t going to be rash and start a fight in a very disadvantageous environment, his purpose coming here was to scare them, warn them, and grab their attention to his two brothers could deal heavy blows to the gargoyles'' territory. No one has noticed that a bit above the army of pigolo, a terrifyingly powerful arrow appeared. Being more than twenty meters wide, two meters thick and emanating an alarming devouring power. It was purple and had black flames on its edges. The Heavenly Arrow was now divided into four version, with the fourth one being the combination of the first three. [Void Arrow], [Flame Lightning Arrow], and [Dark Arrow], each had a unique attribute or two as its core and the fusion of the four attributes would result in a heaven-shaking arrow. Although this [Void Arrow] that Arthur conjured emanated a very strong suction power, no one was able to notice it, not even the three gods. Spatial Passage was activated, it shrouded the arrow in an empty space which cannot be sensed and the moment Arthur willed it, the passage can disappear and the Void Arrow can be unleashed. Actually, in such circumstances, he was sure that if he was able to successfully sneak attack any present God with the arrow, nothing would be left from the God as he will be completely devoured. His target was not the gods but the earth-knight. He just needs to injure it then forcefully possess it. Although it''ll cost permanent Mental Power, it won''t be too bad as the stats and benefits from the earth-knight would be generous. But this was all based on his guess that the spatial fluctuations were due to the knight. to possess this knight, he had to resort to [Possess, possess and possess], but such a skill, since it evolved, the cost of using it is pretty big. If he were to forcefully control the body of a God Realm, his stats would drop by 50m and he would lose 250 Mental Power, moreover, he would only be able to possess a living God for half a minute. For a parasite, such as Arthur, there were three kinds of possessing. possessing dead bodies and controlling their bodies, possessing living beings but staying dormant in their body but this can only be done if the other party doesn''t detect the parasite or is of a lower Realm, last but not least is the third possessing, which relies of the skill Arthur forcefully created at the cost of Mental Power and stats. The conjuring of the Void Arrow took only a few seconds, next thing Arthur did was drift a bit of his consciousness into his storage, locking into ten flash grenades, preparing to throw them the second he acted. Fortunately, the room was not overly large and a single teleportation would enable him to appear near the knight, what will be left was to possess it. He could still try to kill it but that was far too unreasonable. Just the meer pressure coming out of it was alarming, to think of killing it in a very short time is not plausible. As he was about to act, Arthur''s heartbeats were calm and constant, he didn''t feel any sense panic or urgency, just abnormally calm. Only a dozen of second passed since the desert gargoyles appeared but it was more than enough for Arthur to fully prepare. Without any slight hesitation, his main body left Hakim''s body and instantly sunk into the ground, melting with it. ''thud!'' A falling sound was heard as the lifeless body of the colonel Hakim fell on the ground, grabbing the attention of everybody. The first reaction everybody had, including Ti Eru, was shock, complete shock! For someone to drop dead from out of nowhere, it was suspicious but all those suspicions were directed at the gargoyles which appeared not long ago. They didn''t to physically check to be able to sense that Hakim was dead. The first one to react was Abel, who flung into an immense rage and disobeyed the chief tribe''s orders as his body charged at the gargoyles. Rage and anger flashing in their eyes, the rest didn''t stop him but joined him, taking out their weapons and unleashing their suppressed aura. The sudden death of Hakim was like a huge catalyst, Ti Eru also didn''t blame or stop Abel, he took out a three feet long red sword with sharp thorns on it and struck at Tarathiel without restraint. As the battle began, at last, Arthur, who was silently watching from underground, deactivated his Spatial passage, unleashing the ready Void Arrow. Like an unstoppable storm, a cold wind twirled inside the room, making everybody shiver and by the time they lifted their head to look at the source of this chillness. They saw a purple streak undistinguishable by the naked eye, it flew at the earth-knight and before Tarathiel or Ehrendil could react, it had already struck the abdomen of big earth knight. "No!" The calm Tarathiel shrieked as he ferociously swung his staff, pushing back Ti Eru and hurried towards the knight, however, he was stopped by Ti Eru, who was very persistent as he arrived behind him and slashed with his sword, creating a bloody red arc which could split rivers and shatter mountains. It was obvious that the chief tribe didn''t hold back at all! Ehrendil rushed at the earth-knight to protect it too but his speed was just too slow, by the time the two of them sensed the arrow, it had already struck the knight and the strange suction power started doing its job, eating the ancient earth, dust and even the air around it. It was like a bottomless pit, a devouring black hole as it ate away the earth-knight. Even Arthur was momentarily startled, he expected a strong resistance from the earth-knight and not such result. In any case, both cases fitted his plans. Flicking his hand, ten flash grenades flew from the earth and spread around the two parties. The second they appeared, a bright white flash caused by the multiplied the effect of the grenades blinded all the eyes of the present people. Whether it was a gargoyle or a pigolo, they either closed their eyes or raised their sleeves to block from the blinding light. Using this opportunity, Arthur sprung from the earth and instantly transformed into a black whirlpool near the earth knight which was being eaten. The black whirlpool didn''t even last a split second as it entered the earth knight''s body and merged with it, no one noticed such a fast movement as they were terrified by the sudden terrifying events that unfolded. First, it was that cold purple streak then this blinding light. Exactly ten seconds later, the blinding light disappeared, leaving astonished expressions hanging on all their faces. Even Ti Eru and Tarathiel were equally shocked. They glanced at each other but they shock deepened when they saw the confusion in each other''s faces. Seeing this, they both knew that there was a third party present, and it wasn''t weak either. What made Tarathiel''s panic deepen, was that even he was able to detect this third party. It was extremely good at hiding its traces and conceal its presence, such a force made him involuntarily tremble for a split second. He knew that news of their Earth Spirit spread to the outside but he didn''t expect ''them'' to react so fast and send an expert to exterminate the spirit. ''It seems they don''t want us to hold such strong power.'' Chapter 181 - 164.4 : Might Of A Fis As they scanned their surroundings, Tarathiel, Ehrendil, and Ti Eru were unable to sense the intruder, which made them feel even more anxious, especially the two gargoyle brothers. By the time the Void Arrow disappeared, a large gaping hole could be seen in the abdomen of the earth-knight. The same kind of pressure could be felt from the knight as if the arrow didn''t it affect it the least. However, the Earth Spirit didn''t move albeit suffering from a sudden attack, which raised doubts in Ti Eru''s minds. Unlike the gargoyle brothers, he didn''t remain stunned and apart from a quick glance at the knight, he didn''t pay it much heed, his focus shifted back to its original target and he unhesitantly attacked Tarathiel. "Tarathiel, it seems Heaven blessed your clan yet doomed it at the same time!" Feeling happiness in other''s misery, Ti Eru ferociously swung his red sword as an illusory bloody image of a red spider manifested behind him. It gave off a savage aura, full of anger and bloodlust. Like the Lich King and any God Arthur encountered, Ti Eru went all out and invoked his God Spirit, which is created whenever someone breaks into Godhood and each one is always different from the other, there can never be two exact God Spirits. The fight resumed, but this time, Ehrendil joined the fray as he and his brother summoned their God Spirits. Tarathiel''s was a three-eyed lizard and Ehrendil''s was surprisingly a creature very similar to a cyclop, it wielded a large yellow club and had one large eye. The combination of the two God Spirits faced the red spider, however, the spider was much larger and more frightening than both of them combined. It hissed at them and with Ti Eru floating in front of it, both pigolo and spider charged at the duo, releasing an alarming bloodlust and an overwhelming pressure. Tarathiel was no pushover either, despite being extremely angry and not having the time to awaken the Earth Spirit, he swung his long staff at Ti Eru. The red spider shot a thick red beam of light at the swinging cyclop then threw itself savagely at the lizard, using its countless sharp teeth to rip it to shreds. At this point, the mud tower was shaking and even the nearby gargoyles and pigolo who were fighting were pushed further away. In a battle between gods, such insignificant battles of immortals cannot be compared and they could easily die from collateral damage. The battle reached its climax in just a couple of seconds as unlike a fight between Immortals, the battle of Gods is much shorter and usually ends in a very short time. At an unknown point of time, when all of them were busy fighting their opponents, a black whirlpool appeared near the feet of the earth knight once again and a black shadow was ejected from its inside. The black shadow flew with an extraordinary speed toward a specific direction until it heavily crashed into a wall thirty meters away. Usually, anyone would think someone has been sent flying but the force of the crash was extremely strong to the point that the hard wall of the mud tower cracked and a large hole was formed where the shadow crashed. The three gods couldn''t help but halt and frown at such a sudden event, they focused their Godly Sense on that hole in the wall but their frows deepened further when they discovered naught. ..... When Arthur tried to possess the Earth Knight, he did the usual and entered it but after waiting for some time, a very powerful ejecting force threw him out of the knight''s body and sent him flying away, he couldn''t even stop his body from crashing into the wall. Fortunately, despite spitting a small mouthful of blood, he managed to react immediately as he merged into the Earth and went for the closest target he could find, which surprisingly was Rose, the green-armored general. Just as he was about to possess her, a terrifyingly strong gravitational force pushed him out of the ground and what faced his vision was a long illusory tail of Tarathiel''s God Spirit. Arthur''s main focus now was to hide his appearance, then he could easily escape, as long as they don''t see his real appearance then it''s all good. At the very last second, his body vanished and appeared a distance away, barely avoiding the incoming tail which heavily crashed on the ground and shook the tower yet again. Without waiting for them to react or before even their sense could swipe over him, Arthur transformed into a small black whirlpool and his body disappeared. What replaced him was the body of the white-clothed youth who was conversing with Vyncent. Using his ice powers to freeze his body and stop it from rotting, along with insane regenerative abilities, his body went back to normal, fully healed. The process of possessing took less than a second and by the time the senses of the three gods caught up to him, he was already using the white-clothed youth''s body. This time, Arthur''s didn''t escape, he just raised his hand and a strong dark barrier formed. The incoming large club of the cyclop, which brought with it immense pressure, smashed again the dark barrier and managed to cause some cracks but it still didn''t break. .... "Senior Lu!" Not far away, the two Dun twins which were fighting a pigolo were stunned once they saw the youth. What''s more is that they saw their senior brother, who was supposed to be at the Divine Realm, block a blow from the God Spirit of Ehrendil! "Stop! It''s Senior Lu from our sect!" Dun Dal saw that Tarathiel''s lizard was going to attack again so he brushed off the fear and spoke. Contrary to his expectations, Tarathiel ignored him and concentrated on attacking Arthur. As for Ti Eru, with a pondering and amused expression, he backed away and silently watched the battle that was going to unfold. He was able to sense that the youth was clearly at the Divine Realm but his eyes told him another thing. Whether the youth meant to harm or not, he was after the Earth Spirit and as the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Although Arthur''s plans were disrupted, he was by no means panicking. His appearance couldn''t have completely seen, he was barely visible for less than a second, even if they managed to see a small fraction, they couldn''t have memorized all his facial and physical features. Moreover, seeing Ti Eru back down and the two gargoyle brothers intending to fight him, he was a bit amused and excited. He had long since wanted to see how strong he was, facing these two Gods, he could finally test his new strength. If worse comes to worse, he would flee or sneakily possess someone from their side, what''s sure at least is that he isn''t going to give up on the Earth Knight, not yet at least. He didn''t take out Makaze, neither did he plan on using his attribute. The first thing he was eager to test was his physical body. Although he annoying chains were still present, he was still able to hide them and they were less restrictive since he broke through tot he Divine Realm. Arthur stared at the cyclop, which was ready to swing again and deactivated his dark barrier. The Dark-Star Strengthening technique, which boosted his physical strength, was activated and created an illusory black layer of energy above his skin. Resolutely, he faced the incoming large club and used his bare hand to perform a punch. "Courting death!" Ehrendil snickered as he the actions of Arthur, even Tarathiel was startled. Ti Eru, who was watching from the backlines shook his head and sighed. Arthur didn''t mind that and used his full strength to punch the club. As the two ends clashed, sand waves swept forth and mud tower heavily shook. To the dumbfounded gazes of the three gods, Arthur was pushed back five steps, as for the cyclop, it was only pushed back a step but the light emitting from it dimmed by a bit. "T-this is.." Ti Eru sucked a breath of cold air as he saw the perfect state of Arthur''s hand. To battle with a God Spirit in raw strength and not be injured, not even a bit, it was not something a Divine Realm could do. Heck! Even him doesn''t dare to clash with the cyclops head-on, only his red spider could! Tarathiel''s gaze turned from mock to total astonishment, his pupils shrunk and his eyes narrowed. He looked at his equally flabbergasted brother and seriously said "Let''s join hands, I do not believe he can withstand us!" As he said that, the three-eyed lizard leaped from behind him and opened its jaw, spitting a yellow ball which was obviously targetted at Arthur. The cyclop followed right after as it furiously banged its club on the ground as it was angered by its loss. It swung its club a second time, however, you could sense that the power behind it was much stronger than the first strike. Its club shined with a brown light as it came bashing at the small figure of the white-clothed youth. ''Hehe, interesting.'' Staring at the two incoming attacks, Arthur still remained calm as he clenched his hand into a fist again, but this time, neither of the gargoyle brothers or the chief tribe underestimated him or mocked him. His clenched fist had a bean-sized green light shining from it, as he took a punching posture. Arthur performed a slow punching attack and each time his punch advanced a distance, the green light emanating from it expanded until all his fist was green. The incoming club and the yellow ball didn''t wait for Arthur to prepare, the club came smashing from above and the ball was aimed at his chest. Oblivious to these extremely powerful attacks, Arthur''s eyes shone as his fist, which was filled with green light, struck the air in front of him ''I''ll show you the taste of a real punch! Heavenly Mountain Fist!'' ''Booom!'' A loud explosion occurred as the fist struck the air, which instantly created a one-meter-deep hole under Arthur''s feet, which soon was followed by an ear-deafening sound caused by his strike. The incoming club was instantly pushed away and the cyclop was forced to back away a few steps and kneel, the light coming from it dimmed by a lot as if it was going to vanish at any second. As for the yellow ball, it was instantly pushed back and dispersed in a matter of seconds, however, this was not the end, the ground cracked and the room was divided into two. Large boulders fell from above and the mud tower kept shaking as if it was going to fall at any given second. ''As expected of a Heavenly Rank technique.'' Although his mastery of it was not that high, he was still able to cause disastrous damage thanks to his high Strength stats. Ehrendil coughed two mouthfuls of blood, his face became pale and he didn''t seem to be in a good condition. Tarathiel was far better as he backed away and didn''t suffer any injuries. As for Ti Eru, he was far from the clash, apart from having to fly due to the ground under him being swallowed by the huge hole appearing in the room, he was not affected. Using this fist technique, it was efficient and fairly strong, but it still took a tool on him Nether Energy reserve but thanks his recovery was equally overpowered so there was no disadvantage. As the dust cleared, Tarathiel was going to ask the youth to stop, clearly, defeating him would cost him dearly. Furthermore, Ti Eru was still at the side and he couldn''t deal with the two at the same time, not after his brother was injured. Unfortunately for him, Arthur was never willing to listen to anyone. He calmy took back his fist and regained the same punching posture, a small bean-sized green light appeared in his hand again and without hesitation, he started punching slowly, causing Tarathiel''s handsome face to turn ugly, even Ti Eru was alarmed. He called back his red spider and backed away even further. ''Booom!'' Chapter 182 - 165.1 : An Obedient Shell This punch was more devastating than the first one as the mud tower was already shaking heavily when Arthur attacked. The thick crack dividing the room into two parts became even bigger and all people close to him were sent flying high up in the air or blown away, crashing into the falling wall or out of the room, some even fell into the huge hole at the end of the room from which gargoyles came from. It was as apparent as the sun that Arthur was way superior to them, after all, when he was just an Immortal, he managed to kill an almost peak grade God from the Underworld, so, although Ti Eru and the rest were decently strong, if Arthur was to go all out like last time, they won''t be able to get away unscathed, however, the probability of killing them all without suffering nothing is equally impossible too. Rumbling sound echoed in the mud tower and a third of it collapsed on itself which forced the huge crowd to dart away from the room. Ti Eru was wise enough to stay away so he quickly left the room along with his army when he saw the astonishing devastation. His anger had long since vanished when he saw the gargoyles suffer this much. Without wasting another second in here, he enveloped his army with a red energy and flew away from the mud tower. Due to the damage caused by the white-clothed man, Tarathiel was forced to focus on him and let Ti Eru get away, he rushed to catch his brother, who had a pale face, blood leaked out of his lips and his body had multiple bloody scratches, ugly to behold. What they didn''t know is that in the second punch, along with using Heavenly Mountain Fist, he also added Natural Lightning, which caused vibrations in all the surroundings and in no time, they invaded the God''s body and injured him internally. Natural Lightning is one of the deadliest abilities Arthur could use, along with his fire and Dark Magic. Void magic is also overpowered but if it isn''t used wisely, it could easily turn on its owner and cause self-harm, death in some extreme cases. Everyone was focused fleeing and dodging the falling boulders and ignored the source of all this damage. Grasping this opportunity, Arthur''s figure blurred and appeared near Rose, who was intending to jump into the big hole. Just as she was about to jump, a small whirlpool flashed near her and vanished by the next second. Without her, or anyone else noticing, Arthur was able to slip in and avoid the focus of the three Gods, which were busy dealing with this complicated situation. In fact, even if the boulders were to hit them, they would receive no damage, however, that was something else for their armies, especially the gargoyles, who had Spirit and Mortal ones lingering in that huge army ........ Deep underground, in a decently large room with a simple bed and a special yard with a few medicinal plants growing in it, there sat a female gargoyle with red hair and long ears, she was not a top beauty but her looks were not average either, the only thing you can criticize her for is her missing arm. She quietly sat on the bed with eyes closed and crossed legs. For the last two days, Rose stayed in her room, recovering from the injuries she suffered. Adding the arm she lost, a strange green lightning invaded her body and caused some injuries. It was not severe but it couldn''t be ignored either as she needed to slowly push out the lightning, which stuck to her organs and kept vibrating and causing annoying pain. The shut eyes opened at last when the last bit of green lightning was expelled from her body, Rose breathed a sigh of relief as she inspected her body one last time. When she saw nothing out of place, she prepared to wear her armor and head out to meet the clan leader only to be stopped. Wide open eyes, half-open mouth and a flabbergasted expression, she didn''t even stand yet when her vision landed on a gray-haired man standing a meter in front of her. He didn''t emit any dangerous aura but that didn''t stop her from freezing on the stop, it was unknown if she stopped moving due to fear or hesitation, but it certainly wasn''t surprise. All kinds of thoughts rampaged in her mind but no matter how hard she thought, she couldn''t guess how he managed to appear here. This underground layout is the real stronghold of the gargoyles and even a God cannot pass undetected when sneaking in here, it is also why the gargoyles were able to last this long and are considered one of the strongest factions here. ''How did he get here? Teleportation? No! That''s not possible! There''s an array against that... then how....'' Rose didn''t thoroughly think through, she glanced at her sword which was not far away. She kept it outside to nurture it and increase her intimacy with the sword. Sword cultivators like hers always nurture their swords, only Arthur would hide Makaze in his storage and only take it in dire times. Actually, since he has peak mastery, he doesn''t need to nurture his katana, however, what he didn''t know is that his mastery is not enough for him to show what real sword mastery is. "Fate let us meet again, how do you do, General Rose." Arthur talked with a calm tone as he displayed a playful smile, he didn''t feel threatened and already knew what she was thinking about. He didn''t push away the sword or destroy it, in fact, he acted as if he didn''t know her intention. The indifference Arthur showed only made the general more panicked, various foolish and risky thoughts popped in her mind but at the end, she didn''t dare to act as she remembered how she was completely hopeless against him last time and lost an arm without even realizing it, it was absolute fear that came from deep inside her. Forcefully squeezing a friendly smile, she replied "It''s very nice to meet you again, sir." Ignoring her panic and fearfulness, Arthur walked to the other end of the bed and sat, oblivious to the stare of the general. He didn''t conceal this to make this dialogue more convincing, moreover, they already crossed paths and she shouldn''t be stupid enough to act against him. Arthur wanted to stay dormant a bit more but he knew that it wasn''t possible, the only reason he was able to enter her body was due of the injuries and the lightning that hurt her and perturbed her Nether Energy flow, stopping it from detecting him. If more time passed, she would have detected a strange presence and would have forcefully pushed him out and that was deal heavy damage to him, just like what that knight did. He suffered serious injuries but two days were more than enough for his body to fully recover. Although this place was dangerous, he still had a bit of confidence to fix things, furthermore, he was not going to give up on that knight. Without a doubt, that thing has a connection with spatial magic, as long as it has even a small probability, Arthur was able to bet on it. "I have already given you a second chance and there will not be another. Not everyone gets a second chance in life, so you better treasure it and act wisely, not foolishly." When Rose wanted to act and straightened her thoughts, Arthur''s words were like a bucket of cold water pouring over her and making her unable to even keep that stiff smile. "Seeing that you understand, let me ask you a simple question. Do you want to live? Or die?" Expecting a question about her clan, Rose was startled and only after a few seconds did she snap out of her daze. Unconsciously, facing this calm yet scary man, she hurriedly replied "L-live, live, I want to live but that doesn''t mean I''ll betray my kin!" Arthur shrugged his shoulders innocently and retorted "So what? Humans betray each other every day. Life is more precious than what you call loyalty because, at the end of the day, it is Strength which matters, not an absurd thing like ''loyalty''. Furthermore, I''m not asking you to betray your kin, you just have to remain silent, nothing more." Rose kept silent, and from the stubborn and resolute look on her face, it was obvious that she wasn''t willing to cooperate. "Now that is a problem." Since the friendly way wasn''t going to work, Arthur was not going to try to be kind either. The ethereal state was canceled and his playful smile vanished. Countless threads wrapped themselves around Rose and stopped her from even lifting her finger but what followed was the real horror. A thick bloodlust enveloped her coupled with a chilling aura shaking her spines, albeit being immobile due to the threads, her body involuntarily shivered from fear. It''s like she was facing a completely different person, previously a sly fox and now a slaughter god. The stubborn words that she was intending to spit out couldn''t get out of her mouth. Her body was locked by a vicious and cold stare coming from the deep gray pupils of Arthur, it was suffocating as if someone was strangling her. "General, you must know that all life is temporary and it is up to each person to decide his fate. Do not be foolish enough to waste your long life, neither I nor you wish for your death, so do not disappoint me!" As his words finished, he vanished from her sight and she felt an extremely cold yet weird aura invading her mind. Before she could gather her Nether Energy to fight it out, she heard the same cold voice inside her ears "Remember, Tomorrow is a hope, never a promise, don''t waste your second chance when you''re so lucky enough to get one." Chapter 183 - 165.2 : Pigolo Tribe On The Offensive Since she talked with Arthur, Rose never stopped feeling weird, as if she was not herself anymore or as if she was fully exposed to someone''s stare, it was an extremely disgusting and uncomfortable feeling, however, she didn''t dare to push out whatever was lurking inside of her. Since that was the case, she could only try to bear with it until it''s done. She also wasn''t courageous enough to go to the clan master and spit out the truth about Arthur. Although she was too loyal to her clan, anyone''s life is more important than loyalty, nothing could ever change that. .... At the central hall inside the mud tower, Tarathiel and two other gargoyles sat around a table with serious expressions and ugly faces. "The losses this time are pretty big." The tall gargoyle who had an aura no less threatening than Tarathiel and Ehrendil spoke with a concerned tone. He was the second brother and was away when Ti Eru came. "Sixteen mines and one residential area! All gone!" ''bang!'' Ehrendil banged his fist angrily on the table, although they cause a lot of suffering to the Pigolo Tribe, they didn''t expect Ti Eru to be this mad and retort with a full frontal attack from all sides, it wasn''t his style. Pigolos believe in strength and were never people with resort to underhanded means which is why the gargoyles were bold enough to attack, however, the reality was cruel and their losses far outweighed their wins. "This is nothing, once we can fully wake up the Earth Spirit, those snakes and ugly cockroaches will meet their end!" Tarathiel was the calmest amongst the five, he tapped his finger in a rhythmic manner on the table as he gazed huge earth knight with reverence. For them, users of the Earth Attribute and living underground, such spirit is akin to their god, or ancestor, their respect for it was incomparable but Tarathiel was a bit different, although he revered it, he also had thoughts of trying to control it. At first, he thought it was impossible as it was a spirit, but after seeing how old and injured it was, his hopes were once again ignited. "What do we do? Do we fight back? Ti Eru''s forces don''t seem to be falling back or retreating, that guy had gone crazy!" The tall gargoyle spoke with a bit of fear, he remembered the large number of Pigolos who invaded their land and fought in literally a savage manner, killing as many gargoyles as they could before falling down, it wasn''t a horror to behold. "Nothing, since they want destruction then let them have it, we should focus more on awakening the Spirit." Ehrendil nodded in confirmation and left the hall with the tall gargoyle after discussing for few more minutes. Once he made sure that no one was there, Tarathiel knelt respectfully in front of the Earth knight and said "Great one, what are your orders." He had malicious thought and wanted to control the spirit but for now, it wasn''t possible so he laid low and kept a very deep secret with him. "Mmmmm" A deep fearful voice came out of the earth knight, it brought with it immense pressure and a sense of oppression. It seemed to be pondering as Tarathiel knelt in front of it. After an unknown amount of time passed, the deep voice rang inside the hall once again. "Just keep providing me with those stones, once I fully regain my powers then those insects will meet their end.. especially that one! Hmpf hmpf!" After it said that, the aura lessened until it vanished, leaving Tarathiel soaking with sweat. Unknown to the gargoyle, the earth was not referring to Ti Eru in his last sentence but about Arthur, who tried to forcefully take over its body, causing more harm than good. ..... In the blink of an eye, three days passed without nothing major happening in the central territory of the gargoyles. Ti Eru continued his crazy attack and became even more relentless, he was hellbent on decimating them. Even Ehrendil started to worry and met up with Tarathiel a few times but the latter only told him to lay low and wait patiently. Rose didn''t do anything particular, she just meditated to recuperate and ordered some of her subordinates. She was General and her position was only second to the three brothers. Although she lost an arm, her prowess was not to be underestimated. Arthur didn''t act either, he wasn''t going to foolishly sneak around their base as the time was not ripe, he was not interested in their fight with the pigolos neither was he going to cause trouble, he just needed to find a safe way to control that night. The silent slumber of Arthur finally halted as he started detecting the spatial fluctuation from Rose''s room by the fourth day. It became even more intense which caused him to feel it although he is inside Rose''s body (No dirty thoughts please). "It''s time to act." Being suddenly interrupted from her meditation, Rose was annoyed but instantly realized that it was Arthur''s voice. She hesitated for a second before uttering "Didn''t you say I just need to stay silent about you?" "Just shut up and do as I say." Arthur''s tone was clearly like a master ordering a servant, which enraged Rose but she didn''t protest, she clenched her fist and remained silent. "That''s more like it, now go North until I tell you to stop." Begrudgingly, Rose could only leaver her room and head North into this vast underground area. Each step allowed Arthur to feel how strong the spatial fluctuation were. Merely twenty minutes later, Arthur signaled her to stop and said "What is there above us?" "It should be the Ancestral Hall." "Is that where that Earth Knight was?" "Earth Knight? we have no such thing." Confused by what she heard, Rose tilted her head and pondered before replying that, she was surprisingly cooperative right now, however, perhaps it was due to being used to being used like this and adding that to total helplessness. Just as she was going to ask what does he want to do, a small whirlpool appeared in front of her and a dark shadow jumped up and disappeared into the nearby roof in a matter of one second. "Wait here, I''ll come back." Chapter 184 Side Story 1.1 After that day, when Usui experienced the Earthquake, seen the blue windows and tried the incantation that was displayed in the skills window. The small flame that slowly burned inches above his palm changed his pessimistic attitude. An indescribable feeling surged, gazing at that flame yet feeling no pain. The book he used as a test turned into ashes within seconds, seeing this flame disappearing after its use was done. Usui was left aghast for a few seconds, his normally calm eyes were ignited as a passion never seen before was born. A desire to be strong, to control his fate in his hands, not be tied by politic matters, marriages or whatnot. To do whatever he wants whenever he wants, to protect himself and be the strongest, such a far yet realizable ambition surfaced in his mind. His heartbeats accelerated and his thoughts raged, the sheer thought of it made him excited. He knew that it''ll be a hard road, that this was but the beginning yet this only added to his strong will and strengthened more. .... Although major things occurred after the earthquake, Usui remained oblivious to it. For the next whole week, he didn''t leave his family''s mansion. Hour after hour, night after night he would stay at the very same balcony, practicing his new abilities. He only had [Fireball] and its upgrade [Fire Wave]. Fire affinity(passive) also helped him create small sparks of flames but compared to the real deal they were weak. One fireball had a size a bit bigger than his fist, as for the fire wave, its might was really terrifying, he almost burned his garden so he didn''t to carelessly use it here. Thanks to his meticulous and hard work, Fire Ball leveled two times and became Lv3, its size didn''t increase dramatically but the heat emanated from it more than doubled. His intelligence stats increased by 6 and somehow, his wisdom also increased by 2. The amount added was meager but Usui didn''t feel disappointed, in fact, he couldn''t be happier. He heard from his butler that monsters appeared in random areas, there were not a lot of casualties but certain forbidden places later called dungeon also appeared. These dungeons appeared in every capital of all the world and some appeared randomly all over the world. Right now, with the union of all countries, they managed to locate three hundred twenty-six dungeon and it was still growing every day. What''s more terrifying is that military expeditions tried entering them to investigate but the arms weren''t helpful as the monsters were stronger than those outside and this foolish movement by the governments caused a lot of unnecessary casualties. ... The never stopping practicing of young Usui was finally halted after ten days. He decided to stop and start exploring when his Fireball reached Lv4. Currently, his stats increased by a bit but in his opinion, to reach the top, this amount is nothing. Status Window Name: Usui Age: 21 Race: Human -------- LEVEL: 0 -------- Strength: 21 Agility: 15 Dexterity: 9 Intelligence: 153 Wisdom: 81 Vitality: 10 -------- Health: 40(0.05/s) Mana: 250(0.1/s) Stamina: 30(0.09/s) -------- Fire Resistance: 25% -------- Skills(active): Fire Wave Lv1, Upgraded Fireball Lv4, Run(Lv1) Skills(passive): Fire Affinity, Deep Thinking Lv1, Clear Mind Lv2. ------- Unallocated Points: 0 ------- The two newly added skills were a bit of a surprise to him. Although they were passives, they helped him a lot in understanding the fire affinity and control better the fire. As the name suggests, [Clear Mind] makes his thoughts clearer, as for [Deep Thinking], it allowed him to close his eyes and focus on one thing for a whole hour without being disturbed by external noises, it helped him a lot in leveling the fireball skill. He also used the unallocated points and put them into intelligence, which added the power of his fireball. He first thought practicing will increase his level but after inquiring his butler, he discovered that only hunting monsters will raise his experience. Usui also learned that there were countless people who learned abilities unique just like him but there was also the normal crowd, like his butler, who could see their status but their stats were low and they gained no skill, but it didn''t mean that such skills were not obtainable. As his family was quite rich and had a lot of connections and strings here and there, he managed to find a new party with people who acquired special skills just like him. With them, he was going to enter one of the dungeons. The dungeon they were entering was the one with weak monsters, not like the dungeons that were horrifying like the one in Hawai, which was infiltrated by more than a hundred soldiers but none came alive, only fearful cries could be heard. Chapter 185 - 165.3 : Unpenetrable Dark Cube The second Arthur left the general''s body, he headed straight to the surface, precisely towards where the Spatial fluctuations were denser. From the looks of it, they have changed its locations because the place he was heading to wasn''t where that fight occurred. Cautiously, with his two Senses spreading only a dozen or so meters and his aura suppressed, Arthur made his way towards the Earth Knight. He was determined to possess it, more so when he started sensing the powerful fluctuations, even if it wasn''t certain that he''ll gain a lot of stats, the mastery in Spatial sub-attribute will help him a lot. Anything related to Spatial Magic can only be beneficial for him. It''s true that it was quite daring and dangerous to venture alone in the main base of the gargoyles, but Arthur had many precautions set in his mind and a few trump cards used as a last resort. Worst comes to worst, he would have to unleash a devastating Rizaki, it''ll self-harm him too, and in a serious way, however, that is always better than getting caught or killed on the spot. Approximatively ten minutes after he left Rose''s body, Arthur resurfaced inside a large empty hall where only the huge Earth Knight sat on a similar throne as the one from before. Since his aura was massively suppressed, adding that to possessing a three-meter tall worm specialized in invisibility, it was extremely hard to sense him unless a God focused entirely on spreading his sense in that area, which is not the case right now. Slowly, Arthur used the worm''s body to crawl near the knight without raising any suspicions. His Sixth Sense was locked on the knight whilst his Divine Sense was surveying the countless small fluctuations, which couldn''t cause any harm but were still numerous and eye-catching. The part where Arthur''s arrow struck was still missing, a huge hole in its abdomen. What was shocking, however, was that its body was kind of regenerating, which didn''t sound plausible, especially if it was devoured by the Void. Arthur felt a bit startled but didn''t mind it that much, this knight was not something ordinary and to be able to regenerate from that isn''t entirely impossible if it''s a being that could look down on Gods. ''Let''s see how really tough you are.'' The disgusting large mouth of the worm opened, showing countless small sharp teeth. A cold surging aura came out from that bottomless hole and started manifesting in front of the mouth and in just a few seconds, a dark flaming ball with small green lines on it was conjured. Without holding back, the worm spat that ball at the motionless knight. The dark flaming ball flew at the nearby knight with lightning speed but it suddenly stopped a few inches away from it, as if it met a resistance. The same second the ball was resisted, countless arm-thick black lightning flew from behind and smashed at that barrier causing cracks all over it. When the cracks started appearing, Arthur was able to see the shape of the barrier, it enveloped the knight and seemed to be quite strong as it didn''t shatter even after his bombardment. ''Quite protective, are we?'' Black lightning even thicker than before flew from the worm and heavily struck the cracking barrier and in just half a minute, the cracks met each other and like shattering glass, the barrier was destroyed. The dark flaming ball previously conjured, which was frozen mid-air after it met the barrier, seemed to have come back to life as it smashed at the abdomen of the knight, where the Heavenly Arrow struck. Arthur wasn''t done yet, in fact, this was but the beginning. He wasn''t stupid and knew that destroying that barrier meant that the gargoyles will take notice and come at any second, so he sprang into actions. The worm abruptly teleported in front of the knight when an explosion occurred at the other side of the hall. With an angry yet worried expression, Tarathiel appeared accompanied by Ehrendil. Their pupils were glued to the knight, which was shaking intensely due to the mysterious dark flaming ball stuck in its abdomen. Their senses quickly caught sight of the invisible worm, which seemed to strangely float near the knight without doing a thing. Obviously, the two Gods didn''t just sit there and watch, they both flew towards the knight with their God Spirits appearing and intending to get rid of the worm, however, things didn''t go as expected. Before they could get close, their vision turned dark due to the appearance of an extremely large dark cube. It covered the whole hall, imprisoning the worm and the knight. Furthermore, it blocked their senses from entering and blocked their view, which made their faces turn ugly, especially for Tarathiel, who didn''t the situation to suddenly turn to worse. The formation he set around the knight should have resisted for a long time, even a first grade God can''t shatter it that fast! This made him think of the mysterious white-clothed young man, but that thought was soon abandoned as he thought of the twins. When he interrogated them a few days ago, they clearly admitted that they knew the young man but upon further investigation, they had come to a conclusion that it wasn''t their comrade as he wasn''t as strong as being able to fight against Gods. From their information, their comrade was at the Divine Realm, and to make things more complicated, the mysterious person who wrecked havoc in their base was also at the Divine Realm so the clan master didn''t know which truth to believe which led him to stop thinking about for the time being and deal with Ti Eru, who seemed to have gone crazy. ..... The long body of the worm wrapped around the waist of the sitting knight, its large mouth bit on its back whilst spitting very small purple mouths, which relentlessly ate the body of the Earth Spirit, not letting ago anything, even if it was mere stone. Arthur didn''t hold back as he used all his Nether Energy to activate Void skills and weaken the knight. His goal this time wasn''t to possess it but to ''take'' it with him, with enough time, he can possess it so first, he had to get out of here with the knight. The first step, which was the most difficult was surprisingly easily achieved and with the protection of the dark cube, there''s no way they would be able to catch him anytime soon. The worm silently laid around the knight as it devoured its body and spat Green Lightning and purple void mouths. Meanwhile, inside a Spatial Passage, a strange sight was happening. A dark ball as big as half of the dark cube was slowly contracting, each time it became smaller, the pressure it emanated multiplied until it started reaching a terrifying degree that even made the passage vibrate slowly as if it couldn''t hold on. With everything going smoothly and exactly as planned, albeit a bit easier, Arthur didn''t dare to act cocky or overconfident, he just laid that and patiently wait for the things to end. ''It''s all about time. Whether you can make it in time or not depends on breaking my sweet box, have fun, dear Gods.'' Chapter 186 - 165.4 : Stingy Gargoyles Loud and thundering booms were echoing inside the big hall, the two gods joined hands and went all out to demolish the strange black box. It had to be said that it was astonishingly resistant to the point that it made Tarathiel and his brother wide eyes and awed. No matter how many times their God Spirits banged on the black box, it didn''t crack even a bit. This black box, which was a unique skill Arthur obtained thanks to the Zodiak''s powers is a very strong defensive skill meant only to protect what''s inside of it, it can also be used to capture targets but in that area, it wasn''t that efficient. It cost a permanent loss of Mental Power to use it but for Arthur, who could replenish the lost Mental Power in a few days, it wasn''t worth worrying about it. In fact, if he successfully absorbs the earth knight then his gains would far outweigh his small losses. The absorbing process went quite smoothly as even after ten minutes, the black box only had small cracks in the side where the Gods attacked. At this rate, it would take them hours to fully open a way in and Arthur had already gulped the whole knight, which surprisingly showed no signs of fighting back or resisting him. Although it went a bit different to his expectations, he still had to restrain this mysterious knight inside his consciousness. Actually, what he had done just now was a full use of his Mental Power and a characteristic of his Race. Ever since he heard his lame copy inside the ARK talk about the various powerful uses of his Race, he thought about it and managed to come up with a clever yet risky trick. It consisted of using Mental Power to lock forces inside his consciousness. Of course, he couldn''t lock down anything but he bet on the chance of being able to lock down the knight and the first part did successfully work. In the second part, he had to restrain the knight and stop it from damaging his consciousness, especially when his soul laid there. Without minding the never-ending shaking of the black box, Arthur left the worm''s body which disappeared in his storage ring and sat cross-legged inside the black box. He closed his eyes and immediately entered his consciousness. ..... The place was vast and was like a starry sky, cold and lonely, there was only one extremely bright light which was Arthur''s soul. Thick chains with small purple and blue lines enveloped the big blob of light, and above this light rotated two objects, one was a metallic cube with strange runes and symbols and the second was an orb. Arthur paid no heed to those and focused on the Earth Knight, which floated silently in his consciousness, from time to time spatial fluctuations occurred, which caused immense pain to Arthur. Even activating the pain Immunity won''t help him as injuries to the soul or consciousness were not the same as physical damage. What was fatal to all beings was an injury to their soul, which is why soul cultivators and soul attacks are feared by many and very few treasures or techniques were capable of defending against them, which made them even more dangerous and fearful. Fully focused on the earth knight, Arthur''s hand started forming various seals around the earth knight. Circular black symbols which emitted a faint gray light started appearing around knight, in the span of a few seconds, hundreds of these small symbols enveloped the knight to the point where you couldn''t see its body. You could only see countless black symbols blanketing a large object. [Death Seal] was a simple technique he obtained from the Book of the Damned, its offensive or defensive power was almost nonexisting, in terms of combat utility, it was neither efficient nor powerful. As the name suggests, it is a seal meant to constrain entities, mainly living beings. In some particular cases, it can serve as a catalyst too. Arthur''s main purpose in using this skill was to stop the knight from attacking him, he wasn''t too acknowledgeable about this knight but knew that it should be dormant on injured. If he could fully stop it from fighting back until he figures out how to possess it then it''s for the best, if not, then he''ll destroy it immediately. With countless seals surrounding it, it should at least be able to weaken it. Looking at the mass of seals, Arthur felt satisfied, he took one final look at the knight before leaving his consciousness. Just as he opened his eyes, he saw a crack the size of a person''s arm appear on the black box. Although it''s a long way before they fully can enter, Arthur''s wasn''t going to wait for them, neither was he foolish enough to fight them for no reason. He dived into the ground and used his maximum speed to head towards Rose, who was still dumbly standing there. She had a worried look and a look of struggle appeared on her beautiful face, she didn''t know if she should go or not. At last, her fear won against her resolve, she couldn''t muster the courage to provoke the gray-haired man, just his presence made her hair stand so she couldn''t imagine how he would react when he sees she disobeyed. Yes, she was a strong and loyal general, yes, she fought countless battles and shouldn''t fear death, but once this death arrived at her house''s death, she couldn''t help but panic and fear for her life. ...... Because they were focused on destroying the black box, the two Gods didn''t notice the faint, almost unnoticeable presence that dived at extreme speed into the ground. In just a few seconds, Arthur found himself facing Rose, who didn''t react in time before he entered her body and lowered his presence to the maximum. Only when a few seconds passed did Arthur feel safe, he muttered to Rose to go back to her room and ignored her questioning. Annoyed, Rose could only return to her room with a helpless expression. She felt the strong tremors and knew that something major had happened but she didn''t dare go there. When she returned to her room, a loud and angry roar rang in her ears, without needing to check, she knew it was the Tarathiel''s. A look of disbelief flashed in her eyes. ''What could make the usually calm clan leader shout like that?'' She didn''t know what Arthur had done, but to anger Tarathiel to such a degree, it couldn''t be something simple! .. Inside the large hall, Tarathiel breathed heavily, he looked disheveled with a messy hair, red eyes, and an extremely ugly expression. Even Ehrendil''s face was green with anger, he looked at the empty throne with disbelief and rage. To this point, they had no clue how the invader took the Earth Spirit, which was supposed to be very strong. Moreover, they could do nothing but waste their time and effort shattering an empty black box! "I want all the holes closed, no one gets out and no one gets in! Whoever dared to steal the Earth Spirit must still be lurking in here!" Ehrendil didn''t dare talk with an angry Tarathiel, he heavily nodded his head and left the hall, leaving an angry gargoyle. After a short a while passed, a cold smile resurfaced on the young gargoyle''s face, he stared at the empty throne then at the roof before muttering "I see now, you never left our base since the beginning. But if it''s not the from outside, then who exactly are you... I can''t wait to find that out!" ... "What did you do ?" Rose couldn''t hold back her curiosity after the strict order had descended from the higher-ups. Seeing the red-faced Ehrendil order the general and yells loudly, she knew that Arthur did really piss off the leaders. "Hmmm, nothing major... I just borrowed something. It''s nothing to fret about tsk tsk... I must say, you gargoyles are really stingy people. It''s just a cheap thing! Hahahahah" As he mocked the gargoyles, Arthur released a small laugh which made Rose''s whole body uncontrollably shiver. Chapter 187 - 166.1 : Farewell Three days slowly passed after the incident of the Earth Spirit. The Desert Gargoyle clan was in turmoil, opposite to its usual silence. Rose was tense and couldn''t calm down her mind, especially when she thought back to Tarathiel''s rage and the ruckus Arthur caused. Add to that the fact that the criminal is hiding inside of her, it made her feel even more depressed. .... Arthur purposely laid down for a few days to check if the knight in his consciousness was going to resist. After all, it''s better to be safe than sorry. When everything seemed in check, he started spreading his sense slowly and noticed that the gargoyles were dispatching big numbered groups outside of the headquarters. *knock* *knock* Rose''s body trembled for a split second when she heard the knocking sound. Usually, someone of her status would never get disturbed unless there is an important matter. After opening the door and listening to her pale-faced subordinate, she also became extremely angry when she heard the bad news. Apparently, the Pigolo tribe really didn''t care about the consequences and have become really daring. In just a short amount of time, they destroyed thirty-two outposts of the gargoyles and killed thirteen commanders. Although these cannot be considered major losses, it is still a loss, especially when you compare the numbers of the two enemies. Pigolos have a lot of numbers but few strong experts, as for the gargoyles, they were the total opposite. Things were soon going to become rough with an all-out war between the two major factions of this wasteland and Arthur certainly didn''t want to be part of it. He can''t recklessly charge out of here but that doesn''t mean he can''t use Rose. Fortunately, her superiors ordered her to fight at the front as to minimize the losses and stop the charges of the Pigolo. Gods like Ti Eru and the rest do not take part in the battles of their soldiers but would interfere if a strong figure arises. A sly old monster like Ti Eru would sneak around and demolish precious mines that belong to the gargoyles, although it''s not what a God should do, Ti Eru didn''t seem to care at all as his rage exploded and he couldn''t swallow the big loss he suffered at their hands. .... Since she had everything she needs in her storage ring, Rose only picked her sword and departed immediately. However, she encountered some special visitors on the way. From their appearance, it is certain they were humans, moreover, they are from outside the wall, which made her wonder why they came but she didn''t pay too much attention to their arrival, unlike Arthur. Silently hiding inside her body, Arthur used Rose''s vision to observe the visitors. There were two youths and an elder. Just one look at them and he was able to deduce their origins, from their haughty and arrogant expression to the disdain and contempt in their eyes. Although they were facing higher-ups of the clan, they didn''t seem to treat them kindly. Only the elder was calm, his eyes were closed and he wore a grey robe. With hands behind his back and an arched back, he slowly followed the two youths. "Ah! Why did we get picked out to come to this place! I can''t even cultivate due to the lack of Nether Energy!" One of the two youth annoyingly flung his hand, he ignored the servant which came to guide him and continued complaining. The other youth was much calmer, he didn''t express his opinion but from the frown on his face, you could guess he was not pleased by coming. Surprisingly, Rose didn''t seem angry by their attitude, so Arthur couldn''t help but ask "Do you get visitors like them often?" The general was initially startled as she was preoccupied with the thoughts regarding the clan but his voice brought her back to the cruel reality. "Not very often, probably once or twice a year." Contrary to her usual stubbornness, she became much more docile. After learning the ruckus he created and seeing his power, she was certain that he was a powerful expert and any mistake she makes would result in her death. Rose had long since known those rogue experts which travel the world and they usually were extremely powerful and ruthless. "Mmmm" Arthur didn''t say anything, he just made a noise close to a humming but Rose could imagine him showing a playful smile as he said that. She didn''t add anything and flew towards the West. "Why did they come right now?" "I do not know, they usually come when a treasure or a high-valued thing is spotted. We usually do trades too." This time, Arthur didn''t reply, he remained silent which stressed Rose for a few minutes but after still hearing nothing from him, her body relaxed. Her troops were already there so was traveling alone so it was a pretty good opportunity for Arthur to leave her body yet he didn''t. Arthur had other plans, simply going now won''t do him any good. He doesn''t have a clear destination and he needs to digest the knight and completely subdue him so he can possess him. His main goal right now is finding a spatial master, and that isn''t doable in such a desolate land so he has to cross the wall of Yang Fire. With his fire resistance and current power, it should be possible to cross it but he has to resolve a final matter first. The children of the deceased Human Emperor, they disappeared along with Sonia and the rest yet there is no sign of them here. They are not in the gargoyle land nor the pigolo territory, which only leaves the last faction, The Naga tribe. In the past, the daughter of the Human Emperor did cause some trouble for him and Lucy and there was a grudge but it had long since been solved and he didn''t take it too much into heart. He wasn''t going to give up just yet. Although they may have died, however, there is also a possibility of them being kidnapped too. And where were all the kidnapped girls sent to? Of course, it was to that mysterious force that Vyncent is coming from. The prince may not be with her but he should at least retrieve her. Thanks to the information Vyncent gave him, he was supposed to meet up with the elders and the rest of the team in a specific location, the two brothers staying at the Gargoyles tribe will be there too along with the captured girls, so he decided to go take a look. ... "It is finally time." When they were a good distance away from the HQ of the gargoyles, Arthur left Rose''s body at last. With the book in his waist and Makaze sheathed, he was fully prepared. The female gargoyle was stunned as she looked at the grey-haired man floating next to him with a peaceful look. She only managed to breathe again when his figure blurred and he disappeared from her view. "Maybe next time we meet, we won''t be enemies." Those were the last words she heard from him before he completely vanished. A few minutes later, AFter she probed her body and made sure there was nothing lurking inside, she glanced at the direction he headed off to then continued flying West. Chapter 188 - 166.2 : Ambush The meetup location was a small land between at the far edges of the pigolo tribe''s territory. It was quite close to the Wall of Yang Fire so it was suited for them. It was a tall mountain with a volcano that looked like it would erupt at any second. Vyncent''s faction was skilled in Earth techniques which gave them a bit of a resistance to fire, so hiding in such a mountain wouldn''t be that dangerous if they took the appropriate measures. Inside a decently large cave made inside the mountain, there were a couple of presences that could be felt inside. Most of them were very weak with only four distinguishable ones. The strongest was an old man with a long white hair and a mustache. He was meditating in the corner without minding the ruckus happening not far away from him. In fact, this was elder Tian who the white-clothed young man who was killed by Arthur talked about. He was the main force of this expedition to the wasteland and was responsible for getting the disciples in and out of the wall as they were unable to do so themselves. Apart from that, he was ordered to stand down and not help the disciples in anyway as it was their mission and not his, and in a way, doing everything by themselves may be considered gaining valuable experience. The three others were the two brothers which were residing in the gargoyles headquarters and a female in her twenties. They didn''t emit a presence as strong as the old man but they were quite domineering and arrogant. A bit far away was a small crowd of people, probably a dozen or so composed of mostly females and few feminine males. They were all shaking with fear and had strange red seals on their forehead. The twins were lecherously staring at the beautiful females, however, they didn''t dare act and merely let out their lustful gazes, as for the female, she was giving flirtatious gazes at the males whilst playfully smiling. Their goal was not to torture or enslave these people which is exactly why they couldn''t ''practice'' whatever their weird hobbies are on them. There was a male showing an arrogant attitude, he wore expensive clothes, his eyes showed disdain. He didn''t have a group like them but he was forced to come too, which annoyed him. Whilst releasing a shy smile and looking at the crowd of females, the female''s eyes flashed with a cold light for a split second whilst saying with a joking tone "I think we brought too many, and that is not counting what the remaining two will bring. Why don''t you let me take care of a few of them, mine are not that numerous, after all." She winked at the terrified feminine males then glanced at the brothers only to see the ugly expression on their faces. "Don''t try to eat more than you can chew, you''ve spent your time here playing around while others didn''t." The younger brother nodded and added "Yeah... what he said..." The situation became tense in a matter of seconds just after a few words were spoken, which fully proves that although they come from the same faction, they weren''t that friendly towards each other. "No fighting, no stealing from each other. No match which pavilion you are from, you will be harshly punished if you break those rules." The old man''s voice was surprisingly soft but it carried a hint of authority. The three quickly calmed down and minded their own business. Contrary to their expectations, the newly arisen silence didn''t last long as the entrance to the cave shook and a haggard figure slipped in. It was actually Vyncent, who looked like a homeless with his torn clothes, dirty faces and dust enveloping him. If not for the way he popped out of the ground which his special technique, the rest would have attacked him. Vyncent was not that strongest amongst them but they all were greedy for his secret technique as it was really amazing, it was even praised by elder Tian. The trio were dumbfounded for a few seconds before the female managed to react first, she burst out laughing as she looked at Vyncent''s state. He usually looked handsome so seeing him look this pitiful is one in a lifetime chance. "Hahahaha... it''s a pity I didn''t bring a recording talisman...." Only elder Tian remained calm, he merely glanced at Vyncent for a second before resuming his meditation. Whatever happened is their own business, he is only responsible for their safety. The calmness of the old man soon vanished when he heard Vyncent''s next words, which felt as if a bucket of cold water was poured on him. "Senior Kleid died." The laughter halted and was replaced with deep shock and eyes full of disbelief. Vyncent wasn''t the kind to crack jokes like that, and even if he were, it clearly was not the time for suck terrible jokes. Seeing the surprise in their expressions, Vyncent resumed talking "I do not know who killed him, he was a mysterious grey-haired man." Elder Tian''s expression turned serious, he stood and scanned the surroundings with his sense then said "The situation hasn''t been good the last few days. We''ll wait half a day for Riku to come, if he isn''t here by that time, we''ll depart, it''s too dangerous." He didn''t even try to dig deep and find out about the killer of Kleid as there were many possibilities and he can''t risk offending powerful experts because of a mere disciple. A disciple dying was not within his expectations. It''s true that this wasteland is dangerous, but the pigolo and the rest won''t kill human cultivator as they knew that the humans capable of coming here have powerful backing. The atmosphere soon regained its usual silence but there was a mix of tension, fear, and uneasiness, especially for Vyncent, who couldn''t help but remember Arthur and the red-headed youth, who slaughtered so many gargoyles in a few seconds. Furthermore, there was that weird flame thing that entered his body, no matter how much he probed and tried, he couldn''t figure out how to remove it, this had alarmed him and made him anger Arthur, which is why he didn''t spit out everything he knew to the elder. Actually, Vyncent knew that with the faction behind him, he shouldn''t fear Arthur as any official elder can deal with him, however, he wasn''t arrogant enough to act high and mighty in such a faraway land. He would be killed without anyone knowing it and Arthur would be able to escape. If he were in his sect then he wouldn''t fear Arthur but the situation is different and it had become extremely dire the last few days with the on-going war of pigolos and gargoyles. .... Elder Tian didn''t resume his meditation, he left the cave and started checking around the volcanic mountain. Although it''s a remote area, it didn''t stop the fact that it still belonged to the pigolos and he can''t deal with Ti Eru alone, add to that his brothers, it would be akin to suicide if he were to meet them. After doing a few rounds and carefully checking a few kilometers around the mountain, Tian was about to enter the cave again when the formation he put around the mountain shook for a split second before it shattered. This shocked him greatly but before he managed to react, a white blur flashed in front of him and a terrifying sense of doom befell on him. Without hesitation, he activated he pressed his hands to his chest which emitted a bright yellow light and the incoming doom violently hit his newly formed yellow heavy armor. From head to toe, he was armed in a gold like armor, it was very catchy and thick. Although his reactions were fast, he was still pushed back a few steps before he managed to stabilize himself. Holding a silver broadsword in a hand and an arm-thick wooden shield in the other, Tian glared angrily at the figure floating a bit far from him. It was a grey-haired man, wearing a remarkably beautiful white taoist robe with long sleeves. He seemed like the kind neighbor next door with his friendly smile and the peaceful aura around him. ''Life cultivator!'' This was the first thing Tian thought about when he sensed that unusual aura! His senses strengthened and he didn''t dare underestimate whoever this man was. Chapter 189 - 166.3 : Fierce Figh Life cultivators were one of the few rare types of cultivators. For example, those who use the energy of death, who wield death energy are known as death cultivators, there are also Sword cultivators and so on. Life cultivators are extremely rare and hard to deal with, one because they have extremely strong healing abilities and unparalleled recovering and two was their weird techniques. Arthur has been mistaken for one due to his ethereal aura but this only added to old man Tian''s caution and made him wonder why is a Life cultivator here and why is he attacking him. Although he already took out his treasures, he didn''t immediately attack. Seeing the other party remaining silent, he couldn''t help but ask "Friend, the land is vast and there is room for everyone, why bother to fight amongst ourselves in such a foreign place." What was also known about Life cultivators is that they disliked fighting. They were known as peaceful individuals and would only fight in very few extreme cases which confused Tian even more, however, what was a fact was that this grey-haired man was indeed a Life cultivator as that aura could never be faked. Actually, Tian had once seen a Life cultivator from a distance and that person''s power was beyond one''s imagination, it made gods afraid and devils shiver, it was merely a small glance but it made Tian remember it throughout his life. A few seconds passed but he heard no response which stressed old Tian but he still remained his defensive posture. From that previous exchange, he knew that this man was no weakling and a fight between them is not advantageous to him especially when he was no confidence in getting out unscathed without using some of his life-saving treasures. Finally, the cold silence was broken when Arthur bashfully smiled and said with an emotional tone "I had long yearned to fight a God head-on, I wish that elder can fulfill this mortal''s request!" As his words were finished, he disappeared from his spot and attacked old Tian. He was confident in even defeating Delia, so fighting this old man is not impossible. However, defeating and killing are no similar things, he never killed a God. Meyzu, one of the leaders of the Underworld was severely injured but not killed, he only died at last because he used his life essence to stab him in the back, inflicting a fatal blow. Fortunately for the old man, he was fully prepared, he raised his big shield meeting Arthur''s violent kick. Just as the impact was going to occur, Arthur''s figure vanished from Tian''s sight and by the next split second, he felt an unprecedented coldness coming from his back. Before he could react, a punch landed on his back, the fist had a hint of green light, almost unnoticeable. It was but a single fist but that was more than enough to create a very loud explosion, shaking mountains and shattering the earth itself. The old man, who was emitting a strong golden light was sent flying fifty meters away from Arthur before he managed to stabilize his body. His Golden Drop Metal Armor showed signs of shattering as cracks appeared on his back. He was shocked to see a treasure of this grade being almost destroyed from a single dread and this only added to the dread Tian felt. ''Such monstrous physique!'' Cold sweat dripped down his spines as he looked at the smiling man, feeling even more threatened. Not even ten seconds passed before the same feeling of danger enveloped Tian, without hesitation, he roared and raised his shield to meet what was coming at him. Hundreds, if not thousands of long dark spears smashed at the shield creating golden sparks and pushing the old man inch by inch, it was like being bombarded by thick needles. Old Tian could feel the ominousness and chilliness of this dark energy, his thoughts became erratic and confused as Life Cultivators should not be this absurd, even if they get angry, they re not this crazy. ''This crazy is a maniac'' Seeing Arthur''s shadow arrive next to him, Old Tian finally moved his right leg to the front and loudly roared, bashing his shield to the sky and stabbing his sword into the earth. A golden triangle was formed as he activated the special formation of his battle armor. A blinding golden light was emitted from the triangle and when Arthur appeared next to him, Tian pressed his hands on the triangle and shouted "Form, expand, blast! ''Golden Ox Blast!'' " The golden triangle which was as big as Tian''s body suddenly rotated and faced its peak to the ground and shot a yellow beam the thickness of a man''s abdomen right at Arthur, who just appeared in front of the triangle. unaffected by the beam, Arthur murmured something and used his fingers to right seals with an extremely fast speed to the point that you could only see white blurs. When the yellow beam was just about to hit him, a palm-sized bronze platform had appeared on his hand. Holding this platform, Arthur raised his hand and smashed this platform on the beam. What was even more surprising is that the platform suddenly expanded in size and was as big as a tennis field, coupled with Arthur''s high Strength and a smooth, almost flawless control of Nether Energy, the technique ''[Raging Bronze Platform]'' showed unbeatable mightiness and heaven-shattering destructive power. The yellow beam was turned into flying white sparks in just one swing of Arthur, however, to Old Tian''s demise, this was but the beginning. Next, Arthur proceeded to violently smash this huge bronze platform on the old man without showing any mercy or restraint. The poor old God could only grit his teeth and use his shield trying to block this bronze platform, moreover, he was finally forced to show his God Spirit, which had the shape of an ox. The Ox was like a small mountain, emitting a light as bright as the sun and having a pressure that could render anyone below the God Realm frozen from its power, it was too suffocating. God Spirits represented the Gods, Tian practiced the Golden Ox cultivation technique since he started the road of immortality, so naturally, it would take this shape. The God Spirits are also affected by the experiences and personality of the person, so no God Spirits can be similar. However, Arthur was completely unaffected by this, he held the bronze platform and said "An ox, even with godly powers, still have to submit to a tiger!" He heavily smashed the platform on the big golden ox, which didn''t stay still and used its enormous body to stomp on Arthur and the bronze platform on top of him. As to be expected from a clash between two Gods, the nearby mountain started shattering and peaks fell, the sky turned dark and the winds whistled loudly, even the nearby Vyncent''s group were alarmed and came to see what''s happening only to see the Tian fighting with an unknown man. They stared with awe at the battle of Gods, it isn''t common to witness such a thing so they might have an epiphany or a enlightenment. Only Vyncent was struck with endless fear, he wasn''t so casual and merely took a second before he turned around and disappeared from this area. He used his secret technique to its maximum potential, trying to get away from this area. He already knew what was to become of his fellow disciples and he didn''t care, life was precious and camaraderie comes next, but what camaraderie are we talking about? Such things don''t exist between them, they only share a common mission and just so happened to be assigned together, and it just so happened that danger came so he had no choice but to change his plans and escape. At least facing some pigolo patroles and hiding for a while is better than facing Arthur, who was like a nightmare to Vyncent, who witnessed what that man was capable of. Maybe Elder Tian would be able to defeat Arthur, that was what any arrogant person would think, but Vyncent had been cautious ever since he was young, a mistake can be done once, twice at most, but if it happened a third time, then one can only blame his rashness and idiocy. ....... Such a vicious battle cannot pass unnoticeable from the pigolo, they soon got ahold of what is happening and a battalion was already watching from afar. Although this area was far away from the main headquarters, there is still a battalion that was stationed to guard this place. Commander Fierce Tiger was in charge of this battalion and right now, he was staring at the howling winds and the raging sky whilst two figures, one was a golden ox as big as a mountain and the other was a man holding a bronze platform and smashing it on the ox. The scene was a bit strange and comedic, but none dared to laugh, heck! None dared to even breath in the face of two facing gods. Even with a battalion under his command, Fierce Tiger was not brave enough to meddle, he was just here to watch, nothing more. .. As the battle reached its apex, Tian controlled his ox and charged along with it, trying to deal a fatal blow to Arthur but it was to no avail. Even with his God Spirit, he was totally suppressed in every sense of the word. After merely twenty minutes passed, the bronze platform was unscathed and emitting a majestic luster, as for the golden ox, it had countless places where there were cracks and gaping holes, it didn''t take a genius to guess that it was about to be extinguished. If a God Spirit is extinguished then the user would be heavily wounded but he wouldn''t die from that. So every God who summoned his God Spirit have to be prepared or else if it was extinguished then not only would he also be wounded, he would not be able to use it until he recovers completely. "T-this, this is impossible!" Seeing his God Spirit fading from existence as Arthur struck with his bronze platform again, Tian was rendered speechless, he coughed a large mouthful of blood and retreated a few steps. His face was deathly pale and his hands were shivering, one look and it was enough to know he was wounded and on the verge of collapse. To use one''s God Spirit required large amounts of Nether Energy and precise control, once the connection is broken, meridians will be damaged and the Dantian will close itself to self-protect the life of the user. "In front of absolute power, everything else is useless. Gods or Devils, those are titles but when someone is strong enough, even a Mortal could claim the spot of the strongest existence! It is time for this to finish." With a calm tone and a hanging peaceful smile on his face, Arthur lifted the bronze palm and used his other hand to also lift the platform then he rushed at Tian and used his maximum strength to crush the raging platform on the old man, not leaving a way to leave. Facing the imminent danger and being in a desperate situation, Old Tian was still unwilling to face his death, he madly shouted and took out an old tattered paper, it looked like a normal paper but once he injected he Nether Energy, an ancient aura which could suppress the heavenly laws was summoned. The Incoming platform was met with a strong resistance and bounced off before it turned into countless sparks which dispersed and vanished in the air in a matter of seconds. As he took out his life-saving treasure, Old Tian glared angrily and madly at Arthur and sinisterly said "To force me to take this! You truly are strong but like you said, in front of absolute power, no one can resist! Now die!" Chapter 190 - 166.4 : Battle Of Gods Holding the old tattered paper, a tower pressure washed over Arthur and sent him flying back for a few hundred meters before he crushed down creating dust and a large crater. It felt suffocating as a force kept pressing on his body, he was barely able to stand up when the pressure multiplied and an even greater force struck him again, however, he was prepared for this blow and knew that teleporting away isn''t enough to dodge the force of this mysterious paper that old Tian had just taken out. Arthur didn''t hesitate as he summoned his book of the damned to block the incoming blow. It wasn''t accurate to describe it as a blow, it was just pure pressure containing an ancient aura capable of invoking heaven''s jealousy. The book opened instantly and a rotten hand came out of it, the rotten hand was clenched into a fist and small dark threads made out of condensed death energy twirled around the rotten fist and met the pressure. The pressure which rendered Arthur incapable of moving properly lessened by a huge margin, he used the long chains restraining him to tie the book on his chest then he looked up, coldly staring at the laughing old man. His figure now looked pretty creepy with a rotten hand erected from his chest, or so it seemed. With the pressure lessening, Arthur was able to breathe a bit. ''As expected, to kill a God is not as simple as I thought.'' Although he suffered a blow, it was not serious and with his insane recovery, the superficial bruises were already healed. "It is useless to resist. This is a precious a very ancient 3rd Grade Heavenly ranked treasure, it''s not something that can be easily stopped." A cold light flashed through Tian''s crazed eyes, he spread his hands and pressed two of his finger on the old tattered paper whilst coughing a golden drop of blood. The spectators were flabbergasted, especially the disciples of old Tian''s sect. Seeing their elder sacrifice a drop of his blood essence made them realize how terrifying the gray-haired man actually was. This only increased the dread and fascination they felt. "For Elder Tian to use his Blood Essence! The outcome is already decided." The female seriously spoke as her eyes were glued to the tattered paper. For juniors like them, to be bestowed such a powerful treasure is merely a dream unless they were peerless geniuses or prodigies. The twins and the remaining disciple stared with awe at this grand spectacle. A battle between two powerful gods is not something that can be witnessed every day, at least not in this world. Blood Essence, to anyone above the God Realm, is as precious as their cultivation, Dantian or even their life! Unlike injured meridians which can be healed, Blood Essence can never be recovered and once used then the user will suffer heavy damage. Not only that, it will greatly hinder their progress in cultivation in the future and limit their achievements which is why young geniuses rarely use their Blood Essence, if never. To push old Tian to such a state, the enemy cannot be a simple character, or so thought these juniors. As the golden drop merged with the tattered paper, the ancient presence multiplied and a rune came down from the heavens below, covering the entire sky and encompassing the whole area and sucking all the Nether Energy. Even the calm Arthur felt alarmed and his expression sank, he didn''t just watch as the heavenly rune descended and was ready to strike him, without the slightest bit of hesitation, he channelled his Nether Energy and used his Mental Power to further strengthen his skills then he made a weird gesture with one hand and another weirder one with his remaining hand. .... In fact, no being in this world could do execute two things at the same time, even Gods cannot do that. They can control their God Spirit and attack but that akin to a dog wagging his tail whilst moving, it is a part of the animal, just like the God Spirit is a part of the God. But the concept of executing two techniques is illogical, even Arthur was not able to do that, the rule applied to him just like everyone else. Unless he has another consciousness or a treasure with a consciousness then launching two attacks at the same time. He could time the attacks so it seems like he is executing them at the same time but to do the real thing is not a possible thing. With an enormous amount of powerful skills, ranging from Dark Magic to the ancient flames, the godly thunder and nature magic, his arsenal is immeasurable but to launch them at the same time cannot be done. One because his body is unable to control so many at the same time, second is because his brain will sustain irreparable damage and the pressure alone is enough to destroy his consciousness so no cultivator dares to be this reckless. Currently, Arthur was attempting something close to it. It was definitely not simultaneously executing two skills but it was a bit similar and obviously, its might will not something to be underestimated, however, it is also a dangerous move and cannot be taken lightly as a slight mistake might cause a severe backlash. Very soon, Arthur''s left hand turned crimson red with dark red lines and his right palm had a violet whirlpool, those two powers were in sync and drew each other, multiplying their pressure. Just as this second, old Tian finally unleashed his finely prepared attack "It''s time for you to die!" The tattered paper shook and the heavenly rune which became the size of an elephant descended at Arthur with unstoppable momentum. With a pressure capable of sealing heavens and shattering mountains, Arthur was extremely calm and unperturbed, as if the incoming calamity had nothing to do with him. Slowly but surely, his two hands closed on each other until they met each other. Arthur''s hand resembled a praying monk and a ghastly gray fog formed inside them. ''Heavens above and Hell below, there is nothing I can''t destroy!'' The careful fusion of the two domineering powers was successful, Although it was not completely perfect and flawless, this formless gray energy inside his hands was the proof of its success. He unhesitantly released this small volume of gray fog and gently threw it at the incoming rune. As for what happened next, it can only be called unbelievable to the eyes of the spectators. Chapter 191 - 167.1 : God Slayer The spectators, whether it was the disciples from old Tian''s sect or the battalion of the Pigolo Tribe, felt the suffocating pressure of the clash, all sounds ceased to be and the sky seemed to crack. Since this was a Medium-Realm then it was harder to crack space unlike Astria, but it still happened which proves the terrifying of this power. Fortunately for Fierce Tiger, he was far from the battle and so his troops weren''t impacted but all of them felt their legs become weak and were almost forced to prostrate before the divine power of the Gods. As for the four disciples, which came out of the cave to spectate, they were sent flying a few kilometers before they managed to stop. All of them had bones broken and spat mouthfuls of blood, with pale faces and dirt on their clothes, they looked absolutely miserable. The worst one of them was the arrogant disciple who had weird hobbies, he was bold enough to drift closer to be able to feel enlightened but he was too rash and was severely wounded from the clash of two godly attacks. With his Immortal Realm, he simply couldn''t resist even with his life-saving treasures. The difference between God Realm and Immortal Realm is not something a treasure could accomplish. One had to be as heaven-defying as Lucy, to fuse two opposite attribute and have an extremely powerful physique, and even with that, she couldn''t defeat a God and only fight on par with such existence. A thundering noise swept the area, the earth was literally razed as nearby mountains shattered and what replaced them was deep craters and bottomless holes. The clouds dispersed and winds ragingly howled. The Rune met with the gray fog which created a buzzing sound and all the surrounding nature was disintegrated as it couldn''t handle such force. One was like a pair of godly hands descending from the sky and the other resembled a formless, transparent soaring tiger that wanted to break from its mortality. The two attacks created even more devastation, old Tian''s face became incredibly pale resembling an old man on the brink of death, it was a white a sheet of paper, devoid of blood. Arthur wasn''t any better too, he didn''t think that the rune was this powerful, he was forced to retreat a hundred meters and blood leaked out of his lips. Unlike old Tian, who sacrificed Blood Essence, he only relied on his skills and his pool of Energy is still not empty. Without reservation, he lifted his hand, forcing the long chains to move along, he directed his hands toward the heaven and unleashed another powerful attack. He didn''t wish to use obliterating attacks such as [Rizaki] as it was risky for himself and the captives nearby, his goal was to search for the prince and princess after all. ....... Far away from the fight, Vyncent appeared on a mountain peak and stared behind him. Even from such a distance, he could hear the intense booming and the oppressive aura of two gods, he couldn''t help but shiver for a second before he regained his wits. He touched his chest in a daze for sometime before he managed to force away the fearful thoughts and continued fleeing. His body entered the earth and his speed was increased to its maximum potential, he even used precious pills to recover Nether Energy as to cross the longest distance with the fastest speed and shortest time. "Father was right when he said that geniuses are not worth a coin unless they ventured to the outside world. Compared to prodigies or whatnot, existences such as him are the true geniuses!" Although Vyncent wasn''t sure on the age of Arthur, he was at least sure that wasn''t that old, it was not only because of his appearance. But also due to his behavior, any old God who lived countless ages would rarely be enraged easily or kill left and right without caring about the consequences, there is also the matter of him helping people from the lower-Realm, this must be he was from there too, or so thought the young Vyncent. ***** The ancient rune started blurring and its mighty pressure lessened by more than half, but the situation of the mysterious gray fog wasn''t any better either, its state was more terrible than the rune, only a bit of it was left, the volume of a single human finger yet it couldn''t still face such an earth-shattering rune formed by an ancient treasure! Arthur wasn''t going to just stay still, unlike old Tian, he didn''t need to control an attack that he had already thrown, after all, it wasn''t a treasure. The attack he used right now was like a finisher to distinguish this rune, an enormous fireball with a crown on its head appeared, it had devil-like expression and was smirking evilly! It the was the fruit of barely fusing the Dark Magic and Ancient Flames. The Sensor Detonator had a destructive ability that had no match, so one this big could literally destroy all the nearby mountains along with the captives. Obviously, this was not Arthur''s goal but he already had a plan in his mind. He controlled the detonator and slowly, it moved toward the rune, which was half its size. From afar, this detonator looked like an orange floating ball, it had no presence but people could see the world of flames through its transparent body, this only gave them chills and a foreboding sense of danger! "Do not think that you could kill me with this!" Seeing the detonator, old Tian''s face turned uglier, he spat another two golden drops of blood which merged with paper. Instantly, the rune, which seemed about to fade at any moment expanded in size and the ancient pressure strengthened once again, becoming terrifying. Fierce Tiger, who was at the peak of the Immortal Realm, couldn''t help but tremble when he felt this ancient aura, he ordered his troops to retreat even further, however, his eyes were locked onto the fight, not willing to miss any detail. It would be wrong to say he wasn''t afraid, he had long since sent a message to the headquarters, after all, this was not a small matter. But even without sending it, such powerful attack and godly presences, it would be impossible to not be felt by Ti Eru and the rest. ..... The rune and the detonator clashed at last but what was shocking was that the strange fireball opened its humongous mouth and gulped the rune in one fell swoop. Even old Tian, who had countless strange occurrences was left flabbergasted, he lost his link with the rune and spat a large mouthful of blood. Floating mid-air his body seemed on the verge of collapse. Unknown to him, the detonator was but a feint, a bait to cover the real attack. inside the mouth of the detonator was a spatial passage, which, in itself hid thousands of small void mouths, which were able to devour the heaven and earth if the cultivator was strong enough. Facing many enemies, Arthur knew that an experienced god-like Tian would recognize the rare Void attribute and would try to become defensive, probably even using the rune to defend and that would limit his chances so he trying to hide it with two layers. From the look on the old man''s face, his plan was pretty successful but this was only the first step. His body blurred as he used his movement technique and within seconds he already appeared before the trembling old Tian. With chains crackling, Arthur slowly performed a punching posture, green light emanated from his slowly descending fist. Due to the process of his attacks compared to a God''s reactions, Tian turned to glare at Arthur with a completely maddened expression and raging eyes, he roared and tried to rip Arthur to shreds. His hands showed a faint golden brilliant and a deep ''moooooo'' sound similar to an Ox''s resonated in this area, which became a bottomless dark ravine with no end in sight, it probably spanned hundreds of kilometers. Alas, the struggle of the old man was anything but successful, his body was heavily struck as Arthur''s punch was unstoppable. With an iron physique, matchless strength and more than thirty physical passives activated, it is no wonder Arthur''s punch was able to send a God flying. Bones creaking and shattering could be heard from afar as the old man flew across the skies and fell into the bottomless ravine. Arthur didn''t let chance be wasted, a sharp three meters long dark spear appeared in his hands, he lifted his hand high-up in the sky and threw the spear with all his might. Without needing any explanation, the spear which had an unstoppable momentum thanks to Arthur''s throw traveled with fast speed and the big distance between the old man and he was crossed in the time it took a person to blink. A dark shadow flew across the sky and descended, it easily tore the old man''s golden armor and tore open his flash, crushing his chest and creating a gory and gaping hole. The old man was almost torn into two halves. However, except its powerful penetrating power, Dark Magic was similar to Arthur, it could corrupt whatever it touched, like an evil energy! Since old Tian was struck with the spear, he could never escape unless he used a heavenly medicine and even with that it would still be difficult. Arthur''s control over Dark Magic is flawless, with remnants of it inside this God, he now had total control over his fate. Pinned down by invisible threads that appeared out of nowhere, the God was dragged below, where he faced Arthur, who was calmly standing in front of him. Arthur''s clothes were already tattered and covered in blood, but apart from that, he was totally fine. His wounds quickly recovered and except the loss of Mental Power due to the usage of forbidden skills, he didn''t lose anything that is irreparable. It could be considered a perfect win. "My sect will never let you go! They will haunt you down and take revenge for me!" After boldly stating that Tian surprisingly didn''t curse Arthur or angrily mock him, he didn''t even beg for his life. He did something that shocked Arthur for a second. After he finished that sentence, he killed himself on the spot, destroying his Dantian and severing his heart and brain. "Such a waste, a living God is still a good experimental subject." Arthur threw Tian''s body in his storage to possess him later and directed his gaze at the far away battalion, he sighed and then looked to the opposite direction, where his Sense caught the presence of four individuals. To be more precise, four Immortals with one being heavily injured. With a cold smirk, Arthur disappeared as his figure turned white then blurred, his speed was extremely fast as he traveled a long distance with but a step. Obviously, he wouldn''t let such fat sheep go, they were still precious stats for him, even a mortal is still worth possessing unless a complicated situation arises. Chapter 192 - 167.2 : No Mercy For The Enemies It wasn''t a hard mission, to begin with, just to hone the skills of their disciples and let them explore the world but it ended up with a God, who was an elder from their sect, to perish at the hands of a mysterious man. The arrogant disciple who was reckless enough to stand close to the fight was now heavily wounded, his arrogant aura had long since disappeared. Currently, he was being helped by the two twins but his wounds wouldn''t recover even with pills, he was literally on the verge of dying, the blow was too serious. Even the female, who was usually had a calm nature had a terrified face, her smile vanished and what replaced it was complete fear! They didn''t even think about bringing the captives, the four of them used a Spirit Boat and stormed out of this place, once they saw elder Tian die at the hands of the man, all of their faces froze and their eyes widened. Unfortunately for them, just as the Spirit Boat crossed a small distance, a terrifying presence covered it whole and petrified the four of them. "Mmmm, the young are courageous! From the looks of it, you never heard of this?" Arthur appeared on board of the Spirit Boat, which stopped flying. A complex net of lightning enveloped the boat and became similar to a cage, no matter how the boat banged on it, it couldn''t penetrate through it or even shake it. With gaping mouths and shivering bodies, they stared at Arthur, who was friendly smiling at them. But how could they not be afraid! This man just killed Tian, who was a supreme existence to them and an elder of their sect. Even if they joined forces there is no way they can defeat him, or even escape! "S-senior, please spare us!" The older one of the twins spoke with a shaky voice, from the desperate expression on his face, you could guess it took him a lot of courage to utter those words. "Y-yes... please senior, what he said..." The younger brother followed but his voice was even worse than his brother. Arthur couldn''t help but laugh as he saw their fearful attitude. Contrary to them, the female seemed to have remembered something, the fear was still shown to her but it wasn''t like a second ago, as if she regained a bit of confidence. She tried to suppress the fear and proudly said "We are disciples of the Golden Earth Sect. Senior, please show mercy and the sect shall forget about today''s matter!" Although she was begging him for mercy, her tone was different. It seemed more like a threat than someone begging for his life. Seeing this wonderful spectacle, Arthur released a bashful smile, his showed his row of white teeth and pointed his finger at the female, then without any warning. The female''s body convulsed and lifelessly fell on the floor. Her eyes showed belief, unwillingness, and terror, till the last second, she couldn''t still believe she died just like that. "I do not like people who threaten me." Seeing the female die on the spot, without even knowing how she died, the twins almost pissed their pants from fright. Fortunately, they didn''t dare boast or say unwise words in front of the man. As for the injured youth, he stared at the female''s dead body then struggled to point at Arthur whilst angrily uttering "Y-you... our sect won''t let this matter go! You will be tort-" ''poof'' Just like the female, the youth didn''t even finish talking before his inclined body fell on the floor, lifeless. To this very second, the twins still didn''t know how they died but they didn''t dare ask, the fear reached its limit and even breathing became harder. "For what reasons do you need the captives?" Arthur didn''t waste time chitchatting about pointless things. Although he was still carrying that peaceful smile and the ethereal state, this only added to the horror the twins were feeling. The older one didn''t dare answer late, he spouted everything he knew without reservation or care if it was a secret or not. "I-it''s acc-cctually a mission from our sect.... e-every year some disciples are ss-ssent to bring out people from the l-lower realms to nurture the good seeds..." Arthur contemplated for a bit then added "What about the bad seeds?" "Ah?" The older brother was dumbfounded for an unknown reason but he soon snapped out of his daze when Arthur whistled playfully, his body trembled and he resumed "M-most of them are turned into s-servants...." With one hand on his chin, Arthur sat on air and pondered for a minute before he clapped his hands with a satisfied expression and added "Good job on the truthful answers!" Seeing he was in a somewhat good mood, the older one urged his brother and they both bowed towards Arthur respectfully and said emotionally "Thank you for sparing our humble lives!" Knowing that they did well to not oppose him and act arrogant, the twins were happy and the immense fear dissipated, however, such thing didn''t last for long. The atmosphere on the deck of the Spirit Boat suddenly became extremely chilly. Killing intent that almost suffocated them and a cold presence that made their spines numb, which was followed by a voice akin to the devil''s "I never said that I''ll spare you, though." As his words finished, the bodies of twins fell lifelessly on the deck, without even being able to retort or utter the last cry. They died miserably, just like their comrades. "Anyone who hinders my goals is nothing but enemies that should be killed. An insignificant ant today can still trouble tomorrow. Always kill until the last one, isn''t that right, Lucy....." Arthur lamented with a sad expression. He sighed and gathered the corpses then scavenged their possessions. With another wave of his hand, the Spirit Boat was also collected. Although it cannot be compared to the one he bought from the Underworld, he still had to use this one as the other one was given to Lucy. There was no meaning to linger there any longer so Arthur flew back to where the captives were. Unfortunately, he didn''t find any familiar person amongst them, which disappointed them a bit. Although they were powerless in such a world, he was never a savior. Facing a short-haired female who seemed to be their leader, he brought her away from rest which led her to become uneasy and a bit afraid, her unyielding attitude was shaken a bit as she faced this unknown man. She still tried to maintain a calm expression, however, her body betrayed her as it shivered nonstop. They didn''t know the whole situation but they were able to guess that since the disciples and the old man didn''t come back then this gray-haired man dealt with them. For weak people like them, it didn''t matter who was in charge of them, their miserable fate won''t change. "You do not have to be afraid, I''m not lusting over you nor am I going to do anything to you." The short-haired female really was scared when she was facing such an existence, even his words were not helpful. Arthur could only sigh and take out a few scriptures from his storage whilst saying "You are weak, that is an undebatable fact but your fate is in your hands and all I can give you is a helping hand, whether you can grasp this chance depends on your will. The world is large and the universe is vast but maybe there will come a time when we will meet again if fate it allows it." With that, he summoned a strong Death Knight and cut his connection with it after he ordered it to follow the girl''s orders. With that, he didn''t wait for the girl to respond before he departed. He didn''t mind leaving a few techniques for them, he didn''t need them and although he wasn''t willing to take them with him, he still wanted to have a leeway because he was sure that Lucy would have done the same. As his feet stepped across the skies and crossed thousands of kilometers in seconds, Arthur was lost in a long chain of thoughts, reminiscing about his happy yet short memories with Lucy. They have been separated for a short time but for him, it felt like an eternity. ''We are separated by the heavens, but our bond is not something the river of time or the will of fate can break! Anyone who stands on the path leading to you will be massacred, even if it was the whole world!'' Chapter 193 - 167.3 : Physiques When he interrogated Vyncent last time, Arthur knew that the disciples from his sect were supposed to get people from all the three powers and the female he killed on the Spirit Boat was probably the one who was sent to the Naga Tribe. This made his trip to their territory pointless and a complete waste of time. With this in mind, he was more or less sure that the prince and his sister are most likely not in this world, or at least, not in this barren land. He had nothing to do here so it was time for him to cross the wall of Yang Fire, however, before that, he had to pay a visit to a certain someone. ...... Dark Desert City is a large city situated at the center of the three factions, no one was controlling it but all three powers had some experts stationed here to observe the movements of their enemies. Some small-scale fights would occur but nothing too major, especially inside the city as it is forbidden fight or else the city lord guards will execute them on the spot. If one were to talk about who has the most authority inside the city, then it would definitely be the city lord, Kang Amitel. He broke through to the God Realm since a long time ago and no one from the factions leaders dares to provoke him. Kang is an unfathomable character, he didn''t fight over power in this land and merely ruled this city peacefully. He rarely showed himself and let his children take care of the city affairs. Only when a big crisis befalls on the city would he show himself to solve the matter. There was even a time that two generals, one from the Naga and one from the Pigolo dared to fight inside the city but it only ended up with both of their heads hanged of the city gates as a warning for the two factions. What''s even more astonishing is that the Naga Tribe and the Pigolos remained silent and didn''t dare to fight or demand a compensation. When Arthur entered the city, he saw a people from the three races and even numerous human cultivators on the streets. There was no fighting like he saw outside and the atmosphere was a bit lively. The city wasn''t overly big, it only spanned a few miles but it had an amazing and unique architecture that made it stand out in this wasteland. It was like a paradise to those weak or rogue cultivators who can''t handle themselves outside due to the ferocious beasts lurking under the barren earth. Only a Heavenly Realm or above can roam freely in this wasteland and in some forbidden areas, even Immortals wouldn''t dare to boast about crossing these terrifying places. Currently, Arthur was possessing the body of a middle-aged woman. She wasn''t a godly beauty but she had a special mature aura around her that made her approachable, adding the ethereal state that he has, the woman was like a peaceful angel strolling around the city. Many young human cultivators coming from different sects outside of the wall tried to talk to Arthur but were friendly rejected. There were some persistent ones but after suffering from the glares of the rest. Arthur''s goal in coming here was only to look for a certain someone so he didn''t linger there much longer. He paid no heed to the shops selling expensive treasure and went around countless alleyways until he reached a deserted narrow street. He gazed at the wall at the end of the street and smirked before his figure blurred and he teleported, instantly appearing behind that seemingly old wall which actually had a special formation engraved on it. For Arthur, with the appraisal skill, nothing could escape his eyes. Along with his black lightning, passing through or shattering it is no big deal, especially when it is not that strong to begin with. ........ Gutcha, with a black and torn cloak covering his face, was talking with another man with a low voice in a room devoid of light. The two were quite secretive as they didn''t even dare raise their voices, especially the man who was facing Gutcha. After talking for a while, the man received a box from Gutcha and left after looking around cautiously. His actions were that of a professional, he disappeared from the room without leaving any trace, like a ghost. Gutcha was also going to leave when he sensed a presence suddenly pop behind him. His first thought was to run for his life but he was immobilized before he could react. Without no way to escape, Gutcha had no choice but try to talk his way out of it "Please frien--no, benefactor! I did nothing illegal, I can tell you whatever you want if you let me go!" Seeing the hideous pigolo begging as soon as they met, the female softly chuckled and sat on a chair opposite to Gutcha, who was still freaking out and blabbering a lot of nonsense in the hope of fleeing. "I see that you still haven''t changed your methods." Seeing the mysterious female finally talk, Gutcha was a bit relieved that the enemy was willing to negotiate but also confused because she talked as is she knew him but he was absolutely sure that he never saw her in his entire life. Seeing her smile, Gutcha shivered and after wracking his brain for a few minutes, he seemed to have realized something and said "Y-you... so it''s Sir! I couldn''t recognize you at first.... you look different" Gutcha has seen Arthur somehow control other people and with his sudden appearances in front of him time and time again, he pieced this and that together and knew who the woman is. Although he had a wretched character, he never provokes powerful enemies and he never encountered this woman so it wasn''t that hard to discover who her identity really was. "At least you are a bit smart. Now let''s get down to the proper business, what did you discover, I want every single detail, understood?" Arthur smiled and showed the row of beautiful white teeth of the female. She wasn''t an extreme beauty but the mature charm she emitted was special. "A-ah, yes yes about your instructions.... forgive me but I couldn''t find what you wanted, a proper spatial master, however, there were a lot of rumors circulating outside of the walls about a terrifying existence which could control Space! I personally don''t think it is true as there is a lot of similar rumors, they are just people inventing lies to earn some money!" Arthur stared at Gutcha with a serious look which made the latter more uneasy, he stuttered and paused for a few seconds before he gulped some saliva and resumed "T-there is also some good information I found recently! Although it cost me a heavy price, I''m certain that the Ancestral Tomb of the Kang Family is opening soon!" "Ancestral Tomb?" "Ah! You don''t know about it... it''s the tomb where the ancestor of the city lord is buried. It opens once every few hundred years and a lot of experts usually come here to enter which is why there is a large number of human cultivators visiting the city. City lord Kang knows that he can''t oppose all those factions and bring a disaster to his family so declared that the tomb is free for all those who can enter it. Although he didn''t publicly declare that, all those strong powers know his intentions." Gutcha gasped for a few breaths when he finished speaking, he glanced at Arthur, waiting for his reply. The female silently sat on the chair with a pondering look, after a good amount of time passed, she raised her head to look at the hideous face of Gutcha and said "What is there inside the tomb? Was the Kang ancestor a spatial master?" Gutcha shook his head with a disappointed expression and explained "The Kang Ancestor was a terrifying existence that came from outside of the wall, he established this city and since then no one dared to oppose it! He left countless treasures and if one is lucky enough, they may even obtain the Physique manual he left, the Jade Water Physique! Oh and there is also the possibility of finding a space-related treasure!" Gutcha spoke with an excited tone as he drooled over the manual. Not only him but every cultivator would want a physique manual. There are special people who are born with a unique physique like Lucy for example. Physique manuals allow those with a normal physique to train and become that specific physique. Of course, it requires enough talent and a lot of preservation and hard work, but it is still doable which is why a lot of people want to covet it, even ancient heritages and powerful factions would declare war over a physique manual if it is a good one that is. Physiques are divided into many ranks and the Jade Water Physique is considered a Soldier Physique. From low to high the ranks are; Soldier physique, General Physique, King Physique, Emperor Physique, and God Physique. There are also branches of physique: Void branch has Spatial Physique, Time Physique, and Eternal Physique. Yin Branch has Evil Physique, Pure Yin Physique, Misty Physique. Each of these sub-branch physiques also have their own sub-branches and in total there is one hundred and eight physique. The Jade Water is only a Soldier Physique and a sub-category of the Water Physique but it still has a lot of potential and can show extraordinary power if it is trained to perfection! Chapter 194 - 167.4 : Information Although the Jade Water Physique is only Soldier-ranked when it is trained to perfection, one can slay Gods easily but to achieve such a feat would require a lot of effort and a very long time. Passive skills which increase the power of the physical body cannot be ranked along side of special physique since they are a completely different system and even if they are levelled to the maximum level, they are not as powerful as physiques, which is why Gutcha was excited when he was talking about the Jade Water Physique, he was completely drooling over it but he knew his own capabilities and he was certain that he won''t be able to obtain it but if his current boss, Arthur, joins in then there may be a small possibility of acquiring it. Gutcha kept talking about the benefits of the Jade Water Physique until he was motioned to stop by Arthur, who was not interested at all, which made the poor monster dejected as he was that his boss didn''t even bat an eye when hearing about such a strong manual! Although the effort to obtain such a manual is worthwhile, even for Arthur, it is not enough to make him go out of his way to waste precious time finding something that will not be useful in finding Lucy. If it was a manual that had to do with Space Magic, then he would slaughter his way there until he gets it, so for him, the Jade Water Physique wasn''t as appealing as a strong Spatial Master. "Enough of this gibberish about the manual, you didn''t find anything related to Spatial Masters?" Spatial Masters are those who are proficient in using Space Magic, not only do they have to be born with a strong affinity towards such a rare attribute, they also must have sufficient talent which is why they are extremely scarce even in a medium-Realm such as this one. Gutcha hesitated for a bit and forced his greedy thoughts out of the way then resumed "Y-yeah.. about that matter, I found some clues and heard some minor rumors but I''m not too sure how much of them can we believe. I obtained from a source of mine that the Water Cloud Sect elders invited a Spatial Master a few months ago and that he may be coming when the tomb is opening. The manual can help their branch rise in status so they are quite optimistic about it. However, many great powers have come to the city to covet the treasures. Apart from the manual, it is said that there are many treasures and artifacts inside the tomb." Arthur listened attentively to Gutcha and only focused on the part where he mentioned the Spatial Master, whatever the great powers want to do have nothing to do with him. "How powerful is this Spatial Master?" Gutcha''s ugly showed a fearful expression as he lowered his voice and said "About this.... I''m sure he is a God but there is no information about his Grade but many speculate he is a Peak Small God." Cultivators who reached the God Realm are usually divided into three types. Small Gods, Adult Gods, and Peak God. Small Gods are ones in the first three grades, Adult Gods are those between the fourth and sixth Grades and Peak Gods are those in the last three grades. Delia, for example, is a Peak God but to reach the next Realm, it won''t be as simple as passing through Grades. Even when passing through Grades in the God Realm, it is very difficult which is why every advance in Grade for Gods is a huge boost to their power. "Instead of all that useless talking, you should''ve just told me this. When is the tomb opening? And where is the Spatial Master right now?" Gutcha ugly face twisted and seemed as if he swallowed a fly, he knew how Arthur was but to ignore such a precious opportunity with strength like his didn''t sit quite right with the Pigolo but he didn''t dare retort as he knew how merciless Arthur was. Nothing is more important than his little life, after all. "The Spatial Master will come to aid the sect''s elder and the juniors, as for when he''ll come, it''ll probably be a few days before the tomb open. The tomb is scheduled to open in two weeks at most. The date is not precise but you''ll surely notice its opening if you''re inside the city or around its surrounding areas." After he finished speaking, Gutcha remained silent whilst glancing at Arthur. "Very informative, you have done well. At least better than I expected you to do." The female stood up and nodded at Gutcha, from her look, she was about to leave but stopped when she saw Gutcha''s expectant look. "What? If you have something to say then spit it out." Albeit what he heard, Gutcha still hesitated and only spoke when the female glared at him impatiently. "T-this servant had gone around asking everyone and I e-expended a lot of my resources..... Boss is magnificent and kind to have allowed me to live! I''m forever grateful but..." Before he could finish, Gutcha was interrupted by Arthur''s laughter "Hahaha, less ass-licking and more hard work. Now get to the point, what to do you want? I do not like wasting time." Nodding his head in approval, Gutcha said "Yes yes, Boss is wise! I require a bit of income... just a little bit for me to find a shelter and to buy food as to not die from starvation!" Hearing him aggravating his situation as if he was on the verge of death, the female laughed and threw a ring to Gutcha before disappearing from the dark room. After a few minutes, there was only the happy roar of Gutcha who kept saying ''I struck it rich!'' Although Arthur didn''t like Gutcha at first, he didn''t expect him to find so much information so quickly and albeit his strange attitude and extreme fear of death, he was quite hard working when his life was on the line. Furthermore, he had a big quantity of treasures and Spirit Red Stones so he handed him a bit but of course, that little bit was considered an extravagant amount for poor lil''Gutcha. Chapter 195 - 167.5 : Borrowed Power After talking with Gutcha, Arthur departed from that secret room and returned back to an inn he just happened to book a room in it a bit ago. In fact, he can just live anywhere he wants with the countless bodies and their unique abilities. Sleeping whilst merging with the earth is really simple but since he was initially human before coming to Astria, he preferred living normally, at least for now. Although he didn''t pick an extravagant inn, he noticed that a lot of humans came to Black Desert City. There were many young cultivators along with one or two old men acting as their protectors. Arthur paid no heed to them and returned his room. He didn''t have anything important to do besides cultivating but he put that matter to the side and entered the ARK. Although whilst he is using the rest mode the time flows almost like the reality, he didn''t use it often. In fact, he wanted a thing like stopping time completely like when he competing against the white no faced people but that deprives him of his powers and stats so he couldn''t train thoroughly which only leaves him with the rest mode. Arthur''s ultimate goal is a perfect mastery of Spatial Magic so he could create a Spatial Tunnel to Earth. There are four methods to achieve that. First is to possess an expert in Space Magic, second is to find an already built tunnel to Earth and this is rather unlikely since he never heard of aliens visiting Earth. The third method is the easiest one of them, it requires him to train his Space Magic to the desired level. That is doable if he concentrated only on Space Magic but even with his stats and Race, it would take some time for that to happen. At the very least a few months if not longer. As for the last method, it is the one which is has a very low percentage of happening. The use of an artifact or a treasure capable of teleporting him there. He already rampaged through his storage and there is no such item there. Arthur also thought of going back to the Underworld then going to the same green Spatial Fluctuation, but he was almost sure that he won''t be able to find it. He had a hunch that such a special fluctuation would only happen once every few years if not more. Void, as one of the main attributes, has many sub-attributes like the Spatial Attribute, for example. Arthur has a few space-related skills but compared to the Void Magic, it is far weaker which is why he doesn''t use them at all. Void devours everything, but it can also do many other things, it''s just that Arthur isn''t able to use them as he hasn''t comprehended them yet, his understanding of this attribute is still at the beginning. With a Race such as his, Arthur doesn''t actually need to cultivate or train his skills, not even comprehend profound techniques. It is certainly a blessing but a curse at the same time. From the accumulated talent he gained from all this possessing, he could be considered matchless in terms of aptitude, cultivation speed and so on. But one thing that has never changed is his comprehension, or more precisely, the ability to become enlightened and strengthen one''s techniques or perhaps even leap in Grades. Geniuses in this age are countless and among them, there are those who could even create their own technique when they still at a very low-Realm. Obviously, those techniques won''t be perfect from the beginning as they will grow along with their creators. .... Sitting inside the endless white-space, Arthur gazed at the emptiness and spoke "ARK, do you know how I can gain mastery in Spatial Magic?" After he asked, he waited a few minutes but he heard no response. Despite not hearing an answer, Arthur asked a few more questions and seemed like a madman blabbering alone. After a while of this, he finally gave up. He gently sighed and stared at the emptiness one final time before leaving the ARK. However, what he didn''t know was that after his disappearance, the man who resembled him exactly appeared and stared at the spot where Arthur was sitting while mumbling "This is exactly why being a parasite is a heaven at first but hell later. Borrowed power will always be borrowed *sigh*" just as he appeared, he vanished again without any sound. The only thing left was the rotating cube, seemingly never going to stop spinning for all eternality. Arthur slept soundlessly after he left the ARK. With infinite Stamina or Cultivators who became ascended to the Divine Realm, they could spend years without sleep, it is simply nothing to be mentioned. But there are rare people who prefer sleeping, however, such people are exceedingly rare. Most would spend their time cultivating or meditating to calm their minds and clear their hearts. As he didn''t sleep in a long time, Arthur didn''t expect much and only wanted to close his eyes and rest for a bit. However, something strange occurred as he was sleeping, he dreamt about incomprehensible things. The dream felt real yet his vision was blurry. He was certain that he had a similar dream in the past, he was in a vast green land with bloomed flowers and a clear blue sky. To the north was a forest with thick tall trees but what was strange is when he tried looking at his hands in this realistic dream, he found them to be very blurry as if a white fog was enveloping them. As he looked behind him, he saw a small wooden hut and a garden with a few sunflowers, making the scene even more beautiful and breathtaking. It was too peaceful and gave him warmth and a sense of belonging. As his eyes were enjoying this extremely realistic and beautiful scene, a slender figure left the hut carrying something in her hands. Although he couldn''t exactly see her facial features, Arthur knew for sure that it was Lucy. She had a long silky silver hair that was mesmerizing when the sun rays landed on it and made it look shiny. She walked towards him and carried an infant who was laughing cutely. Unfortunately, this dream didn''t last long as his vision blackened before she managed to get closer to him and he returned to the inn room. Much to his surprise, he was sweating a bit which is not something that should happen with a Stamina like his. It would be a lie to say he wasn''t curious about this dream as it is the second time that it happened, but he had no clues and it was not the right time to dwell on it. Arthur quickly cleaned himself and possessed the body of a young man around the age of twenty, he wore simple clothes. He hid the long chains well so the others couldn''t see them and left the room. Chapter 196 - 168.1 : Cold Sword Having nothing special to do until the opening of the Ancestral Tomb, Arthur simply went downstairs to a eat. He could pass all his time cultivating but he wasn''t that dedicated to cultivating. In the first place, he only yearned for absolute power to be able to protect his family and friends but even with such a cheat Race, he is alone right now with his wife and daughter in another plane and the Human Emperor, who could be considered his friend, is not dead. The inn he was staying in wasn''t famous yet despite that fact, the restaurant was still bustling with people, mostly humans. Without minding them a glance, Arthur picked a random empty table and sat, he ordered a few dishes and simply sat there waiting. "Hey, have you heard about who''s coming? It''s freaking Kai Min is personally coming this time!" A person from a group of young men exclaimed as they debating about something in a table near Arthur. One of the young men near the one who just spoke innocently spoke with confusion "Senior brother, w-who''s Kai Min?" His face was flushed red as everybody started laughing at him. One burly man next to him slammed his back roughly as he roared with laughed and said "Hahahahaha this is why young ones should venture into the world more often! As for Kai Min... he''s the young genius of the Water Cloud Sect. It is rumored that he reached the Immortal Realm at the age of twenty! This is an amazing feat!" As the burly man proudly announced, a girl sitting at the same table at him snorted and retorted "Bah! Kai Min is nothing compared to Shu Ru! A devilish prodigy across all eons! Hmpf, Kai Min is only trash compared to her!" When this name was mentioned, the burly man stopped laughing and scratched his bald head with an embarrassed expression but he didn''t continue boasting because what the young girl said was indeed true. The young man who was embarrassed earlier sat there with a dazed expression, although he didn''t know Kai Min, he certainly knew Shu Ru as her name resounded in every corner of this world! The young man hesitated for a second before asking again "W-will Shu Ru come?" The rest stared at him for a few seconds before they burst out laughing again, the burly man even had tears in his eyes. "Hahahahha, junior brother your ambitions sure are high! Not to mention you, even Kai Min is barely qualified to speak with her, as for us commoners, we can only watch from a distance and appreciate her sight! Hahahaha!" The young man''s face became redder, he dropped his head and didn''t dare utter another single word. A lot of similar topics were heard by Arthur in the restaurant. He savored the delicious dishes as he listened here and there but he wasn''t that much interested. Genius young humans or whatnot, this doesn''t concern him, neither does the tomb, his goal is the Spatial Master and it wouldn''t be easy either. Such a master would be guarded and even if he wasn''t, his power would certainly not be weak, adding to the fact that he is a God, his Spatial Control would be troublesome to deal with and even the special talismans of Zodiak may not be helpful in such situations. .... As he enjoyed his leisurely time, Arthur heard a few names being repeated by the excited juniors coming from a lot of outside factions. Most of them mentioned Kai Min as he was personally coming this time. There was also a few mentions of Shu Ru who was a supreme genius of the Mirage Era Hall but since she wasn''t coming, they didn''t talk a lot about her. There was also the Flame Crown Prince who hails from Five Phoenix Kingdom, and the Sacred Priest from the Holy Academy. Arthur kept ordering more dishes and enjoyed them to the fullest, as he was in the midst of flavoring the last dish, a person entered the restaurant. Normally, such a thing wouldn''t attract much attention as people kept going in and out but when this person entered. Everyone held their breaths as all their gazes were locked onto this person. With a tall stature and an extremely chilling aura coupled with thick murderous intent unleashed in all directions. It brought creeps and fear to all those who felt it. Some even unconsciously shivered and didn''t dare talk. "W-why is she here..." "Shhh!!" The group from earlier were also silent, the laughing stopped and they all threw countless glances to the figure who entered the restaurant. "S-she also came... this will definitely not end up good!" The burly bald man stared at the girl who entered the restaurant with a mix of fear and uneasiness. The girl had long black hair and wore tight black leather clothes from head to toe, only showing her face, she also had a cloth similar to a robe covering her body but it was obvious to see that she had a perfect body. With an expressionless face peerless in this world and soul-shaking eyes, it was without a doubt a kingdom-toppling beauty. Unfortunately, no one did approach her or complimented her as her beauty was over-shadowed with the cold aura and murderous intent emitting from her, her eyes were chilling and she seemed as cold as an ice, indifferent to everything! "I-It''s Cold Sword!" One of the present people murmured with a very low voice, afraid of the girl hearing him. Everyone felt uncomfortable and didn''t say anything rash lest they anger her and suffer harsh consequences. Jian Si, also known as Cold Sword, is a famous character on the other side of the wall. She comes from Mountain Ba Sword Sect and is known for her notoriety, she is extremely ruthless and embraces the path of killing. The Sword Dao has countless paths and the murdering path is but one of them. By killing more with ones'' sword, they became stronger but more ruthless, however, if one isn''t prepared or strong enough, they can be devoured by their murderous intent and the sword will become the master. Many talented individuals challenged her but they all ended up dead. Cold Sword is a very ruthless and cold person which is why none cared about her beauty albeit the fact that she is basically one of the top beauties of the Green-Leaf-Middle-Realm. As silence ruled over this restaurant, the only thing that could be heard in this awkward atmosphere is a chewing coming from a corner of the restaurant. As all gazes landed on the young man who was leisurely eating his food without a care in the world. Although they wanted to beat him up for acting like that, none dared to move and only cursed him thousands of times, of course, there were also those who stared at him with dagger eyes. Coincidentally, in this not-so-big restaurant, the customers were afraid that the Cold Sword would sit close to them so some sat on two chairs at once and some hid them. In a split second, all chairs were either taken or disappeared which left Cold Sword standing in the middle of the room, gazing around for a seat. She didn''t seem to mind their behavior and merely searched for an empty place. However, from the point of view of these young juniors, it seemed as if she was looking for a prey to hunt. Soon enough, she marched towards the young man who was sitting and sat in the seat opposite of him, which happened to be the only available seat. Speaking of Arthur, he threw a quick glance at the girl before continuing to eat his food, he didn''t even pause for a split second. With the system, he was able to see her real Cultivation and despite her unique aura, he wasn''t the least bit affected. In fact, such aura is quite comfortable for him as he can emit too thanks to the Blood Magic, Dark Magic, and several others skills but he chose not do as it would attract unwanted attention and cause endless troubles which he hasn''t the time for. Chapter 197 - 168.2 : Food Thief As Arthur continued eating, Cold Sword sat in front of him, her eyes were glued to the several dishes spread out on the table. She still had an expressionless face but was obvious that she was interested in tasting them. Actually, Jian Si may have followed the path of the murdering sword, however, it doesn''t me that she cut off all her human emotions. In fact, she was extremely fond of eating delicious dishes. She would always travel around and taste everything that she couldn''t recognize. This habit has become too extreme as she would also taste unique fruits that she found in secret places and she almost died due to this strong urge to taste them. Although those were dangerous actions, her constitution benefited greatly as her body became more and more immune to poisonous plants and evil Energy. After enjoying the good view in front of her. She glanced at the waiter who didn''t get too close to her and said with a cold and inpatient voice "One ball of rice." The waiter didn''t dare to linger there and hastily left to prepare the order. Eventually, a small ball of white rice which contained an insignificant amount of Nether Energy was presented in front of her and in just two gulps, she finished it but from her deep frown, it was obvious that she wasn''t the least bit satisfied. Her eyes went back to the several dishes in front of her and that only added to her hunger. A person of her status would surely have a big fortune, however, due to some unfortunate events, on her way here she encountered a dangerous beast and almost ended up losing her life. Although she survived, she lost her ring and didn''t bother looking for it. The ring had a lot of life-saving treasures and a lot of Spirit Stones but for her, only her sword mattered so she didn''t think much about it until now that is. As the saying goes ''there is no medicine for regret''. As carefree as ever, Arthur savored his dishes until only a few were left and his appetite was almost full. Just when he was about to grab a huge roasted leg of an unknown beast, a slender white hand was faster than him as it grabbed the fat piece of meat and was about to devour it. Although she was a step before him that didn''t stop Arthur from instantaneously grabbing the meat from her retrieving hand in a flash and taking a huge bite whilst saying "Hands off! What are you thinking? To try and rob my food in broad daylight! Shameless..." His sudden outburst scared the guests and they all had a gaping mouth and surprised eyes. "H-he''s crazy!!" "Oh dear! He''s provoking her, this is bad....." "It''s a shame... he''s so young yet his ignorance led him to his death! There''s no escaping from an angry Cold Sword!" Some lamented about his behavior that will lead to trouble and others enjoyed seeing his demise. "What did you say?" She coldly glared at him and retorted, from her tone it was clear that she was angry. "What? Am I speaking an unknown language or are you deaf?" Arthur then pointed at his food then did an ''X'' mark with his fingers, then he pointed at the food then at himself, as if he was explaining to a deaf person. His action only added oil to the fire as the chilling aura of Jian Si increased, her eyes were like daggers, prepared to slice him into countless pieces. Arthur continued eating whilst throwing a couple of glances at her as if he was afraid she would try to steal again. He even brought the dishes closer to him. Cold Sword remained silent, she kept glaring at him and after some time, she managed to calm down and speak again. "I,I just wanted to taste it." With a half roasted leg in his mouth, Arthur looked at her and sarcastically said "Ha! Does it look like I''m running a charity here? If you want to taste something then order it! I''m not distributing dishes to others neither am I kind enough to give you my precious, hard-earned food!" Arthur''s behavior is drastically different from his real one is due to possessing a new body so it doesn''t matter how he acts and also because he felt like teasing her and see what she''ll do. He wasn''t afraid of her and neither did he fear the consequences of his current attitude. Moreover, it was her fault for trying to steal his food. Of course, he can give her all of the food and still order but she tried to rob before even asking for his permission so he changed his idea about giving her some. First, he felt a bit of pity when she saw her longing look towards the food, but it didn''t even a couple of minutes before he changed his opinion about her. The calm Jian Si once again became infuriated but she didn''t dare cause a big ruckus. She restrained herself and added "I don''t have enough money on me right now. Let me taste some and I''ll owe a favor." The crowd was even more surprised as they heard this. They didn''t think it''ll turn out like this, they had long since heard of Jian Si''s love for food but they didn''t know it was to the degree that she''ll accept such humiliation just to get a bite. She even told him that she''ll owe him a favor. One has to know that having a character like her owe you a favor is a big matter. Her future is limitless and she is bound to become a strong and influential figure in the near future so her owing a favor to him is like having a heaven''s blessing. People like her would never go back on their words and their favors are worth gold! With food in his mouth, the young man stared at her as if he was staring at a dumb person and said "No money? Bah! What about that pretty sword you have there? It''s surely worth enough for you to fill your stomach!" Cold Sword did indeed have a sword on her back. She wrapped it in a black cloth and always wore it on her back to increase her intimacy with it. In fact, all sword practicers would usually do that as it sharpens their Sword Energy. Jian Si felt conflicted and angry, she always was feared by most people and none dared to talk to her like that for fear of being killed, so when she was bombarded like this, she couldn''t find the right words to retort, however, it was evident that with her arrogant nature, she can''t swallow this humiliation. "Hmpf! I''ll owe you a favor so no need to be stingy with a bit of food!" Just as she finished talking, her hands grabbed another piece of meat and threw it in her mouth without waiting for a reply from the young man. Unfortunately, she couldn''t even enjoy the meat as the food disappeared again and appeared in his hands again. He stared at her with disgust and spoke "Bah! I don''t need your favor. You can dream about eating my food!" Having the piece of meat ''stolen'' from her again enraged her even further as she stood up and glared at him angrily, she was ready to pounce on him in any given second. The young man leisurely finished all the dishes under her piercing glare and licked his fingers whilst saying "What? You''re angry because you didn''t get to taste it? So what! Bite me!" With that, Arthur put a few Red Spirit Stones on the table and sat up to leave, totally ignoring Jian Si. All the onlookers were astonished by his overbearing attitude. No one has ever dared to talk to Cold Sword like that and even if they did, they were already killed by her without mercy. They all knew that this young man is dead for sure after what he said, there is no escaping this time even if he had ten lives! Without minding the gazes of the crowd, Arthur left the restaurant and didn''t bother with the girl who was still staring at him with eyes full of anger. Cold Sword didn''t linger there either, she soon left the restaurant right after he did. Once she left, the guests relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief, although they weren''t directly confronting her, they still felt fearful. Some even felt admiration for Arthur, who had enough courage to talk back to her like that. ****** To all of you who are thinking if he is always gonna behave like that, I''ll say no, it''ll only happen sometimes to lighten the mood or if he is acting purposely to fit his character or maybe to fool others. Don''t forget, he''s not using his real appearance so he can act however he sees fit. Chapter 198 - 168.3 : Challenge Arthur had a destination in mind when he left the restaurant. He heard about a certain Kang Treasury house which is a well-known shop that sells treasures, artifacts, and weapons. Many humans visit in once they come to Dark Desert City as it is rumored that it has many secret techniques and high ranked weapons. Secret Techniques have different kinds, some use lifespan to grant the user a boost of power or speed, and others are life-saving measures which can protect their users from certain death. Such techniques are extremely rare and once they show up, a lot of people covet it and fight for it. In a way, secret techniques are similar to Physique Manuals, however, there are only one-hundred and eight physique manuals altogether, as for secret techniques, there are probably way more than that. For example, Anastassia inherited a secret technique from her master and although she tried to give it to Arthur and Lucy so they can learn it, they both declined as it didn''t really suit them. With Arthur''s high Dexterity and his Sixth Sense, it didn''t take long before he discovered that a certain person was following him. Obviously, it can only be Jian Si, who still couldn''t let go of what happened earlier. As he leisurely walked in the city bustling street, Arthur made a sudden turn into a narrow alley where there''s a dead-end and turned around. His figure completely vanished and you can no longer sense his presence, even a God would necessarily not be able to discover his location. A few seconds quietly passed before a dark shadow appeared out of nowhere. With thick killing intent emanating from her and a chilling gaze, she looked around the narrow alley but to her surprise, she found nothing suspicious. She was totally surprised because she was an expert in tracking yet his presence suddenly vanished and no matter how she tried, she couldn''t locate him. She walked to the end of the alley and touched the wall, trying to sense anything out of place but to no avail. Just as she was going to leave the alley, Jian Si heard a clapping sound so she hastily turned around only to find a young-man clapping his hands and smirking at her with an annoying expression that made her remember the previous humiliation. "I have to say, you are pretty good at tracking people. Unfortunately, you met me." Arthur stopped clapping and put his hands behind his back before continuing "Now speak, what do you want from me? Is it revenge? Or perhaps sneak attack me? If that is what you want then I advise you to attack right now as it is your last chance." He walked closer to her until they were separated by merely three meters then he spread out his hands as if he was welcoming her attacks with no resistance. His actions and words infuriated the girl even further, she was arrogant by nature and such kinds of people would rarely resort to sneak attacks or tracking but it was indeed true that she was forced to do that as she couldn''t contain her anger. "I''m here to challenge you!" While pointing her sword wrapped in cloth at him, she yelled that sentence while unleashing more of her suffocating killing intent. "Ah! I have to say, in terms of intensity, your killing intent is surely one of the thickest and strongest I have ever seen but it''s unfortunately not the strongest one." In terms of killing intent, Bucama''s was without a match, the sheer bloodthirst and savagery he emanated are beyond what could be described in words. Arthur looked at her up and down as if checking her out and then resumed "As for you challenge... bah! I don''t have the time nor do I want to exert such effort to fight you. Not everyone is as free as you are, and even if I was free, I would still not waste my time with fighting you. Ha! A little girl who was angry because of a small matter wants to fight to wash away her humiliation.... please! This is more pathetic than it is sad. Get off your high horse and learn to act properly then you can challenge people." He didn''t leave her the time to reply before his figure vanished from her sight, leaving her dumbfounded and full of anger. She could not let out her anger and even with her abilities, she knew she wasn''t able to track him. Although she was proud and strong with a high cultivation, she still couldn''t see through him which made her hesitate in attacking him immediately. After a bit of time passed, she coldly snorted and disappeared from the alley just the same way she appeared. .... The Kang Treasury House was located on the South-Western part of the city. It was a fifty-meter long building made from unknown black stone which emitted dazzling radiances when the sun rays land on it. The building itself exuded a majestic aura that drew the attention of every passerby. Arthur stared at the building for a while before he entered it. The interior was just as beautiful and extravagant as the exterior. There were a lot of customers inside this broad roam. Treasures and weapons were displayed on separate tables with their price tags were just under them. Arthur just wanted to check this place since there are a lot of treasures and perhaps he can find something related to Space Magic. In Zodiak''s notes, there are a few mentions about a certain item that contains a humongous amount of Spatial Power and the user can open a Dimensional portal to a specified location. This item is called ''Dimensional Stone''. He didn''t pay much heed to the treasures and directly went to the counter to ask the receptionist there. With his normal attire and average appearance, Arthur didn''t look like a rich young master but despite that, the receptionist was still courteous and wasn''t contemptuous. "Hello Sir, how can I help you?" Arthur nodded his head approvingly and replied "I was wondering if you have any Space oriented Items, the stronger the better and the price doesn''t matter either." The smiling receptionist paused for a split second before he spoke with a bit of hesitation and uncertainty "This.... Sir, we do indeed have what you seek, but not on this floor. Please wait for a second, I''ll go consult my superior." The receptionist knew that this average looking young man wasn''t ordinary. Not everybody would not care about the price and despite his humble appearance, the receptionist knew that this must be an expert so he didn''t take things into his hands and decided to go to his superiors for guidance. The Kang Treasury House only had two floors open for customers. Usually, all customers linger in the first floor as the second one is only for special figures such as Elders from large sects or tribe leaders. Basically, not everyone can enter the second floor as status mattered a lot, after all, the items there are rare and expensive, so not anyone can see them or buy them. Very soon, the receptionist came back accompanied by a middle-aged man with a thick black beard. The middle-aged man sized up Arthur but he didn''t hide the disdain in his eyes. Contrary to the receptionist, he didn''t think Arthur was an expert and could not help but look at down at him. The middle-aged man clasped his hands in greeting and presented three items in front of Arthur. "Sir, these three are all Space oriented items that we currently have, please check them." He pushed three boxes in front of Arthur and patiently waited but truthfully, he wasn''t optimistic about selling them as although they weren''t very expensive, their price is not something anyone can afford. Arthur opened the three boxes without sparing a glance at the price tags and appraised the items. *** Spatial Devouring Hook (3rd Grade Mystic Rank): +1,200,000 Strength / +140,000 Agility. Special Skill: (Space Grab): Use The hook''s tip to grab a target from a certain distance, cannot be disrupted unless a force stronger than this one is unleashed. Cryptic Space Bracelet(2nd Grade Mystic Rank): +460,000 Wisdom. Space Control: Makes the user more adept at using Space Magic (+5% control). **** As for the last one, it was pretty useless so Arthur didn''t even bother with it. Even those two were not up to his standards and it would be waste of his Spirit Stones to buy them. He put them back in the boxes and said to the middle-aged man "These are not enough, do you have anything else? Stronger if possible. As I said, price doesn''t matter." Once he heard Arthur say that, the disdain in the man''s eyes grew stronger. He was sure that Arthur isn''t able to afford them which is why he is making such excuses. Albeit what he was thinking, he showed a smile and replied "Sorry Sir, these are the only Space-oriented items we have on sale. Please excuse our inefficiency." Although he sounded quite sincere, nothing could escape Arthur''s eyes but he didn''t express his thoughts. He smiled back and added "What about the second floor, can I go check the items there?" The middle-aged man shook his head with a sorry look and replied "Sorry Sir, the second floor is eligible only for certain people and not everyone can enter." Hearing this, Arthur sneered to himself and thought ''As I thought, wherever it is, status always matter. Oh well, they can only blame themselves...'' With that, he didn''t bother staying there any longer and headed out of the buildings. As he was about to leave, a couple entered the building. One was a charming woman with a curvy body and alluring looks and the other was a young man with a red hair. The woman was holding onto the young man''s arm seductively, as for the red-haired youth, he was smiling at the beauty, seemingly pretty satisfied. When the middle-aged man saw them, he hastily went to greet them personally and led them to the second floor without hesitation. The onlookers were pretty jealous of such treatment but none was courageous enough to voice out their displeased thoughts. As for Arthur, he left the building and stared at the entrance with a mischievous and evil smile ''As I said, you cannot blame me for what''s about to happen. You brought this upon yourselves, there is nothing I seek yet I cannot obtain!'' Chapter 199 - 168.4 : Easy Infiltration Arthur left the Kang Treasury House and drifted away from some distance before he took a turn towards an alley and disappeared. He stored the young man''s body and made use of his Racial abilities and the Nature Magic to possess a small green sprout, almost insignificant in size to the point of not being noticeable even by an expert unless they try to inspect it. However, who in the world would try to sense a sprout of feel wary of it, it''s nonsense. The building wasn''t far away from where Arthur disappeared, he merged with the earth and almost instantly appeared inside the perimeter of the building. Because it belonged to the Kang Family and it''s not far away from the main castle, there wasn''t any protective formation that is laid around it which made it easy for Arthur to sneak inside. With a non-humanoid body such as this, along with the use of [Steath Max Lv] and the suppressing of his aura, it was easy to pass unnoticeably unless a 7th Grade God or above went out of his way to sense all the building. Arthur''s assassination and sneaking skills could be peerless. Unless he purposely lets himself be discovered, there''s no way people will find about his presence. In one jump, the sprout which was still merged with the ground appeared on the second floor of the building. With the help of his map and [Eyes of The Noble Sea], he was able to determine how many people were there and if there laid a trap or an array of some kind. Fortunately, there were no traps on the second floor, however, on the third floor there seemed to be a blue formation. Countless blue electric lines intertwined and the overall view resembled a huge net enveloping the whole floor. The map showed Arthur four extra people excluding himself. First was the middle-aged man who talked to him earlier along with the young couple who were welcomed by the man. As for the last person, Arthur didn''t have a clue but he had a small guess. Furthermore, he was here to steal and not to fight, whether it''s an expert or another customer, it was none of his business. "Young master Elo, it''s a pleasure to have you visit us." The middle-aged man maintained a very respectable attitude as he talked with the young man and showed him multiple precious treasures. In response, the red-haired youth would only nod in approval but he didn''t speak a single word. "Dear, I like this necklace." The young woman hugging his arm coquettishly said as her eyes were glued to a necklace with an exorbitant price. It didn''t have an effect suitable for its price but the reason it was this absurdly expensive was due to the rare flashy materials that were used in its crafting. The middle-aged man was clever as he took out the necklace and handed it to the woman so she can try it. As for the young man, he nodded his head again and said "Wrap this up for me, we''ll take it since you took a liking to it." The woman''s face turned even happier, she kissed him on the cheeks and said "Thank, dear!" ''Tsk! Fake love.... as apparent as the sun itself yet he doesn''t realize it. One is blinded by beauty and the other is thirsty for treasures, looks, and appearance. After all, no matter where you are, the story still flows the same way, same people, and same actions....'' Watching from the sidelines, Arthur looked at the trio while remaining silent but he sure as hell didn''t have a good opinion about the woman. It''s a pity for the young man too who hasn''t realized she is using him, or perhaps he does know it but still enjoys having a beauty in his arms. Either way, Arthur knew that no matter what happens, the outcome will more or less be the same. If he doesn''t leave her soon, he''ll be the ones left when someone with more power and status than him takes her in his side, the same repeating cycle. After taking the necklace, the youth bought a few more things, whether it was beautiful rings or rare materials. Whatever that he found interesting was bought from him. He had a big pocket and wasn''t afraid of emptying it from the looks of it. As for Arthur, he silently inspected all the items on this floor but was depressed when he found that there were no space-oriented treasures that can be useful to him. His attention soon shifted to the third floor, which had that huge lightning net. He then glanced at the red-haired youth and smirked. The youth was named Elo Huo, he was the cousin of the Flame Crown Prince so his status is considered pretty high. Whoever offends him is like offending the prince himself and that will only end with a disaster to whoever dared to offend such a big behemoth. Arthur patiently waited half an hour until the duo finally stopped shopping. They left the second floor with a satisfied look, especially the woman who couldn''t stop himself from smiling as he brought her multiple flashy treasures. When Arthur ascertained that they were on the first floor, he used teleported on the same floor as them and as he was merged with the floor and with a completely covered presence, he unleashed a very small scale Rizaki. He wanted to use Rinotsu, the original skill but it can only be used with Wind Attribute or else the power would be really small. Rizaki was the last choice. He wished for destruction and precisely with fire. He didn''t use his ancient flames but normal fire while adding to its intensity. Rizaki''s power could be considered unrivaled under the God Realm, its destructive power is even deadly for its own user so one could imagine what would happen. Even when he used it in the Underworld, the chaos it caused is unbelievable as Gods and Immortals were left speechless. So it was without a doubt that if he unleashed one in here without preparation, not only could he die, he can obliterate the whole city along with its citizens. Due to that, whilst the couple was shopping, he slowly began to activate a Flame Rizaki but a very, very small scale one. In fact, he only put around ten-thousand Intelligence points which is less than 0.1% of his total intelligence. When the time was deemed to be perfect by Arthur, just when the red-haired youth stepped on the first floor, the skill was unleashed and a deafening explosion that freaked everyone inside the building was released. The reason Arthur used the youth was because he had to infiltrate the third floor. He was certain that with the use of the black lightning, he can crack the formation and enter but that''ll alarm whoever is residing on that floor and he would be discovered pretty quickly. So, he had to create a loud enough commotion to force whoever is inside to leave, even for a few seconds as that is more than enough for Arthur to do what he wants. As as a spark of a deep orange flame ignited in the first floor, it was soon followed by a huge explosive noise and a huge mass of flame waves spread in the floor and the building and all earth around it. This explosion alarmed many experts as the guests used protective treasures to defend themselves and others tried fleeing out of this treasure house. Flames covered the floor and engulfed the floor and walls, some weaker treasures were melted and others self-activated their protective aura to defend against the flames Chapter 200 - 169.1 : Suspec Waves after waves of incinerating orange flames washed over the first floor, burning those who couldn''t resist yet not completely killing them. This explosion caused a huge ruckus as painful wails resounded. The red-haired youth, Elo Huo was also surprised by this sudden explosion but he wasn''t that afraid. He circulated his Nether Energy and conjured a red protective barrier around himself and the woman. He was a natural flame controller so the flames would deal less with him but that was not the case for the woman. Furthermore, the explosion was not that strong to the point of killing him but he sensed a bit of danger from it which led him to subconsciously protect himself. A bit of time passed and the flames were finally subdued by the majority of the guests, including Elo Huo. Although none was killed, none could deny the devastating damage it caused to the first floor. The floor became black and the walls turned into ash with only a few treasures making it out intact. Rizaki is a terrifying skill and even with a bit of intelligence applied to it when activated, if it is coupled with a fierce offensive attribute such as Fire, the consequences could only be as such, if not more. "Who dares cause trouble in our treasury house!" A voice accompanied by a thick and pressuring aura rang in the ears of the spectators outside and the guests inside. The arrival of the pressure even changed the red-haired youth relaxed expression to a solemn one. Even someone as powerful as himself felt the overwhelming pressure but despite his arrogance, he wasn''t angry, he was a bit wary of such existence. Soon, they discovered who was the source of this voice and pressure. It was actually a grey-haired old man with a short height and very pale face. He seemed to be on the verge of death and even a bit of wind would shake kill him. He had an inclined spine and seemed like a mortal from a first look, but none did dare to underestimate him as they felt the immense pressure he was emanating. Seeing the destruction caused by the flames, the old man''s expression wasn''t pleasant at all, his brows were furrowed and the pressure he was emitting doubled, causing the people inside to became pale. "None is allowed to leave before the perpetrator is caught! No one can wreck havoc here and escape unnoticed." With a God present, even Elo Huo didn''t dare act haughtily. He wasn''t worried as he was not the one who did it so he only remained silent with a forced smile on his face. The woman hugging his arm was afraid a bit ago that when she remembered that the youth was next to her, she breathed a sigh of relief and remained mute as well. No one dared to talk first, they just stood there, waiting to see what the old man will do. Contrary to the questioning most of them were expecting from him, the old man just gazed at the people inside one by one. He would stare at one for a few seconds before switching to another. There were not many people here so he spent a minute to look at them all thoroughly before his gaze paused on Elo Huo. The old man frowned, he seemed to be thinking about something before he started walking towards the youth. Sensing that he was most likely the prime suspect, Elo Huo started speaking immediately because the old man didn''t seem to be the reasonable type and he was probably pretty enraged. After all, this was the Kang''s Treasury House and even with the presence of a God, someone dared to launch an attack. For a God protecting this place, this was like a slap in the face and a complete humiliation, and this could only get worse if the culprit doesn''t get caught. "Sir, I think you are misunderstanding something." Although he didn''t dare to act rashly, the youth still didn''t back off, after all, his backing is not small either and is probably more powerful than the Kang family. He still spoke with a tone of respect as it is the Kang''s territory, plus, he was talking to a God, who was also a Senior. "What misunderstanding! Boy! All the evidence lead to you. You are the strongest and the only suspectable to cause such an attack, moreover, you strong affinity with fire proves that! You''ll go back with me so you can be properly punished and if you resist then.... death!" The God didn''t seem he was going to let Elo Huo off, which angered the latter but he was helpless too so he could only give up for now and wait for the elders who came with him to get him out of this mess. The old man was just about to bind Elo Huo with his aura when his body suddenly froze. He seemed to have suddenly thought of a crazy idea and fearful idea. "Not good!" The old man muttered those words before he sped off to the third floor and in an instant, he was already standing inside of it. The formation laid here was still working, since it was connected with him, if it was destroyed then he would know it immediately. Although it was still intact, all the colors on the old man''s face disappeared, his face turned white and his body started shaking. The third floor was smaller than the first two and had lesser treasures but all the ones on here were priceless and unique. However, the sight on the third floor right now was a shock to everyone, including the old God. Thoroughly and completely scavaged with not even a spec of dust left! These are the words that can describe the current state of the third floor. It was an empty room with nothing but a lone short figure of the God standing in the center of it. An angry roar came out from the third floor, the building shook intensely and even Elo Huo stumbled a couple of steps due to the pressure. The roar''s origin was obviously the old man, who was infuriated. "Little rat! Don''t think you can hide!" The old man''s figure flashed by the first floor as he left the building and started surveying the street and scanning everyone. The passers-by were stupefied by the appearance of a God and none dared to act strangely lest they raise suspicions over themselves. ..... A few kilometers away from the Kang Treasury House, a youth was leisurely walking down a shopping street with a relaxed look. He was eating a red apple and happily smiling as he walked down the street and scanned a few shops every now and then. Such a youth with common clothes was like any other person so none paid attention to him, he couldn''t be more normal than this. Arthur laughed inside as he thought about how smoothly the plan went. His calculations were a bit off as the old man took triple the time he estimated to find out about the explosion and its real purpose. This led him to have more than enough time to sweep through everything and leisurely leave, unnoticed, of course. The blue lightning net was indeed strong but it was breakable if he used the black lightning, however, he didn''t break it and merely tore a small crack, barely three inches to the green sprout (the body he was possessing) could pass through. From then on, the work was pretty much done, he took everything in sight and soundlessly left. The whole process barely took fifteen seconds. By the time the old man rushed to the third floor, Arthur was already inside another body and a few kilometers away from the scene. ''Ahhh I guess there is no fairness in such words.... but it''s not like I require such thing.'' Arthur''s actions may be despicable but he didn''t care the least bit, he will do anything to achieve his goals. His only taboo is killing innocents, although it is not always possible to save innocent people, he will not reap their lives for his goals when there are other alternatives. As for enemies.... weak or strong doesn''t matter as their end will be the same. "Hey, Demon." As he was leisurely walking around, a deep and threatening voice rang in his ears. It made his body freeze and the chains well-hidden under his clothes shake a bit. To his complete surprise, the voice actually came from his consciousness, precisely from the dense chains wrapping around the enormous knight that Arthur imprisoned temporarily inside him so he can possess him later! Chapter 201 - 169.2 : An Offer Arthur did not panic and swiftly headed into a remote alley then hid well before he closed his eyes and entered his consciousness. Although the origin of the voice surprised him, it didn''t frighten him as he expected that the existence he locked inside to be powerful, after all, he couldn''t possess it. In a matter of seconds, he found himself in a vast endless space with a starry sky in all direction. Some distance away from him was his soul, which was a big blob of light with chains around it and two rotating objects above it. Arthur cast his eyes on away from his soul and looked at the source of the voice, which came from inside a big cluster of thick chains. He used these chains along with countless Death Seals to lock the knight but it didn''t appear to be working too well since whatever was inside could talk to him directly. The other presence seemed to sense that Arthur responded to its words by entering his consciousness so it resumed talking "Demon, I see you managed to get a good thing, how about we make a trade." Hearing the voice again, Arthur felt alarmed as he stared at the cluster of chains. He raised his senses and cautiousness to the maximum and only replied after he activated the Ethereal State. Before he could speak, the voice coming from within the cluster of chains added with a bit of shock "A demon with such intense Life force?.... No, this is not Life Energy hmmm." The voice seemed to be pondering as it remained silent for some time. "First, I''m not a demon and second, what are you?" "Kid, don''t try to play those tricks on me. You can change your appearance or somehow create fake Life Energy but you can''t fake or imitate the innate ability of original demons." Arthur didn''t retort so get rid of this baseless assumptions as it would be too much of a bother and he would gain nothing to reveal his real Race. Furthermore, the voice ignored his second question and only focused on the first. "What do you want?" Arthur held suspicions over this entity, it laid dormant from the moment he locked it until now so he guessed that it woke up due to something he got from the Kang Treasury House. "What do I want? It should be me asking you, after all, I wasn''t the one who was locked against his will in this place." This was only met with a frown from Arthur. From the tone of the knight, he knew that it wasn''t afraid or contain the helplessness of an imprisoned being which made him feel uneasy. Seeing that it got no reply from Arthur, the knight continued: "Let me tell you something first, possessing me isn''t something like you could do. I can only think of a handful of demons capable of doing so. But I can still grant you many benefits which can boost your strength by more than you can imagine." The knight who a very powerful ancient and that is a fact Arthur knew about. To be valued by the gargoyles so much that their leader would kneel in front of it, it must be even above the God Realm which is why he expended so much effort to steal it from them. However, he knew nothing about it and is certainly not stupid enough to fall for such offers. With the help of the Ethereal State, his mind soon calmed down and his heart became firm, he gently smiled at the knight and answer "No thank you." Then he turned around to leave as there was nothing to talk about. Just as he was leaving, the knight talked again "Wait! I can see that you are decently powerful and have many tricks but I can give you something beyond that. I can even become your God Spirit, this will make you literally unbeatable amongst all the Gods, even Tenth Grade gods won''t match you!" Arthur ignored its words and left his consciousness, leaving the knight alone in the vast starry sky. There was only silence after he left, even the knight didn''t speak for a long time. Inside the cluster of thick chains, the knight laid there motionless, its eyes were burning with green flames, causing a chilling feeling in the atmosphere. The knight stared at the thick chains around him with dread and hesitation then it focused on the countless death seals around it, it was absorbing them as they were very beneficial to it. If Arthur knew that his death seals were like a good nourishment to the knight, he would surely cough blood! "To refuse to cooperate with an Earth Spirit. I don''t know if I should call you foolish or smart, demon." It remained silent for an unknown amount of time before speaking again ".... Now then, how do I deal with such chains... this is practically impossible *sigh*" After it said that, the green flames burning inside its eyes sockets turned dim until they disappeared. The knight returned to its dormant state while still absorbing the Death Seals. ....... After leaving his consciousness, Arthur deactivated his Ethereal state as it attracts unwanted attention, then he returned to his room in the inn and started checking his abundant harvest. There was not a lot of treasures on the third floor but each and every one of them is priceless and rare to come by. The best thing he got from there, which is most likely the thing the knight sought for is a fragmented piece of greyish metal, it looked like a normal scrap of metal but upon a closer look, anyone could feel a weak, almost nonexistent spatial power around it. This piece of metal was actually a small part of a Dimensional stone! Arthur couldn''t contain his excitement as he laughed happily when he saw the results of the appraisal Fragment of a Dimensional Stone (1/6): Can be used once a day to teleport the user to a random location (between 500km and 50,000km). Although 500Km is nothing to Gods who can cross them in a short time, this piece of metal is still a life-saving treasure. If it is used in a perfect time, it can save the life of anyone, it can create many possibilities. But this wasn''t why Arthur was excited, he was delighted because this was one of the six pieces of a Dimensional Stone. If he could get six of them then going to Earth wouldn''t be that hard anymore. If he found one then finding the rest is equally possible, he didn''t lose hope and would try to seize any dimensional stone he will stumble upon, this was one of his main goals. There were also other useful treasures such as a 3rd Grade Heavenly Ranked White Frost Ribbon and a 2nd Grade Heavenly Ranked sword called ''Desire Razor'' but since Arthur didn''t need defensive or offensive treasures, he ended up adding them to his collection and offering the sword to Makaze, which happily devoured the sword and vibrated intensely to indicate how much delicious it was. Although its Rank isn''t that high compared to powerful swords, the stats that the black katana add is absolutely absurd. There was a limit to how many swords it can devour and it had a relation to Arthur''s current Realm, so he doesn''t overfeed it a lot. Nevertheless, this strange katana was indeed immensely powerful. Since the day he got it till now, there were few things that the katana couldn''t cut through, its sharpness is without equal and it matched perfectly with Dark Magic. It could be said that the Dark Magic along with the Dark Flame Ring, which evolved two times on its own. Dark Flame Ring(2nd Grade Mystic Rank) : all your attacks will contain black flames which increase the damage by 35 %, +150,000 intelligence / +50,000health / +50,000 mana. Chapter 202 - 169.3 : Tomb Opening Ten days passed since the incident in Kang Treasury House. Arthur didn''t do anything particular during this period, he didn''t leave his room as there was no need to, he just continued meditating at night and cultivating for the rest of the day. He managed to gain breakthrough to third Grade of the Divine Realm and even reached the middle stages of that Grade, despite this fast power-up, Arthur thought it was actually to slow, at least compared to the past, Lucy. As he was calmly cultivating, Arthur suddenly opened his eyes and activated [Eyes of The Noble Sea] only to see a surge of Nether Energy rising from the ground, the energy seemed to be dragged by a formless object which then turned it into something else. Like raging tidal waves, the Nether Energy swirled and winds howled as a numbingly gigantic bronze gate appeared above the city. Within his room, Arthur stared at the gate using his skill but could only see gray, almost colorless fog enveloping the gate. He instantly knew that the time was right and the gate was opening. Actually, although it is called opening, the Kang Family cannot open it whenever they want, it''s just doable when the gate, which is the portal between this world and the other small realm, becomes weakened. As he came out of his room and flew to the sky, he could see hundreds, or perhaps, thousands of people flying towards the gate. Soon enough, a crowd of ten thousand people of various races was floating above the city, it was like a dark curtain that blocked the sun rays. The crowd was soon divided into several large groups, each was a faction of its own or several hundred sect disciples which came for this event from outside the wall. Arthur, disguising as the usual youth with white, long sleeves, robe, joined a neutral group of rogue cultivators and silently glanced at each of the factions before setting his eyes on the gate, which was still tightly closed. There was a group belonging to the Pigolo Race with Ti Fuer, one of the two Gods under Ti Eru, the leader of the tribe. Ti Fuer brought a few dozen young disciples who were talented and intended to send them in. Amongst this group, Arthur noticed a familiar figure with an arm missing. She was wearing a green metal armor and a sword on her back. She was Rose, the general who he possessed and forced to cooperate with him. Ehrendil from the Desert Gargoyles also brought a group and the two powers were glaring at each other, not hiding the hate or killing intent but despite being archenemies, they didn''t dare fight it out here as they were not the big bosses this time around. There were a lot more factions coming from outside of the wall but there were only three that stood out from the rest. The first was a bit strange since it was only a lonely figure floating by herself as everyone stayed away from her. It was the same black-haired girl that tried to steal Arthur''s food then unsuccessfully tracked him. She had big power behind her and it was by no means inferior to the powers behind the prodigies of the Green-Leaf Middle Realm. The second distinguishable power was a bunch of blue-robed juniors with three old men leading them. Just in front of the three elders stood a scholarly young man with an azure robe with a dragon twirling around it. He had handsome facial features and a peaceful look. The young man exuded a unique charm that attracted the gazes towards him and made him shine even more. This was, without doubt, Kai Min, the person who a lot of people were talking about the last few weeks. ''If that''s the Water Cloud Sect then....'' Arthur''s eyes narrowed as he fixated his gaze on that group of people and saw an almost invisible figure that couldn''t be seen by anyone. It seemed as if it was shrouded with space, or simply blended with it. Arthur didn''t spread his sense and activated Appraisal. Although at the first stages, Appraisal couldn''t appraise things from within a limited range, the more he leveled the bigger the range. Basically, the range is as big as the map and he could appraise anything within his eyesight, of course. Qualu Bahl (Race: Human): 8th Grade (Peak) God Realm. Age: 3,200. Unique Title : ''Space Bender'' Arthur was surprised to see the true strength of the Spatial Master. Gutcha told him that the Spatial Master invited by the Water Cloud Sect is a peak Small God, at most, he expected him to be at the 6th Grade. But now the reality presented itself to him. His gaze landed on the three old men behind Kai Min and with a ''ting'' sound, three blue windows popped in front of him. Teltish Coldrest (Race : Human) : 6th Grade (Middle) God Realm. Age : 1,024 Krores Glareforce (Race : Human) : 7th Grade (Peak) God Realm. Age : 1,894 Sorrosh Keenfold (Race : Human) : 6th Grade (Initial) God Realm. Age: 1,551 Seeing the power of the three Gods, Arthur took a deep breath and calmed his mind. Although the plan was extremely difficult, it was not impossible. He had, at least, expected these protectors to be this strong but the Spatial Master was on another level. Not only was he an 8th Grade, he can also control space and is the first person Arthur encountered who has a unique title. Not only that, it''s the oldest being he saw since his reincarnation. His thoughts deviated for a bit before he closed his eyes for a few seconds and went through the plan a few times while changing a few things. Unlike these youngsters, his goal was not the tomb but the Spatial Master, and with his current identity, he won''t be able to get close without raising suspicion. He must attacks at the most unexpected moment, the most perfect one. Just when the enemy is wholly unprepared to be ambushed, it must be decisive and there has to be no room for a long fight, one blow to finish it all or it''s a failure. To fight four Gods is suicide, even for Arthur with all his arsenal of skills and his high stats. He had confidence in fighting two gods on a standstill or perhaps even killing one, but once it becomes three against one then he could only block, dodge, or flee. As for four against one, he could only escape desperately. As his plan was corrected, Arthur''s eyes shifted to the handsome young man, who was the closest to the invisible figure. ''From the looks of it, the Spatial Master is acting like a hidden guardian of some sort so it means that there will be a time when the kid will need of this hidden guy, but since he is always near him.... it''ll be difficult to possess him. However... I could always rely on someone else, after all, the enemy of my enemy is my friend!'' Arthur''s eyes focused on the third group. They wore tight red clothes made from special silk and stood arrogantly, taking more space than needed. At the center of this group were two elderly figures, one old woman and the other is a short old man. Just in front of those two was a red-haired youth with a woman standing just inches behind him. The young man proudly stood there with a haughty expression and an oppressive demeanor. Seeing the look on the young man''s face, Arthur laughed inside as he imagined what''s about to come. [Sneak] was activated to reduce his presence even more and his figure turned a bit blurry. Unless someone focuses on that spot then no one would notice him, he merged with the crowd of rogue cultivators who took a spot of their own and waited there patiently. Chapter 203 - 169.4 : Kang Prodigy With the big powers present, there weren''t any large disputes except a few skirmishes for a good spot. A bit of time passed after Elo Huo and co arrived and at a certain point in time, a majestic chariot dragged by blue lizard arrived from the horizon. Coupling the long and powerful lizards which ten or so meters in length along with the majesty of the chariot and the pressure it emanated from it. Although the pressure was overwhelming to some, it had a bit of softness which made others feel relaxed yet tense at the same time. This chariot obviously belonged to the Kang Family, which is more or less the host of this big event. The gigantic gates were still closed and without the special formation the Kang elders use, no one can forcefully open it, much less break it. Arthur gazed at the incoming chariot with a deep look before cast away his gaze and strengthened his sneaking, further weakening his aura, making it almost nonexisting. If one were to look at his direction, they would still see his figure but they would feel nothing as if he didn''t exist in the same space as them. However, no one would bother looking as [Sneak] was activated and it is unlikely that even someone besides him would notice his presence. The chariot crossed the long distance in seconds as the two lizards ran on the air and left a mesmerizing blue trail behind them, making the scene look even more grandiose. People looked with awe at the chariot, some held a deep respect for the person inside it while others viewed him as a powerful foe not to be messed with easily. Kang Amidel, the current head of the Kang Family is known for his righteous ruling and fairness. Although he''s ruthless in some cases, that didn''t mean it was his character, he just needed to show his might so others won''t trouble him nonstop. Arthur didn''t need to appraise to know that the character inside the chariot is an unfathomable one, even the aura alone is more powerful than Delia, who was a Peak God. Except for the existence inside of his consciousness, he never felt such force, and the other didn''t even seem to be unleashing it on purpose, it just shows how strong he was. Arthur was a calculative and decisive person, he won''t start a fight he can''t win. He knew his strength and despite the several trump cards he held, including the book and golem, he didn''t see any good outcome if he were to fight such an existence. As the atmosphere calmed down, several figures came out from the incredibly large chariot. The first four were old men with a long beard reaching their chest. They wore long azure robes with a soldier''s symbol holding a spear twice his height. The next one to emerge was a handsome youth, he carried with him a serene aura, almost identical to ethereal state Arthur possesses. The youth held a kind smile on his face, unlike Kai Min, he didn''t seem arrogant or haughty, in fact, he seemed to be the friendly and dependent type. Even Arthur couldn''t think bad of him, he was even amazed for a second as it is the first junior he met which grabbed his attention. The four old men were all a 7th Grade Gods and the youth was at the peak of the Divine Realm. Lastly, a middle-aged man accompanied by a girl came out of the chariot. He exuded a healthy vigor and seemed full of vitality, with a thin black beard and gleaming blue eyes, he was by no means inferior to the handsomeness of the previous youth, they even resembled each other a bit. As for the girl, she silently walked behind the middle-aged man so no one noticed her but with the use of appraise, nothing escaped Arthur. When the results were shown, his pupils contracted as he stared at the window showing the girl''s information. Kang Emily(Race:Human) : 2nd Grade God Realm(Middle) Age: 19 ''19?What!'' Even Arthur couldn''t keep his calm as he double and triple-checked the results but the truth laid before his eyes so he could only accept it. ''For a such a young girl to be a God... now that is a real genius.'' Compared to her, all the geniuses people are talking about are nothing but trash. Arthur soon pieced things together and was able to guess that her real strength is concealed from the public. To have such a genius as a daughter will cause jealousy and the powerful factions outside would not tolerate her. They would either try to rope her in and if it is not possible then the only result will be her death. Even with such a long-standing power such as the Kang Family, they can''t manage all the titans outside of the wall alone. Arthur checked the girl and saw that she looked even younger than her actual age. With a short height and a long hair, it reminded him of Lucy, but unlike his wife, who was indifferent to everyone but him and Saly, the girl kept looking around curiously and checking everyone from all sides, she only stopped when the middle-aged man threw a reproaching glare at her. When he was staring at the young girl, the latter suddenly turned her head and looked at his direction which greatly alarmed Arthur yet he his surprise soon subdued as waves of strange energy rushed from his Dantian and calmed his muscles and relaxed his mind, making him feel comfortable and unaffected by the girl''s previous actions. ''This should not be possible, I used the System and refrained from unleashing even a tiny bit of my Nether Energy.... her senses must be sky high. MMhm.. our paths shall not cross, whether fate will it or not, my goal is clear and my plan is perfect, all obstructions shall and will be eliminated!'' A minute passed since the middle-aged man, Kang Amidel, left his chariot. He waited for the silence to arrive before he faced them, mainly on the direction of the three big factions and spoke with a friendly tone "Thank you all for waiting. The tomb will be opening soon and all are eligible to enter but please let the young generation enter first as they lack experience and need to explore the mysteries of the world." As he finished speaking, another hoarse voice was heard from the other end of the crowd, exactly originating from Elo Huo''s faction. It was an old man standing behind him, he was a bit short and had long white hair. The old man showed a peaceful smile as he greeted the middle-aged man and replied "It is as you say, Lord Kang. We, the old ones, should only look after the youngsters, after all, it is their era and not ours anymore." Many people approved as they nodded their heads, others greeted Kang Amidel in an attempt to create a long-standing friendly relationship with the city lord but it was futile as Amidel would nod back at them without uttering a single word. Low whispers resounded near Arthur, some talked about the beauty of Amidel''s daughter and others discussed his mysterious son. His son rarely showed himself but it was known that he was talented in cultivation and possibly inherited the physique manual from his father, who perfected it. The useless talk was done after a couple of minutes and the three leading old men floated towards the gate with each holding a hexagonal blue lightning formation, a bit similar in type to the one Arthur cracked in the Treasury House, however, this one''s intensity and complexity far surpassed the other one. The four each flew into a specific location and then pressed the formations on the gigantic gate above the city. Compared to the gate, the formations were so minuscule that they could barely be seen. The four formation touched the gate simultaneously, which in return, caused an earth-shattering tremor all around the city, even the sky seemed to be collapsing. It happened so fast and in a matter of a few seconds, the two large door started opening slowly. Although it seemed to be a very simple process, in all actuality, it was too difficult to open such a gate and this was easily noticeable by the pale faces of the old men, who were trembling and barely able to maintain their positions. During the opening of the gate, they must cooperate perfectly and one mistake could lead to the death of the other three, but this was a dangerous yet very rewarding task so they agreed to do it, plus, as members of the Kang Family, they naturally had the duty to help the family head. Exactly sixty seconds, that''s the time it took the gate to fully open. What laid behind was a lush forest, full of greenery. It was a peaceful scene, unlike what a tomb should look like. Birds sang and flowers bloomed in this small Realm, it took the crowd a moment to snap out of their daze and look again at the scenery with both amazement and cautiousness. Despite its breath-taking scenery, it was still a tomb and is rumored to have deadly beasts and fatal traps. One simple mistake can make one lose his life so they must tread carefully. Chapter 204 - 169.5 : The Swamp With the gates fully opened and the tomb at their sight, nothing was stopping the large crowd from venturing in. However, no one had the guts to move first as they were impatiently waiting for the big factions to enter first. No one dared to offend these powers so all they could do is begrudgingly wait for the ''strong'' to enter first. What made them helpless is that the first ones have a big advantage as they would seize the good treasures and only leave the trash. Some people were content with this whilst others were secretly unhappy, but they still bore with it. Soon enough, the youth who came out from the chariot headed towards the gate and entered the tomb with his sister, who curiously followed him. The juniors from the three big factions soon followed with Cold Sword going in last after throwing a piercing glare towards the middle-aged man, Kang Amidel. Arthur was amongst the group of rogue cultivators, which entered right after Cold Sword went in. The big crowd flew towards the lush forest with both excitement and wariness. He spread his Sixth Sense in all directions and raised his alertness to its maximum. He doesn''t know what may lurk inside, and despite having a strength equivalent to a Peak God, more or less, he should never be overconfident and underestimate this tomb. His target was the Spatial Master, who secretly followed Kai Min without anyone realizing it. The big crowd soon dispersed in all directions when they entered the small Realm. The atmosphere was fresh and relaxing, contrary to how an ancient tomb should be. Since he needed to find Kai Min''s group, which belonged to the Water Cloud Sect. The figure of the young man he was currently possessing turned increasingly blurry until it vanished. He used his movement technique to venture deep into the forest for he knew that a big power like the Water Cloud Sect won''t scavenge meager treasures but instead, would try to aim for the big fish. It is widely known that the tomb contained many mysterious treasures and ancient relics, one of them is the Physique Manuel, which is a priceless thing coveted by many, even in a Medium-Realm such as the Green Leaf Realm. With [Sneak] still activated and a few other passives, Arthur''s aura was almost nonexistent as he dived into the ground to gain more terrain and wider space for his search. Once he reached a certain point inside the forest, different kinds of beasts started appearing. First, there were a large amount of Spirit Beasts which were mostly venomous or carnivorous plants. Beasts that broke through to the Spirit Realm have different ranks, they are Spirit beasts, Heavenly Beasts, Deity Beasts, Immortal Beasts, Divine Beasts, and God Beasts. The Spirit Beasts he encountered didn''t sense him and continued hiding in their nests, waiting for a prey to come. Approximately half an hour after he entered the small realm, he was forced to stop many and this was one of them. His body emerged from the ground followed right after by a thick black vine which had insane speed. Arthur waved a hand, creating a big wave of dark red fire which burned everything it met. The black vine was turned into cinders immediately, even the hard earth was scorched black. The beasts which attacked Arthur from underground shrieked loudly from the pain, alas, it couldn''t escape its fate as the flames burned its vine and continued to scorch the remaining of its body. ''This is the ninth Divine beast... I suppose it''s not as dangerous as I had predicted.'' The soon to be dead plant that was attacking him was a venomous Divine plant which can match Divine beings, it is by no means weak but again Ancient Fire at its full intensity, it''s obvious that it''ll not survive as even a God would suffer if he were to receive a full head-on blow from such a fire, on condition that he did not wear a powerful protective armor, that is. Logically, Kai Min wouldn''t be able to venture this by only relying on his strength, however, this wasn''t the case as he had the protection of a powerful Spatial Master and their goal is most likely the center of the tomb, where the manual is, at least that''s what Arthur speculated. His figure blurred again as he took a step forward and advanced at an extremely rapid pace. In terms of speed alone, he would be at the peak of all Gods, if he wants to escape, not even three peak Gods would be able to stop him. As he was bypassing monsters, Arthur''s map caught sight of a mid-sized group of people. He silently got closer to them without the latter noticing him and was delighted to see familiar faces, faces that he wanted to see. It was actually the people under Elo Huo, the boy from the academy. Arthur''s plan was to use his people, mainly, the two gods who will join him later, to stir trouble with the Water Cloud sect. If his plan is successful and smooth, then taking down that Spatial Master is an already foregone conclusion. Chapter 205 - 169.6 : The Swamp 2 As he gazed at the medium-sized group of people, Arthur started inspecting every potential body he can possess. He can''t just possess anyone then randomly use fire-related skills, it would be suspicious if he were to use a skill that the ''host'' never used before and it''ll obviously attract suspicions. The closer the candidate to be possessed is to Elo Huo, the better as he would be able to influence the boy and get on with his plans without any hindrance. Arthur wasn''t going to possess his target for the time being but this didn''t stop him from picking the right target immediately. For three straight hours, Arthur soundlessly followed the group, which proceeded deeper into the forest without stopping. No matter how vicious and strong the beasts were, they were burned and stabbed by Elo Huo''s halberd. Although he was arrogant, he certainly had the sufficient strength to back it up, however, he was lacking a lot compared to Amidel''s son or Cold Sword. Arthur didn''t think much of his strength as he already reached the power of Gods and paying any heed to Juniors is nothing but a waste of time for him. This kid, for Arthur, was but means to an end. To achieve his goals, he doesn''t mind sacrificing those who deserve to be sacrificed. Those group finally halted as the compass the red-haired youth reacted to a dark cave just ahead of them. Arthur guessed that the compass could detect special types of treasures, but every treasure would certainly be guarded. He and the kid shared the same thought, the group stopped in front of the cave and started preparing for a few minutes before they headed inside the cave. ''I guess this will take them some time, there are a few strong beasts inside... oh well, I should find the other group too.'' His main target was the Spatial Master, who was protecting Kai Min from behind the shadows, so that means he is currently with that self-righteous prick. Just like he appeared, Arthur''s figure disappeared and headed deeper into the forest whilst spreading his Divine and Sixth sense in all direction. His eyes were also surveying his map for any possible enemies that may be lurking around. The group belonging to the Water Cloud Sect is bigger than Elo Huo''s, so it would be easy to find them thanks to the map. ... Despite meeting a few Poisonous Divine Beasts, Arthur disposed of them and possessed them while he was at then he dumped them in his storage as he continued his search. His efforts finally bore fruit as he managed to find the Water Cloud Sect after two hours of thorough search. The forest was unarguably huge as he only met four small groups in these two hours and two of these groups were retreating due to the strength of the monsters. He even found dead corpses of rogue cultivators, which he possessed, of course. The Water Cloud Sect seemed a bit moody as an awkward atmosphere covered the group. From the displeased expression of Kai Min, Arthur could guess that they didn''t manage to find any good treasures. Usually, the powerful sects as this one would head deeper in search of treasures until they reached the center of the tomb, where the real stuff was, but at that time, the elders would join and it wouldn''t be their place to earn things, especially for those normal disciples. Before he left the group following Elo Huo, Arthur didn''t forget to leave a personally created GPS made from Lost Magic. Its only functions are to direct him towards where the group is, he easily managed to attach it to a weak disciple without the latter realizing it. "This won''t do! We got nothing since we entered the tomb. We''re heading for the Eft Swamp!" Although this place called ''Eft Swamp'' was extremely dangerous, none of the disciples dared or wanted to refuse. First, is because it was Kai Min who was ordering them and he was more powerful and had higher status than them in the status so it won''t be wise to oppose him, second is because they, too, wanted to obtain treasures and the only possible way right now is the Eft Swamp as the other dangerous places were most likely scavenged by the other powerful factions. Without excited expressions and burning eyes, the group of juniors hastily head towards the West, where the swamp was supposed to be. Just behind the group, approximatively a few meters underground, a strange plant was moving in their direction without making any noise. As he possessed a carnivorous plant he killed earlier, Arthur followed them easily without fearing being detected. The hiding ability of this plant is amazing, almost second to none. Not only does it not emit any noise, it had extremely long vines which had sharp edges able to penetrate weakling easily, it also could emanate poisonous fog that makes the targets hallucinate. Unfortunately for the already dead plant, such poison was completely ineffective against Arthur as his stats were more than ten times than it, moreover, his Poison Resistance had long since reached max Lv. Poison Resistance[Passive Max Lv]: Negates 80% of any poison received(+5% if the Wisdom stats of the user is higher than the enemy.) Although this was effective for such situations, Arthur still wouldn''t be able to negate the poison of an experience God who excels in poisons. At most, he''ll negate 10 or 20%, however, if he were to possess a special corpse like the unique wolf, then he would be able to activate almost all the possible passives he currently has in his arsenal and negating 60 or 70% percent is doable. .... Soon, the group reached a large swamp with green muddy water with a few plants growing from deep within it. It looked like any other swamp except that it was incomparably large, it spanned for at least ten miles and it was eerily silent, which gave the creeps to anyone who was near it. Many large sections would choose to give up on venturing into this swamp as it is really dangerous. It has monsters which are called efts, with four short legs and a six-meter-long body, they were very resistant to physical attacks and could cause a small paralysis effect using a special technique with the help of their weird shaped eyes. These efts would always cooperate with monstrous plants called ''Evra Plants'', they live deep in the swamp, unreachable by normal people unless they dive deep into the swamp, they make use of their thin yet countless vines to lock the enemies and drag them inside the swamp while the efts finish the targets. Being Peak Divine Beasts, the efts have gained a substantial amount of intelligence which allows them to cooperate and run when the situation turns dire, not only that, it''s nearly impossible to chase down an eft in this swamp and it would make whoever is chasing vulnerable from all sides when he or she is focusing only on one fleeing target. Furthermore, flying above the swamp is the only safe way to do it, using a Spirit Boat in the water or anything similar would only incur the anger of the Evra Plants, which will see you as a potential target and they will try their best to drag you down. Unlike Efts, the Evra plants are only Deity Beasts and are weak against frontal attacks but they focus on binding the enemy with their thin vines whilst their friends, the efts, deal the finishing blow, it''s a good a tactic and it works more often than not, which makes a lot of people avoid such a dangerous place. In fact, Kai Min only proposed this because he knew that the Spatial Master is protecting him which made him feel safe, as for his juniors, he could care less about such weakling, for him, they were merely cannon fodder to obtain what he wants. Arthur''s goal right now was to test the limits of the Spatial Master, using the current body he was possessing, he was going to the fray and attack Kai Min. He had enough counter-measures if he ever gets discovered and he was confident in being able to escape in case something disastrous were to occur. Slowly but surely, Kai Min started leading the group deeper into the swamp, their speed was moderate and constant as he was taking the lead. Despite knowing that the master was protecting him, Kai Min couldn''t help but feel nervous and a bit anxious as he cautiously advanced while keeping an eye on the calm green water, which hides terrifying aquatic monsters. One more reason that he had chosen this swamp was because it''s known to have rare and priceless treasures, especially Immortal Plants or Heavenly Ranked artifacts of those who had fallen here since ages ago. These were but rumors but with such a big faction behind him, Kai Min knew that these rumors were actually true. With cold sweating soaking his back, Kai Min took out his precious saber and prepared himself for any sudden attack. As anyone would have expected, not even twenty minutes since they entered the swamp, the first fight occurred. It began with countless deep green vines surging from the calm water and grabbing into the legs of a dozen disciples, which cried desperately and tried to free themselves from the vines but that was totally futile as cutting a vine would cause ten more to bind you. The resistance could be called half successful as Kai Min managed to slash away numerous vines and saved three disciples but two have died as he was too late to act. He could have saved them but he refrained from doing so as his sense caught the presence of one dangerous beast lurking just under the surface of the water, from the looks of it, it was looking for a perfect moment to strike. What made him more anxious is that he had a strong gut feeling that whatever is inside was staring at him and no one else, which made him give up on saving these two poor and unfortunate juniors. The attacks from then on become more and more frequent to the point that every few minutes, a group of vines would surge from below and drag one or two deep into the water. However, what was alarming, or perhaps relaxing, is that no eft was seen. Until now, they only faced the thin vines of the Evra plants and nothing else. As for Arthur, he managed to easily enter the swamp through a tunnel he dug underground and pass unnoticed by the swimming efts, which were wholly focused on the group of humans floating above the swamp. Chapter 206 - 170.1 : Small Clash Arthur patiently waited for the perfect chance to strike. With the Spatial Master present, he couldn''t attack whenever he wished, he needed to be precise and see how fast the reaction of the enemy is. He decided to only attack at the 5th Eft attack, which was launched by three efts, which charged simultaneously from three different directions. Despite the supposedly surprised attack, most of the group were careful and were not surprised by the appearance of the three giant creatures. Albeit being on full alert, some of them were affected by the technique of the efts'' eyes and were paralyzed, which rendered them useless in the incoming battle. Looking from below, Arthur''s gaze locked on the blurry figure just behind Kai Min, his full attention was focused on the Spatial Master but his target was the boy next to the master. He can''t attack the Spatial Master directly lest it makes him cautious and when he really attacks in the future, his planned sneak attack wouldn''t work as perfectly as he expects it to be. As he possessed the body of the big carnivorous plant, Arthur sent his extremely long vines to the surface with extreme speed. He wasn''t going to show his real body due to many reasons, moreover, he doesn''t know the full strength of the enemy and he can''t be that careless despite knowing how strong he really was if he were to go all out. After all, he isn''t using [Transmutation], neither will he use Dark Magic or the Void Magic. He isn''t possessing the Silver Wolf body either, but this plant could activate many passives, which were, obviously activated in this situation. Ten vines with a thickness of a normal adult tree charged from within the water and headed towards Kai Min. The youth was distracted as he dealt with two efts at the same time which made him unable to react in time to avoid the approaching black vines. With the Evra Plants avoiding him and the Efts focusing on the humans, Arthur was easily able to bypass the big number of disciples and aimed his vines at Kai Min, without mercy or holding back his Strength. One has to know that for Arthur, the thing he is most proud of right now is his unmatchable speed. Amongst all Gods, he was certain that he is one of the fastest, and knowing that possessing an ant, or a plant won''t decrease his Agility stats, which affected his speed in a big way, the vines also gained his extreme speed which rendered Kai Min completely unable to cope with the fast vines and could only show a desperate look as he used his free hand to take out a priceless treasure to defend. Even at such a time, he wasn''t confident in the Spatial Master to defend him due to how fast the vines were. For Arthur, Kai Min had no value, if he were to die then it''ll make things way easier but he knew since his sect invited the Spatial Master, and him being a genius with high status, it won''t be easy to kill him under the watch of the master unless he were to go all out and avoid the rest which is something unreasonable as it''ll attract other Gods and they will undoubtedly help Kai Min if he were to put good conditions whilst Arthur was completely alone. A cold snort resounded as the air around the ten vines seemed to shatter which caused them to be cut into pieces and fall on the water. Arthur still wasn''t fazed by how easily it was deflected since this body wasn''t ideal, to begin with, and he was only using vines devoid of any skills. With his high vitality and the passive to regrow vines within a short time frame, the cut-down vines were back as if new in a matter of seconds. This time, the ten black vines had black flames burning on them but the flames did no damage, they were the effect of Zodiak''s ring, which added damage to his attacks with the help of the black flames. ''I guess I should spice things up too, it''ll be too boring if it''s like this.'' Just like a bit earlier, ten black vines surrounded by ominous black flames surged from within the water and flew towards Kai Min with lightning speed, making the latter''s face as white as a sheet of paper. Previously, he sighed a breath of relief when he saw the black vines cut down and were grateful to the Spatial Master, but he was still feeling afraid of the vines as they were just too fast. He had already assumed that whatever was attacking him with the vines was a Godly Beast. This time, there was no cold snort coming from the nothingness behind Kai Min, but the space around the incoming vines still shattered, causing their speed to slow down by a bit, however, contrary to the shrouded person''s expectations, the shattering space wasn''t nearly enough to cut down the black vines, which regained their incredible speed as soon as the space-fixed itself. Due to underestimating the burning vines, the Spatial Master had no time to mess around, he finally took his opponent seriously when he saw how close the vines were to Kai Min and how deadly they were. At last, the Spatial Master appeared from behind the Spatial Curtain and raised his withered hand towards the ten vines, which clustered near each other to form some sort of a spinning drill with a pointy purple tip. In fact, Arthur used a bit of Void Magic to test how the other party would respond. Void was the main attribute and Space was its sub-attribute, despite having a high mastery in Void, that didn''t mean one should have a perfect mastery in its sub-attributes. A mage who is good atWater attribute doesn''t necessarily have Ice attribute, much less have a good control over it. It takes years to make sub-attributes surface and even longer time to perfectly master them, which is why Arthur wasn''t willing to invest time in training Space Attribute. He hasn''t much time, that is the problem, he was against sitting in a cave for god knows how much time to master an attribute. .... The drill-like object stopped inches away from the withered of the Spatial Master, who was actually an old man wearing a small gray hood which covered his head. Arthur felt that the vines he was controlling were heavy as if a mountain was pressing on them. Without hesitation, he activated the Void Attribute, which was manifested in the purple pointy tip of the drill. A small luster of violet light emanated from the tip which crushed whatever was holding down the vines, the drill managed to force its way to the old man, who was shaken yet again but he wasn''t the least bit afraid or concerned. The withered hand was clenched, forming a fist and was followed by a low and emotionless voice "Space Shackles." Transparent chains, which appeared from nothingness, wrapped themselves around the drill and forced it to go downwards, crashing heavily on the waters and creating large waves. A whirlpool was created due to the Void magic which absorbed water nonstop, there was even a miserable eft which turned into a bloody mist due to the collateral damage of the spinning drill and the pointy tip constructed from pure Void Magic. ''2 million Health Points... this is nothing. I guess he isn''t serious.. yet.'' Arthur didn''t mind losing that amount of Health, he activated the Pain Immunity so he wasn''t feeling anything. He left the plant''s body and aimed for an eft which was waiting for a good opportunity to show up and attack one of the youngsters. Since his speed was beyond what the eft could react to, he possessed it in a flash after finishing it with a thick bolt of Natural Lightning that struck its body and burst its heart almost instantaneously. ''I guess without fighting personally, he won''t go all out, but it''s fine this way too.'' Using the eft''s large body, Arthur got out of the water and randomly attacked a disciple without using any flashy attacks, he opened his mouth to swallow a poor kid only to be struck by Kai Min''s, who came at him with fast speed and slashed with his saber. With Kai Min coming to attack, the old man was obviously behind him but this time, he wasn''t shrouded and invisible which made the youngsters look at him with curiosity and awe. As the saber cut a deep wound on the large eft, the monster howled in pain which made Kai Min proud of his attack but he soon found that something was amiss when he noticed that the eft was howling in pain but wasn''t pushed back, unlike the rest of the previous efts, which would cower back and flee immediately. Alas, Kai Min''s reactions were a second too late, the eft opened its mouth and spat a weird deep green liquid. Even the Spatial Master wasn''t able to save him as the liquid splashed on his skin and clothes, make the boy writhe in pain and scream in agony. In a burst of anger, the Spatial Master, who was preoccupied with whatever controlled those vines, attacked the eft without holding back. Arthur felt a strong force bind his ''body'' down, he wasn''t able to move an inch as he felt as if he was locked in a separate dimension. However, that didn''t last long as his Dark-Star Body Strengthening Technique self-activated itself, shattering this separate dimension and creating a transparent protective layer around the eft. The old man didn''t seem to mind what happened as he viciously punched the eft, which literally cut the monster in two. The two parts of fell on the water, never to be seen again. Arthur, who decided not to act, lost 40 million Health but he wasn''t that worried. With his high Health Recovery stats, that amount of Health will recover in no time. He didn''t have a full grasp of how powerful the opponent is, but at least he saw some of his moves. Nonetheless, if his plants proceeded as expected, he doesn''t even need to fight this fellow, it will be one deadly and thorough attack with no means of retaliation whatsoever. Arthur left the eft''s body and dived deep underwater. He took out a bone shark from his storage and possessed it. Having fast swimming speed allows him to cross the swamp easier and adding [Sneak Max lv] along with [Silent Steps Max Lv] and [Noise Control] made him able to pass undetected by the lurking monsters underwater. Moreover, the shark had pointy bones at the front, which made it almost perfect for drilling the earth. His plan was set in motion, the poison he spat on Kai Min was not fatal but it caused severe pain, almost unbearable. Furthermore, the same kind of GPS was hidden in one of the youngsters who was rather close to Kai Min, a male with the name of Seralo. It was this young man that Arthur decided to possess when he was going to launch his move against the Spatial Master. Chapter 207 - 170.2 : Mission Now that everything is done, more or less, Arthur headed to his next destination without stopping to bother with the fights occurring above him. Using the huge body of a bone shark, he drilled the earth and easily made his way towards the center of the tomb. Despite that this world is only a small-Realm, it is way bigger than Astria. The concept of Realms and space has always been something mysterious and complicated as not everyone is able to comprehend their logic. A small pocket dimension can sometimes be bigger than a whole Middle-Realm, which usually is a mind-boggling landmass, it can be millions of time bigger than Earth or even Astria. The more Arthur headed deeper into the lush forest, the fewer monsters he met. By now, he would only meet one or two every few hundred miles, which shows that these beasts are extremely strong and have their own territory. However, Arthur was not detected by them as he had his concealment skills activated. He could defeat them and even kill them but it would be a waste of time if he were to bother with them as it would hinder his preparation. In fact, the tomb opens for a full week then the gates will open. Of course, this time is subject to change depending on how weak the formation that was used to open the gate is. For the last few days, the people will be focused on the central part of the tomb, where the good treasures are. The main palace, which is situated at the center is full of all kinds of plants and artifacts, there is also the physique manual, which is what everyone is lusting for. Although he had plenty of time, Arthur didn''t want to be reckless or do something unnecessary. He longed for neither treasures nor plants, he just wanted to possess that Spatial Master and hope it''s enough for him to gain the sufficient understanding of Space Attribute to travel to Earth. The tomb world was like a circle where the palace is in the center, Arthur drilled the earth and headed for the center with astronomical speed whilst keeping his presence unnoticeable by the lurking beasts. Since a while ago, Arthur started seeing one beast each few thousand miles and every single one of them is a Godly Beast. Such opponents are not as easy to deal with as Divine Beasts, which he can practically one-shot. He further lowered his presence and made almost no sound despite the large body of the shark. As he was bypassing earth and dirt along with poisonous plants, the shark body suddenly halted and lifted its body above. ''Oh?'' Arthur sensed two particular presences, along with what the map was showing him, he was sure of who they are. The map, which is pretty beneficial, has one more loophole, or perhaps, advantage. It is that no matter where exactly the enemy is, as long as he is inside the perimeter of it, he will be shown on it. For example, if it is an enemy hundreds of miles underground or above the clouds, as long as it''s within the specified radius of the map, then it''s shown. Which is exactly why it showed Arthur the two presences despite him being a dozen or so miles underground. The two humans his map caught sight of, were a young man followed by a girl. They seemed to be fighting a Godly Beast as Arthur noticed that there is turbulent Nether Energy coming from above and the area around him seemed to be slightly shaking from the battle. With a hidden smirk that couldn''t be shown on the faceless head of the shark, Arthur took out the book of the Damned and summoned the Golem. Abiding by his wishes, the two instantly merged and the red-haired youth appeared inside the narrow cave that was created by the shark. The youth elegantly bowed towards Arthur and said "It is a pleasure to see thou, master." Still inside the shark''s body, Arthur instructed the red-haired youth and immediately disappeared as the bone shark continued drilling through the earth as if it didn''t expect in the first place. Even the youth was amazed as he stared at the large hole created by the pointy edge of the shark''s head, he still couldn''t believe how fast it was. It''s as if his master was teleported or absorbing the earth and not just drilling through. With one final glance towards where his master headed, he sighed and transformed into a red light that headed above. The two people Arthur was sensing were actually Kang Emily and Kang Kithel, the two kids of Kang Amitel. Arthur was not going to personally help them but since he could use the red-haired youth, then he decided to do so. His goals were already fixed, but it doesn''t hurt to create some friends as maybe they''ll be useful. Moreover, he was certain that with the power of the red-haired youth, it is more than enough to help them get out of this situation. ..... Very soon, the red-haired youth surfaced above ground but didn''t act immediately. He concealed himself and gazed at the sword-wielding youth who was battling a strange monster similar to a mantis. It was over three-meter in length and over two meters in width, it has two long and sharp hooks that could cut any person under the God Realm into pieces. However, Kithel was surprisingly able to handle himself well, apart from a few scratches on his clothes that didn''t injure him at all, he was totally unscathed. As for the mantis, it swung its hooks furiously, attempting to finish the foolish human who invaded its territory and wanted to steal its unhatched eggs. The eggs of Godly Beasts are extremely rare and priceless as they would hatch and give birth to beasts with a high potential that could allow it to reach God Realm when it becomes an adult. Furthermore, if it is properly raised, it could fight alongside its master. Despite the fact that his sister rejected his idea, he wanted to acquire them for her and hone his skills for a bit, which is why he was unhesitant about going all out against a Godly Beast. Normally, it is impossible for a Divine being to face off against a God Beast or a God, however, with his almost flawless sword skills and his strong affinity with the water attribute, adding that to his unique physique, it has become possible to multiply his strength just barely to fight against someone or something beyond his current Realm. ''Master indeed has good eyes, this is a good seed, worth saving at least....'' As the red-haired youth calmly watched the show, Kithel dodged the incoming hooks of the mantis and used soft slashes that cut deep through the mantis'' body. He would slash two or three times then back off, which was a good tactic, however, his opponent was still a God Beast and not something that could be killed by such means. At last, the mantis'' rage reached its peak which caused its hooks to grow to double their original size and turn completely purple, just like its blood. This state occurs to every beast, whether under the God Realm or not, it happens if the beast is about to die or if it''s totally enraged. Sometimes the beast''s body change, and sometimes they just became several times stronger without any change to their exterior appearance. Kithel cautiously backed off as his eyes were focused on the raging mantis, unfortunately, the mantis'' speed was out of his expectation, despite his amazing skill and fast reactions, he was unable to cope with its speed as it lunged itself at him and used its two hooks to cut him into four pieces. With nowhere to run, Kithel activated his unique physique which resulted in his white skin turning even whiter, like snow, and an almost invisible fog surrounding him. With an excited smile showing on his handsome face, the youth thrust his sword at one of the hooks while unhesitantly using his other hand to perform a punch, meeting the other hooks head-on, unwavering by its sharpness or the vicious aura around the mantis. The sword and the fist met the two hooks and an explosive clash occurred, creating turbulent winds and sending dust flying off the air. At the side of this empty field, which had no trees as most of them were cut by the hooks, stood a pretty girl who looked at the fight between the mantis and her brother with a worried face. Her worry increased when Kithel was sent flying with a grievous wound on his shoulder, although it wasn''t fatal, it still needed to be tended. However, she managed to hold herself back as she caught the presence of an extra person who appeared out of nowhere. It was a red-haired youth with an expressionless face, he came out of the lush forest and headed towards her. She was both worried and tense at the same time as the mantis headed for her brother and she couldn''t defend him lest she exposes herself. Chapter 208 - 170.3 : Favor As her hesitation grew and her eyes diverted to and from the red-haired youth, who was just standing a few meters away from her without doing anything, Emily finally reached the end of her patience and was about to help her brother when the latter, who just barely dodged the mantis hooks, shouted at the red-haired youth "Friend! Could you please take my sister and go away, I can''t deal with this God beast and protect her at the same time." Kithel knew that his sister''s real strength should never be exposed so he opted for the safest decision. Although he got injured by the Mantis, it wasn''t fatal and he had enough confidence to escape, it''s just that he didn''t want strangers to see his real trump cards. The red-haired youth remained silent with an expressionless face as he watched Kithel battle against the raging mantis, which was becoming more and more furious. Helpless, Kithel could only plead with the stranger against hoping he would listen to him. Although he rarely showed himself, he held some fame and was known to be social and unlike arrogant young masters who always flaunt their skills. "Friend, help me and my Kang family will owe you a favor." This time, however, the red-haired youth didn''t remain silent, instead, he showed a charming smile and performed a low bow as if showing his sincerity whilst politely replying "Thou are wise, ''boya''. A favor is what a man needs." As he said that, the youth stretched his slender white hand and clutched it into a fist, alarming both Emily and her brother, who backed away from the Mantis as he felt a dangerous aura materializing around it. It happened instantly as a red mist appeared around the raging mantis, confusing its sense of direction and trapping it inside. A few seconds passed and the painful roars of the beast could be heard. After a few more seconds passed, there was only silence, the fog vanished just like it appeared and what laid there was the lifeless corpse of the mantis. It had no injuries whatsoever, which further astonished Kithel, this led him to be warier of the red-haired youth as he started regretting his actions. He didn''t even know how the beast was killed, moreover, he was killed in a few seconds, so it''s obvious that the youth is a God. Despite his rampaging thoughts, Kithel kept a calm expression and showed a grateful smile to the stranger after ''checking'' the safety of his sister. Emily was equally surprised yet no cautious, in fact, she was curious as it is the first time for her to venture out of the city without special guards and only with her brother. She had to conceal her real strength and always wanted someone equal to become friends with and such a person did indeed appear, although he was a bit eccentric. "Nee nee who are you? Where did you come from?" The girl started bombarding him with nonstopping questions, which he obviously didn''t answer. Kithel had to forcefully stop her and drag her away, he then turned to look back at the youth, who didn''t move a single step and added "Thanks for your help. My Kang family owes you a favor, whatever you need, you can come to ask us." With that said, he elegantly bowed to the red-haired youth and dragged his sister away from this area as the other God beasts would come here to harvest what needs to be harvested. Of course, he didn''t forget to bring the available eggs of the mantis. The duo didn''t travel far away before they detected a presence following them. This time, the red-haired youth didn''t hide his presence and openly followed them, not caring about anything. Kithel was first suspicious but upon thorough thinking, he just concluded that ''he'' must be heading to the center of the tomb, just like them. .... Some time passed and after the unceasing nagging of his little sister, Kithel paused on his tracks and was more or less forced to confront the red-haired youth, who he felt uncomfortable around for some unknown reason. "Friend, how about we travel together, it''s safer that way." With nothing to say but that, Kithel politely invited the youth to join them albeit his unwillingness. Emily, on the other hand, was pretty excited about this matter, she wanted to befriend the strong youth as his type of power are new even to a genius like herself. The youth also halted and remained silent for a bit of time as if he didn''t hear Kithel, after what seemed to be a bitter eternity to Kithel, the stranger nodded in response without uttering any word. Upon seeing that, Emily unhesitantly darted towards him, asking random questions left and right, which he didn''t answer, obviously..... Like that, their travel continued, it was safer for Kithel and his sister since, like this, she doesn''t need to show her real strength to get rid of the surfacing God Beasts. All the hindrance they met on the road were easily killed by the red-haired youth. It was always the same method, the same red fog, and the same painful wails. No existence of injuries, soul attacks or poisoning which added to the wariness Kithel was feeling towards this mysterious stranger. He even started thinking that it may be an assassin, but if he were an assassin, there was no need to expose himself, he would''ve been able to finish them if he attacked at the right moment. Maybe it was a spy, but that was rather far-fetched too, it is quite funny that Kithel is pondering a lot about the motives of the red-haired youth when his real attention is really befriending them, although his approach or communication skills are worse than Arthur''s. Chapter 209 - 170.4 : Alchemy With an extra powerful hand tagging along with them, Kithel and Emily''s harvest could be considered unmatched by any of the other groups, it even surpassed the big factions which brought a lot of disciples. Emily was beaming with smiles whenever a God beast was killed. She already considered herself the youth''s friend despite him not talking to her, not even a single time. Kithel''s suspicions decreased as time passed, he couldn''t find a good enough reason to accuse him of being a spy of some sort. Just like that, the week peacefully passed, more or less, and from Emily''s point of view, her relationship with the stranger has greatly improved. However, there was only a slight change, he only started accepting her existence rather than ignoring her completely. .... Going back to Arthur, since the moment he separated from the red-haired youth, he made full use of the bone shark to travel deep into the forest and reach some ancient runes with broken buildings scattered everywhere. He created a large enough cave for him to live in and secluded himself. More and more people will be arriving and since he hid in the entrance to the actual tomb, those large sects would definitely pass through her. What''s more, he doesn''t have anything to do in the meantime and could only use this time to train his [Alchemy] skill. Since he got it, he never trained it seriously despite knowing how effective it is. Not only could he concoct pills that restore Nether Energy at a massive rate, he should be able to create more miraculous pills which he looked forward to. Normally, alchemists would pass years or decades in seclusion for a better learning experience but he only had less than a week. Although Arthur was interested in Alchemy, to say that he will put his heart into it is a bit far-fetched. He''s only going to train in it to prepare a few things in case the plan didn''t go expected. One cannot predict the future and it is better to be safe than sorry. It has been quite some time since he obtained the special flame that is needed for Alchemy. As his hands nimbly moved around and the mysterious grey flame did its job in burning the materials and plants, Arthur proceeded to follow some of Zodiak''s notes and using the stolen talent of alchemy to concoct some pills. The process was smoother than expected thanks to his perfect control of fire, he could alternate between temperature whenever he wants and the notes of Zodiak were accurate. Normally, an apprentice alchemist would concoct one pill out of ten tries, however, Arthur somehow managed to successfully concoct four out of ten after spending three days of hard work. Of course, he didn''t forget to meditate to gain some Mental Power and even used a couple of undead knights to lure some God beasts nearby. Since this was the central part of this small realm and with the existence of the ruins and so on, the God beast tend to avoid this but the undead was quite provocative which enraged those beasts. In one week, Arthur possessed three God beasts, which he slaughtered inside that cave. The Knights would lead them through a tunnel full of traps and Arthur would finish the job using the bone shark body. Although God beasts are not to be underestimated, with a flawless sneak attack from Arthur, the beasts could roar desperately before it they met their end. The three God beasts gave him a decent amount of stats, which further strengthened his overall prowess and boosted his confidence. ********************** There was only less than a day left for the closure of the tomb, Arthur saw many factions and strong powers head for the ruins, including Cold Sword and even Kithel, Emily, And the red-haired youth. He patiently waited for his targets and prepared himself fully for what''s about to happen as it is certain that bloody fights will occur, but no matter what, he will emerge victorious with the body of the Spatial Master. As he silently meditated with both eyes closed, Arthur sensed a slight vibration which was followed by numerous red dots entering the radius of his map. The safest way to enter the ruins is this way, so Arthur hid here so he can monitor who entered. The red dots where Elo Huo''s group, which just entered the ruins. Most of the disciples were dirty and injured, only Elo Huo and the woman with him seemed fine. Arthur immediately acted when he saw them, using the body of a double-headed God beast that he killed three days ago, he headed towards them with lightning speed. The first to react was the head of the group, he sensed danger and immediately invoked a special treasure to defend against whatever was coming right at them. Although they managed to arrive here, it was only due to a special stinky fruit that made the God beast purposely let them pass, so to speak they did not fight any God beast not were they able to. With a surprised expression, Elo Huo didn''t hesitate and activated his treasure. It was actually an old looking lantern with a flickering golden flame inside of it, it looked as if it would be extinguished at any second, a simple breeze might be enough to do the job. Even Arthur was a bit startled yet he didn''t stop, in fact, he accelerated and headed directly toward the lantern, which slowly opened, bringing with it the intense heat that could melt snow mountains in mere seconds. Elo Huo felt a bit relieved when he saw the golden flames released, with those kinds of flames, even a God beast would not be able to survive. He held an important position in the academy so the elders gave a life-saving treasure of his choice. He chose an old lantern which had Golden Crow flames burning inside of it and if it''s released then the target would be incinerated. Even Gods are fearful of such flames, after all, the Golden Crow is one of the twelve Mythical Beasts. The two mouths of the leopard opened and spat dark red flames that met with the golden flame which turned into a majestic crow. The crowd of disciples freaked out as girls screamed and boys trembled from fear. The sheer size and appearance of the two-headed leopard are enough to scare any one of them who were only used to weak beasts. Elo Huo stood next to his woman and revealed a smug smile, proud of the power of his lantern, however, things didn''t happen as he expected. The leopard spat strange dark red flames that clashed with the golden crow, their clash caused shaking across the whole area. The ruins were burning due to the scattering of flames from both sides. Arthur didn''t bypass the crow, he wanted to see how strong are his flames compared to this one. The leopard roared as two-three meter long wings made from pure flames were created on his back, adding to the pressure it was emanating, furthermore, the two mouths opened against and large waves of Ancient Fire were spat. Since it cost naught to use Ancient Fire, Arthur didn''t hold back and unleashed large fireballs, intending to resist the Golden Crow. Despite his unceasing bombardment, the Golden Crow seemed alright as it crushed the incoming fireballs with its legs after a bit of resistance. Arthur kept firing nonstop until the Golden Crow had enough of it, it screeched loudly and waved its wings, heading straight at the leopard. Intending for this since the beginning, Arthur responded to that annoying screech with a furious roar and flapped his wings, charging straight at the flaming ''bird''. This time, he didn''t spit any fireballs or use any fire-related skills, he stretched his paws and slashed at the Golden Crow, which came down from above, illuminating the gloomy sky with bright golden color followed by an intense wave of heat that even suffocated the owner of the lantern. Charging his hit with [Dark Burst] and using Void Attribute, the violet sharp claws cut through the golden flames, absorbing it as if it was nothing. The Claws were unhindered as they cut the Golden Crow and forced it to return to the lantern in a very weakened state. Arthur then teleported next Elo Huo, who was dumbfounded and unable to comprehend what just happened. He had complete confidence in his treasure to the point that he never imagined losing it, which just happened. Before he could react in time, his hand which was holding the lantern was literally ripped off as one of the two head of the leopard tore it off viciously. Surprisingly, the leopard didn''t finish off Elo Huo, instead, it headed towards the hole on the ground and disappeared from their view in a split second. Currently, Arthur was laughing inside as he was possessing the body of the woman who was always next to Elo Huo. When he put the GPS on that boy, he intended to possess him but changed his target to this woman because Elo Huo seemed to trust her a lot which would facilitate the plan. As for the Leopard, it was briefly controlled via threads, he only had to control until it escaped the senses of the lurking strong powers. He was able to possess the woman the second he bit off Elo Huo''s arm, he left the Leopard''s body and used [Faster Than Death] and possessed it almost immediately without grabbing the attention of anyone. At this stage, possessing takes less than a second, and the teleportation was instant, moreover, the crowd was focused on the leopard and Elo Huo, who was screaming loudly from the agonizing pain. Just as the Leopard disappeared, two red beams of light flew across the skies and appeared near the screaming Elo Huo. Status Windows TITLE: MEAT GRINDER / SEEKER OF KNOWLEDGE / ONE WITH THE SWORD / ARK HOLDER / LIVE WITH HONOR, DIE WITH GLORY Level: ?? Class: Dark ARK Parasite Realm: Divine Realm 3rd Grade - Strength: 497.8M Intelligence: 408.81M Agility: 476.6M Wisdom: 330M Vitality: 429.2M Dexterity: 418.7M - Health: 500.2M // Health Regen: 151714/s Nether Energy: 499.8M // Nether Energy Regen: 144871/s Mana: 487.4MM // Mana Regen: 279317/s Stamina: Infinite /Stamina Regen: ??? ----- Creation: 201 Attack: 589M (+65% Damage) Defense: 548M (+25% Damage Reduction) Magic Defense: 98.4M Soul Defense: 5,000 Enigma abilities : Telekinesis / Ancient Threads / Sixth sense / ARK(Activated) Mental Power: 5671 --- Elemental Resistances(+) Fire: 100% Darkness: 100% Wind: 35% Water: 75% Earth: 75% Light/holy: 5% Shadow: 30% Lightning: 100% Ice: 30% --- Death Count: 1 (2 more to obtain ''Unbound'') --- Possessions (472,012) Races: ?Humans (282,987) ?Demons (84,997) ?Beasts (+)(101,528) ?Unique Beasts (2498) ?Mythical beings (1) Chapter 210 - 170.5 : Attack The two who just arrived are the old woman and the short old man Arthur saw a few days ago. They were the elders accompanying Elo Huo and they were both God Realm, moreover, they were both 8th Grade Gods. The old woman started healing Elo Huo''s arm and the old man dived underground in search of the double-headed leopard. Alas, his search was futile as he returned from down below with an infuriated expression. "Ahhh it hurts!" Elo Huo cried in pain as he held his shoulder where blood was gushing nonstop. Arthur, who was possessing the woman, walked next to Elo Huo and tried to sort of console him without doing anything strange. Since the woman was lower Realm than him then possessing her proceeded smoothly without meeting any resistance. Regrowing an arm is a doable thing if rare plants are used, which is why the elders were not that much worried about Elo Huo, nevertheless, they were angry and there''s nothing here that they can their rage upon. For a genius like Elo Huo hailing from their academy to be this injured just because of a God Beast, he even used his lantern, which made the matter more shameful. "That''s what you get for being careless!" The old woman scolded Elo Huo without saving him any face which made the boy''s face distorted. The juniors remained silent as they didn''t dare to meddle but you could see some of them are still afraid of the leopard. Even the two elders were confused, normally, a God Beast shouldn''t be able to bypass the Golden Crow, especially if it was done that easily! A few minutes later, with the consistent begging of Elo Huo, the elders agreed to let him join them to the ruins despite his missing arm. He also asked his woman to come with him, which was perfect for Arthur. While hugging Elo Huo''s still intact arm, Arthur tagged along and followed the two elders. They have already entered the central part of the tomb, the ruins were all decayed and some of them were destroyed. However, it was said that there are some special runes that contain treasures or even powerful beasts that guard priceless plants. Arthur could see a lot of juniors venturing deep into the ruins and exploring the area but the big shots and geniuses went with the elders from their sect because the treasures here do not entice them. The elders of the big faction are bringing the top disciples to the main palace of the tomb, which where the actual tomb is and where the manual along with the other good treasures are hidden. Arthur didn''t talk much to not seem out of character, furthermore, Elo Huo seemed focused on the ruins and didn''t mind it at all, so he just hugged the boy and silently followed the elders. About two hours later, after traveling at a decent speed, they reached a large square with a main blue palace situated at its center. There was already a few factions present such as Kai Min and his sect elders, Cold Swort, who seemed to be slightly injured. Emily, Kithel and the red-haired youth were also here. Arthur glanced at the red-haired youth, who instantly sensed it and glanced back at his master. He immediately knew that the woman was his master. To not raise any suspicions, he didn''t stare long and didn''t talk or make any weird gestures, he just closed his eyes and stood near Kithel. ''As expected, that kid is really good friends with Kai Min, excellent.'' Arthur looked toward Kai Min, who was unscathed and in a very good mood as his trip in the swamp was fruitful. A kid stood behind Kai Min, he was the one Arthur put a GPS on, and from the looks of it, it was the right choice. "You seem to be late, Granny Teresa." Krores, the elder from Kai Min''s sect spoke mockingly to the old woman accompanying Elo Huo. In response to his provocative words, the granny just snorted and ignored him. The relationship between the two factions wasn''t good to begin with, which is why Arthur wanted to add oil to the burning fire and cause more ruckus, which will facilitate his plan. Everyone was standing near the entrance of the closed palace. The real tomb of the Kang ancestor was inside it, but it isn''t that easy to open the palace, one can be granted access, such as the descendants of the Kang Ancestor, or they can enter forcefully by breaking its gates, however, that isn''t a favorable choice as the palace will surely retaliate and the guardians will emerge to drive away the intruders. Only Gods can fight the guardians, which is why not all juniors were allowed to come here, only the talented can enter and try his chances. The first people to take actions were Kithel and Emily. They both headed towards the closed gate and knocked three times each. It was a simple action yet it caused the large gates to slowly open, making a space enough for them to enter. Emily turned around and motioned for the red-haired youth to join her. Her actions obviously attracted the attention of everyone, they looked towards the red-haired youth, who was seemingly close with the daughter of Amidel. Some were jealous but most of them were curious about who this youth might be, even the Gods such as Teresa and Krores frowned upon being unable to see through this youngster. "A man knows when to back off, it''s time to part ways." Although he said that, Emily was still unwilling and ended up entering only after Kithel whispered something in her ears. When the siblings entered, the gates closed again, leaving the first comers curious about what''s inside the palace. Even Kai Min couldn''t contain his excitment. The atmosphere soon turned silent for a dozen seconds before Krores talked again "Granny Teresa, how about we force them out and let the youngsters try their chances?" Krores and the other elders were already old and had priceless treasures, except the manual, they didn''t need anything else and were not greedy for plants or powerful hidden items. Although she didn''t want to cooperate with the Water Cloud Sect, Teresa still had to accept Krores'' offer as the guardians were really strong and the five of them should barely be able to cope with them. Still cautious of each other, the five Gods advanced towards the big gates and unhesitantly started attacking with all their might, shaking the ground and creating large dust clouds. Kai Min and even Cold Sword were forced to retreat some distance as it was not safe. If a single attack from these Gods reached them, they could die or be heavily injured. Though they weren''t holding back, neither of the Gods summoned their God Spirit as it was a last resort thing and it wasn''t worth it, not until the guardians show up, at least. Saber beams and 10-meter long sword slashes landed on the gates, shaking it yet not scratching it the least bit. Arthur silently waited for the perfect chance before he initiated his plans, the moment the gates open and the guardians appear is the right time to begin. .... Ten minutes passed in a flash, the juniors were a bit nervous except Cold Swort, who maintained an expressionless face. As time passed, the gates finally showed signs of destruction due to the bombardment of five Gods. There were a lot of scratches and even some holes. This continued for another twenty minutes before the gates finally reacted, its two large doors were opened forcefully and angry roar originating from inside place resounded in all the ruins, making those who were weak tremble uncontrollably. Two enormous shadows as big as the gates appeared from inside, one was a humanoid statue holding a spear and the other seemed to be a dog with sharp spikes on its back. The dog seemed more frightening than the statue, it growled menacingly at the five Gods and seemed to be about to pounce at them at any given second. Once the two Guardians appeared, Arthur activated the detonator he put inside the kid next to Kai Min, this caused a mass of blood and gory flesh to explode in all direction, frightening the hell of Kai Min. This was only the beginning as he used the woman''s body to head straight toward the group of disciples behind Kai Min and without hesitation, he started throwing normal fireballs and using fire oriented skills to attack them yet not kill them instantly. Chapter 211 - 171.1 : Assault 1 The chaos has appeared so abruptly so the focused Gods couldn''t stop the rampaging woman. They were focused with the furious Guardians as they paused more threat and they just couldn''t even divert their attention to something else. The most surprised person was Elo Huo, with wide open eyes and an expression of disbelief, he stared at his woman who was attacking the Water Cloud sect. "Granny Teresa! What''s the meaning of this?" Krores was enraged as he saw the disciples of his sect being attacked in such a critical moment, but when he saw the utter sock displayed on the old woman''s face, he knew that it wasn''t planned and this was probably the work of an outsider. The chaos intensified when the large dog with sharp spikes growled loudly and jumped on Krores, intending to swallow him whole. In response to the leaping dog, Krores didn''t hesitate in summoning his God Spirit. A huge transparent four-legged creature that resembled a lizard. He unleashed all his Nether Energy causing rain to heavily pour out of nowhere, the God Spirit clashed with the Dog but the latter had the advantage as it bit down on the lizard, wanting to tear it apart. Fortunately, the other two Gods from the Water Cloud Sect used their God Spirits to join the battle. One was a lizard similar to Krores but with wings and the other was a sea lion that had a strange horn on its forehead. Three God Spirits clashed with the dog yet despite the huge numerical disadvantage, the Guardian wasn''t fazed as its eye lit with a red light and the spikes from its back stretched at an insane speed, sending two of the God Spirits flying far away. On the other side, things weren''t looking too good for Kai Min''s camp, Arthur was like a raging bull, firing left and right without minding anyone. Obviously, the disciples were shocked at first but soon began to retaliate with Kai Min, who was the first to attack Elo Huo''s woman. As for the one-armed Elo Huo, he kept shouting at the woman, telling her to stop but it was futile, it''s as if he was shouting to a deaf person. After a few tries, he stopped trying, however, he didn''t go save her personally since it was too late, she already injured a lot of Kai Min''s juniors and she was injured in return, she even lost a leg. The woman was deemed as an enemy so Kai Min didn''t hold back as he wielded his saber and cut her more than one time, causing endless blood to gush out of her abdomen and back. A bit more time later, the woman''s lifeless corpse fell to the ground, full of injuries and completely unrecognizable. Elo Huo had an ugly expression but he didn''t dare reprimand the Water Cloud disciples as it was the woman''s fault, to begin with, and if he had helped her, it would have caused more problems and the two sects would enter a war which is not a favorable thing neither is it worth it. He had feelings for the woman but apparently not enough to sacrifice himself for her, in Huo''s way of thinking, a lover could be replaced, contrary to his life. Deep underground, which his present completely concealed, Arthur stared at the Spatial Master, who was near Kai Min, still invisible. He didn''t overdo things to not force this master to personally handle that woman which is why Kai Min ''killed'' the rampaging woman easily. In fact, he didn''t really kill Arthur as that would cause a temporary decrease in his stats, he just pretended to have died by falling on the ground and leaving the host. As for the woman and her life? He couldn''t care less, her behavior resembled his ex-wife a lot and for women like that, he never intended to show mercy. Currently, the two Gods coming from Elo Huo''s academy were fighting the fearsome humanoid Guardian, and the remaining three Gods were ganging up on the dog. It would be far-fetched to finish those Guardians in a short time, which is why the elders ordered the disciples to go inside right now since the Guardians can''t stop them. With no obstacle in their way, Cold Sword, Kai Min, and the rest headed inside the palace. Kai Min was on high alert after what just happened, he only brought ten disciples with him as all the rest were injured by the woman''s flames. Elo Huo was surprisingly alone, he didn''t want to bring anyone lest they do the same thing so he decided to venture alone, this decision was approved by the fighting elders. ''Arrogant yet wise, it''s indeed rare.'' Arthur didn''t expect Elo Huo to remain calm after having his Lantern swallowed, arm ripped off and lover killed. Although he had an unpleasant expression, he didn''t start shouting or spouting nonsense, he just entered the palace silently. Just like the rogue cultivators who managed to reach this far, Arthur possessed the body of the usual young man and joined these cultivators as they entered the main palace. There wasn''t many of them, only twenty but each of them was powerful enough and had some skills. The annoying chains were carefully hidden and their noise vanished when Arthur activated his skill. The red-haired youth joined the fray, walking only a few meters behind Arthur. His eyes were still closed as he walked in a leisurely manner without showing any of the cautiousness the others were displaying. One has to know that to get those desired priceless plants, one must overcome one if not countless dangerous obstacles. You would rarely find treasures laid on the ground ready for you to scavenge them all. Once they entered the Palace, a large garden present itself in front of them, it had an artificial mountain in its center and ten doors lined up next to each other. In total, only fifty-two people entered the main palace, most of them were rogue cultivators. Arthur patiently waited for Kai Min to pick a door, as for the red-haired youth, he chose a random door and entered. Cold Sword seemed to be waiting too, her eyes were fixated on Arthur, she saw him here when they entered the Garden and couldn''t let go of what happened in the past. She saw a great opportunity now and waited for the young man to chose a door first so she could follow him. Arthur didn''t pay her any heed, even if she attacked him or butted in, his plans won''t be ruined. Since he the Gods are not with Kai Min now then everything is in his grasp. A few minutes later, there were only two figures standing in the garden, Arthur and Cold Sword, who didn''t stop gazing at him which was pretty uncomfortable, especially when she isn''t holding back her murderous intent. When he was certain that enough time has passed, Arthur headed for the door Kai Min entered. This time, he planned to take thing pretty seriously, he took out Makaze from the storage and put it on his waist, sheathed. The blade vibrated in response, expressing itself and somehow communicating it with him. It had devoured a lot of swords that Arthur got from the Kang Treasury House so its rank increased and its appearance changed a bit. It had become blacker than usual with its ornaments pulsating with a violet light and its handle taking the gray color. It has been quite some time since Arthur used it as he relied on his skills and other technique but this time, he wanted to finish things in seconds and Makaze was the best and wisest choice. Meanwhile, Cold Sword was a distance away from Arthur, just like a lion stalking its prey, moreover, she didn''t mind being discovered as she knew how strong her opponent was. Although she was not an idiot and could tell that she wasn''t his match, she wasn''t the type to give up easily, especially after such public humiliation. ... After the two of them walked for a couple of minutes, they arrived at a soundless and dark room. There were no signs of Kai Min or any of the other disciples. Without pausing for even half a step, Arthur marched inside the room while unleashing an absurd amount of black lightning. Being bombarded by nonstop Demonic Lightning, the usually resistant illusion shattered in an instant and showed a narrow corridor to Arthur, who proceeded toward it. Cold Sword wasn''t as lucky, the illusion that shattered have recovered instantly, trapping her inside. She didn''t have special lightning like Arthur so she resorted to brute force, slashing her large sword left and right until she finds a way out. This illusion is but a small test for the incomers, it''s not deadly and after some time, anyone will be able to get out of it. Basically, it''s sole purpose is to waste time. By this time, only Arthur and Kai Min and his protector were able to get out immediately and Arthur knew this which is why he didn''t want to waste time. At the end of the corridor was also a garden but this one was smaller than the previous one, there was a clean lake on the Western side of the garden, it was a beautiful sight with numerous blue butterflies fluttering their wings and flying from one flower to another. No one would believe this garden is inside a palace, much less an ancient deadly tomb. Currently, in this room stood three figures, one was Kai Min who tightly held his saber and had a serious expression, the other was the Spatial Master who revealed himself, last but not least was the red-haired youth. With two blood red eyes that showed indifference and no emotions, the youth revealed an evil smile as he stretched his hand and retrieved a long halberd with a thick scent of blood.... Chapter 212 - 171.2 : Assault 2 Evidentally, the red-haired youth''s target was going to be the Spatial Master and not the weak Kai Min, who was cowering on the side. Arthur hid his presence and didn''t join the battle, his goal was to attack at the perfect chance and he doesn''t want to cause a big ruckus by openly fighting the Master. As for the red-haired youth, he had the power of a God and although he can''t beat the Spatial Master, it doesn''t mean he can''t cause him some trouble. Wielding the red halberd, the youth lunged himself at the Spatial Master, viciously thrusting his halberd at his opponent''s throat. The robbed old man merely waved his sleeves, disturbing the space around the halberd and make it crack, easily deflecting the incoming attack. However, the youth didn''t seem fazed, he let go of the halberd and continued his charge whilst another exact halberd appeared in his hands, totally unscathed. "Hmpf! Fall down!" The Spatial Master said those words and grabbed the empty air with his hand and pulled it as if he was pulling a tablecloth, this caused the youth''s body to be flung upside down, heavily crashing on the ground. As if nothing happened, the youth slowly got up and patted the dust off his clothes without minding the glare of the old man. A halberd materialized itself in his hand but this time, he didn''t rush at his opponent, instead, he held the weapon in one hand and raised his other hand, pointing a finger at the old man. His smooth white hand transformed into a rotten one and instantly, a black beam was shot from his finger, traveling straight at Kai Min, who was similarly shocked and wasn''t able to dodge in time. "Shameless!" The old man hurriedly closed his hand into a fist to crack the space but that was futile as the black beam penetrated Kai Min''s abdomen and nailed him on the wall several meters behind his original position. The beam''s speed was too fast and the old man thought that his technique would have at least diverted the youth''s attack, however, things went worse than his expectation. Kai Min, who also had life-saving treasures didn''t even have the chance to use them before he was struck by the beam, which rendered him in a soulless state as he looked dumbly at the ground while being nailed by the black beam, he didn''t utter any painful cries. This was not the end, several more black beams shot from the rotten finger, heading at the confused and shocked old man, who didn''t think of holding back anylonger. The space around him turned blurry as the black beams disappeared when they were only inches away from him. These black beams were forcefully trapped in a different space, rendering them useless. Still unwavered by this, the red-haired youth stabbed his halberd on the ground, making the small garden shake heavily and cracks appear all over the floor. The old man''s response to this is merely staying still, relying on his strong defensive technique. Very soon, a red fog started appearing and hindering the view which was followed by thick red pillars rising from the ground and adding to the intensity of the red fog. Chapter 213 - 171.3 : Assault 3 Seeing this, Arthur unsheathed Makaze and prepared himself. The black katana vibrated intensely and black flames burned on its edges, there was even a deep cut engraved on the ground due to the intensity of the Sword Energy. Arthur caressed the katana and forced it to calm down as this would attract the attention of the old man. ''Almost...'' The youth rushed at the old man again, this time with double the previous speed and more ferocity. He swept his halberd at the space around the old man, shaking the whole room and causing cracks to appear on the space protecting the Spatial Master. Despite not succeeding in his attack, the youth didn''t stop as he swung his halberd again with more force. A terrifying howl came out of the halberd as it smashed against the turbulent space, finally shattering it and sweeping at the old man, who took out a strange mirror and used it to resist the incoming attack. When the halberd struck the mirror, the youth felt as if he hit something soft, half of the halberd disappeared into the mirror which shone with an unusual color. Not wanting to wait for it to finish its retaliation, the youth abandoned his weapon and stretched his rotten hand to meet the shining mirror. As predicted, the mirror unleashed a bright light coupled with a crushing force that could even flatten Gods. Fortunately, the youth had stretched his hand and met this incredible force with his special hand, safely absorbing the power. The rotten hand''s ability is to absorb the attack and unleash them back but if the received attack is more powerful than the reserve the hand could store, then its ability would become useless. Luckily, the power of the attack unleashed by the mirror barely surpassed the hand''s reserve, so the youth managed to absorb it despite being sent flying for twenty or so meters. The old man saw haw his opponent was still not dead which startled him but he wasn''t that anxious to finish the fight, he no longer cared about Kai Min''s state either since it was too late to save him. The black beams were alarming which is why he didn''t dare to remove him personally. The red-haired youth pointed at Kai Min and grabbed the air, sucking the life force from the silent Kai Min. This quickly healed the slight injuries he received from the previous attack and boosted his condition a bit more. "Aren''t you one persistent brat!" The red-haired youth stared back at the old man with a charming smile before he closed his eyes and said "Hahaha, I shall consider that as a compliment. Now, prepare yourself!" The red beams coming out from the ground reached the required intensity so the youth decided to stop holding back and finally go all out. Another halberd materialized itself in his other hand, however, this one was jet black with the ominous aura surrounding it. Two large wings stretched from his back, one red and the other black, they were both two meters each. Since the youth stopped holding back, the old man decided to stop being defensive, two transparent chains were dragged out of nowhere, moreover, fire started burning around them and from an outsider''s look, it was as if the fire was burning randomly in the air. It didn''t take long before the first clash occurred, dust waves flew and the beautiful garden was turned upside down with big boulders falling and blood splashing everywhere. This time around, the youth held a big advantage as he ferociously swept with both his halberds, pushing the old man in a corner. The Spatial Master tried resisting with his Spatial Shackles and the mirror but they weren''t able to deflect the barrage of attack coming from the youth. With two wings increasing his speed and Death Energy on the left and violent Blood Energy on the right, the combination of these two wasn''t something the old man could cope with without seriously going all out, which he finally did when a grey whirlpool which represented his God Spirit, appeared behind him. The whirlpool rotated slowly and distorted the space around the youth, causing deep and long cuts to appear all over his speed, there were even small cracks appearing on his two halberds. This clearly showed how powerful the God Spirit is and how can a God becomes many times stronger with its presence. Nonetheless, the youth wasn''t depressed, his goal has been achieved and all that is left to do is wait for his master to act. Speaking of Arthur, he was staring at the old man from the darkness, the chains hiding under his clothes were tightening as he activated [Griffin''s Bloody Switch]. ''90% Wisdom to 50% Dexterity. 90% Intelligence to Agility. 50% Vitality to 10% Strength!'' He used this skill three times, which made him lose 150 Mental Power permanently. This, however, was totally worth it, he felt the incredible power surging in him, his physical body was several times strengthened which angered the chains as they tightened around him, almost crushing his bones. Arthur ignored the pain since he wasn''t feeling it and held Makaze in his right hand, ready to attack. With his Dexterity and Agility being increased by a lot, his current speed wasn''t something any God could deal with, even a powerful entity such as this Spatial Master. A distance away from Arthur, Cold Sword''s figure appeared, her attire seemed a bit disheveled but she suffered no injuries. With murderous intent and anger, she coldly stared at Arthur but her body wasn''t able to react as she felt the immense pressure coming from him. By the next second, Arthur''s body was covered by Natural Lightning from head to toe as he activated [Transcendence], further boosting his Agility. As a small precaution, Arthur used Golden Threads formed by the skill [Mother Of All] at the cost of Mental Power, to wrap them around his whole body as he was expecting some sort of backlash after having strengthened his body to this degree. He silently spectated the fight between the two parties for a few more seconds before raised Makaze and vanished from his spot, dumbfounding Cold Sword, who saw his figure disappear into nothingness. Chapter 214 - 172.1 : One Blow Burning flames surroundings its sharp edges, Makaze cut through the back of the old man''s back and accurately hit his Dantian, immediately destroying it. The Natural Lightning that was added traveled through the Meridians, severely injuring them and paralyzing the body of the Spatial Master. To achieve this, Arthur spared no effort, from using [Transcendence] to [Griffin''s Bloody Switch]. It only took one precise and fast hit, which was successful. Dark Magic was fully unleashed from the blade''s edges and engulfed the Spatial Master, further limiting his movements and weakening him. The old man''s figure was engulfed in black flames with a blade penetrating him from the back and ayoung man coldly staring at him. Arthur didn''t even wait for a reaction from the old man, he let go of Makaze and used the hidden chains to quickly wrap them around the enemy''s neck then pulled him back downwards, crashing them both on the ground. With his Dantian destroyed and Meridians injured, the old man may not be dead yet but he is pretty much crippled, nonetheless, Arthur wasn''t willing to be overconfident despite all the damage he had done to his foe. The old man, who was caught by complete surprise, had a red face, both from suffocation, extreme shame, and anger. He was immobilized before any chance of retaliation, now that he is looking at the culprit, he was shocked because it was none other than a junior that he just spared a simple glance earlier. He checked all the juniors but since most of them were weak, he wasn''t wary of them. Arthur knew that there is no way the three Gods accompanying Kai Min would not know what had happened here. Although the kid was weak, there must be something that alarmed, even if there is nothing and he is just worrying, he was still going to proceed with the plans. "Bring that kid along... and don''t kill him." Arthur ordered the youth then looked at the entrance of the room with a smile. "As thou wish." The red-haired youth flashed with a red light then was enveloped by a thick a red smoke with vanished in a few seconds. What replaced the youth was a gigantic golem and a floating book next to it. The book went straight to Arthur and glued itself to his waist, as for the golem, it grabbed the nailed Kai Min and stood next to Arthur. "Why don''t you come out, it''s useless to try to hide your presence from me." Arthur looked at the entrance whilst saying that. His map could never be wrong and he had long since sensed Cold Sword''s presence lurking in the entrance. She took some time to get out of that illusion but eventually, with the help of brute force, she escaped. The reason Arthur wasn''t worried about her is due to her weak strength, they were in different leagues despite her being a genius and a good sword user. Several seconds of silence passed before a shadow appeared from the entrance, with a sword on her back and a somewhat haggard look due to the effects of illusion, Cold Sword finally showed herself without hiding her thick intent but there was some fear and surprised lingering in her eyes, it''s as if she was hesitating on whether to act or not. "Arghhh w....why did you attack me *cough* *cough* w-we have no g-.. *cough* grudges!" The old man mustered his strength those words with blood gushing out of the deep wound inflicted by Makaze, which already went back to its sheath. He unceasingly coughed blood as Dark Flames never stopped burning him, its effect was not burning the target but consuming it, meaning weakening it and slowly overpowering the target''s body. It matched perfectly with Arthur''s racial abilities. Currently, he can''t possess the God without using forceful means, but he can kill him, and he most certainly will but not before obtaining a few things. Before answering the old man, Arthur did several seals on the air, mimicking what Zodiak said in the notes. Ten seconds later, an ominous looking talisman was conjured out of pure Dark Mana, it was over ten centimeters and had a skull face similar to the one on Zodiak''s robe. Arthur slapped the talisman on the old man''s body then looked back at Cold Sword, who came to stop only a few meters away from him. She looked cautiously at the motionless Golem, which was blocking her path to Arthur, then she glanced at the dark book on the man''s waist before looking at the seemingly ordinary young man who transformed into a lightning man, she felt uncomfortable just by looking at him. The Ethereal state can be used with Dark Power and it will certainly make it stronger but Arthur felt his control over it is not as smooth as without this state. So he canceled due to the attention it grabs and the not so advantageous effects it has over Dark Magic, which is one of his main powers. However, Dark Magic is an ominous power, it''s not only mysterious but it brings out the fear in people and always make them uncomfortable. Lucy is practically immune to it because she had a soul bind with Arthur, as for Saly, she isn''t immune so Arthur lessens his use of Dark Magic when she''s around. Now that he did everything to ensure his grasp on the old man and Kai Min''s lives. Arthur looked towards the entrance yet again and sarcastically said "The cat has come out, how come the dog is still hiding?" Moments passed yet nothing but silence was heard, Arthur remained standing there, still staring at the same location with a smile that soon faded. "I do not have time to play with you, if you''re not coming out then I''m not being polite anymore." He gripped the unsheathed Makaze and inclined his body a bit before he used [Golden Lone Sheath]. The dark blade shone with a dark gold luster before a soundless dark sword arc, formed from the skill, headed towards a specific direction near the entrance. As Arthur expected, the sword attack hit the wall and disappeared as if it hit a bottomless ocean, there were no explosion nor a resistance. ''Let''s see how much you can absorb.'' Arthur bent his back again and held Makaze and grinned, by the next second, ten successive [Golden Lone Sheath] were launched at the same location. Since the skill had no cooldown and only a high cost, Arthur didn''t hold back and used it ten times in a row, unafraid that his Mana Pool will run out. Just like before, the attacks seemed to have sunken inside the walls, however, the last one stopped a distance away from the wall, as if it met a resistance. Arthur used the skill three more times, which finally forced whatever was hiding to surface out. With weird plant clothes and a height of over two meters, it was a humanoid figure resembling a woman. It had some parts that were plants and others that were identical to humans, like her faces and arms. "Don''t you think it''s rude to intrude my garden and attack me?" Arthur paid her no heed, his figure disappeared as he charged at her, instantly arriving next to her thanks to his augmented Agility. His fist shone with a small green light as it struck the side of the woman, who raised her hand to meet his. Just like with the slashes, his fist met with a watery surface when it came in contact with her hand, however, Arthur still didn''t care as he viciously slashed with Makaze, activating [Heavenly Slash] one of his three strongest sword skills. A deep cry resounded from the dark blade, which became three times longer than usual, the blade came slashing down at the woman with black flames covering the whole room. Arthur wasn''t going to waste time with this woman and didn''t even want to let her go out so he used his strongest skills from the get-go. This time, the watery surface couldn''t absorb the slash, which came down at the angry and terrified woman. She hurriedly took out a large sunflower and raised it towards the incoming attack. The sunflower fluttered beautifully and a humming sound was heard as a mysterious wind seemed to have been blown from somewhere, the wind brushed away the slash, barely pushing it away from the woman, who was about to retaliate and attack Arthur but was dumbstruck to see him disappear again. With a pose similar to a praying monk, Arthur was behind the woman, with eyes closed and natural lightning enveloping him, he stretched one palm towards the back of the woman. The stretched palm flashed with a blinding golden light that illuminated the room and resembled a sun. When the palm tapped again the scared woman''s back, a rumbling sound was heard followed by the body of the woman which was sent flying like a rocket and heavily crashed again the other direction, destroying the wall and sending her flying even further. Arthur was sure that she was dead and although he really wanted to possess it, he wasn''t going to run and search for it, however, that didn''t stop him from sending a Death Knight behind her to retrieve what''s left. The Death Knight obeyed and dashed towards the hole on the wall, as for Arthur, he unsheathed his blade and deactivated [Transcendence]. It was only at this time that he paid attention to Jian Si, who was still standing there but there was no more killing intent, it was replaced with deep shock and a burning desire to fight. Chapter 215 - 172.2 : The Chains "You know, your stubbornness reminds me of someone but unlike that person, you''re not cooperative... oh and you''re annoying too." Arthur blatantly said that as he met Jian Si''s burning gaze. Lucy was stubborn too, much more than this girl but she wasn''t suicidal and knew what to do, she wasn''t a battle-thirsty person such as Cold Sword. Jian Si didn''t reply and held her long sword, she unwrapped the cloth around it, showing a jet black sword with a thick blood scent emanating from it. Arthur still wasn''t impressed, he raised his hand towards her and moved a few fingers randomly as he added: "As I said before, you''re not my match and I do not have the patience nor the time to play with an angry kid." Cold Sword''s expression finally changed when she found out that her body was immobilized, she couldn''t even move a finger, much less charge at him. Upon a closer, thin threads were wrapped around all her body, forcing her to remain motionless, she even activated her Sword Energy trying to cut through them but such efforts were futile. The Sword Energy were shattered by strong and violent vibrations coming from the threads. Natural Lightning, that was flowing through the threads unnoticed, is one of Arthur''s main offensive powers. The vibrations created from it are able to shatter weaker forms of Energies, destroy Meridians and burst hearts and bones, it was also hard to detect, which is another reason Arthur always includes in his attacks, even simple physical exchanges. Arthur used the threads to lift the old man''s body, who looked like a lifeless force but actually wasn''t. Arthur was aware that the Spatial Master was ready for the last struggle, his Dantian was destroyed but not all the energy he held dispersed and he must have treasures that can be used without Nether Energy too. "Now then, I have only two questions for you. If you answer them, maybe I will spare your life, or what''s left of it." In response to Arthur, the old man merely looked at his attacker with anger, his eyes were thirsty for a bloody vengeance. His thousands of years of cultivation and training vanished in seconds which made him almost turn mad. "Kid *cough* my disciples and sect won''t let you live for long *cough* *cough* you will live the *cough* remaining of your life in fear of my revenge! *cough*.." Arthur listened to his words calmly, he wasn''t feeling threatened at all. After the old man finished his successive oaths of revenge and so-on, Arthur simply tugged the threads leading to the old man''s arm, instantly tearing it off causing even more blood to gush out and paint the nearby pond with red. "I guess it''s useless to ask you." It''s was pretty apparent that the old man wasn''t the kind to give up easily and answer his questions just to live so Arthur decided to end it. "Hahaha*cough* it''s too late for you to kill me now, kid!" As he spurted those last words, the old man died, however, something emerged from his forehead. It was an eye as big as the old man''s head, it stared at Arthur for a few seconds before it vanished. Despite being seen by whichever was that, Arthur wasn''t worried as this wasn''t his real body and he has thousands of bodies so his identity can never be discovered. This last struggle could be said to be futile, if it was another one who killed the old man, then he may be doomed but it''s another matter for a parasite. After things calmed down, Arthur unceremoniously took the storage ring of the old man but surprisingly wasn''t able to inspect it. He knew that the Demonic Lightning may be of some help but he didn''t use it right now as it may require more time than he already has. He stored the ring and ordered the golem to block Jian Si''s proceed then he swiftly possessed the old man''s lifeless corpse and got out in just a second. It barely took the time for a person to blink before he gained what he needed, his vision was flooded with system notifications. Since time was tight and there are few people who must be after him, he didn''t read them and only tested his new Spatial Mastery. His hand grabbed the air, distorting it and when he tried grabbing it and forcefully pulling it, the ground shook and the space shattered for a split second before it automatically self-repaired itself instantaneously. Before he was done with the quick tests, he tried the special skill the old man had, it was the [Space Bend] unique skill obtained from the ''Space Bender'' the deceased elder had. It allowed him to cover his presence and become undetected by all Gods unless he purposely exposed himself, it was a very useful skill for assassination and escape, this further reassured Arthur. However, it isn''t uncommon for a delight to be followed by misery or despair, which is more or less what happened to Arthur. The chains wrapping around his waist started thinning and crackling, they burned his skin and the tightness around his limbs was stronger yet this made him more comfortable. "Demon, it looks like your arsenal is yet again bigger. How about it... give me that stone and I''ll gladly become your God Spirit, I''m sure that even Sovereigns won''t be a match for you." From within his consciousness, the Earth Knight couldn''t remain silent and proposed the same offer for Arthur. "Not interested." The Earth Spirit wanted to insist but knowing Arthur''s attitude, he gave up and went back to his sleep, unaffected by what happens outside. This wasn''t the end for Arthur, when the burning effect from the chains disappeared, he felt that he could break them and finally be free of their restraint and when he was going to, he found himself standing in an endless space which belonged to the ARK. "We meet again, Arthur." The lame copy of Arthur stood before him, however, this time he wasn''t as cheerful as usual and he even had a serious expression. "What do you want?" The lame copy started walking around Arthur, inspecting the long chains then he replied "It''s not what I want but what you intend to do." He didn''t even give Arthur enough time to talk before he resumed "You know.... a very long time ago, there was a person named ''Moria'', this Moria was very skilled in Shadow Magic. He had an ability similar to yours and could gain the power of others through their shadows, and as you may expect, he became strong, very strong, enough to be called the Shadow King and live for countless generations without anyone matching his strength... but he ended up dying despite having no one who can kill him and being practically immune to aging. Now, Arthur, you''re a smart person, how do you think he died?" Arthur contemplated the matter for a few seconds before he gave his answer "Must''ve been suicide? Maybe loneliness and the lack of equally strong people made him want to end his life." "That''s the only plausible answer but it''s wrong. The Shadow King didn''t kill himself, neither did anyone kill him, he simply led himself straight to his death, too much power can kill someone. He consumed way too many shadows, his power was really something to look up to despite the fact that he didn''t acquire it himself. It''s quite unbelievable for an eternal king to die due to obtaining more power than he could control. In such a case, you and he are more similar than you think. You might not be blinded by gaining power, but becoming stronger is necessary to protect what''s dear for you and I totally get that but remember this, Arthur, there is always a limit to what a borrowed power could do." The copy crouched down and grabbed part of the chains, feeling it while he continued speaking: "You do know why those chains are restraining you, right?" "My physical body is much stronger than what my Mental capacity could handle and my Realm is too low." "That''s only the main points. Your body''s strength has exceeded the necessary boundaries, if you break the chains.... then yes, you''ll get unimaginable power, a physical body that kills Gods with a flip of a finger, and you could also travel to Earth through sheer strength, however, everything comes at a cost. I can assure you that when you break the chains yourself, you would die within twelve hours at most and nothing could save you, not even that skill of yours." Arthur was tempted when he heard the first part but was forced to give up when he heard that his death is imminent if he breaks those damnable chains. "Don''t think of them as a restriction, they are saving you from self-destruction. Even if it''s not exactly like the death of the Shadow King, the way you would die will be a bit like his, through obtaining more power than one could process and use. As for when the chains will break, it''ll be when your Mental Capacity is high enough, but at such a pace, I don''t think it''ll happen anytime soon." "Do I need to reach a specific number of Mental Power to break them?" With a precise number to reach, Arthur thought it''ll be easier for him to determine how far he is. "Mental Power? That''s only one side of the coin, Mental Capacity isn''t only numbers that are increased through cultivation, then again, if you could understand its entirety then you wouldn''t be struggling in such a world. If you want a number then I would say five hundred thousand? Perhaps a million? Numbers are everything yet nothing. They are the basics, a number can''t always be precise, and I think you know that well." Arthur remained silent for an unknown amount of time, pondering about many things. His copy only gazed at him without uttering any more words, he seemed to be content after saying that and now that he had nothing important to say, he patted Arthur''s shoulders and said "Remember well, Arthur Bilgart, a heart bleeds, a man weeps, a soul burns, thence comes the darkness to consume, yet even in the depths, the flames endures." The copy vanished after saying that, leaving Arthur alone in the endless pace, still deep in a daze, thinking about all the things the copy has just said. Chapter 216 - 173.1 : Spots After passing some time alone, pondering over the said things, Arthur left the ARK and returned to the garden, or what''s left of it. With his goals achieved and nothing to do here, he prepared to leave the tomb as he had zero interest in getting the manual or any of the treasures here. He had countless of them in Zodiak''s storage, which had all the things he amassed in his ancient adventures. The tricky thing was that there was definitely people looking for him. His heist on the Kang Treasury was flawless in many aspects but the Kang Family wasn''t a fool. This happened in their territory and the third floor of the Treasury was robbed clean, they surely were not going to let things end like that. One way or another, they will locate him which is why he began by changing his body, he got rid of the young man''s body and possessed the body of the woman, which he used just when he entered the city. He changed into a more appropriate attire, fitting for a woman''s body, he also stored Makaze away and retrieved a pair of green gauntlets which have a strong affinity to Wind attribute. The woman was a Wind Mage so such a weapon suited her quite well, moreover, he was only going to use them if he ever was forced into a fight with a monster or some meddlesome person. With everything ready, Arthur prepared to exit the room while ignoring the flabbergasted look of Cold Sword, who no longer was struggling to get out of the immobilization of the threads. She was shocked to see a woman appear out of nowhere and the disappearance of the young man. It didn''t take a genius to piece this and that together, she quickly understood that it''s the same person, he just had a powerful technique that could change his appearance. However, what surprised her is that even the aura around the young man changed, with the Ethereal state activated, she seemed entirely different to the previous young man, who killed the old man with cold blood. "Mayhap we meet again but I hope we don''t." With these last words, the woman in front of Jian Si vanished along with the Golem and Kai Min, who was clearly being held captive. With the golem following him, Arthur spared no effort in heading out of the long tunnel and heading to another door, which also led to a similar looking tunnel. His main concern wasn''t the Water Cloud sect since he had confidence in getting rid of them with Kai Min as a hostage as they won''t risk the chance of him dying, the death of Spatial Master will cause them more than enough troubles. What''s keeping him from directly leaving is the Kang Gods, which have full control over the opening and closure of the Gates and are most certainly paying a close attention to who is leaving. If he were to leave alone right now, there is a big chance of being discovered and surrounded, sure, he can cope with the elders which are Peak Gods but he doesn''t know Amidel''s real strength. What''s reassuring, however, is that can always use Rizaki in case things went south, he would suffer heavy injuries but at least that would assure his escape, more or less. Hopefully, if he leaves at the right time and with the right people, things would proceed smoothly, or so thought Arthur. .... With a large golem backing him up, Arthur entered a significantly large room with three stones statues, each one was looking at a direction and held a unique weapon. At the center was a big closed coffin and there laid eleven spots just a few meters in front of it. These eleven spots were for the chosen people, and eight of these spots were already taken. As the room was big, it was also full of people, whether it''s a group of rogue cultivators, elders that overseeing their talented geniuses or some spectators which are only here for the show. Obviously, Emily and her brother took two of the spots, Arthur saw a Kang Elder standing behind them, protecting them from any sudden attack from the other powers. Elo Huo was also here, he took one spot and had the two Gods from earlier standing by his side. The only one missing was Kai Min, who was hidden inside the golem and could not be detected by them. The other five spots were also taken but talented youngsters and each had at least a God with them, although not all Gods were as strong as Elo Huo''s or Emily''s. Almost everybody was eyeing the three remaining spots with greed, to be able to sit there and wait for enlightenment from one of the three statues is a rare chance that may allow them to obtain either a rare treasure, a strong technique or even the physique manual itself! The big golem grabbed some attention upon its arrival but it soon was forgotten as they returned to drooling over the spots. Many people could raise golem to protect them and most of them had average strength, it isn''t that unusual to see a golem or spawned fighter of some kind. The only peculiar thing about Arthur''s golem is its unusual appearance, but that wasn''t enough to make others pay it more attention than needed. Arthur wasn''t planning on taking a spot since his interest wasn''t laying there. He just had to patiently wait for a large group of people to leave, which will only happen after the spots are taken and the lucky juniors are finished attempting to gain an enlightenment or a treasure. With nothing important to do right now, Arthur just sat down and began meditating, he wasn''t injured in the previous fights and the effect of the [Griffin''s Bloody Switch] has wared off. This was the main place for obtaining good treasures but it isn''t for anyone, it could be that one person every ten thousand or more is able to gain something out of the three statues. As time passed, two people gave up on their spots as they were unable to sense anything, this led to a huge ruckus and a bloody fight. Soon enough, two people replaced them and took their spots, one was a rogue cultivator and the other was surprisingly Rose, the gargoyle general he possessed back then. Arthur cast her a glance and nodded in praise, although she wasn''t that cooperative when he was forcing her hand, she was indeed a good fighter and is only a bit weaker than Amidel''s son, but if it were a fight for survival, she may come out victorious, however, these were merely speculations thought of by Arthur, what the results will be can only be known if the fight ever happens. Inside of the room, where no one knows if it''s night or day, an hour after another passed and places where replaced each time a person gave up. Only Elo Huo, Emily, and her brother stood there without showing any reactions. ''What a good little actor.'' Arthur saw that Emily was awake thanks to appraisal, which would show the ''Meditating'' status on every person trying to find enlightenment. He immediately knew that this lass must''ve obtained something yet didn''t want to grab any attention so she just pretended to be like the others. Nobody knew of her real talents and as the orders of her father, she maintained a low profile, moreover, her brother was much more appealing to the crowd, which focused their attention on him and Elo Huo. The tension that has been building up the last few hours was broken at last when a sound similar to a drum was heard. One of the three statues, precisely the one at the left, which was holding a gourd, seemed to have become alive as its eyes landed on the green-armored gargoyle, Rose, who opened her eyes and stretched her hand. A pillar of white light emerged from her spot, rising all the way to the ceiling, engulfing her in this light and making her look majestic. Even the Gods accompanying Emily and Elo Huo were equally surprised as they didn''t expect a lowly Pigolo with no fame whatsoever to be able to gain enlightenment and the approval of one of the statues. Emily opened half of her eyes to glance at Rose with curiosity, she was bored from all the waiting and grasped this chance to leave her spot. Everyone was focused on Rose and the light around her so this action of hers was only seen by the Gods protecting her and Arthur, who wasn''t interested in the light at all. Seconds after the emergence of the light, the eyes of the statues emitted two white rays which landed on Rose''s stretched hand, when they landed on her hand, the two rays were no longer light but transformed into a translucent white armor with spiky shoulder guards and a green gem embedded on its lower half. Rose stood up whilst holding the armor then she bowed politely to the statue to express her gratitude, after doing what needs to be done, she left her spot without any regret. "To think that a gargoyle was acknowledged by one of the statues, she must be a genius!" "What genius! It''s just a matter of luck.... nothing else." Some people admired her while other envied her, a never-ending cycle of jealousy and admiration whenever one besides themselves earned a priceless treasure. Chapter 217 - 173.2 : Enlightenmen The topic of their talking soon shifted from Rose to her newly acquired armor. Many speculated that the armor was Heavenly ranked, from the appearance to the aura around it, there was no doubt that it''s not any ordinary armor. Rose didn''t hesitate in wearing it, such armors automatically match the size of their host, so it only took a few seconds for it to be worn by Rose, who replaced her green armor by this new one. With the translucent white armor and its aura, coupled with Rose beauty, which was not kingdom toppling but she couldn''t be called ugly or average either, Rose became prettier and pleasant to the eyes, perhaps it was a special effect of the armor or it''s just that the armor and her power complimented each other and created such atmosphere around her. The gargoyle female didn''t stay in the room anylonger, she left the room with Ehrendil protecting her back. They wanted to gain priceless treasures but this armor was enough for them and it would boost their confidence and may lead them to emerge victorious against the Pigolo. Her spot was quickly replaced by their archenemies, the pigolo, which couldn''t secure a spot until now. Even in such a place, the gargoyles were aggressive against them since the start of the war, so they couldn''t send any of their juniors to a spot without fearing the craziness of their enemy. Emily sneaked behind the Gods protecting Kithel and stood behind her. Some people noticed that her spot was now free but none was brave enough to go ahead and seize it. As for Arthur, he was still sitting in meditation near the golem, however, for some reason, he started feeling kind of uneasy. It was a feeling similar to the one he felt after taking down ''Medusa''. It was an instinctive feeling of danger he obtained through the countless possessions he did, it wasn''t always right, but when it is, then a great danger is coming either for him or the people around him. Despite this, he calmed down with the help of the ethereal state and brushed away the distracting thoughts. He just needed to get out of the tomb, whatever happens later will be dealt at that time, he should take things step by step and worry about the present instead of the future. A bit of time passed since the enlightenment of Rose yet nothing similar occurred which caused the hyped crowd to calm down and return to waiting for their turn or just lay down and watch who will get what. Arthur returned to normal when the uneasy feeling was gone, he was at his peak with his Health, Mana, and Nether Energy back to full, moreover, he had his new mastery of Spatial Attribute and Space Bender title. The silence was broken at last when a weird sound similar to a waterfall resounded in all the room, this shocked the crowd and caused a lot of surprised gasps to come out, amongst them were the old Gods, which looked at Kithel with awe. The sound of the waterfall became much clearer after a few seconds and an illusory mountain materialized above Kithel, it was not the size of a real mountain but it looked pretty realistic with the enormous waterfall. The waterfall''s length was from the peak of the mountain till its bottom, its sound could be heard and its water fell directly on Kithel. Soon, the middle statue''s eyes opened and stared at Kithel, just like Rose''s case. "It''s a materialization enlightenment! indeed, a dragon father cannot have a dog son!" The old man accompanying Elo Huo nodded as he stared at Kithel and the mountain, he wasn''t jealous of the boy but envious that the Kang Family have such a genius. Compared to Kithel, Elo Huo seemed to be struggling and from the looks of it, he won''t be able to gain a special enlightenment such as Amidel''s son. A large pillar of blue light covered Kithel, it rose all the way to the roof and caused all the seated youngsters to wake up from the meditation. The pillar of light the thinned until only a portion of Kithel was touched by it, in response to this, the young man didn''t move, with his eyes still closed and a meditating position, he waited for the statue to act. The middle status didn''t shot rays of light like earlier, instead, it took out its sword and throw it at Kithel. The sword, which was made of stone, transformed into a blue beam of light which stopped inches away from Kithel, it slowly became smaller until it becomes a 1.3-meter long sword with a white handle and blue snake coiling around it. The tip of the sword had droplets of water dripping from it and the coiling snake had its eyes opened, directly staring at Kithel as if testing his willpower to resist it. With eyes full of determination, Kithel stared back at the snake whilst stretching his hand to the handle, which was unresponsive at first but after he exerted more force, it finally obeyed and let him grab it. The snake seemed to have accepted him as it closed its eyes and laid dormant until the moment Kithel uses the sword. Kithel caressed the sword with a loving look and showed a brilliant smile, indicating his happiness. He bowed deeply to the three statues then left his spot. When the sword showed itself, Arthur''s storage started vibrating intensely to the point of almost coming out of his hand, this caused Arthur to press his index finger on it and said ''Calm down, Makaze, this is not the time.'' From the looks of it, Makaze couldn''t hold back its hunger and wanted to devour that sword immediately. It''s the first time Arthur has seen a strong reaction from Makaze, which is a good and a bad thing, the timing was awfully bad and he can''t go out of his way to get that sword lest it causes chaos. It was at this exact moment when everybody was drooling over the sword and admiring the talented youth, that Jian Si finally showed herself. She glanced at Arthur but didn''t talk, she chose the spot Emily was previously at and sat, immediately entering meditation. She just wanted to try her luck and wasn''t interested in the physique manual or whatsoever, furthermore, nobody dared to stop her or provoke her for she is known to be vengeful and hard to deal with, especially if she comes after you, it will be a never-ending chase until she ends your life. Arthur was calmly watching like the rest when all of a sudden, the young man, Kithel, turned toward him and showed a charming smile and flashing eyes then said "Miss, I''ve seen that you have been waiting for a long time, why don''t you take my spot?" Arthur was momentarily startled but he didn''t show it on his face, based on what he had done, there is no way that Kithel knows his real identity, even if he had miraculous treasures, he can''t know it''s him, that''s one thing Arthur was sure of, but if it''s not that then why would he address him of all people? Moreover, his actions caused almost all the crowd to focus on him, which is not something he wanted right now. It''s too late "I will graciously reject Young Master Kithel''s offer, I did not come here for enlightenment and I''m only here to watch." Kithel didn''t insist, he nodded his head back understandingly and added: "If that is your case, then please suit yourself and if you feel like trying your luck, then please, take this spot." Kithel pointed at his spot, this infuriated the envious crowd, which were happy that both the Kangs are done so they could seize the remaining spot as the other was taken by Jian Si. After saying that, Kithel went next to Arthur and politely asked "Mind if I sit here?" Arthur didn''t reject so he just nodded his head and proceeded to ignore the smiling youth, whose eyes were glued on him. He, more or less, understood what the actual situation is, and it seemed a bit favorable to him; if he could play his cards right. Never did he think that he would be liked by another man, and a kid at that, this was the only plausible explanation he could come up as there is no other reason. Moreover, it''s not like the woman he was possessing had incredible beauty, she just had that nature mature charm, the ethereal state must''ve added to her womanly charms, nonetheless, it''s not something that may cause him troubles despite the attention of the crowd which was focused on him and Kithel. He could also feel that Emily was eyeing him curiously but unlike Kithel, her eyes contained a hint of wariness. Chapter 218 - 174 : Danger On The Way "Who might you be?" Emily tried to politely ask Arthur but it was apparent that she didn''t have a good impression of this mysterious woman, who her brother was suddenly attracted to. "I''m merely a cultivator like everyone else here." Arthur chuckled inside and answered the cautious Emily, who was overfriendly to the red-haired youth but refused to trust him, the master of that youth. "How do you know my brother?" "Emily, stop it." Kithel reprimanded his little sister, which caused her to begrudgingly nod her head and snort, unsatisfied about not getting any answer. Arthur felt someone inspecting his body, but he pretended not to feel anything since Emily won''t be able to find his real Realm. To begin with, he was at the Peak of the Divine Realm after possessing the old man, and for the body he was possessing, it isn''t strange for it to be at the Divine Realm since there are a few rogue cultivators who have reached the God Realm but their overall prowess is weak compared to old Gods belonging to the clans and sects. Kithel wasn''t able to take his eyes off Arthur, which was kind of uncomfortable, but was still bearable, for now, at least. It didn''t seem like the young man was going to leave anytime soon as his attention was focused wholly on the woman next to him, so it could only mean that he would leave when she does, which why Arthur decided to go after a bit. He was waiting for no one and having Kithel accompany him out would ease things out between him and the Kang Elders, who will probably want an explanation. Two hours quietly passed with Emily still giving angry glances at Arthur and Kithel maintained that mesmerized look, as if he couldn''t bear to look away. Arthur started to ponder if this young man was struck by love at first sight, however, that may seem too far-fetched unless his tastes are unusually low for a genius like him. The woman he was staring at finally moved, snapping Kithel out of his daze and alerting Emily, as for the crowd, they have long since stopped paying attention to the duo, what''s more, important for them is the spots which could give them a one in a lifetime chance to obtain a good fortune. "Miss, did you decide to try out your chance?" Arthur shook his head and answered while maintaining a friendly smile "No, it''s time for me to leave." "Then please, let me accompany out of the tomb, it''s a road filled with dangerous beasts." ''Ugh I guess men here are more straightforward than I expected.'' Arthur wasn''t a smooth talker and he didn''t win Lucy''s heart by sweet talking so he found it weird when he was the target of such things. Arthur didn''t have any reason to refuse, in fact, he was waiting for Kithel to say that. With the young man leading the way and Emily walking behind him, starring with dagger-eyes at his back, they marched out of the main palace. It didn''t take long before they got out of the large area containing the ruins. The short trip was filled by silence, an awkward silence that Kithel didn''t mind, as for Emily, she started ignoring Arthur and went back to her usual curious attitude, looking around left and right. Arthur remembered the uneasy feeling of earlier and had to make some kind of precaution, so he halted his steps, startling both his companions. Without any notice, he took out the black book out of his waist and motioned for the golem to fuse with it. A red fog surrounded the golem and in an instant, the red-haired youth emerged, making both the brother and sister flabbergasted, especially Emily, who rubbed her eyes multiple times, unable to believe who''s in front of her. "H-How did you appear.." "We meet again, Miss Emily, Sir Kithel." The youth bowed politely to the duo then stood next to the woman, making them realize what the situation actually was. "Swain! It''s actually you!" Delighted to see her new friend again, Emily leaped at the youth to hug him but the red-haired youth, who was named Swain by Emily, dodged her ''attack'' as if he was used to it. "Do you two know each other?" Kithel cleverly asked Swain since his he was closer to the youth than the woman, he hoped that their relationship wasn''t a romantic one but if Arthur were to hear his thoughts, he would surely burst out in laughter. "My apologies for the late introduction, this lady here is my master." This made the duo startled again, especially Emily, who furrowed her brows in confusion. It isn''t rare to see servants but most of them are usually weaker than their master, however, in this case, the woman was clearly weaker than Swain, who was even stronger than her, the real genius of the Kang Family. Hearing Swain, Kithel breathed a sigh of relief and his face regained his usual charismatic smile, as for Emily, she was just like her brother and didn''t think that there is anything suspicious, the only weird thing is how the woman is weaker than the servant but maybe she has a high social standing, which explains it. "Miss, with Swain with us, I doubt we''ll face any danger, why don''t we continue our journey." Kithel didn''t ask why the woman hid her identity or why didn''t Swain tell them from the start, he knew that some secrets must be kept hidden and it''s not the time for such questions. He planned to invite Arthur to their Kang Castle to stay for a few days, mayhap he can work things out and if his tries don''t succeed then it''s just not fated to happen. The group of four rushed through the forest with a decent speed, all monsters which met them ended up dying and scavenged by Emily, who didn''t leave anything as she wanted to collect all the precious materials. After spending fifteen hours traveling at a steady pace, the group left the tomb at last when they were met with the two huge gates. Arthur prepared himself and readied his skills then left the small Realm along with Swain, Emily, and Kithel. The first thing that met their eyes were Amidel and the Kang Elders, which were still maintaining the formations, however, these were different from the first ones Arthur saw back then. "Welcome back, Emily, Kithel." Amidel floated near his two kids while inspecting them both, he nodded approvingly when he noticed the new sword sheathed on Kithel''s waist. Although Emily didn''t gain any treasure, he was still satisfied with the results after he saw the drastic change in her physical body, it was unnoticeable by others but his Realm was much higher than the rest and his understanding was deeper. Emily smiled cheekily at her father, as for Kithel, he just bowed and stuck next to the woman, making Amidel frown for a second before he shifted his attention to Swain and Arthur. To be honest, there was nothing special about Arthur''s current body, except the ethereal state which changed the aura and calmed the mind, appearance-wise, it''s above average, and in terms of strength, she was at the same Realm as his son but she looked older than him so she can''t be considered a genius. What''s strange, however, is Swain, with a cultivation Realm that could not be seen, an ominous atmosphere around him and a peculiar look. He had red hair, blood red eyes, and clothing that slightly resembled a black tuxedo from modern Earth, such clothes are uncommon for the inhabitant of this world. "Ah! This is my friend, Swain! And this is his master, Miss... eh" Emily noticed her father''s actions and proceeded to introduce her new friend but she paused when she couldn''t say Arthur''s name since he never introduced himself and she didn''t bother asking. Even Swain didn''t say his real name, she just gave him his name to not always call him ''you''. While stroking his beard, Amidel nodded his head and didn''t inquire any further. "If that''s the case, then why don''t you two come to stay at our home for some time until things calm down, after all, it''s rare for my daughter to introduce her friends to me." With a tone neither too forceful nor overfriendly, he invited Swain and Arthur as he understood the intention of his daughter and his son, who only glanced at his father once since he left, as his father, he knew what the matter actually was and didn''t mind helping his son out despite feeling a bit suspicious of these two strangers. "You just don''t let me make friends!" Emily pouted but was secretly happy that Swain was coming to her house, unfortunately, this happiness didn''t last long as Arthur politely rejected the offer. "I''m sorry, but we''ll have to decline for now. We have some matters to attend to and we will certainly visit you after a few days." Kithel was disappointed when he heard this but he didn''t insist on the offer, on the contrary, he wished Arthur safe travels and even accompanied them to the city gate along with Emily, who also couldn''t bear separate from Swain this quickly. It''s rare for her to make friends and she considered Swain a close friend despite their few conversations, as a person who stayed home almost all her childhood, finally making a friend is like a blessing but if she''s separated this fast from her new friend, the blessing becomes something similar to a nightmare. Swain and Arthur bade farewell to the siblings and departed from the city, once they were a safe distance away, Arthur halted his steps and stared at the far horizon with an unusually serious look. He left the woman''s body and used his real body this time, which he didn''t use for quite a while, this indicated the seriousness of the matter. The uneasy feeling didn''t stop since the second he left the tomb and his instincts could never be wrong, especially when the dark talisman near his Dantian started pulsating violently. Arthur whispered something to Swain, who earnestly nodded his head and replied "A man obeys and shall obey thy orders for all eternity." Soon, Swain became a red beam of light that disappeared into the horizon, his speed was extremely fast as if to avoid the search of whoever was coming. Holding the vibrating Makaze in his hand, which was burning with dark flames, Arthur looked up to the blue sky then closed his eyes, remembering something that Lucy once told him "When you look up, do you see the blue sky of what might be, or the darkness of what will never be? Do you see me?" Chapter 219 - 175 : Targeted As he was lost in his thoughts, a familiar voice entered Arthur''s ears. "Kid, you should have been more prepared, I have warned you about them." It was none other than Zodiak''s voice, which somehow was heard inside his mind, Arthur kind of expected this since the dark talisman never stopped throbbing intensely near his Dantian and the Dark Magic being something Zodiak created, it''s no wonder he would show up sooner or later. ''You just warned me, you didn''t specify what it was.'' A sighing could be heard from the other party, it seemed that he didn''t have high hopes for Arthur to overcome whatever was coming. "I can teleport you out of this world but this would expand my last bit of Energy, after that, you''re on your own." In response to that, Arthur shook his head in rejection and retorted ''There is no need, I can deal with it. Furthermore, if I run from it now than I''ll meet later and at that time, there will be no chance of running away, it''s better to get rid of it now than wait for later.'' Arthur resolutely decided to face the danger, always being protected by Zodiak or teleporting away will lead to disasters or unfortunate separations just like what happened in the Underworld. It was due to his weakness that they ran away from the Lich King and the rest. If he was strong enough then they would have been able to lead a normal life without fearing those Gods, which is why Arthur was against the idea of running with his tail between his legs, he had confidence in his arsenal and was sure that escaping is a difficult yet doable thing. Zodiak''s voice wasn''t heard again, he accepted Arthur''s decision and went back to his dormant state. The next voice to enter his ears was the Earth Spirit''s "Demon, it seems that some powerful people are coming for you, why don''t you give me that Dimensional stone and I can help you deal with them." Unfortunately for the Knight, he was met with the same answer, leaving him distressed since Arthur''s death wouldn''t lead to his but would still gravely weaken him, which isn''t a favorable thing right now. Only a few seconds after Swain left, four white beams of light came from the North bringing with them a suffocating pressure that even affected Arthur. In an instant, they were floating above him, all focusing their attention on him and the dark flames surrounding him. They only needed one look to confirm that he is their target, however, one of the four, who was a woman in her thirties, looked South and said "There''s someone who escaped, should I catch him?" An old man wearing a pure white robe and holding a scepter shook his head and calmly said "No need, this one is our target, the rest does not matter." The four strangers were all wearing white robes while each was holding a weapon. There were two women, one old man and a young man who appeared to be in his teenage years. They looked cautiously at Arthur, putting more focus on the Dark Magic being unleashed from him. "Yes, it''s certain that he''s the target, I have never seen such intensity of Dark Magic." The young man assessed Arthur with a curious look, he even got close to get a better look but stopped when he saw the cold stare from the target. Arthur knew that there is no point talking to them, they won''t answer his questions nor will they go back and pretend as if they saw nothing. "Shall we start, then?" Without hesitation, Arthur expanded half of his Mana and Mental Power to conjure the black cube, trapping him and the four of them inside it. He knew their Realms and apart from the old man who was at the Sovereign Realm, the rest were 9th Grade Gods. Normally, dealing with these three would be very difficult, and if you add a Sovereign at that, it would be impossible and the only way is to escape, however, such an option wasn''t available for Arthur. The reason he conjured the cube is to not let them escape, he knew for sure that they are underestimating him a lot, especially after they inspected his body and found out he was only at the peak of the Divine Realm. The only one who didn''t drop his guard was the old man, who looked at Arthur with a calm and confident look as if everything was within his grasp. Arthur''s figure leaped at the closest target, leaving a trail of black flames behind him caused by Makaze. He didn''t use [Faster Than Death] to not show all his trump cards, he wanted to use in surprise so he could deal fatal damage and at least kill one of them before they know of its existence. The closest target happened to be the haughty young man, who was unaffected by the incoming enemy, he did some hand seals along with the two woman and these seals soon transformed into thick white pillars of light, landing on Arthur and sending him crashing heavily on the ground. Arthur found it weird that the pillars of light passed through the Dark Barrier as if it didn''t exist, he got up and charged again, this time using [Golen Lone Sheath] at the three Gods simultaneously. Three dark arcs flew at the trio, who were more than prepared and used the same kind of tactic, sending pillars of light to pulverize the dark arcs. Arthur took this chance to appear next to the young man, who was startled for a split second yet he didn''t panic. He unsheathed his blade to meet the incoming Makaze. The clash caused black flames to scatter in all direction, including the young man, who showed signs of unease when he saw that happen. The two women didn''t linger there and watched, with fast speed, they rushed at Arthur, each holding a white spear made of pure light. Each woman thrust from a direction, aiming to fill Arthur''s body with bloody holes. Although he managed to push the young man several steps thanks to Makaze, which was way stronger than the youth''s saber, Arthur was forced to back off due to two women. He sidestepped the first thrust and swept ferociously with Makaze, deflecting the remaining spear, then he leaped back to buy some distance between the trio and himself. The three didn''t have the same confident look as before, especially the young man, who couldn''t believe that a mere Divine being was able to force him back a few steps with only a slash. "I warned you several times not to underestimate Dark Magic users, you only look at the surface yet you don''t know how dangerous it actually is." The old man talked again, waking the three from their surprise and warning them to be cautious, he had his brows furrowed as he seemed to sense something was off in the last attack but couldn''t pinpoint what it was. A Holy light surrounded each of the three, multiplying their aura and adding to their pressure. Arthur clenched Makaze with both hands and prepared himself for the next clash as from the looks of it, they were going to take this fight pretty seriously, unlike previously when they thought they were playing with a helpless chicken. Chapter 220 - 176.1 : All out 1 Arthur was waiting for their God Spirits to emerge but none of that happened, only their aura multiplied and the pressure they emanated felt several times heavier and it was pressing down Arthur''s body, slowing his movements by a little bit. Since they seemed wary and afraid of his Dark Magic, Arthur decided to mainly use that so gain an advantage, he activated his Dark Anguish technique to its maximum, pulling the pulsating dark talisman from his Dantian and forcing it outside. The talisman landed on his chest, emitting strange dark light and an ominous aura, then Arthur''s body transformed into a flaming figure. He was covered from head to toe with Dark flames and every fraction of his movements caused space to crack yet not completely shatter. Makaze was similarly covered in flames, they were in harmony with Dark Magic so Arthur''s didn''t want to waste this opportunity to attack them. He rushed at the three of them, who chose to stick together, with several three meter long dark spears flying at them nonstop and Makaze slashing at the young man, this gave them more trouble than expected. Nevertheless, they too, were strengthened and much stronger than earlier, one of the two women stretched her hand and created an illuminating blob of light that acted like a shield, stopping the penetrating dark spears. By this time, Arthur had already arrived close to the young man, who was also protected by that blob of light so Arthur decided to not waste this chance to use normal attacks, he held Makaze and concentrated his Nether Energy, activating [Heavenly Slash]. Different from the original one, [Heavenly Slash] wasn''t in the form of a dark arc this time, it was actually a creepy looking skull that opened its mouth, ready to devour the three of them whole. The skull''s size was pretty big and its appearance had a bit of similarity to the one engraved on Zodiak''s robe. The distance separating them when he used [Heavenly Slash] wasn''t big, to begin with, and the speed of the skull was even faster than its caster so it instantly reached the trio and crashed on the blob of light, devouring it as if it was nothing then continuing its way towards its original targets. Alerted and flabbergasted by the dark skeleton, the trio used their weapons to meet with the skeleton, each using their strongest techniques. The two spears swept forth towards the skeleton, transforming into two white snakes, one with red eyes and the other with blue eyes, as for the young man, he was panicking and lagged behind, unable to react in time to resist the skeleton. He recklessly swung his weapon to meet the terrifying skeleton but it was futile as his saber showed signs of destruction. The two women were smart enough to back away when they saw that the snakes conjured from their spears were able to resist the skeleton for sometime before dispersing due to the overwhelming power of the skeleton. The young man, however, was in a tighter spot, he watched as the skeleton opened its mouth, ready to devour him whole and in a fit of desperation and panic, he shouted in fear and thrust his saber in an attempt to stop the death that was coming right at him. Arthur didn''t know what the youth used but a bright golden light emanated from inside the dark skull after it had devoured the target, this caused it to halt and shake violently before it exploded, causing winds to howl and dust to fly, a bloody figure was seen falling down only to be caught by the two women. The youth was in a terrible state, he had blade wounds all over and some of his veins were dark in color, making him look unhealthy. He was urgently fed recovery pills and their effect should''ve been immediate, however, no change was seen. In fact, his state seemed to be worsening, blood was gushing out of an ugly wound on his abdomen, even both could be seen, and this bones were actually jet black as if infected with a deadly poison or a strange disease. ''This is not a normal Dark Magic user.'' The old man looked over to the young man, focusing on the black veins and strange bones then he switched his focus to Arthur, who was still covered in dark flames, you could only see flames, no clothes nor armors or even skin. Although Arthur backed off, it didn''t mean he was done. While the others were busy taking care of the injured young man, he used made use of the Dark Cloud, which transformed into a figure exactly similar to his current appearance then he instantly bent Space and charged at the three of them, intending to the these three God, this was his only rule, finish every enemy he meets, even if they were incapable of fighting! For the first second, the old man didn''t notice anything strange, but after he focused for a bit, his expression had a drastic change. He shouted loudly at the three Gods "Get away, he''s a Spatial Master!" Unfortunately, it was too late as Arthur appeared from thin air, exactly behind one of the two women, Makaze was thrust at her back, with no chance to resist such a sudden attack, the woman''s face turned pale and in a desperate struggle, she used her hidden Holy wings to defend against the dark blade. The Holy Wings are a sacred thing for people serving the Holy Order and if any person loses them or theyare cut, then that person is heavily punished if not imprisoned for eternity. Arthur had already predicted that killing the woman from such an attack is rather unlikely even if it were by surprise, after all, his opponent is Peak Gods and not the usual weaklings. At the last split second, right before Makaze touches the wings, [Fasther Than Death] was used, he teleported above the injured youth, enough for the blade to stab right through his head, killing him on the spot and frightening the woman. This time, the old man interfered and Arthur felt as if he was hit by a mountain when a large white hand struck his body and sent him flying all the way to the edges of the dark cube, he even crashed on its walls but the cube wasn''t the least bit damaged. Although it seemed like a normal attack without any terrifying might, it took more than 40m Health from Arthur, resulting in a few broken ribs and minor wounds. He coughed some blood then gulped a Health Potion and a Nether Energy Recovery Pill. To create this dark cube, he used more than half his pool of Nether Energy, which is a lot but he was confident in its defense, even a Sovereign like the old man might not be able to destroy it within a short period of time. Chapter 221 - 176.2 : All Out 2 Staring at the hardly injured Arthur and the sheer quantity of Nether Energy being absorbed by him, the alertness the Sovereign was feeling intensified. Every time they hunted a Dark Magic, never had been a case like this because usually, these targets could only use Dark Magic which is vulnerable against the Holy Attribute. ''We must inform the Echelon about this!'' The old man was smart enough to change his priorities from capturing or killing Arthur to informing the higher-ups of this strange case, if they do not about such danger then with enough time to grow up, this target can cause them big troubles, and this is proved by an ancient story where a Dark Magic user almost annihilated the whole Holy Echelon by himself. Although the old man joined the fray, Arthur was neither going to focus him nor defend against him, such feats are not easily feasible unless he puts all his attention on the old man and disregards the two women. These two women were frightened by the sudden death of their comrades but they didn''t lose hope as the old man was still with them and with his help, victory is in their sight. The two stretched their large white wings, flapping them heavily to disperse the Dark Flames scattered near them. Arthur wasn''t going to wait for them to wait until they feel comfortable or chat with the curious old man, he held Makaze in his right hand and slapped a white talisman on the ground. Since the old man surely sensed that something was off, he decided to use more diverse skills but not show the powerful ones like the Heavenly Arrow, Rinotsu or even Rizaki, these are needed in critical times, when he was sure that his attack will deal a fatal blow. Arthur''s body transformed into a yellow streak of lightning that went straight toward the two women, all they could see was a yellow sparkle before he was before them. Their speed may not match his, however, they were not inexperienced fighters, they were Peak Gods for a reason. The two white spears swept towards each other, making an ''X'' sign to deflect the incoming streak of lightning but again, the streak vanished from their sight only to appear behind the two of them, dumbfounding them and forcing the old man to act again. Contrary to before, it wasn''t an open palm that struck Arthur but a mighty fist, his figure heavily crashed on the ground with the fist of light pressing it, wanting to crush his bones and disabling his movements. "You''re not his match, quickly leave this place and go inform the echelon. I''ll keep him occupied." The old man ordered the two as he kept pressing his fist on Arthur''s body, however, as a certain point, the body dispersed into a grey miasma that vanished into nothingness very quickly. "Not good, get out of there!" Unfortunately for the two women, by the time they heard their superior''s warning, it was too late. Arthur had been using the clone conjured from the Shadow Magic since the moment he used [Faster Than Death] when he was closing up on the two women. He changed the tactic a bit, sneaking around under the earth and making perfect use of the dark cube and its properties. The two women raised their spears and used their wings to protect their bodies but what they didn''t expect is countless dark and ominous chains to abruptly surface from the earth. One of the two was quicker than her comrade, she used the snake conjured in her spear to push her friend from the grasp of the chains, as for herself, it was too late as the thick chains enveloped both her lower limbs. Such chains are breakable given enough seconds but that amount of time was more than enough for Arthur to finish the job. Countless Dark Spears appeared from all the walls of the dark cube, going directly at the trapped weapon, the numbers were of spears were endless, even if the wings, which was protecting her from the penetrative force of the Dark Magic could resist one thousand spears, it can''t resist ten thousand. Moreover, Arthur wasn''t going to sit idly and wait for results either. He knew that the old man was trying to locate him and if he surfaces right now then he would be exposed, the only reason he wasn''t found was thanks to the dark cube''s interior space. It was completely made of Dark Magic, so was Arthur right now, which made him blend with this space and pass undetected by the Sovereign. Within only five seconds, the Holy Wings showed signs of dispersing, this was apparent from the countless small holes of light formed from the Dark Spears which unceasingly hit the terrified woman. By no means did she expect to be driven to such a poor state by merely a Dark Magic User at the Peak of the Divine Realm. No matter how talented the target is and how trump cards he has, he should never be this strong, even the old man was aware of that which is why urgent urged them to leave the dark cube lest they miserably perish in such a gloomy and ominous place. The old man ignored the suffering woman who was being bombarded by the Dark Spears and focused all his Nether Energy in his finger, which shot out a thin beam of light that hit the dark cube''s wall, causing it to shake heavily then creating a small opening, barely enough for the woman to escape. At first, when she saw her friend in danger, she wanted to help, however, upon the orders of the old man, she had no choice but quickly to leave, afraid that Arthur appears out of nowhere again and attacks her, she was overcome with helplessness that a God like her never felt and she felt incomparably weak against this strange entity, which overpowered three Peak Gods with only a cultivation at the Peak of the Divine Realm. Arthur also noticed the opening and was forced to act fast, his dark flaming figure surfaced from the ground, right behind the woman, who left the dark cube at last but only managed to cross a small distance. The old man was preoccupied with opening in the dark cube but when his underling left, he shifted his attention to Arthur, who appeared out of nowhere again, making him wonder what kind of technique is this, as even Spatial Teleportation could be detected by a Sovereign like him but for some reason, he couldn''t predict when or where he would teleport to, or how the technique even works. Arthur bent his back onward, with Makaze in his sheath, vibrating intensely, ready to burst out of its sheath and unleash a powerful blow. He shifted his use to Mana to let his Nether Energy recover and unhesitatingly used [Thousand Waves], his strongest sword-related skill. His target was obviously the fleeing woman as he could not afford to let any witness escape alive, especially one of these people, as the more information they got on him, the worse it is for him as they would send stronger reinforcement and may even attack his friends or family. Chapter 222 - 177 : All Out 3 At last, Makaze left its sheath, releasing with it phenomenal tidal waves of raging Dark Mana, cracking the surrounding space and bringing with it an immense pressure, alarming even the old man, who was sure that such a strike would even hurt him. ''First Wave, Black as night, Calamity descends!'' A curtain of darkness covered the sky, changing the bright and sunny day to complete darkness, where even the view of a God could extend only to a short distance. This, however, was only the beginning of the fleeing woman''s nightmare, she breathed a sigh of relief once she left the dark cube but it hasn''t been ten seconds yet the environment had a drastic change. The first person to react was the old man, who waved his hang, retrieving a long golden staff from his storage and immediately rushing at Arthur, intending to interrupt his strike or at least divert its direction so that the woman could flee safely. A strike that could alter weather and cause such change is not something ordinary, albeit the target being a Peak God, what Arthur demonstrated earlier is not something to laugh at or underestimate. One can only imagine how strong this strike is going to be, knowing that even normal sword slashes could potentially injure his underlings, then this kind of powered attack would obliterate them, leaving nothing but empty space. As Arthur slashed down toward the fleeing woman, he performed the slash with lightning speed, shattering the very space Makaze passed through and launching an enormous wave of jet black energy, created by mostly sharp Arthur''s Sword Energy. The speed of the black wave was faster than the old man could have imagined, by the time he appeared next to Arthur and swung down his golden staff, the dark wave enveloped the fearful woman without any means of resistance. One second she was fleeing in a direction and the other there was nothing but the dark wave, which dispersed in a dark fog, the sky also regained its color and the weather returned to normal. [Thousand Waves] is the strongest attack Arthur could muster after Rizaki, it was even superior to the Heavenly Arrow, this was thanks to its properties. It could be used along with other attributes and even without them, purely from Sword Energy. Arthur''s mind relaxed a bit when he got rid of the woman, but the fight wasn''t over, in fact, it hasn''t even begun, the Gods he got rid of were nothing compared to the old man. He had the advantage of surprise, they largely underestimated him, especially the young man, which made it easier to get rid of them but it didn''t look like the old man was the naive type, he was cautious from the beginning and he didn''t hold back in his previous attacks. The incoming staff which was going to hit Arthur''s left shoulder and probably causes more than half of the bones of his body to shatter, halted mid-air as it met with the strengthened Dark Barrier condensed especially to defend against the old man when he''s busy unleashing [Thousand Waves]. "There''s no escape, little vermin!" The old man''s eyes turned into two blinding lights and his aura rose, the Dark Barrier could no longer hold on and shattered, thankfully, Arthur had enough time to face the old man and slash with Makaze, which was no longer dark but had the color of snow, pure white with narrow edges and small lightning streaks twirling around it. ''Second wave, Thunderous God, Punishment for the Sinners!'' ''Bzzzt'' A loud clapping sound was heard as white thunder raged and an ear-deafening explosion was heard from hundreds of miles away. The staff was met with the white blade, causing severe cracks to the Dark Cube, which apparently couldn''t hold on any longer. An illusory figure of an old man with a long beard appeared above Arthur, the old man raised his long magical staff to the cloudy sky then pointed its tip at the old man, who was momentarily startled by this but managed to snap out of his astonishment. A crack between the dark clouds appeared, bringing with it a thunderous roar belonging to a blade made out of pure Godly Thunder, it descended toward Arthur''s opponent, ready to annihilate him. In response to this, the old man waved his scepter, which flashed flew out of his hand and met with the enormous sword descending upon him, the scepter enlarged in size and rotated horizontally with blinding Holy Light emanating from it. What came out of the blinding light was a four-meter long shield that blocked the thunder sword from hurting its target. The Godly Thunder is explosive by nature and when it''s used in a powerful skill such as this one, its might is doubled, so one could easily guess the outcome of the clash between the huge sword and bright white shield. The dark cube started falling apart, little by little, and devastation caused by this clash was not unnoticed by the surrounding people. Although Arthur traveled a safe system from the city, the destruction caused by this clash couldn''t pass undetected. The enormous thunder sword was even seen from the city, this alerted the guards and even the Kang Family which sent its elders to activate the defensive barrier to protect the city from the battle. Sitting on top of the walls surrounding the city and gazing at the direction of the fight, Kang Amidel felt the heavy energy fluctuation that even reached him from such a big distance. Winds raged and howled as strong waves of energy disturbed the sunny day and caused clouds to turn the normal day into a gloomy one and frightening the weaker cultivators. The previous curtain of darkness didn''t reach the city but this clash was more destructive due to the thunder''s property and the strong defense of the white shield thrown by the Sovereign. "Is this the battle of Peak Gods, Dad?" Kithel, who was standing next to his father along with Emily and Swain, who went back to the city per the orders of his master. Amidel glanced at Swain and calmly replied "Why don''t you ask your new friend?" Kithel was confused at first then seemed to have realized something. Swain came back yet his master didn''t, which meant that there is a big chance that the master is involved one way or another. "Hey hey, is it really your master out there? How come I couldn''t sense she was this strong?!" Emily wasn''t worried about the fight, she was as curious as always, she also felt a bit surprised since she couldn''t see through Swain''s master. Swain stared at the horizon, his eyes pulsating with a red light, he remained expressionless and didn''t reply to Emily, who kept pestering him. After a few seconds, he looked at Amidel, who was glancing at him and replied "A man''s duty is not spectating, therefore, the servant shall excuse himself." Swain bowed toward Amidel and silently left the area, heading toward the Kang castle. Emily wanted to keep watching what''s happening, but she couldn''t let Swain alone, so she followed right after him. She caught up with him in no time and asked again "What''s wrong, Swain? Do you not want to see what a fight between Peak Gods is?" Again, receiving no reply from him made the little girl pout but she didn''t insist like last time, she kept glancing back every few seconds, interested in what''s causing the troubled winds and raging Nether Energy coming from that direction. Seeing her like that, Swain smirked and said "You ask a lot of questions, don''t you?" The girl stuck her tongue out cutely and retorted "My brother always says curiosity is my besetting sin." ************ In another corner of the city, a group of people with long ears and brown robes stared at the gigantic Thunder Sword with fear, this group belonged to the Desert Gargoyles with Ehrendil leading them. The leader looked thoroughly at the Thunder Sword, for some reason, he was feeling the same ominous energy he felt back in their headquarters, when the dark cube popped out of nowhere. "We''ll just watch, for now, then we''ll go see who''s fighting who." Obviously, he was only talking to the commanders, the juniors will stay at the city lest they die from a collateral attack launched by Tarathiel, who was leading the Desert Gargoyles. *********** Another group of gargoyles which left the city a while ago stared with fright and awe at the descending sword, which cut a hole through the dense clouds and caused the raging winds to reach them. "A fight has already broken out, we must take heed and travel safely without alerting any enemies. Protecting general Rose is the top priority." Tarathiel ordered his subordinates as they circled the white-armored Rose, who had become an important figure in the tribe. She was young and talented, and she was a General to begin with, the only downside is that she only had one arm but such a thing could be fixed, for these reasons, Tarathiel planned to place all his bets on her, to nurture her to be a strong leader that could lead them out of this wasteland. ''I know this feeling, it''s ''him'' without a doubt! To think he was this strongˇ­'' The one who was most familiar with Arthur was most definitely Rose, who had him possess her forcefully and bore with him inside her for a period of time, so she was quite sensitive to Dark Magic, which is a part of Arthur and now that it has been unleashed to such a degree, there is no way she wouldn''t be able to not feel it or be mistaken about it. She touched the hilt of her sword and followed her kin, marching toward their territory while making use of the dense forest to cover them. ************ "It''s not Peak Gods, right, dad?" Kithel''s eyes were locked onto the large sword, wondering what kind of person could summon such a mighty sword. "It''s not, it''s a battle between Sovereigns, I can sense strong and pure Holy Magic and explosive Thunder source from that sword, it''s difficult for the city to remain unscathed even with the existence of the barrier. Amidel didn''t wait for his son to reply before he got out of the city, standing a dozen meters in front of the barrier, planning to personally act if something unexpected happens. Chapter 223 - 178 : All Out 4 Upon the occurrence of the clash between the gigantic thunder sword and the white shield, a huge white sphere enveloped the two of them, creating a raging storm around the area and only a few seconds after its appearance, it exploded, resulting in an immense crater under it and sending both the old man and Arthur flying away. Being a Sovereign, the old man sustained some injuries that were not serious despite that his robe was dyed with blood, his face was brimming with energy and vitality as if this blow didn''t cause him any harm whatsoever. On the total opposite, Arthur smashed into the earth ten miles away. He had several broken bones and an ugly wound on his chest, although it was quite a severe injury, it healed very fast at a speed even the naked eye could see, this wall thanks to his Vitality stat, which boosted his recovery by a huge margin. Unaffected by the gushing blood, Arthur got up and shot straight at the old man, Makaze in his hand, but the black flames surrounding him and his blade dimmed a lot and the Sword Energy Makaze was unleashing was decreasing every second. This was due to [Thousand Waves], to unleash its full potential, it required a powerful blade, a user in a high Realm and a big pool of Mana or Nether Energy, he only executed two waves yet it taxed him this much. The space where the collision occurred was distorting and enormous dust waves blocked vision, the crater had a radius of fifty miles and traces of Godly Thunder could still be seen. The old man caught the falling scepter and stared with awe at his target, which became a streak of lightning, coming straight at him. Two white illusory hands appeared behind the elder, once Arthur was in range, the old man attacked him, planning to crush the target between the two big palms. However, before they reached Arthur, he raised his hand and used his newly acquired Spatial Magic and making use of the unstable space around them to distort it completely. Similar to a shattering glass, the space around the hands shattered, rendering them useless for a short time, Arthur made use of this opportunity to raise Makaze and prepare for the third wave. ''It''s all on you now, buddy!'' Arthur unhesitatingly poured more Dark Mana into his weapon, further strengthening it. The dark blade yet again changed in appearance, scorching hot dark red flames replaced the usual dark flames, as if it was put in a furnace for a long time, Makaze became deep red, similar to the blood''s color. The old man recognized the change and knew that Arthur''s attack wasn''t finished, which deepened his fear as his target was stronger than all of his expectations. This pushed him to go all out, wanting to kill this target as letting it go will cause more than simple troubles, such entity could not be left alive, even if he has to sacrifice his life for that to happen! Just before he initiated his next wave, Arthur snapped his finger, activating the white talisman he slapped on the ground earlier. It was simply a thoroughly prepared Goldy Thunder attack that can cause ''Stunned'' effect. It took time to generate the thunder but it was useful, especially in such situations. Winds howled and rains heavily poured, dark clouds clustered together and thunder noises were heard, this alerted the old man, who put all his focus on Arthur, he thought that the same kind of Thunder Sword would descend again so he through his scepter above again, which became a white shield that defended him from above. Unfortunately for the elder, the attack was never going to come from above, Arthur used [Faster Than Death] to appear behind the enemy, and just when before he teleported, he deactivated the [Spatial Passage] skill, unleashing a bombardment of Godly Lightning in a form of a snake that opened its mouth, intending to bite its target. For the first time since the beginning of the fight, the old man used his physical body to defend, he raised his palm to meet the white snake, it was but a simple palm strike yet the white snake couldn''t resist for even a split second. The snake dispersed into countless lightning streaks, this pushed Arthur to release way more than he needed. He coughed a huge amount of blood but still forced himself to deactivate all the Spatial Passages he had prepared. Normally, using two skills at the same time is doable but very difficult, Arthur could do so but it''s incredibly stressing and causes heavy self-harm, so he restrained himself a lot but at such a critical moment, he deactivated five different Spatial Passages along with [Thousand Waves] which is still active. That''s six skills at the same time, moreover, to avoid the cooldown of the white lightning and Spatial Passage, he consecutively used [Blood for Blood] which consumed permanent Mental Power thus dropping him his Realm from 9th Grade. Five white snakes lunged at the old man, who used the same kind of attack to defend against them, however, this time his palm turned golden as it struck the air in front of them(snakes). ''Punishing Palm!'' As if pushed by the mere wind, the white snakes were pushed a big distance away before they vanished, unable to resist the pressure of the attack. They didn''t their job but they managed to buy Arthur enough time to finally prepare the third wave. ''Third wave, Extinguishing Flames, Fire of Redemption!'' A red blade with blazing hot flames struck the defenseless back of the old man, he wanted to use the white shield to reflect the attack in time but his reaction was a split second later. Arthur''s distractions did their job and although he wanted to stun the enemy, this kind of result was welcome too. Like a meteor falling, the old man was sent flying down with a big wave of dark flames behind his back, illuminating the dark sky and spreading a wave of intense heat that burned some of the forests at the edges of the crater. This attack has definitely injured the old man and it wasn''t some minor wounds like earlier. Arthur panted heavily as blood leaked out of his lips, the dark flames enveloping him disappeared as he returned to his normal appearance. Even Makaze''s appearance returned to normal, just a jet black curved blade that had no aura, it couldn''t hold on anymore and it''s unwise to continue unleashing the remaining waves of the skill, it will result in the blade''s destruction and even if it could, Arthur''s wasn''t in a condition where he can unleash it, not at his current state, at least. With the boost from the Dark Magic gone and the absence of Makaze, which was safely stored away, Arthur''s prowess has declined with these two gone, fortunately, he still had a couple of aces up his sleeve but there is still the fact that he''s injured and used a big amount of his Nether Energy and Mana. As he was thinking was to do to buy some time for his wounds to recover, Arthur''s instincts were alerted when a beam of white light shot straight at his head, aiming for a fatal strike. The beam was evaded by a quick teleport but what awaited him next was a big illusory fist that came from below. Seeing that teleporting from it is too late, Arthur met the attack with his fist, which emanated flames from all direction. A large fist of fire materialized itself in front of the illusory fist, soon colliding with it. One side had dark red flames blazing the sky and the other had a bright white light illuminating the gloomy sky. Arthur made use of his Space Magic again to distort the space near the fist, weakening it and allowing his fist to push it away. Unfortunately, just as the fist of light was pushed, the old man, who had a haggard and disheveled appearance, appeared next to him with a golden palm striking his chest. Arthur couldn''t cross his hands to defend either could the Dark Barrier be of any use against such an attack. The defenseless and injured chest of Arthur was struck by the golden palm which only pushed him a small distance away but a palm mark emitting light was engraved on him, weakening the effect of the Dark-Star strengthening technique and further wounding him. Mouthful after mouthful of blood was coughed by Arthur, who held his chest and used Natural Lightning to extinguish the weakening light that invaded his body and acted like a deadly poison. "To think I would be this injured from a Dark Magic user! Such a disgrace to the Holy Echelon!" After being injured by the last strike of Makaze, the old man could no longer maintain his calm demeanor, his back was scorched from the flames and his robe was burned. His back was a gory sight of flesh and bubbles of blood that could not be healed even after he cast several Healing spells, even high-cost pills were of no cost, which infuriated the old man. Chapter 224 - 179 : The Last Struggle 1 Arthur didn''t stand there despite having his strength weakening. He retrieved the Griffin''s body from his storage and possessed it, leaving not even enough time for the old man to witness what happened. He just saw a griffin body made of only bones appear before him and Arthur disappear right after. Alerted and a bit speechless, he stared at the griffin which glared at him menacingly, he knew that Arthur must be controlling it, which increased his dread of this strange Dark Magic User. Contrary to Arthur''s expectation, the old man didn''t start attacking again, he contemplated the large body of the Griffin then said "If you''re willing to surrender right now. I can guarantee your safety if you cooperate and can even help you become part of the Holy Echelon as long as the Dark Magic is purged from your body. Your abilities are top-tier and you would become a prominent figure with such power and talent." Although not everything he spouted was a truth, some of it was, which startled Arthur as he didn''t think the enemy will propose such a thing. Nonetheless, it''s not like he''s going to surrender, winning is practically impossible against a Sovereign who didn''t even summon his God Spirit. There are only two results to this fight, either he comes out alive and victorious, with the old man dead, or he ends up dying, there is no cooperation or peaceful surrender, such a thing rarely occurs in a fight between Gods and the old man was aware of that yet he still attempted finishing it in a diplomatic way. Arthur gave no response to the old man, informing the latter of his intent without the need for useless words. "Dealing with this Sovereign is possible if you sign the contract with me, I can assure you that." From deep within his consciousness, the Earth Spirit spoke to Arthur again, urging him to accept the contract but Arthur turned a deaf ear to the knight, still not wanting to give up the Dimensional Stone he had gotten from the Kang Treasury. The griffin''s large mouth opened wide, showing its sharp teeth, Arthur spat several detonators at the old man, each with half the size of the Griffin. The illusory hands appeared yet again and deflected the detonators, pushing them in a different direction. Clearly, the old man was still wary of Arthur''s flames and didn''t want to have direct contact with them. The detonators crashed into the nearby forest, exploding and destroying a huge part of the greenery and bringing with it loud noises. Dark red flames and a bit of Dark Magic lingered where the collisions occurred, this place could no longer be called a forest as trees were burned to ashes, the land was scorched from the fire and the earth was corrupted from the Dark Magic. Even the old man didn''t expect the detonators to do such damage, he looked at the still burning flames, which didn''t seem that they''ll be extinguished by the raging winds anytime soon, even the pouring rain had no effect on them. ''This is an S-class target, I need to end this quickly!'' Arthur continued unleashing numerous detonators coupled with Void Bombs that contained countless small void mouths that ate everything in their way. He also flew at the old man, ready to engage in melee combat while using his skills to pressure the Sovereign. Explosions rang every second due to the exploding detonators that never ceased coming out of Arthur''s mouth, even the two illusory hands couldn''t deflect them all, which pushed the old man to personally act. He waved his scepter, drawing a circle on the air, which fired a pillar of light, extinguishing all the flying detonators, the Void Bombs weren''t spared from the damage as they vanished completely, which surprised Arthur as never had been a case where any Void related skill was overpowered by other technique or skills. Making good use of [Faster Than Death], Arthur appeared inches away from the old man and used the griffin long claws to slash at his target, activating [Dark Burst] to maximize the damage. Unfortunately, the old man was a Sovereign and landing such an attack on him isn''t an easy feat, the scepter became a white shield that protected its master from the incoming claws. The illusory hands joined the fight, each forming into a fist and flying at Arthur from two directions. [Faster Than Death] was used yet again, teleporting Arthur in front of the old man this time, he opened his mouth wide as if he wants to devour the elder, then from within the bottomless mouth a grey orb appeared. It started expanding in size at an alarming speed until it reached a considerable size. The old man snorted and did a quick hand seal in the air "Hmpf! Insolence! Holy Arts third chapter: Radiance Seal!" A runic symbol pulsating with Holy Light appeared where the hand seal was written, it was only the size of the old man''s hand but the Holy Light was too pure, to the point of burning the bones of the Griffin, turning them into particles of light that dispersed into nothingness. This grey orb was a trump card he only used against Meyzu, it''s made purely from accumulated Death Energy. This energy is hard to obtain so Arthur only uses it in emergency situations, such as this one. The grey orb''s speed was unimaginable, it struck the Radiance Seal, shaking it heavily and even causing blood to leak out of the old man''s lips. This, however, was but the beginning, Death Energy, or all negative types of Energies were the total opposite Holy Energy, so its effect was stronger, making some cracks appear on the white seal. Seeing this, the old man grabbed his scepter and pressed its tip on the white "Holy Arts, first Chapter: Holy Enforcement!" The light emanating from the seal magnified, it pushed the grey orb away, trying to deflect it away. The griffin''s still opened mouth spat grey fog with an ominous aura similar to the orb, the fog transformed into a whirlpool that engulfed both the seal and the orb, along with the old man with them. As for Arthur, he quickly retreated since he wasn''t immune to Death Energy, it''s hard to control and could cause harm to its user, just like the Void Attribute. The grey whirlpool expanded in size while the old man was still inside, flashes of white light were seen inside of it but these lights were insignificant and couldn''t disturb the flow of the whirlpool. The bones of the Griffin shattered and turned into dust so Arthur left it and used his main body again. His left eyes pulsated with grey light and his hair became deep grey, different from the usual, the white seal didn''t even touch him but its effect was horrifying. Some of his Vitality and lifespan were eaten away without his notice, if not for possessing another body, he would have suffered the full attack and it would''ve been a fatal strike. His face was as pale a sheet of paper and he couldn''t perfectly control it, it was shaking from the accumulated stress. If not for his high recovery, he would have been defeated a long time ago, this reassured Arthur but he still had no solutions, he knew that the grey whirlpool isn''t enough to kill a Sovereign. As he breathing heavily and looking at the rotating whirlpool, the sky shook and the ground shattered, a golden figure appeared out of the grey whirlpool, with a bloodied robe, a half-broken scepter, and an enraged expression, the old man looked miserable with dust on his face, a not so healthy skin and a broken weapon. The white seal had eaten some of Arthur''s lifespan but unlike the seal, Death Energy was more direct, it brought its target closer to his imminent death. Fast aging and destabilizing the body, similar to an old mortal that could barely move, that''s what the whirlpool did. It didn''t attack physically or mentally, but its effect is dangerous and almost unavoidable, especially if the target is confident enough in being able to resist it instead of dodging. "What did you do to me!" The old man felt strange energy invade his body and even with the help of the Holy Arts he still wasn''t able to drive it out, it circulated through his veins, meridians, and even his Dantian, making him feel uncomfortable and greatly weakened. His body turned golden as he was forced to summon his God Spirit and fuse with it, which was something only a Sovereign could do, yet despite obtaining the great power of his God Spirit, the energy was still plaguing him. Seeing that his attack was successful, Arthur smirked back at the infuriated old man and coldly said "You feel it, right? Death is coming and I''m here to deliver you to its door." Chapter 225 - 180 : The Last Struggle 2 For the grand finale, Arthur decided to take out the best body he could possess, the silver wolf. Although he is not in his peak state, this doesn''t stop him from using the wolf''s body as only with it would he be able to finish the enemy. He had enough confidence in being able to fight equally against the Sovereign if all passives are activated, then he would aim for a battle of attrition since his Stamina is infinite, all that is left to do is wait until the Sovereign weakens over time. If there is a chance to kill the Sovereign, of course, he wouldn''t miss it, however, that is rather unlikely with how powerful the old man is right now, especially after he fused with his God Spirit. The large body of the wolf was retrieved and its size was a bit bigger than the one he used against Meyzu and co. He wasted no time and possessed the body and activated all the passives, burdening his mind and bringing stress that weighed heavily on him, to the point of making him feel a bit dizzy. Silver fur that wasn''t affected by the falling rain, two red vicious eyes and a huge frame that brought fear to anyone who looked at it, the appearance of the wolf didn''t change when all the passives were activated, but it''s certain that Arthur''s stats sky-rocketed. Thick chains wrapped around its back and its four limbs, but instead of limitations, Arthur used them as some kind of a defense, like an armor of some sort since besides himself, no one could break them. "In the end, what are you?" The old man couldn''t help but ask that as he looked at his target, which transformed into a beast every a few exchanges, however, what''s more, frightening is that the new appearance is always more threatening than the last. "What I am does not matter, you should focus on what''s about to come." A calm voice rang in the old man''s ears, he knew it belonged to the enemy but he felt a chill that made all his hair stand. The silver wolf howled loudly, shattering space and frightening even the hidden spectators such as the gargoyles and Kang Amidel, who activated his physique, not daring underestimate either of the parties. The golden luster emanating from the Sovereign body''s intensified, his scepter became a white crown that rested on his head and a Holy aura enveloped him, making him look like some kind of a Holy Angel. "Come!" The silver wolf transformed into a grey beam that crashed into the old man''s, astonishing him as he was not able to react and defend in time. His body shot through the air and only stopped after flying for a few miles, however, what waited for him was a grey beam that didn''t wait for him to stabilize his body. The old man smashed his fists together, creating a bright light that collided with the sharp claws of the wolf which came out of nowhere. Despite being able to defend in time, such techniques were not helpful as the light was extinguished and the claws hit the old man, sending him flying yet again, blood spurted out of his mouth and an ugly wound could be seen in his chest. Arthur''s physical strength is incomparable right now, all the accumulated passives gave him unmatched speed, sturdy defense, and godly strength. A single slash of his could literally finish a Peak God, but all of this comes at a cost, and it isn''t a small one. The wolf lunged at the old man, appearing next to him within a split second, barely giving the Sovereign enough time to act. "Holy Arts, fifth chapter: Spear of Mercy!" A spear of only pure white light appeared above the old man, and by his will, it flew straight at the wolf. The sharp long claws which were strengthened with Natural Lightning clashed with the large spear. Arthur''s physical abilities may be greater than the old man, but his techniques and Realm are weaker, so when he clashed when he collided with the spear, he managed to resist before it struck his abdomen. Fortunately, his defense was high and it wasn''t able to injure him, it only pushed away. The wolf''s body flew a long distance, all the way to the city, in fact. It only stopped until it crashed on the barrier protecting it, this brought fear and surprise to the guards. On the side, Amidel looked at the wolf with fear, to survive a direct hit from a Sovereign and still be uninjured, that''s not easy to do, even for other Sovereigns. As if nothing happened, Arthur rushed at the old man and clashed with him again and again, sometimes spitting detonators, sometimes using Godly Thunder or Dark Magic. The sky near the city was colored with all kinds of spells, the ground shook, mountains split and the barrier showed signs of destruction. ''Boom!'' Yet Another detonators were deflected by the illusory hands of the old man, it landed near the walls of the city, exploding and creating an enormous crater. Two figures retreated, each into a direction, one was the old man, who looked more disheveled than before, his robe was completely red and his face was pale, he even showed signs of exhaustion. The other one was the silver wolf, which had a few wounds all over its body but it didn''t seem weakened as it growled menacingly at its enemy, ready to leap at him again. "This damned monsterˇ­" The old man held his scepter and retrieved a long white staff from his storage, he did a few hand seals which caused the two weapons to vibrate then fuse together as if they were one piece from the very beginning. This, however, was the first step, the old man''s face became paler as he spat a golden drop of blood, which merged with the new weapon, making it release bright golden lights that illuminated the whole area as if it was a sun. Arthur felt overwhelming pressure and great danger from that weapon, his bestial instincts were unceasingly warning him to turn around and run but it was too late for that. The silver wolf took a fighting stance and opened its mouth wide, not showing signs of retreat. The old man grinned and recited "Holy Arts, Sixth Chapter: Golden Nova!" A golden humanoid figure conjured from the old man''s weapon appeared in front of him, it was three meters tall, held a blade of light and looked at Arthur, who stared back with ferocity, undaunted by the aura this figure was emanating. The howling winds calmed down as they were all being absorbed inside the wolf''s mouth, an ominous dark fog surrounded the beast and harmless dark flames were burning it. The old man, who suffered enough strange attacks from Arthur, wasn''t going to wait for the target to finish preparing his attack. The golden humanoid figure charged at Arthur, swinging its blade with full intensity at the big wolf. Just from its Holy aura, the clustered dark cloud dispersed and the rain stopped, the figure was the embodiment of life, Holiness, and serenity. From the countless exchanges, Arthur discovered that the old man was quite wary of Dark Magic and the Ancient Flames, he was also injured by a few Void-oriented skills. He discarded the Ancient flames for this attack as it is too burdening and decided to use Dark Magic and Void Magic, their fusion leads to the Eclipse Magic, which he hasn''t used in a very long time since it wasn''t as powerful as Dark Magic. A Heavenly Arrow from pure Eclipse Magic, it was his first try but he had high expectations, he expanded a lot of Energy, he was mentally exhausted and it won''t be long before he is forced to leave the wolf''s body else he falls unconscious without realizing it. As the humanoid figure got close, something flew from the wolf''s large mouth, it had fast speed and so much power that all the space behind it shattered. An orange arrow four meters long absorbed the air and Energy like a bottomless hole and strengthened itself by devouring everything as it made its way toward the golden figure. Arthur swiftly retreated, knowing that the collision will cause catastrophic damage, there''s no knowing if he gets injured by the clash and knowing the proprieties of the Void Magic, being damaged by it is irreversible. The blade made of light and the arrow met each other, distorting space and causing an annoying ringing sound to be heard. The golden figure used its other hand to press against the other, planning to push it away as it couldn''t extinguish it, however, even that was impossible as its hand was devoured the moment it touched the orange arrow. Further strengthened, the arrow became bigger as it pressed against the white blade, absorbing its light and enlarging its size, the cycle went on until the golden figure let go of its blade and intertwined its hands, using them as a hammer to smash the arrow from above with all its strength. At last, the arrow was forced down, it flew straight at the ground, devouring it and creating a large bottomless hole, no one knows how deep it went before it stopped. A few seconds after it went down, a deafening explosion was heard from underground, some of the buildings in the city couldn''t handle it and fell down, cultivators took refuge in safe places as the barrier shattered and the nearby mountains and hills split apart, creating large valleys and deep holes. Chapter 226 - 181 : The Last Struggle 3 The golden light emanating from the figure dimmed by a lot after having deflected the orange arrow, it clearly took a huge toll on the old man as he coughed some blood. He relied on the golden figure to act right now, it''s practically impossible to fight along with it as it''s not a Sovereign is possible to do. Just activating the technique required Blood Essence and a high mastery of these arts, any person under the Sovereign Realm would certainly be unable to achieve what he did. Arthur''s control over the arrow was lost which is why it ended up exploding deep underground. He probably has at most one minute before he must leave the wolf''s body, any more than that would be fatal to him and it will even cause him to lose the wolf''s body, which is a valuable vessel. A grey beam flew across the sky, heavily crashing at the golden figure, shaking it violently and forcing it to stagger back. Arthur made use of this to teleport near the weakened old man and opened his mouth, spitting a large detonator. Unfortunately for him, the golden figure teleported just like him, appearing between him and the old man, it used its hands to hold the detonator, which exploded the moment it contacts with the hands. No sounds were heard, the explosion was safely avoided inside the golden hands, however, this wasn''t the only assault Arthur had launched. The space distorted and a lock sound was heard as a huge part of the space disappeared, taking the golden figure along with it. [Spacial Banishment] was another technique of the deceased Spatial Master, it is difficult to use and it needs an immobile target, Arthur knew that the golden figure will protect its master and it wouldn''t budge so he used this as an advantage. With the golden figure gone for a bit of time, Arthur wasted no time in relentlessly attacking the old man, trying to finish the fight as fast as possible. Although the golden figure was out of the battle, the illusory hands were still defending the old man, they were unharmed after all that happened and they were powerful enough to injure someone like Arthur. The silver wolf charged at its target while slashing the air, sending a wave of dark red flames flying at the old man, ready to scorch him. In response, the old man used the same palm technique to cut the wave of flames, however, he wasn''t able to stop the melee attacks of Arthur. The pointy teeth of the wolf bit down on the old man''s shoulder, penetrating deep into his flesh and even injuring the bones. While he was at it, Leiu injected all kinds of poisons he could use, hoping it would cause some kind of negative effect, at least. The old man cried painfully due to the agonizing injury he received from Arthur. The silver wolf didn''t let go of him no matter how much he shook his body, even the two illusory hands grabbed a part of the wolf, trying to pull him but to no avail, they weren''t powerful enough to shake him. Natural Lightning flowed from the sharp teeth to the wound, invading the old man''s body and attacking his bones, heart, and Dantian, aiming for a fatal blow. Suddenly, a golden fist out of thin air, landing on the wolf''s body and sending him flying away. It was the golden figure which got out of its banishment after the time elapsed. Arthur didn''t give up just yet, [Spatial Passage] was deactivated, unleashing the Mini Heavenly Arrow that was hidden in it. The Arrow was conjured from pure Dark Magic, making it very lethal against the old man. The arrow was rapid and its appearance was abrupt, making it perfect for such a sneak attack. The old man had breathed a sigh of relief when got rid of the clingy wolf, his guard dropped slightly when the golden figure came back, boosting his confidence once more. What he didn''t expect was a small yet nimble dark arrow that slipped through the golden figure''s defense, it hit the left side of the chest and caused the Sovereign to cough mouthful after mouthful of black blood. Dark Magic was like poison to him, who used Holy Magic, if his body isn''t purified in time and this magic lingers in his body, he would die sooner or later. He focused all his attention on ejecting the Dark Magic out, however, it was too potent and the quantity was too big despite the negligible size of the arrow. Panic started showing on the Sovereign''s face, with no choice but to use his last trump card, he lifted his shaky hand toward the golden figure, which understood its master intention. The golden figure was no more as the long scepter appeared in the old man''s hand again, he held it vertically and took a dignified pose despite the agonizing pain, he pushed his chest back and strengthened his back then said "Holy Arts, Seventh Chapter; Clarity of Vulnerability, Great River of Healing!" A light brighter than the sun''s enveloped the old man, forcing Arthur and all the spectators to close their eyes. After a few seconds passed, the old man appeared again, brimming with vitality as his body looked healthy, devoid of any injuries. His robe was restored and his aura was strengthened, apparently, his power increased by two if not three times. Arthur looked at this scene with astonishment, he didn''t think that the old man would be able to heal himself back to full just like that, even for a Sovereign, such a feat is not possible without a miraculous artifact. Looking at the old man, he saw that the long scepter disappeared, so he concluded that it must have been its doing. Arthur''s speculations were right, the old man had sacrificed his weapon to activate the 7th chapter of the Holy Arts, this healed him back to peak state and doubled his original strength. With the situation reversed, the old man looked at the silver wolf and mockingly said "Still want to fight?" Seeing the immobile beast and hearing nothing but silence, the old man frowned but just as he was going to speak again, he saw the wolf transform into a grey-haired man with strange grey eyes. Arthur looked back at the city, which suffered a bit of damage due to the fight but no major destruction could be seen, it must''ve been thanks to Amidel, who deflected all the collateral damage resulting from their fierce fight. After checking the state of the city, he looked at the clear sky and the passing white clouds in a daze, his mind was lost in thoughts as he reminisced about the joyful memories he has with Lucy. ''I guess it''s time.'' A minute of silence passed swiftly, the old man could no longer bear it and used the illusory hands to attack Arthur, still not daring to underestimate his enemy after all that happened. Arthur retrieved a dark shield and used it to block the incoming big fist, which only managed to push him away yet do not apparent damage. The second fist came from behind but barely missed as Arthur teleported a distance away but that was predicted too as a spear of light flew straight at him, intending to nail him on the ground. With the Dark Barrier activated, coupled with the shield he retrieved, it barely managed to stop the spear for a second before it penetrated the shield, creating a large hole in it. Fortunately, the spear''s power weakened after it penetrated the shield, nonetheless, it did hit its target, passing through Arthur''s abdomen and causing blood to gush out from this grievous wound. Seeing that Arthur was extremely weak and feeling the immense power surging in him, the old man grinned and floated toward Arthur, who was vomiting a large amount of blood, he looked on the verge of death. A bit below the old man, approximatively fifty or so meters, a small black dot was floating there, pulsating with strange ominous light that was barely noticeableˇ­. Chapter 227 - 182 : The Last Struggle 4 "To think you wanted to defeat me, a Sovereign? That''s just wishful thinking, even with monstrous abilities like yours." The old man looked at Arthur with an evil grin, he enjoyed the miserable look of his enemy. He didn''t dare drop his guard as the illusory hands protected from both sides. Blood leaked out of Arthur''s ugly wounds, he reeked of blood and the bitter taste of this red liquid never left his mouth. He was so weakened that he could barely move, the passives were turned off but their after effect took a huge toll on his mind and body. If he did not turn on the pain immunity, he would have collapsed from the pain long ago. Half-kneeling on the floor, Arthur grinned as he stared back at the old man, who was oblivious to what''s about to happen. Arthur used all the remaining of his Nether Energy to activate his ultimate skill, Rizaki. He used Dark Magic for this one so he won''t cause himself a lot of damage, the only thing to do now is waiting for it since it required a short period of time to explode. The small dark dot was decreasing in size but the intensity and quantity of Dark Magic inside of it are tremendous. He was certain that a lot of people would be harmed in the process and that''s unfortunate, but he couldn''t afford to let himself be caught or killed like this, not after all he had done to kill the Spatial Master. He had a family waiting for him, a wife and a daughter, a long life to live and it''s definitely not some old foggy that''s going to steal that from him. If worse comes to worse, he would even break his chains to kill this bastard then travel to Earth, passing the rest of his remaining time with his wife. However, Rizaki is a powerful and frightening skill, even if the Sovereign was at his peak state, it would do enough damage to kill him or heavily injure him, buying Arthur enough time to retreat. He no longer wanted to kill the enemy, escaping alive is better than perishing here even if it costs being hunted by strong people and having his trump cards and skills known to them. "It''s such a shame, reallyˇ­ if you were smart enough to surrender, you would have become a good seed to nurture, however, you were consumed by the Dark Magic and your soul has become tainted." The old man stopped a few meters away from Arthur and raised his hand, emitting Holy light that landed on Arthur, intending to finish him once and for all. "Hahahah *cough* tainted? Consumed? That''s just you twisting words *cough* but you are right in one thingˇ­ it''s already too late." As Arthur finished his sentence, darkness that covered the whole area, the city, the mountains and stretching as far as a thousand miles. It blocked the view of every living being, all they could see is darkness, be it Gods or Sovereigns, they were all alike, trapped in this ominous darkness that brought fear, uneasiness, and dread to all who are trapped inside of it. The old man''s smiling face froze as Arthur disappeared from his view, he clutched his hand, adding more power to the Holy Light but there was no light, the darkness consumed everything, no matter how much Nether Energy he injected, he was helpless. Kang Amidel, who was watching from afar, was also freaked out by this, he took out an old box and opened it, causing small, almost inexistent light to emanate from a pure drop of water laying there. Without any slight hesitation, he threw the drop of water into his mouth then followed with several hand seals but despite this, the darkness was still scaring him. Light a candle in a small dark room, his body flashed with a blue light, this comforted him as his treasure had worked but the danger was still around. He didn''t dare to waste time as he rushed straight towards the direction of the city. With all his view covered by this ominous darkness, all he could hope for was that he was heading towards the right way else it would be catastrophic if the city is destroyed. He didn''t know what exactly happened, but he guessed that this was the last trick the grey-haired man had. He too, thought that the fight was over and it was the old man''s win, never did he think a nightmare would befall on him this suddenly. A growling soon followed the falling darkness, it brought chills to whoever heard it and many weak cultivators couldn''t handle the terror, passing out on the spot. The Darkness lasted for only a minute, but it felt like a day for most of those who experienced it. The high leveled skill [Nightmare] that those who are skilled in Darkness attribute have is absolutely nothing compared to this, the skill only had a radius of a dozen meters at most, but this one exceeded a hundred miles! This was only the beginning for the Sovereign, the chilling beastly voice invaded his mind, bringing with it fear, terror and desperation. He could only think of escaping this, even retaliation was deemed as useless in this situation. He spat more than ten drops of Blood Essence, not caring about the high cost or the backlash he may suffer later. The old man''s aura became majestic, pushing a bit of the darkness away but the darkness was still trying to consume the light? With two opposite energies were colliding with each other, coupled with the different environment the old man was currently at, the space was nonexistent, the other attributes were nonexistent, there existed light and an overwhelming quantity of Darkness. "This is impossible!" The Sovereign shouted angrily, his face became pale white from the sacrifice of this precious Blood Essence, what''s sadder is that he could barely fight off the darkness, moving would weaken the light and cause him to be consumed by this hell. Another minute passed slowly and now the light emanating from the old man weakened, only a small dot of light was left, barely enough to protect the old man, however, this ended when the darkness concentrated on that light. The radius of the darkness shortened as Arthur focused on the old man, this resulted in having only half of the city covered by the nightmare. Fortunately, Amidel was able to activate some kind of mechanism that allowed the darkness to not affect neither the city or its citizens. He stood outside of this terror, gazing at it with a fearful expression, even a Sovereign such as himself felt nothing but dread, if he was the target, he knew that it was almost impossible to escape. The darkness'' rage shortened every second until it only encompassed a small area, where the old man and Arthur were. Its shortening continued until it became a dark orb with the old man still trapped inside, the growling noise finally ended but the calm winds started howling and raging, the atmosphere became eerie, rocks started floating and trees were forcibly rooted from the earth. The process was slow but the explosion finally occurred, like a thermonuclear bomb being detonated. The ear-deafening sound was enough to create ravaging sound waves that obliterated the already destroyed mountains. The main explosion sound followed, making the previously created crater to disappear, transforming into a bottomless abyss. The ground turned jet black and the sunny day turned into a gloomy night. The city was barely protected a shiny blue barrier defended against the main explosion, there were cracks all over it but it still managed to protect the inhabitant from the impact. The old man, who was at the center of it was nowhere to be seen, the only thing left was a pool of blood. Arthur made use of the two minutes the darkness was present to enter retreated a safe distance, with a Dark Barrier still up and his immunity to Dark Magic, the only damage he suffered was from the explosion. Whether it was the sneakily fleeing Gargoyles or any cultivators which were curious enough to come to watch this fight, they were all injured, many were killed on the spot and countless were heavily injured if not crippled. Rose was protected by Tarathiel, who didn''t hesitate in taking out a treasure to protect his people. She was the one who was least injured as her white armor played a huge role in keeping her alive and well. ˇ­ An enormous dark dust cloud could be seen from hundreds of miles away, it stretched high up in the sky, making the area look like hell had risen there. Arthur was not in a good state either, despite being the one who cast Rizaki. He lost an arm, that was blown off by the explosion and his legs were severely injured, rendering him useless, not even able to walk. His body leaned on a broken tree and a couple of meters in front of him was a humongous cliff where the bottom could not be seen. The earth was jet black and chilling winds twirled, a couple of big tornadoes resulted from Rizaki could be seen deep into the abyss, each of them was strong enough to instantly kill a peak Immortal. Chapter 228 - 183 : Hanging By A Thread Hearing the raging winds and the spinning tornadoes, Arthur heaved a sigh of relief as his map showed no signs of the enemy. He was in a very bad state and even with his high recovery, it won''t take just a short time to heal. Especially the toll on his mind, which affected him mentally, it made him unable to think properly to the point of forgetting something. In every sense of the word, he was broken, physically and mentally and needed a long rest, however, that wasn''t possible as he can''t move, neither does he have enough Mental Power to summon a strong enough Death Knight to protect him and get him out of here. The only thing he could do is patiently wait, he had sent a Death Knight earlier and it should be returning to him soon. Its mission was to retrieve the corpse of the woman he killed in that small garden inside the main palace. Arthur could only hope no enemies arrive as anyone will be able to kill him and dying like this, after successfully defeating a Sovereign is pretty unfortunate. As he was panting heavily and coughing blood while holding his chest, he started feeling dizzy as the pain overwhelmed him, he could not even keep the Pain Immunity passive on, his mind just couldn''t handle it, if he overexerts himself any more than this, he would literally die. If he were in a safer place, he would have entered the ARK and although time flows slower in there, that doesn''t mean it''ll stop. Every second matter and a powerful enemy would need a second if not less to finish him off. The downside of the ARK is that he doesn''t know what''s happening outside, so he could be captured and still be unaware of it, which made him give up on recovering inside that space, despite its high efficiency. Lost in thoughts and unable to lift a finger, Arthur''s instincts suddenly warned him but he was unable to respond. Four golden blades penetrated his three limbs and chest, nailing him on the ground and causing more blood to gush out, dying the black earth with its color. A figure descended from above, wearing a torn red robe stinking with blood, the lower left side of his abdomen was missing a huge chunk as if a beast had torn it off. His skin was black, making him look like a demon from hell, with only two eyes pulsating with a golden light, the old man looked fiercely at Arthur, his eyes containing unprecedented resentment, hate, and uncontrollable rage. One of his arms was shattered and the other was bloodied, barely usable, as he couldn''t move his legs too, making use of his powers to fly. He had sacrificed a lot of Blood Essence to survive the explosion which made him drop all the way to the God Realm! He dropped to the 2nd Grade which infuriated him as all his efforts over the years were lost, his honor was gone and if he goes back to the Holy Echelon, he would lose a lot of face and he would surely be humiliated. All the Gods he looked down to are now stronger than him, moreover, he suffered permanent injuries which caused him to barely have the required strength to be called a proper God, the shame he was feeling made him want to suicide yet he held himself back. He wanted to pay back what was done to him, skin Arthur alive and break all his bones, he wanted to show him what true hell really is, make him wish death yet not grant it to him. "ˇ­ You''ve done well, to make me suffer this much and almost kill meˇ­ hahahahhahahaha" The old man has almost turned insane, he spoke hysterically as he waved his bloodied hand, making the swords of light dive deeper into Arthur''s body, causing him to groan painfully. He was already on the verge of death before being attacked, the only reason he is still breathing was because the old man didn''t want to kill him and thanks to his recovery, the short time he passed healing allowed him to more or less recover a decent amount of Health and Nether Energy. Despite having enough Energy to execute skills, he was immobilized, nailed on the ground with the enemy carefully watching him, any sudden movement of his part will result in his death, he had no way out and was basically at the mercy of the other party. Actually, the old man''s Health was in no way better than Arthur, he just happened to catch the latter by surprise and land sneak attacks that hit the vitals, leaving his enemy hanging on a threat. "*cough* *cough* You really think you can kill *cough* me?" Arthur mocked the old man as he unceasingly coughed blood, his Health was decreasing by huge amounts every passing second and even the arrival of the Death Knight won''t save him as the old man could deal with that level of undead easily. The maniacal laughing of the old man halted when he heard Arthur''s words, his expression twisted and his face became ugly to behold. He controlled the blade of light, making it cut off Arthur''s other hand, then he walked up to him and used his bloodied hand to lift him off the grand and hold him tightly by the neck. His face got closer to Arthur as he whispered coldly "Killing you is easyˇ­ but that''s not fun, I''ll enjoy my time torturing you first." His face showed enjoyment as he strengthened his grip over the victim''s neck, making him suffocate for a few seconds then releasing it. He did this for a few times before he got bored so he moved into another thing, he used his power to maintain Arthur hanging in the air then proceeded in breaking his ribs, one by one, and as painfully as he possibly can. From time to time, the old man would cough up blood, these were signs that his body was deteriorating as the Dark Magic was lethal and it had already invaded his Dantian, if it had entered his heart, he would have died long ago. He was weakening by the second and his Realm was dropping, it was wise to protect his heart instead of his Dantian so he could survive, however, the cost was big and here he is losing power and dropping Grades. "H-How does it feel? *cough* *cough*ˇ­ to know that you''re going to hell soon *cough*ˇ­" Even when he''s being tortured, Arthur didn''t seem to care, he kept provoking the old man, driving him crazy and causing him to torture him more brutally. A bloodied fist entered Arthur''s abdomen, pulling his organs out and spilling them on the ground, which had several gory things scattered on it. Arthur had long since stopped groaning from the pain, his body felt numb and he felt that his death is coming soon due to all the blood he had lost. ''Ahˇ­ this feeling againˇ­'' No matter if it''s in his previous life or this one, Arthur could never get used to getting tortured. He closed his eyes only see absolute darkness yet standing in this darkness was a shiny figure of a woman with a long silver hair and two mesmerizing eyes. She was giving him a beautiful and enchanting smile which made him snap out of it. He opened his eyes again yet this time, it contained a hint of resolution and craziness. With a broken mental state, two lost limbs and a barely functioning body, he was still going to fight, no matter how desperate the situation is. Arthur mustered all his strength to open his mouth and spit a Mini Heavenly Arrow at the cost of all the Nether Energy he managed to recover throughout the time he was tortured, it depleted all his pool and made him lose consciousness for a split second. Chapter 229 - 184 : Righteous Sovereign The mini Heavenly Arrow, which was purely created from Void Attribute, dived through the old man''s chest, devouring all the flesh, bones, and energy in its way. The injured and weakened body of the elder was pushed a few dozen meters and a big ugly hole appeared in his chest. He was fortunate enough not to have his heart consumed as it the arrow barely missed it, nonetheless, the damage it had done was more than enough to bring him on the verge of death, just like his enemy. He laid on his back, spurting blood and struggling to heal the wound with Holy Light but to recover from an injury sustained from Void Attribute is very difficult, almost impossible, especially while being this injured and in a very bad state. All the light could do is lower then gushing blood, however, that wasn''t going to make him avoid the imminent death. He was going to die sooner or later due to the Dark Magic, now that he was wounded with another powerful attack, he could no not stand up no matter how he tried, even his control over Nether Energy was disrupted, rendering him in a useless state. The two bloodied bodies laid a distance away from each other, both were a thread away from death and very soon, they will perish. Arthur was in a slightly better state since his recovery is high but the last attack he threw severely damaged his mind and caused unimaginable pain, the agony tormented him and added more salt to the injury. Also laying on his back, he was barely able to breathe as blood filled his mouth and he couldn''t cough it out, with his two missing hands, a body full of holes and gory flesh and organs lingering in his opened abdomen, anyone would mistake him for a dead person. "You damnable m-monsterˇ­ I will not rest until you''re dead!" The old man cursed loudly, repeatedly vowing to end his life, after all, in such a situation, all he could do was talk and even that was taking a lot of effort. Arthur remained silent, he didn''t reply to all the curses and hoped that his recovery does its job, giving him back control over his body sooner else the old man will really kill him. Previously, the ex-Sovereign wanted to torture him to death but after what happened right now, he only wanted to see Arthur dead, he wanted to bring the enemy with him to hell. As death was coming closer, a figure appeared in the area where the two laid. With a long sword wrapped in a cloth on her back, long black hair and an expressionless face, she stared at both of them and frowned. It was none other than Jian Si, who happened to pass by the area and when she heard the noise created by the mini Heavenly Arrow, she tracked the origin of the noise only to end up here. She too, witnessed what happened to this place and felt dread yet admiration, for a sword fanatic like herself, she yearned for absolute power and dreamed of being able to show such strength as the two fighting sides. Since she exited the Tomb a bit late, she only saw the destruction of Rizaki, unfortunately, she couldn''t see the fierce fight between two Sovereigns, or so said the spectators. She was obviously irritated so she headed to where the battle supposedly occurred, wanting to see how much the land was affected and perhaps stumble on something interesting. Indeed, her decision was deemed wise as luck was on her side, allowing her to see this sight where the two parties were on the verge of death. One more reason that she came here is because she heard one of the two fighters had the appearance of a grey-haired man, she immediately knew that it was the same person who ridiculed her and easily defeated her. She never expected that he was this powerful, witnessing the ravaged lands and black earth, she remembered the strange and ominous magic he used back then and linked the two together. Although it wasn''t shown on her face, she was dumbfounded when she saw the current state of Arthur, if not for his heavy breathing, she would have thought he was already dead. On the other side was the old man, who managed to move and lean on a medium-sized trunk of a rooted tree, he was startled by the appearance of Jian Si but he wasn''t afraid neither was he cautious of her. His eyes contained murderous intent as he glanced at her but it soon disappeared, he revealed an exasperated look as he spoke with a slight panic "Oh!! Thank God you''re here! Y-you have to help me kill this vile monsterˇ­ he must be eliminated, such an existence is pure evil!" Trying to sound righteous wasn''t going to cut it, the old man knew that when the girl didn''t even flinch or move after listening to him, he didn''t give up and added "I''m a Sovereign from the Holy Echelon! I can guarantee that you''ll be generously rewarded if you help me." Still getting no reaction, the old man continued spouting some nonsense, badmouthing Arthur and accusing him of a lot of things he never did, including mass murder, stealing and so onˇ­ Cold Sword turned a deaf ear to the talkative old man and looked at Arthur, waiting for him to say his part too but the grey-haired man simply stared back at her for a second before he looked away while saying "You do whatever you want." Again, Jian Si showed no response, simply looking back and forth between the two of them for a whole minute. When she decided to act, the old man finally stopped talking, he eagerly waited for her to kill Arthur as he thought that all his talk bore fruit. The longsword behind her back was unsheathed, revealing a sharp blade made out of a special steel, it reeked of blood and emitted a domineering aura. Without any slight hesitation, Jian Si rushed straight at the old man with incredible speed and slashed her sword viciously, dismembering the poor elder who was shocked by her sudden action. Even if he was prepared, he didn''t expect a Divine being to be this strong, his lack of knowledge and confidence brought his doom. Although she is at the Peak of the Divine Realm, Jian Si could fight a God Realm and even emerge victorious thanks to her vicious murdering sword. After dismembering the old man, she stabbed her sword through his heart, killing him and ending this battle once and for all. Even Arthur didn''t expect her to kill him so suddenly, she acted swiftly and decisively, moreover, she didn''t utter a single word and killed without any apparent reason. From her way of acting, he even suspected that he''ll be next in her list. With mustered strength, Arthur somehow managed to use a meager amount of Dark Mana to take out the Dimensional Stone, ready to use it if she ever makes a move. The reason he didn''t use it earlier is simply become he couldn''t, it''s an easy process to take it out then use it but it requires a bit of concentration to take it out of his storage, furthermore, he used all his accumulated energy in his previous attack. Jian Si knew that the old man was a Sovereign, so to ascertain his death, she stabbed her sword multiple times just to make sure, her expression never changed as if killing him is a usual occurrence. When she was done, she shifted her focus to Arthur, who was holding the Dimensional stone in his sleeve, hiding it from view and preparing himself to flee. "Isn''t it a small word, huh?" Seeing her walk toward him, Arthur started a conversation to buy a bit of time for his injuries to heal and to see what''s going on with this girl, she was seriously too eccentric, or so thought Arthur. Chapter 230 - 185 : Choose Wisely Jian Si stopped a distance away from Arthur, gazing at him with a strange look. He felt a bit of killing intent emanating from her, her facial expression was unusual as if she was struggling with two things. After a bit of time in such a position, she had yet to speak to Arthur when turned her head and stared at a certain direction, exactly where his dismembered arm was. Her eyes were glued onto his ring, which she seemed to be interested in. Obviously, he saw that but didn''t say anything, in fact, he laughed inside as it is impossible to rob his belongings if they are inside Zodiak''s ring. To access it you need to be able to use Dark Mana and only he could do that, so it''s a useless piece of garbage for her, still, he didn''t tell her that and silently watched her actions. The girl took the ring and injected Nether Energy, expecting to see what''s inside, however, nothing happened even after a few tries so she looked at the defenseless Arthur again and spoke her first words "Hand me your blade and I''ll spare your life." Simple and direct words, she told him her motive without any tricks which is something Arthur liked, but that doesn''t mean he''ll tell her how to open the ring or just hand his weapon to her. Makaze is his strongest weapon and his connection with it is rather strong, not only is it a unique blade, it is too powerful and it could even harm Sovereign. That is part of the reason Jian Si wants it, if she enforces her own sword with Makaze then the results will be extraordinary, and as a sword fanatic, she would never miss such an opportunity. She had already seen the deadliness of his blade and its might, and without a doubt, it''s stronger than her own blade, which is a very old inheritance so this made her more attracted to Makaze. Arthur spat some blood on the floor and grinned as he looked at the dead serious girl "My blade? You''re not worthy and even if you were, I''m not foolish enough to hand it to you." Not hearing the answer that she sought, Jian Si pointed her sword at Arthur with only a few inches of empty air separating the sharp tip of the blade and his fast. "It''s either your weapon or your life, you choose." Still uncaring about the close blade that could end his life in a split second, Arthur mockingly replied "As a sword user yourself, you know better than anyone that your sword is your life." Listening to the dying man, Jian Si frowned and maintained her silence, seemingly lost in thoughts but that she soon snapped out of it when Arthur continued with a weak voice "Furthermore, people like you are always the same, the outcome will be the same whether I hand your my blade or not." "People like me?" Arthur looked at her with a disgusted stare and answered "Yes, people like you, the so-called young geniuses, born with unparalleled talent and expected to become legendary figures, however, the truth is sad and unpleasant to hear. You people, are nothing, you''re like anybody else, fate just favored you so you were born in the right place, and with the right teachers and fed the expensive medicines, of course, you''ll become ''prodigies''. You want my blade to become stronger, you want revenge for the humiliation you suffered yet what you begrudge me for is nothing compared to those who really endured, others who experienced something you could never imagine, atrocities that would make you wish for death." Hearing this only made the girl angrier, she stared at her with dagger eyes as she snorted and retorted "Hmpf! What do you know about me!" Still coughing blood that had long since become black, Arthur objected "I know enough. Actions speak louder than words, you have what others lack yet you want more, you have power yet your greed for more. You think you''re strong enough to oppose people when you ignore the fact that they do not fear you but what''s behind you. You seek to become the ultimate sword user when you don''t even know yourself." Arthur seemed to have touched a sensitive topic as the girl snapped, slashing the air fiercely and cutting all the trees in its way, or what remained of them. "I don''t care about fate or whatsoever. Your life is in my hands, and it''s up to you to choose wisely." Arthur sighed as he knew that his words won''t affect her reasoning, he didn''t invent all of that and truly said his true thoughts. He didn''t particularly like these gold-spooned kids and it isn''t a simple lecturing that''s going to erase their arrogance, which was built over several years of prevailing and stepping on others. Although her tone seemed different than usual, the killing intent became thicker and she definitely wasn''t joking when she said she''ll kill him. "You say to choose wisely when all choices lead to the same conclusionˇ­ tell me, girl, where''s the wisdom in that? You make it sound like you''re some kind of a merciful person, giving me ''choices'' when all of that is useless, pointless talking to give you a sense of relief, however, in such a world, it''s either kill or be killed, sparing enemies is not something to consider, you should know that more than anyone, right?" The sword touched Arthur''s neck, causing drops of blood to leak out, it''s only a slight push away from penetrating his throat and ending his life, or what''s left of it. "So does that mean I should kill you and be done with it?" Arthur grinned, showing his row of white teeth which became dyed with red blood from the unceasing blood that rushed to his mouth only to be coughed out. "Hoooo that would be for the best in such a situation butˇ­ you''ll feel unsatisfied, you suffered a humiliation yet couldn''t get a proper revenge, that could lead to serious problems in your future cultivation. There are many choices laid out for you, for example, you can finish that old man''s job and torture me, not that''ll make me talk, though. You can also kill me immediately, which is something I''ll do, or you can just go on your way and pretend you saw nothing butˇ­ you better give me that ring back or else I swear I''ll show you true despair." Arthur didn''t point at Zodiak''s ring, but the other one which was also picked by Jian Si. It was a simple ring, made out of gold and have a small engraving on it, it was not a magical artifact or anything of the sort, however, for Arthur, it meant the whole world for him as it is his marriage ring, the one he received from Lucy. As she watched the man who was supposed to be surrendering, Jian Si felt a fear deep in her bones, imminent danger from the half-dead person in front of her. One look at the face of this beaten and tortured man, who should have been waiting for death, made it clear that his seemingly vain words were no mere boast. She had no time to consider as her body reacted unconsciously, jumping a few meters back to avoid what''s supposed to come but never did, the danger came from deep within the man yet no attack was thrown, it was indeed only a warning but its effect was more than he hoped for. He didn''t notice itself as anger consumed him, the ring for him was all that is left for Lucy, it''s what''s keeping him fight again and again, if it were destroyed or stolen, he would use anything to get it back if possible or abandon everything to kill whoever led to its destruction. He may be half-dead and barely able to move his lips, but alternate actions could be taken, the chains were still on him, albeit not all of them since his limbs were torn off but they will grow back along with his flesh in a matter of time and he is capable of breaking them, it''ll lead to his death but he has prepared for such a possible outcome since the start of his fight against the old man. Chapter 231 - 186 : A Reques Moments slowly passed as tense atmosphere calmed down, the fear which haunted Jian Si for a short period of time vanished and all she could see now is a dying man. She cautiously inspected the gold ring but found nothing special about it, she couldn''t understand why would Arthur get worked up about this instead of the other one. She looked closer only to see a very minuscule engraving, it was none other than Lucy''s name being written there yet its significance is higher than all the treasures Arthur has in Zodiak''s ring. Jian Si also understood the meaning of ring once she read the name, she didn''t know who exactly this Lucy was to Arthur, but it was definitely an important person for him to get so angry. Having followed the way of the murdering, most of her emotions if not all of them were abandoned as it the only way to reach the peak mastery of the sword. Surprisingly, Cold Sword didn''t argue back, she simply threw the two rings near Arthur without saying a word. He was startled by her actions as he didn''t expect the spoiled and an easily angered brat to act like this, nonetheless, he didn''t say anything and merely watched her, waiting to see what''s she going to do. The girl, as eccentric as before, stared at Arthur without saying anything for more than three minutes, which made him feel uncomfortable as every time she''s around, the atmosphere becomes awkward and a bit gloomy. "ˇ­ I can spare your life, if you accept a request of mine." Listening to her, Arthur couldn''t help but roll his eyes in annoyance, this girl doesn''t understand that he''s not willing to cooperate with her. Fortunately, four minutes or so were enough for much of his Nether Energy and Health to recover. His torn off limbs have started regrowing and were almost halfway to complete recovery. The chains also followed, wrapping around the arms tightly, suppressing his physical body. Jian Si noticed such changes but didn''t seem to care at all as if everything was within her grasp. Arthur had recovered enough Health and Energy to deal with her, that''s what made him unafraid of her. "Are you deaf or what? I''m not accepting any requests." Jian Si was still not angry, she sheathed her sword and put it on her back then replied "I wish to let you live but you are being uncooperative, it''s just a request." "And I wish I could give you a proper beating to teach you proper mannersˇ­ is wish time over now?" Cold Sword couldn''t handle the ''verbal abuse'' she was suffering, with a flushed face and a shaky finger that was pointed at him, she retorted "Y-" Before she could finish, a shadowy figure emerged from the clustered trees that were piled up on each other. It had a skeletal body and a creepy appearance, with a dark armor and a woman''s body on its back, it dashed near Arthur, awaiting for his next orders. This was none other than the Death Knight he sent earlier to retrieve the Dryad''s corpse. It is pretty strong but it was lacking compared to Jian Si, so Arthur didn''t bother sending it to its demise. Jian Si was momentarily alerted so her attention shifted from Arthur to Death Knight for a short moment, Arthur made use of this distraction to use his threads and try to immobilize her. His Enigma Abilities didn''t require any form of Energy to be used but they do require focus, which he was lacking for the time being, which is why the speed of threads was not what he expected. Cold Sword swiftly dodged the thin threads and used her hand to slash at the Death Knight. Her hand was strengthened with sharp Sword Energy so the slash wasn''t a simple one, it was similar to a wind blade, invisible and deadly. Being only at the Heavenly Realm, the Death Knight would not survive an attack from a Divine Peak being, however, before it struck the undead, the slash struck the Dark Barrier that Arthur conjured the moment he regained some of his focus. Jian Si knew how strong her previous attack was so she started regretting not killing him or at least immobilizing him in some way, however, it''s too late for that and all she could do was glare at him with dagger-eyes. "Ignorant, foolishˇ­ I have told you several times to kill me yet you hesitated for a reason that I don''t know of, neither do I want to know it. A request, was it? I''m quite curious right now, why don''t you tell me that request?" Just as he finished talking, one of his hands, the one which started growing first, was forcefully lifted then clenched. This caused a dark cube to appear, trapping both of them inside. This further damaged Arthur''s declining Mental Health, making him cough more blood and his face turn paler than it already was. He purposely used this out of all the abilities so that she can''t escape and with the dark cube here, he was safe and sound even for her. The only way she''ll be able to harm him right now is going all out, which she probably wouldn''t do. "Now now, we have all the time of the world, why don''t we continue our conversation?" Jian Si looked around her, only seeing the darkness of the cube, she begrudgingly withdrew her raging Sword Energy, which cut all the area around her due to her surfacing rage. She knew that he didn''t mean to harm her else he would have killed her and not just trapped her inside, yet despite all of that, she couldn''t see him in a positive way, something about him annoyed her and made her usually calm self really angry and frustrated. "Y-you backstabbing bastard!" With her lacking knowledge in insults and her rising anger, Jian Si couldn''t even insult him in a proper way, which made the heavily breathing Arthur burst out in laughter, causing aching pain to surface yet again. "Hahahah I''m beginning to doubt the rumors I heard. You''ve traveled a lot and seen many things, as I said, it''s kill or be killed. It''s like the law of the jungle, the strong prevail while the weak suffer and die, there''s no backstabbing in fights, no unfairness or no honor, as far as I''m concerned." "Y-you should be ashamed, for a sword-practicer to resort to such underhanded means!" Still not giving up on her badmouthing, she continued spouting nonsense that Arthur didn''t give a rat''s ass about. "Ah? I never said I was a sword-practicer. It''s not because I wield a sword that I''m one, it just so happens that my strongest weapon is a sword and that my mastery in swordsmanship is decent." Not all that Arthur said was true, but half of it was. He considers himself a sword user but doesn''t the follow the rules of these users, the code of honor or whatsoever. Totally different from her usually expressionless face, Jian Si seemed to be out of it as if she was about to pounce at him and rip him to shreds but held herself back. Recklessly attacking would do her no good and she knew that she can''t win in a battle of words, he was way more experienced than her, which made her feel kind of helpless. Arthur tried moving his new hands but an agonizing headache assaulted him, his body was recovering at a fast speed and his Health would be back to full soon enough, however, to recover from the Mental injuries would take several days, if not more. Furthermore, his usage of the Mini Heavenly Arrow and the Dark Cube further deepened his mental wounds, however, he was forced to act as such lest he would have perished, if not by the old man''s hand then it would certainly have been due to this crazy girl''s doing. Chapter 232 - 187 : Teacher "I just wanted to know who''s your teacher, the one who taught you swordsmanship." ''This lass knows nothing but swords, can''t say if she''s crazy or just blindly devoted to swordsˇ­ nevermind, she''s crazy.'' Arthur didn''t expect such a request. He thought she''ll ask him something unreasonable, but it''s surprisingly such a question. If answering is what he needs to get rid of her then he wouldn''t mind replying, it''s not like it''s a secret that must be kept to himself. "Teacher? I have no such, all my skills are self-taught." "Impossible!" With disbelief and anger, Jian Si snapped at him again, not believing such words. Even her skills were learned from ancient books that accumulated dust in the library, very few people would be able to invent a new style of swordsmanship or special moves, moreover, most of these people are legendary figures that are looked up to by all sword user. Arthur may be extremely strong but she couldn''t believe that he taught himself everything, it''s just illogical. "Nothing is impossible in this world. It''s not because you can''t do it that others can''t too, teachers only lead the way, it''s up to the students to create their own style as no sword style is the same." Arthur''s knowledge about swordsmanship isn''t vast, his skills were learned by possessing people and it just entered his mind and automatically allowed him to wield swords flawlessly. It''s one of the many benefits of his race and the system. "Then where did you come from? What your original world?" "That''s none of your business." The first answer wasn''t satisfying or what she sought. She wanted to know his world to visit it and see if there is a special sword school or a famous sect. She started suspecting that he wasn''t willing to answer honestly from the very beginning but the problem was, Arthur wasn''t lying in the first answer, as for the second one, he never would tell a stranger that he came from Astria. Being a small world with very few clans and sects and no Gods residing in it, if someone like her goes there, she''ll create havoc and unnecessary problems. Astria is fine as it is, with only a few skirmishes and it''ll surely become more peaceful as the war ended and the Holy Church was more or less eradicated. "Let me see your sword." "No." "What''s your name?" "I don''t have a name." ˇ­ This continued for five minutes before Jian Si finally stopped, she knew that she''ll get nothing out of him. He didn''t answer anything except the first one, which infuriated her but she didn''t show the usual anger or frustration as she wanted to show a positive attitude mayhap he changes his mind and agrees to something. Although she didn''t want to admit it, she admired Arthur... or strong sword users in general, her goal is to reach the peak of swordsmanship and to encounter people like him is what drives her to venture outside of her sect. The only thing she hated about him is his provocative words, arrogant attitude, and unceasing mocking, which drives the high and mighty Cold Sword into craziness. Arthur''s body was finally healed, devoid of any ugly injuries but his Health didn''t recover entirely, it needs way more time than five minutes. Fortunately, he became able to do simple movements so he retrieved simple clothes to cover some of the naked parts of his body and got up, after a small struggle. Standing up and walking became doable but it''s really difficult, it even stressed his Mental Health, however, he didn''t have the time to worry about that. He needs to leave this place as many people would start roaming all over the area, curiosity is a terrifying thing, after all. Jian Si also noticed that the grey-haired man was about to leave, she can''t do anything to stop him, he looked healthy but his sluggish and slow movements indicated his serious condition. Remembering his powerful sword techniques and how devastated this land became due to his fight with the old man, she blurted out something she didn''t imagine she would say. "Then make me your student!" Unfortunately for her, she was met with an immediate rejection from him, who waved his hands at her dismissively while answering "No way, it''s way too troublesome and a waste of time. I didn''t come here to become a teacher for some spoiled brat who has anger management issuesˇ­" Jian Si ignored the badmouthing and remained stubborn, not willing to let go of this chance. She knew that if he were to go now, who knows when they will cross paths again. "You just need to teach me your style of swordsmanship!" "That, in itself, is what I''m talking about. It''s nothing but a waste of time, go ask your elders or someone else. It''s babysitting rather than teaching." Unable to handle his provocative words, she angrily stomped the ground, shaking it and creating a small crater under her foot. "See, that''s what I''m talking about. You''re getting angry over little things, that''s what kids doˇ­" Jian Si but her lips and angrily glared at him, she clenched her fists and said "Fine then! If you make me your student, I won''t become angry anymore." As if she made a forbidden oath, the expressionless looking girl showed a rare proud expression, expecting Arthur to finally accept, but the reality was different and it''s her bad luck that led her to ask someone such as Arthurˇ­ Arthur removed the dark cube which was trapping them and glanced at the dark-haired girl, who started following him. He pondered for a few moments then said "I can let you become my student on three conditions." The girl nodded in response so Arthur resumed talking "One, this matter will be kept a secret. You never met me, you never saw, you never talked to me, long story short, I never existed, alright?" Jian Si didn''t have a reason to object such condition so she remained silent, indicating her approval. "Second, no questions about me. I don''t have a name, an origin, comradesˇ­ nothing!" Arthur didn''t wait for her to accept before he named the third condition "Third, I teach you whatever I want to whenever I want. I tell you to go East, you go East, I tell you to do this or that, you do it, without pointless questions." Cold Sword seemed unsatisfied about the third one but she didn''t disapprove or utter a single word, just nodding her head obediently, completely different from her usually unruly nature. Strong sword users are scarce and this world doesn''t have many swords sect, to begin with, so she really didn''t want to miss such an opportunity. It''s not like she was planning to remain as his students forever, she had confidence that she''ll surpass him in the not so distant future. Now that her rambling ended, Arthur clapped his hands and pointed at the old man''s hand, ordering "Here''s your first order, you fetch that corpse." Jian Si begrudgingly followed his instructions, retrieving the lifeless body. She felt like a servant or a dog rather than a student, she wanted to beat him but held herself, reminding herself that he''ll surely teach her something that her murdering sword lacked, something that''ll allow her to breakthrough to the God Realm. Arthur didn''t want to waste such a previous body, it was still whole, more or less, so he should be able to get the stats and a decent amount of Mental Power. The only reason he agreed to Jian Si''s request is because her help would be precious right now, and that will assure him that she''ll not suddenly attack him, because that''s what she''s good at, apparently. As for teaching her, well he obviously wasn''t in the mood to do it, he''s busy with his current goals and doesn''t have time to be a teacher but it doesn''t mean he''ll not show her his sword style or just give her a few precious books that contain notes of some ancient sword users. He softly caressed the golden ring as he looked at his map, seeing a few red dots heading his way. He didn''t use his sense and the map, which costs nothing, is his only way of seeing what''s around him. Jian Si noticed their presence once they were in her sense''s range, she coldly looked at their direction, ready to act if they were hostile, which they probably are since they are marked as red dots on Arthur''s map. Speaking of which, she was a red dot too but soon changed into a green one once her killing intent toward him disappeared, the System basically judges the enmity based on how much hostility they bear toward the user. Chapter 233 - 188 : Here Comes The Gargoyles Ehrendil spotted a dark cube in the far distance, almost hidden by the ravaged trees and clustered boulders. He immediately headed with a few generals to see what''s happening. As one of the people who were present when their Earth Spirit was stolen, he definitely knew that whoever is controlling the dark cube is, without a doubt, the same person who infiltrated their headquarters and did as he pleased, robbing their guardian. This was a humiliation even his usually calm brother, Tarathiel, couldn''t bear, so they vowed to hunt this rat and kill him, after they retrieve the Earth Spirit, of course. With boiling blood and a bit of cautiousness, Ehrendil flew towards the dark cube but once they were some distance away, it suddenly vanished into thin air, startling the generals who were more afraid than him due to the ominous aura caused by the aftereffect of the Dark Magic. Being a God, Ehrendil was more resistant to it but he still felt uncomfortable, however, such a feeling made him certain of his suspicions. ˇ­ Soon enough, the two groups met, on one side were two people, one was a grey-haired man and accompanying him was a girl with an expressionless face and a large sword on her back. The other side encompassed four individuals, one was Ehrendil and the remaining three were generals under him, all at the Divine Realm. Ehrendil paid little attention to Cold Sword and looked at Arthur, he didn''t try to hide his killing intent, indicating that he''s not here to talk. However, his focus was soon shifted to Jian Si as his underling whispered a few words into his ears, made him realize how unlucky he was. Arthur glanced at the group which blocked their way then he took another turn, intentionally avoiding them. Fighting Ehrendil is barely doable but he was certain that emerging victorious is impossible, he would be able to fight equally against the God for a short time before he collapses. He was still feeling dizzy and it''s only thanks to his high recovery that he''s managed to walk properly. "Stop right there!" Despite the presence of Jian Si, Ehrendil still planned to take down Arthur, it''s his first time seeing this man but apart from him, there''s no other suspect and it couldn''t Cold Sword who created that much chaos in their headquarters, she was strong but not enough to steal the Earth Spirit. Moreover, being an infamous individual in the Green-Leaf world, a lot of people know about her and her techniques, she definitely wasn''t the one who used that dark cube, or so speculated the desert gargoyle. He never talked with the girl so he couldn''t understand why she was looking at him like that, eyes full of killing intent, as far as Ehrendil knew, Jian Si never created trouble for people who didn''t bother her. She''s the vengeful type but only to those who purposely provoke her and his previous words were only directed at the grey-haired man. "Hm? Is there something you need?" Arthur spoke with a calm tone, showing that he wasn''t fazed by the Godly aura being unleashed by Ehrendil, who unsuccessfully tried to pressure him. "Yes, I need you to come with us." Whilst nonchalantly shrugging his shoulders, Arthur retorted "I''m afraid that''s not going to happen, I have some business to take care of. Maybe another timeˇ­" Arthur didn''t wait for a response as he continued walking with Jian Si behind him. As per his expectations, things didn''t go as smoothly as Ehrendil wasn''t going to let him go this easily. It''s unfortunate that his true appearance was seen but that doesn''t matter since he can change it as in the blink of an eye. A wall of earth rose from the ground, forcing them to stop walking as it blocked their front, rendering them unable to advance any further. Jian Si took this a sign so she unhesitatingly retrieved her sword and cut the wall in pieces without any effort, she then directed her previously accumulated anger on those targets, who all had pale faces except for the God. "Please wait a moment, Miss Jian. We only have business with this man, by no means do we want to obstruct your way, you''re free to go." Ehrendil spoke politely, not wanting to offend her. He can deal with her but the consequences would be disastrous, if he were to injure her, her backing would turn his tribe into a bloodbath, provoking one of the strongest powers in this world is not something he wished, but he still couldn''t let Arthur escape a third time. "He''s with me, so bug off." Receiving such a rude response from Cold Sword angered Ehrendil as he''s a respect God but he that wasn''t what infuriated him the most, the thing he didn''t want to hear the most is that Arthur was with her. They may be traveling together but that doesn''t mean he''s with her. Having her back him off complicated thing for the desert gargoyles, she was literally forcing their hand and pushing them to attack her. "He''s a wanted criminal who trespassed in our territory, we would like to bring him with us for a thorough investigation and if he''s innocent, we''ll let him go." Ehrendil insisted, causing the girl to become more irritated. She rushed at the group of gargoyles with fast speed and swung her longsword, creating a red hurricane that sent all the generals flying dozens of meters away, even Ehrendil was pushed back a few steps, which made his face flush red with embarrassment and anger. He didn''t dare raise a hand against her, he didn''t want his tribe to meet its doom by his hands, which is why he didn''t retaliate when she attacked. Unfortunately, not all the generals under him were as wise as he was. Two of them, who couldn''t handle the shame of being sent flying but a young girl, got up and charged at her, intending to subdue her. Despite knowing her real strength and background, they didn''t hesitate for they thought Ehrendil will back them up and with a God accompanying them, they didn''t to fear this prodigy. Wanting something to release her anger on, Jian Si welcome these two with a fierce swing of her longsword. The sword clashed with the spear of the general, shattering instantaneously and cutting off his head mercilessly. The other general was scared out of his wits when he saw the large disparity in their strength, which he didn''t expect. They were all at the Peak of the Divine Realm, so he thought there may be a chance but the monstrous power she just demonstrated, showed him how foolish he really was. It was too late for regret, his opponent was Jian Si, who wasn''t a person who goes easy on their enemies. Before he could retreat, the black sword penetrated his abdomen, then it went up, cut in half from the stomach all the way to his head. The poor gargoyle died a miserable death, not even able to scream desperately or cry for help. As for Ehrendil, he was smart enough to act whilst she was distracted. He wasn''t going to attack her despite seeing her slaughter his generals, however, that wasn''t the same thing for Arthur, who was completely defenseless right now. In but a moment, Ehrendil appeared next to Arthur, with his hand forming a claw, intending to kill him. Bringing Arthur with him isn''t possible with Jian Si present, so the best choice is to kill him and be done with it. The claw flashed with a yellow light, sending small beams of light that landed on the earth surrounding Arthur. Just as the hand was going to reach Arthur, a long flying sword came straight at Ehrendil, it was like a red tornado ravaging everything in its way, plus, its speed was unimaginable. Ehrendil snorted and changed the direction of his claw, clashing it with the sword. A ringing sound resounded due to the collision and from out of nowhere, Jian Si appeared at the right side of Ehrendil, she was barehanded but once she raised her hand, the longsword which was being pushed back by Ehrendil suddenly appeared in her hand, ready to be swung again. Chapter 234 - 189 : Res Ehrendil could only react at the swinging sword by retreating back, out of its range. He could deflect it but his techniques are all aggressive and the girl would be injured, which is something he isn''t brave enough to do. If she were to be the least bit injured, that''s enough reason for her backing to devour his tribe, there is also the option of silencing her so that nobody knows but such a choice isn''t a wise one because he was seen by many people when he saw leaving the city in search of Arthur. "The situation is getting out of hand, don''t you think so, Ehrendil?" Arthur spoke to the distressed Ehrendil, making the latter glare at him angrily and say "So it''s YOU!" Ehrendil flew straight at Arthur again, intending to finish him but he was interrupted by Jian Si, who blocked his way yet again. "Miss Jian, I do not want to hurt you, please move away or face the consequences!" "Hmpf! I''d like to see you try." The girl wasn''t the least bit fazed by the God, for a person with a background like hers, she has an abundance of life-saving treasures, however, she was confident in beating him even without them. The pressure emanating from Ehrendil increasing, he tried to overwhelm her and force her to back off but from her the stubborn and serious look on her face, he knew that it was futile. The tension remained for a whole minute with the two sides at a stand-off before Ehrendil let out a helpless sigh and retreated. He signaled for the two remaining generals to follow him then he left the area as if nothing happened. ''Having is a powerful background is seriously usefulˇ­'' Arthur lamented on his fate, he was always forced to fight as he couldn''t scare his enemies with his background since he came from a low-Realm. Ehrendil wasn''t going to drop this matter, he would certainly strike when Jian Si is gone, but at that time, he would have recovered and would fear the gargoyles no more. The two resumed walking, Arthur didn''t give any words of thanks or praise for Jian Si as if it was her job to protect him, not the other way around. Arthur intended to head to the city, it was by far the safest place since Amidel invited him earlier and no powerful enemies could bypass the Kang Sovereign and attack him directly. Moreover, he already got the necessary Spatial Mastery to travel to Earth, all he needed was its coordinates, which is something easy to acquire. Each world has its unique coordinates, including Earth. Most Realms were interconnected by Spatial Tunnels excluding the abandoned or destroyed ones. Arthur suspected that the Earth is situated in the System''s universe, and to obtain its coordinates, he needs to visit the forgotten continent on Astria, which was mentioned several times by Zodiak. Astria was definitely in the X-TR 500 Universe, and it was also one of the abandoned worlds, which is why there is a severe lack of visitors from other worlds. The forgotten continent, which is in the North-West of the Demon Continent is supposedly protected by a powerful illusion formation causing it to be untraceable by outside sources. Zodiak didn''t mention how to get in, but knowing its location is enough for Arthur, he was confident in finding an appropriate way to enter. The mythical being, Zodiak, never wrote any details about the forgotten continent but he mentioned more than one time, which intrigued Arthur. It was said that there is an ancient library in the continent, through it, almost anything can be found. This is why Arthur decided to first get his hands on a Spatial Master then visit the continent, it''s better to get rid of the difficult thing first. The two of them walked for a while until they reached a remote area, Jian Si created a small cave for them to rest, or more accurately, for her teacher to rest as he never ceased coughing blood since a while ago. Arthur needed a lot of rest but he pushed himself to resist the urge to fall unconscious, he still didn''t trust the girl one bit, no matter if she''s his student or not. What''s even worse, the chains which became more comfortable a while ago, started making it difficult for him to move, they became heavy and became tighter. With the cave sealed with some kind of artifact Jian Si took out, the two of them sat inside, where there are some lights coming from light crystals that could be bought anywhere in this world. "Teacher, what are these chains?" Jian Si inspected the chains from afar since Arthur chose to stay as far away from her as possible. They walked for two hours so his Health was almost back to full, same thing for his Mana and Nether Energy. Despite the infinite Stamina, he was feeling an overwhelming exhaustion and for the first time in very, very long time, he yearned for a good night''s sleep. Unfortunately, it wasn''t possible, not with a crazy girl near him and the aching pain that was agonizing his mind. As he leaned on a big boulder, his body felt numb and even opening his eyes became rather difficult, his eyes lids heavy, his body soaking with sweet and reeking with the scent of blood. He expected some kind of backlash, however, it was far worse than he predicted. Nonetheless, for such a tiring fight and to slay a Sovereign, it''s normal for him to suffer this much, he was only at the Divine Realm. He even dropped to the 3rd Grade after using a lot of skills that cost permanent Mental Power, mainly [Blood For Blood]. "If you accepted the deal, you would not have ended like this. Although it''s a Sovereign, it''s not a powerful one, not something to struggle with that muchˇ­ if I had all my powers, then killing him in a few seconds is easily doable." The Earth Spirit talked to Arthur, with a prideful tone. He was disappointed to not be able to get the Dimensional stone, he was also a bit fearful of Arthur''s potential. He witnessed the battle from beginning to end and never did he see a Demon this strange and powerful. He had seen legendary Gods beat Sovereign with a wave of their hands, but for a Divine being to beat a Sovereign, he never heard or saw anything like that until today. This forced to act him tonight, waiting for Arthur to be at his weakest state so he can escape the chains and his consciousness. The night passed slowly, Arthur ignored the personal questions Jian Si would ask every few minutes. After a while, she gave up and started cultivating, as for him, he closed his eyes and tried to rest. Meditation wasn''t possible albeit its extremely useful proprieties, his mind felt as if it''s going to explode and he felt that the condition of his body was worsening rather than recovering. ''What''s happening?'' Out of nowhere, an imaginable pain assaulted him, making veins pop out and his skin turn red. Arthur did nothing, he didn''t even cry in pain, his handheld into the golden ring as he closed his eyes, waiting for this pain to pass. It was a heart-wrenching pain but for Arthur, it was nothing compared to the pain he felt from the loneliness, being apart from Lucy and Saly is more painful than this. ******** Chapter 235 - 190 : The Escape As Arthur was suffering, his consciousness wasn''t as silent as it usually is. The clustered chains that were trapping the Earth Spirit started crackling and twirling, trying to seal whatever was inside and force it to quiet down. The Death Seals Arthur cast on the Earth Spirit began breaking one by one at an incredible speed, as if they were unable to lock the ever-so increasing power of the entity inside. The large earth knight moved at last after being sealed here for what seemed like an eternity for him. His body started moving, grabbing the chains around his body and pulling them with great force. At first, they were as immovable and heavy as mountains yet after a few tries, they finally moved. It took great effort to physically move them so the Earth Spirit shot a yellow symbol from his eyes. The symbol had the word ''Break'' it struck the clustered chains and shattered countless of them but this was still futile since every broken chain will cause two more to take its place. ''Hmpf!'' This continued for a long time until the knight finally managed to completely free one of its arms. From the huge cluster of black chains, there was a long arm that stretched out of them, belonging to the spirit. A rusty-looking bronze sword appeared in the hand, the knight was content that the first step worked. Surprisingly, he didn''t use the blade to strike the chains binding him, instead, he fiercely waved the bronze sword at Arthur''s soul, precisely at the thick chains surrounding it. A misty yellow fog flew at the big blob of light, trying to cut the main chains, the root of what was sealing the Earth Spirit. Unfortunately for him, once the misty fog approached the chains, the first thing to act was the strange cube that was rotating above the soul. The ARK appeared in front of the mist, the cube increased in size and transformed into a half-open sphere that trapped all the misty fog, leaving nothing outside, then as if nothing occurred, it returned to its original position, slowly rotating. The Earth Spirit had already seen the strange cube and the orb but he didn''t think much of them. He thought they were some precious soul-protecting artifacts but those won''t work if the assailants are residing the target''s soul already, just like him. The turn of events surprised the spirit and irritated, he swung the sword again, sending a denser yellow fog, however, the results were exactly the same. The cube would turn into a sphere that surrounds the fog and trap it inside then it will shrink to its normal appearance. The Spirit could feel nothing from the cube, no form of energy or danger, it wasn''t hostile against him and merely protected Arthur''s soul. Since attacking the main chains didn''t work, the earth spirit shifted his focus back to the ones trapping him, he slashed the sword at the chains cutting countless of them and shattering numerous Death Seals but it still wasn''t working as those cut would be instantaneously replaced. "Damnable chains! You won''t be able to stop me from escaping!" The freed arm of the Spirit let go of the bronze sword, which dispersed into a yellow light and vanished, then the hand opened into a palm emanating a crazy amount of yellow light. The starry sky of the consciousness was wholly illuminated by this light, even Arthur''s soul, which was the main source of light in this place, was negligible in comparison to the bright light being emitted by the Spirit''s palm. With Arthur''s current state, his connection with his consciousness was almost cut off so he wasn''t able to feel what''s happening right now. This is what motivated the Earth Spirit to act as it is a golden opportunity. If he were in his peak state, Arthur would be able to enter his consciousness and easily seal the freed arm back, however, the reality was different and the situation was dire. If the Spirit were to escape and roam free inside his consciousness, the consequences would be fatal and he would be killed easily, especially when he''s this weakened already. ''Spear of Terros!'' A spear made out of dirt and rocks appeared, it didn''t look powerful but its sheer size was mind-numbing. It was more than ten times the size of the spirit, who originally has a frame way bigger than normal humans. The spear''s sharp point was directed at the clustered chains, the bright palm was clenched into a fist, causing the humongous spear to strike the chains. Once struck, the chains vibrated and crackled loudly but after a few moments, they were unable to hold any longer and shattered, creating a large hole enough for the Earth Knight to get out. He still had few chains around his body but they were few and far between and weren''t enough to immobilize him, as far the Death Seals, they have long since been shattered, all of them. Delighted that he was finally out, the Earth Spirit stretched his other hand and was about to get out when a thin and long white chain made out of pure light penetrated his abdomen, pushing him back into that hole and nailing him with the other chains. The white chains disappeared right after but the damage it had done to the knight was by no means small. Obviously, the Earth Spirit was shocked by this, he looked up to the source of the white chain only to see a bright figure. With a golden sheath on his waist, a majestic silver armor that suited his role as a knight and a helmet protecting his head, it was none other than Curtis, the knight that had his soul merged with Arthur''s. "Who are you! You do not belong here!" Curtis looked at the angry Earth Spirit with calm eyes, he unsheathed his sword and said "Earth Spirit, I have always respected your Race. However, it''s a real shame to see a Spirit trespassing in someone else''s consciousness, trying to engulf itˇ­ what happened to the Spirit Race to stoop so low and resort to such meansˇ­ *sigh*" The Earth Spirit was momentarily startled but he soon calmed down and gazed at Curtis with cautiousness. Hearing talk sympathetically, he snorted and retorted "Hmpf! What do you know about us to run your mouth like that!" "I know many things. For example, how to extinguish your root and erase you from existence." Once he heard that, the Spirit started laughing loudly, as if he heard the biggest joke in his life "Hahahaha this is th-" Before he could finish, Curtis spat a mantra that floated in front of him. It flashed with five colors and was something incomprehensible, only understandable by the one who spat it and the Spirit, who stared at it, totally flabbergasted. "Y-youˇ­ who exactly are you!" "My identity doesn''t matter. This area is my domain and I''m its guardian, you better be obedient and not cause a ruckus." Curtis sheathed his sword and vanished, leaving the Earth Spirit fearful and dumbfounded. The only thing that snapped him out of his daze are the last words of Curtis "Remember well, I have more than one way to finish you. This is Arthur''s consciousness and not your playground, Earth Spirit." The Spirit remained silent for a long while before he obediently went back to the hole were the clustered chains were repairing themselves and wrapping around him, sealing him inside yet againˇ­ "Damnable chains! You won''t be able to stop me from escaping!" The freed arm of the Spirit let go of the bronze sword, which dispersed into a yellow light and vanished, then the hand opened into a palm emanating a crazy amount of yellow light. Chapter 236 - 191 : The Holy Dominion "Teacher, why are you hiding your true Realm?" When the pain finally subdued by a bit and only the Mental Exhaustion remained, Arthur breathed a sigh of relief and was planning for a bit more then depart but Jian Si was as resilient as ever, questioning him after cultivating for ten hours straight. Arthur suffered a ten-hour long pain and it is one the worst nights he experienced since his reincarnation. "What did I say about personal questions? Are you actually dumb or what?" This time, Cold Sword didn''t glare at him or anything of the sort, she just closed her eyes again and returned to cultivating. Her plan to consistently ask him similar questions until he gives up, however, it doesn''t seem to be working too well as nothing was answered. She was feeling irritated but she didn''t show it lest he changes his mind, which may be an unfortunate thing for her as she''ll be the one getting the short end of the stick since he has nothing to lose. ˇ­ In the blink of an eye, three more hours passed, the agonizing pain has almost disappeared so Arthur decided it''s time to depart to the city. He couldn''t overuse powerful skills but he can more or less defend himself if they were attacked. "Let''s go." He retrieved the body of the woman he used inside the tomb, possessed it with great effort then changed in a more appropriate attire. The chains were well-hidden, there were no signs of injuries except the slightly pale face due to possessing a corpse when he''s still mentally injured. Amidel and co knew the woman and not his real appearance, moreover, the Kang Family leader saw him fight with the old man so he would recognize him if he went with his real appearance. When he finished dealing with his appearance, he took out the Dark Cloud, he hopped on it and left, without waiting for Jian Si, who looked at him with a strange look, she literally saw Arthur transform into a black whirlpool which soon became a woman. She was curious about how he changes appearance, even the aura seemed different, which was all thanks to the Ethereal state that Arthur just activated. Secret techniques that change this appearance this much are priceless and scarce in the world, even in all the Cloud Sea universe, so the girl speculated that he may be from a very powerful background, possibly from a High-Realm. Not getting her countless questions answered and seeing him leave just like that, she harrumphed and followed right after. One was sitting on a Dark Cloud and the other behind, standing on a large flying sword, the duo headed for the city with a decent speed. They met a lot of cultivators roaming the area, either leaving the city or curiously checking the destroyed land. North-West of the city, there existed a forest that was no more. A jet black land, consumed by Dark Magic, withered plants and an enormous abyss that spanned for several hundred kilometers. It''s as if a big meteor had crashed here, extinguishing all lives and corrupting the land. Very soon, Jian Si and Arthur arrived at the city gates, they were stopped by the guards which quickly let them in when they saw the black-haired girl, who is rather famous in every corner of the world. Even for people who never saw her, they''re able to recognize her almost immediately by the covered sword on her back, the expressionless face and the murderous aura emanating from her. It didn''t take long before they arrived before the Kang Castle, where they were stopped by the guards yet again. Before the guards went to check, three figures arrived with one of them welcoming them with a friendly smile. It was none other than the Kang siblings and Swain, who looked at Jian Si with a piercing glare. The girl stared back at him, unfazed by the bloodthirst he was directing at her, after a while, she looked away, not wanting to bother with him. "Welcome back, Miss." As enthusiastic as ever, Kithel welcome Arthur with a polite bow. He glanced at Jian Si and waved his hand in greeting, clearly not as respectful as he is toward Arthur. Jian Si didn''t mind and only remained silent, just like usual, which was something the young man didn''t mind at all since his eyes were locked onto Arthur, creeping the latter a lot. "Yes, I''m back." "Hey hey, why is your cultivation lower?" Emily glared at Arthur suspiciously, still not having a positive opinion about him. She immediately that the woman who her brother was attracted to was different than usual, not only did was she weaker, her face was pale. "It''s nothing, I was poisoned and had to use a lot of Blood Essence to get rid of it, it''s nothing special." The little girl didn''t quite believe Arthur but she didn''t insist, she stared at him with a weird look as if she thought that all his words were lies. As for Kithel, he looked at the woman with a worried look and said "Poisoned? We have a good alchemist, maybe he can see what''s the problem." "It''s nothing, I''m alright right now, I just need a bit of rest, that''s all." "Then, please let me guide you to your room." At this point, Kithel was no different than a servant or a guide, but it''s not like he minded that. As long as he passed time with Arthur then he''ll be content. "That''s not necessary, I''ll stay with Swain." ''Since when does a master stay in the same room as his servant?'' That''s what Kithel wanted to say but he restrained himself, he let out a helpless smile and proceeded in leading both the red-haired youth and the woman to their room. His father wanted to talk with Arthur but that could be scheduled after he had rested. Jian Si also followed them but Kithel didn''t pay too much attention to her, she was a woman so he didn''t consider her as much as love rival as Swain, which is rather funny since Arthur''s servant and the two of them were men, however, the young man didn''t know that, fortunatelyˇ­ If he were to know that Arthur is a man, or that he''s already married, the look on his face would be hilarious, or so thought Arthur. Soon enough, Kithel and Emily led them to Swain''s room then they departed after Swain refused to hang out with the little girl, saying that he needs to talk with his master first. With a pouting face and an angry stomp, the girl left with her brother, who was also unwilling to part with Arthur. "A man has never seen such a shameless girl, where are thou going?" Swain stopped Jian Si from entering the room, not bothering to hide his killing intent. He noticed the poor state of his master and the dangerous killing intent around her so he thought that she''s partially evolved. He was certain that a person of her strong can''t reduce Arthur to this poor state but her coming with him is suspicious. "I go wherever I want." Cold Sword saw this youth a couple of times and knew he was dangerous but seeing his young appearance, she guessed that he''s younger, so she became angry when a kid was talking rudely to her. Arthur could badmouth her all day yet she won''t retort since he''s good with words and he''s way stronger than her, moreover, he became her teacher recently, however, for such a kid to disrespect her too crossed her limits. If not for the presence of Arthur, who forbade her of acting recklessly and angrily attacking anyone who annoys her, she would have cut this red-haired youth into pieces. "She''s not an enemy, do not mind her." Hearing Arthur talk, Swain nodded a did a low bow to Jian Si, as if welcoming her. "Master, who were these guys?" Swain dived into the main problem, wanting to know who wanted to eliminate Arthur to the point of sending a Sovereign and a small group of Peak Gods. "I don''t know exactly. They mentioned the Holy Echelon, do you know anything about them?" The two pupils of the youth pulsated with a dim red-light before it soon disappeared. "The Holy Echelon, The Holy Order. Righteous Knights of light, just and pure, always helping the weak and purify the evil, that how they proclaim themselves to be. They are a strong power in The Cloud Sea universe and their power even stretch to the other two universes, although it''s lacking compared to the mainland." Jian Si joined the conversation out of nowhere and said "I''ve heard about them too, they participate in taking important decisions in the council yet they don''t help when a crisis arrives. They oppose every faction associated with any form of evil energy and slaughter them all while giving the world a simple excuse, the opinions about them are varied but as far as I have seen, most people fear them but do not respect or admire their causes." Arthur has always hated such people, on Astria it was also the same. The Holy Church must''ve been part of them a long time ago until Astria became an abandoned world. "The Holy Order managed the political power, as for the Holy Echelon, it represents the military strength, where the real strength of the Holy Dominion lies." Arthur remembered the old man and his strong strength and techniques then said "Then, that old man must be from the Holy Echelon." Swain nodded in confirmation and said "Most likely. I don''t know how they managed to locate you but if they did once, they can do it twice. Fortunately, it''ll take some time before they do so, not until they''re sure of the death of the group they previously sent to hunt you." Chapter 237 - 192 : Tes Arthur and Swain talked about a few more things while the girl waited at the side, listening to them and trying to figure something out but it was useless since they were speaking in a general way, saying no names or anything that she can take a hint from. It wasn''t until Swain mentioned a certain name that her interest was lit up. "Master, if Miss Lucy sees you with a girl, she''ll be angry." Lucy is known for excessive jealousy, if Arthur talks to another woman then she''ll immediately become jealous. He''ll not only be ditched, she would also treat that woman with hate, as if she will kill her just for talking to her husband. So what Swain said was totally true, if Lucy saw him with another woman, it''ll be his funeral followed right after by Jian Si''s. Cold Sword was stubborn, so was Lucy, if the two met and with Lucy''s provocative attitude toward other women around her husband, a fight would surely break out. Just thinking about it made Arthur sweat, still, he would prefer Lucy being her and getting angry over her being absent and not being able to talk to her. "Hahaha I bet she will, but do not worry, she''s just my student." Although he was still not content with Jian Si''s presence, Swain nodded and nervously said "Master, please don''t involve me when that happens, a man doesn''t want to suffer from Miss Lucy''s wrath." Lucy never met him, but they''ll surely meet and knowing that he''s Arthur servant and he let this happen, he''ll suffer from her scolding some way or another. In fact, Swain was happy that he wasn''t a female lest Lucy kills him, she wouldn''t let another female residing with Arthur all day long, protecting him and talking to him more than her. Although Lucy is overprotective and easily gets jealous, Arthur loved that side of her since she becomes pretty cute when she''s pouting and angry, but that only applies to him, for other people, they would only see her as a cold-blooded woman with an indifferent attitude and an expressionless face. On the side, Jian Si held back her urge to ask about Lucy as she knows she won''t be answered, but she had some speculations from their previous talk. Arthur reminisced about Lucy for a short time before he looked at Jian Si and shook his head as if denying something. Although they were a bit similar, he felt no attraction whatsoever to this girl or any other women, excluding Lucy, of course. Jian Si was a beauty but her murderous aura made everybody else see her as a slaughtering monster, not as a beautiful girl. Arthur could see the girl''s beauty, that didn''t change his opinion about her. They say appearance doesn''t matter but that not entirely true, for most people, at least. To say that he wasn''t attracted to Lucy''s beauty would be a big lie, but the reason he fell for her isn''t her exterior appearance but what''s inside, the pain she felt, the suffering she endured and the connected fates they had. She was a person who experienced tragedies like him, someone who could understand his thoughts more than any person in this world, he really could not think of a life without her. "You want me to teach you, right?" Arthur''s words excited Jian Si, who was eagerly waiting for him to teach her his style, maybe she could learn a thing or two or even gain an enlightenment. His style wasn''t entirely like hers but it was similar, in more than a way, so it''s beneficial for her if she experiences it in a closer look. The girl nodded her head in confirmation so Arthur resumed "It''s easy, you just have to injure him. One time is enough." He pointed at the quiet Swain, who stood near the door, guarding with his eyes closed. Confused at first, the girl looked at the short youth with a frown then she retorted "How does fighting him will help me? I can kill him in a few moves." Arthur grinned and replied: "Hohoho, kill him in a few moves. Did you hear that, Swain?" "A may says, nothing is more dangerous in this world than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." There was nothing to be said about this remark, Swain doesn''t even take Jian Si seriously. She may be strong for someone her age and amongst all the talented juniors, however, she pales in comparison to him. He originates from the Book of the Damned, not only that, he''s the fusion of the golem and the book, his strength is unfathomable and if he were to go all-out, he would be able to defeat Peak Gods. "Hmpf! A kid dares to act arrogantly before me! It''s a waste of time to fight you." Still calm and unaffected by being called a kid, Swain didn''t bother retorting, he merely smiled and remained silent. Seeing that Jian Si was getting heated up, Arthur said "I didn''t force you to come here. This is just a test, I can''t make anyone my student, if you can''t even pass this test, then don''t bother coming back here. Actions speak louder than words, you say you can kill him in a few moves, if so, then go ahead and do so." Jian Si resolutely held her sword, ready to attack only to be stopped by Arthur, who reprimanded her "Are you crazy? This is a room and not arena, go find somewhere else to fight, I need to rest." Cold Sword bit her lips, she couldn''t even count how many times she had been insulted today, it''s definitely a first for a person like her. Swain held the opened the door and waited for her leave first. The girl snorted and left with her longsword in hand, as for the youth, he bowed at Arthur and left. When the room became empty, Arthur laid on the large bed and closed his eyes, not even entering meditation. He had a strong urge to sleep, the mental exhaustion weighed on his mind and his numb limbs made his movements rather sluggish. With Lucy''s picture in his mind, and the sound of his daughter''s laugh, he entered a deep sleep. ˇ­ Swain and Jian Si soon found a large courtyard inside the Kang Castle. The guards were already informed about the new guests so they didn''t bother them, only standing guard and doing their job. With some distance separating the two parties, they stood opposed to each other. Jian Si held the longsword, ready to swing at the youth, as for Swain, he neither took a weapon nor did he even open his eyes, clearly not taking this fight seriously. "A man doesn''t have all day, thou may begin." He raised his hand, indicating for her to attack, which she did right away. With a thick murderous aura and an overwhelming momentum, she leaped at him similar to a tiger hunting its helpless prey. The black sword came diving down at the youth from above, who in response only raised his right hand to meet the incoming attack. A red aura enveloped the sword, adding to its bloodthirst and increasing its power, however, this attack which can eradicate a Divine Being was easily stopped by Swain''s hand. The bare hand collided with the sword, absorbing the Energy and force behind it, rendering it weak. He then waved his right hand, pushing the sword and its user away from him. "Thou said a few moves? A few moves it shall be, then." The youth suddenly appeared in front of Jian Si, who was still trying to stabilize her body due to being pushed by the opponent''s hand. The right hand, which had absorbed the previous attack''s energy, had transformed into an old rotten hand that emitted thick blood aura and a dangerous Death Energy. The palm hit the girl, sending her flying until she crashed into a far away wall, surprising the spectating guards. Chapter 238 - 193 : Locked Ring When Arthur opened his eyes from his deep sleep, he felt unusually refreshed. His body felt unburdened and his mind was free from the stress and exhaustion he was feeling before sleeping. He dreamed of nothing, just complete darkness yet no nightmares occurred, which was a fortunate thing. His body obeyed his every command, no more sluggishness or numbness, he could move freely, he totally recovered from the fight against the Sovereign, which made him delighted and a bit relaxed since in this state, he wouldn''t be afraid of sudden enemy attacks. He sat cross-legged to do a more thorough check, he needed to make sure there were no lingering wounds that that did not fully recover, after all, the backlash he suffered from the overuse of skills and the injuries he sustained against the old man were not something that could be easily recovered from, or so thought Arthur. Surprisingly, his body was unscathed, in a flawless state. In fact, he felt energetic and in high-spirits, as if a heavy weight has been lifted off his shoulders. Arthur speculated that he had slept for more than he expected, that''s the only reason that explains why his body was healthy again, nonetheless, this was a joyous matter, so he didn''t bother thinking about it too much. He retrieved the lifeless body of the old man and proceeded to possess it as the stats he''ll gain from the deceased elder would be by no means a meager amount. He transformed into a small black whirlpool that soon entered the old man''s body and took control over it, taking its previous stats, skills, and talent. You have Successfully possessed Rozak (Race: Human). You have gained a new skill[Passive][Holy Resistance]: +50% . The Dark Magic of the user overpowers the Holy Magic : -25% Holy Resistance. You have gained a new skill[Active][Holy Arts: Sixth Chapter: Golden Nova]: Summons a temporary Holy Entity that aids the user in battle. The entity''s stats are 120% stronger than the user Cost: 300m Mental Power. Cooldown: 1 minute. WARNING: There is a chance that the summoned entity will attack the user. You have gained a new skillˇ­ ˇ­ As usual, Arthur ended up gaining all the skills and techniques of the old man, including his precious stats. The chains around his body became hot for a couple of seconds before they returned to normal, this must''ve been due to the sudden increase in stats. As he felt the immense strength surging him, Arthur eagerly opened his Status Window to see the improvement. TITLE: MEAT GRINDER / SEEKER OF KNOWLEDGE / ONE WITH THE SWORD / ARK HOLDER / LIVE WITH HONOR, DIE WITH GLORY -- Level: ?? Class: Dark ARK Parasite Realm: Divine Realm 3rd Grade - Strength: 725.5M Intelligence: 877.1M Agility: 701.2M Wisdom: 827M Vitality: 599.7M Dexterity: 584.9M - Health: 850.7M // Health Regen: 282490/s Nether Energy: 900.4M // Nether Energy Regen: 299512/s Mana: 781.1M // Mana Regen: 345571/s Stamina: Infinite /Stamina Regen: ??? ----- Creation: 273 Attack: 889M (+65% Damage) Defense: 698M (+25% Damage Reduction) Magic Defense: 218.4M Soul Defense: 5,000 -- Enigma abilities : Telekinesis / Ancient Threads / Sixth sense / ARK(Activated) Mental Power: 6999 --- Elemental Resistances(+) Fire: 100% Darkness: 100% Wind: 35% Water: 75% Earth: 75% Light/holy: 30% Shadow: 30% Lightning: 100% Ice: 30% --- Death Count: 1 (2 more to obtain ''Unbound'') --- Possessions (472,012) Races: ?Humans (282,991) ?Demons (84,997) ?Beasts (+)(101,528) ?Unique Beasts (2498) ?Mythical beings (1) ***** Arthur was delighted when he saw the new stats, the old man apparently had a high amount of Intelligence and Wisdom, as expected of a Holy Magic user. From the way he fought and his long-ranged attacks, Arthur had already guessed that he resembled a mage more than a melee fighter, which is why the stats related to the physical body didn''t increase as much as the other two. Nonetheless, the power-up was a joyous event, if he could fight the Sovereign again, he was certain that he could put up a better fight, without resorting to forbidden skills that drop his Realm. However, he wasn''t completely sure of victory, sure, his stats increased as the whole power of the old man belonged to him, but these were only numbers, it all depends on the fighters and the way you fight, how you use the skills and when. He already possessed the body of the Peak God which he managed to grab in the middle of the battle, as for the remaining ones, they were both invalid. From the number of stats he gained, Arthur speculated that Sovereigns do not rely on stats, they do not have the system, neither do they have as much stats as he expected in the past. They rely on their high Mental Power and their strong skills, moreover, they are able to fuse with their God Spirit, which is strong just by itself. It''s a shame that Arthur only gains a small percentage of the Mental Power of the corpses he possesses, which is why he only leveled up to the Peak of the Divine Realm, unable to break through to the God Realm. He obtained a few powerful skills that belonged to the Holy Arts, they cost a lot and his control over the Holy Attribute isn''t perfect so he decided to put them to the aside unless he faces an enemy who uses an attribute that is weak against Holy Magic, nevertheless, it''s better to have the Holy Arts as it is one more thing he can use in times of desperation, it''s never bad to add increase his already large arsenal of skills. After doing a thorough look at the skills he gained, he took out Sol''khin''s cane to test it out. Whenever he powers up by a lot, he always takes it out for a test. It''s a mysterious cane he found near Zodiak''s body. The origin and use of this cane had always been something that intrigued Arthur, no matter what he tried, he couldn''t activate it, even the system didn''t mention its uses, it just displayed its name. First, he tried injecting some Mana into it but nothing happened. Nether Energy didn''t have any effect too, so he tried Dark Mana, he used one million Dark Mana in one fell swoop. At last, he felt a slight connection so he put ten times more Dark Mana, an almost nonexistent purple light was emitted from the skeletal head at the top of it. Arthur yet again added a bigger amount of Dark Mana, however, nothing occurred. Besides that small purple light that could barely be seen, there was no reaction from the cane. Even the light would disappear after a few seconds if he doesn''t keep a constant supply of Dark Mana. Arthur didn''t waste much time on it, he stored away the cane for another time since it requires an absurd amount of Dark Mana to use, or so he guessed. Furthermore, he''s not entirely safe here, he just woke up and recovered to his peak state, he doesn''t want to waste all his Dark Mana to see what are the uses of this cane, at least not in this time and place. The next thing he did was check the storage rings he got from the Spatial Master and the Sovereign. There was also the woman accompanying the old man, the one he possessed earlier. ˇ­ Ten minutes later, Arthur was smirking as he held two weird stones in his hand. They were two Dimensional Stones he found in the Master''s storage. There was a bunch of pills and miscellaneous stuff that he didn''t inspect thoroughly as they were of no use for him. He also found a decent amount of Green and Red Spirit Stones from the Peak God''s storage. The only ring he wasn''t able to open was the Sovereign''s. Whenever he injected Mana to inspect it, he was met with some sort of a formation that blocked his Sense and Nether Energy. Seeing this obstruction, Arthur pointed his index finger at the ring and shot a streak of black lightning from it. Demonic Lightning is efficient in dealing with illusion, barriers, formations, and arrays. As long as his Intelligence was high enough, everything is breakable. Plus, with over 850m Intelligence, not being to break through the formation protecting what''s inside the wrong is illogical. Small thread-like black lightning streaks twirled around the silver ring similar to a snake trying to suffocate its prey. In a few seconds, the ring became jet black, covered by the Demonic Lightning, Arthur saw no results so he added the intensity. This time, he pointed his palm and shot a thick bolt of lightning. In nature, the Demonic Lightning does no physical damage even if it hit a normal object, so he wasn''t afraid of destroying the room, nonetheless, he used this much lightning because he needed to open this ring. A Sovereign is apowerful and respectable entity, surely that ring contains desirable treasures and artifacts that may be useful for him in future fights. Chapter 239 - 194 : Signs Finally, after spending a whole minute bombarding the black ring with thick bolts of Demonic Lightning, a sound similar to broken lock was heard. Arthur dispersed the lightning and injected Nether Energy inside, trying to see if it''s open or not. As he had guessed, the Demonic Lightning did its job marvelously, shattering whatever formation was protecting the storage ring. Soon, his consciousness delved deep into the ring, seeing what''s inside and having free will to do anything with the objects residing within it. Arthur hoped he would find other Dimensional Stones, however, it wasn''t that easy to obtain them. The only reason the Spatial Master had two of them was due to his old age and his nonstop traveling, which allowed him to venture in all kinds of environments and worlds, making him able to get his hands on such precious stones. As expected of a Sovereign, his storage ring had the largest space from all the storages Arthur had seen since his reincarnation, except for Zodiak''s, of course. Zodiak''s storage ring was unimaginably big, to the point of making one''s mind totally numb. It''s too vast and has countless things, stuff that Arthur didn''t understand their uses even with the System''s help. Inside Rozak''s ring, there were a few books about the Holy Arts. There was even a book mentioning how to train the 8th Chapter of the Holy Arts, a skill Arthur hasn''t obtained, as for the rest? They were useless to him since he gained the old man''s skills thanks to his Racial ability. Nonetheless, he wasn''t going to throw them away, they''ll be stored in his sect yet to be made library. He had an immense variety of techniques, to just let them accumulate dust in his storage would be a waste so he decided to give them to Anastassia, who''ll take care of them and put them on display for the disciples, so they become more motivated to obtain them. Some techniques will be kept in secret and only for important individuals of the sect, but these are few and far between. Arthur didn''t want to be stingy and he wanted to build a good home for his daughter and wife, moreover, he doesn''t have a use for most of his treasures, so it''s better to keep them in the treasury of the MoonStar Sect. Amongst all the things Rozak had, Arthur found an emblem that probably indicated his Rank. It was still active as it emanated a small white light and had a dense amount of Holy Magic stored inside. ''I could certainly use this.'' With the body of the old man and this emblem, he would be able to cover his tracks for quite a while before he''s discovered. The bodies inside the storage won''t rot yet Arthur still used his Ice Magic to freeze the whole corpse. The old man is injured but if he were to possess him, he would be able to heal those wounds in a short time. Just like the other two rings, he found artifacts and various Holy-related weapons and after a bit more searching, he found a special inner armor that was very useful. It could be worn under the robe or a normal armor and it''s exactly what Arthur needed. He had a few armors in his storage but most of them were weak and would be destroyed with one blow from Gods. Vindicator of Wonders(3rd Grade Heavenly Rank): +10% Defense / +1% Dexterity Special effect: +5% Holy Resistance The items that add a percentage of the stats are very rare. Moreover, if this inner armor could be upgraded, its effect will increase too. 10% may not seem a lot, but Arthur''s defense is sky high, around the 700 million, so 10% is more or less 70m. That''s more than any armor Arthur got, what more, it''s comfortable and is not a heavy armor, which is a bonus for Arthur, who doesn''t like a full suit of heavy armor covering from head to toe. ˇ­ Arthur wore the armor and it fit perfectly in the woman''s body. The amount of Holy Resistance it added was meager, however, it''s still better than nothing, even if it reduces 1% of the incoming attack, Arthur would still wear it. When everything was thoroughly checked, his condition in its peak and his mind no longer burdened, Arthur prepared to leave the luxurious room, which he had been asleep in for god knows how long, when someone barged into the room with a sour mood and an annoyed expression. It was none other than Jian Si, who had a disheveled appearance, messy hair and dust all over her white face, she was visibly injured but nothing too serious. "If it weren''t for your absorption ability, I would have killed you a thousand times!" Jian Si protested, clearly displeased about what happened moments ago. Swain soon entered the room, he was unscathed and in a particularly good mood, he looked at the girl and retorted "Ever heard of ''Win without boasting. Lose without excuse''?" In response to him, the girl snorted and looked away only to see a mature woman standing in front of her. She was too angry and preoccupied with the previous battle that she didn''t notice her teacher, who had finally woken up. Unlike the crazy girl, Swain immediately noticed Arthur as he previously felt it when his master woke up from the ten-day long sleep. "It seems you two are getting along, that''s good to see." The girl snorted, sat in a nearby chair and crossed her arms, still in a bad mood. "Hmpf! I managed to injure him more than one time, so I passed the test." Arthur looked at Swain to confirm what she said only to see the latter shrugging and raising in helplessness while adding "A man has never seen such a suicidal girl. She managed to injure me at the fifth fight." Arthur nodded and retrieved Makaze from his storage, throwing him at the startled Jian Si, who unconsciously cut the sharp blade. The dark katana wasn''t very pleased in being held by another person, it vibrated intensely with dark flames on its edges. "As promised, I''ll be your teacher for a while, but I have urgent matters in this period, so maybe another time. Nevertheless, I''ll show my swordstyle and you can inspect my blade but be careful, it isn''t the docile type." Makaze is rather aggressive to everyone but Arthur, even Lucy can only hold it and not wield it and that''s only thanks to the Soul bind. Arthur looked at the curious Jian Si, who tried her best to hold the katana and didn''t let go despite the unwilling Makaze. After ten days, the dark blade also recovered from the fight, it was no longer weakened and seemed to be as healthy as its master. "Master, a lot of things happened when you were resting. The Fate has been decided and the disaster is unavoidable." Swain talked with a serious tone, different from his usual uncaring attitude. "What do you mean?" "The day you started resting, exactly at midnight, a tiger howl reverberated in the whole world, alarming all its inhabitants." Arthur frowned and asked "A tiger? Did a sleeping beast awaken after my fight with that Sovereign?" Swain shook his head and answered with a bitterness "Unfortunately, it is far worse. After exactly a day from the tiger howl, a screech similar to a phoenix resounded in all corners of the world, and it''s not just this middle-Realm, but in all the Realm and planets. This, however, was but the beginningˇ­ on the third day, same time, a deep growl that brought creepy chills with it was heard. The fourth and final day, a mighty dragon cry freaked all the population of the universe." Arthur was also surprised by this turn of events, especially when he heard that these sounds were heard in all the words. Whoever was doing this must be a powerful and mighty individual. Swain paused for a split second before he continued talking "These are signs, the same ones as ten thousand years ago. The catastrophe that befell on this Universe, the same one that caused rivers of blood, never before seen destruction and chaos that angered the Heavens and opposed fate." Chapter 240 - 195 : The Catastrophe ''The Catastrophe?'' Arthur didn''t expect to hear about it so soon. He read and heard about it on Astria, the four Divine Beasts which attacked the small world and caused a lot of destruction but not enough to push all the races into extinction. Zodiak mentioned that every world was attacked, but the power of the four Divine Beasts in every Realm varied. It depends on who''s residing in that world, it''s like an automatically prepared system that fixes the power of the invaders to match the overall power of the world. For example, the Underworld, which could barely be considered a Medium-Realm is called a High-Realm because the behemoth is living there, and its strength is enough to raise the rank of the Realm. Moreover, when the catastrophe fell upon it, the strength of the Divine Beasts was unimaginable, far stronger than what attacked normal Medium-Realms. It isn''t a confirmed speculation, but Zodiak guessed that the existence of one strong being in a small world could potentially raise the power of the beasts. So, for example, if a Sovereign is residing on Astria when it occurs, the power of the Divine Beasts that attack it will be drastically increased to match the Sovereign, if not stronger. When he thought of this, Arthur started worrying. Astria has no strong individuals, however, it has something unique, something that could cause its destruction. It was none other than the young World Tree that Zodiak hid there. He doesn''t know how powerful it is, but the Divine Beasts will surely not be easy to deal with, which made him feel a sense of urgency and uneasiness. "When will it happen?" "Many confirmed that''ll happen in three months butˇ­ a man is sure that in two months, those beasts will start their invasion." Arthur frowned and questioned again "Two months? Why are you so sure?" "A man can see the shadow of Death cloaking this land. It is even possible that this time will be different and the defending party will be the one losing." The origin of the Divine Beasts has always been a mystery, they just arrived from nowhere and started destroying and killing everybody, the weak were not spared and strong who tried resisting ended up perishing in the end too. There are many strong planets and Realms which were unscathed by this attack, however, that''s only thanks to the union of the strong factions and the ancient and powerful individuals that participated in that fight. The Divine Planet is a good example, the biggest planet in the Cloud Sea Universe and the most powerful in terms of factions. It remained undamaged by the attack, which only lasted a few hours before the Divine Beasts were either pushed off or killed. Astria, on the other side, wasn''t so lucky. One of the reasons the Forgotten continent wasn''t remembered anymore is because of that event, the beasts focused on that continent specifically, it was even forcefully pushed away from the rest, rendering it absent from the history books of Astria and long forgotten by its inhabitants as only a few old beings have knowledge of it. "Master, the strings of fate have changed, we must improvise." Swain knew how his master thought, Astria is Lucy''s original home and his too. Despite the fact that she had a tragic childhood there, she still held affection toward it as it''s a place where she met Arthur. He was also wasn''t willing to let the Divine Beasts rampage there, his sect and friends were there. The problem was, he doesn''t know if they''ll attack the four big lands or the forgotten continent, it''ll be better if they focused on the latter, but that''s just wishful thinking from his part. "What are our chances against them?" Arthur asked Swain, who seemed to be knowledgeable about these Divine Beasts. "Hard to tellˇ­ a man reckons that we''re, by far, weaker than them. It wouldn''t even be a fight since they''ll be really strong due toˇ­ you know what." ''World Tree *sigh*'' "I can ask some of the elders of my sect to help you." Jian Si, who stopped inspecting Makaze and focused on their conversation, spoke after hearing that. In response, Arthur shook his head and retorted "No need, having strangers come to my home is more dangerous." Surprisingly, Swain didn''t agree with Arthur this time. "Master, a man thinks that we could use all the help we can getˇ­ they are no mere beasts, even a single one of them is disgustingly strong, much less the four together." "No, we''ll deal with it ourselves." Arthur was still against getting external help. Astria is a cast out world and it has many mysteries. If they discover the World Tree and its true origin, it would really be a disaster to the whole world and at that time, even he, won''t be able to stop all the strong individuals who will raid his home, after all, he''s but one person. "But Masterˇ­" "Enough!" Arthur shouted at Swain, making him stop insisting and bow politely. The red-haired youth closed his eyes and remained standing next to Arthur, like an obedient servant. He looked at Jian Si and ordered "You, study those notes in meantimes and go back to your sect." He retrieved a dozen or so notes and books which have useful things about swordsmanship which could help her breakthrough to the God Realm. Jian Si showed an unwilling expression as if she wasn''t pleased with his decision. She didn''t think much of the catastrophe as the Green-Leaf world is the strongest Medium-Realm in all the Universe and it''s incredibly big so there is very little chance that her sect will suffer, it''ll only send a few elders to aid those in need. Before she could think of something to say to make him change his mind, Arthur took out two paintings he drew before coming to this world, he showed them to Jian Si and added: "These are two people I''m looking out. You''re going to help me find them, the boy is your senior brother, he''s my first student." Syth wasn''t an official student of Arthur as he only trained him a few times, however, he considered that kid a student of his, he was diligent and hard-working, what''s more, he was talented in wielding swords. As for his sister, although they had some grudges at first, she properly apologized to him and Lucy especially. She wasn''t a bad person, she was a princess so she became a bit arrogant but after what happened with Arthur, she became quite docile and obedient. These two siblings were the only people he needs to look for, they disappeared when the Emperor''s castle was raided by Bucama''s underlings. They were missing ever since and apparently, they weren''t abducted by the factions in this wasteland else they would have been found by Gutcha, who has a wide network across all this area yet he found no information about them, not even a little clue. "Hmpf! I only respect those stronger than myself!" Cold Sword became even more irritated when she discovered that she had a senior brother. She wasn''t the person to bow to those weaker than her. "It''s true that he''s weaker than you, much weaker, in fact. Nonetheless, he came before you and he''s considered your Senior. If you want to remain as my student, you better get rid of that high and mighty attitude, I hate it." Jian Si gritted her teeth and didn''t retort, mainly because she''ll burst out in anger if she started talking. "Did anything happen while I was asleep?" "Except the signs of the incoming doom, nothing too important. Though, Kang Amidel wishes to talk to you." Arthur nodded and prepared to leave when Jian Si couldn''t hold it any longer, she grabbed his shoulder and said "Wait! You didn''t even show me your sword style. You promised me, right?" Arthur shrugged her hands off and said in a cold tone "Firstly, don''t ever touch me again. Secondly, I promised to show you but I didn''t specify when, so you''ll have to wait. I have much more important matters to take care of." The girl''s face flushed red, he showed a disgusted expression when she touched him which angered her. It''s as if he was touched by some filth and not a prodigious person like her, it was really a shameful matter. She guessed that he must have a problem with all people, then again, he doesn''t act like this with Kithel or Emily, but the truth she doesn''t know is that Arthur doesn''t want to touch or be touched by other women. It''s not like Lucy, who literally can''t touch men except for him, but he just finds it unpleasant and disgusting, moreover, he doesn''t want to hurt Lucy, although she wasn''t here right now. She hates it when other women touch him so he promised to try and not touch them while she''s absent and he''ll uphold this promise the best he can. Chapter 241 - 196 : News Just as Arthur was leaving his room, a servant of the Kang Family arrived at the door''s room, he was accompanied by a familiar figure. The servant bowed respectfully, leaving the excited Gutcha standing there. The ugly-looking pigolo immediately recognized, who stared back at him with a furrowed brow. He didn''t expect Gutcha to come here, it''s also surprising to see him able to come here without being stopped or chased off by the guards. "It seems your connections are wide." Arthur praised the pigolo, who rubbed his hands and couldn''t contain himself. "Hahaha boss, this is nothingˇ­ I just said I''m your servant and they immediately welcomed me hahahaha" Arthur knew it wasn''t that easy, not just anyone could claim to be his servant and be let in, if that works then everyone would use such a simple method. He waved his hand dismissively and said "Now, get on with it. Why are you here?" "A-ah! Boss! I finally found the kid!" Finally hearing some good news, Arthur nodded and signaled for the pigolo to continue "That boy is quite tenacious. I''ve heard that he''s been captured as a slave but managed to escape and somehow enter a sect." "Which sect?" "Water Cloud Sect." Arthur grinned and waved his hand to Swain, who understood his master''s intentions. He lifted his palm and did a few hand seals which summoned a red coffin out of nowhere. The coffin opened the second it appeared, revealing an unconscious Kai Min, the genius of the Water Cloud Sect, who was captured by Arthur when they were inside the Main Palace. "Oh! Isn''t that the boy from t..t-the-" Gutcha was flabbergasted as he saw Kai Min, usually, he would look up to young masters such as Kai Min, but here he is looking at the unconscious boy, totally helpless and in a difficult position. He felt happy to see the arrogant kid suffer a bit but he was curious about how this young man was captured under the noses of the Gods protecting him. "How is he doing?" Gutcha shook his head in disappointment and answered "Sadly, I couldn''t get accurate information about that. However, I''m sure he''s staying there as an Outer Disciple." "What about his sister?" Gutcha looked around, afraid of others hearing him and when he noticed Jian Si behind Arthur, his smiling froze and his body stiffened. Arthur patted his shoulders and reassured him, telling him that she''s a friend. Although his boss said she''s just a friend, Gutcha was wary of people like her and couldn''t help but start sweating. With a low voice, he replied to Arthur: "Unclear, a lot of sources say that she''s been to multiple placesˇ­ moreover, she seems to be traveling with an old woman who is apparently a God. The last time she was seen was a fair distance from a dragon''s nest." "A dragon?" Dragons are an ancient race, feared by many due to their unimaginable strength. They live for a very long time and they usually do not interfere in matters between sects, as long as nobody angers them, they''ll remain passive. "Yes, that''s the other matter I wanted to inform you about. The nest belongs to a Spatial Dragon, It''s one of the types of Geo Dragons. I''ve heard that it''s injured so many people go there to attempt their chance but if you ask meˇ­ it''s suicidal, Gods are nothing for fully matured dragons, they''ll just become nourishment for the beast." "Is she going to the dragon nest with that old women?" "I''m not sure, but they seem to be looking for something specific, else why would they travel to all corners of this world if not so. At first, I thought she may be looking for her brother but that''s unlikely, with the help of the old women, finding him isn''t that hard, especially when he''s in a famous sect." "Any idea who that old woman might be? Or why would she travel with Lisa?" Gutcha took out an old yellow paper with a symbol drawn on it. He handed it to Arthur and added: "This is all I could get about that elder. She wears a robe with a symbol on it and my sources managed to, more or less, draw it." Arthur took a careful look at the symbol but it wasn''t familiar at all. He showed it to Swain and Jian Si but they both were clueless too. Seeing that no one recognized it, Gutcha spoke "I know almost every famous sect in the Green-Leaf World, at least those who have Gods residing in themˇ­ yet none use such a symbol." Arthur nodded at Gutcha and waved his hand, causing a creepy looking detonator to come out from the pigolo''s body. Gutcha was startled and didn''t dare move, afraid that he''d die, only when the detonator was absorbed in his boss'' hand did he breathe a sigh of relief. "Since you provided me with enough information to find these two kids and helped me in my plans, you are free to go, as I have promised." Not feeling the strange sensation anymore as if he was separated from Death by a thin thread that could be ruptured at any second, Gutcha felt relieved and free. Although he was delighted to be freed from the detonator, he still wanted to work for Arthur as it was not a risky job and it''s very rewarding. The number of treasures that was given to him by his boss last time was more than he expected, it''s enough for a lifetime. "B-boss, I still want to work for you." Arthur expected such a response, so he instantly replied "Alright, you can continue gathering information about Lisa''s whereabouts. Try to find what this symbol means too." He handed the yellow paper back to Gutcha. He doesn''t need to keep it since he memorized it the moment he saw it, and the pigolo probably needs it more than he does as maybe it''s the only copy he does, or so thought Arthur. He turned toward Jian Si and said "You know where your Senior brother is, you should depart immediately and take him with you to your sect. I reckon it isn''t hard to get him out of there with your status, right?" With crossed arms and an angry expression, Jian Si replied "Hmpf! Of course." Arthur motioned for her to go and departed from his room, ignoring the glare he was getting from her. Gutcha took Kai Min and left right after, which only left Swain accompanying Arthur. "Master, be careful, Kang Amidel knows about your true identity." Arthur was going to meet the head of the Kang Family since the latter wanted to privately talk with him for quite some time, he was just occupied with the incoming catastrophe. Swain said that he could see the shadow of death spreading on this land which means that one of the four Divine Beats or all of them will definitely attack this wasteland, this is a good piece of information Arthur could use if things go south. "It doesn''t matter. We have no grudges between each other and If I''m not wrong, he''s going to request for my help." Swain wasn''t convinced and didn''t think it was a good idea to trust Amidel or cooperate with him. He had met the man a few times but he would feel unusually uncomfortable around him. "Still, please be careful." Arthur looked dumbly at Swain and retorted "What are you saying, Swain? I''m always careful." Hearing his master''s words, Swain sighed and continued following Arthur while preparing himself. If worse comes to worse, he''ll do everything he could to get his master out of this place, it''s difficult but doable if he were to go all out. ''Ah! Masterˇ­ I wouldn''t say you''re careful but foolishly in love, so much that you''ll choose suicidal ways to reach who you seek.'' Chapter 242 - 197 : Kang Amidel After taking several turns and walking for a few minutes, the master and servant finally arrived at a large room with a dining table. Arthur expected to see the usual room with pillars and a throne but it was surprisingly different and less luxurious than his expectations. Amidel was not there, only a few servants which were preparing the table. When they saw a woman and the red-haired youth arrived, they guided them to their seat and left hurriedly to call their master. All servants were instructed to call Amidel when they see Arthur, this shows how much the head of the family wants to meet this mysterious woman. Arthur calmly sat on the seat, he stared at all the laid out dishes in front of him, it''s been quite a while since he ate, especially delicious food. Although he doesn''t need to eat, it doesn''t mean he doesn''t want to, he loves enjoying the taste of appetizing food, notably Lucy''s cooking. Swain stood behind his master, he closed his eyes and prepared himself to act, he wasn''t feeling relaxed like Arthur, quite the opposite, he considered Amidel as an enemy despite having a friendly relationship with his daughter. "You don''t have to be this nervous. Sit down." Arthur noticed that Swain''s aura is a bit different as if it was intentionally contained within. Similar to how Rizaki works, the energy is contracted to a very small volume until it self-explodes. The reason Arthur wasn''t that worried despite knowing that Amidel is a Sovereign and a dangerous one at that is because he not only recovered to his peak state, he powered-up and had three Dimensional Stones which he can use and get the hell out of here before the opponent could react. "If you don''t calm down, I''ll separate you." Swain opened his eyes and glanced at the ceiling while saying "Master, you don''t understand. This Kang Amidel isn''t humanˇ­ I don''t know if he''s taking the identity of Kang Amidel or not but he''s dangerous, way more than Rozak. One Rizaki wouldn''t be enough to force him on his knees." Arthur was about to talk when Swain continued speaking "As for escaping, it isn''t possible. The castle is protected by a multi-dimensional formation, thanks to it, the castle was barely damaged by your final attack." It''s true that a lot of mysteries revolved around Amidel, but Arthur didn''t care the least. He chuckled and patted the youth''s shoulder and said "Ah Swainˇ­ you really know nothing. If I want to go all out and disregard all the innocent lives, not even Amidel will be able to survive. Furthermore, Rizaki isn''t my only trump card and it''s not my strongest move." Hearing this, Swain remembered the time before he fused, when he was two entities, the golem, and the book. Back inside the cave, before Artur departed, he spent almost a whole day crafting something yet he never used, however, there was a distinct thing that happened, it was a small tribulation. This was intriguing since the object was mainly crafted using Lost Magic, which can mainly craft objects from Earth and they have no Nether Energy. A tribulation strikes an item or an object if the Heavens are discontent with it and want it destroyed. If the object resists the tribulation, the Heavens can either strike with more tribulations or stop. "Master, what did you craft?" Hearing the curious tone of his servant, Arthur shrugged and said "Nothing special, just a small gift for my wife." Swain decided to question this no further, Arthur wasn''t going to answer him anyway, so why bother? ˇ­ A short time later, the hosts arrived at last. It was none other than Kang Amidel and his two children, none of the elders came with them, just these three. Emily happily sat next to Swain, as for Kithel, he respectfully sat next to Arthur. Only Amidel sat on the opposite side of Arthur, he was showing a friendly and welcoming smile and didn''t seem to be worried about anything. "It''s a pleasure to finally meet you." Amidel''s eyes never left Arthur, he didn''t even spare a glance to Swain, who prepared himself for the worst and decide to aim for Emily and not Amidel in case a fight breaks out. They were friends but the importance of his master far out weights his friendship with this girl, he would do anything that assures the safety of his master. "The pleasure is all mine." Arthur stared back at Amidel and felt surprised at what he was seeing, the appraisal wasn''t accurate this time. What gave out Amidel''s true identity was [Eyes of the Noble Sea], he didn''t show his surprise and maintained a calm expression but this discovery confirmed what Swain said previously. For the next few minutes, no one talked, they just enjoyed the lavish and luscious food. Only Emily would talk with Swain, who would only nod his head in response. This continued until all dishes were emptied, the only one who didn''t touch his food was Amidel. He would sip from a special wine and merely glance at Arthur every now and then. "I hope you enjoyed the food, it was made by a well-known cook and it provides significant aid in cultivation and meditation." "It was delicious, thank you. Let''s talk about serious stuff, right now." Arthur didn''t want to stay here all day, he wanted to know what Amidel needs from him. It surely wasn''t just about the Treasury Event, someone like Amidel wouldn''t care too much about that albeit the fact that many previous artifacts were stolen. The Kang Family had another big Treasury situated inside the castle, it was much bigger than the one Arthur had stolen from and it definitely had priceless treasures that the ones Arthur got couldn''t compare to. "To be honest, Miss, the first time I saw you, I didn''t recognize you but after a thorough investigation, I managed to find a few things that might surprise you." "So you just invited me here to tell me you found a few clues about my identity?" Amidel heartily laughed and shook his head: "No no, you''re wrongˇ­ Mr. Arthur, I''ve found more than a few clues." This surprised Kithel more than Arthur himself, who expected his identity to be found, it wasn''t difficult to piece things up, what''s weird, however, is how he discovered his real name. He never mentioned it to anyone, moreover, he expected Amidel to just find out that he''s the one who fought Rozak, not his real name. Although Kithel had many questions he wanted to ask, he felt confused and cheated yet he didn''t explode in anger, he remained silent and merely listened to their conversation for he knew he was in no place to butt in right now. "As I said, if you called me here to say that you know who am I, then it''s really a waste of time." Arthur was about to stand up and leave the table when Amidel spoke a few words that made Arthur remain seated "Mr. Arthur, I''ve heard that you always travel with another personˇ­ what''s her name again?ˇ­ Ah! It''s Lucy, right?" Usually, Arthur would become angry if someone mentions Lucy yet this time, he wasn''t. He smirked and retorted "I thought the head of the Kang Family was bold and welcoming yet all I''m seeing is a cowardly man who isn''t brave enough to come with his real bodyˇ­ if you have one, that is." This time, it was Amidel who was shocked, he stared at Arthur with a chilling look for a few seconds before he smiled again and clapped his hands as if praising Arthur. "What gave me out?" Arthur''s eyes turned blue as he stared at Amidel, this made the latter feel as if he was naked in front of Arthur, as if he was seen through the moment he appeared before the other party. "Nothing gave you out. One look is enough for me to see what you areˇ­ just pure Nether Energy, you have no heart, no blood veins, nothingˇ­ you''re not humanˇ­ you''re here yet everywhere, you''re the whole cityˇ­ am I right, Sir Amidel?" Amidel didn''t expect to be seen through this much, he thought Arthur just guessed that this was some sort of a clone, but to be discovered this easily, it made him wary of this seemingly harmless woman who is hiding a true monster inside of her. Chapter 243 - 198 : Threa "You know, Mr. Arthur, I see something new every day, however, in all the years I have lived, I have never seen someone like you." When Amidel said that, it was as if he was mocking his own ignorance, he smiled wryly and continued "What makes people afraid is the unknown, some would fear what they don''t know more than an evil existence that is infamous all over the Universe. I''ve heard many stories about you but in each and every one of them, you''re another person, you use different powers. It''s impossible for them to recognize you but I can, you can hide in a vessel but the ominous magic that you frequently use is engraved deep into your bones, Dantian, and even your soul. Just staring at its source makes me want to stay away from itˇ­ if I could call it something then it''ll surely be ''Pure Evil''." In response to this, Arthur laughed and retorted "Evil? Then, tell me Amidel, what''s truly evil? Murder? Theft? Because there is a lot of powers which do that all the time then pretend nothing happened when in truth, they slaughtered a bunch of innocent bystanders to keep a secret or for a lame excuse." Arthur waved his hand, storing the woman''s body and revealing his true body. His left eye pulsated with grey light at it stared at Amidel. "For me, there is no evil nor kindness, everyone, except a few people, are my enemies. People keep standing in my way so I have no choice but to kill, kill until the last one of my enemies is dead, no one will be left alive, even a crippled mortal who can''t even move a finger. No mercy for the young or old, no one shall be spared if they obstruct the path to achieve my goals." With a nonchalant look as he inspected Arthur''s true appearance, Amidel said "What is your goal exactly?" "Very simple, a peaceful life butˇ­ that can''t happen unless I get rid of all the nuisances in my life. I say, Amidel, it''s time for you to choose a side. Fighting is all I do every day, I do not mind if an extra person is added to the enemy ranks." Amidel wasn''t particularly pleased to see that Arthur seemed to be underestimating him, he frowned and increased his aura, trying to overwhelm Arthur and show him that he isn''t some random enemy that could be killed easily. Arthur remained calm, he didn''t budge even after the aura surrounded him from all direction. He lightly lifted his index finger and said "That is an old trick, Amidel, unsuited for a Sovereign, don''t you say? I prefer the direct tricks, like this one." He moved his index finger a bit more and at that moment, countless dark threads appeared all over the table. Most of them were rendering Kithel and Emily unable to move, one move from his finger could behead them. The threads didn''t use Nether Energy and if he concentrates enough, it''s easy to make them unnoticeable by Amidel, especially if he uses Spatial Magic. Once he saw this, Amidel''s pupils contracted, he was about to get up and act when Arthur shook his head and added "That''s unwise, Amidelˇ­ unless you do not have feelings for your children and do not care about their livesˇ­ if that''s the case, then please, let me help you get rid of them. It''s a shame for your prodigious daughter to die miserably like this but that''s how life is, ups and downs." With somewhat a dark look on his face, Amidel stated "I''ve heard that you do not attack the innocent, it seems my sources were totally wrong. From an equal person to another, there exists honor but it seems you do not care about that eitherˇ­" "Honor? I don''t think you''ll choose a thing such as ''Honor'' instead of your childrenˇ­ I''m just like you, I will do anything to save my family, including killing the innocent and resorting to all kinds of evil things, even if it means the death of everyone, I would do it without batting an eye as long as my family is safe and sound." Emily and Kithel, who were dumbfounded by this sudden turn of events, were frozen, unable to lift a finger or talk. Kithel was in a much worse case since he just discovered that the woman he liked was fake and it turned to be an evil person, the same grey-haired man who was fighting that old man outside of the city. Emily was confused too, she couldn''t believe she was caught so easily. She considered herself a genius and was confident in her power, even against someone like Swain, she was certain she could fight him equally yet here she is trapped by some thin threads that she couldn''t move even after unleashing her Nether Energy, which was consumed by the dark threads that contained Dark Magic. "What do you want?" Seeing his two kids trapped, Amidel couldn''t act. He knew how powerful Arthur and despite him being made pure of Energy and he was able to teleport within the range of the city, he wasn''t confident in freeing them from Arthur''s grasp in time. Amidel was fully aware of Arthur''s strange teleporting ability, it can be used multiple times and it''s even faster than his, it happens to abruptly and without any warning, by the time he teleports, the other party would have sensed him. Arthur''s skill [Eyes of the Noble Sea] are extremely useful in such situation, for entities like Amidel, which are made from only Energy, any sudden fluctuation or change would be seen by Arthur, which gave him a huge advantage. "What I want? You''re the one who invited me here." "I called you here to request help from you." Amidel didn''t waste time with words and said his true motives directly. "Help? With wha-...ah!" Arthur knew that Kang Amidel didn''t want to risk it, he wanted to take precautions against the incoming catastrophe. ''He must have forced the three other factions to unite.'' Although he didn''t know if one of the Divine Beasts will attack this place, there''s still a small chance that''ll happen, and he didn''t want to be negligent, which is part of the reason he wanted to invite Arthur and ask him to stay. With two Sovereigns, they have more chance to overcome the disaster, if it came, that is. "I''ll be blunt, I''m not going to help you. However, I can give you a very, very precious piece of information. What do you say, Amidel?" Still seated, Amidel furrowed his brow and looked at Arthur, trying to see through him but he was unable to do so as he was met with a cold smile from the other party. "Surely, you won''t tell me that piece of information without getting something from me."(Amidel) Arthur clapped his hands and added "You''ll owe me a favorˇ­ see, I didn''t ask the impossible." Normally, Amidel would think things through and see if it''s worth it for him, but right now, he could only agree as his kids'' lives are in Arthur''s hands. Amidel ended up nodding his head to show his acceptance. However, Arthur wasn''t done yet, he stretched his hand upwards and conjured a jet black talisman that emitted an ominous and uncomfortable aura. Black flames burned the talisman as it floated in the air, slowly approaching Amidel. "I can''t take your word for it, I need to be sure that you''ll not go back on your words later, so this is necessary. If you resist it, I''ll take it as a refusal, alright, Sir Amidel?" Amidel showed an expressionless face as he watched the talisman enter his body and disperse into a dark fog that invaded every part of him. The energy that he was made of, became mixed with the dark fog, giving him a very uncomfortable feeling, he also felt a bit weakened as if this fog was eating way his energy. "Now that everything was taken care of, I guess I should tell you. One of the Divine Beast will definitely attack this placeˇ­ don''t ask me how I know it, instead, go prepare yourself to fight because it''s going to be a bloodbath in here." When he finished his sentence, Arthur and Swain disappeared from the dining room, leaving a pale-faced Kithel, a confused Emily and a slightly angry yet surprised Amidel. Chapter 244 - 199 : Returning "Blood red eyes, is he a royal vampire, dad?" When the two of them left, Emily started questioning her father, curious about the strange color of Arthur''s eyes. "Although a royal vampire is strong, he''s not this absurdly powerful to fight with a Sovereign while he''s at the Divine Realm." Kithel sat there, dazed, still unable to believe what just happened. Only after a long while did he silently leave the dining room, leaving his sister and father alone. "Then what is he? I''ve never read a Race which has such strange eyesˇ­ especially the gray pupils." Amidel shook his head and added: "He may be doing it on purpose to mislead us, trying to find out his true Race is impossible. However, we know where his true home isˇ­ an abandoned small-world cast out in the corner of the Universe. I was surprised to hear about its existence but from my sources, I came to know that there is an interesting tree existing there, maybe I should give it a visit." "We should focus on the catastrophe, dad." Amidel stood up and walked to his daughter as he looked at her with pride. He patted her head and said "You''re right, even I, am not sure if I could beat him outside of the city. We should put more priority on the catastrophe, if what he said is true, then we should fully prepare ourselves because it''s not going to be an easy fight." "Why don''t we call for help from outside?" Amidel burst out in laughter when he heard his daughter''s words, he rubbed her head, messing her hair in the process and replied "What help? This is a wasteland, no one cares about this place, they only come here once in a while to check on things." The girl sighed and remained silent, knowing that her father''s words were true. She is expected to be the head of the family, however, she lacks a lot of experience which is why her father let her join important family meetings. ˇ­ "In this life, you can only care about your family. The rest is not your business, their life and death are irrelevant to you." As they were heading to the Pigolo territory, Arthur murmured that out of the blue, which left Swain confused. "Master, each person has their own rules to follow. Some care about others more themselves, they would sacrifice their lovers to save thousands of innocent lives." Arthur chuckled and retorted "Well, if you ask meˇ­ these people are straight out idiots. What humanitarian services, what honor or justice, none of that matters if you''re going to end up alone. Those crowds that cheer for you are not admiring you but your powers, your actions, they would do the same thing if it was another person who acted the same way you did whereas, a person who''s important you will follow you till the end, whether your strong or not." Arthur halted mid-air and stared at Swain dead in the eyes while seriously saying "I dare you to look at me and say that you''ve never had someone important in your life. I dare you to say that you forgot about that person, I dare you to say that you''ll not sacrifice anything and anyone to get that person back!" Swain looked at Arthur and didn''t utter a single word, he couldn''t deny Arthur''s words so all he could do was keep his mouth shut. "I''m fully aware that you are not just a fusion of some golem and a book, I do not know the full backstory, but no one magic or fusion could create a living being with real feelings, it''s not something that can be created but born with." Arthur ended the conversation with that last sentence and proceeded in his journey along with the silentSwain. They were heading to the teleportation array situated in the Pigolo''s territory so they can go back to Astria. Arthur had no more important business here and he urgently needs to go back to check on how things have been there and make sure if the catastrophe signs were heard there too or not. After traveling for a while, Arthur possessed the Colonel''s body when they entered the enemy''s territory. Swain ended his fusion and hid on Arthur''s waist, as a book, the golem was stored inside it. Their path wasn''t obstructed by anyone and they smoothly teleported to Astria using the device he had gotten from Gutcha a long time ago. Their destination was the dark and gloomy cave under the imperial city of the demons. Arthur looked around only to see the familiar wall of plants that he created as a protection, it was pretty effective and its vines were alive and poisonous, however, compared to the wall he created around his sect''s territory, this one is considerably weaker. Arthur didn''t linger there and headed directly to the castle of the Demon Lord. He needed to talk with her about many matters, one of them being the incoming disaster. He hoped that the signs weren''t heard and Astria is spared from the invasion, however, that was rather unlikely since this world was also attacked ten thousand years ago. He didn''t want to waste time and bother with the guards, who most likely do not know his true identity, so he bypassed them and spread his sense, searching for Taliya''s little sister, the Demon Lord. It was currently midday, so the Demon Lord was peacefully eating with her family, unfortunately, the calm atmosphere around the table was broken when a grey-haired man appeared out of nowhere, freaking out the guards stationed not far away. Even the prince was surprised to the point of falling out his chair, hurting his butt. Only the princess remained calm as she recognized Arthur with just a glance. Alina was sitting next to Lucas, the youth who she met on the Green-Leaf World. They became quite close despite him being too hot-headed and overprotective. "If it isn''t Sir Arthur." The first one to talk was the Demon Lord, she sized up Arthur and felt that he was much stronger but as usual, she couldn''t see through him and knew that she too weak to be able to fathom his strength. "I see that you''re not very anxious, I take it the situation isn''t that dangerous?" Arthur was confused when he first saw them eating peacefully while joking as if nothing is going to happen, but that was rather unlikely, they must be following a custom or simple at ease, not paying too much attention to the signs. The guards raised their spears and were going to attack but before the Demon Lord could signal them to stop, Arthur waved his hand, teleporting himself, the Demon Lord, Alina, and Lucas to a secret room. The very same room he met Taylia and the real Demon Lord in, the big sister of the lord wasn''t here so he guessed that she must be staying in his sect, along with Anastassia and Jackob. With his new Spatial Mastery, Arthur is able to perform teleportation similar to [Faster Than Death] but a bit slower. Its range is bigger than [Faster Than Death] and he could teleport more than one person with him. The only downside to this trick is that it''s only useful in lower-Realms, such as Astria, as there is not a strong restriction on his power. For example, his overall prowess in a Medium-Ream is weakened by 20% if not more, however, that doesn''t only affect him but everyone else too. This is why people coming from a higher-Realm are always stronger than the one in here, despite being at the same cultivation Realm. The range of this teleportation is short in the Green-leaf World, but on Astria, he could teleport large distances. He was even able to build teleportation arrays, which he''ll certainly do. He needs to be able to travel between the continents faster than just flying from one point to another. It usually doesn''t take a lot of time but a trip of one second is much shorter than a trip of two hours. "Is Sir Arthur done with his business on the other world?" The silver-haired woman stared at Arthur, trying to read his expression but the latter was literally expressionless, not even smiling. "No, more urgent matters occurred and I think someone of your status and power exactly knows what I''m talking about." Chapter 245 Small Annoucement. @@ Now now, before you feel disappointed, there is a chapter just after this one, don''t worry. If you do not wish to know why I didn''t post, feel free to skip this, I''m not forcing anyone but I just want to explain why I didn''t post for a whole week. The thing is, I had a serious infection in my tooth, (due to a cavity that I was too lazy to remove), this caused swollen cheeks and extreme and unpleasant pain which rendered me unable to write. The infection started right when Eid began and where I live, there are no dentists open at the Eid, unfortunately, so I had to wait until three days later, where I did a very small surgery to remove the infection and REMOVE the whole damned teeth to get rid of any future problems. I just got back yesterday and wanted to take a day off to rest for a bit. I apologize for the lack of content but I was helpless too. Beginning from now, I''ll return to regular updates and try my best to write a chapter every day. Anyways, enjoy the chapter and good night.@@ Chapter 246 - 200 : The Truth "I''ve only heard stories about the catastrophe, I would never have thought that it''ll come so soon." The Demon Lord spoke with a worried tone, it was clear she didn''t know what to do in such a situation. Her power alone is not enough to protect her people from the Divine Beasts. She looked at the ash-haired man and resumed: "The elves from the East and even the Holy Church contacted me, they want to form an alliance to fight the invadersˇ­ I have yet to reply to them." "What about the place? Do you have any idea where will they strike?" Arthur wanted to know that piece of information the most. He already sent Swain to investigate the four continents and see which one is doomed, which one has the shadow of death looming over it. He knew that Swain''s ways are weird to many people but it is genuine and the most efficient one, he only asked the Demon Lord to not waste time, if they knew where it''ll happen, it''ll save him some time. This time, the princess talked, she shook her head and said: "Unfortunately, we don''t know which continent will be attacked. In the previous catastrophe, all the continents were attacked with the Eastern one suffering the least, followed by ours then the central continent." ''This explains why the Western Continent is so deserted and dead. Not only did many wars occur there, the Divine Beasts also attacked it, rendering it almost uninhabitable.'' "Nonetheless, we began our preparation and started evacuating citizens to safer places prepared by our ancestors. Sir Arthur, only your sect hasn''t contacted us, it is strangely quiet lately and with all the things that had happened, we didn''t have time pay a visit." The Demon Lord kept a respectful attitude, she knew that acting bossy around Arthur will do her no good, even her big sister failed in her act and became obedient, much less her. "I''m as clueless as you guys, I''ll stay here for a few days and wait until my servant have scavenged the four lands. He''ll tell me where they''ll strike so I''ll tell you too so you can choose a wiser place to hide." The princess along with her mother bowed to Arthur, showing their sincere gratitude. This wasn''t a simple matter and bowing means nothing in comparison to their race''s survival. As a ruler, the Demon Lord wanted to prevent the extinction of her kin and ensure their wellbeing, so knowing where the four Divine Beasts will "Thank you, Sir Arthur!" Arthur waved his hand nonchalantly and replied "No need, this world is my home too." The small meeting lasted for only a short period of time, Arthur disappeared after uttering those words, leaving only the princess, Lucas, and the Queen. For the rest of the day, Arthur went to that cave deep underground and entered the ARK to test a few things. [Thousand Waves] is his most powerful skill if he''s able to finish it all, unfortunately, even after possessing Rozak, the Sovereign, he still isn''t able to unleash its full potential. Not only that, the skill consumes a mind-numbing amount of Nether Energy, the amount is literally doubled if he were to use pure Mana. The safest choice is Dark Mana, but then again, it''ll take a bit more time to unleash the successive waves if he used Dark Mana since it takes a couple of milliseconds to transform Pure Mana into Dark Mana. One more problem Arthur faces is multicasting, it is barely doable, however, it is very taxing to the mind. To unleash two skills at the same time could give him a humongous advantage in the midst of a battle but that comes at a great cost and if he were to use it successively, the backlash would be so heavy that''ll either drive him mad or kill him. [Blood for Blood] allows him to use the same strong skill over and over again but that''s not multicasting. The ancient mages of Astria were able to do such a thing but that''s only after chanting for several seconds, which is something Arthur won''t do since a few seconds is more than enough for the enemy to finish him. Arthur first thought it''s due to his low amount of Mental Power or his Realm but that''s rather unlikely. The problem is most likely talent and nothing else. Like those inborn prodigies who could cast without chanting on Astria, he was born as a normal Human. Maybe his inborn talent followed him after his reincarnation and even after possessing thousands of bodies and obtaining their talent too, it just wasn''t enough. Mayhap multicasting requires one''s own talent and the one he ''borrowed'' from others. Arthur remembered the words of his copy inside of the ARK and concluded that a time will arrive where his Racial abilities will be useless. A time where only his talent matters, his dedication, and hard work, not the powerful skills that he gained from elsewhere. He tried very hard since his reincarnation, but apparently not hard enough, not like Lucy who cultivates every day, who''s also very talented. For example, she could fuse two opposite attributes, which is something one else could do, not only that, she has a special Yin body that strengthens her physically. By no means did he feel jealous of her, in fact, he was joyous that she grows strong every passing day. However, what Arthur does not want is to become a burden to her, that he becomes unable to protect her and Saly. He knows for sure that if he continues like this, a tragic thing will happen sooner or later, he knows that he needs to find an alternative way, something that can boost his own talent and power. ˇ­ Inside the endless white space, with Makaze in his hand, Arthur panted heavily as his aura weakened and the ancient flames vanished as if they were never there. This space could not be damaged no matter how powerful the skill he uses is, even Rizaki would do nothing. As he pondered over a solution to his dilemma, Arthur heard a clapping sound and knew it was none other than his copy, which appeared behind him, showing the usual friendly smile. "I have to say, that''s a powerful sword skill, I would definitely rank it in my top five." Arthur remained silent, not wanting to waste words with his copy. The copy stared deeply at Arthur for some time before he said "The Azure Dragon of the East, The Vermillion Bird of the South, The White Tiger of the West, and the Black Turtle of the North, the four Divine Beasts that are known by everyone since ancient time, their myth is everlasting and their story is unforgettable. What do you think, Arthur, are you prepared to fight them, or are you going to bring your people and flee from this place?" Arthur looked at his black katana in a daze and replied with a bitter tone "I don''t knowˇ­" "You''re a fan of numbers, aren''t you? So, do you want to know the percentage of your win if you were to fight against them?" Arthur was intrigued, he lifted his head and looked at his copy, expecting the latter to continue. "No more than one percent. Your sword skills, powerful techniques, and all your trump cards won''t let you break through the threshold of one percent." Hearing this, Arthur frowned but didn''t retort. He heard that the Divine Beasts are strong and their power scale with the overall strength of the world they''re attacking. With the existence of the World Tree and himself, of course, the invaders won''t be mere Gods. Chapter 247 - 201 : Three Paths "Can I win?" Arthur asked the question that was bothering him the most. He didn''t want to enter a suicidal battle, however, he didn''t want to run away and abandon his home. This was the place he met Lucy and Saly, apart from this small world, he had no world to return to. He loathed Earth and didn''t want to live the rest of his life there. Raising his daughter there may be better in a lot of ways but she would grow up in a better environment if she lives on Astria. She wasn''t human and there''s bound to be racism and mocking, her strength doesn''t matter as they would talk behind her back, moreover, the little girl has suffered more than enough already, he wanted nothing but happiness for her and Lucy. "Win? The numbers say otherwise. Arthur, do you believe in numbers or in yourself? Do you think you''re capable of chasing them off? If your lover was here, the percentage of your win will rise significantlyˇ­ unfortunately, she''s not here and you''re on your own." Arthur stood there, not knowing what to do or say, this lame copy of his did a good job at demoralizing him, but it has told him undeniable facts too. "On your own, there''s no way you can win but you could unite every strong person to fight with you. I would call them meat shields as they won''t be able to injure the beasts, then again, I know for a fact that you won''t resort to such a ruthless pathˇ­ no matter how heartless you may be, sacrificing thousands of lives to ensure the safety of a world is not something you would do." "Then tell me what do you want me to do? Run away after all the things we''ve built here? After getting rid of the Holy Church and stopping the warˇ­ should I just turn my back and let things beˇ­ let this world be destroyed? Should I tuck my tails between my legs and find another world to build a home for my family and friends? Is running away the only option I have?" (Arthur) The copy remained silent for a few seconds then clapped his hands, somehow changing the endless space into an old dirt road. The road led to three different paths, one was littered with blood and bones, the second was of a peaceful valley full of greenery. As for the last, it led to complete darkness, the end couldn''t be seen as the view was shrouded with darkness after only a few meters from the crossroad. "I never said this was the only option. Fate exists but the person is the one who decides how his life goes on, I''m merely laying out the options for you, it''s up to you to decide." Arthur contemplated the three paths, he only focused on the last one, which was shrouded in complete darkness. "What is the last one?" The copy also stared at the last path and replied "The easiest yet most dangerous option. Theoretically, it''s doable but I never tried it. It''s about restarting from the very beginning." Arthur glared at his copy, clearly displeased that it was only revealing half the truth as if being cryptic or mysterious on purpose. The copy shrugged and ignored Arthur''s glare while he resumed "Delete all your skills, destroy your cultivation. You will basically become the same person you were on Earth, physically. It sounds crazy but that''s not the most difficult part, what''s hard is what comes after that, I have designed a special program inside the ARK, if you follow it by the letter and make use of Zodiak''s powerful Dark Magic and only rely on that, the chance to win against the Divine Beasts will significantly rise." "The percentage of my win will rise but that will not guarantee my victory. I''m supposed to give up everything just for that?"(Arthur) "As I said, I''m only showing you the way. It''s up to you to choose, I''m not forcing you to do anything." Arthur didn''t reply and only stood there, ignoring his copy, seemingly lost in thoughts. A long time passed, the copy disappeared a while ago and there was only him, standing in front of three paths, each leading to different futures, varied outcomes, tragic consequences. After a long silence, Arthur caressed his ring and said "I''ll do what I have always done, create my own path, forge my own destiny. If death is what awaits for me, then that''s as far as I can go." Arthur thought his copy was gone for good but when he muttered those words, a figure appeared in front of him. "If you say soˇ­ however, I''m intrigued about something since a long time ago. Why aren''t you spending your skill points? You''ve been saving them for long enough, don''t you think so?" ˇ­ Before Arthur went to the Green-Leaf world, he did some blacksmithing and managed to craft an extremely strong weapon, probably stronger than his own blade, Makaze. He stored it away, planning to gift it to Lucy, as it suited and it was specifically crafted to match her skills and powers. Not only did he craft a masterpiece, he gained three skill points. Since reincarnation, he only gained one skill point that was invested in his fire abilities, improving them and granting him the explosive ancient flames. A skill point is hard to come by and is very, very beneficial to him if it''s invested in the right skill, especially if it''s a maxed one. If he were to use efficiently, the results would be phenomenal, take Dark Magic, for example, if he were to put all his available skill point on it, it''ll definitely become something extraordinary. What Arthur''s copy wanted to know is why Arthur hadn''t used them yet. His fight against Rozak would''ve been significantly easier. "You will see soonˇ­" Arthur didn''t provide an explanation, he left with those words, leaving his copy alone in the endless white space, wondering what Arthur was going to do. "Indeedˇ­ we really are not the same person." The copy disappeared after he muttered those words. ˇ­ Arthur meditated inside the dark cave while waiting for Swain to return. He doesn''t have his servant''s ability, so all he could is patiently wait for the youth''s return and hope for some good news. He didn''t cultivate and merely calmed his mind and thought about what to do, what his choice is going to be and how exactly will he proceed. Cultivating won''t increase his strength since he reached the peak of the Divine Realm and he needs to break through to the God Realm to boost his strength. Arthur was sure that he would be able to face against the Divine Beasts if he ascends to Godhood, however, it was easier said than done. He needs enlightenment to become a God, he can also possess a strong individual who has enough Mental Power for him to break through to the God Realm but the tricky thing is that this individual needs to be way stronger than Rozak, who Arthur was barely able to defeat and even that almost resulted in his deathˇ­ it wasn''t a pleasant thought, at least not one Arthur wanted to relive. Hours passed as Arthur sat there, he stopped meditating a while ago and started summoning Death Knights and Wraiths. No matter what his decision will be, he needs undead to help him secure a few things and protect some people, they cost a small amount of Mental Power; Furthermore, Mental Power regenerates after a while, so it was worth it, he also used Dark Mana to summon weaker undead such as Skeleton warriors and mages, they are weaker than Death Knights, as they only have a Lv ranging from 300 to 700, however, their usefulness is undeniable. A Lv700 skeleton may seem strong thanks to his high level but his intelligence is rock-bottom, it can also be killed by a person way weaker than it but Arthur believed in the concept of quantity over quality if it''s about the undead. One undead can''t beat an experienced Lv300 mage, but thirty undead could, same thing for a cultivator at the Spirit Realm. One Death Knight may find some difficulty, but three Death Knights will obliterate that cultivator. Arthur planned to create a whole legion of Undead to aid him in the approaching fight, not only as cannon fodder but to help his sect too and act as the first line of defense. Chapter 248 - 202.1: Upgrade 1 At last, after one whole day passed, Swain finally returned to Arthur. "How''s the situation?" Arthur questioned his servant without wasting time with pleasantries. He had been waiting for long enough and it was time to start acting, the other factions had already started their preparations, securing the citizens and bringing them to safe locations or even sending them to the Green-Leaf world with special means. They would do anything to continue their bloodline and ensure their survival, no matter the cost. "The Demon continent is clear, they won''t attack it. Same thing for the Wasteland in the West, the Itas continent is corrupted by an evil aura, very ominous but apart from that, there is not a sign of Death Energy lingering there." "That meansˇ­" Swain nodded and continued "Yes, it''s the central Continent, the home of the Humans. It has an incredibly dense amount of Death Energy, I''m certain that all the beasts will only attack itˇ­ it''ll be erased from the map, turned to ash or forcefully sank into the ocean." "Where exactly will they strike?" "All of it, they plan to devour it whole, leaving no trace of life. I''ve never seen such thick Death Energy clustered together." "Is there a chance they''ll attack the other continents once they are done with the Central one?" Swain shook his head and replied: "That, I''m not sure, however, my observations say that only the Human continent will be their primary, and most likely, the only target." Arthur nodded and waved his hand, teleporting himself, Swain and the undead army he summoned out of the cave. After sending Swain to tell the good news to the Demon Lord, Arthur abused the mass teleportation skill until he arrived on the Central Continent alongside his army. Arthur opened [Eyes of the Noble Sea] only to see a grey, almost illusory fog, everywhere. It could be seen as far his eyesight stretches. One of the reasons he didn''t use any of his available skill points is because he didn''t want to waste them. He already has powerful skills, so he never planned on spending them on his ancient flames or Dark Magic. Just like there is a chance that''ll transform them into a more powerful skill, there is a chance that nothing happens, perhaps this is their maximum power and they can be upgraded no more. One of the skills he wanted to invest a skill point on is [Eyes of the Noble Sea], it is a very unique skill that is very useful despite having no direct effect on the battle. Is allows him to see any form of energy, moreover, it made him able to see through Amidel and traps or formations that were put to block his path, just like the one in the Kang Treasury House. He needed to know where exactly will the Divine Beasts appear. [Eyes of the Noble Sea] already lets him see the form of the Death Energy, however, it is not as clear as Swain, it was kind of hazy and useless. Death Energy is usually colorless and formless, only special beings like Swain, which have a direct connection to Death can see it, as far normal cultivators, no one could see it even with inborn special eyes. [Eyes of the Noble Sea] is a skill he acquired from the corpse of the bone griffin in his storage. Apparently, Robin found it in a recently discovered mine North of the Eastern Continent. No one knows how it died and they could only store its connected bones as it had been a very long time since the Griffin died. Arthur often uses the Griffin''s body since it''s extremely powerful and it has a strong affinity with the ancient flames, so his fire-related skills are more powerful if he uses them when he''s possessing the bone beast. Now that the situation is critical, Arthur decided to try upgrading [Eyes of the Noble Sea], it may be a waste of a skill point to many, but he was certain that the result would be more than satisfactory. Furthermore, he still had two more skill points available in case his investment ended up being a complete failure. Are you sure you want to invest one Skill Point in [Eyes of the Noble Sea]? ''Yes.'' As Arthur answered the robotic voice belonging to the system, notifications started filling his view. You have successfully upgraded [Eyes of the Noble Sea] The skill [Eyes of the Noble Sea] has now become [The All Seeing Eyes] You have obtained a new skill: [The All Seeing Eyes](Passive): Lets the user see any kind of energy. Range and intensity depend on the intelligence stats of the user. *Able to see Formation: 35% to crack them. *Able to see arrays: 60% to break them. *Able to see illusion: 10% to shatter them. *Able to see any kind of barrier: +10% chance of breaking. +13.33% Affinity with Mana. +5% Affinity with Nether Energy. +9.99% Affinity with Dark Mana. *Able to see through transformation spells. *Able to see the real appearance of a Shapeshifter. *The Appraisal Skill now provide more detailed information on the target. *+10% Bonus Intelligence when the skill [The All Seeing Eyes] is active. ''As expected, it is not a simple skill and that beast is no mere Griffin.'' The skills he had gotten from the Griffin are very overpowered, not only did he obtain [Eyes of the Noble Sea], he also gained [Griffin''s Bloody Switch], which can change the outcome of the battle if he were to use it. He wanted to try it right now and see what will happen if his Agility break through one billion but he held himself back. The skill consumes permanent Mental Power and he wasn''t in a situation where he can recover them anytime he wants, the closer he is the God Realm, the better. Even 50 Mental Power is useful and should not be used wastefully. Chapter 249 - 202.2 : Upgrade 2 The new skill didn''t have any visual effect on the appearance of his eyes, unlike its predecessor. Arthur didn''t care about that, he was delighted to see the significant increase in the efficiency of the skill, once he activated it, he could clearly see the Death Energy. Not only that, he could also distinguish the Mana from the Death Energy, he could see farther than ever before and was able to witness the process of absorbing Mana. Small blue particles were entering his body, this was thanks to his high Mana recovery, which allowed him to recover more than he spends on the [All Seeing Eyes] Skill, which cost ten thousand Mana per second. It is barely 10%, if not less, of his Mana Regeneration, so he could permanently use this skill without losing anything. It sounded like a good thing but having it permanently active isn''t that good for everyday life, if it''s for fighting or investigating something, then it''s by no means useless, however, due to the dense intensity of Mana in the atmosphere and the different kinds of energy every person emits, it renders him unable to see the real appearance of people clear, in fact, it makes him see the energy inside of them, what type it is and in which condition. Arthur dispersed the undead army, sending them to all directions to evacuate all the people living on this continent, that''s their task. He sent a Death Knight with them as it''s the only undead that is able to talk, although not like a normal person... but it can speak a few words. He wasn''t going to force everyone out, after all, a person is responsible for one''s life, if they want to stay at their home, then it''s not Arthur''s business anymore. He was certain that after the Holy Church is warned about where the Divine Beasts will attack, they''ll flee and advise the inhabitants of the continent to leave too, they may not believe him but they surely will follow the Holy Church, as it is the only ruling power in this land. The Human Emperor died and his rule is over, the Holy Church doesn''t have a solid grip over the citizens but it is capable of doing a few things. ˇ­ Arthur spent two whole days to investigate every corner of the Central Continent, he wanted to find a unique location where the Death Energy is the thickest, alas, his search was deemed as a failure since the density of this ominous Energy was the same all over the land. The shadow of death was shrouding the whole land as if deciding its fate and it''s only a matter of time before it disappears completely, becoming part of the history. Right now, Arthur was in a very familiar town, it was still bustling with people. Merchants were setting their shops and selling whatever they had, blacksmithing hitting their hammer on the forge and crafting weapons, and nobles enjoying a delicious meal in their mansions. Willsden was the name of this town, the very first settlement Arthur visited after his reincarnation, it was also the place he met Lucy. Slavery became forbidden after the Bloody Day occurred, what Arthur dictated happened since the new Pope, who was the previous Archbishop is now ruling the Church, she has no choice but to obey Arthur''s orders. Whoever sells slaves or captures beastmen or Demons is now executed on the spot, with no trial whatsoever. The same thing applies for the other continents, the MoonStar sect has become a powerful faction on Astria and it has no adversaries. Even those reclusive clans and sects dare not provoke Arthur''s sect, not only does it have a powerful general, it also has Anastassia, who managed to reach the Deity Realm. With the new upgraded skill, Appraisal displayed more details about the target. It shows the strongest affinity the target has and what he or she is weak against. This is a huge boost for Arthur, instead of randomly throwing powerful skills, he can focus on one style if he knows what his enemies are vulnerable against. Of course, one enemy can be weak against many things, Appraisal only shows the strongest vulnerability. ''Appraisal!'' Carin(Race:Human): Lv2 Age : 28 Slashing : 100% Most humans, weak ones, at least, are weak against sharp things in general. Moreover, the percentage is higher if the target is much weaker than the user. As he roaming the small town, Arthur stumbled a group of young women. Although they were chatting and were in quite a good mood, he approached without being detected since he bent space to pass unnoticed. ''Time cures everything, I guessˇ­'' These women were part of a bigger group that was captured by the bandits back then. Arthur killed all the bandits without sparing anyone, he left right after. All the women and children there were either tortured or raped, a tragic fate, most of them couldn''t handle it and ended their lives but others decided to continue living. Here they are, after a few years, they started a new life full of happiness, with no bandits to threaten them and in a safe place, away from all the fights and wars. Willsden town was situated at the center of the continent, more or less, so there were no signs of war, moreover, there were no strong beasts lingering in the nearby forests. In more than a way, it was a peaceful and good place to live in. ˇ­ A few miles away from Willsden town, there was a river with greenery all around it, it was an open space with no trees, only a few deer, and boars that roamed the area, nothing too dangerous. Arthur sat near the river and contemplated an ant nest, he was lost in thought as he looked at those small creatures doing their best to survive, struggling to live when there are much stronger monsters out there. He laid on the ground and stared at the blue and clear sky, he was enjoying this moment of peace, this short period of silence before the storm comes. Chapter 250 - 203 : A Friend "Since you''re here, I''m guessing you''ve made your decision, right?" Inside the ARK, Arthur''s copy stood before him, looking at the grim yet serious expression of Arthur. Hearing no reply from the other party, the copy resumed talking: "I can tell you the worse has yet to come but you already know that, I can tell you that you''re going to lose but you''re aware of that too. Arthur ah!ˇ­ Arthur, you''ve become quite weak, so weak to the point of choosing such a path, one without a return, without a happy ending." Arthur still didn''t reply, he stared at his copy, who waved his hand, changing the endless space into something else, just like last time. The two of them were standing on the roof of a skyscraper. In the past, this was the headquarters of Arthur''s main company, it was situated in Seoul. Arthur passed most of his time in his office, managing his companies and doing his job as a CEO. "Tell me, Arthur, do you know why ''X'' chose you? There are trillions of people in the system''s Universe alone, so why choose you out of everyone, out of all those who suffered more than you? Those who fell into endless despair that you could never imagine. Have you ever wondered about that? Did you think you''re special? Or perhaps you thought it was just pure luck and nothing else? Reincarnation isn''t a simple thing, even for someone such as ''X'', only Fate is capable of reincarnating people, so ''X'' only had one chance and he chose to gamble on you, Arthur Bilgart, a human from Earthˇ­ betrayed, vulnerable, vengeful, angry, and so goes the long listˇ­ why is that?" Arthur wanted to reply but he couldn''t find the right words, there was no answer to such a question. "Let me clarify this for you, from ''X''s point of view, you were the perfect subject for his experiment, that''s it. As to why he thought you were the perfect subject, it''s because someone told him about you and ordered him to take care of you but ''X'' opposed that order and decided to use you instead." "Who''s this ''someone''?" The copy laughed heartily and said "A close friend of yours I would say. You will meet him, or more precisely, you''ll meet him again as you''ve met in the past. The concept of time is difficult to understand and hard to explain, timelines are interconnected so you''ll definitely meet him sometime in the near future, if you do not die, that is." "Does this friend have a name at least?" Arthur didn''t like how his copy was talking in puzzles, not spitting the truth straight out but circling around the subject as if purposely hiding the truth. "Knowing too much is a sin, don''t you know that? I can tell you something about him though, he''s known as ''The Nameless Knight''." Arthur tried to remember if he read or heard about this name before, alas, no matter how much he searched through his memories, he found no one with such a title or name, not even in Zodiak''s notes or books. The copy clapped his hands as if to wake up Arthur, then he resumed his long speech: "Let''s talk about your decision now, could you tell me why you chose that path?" "Astria is my home, I do not wish to see its destruction. I simply want for my family to live a peaceful life in this world." The copy let out a small chuckle then retorted with a scorning tone "Bullshit! That''s not the true reason. You could build a home in any other world, there exist millions of worlds that are devoid of fighting and wars and you know that too. Lucy wouldn''t insist on living here if it means risking your life. You are against fleeing because you know that those who will leave this world will be homeless, if Astria is obliterated by the beasts, all its citizens will either be killed or transported to another world, where they''ll perish too, one way or another, sooner or later. You do not want that to happen, you''re simply denying that fact and forcing yourself to think otherwise." The copy didn''t even let Arthur retort before he continued "Mayhap you think differently, but those inside of you yearn for their home and its safety. How many people, beasts, and plants did you possess? The majority of them were born on Astria, sure, you were not affected mentally but they are still a part of you, after all, you obtained everything from them, their stats, talent, experiences, and of course, memories. Did you think such a heaven-defying Racial ability comes with no cost, you must''ve guessed the consequences when you started experiencing their lives, from their birth to their miserable death. The Parasite is affected directly by the law of equivalent exchange, you get something, but you give something in return. You wonder what is it that you give? It can be a small piece of your soul in exchange for a part of their soul to merge with yours, you provide their memories a place to rest at, a place to exist forever. When you first reincarnated, you only harbored anger and hate toward all living beings. Fortunately, you met Lucy and learned how to differentiate between bad and good and spared those who should be spared, but in my opinion, that is the wrong way to proceed. Lucy always agreed to your decisions because she loves you, if it were up to her, she would kill anyone who annoys her, she just holds herself and follows your steps, a wise and obedient woman. The Soulbond Lucy cast saved you, however, it created a small gap that allowed those lost souls you collected to dive in and stay in that gap. Their presence there affects your decision but in a minuscule way. To be honest, this was the first time they affected your decision." "Why are you telling me all of this?" "To explain to you why this is happening. Don''t get me wrong, I''m not against your decision, in fact, I''m quite eager to see what will happen, but I want you to know that being a parasite is a double-edged weapon, and in more than a way, the consequences it can bring are more than the advantages." No response was heard from Arthur, he looked at the skyscrapers all around him, then he gazed down, seeing all the cars and humans crossing the roads, in a hurry to go to work. He merely looked at this scene for a couple of seconds before he decided to leave the ARK, not wanting to remember his life on Earth. Before he left the ARK, his copy stopped him, muttering a few words into his ear then disappearing after giving him the usual friendly smile. Chapter 251 - 204 : Titans Arthur was standing in front of the walls he created last time before he departed from Astria. They were still standing tall with poisonous vines clustered on them, the vines added another layer of defense to these tall walls. He gazed at the shutdown gate and the creature snoring near it, with a red skin and a longhorn erecting from its forehead and some kind of a large metal armor wrapping around its chest and abdomen. It was none other than the minotaur he captured a long time ago and assigned it as a guard for his sect. The dungeon''s boss became quite strong, reaching the peak of the Spirit Realm. Normally, it''s impossible for dungeon bosses to grow by themselves, especially in such a short amount of time, so Arthur guessed that Jackob or Anastassia helped the minotaur. Using his newly acquired eyes, he could see dense green energy inside the minotaur, it was accumulated Qi that it absorbed from the Earth, it helped it shatter its mortality shackles and enter the Spirit Realm. With such a strong guard protecting the gate, Arthur was delighted as no one would be foolish enough to attack them head-on, in fact, the enemies have more chances breaking through the gate than climbing the walls or destroying them. To create these walls, it heavily exhausted him and cost a large amount of Mental Power, he wanted to strengthen even further but gave up on that idea as it wasn''t the time for it. He''ll do so after overcoming the catastrophe. Dragon cries were heard from afar, they seemed to be approaching this area. They were connected to Arthur so once he was close, they immediately sensed him. "Titan blood, it''s a shame that it''s to thinˇ­ really unfortunate." Swain shook his head as he looked at the red minotaur. "Titan blood?" "Yes, this minotaur has Titan blood, which is why his skin is red, but apart from the color change of his skin, the blood has no effects as it''s simply too thin to be able to transform its host." Arthur looked at the minotaur which woke up due to the dragon cries, it recognized Arthur and scratched its head, embarrassed and afraid that the big boss caught it sleeping while it was supposed to be guarding the gates. "Can you do something about it?" Swain shot a red beam at the minotaur, which was too slow to dodge it or even react, it backed away and touched the place where beam touched him but it felt no pain or anything strange which led it to look dumbly at the red-haired youth. "I can stimulate it, it''ll take a bit of time though. Do I have your permission to proceed?" "As long as it doesn''t die, you can die whatever you want." Swain let out a sadistic chuckle as he added: "That''ll depend on its will to live. I also need a drop of your blood." Arthur didn''t even ask why his servant needed his blood, he handed the youth a small bottle which contains a drop of his blood. He guessed that his blood will help the minotaur since he too, has titan bloodline but it is not too strong, not to the point of giving him the real strength of a titan. Zodiak described Titans as ancient beings that went extinct a very long time ago. From his notes, Arthur had read that the Titan Race was too strong compared to the other races, even the dragons paled in comparison, they were too powerful so they were dreaded by all. They weren''t a domineering race, but the existing Races in the past decided to unite and kill them as they feared they''ll be dominated by the latter sometime in the future. Their union was successful and their assault almost erased the existence of the Titans except for a few clever ones which hid in very secretive places. The Titans weren''t aggressive but they were very prideful and they had the power to back it off, they had monstrous strength, a strength that could pulverize stars, crush planets and obliterate words. It''s no wonder that they were called World destroyers. Many considered the end of the Void Era as the beginning of time, However, Zodiak thought otherwise. He was sure that the Void Era, which lasted a very long time and devoured everything, was only a small fraction of the history. Zodiak also talked about the 4th Universe, he thought it had a connection with the Void Era, many try to deny the existence of this Universe but the old man was certain that the Universe existed. Quote by quote, the old man said ''I''ve met him a few times, he''s disgustingly powerfulˇ­ a little bit insane, illogical but mysterious. I cannot fathom him, the only person I could never see through, I sense no emotions from him, no reactions to provocative words, no anger nor sorrow, no hidden rage nor vengeful feelings. I do not fear himˇ­ in fact, I pity himˇ­ with no home and no friends, forever roaming the nothingness and searching for something that exists no moreˇ­'' Unfortunately, Zodiak didn''t mention the person''s name, so Arthur had no idea who the old man was talking about, he wanted to meet this person, the survivor of true Hell. The red-haired youth brought the pitiful minotaur, which was wary of Swain, away from this place, he grabbed the beast and flew far off, heading North. Arthur trusted Swain and knew that he''ll get the job done, even if the minotaur doesn''t acquire the powers of the titans, he''ll power up a lot. At last, when Swain left, two large bone dragons descended from above, happy to reunite with their masters. One of them is the first bone dragon that Arthur summoned, it is the most intelligent out of the four bone dragons and is oddly the strongest. Once they were close enough to their master, they became affected by his new stats and Realm, so they automatically powered up, although not in an absurd way. The main bone dragon, which was at the Heavenly Realm, jumped to the late stages of that Realm. As for the other dragon, it broke through to the Heavenly Realm. Arthur caressed the dragons, which dropped their heads obediently, showing their sincerity to him. Since a free ride came to him, Arthur decided to use it, he hopped on top of the dragon, which flew toward the headquarters of the MoonStar sect, where the leaders are. ************ In a white room with no decoration whatsoever, there sat a man on a white chair, a kneeling woman knelt before the man, she had a pale face and was slightly trembling, clearly afraid of the individual in front of her. "Report what you found." "Y-yesˇ­ the staff was felt some time ago, in the Green-Leaf World. The signal was much stronger than a few years ago." With a hand on his chin and in a somewhat happy mood, the man nodded his head and said "Ohh? And where exactly was it sensed?" "In the wastelandˇ­ but" The woman was afraid that she''ll anger him, so she hesitated and didn''t know whether to spit everything or not, she knew that once he''s displeased or angry, she''ll be the one who''s punished. Nonetheless, she was forced to spit everything once she saw him frown as it was definitely not a good sign. "It was sensed exactly inside the castle of the Kang Family." The man furrowed his brows, clearly unhappy to hear this, however, he didn''t lash out at her and merely waved his hands dismissively. "So it''s the Kangsˇ­ tsk! You''ve done a good job, you can go back for now. Once the catastrophe ends and those beasts die, you will go to the Green-Leaf World and properly investigate how the Kang Family got their hands on itˇ­ without raising any suspicions, do you understand?" The woman repeatedly nodded her head then left after respectfully bowing to the seating mean. If Arthur saw that woman, he''ll recognize her with only a glance because it was none other than the woman who almost killed him when he was at the Ma Clan. If not for Zodiak''s help, he would have died miserably without being able to resist as she was too strong, at that time. Chapter 252 - 205 : Return "Look who''s finally here." With an axe and Ace, the sniper he got from Arthur, Jackob looked at the incoming bone dragons with a smirk on his face. His appearance changed drastically, not only was his body full of scars, he became significantly taller and more muscular, what''s more, he was missing an arm. The tall warrior greeted Arthur with a bear hug, not minding the different status between them, after all, Arthur and Lucy were the big bosses. Anastassia also appeared with Mary and Sonia following right after her. The little sister was more energetic than before, she was cured and was healthier than ever. "Welcome back." Unlike Jackob, Anastassia and the others didn''t hug Arthur, but they still shook hands. Thanks to the appraisal, Arthur could see that the red-haired Anastassia surprisingly reached the Immortal Realm, she relied purely on Qi and a bit of Nether Energy that''s existing on Astria. Sonia and Mary were still at the Mortal Realm with Mary having a higher Lv, as for Jackob, his current strength startled Arthur a bit. The weak youth from before transformed into a grown man who reached the Heavenly Realm. This was a strange occurrence as not everyone could cultivate and expect good results, especially when he does not have a good aptitude or decent talent. However, it seems Jackob paid quite the price for his current strength, he had many scars and was missing a whole arm. Not many enemies could cause a Heavenly Realm to be this injured, at least not on Astria. As Jackob started rambling about Ace''s efficiency and his absurd power, a slender figure appeared from within the tower. The person who joined them was none other than Lissandra, who no longer had the grim look or the dazed yet slightly insane expression, she was pretty calm and composed. The two stared at each other for some time, making the joyous atmosphere quite awkward, fortunately, the silence was soon broken when Lissandra talked "I have tried to warn you yet you didn''t want to listenˇ­ it''s too late now." "Let''s talk inside." Arthur didn''t blame her or anything of the sort, he was the one who refused to listen to her as he suspected that she would spit lies to lead him to a dead end and waste his time. Who would have imagined Lissandra would''ve been able to predict the happening of the catastrophe, he would never have linked these two together. It''s his over-cautiousness that resulted in this, but even if he knew it at that time, nothing would change, he would still make the same decision. He just would have won some time to prepare more thoroughly, nothing more. Arthur teleported himself along with the others to the top of the tower, where the important meetings is usually held. Another person was added to the party, with silver-hair and a cold face, it was none other than the ex-head maid of the imperial castle of the Demon Race, Taliya. She decided to stay with Anastassia and the rest as she vowed to follow Arthur if he were to return her niece safe and sound to the Demon Lord. "Now that we''re gathered here, I''m all ears, you can tell me the important stuff." "Y-you.. You''re just going to ignore me and pretend nothing happened?" Taliya couldn''t herself and lashed out at him angrily. Arthur frowned and retorted "What the hell are you talking about?" "You did your part of the deal so I should do mine, how could you send me here after you''ve rescued Alina?! I should have stayed there and followed you, as per our agreement." "This is a bunch of nonsense, I didn''t come back to argue with you over such a ridiculous reason, you''re weak and I don''t need you, if you were with me then I would have died already, end of discussion, I don''t want to hear a single word about this." With a cold glare from Arthur, who was too preoccupied with the incoming catastrophe and didn''t want to bother with Taliya and talk over such a pointless topic. The maid''s face flushed with red, she didn''t talk back to him but ended up storming out of the room, clearly enraged. "You should be nicer to her, she tried her best here and helped us a lot." Jackob took Taliya''s side as he tried to calm Arthur down and sort things out, but it wasn''t that effective as Arthur shifted his stare him, making him shut his mouth and not dare to talk again. Although Arthur is usually easy-going, he''s sometimes overbearing and dreadful, or so thought the startled Jackob. "It seems your cockiness grew with your strength, I seeˇ­ I''ve got special training for you laterˇ­ I''m sure you''ll enjoy it." While awkwardly scratching the back of his head and a forceful smile, Jackob replied "B-bossˇ­ please d-don''t, I-..I,I''m already responsible for a lot of things. I really d-don''t have any spare t-time." Jackob tried to look pitiful but that only added oil to the fire thanks to Anastassia, who snorted and retorted "Hmpf! Liesˇ­ he''s showing off to the female disciples all day long and lazing around in some corner, doing nothing but sleeping." "How could you say that! I, I''ve only got eyes for youˇ­ and I spend all my day cultivating! How else would I have broken through the Heavenly Realmˇ­ hehehehe" "Hmpf!" With her arms crossed and a pouting face, Anastassia turned her head away from Jackob, who was staring at her with bright eyes. Arthur noticed the change some time ago and knew that their relationship was special, however, he didn''t comment. They were beings with real emotions and they can do whatever they want, in fact, he''s secretly rooting for Jackob as Anastassia is certainly isn''t an easy target, which explains why Jackob spends all his time to cultivate, trying to become stronger to show off to her. "Apart from the catastrophe, is there anything I need to know?" Anastassia nodded her head and said in a serious tone "Yes, in fact, it''s an urgent matter. There is new invaders, they were first sighted on the Eastern continent." "Invaders? Are they humans? Or do they resemble the ones who abducted the Demon Princess?" Arthur didn''t know how, but there are multiple factions who find their way to the Astria. Some just come here to sightsee or seek adventures but others harbor malice intentions. "These ones are more dangerous, they have a horrifying look, similar to the monster you were fighting near the Emperor''s palace." ''Bucama?'' Arthur immediately remembered the hellish word he visited last time, where humans were treated as pigs, if not worse. Torturing them or even hanging them on pillars to resemble living statues, it was really a terrifying and disgusting scene that he wished for no one to see. Fortunately, the world was destroyed and its king died but he still felt uncomfortable every time he remembers what happened there and what he had seen. "Any idea how they came? What about their leader, their number or their base?" Anastassia shook her head and replied "We weren''t able to find accurate information. Their numbers isn''t great, about three hundred or so but each and every one of them is extremely powerful, they also have special means to disguise themselves, so not many people can see through their deception." "Were they only spotted on the Itas continent?" "Yes, they are keeping a low-profile and only dealing with black market dealers to secure crystals. I''ve sent a group once but the outcome wasˇ­ unfavorable." As she finished her sentence, she glanced at Jackob with a guilty look. "Hahaha those were pure evil but I managed to kill three of them before I escaped but the team that was with me all perished." Jackob forced a laugh as if it was nothing but it was clear that it wasn''t a simple fight, neither was it easy. Chapter 253 - 206 : Unwinnable Figh "At least you came back in one piece. Next time, don''t try to investigate the enemies when you''re not sure about their exact power, it''ll only end badly, in your caseˇ­ I think you''ve understood that the hard way." Arthur''s words weren''t directed to Jackob but to Anastassia, who was keeping her silence while nodding her head, clearly regretting her past decisions. "Anyways, the enemy on the East can wait, I have a lot of preparations and the Divine Beasts are much more threatening than an evil cult." "Oh yeah, what are we going to do about the catastrophe?" Jackob was also anxious about the incoming doom, he wasn''t powerful enough to defend against them, so was Anastassia, so they put the meeting about this topic on hold until Arthur came for they were certain he will since it''s such an important matter. "The problem is that we don''t know where they''ll strike, all the leading factions all over Astria are anxious, some even started evacuating to other worlds."(Anatassia) "They''ll only attack the Human Continent, I''m sure of that." "The Human Continent? What about the rest? How did you know they''ll only at that the central one?" Jackob was confused, Arthur declared that with certainty but he didn''t fully believe it since there are no records about techniques that allow people to predict where these monsters will attack. "You don''t need to know how I did it, you need to focus on evacuating the inhabitants from that area, just disperse them all over Astria, even to the North since the Demon Lord agreed to accommodate them." "The demons? They''ll surely go back on their words and slaughter all of them! Hmpf!" Anastassia wasn''t pleased since she hates Demons, she didn''t like the idea of cooperating with them, especially with their leader. Although she has a decent relationship with Taliya, it didn''t mean she has a good opinion about the maid''s whole race, after all, the war between the two races has been ongoing for a long time until it was stopped some time ago, thanks to none other than Arthur. Actually, with her current power and the army of the sect, finishing the demons isn''t a big deal. The four bone dragons along with the minotaur will be enough to create havoc inside the imperial city, killing the Demon Lord isn''t hard too, nonetheless, she restrained herself and continued taking care of the Arthur and Lucy''s sect. There are an enormous amount of disciples, they are even separated in factions and there are several competitions about them but it isn''t too major, she often lets the appointed elders of the sect to take care of it and if it gets too out of hand, Jackob will just go as he is very popular amongst the populace. "Stop dawdling over small things, we can''t bring every inhabitant of the central continent to our sect, the number is just too big, and they can''t go to the East because of that evil cult, so they only have two choices. Moreover, there are many vast lands in the North that are inhabited, it''s a perfect place for these refugees." "Then, Boss, are we fighting against the Divine Beasts?" "We? There is no we, you do your job and leave them to me, I''ll deal with these invaders." Jackob didn''t insist for he knew his strength wasn''t enough to help Arthur, as for Anastassia, she also maintained her silence but she stared at him with a strange look. The meeting didn''t last for long, after talking for a little while, all of them, except Arthur and Lissandra, left. The slender woman was staring at Arthur with a peculiar gaze "You''re not their match, you know." "We would never know until we try, would we?" With her arms crossed and a serious look, not afraid of Arthur anymore, she retorted "It''s not a matter of trying, it''s a fact. To defeat the four Divine Beasts isn''t as simple as defeating strong entities, it''s much more difficult and complicated. The only reason the high Realms easily manage to kill the beasts is because they have too many powerful individuals, they rely on the sheer quantity of experts they have." "So, what are you suggesting?" "Simple, get away from Astria. You can go to the Underworld, it''s much safer and the threat of the Divine Beast isn''t big, we have the king of the Abyss, after all." "Fleeing is not an option for me, that''s not how I do things. If you have any information about the Divine Beasts then I''m all ears, if not then I''m leaving." "I spent countless years researching the Divine Beasts, their appearance, strength and son on. I''m almost ten thousand years old and on the day of my birth, the first catastrophe occurred, many family members died so I wanted to get revenge, which is part of the reason I wanted to acquire more parts of the Dark Magic, the power you wield. I don''t know where it came from or who created it, but Dark Magic is more powerful than you could ever manage. It isn''t something that could be used by any person, in fact, it chooses its host and not the other way around, much like those special Soul Weapons. More than two hundred years ago, I''ve found a secret shelter in the Underworld, it''s through it that I''ve come to know about Dark Magic and how to acquire it. I have read ancient notes that indicated the presence of this magic in ancient wars, it even appeared during the war against the titans, the problem is, it is difficult to wield and almost impossible to master. Many of my subordinates spent dozens of years yet were only able to conjure simple weapons that would crumble in a short time, I was the only one that managed to use it normally, more or less. So I''ve concluded that it cannot be passed down to others, however, I continued my experiments as I believed that it needed the right host, someone with perfect compatibility with it." Although the topic was interesting since it was about his Dark Magic, Arthur didn''t want to hear this from her to he interrupted and said "I need details about the beasts, not my Dark Magic." Lissandra let out a long sigh and continued "Use Dark Magic, that''s the only way you can defeat the Divine Beasts. No matter your other trump cards, or powerful sword techniques, those won''t even scratch them, much less kill them. Relying on physical attacks is only a waste of time and effort, it''ll lead to nothing but defeat. The defense of the Black Turtle is impenetrable, the speed of the White Tiger is unprecedented, the flames of the Vermillion Bird are unstoppable and the soul attacks of the Azure Dragon are frightening, if you exclude its dragon breath, that is. Your Dark Magic becomes stronger the angrier you are, basically, you need to be emotionally unstable. Sure, it is strong if you''re calm but it''s several times stronger if you''re enraged, angry, etcˇ­" "And why is it that only Dark Magic will hurt them?" "Dark Magic has a bit of Darkness Attribute in it so it counters the bird''s flame if it is used properly, it also has strong penetrative strength, so it is also doable to hurt the turtle shell if it''s hit at the right time and place. The problem is the tiger and the dragon, they are both fast and versatile." "What you said isn''t that convincing but I''ll take that in mind. Although I still haven''t forgiven you, your help is much appreciated." Arthur left right after, leaving Lissandra alone, the woman clutched a pendant that was hanging on her neck and closed her eyes as if she was prayingˇ­ Chapter 254 - 207 : Come Back On the roof of the tower that symbolized the headquarters of the MoonStar sect, Arthur stood there, gazing at the large building in his view, newly built pagodas, disciples that are sparring with each other, elders lecturing the juniors and so onˇ­ It was a peaceful atmosphere one where most of these people, who were ignorant about what''s happening or what''s about to come, are able to enjoy their lives without feeling anxious, worried. To say injustice doesn''t exist in his sect would be a lie, but at least it''s not as extreme as the on the outside, where the strong take everything from the weak, uses their lives like disposable toys. "It''s amazing to see how fast the sect prospered, don''t you think?" As he was lost in thoughts, a feminine voice was heard from behind him. Arthur glanced at the newly arrived figure who was none other than the temporary sect master, Anastassia. "I must say, you did a great job. None would have been to perform better than you did." Anastassia joined him on the roof, standing beside him and gazing at the sect territory. "It wasn''t only me, many people contributed. Although this position is appealing, I''m more eager to see you come back with Lucy and take the reigns, after all, it is quite tiring for most of the times." "Come back, huhˇ­" Anastassia turned her head to look at his dazing expression, she frowned and said "Hmpf! The person I know wouldn''t be so pessimistic and lose all hopes before even fighting. I remember when I first met you, you were so arrogant, thinking you''re a big dealˇ­ and indeed, you had the strength to back it up but that attitude of yours irritated me a lot. I wonder, where did that person go?" Arthur stared back at her, he opened his mouth to talk but hesitated for a few seconds before speaking: "It''s just thatˇ­ lots of things happened, I met and fought many people, strong ones beyond comprehension yet I managed to defeat them and remain alive. This time, however, I''m not feeling that usual confidence, that certainty of winning or coming back alive." "You have died once, so why fear death this time?" Arthur was momentarily startled, with his eyes wide open he stared at the woman in front of him, the surprise only lasted for a short time before he returned to his usual calmness. "So you knowˇ­" "Un! Lucy told me. She didn''t warn me not to tell you, nonetheless, I refrained from doing so anyway." Arthur didn''t care much if Anastassia knew what happened to him, he already considered her a close friend, moreover, he trusted Lucy and if she wanted to tell Anastassia, he wouldn''t have stopped her from doing so. "I do not fear death, I fear leaving a widow and a child without a father when I could have avoided such outcome." Anastassia patted him on his back and added: "Just like every time, I trust that you''ll come back. I can see it, this isn''t your end, the story of Arthur and Lucy cannot end here, how can it? When you still haven''t met her yet, am I right?" Arthur let out a long sigh then took out the marriage ring he got from Lucy. He caressed the ring for some time before he passed it to Anastassia, who was confused by his actions. "Since you''re so sure I''ll come back then I want you to keep this for meˇ­ just in case." She carefully held the ring and nodded back to him, not questioning his actions. Arthur left without giving any unnecessary goodbyes or pointless words. Only Anastassia was left standing on the roof of the tower, she stared at the sky with her hand tightly clutching the ring ''Make sure to come back, we''ll all be waiting!'' Arthur left for the Human Continent, less than two months remained before the Divine Beasts'' arrival and he needs to be in the perfect condition. There is room for improvement, he could try to hone his skills management and if he''s lucky, he may be able to break through to the God Realm, officially becoming a Parasite God. Furthermore, he still had two additional skill points which can be invested in any skill of his choice, techniques are also an option. The best choice was to upgrade an already maxed skill, like his Sword Mastery, the ancient flames, Dark Magic. He could also try upgrading one of his enigma abilities, but they weren''t absurdly powerful so maybe the results will not be what he''s hoping for. Arthur chose a remote cave in a mountain range that spanned from the West of the continent all the way to the South. He found a large cave so he cut used some miscellaneous skills to make it more habitable and much decent looking. He entered the ARK and entered the Recovery Mode, where he can test any of his skills while recovering the lost Energy or Mana faster than outside. He waved his hands and unleashed a powerful [Heavenly Arrow] made of pure Dark Magic, the arrow flew for some distance and crashed into the white ground, causing white rubbles and boulders to fly in all directions. The damage that has been done disappeared in a split second as it was instantaneously repaired by whatever was controlling this space. Arthur repeated this a few time while changing the arrow was conjured from. The one which is the deadliest is without a doubt was the Void Arrow, however, the fastest arrow was the one made by Natural Lightning. The one made from Dark Magic is weaker the weakest but like the Void Arrow, if it hits the target, then it''ll kill him without a doubt. Maybe not immediately, but the Dark Magic will invade the target''s body and finish him slowly, consuming his Dantian and eating away his life. As for a Heavenly Arrow made from ancient flames, it was doable but it takes much more times, it caused a mind-numbing explosion that shattered a large part of the area it hit, it also let remains of dark red flames that burned the ground and scorched everything in its way. The other choice Arthur had was to upgrade the skill named [Breath of the Dead], it is the mysterious grey fog that contained a dense amount of Death Energy. It did little to nothing physical damage but it ate away the target''s vitality and lifespan, this skill hurt Rozak, the Sovereign, badly and pushed him to become much more serious, unfortunately, by that time, Arthur had started preparing Rizaki, which more or less concluded the fight. Speaking of which, the last option was [Rizaki] and [Thousand Waves], the latter is rather unlikely to be upgraded because it required a blade, and as it is right now, Arthur cannot fully unleash its potential, much less if it''s upgraded. There is even a chance that he won''t be able to use it after it''s upgraded as the cost would too high. Rizaki is also the same, the problem was that it could harm the user, Arthur had been lucky that he used Dark Magic last time, if he used Ancient flames then he would have died. The actual explosion is what will kill him, the sea of flames that''ll flow won''t hurt him since he has fire immunity. He always uses Rizaki with an attribute that he has total immunity against else it''ll most likely kill him, even if he doesn''t die, he''ll be at death''s door, in a crippled state. Arthur stared at the endless space, pondering what he should do. After an unknown amount of time passed, he retrieved a luxurious wooden box decorated with beautiful red runes. He took out the object that was laying outside and took a deep breath, ready to test out its potentialˇ­ Chapter 255 - 208 : Grizzlys Evolution Since Arthur went to the Human continent, fifty days have passed. For the inhabitant of this doomed continent, this period of time passed in the blink of an eye. Everywhere one looked, it was chaos. Fleeing families and shouting kids, not wanting to leave their villages and cities. Arthur ordered the Holy Church to move every living being out of this continent, he didn''t tell them to force these people but even without force, it is still doable. The new Pope did her job properly as after forty days, the continent was practically a ghost land. The grand cities were empty, you could only hear the howling wind or the fighting beasts, which weren''t evacuated, obviously. There is bound to be special cases where certain people didn''t want to leave, but even those people changed their minds when they found themselves in their area. Stubborn nobles would have no one or nothing to rule if the town is empty, their wealth is meaningless and knowing their attitudes, they would most likely choose to save their skin rather than keeping all of their wealth and lands. The majority of Humans were moved to the Northern Lands of the Demon Continent as it has many deserted lands. The Demons cannot reproduce easily so their number is largely inferior to the Humans, so even though they ruled a whole continent, they didn''t have enough manpower to spread across all the land. The Holy Church also allocated a new place for their Headquarters. Since they are regarded negatively by all Demons, they didn''t go to the Northern Continent but chose to build their new HQ on the Wasteland situated on the West. They chose a quite place in the far South of the Western Continent and started building right away. There was a small group of islands at the South which was given to them by Anastassia. Initially, the Pope pleaded Anastassia so she agrees to give them this archipelago, after all, the MoonStar sect is basically the ruling power in this continent, moreover, the Pope knew that Arthur is behind this sect and knowing his temper, she doesn''t dare act arrogantly or do things without consulting him. Heck! The Holy Church no longer hunts demons, if any soldier is caught doing anything bad to a Demon, he''ll be immediately executed by a superior, no matter the consequences, this was a direct order from the Pope, who was the ex-archbishop. ˇ­ To the far East of Astria, just beside the gigantic World Tree, stood Arthur with Makaze sheathed on his waist and a serene aura surrounding him. He seemed to be a time bomb, calm right now but ready to burst at any moment. For the last fifty days, he stabilized his Realm, gaining a bit more stats, he also visited Robin and received a storage ring full of corpses. Unfortunately, the beasts of Astria aren''t that powerful, so the amount of stats he gained when he possessed them is meager compared to the overall numbers. "At last, you''ve comeˇ­" Arthur heard the weird sounding voice belonging to the World Tree. He also a small blob of light float toward him, he wasn''t cautious against it since he knew what it was so he didn''t resist or retaliate when it entered his body. "Knowing youˇ­ you wouldn''t waste time by coming here just to greet me. I have already given you my blessing, speak, what is it that you want?" Arthur shrugged his shoulders and replied "I''ve heard that an evil cult is residing in your territory. It just happens that I''ve also heard they are still hiding hereˇ­ they are planning something and there''s no one to stop them which honestly surprises me! I thought you didn''t like foreign visitors yet you''re so hospitable to these monsters." "Hmpf! Those insects sure are annoying but even as a World Tree, there exists rules that limit my actions. If I could stop any invader then no one would know of Astria''s existence. Rules can bent but only in special cases." Arthur frowned and retorted "Special cases? I think this is more than a special case. They are pure evil and not just simple tourists." "No, they are not threateningˇ­ at least not the point of bringing Astria''s destruction. You should focus more on those Divine Beasts, I noticed that you didn''t leave with your friends so I presume you''re going to fight them?" Arthur snorted and added: "What else is there to do besides fighting them?" The World Tree remained silent for sometime before speaking again "As a World Tree, my existence is more important than yours. Although you made an oath to protect me from invaders, that mainly included the angels. The logical choice is to leave, the Divine Beasts are strong and they''ll destroy most of Astria but not all of it. They cannot obliterate the whole world as long as I''m rooted here." "Only the Itas continent will remainˇ­ and not even all of it, do you think that''s enough to house all the people on Astria?" "I only said it''s the logical choice, not the right one. I know how powerful you could be if you go all out and I admire your courage to be willing to fight them alone but that''s just an unnecessary struggle." Arthur didn''t reply to the World Tree, he sighed as he stared at the thick trunk of the World Tree then he used his Spatial Magic to teleport away. He didn''t spend the whole fifty days hiding in a cave, he built several teleportation arrays in all four continent so that traveling between them will take much less time. He teleported next to the array and used it immediately, sending himself to the Western Continent as he needed to do a last trip there before the big fight. The teleportation array he built was situated in an underground cave several hundred miles away from the MoonStar Sect, he already informed Anastassia about it so she could contact the demons and the church easily. As he appeared in the dark cave, Arthur teleported in front of the main gates of his sect only to see a large creature standing there. With more double its original height, a red skin with several black tattoos and a ferocious look, it stood proudly in front of the gigantic gates, doing its duty properly unlike last time. This was none other than the red minotaur which Swain brought with him some time ago to who knows where. The aura emanating from the beast was overwhelming, with its current size, it matched its job as a guard for the gates. The gates Arthur built were much taller and larger than the minotaur, but that didn''t stop the monsters from being suitable for the job. The minotaur even had hair that grew out of nowhere, its eyes were no longer dark but became violet and there was a new horn erecting from the back of his head. It definitely looked threatening, it could easily scare someone at the Deity Realm. ''Whatever that brat did, it sure worked marvelously'' Arthur nodded his head as he inspected the red minotaur, who became aware of his presence and did a small bow, indicating his respect and also greeting his master at the same time. This transformation made it much more sentient, it couldn''t talk but it fully understands human speeches, which will help the disciples and anyone residing inside the sect to communicate with it in case something happens. Grizzly, the Red Minotaur(Race: Minotaur): Intermediate Stage Deity Realm Age: 42 Title: Titan descendant Bloodline: Titan (0.7% awakened) "Not bad, not bad! A powerful beast needs a strong weapon, don''t you think?" Arthur didn''t wait for the minotaur to react before he waved his hand and threw a large object at the frightened minotaur, which thought Arthur was going to test him. It knew how powerful Arthur was and just the idea of battling against him freaked the hell out of this poor beast, which was feeling proud the last several days only to return to its usual attitude when it met its master. The minotaur subconsciously raised its hand and caught the large and heavy object. Made from reinforced black steel and having its sharp side crafted from Uranium, this was one of the masterpieces that existed on Astria. It used to be wielded by a powerful dungeon boss a long time ago, this artifact disappeared after the boss and it was only found accidentally by Arthur some time ago. He planned to give it to Jackob, as he is also an axe user but since the general already had Ace and a good weapon, he decided to give it to this gate guardian. This axe didn''t even reach the Spirit Rank but Arthur knew it could be upgraded and if the user is strong, it could probably boost itself by relying on its master, so as long as the minotaur doesn''t slack off, it''ll grow up to become a monstrous artifact. Chapter 256 - 209 : And So It Shall Begin After Arthur gave the weapon to the minotaur, he made sure to fully strengthen the already existing walls by adding to their height and creating much more poisonous vines. Even someone such as Anastassia will find it hard to destroy these walls, much less climb over them. Sure, a Spirit Realm could try to fly over them but the vines won''t stay idle, neither will the roaming dragons or the guarding minotaur. His Mental Power was depleted so left his sect''s area and teleported away from the wasteland, appearing in the cave he created right at the center of the Human Continent. There was a teleportation array that he created a while and once he appeared there, he immediately destroyed to not cause further complication. Although it''s not certain, his friends such as Anastassia knew the existence of this secret teleportation array that led to his cave and they may come here to try to help him, although it''s foolish, many people do stupid things in desperate times. Arthur went to a small room to rest only to see a short figure standing there. Upon a closer look, it was none other than his servant, Swain. The red-haired youth stared back at his master and said "Thou are my master, I cannot abandon my duties and watch you die, we''re bound by fate and only death shall separate us." Arthur thought that this was what a lover should do, not a servant. Nonetheless, he let out a helpless sigh and raised his hand, drawing what seemed to be a red mantra that emanated an ominous aura. As he saw his master do this, the youth couldn''t believe his eyes, before he could react or stop Arthur, the red mantra shone with bright red light then flew straight at his chest, pushing him back a few steps. The youth didn''t bother checking what the mantra was for he knew its meaning, he only displayed a look of total disbelief. "Youˇ­" "You''ve been with me for quite some time so you know my priorities well. Although given enough time, Anastassia could also find a way to travel to Earth and find Lucy, but I feel more assured if you do it. You''re stronger and wiser, moreover, you''d do so sooner or later. However, the others may never achieve that which is why I refused to let you fight with me. I value Lucy and Saly''s life much more than mine and with you on the task, I would feel reassured, even if something unexpected were to happen, you could deal with it one way or another. We''re no longer tied and from now on, you''re free, I just hope that you''d this last favor for me." The youth kept listening to Arthur without replying, after a while, he just nodded his head unwillingly and left without uttering a word. Arthur sat on the bed and let out another sigh, Swain was really a good servant, one who is powerful, understanding and wise, he always made the right decisions whatever the situation he was in. He even befriended Emily, who took a great liking to him. Freeing Swain from his servitude was a difficult decision to make but he really didn''t hope for this youth to fight with him, although Swain''s background is mysterious and he never talked about it, Arthur could see that he''s really just a youth despite his wisdom, he is not merely the fusion of a book and a death golem. Knowing Swain, Arthur was sure that he won''t betray the task he had given to him and in no time he would arrive where Lucy and Saly are. There are a few days left before the arrival of the Catastrophe. Using his newly acquired eyes, Arthur was able to see the density of the Death Energy, which never ceased increasing for quite a while. The quantity of this fearsome energy was stable for the first forty days and only at the 41st day did it start increasing, slowly but surely. The environment wasn''t largely affected but some of the weaker plants withered and even the strong beasts which didn''t leave the continent preferred to remain at their nest as their bestial instincts warned them about what to come. After Swain left, Arthur started meditating, recuperating his lost Mental Power and calming his mind in preparation for the big fight. With no one to bother him and the calmness of the cave, he recovered quickly and was in top form in just a few hours. The Human Continent now looked no more than a dead man''s land, with hiding beasts and withered plants, it looked more miserable than the wasteland on the West. Cities were evacuated, mansions were scavenged and houses were emptied and by the 58th day, not a human soul was left in the continent. Arthur was currently floating in mid-air, a mountain range that stretched as far as the eye could see was below him and a rising sun was coming up from the East. He had his eyes closed and was cross-legged, Makaze was on his knee with both his hands holding the dark blade that kept vibrating and burning with dark flames. Arthur''s white skin reflected a black layer of Dark Mager that was created thanks to his body-strengthening technique, he managed to make a small breakthrough that boosted the properties of this technique and augmented his defense by a decent amount. His mind was clear and his heart was calm, with his ever-lasting companion resting on his knees and a sleeve full of trump cards that he had prepared, he was patiently waiting for the incoming beasts, whether it''s a good ending or a miserable one, only he could decide that, fate can''t do a thing in such a situation, it''s his actions that''ll twist what shall happen and make it nothing more than a horrible yet harmless nightmare. ... It was at the dawn of the 60th day that it happened, a never-before-seen earthquake assaulted the whole world, causing fear and chaos to occur in all cities and countries. Followed by the earthquake was the shadow of four gigantic beasts, one bigger than the other, overwhelming auras and suffocating pressure. They literally appeared out of thin air, and as predicted by Swain and seen by Arthur, their appearance was above the Human Continent. Arthur didn''t know where exactly they''ll strike from, but he had guessed right and they did indeed appear right at the center. From the looks of it, they wanted to start from the center then stretch to all corners of this vast land. the first beast was a massive flaming bird that had a wingspan of one hundred meters, it had a golden crown on its face and ferocious eyes that could kill a mortal with a single stare. The second was a gigantic dragon, with a length surpassing three hundred meters and majestic aura surrounding it, it was azure in color and had abyssal eyes similar to a black hole. The third beast seemed like a moving plant, it was the biggest out of the far yet it had the weakest presence, almost unnoticeable by any person, if not for its size, no one would have guessed a beast was there. It had a huge shell that covered the sky, cloaking the lands with its massive shadow, the shell looked extremely tough and unpenetrable, its skin was made from brown scales and its eyes were blood red, indicating its bloodlust. Last but certainly not least was a tiger, a white one, with a long tail, golden claws and thick yet beautiful fur that covered it, giving the appearance of some ancient beastly God. It had golden eyes and some black tattoos on all of its limbs. The four beasts were directly staring at the lonesome insect that floated before them, from their glares, it could be seen that they harbored hostility toward this man. Chapter 257 - 210 : Eternium Activating the appraisal the skill, Arthur only saw the name of the four beasts accompanied by a long row of question marks. Copy of the Azure Dragon of the East??????? Copy of the White Tiger of the West????????? Copy of the Black Turtle of the North???????? Copy of the Vermilion Bird of the South?????? What''s astonishing is that they are mere copies yet they were so powerful and huge in size, just from the pressure he was feeling he knew that even Rozak could no naught against them. To win, fighting like he did against that Sovereign won''t do at all, he needs to go all-out from the beginning, aiming for a swift victory. The more he drags the fight the worse it is for him as he didn''t know if they had Stamina or not, heck! Even if they had limited Stamina, they had the advantage in number, he couldn''t even think of a single advantage he had. Hearing the growling of the turtle and the screeching of the bird, he knew they were about to engage, they won''t take turns or anything like that, they aim for destruction and chaos and from their point of view, it''s not someone like Arthur that''s going to stop them. "Are you ready for the end, partner?" Arthur''s words were directed to the dark blade vibrating in his hands, the blade emitted intense black flames that started affecting the air and corroding it. The intense vibration and the flames were a satisfactory answer for the smirking Arthur, he tightly held the blade with his right hand. He had a large dark shield on his back just in case as he knew his defense isn''t enough to resist their attack, especially the flames of the bird, which may affect him despite his immunity to fire. There are different categories for the fire Attribute, just like there are ancient flames, there is the fire of the Vermillion bird, the phoenix flames and the golden flames of the three-legged golden crow. The damage may be reduced but he''ll still be injured by these orange flames of the screeching beast, there was also the problematic dragon and the swift tiger. Arthur took a deep breath as he closed his eyes and mumbled "A heart bleeds, a man weeps, a soul burns, thence comes thy darkness to consume, yet even in the depths, the flames endures." His aura started growing and black flames enveloped the left side of his best from head to toe. ''Eternium!'' He looked way different than his usual appearance, with his left side burning with black flames and the right one having red flames enveloping it, creating a scary appearance. Makaze was also divided into two sides, just like its master, it even emitted a weird grey fog. [Eternium] was a self-strengthening skill that drastically boosted his damage, whether he uses normal physical attacks or skills. It is very practical, especially if he were to fight an enemy much stronger than him, however, such a frightening skill have horrifying side-effects. Not only does it permanently injure Meridians, but it can also even cause one''s cultivation to go berserk if he isn''t able to control it. What it really does is augmenting the potential of the user, accumulating any future training that he would have done into this moment, thus, giving him unimaginable strength. Using this skill made sure that Arthur won''t reach the God Realm any time soon, but that''s the least of his worries because if he doesn''t defeat those beasts, reaching God Realm would be a meaningless goal. The first beast to engage was the Vermillion Bird, it flapped its long wings and flew straight at Arthur, just by moving it left a trail of flames that fell from the sky, similar to a fire tsunami. It was a perfect chance for Arthur as his first target was none other than this bird, it had the deadliest damage, so he decided to get rid of it first and kill the turtle last since its defense is a huge problem and it''ll take a lot of time to penetrate it, much less kill it as it''ll not stand still while he attacks. Fortunately, Arthur could use [Faster Than Death] to teleport to the side, dodging the bird, however, he did no such thing, instead, he rushed at the incoming bird, intending to meet it head-on. The bird opened its beak and spat a humongous flame ball that was even bigger than the bird. Even Arthur was momentarily startled by the sudden appearance of this fireball, he didn''t daze for long as he grabbed the shield that was on his back and protected himself. At the same time, he used Makaze to slash at the big fireball, creating a huge dark arc that clashed with the fireball. Luckily, the slash was enough to create a small gap, enough for him to pass through and attack the incoming bird. He raised his shield and defended against the flames all around him, the Dark Barrier that he put earlier was shattered instantly once it met with the flames, this proved how strong they were. Using his new eyes, Arthur was able to see that the bird was going to spin around and wave its wing at him, aiming to send him flying away so he used [Faster Than Death] and teleported a hundred meters to the right, even after teleporting, he was still not out of the fireball. He had his pain immunity on so he didn''t feel any pain but he could see his Health decreasing by a huge amount. His eyes glanced at the map to make sure the other beasts still didn''t move, only when he ascertained of that did he teleport again, finally appearing above the descending Vermillion Bird. Without any hesitation, he swung Makaze down as he uttered in his mind ''[Heavenly Slash]!'' A concentrated amount of Dark Mana was unleashed from the dark blade, it transformed into a creepy looking dark skeletal head that was opening its mouth, ready to bite down at the back of the bird. The skeletal head was twenty meters in size and emitted a very ominous aura that even freaked out the Vermillion Bird, which screeched loudly did span its body, forcing Arthur''s attack to meet with its burning tail. What happened after that left Arthur dumbfounded, it took him a whole second to fathom what just happened. [Heavenly Slash] was one of his three strongest sword-attack, even against the Sovereign, it would deal a lot of damage. Moreover, he gained Rozak''s stats and he was currently using [Eternium], so if such an attack were to hit a Sovereign, it would deal a considerable amount of damage yet when the dark skeletal head clashed with the bird''s tail, it simply dispersed immediately, it didn''t even last for a split second. As if meeting a metal wall, it was destroyed to easily, the bird didn''t even attack with its tail, it merely used it to block his attack yet it resulted in this. Arthur didn''t remain dazed for long, for fear of being ambushed by one of them, he teleported two times, getting away from that there, however, just as he appeared three hundred meters away from the bird, he felt his head get really dizzy and before he could ascertain what just happened, a large white shadow appeared before him. The problem with [Faster Than Death] is that it needs a bit of focus to be used, so this dizziness rendering him unable to teleport away. His instincts warned him repeatedly when the dizziness began, he subconsciously raised his shield in defense and back away with great speed, unfortunately, he wasn''t fast enough as a big white shadow appeared in front of him. Without even pondering about whether to use his skills or not, Arthur activated [Armageddon Shield Aura] and [Death''s Glory], reinforcing his shield with death chains and increasing its efficiency. Despite the Dark-Star body strengthening technique creating a strong layer of defense above his skin,with the addition of the many passives that are activated such as [Metal Body], [Earth Armor] and so on, the incoming attack seemed to have bypassed all of them. It was just too strong compared to his meager defense and like a cannonball, Arthur was sent flying until he crashed into a tree, pulverizing it and creating a deep hole, where he laid there, bloodied and coughing blood. The dark shield wasn''t destroyed but it was cracked, many of his bones were broken and that blow took more than 30% of his Health Pool. Just after a dozen of seconds, more than half of his Health was gone and his shield was damaged, this showed the clear difference between four Divine Beasts and a lonely fighter with borrowed ''power''. Chapter 258 - 211 : Counter-Attack Arthur coughed a mouthful of blood and dashed from that big crater, flying straight at the four divine beasts. The speed of the white tiger was faster than his reaction, he needs to pay his full attention to the tiger lest he suffers another hit, which will render him unable to fight. He didn''t know where that dizziness came from earlier but it was obvious that the Azure Dragon was its cause, Lissandra told him that the dragon could use several mysterious attacks to confuse the target, it could even use fatal soul attacks. Arthur wasn''t very worried about the soul attacks since he had the chains around his soul but it doesn''t hurt to be careful and avoid such attacks if possible. ''I should hurry up, they are starting to team-up already.'' He thought they''ll attack him one by one first to test him but from the looks of it, they wanted to finish him immediately. He put the cracked shield on his back and held back Makaze with two hands as he activated [Blood for Blood] then swung the dark blade with all his might toward the Vermillion Bird which screeched and covered its body with its two giant wings. ''[Heavenly Slash]! [Heavenly Slash]! [Heavenly Slash]! [Heavenly Slash]! '' Arthur ignored the cost of [Blood for Blood] and used it four times, allowing him to unleash continuous heavenly slashes that were purely conjured from Dark Mana which led to them being creepy skeletal heads flew straight at the Vermillion Bird. After using them, he used [Blood for Blood] one last then tightly clenched the hilt of Makaze, he concentrated his Nether energy and circulated the Dark-Anguish Technique then he slashed the air, resulting in the shattering of the space around it. Arthur speculated that if one [Heavenly Slash] doesn''t work then five would surely do some damage, although it''s just wishful thinking to hope that''ll severely injure the Vermillion Bird, just buying some time is enough for him, if it''s distracted then he can sneak-attack it and deal a fatal blow. The last slash contained a massive amount of Nether Energy and was boosted with the Dark-Anguish Technique, further strengthening it yet increasing the cost. This time, it wasn''t a flying dark skeletal head but a lizard-like creature made of only black bones, it had a tail with dark flames and a creepy head with two eye-sockets pulsating with a violet light. This creature resembled Randuin, the lizard that was sent to Earth with Lucy and the others, however, this one seemed more powerful as only is appearing is threatening. ''Boom!'' The first three skeletal heads dispersed upon contact with the flaming wings but the fourth one managed to push the bird, it even forced its wings to open and allow a small gap to be seen through them, the lizard that was leaping at the bird used this chance to jump at the large bird and bite down ruthlessly while issuing a deep roar that brought chills even to its caster, Arthur. ''SCREECH!'' Arthur didn''t know if it screeched due to the pain or from anger, but it was apparent that the lizard enraged the bird as it pushed the Divine Beast back as it bit down, causing some sort of thick dark lines to spread over its left wing. Unfortunately, the White tiger appeared out of nowhere and attacked the lizard, killing it on the spot without any chance for the latter to resist or even dodge. When lizard had bitten the Vermillion Bird, Arthur didn''t say idle and watch, instead, he made use of his Spacial Mage to bend space and decrease his presence yet despite that, he could feel the gazes of the silent turtle at the back and the curling dragon. They were motionless and didn''t attack him but he knew they were waiting for the perfect time to act, the dragon was agile and had a strong physical strength, as for the turtle, Arthur was clueless about its abilities. He only knew it had a strong shell that is unpenetrable, as for its offensive attacks, he was ignorant of them, which left him in a tight spot. Arthur teleported closer to the screeching bird and held Makaze horizontally, preparing to begin his finisher, the white tiger turned its head to glare at him when it flung off the lizard so he didn''t have time to fully prepare and was forced to act immediately. ''[Thousand Waves]! ''First Wave, Black as night, Calamity descends!'' The blade became as black as night, it emitted a cold humming sound as it fiercely slashed the cracking space. The rising sun was hidden due to the activation of Arthur''s skill, a curtain of darkness covered the Human Continent and the nearby seas and oceans around it, leaving the hiding beasts in completely fear and bringing awe to whoever was foolish to get close to the area of the battle. The fusion of his sharp and powerful Sword Energy and the dense Dark Mana was successful as the first wave as unleashed, creating a humongous black wave, bigger than the Vermillion Bird. The Divine Beast was also startled by the black wave, it knew that it was dangerous so its screeched loudly and lifted its wings, waving them in a weird wave. The lightning speed black wave was upon the bird in a split second, moreover, Arthur purposely got closer to the bird so that his attack would reach it instantaneously, which will force it to take it head-on rather than blocking it. He also made sure that the turtle won''t appear out of thin air and block it for he knew that such an attack won''t do much to it, much less kill it. Although the sky was covered in complete darkness, once the Vermillion Bird waved its wings, a hole was created in that cloak of the darkness, orange flames descended from the sky, bringing with them intense heat that would incinerate trees thousands of miles away. The flames enveloped the Vermillion Bird, protecting from the large dark waves that were descending on it. Unlike last time, the black waves weren''t blocked easily or dispersed upon contact, in fact, it pushed the bird and caused a big amount of the flames to disappear as if it couldn''t handle the devouring ability of the dark wave. Arthur didn''t stand there watching, holding the vibrating dark blade, he swung it again, executing the second wave without hesitation despite the stress it put on his mind. Normally, he would wait a short amount of time before performing the next wave but looking at the current situation, the dark wave won''t injure the bird unless he executes the next wave, plus, the tiger was going to act and either help it or turn its attention to him, which is rather troublesome. ''Second wave, Thunderous God, Punishment for the Sinners!'' Chapter 259 - 212 : Thunderous God, Punishment for the Sinners 1 Standing at the top of the tower belonging to the MoonStar sect, Lissandra, Jackob, and Anastassia stared at the East, where an ominous aura could be felt even from their location. After the first earthquakes, they didn''t feel anything but a few seconds ago, they could feel the familiar yet chilling aura of Arthur''s power. This was due to the first wave, which largely affected the environment around it. Although the sky didn''t become jet black, the effect of the attack still reached them. Even the heat from the Vermillion Bird assaulted them, causing Jackob to sweat profusely but apart from that, it didn''t injure them in any way. "It has begun... I wonder if Arthur will be able to do it." As he stared East, Jackob murmured with a worried tone. "We can only pray for his victory." Anastassia clenched her fists as her eyes were fixated on that direction, she really wanted to go there and help Arthur but such thoughts were foolish and reckless. The difference in power between her and Arthur is unimaginable, she would be capable of doing nothing but make it harder for him, which is why she obediently agreed to all of his requests and remained here. "Hmpf! You think your praying will do him any good? If I were you I would start preparing other plans such as an emergency evacuation in case things become worse." Lissandra snorted and left the roof, not wanting to spectate anymore, after all, it''s not like watching from here would benefit here. The shockwave may even injure a mere mortal like her so it''s best to stay inside the tower, where it''s significantly safer. Now that she doesn''t wield Dark Magic anymore, just getting exposed to it may deteriorate her physical body and cause her mind to collapse, that''s what Dark Magic is good at, after all. Unlike Lissandra, Anastassia just stood there, expecting Arthur to return victorious. Jackob threw a couple of glances at her, then he said after some hesitation "S-should I start preparing?" "Mmh" The woman nodded her head so without wasting any more time, the general left the roof to perform the task he was assigned to do a few days ago. Just as he entered the tower, an earthquake even more powerful than before occurred, thanks to the strong material the houses inside the MoonStar sect were created from, they didn''t suffer a lot of damage but there are still some which couldn''t hold up and collapse. As for the walls surrounding the sect, they were as motionless as ever, not affected by the earthquake. The earthquake was followed by an ear-deafening roar that resounded all over Astria, just the roar caused large and deadly shockwaves that were sent in all directions. Fortunately, the shock waves didn''t last long and dispersed after traveling for a few thousand miles, nonetheless, this merely added to the shock of the spectators, which became even more fearful of the source of this angry roar. ... Next to the gates of the MoonStar sect, there stood a large red minotaur with a domineering presence and a matching weapon on its back, however, such a monster was currently cowering behind a short red-haired youth that stood before it, calmly staring at the horizon with a deep gaze and a calm demeanor. Sensing the heavy earthquake and the hearing the chilling roar, Swain sighed and mumbled "Master... It''s hard to fight when the fight ain''t fair. Why must thou choose such a lonely road?*sigh*" Swain turned around and waved at the minotaur dismissively while saying "Let''s go, there''s nothing for us to watch." Although the minotaur was unwilling to leave, it still obeyed him and followed the youth reluctantly. ... "Are you that worried about him? I never thought that my elder sister would be attracted to a man." The Demon Lord, who was sitting next to her husband, commented as she noticed Taliya, who was absent-minded. "Instead of talking about such stuff, you better focus more on carrying your duties. Furthermore, I do not like him, I simply admire him." The Demon Lord chucked and retorted "Either way, why didn''t you grasp this chance and followed him? A person such as him would surely leave Astria and travel to stronger worlds, achieving greater feats, a person of his caliber won''t be restricted by such a world." Listening to her little sister, Taliya let out a helpless laugh and replied "Travel to higher worlds? All I''m seeing is a man searching for his family. I know that he doesn''t care about exploring the Universe and venturing outside, seeking powerful foes. All he wishes for is a peaceful life, devoid of danger." Taliya wouldn''t know a lot of Arthur despite the time she passed with him, however, she talked with Anastassia and Jackob and came to know a lot of things about him, she also deduced a few things from her time traveling with him. "Although my discerning ability has declined due to my age, I can at least see that you do wish for more than what Astria could offer you. Big sister, why don''t you follow your heart and do what you really want to do not what you should do..." The Demon Lord remained silent after that as she noticed the head-maid who was back to being lost in thoughts as if she was in a completely different world. ... ''Second wave, Thunderous God, Punishment for the Sinners!'' Arthur executed the second wave just after he unleashed the first one. After he possessed the Sovereign, his stats increased drastically, so logically, [Thousand Waves] will become much more powerful if it''s unleashed right now. In fact, Rozak, the elderly Sovereign would have died after three waves at best yet the Vermillion Bird was resisting the first wave, which would leave a Sovereign with no means of resistance. An illusory old man appeared above Arthur, he waved his staff and pointed it at the Vermillion Bird, causing the dark sky to split open and a gigantic sword made of pure white thunder to descend at the bird with incredible speed. Last time, it took quite some time for the sword to materialize and attack Rozak, yet this time it happened in just two seconds, leaving no time for the Vermillion Bird. However, two seconds were more than enough for an agile Divine Beasts such as the White Tiger to act and fly straight at the descending sword. The Godly thunder has a terrifying explosive power, but its stunning effect is even more dangerous. The White Tiger decided to block it as the Vermillion Bird would probably be unable to defend against two waves, although the Divine Beasts couldn''t talk, they were intelligent beings, fully sentient. Using his eyes, Arthur was able to see an absurd amount of strong Golden Energy condensing around the paw of the tiger as it was ready to meet the sword. ''Since you''re asking for it, don''t b-'' Arthur was going to unleash the third wave by the next second but before he could do so, he felt his body become extremely heavy and the dizziness from before assaulted him, making his body feel wobbly and unstabilized thus rendering unable to execute the rest of [Thousand Waves]. By the time he opened his mind has cleared a bit and he managed to see properly, there was already an azure dragon flying straight at him with its mouth wide open, ready to devour him whole... Chapter 260 - 213 : Thunderous God, Punishment for the Sinners 2 At such a perfect timing, Arthur could not afford to get hit by the Azure Dragon. Seeing the approaching wide-open mouth, Arthur raised his hand and created a small dark cube around him, protecting him from the impact. He didn''t stop at that point, he added two more layers of dark cubes as one won''t be enough, heck! Even three would collapse upon contact but at least it''ll lessen the damage he''ll receive and buy some time for him to unleash the next wave. Holding the dark blade with two hands, he raised his weapon and closed his eyes, concentrating his Nether Energy. Meanwhile, the dragon''s body crashed into the layers of dark cube protecting Arthur. The first cube was obliterated upon contact, the second lasted two seconds and the third was the sturdiest of the three, it managed to buy Arthur five whole seconds before it shattered, revealing a flaming humanoid figure which had black flames burning from one side and red flames covering the other side. As the dragon was launching a full-on offensive assault on Arthur, the white tiger had already clashed with the descending thunder sword. Using its mysterious golden energy and its monstrous strength, it met the sword head-on and ferociously slashed with its claws, creating heavy turbulence in the air and shattering the very space the golden claws passed through. Five golden lines met the tip of the white sword, although the white tiger was obviously going to deflect the sword, it wasn''t done as easily as anyone would expect. The golden claws unleashed a dense amount of golden energy that met the sword, cracking it from its tip to its hilt. Godly Thunder roared and winds howled due to the clash, even the Vermillion Bird didn''t dare assist the white tiger as there was a chance it''ll be stunned too. The forest that was situated under the area of the battle had long since it transformed into a desert, whether it was incinerated by the Vermillion Bird''s flames or the pure pressure of the previous attacks that created sufficiently strong shock waves that were able to create a large hole and uproot thick trees. ... When the last dark cube was destroyed, Arthur was done preparing for the third wave, he couldn''t unleash them one after one even if he wanted to. Just by executing two waves in a very short period of time tired him mentally, so he couldn''t afford to damage his mind further, especially when the dragon can use mental attacks that affect his thinking and force him into an uncomfortable dizziness that causes his battle prowess to diminish by a huge margin. ''Third wave, Extinguishing Flames, Fire of Redemption!'' This wave was unlike any other one, empowered by the skill [Eternium], the red flames covering one side of Arthur became even more violent, a large flaming wing appeared on his big. The dark blade had the same color as melted iron, it emanated intense heat but surprisingly, it didn''t emit any flames like any other time. Not wanting to disappoint its master and partner, Makaze let out a deep cry similar to the growling of a beast and by the next second, when the fearful eyes of the Azure Dragon landed on Arthur and its mouth was just a few meters away from him, the wave was finally unleashed, going straight into the dragon''s mouth. Since the wave was sent inside the large body of the Dragon, it had no effect on the environment, nonetheless, one could see that Arthur''s attack was fruitful at last as the dragon''s body was pushed back fifty or meters. It curled its body in a strange way and cried angrily as flames came out from its mouth, they were not its flames but the ancient flames that belonged to Arthur. Arthur didn''t need to take a closer look to see that the ancient flames were very effective against the Azure Dragon, although it wasn''t a fatal strike, it would take some time before it gets rid of the effect of the third wave, after all, extinguishing the ancient flames isn''t an easy feat, especially when one is vulnerable against them such as the Azure Dragon. Actually, Arthur wanted to use the third wave to hit the stunned white tiger, which was preoccupied with the godly thunder sword, unfortunately, the Azure Dragon butted in and obstructed his plants thus forcing him to use his strong attack against it. Just as he was about to rush at the white tiger, Arthur lost sight of it, he couldn''t see the godly sword or the tiger which was supposed to be resisting it. Even if it was strong, it couldn''t have destroyed it this fast, could it?! His instincts warned repeatedly so he cloaked himself using Spatial Magic and used [Faster Than Death] to retreat from that position, however, such efforts were futile against a foe that was much faster than him. The shadow of a white beast appeared before his sight, with its tail striking him from above, Arthur let go of Makaze and held his shield with both hands. Knowing that this wasn''t the time to think about counter-attacking, he unhesitatingly used [Blood for Blood] multiple times again just to make sure he isn''t severely injured by the tiger''s tail. [Aura Of Inversion] [Concentration of Glory] [Spatial Crack] These three were one of his strongest defensive skills, the first one was a newly acquired one, it belonged to the druid he killed inside the ancient tomb and if it''s used at the right time, it can be beneficial. On the surface, it is a simple skill that makes the area around the user a bit like water so that any skill that is launched at him is absorbed, or rather, drown inside that conjured surface. But if one were to dive deeper into the details, they can discover that such a skill causes a massive molecular change on the environment surrounding the user, if he could wield it flawlessly then no enemy could dream of touching him. [Concentration of Glory] is a shield-based skill, it increases the percentage of blocking any incoming magical skill but it sacrifices 10% of the user''s current Health. Its cost was tremendous so Arthur only uses it in emergency situations. As for the last skill, it belonged to the Spatial Master he killed last time, it simply cracks the space around it, causing the void to devour any skill that is close to the crack. It is a very strong skill and it can also be used offensively, however, in terms of defensive abilities, it is a bit lacking compared to [Aura Of Inversion]. The area around Arthur turned a bit hazy, as for the dark shield he was using, the changes around it started trembling as a yellow rune was imprinted on its surface, boosting the equipment. Several spatial cracks appeared around Arthur, seeing this, he heaved a sigh of relief and readied himself for the impact as it''s not entirely certain that he''ll be able to block this attack. Just as the long and large tail of the tiger was going to hit the shield, the whole tiger dispersed into a fading light that vanished right after. Shocked, Arthur stared dumbly at this sight, he soon realized what was happening but by that moment, it was far too late for regret. ''Shit, it''s an illusion!'' For even himself to be unable to see through it, this was a very high-grade illusion, even the aura of the white tiger was real, he couldn''t notice anything different. It was odd that the white tiger wasn''t stunned and the white sword disappeared but since he was facing Divine Beast, he didn''t give it much thought as they are absurdly strong, however, it turned out to be an illusion from the start and he had been duped. What''s saddening is a continuous usage of [Blood For Blood] for naught, he activated three strong defensive skills only to be hit by nothing, or so he thought. When he just realized his mistake, it was far too late as a wave of heat assaulted his back which was followed by the sharp beak of the Vermillion Bird... Chapter 261 - 214 : Is It Really Impossible? ''Cough!'' The beak easily penetrated the black layer of defense created by the black-star strengthening technique. Blood gushed out unceasingly as the sharp beak of the Vermillion Bird got out from Arthur''s chest, creating a gory hole that sealed Arthur''s fate. Apparently, the Vermillion Bird wasn''t finished after injuring him this heavily, it tried to open its beak and rip him to shreds. With blood leaking out of his mouth and a pale face, Arthur held the long chains that were hiding under his sleeves and wrapped them around the beak of the bird. He exerted all his strength as he pulled chains upward, trying to force the opening of the beak as it''ll lead to his death. While he was focusing on dealing with the beak, a black streak similar to a shooting star came from below. This was none other than Makaze which Arthur let go a short time ago. The blade was spinning with incredible speed as it was charging straight at the head of the Vermillion Bird. Even with the chains around its beak, the Vermillion Bird was still trying to blast Arthur into pieces, it shook its head violently, trying to get rid of Arthur while at the same time trying to break the chains restraining its mouth. ''Let''s see if you can open it with this... [Mother Of All]!'' [Mother Of All]: The user can produce Golden threats, unbreakable yet soft. Cost: 10 Mental Power per second. Innumerable thin threads appeared from Arthur''s fingers, they softly floated around him then started wrapping around he beak. Even if one thread isn''t enough to do the job, a hundred thousand may be able to hold the beak for a couple of seconds. Just like that, Mental Power was being used continuously to conjure the golden threads that transformed the Vermillion Bird''s beak into a golden one, shining with a bright light. Still shaking its head in an attempt to get rid of Arthur, the angry bird didn''t notice Makaze which finally reached its head, aiming exactly at its eye, trying to blind its vision. Although Makaze had a somewhat sentient conscience, it was far from being an intelligent Spirit thus it didn''t know that the Divine Beast''s eyes are protected by a transparent layer that is almost impossible to break through. Once Arthur was sure that the beak won''t open, he raised his hand toward the air and clenched his fist, it was a simple movement but it caused an ominous aura to appear out of nowhere, the air became turbulent and the space shattered on the spot. In front of the Vermillion Bird, exactly directed at it, was a two hundred meters long Heavenly Arrow made from pure Dark Magic, it contained no hint of other attributes, it was a unique Heavenly Arrow specifically made to injure the Divine Beast. Arthur took account of Lissandra''s advice and decided to focus on defeating them using his Dark Magic, from the previous reaction of the Vermillion Bird some time ago, he deduced that it felt a bit fearful of the Dark Magic, it was even a bit reluctant to face it head-on. Fortunately, this Vermillion Bird was real since it could hurt him, although he discovered that the hard way, it''s reassuring to know that the Heavenly Arrow won''t hit empty space just like his previous try, where he wasted three [Blood for Blood] and a decent amount of Mental Power. Using his other free hand, which took the form of a claw, Arthur slashed down the air as his hand let out a large darknet made from Demonic Lightning. The net was huge in size, even bigger than the Heavenly Arrow, the purpose of this net was only to shatter whatever illusion was cast on him. The net only traveled a few meters before it spread widely in the air and caused a sound similar to shattering glass to resound all over the area. Instead of using Dark Mana or Nether Energy, Arthur used Mental Power to conjure this Demonic Lightning, he wasn''t sure if a thick bolt of Demonic Lightning will work so he came out of this idea on the spot, fortunately, it worked marvelously lest he would have lost used three hundred Mental Power for nothing. Gazing around him, Arthur saw the white tiger roaring angrily as it shook its body ferociously, countless small streaks of godly thunder could be seen twirling around his body. They resembled white snakes that tried to bite down every inch of its body. Arthur saw no injury or blood leaking out of the golden claw that faced the sword from before, however, the claw no longer had the golden luster that emitted before which means his attack was effective, some way or another. The Heavenly Arrow stood motionlessly in front of the Vermillion Bird, which grew alarmed and enraged, not only was its beak closed forcefully, a dark blade hit its eyes and despite suffering no damage from that hit and deflecting the blade easily, it still infuriated the proud Divine Beast. Adding oil to the fire, the presence of the arrow that was pointed at it made the bird afraid as the Dark Magic being unleashed from the Heavenly Arrow is threatening to it. [Heavenly Arrow] may not be the strongest attack in Arthur''s arsenal, however, it is quite effective due to the speed of the arrow and the short period of time it takes to be cast. The only downside is that it can be immediately detected while it is being created, which is why Arthur always uses a Spatial Tunnel before executing this skill to hide the arrow and only show it when it''s fully created and is ready to be thrown. Waiting for the perfect angle for the arrow to hit, Arthur patiently waited as litters of blood fell down from the sky, dying the trees red, his face became as white as a sheet of paper, his complexions weren''t looking good, the only thing keeping him conscious and alive is his godly recovery ability and his immense Health pool. The fight started around thirty-two seconds ago, he lost 70% of his Health, used [Blood for Blood] six times, permanently lost 780 Mental Power and suffered a serious injury in the chest, leaving him on the verge death, only a small thread of life separating him from the dead souls. He slightly damaged the white tiger, did nothing to the motionless black turtle, caused slight interior damage to the Azure Dragon, and was stabbed from the back by the Vermillion Bird, which resisted his strong attack with a wave of its wings. Indeed... if this isn''t an impossible fight to win then I don''t know what is... Chapter 262 - 215 : Forth Wave ''Now!'' The golden opportunity Arthur was waiting for finally came, as the Vermillion Bird continued shaking its body, especially its head to injure Arthur, it fiercely waved its head high-up, leaving a small portion of its chest exposed. Usually, it uses its wings to defend against any attack that was aimed at its body, which is why Arthur had to wait and suffer from a beak penetrating his back and chest, causing the [Bleeding] debuff to stack multiple times. Like a shooting black star, the dark arrow flew straight at the bird''s chest, causing black flames to land on the flaming body of the bird and result in a painful screech from the Divine Beast. Arthur grasped this chance to forcefully move his body and push the beak to the back with all his force, he strangely wasn''t able to use [Faster Than Death] in such situation which left him helpless, however, he managed to get rid of the bird''s beak and he was finally free. The large wound on his chest started recovering at a fast rate, nonetheless, the damage he had received won''t be fully healed in just a few seconds. Facing the Vermillion Bird, which waved its flaming wings and tried to deflect the dark arrow that has just struck it, Arthur raised his right hand to a direction. The dark blade came flying from below with lightning speed, it heard the call of its master so it rushed at him and in just a split second, it was already held by him. Fortunately, it wasn''t damaged when it hit the Divine Beast''s eyes, this ensured that''ll be able to unleash its full potential, especially since [Thousand Waves] isn''t done yet. Even with his recent power-up, Arthur was skeptical to be able to unleash the full ten waves. Previously, against the old Sovereign, he was barely able to unleash less than half of the ten waves, much less half. With his current stats, he knew that he''s capable of executing five waves with ease. If he forces himself, six waves are possible too, however, if he were to execute the seventh, not only will it stress his mind and injure his muscles, it''ll surely damage Makaze heavily. The effect of [Eternium] lessened, the place where he was injured reverted back to its usual appearance, however, when Arthur held Makaze and was ready to execute the fourth wave, the intensity of the black and red flames increased and the aura was multiplied by at least threefold. ''Fourth Wave, The Reaper''s Call, Evocation of Death!'' A grey fog cloaked Arthur''s figure, rendering the other party unable to locate his position. This was but the beginning, coupled with the core of this attack, several hundreds of short grey blades appeared all around Arthur, they were all aimed at the Vermillion Bird, only waiting for their caster''s will to stab the screeching Vermillion Bird. The Heavenly Arrow weakened as the orange flames of the bird assaulted from all direction, it was even cut in half but it successfully managed to cut through the high defense of the target and even cause dark red blood to spill from the newly suffered wound of the bird. Its cry indicated its pain but it also called for help from the others. The white tiger was still unable to move, the Azure Dragon wasn''t in its peak condition but it could still aid the Vermillion Bird, the third wave did impeccable damage as it bought Arthur so he wasn''t surprised when he saw the twirling figure of the dragon rushing at him. Its two abyssal eyes stared through the grey fog, as if all his weaknesses were seen and he was completely naked in front of such terrifying eyes, Arthur could only avert his gazes and focus on controlling this death formation, which is what the fourth wave was essentially about. As the swords were aimed at the raging bird, Arthur let go of Makaze which floated vertically in front of him, he stretched his hand and closed his eyes, as he focused his Mental Power ''[Blood for Blood]!'' Without hesitation, he used that skill two consecutive times and as he did that, two spinning grey tornados appeared above his palms. They were spinning in a weird manner and very slowly, with his command, the two tornados started increasing their size until they covered all the death formation, making the environment dense of active Death Energy that even obstructed the vision of the incoming Azure Dragon, its Mental Spells had no effect on Arthur right now. As they say ''playing with fire is dangerous'', so is playing with Death Energy. Since the second he obtained Lissandra''s book of the damned, Arthur became able to launch a few death-related skill and even manipulate Death Energy but he wasn''t very efficient in it, he was lacking compared to his servant, Swain, moreover, he doesn''t have total control over it which is why he abstained from using such dangerous energy in battle as it could cause a backlash and kill him instead. The only time he chose to seriously attack with it was against Rozak, the results of his attack back then were more than satisfactory, however, the expenditure was more than he could manage. Sure, with his pool of Mana and Nether Energy, he could fight with Death Energy for a while but it simply isn''t worth it when he could use the same amount that he would use with Death Energy to execute similar powerful skills with a lower cost and high risk. These spinning grey tornados, also known as [Death Storm], the reason it''s called a storm and he''s only able to create one tornado is because of his lack of skill and control over it, normally, it required a very high amount of intelligence to execute such skill, more precisely, it requires 999.999m intelligence, so to execute this skill, he had to use [Griffin''s Bloody Switch]. Strangely enough, no matter how much he poured into the intelligence stats, it just wouldn''t reach the one billion mark, he guessed that it''s related to his low cultivation but he paid no heed for the time being. With the Death Formation in place and the two spinning tornados around him, which he planned to use as a layer of defense, Arthur was sure that he''ll able to last for a while longer and deal considerable damage, whether to the incoming Azure Dragon, or the Vermillion Bird, which finally was able to get rid of the countless golden threads around its beak and extinguish the Heavenly Arrow. Seeing the weirdly colored blood pouring from the wound of the bird, Arthur smirked and felt a bit relieved. ''As long as it bleeds, I can kill it, that''s all I need to know.'' Chapter 263 - 216 : The Fearsome Dragon Breath 1 Arthur wasn''t going to wait for the injured Vermillion Bird to counter-attack him. From the increasing intensity of the flames around it, he could tell that it was extremely angry and on the verge of exploding from rage. Although they were only copies of the originals, they still held the pride of the real source and were naturally arrogant, they had the power to back it up so being injured by someone like Arthur, a stranger that no one knew, obviously infuriated it. Arthur waved his hand and pointed at the Divine Beast, causing the countless sword materialized from the Death Formation to fly straight at the Vermillion Bird, not even letting it the time to react before they were before it. The speed of the swords was even faster than their user, excluding that it was a formation, just the fact that this whole attack was only a wave of one of his strongest skills indicated its fearsomeness. The first waves of the [Thousand Waves] are most definitely strong and not be underestimated, however, the real potential of the skill shows up at the last five waves. Arthur only reached the fourth one yet the death formation was able to obstruct the view of the beasts and render the dragon''s eye ability useless against Arthur. However, the cost of the formation was not something to be laughed at, every second that it remained active, it consumed more than three million Mana. Fortunately, Arthur had a high recovery and a big pool of Mana, so he can sustain it for half a minute or so. He had to take in mind the cost of the fifth wave because it''s rather unlikely to be able to defeat one of the Divine Beast with only this formation. Surprisingly, when the countless death swords hit the Vermillion Swords, they easily managed to penetrate its body but they caused no damage, much less killing the bird. Arthur expected such a thing, he grabbed the air using his left and as if he was pulling a rope. All the swords that penetrated the bird started releasing an ominous grey fog, Arthur''s action caused them to also emit a faint red light that flew straight to his hand. The red light could barely be seen but since there were countless swords, the lights transformed into a red hurricane that rushed to Arthur, causing a visible change to his appearance. Originally, he was still in the state of [Eternium], but since his chest was heavily injured, it returned to its normal appearance but after the dense red light entered his palm, the horrific wound started healing at mind-numbing speed. No more blood could be seen flowing out from his wound, moreover, his Health Pool was recovering at a rapid pace, at such a speed, it''ll only take him a few seconds to fully recover. Nothing was easy in this word, this was a fight and not a friendly spar, the moment the red light was absorbed by Arthur, an ear-deafening roar was heard from behind. He knew that the White Tiger was stunned no more, the Azure Dragon was also preparing its next attack. It glared at him with its jet black eyes as it opened its mouth at him, ready to pulverize him. At first, Arthur wasn''t too worried since he already predicted the time the tiger will be freed, however, when he saw the Azure Dragon open its mouth, his expression changed and his face darkened for he knew the legendary Dragon Breath is about to be unleashed at him. Honestly, Arthur didn''t know much about ''Dragon Breath'' but most records described it as one of the most powerful attacks a dragon could execute, not only was it destructive and powerful, basically, it''s almost impossible to remain unscathed after suffering from a ''Dragon Breath'', no matter where the target escaped, it''s pretty hard to get away from it. Without any hesitation, Arthur retrieved the death swords and muttered "Death Formation; Second act, Banish Death!" Hearing the incantation, the dense fog around the formation became thinner and the countless sword interconnected with each other, forming a sphere around Arthur, who gritted his teeth and took out the black shield from before, preparing to resist the dragon breath. Feeling his body became incredibly heavy from the pressure coming from the front, Arthur knew that the death formation won''t hold against the incoming attack, so he had no choice but to spit a bright golden drop of blood. A Blood Essence is too precious, and Arthur knew the consequences of sacrificing one drop, however, he was left with no choice but to do that. He willed the Blood Essence to merge with the Death formation, which had an immediate effect on it, strengthening it by leaps and bounds. The interconnected death swords became much more numerous and on top of that, two enormous swords appeared just behind this weird sphere or swords. The swords were forming an ''X'' sign as they were facing the Azure Dragon, apparently trying to block whatever was going hit them. Still not totally sure of his safety, Arthur sacrificed permanent Mental Power and conjured a small Dark Cube around himself, it was small in size but it had very high defense and it could be considered another layer of defense, although not as practical as the formation. Arthur''s pupils shrank once he noticed a strange, hazy red energy that started condensing inside the dragon''s mouth, it emitted overwhelming pressure that affected him even when the distance between them is still this big. He knew that this was merely the beginning so he braced himself, circulated the Dark-Star strengthening technique which resulted in more dark flames coming from one side of his body, he could feel immense power surging in him but he still wasn''t confident in dealing with the opponent''s attack. He raised the big shield with both his hands and readied himself as he saw strange colored fire appearing from the dragon''s large mouth. The flames were illusory and couldn''t be seen by the naked eyes, it was only thanks to his special eyes that he managed to see that, however, he didn''t have time to ponder on what kind of flames are they or if they could harm him, he could only hope for the best and try to survive this. Even the White Tiger didn''t attack him as it knew how the dragon breath works and attacking the enemy will only hinder their way to the victory, it floated a safe distance away from Arthur, gazing at his back with a chilling glare as if it wanted to tear him into thousands of pieces. Chapter 264 - 217 : The Fearsome Dragon Breath 2 The gloomy sky that was affected by Arthur''s Dark Magic and the presence of the four Divine Beast became much darker with a shade of red looming over it, as if a terrifying beast was gazing at Arthur from above. Clenching his teeth and preparing from the impact, Arthur witnessed a humongous wave of illusory fire come out from Azure Dragon''s gaping mouth, the wave became bigger by the second, each meter it crossed, it increased by more than three times its previous size. Its speed was so fast that it was practically unavoidable, Arthur''s vision was only filled with incoming flames, that covered all his view, rendering him incapable of trying to find a weak spot to dive through. The forest below was incinerated, leaving nothing but black ash that slowly fell into the ground, mountains, valleys and rivers disappeared, the effect of the dragon breath far surpassed even Arthur''s unique skill, Rizaki. Thousands of miles were turned into a living hell, all the hiding beast in that radius were instantly killed, the nearby towns and cities were pulverized, leaving nothing but a dead black zone, devoid of any of its previous luster and life. Arthur was in no better position either, fortunately, the Death Formation was able to hold for a few seconds, blocking some of the flames and the violent energy brought with it, however, despite the presence of the formation, the defensive skills and the shield, Arthur was still injured as his skin burned, the skill [Eternium] was forcefully disrupted him, giving him his original appearance. He looked haggard with disheveled hair, a completely burned shoulder that had endless blood gushing out of it, the wound on his chest that was supposed to be recovering was hit by the flames and caused him to cough a large mouthful of blood as he resisted the urge to let go of the big dark shield. The two crossed sword emitted a large amount of grey fog trying to resist the violent energy along with the illusory flames but after a few seconds, cracks started appearing all over the two gigantic swords. Arthur continuously conjured Dark Barrier, although they get destroyed almost immediately, it''s still useful and better than doing nothing. Where he was right now was the safest place for the time being, if he gets out of the Death Formation or tried doing some reckless, it''ll only lead to his expected death. The good thing was, he can''t feel any pain from the injuries he''s suffering over time, which is a huge advantage since the wounds he''s sustaining right now are definitely nothing to laugh at. Even someone who has a high resistance toward pain may fall unconscious or lose focus, after all, it''s not a simple cut but a high-degree burn on his shoulder, a gaping hole in his chest and cracking bones that seemed to be affected by the violent energy that rushed at him along with the damned dragon flames. ''Oh no!'' Arthur caught a glimpse of the two swords which just happened to shatter, unable to hold the flames and violent energy any longer, the countless other swords forming a sphere around Arthur were instantaneously destroyed as they were just too weak to be able to resist the dragon breath. Just like that, the Death Formation was obliterated before he could unleash its full potential, followed by the dark cube with only held on for two seconds before following the same fate as the formation. Like a cannon, Arthur body was flung away from the sky, it was sent flying like a kite until it heavily crashed into the burning ground, which was only a mass of black ash and desolate earth. A huge crater was formed due to the strong impact, right at its center was Arthur, whose body was engraved on the Earth with blood leaking out from all pore of his body. His face was incredibly pale as the illusory flames assaulted him, managing to completely incinerate his left which lose his left arm. The flames also injured his chest but he managed to react in time and put all his focus on channeling the dark-star strengthening technique hence protecting himself from the internal damage that the flames could cause. Even the unbreakable chains that presumably no one but him could break were showing signs of destruction. They felt a bit weaker and they were blazing hot as they were clearly affected by the dragon breath. What''s more terrifying is the violent energy that could not be seen by even his new eyes, it had an effect similar to the Natural Lightning but it was way deadlier. It twisted his organs and shook his muscles, making his body feel numb and irresponsive thus limiting his movements. Looking at his Health bar, Arthur let out a rough chuckle which caused more blood to leak out of his mouth. Only 8% of his Health is left, which basically meant he''s already on the verge of death. Not only was he a step away from dying, his health was decreasing rather than recovering! The violent energy was doing damage over time, moreover, the dragon breath was still not done. Since half a minute ago, the Azure Dragon was still breathing out the violent energy and the illusory flames. The other three beasts were at the back, gazing at the miserable Arthur, who was lying on the floor bloodied and in a very bad state. From the look on their faces, they no longer deemed Arthur as a worthy opponent, from their point of view, he was already finished after receiving the dragon breath head-on, it simply isn''t possible to remain unscathed even if it''s some sort of a sacred deity receiving this blow, which is why they never thought that Arthur could possibly fight them after this. The Azure Dragon noticed that Arthur was going to die soon, it glared at Arthur and closed its mouth, putting an end to its dragon breath, or so thought Arthur. Not even a second passed before the Azure Dragon opened its mouth and spat a red ball of light half its size. The ball of red light brought with it a suffocating pressure as it headed towards Arthur, planning to flatten him and turn him into complete nothingness, not even leaving him a way out. The Divine Beasts may be arrogant and proud but they never underestimate their enemies, whether it''s an ant or a strong sage, they always finish the job properly even if their foe is already going to die whether they interfered or not. Seeing the incoming doom, Arthur tried to move or even teleport but he couldn''t, the violent energy ruptured his body, making him similar to a cripple, if not for his godly recovery then his heart would have been burnt already. He knew that he''ll definitely die if this were to hit him, so he prepared himself to use[Death Binding], he''ll be able to survive for the next ten seconds but he didn''t know if this ball of red light had a lasting effect like the previous dragon breath or not. Just as Arthur was going to activate [Death Binding], a streak of dark light flew from above, blocking the ball''s way and clashing with it head-on, causing the space to shatter and the air to become incredibly turbulent. Arthur was dumbfounded as he stared at Makaze, which acted on its own for the first time, he never commanded it to move as he simply couldn''t, who would have thought that this dark blade could operate separately, moreover, it was even able to clash with the ball of red light and not be flung off immediately!! Chapter 265 - 218 : The Rage of The Dark Blade, Makaze Erupts Like a shooting star, the dark blade intercepted the ball of strange light spat by Azure Dragon, even without the orders of its master, the blade made a move of its own. Arthur had long since known that his blade and partner, Makaze, is sentient, although it cannot communicate with him using words, he can sort of understand what it wants through their bond. The blade had a strong affinity toward the darkness-attribute, moreover, it seemed to be unaffected by the consuming effect of the Dark Magic, in fact, it is strengthened by it and always wants to be covered by it. Furthermore, he had fed it countless blade, he let Makaze devour swords of all shapes, be they high ranked or low-ranked. It''s been a while since the dark blade had abstained from devouring any swords for no apparent reason, Arthur urged it many times but the katana was unwilling as if it was feeling full, which is a strange phenomenon since it never happened in the past. Makaze clashed with the big ball of light, unleashing an absurd amount of dark flames as it vibrated intensely, not letting the ball of light advance even an inch. A buzzing sound started emanated from the blade as it made its way through the ball, penetrating it with a little bit of effort, it dived all the way to the back of the ball of light until the Azure Dragon became useless as the violent energy dispersed in all direction, no longer targeting Arthur in specific. Arthur stared at the floating blade with a complicated expression, Makaze had been with him since the very beginning, never leaving his side and always aiding him in every desperate situation, although not like now, but its help is undeniable, it boosted his power by a lot. Its origins were mysterious but he didn''t care about that, an unbreakable connection has already been formed between him and this strange dark blade so he could feel its anger without looking at it. The ball of light that was just resisted is no mere attack, along with executing four waves, the blade was in no better shape than Arthur, especially after forcefully fending off the last attack of the Azure Dragon, yet here it is, contrary to its master, floating alone in the air, facing the four Divine Beast. It was a comical yet strange sight to behold, four legendary beasts glaring at a minuscule blade, the Azure Dragon was unhappy as twisted its body and headed straight at the blade with lightning speed, wanting to break it once and for all. Arthur panicked as he saw this, he struggled to stand up and stabilized his body, Makaze bought him precious seconds that allowed him to recover for a bit but once the dragon breath ended, the lurking white tiger no longer suppressed itself, with a speed faster than its dragon companion, it appeared near Arthur, ready to tear him into pieces. Unlike its previous normal attacks, it didn''t just slash with its claws as after receiving the full-blunt attack of the thunder sword, it knew that this human was more troublesome than expected. Facing the incoming white tiger, which opened its mouth and spat strange white acid, Arthur used [Faster Than Death] to teleport a distance away only to see the tiger waiting for him with a ferocious look. The strange white acid was unavoidable at this point so Arthur unhesitatingly used [Golden Nova], the powerful skill that belongs to the Holy Arts. Although there is a strong chance that it''ll attack the user, it is indeed a powerful defensive skill that can certainly block the attack of the white tiger. He is in a very desperate situation, the dragon breath thoroughly tired him and brought him yet a step closer to the doors of the death, if not for Makaze then he would have used [Death Binding], which is the last resort for Arthur, moreover, it only lasts a few seconds, even if he used, he wouldn''t have survived the continuous attacks coming from all the other parties. As the Sixth Chapter of the Holy Arts was unleashed, contrary to Arthur''s expectation, it wasn''t a bright humanoid figure with a tall height and a golden aura around it, quite the contrary, in fact, this silhouette was surrounded by a dark fog, a sinister aura was emanated from within a fog as dark shadow jumped out from this darkness, fearlessly meeting the white tiger head-on. The dark shadow emitted a cold maniacal laugh, similar to madman''s as it violently punched the white tiger, not caring one bit about the white acid which landed on it and turned into steam in a split second as if it was purified by the looming dark fog. Arthur was startled for a moment but he didn''t focus too much on the details, he never tested this skill because he was a bit skeptical but he was forced to execute it due to the dire situation, now that he looked at the dark shadow, he was certain that it was affected by his Dark Magic in some way or another. ˇ­ A distance away from Arthur and the white tiger, the dark blade Makaze vibrated intensely as its sharp tip was pointed at the twirling Azure Dragon, which was heading straight at it. Its two deep and abyss-like eyes were glaring at Makaze, attempting to break it using merely its soul attacks but the blade was soulless to begin with, so such attacks were useless. Sensing what''s about to come, Makaze emitted a chilling cry as a thick pillar of dark light rose from the blade all the to the gloomy sky, dispersing the clustered clouds above. The pillar of light was accompanied by an ominous and uneasy aura that stopped the Azure Dragon from its tracks, even the quiet turtle floating in the back seemed to take notice of this pillar. Just as it sensed extreme danger and wanted to alarm the Azure Dragon, it was, unfortunately, a step too late as countless dark lights appeared from within the thick pillar and headed right at the dragon, stabbing it from all direction. The speed of these dark lights was faster than even the white tiger, they could barely be seen as they flew with mind-numbing speed and stabbed the dragon from all direction resulting in an angry yet painful wail from the unprepared dragon. Upon closer look, these countless lights were actually swords, they were in all shapes and sizes, each had a unique aura emanating from it, some were rusty while others were golden swords embedded with precious gems, some were even broken, however, even those managed to stab the dragon, causing blood to gush out and more painful and agonizing cries to be heard. Chapter 266 - 219 : All For Strength The attack of Makaze was not a simple form of resistance, the damage it had just dealt the dragon could be seen from the divine beast''s reaction. It violently shook its body and roared, trying to shake off the swords stabbing its body but to no avail, they were glued to it, causing large amounts of blood to gush out, furthermore, it was hurt by Arthur''s fire attack which did considerable internal damage, adding to its pain. Amongst the four Divine Beasts, it is by far the one which is the most injured, currently, that is. Arthur saw this scene but had no time to enjoy the thrilling view of the suffering Azure Dragon, he directed his attention to the Vermillion Bird, which recovered quite a bit in such a short amount of time. Apart from the black turtle, the Vermillion Bird had the highest recovery, although it wasn''t a phoenix as it couldn''t reach Nirvana, Arthur was sure it has a technique similar to it, allowing to rise from its ashes and be reborn. Obviously, such a process is hard to do and it brings many benefits accompanied by harsh costs so the Divine Beast wouldn''t resort to such means unless it was in a dire situation with no other choices but to activate its trump card. This was only Arthur''s speculation, the bird may not have such a technique as it is only a copy but it isn''t Arthur''s way to underestimate his enemies, not after almost getting killed by that venomous woman back at the Ma Clan. The crazy shadow he just summoned will probably hold the white tiger for a few seconds, so he focused on the Vermillion Bird, which was staring at him with vicious glare, it was totally angry and no more held back. Waving its long flaming wings, it dived straight at Arthur while spitting twenty meters long fireballs accompanied by humongous waves of fire that covered the whole sky. Arthur didn''t back or teleport away, a cold and resolute glint flashed through his eyes, he waved his remaining hand conjuring a wave of Dark Magic the same size as the incoming wave of flames which looked exactly like a falling tsunami. This, however, was but the beginning as thousands upon thousands of three-meter-long Dark Spears, they were positioned all around Arthur, prepared to face the fireballs of the Vermillion Bird. Arthur wasn''t done yet, he charged at the enemy followed by his spears and the tsunami of Dark Magic. One side was blazing with an orange fire that emanated intense heat while the other was filled with countless spears and an ominous aura that affected the surrounding, especially the already scorched earth that started withering at a rapid pace. Clenching his hand into a fist, Arthur prepared himself to punch the incoming bird, which like it wanted to tear him into a million piece even at the expense of its own life. ''[Blood for Blood]! [Griffin''s Bloody Switch]!'' Arthur sacrificed a large amount of Wisdom into Strength, holding nothing back in his next attack. A small green luster emanated from his clenched fist, it was barely noticeable at first but when the clash was only a split second away, the green light intensified as his fist became brilliant with green light, stretching one meter around his fist. The Divine Beast wasn''t going to use its beak this time but its lower feet, which were razor-sharp claws that are deadlier than even its beak. The Dark Spears ped through the air, disturbing the space around them and causing a loud whistling sound, they penetrated the twenty meter long fireballs but couldn''t totally disperse them. Fortunately, the number of spears far surpassed the fireballs so when ten Dark Spears was unable to resist the fireballs, fifty could barely do the job, as far a hundred, they would obliterate the fireball immediately. The clash was intense as winds howled, enormous tidal waves of energy from the outburst stretched to all sides, destroying the ravaged land even more to the point of causing a huge split on the earth, stretching for thousands of miles. As the first was going to hit the two incoming claws, which were flashing with a blood-red light, Arthur mustered all his strength and punched out when the green light intensity reached its climax. ''[Heavenly Mountain Fist]!'' This fist-technique was a 1st Grade Heavenly Rank, although it isn''t the strongest in his arsenal, after numerous trials and research, he managed to find the most suitable one for him. From all the people he possessed, the number of fist-technique he has was in the thousands yet only this one had a high compatibility with him. Its origin isn''t very clear but Arthur read that its creator managed to destroy an incredibly large mount with only the pure might of his fist and nothing else. If it''s trained into perfection, it won''t be impossible to shatter skies and split oceans. ''BOOM!'' The weak space around the claws and his fist shattered when the two clashed, resulting into a small tear in space that was different than usual, it didn''t have the usual low-scale devouring ability, instead, it emitted countless needle-like energies that stabbed everywhere around it. Fortunately, the space tear was merely two inches long and disappeared after a split second but even Arthur, who has a high mastery in Space Magic felt dread from that small tear, it was largely similar to the energy he felt when the world of Bucama was about to be destroyed. This caused him to become apprehensive as there was a chance Astria could be destroyed. This special space tear was extremely tiny so it can''t destroy this world but what if a larger clash occurred then there''s no telling what the consequences would be. The ground started shaking as the crack on it started opening like a devil opening its mouth and revealing a bottomless abyss with no ending to it, it was at this moment that the Human Continent, from East to West, split into two big lands and separated by humongous crack in the earth which started swallowing falling tree, rivers, seas and mountains, some miserable beasts were unlucky to fall too. A strange sight could be seen as the sky was divided by an orange color and a wave of darkness that seemed as if it came out from the abyss down below. The orange flames of the bird were burning the Dark Magic while the other was consuming its foe resulting in a short stalemate. The two waves seemed to be pushed away by the turbulent energy around the Vermillion Bird and Arthur, a small fist was currently resisting the heated claws of the bird which flapped its wings and tried to envelop Arthur, however, to its surprise, it felt a pressuring force from his fist and couldn''t handle it causing its body to be sent flying away from Arthur. Three of its claws were totally broken as it flew like a kite until it managed to stop itself, however, it was apparent that having its claws broken was not something small. No blood came out from where its claws have been, instead, a liquid similar to a magma started flowing out, panicked and angry, the Vermillion Bird screeched and protected itself with its wings covering its chest and head as it spat strange flames at its claws, trying to heal the injury. Chapter 267 - 220 : Whats In The Box 1 Just as Arthur injured the Vermillion Bird, he heard a hysterical wail not far away from him, before he could turn to see what happened, he sensed great danger as a white streak similar to a white lightning came rushing at him. Before he could react, his body was already sent flying high-up in the sky, leaving only a fountain of blood as a trail. The White Tiger felt great anger and humiliation as it was pushed a few time by the dark shadow Arthur summoned, the tattoos on its body shined with a golden light, increasing its strength and speed. Arthur''s flying body was hit yet another time as the tiger wanted to release its anger on him. He looked pitiful as his body was hit multiple times without being able to retaliate, he could not even react as his Health decreased continuously and the injuries on his bodies multiplied. The rampage of the White Tiger was only stopped when the dark blade Makaze came down from above, similar to a fallen dark star, it intercepted the sharp golden claws of the White Tiger and buying enough time for Arthur to stabilize his body and fly straight towards his weapon, holding Makaze tightly. The Vermillion Bird couldn''t attack as it hastily healed its claws, the Azure Dragon was silently floating at a safe distance, creepingly glaring at Arthur. Before he could resist the White Tiger, which relentlessly attacked and tried to pulverize him, his mind was attacked by a mysterious attack which brought with him unimaginable pain. As if countless needless stabbed his brain, rendering him unable to move, actually, he would have fallen unconscious if not for him strong willpower and the dark Talisman residing above his Dantian, which emitted ominous black light that travelled to his consciousness, easing the pain by a bit but not enough to allow him to fight. The pain immunity skill allows him to not feel any kind of pain but this strange attack of the Azure Dragon was surprisingly effective as it made Arthur feel agonizing pain. The intensity of the pain was similar to when his body was being created, any normal person wouldn''t be able to stay awake when faced with such agony. Fortunately, Makaze was able to act by itself and spin vertically, creating an illusory black whirlpool that defended against the White Tiger. Although it only managed to block three slashes from the golden claws, it nevertheless it bought Arthur enough time to take control of his body and retreat hastily as his body transformed into green lightning, boosting his speed even further. His clothes were soaked with blood, every corner of it was dyed with red, the stench was unbearable and the bleeding never ceased which caused Arthur''s body to become a bit sluggish. He only managed to evacuate from that location thanks to his Lightning Magic as he transformed into a yellow streak of lightning that retreated a few hundred miles. Surprisingly, the White Tiger didn''t continue its attacks but flew next to the enormous black turtle, the Azure Dragon and the Vermillion Bird also floated next to it, making Arthur feel extremely uneasy. The black turtle never acted since the beginning, the only time it attacked was when it created that realistic illusion but apart from that, it passively remained at its original position. Although he was confused and eery, Arthur still breathed a sigh of relief as he retrieved Healing Potion from his storage and gulped them unhesitantly, he even threw a couple of pills into his mouth, disregarding the small side-effects they may bring later-on. These pills didn''t boost his strength, they merely increased the efficiency of his Mental Power recovery as well as Nether Energy, they were very expensive but Zodiak still possessed a decent amount so Arthur didn''t hold back in using them. He glanced at the flaming dark blade and noticed a small crack on its edges, it was almost unnoticeable but having been with the blade for a long time, he could feel it was weakened and on the bridge of breaking, it goes without saying that unleashing the next wave is impossible, even using it to block more attacks would lead to its destruction, which is something he didn''t wish for. As he ignored the desperate calling of the blade that still wanted to fight, Arthur stored the blade in his ring and cautiously gazed at the four Divine Beast. The more time they remained motionless the better it is for him, he was heavily injured and each second is precious. The ugly wounds all over his bodies started healing and the blood stopped gushing out after merely ten seconds. With his eyes locked onto the beast, Arthur was able to see a green energy was emitted from the black turtle, the energy enveloped the three Divine Beast until it covered them whole. Under the astonished stare of Arthur, the bloodied Azure Dragon, the claws of the Vermillion Bird and the slightly burnt body of the White Tiger instantly healed, it didn''t even take two seconds before the three of them returned to normal, brimming with vitality as if they never have been injured in the first place. With eyes filled with total disbelief and a pale face, he couldn''t believe such a thing was possible. If he had known, he wouldn''t let them return next to the turtle, even if it''s just hindering one from being healed it''s still better than having them all recover in the blink of an eye. Arthur never anticipated that the turtle could do such a thing, the damage he inflicted on them is not something that could be recovered from easily, especially the fire that internally injured the Azure Dragon and the countless swords that stabbed its body. ''T-this is ridiculous!'' Sensing the suffocating aura of the four beasts as they glared at him, Arthur was certain that it wasn''t just an illusion but reality! The turtle not only could use high-ranked illusion but could instantaneously heal its comrades, adding to that its unpenetrable defense, how could he beat them if they''ll be able to recover like that?! Seeing no way out and thinking about the situation he was in, there''s no way he could inflict the same wounds with his current state, his blade was weakened and showing signs of breaking, he was heavily injured, externally and internally. He expended more than half of his Mental Power, 60% of his Nether Energy and already dropped two grades. A ruthless and savage glint flashed through his eyes, he took a deep breath and retrieved an exquisite looking box from his storage. The box wasn''t big but it was apparent that it was forged used high-grade materials, there was a talisman on top of it that had the role of some sort of a lock. He waved his hand, cutting the talisman in two and opened the box, revealing what''s inside it. ''I have no other choice but to use this... ah! Sorry, Lucy, I planned to gift it to you but I guess I have to use it first.'' Chapter 268 - 221 : Whats Inside The Box 2 Laying inside the exquisite box was a silver object which was crafted meticulously by Arthur. It is by far the best weapon he ever crafted, at least compared to the ones he handed to Anastassia and the rest. It was a medium-sized silver revolver, it looked no different than normal ones on Earth except the materials it was made from. The silver material was actually a special crafting material found in cold and hidden places. It is called Silk Moon Silver and it is very resistant to all types of elements, including the special ones. Unfortunately, Arthur only found a small chunk barely enough to craft this revolver. After numerous attempts using other materials, various tests conducted after the completed test objects, he was able to create this masterpiece, which resulted in earning three skill points. When he created the Heavenly Arrow, he was only able to gain one skill point yet this revolver gave him three so this shows how unique this weapon is. When he was drawing the blueprints of this revolver, Arthur remembered the secret weapon of the academy, ''judgment'', it has terrifying destructive power, he tried applying it on the revolver while also trying to make it shot instantaneously instead of taking some time like the magical cannon that belonged to Sonia. Furthermore, he tweaked a little bit so it could become highly compatible with his wife, Lucy. Coupled with the Silk Moon Silver, he also inscribed two small formations. They were supportive formations, nonetheless, their efficiency could not be denied. The first was called [Ice Breath], it boosted the damage done by the bullets shot by the revolver and increases the affinity of the user to the Ice attribute. He couldn''t wield Yin Power like Lucy so he used Ice instead since he had the [High-Mastery] for this attribute. The second one was [Fire Breath], it has the same effect as the first one and normally, these two formations would oppose each other, however, Lucy managed to do the impossible and was able to fuse these two together although not to the perfection stage, so adding these two formations to the power of the revolver, Arthur was sure that it''ll become a monstrous weapon in her hands. She would definitely be able to unleash its full power, as for him, he can barely use fifty percent of its true power, unfortunately. The revolver was only the beginning, next to it laid several bullets with varied shape and colors. There were red bullets, black bullets, and even blue bullets. Each matched to an attribute and to craft these bullets, it required Arthur four whole months inside the ARK. They were not just simple bullets, what''s inside them is much more complicated than what the naked eye could see. Just like he built the revolver to be similar to Judgment, the bullets where the same, they resembled the skill [Rizaki], each containing a compressed kind of attribute. Even shooting one with his own hand would result in devastating destruction so if he were to use the revolver, which was built to match these bullets and boost their power then the outcome would be unimaginable. Arthur restrained himself from using such a trump card first because he wanted Lucy to use it first as it was hers, to begin with. Secondly was due to the cost of using such a weapon. This revolver, also named ''Lonely Moon'', was built in a way that only Lucy could use it, no one but her is able to use it, even the creator himself, Arthur, is not an exception. He has Makaze and Lucy doesn''t have any trump cards so this revolver was going to act as a life-saving object, it is also a gift from a husband to his wife. The only reason he can use it right now is thanks to his high-sky stats, however, even with such cheat stats, he''s bound to suffer a big backlash. The rebound is almost fatal and the materials aren''t compatible with his powers, the only things allowing him to use it is the small fire formation. Arthur didn''t waste time staring at the revolver, he picked it up and hastily put a red bullet inside then focused his attention on the four Divine Beast, which seemed about to attack at any given second. Using his eyes, Arthur was able to see a formless energy whirlpool appear above the beasts, moreover, the scales on the turtle''s back began shaking and then a few them shot out from straight at him with lightning speed. He unhesitantly raised his remaining hand which was holding Lonely Moon and surprisingly aimed at the sky and fired. As he pushed the trigger, a loud sound rang in his ears which was followed by three small red circles appearing in front of the tip of the revolver. The three red circle with spinning slowly with the one closest to the weapon being the smallest and the furthest being the biggest. ''BANG!'' Veins popped from his already devastated hand, his arm trembled and blood gushed out unceasingly, his body was even sent flying back for a hundred meters before he was able to stabilize it. The bullets he crafted were different in power and attribute. For example, the one he shot was a 3rd-grade bullet which is why three circles appeared. In total, Arthur crafted sixteen bullets, two of them were 5th-grade, three were 4th-grade, eight 3rd-grade and three 2nd-grade. The higher the grade, the more powerful the bullet. Obviously, the more powerful the bullet, the higher the requirements, as he is right now, Arthur cannot even use a 4th-grade bullet, much less a 5th-grade. However, although he only used a 3rd-grade, he was certain that it''ll injure the four Divine Beast, no matter how tough their defense is. After all, this revolver is his greatest masterpiece, a weapon meant to erase Gods and slay Sovereigns! The scales didn''t even get time to get close to Arthur before an explosion that was far louder than Rizaki or the Dragon Breath resounded on all the Human Continent. All the living beings on Astria heard this ear-deafening explosion which was accompanied by a sea of red flames that covered the whole sky, scattering all the clouds and falling down on the Divine Beasts. ..... In a calm and beautiful courtyard where there''s a small river and blooming beautiful flowers, Arthur sat on the grass with a smile on his face as he stared at Lucy, who was squatting in a corner of the courtyard devoid of the colorful flowers all around. The corner was a bit gloomy and despite the absence of the flowers and roses which decorated this place, that corner had a certain charm in it as there was a beautiful red rose that was growing alone there. Lucy stroked the rose as she hummed with a happy tone, her face didn''t have the usual indifference and coldness and instead, she had a breathtaking smile as she admired this rose. "You seem to like this rose very much." The silver-haired woman turned her head to look at him and nodded while saying "En! This rose is my favorite out of all of them. It''s called ''The Chrysler Imperial Rose'', it grows in remote places where there is very little life, it is fascinating how it grows alone where there is no one to accompany it yet ends up this breath-taking. To still stand up when it''s alone and bloom beautifully like this..." She became absent-minded as she gently stroked the red rose, she seemed to be mesmerized by the roses. Arthur already knows about her love for flowers so he always tries his best to decorate their home with every flower she loves using the Nature Magic. "If you want, I can grow more for you." Hearing him, Lucy shook her head and walked up to him, she snuggled in his arms and embraced him tightly while saying "It''s sad for it to grow alone like this, cast out... but I think that''s what makes it special, what makes it stand out from everything else." Arthur didn''t reply, he hugged her back and remained silent, enjoying this peaceful moment with her... ..... This type of red bullet was meant for that moment, back when everything peaceful and the days were calm without any danger. He coughed up a large mouthful of blood then stared at where the Divine Beasts only to see nothing. He knew they were injured but it''ll be far-fetched to think they''re already dead even after this attack. He raised his head to look at the bright sky, where an enormous blooming red rose made up of flames could be seen. He could only see a tip of it as its size was simply too big for him to see it all. The sun rays couldn''t penetrate through the blooming rose which covered half of the continent. The Human Continent was no more as the fire scorched every corner of it, incinerating cities, villages, and mountains, leaving not a single being alive, it has already become a black burnt land where no man could live on. ** A Blooming rose, was it needed Finishing those who shall be beaten Chapter 269 - 222 : Gravity Magic The damage done by the 3rd-grade bullet was beyond what Arthur''s Rizaki could do, even if he unleashed his strongest Rizaki, which was one made from pure Void Magic, it still wouldn''t be able to devour the whole continent. The red rose was still burning high up in the sky, raising the temperature of this whole small world by several degrees, beings that watched from afar were staring at the gigantic burning rose from afar, with awe and fear. East of Astria, a transparent green barrier materialized itself around the World Tree, protecting a third of the Itas continent. The heat from the rose was reaching the thick forest and even the trees close to the shore was melting as they couldn''t withstand the high temperature. "Such dangerous flames... what a terrifying monster indeed.... much like that crazy old man." The spirit of the World Tree mumbled to itself as it witnessed the rising rose, covering the sky far away and changing the weather of the world. Even though Astria wasn''t big compared to the Green-Leaf world, it isn''t easy to cast a skill capable of totally changing the weather and incinerating a whole continent. The Northern Continent suffered the least as it was a bit farther from the Human Continent, however, some of the snow mountains on its South melted, revealing a beautiful greenery that was hidden by the snow that existed for thousands of years. At the MoonStar sect, right at the top of the roof of the tall tower, there was a lonely slim figure watching the burning red rose with a helpless smile hanging on her face, after a while, she let out a long sigh and bitterly said "It''s no use, Arthur... even such an attack won''t work against them, winning alone is impossible... why can''t you understand the meaning of my words." Lissandra became absent-minded as her eyes were locked on the rose that dispersed after a dozen seconds... ..... When he decided to fight, Arthur planned to defeat the four Divine Beast while trying to keep the central continent undamaged, however, that idea was immediately cast away when he experienced their prowess. It just wasn''t doable to kill them without damaging this big piece of land so he decided to give up on this one to save the other three, as long as the inhabitants live and there is a safe place to live in, then it''s still worth it. Currently, he was coughing large mouthful of blood as veins popped from his arms, his body shook intensely from the powerful rebound of the revolver. He stared at the burning rose then shifted his attention below, where the Four Divine Beasts were flung to. Unfortunately, the burning rose didn''t remain for a long time, barely fifteen seconds before it dispersed in the air, leaving a sea of red flames below, it sunk deep into the bottomless abyss, causing heat to emit from there. From within the sea of flames, Arthur could see three floating figures, one was a large black shadow that had some of its scales burned or broken, blood leaked out unceasingly as it pushed the flames away and flew high above whilst a formless green energy enveloped it, protecting it from the fire. The energy aided the other two, guiding them through the fire and helping them recover bit by bit. Accompanying the black turtle were the Vermillion Bird, which had one of its wings missing and right next to it was the Azure Dragon, which literally had half of its body burned down, showing a grotesque and gory sight. Arthur couldn''t feel the presence of the White Tiger nor could he see its position in his map which only meant one thing, his attack managed to successfully eliminate one of the four, making him feel delighted and showing a bit of hope in this suicidal path. Although he was relieved that the tiger died, he also felt helpless as he couldn''t fire another 3rd-grade bullet, it''ll break his body and it''ll take a lot of time before he recovers. His body was already on the verge of breaking and if not for his high recovery, he would have fallen hundreds of times. Since he was overworking himself so his lost arm wasn''t fully grown, only half of it appeared, this applied for his serious internal injuries too which is why blood leaked out of his mouth every few seconds. With Makaze gone, he could no longer execute powerful swords skills, he coldly stared at the enraged Divine Beasts, which weren''t pleased with the loss of their comrade. The black turtle only had a few of its scales burned or destroyed and apart from that, it didn''t look in a bad state, however, the Azure Dragon was basically dead with half of its body burnt. The Vermillion Bird had a very high resistance to all kinds of flames so Arthur''s previous attack didn''t cause serious damage, fortunately, it was able to destroy one of its wings, causing it to wail painfully as it flapped its lonely wing and spat big fireballs at Arthur, who skillfully dodged them using his agility coupled with [Transcendence]. Before he performs the next step, Arthur wanted to kill the Azure Dragon as it was incapable of moving, much less resisting so without any hesitation, he dived straight at it, ready to execute. ''[Blood for Blood]! [Heavenly Arrow]! [Blood for Blood]! [Heavenly Arrow]!'' Instantly, two lengthy arrows appeared at his sides, they were made from pure Dark Magic. The two arrows flew straight at the motionless dragon with a speed faster than his, they were both aimed at its head, wanting to pulverize it. This time, the black turtle didn''t stay passive, it growled with a deep sound and opened its mouth, showing its sharp dark teeth and disgusting slithery tongue. At that second, Arthur felt his body become heavier and his vision becomes extremely blurry, his figure fell from the air as if the ground was pulling him towards it with strong, almost irresistible force. ''Dammit! Gravity Magic!'' Gravity Magic belonged to Earth Magic but it was very, very rare to acquire and even him, who possessed hundreds of thousands of bodies, wasn''t able to obtain him, which showed how unique it is. It is said that it''s very powerful and if mastered properly then even Gods had to kneel without able to retaliate. ''What the hell is this turtle, it can do everything!'' Although he was pushed down, the two Heavenly Arrows he sent weren''t affected by the gravity force and continued their way toward the helpless dragon, which cried angrily as it glared at the sea of flames below with rage and terror, it completely ignored the incoming arrows as if they weren''t a threat, to begin with. Two half-broken scales appeared in front of the Azure Dragon; blocking the arrows'' way. The scales and two arrows clashed with each other, causing the former to shake violently but in the end, the arrows were stopped despite their high penetrative force. Although they were resisted, dark magic invaded the two half-broken scales and started weakening them bit by bit so the black turtle was forced to retaliate immediately, it controller another two scales which flew at the arrows and cut them in pieces in the blink of an eye, leaving Arthur momentarily startled as he didn''t know the scales were so powerful to the extent of being able to destroy these arrows. Even the Vermillion Bird in its peak form can''t get rid of them this easily, this led Arthur to become much more cautious and attentive of this silent turtle. ''This tortoise is definitely the strongest but why is it so passive?'' As he was resisting the gravity magic, Arthur clenched his teeth and focused at the area just below the Azure dragon while mumbling "Die for me!" ''[Blood for Blood]![Rizaki]!'' *** Did the Divine Foresee, That the end is near, or would it be? Chapter 270 - 223 : Dark Rain As the sky, which was covered by the flames of the red rose, transformed into a darkness that enveloped what remained of the Human Continent, Arthur took out the half-broken shield from earlier and poured large amounts of Dark Mana into his Dark Barrier, making it thicker and stronger. He unleashed a Dark Rizaki since Dark Magic was quite effective against those beasts, moreover, the Azure Dragon was already a thread away from death with half of his body pulverized thanks to flames, so there''s no way he''d survive this Rizaki, especially when its center is this close to him. He slowly backed away as focused on the Black Turtle, which started acting the moment the darkness covered their vision. An intense green energy emanated from its scales and surrounded it and the Vermillion Bird, which, fortunately, was close to it. As for the dragon, the turtle couldn''t pinpoint its location and could do nothing but try to resist what''s about to happen without acting recklessly. For an attack to be able to block their view and entrap them like this, it was by no means a simple and weak one. They had special eyes and incredible senses yet they felt helpless when this world of darkness descended. Seeing the lonely figure of the Azure Dragon as it spat a large ball of blue energy which transformed into a barrier around it, giving it a bit of relief. The center of Rizaki couldn''t be seen by the entrapped dragon, which had no idea that the center of the explosion was merely a few meters under its body, no matter how strong his barrier was, it can''t resist a Rizaki from Arthur, especially after his intelligence stats increased to this degree. Dark energy slowly and sneakily invaded the Divine Beasts body, no matter what they did, they couldn''t resist it or push it away. Even the black turtle seemed disturbed by this fact, it only reacted to this by strengthening the green barrier around itself and its comrade. The Dark Magic that entered them was different from the material one, this acted as a poison, eating away the victim''s vitality and slowly consuming them. It has no effect on the Divine Beasts but it''s still a good way to divert their attention and scare them a bit. The cold silence that accompanied this world didn''t remain for long, in a split second, the darkness was compressed into a single dot under the Azure Dragon and before it could act, an ear-deafening explosion occurred. Arthur, who retreated a couple of kilometers away was still pushed away by the turbulent winds but apart from that, he wasn''t injured as he fully prepared himself and successfully resisted the impact. Just like the red flaming rose, Rizaki did a fair job in obliterating the upper part of the Human Continent. As they were battling above the crack that went from the East to the West of the continent, it is no longer a continent but two pieces of land separated by a bottomless abyss filled with eternal fire. Volcanos have started appearing all over the lower piece of the land, as for the upper piece, it started sinking as the sea covered the mountains and forests, swallowing everything in its way. Rizaki made matters worse as the explosion was so fierce that it pushed the two piece of lands away from each other, widening the abyss below and forcefully pushing the upper piece of land into the sea, letting it sink deep into the sea, never to be seen again. The small flames tornados that were the remains of the red rose were scattered due to the violent winds and the raging sound waves which traveled long distances before they finally dispersed. The three Divine Beasts, which were very close to the center of Rizaki, suffered the most. The space around them shattered and recovered again and again and the Azure Dragon, which was heavily injured from the get-go, was turned into nothingness before it could defend itself. Its barrier was instantly shattered and it was erased from existence the moment the explosion happened. As for the turtle, it was extremely tenacious as its scales vibrated and release an energy which had a mix of green and yellow energy. The reinforced green barrier around the two Divine Beasts started becoming smaller in size until it barely covered the Vermillion Bird and the black turtle. The Barrier turned yellow in color and a strange mantra was engraved on each of its sides, one was a green mantra and the other was a yellow one. This wasn''t the end as the Vermillion Bird screeched loudly and spat a small fireball which crashed into the top of the barrier, transforming into a red mantra that was a bit smaller than the other two. The barrier had a mix of three colors, which were harmonious and compatible with each other, every one of them strengthened the other, rendering this barrier almost unbreakable. When the explosion occurred, the barrier was just finished yet despite that, the black turtle didn''t expect such a violent impact. The small barrier around them started showing multiple cracks as it was pushed away from their initial position. They couldn''t even stay still due to the pushing force from Rizaki, the cracks started deepening and appearing all over the barrier and the red mantra showed signs of vanishing as it started turning illusory. This continued for a dozen seconds and before long, the barrier lacked its previous luster as it was filled with countless cracks as if a simple push from the wind would break it. The world was no longer filled with darkness, only violent wind tornados and shattered space that recovered itself with a fast pace could be seen in this area. The sky had a humongous grey cloud that slowly spun around the Human Continent, or what remained of it, at least. Inside this grey cloud, Arthur panted heavily as blood leaked from his mouth, he was currently facing the two Divine Beasts which gazed at him with apparent rage and anger. They were still hiding inside that cracked barrier, despite receiving the full impact from Rizaki, it still survived and maintained itself. From the looks of it, it was repairing itself at a decent speed and if given enough time then it''ll surely go back to its original state. This was something Arthur didn''t wish for. With the Azure Dragon gone, he only had two opponents left and although he was not in an advantageous position, he could still fight a bit more as his Nether Energy pool and his Mana pool weren''t empty. Surprisingly, the turtle and the bird didn''t attack him, they remained inside the barrier, thinking that his attack wasn''t done yet. This bought him enough time to unleash his next attack, which may take some time. Arthur put the shield on his back and raised his hand to the sky and closed his eyes, concentrating his Mental Power and injecting his Dark Mana into one particular skill. ''[Heavenly Arrow]!'' One of his signature skills, a deadly arrow that could be conjured from one of a few possible attributes. Its might is incredible and its speed is unmatched even by the White Tiger, presumably the fastest Divine creature. One Heavenly Arrow may not be able to injure the black turtle and only deal slight damage to the Vermillion Bird but how about five Heavenly Arrows? Or ten of them? Other speaks of quality over quantity but that''s not always the case. What if he could mass produce Heavenly Arrows without using [Blood for Blood]. With all his focus and Mental Power put on this skill, along with an absurd amount of Dark Mana, he imagined a skill similar to Lucy''s devastating meteor shower but this one had countless dark Heavenly Arrows. A mind-numbing number that could finish these two pests once and for all. Obviously, to produce a thousand Heavenly Arrows is not possible but he didn''t wish for a number that high, even a hundred, in this case, could do the job. Slowly but surely, Heavenly Arrows made of pure Dark Magic started appearing above Arthur, they were high-up in the sky, pointing downwards, exactly at the yellow barrier of the turtle. One turned into five, five into ten and so on, in twenty seconds, this gloomy area which was surrounded by the humongous spinning grey cloud, was covered with Heavenly Arrows that were burning with dark flames. Each with a length over thirty meters, emitting a suffocating pressure and an ominous aura. They had a weak link between them, one which boosted their penetrative power and speed. When the imagined skill was successfully finished, Arthur''s face became even paler, he spat a weird looking black blood and started shaking nonstop. *ting* Congratulations! You have created a new skill(active): [Dark Rain]. For creating a skill without relying on any exterior help: 1 skill point Congratulations! You gained a new title: ''Mad Destroyer'' Arthur ignored the notifications and focused his remaining Mental Power to control the skill. Deafening whistling sounds were heard as a hundred Dark Heavenly Arrows fell from the sky, aiming at the yellow barrier. The arrows had double the speed of a normal Heavenly Arrow, moreover, they left a trail of dark flames that burned the air around them and slowly crept their way to their targets as if they were alive. Just as they were going to touch the barrier and penetrate it, a bright golden mantra appeared on the side of the barrier, repairing those cracks and strengthening it to an unimaginable degree. This was accompanied by a loud tiger growl that left Arthur astonished. Chapter 271 - 224 : The Eyess Full Potential The hundred Heavenly Arrows fell on the barrier, bombarding it and causing large cracks despite the appearance of the new golden mantra, which strengthened the barrier. Arthur noticed the shadow of the White Tiger, which was hiding below the barrier, protected from the arrows which were aimed at the barrier above it. He didn''t know what happened but from the looks of it, the tiger looked healthy and didn''t have any injuries on it as if it was never killed. He was sure that it was dead earlier, there''s no way it could have survived. Even if it survived by some miracle, the map would have shown it to him or he would at least had felt its presence but there was no such thing. Arthur didn''t have time to speculate on what happened, he focused his attention on his skill and kept directing the falling arrows, trying to focus on one location so the damage could be multiplied. It didn''t take much time for the barrier to shatter into countless pieces, the remaining thirty or so arrows changed their target to the Vermillion Bird. Twenty-five Dark Heavenly Arrows went for the bird and the remaining five flew at the black turtle, which couldn''t resist as its body was weakened due to the destruction of its barrier. The Vermillion Bird waved its remaining wing at it conjured waves of orange flames that tried to fend off against the incoming arrows. Unfortunately, only three arrows were stopped and the rest ruthlessly penetrated its body, causing huge amounts of Dark Magic to enter its body and paralyze it while the destructive effect of the arrow did its job fairly and obliterated more than half its body. Litters of blood gushed out from the bird which reached death''s door, even with its decent recovery there''s no way it can''t escape unscathed unless the turtle personally acted. The turtle couldn''t heal its comrade since four arrows hit only one scale of its shell and destroyed it, the remaining arrow stabbed the new apparent wound and penetrated its skin. Arthur only wanted a bit of his Dark Magic to invade the Divine Beast, as long as enough time passed, the turtle would surely be extremely weakened and no longer be able to fight. After launching such a mentally exhausting skill, Arthur was unable to directly finish off the dying bird, especially after the damned White Tiger butted in and charged at him. Like a white streak of lightning, the tiger crossed the distance separating them in just a second, it tried to slash Arthur with its claws which were elongated but they only hit his condensed Dark Barrier. The barrier only resisted the claws for a split second before it shattered, Arthur shakily took his shield and used his threads to bind it to his arm as he doubted he had the strength to properly use it. He felt his body become heavy and lifting the shield became a hard thing to do. He activated the powerful defensive skill of the female druid he killed and readied himself to meet the golden claws, which ripped the air and everything in its way. He clenched his bloodied teeth and mustered his strength as the impact occurred. The half-broken shield clashed with the claws which resulted in a loud ripping sound. The claws first disintegrated the huge black shield then broke the chains around it and when they were about to rip Arthur into pieces, the air around him started blurring. Similar to a water surface, the claws hit that area and started becoming slower until they stopped mid-air. Arthur knew that this won''t last forever so he activated [Faster Than Death] and teleported away from the Divine Beast, which growled in anger and pushed the watery surface, shattering it and diving straight at Arthur again. ''Tsk!'' Arthur clicked his tongue as he saw the white shadow flying at him, a golden light was emitting from that shadow as if it was preparing a strong attack, incomparable to the previous one. After a few seconds passed since he cast [Dark Rain], a bit of clarity returned to his burdened mind, this allowed him to freely cast powerful skills again but at this pace, he''ll only be able to defend four or five times before falling. As the white shadow of the tiger was approaching, Arthur clenched his fist then released it at the incoming foe. Several large detonators appeared around him, they randomly flew at the tiger and exploded mid-way. Arthur wasn''t done yet, a dark spear appeared in his hand, it was just a normal one conjured from Dark Magic. His eyes shined with a blue light as he focused his attention on the white tiger which was approaching him with extreme speed. The various explosions managed to divert the white tiger from its straight route and forced it to avoid them, which slowed its speed by a meager amount. Arthur opened his eyes wide and followed the movement of the white tiger, which couldn''t be seen as it was moving too fast. He poured Mental Power in his eyes and ignored everything around him, he calmed his heavy breathing and looked again, the blue light emitting from his eyes became brighter as his attention was driven to the White Tiger. Slowly but surely, the white shadow transformed into a large white tiger with flashing golden tattoos, its eyes were flaring with a white light as it stared at him. The movement of the tiger began slowing as if time itself was becoming slower, it reached to a point where the white tiger was frozen in mid-air and everything around Arthur was grey. He didn''t mind anything but the tiger, he clenched the dark spear and took a throwing stance, he maxed out his Dexterity and Strength by sacrificing some of his Agility and Wisdom, then without any hesitation, he threw the Dark Spear. The dark spear was normal in size at first but when it was thrown, it expanded in size until it reached ten meters in length. With a whistling sound and a speed that even the tiger couldn''t perceive, it stabbed the Divine Beast''s abdomen and sent it flying backward. The White Tiger was flung off very far from Arthur, this attack turned out to be successful thanks to his eyes but the luster and blue light that bright a second ago has dimmed and almost vanished. There was even blood that came out of his eyes, he overused the ability of his eyes, especially with his previous attack. Normally, the ability to stop time is only acquired after centuries of practice yet he had activated them just now, so a backlash should be something expected. Chapter 272 - 225 : What a True Parasite Really Is Arthur was going to head for the Vermillion Bird and finish it when he heard a shout coming from inside of him. "Wait!" This was none other than his voice, to be more precise, it was his lame copy which resided inside the ARK. "What do you want, I''m not in a position to have a chitchat with you." An immediate response right after: "Then don''t talk, just listen. I need you to let me control your body for a short while. You are misusing your abilities, you''re not unleashing your full potential, let me show how and aid you at the same time." Arthur paused as he heard that, he felt skeptical as he didn''t fully trust his copy but seeing the tiger which shook the Dark Spear off itself, he thought ''I have no choice, do I?'' "You do a have a choice." Arthur hesitated for a split second before he grumpily said "... fine." Now then, if I''m to control your body, you need to enter the ARK right now, in all cases, I''ll only be able to control your body for half a minute at best but I''m confident I can better than you. Just sit inside and watch, learn how a Parasite fights, how powerful you really are." ''Dra''lim'' As he said the needed word, Arthur found himself inside the ARK with only endless white space surrounding him. In front of him, there was some kind of screen, displaying the three Divine Beast and himself facing each other. Outside of the ARK, the copy took control of Arthur''s body, he looked at his new hand which fully regenerated after some time passed. His body was still in a very bad state but it didn''t seem he cared. He let out a cold smirk as he gazed at the White Tiger, The Vermillion Bird, and the growling turtle. ''Arthur, watch and witness why your Race is unique, why it is feared by all higher beings.'' As he talked to himself, the copy transformed into a thin yellow lightning streak that headed for the White Tiger instead of the half-dead firebird. Two black whirlpools appeared above his open palms, they were spinning slowly but they were very ominous as black gas came out from their center. The White Tiger, who was seriously injured by the spear, was enraged by Arthur, who inflicted this wound to it. it just got rid of the spear so its movements became a bit easier, once it saw the foe coming straight at it, it roared angrily and charged at the lightning streak. The distance separating them was big but with their speed, it was crossed in less than a second, Arthur, who was no longer a lightning streak, was now facing the tiger, which slashed him with its claws while its white fur turned into countless small needles that wanted to stab him. The copy wasn''t the least bit fazed by this, he didn''t even panic, he transformed into a whirlpool himself and possessed a very tiny plant that could barely be seen. There were still two black whirlpools bigger than his body spinning around it, all the needle-like fur that got close to it were devoured with no resistance whatsoever. Just like that, the copy dodged the incoming claws, they couldn''t hit him since his body was too small, he smoothly passed through them with ease, then the two black whirlpools suddenly enlarged in size and started affecting the big claws while Arthur''s copy left the plant body and used [Faster Than Death], appearing behind the white tiger. The Griffin''s body appeared from nowhere, and by the time the tiger reacted to the copy''s sudden teleportation, the bone corpse of the Griffin was already behind it, ready to strike. The black bones of the Griffin started burning with dark flames and its mouth ruthlessly bit down on the back of the Divine Beast''s neck, trying to cut its head off. As he was handling the White Tiger, the copy explained to the watching Arthur a few tricks. "You see, the possibilities are infinite with all those corpses you have. In most of the times, a big attack can be avoided with a small body that can pass through it or evade it. You defend with a small body and attack with a big one, after all, they can''t hit something as big as an insect, they need to be pretty accurate and they''ll stop throwing a bunch of powerful big attacks, which is advantageous to you. You can use almost all of your skills while possessing most of the bodies but skills work much better in a body suited for them.It is not explained by the System but Nature Magic is much easier and stronger to use if you''re possessing a body, same thing with fire if you''re possessing a creature born from pure elemental fire. That''s a part of what makes a parasite so powerful, they became what they possess, they obtain everything from their host. You only care for the skills and stats and fight in a humanoid body but that''s a big mistake, you need variety, versatility!" Blood gushed out from the back of the tiger''s neck as it cried in agony and wriggled its body violently, trying to shake off the Griffin which coiled its bony body around it, not letting go even after shattering a large part of its lower body. Dark flames started covering the tiger, the two black whirlpools had already become as big as the tiger, they span slowly and were inches close to each other, as if they''ll collide at any second. The other Divine Beast didn''t watch idly, a dozen dark scales were flying straight at the Griffin, wanting to shatter its bones. This was accompanied by a terrifying gravitational force that wanted to sink Arthur''s current body down but this only led to both the tiger and the Griffin falling to the bottomless fire abyss below. "One more thing to note, just like a Parasite can control a body, it can also control a part of the body and ignore the rest. If your mental reaction is quick enough, you can abandon the part where the attack is going to hit, then you''ll suffer no damage. Take this brainless cat, for example, it is tearing the lower body of the Griffin while I''m only possessing the upper part, my Health is not decreasing but increasing instead." As he said that, the copy left the Griffin''s body which kept falling with the tiger, the two black whirlpools fused into one enormous black whirlpool that followed them. It started tearing off the tiger''s fur, flash and skin slowly and the victim could do nothing with the strengthened black bones of the Griffin holding it down, its neck was bitten and its body was covered in black flames. "He''s done, 8.4 seconds. Now onto the next." He possessed the body of a small black rat that zigzagged between the incoming scales like it was nothing. They weren''t even able to block his path as he flew straight at the Vermillion Bird, which was being healed by the black turtle. Its body recovered fully except its left wing, which was slowly materializing, the heat around it was just as intense as the beginning and its eyes were blood red, showing that the Divine Beast''s anger reached its peak. "This one doesn''t need much time, no more than 4 seconds." The copy chuckled as it left the rat''s body and possessed the body of a large blue bird that was half the size of the opponent. The bird released an icy aura behind it, freezing the air and disturbing the space. "You''re probably confused on why I''m not using Dark Magic to kill it, right? Well, it is very efficient against it but you know what''s better? Ice Magic. You don''t need a special Ice like Lucy''s to kill it, you just need absolute control over your attribute, and of course, experience." Large waves of orange flames blocked the copy''s path, the sky was illuminated by the descending flames that covered the copy''s view but he wasn''t worried, in fact, he used the bird''s body to let out a loud screech as countless ice spears, cutting those flames before they could melt. The large flames waves were easily disposed of off using three-meter long ice spear, however, this wasn''t the end as the bluebird waved its wing, sending some kind of a blue fog that enveloped the area, freezing the environment and diminishing the flames coming out from the Vermillion Bird''s body. Chapter 273 - 226 : Ice Extinguishes Fire "You know, Arthur, parasites are metabolically dependant despite needing to rely on a host. If it were the you from the beginning, before any evolution, then surviving in real form for a few days is possible, but it''s impossible to live without the need to feed on any kind of host, generally humans. If you can master your racial abilities, no one can resist your possessing, you can easily product resistant forms to resist any future defense or resistance coming from within the host. It is also the case for multi-tasking, it is entirely possible for any person to execute two skills at the same time, one just needs sufficient experience. I even saw mortals that didn''t even reach the Spirit Realm yet they were able to unleash two, or even, three skills simultaneously. Sure, you can activate skills or techniques consecutively, which in a way, may seem like they were unleashed simultaneously but that may hinder the thinking of the user and render him unable to prepare his next set of skills. Let me show you what you''re lacking." As he said that, the area around the bluebird and the Divine Beast became extremely cold and at the same time, a crystalline ice blue armor wrapped itself around the ''body'' of the copy. Ice spears were shot from all around and flew straight at the Vermillion Bird, they were melted half-way through but they still grabbed the attention of the enemy. As Arthur watched from inside the ARK, he could see the countless skills activated at the same time. ''[Mana Augmentation] [Water Flow] [Magic enhancement] [Ice Spear]x250 [Dragonic Ice Armor] [Beastial Armor] [Ferocious Bloody Beak]..'' More than twenty skills were activated at the same time, the environment became frozen, there were hundreds of snowflakes covering the area. The bluebird didn''t watch as it sped straight at the flaming bird and waved its lengthy wings, unleashing two ice tornados that were fifty meters tall. The fireballs and flame waves that were spat by the Vermillion Bird were extinguished after crossing a dozen or so meters. This was the effect of [Ice Age] and [Absolute Zero] that froze all the area around the fight. Even the flames from below didn''t affect the wintery environment caused by the bird''s skills, which were enhanced by more than one skill. Sensing the dire situation it was in, the Vermillion Bird screeched loudly as some parts of its body started freezing due, it could not even retaliate as the spears were showering it from all sides, if it ignored them then it''ll be injured and if it destroyed them then [Ice Age] and [Absolute Zero] would completely freeze its body. As it was driven to a miserable state, it angrily flapped its wings, which started emitting a bright red light that was frighteningly bright. Even the copy was blinded by this light yet it didn''t stop its charge, it heavily smashed its body against the Vermillion Bird, unafraid of the consequences of this clash. The yellow beak of the bluebird opened wide and spat a clear and round crystal that floated in the air and started emanating an icy feeling that seemed to suppress the light coming from the Divine Beast''s wings. "This one is done for too." Without hesitating any second, the copy left the bluebird''s body and backed away without even looking back. "4.4 seconds... tsk! I''m rusty." As it got away from the Vermillion Bird, Arthur who was watching the fight from another point of view, saw that the light from the flapping wings was suppressed by that mysterious clear crystal. The crystal then exploded into countless small and beautiful white particles that glued themselves to the bird, freezing it at an astonishingly fast pace. In less than a second, the screeching of the bird couldn''t be heard anymore, its body became an ice blue statue that started falling into the bottomless abyss. The flames below would cause the ice to melt so the copy finished the bird by sending another hundred ice spears that shattered this statue into numerous pieces. "Now the most troublesome one remained. If my calculations are right, the Azure Dragon will revive in twenty-three seconds. To defeat them completely, you need to kill them all simultaneously or kill one right after another within a short period of time. You killed the tiger earlier but it revived after thirty seconds. if you kill another Divine Beast in those thirty seconds, then you''ll buy yourself another thirty seconds before the first one which you killed revives, and the second one will come back after sixty seconds." Inside the ARK, Arthur was fuming and angrily shouting at the copy wanting to know why was he not told about this important piece of information beforehand. To appease his rage, the copy added "I was not sure about this fact, it needed to be confirmed. The thing is, in every world the Divine Beasts attack, there will be a special one amongst them, it acts as a leader and it is substantially stronger than the rest. This varies from a group of copies to another, and when the black turtle is the leader, which is clearly is in this case, it has two special abilities. One is to revive its fallen comrades after a certain period of time and the other is ability is even more terrifying, it actually allows it to create another group of copies that will be added to its initial group, so if that happened you would have to fight eight Divine Beasts instead of four, you should be grateful." ''Grateful my ass!'' The copy didn''t have time to waste, each second is precious. It returned to the original body, which recovered by a bit thanks to not receiving any injuries for the last period. The godly recovery was acting up and displaying its amazing efficiency, the copy ignored Arthur and spoke to the hiding entity inside the consciousness "Hey Earth Spirit, give me your spear." In response to that, the Earth Spirit which was entrapped inside the clustered chains angrily retorted "Who do you think you are to command me? I ain''t giving you shit." It was clearly still annoyed due to what happened the previous time it tried to escape from there so it didn''t talk friendly to Arthur anymore, showing an apparent unwillingness and hostility. The copy smirked and added: "Then do you want to perish with me here? Don''t worry, I''m quite loyal and I won''t forget about you, I''ll make sure to drag you with me when I take my last breath." "You..." "Me what? Give me your spear and I''ll teach you how to make a proper sentence in my free time, so hurry up." A second passed yet there was no reply, the Spirit still didn''t yield and was against giving its spear to Arthur. From the looks of it, it didn''t mind dying here and refused to lose face by being ordered around by a weakling. However, this changed quite fast and abruptly when a bright light flashed from Arthur''s soul, a suffocating pressure emanated from there, ready to crush the Spirit into a million pieces. Afraid and threatened, the Earth Spirit grunted and finally let go of the weapon, which appeared in the copy''s hand. It was a three-meter-long yellow spear with countless small symbols engraved in its shaft. It had three pointy tips that were emitting rich Earth Energy that wrapped itself around the weapon, increasing the pressure it was emitting. "Ahhh it''s been a very long while since I wielded a spear, such a wondrous feeling! Ah! I forgot to tell you, Arthur, unlike you, I''m a spear user, after all, it is the king of all weapons!" Chapter 274 - 227 : Spear Of Terros As he held the exquisite looking yellow spear, the demeanor around the copy changed drastically. He became one with the weapon, one aura encompassing both weapon and user, like a sharp edge ready to piece the heaven itself. "The Spear of Terros, although it''s not the real thing, there''s no denying that it''s very domineering and powerful. I expected no less from it." The copy shot at the motionless and silent black turtle, with Earth energy surrounding him and augmenting his defenses, he was confident in dealing with this Divine Beast in a few seconds with the help of the spear. As he approached the enormous turtle, a resonant dragon roar resonated, shocking the heavens and shaking the earth. A yellow dragon appeared behind him, the spear started emanating a bright golden light that stretched in all directions similar to a sun. The black turtle didn''t stay still and watch as the enemy was attacking it, it used Gravitational force to slow Arthur down but it was all for naught as the yellow-ish energy surrounding him were completely negating the effects of the Gravity Magic. Illusions were also futile as the human attacking it would dispel its high-level illusion with a blue light that shot out from his pupils. With two of its powerful abilities being easily resisted, the turtle resorted to aggressive methods as it dispatched dozens of its sharp and tough scales to meet with the enemy while it created a yellow barrier around it just in case. The copy chuckled as he saw the black scales flying at him, wanting to block his path and cut his arms as to immobilize him, it seems that the turtle knew that his sudden rise in power was due to the appearance of the yellow-spear so it wanted to get rid of it. With flawless control and perfect accuracy, he thrust the spear to the air multiple times, causing illusory reflections of the fading spear to appear all around him. Like bullets, bursts of rich Earth energy shot from the point of the spear and deflected all the black scales, causing them to fly far away from him and by the time they came back, he would have already attacked the main body of the turtle. The dragon behind the copy became extremely large in size, it followed the spear as it coiled its body weirdly and flashed with a yellow light. Bringing suffocating pressure with it, the copy finally arrived near the black turtle and swept the spear horizontally, causing the dragon behind to roar to the skies and violently smashing into the shell of the Divine Beast. Sparks and scales were ripped apart, blood flowed unceasingly and masses of gore and flesh from the sky, however, this was but the beginning as wherever the spear attack, a deep and gaping bloody hole would appear. The copy''s body was motionless after the spear was swept but heavy injuries kept appearing on the back of the black turtle, which was growling angrily. The previously set barrier didn''t amount to much as it was shattered from the rich Earth Energy around the copy, as far as the spear, it kept flashing with a golden radiance. ''First step, Dragon Sweeping the Earth'' The copy took a second step and raised the long spear above his head then violently thrust the air which resulted in a sharp and long yellow energy to appear from the tip of the spear. As soon as it left the spear, the concentrated Earth Energy became a three-headed dragon, the dragon was smaller in size compared to the previous one but the pressure it emitted was many times heavier. ''Second Step, Three-Headed Dragon Devouring The Land.'' The small three-headed dragon crashed into one of the scales and transformed into a small golden spark that caused an ear-deafening explosion that sent the turtle flying away with most of its scales gone, showing its bareback, which was now totally bloody and filled with countless big and small wounds. Looking at the half-dead turtle, the copy didn''t continue attacking, he showed a cold smile and let go of the yellow-spear which vanished immediately and returned to its rightful owner. "Two steps are more than enough, now... for the desert." No one would have believed that the leader of the four Divine Beast, the black turtle, was put in such a state with merely two spear attacks, the copy only took two steps yet it was rendered to such a miserable state. He waved his hand, sending a large wave of Dark Magic that enveloped the black turtle before it could even stabilize its body which was pushed back due to the second spear attack. The Copy didn''t stop as he pointed at the turtle and conjured countless small Void Mouths that ate the air around them as they became bigger as they charged toward their primary target. In just a second, numerous disgusting and creepy looking mouths were eating away the limbs and body of the turtle, which was crying in agony as it couldn''t resist with the dark wave weakening it and the Void Mouths eating the delicious meat presented to them. "6 seconds passed, I only have 1.2 seconds left. It won''t die but I believe you''ll be able to finish it even after I''m gone." As he mumbled that, the copy clenched his fists then released them as he pointed again at the falling turtle, surprisingly, he released two Heavenly Arrows, one made from pure Ancient Flames and the other from Ice Magic. The two arrows shot at the falling mass of blood with lightning speed, however, upon a closer look, their target isn''t the black turtle but a small area where the area is being compressed, just a few meters away from the Divine Beast. "Ice and Fire are two opposite attributes, when they clash, then one of them will be suppressed, if they do not hold the same power, that is. But if they are generated using the exact same power then a fierce backlash from their clash is a natural thing to expect. Then, what if they have the same power but they are both extremely powerful? Will one suppress the other or will they fuse together?" Arthur, who was watching what''s happening from inside the ARK, focused on the two Heavenly Arrows which he couldn''t create by himself and muttered "I don''t know." "It''s quite simple, actually. An explosion, that''s what happens because to force two opposite attributes to coexist in the same environment is not possible. Theoretically, it is indeed doable, but apart from your wife, Lucy, I have never seen someone able to fuse two opposite attributes, which is why I think that her talent is simply unparalleled. Now then, an explosion will definitely occur, but we need a suitable catalyst to make the fireworks even prettier, don''t we?" [Ice Heavenly Arrow] Activated [Heavenly Fire Arrow] Activated [Rinotsu]x10 Activated Chapter 275 - 228 : Atomic Bulle With ten consecutive Rinotsu''s activating at the same time and the same place, their effect was multiplied and their speed of explosion fastened. Adding to that the two opposite Heavenly Arrows, one can imagine the aftereffect of the collision. The Copy used the rest of his time to retreat with fast speed as he stepped on illusory pink petals floating in the air, each time crossing a large distance and distancing himself from the impact. With his back facing the previous battle area, Arthur, who just took back control of his body, nearly fell from the sky as he felt his body become extremely heavy due to the stress and the overwork. The Copy did things that his body and mind were incapable of achieving, especially with the multitasking, this caused severe backlashes that fell into Arthur''s hands to deal with it. Arthur could only curse his copy inwardly and retreat away from that place as a blinding white light flashed from the horizon which was soon followed by a tear in space. The tear swallowed the whole area, whether it was the flames or the Ice, the destruction and everything around it was devoured without any resistance. Half of the black turtle injured body was gone in an instant, before it could move or launch a counter-attack, it had suffered fatal injuries that''ll kill sooner or later unless it only focuses on healing and ignore everything else, which isn''t doable in such a situation. In retaliation, the turtle growled with a deep and loud sound before a grey light shot out from its eyes, the light pierced the clouds and transformed into a large bright moon, the sun that was shining above the clouds was gone as night fell on this world and all the clouds vanished, showing only the moon hanging on the sky as it emanated incomparable pressure and a blinding light. With speed the eye could see, the turtle started healing the missing half of its body, the tear was still devouring it but unfortunately, the healing was way faster. Furthermore, each second passed, the tear became smaller thus its devouring abilities weakened, this allowed the turtle to temporarily suppress this strange spatial tear. "Hurry, don''t let it finish healing completely! Stop it!" His copy''s voice rang in his ears, waking him up from his daze and forcing him to go back. In his current state, apart from some Dark Magic attacks, he could literally do nothing, he felt the heaviness of his body, the difficulty to breath and the aching mind. His speed decreased by a huge margin so by the time he appeared in the vicinity of the spatial tear, it had already become a third of its original size while the turtle was only lacking its rear limbs and its short tail. It won''t be long before the Azure Dragon is back, if the turtle recovers then he can''t injure it that easily, not after this. He used all his trump cards, from [Thousand Waves] to [Rizaki], there was no strong attack he didn''t resort to yet this persistent turtle is still alive, even this spatial tear, which could devour a God in an instant, isn''t affecting that much after that bright moon appeared. Arthur''s eyes flashed with a resolution as he retrieved the box from earlier and took out the exquisite looking silver revolver. "If I use it again then I''ll not be able to use any Mana or Nether Energy for a long while.... It''s either the end for them or me." He clenched his teeth and grabbed a grey-ish looking bullet that was only of the second grade. Normally, it is weaker than the one from earlier, however, its might may even be bigger than the flaming rose. This is due to the materials it was made from, it doesn''t match an attribute, instead, it was made using [Lost Magic]. Using his knowledge of the past and after a bit of experimentation and process of failure and success, he managed to create a very miniature bomb that is highly lethal against any Mortal, even a Spirit Realm cultivator may be heavily injured by this small looking bomb. After more tries, he managed to merge countless of these bombs together to form a 2nd Grade bullet. The problem is, not only is it lethal to the target, it''s effective against him too, the harm it could do to him far surpasses Rizaki, this is excluding the backlash from using the revolver a second time, that is, which is why he hesitated for a brief second. Unfortunately, time waits for no man so he decided to go on with it and fire at the turtle, this will assure his victory but his survival is uncertain, he won''t be able to activate [Death Binding] since he won''t be able to control theNether Energy or Mana after firing the bullet, and if he activates the skill before firing, it''ll only last for only ten seconds, not enough to protect him from the explosion. He used the remaining of his Mana to create a sturdy Dark Cube that enveloped him, leaving only a small hole from which the bullet will pass through. The dark cube this time was very resistant to all attack and had extremely high defenses since it was used all of the Mana he had. It''ll at least lessen the damage and protect him for some time, this is his last layer of defense and the only thing separating him from instant death. Arthur took a deep breath and gazed at the regenerating turtle with a calm and unrestrained look, he lifted the silver revolver and after taking proper aim, he fired without any hesitation. Two grey circle with a weird rune in them appeared in front of the revolver, they span with slow speed and when the bullet passed through them, they shattered immediately. The bullet traveled with a speed no God or Sovereign could see, it''s as if it teleported from the revolver to the turtle, after which, a light that illuminated all of the continents appeared. The light coming from the moon hanging on the sky was instantly extinguished and replaced by the one from the bullet. This was but the beginning as the entirety of Astria, from East to West and from South to North, began shaking violently, some seas were split apart and oceans sank deep down the cracked earth. Large waves were created due to the earthquake and winds howled from all directions, causing the weather to be more turbulent than ever before. Arthur didn''t stay there to witness what''s going to happen, the moment he fired the bullet, he turned around and flew with his fastest speed, even ignoring the blood leaking from all his orifices. His bones were cracking and the hands he used to hold the revolver was all bloodied, its very bones were turned into dust and the flesh was peeled off, showing a disgusting sight. The Dark Cube blocked most of the light caused by the bullet, and as he was hurrying away from that place, he could feel the winds coming from those directions, sharp winds that pushed him even further and causing sparks to appear all over the dark cube. These were no normal winds but they were lengthy wind blade that fused with invisible sound waves, they stretched to all direction, cutting everything in their sight. If one looked to where the turtle was, they''ll only see a dim moon that was shattered in two pieces and a mushroom clouds that went even higher than the previous red flaming rose. The sheer size of this cloud was truly mind-numbing, there were no signs of the turtle, it was as if it completely vanished, leaving nothing but air behind. The final thing before the big event was an explosive sound that was similar to a loud thunderclap, it reverberated in all corners of the world, causing everyone present to feel numbness in their ears and literally hear nothing around them for the following seconds. Chapter 276 - 229 : Are you Sure? Inside the meeting room at the central tower in the MoonStar Sect, Jackob and Anastassia gazed at the rising mushroom cloud. The sheer size of this black-ish cloud is so big that it could be seen from any location on Astria. It covered the whole Human Continent, or what remained of it, and even stretched a thousand miles in the ocean surrounding the deserted land. The shaking only quietened a bit after a minute or so but that didn''t mean the dread the people were feeling was gone. "I guess the Human Continent is no more. Good riddance if you ask me." Jackob spoke half-jokingly as he saw the razor sharp invisible wind blades that were appearing on all the buildings. They weren''t particularly destructive but they still caused some damage. "There''s no telling if it''ll be us next or not. For the aftereffect of that attack to even reach here, I cannot even imagine the intensity of the fight." Anastassia"s eyes were lost in thoughts as she spoke without giving much thought to what she''s saying. Seeing her in this state, Jackob consoled her "Don''t be so pessimistic. Perhaps the fight has already ended, no one can tell." In response to what he said, the woman bitterly retorted "Exactly... no one can tell." ..... "I must say, that''s some terrifying thing you created there." The copy complimented Arthur as it also witnessed what happened. The area around them was already covered with dark fog that blocked their view, Arthur''s eyes shone with a dim blue light as they tried to see through this fog but it couldn''t as he massively overworked their abilities earlier. A bunch of notifications were appearing in front of Arthur only to be dismissed immediately. The grey-ish bullet not only was it constructed using countless miniature bombs, but these bombs also had a lasting poisonous effect. Arthur was currently possessing a green mantis'' body, it was the body with the highest poison resistance amongst all his arsenal. More than fifty passives that resisted the chemical poisoned of the bomb were activated, protecting him from being killed. "Even if it survived the blast, it can''t remain alive for long, the radioactivity is too strong and suffocating." This place has already become a place of ghosts, any living being that enters this fog will be inflicted with the poison and the intense radioactivity. Even he, wasn''t an exception, he may be able to survive for some time as he''s able to resist the poisons but the radioactivity is another thing, sooner or later, his physical body won''t be able to hold on any longer. With a speed slower than a turtle, Arthur dragged his body as he headed West, trying to break off this enormous fog. He only wanted to get away first then wait for things to calm down and recover for a bit before entering again because currently, he had no strength to use, he used every bit of Mana, Nether Energy, and Mental Power he got. His physical body was heavily injured, he was mentally exhausted and the accumulated stress is making him feel as if he''ll fall unconscious at any second. "Wait! Something is not right..." The copy''s voice rang in his ears but Arthur still didn''t stop, he pushed his body to its limits, the thin and fast wings of the Mantis flapped intensely as he transformed into a green light that pushed the fog in its way. "This is madness, you''ve truly angered them. They are dead set on you now, it even sacrificed itself!" The copy sighed as he relayed its thoughts to Arthur, who suddenly halted mid-air and said "Sacrificed itself? Why?" "I mean it literally! It sacrificed itself to resurrect its three comrades instantaneously, it seems they have become much stronger too." Unlike his usual, the copy seemed a bit panicked as it spoke to Arthur, normally it was pretty nonchalant even if he was close to death''s door, just like against Rozak, but this time, it truly was worried, which made Arthur uneasy too. For a second, Arthur didn''t know what to do in such a situation. Running away won''t solve this problem since they were deadlock into killing him, fleeing to the West would only lead to the destruction of that continent too. Staying here will result in his miserable death, there''s nothing he could do at such a situation. The ARK suddenly appeared from within his chest, it rotated with incredible speed and flashed with a red light. The next thing Arthur saw was three distant silhouettes flying straight towards him. At such a speed, they''ll surely arrive in twenty seconds at most. "There''s no choice but to escape right now. I can hold them off for some time but you must immediately head to the Nothern Continent and teleport back to the Green-Leaf World, they can''t chase you all the way to that Realm." The copy spoke urgently as he urged Arthur to act hastily without wasting any second. However, Arthur just stood there, motionless and soundless as if he didn''t hear what his copy just said. The copy wasn''t stupid too, upon noticing Arthur''s strange behavior, he let out a long and helpless sigh and added: "So this is the end of the road for you?" "I never said that, we still have one more choice." Arthur left the Mantis'' body and stretched the chains around his body, they crackled as he moved them but upon a closer look, one would notice that they seemed weaker than before. "You know that breaking them is basically assuring your death, right?" Arthur shrugged and retorted "I don''t have a choice." "No, you always have a choice." Arthur remained silent, not having any good reply for his copy. "Even you break them, the powerup will not occur immediately and you''ll be very preoccupied, I assume those three won''t simply watch as you become stronger." "I will handle them." A serene and majestic voice rang inside Arthur, a bright light flew out of his chest and materialized itself as a valiant knight with a golden armor and handsome features. This was none other than Curtis, the one who pushed back the Earth Spirit last time. He didn''t contribute in the fight earlier and remained passive but at such a critical time, he appeared at last. Seeing this, the copy snorted and said "You''re going to join in too? You know this is suicidal so why are you making things harder for me? It is not a shameful thing to run away." As he gazed at the dark fog, to the direction of the three incoming Divine Beast, the knight said "Life is all about resolve. Outcome is secondary." After he said that, Curtis stretched his left hand and drew a golden symbol on the air, which duplicated itself two more times. The three symbols shone with a golden radiance and when the three Divine Beasts finally arrived, ready to attack Arthur, three white and thick chains appeared from the symbols, shooting at the three beasts. The chains were unstoppable as they penetrated the abdomen of the beasts without any means of resistance. And the victims, as if shot by lightning, froze in mid-air, only wriggling painfully, trying to shake off the chains that entered their stomach. "I cannot hold them off eternally, you have to begin now." ***** Mournful cries and blissful smiles, did they come When the falling chains were undone What did the man has become Chapter 277 - 230 : Celestial Tribulation Arthur nodded to Curtis and shook his body, causing the chains around him to emit clicking noises before they finally broke. It was a very easy process since they have been weakened for a long time now and he has been holding them off from shattering. If it was any other creature, no matter how powerful they are, breaking the chains isn''t doable, only the victim of them is able to get rid of them. "*sigh*... this is but the beginning, you don''t even know the amount of trouble you brought onto yourself." The copy wasn''t particularly pleased about Arthur''s actions, from his point of view, the downsides of breaking the chains far outweigh the advantages. The damnable chains that have been bugging Arthur were finally released, they began falling to the flaming abyss only to be swallowed by a small spatial tear that appeared out of nowhere. This spatial tear was the beginning of the storm, thousands upon thousands of spatial tears appeared all around Arthur, clear some of the dark fog and causing the weather to become gloomier than ever before and much more turbulent, much like the South of the Underworld. In just a few seconds, the dark fog, which was supposed to be resistant against all types of attacks, was totally gone as it was absorbed by the countless spatial tears which stretched to all corners of Astria. Fortunately, their power was severely reduced the further they were from the source, Arthur, so the damage they caused to the other continent is very minimal, almost negligible. The area around Arthur, Curtis, and the three Divine Beasts became clear for ten seconds before ominous dark clouds clustered above them with sounds of the thunder resounding from afar. A heavenly pressure pressed down on them, suffocating even the three beasts, as coupled with Curtis'' chains, they were unable to properly defend and were rendered motionless, dumbly staring at the dark clouds with unease and fear. "If it was anyone else, I would call them unlucky to have called the Celestial Tribulations but in your case, it shouldn''t be too hard to defend against it even if it had abnormal power, your body is way stronger than you could imagine, a pity though..." Arthur''s bones crackled and moved on their own, some healing instantaneously and others becoming tougher, all his pores absorbed Nether Energy and Mana like crazy, creating a white whirlpool, barely visible, above him. His severe wounds and bloody wounds were recovering with a mind-numbing speed, in barely twenty seconds, he already had full Health, Mana, and Nether Energy. There were no signs of the previous backlashes, especially in his arm, his eyes were emitting a brilliant blue light and his hair became much longer. It was not only in that area that had dark clouds shrouding the sky, The sky covering all of Astria became gloomy and dark, the clouds brought an overwhelming pressure that forced more than half of the population to its knees. ... In the Eastern side of the world, someplace hidden away inside the forest in the Itas Continent, there were several large figure wearing red robes running away toward the same direction. "Hurry! It will surely notice u-" The monster didn''t even finish his words before a thick bolt of red thunder descended from the heavens, smiting him on the spot and turning him into black dust that soon dispersed in the air. The others became scared shitless as they run with their fastest speed, trying to hide from the dark clouds above. These monsters were none other than the evil cult that appeared on the Eastern Continent, the same ones Jackob fought in the past. They belonged to Bucama''s race, they all had a savage aura around them, were despicable and evil from nature and were detested by everyone, even the devils. Red bolts of thunder kept following everywhere, some hit their targets and some missed by a hair-width. In only a minute or so, more than half of the fleeing monsters were turned into nothingness. The rest somehow managed to reach their destination, they entered a cave underground and activated countless red crystals as they jumped inside an enormous pool of blood, not daring to even raise their head in fear. ..... In the Imperial City of the Demons, Taliya and the current Demon Lord were gazing at the falling red thunder with an uneasy feeling. Though it didn''t shatter any buildings and seemed to affect only living beings, it still caused them to feel extremely uneasy and even a bit fearful. Obviously, no sane demon was courageous enough to leave their house and try to see what''s going on. Thankfully, there were no victims as everyone valued their lives. .... On the Western Continent, the bone dragons were shouting fearfully as they flew into large buildings that could be considered their home. They tried their best to lower their aura as they covered their head with their tails and remained silent and motionless as if they were dead. The undead army just outside the great wall surrounding the MoonStar sect weren''t as lucky as the bone dragons. A large number of them was killed by the red thunder. They couldn''t even retaliate as one bolt will eradicate ten to twenty skeletons, so in just a few short seconds, more than third of this undead army was smitten from the face of this world. "Tch!" Swain, who was on the shore of the Western continent, clicked his tongue as he noticed the descending red thunder. He waved his hand, creating a bloody red sphere that enveloped him and made him sink deep into the earth. The thunderbolts passed this area and didn''t seem to focus on eradicating it like what happened with the monsters on the East, from the looks of it, the youth successfully managed to fool the tribulation. There was one poor soul that suffered on this continent, it was none other than Grizzly, the red minotaur who just went through a rather painful evolution. The red thunder seemed to notice the guardian as it started sending one bolt after another, trying to erase its existence. In response to the thunder, Grizzly roared angrily as it held the heavy large axe and waved it upwards, clashing with the descending bolts. Although it wasn''t able to completely deflect them, it was confident in protecting itself for a while. With rising flames and heavy shaking in the area, the fierce one-sided battle of the red minotaur and the red thunder began... ... Unbeknownst to the Arthur, there was a huge uproar outside of Astria too. One because of the Divine Beasts and second due to the Celestial Clouds making a move after such a long time. Unfortunately for the great powers, they can''t follow the clouds as their speed defied common sense, they could only sigh and predict their destination. The Celestial Clouds are a form of tribulation, just like the God''s tribulation, which comes for any Divine Being that tries to reach Godhood. However, the Celestial Tribulations is extremely rare, in fact, it has been more than a millennium that a similar tribulation appeared, which explains how hard to force these clouds to move. Moreover, the person in questions, the one who''s receiving the wrath of the celestials, is what interests the big powers. They''d want to know who he or she is to either recruit him under their wing, take them as a disciple or finish them off if the first two options didn''t work. Leaving such a monster alive would only make things hard for them in the future, once his potential blooms and his powers reach a certain rank. Out of all the history records the big factions have, there were only three recorded Celestial Tribulations. The first one was when a young genius created a new whole kind of Energy, Destruction Energy. The second time was when an ancient Empress reached a high level of cultivation, a level where even the Heavens could not reach, as for what happened to that Empress, it is said that she disappeared right after, however, there were some records that mentioned her appearance in the Void Era and the battle of Titans. The third case is the most mysterious, it is only said that a Ghost cultivator managed to create a heaven-defying weapon, any more details were omitted.. Chapter 278 - 231 : A Beatdown In the Green-Leaf World, the fight between the big factions and the Divine Beast has ended rather quickly thanks to the union of several powerful individuals. Just like Arthur said, the wasteland was the target of the Divine Beasts this time, Kang Amidel was wise enough to believe him, he took the appropriate measure and even requested help from other powers and from the main branch of the Kang Family. No one was heavily injured and the fight went pretty smoothly, they appeared in the center of a desolate mountain range where no life resides, so despite the obliteration of the place due to the fight, no souls were lost. As Kang Amidel was flying back to his city along with two blue-robbed elders that emitted an aura much more powerful than him, dark clouds that emitted loud thunderclaps passed by them in an unimaginable speed. They could only see red lightning way up above along with clustered Dark Clouds that blocked the light of the day and brought with it a strong pressure that forced the three of them to the ground. The red thunder assaulted the whole Green-Leaf world whilst the main clouds of the tribulation remained in the wasteland for a moment before they warped somewhere else. Although the main dark clouds were gone, thunder still eradicated many hidden monsters and caused a wave of shock, fear, and unease to the inhabitant of this world, especially the ones living in the wasteland. "T-this is..." One of the elders, who had disheveled hair and a pale face looked at the thunderbolts with surprise and fear. "It''s definitely the Celestial Tribulations from the ancient records! We must inform the headquarters!" They didn''t even wait for Amidel before they got up and headed East, wanting to deliver this important piece of information as fast as possible. Amidel remained standing on the ground, gazing at the direction where the strange dark clouds headed. He speculated that the appearance of the Divine Beasts and the Celestial Tribulation had definitely something to do with each other. "It''s heading toward the Pigolo Tribe?" A frown appeared on the confused face of Amidel, he knew the Pigolos very well and from his knowledge, they do not have a prodigious youth or a heaven-defying artifact that force the Celestial Tribulation to appear. ... The bolts descending around Arthur became thicker in size and much more numerous. The thunderclaps were loud, almost ear-deafening and the pressure reached a point where even a soul entity such as Curtis was affected. His thick white chains were trembling violently as if they were going to split in two. Fortunately, the Divine Beasts were in no better position too, their bodies were pressed down and they were incapable of movement, much less attack Arthur. Their attention was wholly focused on the falling red thunder, which didn''t hit any of them and merely focused on the small area around Arthur. On the other hand, Arthur was feeling rejuvenated, power surging in all of his muscles, the pressure coming from above wasn''t affecting him. It was as if he was being given a heavenly massage, he was feeling extremely relaxed and calm-minded. The mental stress was gone, the dizziness vanished for good and the heaviness of his body became an unusual lightness that made him feel similar to a floating feather. It has already been two minutes since the red thunder appeared, Arthur''s body emitted a loud bone cracking noise as he finally took a step. With just one step, the spatial tears in the areas intensified yet due to the tribulations, they seemed to only appear a few hundred miles away. The falling thunder transformed into a rain of red thunderbolts, the sight was similar to a thick cage of thunderbolts that imprisoned him, leaving him with no choice but to face it head-on. Just when the cage appeared, another batch of dark clouds that were visibly different from the rest appeared above Arthur. They covered more than half of the Central Continent and let out thunderbolts that were actually red and purple in color. The latter seemed to be on a whole other level, it was three times the thickness of the red one and it seemed to even affect the environment, meaning that it scorched trees and split mountains. "With a physical body like this, no wonder the Heavens will be angry." The Copy didn''t seem as panicked as before, not even the Celestial Tribulations made him worried as Arthur''s body became something that even the Heavens are jealous of. "Though, what''s troubling is the number of people that will be looking for you." Arthur didn''t comment as he raised his head, looking toward the dark clouds and the thunderbolts that were forming. ''CLAP'' A thick bolt of red thunder came crashing down at him, Arthur merely raised his palm to meet it, which was more than effective as the thunderbolt dispersed upon contact with his skin. It became countless little red sparks that disappeared right after, however, this was but the beginning and nine more thunderbolts hit him, consecutively with a one second period separating each one of them. Arthur couldn''t even feel an itch when the thunder hit him, no blood came out neither did he feel any kind of pain, it was as if a breeze of air passed through his palm. The second round of thunderbolts was formed from the purple thunder, unlike its predecessor, it wasn''t merely thunderbolts but it was actually a Celestial purple sword that strangely had a red crown on its hilt. Witnessing the descending sword, Arthur stretched his hand again too meet the large purple sword, its pressure was definitely far above the godly thunder sword of [Thousand Waves], even the nearby Divine Beasts were trembling as they tried to get away from the thunder but the white chains pulled them closer, not letting them escape. A trace of blood could be seen on Curtis'' lips, he held the Divine Beasts for more than three minutes, which is a difficult task as they were not simple foes, not only were they in their peak state, they were even strengthened thanks to the turtle''s sacrifice. if it were the previous Arthur, injuring them would be impossible unless he hit them head-on with a full powered [Thousand Waves]. ''CLAP!'' ''CLAP!'' ''BZZZZT!'' Red thunderbolts thicker than himself hit his body when the clash occurred. He stretched his hand and grabbed the very tip of the purple thunder sword, he put a bit of strength as he pulled down and tried to push away the sword, purposely sending it crashing into the unlucky Vermillion Bird, which happened to be in its way. The red thunder was ineffective and the purple sword wasn''t able to resist Arthur monstrous Strength, it was easily pushed away and fell horizontally on the Vermillion Bird, causing the Divine Beast to screech loudly. It shook its body violently and ferociously trying to get rid of the white chains but Curtis didn''t let go, the chain that was connected to the Vermillion Bird flashed with a golden radiance. The knight flung the golden chain thus sending the bird a bit closer to the purple sword, which was slowly falling in a weird way due to Arthur''s interference and brute force. Huge red fireballs were spat from the Vermillion Bird, alas, they were instantly suppressed and pushed away by the purple thunder, with flapping wings and desperate, the Divine Beast tried to get away only to be hit by the enormous purple thunder sword, which literally transformed the bird into black ash in just two seconds. The two remaining Divine Beasts were scared shitless as they witnessed what happened to their comrade, they didn''t dare butt in to save the Vermillion Bird lest they become nothing but black ash. Chapter 279 - 232 : Villainous Heavens "That''s one gone, two more to go." Arthur smirked as he saw the falling black ashes of the deceased Vermillion Bird. He expected a huge powerup once the chains were broken, but the amount of power boost he just received is really inconceivable. Although the matter of dying after 12 hours is still on his mind, he decided to ponder about that imminent problem later on, when the threat of the Divine Beasts is gone for good. With the Vermillion Bird''s death, the other two became terrified as they shrieked and violently shook their bodies in an attempt to get away from this area. Their fear of the thunder was really genuine, they didn''t even put up Arthur in their eyes for they were too focused on the red thunderbolts descending from above. Fortunately for them, the tribulation seemed to ignore their existence completely, thus sparing them from the thunderbolts which could incinerate them whether they resisted or not. The third round of thunderbolts was soon going to begin as purple thunder started twisting and roaring above Arthur. The dark clouds seemed to clear a large path for what appeared to be a celestial being coming to this plane. Arthur still wasn''t fazed by this sight, he glanced at the cage of the thunder around him and waved his hand, hitting the back of his palm on the cage as if it was nothing. The cage shook upon contact with his skin again but it didn''t shatter, contrary to his expectations. He withdrew his hand and used a simple palm attack on the cage, with this one containing a bit more force than his simple backslap from a second ago. ''CLACK CLACK!'' The cage just couldn''t handle it, it broke into thousands of small thunderbolts that his hand, dealing no damage and only causing him to feel a small itch, unremarkable in any way. After he got rid of the cage, Arthur shifted his attention back to the descending heavenly figure, it was a humanoid silhouette made from pure red lightning, it wielded a purple spear that had white thunder twirling around it. Without waiting for it to attack him or ready itself, Arthur made use of his new physique to charge at the enemy. With his new physical abilities, not only was his strength absurd, all his stats increased, including his Agility. In terms of speed, he was unparalleled, his copy even said that he could literally rip apart space with his hands and immediately go to the Earth, this showcased how powerful he just became. In less than even a split second, he appeared before the large figure, he clenched his fist and punched down without restraining any of his strength like earlier. And just like that, the humanoid figure which was supposed to be able to suppress him was sent flying away with its body bent in a weird way, it couldn''t even retaliate since his speed was just something it couldn''t react to. Arthur wasn''t done yet, he ripped the space with his hand and entered it, reappearing behind the flying humanoid figure. Without any slight hesitation, he kicked it hard on its back causing it to be pushed back yet again yet this time, white thunder descended from above, granting it some kind of a divine white armor. Seeing this, Arthur snorted and appeared above it, he adjusted his stance and punched again yet this time, his fist emitted a faint green light that slowed the speed of his fist attack yet boosted its might and the pressure it emanated. Before the fist could even reach its target, the space around them was shattered, resulting in a large spatial tear that threatened to devour them both. The humanoid figure swept with its spear as it pushed itself away from the spatial tear, as for Arthur, he wasn''t affected by the pulling force of the tear. He vanished again and got closer to the fleeing figure, the fist finally landed on the purple spear which was used to block, unfortunately, both the spear and the humanoid figure burst into countless lightning sparks upon contact with his fist. The aftereffect of the fist-attack was nothing to scoff at about either, he used [Heavenly Mountain Fist], one of his strongest martial technique, coupled with his new physique, it''s to be expected that its might is this terrifying. Destructive and unstoppable wind waves were unleashed from his fist as the pressure pressed down on the whole area, even Curtis was affected as he was pushed back a few hundred meters toward the abyss. Luckily, the two Divine Beasts were too afraid to attempt anything in such a situation, they obediently let themselves be dragged with Curtis, falling down pitifully as they tried to avoid the descending red thunderbolts, which never ceased attacking the area around them. "Annnnnd here comes the last treat!" The copy seemed to be enjoying this as he mumbled happily when the humanoid figure was pummeled like a dog then dispersed into nothingness. Above the dark clouds, a rumbling sound could be heard which was followed by an enormous handmade from pure purple thunder. The hand''s size was equal to the blooming rose from earlier if not bigger, it covered the whole area, forcing Curtis to finally withdraw as he let go the white chains and transformed into a golden light that entered Arthur''s chest. The two Divine Beasts spat different mantra that looked similar to the one from before, however, these ones contained much more energy and were way brighter. The two mantras fused together and became a rectangular blue shield that covered them both. The two of them didn''t dare move out of that area, afraid to be hit by the red thunderbolts or crashed by the big thunder hand. As he stared at the threatening thunder hand, he frowned for a second before he cracked his knuckles and chuckled. He took a weird combat stance and pointed one palm to the ground and the other to the sky. With his back bent and his eyes fixated on his target, he absorbed massive amounts of Nether Energy and directed them to his palm, which became golden. His palm flashed with a bright radiance as it was no longer made from flesh but from pure gold. Slowly but surely, he pushed the golden palm to the sky, wanting to clash with the thunder hand. An illusory golden palm similar to his appeared above him, it was too big in size and it steadily made its way to the sky. The descending thunderbolts had no effect on the golden palm as it became stronger the more distance it crossed. This was none other than [Unparalelled Golden Palm] the 3rd Grade Heavenly Rank technique that Arthur mastered along with [Heavenly Mountain Fist] and [Raging Bronze Platform]. When the two parties finally reached other, a huge explosive sound resounded in all that area. The red thunderbolts were deflected by the mere pressure and the dark clouds in the vicinity were pushed by the strong wind waves created by the impact. Arthur pushed his palm, which was flashing with a blinding light, further into the sky, thus resulting in the illusory palm up above to push back the thunder hand and send it to the way it came from. Chapter 280 - 233 : A Dragon No More The might of the golden palm wasn''t something the thunder hand could resist, it got repeatedly pushed until it vanished into the dark void way below the clouds. Feeling the presence of the tribulations no more, Arthur glanced at the two Divine Beast and the tough-looking blue shield they created in front of them. The thunderous bolts have calmed down after a few seconds and the dark clouds belonging to the tribulations disappeared in the blink of an eye as if they were never here. They left behind an unusually clear sky where there is no presence of the poisonous fog or the gloomy atmosphere that brought with it a hint of desolation and destruction. The sky was blue with no signs of any clouds, the sun was shining brightly but there was still the bottomless abyss down below with the flames from earlier. These flames never ceased burning even after some time passed, they stretched from East to West, covering most of the deep crack that separated the already destroyed continent into two broken and scorched lands. Even if Arthur used powerful Nature Magic with the World Tree helping him, restoring this land to its previous state is beyond impossible. It would even be far-fetched to think they could heal the earth, enough for it to start growing plants again. The radiation caused by his bullet would last for a very long time, along with the flaming rose''s flames and the collateral damage from the fight, which is by no means negligible, caused this place to really be a no man''s land. "Listen up, Arthur, in precisely thirty-two seconds, I''ll have to start the counter-measure program." Arthur knitted his brows in confusion and replied "Counter-measure program?" "At this point, it is certain that you''ll die in half a day if no intervention was done. I cannot let you die like this but I also cannot save you entirely, the best I can do is mimic the previous chains and lock your body''s powers for short period of time, at least until your body adapts on its own." "How much is a ''short period of time''?" His question was met with a momentary silence before his copy answered with a serious tone "The fake chains would, at best, hold for a few days before your body breaks them unconsciously. You''ve already reached a point of no return but that doesn''t mean death is unavoidable. If we can at least prolonge its arrival for some time before we find a suitable solution or a powerful lock." Arthur waved his hand dismissively as if he doesn''t care and said "Well, thirty-two second it is then." His figure, which was motionlessly floating in mid-air, vanished as he used godlike speed to charge head-on against the large blue shield materialized by his two foes. Like shattering glass, the shield broke into pieces just by colliding his body with it, what he saw afterward were two Divine Beasts, one was an Azure Dragon that glared at him angrily and the other was a White Tiger that slashed its golden claws at him, clearly being hostile. After the tribulation was gone, it seemed these two regained some of their courage. The event of Arthur deflecting the thunder hand was sure unimaginable but for some reason, they didn''t show fear when they faced him, at least not like the one they showed when the red thunder appeared. Arthur met those two incoming golden claws with a straight punch, devoid of any skills or techniques, just pure brute strength mustered in his fist. The golden claws, which were faint white radiance as they slashed the air and disturbed space, were destroyed on the spot the moment Arthur''s fist clashed with them. His punch was unstoppable as it landed on the body of the tiger, sending it fly like a kite toward the flames down below. A river of blood followed the tiger as it couldn''t even resist strength behind that punch, its figure vanished amidst the burning flames, the only thing that could be heard was its painful roar. "You still can''t unleash the full potential of your body, a true shame... fortunately, this is more than enough to finish them." The copy lamented over Arthur poor fighting abilities, he lacked a lot of experience so this sudden boost in power, albeit good for him, cannot be used properly unless he masters his racial abilities and learns what a true monstrous physique actually is. The only remaining Divine Beast was the Azure Dragon, which opened its mouth and initiated its ''Dragon Breath'' was looked more powerful than the one from earlier. The same mysterious flame energy was spat from its mouth in large amounts and since Arthur was right next to it, he was instantly exposed to those flames and violent energy. Unlike his previous experience, he wasn''t ravaged by the Dragon Breath, in fact, it didn''t even injure his skin as he stood there and looked at gaping mouth of the dragon. "This one needs to be turned into a meat paste or my anger won''t go away." Arthur didn''t forget what happened earlier, when he was almost killed by the Dragon Breath, if not for Makaze, which appeared at the last second, he would have already died. Dense amounts of Nether Energy gathered above Arthur in a split second, it quickly transformed into a majestic looking bronze platform that was the size of a tennis field. Loud bell sounds echoed from within the platform as Arthur held it with both his hand, the sight looked a bit comical as he was very small in comparison with the actual platform, however, it wasn''t a funny sight when that grand bronze platform was suddenly smashed down at the dragon, which was spitting its unique fire mixed with that annoying violent energy. Like a hammer smashing an egg, loud bone breaking noises could be heard as the dragon''s entire jaw was dislocated. Its head was deformed in a strange way thus resulting in a disturbing sight. However, it wasn''t only the head of the Azure Dragon which was injured by the platform, its chest and neck were heavily injured as a suppressing force crushed the bones and broke the tougher ones. Blood gushed from the dragon''s mouth, it could no longer spit its flames, it merely let out a whimpering noise. Its dark abyss-like eyes glared at Arthur, trying to render him unable to move by attacking his soul but that was futile in such a situation. Arthur''s current physique was immune to soul or mental attacks unless it''s an absurdly powerful entity that specializes in that field, there''s no way he could be injured. Arthur contemplated this relieving sight before he nodded his head and grabbed the huge bronze platform, hammering it again at the dragon. It was pretty similar to a hammer hitting a nail, trying to make it sink deep into the wood but in this case, with each hit, the dragon body was squashed into a smaller size, with its bones turned into dust, half of its head gone and bent body that no longer resembled a dragon, it was only suffering an agonizing from torture before it perishes. Chapter 281 - 234 : Sneak Attack After seven or eight bashes, the Azure Dragon became entirely unrecognizable. Arthur enjoyed the new sight as he lifted the bronze platform one final time and used all of his strength to deal the final blow. Unlike his previous attacks, a small amount of Natural Lightning was added to the bronze platform, increasing its attack power. With thin green lightning bolts twirling all around the platform, Arthur smashed down without showing any hesitation. An explosive sound was heard on the contact, and with that blow, all that was left of the Divine Beast was a big blood mist that vanished right after due to the howling winds that dispersed it swiftly. "20 seconds left." His copy''s voice rang in his ears, telling him about the remaining time and at the same time urging him to finish this once and for all. With the Azure Dragon turned into a blood mist, the Vermillion Bird disposed of by the kind thunder sword, all that was left was the annoying White Tiger, which actually managed to survive his previous blow, one way or another. Arthur''s current sense was extremely wide, even against the White Tiger, which specializes in speed, it is almost impossible to escape from him. "Still, to think a mighty Divine Beast is fleeing like this, where''s their pride." As he clicked his tongue, Arthur ripped the space and casually entered, appearing thousands of miles away, exactly in front of the White Tiger, which had blood leaking from its mouth and shattered claws. It seemed to be in a miserable state, from the looks of it, however, it can still fight and unleash powerful attacks and as for why it chose it to run, only it knows the real reason. Without letting it the time to react to his sudden appearance, Arthur appeared behind it, grabbing the tiger by its tail, then he started spinning with incredible speed. Both the man and the tiger left afterimages as they kept spinning while creating a sharp wind tornado around them. After spinning for two seconds, Arthur let go of the tail thus resulting in the tiger to be flung off far away like a meteor. This wasn''t the end as he ripped space again and reappeared directly in front of the flying tiger, which will bump into him in less than a second. Arthur''s fist emitted a green light as it punched the tiger''s body, the beast howled from the pain when Arthur''s fist bypassed its tough defenses and its hard fur, going through the skin and the bones. A bloody hole bigger than the fist could be seen on the chest of the miserable tiger, its body convulsed as it floated mid-air, appearing about to fall into the abyss at any second. "Alright, it''s time for a farewell." Arthur backed off and stared coldly at the White Tiger, which no longer was beautiful looking or majestic. All its aloofness was gone now that death was closing in, it repeatedly spat weird looking acid on its bloody wounds, trying to heal itself. Arthur raised his hand, which had countless small lightning snakes dancing around it. The green snakes flew above his hand and started merging with each other until a large lightning dragon appeared behind him. The dragon had two red crystal-like eyes and a ferocious aura enveloping it. This dragon was pretty similar to Yamak, the one Arthur fought in the past, and thanks to the deceased lightning dragon, he gained its high Lightning resistance, including its powerful skills. With a slight wave of Arthur''s hand signaling his intentions, the lightning dragon behind him twirled in the air as it dived at the White Tiger, crashing into him violently and causing massive amounts of Natural Lightning to invade the Divine Beast''s body, leaving it in a state of complete paralysis. This, however, wasn''t the end as Yamak''s imitation used it''s massive and long body to envelop the tiger like a snake and tighten its body, trying to crush its opponent and turn it into a meat paste. Arthur''s eyes were closed as he paid no more attention the White Tiger, he was trying to figure out a solution while listening to the commands of his copy, trying to aid him(the copy) in imitating the chains from before and try to limit his physique, at least for a while for that will buy him a few more days. A red pillar of light came flying from the East, its speed was so fast that even Arthur was incapable of dodging in time, albeit his current powerful physique. By the time he reacted, the pillar of red light was already upon him. Before it could touch him, a blinding golden radiance came out from within his consciousness, conjuring into a formidable shield that blocked the mysterious light. As he looked at the red light, which was only three meters away from him, Arthur could feel a familiar violent aura from it, it contained unrestrained savagery that could make anyone suffocate just by being close it. The instant he felt it, he remembered the time where he invaded a foreign world from the Human Emperor''s castle, the world inhabited by evil and barbaric Race, a place where humans were used as objects, a statue worse than a slave! "It''s them! Bucama''s race!" Regarding this race, Arthur harbored nothing but hate and anger, he was disgusted with them and couldn''t bring and thought of them as nothing but pure evil, something that should never exist. He knew that they were hiding on the Eastern Continent but he never expected them to launch a sneak attack when he was fighting the Divine Beasts. From the info he had gotten from Jackob and Anastassia, these monsters were powerful but not the point that they can threaten an Immortal, much less a God. For Curtis to personally make a move and protect him, that red pillar of light is surely something out of the ordinary, something that could seriously injure him if not kill him on the spot. Curtis is no idiot, he is fully aware of Arthur''s current physique and its heaven-defying prowess yet he still chose to act which only means that these monsters have incredibly strong leaders that remained hidden to not attract attention, or that their magic is strong and could even allow a Spirit Realm to injure a God, but such an assumption is a bit far-fetched, or so thought Arthur. "It''s those abominations, the Cthulhu." "Cthulhu?" "Yes, a very ancient race, older than even the Titans. Their spells that fatal to any Race, it''s a bit similar to black magic but much stranger and bloodier." Arthur pondered for a few seconds as he waited for his copy to offer a possible solution. The shield conjured by Curtis was resisting the pillar of red light, however, that''s not a permanent solution, he needs to act and doesn''t want to ruin thing by unleashing multiple defensive skills that may or may not cause the red light to become stronger. He felt a small suction power coming from that light, just being close to it drained his power, little by little, the amount was negligible but if he remained here for enough time, he''ll turn into a skeleton for sure. After ten or so seconds passed, the copy spoke again "Actually, this isn''t a bad thing, we could use it efficiently. It really came at the right time." Chapter 282 - 235 : The Final "We''ll use it to our advantage. Although the savage aura is pretty troubling, the Dark Magic inside of you will easily consume it so no worries." Arthur didn''t know what exactly his copy was talking about, nonetheless, he decided to go along with this plan. He nodded his head as his eyes focused on the red pillar of light. "Now then, relax your body and let it invade you. I''ll take care of the rest." Curtis could hear their conversation so upon the copy''s signal, he withdrew his shield and re-entered Arthur''s consciousness, guarding the chained soul. When the red light covered him, Arthur felt that he''s the one being possessed, it was a weird and uncomfortable feeling that he would rather not experience but he bore with it and dropped all his defenses, purposely letting his body become defenseless against this brutal light. The instant the red light reached his Dantian, an ominous aura emanated from the calm black Talisman floating above the core. It released absurd amounts of red light from the whole body, no matter how the red light tried to resist or hide, it wasn''t able to escape from the talisman''s grasp. Arthur''s body was the talisman''s territory, nothing could escape from it as long as it acts, with a strange weird dark light that shrouded him completely, the appearance of his body started experiencing change. Red chains tattoos materialized from the tip of his limbs until they covered all his body, twirling around it like a venomous snake. This process happened in three seconds and by the time the Talisman calmed down, the entirety of the pillar of red light was totally consumed by the talisman, resulting in a small red dot to appear at its center. Upon a closer inspection, one could feel the presence of the brutal light lingering in that red dot, however, it was suppressed by the talisman with no way of retaliation. "This is enough, for now. It should hold on for a week, that''s way better than I expected." The copy breathed a sigh of relief as he gazed at the small chains tattoos around Arthur''s body. The person in question inspected his body and frowned upon seeing the tattoos, he felt that his power significantly decreased but it was still stronger than before. The end against the Divine Beast was finally over and he managed to buy a couple of days so it isn''t a big loss for him despite causing the whole continent to become a land of absolute death. Any person under the God Realm that is brave enough to venture in this land would certainly die. If not because of the poison then the radiation slowly wear him out and kill him. This area was a bit safer since the tribulation managed to push the radiation and poison away but that won''t last forever, after a while, it''ll come back and linger here for a long, long time. ''It''s time to see who''s hiding rat.'' Arthur stared East, from where the red pillar of light came, his sense and map didn''t give him any information which only means that the enemy is pretty far from here. To be able to launch such a terrifying attack from such a distance, that race was definitely hiding a strong trump card, alas, they used it at an inappropriate time. "Why would they target me, to begin with?" The target was definitely him and their goal wasn''t to kill him so this left Arthur rather confused about their true intentions. "Hehehe, it''s obviously to weaken you then capture you. You''re the perfect puppet for them." "Puppet?" "Yes, they can turn people into mindless puppets that they can control with ease, however, it is very rare to find a suitable puppet, one that is perfectly compatible with that brutal energy." Just as Arthur was going to head to East to pay a visit to the Cthulhu Race, a large white shadow appeared before him. With an overwhelming pressure and a bright golden light, it growled angrily and opened its wide mouth, spitting weird acid. Surprised by the speed of this enemy and its sudden appearance, Arthur could only cross his arms in defense and conjure a sturdy Dark Barrier along with the deceased Druid''s watery surface to reduce the incoming damage. Fortunately, breaking the chains healed him from all his injuries and he recovered to his peak state, so he won''t die easily, nonetheless, he can''t afford to be hit. Just as the weird acid was going to cover him, a red fog covered the area in an instant, it was followed by a foul stench of blood. A short silhouette emerged before Arthur, blocking the acid with but a hand. This hand was withered and rotten, it had a creepy look and was made of ancient flesh that decayed too much to the point of becoming grey. The rotten hand had an invisible whirlpool the size of a thumb that rotated slowly and absorbed all the acid, even the one which was far away was swallowed. This short silhouette was none other than Swain, who elegantly stood before his master. He waved his rotten hand, unleashing the same kind of acid and throwing it at the large white Divine Beast which had red eyes indicating its enraged state. "How is it possible for it to be alive?" Arthur only received absolute silence from his copy, who was supposed to be acknowledgeable about this stuff. Despite hearing no answer, he didn''t sit idly and wait for the White Tiger to attack again. With Swain as a support, he used [Faster Than Death], appearing on the rear of the Divine Beast, and executed [Unparalelled Golden Palm]. His palm emitted a golden radiance that matched the one emanating from his foe, the illusory big palm landed on the tiger''s back, however, it wasn''t able to push him back, much less send him flying like earlier. Arthur didn''t give up as he waved his other hand, throwing more than ten detonators at the tiger, which caused massive explosions to occur all around him, filling the area with smoke and turbulent winds. Swain made use of this chance to sneak under the tiger and use his rotten hand to absorb the golden radiance and the white energy close to the tiger, trying to throw it back at it when the time is ripe. "It is no use, Arthur! We were fooled! There were two leaders from the very beginning, you must retreat for now!" "Retreat? That''s not an option!" Arthur smirked as he teleported three times, getting away from the White Tiger, which used its tail to strike the area he was just at right now. As he floated next to his servant and gazed at the White Tiger, which seemed to be stronger every passing second, Arthur possessed the body of the silver wolf and said "It''s four against one, the tides have turned so why should I retreat?" The copy remained silent as he was confused about what''s happening, but that confusion only lasted for a split second before he understood the meaning behind Arthur''s words. As he said that, a low yet deep growl resounded in his consciousness, blue thunder descended from above, shattering space and pushing away the incoming poison. Next to Arthur appeared a wolf of similar size to the one he''s possessing. This beast was made from blue thunder, it had two ferocious blood red eyes and a very long tail that had a tip which crackled with purple thunder, similar to the one seen in the tribulation. "We must really thank the heavens, right?" "Villainous Heavens were jealous and unsuccessful in their attempt. This one is only grateful to master." Astrith made a small bow toward Arthur, he was significantly bigger than his original size. The tribulations helped him end his evolution faster than predicted. Arthur was smart enough to let small amounts of lightning tribulation enter his body, he directed it to his consciousness, where Astrith was. Arthur merely nodded and stared at his left, where a knight covered in golden armor and riding a big white steed appeared. The night had handsome facial features and not even the helmet could cover that. With a half-golden half-white shield on his back, a white sword in a golden sheath on his waist and last but not least, a three-meter-long yellow spear on his hands. This spear belonged to the Earth Spirit, but with Curtis'' ''persuasion'', it was lent a second time, its might is terrifying and with a proper use, it could deal fatal damages. A golden knight, a thunder wolf, a blood and death user, and a parasite, stood next to each other facing the White Tiger, which roared loudly as it glared at them with a hostile gaze. It didn''t seem to be fazed by them, in fact, its eyes showed disdain and arrogance as if they were not its match. Its body was unscathed even after being hit by more than ten detonators, it is definitely stronger than before and as for how it became like this, no one knew but from his copy''s words from earlier, Arthur had a few speculations. Chapter 283 - 236 : Fazing The Divine Beast didn''t sit there and watch them as they prepared themselves, it flew fearlessly toward them, only leaving its fading afterimage. Arthur, Astrith, and Curtis dispersed to three directions while Swain raised both his hands and prepared himself to receive the next hit head-on. Both of his hands became rotten with death fog emanating from them, the golden radiance he absorbed earlier started acting up. With an invisible set up in front of him, the red-haired youth shot a golden blast from his hand. The blast clashed with some sharp white spikes that came out of the tiger, to be more precise, they were its fur. The spikes were incinerated almost immediately, unfortunately, their number was just too much so by the time the golden blast was over, there were over a hundred of them flying at Swain, who stood there, unfazed of what''s coming. Curtis, who backed away just a second ago, came charging again once the tiger made its appearance. It''ll be a bit troublesome to hit when it is moving so he waited for it to show itself for a brief second. Although it was starting to fade away again, Curtis managed to grasp the perfect moment as his steed ran on the air while he majestically swept the yellow-spear, unleashing an armored dragon from its tip. The armored dragon was small in size, however, its aura was crushing as bypassed the few white spikes flying in its way and clashed with the big tiger, hitting a small part of its Divine body. On the side, Astrith had already spat several spheric lightning bolts that contained a meager amount of purple thunder inside of them. The spheres were faster than the armored dragon, the second the white tiger could be seen, Astrith was already done spitting them thus leaving the White Tiger no time to react as it was mainly focusing on the silver wolf, who is also Arthur. It had suffered more than one time in Arthur''s hands so it paid all of its attention him despite feeling a bit of threat coming from Astrith and Curtis. Like a shadow, Arthur flew around the area once the White Tiger disappeared for the first time, he used numerous skills to lower his presence. Space Magic was rather useful as he used the space-bending skill to enter a separate dimension thus making the White Tiger lose sight of him. Unfortunately, this didn''t last long as the tiger''s eyes emitted a red luster that allowed it to grasp his position yet again. Seeing the tiger glaring at him and feeling a suffocating pressure and a thick murderous intent focus on him, Arthur waved his hand and created countless small void mouths around the tiger. The final touch was a humongous Dark Cube that trapped the tiger with the armored dragon, the lightning spheres and his void mouths, which will surely do a considerable damage to it. Arthur used more than 30% of his Mental Power and Nether Energy to create this dark cube, no matter how powerful it became, it wouldn''t shatter on the spot, not even its comrade, the turtle, could achieve such a feat. A short silence followed all these occurrences, the dark cube stood motionless high in the air with no sound coming from within. No one could see what''s happening inside so they could only stare at it with expectation. Curtis held the spear horizontally and started chanting with a very low voice, Astrith didn''t stay idly either, he opened his wide mouth and started channeling power. you could notice a very small purple thunderbolt materializing inside of his mouth, slowly but surely, it was expanding in size. Arthur was fully prepared too, one after one, Heavenly Arrows started appearing above him. [Dark Rain] took a bit of time to fully activate but its damage is, without a doubt, devastating. The only one standing there without doing anything was Swain, he seemed to be in a daze as he stared at the abyss down below. Very soon, the dark cube started shaking heavily and this only got worse when the space around started shattering and repairing itself, the intensity of the shaking increased and very small cracks started appearing all over the enormous dark cube. "Brace yourselves!" Curtis shouted loudly the second the dark cube was completely destroyed, he tightly held the spear and stabbed forward, causing an illusory spear to cut down from above, directly flying to where the tiger is supposed to be. A one meter long purple thunderbolt flew from Astrith''s mouth toward the same target as Curtis'' attack. The final one to act was Arthur, he unleashed [Dark Rain] yet again, sending a hundred Dark Heavenly Arrows to the location of the dark cube. No matter how fast the tiger is, it wouldn''t be able to remain unscathed after all of this. Amidst the rubble and the raging wind was a large white shadow standing there arrogantly. Looking a bit closer, you could see that it suffered some damage but nothing too serious, in fact, you could not see any drop of blood on its beautiful white fur. It started at the incoming attacks and deemed the purple thunderbolt to be the most threatening, with ferocious slash using its golden claws, it cut the thunderbolt into pieces. Since it decided to get rid of thunderbolt, resisting or dodging the other two attacks won''t be a possibility, the time gap between each of these attack is even less than a split second. The Heavenly Arrows rained down on the Divine Beast whereas the illusory spear attack hit its back, it surprisingly managed to penetrate its tough fur and cause some blood to gush out. The White Tiger released an angry roar but before it could get rid of the spear, the arrows covered it from head to toe, hitting every possible inch of its body to the point that its appearance could no longer be seen. Dark arrows with black flames were covering it, a bit like the chains were covering the Earth Spirit inside Arthur''s consciousness. Although the White Tiger was hit by most of the arrows, no agonizing wail was heard, instead, strange white flames abruptly appeared out of thin air, they purified the Dark Heavenly Arrows and shattered them, piece by piece until they all vanished into nothingness. When the Divine Beast could be seen again, it was different as its fur had a few red spots caused by the arrows, it wasn''t a deep wound like the one the spear inflicted but they were still better than nothing. The tiger looked haggard as the white flames burned above the wounds, accelerating its process of recovery. The flames were able to help it heal but no matter how many flames burned around or above the bloody injury of the illusory spear, it just wouldn''t heal, this enraged the White Tiger, which turned its head and glared wildly at Curtis, finally considering him a threat equal to Arthur. "It''s defense is even higher than the turtle. tsk tsk!" Arthur clicked his tongue when he saw the tiger healing itself, even with all these Heavenly Arrows, it was still not enough to fatally injure it. "No, its defense isn''t higher than the turtle, it is just vibrating its body with incredible speed thus rendering most of the incoming attacks pass through it or hit a certain spot of its body where its defenses are the highest. It''s very rare skill, I''ve only seen two people use it." The copy spoke with praise as he specated the fight, he wasn''t overly worried like earlier. With four against one, even if the tiger is this strong, there is still a high chance to succeed, with good coordination and perfect timing, anything is possible. It was at this time that the silent Swain finally acted, his two red pupils were flashing with a bloody light while his aura increased drastically. A red fog covered thousands of miles in a split second and suffocating killing intent could be felt by anyone within the fog. With his two eyes fixated on the White Tiger, Swain said "Thou art no divine, thou are a copy, by blood shall thee be purged, by death shall thee be punished!" When the last word was said, a bloody arc more than three hundred meters in length locked in the White Tiger, which turned illusory as it retreated away, trying to get away from that arc. Unfortunately, it underestimated the might and speed of this bloody arc, which caught up to it in a matter of seconds, it was like a guillotine descending from above, ready to cut its head. The White Tiger was truly fearful this time, it stopped fleeing and faced the bloody arc, it became blurry as it was vibrating its whole body nonstop, trying to faze through the arc. The copy scoffed when it saw this sight and commented: "That ain''t gonna work, fazing is only possible against an attack with a size smaller than your own. To direct such an attack on only one point of your body will only make it more dangerous." Chapter 284 - 237 : Angry Tiger The red arc, like an unstoppable and sharp blade, cut more than forth of the White Tiger''s body, causing a mass of flesh and fountain of blood to fall below. The tiger rotated its body so the arc hit it from behind thus severing its right leg and its tail once and for all. Its behind became mangled flesh and boiling blood that kept gushing out nonstop. In response to this horrifying wound, the tiger roared loudly as it showed a savage look. It disregarded its injury and leapt at Swain, who now had a pale face and shivering body. It was apparent that his last strike required a significant amount of energy, it depleted him and rendered him unable to move for a short period of time. Unfortunately for the tiger, it wasn''t going an easy feat to bypass the other and directly hit the defenseless Swain, even with its incredible speed, it couldn''t ignore them. Curtis had put the spear on his back and unsheathed his sword and held his shield, he stood in front of Swain and raised his shield while chanting a short incantation. The silver wolf''s usually red eyes started pulsating with a bright blue light, this lead to the world becoming grey and the movements of his allies and foe alike became much slower, almost freezing mid-air. He activated [Transcendence] and [Eternium] at the same time, generating Natural lightning around him and covering his body with it while also adding a mix of ancient flames and Dark Magic, boosting his Agility to its maximum. He didn''t use the Griffin''s skill as he deemed it unnecessary for the time being, its cost isn''t something to laugh at and losing more Mental Power(permanently) won''t do him any good if he ever wants to overcome the imminent death that befell on him due to breaking his chains. With a body covered by three separate attributes, each complimenting the other and transforming his appearance from a ferocious silver wolf to a green lightning wolf with two large wings on his back, one made from dark red flames and the other jet black with dark flames on its edge. Arthur focused his vision on the White Tiger, which was the only one that was moving at a moderate speed even after he used the special ability of his eyes. He crouched his body and, like a cannon, charged at the tiger head-on, planning to crash into it and purposely send it flying toward Astrith, who was more than prepared to welcome it. When he was only a few meters away from the Divine Beast, the time finally regained its normal speed, the tiger which was supposed to crush Curtis and finish Swain, was momentarily surprised as it felt Arthur''s presence so close it. So far, none of its enemies could hit it when it was moving, moreover, the angle Arthur aimed at was a blind spot. The tiger couldn''t lower its speed at such a crucial time or else the others would bombard it with attacks again so, in retaliation, it used its fur to sent countless white spikes at Arthur, who ignored them and continued his powerful charge. The white spikes were halted mid-air as they clashed with the strengthened Dark Barrier, although they weren''t completely deflected, the split second that the Dark Barrier managed to buy for Arthur was more than enough for him to finally hit his target. However, contrary to his expectations, the second he hit the White Tiger, the latter transformed into a puddle of weird acid that touched every part of his body. His health didn''t decrease but his speed suffered a great loss, it was as if he was carrying a mountain on his back. The powerful charge was for naught as the target used some kind of trick to evade it. This was the first time the White Tiger such a technique so Arthur couldn''t have predicted such an outcome, nevertheless, he didn''t despair, he calmly assessed the situation and relied on his map and sense to locate where the true White Tiger was. A big red spot could be seen on top of a green icon, which was none other than himself. This only meant that the tiger is either above him or below him, so while making good use of both of his wings, he started spinning his body, unleashing a torrent of Dark and flaming Waves all around him. The Dark Waves covered the skies and the ancient flames spun around him, creating a flaming whirlpool with him at its center, its pressure was increasing every passing second yet even after some time passed, there was no sign of the White Tiger. "It''s above you!" The copy''s voice rang in Arthur''s ears, in response to this warning, he accelerated his spinning and created more than twenty detonators above him. These creepy looking fireballs were clustered next to each other so that the explosion of one of them will cause the rest to follow thus multiplying their damage by a great deal. Just after the detonators appeared, a golden light descended from above, followed by a thick murderous intent that was locked at Arthur. "This bastard''s target was me from the start." The silver wolf halted its spinning abruptly and spat a grey and ominous grey orb. Arthur didn''t stop with just that orb, he conjured hundreds of small void mouths that lurked around the grey orb, eating everything in their path. Despite his low proficiency in Void Magic, Arthur managed to control the void mouths so they would ignore the dark waves and flames around them lest they devour everything and open a path for the White Tiger. With the rampaging dark waves, flooding ancient flames, eating void mouths and the grey orb at the center, even a Divine Beast cannot resist all at the same time, that''s while excluding the existence of the detonators, which are the last wall of defense for Arthur. The White Tiger shadow rushed at Arthur, it didn''t even glance at the incoming attacks as if they didn''t exist. When the Waves were about to cover it whole, something astonishing happened, like it was in a separate dimension, the White Tiger passed through the enormous dark waves and the flames without receiving any kind of damage. Then came the grey orb and the void mouths, which like their predecessors, could do nothing as the Divine Beast passed through them. This came as a great shock to Arthur, even the copy was startled for a split second before he realized what''s happening. "It''s not fazing through! It''s actually a lasting afterimage, it''s not the real one!" Unfortunately, the copy realized this way too late as, by the time he spoke, a White Tiger had already appeared behind the silver wolf, slashing Arthur with its elongated golden claws. The back of the silver wolf received a bloody scar more than two meters in length, the Natural Lightning covering Arthur was forcefully repelled as he regained his normal appearance with a deep injury that even showed his bones. Chapter 285 - 238 : Supernova The force behind the attack Arthur just received was strong yet unusually strange, the moment [Transcendence], he felt an irresistible pushing power that expelled him out of the silver wolf''s body. The wolf''s body fell into the abyss while Arthur''s real body was flung off a couple hundred meters before he managed to stabilize himself. Blood dripped from his new wounds, even with the help of the Dark-Star strengthening technique and his godly recovery, the injury didn''t seem to be healing at all. His Health Bar didn''t increase which only meant that this wound isn''t like any other. "It''s a high-level curse coupled with Primordial Energy." The copy''s tone was grave as he explained to Arthur what''s happening to him. As he heard only silence from Arthur, the copy proceeded to explain in detail: "The curse isn''t the problem, with the necessary potion along with a strong enough Demonic Lightning, it''s easily removable. The Primordial Energy, however, is a totally different matter. As the name suggests, it is an ancient kind of Energy only used by certain entities, usually old ones though. Those archaic elemental spirits or venerable races could wield it but even those are few and far between. Furthermore, this Primordial Energy is a level higher than Nether Energy so to suppress it or recover from a wound caused by it, you either need to go to a place where Primordial Energy is abundant OR ask a High Priest from the Holy Dominion to heal it. An adult water dragon should be able to do the job too but I really doubt he''ll help you, in fact, you have more chance of convincing a High Priest more than a dragon. *Sigh* anyways, try to not clash with it, it not only can teleport but it is capable of wielding Primordial Energy albeit being a weaker version since this beast is but a copy." Arthur clicked his tongue as he glared at the White Tiger, which just turned illusory as it rushed at him. Without any hesitation, he turned around and flew toward Curtis, he had a plan in mind but for it to work, he needed help from Curtis and Astrith. As he got close to Curtis, he signaled the knight and the lightning wolf while he stood at the back. Curtis didn''t glance at Arthur as he knew what to do, the blue wolf also joined the fray as he sent countless lightning bolts at the shadowy figure of the tiger, unfortunately, none of them hit its target for it was too fast. Wielding his shield and one-handed sword, Curtis rode his white steed at it ran on the air with incredible speed, it even left a trail of golden light. A bright golden radiance emitted from Curtis, it was like he was the sun, illuminating everything around him. The radiance was so intense to the point that even the White Tiger had to halt his charge and even back some distance, not wanting to get close to Curtis, who chasing it like a mad dog. And like this, a cat and mouse chase began where Curtis desperately followed the White Tiger, which made efficient use of its speed to circle around the knight and try to find a blind spot to attack from. It also paid a great deal of attention to Arthur but couldn''t attack it as Curtis would rush toward his ally the moment the Divine Beast showed signs of sneak-attacking, there was also Astrith, who was protecting the motionless Arthur. The two kinds of flames burning each side of Arthur became much more intense, black flames with ominous fog around them stretched to the area behind him, transforming the whole environment into a jet darkness where no living beings could see inside of it, much similar to Dark Rizaki. On the opposite side of this dark world was hell itself, the sky and abyss were engulfed into a mass of dark red flames that burned the wind itself thus creating a sight even in hell one wouldn''t be able to witness. [Eternium] was activated to its full potential, it substantially raised his firepower and stats, without a doubt, it''s his best supporting and enhancement skill, too bad it''s cost is quite high so he can''t use it forever lest he''ll drop below the Spirit Realm in a few hours at best. When he was ready and the world was split into two colors, Curtis acted at last followed right after by Astrith and Swain, who recovered a bit of strength. One from each direction, Astrith spat three purple thunderbolts he prepared, Curtis slashed with his sword and raised his skill to the sky, sending a white blast that cut the clouds in half and descended like a tribulations, aiming straight at the White Tiger, which started vibrating its body and readied itself to avoid the combined attack of its foes. Consecutive small red arcs were sent from Swain''s rotten hands as he made his way to the White Tiger, his attacks were faster than the other two so they managed to reach their target before the rest. Unfortunately, the Divine Beast easily fazed through the blood arcs in a way that none of them managed to hit it, next came the three purple thunderbolts, which fused together and became a five-meter-long snake that opened its mouth, ready to bite down at the ferocious looking beast. As it just fazed through more than ten red arcs, the Tiger couldn''t keep doing that forever for it wasn''t possible, so it was forced to clash with the purple snake head-on, which is an unfavorable clash knowing that this type of purple thunder is extremely fatal to Divine beasts like itself. Unlike any of Arthur or his allies'' expectations, the tiger neither teleported nor fazed through the snake, it didn''t even use its brute strength or sharp claws to defend. It actually astonished the four of them as orange flames appeared out of nowhere and washed down at the purple snake, which had insignificant in size compared to this humongous flame waves. Not only did the flames belong to the Vermillion Bird, but their power was also a lever higher, the purple thunder snake couldn''t withstand the heat as it was burned after a few seconds, returning into nothingness shortly after. Before any of the four could react to the sudden attack of the White Tiger, Astrith and Swain''s bodies were pulled toward each other with a gravitational power that they simply couldn''t resist to the unexpected timing and the intensity of this force. In a split second, the two of them had already crashed into each other, however, this was but the beginning as the White Tiger opened its mouth and started spitting weird illusory flames coupled with a violent energy that shook space and disturbed the wind. Fortunately, Swain was quick to react as he made use of his absorption ability to minimize the damage, nonetheless, the dragon breath was too strong and too much for the red-haired youth to completely absorb it whole. The fusion between the book and the Death Golem was disrupted, resulting in the two of them to transform into two red lights that flew toward Arthur, hiding inside his consciousness. Astrith was no better than Swain, he enveloped himself with a weird armor made of normal yellow lightning, this layer of defense lasted for quite a while but the wolf simply unlucky as the Dragon Breath lasted for twenty full seconds before Curtis, who retreated to a safe distance, managed to stop this absurd attack by throwing multiple white chains at the White Tiger. The chains were even thicker than his white steed, each one wrapped around one of the White Tiger''s limbs, firmly trapping it in the air. These chains were special, even with the fazing ability of the Divine Beast, passing through them isn''t doable as they weren''t made from Energy but something else entirely. Although he was worried about Swain and Astrith''s states, Arthur had no time to think about why the tiger could use its comrades'' abilities nor how it did that. With Curtis'' signal, Arthur''s aura increased drastically as a dark talisman appeared from his Dantian and floated above him. Countless black strings came out of the Talisman and attached themselves to Arthur, feeding him immense amounts of Energy, but even that is barely enough to unleash his next and final attack. As looked at the White Tiger, Arthur retrieved Makaze from his storage and let out a long sigh as he noticed the cracks appearing all over the dark blade. It was severely weakened from the previous fight, it needed to recover by devouring more blades and letting rest while it fully and properly digested them. Alas, the time was tight and he needed his partner for this last attack, without him, it won''t be possible. Makaze had long since it wanted to fight, and it would never deny Arthur''s request, after all, he was its master as well as its partner. As he gently caressed the blade, especially the edges which had thin cracks on them, Arthur thought to himself ''We either live together or die together, ain''t that right, partner?'' In response, the blade vibrated intensely to show its intentions. The final showdown was about to begin, Arthur gazed at the Divine Beast with somewhat calm eyes and a relaxed mind, his heartbeats became slower and the various sounds incoming from all directions disappeared, he only heard silence as he muttered with a low voice "Fifth Wave, A Rainbow after the Rain, A Song after the Pain; Supernova!" Chapter 286 - 239 : The End Considering Arthur the main threat and sensing the great danger coming from him as his dark blade vibrated and the man''s aura increased, the Divine Beast wriggled its body fiercely, trying to get rid of the white chains holding it down. The chains started shaking intensely as the White Tiger struggled and did its best to shake off Curtis'' shackles. It was apparent that it knew that Arthur''s next attack is his final one and it could kill it if it didn''t retaliate in a proper manner, not with this chains immobilizing it thus rendering it an open target, completely defenseless. Makaze started showing signs of breaking as a seven-colored light covered it whole, the light then surrounded Arthur. It was unknown whether the dark blade would handle the pressure from the fifth wave but Arthur decided to trust his partner and unleash this skill. The first four waves of [Thousand Waves] are, without a doubt, very powerful, however, started from the fifth one, their might and potential jump to another level. The cost and the Realm requirements are what is bothering Arthur, to even dream of successfully executing the tenth wave, he needs to be at a Realm even beyond Sovereign. Even with his godly physique from earlier, it is still unknown if he could successively execute all ten waves. Arguably, he could unleash the tenth one but even if it''s possible, he has to discharge its predecessors, in order, too. The reason [Thousand Waves] is this absurdly strong is thanks to ordering and improving of sword skills the System automatically did when he ascended to the Divine Realm. It is the pinnacle of sword skills to the point that even his copy was full of praises for it. The fifth wave, Supernova, is as the name suggests, an explosion of the star but instead of a star, it''s the blade itself. It''s an unstoppable burst of rainbow-colored sword Energy. Arthur held the sword with both hands and slowly raised, preparing to slash at the White Tiger, which was a considerable distance away from him. Panicked and afraid, the White Tiger couldn''t sit idly and watch death come right at it. Its eyes pulsated with a red light as its body became larger and a golden mantra appeared on its body. The white chains were being pulled forcefully, Curtis was slowly yet surely being dragged to the beast. He struggled and applied more strength but he couldn''t fight against the monstrous strength the tiger was showing. "Yo-" Curtis was just going to urge Arthur to hurry but by the time he glanced at the latter, an enormous white shadow passed by him, completely ignoring his existence and heading straight for its main foe, who finally swung down his sword. The sky split in two and the burning flames below were cut down from the sheer power of the dark blade. The clouds and space itself were cut down instantly when Arthur slashed down and executed the final wave. A rainbow blast of razor-sharp Sword Energy burst out of Makaze, cutting down everything in its way. Though the length of this blast was merely several meters, nothing in comparison to its target, there''s no denying that it was terrifying. The White Tiger, which almost reached Arthur, roared loudly and emitted an intense golden light that transformed into its mantra. The strange rune was twice the size of the tiger as it blocked the seven-colored energy, it stood motionless in the air, exuding a light brighter than the sun and a celestial aura akin to the heavens. As for the Divine Beast, it hid behind the mantra and turned vibrated parts of its body to protect its vitals, just in precaution. Surprisingly, half of Arthur''s blast passed through the mantra without meeting any resistance, however, when the other half was going to pass, it froze in mid-air, clearly being restricted by the tiger''s rune. "It is a seal, and a strong one at that." The copy notified Arthur as it witnessed what''s happening, the latter wasn''t showing any worried expression, he tightened his grip on the dark blade and swung down again, releasing an even greater blast that clashed with the rune and broke it instantly, causing it to disperse into countless golden sparks. The two didn''t merge as expected, the first one, which was a bit weaker than the second, hit the tiger in its chest, easily bypassing its tough fur and sturdy defenses and stabbed its heart along with a third of its body. The Divine Beast turned crazy once its heart was injured, the sword energy was invading all of its body and destroying every bit of it, leaving nothing but blood in its path. It no longer cared about its life as it opened its bloody mouth and spat a spike similar to the one formed from its fur, however, this one was different as it was made from a white light and was half the size of the original. The speed of the tiger''s attack was rather unexpected, it''s as if it existed in a different space, it wasn''t affected by the second blast which was a split second away from the first one. The moment the spike made of white light was spat by the tiger, Arthur''s blast reached its target. It beheaded the Divine Beast like it was nothing and even continued for thousands of miles before it dispersed. The body of the White Tiger fell into the flaming abyss and disappeared from the area within seconds. Arthur''s focus was pointed at the dead beast but on the strange white spike which reached him before even the tiger was beheaded. Though the spike was lengthy, it wasn''t overly large, still, it was enough to cut him in two pieces or burst his head. The speed of the attack wasn''t like anything Arthur has ever seen, by the time he sensed the danger and decided to react, it was already in front of him. From the looks of it, the tiger died before it was even beheaded, it literally sacrificed itself to unleash such an attack, this attack was like an assurance for itself, knowing that it''ll Arthur down with it when it dies. In that split seconds, before it hit his head and kills him, countless thoughts were rampaging inside Arthur''s head. ''Should I teleport away? Create a Dark Barrier? Block it with my arms? No, it''s too late for that.'' No matter the solution he thought of, it was too late to execute it, he was left with nothing and he was a split second away from meeting his maker. From inside his consciousness, his copy''s voice rang in his ears, instructing him and telling him what to do. In such a desperate position, he was left with no choice but to unconsciously followed what the copy said. "Use your skill points, one in your eyes and one in the Death Seal, quickly!" Immediately, Arthur followed his words by actions, ordering the system to upgrade his skills. The moment he did that, he sensed an intense coming from his eyes as if they were being pulled out from their sockets. Time resumed and the white spike was going to penetrate his skull and turn his head into splattered brain matters yet at the last possible second, his eyes, which were causing him unbearable agony, flashed with an extremely bright blue light that illuminated the whole continent. The white spike which was about to kill him, was frozen with only a few centimeters separating it from him. He could see the sharp edge it, his eyes were concentrated on it, forcefully freezing time and allowing him to gain a moment of clarity. "What are you dazing there for! Use the Death Seals!" His body followed the orders, his hands sprang forth as they turned illusory from the continuous fast movements and like that, one Death Seal after another, double the size of the original, appeared around the white spike. The glued themselves on the white light and diminished some of it while causing the spike to become smaller in size with every Death Seal landing on it. After releasing ten Seals, Arthur was dumbfounded to see that his Nether Energy was completely depleted, his mind was also feeling dizzy and unstable. He didn''t know what happened to the death seal skill when he upgraded it but one thing is for sure, the cost became insanely absurd. He used the fifth wave but he still had some energy to spare, to empty the pool so quickly, it can only mean that either his eyes or death seals are consuming large amounts of Nether Energy continuously and it''s not just a one-time cost. After half a minute passed, Arthur only managed to add another seal, thus reaching the number of eleven seals. They enveloped the white spike and caused it to became a fourth of its original size but they weren''t able to change its direction or lock it away. Time resumed after a whole minute passed, Arthur found himself exhausted both physically and mentally, which surprised him as it''s the first time he feels physical fatigue thanks to his Infinite Stamina. This confused him but he didn''t dwell on it for it wasn''t time for that, unlike last time, he could move his body and get away from the spike. "It''s not slowing time but freezing it, you cannot move if time is frozen, the laws of time still apply to you." With such a shallow explanation, Arthur could only resign and prepare himself as he cast a Dark Barrier protecting his body. The spike made of white light crashed into the mix of watery surface and Dark Barrier and wasn''t able to bypass them like the sword energy, although they were durable defense layers, against such an attack, the barrier and druid''s skill weren''t able to last for long. Barely a second, enough for Arthur to use [Faster Than Death] and retreat 150 meters away. Unfortunately, to dodge such an attack wasn''t as easy as this, after all, it was the Divine Beast''s last struggle. Like the tiger''s trick earlier, the spike followed Arthur with a teleport too. It appeared in front of him and twirled as it made its way toward his head, ready to finish him. Unable to freeze time again, Arthur could only bend his body in an unusual manner, breaking his spine and several other bones. Luckily, he didn''t feel pain but he could still feel his body grumbling and about to fall. Despite his last-second evasion, a small light that accompanied the white spike still managed to his face, slashing it and causing a bloody wound to appear on it. His left eyes were injured too as a deep bloody cut that went from his chin to his eye appeared. With a tired mind and body, Arthur could only let his body fall below, traveling through the flames and even hitting the ocean that was way below the surface. Curtis had already returned guarding his soul and the blue wolf and the blood servant were exhausted and injured to they quietly slumbered inside his consciousness. Hundreds of miles under the abyss and even the sea below it, Arthur laid on the sand with a bloody back and a scarred face. He fell unconscious at last after this long and tiring fight. The threat of the Divine Beasts was gone and he could finally rest, even for a second. A long silence passed before a Dark light fell from above, cutting down the sea in two and engraving itself on the sand near Arthur. Upon a closer look, it was none other than Makaze, the dark blade, which broke after the fifth wave. Half of it was gone in the process and it looked nothing like before, with a broken edge and a weak, almost nonexistent aura, it joined its master and partner in this deep abyss, away from the rest of the world. Chapter 287 - 240 : Aftermath A few hours after the fight ended, absolute silence governed all corners of Astria. People were holding their breath and hoping for the best, there were no more earthquakes or bright lights coming from the Human Continent''s direction so some of them started celebrating earlier than the rest, thinking that the threat is gone for good. It was only after the shrouded sky became clear and the sun rays illuminated their cities and homes did the inhabitants of Astria cheer in joy and relief. The only place that didn''t celebrate was the MoonStar sect, Arthur''s whereabouts were unknown and the poisonous fog and the radiation covering the area where the Human Continent was, couldn''t be avoided or resisted. One of the undead dragons tried to enter it but unfortunately ended up turning into black ash within a few seconds. After witnessing this, Anastassia didn''t send any scouts to try and scavenge that area, it has already been marked as a forbidden ground by everyone, entering it means death. Even the bright sun that hangs on the sky couldn''t extinguish the poison or illuminate this area, it was cloaked by thick dark clouds and a fog that blocked anyone''s view, even a God would have difficulties surviving more than a day in there. A day passed yet Arthur didn''t come back, which made Anastassia and Jackob worry, thinking that he may have perished. The Alien Race that invaded the Eastern Continent remained in hiding, not showing themselves even after the catastrophe passed. The World Tree didn''t act against them and remained as peaceful and silent as ever, not showing any reaction to what happened. On the dusk of the second day after the catastrophe, an enormous grey dome enveloped the Human Continent, or what little land remained of it. The dome didn''t let any of the fog get out and trapped every living being inside, some people tried to forcefully break in but ended up going home after reaching no favorable results. The appearance of the dome was but the beginning, on the dusk of the third day, heavy rain poured in all corners of the world, bringing with it a gloomy feeling as it was way different from normal rain. What dropped from the sky weren''t merely droplets of water but grey ash, it didn''t cause plagues or diseases but it still made people feel uncomfortable and a bit fearful. Fortunately, the grey ash fell for merely an hour before it stopped, nonetheless, it still surprised everyone as it''s the first time such a thing occurred. As days peacefully passed, stories about the catastrophe started going around, reaching the ears of every Race, whether it was a kid or an elder, they surely heard it from their relatives or friends. The story wasn''t particularly detailed, neither didn''t contain the whole truth but the people were, nevertheless, amazed and grateful for whoever managed to eliminate the beasts and save Astria. Mercenaries would often talk about the fight and the man who killed the Divine, children stories were invented and tales were told about the catastrophe. Unlike the previous one, which was ten thousand years ago, there were almost no casualties since prior evacuation was done, and just like there were joyful people, there were those about losing their homes, fortunes, and lands. The Western Continent is heaven compared to the central continent, with the bottomless abyss with purple fire eternally burning in it, or the poisonous fog, the invisible radiation that could kill a God within a day, the center of Astria is no more a place for the living, even Gods can''t trespass. ..... After five days passed, a poem very popular amongst the bards was written, the source was unknown but it became famous in all three continents. Whether it was Demons, elves, beastmen, or Humans, they all enjoyed the song and would hire bards to sing them in the banquets and weddings. No one would know it yet but this poem will be forever engraved in history, it''ll be passed along for thousands of years, the generations of the future would not forget what happened, they cannot, not after what occurred that day, not with the obliteration of a whole continent. Enchanted by the Incoming doom, flowers that could no longer bloom Skies cloaked by brume Ash colored rain wetting the dome Devoid of souls yet so lively, a place of life yet so deadly With the rising sun, did they come causing destruction, had they done A blooming rose, was it needed Finishing those who shall be beaten A phoenix screech, was it heard A tiger roar, was it feared A dragon cry, was it endured A tortoise shout, was it scared? Mournful cries and blissful smiles, did they come When the falling chains were undone What did the man has become? Did the divine foresee That the end is near, or would it be? Hearing the poem being sung by an elven bard in the central square of the MoonStar sect, Anastassia sighed helplessly as she turned around and headed for the tower. She couldn''t celebrate in joy like those young disciples or mercenaries, after all, there''s no meaning to it if the savior is gone as well. While she tightly held Arthur''s ring, Anastassia whistled loudly, calling for the main bone dragon. She jumped on its back and commanded it to head East, she still hasn''t given up her search for him. Apart from Lissandra who''s always holed up in the tower and an acting elder that managed the sect''s affairs, all important and powerful characters were searching the area around the grey dome, trying to find Arthur. Even the Demons offered their help after they came to know of what happened, Taliya and several experienced royal guards joined the expedition, using special potions to allow them to breathe underwater and started searching every inch of the ocean surrounding the whole dome. .... Deep into the flaming abyss, in a place where even the most dangerous aquatic beasts couldn''t delve into, a place where the pressure is literally bone-crushing, Arthur laid motionlessly on the sand, with a furrowed brows and blood around him. The wounds caused by the White Tiger didn''t recover due to the Chaos Energy, moreover, the red tattoos that he created to seal his physical body, started showing signs of withdrawal. On the sixth day, a gigantic whirlpool appeared on the surface of the ocean, however, since that surface is still situated deep into the abyss, in an area no one can reach, it was noticed by no mortals or Gods. On that fateful day, with an excruciating pain assaulting his mind, Arthur was jolted awake from his deep slumber. He didn''t panic nor did he attempt any sudden movements, he circulated his Dark Mana and activated the Dark-Anguish technique, trying to appease the pain and slow the process of the chains'' withdrawal. After a few hours, things calmed down a bit and he managed to buy some time for a small breather. As he inspected his surroundings, his eyes landed on Makaze, which was stuck on the ground, just like their first encounter. Unfortunately, the dark blade no longer had its suffocating and ominous aura around it nor could he sense any signs of life from it, it''s as if it was back to being a normal, simple blade. Chapter 288 - 241 : Dark Anguish "I''m sorry but you don''t deserve to wield such a blade, at least not yet." The copy wasn''t pleased on how things turned out, with Arthur''s body in an unstable state, the bloody injuries he suffered and Makaze breaking after it overworked itself and unleashed the fifth wave. As he gazed at the dark blade that was missing its half and looking miserable, Arthur let out a long sigh and remained silent, unable to retort as he had no right justifications for his actions. "Now, about your body. I think I found a suitable solution, it may take some time to properly put it into action but theoretically, it''s doable and beneficial to you." Arthur didn''t expect his copy to find a solution already, from his tone back when he''s fighting, it was apparent that overcoming this hurdle is impossible, how come a solution was found. "Theoretically?" "Indeed, I''ve never tried it on anyone, so I wouldn''t know. Less words and more actions, follow my instructions and do not resist, also, disable the pain immunity, it''s doing you more harm than good. First, destroy your Dantian." Arthur thought he heard wrong at first and only when his copy urged him two more times did he come back to his senses. Gritting his teeth, he reversed the circulation of his Nether Energy which led to heavy damages to his Meridians and his Dantian becoming very chaotic. After a few more seconds, he started spitting a large mouthful of blood as the dark talisman that was floating above his Dantian vanished and an agony that almost made him crazy assault him. Arthur started yelling loudly but since he was in the water, no sound could be heard, he was alone this dark place with no one to aid him but himself. With his cultivation entirely gone, a lot of his skills became unusable but none disappeared, the red tattoos withdrew and vanished in a matter of seconds, all that was left was Arthur, yelling and holding his head as his body convulsed and rolled on the sand. "The first step for success is suffering, endless pain is not always a bad thing. You must know what true hell really is and experience the consequences YOU caused. The torture you suffered unjustly before is nothing compared to what''s about to come. Arthur Bilgart, or should I say, Arthur MoonStar, you do not value your life, you prioritize your goals over your life, sometimes a wise decision but usually a reckless mistake that could be forgiven if it was done once, but if it''s purposely repeated then one can only blame his own undoing. Arthur, once bitten, twice shy, before you save your wife or your friends, learn how to save yourself first or else THEY will meet the same fate as your partner. You have what others yearn for yet you do not use it efficiently, your Race is one of a kind, your acquired talent is far above any living this in this multiverse yet here you are wasting it, in my eyes, you''re nothing but trash. Here you are always focusing on possessing any strong enemy you manage to defeat, it''s nothing but pathetic! Sure, you''ve done the impossible and killed the four Divine Beast but at what cost? Think carefully about how you are, what you''ve done and how you should proceed, there is no third chance for you, Arthur." After saying that, the copy no longer paid attention to Arthur, he remained inside the ARK and kept his silence, totally ignoring the suffering Arthur, who could only whimper quietly as he lost even the will the fight against the pain or should loudly. After a few days passed, Arthur no longer emitted any noise, he would roll on the sand and shake intensely the whole day, the pain had no ending and even after hours passed, it didn''t diminish the least bit. Destroying his cultivation only made it worse as he could no longer control Nether Energy to decrease the agony. No matter how many times he tried to activate a few skills to aid him in this never-ending torture, a needle-like pain that was even more terrifying than the one he was feeling would invade his mind causing him to fall unconscious and wake up a second after, this cycle would repeat for a few more times before it subdues. Slowly yet surely, ten days passed, the wounds on his face and back no longer gushed massive amounts of blood, but they were still ugly to behold. Arthur no longer held his head and rolled on the ground, he would let his body shake on its own and convulse on the sand as he sat there, motionless and soundless. A month passed, the convulsing stopped at last but the pain never ceased even for a split second. More than one time, Arthur thought of dying as it''s many times better than experiencing this anguish. He understood the meaning behind his copy''s words but his mind just couldn''t handle the pain anymore, it almost became blank, devoid of thoughts, just like a soulless puppet. If not for remembering his Wife and daughter that gave him a bit of willpower to resist, he would have become something that is no longer human, nothing but an empty shell on the bottom of the ocean. The [Pain Immunity] could have helped a lot but ever since he disabled it, Arthur wasn''t able to reactivate it again, probably due to the ARK''s functions that his copy made proper use of it to stop him from relying on that skill. After half a year passed, Arthur managed to move his hands albeit just a bit, like raising them a few centimeters or moving his fingers. The pain was still present but he no longer was immobilized. Six more months passed and by this time, Arthur managed to overcome some of the pain and sit cross-legged. His body would shake every few seconds but he still managed to remain in that position without grabbing his head or rolling around from the needle-like pain that was hitting every inch of his body. When sixteen months passed since the catastrophe, the copy finally talked after his long silence. "It is time to proceed at last. Repeat this verse in your mind nonstop, until I''m satisfied, you must not stop or else I would let your rot here for a few more years. Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires." It cannot be seen, cannot be felt, Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt, It lies behind stars and under hills, And empty holes it fills, It comes first and follows after, Ends life, kills laughter." Arthur was in no position to think straight and repeat such a verse when his mind was hurting and his thinking was in total disarray. Nonetheless, he didn''t dare ignore his copy, trying his best to repeat this verse. It took him two months to fully repeat it without making any mistake, fortunately, the copy would repeat this verse every ten days thus helping him remember the missing parts and correct himself. When the two-year mark was reached, Arthur was able to sit cross-legged without being bothered by the pain and repeat the verse that was given to him without any mistake. At first, he wasn''t able to understand the meaning of the verse or its purpose but after repeating it countless times, he remembered that it was related to Zodiak, if his memory served him right, it was a note the old man wrote and it was said that it helped him strengthen himself and further stabilize his control over Dark Magic. After three more months passed, black flames started enveloping Arthur without him noticing their presence. He had his eyes closed and was too focused on repeating the verse. "Dark-Anguish technique, it really is an unparalleled technique. Zodiak was really one of a kind." As he witnessed the change happening inside of Arthur''s body, his copy sighed in amazement. Not only was the pain assaulting Arthur helping him strengthen his willpower, but it was also boosting the effects of the Dark-Anguish technique and with Arthur repeating the verse and unconsciously guiding Dark Mana in his body, this caused him to start building a solid foundation through accumulated pressure and pain. Chapter 289 - 242 : The Dark Blades Oath The passing of time went unnoticed for one absent-minded, thirty months passed since the death of the Divine Beasts. Arthur''s whole body was having a bath in the black flames. there was no blood on his back or face, the injuries recovered a bit and weren''t hurting anymore but you still could still two hideous scars on his skin, one on his back and the other on his face. He didn''t recover his left eye, which was hit by some of the white spikes, it''s an unfortunate loss, nevertheless, Arthur didn''t dwell too much on it as he has already too much on his plate. Once three years passed since the beginning of this hell, Arthur finally opened his eyes only to see a sea of black flames. He was no longer deep into the ocean but was sitting on black sand and what laid before him was complete nothingness accompanied by black flames that burned everywhere around him. For the first time in three years, he managed to move properly without feeling any agony that prevented easy movements. The pain was still present but he grew numb of it and wasn''t affected by it. He first gazed at his surroundings before walked near Makaze and picking it up, right after doing that, he returned to sitting cross-legged with Makaze on his lap. The blade returned to its sheath and bathed in the black flames, which weren''t harming it and instead, healing it bit by bit, however, the process was extremely slow and it was doing nothing but recovering some of the blade''s lost vitality. "Do you know why the chains appeared in the first place? Actually, it''s pretty simple. For any living being, no matter the race, the limit of their stats is 999Million and not everyone manages to reach that. The last chance for any person to increase their stats is in the Divine Realm, once they reach Sovereignhood, their power increases the longer they cultivate and gain Mental Power, which can boost one''s technique by a lot. Average people''s stats when they reach the Sovereign Realm is 500-600m. If it''s a genius, then 700-750m and if it''s a prodigy that appears once in ten thousand years, then his or her maximum would be 800m, any more is impossible, their bodies won''t handle it. Of course, there are cases where people managed to reach 999m, like titans for example, but reaching a number higher than that isn''t possible, you see... there''s a limiter at 999 that does not let anyone reach the one billion mark. You, being a parasite, do not have a limiter which is why the chains were created to act as a temporary limiter. By possessing many powerful corpses, you reached that limit pretty quickly, however, you ate more than you could chew. You drastically increased your stats before your body could get used to such a strong power, if you did not do that then the temporary limiter wouldn''t have been created. I warned you not to break the chains because doing so will cause your body to crumble since it''ll not be able to withstand so much power, it may be able to do so for a short period of time but once it reached a certain threshold, it will break. To counter that, ascending to Godhood then to Sovereignty would have helped you sustain your physical breakdown by supplying your flesh, bone, and muscles by large amounts of Mental Power that''ll allow them to resist the sudden rise in power, unfortunately, you didn''t heed my advice. Anyways, now that we got that out of the way, time to begin with the real stuff. I want you to never stop repeating that verse, not even when I tell you to do something else. Seeing your overpowered skills with a sword yet your lack of mutual understanding between you and your sword which resulted in the latter being split into two halves. I need you to experience what true swordsmanship easy, know what wielding a sword really is, understand your partner, understand your blade, know its feelings just like it know yours. A sword is used to kill and not to show off, when unsheathed then it means the death for your foe. When unsheathed then it means the end of the battle, if you can''t understand such things by yourself, then I''ll have to forcefully engrave them into your mind." Arthur, who was too engrossed in repeating the verse, couldn''t focus too much on what his copy was talking about. He heard the words but his mind was thinking about something else. The pain no longer bothered him, he can move freely but can''t fight or do any sudden movements that require efforts. Like a tidal wave, flashes of clear memories assaulted Arthur''s mind, causing it to blank for a split second before it continued repeating that verse. These memories were different from the ones from the past, where he would experience the whole life of animals or people, these were brief yet so real, they contained countless emotions and suffering. Experiencing their lives and slowly accompanying them in their adventure is like reading a book and try to understand it, however, these flashes were like pouring all the information of that book in your mind and expecting you to sort them out and figure out what''s necessary and needed and what needs to be discarded or put aside. This task, accepting the flashes of memories and sorting them outlasted for one month without even a slight rest for the tired Arthur. After obtaining millions of memories belonging to swordsmen of all kinds and shapes, of all races and elements, Arthur''s spirit became exhausted yet it had a bit of excitement that was born from within all those piled up memories, that were as clear as jade. Arthur came to understand the way of the sword by the hard way, battles and training memories were engraved on his mind, never to be forgotten. Though they didn''t belong to him, they still felt familiar after he experienced thousands of them, though he didn''t move a muscle in a month with both hands resting on his broken blade, he felt as if he had been swinging a blade for millenniums. The black flames that enveloped him had long since transformed into a curved blade exactly similar to Makaze. The sea of black flames became a sea of long dark blades that were either stuck on the ground or floating in the air, there were millions of these blades all around him and the blade in his hand was the center of everything. "That''s right, feel the will of your blade, sense its existence and resonate with it. You''re it and it is you, it''s no longer a connection but an eternal bond, one that shall never be broken, and one that shall never be forgotten. Remember all those memories, what they did, how much they treasured their life-long partner, they didn''t treat them as disposable objects, so follow their path and become what you must, one that has the heart of the sword and the will of the blade. The next time you unsheath your blade, the opponent will die, that is your oath, Arthur, the Dark Blade''s Oath!" Chapter 290 - 243 : A Story From Long Ago The oath has been sealed, the connection was broken and a firm, unbreakable bond was created between the broken dark blade and its partner. All the blades, which were made from black flames, around Arthur started vibrating then, all at once, flew straight at Makaze. The millions of swords disappeared in a second, leaving behind a deep growl that resonated in the whole area, shaking the sand and cracking the earth. Though Makaze was still broken, from the way it was vibrating right now, it was apparent that it regained some of its vitality, no longer being a normal blade that can be defeated by any low-grade artifact. As he stared at his sword with a somewhat absent-minded gaze, Arthur mumbled "Once the blade leaves its sheath, blood shall be spilled, no room for mercy, no room for redemption, by my will you shall kill, by your will I shall fight." When the last word left his mouth, a thick pillar made of ominous black light rose in the air, splitting the flames, clouds and even the sky in two halves. ********** "This event marked the birth of the Dark Blade''s oath and the rebirth of Makaze, one is the eyes and the other is the sharp edges." In an unknown place, where there''s nothing but a peaceful hill and a large tree full of vitality, sat a slim long-haired young man with a black bandana covering his eyes. Although he covered his eyes and his hair was long enough to hide some of his facial features, even getting a glimpse at his face would make anyone assume that this youth was handsome. The youth wore a ragged cloak and tight black clothes, white bandages were wrapped around his skin and not an inch of it(skin) could be seen. Before this relaxed and nonchalant youth stood a tall blue-haired woman, she had an expressionless face and a beauty that not every girl could have. She wasn''t as beautiful as a fairy but she had a certain charm that no one could deny, what stood up the most was her demeanor, she seemed indifferent to everything and anyone who knows her can do nothing but bow his head in fear and respect. Yet this infamous empress was patiently standing there and listening to the youth, contrary to her usual behavior, she didn''t act high and mighty or show any sign of arrogance because, in front of this youth, she''s nothing but a young child that still didn''t learn how to walk. "Then what happened?" Hearing her talk for the second time since she arrived, the youth smirked and replied "What, you say? Well, that''s a story for another time." The woman was clearly displeased as she expected another answer but despite what she was inwardly thinking, she performed a polite bow then disappeared from that hill. As he leaned on that tree and enjoyed the breath-taking scenery, where there''s nothing but stretched green planes and a peaceful atmosphere, he let out a long sigh and went back to his real form. Within that quiet hill, with the exception of the lonely tree, there appeared a dark blade that was stuck in the ground, just a few centimeters away from the tree. Wind whistled for a few seconds as it passed the hill and when it was gone, the sword vanished, returning to its deep and long slumber, never to wake up in the next thousand years.... .... In some area called the Water Region, the blue-haired woman appeared in a majestic palace. It would be an understatement to call it a palace, it was so grand and large to the point that it could house thousands of people. She didn''t bother greeting the elders or the training disciples. She appeared in a luxurious room with dense Water and Ice energy in it, the room was several layers underground and was a secret hideout no one but her and few others know about. Just when the tall woman appeared in that room, another shadow followed right after. Upon a closer look, it was a short girl dressed in a white robe, she was a bit chubby and had a baby face but underestimating her will only cause the fool who did so to die without realizing how he perished. "How did things go?" As she asked the little girl, the blue-haired woman seemed in deep thought, she wasn''t even looking at the girl as if her mind was troubled by something else. "The search finally bore fruit. From what I deciphered, most of the pieces of information in the ancient record are ninety percent false but there are some small similarities between them, they all point toward one location." When she heard the rather good news, the empress finally shifted her attention to the girl, she furrowed her brows as she didn''t expect to find anything worth investigating. Almost all the records from the past were erased, even someone with her power and influence only managed to find a couple of dusty old books thanks to her connections or by venturing in extremely dangerous areas where she almost died more than one time. "Where?" The little girl shook her head in disappointment and replied "It''s a nameless place, pinpointing its exact location would need more time and it''s certainly located outside of the Eighteen Regions, even beyond the Blood Sea." "I don''t care, just find me its location." The tall woman ignored the strange look the little girl was giving her. After hesitating for a bit, the shorty added: "B-but going beyond the Blood Sea would be violating the ''High Rules'', knowing their attitude toward lawless people, they''ll certainly act against you within a day at most." Still showing total indifference to what her subordinate said, the tall woman retorted "Hmpf! Isn''t the Fire Region sending multiple groups and seizing our lands? That''s already a violation of the third rule, they will be busy dealing with them rather than us, I''ll have plenty of time." The subordinate nodded her head and vanished into thin air, leaving only the tall woman in the luxurious room. Chapter 291 - 244 : Elder Bone Dragon A few months passed and after thorough dedication showed by the short girl, the Empress finally managed to locate the exact position of the nameless world. Although many of her loyal guards wanted to accompany her, she flatly refused them and headed to that specified world right after the Fire Region started showing more aggression in their invasion. After leaving the Water Region and striking a deal with the leader of the Earth Region to be able to use its portals and head straight into the Blood Sea, the Empress finally reached that nameless world within two months. Just when she appeared in that world, she felt her breathing quicken and her skin corroding at a fast rate. She hastily raised a durable protective barrier and activated the function of the bracelet she was wearing yet even after that, the protection she cast was showing signs of decay and corrosion. She could see nothing but a grey fog all around her, the air was hot and cold at the same time, her senses became disoriented and instincts repeatedly warned her to leave. The thing that surprised her, even more, was that she felt something lock onto her, it didn''t show any killing intent or hostility but it definitely spotted and was closely watching her. From the looks of it, her barrier wouldn''t hold for more than an hour, so she began exploring the area with all her guard up and an ancient stone in her hand, firmly held in case anything dangerous attacks her she could escape from here. Not even ten minutes passed before she reached a place where there''s land. There was considerably less grey fog in here but her protective barrier was still cracking and dispersing. As she landed on the ground, for as far as she could see, the ground was littered with bone of all shapes and kinds. It was literally a sea of bones, the death Energy here was terrifyingly dense. Fortunately, it didn''t have any effect on her barrier or else she wouldn''t have been able to resist it. After inspecting the bones for a few seconds, the Empress proceeded onwards. She didn''t have a clear destination, however, there''s a strong chance that the answer she seeks is in this nameless world. Until now, she didn''t meet any danger but when she crossed some distance while seeing no end to this sea of bones, she suddenly halted mid-air as he found herself in an enormous altar with sky-high ancient pillars forming a circling around her. This was but the beginning as all of her body felt heavy and her knees almost gave up, her body unconsciously trembled from fear when her eyes landed on the thing sitting on the center of the altar. With a size larger than any dragon she has seen throughout all of her life, this ancient creature was lazily sitting there, motionless and silent. A body made only of bones and although it was sleeping, its height surpassed the hundred meter mark, it was truly gigantic, in every sense of the word. Besides its domineering appearance, what made the woman tongue-tied and fearful is the pressure it was emitting, albeit it wasn''t fixated on her, just by standing next to this dragon, she felt incomparable terror. She felt completely powerless, her body wouldn''t even budge even after she commanded it to escape, the Empress could only gaze at the dragon with wavering eyes, totally different from her usual indifference and arrogance. ''I-it''s an Elder Bone Dragon!'' Stupefied and angry due to her unluckiness to meet this ancient being, she could only curse inwardly and think of a way to escape. It is known by all people that dragons possessive creatures and especially hate those who invade their territories, more so for the Elder ones, which were the pinnacle of the Dragon Race, existences that didn''t show themselves for far too long. "This is not a place for you, Mortal." Dragons are masters of the tongue thus the Elder Bone Dragon didn''t speak using its mouth but transmitted its words directly to the Empress'' mind, startling her for a moment as even the creature''s voice was deep and somewhat chilling. She felt the restraints on her body loosen for a bit, allowing her to talk but that didn''t mean was gone, in fact, every second she remained here and looked at this dragon, the more afraid she became. It is a shameful thing for an Empress like her to be this scared but she couldn''t help it, an Elder Dragon is not something she could match, much less an undead dragon, the most powerful kind of them all. After resolving her mind and calming her head, she retorted with a steady tone: "I have become an Immortal long ago." As it heard her, one of the eyes of the dragon were lazily opened. With an eye burning with blue flames and an abyss-like pupil, it stared at the tall woman for a brief second before it closed it again and scoffed at her while saying "An immortal? I think you''re mistaking, little girl. Anything or anyone that can die is nothing but a mortal in my eyes." Still keeping her stubbornness even when facing this Elder Dragon, the Empress said: "As long as you''re strong enough, there''s nothing you can''t kill. A true Immortal that can''t die when he''s killed does not exist." "Oh but there are, many, in fact. It''s not because you didn''t see any that they do not exist." The woman frowned and asked "Is the Empress of the Star Region an Immortal?" Several seconds passed yet she heard no answer, she almost believed that the dragon ignored her and resumed its sleep. "What are you here for, little girl?" "I came seeking the truth about the foundation of the MoonStar Sect." This time, the dragon opened both of its eyes, raised its big head and stared at the blue-haired woman. As if it was peering deep into her soul, the woman shuddered and unconsciously retreated a few steps, she felt exposed to this dragon''s gaze as if nothing could escape from it, not even her deepest secrets. After a while passed, the Elder Bone Dragon closed his eyes, returning to its usual posture. "A curious one, aren''t you? This is a path of no return, it would be for your best to stop whatever you''re doing and mind your own business. Personally, I do not care but if the master of this place finds out, you, along with your whole region will be erased from existence and don''t think those shabby rules from above or whoever created them would protect you." Before she could retort, the tall woman found herself standing in her secret room, back at the Water Region. She stood there, dazed, for several minutes before she snapped out of it when the chubby girl appeared. Chapter 292 - 245 : Breaking The Limiter "No, no and NO! This isn''t a circus, use your shadow clone first then you attack next, use a feint then send the clone made from the Dark Cloud. You need to distract those stronger than you, even a person with a high concentration will always be startled when three of you appear." The copy exclaimed as he held his temples in disappointment. Arthur, who was fighting whitey inside the ARK, tried his best to follow the instructions he was given but no matter how much he tried, how flawless his combat ability became, it never satisfied his copy. The copy actually became angrier the better he became and it truly frustrated him yet he never retorted, he knew what''s best for him and he could never wish for a better teacher. With the time slower inside the ARK, high regeneration and all his skills available thanks to his copy, he was able to display his full potential but the enemies that are appearing are monstrous in both offense and defense. "What use is there for your eyes if you don''t use them? Don''t freeze time when the enemy is attacking, do it after you land a blow so that you can kill the foe when his or her body is destabilized from the shock of the first blow." Although he taught Arthur every kind of tactic, how to use his powerful skills, when to use them and how to escape fatal attack from hostile parties, the copy never, even for a second, told Arthur to use the sword or instructed him to train with Makaze. With all the memories he got along with the Dark Blade''s Oath, there''s nothing that can be taught. Makaze will leave its sheath when the enemy is worthy and needs to be killed otherwise Arthur needs to find another way to defeat his enemies. "Enough with your flashy moves, Dark Magic is suited for assassins and not clowns! I need you to kill your enemies before they realize your presence if possible and if you''ve been found out then use the least bit of time to slit their throat or cut their head! Teleporting is useful but easily predictable, powerful skills that take time to execute are only meant for a big herd of enemies, not a single target, use your brains for god''s sake! All your Intelligence for nothing, ahhh! I bet Saly would''ve done much better in less time." ..... After what seemed to be an eternity, Arthur left the ARK after his copy was fully satisfied. His body didn''t feel sluggish or heavy even after sitting deep in that dark abyss for such a long time. "A week to reach Spirit Realm, three months to reach the Immortal Realm and Sixty years to Reach Godhood, I''ve achieved a new miracle!" Hearing his copy proudly talk like that, Arthur clicked his tongue and retorted "You mean I achieved it, not you." "Well, it was per my orders and if not for spending even more time training your ass, It wouldn''t have taken so long." More than a hundred years passed inside the ARK, thanks to the copy''s partial control over the mysterious cube, he managed to significantly slow the time inside even when in Recovery mode, which helped Arthur cultivate quietly and hone his control and skills. Not once in one-hundred and ninety-five years did he use a sword. It was a long period of time but for him, it didn''t seem that long since it was spent training every second of those two centuries. He missed his wife so much yet he held himself, not wanting to rush things as he did in the past. His hair has grown so long and his body was covered in dust like an ancient statue that wasn''t cleaned for a millennium. Two corpses laid before him, one belonged to the Azure Dragon, which was reduced to a meat paste and the other was of the White Tiger. Its large head was laying next to it, the blood had dried and the stench had long since vanished, leaving nothing but two lifeless bodies accumulating dust over the years. "Five years and one month to ascend to Godhood, you should be proud." The Copy glanced at the date the map was showing and realized how much time passed outside. It was nothing compared to how much time they passed in that endless white space. "Proud to leave my wife and daughter alone for five years?" Arthur''s retort left his copy speechless, he kept his silence and simply watched from within the ARK, no longer spouting useless remarks. After spending countless hours listening to his copy''s teachings, Arthur knew better than possessing the two bodies in his current state. He made a full recovery and even became unbelievably strong but he shouldn''t carelessly possess powerful entities like there''s no tomorrow. It''s fine to possess anyone below a Sovereign but if it''s something like a Divine Beast, albeit a copy, they should be possessed when he''s going to break through to the next Realm or Grade, the effect will be better. Furthermore, he learned a new ability thanks to his training, it allows him to possess corpses or beings without automatically gaining their stats, meaning he can possess the tiger and gain its techniques without burdening his physical body with stats. Speaking of stats, Arthur took a deep breath and fixed Makaze on his waist then opened his status Window after five whole years. TITLE: MEAT GRINDER / SEEKER OF KNOWLEDGE / ONE WITH THE SWORD / ARK HOLDER / LIVE WITH HONOR, DIE WITH GLORY / BREAKER OF CHAINS / HOLDER OF THE DARK BLADE''S OATH / MAD DESTROYER/PSYCHOPATH/DRAGON RIDER Level: ?? Class: Dark ARK Parasite Realm: 1st Grade God - Strength: 3.06B Intelligence: 2.34B Agility: 2.87B Wisdom: 1.7B Vitality: 3.1B Dexterity: 2.25B - Health: 3.5B // Health Regen: 12m/s Nether Energy: 1.9B // Nether Energy Regen: 885741/s Mana: 2.0B // Mana Regen: 985714/s Stamina: Infinite /Stamina Regen: ??? ----- Creation: 584 Attack: 2.3B (+65% Damage) Defense: 1.9B (+25% Damage Reduction) Magic Defense: 999.9M Soul Defense: 25,000 -- Enigma abilities : Telekinesis / Ancient Threads / Sixth sense / ARK(Activated) Mental Power: 10001 --- Elemental Resistances(+) Fire: 100% Darkness: 100% Wind: 35% Water: 75% Earth: 75% Light/holy: 30% Shadow: 30(+20%)% Lightning: 100% Ice: 30% --- Death Count: 1 (2 more to obtain ''Unbound'') --- Possessions (472,012) Races: ?Humans (282,991) ?Demons (84,997) ?Beasts (+)(101,528) ?Unique Beasts (2498) ?Mythical beings (1) ***** Arthur contemplated his stats for a while before he closed the status window and focused on the tiger''s headless body. Countless invisible soft threads came out of his fingers as he controlled them and skillfully attached the tiger''s head into its body, perfectly fixing it. "It''s a perfect body to fight with, even better than the Silver Wolf. Though even without it, I doubt any Sovereign could injure you, even a God Monarch would have a hard time." Arthur collected both bodies of the Divine Beasts and ripped the space, appearing a long distance away. With blue sky above and a calm ocean below, he was gazing at an area with dense fog covering it, some kind of illusion barrier was several meters in front of him, blocking his path. As the copy gazed at the dense fog and the restless ocean in that area, he sighed and said "Westia Continent, ahhh what a nostalgic place!" Chapter 293 - 246 : Returning it To Its Rightful Owner "So this is where the forgotten continent is." "Technically, it''s not forgotten but isolated. A sage from the past cast a powerful illusion barrier around it, separating it from the rest of the world to spare it from the catastrophe that occurred ten thousand years ago. I guess, in a way, that sage knew about the dangers that''ll befall on Astria and decided to act early." The copy was also amazed by the level of the Illusion spell, it was the first time he saw something of this level, it''s definitely not someone any illusion Magic expert could do. "The great library is the center of the continent, right?" "It should be, Zodiak''s notes are always accurate."(copy) Arthur nodded his head and raised his hand, clawing the air with his fingers as soft and thin invisible threads twirled around him. The threads wrapped around his body, creating a white armor that seemed pretty fragile. The next step was injecting this armor with a mind-numbing amount of Demonic Lightning. "Spending twenty years learning about illusions and how to bypass or break them was indeed not a waste of time. At least I don''t need to tell you what to do everytime you encounter a hurdle." Like [Transcendence], Arthur''s body became covered with weird-looking black lightning, it was soundless and calmer than any other form of lightning. As he proceeded forward, the fog several meters around him began dispersing, creating a small path, barely enough for him to pass. Although he had a speed that''s almost unmatchable, Arthur slowly proceeded into that illusion spell, not wanting to either break it or raise a huge disturbance. Those kinds of illusions aren''t just to mislead the invaders from outside, they can kill anyone that tries to use brute force to barge in. It has been present from more than ten millenniums. Around three hours later, a large piece of land entered Arthur''s view. It was a desert with high mountains of sand and a hot weather dominating the area. "The spell is cast only around the continent, so it''s fine if you travel faster now." In response, Arthur discarded the lightning armor and ripped space with his bare hands and casually entered, appearing millions of miles away. In a world like Astria, where it''s not even considered a Low-Realm, space is more fragile thus he can travel long distances this easily. In comparison, Arthur could only travel for a few thousand miles with each leap in the Green-leaf Word. As for ripping the space of a High-Realm, it''s a doable feat but the traveled distance would be meager and using normal lightning to move around would be much more efficient. With his new map that had enlarged range and his sense, which got a huge boost, that could cover more than half of this continent. Arthur was able to locate his destination. As he was about to rip space and leap a second time to appear at the center of the continent, Arthur sensed a familiar energy fluctuation not far away from him. unexpectedly, there was no remark from his copy, who would never shut up when something out of the worm appears. Making use of his sense, Arthur pinpointed the exact location of the source of this familiar energy. He leaped in space and appeared some distance away from where the sensation from earlier was felt. Upon a closer look, approximately four hundred meters away from him, on the top of a tall mountain that reached the clouds, there was a battle occurring. One was a Dark Dragon that was a bit weaker than Yamak and the other was a party of five people. From what he''s seeing, Arthur guessed that the dragon was winning as one of the five was gravely injured, two of his comrades were protecting him from the AoE attacks the enemy was unleashing. Arthur inspected the five of them one by one then shifted his attention back to the first target he appraised, it was a dark-haired young man with pale skin and an expressionless face. He wore a dusty dark-armor and wielded a two-handed sword made from some kind of Black Steel. ''It''s definitely him. This energy... it''s similar to Dark Magic yet much more ominous and unsettling.'' For the first time since reincarnation, Arthur encountered some type of Magic that made him feel uncomfortable and uneasy. It was chilling and threatening despite the fact that the young man was merely Lv198. He first thought of ignoring this kid and resume his mission but he was stopped by his copy: "Stop! I need you to give him something?" "Give him something? Do you know him?" As he gazed at the young man through the mirror inside the ARK, the copy chuckled and replied "Know him? I guess we can be called acquaintances. Now, go save him." Arthur was confused as he listened to his copy''s words. He felt suspicious about the mysteriousness of his copy and the connection between the youth and the ''thing'' inside the ARK. "It''s no big deal, he''ll be able to defeat the dark dragon sooner or later." Unlike what his copy told him to do, Arthur crossed his arms and patiently waiting, unwilling to move unless he receives a satisfactory answer. "It''s not the time for chitchat, since you''re here and he''s in danger then according to the intersected timelines, you must save him or he''ll perish for sure and believe me when I say it, it''s not something that you''ll want." Although reluctant, Arthur finally made his move, instantly appearing between the two battling parties, surprising them and halting the fierce ongoing fight. The dark dragon was too slow to react and was beheaded on the spot by Arthur''s threads, which sliced its head without meeting any resistance. A dragon of its caliber is nothing compared to the Azure Dragon, which is considered a weak opponent for the current Arthur. As for the group of five, they all had grim expressions as they stared at him with fear and shock. From their point a view, his sudden appearance and the death of the dark dragon is no mere coincidence, any fool could link these pieces together and figure out who killed the winged lizard. "W-who''re you?" A short girl with a long red staff on her hands, spoke with a shaky tone as she said those words. Arthur didn''t look like a normal person, with a scar on his face, a long grey hair and a blood red pupil. He didn''t try to look domineering or scare them with his pressure, in fact, thanks to his long training, he became able to skillfully hide his aura, making enemies unable to sense him unless he wishes for it. As Arthur waited for his copy to take the thing that needs to be given to this youth, dark fog started materializing in front of him until a longsword over two meters long was floating before him. It was pure black, even its hilt, there were no gems or engravings on them. From every angle you look at it, it seemed to be no more than simple weapon made from the same material, yet this longsword brought Arthur more fear than he should have. It felt like a simple strike from this thing could kill him even if the wound was small or insignificant. Makaze felt it too as it started vibrated intensely, it was a sword too and it didn''t like to be dominated by others, however, it didn''t start raging or acting recklessly, it still remained in Arthur''s sheath, remaining for the moment he uses it. "What''s this?" Arthur''s eyes never left the longsword since the second it appeared, it brought a heavy feeling to him and just by being close to it, he felt burdened and engulfed in an endless darkness, one that wants to devour him whole. "It''s nothing, just returning the item to its owner.... and don''t touch lest you gain a permanent, irreversible curse, that''ll surely be a calamity for you hehehe." The longsword slowly flew toward the dark-haired youth, who unconsciously stretched his hands and held it. Some kind of synchronization was formed between the two of them and once he laid hands on that terrifying weapon, the aura around the youth became stronger, deadlier and more overwhelming. With a still expressionless face, the youth asked: "Why are you giving it to me?" Arthur waved his hands in disapproval and retorted "Giving it? I''m simply returning it." Unlike the coldness that can be read in his eyes, the young man did a slight bow toward Arthur and politely said "Thank you for saving us.... and for the sword." In response to him, Arthur nodded his head while smiling and left that area after leaving those final words "You can thank me properly when you become stronger, for now, you owe me one." Chapter 294 - 247 : Office Arthur didn''t linger there anylonger, he vanished from the small party''s view, disappearing into nothingness, startling them for a few seconds before they calmed down when some time has passed. All they did after was stare at the headless dark dragon with awe and fear... ... "I actually don''t know what exactly the Great Library is but it''s certain that it exists and it''s locked here. Knowing how the System does its work, I guess there''ll be a few guards at the entrance, however, I''ll take care of them you don''t need to act." The copy transmitted his voice to Arthur, who appeared above the center of the Westia continent. Below was an eery forest with fog covering more than half of it, it reeked of death and was unusually quiet and from what Arthur sensed, he discovered no signs of lives nearby. Using his [Sixth Sense], Arthur carefully inspected the area, the things under the dirt and the clouds on the sky, leaving nothing uninspected yet he was met with naught but failure. He couldn''t find anything abnormal or a barrier that can lead him to the location of the library. "The System doesn''t rely on Barrier and formations like most people, it has its own way of concealing things and it goes beyond what Nether Energy or anything else could do. Leave the rest to me, I''ll find it." As he said so, the mysterious cube that was floating above Arthur''s soul, left his consciousness and started spinning in front of him. It emitted a constant flow of red lights to all directions until a distant noise was heard from the East. The cube started flying toward that direction with incredible speed, fortunately, Arthur was able to follow it without any effort. After a few minutes, they arrived at a normal mountain range, unlike the forest from before, this area was peaceful and full of life. The cube froze in mid-air for a second before it dived downwards, crashing into the earth at a random location. From then on, the ARK started changing shapes continuously, from a cube to a sphere, then to a triangle. Each shape had a unique color and a number engraved on it. Finally, the ARK took the shape of a rectangle, it had purple lines and the number ''6'' was on its front. The ARK vertically embedded itself into the ground, which caused the latter to start shaking violently for a few seconds before a path appeared before Arthur. It was a staircase leading below, lights were illuminating from both sides and what surprised him was the type of illumination. It resembled the ones used on Earth, however, these seemed much, much more advanced. "There''s nothing to feel surprised about. The System uses Science and Technology rather than ancient methods like cultivation, this is why it''s the biggest universe and the more dominant one. It doesn''t have strong entities like the other two Universes but it definitely has the numbers, and in mind-numbing amounts too." Arthur descended the stairs while keeping his guard up for any surprise attack. Although his copy told him that the guards here won''t be strong, he didn''t dare rush in recklessly lest it results in unwanted consequences. Approximately three-hundred meters underground, the stairs finally stopped and a large, spheric empty room was at the end of Arthur''s path. Apart from countless small pipes and ropes fixated on all the walls and machine sounds that are constant and monotonous, there was nothing dangerous in this place. There were no signs of life and his map didn''t show him any red dots, which means this room is clear and devoid of anything. This made him wonder about the existence of this room and why was it constructed. "See, the way the System works is totally different from the cultivation world or the Heaven and Hell Universe. It doesn''t put a lot of effort into hiding treasures and from the looks of this place, it''s not really a location to hide something but rather an ''office''." Hearing this, Arthur frowned and asked "Office?" "Yes, within its Universe, the System built countless ''Offices''. It designs Artifical intelligence to these ''Offices''. Usually, each world, no matter how small it is, has an office with an AI inside of it, this AI manages the ''small'' system in that specific world." Seeing the still confused look hanging on Arthur''s face, his copy continued: "It''s like a core. It manages the people who have the system in that world, for example, whenever you hear notifications or see a blue window, it''s managed by the AI in this place." "What if I change worlds or Realms?" "Good question. In most cases, the job gets shifted to a higher-grade AI, one that manages not a world but a solar system or even a Galaxy for they have larger range. Zodiak was, more or less, right, there''s indeed a library here, or more accurately, an old AI that has been shut down. If we can acquire it then there could only be benefits." "Why would it be shut down? And why was it not disposed of?"(Arthur) "They broke rules. Even if it was by mistake, there would be dire consequences, the System is pretty strict regarding its rules and even the main controlling units have to follow them. It''s a pretty complicated process so let''s forget about it and see what''s lurking in this place." Arthur nodded in approval and slowly walked toward the end of the room, where there was a closed door that probably leads to the main room of this ''office''. "It''s pretty weird that there are no normal guards here but I guess it''s better this way." The copy spoke with a regretful tone. Since earlier, he was excited about meeting the System''s guards as he narrated to Arthur how he''ll capture them and make good use of them inside the ARK, unfortunately, they met no such guards and found nothing abnormal. Contrary to his expectation, the closed door wasn''t locked, in fact, it opened with a small push of his hands. Once the door opened, Arthur a sight that truly astonished him. He speculated that he''ll see advanced machinery and things like those Sci-Fi movies on Earth but reality was vastly different. First of all, the room was the definition of the color pink, from the chairs to the bed and paint on the wall. There were six to seven large monitors on the front and dozen of teddy bears on all corners of this place. Even his copy, who was witnessing this from within the ARK, stood there with mouth agape. No matter how prepared and composed he was, seeing something like this was definitely out of his expectations. He had seen ''offices'' in the past but it wasn''t remotely close to this one. The pink room wasn''t devoid of life, there was a small girl laying in front of the monitor and eating some snacks as she watched an old movie Arthur remembered watching back in the days. The little girl didn''t seem to notice his entrance to her ''room'', she had her eyes glued to the big monitor as her hands automatically shoved all kinds of snacks into her mouth. The only thing that could be heard was her crunching sounds, a headset bigger than her head was worn and apart from a pink blanket was around her, covering the majority of her body. "T-this is an office?" Arthur asked his copy after some observation. At first, he wasn''t sure about what he was seeing but after further confirmation, he was sure that this was none other than a small girl''s room situated in a random place underground. "I, I''m not sure. This girl is definitely not an AI, she couldn''t be more human!" Chapter 295 - 248 : B-32 "What''s the meaning of this?" Arthur asked his supposedly knowledgeable copy about the current situation while still keeping an eye on the little girl. He wasn''t the type to be fooled by appearances, the kid looked harmless but she could be more deadly than the Divine Beasts. Appraisal didn''t work on her and apart from knowing she was Human, he couldn''t inspect her body using his sense or uncover her real strength. As he received no answer from his usual informer, Arthur called out for the girl a couple of times but to no avail, she was too absorbed in watching the film with the volume set on very high thus being unable to notice his appearance as he was facing her back or even hear his callings. Arthur casually waved his finger, using his soft and invisible threads to cut the cable of the headphones resulting in a loss of sounds for the startled little girl, who still didn''t notice him as she fidgeted with the headphone while complaining "Ahhh this is the last one! There''s no way I can''t get it to work today... it''s either you or me." Arthur, who was ready to call out for her again, froze as words couldn''t get out of his lips. Her childish voice was oddly familiar, but it wasn''t the kind of familiarity he would appreciate, quite the contrary, it was one that rather touched his nerves and made him slightly irritated. With a memory like his, he needed no effort in remembering past events and linked this voice with the one in the past. ''It''s definitely that annoying spoiled brat from before!'' As he gritted his teeth, Arthur glared at the small girl with a weird grimace on his face as if he had just stepped on a pile of shit. The voice of the girl was definitely the same as the one coming from the strange pink system from years ago. Although that girl accompanied him for a short time, she messed up with his System and turned things upside down, furthermore, he couldn''t retaliate since the System wasn''t a material thing, to begin with. "Calm down, Arthur. It shouldn''t be her since this one is Human but there may a connection between the two." At last, his copy spoke, plus, his tone was strange as if he wasn''t sure of the words he was spouting. The resemblance in voice was just too close, the behavior she was showing was strongly similar to her stubbornness when she was talking back to Arthur in the past. Just to be sure, Arthur made use of his threads to immobilize the little girl. He must be cautious even against a weak-looking kid like her and precautions must be set. The countless threads wrapped themselves around her tender and slim body, binding her legs and arms in a split second. By the time she reacted, only her head wasn''t touched so she turned around only for her eyes to open in disbelief and her mouth to open and close several times in surprise. The look she was showing him was like a kid seeing a ghost for the first time yet not knowing how to react, truly comedic. "Hello there!" Arthur walked up to the astonished girl and greeted her in a friendly manner despite the urge to give her beating for what she had done in the past. The pink room, the behavior, the voice, there''s no way it isn''t the same person or ''thing'' from before. He was clueless about what happened but it is a certainty that she''s real and she surely knows how to acquire the Great Library. "Ah! Stop! I didn''t break any rules since I''ve been assigned here! You can''t kill me!" Arthur raised both of his hands to indicate that he meant no harm, however, the moment he did that, the little girl smirked evilly as the threads around her body dissolved and a strong pushing force assaulted him. Fortunately, his body was way stronger than what the girl expected, so he was pushed back only half-step before he stood still, motionless and heavy like a mountain. This was but the beginning as seven humanoid-like machines jumped out of nowhere and leaped straight at Arthur, who just happened to be at the center of the room. The girl was momentarily dumbfounded when her first attack couldn''t make him budge. She felt that his body was unusually heavy, moreover, when her power made contact with his skin, an intense sense of dread surged up inside of her which is why she switched her way of attacking, deciding to use the hidden guards. Unfortunately, using the guards was futile as Arthur''s body blurred for a split second and by the time he reappeared, all the humanoid machines that were going to hit him and were currently mid-air, about to strike their target from many directions, were sent flying until they crashed into the hard walls of the room. At the same time, a large dark hand grasped the little girl and covered her whole except her small head, the dark hand tightened around the girl''s body, causing her to groan painfully. Her trick from before didn''t work and she couldn''t dissolve the Dark Hand like the threads, which led her to be this easily captured by her ''executioner''. "You better behave or else you can say goodbye to your arms." Arthur''s chilling voice rang in her ears, causing her focus to shift from the dark hand around her to him, who was standing a meter away from her. All the guards that attacked him a few seconds ago were embedded into the walls with a large portion f their body bent in an unnatural way. Some had split ropes inside of them that let out electricity sparks and others were emitting steam continuously while trying to move their bodies, unfortunately, the force that hit them was just too strong and no matter their attempts, they couldn''t move even an inch. "Hmpf! You''re going to kill me anyway, so screw you and whatever you say!" Arthur frowned unhappily and tightened the grip of the Dark Hand but the girl didn''t wail in agony, instead, she glared at him and mumbled with a very low voice "Bunch of dishonest idiots, I didn''t break their rules yet they want to silence me. Talk about insecure...." As he listened to her complain, Arthur weakened the force binding her, letting her breath for some time and when he was sure that he has her full attention, he said: "I don''t know who you think I am but I''m not. Quit jumping to conclusions and appraise me." If his speculation is right and she can manipulate the System or some of its functions then she''ll know the truth once Appraisal is activated. The girl remained silent and did as she was told, her grey pupils shone with a blue luster for a split second before they returned to normal. Her breathing became heavier and faster as she saw the results of [Appraisal], Arthur didn''t know what she was thinking so he patiently waited for her to react and say something. "Y-you''re... it''s YOU! That parasite from before! B-but if you''re here, d-does it mean you got rid of the Virus?" "Virus? Is it the thing you warned me about last time?" The Loli seemed much more relaxed after she discovered his real identity. As if a weight has been lifted off her shoulders, she let out a long sigh before answering him "Yes, to be more exact, it''s a digital Virus that is assigned to random individuals that have the System. You were about to be one of its victims but with my diligent work, early warnings, loyalty, prettiness, and high, unmatched Intelligence, I managed to switch its target. Though I was discovered and thrown in this barren Office." Arthur nodded his head as he listened to the girl''s explanation. He pondered about the Virus for a few seconds and was going to ask the girl again when his copy suddenly interrupted him: "I''ve seen what this Virus could do in the past. Like Curses and Malevolent Seals exist in The Cloud Sea Universe, there exist Viruses in the X-TR 500 Universe. They aren''t physical, meaning they travel through the System itself and can be directed to specific targets or to random ones, jumping from one world to another. From the way she reacts to this Virus, I assume it''s the B-32 Virus. It''s an infamous Virus that had gone rogue and isn''t controlled by anything or anyone, it chooses its targets randomly and to this date, there never has been someone who managed to survive it, which means it has 100% fatality rate. The way it kills its victims is pretty simple, your stats would continuously decrease until they all reach zero and you die. The worst thing is the pain that is caused by having your body weakening by this malevolent and ominous thing, it sucks the lift out of you and devours your stats. Without a doubt, if it invaded your system back then, no item or person could have saved your life." Chapter 296 - 249 : Lolitta Several moments passed yet the Loli heard nothing come out of Arthur''s mouth so she snapped at him "What are you waiting for? Release me this instant, I saved your life!" The girl started speaking endlessly, she didn''t even give him the time to speak so all he could do was massage his temples as he waited for a chance but when more than five minutes passed yet this kid was still complaining, Arthur shouted loudly in her face: "SHUT UP!" His voice was quite loud and surprising, the girl''s face had a dumb expression when she was yelled at. Soon after, she started shedding tears, her face turned red and she started crying like a baby, which only made the situation worse. Arthur didn''t particularly hate kids but he strongly disliked this girl, she was about the same age as Saly yet their attitudes are vastly different. "*hik* *hik* y-you don''t have to be t-this mean... I,I saved your l-life...*hik*" Her arrogant behavior vanished in an instant, she turned into a literal crybaby. Witnessing this scene, Arthur started having headaches, he didn''t come here to please a kid but to find the AI controlling this office. "You saved me and I cannot be more grateful but I didn''t come all the way here to thank you, I came seeking the AI residing in this office." The girl rubbed her watery eyes and her stuffed noise then replied "I-It''s gone. When I was thrown here, they deleted the original AI." "Then who''s the one controlling the System in this world?" "It should be a more advanced AI, o-one that controls several outcast worlds close to each other and Astria just happens to be within its range." ''So Zodiak''s notes were right, we just were too late and arrived only after it was ''deleted''.'' Arthur stood there, absent-minded, as he pondered about this situation. With the AI gone, his trip to this place was fruitless and a complete waste of time. With his current body, traveling to Earth is doable as he could rip space and make use of his Space Magic to create an appropriate tunnel. It''ll take a bit more time since he didn''t have Earth''s exact coordination, nevertheless, it''s feasible. The reason he came here was to find more information about the Primordial Energy and its locations, moreover, he needed specific locations of an Ore called Dark Onyx and Night Crystals. The latter is easier to find since they grow in desolate lands and caves where there''s no light but the Dark Onyx is a very rare metal that cannot be found anywhere, even Zodiak''s storage didn''t have it. To fix Makaze and transform it back to its original form, he needs those two materials and along with his Maxed Blacksmithing, Enchanting, and Rune Crafting, repairing his partner would be an easy feat. He so dearly missed his family and wants to meet them right this moment but he learned the hard way that he should never rush things again. "Wait, Arthur. If she''s the same from before then she should be some sort of AI too, although her being Human is incomprehensible, if we could get on her good side and use her knowledge then it''s the same as getting a true AI."(Copy) Arthur had already thought of such method, it''s just that spending most of his time with her accompanying him is very tiresome and he wouldn''t want to experience such a thing if possible. Although unwilling, Arthur forced a friendly smile to this unlikable kid and said "It''s a bit late but what your name?" as if she was waiting for such a question, the girl replied instantly "My given name is Lolitta but I prefer the name Meredith." "So, Lolittla, what say you leaving this place? I''m thinking about going to EARTH." He increased his tone when he said the last word because he knew that she was a fan of the thing from Earth. The headphones, the movie from before and some of the furniture in this room all came from Earth, thinking logically, this girl is definitely loves that planet, or more precisely, its technology. Lolitta was dumbfounded for a few seconds before she answered with a tone full of excitement "Earth?! Did you say earth?! I wanna go! Take me there!" The girl clung into his legs and didn''t let go no matter how he tried to push her off. The moment she heard he was planning to visit Earth, she became super glue as he latched herself to his legs and resisted even when he used his hands to push her face, which had saliva all over it from all the drooling. ''As I thought, this was a very bad idea.'' "Hahahah, no need to be so pessimistic, short time losses for long-term gains, hahahaha." As he watched what''s happening, his copy rolled on the floor and laughed loudly, he was enjoying the look of despair and loss Arthur was showing when the girl was clinging to him and pleading him to take her. It didn''t seem she was listening to his words, he already agreed to take her yet she repeated her begging as if she turned deaf, this further annoyed Arthur. After things calmed down, Arthur came to understand why the girl was so desperate. First, any AI inside an office cannot leave it even if it wants to, not only would it notify the AI presiding over the whole region, it''ll also inflict it with a weak Virus that acts like a tracking device, which allows the System to locate it and dispatch troops to kill it. Secondly, as expected, the girl had long since yearned to travel to Earth. It could be said that the culture of the Humans there attracted her and picked her interest and since the moment of her creation, it was the only planet that was ''fun''. What came to another surprise is Lolitta''s real age, although her act and appearance were that of a kid, she, supposedly, lived for more than one hundred and fifty years. When he asked why she''s this childish, excluding the long phrases she spouted complaining, she explained that from the point of view of the System, an AI which is a century and half old is considered very, very young. .... Arthur and Lolitta, who only brought a small teddy bear from her room, were at the top of the stairs from earlier, the same ones which led Arthur downward. They were only a meter away from the surface yet the girl was reluctant to take that final step, she kept saying that she''ll die and refused no matter how Arthur insisted. Finally, the copy decided to house her temporarily inside the ARK. Since she was considered an AI albeit being human, she could be absorbed inside the endless space too. The second she entered the ARK and saw a person exactly like Arthur but without the scars or the grey hair, the girl was startled but she regained her senses quite quickly and proceeded in praising his current appearance, saying that the him outside was scary looking and resembled those perverted old man lurking in the slums of poor countries on Earth. Using this method, Lolitta was able to safely bypass the virus and the tracking, not only that, she finally escaped this office, which she came to dislike after spending a long time in here. She also created a temporary acting AI that resembles her, it was only meant to fool the System for a while until she gets away. At least, if she stays inside the ARK, there''s very little chance that she''ll be discovered but if she pulls a trick like the one from last time and shifts a virus'' target, she''ll be immediately discovered. "Oh ohh, this place is awesome, it''s fully customizable." Lolitta looked around and only saw white space, she sneaked a glance at the copy then used her powers to change how the world looked. Unfortunately, the second the world started turning pink in color, a strong and suffocating power was unleashed from the floating cube next to the copy. This power dispelled all of Lolitta''s effort, forcing her to her knees and make her pant heavily as she felt that the cube sucked her out of her power, leaving her practically powerless. "Missy, when invited to someone''s home, you must act modest and polite and not create havoc." The girl looked at the copy in disbelief then pointed her finger at him whilst exclaiming "Yyy-you''re not Arthur!" With his right hand placed on his chest, the copy performed a small bow and answered "Indeed, I am not. You can call me his copy, I reside inside this world and would very much appreciate if you leave this place unchanged." Unlike her usual stubbornness, Lolitta silently nodded her head. Although the copy was more than friendly and always had a smile hanging on his face, she felt some kind of unease when confronting him. With Arthur, she could afford to be unruly but when facing his copy, it''s like there are limits she shouldn''t cross. Chapter 297 - 250 : Departure When the atmosphere started turning a bit awkward, the copy raised one finger and stated: "I can give you a small space to do whatever you want with but there''s a condition attached to it." With a casual tone and the same smile on his face, he gazed at Lolitta, who forgot what just happened a second ago and looked at him with expectations as she continuously nodded her head in approval. The copy had a face similar to the people who just tricked little kids into doing something, he chuckled and resumed: "Give me the core of the previous AI. I know that the system deleted it but seeing how smart you are, I''m sure you''ve managed to secure a backup core? Isn''t that right, Miss Meredith~~?" The girl''s eyes widened when she heard him. She slowly closed them as she struggled into making a decision, finally, her urge to build a suitable pink room for herself right now won over the so little loyalty she had to the System. A fingernail-sized bead appeared in the girl''s hand, she gently pushed it toward the copy, who happily received it and waved dismissively at the other party, indicating that she could build whatever she wants as long as she doesn''t exceed the area he arranged for her. The bead flew next to the rotating cube and soon merged with it, causing the latter to flash with a white light for several seconds before it resumed its usual and slow rotations. The copy closed his eyes as he rampaged through the new information that was added to the ARK. "I see... they sure are busy dealing with the Joker. Idiotic if you ask me, a bunch of lifeless robots trying to fight what cannot be killed, they really never learn..." He went over a bunch of details, most of them were about Astria, secret places, hidden creatures, and ancient treasures but they were all useless to the current Arthur. The AIs would receive updates every three to four months, it''s like a newspaper that informs them about what''s happening outside. Thanks to this, the copy came to know one or two things, the main thing was about the Joker, also known as the Magician. Apparently, he caused a big ruckus in the central area of the System''s Universe, and in retaliation, a lot of machines and systematic weapons were dispatched to kill him, unfortunately, the results were pathetic. The second and less important piece of news is the Celestial Tribulation that occurred five years ago. This was still a hot topic in all three Universes. There are many potential candidates, those who most likely caused this tribulation to appear. Some denied the claims and others chose to remain silent, there are also those who proudly claimed they were the ones who defied the Heavens and achieved the impossible, unfortunately, they didn''t have evidence to back up their claims. ... Arthur, who just leaped through space and appeared on top of the high tower situated at the center of the MoonStar sect, was in a good mood as all the past hurdles were finally gone. In a short while, he''ll go to Earth and meet his wife, at last, it''s been so long, longer than what it seemed to most people. Although only five years passed, he lived much, much more than that. Excluding the amount he passed training after the ''Divine Fight'', he was forced to live inside bears, eagles, and even a Human, and for long periods of time too. He was mentally exhausted, and he truly needed a small vacation where his mind isn''t worried about his wife and daughter or anxious about enemy attacks. His copy informed him that the System was added to Earth too, which means there''s an ''office'' hidden there too. Seeing how Earth isn''t a place where there''s Gods and Divine Beings, the AI will certainly be weak, and lower in grade, lower than even the one which was on Astria, precisely in the Westia Continent. "Astrith should be able to locate the office with Lolitta''s help." Arthur talked to his copy as he gazed at the MoonStar sect, which has flourished even more after five years have passed. There were much more buildings and the road was wide and bituminized, it no longer resembled a newly founded sect but a bustling capital city. The few kilometers around the High Tower was only meant for Core disciples and those affiliated with the sect, as for the rest of the territory, a fifth of it was turned into one of the biggest cities in all of Astria. With a sturdy defensive wall surrounding the whole territory, three bones dragons guarding the skies and a mutated red minotaur protecting the main gate, nothing could invade this land and remain unscathed unless it''s a Divine Being. "Thanks to the little girl''s help, I can make a device that will act up if we''re close to an office, it should help in the search." The copy stated proudly as he fiddled with the ARK inside the white space and after a few seconds, he pulled a metallic black card. With a wave of his hand, the black card appeared in front of Arthur, who inspected it and then put it in the storage ring. With a call from his master, the blue lightning wolf, Astrith, appeared from within Arthur''s consciousness. After absorbing some of the Celestial lightning and hibernating for an extra five years. The wolf no longer had a blue or brown fur, he was now jet black with two blood-colored eyes that emitted small sparks of red lightning every now and then. .... As Arthur descended the stairs, intending to go meet with Anastassia and co, but from out of nowhere, a dark shadow assaulted him. The silhouette was shorter than him but it was agile and flexible. Arthur didn''t dodge or block the incoming attack, he stood there, motionless, as he watched what''s happening with a smirk on his face. A dagger was stabbing at his head and all that could be seen was a red shadow, a violet burst of Blood Magic followed right after the dagger, trying to injure vital spots of his legs to immobilize him. Unfortunately, once the dagger touched his chest, it shattered instantly, like broken glass, it fell on the floor after breaking into countless pieces. The Blood Magic hit the intended spots but did no damage, not even the clothes were affected, even a breeze of air would cause more of a reaction than this. Arthur swiftly moved his hand and grabbed the enemy from his legs, turning his body upside down thus leaving him dangling in the air and trying to viciously attack him as he sent small but deadly bursts of Blood Magic at his face, unfortunately, they did no damage as Arthur''s defense was impenetrable at this state. As he had a closer look at this defenseless chicken who has been caught by its leg, Arthur remembered this young face. Although it''s been five years, his memory is fresh and it only took him a small glance to know the identity of this person. This dark-haired young man was Rey, the kid who was about to be killed by Arthur only to be spared when Robin intervened and begged him to spare that little boy, who looked pitiful but was a scheming little bastard in reality. Apparently, after he got picked up by Robin and properly taken care of, the kid became docile and less aggressive than before. He would still act cute in front of Robin but he no longer did evil things like back then when he was cooperating with the black mages. "Well, isn''t this one small black sheep." Since Arthur''s appearance was a bit different from their last meeting and with the additional scar on his face and having his head upside down, Rey wasn''t able to identify Arthur, only when the latter spoke and the young man had a close look at the invader did he realize who he just attacked. "Let me down!" The boy wriggled his body and tried to shake off Arthur''s hand but to no avail, Arthur''s grip contained more than two billion points in Strength, not even a Sovereign could escape his grasp, much less Rey. The youth was going to shout again but suddenly froze when he caught sight of Astrith, who just appeared behind Arthur. The size of the wolf decreased to be able to fit inside the stairs but the menacing aura he was emitting and the ferocious eyes were still present. Rey felt suffocated as his eyes met with wolf''s, he ceased any prior movements and patiently waited for Arthur to let him go. "Would you let that boy down already?" A voice originated from the end of the stairs. Upon a closer look, it was none other than Robin, who looked exactly the same despite the passing of years. Still wearing those glasses and the noble clothes that suited her status. Unlike the past, she seemed much more mature and no longer had that childish behavior, she appeared composed and responsible. She recognized Arthur almost immediately, the news of his survival were already spread when Astrith made a personal trip five years ago to inform them of what happened. He didn''t go in details but he informed Anastassia and co about Arthur''s state and that he shouldn''t be disturbed. Arthur shrugged his shoulders and let go of Rey thus leading the latter to fall on his head, which brought a type of pain unwanted by anyone. Arthur ignored Rey and shook hands with Robin who appeared pleased to see him. "You''ve been away for quite a while. I thought it''ll take you less time." "Many things happened, I''ve done my best to come back early but things could not have been rushed." As she accompanied Arthur to the meeting room, they chatted with each other and exchanged information about the current state of Astria. From what Arthur head, the Eastern and Northern Continents were peaceful. There existed a few skirmishes between Humans and Demons on the North but after the MoonStar intervened and warned the Nobles residing in the Demon Continent, things have calmed down. As for the Western Continent, as of lately, there are many attempts to covet the sect''s lands and eradicate the system they put. To minimize internal battles, Anastassia created a few rules that should never be crossed, even some of the Nobles living here were against it but after she executed some of them, the rest quietened and turned docile. Apparently, the hidden sects and clans that are living on the Eastern Continent started allying with each other and pressuring the MoonStar sect. They do not pose any threat but they still cause some hindrances, especially in the trades between merchants from a continent to another. Robin complained about how many expeditions were ruined and how much Gold and resources were lost due to their meddlings. .... Soon enough, they arrived at the familiar meeting room, where Anastassia, Lissandra, Mary, Jacob, Taliya and Sonia were waiting for them. Surprisingly, there was someone who Arthur didn''t expect to meet here. With an ugly face that resembles nothing, a brown skin and pointy teeth, it was none other than Gutcha. Just as stepped inside, Arthur received a bear hug from Jackob, who was beaming with smiles. Even Anastassia gave him a light hug and passed him a simple golden ring. With the threat of the Divine Beast and his return, there was nothing to worry about. Unlike their last meeting where the atmosphere was pretty tense, this time the room was filled with laughter and joy; Even Arthur smiled as it''s nice to see his friends after so much time passed, especially for him. "I say, you look like a warrior with that scar, it really suits you!" Mary joked around as she stared at his scar. The beastwoman grew even taller and the some ''parts'' of her body became more noticeable. "That''s not a good joke, Mary! If it can injure Arthur then it''s definitely something dangerous!" Sonia interjected as she scolded her friend and glanced sneakily at Arthur''s scar. The fight between him and the Divine Beasts is something everyone present knows about, to inflict him with a permanent scar, the power of the enemy is nothing to scoff at. ... An hour and a half later, they finally finished speaking. Arthur stood up and closed his eyes, focusing for a few seconds before he clawed the air in front of him, ripping space. He casually pulled four individuals from the Space Rift then tossed them next to Anastassia, who was dumbfounded by what just happened. "So this is what you meant by saying you''re going to ''fetch'' them..." Three of the pulled individuals were old men while the last was a thin white-haired old woman. These were the main leaders of the hidden clans on the Eastern Continent. They were the strongest within their own clan or sect so Arthur pulled them here so Anastassia could deal with them. They started this and repeatedly caused his sect to suffer big losses so it''s time they ''repent''. Arthur asked Anastassia to come with him but was rejected as she said that she has to prepare for the upcoming wedding. It didn''t come at a surprise that Jackob and Anastassia are getting together, in fact, he thought that Jackob took long then again, it may be Anastassia''s fault, whose requirements are set a bit high. Nonetheless, both of them were in love with each other and the wedding was scheduled to be three weeks from now. He happily accepted the invitation and promised her that he''ll bring Lucy and Saly. Poor old Gutcha was scolded by Arthur but after he told him some good news, he quickly forgot about the matter of the Pigolo coming here and he even rewarded him with a decent sum of Red Spirit Stones. From Gutcha''s mouth, Arthur came to know that, after the catastrophe, things became quite chaotic in the Green-Leaf world. The Pigolo even discovered that a strange woman appeared in the wasteland, she''s very secretive and usually resides inside Amidel''s city. Gutcha''s net of information is very wide and efficient, although there were some casualties who were unfortunate enough to meet with this woman, the investigation was, nevertheless, fruitful. By the way Gutcha described this woman, Arthur had an idea about who she was, he wasn''t certain but there was some room for speculation. If his guess is correct then he''ll definitely give her a nice visit once he meets up with Lucy. Gutcha was assigned to accompany him to Earth, the pigolo is quite skillful at acquiring useful information and he could use his help to find certain people from the past. The Demon Maid was also hellbent on following him to Earth, saying that it''s her duty and all that nonsense. Arthur had no choice but to accept after her relentless insistence. Arthur wanted to have a small chat with Lissandra, who hasn''t said a word since the beginning but decided against this for the time being. .... After the meeting, they changed location and moved to the roof, they were all looking at Arthur, who was continuously ripping space and shaping it to his will. He already obtained Earth''s coordinates from the excited and restless Lolitta. All preparation was done and Taliya, Astrith, and Gutcha were standing a few meters behind him, readying themselves. Lolitta couldn''t hold it anymore and left the ARK, jumping around in excitement but that only led to the others feeling surprised and looking at Arthur in a weird way. Only after smacking her head to calm her down and properly explaining who she is, did their strange look disappear. They didn''t do an emotional farewell as Arthur said he''ll come back after a few days if things went right, which they should. Astrith and Taliya had the black card that his copy invented, they were tasked to find the office hidden on Earth, as for Gutcha, he was given a special ring that can change his appearance. The language used on Earth is different from here so he has to learn it from scratch but knowing his talents, Arthur was certain that it shouldn''t be a problem for Gutcha. With the tunnel properly done and set to the right destination, it was pretty stable and there should be no problems so after saying their temporary farewell, Arthur and co departed for Earth. Chapter 298 - 251 : Reunion Volume 6 : Rise of The Undead Five years had gone by since Lucy and co landed on Earth. A few miles above a desert island in the middle of Pacific Ocean, amidst the clustered clouds appeared a small whirlpool approximately the size of a bus. Arthur, Astrith, Gutcha, Taliya, and Lolitta appeared from within the black whirlpool. The trip merely took a few minutes but even that amount is considered very long as it''s supposed to be instantaneous. This can only be explained by the distance separating Earth and Astria, albeit the fact that both of them are situated in the System''s Universe, they were still farther from each other than one might expect. Moreover, this Universe is much larger than the other two, although it''s vastly composed of dark matter and nothingness, it''s still immensely big, almost limitless. As he took a long breath of Earth''s fresh air, Arthur felt his stats increase as the Soul Bind took effect, which can only mean Lucy became much stronger than before as he felt that this sudden boost increased his overall prowess but not just a bit. The link between the two of them will provide him of 80% of her stats while she gains 80% of his. Arthur didn''t bother looking at his status window and immediately stretched his sense to all corners of the Earth. On Astria, he was almost able to sense everything on it after the five years had passed, so on Earth, also being a planet worse than a low-Realm, it''s to be expected to be able to do so. Actually, any person who reached God Realm should be able to Sense everything on Earth, it wouldn''t be as precise as his Arthur''s Sixth Sense, nonetheless, it''s feasible. "Disperse, search for it." Arthur didn''t waste time and immediately instructed Taliya and Astrith to find the hidden office. It would bring unwanted attention from the System if Lolitta were to be spotted by the AI residing on Earth, so it''s better to mobilize its office and let Lolitta handle the rest. Speaking of the little girl, she was about to fly away the second they appeared on Earth, unfortunately, Arthur grabbed her by the top of her head and pulled her closer, not letting her leave his side. Thanks to the Soul Bind, Lucy definitely knows he arrived at last and as for why she didn''t come flying immediately, it had a suitable explanation to it. Arthur, who pinpointed her location and could ''see'' what''s going on, smirked and used Space Magic to teleport away. Gutcha needn''t be told what to do, with an enthusiastic laugh, he bowed and disappeared right after, leaving only a black whirlpool that decreased in size until it vanished. ..... It''s been a bit more than five years since the world changed. With the appearance of the system and the dungeons, the environment changed but so did the Humans living in it. Fortunately, they managed to adapt quite fast and organizations were created along with many new inventions that relied on Magic and Science. Top countries were still fighting a cold war but beginning a full-scale war isn''t possible, there will be many powerful forces which will intervene and finish it before it even starts. Currently, in a large plaza situated at the central area of Seoul, in South Korea, there was a huge crowd of people, mostly journalists, though. Standing on a large stage in front of the crowd was a voluptuous woman with a microphone on her hand, patiently replying to the questions asked by a few chosen journalists. Some distance behind the talking woman were a few individuals that were seating and calmly listening without showing any reactions, they didn''t even appear interested in being here. There were exactly three individuals, one was a golden-haired young man with a handsome face and an elegant demeanor. The second was a short girl resembling a Loli, however, she had large breasts, unfitting for her figure. Last but not least was a woman wearing simple dark clothes and wearing a white mask with nothing but two holes to see through, she had long silver hair. This woman was, obviously, Lucy, who just received a sudden jolt in her mind which made her blank for a few seconds. The first thing she sensed was a sweet feeling that enveloped her body, it was none other than the soul bind''s effect, which made her stats skyrocket the moment Arthur appeared on Earth. Lucy wasn''t an idiot, she realized that the time had finally come, she spread her sense in all directions and in just a split second, she locked it to him. Since it was a conference and to not ruin the ''play'' she began five years ago, she was forced to wait for a few more minutes, nonetheless, her mind was only thinking about Arthur. Amidst the crowd, there appeared a man which wore a black robe that covered him from head to toe. Lucy''s eyes were glued to that man, not leaving him, all the surrounding noise seemed to quieten, only focusing on that man, who wouldn''t be noticed in normal cases as he was sandwiched inside the large and loud crowd. A minute after another, with two pairs of eyes staring at each other until Lucy, who couldn''t wait anymore once the man turned around and walked away, heading inside an isolated and narrow alley. Her sudden actions alerted Usui and Claudia but once she waved her hands to indicate that there''s nothing, Claudia nodded and continued her conference but the golden-haired young man didn''t let go of that matter. He proceeded to follow Lucy but the second he descended the stairs and went backstage, he couldn''t find her despite the fact that she was in his sight a second ago. ..... Approximately a hundred meters away from the area of the conference, in that dark alley. Arthur took off the hood covering his head and showed a brilliant smile as he faced Lucy, who already removed her mask and gazed at him with a strange look. For the two of them, no words were needed as a reunion of eternal lovers can only be expressed by actions, only actions. Faster than ever before, Lucy delved into his warm embrace, hugging him tightly, afraid that he''ll disappear again. The usually expressionless woman, full of indifference and coldness, was now sobbing loudly as she enjoyed the warmth of his arms. I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you simply, without problems or pride; I love you in this way because I do not know any other way of loving but this, in which there is no I or you, so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand, so intimate that when I fall asleep your eyes close. Chapter 299 - 252 : Lucys Origin "Heh, it appears you''ve become quite popular with the boys." Arthur joked as he sensed the presence of Usui, who was heading in this direction. In response to his joke, Lucy snorted flirtatiously and went for a kiss, not letting him speak another word. By the time Usui arrived at the alley, there was nothing but dust remaining there. Arthur teleported himself along with Lucy high-up in the air, where no one can see them or sense their presence. The kiss continued for a whole minute before Lucy finally let go. She appeared very reluctant to part her lips with his after such a short kiss, however, they still have much time to spend together, so she wasn''t absurdly selfish but it''s not like Arthur minded such things, he actually liked kissing her, to say the least. "You''ve become even more beautiful." Arthur ran his fingers through her silky silver hair as she leaned on his chest, enjoying this moment of peacefulness. It was only after a period of time did this quietness stop. After gazing at her man''s face for who knows how long, she caressed the long scar across his face with a bit of guilt and sadness, it''s as if it was her fault that this scar appeared. Seeing her reaction, Arthur chuckled lightly and said: "It''s from the White Tiger. I need special materials to be able to heal it." Lucy remained silent for a few more seconds before she spoke her first words, unlike her usually cold and indifferent tone, she let out a worried voice yet you could feel a bit of excitement mixed in it: "How are you?" "Don''t worry, I''m perfectly fine." Lucy shook her had as she heard his reply and added: "No, I meant how were you in the past five years, you seem... different." Obviously, Lucy didn''t mean it in a bad way, the aura around him was drastically different. This was mainly due to the long time he passed inside the ARK and all the thing he has been through, it kind of changed his character into the better. All of this should be attributed to his copy though, who forced him to experience Hell itself to know what Heaven truly is. Right now, Arthur couldn''t feel happier, to have finally gone to Earth and met his dear wife. To be able to hold her in his arms, listen to her voice and embrace her, those are things he yearned for since the second they separated five years ago. The soul Bond between them made it even harder to spend his days alone, without being able to see his wife. His copy was right when he was lecturing him, he was too rush in the past, wanting to meet with Lucy and Saly as soon as possible. He disregarded his own life, which is something Lucy would definitely be angry about if she ever found out. He didn''t think of the consequences of losing his own life, the grief and sadness it''ll bring to his family. A widowed wife in an unknown world and a fatherless girl, who already had her share of tragedies. As he stared at her mesmerizing blood-red eyes, Arthur gave her a sweet kiss on her forehead and said: "Many, many things happened. Every second of every day I thought about you, I wanted to find you so I made terrible mistakes, I was too rush and inexperienced. The joy I''m feeling right now is simply incomparable, however, coming here was at the cost of a dear partner, that was the greatest mistake I did, sacrificing a comrade..." As he uttered those words, Arthur held Makaze and unsheathed half of it, showing to Lucy how it became broken and lacking its original aura. Its aura was restored thanks to the Oath but it wasn''t entirely recovered, it was barely enough for it to not be considered a broken blade that is akin to trash. Lucy looked at the dark blade and caressed it gently, in response, the blade emitted slight vibrations, barely noticeable. Thanks to the Soul Bond, the blade registered Lucy as an ally. Though it wasn''t hostile toward Lucy, only Arthur is able to wield this dark blade, ever since the oath has been sealed, there''ll be no second master to this blade. "We all make mistakes, Arthur. Regret has no medicine, and it''s meaningless to dwell on past mistakes even if they cost you dear things, what matters if learning from them and moving on, moving forward. I did many horrible things in the past too, I have killed innocent men just because they touched me or tried to help me but I misunderstood. Until I met you and fell in love with you, I never regretted what I did but after all that happened, I understood how to differentiate between good and evil. You did not lose Makaze forever, furthermore, you have me beside you. With us together, we''ll definitely find a way to fix it!" Arthur wasn''t surprised but Lucy said, he knew her character and knew how she thought. Out of nowhere, he wrapped his arms around her and said "There''s no denying it! Hahaha, you''re definitely the woman I fell in love with!" After he fully enjoyed that hug, embracing her warm body and smelling her unique fragrance which somehow calms his heart. Arthur said: "As for fixing Makaze, there is actually a way but it''s not a walk in the park." Lucy patted her chest proudly and claimed: "With you and I together, there''s nothing we can''t achieve, whether it''s fighting armies of Gods or Sovereigns." Arthur burst out laughing as he saw her comical act. It''s been a long time since he had enjoyed a conversation with her. Knowing her attitude, only with him would she open up and talk however she wants, she would directly voice out her thoughts no matter what they were and in front of other people, strangers mostly, she would remain silent. Both husband and wife chatted about unimportant stuff for a few dozen minutes before Arthur teleported himself and Lucy to what was supposed to be their house. With Lucy pinpointing the exact location, both of them appeared inside the house. The first person that met them was Miya, the girl Arthur kidnapped from the granny of the Underworld. She was taken from her home and thrown on Earth, not a good fate but from Lucy''s words, the girl was quite popular here, plus, she managed to adapt quite fast. The green-haired girl who was in pajamas, had a messy hair and drowsy, froze from shock, even the bottle of milk she was holding fell on the floor, though before it hit the floor, it was stopped by an unknown force and put gently on a nearby table. "Long time no see, girl." The relationship between Arthur and Miya wasn''t deep to begin with, moreover, they were enemies so it''s expected for the girl, who was usually pretty composed, to become dumbfounded. After the passing of five years, Miya had no hopes of going back to the Underworld, neither did she imagine Arthur coming back any time soon. In fact, her memories of him were very little as they met for a short period of time and barely interacted. Contrary to Arthur thought, Miya was on friendly terms with Lucy and she even considered her as a Senior. Surprisingly, Miya didn''t feel that ominous and malicious aura around Arthur. When he kidnapped her and possessed her last time, the aura was suffocating and made her feel uncomfortable, to say the least. There was some kind of serenity emitting from him, it was pretty unusual and unexpectedly refreshing. He looked a bit different with the addition of the scar and the longer hair but apart from that, everything else was the same. "A-aaa" No matter how she tried, words couldn''t leave her mouth. Arthur, as if he remembered something, said with an apologetic tone: "Now that I think about it, I never introduced myself properly." He performed a slight bow and said: "I''m Lucy''s husband and Saly''s father, the name is Arthur MoonStar. We''ve started on bad terms but I do hope you forgive us for our past actions. Kidnapping you was necessary for our survivor, we needed an assurance." The drowsiness vanished from Miya''s eyes, with her mouth half-open and a shaken expression, she could only stare at the man before her without uttering a word. Chapter 300 - 253 : Lucys Origin 2 "I, I have been in your care." To return the courtesy, Miya bowed and could only say those words. She remained stiff for some time before Lucy waved her hand to calm the girl whilst saying "No need to be so nervous, he''s not going to eat you. Not that I would let him though." Miya repeatedly nodded her head and dismissed herself from the room saying that she had work to do. Surprisingly, the second Miya left, a drunk Delia entered the room. She had a red face and was holding a bottle of expensive wine. She didn''t seem to notice Arthur''s presence as she dizzily walked to her comfortable sofa and fell on it while letting a long sigh. Only after Arthur spoke did she snap at out of her drunken state and stare at him with total dumbfoundedness. "For the Holy Goddess to become like this, it seems Earth affected you more than I had thought." To be honest, Arthur expected Delia to remain unchanged, keeping her high and mighty attitude and seclude herself without bothering with the life of mortals but from the way she looked right now, just by the fact that she let herself become drunk albeit being a God, explains many things. "Y-yyy-you''re actually here!" While staring at him with round eyes and pointing her finger at him, the delirious Delia was in a state of shock too, just like what happened to Miya, however, she didn''t seem to accept the fact of his presence even after seeing him. Arthur chuckled as he witnessed how far the Goddess from the past had fallen. "Y-you! It''s been five years you know? I can''t even properly cultivate on this planet! It''s only your wife who''s benefiting from this life! It''s unfair!" Delia continued rambling and complaining nonstop, only after a lengthy period of time passed did she shrug her shoulders in uninterest. "Whatever! It''s not like you''re going to bother explaining anything!" In response, Arthur retrieved a golden book from his storage and threw it at Delia, who unconsciously caught it but she still gave him a confused look. "It is useless to me. Perhaps in your hands, it''ll bring fruitful results, moreover, you''ll surely be busy from now on." That golden book was actually something he found in Rozak''s storage. It explained many things about Holy Energy and even a few techniques that are only available to high-ranked individuals, for example, the Holy Arts that were used against him in his fight against the Sovereign. Once she read a couple of pages, Delia cast a healing spell on herself to get rid of the drunken state. She couldn''t believe her eyes but once she read it a few more times, she became sure of her assumptions. With shaking hands caused by her excitment and disbelief, Delia glanced at Arthur and said: "At least you know how to please a lady." Then she engrossed herself in carefully reading what''s in the book while totally ignoring Arthur and Lucy, who didn''t seem bothered by this. Lucy led Arthur to her room and from that point on, the couple spent a long period of time chatting. Arthur spoke about his experiences for the past five years, he didn''t spare any details and recounted everything, from beginning to end. Arthur wanted to go bring Saly first but Lucy firmly objected, saying that she barely managed to urge the little girl to go to school and if he were to show up right now, she''ll definitely end up skipping for the next couple of days, including this one. He told her about the fall of the Human Empire, the invasion of the evil race and how he personally visited their world only for it to be destroyed while he barely escaped alive. The horror he had seen there and how humans were treated less than objects there, the way they were tortured, how they were used as living statues to decorate Bucama''s manor. He then spoke about the Northern Continent, his meeting with the Demon Lord, the appearance of the ARK and how his copy is the one who saved him when he was in the Underworld. The unbreakable chains which limited his powers, his trip to the Green-Leaf World and how he met several grand personages, had to fight Gods and Sovereigns. The past of the World Tree, its origins and the oath he made with it, to protect it from any invaders that which to harm it. Of course, he didn''t miss the fight with the Reaper, which was unbelievably strong and albeit escaping alive, Arthur was certain he didn''t kill it and sooner or later, it''ll come back for him. Once Arthur mentioned the Joker, Lucy had him imprint the latter appearance so she could ascertain of something. After a bit of pondering, she told him that she remembered seeing the Joker in the past. The memories of her early childhood were blurry but she was certain that she had met him, more than once too. Although it was surprising for the Joker to have a relation with her origins, nevertheless, she managed to find a clue leading to her birth. Last but not least, Arthur narrated how he experienced the lives of different animals, being imprisoned in Curtis'' body and experiencing his life with him. There was also the fight against the Divine Beast, which should have killed him if not for the intervention of the Cthulhu Race, which in an attempt to kill him, ended up helping him. The more Arthur narrated his story, the paler Lucy''s face became. She would clench her hands, which were holding his, or even forget to breathe for a couple of seconds. More than two hours later, Arthur finished telling her everything, to the very last detail, without missing anything. Matters about Taliya and Gutcha were also told, how the maid wanted to follow him and how he found the human AI in the forgotten continent. Speaking of Lolitta, Arthur finally let her out of the ARK but that only caused the little girl to start reprimanding him. When she was done, she started praising Lucy and telling her how beautiful she was, however, she insisted that she was way prettier, causing Lucy to chuckle and pat her head gently. Although she was over a hundred years old, Lolitta acted different from her age, even Saly was more mature than her. Then again, their daughter had suffered a lot when she was a child, whether it was mental or physical torture, she experienced them both. Lolitta didn''t remain there for too long, after letting out her pent-up anger and frustration on Arthur, who jokingly hit her head and caused her to cry for a bit, she darted out of the room. Soon enough, Arthur could hear Delia''s screams as she seemed to be quarreling with the little girl, apparently, they didn''t have any chemistry between them. "I''m sorry... I couldn''t be with you. To help you, provide support, there was a lot of things I could have done." Lucy hugged Arthur as she spoke with a sad tone, from the things she heard from him, the life she had on Earth seemed extremely peaceful with no hurdles or life-threatening situations. Arthur smiled and patted her head: "Never be sorry, Lucy. I only managed to overcome all of that because I had you and Saly in my mind, I knew that I would meet you and that''s what allowed me to move forward and clear everything in my path." ..... A while later, after Lucy snuggled in Arthur''s arms for quite some time until she was fully satisfied, she told him what happened since the moment she appeared. Unlike what happened to him, nothing special was worth mentioning, there was the fight against the Divine Beasts, which went smoothly thanks to Snory, who was way overpowered and defeated them with ease. Since he asked her cooperation along with Delia, Lucy managed to land the find blow to two out of the four Divine Beasts, which weren''t as absurdly strong as the ones which appeared on Astria. When she mentioned Snory, Lucy told him all the details she had about this lazy old man, who is always sleeping on the surface of the moon. She only knows he works for the System but apart from the time he requested her help against the Divine Beasts, he never appeared again. Apparently, Delia fought him but was horribly defeated quite easily, from what Lucy heard and saw, Snory is a peak Sovereign, possibly even a God Monarch, which is why she was confused on why he would need her help. He can use high-level illusions that couldn''t be more realistic, plus, the damage the victims receive inside of it isn''t an illusion either, his way of attacking is weird but very fatal. Thanks to a skill named [Mana Convergence], which Lucy got when she reached the Divine Realm. She managed to benefit a lot from the two beasts she killed, they allowed her to jump to the peak of Divine Realm after processing the Mana gotten from them in just a week. With the changes that appeared on Earth and the appearance of the system and the dungeons, there was a considerable amount of Mana on Earth, unlike Astria, this Mana was very pure and for Lucy, who has a strong affinity to it, it was like Heaven as cultivating for a day gives triple the results with half the effort. Furthermore, the fusion of the Ice and fire was smoother than the past, its product was way more powerful too. There was another one from Lucy''s group who managed to power up a lot, it was none other than Randuin, the bone lizard. His black flames ''Amaterasu'' are even dangerous to Lucy, who reached Half-Sovereign as of now. They cannot be extinguished, they are eternal and would burn the target until there''s nothing but ash, which in its turn, will be turned into nothingness. The lizard is always with Saly, protecting her from the shadows. Every assassination attempt was met with a failure, the attackers were scorched by the dark flames before they could even reveal themselves and attack little Saly. "Assassinations?" "En! This all links up to the Hero Organization and your ex-wife, Claudia..." Chapter 301 - 254 : Omitted "So it''s her again. Always the one controlling the strings." Previously, Arthur only gave a small glance to Claudia then focused his attention on Lucy. Thanks to his training, which lasted God knows how long, he became able to fully suppress his rage and completely hide his killing intent, only making it surface when he wishes so. In fact, he was gutting for Claudia and can''t wait to show her what real torture really is, but things must be taken slowly and as husband and a man, there are priorities and things way more relevant than his revenge, for example, his wife and daughter. "She''s really one crafty woman. Unfortunately, I had people monitoring every small move she did, from what toilet she uses to what fork she eats with, nothing escaped my eyes. You see, Saly is kind of famous amongst the young children as she won a small tournament two years ago organized by the International Hero Organization. I forbade her from joining any company and only focus on studying. Thus, she rejected all the offers but... seeing the potential growing threat, Claudia decided to sneakily kill her. All attempts were a failure, of course." Arthur''s eyes turned cold for a split second before they returned to normal, the more he thought about Claudia, the more he remembered those days from the past. That cold and isolated room with only a metal chair in its center. The foul stench of piss, blood and various other things that made it nauseating. He still hasn''t forgotten about the many faces that visited that room and enjoyed torturing him, oh it would be absolutely wrong to assume that his wife is the only one at fault. The list is long and albeit her being the main culprit, there are many others, many who shall not escape the fate he prepared for them. "What about the assassins, were they all disposed of?" "Yes, you know how I deal with things, an insect today, a thorn tomorrow. I left no one left but even if one could have escaped, I doubt Claudia would have left him/her alive. Though I didn''t stop there, I personally searched every inch of this planet and rooted every assassin organization, none were spared. Then I proceeded in creating one myself, I even handpicked everyone so that no one can think of backstabbing me." "With your methods, I''m sure they are very loyal hahaha..." Arthur laughed as he listened to Lucy. Knowing her criteria when picking or assessing people, it must''ve taken quite a time to find the perfect candidates. They would have been tested countless times too, to assure they won''t betray her trust. Nonetheless, it''s good, his wife was more active than he thought her to be. Not only did she erase every assassin organization, she also created one of her own, possibly the only one existing on Earth right now. "I do not personally travel to their headquarters, I usually send a messenger. With the help of Miya and Delia, I managed to train a few loyal and helpful subordinates, they are my eyes and ears. Going back to the topic of Claudia in recent years, I managed to get very close to her. She considers me a loyal subordinate and although I didn''t do any dirty work for her, I allowed her to become one of the top figures of the IHO. With her new status and wealth, her ego got a huge boost, adding to her never-decreasing arrogance but it''s fine this way, at least she isn''t as cautious of me as five years ago." Arthur listened to his wife and noticed that she seemed to dislike Claudia, or more accurately, loathe the latter guts. It''s natural though, with a character like hers and a slutty behavior, no one would like her once they discover her real personality; A sadistic, egoistic, selfish person. "Doesn''t she know that Saly is your daughter?" "No, no one knows where Saly lives. Even if she were to be followed, thanks to Randuin''s invisibility, no one can trace her back to her, even when using modern technology, which is easily detectable using Mana or Nether Energy. Claudia thinks that I live alone in a place not far from here, she ''secretly'' put a lot of cameras alas... all she would see is an illusion put by Snory, who owes me a favor for helping him." Lucy flicked her hand and retrieved a small red stone, it showed an illusion of Lucy meditating in an empty room. With but a thought from Lucy, the illusion followed her will and did as sold, for example, eating, leaving the room or doing other activities, basically, it can fool the unprepared and inexperienced eyes. "In addition of Claudia, I''ve managed to locate three other main perpetrators that contributed in capturing you and paid the mercenaries. I still haven''t acted and merely watched from the sides, I didn''t want to alarm them if one of their ''friends'' disappeared. I also wanted to save the treat for you, doing it personally would be much more exhilarating." Lucy continued talking about the details of these people, who they were, what they do right now and what they DID in the past, from crimes to offenses and even small fights, she had everything on them thanks to the thorough investigation of her subordinates. She even sent people who infiltrated these people''s groups and became trusted there. With a single order from Lucy, these spies could slit the throat of their bosses, they are, after all, trained assassins before becoming spies. Arthur became eager to see what kind of people Lucy managed to train, furthermore, with her backing his every move and watching the target''s affairs, he needs not worry about any unforeseen events. Escaping to the ends of the Earth still wouldn''t save them from his grasp, unless they find a way to travel out of Earth, then they would never be able to resist the imminent death that''s closing up on them. ****** In a courtyard, where there''s an artificial small mountain and a beautiful pond next to it, stood an old man with a long white beard a bent back, indicating his old age. Just behind the old man was an elegant man in his twenties, he wore a black tuxedo and had a handsome face, anyone who sees him will know that he''s some kind of a businessman with such an appearance. "Arthur, I do not have much time left...." A sad look flashed through the young man''s eyes as he replied "Yes..." In response, the old man turned around and slapped the young man''s head, causing the latter to groaned in pain "What ''Yes'' bullshit are you giving me? This ain''t a dramatic goodbye! I''m telling you this so you can wake the hell up and speed up the process. You''re here sipping tea and enjoying this view like there''s no tomorrow, like hell there isn''t!" "B-but we must honor the deal..." He didn''t even get to finish before he got smacked again "Honor your damn sister! Go stand in the ashes of a trillion dead souls and ask the ghosts if honor matter. The silence is your answer, furthermore, aren''t you interested in that girl? What''s her name again ehmm.... ah yes! Claudia! So why are you cowering away now? I ain''t giving ma damn company to an indecisive little virgin, you better get hold of your shit and man up or you ain''t getting ma seat, boy." The young man nodded as he was being lectured again and again by the old man, facing this elderly person, he couldn''t retort or object, all he had to do is listen to the advises he was given because if there''s something he''s lacking then it''s definitely Wisdom. Chapter 302 - 255 : Finding a Ra "I remember six of them, their faces are engraved in my mind. As for those acting behind the shadows, I''ll be able to find them too, when I finish them all then it''ll be her turn. I want her to feel cornered, helpless and betrayed, a revenge is never sweet if it isn''t done the right way." Although he was talking about those who tortured him and caused him to love a life worse than even a lab rat, Arthur''s voice was relaxed and his expression was calm. It''s like he was stating a fact and not speaking of what''ll happen in the future. Lucy nodded her head in confirmation, no matter how he wants to pay back his debts, she''ll forever support him. She even found some of the culprits and have a firm lock on Claudia, who is clueless about their relationship. In fact, Claudia would never expect Arthur to be alive, from her perspective, he died on that fateful day and he had been ''properly'' buried while she took control of his companies and wealth. The couple talked for a bit more as Arthur wanted to know about some people from the past. Who lived and who died, who are the people in charge and what is exactly the IHO. All in all, he came to know a few things but they weren''t crucial or threatening to him. Even the so-called IHO or the ''preaching monks'' of the East that Lucy mentioned weren''t particularly powerful. Surprisingly, there''s an old monk living in China who managed to train with Qi before the Earth changed and when the dungeons appeared and the environment had a drastic change, this elder managed to benefit greatly and reached Spirit Realm. Apart from him, there were no earthling who is strong, they''re all at the Mortal Realm. "That isn''t right, ''X'' should have someone monitoring the place." The copy, who kept his silence for a long time now, finally talked when Lucy mentioned the lack of any mysterious individuals. ''He shouldn''t necessarily be hiding on Earth, he could be roaming the space, just like that guy Snory.''-Arthur "No, ''X'' isn''t a person who does thing half-heartedly, neither are his subordinates. Whoever was sent here can definitely hide and most likely knows about Lucy and co, he or her probably never acted due to Snory, who wouldn''t permit a battle of Gods or Sovereigns occurring on Earth." ''Then what about Snory, who do you think he is? How about his Strength?'' Due to the silence of his copy and him being preoccupied, he couldn''t ask his copy about this mysterious old man who is always sleeping on the moon. From the way Lucy talked about him, he''s insanely strong to the point that even in with her current power, she had zero confidence in defeating him, let alone kill him. Fortunately, Snory is friendly and isn''t the type to run around killing people. "I''m not sure but he''s probably ''Sloth'', one of the Seven Deadly Sins." ''They actually exist?'' "Of course they do. They originated from the Heaven and Hell Universe and most of them still live there and serve the Devil Lord. Sloth is one of the exceptions, he''s the oldest amongst them, he left Hell and started working for the System about fifty thousand years ago. Why he did such a thing still remains a mystery to people but I have a few guesses. Anyway, if it''s really Sloth then you better not cross him, it''s definitely not someone you can defeat, I doubt even ''X'' could match him." ''As long as he doesn''t go out of his way to attack us then I''ll remain passive too.''-Arthur "Don''t give me that shit. You''ll do nothing even if he attacks, heck! You won''t be able to do shit if he seriously attacks you. Don''t go around making enemies, also he''s known to be friendly so maybe try becoming friends. Befriending one of the Seven Deadly Sins can bring you countless benefits." ''Alright alright! No need to start nagging me!'' Arthur let out a helpless sigh and recounted Lucy about his short conversation with his copy. With Lucy sitting next to it, Arthur stood cross-legged while closing his eyes, he was going to try and find the hiding individual sent by ''X''. If the target is hiding on Earth then he''ll definitely sense him with some effort, what he must be careful about is not being found out by the other party. His stats allow him to be almost unstoppable in the Sovereign Realm, with Lucy by his side, even a half-God Monarch can be defeated so there''s nothing to fear. Furthermore, the copy assured Arthur that there''s no way ''X'' sent a God Monarch to monitor this place. The System won''t allow a Monarch from another Universe to come and go as he pleases. There was a strong chance that it''s a Sovereign, as for its exact Realm, then it remains unknown, unfortunately. The Sovereign Realm isn''t divided into grades like the previous Realms but is split into three phases. The first one is called ''Little Sovereign'', the second is ''Fusion Sovereign'' and the last phase is ''High Sovereign''. What the Sovereign is all about is actually fusing with one''s God Spirit. At the first phase, the cultivator starts absorbing the traits of his/her God Spirit and at the next phase, its ''Essence Absorption'' where the God Spirit start integrating into the cultivator''s body. The last phase is just consolidating the fusion and making it more stable and stronger. Unfortunately, when he reached the God Realm, Arthur got no God Spirit which is a very unusual thing as every Race should acquire one. His copy blamed his Race and told him to be grateful as the benefits of being a parasite far outweigh having a God Spirit. As for Lucy''s God Spirit, it was actually a large Yin Lotus that is highly efficient in both defense and offense. Once Arthur started his search, he used Space Magic and [Lower Presence (Max Lv)], [Sneak (Max Lv)] to render himself unable to be sensed by anything within his range. Obviously, the range is equal to his sense''s but this only applies to Earth and Astria, if here were in a High-Realm, the range will significantly decrease. Lucy, who was gazing at him, was shocked to notice that she couldn''t sense him at all despite having her Mana locked into him. If not for gazing at him right this second, she wouldn''t believe he was here. There was no turbulence in energy, he was sitting on the bed but he was no different than a floating image, soundless and motionless. Slowly but surely, his figure started becoming illusory, every passing second made him look less realistic. His presence decreased until it was literally nonexisting, even a ghost will be noticed before he is. Arthur didn''t use Space Magic nor Dark Magic to track ''X''''s subordinate, he actually used Shadow Magic, something he would never have used in the past due to its weakness compared to his other powerful Magics. As per the copy''s words, Shadow Magic is, without a doubt, the best tracking magic and the most powerful for assassination. It''s a shame that he only possessed one corpse that had such a magic, which explains how rarely it is. Arthur had to listen to countless lessons taught by his copy, and they weren''t actually physical lessons but historical ones. He listened to the origins of the Shadow Magic until he learned by hit, forcefully. The dark age that the Shadow Emperor brought is remembered by many powerful individuals, he''s actually one of the main causes of the Void Age''s arrival. "It''s really a shame, if we could find his corpse then you really don''t need to fear anything in any of the three Universes." Arthur had promised his copy that he''ll visit a few secret places that were marked by the latter, these locations have a strong chance to have an ancient corpse of mythical beasts or great sages. There was also the matter of Zodiak''s remaining legacies, the old man told Arthur to find what''s left of his power and if he could locate them all then it''ll definitely boost his power by a great margin. "Found him!"(Arthur). ************** Author''s note : First of all, thanks for reading my story so far. This will be a bit long so if you don''t have time or don''t want to read, you can skip this. As an author, what I want is attract new readers and if those newcomers want to read the reviews firs, I don''t want them to be driven away but those negative reviews that have only two sentences, which are badmouthing the story without criticizing anything. With the accumulation of such reviews, the score of the story will drastically drop and it may drive away most readers, which is something I would not want to happen. It may be hypocritical of my part(which it is) but I do not care about power stones or the story''s score but I highly value good reviews and don''t get me wrong, by ''good'', I don''t mean 5 star reviews but real reviews, which criticize whatever needs to be criticized, one which the writer of said review expresses his opinion about this story and talks about the several inconsistencies that exist. I did not write more than three-hundred chapters for a few people to write reviews containing a few words that are telling me that my story is trash, I find that displeasing, to say the least. Sure, if you do not like my story, feel free to write a proper review stating what you don''t like but merely writing a few words that mean nothing is an insult not to me but to my story, which I worked hard to write despite it being filled with plotholes and a lot of other things. I''m fully aware that the beginning of the story isn''t the best one with the rushed romance, horrendous grammar and the list goes on, however, I try my best to fix such mistakes and reflect on them. I want to go back and fix every gramatically incorrect word or re-write those unreadable sentences but I am a student and I do not have much time on my hands. If I focus on fixing everything from the beginning then I won''t have time to write a chapter for you guys. I try to go back every now and then to correct a few things but such a task is better suited for long holidays. Please do not get me wrong, I''m thankful for all of your support but I couldn''t help but write this when I see such reviews, if I have been impolite then I humbly apologize. What I want is request of you readers, if you have the time and the will, to write proper reviews. They do not need to be 5-star but just let them be real reviews, where it''s not a once sentence-long followed by countless dots to fill the void. Every writer wants to see satisfactory results after he posts a story, including me, but that doesn''t always happen, however, it doesn''t mean that they do not benefit from criticism or those helpful reviews that, albeit being 1-star, are much more helpful than some 5-star that are contain a few praising words. Best regards, TheCrow. Chapter 303 - 256 : Origin Flames of Hell "North pole, in the middle of nowhere. He seems to be using a special technique, I was barely able to detect his presence." "Let''s go finish him then." Lucy didn''t want to let such a dangerous individual alive, the very fact that he''s working under ''X'', who reincarnated Arthur for obviously not good intentions, makes him an existence that should be eliminated at all costs. Instead of teleporting immediately toward the target, Arthur retrieved a luxurious looking box from his storage and passed it to Lucy while saying "The best artifact I have ever crafted. Its name is Lonely Moon, designed to be perfectly compatible with you. Use it with care, it has an insane destructive power." Lucy opened the box and saw the exquisite silver revolver laying inside with more than a dozen bullets of different grades and types. Arthur proceeded into explaining the significance of the bullets, their grades, and elements, how the recoil works and the fusion formation put inside. With her help, he''d be able to craft a bullet that is made from purely the fusion of Ice and fire, the result will be definitely the strongest bullet amongst all of them, even superior to the Atomic Bullet. "Thank you..." Lucy caressed the silver rifle as she gazed at her husband, she felt an instant resonation with the artifact the moment she touched. It''s no wonder it was considered a masterpiece by the System and he was even given skill points once it was fully crafted. The prowess she could demonstrate while wielding it will be multiple times stronger than when he used it. There were many restrictions and the recoil which isn''t suited for him nearly obliterated his whole hand. "No need to thank me hahaha. With both of us, he shouldn''t be able to escape but we must only engage when victory is certain. I''ll seal his escape route while you immobilize him." Lucy dripped some blood on Lonely Moon so it could become hers permanently, then she hid it under light clothes on her waist and coated it with pure Mana so it passes as undetected when someone probes her body. Her stats increased by a significant amount, with her GodSpirit, her saber mastery, and Lonely Moon, she definitely became a terrifying woman, unlike the past, where she was helpless and weak. When both were ready, Arthur teleported himself and Lucy exactly where ''X''''s subordinate was. They both appeared in a room deep underground, the weather was freezing cold and the walls, roof, and ground were all crystalline ice. The figure between husband and wife was startled by the sudden appearance of the two of them, however before he could react, Arthur raised his hand and used [Space Room], a skill obtained when once reached Medium Mastery in Space Magic. It creates a small Space Room that traps a target for a short period of time, with his new stats and almost flawless control, the duration and size of the room are drastically increased. The room shook for a split second before it was surrounded by grey fog that blocked the view, the victim of this assault took out two sharp-looking bone daggers and was going to slash at Arthur, unfortunately, the second the daggers appeared in his hands, a short and soft looking white saber appeared two inches away from his neck. He could feel the coldness of the saber, it was bone-chilling, he knew if he dared to move or try anything, that saber will decapitate him before he''s able to proceed with what he planned. He was a Sovereign and participated in a lot of fights, he had enough experience to know that he was totally helpless as he was caught off-guard, moreover, both enemies were at the same Realm as him if not stronger. Thus, the victim could do naught but drop his guards and remain still to not get killed by mistake. From the way they appeared and neutralized him this easily, it cannot be two amateurs. What confused him is why would they attack him, he didn''t offend anyone for the past years and quietly remained here. Snory wouldn''t send people either, he''d just need a finger to kill him. "A wise move, however, dropping your weapons isn''t enough." Arthur''s cold words rang in the slim figure''s ears, he willed his body to move but his natural instincts, which only wanted his survival, refused to obey him and forced his body to stay still. A dark hand as big as his body appeared from behind, it grasped him tightly, causing his bones to crack and his breathing to become faster. Not only was the grip of the dark hand strong, the energy it was made from was weakening the target, rendering him unable to concentrate properly, slowly but surely, it was eating him from inside out, consuming the energy stored in his Dantian and passing through Meridians. "Now then, let''s look at who you are." Arthur walked in front of this slim middle-aged man and activated appraisal, a skill that became much more useful when he invested a skill point on it. Zirmahos Ghanrumum (Race: Bone Ghost ): Fusion Sovereign (78%) Age: 890 Titles : Ghost In a Shell (Passive) Skills (Calculated by the System): [Ghost Curse] [Manevolent Bones] [Delusion of Rituals]. Short description: Born, raised, and trained in the Ghost Nation. A loyal servant of the Whisperer King. Mastered the skill [Manevolent Bones] and famous for being one of the three Bone Ghosts. Although there are not a lot of details, at least the new appraisal gives Arthur a bit of information about the target without having to resort to violent questioning and end up hearing answers that might or might not be true. "As far as I know, the Ghost Nation isn''t associated with anyone, much less ''X''." The copy sounded very confused when he saw the results of the appraisal. There''s no doubt that this guy was sent by ''X'', however, what surprised him is why is a Ghost, and a high ranked one at that, is serving a person beside the Whisperer King. ''I assume this Ghost Nation is also another strong power?'' "Very strong and secretive. Rarely interacts with the outside but it shouldn''t be underestimated, the Whisperer King is an old entity that reached the Overgod Realm more one hundred thousand years ago." ''All that''s left is interrogating him, do you have any good ideas?'' Arthur wasn''t very knowledgeable about Ghosts, in fact, it''s the first time he''s seeing one. Although it''s called a Ghost, it looked no different than a Human except his skin was as white a sheet of paper and he was unusually slim. "I do, actually. Ghosts are extremely vulnerable to all kinds of Flames, especially the unique ones such as the phoenix fire or the golden crow fire. Yours is the Origin flames of Hell, which can definitely force him to talk even if he''s strong-willed." Chapter 304 - 257 : Omitted As he stood next to Lucy, watching the dark red flames burning a small part of the victim''s body, Arthur gazed at the man in question and said "Had enough yet? I''m not even asking you about the Ghost Nation, just tell me why you''re here and who sent you." At first, the Bone Ghost was flabbergasted when Arthur spoke of his Race after looking at him for a split second. This was supposed to be his ultimate secret, even the person who hired him didn''t know such a thing. Actually, he wore an amulet personally given by the Whisperer King, this artifact tricks the sense of other people, making them think he''s just a Human. His appearance didn''t differ from human albeit the pale skin, in no way did he resemble a Bone Ghost yet despite all of that, he was discovered in such a short time. Following the protocol of the Ghost Nation, once discovered, all he had to do is kill himself as to not let the enemies discover anything that could lead the Ghost Nation to suffer losses. Unfortunately, Arthur''s dark hand was too strong and no matter how much he tried, he couldn''t shake it off even by a little bit. Moreover, the silver-haired woman was staring at him with dagger-eyes, every little movement he does is watched thoroughly by her, he truly felt helpless in every sense of the word. To make matters worse, this man can use strange dark red flames that are very effective against him, which led to the beginning of the suffering. The pain was truly unimaginable, nonetheless, he bore with it and remained silent, unwilling to betray his client despite holding no loyalty for him(client)/ "It''s useless, he''ll hellbent on keeping his mouth shut. I never thought a Ghost could handle this much flames without breaking down, he''s a special one for sure, however, the end remains the same, he, by his own will, chose the to go down such a path so there''s no need to hold back anymore, right?" Arthur understood the meaning behind his copy''s words. He nodded his head and withdrew the dark hand which led the Ghost into thinking that he was set free, unfortunately, an even tighter force pressed down on him, gluing his body into the nearby ice wall. "Don''t blame me for this, I tried asking you nicely." Arthur gestured for Lucy to back away a few steps then turned his attention to the Bone Ghost, who was embedded into the wall using countless soft threads that wrapped around his body like a spider web. His clothes started burning with black flames then it started covering his whole body until he was one huge blob of black flames. The room, which was covered by ice, started turning black as it was corrupted by the Dark Magic, which was too intense for the Ice to handle it. The black flames are like a physical materialization of the Dark Magic, it''s a bit similar to one Arthur uses for defense and attack, for example, Dark Barrier and Dark Spear. However, the black flames have strong corrosive powers which affect the Soul of the victim and shakes their Mental powers, weakening it by a small degree. Its main purpose is to make the target unstable, confused and afraid, it doesn''t have a slow effect but over time, it becomes extremely lethal and could kill an enemy without Arthur having to make a move. As for the black flames that generate on Makaze, those are different. They are created by the ring Arthur is wearing, it belonged to Zodiak and it creates dark flames and weapons, which significantly boost his attack power. What Arthur is using right now is a skill that belonged to Zodiak. Its main purpose is to fish out many random memories of the target''s mind and at the same time, cause him/her an agony that no one would want to experience, even Arthur, who experienced continuous severe pain for a very long period of time. With unafraid eyes that didn''t betray his will and stubbornness, the Bone Ghost stared back at Arthur eyes, which turned jet black and seemed like two bottomless abysses that''ll devour anyone who looked at them. Arthur placed his left hand a few inches above the man''s head then stabbed his right hand into the Ghost''s abdomen, unleashing absurd amounts of raw Dark Magic that immediately destroyed the victim''s Dantian, causing the Ghost to vomit a large mouthful of blood. "Unfortunately, you chose the wrong path. Against enemies, I hold nothing back." With that said, Arthur''s left hand pressed against the Ghost''s head and like a vacuum, started absorbing large quantities of memories, scattered Nether Energy. When the process started, the man started screaming loudly from the pain, with his hands and legs bound, he could do nothing but shake violently and bang the back of his head on the ice wall until Arthur immobilized his head, causing the Ghost''s sufferance to multiply. Around two minutes later, Arthur retracted his hands and withdrew his threads thus leading the broken body of the Ghost to fall on the ground. Although he was still alive, the pain he experienced along with the destruction of his Dantian led him into becoming extremely weak, not even have the strength to move a muscle, much less kil himself. [Dark Extraction] is without a doubt a manevolent skill that shouldn''t be used on anyone, however, Arthur wasn''t the sympathetic type. He would use any skill in his possession to find out the truth because ''X'' wouldn''t be merciful when facing him so why should he do the same to his subordinates. "Are you okay?" Lucy patted his back and looked at him with a worried expression. He couldn''t stand properly as he felt a bit dizzy due to the short aftereffect of the skill. It doesn''t cause permanent debuffs but it couldn''t be used everyday neither should it be used on every enemy that won''t talk. He only used it now because he had to be one step ahead of ''X'' if he wants to win and survive. He knew that he isn''t ''X''''s match so he had to use his wits and try to destroy this mysterious entity. After he got the memories of the Bone Ghost, Arthur understood what happened, sort of. The memories were totally random so he didn''t get everything he wanted but it was enough for now. With the knowledge he have now and the use of this Bone Ghost, Arthur started planning how to take down ''X''. "I see, a double agent, kind of smart from the Whisperer King. So, what are you going to do?" As he closed his eyes and thought about that large figure sitting on a throne, with a body over five meters and an appearance similar to an undead due to the withered flesh he had. A pressure that could kill Sovereigns in a second and an ancient and majestic aura that belonged only to true kings. The memory of the Whisperer King was fresh in his mind, a terrifying figure that definitely shouldn''t be crossed. "Well, I''m thinking about using the lion to kill a sheep." ****************************** "Your Majesty Zirmahos is dead." A figure over two meters tall with bone erected from his knees, thighs and back, respectfully stood on one knee with his face facing the ground, not daring to look upwards. The gloomy roomy, which was very wide but merely contained over ten status of ancient kings, remained silent for an unknown amount of time until the person sitting on the throne talked at last. He had head similar to a skeleton, withered white flesh covered it with the exception of his eyes, which were empty with only two green flames permanently burning inside the two sockets. "Was his identity discovered?" "No your Majesty. With the return of the Nameless Knight, ''X'' had gone into hiding and won''t do something stupid to attract attention." "Then who?" "We still are unsure, Your Majesty." "What about the amulet?" The Bone Ghost remained silent as if he hesitated then he answered "Your Majesty, that''s the problem. The energy sent by the amulet is strange." "Give me the amulet." The Ghost nodded and politely handed an amulet exactly similar to Zirhamos'' to the Whisperer King. The second the amulet touched the King''s hand, black flames were unleashed from all corners of the artifact and landed on the Whisperer''s hand. The king frowned when he saw this flames and blew some air of his mouth which caused the black flames to scatter and disappear. "No doubt, this is Dark Magic." The Bone Ghost seemed surprised, he stared at the scattered black flames and exclaimed "How can this be!?" "Yes, how can there be Dark Magic? I witnessed Zodiak''s death and besides him, there''s no one who can use it unless...." The Whisperer King remained silent as he seemed to be in deep thought. The Bone Ghost didn''t utter a word and left the room soundlessly. After a long time passed, the King chuckled and mumbled "It''s funny how the legacies we leave behind... are not the ones we intended, isn''t that right, Zodiak?" Chapter 305 - 258 : A Clue "Ahhh! Hasn''t it been a pleasurable little nap." The handsome youth who had dark bandages wrapped around his eyes and covered his eyes, stretched his limbs as he enjoyed the passing breeze and the warm weather that never changes. The hill was as peaceful as before, with nothing but the tall tree filling one''s view. As he breathed some fresh air and leaned on the tree, the tree gazed at the blue-clothed empress standing a few meters in front of him. Her lips twitched when he uttered those last words but she didn''t comment on that and regained her composed look. Although a long time has passed since their last meeting, the appearance of the tall-woman barely changed, apart from the lack of the arrogance that was rooted deep into her nature, she didn''t change at all. "Mhmm time do really change people... still immature though." With his chin resting on his hand, the youth assessed the Empress with a lazy look before he turned to look at the hanging moon in the night sky. It illuminated this valley and made the starry sky even more beautiful, contrary to normal moons, this one was missing its right half, thus making it seem incomplete, nonetheless, it was still a breathtaking scene, worthy for the youth to pass a couple of hours staring only at the moon without doing anything else, even the Empress, who was waiting for him for who knows how long, was ignored. "Just like that moon, a person without an origin is incomplete, however, the world moves forward and so should you. Instead of digging the past, why don''t you create a proper origin for your future descendants?" The woman remained unresponsive for some time before she replied "I still wish to know about my origins and what happened before the Hour of Creation, I know it''s just not some all-out war like most records said." The youth softly chuckled then added with a cold tone "At what cost?" "No matter the cost!" Her answer was immediate as if she prepared herself since the beginning. However, the youth wasn''t satisfied, he shook his head and mocked "You are not worthy. None of the Region leaders are, not even the one residing above." The Empress frowned upon hearing this and said "What about the Supreme Star Empress?" Once the Star Empress was mentioned, the youth flinched and answered "She... is worthy but she doesn''t need to beg for the truth since she knows what happened." Upon hearing this, the tall woman seemed genuinely startled, she thought she heard it wrong but from the look the youth was giving her, she definitely didn''t hear him wrong. "How does she know? She''s isn''t older than the Hour of Creation." "I don''t know and don''t wanna know, you shouldn''t poke your nose in the Star Region affairs too, there are eyes and ears everywhere. Just live peacefully, many people in the past yearned for what you have yet couldn''t have it, not even when they became the most powerful of all. Little Empress, cherish what you have before it''s gone." Unable to find the right words to retort, the Empress remained standing there in confusion. Her stubbornness forced her to stay here and insist until he continued telling her the rest of the story, even if it was bit by bit. She already waited two thousand years for him to wake up and if she goes back with nothing, all her efforts will be for naught. "Hmm, if you promise to get lost, I''ll give you a clue." As she was struggling with the dilemma, the Empress was more than happy to accept the youth''s offer. She can''t force him to talk and going back to the Elder Bone Dragon is more absurd, she isn''t that idiotic to re-visit a dragon''s den and anger it on purpose. "Fine, I promise." The youth waved his hand dismissively as he talked: "Go to the Death Region, mayhap you find something interesting there. Now, will you get lost? I have another guest." Although the clue was rather vague, the Empress stared at the youth for a few more seconds before she left the valley, leaving only the youth, who stood up and stared at the sky, where something appeared, illuminating this place more than the hanging moon. "I hope you brought some good alcohol along with your damned cards." The youth smirked as he gazed at the figure descending from the sky. ********************* "Did you learn something useful?" Lucy walked up to Arthur and asked him. She killed the helpless Bone Ghost by freezing his body from inside-out, she purposely kept the body intact so Arthur could possess it in the future, after all, a Sovereign is bound to have high stats. Arthur nodded his head and answered: "Mhmm, what I saw is satisfactory, for now. He worked mainly for the Whisperer King and acted as a double agent, ''X'' hired him without knowing his origins, he only knew that the Ghost was an expert in tracking and Stealth. He probably was cautious of the System and hired an outsider so that if the plan fails, the blame will fall on someone else. Furthermore, ''X'' made a death oath with the Ghost to not divulge anything about this mission. Apparently, the copy told me this oath is used frequently when powerful factions want to hire secret organizations to do the dirty word." Lucy pondered about what she just heard then added: "How much time before ''X'' knows about the Ghost''s death?" Arthur smirked and said "He won''t. Their method of communication is rather old as to not alert the System, which uses countless tools that can easily detect artifacts, formations, and arrays. They used a special kind of Spatial Bird called ''Rift Eagles'', they can rip space and travel through tunnels they create themselves. They usually travel from party A to party B and take the least amount of time in doing so even if the distance separating the two parties is unimaginably big. From the memories I saw, the Ghost sends the Rift Eagle every month to inform ''X'' about the changes on Earth. Last time the eagle was sent was three days ago." "How does he knew that the Ghost was the sender of the Rift Eagle?" "Pretty easy, Ghosts and Bone Ghosts do not have parents and born from an accumulation of both Yin Energy and Death Energy, with the addition of a few other factors. Thanks to this, every Ghost''s body has a different kind of Blood Imprint, moreover, the Imprints can be differentiated by using a simple Blood Stone, this also applies to Bone Ghosts. Plus, these Imprints cannot be copied so as along the Blood Imprint sent by the Bone Ghost is exactly similar to the original one ''X'' has, then no suspicion will grow. In fact, it''s just like the thumbprints that are used on Earth, each person has a unique one." By possessing the Ghost, Arthur will able to use the marrow of the Bone Ghost to produce the blood. The good thing about possessing a host is that the latter''s body functions resume working when possessed and halt when he leaves the body, which is why an injured body will heal immediately when possessed until recovering to its normal state. "That''s great. We should be able to fool ''X'' until other things are sorted out. Moreover, we can lure him here if we ever tell him that you were sighted on Earth, I''m sure he''ll personally come or send a trusted subordinate." What Lucy said was perfectly right, if Arthur sends a letter containing the right words, he can lure ''X'' here and prepare an ambush. They have plenty of time so they should prepare themselves to there is zero chance of failure when the bad guy appears. From what he heard from his Copy, ''X'' isn''t a weak individual, he is well-known for being crafty and he always hides his true abilities, never showing them in the open. Although he isn''t the strongest out of everyone in the Cloud Sea Universe, he''s definitely at the top due to having the ability to manipulate Time, a terrifying sub-category of Void Magic. Chapter 306 - 259 : A Love Rival Upon returning home, the couple found an unexpected guest in the living room. With a hot tea in his hand and elegant posture, the blonde-haired youth drank the tea while calmly gazing at the small girl, who was ignoring him and quietly watching the TV. Apparently, the content on the screen was much more interesting than him but it didn''t seem to bother him that he''s ignored as if he''s already used to such treatment. The sudden appearance of both Lucy and Arthur startled Usui, however, what surprised him is not their appearance but Arthur, who was standing so close to Lucy. His eyes showed his surging emotions but they vanished after a few seconds, regaining their usual serenity. "Hello, I presume you are Miss Lucy''s husband. Nice to meet you, I am Usui Grucham." After having been with Lucy for five years, he came to know a few things about despite the fact that she rarely spoke with him. It''s all due to the drunken Delia, who would mumble useful things for him every now and then. He knew that Lucy only had one man in her heart and it''s her unknown husband, who never showed up during this long period. He wondered many times what kind of person could steal her heart but never had the chance to meet this man until this moment. Although Arthur wasn''t unleashing his aura or releasing any killing intent, the Flame Emperor still felt invisible pressure, the pressure of a strong rival. Unfortunately for the young man, Arthur didn''t think of him as a rival, he actually considered him a talent and rather composed boy. The difference in age is just too big, especially for Arthur, who lived for more than a hundred years and experienced things that no one could imagine. "You''ve mesmerized quite the smart sheep hahaha" Through a simple telepathy skill, Arthur conveyed his thoughts to Lucy, who snorted and turned her head away. She didn''t care about Usui and clearly rejected him many years ago but he just wouldn''t give up so she just ignored him. If it was on Astria, she would have killed him a thousand times over, unfortunately, the community was different and her mentality changed after what she had been through, she couldn''t kill anyone she disliked but that didn''t mean she''ll have to bear with such individuals too. After her small outbreak four years ago, where she almost killed him if not for Delia''s intervention, she forced herself to contain the annoyance she was feeling until Arthur comes back. "Hmpf! I spared your life four years ago on one condition." Lucy''s eyes narrowed as she stared at the young man with dagger-eyes. "It was not to come to my home, it appears you do not value your life." The temperature of the room decreased by a dozen degrees and a chilling feeling that shook Usui''s spines invaded his body. He felt his body tremble on its own as a killing intent similar to the one from before, was directed at him. From the looks of it, Lucy wasn''t joking since she didn''t hold back her murderous aura as stared at him with her two blood red eyes. Personally, she didn''t like Usui, much less his clingy behavior, sure, he acted polite and was a composed person who is wise enough despite his age yet a person like him isn''t an exception of her hate for men. Things happened and she ended up living on Earth but she never forgot what happened to her, the disgust she feels toward other men cannot be removed this easily and the very fact that Usui tried to win her heart despite knowing about Arthur had displeased her. Even the engrossed Lolitta turned to look at Lucy, the Yin power in the room didn''t seem to affect the little girl, nonetheless, her big eyes were focused on Lucy for a short time before she resumed watching the TV. "Now now, he didn''t mean it." Arthur patted her head as he said that. The freezing aura remained for another second before it disappeared, since Arthur had talked, she decided to stop and let him do whatever he wants, she knew him and was certain that he''s the over-protective type, knowing about Usui, surely he won''t let the young man do as he pleases since he just came back. After all, it isn''t so pleasing to see another person chase after your wife while still knowing that she doesn''t like him and that she''s already married. Arthur walked up and shook hands with the hanging hand of Usui, who stood up and introduced himself while extending his hand in greeting. He felt that the youth''s hand was stiff as he didn''t fully recover from the brutal killing intent that was emitted from Lucy. The difference in strength is just too big and a person who only experienced tragedies and is full of hate for something is bound to have accumulated killing intent for it. "I am Arthur MoonStar, husband of Lucy. Very pleased to meet you, Mister Usui." As he shook hands with Arthur, who not only had an invisible pressure that made him uneasy, but also was a head taller than him. Usui started regretting coming into here, nonetheless, he resolved himself and relaxed his stiff hand before he smiled back at Arthur, who didn''t seem to the least bit angry. "I have long since wanted to meet Sir Arthur. You definitely are how I expected you to be." Arthur''s smile grew wider as he replied: "Why thank you. Unfortunately, I couldn''t say the same for you." No reaction was shown on Usui''s face despite hearing Arthur''s words. He retracted his hand and added: "I am very interested about your past expectations of me." Arthur was obviously lying when he uttered those words, he just knew about Usui earlier when Lucy briefly talked about him. However, there was more to him than what the eye can see. He thought he''s some rich young master who became decently strong after the appearance of the System but it didn''t seem to be the case. He wasn''t like Feylord, the perverted rich noble who wanted to buy Lucy, in fact, he was quite the opposite. ''Calm and intelligent, a bit sly though'' that was Arthur''s first impression of Usui. As he looked down on this composed blonde-haired youth, Arthur spoke blunt and truthful words to Usui "A man who pursues a woman he loves, needs, before anything else, to have the power to protect her. Mister Usui, what I see in front of me isn''t someone who is capable of protecting my wife, and know that a title isn''t enough to show your powers, it''s all empty words, a body without bones." Usui silently listened to Arthur and frowned, it was clearly indicated that he can''t have her since he''s too weak. The blondy was about to retort but Arthur didn''t let him talk as he continued: "Blinded by love and unable to see the reality. Only moved by the exterior, cannot understand her feeling, unable to see inside her head, inadequate to fathom her thoughts. Being strong isn''t enough, you claim to love yet you do know who she is, you claim to love but you do not know her origins, you CLAIM to love but unfit to know about her past. Mister Flame Emperor, what you love isn''t my wife but your image of her, a perfect woman, suitable to be the Empress." Chapter 307 - 260 : Death Words got stuck in Usui''s throat, he couldn''t retort to Arthur. After some time passed with his head dropped, he lifted it and stared at the one-eyed man, whose pupil was strangely grey just like his hair, robbing him of the confidence to retort. "S-still, you weren''t present for five whole years, that doesn''t make you any better." *[Righteous Speech] was cast by Usui. Effect failed due to the User''s high level. Effect Negated due to User''s High Wisdom. Effect Negated due to User''s high Magic Defense....* Usui''s tone was more aggressive yet it contained a small amount of Magic due to the skill he used. Well, it wasn''t an active skill but more like an enigma skill, like Arthur''s Sixth Sense of his soft threads. A row of notifications popped in front of Arthur, who dismissed them and smirked "I don''t see why I need to explain myself to you. Furthermore, I think you should leave, you see... we''ve got a family meeting very soon." Before he let Usui respond, Arthur waved his hand, teleporting the poor young man a few kilometers away from this residence. After only a few seconds passed, the main door of this apartment was suddenly opened and a brown-haired girl entered with a quick pace while shouting "Mommy mommy! Guess what I f-" Mid-sentence, the girl halted her footsteps as she stared at the man next to her mother with a flabbergasted expression. She couldn''t believe what she''s seeing so she rubbed her eyes but he was still there. "D,daddy" The girl ran up to Arthur, who also opened her arms to the fast Saly, who hugged him tightly while sobbing nonstop. It was apparent that his sudden appearance was a great shock to her but it wasn''t in a bad way. Even while she was hugging him, the little still didn''t believe he came back. "I-it''s really you right?*sniff* y-you really came back?*sniff*" With red eyes and a snotty nose, the little girl, who became way taller, stared at him with her big eyes while her hands were wrapped around his waist, tightly hugging him, refusing to let go. Her surge of emotions and sudden joy forcefully deactivated transformation skill she learned, however, she didn''t seem to care as he tail wagged in the air from the deep happiness and relief she was currently feeling. While rubbing her fluffy ears and her soft hair, Arthur held Saly in his arms and said "Yes, I''m back for real. I''m sorry I made you wait this long." Saly was really different from five years ago. First of all, she was significantly stronger, with Randuin protecting her, she adventured into all the dungeons she found and beat a lot of bosses. She was currently Lv728 but her stats probably match a cultivator at the Spirit Realm. Her height increased too, reaching up to 160cm, it surely didn''t match her age but beastmen were known to grow fast. Their average height after puberty is well over 185cm so it''s to be expected that Saly is this tall, after all, she''s training daily and eating properly so she''s growing like any other healthy beastmen. Arthur was planning to awaken the ancient bloodline residing inside of her. All beastmen originated from a powerful ancient entity, whether it''s the cat tribe, bear tribe, fox tribe, or even the rat tribe. "Mmmmm it''s okaaay~~~~" Saly didn''t seem to care about the long wait as he''s finally here. It''s been a long time for a kid like her but she was still extremely attached to him, her tails kept fiercely wagging as he caressed her head. "My little Saly had grown a lot!" Arthur praised the excited Saly, who seemed to forget about she was about to say to Lucy and only focused on Arthur. For now, she wanted nothing but to stay with him, although she had Lucy with her all this time, it isn''t true that she never missed Arthur. After all, she loved him as if he was her real father and would never forget the time he and Lucy helped her and cured her. "En! I almost killed a real dragon too!! b-but Randuin intervened hmpf!" As she spoke her achievement, the little girl glared at the bone lizard who just entered the living room. The beast respectfully bowed to Arthur and went to the side as he ignored Saly''s glare. He became a bit bigger and his aura was amplified, causing any outsider who looks at him feel like they were standing in front of Death''s door. "Oh? A dragon? Tell me what happened." For a little girl to proudly claim that she almost killed a dragon, it''s sounded scary to most people but Arthur was different. He knew that Saly probably had absurd stats right now, enough to kill a dragon which was strong as Yamak, the lightning dragon, if not a bit stronger. He wasn''t worried about what happened, Randuin is a create summoned by the Book of the Damned. Although he wasn''t as strong as Swain, his black flames aren''t something to scoff at, even someone as strong as Lucy is afraid to be struck by such flames. "Amaterasu, the Eternal Flames of Death is what they are called." The copy spoke inside Arthur''s mind, answering the questions he had about this inextinguishable black flames. ''Flames of Death?'' "Yes, flames that last forever. They emit no heat but they can burn anything in their way. Although not the strongest flames in existence, they are definitely the most fearsome. It''s a shame you can''t wield them, no one can." ''No one? How come Randuin can?'' "Simple. The book of the Damned, it is an original item that belonged to Death itself, so it''s natural that the lizard can wield the flames, but I doubt the other summoned creatures could." ''Belonged to Death? As in what?'' "Just like there are Reapers, there''s Death, who rules over them. Basically, someone who represents the word Death, an entity that cannot be killed. Death is actually one of the few existences that simply can never die. Arthur pondered about those words then asked ''Who are the other existences? The ones who can''t die.'' "Well it''s hard to determine who''s an actual immortal but I can state three who definitely cannot die. First is obviously Death, second is the Joker and third is the Nameless Knight, as for the rest, I''m not really sure." Curious, Arthur retorted ''How did you determine they are unkillable? On what basis?" "Good question. The answer is simple though, it''s power. There is no one who can kill them." ''I thought Death is an entity that should be able to kill anyone it wants.'' "Sure it can, very easily too, however, there are always exceptions. Death is the oldest but not the strongest, there are many powerful beings who surpass it in strength." Seeing that it''s only getting more complicated, Arthur didn''t continue with his questions which only made his copy shrugg and smile playfully. Chapter 308 - 261 : Blacklis Excitedly, Saly was jumping in front of Arthur and recounting what happened in the fight against the dragon, which was actually a mature Water Dragon. With a warm plastered on his face, Arthur caressed Lucy''s silky hair as he patiently listened o Saly. He could see that she matured, both physically and mentally. Of course, she was still acting like a child but that was for the best, it''s nice seeing her behave like this than like the past, where she''s always afraid of strangers and is in constant fear and depression. "Daddy! Is your eyes okay?" Saly approached Arthur and pointed at his eyepatch which covered half of the ugly scar caused by the Divine Beast. He waved his hand in assurance and answered "A ferocious tiger injured me but it''s alright now, it''ll heal soon." Although it was half a lie, he didn''t want to lie or worry her. However, it''s true that it''ll heal once he finds a place with Primordial Energy or the necessary ingredients to concoct the pill his copy was talking about, though the chances of finding the former are higher. Arthur narrated his adventures to Saly, who sat on his lap and quietly listened to him. Her eyes were shining as he listened to his amazing feats. She knew that her parents were very powerful and the humans living on Earth aren''t the least bit dangerous, in fact, she can be considered the strongest person on Earth, excluding a few individuals that do not belong to this planet, for example, Snory. After passing two hours with Arthur, Saly glanced curiously at Lolitta, who was still busy watching the TV. Although the human AI looked younger than Saly, the latter was still intrigued by the presence of this kid. She nudged Arthur''s arm and sneakily pointed at ''miss Meredith'', although she was a cheerful kid, Saly isn''t a person to talk to strangers the second she sees them. After only ten minutes, the two girls were happily chatting with each other as if it''s not their first meeting, even Arthur was bewildered about how it became like this. Lolitta usually acts high and mighty but she was talking about childish things, which didn''t suit her real age, nonetheless, Arthur didn''t meddle and affectionately gazed at his daughter, who was full of smiles. Not after that, another visitor appeared in the living room. It was none other than the red-eyes wolf, Astrith. He was accompanied by the Head Maid Taliya, their appearance only surprised Saly, who ran up to the big wolf and hugged him. He looked after her when they were in the Ma Clan, he often protected her and accompanied her to dungeons, they can be considered very good friends. The usually serious wolf was licking the face of the giggling Saly "Ahh stop Astrith ahahahha it tickles!" Lucy only glanced at Astrith then stared at Taliya and spoke with a voice only him could hear "So she''s Taliya?" Arthur didn''t think much of her question and nodded his head, unfortunately, he misunderstood the meaning behind her words. He could feel a pain coming from his waist, Lucy was pinching and giving him a weird look ".. You didn''t mention that she''s young, a beauty at that." He tried his best to avoid her sharp glare and motioned to Taliya to come, as she was motionlessly standing in the corner, not planning to come and interrupt them, however, she was throwing a couple of curious glances at Lucy. "T-there''s really nothing between us. You know I only have you in my heart." Lucy retracted her glare and retorted "Hmmm is that so~~~" She got up and walked to Taliya, who was surprised by her sudden movements. The head maid wasn''t acting like her usual self, she was pressured by Lucy, who has a beauty matching her, if not better, the mysterious wife was strong but she couldn''t determine the disparity in power between them. However, knowing she''s Arthur''s wife, she''s bound to be crazy strong. There''s another thing that startled her, this silver-haired woman was without a doubt, a demon. As a demon herself, Taliya could feel that this woman is one of her kin, although she knew it beforehand, she never believed it because it was Jackob who told her. "I heard you were taking care of my husband, thank you very much. I''m Lucy MoonStar, it''s very nice to meet you, Miss Taliya." Lucy stretched her hand, planning to shake hands with the head maid, who hesitated for a second before replying with the same etiquette. Arthur, who was sitting in the back, retorted "Though it''s quite the opposite, I''m the one who took of h-" He didn''t even finish his sentence as Lucy sent him a deadly glare that made him close his mouth and scratch his head in helplessness. It was the first time that Taliya saw Arthur this tame, usually, he acts carefree and everyone doesn''t dare behave like this with him. ''She''s definitely a fierce woman alright.'' Even someone with a bit of backbone like herself, Taliya couldn''t win over Arthur and could never convince him to do something yet with a simple stare, Lucy managed to shut him up. "The pleasure is all mine." "So, did the search bore fruit?" To get rid of this slightly awkward atmosphere, Arthur asked Taliya. In response, Astrith walked up with Saly riding him and said "This one managed to find the office. The mission was completed with facing any problems." Astrith spat a fingernail-sized bead, which floated to Arthur''s hand. This was none other than the core of the killed AI, Lolitta and his copy created some sort of a substitute AI that acts as a decoy to trick the System for some time. With the death of the AI, the System will send people to investigate the murder, however, with the decoy residing in that office, it''ll take some time before the truth is uncovered. "Good job, another problem was taken care of." The wolf slightly bowed his head and replied "This one is grateful for your praise." Astrith then went back into playing with Saly, who was enjoying the ride on the wide of the lightning wolf. Obviously, to fit inside this apartment, Astrith had to decrease his size or else he would be able to fit in. He was over five meters in length and three two and a half meters tall, so it''ll be uncomfortable if he remained like that. The night passed peacefully, the family ate together, Lucy even urged Taliya to eat with them since the maid remained standing there without doing or saying anything. With the help of Saly and his wife, they finally managed to make her join them in dinner. Even Lolitta, who always complaining, was surprisingly docile in front of Lucy, contrary to her behavior. .... Late at night, Arthur and Lucy were inside their bedroom, enjoying some time alone. They didn''t do anything obscene since Saly was sleeping in the same bed but they still snuggled near each other with Saly in the middle. As she gently caressed his face, Lucy softly said "When are you starting?" Arthur remained silent then waved his hand, causing some sort of a dark card that''s approximatively 30Cm in length to appear above them. "I''m a patient man but the time I waited is already enough. I still can remember everything that happened and the anger cannot be quelled unless I return what they did to me a thousand times." Hearing him, Lucy chuckled and added: "Yes, we''ll do it thoroughly until you''re satisfied." Then she stared at the dark card above her, it was jet black with dark flames burning on its edges. In its center was a list of names with the first one being Arthur''s Ex-wife *System Notification* *The Blacklist : -Claudia - Kim Yoo -Richard .... * The list wasn''t long but every person in it is bound to suffer a fate worse than hell itself. Arthur wasn''t lying when he said he''ll return what was done to him a thousand times. "Tomorrow, we''ll pay a visit to the Mercenary group''BattleCrawlers''." Arthur showed a devilish smile as he remembered the group of burly men who kidnapped him in the middle of the street and brought him to that godforsaken room. Chapter 309 - 262 : Capsule The next day, the family was peacefully eating breakfast. Unlike yesterday, Miya was present, nonetheless, she was still flustered. It was apparent that she''s not acting like her usual calm self, after all, Arthur was present. Honestly, Arthur didn''t know why this girl is so scared of him, it''s not like he tortured her or did something to her that resulted in a big trauma. Lucy comforted him saying that Miya is just one of those girls who isn''t good with strangers. However, that still didn''t explain this problem since she''s quite popular on Earth. She''s known as a Goddess and often deals with strangers. Saly and Lolitta, who already ate, were watching the hot news about the famous VRMMO that never ceased increasing in popularity. The AI human silently watched the tournament displayed on the screen then furrowed her brows when they showed some famous places of the games. After a few more minutes passed and seeing more pictures, the girl frowned and said "I know this place!" Since she uttered those words with a very loud tone, she grabbed the attention of everyone present. She still didn''t care and pointed at the TV while staring at Arthur "This is without a doubt the Westia Continent!" Upon hearing this, Arthur was going to ignore her as she usually speaks nonsense but as he saw her totally serious expression, he glanced at the tv to the check the pictures. His pupils contracted as his eyes landed on the gloomy and rainy forest displayed on the large TV. He didn''t go sightseeing in the forgotten continent but the forest is undoubtedly the one at the center of the continent, it looked exactly similar to the in his memories, in fact, it''s its copy. Unlike his nonchalant attitude, he seriously watched the TV and inspected the shown pictures and indeed, as Lolitta said, some of the places match the ones from his memories. The question is ''how?'', this is just a game and blaming it all on coincidence is illogical, after all, it''s not one place but multiple ones. "What''s the name of this game?" Lucy replied almost instantaneously: "Hell Gate. A famous VRMMO with many players." "Is there only one continent in the game?" "Only one." Although she may not look like it, Lucy likes games a lot. Unfortunately, with Arthur gone and the urge to get stronger, Lucy didn''t have the time to play but she still did enough research and browsed the internet when she had a bit of free time. ''What''s happening?'' Arthur question was directed to the most knowledgeable person amongst them, his copy. "I''m not sure too. There may be an unknown portal between Astria and Earth but this is just speculation and the probability of it being true is extremely low. Perhaps an Earthling managed to find records about the Westia continent...*sigh* I really don''t know but it''s definitely something simple." Arthur pondered for a few seconds before he asked: "Do you have the gaming helmet here? I want to try something." Although she didn''t know what he''s on about, Saly nodded and brought her helmet to her father. Arthur inspected it and after finding nothing strange about it proceeded into putting it on, however, the second it was turned on Lolitta and the copy both exclaimed "It''s a low-grade System capsule!" "Be careful, there''s a hidden System Capsule." "A capsule?" The little girl unceremoniously grabbed the helmet from his head and proceeded into the short explanation: "It''s a mass-produced capsule that the System gives to low-budget soldiers, it grants them a temporary System. Usually, it''s only used on non-living things because if it malfunctions, it roasts the brain of the user." A terrifying explanation that made Saly unconsciously gulp some saliva. She had been using this helmet for a long time but nothing happened, however, after hearing this, she started hesitating on whether it''s wise to use it again. Well, even if she wanted, it''s rather unlikely that Lucy or Arthur will allow her to do so. "Mmmm here it is!" After thoroughly checking the helmet, Lolitta managed to take out the small capsule, which was the size of a fingernail. "Ah! It''s different from the usual capsules!" As she closely looked at this capsule, Lolitta exclaimed. Arthur and co, who were watching her were confused since they do not know much about the System. "I''m sure I can decode it I just need some time." Although he was curious and surprised by this turn of events, Arthur didn''t press her to finish this job and merely patted her head in praise but that made Saly nudge his sleeve and ask him to pet her too. For this capsule to make Lolitta this docile, it surely has to be something special which is why Arthur looked forward to the results. Although their breakfast was interrupted, that didn''t ruin their peaceful morning. Arthur had many things to do today and he couldn''t bring Saly, who strongly objected going to school and insisted to with him. At last, he managed to convince on the condition to take her out to play and eat after she diligently goes to school. The little girl got used to the advanced technology and seemed to like Earth very much but she hated studying and would daily beg Lucy to let her go hunt in the dungeons instead. After he tightly hugged his little daughter and told Astrith to protect her, Arthur left the apartment with Lucy. Saly already had Randuin protecting her but he figured that having both the wolf and the lizard is better for her safety despite that there''s no danger that could threaten her life. Today, Arthur was going to pay a little visit to the mercenary group that kidnapped him. He knew nothing but their name about them but thanks to Lucy''s organization, which specialized mainly in assassination and gathering information, became an easy feat. ..... South of Mongolia, where there''s nothing but a mountain range and desolate plain lands, Arthur teleported himself and Lucy into a large cave deep underground, precisely under the tallest mountain in that area. The cave had a few lamps that illuminated the area and countless tunnels. Arthur could feel the presence of over ten people, some were busy training while others were either leaving the area or busy doing their jobs. The room they appeared in was the center of this whole complex, although it looked shabby, Lucy didn''t care. This was one of the Headquarters of her organization ''Dark Moon''. She was the leader and all the subordinates were handpicked so there''s very little chance that they''ll betray her. "Hahah I should''ve known. Since it''s you then they''re all bound to be women." Arthur chuckled as he discovered that all the present subordinates were female, without any exception. "It''s a coincidence. Furthermore, there is a boy but I think he''s currently in a mission." Not even a minute after their appearance, three shadows appeared in front of the couple. All three cloaked figures were half-kneeling in front of Lucy. "We greet out Mistress!" The three shouted at the same time. They didn''t even lift their head to stare at her, they didn''t even question his appearance. "Rise." With her order, the three stood next to each other and stared at her with respect. The middle one glanced at Arthur for a split second but other than that, she didn''t do anything out of order. "The BattleCrawlers mercenary, I want to know who they are, where they operate, their location, their leader, everything there is to know about them. One hour." Lucy didn''t waste time with pleasantries and immediately told them what to do. The three bowed and dispersed without uttering a word. They left soundlessly as if they were ghosts. "It shouldn''t take them that long until then, let''s rest." As she said that, Lucy flirtatiously led him to her private room... ( ?ˇă ?? ?ˇă) Chapter 310 - 263 : The First Step After a quarter of an hour, the three subordinates soundlessly appeared in the central room of this hideout. Lucy and Arthur followed right after, waiting for the detailed information. Today, Arthur wanted clear answers about the kidnapping of the past. Although they weren''t directly involved with the past torture, they still contributed thus they can only be considered enemies, people who shouldn''t be left alive or else his thirst for revenge will never be quelled. "Report." Lucy''s emotionless voice resounded in this dark and cold room, where the only source of light is a few hanging lamps that illuminated only a small part of this awfully sinister place. "Yes, Mistress! The BattleCrawler is a medium-sized mercenary group. Notorious for handling dirty jobs and tricking their employers to gain more money. Since the appearance of the System, they gained more power thanks to their leader, who obtained a special set of skills. They usually operate in the Middle-East or Central Africa, however, we''ve found a few cases where they took jobs in Asia." When the first one finished speaking, the woman on the right proceeded to report right after: "The group has over fifty members with two vice-leaders who are a bit weaker than the chef. Sadik Saad is the leader of this mercenary group, it is known he is Lv156 but the truth is that he surpassed the 200 boundary around three months ago. He is also nurturing a young talent he accidentally found in Libya, North of Africa. Her potential is proclaimed to be unmatched, with the exception of the beast child, Saly. Sadik is trying his best to hide her existence but many powers already have their eyes on her. We even received many requests to kill her or capture her." When the second ''shadow'' finished her report, the one at the middle initiated the last but not least report: "Currently, they are residing in their main base situated South of Russia, a few miles away from a hidden dungeon that has not been discovered yet." A bit curious, Arthur asked: "Don''t they operated in Africa and the Middle-East, what are they doing South of Russia." Although it was pretentious for an unknown stranger to ask them directly, the woman at the middle answered after a slight hesitation: "We haven''t confirmed it yet but there''s a rumor that they were secretly contacted by the Russian Government to carry out a mission. There''s also another rumor about the possible existence of a massive gold mine under the dungeon." Arthur nodded his head and spread his sense, with the approximate location in his mind, it would be a piece of cake to find their target, as for the possibility of being facing some resistance? There is no way such a thing would happen unless a God Monarch was hiding on Earth for god knows why. After a bit more than five seconds, the mercenary group was found by Arthur. Surprisingly, they were living in a large villa with tents spread out in the massive garden. twenty-five presences were sensed and amongst them, there were two who are slightly stronger than the rest. Although, it''s ''slightly'', that''s only from Arthur''s point of view. In reality, the leader of this group is significantly stronger than his subordinates, in fact, he could slaughter them all by himself if he wished, but for Arthur, they were all mortals who can be killed with only his aura. "I found them." In response to him, Lucy nodded and signaled for the subordinates to leave. Contrary to her expectations, the woman at the middle hesitated for a second before she said "Mistress, do you want us to dispose of them? You do not need to dirty your hands with the fool''s blood." Her words seemed pretty sincere, unfortunately, the subordinate didn''t receive the answer she yearned for. She wanted to properly serve Lucy, who recruited her and trained her to become this powerful, where she''s afraid of no one. "No need, we''ll do it personally." "...Yes!" The woman replied respectfully and was about to leave when Lucy stopped her and said "Oh and by the way, from now on, treat him the same you treat me. If I see anyone disobeying him then you know what happens, right?" Lucy''s eyes turned sharp for a split second before she waved her hand dismissively, causing the cloaked woman to nod and hastily leave this place. To create such a secretive and loyal organization without any spies in it, Lucy had to hand-pick all of them, nonetheless, some annoyances managed to split in, unfortunately, they were discovered by Lucy sometime later and, to say the least, their fate wasn''t merciful. It only took Arthur one teleport to arrive at their destination. In a planet as small as Earth where there''s no restriction on Space Magic in comparison to worlds like Green Leaf, teleporting around it doesn''t even cost a high amount of Mana, it''s actually negligible. .... Currently, Sadik Saad was enjoying a back massage inside his spacious mansion. It was situated in a place devoid of life but that was beneficial for him as to not grab the attention of the Russian Government. He started sending his subordinates to explore the hidden dungeon and scavenge as many gold as possible. Unfortunately, they need to delve deeper to acquire more gold, which isn''t possible as the monsters hidden inside are more fearsome than he expected ''Tch! Who would''ve expected gargoyles to lay a fucking nest in the 2nd floor!'' Sadik clicked his tongue and threw this problem to the back of his mind and proceeded into enjoying this relaxing massage and eat some of the grapes a few centimeters away from him. He wasn''t the lazy type but with his subordinates already busy with the dungeon and a sufficient amount of funds acquired in the past years, he managed to gain a bit of time for relaxation. Including the young lady who''s massaging his back, there were three people inside this luxurious room. Sadik, the attendant, and his most trusted guard, Hal. Hal is none other than the young girl he found in the desert a year ago, she almost died from thirst and starvation so he pitied her and gave her some food and shelter. Who would''ve thought she was a strong warrior who''s almost unstoppable. It only took her one year to grow from a weak and helpless girl to a fully fledged warrior, one who can even beat him, though he would never admit such a fact. The room was only filled with Sadik''s moans of pleasure, the massaging expert was truly good at her job, but that only made her fate worse as Sadik had marked her so she''ll never be released from this place. Although they are called mercenary and they take many contracts, most of their actions are similar to bandits, from plunder to theft and murder, though they keep it a secret so that their reputation remains unscathed. Sadik wasn''t aware of the appearance of two individuals, who suddenly appeared out of thin air at the entrance of the room. He only reacted when Hal grabbed her two-handed ax and darted toward the invaders with unstoppable momentum. Sadly, Hal''s figure was sent flying like a kite before she even crossed half the distance separating herself from the enemies. She crashed into the wall, causing destruction and alerting the rest of the subordinates, who were busy doing miscellaneous jobs. Arthur didn''t care, he focused on the tanned burly man, who swiftly got up and held two big axes in both hands. The man didn''t even ask questions, his eyes turned red and his aura increased by one fold, turning him into a literal berserker. Unfortunately, his enemy wasn''t someone he could threaten with his aura or physique, even the four Divine Beasts didn''t faze Arthur, much less Sadik. "Chill." Arthur raised his hand and clutched it into a fist, this led into the destruction of both of Sadik''s axes, which turned into dust. The man in question wasn''t in a favorable situation, his skill was forcefully deactivated and he was immobilized without knowing what was binding his body. He could only stare with confusion and anger at this mysterious grey-haired man. Ignoring the incoming subordinates, who already rushed from downstairs and were preparing to attack, Arthur walked up to Sadik until only a few centimeters were separating both of their eyes, and said with a cold tone "Sadik, look carefully... don''t you remember me?" Chapter 311 - 264 : No Mercy "W-who the fuck are you?" Sadik stared at Arthur with eyes full of hatred and confusion. No matter how much he wrecked his brains, he couldn''t remember seeing such a unique-looking man. Arthur leaned closer to the burly man until only a few centimeters were separating the two pair of eyes. However, such a movement only made Sadik more fearful, what increased the dread, even more, is the wails of his subordinates, who were slaughtered one-sidedly by an expressionless Lucy, who didn''t bat an eye even with all the blood and dismembered bodies. As he was stared at by the scarred man, whose pupil was strangely grey, Sadik couldn''t hold his courageous attitude anymore, the thick killing intent emanating from Arthur isn''t something he could handle. "F-fuck! Who sent you?!" Arthur let out a long sigh and backed down before retorting "Seriously, talking to you is like playing piano to a cow." Arthur activated a low-level Illusion which altered his appearance. His scar disappeared and his hair became shorter and changed from grey to jet black. In just two seconds, he regained his appearance from his previous life, the same one he had when they kidnapped him. Once Sadik witnessed this change, his pupils contracted as he stared at Arthur with disbelief, even after seeing him in person, he still couldn''t believe that he''s still alive. Sadik took countless jobs in the past but the highest-paid one is, without a doubt, the kidnapping of Arthur Bilgart. Although it was a simple task, the sly wife paid his group a mind-numbing sum that allowed them to enjoy themselves for a long while. Sadik personally disposed of Arthur''s corpse after he was tortured to death, he literally used acidic chemicals to turn the body into nothingness. The corpse melted into a disgusting liquid which was scorched soon after using fire, there were no traces left, which is why he''s in total incredulity. "A heartless man you are, Sadik. How can you forget the face of one of your victims?" Arthur smiled coldly as he watched his target look at him with a shocked expression. "How c-can you be alive? Who are you!" Sadik still couldn''t believe that this is the real Arthur. After Earth changed due to the System, a lot of things became easier for humans to do, so disguising himself into a past victim of his is plausible, or so thought Sadik. "Why are you asking something when you know the answer?" Before letting the burly man talk, Arthur added: "Now, let me ask you another question. Why do you think I''m here?" As he said that, Arthur reverted to his original appearance and glared at Sadik with piercing eyes. The temperature of the room decreased by a dozen degrees and the light coming from the windows disappeared as total darkness covered the mansion, blocking any light or sound. Inside this room, which was full of coziness a few minutes ago, you could only hear the fast-paced breathing of Sadik, who finally realized his fate and started begging "P-please spare me! I''ll give you anything you want!" Arthur played with a conjured dark dagger and turned to Lucy, who was standing behind him silently. "He said anything I want, what do you think I want, my dear Lucy?" A pair of blood red eyes landed on Sadik, making the latter shiver uncontrollably and bringing a freezing chill down his spines. "Obviously, his life." Her voice was devoid of emotion and to the mercenary leader, it was like a death sentence from the devil. "Please! I beg you! I, I was forced! Really! I was forced by that bitch... s-she threatened us and we had to o-obey, please spare me!" Facing the bloodlust of Lucy, who didn''t hold back anything like Arthur, and with the humongous difference in Realm and power. Sadik couldn''t keep up a strong front and melted under the overwhelming murderous intent thus he started begging for his life and blaming Claudia. It was apparent that he was making a bunch of excuses to be forgiven and even if he wasn''t at fault and he was really forced, it''s not like Arthur is going to spare him either. Arthur wasn''t going to interrogate him since the information he knows is too little and not beneficial to him. He held the dark dagger and was about to finish the kneeling man whose face was wet from tears and snot when a weak and soft voice was heard from the corner of the room "Please spare him." As he looked at the source of the voice, Arthur saw a half-kneeling girl. It was the girl who he sent flying with a Telekinesis Blast. Since the difference in power is too big, such a simple attack which wouldn''t affect a God, nearly killed the little girl. She had a dark red hair and bronze skin, blood leaked from her lips and she was barely able to stand up using her axe as support. What''s surprising isn''t her begging but the fact that she''s standing despite receiving a blow from him. Arthur''s eyes locked into the struggling girl, who was making her way toward him with unsteady steps. Once she was around two meters away from the couple, she kneeled toward Arthur and begged again "Please spare him. I''m willing to give my life for his." Indifferent to her begging, Arthur retorted: "It''s his life that I want, though. And begging isn''t simply going to make me spare him." With her forehead pressed on the ground on the ground, the kid repeated "Please!" Even Lucy, who''s usually weak against kids, didn''t urge Arthur to think about it or spare him for the time being. She knew how important this revenge is for him and Sadik is considered an enemy, an individual which has to die sooner than later. "Life ain''t fair kid. I don''t know why you value him so much but it isn''t my business." As he said that, Arthur''s hand blurred and by the next, Sadik''s lifeless body fell on the ground with its head rolling some distance away. Hul stared at this scene with hollow eyes and after she realized what happened, she shouted loudly and was about to attack Arthur but ended up being knocked unconscious instantaneously. "One is down, I guess." With the girl''s body on his shoulders, Arthur waved his hand, teleporting himself and Lucy out of this place. The mansion, which became bloodied due to Lucy''s massacre, soon disappeared as dark red flames engulfed a part of it and in just a few minutes, managed to scorch this place and turn it into a big piece of land where there''s nothing but black ash. Chapter 312 - 265 : Omitted Arthur and Lucy reappeared in Dark Moon''s headquarters with the unconscious Hul hanging on Arthur''s shoulder. Once she was put down on the cold ground, the teenage girl''s eyelids slowly fluttered before she woke up from her unconsciousness. Obviously, she wouldn''t have woken up if not for Arthur, who quickened the process or else they would have waited a long time before she wakes up on her own. At first, the girl was confused as she cautiously looked around her and the second her eyes landed on Arthur and Lucy, she forced her numb body to stand up and lunged at him with ferocity. She was enraged due to what happened to Sadik, who she valued dearly since he''s the one who took care of her. It''s true that he was a bad person but he was, after all, her benefactor, hence his death affected her more than it should have. "I WILL KILL YOU." Despite being severely injured from the previous Telekinesis Blast, Hul ignored the condition of her body and mustered all her power to attack this grey-haired man, who already became her archenemy. Seeing her leaping at him, Arthur remained motionless, gazing at her actions with total calmness. The girl ferociously punched Arthur''s chest, planning to land a fatal blow. She believed in her strength and she''s rational enough to know that the disparity between the enemy and herself is too big yet she still attacked, wanting to exact her revenge. Normally, such a punch would even cause a person wearing a sturdy Steel Armor to suffer considerable damage yet this seemingly powerful punch landed on its target but no-damage, absolutely nothing. Hul felt as if her fist struck an unbreakable Iron wall, the man didn''t even flinch. The attack didn''t even cause his flutter. A cracking sound was heard causing Hul to groan in pain. The bones of her fist didn''t break but it''s apparent that they cracked a bit. While disregarding her injured fist, Hul splendidly raised her leg and kicked his face but the results were the same. Since she applied more strength in every hit, the damage to her leg was even more severe. The short girl bounced back and held her leg as she grunted from the agony. The second attack rendered her unable to even stand up but she still kept glaring at him with reddened eyes, which contained unextinguishable anger. "It''s frustrating, right? To have a strong urge to kill someone yet being so powerless, unable to do anything." Arthur crossed his arms and stared back at this girl, who harbored nothing but hate toward him. Hearing no response, he resumed speaking: "That''s exactly what I felt in the past. Being weak is never a sin but being foolishly reckless is." "I''ll definitely kill you! I''ll rip you into shreds." The girl yelled at him with a shrieking tone but Arthur remained unfazed. He squatted in front of her and met her gaze while he taunted: "Big claims but empty words. You want to kill me? Then go ahead, do it. I''m not even retaliating, attack me, rip me into shreds, satisfy your thirst for revenge! COME ON! DO IT!" As he shouted at her face, the girl cold only tightly clench her fists and bite her lips as she glared at him. She was barely able to move, the enemy is in front of her but she''s too weak to kill him, heck! She can''t even injure him. "You can''t. In my eyes, you''re nothing but a girl who mistook greed for sympathy and generosity but don''t get me wrong, I''m not saying it''s your fault, you were just unfortunate to be saved by the wrong person." "FUCK YOU!" Hul cursed at the man facing him and even spat on his face. Arthur took a handkerchief and wiped off the spit without getting angry. "Foul words and barbaric actions, that''s all you learned from him. Do you even know how to read or write? How to count? I''m sure you know nothing. You were only taught how to fight and kill." "Shut up! What do you even know? You kill my family then want to prove you''re in the right? Stop trying to justify yourself you''re nothing but dogshit!" Arthur burst out laughing when he heard her words. "Justifying myself? I''m just stating facts about you. And I don''t need justification either, what I did what purely out of revenge, payback for what was done to me. Slaughtering the mercenary group and Sadik, that was surely an evil act but I do not care for I never spare my enemies, whether they are innocent or not, weak or strong. The simple fact that they dared to hurt me or my family is enough for them to be considered as targets to be killed." This time, Hul remained silent while still staring at him with piercing glare. As he saw her unyielding attitude, Arthur let out a sigh and mumbled "Perhaps it was wrong of me to spare you too." Hul flinched when hearing his words but didn''t say anything, she didn''t expect him to show her mercy nor did she want to. For her, he''s her archenemy and she''ll do anything to kill him. "Arthur, let me talk to her." The silent Lucy finally spoke, she walked next to Arthur and nodded to him, indicating that she''ll take care of this matter. Arthur shrugged his shoulders and backed down, letting them talk alone. From the looks of it, the girl won''t listen to his words so he left the room so she could focus on Lucy for a bit. Although he left, that didn''t mean he wasn''t able to listen to their conversation. "What''s your name, girl." Lucy spoke to Hul with a soft voice, she didn''t sound threatening or cold like her usual tone. Hul still didn''t reply, although Arthur is her main target, it doesn''t mean that she doesn''t hate Lucy too, who''s Arthur''s accomplice. "At this rate, you''ll only end up dying with being able to do anything. Sometimes, one has to do anything he can to survive." Lucy paused for a second before she continued; "Do you know why my husband spared you? Why would he kill everyone but only let you live? It''s certainly not because you''re powerful or have special abilities, after all, we have plenty of such people. It''s also not because of pity, such a reason is too lacking..... the reason you weren''t killed is because you reminded him of his past self. Trapped, powerless, unaware that you are used and consider the people around you dear when they are using you as a pawn, a disposable pawn. You can think of my words as pure lies to trick you but it''s unfortunately not the case. He could have killed Sadik without having you watch but he didn''t, he needed you to have a reason, a reason to live and get stronger. If you lose everything and find yourself alone then you''ll live your life carelessly. You''re still very young so you still have a chance to wake up from your delusions and change, it is not too late for you, it''s fine even if you use your hate toward us as a fuel to become stronger and when the time, we''ll wait for you to kill us, with open arms. So, what do you say, do you want to die or create a new path for yourself?" Lucy silently gazed at the tanned little girl and waited for her even after the passing of several minutes. "I, I want..." ************* In the VIP room of a hospital, a young man was standing in front of a very old man who was laying on his deathbed. The old man had many wrinkles and a very pale face, a lot of tubes were stuck into his body and his breathing was heavy. "Arthur, you''re the closest thing I had to a son *cough* *cough* you must be happy that you''ll no longer hear this old man''s rambling, right? Hahahahah*cough*ha" The young man''s eyes became teary as he stared at this old man, who''s usually very energetic became weak and fragile, basically on the brink of death. "Son, the greatest trick the Devil pulled was convincing the world there was only one of him. You''re leaving me too worried you little bastard *cough* *cough*." The old man coughed some blood but he ignored it and stared at Arthur with eyes filled with complex emotions as he uttered his last words "Remember this, son, see not the face, but the eyes." ****** As he left Lucy and Hul in that place, Arthur teleported to A peaceful village South of China. More accurately, he appeared in a small graveyard, in front of a specific grave. He kneeled in front of it and banged his head on the ground while saying "Old man Gu, this student of yours finally understand your words. I will treasure them for eternity." Chapter 313 - 266 : CEO Josef Arthur soon returned to the cave and found out that Lucy, some way or another, managed to calm down Hul. Although she was still glaring at him like usual, she wasn''t as hostile as before. Still, if looks could kill, he would have died a dozen times already. "So, are you done for today or have you got other targets?" Lucy walked up to him while her three subordinates from before appeared from the shadows and took Hul, who was unwilling but was unable to struggle away from their grip. "Mmmm I still have one person in mind but I don''t know if he can be considered a target or not." Lucy jokingly pouted and retorted "Tsk! And I was thinking about finishing what we began earlier..." She was talking about their private time in her room here. It''s been a long time since they did such a thing so they wanted to fully enjoy their time but sadly, her subordinates didn''t take much time to procure information about the mercenary group, which existed no more. While Arthur was away for a bit visiting the graveyard, Lucy had ordered two of the cloaked women to finish off the rest of the mercenaries, the ones who were busy with missions. They were no threat but that doesn''t mean they''ll be spared. Hearing her sulking, Arthur smirked and lifted her chin, giving her a soft kiss then said "Once this is done, we''ll have plenty of time so you better prepare yourself." Dazed, Lucy nodded her head, from her actions, it seems she didn''t even focus on what he said. Seeing such a behavior, Arthur chuckled and patted her head. It has always been like this, short kisses would leave her dazed and wanting for more(not that this doesn''t imply sex but just wanting more than a short kiss. Go away! Perverted minds!). Arthur closed his eyes for around ten seconds before he opened them again. He located his target and all that''s left is teleport to his destination. Using Space Magic, Arthur easily teleported himself and Lucy to the USA, more accurately, NYC. Unlike their usual routine, they didn''t appear exactly next to their target, which left Lucy a bit confused. "You''re planning to go in normally?" She uttered those words as she looked at the skyscraper before her. It was well over a thousand meters in height and definitely stood out from the nearby buildings, making it way too eye-catching. As she saw the luxurious sign hanging at the wide front doors, Lucy furrowed her brows but didn''t comment. "''LobiSoft Entertainment'', hehehe I guess a show-off never changes." Arthur nodded his head as he contemplated this skyscraper. Even in South Korea, Paris, or other cities, which are economically growing every day, finding such a building is very rare. There''s a Magic Tower that''s being built, it is way taller than this building but since it isn''t finished yet, it can''t be considered as a skyscraper as there is the chance it gets destroyed due to unknown interventions. Arthur was planning to take a good look at this Magic Tower, which is said to only be built using Medium to High-leveled magic. Massive amounts of money were spent on that project, from buying resources to hiring mages. It is said that the Magic Tower would be a faction similar to the IHO but solely composed of mages, and talented ones at that. However, Arthur knew that it''ll just be made of egoistic mages who think they are above the others. Now that there is real magic, it won''t take long before the rise of new kinds of religions and powers and the fall of democratic policies, that is if not proper measures are taken and if Science doesn''t improve enough to be able to counter the Skills provided by the System, which isn''t probably unless a catalyst is used to speed up the process. After all, high-leveled skills can cause much more destruction and fewer resources than bombs and guns. For example, if one had enough Defense or special skills such as [Metal Body] [Stone Armor] [Fortify Eath], deflecting bullets is a simple thing to do. Arthur wanted to come here for two reasons, to visit someone and to find out about the truth about Hell Gate. It just cannot be a coincidence that the game is played on Westia, more accurately, on the Westia continent. "Shall we go?" Arthur lifted his arm, indicating for Lucy to hold on to him, just like a couple. To not attract more attraction than needed, His and Lucy''s appearances were changed. He resembled himself from the past, before the kidnapping, and Lucy changed into the appearance of an average looking women. Not particularly ugly but not overly beautiful either. Although her real face was always hidden thanks to the mask, her silver hair was very unique so she''ll be recognized immediately if appeared in public with her real appearance. With intertwined arms, the couple entered the LobiSoft lobby, where they were faced with a neat and organized reception. The place wasn''t crowded but there were some people tending to their work or managing some visits. Arthur headed for the main reception, where a middle-aged woman with makeup was standing and waited for the guy before them to speak a few words with the receptionist before it was finally his turn. "Hello, how may help you?" The beautiful woman smiled friendly at them and spoke politely. "Yes, we wish to meet CEO Josef." While still keeping her smile, she replied "Yes, do you have a meeting with him?" "No, but we still wish to meet him, please arrange that." Since he doesn''t want to barge in, Arthur at least wanted to try to enter normally. However, knowing how hard it is to meet with the CEO, it probably won''t work. The receptionist''s face stiffened as she seemed to realize something, she tried her best to not show any displeasure and said "To meet the CEO, you must schedule a meeting. Unfortunately, I can do nothing about your request." The first thought she had was that it''s a troublemaking couple. It isn''t rare to see someone come to the reception and ask to meet the CEO but in most cases, they end up being thrown out by the guards. Arthur and Lucy didn''t make a ruckus and merely requested her politely so she didn''t overreact and waited for them to leave or schedule a meeting. Moreover, not every person can schedule a meeting, after all, they aren''t meeting a farmer but the CEO of an international media and gaming company. "I guess it can''t be helped." Arthur shrugged and turned invisible along with Lucy thus leaving the receptionist dumbfounded. Her face became dumbfounded as she looked around searching for them but found nothing. She panicked and called for the guards, informing them of the strange occurrence. With the appearance of the System, seeing a couple vanish isn''t an impossible thing but usually, when it happens, it''s certainly a bad omen. There were many cases where a few robbers who gained a special invisibly skill or item, would assault a bank and leave unscathed just by disappearing from everyone''s view. Meanwhile, Arthur and Lucy had already teleported to the top floor, where there was nothing but an extravagant office that belonged to the CEO and his secretary. Currently, there were two middle-aged men shaking hands with a smile on their faces. They appeared at ease and a bit worn-out since they passed the past two hours discussing a long-time contract, which will be beneficial to both parties. At the corner of the room, Arthur and Lucy waited for the extra guest to leave while keeping their invisibility. In fact, a person like Arthur has countless ways to turn invisible. Possessing a beast that can blend with the environment, high ranked Wind Magic skill [Subtle Invisiblity], but the best invisibility is, without a doubt, the one using Space Magic. It literally creates a small space for him where no one can see him or sense him. One has to be an expert in the God Monarch Realm to sense him and that is if he''s only using Space Magic without the few Shadow Magic and Dark Magic passive skills that can turn him into nothing but air as if he never existed. After a few minutes passed, the guest finally left and was replaced by an expressionless secretary that brought some tea to the CEO Josef As he let out a sigh and savored this hot tea, CEO Josef happened to glance at a corner of the room where there a bit of shadow due to its location. At first, he glanced for a split second and shifted his vision to the thin yet immensely large windows but after two seconds passed, he seemed to have realized something so he hastily turned his head again only to see two figures emerging from those shadows. One was a woman and the other was a tall middle-aged man with short dark hair. As he stared at the man, CEO Josef pupils contracted, he even forgot about the cup of tea, which he had subconsciously let go hence resulting in it spilling on the expensive carpet floor. With a gaping mouth and a flabbergasted look, the man said "Mother... fucker...." Chapter 314 - 267 : Old Friend Stupefied, the middle-aged man stood there with an expression filled with total disbelief. After some time has passed the man seemed to have calmed down. He took a few deep breaths and spoke again: "Freaking hell! I knew it!" He got closer to Arthur while closely inspecting him from head to toe. For some reason, he didn''t even doubt for a second that it''s a trick or some kind of hallucination. "No corpse, no conclusive evidence about your death... I fucking knew it!" After gazing at Arthur for who knows how long, he shifted his attention to the woman next to him. Average appearance and an expressionless face, her presence here is a complete mystery for him yet he tried to come up with some scenarios on his own. "It''s been a long time, Josef." Arthur smiled as he stepped ahead and extended his hand for a handshake. However, the man didn''t follow with the courtesy and instead went it for a sudden hug. "Man... I just knew it! You couldn''t have died like that. A heart attack? Motherfuckers don''t even know how to lie!" He whispered those words excitedly as he hugged Arthur, who didn''t push him away or show any displeasure. The short-lived reunion ended quickly, the man held Arthur''s shoulders tightly and said "Come come! This is gonna be a long afternoon!" He gestured for Arthur and Lucy to stand on the comfortable chairs that are facing his desk while indicating for his secretary to go away only to find out that she already read the mood and understood that it''s going to be a private conversation. When all three people were seated, the man curiously threw some glances at Arthur and said "I know you as a lonely man, so who might this lady be? Wait wait! Let me guess!" He assessed Lucyf or a bit more and resumed "I say she was your savior! Some kind of dramatic encounter where two fates were bound together, right? There''s no way you can find a girl by yourself, much less a proper partner, after all, you''re a loser in romance hahahaha" He banged the desk as he mocked Arthur, who had a weird grimace on his face. Josef seemed to have hit the nail in the head but he didn''t need to say the last part, or so thought Arthur. "Indeed, she''s my savior. You''re still good at coming up with random yet correct assumptions." Arthur tapped the table with his finger, a bit nervous that Josef would utter some embarrassing moments from the past. "My name is Lucy MoonStar, his wife." Lucy calmly introduced herself but her words only made Josef stop mid-laughter and stare at Arthur dumbfoundedly. To avoid any unnecessary explanation, Arthur waved his hand and added: "It''s complicated. Let''s change the subject, shall we?" "A-ah yes yes, I want to hear the details!" Josef changed into a serious look and listened to Arthur, who briefly explained what happened and the events that led to his death. Obviously, anything about Astria and the reincarnation were omitted. Going back in time for a few years, Arthur and Josef were close friends. Josef was probably one of the few friends Arthur had. They weren''t best friends, neither were they simple acquaintances, in a way, they are more like business partners than friends but their relationship deepened with the passing of years. Although Arthur wasn''t sure of all the people who helped Claudia, he was at least sure that Josef is definitely not amongst them. Actually, the reason is really simple, he didn''t have any reason to kill him or steal his money. Josef is a businessman richer than Arthur by a lot, he had political power, a powerful backing and multiple companies with LobiSoft being the main one. Going to such lengths as to torture him and get him assets wouldn''t benefit Josef that much since he didn''t really need them. Moreover, Josef, this man, is a sly person that would use tricks to win over many wealthy people but he had never backstabbed people. He''s more of a direct person, a few people could handle him when his foul-mouth goes on a rampage, they would hear all kinds of insults. Of course, there''s no way to tell that he''s the kind to backstab or betray his comrades or not but Arthur believed that he is a rather honest person compared to others, like Claudia. "That snake bitch! All those tears I''ve seen were nothing but fart!" Josef let out a long sigh when Arthur finished telling him the short version of his death. Although he kind of expected that Arthur was killed, he didn''t think it''ll be this horrific. "So what are you gonna do?" This time, it wasn''t Arthur who answered but Lucy "We''re going to clean up the trash, obviously." "That, I know. But going straight at Claudia isn''t an easy thing, the guards around here are no joke." Arthur chuckled and retorted "Can those guards stop this?" As he said that, he pointed to the center of the room where a jet black pit appeared. In an instant, a Death Knight more than two meters tall appeared, with an expressionless face, dark-clad armor and a greatsword on its back. It was the embodiment of death, just looking at it brought chills to Josef, who was flabbergasted for a few seconds before he snapped out of his daze. "I can''t see its Level..." Arthur shrugged and said "It''s because it''s over a thousand." "A-A thousand?" His expression became exaggerated but instead of cowering in fear, Josef darted next to the Death Knight and started examining it, going through the armor and the weapon, without touching it, of course. "I''ve heard rumors of some people acquiring the Necromancy skills but I knew they were nothing but dogshit. But... shit! This is the real fucking deal!" Suddenly, the Death Knight looked at Josef thus causing the latter to flinch and take a step back but the look of curiosity never disappeared from his eyes. "Can you summon more than one?" "If I go all out then I can summon forty." "f-forty.... one is more than enough to decimate all the Heroes on Earth." "Yes, but I don''t want to decimate anyone, I just want to pay back some debts." Arthur seemed uninterested and summoned the Death Knight back. Josef took some time to collect himself and calm his fastly beating heart before he took his seat again. Some time passed while the two talked about some minor things until Arthur asked about what''s intriguing him from this morning "By the way, that game your company created, Hell Gate, was it? Mind telling me more about it?" Chapter 315 - 268 : Past Events "Yeah, it''s an amazing game, right? What about it?" "That''s not what I''m asking. Being the CEO of its company, I''m sure you know things beyond what''s public, way beyond..." Arthur''s gaze penetrated Josef, trying to discover any clues from his expression but the latter kept a smiling face without flinching whatsoever. After a few seconds, Josef said "Arthur... you look exactly the same as five years ago but I can feel you''re different, much more different." Arthur shrugged and retorted "Feel huh... isn''t that thanks to your title?" It was only at this time that Josef had a truly shocked expression yet he recovered quite fast and added: "Hahahaha how can I best you!" Usually, inhabitants of Earth can use a simplified Appraisal skill but it''s easily negated by acquiring the skill book [Status Lock]. There are a few exceptions where special individuals have a higher version of Appraisal but those are few and far between. Arthur''s Appraisal is beyond what anyone can imagine. Not only does he get detailed information on the skill''s target, but it also gives their titles, a small summary about them. Upon further inspection, he found out that he can see what the effects of the titles are and the powerful skills of his target. It was definitely worth investing a skill point on such a skill. When he first saw Josef, he obviously activated [Appraisal] and carefully read what was displayed. Josef Le Orn [Race: Human] : Lv27 Age : 37 Title : The Watcher Top skills : [Observation Lv24] - [Foul Mouth Lv11]. Short Summary: Josef Le Orn, born from a wealthy British family, managed to gain the favor of his father and inherited the several companies owned by his family. Successfully built LobiSoft Company from scratch and became one of the top fifty richest people on Earth four years ago. The Watcher: The user''s senses are slightly enhanced, he sees more than just the exterior of his target and is able to sense the mood of others. 25% chance to resist mental attacks on this list : [BloodLust] / [Seduce] / [Fear]. 3.5% chance to gain [Calm Mind] for one minute. "I''ll cut through the chase and tell you what I want. Who built those helmets and who invented the world of Hell Gate." Still smiling, Josef calmly replied "Are you asking as a friend or as a ....?" "As an old friend, obviously. I''m not going to press you, one way or another, I''ll uncover the truth, it''s just a matter of time." Josef chuckled and stared back at Arthur for an unknown amount of time then gave his response "It would be unpolite of me to not answer you after all what you''ve shown and told me." The middle-aged man got up from his seat and walked to a specific corner of the room then tapped his foot twelve time while stopping two seconds each three taps. When the last tap occurred, the luxurious carpet and the ground under it opened and a jet black vault could be seen. There wasn''t a place to write a password or the usual fingerprints mechanism. Using his senses, Arthur easily bypassed whatever Josef put around the vault to protect it and was able to see what''s inside. A bunch of files clustered on top of each other, there wasn''t money or anything like that. There was also a special box where even his sense couldn''t see through which made him slightly astonished. Even Lucy was startled as she tried the same thing but no matter how many times she tried, the mysterious blocked everything, from the God Sense to Arthur''s Sixth Sense. The couple patiently waited for Josef to open the vault. Surprisingly, Le Orn took out a transparent rectangular object from his pocket and took out a thin hair that could barely be seen. As he did so, he explained "Japan, 1985. The military was about to execute a notorious serial killer and an international criminal named Wolfram Sakimoto. They were about to execute him in a secret military base situated in a desolate mountain range when, suddenly, an earthquake with an aptitude of 3.4 occurred. It wasn''t too devastating but it still caused damages, the problem, however, was the disappearance of this criminal. He literally vanished from the face of the earth, in such a high-guarded base where there was a soldier every two meters, there''s no way he would have escaped, so they presumed he died even though the matter was unusually odd." Josef took out some documents and journals that have some details about the earthquake and the old military base which is no longer usable in the present. "The people in high power and many politicians were stubborn and insisted that the military should keep searching for the body and the matter became problematic even when more than a year passed after his disappearance. Upon further investigation and lots of money spent, I managed to dig out some information about Wolfram, mind-blowing truths and conspiracies that could bring down more than a few dozen politicians all over the world. What I did not found, however, is Wolfram''s life before he was thirteen years old, literally, nothing was found, no record, no nationality, absolutely and utterly nothing, the man popped up from nowhere. I dug even further but wasn''t able to find his true origins but I discovered that he was by no means normal. He excelled in the field of assassination and stealth, had strength stronger than the average human and was a freak in combat, doesn''t that ring a bell?" "You mean he had the System thus enhanced his basic stats?"-Arthur "That''s my theory but it''s unlikely, after all, we never saw him fight so maybe the old records were exaggerating like many old legends. The man was a mystery in every sense of the word, he worked for several underground organizations and assassinated more than ten politicians that had significant influence in their proper government." Arthur pondered for a second then said "What does he have to do with what I asked?" "Absolutely everything! Wolfram disappeared but he left things behind. To be more specific, he left a pendant, a ring, and a small object that couldn''t be deciphered by the people of the past. The ring and pendant were normal hence they were hidden away, however, the small object which was similar to a chip was thoroughly studied by the scientists for more than a decade. They tried their best to unlock it or try to figure out its purpose but the technology was just not advanced enough, albeit the large amounts of money poured in this research. Time passed and no results were met even after twenty years so they abandoned it due to insufficient funds and sold it for a moderate price. The chip traveled from one hand to another until I acquired in an underground auction seventeen years ago. Little by little, I started hiring scientists, experts from all over the world to try and decipher even a bit of it, I even offered a hundred million dollar as a prize for anyone who manages to uncover something about the chip. Fortunately, eleven years ago, a group of four scientists deciphered a code from the small chip. In fact, it was only composed of numbers but upon further inspection, they found out that this set of numbers is coordinates, for what? We did not know. Another year passed and we were met with other fruitful results. The chip is some kind of storage, it contains countless information, most things were incomprehensible due to language barrier or insufficient intelligence, anyway, the four scientists successfully translated a minuscule part of the chip which allowed my company to expand and create Hell Gate...." Chapter 316 - 269 : A Trip "The chip is essentially a super hardware filled with a mind-numbing amount of information that we couldn''t decore. However, the four scientists were lucky enough to uncover some of the mysteries revolving around Wolfram''s chip. Although the results were scarce, they were, nevertheless, satisfactory. After fixing some of the problems encountered mid-way through the creation of Hell Gate, we managed to successfully release a complete and working version of the game." Arthur carefully listened to Josef''s explanation. He was surprised by the origin of this game, which is not really what it seems to the public. The players think they are just equipping a headset and starting a fantasy adventure inside a popular VRMMO, however, it''s likely that, one way or another, they are transported to Astria. Actually, Arthur wasn''t sure if they really are transported there or if it''s just their souls or consciousness, or even how this whole process works but it''s not just some simple coincidence. Probably, this means that the party he stumbled upon when searching for the ''office'' on the Westia continent, is players from Earth, or so speculated Arthur, which means that the inhabitants of Astria are considered NPCs to the players, this applied to himself too. If that''s the case then the youth who he handed to the black sword to is surely living on Earth, that is, if his theory is correct. "The implementation of the System on Earth wasn''t done just to empower to its inhabitants. I think it''s either to defend from an invasion or protect it from some disaster. The ones controlling the System highly value Earth due to how fast its humans are evolving despite the inability to wield Mana or use Magic. From what I have heard from your friend, the System may have existed for a short of time on Earth but only one person could use it. There is also a high probability that he transmigrated from another world within the System''s universe since he had one before being transported here. You need to know that the addition of the System to a world or a planet is a huge event and it isn''t to be taken lightly as it can lead to either the prosperity or the destruction of said world. They surely had a goal in mind to suddenly apply their leveling System to earthlings, as for what it is, this I do not know. Anyways, see if you can get your hands on that chip, maybe I''ll be able to discover something from it with the help of the ARK." The copy shared his opinion as he, too, was curious about the strange events that occurred in the past. "If the chip is so precious then why don''t the System take it back? Don''t tell me they can''t locate it." Intrigued and confused, Arthur asked his copy. "The System is a very complicated thing, Arthur. It isn''t a living thing and although there are some living beings in high power in its echelon, ultimately, it''s the main core of the System that gives orders and handles things. It''s a very strange entity made from pure technology without the use of any outside force such as Mana or any kind of energy. Maybe it''s doing this on purpose or that it simply is unaware of the location of the chip, no one knows. It''s useless to ponder about things and whatever this whole matter it, it''s better not to meddle too much, just watch from the fence and try to excavate some information if possible. Having the System as an enemy is worse than some powerful faction from the Cloud Sea Universe because if it''s something that the System doesn''t lack then it''s definitely manpower and numbers." Josef handed Arthur the documents and records about the earthquake and some pictures of the old military base. He also retrieved the brown box and carefully put it on the table. Again, Arthur tried to use his sense and see what''s inside but to no avail, whatever the materials this box was made of, it totally negated both his senses. "The situation has become quite chaotic after the sudden appearance of monsters and dungeons. Just after Hell Gate was released, I halted the research and hid the chip from the prying eyes. The Royal family of Britain and even its government contacted me seeking the chip but I flatly rejected their offers which led to some complications that were easily solved with money, of course." "The way I see it, the chip isn''t that well hidden. Anyone with enough destructive power could break in and take it." Hearing such words, the CEO smirked and retorted: "There''s many precautions and alarms set to avoid such unfortunate situations. Despite the harmless look of this office, it is tightly guarded." The sly grin of Josef disappeared within seconds and his jaw dropped in shock. The reason for this dumbfoundedness is a sudden change in the temperature of the room which resulted in the appearance of two-grey cloaked figures that had more half of their bodies frozen beginning from their feet up to their abdomens. This two hooded couple were startled and retaliation threw several daggers embedded with poison; The reason for their retaliation is because they sensed their life withering due to the ice that almost reached their hearts. The moment it freezes their heart, it would be their doom. Although they were high-leveled and experts in fights and stealth, they couldn''t break off the solid ice that is chilling their bodies and immobilizing them. As for the daggers, they didn''t even travel half the distance before becoming frozen and disintegrating into nothingness in a split second. "If by precautions you mean this then it''s really not enough." Obviously, Lucy didn''t completely freeze the two of them completely. She just did that to show Josef that they have been aware of their presence since the very beginning. Arthur easily discovered them with his sense and Map, which shows any living being as long as it''s within its range. "Only you two would be able to easily take the chip. I don''t think anyone else would be able to defeat my two guards this easily." Josef forcefully calmed himself and signaled for his two guards so they don''t do anything reckless. It''s apparent that Lucy didn''t want to kill them and only did this to prove her husband''s words. "Now that things have come this far, I think a proper explanation would be for the best." Arthur stated as he stared at Josef with a serious yet calm gaze. In response, Josef smiled back and replied "Well, you know I''m the curious type and I''m eager to know how powerful you two are but I''m not reckless enough to dig for the truth behind your backs. If you wish to tell me then I won''t refuse." From the previous display, Josef knew that Arthur wasn''t just a Necromancer. Lucy seemed to be an extremely powerful mage too. He didn''t associate her with the masked woman that follows Claudia because the appearance was different, furthermore, Lucy only used fire or magma in public and never displayed her Yin powers. "Alright, then care for a small trip?" In response to Arthur''s invitation, Josef took the box and nodded while motioning for his two guards to back off. When he made sure the CEO was ready, Arthur waved his hand, creating a middle-sized tunnel, there were no spacial turbulences and the destination was known only to its caster. Lucy already guessed where they''ll go, as for Josef, he stared at this tunnel which resembled a spatial tear and hesitated for a second before he mustered his will and followed right after Arthur. To protect it from the strong pressure of the interior of this tunnel, Arthur created a large Dark Barrier that protected Le Orn. During this short trip was took only a few seconds, the two parties exchanged no words. Josef was anticipating where they''ll land and Arthur was asking his copy a few things. "If the players of Hell Gate are transported to Astria then how come the game''s system overwrites the one they had on Earth?" "The Levelling System of Astria is way superior to the one on Earth so it''s normal that it can overwrite the latter. Basically, when they enter the game, the game''s System overwrites the users'' own system temporarily. When they leave the game, they regain their original system. Honestly, it''s the first time I saw something like this." "Then what if an earthling travels to Astria via a spatial tunnel instead of using the headset, will the System be overwritten?" "Most likely, but they''ll still keep their skills and level they gained on Earth. There is even a strong chance that the level will fuse with the one they gained in the game, which will empower them even further." "Is that even possible?" "I don''t know, I''m just speculating. I''m sure this wasn''t part of the System''s plan. Anyways, we''ll see if my theory was correct or not once your friend arrives on Astria." The short trip finally came to an end as the trio appeared on top of the High Tower of the MoonStar sect. The second they appeared, Anastassia and Jackob were already on the roof. Although the tunnel they took from Josef''s office wasn''t big, the one that appeared on top of the tower was easily noticeable. Anastassia was alarmed for a second but upon seeing who arrived, she broke into a smile and greeted them. Josef, the one who was kept in dark, gaped as he looked at the view in front of him. He wasn''t foolish enough to think that this war Earth, the flying bone dragons in the sky and the buildings didn''t match the civilization on Earth. "W-where are we?" "Astria, the world of Hell gate to be more precise." Even when he heard those words, Josef wasn''t able to understand what''s happening until more than a minute passed. Lucy ignored the shocked Le Orn and walked up to Anastassia and gave her a hug. It''s been a long time since they saw each other and the Vice-clan leader was very happy to see the safety of her friend. Obviously, she didn''t hug Jackob but she still greeted him friendly. "Welcome back, Lucy." Anastassia smile as she welcomed Lucy and led her inside. Since Arthur wanted to show something to Josef, Lucy decided to spend some time with Anastassia and co and see what''s become of her and Arthur''s sect. She noticed how the sect prospered and how bustling it became, full of life and devoid of the blood stench and vulgar tribes that had roamed this area in the past. In just five years, the sect transformed from a barbaric tribe to a grand city that had almost impenetrable defenses and filled with all kinds of Races, even demons, despite their minority. Arthur didn''t even let Josef comprehend the situation before he teleported them both far from the sect. They appeared North-West of the Demon Continent, right outside of the illusion barrier protecting Westia. Arthur noticed that Josef seemed to be reading notifications as his gaze kept wavering. Using appraisal, he saw that Le Orn''s level rose from 27 to 82 "As expected, your level rose. Did you gain your skills of Hell Gate too?" His Level didn''t rise by much but that''s probably because Josef didn''t play much of Hell Gate. He just played it rarely to try a few things or relax, so the significant increase in Level didn''t occur. "Is there any kind of Game Masters in Hell Gate?" Arthur''s questions caused Josef to finally shift his attention from the notifications back to him. "Unfortunately, no. There is a main AI that created itself the second we finished the game, it handles the System and we weren''t able to increase our stats to act as GMs. We tried many times but there isn''t a way to bypass its firewall and increase our stats to a limitless amount." Hearing this, the copy laughed from within the ARK and mocked "Of course that''s not possible. If it were, then they can make themselves Gods within a few minutes. The System believes in progress rather instantaneous gain in power, which is why it created the leveling and skill System."-copy "A-anyway, where are?" Josef Le Orn stared at the fog in front of him and the sea below him, he was uncomfortable as it''s the first time he was flying. He stared at the calm Arthur, who raised his hand and unleashed a streak of dark lightning from his hand, which totally freaked out the CEO. "Beyond this illusion is the Westia Continent." Josef frowned and said "What?" "It''s the same continent as the one in Hell Gate. I know it''s hard to believe but shortly, you''ll know the truth and hopefully, you can explain a few things to me, in more details if possible." Arthur spoke with a serious tone, unlike his usual nonchalant-ness. This problem that popped out of nowhere isn''t as simple as it seems. Though the appearance of the System didn''t bring much harm to the Earth''s society, the game may disrupt the balance and if the System discovers about this, it can become rather complicated. In all honesty, Arthur couldn''t care less what happened to Earth but Astria is another matter. It''s true that the Westia Continent is far from his sect and the other continents but that doesn''t mean it won''t be affected by the game sooner or later. Maybe the chip can bypass the illusion around the continent and allow players to travel beyond it. "After all I have seen today, I doubt I can be more surprised than this. It''s one shock after another, spare me, please." While massaging his temples, Josef uttered those words in a tired tone. From Arthur''s appearance and the truth behind his death, his unusual power, the existence of this world and so on, it''s truly too much for a human who has been living a comfortable life until today. As the duo proceeded into the illusion with the Demonic Lightning paving a way for them, Arthur''s could help but think about Wolfram, who is the center of everything that is happening. ''Just who the hell is this person?'' Chapter 317 - 270 : Omitted Not long after Arthur paved a way through the illusion, the duo appeared on the Westia Continent. For Josef to recognize this place, Arthur used Space Magic to take them to a more popular place yet devoid of living beings as to not attract attention. With merely two teleports, they arrived at their destination. From what Arthur heard and saw, there are five big main cities on Hell Gate and one of them have a distinguishable black mountain near it. The moment they appeared mid-air, merely some distance separating them from this unimaginably tall mountain, Josef stared with surprise at the sight before him. Although he expected Arthur''s words to be true when he heard them a short while ago, he was still feeling surprised over the fact that he was inside his company''s game without resorting to the headset. "You understand the severity of this matter, right? It''s not some game but reality!" Arthur''s words caused the middle-aged man to snap out of it and gulp some saliva unconsciously before he took a moment to compose himself and then reply: "It really exists... but even if it is exactly like the continent on Hell Gate, it doesn''t change anything." Arthur''s next words caused Josef to feel as if a bucket of cold water was thrown at him "That''s not the problem. The issue is the players, they aren''t just playing a game but are somehow being teleported here, not physically, of course." With the use of his sense, Arthur was able to discover countless humans and other Races wandering in this bustling city. It was filled with ''NPCs'' and ''players''. Most of them were low-leveled and even the strongest one is still considered weak from his point of view. "Teleported? Are you even sure about this?" Josef didn''t seem to totally believe Arthur about this matter. It seemed to incomprehensible, or over-the-top matter. With the addition of the System, many theories and speculations were created about the existence of other worlds. ''Where were the monsters born from?'' ''Who spawned those dungeons?'' ''Where did the Goddess come from?'' Such questions were frequently asked thus many people believed of the existence of life beyond the milky galaxy, or perhaps even in it, these people included Josef, too. This is why, despite being really shocked, Le Orn was still able to cope with his sudden appearance on Astria. However, for a game his company created to be able to transfer its players to this place in an instant, it seemed too far-fetched, at least that''s what Josef thought. "I''m 50% sure. We can prove if I''m right quite easily, though." Josef pondered for a moment and then said "Yeah, if we can find one of the popular players then I can recognize him but the continent is to-" His stopped mid-sentence as he seemed to remember that Arthur had unfathomable power. He didn''t know what happened when they warped but he caught a glimpse after the first teleport and realized they were at the center of the continent and one second later, they appeared near Black Mountain City. ''To cross such a distance in a split second... just how strong is he?'' Josef was very curious but he kept all these thoughts to himself. Arthur changed from the past, he wasn''t that easy-going like before, in fact, despite the way he acts nonchalantly right now, Josef still felt some kind of wall that was blocking him from becoming friendly with Arthur like before. ''Then again, it''s to be expected after what had been done to him.....'' "Exactly. Is there any player with a specific level you want me to search for?" As if he expected such a question, the CEO replied immediately "Yes, it''s my niece, a mage called Ramachelge, Level 155." Arthur nodded his head and closed his head for more than half a minute before he finally opened them again. Since his target was a low-level and this place was crawling with them, it took a bit more time than usual. Moreover, Westia Continent was larger than the other continents. "I found someone matching your description. A female with a fox mask and blonde hair, around 173Cm tall." "Yes yes, that''s her!" Arthur waved his hand and the two of them, yet again, teleported a long distance and appeared on top of a volcanic mountain, which seemed about to burst at any second. This place was at the Central East of the continent and apart from the human mage Arthur sensed, there didn''t seem to be other players. "I really don''t get it, instead of adventuring in the game, why not do it on Earth, at least you''ll become stronger and gain money." Arthur voiced his thoughts as his gaze penetrated the fog surrounded the peak of the mountain and landed on the robbed female mage who was waving her staff and firing magic skills at her opponents. It would be logical for people to play this game before the System appeared as they want to immerse themselves in a fantasy-like world with skills and too. But reality became exactly similar to this game where only the environment is different yet here they are doing their best to increase their Lvl here instead of doing it in reality, where it really matters. Although it''s a bit ironic, Arthur, who owned a company that managed games and multimedia, he wasn''t much of a player. He was very interested in developing games, but playing them is another matter. This doesn''t mean he never played, in fact, he played a decent amount to be able to understand the point of view of gamers, however, he didn''t immerse himself too much. "It''s difficult. Leveling, I mean. The game helps the players a bit and dying in it doesn''t really kill you, you can also lower the pain level so you don''t get traumatized but the reality is different. A single stab from even a goblin could kill a low-level citizen or cause him to become a cripple, the risk too high. There''s also the perspective of wealthy and politically powerful people, they have strong guards to protect them so why would they waste their time to empower themselves when others could do that, then work for them. So, with much free time, they usually tend to play the game to unleash their desires, which can be twisted in most of the cases. A gentle lady from a wealthy family could become a sadistic player killer in the game.... For them, the game is a way out to escape what''s happening on Earth." Josef paused for a second, took a deep breath, then resumed his speech "Many see the change that occurred to Earth and something that could lead to our evolution. Something incredible that happens once in a million years but facts say otherwise. From destroyed homes, obliterated cities and massacred villages and towns. Not once or twice did a genocide happen due to the spreading of unknown magic caused by the creatures inside a dungeon. Without batting an eye, the government will order for a massacre, leaving no soul alive, even newborn babies weren''t spared. What evolution? The creation of new types of firepower or the discovery of Magic? Then what about the human population, which decreased by 22.4%. More than one billion people perished yet the people in high-powers are laughing with joy now, utterly ridiculous, I''m very eager to see what happens when a real catastrophe appears and they are pushed to a corner!" When he finished talking, Josef slumped his shoulders and sighed. As if he took out a huge load off his heart, he smiled at Arthur and said added one last thing "My apologies, I got a bit agitated. What I want to say is that a game like this could save more lives than one could imagine. Sometimes, The believability of virtuality is often superior to the unrealness of reality." Chapter 318 - 271 : Time From their current position, only Arthur was able to witness what''s happening at the peak of the volcanic mountain. The distance was too far for Josef to see his niece, moreover, the fog was quite dense so the visibility was lessened even more. Slowly, Arthur brought Josef and himself closer to the mage while wising Wind Magic to push away the nearby fog. Soon enough, they were only around thirty meters away from the masked woman, who was busy fighting some monsters called [Fire Devils]. They were quite powerful considering the point of view of players and even the mage was having difficulty taking them down for she was a fire user too. Although they were close enough to be noticed, thanks to Space Magic, they were hiding in a separate spatial dimension, allowing them to pass as unnoticed and remain invisible to outsiders. Le Orn only needed a single look at the mage to recognize her, he took a deep breath as he was lost in thought while staring at his niece. After some time has passed, he said: "If bringing me here without the headset caused me to power-up and obtain the skills I have in the game but what about the opposite?" Arthur smiled as he expected such a question and replied: "I was wondering the same too, however, It''s too early to test it out. I need to bring a trusted person for such an experiment as the consequences could be fatal." Arthur was thinking about doing it himself, however, once he enters the game, he''ll lose his powers due to the overwritten System. There is also the possibility of that not happening since his System was originally from Astria. "Hmm, does that mean you trust me? Hehehe" Josef chuckled as he glanced at Arthur. For his old friend to bring him to Astria and tell him what happened in the past, he must have at least trust him a bit. "I may not be a good judge of character but at least I know who to and to not trust." Josef remained silent for some time as he absent-mindedly gazed at Arthur then said with a weird tone "I may be a money-hungry motherfucker but by no means am I blind or idiot. The way I see it, you somehow managed to come to this world a couple of years ago, which is why no one found you or your corpse. This also explains your current power but I still don''t understand how you got THIS strong, it''s absurd." Hearing this, Arthur laughed and didn''t deny Josef''s words, instead, he added to them: "Although I was in the fool in the past, not all people I befriended were complete bastards huh..." In response, Le Orn scratched his head and smiled awkwardly while maintaining his silence. After all he had seen, along with Arthur''s powers and how he can teleport from Earth to Astria this easily, Josef presumed that his powers could match the Goddess on Earth if not stronger. Of course, to ascertain that, he needs to see them fight, not like it''ll ever happen, though. "So, what do you intend to do?" After a long silence and when the battle blow was getting more heated, Josef asked out of curiosity. With his meager power and low-level, he can do nothing and will definitely keep what he saw to himself but he was still intrigued by what Arthur''s plans were. "I suppose asking you to get rid of all the headsets is impossible. For now, I''ll keep investigating and deal with Claudia first, then I''ll see how to proceed. As long as nothing urgent happens then there''s no need to rush things as I''m busy with other matters." Josef nodded his head as he agreed with Arthur while speaking "Do you need my help? I may be a CEO of a gaming company, I still have a lot of connections." Arthur waved his hand and retorted "Josef, connections are temporary. With enough power, you can do anything you want and no one would stop you. Do you think I don''t have the power to capture Claudia without anyone finding out? I can do it in the blink of an eye yet I won''t. It won''t be satisfying, I have to do it the right way, the way it should be done." As he listened to Arthur''s words and stared at the latter, Josef felt chills down his spines, his body shook against his will and he could feel a suffocating pressure that overwhelmed him. Thankfully, this lasted for a split second before it disappeared. The duo didn''t linger on the Westia Continent any longer, with a few teleports, Arthur and Josef appeared at the MoonStar Sect. The roof was empty as Anastassia were welcoming Lucy and enjoying a short moment of relaxation. ....... [Level up] Although Victoria''s face was hidden, under that mask there was a totally dumbfounded expression, one she never had for years. Just a half a minute ago, she was fighting a group of five Fire Devils and she barely managed to destroy three of them only for a High Fire Devil to appear out of nowhere. She knew she would die so she mustered all her powers to slay another one to gain a bit more experience, however, the unexpected happened which led her to stand there, dazed and shocked for more than a minute. Out of nowhere, the three remaining opponents lifelessly fell on the burning floor and never got up again. She didn''t know what exactly happened and when she took a closer look at the corpses, she still was unable to comprehend how exactly did they die. Fortunately, the loot was bountiful and the experience allowed her to give up yet the woman didn''t feel her usual sense of satisfaction after a tough fight, she just felt startled and a sense of emptiness. ... Arthur and Josef entered the High Tower of the MoonStar sect and met with Lucy and the rest at a wide room beautifully decorated and filled with tables which had all kinds of delicacies. Currently, Sonia and Mary were chatting with Lucy, who seemed happy to meet them. Unlike her usual indifferent attitude, she was actively talking with the two girls and even softly smiling every now and then. "I didn''t expect you to go back this early, what happened?" Jackob appeared out of nowhere, his muscular body and naked upper half outlined his refined muscles and sturdy figure. He was covered with sweat as he was training a short time ago and only appeared late because no one informed him of the return of Lucy until a few minutes ago so he rushed here immediately. "It''s complicated but it''s nothing threatening so don''t worry about it and focus on your duties." Arthur waved his hand dismissively to reply to Jackob and signal him not to come hug him as apparently, the latter had the intentions to do so. Only now did Jackob notice Josef, since the CEO was shorter than Arthur and kept silent, no one noticed him at first but when Jackob talked, all pairs of eyes landed on Le Orn except Lucy and Arthur. "And who''s this?"-Jackob "A friend from Earth." The two women and Jackob were staring at Josef as if he was some kind of alien. Their gaze contained curiosity, they inspected him from head to toe which led to the middle-aged man feeling uncomfortable. He wore a black tuxedo and had a refined look, this made him look a bit similar look to the nobles of Astria and although they couldn''t determine his exact Lv, they knew he was much, much weaker than them. With the additional skills Josef obtained a while ago, he obtained the Human Language, which allowed him to understand Jackob''s words. Instead of being able to talk Astria''s common human language, he was able to hear it translated to English thanks to his System. "Pleased to meet you, I am Josef Le Orn." Jackob was the friendly type, he walked up to Josef and shook his hand while introducing himself. The two girls respectfully did the same too and resumed talking with Lucy while Jackob wrapped his arm around Le Orn''s shoulder and brought him somewhere, excited to show him many things. Arthur wasn''t too interested in that so he sat on a corner and enjoyed some of the laid deserts. He took out Zodiak''s notes and carefully re-read them. He was planning to complete secure Astria and isolate it from any outside interferences, not only to protect the World Tree, which he made an oath with, but to also be able to live a peaceful life once everything ends. ''4th Peace Era, year 18311th month, 29th day. I successfully found the ruins of an ancient elven Race that perished during the Titan War. It was mostly filled with defensive formations but I was able to find a secret room that had a high-level Spatial formation that I was able to resist. Against my will, I was sent back in time to the time during the way, it was a weird as only my consciousness was sent but I was still able to demonstrate my powers even without my body. I saw the perishing of this Elven Race, unfortunately, I wasn''t able to remain there for a long time and was only able to get my hands on a formation scroll. Although I wasn''t able to obtain the item I wanted, the scroll was still precious, however, I wasn''t able to completely decipher it to due to my weak Space Magic. Matters got worse when a Guardian appeared and attacked me on the spot. I defeated it after a bitter struggle but didn''t kill it, requesting some answers about the scroll in the exchange for its life. I was flatly rejected and thrown out of the ruins when the Guardian activated the last layer of defense of the ruins.'' ''4th Peace Era, year 7514, 2nd month, 1st day. I managed to decipher the whole scroll but the formation inside couldn''t be cast by me, I was inadequate and the materials are too extravagant. The formation is a defensive one, highly-effective against anyone that attacks it from outside. It has three functions, the first it to completely defend whatever is inside of it, the second one is absolute isolation from the rest of the world. Upon further research, I discovered that most of the secret Realms and worlds out there have a similar formation that prevents people from finding them unless a set of requirements is met or if it''s destroyed by brute force, which is a very rare occurrence. The third function only applies if one material is added before it is cast, the heart of a fully mature Space Dragon. If the heart is added then the formation becomes able to send whatever is inside of it in the past, the time they are sent to can be adjusted, however, the downside is that they cannot go back, once you go, then there''s no return. I was unable to believe this even after spending five thousand years deciphering this scroll, playing with time is always dangerous and to send back people or worlds in time goes against the balance........'' Arthur stared at these words then looked down at the blank pages with confusion. Zodiak''s notes were always complete but this one seemed to be missing some part of it. He wondered about this since the first time he saw it and tried injecting Dark Magic into the paper or do different things but no words appeared as per his expectations. Curious, Arthur asked his copy ''Is traveling back in time really possible?'' He heard a chuckle resound inside of his ears which was soon followed by his copy''s voice "Why? Do you want to try it? Maybe fix some past mistakes or avoid being kidnaped?" ''No, I know it''s not that easy to distort what happened.'' "...''not that easy''? More like impossible. You can''t change the past, the consequences will lead to things you can''t even imagine. First of all, Time Wraiths won''t let you off once you break the balance and travel back." ''Time Wraiths? Then why didn''t Zodiak mention them?'' "That''s because he didn''t literally travel back in time. His consciousness was sent back and although he acquired the scroll, he didn''t affect what happened in the past. Time Wraiths will chase after you if you travel back in time with your body, consciousness, soul, and everything else. Don''t you know the Butterfly Effect?" ''I know it but what if you''re able to get rid of the Time Wraiths?'' "Not possible." The copy''s reply was immediate and confident as if he was certain such a thing can never happen. ''How can you be so sure? What if it was Death itself, or the Joker, for example.'' "Look, you''re misunderstanding something. These people are unimaginably strong and perhaps have no equals, but there''s a big difference between existing beings and non-existing things. Death exists, has a form, a beginning, and an end but things like Time, or Time Wraiths which are born from the former, are not materialistic things, they are Laws that make the Multiverse. Unchanged Laws that cannot be broken." Arthur kept his silence for a few seconds before he retorted ''You still haven''t answered my question.'' Right after that, he heard a long sigh come out of his copy''s mouth. "No, they can''t get rid of the Time Wraiths. To begin with, they won''t try to travel in time, they are wise enough to understand there''s nothing good from doing that. And if by chance, they attempt to do so, then they must be prepared to cease existing as Time is an unforgiving thing." Chapter 319 - 272 : Not Worthy Arthur for coming to Astria today, the first was to show Josef the truth and try to figure out about the chip. The second is simple but necessary to do his vengeance the way he wants it to be. Anastassia, who was away for a short while to take care of a few things related to the sect, came back with Robin, who greeted him and hurried over to Lucy. He motioned for the Vice-leader to come and said with a low voice that only the two of them could hear "I wanted to inquire you about something?" Anastassia frowned and answered "Yes, what do you want to know?" Without beating around the bush, Arthur bluntly asked "Do you know any expert torturer?" The woman''s frown deepened and after pondering for a few seconds, she replied "We have a few of them in our sect but they aren''t exactly torturer. They are just proficient at extracting information from their victims." Hearing this, Arthur shook his head and added: "No, I''m searching for a good one. Of course, I need him to be blind and deaf when needed to, he just needs to obey Arthur and ask no questions." Arthur wasn''t going to let off his target off easy, most of the main ones will, without a doubt, receive inhuman torture. He didn''t care if it''s an evil act or not, it''s something that needs to be done and having a veteran torturer will make things more...pleasurable. "If I''m not mistaken, that boy is good at things like that, or at least, used to be." She glanced at Rey, who was accompanying Robin and silently munching on the delicious food. He was part of an evil black mage cult that experimented on humans and from what Anastassia had investigated, she found out that he did such things in the past when ordered to. "Is that so~~~" Akin to a hunter finding his prey, Arthur gazed at the little boy with an interested gaze. Having one of his own do the job is better than finding an outsider. Rey, the person in question, felt Arthur''s strange gaze and turned his head to stare back at him only to feel uncomfortable and shift his eyes away, acting as if he noticed nothing. Unfortunately, Arthur wasn''t going to do the same and ignore him. He thanked Anastassia and called for Rey, who''s back shuddered when he heard Arthur calling him by his name. He did his best to delay his response, however, he knew that sooner or later, he''ll have to face this man. In all honesty, he didn''t hold any favorable impression of Arthur, the person who captured him. He even feared him, the man seemed like a real demon, his mere gaze caused him to feel the chills. ''Tch! How come a woman like her married such a devil!'' Rey inwardly cursed Arthur and walked up to the latter while trying to keep up a tough front as to not feel intimidated. Arthur was softly smiling as he watched the boy''s figure stroll toward him. He signaled for the youth to sit next to him then handed him some of the delicious white cake near him. Such actions can only be considered as friendly, however, Rey was inexplicably feeling uneasiness as if this is a bad omen that cannot be avoided. "You enjoying your time here?" Arthur nonchalantly asked as he munched on an apple. "Yes." The boy didn''t try to lengthen his reply and gave a short but quick answer. He knew that this is only the appetizer for what''s about to come. "I see that you became a bit stronger but at this pace, everyone will surpass you. You''re still young and it''s the perfect time to build a solid foundation for yourself, don''t you agree?" "...." Rey gave no response and merely stared back at Arthur, who had a sly grin hanging on his face. As he heard no response, Arthur continued his speech "I can give you an opportunity to become much stronger but grasping it is up to you." Rey maintained his silence for a bit more before speaking "What''s the catch?" Arthur laughed and stated "Obviously, nothing is free in this life. I heard you had quite the amazing ''job'' before I found you, I want you to use your skills in that field." Rey furrowed his brows and tilted his head in confusion, unable to understand the meaning behind his words. "What do you mean?" "Simple, I want you to torture a few people for me. Quite easy, right? The simplicity of the task doesn''t match the reward I''ll give you but I''m still willing to hire you." The boy''s eyes narrowed for a second before they returned to normal. He had tried his best to forget about his dark past and aim for a brighter path which is why he had such a reaction. Arthur patted the youth''s shoulder and calmed him down by saying "Of course, this will be a secret between us. Nobody needs to know." As he uttered those words, Arthur glanced at Robin, who was busy chatting with the other girls. She begged him to spare the boy in the past and did her best to raise him into a rightful young man. Unfortunately, it''s not that easy when Rey passed most of his childhood near the lunatic black mages, who only care about their magic and experiments. "I refuse." Rey flatly rejected without batting an eye. Sure, he was promised a good reward but he wanted to forget about his past and move forward. Bringing back past memories and torturing people will only bring back his old nature, which he worked hard to contain. Arthur wasn''t dejected when hearing such a reply. He tapped his finger on the table and added: "Are you sure? This is a one-time offer." "Yes." A long sigh came out of Arthur''s mouth. "You know, I''m just curious. What were your contributions to Robin since the time I captured you?" Due to the sudden question and his inability to answer it even when he was given a few seconds to think, Rey could only give a long silence as his answer. "What? Nothing, seriously?" Arthur feigned a dumbfounded look as he looked at Rey. "I protect her from any danger." Rey finally gave a resolute answer but was immediately retorted by Arthur "Really now? Protect? From what danger? To be honest, I can''t see you protecting her. Will you perhaps use your Blood Magic or your superior physique? In my eyes, your power is inferior to an ant''s. Believe it or not, my daughter, who''s younger than you, is ten times stronger than you, if not more." Rey became triggered as his face became red from anger and embarrassment but he still remained calm and didn''t throw a ruckus. However, his glare became savage as it was pointed toward Arthur, the cause of his anger. "S, Shut up!" Arthur ignored him and resumed "What are you stuttering for? I say it''s because you know that my words are true. Heck! you won''t be able to protect yourself, much less a person you hold dear. Stop kidding yourself and open your eyes." Arthur paused for a second and then continued: "Basically, you''re not worthy to protect her yet. I know you want to change and forget about your sins and that is understandable. However, forgetting isn''t the right way to go. You must overcome it, I''m not asking you to feel proud about you did nor am I forcing you to torture people when you don''t want, I just want you to understand that power comes at a cost. You claim to protect but you''re simply blinded, trying to avoid your retribution by doing some good deeds and playing the nice little kid to appeal to others. Perhaps Robin is a fool to think there''s hope for you... but she does." Arthur spared the boy no more glances, he finished the apple and left after saying the lost final words "Think on that, boy." Chapter 320 - 273 : omitted After a bit more than two hours, Arthur went to Earth accompanied by Lucy, Josef, Sonia, and Mary, who decided to tag along and experience the life in an advanced world. By the time they arrived there and appeared in their apartment, Saly and Lolitta were already there. The human AI was still busy inspecting the capsule with a serious look on her face while Saly meditating silently. Though, the meditation was cut short when Arthur and co arrived. The little girl happily greeted the new guest and threw herself in her father''s arms with a sweet smile hanging on her face. "Daddy! When are we going Dragon-hunting? You promised yesterday." Indeed, Arthur promised the little girl to take her to one of the dungeons on Earth and let her hunt a dragon. Since Randuin intervened last time, she couldn''t fulfill her wish which is why she pleaded him to take her instead. While softly caressing her fluffy ears, Arthur chuckled and answered: "Don''t worry your mother and I will take you at night. We still have a little matter to attend to then we''ll go, alright?" "En!" Saly nodded her head and snuggled closer to Arthur. Although she passed most of her time with him yesterday, she was still missing him. The apartment became a bit crowded with the addition of three people so Lucy decided to move to another place, more spacious and comfortable. Sonia and Mary were fascinated as they stared at the TV with a dumbfounded look. Their eyes were glued on the moving images and their quality. Sucha technology didn''t exist on Astria, their expressions deepened when they saw the skyscrapers beyond the windows. Although Lucy very much wanted to accompany them, she didn''t as going with Arthur was more important. For the next hour or so, the group chatted about various things. Saly showed her superior knowledge about Earth to the two ladies while Arthur closed his eyes and sat cross-legged as he was searching for a specific location on Earth which was a bit hard to find even with his current stats and Realm. Miya was absent as had matters to attend to today while Delia was still engrossed in cultivating the Holy Art Chapters. She didn''t come out of her room since the second Arthur handed her that book. It was only after 90 minutes did Arthur open his eyes at last. Earth wasn''t big compared to Astria but to search for a place that he had a vague memory of, still took more time than expected. Nonetheless, his search bore fruit and he found what he was looking for. As he slowly got up from the ground, Lucy walked up to him and asked: "Did you find it?" "Yes, well-hidden, I must say." After informing the others, Arthur teleported himself and Lucy far from their apartment. A second later, the couple found themselves inside a dark and cold place. It resembled a medium-sized toilet but it was very old and the stench was nauseating, to say the least. Blood marks were all over the place and at the very center of this godforsaken room was a metal chair that had countless thin bronze threads wrapped around it. As he gazed at this place, especially the chair, Arthur''s gazed wavered for a second before it quickly recovered when Lucy held his hand. "Now that we''ve reached this far. Let''s start devising new ways of bringing our enemies to sudden, gagging, writhing, agonizing deaths." Lucy knew what was on her husband''s mind and instead of calming him down, she decided to utter those words as it''s the words he would like to hear the most right now. "You know, although it''s been a long time, I still remember those memories more clearly than ever before. The pain and suffering, in the past, I considered those to be unfair punishment coming from the Gods but right now, I don''t think that''s the case. Rather than punishment, I consider it to be a blessing that allowed me to change and meet you. Now that vengeance is at hand, I''m barely able to hold back my excitement, the things I''m going to do to them, no devil will be able to do the same." His tone was calm and his face didn''t have any kind of evil expression whatsoever. It actually had a peaceful smile that is rarely shown. He wrapped his arms around Lucy and tightly hugged her while adding "Please help me overcome this final obstacle." "En! I''m always by your side." .... A while later, the husband and wife were staring at a jet black list that was floating mid-air. On it was exactly five names, they were the main perpetrators behind Arthur''s kidnapping. There are a few more unmentioned individuals but compared to those five, they weren''t equally important, just like the ex-mercenary group that was annihilated by Arthur. "So, who''s first?" Lucy asked Arthur, who shook his head and replied "There is another person who needs to be killed first. A person foolish enough to show his face to me and enjoy his time torturing me." ........... An African man was holding a long whip filled with small but dangerous-looking nails on it, was viciously whipping a chained man. A devilish grin was hanging on his face as he was using all his strength to hit all parts of his victim''s body. He would moan every now and then from excitement. From the way he only hit fragile parts which will hurt like hell when hit, it was apparent that he was a veteran in this field and to make matters worse, he was an extreme sadist. "How do you like that? *Whip* Ah! Isn''t exhilarating to receive the end of my lovely whip! Come on, say something my cute doll!" After spending more than fifteen minutes whipping the unresponsive victim. The man switched his torture tool. He took out three-inch long nails that were thicker than the usual ones and squatted in front of his victim then said "I have never enjoyed my job more than right now. The feeling is heavenly! I always wanted to play with one of you, those filthy rich bastards who look down on everybody!" "P-please s,stop...*cough* *cough*" The chained man tried to talk but he was badly injured and every time he forced his lips to move, mouthfuls of blood will follow. It was a miserable scene but the African man seemed to enjoy this sight very much. "I, I w-wi....wil" Unfortunately, the man couldn''t maintain his consciousness, much less talk. He didn''t even finish his word before his head became dizzy, obviously about to faint again. The torturer wasn''t going to let that happen. He held one of the needs and without hesitation, stabbed under one of the nails of the victim''s stretched and bound hand. It is said that specific location is connected to one of the main nerves so the pain was truly agonizing, enough for the poor victim to sober up and yell loudly. It''s a shame though, nobody was going to hear his pitiful yells, apart from the demon in front of him. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" He kept wailing as the African main stabbed the needle even deeper until the yelling became hoarse. However, the torturer wasn''t going to stop, he grabbed another needle and proceeded to stab another finger. ....... A few days later, the type of torture changed. The African man stabbed part of the chained man''s thigh, which caused massive amounts of blood to gush out. Obviously, this wasn''t the end. After doing so, he placed some weird looking mix of food and something else on the wound then happily retrieved a plastic container and took out disgusting looking worms from it. With a red face that indicated his excitement and while ignoring the sad shouts of his victim, he placed the worms on the wound and left the room after making sure the worms were eating the food and the flesh, making the wound look more horrible. After approximately twenty-four hours, the infection spread and the victim''s thigh became a mix of disgusting flesh and blood. It no longer looked like a thigh but a bulging mass of flesh that could make anyone vomit upon a single glance. The chained man was vomiting blood and some white liquid that had a foul stench, there was even a mix of living and dead worms in that vomit. And due to his position he was put into, his vomit landed on the injured thigh-injury. Chapter 321 - 274 : Jack O Lantern After doing some hotfixes to this gloomy place such as laying down various torture tools, cleaning up some of the mess and turning it into a more appropriate torture room, he left the place with Lucy. The sun had already fallen and darkness cloaked the sky. Once he returned, Mary and Sonia left with Miya, who was going to show them around the city. Taliya was nowhere to be seen, which only left Saly, who was currently playing with Astrith in the living room. Once she noticed her parents'' return, she gave one final hug to the big wolf and darted toward Arthur with an eager look and expecting eyes. The father didn''t let her down as he patted her head and nodded his head, indicating that he''ll take her dragon-hunting in just a moment. With nothing important to do, the trio left the place and with the help of Arthur''s Space Magic, appeared in what seemed to be a high-level dungeon. It took him a few seconds to find an appropriate place where there''s a living dragon, which is not too weak nor too overpowered for his daughter. With both Lucy and Arthur with her, Astrith decided to take a small nap, as for the invisible Raduin, he was also missing too. From what Arthur heard, the lizard followed Taliya to take care of some business, as to what that is, he was in the dark but it''s not like he cared much about what they''ll do, that is, unless they do something that is too attention-grabbing. Saly excitedly surveyed the surroundings, the temperature was unusually high and there were lava pits scattered all over the place. Obviously, Arthur teleported them directly to the boss room as it''s a hassle to climb it the normal way. He knew Saly wouldn''t want to do that too and yearned for a good fight without having to waste a lot of time taking care of small fries. This dungeon was situated in the middle of Algeria''s desert, North of Africa. There were no signs of humans in the lower floors, moreover, it was infested with high-leveled monsters which only means that it''s still an undiscovered dungeon. It was hidden underground and so it''s rather unlikely for the monsters to be able to escape and attack the humans on the surface, however, Arthur sensed worm-like creatures that are able to drill through the hard earth and arrive at the surface but since their Level is too low, he didn''t pay them much attention. Now that he thought about it, these worms were a bit similar to the ones that exist on the Western Continent of Astria, though they were weaker. It reminded him of the first time Jackob, who was incredibly weak back then. Arthur and Lucy stood at the back and carefully watched Saly, who equipped two yellow gauntlets that were flashing with an orange light. The little girl''s eyes shone as they stared at the big figure laying at the center of the room. It has a big body, red scales covering it and two wings that had a length of 15m. This was a mature Fire Dragon, it looked incredibly threatening and any unexperienced Hero would escape the moment he/she sees this monstrosity. However, the beastmen kid did not do such a thing, she buffed herself using her skills then leaped at the sleeping dragon, who didn''t seem to notice their presence. The Fire Dragon was Lv661 but their Race should not be judged by their Lv. It wouldn''t be a surprise if it can match a person at the Spirit Realm, nonetheless, Arthur had confidence in his daughter''s strength. Despite not reaching the Spirit Realm, she had an arsenal of powerful skills and she was proficient in Earth Magic, which made her defenses almost impenetrable by people and with two powerhouses protecting her, there is no way she''ll suffer fatal injuries. ... The fight lasted forty-minutes and in more than one occasion, Lucy was about to intervene only to be stopped by Arthur, who kept telling her that Saly needs to get used to dangerous situations if she ever wants to get stronger. Being always protected will not allow her to unleash her full potential. Although he kept getting deathly glares from Lucy, she still listened to his words and backed off. He could see that she was barely containing herself when she saw the cut and burn marks appearing all over Saly''s body but it''s for their daughter''s sake so they had to hold themselves back. Such injuries could be healed in a few minutes with the help of his potions so there was no need to worry, moreover, the dragon was in a much worse as his tail was broken and half of his scales were smashed into pieces. Saly stood with a triumphant pose on the corpse of the dragon, she happily jumped as she giggled and pointed at the deceased dragon while puffing her chest in front of her parents. ....... Although it was called The Death Region, it was the smallest out of the eighteen Regions. It was practically deserted and no one dares to trespass for fear of being killed. This Region is devoid of living beings and is really one huge graveyard with a few Dark Knights guarding it. Even though they are mere Death Knights, their strength is out of the norm, even the Tall Empress, who finally managed to obtain the chance to come here, was cautious around them. She can take care of them individually but if they gang up on her then it''ll her end within two minutes at most. The place was littered with graves, some had a normal size while others spanned for tens of miles, it wasn''t a sight you''ll see every day. No matter how long she walked, the Water Empress didn''t arrive at her destination, it''s as if she was stuck in some kind of loop despite the ever-change environment. As she had a special pass, the Death Knights didn''t bother her and kept guarding specific graves. Only after a whole week did she stumble upon a new kind of ''enemies''. It was a floating Jack O Lantern with a torch in its illusory hands. The woman wanted to avoid it but the floating creepy face floated toward her with a very slow pace yet managing to reach her within a split second. Dumbfounded, the Empress remained standing there, unable to do anything unusual like attacking it as it will only cause the nearby Dark Knights to attack her too. "Kakakakakakak, a lost traveler!" She maintained her silence and stared at this thing with wariness. Honestly, she wanted to bypass but didn''t have the courage to do so. It''s strange for an Empress like her, who rules over a whole region and is worshipped and feared by countless people, to act like this, however, in this foreign territory where every living being or dead one she stumbles upon has a power that almost matches her cultivation. No wonder this place isn''t frequently visited by the common people. "Kakkakakaka, what are you seeking in this lost land? K-kakakaka" The woman hesitated for a few seconds before replying "I''m searching for clues." Although the dark-haired youth told her to come here, he didn''t specify where exactly in the Death Region. So, even without having a clear destination, she still decided to come here and search every corner until she finds something worthwhile. "Kakakaka this isn''t a place for sightseeing kakakakaka" "I''m not sightseeing, this is an important matter." The eyes of the Jack O Lantern shone with two green flames as it laughed in a very weird manner "Kakakakaka It''s the same thing. This is the resting place for the dead kakakakaka, it''s forbidden for living beings to come here. Kakakakak you''re only allowed in this place thanks to your special pass you have on you." From the looks of it, this Jack O Lantern wasn''t going to let her roam this place forever. She couldn''t find the right words to convince it and from the way it speaks, it didn''t seem to view her in a positive way, probably because she''s a living person, or so she thought. A long silence prevailed the place until the floating Jack O Lantern spoke again "Kakakaka I''m a guide so you tell me where you want to go and I will take you there. Kakakakak, you must hurry, the special pass won''t last forever." "Where can you take me?" "Kakakakak three choices. The Grand Tomb, the Lost Palace, and out of the Death Region. Kakakaka, think carefully as I will only guide you one time for free, the second one will be costly." The Empress inwardly clicked her tongue. From the time she spent here, she knew that there must be some mechanism or illusion formation to disorientate unwelcome visitors, which is why this Jack O Lantern offered to guide her out of this place. This can only mean that leaving isn''t as easy as entering. She pondered for a few seconds before resolutely answering "Take me to the Lost Palace!" The green flames inside its eyesockets shone brighter, it turned around and said "Kakakaka follow me." The Jack O Lantern flew away and the Water Empress followed right after while doing her best to match the guide''s speed. Due to the type of this place and the heavy Death Energy, flying is harder than outside. Moreover, when she tried flying a week ago, when she just entered this graveyard, the Dark Knight seemed to be on the verge of attacking her, especially if she flew above the tombs they are guarding. Chapter 322 - 275 : Joy By the time the three of them got back home, it was almost midnight. Arthur took Saly to a few more dungeons where she demonstrated her full power and managed to gain some levels and experiences at the same time. The night was supposed to end but Arthur had one final errand before it was time for sleep. He left Saly with Lucy for some time as he opened a portal and traveled to Astria, more precisely, to Rey''s room. Previously, he left without receiving an answer from the sly kid and that''s to leave him some time to think about it. Obviously, he wasn''t going to let him ponder over such a matter forever, a day is more than enough to sort out his thoughts and make a decision, that could potentially change his future, if it''s grasped, that is. In the dark room, where there''s nothing but a few decorations, a simple yet comfortable bed, and a normal desk, there was a lone and short figure standing at the center. The boy was absent-minded as he dazedly stared at the wall facing him with a blank expression. Unlike past occasions, Rey wasn''t scared or startled by the sudden appearance of the grey-haired man, who under the moonlight, his pupil pulsed with a mysterious silver light. "I have come to hear your decision, Rey." Arthur cut through the case and demanded an answer. Lucy and Saly are waiting for him back home, moreover, it''s meaningless to waste time with pleasantries and such with this kid. "Sure." The boy only said one word but his tone confirmed his resoluteness. "I will do it but only on one condition." "Which is?" "I don''t want Robin to ever know about this." He looked at Arthur straight in the eyes and faced him while showing a deadpan expression, trying to hide his emotions but his voice betrayed him as it clearly showed worry and restlessness. "I already stated that this is a secret between us. Apart from my Lucy, my wife, no one else will know, you have my word." Arthur stretched his hand while saying these words, he didn''t treat Rey as a kid but as an equal. With all that this little man experienced, he had long since matured, he just doesn''t show it in front of Robin. The two shook hands and after that, Arthur created a Spatial Tunnel, taking Rey with him to Earth. ... Upon arriving on the apartment, they found it unusually empty. There was only Lucy, who was patiently waiting for Arthur. Once she sensed their arrival, she lightly nodded to Rey as a form of greeting then walked up to Arthur and said "We will be changing homes. This place is too small for us to live in, the preparations are complete and the rest have already moved there, the only ones left are you and me." Arthur knew that they''ll be moving but he didn''t think it''ll be that fast. Lucy told Arthur the exact location of their home and with a swift use of Space Magic, the couple accompanied by Rey, who was unusually silent, appeared at the entrance of a grand villa with a large garden and a wide path for cars and such. Such a place would cost a fortune but money was never a problem for Lucy, who has more than a sufficient amount of Gold to make all the wealthy people on Earth ashamed. This place was remote and didn''t have all the inconveniences of living in the center of a capital. The air is refreshing and Astrith would definitely find it more comfortable living in this large villa. It had more than enough rooms to house all of them while still having some left and the garden is perfect for Lucy, who loves flowers in general. In fact, she already had a beautiful collection in the apartment, unfortunately, since the place was small, she couldn''t infinitely grow them. As they entered their new home, Arthur noticed that the place was clean, no specks of dust whatsoever. The furniture was luxurious and well designed as well as well-placed so to not make moving around uncomfortable. The trio headed for a big room which had a very long table that had countless delicacies on it. All the members were present and although it was past the time for dinner, they still waited for Arthur and co. Taliya was laying the dishes with Miya helping her. Saly was gulping saliva as she sat on her chair and stared at the food with big eyes. She barely could contain herself as her wail was wagging nonstop. Even Delia, who secluded herself since the second he handed her Rozak''s book, was present. She appeared more composed as she laid back on the chair and read a book. Lolitta''s head faced a TV that was hanging on the wall, she was engrossed in what was being shown without a care in the world about what''s happening around her. However, her hands were still fiddling with the capsule though it didn''t seem she''s inspecting it. Astrith and the undead lizard were missing, Gutcha still hasn''t returned too but knowing him, he surely managed to blend in with the humans. After caressing Saly''s soft head and praising her for what she did earlier thus making the latter giggle, they all got seated around the table with Arthur taking the head position and Lucy standing on his left while Saly on his right. All food was served, everybody was properly introduced to each other so all that was left is to enjoy this magnificent feast, which didn''t betray one''s eyes and was delicious. They didn''t talk about anything serious, laughter resounded in this habited villa as they enjoyed their peaceful knight, with wine served and happiness shared, it was, truly, a joyous sight to behold. For Arthur, this was a sight that he surely would not forget. A night of joy, one without sorrow or sadness, anger or rage. ... Inside the ARK, sitting on a simple table while sipping some tea, the copy stared at this sight through Arthur''s eyes and let out a deep and emotional sigh ''Oh Arthur... If you want to see the sunshine, you have to weather the storm. What awaits you is a mystery for me but... Fate never forgives and although it is harsh, it is also fair. A bit sweetness isn''t enough to drive away the bitterness of the past...'' Chapter 323 - 276 : Torture Author''s note; BE WARNED, there''s excessive gore in this chapter(well, more to come). *********************************** Morning of the next day, after urging little Saly to go to school to gain some basic education, Arthur and Lucy left the new villa along with Rey. The kid wasn''t rebellious when Lucy was present, he met her not long ago and was intimidated by her presence. She seemed like the indifferent and cold type and from what he heard from Robin and the others, she is a fierce a woman, one that shouldn''t be provoked if necessary, which is why he kept a polite and silent attitude. They brought the kid to the chamber Arthur prepared. It was in the middle of nowhere, all the torture equipment was prepared and the everything was ready, the only thing that was lacking inside this room is a proper expert to use such notorious materiels. "This is the place where you''ll operate from now on. I brought here because you''re an expert in this field, if you do it half-heartedly or quit mid-way then don''t expect a reward but a punishment. Remember, this isn''t a game." "Such a thing will never happen, I will carry my job as promised." Rey uttered those words then went over to the corner of the room to check the work materials with a bit of excitement. There were many things he never saw on Astria, he inspected them one by one then thought about the type of pain and damage they can do. "Is it the torturer''s turn?" Lucy asked the silent Arthur, who spread his sense and spent some time finding his next target. He nodded his heard and answered "Yes, but today is a very busy day for us, it won''t be just the torturer, there will be two others as well." "En! Want me to go fetch the others while you take care of the torturer." Arthur agreed and told her the details of the two other individuals, their appearance, location, and names. In terms of importance, they were above the torturer, however, the reason he focused on the latter is due to what that mad man had done to him. What he suffered, he''ll pay it back a thousand times over; .... Arthur arrived in an abandoned factory situated in New York. The place was eery and cold, it reeked of the smell of piss and blood, which made it nauseating. As he smelt this stench, Arthur smiled and thought to himself ''He still likes working in such disgusting places, isn''t that wonderful?'' He walked up to what seemed to be a locked door leading underground and broke it then calmly proceeded downwards. After walking for a few minutes, he started hearing loud screams that were unpleasant to the ears, to say the least. There was a mix of painful wailing and evil laughter in those loud cries, which would bring goosebumps to whoever hears them. Arthur only stopped walking when he faced a thick metal door that was blocking his way. The cries he was hearing became clearer and the smell became worse. Unhesitantly, Arthur tapped the door with his finger while applying more strength than necessary. The metal door bent in a weird way and broke thus alerting the two people inside the room. The first one to react was a tall African man who was wearing a weird grey robe and holding a large pair of silver scissors that were dyed with blood. Sitting right in front of the African man was a middle-aged man who was groaning and in a half-conscious state, he had a dead look in his eyes and was missing a whole arm. Since Arthur transformed into his appearance into the old one, the African man seemed to have recognized him almost immediately. It took him some time before he snapped out of it, however, he didn''t mutter anything and stood there, flabbergasted as he stared at the man standing at the entrance of this room. His body flenched once he glanced at the broken metal door which no longer resembled a door but a cluster of metal. "Long time no see." Arthur casually said those words as a large dark hand that was even bigger than the African man, appeared out of nowhere and grasped its victim, immobilizing him and crushing several of his bones in one-go. The African man, who was looked a bit older than the past, yelled loudly as he tried struggling but to no avail, the dark hand that was binding him wasn''t something he could resist. Arthur didn''t waste time as he teleported from that place after giving a single glance to the poor victim, who seemed to be on the brink of death. From the state of the victim, it was obvious that he was tortured for a long time and his condition was severe. The reason he was still alive was because the torturer used Healing Potion to prolonge his victim''s life. Now that the System appeared on Earth, torturing became way better as it became easier to cause fatal damage yet still heal them thanks to the potion. After Arthur and the torturer left, the poor middle-aged man, who was groaning from agony, stopped breathing and his eyes became lifeless, this time, he died for sure. .... In the room Arthur prepared, there laid the African man who was holding his broken arm and trembling on the ground. He stared at Arthur then at the boy standing closer to him, unlike the fearful look he had when looking at Arthur, he didn''t seem to be afraid of Rey. Using basic telepathy, Arthur described to him what needs to be done. Of course, if Rey had more creative ways of torture then he''s more than welcome to try them. He also passed the boy a small storage ring that was filled with High-Tier Health Potions. They were superior to the ones the African man used but he warned Rey to only use them when the victim is really going to die. After finishing the preparation was ready, Arthur retrieved a comfortable chair from sat on it as he faced the African man who was already sitting on the metal chair with tight binds holding down all his limbs. "D-don''t expect me to apologize. It was my job and I did what I was ordered to do, and I enjoyed it too." Although he was feeling extreme pain and couldn''t comprehend how Arthur was alive or what was exactly going on now, the African man remained unfazed and glared at the man before him while speaking. As he listened to his captive, Arthur laughed and said "Yes yes, and I''m going to fully enjoy torturing you too. So much that I''ll not be able to sleep tonight hahahahaha" He signaled for Rey to proceed as he leaned back on the chair and watched with a grin on his face. The boy wore two clean gloves and a sky-blue blouse then picked a medium-sized hammer before he walked up to his victim with an expressionless face. "What''s your name?" With a soft voice, Rey asked the African man who was looking at him with a mocking expression "Seriously? You brought a kid to torture m-" ''SMASH'' Without any hesitation, Rey smashed the hammer on the pinky of the victim''s left hand, who was positioned perfectly on a steel plate. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH you little b-" "That''s not what I asked." Rey replied calmly and smashed the other pinky of the African man. The two pinkies disappeared, not only the bones were shattered, the whole pinky became meat paste, it was truly a gory sight. The boy wasn''t the least bit fazed by this sight, he looked coldly at his victim and repeated "What is your name?" Unfortunately, no response was heard, the African man was yelling loudly. He wasn''t used to pain, a sadist only wanted to inflict pain and see others suffer, that was only the source of pleasure for such twisted people. Rey waited ten more seconds before he raised the hammer, ready to smash it again "W-wwwwait I''ll tel-" The victim was interrupted again, the hammer was smashed at his face, causing several teeth to fly out and a fountain of blood t splatter on the metal chair and even on the floor. "Your name." Ten more seconds passed but the African man still didn''t reply as he was busy spitting blood and adjusting to the high amount of pain he was experiencing. Sadly for him, Rey wasn''t the patient or merciful type, with the hammer on his hand, he squatted down and smashed one of the foot''s fingers, leaving nothing but blood in its place. The loud wailing became hoarse as the African man could no longer shout loudly, in fact, he seemed to be on the verge of falling unconscious. Noticing this, Rey used his empty hand to tap his index finger on the forehead of the African man, leading the latter''s eyes to fully open as if he woke up from a nightmare. His body trembled uncontrollably as he looked at Rey as if he was some kind of devil. Rey made use of his Blood Magic to force his victim to remain awake while traumatizing him. "Not so tough now, huh? But this is just the beginning, so please hold on." Arthur ''encouraged'' the African man as he laid back and enjoyed what''s happening. To see his torturer suffer such a fate, it only brought joy to him. Deep inside his consciousness, the chains that were tightly wrapped around his soul were slowly but surely loosening. It was barely noticeable and the only one who discovered this occurrence is the trapped Earth Spirit living in his consciousness. Chapter 324 - 277 : The Doctor "What is your name?" The poor African man couldn''t even talk anymore yet Rey kept asking as if he''s expecting an answer. He literally pulled out his victim''s teeth one by one and even burned part of his tongue at least five times. In just an hour, the African man became a mess of blood and gore. If it continues like this then he will not resemble a human being anymore. Lucy already captured the two other guys and did as Arthur told her. They weren''t going to be tortured in the normal way, he wanted to force them to go through a special ''experience'', a traumatizing one. Lucy joined them in the room and even came up with a few torture methods that were tried on the poor victim, who couldn''t voice out his opinion and only suffer through this hell. "We''ll be leaving for a bit, you can continue." Arthur got up and left the room after he gave one final look to the African man, who had his head dropped, unable to lift it, much less talk or groan from the never-ending agony. Their next destination was a cave that Arthur dug up casually early in the morning. Apart from chains that were tied to the walls, there was nothing else. The ground was cold and even a bit wet and the place lacked any kind of light. Currently, tied to thick chains coming from the walls, there were two individuals that were facing each other. They got used to the darkness and seemed to be conversing with a bit of a shaky tone. They didn''t understand how the hell they ended up here, one second they were working or at home and the next, they found themselves bound to these chains. Lucy didn''t even show herself, for her, it was a piece of cake to capture these two people and chain them here. As long as it helps Arthur and allows him to finish his revenge then she''ll do anything. The two men, who were barely able to see each other''s figures and were mumbling in a low voice, were startled when they ears footsteps coming from the only entrance in this gloomy cave. "Who''s here?" One of the two spoke with an aged voice. He didn''t seem scared anymore and his tone was very calm. The room, which was covered with darkness, became a bit illuminated as several green fires in the form of a torch appeared all over the cave and allowed the two prisoners to be able to see clearly. The one who spoke was a very old man with no hair and a white beard. He was also wearing a white blouse which indicated that he''s either a doctor or some kind of a scientist. The other was actually a youth who appeared to be on his eighteen or nineteen years old. He was wearing an expensive tuxedo that was dirtied due to the current environment, he had handsome facial features which were distorted due to the anxiousness he was feeling right now. "Fuck! Release us you bastards... o-or you''ll regret it!" Unlike the old man, this kid was more shaken and didn''t seem relaxed, it was apparent that it''s the first time this happened to him. Well, Lucy told Arthur that this youth had three high-leveled guards protecting him, unfortunately, they weren''t that useful against her. "Welcome to your new home, I hope you find it to your liking." With a sweet smile plastered on his face, he spread his hands in a welcoming manner as he faced the two bound prisoners. Unlike the past targets, he didn''t change to his past appearance. They looked at this grey-haired man with a scar on his face, the youth furrowed his brows and started looking at Arthur head and toe. The old man, however, kept a calm attitude and a tranquil expression as if he wasn''t perturbed by the appearance of his kidnapper. "Sir, who might you be?" The old man spoke respectfully as he moved his hands, trying to do perform a formal greeting but was unable to as the chains were too short and thick to the point that even his skin reddened. "Me? No one of importance. What about you? Who are you?" Arthur feigned ignorance as he asked the old man with a curious gaze. The elderly obviously didn''t Arthur, if he didn''t know who he was then why would he kidnap him. "I am Doctor Albert Richard." His tone was a bit proud as he declared his identity. He was a well-known doctor that cured many illnesses, especially after the appearance of the System. It will come as a surprise for anyone to discover that this gentle and kind looking old man had anything to do with Arthur''s kidnapping but the reality was always hard to swallow. This old man not only made Arthur suffer, he also experimented on him. Although all of his experiments were failures back then, the pain that he caused Arthur was, more or less, worse than what the torturer did. Although he didn''t do it for pleasure but to achieve results, that didn''t mean his sins would be forgiven. Arthur wasn''t the only human he experimented on, in fact, many homeless people and such were tricked into a secret laboratory then used as lab rats only to perish miserably. As for the young man, he didn''t directly do anything to Arthur, however, he was actually Claudia''s illegitimate son. She kept him well-hidden and well-fed. Thanks to Lucy''s organization, he came to know that this teenage was raised to become a rotten human just like his mother. There have been several occasions where he sexually assaulted maids or workers, he also had many sexual fetishes that he forces many girls to do against their will, and this is only the tip of the iceberg. Arthur glanced at the young man, expecting an answer but the young man only spat at the ground and said "You''re dead meat now! I know your face!" "Oh really? You''ll have to get out of here alive first. Do you think you''re capable of doing that? Because when I see those chains... I really doubt your words." Arthur said those words and left the room, leaving an angry and scared youth and a confused old man. Their hell didn''t begin yet, after a few days of starvation, the effect would be much better. ............. Back on Astria, precisely in the territory of the MoonStar Sect, a fast meteor appeared out of nowhere and came crashing down on a deserted hill. It caused a huge disturbance and a loud explosive sound, it even alerted Anastassia and co, who were busy preparing for the upcoming wedding. Anastassia, Jackob, Sonia, and Mary rushed to where the meteor landed only to find a large crater in place of the small hill. Right at the center of the crater, inside the dust cloud that was formed due to the meteor, there was a silhouette that was dusting off his clothes while stretching his muscles. When the dust cloud cleared a bit, they could see a tall man wearing a white custom, he had a tattoo of five dark stars under his left eyes and a long dark red hair. "Ah man! Who would''ve thought those bitches were weaker than chickens! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh and why would he meddle in our fight and send me here! Fuck! I couldn''t even see his attack, fucking monster!" The man noticed the four figures standing at the corner of the crater. He lifted his head and scanned them one by one then fixed his gaze on Anastassia while smiling playfully "A strong one appears, perfect timing!" Chapter 325 - 278 : Undead Legion "Won''t she notice your absence since you''re always by her side?" Arthur asked Lucy as they relaxed in the living room of their new villa. The rest of the people were busy doing their job which left alone in this big place. "No, with the disappearance of her son, she would have more important matters than me.. but I think she''ll call me soon when she feels desperate." The two were talking about Claudia, who was currently panicking as she received a message from her son''s guards that they got attacked and the young man disappeared. "Incompetent dogs! They can''t even do one job!" Claudia banged the table as he gnashed her teeth and anger. After hanging up on the guard, she made several calls and tried to hire experts to find her son. Unfortunately, the kidnapper didn''t send her a message asking for a ransom or try to blackmail her. Although she had many enemies, almost all of them aren''t brave enough to do such a bold thing. Moreover, she kept the matter of her son private and hidden, only a few people know about such a matter As she was tapping the table with her fingers nervously and trying to come up with a solution, her office''s door was opened wide and a tall figure entered without knocking or showing any kind of respect. This man was Zalon, the famous swordmaster and the leader of the IHO. He was one of the strongest humans on Earth and his authority is undeniable. Although Claudia is one of the core members of the IHO, she was still his subordinate, which is why he behaved like that "We have got an emergency, gather your team immediately! We are departing in half an hour!" Without leaving her the time respond, he left in a hurry. The woman''s face distorted as she banged the table even harder, she wanted to retort and tell him she had important matters to attend do and after a bit of insistence, she''ll convince him but that didn''t seem it would work as he left after uttering two short sentences. Claudia''s team was actually composed of Lucy, Usui, and Rebecca, the short girl that was present at the conference a few days ago. She was a famous mage that wields Darkness Magic and is proficient at casting powerful curses. There existed another member a few years ago but he was killed by Lucy due to his foolishness. Although it caused a lot of controversies, she didn''t care about it as he got what he deserved. Claudia called Usui, who agreed to come soon, however, she wasn''t able to get hold of Lucy. This only added to her irritation, which led to her inwardly cursing Lucy. After twenty minutes, Claudia went to the meeting location and surprisingly found the masked Lucy present along with Rebecca and Usui. There were a lot of high-leveled Heroes present but in terms of fighting prowess, her team was at the top, which made her feel incredibly proud. The sad thing is, Claudia never fights and merely sits at the back and orders them to do this and that every now and then. She was only Lv89 and that was only by leeching others for experience. In terms of combat ability, any average Hero can defeat her if he has a strong enough mental resistance. Furthermore, her special skill only works on Humans, so using it on other Races is useless and would only lead to her death. "I called you multiple times, why didn''t you answer?" With an irritated tone, Claudia glared at Arthur and said. And, like every other time, Lucy raised her head and stared back at her from behind her mask while replying with an absolutely calm and indifferent voice "I was busy." Although she was the leader of the team, Claudia couldn''t control them. Lucy was a bit easier to order around as the others were too prideful to accept being told what to do, which is why she always kept Lucy close to her and monitored her movements. Even after years passed, she still doesn''t know how strong Lucy really is, but she speculated that she''s a bit stronger than Usui and Zalon combined, which makes her around Lv300 or so. She never saw her struggle in a fight or get injured, her magic is extremely fearful too. More than one time, Claudia was on the verge of planning to kill her but ended up giving up on such an idea as it would bring more harm than benefits. The team of four boarded a private jet and traveled to their destination. Zalon accompanied them and spend the time of the trip to explain what''s going on. Apparently, a dungeon filled with undead appeared in the middle of Africa. The problem was that the dungeon was overflown with monsters until they escaped it and attacked nearby cities and villages. The headcount is over ten thousand and still increasing. This legion of undead has astronomical numbers and there are even sightings of strong undead creatures such as wraiths, death knights and even bone demons. "Twenty Heroes had already perished and only seven escaped the undead legion. Their exact number is unknown but it''s definitely above twenty thousand undead and they are marching together to the North." Zalon explained the situation with a bitter tone and a serious expression. Claudia didn''t seem fazed, she harrumphed and retorted "Hmpf! What''s the matter if they are marching North, Africa is already a desolate continent since the second the System appeared. It''s the place with the most dungeons and most of them are high-leveled. Even if they march North, they can''t cross the sea so why don''t we just leave them be?" This time, it was Zalon who snapped and banged the table, breaking it in two and startling Claudia. "What nonsense are you spouting?! More than a million people are still living there, you want us just to abandon them and leave them at the mercy of the undead? You think the public to such a decision?!" Hearing this, the silent Usui chuckled and retorted "In the end, you care about the public''s opinion and the million lives trapped in there." Zalon glared at Usui but didn''t disagree, after all, what he said was the truth. Although he was called a humanitarian, he only cared about his reputation and his organization. No matter how kind he is, he won''t sacrifice his life and the life of all heroes just to save all the people in Africa. They will try to fight the undead for a while then retreat while telling the public that the undead was more than they could handle. Of course, they''ll save a good number of people to show how ''kind'' and ''courageous'' they are. ...... A few hours later, the jet landed on a deserted yet flat land that was appropriately fixed so planes could land on it. This place was literally a desert, the weather was incredibly hot and there''s nothing but mountains of sands as far as the eye could see. Zalon gave a long speech before he dispersed the teams and sent them on individual missions. Claudia''s team was tasked to go to a nearby village and remain there for a while. If the undead strikes that place, they will defend and if they are massively outnumbered, they are to quickly retreat and value their lives before anything else, or so said Zalon. Chapter 326 chapter 279 : omitted Their destination after traveling in a car for three hours. The short trip was boring and filled with silence, only Claudia kept clicking her tongue and complaining about the weather, the uncomfortable chair and so on. Rebecca minded her business and so did Usui, who, surprisingly, didn''t annoy Lucy or even talk to her. He would just glance at her from time to time but he didn''t begin a conversation for fear of being totally ignored. Accompanying the team of four was a soldier that was driving, no other reinforcement was sent with them as they would be useless in a battle again an army of undead. Unless someone had a destructive power that could defeat large groups of enemies in one sweep, they wouldn''t be able to contribute much in the upcoming fight, if the undead really strikes that town, that is. When they finally arrived, they found themselves standing in an almost deserted town. Several corpses could be seen rotten on the hot ground while others were coughing in a shadowy corner. All the people here lacked nutrition and are a few days away from their imminent death. They can''t leave the town as the closest habitable area is hours upon hours if they went on foot. Moreover, neither the military of the country, which existed no more due to the undead, or the IHO cared enough to help them leave or provide some food. ''After all, this isn''t so much different from Astria, if not worse...'' A voice rang inside Lucy''s head. It was none other than Arthur, who made use of his Racial ability to enter her body and lay dormant while simply watching what''s happening outside from her point of view. ''I don''t understand how they have the face to call themselves Heroes when they only care about money and power.'' Lucy spoke with Arthur as her team surveyed the area and camped at the only non-destroyed building in this run-down town. There were around ten or so survivors that managed to hide there after procuring a bit of water and food, though they all were skinny and fragile bodies. There were even two kids amongst those people. Unhappy with their presence, Claudia shouted at them and threatened them until they reluctantly leave, they knew that Heroes are coming and although they want help to survive, they knew pleading would do them no good as this was not the first team of Heroes that came here. Despite this fact, there was a father-daughter duo that slowly walked up to Claudia and her team and knelt before them with tears in their faces. "P-please give us a bit of food... please." With a disgusted expression, Claudia walked up to the guy and haughtily said "We didn''t come here to distribute food but to resist the undead attacks. Consider yourselves lucky that a team of Heroes came to this desolate village." The man didn''t give up yet, he banged his head near Claudia''s high heels and repeatedly begged "Please! My daughter hasn''t eaten for more than three days.. I,I beg of you!" As he saw that his begging had no effect on Claudia, he shifted his pleading to the others. The soldier that acted as a driver had a complicated look on his face, seeing that no one of the present Heroes showed a reaction to this poor duo. He hesitated for a second then took out some rations and handed them to the father, who accepted them and thanked the soldier non-stop. ''You''re feeling too, right?'' Lucy asked Arthur as she stared at the teary-eyed father. The only response she got was a cold snort from Arthur, a pitiful sight like that would make anyone sympathetic with the father-daughter duo but Lucy remained unfazed and showed an indifferent attitude. Their mission was to protect this village in case of an undead invasion, so they literally have nothing to do but wait for a few days in this harsh environment and wait for Zalon to call them back. From how fast the undead are marching, it won''t take them long to conquer this whole area so they are leaving, either way, the question is when? Quite honestly, Claudia preferred to leave without having to fight, or rather, without her team fighting as there is always the chance of suffering unexpected damage. She was a bit relieved that Lucy is present, however, even without her, Rebecca and Usui can handle themselves. One was praised as the Flame Emperor and the other was master at Darkness magic and can cast deadly curses. Compared to the old mages of Astria, people like Usui are incredibly weak. If a dragon were to show up right now, a dragon like Yamak, for example, they would suffer an instant lose. The only reason Saly triumphed over the dragon was because of her sky-high stats and the powerful skills she has in her arsenal. Moreover, she''s a beastmen, a Race known for their superior physical abilities. ...... "S-shit, what exactly is happening?" Inside Arthur''s consciousness, the Earth Spirit was shrinking in fear as the chains around the soul and the ones trapping it are twisting in a weird manner and releasing a harmful and very ominous dark fog that gave it the creeps. Even an existence as old and powerful as this spirit was feeling actual fear from this unknown fog and especially the chains, which are the source of all. The thick chains kept slowly expanding and retracting, their jet black color deepened and the clacking sound made from the chains rubbing against each other made the spirit more and more uneasy. The Earth Spirit felt safer inside its cell than outside, it cautiously shrunk its body and laid motionless, unwanting to resist the binding chains while avoiding the black fog as much as possible. Even Curtis, whose soul merged with Arthur, temporarily separated himself from the main soul and distanced himself from all the fog and chains while muttering "This is getting dangerous, I fear the worst has yet to come...." What''s more surprising is that the ARK, which had the form of a half grey half white cube, was heavily influenced by the dark fog and started turning black, its monotonous rotation became drastically faster. Inside the ARK, the place was no longer an endless white space but a mix of white and black. The ground was still white but the ''sky'' became jet black as the encroaching darkness dominated the whole place. "And I was wondering why he was so slow at cultivating.... no way!" The copy stared at the darkness while constantly cursing out loud "The Dark Anguish Technique fed off his hidden emotions and multiplied their intensity...." Unbeknownst to Arthur, a deep and scary growl resounded inside his consciousness, it made all the chains shake intensely and forced both the ARK and the Orb of the Fallen Overgods to stop rotating. "What a terrifying thing...." The copy stood up from the chair and grabbed the cube next to him while saying "Freeze all motor functions. Disable the connection, enter sustained safe mode. Also, get the fuck away from those chains." Chapter 327 - 280 : The Lost Palace On the dawn of the second day, while the team was sleeping and unaware of their surroundings, footsteps sounds could be heard from far away, there was even a huge dust cloud that was forming behind the army of the Undead which was heading their way. The only person who noticed them since the moment they stepped on this town is Lucy. It wasn''t difficult to locate the army using her sense, however, she didn''t alert the others and maintained her silence. Once the sound of the army became clearer, what was left of the survivors started panicking, screaming, and running toward the opposite direction The disturbance woke up all three members, Rebecca and Usui immediately readied themselves for battle and only Claudia took her time to slowly wake up. "I have an idea." Arthur muttered inside Lucy''s ears, as he sensed the approaching army, he was struck with a brilliant idea that would cause Claudia to feel a bit of fear for the first time in a long time. He explained to Lucy how things will go down and after confirming their next actions, she turned to Claudia and indifferently said "I''m going." Claudia acted as if she heard the wrong words, she snapped and walked up to Lucy, wanting to grab her shoulder but only managed to grab air. She angrily to stopped the ground and shouted for Lucy to come back but was only met with silence, which further irritated her. Usui followed right after, leaving only the short Rebecca to protect Claudia inside this run-down building. The army of Undead truly had a mind-numbing number. The one attacking this village is merely a small portion of the main force, however, neither Lucy nor Arthur was worried about this matter. Arthur was a fully-fledged Necromancer, with a flick of his finger, he can annihilate this army or even make it his if he were to summon a higher Undead entity to act as a temporary leader. His goal right now wasn''t to resist this army or destroy it, in fact, he was going to join it for a short while and act like one of them. Lucy hid in a small spatial dimension created by Arthur and watched as her husband left her body and possessed a tall Death Knight. The Death Knight wore a full set of jet black armor and had a two-handed axe, that was even bigger than its body, hanging on its back. "Should I get rid of the undead?" Lucy asked Arthur, who was grinning evilly as he was thinking about what''s going to happen to Claudia. "No, that isn''t our concern. Come with me and watch from the sidelines, it''s going to be fun." The silver-haired woman nodded her head and followed after Arthur while still hidden inside his Spatial Dimension. As she silently followed the Death Knight, which was making its way to where Claudia and co were, Lucy felt a strange sensation as if something was tightening around her whole consciousness. She closed her eyes and entered her consciousness only to see her God Spirit, which was a breathtaking sky-blue Lotus, was acting in a strange way. It was emitting an intense white light that covered her whole consciousness and seemed to be protecting it from something. A fourth of the Lotus was already dyed with a strange jet black color that was emitting a dark fog and making her feel uncomfortable, fortunately, the white light emanating from the God Spirit was slowly but surely getting rid of the fog and the ominous color. ''This feeling... it''s Arthur''s Dark Magic.'' Lucy spent a few more seconds as she thoroughly watched this process but still wasn''t able to fully understand the situation. Upon a closer look to her soul, which was shining brightly with a light full of vigor and energy, she saw a thin, almost unnoticeable, dark thread that was stretching from its center. The thin thread was extremely long as it stretched to the boundary of her consciousness and even went outside. This was the first time Lucy saw it but she speculated that it must be due to the Soul Bind effect between her and Arthur. Normally, Dark Magic doesn''t damage her or affect her thanks to the Soul Bind, however, this time''s case was different. The Dark Magic present in the thin thread and the dark fog was malicious, to say the least, and if not for her strong cultivation and special physique, she would have been harmed. ''I must talk with him once this matter is done.'' Honestly, Lucy wanted to tell him right now, however, she knew that he was in a hurry to carry out his revenge and it''s really important for him so she restrained herself and decided to schedule it for later. ........... "Kakakakaka, this is the Lost Palace." The floating Jack O Lantern guide finally lead the Water Empress to her destination. "Kakakakak, the rest is up to you..... kakakaka remember, stare at the dark too long and you will eventually see what isn''t there." With those last words, the guide swiftly left the place, leaving only the tall woman alone in front of a gigantic ghostly palace. It was built using grey stones and the gates were jet black, giving the whole palace a rather creepy impression, suitable for a palace inside the Death Region. After collecting her thoughts for some time, the Empress finally entered the Lost Palace with a wary expression and a cautious attitude. The guide didn''t specify whether it''s a dangerous place to trod into or not, however, it''s safe to assume it''s a dangerous place. Once she passed the main gates, which opened themselves to her as if welcoming her visit. The Empress found herself in the main garden, which was devoid of any plant or life. The only kind of plant that could be seen were black roses that were hidden in shadowy corners. The woman inspected the garden and once she ascertained that no one was there, she headed for the entrance of the main building. Unlike the first gates, these tall and black doors didn''t open when she stepped before them. She even tried showing the special pass or forcefully breaking in, nothing worked. She remembered the guide''s last words and guessed that this some kind of a riddle or a puzzle. ''stare at the dark too long and you will eventually see what isn''t there..... what did it me-ah!'' As if she realized something, the Water Empress turned her head to the jet black doors and stared at them. She kept staring for a long time until a pleasant result occurred. The doors blocking her entrance finally opened and showed her the interior of the palace, which was drastically different from the exterior. A red and clean carpet could be seen covering the whole floor, even the wide stairs leading upwards. Dark Gold statues hanging on walls or in noticeable corners and even ancient paintings that would make anyone stare at them for a few seconds due to the high-level of art they have and the image inside of them, which were extremely realistic. As she cautiously entered the Lost Palace, the woman inspected each statue but wasn''t able to recognize their meaning or the identity of the sculpted individual. However, it was a bit different with the paintings as they seemed to depict matters of the past, unfortunately, most of them were new to the Empress, who was only able to recognize two of the thirteen paintings. ''These all happened before the Hour of Creation and the Great War....'' With an expression of disbelief, the Empress did her best to imprint the paintings in her mind but wasn''t able to. Whenever she takes her eyes off a painting, she would forget about it. The first painting she recognized was of a man flying in the sky, his lone figure faced four huge Divine Beasts. The Sun was rising behind them and despite it this sight only coming from a painting, the woman felt as if she was experiencing the pressure of the Divine Beasts herself. The second painting had the same man as the first one but the aura around it was totally different. It had a very deadly and malicious aura. With the man at the front, there was a whole legion of undead marching behind him. Their eye sockets flashed with green flames as they marched in an organized manner. Three great Lich Kings, Greater Wraiths and Ghost Specters ruled the sky while Death Knights, Skeleton Kings, and Zombie Lords dominated the corrupted land. Against this unstoppable force, no one had the power nor the courage to face them, so, with heavy-sounding footsteps and loud ghostly cries, the biggest legion of Undead ever recorded in history, headed to war. Even someone as powerful as this woman wasn''t able to stare at this army for too long as she got the creeps and cold chills ran down her spines. She remembered reading about this huge event that occurred before the Hour of Creation. It even broke the balance between the powers... Chapter 328 - 281 : Omitted [Darkness Eyes]! Rebecca cast a skill that allowed her to sense nearby enemies and determine their exact number. She wasn''t strong enough to spread the range of the skill to a wide area but for the current situation, it was enough to detect the enemies and resist any ambush that may occur. Screams and battling sounds resounded in this desolate town as the undead attacked everything in their way, from people to buildings. Usui left the area and tried to follow Lucy only to be left alone, facing a large group of undead that was marching toward him. The blonde youth gritted his teeth and started throwing fireballs and powerful Fire-related skills, decimating the weak skeletons in just a few seconds, however, no matter how much he killed, even more, would appear. There were some exception which didn''t go down after the fire wave if attack. Special skeletons and zombies that wore jet black armors and wielded deadly weapons. Usui had a hard time dealing with them and was forced to use high-leveled skills that cost more Mana. "Tsk! I didn''t expect them to be this strong... it''s like they sent their main force." Amongst the many zombies and skeletons that were either being burned to death or walking on their comrades'' corpses to attack the lone enemy, there was a tall figure that could be easily spotted from afar. It had a height of over two meters and was wearing a full set of jet black armor, a two-handed axe that was longer than its holder and a presence that made all the weakling in front of it to make way for it as to not anger it. Usui guessed that this must be their leader, however, before he could unleash his powerful skill, the figure of the Death Knight suddenly disappeared and by the next second, he could only feel a cold gust of wind brush past him, leaving him in disbelief for two seconds. It was only when the army got closer to him did he finally snap out of it and retreat hastily to warn the others. ''O-only Lucy could deal with that undead but she''s missing... I have to warn the others. This is not a normal undead army...'' Unfortunately, the place Usui was fighting was a few minutes away from their temporary camp. The Death Knight arrived at the safe building, where Claudia was, in just a few seconds. The place was protected by a small barrier that Rebecca cast just in case, however, it was shattered by the sheer brute force of the charging Death Knight. The short girl was visibly shaken by the sudden appearance of the Death Knight and the destruction of her barrier. She, Claudia stared at the tall undead with wide-open eyes. They had the System and, normally, they are able to see the Lv of their enemy above their head, however, this time was vastly different. Death Knight : ????? "W-what is this?" Rebecca spoke with a shaky tone as they slowly backed away unconsciously when they faced the motionless Death Knight, which was staring back at them with its two green and flaming eyes. "R,Rebecca... DO SOMETHING!" Claudia shouted at the loli next to her, she pushed the mage to the front and repeatedly urged her to act. This place only had one entrance and the undead was blocking it, which made the matters worse. Even Dragons, the mightest Race that inhabits the current Earth, didn''t show details like with this undead. Furthermore, these two women had a vast knowledge about monsters and the System after being Heroes for a few years, which is why they immediately understood that this enemy before them is no ordinary one. It didn''t take a genius to explain to them that this was an opponent they cannot defeat. The only hope for them was Lucy, who was absent, or so thought Claudia. As Claudia wasn''t a fighter, Rebecca had to think of something to buy time for them to escape. When she came to this small town, she never thought that a calamity would befall on them, usually, it would be a simple job devoid of any real danger but with the appearance of this scary-looking knight, it didn''t appear to be that easy anymore. Sooner than later, she started regretting ever coming here and was even thinking of saving her skin and abandoning Claudia, who''s practically useless in such a dire situation. [Ball Of Darkness] An ominous ball the size of a fist appeared between the two parties, it started absorbing the light in the room and diminishing the vision of everyone inside the room except the caster. Although only a few seconds passed since the appearance of the Death Knight, thousands of thoughts rampaged inside Rebecca''s head and at last, she decided to save her skin first. To begin with, Claudia was never a good person so why should she try to save her life? That''s the excuse Rebecca came up with before using all her speed to ran at the entrance while darkness was covering the place. Unfortunately, this didn''t go as expected, the black orb lasted for two seconds before it strangely vanished into thin air thus allowing light to illuminate the place once again. This wasn''t the end, Rebecca, who was busy running toward the entrance while keeping a safe distance away from the Death Knight, was suddenly frozen in mid-air. Something was tightly binding her. Although she was a mage, her other stats weren''t that low, however, no matter how much she struggled, she couldn''t break free from whatever was immobilizing her. She tried casting spells but wasn''t able to do so.... *You have been cursed!* *You are unable to cast spells* *You have been cursed* *Your stats decrease by 25%* *Your movement speed decreases by 70%* .... A series of notifications popped in front of her, making her feel even more desperate. As she read the messages and understood that she can''t break free, Rebecca realized that this may be her final day, her eyes turned hollow and her heart started beating fast the instinctive fear of death. Arthur paid no more attention to the short mage and shifted his attention to Claudia, who backed away until her back was touching the wall. Her body was shaking and her face was extremely pale. She knew that begging would do her no good as she wasn''t facing a Human she could seduce but an Undead entity, something that couldn''t comprehend her language or show any emotions. With no one to rely on, she started retrieving different kinds of one-use items that are extremely expensive but not highly effective against powerful monsters. These items were her last hope in surviving this disaster so she started throwing them at Arthur, who was completely unaffected by these colorful items which wouldn''t harm even Saly. Slowly but surely, the Death Knight started approaching the scared woman, who would loudly shout with an angry tone each time she threw an offensive item at it. After using more than twenty items, she started noticing that not a single scratch appeared on the Undead. It was steadily making its way toward her and whatever she threw at the enemy didn''t seem to be the least bit effective. When only a distance of two steps was separating the two parties, the Death Knight looked down at the pale-faced woman, who lost her charm and was fiercely shaking in front of him, barely able to stand up, much less ran away. Arthur''s goal wasn''t to kill her, he just wanted to show her what real fear is and make her experience unimaginable pain so she doesn''t forget about him. This bitch was the vengeful type, if one were to seriously harm her pride or body, she would hold an eternal grudge and would not calm down until she successfully complete her vengeance. So, he was going to make her traumatized so that later, she wouldn''t forget about this beautiful moment. As he faced this weak woman, the undead raised his hand and seemingly slashed the air which confused Claudia, who thought that the undead was trying to communicate with her. Unfortunately, that wasn''t the case, by the next second, a fountain of blood splattered on her face, the wall, and the ground. Her whole left arm, from the shoulder all the way down, was cleanly cut using pure Sword Energy. The pain was so agonizing that Claudia started screeching loudly as she held her shoulder and started rolling the ground. To see such a prideful and arrogant woman in such a situation, it was truly an exhilarating experience for Arthur. "GAAAAAAAAAAAAH AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH YO- AAAAAAAAAAAAH" She couldn''t speak as the pain almost made her fall unconscious but she managed to stay awake by biting her tongue and glaring angrily at the Death Knight. Her eyes still held fear but the anger surpassed the former, she lost a whole arm and the disgrace she felt overwhelmed the feeling of fear. She cared about her body and image more than anything which is why such an attack caused her to became hysterical. "AAAAAAAAAAH YOU FUC-" She wailed and was about to curse only to be kicked by the Death Knight, who sent her body flying to the other side of the room. A few of her bones were broken due to that kick but what was more humiliating was the fact that the undead walked up there and pressed its foot on her head, forcing her to eat the dirt. With red eyes and eyes full of rage, the woman tried to resist and struggle away from his grasp only to be pressed even deeper into the ground. On the corner of the room, Rebecca fainted after seeing the gushing blood and the gore. She was haemophilic so such a sight was too much for her. Chapter 329 - 282 : Strangers From the sudden disappearance of her son to being tasked with such a boring mission then being this severely injured by a powerful enemy that popped out of nowhere. This day couldn''t become worse for Claudia, who was busy eating the filthy. The undead was about to finish the half-dead woman only for a white figure to appear out of nowhere and send the monster flying away until it hit the wall and ceased moving once and for all. As she struggled to sit up and see what happened, Claudia noticed the bent body of the undead and Lucy, who had her back facing her. She didn''t believe the sight in front of her and only snapped out of it when Lucy walked up to Rebecca and tapped her forehead, resulting in the short girl to wake up. After confirming the situation from Lucy''s mouth, the mage ran up to Claudia and fed her an expensive Healing Potion. Although it wouldn''t regrow her limb, it would still alleviate some of the pain and give her a bit of energy to move. The loli almost fainted again when she saw all the blood on the ground but she forcefully resisted the urge to vomit and tented to the scared and infuriated Claudia. The venomous woman didn''t angrily shout at Lucy for being or whatsoever, she was just thankful she was saved at the last second and expressed her sincere gratefulness once she was helped up by Rebecca. Lucy merely nodded her head and motioned for the duo to hurry up and leave this building as the undead army had already infested every corner of this deserted town. ........ Back at the temporary camp set up by Zalon, the soldiers and heroes were resting after a brief confrontation with the undead a few miles from there. The undead army that attacked them paled in comparison to the one that obliterated the town Claudia''s team was tasked to protect. Zalon, who had a large build and usually wielded a large two-handed sword, was panting heavily as he checked the injuries Heroes and gave orders left and right. Although the undead weren''t particularly powerful, their number was mind-numbing and after fighting them for more than a day, he started feeling exhausted. As he gazed at the stretched plains of sand mountains, he noticed three figures running with a speed that exceeded common sense. The one leading was a masked silver-woman who was too eye-catching for Zalon to not guess her identity almost immediately. Not even a minute later, the four arrived before Zalon while panting heavily, except for Lucy, of course. "The situation is dire, the undead that attacked us are large in numbers and there was even a leader amongst them!" Rebecca narrated what she witnessing while pointing at the pale-faced Claudia, who had difficulties breathing. She couldn''t run all the way here by herself so Lucy used some Magic to make her body floated while automatically following them. "Calm down first!" Zalon raised his tone as he couldn''t comprehend a single word from all the gibberish Rebecca was uttering. It was apparent that she was scared shitless from what she saw. Seeing that hearing the explanation from her wouldn''t help him, he turned his head to Usui, who was calmer than the rest. "The army was unusually powerful and there was even some kind of a commander that was leagues ahead of the rest in terms of strength. Honestly, I couldn''t even see it move...." Usui then told Zalon how the Death Knight attacked Rebecca and Claudia, how the latter lost an arm and had several of her bones broken and if not for Lucy''s intervention, the two women would have been killed quite easily. "I understand. Rest for now, we''re departing in an hour. We don''t have the resources or the manpower to face such an army and if there are more than one commander, it''ll be our doom if we stay here." ....... Back at the town where Claudia and co where, Arthur stood on the roof of the tallest building and silently gazed at the marching undead army, which stretched as far as the eye can see. Their number is way over ten thousand and amongst them, there were powerful Death Knights and even Lichs. ''It reminds me of the Lich King''s army though this one is way weaker.'' Currently, his sense was locked into a solitary and destroyed building at the Southwest of this small town. His eyes, which could see through walls and earth, were staring at two weak looking humans. They were none other than the father-daughter duo from before, the ones who were begging for food a few days ago. From the moment Arthur laid eyes on them, he instinctively knew they weren''t normal, he didn''t need [Appraisal] or his Sixth Sense to confirm such strong intuitions. Even the ever-so silent Makaze, which never reacted since it lost its other half, started emitting signals to its partner. Arthur tried asking his copy but he received no response no matter how much he tried so he tried to figure out this matter alone. The sudden appearance of the undead and these two ''humans'', it''s definitely related, or so thought Arthur. The duo was now shaking in fear as the undead passed one after another when finally, a transparent specter managed to discover them which led to monster into screeching loudly thus causing the rest of the undead to come and check this place to kill whoever is still alive. The girl was shaking with fear while the father placed here in a more hidden corner while he grasped a rusty bronze sword and prepared himself to fight the incoming enemies, however, his chances of survival are slim. With a shaking body, the father prepared himself and ran straight at the undead, which brandished its weapon, ready to slice him apart. Just when the black spear of a skeleton soldier was about to pierce the man''s throat, the time seemed to stop. Literally, the time stopped, the undead stopped moving and even the whistling air and the rising dust froze. This sudden even startled Arthur but he still kept his calm and tried to assess the situation "Heeeeeey, you are strong so why didn''t we save us?" From behind him, a sweet voice rang in his ears, however, Arthur didn''t just turn around to see who it is or have a chat with the source of the voice, he vanished from his place and appeared in front of the weak-looking girl who was floating in the air. His eyes were cold as several dark hands appeared from his back and lunged themselves at the girl, ready to rip her apart. This wasn''t the end as he unleashed a large wave of dark red flames that covered the whole area, engulfing himself and the girl in it. Unfortunately, both his attacks were useless as they passed through the girl without dealing any damage to her. The face of the girl showed a surprised expression as she looked at the dark red flames and the big dark hands that vanished from sight once they missed their target "Well well, aren''t you very powerful? Then why didn''t you save us?" Arthur didn''t reply and instead, squatted his body a bit down then violently banged both of his hands on the air, shattering it and causing the whole area to shake. This astonished the girl even further but she didn''t seem to be worried about her safety. Her astonishment only grew further when countless small mouths appeared around Arthur and started eating away the cracked space until the spell cast by her was deactivated and time finally resumed. Arthur still didn''t stop, he grasped the moment of shock the little girl was feeling to appear in front of her and stretched his hand to her neck. Before he managed to do so, his body was cut in two by an invisible thing, though that didn''t cause him to suffer any injuries since the body that was attacked was only the Dark Cloud, which briefly assumed his appearance and strength to fool the enemy. Like a creeping phantom, another Arthur appeared behind the little girl and was about to ruthlessly kick her but wasn''t able to do as he was frozen in mid-air, just like what happened to the undead a second ago. Yet again, the bound Arthur vanished into a black smoke as it too, was a shadow clone used to feign an attack. The girl was confused and turned her head left and right in panic but wasn''t able to sense his location. The situation worsened for her as a series of white thunderbolts descended from above and were about to hit her only for them to miss by a hair-width as the girl would vanish and appear a few meters away. Unfortunately, when she dodged the last thunderbolts, which scared the shit out of her as they couldn''t be frozen with time like everything else, the girl was about to breathe a sigh of relief only to feel a thick and chilling killing intent lock into her. Before she could react, she found herself immobilized as countless golden threads were wrapping around her body and a hand was grasping her neck, choking her. "What are you? Speak or die." Chapter 330 - 283 : Donst Come Back "COUGH COUGH L-LET ME G- COUGH" The girl''s face turned red as she choked due to Arthur''s firm and strong grip, which was slowly killing her. With a cold look on his face, Arthur stared at this seemingly harmless girl while his his hand, which was making contact with the other party''s skin was releasing a large amount of Dark Magic which invaded her body and started weakening her and consuming her vitality. He wasn''t satisfied with just that as he released three Detonators a third of their normal size, the creepy looking fireballs entered the girl''s chest which made her panic even more. Her screaming was futile so she started calling for help, instead "Help meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" As she requested help, a fast shadow flew straight at Arthur, however, before it could collide with him, it was sent flying far away from the village. The force behind the attack the shadow just received was truly monstrous as it disappeared from the little girl''s view and flew for a couple of miles before this individual somehow managed to stabilize his body once it crashed on the ground. "What the hell? I didn''t even see who attacked me." The man, who was supposed to be the girl''s father, touched his head then looked at his bloodied hand with a stupefied expression. As he was focused on Arthur, who surprisingly is stronger than their expectation, he wasn''t even able to sense or notice the one who attacked him. "It surely wasn-" As he lifted his head to stare at the direction of the village, his instincts alerted him of the incoming danger. Unfortunately, his reactions were just too slow as Lucy appeared before him with a very chilling and cold aura surrounding her. By the time he reacted, the thin and soft white saber of Lucy had already created three holes in his body. Just like the girl, he manipulated time and attempted to freeze it so he could retreat or counter-attack but the results were beyond his expectation. The rising dust which was supposed to freeze in mid-air due to the temporary time-stop was only frozen for half a beat before an explosive amount of Yin Energy was released from Lucy. The pure Yin Energy literally froze everything in its way, the time-stop was canceled and the whole area was turned into a snowy field. The ground was turned into ice and countless snowflakes filled the sky. The ''father'' couldn''t escape from this as ice covered his abdomen all the way to his legs and no matter how much he tried to break it, he couldn''t, especially when the enemy was standing before him with her saber only an inch away from his throat. "If I sense any reaction from you then consider yourself dead." ''Isn''t this supposed to be some backwater planet...'' The man inwardly cursed whoever led him to this place. At first, when he assessed Lucy, he discovered that she''s decently strong but at most, she''s a little Sovereign. As for Arthur, he was also a strange existence but due to his special Race, the man couldn''t see through the parasite and speculated that his power was on par with the silver-haired woman. ....... Back to Arthur and the little girl, who became more uneasy and afraid when she saw the man sent flying far away and not coming back even after a minute has passed. "Don''t expect your ''daddy'' to come to help you, he''s in a position even worse than yours." The more she stared back at this grey-haired man, the more fearful she became. His pupil which was flashing with a grey light made her feel as if it was sucking her soul out of her body. Moreover, the ominous magic that invaded her body rendered unable to use her Time manipulating abilities. As Arthur weakened his grip a bit, the little girl was able to talk properly at last. However, her face was extremely pale and her body was shaking nonstop due to the Dark magic that weakened her body and the Natural Lightning which was tightly wrapped around her heart, ready to burst it at a moment''s notice. Arthur put three precautions, the first being the detonators which will turn her into a meat paste, the second is the Dark Magic which will consume her slowly but surely. Last but not least is the vibrating Natural Lightning, currently, it''s stronger than ever and usually, it''s barely noticed by his opponents. "W-what do you want?" "What do I want? Aren''t you the one who cockily provoked me?" When she heard his response, she became flabbergasted and retorted "What!? I never provoked you! I only asked you a simple question?" Arthur sighed and said one final thing before he waved his hand, teleporting himself and his captive to where Lucy is. "I hate being looked down onto. What I hate even more is haughty people who think they are some hot shit but end up being worse than trash." ...... The man tried talking to Lucy a few times but was flatly ignored as the woman coldly stared at him and didn''t even drop her guard albeit already immobilizing him and injuring him a few times. ...... Shortly after, Arthur appeared next to Lucy with a little girl floating behind him. The frail figure was knocked unconscious as Arthur couldn''t handle her high-pitched voice and the annoying attitude. He wasn''t worried that Lucy would be overpowered, in fact, against the middle-aged man, she didn''t even need to go all out to be able to capture him alive. As he saw Arthur, the one he was supposed to hit a while ago, appear before him, the man started becoming restless, especially after seeing the little girl in such a helpless state. He was only slightly stronger than her so if she was subdued like that and in such a short amount of time then Arthur''s power is on par with this mysterious woman, if not stronger. "What did you to her?" The man tried to keep a composed expression and calmly asked Arthur, however, his voice betrayed his intentions as it was a bit shaky from the fear and anxiousness he was feeling. When he came to this planet, never did he expect to stumble upon two monsters like these two. In fact, his only goal for coming here is to lead the undead away from his home, his meeting with Arthur was purely coincidental. "I''m the one asking questions here, not the other way around." Arthur didn''t wait for the man to retort before adding "Are you the cause of the sky-rocketing number of the undead?" The man merely stared at Arthur without giving a reply. Unfortunately, neither Lucy nor Arthur were the merciful type. Arthur walked up to the girl and pressed his hand on her forehead and started pouring large amounts Dark Magic in her head. This caused the girl to forcefully wake up and start screaming loudly while trying to break free from Arthur''s hand. After hearing the girl scream for ten seconds or so, the man was forced to intervene and answer Arthur''s question "Fine fine! I''ll answer so will you stop that? Can''t you see she''s just a little girl?" Lucy snorted and Arthur grinned and shifted his attention back to the captive. His grey pupil was giving the chills to the man, who took a deep breath and said "We are the ones who brought the undead and the group that already came is but a small portion of the whole legion." Arthur remained silent for a while before he coldly said "No matter your purpose, I want you to leave this planet sooner or later. For the undead that already came here, let them be.. as for the rest, don''t bring them here. I don''t know how you got here but you''ll destroy the portal leading here and never come here or talk about what happened here." As he listened to Arthur, the man actually grinned and said "What makes you think that we''ll not bring more people if you were to release us?" Arthur had too much shit to take care of and he can''t afford to deal with an extra problem which will probably lead to many complications. With his revenge, ''X''''s monitoring and finding the materials necessary to repair Makaze. There was also the matter with Lucy''s origin, which is a thing he must uncover as it seemed to trouble her a lot. An orange fireball with a very creepy face appeared before the bound man. He stared at this detonator, which was triple his size, with a confused expression before that confusion turned into absolute dread and astonishment. That same detonator flew away from the four people until it disappeared from their view and with a signal from Arthur, who snapped his fingers. An ear-deafening explosion occurred far away but the damage caused by it still reached them. It created a humongous crater where sand kept filling it only to be burned by the remnant flames. The crater had a radius of a kilometer and the blackened ground and the dark red flames brought intense fear and chills to the man, who had his jaw wide open and his eyes filled with disbelief. "Just to be sure, I''m going to put five of them in you. Were you to try anything, trust me, they''ll explode on the spot." Arthur made sure that the five detonators that will enter the man will explode the moment anything tries to pull them out or try to destroy them. They''ll also detonate if the man or the little girl returns to Earth a second time. ...... With an ugly expression displaying on his face, the man took the unconscious little girl and left the area after promising not to return. Though they caused a huge mess by bringing this many undead, Arthur wanted to keep them to pressure the IHO and show the humans residing peacefully in their expensive homes what fear really is. Of course, he isn''t going to actively attack them, the undead is more than enough to do the job and he''ll only intervene if it''s really necessary. With nothing more to do in this place, Lucy and Arthur returned to Korea with one swift teleportation. Chapter 331 - 284 : Back to The Underworld A few days passed since the undead incident. The news spread faster than ever and in just this short period of time, the whole world became aware of the threatening undead army that almost dominated the whole continent except for South Africa, which is still standing thanks to its base. There are also a few strong Heroes that originated from there so the undead probably won''t be able to seize it any time soon, especially not after the IHO dispatched a few national Heroes to defend the capital. Lolitta still hasn''t figured out the mechanism behind that small chip and Delia was still secluding herself and trying to comprehend the Holy Arts. The days passed peacefully without any unwanted problems popping up out of nowhere. On the fourth day since Rey began torturing the captive, Arthur finally ordered him to kill the sadistic bastard once and for all. He felt no joy after spending a few days watching him suffer and cry in agony. As for the two captives that were trapped in the dark and cold cave, he hasn''t touched them and only deprived them of food. In a few more days, they''ll surely start starving for real and even hallucinating. Heck! It wouldn''t be surprising if they tried to eat each other after three or so weeks. Today was the day Arthur brought back Miya to the Underworld. He already promised her and it isn''t that hard to open a tunnel as Lolitta helped him find the exact coordinates of his destination. The only odd thing that occurred these past few days was his inability to contact his copy, he couldn''t even enter the ARK. No matter how many times he tried, he heard no response or felt no reaction. The matter became stranger when he entered his consciousness and was flabbergasted to see a thick dark fog that blocked the view and countless small and big chains that intertwined and rubbed against each other. Although it was his consciousness, he couldn''t find where his soul was and ended up going in circles so he gave up for now. He inspected his body over and over again but he found no problems and the System didn''t warn him about any curses or debuffs. "Are you ready?" Lucy spoke to Miya, who changed her outfit and readied herself to go back home at last. It''s been five long years, it may be a short time for those Gods who lived centuries but the girl was just a teenager so the period was considerably longer than it should be since she was thrown into a completely foreign environment. "Yes!" Originating from the Lightning Fox clan which is part of the alliance ruling the center of the Underworld, Miya was considered a genius and was most likely going to be the head of the clan when she reaches a certain age. Alas, after the event that happened five years ago, many treated her as a dead person since she never returned and the perpetrators were never caught. What was supposed to be a Grand Banquet to relax and see the young ones spar turned into a catastrophic fight between gods. That day was marked in the history of the Underworld and the event was named the ''Bloody Banquet''. One of the three leaders of the Alliance, red-haired Meyzu was killed. More than fifty percent of the Royal Cobra clan was annihilated and only the Lightning Fox clan suffered the least damage and only lost a young talent. If Arthur were to show up right now, it''s for certain that they''ll attack him on sight as he considered their archenemy along with Lucy. The Underworld is said to be at a far off corner of the Cloud Sea Universe but upon a closer look, it''s actually in the boundary between two Universes. The trip took longer than usual and it even made all of them a bit dizzy since the distance is way bigger than the one Arthur is used to. Arthur, Lucy, and Miya appeared on barren land with nothing but grey earth as far as the eye could see. This place was the same one Arthur and Lucy appeared on when they came to the Underworld for the first time. Honestly, Arthur wasn''t too worried about having to fight any of the leaders of the Underworld if they were to provoke him first. He had the confidence to defeat them and if Lucy joins the battle, it''ll literally be a one-sided beatdown. "Y-you don''t have to guide me all the way home. This is more than enough." Miya spoke hesitantly to Lucy as she sneaked peeks to Arthur, who was staring South with an absent-minded gaze. Unfortunately, Lucy rejected her and retorted "That won''t do. No one can guarantee your safety if you were to travel alone, especially in the Underworld where there''s experts left and right. I know you''re strong but it isn''t enough to bring you back in one piece. Moreover, we need to apologize to your Grandmother for what happened five years ago, we didn''t intend to cause such a big mess." Lucy sincerely conveyed her thoughts to Miya, who had no choice but to shyly nod her head. She lived with Lucy for five years and their relationship deepened, they can even be considered close friends, though the teenage girl considers Lucy more like a big sister. She knew that with these two accompanying her, no one is capable of stopping them. As to not alert Miya, Arthur used the [Telepathy] Skill and said ''Lucy, you can sense it too, right?'' Lucy glanced at Miya then nodded her head, she even had goosebumps and was feeling very uneasy as the terrifying aura coming from the South was just too domineering. ********************* South of the Underworld, where there''s nothing but a dark forest and a gloomy valley that is inhabited by nothing except for deadly monsters that are able to tear Gods into pieces. If you delved very deep into this dangerous valley, you''ll reach a vast and peaceful garden than no monster dares to enter. This garden was beautiful and wasn''t affected by the suffocating aura enveloping both the dark forest and the valley. Unfortunately, there was something that decreased the beauty of this garden by half. It had a mind-numbingly large body, it was so big that horrifying to the point of making both Gods and Sovereigns shake in fear. This creature, with a mulberry-colored skin and jet black claws and fangs, was silently resting its head on its front limbs and seemingly sleeping until its body shook by itself all of a sudden. The creature let out a deep grown and raised its humongous head to stare at the distance. Its ruby eyes were able to see beyond anything as there was nothing in its world it couldn''t see. Just like the other party sensed its presence, the creature also recognized the new guests. It wasn''t overly interested at first but when ''they'' locked their senses on it, it finally let out a slight reaction. This beast was none other than one of the three remaining mythical beasts, the Void Behemoth. There was a man meditating next to the Void Behemoth, when the latter raised its head and growled, the middle-aged man raised his head and frowned then softly said "Did they start fighting again?" For a while, he heard no response, that is, a small portal appeared before the two of them. This transparent portal displayed three figures standing in the middle of nowhere. They were precisely Arthur, Lucy, and Miya. The beast, which should not be able to talk, uttered a few words with difficulty "Dangerous.... man." Chapter 332 - 285 : Apology Their destination was at the center of the Underworld so, without wasting any more time enjoying the dead land, the trio entered Lucy''s Spirit Boat and rested while waiting for their short journey to end. The Spirit Boat was much slower than both Lucy and Arthur bit it''s very practical and doesn''t consume Mana or Nether Energy. It just needs to be fueled by the Red Spirit Stones. The blood red boat was like a shooting star as it bypassed all the other boats and flying beasts thus alarming the outsiders. Fortunately, no one was brave enough to provoke the owner of such a big and speedy boat, as for being ambushed by bandits, such a thing was pretty rare in the Lich King''s territory. The lightning Fox clan was part of the central alliance, which is mainly composed of humans. The city was as bustling and lively as ever. It was forbidden to fly or use Spirit Boats when entering it which is why you''ll rarely see any flying boats in the air. Arthur ignored such a rule and coated the boat using Space Magic thus making it turn invisible. With its incredible speed, it only needed a few minutes to arrive at the East of the city, where Miya''s clan was situated. Miya was fidgeting with her fingers in nervousness and excitment. She''s been away from her family for five long years and it''s finally time for the reunion. She just hoped her grandmother doesn''t misunderstand start attacking the moment she sees Arthur as it will result in very unwanted consequences. The granny is known to have a bad temper, especially when it''s related to her family, she would flare up the moment anything happens to her relatives. In the past, when Miya was kidnapped, she didn''t chase after them for fear of hurting her only family member. Miya finally stopped them when they appeared above a gigantic statue of a five-tailed fox that had lightning crackling around it. Some disciples of the clan were kneeling in worship while others studied it to try and gain enlightenment. "We''ve arrived." The trio stored the Spirit Boat and descended while still being invisible. Being seen in public would attract just too much hate from not only this clan but all the alliance. It''s better to enter unnoticed and quickly be done with this as weren''t planning to stay here for more than a day. Swiftly, the three of them bypassed all the guards and the passing elders and headed directly to the main chamber, where the Granny, who was the current Matriarch, was probably at. Indeed, as expected, in a Chinese-looking courtyard, devoid of any sound and with but a single person resting near a calm pond, Arthur spotted the old woman. Since he perfectly hid their presences with his Space Magic, it would be impossible for a person at the God Realm to discover them, much less sense their presence. The second she saw her grandmother, Miya ran up to her relative while disregarding Arthur''s prior order to not make too much noise. The girl literally shouted at the top of her lungs as she jumped at the dumbfounded grandmother, hugging her tightly. As for the old woman, she was in total disbelief even after feeling the warmth of granddaughter, who was crying while embracing her. She only reacted after a few seconds passed, while caressing the soft back of the young girl, she let out a soft smile while saying "Silly girl, a person who''s going to become a Matriarch shouldn''t cry so easily." Although she said that, the granny''s eyes were also a bit watery though she tried her best not to cry. Like this, the atmosphere remained joyful for quite some time until the granny finally noticed the presence of two additional people at her courtyard. The moment the granny''s eyes landed on Arthur and Lucy''s figures, her eyes flashed with purple light, she pushed Miya behind her and coldly said "What are you people doing here!?" Before Arthur could explain, Miya nudged her grandmother''s sleeve and said "Granny, t-they were the ones who brought me here!" If not for hearing these words from her beloved granddaughter, the old woman would never have believed them. She hesitated for a few seconds while glaring at the couple before breathing out a sigh of relief "I don''t know what were your purposes in the past but since you brought my granddaughter to me, I hold no grudge against you. However, that''s only because you never attacked my clan, if the rest of the alliance finds out you''re here then they''ll use everything they have to capture you." "You don''t have to worry about us." Arthur calmly replied as he assessed the old woman''s strength. Back in the days, he could only look at the Gods with awe as they were unreachable people, however, as he inspected this old God, he had complete confidence of winning in just one blow. That''s to be expected after spending two hundred years training and strengthening his stats. He still hasn''t even possessed the two Divine Beast corpses in his storage or else he was sure his Realm would jump over to Sovereign. Such a thing is surely beneficial but it would bring too many consequences, or so said his copy, who repeatedly warned him to only possess them when he becomes a Fusion Sovereign as it''ll be the perfect time to gain their Stats and the benefit would be much, much more abundant. "Madam, we came here to allow you to reunite with Miya and most importantly, to apologize for our past actions. We didn''t have a choice so we were forced to take Miya with us to guarantee our safety." Lucy softly bowed to the old woman, Arthur did the same albeit reluctantly. As for the other party, when she saw them act this respectfully, she was even more shocked. She could remember Arthur erasing many elders from the Royal Cobra Clan in one sweep and Lucy burning Gods left and right, it was truly a terrifying sight. For them to be acting this modestly right now was truly strange and made her feel uneasy. ............ Back on Earth, in the new villa Arthur and co started living at, Lolitta finally managed to decipher what''s inside the capsule after spending a few days wholly focusing on it. She looked haggard and her face was even a little pale. She looked at the coordinates and the message she decoded with a flabbergasted expression, only after a few minutes did she finally snap out of it. "Tt-this is impossible! How could there be two of it? And who''s the one repeatedly asking for help...." Unfortunately, neither Arthur nor anyone else will find out what the capsule is about anytime soon as Lolitta seemed to have disappeared from Earth and no matter where they searched, they couldn''t locate her. Chapter 333 - 286 : Uncertain Arthur and Lucy didn''t remain there too long to not cause the old woman to become uneasy or uncomfortable. After all, they can barely be called acquaintances and if not for Miya''s presence, who soothed things a bit, it would have been too awkward. The couple didn''t have any more important things to do in the Underworld. Although the presence at the South was still bugging Arthur, he wasn''t willing to go out of his way to provoke it as it''ll for sure bring a lot of trouble. Actually, Arthur was curious about the mysterious man who helped them five years ago, however, as per the granny''s words, he already left this high-Realm. Bai Lingyue was a middle-aged man who was respected by the leaders of the Underworld and even treated as a Senior. Although he didn''t participate in the bloody battle, he still wished to aid the couple for unknown reasons. The granny didn''t disclose too much information about him but she still said that he originates from the Azure Realm. One of the hundred most powerful High-Realms. .......... "What''s the meaning of this?! How was he kidnapped right under your fucking eyes?" Claudia snapped at the guards who were supposed to be secretly protecting him from events like this. Unfortunately, they remembered nothing about the whole matter. One second they were watching at the young master was enjoying himself in the bar and the next they were already on the ground, unable to comprehend what happened to their High Stealth skill to deactivate and how did the young master vanish into thin air. "T-the opponent was just too powerfu-" Claudia cut him off as her face reddened with anger. She already regrew her lost limb after spending an astronomical amount of money to buy the highest kind of Health Potion and one of the well-known High Priests on Earth. The anger and humiliation she suffered in her short trip were unleashed upon these two poor bastards who couldn''t stop Lucy from taking the bastard. Not only was she ridiculed and severely injured, her precious son was also kidnapped and she doesn''t even have the means to find him. It has already been a few days yet no one contacted her and her subordinates were unable to find any trace of him, which infuriated her even more. "Oh don''t spout that bullshit to me! I didn''t hire you to make such lame excuses! You are supposed to be professionals for fuck''s sake!" In a fit of anger, the woman kicked the table and flipped the chair as the two middle-aged men emotionlessly watched her without commenting. They failed their job and she has every right to scream at them like albeit being annoying. "GET OUT OF MY FACE!" She pointed at the door while shouting hysterically. She''s almost on the verge of ripping her hair from the anger. Everything was going smoothly until a few days ago, she horribly failed her mission and her son was captured out of nowhere. Just as she was busy trying to find solutions, her phone rang and upon seeing the identity of the caller, Claudia frowned and hesitated for a few seconds before picking up "Emm, Greetings CEO Josef." She and Josef were barely friends, she wasn''t able to seduce him and her unique skills failed when cast on him. Although she has seduced officials from the government and is richer than most of the people on Earth, she is still lacking compared to a few individuals, including Josef, CEO of Lobisoft. "Yes, hello Miss Claudia." Claudia inwardly cursed him for this call. She was certain that he called her because he needs something, just like everybody. In any case, she was going to politely decline as she''s busy with too many bullshit and a request from Josef wouldn''t be something easy to do or acquire. Unfortunately, her expectations were betrayed by the next words she heard. "Miss, I heard some unpleasant news regarding your long and lost relative." Claudia froze for a few seconds, unable to reply or even move her lips. Only after ten full seconds did she bite her teeth and bitterly answer "I''m not sure what you are talking about, CEO Josef." "Oh but I''m sure you do... it''s your son, after all." Ever since she gave birth to her son, Claudia made sure he never appeared public. She was certain no one knows of his existence, which is why she was so shocked when she heard Josef speak of the matter so casually. Heck! She isolated him for fifteen years and only let him see the outside when he became an adult. It was too late to regret not being more cautious so Claudia could only sigh and stop feigning ignorance as it''ll complicate things a lot more. "CEO Josef, are you trying to blackmail me?" A burst of laughter rang in her ears as Josef seemed to enjoy more than expected. "Hahahaha no no no, by all means, I''m trying to help you. More precisely, guide you toward the safest path." Still not understanding, Claudia questioned: "What do you mean?" "See, Miss Claudia, my little birds told me about a recent kidnapping. Well, it doesn''t personally concern me but I thought you may be interested." The angry woman remained silent, unable to find the right words to respond to him. She just waited for him to continue and say what he wants. "Since I''m such a generous man, I''ll give you the first piece of information for free!" Josef could hear her gritting her teeth loudly which made him even more amused. He paused for a few seconds to make her tenser then resumed "Your son is not dead, however, you should hurry up before he eats himself hahahaha" "W-wait wait!" Josef was planning to hang up and call her tomorrow to provide more information IF she was willing to pay up. He hesitated for a seconds before picking the phone again and saying "What! You''re already eager to know more?" "What do you mean eats himself? Explain yourself!" "Hahahahahhaha why should I? I''ve already done you a big favor by investigating into a dangerous matter. Of course, you''re free to report me to the authorities if you want hahahaha" The call ended with his laughter, which kept ringing inside Claudia''s head. It was fortunate her only son was still living but the situation didn''t change. She suspected Josef''s involvement but soon gave up on such speculation as he would gain nothing from her and they didn''t have any previous enmity for them to go after each other''s family. ********** "Sir, did something good happen?" The secretary of Josef, who''s usually silent and expressionless, frowned upon seeing the man laugh nonstop while staring at the windows. "Indeed, something very, very good, hahahahahah" His laughter continued for a long while before it turned into soft chuckles. Arthur requested of him to call Claudia and say this and that. It was merely to make her nervous and uneasy. She would literally think of everybody but Arthur, the husband she killed herself a few years ago. There is one more trade that occurred between him and his dear old friend. Lucy provided him with an astronomical amount of money in exchange for the chip. What''s more, it wasn''t a permanent exchange but a temporary one. He''ll keep the money even when they return the chip to its owner, or so said Arthur. Honestly, Josef trusted Arthur and he was sure that the chip will be safer in his hands so he accepted the offer almost immediately. After all he had seen, it was apparent that it isn''t a simple storage but something more dangerous. "Hey, you two, how strong do you think they are?" Obviously, Josef was talking to his ever-so-silent bodyguards, who are always standing next to him. After a long silence, the oldest one spoke with a deep voice "Uncertain. The woman seems to be as strong as the man and from their contained aura, I would say they are a league above the Goddess." The Goddess he was talking about was obviously Miya, who''s known as the strongest being alive on Earth. It''s a shame that she went back to her home.... but it''s not like anyone knows of this matter. Chapter 334 - 287 : Seven Deadly Sins 1 When the couple returned to Earth, the first thing they did was check on Saly, who was, once again, forced to go to school to learn basic knowledge and properly grow up. Arthur didn''t see why Lucy insisted about sending their daughter to school but he didn''t object and remained silent. Perhaps she sees the earthly knowledge as something useful Saly could use when she grows up. Once they were done with that matter, they headed to the gloomy and cold cave where Claudia''s bastard son and the doctor were. It has only been a short while since they were kidnapped but it became apparent how mentally tired and hungry they were, especially the young man, who wasn''t as patient and tolerant as the old man. In the time they were left alone, they conversed about many things but still couldn''t find a relation between the two of them except that the doctor knows of the youth''s mother, though they weren''t particularly close. No matter how much they tried, the couldn''t shake off the thick chains around their limbs. There was the motionless Death knight which never lifted a finger and merely guarded the entrance of the cave. When the undead moved at last, not only did it alert the two captives, it also scared them as they thought it will do something to them. They only relaxed when they saw it leave the cave, however, their relief didn''t last long as a grey-haired middle-aged man and a masked woman entered appeared at the entrance. Instead of fear, the two were shocked as their eyes were fixated on Lucy. Although she never showed her face, her appearance was too eye-catching and she was famous worldwide, most people would immediately recognize her with just a glance. Previously, they met Arthur but it''s the first time Lucy appears. Now that he saw another one of his kidnappers, the old man became even more confused. He couldn''t remember doing any dealing with Lucy or the man beside him which made him frustrated and curious about the reason he was captured. Unlike the young man, the doctor was certain of his safety as he could trade his life for a lot of things, things that would even make Lucy think twice before killing him. "Y-you! What do you want from me!?" While pointing at Lucy, the young man named Calias shouted angrily. For a National Hero such as Lucy to go out of her way to capture him and imprison here with the doctor, there surely must be a reason and although he was a ''bit'' arrogant, he wasn''t stupid. "Well, for that you have to ask your dear mother." "W-what?" Hearing Lucy''s chilling voice, the young man was startled and decided to lower his tone a bit and compose himself. He momentarily lost himself to the built up emotions and shouted at her, the person who kidnapped him. "Whatever you want, I''m sure my mother will give it to you." Calias took a breath of cave''s cold air and said those words with a low tone and composed expression. He was sure his mother would try to save him even if it means paying large sums of money. "Oh? Is that right? What about you, Doctor. Do you think you can provide what we need?" This time, it was Arthur who talked. He didn''t change back to his old appearance as the old man would certainly recognize him. The elderly stared back at Arthur and Lucy for half a minute or so before he replied "I''m sure we can peacefully find a solution where both parties are satisfied. There no need to resort to unnecessary violence." Unfortunately, Arthur didn''t think so. He burst out in laughter as he retorted "Hahahahaha that''s quite ironic from a mad man who performs all kinds of violent experiments on innocents." When the old man heard Arthur''s retort, his expression darkened all of a sudden and his eyes sharpened. Despite having his secret exposed, he kept a positive attitude and added: "It is for the sake of evolution. We need to advance technologically to be able to resist any catastrophes that may befall on us. Just like the Undead Legion on Africa." Arthur walked up to the chained doctor, crossed his arms and grinned evilly while saying "It''s the same thing for us. You want evolution and I want to get rid of the filth that is scattered on the Earth. Both our goals are for the sake of humanity, it''s just that mine... only require the sacrifice of a few people." Despite hearing Arthur''s reason, the old man was persistent and didn''t want to admit that this was the end for him. There must be a reason he wasn''t killed the moment he got captured. "Why must you be like this? I''m sure we can satisfy your wishes and grant you what you desire, you just need to ask." The doctor wanted to use this opportunity to use the right words to entice Arthur, who surely must be looking for something, or so thought the clueless old man. He just needs his personal team to know his location and that will be enough for them to raid this place and bring him to safety. He even disregarded Lucy, who''s a powerful Hero. In fact, he hugely underestimated her as he never saw her fight but in his point of view, all the Heroes are weakling who can be killed used the special weapons he invented. "Enough. I didn''t come here to pointlessly negotiate with you." Arthur waved his hand, binding the old man and rendering unable to even move a finger. The same thing applied to the helpless Calias, who tried struggling but to no avail. Using his Telekinesis, Arthur threw two dark red pills in the captives'' mouths and forcefully made them swallow it. These weren''t poisonous pills but are actually pills which amplified hunger and caused the victim to hallucinate. Basically, these pills will worsen their state over the next days and once the time is ripe, the live show will begin. ************** After feeding the duo the two pills, Arthur and Lucy left the cave and teleported to their new home. There, they met quite an unexpected guess. Someone Arthur was curious and very wary about. An old man with half-open eyes and dark circles under them. He was hugging a pink pillow and his body was tilting left and right. This mysterious old man was none other than one of the seven deadly sins and the current guardian of Earth, Snory. He works under the System and apparently, he''s insanely strong, at least that''s what Arthur''s copy said. The old man didn''t dare intrude without invitation so he patiently waited in front of the door until Arthur and Lucy appeared. The two parties stared at each other for a while until Snory started dozing off. "Sir, why don''t you come in?" The silence was quickly cut when Lucy took off her mask and politely invited the guest inside. Chapter 335 - 288 : The Seven Deadly Sins 2 "Hohoho, it is a pleasure to meet Miss Lucy again." The laziness of the old man laughed as he laughed heartily and followed both Lucy and Arthur into the villa. His focus was on Arthur, who was also wary and curious about Sloth. His copy repeatedly told him that Sloth is extremely strong and one of the oldest beings in the omniverse. Though, it''s a mystery why he''s working for the System when he belongs to the Heaven and Hell Universe and Arthur wasn''t going to pry on that. Seeing as how Lucy treated him with respect, it shows how strong he is. He didn''t seem to carry any hostile or malicious intentions so Arthur didn''t act arrogantly or cold toward this elder. "This place is surely more comfortable than the rest. Good for you good for you!" Snory praised the luxurious and spacious villa as he sat on the sofa and made himself comfortable. Although he merely glanced at the furniture and such, that doesn''t mean he didn''t get to sense the whole place with cultivation like his. Silence prevailed the atmosphere for a moment before the old man spoke again "In my life, never did I think I would meet another person who uses Dark Magic." This statement obviously startled both of them. Arthur was hiding his powers and even his aura was completely concealed. The Ethereal state was also activated, which diminished the chilling and ominous aura usually unleashed by the Dark Magic in or the Dark-Star Technique. Their surprise only lasted a moment. Arthur already knew that Zodiak must have been a very powerful figure and since Sloth is old, he surely must have met him or at least known about him. "I assume Senior met Zodiak in the past?" It was a rare chance to know a bit more detail about Zodiak''s life so Arthur unhesitantly asked Sloth, who didn''t seem to mind his question as he chuckled while answering "Met? I''ve fought him when he was in his prime." As he said that, the old man got up and removed part of his rugged yellow shirt to show a hideous scare that covered half of the left part of his chest. It resembled the scar caused by fire except this one was jet black thus making it looks way uglier. "Hohohoho we nearly killed each other but don''t worry, it was all in the past and I won''t attack you just because you''re his successor... sort of." Arthur tensed up at first but all his short-lived worries soon vanished as Sloth turned out to be a person who didn''t hold grudges against ''relatives'' of his past enemies. The old man soon sat again and grinned as he glanced between Lucy and Arthur. "Zodiak was powerful but that was all. He was alone and didn''t have an army like most of his enemies. Moreover, he was different from you, he only had Dark Magic and nothing else. Put simply, he was unable to use any other Magic, whether it''s with Nether Energy, Mana, Qi or any other type of Energy. Whereas you are more special. I can sense the Hell''s flames within you, Void Magic and above all, Dark Magic. You are a dangerous being and if you were not Miss Lucy''s husband, I would not have allowed you to remain on Earth." Arthur frowned and retorted "Although I''m not human, I''m not purposely trying to harm this planet. Why would I be more dangerous than my wife? We''re equally strong." "That is indeed true. On the exterior, both of you are perhaps equal but the inside is different. She''s as calm as water and her consciousness is clear and stable, however, yours is as dark as night and is more dangerous than you might think." This only confused Arthur more so he asked again "I''m not sure what Senior is talking about. Would you mind explaining?" "I cannot explain it in words. I''m only saying what I''m seeing. You are like a time bomb, ready to explode and engulf everything around it. Check your mental state, boy." Without letting Arthur talk, Sloth resumed "And for peace on earth to continue, I cannot let you rampage in here if your mental state ever goes berser-" Arthur cut him off while retorting "Senior, my mental state is stable and I don''t think I''m suffering from any problems." Hearing this, the old man laughed and mocked "That''s exactly what a mentally ill person would say. Boy, you can face your fate or defy it but you can''t deny it. Just remember, if you go out of control, I''ll be forced to interfere and end your lifeˇ­ and Miss Lucy, please don''t look at me like that. I''m just doing my job and we both know that when that time comes, even you, can''t stop me. Well then, I said what needs to be said so I''ll excuse myself. I wish you both a good day." Sloth silently disappeared from their living room and both of them were unable to sense him. Arthur remained absent-minded for a while before he snapped out of it. He turned to look at Lucy, who was holding his hand and staring back at him with a resolute expression. "I, I can''t access my consciousnessˇ­ it''s like the connection is cut off. The same thing with the ARK." Arthur tried entering his consciousness but to no avail. He didn''t feel particularly weak or sick, nonetheless, he started believing Snory''s words. "Don''t worry, I''m here. I don''t think you''re ill, you''re only mentally exhausted due to all that happened the last few days. Perhaps you should rest a bit and schedule your revenge a bit later, what do you think?" Lucy''s hand gently caressed his chin as she spoke. In response, Arthur smiled and nodded his head, agreeing immediately. He didn''t know what''s wrong with him but the best thing to do now is meditate and clear his mind of any accumulated stress, even if it was just a tiny bit. Actually, he was relieved and even happy since he came to Earth but his inability to contact his copy and enter his consciousness is surely caused by something. Although Sloth refused to say what the problem exactly is and only accused him of being mentally ill, that doesn''t mean he''ll blindly believe it. He just thought that Snory''s words contained some truthfulness in them. ************* Astria, Itas Continent. A few hundred meters away from the thick World Tree stood a floating figure. He gazed at the gigantic tree with surprise before he started laughing loudly. "Hahahaahah to think you would end up here. Last time I saw you, you were nothing but a seed. I wonder what the angels would do if they discovered your existen-" Before he could even finish, overwhelming shockwaves were unleashed from all direction, trying to crush him. What followed were vines larger than even dragons, they were like falling mountains which tried to pulverize the invader. Unfortunately, both the shockwaves and vines were useless as they didn''t even manage to injure or push the man even half a centimeter. As he patted the dust off his clothes with a large grin on his face, he added "Ahh come on, I''m not a snitch." After a long silence, the robotic voice of the World Tree resounded inside the man''s head "ˇ­ what do you want?" "Seeˇ­ I''m pretty bored after a certain someone kicked me all the way here. So I''m searching for some fun guys to battle hmmm like that crazy old man who brought you here. Last time we fought, he escaped and left me itching for more action." The weirdly-dressed man cracked his knuckles and waited for the tree to reply "ˇ­ He died a long time ago." The man didn''t see surprised, he just sighed and glanced at his surroundings before his pupils focused on the main trunk of the World Tree. For a while, he remained silent before he started repeatedly nodding his head "Then tell me who caused that Sword Slash engraved on you. It has a bit of Sword Insight lingering it so I presume it''s a Sword Saint hahahah been a while since I fought one!" "ˇ­ He also died." This time, the man didn''t believe it as he retorted "Bullshit! If he died then this tiny bit of Sword Insight would have disappeared! I ain''t leaving if you don''t TELL me where he is!" Chapter 336 - 289 : Trapped Pigolo A few days passed since Sloth paid a visit to the couple. Unfortunately, the undead army managed to successfully raid the Southern fortress in Africa and once and for all dominated the whole continent. The IHO said several groups composed of high-leveled heroes but to no avail, the force of the undead was just too strong and these efforts turned out to be fruitless as more than fifty heroes perished miserably. Claudia became even more restless as the search bore no fruits so she tried contacting Josef but was flatly ignored. Her temper worsened and her anxiousness deepened as her son was missing for more than a week. The disappearance of the human AI startled Arthur so, with the help of Lucy, he tried locating her but the little girl seemed to have disappeared into thin air. She didn''t leave a note and no one noticed her until it was too late. Arthur knew that this had to do with the small capsule she was inspecting but was still helpless to do anything as he couldn''t inspect it for he hasn''t enough knowledge about the System to figure out the secret behind Hell Gate in general. He still had Josef''s chip, which on the outside, looked like any other ordinary chip except for the foreign language written on it. Moreover, the matter with his ''illness'' was still unsolved. He couldn''t enter his consciousness but nonetheless, was still feeling perfectly normal. In fact, he is in his peak state all day long and apart from spending a few hours at night to cultivate, he would relax and enjoy his time with Lucy and co for most of the time. *************** In an isolated room situated at a deserted island on the Pacific Ocean, there stood four figures, three of them were wearing dark cloaks that covered their faces and most of their body. As for the last one, it was a gorgeous woman wearing expensive clothes. She stared coldly at a tall and large silhouette that was chained at a corner of the room. "So this is the one?" The three women stood respectfully before the woman. The one at the center bowed then replied "Yes m''am." She walked up to the tall undead knight and kicked it hard while loudly cursing it. Though no matter how much she provoked it or cursed at it, she simply wasn''t satisfied. "Are you absolutely sure this is the one that attacked the village?" Claudia was skeptical about this whole matter. She didn''t feel the same dread she experienced when this ''knight'' attacked her and even severed her arm. The one that attacked her spoke and was awfully powerful yet this one seemed weak and was a complete mute. The whole matter was odd and the rage within her wasn''t the least bit quelled. However, no matter how unsatisfied she was, she didn''t dare blame these three women. They were part of the only assassin organization on Earth and each and every one of them was not only efficient at tracking, they even never failed a mission. She used an astronomical amount of resources to be able to recruit them for this mission and they even managed to complete this in merely two days, including the time they spent traveling. Although she felt helpless, Claudia continued beating the motionless undead for an extra half an hour before storming out of the room angrily. The three women disposed of the undead which was already on the verge of death then swiftly left the whole island. Merely a few hours later, the same three women were half-kneeling before Arthur and Lucy. They described what happened without missing a single detail. Actually, they didn''t even need to search for the undead as Arthur directly handed it to them. He knew Claudia''s character and that she would try her best to capture the undead and vent all of her accumulated rage and hatred. It''s a shame that he wasn''t there to watch as he was busy playing with Saly, nevertheless, hearing it from Lucy''s subordinates was still extremely satisfying. ************* Unbeknownst to Arthur and the rest. Gutcha, who disappeared since the moment he was brought to Earth, was currently on the brink of death. He was covered in injuries and blood covered half of his body. He was breathing heavily as he did his best to resist an overwhelming pressure that was pressing his body on the ground, almost flattening it. After thoroughly studying the history of Earth and visiting many places were old meteors felt, he found this dreadful place, which only its entrance, was almost able to kill him. ''Arghh! To think I would find a Heavenly Tomb in this place! Simply unbelievable.....'' Gutcha was currently three kilometers underground, precisely under the Vredefort crater, situated in South Africa. It is the largest meteor on Earth as well as the oldest. The Pigolo was only able to advance 300m before the pressure suddenly became too strong to the point of causing him to fall on the ground and become unable to lift a finger. He could only sit there and circulate his Nether Energy to resist some of the pressure. As for getting out of here on his own? That was impossible with his current cultivation. His only way of survival is for someone to find which is rather unlikely as he only managed to find this tomb after a long and bitter search. ******************** Inside the Grand Palace, the Water Empress stood there dazed. The ancient paintings carried a mighty and old aura that even caused herm a supreme existence, to feel an unimaginable pressure and even some dread. She forcefully shifted her eyes from the paintings and pondered on where to go. This place was too large and made her feel uneasy. She knew that it isn''t a simple palace and it was definitely the right to call to come here. Just as she was about to check the closest room to her, she suddenly turned around only to find a woman standing behind her. Although this mysterious woman was but a few meters away from her, the Empress was unable to sense her presence as if she doesn''t exist. The woman bowed and spoke with a melodious voice. "Ma''am, please follow me, her excellency is waiting for you." The Empress frowned upon hearing this but didn''t object. She silently followed behind the woman while curiously glancing at the palace and the several paintings and statues that were neatly placed all over the palace. Her gaze was quickly drawn to a four-meter-long statue that was made from bronze but the second her eyes landed on it, her mind started buzzing and her soul was attacked by something shapeless and dangerous. It was at this moment that the melodious voice rang in her ears again and forced her out of this dazed and even life-threatening stance. "Please refrain from looking at the statues. I''m afraid I can''t guarantee your safety if you do that." Chapter 337 - 290 : Claudia 1 Author note : School is over, back to daily updates. *********** It has been exactly since Claudia''s son and the doctor were captured and imprisoned inside this desolate room. Moreover, the effect of their hunger multiplied due to the pills which Arthur forcefully made them swallow. The old man''s skin started turning darker and the two of them began staring at the other with malice and hostility. Were it not for the chains holding them down, they would have leaped at each other trying to fill their stomach. While the old man''s skin changed, the young man''s teeth lengthened and resembled a beast''s. No matter how much force they exerted, they couldn''t shake off the thick chains binding them down. It was also today that coincidentally, Claudia managed to locate her son but the matter wasn''t so simple. Some anonymous person used a small-scale company to post countless information about Claudia''s companies. This was posted on many public forums and was even shared by multiple international media companies which led to a disaster befalling on Claudia. All the illegal crimes she did, ranging from blackmail to even human trafficking was made public and with conclusive evidence too. Were it not for Claudia''s high status and her being a famous Hero, she would have been apprehended by the police already. She was torn between going to save her son or hastily doing a conference to shake off some of the crimes she had been accused off and ease up the enraged public. The problem was that whoever did this was extremely ruthless as he had evidence for every word he said which made it almost impossible for Claudia to recover. The only thing she could do at this time is to, little by little, find the culprit behind this and evade being forced to go to court as this would definitely end up bad for her since she can''t deny the definite proof posted on forums such as videos, pictures, and even voice recordings! She was sure that someone must have betrayed her but she didn''t have time to find who it was. After careful consideration, Claudia actually something out of Arthur''s expectations. As he laid on the sofa with Lucy leaning on his shoulder, the couple watched the TV and stared at the Vice-CEO who replaced Claudia. Lucy''s informants told her that Claudia was rushing to where her son is but it''ll still take her a few hours as he was imprisoned in the middle of nowhere. "So it turns out she cares more about family than fame... hahahaha" Arthur coldly laughed as he learned of this matter. "Wouldn''t that make it even more satisfying?" Lucy seductively whispered those words in his ears as she softly smiled "Indeed it would!" Arthur didn''t shy away and planted a kiss on his wife''s lips. Currently, they were alone in this house as Randuin and Taliya went out with Saly and Delia was still in closed-door cultivation. **************** "Are you sure it''s the right place?" As she stared at the grand villa situated at a desolate peak in a mountain range near China''s border. Claudia frowned and warily looked at the villa which was too conspicuous. She brought with her the two most expensive mercenaries. Both had a Lv higher than 150 and were experts in their fields. Along with them were three cloaked women who were hiding in the shadows, unable to be seen or sensed even by the mercenaries. Claudia herself was wearing strong defensive and offensive items which could obliterate anyone in her path, or so she thought. The six humans cautiously entered the villa which had its gates fully open for any visitors. At the front were the mercenaries and at the back were the three women. Fortunately, they met no danger and entered the grand villa only to find it luxuriously decorated and devoid of any speck of dust. The group inspected the villa but didn''t enter all the rooms. Thanks to the high dexterity stat of one of the mercenaries, they found the location of the two captives. Contrary to the expectations, the basement they were heading to transformed into a whole other place. The staircase became half-broken rocks and the illumination disappeared. They were met with a tall and threatening figure of an undead. It was over three meters tall and just its aura made the two mercenaries and Claudia soak with cold sweat. They only dared to move when they noticed that the undead was motionless as if it was ''dead''. A tall man who was one of the mercenaries, banged his hammer on the undead but his strike was pointless as it literally did no damage. The undead was unscathed and wasn''t even pushed half a step which terrified the humans even more. They advanced further into the cave until they started hearing chains noises coming from a distance away. Anxious about her son, Claudia hurried her steps and after taking a few dozen seconds to adjust to the total darkness, she shockingly saw two chained figure trying to break free from their binds and jump at each other. Both of them had distorted faces and ugly expressions, savage and barbaric. They didn''t resemble humans but hungry beasts that thought of nothing but food. "Calias!" The woman rushed toward her son despite his unusual behavior. However, when she was merely a couple of steps away from him, her body suddenly froze as if something was restricting her movements. The fate of the two mercenaries wasn''t so fortunate, their bodies froze and shattered into countless fragments in merely two breaths. A clapping sound could be heard from the corner of the room and followed by it two figures appeared from the absolute darkness. One was a one-eyed man a long grey hair and the other was a stunning beauty which had a silver hair that gave off a beautiful light in this dark and gloomy cave. "Truly a moving scene, I''m almost moved to tears, really!" Claudia was astonished as she didn''t know what''s going on. In such a dire situation, she glanced at the three women whom she brought with her only to find them kneeling toward Lucy, who she didn''t recognize on the spot due to the absence of a mask. Only after a few seconds did she manage to piece one and one together and guess Lucy''s identity. As for the tall man beside her, she found him unfamiliar and thought that Lucy was the mastermind behind this. "What the fuck do you want? I treated you good all these years and this is how you repay me? Kidnap my son and torture him?" Unfortunately, her loud shouts were met with no response as Lucy was staring at her with a cold and deadpan expression. "Now now, the show is about to start. It would be better to keep the silence to make it more entertaining." The mocking voice of Arthur caused the bound woman to fiercely glare at him but no matter how much she struggled, she couldn''t resist the force that was immobilizing her. Helpless, she activated her unique skill while speaking to him "Why don''t we stop this and solve this peacefully? I''m sure I can provide you with anything you need." As he stared at the row of notifications that popped before him, Arthur burst out in laughter. As for Claudia, she immediately knew that the opponent was too strong which is why her skill failed instantly. To begin with, her unique skill had a low probability to work, plus, Arthur was apparently high*leveled so it was expected that it''ll be resisted. Arthur flicked his finger, snapping the chains holding the old man down thus leading to the half-human half-beast being to leap at Calias, trying to rip his flesh and fill his belly. Chapter 338 - 291 : Claudia 2 Claudia began breathing more heavily as both chains of the captives were cut into pieces. It was the old man who first leapt at the Calias, wanting to devour him whole. Just like the elderly''s appearance changed, so did Calias''. His grew sharp and long claws, two fangs similar to a vampire could be seen erected from the upper part of his lips. Amused, Arthur laid back and watched the amazing show that''s about to begin. Claudia became breathless as she saw her son being attacked and pinned on the ground in just a few seconds. She was facing the two beasts and was unable to look at Lucy and Arthur behind her but she still kept trying to save her son and begged non-stop but to no avail. Arthur turned a deaf ear and merely gazed at her with a chilling look. *********** Unbeknownst to Arthur and Lucy, right where they fought the little girl and the man who could freeze time, there appeared four figures which appeared from a grey portal. There were two familiar figures which were the little girl who had a hesitant look on her face, and also the middle-aged man who had an extremely ugly expression but still didn''t dare voice out his thoughts. "I can''t believe you came back like that after one loss against some trash from an inferior planet!" One of the two unfamiliar people rebuked them loudly, there was even some saliva which landed all over their faces but they still hang their heads low and remained silent. The two new silhouettes were actually two old men who wore white robes and had two long staffs on their back. After shouting at their juniors for a while, they turned around left after saying those words "Make haste and quickly finish our plan. Bring bigger quantities of undead here, we can''t allow them to remain in our world any longer!" With that, he flicked his hand and flew away with the other elderly. Once they were sure their two superiors were gone, the man angrily punched the ground and cursed loudly "Motherfucker! I ain''t staying here any longer." He opened something akin to a portal and was about to step in when the little girl hastily stopped him "W-wait! They''ll surely exile you if you were to disobey them." The man was still uncaring, he glared at her and said "Fuck! Do you I have the look of someone who cares about that? Go fucking look at their moon then see if you still want to stay here!" Without any hesitation, the man disappeared from her sight, leaving the little girl confused and fearful. She looked at the moon which could barely be seen in the evening. Still unable to find anything useful, she flew straight towards it but half-way there, her face became extremely pale. She staggered and remained floating there for an unknown period of time before she did the same thing as the middle-aged man and bailed out. It is a common thing for small planets to have a guardian which protects it from any disaster that could eradicate all living beings on it. However, when the duo came here at first, they didn''t bother looking for the Guardian as he couldn''t be that strong since all Humans on Earth are really weak. However, after being beaten by Lucy and Arthur, the man sneakily was curious about why there were two monsters hiding here. To his surprise, he found even more terrifying beings living here. To top it all, one of the Seven Deadly Sins was actually guarding this planet. Almost everyone in the Cloud Sea Universe and the System Universe knew that Sloth was working for the System but they didn''t know that he was actually a guardian of an inferior planet! No matter how much his clan was powerful, it can''t face Sloth, it was just absurd. Moreover, the reason he didn''t stop his two superiors or even tell them the truth was because he had no special affection for his clan nor did he have any loyalty. Although he had decent strength, his status was incredibly low which is why he was assigned to do such a simple task. Who would have thought it''ll lead to this. ***************** The battle between the two ex-humans, who lost their humanity and resembled real beasts, became fiercer and the two of them became more aggressive and ferocious. Blood splattered everywhere and limbs were torn off. At the end of this battle, which lasted a little over fifteen minutes, there was only a creature that resembled a dark Goblin which gnawed on the corpse of its enemy. It grabbed the intestines and devoured them then moved the limbs, eating the rotten and dirty flesh of this lifeless body. With a face as white a sheet of paper and a trembling body, Claudia started crying as she looked at the body of her kid, which was being eaten. Even until his last breath, he suffered greatly from the pain of being eaten alive and the starvation he was feeling. "Why... why...." The grieving woman was muttering the same word as she soullessly stared pile of meat in front of her. Her eyes were hollow and her lips were trembling. She truly loved her son and doted on him, in fact, he was her only family. Now that he is gone, she couldn''t help but feel sad and incredibly angry. "What did I do to you to kill my son! LUCY!" Claudia crazily yelled, though she couldn''t directly stare at Lucy and Arthur, she was still directing her words to them. She was still unable to comprehend why would Lucy do this cruel thing. As she said that, she felt that the restraints around her body disappeared thus making her fall on the ground. Without any hesitation, she turned around and threw a weird looking bomb at the couple. Unfortunately, before it traveled even a meter, the bomb disappeared into nothingness. "I WILL KILL YOU TWO!" Enraged, the woman ran at them prepared to trade her life with theirs. Her emotions were in disarray and instead of carefully thinking about a plan, she just aggressively charged at her opponent, which was unlike her. However, the death of her son affected her state of mind too much SLAP! Claudia''s body was sent flying as Lucy slapped her face turning it a pig''s face. Her cheek became awfully swollen and she even lost four teeth. "You still the audacity to question our actions when you know full well what you did. Not to me but to all the people you incriminated, killed, and... tortured." Hearing the last word, especially, Claudia''s body shook for a split second. In all of her life, she personally tortured only one individual. ''No! How could she know about that?!'' Claudia panicked but didn''t show it on her face. She spat some blood and glared at Lucy then at Arthur who was next to her. "Do you think I will let you off after I did? I''ll repay today''s debt a thousand''s time over!" Claudia laughed hysterically and sneakily retrieved a weird looking grey orb. A drop of blood landed on the orb hence causing it to glow with a mysterious white light. This item was one of the rare loots that dropped once in ten million monsters. It''s priceless and Claudia only managed to acquire due to pure luck. It only has one function and it''s to teleport the user to a random location on a radius of five thousand kilometers. As her body began to disappear, she glared at the two of them with a piercing glare. Unfortunately, just as she was about to escape and breathe a sigh of relief, Arthur waved his hand, shattering the space that was enveloping her and destroying the small grey orb. Chapter 339 - 292 : Claudia 3 Stupefied and unable to comprehend what just happened, Claudia stared at the grey ash in her hand then back to Arthur, who was looking at her with an amused expression. A low-grade item such as this one can easily be nullified with his High Mastery of Space Magic. In fact, he can even negate the high-grade items as long as they aren''t above Mystic Rank. (Small reminder: Items ranks are : Spirit => Mystic=> Heavenly, Godly, Mysterious.) "You think you can escape your fate that easily? I don''t think so." Arthur shrugged his hands innocently then clutched the air with his hand thus resulting in Claudia being raised a few centimeters above ground and suffocating as her hand was being grabbed by something invisible. Slowly, Arthur started walking up to this venomous woman while his figure started turning illusory until he regained his old appearance. Once he was merely two meters away from her, her pupils contracted as she even forgot to struggle for air. She stared at him with a dumb look as she didn''t know what the hell was going on. This was obviously none other than her deceased husband, who was supposed to have died five years ago. For more than ten seconds, she remained in this state until the grip that was tightening around her neck was finally retracted. The woman fell on her knees but her eyes still didn''t leave Arthur, who was watching her with an emotionless face. "I bet you never thought that such a day would come, right?" He stared at this woman who made his previous life miserable, even in her current state. With a disheveled hair, weakened body and pale face, he felt no trace of pity. In fact, he could feel his insides burning as his hidden emotions started surfacing. All the rage and anger he had been saving her for her. It is no longer about a simple story of revenge but it''s about repaying old debts and getting back at her for all the horrible things she had done to him and all of that for what? Just money and power, material things that surely would push anyone to do the things she did but not the same way. He knew she felt joy when she saw him suffer and wondered many times about this matter. What could he had done to her to push her to the extreme and make her torture him for months! It wasn''t a human thing to do, a thing that even demons of hell would refrain from doing. "A-a... w-wha" Claudia couldn''t utter any words as they got stuck in her throat. She sat there, astonished and confused about this whole matter. The first thing she thought was ''Impossible''. He died five years ago and even if he was a God, he can''t come back to life. She saw his dead body and confirmed it herself that he was deader than dead! "T-this is P-preposterous! You''re not ''him''!" With reddened eyes, she pointed at him angrily with a trembling body. Although she was sure he wasn''t the real one, she still couldn''t help but feel anxious and afraid. "Y-you...! You''re using illusion to trick me!" The truth was before her eyes but the woman was refusing to believe reality. With the appearance of Magic on Earth, there surely are people who are adept at using illusions, which is why she uttered those words to try and convince herself. "What''s preposterous? The fact that I''m still alive or the fact that I''m here, cornering you like the rat you are?" Claudia''s mind went blank as she couldn''t understand what''s going on. Her thoughts were in total disarray and her body was shaking instinctively due to the chilling and ominous aura Arthur was emanating. She shifted her glare to Lucy, who was a distance away and yelled at the top of her lungs "YOU WITCH! What the hell did you do? You think using some petty illusions to show me my dead husband would shake me?" Hearing this, Lucy snorted and retorted "Husband? First of all, he was never YOUR husband. Secondly, this isn''t an illusion. Lastly, you should think of what''s going to happen to you instead of denying reality." "NONSENSE! THIS IS TRICKE-" Claudia was interrupted halfway through her sentence as a loud slap landed her face and slammed her into the wall, breaking a few bones in the process. The unimaginable pain made her screech loudly as she held her red cheek and venomously glared at Arthur, who used a handkerchief to clean some of her blood which landed on his palm. "I remember it clearly, our first meeting, I mean. It was in a classic Chinese restaurant which was reserved to just the two of us. You wore a traditional purple Chinese robe and fanned yourself with a golden fan as you sat opposite of me. You even said those exact words ''Am I pretty?''. I was young back then and didn''t know what real love was, you could say I was temporarily attracted to your body but couldn''t see the ugliness inside of you. My foolishness led to our marriage, which ended becoming my doom." Arthur paused for a second before continuing "We even had a little secret between us that nobody knew but I''m not sure if I should say it." As she listened to him, her breathing became heavier and faster and she even starting sweating. The more she heard him the more she started believing that he really was Arthur Bilgart. They really had a secret which only they knew of it. She never spoke of it to anyone and he didn''t either, for she was monitoring him daily and even slipped a few microphones into his clothes. *********************** Inside Arthur''s consciousness, the Earth Spirit was freaking out as part of the dark fog managed to corrode some of its body. "Fuck! Why the hell did itt became so agitated.... Shit! I''m doomed this time!" It shrunk its body until it was merely three meters tall but it still couldn''t escape the ominous dark fog which was sucking the life out of it. If this continues, it would survive for a few more days before being fully corrupted and dies a miserable and pretty painful death, to say the least. The cluster of thick and long chains around it, which were forming a spheric cage, were rotating in a weird manner and the whole consciousness, which was a vast starry sky turned into complete darkness where the only source of light was the huge bright blob, which was none other than Arthur''s soul. The Earth Spirit peeked through a small hole to see what exactly is going on but in doing so, its expression turned even graver. Between the spirit and the soul, there were specks of dark and grey lights which were merging together. They were made from Dark Mana and Death Energy. The problem was that these two peculiar kinds of Energy were affecting it since it was so close it and its presence was actually aiding the birth of a monstrosity. "Motherfucker! It''s actually the birth of a Spirit! And not an ordinary one at that! We''re doomed... it''s over...." Chapter 340 - 293 : Sudden Death "I-It can''t b-be! You died!" Claudia was hell-bent on rejecting reality. Even in a world like hers, where technology is reaching its peak and Magic is a normal thing, the revival of the dead isn''t a common thing, not even in High-Realms. In fact, it''s the most taboo thing one could ever do. The dead should never be revived, which is why the Undead are partially hated by some factions, mainly the Holy Dominion. "Ah... you really want me to speak of your little secret? Alright, it doesn''t concern me so I''m fine with saying it. Hmm... let''s say that your respected step-father had an unusual liking to his little foster daughter." Claudia''s body trembled fiercely as she heard his words. Now, there was no denying that this man is her deceased husband, Arthur Bilgart. "A-Arthur... is that really you?" ''SLAP!'' This time, it wasn''t Arthur who slapped her but Lucy, who remained silent and merely watched the show from the sidelines. "Don''t you ever utter his name." Unfortunately, Lucy didn''t weaken her strength so her slap literally disfigured Claudia. A dislocated jawline and red cheeks and bleeding lips. The sight was truly horrible and even Claudia''s closest acquaintance won''t be able to recognize her. Claudia ignored her current state and sneered in a desperate tone "S-so what if you''re alive? Do you think I''m going to apologize for the past? Or beg you to spare my life? Ha! Don''t make laugh*spit* you totally deserved everything!" Arthur wasn''t angered by her words, in fact, he displayed a broad smile and clapped his hands while saying "Now that''s the real you! It really won''t be satisfying unless I see such stubbornness hahahahaha" Arthur was just about to bind her using Telekinesis when something suddenly occurred. Neither he nor Lucy were injured as a cool breeze passed by their necks but wasn''t even able to tear their clothes, however, the disaster was actually that Claudia didn''t have such an impenetrable defense like the couple. Cleanly and swiftly, the disfigured face along with the whole head of Claudia was sent flying in the air and landed a couple of meters away from the headless body. Arthur was so focused on this whole matter and with Claudia so the moment this happened, it immediately made him astonished and in a daze. He forgot everything around him and merely stared at the lifeless corpse in front of him with hollow eyes. Lucy wasn''t the same, she was momentarily startled but quickly regained her senses and spread her Godly Sense to find out the enemies'' location. Unfortunately, she wasn''t able to find them for some time, however, that only lasted for half a minute before she managed to find the two hiding rats. For two strangers to be able to attack them without her or Arthur''s awareness, there are only two options. One is that the enemies are way stronger than them and second is that they used a particular technique or a treasure/artifact that allowed them to remain undetected. .... High up in the sky, approximatively two kilometers away from Arthur and Lucy. Two old men were floating in the air as they stared at the cave which had three corpses and two higher beings which were stronger than they expected. "I wasn''t even able to injure them with my Time Rupture. They are just a God and a Half-Sovereign, how come they could resist me?" The two old men pondered for a few seconds before the second one talked "Perhaps.... they have unique treasures that can resist us?" Once he said that, the two pair of eyes flashed with greed as they focused their attention on the dazed Arthur and Lucy, who was motionlessly staying behind her husband with her eyes closed. Obviously, they didn''t think that they would be found since they were controlling Time so that their presence couldn''t be felt or found. Sadly for them, after half a minute passed and seeing that the two fat sheep were still motionless. The two old men dropped their guard which affected their technique very slightly, however, that split second of carelessness was more than enough for Lucy to sense something. She wasn''t even going to question them or figure out their identities. As the two old men were discussing how to deal with the two of them, Lucy''s figure disappeared but before the other party was able to react or even be surprised by her disappearance, one of them heard the sound of bones breaking. Lucy''s body had surpassed the limiter like Arthur and even God Monarchs couldn''t match her in strength and speed unless they practiced some kind of a special body cultivation technique. One of the two old men was kicked by Lucy and was sent flying a few kilometers until he crashed into a mountain. More than half of his bones were broken and his face became horribly pale. His comrade, who witnessed what happened, retrieved his staff and was going to retreat while stopping time, however, he was still a beat slower than Lucy, who brought down a ten-meter wide meteor which emitted an intense heat and had purple flames burning on its edges. With a panicked expression, the old man raised his staff to block but such a move was beyond useless as the meteor crashed into him and literally pulverized his staff and flattened him on the ground. Once the smoke was cleared, you could see his body which was severely burnt due to the lava and the purple flames, moreover, he was missing both of his legs. Lucy emotionlessly glanced at this dying old man before disappearing into the horizon and appearing next to the other old man, who was breathing heavily as he glared at the unexpected visitor, who was approaching him. "W-who ar-" Before he could finish, Lucy''s soft saber had already penetrated his throat thus causing a fountain of blood to splatter on the ground. Without caring about the corpse, she turned around and returned next to Arthur, who wasn''t looking so good. Slowly but surely, a dark fog was emanating from his body. Clouds started clustering around the area and soon, the rays of the sun were totally covered. This, however, was but the beginning of an absolute nightmare. Arthur fell to his knees and clutched his head as he blankly stared at the ground. **** "T-this can''t be! NO!" Lucy wanted to calm him down but the dark fog around him was corroding everything and pushing her back. ......... On the surface of the moon, Sloth, who was snoring while hugging a huge pink pillow, suddenly opened his eyes and stared at Earth with a serious look. "Ahh! Even if it was only a Dark Spirit, it would have been a miraculous thing yet it''s a Dual Spirit.... truly terrifying! Even I, can''t help but shiver!" His form disappeared from the surface of the moon as he was heading toward Arthur only to smash into a solid cubic dark barrier that developed the whole Earth. Sloth angrily smashed his fist on the barrier but it didn''t cause any damage. He sighed helplessly then said "Miss Lucy, it''s up to you now. You must calm him down." Chapter 341 - 294 : The Trickster Very quickly, night befell on the whole planet. The encroaching darkness and the terrifying chill brought with it made every human shiver in fear. Even some of the higher beings like Taliya, Astrith, and Randuin were affected. People started panicking and officials and higher-ups started issuing orders to solve this disaster, however, no matter which technology or spell they used, the darkness dominated everything. Everyone turned blind as they could see nothing but total darkness. Their spines shivered and the fragile ones fell unconscious. The center of this catastrophe was turning more and more dangerous. Arthur was shouting loudly as he held his head with both of his hands and banged it on the ground. His emotions were rampaging and the chains inside his consciousness were getting more active than ever before. In response to this, his dark blade, Makaze, was showing signs of awakening. It started emitting deep growls as it vibrated intensely inside its sheath. Even without his consent, the blade got out of Zodiak''s ring and floated vertically above its master. All the sound was isolated and Arthur''s rationality was slowly but surely fading away. He knew that if he were to erupt now, planet Earth would disappear from existence. A single Rizaki that uses all of his power could obliterate it, so if he were to go on a rampage while throwing a bunch of powerful skills, no one could predict the outcome. Arthur tried his best to calm himself but seeing how Claudia suddenly died and the unquenchable thirst for revenge and satisfaction has yet to be fulfilled, he couldn''t help but become angrier. If he can''t get rid of it then he must contain it. Arthur started reciting the verses of the Dark Anguish Technique in hope of restraining the leaking power. ''Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires." It cannot be seen, cannot be felt, Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt, It lies behind stars and under hills, And empty holes it fills, It comes first and follows after, Ends life, kills laughter.'' Surprisingly, this caused the darkness that covered the whole planet to start weakening and concentrating not on Arthur but on his blade, Makaze. The mix of two energy divided itself, half of it melted into the blade and the other fused with Arthur. After merely five minutes, Arthur managed to get rid of the darkness and dark fog that spread in all corners of Earth. However, his current state didn''t look so good as his face was very pale and he was uncontrollably shaking. Without any hesitation, he stood up and grabbed the floating Makaze. After examining it for a few seconds, he walked up to the worried Lucy and stretched his hand, handing the blade whilst saying "There''s no time. I need to change places otherwise everyone will surely perish. Remember, no matter what happens, don''t let go of that blade." After he said that, his form disappeared as he entered an ominous-looking dark Spatial tunnel. He didn''t even wait for her confirmation as he knew she could the job. The problem was that the second Arthur disappeared, the dark blade reacted violently. It vibrated intensely and tried to leave Lucy''s hands and follow after Arthur. Having absorbed half of the Pure Dark Mana and Death Energy that covered the Earth, the blade became stronger than ever despite being broken. Lucy snorted and activated her special physique along with the cultivation technique thus causing half of the blade to turn into ice. This didn''t last long as it shattered in a matter of seconds only to be frozen right after. This process continued for a long while before the blade finally reacted fiercer than ever before. A big pillar of dark light descended from above and landed on Lucy and Makaze. The blade shook between her fingers and tried to break free from her iron grip. Unfortunately, Lucy wasn''t this easily defeated. Beautiful crystalline lotuses started appearing around them, pushing away the darkness and subduing the enraged blade. Each second that passed, the blade becomes stronger and Lucy only wanted to hold it and not destroy it which is why she can''t use powerful and destructive attacks. She just made use of her special physique to counter the Dark Mana and the Death Energy. Three streaks of light flashed across the skies and landed next to Lucy. It was none other than the undead lizard, the lightning wolf and the demon, Taliya. They didn''t need to talk to understand what''s going on. As they saw how Lucy was holding the blade which shook violently and was even forcing her to move, they unhesitantly joined hands. Large waves of black flames covered the skies and instantly got rid of the pillar of dark light that has already corroded the whole area and turned it into a land of darkness where literally no light exists. Astrith followed right after as blue lightning wrapped around Lucy''s body, strengthening her physical body and giving her more strength to resist the blade. He also took a smaller form and bit down the other edge of the blade, trying to hold it down. Taliya, the weakest one, couldn''t directly hold the blade as it would kill her since she''s too low-leveled, however, she didn''t stay still. She appeared behind Lucy and started providing her with large amounts of Mana. Although Lucy''s Mana Pool was mind-blowingly big, any bit of Mana provided from exterior sources is always welcome, especially in this situation. ...... Arthur, who took a special Spatial Tunnel, arrived almost instantaneously to Astria. He spent his last bit of rationality to contain the power and come here. At least Astria is way bigger than Earth and if he erupts in the middle of nowhere, like the area where the Human Continent was used to be, there will be no casualties. The second he arrived on Astria, Arthur had lost all rationality and was only controlled by his accumulated anger and rage. It was like a ticking bomb has gone off, the range of this darkness was truly terrifying. Even the strong barrier of the World Tree wasn''t spared as the world turned into a mass of darkness. This phenomenon even reached the forgotten continent which is not only quite far away from the rest, it''s even protected by an illusion barrier that was useless against the dominating darkness. Fortunately, this only lasted for a few seconds before a more domineering force washed away all the darkness as if it was some dirt. Moreover, this force even got rid of the nuclear after-effects and the poison caused by the Divine fight. A distance away from Arthur, there was a floating figure which assessed him with an interested look and a smirk on his face. The man in a weird white and red outfit played with a deck of cards and randomly picked three cards then gazed at them with an almost shining pair of eyes. "Hmmmmm 7? Strength, 2? combat ability and..... King of Spades growth. Hahahahahahahahaha, this is going to be so fun!" As he was going to shift back his attention to Arthur, a fist came flying down at him with a monstrous strength accumulated in it. The sheer pressure cracked the space and caused the winds to rage violently. Chapter 342 - 295 : The Magician Unfortunately, the attack wasn''t enough to even shake the Joker, who remained unfazed and motionless even when the fist landed on his body. In fact, Arthur, who was in an enraged state, was sent flying as if he was the one who got hit. Although he wasn''t injured, the Joker frowned and pondered about something as he gazed at Arthur, who swiftly stabilized his body and charged at him again. This time, the fist seemed uncomparably slow as it glowed with a green light. [Heavenly Mountain Fist] Empathizes slowness and monstrous strength. However, it only looked slow to weaker people. In reality, the fist was so fast that even Sovereigns wouldn''t be able to react before being obliterated by it. As it cracked the air and released an unimaginable pressure, the fist left waves of black flames behind it as it clashed with the Joker, who stretched his palm to counter-attack. He used no skills or technique, merely his physical strength. Contrary to the silent yet enraged Arthur, the mysterious man was bursting with laughter as he excitedly resisted Arthur''s fist. The clash was enough to cause tremors all over Astria and alert all of its citizens. What''s more worrying is the complete darkness that covered the whole world. In such darkness, only the World Tree and the Joker emitted enough light to illuminate a few their surroundings. In this second clash, the result was the same as Arthur was sent flying like a kite. The bones of his fist were shattered and it became completely useless only to be instantly healed a second later. "Hahahahahah I must say, it''s been such a long time since someone was able to contend against my physical body!" This time, Arthur didn''t charge at his opponent. He remained in the darkness for a few seconds. The longer he remained passive the more pressure the Joker felt. Bored from waiting and since he can''t clash with Arthur if the latter remains fused with the darkness around him, the Joker clicked his tongue and waved his hand which was holding a simple looking card. "10? Rain of Negation!" Just as he muttered the name of his spell, the card glowed with an unusual light. Then, by the next moment, rain made of crystalline and shiny droplets fell down from above and purged all the darkness in the surrounding areas. The looming darkness couldn''t even resist again those droplets. When the view returned to normal, the Joker was able to locate Arthur, who transformed into a dark figure with lengthy wings made from dark flames and a miniature dark red sun floating just above him. The sun was emitting a terrifying heat that surprised the usually nonchalant Joker. "Hooo... the flames of hell... is it?" Before he could contemplate the miniature sun for a bit longer, Arthur vanished from his spot and appeared right in front of the Magician. A powerful burst of Dark Magic exploded from his body, pushing the enemy a few steps but before his next attack could land, he was hit from the behind by a monstrous force. Unlike last time, Arthur wasn''t sent flying as his new version of [Eternium] boosted his defense to a high degree. As he was pushed a few dozen meters, another silhouette appeared before him and used a simple palm to blow him a distance away. The Joker, who didn''t move from his initial position, was holding another card that glowed with a red light before it disappeared "2? Heart''s Haze." This was none other than the card he used against the reaper. It has a simple function of creating two clones of himself and there was no drawback to using it. The clones had physical strength similar to his and were literally past versions of himself. The two blows Arthur just suffered didn''t cause him any injuries. He angrily glared at the three Jokers then raised his hands while unleashing an absurd amount of Dark Mana. This lead to the sky turning jet black from the countless number of Heavenly Arrows that appeared. Each has a pressure more suffocating than the other and unlike the time against the Divine Beasts, these Heavenly Arrows were a mix of pure Dark Magic and Death Energy. Seeing the spectacle above him, The Joker''s face showed a wide grin as his expression was devoid of worry or fear. His two clones appeared next to him and strangely intersected their fingers to make a triangle while pointing toward the cluster of arrows, which were rotating each other. Slowly but surely, the huge cluster of dark arrows, which were two to three meters in length, formed a slowly rotating tornado that shattered space and sucked all the wind and air around them. The tornado of arrows'' target was none other than the Joker, who imitated his clones and excitedly shouted "Let the show begin! Hahahahah" As his words fell, with a speed faster than sound and due to the short distance separating the tornado from its target, it seemed as if it teleported right above the Joker. The Magician wasn''t fazed as the simple motion he did with his finger created a two meters long triangle that blasted a ray of golden light which penetrated the tornado and dispersed all the arrows within a split second. As he saw this result, the Joker sighed and gazed the golden ring he was wearing with a sad tone "It''s really a shame... it''s flashy and powerful but not really my style. Oh well! At least I tried it." He nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders then turned to face Arthur, who was done preparing his next attack. The miniature sun was pulsing with an ominous red light as if it was about to explode. Just when the Joker shifted back his attention to Arthur, the sun disappeared from existence and the heavens above were split in two as a large flaming lotus descended from above and burned even space itself. The flaming lotus created space tears all around it but even those insanely dangerous tears weren''t able to affect its pressure or heat. Seeing yet another beautiful spectacle, the Joker''s expression brightened again. A few dozen cards appeared in his hand and as the lotus was descending and was ready to roast him alive, he kept his calm and inspected his guards. He was stuck in a dilemma and wondering which card to choose. Finally, when his strange clothes starting to show signs of burns, he covered his eyes and shuffled the cards before picking a card in random. He stealthily peeked at the chosen card then muttered "It''s a bit of an overkill but... luck has chosen this one." ''9? Arrow of the Diamond Queen.'' Chapter 343 - 296 : The Joker Once the Joker''s magic was cast, another kind of pressure dominated the area and overwhelmed all the heat incoming from the large fire lotus. It was but a few meters in length but it was made from a crystalline-like material that made it look extremely eye-catching. The arrow looked more like a piece of art than an attack that was meant to resist the humongous flaming lotus. When the card vanished from the Joker''s hands, the arrow flew at the incoming lotus and clashed with it. There''s wasn''t a loud explosive sound nor massive destructions. The diamond that the arrow was made of, spread to the lotus and got rid of all the flames and hit in just three seconds. All that was left was a big and beautiful crystalline lotus that shattered into million pieces when the sharp tip of the arrow softly hit its side. Although didn''t look that threatening, its effects were more monstrous than one might think. Even Arthur, who was floating some distance away, was affected by it and had half of his legs turned into diamond. Neither his strong physique nor his black flames were able to get rid of the diamond. The enraged Arthur wasn''t in his right mind and wasn''t able to find an efficient solution to getting rid of the diamond so he kept furiously hitting it with all his might but to no avail, not even a crack appeared on those clear and sky-blue diamonds covering his legs. ****************** Back on the Earth, the struggle against the Dark Blade worsened as Makaze was getting more and more restless and violent. Even Lucy started suffering from the blade''s black flames and savage aura that was caused by Arthur''s dark fog. Taliya wasn''t able to resist the growing pressure since she was still a Mortal. The head-maid fainted and was about to get injured if not for Randuin''s intervention who wrapped his tail around her body and flew out of the area. The situation was getting worse as Astrith''s body started shaking and turning illusory. Lucy''s face became paler every passing second and blood leaked out of her mouth. The whole area was turned jet black, the dirt, trees, rivers, all turned dark but strangely didn''t die but showed signs of an accelerated mutation. Even the insects and nearby animals were writhing in pain and undergoing some kind of a mysterious evolution that strengthened them but made them more savage. A minute or so passed before Makaze suddenly flashed with a bright golden light which caused both Astrith and Lucy to be sent flying a few hundred meters away. Just as it was about to enter a strange black Spatial tunnel, an aged appeared out of thin air and pressed down the broken blade into the ground thus creating a deep crater and causing the angry blade to issue an enraged growl as it shook violently, almost shaking off the aged hand off it. "My my, to think I couldn''t even notice you although you''re his blade." A short figure with a bent back appeared some distance away from Makaze. He gazed at the broken dark blade with an astonished expression. One of his hands were lifted and pinching the air to subdue the blade. "....Mmmh it''s really strange... I''ve lived for a long time but I never heard of you. I saw all of the 9 Divine Swords and I even destroyed three of the nine Cursed swords." As he pondered about the origins of Makaze, Snory glanced to his side only see a bloodied Lucy. Blood covered her clothes but her body was in a perfect condition as her Vitality was beyond the limits of even Gods and a simple injury like this couldn''t defeat her. Moreover, all she did was stay on the defensive and try to hold down Makaze. Her goal was not to destroy it but to simply block it from transferring back to Arthur. "Hehehe Miss Lucy, I have been delayed in my way here, please excuse me." Lucy merely nodded without saying any word. Her whole attention was on Makaze. Arthur made it clear to not let it reach him as it not only symbolized his partner in battle and a huge boost to his strength, it also absorbed all the previous darkness. So if the two were to fuse, Astria would we turned upside down and there''s no telling who''ll survive. Unlike her slightly nervous expression, Snory was perfectly calm as he was easily holding down the dark blade without that big of an effort. Unfortunately, that didn''t last long as the blade finally stopped shaking violently for a decent amount of time which led Sloth and Lucy to think that it''s over at last. However, more often than not, the reality was cruel and rejoicing early is never a good thing. Hundreds of not thousands of lights came flying from all direction. Each light was actually a sword that was strengthened a few times and was emitting an incomparable pressure. Very soon, the sky turned dark from all the swords that were flying above them. They were of all kinds and types and were linked to each other as it facilitates control over them and makes them more powerful. Snory was slightly impressed before shaking his head with disappointment while saying "Merely strengthened grass...." The show wasn''t over as Makaze, which was supposed to be held down by Sloth, suddenly vanished and appeared in the middle of the flying cluster of swords. All the swords were pointed at Snory, already considering him as an obstacle whereas Makaze unleashed a mind-numbing amount of black flames that covered the heaven and Earth. Despite the calmness of Sloth, Lucy retrieved an exquisite looking silver revolver and loaded it with a purple bullet. If worse comes to worst, she''ll have to forcefully stop Makaze even if it means injuring its soul. ************************* Due to the warning of the strange woman, the Water Empress didn''t dare to look at the statues anymore. She knew that the woman''s previous statement wasn''t a joke and these statues are really dangerous. They didn''t emit any pressure but once someone stared at them, it''s as these pieces of art become alive and are ready to devour anyone alive. The two women walked for ten or so minutes before they reached a grandiose hall with jet black pillars and a strange altar in its center. Although the hall was quite eye-catching as it had several large statues that were visibly different from the others at the very end of this place, there was a ten-meter long painting that covered the whole wall. The Empress didn''t dare stare for too long and merely did a quick glance before focusing on a simple wooden table where a woman sat. This woman had long and silky black hair and skin as white as a sheet of paper. She looked like more like a zombie than a normal Human. Very soon, only the Empress and the dark-haired woman remained in the hall. As for the other woman, she quickly excused herself after a short bow. The dark-haired woman, who should be the current ruler of the Death Region, gestured for the Empress to sit on one of the empty chairs. No pleasantries were exchanged and no words were spoken. The Empress did as told and sat opposite of the Region ruler. Very soon, the first to break this silence was none but the dark-haired woman, who studied the Empress with her eyes then said "As far as I know, each ruler of a region is considered an Emperor or Empress and is given a title. I wonder what is yours?" The response came merely a few seconds later. "I apologize for the late introduction. I am the current ruler of the Water Region, the 13th Water Empress. My title is ''The Governor of the Ocean''." The dark-haired woman gazed at the Empress with an expressionless face for a long time before letting out a sigh and adding: "Then do you know the title of the first ruler?" The Empress shook her head and didn''t say anything. The purpose of her visit wasn''t to learn more about the first ruler of Water Region but to learn the identities of her ancestors and what exactly happened before the Hour of Creation. "The first Water Empress was named Shiva, the Queen of Ice. Not only was she from before the Hour of Creation and even the Great War, she was also my dear sister." It was as if a bomb had dropped on the water Empress as she heard those words. She stared at the Region Ruler with a wide open mouth and eyes full of astonishment... Chapter 344 - 297 : Final Showdown 1 As the inhabitants of Earth were terrified of the sudden Darkness that covered the whole planet for a short period of time, Makaze''s move only added more fear to them, especially the strong Heroes, who were robbed of their swords. Their weapons refused to obey them and simply flew out of their sheaths and disappeared far away. The old man next to Lucy gazed at the countless swords with the dark blade in the center of a frown on his face. Although he was certain that such an attack can''t harm him, it was still a rare thing to see a blade do this on its own. To demonstrate such pressure and firepower without its partner and master, who is supposed to be the only one who can wield it to its maximum potential, is not something that could be seen every day. Actually, it''s the first time Sloth has seen a strange blade like this. "You truly find the most fascinating things in the loneliest places. *sigh*" The old man let out a long sigh as he saw the countless blades disappear as a malicious dark flame destroyed them and transformed into a mysterious speck of darkness that devoured all the light around it. Very soon, all the swords were burned and fused into a fist-sized sphere that resembled a miniature black hole. This sphere, that was created from the accumulated essence of countless swords, rotated around dark blade until it turned into a sheath, however, due to the severe lack of this essence, the sheath was illusory and flickering as if it''ll disappear in any given second. Just as this happened, a notification popped before the old man *The Dark Blade''s Oath has taken effect. You have been marked by Makaze, evil wind. You cannot remove the Dark Blade''s Mark. The dark blade will know your location wherever you are. The dark blade will deal 10% more damage to you. The Oath will not disappear until the marked individual is dead. You will receive double the damage if you receive dark or lightning-related attacks from Makaze. WARNING: The destruction of Makaze will not remove the mark. WARNING: Due to the absence of Arthur MoonStar, the blade can only demonstrate 50% of its power.* ''Bloody hell!'' Sloth stood there, dumbstruck by what his eyes have just seen. "A-an oath?" Before the old man could comprehend why Makaze bound to an Oath and why does it actually exist, the threatening katana left its sheath and slashed down vertically toward Sloth. Surprisingly, the environment wasn''t affected nor space was broken, however, Sloth felt instinctive fear from that simple-looking slash that didn''t even emit pressure or look domineering. Despite it being such a fearsome attack, the target wasn''t someone to be trifled with. He''s the oldest of the Seven sins and probably the strongest. Before this strike could hit him, time was literally stopped and the environment turned grey. Even Lucy was caught and was frozen. The Dark blade was trapped too, however, only for a short time before lightning crackled around it and forcefully release it. Unfortunately, the short time it was trapped was enough for a large hand to slap it down and make it roughly slam on the ground, even causing very small cracks to appear on it. The time-stopping skill that was used by Sloth is completely different from the one the invaders used. This one was far more dangerous and it could even eradicate Sovereigns in a matter of seconds. Despite it being strengthened by the Darkness Arthur unleashed, Makaze was still overwhelmed by Sloth''s ability and was suppressed in a second. Before the old man could breathe a sigh of relief, the blade vanished yet again only to appear half-an-inch in front of the old man''s chest. If not for his fast reactions, he would have been stabbed. As sweat poured down his forehead, the blade was flung away again, however, this turned out to be its true purpose as a weird spatial tunnel appeared in front of the flying Makaze, sending the latter to Astria before Sloth''s hand could reach it. The old man looked at the dark tattoo that appeared on his right hand. It didn''t hurt him but it was too eye-catching and he felt uncomfortable just by looking at it. "An oath, huh? A frightening one at that... I guess the other sins won''t be happy about it." *************** Back on Astria, Arthur was still bound due to the weird crystalline and diamond-like thing that is immobilizing him. From the Joker''s perspective, Arthur''s only choices are to give up or cut his lower body, which will decrease his fighting ability by more than half. To his surprise, Arthur paused for a second before his body transformed into a small black whirlpool then vanished from his sight. More accurately, he possessed the body of a variant of rats and dashed toward the Joker. He didn''t make a straight charge but zigzagged in the air while leaving a dozen afterimages that indicated how fast he is. "A rat? A face-eater? Nonono it cannot be, they aren''t this strong. Then a shapeshifter? Also a no, the feeling is too real for it to be a simple imitation." The Joker''s eyes glowed for a split second before he stretched his hand to grab the approaching rat. Unfortunately, the rat disappeared and appeared right behind him. Its eyes flashed with a blue light and time was stopped. In the initial position of the rat, there were three large detonators which exploded a distance from the Joker, creating a huge disturbance and cracking the space. "Hmm let''s see, time-manipulation, time freeze, elemental fusion. I can''t think of a Race that is able to do all of that." The Joker used the back of his elbow to send the rat flying only for it to be a shadow clone which dispersed upon contact. Two more shadowy figures assaulted him from both sides, this time actually damaging him for real. The two attacks that contained enough brute force to decimate a mountain, were merely the appetizer as a small and creepy looking mouths attacked from below and a Heavenly Arrow that appeared out of thin air, came flying down at the Joker. Chapter 345 - 298 : Final Showdown 2 The Joker stomped his foot and immediately dispersed the annoying Void mouths and ignored the Heavenly Arrow which pierced his shoulders but wasn''t able to injure him. The arrow vanished soon after as it wasn''t able to use its fast momentum to wound Arthur''s enemy. Just as Arthur retreated a few hundred meters, a dark streak flew across the sky and headed toward him with incredible speed. Makaze, which just appeared on Astria, charged toward its partner while leaving waves of black flames in its path. As for the Joker, he folded his arms and inspected Arthur''s body yet again after taking one a special black card. ''0? Masquerade!'' The Joker''s eyes shone with a bright golden light as they landed on the small rat which emitted a thick black fog. "Hmm lemme see... a Dual-spi...no... it''s a Tri-Spirit.... a soul of Transcendent Holy Knight.... a pathetic orb... and an interesting cube. Hahahaha each of these things will make anybody greedy. The spirit will surely bring a tribulation... argh this is so annoying, I''ll have to interfere." Due to his attention focusing on Arthur, only when the sword was held by its proper owner did the Joker shift his focus to the curved dark blade which was vibrating despite it being sheathed. The moment his eyes landed on the blade, he furrowed his brows and mumbled "Evil wind... that means you''re..." He gazed at Arthur, who regained his appearance. He no longer was jet black and his original appearance could be seen. With long grey hair and a scar on his face. All the dark fog and darkness around him disappeared, in fact, he looked pretty calm as he stroked the dark blade. "Arthur MoonStar. So you''re actually from this world. Fate, that bitch really knows how to handle things." Just as he cursed fate, a white bolt of lightning descended from above and struck his head. Although it burned his funny hat and caused slight bleeding, such an injury was healed in just a second. It may look like a simple lightning bolt but it could even kill a God Monarch. "Bitch! Do you think hitting me with your petty shit will do something? I dare you to come here and fight me!" Just as he yelled on top of his lungs, only the silence was his answer. Annoyed, the Joker clicked his tongue and shouted again "Ha! I knew you''re one cowardly bitch! I''ll roast you alive if you dare show before me! Now fuck off somewhere else and stop bothering me." He was the one who addressed her first yet he told her to stop bothering him. It was a funny sight but the other end couldn''t do anything about him. Just like that, the Joker waited for a few seconds before he looked back at Arthur, who closed his eyes. Three bright triangles appeared before him, each with a color. The biggest one was Dark, the second biggest was a grey one and the smallest was yellowish. Each emitted an abnormal amount of either Nether Magic, Dark Mana or Death Energy. Slowly but surely, the triangles were approaching each other and a strange square. Once the fusion was successful, ominous looking black chains appeared out of nowhere and wrapped themselves around the square. As he watched this scene, the Joker looked at the skies and noticed dark clouds clustering above them. He rolled his eyes in irritation and took out a card ''9? Celestial Opposition'' The card was becoming bigger and bigger until it was more than 100 meters in length. Even the black chains retracted themselves and decreased the fog they were releasing, it was a clear sign of fear. Once it reached the necessary size, the card shone with a blinding light, causing the square to shake from fear and even pushing Arthur more than a kilometer away from the Joker. The clustering clouds tried resisting as small red lightning bolts hit the card but to no avail, the light extinguished everything and in merely one minute, the there sky became clear, devoid of any cloud. In doing this, the Joker helped Arthur avoid another celestial tribulation. He didn''t do it out of kindness but due to personal reasons. "Now that I got rid of the annoying sparks, shall we do one.last.exchange?" This time, Arthur wasn''t enraged or angry like before. He was unusually calm and upon hearing the Joker, he looked at him with eyes devoid of emotions and softly nodded his head. The Joker clapped his hands in excitment and exclaimed "Excellent! I would like to witness the full potential of [Thousand Waves] but I guess you aren''t able to unleash its full potential so I''ll be content as long as it''s a strong attack." Arthur didn''t respond and merely bent his back and held Makaze. One hand was on the sheath and the other on the dark blad''s handle. The square above him entered his body and the fog disappeared completely. Although Makaze was broken, thanks to the Oath and Arthur''s darkness, it enabled it to display a formidable amount of power. "Amazing, I sense no energy around you. An attack made from pure Sword Essence.. bring it on!" With a slowly beating heart and a very calm mind, Arthur concentrated on the Joker and said "Two souls but one heart, two wills but one goal. By the eternal oath binding us, I command you to kill our enemy!" As he spoke those words, a dark and ominous mark appeared on the Joker''s hand, which surprised the latter. However, this wasn''t the end as by the time the mark appeared, Arthur already attacked. Makaze and its illusory sheath shone with a blazing golden light for a split second before it disappeared. This was none other than the [Golden Lone Sheath], one of three ultimate sword skills Arthur currently have. The attack was simple as it''s only unsheathing and sheathing one''s sword in a lightspeed manner but it''ll result in an incredibly fast attack that locks on its target and kills it. "I respect your swordsmanship and your dedication to be able to summon such an oath which is why.... I''ll become serious just this one time." Although Arthur already attacked and it would reach the Joker almost immediately, the latter wasn''t panicking. With movements that seemed extremely slow yet transcended the concept of time, he retrieved his deck of cards and said "Shuffle, Spread, Draw! Random Card Roulette!" Without looking at the drawn card, he held it in his hand and said "Third move of the Trickster series; Light from Darkness, Gold from Sand!" A light as bright as Arthur''s skill appeared in the sky and stretched to all corners of Astria before it suddenly retracted and became a ray of light that met the golden sword slash. When the two attacks clashed, space shattered like glass and a gigantic wind tornado enveloped the area, even causing the other continents to suffer a bit of damage. For a moment, it seemed as if the golden slash was going to cut the white ray of light in two but that was merely an illusion as the ray of light enveloped the golden slash and slowly weakened it. Both parties were pushed a distance away from the clash and just when Arthur''s golden slash was going to disperse, another blue and freezing light joined the fray and caused a huge disturbance as it spread to all directions, freezing the air itself and even the shattered space couldn''t handle the coldness. This was similar to the ultimate skill of the Ice attribute; [Absolute Zero], however, the range was much bigger and the coldness was increased by a few more levels. This coldness was concentrated in a rotating blue bullet that had three circles around it. Instead of disintegrating the golden slash in its way, it actually helped and in a harmonious manner, the golden Sword Essence and the Yin Power joined hands in eliminating the white ray of light. Unfortunately, even with two against one, the ray of light emerged victorious and with a speed faster than sound, hit Arthur and sent him flying across the sky with blood pouring from all holes of his body. Very quickly, a white light followed right behind Arthur to support him and heal his injuries. Chapter 346 - 299 : Lucys Family 1 A few days passed with the big incident that occurred in Astria. All the inhabitants were terrified and only calmed down after sensing danger no more. Fortunately, the fight was in a desolate place else there would have been many casualties. Both parties that caused so much destruction were currently inside the High Tower of the MoonStar sect. The Joker was boringly playing with his cards with his chin resting on one hand and Arthur was still unconscious after the dangerous blow he received from his enemy. The good thing is that his condition stabilized and no more dark fog was emitting from his body. His injuries fully healed and all he needed was to sleep so that his recovers some rationality. Accompanying him was none other than Lucy, who didn''t call Saly as to not make her worried. She never left his side during the last couple of days and carefully inspected his body every few hours. Quite surprisingly, Lucy noticed that Arthur''s condition was directly linked to the dark blade, who was in a corner. The illusory sheath of the blade was slowly yet surely transforming from a spiritual one to a fully materialistic object. The process was slow but it seemed that the completion of the sheath had to do with Arthur''s mental state, which was showing healing. His consciousness was still a vast starry sky but there were no signs of those malevolent chains or the Earth Spirit which was trapped inside. Instead, there was an additional thing next to the Orb and the Ark. It was a really strange circle composed of three colors, each emitting some kind of pure energy and the three were coexisting and even complimenting each other. This was the Tri-Spirit that was created due to the outburst of Arthur''s darkness and the Dark-Anguish Technique which accelerated the process by a few hundred times. The Earth Spirit was wise enough to grasp this opportunity to fuse with the Death Energy and the Dark Mana. He could have escaped but such a golden opportunity made it more powerful despite being linked to Arthur for an eternity. As Lucy was softly caressing her husband''s face, the door of the room was abruptly opened and a tall silhouette walked inside. With a funny looking purple clothes and star-shaped tattoos under his eye, the Joker gazed around until his eye landed on Makaze. Ignoring the displeased Lucy, who was coldly glaring at him, he stopped in front of Makaze and squatted down while carefully inspecting the broken blade, which was mostly hidden by the forming sheath. "A story of love and betrayal, joy and tragedy, life and death. An evil man, who dearly loved a woman, sacrificed every bit of his power to create nine Divine swords to protect her and nine Cursed swords to destroy her enemies. The woman didn''t love him back and even insulted him but the man wasn''t hurt and merely disappeared. Only a few people know where he went.... the dark and ancient place that has nothing but constant hurricanes and complete darkness. He died there, alone and the strong energy in that place coupled with his special heart had fused together and transformed into a sword." Lucy listened to him silently, she didn''t know why he was telling her this story but it was apparent that it''s Makaze''s origins. However, the reason he''s telling her something only a handful of people knew shall remain unknown for now. The Joker grasped the handle of Makaze but the second his hand touched it, black flames enveloped it and started devouring vitality. The man didn''t seem to mind and after gazing at it for a few seconds, he let it go and turned to look at Lucy with a smirk "From the look of your face, I don''t seem you remember me that much?" While it is true she saw him in her past, Lucy only knows that he''s a dangerous entity and is known throughout the Universes. "Did we meet in the past?"-Lucy The Joker casually sat on a nearby chair then said "We did indeed, you were but a small girl when I first saw you, Miss Eva." As she heard this news, Lucy was momentarily startled before replying "Eva? Is that my real name?" "That is what your parents named you." As such an opportunity appeared, Lucy wasn''t going to waste it. Normally, she doesn''t talk much in front of strangers but now, she set aside her usual silent attitude and added: "Who are my real parents? Where are they?" "Oh my! Are you that eager to meet them?" Hearing this, Lucy scoffed and said with a mocking tone "Meet them? I just want to show them what I managed to do without their help." As he heard that, the Joker burst out in laughter and said excitedly "Hahahaha now that''s a good answer! I really want to be there when that happens. I don''t know your circumstances but it seems your opinion and attitude about this matter is suitable for my taste." After saying that, he took out the same card that he used against Arthur and then carefully inspected Lucy. Twenty seconds of silence passed before the Joker started laughing even louder "HAHAHAHA truly, truly a suitable pair you two are! Yin physique, a soul bind, and an unmatched talent! Life really never ceases to amaze me!" Lucy, wanting to know the truth, insisted by asking him again "So... are you going to tell me?" He shrugged while responding "I don''t care either way so why not tell you but on two conditions." Hearing nothing but silence as an answer, he continued "First, you two are invited to my Red Spade Tower as competitors. Second, I want the chest of coins inside your partner''s ring." Confused, Lucy thought about what the Joker said for a few seconds before asking "What chest exactly?" With a grin plastered on his face, he happily answered "The one that surely was next to that old man''s corpse when he died. It''s just a chest with a bunch of colorful coins in it." She pondered about the condition for quite sometime before nodding thus showing him she''s accepting both conditions. Although neither she nor Arthur knew what the coins do, they do not need it now and Arthur would do anything to allow her to know about her past. As for participating in that competition, it''s in the future so it''s no problem. "Alright, deal accepted! Then let me tell you who your family is...." Chapter 347 - 300 : Tri-Spiri As Lucy was focused on the Joker, three different cards appeared on the latter''s hand. One was half white half black, the second was milky white and last had countless numbers on it. "The multiverse is composed of these three but if you add all the secret Realms and hidden words, then you''ll be talking about the omniverse. What I''m going to tell you right now is only related to the Cloud Sea Universe. A place for cultivators and those seeking power through cultivating mainly Nether Energy and Qi. They rank their powers using a simplistic system where the higher one''s realm, the more powerful he or she is. Obviously, such a vast and almost limitless place is bound to have one entity ruling it. In this case, more than one person is responsible for the ruling. These pretentious people who acquired a bit of strength live in the biggest planet in that Universe, the Divine Planet. This planet is divided into many parts and each zone is led by a sect, a clan or even a single person. Simply put, your family is one of the clans ruling the Divine Planet and the Cloud Sea Universe as a whole. It''s called the White Specter Clan and it''s ranked 5th in the Divine Ranking ladder. Of course, there are other factions that are definitely more powerful than the ones ruling the Divine Planet but they are usually secretive and don''t interfere in the matters concerning the Cloud Sea Universe." ''Ting!'' *The user: Lucy MoonStar is aware of her identity thus some changes will be implemented on the Status Window.* *The user: Lucy MoonStar''s real name is Eva. Would you like to change your name Lucy MoonStar => Eva.* Seeing those notifications pop up, Lucy frowned and flatly rejected the system''s proposal. No matter what her real name is, she considered ''Lucy'' as her real name and won''t ever change it. Lucy took some time to process what she heard then asked another question "Does that mean my parents are there... in the Divine Planet." "Indeed they are. I''m not acquainted with your father but your mother is an old friend of mine. She resembles you very much, even in terms of behavior and character. I first saw you when you were but a one-year-old baby and only for a brief moment." "...." Lucy turned her head and stared at Arthur for a long time before saying "How do we compare to ''that'' clan in terms of power?" Contrary to his usual fast reply, the Joker took time to reply. He let out a long sigh after gazing at her for a few seconds then replied: "I know what you want to do, however, with your current strength, you won''t be able to do it, even with him on your side." "Then how strong should we be?" The Joker expected such a question so he gave her the desired answer almost immediately "10 years. I expect that in ten years, you''ll become stronger than anyone in the Divine Planet and at that time, you can do what you please." Before Lucy could anything else, the Joker added: "I told you what you need to know. Now, can you leave for some time? I have something to talk about with your husband." Startled, Lucy turned to Arthur but found out that he''s still deep asleep. With a questioning expression, she looked at the Joker, who had a serious expression as he expected her to leave the two men alone. Dissatisfied and displeased, she quietly left the room. Although she didn''t get all her questions answered, at least she knows a big deal about her origins now more than ever. ***** When there were only Arthur and the Joker alone in the room. The mysterious entity, who always wore a strange-looking outfit, walked up to the sleeping parasite and stared at him for more than a minute without saying anything "....''Sometimes, even when you''re stronger than anyone else, you''ll still learn something new from a weakest of beings and be fooled by the stupidest people''.... isn''t that what you always used to tell me when we first met?" The Joker didn''t add anything else and merely waited for a few minutes until Arthur started showing signs of waking up. The dark blade on the corner was reaching its final state of evolution as the jet black sheath was almost complete. "Welcome back to reality." ******** A few minutes before Arthur woke up, just when his consciousness left the deep sleep it was trapped in, he was immediately transported inside that endless white space. Facing him was none other than his copy, who was relaxed as he drank some coffee. "I''m amazed at how lucky you are. From all the people you could meet when you''re berserk, you met one of the few people who can subdue you with ease." Arthur was confused as he only remembers Claudia being killed then his vision turned into complete darkness. Seeing his confusion, the copy resumed talking "Zodiak''s Dark Magic mainly relies on negative emotions as a catalyst to empower the user. The Dark-Anguish Technique is definitely a malevolent cultivation technique that could hurt the host if he''s not careful, then again, you''re the second one in history who''s used it correctly. The thing is, thanks to your special Race, even such a strong technique wouldn''t have affected you. The problem lied with your past life and the torture you suffered. ''X'' chose you for multiple reasons and one of them is because you had amassed a large quantity of negative energy, which automatically stored itself inside your consciousness and wasn''t accessible by you. Since you were imprisoned and abused, all that negativity couldn''t be unleashed thus it intensified. The Orb of the Fallen Overgods need a host which can match its properties and as it is a treasure that was created from the flesh and emotions of countless Gods and Overgods that died in the war, it was full of hate and anger of those beings. This process of stored negative energy can happen to anyone who suffered similar things to yourself but the real issue was the Orb which slightly fused this energy with your consciousness and when you trained using the Dark-Anguish technique, it multiplied this energy and made it more intense thus leading to it manifesting a consciousness on its own. That''s usually how Spirits are born but generally, they are created from a natural and pure energy of a certain object or place, not a person. As Sloth had told you, that stored energy was fighting back and wanted to get out of your consciousness. When you were taking revenge on your ex-wife, this helped you unleash some of that energy thus containing the darkness within you. However, when she suddenly died, you were shocked and unconsciously locked away your darkness again, which grew to a terrifying degree. It''s like you had a tiger which was imprisoned in a cage then you told it that you''ll set it free soon but when it was about to experience freedom, you changed your mind and locked it again. I honestly thought another personality of yourself would be born and it''ll wreak havoc on its own but when I saw the Death Energy accumulated due to your first death, the fight against the reaper, and the Book of the Damned, I rejected the idea of a newborn malevolent copy of yourself. If the Joker wasn''t present, either your initial personality would have been overwritten by the Darkness and a new one would have been created or it would have separated itself from you and roamed away while killing everything and destroying every mountain on its way. Fortunately, the fight allowed it to unleash more than 90% of the contained emotions and negative energy thus it facilitated the creation of the Spirit. It''s a Tri-Spirit, the first one in history. Earth, Death, and Darkness, an entity that is very powerful and strengthens your fighting power by more than 30%. It has a consciousness on its own but it''s mostly controlled by the old Earth Spirit, which is also a good thing. There are lots of other things left unexplained but that''s for now as it''s not necessary to explain everything. You should check your Status Window then go talk to the Joker." As he talked for a long time, the copy took a sip from his coffee then glanced at Arthur only to find him still staring at him with a strange gaze. After a long silence, Arthur said "Claud Venis, the Prophecy Holder." Once he uttered those words, the copy was shocked as his pupils constricted and his breath halted for a few seconds. Chapter 348 - 301 : Claud Venis The copy calmed down within a few seconds, he stared back at Arthur and said emotionlessly "So you found out." Arthur shrugged nonchalantly and added: "It''s wasn''t that hard to guess your identity. I have been having strange dreams for a period... I saw myself and Lucy but it was all blurry, what''s more is that despite our exact appearances, we''re totally different people. I also do not believe I''m your reincarnation whatsoever. What I don''t understand, however, is what you want from me." Arthur received only silence for an answer. After glaring at him for some time, the copy sighed and said "You''re right, we''re separate entities but that doesn''t mean that you have nothing to do with the whole matter. I won''t add a single word about this matter until you reach a place called the Garden of Words." With both parties not uttering any more words, Arthur swiftly left the ARK without even looking at his Status Window. Once he opened his eyes, he found a strange-looking man gazing at him with a funny smirk on his face. "Welcome back to reality." Arthur took a few seconds to adjust his vision and check if his body is still injured. Fortunately, he seemed to be in his peak condition. "I assume you''re the one they call the Joker." "Indeed I am, Arthur MoonStar." Hearing his over-friendly tone, Arthur frowned and displeasingly said "You speak as if we''re acquaintances." "Oh but we are! Even more than acquaintances but that''s not why I''m here." Arthur merely gazed at this man, expecting a reason for his unwelcome visit. In response, the Joker took out two red envelopes with a golden stamp on them and put them next to Arthur. "I''ve already made a deal with your wife. I expect you two to come when my competition begins." ''A deal?'' Arthur wasn''t aware of what happened but he trusted Lucy''s so he didn''t waste time asking about this deal as she would tell him later. "Now then, onto the serious things." The Joker took out a deck of cards and stretched to Arthur with their back facing the latter. "Pick any card you like." Seeing him do such a thing, Arthur remained unresponsive for half a minute before he picked a card after a bit of pondering. The card turned to be a special card, the Joker card. The Joker''s grin widened as he spoke again "You spent 3 seconds pondering about what card to choose but ultimately, you never had a choice." He flipped all his card and surprisingly, they were all Joker cards. The Joker covered the fifty or so card for a split second only for them to turn into a normal deck of cards. "It''s called the illusion of choice. Spending time to think about useless things is often the demise of the most powerful people. Sometimes, it''s better to not think but act on the spot but of course, that''s just my opinion." "What do you actually want?" Arthur never liked beating around the bush so he directly asked the other party. "Me? Nothing. I just want to tell you two things." He pointed at the dark blade in the corner of the room whilst saying "That blade will bring calamities to you but that''s not my business. I will only interfere if you ever encounter one of the Seven Deadly Sins. If that happens, crush that card in your hand and I shall be summoned next to you." "Why the Seven Deadly Sins?" "It doesn''t matter! It''s only a one-time thing to pay back what you did for me in the past and if an encounter with them can be avoided then do so." The Joker finally stood up from his seat walked to the door. Just as he was about to leave, he muttered a few words with a low tone "Remember, your enemies are not the ones within but the ones outside and we ''three'' shall be the ones to end it, once and for all." With that last sentence said, the Joker left the room, at last, leaving a confused Arthur who doesn''t know what the hell is going on. Merely a few seconds after being left alone, Lucy''s figure appeared next to Arthur. She looked at him tenderly and checked his body to see if something was done to him. The only odd thing she found were the two red envelopes next to her husband. ..... The couple spent two or so hours talking about the deal with the Joker and what happened when Arthur went out of control. "... So she died?" Arthur spoke with a bitter tone. He couldn''t take revenge against the vicious ex-wife. However, the next sentence of Lucy startled him "The Joker told me that although she died, we can surely bring her back from Hell but on the condition, we arrive at that place first." He shook his head and said "Let''s leave at that. She didn''t suffer enough but at least she died. We got more important things to do." "En!" Lucy agreed and leaned on his shoulder, smiling brightly as everything ended well and nothing horrible happened. "I need to seclude myself for a few days. I need you to go get Gutcha." Obviously, Lucy agreed and her short trip was postponed tomorrow. The couple spent the rest of night snuggling and doing what lovers do, any details shall be omitted! ....... The next day, all the others were relieved to see Arthur healthy but didn''t get to spent much time with him or Lucy. He secluded himself into a cave underground where no one can disturb him and Lucy was sent to Earth via a Spatial Tunnel he created. Since she isn''t proficient in Space Magic, Arthur created a special device with the help of Claud, his copy, to facilitate the trip to and from Earth. The reason he needed to seclude himself still remains unknown, even to Lucy, but it surely had something to do with the notifications'' log he read the night he woke up. ......... East of Astria, precisely on the Itas Continent. In the middle of a thick forest a fair distance away from the World Tree, the Joker stood there silently with his eyes closed and a serious expression. The small area around him was littered with blood, the stench was too nauseating and the ground was dyed red. The corpses belonged to ugly and scary looking monsters, each had more than two arms and they had distorted expression as they surely died a very miserable death. "Sons of bitches really know how to hide." He spat on the ground angrily then squatted down, grabbing a blue crystal that belonged to one of these monsters. "Tch! Summoning crystals! I guess I have to make a detour." He waved his hand, crushing all the crystals in the surroundings then took out a card a special grey card from his deck and used his hand to pulverize it thus activating the spell contained within ''Ghost Rat Trail : Activated'' The Joker''s form blurred then vanished within a few seconds, disappearing from Astria. Chapter 349 - 302 : Meeting A few days after Arthur started his seclusion, the Joker appeared in a breath-taking courtyard with no soul in it. It was calm and refreshing, moreover, the energy in that area was so pure and thick which made it the perfect cultivating ground for any person. This place was situated in the Divine Planet, possibly the most planet in the Cloud Sea Universe. Just as he landed on the ground, a cold and irritated voice rang in his ears "You always barge in whenever you like, at least have some decency!" The voice seemed to reprimand him but the Joker shrugged his shoulders and excitedly said "You won''t believe what I saw and who I encountered!" Unfortunately, this seemed to be the normal routine for the hidden person as she sighed and replied "That''s what you always say when you come here. I''m in a critical period and I need some time alone to breakthrough." Despite being flatly kicked out by the mysterious lady, the Joker laughed out loud and added: "Are you sure you don''t want to know?" This time, he was met with no answer as if she started ignoring him but after a few seconds passed, that didn''t seem to be the case. "... You have the smell of an unfamiliar white specter." The strange man grinned evilly and stated "My my, didn''t you say you want some time alone? I guess I''ll have to go since ''someone'' is busy breaking through." He acted as if he was going to leave and just when his figure started turning blurry, dangerous white flames enveloped him thus negating his teleportation. Though these flames have a strange color, their power is by no means weak. In fact, any other person would disintegrate into nothingness if they were hit by this white fire. "Speak." A tall woman appeared some distance away from him. With long silver hair and sky-blue pupils, she resembled a human but by no means was she one. Her beauty was impeccable and her demeanor was usually cold and indifferent but this time, she was curious after noticing the smell of a white specter that didn''t belong to her clan. "Hahahaha you think by looking scary you''re going to force me to talk? Don''t forget who taught you how to fight." Seeing act like this after igniting her curiosity, the woman snorted and turned around. It''s either he''s tricking her as it''s part of his nature or he''s not willing to divulge the truth. "Come on! Don''t be such a brat. Come here, let''s have some of your special tea while I spit the beans." Although she was a bit unwilling, she clicked her tongue and went to sit next to him while taking a teapot out of nowhere. ''Tsk! Does he know how expensive the leaves are?'' The two spent around ten minutes enjoying the tea, none of them spoke as silence was the best atmosphere for such a tea. "So... what do you want to know?" "Weren''t you the one who wanted to tell me what you saw and who you met?" The Joker acted as if he forgot what he said and nodded his head continuously "Ah! Yes yes, that''s right! Many things happened, amazing things I might say but I''ll only tell you one thing." "..." The woman glared at him coldly but said nothing, expecting him to continue. He glanced at her and chuckled as he saw her reaction. "I did indeed meet a white specter. A woman, to be precise. She has talent greater than yours and has inherited your hair." Just as he muttered those words, an expression of disbelief appeared on the woman''s face. She quickly became angry and yelled "You.... if this is one of your tricks then I''ll..." "What? Do you think I''m lying? Aren''t you the one who smelled her in the first place?" The woman took a few seconds to calm her heart then added: "What''s her name?" "Lucy." "What about her last name?" "That, I cannot say." ''Slap'' Just as he refused to answer her, he received a loud slap on his face but he didn''t seem affected and just stabilized his body before gazing back at the frustrated woman whose feelings were in total disarray "You know how much I looked for her yet now you''re refusing to let me find her! Why!?" "Simple, she doesn''t want to meet you. Furthermore, what would you do now that she''s married and even has a kid?" His words were like bombs that fell on her, each surprising her more than the last. "... w-what?" "You heard it right. She doesn''t need you and she''s happy with her life. You, interfering with her life would ruin everything, especially since you''ll definitely not like her husband, who has no special background." The more he talked, the angrier the woman became. She didn''t show it on her face, who almost remained emotionless after the initial disbelief, but her slightly shaking body was the proof of her rage. "You''re going to tell me where sh-" Before she could finish, the Joker flicked her forehead thus knocking her unconscious. "I am sorry but I cannot do that.... and it''s your fault for losing her so why should I lend a hand?" ***************** When she returned to Earth, Lucy went to check on Saly and played with her for the rest of the day and when the little girl obediently went to sleep. She and Astrith started looking for Gutcha, who wasn''t that easy to find. Even Delia was forced to help them but even after spending the whole night searching everywhere on Earth, the trio found no signs of the Pigolo. This worried Lucy as she knew Arthur specifically needed Gutcha for a very important task but the issue laid in the pigolo''s disappearance. With his abilities, he cannot leave Earth alone, moreover, there is nothing around the planet except dark matter and countless rubbles so it''s pointless to head there. After spending two whole days searching, the trio gave up and decided to let Arthur do it since he has much more efficient tracking skills. Delia went back to seclusion and Astrith returned to Saly''s side. As for Lucy, she used the device her husband gave her to return to Astria. She found out that he''s still inside the cave and even locked all entrances so she waited for him. In the meantime, she got to spend time with Mary, Sonia, and Anastassia, who is busier than ever, preparing for her wedding. Jackob was bursting with happiness as he went around boasting about his marriage and his wife, who was described(by him) as beautiful, strong, etc... Lucy noticed that Arthur wasn''t cultivating but doing something else. Moreover, thanks to her soul bind, she gained 80% of his stats but in the last few days, she lost more than 20% of her overall stats without knowing why but it certainly had to do with Arthur. Finally, after spending five days inside that cave, Arthur appeared though he looked mentally tired and physically exhausted. Lucy was the first one to welcome him, just in front of the cave and what she saw inside really made her puzzled. There were two large and rectangular boxes, one was jet black and the other was pure white. They didn''t emit any energy and the material they were made of remains unknown. The first thing Arthur did was give a big hug to Lucy and go with her to their bedroom so he can sleep for a bit as he exhausted all his Mental Power and even lost a portion of his stats, however, the results were more than satisfactory and his goal was achieved. The only thing left to do is to send Gutcha away and he''ll feel relieved. Chapter 350 - 303 : God Race Once Arthur left the cave, he came to learn of the issue regarding Gutcha. After a good night sleep and talking a bit with Lucy, they departed for Earth. The trip was swift and in a short time, they found themselves in their house. Arthur immediately sat cross-legged and meditated for six straight hours to recuperate Mental Power and return to his peak state. What he created inside the cave consumed much more than expected but it was worth it, moreover, he only needed less than a day to recover thanks to his Vitality, which broke through one billion points some time ago. Lucy told him that Gutcha wasn''t disguised as a human or else he would have been found by her. Whilst it''s true he''s proficient at trickery and deceiving people, he cannot escape the eyes of a half-Sovereign who has the power of a God Monarch. In their group, Arthur is, without a doubt, the best tracker thanks to the countless skills he has and his over-the-top Dexterity. Very quickly, his sense spread in all corners of the Earth, leaving nothing covered from his consciousness. Every breathing human and animal could be detected by Arthur, however, none were Gutcha. Arthur expected this to not work or else Lucy wouldn''t have needed his help so, for the first time since its birth, the Tri-Spirit, was awakened and given its first task. When it materialized itself in the real world, it resembled a very small grey sphere that emitted thick dark fog and had a small yellow luster in its center. "Ah! It really feels good to be alive again." The voice belonged to none other than the Earth Spirit, which was entrapped inside Arthur''s consciousness. It grasped a good opportunity and successfully fused with the forming Spirit in the moment of crisis. It was a big gamble but with great risk comes great reward. "It''s not time to feel joyful yet, help me find someone." The reason he summoned the Tri-Spirit is because it has the Earth Attribute, which could help him search every inch of this planet without having to turn it upside down. "As you wish." Although it wasn''t friendly with Arthur, to begin with. He is now its master and even if it''s unwilling the other two parts will force it to obey him. In the past, Arthur injected Gutcha with a Detonator which was later removed but some of the Dark Magic that resided in the Detonator had spread in the pigolo''s body but since the quantity is very minimal, it didn''t cause any damage. Normally, this would have helped him locate the target almost immediately but the latter seemed to be in a place that either obstructed his sense or isn''t on Earth at all. The Tri-Spirit was both an entity that is separated from Arthur and one that''s eternally linked to him, just like Makaze. It has a mind of its own but it obeys Arthur and it is also his eyes and ears. It''s like having a second pair of eyes, ears, and hands. Once it received his command, the sphere changed dramatically, all the greyness and dark fog vanished and were replaced by a bright yellow-ish ball that was spinning so fast it turned blurry. It suddenly crashed into the ground, fusing with it and after that, everyone on Earth could feel a slight, almost nonexistent earth shake. Through the Spirit, Arthur could see a vast and majestic place that was half destroyed. The pillars were made from a unique white jade and the floor was crystalline. In the entrance of this place, there laid Gutcha with blood around him. His body looked a bit deformed and his face was pale, in fact, he looked more like a corpse than a living person. "It''s actually a Heavenly Tomb. No wonder.... no wonder Earth has lots of strange legends and stories about ancient Gods. I''m really curious to see whose tomb it is." The copy''s voice rang inside Arthur''s ears, surprising him since the former maintained an unusual silence these days so he thought he gave up on helping him. ''What''s a Heavenly Tomb?'' This time, it wasn''t the copy that answered but the Earth Spirit, which was now part of the Tri-Spirit. ''A Heavenly Tomb is a literally a tomb made by one of the God Race when they are about to die.'' ''There is a God Race?'' Claud answered this question without missing any details "The God Race or also known as the Heavenly Race, is an ancient race that went extinct a very long time ago. They are literal Gods and one of the two existing Races that can create other Races." Even more confused, Arthur added: "Aren''t the people who reached the God Realm also called Gods?" "Yes, they can be regarded as Gods. With enough talent and good control over the elements, they can do things Gods do, such as creating planets, however, creating new Races or even living beings isn''t something they can do. In fact, almost all the Races were created by the God Race. It''s kinda funny when the ones you created turn against you and murder every one of your species but I guess they kind of deserved it too." The copy paused for a second before resuming "Basically, the ancient God Race didn''t need to cultivate or anything, they were born adults and had immense power. Each had a special kind of power and each created one or two Races. As for the modern Gods, they are merely someone who reached the God Realm. From the perspective of mortals, these people can be seen as Gods but in reality, they aren''t real Gods but merely people who reached a certain Realm that made them look kind of Holy or strong." Although he understood what was said, Arthur still didn''t know why would a Heavenly Tomb be present here, on Earth. "It''s not really that complicated. Many Gods liked to disguise themselves as mortals or just rule over a single world or planet. Coincidentally, Earth had many ''visitors'' such as Buddha and the 12 minor Gods that named themselves the 12 Olympians. There may be others that I don''t know too." Once all the explanation was done, Arthur teleported to the entrance of the Heavenly Tomb with Lucy. They were both extremely cautious as per the copy''s words, it isn''t easy to enter a Heavenly Tomb and harvest the treasures inside without having to pay a big price. Even in the multiverse, Heavenly Tombs were rarer than living unicorns and are regarded highly. No power, no matter strong it is, dares to claim the right of a Heavenly Tomb since that means angering the whole world. ... Currently, Arthur and Lucy didn''t take a step forward and merely inspected the grand entrance while trying to find anything hiding or out of place. It''s true that Gutcha was a distance away and was dying but they couldn''t tread on carelessly, Arthur had learned that lesson the hard way. As he looked around, Arthur''s pupil changed color and flashed with a sky-blue light that was beautiful to look at. [The All Seeing Eyes] was activated, allowing him to see what''s protecting this Tomb and how it actually works. *Auto-Appraisal activated duo to syncro with the skill [The All Seeing Eyes]* *Barrier [Golden Hat](Rank : ????) Cannot break using physical damage - Magical damage - Qi Technique - Cultivations techniques.* "It''s actual Bud-" Both the copy and the Earth Spirit shouted at the same time when the notification was displayed in front of Arthur, however, they were temporarily banished in another realm almost instantaneously and the couple was sucked inside the Heavenly Tomb against their will. Just as they appeared inside, a physical pressure pressed down on their bodies, however, it was pretty so it was neither painful nor overwhelming. "Teach this triple truth to all: A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity." An archaic voice rang inside the tomb, shaking the couple''s hearts and even numbing their will for a few seconds. The voice carried no power behind it still affected them greatly. Arthur couldn''t access his consciousness nor the Spirit or the ARK. He couldn''t even circulate his Nether Energy or Mental Power. Lucy was in a similar state, she could only move her body. The two took some time to process what they heart but they couldn''t comprehend the meaning behind saying those words just after they entered the Heavenly Tomb. Gutcha was a distance away from them, still groaning as blood soaked the crystalline floor under him. Not even half a minute passed before the voice resonated across the area, however, this time, it seemed to be directly speaking to Arthur. "Harborer of evil and malice, you have no place in this humane place, be gone." Just as those words descended, Arthur found himself standing in the entrance yet again. He tried stepping in forcefully but was pushed back a few meters. Chapter 351 - 304 : Task Lucy turned to check on Arthur and when she made sure he was alright, she started walking toward Gutcha. Their primary goal is to save the pigolo then if possible, clear the Tomb. With Arthur thrown out, everything now depended on Lucy alone. With each step taken toward the Pigolo and the center of the Heavenly Tomb which was very far away, the pressure pressing down on her became stronger. Fortunately, her body has broken through the limiter just like Arthur so even without having access to her cultivation, she still had an unbreakable physique. It''s actually an understatement to call her a moving mountain as a mere fist of her can shatter a whole mountain range and turn it into dust. The 300m distance that initially separated Lucy from Gutcha was soon crossed. The pressure was indeed troubling but it''s still no problem for Lucy to move even after taking more than a hundred steps. She examined the bloody pigolo before squatting down and grabbing part of his clothes then dragging him all the way to the entrance where the pressure was minimal. The ugly Gutcha seemed to be unconscious but when he was brought to the start of the Tomb, his consciousness recovered and he managed to wake up. With disbelieving eyes, he stared at Lucy then at Arthur who was a distance away from him. "Thank you, miss." It was actually the first time he saw Lucy as he was sent away the moment they arrived on Earth. Although he never saw her, he still knows about her so he didn''t forget to speak with respect and gratitude. Since she could use neither Nether energy nor mana, she couldn''t take out some Healing Potions so she urged him to leave the tomb so Arthur can take care of him. The woman didn''t need to talk to Arthur to convey to him what she''s about to do. With Gutcha out of death''s door, it''s time for her to try and reach the end of the Tomb for it''ll bring her great benefits. Arthur softly smiled at her and nodded her head then turned his attention to Gutcha. He stuffed a Miraculous Healing Potion in his mouth then used some of the Healing Spells he had in his arsenal. Luckily, the pressure coming from the Heavenly Tomb didn''t have the intention to kill but to merely test the individuals and slow them down. Gutcha was merely at the Immortal Realm so three hundred meters was the best he could do. In fact, it was actually a good result which many Immortals won''t be able to achieve unless they used a treasure ( which isn''t possible since any exterior forces are banned inside this tomb). "You did good but you should have informed me first before going ahead recklessly." "Y-yeah... I just wished to obtain something from this Tomb." Hearing this, Arthur sighed and shook his head. While it''s true there some Heavenly Tombs that reward people depending on how much they advanced toward the end, this one was clearly different. As Lucy started advancing slowly and steadily, the pressure became much stronger and her speed decreased by more than half. Once the 500m mark was crossed, she could feel her breathing increase and her body sweating a bit. ... In just two minutes, thanks to Arthur''s skills and potions, Gutcha was healed from almost all the injuries he had, which were mostly bones fractures or broken ribs and bones. As he was given a new pair of clothes to wear and given a few more potions just in case, Arthur patted the pigolo''s shoulder and said "Now that you''re ready to move, I need to task you with something very important." The poor pigolo was startled as he was planning on taking a few days to relax and recuperate both mentally and physically. While it''s true he healed all his injuries, he was still feeling exhausted. "B-boss... can''t you wait for a few days? I''ve been trapped here for a long time and I need some time off." "No! This is urgent! Moreover, it''ll bring you many benefits and I''ll even pay you handsomely." When he heard about the awesome pay, Gutcha''s hesitant attitude suffered a 180-degree change. He became excited and shamelessly rubbed his hands as he waited for Arthur to continue "First off, this task may take a day, a year, or even a century but you must know, once you accept, you cannot give up mid-way." Gutcha thought Arthur was just being strict as always so he replied with a smile "Yes yes of course." Unfortunately, Arthur wasn''t going to assign him with such a task with such a half-assed attitude, he needs someone who is wholly dedicated to the task. "Gutcha, listen to me carefully, my life depends on the task and if you think you cannot do it then say so right now and I''ll find another person." As he heard his boss'' serious tone, Gutcha scratched his head and bowed his head apologetically before saying "My mistake, boss. Don''t worry, I''m certain I can follow your orders to the letter." Arthur nodded his head and continued "First, I''ll grant you a special power, power that''ll allow you to cultivate faster and become strong enough to protect yourself."'' As he listened to Arthur, Gutcha was shocked to feel excruciating pain coming from his chest. When he looked down, he found Arthur''s hand penetrating his heart and very quickly, he felt his body weakening and his vision becoming blurry. "No matter what, you must stay awake. Embrace the power and think of it as a part of your body, only then, will you be able to reach heights none other pigolo could reach. As Arthur retracted his hand, the pigolo''s body burst in black flames. Gutcha''s body staggered back a few steps but he fought the pain and held his heart as he embraced the darkness enveloping him. For a very long time now, Arthur started considering Gutcha as a very suitable candidate for passing down Zodiak''s hierarchy. The pigolo''s body was just perfect to use Dark Magic and without enough time and hard work, he''ll reach the God Realm and even beyond. The pigolo was greedy for money but he was loyal and knew how to get the job done and that''s essentially what Arthur needs. "Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" The height of the black flames increased and the area around the pigolo turned into complete darkness, sucking the light and even the air. "You only lack dedication, Gutcha. If you want money and Spirit Stones then you''ll get plenty if you''re stronger than everyone else." Arthur sat down and stared at Gutcha, who was writhing in agony. After five minutes of hell passed, the black flames entered the pigolo''s body and the darkness around him were sucked into his heart. His body fell on the floor as he panted heavily but despite the immense pain he felt, he had a wide and creepy grin plastered on his ugly face. As Arthur checked him using Appraisal, he noticed that the pigolo advanced by two whole grades in more or less five minutes. "I feel I could even defeat Divine Beings now." After recuperating for half a minute, the pigolo stood up and raised his hand while weird dark energy circulated around it. On his other hand, a long dark sword appeared, it had black flames on its edges and it could change forms depending on Gutcha''s will. "This is merely the appetizer. Once you master it, you''ll gain even more power." Gutcha nodded his head and walked up to Arthur then surprisingly kneeled. "Boss, I''m really grateful for what you did. From now till my last breath, I''m your loyal servant." "Alright alright, no need for these useless ceremonies. From now on, memorize and do exactly as I say." The pigolo nodded his head seriously and opened his ears wide. "I will send you back to Astria and there, in a cave under the High Tower, you''ll find two boxes. Remember, they cannot be stored inside a storage ring so you''ll have to carry them and in a way, they''ll be a form of training for you. Once you have retrieved the two boxes, you''ll go to the Green Leaf world, your home and find a secret place no one knows about. Do you understand, I NEED you to find a place no one knows about, not even yourself so you''ll have to discover it by searching everywhere. Also, it doesn''t have to be on that specific world, it''s just your starting point." Arthur paused for a second to see if he''s still listening then continued: "When you find such a place, I want you to hide the white box there then use a talisman I''m about to give you to erase your memories about that exact second and a month prior to that." As he said that, Arthur stretched his hand and gave Gutcha a jet black Talisman then resumed: "Obviously, use that talisman after you have hidden the white box and widened the distance between yourself and the first secret place. Now, after doing that, I need you to find a second desolate place which no one knows about. You''ll find such a place and hide the black box there but you''ll remain in that place, guarding the box until it breaks on its OWN. No matter how much time it takes, you''ll remain beside the black box guarding it and cultivating." Gutcha unconsciously gulped some saliva as he listened to Arthur. He was someone who likes to socialize and roam around so binding him in a place for god knows when is surely a big deal for him. Fortunately, he had a small change of mind when he was bestowed a great power by Arthur and had the urge to reach the God Realm so this task is considered a big challenge for pigolo, a challenge he will overcome. After repeating the task two more times and ascertaining that Gutcha memorized everything, Arthur handed him a storage ring that has a bunch of gold and spirit stones, potions, and a few techniques are compatible with the Dark Magic. With everything said and done, Arthur waved his hand and opened a Spatial Tunnel for Gutcha, who turned around for one last time and bowed to his boss before entering the tunnel with a resolute expression. Chapter 352 - 305 : The Disc Inside the Heavenly Tomb, Lucy managed to reach the 700m mark but the pressure became stronger than ever. She would take a step every five to ten seconds and she was already soaking with sweat. Her normally white face was red and exhaustion started wearing her off. Arthur shifted his attention to his wife but found no trace of her. Actually, she disappeared from his view when she crossed the 500m mark. Normally, with his Dexterity, he could see people several kilometers away from him, like an eagle. However, the Heavenly Tomb blocked his vision thus leaving him a bit worried. Whilst it''s true he has a blind trust and complete confidence in his wife''s abilities, he cannot help but feel anxious about her safety, after all, she''s inside a Heavenly Tomb and not an amusement park. As Lucy crossed the 700 meters mark, the same voice from the beginning was heard again but only those inside were able to hear it. "One step is a path, a thousand are a journey. No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path." As she was left pondering about the meaning of those words, a golden light appeared from the ground and entered her body, alleviating some of the physical stress she was feeling and clearing her mind. It was such a strange yet addictive feelings, its effects were only momentary yet despite that fact, it allowed Lucy to fight back the pressure which increased significantly. With great difficulty, Lucy took fifty more steps before stopping. No matter how much she tried, she couldn''t raise her legs and advance anymore. Her body started bending and she was on the verge of falling down. It was at this time that the stubborn and resolute side of Lucy surfaced, she gritted her teeth, clenched her fists and shouted loudly as she forcefully controlled her body and made it take the next step. ''Step'' ''Step''... ''Step'' The momentum was slow but she never ceased advancing despite the cracking of her bones or the blood leaking out of her lips. She knew that Arthur wouldn''t give up yet so why would she? They are supposed to be together for all eternity so she must be strong as he is so they can protect each other and battle together against all odds. Just like that, another one hundred meters were crossed and the voice rang inside her ears again, this time more clearly. "Silence the angry man with love. Silence the ill-natured man with kindness. Silence the miser with generosity. Silence the liar with truth." Two hours passed after that, the struggle became more intense and Lucy''s body was slowly breaking down yet in the midst of this suffering, her consciousness began reacting on its own, sending an unknown Energy to her body, giving it barely enough power to continue walking. When the 900m mark was reached, the voice talked again, this time louder than ever and even shaking the whole tomb. "Irrigators channel waters; fletchers straighten arrows; carpenters bend wood; the wise master themselves." This formless and colorless energy that started forming inside her consciousness then automatically sent to all parts of her body, became denser and circulated even faster. Lucy''s fast pace quickened and soon enough, she''ll reach the 1000m mark. From her current location, she can see a gigantic golden coffin inside a golden platform that had tall pillars surrounding it. Unfortunately, things didn''t go as expected as she abruptly stopped when she was merely ten steps away from the milestone. Lucy seemed to have realized something when she was advancing and pondering over the lines said by the mysterious voice. She knew she capable of reaching the 1000 mark but it just didn''t feel right... as if it''s a path she can take but shouldn''t. A path not made for her but those wanting to spread their kindness and seek wisdom. As for her, her path isn''t clear yet but it''s full of obstacles. She has no interest in kindness or wisdom, she just wants to live peacefully with her family and if she must do evil things then she wouldn''t hesitate to do so. For her, family comes before anything. As she was about to give up, the voice resonated across the tomb as if to stop her "The root of suffering is attachment." Lucy remained unfazed and resolutely turned around, still planning to give up and leave the tomb. Neither she nor Arthur are meant to clear this tomb. It requires a person without sins, a person seeking to help others and wear the yellow robe, become a monk. "See them, floundering in their sense of mine, like fish in the puddles of a dried-up stream ˇŞ and, seeing this, live with no mine, not forming attachment for states of becoming." Despite the persistence of the voice, Lucy started going back to the entrance and very quickly returned to where Arthur was. Just as she was about to leave the place, a golden streak of light came flying from the end of the tomb and floated in front of Lucy. It circled around her then landed on her hand. This object was a strange golden disc with nothing special about its appearance. The tomb returned to its usual silence once the disc was delivered. The disc wasn''t something to entice her but a reward for managing to reach that far, a rather special reward. At last, Lucy left the Heavenly Tomb and sat cross-legged, meditating and taking deep breaths as her Vitality stat quicked in and started healing her. "Are you okay?" Arthur sat next to her and checked her from head to toe before he handed her a Healing Potion. Lucy smiled softly and reassured him before taking out the golden disc she got from the Tomb "We should let it go, it''s not a place for us." Hearing this, Arthur glanced at the tomb for a split second before nodding his head in approval. He inspected the disc then used appraisal to see its function and properties *Buddha''s Disc[Rank: Godly 2nd Grade] : Weakens a target by 5% and cast a pressure that slows down all nearby enemies by 15%. The pressure damages 1% of the target''s health every 30 seconds. Cost : 200m Nether Energy/second or 250 Mana/Second or 1000 Mental Power/second* With nothing to do here, the couple left the place and headed home, where they found Astrith, Taliya, Randuin, and Saly. The girl was happy to see her dad so she immediately jumped in his arms and giggled as she recounted what happened in school. As usual, they had dinner together but the atmosphere turned a bit tense when Arthur mentioned that he and Lucy must go on a trip and won''t be home for a while. Saly didn''t want to separate from them and also that they won''t go on a trip for a simple reason so she asked to join them but was flatly rejected by Arthur and especially Lucy. "Saly, you must understand that this is a very dangerous trip and we won''t be able to keep you out of danger if you come with us." The little girl furiously shook her head and retorted "I have Astrith and Randuin by my side, no one is able to hurt me!" When Arthur saw Saly''s teary eyes and her red face, his expression softened and he couldn''t say anything back, he just let out a helpless sigh. However, Lucy was very strict and even became angry when she saw Saly acting like this. In the end, the little girl darted out of the dining room with tear-soaked eyes. Chapter 353 - 306 : Marriage Later at night, when everyone either went to bed or to train. Arthur sat alone in his bedroom while checking all the new additions to his arsenal. ''Status Window.'' TITLE: MEAT GRINDER / SEEKER OF KNOWLEDGE / ONE WITH THE SWORD / ARK HOLDER / LIVE WITH HONOR, DIE WITH GLORY / BREAKER OF CHAINS / HOLDER OF THE DARK BLADE''S OATH / MAD DESTROYER/PSYCHOPATH/DRAGON RIDER Level: ?? Class: Dark ARK Parasite Realm: 1st Grade God - Strength: 2.75B Intelligence: 2.02B Agility: 2.47B Wisdom: 1.2B Vitality: 2.89B Dexterity: 2B - Health: 3.02B// Health Regen: 11m/s Nether Energy: 1.6B // Nether Energy Regen: 845275/s Mana: 2.0B // Mana Regen: 905784/s Stamina: Infinite /Stamina Regen: ??? ----- Creation: 584 ---- Attack: 2.9B (+65% Damage) Defense: 2.4B (+25% Damage Reduction) Magic Defense: 1.5B Soul Defense: 159,999 --- Enigma abilities : Telekinesis / Ancient Threads / Sixth sense / ARK(Activated) --- Mental Power: 11224 --- Elemental Resistances(+) Fire: 100% Darkness: 100% Wind: 35% Water: 75% Earth: 75% Light/holy: 30% Shadow: 30(+20%)% Lightning: 100% Ice: 30% --- Death Count: 1 (2 more to obtain ''Unbound'') --- Possessions (472,012) --- Races: ?Humans (282,991) ?Demons (84,997) ?Beasts (+)(101,528) ?Unique Beasts (2498) ?Mythical beings (1) ***** Duo to creating those two boxes, Arthur lost a considerable amount of stats but the birth of the Tri-Spirit did raise the attack, defense, magic defense, and especially the Soul Defense, which was one of the hardest stat to increase. He had two lifeless corpses of the Divine Beings that he didn''t possess yet and there are also the two invaders who killed Claudia. IF he were to possess even one of the two Divine Beasts, his stats would sky-rocket but his copy has forbidden him from possessing anything until he reaches the Sovereign Realm. His current power is equivalent to a Monarch God, meaning that any Sovereign can be defeated by him. Moreover, having the Tri-Spirit is like having a powerful and hidden card that could sneak-attack his foes. "Your physical power alone can defeat a God Monarch, so to make things in equilibrium, you cultivation much catch up to your physique. Obviously, reaching the God Monarch Realm would take a lot of time, so just focus on breaking through the Sovereign Realm for now." Claud Venis, his copy, explained the advantages of becoming a Sovereign. Not only would he have a bigger pool of Mental Power, the cultivation-based techniques such as the [Heavenly Mountain Fist], which relies 20% on Strength and 80% on one''s cultivation and mastery, would demonstrate much more power. While it isn''t absolutely necessary to cultivate, its advantages make anyone willing to sacrifice a bit of time to meditate and absorb the energy of Heaven and Earth to reach enlightenment. "So, have you thought of your next step yet?" The copy broke the silence by asking the busy Arthur. In response, Arthur glanced at dark blade then sighed while saying "Fixing Makaze takes full priority and then we''ll try to look into Lucy''s family." The copy scoffed and said sarcastically "You think you''ll find the materials needed to fix it that easily?" Arthur retorted on the spot: "I''m positive I''ll find them." The copy didn''t continue mocking him and remained silent. Just after this short exchange, Lucy entered the room and joined Arthur in the bed. She was talking to Saly and explaining to her the dangerous world outside. Fortunately, the little girl stopped pouting and throwing a tantrum as Lucy promised her they will not be absent for more than six months. "When will we depart?" As she hugged him and enjoyed his warmth, she leaned her head on his chest and treasured this moment. Although their life was a bit peaceful for the past few days, when they leave Earth and Astria, they are bound to meet new enemies and even fight on a daily basis. ************ The place was different than it used to be, the buildings were decorated with precious jade and the roads were busier than ever. People were excited about the grand banquet that''s about after the wedding ceremony. This day was planned thoroughly and many precautions were taken so that no issue arises. Moreover, many important guests were going to attend today''s wedding such as the Demon Lord and his royal family, Elven chiefs and for the first time since the sect''s creation, the two sect leaders are going to show up personally. The news had already spread to all corners of Astria and many were either excited to attend or sad because they could not. The bride and groom have yet to show themselves but the atmosphere had already reached its peak with loud cheering from the crowd. Most of the people present belonged to the MoonStar sect, whether it is elders, disciples or even guards but there also some normal travelers that came coincidentally were here today so they joined the fray to enjoy this unforgettable day. .... Inside the High Tower, Arthur was eating some delicious fruits with Jackob, who was very nervous and even sweating a bit. He was actually wearing a black tuxedo which suited him more than Arthur had expected. The previously young Jackob grew taller and became more muscular thus giving him a mature look, contrary to when he first met Lucy and Arthur. "Come on, no need to be nervous, it''s your wedding day." Arthur patted the man''s shoulders while chuckling as he saw Jackob''s anxious expression. The man couldn''t even eat as his mind was focused on something else. "Y-you know... maybe it''s a bit early for marriage... let''s schedule it for another t-time." Second thoughts began haunting the poor man as he fidgeted in his own seat. As he heard those words, Arthur burst out in laughter... "It was your decision to propose and as far as I know, she accepted immediately so stop chickening out and be a man. You love each other and it''s only right you two get married." Although, in the past, he never expected Jackob and Anastassia to end up together, Arthur was still very happy for them and found that despite their totally different backgrounds, they kind of suit each other when you see how they''re both dedicated to cultivating and to each other. The vice-leader of the MoonStar sect may not show it but she indeed loves this foolish-looking man, who managed to win her hearts after pursuing her for a few years. "Didn''t you feel nervous when you proposed to Miss Lucy?" Feeling curious, Jackob tried asking Arthur, who''s supposed to have already experienced such a feeling as he''s married. Unfortunately, the circumstances for Arthur''s marriage were totally different and they didn''t even celebrate like this. "We are indeed married but we didn''t have a formal wedding like today.... although I am planning to make one someday." "Is that so?" Jackob felt a bit disappointed and intrigued by the reason why Arthur wouldn''t celebrate now instead of later. As if his thoughts were heard, Arthur said: "Yes, our weddings will be one of a kind. One that every living soul in the multiverse will hear about, that, I can guarantee." "Hahaha then don''t forget to invite me! And I want a front seat too!" Arthur smiled and shook his head as he saw Jackob''s shamelessness but he still promised him that a front seat shall be specifically assigned to him and Anastassia. Just as the atmosphere lightened a bit, Saly came running through the front door. She had a wide smile on her face as she jumped in Arthur''s arms. The little girl was wearing a breath-taking black dress that made her look stunning. She''s still young but her young charm couldn''t be denied. "Daddy! Aunty Anastassia looks so beautiful! You have to come and see her!" Saly urged him to come with her but he shook his head and said "I will see her later. First, come eat since you skipped your breakfast." The wagging tail of the little girl suddenly halted as she heard his words. She was too excited and busy helping Lucy and the other women in preparing the bride so she lied to Lucy about eating her morning meals. "I, I''m not hungry yet... I''ll eat later." She tried to swiftly leave the room but a gentle touch grabbed her from the back of her neck and by the next second, she found herself sitting on Arthur''s lap yet again. .......... The main event was happening in a newly built square in front of the High Tower. It was beautifully decorated and even the ground was made from White and Golden-coloured stones that illuminated the place. The sun had already set and the lights illuminating the city and the streets paled in comparison to the bright platform which made everyone far away gape with awe at such a sight. Despite the huge crowds around the square, everything was neat and there were no commotions. Very soon, the people sat and all noise seemed to have vanished as the two main characters of today had appeared. One was wearing a gorgeous long dress and a transparent veil that covered her face, her figure was graceful and the light from the platform, which focused only on her, made the scene look even more dazzling. A small distance away from her, the darkness was replaced by a golden light which focused on Jackob, who erased the nervous look from his face and resolutely advanced toward his pride with full confidence. The two soon joined hands as Arthur, Lucy, Saly, Sonia, and Mary appeared behind the two main characters. The crowd began cheering for the two, who were full of smiles as they politely bowed Arthur and co before waving their hands to the guests in greeting. The ceremony was short but that only declared the start of this amazing night. Rings were exchanged and the transparent veil was lifted as Jackob unhesitantly kissed Anastassia, who welcomed him with open arms.... Chapter 354 - 307 : Six Months After a long night of joy and celebration, everyone left the area and either went home to sleep or went to a bar to drink some more. Jackob and Anastassia had already gone to their room, so did Lucy, Arthur, and Saly. The couple had infinite Stamina so they weren''t tired but the little girl was fast asleep. Surprisingly, Lucy also fell asleep after snuggling next to Arthur for some time. Contrary to them, Arthur didn''t go to sleep but went to the rooftop of the High Tower only to find it a woman with a dark red-hair staring at the starry sky, which was slowly but surely vanishing and being replaced by a far off light that came from the rising sun. "Congratulations on finally becoming a woman! Hahahaha" Arthur''s words startled Anastassia, who fiercely turned around only to find him slyly grinning at her. The woman snorted and turned her head away to hide her slightly red face. "Shouldn''t you be with your husband?" Arthur added. Still staring at the night sky, she retorted "Shouldn''t you be with your wife instead of bothering me here?" "I should but I need you to do me a favor first." Anastassia furrowed her brows and shifted her attention to Arthur, who appeared next to her. He sighed as he gazed at the far horizon with an absent look for quite some time. After snapping out of his daze, he retrieved an object from his storage and showed it to her. The object was a special pendant, its chains were jet black and its bail was a big purple crystal. "What do you need me to do?" Arthur handed her the necklace and then retrieved a creepy looking cane with a skull on its top then said "I need you to guard these two things and...." He thoroughly explained what to do step by step. He didn''t need to repeat what needs to be done like with Gutcha because he knew Anastassia is someone who never disappoints him. "... Alright, consider it done but.... why do you need such a large quantity?" "One must be ten steps ahead of the enemy." Arthur turned around and left, leaving Anastassia alone. After the long talk with her, he returned next to his wife and daughter and peacefully fell asleep only to wake up a few hours later. Like always, they had breakfast with Sonia, Mary, Robin, and Rey, who was brought back to Astria. The sly boy had an explosive increase in power as Arthur granted him access to Dark Magic but the portion was less than Gutcha''s since the kid was human thus having a more fragile body than a pigolo. Rey was also given a staff that was accumulating dust inside Arthur''s storage. He forgot from whom he got it but it boosted damage done through Blood Magic and had a decent Mana Regen effect. It was suitable for Rey, who became able to defeat Saly on his own. Although it seemed unfair to Saly who trained and cultivated daily to be surpassed by Rey, who was granted power directly. Arthur still believed that his daughter''s way of gaining power is way better. Furthermore, Dark Magic didn''t suit her and it has a negative effect on one''s behavior, especially on a kid. Rey was an exception since he was willing from the very start and gaining power is only means to an end for him. The kid became too attached to Robin and only wanted to protect her. "So I heard you''re planning to open the Nemia Academy again?" As they were eating breakfast, Arthur curiously asked Sonia, who was momentarily startled by his question before calmly answering. "Yes, there is an abundance of disciples who are not proficient at harnessing Qi and are more suitable to be mages so it would be better to educate them properly as to maximize their potential and increase our military power." "Good good!" Arthur nodded his head continuously in approval. Despite the unfortunate events that happened in the past Nemia Academy, it was still a useful experience and building it again in here would bring many benefits. "Saly, how about it? Want to enroll?" The little girl who was busy stuffing food in her mouth shook her head fiercely in denial, clearly not wanting to go to any school for a while. Neither Arthur nor Lucy tried to force her to go since they''ll be gone and she''ll be alone and the last thing they want is forcing her to do something she doesn''t like when they are absent. It''s better for her to whatever she likes until they come back. Moreover, she''s going to say in Astria as it is safer and because Saly said she wants to go exploring this world. With the wolf and lizard on her side, there is a very low probability that she''ll be in danger or she gets hurt. Speaking of Arthur''s servants, the red-haired youth, Swain, was still in recovery. Arthur couldn''t even use the Book of the Damned or the Death Golem separately. The blow from the White Tiger was clearly too much and even a period of five years wasn''t enough to completely heal Swain. Nonetheless, he''s still alive so with enough time, he''ll surely come back. The fusion was never complete with only the book and the golem, it needs three entities which are Randuin, the book and the Death Golem and only then would the true potential of the book be revealed. *************** A week passed since the wedding and it''s finally the day for the couple''s departure. Everyone was present to bid them goodbye. The only missing person was Lissandra, who, apparently, left the sect a few days before the marriage occurred. Arthur didn''t pay it too much thought since the woman got what she deserved and is now but a mortal. Whatever she decides to do is her own choice. Currently, the little was trying not to cry as she tightly hugged her mother. After spending more than a minute embracing her mother, she jumped to her father and did the same. "You promised to come back in less than six months... don''t forget that!" She reminded Arthur as he patted her fluffy ears and gave her a warm hug. The farewell was kept brief as it''s not their last meeting. Very soon, Arthur opened a tunnel that led to the Green-Leaf world and with one last glance at his daughter and the others, he and his wife departed.... *************** Ten days after the couple left Astria. Gutcha, who was silently cultivating inside the secluded cave under the High Tower finally woke up from his long meditation. He stretched his body and looked at the two large boxes with amazement. He didn''t know what materials they are made from but they were surely expensive and precious as they were smooth but very resistant to any kinds of energy. With a helpless sigh, he bent and put the two boxes on his back resulting in a painful groan coming from his mouth. They were inexplicably heavy despite their size and with them on his back, he could barely walk. Although it was a hard challenge, he gritted his teeth and left the cave in silence. Thirty minutes later, he stood at the rooftop of the High Tower and put down the two boxes to take a few breaths of fresh air. He recuperated for five minutes then put the two boxes on his back again and used the device given by Arthur to go to the Green Leaf world. The trip was short and in merely a few minutes, Gutcha found himself standing in the middle of an empty and desolate desert. It was night-time so the weather was chilly and with the addition of the two boxes on his back, it only made his condition worse. The pigolo persevered and clutched the ropes that were binding the boxes to his back. With slow yet steady steps, he advanced forward until his figure vanished, leaving nothing but his footsteps which were soon covered by the ever-so moving sand... Chapter 355 - 308 : A Small World At last, Arthur and Lucy appeared in the Green-Leaf World via a spatial tunnel. The place they appeared at was none than the city ruled by the Kang Clan. It was still bustling with people and didn''t seem to be affected too much by the catastrophe that occurred five years ago. Arthur and Lucy didn''t bother changing their appearances as it''ll be futile against strong enemies, as for minor obstacles.... they shall be eradicated immediately. As it is their first day, the couple didn''t do anything special and merely toured the city and waited for night to fall so they can visit Kang Amidel. Their tour bore fruits as Arthur managed to hear some news by eavesdropping or paying a few spirit stones to some informative beggars. The hottest news were obviously about the young talents of the Green-Leaf world. They were focused mainly on three people, Jian Si also knows as Cold Sword, the Flame Crown Prince, and Shu Ru from the Mirage Era Hall. Those three managed to ascend to Godhood with first being the prince and the second was Jian Si. The problematic kid who became his student, although he didn''t help her much, he still gave her important notes that would be beneficial to any sword cultivator. However, it would be best to avoid her since Lucy is with him lest a fight breaks down. ''Does he think he''s being secretive?'' Lucy used telepathy to talk to Arthur, who merely smiled and remained silent. Both of them had Dexterity that surpassed one billion points so if someone is tailing them then they''re bound to discover him unless he or she is an entity that attained perfection in sneaking. Time slowly passed and when the sun started to set, Arthur and Lucy happened to be strolling in the main road of the city where there''s an abundance of vendors and shops. As he was checking the displayed materials checking if there''s something that could be useful to Makaze, Arthur''s body instinctively trembled as if it recognized something. This shocked him as it''s the first time this happened to him. He suddenly turned around and appraised everyone around him but found nothing strange. Time seemed to stop as hi eye shifted from one person to another and at one point, it started pulsating with a blue light. No one escaped from [The All Seeing Eyes], no matter the disguise or the skill used, it shall be nullified by the power of his eye. Finally, the source of distress was finally spotted. It was a tall woman with a bland face, the appraisal showed that she''s at the Spirit Realm but his skill showed him otherwise. The feeling he''s getting from her is familiar, too familiar, in fact. His memories finally intersected with the presence of this woman and they showed him the first time and last time he met her. It was in the Ma Clan, she appeared out of thin air and tried to kill him using some malicious and agonizing chains. If not for Zodiak''s intervention, he would have been killed. ''Heh, it''s indeed a small world.'' Arthur''s gaze never left the woman, who seemed to disappear amidst the crowd but could still be seen through his eye. His body was replaced by an identical shadow clone which accompanied Lucy, who pretended that everything is okay as she knew he''ll handle the situation, plus, her sense is locked into him and she''s ready to join in if something goes wrong. Using his high Mastery of Space Magic, Arthur followed the woman without being noticed. He kept a safe distance from her and followed her every move. She was a Fusion Sovereign and wasn''t actually human but something totally different. Unknown energy was being released from her body but it was such a minimal quantity that it was barely noticeable. It had a pink color and was intoxicating, like perfume. Minute after minute passed yet all the woman did was zigzag around the alleys without interacting with any person. Arthur even thought he was discovered but gave up on that idea soon after as the woman finally entered a famous inn. She swiftly entered her room and sat cross-legged, clearly starting to meditate. Arthur, who actually was in the same as her right now, silently stared at her without taking any action. Although it''s better to just watch her actions and see what her purpose is, he is not someone to let his enemies live a second longer. Last time, she came to Astria and almost killed him so he concluded that leaving her act freely is dangerous. She''s an enemy that could be handled but that shouldn''t mean she should be temporarily spared. As the saying goes ''a cornered rat will bite the cat''. Arthur''s eyes flashed with a cold light as he suddenly raised his hand, which was the moment the woman''s fate was doomed. Just like what she did to him, countless chains suddenly sprang from the ground and wrapped around her body before she could even open her eyes or react. In a split second, she found herself wrapped by jet black chains with only her head still intact. Through his eyes, Arthur could see that the pink energy released from her body became denser but it couldn''t destroy the resistant chains as they were something the Tri-Spirit made. Basically, he controlled the chains which the Tri-Spirit made. Vice-versa, the spirit can control things that he creates but on the condition that they are either Earth, Dark, or death-related. The woman, who was shocked and dumbstruck by the sudden turn of events, looked around the room but saw nothing but empty air. She was still confused by what just happened. She initially thought she had been discovered by Kang Amidel but that was rather unlikely. Even if she discovered, the city governor wouldn''t resort to chaining her like this as he knew her origins and he knew how to act. Arthur decided not to show himself, he waved his hand, teleporting himself and the woman out of the city. ........ In a long and secluded alley, Lucy stood at its center while maintaining a long silence before coldly saying "I really hate being tailed, you either show yourself or I''ll personally come to you." Her tone was indifferent like always but it contained a hint of anger. She was met with no answer even after warning him so when she finally was about to act, a gentle and soothing voice resonated across the alley. "No need to be so aggressive, Miss Lucy. You and Sir Arthur are my treasured guests." In response to his words, Lucy scoffed and retorted "So you usually tail your ''treasured guests''?" Chapter 356 - 309 : Ranka Hnach As he felt only hostility emitting from her eyes, Amidel sighed and showed himself at last. He looked no different than last time, with a refined and kind looking expression, scholarly clothes and a small beard. He politely bowed to Lucy while smiling, he didn''t feel like a Sovereign but like a mortal. Even Lucy wasn''t able to sense his Realm despite her superior stats, this only confirmed what Arthur told her. The person standing before her is not real and is merely part of the whole city, which is basically a complex and high-leveled formation. Of course, there exists a person named Kang Amidel, it''s just that his real body is hidden in a secretive place. "Would you join me in a tea session until your husband gets rid of the snake?" His tone was devoid of any anger despite her unpolite attitude toward him. He had long since investigated the couple and knew more than most about Astria, however, he didn''t dare go there personally for many reasons, mainly the retaliation of Arthur and Lucy if they discovered him. Through their actions, Amidel clearly knew that they didn''t wish for visitors to come to Astria, especially those kinds of visitors who create unnecessary trouble. ....... A few kilometers away from Amidel''s city, Arthur landed on a mountain top along with the captured woman. As he had another look at her, he noticed that her appearance changed into a bewitching young woman. She grew taller and had purple scales on the back of her neck, she even grew a long tail. Even transforming into her real form wasn''t sufficient to get rid of those black chains binding her body. They were crazily resistant and tough to break, in fact, she could barely breathe as they were tightening around her slim neck. Ranka Hnach (Race: Heavenly Snake): Realm: Fusion Sovereign Age : 79 Info : Daughter of the Grand Elder of the Heavenly Snake Clan. She is considered one of the three rising talents of the clan and is usually away from her home, following the orders of *********. ''Heavenly Snake Clan?'' Arthur remembered Zodiak mentioning this particular clan in one of his notes. The old man wasn''t particularly fond of this clan, he even had a small feud with them which was resolved when he was powerful enough to face them. Apparently, the Heavenly Snake Clan is situated in ILH MEG, a planet ruled by the fairies. Furthermore, this planet is considered a High-Realm and is one of the strongest, excluding the Divine Planet. After going through his memories to check all the information he had on the Heavenly Snake Clan. Arthur focused his attention back to Ranka, the snake woman, and coldly said "So, why would someone of your status bother to come all the way just to kill me? I''m really confused, why don''t you enlighten me!" As he said that, he weakened the grip of the chains thus letting her compose her breathing and speak out a few words. However, the woman didn''t recognize him as she glared at him hatefully while not understanding the meaning of his words. "What? Did you forget about me already? How disappointing." Arthur shook his head in disappointment then squatted down in front of her and stretched his hand, which vanished and was replaced by jet black darkness which frightened the woman. He was covered wholly by malevolent black flames which made the woman finally guess his identity. As Arthur was ready to use [Dark Extraction] and forcefully read some of her memories, the snake woman finally gave up her pointless struggled and said "W-wait wait! Please let me explain myself!" At the last second, just when his hand was but an inch away from her head, it halted and was withdrawn. Seeing this, she breathed a sigh of relief as she managed to avoid turning into a vegetable. From the way he easily subdued her, she knew he was way stronger than her. Moreover, he was overly cautious so using a dimensional stone to escape isn''t doable. She could only stall for time and try to make him spare her. Arthur''s sole eye started shining with blue light but this wasn''t the end, he used [Griffin''s Bloody Switch] to sacrifice a bit of Wisdom and add it into dexterity. His extraordinary hearing was magnified by another fold and that is while excluding the numerous hearing-related skills that were activated. His ears were focused on her constantly beating heart while his eyes followed the flow of her internal and external energy. Any sudden fluctuation of either of them will prove that she''s either lying or hiding something. "I hate useless talks, tell me why did you try to kill me." The first thing that he noticed was her accelerating heart rate but her flow of energy remained stable. She didn''t take too much time to reply "You had something I needed." The last word she said caused a slight disruption in her flow of energy. Although her heart was accelerating due to fear or just to trick him, she couldn''t trick his eyes. Unhesitantly, Arthur manipulated the black chains which ruthlessly wrapped around her arm and tore it off causing huge amounts of blood to gush out. The woman groaned painfully but didn''t scream from the unimaginable agony. She indeed has a strong will but it''s not like Arthur cared. "That will be the last time. One more lie and I shall steal your memories." [Dark Extraction] is really useful in this situation but the cost was too much. Not only would it make him dizzy for a while, but it also consumes Mental Power and weakens him for a considerable amount of time which is not worth it. Before she spoke again, she coughed a bit of blood then resumed talking "My master is searching for a specific cane which is in your possession." Arthur was momentarily confused before he thought of Sol''khin''s cane, which he was never able to appraise or use ever since he got it. "Why does he need it?" "I don''t know." This time, she truly wasn''t lying so Arthur didn''t do anything but he was still curious about the identity of her master. "Who is your master?" The snake woman shut her mouth tight and refused to reply to this question. Seeing this, Arthur didn''t bother asking again and grabbed her head and initiated [Dark Extraction]. He just couldn''t let this matter slide and facing an enemy he doesn''t know about is extremely disadvantageous and dangerous. Just as the skill was about to take effect, a blinding white light suddenly emitted from the woman''s forehead, forcing the darkness around his hand to vanish and even going after Arthur. Fortunately, another power, which resided in his consciousness, showed up and faced this strange white light. It was none other than a miniature Curtis, who grabbed the white light and simply flung it the way it came from. Once this matter was dealt with, he swiftly went back to Arthur''s consciousness. The momentary white light which came out of the woman''s forehead was able to not only negate [Dark Extraction], it even destroyed the black chains around the woman. This gave her enough time to retrieve her precious dimensional stone and crush it. As she did that, an irresistible spatial suction started enveloping her, however, at the same time, a horrifying aura shrouded the area and made her fragile body tremble uncontrollably. The last thing she saw before she teleported was a broken jet black blade which was slashed at her. Luckily, she escaped before it her but she soon discovered that fleeing from Arthur wasn''t that easy, even with dimensional stone. A burning black mark appeared on her right hand and an illusory black slash mark was engraved on her chest. It did no physical damage but it seriously damaged her soul and weakened her by more than 40%. The dimensional stone would teleport someone to a random place, it could even take the user another universe. As she looked around her, the woman sighed as she sensed no danger. The urgency of going back to her master and reporting to her master was bugging her, however, she was barely able to walk properly due to the damage done by the chains and Makaze. Chapter 357 - 310 : Vermillion Bird 1 After dealing with the snake woman, Arthur traced back Lucy and teleported next to her. She wasn''t where he left her but inside Amidel''s castle. More precisely, she was sitting on the same table he sat at five years ago when he threatened the city lord. Surprisingly, the atmosphere wasn''t awkward or silent as Emily and Kithel were also present. The little girl grew to become a pretty young lady and the big brother looked more composed and mature than before. The Kang family rarely had visitors so with the arrival of Lucy, Emily became super excited and tried multiple times to inquire about the visitor''s origins and adventures outside Unfortunately, she was facing a tight-lipped Lucy who silently drank her tea and waited for Arthur to come. As for Kithel, he was interested in Lucy but not in a romantic way. He couldn''t sense the depth of her power and so the young man became eager for a little spar. Amidel tried several times to signal his son to remain silent and not say anything unnecessary, alas, the fighting spirit of acted on its own and forced him to say these words "Miss Lucy, I heard about your achievements and I would like to exchange some pointers with you." Sadly for him, Lucy completely ignored what he said and stared at her cup of tea with an absent-minded expression. This caused the lively Kithel to feel awkward and a bit dejected to be treated like air. He wasn''t stupid and he knew that she''s stronger than him, nonetheless, he was a person who gets through real-life experiences and sparring with her is bound to help him break through to the next grade. Seeing her uninterested look, Amidel found her more difficult to handle than Arthur. He displayed a friendly smile and said "I have always been fascinated and intrigued by Astria, your homeworld." As she heard his words, Lucy scornfully retorted "Fascinated, you say?" "Yes, especially when the catastrophe befell on us." He paused for a second before resuming "I wonder who is the one who summoned the Celestial Tribulation?" His smile grew wider as he intensely gazed at her, trying to read her face but to avail. Her indifference and expressionless face allowed him to see nothing and only try to make guesses. "When Arthur comes, ask him whatever you like." Lucy finally decided to stop bothering with Amidel. Although Arthur didn''t specifically warn her from this city lord, he still told her to remain cautious as his identity remains unknown and he''s not just a simple city lord. No sane Sovereign would intentionally live in this wasteland where the density of Nether Energy is thin. It literally is the worst place for Sovereigns to be as they need huge and pure quantities of Nether Energy, something this desolate wasteland cannot provide. .. Fortunately, Arthur arrived a few minutes later. He appeared right next to Lucy and comfortably sat on the chair after exchanging simple greetings with the three others in the form of a simple nod. "I presume ''that matter has been taken care of?" Amidel shifted his attention to Arthur and said those words while still showing a rather friendly yet annoying smile. "Though she escaped, she will die soon." "Hmm, I''m rather curious about your relationship with one of the Heavenly Snake Clan." Kang Amidel read no change in Arthur''s expression which showed that the latter already know about the woman''s origin. "For you to force ''her'' to talk, your methods must be quite painful." Arthur shrugged and replied "I don''t need to force her.... just like I can''t force you but do know, Kang Amidel, I only have friend or enemies, nothing in between." The Sovereign heartily laughed while adding: "Then I suppose I''m your friend since I''m still alive?" "For now. But if I find anyone out of place in Astria then know that I''ll be coming for you." "Hahahaha that won''t happen." Very soon, the food was served and the delicacies were eaten by both parties. In the midst of their meal-time, Emily who fears Arthur due to an unknown reason, mustered her courage and asked him: "Sir Arthur, where is Swain?" "He''s recuperating back on Astria." When she heard that, the usually lively Emily became a bit sad since Swain was her only real friend and she expected to see him when she saw Arthur and Lucy. After a few minutes of absolute silence, Arthur asked the only thing he wanted to know from Amidel "I heard your fight against the Divine Beasts went smoothly, how are the spoils?" Amidel was confused on why would Arthur ask such a random thing but he still answered honestly "According to the rules set before the fight. I would keep the leader''s body and the three others would be split between the factions that contributed." "They allowed you to keep a whole body?" These factions would be too greedy to let Amidel keep the leader of the four Divine Beasts. ''It''s confusing, why would they back down and let a mere city lord from the wasteland to get the biggest prize...'' His suspicions about Amidel grew and intensified but he still kept them to himself and asked again "Which of the factions helped?" "Two Elders from the Mirage Era Hall, one Elder from the Five Phoenix Kingdom and three Teachers from the Holy Academy." "And which one of the four was the leader?" As Amidel noticed the overly interested Arthur, he thought of slipping lies but quickly decided against as mayhap he was being tested, though such probability was extremely low. "The Vermillion Bird." When he heard that, Arthur smiled and tapped the table with his finger as he pondered for more than a minute before saying "Are you willing to sell me the corpse? You can take the important materials I just need an intact body. Furthermore, I''ll pay handsomely, whether in Spirit Stones or other treasures." The city lord and even his two children where startled by Arthur''s sudden request. Even though it''s just a copy of the real thing, the corpse of the Vermillion Bird is priceless. Moreover, it''s actually the leader of the ones who attacked the Green-Leaf world, which made the request even more absurd. At first, Amidel thought it was merely a test or a joke but upon seeing Arthur''s totally serious expression, he erased the smile from his face. "Sir Arthur, I don''t know what you can offer but I don''t think it''ll help me more than the Vermillion Bird." Amidel had big plans for the lifeless body of the bird and selling it will cause many future troubles for his family. .. Claud, who was watching this from within the ARK, snapped at Arthur "Are you dumb? I repeatedly warned you to forget any thoughts of possessing anyone or anything yet you''re trying to buy a dead Vermillion Bird? You have no use for such thing and no one would be willing to sell such a Divine treasure. Just its feathers are worth countless Spirit Stones, that''s if you don''t count the claws, beak, firetail, etc..." Arthur ignored his copy and focused his attention on Amidel while adding "Are you sure? I''m sure I can offer you something that might interest you." With that, Lucy and Arthur got up and left the remaning just after the latter said those last words: "I''ll be leaving in two days, think carefully about your decision." The married couple disappeared from the castle, leaving two surprised youngsters and a confused father. Even if he insisted, Arthur was sure that Amidel would be hellbent on refusing but if he gave him some time, he may think of an absurd request in exchange for the bird. The corpse was absolutely necessary and giving up on it this early isn''t even a choice for Arthur. He had thorough plans for the bird and white tiger in his storage and as for the Azure Dragon, it isn''t strong enough so that''s what he''ll use as a bargaining chip with Amidel. ******************* Small reminder . Powers in the Green-Leaf World (Middle Realm). Mountain Ba Sword Sect : Jian Si is the top disciple there. Jian Si= Cold Sword, the girl who became Arthur''s student. Holy Academy. Five Phoenix Kingdom : Elo Huo (The guy who entered the tomb and had his arm torn off by Arthur[Who possessed the girl who always clinged to the kid]) / Elo Huo is the cousin of the Flame Crown Prince (One of the top talents of the green leaf world). Mirage Era Hall : Shu Ru (One of the top talents of the green leaf world) Water Cloud Sect : Kai Min (the guy who was killed by Swain a while after he entered the tomb. His body is in Arthur''s possession.) Chapter 358 - 311 : Vermillion Bird 2 Two days quietly passed, Arthur and Lucy did nothing special and merely enjoyed their time in a famous inn. They would visit artifact shops mayhap they find something that could be useful in restoring Makaze to its original form. The evening of the second day, Arthur and Lucy were sitting next to each other while inspecting a large chest that laid before them. When he stumbled upon Zodiak''s tomb, he found three peculiar chests next to the coffin. Two of them had these gold coins with various colors but they had one thing in common and it''s the dragon symbol carved on them. The third chest was full of colorful crystals that emitted soothing energy but even after appraising them, Arthur couldn''t determine their purpose. "Why was he particularly interested in these?" Arthur took a handful of these coins and looked at them closely but he wasn''t able to see how they would benefit someone like the Joker. With no real and knowledgeable person to ask, Arthur turned to Claud, the copy which resembled him in appearance. Surprisingly, Claud actually answered this time. "Honestly, I don''t know what they are but I''m sure they have something to do with the Void Era. In any way, it has nothing to do with you so don''t dig in too deep. Somethings are better left hidden from the world." As he used the ARK to speak, Lucy was able to hear him and probably for the first time since their last meeting, she asked Claud a question "Then what can you tell us about the Joker? Why was he not aggressive as you had previously proclaimed?" Claud remained silent for a minute or so before replying "He is.... a very strange entity, neither human nor devil. I don''t know how but he killed countless of the God Race in the past thus he was named the Godslayer. He has many titles such as the Playful Magician, The Evil Trickster, however, what people do not know is that he is the one and only survivor of the 4th Universe, known as the Omega Universe." "Fourth Universe?!" This sudden reveal shocked the couple. They have limited knowledge about the specifics of the outside world but almost everyone, who''s not a mortal, knows that there are only three universes since the beginning of time. "Why yes, a fourth one did exist a long time ago. Possibly hundreds of millions ago." "What happened to it?" Intrigued, Arthur asked his copy only to receive an immediate answer "Destroyed, turned into nothingness while all its inhabitants died with its fall. I don''t know how all the records about it were erased but whoever did that, they sure don''t want such a tragedy to be exposed." "How was it destroyed?" "Most people say it''s due to the supernova of the biggest star in the Omega Universe. There are theories about the appearance of a black hole but I say these are all lies. No black hole nor supernova could cause a Universe to be destroyed, after all, the natural laws of a universe cannot easily be broken." "Alright, tell us more about the Joker, all you''ve been talking about is his origin." Arthur changed the topic since it seemed Claud wasn''t so informed about the Omega Universe'' destruction. "All I know about him is either, seen, heard, or read from old journals. But what surprised me is that knew you so either he met you in the future or the past which means there''s a big chance you''ll time travel... tsk tsk!" Claud started clicking his tongue annoyance "It''s getting very complicated. I cannot see a reason for you to time travel but then again, if he time-traveled then time wraiths would be chasing after, however, he didn''t seem too anxious so it''s not him who traveled through time." Arthur remained silent and didn''t too much about the whole matter. If he resorted to time travel then it must have been a serious matter. For him to risk imminent death then it''s either something is going to his family which would force him to go back to the past to fix things. ''I must take more precautions! No mistakes can be made!'' Arthur was fully aware that everything is going to crumble once ''it'' starts. Very soon, the Holy Dominion will locate him, ''X'' would get out of seclusion once the Nameless Knight disappears again. There''s also the matter with Lucy''s family and Makaze. Everything will pile up together and crash into him like a wave which is why he should prepare for everything and be ten steps ahead of everyone. Think of a plan for everything that''s going to happen, figure out the best solution and the correct path to tread. ***************** Two women sat facing each other, one had with a sky-blue hair and noble aura while the other had an expressionless face and eyes that resembled a bottomless abyss. "Conflict, there''s also conflict of interests. Right and wrong are not what separate us and our enemies. It''s our different standpoints, our perspectives that separate us. Both sides blame one another. There''s no good or bad side. Just two sides holding different views. If so, then why would people resort to killing and fighting? Because they need more power than they already have, more money, more fame, more glory... there is no end and there never will be." The Water Empress quietly listened to the Region Ruler. She didn''t know what the Death Lord was talking about but she still kept her silence and carefully listened. "Many thought with the creation of the eighteen regions and the High Rules, there will not be any infighting amongst what remained but they were merely idiotic and hopeless fools. The Hour of Creation was never the end but the beginning of a new era, a prosperous era. You came knocking on my door to know about the past but first, do you know why the Great War occurred? Why did everyone unite to destroy the evildoer? Who won and who lost?" The Empress took sometime before answering "It is said that, before the eighteen regions were created, the world used to be much bigger. An evil lord appeared and slaughtered countless people thus everyone united and fought him until they prevailed." "Then, if they won, why were the eighteen regions created and where''s the old world?" "The records talked about how the world was beyond repair after the disastrous fight so they used their last bit of power to create the eighteen regions then died after leaving a few legacies." Hearing this, the dark-haired woman scoffed and said: "That''s nonsense. There indeed was a Great War but it was not between those parties. It was an almost ever-lasting fight that spread to all corners of the world, massacring everyone. If only you knew the number of souls I harvested back then.... a terrible tragedy it was, a sad story it was...." Chapter 359 - 322 : One Bulle When the two-days limit was about to end, Amidel finally invited Arthur to his residence yet again. The man seemed more relaxed than last time but his face was paler than usual. As the two parties sat facing each other, this time with the absence of the two children, Kang Amidel poured some tea for the couple before he initiated the conversation. "Unfortunately, the higher-ups were strongly against the idea of selling the Vermillion Bird''s corpse... however, I''m still hesitant and would like to hear your offer before giving you my final answer." ''Higher-ups?'' Arthur just confirmed his suspicions upon hearing that word. He had long since doubted Amidel''s origin to the nature of the city and the grand formation under it. The Kang family is sure tied to one of the strong clans in the Higher-Realms. At first, Arthur tried searching for a Kang clan in the higher-realms but there were no good informants so he scheduled it for later. Arthur nodded his head to Amidel then signaled for the latter to follow him as he teleported to a wide open area behind the castle. Intrigued but what''s the price Arthur is willing to pay, he focused his attention on the grey-haired man and waited. With a wave of hand, Arthur retrieved the Azure Dragon''s lifeless body, which was healed completely since last time. When he killed it, it turned into minced meat but after great effort, he, more or less, remodeled to its original form. As he witnessed the large body of the blue dragon laying before him, Amidel''s pupils constricted as he stood there, startled. In just a few seconds, he regained his calm, after all, it made sense for Arthur to have a corpse of the Divine Beasts. The city lord was already aware that the Divine Beasts'' attack on Astria was unsuccessful and that Arthur was the one who prevailed. Then again, if he defeated them all then he should have all four bodies, why would he need the Vermillion Bird''s corpse. ''Is it because it''s the leader? Then the Vermillion Bird who attacked Astria surely isn''t the leader amongst them, it must be one of the other three.'' "I presume it''s not the leader? It''s still not worth it." Arthur laughed and retorted "Of course it''s not, which is why I''ll add something else. I can one ten million Red Spirit Stones or one million Green Spirit Stones, or I can craft a treasure for you." Although Arthur was willing to give Amidel a large amount of Spirit Stones, the city lord wasn''t interested in such things as he wasn''t lacking but the third option was strange, to say the least. Amongst all the information he had gotten on Arthur, not one of them mentioned he was good at crafting treasures. Such a job is very rare and sought by many factions. Heavenly Blacksmiths or Artifact crafters, also known as, Astrals, are very sparse and they''re usually in seclusion, spending their time trying to forge or craft a treasure that would bring down a celestial tribulation. "What makes you think you can craft something that would interest me?" Arthur shrugged at this question and glanced at Lucy, who took out the silver revolver. "This is one of my finest creations, why don''t you test its might?" Amidel curiously stared at the gun, which is an unfamiliar weapon in the Cloud Sea Universe. Kang signaled he''s ready and waited for Lucy to attack using Silent Moon. To not cause too much destruction, Lucy put a 1st-grade bullet. It was a green bullet with a small circle around its tip, this indicated it was a bullet which has the Wind Attribute. It''s basically one of the weakest bullets Lucy currently has but since using a stronger version would be an overkill, she just went with this one. Pure Mana went circulated in Lucy''s body then swiftly went through her hand and entered the grey revolver, causing it to shine brightly and just a split second before the trigger was pulled, a small green circle appeared in front of the tip of the gun. Like the sound the thunderclap, the bullet appeared before Amidel in a split second as if it teleported. The man was calm and prepared, he raised his hand and a transparent barrier was raised around him, blocking the bullet from entering. Unfortunately, the bullet wasn''t so easy to block despite being 1st grade, after all, it is strengthened by Lucy''s stats and the gun which made it very deadly. A massive tornado rotated with the bullet as its center. The height of this tornado surpassed one hundred meters as it crashed into Amidel''s barrier, cracking it and shattering it with a few seconds. Wind is known as the fastest one the Attributes and the deadliest as it can''t be seen. The tornado was nothing compared to the invisible and sharp wind blades that descended on Amidel, sending him flying to the end of the square and literally turning him into a bloody mess. He was only a Sovereign and Lucy could even defeat a God Monarch, the difference is just too big. Amidel turned into a bloody mess and seemed to have died as his body was cut into many pieces, however, when things finally calmed down, his corpse vanished and he appeared again, unscathed. Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please clickfor visiting. A wide smirk was displayed on the city lord''s face, he appeared to be very satisfied. "Alright, if you can create a treasure that is equal to that one, I''ll gladly accept your offer." Personally, he didn''t need a strong artifact but his daughter, Emily, was in need of one. Whether it''s to protect herself or to defeat enemies which are above her in grades. If Arthur could craft a weapon suitable for his daughter, he wouldn''t mind losing the Vermillion Bird''s corpse as he would get the Azure Dragon. "Good, what do you want me to craft?" Amidel waved his hand and said "You can consult Emily for that. I''ll excuse myself, for now, I have a matter to attend to. Oh, and the body will be delivered to you tomorrow." With that, Kang Amidel vanished from the couple''s sight. ......... Later that night, in a well-furnished room under the castle, Amidel was sitting in his office underground, deeply lost in thought. After an unknown amount of time passed, he snapped out of his daze and pulled out his long sleeve which covered his right hand and stared at the very small, almost unnoticeable scars which covered both of his hands. "Whatever she shot at me, it was made out of pure Wind Energy... and the scars.... I can sense pure Mana too *sigh*, it''ll take days to remove it from my body." ...... Very soon after the short exchange between Lucy and Amidel. Arthur located Emily and, along with his wife, went to meet her. The young girl was quietly meditating in a silent courtyard which had a dense amount of Nether Energy. Emily noticed the presence of the two strangers almost immediately. Upon seeing her intruding, she frowned and said "What are you doing here?" "Your father sent us. We''ve made a deal and I promised him I''ll craft a weapon or artifact for you." The girl remained silent for a few seconds before retorting "I don''t need any treasure, go away." Whenever he''s around, she''ll always feel uncomfortable. Moreover, it''s not like she''s in an urgent need of a weapon. "Not possible, you have to tell me what you want or I''ll just create something randomly. It''s your choice." Emily chose to ignore him as closed her eyes and resumed her meditation. Arthur wasn''t pushy either, he activated [The All Seeing Eyes] and appraisal and in just a few seconds, he learned more than enough about her to be able to craft a suitable weapon that would fit her perfectly. Chapter 360 - 313 : Nameless Knigh As the two women sat facing each other, the Death Region ruler stared at the Water Empress and added: "Keep what you know to yourself. The Great War is something even I am forbidden to talk about." The dark-haired woman got out as if she was done talking but when she was about to leave, the Empress nervously shouted "I need to know what happened! I need to!" The region ruler turned her head to glance at the tall blue-haired woman and retorted "For what reason? Satisfaction or to quench curiosity? It''s pointless to know and it''s all for the better that everyone knows nothing about the past... it isn''t something worth knowing or experiencing." The woman ignored the distressed look of the Empress and quietly left the room, leaving the Water Empress alone. The lonesome Empress clenched her fists and left the palace with the guidance of the woman who received her at the entrance a while ago. .... Inside the palace, in a shabby looking bedroom that had nothing special about it, there sat the dark-haired woman, who''s also the death region ruler. She stared at the wall with an absent-minded look for a very long time until her subordinate entered the room and said "Mistress, another guest has arrived." This snapped the ruler out of her daze, she looked at her somewhat uncomfortable subordinate in confusion and said: "A guest? How did he find this place? Jack only guides one person per century." With a flustered expression and fidgeting body, the young-looking woman replied "W-well... it''s actually the k-knight." The Death Empress didn''t seem too surprised when she heard that. She nodded her head and got up, following her subordinate to meet this unexpected guest. Very soon, they found themselves in the same room the conversation with the Water Empress had taken place. However, this time, in the seat where the previous Empress was seating, there rested a dark figure. From head to toe, he wore a dark armor which had a few white marks on it, probably due to the countless battles he fought. He had a young-looking face and a very pale skin, almost as if he''s a corpse. Two jet-black pupils and long hair that was as black as ink. The man''s movements were relaxed and flexible despite the full-armor set he was hearing. The only thing missing was the helmet, which was put on the table. The most-eye catching this was his two-meter long dark sword which seemed ordinary if you exclude its unusual size. The sword neither emitted Sword Essence nor any kind of energy as if it was crafted by a normal blacksmith. As the two pair of eyes met each other, the two parties merely gazed into each other''s eyes. There was nothing but silence until the woman sat facing the woman and sipped some of the tea prepared by the unexpected guest. Only when she fully savored the heavenly flavor of the tea did she finally talk "I guess I should welcome you but I''m curious about one thing... from when are you?" The man hadn''t any change in expression. It only took a few seconds for him to reply with a bone-chilling voice "Just a bit before the dead rises." The woman was momentarily startled before asking again "And why would the Nameless Knight himself go to the trouble of traveling to the future to visit me?" "I will bring you to the past with me. Your help is much needed." A frown appeared on her face as she retorted "You of all people should know that playing with time is something even Death doesn''t dare to do yet you come seeking me when you already know what my answer will be." The man didn''t seem bothered by her aggressive tone as he calmly replied "Time is a construct, it matters not if it''s the past, the present, or the future, everything is linked. Now, you are Death, which means that you already traveled with me to the past." The woman glared at him angrily but couldn''t retort. She maintained her silence for a long time before speaking again "Unlike you, I cannot escape from the wraiths unharmed." Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please clickfor visiting. "Pay such things no heed, they are merely abominations which linger until the non-existing end of time." The region ruled sighed helplessly and raised her one finger while voicing her thoughts "I will come on one condition. Tell me why I need to travel to the past." Hearing this, the Nameless Knight got up from his seat after emptying his cup and responded: "The rising Dead will alarm Death... the previous Death and you shall be the one to stop ''him''." "What!?" The woman''s expression became twisted as she snapped at him "You''re asking me to face my master?" "You''ve faced him in the past and you will do it again in the near future. Let us go." The man put the helmet on his head and readied himself before signaling the region ruler that it''s time to go leave this place. He heard the sound of her gritting teeth as a malicious aura revolved around her but by the next second, he was holding her by the back of her neck while she is unconscious. At the corner of the room, the usually calm subordinate stared at what''s happening with a shaking body. She tried to force herself and stop him from taking her Mistress but her body didn''t obey her. Before leaving, the knight turned to look at the subordinate while assuring her : "Don''t worry, she''ll come back sooner than you think." ***************** A week after Arthur completed his deal with Amidel, the couple left the city and headed toward the Wall of fire, which separated the wasteland from the rest of the Green-Leaf World. For the time being, their destination still remains unknown but that won''t be for long. Arthur was planning to meet some old ''acquaintances'' and see what they''re doing. There is also the matter with the Human Emperor''s children, who disappeared and are still missing. There is a strong chance they were abducted and so he''ll try to locate them. He already ordered Jian Si to look for them, if they are in the Green-Leaf World then she must have found them. Thanks to their extremely high Agility stat, crossing the distance between the wall of fire and Amidel''s city didn''t take long, merely two days. They could have used a Spirit Boat but gave up on that as it''ll merely them down by a great amount. When the two of them came face to face with this ''wall'', the couple stared at this thing which pierced the skies with its dizzying height. It was literally a thick wall made from orange-looking flames that emitted a dangerous heat. Even Arthur could feel the heat despite having a 100% Resistance to the fire attribute. The reason was quickly explained by Claud "Your immunity only included normal fire and the flames of Hell. This fire, however, is called Yang Fire and it can burn you or even kill you if you''re unprepared. Though a simple Dark Barrier is more than enough to let you pass. I think even your defense stat would allow you to pass smoothly but you''ll lose some Health." The two didn''t linger there for too long, a spheric Dark Barrier enveloped them as they broke through the wall and surfaced from the other side after approximatively three hours. Chapter 361 - 314 : Green-Leaf The Green-Leaf World is the biggest and strongest Middle-Realm in the Cloud Sea Universe, apart from the wasteland on its East, the rest of the world is considered relatively safe. There are some danger zones but as long as one doesn''t carelessly, they won''t be assaulted all of a sudden. There many strong factions in this world but the biggest one and the ruler of this world is, without a doubt, the imperial family. It is kind of strange since they''re mortals but they have very strong protectors which force everyone else to obey them. They aren''t domineering or that arrogant, in fact, the family is rarely seen in public. However, there is an exception, a person with the name of Isadore Marfront. The Crown Prince whose name is renown even in the Divine Planet. He''s an undefeated tactician and a formidable war general. Despite his weak personal strength, his merits made everyone respect him. He is also considered one of the rising talents of the Green-Leaf World alongside Cold Sword, Shu Ru, the Flame Crown Prince, and the Sacred Priest. ... When the couple broke through the wall of Yang Fire, they retrieved a Spirit Boat and started traveling comfortably instead of hurrying. The environment was much more peaceful than the wasteland and the density of Nether Energy was much higher. After traveling for a few days, they encountered their first town. It wasn''t that big but it had an inn for passing cultivators and some shops that sold artifacts and weapons. Arthur''s goal was only to seek information about any special event that''s happening in the near future. Big events are usually the gathering of young talents of the world and his intention was to meet Jian Si and ask her about the missing prince and princess. As for finding the material needed to fix Makaze, he didn''t think it''ll be in the Green-Leaf World as it''s extremely rare and hard to come by. He needs to retrieve it personally as no one would be willing to let go of such priceless materials. To fix the dark blade, Arthur was in need of two things which are; a place, and a material. The material is called Dark Yin Steel or another alternative is Star Iron but the latter is pretty much non-existent. The Dark Yin Steel is found in places devoid of light and have a thick amount of Yin Energy. As for the place required for the healing of Makaze, it has to be an exceptional place where there''s a suffocating amount of Darkness Energy. There is the alternative of finding a place filled with Dark Energy but such a place do not exist since Dark Magic was something created by Zodiak and not born from natural laws. ... As Arthur tossed two red Spirit Stones to a porcine-looking man who was greedily sizing him up, the ugly looking man happily smiled as he rubbed the stones while speaking: "Way North, there''s a dangerous zone called the Wicked Forest, apparently, it''s haunted by ghosts and specters. Many who ventured inside never came back but there''s a few who were lucky to find Star Iron! Argh! Lucky bastards!" Arthur almost couldn''t believe what he heard, he coldly looked at the man and said "Are you sure of what you''re saying?" He held another Spirit Stones as he waited for the informer to speak more about the topic "Yes yes! It happened six months b-but I don''t know the name of the guy who found it." Arthur pondered for a bit before throwing the red Spirit Stones and leaving the room along wide a hooded-Lucy. A bit after the couple left, another person who covered himself with a jet black cloak entered the room and spoke to the porcine man "Did you say exactly what I told you to say?" With a fearful expression, the fat man nodded his head continuously "Y-yes yes, I''m sure he fell for it!" The cloaked individual threw a Green Spirit Stone before swiftly leaving the room, he had no presence as if he was a complete ghost. .... "So, are we heading North?" Lucy, who was leaning on Arthur''s shoulder as the Spirit Boat flew with lightning speed, leaving a red trail behind it. "I think so. I have to ascertain of the truthfulness of the matter of the Star Iron." "Do you want me to go to the Capital and see if there are any clues about the guy?" Arthur firmly shook his head and added: "No need, we''re undefeatable if we''re together. Separating will only lead to problems." ************************* In a luxurious and cozy room filled with books and the scent of old papers, there sat a tall figure wearing a black tuxedo. His face was blurry and the aura around him was chilling and would make anyone uncomfortable. He was busy reading a book in silence when another person suddenly appeared just in front of the former. The new person didn''t look human, he had a pair of two-inch horns bursting from his forehead that oozed a terrifying aura and two massive jet black wings. He was none other than Belos, the only loyal subordinate of ''X''. "Master, it has been confirmed that the Nameless Knight had disappeared yet again, there''s no trace of him." ''X'' put down the book and snorted while saying "Hmpf! The bastard is finally gone? Good riddance!" Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please clickfor visiting. With a bent knee and lowered head, Belos listened to the complaints of ''X'' while thinking to himself ''You say that but you''re scared shitless of him.... not like it''s not normal to feel scared of such a person.'' "How''s the search for the orb?" With a bitter expression, Belos shook his head. No matter how much Spirit Stones they spend hiring black merchant dealers to find Arthur''s whereabouts, there were no signs of him. Then again, it''s impossible to find him since his appearance is so much different from the one in his past life. "He''s definitely in the System''s Universe but I didn''t think finding him would be so hard. I''ll have to lure him..." ............ In a place where there''s nothing but an endless white space, much like the ARK. Contrary to what''s inside Arthur, this place seemed lively as there were some flourishing roses and ordinary trees. Two figures were facing each other, both had six wings on their backs, they were incredibly handsome and a soul-shaking gaze. They were, in fact, angels, and high-ranking ones at that. "There has been a sighting of a World Tree in the X-TR 500 Universe." The other angel frowned and retorted "This isn''t the first time and it''s probably just a bluff to get something from us. Which faction is the one who informed us this time?" The first angel, who had long blonde hair, took out a purple crystal which immediately brightened and showed the other angel a clear picture of a tall woman, who was half snake, half human. "Heavenly Snake Clan? What do they want from us?" "That''s the confusing thing. She asked for nothing in return and even told us which world we''ll find the World Tree. I don''t think she''ll go through all the trouble to contact us just to lie." The second angel, who had short white hair, pondered for sometime before speaking "Bring a small squadron and go check that place. If anything happens, activate your signal." The blonde angel nodded his head and left the place after performing a polite bow. Not too long after that, a group of four minor angels and one leader, left Heaven, heading directly to Astria.... Chapter 362 - 315 : Evolution Or Word of God "Man has always puzzled over his origin, his genesis, a product of evolution? or work of God? If we could get all of our questions answered, would we be satisfied? Is fathoming the incomprehensible really worth it?" Two silhouettes stood in the midst of absolute darkness, one wearing a black armor that blended with environment and the other sat next to the former, playing with his cards nonchalantly. "Hell if I care, I''ve seen things none can imagine and thinking about such boring questions is the least of my troubles." The armored man let out a long sigh before looking at the strange man next to him whilst adding: "I care not for what happened but you.... haven''t you ever considered going back and changing things? Change the course of time so that it wouldn''t up like this... so you wouldn''t end up here... waiting for incoming doom." Hearing him talk so seriously, the Joker stopped playing with his cards and replied "Incoming doom? You''ve always been a dramatic person." After a short silence, the Nameless Knight spoke again "Am I really?" To this, the Joker merely remained silent as he stared into the distance with a melancholic gaze. An unknown amount of time passed before the Magician voiced his thoughts: "Hey, do you think there''s a Creator? Some sort of a God or so they claim? Someone or something that created everything in existence?" The knight chuckled and shook his head while replying " ''Follow the voice of God and he shall calm the waves'' or so they preached. Such a thing does not exist and if it does then some will wonder about who or what created the former and it will never end, an endless cycle. They force their beliefs on others and themselves to create hope and rely on something to resist their troubles. An efficient illusion that temporarily works but until when? Things like fate or whatsoever only work on mortals. Our outcome is something only we can decide." The Joker kept looking into the darkness that enveloped them... "You mean to say that this won''t be ''the end''?" "No, it won''t. There''s always an ''after'' and ''before''." Time passed like flowing water yet the two figures sat there, motionless...... ******************** Divine Planet, in an inner courtyard situated in the White Specter Clan. It was the same spot the Joker had a short tea session with the mysterious woman. Currently, the same woman was talking with a tall and elderly man who respectfully stood before her, carefully listening to her orders. He was wearing an outfit similar to a butler yet strangely different. He looked old and was missing an eye thus leading him to wear an eye-patch. "No matter the circumstances, I want you to bring her home." The old man bowed while replying "Mistress, have no worries, I shall bring her home before your breakthrough." The woman nodded her head as she added "I heard that Angelina is going with you?" With an almost instantaneous answer, he responded: "Yes, she wishes to venture to the dragon''s lair that''s about to open." The woman merely nodded then waved her hand dismissively to which the old man bowed again then quietly left. ****************** Arthur and Lucy managed to reach the Wicket Forest after traveling for five days without any rest. Though they consumed many Spirit Stones to keep the Spirit Boat flying, they didn''t mind at all since Zodiak''s storage was filled with a mind-numbing amount of Spirit Stones, though it''s not endless like the mountains of Gold. As they appeared at the borders of the Wicket Forest, exactly South of this dangerous zone. They found a remote yet lively town that had all sorts of courageous cultivators who wanted to try their luck in this place. Some would tread some distance and slay a few beasts before going back to sell the materials they acquired for they were quite pricy. Arthur was uninterested in visiting the town thus he stored the Spirit Boat and decided to walk. Flying is possible but that''ll make him an easy target. He isn''t on Astria anymore and although he''s extremely strong, he wasn''t willing to recklessly charge in until he reached the destination, which still remains unknown. Logically, if someone found Star Iron, it had to be in a dangerous place inside the forest. Arthur speculated the existence of a secret Realm or a powerful beast that''s protecting some sort of a mine or a treasure. "This place has a small amount of lingering Yin Energy. I can feel it emanating from the depths of the forest, it''s probably a Yin Beast." Lucy stated while frowning. It could be a Yin Vein but that was too unlikely as Energy Veins usually provide pure Energy around specific places and would not leak outside. An Energy Vein is something that''s born naturally when too much of a specific Energy is accumulated over-time though, in most times, they die before their birth due to exterior circumstances. Any change in their environment whilst their birth will cause their death, the same applies to when they''re alive though the effect weakens by a huge margin. Without any more time, the couple entered the Wicket Forest with their guard up. A strengthened Dark Barrier enveloped both of them, moreover, both he and Lucy were in a completely other space. Using his Space Bending title, he created a small dimension that could fit both of them, it eliminated their presences and made them practically untraceable by even Sovereigns. As they delved deeper into the forest, they encountered the first group of cultivators approximatively three kilometers away from the entrance of this eerie place. Fog covered the sky and the weather was strangely cold, it didn''t bother Arthur and Lucy but the weak cultivators would definitely uncomfortable, especially due to the Yin Energy which would affect them if their body unconsciously absorbed a considerable amount of it. The group was composed of three males and one female. They were all Immortals with the strongest being 8th Grade. They wore the same outfit which indicated they belonged to the same sect or clan. Their clothes were jet black and had a symbol of a large sword engraved on the top of a mountain. Arthur didn''t recognize the symbol and wasn''t planning on talking to them. He just casually used Appraisal on them only to find a rather pleasing surprise. Nauphrinan(Race: Human/F):Realm; Immortal 5th Grade Age : 38 Haberu(Race: Human/M):Realm: Immortal 5th Grade Age : 42 Lutro(Race: Human/M):Realm : Immortal 2nd Grade Age: 36 Veknur(Race: Half Human/Half Beast/M): Realm : Immortal 8th Grade Age:47 Bloodline : Wind Eagle: 1.871% to awaken. Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please clickfor visiting. Titles : Master Analyzer Short Description : Inner Disciple of Mountain Ba Sword Sect. Attained perfection in the skill(Analyze) thus granted the title ''Master Analyzer''. He''s born from a beast tribe South-East of the Green-Leaf World and was exiled due to breaking the rules. Master Analyzer: A skill similar to ''Appraisal'' but consumes Nether Energy or Mana. Tip : Has a strong chance to enhance the effect of [Appraisal] if the user ''Arthur MoonStar'' absorbs it. Arthur looked at the results of the appraisal then contemplated what to do for a few seconds before he decided to possess Veknur. He''ll do it swiftly without the alerting the victim, moreover, since the target was way weaker than him, it''ll practically be impossible to be discovered. Fortunately, the group of cultivators were fighting a weird purple python which was a Heavenly Beast, meaning it equaled a cultivator in the Heavenly Realm but that''s just theoretical. An Immortal Beast can demolish a group of Immortals if they''re not careful. Furthermore, a Sovereign can have difficulties defeating a God Beast. The group of four had flawless coordinations as they attacked from all directions, slowly tiring the python and injured it little by little. Arthur, who was a distance away, suddenly vanished and appeared next to Veknur only to abruptly become a black whirlpool which entered the target. This caused Veknur, who was in the middle of the attack, to feel momentarily disoriented thus giving the python to lash out at him with its extreme velocity. Arthur no more than two seconds inside the foreign body before he left it and returned next to Lucy as if nothing happened. As for Veknur, he could''ve sworn he saw a strange black thing fly away from his body but didn''t focus much on it due to the dizziness he was feeling and the fresh wound he just suffered... Chapter 363 - 316 : Shu Ru ''Ting!'' *The skill [Appraisal] has a new function: Can display a hidden emotion the target is feeling.* ''Oh well, it''s better than nothing.'' Arthur read the contents of the notifications before dismissing it and glancing at the struggling. Lucy suddenly used Telepathy to talk to him "Shouldn''t you be helping them. After all, they are part of your ''student''s sect." Without having to look at her, Arthur could already feel a piercing glare directed at him. Lucy wasn''t that pleased with his new student and though she didn''t force him to forsake Jian Si, she wasn''t particularly fond of the girl either.... despite never meeting her. "A-anyway, we should head-on." After giving one final glance to Veknur and the rest, the couple departed from that area, heading deeper into the Wicket Forest. Thanks to Space Magic, none of the monsters bothered them or even noticed their existence which allowed them to tread this dangerous place unhindered. Their speed was moderately fast compared to the other cultivators, which advanced step by step, afraid of monster ambushes. It was only after thirty-minutes did they enter the real death zone where every beast is at least a God Beast. There was a small plant that looked completely harmless but was actually a God Beast which excelled in poison and sneak-attacks. Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please clickfor visiting. Though they could be useless, Arthur didn''t bother fighting them for the future stats as he had more than enough corpses and he just needs to cultivate and reach the Sovereign Realm. Perhaps he''ll harvest some on the way back, as for now, he needs to find the origin of the Yin Energy and the location of the Star Iron, if the rumor is true, that is. As they were bypassing these God-slaying monsters, Lucy was the first to notice a lone figure, which was slowly walking between the monsters without alerting them or igniting their rage. The couple came to a sudden halt as two pair of eyes focused on this lone silhouette. With a beautiful white robe and skin as white as snow, she took soundless steps in this quiet place. She had a unique beauty and long black hair along with two pair of green pupils. Though they were a safe distance from her, the girl suddenly turned her head in their direction only to see nothingness. She frowned and tilted her head in confusion. Her senses couldn''t have been for naught so she activated her special cultivation technique only to see an equally beautiful woman who was around a hundred meters away from her. Arthur had swiftly entered Lucy''s body for multiple reasons. The main one was that Lucy and that girl would have an easier time talking to each other if he wasn''t there. The presence of a man may make the girl uncomfortable or perhaps wary. Though it''s not like she wasn''t wary or startled to suddenly see a woman not too far from her but at least Lucy didn''t use Dark Magic so strangers wouldn''t feel an ominous aura leaking out of her. Despite having the Ethereal State, which drastically reduces the effect of Dark Magic, it couldn''t completely extinguish it, especially after the birth of the Tri-Spirit. Appraisal was activated the second he saw her and these were the results. *Shu Ru (Race: Human/F) Realm; 2nd Grade God Realm. Age : 20 Title : NONE Short Description : Top disciple of the Mirage Era Hall as well as one of the three geniuses of the Green-Leaf World. Her natural talent is high but due to her special physique, she needs to cultivate in specific places. Physique : Sacred Rune Physique (General Rank) (Sub-Branch of Rune Branch). Emotion : Shu Ru is cautious of Lucy MoonStar Arthur was surprised to see her special physique but apart from that, she wasn''t that strong. She must have noticed them thanks to her physique. It was the second time he encountered a person who had a special physique. Arthur had long since wanted to acquire a special physique, however, unfortunately, possessing a target won''t grant him its physique as it''s something related to the body and not the techniques learned or stats acquired. Though Claud did state that there are books or scrolls that would allow him to obtain physiques but finding such treasures is almost impossible as they are always hidden from the public. Lucy''s physique, for example, was a King-physique but it was possible to upgrade it though accumulated hard work or lucky encounters. "Try to get friendly with her, mayhap she has some sort of a map or device. She didn''t seem to be randomly exploring the place." Arthur''s telepathic voice was heard by Lucy. She grumbled while retorting ''Ugh... why does it have to be me?'' As if he expected such a question, Arthur replied while grinning "Well, wouldn''t you reproach me if I talked to this girl? I sure as hell don''t want to be ignored for days." Lucy inwardly snorted and approached Shu Ru, who also made her way to the former after trying to probe her but failing to see through her cultivation. ''I''m sure this is the first time I see her.... a foreign traveler, perhaps?'' Shu Ru thought to herself as she gazed at Lucy. She was sure that the woman before her was a Sovereign and with a beauty like hers, along with her Realm, she would have been hella popular in the Green-Leaf World but she''s not, which meant that she''s from somewhere else, or so speculated the curious Shu Ru. For a moment Shu Ru''s eyes flashed with a purple light and that led to her becoming absolutely shocked but that only lasted for a split second before she quickly regained her calm expression. "Hello, Senior." The girl cupped her fists in greeting as she politely Lucy, who merely nodded her head as she found inexplicably annoying to talk to strangers despite the relaxing aura emanating from Shu Ru. Though unwilling to talk, Lucy ended up having a short conversation with the young maiden. Meanwhile, Arthur, who was focusing on the girl was sucked into his consciousness only to find a strange occurrence there. The usually calm Orb of the Fallen Overgods was reacting to something as it spun with incredible speed. It emitted a strong signal that made him feel a sense of urgency as if something was calling out for him. "The book, it''s actually the Book of Life!" Claud''s voice resonated inside Arthur''s consciousness. As he heard those words, Arthur felt a bit confused, he remembered Shu Ru and said "Is it in the girl''s possession?" "No, but it''s definitely close." "Must be hidden in the forest then." Claud''s illusory figure nodded its head before he disappeared, returning inside the ARK. "Find it, it''ll definitely bring you a lot of benefits. Katrina didn''t have a strong fighting ability but she was a renowned Overgod thanks to her vast, almost limitless knowledge." Arthur gazed at the spinning orb for a few seconds before he left his consciousness, returning to Lucy''s body and examining the situation outside. The two females already began traveling together with Shu Ru leading the way. Apparently, Shu Ru also came looking for a special place. She didn''t mention its name or its purpose but Arthur knew that it had to do with her physique. Nonetheless, her destination is surely where the book is. The main branch of her physique is Light, then it''s Rune then Sacred Rune. A place that can help her get stronger has to be some sort of a Holy spot and the Book of Life has a strong relation with Light thus the two parties shared the same destination. Chapter 364 - 317 : Book of Eternity The deeper the duo advanced, the fewer monsters they encountered. Shu Ru had some sort of a technique that practically made her invisible to these God-Beasts and Lucy simply relied on the separate dimension Arthur created earlier. Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please clickfor visiting. The two women didn''t converse at all except for the short exchange when they met. The younger one would glance at Lucy a few times in curiosity but she ended keeping her thoughts to herself. Arthur was assured as he felt the Orb giving stronger signals which meant they were getting closer to the Book of Life. At some point in their kind of awkward trip, they no longer sensed or saw any God Beast as if they were avoiding this place. Instead of the normal strong monsters, there appeared a new kind of monsters, a very grotesque and scary-looking white monsters. With distorted human faces and tall arms and legs, they resembled no human or beast, they were literally monstrosities. These entities were called White Spawns and just like with a place full of Darkness Energy, they appeared due to the over-abundance of Light Energy in this area. They weren''t particularly strong compared to the God Beasts, however, they were numerous and their attacks literally suck the life of their targets. More precisely, they suck whatever energy is residing inside their target thus depriving them of their strength and killing them in the process. Unlike the God Beasts, these White Spaws noticed Shu Ru almost immediately but paid no heed to Lucy, obviously because she couldn''t be seen nor sensed. At first, the girl had to fight for herself and had no problem eliminating most of the White Spaws but the further they trod, the more variations of White Spawns appeared. Some only had eyes while others had just two legs and one largemouth. Shu Ru didn''t use all of her strength for obvious reasons and merely relied on her special physique, which was more than enough at the beginning but when the big heads started appearing left and right, she started getting small bruises. Through Lucy, Arthur intervened to smoothen the trip and get rid of the White Spaws. The Tri-Spirit inside his consciousness was awakened and got to work almost immediately. The nearby White Spaws, which were charging at Shu Ru, suddenly froze before attempting to flee only to be killed in a split second. An ominous and chilling wave of darkness covered the area around them; slaughtering the White Spawns and forcing the nearby ones to turn around and swiftly flee. "Ha! Some say Light counters Darkness and Water extinguishes Fire but those are primitive claims. While some of it is indeed true, Light and Darkness are opposing Attributes but that doesn''t mean a Light-wielding individual will defeat a Darkness-wielding opponent, while, of course, they are equal in terms of prowess. Not every water can be vaporized and not every fire can be extinguished." Claud declared in exasperation while staring at the fleeing White Spaws. From the expression on his face, it was clear he bore no good will to these unsightly creatures. Back outside, Shu Ru, who witnessed the death of the White Spaws and the complete darkness that enveloped her and Lucy, remained motionless and speechless for a few seconds. No matter how much she pondered, she never thought Lucy could wield such a strong Darkness-Attribute. As she looked at jet black ground and trees, she blinked her eyes and tried activating her physique to resist some of the Darkness but she discovered that she became extremely weakened. What Arthur released was merely Darkness and not Dark Magic. He didn''t know if Shu Ru knew about Zodiak and his power but it''s better to be safe then sorry. Although Darkness-users are rare, more often than not, being eccentric or have a cold or evil behavior. Shu Ru began feeling a tinge of fear as she noticed the immeasurable disparity between her and Lucy. Though she had the means to eradicate them quite fast, that didn''t mean she could do it as easily as Lucy. Unfortunately, she didn''t know the whole truth. Lucy never did a thing, it was Arthur''s doing all along. With the darkness that blocked the light and scared the White Spaws, the two females continued their short journey. An hour or so later, they arrived at what seemed to be their destination. Amidst the greenery of the place, there was some kind of a palace with tall white stars. Everything seemed out of place as if they were just put here randomly. There was an absence of White Spawns but just in front of the stairs, there was a peculiar White Spawn. It wasn''t as ugly as the rest, in fact, it bore a resemblance to Angels with its pair of white wings. It had a small shield on its right hand and a one-handed sword on its left. White armor and white skin, even its pupils were white. As the two women approached it, it abruptly awakened and directed its gaze toward them. From its initial kneeling position, it slowly got up and prepared itself for the upcoming fight. *Innocence, Light Keeper.(Race: None): Little Sovereign Age : ???? Emotion : None Skills : Punish [IV] / Vision Wave / Light Surge Short Description : An entity born from Light Energy. It has no emotions and its only reason to exist is to continuously suck energy from living beings. It is a rank above normal White Spawns. As he read the details of Appraisal, Arthur was momentarily confused as it''s not the thing that''s emitting Yin Energy. For such an entity to exist is surprising as no one ever mentioned that a Sovereign was in the Wicked Forest. Though the Green-Leaf World had no lack of Sovereigns, that doesn''t mean they''re found everywhere. Nonetheless, dealing with Innocence wasn''t going to be that much of a problem. Shu Ru may find difficulties defeating it but for Lucy, erasing it from existence is a simple task. Shu Ru nervously stared at Innocence, her eyes glowed with purple light. She retrieved a relatively long bow from her storage and readied herself for battle. As Innocence had a higher Realm than her, she couldn''t pinpoint its exact Grade but she never that whatever was in front of her was definitely a Sovereign. The Light Keeper wasn''t going to wait for them to attack, it vertically raised its sword and swung down or so it should have been. Unfortunately for Innocence, just as it raised its hand, Lucy began her assault. The area around them, which was composed of either greenery or stairs, was turned into ice in a split second. Before Shu Ru or the enemy could react, the battle has ended with just a raise of a hand. Innocence turned into a frozen statue which began to crack only for the ice to harden thus negating the Light Keeper''s pointless resistance. With stats like hers, Sovereigns were nothing to Lucy. Simply using her Yin powers, which belonged to her Physique, was enough to deal with a Little Sovereign. She would only become serious if her opponent was something above the Sovereign Realm. Lucy put down her raised hand and resumed walking toward the stairs without minding the shockerd Shu Ru, who quickly followed her after snapping out of her daze. Chapter 365 - 318 : The Book of Eternity 2 She could''ve sworn Lucy was a Sovereign but after witnessed what just happened, she started having doubts. Fortunately, Lucy didn''t seem to be hostile to her or else she would have been killed without being able to use her trump card. Innocence, which turned into a block of ice, shattered into countless pieces a few minutes after Lucy and Shu Ru left the area. The two females took the long and wide white stairs and arrived all the way up without being ambushed or attacked by any White Spawns. Lucy''s Pure Yin Physique was madly absorbing the Yin Energy scattered around her, strengthening her body and slowly but surely, facilitating her breakthrough to the Sovereign Realm. At the end of the stairs was nothing short of a marvelous sight. It truly made the two of them momentarily shocked by how breath-taking the palace before them was. Everything was either golden or white and despite the emptiness of the place, it didn''t diminish its beauty. Whether it was the tall golden pillars, the white decorations or the sun rays coming from above, piercing the dark clouds and showing an unforgettable sight to both females and Arthur too. The palace wasn''t particularly big but it had a Holy presence probably due to the abundance of Light around. Claud even said that everything in this area was purely made from Light Energy. This phenomenon happens only when there''s an abnormal amount of Light Energy locked in a specific place. As Lucy and Shu Ru approached the palace. Arthur''s heart started throbbing loudly as if it''s yearning for something. This feeling was vastly different from the signals emitting from the Orb of the Fallen Overgods. ''It''s here... I can feel it. It''s calling me!'' The usually calm Tri-Spirit was excitedly bouncing in his consciousness as if it couldn''t wait anymore. ............... Far away from where Lucy and Shu Ru were, there stood a silhouette shrouded in darkness. This person witnessed everything that happened, from beginning to end. When Lucy was close enough to the Palace, he took his eyes off her and sighed before mumbling something with inaudible voice. A few seconds later, he seemed to have noticed something which made him click his tongue and immediately vanish from sight. *********** As Lucy and Shu Ru entered the white palace, they met face to face with yet another monstrosity. This one was bigger and uglier than its former. With four large legs that were chained to the floor, six arms and a humongous mouth. It lacked eyes and ears but it still turned to face the two guests. As she stood close to this entity that didn''t belong to any race, a disgusting abomination, Lucy frowned. The feeling from this monster was drastically different from Innocence. This one seemed more savage and abnormally powerful. She still had the confidence to win but not as easily as before. Arthur, who was hiding in her body, was also shocked by the content displayed by Appraisal *Forgiven Obscenity, Light Protector. (Race: None):Realm: None Age : ???? Emotion : None Skills : Punish VII / Retribution of Light / Holy Imbuement. Short description : An entity born from Light energy and a small fraction of natural laws. Due to its nature, it cannot move freely and is forever locked inside the palace. ''Is it here to protect the book?'' Arthur asked the most knowledgeable person present, Claud Venis. He received a reply shortly after "Forgiven Obscenity? While it''s reasonable to see White Spawns or Innocence if the Book of Life is nearby, the presence of this particular one is rather intriguing... it defies my earlier speculations." ''Is it possible that it''s guarding something?'' After a short silence, Claud responded "I''m surprised by your exact guess. Indeed, it''s guarding something but I''m clueless as to what it is." Arthur smirked and thought to himself ''Well, I''m not.'' A distance behind Forgiven Obscenity, there was a small altar where a white book laid. It was open and it had a white cover, it emitted a colossal amount of Light Energy. The density of Light Energy made it hard for Shu Ru to breathe properly. The horror that stood before her was making her body shiver uncontrollably but she still managed to squeeze out a few words Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please clickfor visiting. "S,senior, I''ll be relying on you to take care of it. I think closing the book will get rid of it." Shu Ru seemed to know something as she explained to Lucy the purpose of the book. Apparently, having it open will indefinitely cause leakage of Light Energy from it but if it''s closed then every White Spawn or entity that was born from Light Energy will return to the book, just like the Death Golem and Randuin. Lucy remained silent as she stared at Shu Ru with an expressionless face. Shu Ru started feeling awkward as Lucy wasn''t responding. Fortunately, it didn''t last long as she(Shu Ru) finally heard her talk "You said you''re looking for a place, right?" Expecting to hear to her instructions, Shu Ru remained unresponsive for a few seconds before replying to Lucy''s question "Y-yes..." "And I don''t suppose this is the one?" "No, it should be under the palace. I''m certain of it but the energy from the Book is rendering me unable to pinpoint the exact location." "Alright, then sit back and wait for us to finish." Confused, Shu Ru muttered "... us?" As she stared at Lucy with both confusion and anxiety due to the monster, which started fiercely beating the flat ground, a thunderous sound resounded in the whole area, causing her to become momentarily deaf. After focusing her attention, she saw Lucy and another man with a long grey-hair attacking the Light Protector. Lucy wielded a thin and white saber that emitted a chilling coldness, as for Arthur, he used his fists, which were enveloped by decaying grey energy. Thanks to his Tri-Spirit, he could manipulate Death Energy without being backlashed. The two of them ganged up on the monsters and fiercely beat it into a bloody pulp. Though it tried to retaliate, the two of them were extremely fast and easily dodged its attacks. Even when it tried using an area of effect skill, it was negated by Arthur''s book, which absorbed the whole damage. Lucy made use of her Cultivation Technique, which allowed her to create lotuses that are used both for defense and attack. One lotus was more than enough to block the enemy''s attack. In merely a minute, the monster was rendered motionless as blood covered its whole body. Shu Ru, who witnessed everything, was totally speechless. Even a genius such as herself couldn''t follow them with her eyes. She literally only saw after images that vanished a split second later. As the monster laid on the flat ground, dead. Arthur landed a few meters away from the Book of Life. He cautiously spread his sense but was unable to fend off the Light Energy lingering around the book. At first, he thought of using absolute power to get rid of the Light Energy or perhaps use Void Magic but such ideas were soon thrown away as Claud instructed him on what to do. The book of the Damned appeared on his hand yet again, the creepy and ominous book floated in front of him and opened itself before a rotting and disgusting hand came out of ancient pages of the book. Like a whirlpool, the hand started absorbing all the Light Energy around. The process was swift and in a matter of seconds, Arthur was able to get close to the Book of Life and safely close it thus ending it once and for all. The only one who didn''t know what was going on was Shu Ru. She brought a special treasure that would allow her to close the book yet never got to use it. Apart from leading Lucy here, she did nothing and planned to contribute so she can have a share of whatever they found here. Unfortunately, apart from watching, she did nothing else which disappointed her. Nevertheless, she got to witness something totally abnormal, something that made her question logic itself. A mere 1st Grade God was able to defeat something that even a High Sovereign would find difficulty facing. The strength he showed, the incredible speed, it all defied logic. Chapter 366 - 319 : 5th Seal *You obtained the Book of Eternity: Originating from Heaven and born from Heavenly Energy. Can be used to acquire the skill [Life Restoration].* *The 5th seal of has been broken. The user can summon ''Midolf''* *If both Midolf and Radolf are fighting together, their stats are increased by 50%.* *Book of Eternity has taken over the left side of Arthur MoonStar.* *Book of the Damned has taken over the right side of Arthur MoonStar.* *Light and Death Magic can now be used simultaneously.* *Your profiency in Light Magic has increased drastically. +35% Resistance to Light Attribute.* *The Skill [Ethereal State(Passive)] has been upgraded to [Angel of Death(Passive)(Active)]: If the skill is turned off, the passive will be applied to the user : +10% Health Regen per second when outside of combat. +10% Mana/Nether Energy Regen per second when outside of combat. +5% to all stats. +50 Creation +2000 Mental Power Through the skill [Necromancy] you can summon a larger variety of Undead. List : [Skeleton Kings / High Wraiths / Death Specters / Greater Lichs / Zombie Lords] You can summon White Spawns using the Book of Eternity. List : [White Spawns / Innocence] Stronger Undead will be loyal to the user. [Active effect] : +5% stats +9.99% damage done to Death or Light creatures. +40% resistance to Light and Death Magic. +10% Mana/Nether Energy regen every ten seconds in combat. +10% attack and defense if the user is fighting someone in a higher Realm/Grade. Any Undead summoned will have its stats doubled until the active duration of the skill is over. Cost : Mana 20m/sor Nether Energy 10m/s or 50 Mental Power/s Tip: The passive effect of the skill still applies to the user even when it''s active.* *The book of Eternity has affected the Enigma skill [Ancient Threads]. [Ancient Threads] has been changed into [Light Operation] and [Righteous Death]. [Light Operation]: Use special threads made of Light Energy to perform operations on yourself or other targets. Operations can fix broken Meridians, damaged Dantians or clean Acupoints. Attaching limbs or healing internal organs is also possible. [Righteous Death] : Use Threads of Death to attack or defend. If a target is touched by the threads for more than five seconds, it''ll suffer from the debuff [Decaying Death] for 1 minute [Decaying Death]:-10% Movement / -12% defense / -30% Vitality. The speed and durability of the Threads will depend on the user''s stats.* *The blessing of Katrina, The Overgod of Knowledge is now available : She was the sole being who was known for her extreme thirst for knowledge, known to have created the largest library the multiverse has ever seen, she even managed to decipher symbols from the Void Era, furthermore, she was one of the founders of ''The Council of Creators''....CANNOT GAIN THE BLESSING UNTIL YOU BREAK THE SEALS: SEAL 1 : LVL 750 : Gain the skill [Life State] ACQUIRED SEAL 2 : UNLOCK Knowledge stat : Gain the skill [Saint Hands] ACQUIRED SEAL 3 : ACHIEVE ??? Intelligence : Obtain the key to the 9 Earths and 8 Moons. SEAL 4 : Use The Book of the Damned....Acquired! SEAL 5 : Use The Book of Eternity: ........ Acquired! Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please clickfor visiting. Arthur had long since acquired [Life State] and [Saint Hands] which are formidable skills but aren''t that useful to him, especially the [Saint Hands] which is a high-level Healing skill which may save mortals from death but it''ll do naught for a person wounded by a Sovereign. As for [Life State], it grants immunity to all kinds of diseases. As Arthur absorbed the book of Life, also known as the book of Eternity, he received this long list of notifications. He spent a minute or so reading it before closing everything and testing his new powers. While his left hands glowed with some kind of a Holy and white light, his right hand unleashed ominous grey fog that made the air turbulent and caused the nearby ground to wither. "Excuse me, who might you be?" Shu Ru, who managed to calm her fastly beating heart, walked toward him while throwing that question. To be honest, she had long since she suspected the presence of an additional being with Lucy thanks to her technique but she never imagined it to be an actual person. Her secret technique allows her to see the souls of nearby living beings and when she directed it toward Lucy, she saw two colors, indicating that there are two souls in one body. She speculated the presence of some kind of a soul weapon or a pet but never a human. There are several colors of the soul and they tell her what kind of person her target is. Lucy''s soul was the color of Ice and was freezing cold though it was enveloped by an illusory dark energy that made it difficult for Shu Ru to look closer. As for the second soul she noticed, it nothing short of a bottomless abyss. Black as ink and horrifying to look at. The reason she never expected it to be a person is because she never thought a person could have such a heart-shaking soul. Now that she had a closer look at Arthur, she still couldn''t believe the truth despite being in front of her. With fear, wariness, and a tinge of curiosity, she inspected this tall man. He had grey hair, a scarred-eye, and a blood-red pupil. She couldn''t help but get the chills as if something inside of him was staring at her, ready to devour her whole. Nonetheless, she mustered her courage and asked him. Her voice seemed to grab his attention as he turned to look at her. After inspecting her from head to toe as if she was being judged, he emotionlessly replied "Pardon my late introduction. I am called Arthur." He did a low bow in greeting as he introduced himself. In response, Shu Ru also bowed back but found no suitable response so silence dominated the atmosphere for some time before Lucy spoke "So, how do we proceed?" Obviously, her question was directed to Shu Ru, who''s supposed to know how to reach their destination. She already tried smashing the ground but it was inexplicably hard. Heck! It didn''t even have scratches. The only thing that affected it was Arthur''s Death Energy which caused it to wither but it would return to normal in a matter of seconds. Shu Ru wanted to know ask a few more questions but gave up and took out an item from her storage. It was actually a round silver mirror. In its back, there were some purple feathers which seemed to be some kind of decoration. "This artifact is supposed to force open a path that leads us down below. But be careful as there is most likely a powerful Yin Beast hiding there." ''So there really was Yin Beast'' Shu Ru tightly held the mirror and pointed it toward the ground while chanting with a low voice "Iclil ofrofojius, enisa, isyujiel, okrekasse, nivi, upeshe, hadi!!" A burst of energy similar to a laser was shot from the mirror. It was so powerful to the point of causing the whole palace to shake violently. The unbreakable white ground showed signs of cracking. The girl''s face was turning red as she poured all her energy into the artifact. As she saw that it managed to crack the surface, she continued with her incantation. "Cleen shrite, alyeyorn, mefius, flopri, aclishri, yutar!!" Just as the last word was said, the mirror began emitting steam as the ''laser'' being shot out changed from white to red. The radius of this burst of energy became bigger as a hole, large enough to fit three humans, was created due to the might of the Artifact. There was nothing but darkness laying beyond this hole. Cold air emanated from below and the density of Yin Energy was far superior inside than outside. Seeing this sight reminded Arthur of Judgment, the weapon that almost killed him and Lucy back when they were in the Nemia Academy. When he has free time, he decided to create a weapon that had a similar concept to this mirror. Like Rinotsu, this mirror seemed to be able to trap a huge amount of Energy in it there suddenly letting out thus creating unimaginably devastation. Though controlling trapped Nether Energy is way harder than controlling trapped Elemental Energy. For example, Arthur could unleash a Dark Rinotsu or a Dark Rizaki, however, he can''t create a Rizaki with only Nether Energy for he''s not capable of controlling the suppressed Energy, it would quickly run out of control and even severely injure him. Even when the mirror stopped firing its ''laser'', the hole in the ground was still present. Shu Ru panted heavily as she put away the Artifact. She seemed to have consumed a large amount of her energy thus rendering her temporarily weak. As she stared at this whole which had nothing but darkness beyond it, the young girl said "Seniors, before we enter, please allow me to say what''s on my mind." Chapter 367 - 320 : The Grim Reaper "My purpose for coming to this place is to train and tame the Yin Beast. All I want is the beast and some space to meditate, everything else is yours." She had a serious expression as she stated her goal and looked at them to try and read their expression. Unfortunately, both Arthur and Lucy usually had deadpan faces so there wasn''t much to see or read from such an expressionless couple. "Mhmm I was planning on taming the beast too but if that''s what you want then I don''t mind giving it up for the rest of the stuff in there." Arthur shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. While it is true that he planned to subdue the Yin Beast, it isn''t his main goal for coming here. The Book of Life had been acquired and all that remained is the second piece, the sweetest piece, or so he thought. The power-up granted by the Book wasn''t significant, in fact, it seemed the effect of [Angel of Death] was worse than [Ethereal State] but the Undead buff was what made him delighted. [Light Operation] could be extremely useful in certain situations. With it and the potion, he didn''t fear any kind of injury. As long as or Lucy don''t die on the spot, with his skills and their Vitality Stat, they could recover in a very short time, contrary to other people, who may even take a year or six months to heal a curse or a severe blow. That is if they do not make use of some kind of miraculous medicine. Hearing his answer, Shu Ru let out a sigh of relief. She concluded that the purpose of this strange couple wasn''t the beast, which made things easier for both of them. Though the Book of Eternity was enticing, she had no need for it and didn''t mind letting them have it, though it''s not like she had a choice. After all, she didn''t help in getting rid of the monster from earlier and it''s not like she could''ve been useful since she''s weak compared to them. Very soon, the trio jumped into the bottomless hole and were quickly surrounded by darkness. For Shu Ru, her vision was limited but neither Lucy nor Arthur had difficulties seeing their surroundings. In fact, Arthur''s prowess is increased in such an environment. Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please clickfor visiting. The bottom of the hole was soon reached, the place they were at was a wide cave that stretched for five or six hundred meters. The cave was limited due to the surface, the wide white stairs and the palace, they were some kind of seal that imprisoned everything within the cave, even the abundant Yin Energy, which was so dense that a portion of it leaked to the outside. As Arthur was inspecting his map to locate the Yin Beast, another series of notification popped in front of him, startling him momentarily. *You obtained a new title : [One Stalked by the Reaper]* *Your location is known by the Grim Reaper. WARNING : Death is coming to reap, it is advised to flee.* As he read the following words, Arthur unconsciously cursed "Damnit, he''s coming again!" Shu Ru misunderstood him and thought he was talking about the Yin Beast. However, Lucy, who was able to see his notifications thanks to the title [Unseen Bond], knew that he was talking about the Reaper. The Yin Beast, who was silently watching them from a distance, suddenly sensed something and swiftly retreated to the end of the cave. Even Shu Ru, who was cautiously looking around suddenly felt a chill that almost made her fell on her knees. This inexplicable feeling is Death, anyone weak-willed will fall unconscious. Lucy''s gaze sharpened as she immediately retrieved Lonely Moon and loaded it with a 4th Grade Bullet, one of her strongest. Arthur also readied himself as [Angel of Death] was activated thus materializing a pair of wings. The left side had a wing similar to a bat while the right one was a feathery white wing that was identical to an angel. In addition to this skill, he also activated [Eternium] resulting in another pair of wings to appear, they were jet black and enveloped by dark flames. Soon, Arthur turned into a figure with two pair of wings as black flames covered him and protected him from harm. He glanced at Shu Ru and said "This is going to get really dangerous." This was a sign for her to retreat but she just looked at him with awe-filled eyes. His sudden transformation and boost in aura and prowess left her totally gobble-smacked. .... A few kilometers away from the palace, where Arthur and co were, there was a disturbance in space as a crack abruptly appeared. This crack remained for merely a few seconds before disappearing. It only served one purpose and it''s to allow something to enter this world, in a way, it was a gate that separated the Realm of the living from the Realm of the dead. A dark silhouette floated in the air, with a worn-out black robe, a body made only of skeletons and a terrifying long scythe. The Grim Reaper looked around a few times before focusing its gaze at one specific direction. Its speed seemed to be slower than a turtle yet it with the half step it took, it reached the area above the palace. "Finally, we meet again, Arthur Bilgart." As it was about to head toward Arthur, a figure appeared in its way, blocking it from advancing any further. Though the reaper was shocked by the sudden appearance of this person, it paid him no heed and attempted to bypass him. Unfortunately, by the next second, it found itself flying in the air as this person was grabbing its forehead and lengthening the distance between them and Arthur''s group. Despite its immunity to physical attacks, it was easily dragged this far from its target. Confused and angry about the interference of this person, it said "Mortal, are you sure you want to interfere with Death''s matters?" At the end of its words, its tone totally changed as it noticed something strange with this individual. The reaper was pushed a few meters away and as it glared at him, he chuckled and removed his hood whilst saying "I heard that Grim Reapers, just like Death, can''t die. I wonder if it''s true?" ...... A few minutes passed since the warning but no reaper has come to attack him. At first, he thought that the arrival of the reaper won''t be immediate but rejected such an idea. If it were so then the system wouldn''t have warned him like that. Around seven minutes later, Arthur was greeted with another notification *The Grim Reaper has been successfully resisted.* This made Arthur furrow his brows as confusion overwhelmed him. He didn''t comprehend what just happened. ''Who resisted the Reaper? Why? Where and When?'' "It seems there''s someone secretly protecting you." Claud spoke to Arthur, the Prophecy Holder didn''t seem anxious even when the reaper was coming. "Do you think I could''ve defeated it?" Claud took a few moments before giving his reply "Defeating the reaper? I don''t think that''s possible but resisting it is totally possible. You only have to fight it until it is forced to leave, after all, it can only stay in the Realm of living for a limited amount of time." Arthur let out a sigh of relief and deactivated his skills. It would be a lie to say he wasn''t feeling nervous. A reaper isn''t something that can be easily defeated. It is a follower of Death and it''s immune to all physical attacks. He was able to survive last time only thanks to the help of the World Tree. After making sure the threat had disappeared, Arthur glanced at Shu Ru only to find her slightly shaking. Her face was pale and she genuinely seemed to be scared. Though she was one of the top talents of the Green-Leaf world, his transformation still affected her. He was so focused on the reaper that he forgot about her. Dark Magic is something affects the will of people and weakens them both physically and mentally. Although it wasn''t directed at her, the area of effect of [Eternium] still caused her to feel fearful. She was pampered since she was young and to be overwhelmed by a large amount of Dark Magic did traumatize her body, which began shaking on its own. Arthur knew that trying to ease her up wouldn''t end up good since she''s still scared so he let Lucy do the job. Unlike the other female, Lucy was totally used to Dark Magic and thanks to their bond, it didn''t negatively affect her. She walked up to the frail girl and shook her body, wanting Shu Ru to straighten her thoughts and get rid of this fear. Lucy didn''t use all of her strength but the amount used caused Shu Ru to become dizzy. Only after some time did Lucy stop, leaving the poor Shu Ru standing with the support of a nearby wall. The girl actually vomited from both the fear and dizziness but at least that made her mind calm and her thoughts clear. As she turned her head and saw the couple looking at her, she felt so embarrassed that her face turned red. She wished she would find a hole to crawl into from the shame of being seen vomiting, moreover, from fear. Chapter 368 - 321 : Dark Talisman 1 After Shu Ru stabilized her mind and body, she rejoined the couple in examining the place. Thanks to his map, Arthur was able to locate the hiding Yin Beast. It stealthily gazed at them from the other end of the cave, where what seeks is. Though it was stronger than Shu Ru, the Yin Beast was still weaker than Arthur and Lucy. It had the strength of a High Sovereign and was able to wield an ominous power. Before Arthur initiated its attack, it sensed the danger coming from the invaders so it chose to engage first. The ground underneath the trio suddenly turned dark and started pulling their bodies downwards. This acted merely as a mean to slow down its enemies. The beast was the main attacking power, using its lengthy claws, it ferociously slashed at the most dangerous one, Lucy. It considered Lucy the most threatening one since she could use Yin Powers thus she can easily resist its attacks. Unfortunately, its attack didn''t land on Lucy as the lower half of its body suddenly was frozen. Moreover, dark and durable threads wrapped themselves around its paws. Though Arthur and Lucy''s retaliation was immediate, the Yin Beast wasn''t that easily defeated. With monstrous strength, it shook off the ice that was immobilizing but wasn''t able to get rid of the Death Threads that bound it to Arthur. Arthur grabbed the threads and swung them down, heavily smashing the Yin Beast into the ground and causing it to groan from the pain. Lucy followed right after as the ground under Yin Beast turned into Lava thus burning its skin and causing blood to gush out. Dizzy from Arthur''s merciless swing and Lucy''s lava, the Yin Beast was unable to get up in time as the effect of the Death Thread was activated and that''s without including the Tri-Spirit, which made use of this opportunity to imprison it using thick black chains that wrapped around its whole body. The fight merely took twenty-one seconds and neither Arthur nor Lucy suffered any kind of damage. In fact, even when the ground turned dark and attempted to swallow them, it still didn''t cause any damage since the ground was surprisingly made from Dark Magic. The beast''s proficiency in Dark Magic wasn''t low but it didn''t reach Arthur''s thus the latter was easily able to negate his enemy''s assault. In fact, he''s immune to Dark Magic and Lucy wouldn''t be slowed down by such an attack. Only Shu Ru would be totally helpless in such a situation. Speaking of the girl, she retreated far away the second the ground changed, which was a very wise decision. The girl smiled helplessly as she saw how the Yin Beast was so easily subdued. The flawless cooperation of the couple and their overwhelming strength really made her envious. "There, we''ve caught it for you. Though taming it falls on you." Arthur signaled for Shu Ru to take care of the beast while he and Lucy headed to the end of the cave, where the Yin Beast was initially hiding. Just as he predicted, there was something unusual about that area. Ominous energy lingered around it and the place was jet black, the ground, the roof and even the broken objects scattered on the ground. "So this is what the Book of Life was sealing!" Once he laid his eyes on the thing floating in the air, Claud exclaimed loudly. With incomprehensible symbols on it, it floated in the air without being disturbed by the Yin Power in the surroundings. This was none other than a jet black talisman, very similar to the ones Zodiak used. This small object that released an absurd amount of Dark Magic was a portion of Zodiak''s powers. The reason Arthur''s heart was throbbing was due to the existence of this talisman. "And I was wondering why you chose to fight the reaper instead of fleeing. hahahahaha" Claud heartily laughed as he finally understood why Arthur wanted to go all-in against the reaper instead of simply fleeing. Like Claud, the Tri-Spirit was also bouncing happily inside his consciousness. Though Arthur was the main holder of Dark Magic, it still receives a small portion which strengthens it. Arthur reached for the Talisman, which reacted to the Dark Magic emitting from him and slowly floated toward him. His hand held the black talisman which dispersed and left behind countless black specks of light that entered his body. Almost immediately, a row of blue windows appeared before his eyes. *You''ve acquired another portion of Zodiak''s powers* *Dark Magic will deal 20% more damage* Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please clickfor visiting. *New skill acquired [Assault of Darkness][Active] : Use Dark Magic to trap your target(s) in a world of darkness, depriving them of sight for ten seconds and rendering them vulnerable to Magical attacks.* *New skill acquired [Talisman Mastery] : The user is now able to create Elemental Talismans. Elemental Talismans can be used to attack or defend. Dark Talismans will deal 50% more damage. Death Talismans will heal the user for 40% of the damage done. Light Talismans will grant the user decaying bonus movement speed.* *Makaze, Evil Wind is reacting to the Dark Magic absorbed : 45.87% until completion....* *Your Intelligence and Wisdom stat increased drastically. Check your Status Window for more details.* A large amount of knowledge was poured into Arthur''s brain which made him slightly dizzy for a few seconds. This trip was fruitful, to say the least. The damage increase for Dark Magic will surely be helpful in the future. The sheathed dark blade suddenly started vibrating intensely in excitment. "Now then, where the Star Iron?" Arthur surveyed his surroundings but saw nothing but broken furniture. There was no iron whatsoever. Though he was disappointed, he still didn''t give up yet. There may be some secret room hidden somewhere. Arthur glanced at Shu Ru, who was supposed to be busy taming the Yin Beast only to find her patting the crouching beast, which obediently let her do as she pleases. He wasn''t paying attention thus he didn''t know how she managed to tame him but it''s not like he cared. As long as she got what she wanted then it''s fine. The young girl had a soft smile on her face as she stared at the beast affectionately. Having such a strong companion by her side will ensure her safety even in High-Realms, after all, the Yin Beast could compete against a High Sovereign. Lucy sat in a comfortable spot and started her meditation. Her Pure Yin Physique was madly absorbing the large amounts of scattered Yin Energy. Her body shined with a silver color, illuminating the dark cave and creating a beautiful scene. She was like a vacuum, swallowing everything. The wall separating her from the Sovereign Realm was being crushed easily as her cultivation rose drastically. She was more compatible with Mana rather Nether Energy despite the latter being more powerful. However, the Green-Leaf World didn''t have abundant Mana thus it''s hard for her to cultivate. Nonetheless, the little Mana scattered in the Wicked Forest started madly heading toward her. The evening sky was covered with blue specks of Mana that illuminated the usually gloomy forest. These blue specks joined together and became a big wave that came crushing at the palace, bypassing any material thing in its way and entering Lucy''s body. The silver light emanating from her body along with the countless blue specks created a breath-taking scene. Even the busy Shu Ru was forced to stare at this sight with a half-open mouth. From a surprise to another, she hadn''t been with this couple for more than a day yet she witnessed things that made completely speechless. She thought she was a genius but compared to Lucy, who broke the barrier toward the Sovereign Realm this fast, she was mediocre... and that''s while being modest. And just like that, Lucy became a Sovereign but her cultivation never stopped increasing. At last, she stopped when she reached the Peak of Little Sovereign and that''s only all the Mana was absorbed, leaving nothing left. Arthur, who was on the side, appraised everything in the cave, from the walls to the ground and finally found the reason for the abundance of Yin Energy. The Yin Beast couldn''t have been born from nothingness. As per Claud''s speculations, there was indeed something that partially the cause of the white palace above them. *Dark Yin Vein (Rank: Heavenly) Age: 9,847 *Short description: A Yin Vein that was corrupted by the Dark Magic. It releases both Darkness and Yin Energy and is lethal to people with abundant Yang Energy or Light Magic users. Tip: The user gains 100% Nether Energy regen as long as he''s within 100 meters of the Vein.* ''After all, was the rumor about the Star Iron false?'' Arthur lamented inwardly as he sighed. "Most likely, though a Yin Vein is rare, Star Iron is rarer." Claud wasn''t optimistic about the whole matter but he didn''t stop Arthur from venturing in the Wicked Forest for it wasn''t that dangerous for either Lucy or Arthur. TITLE: MEAT GRINDER / SEEKER OF KNOWLEDGE / ONE WITH THE SWORD / ARK HOLDER / LIVE WITH HONOR, DIE WITH GLORY / BREAKER OF CHAINS / HOLDER OF THE DARK BLADE''S OATH / MAD DESTROYER/PSYCHOPATH/DRAGON RIDER / UNSEEN BOND / ONE STALKED BY THE REAPER Level: ?? Class: Dark ARK Parasite Realm: 2nd Grade God - Strength: 2.891B Intelligence: 3.54B Agility: 2.66B Wisdom: 2.5B Vitality: 3B Dexterity: 2.19B - Health: 3.32B// Health Regen: 11.9m/s Nether Energy: 2.74B // Nether Energy Regen: 5.4m/s(+100%) Mana: 3.6B // Mana Regen: 8m/s Stamina: Infinite /Stamina Regen: ??? ----- Creation: 634 ---- Attack: 3.25B (+35% damage [Dark Flame Ring]) (+20% if Dark Magic is used) (+40% if Makaze is used)(+5% [Warrior''s Cry[LvMax](Passive)][+2% from Breaker of Chains Title] Defense: 2.99B (+25% Damage Reduction) (+5% [Solid [LvMax](passive)] (+10% [Golem''s Wall(LvMax)(Passive)] Magic Defense: 1.59B Soul Defense: 159,999 --- Enigma abilities : Telekinesis / [Light Operation/ Righteous Death ] / Sixth sense / ARK(Activated) - Mental Power: 12871 --- Elemental Resistances(+) Fire: 100% Darkness: 100% Wind: 35% Water: 75% Earth: 75% Light/holy: 65% Shadow: 30(+20%)% Lightning: 100% Ice: 30% Death : 10% --- Death Count: 1 (2 more to obtain ''Unbound'') --- Possessions (472,012) --- Races: ?Humans (282,991) ?Demons (84,997) ?Beasts (+)(101,528) ?Unique Beasts (2498) ?Mythical beings (1) ***** Chapter 369 - 322 : Midolf The two females started meditating since this was a favorable place for their physique. As for Arthur, he sat next to Lucy and started experimenting with his Talisman Mastery. The first thing he learned is that Talismans can''t be stored in a storage ring as the unstable space would cause its destruction. It takes him, more or less, a second to create an Elemental Talisman. The Dark Talismans are the easiest and fastest to create while the Void Talisman cannot even be created. It would disintegrate half-way through its creation and no matter how much he tried, he couldn''t complete it. Though, if he hid them under Zodiak''s robe, which he usually wears, he can use them later in combat. He couldn''t test them in the cave so he entered the ARK and did countless tests to check the usefulness of the Talismans. This new skill didn''t disappoint him, Arthur even had a bright smile as he gazed at the charred ground of the ARK. The weakest Talismans are the ones the Wind, Earth, and Water Talismans. They are powerful enough to injure Gods thanks to his stats but they aren''t very efficient. The Fire Talisman is decent, it doesn''t have the explosive power of the detonator but it has the same firepower of the high-level skills. The Death Talisman is literally a cheat, it inflicts a huge chunk of damage and grants him Health. If he lands a considerable number on them then he''ll probably get all his Health back if he was missing any, that is. Space Talisman is actually a defensive Talisman. Its only purpose is to strengthen barriers and when put on a Dark Barrier, it strengthens it by 50%. Unfortunately, it cannot be stacked. Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please clickfor visiting. Shadow Talisman can momentarily immobilize a target by controlling its shadow. Though the duration is short, it can still be considered a good mean for sneak-attacking. Lightning and Light Talisman deal damage over time to the target so Arthur didn''t focus too much on them. However, if he uses a Lightning Talisman on himself, he''ll gain 10% movement speed, and if he uses a Light Talisman, his attack speed is increased by 15%. These effects gave these two Elemental Talismans more or a supportive role than an offensive role. Last but not least was the Dark Talisman, it deals much more damage than normal Dark Magic attacks. Its prowess is almost equal to the Heavenly Arrow and it takes much less time to create. For now, Arthur created four Dark Talisman, three Death Talisman, one Space Talisman and two of each of the Supportive Talismans. Since they were basically papers with some incomprehensive runes, they weren''t that hard to hide under the long black robe. Days passed in the blink of an eye. Neither Lucy nor Shu Ru quit their meditative state. The Yin Vein was especially useful for Shu Ru, whose Physique is a sub-branch of the Yin Physique, much like Lucy, though the latter''s is more powerful. The Sacred Rune Physique isn''t like other Physiques, it doesn''t strengthen the body or grants it strong powers, instead, it allows the person to conjure runes known as Sacred Runes. If it were the Rune Physique then its holder will be able to conjure all kinds of Runes, unfortunately, Shu Ru''s Physique is the lowest one but it''s not like she was complaining. The Sacred Runes will allow her to climb to the top of the ladder and even compete against those from young talents from High-Realms. Runes, in fact, are words and only a few people can comprehend them. much like dragons, Rune-users use words to overwhelm their opponents but it''s not direct like the way of the Dragons. In the past few days, Arthur used [Light Operation] to try and heal his injured eye but to no avail, the lingering Primordial Energy wasn''t so easily removed. He couldn''t even control it and trying to force it out of his body will only make it turbulent. With Randiun still accompanying Saly, Arthur couldn''t complete the fusion and summon Radolf, the ultimate creature that could be summoned from the Book of the Damned. Swain was still recuperating too as he suffered an attack that contained Primordial Energy and it''s more lethal to him than Arthur. Contrary to Radolf, Midolf, the ultimate summon of the book of Eternity was ready for its master''s call. It didn''t consume any kind of energy to call upon this legendary creature and he didn''t need to control it manually. With a body made from soft white feathers and two lengthy wings, a snow-white beak, and two golden pupils. Midolf resembled a bird but not those normal and weak words. This creature was none other than a roc, one of the ancient beasts. *Midolf (Race: Roc): Realm : High Sovereign Age : 341,517 Emotion : Anger Short Description : A creature created by the Book of Eternity. Though it is the Nemesis of Radolf, the two creatures share a strong bond. Tip: Midolf and Radolf will receive a huge boost in Strength if they are fighting together. With a melodious voice that was ruined to the vulgar words used, Midolf angrily said "Where the fuck is that little pretentious bastard!?" It continuously looked around but found no sign of its target. Its sudden outburst and loud tone alerted both Lucy and Shu Ru. The girl remained in her cross-legged position but Lucy got up and appeared next to Arthur as she thought the roc to be a threat. Though the creature was a High Sovereign, she felt threatened by it, unlike with the Yin Beast. After ascertaining the absence of Radolf, Midolf turned to look at Arthur and yelled "Tell me where is that goddamned lizard." Seeing such a foul mouth and aggressive attitude, Arthur frowned and chose not to answer. He certainly didn''t summon this bird to cause a scene and be yelled at. Moreover, trying to reason with it seemed to be a total pain in the ass. With the help of the book, Arthur summoned it back and getting rid of its loud blabbering. "Huh, a rebellious roc, no surprise." Claud commented after Midolf disappeared. Arthur wanted to ask his copy for the meaning behind his words only to receive a detailed answer before he uttered any single word "Rocs are legendary beasts that existed before the Void Era. When they fully mature, they have bodies bigger than any other living creatures and despite not being the strongest, they were feared by many. Some even said that they were the creator of Wind Laws but there was no evidence to prove such claims." ''Radolf is supposed to be a lizard, is it a legendary beast too?'' "Honestly, I don''t know. I never heard of powerful lizards before Void Era." *************************************** As the two of them sat there for a very long time, the Joker yawned whilst complaining "Arghh this is booooooring..." The Nameless Knight, who had his eyes closed, opened them and glanced at the person sitting beside him. With his chilly voice, he answered: "Go read a book or something, it''s still early for the action to begin." As if he was insulted, the Joker retorted "ME? Read a book? You''ve gone nuts!" After a short silence, the Nameless Knight said "Then how about I tell you a short story?" Hearing this, the Joker''s expression brightened as he laid back and readied himself. After letting a long sigh, the Nameless Knight began recounting the story "It''s a story from long ago, before there was magic or cultivation. When the humans only relied on Science, when they sought evolution and ignored Gods. There was a mortal, a man, different than others. Unlike his fellow humans, he was born with a special power that caused him to be cast out. The power he had would make anyone jealous, even in this current era. To see the future and what it holds for us, to see what''s to come and prepare for it. Most called him ''The Prophecy Holder'' yet none believed him. They chose to suffer from the doom that befell on them rather than believe his plea. They chose to use their ''Science'' to face one disaster after another...." ************* ''Tell me, where is your maker? Call him! Call down his wrath upon me! You cannot... for he does not exist!'' Somewhere in the Northern Continent of Astria. Saly, who ventured in one of the dangerous zones of the demon continent, stumbled upon a strange stone that had these words engraved on it. Astrith, who was beside her, remained silent as he didn''t find anything dangerous about the stone, however, Saly was in a daze as she stared at the stone. Chapter 370 - 323 : To The Capital 1 ''Isn''t this a place with abundant Yin Energy, why is there no sign of Dark Yin Steel?'' Arthur gazed at the broken Makaze and asked his copy. Most records state that the Dark Yin Steel, albeit rare, is usually found near a Yin Vein. However, no steel was found in this gloomy cave. "You can''t expect Steel to be born from nothingness. Except for a few heavenly Metals that are created from natural laws, all other kinds, no matter how rare, are a transformation from a normal Steel or Iron to a special one." Claud paused for a second before resuming "If you put Steel near the Vein and wait, it''ll eventually turn into a Dark Yin Steel. Though the waiting time is extremely long, even if you initially put something like Black Steel." ''So you mean to say it''s a hopeless situation?'' Arthur grumbled as he heard Claud''s words. Though Makeze acquired a unique sheath that helped it grow in power, that didn''t recover its lost parts. Furthermore, using it against a powerful opponent will surely damage it and render it a blade beyond repair. "There is a lot of solutions. Either find Star Iron or Dark Yin Steel, you can also seek an expert blacksmith but it''s unknown if he or she will repair it as it''s not easy. There is also the problem of a suitable place for the dark blade to fully recover after fixing it. This is a decent place but... it''s a bit lacking if I say so myself." Arthur remained silent as he unsheathed Makaze and held it in his hands. The blade wasn''t in its peak form and despite recovering a bit after he absorbed Zodiak''s powers, it quickly returned to being weakened due to the Primordial Energy lingering inside. The main reason it broke was due to suffering a lot of attacks from the Divine Beasts and due to the skill [Thousand Waves]. The 5th wave wasn''t something either Arthur nor Makaze could unleash yet they did which resulted in such tragic consequences. Even now, after he had gained so much stats and become much stronger, unleashing the 5th wave with Makaze like this is not possible. Arthur closed his eyes and immersed himself in the darkness that quickly enveloped the blade and its owner. Like a tornado, the darkness, which blocked light and even Energy, started rotating around them and rising until it reached the ceiling of the cave. Just looking at this spinning whirlpool made Shu Ru incredibly uncomfortable, even her breathing quickened, not from fear but from suffocation. The Yin Energy seemed to have disappeared with the appearance of this whirlpool. Fortunately, this didn''t last long and served as small nourishment for Makaze, which emitted a loud growl which reverberated in the cave. The girl no longer felt surprise, she''s grown numb of all of this. She''s seen so many mind-blowing things that she no longer cares. She even wondered if she''ll be surprised by any achievements other people will do after seeing Arthur and Lucy in action. Her attention shifted to the blade, which was jet black and was missing its lower half. A black fog emanated from its hilt which slightly obstructed the vision around it. "Senior." As Arthur sheathed Makaze and was about to get up, Shu Ru called out to him. He turned his head and looked at her, who seemed to have gotten rid of her timid attitude, and tilted his head in confusion. She never talked to him since the first day they arrived in the cave so her sudden call was strange. Feeling his unintentional cold gaze caused Shu Ru to stutter in her words "I,I know a good blacksmith who can fix your sword." Her tone contained confidence as if she knew that Makaze would definitely be fixed. However, Arthur wasn''t so optimistic, he stared at her for a few seconds before replying "Thank you for your concern but I don''t think any blacksmith can fix my weapon." Although her intentions were good, Arthur still refused her offer for one good reason. Claud said that a blacksmith that can fix Makaze has to be an expert in his field. These Blacksmiths are usually in High-Realms, especially in those large worlds or planets. So it''s pointless to waste time with a blacksmith in a middle-Realm. Despite his flat refusal, Shu Ru insisted: "I''m sure he can fix your blade. As long as you pay the right price, he''ll fix Godly Artifacts." (Reminder: Items Ranks : Spirit=> Mystic=> Heavenly=> Godly=> Mysterious.) ''Just like cultivators, Blacksmiths have ranks. Bronze Blacksmiths are the most common, they all have cultivation above God Realm and can repair or craft Spirit and Mystic Ranked Items. Silver Blacksmiths are rare, they are Sovereigns and are able to forge Heavenly Items and if they''re lucky, Godly Items. Gold Blacksmiths are few very sparse and I doubt more than twenty exist in all of the Cloud Sea Universe. Whether it''s Godly or Mysterious Items, they can craft or repair them, oh and they usually have strong cultivation, meaning a God Monarch or above. The last rank is Diamond Blacksmiths but I don''t think they exist anymore. Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please clickfor visiting. This ranking also applies to Alchemists or Poison-Masters or Puppeteer but those three are very rare, especially Puppeteers.'' Conveniently, Claud explained everything to Arthur. Upon pondering about Shu Ru''s words, it''s easy to deduce that the blacksmith she''s talking about is either a Gold Blacksmith or a Silver Blacksmith who''s about to break through and rank up, that is if she''s not lying. ''I strongly advise to locate a sect or clan of blacksmiths and raid it. The corpses of their ancestors will surely increase your blacksmithing skills and allow you to craft items that transcend logic.'' By the way, Arthur''s rank is considered a bronze Blacksmith but he can craft Heavenly Items thanks to accumulated passives and his special flames which are stronger than the one used by normal blacksmiths. It is known by all that the stronger the flame the easier it is to melt unique metals. The flame control of the crafter is important too and as someone who excels in using fire, Arthur''s control is flawless. "Alright, let me think about it." Arthur didn''t want to make a rash decision. They still have time and Lucy was still cultivating. Though he cultivation stopped at the peak of Little Sovereign, she started showing signs of breaking through. The next step for her is Fusion Sovereign where she needs to absorb the essence of her God Spirit. Compared to her, Arthur was still a 2nd Grade God, despite the large difference between them, he wasn''t particularly depressed. He just needs a place devoid of light and has a large amount of Darkness Energy and it''ll allow him to jump over Grades in just a few days. He can absorb Nether Energy but just like Lucy''s case, where Mana is more compatible with her, natural Darkness Energy will facilitate the task of breaking through to the Sovereign Realm. ......... It has been ten days since the trio arrived inside the cave. Aside from a bit of meditation, Arthur did nothing special. Lucy, however, never quit her meditation, she cultivated nonstop and on the tenth day, she was on the verge of becoming a Fusion Sovereign but stopped herself. Shu Ru''s physique and her physique have sucked this placed dry and despite the presence of the vein, it''ll take some time before the cave will accumulate Yin Energy. Shu Ru managed to advance by two whole grades but that''s to be expected since this place is very suitable to her. Outside, she can cultivate but her progress is unimaginably slow. Neither Arthur nor Lucy will return to this place so it was a shame to leave the vein. Nevertheless, they left it unharmed as they had no place to keep it. Uprooting it will kill it if they don''t have a suitable place to put it, like a fertile ground with rich Yin Energy. The three finally saw the light of day after they left the perimeters of the Wicked Forest. It''s hard to believe that the forest has a unique weather to it where the dark clouds blocked the sun rays and just when they stepped out of this thick forest, a whole new sky greeted them. Arthur glanced at Shu Ru and questioned: "So, the capital?" "Yes, it should take us a week to arrive." Arthur remained silent for a long period of time thus making Shu Ru confused and kind of awkward as she didn''t know what to say. He paid her no heed as his attention was focused on Lucy, who was silently standing next to him. Though absent-minded, his hand softly caressed her head. He was thinking about countless things and only snapped out of it when Lucy asked "What''s wrong?" In response, Arthur smiled back at her and said "Nothing, we''ve got to hurry, we can''t let Saly wait for too long." Hearing her daughter''s name, Lucy nodded in agreement while enjoying the warm touch of his hand. If she knew what''s going on in his head, she would have understood the true meaning of his words. Unfortunately, this time, Arthur didn''t tell her of his plans... Chapter 371 - 324 : Reincarnator Eight days after leaving the Wicked Forest, the trio finally arrived at the Imperial Capital. They encountered no trouble and enjoyed a comfortable and safe trip. As flying is prohibited within the city, the three of them had to pass through the gate. Since Shu Ru was accompanying them, they didn''t have to linger at the entrance for a long time. What was kind of surprising is that the guards were either at the Deity Realm or Immortals. There are above a hundred thousand scattered all over the capital, which was mind-numbingly big. It housed almost all of the strong factions of the Green-Leaf world and in a way, could be considered a small world due to its size. It wouldn''t be a lie to say that it''ll take you a day or two to see it all if you''re flying. However, if you by foot, it''ll undoubtedly take days. Apart from Amidel''s city, this was the first civilized place Arthur visited in this world, that is if you excluded the Pigolo tribe, which was a bit barbaric. What surprised him was the presence of mortals. Literally, low leveled people who are living in here while minding their own business. There was a meager amount of them but they still existed. Upon further thought, it''s to be expected since the ruling power of this world consists of mortals. "You said that all the members of the Imperial Family are mortals?" Arthur asked Shu Ru, who was guiding them to the blacksmith she was acquainted with. As she heard his sudden question, she nodded and replied "Yes, however, they are descendants of Tyr, God of Justice." To explain more thoroughly, Claud said "Tyr is the son of Odin and is considered a Minor God though he was influential." ''Why does it matter if they are his descendants? They don''t wield his power and how can they be the descendants of a God when they''re humans.'' It didn''t seem logical. The Imperial Family is human, however, Tyr belonged to the God Race, for them to be his descendants, they must be at least have the same race as him. "It''s quite easy to explain, actually. The bloodline of the God Race deteriorated due to the Void Era. Even if their ancestor was the God, it isn''t impossible for them to transform into a human due to the thin bloodline of Tyr and the environment they were born in." ''I see...'' "Though they are mortals, do not underestimate them. They would surely have extremely powerful protectors. Though since they''re Tyr''s descendants, I don''t think they are bad since he was known as a righteous and brave God." ''Whether they''re good or bad, I don''t care. As long as they don''t bother us, I won''t go out of my way to attack.'' As he heard Arthur''s words, Claud burst out in laughter "Hahahahaha you think it''s really that easy to avoid them? Just like you avoided Amidel, the Divine Beasts and so on? Some things that are bound to happen WILL happen no matter how much you try to avoid them." Arthur chose not to comment and, along with Lucy, followed Shu Ru, who zigzagged through narrow alleys for a very long time until they reached their destination. What laid before their sight was a tall building with more than twenty floors. Arthur''s skill [The All Seeing Eyes] was automatically activated when he was close enough to the building. A protective formation surrounded the place and it ever-so-slightly shook when he laid his eyes on it. From the highest floor of the building, he could feel a gaze land on him. Though it remained for only a split second, Arthur could clearly feel it. ''A God Monarch?'' "Alright, don''t be an idiot and ruin everything. Oh! And don''t get angry at everything, you must learn to endure. Remember, Arthur, if anything major happens here, it''ll reach the Divine Planet in a day or two at most." Shu Ru turned to look at the couple but found them as expressionless as ever. Even this grandiose building didn''t make them surprised. Honestly, no matter how beautiful and big this building is, it still lacked compared to the ones on Earth. The only thing that the Humans on Earth got right is their focus on Science and Technology. The only thing that caught Arthur''s sight was a massive castle. It was situated in an area where the ground is higher than the rest of the city. To dizzying heights it rises, the gleaming spire, its tip threatening to pierce the blinding canopy. "This place is like a guild, almost all blacksmiths of the capital are here. If you like anything inside, feel free to tell me." Shu Ru took out a purple card and proudly said "I have a VIP card so I can get a decent discount." Unfortunately, neither Arthur nor Lucy reacted to her words. They seemed to be busy thinking about something else. They both felt the gaze from earlier and were discussing how to deal with any problem that may arise. Their conversation ended rather quickly and the results made Lucy displeased but she agreed nonetheless. Arthur repeatedly warned her not to act no matter the consequences. Her hair was changed from silver to black and her facial features were slightly changed. If she were discovered this early, it''ll be impossible to stop the White Specter Clan, which is why she''ll have to lay low. ******************************* Inside the castle of the Imperial Family. In a luxurious study room filled with bookshelves and documents, there were two figures enjoying a hot cup of tea. One was a young man with long blonde hair and a small beard, he had sky-blue eyes and was very handsome. His height was average and his body looked fragile. This was none other than Isadore Marfront, the Crown Prince. Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please clickfor visiting. Facing him was a middle-aged man with a thick black beard and fierce-looking appearance. As the two were quietly their time in relaxation. The older man suddenly flinched, alerting the prince. "Wrath, what''s wrong?" The middle-aged man remained unresponsive as he spread his sense as far as he could but couldn''t find anything strange or suspicious. "Nothing, your Highness." The Crown Prince stared at the middle-aged man with a deep look but didn''t speak. Very Soon, he resumed reading the documents that laid before him. ... "Welcome, Miss Shu Ru!" Just as they stepped inside the building, an energetic young man dashed toward Shu Ru and politely bowed. He had a friendly smile plastered on his face and despite not knowing the identities of Arthur and Lucy, he treated them courteously. Since they came with Shu Ru, they''re surely her companions thus it''s natural to treat them with respect. Speaking of Arthur and Lucy, the two of them glanced at displayed weapons and were actually surprised by the quality of the items. Though they weren''t extraordinary, they were still decent and would boost anyone''s battle power. However, the prices were outrageous, even for such weapons. Both Arthur and Lucy had weapons and in the near future, Arthur intends to remodel Lucy''s saber so it fits her current cultivation. What he''s missing are suitable materials. Zodiak rarely used weapons and he wasn''t a blacksmith so despite having a lot of rare materials, none of them were what Arthur needed. Shu Ru glanced at the couple but noticed no reactions from them. With the young man from before as a guide, they headed upstairs. Their purpose for coming here wasn''t to buy weapons but to visit her friend, the blacksmith, and see if Makaze can be fixed. The higher the floor, the emptier it was, in fact, the last few floors were devoid of people. Arthur saw a couple of weapons that were protected by an unbreakable formation but he didn''t pay them too much attention. He didn''t come here to sightsee but to find a solution for his partner. Very soon, the trio was guided to an office at the highest floor of the building. The room was filled with books and scattered weapons, whether it was swords, axes, hammer or even gauntlets. Furthermore, every one of these weapons was Mystic Rank or above. A carpet covered the whole floor and wide desk was situated at the center of the room. Only one person was in the office prior to their arrival. This person was the blacksmith Shu Ru was talking about as well as the owner of this building. A famous figure in the Imperial Capital and a powerful God Monarch. Losha Alpenwatcher (Race: Human): Realm : God Monarch ???? Age : 80 Emotion : Interest (Lucy) / Curious Shot Description : A powerful woman born in the Divine Planet. Title: Reincarnator Skills/Techniques (Random) : Star Forging (Lv Max) Reincarnator : One who used a technique or an artifact to reincarnate after dying once. +50% Stats when in combat. As he read the results of the appraisal, Arthur couldn''t help but feel shocked. It is the first time he encountered a reincarnator like him, though they didn''t reincarnate the same way. Moreover, she was interested in Lucy for some unknown reason which made him a bit restless. It''s unlikely that Lucy''s identity had been exposed but the probability still exists. In fact, he already started regretting following Shu Ru here. If it was a normal God Monarch then he wouldn''t have reacted like this, however, this woman seemed strange, very strange, in fact. Although she was a God Monarch, he felt overwhelmed as if she''s undefeatable even if she were to go all in. "Fuck! Out of everyone you could meet, you still manage to stumble upon a reincarnator. It''s like you''re doing it on purpose, seriously!" Claud lashed out at Arthur and angrily berated him. The copy didn''t seem to be pleased after he read the appraisal. It wouldn''t be a lie to say he was more shocked and restless than Arthur. "Listen very well, once this meeting is over, you have to leave this place, do you hear me? I don''t know where you go but don''t stay here." In response, Arthur said ''Must you react this intensely? While it''s true she''s strong and a reincarnator, she isn''t our enemy.'' Unfortunately, Claud wasn''t going to let go of this matter this easily. He loudly retorted "Are you stupid or what?! Look at yourself, you''re a reincarnator and you''re this strong when you''re only at the God Realm! Do you honestly think that her Realm is her real power? I wouldn''t be surprised to see her kill Overgods!" Arthur, still calm, added: ''So what? It''s not like I provoked her. I''m just here asking for help.'' "First, reincarnators can sense each other, meaning that she already knows about you too. Second, more often than not, reincarnators end up killing each other as it''ll grant them endless benefits. Though you''re weaker than her, that doesn''t mean she''ll not kill you." ''You''re jumping to conclusions, moreover, I''m positive I can escape with Lucy.'' Hearing this, Claud sighed and stopped talking. It didn''t seem that Arthur will heed his warnings. The reason Arthur chose not to listen Claud is because this encounter will surely benefit him. If he uses his cards right then Makaze will be fixed by her. At first, he doubted Shu Ru''s friend will be able to fix Makaze but if this woman is as strong as Claud proclaims, there''s a sliver of hope. To him, the most important thing right now is fixing Makaze because, without his blade, he''ll not be able to face what''s about to come. In fact, the sooner the dark blade is fixed, the better it is for him. Lucy, who was beside Arthur, also saw the appraisal but still kept calm. A frown momentarily appeared on her face before vanishing, what made her confused is the interest Losha had for her. They don''t even know each other and she didn''t do anything suspicious or special so why would she grab the blacksmith''s attention. "Hi, Aunty!" Shu Ru walked up to the seated woman and grabbed her heads, shaking them happily. In response, the woman smiled back at Shu Ru and spoke with a pleasant voice "Little Ru, aren''t you going to introduce me to your friends?" It was only at this time that she directed her gaze toward the couple. She had long black hair and yellowish pupils. Her beauty was exceptional and what made her more stunning is her tanned skin. "A-ah! Yes! They are friends I met in the Wicked Forest." The smile on Losha''s face widened as she heard that. She didn''t say a word as Arthur and Lucy introduced themselves. She didn''t seem to give too much attention to Arthur despite knowing that he''s also a reincarnator. "Greetings, I am Arthur MoonStar." "I am his wife, Lucy MoonStar." The two politely bowed then waited for the woman talk. Unfortunately, the blacksmith didn''t talk which made it awkward, especially for Shu Ru, who brought them here. She thought that Losha didn''t like having them here so she decided to quickly tell her about why they''re here. Shu Ru was about to start talking when Losha, at last, spoke "Did you get what you need from the Wicked Forest? If not, I can accompany you there." Hearing this, Shu Ru softly smiled and called out the Yin Beast, which became extremely small. This was its spiritual form as summoning its real body in this crowded place isn''t convenient. "Oh? A High Sovereign... I assume they helped you subdue it?" Losha obviously meant Lucy and Arthur, who remained silent. Shu Ru nodded her head in confirmation and explained a few things but didn''t divulge everything she saw, especially the jaw-dropping power they displayed. "It''s been a very long time since I saw a Pure Yin Physique." This statement startled the couple, who warily stared at Losha, waiting to see what she''s about to do. ''She doesn''t seem hostile but prepare yourself just in case.'' Using [Telepathy], Arthur warned Lucy and urged her to prepare for the worst. They can''t gauge Losha''s power but if they were to go all out, they have the confidence to escape from the city. "What about the book?" This time, Losha''s question was directed toward the couple. In response, Arthur raised his left hand, which started glowing with a holy light until a white book appeared. This phenomenon caused Losha to frown and ponder for a few seconds. After some time, she waved her hand nonchalantly and said: "Well, whatever." No one knew if she was speaking to them or to herself. Shu Ru, who started fidgeting as she didn''t know what to do, finally talked "Actually, I''ve brought them here because they need help." "Hm?" Losha tilted her head in confusion then said "Are you talking about that dark katana? It''s been eyeing me maliciously since earlier, just like its master." "I wouldn''t dare." Arthur immediately replied but it didn''t seem like his words held much value in her eyes as she ignored him and focused her attention on Makaze, who trembled intensely, not from fear but from anger. Surprisingly, Makaze was very hostile to her for some unknown reason. Even Losha was curious about this and wanted to know why is an inanimate object angry at her. The reason was finally shown when a sheathed sword that was hanging on Losha''s waist, started showing an intense reaction. ''Oh? For Grail to react like this...'' Losha''s interest reached its peak once her beloved sword was showing signs of fear, for the first time ever. Chapter 372 - 325 : Losha This time, even the reaction of the God Monarch was slow as her sword abruptly left its sheath and almost instantaneously appeared before Arthur. ''Calm down! Makaze!'' Makaze was going out of control and was about to retaliate only to be held down by Arthur. Unlike the sword name grail, who was about to hit Arthur, Makaze was rather obedient despite the anger it was showing. Though the sword was unimaginably powerful, it still contained Light Magic, something that Arthur is finally able to use thanks to the book of Eternity. It isn''t as powerful as Dark Magic but it still has its uses and cannot be ignored. The silver tip of the sword was about to impale him only for his hand to meet the sharp edge of the sword and stop it mid-air. A bright white light was emanating from his left hand as it pushed away the sword until it was flung toward its owner, who swiftly caught it and applied pressure to hold it down and calm it. *Divine Sword, Grail(Rank : Mysterious 3rd Grade) Short Description : One of the nine Divine Swords and it can unleash an absurd amount of Light Magic. Random skill : Holy Blaze (Lv Max). "I apologize for the behavior of my sword." Losha knew that it was her fault as she didn''t restrain Grail. However, she never expected it to attack on its own, it''s the first time it happened thus she was a bit startled and confused. The more she looked the sheathed dark blade, the more curious she became. She couldn''t wait to personally inspect her, inch by inch. Despite her rising curiosity, her instincts were warning her about Makaze, telling her to not touch it or even attempt to get close to it. Not only did the dark blade bore ill will toward her, if she were to touch it, there''s no telling what the blade will do. "Is that one of the Cursed Swords?" While pointing at Makaze, Losha asked. The answer came a few seconds later "No." Arthur didn''t bother explaining Makaze''s origin for it''s better kept a secret. He, too, doesn''t know everything about the sword but he''s still not willing to divulge what he currently knows as it''ll endanger him. A blade that could all sorts of swords and sabers to grow stronger will surely bring unwanted attention. Especially when it can eat an endless amount if there is a large variety of ''dishes''. Moreover, it was tremendously strengthened by the oath and Dark Magic, it''s on another level compared to normal blades. In fact, he was absolutely sure Makaze can demolish the divine sword, Grail, if they were to fight alone, without Losha''s interference. "Although it''s difficult, I can repair your blade but only on one condition." As she said that, the tall woman smiled seductively then continued "I''ve been searching for a disciple for a long time and you caught my eye." She wasn''t talking to Arthur but Lucy, who remained expressionless. The couple was not surprised when they heard this. The emotion Losha was feeling was strange and once they thought about it, it isn''t hard to conclude her true intentions, especially when she continuously glanced at Lucy ever since they entered the room. Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please clickfor visiting. While still smiling quite evily, Losha added: My my, that''s not the answer I was expecting." ''I told you this bitch is crazy, fuck why didn''t you listen!'' Claud repeatedly cursed as he saw what''s happening through the ARK. Just as her words reverberated across the large room, both Arthur and Lucy felt an overwhelming pressure assault them, rendering them almost immobilized. Arthur was about to retaliate when Losha''s sweet voice entered his voice. She wasn''t speaking but her thoughts were conveyed to him. "I heard that the White Specter Clan lost a girl a dozen years ago. I wonder what will be their reaction when I tell them about your dear wife." This made Arthur''s mind go blank for a few seconds. Nonetheless, never would he give up just because someone threatened him. When he said he and Lucy had the means to escape, he really meant it. His pupil shone with a blue light and by the next second, he was in front of Losha. His palm was a few centimeters away from her chest but an illusory golden palm was pressing against her two mountains. Though this martial technique was smaller in size in comparison to the one seen in the Divine fight, its might was way stronger. Arthur expected to push her some distance for his chains of skills to activate but the woman didn''t budge, in fact, she had a ridiculing smile on her face. Despite failing his attempt and freaking the living hell out of Shu Ru, who never expected a fight to break out. Arthur''s Tri-Spirit started its offense. The room transformed into a world of total darkness, even a God Monarch like Losha was momentarily unable to see nothing but darkness. This startled her but she was still confident about her abilities and knew that Arthur won''t be able to hurt her. Thick chains made out of Dark Magic sprung from the ground and wrapped themselves around Losha, immobilizing her, however, this was nothing but the appetizer as countless thin spikes made from the Earth attribute, appeared all around him, forming some kind of prison. At the center of the prison, a malicious grey tornado started slowly spinning, literally sucking the life of Losha. The final touch was a certain unique flame that Lucy used, it went through an opening and hit Losha''s body, this time clearly dealing damage and causing blood to ooze out. By the time everything cleared and the skills disappeared, Losha found herself alone in the room, excluding the shocked Shu Ru. Arthur''s skills weren''t meant to attack but to slow her down, the only thing that really damaged her was Lucy''s flame, which made her momentarily flabbergasted, to the point of even forgetting to chase them. ''Now I really want her to become my direct-disciple. I don''t even know what that Flame was but it directly broke through my physique.'' ... Arthur had already held Lucy in his arms and transformed into a bolt of lightning which traveled with a speed not even Losha could match up to. Though they escaped from the building, they didn''t leave the city. Arthur possessed a tiny flower which was as a decoration on Lucy''s hair, which yet again changed in color, this time becoming brown. Her appearance completely changed as she resembled a woman in her forties. She wore a luxurious white robe that was decorated with golden lines. She had the air of a rich madam as she entered a famous restaurant and was given a good spot after handing a generous amount of Spirit Stones to the waiter. She acted as if nothing happened and slowly ate the delicious food presented to her. As for Losha, she knew that a couple like them was hard to track. She tried following their trail... if only such a thing existed. Shu Ru told her that she saw a bolt of lightning fly across the sky only to disappear in a split second. Then again, how''s she able to find a bolt of lightning? She couldn''t see Lucy''s real appearance as the skill Arthur used was very unique, moreover, it was max level. However, she encountered White Specter more than one time and they had a unique smell which couldn''t fade unless they reach a certain Realm. .... What neither Arthur nor Losha knew was that, a distance away from Lucy, exactly in the middle of the busy street, a dark-haired middle-aged man was inspecting everyone around him, trying to locate something or someone. He had an annoying grin on his face as clenched his fist in excitment. He was sure of what he felt and the lingering scent that remains in this street was a confirmation. He was the same man who was talking with the Prince a while ago. He kept glancing at the passing crowd for half an hour before disappearing into nothingness. Upon his return, he found the prince looking at him and expecting an answer for his sudden disappearance. To this, Wrath scratched his head in embarrassment and said "I couldn''t control myself hahahaha" The prince immediately retorted "To find a whore in the red district? Or to ditch me when I was in the middle of a lecture? Which of the two is it?" He appeared quite irritated as he frowned and expected a satisfying explanation from Wrath. As his personal guard, he had to accompany him all day every day, no matter what happens. This breach of rules was taken seriously by the prince. "You don''t understand. It''s here! In this city?" The Crown Prince rolled his eyes in displeasure and added: "Do you understand what an explanation is? It''s a statement or account that makes something clear yet all you''re doing is babbling." "At first, I thought I was imagining it, however, just now, I felt it clearly. It''s the scent of the dark blade, Evil Wind!" "So?" Isadore didn''t appear interested as he sat back on his chair and picked a book. Seeing such a reaction, Wrath continued "It''s the nemesis of the deadly sins. It has even killed Gluttony, how could I let it go? We''ll not rest until it''s destroyed." Hearing this, Isadore retorted with a mocking tone "And you think you''ll be the one destroying it? Really? You''re just going to find it and attack it without gauging its strength? How about its owner? What Realm is he? His background, the people accompanying him, his motives, his weakness. What if he knows that you''re here and is the hunter instead of the hunted?" This left Wrath silent for a long while, unable to come up with a good argument. As for Isadore, he forgot about that matter in a few minutes and continued reading the book in his hands. Chapter 373 - 326 : The Manor Two days quietly passed, neither Lucy nor Arthur did anything that may bring attention. Lucy bought a decent-sized villa on the Eastern side of the capital and passed her time either reading a few books or meditating. Arthur, on the other hand, kept possessing that small flower decorating her hair. If he returned to his original body, Makaze would surely not calm down like last time which may cause their location to be discovered. Furthermore, they didn''t leave the capital for two reasons. First, they need Losha''s help, even if they have to force her to fix Makaze. She knows Lucy''s identity which means she can snitch on them whenever she wants. So, fixing Makaze takes full priority as he needs to be ready to fight anyone coming from Lucy''s clan. Second, Arthur needs to visit Jian Si and inquire about the prince and princess who had gone missing a few years ago. They weren''t with Mary and the others which means they were abducted by other people. At first, Arthur thought they were taken to Bucama''s world then brutally tortured but that was rather unlikely as they seemed to have disappeared just a little bit before the evil race invaded the emperor''s castle. The Mountain Ba Sword Sect isn''t located inside the Imperial Capital but outside. You''ll have to travel a fair distance to the West before encountering a large mountain range, which the sect''s territory. Infiltrating the sect isn''t a difficult thing for Arthur, in fact, he was confident in finding Jian Si within two hours, at most. However, he needs to be certain that she''s in her sect and not roaming the world or else his effort would have gone to waste. "Why don''t we trick her? I''ll accept her offer and become her disciple and she''ll fix Makaze in return. When it''s fixed, we''ll just leave." Arthur, who was still hiding within the flower, replied: "It will be hard to escape. There''s no telling where she''ll take you to train. Moreover, what if she brings you to a secluded place and forces you to train for a long time? Don''t forget that we promised Saly to return in half a year." "...." Lucy remained silent as she thoroughly checked all their available plans. They can''t keep wasting time and idling in this place. It won''t too much time for Losha to locate them and force her decisions on them, or so thought the couple. The reincarnator was overbearing and it was definitely a blessing and a mistake to visit her. The issue is to get her on their side, at least until Makaze is completely repaired. Arthur was certain that if Makaze is repaired and he''s fighting with Lucy, he''ll stand a chance against Losha. ''You''re really underestimating reincarnators. Moreover, she has one of the Divine Swords. If you want to injure her, use Void Magic.'' Claud calmed down since last time but he still viewed Losha as an enemy and opposed any idea of befriending her. ''So what do you want me to do? Search the whole Universe until I find the necessary materials to fix Makaze? It''ll take a long time.'' Claud retorted almost immediately ''Isn''t that what you intended when you began this ''adventure'' of yours? In a life such as yours, nothing is easy.'' Unfortunately, before the two of them could finish their conversation, another uninvited guest appeared in their new villa. Lucy was just about to get up and leave this place to check the treasure shops in search for Star Iron or Dark Yin Steel only to be started by the appearance of a tall woman. With a suffocating pressure and seductive smile, she sat opposed of Lucy while waving her hand in innocence, clearly indicating she didn''t come to fight. "I know you''re here somewhere, why don''t you come out?" Her words were directed to Arthur. Even someone as powerful as she couldn''t sense his presence, who became so minuscule after activating more than twelve passives and three active skills. Who would ever think he''s actually the flower on Lucy''s hair, it''s absurd to even have such a thought. "He''s not here." Despite her surprise and a bit of anxiousness, Lucy kept a deadpan face and replied. In response, Losha''s smile widened as she leaned on the comfortable sofa and tried to find Arthur herself but to no avail. She could sense nothing but air. "You''re aware that causing a ruckus here will alert everyone in the city, right? I''m sure that''s not something either of you wants." The reincarnator crossed her arms and resumed talking "Consider it as an exchange, you let me train you, so you can fully bloom and kick ass, and I repair that dark blade. It''s a win-win situation." Meanwhile, Arthur and Claud were arguing about how to proceed. Just like Losha said, a destructive skill such as Rizaki would cause immense devastation and both the Royal Guards and the other factions will arrive within seconds. Void Magic could work, however, that''s only if it manages to hit its target. A combined Heavenly Arrow would wound her too but it takes twenty seconds to cast and it needs both Lucy and Arthur in position, meaning that it''s not doable with a flower as a body. "I''m certain a 3rd grade Grey bullet will heavily injure her but Lucy will lose her arm permanently and that''s while being optimistic. Furthermore, the radiation will kill everyone within a two hundred kilometers radius within a week at most." The special bullet made from Lost Magic. It was the most powerful bullet he created for Lonely Moon. It was way stronger than a nuclear bomb and what''s more terrifying are its after-effects. It had a powerful paralyzing poison and astronomical quantities of Uranium 235. If it explodes near him, even Arthur won''t escape death, let alone the people of this city. This 3rd-grade grey bullet had a power that could only be matched with the 6th wave or above of the skill [Thousand Waves]. Yet even such a deadly attack cannot kill Losha. ''Then, what do you propose?'' Arthur couldn''t find a solution to this dire situation. Her persistence in making Lucy her disciple is worrying and suspicious. She must have other motives, some way to use Lucy or earn benefits, it''s definitely not out of the goodness of her heart. "Why do you want to take me as a disciple? I don''t get it."-Lucy As if she expected such a question, the woman answered within two seconds: "Obviously because I''m in need of a disciple and you perfectly suit my preferences." Her gaze resembled a hunter eyeing its prey and not of a master looking at his disciple. Not a thing about her wasn''t suspicious, either it''s her background, behavior, motives, etc... ************** Back on Astria, Saly, who was supposed to go back to the sect, never came back. However, no one seemed to be worried as Astrith was accompanying her and he was strong enough to protect her from any danger on this weak and small world. The little girl, who was not that fond of meditation, stared at the stone in her hands for three continuous days, making the lightning wolf worried. But upon closer inspection, he found out that she entered some kind of epiphany and she shouldn''t be disturbed so he stayed by her side and guarded her for what seemed like an eternity. The girl finally woke up after exactly seven days, at first, there was no reaction from her but out of the blue, the stone in her hands crumbled until a smaller circular black stone could be seen. Just as it was exposed to the light of the sun, the black stone reacted intensely. As if a gigantic mouth appeared from nothingness, it ate both the wolf and the girl, sending to a place none had visited for a long, long time. A minute or less after they were transported, Astrith was shocked to see himself in a place lacking any kind of illumination. Though it was dark, he was still able to see clearly unlike Saly, who looked around her in a daze. Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. The two of them were actually inside a manor, precisely at its entrance. An enormous row of stairs laid before them and several rooms could be seen deeper into the hall. Saly stayed close to Astrith in case someone or something ambushed them but no such thing occurred. None of them was able to enter any of the room downstairs, an invisible force rendered it impossible for them to set a foot inside the gloomy rooms. With no choice but to take the wide stairs, they headed to the second floor and were greeted with other locked rooms. It was only after a while did Astrith feel a presence suddenly appeared behind them. Like a ghost standing the middle of the hallway, the figure before the wolf was wearing an armor that made him blend with his surroundings. What worried the wolf is that he wasn''t able to sense the stranger''s presence at all, even gauging his strength wasn''t possible. Unlike the startled wolf, Saly was rather curious. Once she laid her eyes on the mysterious man, she pointed at him and said "Hey! You feel like the stone from earlier!" In response, the man walked closer to them and with each step he took, some strange blue flames started appearing, illuminating a part of the hallway. Astrith, who wanted to advance and block the mysterious man, found himself rooted, unable to lift a finger from fear. It was the kind of bestial fear that rendered him unable to retaliate against the assailant, who wasn''t even trying to scare them. Contrary to the wolf, Saly appeared quite relaxed as she gazed at the face of this stranger. He had pale white skin and was quite young, probably in his twenties. The young man smiled and said "Welcome to my humble manor. I am called Leiu." Chapter 374 - 327 : Fate Contrac "I don''t believe you." Lucy replied with a cold voice as she stared back at the relaxed Losha. In response, the blacksmith shrugged her shoulders whilst adding: "I care not for your opinion. Either you follow me or you''ll have to defend against the forces of the White Specter clan. I''m certain that they''ll catch up to you before you''re able to can escape to a safe place." Lucy kept her deadpan face despite being threatened. She didn''t care about the White Specter clan and despite the large difference between them and her clan, she''s not about to give up. "Hmpf! Go ahead and call them, it''s not like we''re stopping you." The dark-haired woman crossed her arm and erased the grin from her face before seriously saying "In the end, why are you so determined to reject my offer? You''ve literally got nothing to lose." Before Lucy could reply, Losha resumed talking "We can even sign a Fate Contract." Such a term was foreign to Lucy, who furrowed her brow. Seeing this, the other party explained: "A Fate Contract is made between two or more parties and the conditions set in it cannot be broken or else he''ll be punished by death. It''s a fairly known method to strike deals, especially when hiring mercenaries or assassins." Through Arthur, Claud also confirmed Losha''s explanation and gave her a bit more details. ''Once a Fate Contract is made, both parties cannot go against the aforementioned rules. If they are courageous enough to defy the conditions, they''ll be killed by Fate itself. Though against some individuals, such a contract is pointless for they cannot be killed by Fate.'' ''Is this reincarnator one of those individuals?'' Arthur asked Claud, afraid they''ll be tricked by her. ''Definitely not, I can count those individuals on two hands.'' ''Then this is the best solution, for now.'' With no choice but to accept this Fate Contract to assure their safety, Lucy nodded her head in approval. In fact, Losha knew that Lucy was talking with Arthur about the contract but she just couldn''t sense him at all. There was nothing suspicious in the mansion and her sense could spread for a third of this city yet he seemed to have vanished into thin air. Seeing Lucy''s nod, Losha took out a golden scroll from her storage and presented it to Lucy, who accepted it. "First, write your conditions then I''ll write mine." After discussing the conditions with Arthur, Lucy wrote them down and gave back the scroll to Losha, who gazed at the several lines of words. 1: Repair the dark blade within a period of three months or less. 2 : Within this period of time, Losha has to protect Arthur and Lucy from any aggressive outside forces. 3 : Losha cannot harm Lucy or Arthur in any way. 4 : Losha cannot divulge any information about Lucy or Arthur. "Hah! Isn''t that a lot of conditions? Well, whatever." Losha swiftly wrote her condition then showed them to Lucy. 1: Lucy will temporarily become Losha''s disciple. With that, both parties were pleased so they each used a drop of Blood Essence to seal the contract, which flashed with a bright light before engraving a white tattoo on both women''s abdomen. Just as the contract was finalized, Losha''s was startled to see the flower on Lucy''s head suddenly vanish as an expanding black whirlpool appeared for a split second before Arthur was standing next to his wife. "Every single of you reincarnators is weird." Losha complained but didn''t inquire about the method he used to hide. Her interest wholly laid on Lucy, of course, she still had to fix the dark blade, Makaze. Since she was so excited and didn''t even try to hide it, Losha quickly brought Arthur and Lucy to the blacksmith building from before. Soon, they found themselves standing in a large arena underground. It was considerably wide and devoid of any people. There was various foreign equipment that Arthur never saw. "Now, before I begin to train you, I want to see your current overall strength, what you lack and what you excel at." The woman got rid of her long robe, revealing her alluring curves and perfectly shaped body. While it''s true Arthur was staring at her, his full attention was elsewhere. His eye shone with a blue light as he tried to see what''s she about to do. A milky-white energy revolved inside her body before transforming into a layer of energy that resembled an armor. Losha took a punching stance before taking a deep breath and punching the machine in front of her. The machine in question didn''t seem to be from the universe as it definitely resembled the technology on Earth quite a bit. However, this one seemed much more advanced. Despite the destructive force behind that punch, neither the machine broke nor the arena suffered any damage, it seemed as if all the damage was only focused on the machine. The couple approached Losha and saw a number engraved on the machine. More precisely, it was ''2899'' "Now, I want you to try punching this machine with all your force." Losha eagerly waited for Lucy to test her strength. If she''s going to be her disciple, she needs to know everything about her and only then can she create a suitable and perfect training routine for her(Lucy). With the knowledge coming from her current and past life, Losha was certain that Lucy''s strength will sky-rocket. Lucy stood before the machine, bent her legs while straightening her back before punching the machine with her strength that surpassed 2 billion points. Just like Losha''s case, Lucy''s punch was strong but didn''t cause any damage to its surroundings, which is definitely strange for a punch coming from a Sovereign, moreover, one with a Strength that had long since surpassed the limiter. A four-digit number appeared on the machine, greatly surprising the calm Losha. She didn''t know Lucy stats and seeing as her new disciple was a Little Sovereign, she expected the number to at most have three digits. ''2461'' "Good gracious!" The first thing she did was turn toward Arthur. Even with her Physique and special Race, Lucy couldn''t have such strength if not for another factor which boosted her strength. Heck! Lucy''s punch had almost the same power as hers! She never expected to see such a number, this left her curious about Arthur, who seemed to be a melee type, contrary to Lucy, who relies on long-ranged attack despite being quite adept at using a saber. "Why don''t you show us now?" Losha taunted Arthur as she was curious about his strength. In response, Arthur shrugged and walked to the machine. With the contract protecting him and Lucy, he had nothing to fear. His figure suddenly blurred as a black whirlpool appeared for a split before a larger silhouette could be seen. Lucy didn''t have that much of a reaction, however, Losha''s mind shook. ''Is he a druid? No, a druid can''t take the form of a flower. Then... a devil? No, that''s impossible too.'' It is widely known that most reincarnators have a mysterious and strong Race, she''s an exception because she purposely wanted to reincarnate into a human. Though it gave her a disadvantage compared to the others, when the time comes, the advantages of being a Human will start showing. The corpse Arthur took was of a minotaur. Amongst all the corpses he has, excluding the Divine Beast, this one had the strongest strength-related passives. The moment he possessed it, more than six passives were activated, enhancing his Strength stat. He never uses this body in battle because its inefficient and not as flexible as a human body. Though, if it''s testing his strength, this was, without a doubt, his perfect choice. The body was over three meters in height, he got on all fours and activated the Dark-Star Strengthening technique to create a black layer that envelops his body, slightly increasing attack and greatly boosting defense. Like a raging bull, he charged at the machine and hit it with his head. Unlike the two others, the machine finally shook from the impact. It wasn''t damaged but the blow was strong enough to cause shake it which shows how monstrous Arthur''s charge was. ''3750'' A mind-numbing number was engraved on the machine. For a few seconds, there was nothing but silence. Arthur quickly returned to his original body and walked next to Lucy, who softly smiled at him. In fact, Arthur could deal much more damage if overpowered skills and techniques were used. There''s Eternium and Angel of Death, both which greatly boost his damage and stats. Transcendence is a cheat too, however, it has a drawback which is why it isn''t used as often. "I guess this is the first time I meet a real monster, hahaha." Losha burst out in laughter as she walked to the next machine. Each time, she would test it first to show them how it works then let them try, however, she was much more focused on Lucy as she examined every bit of her movements. Including the first machine, the couple tested their prowess on four machines. The first one tested strength, the second gauged the speed, the third threw countless metal spikes and they had to evade it without going out of the red circle engraved on the ground. The fourth test was simple as all Lucy had to do was touch the machine and the latter will do the job. The fourth machine showed the affinity of the person to certain energies. The last thing Losha wanted to see from Lucy was her combat ability, which is why she brought the silver-haired woman to the center of the arena. "We''ll spar for a bit. I''ll only activate my Diamond Physique and won''t use Nether Energy. The battle will last for only two minutes." ''So it''s the Diamond Physique.'' Claud exclaimed in surprise. ''Isn''t that one of the 14 King Physiques?'' ''Not only is it a King Physique, but it''s also the ultimate defense. The strongest defensive Physique and when fully mastered, its power rivals an Emperor Physique. No wonder you weren''t even able to budge her last time.'' The first spar was Lucy against Losha. Though it''s only a spar, the master insisted that Lucy goes all out or else she won''t be able to deal any damage. The tanned skin of Losha started shining as if it was a diamond. Very soon, the woman started a threatening pressure, she resembled a walking fortress with her tall height and the visual effects of the Diamond Physique. Lucy didn''t engage in a melee battle right away, instead, she rooted herself in a favorable location and started attacking. Losha wasn''t going to attack and merely standstill, waiting for Lucy to break her defense. Lucy didn''t bother useless skills and immediately cast one of her strongest skills. Since the terrain was a bit unfavorable as they were underground, the impact from her meteor shower will lessen greatly but it''ll still deal a lot of damage. Though they were in an underground arena, it was still large enough for several thick boulders to appear near the roof. These boulders were enveloped by purple flames and had bubbling lava inside of them, their speed made them look blurry as they crashed on Losha, one after the other. Even the sturdy arena was safe after such a destructive meteor shower struck it. The magma spread to all corners, melting the ground and purple fire charred the earth. Yet, even amidst this destruction, Losha stood tall and motionless, not even slightly injured from Lucy''s past attacks. One has to know that such a meteor shower which had Lucy''s magma and fire, could easily obliterate a Sovereign yet it couldn''t even damage Losha''s clothes. With no other choice but to become more aggressive. The Nine Star Yin Technique was activated and with each step Lucy took, a beautiful Ice lotus appeared above her. "So it''s the Nine Star Yin. I heard it''s a secret technique from the Yin Lotus Sect." Losha commented as she contemplated the sight in front of her. Before long, four Lotuses were above Lucy. The limit of this technique was 9 Ice Lotuses and one was able to materialize them, they would be able to contend against an Overgod. As the four lotuses slowly spun around Lucy, she finally started her assault. Three of them flew toward Losha with incredible speed. They appeared before her within a second and instead of hitting her, they halted an inch away from her body and fully bloomed, causing ice to cover freeze the magma around them and extinguish the remaining purple fire. Even Losha''s was unscathed as Ice covered her body and started going upwards. The woman shook her body thus shattering the ice only for it to appear again and freeze her body faster than the last time. just as she was about to get rid of the ice again, a thick blue beam of light arrived from the front, hitting Losha''s chest and even causing her to take a step back, which greatly surprised her. Upon a closer look, the previous book was shot from the last lotus, which was positioned before Lucy, who channeled a large amount of Mana to fire that blue beam. Lucy wasn''t done even after that attack, the four lotuses once again appeared above her. They slowly started to bloom again while Lucy raised her hands and closed her eyes as she focused her Mana. Her body started becoming white until an illusory white armor appeared. The armor was crystalline and totally breath-taking. Lucy, clad in this armor. She waved her hand yet such a simple action brought with it terrifying results. Like the skill [Absolute Zero], the whole arena was frozen. Countless snowflakes fell from above as the machines and even the walls were frozen, the temperature fell by at least several hundred degrees and the only unaffected person was Arthur, who had high resistance. As for Losha, she turned into a big block of ice. It was only after twenty-second or so passed did the block of ice shatter, revealing Lucy''s master, who was grinning as she looked around the arena. "I must say, you''re one terrifying woman." In response, Lucy coldly smiled while retorting "Heh, you have seen nothing." "In that case, I''ll become a bit serious too." This time, real diamond started covering Losha''s body and excluding her hands and head, all her body turned into diamond. Coupled with the armor, Lucy took out her white saber. This weapon, albeit rarely used, was a strong weapon that Arthur strengthened using his blacksmith skills. Though, compared to Makaze, it''s still lacking, one should not underestimate its sharpness and power. With Lucy''s high Saber Mastery, her physique, and sky-high stats, it should be possible to injure Losha. By the time Lucy rushed at her opponent, all that was left behind was her dispersing after-image. In this world of ice, where beautiful snowflakes were falling from above and the ground had already become snow, Lucy clashed with Losha, who still did nothing in retaliation. Using her body alone, she received the full blunt attack of her disciple, who was faster than lightning. Seeing this, Losha could only sigh inwardly, she had high attack and defense compared to Lucy, however, she wasn''t as fast as her. The thin and moderately short white saber stabbed Losha only to be repelled by the impenetrable diamond, nonetheless, Lucy didn''t give up as she continuously slashed down her opponent. Her hands blurred as she performed hundreds of attacks, her figure became blurry as she attacked from all sides, leaving nothing untouched. Unfortunately, it wasn''t enough to scratch Losha, let alone injure her. Seeing this, Lucy decided to change the tactic a bit. She was going to try a method Arthur came up with some time ago but soon gave up on it as she''s still not proficient enough. She jumped backward and sheathed her saber. Losha thought that Lucy gave up but not even a second later, her disciple was holding what seemed to be a gun. Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. Though such weapons are rare in the Cloud Sea Universe, as a reincarnator, Losha had traveled to the System Universe and knew about guns and whatnot. ''A gun? What could she possibly do with it?'' To be honest, Losha greatly underestimated Lonely Moon as guns have limited power even if they contain magical energy. Around seventy seconds passed since the fight started. Lucy had managed to push Losha but couldn''t injure her which is the only way is either her special flames, which is her absolute trump card, or Lonely Moon. "If you can block this then I concede." Hearing this, Losha frowned and gazed at Lonely Moon yet despite its unique appearance, she couldn''t understand why Lucy seemed to sure of her victory. Lucy decided to use the 3rd-grade bullet. The 4th grade and 5th-grade bullets are to be used in a dire situation and not in a spar, furthermore, firing such strong bullets will temporarily injure her arm, make it unusable, like a cripple. However, the might of the 3rd-grade bullet is horrifying. When Arthur used it, the damage it had done was unforgettable. Surprisingly, Lucy retrieved a black 3rd-grade bullet, which contained Dark Magic. She put inside the revolver and calmly aimed at the motionless Losha before taking a deep breathe and channeling Mana from her body all the way to the tip of her fingers, which was automatically transferred to Lonely Moon. Like a bottomless pit, the revolver absorbed more than a third of Mana Pool before it shone with a silver luster. Losha, who readied herself, was turned momentarily deaf by the sun of the gunshot. The ringing sound made her feel a bit dizzy but the worse thing is that it was aimed at her! By the time she came back to her senses, the world had already become so dark that she could see nothing, not even her body. Then she could feel her body being sent flying for a few dozen meters before heavily falling on the ground. Though she was still not injured, some of the diamond on her body showed countless cracks, meaning that the impact from the bullet was almost enough to break her Diamond Physique! Despite a lot of time passing, she still saw nothing and her vision of the arena only returned when Arthur absorbed the Darkness that covered the area. Only then did Losha saw Lucy, who had a bloodied hand, staring at her and showing a triumphant expression. Although she did nothing but remain motionless as Lucy attacked, the disciple couldn''t help but feel proud. As for Arthur, he forcefully fed Lucy a Health potion before using his new healing threads and a healing skill to alleviate some of the pain she was feeling. Chapter 375 - 328 : Visto "I must sayˇ­ I greatly underestimated you even after seeing your monstrous strength." Losha got up and patted the snow off her clothes whilst smiling. Though she was a bit angry at herself as she was too overconfident, she was still delighted to have a powerful disciple, albeit temporary. With a talented and powerful disciple, there''s only so much you can teach him/her. Moreover, she only has three months at most, which is why no time should be wasted. Nevertheless, Losha wasn''t going to stop before having a little spar with Arthur. Lucy is an inborn genius and has a powerful physique but what about him? While its true his strength and speed are out of the norm, they still aren''t enough to penetrate the Diamond Physique. Arthur was already in his peak state and Losha wasn''t severely injured. Although Lucy''s last blow was kind of unexpected and did cause damage, it wasn''t enough to weaken the reincarnator. Very soon, Lucy''s bloodied arm returned to normal. It was completely healed within twenty seconds, mainly thanks to the Life Energy can wield. He can barely use it but it was more than enough to heal such a meager injury. Both parties stood facing each other in this half-destroyed arena, which was, more or less, returned to normal after Losha did something to get rid of the snow and ice in this underground area. Arthur wasn''t planning to reveal all his cards but he won''t admit defeat that easily too. With his absolute speed, he can certainly come up with a few tricks to wound her, even for a bit. "A mistake can only be made once. I''m not going to underestimate you." As she said that, Losha''s body was covered in Diamond yet again. However, unlike earlier, even her face, arms, and legs, changed and were shining. By no means did she become ugly, in fact, she resembled a beautiful statue. She wasn''t releasing any killing intent or attacking him yet Arthur still felt an invisible pressure that weighed down on him. It was the pressure you feel when you''re inferior to an enemy. Seeing that the enemy is ready to receive some blows, Arthur readied himself by activating [Transmutation]. His body was quickly enveloped by green lightning which greatly boosted his stat, however, this was but the beginning. Two talismans were crushed, one was the Light Talisman which increased his attack speed by 15% and the other was a Lightning Talisman which augmented his movement speed by 10%. The next skill to be activated was [Eternium], the natural lightning was consumed by the Dark Magic, which turned Arthur into a black and ominous silhouette. Last but not least was [Angel of Death], its active effects are overpowered and the cost wasn''t that much as it''s almost negated by his extremely high Mana and Nether Energy recovery. Since it''s a spar, Arthur chose not to use [Griffin''s Bloody Switch] as it permanently consumed Mental Power. From the appearance of a normal human(while ignoring the grey hair and the scarred eye), Arthur now was truly an angel of death. You could see two massive wings behind his back, the right was one as white as snow and emitted an angelic, almost heavenly aura. As for the right one, it was grey and was composed of creepy bones, it emanated the aura of death and decay. These supposedly opposite auras were harmoniously living together inside of his body, not causing any backlash. Every now and then, you could see a green lightning spark around Arthur, whose appearance totally made Losha speechless. "W-" Before she could talk, he vanished from her sigh and by the next sect, she was hit from the back and was forced to take two steps to stabilize her body. This assault was only the beginning as Arthur''s speed was literally unequaled, he only left after-images as hundreds of blows landed on Losha, who was no different than a sandbag. Even Her Diamond body showed signs of shattering after a minute passed. She received no less than a thousand blows from him and he showed no signs of stopping. The reincarnator swallowed the bit of blood that accumulated in her mouth and strengthened her physique even more. ''To demonstrate such speedˇ­ this is surely taxing to him.'' Losha''s thought was definitely on point. Though it seemed he was faring well, Eternium alone consumed a large amount of Mental Power every second and if you add the other activated skills, it becomes mentally exhausting. However, Arthur can continue fighting in this state for much longer than Losha''s predicted. When only thirty seconds were left for the end of the spar. Arthur stopped his nonstop assault and stood a few meters away from Losha. As he noticed her unusual expression, he grinned and said "Shall we end with a big boom?" His question was left unanswered as he charged again. He deliberately didn''t use any of his powerful skills and only relied on his extreme speed and high strength to continuously damage her and it was more than enough to shock her. The skill he''s about to use if one of the first skills he had ever gotten, it is called [Dark Burst] and it magnifies the force behind any physical attacks he does. It is better used when using his fists or legs as its effect is greatly weakened when battling with weapons. Maybe, for some, it may seem idiotic to finish this incredible combo with a punch, and a slow one at that. Yet Arthur was more than confident that it''ll incredible damage. Dark Burst was magnifying the Death Energy in his right hand. His figure vanished as it transformed into a streak of black and white light that made its way toward the prepared Losha. His form quickly appeared when he was merely inches away from her, his fist was flying straight at her abdomen. The fist, which was supposedly dark due to the effect of [Eternium], was now totally grey as malicious black flames revolved around it. At first, when he made contact with the diamond body, he felt a momentary pause before his fish went right in, crushing the diamond and sending her flying like a kite. Her body crashed into the wall and then fell on the ground, leaving a few bloodstains. A bit of blood leaked out of her lips but her expression wasn''t of a pained person but a startled one. "No wonder you were so confident. You can also manipulate Death Energy." Death Energy contained decaying properties so it can counter her Diamond Physique though not as much as Void Magic, which is considered one of the strongest if not the strongest Magic. ''See? She isn''t so invincible after all.'' Hearing Arthur, Claud scoffed and retorted mockingly ''Ha! You barely scratched the bitch. Don''t forget she only relied on her Physique, she didn''t even use Nether Energy which can strengthen the Physique. Moreover, she didn''t even move or defend herself, she just remained still. Trust me, if it were a real fight, you will survive for no more than five seconds.'' Arthur snorted and didn''t try to argue with his copy, who greatly hates Losha for some reason. Losha only needed ten seconds to recover from Arthur''s blows. She stretched her body then walked up to the couple, who remained silent and waited for her to talk. "Now that I''ve seen what you can do, shall we begin?" Her speech was directed to Lucy, as for Arthur, she sparred him only because she was curious about his ability and indeed, he didn''t disappoint her. Contrary to Lucy, Arthur is fit for continuous and long-lasting battles with powerful opponents. As for her new disciple, Lucy, she''s good at dealing high damage to several enemies or one-shot entities stronger than her. Her saber skills are more than enough to kill those annoying flies that may appear every now and then, as for the Gun, it''s used for emergency cases, or so speculated Losha. The only thing that bothered her was Lucy''s flame which she used when they first met. She didn''t use it in the spar, which left Losha curious about their origin. They are unlike any flames she had seen in her two lives and the damage they did to her was considerable. ˇ­ Both Lucy and Losha went to the latter''s residence, which was actually in the Southern Regions of the Green-Leaf World. Losha managed to build a two-way formation from the blacksmith shop to her residence and vice-versa. Arthur intended to go with them at first but decided to schedule that for later as he planned to visit Jian Si. As he was left alone in the Imperial City, Arthur decided to lay low for a while before infiltrating Cold Sword''s sect. ''It has been around two weeks since we left Astria. It''ll take another month or so for Gutcha to hide the first box.'' With that in mind, Arthur planned to familiarize himself with the factions in this city. There was no better host than the Mirage Era Hall. The couple built a rather friendly relationship with Shu Ru and they even helped her subdue the Yin Beast so she could tame it. Though she first felt guilty since she caused them troubles by leading them to Losha, once all the problems were solved and explained to Shu Ru, it became possible for them to continue their harmonious friendship. Every time Arthur remembers the piercing glare Lucy gave him when she warned him not to meddle into a women''s problems, he could feel his whole body shiver. To be honest, Lucy wanted to accompany Arthur, however, he insisted that she follows Losha. The reincarnator may be a bit crazy in the head but she appeared quite competent and with the presence of the Fate Contract, there''s nothing to fear. Makaze was also given to the blacksmith so she can fix it, which means Arthur''s prowess decreased by more than 40%. As long as she doesn''t piss off any powerful God Monarch, he shouldn''t have any problem. Moreover, in case something dire happened, Losha handed him something akin to Life Crystal which will warn her if he''s severely injured or on the verge of death. A few problems still bothered Arthur, such as the Grim Reaper''s matter. If he were to appear now, things will become extremely chaotic. The Reaper appears randomly and although he only appeared twice, there''s no telling if he''ll appear now or next year. A few hours after his wife and her master departed, Arthur went to the base of the Mirage Era Hall. It was situated North-East of the Imperial Capital and its land was considerably big. The architecture of the buildings inside the sect''s territory differentiated from the ones in the capital. All the buildings in the Mirage Era Hall were white and pleasing to the eye. A tall cathedral that was only second to the castle, stood erect in the middle of this landmass. It was beautifully decorated and truly a sight to the eyes. Even Arthur, who was used to the advanced architecture of Earth, was amazed. Shu Ru wanted to personally guide him to her sect but he refused her as he wanted to loiter around the capital and visit some shops. She gave him some kind of a badge with a golden lion engraved on it, this object is supposed to allow him free entry inside her sect. However, who would have thought that the moment Arthur appeared before the gates of the sect, he was blocked by the guard, who eyes him suspiciously. To be honest, Arthur did look suspicious. Zodiak''s black robe looked ominous and his grey hair and the scar were not signs of a person with goodwill, at least for a person who judges based on appearances. "Where do you think you''re going? This the Mirage Era Hall''s territory and no one but its disciples are allowed entry." While raising a long white lance to block Arthur, the guard spoke with a threatening tone. Arthur looked suspicious but he didn''t look weak, the cold aura he involuntarily emits causes anyone close to him uncomfortable. It''s one of the effects of Dark Magic, which is circulating inside his body. Nonetheless, the Tri-Spirit was able to weaken this aura and make it practically disappear, which it did, albeit a bit late. Now, excluding his appearance, Arthur looked like normal, or at least, felt normal. The guard was also a cultivator but he was only at the Heavenly Realm. He couldn''t gauge Arthur''s strength so he didn''t arrogant and aggressive but he still kept a degree or superiority since he haled from the Mirage Era Hall. Arthur took out the badge Shu Ru gave him and showed it to the guard, who was going to inspect it only to be interrupted by a displeasing voice. "What are you doing?" Both the guard and Arthur turned to the source of the voice and saw a young man with long blue hair and golden pupils. His movements were elegant, his gaze was calm yet contained disdain as he glanced at Arthur. He didn''t seem to recognize Arthur''s existence and only addressed the guard. "S-Senior Visto." The guard hurriedly performed a respectful bow, ignoring the stretched hand of Arthur. "Stop playing around and go back to your post." Before the guard could reply, Arthur retorted "I am showing my badge, is that a problem?" A frown appeared on the young man''s face, apparently, he was displeased by Arthur''s sudden intervention and tone. He coldly snorted and added: "What badge? Do you think this the first time people try to trick us into letting enter out sect?" Inwardly, Arthur was cursing his luck and calming himself. He could have easily sneaked inside the sect but Shu Ru insisted that he came as an honorary elder. With such a position, no one will bother him and he can participate in huge events without having to pay a large sum of Spirit Stones or sneak around. ''There is never an end to the likes of him.'' "Why don''t you look at it first?" With a deadpan expression, Arthur turned toward the young man and threw the badge at him, which wasn''t caught but send flying far away. The young man disregarded the badge and didn''t even want to waste his time to ascertain of authenticity. Despite such an act, Arthur remained calm. He turned toward the guard, who was prepared to ignore him and go back near the gates. His eye was cold and caused the poor guard to momentarily tremble. He felt as if he fell in a bottomless abyss as he was stared at by that blood-red pupil. The hidden killing intent almost made him piss from fear "Please go call Shu Ru." Like an obedient dog, the guard hastily ran toward the gates, planning to call Shu Ru. He didn''t who this individual was but the fear he just felt made him soak with cold sweat, it''s like he was facing death itself. Visto, the arrogant young man, became angrier when he heard Arthur mention Shu Ru''s name. He waved his hand, wanting to stop the guard but the sudden burst of Energy was so weak that it couldn''t even travel a few meters before being consumed by a malevolent yet transparent energy which he couldn''t recognize. "What do you think you''re doing?" Arthur tilted his head in confusion. Visto''s glare was akin to the one you give to someone who killed your parents. As he was ignored by this mysterious man, Visto became more enraged. Not only did this man try to use Shu Ru''s man, he wanted to use trickery to trespass into his sect. Seeing the piercing glare he was getting, Arthur already sealed the young man''s fate. An enemy, no matter how weak he is, has to be killed sooner or later, this was his and Lucy''s motto. Whether it''s indirectly or directly, this young man will die. A single appraisal informed Arthur of this man''s realm. Visto a 1st Grade God but he was older than Shu Ru. He seemed to be the son of the current leader of the Mirage Era Hall. This explained his haughtiness and arrogance and as the saying goes, one mountain is higher than another mountain, so even with his exceptional status and high Realm compared to his peers, there''s always who''s better and this person was Arthur, in this case. Out of nowhere, Visto suddenly disappeared from his initial position and leaped at Arthur. He shone with a golden light as his Godspirit manifested behind him. The God Spirit was a golden bird with a black beak, it emitted a light more intense than the sun and caused unwanted attention from distant bypassers. Unfortunately, not even with this Godspirit was Visto able to get close to Arthur. Both the young man and his Godspirit crashed into the illusory dark barrier was bounced back suffering enough damage to cause the kid to bleed and the spirit to shake. Visto''s fate was sealed the moment he made contact with the dark barrier. A very small amount of Dark and Death Energy invaded his body and although it''s can''t do anything for the time being, it''ll slowly end this young man''s life. The Dark Magic will consume his energy and corrupt his body and the Death Energy will suck his vitality and weaken his soul, making his body more fragile than a mortal. The thing that''ll bring him to death''s door is a simple poison, it isn''t powerful but to a vulnerable body, it''ll kill it within seconds. It was a cruel fate and not many would dare to do something like this due to a small skirmish, however, Arthur didn''t care. Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. As long as someone considered him as an enemy and even attacked him, then he has to be killed, no matter what. Whether it''s a God Monarch or a mortal, both are equal. Very soon, Shu Ru appeared from within the sect''s territory. Her face paled once she saw Visto''s miserable state. As she discovered Arthur''s presence, she didn''t know whether to cry or laugh. While forcing a smile, she said "Senior, please excuse us, we have been inconsiderate." Then, she guided Arthur inside while ignoring Visto. Since he had a high status, she couldn''t reprimand him, neither could she blame Arthur. Chapter 376 - 329 : Mirage Era Hall Many disciples curiously glanced at Arthur as he accompanied Shu Ru. She''s the top disciple in the Mirage Era hall and it''s rare to see here speak or walk with a man. Seeing the jealous and envious gazes, Arthur inwardly scoffed but didn''t say anything. Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. Contrary to them, the less time he spends with her the better it''s for him. They were considered friends but their relationship isn''t that deep. They helped her and she helped them, give and take, harmonious and without trickery. Very soon, Shu Ru entered the big cathedral along with Arthur. The guards around this giant building were much more powerful than the ones roaming the sect. Shu Ru has to introduce Arthur to her grandfather so he can bestow him the honorary elder status. Even if the rest of the sect isn''t pleased with the presence of a strange, they can''t go against her grandfather''s words. Moreover, he isn''t going to remain here for a long time. The duo reached a spacious hall which was devoid of people. Arthur glanced around, contemplating the amazing architecture and the unique decoration used. It bore a resemblance to some churches yet this one seemed much more majestic. Excluding the two of them, there was another figure a distance away from them. The old man wore a simple white robe, he had his hands behind his back as his attention was focused on a large golden stone before him. The stone was engraved with an unknown language and no one from this sect was able to understand it. It is said that if one gains enlightenment from one of the three stones inside this hall, their cultivation and understanding will increase drastically. It''s a shame only Shu Ru was lucky enough to understand a sliver of this language. Even when they neared the old man, he kept ignoring them, acting as if they didn''t exist. Thanks to Appraisal, Arthur found out that it''s a God Monarch, however, he seemed to be way weaker than Losha. He didn''t feel the threatening pressure emitted from the reincarnator. In fact, he had confidence in defeating the elder but killing him is probably impossible without Makaze. Shu Ru didn''t call for her grandfather, instead, she patiently waited for him to finish. Arthur activated [The All Seeing Eyes] and focused on the golden stone. Though it was an inanimate object and didn''t seem like it contained any Energy, the reality was different. The golden stone was actually composed of countless threads of Golden Energy. Such energy is foreign to Arthur. Even with his vast knowledge, Arthur was still unable to fully comprehend the engraved runes. Nonetheless, he still understood a few words but they weren''t enough to understand the whole sentence. This language was learned from one of the countless corpses he possessed in Astria. Appraisal gave him a bit of information about this ancient language. It belonged to the Buria Empire, a powerful force that dominated a third of the Cloud Sea Universe a long time ago. ''Is the Mirage Era Hall their descendants?'' Arthur didn''t dwell too much on the matter. It''s not like it concerned him but he was still a bit intrigued by the Buria Empire. For just one empire to control a third of a whole universe, it must have been incredibly powerful. Though the real question is; How did such a mighty empire crumble? Claud didn''t know anything about the Buria Empire so Arthur was left clueless. After thirty or so minutes passed, the old man''s body slightly trembled before he turned toward the two of them. He started rubbing his long white beard as he assessed Arthur with a gentle smile on his face. "So you''re the one Ru''er was talking about." Shu Ru didn''t tell her grandfather everything about the couple but she still disclosed their strength. Although he was only at the God Realm, Arthur''s real power surpassed the Sovereign Realm. Such cases were extremely rare but not impossible. In fact, most of the people who could leapfrog Realms are usually in possession of extraordinary treasures. "Yes, I am Arthur." "Hm? No last name?" Arthur friendly smiled back and added "MoonStar. Arthur MoonStar." The old man frowned and asked again "Ahˇ­ I don''t think there''s any sect or clan with such a name." As to confirm the elder''s suspicions, Arthur answered "I came from a low-Realm." The girl''s grandfather nodded his head while stroking his beard. His gaze was unfathomable yet even someone like him wasn''t able to see through Arthur. Though he felt some kind of ominous energy inside of his body, he didn''t seem to be using a treasure or anything like that. Only after a minute or so did the old man turned his head to Shu Ru and said "Ru''er, show me your new companion." In response to his words, a miniature white beast appeared on the girl''s shoulder. It wasn''t as aggressive as before, it gently rubbed its body on Shu Ru''s hand, trying to show its affection. "Hoho, quite a powerful fellow." Despite its hate for anyone but Shu Ru, the Yin Beast didn''t lash out at the old man when he tried to hold it. In fact, it obediently remained still. After inspecting the Yin Beast for a few seconds, the old man gave it back to his granddaughter then added: "I see that your cultivation rose tooˇ­ good good!" Whilst the two family members were conversing with each other, Arthur started a little adventure. ''Don''t forget my words! You can steal the corpses but don''t possess them.'' One of the reasons he came to the Mirage Era Hall is because of dead ancestors. The sect was proficient at formations, so if he could steal the lifeless bodies of the ancestors and possess them when the time was right. It wouldn''t be easy to sneak inside their ancestral hall and retrieve the corpses, nonetheless, hard doesn''t mean impossible. Moreover, being able to build strong formations will greatly strengthen him and would allow him to face against any unforeseen troubles. Some formation master can kill several Sovereigns with just a single formation. As for Gods, they''ll be slaughtered like chicken. However, the degree of difficulty to build such formations is too high, which is why it''s better to possess powerful and knowledgeable ancestors. Using Dark Cloud, the unique skill of Zodiak''s robe, the real Arthur disappeared and was replaced by a very real copy. It had the same cultivation and was absolutely flawless. As long as nothing happens, it shouldn''t be discovered. Though it''s power is weaker than a God, it shouldn''t have a problem dealing with a few Immortals. Then again, if the Dark Cloud were to fight, its true identity may get discovered. Arthur was unaware of the Ancestral Hall''s location but it wasn''t difficult to find it. After approximatively three minutes, he was stopped by an unbreakable defensive formation that enveloped a specific area under the cathedral. To freely travel through the earth without any obstruction, Arthur possessed the body of the bone shark, which had unrivaled speed under the ground. Thanks to his stealth skills, he wasn''t discovered even when he traveled at a high speed. The earth before him would turn into nothingness as the bone shark had a skill that allowed him to drill any ground before him in a very smooth manner. Only when his eyes caught sight of the formation did he halt. The map showed him an area that was circled by a red line. This indicated the presence of a formation and the redder it was, the more durable and high-level it is. "What to do now? If I try to get in, it''ll alert the whole sect." Such a formation isn''t simple. Despite his confidence in being able to break it or open a crack big enough to fit him, it''ll certainly cause a huge commotion. Moreover, if such a thing happens at the same time he entered the sect, the blame will fall on him, no doubt. Arthur pondered for a long time before he came up with a ridiculous plan. It was feasible but very hard, nonetheless, it''s worth the try. He doesn''t need to use any extravagant skills, only the power of his eye. No matter how strong a formation is, it won''t function if time is stopped, after all, it needs to consume energy to remain active. Until now, Arthur was never able to stop time, only slow it down by a lot. It''s a very helpful ability but it is mentally exhausting, too exhausting, in fact. Arthur left the shark''s body and stood motionless as his eye started shining with a blinding blue light. Fortunately, he was underground so it wasn''t noticed. Very soon, he felt the air and energy around him slow down but it didn''t freeze yet. He discarded any unnecessary thoughts and pushed the ability of his eye to the limits. At last, the time was momentarily stopped though Arthur ended up bleeding from his eye and nose. He ignored the leaking blood and hastily entered the formation. The time stop lasted for no more than two seconds yet Arthur felt a fatigue that made his body numb. Since he was inside without alerting the formation, he decided to rest until he recovered. Due to overworking himself, Arthur had to rest for a full hour before feeling fresh again. "Be careful, that formation was but the beginning, I''m sure there are others." Claud repeatedly warned him. ˇ­ Only after twelve hours did Arthur reach his destination. He repeatedly stopped time and rested each time he was blocked by a formation. There were all kinds of formations, moreover, each and every one of them was incredibly dangerous. Exactly three coffins laid before him, however, there was actually a short old man meditating at the entrance of this ancient tomb. He emitted no aura and just by slightly sensing his presence, Arthur felt the chills. ''He''s dangerousˇ­ too dangerous.'' Fortunately, Arthur was still a few meters underground and was hiding in the body of a small green sprout, making no different than a simple plant which just so happened to grow in that place. Arthur''s Godly Sense would alert the enemy, however, his Sixth Sense wasn''t a technique but an enigma skills thus the old man won''t discover him if he used it. As he activated the skill and tried to probe the old man, he was shocked to see that he couldn''t gauge the old man''s strength, meaning that his Realm is probably higher than God Monarch. ''Do you think it''s possible to escape after retrieving the corpses?'' Arthur asked Claud, who remained silent for a few seconds before replying ''I honestly don''t know. Here are the results I got from the ARK.'' *Probability of retrieving the three bodies and escaping safely: 1.84%* *Probability of retrieving two bodies and escaping safely: 5.99%* *Probability of retrieving one body and escaping safely: 11.66%* *Probability of escaping safely without retrieving any body: 87%* ''Damnit! It''s so lowˇ­'' Though Arthur was kind of a gambling man, he isn''t going to throw his life because was greedy over the body of a few strong ancestors. If he can''t retrieve them now, he will do so when he''s stronger. He remained silent and motionless inside the body of the sprout, trying to think of a flawless plan but each time he came up with something, Claud would show him his probability of success, which is always lower than 15%. ''What if I use Rizaki? Wouldn''t the destruction buy me some time to escape?'' ''No way, the cast time is long, you''ll be discovered in a second.'' The dark cloud, which acted as Arthur''s copy, was guided to a luxurious room after giving a special badge that showed his status as an honorary elder. As for Arthur, he remained in that hole for four continuous days and it was only at the dawn of the fifth day did he come up with a doable plan. The plan couldn''t be simpler, all he needed to do was act like an ant. Yes, as stupid as it may sound, he''ll possess an ant and forcefully weaken himself then roam around the room. It all depends on the old man, however, he won''t bother to kill an ant, after all, this is ancient place and there''s bound to be a few insects lurking n the shadows. With Claud''s help, Arthur''s stats were significantly lowered. All of them combined didn''t surpass a hundred points. In such a state, even a simple breeze of wind can kill him. Nevertheless, there''s nothing to fear, the Tri-Spirit was still active. He''s weakened but it can intercept the enemy if anything happens. While it is true that it''s weaker than Arthur, it is a very powerful entity. The plan was set in motion when Arthur possessed a small brown ant. He didn''t directly head toward the coffin but randomly roamed the gloomy and cold room. The old man never opened his eyes or detected him, he remained in that meditative state even when Arthur roamed next to him. This reassured Arthur, who went around the room for about an hour or so before climbing one of the three coffins. Although these coffins were closed, his body was small enough to fit it. The gap which seemed incredibly small was more than enough for him to fit 10 ants. Full of excitement, Arthur entered the coffin, which was devoid of light then walked to the center of the corpse. As he reached his first destination, the first step of his plan was successfully done. The second step was to retrieve the body without alarming the guardian outside. This step relied solely on the Tri-Spirit, which was proficient at using Death Energy. To create a corpse similar to the dead ancestor was impossible, however, to create lingering Death Energy that resembled the formless aura this corpse was emitting, was a feasible feat. To imitate the aura of death and decay around this corpse, the Tri-Spirit needs ten full hours. Arthur wasn''t in a hurry so he calmly waited there, not afraid of the old man to discover anything. The Tri-Spirit was doing a flawless work, it would absorb some of the corpse''s aura then release a similar one. This seemed to be leading to nothing as he was just replacing air with air. However, when the ancestor''s corpse, which still had death aura inside of it, was nothing but a mortal''s corpse, it would be absorbed and in its place would be the lingering energy the Tri-Spirit created. Ten hours quietly passed, there was no disturbance whatsoever. When everything was completed, Arthur absorbed the ancestor''s corpse into Zodiak''s storage ring and moved to the next. ˇ­ Thirty hours was supposed to be the time it takes to obtain the three corpses, however, the last corpse had some life energy in it, which caused Arthur to abandon any thought of taking it with him. He could wield Life Energy but to imitate someone''s Life Energy isn''t an easy thing to do. Just like each person has a unique appearance, they would also have a unique Life Energy which would differentiate them from others. Merely twenty-two hours after his arrival into this tomb, Arthur entered the hole in the ground and disappeared from this cold place. He distanced himself from the tomb and only when he was sure that he was relatively safe did he make Claud unlock the seal which was lowering his stats. Calmly and without any rush, Arthur headed toward his clone and soon took its place. He leaned on the comfortable sofa and breathed a sigh of relief. It was really tiring to bypass the formations and hide from the old man but it was still worth it. He may be a despicable friend since he stole from Shu Ru''s sect, however, he couldn''t care less. His goals required him to become stronger and this is one of the ways for that to happen. When the White Specter Clan comes knowing on their doors, he should be fully prepared. He knew Lucy''s attitude toward this whole matter and from the Joker said, the clan will do anything to retrieve her. Especially since she''s talented and even have a powerful Physique. When such a time comes, a war is inevitable. Lucy already gave him the green sign, he would kill anyone who wants to separate them, even if it were her own parents! ********** West of the Imperial Capital of the Green-Leaf World, there existed a humongous gate floating in the air. This gate would allow anyone to travel to higher or lower-Realms, you just need enough Spirit Stones. Many people with special status can use this gate free of charge. The area around the gate was always bustling with people, some entering it and some leaving. Just now, two figures appeared from within the transparent space inside the gate. One was a tall old man with a butler attire. He was old enough for all his hair to turn white but he appeared to be full of vigor. The one accompanying him was a girl that had exceptional beauty. "Young Miss, the opening of the dragon''s lair is around the corner. Why would you come here?" The girl gazed at the majestic city in front of her then replied "I''ve heard that Master Losha is here. I want her to craft me a special armor to resist the dragon." The butler didn''t inquire any further, he merely followed her. His duty was not to ask questions but to protect her from any danger. Chapter 377 - 330 : No Mercy For the Enemy "B-but fathe-" The voice was interrupted by a middle-aged man who seemed strict and slightly angry. This man was the current Patriarch of the Mirage Era Hall sect. His son came asking for help as he was mistreated and humiliated. Visto stood before his father with his lowered, the arrogance and haughtiness he usually demonstrates was nowhere to be found. "Don''t think I''m a fool. Witnesses told me exactly what happened and it''s your fault for causing trouble." Athard Exas, the father of Visto, felt embarrassed by the behavior of his son. In fact, were it not for the elders currently present, he would have beaten Visto half-dead. He knew that Visto is arrogant because he''s the Patriarch''s son and thanks to his high Realms, which placed him above his peers, however, he shouldn''t have provoked a stranger. Moreover, this stranger was welcomed as an honorary Elder inside his sect. It wasn''t something he could control albeit being the Patriarch as the Grand Elder held more authority than him. Plus, no matter how much he investigated, he couldn''t uncover the guest''s background, which made him hesitate and act cautiously. In fact, he was delighted to see a strong person residing in his sect, however, knowing his son''s attitude, he probably won''t let this matter slide. It was speculated that the guest had the cultivation of a peak grade God. It wasn''t comparable to the elders but it was still a respectable, especially for someone who seemed to be a lone cultivator. "Anyway, you''re forbidden from leaving the golden hall for the next month." The young man wanted to protest but immediately gave up once he saw his father''s cold gaze. He could act however he wants in the outside but when facing his father, he could only be obedient and follow orders. After Visto left, Athard glanced at the elder standing next to him and muttered "Anything new about our new guest?" The elder shook his head and replied "No. The young miss said that he helped her in the Wicked Forest and they became friends. Also, the Grand Elder regards him favorably." Athard nodded his head and added: "Notify the others to not bother him. Anyone who tries anything will be heavily punished." ˇ­ After spending a lot of effort to retrieve the two corpses, Arthur rested in his spacious room. He cultivated for a few hours but the results were minimal and disappointing. His speed in cultivating is lackluster, to say the least. "Aren''t I supposed to be a heavenly talent after absorbing so many corpses?" Arthur asked Claud, wanting to know the reason behind his slow advancement in cultivation. Actually, his talent wasn''t that bad, it was decent, however, compared to Lucy or other talents, he was still lacking. Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. "Actually, what people call talent is DNA. Each person or beast has a unique DNA and since you possessed a large quantity, you have stored all those DNA but unable to access most of them. Yes, your body is extremely tough and strong, but it doesn''t necessarily accommodate all kinds of DNA. This DNA can be influenced by certain bloodlines or in some rare cases, Physiques. Currently, you cannot make use of the stored DNA but if we play our cards right, we can force an evolution that''ll allow you to access them all. At that time, you''ll be able to transform into anything you possessed without requiring a host." "And how to force an evolution?" After a short silence, Claud answered "It depends on the circumstances. If, for example, you stay in a poisonous place for a certain amount of time, the System will offer you a choice to evolve. Even I, don''t know the requirements for a body that can store all those DNA, I guess we have one more reason to reach the Garden of Words." Hearing him, Arthur clicked his tongue and remained silent. Claud refused to say anything about the Garden of Words, even its location, which annoyed him but he couldn''t just force it out of his mouth so he can only swallow his anger. ˇ­ Late at night, Visto entered the Golden Hall, which is a good place to cultivate as it had thick Nether Energy and it''s especially good for those who cultivate the sect''s technique. No one but him was inside this magnificent hall that was decorated with nothing but pure gold. Just as the young man entered meditation and activated his cultivation technique, he felt something was amiss. His bodyfelt numb and he started feeling immense pain from his Dantian. By circulating his Nether Energy, he accelerated the effect of the lingering Dark Magic inside of him. Like the idiot he is, Visto wanted to expel the malevolent energy inside of him instead of calling for help. Unfortunately, that didn''t go well as he started coughing one mouthful blood after another until his face turned pale and the blood loss caused him to become extremely dizzy. Only twenty minutes after he sat down, he could be seen laid on a puddle of blood, motionless and lifeless, of course. Even Arthur didn''t expect Visto to be such a fool. Fighting Dark Magic is useless, especially when it invaded every part of your body. Only Arthur was capable of saving him but alas, he literally killed himself. Visto''s death was only discovered the next morning. Athard wanted to talk to his son about Arthur only to find him deader than dead. By the time he called for the Physician to save his kid, it was already too late. From grief, the Patriarch spat some blood and momentarily fell unconscious, if not for the support of the present elders, he would have collapsed. At the same day, Athard closed the gates of the sect and allowed no one to enter or leave until the culprit was apprehended. Shu Ru, who was in her room, playing with the small Yin Beast, was shocked to hear of this terrible news. She rushed to her Grand Elder to know more about this tragedy but even someone as acknowledgeable as her grandfather didn''t know the cause of the death. The Dark Magic had disappeared the moment it killed its target, only the poison was left. However, tracing it back to Arthur isn''t possible. As Arthur was attempting to create Void Talismans, someone gently knocked on the door, which soon opened by itself. An elegant and beautiful girl entered the room, she had a strange expression as she gazed at the man before her. He seemed to be in a world of his own, not minding all the noise coming from outside. Shu Ru hesitated for a long time and only after a few minutes passed did she manage to say what''s on her mind "Was it you?" She knew that Visto attacked Arthur but couldn''t reach him and was bounced back. This friend of hers didn''t retaliate and didn''t even touch Visto yet she was suspicious. He was far stronger than others think so killing Visto is hard but doable. Hearing her, Arthur feigned ignorance as he replied "What?" "The son of the current patriarch was found dead this morning. Everyone is being investigated and no one is allowed to leave until the murderer is found." Arthur didn''t even glance at the girl as he threw down a broken Talisman and continued with his experiments. "Is that so?" His lack of reaction was strange and it slightly irritated Shu Ru, who usually carries herself with a calm demeanor. "A person was killed, how can you be so nonchalant?" Only now did Arthur stop and glance at her while retorting "Tell me, why should I care? It''s not like I know him." "Hmpf! He was the one who refused to let you inside the sect a few days ago." Still expressionless, Arthur stated: "Oh then he got what he got what he deserved. Arrogant people like him don''t usually live long." The girl stomped her foot in anger and added: "Who are you decide if he should live or die?" Arthur frowned upon hearing her. He calmly leaned on the chair and drank some of the hot tea he prepared for himself while receiving her glare. "I never decided his life or death, I was merely expressing my opinion." Shu Ru didn''t say anything as she stormed out of the room. She didn''t have any evidence, heck! It may even be someone else''s doing. She didn''t invite him to her sect for him to kill Visto. While it''s true Visto it annoying and had a bad attitude, he didn''t deserve to die miserably like that. Chapter 378 - 330.1 : Black Rose It has been two weeks since Arthur and Lucy left Astria and, fortunately, things were as peaceful as ever. There was no sighting of the evil race and the MoonStar city is prospering rapidly. More people started visiting it and even the remote clans were helpless against this rising power so they could only reach out for alliances lest they get destroyed. Ever since Arthur left, Jackob noticed that every two days, Anastassia will leave the sect and head South only to return a few hours later. One day, he confronted her to know what''s going on. Surprisingly, she didn''t hide it from him and even brought him with her. However, what he saw was something he never expected, even in his wildest dreams. The South of the Western Continent is a dangerous zone where powerful beasts lay dormant. It was surrounded by a thick fog that made it quite hard to see what''s around you. The different thing about this land is that no living beasts remained here, it has become a land of decay and death. With a half-open mouth, Jackob gazed at the sight before him, a sight that made him tremble. It wouldn''t be a problem if there were thousands or tens of thousands, however, the army that stood before him is simply humongous. Millions upon millions of undead stead next to each other, disciplined and silent. They eye-sockets burned with a dark red flame that made them distinguishable even inside this fog. This undead army covered a lot of land, almost a third of this continent and its size is drastically increasing every day. The Death Energy was so thick that being around it for a long period of time will cause death. Were it not for the item Arthur gave her, Anastassia wouldn''t get so close to the army. "W-what''s this?" "An incomplete army." Still flabbergasted, Jackob asked again "You made this?" Anastassia nodded and added: "Yes but it''s not something I can control. Until he comes back, they can do nothing but stand like that." He pondered for a short moment and maintained his silence. If Arthur needs such a large army then there''s no room to stop him. Anastassia retrieved an ominous pendant and wore it then immediately activated it An abyss-like cirlce appeared above the army and soon, countless undead started appearing from within. More than a thousand undead appeared every second, moreover, they weren''t normal. Every ten minutes, three death knights appear and every hour, a bone dragon is summoned. All the normal skeletons were clad in a grey-armor, they either held large shields or sharp swords. They weren''t at the Spirit Realm but their number compensates for their lack of individual power. Even Anastassia doesn''t know the reason Arthur needs such an army. With such an army, there''s no force in Anastassia that can resist it, even the MoonStar sect. ˇ­ Far East of Astria, the ever-so-silent Word Tree was disturbed after a month of Arthur''s departure. The Western Continent resembled a graveyard. The undead covered half of the continent and merely their presence made the World Tree a bit distressed. "Arthurˇ­ Death won''t tolerate this, you know that, right?" Even with its incredible power, it became unable to spread its magic to the Western Continent. The Death Energy, albeit contained not to spread to all corners of the continent, was still extremely lethal to the tree. ˇ­ Back on the Green-Leaf World, things were getting worse as Athard swore to find the culprit at all costs. It has been five days since the death of his son yet the gates of the sect are still closed. All the disciples were anxious and not one dared to cause a ruckus lest they suffer the wrath of Patriarch. Shu Ru held into her suspicions but never told anyone. She wasn''t sure and even if she were, she couldn''t snitch as she thought she may end up like Visto. She would pester Arthur everyday but get no answer out of him, in fact, it had already became a habit of hers to barge into his room every morning. "Hey! Aren''t you going to confes- oh thank you." She stopped mid-sentence and thanked him as he served her some tea. Upon realizing that, her face reddened but she still enjoyed the hot tea. Though he wasn''t talkative, she, more or less, started understanding his character. "You, who was pampered since you were young, what do you know about having enemies? You must suffer and learn the hard way to understand why all enemies must be killed, no matter how insignificant they are." Shu Ru was a little startled by his words but soon snapped out of it and said "So you admit killing Visto?" "What if I do? Are you going to run to your grandfather and tell him?" "ˇ­" The girl silently gazed at him, she had an angry expression. "Why did you do that?" Arthur shrugged his shoulders and said "Why you ask? Because he''s an enemy." "Enemy? You two barely interacted!" "Even a small wound can cause death if it''s not treated properly. I would rather get rid of a potential enemy then wait for him to grow stronger or try to trap me." The girl stomped her foot in anger and retorted "Still!! That was too excessive, you could have punished him severely, why resort to murder." As if he understood something, Arthur smirked and added: "I seeˇ­ you''ve never killed someone." Her body slightly trembled upon hearing his words. At first, she tried to deny his words but her expression betrayed her. "You act calm and composed but you''re just a naive girl, after all. In comparison, Jian Si is much better than you in that aspect." "Jian Si? Cold Sword?" Shocked by his swords, Shu Ru looked at him with a strange gaze. "How do you know her?" Arthur crossed his arms and replied "Well, that''s my business." Again, Shu Ru snorted and darted out of the room, clearly unhappy. Arthur paid her no heed and picked an old journal, carefully reading it. This one Zodiak''s journal, one which was long and covered many things. Although Arthur remembers it all, he still rereads when he has nothing to do. The reason he''s spending his days nonchalantly is because he''s waiting for Gutcha. The Pigolo needs some time to find the second place and everything needs to be on place before he starts acting again. Eleven days passed since he arrived to the Mirage Era Hall sect and trying to leave now would make Athard suspicious. He wasn''t afraid of the Patriarch but from the old monster protecting the tombs. ''Dark Magic is not actually real magic nor is it the materialization of an elemental energy. To be more specific, it''s emotions, negative ones. Instead of relying on natural attributes, I rely on emotions which are converted into Dark Magic through Dark Mana. Quite strange, I know, however, that''s what makes it unique and unstoppable. Through many battles, I concluded that it can resist Void Magic and even Faith Magic. At first, I relied on anger to use Dark Magic but it isn''t that easyˇ­ I was never explained how such a powerful magic was bornˇ­'' How come he didn''t know everything about despite being its creator? Hearing this, Claud laughed and retorted "The God Race didn''t know the full potential of Humans when they created them. Just because you create something, you don''t necessarily know everything about it." ˇ­ In a secret room deep inside the Golden Hall of the Mirage Era Hall sect. Athard stood before two figures, both wore black clothes that covered their faces and bodies. They looked like assassins and not weak ones at that. "The payment had been deposited." The two individuals nodded while saying "The target will be found within two days at most." They vanished soon after, leaving only Athard in that small room. He unconsciously tapped his finger on the table while pondering about something. Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. He spent a hefty sum to hire two experts of the most dangerous organization in the three universes combined. It''s not the strongest but definitely the most dangerous. It''s composed of only assassins and only filthy rich people can hire them. In fact, the price he had to pay just to locate the culprit is equal to 10% of his sect''s yearly income. He hired them to find him, as for killing him, the price is just too much. He was certain that whoever murdered his son will meet a miserable fate at his hand, it''s only a matter of time. Chapter 379 - 331.1 : Blind "Two months from now on, the Space Dragon''s realm will open." Arthur listened to the talkative Shu Ru while enjoying the view through the window. "It''s one of the few remaining adult dragons. Apparently, it''s giving birth so its realm will be weakened thus allowing outsiders to enter." He glanced at her excited face and retorted "And why is that so exciting?" Seeing such a lack of reaction, Shu Ru pouted and said "The treasures that were amassed by the dragon will make anyone greedy." Arthur scoffed and said "Do you think it''ll let you enter its lair and take its treasures?" "Hmpf, lots of people will enter and it won''t be able to resist them all even with its mighty power. Moreover, everyone''s cultivation will be restricted." "So it wrong to kill people but it''s alright to barge in into a mother''s home when she''s giving birth?" When she heard that, Shu Ru gave him a strange look and only spoke after a few seconds passed. "You knowˇ­ it''s a dragon, it doesn''t matter what happens to it." "Why? Only human lives are precious?" "N-n" Before she reply, Shu Ru found herself outside of the room, clearly kicked out by Arthur. ''Despite being one of the strongest races, dragons are regarded as evil. Obviously, such rumors are false and it''s impossible to change people opinion about them. Just like they consider devils malevolent beings. Light is Holy and Humans are righteous while darkness is evil and other races are monsters, it''s always been like this. Their mentality is rotten. They may show respect to powerful races but humans will always feel superior.'' Claud''s voice rang inside Arthur''s ears, who gave no comment. The copy paused for a split second before asking ''Do you plan to go there?'' He heard an almost immediate reply from Arthur: "Why should I? It''s dangerous and the probability of being discovered is high." Inside the ARK, Claud, who was sitting alone in this endless white space, let out a long sigh after hearing Arthur''s answer. Absent-minded, he muttered "Oh but you willˇ­ that''s how the prophecy goes." ˇ­ "So you''re telling me you couldn''t find him?" Inside a gloomy room in a remote inn North-East of the city, there were four figures, three which were standing before a sitting old man. The elder have a pale skin and wrinkles covered most of his face. A simple breeze may take his life or so it seemed. In fact, the old man was blind and looked so frail with his bent back and short height. The one who talked just now was this old man, whose tone was strict and cold, frightening the three before him. The leader of this small group of three took one step forward and explained "The death was peculiar. We couldn''t even determine the cause." The blind old man leaned on the chair and retorted "So you''re telling me that not only did you have to pay double the price of this mission because you failed to find the culprit in two days but you also had the nerve to come here and tell me about your incompetence?" Unfortunately, the three couldn''t explain themselves as they suddenly fell on the ground, lifeless, each with a clean stab that finished their lives. Time slowly passed yet the old man ignored the rotting corpses near him. After what seemed to be an eternity, he slowly got up and said to himself "I guess I''ll have to personally act." Just like a ghost, he disappeared from the room, taking with him the three bodies. *** Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. The job which was supposed to be easy turned to be troublesome. It''s quite rare for the Black Rose organization to fail which why they had a policy which made them return double the promised price in case of failure. Black Rose wasn''t the strongest organization in the multiverse but definitely the most dangerous. They are a bunch of expert assassins and hiring them costs a large sum of money. It doesn''t matter if it''s a mortal or a God Monarch, as long as they have enough money, they can hire those killers. They mainly kill targets but in certain cases, they find a hidden person or go to a dangerous place to retrieve a treasure. Because the price they demand is simply outrageous, very few people are willing to employ them. Athard, Visto''s father, is one of those people. Though he was a bit disappointed when he heard nothing from the assassins he hired, on the fourth day, an old man appeared. "If I don''t find the target in three days the price you paid will be paid back tenfold." The identities of the top figures in the Black Rose organization are unknown, however, Athard became delighted as he certain the old man will definitely locate the murderer. Even though he was a God Monarch, he couldn''t even measure the power of this frail and blind elder, which gave him confidence in the completion of the job. *** Three days later, right outside of the sect''s gate, there stood a blind old man. He was like a wooden log, motionless and silent. After a long while, his eyes suddenly opened, showing two white pupils that didn''t grant him vision but still showed him more than enough. He saw Visto talking without the guard and a cloaked figure. He saw the young master attacking then being flung back. The moment he was sent flying, the old man caught a glimpse of a chilling and ominous dark energy that invaded the young man''s body. Even some as experienced as him didn''t know what that was but it wasn''t easy to conclude the cause of the young man''s death. Arthur didn''t retaliate and merely stood still, this made the old man wonder how Visto got infected by that poison and dark energy. Despite his special eyes, he wasn''t able to see the Dark Barrier nor could it see the acting Tri-Spirit. The old man gazed at Arthur for a few more minutes before he closed his eyes again and disappeared from that area. ******* As Arthur was relaxing in his room, as usual, both his senses and his map alerted showed an unusual reaction. A red dot appeared at the edge of the map, however, the dot didn''t move toward him. He could feel a gaze directed at him, though it had some killing intent, it wasn''t that threatening. Seeing this, Arthur frowned at first then closed the book in his hand while saying "Since you''re here, why not join me here?" He seemed to be talking to himself as no one answered him. Only when Arthur turned his head and stared at the source of the gaze did the other party spoke "Hahaha I don''t want to impose." Arthur, who was supposed to be smiling, suddenly had a change of expression. He stretched his hand toward the air and grabbed it. Using Space Magic, he grabbed the space around the ''guest'', wanting to bring him to this room. Unfortunately, his attempt was unsuccessful. He wasn''t able to get hold of his target, which vanished and reappeared in another place. "I''m not stupid enough to enter your room." "Oh?" Arthur was momentarily surprised before smirking and adding: "So you can see it?" The other voice remained silent before laughing and answering him "Hahaha being blind has its perks." Though blind, he could sense a dangerous energy lurking inside that room. It''s like it became Arthur''s lair, a foot inside would seal his fate. He was confident in his abilities but to walk into the trap of an enemy with unknown strength is plain stupid and suicidal. Just as the old mans sensed, Arthur''s room was drastically changed. Of course, it looked exactly the same but the amount of Death Energy inside would frighten anyone. That''s while excluding the traps he laid everywhere around him. Inside this room, Arthur was sure of his safety. He spent most of his last few days in leisure but the Tri-Spirit did a good job at protecting him. Shu Ru could enter since she was harmless but any other person would have to think twice. Using its strong Earth Magic, the Earth Spirit made it hard for a God to even take a step inside. A Sovereign may be able to move but fighting is impossible. Only a God Monarch will be able to slightly resist it but it''ll still weaken him and make him spend an extra effort to get rid of it. Chapter 380 - 331.2 : Doomed Both parties refused to move which resulted in a long silence. Arthur saw the visitor was still within the range of his map. As for the blind man, he didn''t dare to get close to Arthur''s room. Moreover, his job was to find the murderer and not to kill him so risking his life just to chat isn''t worth it. An enigma like Arthur is someone to befriend rather provoke which is why he''s here instead of somewhere else, telling Athard the truth. If possible, he even wanted to rope Arthur to Black Rose. His means are ruthless and fatal, to bring such a dangerous person to the organization would benefit him greatly. The Black Rose organization didn''t need loyal people but to strong ones. If they want to join, they''re forced to swallow some kind of mechanical bug that will kill the person if breaks one of the rules. It''s dangerous but the rewards are plentiful and generous, unfortunately, they lack capable personnel so they''re always seeking candidates such as Arthur. The old man wasn''t confident in convincing Arthur especially after seeing his cautious attitude. After an hour or so passed, the elder decided to back off. He still is unsure about Arthur''s strength and wanted to test him so he went to Athard. ˇ­ "Are you sure?" Athard''s eyes flashed with a murderous glint. He didn''t even try to hide his expression as he clenched his fists in rage. As for the blind old man, he soon excused himself without adding a single word. He successfully completed his job and all that''s left is to watch from the sidelines. The Patriarch didn''t waste any second as he went to meet the Grand Elder. Unlike him, Shu Ru''s grandfather was rather calm and composed even when he saw Athard unsightly expression. "I found the bastard!" Seeing the seriousness of Athard, the Grand Elder glanced at him and answered "And who is it?" "It''s the man your granddaughter brought." The Grand Elder didn''t seem particularly surprised as he nodded his head but said nothing. Athard became momentarily confused before glaring at the Grand Elder, clearly demanding an explanation. "I''m still investigating his background. It''s better to remain still for now." "Why wait?! He cannot escape as long as he''s here." The old man frowned and retorted "Are you sure about that? This time, Ru''er brought a tiger to our denˇ­ and not a docile one, at that." Athard wasn''t pleased with what he heard, he snorted and angrily left the room, clearly not agreeing to what the Grand Elder said. Unfortunately, just as the Patriarch left, another figure appeared near the old man. He was wearing a dark cloak that covered his whole body, including his face. He sat next to the old man and removed his hood then said "I didn''t expect you to remember me, hahahaha" Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. As if he was still a child, the old man cheerfully took out exquisite golden leaves and began preparing tea from himself and the guest. "Hehehe how can I not? Though you looked a bit different when we first met, I would never forget your Dark Magic." The man sitting beside the Grand Elder was the spitting image of Arthur. The only difference is his short grey hair and his healed eye. One more eye-catching thing is the two long black sheaths hanging on his waist. "Enough with such a boring topic. How are things lately?" The old man poured some of this calming tea to Arthur while chuckling "I''m already one foot into the grave. I''m just spending the rest of my days in relaxation." After sipping some of the hot tea and enjoying its flavor, Arthur stared at the Grand Elder and said: "You''re as energetic as ever, how can you have one foot in the grave. Back when we first met, you were a crybaby yet here you are trying to be wise hahaha" The old man coughed a few times in embarrassment and quickly changed the topic. The two talked for a long time before Arthur suddenly looked to the roof and furrowed his brows. Noticing this, the old man was about to say something when he suddenly felt chills ran down his spines. The colorful room they were in transformed into a mix of black and white as three malevolent things appeared from nothingness. With transparent bodies and decaying flesh, their appearance was creepy and grotesque as their upper body resembled a rotten corpse and the lower part was similar to a ghost. "Tsk!" Arthur clicked his tongue and vanished almost instantaneously. He was left with no choice but to hastily leave this place. The Grand Elder and didn''t know what''s going on, only when his heart calmed down did he notice that his friend left. ˇ­ A few days later, on the base of a sky-high mountain, precisely inside a beautiful courtyard that was usually empty, Losha was scolding Lucy, who was silently meditating. Five lotuses span around her and every time she tried to form the sixth one, she would fail and receive the berating of her temporary master. She had advanced in her Nine Star Yin technique in such a short time and her control over her Physique significantly rose but Losha wasn''t pleased and continued to train her day and night. At the top of this mountain which was actually floating above the clouds, there stood a dark-cloaked man who stared at the two women in silence. He was motionless and shrouded in darkness, unable to be seen. "Continue to circulate your Mana, first the fingers, hands, arms. Be precise!" Losha turned around and left the courtyard, leaving Lucy, who never protested and meticulously trained. A few moments later, Losha appeared a distance away from the figure at the peak of the mountain. She looked around her, searching for something. "I don''t know who you are but if you don''t scram then I-" Before she could finish, something occurred a few meters away from her. Ominous darkness appeared out of nowhere and from within it appeared a cloaked man. Since he had his hood down, Losha recognized him the moment she laid eyes on him. "You areˇ­ Arthur?" She intensely stared him and although the appearance was similar, the aura was totally different. In fact, she felt threatened by his presence, unlike their last meeting. "Indeed, you''re really strong." Commented Arthur as he inspected Losha. Losha wanted to ask him what''s he doing here but her expression drastically changed as she seemed to sense something. She looked at the grey sky and spoke with a grave tone "This feelingˇ­ it''s Time Wraiths! You time traveled?" "Hahaha you can never fool a reincarnator." Arthur smiled and then resumed talked after a momentary pause "You''re doomed." Losha said those words as if they were an absolute fact. Her expression became a bit strange as she stared back at him. "I need you to go somewhere and protect it until I come back." Before she could talk, Arthur added: "No need to argue or refuse, farewell." He threw a letter and a scroll at her, the woman unconsciously caught them and only after he disappeared, leaving a bloodied arm on the grand did she snap out of her daze. He wasn''t attacked but intentionally left it as a second later, Time Wraiths appeared and leapt at the bloody arm, sucking everything out of it until it turned into black ash that dispersed soon after. The thing that dumbfounded her was the scroll which was actually a Fate Contract. Moreover, she signed it herself which means she agreed to follow the conditions. After thoroughly checking the contract she read the contents of the letter and became more flabbergasted. ˇ­ Arthur remained inside his room for a few more days before finally leaving it. He transformed the Dark Cloud into a clone identical to him and possessed a rotten corpse of a rat before drilling into the groom and leaving the capital. His destination was the Mountain Ba sword sect. He needs to meet with Jian Si and inquire about the missing prince and princess. They had to be kidnapped by someone and with her status, finding them shouldn''t be that difficult, especially after giving her enough time to do so. Arthur went unnoticed as he left the Mirage Era Hall Sect and kept traveling underground until he arrived at the mountain range belonging to Cold Sword''s sect. His Stealth skills are unparalleled to the point that even a God Monarch would have difficulties finding him. With the Space Bender title and his maxed Stealth skills, it''ll be pretty much impossible to attract attention unless done purposely. Chapter 381 - 332 : Return The Favor Very soon, Arthur to the long mountain range. The security was as tight as the Mirage Era Hall sect, however, he wasn''t worried as he continued traveling underground. He didn''t know where exactly Cold Sword could be so he decided to search for a unique mountain where the density of Nether Energy is higher than the rest. She''s the top disciple here and she seemed to be the lonely type so if she''s not adventuring in the outside world, she must be meticulously training atop her mountain. Unlike the Mirage Era Hall Sect, the Mountain Ba Sword sect had a larger territory but lesser disciples. Though, all disciples seemed to be decently strong and were all sword-users. Arthur had long since noticed a central mountain where its peak pierced the clouds yet he didn''t approach it. It must be an important place of the sect and he didn''t come here to stir trouble. "I heard that Cold Sword is going to venture inside the dragon''s lair that''s about to open soon." Two disciples were mumbling to each other with a low voice. They were careful as to not let anybody hear them albeit being in a very remote place. Unfortunately, Arthur was just a couple of meters under their feet and he could perfectly hear them. "No way, I heard she''s stuck in an important bottleneck and hasn''t come out of seclusion since last year." The two kept talking for a while but most of what said seemed to be rumors. Arthur carefully listened and only departed when the topic was switched. Many deadly sword formations were laid around the mountain range, however, they weren''t able to affect Arthur, who easily avoided them using his eye''s ability. As the sect''s territory was considerably big, Arthur spent half a day searching one mountain after another until he found his target. Jian Si''s mountain was actually in a secluded area, almost outside of the sect''s territory. The mountain stood alone as its peak was extremely high and the fog around it barred the view of the top. After making sure no one here except for Jian Si, Arthur cautiously made his way toward her peak. There was no sword formation the mountain so he advanced unhindered. The girl was silently swinging her sword at the top of the mountain. It was a simple movement yet very efficient. In fact, her sword essence resembled Arthur''s. It lacked the dark flames or the ominous aura of the Dark Magic but it still emitted a dangerous pressure, ruthless and full of thick murderous aura. Her appearance matured since the last time they met. Her dark hair became much longer and she grew a bit taller though her face was a cold and expressionless as ever. Moreover, she already became a 5th Grade God, which is a very good achievement. She was even stronger than Shu Ru, in terms of cultivation, that is. If the two girls were to fight, no one would know who would come out victorious. Shu Ru may have a lower cultivation but her Physique can allow her to leapfrog a few grades. As an experienced killer, Jian Si had a very sensitive Godly Sense and very high awareness but she wasn''t able to discover Arthur. Only when a strange rat appeared next to him did she react. Her swinging sword hastily changed direction and went straight at the rat. Though it was a rat, the feeling she got from it was familiar yet dangerous so she attacked without hesitation. Unfortunately, her attack was easily blocked as the rat vanished and was replaced by a tall silver-haired man who held her sword with two fingers. "Still hot-blooded." The girl withdrew her sword and snorted, clearly angry to see her attack fail so miserably. She stared at Arthur and noticed a few changes, for example, the absence of the chains and the scar on his eye. ''He seems to be way stronger than before.'' Though their exchange was short, just from looking at him, Jian Si knew Arthur was several times stronger than five years ago. "So you finally remembered that you have a student?" While shrugging, Arthur replied "I was busy." The girl snorted again and resumed swinging her sword, totally ignoring Arthur. Since he still had ample free time, he sat cross-legged a distance away from her and entered meditation. *** It has been exactly one month since Lucy started training under Losha. Her cultivation was sealed so that she doesn''t advance quickly and ruin herself, or so said her master. She still wasn''t able to create the 6th lotus, however, her control over the Pure Yin Physique significantly increased. She was able to unleash 60% of its power. Furthermore, Losha bestowed her a powerful movement technique perfectly compatible with her. This movement technique was extremely hard to learn but granted her many benefits. Her soft white saber also received an upgrade and became more powerful and suited for a Sovereign. It became shorter but sharper, plus, Lucy was given yet another technique. This technique was actually Saber Arts. It is called The Dancing Flame Saber Arts and the requirements to learn it are very steep. In fact, Even after training for a whole month, coupled with her talent, Lucy was only able to reach minor success in it. Nonetheless, it suited her magma and fire attributes and greatly strengthened them. Her arsenal grew bigger and she was getting stronger by the day. Losha, who was in her workshop, busy fixing Makaze, was sweating profusely as the temperature of the room was extremely high, moreover, she was mentally and physically tired. To fix Makaze was no easy feat, in fact, it was much harder than she expected. Fortunately, she had the necessary materials to repair it but the energy needed was humongous, to say the least. Losha thought it''ll take her a week at most but even after one month, she was still not over. ''I''m finally done with this damn blade!'' She was almost done repairing the silent blade, which started acting strange since yesterday. Its sheath was releasing an absurd amount of black flames while Makaze was vibrating intensely as it emanated a strange and ominous dark fog that was forcefully repelled by Losha. Even someone as strong as her, was starting feeling anxious after feeling the rising pressure of the Dark Blade. She even hesitated a few times and wanted to stop repairing it. Once the final touch is done, she feared something will happen, not her but to the workshop and the whole floating mountain. The blade was getting restless and a fourth of the workshop was started to get corrupted by the spreading Dark Magic. The blacksmith''s body turned into a diamond, shining as she pressed her hand on the dark blade and banged her hammer on its sharp edges. Time slowly passed but to Losha''s surprise, the hand that was holding down the blade became bloodied and jet black. The darkness inside the diamond was dreadful and wanted to spread to all her body. Formless Nether Energy appeared from her Dantian to her hand, pushing out the Dark Magic. The process was incredibly slow, startling Losha. ''Just what the hell is this blade?'' Even a Cursed Sword wouldn''t make her anxious like this. The combination of the blade and Dark Magic was simply too dangerous. It bypassed her Physique and even injured her just by touching it. She couldn''t even imagine what it''ll do if it was wielded by Arthur. The hammer kept banging on the blade for a few more hours before finally stopping. No more a broken blade, Makaze emitted a loud howl that reverberated to all directions, startling Lucy and Losha. The surroundings of the floating mountain turned into absolute darkness, blocking everyone''s view. In a split second, Losha''s world was replaced by encroaching darkness that made someone like her helpless. "What''s going on?" "You did a good job." A cold voice rang in her ears. Just as the voice was heard, the darkness vanished and everything returned to normal. The usually composed Losha was dumbstruck, she even forgot to breathe as she stared at the person standing in front of her. Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. Her eyes contained shock and fear, even a reincarnator like herself couldn''t lift a finger in front of the person in front of her. He was clad in jet black armor and had a thick black sword on his back. A skin as white as snow and two jet black pupils, even his hair was completely dark. He was the epitome of strength, the most powerful existence in the three universes, the Nameless Knight. The woman didn''t even dare speak, someone of her status obviously knew the Nameless Knight. Not only she knew him, she knew what he''s capable of.. Though she had a Fate Contract with Arthur, she wasn''t courageous enough to stop the knight from taking Makaze, if he wished to do so. Someone like him could finish her before she could make a move, the disparity was just too big. She''s feared by many and even Overgods don''t dare to anger her yet in this multiverse, none dares to talk back or provoke the Nameless Knight. Whatever he wants, he gets, fortunately, he usually disappears for a long time, whenever he appears, everyone becomes docile. The strong factions or powerful individuals become obedient like children, like ''X'', for example. "A favor must be paid back. Just like he gave me my blade, I shall hand him his." The Nameless Knight uttered those words before grabbing Makaze, which wanted to rebel and attack this man only to become motionless, unable to resist the hand that was grabbing it. Just like he appeared, the knight vanished without leaving trace, leaving a pale-faced Losha, who fell on her butt as her knees grew weak. Chapter 382 - 333 : Lisa After conversing with Jian Si for a while, Arthur came to know of the whereabouts of the princess. As he expected, she was abducted by Vyncent''s sect, the Golden Earth Sect. They were once a powerful sect but after a fallout with several other sect, they were half-destroyed, dropping to a second-grade power. They still had powerful individuals but it shouldn''t be hard for Arthur to retrieve the girl, who''s still alive, fortunately. The reason several sects ganged up against the Golden Earth Sect is due to its sinister techniques. They require young females, virgins especially, which are sacrificed in some kind of a ritual to strengthen the disciples there. They require an astronomical amount of females so they began hoarding mortal cities and towns, abducting every female. This angered the local powers which forced it to submission. Right now, the sect secretly sends its disciples to kidnap a few females, any exposure is met with death sentence. No matter the cost, they must not let anyone know of their mission. This explains why Vyncent and his comrades were especially careful. Speaking of that young man, Arthur was wondering if he''s still alive. He''s one sly bastard, however, he had to admit that he''s an interesting fellow. Last time, he didn''t hesitate to turn tail and flee when he saw him. Since Arthur was busy fighting an elder from the Golden Earth Sect, he couldn''t chase after the swift young man. Vyncent knew when to act and when to be obedient, he only believes in survival and has no loyalty whatsoever. Furthermore, his special technique is fascinating, to say the least. It allowed him to melt into the ground and travel with insane speed, it even left Arthur in awe. Syth was still missing and even Cold Sword couldn''t locate him, however, his little sister is a servant in the Golden Earth Sect. Servants are literally slaves which follow every order of the disciples. Not only are they forced to do rough labor work, they are forced to satisfy the sexual desires of any of the disciples. Lisa must have been living miserably ever since she was abducted. Fortunately, she was considered one of the defects so she wasn''t sacrificed in the ritual. "So, why didn''t you go retrieve her?" Arthur coldly stared at Jian Si while expecting an answer. Compared to the Golden Earth Sect, the Mountain Ba Sword sect is a behemoth, even if she were to go knocking at their door and cause trouble, they wouldn''t dare attack her or be discourteous. "The Golden Earth is located far South of the Green-Leaf World, precisely inside of the dangerous zones. Unless you know that place like the back of your hand, you won''t be able to enter." Arthur remained silent as he pondered about what to do. There''s a bit more than two months before Makaze is repaired, or so was the limit as per the conditions of the Fate contract. Although it''s not a powerful sect, there''s bound to be a God Monarch or two inside the sect and that''s while disregarding the Sovereigns. If he had Makaze, he would be confident in annihilating it, unfortunately, he doesn''t. Moreover, Lucy is training so she can''t accompany him. Nonetheless, Arthur still decided to go. If he wanted to escape, none could stop him. Plus, he had Rizaki and the Heavenly Arrows, which can cause absolute destruction. He was strong against large masses, especially with his racial abilities, which allowed him to fool the enemy. Cold Sword noticed Arthur''s silence, she frowned and said "Don''t tell me you plan to go?" Without turning to look at her, Arthur replied "I may not be a good person but I can keep a promise, at least." He truly considered the deceased Human Emperor his friend. He once promised him that he''ll take care of his children if something were to happen. Not only were they kidnapped, Lisa is surely suffering in that sect right now. The ARK showed him that he had 75% chance of retrieving Lisa and leaving alive. The ARK''s calculations took into account all his abilities stats and the speculated cultivation of his enemies. "I will come with you." Seeing her showing a resolute look, Arthur shook his head and mocked "So now you want to go? I don''t need you." Truthfully, seeing her character, Arthur thought that she''ll diligently look for the two missing people. However, seeing the results, he was really disappointed. It seems Jian Si only focused on cultivating and only spared a bit of effort to inquire about Lisa and Syth. "I-it''s not like I could barge in and immediately locate the sect. You have to understand that not everyone is like you." The girl wanted to argue with him only to receive a retort that made her shut her mouth for good. "Still, with your sect''s power. It wouldn''t be that hard to enter that zone and locate the sect." What he said was absolutely true. Cold Sword was never a person who relies on her sect''s influence so she never considered such an option, which left her momentarily speechless. Before she could talk again, Arthur had already disappeared, leaving her alone. After a long while, the girl snorted and mumbled "Hmpf! Syth or whateverˇ­ It''s just a kid! I''ll find him!" ************** At first, Arthur wanted to use Athard''s anger and rage to trick him into thinking that he belongs to the Golden Earth Sect. However, seeing how far the sect is, the Patriarch won''t dispatch a lot of people to track him. Athard was by no means hot-headed, if he were, he would have attacked him the moment he knew he was the culprit. His patience and quietness were surprising and a bit worrying. He was surely plotting something but since Arthur disappeared from his sect, he could only try to locate him. The distance between the Imperial Capital and the Golden Earth Sect is quite big. Even with Arthur''s speed, it''ll take him some time to arrive. As he was in a bit of a hurry, Arthur avoided flying in the air and transformed into a bolt of lightning which flew in a straight line a few centimeters above ground. This yellow bolt of lightning had a speed that made practically unnoticeable. He bypassed a lot of traveling cultivators but they never caught wind of him or heard anything. If he took the speedy Red Spirit Boat in his possession, it would have taken him eight to nine days to arrive. Since Arthur decided to rely on his absolute speed and his special skill which doubled his agility when he''s a bolt of lightning, he arrived in only two days. However, that''s only because he used [Griffin''s Bloody Switch], temporarily converting all of his Strength into Agility. The dangerous zone that''s situated at the South of the Green-Leaf World is called Red Seismic Volcano. It''s the lair of a powerful Snake that lived for thousands of years. Few dare to trespass into its territory, as for the Golden Earth Sect, it was ignored by the snake, for some unknown reason. Arthur stared at the humongous mountain which had black smoke coming from a large hole in its peak. It has been a long time since this volcano erupted, however, last time it did, the damage it did, it caused a fierce earthquake that damaged the whole world. The mountain spanned for a few kilometers and the more you climbed, the higher the temperature. Moreover, Arthur noticed the presence of various monsters that are Fire-oriented. They were dangerous to normal cultivators, especially the few God Beasts that are silently lurking in some cave or underground. Even when he spread his senses in all directions, Arthur was unable to locate the hidden sect. For that reason, he hid inside a strange marked tree and patiently waited. This tree is like a sign and since he doesn''t know how to enter the sect, he''ll find someone who does. Fortunately, the wait wasn''t long at all, a silhouette appeared from the horizon, running straight at the mountain. As he possessed the tree, which has no eyes, Arthur wasn''t able to see this person, however, his Sixth Sense allowed him to immediately guess the person''s identity. Although he was handsome, his current state was strange. He looked rugged, dirt-covered his clothes and he even reeked of blood. This young man was none other than Vyncent. ''It is truly a small world.'' Arthur chuckled as he left the tree and gazed at this familiar face, who turned green then white from fear and surprise. Never did Vyncent think Arthur would suddenly pop in front of him like this. Of course, he never doubted that he''ll come back and raid his sect, however, he never thought it''ll be like this, right now. "S-senior." The young man stuttered as he tried his best to greet Arthur with a friendly smile. His expression was ugly to behold, his smile was forced and looked creepy rather than friendly. Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. "We meet again, Vyncent." The young man chuckled and kept a polite attitude as he asked "W-what brings senior h,here?" Arthur stared back at the young man, trying to read his expression. He could hear Vyncent''s accelerating heartbeat. He was nervous and afraid. He hadn''t heard anything from Arthur for five years and despite knowing that, some day, he''ll become back, he didn''t expect it to be so soon. Fortunately, he had long since prepared himself and swore to never anger or provoke this dangerous man before him. "Obviously because I''m searching for a certain someone." As if expecting to hear that, Vyncent said: "Y-yes yes! I know who you''re looking for." Arthur furrowed his brows when he heard that. Last time he asked, Vyncent said that he didn''t know who or where Lisa was. "Don''t get me wrong, Senior! The girl you''re looking for was indeed abducted by my sect but I only discovered her after returning." "So she''s safe?" Vyncent continuously nodded his head and truthfully answered "Yes! She''s safe and sound. I''ve taken her as my personal servant and she wasn''t the least bit hurt." Chapter 383 - 334 : King of Shadows Vyncent was confused as Arthur kept staring at him. "What are you waiting for? Lead the way." Only then did Vyncent start moving. Unbeknown to him, Arthur, who disappeared, is actually hiding inside his body so he won''t be discovered. The young man followed a very specific path, going in circles and tapping random trees. Only after twenty-minutes did he reach the sect''s territory. The environment changed drastically as Vyncent was transferred from the surface to underground, where a beautiful city made of purely Stones and clay laid before him. It was majestic, to say the least, and from the design to the sturdiness of the buildings, Arthur was sure that this was a legacy of a past power and not the doing of the Golden Earth Sect. This underground area was wide and spanned for at least three kilometers. The buildings slightly resembled Earth''s. They were tall and transformed this place into a literal golden city. In fact, this city didn''t pale in comparison to the Imperial Capital. Arthur, who thought it''s going to be easy feat, started changing his plans and becoming warier. He doesn''t know how the Golden Earth Sect stumbled upon this city or how they set that illusory formation which hid them from the public but one thing is for certain, they aren''t merely lunatics that sacrifice virgin females. Apparently, Vyncent''s status was a bit higher than normal disciples for they treated him politely and wish utmost respect. The young man would glance behind him every now and then, searching for any sign of Arthur, unfortunately, he was met with nothing but air which left him feeling helpless. His cultivation was low so he couldn''t even notice the foreign presence inside his body. Very soon, the young man arrived inside a moderate-sized building. Unlike other top disciples, his residence was empty except of one servant, who wasn''t treated like a servant. As luck would have it, Vyncent, who was expecting to see Lisa, found no one waiting for him, which left him looking around with a sense of foreboding. It is the first time this happens and his reactions were clearly noticed by Arthur, who frowned. Claud, who was also witnessing this, laughed and mocked Arthur. "I told you, wherever you go, problems arise. It isn''t about luck anymore, it''s the machination of Time, Fate, and Death, three of which you tricked." Arthur sighed and came out of Vyncent''s body, startling the latter. The young man tried to keep a composed face as he "Where is she?" Although he knew what the answer is going to be, Arthur still asked, hoping he was wrong. Truth is always harsh, the words that came out of Vyncent''s mouth were like a confirmation of Claud''s words. "Most likely brought to sacrificial altar. The elders asked me to hand over as her Constitution became perfect for a sacrifice but since I refused, they didn''t dare to forcefully take it. I still don''t think they''ll snatch her away like this. The only one capable of doing this is probably the top disciple of our sect." "I don''t want to hear pointless talk. What''s his name and where is he?" Despite his interest in this city and what it hides, Arthur decided to schedule his search for later. His main priority is getting Lisa. If he had Makaze with him, he''d have complete confidence and wouldn''t act as cautious as now. Vyncent already told him that the leader of the sect is a Peak God Monarch. He''s a powerful existence but compared to the still-living ancestor of the Mirage Era Hall, for example, he''s nothing more than an ant. Vyncent pondered for a few seconds before replying "I don''t think he''ll dare to sacrifice her in the sect. He''s probably hiding within the mountain as the Earth Energy is extremely pure and thick, benefiting him greatly and facilitating the sacrifice process. "Isn''t the mountain the territory of the flame snake?" Vyncent nodded while adding "Yes but our sect has an agreement with that lord. It''ll get rid of unwelcome invaders and we''ll provide it with Pure Flame Crystals which greatly strengthen it." ***** In a place called Fountain of Paradise, where everything is peaceful. Nether Energy was abundant in this place and it was breath-taking, to say the least. It''s a small secret Realm that only a few visited over the course of a hundred-thousand year. No one would be lying if they said this place was akin to Heaven. With the healing and sweet water of the rivers to the nutritious fruits that can allow a Mortal to jump to the Spirit Realm. Two figures appeared a distance from a large waterfall. One was clad in jet black armor and the other was a dark-haired woman, who looked around in surprise. "Where are we?" As she saw the peacefulness and calmness of this place, the woman curiously asked the Nameless Knight, whose gaze was focused under the waterfall, precisely on a silhouette which enjoyed the high pressure of the falling water. "We''re here to pick another variable." The silhouette immediately noticed their presence, she stood up and walked up to them. This person was taller than both the knight and the region ruler, she had a perfect body with some apparent muscles. What''s distinctive about her is her white tail and fluffy-looking fox ears. Her pupils were blue, just like the sky, adding more points to her exceptional beauty. The Nameless Knight softly smiled as he said "I assume you know why I''m here?" The region ruler stared at this tall woman in amazement. Despite being she''s the ruler of death and can''t die, she still felt a bit threatened by the other''s formless and mythical aura. Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. Suddenly, the Death Empress looked around in anxiousness as she seemed to sense something. Out of the nothingness, Time Wraiths that were half illusory appeared and flew straight at her with extreme speed. There were fifteen Time Wraiths, however, they stopped fifty meters away from the region ruler as they slowly circled around her while emitting loud and creepy howls. They didn''t dare get close to the death region ruler with the presence of the Nameless Knight, who glanced at them for a second before raising a finger, causing some kind of black whirlpool to appear and instantaneously suck all the Time Wraiths before they could even retaliate. The three didn''t linger any longer, the Nameless Knight waved his hand, disappearing from that heavenly place and taking with him the two other women. ******* Inside a dark and gloomy room, there was a thick and almost nauseating smell of blood. This smell originated from a bloody pool in the center of this room. Several strange candles that had white flames were scattered around the pool. Loud and pitiful cries were coming from a short person that was meditating inside of this pool. Upon a closer look, this short person was actually Saly! Her body was scarred as she screamed loudly due to the agonizing pain she was feeling. Unfortunately for her, each time she began screaming, an overwhelming pressure that caused her even more unimaginable pain would assault her. This pain was followed by this set of words "Didn''t you say you want to get stronger? Spend the time you''re crying and shouting in meditation. Learn the flow of energy, understand the elements and accept the pain because without it, you''re nothing but an empty shell!" A berating voice would resound in this small room, which was devoid of illumination except for the candles, which weren''t meant to illuminate but to strengthen the power of the blood inside the pool. Although she heard him, Saly couldn''t help it as she wailed so loud that her voice became hoarse. Never did she feel such a pain, it was excruciating, to say the least. Even for a tough person like herself, who went through a lot of hardships. This pain was slowly making her crazy. "To become stronger, first hone the mind then train the body." The paled-faced young man who introduced himself as Leiu, sat before the pool, staring at the suffering little girl. Only after a while did he leave the room, heading toward a courtyard where there''s nothing but a few jet black trees. Actually, it could barely be called a courtyard, it resembled a miniature world of darkness that had a sun illuminating it. Leiu calmly strode toward a large wolf that was made from Blue lightning. Astrith''s size grew bigger as red and purple lightning revolved around him, creating a menacing sight. Unfazed and uninterested by such a sight, Leiu said "So you managed to find your way here." "Who are you and what do you want from Saly?" Astrith was visibly angry and hostile toward Leiu. The young man shrugged his shoulder and shifted the topic "Since you''re Arthur''s first real bound companion. I shall summon mine. Defeat it and I''ll answer your questions." Just as he said that, Leiu muttered: "Heed my call, King of Shadows, Milkan!" From within the absolute darkness, a creature of shadows appeared. With a body slightly bigger than Astrith and an appearance that would even make Gods pale with fright. With a body like a lion yet different, a broad back and a black skin. Without even waiting for Astrith to react, Milkan jumped at the wolf and spun his body, hitting him with his tail and sending the lightning wolf flying far, far away. The King of Shadows didn''t just wait there, after landing the first hit, he merged with the non-existent shadows of this world and appeared next to Astrithˇ­ Chapter 384 - 335 : The Local Snake 1 "Master, you must kill that snake!" The Earth Spirit, who merged with the newborn Spirit, talked for the first time in a long time. Ever since it secured its life and became much stronger by becoming a Tri-Spirit, it became satisfied and no longer tried to cause trouble to Arthur. In fact, it already acknowledged him as its master. Hearing it talk, Arthur was startled before saying ''Why?'' Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. "If it can rule such a dangerous place then it must be old. It must have lived for more than twenty thousand years. If I can absorb its core, not only would it strengthen me, it can significantly raise your cultivation." Arthur remained silent, pondering about to do. It''s quite risky to try and kill the snake, if that''s even possible. The lord of this place is surely strong, strong enough to make the leader of the Golden Earth Sect offer him crystals for protection. However, the rewards are enticing, to say the least. He had been stuck in the God Realm for long enough. He needs to rush to Sovereign Realm before doom comes knocking on his door. Upon becoming a Sovereign, he has two Divine Beasts to possess along with the ancestors of the Mirage Era Hall and that''s excluding the other normal corpses laying in his storage. His power would spike and the probability of defending against the White Specter Clan will increase. "It is a good opportunity but don''t rush your decision. Get the girl first." Claud joined the conversation but didn''t much. After uttering such words, he went back to being silent. As for Arthur, he thought things through and decided to follow Claud''s advice. After all, his main priority should be Lisa. Once he brings her into a safe place, he''ll go back to kill the local snake, hopefully. "I should be able suppress it with Gravity Magic and Death Storm. However, it''ll be up to you to kill it." The Earth Spirit already planned everything out. Using its powerful Gravity Magic, it''ll limit the snake''s movement and weakened periodically with Death Magic. Since it''ll be busy doing two things at once, Arthur will have to rely on his arsenal to finish the enemy. Vyncent, who watched the silent Arthur with a bit of fear and confusion, chose to be quiet and wait for the other party to talk. "Where do you think this ''top disciple'' you spoke of is." Vyncent took but a moment to give an answer: "It should be in the vicinities of the mountain. As I said earlier, the Earth Energy here is pure and thick, going further away will only limit the effects of the sacrifice." Arthur nodded his head and added: "Alright let''s go find him. If things get problematic, you''ll bring her to the capital and hide their, understood?" Before Vyncent could reply or react, decaying grey energy emanated from Arthur''s hand and entered the young man''s body. It felt as if an invisible hand of death that was grasping his heart, ready to burst it at any given moment. Feeling the presence of Death inside his body, Vyncent''s body momentarily trembled and looked at Arthur with a begging expression "Understood?" Vyncent is a person who places his own survival above everything else. Arthur had to make sure that Lisa is safe and the only way to do that is to threaten him so that if he dies, he dies with her. No matter where he is, with but a thought from Arthur, Vyncent die. Very soon, the two of them left the majestic city and headed toward the big mountain. Thanks to Vyncent, they bypassed the illusion formation and started searching for any signs of life. Vyncent said that Arthur would feel strong fluctuation of Energy when they''re closer to the place of sacrifice. Relying on his Sixth Sense and map, Arthur searched every nook and cranny. The base of the mountain was wide and the area was big and dangerous even for Divine Beings. The God Beasts hiding there are extremely powerful and threatening. If not for Arthur accompanying him, Vyncent wouldn''t dare tread into this place. In fact, in more than one occasion, they would meet a Fire God Beast which will frighten poor lil'' Vyncent. To his absolute astonishment, before it could even leap at them, the God Beast would either lifelessly fall on the ground or turn into a bloody mist. He didn''t know how Arthur did it, but it was a swift and silent death. After one hour, more or less, the duo climbed half the mountain, which led to their encounters with the God Beasts to drastically increase. Obviously, they were no threat to Arthur, who finally managed to sense something unusual. At first, it was just a small feeling, however, the Earth Spirit, which is much more sensitive than him, confirmed his suspicions. The Earth Spirit described it as a cyclone of Pure Earth Energy rising to the heavens. It was strengthening by the sect and it the place of the sacrifice was concealed by a powerful formation. Arthur suddenly halted his steps and said "You hide here. With my signal, you''ll take her and immediately run." Vyncent nodded his head several times and melted in the ground. "Be careful, the snake is overseeing the sacrifice too. I think it''s beneficial for it too." ''Tsk!'' Hearing this, Arthur clicked his tongue in annoyance and disappeared into nothingness. Using the Space Bender title, he entered a space dimension and approached the formation. When he was close enough to see it with the [The All Seeing Eyes], he raised both of his hands, both of which emitted countless black lightning streaks that instantly enveloped the whole formation. It took the Demonic Lightning fifteen seconds to completely shatter the formation and showing Arthur a marvelous sight. The cyclone was bigger than the whole mountain, it dispersed the clouds and absorbed the Earth Energy in the surroundings. The shattering of the formation alerted both the snake and the person who kidnapped Lisa. Arthur didn''t waste any second, the moment he got rid of the formation, he flew straight at the disciple, arriving next to him almost instantaneously. Though this top disciple of Golden Earth Sect was decently strong, being a 1st Grade God, he was no match for Arthur, who was like a reaper. By the time the top disciple, who was actually a man in his twenties with long and golden hair, turned around to see what''s going on, a Dark Spear already impaled him on the ground. He was dead within a second, which frightened the company he had. Actually, this crafty disciple didn''t only kidnap Lisa but also several others who are perfect for a mass sacrifice. If it had succeeded, he would have become a 7th or 8th Grade God, which would make him the strongest youngster in the Green-Leaf Realm. The energy cyclone, which lost its controller, became chaotic and on the verge of dispersion. "I think I can absorb it but I can''t be disturbed." The Earth Spirit stated its intention and began channeling its powers. Like a vacuum, the golden Earth Energy was absorbed inside of Arthur. The first dose made him breakthrough instantaneously, however, that was only the beginning. The problem was staying still and not disturbing the Earth Spirit, which is something easier said than done. Arthur already spotted Lise and other girls. Half of them died and the other half were greatly weakened and unable to even lift a finger. Like a ghost, Vyncent appeared from the ground and held Lisa before disappearing again, all in less than five seconds. As for the other girls, they wanted to beg him but he disappeared too quickly. Arthur couldn''t sacrifice a lot of energy to save each and every one of them but he was still able to give them a slight push. With a wave of his hand, he mass-teleported them at the base of the mountain. It''s up to their luck if they survive this disaster or not. Literally a second after the girls were teleported away, the whole mountain violently shook. Arthur could feel a pair of venomous eyes stare at him from the peak of the mountain. Despite his immunity to fire, he could feel his body heating up. A strange cubic was floating right next to him, it madly absorbed the earth energy. This was the Tri-Spirit, who left its master''s body. He has to resist the snake and being inside his consciousness while he''s fighting isn''t optimal. "I will need a minute, at most!" The Earth Spirit said as he felt a looming presence cover the whole mountain. A gigantic shadow appeared from within the volcano at the peak of the mountain. With a length of over 200m and a thickness of 30m. The snake was frightening and imposing, the pressure it emanated was overwhelming, causing Arthur to remember his fight against the Divine Beasts. His cultivation has reached the 5th grade of God Realm and it showed no signs of stopping. With the absence of Makaze and the support of the Tri-Spirit, Arthur has to rely solely on himself to kill the snake. Escaping from such an entity is possible but he can''t just leave the Tri-Spirit, moreover, he has to buy sometime for Vyncent so that he can distance himself from this dangerous zone. The hundreds of God Beasts hiding in this mountain scattered in all directions, not wanting to suffer from the snake''s wrath. Two wings appeared behind Arthur, one as beautiful as an angel''s and the other similar to a bat''s. He flew in the air, facing the snake directly. The two stared at each other for a few seconds before the large beast opened its mouth and spat a sea of flames that covered the whole sky. Chapter 385 - 336 : The Local Snake 2 The flames scorched everything but were unable to directly destroy Arthur''s Dark Barrier. He crushed two of the support talisman he hand on his sleeve. One boosting his movement speed and the other increasing his attack speed. Without resorting to useless skills, Arthur immediately attacked with [Dark Rain], which is a combination of a hundred Heavenly Arrows. Obviously, individually, they''re weaker than a normal Heavenly Arrow, however, their might cannot be underestimated when they strike together. The sea of flames was pierced by countless dark arrows that descended on the snake, hitting its body and causing it to fall from the sky. Seeing the minimal damage such a powerful skill did, Arthur wasn''t fazed. The snake opened its mouth again and spat a weird-looking fireball that was red in color. Fortunately, its speed was slow, however, its target wasn''t Arthur but his spirit. Forced to face head-on, Arthur stretched both of his hands and flapped both of his wings, which started shining with a a white and grey light. A lance of life and a lance of death appeared in his left and right hand, respectively. He unhesitatingly threw the two of them at the red fireball. The two flying lances, which had two opposing attributes, rotating in a circle until they fused. Soon, the result of this fusion clashed with the large fireball. Arthur''s Dark Barrier shattered along with his second layer of defense, which was a watery surface. He hastily grabbed the space in front of him and forcefully pulled. It was like pulling a blanket, he diverted the direction of the destruction, which was initially going towards him. The clash happened too to close him and he can''t afford to move for it''ll disturb the Earth Spirit. The Dark-Star Strengthening technique boosted his defense and protected him from any serious damage. He received a few injuries which were healed in less than two seconds. Like a shooting dark star, Arthur flew straight at the snake and viciously punched it. He used the [Heavenly Mountain Fist] and [Dark Burst], causing some of the red and tough scales of the snake to bend and crack. Some blood oozed from the injury and the big body of the snake, which wasn''t fast enough to react, was pushed a hundred meters. The injury wasn''t severe and with the big body of the snake, it was like a needle''s stab, painful but not threatening. However, Arthur has just began. [Eternium] and [Transmutation] were activated, boosting his stats. His speed surpassed lightning as he became illusory, circling around the large body of the snake and bombarding it with kicks and punches. Only after fifteen seconds did the snake retaliate as it coiled it body and loudly hissed. Arthur, who suddenly backed away, felt his body plummeting and his balance lost. The gravity increased by several levels and his speed was greatly reduced. Not only that, the snake suddenly straightened its long body and dived from the sky, planning to crash into the Tri-Spirit and destroy everything in its way. Seeing this, Arthur''s paled as he wasn''t sure if he could forcefully stop the snake. Sure, given enough time, he can slowly kill it, however, to send it flying when it has such a strong defense and large body, it''s a bit far-fetched. As it left a trail of flames behind it, the snake''s shadow covered a third of this mountain. With no choice but to rely on pure Strength, Arthur appeared in front of the snake, with only a small distance separating them. He activated [Griffin''s Bloody Switch] more than five times, converting all his Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity, Vitality, and Agility to Strength. As he had to resort to using skills like [Blood for Blood] which ignored a skill''s cooldown on the cost of permanent Mental Power, Arthur''s cultivation halted for a second before it continued leaping grades. His right fist started shining with a bright golden light as he opened his hand, showing an illusory golden palm, which was incredibly small compared to the enormous body of the flame snake. A palm that had over ten billion strength behind it, as one would expect, the might of such an attack wasn''t simple. The impact between the snake and the palm caused a shock wave that traveled for thousands of miles, frightening all the cultivators and even the fleeing Vyncent. There was a hidden silhouette, which was silently staring at the fight between Arthur and the snake. He was the blind man from Black Rose. The more he witnessed what''s happening, the more amazed he became. Upon seeing the powerful shockwave, which caused someone like him to back away a few steps, he started feeling a bit of fear from Arthur. "Indeed, I wasn''t strong enough when I decided to follow him." He had been stalking Arthur for some time now. He couldn''t catch up to him when he was traveling to this place but since he kind of guessed his destination, he wasn''t worried that he''ll lose him. [Unparalleled Golden Palm] was the strongest martial technique in Arthur''s arsenal. Moreover, his mastery in it reached perfection, which made it more domineering. Unlike the damage done previously, this attack of Arthur''s was able to send the snake flying in the air as large volumes of blood gushed out of its body. Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. Although he managed to cause considerable damage to his enemy, Arthur''s palm was shaking ever-so-slightly. Again, he sacrificed Mental Power to convert all his stat points into Intelligence. With such a mind-numbing amount of intelligence, Arthur activated Rizaki. Its purpose wasn''t to injure the snake but to buy some time as there were only a few seconds left before the Earth Spirit is done. The heat from the snake and the raging volcano suddenly vanished and was replaced by a chilling wind that lasted for a few seconds before the whole mountain turned blue. Ice covered the trees and the flying Snake, who was frozen-mid air. The old man, whose attention was focused on the fight, never ceased to be bewildered. Rizaki''s effects reached him, causing him to feel an extreme coldness that almost froze his bones. If not for activating his Nether Energy to drive out this coldness, he would have met the same fate as the snake. The mountain and the snake remained frozen for exactly six seconds and by the time the ice shattered, the golden cyclone disappeared as it was fully absorbed by the the Tri-Spirit. "Allow me to assist you." Arthur''s cultivation reached the Peak of God Realm, only a small step away from becoming a Sovereign. The spirit entered Arthur''s consciousness and immediately initiated its assault. Like Arthur, the enraged snake, which was just about to attack Arthur, felt a sudden heaviness as its body rapidly fell from the sky. The Gravity it was subjugating Arthur to was negated by the Tri-Spirit. As its body heavily crashed into the mountain, an enormous, almost illusory grey tornado that slowly spun, appeared above the snake, causing it to wail in agony as spat large amounts of blood. Arthur continued the combo by sending a 300m-long Dark Heavenly Arrow, which was the strongest Heavenly Arrow he ever created as it was conjured by using more ten billion points in Intelligence. The Heavenly Arrow flew straight at the snake, which created some sort of a flame shield that defended its front. The arrow hit the shield and slowly but surely corrupted it. Arthur didn''t remain there to watch, he waved his hand, unleashing countless small Void Mouths that ate the flame shield and allowed the arrow to hit the snake, causing a large and bloody hole to appear in its body. Desperate and angry at Arthur, the snake ferociously shook its body and hastily slithered to the peak of the mountain and entered the raging volcano. Arthur didn''t follow it but wasn''t going to abandon a heavily prey either. If he could obtain its crystal, he''ll become a Sovereign. The whole mountain shook, trees were uprooted or destroyed. The volcano erupted and caused an ear-deafening explosion which caused the earth to track. From within the volcano, the snake appeared, totally unscathed as its body was covered in boiling magma, it grew bigger as it hissed at Arthur in anger. Arthur used [Assault of Darkness], entrapping the strengthened snake into a world of darkness and increasing its vulnerability to magic. After buying himself ten seconds, Arthur''s eyes shone with blue light as he slowed time and started casting his skill. White thunder twirled around him, the thunderclaps were loud and deafening. Slowly but surely, the white thunder started materializing. Just as the ten seconds passed, a white dragon made of pure white thunder was facing the snake. The Tri-Spirit acted quickly as thick dark chains sprung from the earth and wrapped themselves around the snake, momentarily immobilizing it. Though the snake tried to use its magma to melt the chains, its attempts were futile. The lightning dragon roared loudly as it dived at the bound snake. It didn''t unleash any special attack, it literally used its body to crash into the snake, causing the Godly White Thunder to cause monstrous damage. Arthur coughed a bit of blood, nonetheless, he continued to attack as he appeared next to the snake and stopped time again. The snake was severely injured, he just needs to poke where it hurt to end it once and for all. He stretched his left hand which unleashed an absurd amount of death energy. His hand became creepy and rotten as it fiercely held the scale of the snake. Arthur used one of the deadly properties of Death Magic, withering. The hot scales became withered and in a few seconds, it turned into ash. Just like that, the withering was like a festering wound, stretching to all of the snake''s body and killing it. The beast wriggled its body to get rid of Arthur, who remained stubborn and never let go. In less than twenty seconds, the snake lifelessly fell on the ground. Arthur didn''t wither its whole body so he can possess it and obtain the life crystal in its head. Chapter 386 - 337 : Celestial Body ''It''s finally dead.'' Arthur stored the corpse in his storage and disappeared from that area, even the nearby old man who watched the whole fight, was startled as he suddenly lost track of Arthur. No one would expect Arthur to transform into an insignificant sprout deep underground. He spent every last bit of effort to reduce his stats and reduce his presence. Not even the ancestor of the Mirage Era Hall discovered him, so it isn''t surprising that the blind man couldn''t find him. Actually, Arthur didn''t know that he was being watched, he only did that because the fight attracted too much attention. He could feel several gazes belonging to the elders of the Golden Earth Sect focus on him. They just didn''t dare join the fight. He didn''t suffer any serious frontal attack but creating that Thunder Dragon and using the withering effect of the Death Magic exhausted him. Fortunately, his recovery is abnormally high. Others would need a few days to a week to recover but half a day or less is more than enough for him. The only thing that''ll take a day to recover is his Mental Power. As he hid deep underground while possessing a plant, Arthur instructed the Tri-Spirit to drill the ground and create a concealed cave. The spirit did as told, it quickly transformed the rubbles and dirt into a suitable and neat room that was a kilometer underground. Enveloping this room was a jet black cube that blocked any external energy so unless someone personally drilled the ground from the surface and found this cube, they won''t be able to feel its presence or locate Arthur. Once he was sure he was absolutely safe. Arthur left the plant and sat cross-legged. His left hand shone with a bright light which traveled to all parts of his body, healing everything in just a few seconds. Exactly one minute later, his body was back to normal, without any sign of injuries. Life Magic is the strongest Healing Magic, even better than Light Magic. However, it is extremely rare, in fact, only Angels and a few powers in the System Universe can use such a heavenly Magic. Thanks to the Book of Eternity, Arthur can use Life Magic but he can''t fully control it yet. After meditating for an hour or so, Arthur entered the ARK. He ignored the sitting Claud and started testing his strength. His stats rose significantly as he reached the peak of God Realm. "My stats are stronger than a God Monarch''s so how come they can face me and not lose?" Curious, Arthur asked the relaxed Claud. The Prophecy Holder tapped a white table as he was absent-minded. Only when Arthur''s voice rang in his ears did he snap out of his daze and reply "Pretty simple. God Monarchs or even Sovereigns can strengthen their body using Nether Energy. Of course, they won''t be as durable as your body, which is strong even without the use of Energy. If your Dantian is destroyed, although you''ll lose your cultivation and a bit of stats, you''ll still be extremely strong. The God Monarch Realm is just the first step to acquire a Celestial Body. As for what celestial Bodies are, it''s a body that transcends all the limits. Any Overgod will have a Celestial Bodies. Moreover, if one had a Physique, their celestial body will be much, much stronger than normal ones. That''s why people with a Physique are looked favorably upon." As if he knew what Arthur is going to ask, Claud added: "Yes, if you obtain a Celestial body then you''ll be unrivaled amongst the Overgods. You won''t even need to fear ''X''. However, reaching the Overgod Realm is easier said than done. After all, the number of Overgods in the Cloud Sea Universe isn''t more than a hundred, or two, at most." ˇ­ A few miles away from the destroyed mountain, the blind man, shrouded in a strange grey fog, looked at the mountain peak, which existed no more, and sighed. "I''m glad I didn''t attack him back then. Such a valuable person shouldn''t be provoked." The blind old man, Krauk, was certain that his boss will be more than pleased to hear about Arthur. Such monstrous strength, deadly attacks and Stealth skills, it was a suitable candidate for one of the three vacant chairs of Black Rose. ˇ­ Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. In the Imperial Capital, precisely in the crown prince''s study, Isadore tapped his finger on the table as he read some documents that were delivered to him just a minute ago. A man in his thirties patiently waited for the prince to give his opinion and tell him what to do about this situation. Wrath, who always accompanied the prince, was playing with a blood red dagger, uninterested about all the scattered papers. After thoroughly reading everything, Isadore frowned and said "The local snake is dead, the mountain is destroyed and the Golden Earth Sect is exposed." He paused and closed his eyes for a few seconds before resolutely saying "It''s time for a purge. Furthermore, send an investigation team, I want more information about the man who killed the snake!" The middle-aged man, who was actually the minister of defense, bowed and hastily left the room. The golden-haired young man glanced at Wrath and asked "What do you think? A dragon made of white thunder and powerful Ice Magic." The dark-haired man stopped playing with his dagger and replied "I think it''s the Godly Thunder. It''s been a long time since I''ve seen it. As far as I know, only one faction uses this type of Thunder and it hails from the Heaven and Hell Universe." "Do you think he came because of the Space Dragon?" Before Wrath replied, Isadore shook his head and mumbled "No no, that shouldn''t be possible. Moreover, why would he bother killing the flame snake?" After a short while, the crown prince chuckled and added: "An interesting variable entered the game." He seriously stared at Wrath and warned him "If you happen to meet this man in the future, no matter what happens, don''t make an enemy out of him." He knew Wrath''s rush character but he was loyal. Isadore was hesitating as he knew that this dark-haired man is a battle freak, nonetheless, he always listens to his orders. ˇ­ Less than a day passed since the prince''s team started investigation Arthur. Isadore listened to the report of a short young man as he flipped through several documents. "His name is Arthur MoonStar. Apparently, he resided in the Mirage Era Hall for some time. The moment he arrived, the son of the Patriarch died of mysterious causes, however, Athard hired people from Black Rose to find the culprit. Silent Hand Krauk took the job and found the murderer, who is Arthur. Around a week ago, Arthur disappeared from the Mirage Era Hall Sect and it is rumored he traveled South." As he listened to the report, Isadore knitted his brow and asked "Why didn''t Krauk act?" The young man, who investigated everything about Arthur, replied: "Athard hired him to find the culprit, killing him isn''t part of the job. Moreover, Arthur arrived to the capital accompanied by a woman, who disappeared and is nowhere to be found." "When did he arrive exactly?" "28 days ago. He entered the capital with the silver-haired woman and Shu Ru. They went to Miss Losha''s weapon shop." Isadore nodded his head and waved his hand, dismissing the young man and his comrades. The Crown Prince read the documents about Arthur again and again. Suddenly, he seemed to have figured something as he remembered what Wrath said. Isadore glanced at the snoring middle-aged man not far away from him and smiled. ''They went to a blacksmith. Arthur didn''t have his sword with him when he visited the Mirage Era Hall Sect, so it''s probably being fixed by Losha. It''s said that Losha Alpenwatcher has one of the nine Divine Swords. The Dark Blade and the Divine Sword are hostile to each other, which caused some friction. What Wrath felt is the outburst of Evil Wind! Nonetheless, the absence of Makaze confirms that the blacksmith and Arthur struck a deal. The mysterious woman who accompanied him is probably with Losha. But why did he go to the Mirage Era Hall and why travel far south just to kill a snake? It''s contradictory to your previous actions, why would you purposely attract attention? What is your motive, Arthur MoonStarˇ­'' Chapter 387 - 338 : Divine Herald Back in Losha''s training ground, Lucy, who was currently meditating and pushing the Nine Star Yin Technique to its limits, suddenly opened his eyes. The sixth lotus was still illusory, however, the moment she opened her eyes, the lotus materialized and became fully material, circling above Lucy along with the other five. Moreover, half of the seventh lotus abruptly appeared, startling both the master and the disciple. Lucy glanced at her hands then mumbled: "Arthur broke throughˇ­" The sudden increase in strength was due to the rise of Arthur''s stats, which greatly affected hers. Upon checking her Status Window, she was shocked to see her initial stats almost tripled. Losha, who has been carefully watching Lucy, felt the burst of energy released from the latter''s body. Just like Arthur, the sudden increase in stats caused Lucy to breakthrough to a Fusion Sovereign despite her efforts in stopping her speedy advancement. "With six lotuses and your Physique, I don''t think there''s any God Monarch that can threaten you but be careful of people with Physique, even if they have a cultivation lower than yours. There are Physiques or techniques that can counter you quite easily, like Soul attacks, for example." Losha was aware that Lucy lacked some sort of treasure that can protect her soul. Arthur had Curtis, who can defend against anything that invades his consciousness, however, Lucy was vulnerable to such lethal attacks. Unfortunately, Losha didn''t have any treasure that can protect her disciple''s soul but she still informed Lucy about the location of a powerful artifact that can significantly increase the power of her soul. ********* Arthur initiated his breakthrough only after a day passed since his fight with the snake. It was enough for him to stabilize his foundation. Inside that room, which became cozy and decorated, Arthur took out the large body of the snake and retrieved the crystal in its head. It was the size of a human head and pretty heavy. It had an astronomical amount of Fire and Earth Energy, enough to make him break through to the Sovereign Realm. Once he becomes a Sovereign, he can possess the two leaders Divine Beasts and the two ancestor bodies he stole from the Mirage Era Hall Sect. There''s also the snake''s body and a few others which were stashed in his storage. The boost in stats he''ll receive will be quite significant so Claud advised him to take things slowly and try to get used to his new power instead of heading toward the Imperial Capital. Lisa should be safe for now as Vyncent is guarding her, however, knowing his dogshit luck, anything can happen. ˇ­ Arthur put the large crystal in front of him as he sat cross-legged. He stretched both of his hands and activated the Dark Anguish Technique. From both of his palms, which were a few inches above the red crystal, two black whirlpools appeared. They spun ever-so-slowly yet they caused the calm air in this underground room to become turbulent. The Nether Energy became chaotic as it was forcefully pulled into the two whirlpools. The crystal was being sucked dry by the two whirlpools as their absorption power only intensified the more time passed. Arthur could feel his Dantian emit a strange dark light that stretched to all parts of Meridians. Like the sound of shattering glass, the barrier broke and his cultivation rose after ten or so minutes. The crystal also broke into countless little pieces which quickly turned into ash. Instead of possessing the lifeless corpses, Arthur first entered his consciousness and searched for a blood-red cocoon that emitted a dangerous decaying energy. Using the strong healing power of the Life Energy, he started emanating a blinding white light which illuminated the dark and starry sky, which is his consciousness. Despite his extremely sky-high stats, Arthur spent five continuous days doing the same thing, he didn''t even stop for a second. Only when the cocoon cracked, revealing what''s inside, did Arthur stop and broke into a soft smile. "Welcome back." A youth with a short red hair who wearing red clothes stepped out of the cocoon and politely bowed whilst saying "I thank thee for thy help, master." Just as Swain appeared, a streak of light flew from afar and materialized itself as a white-haired youth. The new arrival was equally handsome but the moment he started speaking, you could only hear vulgar words "Fuck! Your little ass finally recovered. Took you long enough, dipshit!" This was none other than the humanoid form of Midolf. Swain glanced at Midolf for a second before clicking his tongue in annoyance, obviously displeased by the presence of this creature of life. "It seems master managed to reunite with Miss Lucy. My sincere congratulations." Swain bowed again then waved his hand, to which an illusory large figure appeared next to him. Upon a closer look, you would see a bone lizard with a long tail that burned with black flames. This was Randuin, the final piece which will allow Swain to attain his final form, Radolf. Midolf didn''t seem angry after seeing Swain''s reaction. He loudly laughed then proudly stated "Now we two motherfuckers are back together, we''re gonna do a lot of ass-kicking, am I right or am I right? Hahahahahahaha" Unlike the respectful and non-talkative Swain, Midolf was pretty vulgar and nonchalant even when facing his master, Arthur. "You came back at the perfect time. Pretty soon, I''m going to need your help, both of you." ˇ­ Once Arthur was done healing Swain, he left his consciousness and returned to the room, which was expanded so it could fit the white tiger''s body. The body of the Divine Beast was severely injured and didn''t emit the threatening pressure from before, however, it still looked frightening. After readying himself, Arthur transformed into a black whirlpool which quickly entered the tiger''s corpse. Notifications from the System appeared in front of Arthur, informing him of the new changes and additions. You possessed the White Tiger (Divine Beast)! You obtained a new title : Holder of the Divine : You deal 25% more damage to any Divine Beast. You gained a new skill: [White Shadow](Passive): While possessing the body of the White Tiger, your Agility is doubled. You gained a new skill: [Divine Resistance] : The user gains 50% resistance to all kinds of crowd control skills. You gained a new skill: [The Golden Eyes]: If the user witnesses any skill or technique, he has a chance of copying it. The % depends on the stat difference between the user and the target. The skill [The Golden Eyes] fused with [The All Seeing Eyes]: [Eyes Of Tranquility]: The user can stop or slow time as well as copy skills or techniques. The user can copy up to five skills or technique : 0/5 If the user copies more than five techniques, the sixth one will replace the first copied ability. The user can see more information about the target. Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. The user can see through all kinds of illusion or transformation skills. 99% chance to succeed. All past effects of [The All Seeing Eyes] are still active. You obtained a new skill(active):[Barrier of the West]: The user can create a golden barrier that absorb 80% of the incoming damage. Can only be used when possessing a Divine Beast. Cost: 100m Nether Energy/s Warning ; Cooldown cannot be negated by [Blood for Blood] You gained a new skill (Active): [Superior Dissolving Acid][Max Lv]: The user can use a strong acid that can melt everything in its way. Anything Energy-based is ineffective against the acid. Due to the user''s abundance of Poison-type skills, [Superior Dissolving Acid] fused with 278 acid-related skills =>[Death Acid][Max Lv](Active): The user spits a lethal acid that can melt everything. Anything Energy-based is ineffective against the acid. Range : 200m Cost : 20m Mana/s. 10m Nether Energy/s. 75 Mental Power/s You gained a new skill (Active): [Divine Recovery]: White flames will cover the user, recovering all of his Health in five seconds. Cost : None Cooldown: 1 month. Warning ; Cooldown cannot be negated by [Blood for Blood] You gained a new skill(Active): [White Blur]: The user turn illusory, which will make him bypass any attack (Physical, Magical, Soul, or Mental attack). Lasts for three seconds Cost: 2000 Mental Power Cooldown : 10 days. Warning ; Cooldown cannot be negated by [Blood for Blood] ..... The motionless body of the White Tiger, which was in a rough state, healed almost instantaneously. The Divine Beast woke up from its long slumber, its golden claws grew up, sharper than ever, and its eyes shone with a golden light. ''What a refreshing feeling!'' As he possessed the White Tiger, coupled with his new stats, Arthur could clearly the difference between earlier and now. His sense became much stronger, he even felt several strong presences in the surface. After a minute or so, Arthur left the body and took out the Vermilion Bird. You possessed the Vermilion Bird (Divine Beast)! The title : Holder of the Divine has been upgraded to Divine Herald : You deal 30% more damage to Divine Beast. +1% Attack / +1% Defense. Arthur obtained many skills from the bird but only three were outrageously powerful. The first is called [Fire Nirvana] and it allows him to instantly recover to full health if his Health reaches 1% or less. It has a cooldown of two months but it''s still a life-saving skill. The second and third skills are offensives ones, meant to burn his enemies. They are actually a combo, if he used the one, he''ll have to use the other right after it to deal more damage. [Cascading Flames] is an Area of Effect skills that burn the battle area into a world of fire, a pretty classic yet deadly skill. The second skill is [Quiet Flames], it uses the flames unleashed by the first skill to Heal the user(Arthur] and deal massive damage over time to the targets hit by [Cascading Flames], it also raises their vulnerability to fire-based attack, meaning, it decreases their Fire Resistance. Last but not least, Arthur possessed the Ancestors of the Mirage Era Hall and the other corpses in his storage. Chapter 388 - 339 : Invitation Although Arthur obtained a bunch of skills and techniques from the ancestors, the only relevant ones are the formations. All of them were helpful, especially for his future plans. They could strengthen armies, set up a defensive and unbreakable barrier and even some high-grade teleportation formations. As he thoroughly checked the formations, he found the perfect one for the Four Divine Beasts. Now, all that''s left is finding the Leader Azure Dragon and Leader Black Turtle. Arthur sat in meditation as he inhaled and exhaled air, he could feel his senses sharpened to an unimaginable degree. If it could be explained in one word it would be comfortable, he felt too comfortable as if nothing could threaten him. He raised his hand and aimlessly waved it but what seemed like a wave for normal people was actually a hundred waves. The Realm of speed he reached could only be attained by Overgods, especially if he uses the White Tiger body which doubled his agility. Using Yamak''s lightning skill which also doubles his agility will allow him to escape from anything or anyone. TITLE: MEAT GRINDER / SEEKER OF KNOWLEDGE / ONE WITH THE SWORD / ARK HOLDER / LIVE WITH HONOR, DIE WITH GLORY / BREAKER OF CHAINS / HOLDER OF THE DARK BLADE''S OATH / MAD DESTROYER/PSYCHOPATH/DRAGON RIDER / UNSEEN BOND / ONE STALKED BY THE REAPER / DIVINE HERALD Level: ?? Class: Dark ARK Parasite Realm: Little Sovereign - Strength: 8.6B Intelligence: 8.9B Agility: 9.99B Wisdom: 6.6B Vitality: 9.8B Dexterity: 2.19B - Health: 11.1B// Health Regen: 20.1m/s Nether Energy: 6B // Nether Energy Regen: 12m/s(+100%) Mana: 8.1B // Mana Regen: 25m/s Stamina: Infinite /Stamina Regen: ??? ----- Creation: 699 Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. ---- Attack: 7.85B (+35% damage [Dark Flame Ring]) (+20% if Dark Magic is used) (+40% if Makaze is used)(+5% [Warrior''s Cry[LvMax](Passive)][+2% from Breaker of Chains Title] Defense: 5.7B (+25% Damage Reduction) (+5% [Solid [LvMax](passive)] (+10% [Golem''s Wall(LvMax)(Passive)] Magic Defense: 3.9B Soul Defense: 29m --- Enigma abilities : Telekinesis / [Light Operation/ Righteous Death ] / Sixth sense / ARK(Activated) - Mental Power: 20500 --- Elemental Resistances(+) Fire: 100% Darkness: 100% Wind: 35% Water: 75% Earth: 75% Light/holy: 65% Shadow: 30(+20%)% Lightning: 100% Ice: 30% Death : 10% Crowd Control : 50% Life:5% --- Death Count: 1 (2 more to obtain ''Unbound'') --- Possessions (472,051) --- Races: ?Divine Beasts (2) ?Humans (283,028) ?Demons (84,997) ?Beasts (+)(101,528) ?Unique Beasts (2498) ?Mythical beings (1) ***** With only his natural Senses, excluding Sixth Sense of the Sovereign Sense, which are considered basic techniques, Arthur was able to clearly feel the presence of all the people hiding in Golden Earth Sect as well as the sudden invaders. He was even able to gauge their strength, his sense of hearing, smelling, touching, and seeing became so sharp to the point of startling the delighted Arthur. Claud even commented that Overgod aren''t as sensitive as Arthur. It''s true they can enhance their sense by their concentrated and powerful energy but it wouldn''t be as effective as Arthur''s, at most, they''ll feel 10% of what he feels right now. "Even body cultivators will pale in comparison." It is said that body cultivators are sparse but extremely powerful. In fact, a Body cultivator with only the cultivation at the God Realm can compete against a God Monarch. The train their body until it becomes saturated with Nether Energy, every pore will contain a large amount of concentrated Nether Energy. Like that, they''ll be able to break formations, arrays, artifacts, and weapons. Arthur could be considered a Body cultivator but he has an advantage over his peers, it''s that he''s also got powerful long-ranged skills. As he enjoyed the new feeling, Arthur''s ears heard a small sound, almost inaudible. His ears twitched for a moment and when he concentrated and tried to locate the source of this sound, he couldn''t. Arthur activated his Sixth Sense, which had an increased range, and spread to all directions. Ten or so seconds after using his Sixth Sense, he found the anomaly. To his surprise, it was actually Krauk, the blind old man who watched him from afar when he was in the Mirage Era Hall Sect. The old man didn''t seem hostile, nonetheless, he was dangerous. Arthur didn''t know the elder''s intentions and he doesn''t like to be tailed. Seeing that the old man is still here, it must mean that he knows Arthur is still hiding somewhere in this area. Arthur decided to wait until the massacre above is finished then he''ll come out. A group of powerful individuals stormed the Golden Earth Sect and massacred everyone, leaving none alive. The beautiful golden city reeked of blood as its roads were dyed red. It was a gruesome sight which will make anyone frightened. Arthur silently watched this group of individuals which disposed of everyone and left, not even bothering to search for the sect''s treasury. Arthur discovered that this group belonged to the Imperial Family. More precisely, they were part of the Crown Prince''s royal guards. Vyncent is one lucky bastard as the news of his sect will travel reach him very soon. The Golden Earth always used inhuman methods to cultivate so none would pity the fall of such a sect. Many sects would send people to search the golden city, which wasn''t protected by an illusion formation as it broke with the fall of the flame snake. Arthur had to act fast and finish his matters here before going back to the capital. Two days after the fall of the flame snake and a day after the destruction of the Golden Earth Sect, Arthur left his room after storing the scattered furniture. To test his new prowess, there is no better candidate than the blind old man, Krauk. He possessed the body of the White Tiger and used Space Magic to teleported above the surface. The sudden appearance of a huge White Tiger shocked the silent Krauk, who never expected a Divine Beast to pop out of nowhere. Before he could react, he saw the White Tiger stare directly at him. With a speed beyond his comprehension, the White Tiger appeared before the frail-looking old man and slashed with its long claws. Though he was slower, he was still an experienced fighter. Krauk twisted its frail body to barely dodge the long claws and when he thought he succeeded, he was proved wrong as the huge white tiger turned illusory. ''This speed is outrageous!'' What attacked him was merely an after-image and when he processed what just happened, he found himself flying in the air with a deep wound on his shoulder. Arthur, who easily succeeded in landing a severe first blow, was satisfied. He didn''t use any support Talisman, [Transmutation], [Eternium], or [Angel of Death]. Krauk was a Half-God Monarch, however, many God Monarchs died at his hand. Moreover, he was an assassin, front battle was never his forte. Just as Arthur was about to attack, the old man raised his hand in defeat and said "Please wait!" Obviously, Arthur wasn''t going to wait. However, he was forced to when he heard the old man''s next words "Arthur MoonStar, I know it''s you. Please wait!" The White Tiger, which appeared in front of the old man in a split second, suddenly stopped, gazing at the injured old man from above. The pressure Krauk felt was immense, to say the least. Never did he expect Arthur to be hiding so much power. ''He must have known I was watching so he didn''t go all out again the snake.'' That was Krauk''s speculation, though it was wrong. After all, who would believe that Arthur''s strength tripled in just two days. While it''s true his stats were tripled, more or less, it doesn''t mean he became three times stronger. He must be at least ten times stronger than his previous self. Lucy is far away from him but she must have felt the changes too, which can only beneficial for the couple. Moreover, he now has Radolf and Midolf, two ancient creatures which are absurdly powerful, especially if they fight together. A cold and chilling voice came out of the closed mouth of the White Tiger. "Give me one good reason to not kill you." Krauk, who regained his calm attitude, smiled and said "I only tailed you for the purpose of recruiting you. I think you''re a perfect candidate for one of the vacant seats in the Black Rose organization." ''Accept!'' Claud''s voice was followed right after, urging to him accept. ''Black Rose is a very ancient organization that dates back to before the Void Era.'' Hearing this, Arthur was still not interested as he retorted ''There''s never a free meal in this world. I will be given privileges but I''ll be forced to do something. It''s some kind of restriction.'' ''It''s doesn''t matter! You just have to kill a few people every now and then, no big deal. You do that ALL the time!'' Arthur snorted as he heard that and remained silent for a period of time before glancing at Krauk and saying "I will think about it and give you my answer in two months." The Fate Contract will expire in two more months. He''ll get back Makaze and if the offer is still alluring, he''ll join Black Rose. Chapter 389 - 340.1 : Brother "What!?" Wrath angrily banged his fist on the table as he glared at Isadore. He was infuriated after he had been ordered to do something absurd. Isadore, the Crown Prince, crossed his arms and stared back at the defiant Wrath while frowning. "What''s with your response? I''m not having you accompany me so you can sleep around all day." Still enraged, Wrath retorted with a louder tone "Don''t try to use your slick tongue with me! You want me to go and try to bring Makaze''s owner to you? Are you out of your mind?" Unfazed by Wrath''s sudden outburst, Isadore smiled and replied: "Out of my mind? Why? Because I want to befriend a powerful person? What if he is Makaze''s owner? He isn''t my enemy, nor is he yours." "Fuck! How is he not mine? You know how many of the Seven Sins are left? Three! Fucking Three are left and the rest were killed! That evil blade devoured Gluttony!" Isadore''s smile suddenly vanished as he seriously stared at the middle-aged man before him and retorted "All four sins brought it on themselves. Who told Gluttony to try and devour the Dark Blade. Who told Pride to piss of the Nameless Knight. Same thing for Lust, who tried to seduce the knight only to be hacked into pieces. And let''s not talk about Greed who foolishly tried to trick the Joker himself, talk about being stupid!" After a short pause, the prince resumed: "Each and every time, it is you guys who provoke the enemy. It''s not because you''re one of the Seven Deadly Sins that you can beat anyone. Anyway, if you''re not going to do as I say, you better leave this place. I certainly do not need incompetent people." Wrath clenched his teeth and pondered for a long time before bowing to the prince and saying "I''ll do as you wish." He swiftly left the room, leaving a satisfied prince. *** Arthur''s conversation with Krauk ended rather quickly. The two separated and each went his way, Arthur, still possessing the White Tiger, turned into a lightning bolt, madly flying toward the Imperial Capital. His speed was inconceivable, the trip that would take a week on a fast Spirit Boat took Arthur only a bit less than a day to arrive. When he was close to the capital, he dived into the ground and made his way toward the meeting place he arranged with Vyncent. With his new sharpened senses and long-rang Sixth Sense, Arthur noticed a lot of new arrivals. He guessed that it had to do with the opening of the dragon''s realm, which can only be entered through a tropical forest far East of the capital. Many cultivators hailing from powerful sects started appearing, however, Arthur never paid them any heed as they''re not a threat. What surprised him is a familiar and loathsome presence, there was a group of knights that clearly belonged to the Holy Dominion. Each and every one of them is a God Monarch and they are from the Holy Order. ''They can track Dark Magic pretty well!'' Claud clicked his tongue in annoyance and warned Arthur. Fighting them will only cause more to show up. The only thing that the Holy Dominion doesn''t lack is numbers. ''To send so much God Monarchsafter me... they''re overestimating me.''-Arthur ''Quite the contrary, it''s because they know how powerful Dark Magic is. They''ll spare no effort to capture you, you better be careful, very careful.'' This group of righteous knights of light are composed of 5 God Monarchs and 8 Sovereigns. The leader was an old man clad in a Holy armor. He looked kind and emitted an air of righteousness. Arthur stored the tiger body and appeared in a small room in a remote inn. Initially, there were only two people in the room, both were nervous, especially the young man, who never stopped pacing around the room while biting his nails. Lisa''s face was a bit pale after hearing the destruction of the Golden Earth Sect and thought that something might have happened to Arthur. Though she was thankful to Vyncent, who kept her safe during all these years, she still wanted to go back to Astria. Her life changed for the worst ever since she was kidnapped. When Arthur appeared, she saw a ray of hope so she continuously wished for his return. Just like a ghost, Arthur appeared in the room, frightening both the young man and the girl. Only when they saw Arthur''s appearance did they calm down. "S-sir, is my sect truly destroyed?" Vyncent showed a worried expression. Besides his sect, he has no true home or family members to go back to, which is why, despite the cruel ways his sects used, he chose to remain there. Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. "Yes, everyone was killed." Arthur''s words were like a bomb that fell on Vyncent, who fell on the rough bed as his face turned pale. He didn''t know what to do from now on. As for Lisa, she became a bit excited as she politely bowed toward Arthur and expressing her thanks again and again. It was apparent that the past arrogant and childish girl was no more, Lisa has matured and behaved like a person of her age. She no longer had that haughtiness and instead, behaved respectfully when Arthur was present. Without further ado, Arthur waved his hand, opening a Spatial Tunnel that directly led to Astria. After one last bow, the ex-princess stepped into the portal disappearing from Arthur''s view and giving him a peace of mind. Vyncent stared in front of him with hollow eyes, he seemed lost. In fact, he was no different than empty shell, a soulless body. Arthur knew that even if he asked Vyncent to go to Astria, he wouldn''t go so he closed the tunnel and left this place. The enmity between them disappeared as Vyncent helped him protect Lisa. From now on, they are complete strangers, he owes the young man nothing. Arthur''s next stop was the Mountain Ba Sword Sect. Although he didn''t high hopes for Jian Si, he still hoped for her to provide him with important information. Some one with her status would''ve found Lisa much sooner and he wouldn''t have needed to go all through the trouble of killing the flame snake. Unlike last time, when he cautiously bypassed the sword formations protecting each mountain of Cold Sword''s sect, Arthur traveled inside the sect as if he was taking a relaxing stroll. Such formations were nothing to him as he can be considered a formation master. The knowledge and skills he has about formations are unparalleled, in fact, he can obliterate God Monarchs without as much as lifting a finger. He just needs to create offensive formations that will do the job for him, which he will. He had the knowledge, however, the materials to create such heavenly formations are rare and expensive. Though Zodiak''s treasury is vast and contains many things, it still didn''t have everything Arthur needed. Surprisingly, Jian Si wasn''t alone this time. A female disciple was talking to her for about 20 minutes. Only when the female disciple left did Arthur show himself, startling the absent-minded Cold Sword. Chapter 390 - 340.2 : Brother 2 Later that day, in the prince''s office, there stood the leader of his royal guards. It was a man who appeared to be in his forties, he wore a red armor and had a long saber sheathed on his waist. "What of the last one?" Isadore calmly asked his guard while looking outside of the window, admiring the night view. The man bowed and spoke with an apologetic tone "I am sorry, your highness. Despite being heavily injured, he still managed to escape." The prince listened to this but wasn''t particularly angry, he waved his hand while saying "Well, it matters not. I doubt he''ll do anything or even show himself in Green-Leaf." The person they were talking about was Vyncent, who was attacked and severely injured. Only through pure luck did the young man escape from the capital, which is a miracle considering his weak cultivation and the strength of his pursuers. Though they were faster than him, his secret technique allowed him to melt into the ground and escape their senses thus buying him sometime to change directions. If Isadore wanted to, he can send countless people to chase after Vyncent but he deemed the later unworthy of spending so much resources. A fair distance away from the capital, a bloodied young man appeared from the ground. He had a grievous wound on his chest and his face couldn''t be paler. He held his chest as he kneeled on the ground and coughed some blood. Despite the pain and fatigue he was feeling, he stared at the sky with clear and resolute eyes that shone with unknown luster. He gripped his fist and took a deep breathe before melting into the ground. It was from that day that Vyncent disappeared from Green-Leaf, heading toward an unknown place, seeking power and discovering the secrets of the world. Where his feet will lead him is a mystery to everyone, including himself, however, he shan''t give up, after all, his tale has not ended yet. ****** "Huff Huff" The Water Empress panted heavily as she killed another dozen beasts which were incredibly grotesque. Upon a closer look, they seemed to strongly resemble the White Spawns Arthur faced but they were much stronger and bigger. The region ruler was injured but thanks to her magic, she repeatedly healed herself. She didn''t dare to bring anyone with her to this perilous place as it was indeed as dangerous as she predicted. This was actually a small world, filled with light, there''s no sign of darkness, even shadows didn''t exist in this place. Her goal in coming here was to get a certain book which may give her more clues about what happened before the Hour of Creation. It took her three years to get out of the death region''s graveyard. Without Jack''s guide, it was much more difficult to navigate that foggy place. She spent another six months investigating the whereabouts of a book written by a very ancient human. Very little was known about this human, however, he had one particular title, The Prophecy Holder. This world of light was weird and made her feel very uncomfortable. The abundance of light was harmful and weakened her, which made the fight taxing on her body. Fortunately, after two whole months venturing in this world and killing the ugly monsters, she stumbled upon a gigantic boss-like creature. He was over four meters tall, he was incredibly handsome, his facial features were flawless, to say the least. He had a long blond hair and two beautiful wings. This ''man'' held a golden lance as he looked at the Water Empress with an expressionless face. "What brings you to this place?" The Water Empress readied herself to fight only to stop when she heard him talk. "I''m looking for a book." The man thought for a moment before retrieving a normal-looking book, it was very thick and dusty. "I believe it is this one. However, my master specifically told me to only hand it to a worthy person." "And what are the requirements of a worthy person?" The Empress''s question was answered almost immediately. "A strong person, a person capable of defeating me." ''Hmpf! Thought so!''-Empress Without wasting any more time, she started attacking this man. ˇ­ The battle lasted for five continuous days, the victor was apparent from the start yet the losing party remained ferocious and used every last bit of their strength. Obviously, despite her strength, the Empress was no match for the man who was named Innocence. He would repeatedly get injured by her only to heal himself in a few seconds, recovering to his peak state. Moreover, he never got tired which left the woman helpless, nevertheless, she still managed to hold on for five long days. As she laid on the ground, heavily injured and breathing heavily, Innocence walked up to her and stared right into her eyes while saying "''Twas a pleasure fighting you. It''s been so long since I''ve had some action. Now then, it''s time for goodbye, I have completed my mission." Confused, the Water Empress tried to raise her head and talk to him but the exhaustion left her motionless, unable to even move her lips. Innocence faintly smiled as and pointed his finger at her, which caused a bright white light to envelop her and instantly heal her. Surprised by this turn of events, the woman was about to ask only to hear him the answer "I lied to you. Although my master told me to hand it to a worthy person, he didn''t mean a strong person but a descendant of certain families. Only those who carry a special bloodline are allowed entry to this world. I made it difficult for you only to confirm that you''re who you appear to be. Since the moment you entered this place, you became eligible to obtain the book." The book appeared from thin air and floated toward the Empress, who caught it and carefully inspected it. "Now then, it''s time to go. You''ll be transported out of this place in a few moments." Just like Innocence said, the Empress found herself in a valley somewhere in the Wind Region. This valley was the entrance of that world, which existed no more. Unable to contain her curiosity, she impatiently opened the old book only to see several pictures and thorough details about them. The monsters in the book were ugly, they had four to eight arms, grotesque faces and burly builds. They looked savage and brought chills down her spine. Each paragraph described the picture next to it, from the name, origin, abilities and weakness. Moreover, it stated several ways to kill them. Dumbfounded, she flipped one page after another yet the book was only filled with countless types of such monsters. At the end of this thick book, there were three lines, written in ancient language. Fortunately, the Empress was able to translate it albeit with a bit of difficulty. ''One card to turn the tables One sword to slay the heavens One strike to end his brethren.'' The woman tilted her head in confusion, she read those lines multiple times but couldn''t understand their meaning. She didn''t linger in that place for too long. She soon went back to her region and started thoroughly investigating the contents of the book, especially the three lines at the end. *********** In a place of absolute darkness, where you can only see the far away stars and planets, there stood two silhouettes. One was the Joker and the other was the Nameless Knight. They''ve been waiting for a very long time yet none of them moved or voiced a complaint. In this chaotic place where even an Overgod wouldn''t survive a second, the two of them stared at a certain direction. An unbelievable heat was being emitted from a crack far away. Not only was there suffocating heat, an evil aura was slowly creeping out to them, trying to corrupt their minds and consume their souls, however, they were completely immune to such absurdity. "It''s starting." The Joker''s nonchalant expression disappeared, he gazed at the slowly yet surely expanding crack a long distance away and uttered those words. Loud and unpleasant monstrous sounds were coming from within that crack. "It''s still a bit early." As he, too, was staring at the crack while holding a beautiful green pendant in his hand, the knight''s gaze turned melancholic. The Joker shifted his gaze to the Nameless Knight and stretched his hand to the other''s shoulder while saying "You''re my brother, you know that, right?" The Nameless Knight smiled and copied the Joke, holding the latter''s shoulder while answering "Foolish and misguided as you are, you are not without a charm, brother." As he heard that, the Joker laughed and patted the young man''s shoulders before getting up. "You knowˇ­ there''s always a phrase he repeatedly told me. ''Grass grows, birds fly, sun shines, and brother, I hurt people.'' Since then, I knew that his path would be the most tragic out of the three of us." "Why don''t you go help him then?" The Joker frowned upon hearing the knight''s retort. He shook his head and stated: Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. "Do you really think he would accept my help? Or yours? We, who lost everything, cannot understand the feelings of a desperate man. Unlike us, he still has a chance." The Nameless Knight decided to keep his silence as he stared at the starry sky with an absent-minded look. Chapter 391 - 341 : How the Prophecy Began "I assume the destruction of the Golden Earth Sect is your fault?" Cold Sword thoroughly investigated the matter of the flame snake and the destruction of Vyncent''s sect. There was sightings of Arthur, so it wasn''t easy to link his presence there with all that happened. Arthur remained his silent as he inspected her and casually said "You seemed to have stopped your training routine, I see no improvement since the last time we met." Jian Si crossed her arms and coldly snorted while retorting "And whose fault do you think that is? I''ve been busy searching for my ''Senior''." Hearing this, Arthur became delighted as she finally began spending some efforts in finding Syth. Arthur sat up on a chair which suddenly appeared behind him and made himself comfortable before listening to the irritated Jian Si, who tried her best to keep a respectful attitude, after all, she still wanted him to teach her a few things. She wasn''t behaving like a student, nonetheless, she wasn''t as rude as when he first met her. Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. "What I''ve discovered left me totally speechless." Cold Sword for a second as she saw Arthur''s change in expression, she then resumed: "The young man you assigned me to search for has been sighted in Green-Leaf around five years ago. Back then, he was living in a mortal village only to be discovered by a powerful Sword Saint that was passing by. This Sword Saint praised Syth''s skills and made him into his disciple then brought him to his sect. That Sword Saint is actually Joseph Bolona." After saying that, Cold Sword remained silent as she stared at Arthur, trying to read his expression. Claud grasped this moment of silence to explain to Arthur what''s a Sword Saint ''Sword Saints are cultivators that reached the peak of sword mastery. Each Sword Saint is an Overgod and there''s actually a Realm beyond Sword Saint, it''s called Sword God. As far as I know, only the Nameless Knight reached that Realm and perhaps even surpassed that. Your skills with the Sword reached perfection so without a doubt you have the skills of a sword saint but you can''t be called so due to your low Realm.'' "What''s the name of the Sword Saint''s sect?" Jian Si expected such a question so she quickly gave him the desired answer "It''s the Sky Whale Sword Sect. It''s the strongest sword sect in the Cloud Sea Universe and it''s situated in the Divine Planet." Arthur listened to her and pondered about what to do. Since Syth didn''t seem to be in any danger and is actually getting strong in such a powerful sect, he doesn''t need to worry. In the future, they''ll surely meet and if Syth wants to go back, he''ll take him to Astria. That boy always loved swords and trained meticulously, no wonder he was picked by a Sword Saint, though his luck played a big part in this. ''Now my mind is at ease.'' With Lisa safe and back on Astria and Syth in the Divine Planet, where he''s receiving tutoring from a Sword Saint, he can worry about other things and prepare for the White Specter Clan, ''X'', and the rest. Arthur converted with Jian Si for some time before he beckoned with his hand while saying "Now, shall we begin?" Confused, Cold Sword tilted her head with a questioning look. Seeing such a comical reaction, Arthur chuckled and said "You''re my student, it''s only natural I pass my knowledge to you." He has some free time and despite her rotten attitude, he still considered her as his student. She was a talented Sword cultivator and her dao of sword is a bit similar to his. The usually cold girl became excited as she unsheathed her sword and took a stance. "No need to hold back, show me what you''re made of." The aura around her drastically changed, she became like an unsheathed sword, ready to kill her opponent with one strike. The amount of killing intent she was unleashing with overwhelming and would make any weak-willed person unconscious. With his hand behind his back, Arthur nodded his head as he inspected her using [Eyes of Tranquility]. He could see a red and bloody energy circulate inside her body, though it was most concentrated in her Dantian. Like a bolt of lightning, Cold Sword charged at Arthur, appearing before him like a ghost. With nimble and swift movements, she stabbed him, holding nothing back. Unfortunately, the calm Arthur tilted his body in a weird way, easily dodging the attack while still chuckling. This further incensed the short-tempered girl, who slashed with her sword again, causing the wind to become turbulent. Arthur never moved his feet, he kept tilting his body and evading all her attacks by a hair''s breadth. No matter how much she tried, she couldn''t touch him. Only after some time did he raise his hand, which had a formless yet incredibly sharp Sword essence enveloping it, and casually swung it at Jian Si, whose face paled as she raised her sword to block the incoming hand. She felt as if she was hit by a mountain, moreover, the sword-essence around his hand transformed into countless needles that stabbed her body. The force behind his hand, albeit greatly weakened to not hurt her, still caused her to be sent flying thirty or so meters. She managed to safely land on her feet but her face was paler. "You focus too much on your first strike and think it''s going to land thus you don''t think of a countermeasure. Moreover, your energy becomes chaotic when you''re in a disadvantageˇ­" Arthur carefully told her the flaws he noticed in their last exchange. Jian Si stood there and opened her ears wide. Though the notes he gave her were extremely useful and allowed her to reach the rank of Sword Master earlier than expected, experimental training is always better than a theoretical one. After talking non-stop for ten minutes, Arthur raised his hand and grabbed the air, which startled Jian Si as the sword in her hand, which was supposed to be her life-time companion, was snatched so easily. The sword flew toward Arthur then disappeared into nothingness. "Here''s your first training. Recreate your sword with purely your energy. If you can''t do that, your sword will be trapped in my dimensional space, never to see the light of day again." Although she was angry, Cold Sword didn''t dare throw a tantrum. She helplessly looked at him and retorted "How is it even possible to create a sword with just energy?" What she said was true. Energy was formless and her sword was a material thing, to recreate it using energy is such an absurd idea. "Oh but it''s possible. Your sword needs to be part of you, its energy, shape, height, everythingˇ­ only then will you understand my meaning." In a demonstration, Arthur raised his right hand, from which emitted ominous darkness that enveloped a small area around him. The darkness didn''t last long and was soon replaced by a dark blade that burned with black flames. The illusory dark blade was so sharp that the ground under it suffered a clean slash mark. Witnessing this, Jian Si became momentarily flabbergasted. The dark blade soon vanished as Arthur sat on a nearby chair, crossed his arms and gazed at the dark-haired girl,expecting him to begin. Cold Sword closed her eyes and pictured her red sword as energy circulated in her hand. The moment the energy started taking shape, it shattered, causing the girl to feel dizzy. ˇ­ Like a statue, Arthur gazed at Jian Si for twelve-hours. The usually cold and indifferent girl was now panting as she laid on the ground. She couldn''t even lift a finger as Arthur''s task was much harder and exhausting that she initially thought. As someone in the God Realm, she has a considerable amount of stored Nether Energy yet it was depleted in the four hours. She had to use precious recovery pills that increased her absorption of Nether Energy. She could feel Arthur''s stare, he remained silent and would only throw a few remarks now and then. When he finally told her to go get some rest, Jian Si felt as if she was pardoned. She dragged her heavy body and entered her nearby residence. Although meditation would help her recover, she was so mentally fatigued that she fell asleep the moment she laid on her bed. It has been so long since she slept as she always spends her time practicing with the sword or cultivating. Back on the peak of mountain, Arthur was still sitting on the chair and staring at the starry-sky with an absent-minded look. Very soon, two youths appeared before him, both were bowing respectfully. One was a red-haired youth while the other had a striking resemblance to the former with only difference being the color of the hair. "I need you two to go to Earth and get something for me." "I shall follow thy command." "As you wish." Surprisingly, Midolf didn''t dare curse or fight with Radolf as he saw the serious look on Arthur''s face. After gazing at them for some time, he explained what needs to be done while the two silently and carefully listened. After bowing one last time, the two entered a Spatial Tunnel he just created, disappearing from Green-Leaf. "No one will accept your actions. We''re not talking about one or two factions, I fear that all of them will form an alliance to take you down." Arthur chuckled and retorted "Let them try for when I show myself, I shall flip the world upside down." Inside the ARK, Claud stared at the endless white space before him while muttering "So this how the Prophecy beginsˇ­ but what about its ending?" Chapter 392 - 342 : A Warrior Arthur spent a week with Jian Si and left when she managed to create half of the sword. He trapped her sword in a Spatial Dimension at the peak of her mountain and told her that she''ll only be able to retrieve once she recreates the entirety of her partner. The reason he was about to leave is because he felt the return of Lucy. Thanks to the soul bind, if the distance separating them is short, he can pinpoint her position. Unfortunately for Arthur, before he could go back to their residence in the capital, Lucy was already coming here! Moreover, with terrifying speed. Such weak formations were nothing for her. Though she lacked any Stealth skills, it wasn''t hard to sneak in by relying on her high Agility and Dexterity. Her speed slowed down by a bit once she entered the Mountain Ba sword sect, nonetheless, she arrived sooner than expected. It has been less than ten minutes since she came back from Losha''s mountain yet here she is, facing a nervous Arthur. Though he told her about Jian Si, he would rather the two never met as Lucy was quite over-protective and get jealous really, really fast. In fact, he can''t remember a time she didn''t get jealous when he talked to another woman, except Anastassia, Sonia, and Mary. Without turning back, Arthur could feel a piercing glare land on his back, making him feel itchy and fidgety. He slowly turned his head only to see Lucy standing a distance away from, arms crossed and giving him a strange look. She spared him a quick glance before she shifted her attention to a girl not far away. It was a dark-haired girl who was a beauty but a thick and suffocating killing intent radiated from her. Jian Si, who was busy manipulating her energy, noticed Arthur''s weird actions. She followed his gaze only to see a new guest, it was a silver-haired woman with exceptional beauty and blood-red eyes. The pressure she felt from the woman was by no means inferior to Arthur. The temperature decreased by a dozen degrees and the ground showed signs of being frozen. Seeing this, Arthur had to interfere lest Lucy really tries something. He awkwardly laughed and said "H,haha..hahaha this is my wife, Lucy." He swiftly appeared behind Lucy and held both of her shoulders while saying that, as if he was introducing her. Lucy showed a friendly smile as she said "I assume you''re Jian Si, the student?" She shook off Arthur''s hands and walked up to the startled Jian Si, who politely nodded her head. Unlike with Arthur, she behaved herself as she felt a suffocating pressure emanating from Lucy, like an angry tigress. The two women shook hands before an awkward silence dominated the atmosphere. Arthur had to butt in again, he instructed Jian Si to continue training while dragging to a secluded side of the mountain. "Hmpf! I thought you were meticulously training yet you''re flirting with young girls!" Arthur innocently waved his hands and tried to explain himself "I was really training her, honest! I''ve only been here for a week so I-" He was interrupted yet again as Lucy lashed out again "A whole week with her alone? Hmpf!" She turned her head the other way and walked away, clearly angry. Arthur felt helpless as he couldn''t find a way to please his jealous wife of his. With no other choice, he appeared next to her and before she back away or react, he planted a kiss on her rosy and soft lips. Though it wasn''t a normal kiss, his tongue invaded her mouth and sucked everything, which prolonged the duration of the kiss. Only after a long while did the two lips separate, leaving a red-faced and panting Lucy. Who looked at Arthur with a strange gaze. He thought he bought himself time to explain but she pushed him against and the wall and the following events shall be omittedˇ­ Not to be heard or discovered, Arthur had already hidden himself and Lucy in a separate dimension. After enjoying themselves for several hours without rest thanks to their infinite Stamina, the two talked about what happened when they were separated while cuddling. Lucy explained to him how the world suddenly turned into absolute darkness as she heard the loud roar of Makaze. She also told him about the Nameless Knight, who took Makaze and left, promising Losha to give it back to Arthur. Confused, Arthur turned to Claud, who awkwardly scratched his head and said "So yeahˇ­ you remember the youth that you found in the Westia continent? The one whom you gave that sword. That''s the Nameless Knight." This startled Arthur, never did he think that the strange youth in the Westia Continent. "Even if you go back now, you won''t find him. You met the younger version of the Nameless Knight, before he disappeared both from the game and Earth." "Why would he take Makaze from Losha? It is really just to return the favor?" Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. Claud shook his head in ignorance while answering "I don''t know." Although troubled by the missing Makaze, Arthur hoped that he''ll get it soon. He can only display half of his power without the dark blade. Arthur proceeded to speak of his adventures, how he killed Visto. His trip to the South and killing the flame snake while saving Lisa. However, he only got another angry glare from Lucy, who berated him for not bringing her with him. If she did come, killing the snake wouldn''t have been so hard, especially with her Yin powers, which counters any fire beasts. The two left the secluded cave sometime later, finding a hard-working Jian Si, still trying to create the sword using only her energy. Fortunately, Lucy calmed down but still looked at Cold Sword unfavorably. It wasn''t the girl''s fault, it''s just that Lucy considers any pretty woman an enemy, a potential rival. *********** Although the Arthur who appeared in her mountain told her to go this place after Two months, Losha still went earlier than expected. She gave Lucy a training routine and was sure that her disciple will meticulously cultivate. She was both curious and fearful after all the events that occurred since her first meeting with the weird couple. From meeting a time-traveler to meeting the Nameless Knight. It became a total cluster fuck. The world she just appeared in was none other than Astria. More precisely, she landed in the Western Continent. Thanks to her high cultivation, her senses were extremely sharp so the moment she appeared her, she noticed the unnatural death energy lingering in the air. She turned her head toward the South and furrowed her brows, clearly startled. "This is a land of death!" It took her a few minutes to appear South of the Western Continent. Lo and behold, an army of undead with countless bone dragons, death knights and other variants. Even someone as strong-willed as Losha became pale upon witnessing the humongous army before her. The number of undead surpassed the hundred million, they were all clustered next to each other. The land became corrupted and even breathing became difficult. This place became that of death, the might of this motionless army wasn''t great as they haven''t awakened yet, however, one could imagine what they''ll do once they''re organized and ready. "Just what the hell is going on!" As she spread her sense even further, her expression turned uglier as she hastily turned toward the East. "FUCK! So this is what you wanted me to protect!" A short while later, she was before a tall tree that pierced the sky itself. Its branches stretched to all direction, covering more than half of the Eastern continent. *********** "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHAAHˇ­ AAAAAAH" Inside the black manor, precisely back in the gloomy room. Saly was holding her head as blood came out of her ears, nose, and eyes. The pain never ceased and it became worse with every passing day. An expressionless young man was calmly watching her suffer. He showed no sympathy or pity, he crossed his arms and closely watched the changes occurring to Saly. "Today is the last day, if you fail to overcome it, you''re dead." He said it so casually yet all Saly could hear was a deafening ringing sound. Her body convulsed inside that pool of blood, which started shining with a white light. Her voice became so loud that it reverberated in all corners of the manor. At some point, she no longer has the strength to yell, she laid inside the pool as her body wriggled and the brown fur that covered parts of her body started falling. Seeing this, the young main, Leiu, said with a cold voice "And now, born from the ashes, she''s a warrior in bloodied back." Slowly but surely, a new kind of fur started growing on her body. It was a soft and beautiful white fur that shone with a brilliant light, bringing some illumination to this godforsaken room. Saly was still unconscious as her body started healing itself and strengthening her bones. Leiu slowly got up from his seat and left the room after throwing one lance glance at the girl. Outside the manor, Astrith, who turned half illusory as he was on the brink of death after fighting Milkan for a very long time, looked at the pillar of light that rose to the dark sky, piercing it and extinguishing the miniature sun. A young man clad in dark armor appeared a distance away from Astrith, who viciously stared at him, demanding an explanation. "Back then, they bound her due to her rapid growth yet she bit off their hand. Now, without their presence, she''ll be able to achieve what she couldn''t in the past." Confused, Astrith retorted "What are you talking about?" Leiu softly smiled as he met the wolf''s gaze, he put on his dark helmet before answering "Fenrir." After which, he disappeared, leaving a dumbfounded Astrith, who was sent flying by Milkan. Chapter 393 - 343 : Bingo! Somewhere on Astria, precisely inside a cave illuminated by the torch of a frail-looking woman. She had a thin body, pale skin, and long hair. She slowly raised her torch to see the nearby walls, which had weird paintings. This woman was none other than Lissandra, who disappeared from The MoonStar Sect without anyone''s notice. With her mortal body and extremely weak physique, she ventured into old places and followed many clues until she reached this strange cave. She followed the paintings, one by one. Her expressionless face experienced a change as she saw the rise of a sect, a prosperous city. The symbol above the sect indicated that it was Arthur and Lucy''s sect. The woman''s eyes narrowed as she shifted her attention to the next painting, which depicted an undying army dominating the land. Right next to that, there was a big tree that covered the whole wall, however, it was being attacked by winged-creatures. Lissandra quickly came to know the end of this tree, which was burned down until it became ashes. A frown appeared on her delicate face as she hesitantly turned her head toward the last painting. It showed a man wrapped in darkness, ripping a scroll larger than himself. ''Angels are invading Astria? The events on the walls were consecutive, apparently, however, only the first one occurred as far as Lissandra is aware. So she still has time to change the course of things. If the World Tree were to be discovered by the Angels, it would condemn all of Astria. Yes, she sinned in the past and did many evil things. However, she is trying her best to change despite being a mortal. The reason she started this adventure of hers is because she was curious, very curious. Astria was never mentioned in any records of the Underworld or any other world, it''s like it never existed. That is very strange, even if it''s a remote or secret world, it''s bound to be mentioned at least once yet Astria was like a ghost. There are some that stumble upon it by chance but that''s just luck, or so thought Lissandra. ''Zodiak, the World Tree, Arthur. Why did they end up here? Just what is this place?'' Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. With the torch still in hand, she marched deeper into the cave, planning to get her answers. ***** West of Astria, in the High Tower of the MoonStar Sect. Delia finally broke through to the Sovereign Realm. The book Arthur handed to her was more than enough to allow her to advance to the next Realm. Her graceful figure left the room as she breathed some fresh air while showing a satisfied smile. She stretched her limbs and was about to check what the others are doing only for a bright light to envelop her and drag her across time and space. A few minutes later, Delia found herself in a spacious white hall. The rich amount of Light Energy indicated that it''s not a normal place. After careful observation, Delia knew where she were. It was the Glory Hall situated at the HQ of the Holy Dominion. Her rank wasn''t that high so she never got to come here. While gulping some saliva, she slowly turned her head only to see a gentle-looking old man with a long white beard and two women behind him. "Thanks to your breakthrough, we were able to snatch you from his hands." Unable to understand his words, Delia tilted his head in confusion: "Since the moment you were captured by Zodiak''s magic, we were unable to locate you, much less save you. Your breakthrough greatly weakened his Dark Magic thus we were able to snatch you before it automatically retaliates." Delia nodded her head as she understood the gist of it but couldn''t think straight as things evolved to this stage. The old man before her was one of the high-rankers in the Holy Echelon, meaning he didn''t belong to the Dominion''s army but he still boasted unimaginable strength. She bowed respectfully toward the old man and said: "I thank Cardinal Zeves." The old man waved his hand while kindly smiling. "Although we''re sure it''s not Zodiak, it''s still someone capable of using Dark Magic and this cannot continue any longer. We''ve located him and sent a small group to hold him before we determine his weakness. This also falls on you, you''ve been captured by him for a few years so you must know some things about him, yes?" Delia sucked a deep breath as she heard the old man say that they captured him. She was aware of his abilities and how fast he grows so most likely, the group sent to slow him down will be annihilated shortly. At first, she was enemies with Arthur but they soon became friends, especially her relationship with Lucy, who treated her like a family member. Nevertheless, if she tried to lie to this Cardinal, she''ss be discovered. Left with no choice, she began telling him about Arthur but she left a lot of things unsaid, like his strong attacks or his ability to possess corpses. Though she talked for some time, she never mentioned Lucy, hoping that when they face Arthur, they won''t be able to resist again another powerful foe. While it''s true she still had her beliefs and such, the emotions she currently felt left her conflicted. If not for Arthur, she wouldn''t have broken through to the Sovereign Realm so betraying him like this didn''t feel right. "Please let me be part of this attack." Delia begged the Cardinal, who was surprised at first but nodded his head as he thought she sought revenge. However, he still decided to send the two deacons behind him to accompany her. Furthermore, the two deacons were no jokes, they were both a God Monarch. ******************* As she was much more talented than Arthur, Lucy decided to guide Jian Si, who was firmly opposed at first only to begrudgingly accept after she was beaten senseless by Lucy''s kicks and punches. Cold Sword to believe that she couldn''t beat Lucy with her sword in hand so Arthur obediently gave her the sword only for her to become a literal sandbag. She couldn''t even retaliate as Lucy vented her anger on her though she didn''t really cause any heavy damage. Still, the girl groaned from pain and only returned to normal when Arthur used his Life magic to instantly heal her. Whenever Jian Si went out of control when she''s creating her sword using her energy, she would receive a whip from a normal stick. Since the stick was strengthened using Lucy''s pure Mana, it hurt like hell. Although it''s rough and painful, this kind of trying turned out to be rather effective on Jian Si, who showed good results after merely a day. As Lucy was busy monitoring the stubborn girl, Arthur who was in deep contemplation, suddenly opened his eye. He sensed something from his storage and after taking a certain crystal out of the ring, it emitted a blinding flash of light before shattering into countless pieces. Lucy also noticed this and walked up to Arthur while saying "That''sˇ­" Arthur bitterly nodded his head. However, Lucy shook her head and softly smiled "Don''t worry about it, I''m sure she wouldn''t betray us." Despite her reassuring words, Arthur was still hesitating. He didn''t know her like Lucy did which part of the reason he couldn''t fully trust what she''ll do in the future. "I saw group of knights that belonged to the Holy Order in the capital. I think they picked up my trace. A cold glint flashed across Lucy''s eyes. She pondered for a moment before saying "I can take care of them. They don''t know about me so I''ll be able to attack when they drop their guard." Arthur showed an instant refusal as he retorted "No can do. We still don''t know their true power, others can be hiding elsewhere. We''ll try to lay low and I''ll not use Dark Magicˇ­ I just hope Makaze won''t come back now, if I were to touch the blade; it''ll complete its recovery and the burst of Dark Magic it''ll unleash will alert the whole capital." For now, there is no point going outside and exposing themselves, especially for Arthur, who not only has to worry about the Holy Dominion, but Athard too. ************ In the Crown Prince''s office, Isadore was frowning as he read the new information he just received. This time, it was a mix of Arthur and Lucy. Wrath, who was lazing around like usual, picked up on Isadore''s expression and asked "What''s wrong? I rarely see you react like that." Isadore remained silent for a few seconds, tapping his finger on the table while deeply pondering about something. "I never thought it''ll be like this. A path is presented before me, make a friend and create an enemy, or stay out of this." The middle-aged man rolled his eyes as he didn''t know what the prince was talking about. He waved his hand and said "Just stay out of this, less troubles!" He was ignored by the blond-haired prince, who was in a dilemma. "The White Specter Clan, is it? Do I inform them of their lost daughter''s location or side with the unknown?" Isadore closed his eyes and leaned on the chair while thinking to himself ''Ah! Arthur MoonStar, you''re shrouded by many secrets. Your wife is just as special as you are, I can''t say that you''re not a perfect couple. Then again, you''re being too cautious, it surely can''t be just to not attract the attention of Lucy''s clanˇ­ then why? What''s making you so anxious?... wait!'' He abruptly got up from his chair and rampaged through some documents behind him. After a few minutes, he found what he needed. After carefully reading the contents over and over again, he grinned as he discovered something. ''The Holy Dominion isn''t interested in the Space Dragon yet they dispatched a group of Holy Knights. 5 years ago, Rozak, a High Priest of the Holy Echelon was killed in the wasteland. The identity of the killer was unknown but the witnesses described the phenomena as ominous and horrifying. ''Encroaching Darkness that devoured all in its way'', total annihilation of the area. An ancient magic that forces to the Holy Dominion to act like thisˇ­ of course! How couldn''t I think of it! He can use Dark Magic.'' Isadore turned around and gazed at the half-sleeping Wrath while asking "In your opinion, what kind of person can wield the dark blade?" Once he heard ''dark blade'', Wrath jumped from his seat and became serious. He took a few seconds to think before replying "I would say someone with a high affinity with the Darkness attribute. Evil Wind feeds on the emotion of its owner so a certain compatibility must be reached." ''Bingo!'' Isadore received the answer he was expecting. Everything suddenly became much clearer. Chapter 394 - 344 : teacher Two weeks after Lucy left Losha''s mountain, things became more chaotic in the capital. Many young talents and powerful individuals clustered in the city, preparing for the opening of the dragon''s lair. Their cultivation will be reduced and sealed but those with enough experience will easily be able to overpower the newbies. Some famous youngsters that belonged to the High-Realms appeared in the Imperial Capital, causing a lot of uproars. Nonetheless, the ones that were more even popular were the initial residents of Green-Leaf, whose fame already stretched to all corners of this world. For example, the Flame Crown Prince of the Five Phoenix Kingdom or the Sacred Priest of the Holy Academy. Some friction between these young talents started surfacing but it wasn''t that big of a deal as the Crown Prince held everyone in check. Though these young talents hailing from powerful places are arrogant, they still treated the Crown Prince, a mortal, with utmost respect. It is not mere luck that a mortal Royal Family managed to reign Green-Leaf for such a long time. Moreover, the guardians that are protecting the royalty are not something to laugh at. It is rumored that there is at least one Overgod protecting the King. ****** Fortunately, Jian Si managed to finish the task Arthur had given her. Just by continuously depleting her energy for three continuous weeks, she managed to increase her cultivation by a whole grade. That was, however, nothing compared to her improvements in terms of Sword mastery. With her sword finally back in her possession, Jian Si became delighted as she caressed the red sword. Almost unconsciously, Nether Energy stretched from her finger and wrapped around her sword, surprising her. She now understood the meaning behind Arthur''s words. This energy was soon replaced by a sharp and formless Sword Essence that boosted her power. Just like Arthur''s illusory Makaze, the ground under her red blase was cut by the formless Sword Essence. As she was rejoicing upon her breakthrough, an Outer Disciple came to her mountain, informing her that she''s got a special visitor. Confused, Jian Si waited for this visitor to be escorted here only for her face to distort once she saw this unwelcome guest. The visitor received a cold glare from Jian Si, who didn''t know why the top disciple of the Mirage Era Hall would pay her a visit, after all, they weren''t even friends! Shu Ru politely cupped her fists in greeting then looked around as if she was expecting to see someone else beside Cold Sword. Noticing her strange actions, Jian Si saidFind authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. "What do you want?" Shu Ru furrowed her brows as she could only sense Cold Sword''s presence. After walking toward the visibly irritated girl, Shu Ru showed a friendly smiled as she answered "I was looking for someone. I was sure that he must be here." "What brings the angry miss all the way here?" A voice came from behind her, startling Shu Ru, who abruptly turned her head only to see both Arthur and Lucy standing some distance away. Lucy was as expressionless as ever while Arthur was mockingly grinning at her. The girl pouted and puffed her cheeks while retorting "Who''s an angry miss? It''s your fault to begin with!" Her sudden outburst was a surprise for Jian Si, who never saw her act like this. Shu Ru is known to be a calm and kind girl. ''I guess he has a talent for angering women.'' It wasn''t just Shu Ru, every women Arthur meets, he will surely anger no matter what he says. "Me? I certainly did nothing." Arthur raised his hands in innocence while quickly changing the topic "So, you couldn''t have come all the way here just to throw a tantrum, right?" Still incensed, Shu Ru took a deep breath to calm herself down then said "The opening of the dragon''s lair is approaching. I was wondering if you''ll go?" Arthur firmly shook his head and gave her a straight and clear answer "No, a lot of prying eyes and too much trouble." A bit disappointed, the girl''s shoulders dropped but she didn''t give up yet. "Everyone entering will have their cultivation reduced and sealed. You don''t need to fear them, moreover, the treasures and artifacts laying in that Realm will benefit you greatly." Still uninterested, Arthur waved his hand dismissively, clearly indicating his final answer. With no choice but to switch her target to Lucy, who shook her head without saying anything. In fact, Losha did tell her that a powerful protective talisman that can protect her from soul-attacks in the dragon''s lair, however, it''s too big of a risk. Since their last cooperation went to well, Shu Ru wanted to venture inside the dragon''s lair with Lucy and Arthur, however, it wasn''t possible. Dejected, she could only bid farewell and leave the mountain, after all, she has to prepare a lot of things before going to the secret Realm. When only the couple and Jian Si were left on the peak of the mountain, Cold Sword looked at Arthur and curiously asked "You''re really not going?" Arthur nodded his head, not bothering to repeat his words. After a short while, he seemed to remember something as he asked her "I heard you''re going, is that true?" Jian Sir firmly nodded her head and said: "There''s no better battlefield than that place. There will be a lot of strong fighters." ''Oh yeah, she''s a battle freak.'' He almost forgot that she''s a person who goes around fighting and killing people. As she followed a peculiar Sword Dao, it''s indeed beneficial for her to venture in such a dangerous place. ˇ­ Claud Venis, who was watching what''s happening from within the ARK, clicked his tongue and leaned next to a white table in front of him while resting his chin on his hand. ''I wonder for what reason he''ll go to the dragon''s lairˇ­ It''s a shame prophecies show only what will happen, not why.'' ****** The dark and gloomy manor was as silent and creepy as ever. The sun that used to hung above was devoured by the bright light that came from the godforsaken room Saly was in. Astrith was nowhere to be seen, as for Leiu, he came back after a while, exactly when Saly woke up from her long and peaceful slumber. Without even knowing what happened to her or processing where she is, she was held by the back of her neck and dragged to the unimaginably big courtyard. She looked at the dark world with astonishment, she could barely see anything. She glanced at the youth clad in dark armor next to her and was about to ask something only for her to see a strand of white hair fall in front of her eyes. Her hair, which had grown very long, was as white as snow. Moreover, the color of pupils became sky-blue, though she didn''t notice that. She could feel herself full of vigor and much stronger than before. Unfortunately, Leiu denied her the time to enjoy her newly acquired power. "Don''t start gloating yet. You''re still as weak as an ant." He paused for a split second after he confirmed that her attention was focused on him. "Normally, I would train you but I know a very good instructor, the best one, in fact." Just as he said those words, the world of darkness was illuminated by a red, white and grey light which descended from above. The light remained for only a few seconds before it was replaced by a white figure. He wore a weird costume and had tattoos under his eye. His lips were actually violet, either done by a lipstick or something else. "Hello Hello!" He cheerfully waved his hand to the dazed Saly. He walked in a swaggy manner as he chuckled to himself. The Joker hugged his arms in excitement while saying "Ahhhh I can''t believe you called me to train a Fenrir. This make me soooooo moved!" Leiu''s face remained deadpan as he gazed at the Joker. He quickly left after saying "I leave her in your care." The Joker responded with a thumbs-up. "Don''t worry, I will educate her properly." Saly got shivers down her spines but she didn''t show any signs of fear as she remained motionless, staring at the incoming strange man. The Nameless Knight left, leaving only the two of them. The Joker squatted to the same level as the little girl and inspected her from head to toe while nodding his head "Mhmm I see a forced bloodline awakening mixed with some body strengthening, not bad considering how poor he is." Saly didn''t know what he was rambling about, she bowed her head and said "Hello I''m S-" He cut her off before she could even introduce herself "Saly MoonStar, of course I know you! Now let me introduce myself!" He stood up and took a comical pose. He inclined his back and raised one leg, one hand on his temple while the other pressed on his hips. "The Magician ''extraordinaire'', Infamous Trickster and Godslayer. I am none other than The Joker himself! Master of all and Jack of none!" Seeing her try to hold back her laughter, the Joker frowned as he thought that his introduction was the best in history. "Now, let us not waste our precious time." He even backed away a few steps and beckoned her with her hand "Come now, little sapling." Confused, Saly tilted her head only for him to add: "Attack me. Use all your might." Saly hesitated for a few seconds which led him to speak again "Didn''t you say you wanted to get stronger? You''ve but passed the easiest hurdle. My job is to teach you how to fight." Hearing this, Saly mustered her courage and lunged herself at him, her speed was drastically faster and her the strength behind her incoming punch was monstrous too. Unfortunately, before she could hit him, she was sent flying by a kick that landed on her abdomen. The Joker, still smiling, retaliated against the little girl without holding back. The little girl held her stomach as she groaned in pain while laying on the dark ground. "What? Suffering already? Alright, I''ll give you one last chance. You can give up and we''ll stop." He crossed his arms and voiced his thoughts to which Saly slowly got up while gasping for breath. Her eyes showed her strong resolution. "Are you absolutely sure? This will be not be a walk in the park. I''m not as merciless as Leiu, even though you''re the daughter of a brother." Still unwilling to give up, Saly slowly made her way toward the Joker. In response, he burst out in laughter while staring at the little girl with a strange gaze "Very well, let us proceed." Chapter 395 - 345 : Ambush In a famous restaurant situated near the large castle belonging to the royalty, Arthur and Lucy were quietly enjoying a delicious meal. Lucy''s hair was jet black and some of her facial features were changes. As for Arthur, he was possessing a woman''s body, precisely the body he used back when he entered the tomb five years ago. Though these two women were no kingdom-toppling beauties, they still gathered a few glances from passing youngsters. There was even a red-haired youth who kept staring at Lucy. She wasn''t particularly angry as such things occur frequently, though she was confused about why they were getting this much attention when their appearance was greatly changed. Lucy forgot to think about their cultivation, they were both Sovereigns and their identity is unknown, so it''s pretty normal for normal disciples, who were bored and wanted to make a move on them, to hesitate after sensing the big difference in cultivation. Only the red-haired youth kept glancing at her and Arthur, who''s almost about to flip the table. They came here to investigate the group of Holy Knights, who frequently come to this restaurant. They''ll arrive shortly and the attention they were getting wasn''t welcomed. His lips ever-so-slightly shook he was about to use some formless poison to force him into unconsciousness. Fortunately, the kid''s attention transferred to a couple of newcomers. It was an elegant-looking young man wearing a grey robe accompanied by a short girl with a pink and curly hair. There were a few others following them but they seemed like lackeys. Arthur threw an uninterested glance at them before focusing on his food. His target was the Holy Knights, who are using some strange method to track all the places he had been two the past few weeks. They already visited the Mirage Era Hall and Losha''s weapon shop. He isn''t dumb enough to wait for them to ambush him, their intentions weren''t good and any enemy must be killer sooner than later. They have five God Monarchs and despite his absolute strength, he must personally inspect them to make sure his plan works flawlessly. "Brother Artid, Senior Clara." The red-haired youth cupped his fists in greeting. The grey-robbed young smiled and sat next to his friend, as for the pink-haired girl, she seemed pretty bored as she slouched on the chair. She scanned all the customers before her eyes momentarily stopped on the two women sitting a distance away. She frowned and focused her sense but still couldn''t gauge their strength. She let out an excited chuckle and kept staring at the two women for a while before shifting her attention to two figures who just entered the restaurant. Since Arthur was the one facing the door, the moment he saw those who entered, he put all his efforts in creating a very strong dimensional barrier that greatly decreased Lucy''s presence. Startled by his actions, he used telekinesis to warn her "Our luck is really bad. Don''t spread your sense or grab attention." He then described to her the two new customers. One was an old man wearing butler clothes, he had a scar on his face and his cultivation was unfathomable. As for the woman, she strongly resembled Lucy. In fact, one would say they''re twins if not for the beauty spot under her left eye, which added to her charm. Unlike the coldness Lucy usually emits, this woman seemed indifferent to everything and everyone. When she entered, everyone became talking in low tones while glancing at her. Even Clara, Artid and the red-haired youth didn''t dare invite her to their table. The woman quietly sat on an empty table whilst the old man remained standing. Arthur clicked his tongue as they sat right to next them. Inside the ARK, Claud mocked him ''Hahahaha told you that you can''t escape such encounters. If you''re bound to meet then you''ll meet, one way or another.'' Arthur only wanted Lucy to remain undiscovered. White Specters had a certain smell on them and some like that old man would definitely smell her the moment he removed the dimensional barrier. ''It is better to deal with the Holy Knights than the White Specter Clan.'' Arthur fingers, which were under the table, released a few illusory dark strings that latched themselves on the surprised Lucy. Dark Magic started entering her body, consuming the energy within to further decrease her smell. If her body is devoid of energy, the probability of finding her when she''s inside this barrier is minimal. As long as she doesn''t purposely activate her skills or abilities, things should be fine. Inside the ARK, Claud, who was chuckling to himself, suddenly held his head and crouched on the ground. His mind flashed with several images, each worse than the former. His body started sweating profusely as he panted heavily. He quickly got up and warned Arthur "Arthur! Quickly get out of that place but don''t take Lucy! Quickly!" What Claud saw was a prophecy about will happen very soon. It wasn''t a good sight as things will become complicated if Arthur were to remain in that restaurant. Although Arthur didn''t know what his copy was on about, he still followed his words. He kept the barrier around Lucy and told her to remain here for a while. Obviously, she knew better than to arouse suspicion about her. She threw a couple of glances at the silver-haired woman, who''s supposed to be her sister as she resembled her too much! Still possessing the body of the woman, Arthur left the restaurant and entered the alley then spread his sense. Just as his Sixth Sense caught the presence of several people, a dignified middle-aged man appeared before him. With a domineering presence and strong presence, he stood before Arthur and frowned. "I don''t know how you''re able to do it, nonetheless, you''ll have to follow me!" This man was none other than Athard. Moreover, the several presences he felt belonged to the damned Holy Knights. He didn''t know how but they got a method that led him right to him. If he stayed at the restaurant, it would''ve implicated Lucy, who wouldn''t have stayed still. Athard, full of anger, glared at the tall woman in front of him. His heart was beating rapidly as he finally caught the killer of his son. Although he was surprised to see a woman instead of Arthur, the artifact the Holy Knights were using was genuine and efficient. They visited him a couple of days ago and inquired about his son''s incident. Though it was disrespectful, they still asked to inspect Visto''s dead body, promising him that it''s the only clue that''ll lead them to the culprit. They used a strange golden device which flashed with a bright light the moment it got closer to Visto. After a while, it started pointing South-West. The Holy Knights didn''t act immediately, they negotiated an alliance with him, which he agreed upon. They needed the culprit alive, if possible, however, he can cripple his cultivation or torture him before they take him. ''Hmpf! A God Monarch, is it?'' As he received the patriarch''s glare, Arthur''s hand was faster than his enemy''s reaction. It was like lightning as it penetrated the man''s stomach and unleashed an absurd amount of death energy and Dark Magic. Athard''s complexion paled as he coughed blood and staggered a few steps. Unfortunately, the moment Arthur acted, five golden figures jumped from all direction, all casting a spell on him. His eye shone with a bright blue light, stopping time for a couple of seconds. He icily glared at all the incoming enemies before his body transformed into a large white Tiger. He didn''t waste any second as he opened his mouth and spat the deadliest acid in his arsenal. The moment he spat he acid, time took its course again. Athard and another Holy Knight weren''t lucky enough to dodge or resist, which bypassed the Nether Energy wrapped around bodies, trying to shake off the acid. Since the quantity of acid that landed on them wasn''t great, it didn''t melt their whole bodies, however, Athard''s both legs turned into a puddle of melted meat and bones, truly disgusting. As for that Holy Knight, who was at the peak Sovereign, the acid bypassed a golden shield he created only to land on his stomach, melting the armor and affecting his Dantian. Even his Dantian wasn''t spared by the acid, which melted his whole waist, leaving him wriggling in the ground. The four other Holy Knights were fast enough to dodge and back away instead of continuing their attack. The five God Monarchs still didn''t attack. Athard, who was wailing from pain, suddenly halted his shouting, speechless, he stared at the divine beast before him. Same thing for the retreating four figures. The White Tiger turned illusory as it disappeared from their view, before they could react, the four Sovereigns turned into four mists of blood, not even knowing how they died. Such a narrow alley could barely fit the White Tiger, which decreased in size. Once Arthur flew in the air, the body expanded to its original size. He could feel five powerful presences following him and forming a circle around him. The clear blue sky was quickly replaced by dark and clustered clouds that cast a looming shadow on half of the city. The leader of the Holy Knights, a gentle-looking old man who wore a thick armor, stared at the White Tiger with wariness. He placed his sword vertically in front of his chest and closed his eyes, praying. The other four did the same thing, causing five pillars of light to penetrate the dark clouds and cause a commotion big enough to alert the people below. ˇ­ Back at the restaurant, the blinding light that was caused by the five pillars of light caused the customers to get up and leave, wanting to see what''s going on.Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. Though she knew what''s going on, Lucy clenched her fists and stared at the gloomy sky, spotting a large White Tiger. Chapter 396 - 346 : Annihilation The red-haired youth, Artid, and even Clara, were dumbfounded upon witnessing the fight above. "Is that a White Tiger?" "It appears to be so." The two young men conversed with each other before Clara stated "It''s not a Divine Beast. It doesn''t emit any divinity, quite the contrary, it seems evil." Her eyes were glued on the large White Tiger. Even the silver-haired woman that resembled Lucy and her butler left the restaurant, gazing at the tiger. The woman gazed at the tiger while remaining silent. As for the butler, he furrowed his brows while inwardly gasping ''What sorcery is this? It is becoming stronger by the second!'' Out of nowhere, two wings, larger than even the beast itself, sprung from its back. One was as beautiful and soothing as angel''s, as for the other, it was black and emitted a withering grey fog. This, however, was but the beginning of the transformation. Loud thunderclaps came from the dark clouds, striking the white tiger and enveloping it in green thunder, except for its wings. Then, the lightning could only be seen twirling around the big beast the usually majestic beast turned jet black as it was enveloped by ominous dark flames. ''Let''s see if you can match my speed.'' The five pillars of light were like a prison, stopping him from leaving it while they attack him. Unfortunately, he didn''t care as his body disappeared from their sight before it rammed into one of the God Monarchs, sending him flying far away, leaving only a fountain of blood behind. Those witnessing this from above could only see four God Monarch disappear from the sky in less than two seconds. Even the old man leading them was flabbergasted as he stared at this creepy tiger which was glaring at him. The five pillars of light disappeared as he got rid of four yet the feeling he got from this old man was totally different. The enemy stopped praying and took out a shield from his back while facing the tiger, which turned illusory then appeared behind him, slashing with its claws. This wasn''t even teleportation, his speed was so fast that the enemy couldn''t even follow him. The old man raised the shield and successfully blocked the claws but he was still pushed two hundred meters and before he could stabilize his body, the tiger appeared before him again. Acid was spat from its mouth, landing on the old man''s armor and shield, causing its to start melting, slowly but surely. The elder''s face was paler than ever, even with his cultivation, he could do nothing but receive a beating from the tiger, or whatever it was. As Arthur was going to hit the old man with his body, the latter took out a white pendant which shot out a beam of light. Unfortunately, before it could even hit him, it was stopped by a golden barrier that absorbed up to 80% of the incoming damage. The remaining 20% were blocked by the following dark barrier. Although surprised again, the old man didn''t give up as he shot out an even larger beam only for it to suffer the same fate as the first. The pendant showed signs of cracking after firing five times, none of them hitting the tiger. The old man raised his shield again to blocked the tiger only for the beast to suddenly appear behind him, its fangs impaling his precious armor and causing blood to ooze out. The tiger violent shook the old man, which was stuck in its fangs before large quantities of acid landed on the leader of the holy knights, whose faces became transfigured. Nonetheless, he still managed to use some sort of a Holy skill to heal some of his heavy injuries then he slash with his sword, which emitted a dangerous light that forced Arthur to let go of his enemy. As the old man cast a healing spell on himself, five thick pillars of light appeared a distance away from their fight, however, these pillars were different from the other ones. After three seconds, blinding spheres of light flew from the horizon and entered the old man''s body. Upon seeing this, he knew that his comrades sacrificed themselves to do a ritual that strengthened him. There are still three Sovereigns hiding, however, they were only tasked to watch as they aren''t strong enough to partake in this life-threatening battle. Immense power surged inside the old man, who''s face returned to normal. His armor was fixed and his injured body fully recovered. ˇ­ "Wanna try fighting it?" Clara interjected as she smiled while saying those words. The two young men shook their heads while retorting "I can''t even see it ." "It''ll be foolish to make a move." The pink-haired girl shook her head as she inwardly mocked their cowardliness. To be honest, she wanted to join the fray and fight but it was apparent that it''s out of her league. Even someone like her couldn''t follow the tiger''s speed, it was just too fast! ˇ­ The fight has been ongoing for a minute at most yet all the nearby powerful sects already arrived. Whether it''s the king of the Five Phoenix Kingdom or the Headmaster of the Holy Academy. They were all at the peak of God Monarchs and showed clear intention of siding with the old man. A man with a long red hair and a long halberd in his hand appeared a few meters away from the old man. He nodded to the old man and faced the tiger. A similarly kind-looking old man with a golden scepter was behind the leader of the Holy Knights. He waved his hand, causing a light to cover the two in front of him. Arthur could sense that whatever the old man did, it increased their prowess, nonetheless, it didn''t matter. "I''m ready!" From within his consciousness, the Tri-Spirit confidently spoke. After Arthur gave it the green sign, the gravity around the three enemies suddenly changed, causing them to love balance. This was followed by cracking space which freaked the old man at the back, who seemed to be the weaker of the three. From within the cracked space, a 10m long dark arrow appeared, impaling the old man and killing him instantly. This shocked the two others, the red-haired man waved his halberd, causing flames to cover the sky and land on the tiger, who showed no reaction. Although it was the phoenix''s fire, it was so weak that it wasn''t able to damage the strengthened Arthur. Like a bolt of lightning, the tiger flew straight at the two enemies, who close to each other. The leader of the Holy Knight raised his shield, which greatly expanded, reaching 20m in height. The tiger spat a strange grey orb which was no longer than 50 inches. However, the moment it touched the shield, it devoured half of it, startling the old man, who let go of it and retreated. As for the red-haired man, he stabbed with his halberd. A screech could be heard as orange flames twirled around his weapon. The halberd was yet again blocked as it hit a golden barrier, barely cracking it. Though the barrier did break after a second, it was too late as dark chains sprung from nothingness and wrapped around the man, who was too late to retaliate. Then, a looming darkness enveloped the panicking king, when the darkness disappeared, there were no signs of the man. Seeing this, the red-haired youth watching from below, shouted hysterically "FATHER!" Unfortunately, his calls were too late as the man was killed so easily. In grief and anger, the youth was about to fly and kill the tiger only for the grey-robbed Artid to hold him back, warning him not to be reckless and get himself killed. ˇ­ A distance away from the big fight, Wrath was accompanying Isadore, who was calm despite the huge commotion. They were on top of a certain building that belonged to their humongous castle. "So it''s the white tiger but it''s different." Wrath nodded his head and described what he''s saying "Two wings, one white and the other black. Natural lightning around it and its body is jet black with dark flames enveloping it. Quite a weird sight." After staring at it for a while, Wrath continued "Though its speed is inexplicable. It''s only at the Sovereign Realm." Isadore chuckled and said "Take me there. It''s time to end this, fighting is prohibited in my city, whether it''s the Holy shitty Dominion or whatever." He seemed uninterested and unafraid of the repercussion that''ll happen if he stops of the fight. However, in a way, he''s saving the old man. ˇ­ The only one left alive was the old man, who still received a beating from the tiger. Arthur refrained from using any powerful skills like Rizaki or Dark Rain as there are too many eyes. Moreover, he didn''t switch bodies. As he was about to finish the old man, an overwhelming pressure caused him to pause and back off. It was sharp and dangerous. When he raised his head, he found a floating ship. On its deck, there were two figures, a middle-aged man with a slightly long dark hair accompanied by a handsome blond young man. "Stop this at once, I shall not repeat my words." Though he was but a mortal, his words carried indisputable authority. The old man flinched as he heard the crown prince, nevertheless, light energy started condensing around him, preparing to unleash his most powerful attack. Isadore wasn''t able to see what''s happening but he wasn''t stupid. When he saw the old man ignore him, he signaled for Wrath to act. Unfortunately, before the grinning middle-aged man acted, the white tiger disappeared from their view. Two seconds passed yet nothing happened, they only understood what happened when the old man crouched in mid-air and started coughing blood. No one but him knew that there was a damn rat that entered its body through a small hole that was caused by the acid. The rat was merciless as it unleashed Dark Magic that consumed his accumulated Light Energy. Withering energy turned his organs and lungs into dust, his heart burst soon after, clearly caused by a thin, almost unnoticeable vibrating lightning bolt. The old man''s body fell from the sky yet another inexplicable event occurred before the crowd''s eyes. The falling old man was enveloped by a medium-sized whirlpool, which was quickly sucked by the cracking space. Even Wrath didn''t know how the tiger, or whatever it was, escaped from under his eyes. He helplessly shook his head to Isadore, who wasn''t that displeased.Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. After one last glance to where Arthur was, he said "Let''s go back. There are a lot of things to do. Moreover, go inform Dan to not let a single person from the Holy Dominion step in my city!" His tone was resolute and a bit angry. Though the Holy Dominion existed for a long time, they weren''t as old as his family. It''s not because they''re living in a medium-Realm that they should be underestimated. Chapter 397 - 347 : Go The fight that occurred in the Imperial City spread far and wide in just a few days. Many people recorded the fight and it got passed down to countless hands. The strange black tiger that slaughtered five God Monarchs became known by everyone on Green-Leaf. Lots of people of High-Realms started investigated the origin of this strange monster but the results were disappointing. It came out of nowhere and no matter how much resources they poured, they couldn''t find anything about it. The Holy Dominion stated that it''ll do everything in its power to catch the evil cultivator. They didn''t call it a tiger but a cultivator which shocked many people. Moreover, there was an even more shocking piece of news, it''s the return of the Dark Magic. The one and only user of Dark Magic after Zodiak. All of the old man''s enemies started moving, even his allies started searching for Arthur, who seemed to have disappeared into nothingness. "I''ve heard a few things about Zodiak from my grandfather." Clara, the pink-haired girl played with her curly hair while talking about Zodiak. Artid was carefully listening to her, the nonchalant expression he had was nowhere to be seen. As for the Crown Prince of the Five Phoenix Kingdom, he was busier than them after the death of his father. The sect was thrown into chaos as even the old ancestor woke up. "It is said that he the thorn of the Holy Dominion. There was a time when he barged into their planet and killed countless people. His Dark Magic is dangerous and even if a tiny bit enters your body, you''ll be dead within days. Despite using their Holy Magic, they couldn''t kill him thus he escaped unscathed. Grandfather also told me that Zodiak fought the Joker and although he lost, he wasn''t killed." After pausing for a few seconds, the girl leaned closer to the young man and whispered with a very low voice. "There''s also a rumor going around." With a hand massaging his temples, Artid glared at her, demanding she continues. "Zodiak is a close friend of the Whisperer King." Artid inhaled a breath of fresh yet cold air and closed his eyes, pondering about something. "It seems our trip here is more interesting than I thought." The girl giggled and nodded her head. ********** "Grandfather, is it really him?" Shu Ru, who was accompanying her grandfather, curiously asked the calm old man. Despite the miserable and cruel death of Athard, the sect wasn''t in chaos like the Five Phoenix Kingdom. Though Athard''s position as a Patriarch was solid and no one dared to protest, that doesn''t mean there are no candidates to replace him. Moreover, Athard acted alone and caused his demise by joining hands with the Holy Dominion. His son''s tragedy was a big thing but it greatly affected him and made him act without investigating the enemy. The old man chuckled as he stroked his beard "Who could it be if it isn''t him?" Confused, the girl tilted her head and asked again "But aren''t you angry that the Patriarch was killed?" As he looked at the golden stone in front of him, the Grand Elder shook his head and answered "Not at all, I''ve already warned him. Moreover, Athard had no right to attack even if his son was killed by him, after all, without ''him'', there wouldn''t have been a Mirage Era Hall." ********** In a remote villa that was bought by Arthur, the couple was enjoying their free time without a care in the world. Although he caused a commotion, it''s impossible to find him thanks to Claud, who began helping him create a certain item. Currently, Lucy was standing behind a seated Arthur, carefully cutting his hair, which grew too long. In twenty or so minutes, he long hair became much shorter but this new look suited him better, or so said Lucy. After taking caring of that, they went to the basement, where Arthur and Lucy sat facing each other. Lucy was pouring large quantities of Mana into Arthur, who was meticulously creating something. His hand no longer the same as it was enveloped by the ARK, which no longer was cube but a weird gauntlet. It had countless numbers engraved on it and it would change shape with but a thought. He has been creating this for the past five days and today is the day it''s finished. The item was a bracelet, though a bit shabby as it was made from wood. However, what was inside the wood was another matter. This item changes his appearance without having to rely on his racial abilities. Though it''ll decrease his cultivation by a tiny bit, his stats would remain the same. Thanks to this bracelet, even if the Holy Dominion uses their strange object, they won''t be able to find him, or so stated Claud in total confidence. From now on, he''ll be Lucy''s little brother as he became shorter and looked rather innocent with short dark hair. The only problem was his scarred eye, which was covered by an eye-patch. "I can feel the old man secretly moving all around the city, he must have picked your scent." Arthur said that while clicking his tongue though it looked extremely cute as he resembled a 14 or 15-year-old boy. Even Lucy chuckled and pulled his cheeks, clearly teasing him. As she saw his worried looked, she tightly hugged him while saying "There''s nothing to worry about. Worst comes to worse, we''ll call Master Losha." The Fate Contract between them hasn''t ended yet, there''s still two weeks left, more or less. ˇ­ Later that night, after removing the bracelet and returning to his original appearance, Arthur and Lucy a hot bath together which quickly turned into something elseˇ­ omitted. The man was peacefully sleeping on her lap as she was silently meditating, six beautiful lotuses were floating above her head with the seventh being transparent, almost noticeable. Lucy, who was engrossed in circulating her Mana, suddenly opened her eyes and glared at one direction, where someone appeared. This figure escaped her sense and was able to get so close yet she only noticed when he was so close. She saw the dark cloak covering his body and two familiar sheathes, her pupils constricted as she could feel the ever-so-familiar Dark Magic emanating from the man. He walked closed to her while taking off his hood, making her totally flabbergasted. Her mouth opened and closed several times, wanting to say something but unable to. "It is great to see you, Lucy." He smiled as he stopped three meters away, glancing at himself before returning his gaze to the silver-haired woman. Even after a minute passed, she couldn''t understand what happened. "Y-you time traveled?" Her voice was soft and strange, completely different from the usual one. She noticed a few different things about this Arthur, his healed eyes, his missing arm, and rugged clothes. "What I did is a bit different from time-travelˇ­ but you can think of it as so." Lucy carefully moved the head of the sleeping Arthur and stood up before walking closer to guest. She was sure it was Arthur, the feeling, the Dark Magic, everything was right. Moreover, the two black sheathes were another assurance. "I know that you have a lot to ask but time is unforgiving. We only have a few minutes." He walked ever-so-closer to her, with only he a few centimeters separating them, he stared deeply into her shaken eyes. Seeing her anxious expression, he chuckled and replied to her thoughts "Don''t worry, although I''m indeed Arthur, I''m not this Arthur." After a short silence, Arthur turned around and looked and the starry sky while sighing. "Destiny is but a word and Fate is but an illusion. Somethingˇ­ despite being dangerous, must be done regardless of their consequences." "Listen to me, Lucy, you and Arthur must go to the dragon''s lair, no matter what." Before Lucy could question him about the reason, he continued: "Because if you don''t, the fate you''ll face is worse than you could imagine, much worse." His tone sounded melancholic and regretful. "How can you be so sure?" Lucy''s question caused him to tremble, he turned to face her and said "Because that''s what I did and I''m still regretting it." "Arthur won''t go even if I try to convince him. He knows we''ll be exposed to many dangers there." "Nevertheless, he will go. Let''s say it''s for the sake of the missing Saly."Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. Lucy''s expression changed drastically upon hearing that "Saly is missing?!" He waved his hand as if to calm here and reassured "Don''t worry, she''s in a much safer place than anyone in this universe. You don''t have to worry about her." Though still worried, Lucy still decided to believe in his words. If it''s him then she would blindly trust him. Soon, he put on his hood and stared at her one last time before putting his index in front of his mouth "Shhh" Then, just like he appeared, he vanished into the darkness, leaving a stupefied and confused Lucy. She spent hours staring at the sky, not knowing what to think or what to do. Everything just happened so fast so he couldn''t process his words properly. ''Does that meanˇ­ if we don''t go, I''ll die?'' ''ˇ­ But what if we go? Will it be him?'' ***** A distance away from the couple''s residence, the cloaked Arthur stood on the peak of a short mountain and dazedly stared at the sky, he suddenly crouched and coughed large amounts of blood. Seeing the condition of his body, he clenched his fists and banged them on the bloody ground. He gritted his teeth and mumbled ''Whatever it costs! I will forge a crossroad and pave the way for a different future. '' Chapter 398 - 348 : Blindfolded The next morning, although she was told to keep last night''s matte a secret, Lucy still recounted everything to the surprised Arthur. As it was Lucy who told him, he completely believed her words but was confused. "What do you about this?" After listening to everything, Arthur asked the silent Claud. His copy clicked his tongue and replied "Unlike you, I''ve heard and witnessed everything. It was indeed surprising to see you appear like that. By the look you had, you were aware of the consequences of time travel and already accepted your imminent death, but to resort to something as dangerous as time travel, you must have been very desperate. Then again, it couldn''t have been just to force you to go to the dragon''s lair. Something is definitely fishy here. Nevertheless, I think we should follow his words." Arthur frowned, clearly not agreeing Claud but he didn''t object and continued to listened. "I don''t think he lied to Lucy. He may be from the future, but a different one, another timeline. Perhaps he decided to not go the dragon''s lair which resulted in tragic consequences. One thing is for sure, however, he''s from a faraway future. He was Overgod but was extremely weak, surely due to the Time Wraiths." "Let''s stay." Lucy interrupted them and voice her opinion. She stared at Arthur with a complicated expression. However, Arthur didn''t nod his head but shook it while retorting "No way, for my future self to travel through time, something must''ve happened to you." "But we don''t know what will happen to you or me if we go there." While caressing her head, he smiled and said "Not knowing is better than waiting here and expecting a tragedy to happen." ***** "Puhahahahahahahaha ain''t this a motherfucking surprise!" A humongous white roc flapped its wings, which cast a large shadow over the land below. Right next to the roc was an equally big lizard, it had two head, one was blood red while the other was jet black. The lizard had a tall tail that unleashed black flames and thick fog of blood wrapped around its body. "Indeed it is." Radolf licked his lips as he and Midolf stared at the beast floating in front of them. With a body just as big them, a majestic aura and a suffocating pressure. It was a blue dragon that glared at them angrily. "And here I was thinking that it''ll be an easy mission!" Midolf roared in laughter as his body shone with a bright light, indicating his rising excitement. The two ancient beasts gazed at the Azure Dragon, a Divine Beast and apparently, a leader! A distance away from the three beasts, a small group of robbed individuals was cautiously watching the beasts and discussing their presence among themselves. "Tsk! To think we''d have to use our trump card so early!" "What can we do? They appeared out of nowhere and attacked us!" Hearing this, an old woman who was busy inspecting the white roc and the two-headed lizard, retorted in anger "Attacked us? Are you dumb? You''re the stupid ones who were scared shitless and deactivated the time-freeze!" None dared to talk back to the old woman, they dropped their head in embarrassment and didn''t dare to even glance at the elderly. ˇ­ The Azure Dragon was the one to attack first, it opened its mouth and spat a savage energy accompanied by half illusory red flames. Midolf started flapping its lengthy wings, causing the winds to become turbulent. Surprisingly, just the raging winds were enough to disperse the illusory flames. As for the savage energy, the lizard opened its mouth, from which an unstoppable absorption power sucked all the energy. This was but the beginning of a bloody fight, which lasted three days. ˇ­ Arthur set up a special formation that needs to be continuously fed with Nether Energy or Mana. It''s a two-way tunnel that led him to Astria. As Lucy needed to supply the formation with her Mana, she was forced to stay.Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. The only reason he came here was to make sure if Saly disappeared or not. As he questioned the surprised Anastassia, his fears became true. Saly disappeared a bit after he and Lucy left Astria. They searched for her everywhere but neither the little girl nor Astrith could be found. After making a short trip South of the West Continent to check on the undead, he swiftly traveled to Earth. His trip only stayed there for four hours, at most, nonetheless, he became a professional tomb raider. He possessed every skeleton in the graveyards. He didn''t have much time to possess everyone but he focused on famous doctors and physicians. He needed to be acknowledgeable about things like that as they are much needed in the near future. He ended up possessing 641 doctors and 89 Physicians. The skills he got were useful and his medical expertise became unparalleled. "I think this is enough for what you want to do but you have to heal your other eye first." Claud stated his opinion while returning to his usual silence, merely watching everything from Arthur''s point of view. Arthur went back to Astria and teleported to where he set up the formation, after a blue flash of light, he found himself standing before Lucy. She stopped supplying the formation, which crumbled a few seconds after. Arthur relied on such a disposable formation to not leave any traces. Although he can use his Space Magic to teleport to Astria or Earth, there''s a strong chance God Monarchs or Overgods will sense such a strong spatial fluctuation. Moreover, he needs the specific coordinates for this residence so when he teleports back to Green-Leaf, he won''t end up in the Wasteland. *********** "Argh!" In a world of darkness, a little girl a beautiful white fur that covered some parts of her body, was crouching and holding her stomach. The pain from just a single kick was unimaginable. The first three days of her training were just a beating from the Joker. She would charge at him to attack only to receive the same kind of kick, even when she dodged to the side. After three days, she managed to dodge his kick, which made him pleasantly surprised. To congratulate her, he put a blindfold on her eyes and demanded she attacks him. Unfortunately, this was but the beginning of this hell as the kicks she received when blindfolded were ten times stronger. She could hear here ribs cracking and taste the bitter blood in her mouth. Though she doesn''t see him, she still heard his berating voice "What? Down after one strike? Isn''t that pretty pathetic? If Arthur saw this, he''d truly be disappointed. I bet he would even cast you out of the family." His words incensed the groaning Saly, who leaped at him only to be kicked again, however, she managed to shift her body as to receive less damage from the blow. The Joker forbade her from using her magic or skills, telling her that those are useless. For two weeks straight, she was beaten black and blue. No sane person would be able to do this to a little girl yet the Joker didn''t care and never stopped. He didn''t even let her sleep. He''d use some kind of a weird card to restore just enough Stamina for her to get up and get rid of the sleepiness. As for eating, the Joker was actually generous as he''d let her rest for twenty minutes and provide her with all kinds of extremely delicious dishes, she would often cry both from the pain and the delicious taste of the food. ˇ­ "GET UP!" As Saly cried from the pain as she laid on the ground while holding her broken arm. It is exactly the 48th time her right arm was broken yet the Joker showed no signs of stopping. "I gave you a chance to give up but you refused. You can only blame yourself." He walked up to her and pressed his foot on her stomach, causing her to cough blood. He waved his hand, getting rid of the blindfold. The little girl glared at the man before her eyes, he was leaning his head close to hers while still pressing his foot on her stomach. "What? You''re angry? You think anger will make you stronger? Come on, then, attack me." Saly shook her weak body to free herself from his grasp but the pain was agonizing and the strength behind his foot was monstrous, it was like a mountain. Seeing her futile and weak efforts, he shook his head and ruthlessly kicked her far away. Her body was on the verge of breaking, her usually stubborn will was nowhere to be seen. "And you wanted to help your ''mommy'' and ''daddy'' like this? Don''t make me laugh! This is not even pathetic, this is ludicrous! I''ve never had a student this weak and disobedient." He spat on the ground in disgust while turning away and waving his hand "I''m not going to bother anymore, find someone else." Just as he took two steps, a white shadow appeared behind him. He nonchalantly turned around with a speed that seemed extremely slow yet was more than enough for him to see the assailant and block the incoming kick. His hand turned illusory as it was suddenly holding a small leg that was about to hit him. Just as he was about to throw the petite body, she suddenly twisted her body in a weird manner and disregarded her broken ankle while punching the Joker in the face. Unfortunately, before her punch reached its target, she was sent flying far away but unlike last time, she didn''t even land on the dark ground but transformed into a white shadow that attacked the Magician againˇ­ Chapter 399 - 349 : Fate After thoroughly thinking about the pros and cons of staying here instead of going to the Secret Realm, Lucy and Arthur decided to go. The only missing was Makaze, which still wasn''t returned to its owner. Although Arthur was unaware of the Nameless Knight''s motives, he wished Makaze will be back before he enters the dragon''s Secret Realm. His cultivation will be reduced, so will his stats. Having Makaze will increase the probability of surviving in case something happens. There''s also the Holy Dominion which wouldn''t give up so easily. There are so many prying eyes and be discovered will cause a lot of troubles to him. His real appearance must never be known as ''X'' will come for him and he isn''t strong enough to fight an Overgod. Furthermore, ''X'' is an Overgod who excels at manipulating Time, so it''s even more troublesome to deal with him. Currently, Arthur was wearing the bracelet he crafted yesterday and accompanying Lucy. They were roaming the Imperial City and checking the artifact shops, seeking a soul-protecting item. Such a thing is usually priceless and hard to find, even Losha didn''t have one. Thought their efforts were bound to be in vain, they still decided to try, at least. Fortunately, no one recognized them, especially Arthur, so they enjoyed their undisturbed time. "Customer! Here! Look at this recording!" An excited middle-aged man presented a recording crystal Lucy, who curiously activated it only to a small three seconds clip of a dark white tiger fighting an old man. "Yeah! It''s as you guessed!" He licked his lips as he proceeded to talk about the legendary fight that occurred a few days ago. However, Lucy wasn''t interested so she quickly left, not wanting to continue hearing the man''s rambling. The cute boy following her was awfully silent but his eye would sometimes shine with a beautiful blue light. He resembled a timid young man as he held his big sister''s hand and followed her hand. If one would know the person inside that boy, they would piss their pants in fear. Though more and more people kept coming to the Imperial Capital, the couple''s residence was calm and silent. The two would either enjoy their time in cuddling or meditate. No one disturbed them and the opening of the dragon''s lair was approaching. ˇ­ At the entrance of the Imperial Capital, a large group of Holy Knights wasn''t able to enter as a short middle-aged man who looked like a homeless person was blocking their way. He wore an old straw hat and was nonchalantly eating an apple. The leader of this group, who was a beautiful woman, angrily glared at the man named Dan, clearly demanding an explanation. This woman was a Deacon and was in charge of this party. Just behind this woman was a blond-woman who had a complicated expression on her face. It was none other than Delia. "What? You''re staring at me so intensely, I can''t help but feel loved!" The middle-aged man hugged his arms and moaned in pleasure, causing the deacon to feel disgusted. "Will you be able to handle the consequences?" Her tone was threatening yet the man still didn''t care. He spat some of the apple''s seeds at the feet of the deacon while shrugging his shoulders "Go tell that to his Highness." Although this group of Holy Knights was strong, they can''t force their way with this man''s presence. Moreover, even if they could, the prince won''t tolerate anyone who dares to act against him. No matter how influential and strong they are, they can''t escape unscathed from the prince''s territory. "We''re just here to catch an evil cultivator, in fact, we''re doing you a favor. Why are you being difficult?" Han ignored her as he enjoyed his apple and only after finishing it did he reply "We never asked you to do us a favor. Evil cultivator or whatnot, you were the guys who caused trouble first when it was clearly known that fighting is prohibited in the capital. Now, bugger off." He waved his hand, causing more than thirty people to be pushed back more than fifty meters. The deacon kept glaring at him for a few minutes before turning around and disappearing from the area. Seeing this, Dan chuckled and mumbled "What a bunch of annoying flies." ************** Around seven years ago, just when ''X'' visited the tortured Arthur and proposed that enticing deal to him, another commotion occurred in a place none other than Heaven itself! The place was turned upside down when merely two individuals brazenly entered it and shortly arrived at where Fate resided. Fate, which a thing that controls many things and is behind many events, was actually a woman. A woman whose beauty is unmatchable, the very definition of a fairy or a goddess. Yet this woman was currently breathing heavily as she was suffocating. Her usually pretty face was flushed red and her neck was being held by a pale hand. The person holding her neck and raising her body above ground showed no mercy as he stared at her with cold and chilling eyes. Even someone as powerful as Fate, couldn''t do a thing against him. Her body wriggled but to no avail, she was like a headless chicken who wanted to escape from a tiger. "You''ve got two minutes. You either do it or I kill you." Hearing this, the woman remained unfazed, she tried chuckling only for an agonizing pain to assault her. A thick black sword impaled her to the wall behind her, piercing her from her upper chest all the way to her stomach, vertically. "In this world, there''s nothing I can''t kill." Just when the young man said that, several angels appeared out of nowhere, each and every one of them was powerful. There was even one who had four pairs of wings. Unfortunately, before they could move or say anything, their heads fell from their bodies. Just behind the young man, there appeared a tall man with a weird white costume. He was holding a bloodied card while snickering. The woman, Fate, continuously coughed mouthfuls of blood yet the young man, who was clad in a black armor, didn''t seem he was going to remove the sword.Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. "I c-can''t doˇ­ th-that" The Joker, hearing her say that, laughed and retorted "Sure you can. You''ve done it many times, so hurry your ass up." Thirty seconds passed yet the woman remained stubborn. Seeing this, The Nameless Knight let go of the sword, which was still impaling the woman and stretched his hand to her face. Seeing the world suddenly turned into complete darkness, the woman''s pale face became even paler. "S-stopˇ­ I, I will do i-it." His hand stopped mid-way then was retracted. The woman closed her eyes and tried her best to abide by their wishes even when she''s in such a critical condition. What they asked of her wasn''t a hard thing but for Fate itself to be ordered like that, it''s not something she can accept. She picked the soul of a man who just reincarnated it and threw it in a specific, cast out world. Just as she threw him in that world, she furrowed her brows and was about to investigate something else only for the Joker to appear before her andˇ­ ''SLAP'' "AHHHH that felt good." He and the Nameless Knight disappeared shortly after, leaving a bloodied Fate, who only got up from that puddle of blood after a long time. She couldn''t even remember what happened after throwing that reincarnated soul. ******** "What did Dan say?" Isadore asked Wrath, who was lazing around, as usual. "The woman is a White Specter but her relationship with the White Specter Clan is unknown. As for their whereabouts, the woman is still in the city though her appearance greatly changed. Arthur, however, disappeared. There is a boy following the woman but Dan said that it couldn''t be Arthur." Isadore thought for a moment before asking again "Do you think they''ll go to the Secret Realm?" Wrath shook his head and replied "Very unlikely. Changing appearance won''t work in that place, they''ll be exposed and weakened, pretty disadvantageous." Though Wrath said that, lost in a daze, Isadore mumbled "Nonetheless, such a possibility can''t be ruled out." The Crown Prince, out of habit, tapped his finger on the table as he pondered. "What of the Kangs?" When he heard their name, Wrath suddenly got up and said while gritting his teeth "They''re unusually stubborn. They refused to say anything about Arthur and his wife, Lucy. However, The daughter, Emily, knows a few things about them so why don''t you send your sister to investigate, they''re good friends, after all." While smiling, Isadore leaned on the chair and nodded his head as if he was contemplating Wrath''s idea. Only after a while did he grab a piece of paper and started writing. "So, what did you decide?" Curious, Wrath asked the prince only to receive a disappointing answer "It''s unnecessary. Everything will unfold itself sooner or later, we just have to wait." Chapter 400 - 350 : Three days Only three days are left before the opening of the Secret Realm. All the visitors who came from different high and medium-Realms headed East. Arthur and Lucy also departed, they didn''t tag along with Shu Ru or Jian Si, who went with their respective sects. They used the red Spirit Boat, the one they got in the Underworld. Its speed was not bad and since they left a while ago, they arrived in six days, more or less. The Secret Realm opening is situated at the far East of Green-Leaf. The couple saw a sea that stretched as far as the eye could see. Though it a sea, it was actually called the dragon''s river. When the time comes, a portal will appear, allowing everyone to enter the dragon''s secret Realm. However, the dragon''s lair is fraught with danger and peril. It has countless priceless treasures, whether it''s medicinal herbs, artifacts or ancient minerals. The goal of those rogue or weak cultivators is to acquire a decent treasure. Only those from High-Realms or powerful backgrounds are here to get their hands on things much more heaven-defying. As for Arthur and Lucy, they were seeking an archaic artifact that can protect souls. Losha already informed her disciple of the location of the artifact, all they have to do is go and get it. Honestly, Arthur doesn''t know what to do after acquiring that artifact, do they leave? Or wait for something to happen? Many cultivators were camping on the shore of the river. They were divided into numerous groups, either belonging to a faction, or they''re just allying together to make things easier for them once they enter. There are some notable people that grabbed much more attention than others, particularly the silver-haired woman that strongly resembled Lucy. Though she was only accompanied by the scarred old man, who seemed like a butler, none dared to approach her or even greet her. It''s either they''re afraid of her or she doesn''t have any friends, though Arthur was sure of the latter guess. The woman was most likely Lucy''s sister and knowing his wife''s behavior, it''s not a surprise that her sister doesn''t have any friends. The woman was indifferent and didn''t even spare a glance at the others. She just sat cross-legged and silently meditated. The butler, however, would look around every now and then, causing the talking crowds to stiffen and turn their head away. One more group was a pink-haired girl, a grey-robbed young man, and the red-haired youth, who recently took the position of the Patriarch in the Five Phoenix Kingdom. Despite his weak cultivation, he still managed to acquire that position. Moreover, Arthur noticed the youngster''s sudden increase in cultivation. Rel Huo, known as the Flame Crown Prince, was now a Fusion Sovereign. ''His sect must''ve used quite a lot of treasures to raise his cultivation so fastˇ­ it''s a shame.'' Arthur wasn''t going to spare the young man, knowing that his father dared to attack him like that. Furthermore, from the way this kid acted when his father died, it was certain that he harbored malice towards him. Arthur won''t risk getting exposed just to kill Rel, however, it shouldn''t be hard to sneak-attack him, especially with how chaotic the Secret Realm is. From within a clustered crowd of weak cultivators, Arthur, who was possessing an innocent little boy, gazed at the pink-haired girl then at Artid, the young man next to her. Clara Skatter (Race: Human): Realm: High Sovereign (Peak) Age : 20 Emotion : Excitement / Impatient . Skills/Techniques : Feral Judgment / Soul Clutch. Short Description: The top Disciple of Sacred Lake Sect, she''s from a humble background and managed to reach her current status after a lot of hard-work. Tip : Sacred Lake Sect is in the Crimson Star (High Realm) Ranked 23th amongst all the High Realms. Artid (Race: Human) : Realm : Half God Monarch Age : 28 Emotion : Curious / Nervous Skills : Magic Staff Mastery (Lv Max) Short Description : He has no affiliation with any sect. Part of the Vengeance Mercenary. Good friends with Clara Skatter. He refused joining Black Rose even after receiving an invitation. Ti- Arthur''s eye shone with blue luster as the notification window suddenly changed from blue to red. The information drastically changed too. Artid (Race: Human) : Half Over God (Celestial Body : 36%) Age : 25 Emotion : Curious(Arthur MoonStar) Skills : Magic Staff Mastery (Lv Max) / Assassination (Lv Max) Title : Unbeatable / Executor Short Description : He has no affiliation with any sect. Top executive of Black Rose, one of the 9 seats, the green seat of Justice. ''Is that so.'' Arthur smirked as he read Artid''s information. He did indeed tell Krauk that he will come up with an answer after two months but he never thought that a top executive will come for him. He didn''t seem to be harboring any bad intentions. If he''s really that strong then he''ll probably find him on his own, there''s no need to expose himself. Even such a well-disguised person was seeing thanks to [Eyes of Tranquility]. What''s surprising is that Artid never changed his appearance, this brought a shock to Arthur. ''I''d say it''s a clever move. No one would expect him to go around with his appearance so they won''t believe it''s his real face.'' Claud commented as he also saw the results of the appraisal. ''Anyway, enemy or foe, be careful of him. Although it''s only 36%, he must be really strong.'' ''It matters not, we''ll all be equal once we enter.'' Just as he said that, Arthur''s could hear Claud''s harsh retort ''What bullshit are you saying? You think an Overgod, even if weakened to a God, won''t be able to beat a God? Only their cultivation is weakened, their techniques or skills are still as strong.'' ''I am aware of that.'' Arthur decided not to argue with Claud, he just uttered those words and ignored the angry Claud. Lucy spotted many familiar people like Emily and her brother. Jian Si and Shu Ru were also present. Her gaze suddenly halted on a figure that was alone yet no one bothered him. His face was covered as he was covered in bandages from head to toe, his appearance was creepy and only his two pupils could be seen from within all those bandages. The reason for her momentary surprise is this man. It was the exact same person that appeared in the tournament East of Astria, when everything went south at the end. There''s no doubt that it''s him, the appearance, aura and eccentric behavior. She nudged Arthur and used Telekinesis to convey her thoughts. Arthur appraised the target only to see surprising results Unnamed (Race: Ghost): Realm : 3 Star God Monarch Age : ??? Emotion : Indifferent Short Description : One of the three top disciples of the Ghost Nation. A silent ghost that is famous in most of the High Realms for going around and hunting treasures. Despite his unwillingness, he had been tasked to come here and search for a person. It was actually a Ghost and a God Monarch at that! What''s confusing is that this ghost wasn''t this strong when he came to Astria. ''It''s probably due to a restriction put on Astria. Remember when Lissandra came and destroyed the Ma Clan? She was at most at the Divine Realm. All outsiders will be severely weakened when they force their way to Astria.'' Claud explained the reason for the ghost''s past weakness. Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. Actually God Monarchs aren''t divided like Sovereigns but with how many stars they have. Once a person reaches the God Monarch, they''ll start conjuring stars using their Nether Energy. The more stars appear around the Dantian, the stronger they will become. Six stars is considered the Peak of God Monarch but if one conjures more, then their future growth and strength will be limitless. There are even some who conjured nine stars. ˇ­ Another commotion broke out once a large group that road on a large white boat appeared from the horizon. There were more than forty people with a beautiful one in a revealing white robe leading them. It was the Deacon that was blocked from entering the Imperial Capital. Once they arrived, they picked an empty spot and patiently waited, however, the woman angrily glared toward a dark-haired middle-aged man. This man was none other than Wrath, who was accompanying the princess, Isadore''s little sister. Emily was also next to the princess, she was as lively as ever. The princess, however, was very calm as she sat next to Emily and happily chatted with her. Arthur didn''t dare appraise her as Wrath was next to her and there''s a strong chance that he''ll be discovered, or so warned Claud. Though Appraisal isn''t easily noticed, those who have very high sensitivity will immediately notice it. This was also the reason he didn''t appraise Lucy''s sister or the butler. Wrath flicked his middle-finger to the deacon, who became even more incensed. The Holy Dominion had many believers in the mortal worlds but its reputation isn''t that good. Chapter 401 - 351 : Angels The reincarnator, Losha, was silently meditating under the World Tree when her eyes suddenly sprung open. She frowned and flew high in the air while glancing around. At first, she thought she was mistaken but when she felt it a second and third time, it wasn''t a hunch anymore. She clicked his tongue and glared at the ever-so-silent World Tree while mumbling "The bastard even got the timing right. Hmpf!" Her body shot up toward the sky like a blinding star and soon, she left the world known as Astria. Outside of this small and insignificant world is a boundless darkness. Though it was easy leaving Astria, entering was a whole other matter. Losha cared not about that, her duty was to fend off against what''s to come. The world Darkness remained like so for two days until a blinding radiance covered half of this isolated place. Losha clicked his tongue in annoyance "Arghh I fucking hate angels!" Just as she said that, several winged figures appeared not far away from her, each emanating a suffocating pressure, which didn''t affect her. There was exactly five angels, led by a blondie with three pair of wings. Despite their exceptional and heavenly beauty, Losha was disgusted and almost vomited upon seeing them. Just the aura they emitted caused to have goosebumps. The blond-haired angel leading this small group momentarily frowned before smiling and walking toward Losha. "If it isn''t Miss Losha." "ˇ­" Losha remained silent, her glare piercing him like a dagger. As the Fate Contract stated, anyone wanting to attack or enter Astria shall be eliminated, no matter who they are, meaning that all these angels will be killed by her. Although an angel with six wings is powerful, it''s not something she can''t handle. The reincarnator didn''t even waste time chatting with the approaching angel. Her body turned crystalline as diamond covered her. Like a bloodthirsty beast, she leaped at the leader, wanting to kill him. Her attack, however, was unsuccessful as the four angels at the back both jumped to protect their leader. The four of them wielded long golden spears and through flawless cooperation, they managed to block Losha''s punch. Four spears were pressed against each other, blocking a single fist, which still managed to push the four angels a few meters.Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. The blond-haired angel''s smile disappeared ever since she attacked out of the blue. Just like his comrades, he took out a long golden spear and vanished only to appear behind Losha. He stabbed his spear at the woman, who didn''t bother to retaliate. The spear tip wasn''t even able to injure her hardened skin, it was more like an itch, really. Although Losha didn''t retaliate against the leader, she still finished off the four angels. Her fist was blocked by the four spears but her other free hand slashed the air, instantly cutting the spears and the four angels in two pieces, causing blood to splatter on her face and body. With an ugly expression, she spat some of the bitter and disgusting blood before turning toward the leader, whose face became as pale as a sheet of paper. Losha is a well known for many reasons. First, because she''s an 8-star God Monarch, her background isn''t normal either, moreover, her identity as a reincarnator, which isn''t known by many. The angel believed that they''ll be able to easily handle her and resolve this issue. Never did he expect her to be this ruthless, slaughtering his comrades like that, without any hesitation. When he saw her bloodied face and chilling gaze, he knew that he''ll be next. His six wings flashed with a blinding radiance which was soon cut off by Losha''s Divine Sword. The sword cut two wings, causing the blondie to groan from the pain and shame. For an angel, their wings are more important than their life, once they''re cut, they''ll have no place in Heaven. Still, the angel didn''t despair as he could use the ''signal'' to alert Heaven. Losha protecting this place confirmed their previous suspicions. The World Tree is here and the other angels must know! Unfortunately, Losha''s attacks were just too ferocious and fast. Her movements were simple yet extremely fatal. In less than a minute from their appearance, the angels were eradicated and the leader was already half-dead. As a last means to struggle for his life, he sacrificed three of his wings to teleport of this place. Before he managed to get away, Losha managed to cut his last wing, causing him even more heavy damage. Bloodied and miserable, the blond angel appeared in hot desert where the sand was blood-red. As he laid on his back and panted heavily, the dying angel struggled to retrieve a golden cup. He mustered all his strength to put it next to his head before starting his cast "B-by God''s Nameˇ­*cough* I, I besee-" Unfortunately, his casting came to halt when a figure that was nonchalantly flying in the air suddenly descended next to him. Hopeful, he turned his head toward this person with much anticipation. Like always, he wore a weird white costume and behaved like a lunatic, to say the least. He was chewing gum as he glanced down at the angel. It was only through a fluke did he notice this dying ''thing''. "Bitch! You look like a homeless drunkard! My dead grandmother looks better than you tsk tsk!" The Joker shook his head in disappointment before continuing: "I thought angels were supposed to be majestic, righteous, bla bla blaˇ­ How come I only see a pile of dying shit? Is this perhaps a pleasant dream?" He rubbed his eyes several times as if to ascertain of the current situation. "Fuck! It''s actually true!" The Joker inspected the dying angel yet again, thoroughly checking him from head to toe before mocking him again: "I''ve seen wild dogs in better condition than youˇ­ shit! A cockroach has more dignity than you. Come on man, if you want to crawl in this lovely desert, you have to do it properly, hereˇ­ lemme show you." The Joker laid on the ground and assumed a swimming position before he started crawling. The angel''s face turned red from anger and embarrassment, he took a deep breath before shouting with a hoarse voice "E-enough! Help me." The Joker stopped crawling and calmly got up. After patting dome sand off his clothes, he threw another chewing gum into his mouth and only after fully savoring its flavor did he talk again: "Oh no! What do I do?" He acted panicked and backed away from the angel while hugging himself and adding: "I''m but a pitiful mortal! I don''t dare touch one of God''s pure creations! Oh it''s sinfulˇ­ too sinful!" The angel, whose death is imminent, glared at the Joker before turning toward the golden cup and continuing the castˇ­ or so it should have been were it not for the Joker, who snatched the golden cup. Mouthfuls of blood were spat by the angels, who stretched his hand in the air, precisely toward the Joker, who waved at him and flew away as if nothing happened. So, like that, the angel took his last breath in this unknown place, surrounded by a mysterious red desert that stretched for millions of kilometers. After a few hours, the Joker, who was cheerfully flying across that desert suddenly halted mid-air and said "Ohˇ­ I forgot to introduce myself! Shit! It would''ve been worth it for him if he saw my amazing introduction before he dies. It would''ve allowed him to go to Heavenˇ­" *** A humanoid creature with two large wings and a horn erecting from his forehead was currently kneeling in front of an illusory silhouette. "Master, please look at this." Belos handed a recording crystal to ''X'', who was gazing at the night sky with an absent-minded look. Hearing his subordinate call out to him, ''X'' snapped out of his daze and fumbled with the crystal before nonchalantly watching the recorded footage. It showed a large tiger with two dramatically different wings, lightning swirled around it and it used the infamous Dark Magic. ''X'' leaned his head closer to the crystal and carefully re-watched the whole fight. "Dark Magic?" ''X'' asked his trustful servant only to receive an honest answer "Yes, it is Zodiak''s Dark Magic, without a doubt. A lot of powers are making a move as Zodiak''s legacy is not something to be trifled with." ''X'' remained silent for a long time before coldly snorting, clearly displeased "Hmpf! I fought that sinister old man in more than one occasion. He''s always full of tricks! Still, his Dark Magic is really dangerous." He got up and picked his cane before adding "Well, it matters not. Focus on finding Arthur, the Orb should cause a huge disturbance soon enough and at that time, he won''t be able to hide! Hehehehehe" Chapter 402 - 352 : Mine The three remaining days passed peacefully without any disputes between the rival factions. The biggest group was definitely the ones composed of weak factions and lone cultivators, which clustered together. Arthur and Lucy were amongst them, hidden from view. There were around three or four thousands cultivators, including all the famous and powerful ones. Dawn of the opening day, the river started reacting quite strangely. It was usually calm and silent yet it became extremely turbulent, producing waves that were as high as five meters. Everyone who enters the Secret Realm will be sent to a random location, however, Arthur planned to forcefully teleport with Lucy, bypassing the mechanism that''s going to separate them. The ARK told him that the probability of succeeding exceeds 50% so it''s worth a try. With the rising sun, the place became chaotic as the waters were restless and the wind raged. With curious and somewhat excited look, the cultivators stared at the occurring change and could barely hold themselves from diving into the river. The presence of Lucy''s sister and the other powerful individuals made them hesitate and wait for their turn. After ten or so minutes, the water started spinning, affecting even the dark clouds high above. The center of this underwater tornado was some sort of a black portal, ominous and unstable. The first people to enter were the scarred old man and the silver-haired woman, who unhesitatingly dived into the water and entered the strange portal. Next was the powers of Green-Leaf such as Jian Si''s sect and the Mirage Era Hall. The man covered in bandages also entered alone, unhindered by no one as all the cultivators feared him. When it was their turn, the large group of cultivators flocked into the dark portal, pushing each other and even cursing. Arthur and Lucy remained motionless, not wanting to join that mess. Haste makes waste, furthermore, going first isn''t necessarily a good thing. In a way, it is understandable for these cultivators to be in such a hurry as the treasures in the Secret Realm was unique and priceless. You could even stumble on an ancient artifact in the middle of nowhere, it all depends on luck and keen senses. Arthur wasn''t interested in such treasures as they were useless to him. Their only goal is that soul-protecting item. Few others also chose to stay still, waiting for things to calm down before entering. Five minutes after the opening of the portal, two siblings flew toward the dark portal with a slow yet steady pace. Just as they got close to the portal, they were sucked into it, unable to retaliate. As he was holding Lucy''s hands, Arthur''s sole eye shone with a blue light. Trapped into an unknown place, between two worlds, a mysterious force enveloped the couple before starting to separate them, each sent into a random direction. Just when they were separated, time was stopped. Arthur flew toward Lucy and tightly hugged her before heading toward one of the countless lights in this dark place. Fortunately, when the time-stop ended, the mysterious force couldn''t separate them as they were right next to one of the lights, which was a small portal that led to a random place in the Secret Realm. ˇ­ Arthur and Lucy found themselves in a dark cave, surrounded by countless over-sized rocks. The first thing the couple noticed a small decrease in their stats. As he inspected his Status Window, Arthur was pleasantly surprised to see only his cultivation drop dramatically, as for his stats, they decreased by only 950m. It was the same case for Lucy. Their cultivation was now at the peak of Divine Realm, nevertheless, their physical strength is absurd. "It is quite easy to explain, actually. The limit for any person is 999.999m, so the Secret Realm decreases enough for you to be Divine beings, it didn''t into account your current stats." Claud explained the cause behind this occurrence. With how strong they are now, they shouldn''t encounter any real danger unless they purposely anger the dragon. "Master said that there are many powerful monsters hiding here. Although it''s the dragon''s realm, it doesn''t from its lair."Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. Lucy told Arthur some details about this Secret Realm. Losha thoroughly explained how to proceed, what to avoid and what to do. They have two destinations, one is at the North of this secret Realm. It''s on a floating island which has a large waterfall, and the other one is near a hot lava deep underground. Both places have powerful soul-protecting items, however, since Lucy can fuse Fire and Water, it is feasible to fuse these two items. This only applies to Lucy, who somehow managed to merge two opposing attributes. Speaking of that flame, Losha instructed her to only use in the most desperate situations. Not only is it hard to control, it''s dangerous and it''ll bring much trouble. The two of them didn''t know where they were as the place didn''t seem to have a nearby exit. The couple delved deeper into the cave only to discover that this place was actually a mine. There were gigantic trolleys and broken pickaxes that were 3 or 4 meters long. "It''s a Spirit Stones mine! You got lucky." Claud seemed excited, unlike Arthur or Lucy, who weren''t amazed. They have abundant Red Spirit Stones, even the rare Green Spirit Stones were no exception so, despite how it enticing it may be, the mine wasn''t considered a treasure trove by those two. "Even if you''re not going to take some, at least summon some skeleton to do the job for you then come take the harvest once you''re leaving this secret Realm." Arthur shrugged his shoulders and followed his copy''s words, after all, he has nothing to lose. More than a hundred tall skeletons appeared around him. The undead soon started using the huge pickaxes to mine the Spirit Stones. Lucy, who was busily inspecting the incredibly large cave, frowned and backed away a few steps only for a humongous worm-like creature made of stone to appeared where she was. Its mouth was wide open as it had planned to swallow its target only to miserably fail. Before it could dive underground, the large worm was instantly frozen and shattered into countless pieces. It wasn''t a strong beast to begin and it was unlucky enough to encounter Lucy. The brown-haired woman crouched on the ground and put her hand on the rocky earth. She made use of her sky-high stats to locate any monsters hiding underground. It turned out to be a monster fest, more than fifty of those stone worms were stealthily moving underground. Unfazed, Lucy activated her Yin power, which bypassed the rocky ground and perfectly hit all the worms, freezing them. It would be a hassle to get them all so Arthur could possess them, however, such thoughts disappeared from her mind as she saw that Arthur followed her actions and used his Space Magic to teleport all those corpses, before throwing them all in his storage. This place seemed to be isolated from the outside so Arthur switched bodies, possessing the bone shark. Lucy jumped on his back and tightly held onto one of the smaller bones. The bone shark wriggled on the surface for a few seconds before it drilled into the ground. The rocky underground, which was supposed to be a big hurdle, was cleanly cut by the sharp bones of the bone shark. With ever-so-increasing speed, Arthur drilled everything in his way and after a few minutes, they got out of that place. They were met with a blue and clear sky, a lush and peaceful forest and the sound of running water. They were in a forest that surrounded a high-mountain. Even with his sharpened senses, Arthur couldn''t feel the presence of any dangerous beasts or passing cultivators. It was kind of illogical for such a place to exist in a secret realm which is supposed to be fraught with danger. Nevertheless, Arthur changed his appearance again, wearing the bracelet and becoming Lucy''s ''little brother''. This secret Realm was vast, to say the least. It had a triangular shape with the dragon''s lair being at the very center. The floating island was far north, at the peak of the triangle and the hot lava was somewhere South. From Losha''s description, Lucy was able to guess their current location. It was West of the Secret-Realm, which was a big forest that''s the safest place in this world. Most cultivators will go to this place as it is not dangerous and they have the chance to find rare herbs or harvest the cores of some God beasts. To not attract any unwanted attention, the couple chose to travel by foot and at moderate pace. From now on, they''re just a pair of siblings at the Divine Realm. The two of them started descending the mountain while enjoying the serene scenery. No beasts attacked nor any cultivator stopped them. Though it''ll be nice if they joined a group as to make their act more believable since they looked pretty weak, especially Arthur, who looked like a shy and fragile kid. For the first three hours, they met no one but were still disturbed by some God beasts, which were slain instantly. After four hours, they met with other people, a small group. They were a group of five, three males and two females. The three men were black and muscular, they wore gauntlets and thick silver armors. As for the women, they seemed to be along with the three men, who were lewdly looking at their new comrades. In fact, the women didn''t seem bothered by that and would throw seductive smiles at the men. As they stumbled upon Arthur and Lucy, they ''secretly'' tailed them for half an hour before they showed themselves. ''Well, it''s better to have idiots around us.'' Arthur shyly hid behind Lucy while trying to hold back his laugh. His act was totally believable as the leader of this small group walked up to Lucy and scratched the back of his head while saying "Aii little missˇ­ we''re forming a small party to make easier for us to hunt. How about joining us? All the spoils will be split evenly." He cracked a grin while showing his disgusting teeth, to which Lucy held her hands while fidgeting, clearly not knowing what to do. Seeing her hesitant reaction, the man''s eyes flashed with a cold glint as he insisted "Come on, the more, the better. It''s much safer if you''re in a group, we''ll protect each other''s back." ''Yeah right.'' Arthur inwardly snorted but still remained embarrassed on the outside. After what seemed like an eternity, the big sister mustered her courage and said "Actuallyˇ­ we-we''re heading North." The man frowned, confused about her reply. After pondering for a moment, he seemed to have of something as he became excited. He heartily laughed while saying: "What a coincidence, we were planning to go North too. How about it? Want to join us?" Lucy took three seconds to reply by nodding her hand and holding Arthur''s hand, dragging him toward the group. As for the muscular black man, he licked his lips and followed the newcomers. Chapter 403 - 353 : Sister There trip North was rather safe for the first two days except the unusual noises at night, lewd ones, of course. The two women accompanying the men were actually selling themselves. Apparently, they were paid and were more than willing to sell their bodies for Red Spirit Stones so Lucy or Arthur didn''t interfere. Only the tall muscular man would remain by the couple''s side at night, either rambling about his past achievements or trying to seduce Lucy, which didn''t work for obvious reasons. Although he didn''t try to hide his lecherous gaze, he didn''t try anything and despite hinting his intentions, he didn''t voice his thoughts directly. Lucy turned a deaf ear to him and followed the somewhat decent group without having to fight too much. Their traveling speed was slow, to say the least, however, that''s only because the group wanted to hunt as many God beasts as possible and pick up some herbs. They fought sixteen times but Lucy only helped once and she acted so pitifully weak that it seemed kind of comical. If not for her piercing glare, Arthur would''ve burst out in laughter. Night of the third day together, while Lucy and Arthur eating dinner while ignoring the moans coming from the nearby tents, they suddenly heard something far away head their way. The black man next to them was oblivious to this and continued chewing on the meat of a God Beast they slew a while ago. Such a meat was not only delicious but also beneficial as it contains a moderate amount of Nether Energy, which can help in cultivation. Apparently, the three men were peak Divine beings and the two women just reached the Divine Realm. The men were powerful despite only using their gauntlets and only relying on techniques and such. In fact, they were body cultivators, which explained their huge frames and muscular bodies. Whatever or whoever was coming not only was incredibly fast, this caused the relaxed Lucy to strengthen her senses and prepare herself. Worse comes to worst, she''ll let her new group fight before she kills this beast, or whatever it is. Only when this hastily-approaching presence was within two hundred meters of them did the black man react. He sprung up from his seat and looked South only for a figure to appear a distance away with him. With long silver-hair and a beautiful appearance, she glanced at the three humans around her before preparing to leave. Just as she was about to disappear, the black man, named Jace, raised his hand to stop her while smiling and saying "M-miss! Please stop!" He seemed very desperate for a man who was smiling happily not even a minute ago. Quite surprisingly, the indifferent sister of Lucy listened to him as she shifted back her attention to Jace, who scratched his head while chuckling, embarrassed, or acting so. However, before he could talk, the lewd moans coming from not far away resumed which made the woman''s face distort. Seeing this, Jace''s expression turned ugly, he turned toward the tents and shouted at the top of his lungs.Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. "HEY YOU TWO! KNOCK IT OFF WE HAVE A GUEST!" Shortly after saying that, the two men and women left their tents with sweating bodies and red faces. Although disgusted, the woman didn''t immediately leave and waited for Jace to talk again. ''Do we leave?'' ''It''s too late for that. Furthermore, it doesn''t hurt to see what she''s capable of.'' Arthur wanted to leave but as Lucy said, it''s a bit too late to try and leave like this, it''ll be suspicious. Moreover, this woman didn''t seem she''s going to stay with them, or so thought the poor couple, who clearly didn''t know her well enough. After much insistence and smooth-talk, Jace managed to convince the woman to join their party, just for the time being. She also seemed to be heading North, which made it much easier to pull her into his group. The atmosphere was rather awkward after she joined as everyone remained silent. Arthur and Lucy excused themselves and ''went to sleep'', as for the rest, they either ate or tried striking a conversation with the woman. Jace wasn''t a famous figure but he was still knowledgeable, he recognized the silver-haired woman with a glance which is why he tried so hard to rope her in. With her at their side, they have nothing to fear in the perilous land. ''Who would''ve thought your sister is so much different than you.'' ''Hmpf! If I see you stare at her, you''re dead meat!'' Lucy snorted and glared at him, clearly telling to not do anything. The silver-haired woman was indeed a beauty, just like his wife, which is why Lucy felt threatened, as usual. However, the two behaved differently. Lucy would''ve never traveled with strangersˇ­ heck! It wouldn''t be strange if she killed were they tried anything suspicious. As for her sister, she actually joined their group, just like that. ''Is she perhaps a softie?'' "Be careful, she has the Dark Void Physique." Claud warned him but it wasn''t anything too serious. Although she''s really strong, she isn''t his or Lucy''s match as their stats are just too absurd but it wouldn''t hurt to be wary. The Dark Void Physique is a branch of the Void-Physique and it''s a king Physique. It''s extremely strong as it allows the user to pass through material things. ˇ­ The next morning, the group departed together with Jace leading. The silver-haired woman tagged along but remained at the back. She didn''t seem too interested in Jace and his former party but she would throw curious glances at Arthur, for some unknown reason. This annoyed him as it made him feel tense. Out of everyone, why does it have to be him that gets stared at by her. She didn''t talk or do anything out of the ordinary, she would follow and watch from the back if any God Beast appears. It wasn''t something Jace and his friends couldn''t handle. This forest was relatively safe compared to the other zones and in one more day, they''ll be out of this area. ''Hey! Your sister is kind of annoying, you know!'' Arthur inwardly grumbled as he talked to Lucy, whose lips arched up a bit, clearly smiling. ''What''s that got to do with me? And she''s not my sister!'' Hearing her half-serious, half-mocking tone, Arthur rolled his eyes and quickened his pace, walking in front of Lucy so that the woman in behind can''t stare at him. Sadly, his attempts were futile as all of a sudden, Jace halted and stared at a small-pond fifty meters away from them. It a clean pond that had a beautiful golden flower growing at its center. The flower pulsed with a bright golden light that made it look prettier. "It''s actually the Golden Numbra!" As Jace just stated, this flower was a Golden Numbra. A herb that aids Sovereigns fuse with their God Spirit. It isn''t priceless but it could fetch them quite the sum. Unfortunately, most rare herbs are always protected by some sort of a beast or plant, including this one. Very soon, Jace started planning how to acquire the Golden Numbra. He discussed it with his teammates before walking to Lucy and Arthur then saying "Since it''ll be a very dangerous fight, we can''t let you join us, however, you can contribute in other ways." He paused for a second, studying their reactions, before resuming: "You''ll have to approach the pond and lure whatever is protecting that. Once it has shown itself, you''ll flee toward us." Lucy frowned and retorted "So we''re... bait?" Jace waved his hands while saying "No no no your job is to lure them out, it''s totally different." ''Tsk! Muscle-head.'' Although Lucy didn''t like his shameless behavior and words, she still didn''t refuse. As for Arthur, he tried his best to act scared and uneasy, which worked wonders as the mighty savior herself! Lucy''s sister, joined the conversation. "I will lure it out of its nest." ''Such a brave and kind attitude! I expected no less from your sister!'' Arthur sarcastically said to Lucy, who strangely remained silent. Now that the woman butted in, wanting to take the siblings'' job, Jace couldn''t force them to do it. He threw an angry glare at Lucy before smiling and nodding his head to the silver-haired woman. Chapter 404 - 354 : Death The group didn''t spend much time planning everything. The three men will deal with the monster or plant and the two women will provide support. Lucy''s sister will approach the pond and snatch the Golden Numbra while also luring out whatever was protecting it. As for Lucy and Arthur, they were instructed to stay at the back so they did, obediently. In fact, the husband and wife already knew what''s hiding under the pond. It was a large alligator with blue skin, it seemed threatening but it wasn''t particularly strong. At best, it was a Sovereign Beast. One strike from either of the couple could finish it. Lucy wanted something bad to happen so she could witness her sister''s real prowess which is why she instructed Arthur to act and cause trouble. What better thing to cause trouble than his newest familiar, Innocence. Although the cooldown for summoning it is kind of long, it was still powerful and it should force the woman to personally act lest they all get massacred. There is a chance that he''ll be discovered by her if he summons Innocence but only if she focuses all her attention on him. The current disparity between them is just too large for now, at least in terms of senses. Lucy''s sister was indeed powerful even when she''s weakened but her Divine Sense could, at most, stretch for five hundred meters whereas this insignificant little pond is much deeper than the other might think. With Jace''s signal, the silver-haired woman, who still hasn''t introduced herself, walked up to the pond and flew to Golden Numbra.Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. Just as she was about to snatch it, water splashed and a huge blue alligator came from below, its mouth wide open, ready to devour her. Unfortunately, its sharp teeth and big mouth couldn''t touch her body, which bypassed her as if she was a ghost. ''It''s a bit like the Tiger''s ability but I''m sure I can touch her with Dark Magic even if she''s in that form.'' The Dark Void Physique may allow her to travel through weapons and techniques but Dark Magic is purely made of emotions so it''s possible to hurt her. His sky-blue eye focused on the retreating woman, who seemed pretty relaxed and unafraid of the enraged alligator, which swam toward her with lightning speed. Jace and his two companions jumped in front of the woman, wielding their weird gauntlets, they punched the five-meter long alligator. Its scales were pretty tough but they were still damaged by their monstrous punches. All they did was punch the alligator but it was more than effective. Their bodies were sturdy and even when they were hit by the monster''s tail or body, they remained unscathed. Their bodies emitted some white steam as their muscles bulged and their strength increased. ''Are you ready?'' ''Always.'' Arthur replied to Lucy as his left hand emitted an unnoticeable light that entered the ground beneath him and headed toward the pond. The alligator, albeit strong, wasn''t the match for the three men and the two women, who would hit him with their fire arrows. It was quite an efficient combinations, something the monster wasn''t able to handle as it succumbed to its injuries after five minutes. Jace celebrating their flawless victory, suddenly turned toward the pond and raised his hands as a white tentacle-like thing hit his body, sending him flying dozens of meters. His companions weren''t spared as they were hit simultaneously, suffering the same fate. They weren''t dead or heavily injured but the hit was strong enough to cause them to throw up some blood, especially the weaker one, Abid. Even the silver-haired woman was startled as she jumped in front of the humongous beast that just appeared from within the pond. She couldn''t even sense its presence. She stared at the monstrous thing with a frown, clearly disgusted by its appearance. Innocence was truly grotesque and ugly, it didn''t have any eyes, only a large mouth and had hands instead of feet. It seemed a bit different than the one Arthur and Lucy fought, but it was still hideous. With pales faces and shaking bodies, Arthur and Lucy slowly backed away only for the new monster to ignore the human in front of it and focus on the siblings, who became terrified once Innocence turned toward them. Obviously, this was but an act orchestrated by Arthur, who ordered Innocence to behave like this. He wanted to force the woman''s hand and see how she''ll act. Will she protect them or flee? The answer shall be revealed soon enough. Innocence banged its hand on the ground, causing it to violently shake and split in two. The two siblings hastily backed away and avoided being sucked into the bottomless abyss. Just as Innocence was about to engage with his tentacles, it was stopped as a silver-spear cut three of its tentacles. Jace and his comrades followed with their punches, ganging up on Innocence from all sides yet even after suffering continuous minor and heavy injuries, a bright white light covered the monsters, instantly healing everything and even recovering its lost tentacles. Arthur, who was witnessing this from afar, suddenly clutched his chest and knelt on the ground. An unimaginable was coming from heart, more precisely, the ARK in his consciousness. His actions surprised Lucy, who ignored the ongoing fight and said "What''s wrong? Arthur!" Hear cries were left unanswered as Arthur wasn''t able to reply. The pain was agonizing, rendering unable to move or talk. He could only hold his chest tightly and crouch on the ground. Inside his consciousness, Arthur called out his copy, who remained silent. "Claud! What''s happening?! Claud!" No matter how much he tried to enter the ARK or called for Claud, Arthur was ignored, having to deal with the pain himself. Fortunately, the pain didn''t last long, only a minute or so but it was still a strange occurrence. Arthur leaned on Lucy as he took deep breathes, trying to calm his rapidly beating heart. "What happened?" Lucy asked the silent Arthur, who put his hand on his heart and replied "I don''t knowˇ­ I just feel sadˇ­ and lost." Why he was having such feelings was an enigma but it certainly had to do with the ARK as it seemed to be the source. The couple backed away to a safe distance and totally ignored the fight between their group and Innocence, which wouldn''t die even after having its head pierced by the woman''s silver spear. After healing itself for five successive times, it was finally exhausted so Arthur sneakily ordered it to dive into the pound and disappear. The silver-haired woman tried to stop it but couldn''t, only letting go after landing one final yet fatal stab to it, which actually managed to kill the hideous monster. Except for the silver-haired woman, Jace and his companions were injured, especially Artid, who had his arm bent in a weird way. As for the two women, they were completely safe as they stayed at the back, in a place Innocence couldn''t reach. ************ Back on Astria, South of the Western Continent, the undead numbers were ballooning thanks to Anastassia, who would come every day to summon more of these rotting creatures. As she was busy using the pendant Arthur gave her to summon more skeletons and bone dragons, an unknown presence was watching what''s happening from behind the clouds. With one hand rubbing his chin, he curiously looked at the millions of undead. He wore a jet black robe and his skin''s color was like a corpse''s. His face was wrinkled and his hair was grey, clearly from old age. This old man was contemplating the situation with an interested expression. "I haven''t seen such a sight in yearsˇ­" He shifted his gaze to Anastassia and nodded his head repeatedly, however, it was unknown what he was thinking. After a long while, the old man was about to descend only to suddenly halt and look to the front, where a silhouette appeared. A few seconds later, the silhouette became much clearer. Clad in dark armor and a thick black sword on his back, it was none other than Leiu, the Nameless Knight. "For the Nameless Knight to personally come to me, I wonder what the occasion is." The old man chuckled, totally unperturbed or unafraid of the knight. "We''re old acquaintances soˇ­ go back while I am still politely asking." The old man grinned and glanced at the land of death below before staring back at the pair of chilling eyes behind the dark helmet "You know full well that I cannot tolerate the existence of so much undead, it goes against the natural laws." "It''s not like you''re the one who''ll suffer the consequences so let it go." "Ohohoho" the old man kept chuckling before retorting "No can do." A soft sigh escaped the young man''s mouth. He seemed to have given up on negotiating. "Is that helplessness I sense? Are you finally going to make a move against me, Death?" Contrary to the Death''s expectations, Leiu shook his head and retorted "I''ve brought a much more suitable person." He waved his hand and turned around before saying "You lived for a long, long time so you must know me very well and know what I''m capable of. If I personally make move, I''ll erase you and all of your petty reapers. Don''t forget who killed the previous death." Just as he disappeared, another person appeared in his a place, a woman, to be precise. A woman with a dark-hair a skin color similar to the old man''s. In fact, they were the same thing, only their appearances are different. As he gazed at the woman, the old man was totally dumbstruck. He remained speechless for half a minute before clearing his throat and mumbling something to himself. He glanced at the red-haired woman summoning undead below then at the woman before him before understanding everything. "I see. My eyes indeed didn''t fail me." The woman politely bowed to the old man before speaking "Master, it is good to see you." As he listened to her, the old man laughed and said "You seem to have been Death for a long time which means you''re from a faraway future." ***** Chapter 405 - 355 : Desert Wyvern "Huh I thought they''ll run awayˇ­ they''re not a bunch of gutless fools after all." Arthur voiced his thoughts as he gazed at the sweating Jace and his two comrades. Actually, he thought they''ll flee the moment Innocence appeared but they ganged up on the monster and helped the woman defeat it. "Never mind that, are you alright? Do you still feel pain?" Lucy held the little boy and caressed his chest, her expression clearly showed how worried she was. She was startled by Arthur''s sudden actions and only after he explained what happened did she breath a sigh of relief. Once they made sure Innocence is no longer here, the six others joined the two ''siblings''. Jace was grinning happily as he waved the Golden Numbra. Although he had to fight Innocence and was injured, he wasn''t the least bit annoyed after getting what he wanted. Kelan and Sral, his two friends, were in worse shape but they were as delighted as their leader. The two women quietly followed them and only the silver-haired woman lagged a bit behind. She was furrowing her brows as she glanced around her, wanting to understand what just happened. No matter how weakened she was, it was to the point of not being able to sense Innocence hiding under the pond. Unfortunately, she wasn''t able to locate anything but she remained extremely cautious. The burly black man was about to tell the siblings that they won''t get a share from the Numbra only to find them totally uninterested by the flower so he shut his mouth and stored it. The small group rested for half an hour before continuing their trip. Unlike earlier, Lucy''s sister no longer paid attention to Arthur, she just kept staring to the front. Arthur could feel her sense stretched to all direction, even after a long time, she didn''t retract it. ''What do you think?'' He asked the silent Lucy, who was holding hand and following the others. The wife thought for a moment before saying ''I''m not sure how strong she is outside but I can handle her in this secret Realm. She''s pretty powerful but not invincible. The problem is the old man that was accompanying her." ''Yes, he''s a troublesome one. I think he''s an Overgod, it''s best to separate from them if he ever shows up.'' Lucy didn''t object for it was disadvantageous for them to be found out in this place. Not only is there the old man, but there''s also the Holy Dominion, who brought a pretty powerful group led by a Deacon. The Deacon''s abilities are still unknown, nevertheless, it is best to take precautions. Claud did tell him that The Holy Echelon, despite being weaker than the Holy Order, still has a few powerful individuals. ˇ­ After the group left the relatively safe forest, the environment and weather drastically changed. From a lush and beautiful forest to a desert filled with mountains of sands. The weather became hotter and the number of battles increased. The frequent attacks of the monsters became annoying and tiring, even for Jace. The monsters here were mostly those stone worms Lucy killed when they appeared in that dark cave. There was one other type of monsters that lived in this desert, it was short monsters that were as short as goblins. They had grey skin and used primitive weapons. Their appearance wasn''t frightening but they always traveled in groups and were powerful, individually. These creatures, known as Grey Korvs, heavily relied on cooperations and would often ambush their enemies. They would dive under the sand and try to grab a human''s legs, immobilizing them so that their comrades could finish their job. Most annoying of all is the needle-like things they throw. If it lands in a vital spot, it can instantly kill the target. Two times did Jace and the others meet other cultivators and two times did they see them get killed by these thin and lightning-fast needles. ˇ­ Today was another hot day for the party of seven, just as they were a mountain of sand, the silver-haired woman suddenly leapt at Arthur and Lucy, grabbing them both before jumping back. The two siblings were startled, especially the boy, whose face became pale. In the place where the two siblings were at, two thin grey hands appeared from within the sand, catching naught but air. The Korv tried to retreat only to be grabbed by Jace, who snapped its back in half while grumbling. Three arrows were shot by the two women, accurately hitting three Grey Korvs that were hiding in the vicinity. Their temporary companions were fooled by his and Lucy''s flawless act. They genuinely thought that Arthur was a good for nothing kid who''s being taken care of by his reliant big sister. Lucy did fight a few times but she didn''t use any special skills. She used two silver daggers and would rely on [Advanced Dagger Mastery] to take care of her enemies. None were suspicious of them so they continued their play and would rarely interact with others. In fact, neither Arthur nor Lucy ever talked to the silver-haired womanˇ­ till this day. As she saved them both, she softly put them on the ground and turned toward the boy while saying "Are you okay?" She seemed to be worried, which was a bit surprising for Jace and the rest. Arthur''s guess was kind of correct as Lucy''s sister had a soft heart despite her indifferent attitude or expressionless face. While it is true that Lucy becomes soft when children are involved, she isn''t like her sister. Lucy wouldn''t go out of her way to save a kid who is in the Secret Realm and is a Divine being! It was just too suspicious and strange. The boy timidly nodded his head while tightly holding sleeves, clearly afraid. "Please forgive him, it''s the first time he goes outside." Lucy intervened, explaining the reason behind his attitude. Jace, who has been stealthily listening to their conversation, walked over and retorted "Then why''d you bring him to such a dangerous place? It''s not meant for kids." For a kid of his age to be at the Divine Realm is a huge achievement, however, he lacked real combat experience so even an Immortal can finish him. Jace didn''t want to cause trouble, he just voiced his honest opinion, moreover, he didn''t like people who leech off others, even when they''re innocent little boys. "I had no choice, there''s no one to protect him there." Lucy''s words more or less hinted that it''s dangerous back in their ''home'' too so it''s better than he came here with her. Jace shrugged his shoulders and said nothing but he still got glared at by the silver-haired woman. Flustered, he scratched his head and said "W-wellˇ­ you better stay close to us so we can protect him too." He amicably beckoned her while brightly smiling, not wanting to show any hint of unwillingness. To show her appreciation, Lucy bowed her head while her face brightened. As for the silver-haired woman, she just kept staring at Arthur, which made him have goosebumps. ˇ­ Coincidentally, later that day, precisely when the sun went down and the sky turned black, they were attacked by a monster. It was neither a Grey Korv or a Stone Worm, the creature that attacked them was monstrous in size and was covered in scales. It was an aerial monster, very similar to a dragon yet a bit different. This creature was a fully grown Wyvern. Adult Desert Wyvern (Race: Wyvern): Realm: Sovereign Age : 3,057 years Emotion: None Title : None Skills/techniques: Wyvern Blast (Lv98)/ Sand Storm (Lv45)/ Petrification(Lv22) Short Description: A sub species of the dragon race, smaller in size but is decently fast. Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. TIP : Vulnerable against Dark Magic - Space Magic - Void Magic - Ancient Flames - Flames of the Vermilion - Godly Thunder. TIP : Petrification will be negated by [Eyes of Tranquility] TIP : Earth, Water, and Wind Magic are weak against it. ARK: The user ''Arthur MoonStar'' has 99.99% chance of defeating the Wyvern. Such a thing wasn''t a threat to the couple, however, it''ll be a challenge for Jace and the others, excluding Lucy''s sister, of course. All of them woke up due to the loud screech of the flying Wyvern. It flapped its wings, causing a Sand Storm to appear. Not only the vision was limited due to the dark sky, it became worse as the sand caused their body to become unsteady and their eyes to turn red. Jace, angry that he got woken up from his sweet dream, retrieved a long javelin from his storage and threw it at the beast. The javelin whistled in the air as flew straight at its target only to be petrified and fall down at the last second. The Desert Wyvern refused to decrease its altitude as long as it wasn''t necessary. It relied on its long-ranged skills to deal with the humans. Its petrification won''t work as it was too far from its targets, however, the Sand Storm was already causing it much trouble. As for why Jace and the others didn''t fly, it''s because it''s extremely hard to levitate in the Secret Realm. Not only is it disadvantageous to them to fight an aerial monster in the air, but it''s also inefficient due to the restrictions of this place. While it''s not impossible to fly, it isn''t easy either. As this Realm was the dragon''s world, it was subjugated to its rules after being controlled by it for thousands of years, which is why anyone entering this place is forced to travel by foot to guarantee their safety and increase the chances of their survival. Chapter 406 - 356 : Cooperation At first, the silver-haired woman remained motionless, not butting it and letting Jace and co take care of the Wyvern but when the burly men along with the two archer women showed great difficulties in shooting down the beast, she decided to land a hand. Her figure turned half-illusory as she mysteriously stepped in the air, just like climbing some stairs, she swiftly made her way to the Wyvern and blasted it to the ground with the help of some kind of purple symbols that were created by her rapidly-moving hands. The technique she used was similar to Arthur''s Death Seals but instead of weakening the target, it blasted it. The Wyvern was pushed down a few dozen meters only for a second purple symbol to hit its body, causing it to fall down even further. When the third symbol was about to hit it, it flapped its wide yellow wings and screeched loudly. It opened its grotesque mouth and spat a thick beam that directly hit the women. Fortunately, she was more than prepared as the [Wyvern Blast] passed through, unable to hit her thanks to her Dark Void Physique. The Wyvern followed the blast by using its eyes to petrify the human only for it to fail again. The Dark Void Physique isn''t just all talk, its ability to bypass all kinds of attacks is literally a cheat. Just like any other Physique, the Dark Void Physique strengthened its user''s body, albeit slightly. Relying on her pure strength, the woman fell from the air, landing the wyvern''s head, hitting it with her elbow. It was only then that the beast finally succumbed, falling into the ground and allowing Jace and the others to attack it. The struggling beast didn''t wield even when Jace, Kelan, and Sral, started punching it with their thick gauntlets. Unlike the Stone Worms, which looked tough, the Wyvern''s scales were pretty tough thus allowing it to stabilize its body and lash out with its claws and wings. The Sand Storm intensified and the three men''s gauntlets started turning into stone. It was then that Lucy joined the frey, accompanied by her ''little brother'', who started casting Earth and Fire-oriented spells. The Dark Oath made him unable to use any weapon other than Makaze, so he had to rely on long-ranged spells. The two silver daggers were continuously slashing the wyvern''s body. Sparks flew everywhere yet the speed at which the daggers moved increased by the second. Lucy would dodge whenever she''s attacked, which startled Jace, who never thought she was so good at fighting. She wasn''t absurdly powerful but she wasn''t weak either. Arthur, who had been timid and silent ever since they met, also helped, sending large fireballs at the Wyvern. A large prison made of jet black earth sprung from the ground, entrapping the beast for a few seconds. "Please back away!" Arthur shouted at the others before he mumbled a few words which caused a large explosion to occur inside the prison, which soon crumbled. From within the accumulated dust, there appeared an injured Wyvern, which groaned in pain as it viciously glared at Arthur, the perpetrator behind the last explosion. Jace felt chills down his spines as he witnessed the explosion, never did he expect the weak-looking boy, who was missing an eye to be able to do this much. Although the explosion wasn''t enough to finish the Wyvern, it allowed his party to finish the job and kill the hateful Wyvern. ˇ­ As the beast laid lifeless on the red sand, Kelan happily climbed on top of it and dug its core from its skull. The core was as big as his head, filled with Earth Energy, its interior pulsating with a dazzling luster. The three men cheered as they played with the core. After a while, Jace walked up to the siblings and did a small bow while apologetically saying "I was a bit impulsive. I underestimated you before and I sincerely apologize." He seemed earnest in his apology so Lucy merely nodded her head without saying a word. "I-it''s nothing." Arthur stuttered as he reassured the muscular black man. Jace seemed like a person who relies on his emotions to act, he''s a bit sly but not in a bad way. Actually, Arthur thought that he''ll try something in the night as he seemed to be eyeing Lucy with a lewd look but since the sister appeared, he barely looked at his wife. "You''re strong, why didn''t fight?" An almost robotic voice entered Arthur''s ears, which made him flinch. He turned his head only to see a very close silver-haired woman stare at him. He slightly backed away and replied with a flustered tone "I-I''m not using to fightsˇ­ It''s the third time I ever f-fought a monster." The woman nodded her head understandingly then asked again "I can teach you if you want." She very casually asked to train him only to be refused by Lucy, who sweetly smiled and replied "It''s fine, I''ll protect my brother so he won''t have to fight often." Since it was his family speaking, the woman couldn''t insist. After one final nod, she returned to her half-destroyed tent. ******** Back in the dark world, which is actually the courtyard of the manor belonging to Leiu, the Nameless Knight. The Joker was still training the changed Saly. Just like last time, she was blindfolded, however, her hearing was cut off and her sense of smell disoriented. Just when she got the hang of fighting, he would give her another handicap, angering her and causing her to greatly suffer. His blows were agony itself. Whether it''s a broken jaw, bent legs or shattered ribs, she was subjugated to all kinds of pain until she became numb. In fact, three days ago, she started disregarding her body and relentlessly attacking only to be berated by the Joker and hit so hard it almost killed her. The kick she suffered was so powerful that it caused her to remain on the ground for six hours. He gazed at her pitiful state and said "Ha? So you don''t care about your body anymore just because you got a little hurt? Fuck! Are you dumb or what? When you attack and can''t dodge an attack, you must make sure the damage you receive is decreased, even by a little bit. Foolishly ignoring the condition of your body is suicidal." As she panted heavily while coughing a bit of blood, the little girl glared at him and retorted "Y-you don''t let me rest for some time so I can heal the injuriesˇ­ How can I-" Before she could finish, she was kicked yet again, causing her to cry in painFind authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. "Did I tell you to answer? You listen and obey, nothing else! Bloody crybabyˇ­ arghh I can''t believe I''m stuck with someone like youˇ­ my reputation will disappear if people see your state!" He continued rambling non-stop so Saly used this time to recover a bit. All of this happened three days ago and now, she can''t see, hear or even smell, which made it pretty hard for her to even locate him, much less hit him. ˇ­ A few days later, the Nameless Knight returned only to see a bloodied Saly laying on the ground, no one knew whether she''s dead or alive. The Joker, who had been standing a distance away, noticed the appearance of Leiu so he walked over. "How''s the training going?" The Joker raised four fingers and answered "40% done." The knight frowned, clearly surprised, he glanced at the unconscious girl and asked again "Already 40%? This fast?" The Joker chuckled while fixing his messy costume then added: "She''s a tenacious, I''ll give her that. Jack of Spades Growth, 4? Strength, Jack of Diamonds Combat ability, not bad, for now." "Is that while including her awakened powers?" "Of course~~" Leiu pondered for some time before nodding his head. As he was about to enter the manor, the Joker stopped him and asked "How''s things in your end?" "Death shan''t be a problem. It''s also about time I return Makaze." The Joker angrily stomped his foot and protested "I don''t get why didn''t let me deal with that grumpy old man." "Because it''s not your job but hers. Everything must be done properly so ''it'' doesn''t happen again." The Joker clicked his tongue but didn''t object. He turned around and walked toward Saly. No matter how unhappy he was with Leiu''s decision, he will never go against his words. The two were brothers went through thick and thin together. He was the second and he must and will follow Leiu''s words. Chapter 407 - 357 : Despair Isadore Marfront, the Crown Prince of the Royal Family ruling Green-Leaf, was currently reading some documents, as usual. However, Wrath was nowhere to be seen, replacing him was Dan, the man wearing the straw hat. He was the one who blocked the Deacon and her party and prohibited them from setting a single foot inside the Imperial Capital. "What''s this Dan? Are you sure of their authenticity?" Isadore waved the documents in his hand, clearly worked-up and suspicious. Dan, who was leisurely eating some grapes while relaxing on a comfortable couch, nodded his head "Yep, I personally investigated." Hearing this, Isadore could only believe the contents written in front of him. He tapped on the table as he stared at the view behind the windows, his mind soon drifted, thinking about many things. ''Five years ago, a commotion occurred in the Pigolo Tribe. Some invader their headquarters and caused a ruckus. One of their higher-ups disappeared and they went into conflict with the Gargoyles. Furthermore, they were abducting people from another world, most likely a low-Realm. However, someone broke in and saved the prisoners, the witnesses said that the man had long grey-hair but didn''t have a scar. He wielded a dark sword and was accompanied by a youth with a short red-hair. The man''s target was a silver-haired young lady, who disappeared right after being savedˇ­ is she the one who accompanied him here? A sister? Or from the same family? Silver hair isn''t a common thing, after all. There''s also the issue with the tomb, where Kai Min, a rising talent in the Water Cloud Sect vanished, supposedly killed. These events match with the death of Rozak, who also entered the Tomb to capture the Dark Magic-user, then again, how did they locate him, and so precisely, at that. Is that why he refrains from using Dark Magic in the open? Is it easily detectable by the Holy Dominion?'' "You weren''t able to obtain the name of his world?" "Nop, it wasn''t mentioned. I think only the Kangs know but I didn''t try to reach out for their help, you know whyˇ­" Isadore let out a long sigh before standing up and saying "Let''s go, I would very much like to visit Kang Amidel." Dan, surprised by what he heard, hastily got up and said "Are you really going? I don''t think your father will agree." Isadore waved his hand as if he didn''t care while retorting "It''s not official business so there''s nothing to worry about. Hurry up, time is ticking." *** It''s a funny thing, ambition. It can take one to sublime heights or harrowing depths. And sometimes they are one and the same. In a world that knew naught but destruction, a world covered in fire and darkness, a world where an evil aura festered the land and corrupted the earth. Such a world, where no human dares to tread, where no human believes it exists, there was a young man that stealthily moved around. What he witnessed, none could describe, what he felt, none can explain. Whether it''s terror, despair, or fear, the youth foolishly entered this forsaken world, not knowing what he had gotten himself into. The things he had seen would make anyone traumatized, including himself. Scattered limbs everywhere, blood rivers that endlessly flowed, the foul stench that made him vomit over a hundred times. With escaping death, he entered a place no different than Hell, if not worse. Living humans, beastmen, elves, and many others, where they''re treated as decoration, statues to please the eyes and lighten the mood. They were put in excruciating positions, whether it''s the bent arms or legs, missing eyes or ears. Some were even hanging in the air with a pointy hook in their chest or back, the sight was horrifying. As for the perpetrators? Monsters, evil itself! Creatures with multiple arms, jet black skin and a hideous appearance. The way they snickered when they butchered the innocent and ate them. The way they roasted people alive just to watch them suffer, the youngster had seen it all yet no matter where he went, it was always the same. Days passed yet this nightmare knew no end, it only worsened. He got discovered countless times, fought thousands of times and barely escaped. He was injured more times than he could count, in this word covered in blood and fire, Vyncent tasted the bitter taste of real despair. His body reached its limit, whether by endlessly running or the non-stop battles. The evil monsters didn''t leave him alone, in fact, they found it amusing to chase him as if he was a fleeing rabbit. A week passed since his arrival but no survivors were found. The only ''survivors'' are the ones pitifully hanging on a hook or the living statues, which were people that were initially tortured then put there. Never did Vyncent expect such a place to exist. "Huff huff huff" Vyncent leaned on a huge boulder as he peeked his head from the side, trying to see if there''s anyone still chasing him. His Sense could stretch five meters at most and his techniques became extremely weak ever since he stepped foot in here. The only thing that kept him alive is his secret movement technique. More than once did he thank the person who passed this technique to him for it saved him from death numerous times. The exit disappeared the moment he entered so he became stuck, unable to do nothing but cover his ears to not hear the hoarse and pitiful cries of the dying prisoners. ''Is this really my end? Should I just kill myself?'' Suicide is a much better option than being caught, however, no matter how many times he thought about killing himself, he just couldn''t bring himself to do it. His body was on a breaking point yet his wavering ''willpower'' refused to simply give up.Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. After a month, he grew a beard and his hair became longer, his clothes were dusty, messy, bloodied, and dirty. This place made him like a mortal, he would always feel sleepy. The hunger and thirst were quenched at first but after a whole month, the situation changed. Fortunately, he could use water Magic but the starvation aggravated his dire situation. In the end, left with no choice, Vyncent was forced into cannibalism. With tears running down his thin and pale face, he devoured the human meat he just roasted. His hands were shaking and his eyes were wet as he kept repeating the same word "I''m sorry I''m sorry I''m sorryˇ­" ******** "What do you think?" Midolf smirked and asked the red-haired youth next to him. Radolf continuously nodded his head as he stared at what''s in front of him. "Master will be very pleased to see this." "Damn right he will! It''s the first time I''ve seen this many. There''s even a Lich King but he doesn''t seem to be hostileˇ­ the fucker is probably afraid of you." ***** The Water Empress, who started investigating the origins of the book, spent weeks trying to decipher some mysterious symbols that were engraved on the back of the book. They only appeared after she used some kind of unique glasses that showed her the unseen. The symbols were actually a language, it was extremely hard to translate and despite her wide knowledge and infinite resources, she only uncovered the meaning of one symbol. It was actually a name of a person, most likely the author of this book. "Vyncent?" The Empress repeatedly muttered that name to which her servant, the short girl scratched her head in confusion and said "I''ve never heard of such a person, he wasn''t even mentioned once in the ancient records about the era before the Hour of Creation." The blue-haired Empress flipped the book and thoroughly examined the strange three lines for the thousandth times but still wasn''t able to understand their meaning. "Just what is the meaning of this book?" The short girl shrugged her shoulders and said "Probably some encyclopedia, just give up on it. I think you should try looking at other things." The Empress heeded her servant''s words and stored the book. She pondered for a moment before asking "What of the Fire Region?" Hearing switch to this topic, the servant became excited. She proudly patted her flat chest and said "Ha! Drak couldn''t even protest and was immediately executed by the Star Empress. After all, no one forced him to break the High Rules." The Empress snorted while saying "Hmpf! Serves him right! Invading my territory? Did he think the ones above will turn a blind eye to his actions?" "I heard he plotted with an elder from the Moon Region, who was also executed." Chapter 408 - 358 : The Paradise Garden 1 The next morning after the fight against the Desert Wyvern, the small party continued their journey. Surprisingly, another member joined this already strange group. They met him purely by accident and like always, Jace invited him. The newest member never talked, he would only shake or nod his head, however, what''s stranger is his outfit. A body covered with bandages, only his eyes could be seen. He was in the midst of fighting a large group of Stone Worms when they stumbled upon him. He swiftly killed the worms and was about to depart only to be stopped by a smiling muscular black man. This man was none other than the ghost who got appraised by Arthur. It was also the same person who joined the tournament in Astria. He fought against the girl who used the pink ice and emerged victorious, his techniques are strange but there''s no doubt that he''s a skilled fighter. The newcomer paid no attention to everyone but the silver-haired woman, he stared at her for a long time, not hiding his fighting spirit. He just wanted to fight her, any ulterior motives were absent. Of course, Lucy''s sister ignored, she would just walk at the back with the deadpan face of hers. As per Jace''s words, they should arrive to the floating island in three days, at most. They didn''t encounter any more Wyverns, as for the Grey Korv and Stone Worms, they were disposed off by Jace and his companions. There was another pleasant piece of news, it was the return of Claud, who was strangely silent ever since the event from last time. Though Arthur asked him about the cause, all he got for a reply was this "I would rather not talk about it. It doesn''t concern you so you don''t have to worry." Arthur was unhappy with the vague reply but didn''t inquire any further as his copy didn''t seem to be in the mood for chitchat. ''That ghost is looking for you, the Dark Magic user.'' Claud nonchalantly said that before returning to his eerie silence. Arthur, who got hit by such a shocking news, was momentarily startled before he bombarded his copy with questions. ''Why is he looking for me? Who sent him and what are his goals?'' ''The hell?! Do you think I''m omniscient? What I said is merely a speculation, one that is most likely true.'' ''Then, do you mind explaining?''-Arthur ''He''s a ghost and a pretty powerful one at that. Your fight against the Holy Dominion attracted too much attention. The Whisperer King is seeking you. Apparently, he was acquainted with Zodiak in the past.'' ''Another person to avoidˇ­ ugh'' Although it''s unlikely he''ll be discovered with the bracelet on, Arthur still didn''t like the fact that many people are searching for him. Fortunately, the ghost wasn''t as strong as Artid, the Black Rose executive, who''s always looking for him. ********** At the center of the secret realm, exactly where the dragon''s lair was situated, there was a large silhouette which was laying on the ground. With exquisite silver scales covering its body, which was humongous. It was over four hundred meters long and the ancient aura emanating from it showed how old it was. The air around it was suffocating and a simple gaze from it is enough for a Sovereign to be stricken with boundless fear. In front of this majestic and powerful creature sat a human wearing a dark cloak. With a short grey-hair and two clear eyes, he gazed back at the silver dragon. "Are you hesitating?" The man asked the ever-so-silent Space Dragon, who opened its eyes and looked at the small human that dared to enter its base and leisurely sit beside it. "Which mother would be willing to abandon her son?" The man glanced at the pulsating stomach of the dragon before replying "Such is the fate of newborn dragons. Being protected by you will make it difficult for him to properly grow up." "Thy words are not false. By thy claims, my son will grow in a safe place?" "That is right. You have my word." "Thee understandeth that this is not an edict but an offering?" The man nodded his head and answered "I am fully aware. Please rest assured." The dragon closed its eyes, no longer paying attention to the human, who silently sat there and patiently waited. ***************** Jace''s words were spot on, they arrived at their destination exactly three days later. The climate changed yet again, from suffocating heat to bitter coldness. Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. You could see tall snow mountains from afar, several winged creatures were flying in the air, eyeing the group but not daring to attack as long as they don''t enter the snowy area. Far above the mountains, there was a floating piece of land, it was incredibly big and the mere sight of it was a feast to the eyes. It is said that this piece of land is a big garden, divided into many levels. It all depends on how much a person can advance, nevertheless, if you clear a level, you''ll be able to obtain generous rewards. In this perilous floating land, where only the strong are rewarded, there was the item Lucy and Arthur sought. ˇ­ Ever since the Wyvern fight, Jace''s attitude changed, he treated the siblings much better. He would even encourage Arthur to be more courageous while flexing his bulging muscles. The floating island, named The Paradise Garden, is a monument of its own. Entering is not an easy feat, it all depends on the person. There are illusory stairs that lead to the garden and only a selected few are able to walk all the way to the top. The soul-protecting item is at the third level of the Garden. It has a total of nine levels and you can''t just climb there and begin the trying lucks with the levels. There''s a specific time the garden opens its doors. Fifteen days after the opening of the secret Realm and since Arthur and co have been traveling for eleven days, only four remain before it begins. There''s bound to be strong cultivators waiting at the top, he just wished that the butler won''t be there too, anyone else is fine. First things first, they had to reach the illusory staircase, which is still a distance away. Unfortunately, the moment they stepped in the snowy area, the flying monsters above started their assault. Their fate couldn''t be miserable as the ghost clicked his tongue and waved his hand, sending dozens of bandages which wrapped themselves around the beast and crushed them within seconds. The drastic change in weather caused Jace, who was going around half-naked, to shiver from the coldness. He still persisted and didn''t wear anything, laughing it off and saying it was some kind of training for his body. His comrades, however, didn''t share his thoughts as they retrieved some coats from their storage, causing them to receive a resentful glare from Jace. Unlike the desert, this area was flat and much more comfortable to travel in. Their was an over-abundance of monsters in here, ranging from carnivorous plants to packs of snow wolves, however, they were easily defeated by Jace, who endlessly fought to warm himself. Activating the powers inside his body would make it sweat from heat, which is a much better feeling than the freezing coldness. Only after six hours did they reach their destination. It was an open snowy field with illusory white stairs that led to the floating island high above. There were several cultivators camping around the stairs, either waiting for their friends or are just there to watch. Arthur also noticed several figures climbing the stairs, some with ease, others with great difficulty. Jace''s two comrades decided to stay here along with the two other women. They were planning to hunt some powerful beasts and obtain some treasures if they''re lucky. Only Jace, the ghost, the silver-haired woman, and the siblings were going. Lucy''s sister hesitated for a split second before going toward Arthur, wanting to tell him not to go as he''s not ready or strong enough. Unfortunately, she abandoned such thoughts when she saw Lucy drag her ''brother'' toward the stairs. Although she was skeptical, the woman decided not to interfere and silently followed them. The first one to start climbing was the ghost, whose quickly bypassed other cultivators and easily made his way toward the garden. Jace talked with his comrades before flexing his muscles then following the ghost. Arthur used telepathy to talk with Lucy, who asked him how to proceed. Their plant was to struggle a bit before reaching the top, like that, it''ll be more believable. He didn''t want to risk it as the old butler may be waiting there and instantly climbing there will bring too much unwanted attention and suspicion. Chapter 409 - 359 : The Paradise Garden 2 The silver-haired woman followed Arthur and Lucy, paying close attention to them as they started climbing the illusory stairs. They intentionally advanced with a slow yet steady pace. As one would expect, the higher the one climbs, the harder it is to continue. Some kind of formless pressure would press their bodies on the ground, rendering them unable to continue any further. Arthur saw a dozen or so cultivators fail and teleported all the way to the base of the stairs, way below. Unlike what Lucy''s sister expected, Arthur was able to reach the end of the stairs albeit with a bit of difficulty. As for his sister, she seemed completely fine as she helped her brother when he started struggling at the end. The ghost and Jace had no problems as such thing wasn''t a challenge to them, same thing for the annoying woman, who gazing at Arthur from the back. Upon arriving at the end of the illusory stairs, a huge platform was presented before them. It had some cultivators waiting for the silver gates of the garden to open. Fortunately, the old butler was nowhere to be seen, which made Arthur a bit relieved. Some familiar faces could be seen waiting on the platform. Emily, the princess, and Shu Ru were all present, however, they could recognize neither Arthur nor Lucy. Seeing the newcomers, many people were startled, especially after glancing at the ghost and the silver-haired woman. Obviously, not everyone knew them, however, most did. The princess and Emily exchanged a few words with the silver-haired woman, they seemed to be acquainted. The ghost took an empty spot and sat, ignoring all the gazes he was getting. Jace accompanied the siblings, who were quickly ignored as they weren''t really eye-catching. It would have been fine if it continued like that, unfortunately, this sister of Lucy was like super glue, once she latches on you, she never let go. Many people wondered about Jace and the siblings'' identities, wanting to know how they managed to win the woman''s favor to the point of making her stay with them. One must know that Lucy''s sister is known to be a lone traveler, she rarely interacts with people and almost never makes friends. ˇ­ Time peacefully passed without any fights or commotions occurring. When the opening time finally arrived, everyone stood up and prepared themselves. A fair distance away from the Paradise Garden, there was a floating silhouette that was shrouded in a white fog, barely even noticeable. This person stared at the bunch of cultivators in the platform before rubbing his chin as he pondered. "The divination can''t be incorrect. It said that she''ll enter the garden, as for who she isˇ­ I''ll have to carefully look at each and every one of them." This was none other than the scarred butler who accompanied Lucy''s sister. His real mission was to find Lucy and protecting her sister isn''t necessary as she''s strong enough to protect herself. Although he paid a heavy price for the divination, it''ll be worth it if he finds his target. It couldn''t be the young miss, however, everyone else is a suspect, even Emily and the princess. He gazed at the cultivators who, one by one, passed through the wide gates if the garden and entered this dangerous place. The moment Arthur stepped into the garden, he was separated from Lucy but it''ll not be a problem as they''ll meet at the second level. The first level of the garden isn''t particularly hard, it''s tricky and needs a good pair of eyes. It wasn''t some kind of boss fight but a maze, a big and threatening maze. Arthur, using his senses and eye abilities, easily and almost immediately located the exit. Despite the size of this maze, it was still within the range of his [Sixth Sense]. He could see the energy of the invisible traps so avoiding them is a piece of cake. He couldn''t locate any other cultivator even when his sense covered the whole maze so he leisurely made his way toward the end. Arriving first wouldn''t be favorable for him so he only arrived at his destination after three hours. Sadly, the moment he was teleported out of that place and sent into a large circular room, he could see none but himself. It was then that he understood that he was the first to arrive, obviously. Shortly after, Lucy appeared a distance away. She waved her hand and softly smiled, happy to see him here too. Arthur appeared before her and used his Space Magic, making both of them invisible as they entered a spatial dimension. It would need an expert in Space Magic to locate them and even then, it''ll not be a certainty as Arthur activated three more Stealth skills. Thirty minutes after Lucy''s arrival, the silver-haired woman appeared. She was followed by the ghost, who was as silent and gloomy as ever. The two ignored each other and sat in a corner of the room. The fourth and fifth person appeared exactly at the same time, it was the two females friends, Emily, and the princess. Shu Ru managed to arrive too albeit a bit later. From the sixty-two that entered the maze, only thirty-eight came out alive. Surprisingly, Jace was the last to arrive but he seemed unscathed, just a bit annoyed. As for Arthur and Lucy, they disabled the Space Magic when the normal cultivators started appearing. No one noticed them hiding, which was a good thing. Like always, Jace and the silver-haired woman joined them, even the Ghost decided to approach them. People started grouping up for it was more efficient in a place like this, were joining hands is beneficial and would increase the chances of survival. When everyone arrived and things calmed down, a small, bright creature appeared at the center of the circular room. She looked similar to a fairy, her body glowed with a green light as her small illusory wings flapped with abnormal speed. "Greetings, contestants!" She politely bowed before waving her hands, causing flashes of light to fall in the people''s hands. "I''ve handed you the rewards for the first level. The less time it took you to clear the maze, the better the reward." The flash of light soon transformed into a grey item, a ring, to be more specific. Arthur inspected it for a few seconds before using appraisal The Star Ring (Unique): Increase the power and efficiency of Space Magic by 30% Grants a new stat: Camouflage +1.5 Camouflage: A stat that allows the user to escape the sense of his enemies. Every point is a realm higher than the user ''Arthur MoonStar''. Arthur frowned as he read the description of the ring, it seemed this was tailored just for him. It couldn''t be just a coincidence. Lucy nudged his sleeve and passed the item she received. It was a ring similar to his but pure white and a bit cold. The Moon Ring(Unique) : Increase the power and efficiency of Yin Magic by 10% Grants a new stat: Splash 10% Splash: Every attack of the user will cause a splash damage t nearby enemies. If an Aoe Skills is used, the damage will be doubled. ''It really isn''t a simple garden.'' Lucy never used her powers in this floating land yet it knew everything about her, just like him. Moreover, the rings were quite powerful and granted them new stats. These were just the rewards of the first level, what about the other ones? Arthur imitated Lucy and put the grey ring on his finger. Some people got weapons, while others got artifacts. Even Jace got something useful despite being the last. He got a consumable which tripled his strength for a day, it wasn''t as good as their rings but it was still a fascinating item. After handing the rewards, the fairy-like creature covered her mouth and giggled as she saw their surprised expressions. "Hehehe~~ this is nothing compared to future rewards. If you can clear the third level, you''ll even get Godly items." She clapped her hands to grab their attention then resumed talking with a melodic and sweet voice "The second level this time is actually a game!" She waved her hand, changing their location. They were transported to a rectangular room that was a bit similar to a baseball court. Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. "What is better than dodge ball?" She heartily laughed and spawned a normal ball from nothingness then added: "I prefer teams with eighteen players each so two will be left out but don''t worry, you won''t be disqualified but you''ll be granted access to the third level though you won''t gain any rewards." Just as she said that, two robbed men raised their hands, clearly wanting to skip this level. The fairy shook her head and said "To make it fair, the two lucky ones will be chosen at random." She then waved her little hand, causing two arrow of light to start spinning in the air before they randomly hit two people, startling them but not hurting them. The two people were Shu Ru and the ghost, the former was surprised and a bit delighted, as for the bandage man, he showed no reaction. Chapter 410 - 360 : Dodge Ball The group of cultivators was split into two teams by the fairy creature. Fortunately, Lucy and Arthur belonged to the same team. Emily and the princess were also with them, however, the silver-haired woman was in the opposite team. The game is simple with clear rules, if the ball hits you and then touches the ground, you''re out. Even if you''re part of the winning team, it doesn''t mean you''ll directly pass to the third level. Everything is calculated based on performance, meaning that if you do nothing and get hit at the beginning, you''re most likely going to be sent out of the garden. For people with their status, playing such a childish game may be humiliating or demeaning, however, none dared to object. This was the Paradise Garden and they have to follow the rules, no matter how absurd they were. The levels are always random and will never be the same as the ones in the past, nevertheless, Arthur never expected to play dodge ball in here. Knowing the physical strength of everyone here, it won''t be a normal match of dodge ball, still, it''s bound to be fun with Lucy''s sister as the enemy. They were given special clothes to distinguish themselves from the other team. The number of players is a bit high but the place of the match is considerably wide too so it had no problem fitting thirty-six people. Arthur and Lucy remained at the back, gazing at the back of their teammates. Through a simple coin flip, it was decided who''ll get the first shot, their team, luckily. Being the most powerful and famous ones, Emily and the princess took the lead. Amidel''s daughter looked cute as changed her hair to a ponytail and even wore tight sports clothes. The princess stood next to her friend, her tall blond hair mesmerizing many of her teammates. The match smoothly started, the lively girl didn''t hold back as she hit the nearby enemies, not letting them enough time to escape. Although it was a normal ball, it was strengthened by her Nether Energy thus it was stronger and faster, and that''s while excluding the force behind her throw. After hitting four cultivators, the silver-haired woman finally joined the fight as she jumped in the air and snatched the flying ball, which was about to return to Emily. The woman''s body spun in the air as the ball turned illusory, it whistled in the air as it made its way toward Emily. The girl swiftly jumped to the side, easily dodging the ball only for it to pass through the cultivators that were just behind here and hit two unsuspecting females, which were teleported out of this place the moment the ball fell on the ground. Some cultivators wanted to show their strength in front of the two beautiful girls only to fail miserably as the silver-haired woman took the lead, not letting the others get a glimpse of the ball. She would catch it mid-air and send it back with double the strength. Her body was flexible as it dodged the ball by a hair''s width. She hit nine people before Emily and the Princess started retaliating. Using their powers, they would slow down Lucy''s sister before getting rid of the weaklings. In the end, Emily''s side had six people remaining. As for the other side, only the silver-haired woman and Jace were left. Speaking of the muscular black man, he participated for a bit and killed three then retreated to the back, unwilling to disturb the excited Silver-haired woman, who seemed to enjoy playing. Her indifferent face was a bit red, either from excitement or tiredness. The secret Realm greatly weakened and she had been doing her best to resist the two girls for more than two hours. They weren''t a short pause to rest so they went at it for more time than they had initially predicted. Emily, the princess, Arthur, Lucy, and two others, who were quite decent, started to cooperate. Jace, however, remained motionless, like a statue or a thick pillar. He was far away from Emily''s team, who didn''t pay him much attention and focused on hitting the fast woman. She made great use of her Dark Void Physique as she would pass through the ball every time they think they hit her. Arthur and Lucy would stay at the back and merely dodge, they haven''t thrown the ball even once. Emily and the princess were a bit selfish as they would always snatch the ball and attack, not passing it to them so they could try their luck. Well, it''s not like it mattered, they''ll act when these two girls are out. As it was taking more time than necessary, Arthur decided to lend a hand to the enemy. The silver-haired woman stretched her hand and caught the spinning and fastball, which pushed her three or four meters but was still unable to escape from her hands. She ran toward the two girls before swinging down her hand, throwing the explosive ball at them.Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. The princess side-stepped to the side, barely dodging the ball, which strangely deviated in the air and flew toward Emily. Who tried to dodge only to land in front of the flying ball. The girl raised her hand, trying to hold the ball only for it to deviate again, hitting her right in the face. Arthur, who was behind this, inwardly snickered, enjoying the show. ''Serves you right.'' It was a team game yet these two girls only thought about themselves, it wasn''t fair and the other teammates didn''t dare to talk. The gravity suddenly increased, causing the ball to quickly fall on the ground. The princess, who manipulated her mysterious pink energy, trying to catch the ball, was left surprised as Emily was teleported out. The blond-haired princess grumbled as her expression changed, she picked the ball and glared at the enemy. She crouched her body then shot up like a rocket, she only stopped when she reached the line separating the two teams. The body, infused with an abundance of the pink energy, zigzagged in the air as its traveled toward the silver-haired woman. From out of nowhere, a tall and muscular black man, who had steam emitting from his whole body, jumped in the air and grabbed the spinning ball. His large hand tightly held the ball, which caused him to be pushed back some distance but he still safely landed. He cracked his neck and heartily laughed before taking a deep breathe and throwing the ball, not bothering to aim at any of his enemies. The ball wasn''t fast but it cracked the ground under it, leaving a trail similar to the one left by an earthquake. Without a doubt, Jace wanted to get rid of them all at once. Arthur, Lucy, and the two other teammates jumped in front of the back, each one supporting the other. The one at the front was Lucy, who bravely used her hands to catch the ball. Obviously, the destructive ball wasn''t able to injure her and if she wanted to, she could easily stop it from advancing but that''ll ruin the good act. Through good cooperation, the four managed to stop the ball but the one at the back was pushed out of the ring, instantly disappearing. This leaves four one time and two one the other. For the first time since the beginning, Lucy had the ball in her hand. The princess stared at her but didn''t demand the ball. Calmly, she walked toward Jace and her sister (supposedly) and swung her arm, sending the ball flying at the enemy. She didn''t use any energy or skills, just pure physical strength. Unlike the others one, this throw didn''t look threatening so when Jace jumped to receive it, he didn''t expect to be hit by a monstrous force, sending him out of the ring. The ball fell on the ground and was only be picked ten seconds later by a surprised and excited woman. She knew that Lucy was good fighter but her strength was truly monstrous. Jace was a powerful body cultivator yet he was so easily sent flying, in fact, Lucy didn''t seem to be trying that hard when she threw that ball, it seemed casual. Left alone against four people, the woman didn''t seem worried. She greatly enjoyed this match of dodge ball, more than she expected, actually. Who would have thought that a challenging game of dodge ball would be more thrilling than those boring fights. Most of her battles are short and unexciting, which why the silver-haired woman drastically changed during this ''fun'' game. Her two black pupils focused on Lucy, the brown-haired big sister. The ball turned purple and half-illusory, affected by the Dark Void Physique. Like a roaring dragon, the ball flew toward the roof before descending like lightning, heading toward Lucy. Just as it was about to hit her, it changed direction, crazily spinning as it flew toward Arthur at the back. Unfortunately, just as it was about to hit him, it was sucked by a space crack only to appear in front of the woman''s face. The ball hit her pretty face, surprising her, however, she was still able to catch it before it touches the ground. She never expected the use if Space Magic. She wasn''t exactly sure of who it was but she suspected Arthur and the other cultivator that still remained. Arthur walked up to the princess and shyly mumbled something to her ear. The girl pondered for a moment before resolutely nodding her head. ˇ­ Three minutes later, the match ended with the win of Arthur''s team. His plan perfectly worked and the silver-haired woman couldn''t block the last blow thus she was teleported away. Chapter 411 - 361 : Third Level The qualified people were sent to the room from earlier. Out of thirty-six who joined, only sixteen passed the second level. The silver-haired woman, who was praised by the fairy creature, remained absent-minded, still processing what happened three minutes ago. Never did she imagine losing against them and in such a manner. ˇ­ Going back three minutes ago, when Arthur mumbled something to the princess, Lucy joined hands with the remaining teammate, who was a tall man with a thick brown beard. He''s good at Earth Magic, precisely Gravity Magic, so with his help, she caught the half-illusory ball, which was about to pass through her only for her fingers to lit up with a mysterious flame, which rendered the ball unable to pass as easily as before. This came as a shock to the silver-haired woman, who expected the ball to hit its target. Before she could distance herself from the prepared Lucy, the four of them initiated their plan. The ball became ten times heavier with the use of Gravity Magic, the princess strengthened it using her pink energy, as for Arthur, he appeared behind his wife and placed his on her back. The ball, which was already spinning in Lucy''s hands, was enveloped by thin black threads which could barely be seen. Another type of thread, a bit thicker than the black ones, came out of Arthur''s index. It was soft and golden, it acted like a connection, allowing Arthur to control the ball even when it''s thrown. In addition to the pink energy, the ball became boiling hot as purple fire enveloped it, adding it to its power. Lucy swung her hand toward her sister, throwing an unstoppable flying ball. The ground was lit with the purple fire as the spinning ball made its way toward the woman, whose body shone with a violent light. She planned to pass through it rather than block it. The lightning-fast ball wasn''t able to hit the woman, who easily evaded getting hit, however, just as it passed through her, it suddenly changed direction and returned to the way it came from. The silver-haired woman''s reaction was fast as she jumped to the side, however, the ball followed her with an ever-so-increasing momentum. When she dodged it for the third time, the woman was dumbstruck to see six balls. They all seemed so genuine but she know it was but an illusion. They were too fast for her to locate the real one so she was forced to try and dodge the six of them, which was an impossible task even with her Physique. In the end, she was hit shortly after, thus ending the game once and for all. ˇ­ Since the four of them were cooperating, she didn''t know who used the illusion. It couldn''t be the tall man so it was either the princess, Lucy or Arthur. Her view of the siblings changed, they were hiding their true strength. She didn''t blame them nor get angry, quite the opposite, in fact, she was excited to fight Lucy, especially. It''ll be unfair outside of the Secret Realm, however, in here, they had the same cultivation so it''ll be an exciting battle, or so thought the woman. It''s a shame that the disparity between her and Lucy is too big, more so in this secret Realm, where Lucy''s stat only decreased by a small amount. "Congratulations to all of you! Your contributions, big or small, are much appreciated and you have entertained me!" The fairy waved her small hand, handing the rewards of the seconds level. Surprisingly, Arthur got a skill point, some more valuable than any item. As for Lucy, she got another ring, however, this one was exceptionally overpowered. The three-legged Ring(Unique): Increase the rank of the user''s fire by one.Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. If the user''s fire mastery is already maxed, he/she will be granted a special kind of fire. Once she equipped the ring, a row of notifications popped in front of the pleasantly surprised Lucy. You have obtained the fire of the three-legged Golden Crow. Lucy became excited as she read the descriptions of her new skills. Not only did she obtain the special fire of the golden crow, which is by no means inferior to the Phoenix fire or the Hell-Fire. She was given two AoE skills; [Engulfing Sun] and [Golden Purgatory]. If they''re combined with Arthur''s vermilion bird''s skills, the results are unimaginable. Arthur has two skills points available but he refrained from using them for now. He tried to upgrade [Eyes of Tranquility] but it didn''t work, unfortunately. "Now now please calm down and listen to me." She flew a bit higher and gazed down at all the contestants before continuing "The third level isn''t as easy as the first two so this is your chance to leave." Despite her warning, none of the sixteen people left or showed any hesitation. Although the second level was just a fun game, the first level was by no means ''easy''. It was deadly and many already died in that big maze. The fairy happily clapped her hands when she saw their resoluteness. "Very well, dangerous places always give generous rewards. The third level will begin in five minutes." Emily, who passed the seconds level due to her high contribution, raised her hand and asked "What''s the third level?" Although she appeared rather innocent and cute, this little devil is a born genius and is always scheming something. The reason Arthur didn''t like her was because she always has ulterior motives and hides them extremely well. It was the total opposite of Shu Ru, who''s always calm and honest. It''s no wonder many people call her a goddess or a fairy. "Hehehe~~ Shrewd questions require honest answers!" She put her index in front of her rosy lips and spoke with a low voice "For the third levelˇ­ you''ll fight yourselves." ''Such a trial is a common in the towers of the System''s universe but I doubt it''s as easy as it seems.'' Claud commented after he heard the fairy''s words. Were he to fight himself, Arthur had complete confidence in winning, especially if he uses the White Tiger or the Vermilion Bird. Five minutes quietly passed, some became nervous and others remained nonchalant, like the ghost, who sat in an empty corner and carefully wrapped the bandages around his hand. Just like the second level, the sixteen contestants were teleported to another place. Each person appeared in a place, Arthur found himself in a green valley with a relaxing breeze. Lucy was in a snowy area, the weather was extremely cold but it didn''t affect her as she had the Pure Yin Physique. Actually, Shu Ru appeared in a library, which dumbfounded her. Arthur surveyed the area but found nothing strange, there''s no sign of a copy of himself or any other monsters. ''Did she lie?'' ''Maybeˇ­ maybe not. We''ll find out eventually.''-Claud The place was vast and peaceful, to say the least. The valley stretched as far as th eye could see and even with his sharpened senses, he couldn''t discover any abnormalities. Arthur walked up to a thick tree and sat under it, closing his eyes and enjoying this moment of peacefulness. ˇ­ Unlike Arthur, all the others already started fighting, including Lucy, who was staring back at a woman was had the same exact appearance as her. Inside this world, her altered appearance was erased, her hair and face went back to normal. The stalemate lasted for a few seconds before the copy dashed at her. Just from her copy''s speed, Lucy was able to guess that the enemy has the same stats as her. Unlike her copy, who made use of the environment and activated the Pure Yin Physique, Lucy''s body burned with golden flames which melted the snow and got rid of the chilling air. Two sides, one fire, and the other ice, clashed against each other, causing this field of snow ti crack and vanish, leaving nothing but a bottomless chasm. The fight continued for four hours, not because Lucy was struggling but because she used this opportunity to train herself. The dark sky and the clustered clouds vanished as a miniature golden sun appeared, golden flames rained from above, covering the land and melting the snow. The sun expanded until it exploded, causing unbelievable destruction and sending Lucy''s copy flying miles away. Although this wasn''t enough to finish her enemy, Lucy followed with a meteor shower, which destroyed what was left of this small world and killed her copy, finishing this once and for all. Fifteen people fought their copy, only Arthur was excluded. He took a long nap and only woke up after everyone finished their fight. ''I think I get it.'' Claud spoke to Arthur, letting him know of his speculation. ''I don''t think it''s about fighting yourself but your inner demon, your fears, to be more exact. As a user of Dark-Anguish Technique and Dark Magic, your inner demon was reborn into a Tri-Spirit, which you have a harmonious relationship with hence the absence of any opponent in the third level.'' Chapter 412 - 362 : Wrath Just like the first level, the less time it took you to defeat your inner demon, the better the rewards. Lucy was the third to finish. The ghost was the first and the silver-haired woman was the second. Shu Ru was the fourth, Emily and the Princess were 5th and 6th respectively. By the way, all sixteen contestants successfully completed the third level. Arthur was the last since he didn''t fight anyone and had to wait till everyone is done.It''s kind of a shame as he''ll get a trashy reward or none at all. He glanced at the fairy, who stared back at him and giggled before turning her head away. The rewards weren''t handed by the fairy but chosen by the contestants. There was a list of sixteen artifact/items and the first place one will choose first followed by the second and so onˇ­ The item they were looking for was a bead called the Calming Soul Bead, it was a 1st Grade Godly-ranked artifact. It was one of the top items in this list. Fortunately, the ghost also had an item in mind so he didn''t take the bead, instead, he chose a unique spirit ranked item with the name of ''Solidified Black Matter''. The problem was the silver-haired woman, who took her sweet time browsing the list and reading the description of all the fifteen remaining items. Luckily, she picked a potion filled with transparent liquid, it was a 3rd grade heavenly consumable. Although many were curious about the potion effects, they weren''t courageous enough to ask her. Jace was the 10th, a decent place, which satisfied him greatly. He chose a weird green stone which didn''t have a rank or grade. He threw it in his storage while smiling to himself. Arthur was left with no choice but to pick the remaining item, which was a decent armor, something he doesn''t need. "The rewards have been distributed fairly! Let us proceed to the fourth level!" The fairy clapped her hand as usual then resumed "The fourth level isn''t life-threatening. Plus, you can''t leave unless you fail so please try your best!" She clenched her little fist and cheered them while spinning in the air. Arthur was planning to immediately leave with Lucy only for the fairy to utter those words. She would glance at him and Lucy then giggles, which was a very suspicious behavior. ''Damn! Fairies are infamous for being pranksters! She''s up to something.'' Claud clicked his tongue while inwardly cursing the cute fairy, who was lovely and energetic. The sixteen people were teleported yet again. After a few seconds, they found themselves in a similar room with a large ring in the middle. This wasn''t what startled Arthur, it was actually the fact that he felt much taller. He glanced to the side only to see a silver-haired Lucy equally astonished. Amongst the present cultivators, only their two appearances reverted back, which means all the other people weren''t ''fakes'' like them. Angry, Arthur glared at the smiling fairy but didn''t try anything. To attack a fairy in its domain is plain stupid no matter how strong he was. The fairy was like a host, there''s another entity that rules over this garden. Obviously, everyone but the couple was speechless when they saw the siblings'' appearance change, especially Jace and the silver-haired woman.Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. As if she couldn''t believe her eyes, she stared at Lucy with constricted pupils and half-open mouth. Jace was confused and flabbergasted too as he glanced back between Lucy and her sister. "In the Paradise Garden, trickery and identity theft are prohibited!" The Fairy proudly declared while patting her chest. ''What identity theft! You stupid bitch!'' Arthur couldn''t control herself as he inwardly cursed at her. She ruined everything as everyone now knows their true appearance. The problem was Angelina, Lucy''s sister, who''ll be able to piece everything in no time. Angelina wasn''t a fool, she knew that the butler''s main mission was to locate her missing sister. Unlike her mother, she didn''t know much about her little sister but she could vaguely remember her. She was eight years old when Lucy went missing and back then, she was a reliable big sister who frequently took care of her sister. Once Lucy disappeared, Angelina''s attitude dramatically changed for the worse, speaking every now and then and rarely interacting with others, except for her mother and father. In addition to Lucy, Angelina had a younger brother, who was born three years after Lucy''s disappearance. "E-eva?" Expressionless, Lucy retorted "I''m called Lucy." Angelina walked to Lucy, who retreated while dragging the silent Arthur with her. The others kept their silence, simply watching the unfolding events. Unfortunately, the fairy wasn''t going to stay there and let this touching reunion continue. "Hai hai! The fourth level is simple. Eight will pass and eight will fail. Easy." An illusory table with names on it appeared above the ring. All eyes were drawn to the table, each praying their opponent isn''t strong. It was a simple and quick tournament. The fairy spent half a minute explaining the rules. If one of the two parties is sent out of the ring, he''ll lose. Forfeiting is possible, and losing consciousness is considered a defeat. Arthur wasn''t interested in the table nor the fourth level, he kept staring at Angelina, who walked up to them. Her indifferent expression was nowhere to be seen. "Why?" She totally ignored Arthur and asked the annoyed Lucy, who furrowed her brows and talked back "Why what?" "Why did you hide? Your mother has been looking for you ever since you disappeared." "Hmpf! Such things are meaningless now. All I want is to be left alone, so go awayˇ­ while I''m still asking politely." Lucy was indeed a bit curious about her origins, however, she never wanted to go back there and enjoy the easy life. For her, a life without Saly and Arthur is not a life. It''s practically impossible for her family to accept Arthur and Saly, in fact, they''ll try to separate them, which is something she won''t tolerate. Whether it''s her sister or mother, she''ll resort to everything to keep her family safe, even if it means killing them. For her, the only family she has is the one on Astria. "I understand your resentment towards us but mother didn''t purposely abandon yo-" Lucy cut her off by coldly saying "I don''t care and I don''t want to listen. I have a family and have no intention of being a good and obedient daughter." Angelina wanted to talk again but found no trace of the couple. They vanished and appeared at the end of the room and when Angelina wanted to head there, a weird black cube enveloped them, rendering anyone unable to hear, see, or even sense them. "We''ve got the bead, I say we force our way before she tells the butler." Arthur voiced his opinion as he wrapped his arm around Lucy''s shoulder. She wasn''t perturbed or sad, just annoyed that they were discovered. She glared at the fairy from within the black cube and snorted. "Forcefully leaving the garden will be difficult and may even attract the nearby cultivators. We''ll finish the fourth level and leave, quietly, if possible."-Lucy The fourth level won''t last long, it''s just eight fasts, two of which will end in seconds. Just like what she did to Lucy and Arthur, the fairy pranked two close friends and pitted them against each other. The first fight was Emily against the princess. Neither backed away, they exchanged a few words before they went all out. It lasted five minutes before Emily emerged victorious, sending her friend out of the ring. The battles smoothly continued until it was Jace''s turn, whose opponent is the calm Shu Ru. Surprisingly, Shu Ru lost to Jace, who drank his consumable, which tripled his Strength. Although she was quite powerful, the girl was no match for the monstrous strength of a body cultivator. The fifth battle was between Arthur and Angelina, who glared at him. She didn''t say anything and jumped at him the moment the battle started, however, it''s quite a shame that Arthur backed away, leaving the ring and immediately ending the match. He lost but he didn''t care, their goal has been achieved and they need to leave. Lucy did the same and gave up on her match, which shortened the length of this small tournament. From beginning to end, the fourth level lasted for forty-two minutes, the four winners were teleported to the usual room. As for Arthur, Lucy, and the six others, they found themselves in the platform in front of the garden''s gates. Despite being discovered, the couple changed to their fake appearances and immediately left that area. ˇ­ A distance away from the platform, the old butler smiled as his eyes landed on Lucy''s figure. He immediately recognized from her specter smell, which was carefully hidden only to start emanating when the fairy canceled their altered appearances. "Madam, I''ve finally found her. I''ll safely deliver her to you." Just as he was about to chase after the couple, he was stopped by a middle-aged man with long black hair and a small beard. The scarred old man frowned as he gazed at the person barring his way. "Why are you in such a hurry, old man." Wrath snickered as he saw the ugly expression hanging on the butler''s face. The old man didn''t waste words and tried to force his way through only to be pushed back a dozen meters. Although he was an Overgod, he was still overwhelmed by one of the seven deadly sins. "Oi oi did you really think I''ll let you pass?" Wrath crossed his arms and shook his head. The butler, angry and impatient, said "Does his Highness really want to go against the White Specter Clan?" The man shrugged his shoulders, unfazed. "I''m only following orders. Plus, the stakes are high this timeˇ­ so are the dangers." Chapter 413 - 363 : Lissandra It has been three months since the Joker started training Saly. The little girl still hasn''t seen the light of day, every day struggling to land a blow on the eccentric man. She got used to his mocking and berating but the pain was still as intense as the first day. Even before coming here, she was a good fighter but that was nothing compared to how she was now. She improved by leaps and bounds, she was still at the Spirit Realm but her strength was out of the ordinary. Her beautiful white fur became erect as she leapt at the Joker, she spun in performed an axe kick, hitting the Joker, who crossed his arms to block. He tried to grab her feet but missed by hair''s breadth. She twisted her body and kicked him in his abdomen, successfully landing the attack. Unfortunately, she didn''t injure him as he remained unscathed and unperturbed. He nonchalantly retreated two steps before his figure turned illusory only for her to be sent flying back without managing to see or hear the attack. Her senses were still sealed yet she managed to precisely locate him and hit her target, an amazing feat that very few can achieve. The Magician clapped his hands while grinning then waved his hand, removing the blindfold and giving Saly all her senses back. Startled, Saly looked around her, relieved to get her sight back. She focused on the Joker, who signaled her to sit down before taking out a card from his deck then crushing it. A grand feast appeared before the hungry girl, who devoured it all in a few minutes. The man watched from the side and only talked when she''s done "Now, let''s try to incorporate your skills to your fighting. This is the most important lesson." As she was given the green sign, Saly, finally started using all kinds of skills but to her surprise, found it much harder to fight him when she relies on her skills. "You see, skills and techniques are not important. One shouldn''t use them unless the situation calls for it. Take Leiu, for example, I haven''t seen him use any skills for a long, long time. One sword swing is more than enough to finish his enemies, that''s what I call perfection." Saly silently listened to him without talking back. She refrained from asking questions for they won''t be answered unless she finishes the training, or so said the Joker. "W-what about you? I always see you use your strange cards." In the end, she couldn''t herself back and questioned him. In response, the Joker burst out in laughter. He appeared in front of her and retrieved his deck of cards, playing with it whilst saying "These cards represent my very being. I only use them when I''m serious. However, I went through a lot to break my limiter and reach the apex of physical strength. I even dare say that my body is the strongest in all of the multiverse." If the Nameless Knight is the ultimate offense then the Joker is, without a doubt, the ultimate and unbreakable defense. His body is resistant to almost all kinds of Physiques and Magic. Very few things can injure him. ************ The long adventure of Lissandra continued. The caves weren''t dangerous, just a few low-leveled monsters, however, the complexity of this labyrinth is mind-numbing. She has been here for the past three months, checking for walls that have old paintings on them. She had enough rations to live, the only problem was the cold air and the encroaching darkness. At some point, the woman arrived inside what seemed to be a room. She moved the torch around, inspecting every little detail only to witness flat walls which depicted several scenes, just like last time. The first was a sea of bones, more than one could count. A blue-haired woman was walking on this sea. The next picture was of a dragon, a massive bone dragon that was sleeping, the same woman from before was standing before this beast. Lissandra cautiously walked to several creaking tables and checked the dusty books and documents. Amongst them, she noticed a white book, it looked strange amidst all the others. The frail woman picked it up and started flipping the pages and checking its contents. She sucked in a deep and cold breathe of air as she saw the pictures and descriptions written on the book. "Cthulhu Race?" The Cthulhu race, also known as the Evil race. Arthur faced them once when he went to Bucama''s world and was almost killed there. A malevolent and savage race that is the enemy of everyone. Anyone who spots them will either call for reinforcements from powerful factions or kill them if they''re strong enough. They''re monsters that shouldn''t belong in this multiverse, their existence is denied by both angels, and demons. The language used in the book wasn''t foreign to Lissandra, who studied many things throughout the years. It was the common language of the Buria Empire, a once prosperous and powerful empire that, at some point in history, dominated a third of the Cloud Sea Universe. "Vyncent?" She read the name of the author but still had no idea who he was. The other books also mentioned things that she never heard about before. "Hour of creationˇ­ High Rulesˇ­ The Eighteen Regions?" *********** The moment they left the snowy area, Arthur possessed the White Tiger and transformed into a bolt of lightning, grabbing Lucy and leaving that area. In fact, even if the old man tried to chase them, he might have been unable to catch up to them. His agility is above 40B after activating [Transmutation]. Even when he passed by several cultivators, they only felt a small breeze. Arthur maintained that speed for six hours before stopping. After they made sure no one followed them, the couple dived underground. The two only returned to the surface three days later. Arthur was nowhere to be seen, as for Lucy, she transformed into a middle-aged man with a thick black beard. The bracelet was a bit altered so it could work Lucy. She would travel alone and Arthur would remain inside of her, dormant and merely watching the unfolding events from her point of view. If they traveled together, it would be too suspicious so they ended up doing this. It is unknown what Angelina would do when she''s out of the garden and the couple didn''t plan on waiting for her. Their next destination is South, in a volcanic mountain. The second soul-protecting treasure is called the Raging Soul Bead. Once she gets her hands on that, she''ll be able to merge the two beads and create a strong artifact that can protect her from any soul-attack.Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. With a moderate traveling speed, Lucy made her way toward the base of this triangular-shaped realm. She met a few God and Sovereign Beasts but they were quickly disposed of. The trip lasted six days before a sky-piercing red mountain entered her view. The heat it was emanating was suffocating and dangerous to unprepared cultivators. Fortunately, her Fire Resistance is high and her physical body is strong enough to resist the heat. Thick steam lingered at the peak of the mountain, caused by the raging volcano inside. Losha didn''t specify where the bead was, however, it should be deep inside. Unlike the snowy area under the Paradise Garden, there were no signs of people lingering around the colossal mountain. ˇ­ It hasn''t been a minute since she started climbing the mountain yet three Sovereigns Beasts blocked her way, hissing at her with murderous eyes. Lucy, who had the appearance of the middle-aged man, took out Twilight''s vow, her soft white saber, which was strengthened by Losha, and started fighting the enemies. The three beasts were frozen and cut by the saber, their boiling hot bodies cooled down as ice-covered their limbs then froze them from head to toe. She swiftly stored the bodies before heading upwards. As one would expect from such a dangerous place, there was an over-abundance of strong beasts, which weren''t that difficult to deal with as Lucy wasn''t weakened like everyone else. *** Three hours later, Lucy appeared at the peak of the mountain, where the heat became much more intense. Her presence was greatly reduced with Arthur''s help. She hid in a separate dimension while gazing at a group of people standing around the edges of the peak while peeking at the volcano down below. This group wore either golden armors or white robes and was led by the Deacon. Not everyone was present, for example, Delia and a few others were nowhere to be seen, however, the main force of the group was here. ''They''re all weakened, it''s our chance.''-Lucy ''Indeed, it''s like a pie in the sky.''-Arthur There was no one present to witness what''s going to happen so it''s the best time to get rid of these annoying insects. They were here for Arthur so it''s only normal for him to retaliate. Chapter 414 - 364 : Fire Spiri "What''s the situation?" "There''s a fire Spirit guarding it. We can''t advance." A young man clad in golden armor politely replied to the deacon, who unhappily snorted and gazed at the volcano. If they go back empty-handed, all their previous would have gone to waste. Moreover, their main target seemed to have vanished into thin air, unless he purposely exposes himself, there''s no way they can find him. The reason they treaded this perilous land and climbed this mountain is getting their hand on the bead and the dragon blood. Not many knew that this was but a normal mountain which drastically changed when a drop of blood of an adult Empyrian Fire dragon fell there. The bead isn''t as important as the drop of blood, which has countless benefits. It would allow anyone to obtain a small number of the dragon''s powers and enhance the potency fire techniques. It''s something sought by many people, especially those hailing from sects that rely on the Fire Attribute. The problem was the Fire Spirit that was born from this rough environment, which is a perfect place for it to grow stronger the longer it lived here. The Deacon included, there were twelve people, eight of which are God Monarchs and the rest are at the peak Sovereign. Their cultivation is weakened but they can still use powerful techniques. With one hand on her temple, deeply pondering about her available choices, the woman(deacon)assessed her current situation and sent a few of her subordinates to scout the area and ascertain that they''re indeed alone. If they''re going to fight the Fire Spirit, they must be united and wholly focused on the enemy, there must be no disturbance whatsoever. The Deacon spent thirty whole minutes talking about their plan and repeatedly warning them to be careful. Unfortunately, no one noticed the invisible figure hearing them some distance away. Lucy, who was ready to engage at any given moment, stared at the group of Holy Knights, who jumped below and took a favorable spot where there''s a considerable mass of land, which is safer as the volcano can''t reach it. The drop of blood is supposed to be deep inside the volcano, as for the bead, it was growing on top of a blood-red grass, which sprouted from within the lava. The Fire Spirit didn''t show itself as they haven''t tried anything yet. All of them were sweating profusely from the heat, even breathing became slightly difficult due to the suffocating Fire Energy lingering in the area. ''You don''t have to act, I''ll finish them quietly.''-Arthur Arthur stopped Lucy, who was about to jump at them and slaughter them all. It was better to wait until they are a bit distracted albeit the little difference it would make. They are way weaker than the couple and they can''t be considered a threat. The Fire Spirit, however, is another thing. Arthur planned to get rid of them when they started fighting and ''save'' the Fire Spirit. The Deacon severely underestimated the Spirit, which was paying close attention to the Holy Knights. ˇ­ Once the white-robbed woman gave the signal, one of her Holy Knights jumped on the lava and closed in on the bead, planning to snatch it. The man only took three steps before a huge entity appeared from within the magma, causing it to splash to all corners. The man already expected it, he raised his shield to block the boiling hot lava before jumping back, landing near his comrades. The Fire Spirit was literally made of fire, its two eyes were shining with blood-red as it glared at the invaders. It didn''t bother talking and immediately started retaliating. The ''safe'' land they were standing on was covered with lava then bombarded with a raging wave of hot flames. Just when it thought it had gotten rid of the annoying pests, a blinding white light vaporized the lava and pushed the flames away. The light purified everything in its way, causing the fire spirit to retreat two steps. It raised its enormous hand and punched the tiny human, which formed a circular formation and raised their shield. The eight shields expanded in size then formed a bigger golden shield which blocked the incoming flaming fist. The deacon waved her staff and cast a white blast which hit the Fire Spirit and caused a huge chunk of its body to disappear. Although a powerful attack, it was useless as the Fire Spirit recovered in a few seconds. This place was its home and the amount of Fire Energy present was enough for it to heal itself more than a hundred times. The Fire Spirit was about to attack again only for a big black cube to appear out of nowhere. The people from the Holy Dominion were even more confused. Their world became that of darkness, not being able to see a thing. This, however, was but the beginning of a long, and painful nightmare. The air soon became toxic, thick chains sprung from the ground and bound them bodies, breaking some of their bones and rendering unable to even lift a finger. "USE YOUR HOLY HEARTS!" The deacon hysterically shouted once she saw what''s happening. Without a doubt, it was Dark Magic. Only a malevolent and ominous magic like that could do this. Although her reaction was fast, her words reached them a bit too late as a weird liquid fell on them, melting their limbs and faces. The lethal acid showed no mercy as it melted their shield, weapons, and even went through their condensed Light Energy. Only the deacon and another woman were lucky enough to spit a golden light which caused the thick chains to crumble. They retreated to the back, barely avoiding the falling acid only for the deacon''s last subordinate to stop coughing blood. The highly toxic air quickly started showing its effects. Moreover, Dark Magic consumes its target, and such a process is faster when the targets are Light Magic users.Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. The Deacon cast a powerful healing spell to help the suffering woman but it was futile as wrinkles appeared on her face and her skin became paler. ˇ­ Arthur stood next to Lucy and watched the dying knights with a smirk on his face. He was pretty satisfied with his arsenal of skills. He''s able to effortlessly kill them without having to personally show himself. Maybe the acid was a bit of an overkill but it was necessary to make their deaths painful and miserable. ''Fanatic believers, dogs that serve a non-existent God.'' Claud commented as he witnessed the occurring events with an emotionless face. Very soon, things quietened inside the black cube only for it to suddenly split in two as a golden light flew from the inside, destroying the roof and disappearing into the sky. Arthur clearly saw a bloodied woman who enveloped by that light. Whatever she used, it couldn''t be used multiple times. It seemed to be an ultimate escaping technique. Even if he uses the White Tiger, he won''t be able to catch up to her, however, that didn''t mean he''ll let this matter go. She''s still in the Secret Realm and can''t escape, sooner or later, she''ll meet up with the rest of her group and that will be the perfect opportunity for him to get rid of all of them together. Delia was together with them but her fate is unknown, it all depends on how she''ll act. The black cube soon vanished, Arthur and Lucy walked closer to the silent Fire Spirit, which stared back at them but wasn''t as hostile as before. "Master, I think this is a golden chance!" The Tri-Spirit excitedly talked to Arthur and asked for permission to speak with the Fire Spirit. Soon, a square composed of three differently-shaped triangles appeared in front of Arthur. The Fire Spirit immediately recognized the Spirit and was flabbergasted. Its body contracted until it was three meters in height. It leaned its head closer to the Tri-Spirit and made some weird sounds. "It is the first time I see Spirit with three attributes." The square bounced up and down while replying "Pleasure to meet you." "It is nice to see another kin in this barren land." The Fire Spirit''s tone became softer, the heat suffocating the environment greatly decreased too. After they exchanged a short greeting, there was an awkward silence which was quickly broken by the Tri-Spirit. "I''ll cut through the chase and say what''s on my mind." The Fire Spirit nodded its head "I am listening." "I want to merge with you." Speechless, the Fire Spirit could only remain silent, unable to understand or believe what it just heard. "Let me clearly explain my words. As you may have noticed, I am a special Spirit thus I have abilities others don''t, such as merging with other Spirits to strengthen myself." The Fire Spirit snickered and retorted "Isn''t it more like absorption then?" The Tri-Spirit spun in a circle while responding "No, merging with me is becoming part of us, just like what I did previously. Believe it or not, I was once an Earth Spirit. I''m the controlling it right now because the other is still young and innocent." Chapter 415 - 365 : Dragon Blood "I refuse." The Fire Spirit flatly rejected the Tri-Spirit''s offer, clearly unwilling to merge with another kin. it was surprising to see a Spirit with three attributes, however, that doesn''t mean it wants to abandon itself and leave this place. "Now now, don''t be so hasty. I''m sure the benefits outweigh the cons, listen to what I have to say first." Arthur and Lucy retreated to the back as to give some ''privacy'' to the two spirits. His Tri-Spirit assured him that it''ll greatly help him and told him to wait for some time. They already got the consent of the Fire Spirit so they went to retrieve the Raging Soul bead, which isn''t that important since it can grow up again. They won''t take the whole flower but just the bead, which is more than enough for them. This was the perfect place for Lucy to try and merge the two beads. It was a dangerous place devoid of people, no one would dare to climb the mountain if they''re not strong enough thus the couple decided to remain here for a few days until Lucy successfully completes the fusion. The two sat at the top of the mountain, Arthur meditating and Lucy sitting cross-legged holding the two beads, each in one hand. Strange-colored flames enveloped the two beads, slowly harmonizing with the energy inside of them. The process was difficult, to say the least, as beads of sweat trickled down her forehead as she tried her best to slowly achieve the impossible. The mysterious flames which are composed of both Fire and Ice, would rotate between white and blue, slowly condensing around the beads, melting them. Fortunately, Lucy had an incredibly large Mana pool so she wasn''t afraid of consuming it all any time soon. After a few hours, Arthur finished his meditation and gazed at his wife, who was still meticulously forging the soul-protecting items. Losha bestowed her a common technique which facilitated the fusion by a lot. Although it looked easy from the outside, to fuse two opposite attributes is impossible, more so if they''re inside powerful items. Arthur circled around her then started drawing on the ground, soon creating a supportive formation. Its only function was to smoothen the control of Mana and enhance its recovery. Then, he used [Mana Transmission], [Mana augmentation], and [Magic Enhancement] to boost the quality of Lucy''s Mana. A short time later, an excited floating square hopped toward him while saying "Master! It''s done!" "Good. What should I do?" "Wait, not only will we fuse with it but you''ll also be able to get the dragon''s blood but only for one condition." "Condition?" "It''s nothing too dangerous. You''ll have to take the mountain with you." Arthur''s could''ve sworn he misheard the Tri-Spirit. He furrowed his brows and tilted his head in confusion, not understanding the meaning of the spirit''s words. "This mountain is like a home to the Fire Spirit, a sacred place. It agreed to merge with us if we take the mountain with us." "Take the mountain? How is that even possible." "I believe that the strange cube in your consciousness can do that." There are some treasures that have a separate dimension that can store worlds inside of them. Zodiak''s storage is one of them, however, Arthur doesn''t know how to do that. The ARK, being controlled by Claud, is more than enough to store the huge mountain in that endless white space. ''Ughˇ­ is that even necessary?'' The Prophecy Holder didn''t object but he seemed unwilling and unhappy with the condition. Before Arthur could ask him, he started talking on his own. ''Well, since it''ll be beneficial to you, there''s nothing I can do about itˇ­ I''ll take the damned mountain. Tch! Such a waste of space.'' Arthur was guided inside deep into the lava, exactly next to a drop of blood which shone brightly in that dark environment. The Tri-Spirit and Fire Spirit faced each other, before the former starting emitting an unstoppable suction power, slowly absorbing the non-resistant spirit. ''Never did I think I would see a Spirit with four attributes. I guess this is a huge gain for you.''-Claud Arthur patiently waited as the Fire Spirit slowly became integrated with his Tri-Spirit. The three triangles, which merely made up one attribute each, separated themselves as a new red-colored triangle appeared. A long amount of time passed before the four triangles joined together, forming another complete square, the new form of the Quad-Spirit, formally named Beelzebub by Arthur. Although his stats didn''t increase, his cultivation leaped from Little Sovereign to the peak of High Sovereign. It was still locked due to the restrictions of the Secret Realm, however, he could see the changes through his Status Window. Fire-oriented skills will do 20% more damage to all enemies. The user ''Arthur MoonStar'' will receive 30% less damage from the Dragon Breath of Empyrian Dragons.Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. The user ''Arthur MoonStar'' will receive 20% less damage from the Dragon Breath of Geo Dragons. The user ''Arthur MoonStar'' will receive 10% less damage from the Dragon Breath of Black Dragons. +100 Creation. It is now possible to create Red Spirit Stones with [Lost Magic]. Cooldown: none Cost: 1 Mental Power or 1m Mana or 500,000 Nether Energy. The user ''Arthur MoonStar can create several new things with [Lost Magic] LIST: Very small Atomic bomb - Advanced Combat Lasers - ˇ­ The new additions were much welcomed by Arthur, who read everything then stretched his hand, creating the Atomic Bomb. It was barely the size of his fist, however, its might isn''t to be underestimated. Although Sovereigns and God Monarchs use Nether Energy to shield themselves, an Atomic Bomb can still cause considerable damage. An atomic bomb gets its energy from fission - or the splitting of an atom. It doesn''t use any Mana or Nether Energy and it can kill an unprepared Sovereign. For example, a Wind Rinotsu can cause the same damage as this small Atomic Bomb. A Wind Rizaki can cause ten times the damage. To be precise, a Fire Rizaki cause three times the destruction of an Atomic Bomb. Butˇ­ what if an Atomic Bomb is infused with Energy? Arthur quickly got his answer as the small bomb crumbled into dust. ''Science and Magic are not compatible. To use them together is nothing but wishful thinking. Although Magic is an easier way to reach the apex, Science is definitely superior. In the System universe, there are airships that can obliterate stars and slaughter Overgods then again, they are pretty sparse and difficult to create.'' When all was done, much of the lava that boiled inside of the mountain vanished, leaving only the unbearable heat. With anticipation, Arthur gazed at the drop of blood before him. To absorb the drop of blood is easier said than done, fortunately, he can turn [Pain Immunity] so he doesn''t have to go through the agony. ''A dragon''s blood is precious. Not only does it remodel the body, it greatly enhances the consumer''s cultivation and the attribute related to the dragon. In your case, your body is already beyond powerful so it will not be remodeled, however, the increase of fire affinity will drastically the damage done by any fire-oriented skill. The Vermilion Bird''s skills will be able to totally annihilate any God Monarch, even Half-Over Gods will suffer.'' ''Do you think I can face an Overgod right now?'' Claud burst out in laughter when he heard that. ''Do you think Overgods are that simple? They can destroy whole planets and pulverize stars. I dare say you can survive one or two blows from them but to defeat them is impossible, for now, at least. There are also 8-star or above God Monarchs, they can demonstrate a power that transcends their realm. The world is filled with many wonders, Overgods are not the only powerful beings in the multiverse. Each Universe has a different system to gauge a person''s strength. In the System, it''s by level. For example, a person who reaches Lv10,000 can face an Overgod. While the first thousand levels are easy, it becomes much, much harder to level up after that. Reaching Lv10,000 is harder than becoming an Overgod.'' ''What about the Heaven and Hell Universe? How do they gauge someone''s power?'' ''Wellˇ­ it''s their method is strange and unorthodox, plus, not many people go there due to the conflict between angels and demons.'' After readying himself, Arthur stretched his hand and grabbed the blood droplet, pulling it towards him with all his strength. At first, it strongly resisted him but quickly succumbed once he used the ancient flames. To consume the dragon''s blood, he just has to swallow it, literally, which proved to be a more difficult task than he had imagined. He could feel a scorching heat go down his throat only for it to disappear when the pain immunity was activated. He could, however, still feel uncomfortable as his body started shaking. The ominous dark aura around his Dantian reacted to the incoming blood and enveloped it, forcefully dragging it to the center, where a malevolent black energy started to consume it, slowly weakening it and merging it with Arthur''s body. Chapter 416 - 366 : The Princes Visi West of Green-Leaf, precisely in the wasteland, a royal airship just appeared above Kang Amidel''s city. Its golden radiance and majestic aura attracted a lot of attention. Everyone knew that someone from the Royal family came here, as for what reason, nobody could guess. Amidel personally welcomed the visitor, a friendly smile plastered on his face. He politely bowed to Isadore before guiding him to his castle. "It''s a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness." "Oh stop with the polite talk, I feel like vomiting each time I hear you." Isadore waved his hand in annoyance while sitting opposite to Amidel. They can be considered acquaintances and their relationship aren''t harmonious but they can''t be considered enemies either. Hearing the prince talk like that, Amidel laughed but didn''t say anything. After fully enjoying and savoring the hot tea he was served, Isadore looked at this unusually calm man, who still hasn''t asked him for the reason of his visit, and said "I came here to ask a favor from you." Amidel glanced at the nonchalant Dan, who was dozing off in the corner, then said "If it''s for your Highness, I''m prepared to do anything." ''This two-faced prick! Each and every one of them is a damned sly fox.'' The Crown Prince inwardly cursed Kang Amidel, who was genuinely didn''t know why Isadore came all the way here. There are not many things Isadore can''t do on his own so this left him curious about this favor. "Please spare me your nonsense. I want to know a few things about Arthur MoonStar." The moment Arthur''s name was uttered, Amidel frowned and his countenance changed. His gaze narrowed as he stared back at the unfazed Isadore. "I wonder where your Highness heard of that name." "Just like you have your birds, I have mine." The blond young man unconsciously tapped his finger on the table while talking: "I am interested in him and wish to cooperate with you. What I mean with ''you'' is your Kang Clan, which is desperately trying to conceal everything about that man." After what seemed to be an eternity, Kang Amidel let out a long sigh before replying "I am afraid I can''t divulge anything regarding him. I''m in no position to take unnecessary risks, if you know what I mean." "Oh come on! We already know the Kang Clan is in a tight spo-" Dan angrily butted in only to be stopped by Isadore, who raised his hand, signaling the straw-hat wearing dude to shut up and back away. The prince''s lips curved upwards as he continued: "He''s a dangerous dark horse. Moreover, his wife is no less deadly than him, I wonder why the Kang Clan chose to bet on himˇ­ are you guys that desperate? Or do you know something we don''t?" Amidel''s eyes flashed with a cold glint before it quickly disappeared. He stood up and said "I believe we''re done here." Without waiting for the Crown Prince, he turned around and left. "I''m going to stay here and sightsee for a few days. Do let me know if you change your mind." **** "Truth can be elusive and fickle as the shifting sands yet you must know it regardless of the consequences." Saly, who was incredibly happy since the fighting has finally ended, was sitting on a desk and listening to the Joker, who was holding a long and thick stick. He was actually giving her some lessons while she carefully listened. After talking for three to four hours, he would ask her questions and if she fails to answer, her hands will suffer a harsh punishment by the stick, which was normal in every way yet it caused a stinging pain that dug deep into her bones. "Now tell me, what are the types of dragons." Like a good and hard-working student, she stood up and began talking "Yes, teacher. There are four types of dragons, Geo Dragons, Empyrian Dragons, Black Dragons, and Hybrid Dragons." "Good, then what are the Hybrid Dragons." Saly took a second to collect her thoughts only to hear the harsh and rebuking voice of the teacher enter her ears "Really now? Your answer is nothing but silence? And here I thought you were listening to me. Raise your hands!" Startled, Saly hesitantly retorted "B-but teacher, I was just about to answer youˇ­" "Nonsense! I said raise your damned hands!" The little girl was unwilling to raise her hands but when she saw his chilling glare, she was left with no choice but to comply. She got hit a total of six times, three for each hand. Her petite hands became a mess of bloody and messy flesh with some exposed bones. "Two seconds to think about your answer? My fart is faster than you! A thousand push-upsˇ­ no powers!" "T-thousand?" Discontent with the punishment, Saly pitifully stared at him with puppy eyes.Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. "Three thousand push-ups. You''ve got twenty minutes." The Joker angrily left the room, slamming the door behind him. ˇ­ "Rough times huhˇ­" Leiu started gloating as he saw the irritated look of the Joker, who was throwing his cards at the wall, trying to vent his accumulated frustration. "She''s as dumb as one can get! I have to repeat everything so she can understand me! All her talent went into fighting, everything else is just awful!" "Every time you take a student you always say that." The young man chuckled as he leaned on the chair and closed his eyes. "If it''s so tiring, why are you still here, teaching her?" The Joker''s hand, which was about to throw another card, halted for a split second. After a moment of silence, he said "This and that are different. Once I take a student, I teach them till the end! Fuck! Do you want my reputation to crumble?!" The knight lazily opened his eyes and glanced at the annoyed man before adding: "I see that you want to blow off some steamˇ­ fancy a spar?" Just as he said that, you could hear the Joker gulping some saliva while shaking his head "Fuck no! You''re a merciless bastard, you know! You''ve beaten me black and blue countless times and I don''t want to experience that EVER AGAIN." He hastily got up and left the room as if he was pardoned. *********** It took Arthur a whole day to completely absorb the dragon''s blood. Some would seclude themselves for months to absorb it but it wasn''t the case for him as his tenacious body was strong enough to handle the burst of thick Fire Energy that circulated through his Meridians. His stats rose by 500m, a decent increase but negligible compared to the other benefits. He obtained a skill called [Empyrian Wings], which, as the name suggests, spawns a pair of wings that boosts his Agility. It was yet another skill that increases his speed and increases his stats by 5%. Furthermore, he gained another cheat skill called [Dragon Words]. [Dragon Words][Active][Lv50]: Use the ancient dragon language to force your foes into submission. Cooldown: Three months. Cost: 10,000 Mental Power. The cooldown cannot be negated by [Blood for Blood]. The sheer length of the cooldown seemed exaggerated to Arthur, who was harshly berated by Claud. ''Dragon Words are commonly used when two dragons fight together. They are similar to Pride''s power but affect the will of the person and not the soul. It weakens it and makes them temporarily obedient. This skill can be used as a trump card and a very last resort, don''t abuse it.'' Feeling refreshed and reborn, Arthur exited the underground area and headed to where Lucy was. Coincidentally, his wife was at the final stages of her fusion. The two beads disappeared and a new one appeared, white-colored and emitting a thick, almost suffocating amount of Pure Mana. Lucy''s face was a bit pale, clearly showing how mentally exhausted she was. She was but a step away from completion, she remained focused and poured everything in her power to successfully forge this item. The scorching hot ground of the mountain became half-red half-blue, affected by Lucy''s Ice and Fire Magic. There was a circle of white flames around her, making it difficult for Arthur to approach her. The Fire Spirit integrated with his Tri-Spirit, becoming a Quad-Spirit. He absorbed the dragon blood and reaped generous rewards. This unexpected trip to this Secret Realm was fruitful, to say the least. However, there is still danger looming on the horizon, waiting for an opportunity to strike. Chapter 417 - 367 : Anyone Can Be Killed Just when Lucy was reaching the final stage of the fusion, dark and ominous clouds clustered above the sky-high mountain. Arthur was able to recognize them with one glance, they''re the same clouds which appeared in Astria when he was fighting the Divine Beasts. Thunderclaps resounded in the area, scaring the nearby beasts and causing a frown to appear on Arthur''s face. ''The heavens are not happy?'' ''What do you think? Of course they''re not. However, this can barely be called a minor Celestial Tribulation. It should be a piece of cake to overcome it.'' While Lucy was busy finishing her business, Arthur stood a distance away from her and spread his two wings, one white and the other black. He raised his head, gazing at the thin red lightning that covered the sky like an intersecting spider net. This level of tribulation can only hurt Sovereigns, at most, furthermore, it shouldn''t attract too much attention, or so thought Arthur, who wasn''t able to sense the invisible figure staring at him and his wife from a safe distance. The young man, wearing a grey robe and smirking evilly was the Black Rose executive, Artid. The commotion caused by the awakened Fire Spirit attracted his attention. He traveled two-thirds of this secret Realm, searching for any signs of Arthur. He still hasn''t gone to the Paradise Garden so he didn''t know the small ruckus that occurred there. By no means did he harbor any malicious intentions toward the couple, he was genuinely interested in this enigma, who''s the target of many powerful factions. Krauk was never a person to exaggerate so, since he was already in Green-Leaf, he decided to meet with this candidate and personally hear his answer. When he saw the fleeing Deacon, who was bloodied, Artid was sure that Arthur was inside the mountain so he patiently observed the changes without revealing himself. In terms of cultivation, he was the second weakest out of all the seats, however, the ''Unbeatable'' titles wasn''t there just for show. ''Celestial Tribulation? Ah Krauk, you really do have an eye for people.''Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. His pair of eyes locked onto Lucy, inspecting her from head to toe before nodding his head and mumbling ''It just so happens that the White Seat is going to be empty pretty soon butˇ­ she''s a White Specter hmˇ­ whatever, it matters not.'' The sounds of the rumbling thunder became ear-deafening, scattering every being that was courageous enough to try and resist Heaven''s will. The first series of thunderbolts descended on Lucy, who didn''t pay them any attention. A black silhouette jumped in the air, grabbing the thickest bolt and crushing it with his fist, which was enveloped by an everlasting darkness. There were more bolts than he could handle, nevertheless, none of them managed to hit Lucy, who was protected by an awfully powerful defensive formation. The barrier of the Brave is an ancient formation that was used by the ancestors of the Mirage Era Hall Sect. Being a Gold Formations Master, Arthur was able to create since the materials needed happened to be present in Zodiak''s storage. The only reason he jumped and clashed with the previous bolt is to see if his Physical is strong enough to resist Heaven''s lightning. He barely felt anything from that which means that even without formations, it''ll still be easy to defend Lucy. He landed next to Lucy and waved his hand in a mysterious pattern, either placing some crystals around them. His hand moved fast as they scribed on the scorched ground, causing the drawn symbols to shine with a peculiar green light. Coupled with the Barrier of the Brave, Arthur set up a self-sustaining formation that counter-attacks any outside forces. Purge was a Peak Gold Formations that can kill any God Monarch trapped inside of it. Its powers are limited for those who''re outside of it but it shouldn''t be underestimated. As a final precaution, a sturdy half-illusory dark barrier that looked like a sphere enveloped the couple. One wave of lightning bolts after another kept hitting the first formation but was unable to scratch it, much less shatter it. In retaliation, the ''purge'' formation with unleash a destructive blast toward the sky, causing more bolts of lightning to clash with it, wasting more time for the tribulation, which can''t remain here for too long. This continued for ten minutes, more or less, before the tribulation prepared its last attack. The dark clouds dispersed, making way for a lengthy lightning arrow made of purple and red lightning. Arthur remained unfazed, he just smirked and closed his eyes, entering meditation. Artid, who was also witnessing this, was actually speechless. The information he had about Arthur was incomplete, just the formations he just used elevated his status in the executive''s eyes. ''He can transform into the Divine Beast, the White Tiger. Can use Dark Magic, Gold Formations, lethal poisons, and his speed is unequaled. If this is not the perfect candidate then I don''t know who is. Then again, is he a Druid or a shapeshifter? He can''t possibly be human.'' Like a heavenly punishment, the lightning arrow, with incredible speed, struck the Barrier of the Brave, causing countless cracks. After three seconds, the formation shattered but a powerful blast from ''Purge'' managed to cause half of the arrow to disappear, weakening it by more than half. The arrow kept getting closer to Lucy only to clash with the Dark Barrier, which was strengthened by jet black talismans. Unlike the formation, the barrier remained unscathed as Dark Magic crept toward it, slowly consuming it. Within five seconds, the arrow turned jet black before it became smaller size, quickly disappearing into a small black whirlpool, which, in its turn, also vanished. Having exhausted all its power, the tribulations turned into nothingness and the dark clouds returned normal, making the sky clear again. Just when the tribulation ended, Lucy completed her soul-protecting item at last. A blinding radiance enveloped the silver-haired woman, who bathed in this gentle light, which circled around her before condensing into a multi-colored bead that entered her chest, resting in her consciousness. ''A Mysterious-ranked treasure, it''s been a long time since I saw one.'' Unexpectedly, the one who just talked was Curtis, who usually remains silent, guarding Arthur''s soul and being a dutiful guardian. Her ever-so-slightly floating silver-hair finally went back to normal once the blinding radiance disappeared. With a peaceful and pleased expression, Lucy got up and gave a deep hug to Arthur, who smiled back at her. This moment of happiness was, unfortunately, cut short as a young in a grey robe appeared on the peak of the mountain. He didn''t look hostile or emit any killing intent, nonetheless, Arthur remained cautious despite knowing the other party''s real identity. "Came to hear my answer?" Artid was a bit startled before he resumed his friendly smile. He leisurely walked to the couple while saying "I didn''t expect you to know who I am. This makes it easier for me." He performed a short bow while formally introducing himself "I am Artid, an Executive of Black Rose and one of the nine seats, the Green Seat of Justice." Arthur nodded his head while Lucy remained indifferent. Artid didn''t mind their attitudes, he spread his hands while stating "Honestly, I''m impressed by your powers, both of you and, again, I humbly invite you to join our organization. Currently, one of the nine seats is vacant and I believe you''re the perfect candidate. Moreover, soon enough, another seat will be emptied, which, I believe, is a seat reserved for Madam Lucy, what do you two think?" He studied their expressions while adding: "Please do not worry, as long as you''re of the nine seats, there''s no one who can order you around. Major decisions are decided by a majority vote so it''s fair. You shan''t be mistreated and the benefits will surely satisfy you. We have very accurate information about the White Specter Clan, the Holy Dominion, or any other power which interests you." Arthur crossed his arms and retorted: "I can''t help but feel curious about your persistence. I''m sure there are countless other candidates who are more suitable than me." Artid, still smiling, shook his head while giving a truthful reply "That''s where you''re wrong. The members of the Nine Seats rarely change if not never. To find a suitable candidate, we have to look everywhere and barely found someone eligible for the position. We want someone who''s not affiliated with strong powers, someone independent and strong enough to stand above his peers. In my honest opinion, I think you''re the perfect choice. We can shield you from your numerous enemies and as long as you have the money, anyone can be killed, anyone!" Chapter 418 - 368 : War In a complex web of caves underneath the Itas Continent, East of Astria, Lissandra was holding her mouths with both of her hands while trying her best to not make any sound. As she was engrossed in reading the ancient books laying in that old room, a strange orange portal appeared at the center, freaking her out. Previously, she accidentally discovered an extremely small room that could only be accessed using a mechanism on the wall, where the paintings were. As she peeked through the small cracks of the room, she witnessed monstrosities enter the room, one by one. They had four, six, or even eight arms, jet black skin and an appearance that would make anyone horrified. They were of the Cthulhu Race, as for why they appeared here and now, the mortal woman didn''t know. Lissandra was never a believer yet she continuously prayed not to be discovered, she was but a frail woman who can do nothing against such evil creatures. Were she to be discovered, her fate will be worse than death. ''What are they doing here?'' She silently watched numerous monsters appear from within the portal, dragging blue-colored crystals that had varied sizes. ''Those areˇ­ Mana Crystals? What do they need them for?'' Such crystals were common and practically useless in Medium or High-Realms, they only serve as a means to recover Mana, a type of energy which is rarely used as it''s inferior to Nether Energy. The monsters conversed with a language unknown to her hence she was unable to know the reason of their arrival at this ungodly hour. The fallen God remained in that cramped room, barely breathing due to the lack of air and the fear surging inside of her. Only after a whole day passed did she relax but was still trapped in there, drinking water and eating food while hearing the unpleasant laughter of the Cthulhu. Several days later, the Itas Continent was thrown into total chaos. The Elven Village, the most populated place in this gigantic forest was invaded by evil creatures, which slaughtered and tortured everyone. Very few managed to survive by escaping amidst that bloody battlefield. The ground was dyed red and the pitiful cries of the elves or humans could be heard from miles away. In the end, the World Tree had to personally act, using its magic and body to kill those evil creatures. This, however, came at a great cost as these monsters, despite their weakness, managed to summon an evil god using the very same blue crystals they dragged from the portal. This Evil God had was 40 meters in height, three pairs of eyes and three red horns on its forehead. Everything about it was grotesque and ugly, whether it''s its row of pointy teeth or its crooked nose. Its wielded some kind of lantern which started an inextinguishable fire in this forest, killing its subordinates and the fleeing elves. Although the evil god wasn''t the World Tree''s match, it still managed to cause considerable damage before it was killed. More accurately, its avatar was killed, it was still alive somewhere else. Fortunately, the MoonStar acted fast and sent reinforcement, helping the remaining survivors leave the continent and tried its best to extinguish the ominous fire, which had the color of blood. Jackob and Sonia were dispatched to the Itas Continent. The general of the sect''s army accompanied the Ice Magic user and protected her while she poured everything she got to get rid of the quickly expanding fire, which was but a few away from the World Tree. Although she wasn''t able to extinguish it, her high-leveled Ice Magic did slow it considerably, however, the Cthulhu Race was relentless, appearing from out of nowhere and ambushing their group. As Sonia was repeatedly casting a minor version of [Absolute Zero] to freeze the scorched ground and block the fire, Jackob was crouching behind of her. He held the sniper rifle, Ace, and would shoot every few seconds, taking down one or two monsters, which were miles away. At first, they were successful in repelling the Cthulhu but the situation quickly worsened when dog-like beasts appeared. They were either the mounts or the cannon fodder. Individually, they were particularly dangerous but the problem was that they usually attack in big groups. Sonia, who was assisted by a few more mages, couldn''t handle the continuous Mana consumption and finally fell unconscious after four days. The other mages didn''t fare well either as some were killed and others captured. Four figures were jumping from one tree to another, fleeing from lion-sized dogs that had messy flesh and bloodied heads. Jackob was holding Sonia under his arm as he swung down his big axes, dismembering four dogs then jumping back. Although they tried everything they could, they couldn''t defend the Itas Continent, which was doomed. The fire burned half of the forest, which covered the whole continent, plus, the number of Cthulhu increased every day, no one knew where they came from. **** In the meeting room atop of the High Tower, the main HQ of the MoonStar sect, several elders were pleading Anastassia, who was incensed and worried. "Vice-leader! Please don''t go!" More than three thousand died in the Itas Continent. None returned alive, she didn''t even know whether her sister and husband are still alive or not. She never thought things will escalate so quickly. It was supposed to be an easy job, just like last time. They will kill the invading race and be done with it. The several old men were kneeling in front of Anastassia, blocking the exit and banging their head on the floor. "Th-there''s nothing you can do, please stay, Vice-leader!" Anastassia glared at them and used Nether Energy to push them away. Just as she was about to leave, a young man with a flushed faced barged in the room. He panted heavily and talked only after locating Anastassia, who was but a few steps away. "V-vice leader! An armyˇ­ an army is marching toward us!" She frowned and told the youth to calm down and only talk after he drank a bit of water. After taking a deep breathe, the youngster continued "The Xi Clan betrayed us, an army of monsters is marching toward us. They''ll arrive in three days, their number is unknown." His tiredness and pale face was proof that he ran all the way here the moment he saw the army. It wasn''t an easy feat to continuously run without a rest, especially for a mortal. Anastassia ordered him to go rest before leaving the room, ignoring the desperate elders. She went to the roof of the High Tower and stared at the cloudy sky. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, unable to come to a decision. After a few minutes, she looked down to the creepy pendant hanging on her neck before hastily flying South. After a while, she appeared above the uncountable army of undead. She ripped the necklace and clenched it with both of her hands, applying all the strength she could muster. "I must do itˇ­" She wholly focused on the pendant, pouring all her Nether Energy inside. Her gaze was focused on the motionless undead. "Move moveˇ­ come on MOVE!" Despite her desperate shouts, the undead remained unresponsive. Nonetheless, the woman didn''t give up, her pool of Nether Energy depleted yet she kept sacrificing her vitality to cause a reaction from the pendant. Only after three hours did the pendant started emitting a purple light which covered her body. Her beautiful dark red hair became jet black while her skin turned whiter than snow. She coughed mouthfuls of blood but she didn''t stop. The purple light stretched to all direction, bringing an illumination brighter than the sun behind the cloudy sky. Anastassia''s figure, which was enveloped by the ominous purple light, fell from the sky, heavily crashing in the ground. She grabbed her head as unimaginable pain assaulted her, causing her to shout hysterically like a crazy person "ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHˇ­aAHHHHHHHH!"Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. The purple light stretched to all direction, covering the whole army within minutes, then it suddenly vanished into nothingness. This was nothing but the silence before the storm as the whole Western Continent shook violently. A black miasma covered the sky before it transformed into a humongous whirlpool that attracted every being''s attention. As if ordered by a mysterious force, the undead''s creaky bones moved, their feet started banging on the ground, all at the same time, in a cyclic manner. The dormant bones dragons awakened, roaring loudly and shaking the very being of Astria. The pendant Arthur gave her was nowhere to be seen, it had turned illusory before entering her body, becoming a part of her. Back then, when Arthur crafted this simple item, which summons undead, didn''t know that it would cause the birth of an entity he couldn''t fathom. The continuous exposure to thick death energy and the use of the pendant, coupled with her indomitable will and necessary sacrifice were the main causes for such a result. Chapter 419 - 369 : Hell? "Say we accept, what do we need to do exactly? It can''t be for free." Artid laughed and replied "Of course, nothing is free in this world. Once every two months you''ll have to complete a request. As to what request is, it''s usually assassinating someone of high importance. However, these requests give extravagant rewards, excluding the loot you get from the targets. Assassinations aren''t the only requests, you can steal, escort, or protect someone, it varies but they''re not easy, at the least not for the ''run-of-the-mill'' cultivators and that''s where you abilities shine, from perfect disguise to lethal poison and let''s not forget Dark Magic, unseen and deadly." He glanced at Lucy and continued "Although I''m not exactly sure what Madam''s powers are, I''m certain she''s no weaker than you, which is more than enough to assure me. Furthermore, you two are avoiding the old butler from the White Specter Clan so I assume you do not plan on going back ''home''." After saying his part, Artid remained silent, waiting for the couple''s answer. He backed away and left them some time to discuss the matter. Fortunately, it didn''t take long as Arthur walked up to the young man and stretched his hand, to which the green seat amicably grabbed it and shook it. "Pleasure joining you." Although Arthur''s expression remained deadpan, Artid wasn''t bothered as he said "Oh no no the pleasure is all mine! Believe me when I say you won''t regret it. Make sure to come to our Headquarters when you''re done here. From now on, you''re the Red Seat of Blood. By the way, Zodiak once took the position of the Black Seat of Death, though only for a short while." He handed him a small map which pointed him to where their next meeting will be. With nothing else to do here, Artid prepared to depart only for Arthur to stop him. "Since I''m part of Black Rose, I can also issue requests, right?" The grey-robed youngster was a bit confused but he still nodded his head, explaining the process. "Anyone of the Nine Seats can issue requests and anyone from the organization can complete them, if they meet the strength requirements. Usually, requests issued by one the Nine Seats are hard so they''re only taken by one of the other seats." "If it''s like then I would like to issue a request, right now." Artid forced a laugh while replying "Haha wellˇ­ issuing a request involves some paperwork and it needs to be done in the Headquarters but since you''re new I can help you." An evil smirk appeared on Arthur''s face, who sneaked a glance at Lucy before saying "I want someone dead, preferably sooner than later. It just so happens the target is in this Secret Realmˇ­ what do you say, will you help me?" ˇ­ Twenty or so minutes later, Artid left the mountain, leaving a delighted Arthur, who managed to solve one of his problems. All that''s left is to take the mountain with them. He didn''t know what to do and he didn''t need to as Claud was the one doing everything. As per his copy''s request, a black cube bigger than the whole mountain enveloped the area, blocking any outside sense and making it impossible to see what''s happening inside.Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. The strange cube left Arthur''s consciousness and rapidly spun in front of him, causing steam to emanate from the weird object. The ARK started expanding and constantly changed shapes until became a large mechanical hand with countless numbers engraved on it. As if plucking a flower, the two gigantic fingers pinched the mountain, causing it to vanish into thin air, leaving nothing but a larger crater in its place. In the endless space inside of the ARK, a red mountain appeared. It seemed out of place in this dimension, which made Claud grumble angrily. He waved his hand, causing the mountain to be sent far away, becoming a small black dot, barely noticeable. ***** On Astria, the situation, which was completely out of control, was suddenly reversed. An innumerable army of undead was awakened. As for its commander? None other than the Vice-Leader of the MoonStar Sect. The Undead, which populated half of the entire Western Continent, started marching toward the Itas Continent. A very small portion headed toward the MoonStar Sect, obliterating the army of evil monsters. The invaders stood no chance against the undead, which felt no pain or exhaustion. The army of Cthulhu Race which was about to attack the MoonStar City numbered ten-thousand yet they were slaughtered in one hour. A hundred thousand undead were positioned around the city, protecting it from all sides. At first, everyone was shaken by the appearance of the undead, however, they quickly calmed down when Anastassia appeared, leading the undead and assuring them of their safety. Just after the enemy forces were killed, the Xi Clan suffered the same fate. The Clan was slaughtered, sparing none. Although it was a bit too much to kill everyone, Anastassia used this as a warning to other clans. With her new powers, Anastassia was able to summon Ghost ships which the undead boarded to travel East. The distance between the two continents was big and the numbers of undead were astronomical so it took three whole weeks to arrive albeit the fast ships. Five thousand Bone Dragons arrived earlier than the rest, laying rest a third of the Cthulhu hiding in the burning forest. The Demon Lord also dispatched a few thousand soldiers to assist the MoonStar Sect. The once peaceful and calm forest of the Itas Continent became a bloody battlefield. Unbeknownst to Arthur and Lucy, the struggle of supremacy for this world began, bringing with it a great changeˇ­ ********** Green-Leaf, Amidel''s city, a cloaked figure was randomly traveling between alleys with no destination in mind. A hood was covering her head, hiding her appearance but you could notice her long silver hair. The once proud and powerful maid, Taliya, was anxious and impatient as she tried her best to locate Arthur, who wasn''t here, unfortunately. Left with no other choice, the head maid decided to seek Amidel''s help. She knew that the Kangs were an acquaintance of Arthur and they probably can contact him. The situation on Astria couldn''t be worse so she hastily came here using the device Gutcha once used. The problem was entering the castle, which was heavily guarded. She was but a mortal, trying to bypass their senses is nothing but wishful thinking. ***** Lissandra, still trapped in that cramped room, was forced to leave as her rations were running dangerously low. The number of Cthulhu coming from the portal significantly increased. She was sure that a great number of them is still residing in this labyrinth so her only way out is that portal. As to where it leads, even she, doesn''t know. It''s either risking it or dying here, either by starvation or by their hands. The woman patiently waited and calculated the interval of time in which they appear from within the portal. At the fourth and last day, when she decided to finally leave her hideout, her food finally ran out. Her clothes became dirty, she had a foul stench emanating from her and her body was uncontrollably shaking. To think a God would fall to such state, it was pitiful, to say the least. Twenty minutes after a few hundred Cthulhu appeared, Lissandra activated the hidden mechanism and exited the hideout then darted toward the portal. Her unsteady legs and extremely thin body showed how much she suffered, nevertheless, she resolutely jumped into the portal only to feel a strong dizziness assault her. When she regained her senses, she saw a world covered in blood. The sky was jet black and the heat was suffocating. The ground was littered with blood and dismembered bodies. She glanced around only for her face to turn pale as several Cthulhu noticed her arrival. They were momentarily startled before showing their hideous grin. They weren''t worried she would escape as they greatly outnumbered her. One of them, which had four arms, each holding a long bloody hook, appeared in front of her. Before she could retreat back to the portal, a hook came flying at her, ready to impale her abdomen. Lissandra, knowing that it was the end, closed her eyes, accepting her fate, as miserable as it was. However, the pain didn''t come, instead, she felt a large amount of disgusting liquid splatter on her face and body. When she hesitantly opened her eyes, she became dumbstruck as the monster who was about to cut her was nowhere to be seen. It missed its upper body, which was sent flying a distance away. Before she could process what happened, a person grabbed her body and madly ran to the direction where there were fewer monsters. The woman fell unconscious a few seconds later but she was able to see the face of her savior, a bearded young man with a very long hair. Chapter 420 - 370 : Imparting a Skill Arthur and Lucy didn''t remain in that area too long. They achieved what they came here to do so they should leave, or so thought Arthur. However, it wasn''t as simple as that. If it was just to do this much, he wouldn''t have come all the way from the future to specifically tell Lucy to travel to this secret realm. Sure, they got discovered but as long as they''re not caught by the old man, everything should be alright. Before he left, Artid told them some interesting things, it appears that the Holy Dominion sent even more people after him. They arrived here a few days late, nonetheless, their motives were clear and from the looks of it, they dispatched more than just a Deacon this time around. Furthermore, leaving this world isn''t easy, to say the least. If one is powerful enough, they can forcefully break their way out but it is advised to wait until everyone is exiled back to Green Leaf. Although the entry portal doesn''t disappear even after some time, which gives some of the cultivators to catch up, the way out proves to be a troublesome. In a way, the cultivators are trapped here, willingly, of course. Since they had no specific destination in mind, the couple decided to go the center of the realm, where the pregnant female dragon is. Almost all of the powerful cultivators are sure to be there, however, the butler would try to find Lucy and he won''t bother looking in that place. The most obvious hideout are usually the best. Even if they encounter that powerful old man, Arthur would improvise, after all, the butler is weakened and he can''t take them both that easily, even if he''s an Overgod. Claud also assured him, telling him to be careful and if things go south, blow everything using the Vermilion Bird''s body. With the addition of the Fire Spirit and the Empyrian Dragon''s blood, coupled with the divine beast''s skills, the destruction he can cause is unimaginable. Honestly, Arthur was a bit interested about the Space Dragon but he wasn''t greedy for its treasures as he couldn''t care less about its wealth. He wanted to see what a true powerful dragon looked, a dragon that lived a million years. The couple journeyed together, Arthur possessing Lucy while she took the appearance of a middle-aged man. Arthur used a miniature concealing formation to lower her presence and make the specter scent minimal. Surprisingly, in their way to the dragon''s lair, the stumbled upon a fierce yet familiar girl. Wielding her red sword and viciously slashing a golden rhino, which was, in fact, a peak Sovereign Beast. The thick murderous aura emanating from her made her easily recognizable. Jian Si, seeing a middle-aged man stop a distance away from her, was a bit startled as he appeared out of nowhere. After a simple glance, she paid him no heed, after all, there''s no lack of powerful cultivators roaming this land. Noticing that he kept staring at her, she furrowed her brows, about to question him only for a telepathic voice to enter her ears. "It''s me." Cold Sword immediately knew whose voice it is. She sheathed her sword and looked at Lucy with a strange look. Every time she meets him, he has a different appearance, she can''t even feel the ominous aura of the Dark Magic. "What are you doing here?" ''Heading to the center of the realm since the dragon is there.''-Arthur Lucy didn''t talk but Arthur replied to the curious Jian Si through telepathy, make her even more confused to why he refuses to openly talk. ''The one you''re looking at is Lucy, I''m hidingˇ­ somewhere.'' Cold Sword didn''t ask too many questions, after nodding her head, she resumed her long hunt. However, it didn''t seem that Arthur was going to let her be. Lucy followed the girl around as her husband questioned the latter "Do you know when the dragon will give birth?" "I don''t know." "Then what about who''s currently there?" "I don''t know." "What about your juniors, where are they?" "I don''t know." It''s either she really didn''t know or was purposely doing that. In any case, Arthur said something that made her completely change attitude. "Hmmm you don''t knowˇ­ here I thought about teaching you a sword technique." The walking Jian Si suddenly halted, turning her stiff head toward the middle-aged man a distance behind her. A beautiful smile was plastered on her usually cold face, making even the indifferent Lucy speechless. "Teacherˇ­ I just remembered a few things. Apparently, the entrance to the dragon''s lair is weakening every day. In four to five days, it''ll shatter. As for who''s thereˇ­ there is that annoying pink-haired girl, the Flame Crown Prince, the Sacred Priest, the Water Cloud Sect, the Mirage Era Hall Sect, my sect and a few others." She answered everything in one go, and in such detail too. When she heard about the sword technique, it''s like she became a completely different question. "So everyone is there? What about the Holy Dominion? Or the woman from the White Specter Clan?" The dark-haired girl thought for a moment before speaking "I''ve heard cultivators talk about that woman, apparently, she completed five levels of the Paradise Garden and failed mid-way through the sixth. The Holy Dominion''s activities are strange, I''ve seen them roam around everywhere, probably searching for teacher." Cold Sword was no fool, she knew that Arthur was a user of Dark Magic and ascertained of her guess after the fight in the Imperial Capital. Either way, she didn''t care about his powers, she just wished to learn from him as his sword skills are unique and are perfect her sword dao. "Good, what about the old man accompanying that White Specter?"Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. This time, Jian Si didn''t need to think as she replied instantly "There''s been a huge fight near the White Paradise. From what I''ve heard, that area turned into rubble as the head butler of the White Specter Clan clashed with Wrath." ''Wrath?!''-Claud "Wrath as in one of the seven deadly sins? What''s he doing here." The girl shrugged her shoulders and answered: "I don''t know but someone like him doesn''t need anything from this place. Moreover, he''s the Crown Prince''s personal guard, it''s the first time I see him leave his side." As if remembering something, Jian Si added: "Ohˇ­ that was confidential informationˇ­ I wasn''t supposed to say thatˇ­" She didn''t seem too bothered by spitting such crucial information. As the next leader of her sect, she was eligible to know some of Green Leaf''s top secrets, like the one she so blatantly said ''One of the sins was so close to us? Damn!'' Arthur was honestly startled. The Joker already warned him to stay away from them, fortunately, Wrath didn''t discover Makaze as the blade wasn''t in his possession, or so thought Arthur, who knew naught about the prince''s plans and the amount of information he dug about him and Lucy. ''Relax, I doubt Wrath is hostile toward you. I don''t know his reasons but he must have been ordered to stay still. There''s no way such a powerful individual wouldn''t have discovered you when you first came to the city.'' "Do you know why they fought?" "Unclear." She shook her head while saying that. After he was done with the questioning, the girl looked at him with a slightly excited expression, clearly waiting for him to do what he promised. Arthur sighed and left Lucy''s body, appearing a few inches away from Jian Si, who, by reflex, was about to back away only for his index to touch her forehead. Learning a technique from scratch is way better than having it imparted to you, however, Arthur''s didn''t want to waste much time teaching her. This method wasn''t that efficient but it did the job and as long as Jian Si is meticulous and perceptive, she shouldn''t find any problems mastering the skill. The sword skill he imparted to her was [Heavenly Slash] his second strongest sword skill. He had three ultimate sword skills which are the very strongest of his whole arsenal. [Heavenly Slash] is composed of one simple slashing move but its prowess is unimaginable. It contains a dense amount of Sword Essence, which either unleashing in its raw state in some form of a burst or is turned into one of the attributes, granting additional effects. This skill wasn''t obtained from a corpse but is the fusion of exactly six hundred and twenty-four max Lv sword skills. It may seem simple and lacking on the outside but it represents the apex of sword mastery. Sometimes, the simplest moves are the deadliest. Taking the Nameless Knight as an example, he just stabs or slashes his sword to kill his opponents. No flashy moves, weird dances or domineering skill names. Chapter 421 - 371 : Buria Empire "Hybrid dragons are those which have parents with different Races. They''re usually weaker than pure-blooded dragons but have access to the abilities of both parents, however, they''re despised and are always cast out from their tribes." "Correct. What about the Buria Empire." The Joker''s cold and stern look pierced the little girl, who waste no time in answering every question he asked. "The Buria Empire came into being five hundred years after the Void Era, it was ruled by Emperor G''am Tir, a human. In just two hundred years, the empire managed to expand its borders and dominated a third of the Cloud Sea Universe. The might of the empire caused outside forces to ally together in retaliation, fearing that the greed of G''am Tir would push him to expand to other Universes. The Empire soon crumbled after the Emperor was assassinated by The Black Seat of Death from Black Rose." The Joker happily clapped his hand while asking again "And what''s the identity of the Black Seat of Death?" "Zodiak, a traveler from the future, who acquired that position by killing his predecessor. He''s also the one who created Dark Magic, the power daddy uses." "Well, he didn''t ''create'' it but he''s indeed the one who made it how it is today." After pausing for a second, the Joker turned toward the green board and wrote something using an ancient language. "What does this mean?" The girl struggled to read the weirdly-shaped word and managed to answer only after a minute, to which the Joker didn''t say berate her as usual but patiently waited, not bothered by the long time it took her to comprehend such a complex and archaic word. "T-titan?" He nodded his head and wrote ''Titan'' right under the previous word. "What are titans?" This time, he didn''t expect her to answer as it''s the first time she heard of the Race. He taught her the archaic language before introducing her to the titans to make it easier to understand a lot of things later. "Titans are one of the strongest Races that existed before and after the Void Era. If you ask me, they were an arrogant bunch but they weren''t evil or bad, unlike the God Race. They had enormous bodies and unmatched physical Strength, I''ve even seen one particular Titan who had a body with the size of half of a solar system but, unfortunately, it was dead, so I couldn''t fight it *sigh*. Anyway, the Titans'' numbers decreased after the Void Era and only a few dozen of them remained. Back then, with the disappearance of Gods, people were afraid that the Titans would take the reign so they hunted every last one of them, not sparing even the ones who willingly surrenderedˇ­ at least that''s what every history record would say but I just happen to know one last titan whom I''m hiding as he I owe him a favor. Anywaysˇ­" The girl focused on what he said and carefully noted the important parts. And soˇ­ inside that room that resembled a classroom, the lesson peacefully continued without any disturbance. ˇ­ Outside of Leiu''s manor, in that supposedly ''small courtyard'' or so it was described by the Joker, Astrith was finally done fighting Milkan. "As Master Arthur''s companion, you need not just loyalty but sufficient strength to protect his family and aid him when necessary. You''re a being born from Lightning, a beast who was given consciousness and evolved thanks to the Celestial Tribulation but that doesn''t make you special. Look around you, everyone nowadays is special and has plenty of unique abilities. If you remain the same, you''ll only be a hindrance, a nuisance to Master Arthur. When the time comes, you''ll only be able to stand there and watch, unable to complete your destined duty." Milkan, the large and creepy looking beast opened its mouth and talked to Astrith, who became several times larger and grew an additional tail which had a different color than the other one. This tail was made from red lightning and emitted a Heavenly aura, very similar to the tribulation. "Enough, Milkan, I didn''t summon you to lecture him." The Nameless Knight appeared next to the dark beast, signaling him to stop. The beast lowered its body and kept its silence. "Did it go well?" "I did my part, you should get Onyx to finish the job." Milkan uttered those words before vanishing into the darkness, leaving a pondering Leiu. The young man glanced at the silent Astrith then mumbled ''Heed my call! StarSpeed Leopard, Onyx!'' Just like with Milkan, another entity was summoned next to its master and companion. A black leopard with some bloody red lines on its body, its two eyes resembled two shining stars. When you look at the beast''s eyes, you''ll see the universe itself within, a wondrous and mysterious feeling will surge inside of you. "Time is of the essence. I''m counting on you, Onyx." The leopard respectfully bowed to the knight while speaking with a deep and chilling voice "I shan''t disappoint you, Master." ˇ­ Some would say there is no such thing as coincidence in this world. The only thing is hitsuzen, Hitsuzenˇ­ A naturally fore-ordained event. A state which all other outcomes are impossible. Maybe it was through a fluke, or perhaps the meddling of fate or the machination of time, whatever it was called, it managed to create a weak link, which may or may not reverse the tides and create new future paths. The meeting between a lowly, mortal demon and an esteemed prince, two who are completely different, in every sense of the word. The curiosity of the prince and the anxiousness and impatience of the demon allowed the two to stumble upon each other, though only for a brief, instantaneous moment. A cloaked silhouette, which bumped into a disguised prince in a secluded alley and there''s where their tale began. A scholar once said ''We do not create our destiny; we participate in its unfolding. Synchronicity works as a catalyst toward the working of that destiny.'' And some would partially believe these words after witnessing certain events in their lives. What a tale it was, one that brought with it a desired change, one that was born through a simple accident. On that ''fated'' day, Isadore Marfront and Taliya metˇ­ **** ''If I spoke about Reincarnation, would you think I''m crazy? If I spoke about past lives, would you believe me? Then what about eternal love? Ever-lasting Romance which many noble ladies dream about? Nonsense, is it?'' A man sat before a well-decorated grave and talked to it. ''They shunned me, exiled me, called me names but you know what? I didn''t care for I knew I was right. Yes, I am but a mortal, a weak and fragile mortal but sometimes, a mortal can achieve things no other God could. Ah what I would give to see your smile again, to feel your touch and hear your sweet voice.''Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. Tear tricked down his pale face, he leaned on the grave while thinking to himself ''I knowˇ­ I know I failed you. I wanted to prove them wrong, I-I was too foolish and blinded butˇ­ I truly loved you. I caused your death and my punishment shall be death too.'' He retrieved a sharp dagger and brought closer to his neck before uttering those last words ''What I saw does not include us but I believe! I believe we''ll meet again and at that time, I''ll never let go of you.'' Then, without any hesitation, he slit his own throat. Blood gushed like a fountain from his cut neck yet the man didn''t care, he leaned on the grave and closed his eyes, a sad smile on his pale faceˇ­ Chapter 422 - 372 : Ragnar After a long talk, Arthur managed to convince Jian Si to accompany them and Lucy would act as someone from her sect to attract less attention. The girl wanted to immediately start learning [Heavenly Slash] but her strongly objected, telling her that it''s better to try to grasp it once she''s out the Secret Realm. Nevertheless, Jian Si was really a sword genius as she managed to unleash that skill after he imparted her with it. It was a very weak and incomplete version but succeeded which proved that she''s not the strongest sword cultivator in Green Leaf for nothing. Arthur possessed Lucy again and hid there while she quietly followed Cold Sword after wearing a robe that proved her fake identity. The trip to the entrance of the dragon''s lair was rather peaceful, no one caused trouble and all the monsters were disposed off by a rather energetic Jian Si, who unceasingly used [Heavenly Slash], wanting to master it as soon as possible. ˇ­ North of the Secret Realm, a fair distance from the Paradise Garden, two silhouettes were conversing together. One was a scarred old man whose face was a bit pale and the other was an indifferent looking woman with a silver hair. "So you''ve met her?" "Yes, she was amongst the contestants. I tried to talk to her but she strongly rejected me." With a hand on his chin, the butler contemplated the situation before asking again "What do you think her objective was? She must''ve known your identity yet she entered the garden." Angelina shrugged her shoulders and replied: "Not exactly sure but it seemed to be a reward from the third level. Neither she nor the man with her seemed to be interested in the fourth level as they both forfeited." "And what about their strength? Compared to you, of course." "They had hidden quite well. If not for the fairy''s intervention, I wouldn''t have found out. As for their strength, I never saw them fight seriously butˇ­ one thing for sure, that man with her is the Dark Magic user!" "Yeah, I noticed that too. It''s going to be more troublesome than I thought." "Troublesome? Even if he''s strong, I don''t think he can face you." The butler shook his head while retorting "Dark Magic isn''t infamous for nothing. Moreover, that man is able to shapeshiftˇ­ then there''s that damned Wrath, many powers are butting in and protecting them, this may be our last chance so we better bring her back." He seemed resolute and prepared to do anything to get Lucy and bring her to her mother. Angelina shared his thoughts and agreed to help him while disregarding her initial goals, which were to go to the dragon''s lair and obtain a few Godly and Mysterious ranked treasures. ***** Nine months after Lucy and Arthur left Astria, the war that raged on for months and killed countless people finally quietened down. As she led the undead army, Anastassia pulverized the invading forces, killing most of them and forcing the rest to retreat. The Itas Continent''s current state was even worse than the Western Continent. It became a land scorched by the evil God''s fire. Half of the World Tree turned into ashes while the other half is still suffering from the flames. Many Ice and Water mages were dispatched to lessen the damage caused by the fire but it was still futile. The once calm and peaceful forest was nowhere to be seen, it became a land devoid of life, just like the Human Continent, which sank into the sea. 90% of the Undead remained on that continent since the harsh environment didn''t affect them. The rest were guarding the MoonStar Sect while helping the survivors of the war, whether it''s by escorting them or pulling carriages. A fleet of a ten thousand ghost ships was sailing on the coast of the Western Continent. Some were used by merchants for a fee while others remained motionless, waiting for Anastassia''s orders. ˇ­ MoonStar City, High Tower, in a large room equipped with various hospital equipment brought from Earth, There were three figures talking. One of them was an old man who excused herself right after her job was done, as for the other two, one was Anastassia and the other was Mary, who was holding a newborn cute baby. The baby loudly cried and only quietened down when his mother held him in her warm embrace. The pale-faced and sweating Anastassia softly smiled as she stared at the baby. She experienced excruciating pain to give birth to this little boy. "It''s very cute!" Mary sat next to Anastassia and commented while poking the small baby, who became very docile. "Yes, he looks much like his father." "Eeeh? Really? The way I see it, he has your soft and tender skin." The two women happily chatted for a few some time before Mary left, telling her friend to get a much-needed rest. Anastassia spent the whole day hugging her sleeping child, her expression melancholic. Midnight, a black-cloaked old man with a grey hair and a grumpy expression appeared in that room. He gazed at the sleeping baby before shifting his attention to the mother. "You asked for time and I gave you ample time. It''s time to go." Anastassia gently put her baby in his small bed and caressed his face while smiling before covering him with a blanket. She turned toward the old man and said "You''ll fulfill your end of the deal, right?" As if he was insulted, the old man retorted "Who do you take me for? I always stay true to my promises." He waved his hand, causing two lifeless bodies to appear on the ground. He inspected them while saying "You''re quite lucky to have found them a short time after their death. Any second later and it would''ve been impossible to revive them, even with my abilities." Anastassia didn''t talk, she waited for him to bring them back to life with a hopeful look. Seeing her expression, the old man snorted and shot out two thin threads of black lights from his fingers, each hitting the foreheads of the corpses. Upon a closer look, one of the corpses was actually Jackob while the other was her little sister, Sonia. They both died fighting the Cthulhu, in fact, if Anastassia arrived an hour earlier, she might''ve been able to save them. At that time, the vice-leader sank deep into despair and only regained hope when this old man, who proclaimed to be Death itself, appeared before her and struck a once-in-a-lifetime deal. He asked her to become his successor and in return, he''ll arrive her dead family members. She demanded he gave her some time so she can give birth and time was she given. Very soon, the pale skin of the two corpses gained some color and the two began breathing. "It''s done, they will wake up within an hour. Let''s go." Anastassia nodded her head, she crouched next to the unconscious Jackob and gave him a kiss on the forehead. She did the same to Sonia before glancing one last time at her child. From that night, Anastassia, the vice-leader of the MoonStar sect was no more. She disappeared without a trace and followed Death, who immediately started granting her his powers. A huge commotion occurred an hour later when Jackob and Sonia woke up. They were dumbfounded and thought this was after-life, only when Mary accidentally entered the room to check on the baby did the situation became clear. From that day onward, the position of Vice-Leader was passed to Jackob, who meticulously did his job with the help of his assistant, Sonia. The newborn baby, who was the couple''s only kid, was named Ragnar and grew up into an extremely powerful individual, using daggers just like his mother butˇ­ that''s a story for another time. ˇ­Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. A few days after Arthur met with Jian Si, the trio arrived at the entrance of the cave where countless cultivators were patiently waiting for a semi-transparent barrier to vanish. The barrier was put by the Space Dragon and it would disappear when the ancient beast gives birth as it''ll focus all its energy to protect its baby. Amongst the cultivators, Lucy saw the pink-haired girl, Clara, accompanied by the Flame Crown Prince. Elo Huo, the kid who lost an arm in the Tomb above Amidel''s city was also present. He no longer had this haughty look around him, his expression was serious as he was the only meditating in his group. All the others were either provoking rival sects, chatting, or gazing at the barrier. Shu Ru, Emily, and the princess were also here. The Goddess of Green Leaf was chatting with a cheeky looking young man who had a tanned skin and a muscular body. He wore a white robe and had a wooden staff on his back. This young man, who looked like an adult was the famous Sacred Priest of the Holy Academy. This Academy had ties with the Holy Academy as they worshiped the same God but they weren''t necessarily allies. Jian Si''s arrival attracted many gazes but none dared to provoke her or talk to her. The girl quietly sat next to her sect members, who were also afraid of her. Chapter 423 - 373 : Ragnarok Lucy scanned the surroundings but found no signs of the Holy Dominion forces or Angelina, for now, at least. Many of Jian Si''s juniors threw curious glances at Lucy but they didn''t say anything. They knew each other well so they immediately noticed this stranger who was wearing their sect''s clothes. They thought it''s some kind of scheme orchestrated by Jian Si so they kept their silence, unwilling to interfere. "Hey Missy! Me heard you got stronger! Wanna spar with meself?" The burly-looking priest brazenly walked to the meditating Jian Si and voiced his thoughts, uncaring about the unfriendly gazes he was getting from the others. Jian Si ignored the youngster and kept thinking about the skill Arthur gave her. She wanted to fully understand how it works and perfectly executes it. If not for Arthur''s voice which rang in her ears, she wouldn''t have given the Sacred Priest a single glance. "I''m also curious, why don''t you show me your progress? Who knows, if you give me a pleasant surprise, I may teach you another thing or two." His words ignited her spirit, causing her to abruptly stand up and unsheathe her red sword. Seeing her actions, the Sacred Priest became excited, he retrieved his staff from his back and beckoned her to an open area. Many of the young talents present were interested in the fight. They followed the duo, wanting to witness the fight. Green-Leaf may be a middle-Realm but it is rather famous in the High-Realms, especially thanks to Isadore, whose achievements are extraordinary for a mortal. No words were needed between the two parties, after they chose an empty and flat area, the two started battling. A thick and murderous aura emanated from the expressionless Jian Si. The Sacred Priest laughed as a golden layer enveloped his body and strengthened his bulging muscles. The two had the same cultivation so only techniques mattered. The two didn''t hesitate in using their God Spirits, which appeared behind them, causing the weaker cultivators to take a few steps due to the suffocating pressure. Jian Si''s God Spirit was a blood-red figure with four pairs of arms, similar to Ashura. The priest''s God Spirit was strange as it was vastly different from the normal ones. It was a wooden staff just like the one he was wielding, its size became smaller until it merged with his staff, turning it golden with runes engraved on every part of it. The two didn''t waste time and charged at other, a sword and a staff clashed with each other, causing a crater under the two of them. The Ashura behind Jian Si used its arms to hit the priest, who would wave his staff in a mysterious way to block the aggressive attacks. Jian Si then would follow with a stab from her sword only to be easily deflected by the resistant golden staff. She backed away and threw her sword at the grinning youth and just when it was about to hit him, she vanished and appeared before him, grabbing the same flying sword. She rotated her body and slashed her sword from above, causing the priest to raise the staff and block. Like her earlier attacks, this one was also blocked but not before a sharp and savage sword essence to travel from her sword to the priest, injuring him and surprising him at the same time. She flawlessly controlled her Sword Essence and attacked with it instead of her sword, this was only thanks to Arthur''s teaching, who allowed her to use her Sword Essence as a weapon. ˇ­ The fight lasted for ten minutes before the priest lost to Cold Sword''s new skill; [Heavenly Slash]. Her execution of the skill was rather lacking but the burst of sword essence was more than enough to send the Sacred Priest flying. "Too many flashy moves and you wasted time summoning your God Spirit." Arthur berated her and harshly complained about her fighting style to which Jian Si snorted but said nothing. The cultivators were amazed by the show of power and carefully watched the fight, wanting to learn from these two rising talents. Clara wasn''t that interested in the priest but had the urge to spar with Cold Sword. She didn''t expect much of the geniuses of a middle-Realm but Jian Si seemed to be a special case. Just as she was about to challenge her, a golden ship appeared from the horizon, appearing in front of the barrier within seconds. Many golden-armored knights left the ship and joined the other cultivators. Two robbed old men and one woman clad in a shiny white armor were leading this group of fifty people. They were obviously from the Holy Dominion and from the looks of it, they wanted to enter the dragon''s lair too. Lucy noticed a silent blond-haired woman staying in the middle of the group. She was none other than Delia, who appeared rather distressed. Unlike the non-threatening Deacon from last time, Arthur could feel the pressure of these three leading individuals, who looked calm as they glanced at every cultivator, inspecting them carefully. They didn''t find anyone suspicious so they walked to the camp of the Holy Academy and started conversing with the Sacred Priest, who wasn''t in the mood to talk after his loss to Jian Si. They asked him about Arthur and Lucy but received no useful answers. A few minutes later, another person arrived to whom the three leaders of the Holy Dominion group reacted rather fiercely. The two old men glared at the dark-haired middle-aged man but didn''t say anything. The woman knight seemed rather nonchalant as she happily chatted with the reluctant Delia. Apparently, the two were close friends or so speculated Lucy. Without having to hear Arthur''s thoughts, Lucy said "Don''t worry, if things go out of control, I won''t hesitate to kill her if she attacks." Arthur gave no response as he was busy talking with Claud ''One of the two old men is an Overgod, the other is a Half-God who acquired more than half of his Celestial Body. The woman is an enigma, probably a 7-star God Monarch, possibly more.'' Wrath, who just arrived, leisurely laid on the ground and closed his eyes, taking a nap, totally ignoring the strange gazes he was getting. ˇ­ As the two sat next to each other, still gazing at the ever-expanding crack far away, a tall and beautiful figure appeared a distance away. The two immediately noticed her, glancing at her but showing no signs of surprise as if expecting her arrival. With soft white fur covering parts of her body, two sky-blue pupils and a very long hair as white as snow. She walked up to the two men and respectfully bowed "Uncle, Teacher, it''s been a long time." Leiu softly smiled and nodded his head while the Joker got up and inspected the woman from head to toe before sayingFind authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. "I see no signs of the crybaby from before. My sweet and dear student, you''ve grown up." He gently caressed her head then said "I believe you know why you''re here and are fully aware of the danger." The woman nodded her head and replied "To let things proceed as planned, everything must go according to the Prophecyˇ­ but I want to fight alongside youˇ­" This time, the Nameless Knight was the one who talked. He shook his head and said "That is not possible. I made a promise and it shall be kept. I''m not saying you''re weak but the outcome is unclear even if the future is set in stone." For her, Leiu''s words are as important as her father''s if not more. For countless time did he tell her to always listen to her uncle and follow his words. Although reluctant, the woman nodded her head and gazed at something above the ominous crack. It was a red sun, the thing which was emitting a dangerous heat that could even destroy planets and stars. There was no need to waste time chatting pointlessly. She flew toward the red sun, which was about to reach completion and cause unrepairable chaos. She transformed from a woman to an unbelievably large white wolf, its was size was even bigger than the Divine Planet! The wolf, known as the legendary Fenrir, appeared before the sun, which would melt everything and opened its mouth. Slowly but surely, the sun was being devoured by the monstrously-sized wolf. As he watched this event unfold, the Joker said "So this is what the Norse Gods meant. Ragnarokˇ­ end of the worldˇ­ calamityˇ­ doesn''t matter its name. When the end is near, the wolf will devour the Sun." Chapter 424 - 374 : I Call Thee! More and more cultivators started appearing near the entrance of the dragon''s lair. Most of them remained far the back, unwilling to mingle with the great shots. The once unbreakable barrier put up by the million-year-old Space Dragon was now on the verge of crumbling. The young talents were filled with anticipation as they wanted to get their hands on the ancient treasures in the dragon''s possession. Some were foolish enough to think about stealing the newborn baby but such a feat isn''t easy, perhaps only the cream of the crop would stand a chance and that''s while excluding the fighting that''ll occur between all of them. At some point, Lucy''s sister, Angelina, appeared in the entrance too but wasn''t interested in the weakened barrier but the present cultivators. She spent a long time gazing at every person, wanting to find her hiding sister, if she''s here, that is. Fortunately, the butler didn''t accompany here but he may be watching from afar. Claud assured him it wasn''t the case as Wrath was here and the old man won''t dare come here and cause a ruckus. The butler''s mission was to retrieve Lucy, pointlessly fighting one of the seven deadly sins is a huge waste of energy and time. ˇ­ Ever since a few hours ago, Arthur''s heartbeat has been accelerating, it was a weird feeling, almost like a calling. He grew restless as his body was acting strangely, the Dark Magic within him became chaotic and out of control. If not for possessing Lucy, he would have been discovered. This mysterious feeling intensified with every passing hour, forcing Arthur to try and think of a solution. Were Lucy to abruptly leave this place while everyone was impatiently waiting, it would be far too suspicious. However, the Holy Dominion group was so close to him and they''re quite perceptive to Dark Magic, if even a bit of Dark Magic leaks out of Lucy''s body, it''ll alert the enemies. This wasn''t like the agonizing pain he went through due to the ARK, it was quite the opposite, it made him restless yet at ease, an inexplicable sensation. Slowly but surely, Lucy''s body started emitting a black miasma, which, at first, didn''t attract attention but was quickly noticed by the napping Wrath. He curiously glanced at Lucy but said nothing, his penetrating gaze inspected every inch of her body. ''Hmm I smell a White Specterˇ­ and Arthur? Two in one?'' Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. He could feel two souls in one body but Arthur''s was faint, almost unnoticeable. He kept his silence and contemplated the situation. Left with no choice, Lucy stood up, attracting the attention of the meditating Jian Si and the other disciples. She said nothing as she chose one direction and walked away, unfortunately, the black miasma became denser, causing the two old men leading the Holy Knights to frown. Just as Lucy was about to make a run for it, time suddenly stopped. It wasn''t like Arthur''s time stop, no, it was vastly different. Everyone froze, except for Lucy, who became dumbfounded. Before she could comprehend what just happened, a dark figure appeared in front of her. Upon a closer look, she saw a person clad in an ominous dark armor, from his head to his toes. A thick and long black sword on his back. Without having her husband tell her, she immediately knew the identity of this person. However, she didn''t know how to react or what to say. The knight took the helmet off his head, revealing a pale-faced young man with hair and eyes as dark as a bottomless abyss. While holding his helmet under his armpit, he performed a respectful bow while saying "Although it''s the first time you meet me, it is always a pleasure seeing you, Miss Lucy. I am called Leiu." A small and expanding whirlpool appeared near Lucy for a split second before Arthur appeared. He gazed at the youth with a strange gaze. Without a doubt, it was the same person whom he handed that black sword to back in the Westia Continent. They were the same person yet this one looked much, much stronger. Neither his Appraisal nor his eye ability worked on him. Fortunately, he sensed no hostility whatsoever from the youth. "The pleasure is all mine." Lucy didn''t know why the young man would behave like that but she couldn''t keep her indifferent attitude when facing someone like the Nameless Knight, an individual that dominates the whole multiverse. Leiu then shifted his gaze to Arthur, who remained silent and a bit startled by the sudden unfolding of this event. "Though in unfavorable circumstances, we meet again." As he felt the immense invisible pressure naturally leaking from the Nameless Knight, Arthur asked "Last time I saw you, you were but a mortal. How''d you get this strong? And why did you take Makaze?" Hearing the bombardment of question, Leiu chuckled and waved his hand, causing three black chairs to appear. He signaled for them to sit while saying "We still have some time so I don''t mind a small chat, I owe you that, at the very least." The couple did as asked of them and sat next to each other, both facing the easy-going youngster, who''s supposed to a unique and ultimate existence which brings fear to every Overgod. "Now then, what''s on your mind?" He put the black helmet and crossed his hand while leaning on the comfortable chair. Arthur collected his thoughts before questioning the knight "Why did you take Makaze from Losha?" Leiu chuckled and nodded his head while saying "Why indeedˇ­ from your perspective, what I did was antagonistic as I took you blade and partner away, however, small and big events are timed, they cannot happen after or before their appointed time. Mayhap it is an insufficient reason for my actions but you must understand, the flap of a butterfly can cause a typhoon halfway around the world. In due time, you will know exactly why." Arthur pondered for a moment before asking again: "How did you get this strong?" This time, Leiu smirked and snapped his fingers, causing their environment to drastically change. The couple was flabbergasted to find themselves floating in the void, they were surrounded by nothingness, only lights from far away stars could be seen. "Believe in your infinite potential. Your only limitations are those you set upon yourself. It doesn''t matter whether you''re a human, a demon, a dwarfˇ­ or even a parasite." Arthur flinched upon hearing the last word but still continued to listen to the Nameless Knight "You''ll reach the apex when you reach a stage where progress doesn''t matter. When you only fight and don''t care about anything elseˇ­ Sword God? Who cares about titles and premisesˇ­ what is important is the blade in your hand and your still standing enemies. Be Spiteful, be evil, be hatedˇ­ but never be merciful, especially not to your enemies." Leiu glanced at Lucy and added: "From what I see, you''re still lacking compared to Lucy. One look at her is enough to feel her resoluteness to do everything for youˇ­ if it means killing a whole Universe and all the innocent lives in it. Then again, what would you do if the positions were switched? Would you turn against the whole world for her? For your family? Would you slaughter millions just for a life?" Without any hesitation, Arthur retorted "You know I would!" The youth spread his hands and said "Yet in saving one you save noneˇ­ would you still do it?" "I still would!" "Hahahaha I bet you will!" "You still haven''t told me how exactly you got this strong." Leiu shrugged and gave an honest reply "I fought and I foughtˇ­ and I fought! Till there was no fight left to fight, no one left to kill." Not knowing how to react to such an answer, Arthur and Lucy stared at the young man, who said: "Unbelievable, isn''t it? After all those countless battles, I feel tired and I yearn for a rest, something I cannot have for there are things that require my attentionˇ­ for we who walk before may lead those who walk after." After an unknown amount of time passed, Arthur asked yet another question: "Why appear now of all times?" "Because it needs to be now, not tomorrow and not yesterday. As unfair as it is to you both, it needs to be done and I''m sure you will manage for you areˇ­" He stopped his sentence half-way and raised his hand and snapped his fingers, teleporting them back to the Secret Realm. A frown appeared on Arthur''s face, a bad premonition surged inside of him. "Evil Wind, Makaze, it shall finally return to its rightful owner." He waved his hand, causing a sheathed dark blade to appear in front of the couple. The Dark Blade vibrated intensely as it floated toward Arthur, who caught it and carefully inspected and unsheathed it. The blade was no longer broken, it became whole again and seemed much sharper and stronger. The Nameless Knight stood up and uttered a few last words before vanishing. "Claud Venis, I really hope you find what you seek, let your end be not as miserable as the first. Farewell." A few seconds after the knight disappeared, the frozen times returned to its usual course. The two old men, who were about to stop Lucy, became extremely astonished as the realm became a world of Darkness. A deep and deafening roar resounded across the whole realm, startling even the Space Dragon. "O''partner of mine, we finally reunite! By the Dark Oath do I call thee, Makaze!" And so, for the first time in a long time, the dark blade left its sheath, releasing a cry so loud and powerful it shook the whole realm, bringing devastation to the land. Chapter 425 - 375 : Snow Storm An encroaching darkness, different from the cloak of the night, covered the sky, a chilling aura with Arthur at the center, spread to all directions, causing weaker cultivators to fall unconscious. Everyone was affected by this sudden darkness, even mighty figures like Wrath and the old man leading the Holy Dominion group. Although it lasted only for a few seconds before it vanished, it still brought fear to the closest people. The pink-haired girl, who never expected such a sight when coming here, retreated to the back with a pale face and a shocked expression. Even when the Dark Magic user fought back in the capital, it wasn''t like thisˇ­ this intense. The Flame Crown Prince''s expression turned uglier, he glared at the man wrapped in darkness, murderous intent leaking from him. When everything became clear again, two figures were standing next to each other, facing the not-so-ready Holy Knights. One with two wings erecting from his back, one white and the other black, while the other was a woman with a silver-hair, she had a striking resemblance to Angelina, who was also surprised by what just happened. "What are you staring at them for?! GET THEM!" The old man loudly shouted at his subordinates. His yell snapped them out of their daze, they unsheathed their weapons, raised their shield and approached Arthur and Lucy. As he saw the incoming bunch, Arthur''s hand turned illusory and before anyone could react, the sixteen Holy Knights which acted as a vanguard lifelessly fell on the ground, their bodies missing their heads. The spectators could only see Arthur''s only eye shine with a blue light and then his hand turn illusory, they couldn''t see what he did or when he did it. In a second, sixteen peak God Monarchs were killed without being able to resist. The ground under the sixteen bodies quickly turned jet black, pulling them inside. "T-thisˇ­" Cardinal Zeves, the old man leading the group, became speechless upon witnessing what just happened. Even an Overgod like himself wasn''t able to see what happened. He exchanged glances with the other elder accompanying him then jumped to the front. The woman who was previously talking with Delia also joined the two old men. She held a thick two-handed sword which caused a strong reaction from Makaze. ''A Divine Sword?'' ''Definitely a Divine Sword! It''s Eclipse, Reaver of the Flame.'' ''Oh wellˇ­ it matters not, all enemies shall be killed today.'' With Makaze in his hand, Lucy by his side, there''s little chance they''ll be defeated. The woman holding the Divine Sword was hesitating as her mind was busy talking to Delia, who repeatedly told her not to act. Unfortunately, with the situation turning like this, she can''t sit there and watch after sixteen of her comrades were slaughtered. "You don''t understand! You can''t defeat himˇ­ not after he got his blade back! Please!" The woman ignored the pleading Delia and glared at Arthur, not bothering to hide her rising killing intent. She was also a high-ranking individual from the Holy Dominion and it''s her duty to apprehend or kill evil people, especially those who use malevolent powers. The whole area behind Arthur and Lucy was divided into one of the darkness and one of Ice. Just like her husband, Lucy held Twilight''s Vow, her enhanced saber and prepared to face the remaining enemies. ''I''ll handle the woman, you get rid of the two old men.'' Arthur nodded his head and vanished from her side, appearing in front of the weaker old man, the one who was a Half-Overgod. Their cultivation was sealed so they can''t demonstrate their real powers, nevertheless, they weren''t pushovers either. As he saw the enemy before him, the old man raised his hand, which emanated a blinding light. The light disappeared almost instantly as Arthur''s free hand unleashed an ominous darkness that devoured the light. Makaze didn''t lag behind as Arthur slashed at the old man, cleanly cutting off his left arm. This was but a series of small yet deadly attacks, green lightning bolts entered the old man''s bodies through the gaping hole in his shoulder. Cardinal Zeves finished casting one of his superior spells, resulting in a being of light to materialize and leap at Arthur, whose attention was solely on the retreating old man.Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. He used [Faster Than Movement], appearing behind the Half-Overgod and spat a large amount of lethal acid. The liquid which could melt everything in its landed on the back of the old man, causing him to shout from the excruciating pain. Nonetheless, he was a person from the Holy Dominion and they especially excelled in Healing. A gentle golden light enveloped the old man, healing his heavy injuries. Unfortunately, before he could fully heal himself, his body froze while his expression turned inexplicably pale. Just like that, he fell on the ground, unable to even understand how he died. Natural Lightning was swift and deadlier than any poison, it didn''t take Arthur much effort to stealthily guide it to the victim''s heart and burst it. Cultivators will try to protect their Dantian before anything else, moreover, the old man never noticed the thin lightning bolts that invaded his body. Now that he took care of the Half-Overgod, the remaining enemy was the Overgod, who isn''t going to be easily killed. On the other side, Lucy and the woman started their fierce fight. The woman never intended to attack Lucy but the latter charged at her and started relentlessly attacking. There were many other Holy Knights still at the back but none of them dared to join the battle. The opponents were just too strong and they weren''t tasked to fight but to set a formation. Sneakily, they positioned themselves around Arthur, Lucy, and co then knelt on the ground and raised their hands, praying to their almighty God. The thin and soft white saber wasn''t a match for the woman''s Divine Sword so Lucy quickly stored her weapon and started getting serious. A chilling aura emanated from her, freezing the ground and causing countless snowflakes to appear around the two women. As she noticed this change in environment, the woman creased her brows and tightly held her thick two-handed sword. "I''m not here to play, let''s end it." A silver object appeared in Lucy''s hand. The woman''s instincts alerted her about the incoming danger and repeatedly told her to retreat. In this Secret Realm, her powers were greatly reduced, contrary to the enemy. Silent Moon was pointed at the woman, who, instead of retreating, rushed at Lucy. The Divine Sword started burning with a golden flame. As one of the nine Divine Swords, Eclipse had a special ability too. It can use unleash any flame it had devoured so the woman decided to use the Golden Crow''s flame to counter the ever-so-expanding Ice territory. Noticing the golden flames, Lucy grinned and pulled the trigger, firing the 4th-Grade Yin Bullet. This bullet is one of her strongest and it can even injure Arthur. As one would expect, even with the Divine Sword, the woman wasn''t able to block neither the bullet nor the burst of Yin it unleashed upon contact. She was sent flying like a kite, stopping only when her body coincidentally crashed in the barrier blocking the entrance to the dragon''s lair. The bullet''s damage wasn''t just that, for as far as the eye could see, the place turned into ice. An Ice storm made the younger talents unable to see clearly but the creepy Ice that was slowly freezing their bodies was more than enough to scare them. Wrath, who went back to napping, waved his hand, causing a semi-transparent grey barrier to envelop him yet even such a barrier showed signs of crumbling as ice-covered more than half of it. Almost all the cultivators, even the Holy Knights, quickly retreated but it was a bit too late for some as they were completely frozen, unable to escape from the after-effect of the Yin Bullet. The only unaffected people were Arthur and the Overgod, who were fighting a bit far away. Angelina, whose gaze was locked onto Lucy, activated her Dark Void Physique while retreating a few hundred meters. Her foot was half frozen, just like her hands and shoulders. She gritted her teeth and resisted the coldness, not paying attention to the condition of her body. Even with her Physique, she wasn''t spared which shows how powerful the bullet was. Actually, something occurred which shocked the nearby spectators. The dragon''s barrier was also hit by the ice and showed signs of crumbling. Instead of a half-transparent barrier, it became a wall of Ice which had countless cracks on it. Many rejoiced while others remained skeptical, unwilling to approach the entrance for fear of being affected by the still raging snowstorm. "W-what the hell?" Clara, who was accompanying the silent Flame Crown Prince, witnessed what happened with a gaping mouth and constricted pupils. Emily also recognized the couple but chose to retreat far away, even dragging the princess with her. Isadore''s little sister was hell bent on watching the fight but was forcefully dragged by her best friend, who advised her to leave now lest they suffer the consequences. "There is no need to panic like this." She pointed at the far away Wrath while assuring Emily "See? Wrath is here so there''s no need to over-react." Emily shook her head and, with a grave look on her usually cute and young face, retorted "You just don''t know. Come on! You''ll thank me later!" The princess could only sigh and follow her friend. Shu Ru retreated to the far back with her sect members. Cold Sword was wise enough to leave this area. She wanted to see Arthur fight with his sword but upon seeing the scale of this battle, it was wise to retreat to a safe distance. ˇ­ Far East, in the peaceful forest which is inhabited by only a few strong beasts, the scarred old man was flying in the sky, obviously heading toward the center of the secret realm. He clearly felt Makaze''s aura and the Dark Magic and it didn''t take a fool to know that Lucy is with him. Although there is a strong chance that Wrath is there, the butler resolved himself to use anything to bring Lucy, even if it means sacrificing his life. Chapter 426 - 376 : Easy Cardinal Zeves glared at Arthur, angry and enraged that he''s comrades died like that. His hate toward this evil person grew stronger by the second. As for Arthur, he couldn''t care less about what he did. He faced the old man and held the dark blade in his hand. He wasn''t going to waste time trying new skills or whatever as it clearly wasn''t the time for it. He could feel the chilliness coming where Lucy was which means she used Silent Moon. It''s far likely that her fight was over which means he should finish his too. ''Ahh it''s been such a long time since I used a sword skill.'' He grabbed the blade''s hilt with his two friends and slowly raised it. Zeves wasn''t standing there and watching the opponent prepare his attack, he retrieved a short silver scepter and started mumbling again. He didn''t summon the white being as it was easily killed by Arthur, who only needed one swing to finish it. A dark silhouette crept behind the old man and was about to crash onto him only to hit some sort of a golden shield which appeared for a split second before disappearing.Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. Another silhouette, this one very similar to Arthur, attack the old man''s left side while the other creepy creature, which was created by using the corrupted Holy Arts, attacked from the right. No matter the clone or this creature born from Dark Magic, they weren''t able to touch the old man, who never paid them any attention. The black flames enveloping Makaze suddenly disappeared as a thick amount of Sword Essence condensed in its tip before being unleashed by Arthur, who sing down the blade. The old man, who was focusing on Arthur, who startled to see the world around him turn into complete darkness, he was able to neither feel, hear, or see anything. [Assault of Darkness] is a unique skill that can affect even Overgods so Zeves wasn''t an exception as became trapped in that world of darkness for a few seconds. When everything went back to normal, a grotesque and ugly black skull was flying straight at him. He raised his silver scepter and mumbled "O''Light bringer! Grant me your protection!" The Cardinal was enveloped by a golden barrier which grumbled the moment the dark skull made contact with it. The old man crossed his arms and received the full blow as the skull crashed into him, pushing him a hundred or so meters. Although it didn''t kill him, it still did considerable damage as his robe was ribbed apart and blood leaked out of his lips. He waved the scepter, causing a Holy Light to envelop him and heal his new injuries. Unfortunately, the light healed exterior injuries but couldn''t get rid of the Dark Magic, which already invaded his body and started consuming his energy while slowly killing him. Annoyed by the presence of this ominous magic inside of him, the cardinal clicked his tongue and tapped his index on his forehead while mumbling a few words. By the next second, a black miasma was being expelled from his body. It was the Dark Magic, which, for the first time since he acquired it, was being countered. Arthur sheathed the blade and bent his knees with one hand holding the hilt while the other holding the dark sheathe. [Golden Lone Sheath] was a skill that required precision and focus. Arthur''s lone eye flashed with blue light, resulting in a momentary time-stop. Evil Wind emitted a dark gold radiance which transformed into a fatal attack that arrived upon the enemy in a split second, leaving him with no time to dodge. In retaliation, the old man raised his scepter again, conjuring a pillar of light which clashed with the golden radiance. Unfortunately, Arthur wasn''t done as he consecutively executed [Golden Lone Sheath] four more times. He didn''t remain there to see the results of his attacks, his figure vanished as he possessed the White Tiger and activated [Transmutation] and [Eternium]. Busy defending against the multiple golden arcs flying at him, the old man failed to notice a looming dark shadow fly in the sky, its wings flapping in the air, causing the wind to rage and the space to shatter. The dark tiger opened its mouth and spat a mysterious grey orb barely the size of its fangs, the orb''s speed was slow yet steady. It made its way toward the unsuspecting old man, who glanced at the tiger but didn''t act as he continuously recited the incantations for his skills. Then, the busily moving hands of Zeves halted mid-air as his body plummeted due to the increased Gravity. Arthur returned to his original body and unsheathed Makaze, ready to finish this fight with the first wave of [Thousand Waves]. Between the approaching grey orb, the five golden arcs generated by [Golden Lone Sheath] or the Gravity Magic which made his body unstable, Cardinal Zeves wasn''t able to resist all of them. In the end, he deemed the grey orb the most dangerous one, he felt dense Death Energy inside of it. Unfortunately, before he could retaliate, a thick thunder descended from the cloudy sky and hit his body, scorching his hair and stunning him for a few moments. Facing only the automatic golden shield that usually protects the cardinal, the grey orb ''devoured'' the golden shield and entered the old man''s body, making him freak out. He blocked the five golden arcs but the uncomfortable feeling that surged inside of him once the grey orb entered his body made him panic as his heartbeat accelerated. He could feel it inside of him but no pain whatsoever assaulted him which left him wondering the purpose of the orb. Just as he lifted his head to glare at the enemy, the cloudy sky turned jet black. A chill run down the old man''s spines and before he could understand what''s going on, something devastating and ominous hit his body, literally cutting his body in two pieces, then four, then eight, until there was nothing but empty air. The Cardinal Zeves couldn''t even cry for help or see the attacks. ''First Wave, Black as night, Calamity Descends!'' This attack was one of the strongest in Arthur''s arsenal, moreover, the enemy was greatly weakened. In fact, the grey orb was nothing but a high-level illusion. This illusion was only meant to momentarily distract the old man and from the looks of it, it worked wonders. The reason Arthur completely annihilated the Overgod''s power is because he can regenerate quite fast, especially if he leaves this secret realm. ''Don''t rejoice yet, Dark Magic counter Light Magic and that old man isn''t considered a powerful Overgod from what I''ve seen. There is a huge disparity even between Overgods. For example ''X'' is amongst the top Overgods while this one is a newborn, at most.'' A few seconds after the fight ended, Arthur appeared next to Lucy, who stood in the middle of a frozen land, simply gazing at the struggling woman, who was bloodied and attempting to stand up. The 4th Grade bullet marvelously did its job as it froze the woman countless times and each time she breaks free, she would receive more injuries, excluding the ones naturally caused by the lingering Yin Energy. She hasn''t even used other bullets, the ones that could slaughter cities. There''s also the Golden Crow fire she acquired in the Paradise Garden, the Magma Magic, the Nine Star Yin technique, etcˇ­ In this Secret Realm, no one is able to threaten them, or so thought the couple. Just as she was about to finish the woman clad in armor, several pillars of light appeared around them. They were quite a distance away but they were easily noticeable. The area was now empty with the exception of Wrath, who was still leisurely sitting in front of the entrance. Even Angelina was forced to retreat for now. There were twenty pillars of light, each emitting pure light energy which pierced the sky and caused five pentagons that laid on top of each other. The pentagons covered the whole sky, forming some kind of a seal that entrapped any one within. Arthur frowned upon seeing this but wasn''t that worried. He could feel a slight pressure emitting from above but it wasn''t that dangerous. Very soon, a blinding figure appeared in the center of the pentagons, its height surpassed fifty meters as it looked down at the couple. It wasn''t human as it had no facial expressions, it was literally an entity born from light energy. ''What''s this supposed to be?''-Arthur ''Hah! A fake manifestation of their supposed ''God of Light''" Unlike the Overgod, Arthur could sense the immense strength of this ''God''. While grinning from ear to ear, he looked at his wife, stretched his hand and said "Shall we dance?" She softly smiled back at him and held his warm hand. Chapter 427 - 377 : Star Nova Wrath, who was nonchalantly watching the show, suddenly raised his head as a large bird appeared high up in the sky. "So he can also turn into that?" The Vermilion Bird glared at the being of light, even without resorting skills, flames were being unleashed from his slowly flapping birds. Lucy standing on the bird''s head, two types of flames joined hands, ready to create absolute chaos. There was an enemy but it was more troublesome than the rest. A golden hammer appeared in the God''s hand, it slowly raised it and was about to bang it on the flame bird only for a deafening explosion to occur. Arthur used [Cascading Flames], which caused much more destruction than he initially thought. The ground was scorched and obliterated, the frozen barrier melted and even Wrath was forced to retreat. This, however, was but the beginning as Golden flame brighter than the sun appeared above the God of Light. Like a tsunami, the golden flames fell on the white being of light whilst the Vermilion fire enveloped it, dealing massive damage over time and weakening it. Both the hammer and its wielder were pushed back, the ''God'' heavily fell on the ground, causing an intense tremor. The two flames were relentless as they burned everything, shocking the spectators. Despite being far away, they could still feel the intense heat of the bird''s flame and blinding light of the golden fire. "W-what the hell? Is he a shapeshifter?" Clara, dumbfounded by the spectacle, asked her the newly arrived Artid, who was smiling. "Shapeshifters can change their aura and appearance but they can''t use the abilities of the Race they turn into." Even the Flame Crown Prince, who''s famous for his strong fire, could nothing but retreat lest he gets melted. More than one time, he wanted to join the battle and kill Arthur but the disparity was just too big. Although unwilling, he still chose to back away and attack when the enemy is distracted. ''Yin and Golden Crow? How?'' Angelina was pushed further back, her clothes were either frozen or burned while her face was pale. She wasn''t strong enough to help her sister or even get close. She wished for the butler to quickly arrive before the situation worsen. With each flap of the lengthy bird''s wings, monstrous flame waves would strike the struggling ''God''. Its size was humongous but it couldn''t resist the bombardment of the couple. The Twenty Holy Knights, who were literally sacrificing their Blood Essence to summon their God, sensed how the situation became worse than before. Without having to talk to each other, they all simultaneously sacrificed everything they got to strengthen their God and complete the summoning. Their faces became pale and their hair grey whiter. Delia, who was supporting one of the knights while also using her Blood Essence, hesitated as she gazed at the large flaming bird far away. After an intense internal struggle, she bit her lips and retracted her hand, causing the knight''s body to tremble. He was so focused on the prayer so he couldn''t ask her why she did that. As she wasn''t as strong as the others, Delia could barely float a few meters in the air. Nonetheless, she used every ounce of her power to fly toward the battle area. She stopped a distance away from the two fighting parties. She was heavily panting and profusely sweating, this place became a world of fire, hell itself! Wherever she looked, there was only fire, it wasn''t something she could resist or heal. She struggled to see through the fire and after much effort, she spotted a bloodied figure crawling on the ground. Upon a closer look, it was the female knight who was shot by Lucy''s revolver. The User ''Lucy MoonStar'' used [Engulfing Sun] The User ''Arthur MoonStar'' used [Quiet Flames] ˇ­ Requesting the permission to fuse [Engulfing Sun]+[Quiet Flames] Cost: 5000 Mental Power Cooldown: None Y/N Both Lucy and Arthur accepted the fusion. The God of Light, which was enveloped by a pillar thicker than being itself, stood up and waved its golden hammer, extinguishing the surroundings flames. The Knights were doing their prayers wholeheartedly, however, Delia''s role was important so, without her, the God couldn''t reach its complete state. It faced the couple and banged its hammer again only for it to be blocked by a golden barrier which absorbed 80% of the damage. The remaining 20% were negated by the Dark Barrier. Lucy''s eyes, which were closed for ten seconds, finally opened. Her two blood-red pupils shone with a golden light. A miniature golden sun appeared above the couple, illuminating the place and emitting a heat so intense it caused the far away Artid to grab Clara and quickly fly away, leaving her no time to react. Wrath furrowed his brows and was tempted to join the fray only to hear a deep and dangerous growl come from the dragon''s lair. He gulped some saliva and hesitantly retreated. Coupled with two hundred meter long flaming wings of the bird, two more wings with the same length appeared. One wings painted the world in darkness and the other emanated a soothing and healing power. Fusionˇ­100% complete! [Engulfing Sun]+[Quiet Flames] => [Star Nova] The miniature golden sun expanded in size and the heat it was letting out became much more intense. The sheer pressure it was emanating caused the God of Light to not even be able to lift its hammer or retaliate. For a moment, all sound seemed to disappear before a deafening explosion occurred. It was so powerful and destructive that it broke the natural Space Laws of the Secret Realm. The supposedly true ''God of Light'' summoned by the Holy Knights vanished into nothingness as the golden sun, which exploded, took with it everything in its way. Foolish cultivators who dared to remain close, the scorched land and even half of the dragon''s lair disappeared. In the end, there was nothing but a gaping crater which looked more like a bottomless chasm. The twenty Holy Knights, who were already weakened, were killed by the explosion. In total, one hundred and twelve people died from [Star Nova]. Delia was smart enough to retreat the moment found the injured woman. Shu Ru was a bit close and received serious injuries but wasn''t dead, fortunately. Jian Si had long since left this place, knowing full well what her teachert is capable of. Clara shook her head to get rid of the ringing sound inside of her ears, which only disappeared after a few minutes. She gazed at the golden sky and the raging winds with a half-open mouth, not knowing how to react. There was only one person who was foolishly resisting the still scattered golden and orange flames while making her way toward the couple. There was nothing but empty air all around them, flames burned deep inside the chasm and the sky was still painted golden due to the explosion. The barrier blocking the entrance of the cave was no more but there was no one who entered. Half of the entrance was obliterated and the Natural Space Laws which acted as a restriction, were heavily damaged, causing many people to regain some of their real cultivation. Unfortunately, the moment Angelina arrived, she only saw a large White Tiger. Her sister was tightly holding the fur of the tiger, which transformed into a bolt of lightning that soon vanished into the horizon. She could only let out a helpless sigh, just by seeing the sheer speed of the tiger, she was certain she''ll never be able to catch up to them. She looked around her in astonishment, the open field and the somewhat clear sky were nowhere to be seen. There was only a half-destroyed cave entrance and an abyss that had golden flames that burned deep inside. ˇ­Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. "Thy powers are truly wondrous." The Space Dragon gazed at the silent human sitting next to it and uttered those words with a lazy tone. "Hahaha back then I thought that you''ll get angry since I destroyed your Realm." The man was as calm as always. He would glance at the roof of this large cave but what he was expecting never came. He was sure the dragon was blocking the Time Wraiths, rendering those abominations unable to enter its Realm. A few minutes later, the man sensed something, he got up and bowed to the dragon before picking a normal stick and drawing a line just at the entrance of this room. Literally seconds after he did that, a group of cultivators dressed in red robes appeared in front of the man. They gazed at him with a strange look then sucked a deep breathe once they noticed the entity behind him. The leader of this group was none other than the Flame Crown Prince, who venomously glared at Arthur, both surprised and confused about why he''s here. He could''ve sworn he saw him head North. This ''Arthur'' calmly stared at the newcomers then pointed at the thin line at the entrance before saying "Anyone who takes a step beyond this line will die." Then he leisurely sat in front of them while smiling. Chapter 428 - 378 : Elemental Wheel In just a few minutes, Arthur and Lucy were already far away. The White Tiger dived underground and transformed into a Bone Shark which drilled into the ''soft'' ground. Although he escaped, Arthur was still feeling restless as if someone is still watching him. Who else could it be but the butler, who arrived in front of lair''s entrance just a few seconds after the couple departed. With a frown on his scarred face, he surveyed the destroyed area and spotted a dazed Angelina. "What happened here?" Hearing the old man''s voice, Angelina snapped out of her daze and stared back at the old man, who inspected her body and breathed a sigh of relief when he found no fatal injuries. In fact, except a few burn marks or frozen spots, she was perfectly fine. "They fought against the Holy Dominion, thisˇ­ is the result." The old man rubbed his chin as he contemplated the situation. He glanced all around him then flew North after telling Angelina to enter the dragon''s lair. She won''t be able to help him so she must at least acquire a few treasures from the cave. *** "What''s the meaning of this? What are you doing here?" Arthur turned a deaf ear to the shouting red-haired youth and silently meditated. No matter how many times he shouted, the Flame Crown Prince didn''t recklessly cross the line. Elo Huo, his cousin, was startled when he saw Arthur. He dragged his closest brothers and told them to leave this place and search somewhere else in this lair. The moment he saw Arthur, he knew it won''t end up good if they provoke him. He learned that the hard way five years ago when he lost an arm. Due to the nature of Dark Magic, he wasn''t even able to restore it which hindered his progress in cultivation. He resented Arthur but didn''t foolishly act for he knew he wasn''t strong enough. Soundlessly, a group of six youngsters drifted away from the large group of cultivators standing in front of the line drawn by Arthur. Half an hour passed yet no one was courageous enough to cross the line. Familiar faces appeared such as Shu Ru, Emily, and the princess, who gazed at the dragon then at Arthur, who didn''t spare them even a glance. When an hour passed, a person finally had enough. He had a burly and muscular body, tanned skin and wore a white robe, he was the youth from the Holy Academy, the Sacred Priest. He seemed annoyed and wasn''t the patient type, he pushed the other cultivators and walked in front of Arthur. "Hey! What do you want? Why are you blocking us?" Arthur lazily opened his eyes and glanced at the tall youth three meters away from him. He dismissively waved his hand and retorted "This place is rather big and there''s no lack of good treasures, go somewhere else and stop making noise." From anger, a vein popped from the youth''s forehead, with creased eyebrows, he heavily breathed and after thinking for a bit, he retrieved his staff and said "I''m going in!" He didn''t wait for the other cultivators to join him, he leapt at Arthur, clearly planning to get rid of him. Unfortunately, the moment his foot crossed the line, the large body of the priest lifelessly fell on the ground. A cold breeze passed through the shocked cultivators, who felt a chill down their spines. A head rolled next to their feet and only when realized whose it was done they freak out. ... People who knew Arthur like Shu Ru and Emily were shocked by this sudden brutality. From the looks of it, he wasn''t going to let anyone in. They couldn''t even see how the Sacred Priest died. It wasn''t just a random cultivator but one of the top talents of Green-Leaf yet he diedˇ­ just like that. Arthur paid no heed to the fearful and strange gazes he was getting, he resumed his meditation as if nothing happened. Many started talking to each other with low voices but no matter how much they planned, they didn''t have enough courage to cross the drawn line. The Space Dragon, who was ''sleeping'' started groaning in pain as its large stomach started pulsating. A strong, almost suffocating burst of energy was emanating from the dragon''s abdomen. This indicated that the baby dragon was going to come out very soon. Although some of the present cultivators were greedy for the baby dragon, which can grow up into an extremely powerful ''pet'', most of them were drooling over the stash of various treasures just behind the silver dragon. Whether it''s Godly Artifacts or one-of-a-kind weapons, there was no lack of them, which only increased their greed. Wiser ones chose to back off and search the rest of the cave, which is way bigger than it may seem on the outside. A few minutes after the Sacred Priest was killed, a silver-haired woman entered the crowd. Many were pushing each other to get a better view of the dragon yet when Angelina arrived, everyone let her pass as if it was some unwritten rule. Once she laid eyes on Arthur, her pupils constricted and she didn''t take them off him for a very long time. Only after thoroughly inspecting every part of his body did she notice the changes between him and the one from earlier. He didn''t have a scar on his eyes and he seemed ''different,'' whether it''s the aura around him or his cultivation, which isn''t at stuck at the peak of the Divine Realm. There were also two black sheaths hanging on his waist. She glanced at the headless corpse then at the line made by the stick. It didn''t take a genius to understand what''s happening. "Why are you doing this?" Her cold voice reverberated in this large cave, causing everyone to shut up and wait for Arthur''s reply with fear and anticipation. They thought that if it''s Angelina then mayhap she can force her way out and grant them an opportunity. ******* "Even if it''s my own father, I''ll also kill him!" Lucy coldly stated while staring back at Arthur. They were discussing how to deal with the old man who''s still chasing them. He''s picking up her lingering scent even after she wore the bracelet. Whatever means he was using, it was clearly effective.Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. Fortunately, they were faster than him but they can''t run forever. The encounter between the three of them is inevitable. As the butler is likely part of her clan and family, he didn''t how to proceed. Either to fight him or keep fleeing. It was then that Lucy said that, showing no hint of hesitation. She raised her hand and caressed his cheek while tenderly gazing at him "For me, I have only one family and that''s you and Saly. It doesn''t matter if they share my blood or surname, such things are meaningless. If it comes down to it, we''ll kill every last one of them." Hearing such an answer, Arthur could only nod and give her a tight and warm hug. Due to their joined attack, the very laws of the Secret Realm were damaged. Nevertheless, the old man''s cultivation shouldn''t have returned to Overgod. ''Finally going all out?'' Claud commented while whistling inside that endless white space. Since they resolved themselves to finish the old man once and for all, they have to carefully prepare the terrain. What is best than a strong formation which can facilitate the upcoming battle. Lucy still has many powerful bullets that can be used, there''s also [Thousand Waves], Rizaki and the Quad-Spirit, which, by Arthur''s orders, didn''t do anything in the last battle against the Holy Dominion. The Mirage Formation is the strongest formation in the Mirage Era Hall, unfortunately, the materials needed to set it up are rare. Arthur only had half of the materials so he decided to give up on using it. There is one more formation which is neither a defensive nor an offensive formation; [Elemental Support] it was called and it enhanced the user''s elemental attacks. The issue was it''s based only on five elements so Arthur had to alter it. More or less, he gained the knowledge of the two formation master from the Mirage Era Hall so altering a formation wasn''t a difficult thing, or so thought Arthur, who didn''t know how painstaking it is to change an already created formation, in fact, it''s even harder than creating one from scratch. ''So if I do this then add more circle runes while injecting the attributes I want to add?'' Arthur asked the knowledgeable Claud, who carefully listened while inspecting the blueprint Arthur was drawing. ''Plausible. Go for it.'' As he received the green sign, Arthur meticulously set up the ''new'' formation and felt relieved and pleased when he saw the area lit up with various colors, ten, to be precise. ''Ting!'' The user ''Arthur MoonStar'' successfully changed [Elemental Support] to [Elemental Wheel]. Actually, the formation was some kind of multi-colored wheel with an ominous arrow made from black flames slowly spinning. It hardly resembled a formation but its effects are much-desired and helpful, to say the least. They enhance any attribute-based skill he uses and its real effect shows itself when combined with [Thousand Waves]. Arthur handed Lucy dozens of Talismans, whether it''s the supportive Light or Space Talismans or the offensive ones like the Death and Dark Talismans. They can save lives if used in crucial moments, their damage is minimal compared to their raw physical strength or overpowered skills, however, they don''t require cast time and they can hinder a busy opponent. Meantime, Lucy was using the Nine Star Yin Technique, resulting in six lotuses to floated above her head. They were crystalline and pleasing to the eyes, they didn''t look like a deadly weapon but a treasure that should be put in museums. The butler should arrive in half an hour at most so the two started preparing the moment they found a suitable place. The formation was set and they were both at their peak state. They used many skills in their previous battle but their absurd Regeneration allowed them to recover in a few minutes. The only thing that regenerates rather slowly was Mental Power. The couple expanded 5000 Mental Power to use their last skill, nonetheless, they still had more than enough for what''s to come. Chapter 429 - 379 : The Final After a short while, the couple readied themselves for the upcoming battle. The formation was set, both were armed with dozens of talismans and Arthur already started contaminating the air with formless poison. His right hand was emanating a large amount of Death Energy which merged with the poison. No matter the means, they must weaken the old man then kill him. Since he wants to bring her home, he won''t try to kill her but the same couldn''t be said to Arthur. The multi-colored wheel strangely engraved on the ground was pulsating with various colors while the black arrow was slowly rotating. It didn''t take much time for the butler to catch up. When he arrived, he noticed the large circle and felt the Death Energy coupled with the poison. Nevertheless, he bravely entered inside the formation and was greeted by his targets. A silver-haired woman who was holding a thin white saber and a scarred man grasping a dangerous black blade which was vibrating from excitement. The old man completely ignored Arthur and gazed at Lucy while saying "Eva, it''s futile to fight back. Go back with me." All he got in response was a cold snort from her. "Your mother never ceased looking for you. I''m sure she''ll be happy to see you come back." "The concept of parents if foreign to me and I wish not to meet this ''mother'' of mine so why don''t you go back and tell her that?" Hearing her cold and threatening tone, the butler frowned and was unable to understand for her current behavior. "For now, go back with me and meet your mother. If you don''t want to stay there, you can always leave." Arthur chuckled and retorted: "I bet you''ll lock her up the moment she''s there. The possibility of an arranged marriage is not unlikely either." The old man''s expression turned ugly as he listened to this strange grey-haired man. "So this is whom you picked as your ''husband''? A monster and a dark magic user." Unfortunately, the moment the old man uttered those words, Lucy was already in front of him, her saber stabbing his throat. In retaliation, the old man raised his hand, ready to grab the thin saber only for it to vanish. Lucy let go of the saber and heavily punched the old man in his chest, causing him to stagger a few steps. This, however, was the beginning as six lotuses appeared above her head, they immediately bloomed, freezing the whole area and immobilizing the butler''s feet. Arthur followed right after as a burst of Dark Magic struck the immobile old man. The dark blade whistled as it was horizontally slashed at the target, planning to behead him. For the first time in a long time, Makaze was met with resistance. A metallic sound could be heard as Evil Wind clashed with another sword. The old man took out his weapon, a one-handed purple sword. Despite his high cultivation and the Celestial Body, the old man was unable to fully block Makaze, which was slowly pushing him. The joint attack of the couple only began as Lucy joined the grey again, appearing behind the old man and viciously kicking his defenseless back.Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. The kick was so strong that it caused the old man''s body to tremble. Some blood leaked out of his lips as she didn''t hold back her Strength. Such a basic attack wouldn''t have worked were he not inside the Secret Realm, which restricted his cultivation, nevertheless, it wasn''t a heavy injury so the butler was able to quickly stabilize his shaking body and receive Arthur''s next strike. A large and creepy black skull flew straight at the old man, who swung down his purple sword, causing a mysterious gentle energy to cut the skull in two. The old man then jumped to the back, trying to dodge a burst of Golden Crow fire, which fell from the sky, ready to incinerate him. When he thought he dodged it, the weird colorful wheel under him started acting up. The dark arrow that was slowly spinning stopped on the red color, causing the descending golden flames to transform into a gigantic illusory crow which clashed with the old man. Just as the old man prepared himself to block the golden crow, the black arrow abruptly shifted from the red to the white color. A deafening thunderclap reverberated across the whole region, startling the old man. The thunder bolt was thicker than the bolt, who was unable to react in time. It descended on him and stunned him while dealing massive damage. The illusory golden crow was met with no resistance as it heavily crashed into the old man, causing golden flames to cover him. The butler wasn''t fazed as the gentle energy from before caused the golden flames to quickly disperse but not before a bloody wound appeared on his left shoulder. His body was emanating steam due to the flames and thunder, he spat some blood while glaring at Arthur then at the wheel under his feet. For the first time since the fight started, the old man attacked instead of simply defending himself. His figure vanished and appeared in front of Arthur, who was slashed by the purple sword. Sadly, the purple sword his nothing but a black mist which dispersed soon after. The old man, who was startled by what just happened, sensed imminent danger and stabbed his sword to the left. The tip of the purple sword hit a dark shadow that, upon a closer look, was a damned rat! A dangerous violet energy was emanating from the rat, shocking the butler to the core. A very miniscule part of his purple sword seemed to have been devoured. ''Void Magic?'' His suspicions were ascertained as countless creepy purple mouths assaulted him from above. Unwilling to get hit by them, the old man attempted to retreat only for thick black chains to appear from the ground, wrapping around his legs. The old man let a out a soft sigh as he raised his sword to the sky. Arthur, who was about to grasp this opportunity to penetrate the old man''s body and finish him, suddenly teleported away as he felt a dangerous aura emanate from the old man. A large illusory object appeared above the old man, it had the same energy as his sword, gentle yet incredibly deadly. The Godspirit finally appeared but the second it appeared, an explosive gunshot could be heard from not far away. It was a 1st-grade purple bullet, its grade was low but it was purely made from Void Magic. The bullet struck illusory purple flower, which was the butler''s Godspirit. The moment it approached the flower, the bullet transformed into a literal mini-black hole which started sucking the flower. An expression of utter disbelief plastered itself on the old man''s face. The more he fought the couple, the more surprised he gets. Everything he just witnessed must be recounted to his master, Lucy''s mother. From Void Magic, Yin Power, Golden Crow flames, Dark Magic and many other things. The purple flower emitted a blinding light and one of its petals fell down, transforming into a purple sword which flew straight at the black hole, stabbing it. Although it wasn''t able to destroy it, it still caused the black hole to become smaller in size. The sky already shattered like glass and the ground only remained unscathed due to the presence of the formation, which was sturdier than it may look. In order to fully get rid of the old man''s God Spirit, Lucy also summoned hers, which was a gigantic blue lotus. As if a mountain hit it, the flower was suppressed by the slowly-blooming lotus. A third of the formation, as well as half of the purple flower, were frozen by the God Spirit. The butler gritted his teeth and summoned back his God Spirit, fusing it with it and strengthening himself. A layer of purple aura covered the old man''s skin, healing all of his injuries and increasing his pressure. Just as he was about to act, he found himself trapped in a world of darkness, unable to see, feel or hear a thing. Unlike other entrapped people, the old man was able to forcefully leave this strange world, startling Arthur, who was preparing his attack. Lucy was a step faster than her husband as several flaming boulders fell from the sky. They had cores made from magma and golden crow fire covered these big rocks. [Meteor Shower] was an extremely powerful skill that combined three attributes, something not many people could do. ˇ­ A few kilometers away from the Arthur, Lucy, and the battler, there was a lone figure gazing at the gigantic blue lotus and the purple flower which vanished all of a sudden. She had a long dark hair and an expressionless face. The girl silently watched the battle while slightly fidgeting. Jian Si previously escaped the area before Arthur started his fight with the Holy Dominion. It was only through a fluke did she spot the butler so she followed him. Never did she believe that a fight would occur here. She raised her head and stared at the falling meteors, which robbed the light of the illuminating sun, covering it and casting a shadow on the ground, just like an eclipse. When these boulders finally hit their target, the ground under feet violently shook before it began cracking, causing her to switch location. She could feel the heat of those golden flames even from this distance, causing her to shiver. There was a time when she wanted to fight Lucy, just thinking about that made her soak with cold sweat. Chapter 430 - 380 : Cupids Arrow 1 From his dignified appearance, the old man became haggard-looking and pale-faced. He was confident in defeating the couple but the two turned out to be monsters. The restriction of the Secret Realm greatly weakened him thus rendering him unable to face the two at the same time. Since his goal is to bring back Lucy, he just needs to knock out Arthur for some time. He used his purple sword to support himself and took a few deep breaths before he straightened his back and took out another sword. The new sword was made from a beautiful silver material which emitted a mesmerizing luster. All of a sudden, the pressure of the old man exploded, his cultivation, which was stuck in the God Realm, directly jumped to the Sovereign Realm. Arthur, who was a distance away, couldn''t react in time as two swords stabbed him. The met a slight resistance from the Dark Barrier before closing in on Arthur, who''s eye shone with a blue light. As he used his eye ability too much today, he was barely able to slow down time. Ten ominous looking talismans were flung from under is long sleeves, hitting the unsuspecting old man. Arthur was sent flying as two deep wounds appeared on his chest. Fortunately, the ten Death Talismans restored a big amount of Health which quickly healed the two new injuries. To be more precise, he healed 50% of the damage he received. The butler angrily threw the talismans which latched themselves on his body. The aura of the talismans were making him uncomfortable and sucking the life out of him. Just as he was about to attack Arthur again, he staggered, almost falling on the ground. He clutched his chest while coughing some blood. Seeing this, Arthur smirked and unsheathed Makaze yet again, preparing to deal the finishing blow. ''Even an Overgod can''t resist a continuous exposure to Death Energy and Uranium 235.'' The blade was vertically raised above his head, it vibrated intensely as Dark Magic started emanating from both the wielder and the weapon. ''First Wave, Black as Night, Calamity Descends.'' The dark arrow slowly rotated until it stopped on the dark color. The sky turned jet black and the ground was consumed by the scattered Dark Magic. Entrapped in this ominous ''world'', the old man could do nothing but remain motionless, both from the weakening of the Death Energy and the pressure coming from Makaze. ''This isn''t a simple matter anymore.'' For the first time since the fight had begun, the butler decided to go all out regardless of the consequences. He vowed no to hurt Lucy but he needs to remain alive to do that. The two were hell-bent on killing him so he has to retaliate. As if a mountain was pressing down on him, the old man''s body became engraved on the ground with a large crater around him. There was a hideous slash mark on his chest, black flames burned his body while blood gushed from this fatal wound. With great difficulties, the old man retrieved a golden vial from under robe and attempted to drink it only for a freezing coldness to halt his movements. The ground and the boulders scattered around were complete frozen, clearly affected by Lucy''s Yin Power. She appeared before the old man and threw all her Ice-Talisman, causing his body to become immobilized. The hand holding the golden vial couldn''t move for it was frozen, however, the vial remained unscathed. She waved her hand, causing the vial to fly far away and then, without any hesitation, she stabbed her white saber into the old man''s head, wanting to finish him. As he felt the thick killing intent emanating from her eyes and her absolute resolution, the old man couldn''t understand why she was so against going back home. The treatment she''ll receive there are thousands of times better than here. Her mother would provide her with everything. With powers like hers, if she''s given proper guidance, she''ll easily become the clan''s next Matriarch. Just as the saber was about to penetrate the old man, he vanished from her sight, leaving only a purple mist. Her senses soon located him, he was holding the golden vial and drinking a jet black liquid droplet. Just as he gulped the mysterious liquid, his cultivation soared again, immediately jumping into the Overgod Realm. "Lucy!" Arthur warned her before raising Evil Wind again, this time causing dark clouds to cluster above them and white lightning to start randomly hitting the area. ''Second Wave: Thunderous God, Punishment for the Sinners!'' Almost immediately, a ginormous sword made of godly thunder descended from the dark sky. Deafening thunderclaps reverberated across all directions, startling even the refreshed old man, whose body instantly recovered the moment he regained his real cultivation. That vial was a special liquid his master gave him. It allows him to ignore the secret realm''s restriction and fight as an Overgod. It was a last resort but he had to use it now given how dangerous the situation became. Things escalated so fast and the prowess of the couple is unimaginable. ''To think their cultivation is restricted yet they can do thisˇ­ Once Eva is back. That man must be investigated!'' The old man wasn''t overly worried about the incoming thunder sword, he stabbed both his swords on the ground then raised his hand. Using purely his Nether Energy, a large illusory hand grasped the descending sword and very naturally snapped in two. Although he was able to resist Arthur''s second wave that easily, burn marks still appeared on the Overgod''s hand. Seeing the failure of his attack, Arthur was prepared to unleash the third wave only for the butler to suddenly appear inches away from him. The old man used his palm to hit Arthur''s body only to feel an unexpected hardness, still, a hit from an Overgod isn''t that easy to block. Arthur flew like a kite and heavily crashed into the ground. Fortunately, he quickly got up despite receiving a lot of injuries just from one blow.Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. As he gazed at the bloodied Arthur, the old man frowned. He could see the bent arm and broken legs restore to normal in literally seconds. Even peak God Monarchs aren''t able to do that, much less a Sovereign. Sadly for Arthur, the old man was done playing, his silver sword appeared in his hand. The old man''s speed was really fast but just as he planned to slash down his target, his sword hit nothing but air. He accurately located the place where Arthur will appear and swung his sword again, unleashing unstoppable silver lines made from Sword Essence. Arthur, who was unaware that [Faster Than Death] was seen through by the butler, was struck by the silver lines which pushed him on the ground then cut his inwardly and tendons, causing him to continuously cough blood. ''As I said, your body is sturdy enough to receive a few blows from an Overgod but to defeat him is just wishful thinking. Now, listen to me clearly and do what I sayˇ­''-Claud Enraged, Lucy flew at the old man, who clutched his raised hand, causing her to be entrapped in some kind of a silver prison made from unbreakable bars. The old man didn''t want to hurt her so the best thing to do is just imprison her while he took care of her husband. Unfortunately for him, Lucy wasn''t someone who submits this easily. The killing intent she was emitting materialized itself as a savage red aura revolved around her. A frown appeared on the butler, who decided to knock her unconscious. The silver-haired woman raised a silver revolver and prepared to fire at the startled old man. He could feel a mind-numbing amount of Mana travel from her body to the revolver, it was truly a monstrous amount. Before he could act, his ears started ringing as the bullet already left the barrel, making its way toward him. The sheer amount of suppressed Mana that was unleashed caused the space to shatter. The bullet she fired was a grey-one, a nuclear bullet. The deadliest one in her arsenal. Strangely enough, the bullet passed through the prison and hit the old man, who wasn''t fast enough to dodge a bullet shot from Silent Moon. The Overgod raised the sword to block the bullet but this minuscule thing exploded before it even reached its target. What followed after could only be described as a disaster. An explosion so powerful it alerted every cultivator in the Secret Realm. A humongous mushroom cloud appeared, bringing with it destruction and absolute chaos. Whether it was the nearby mountains, valleys or the already damaged ground, they all vanished. This kind of bullet was fatal not only to the enemy but to the user too. The prison created by the Overgod soon vanished as the old man couldn''t focus on maintaining anymore. Currently, he looked absolute pitiful, he was half-naked with many burns marks on his Celestial Body. Even he, was surprised as he inspected the marks. Radiation isn''t a common thing in the Cloud Sea Universe, especially something as advanced as the one Arthur created. The potency of the poison and nuclear was so strong that it affected the air, causing any cultivator, who''s foolish enough to come here, to die within seconds, literally. Even Jian Si was heavily injured. She dragged her bloodied body away from the scattering poison. Her face was incredibly pale as she swallowed a precious healing pill while mounting a flying sword, barely having the consciousness to control it. The one who fired the bullet was in no better state either. She struggled to get up while coughing some blood. Still holding the silver revolver, she loaded another bullet, a newly created 5th-grade golden bullet made from Golden Crow fire. With unsteady steps, she headed towards a random direction while trying to locate the missing Arthur. Very soon, a dark silhouette appeared in front of her. Fortunately, she quickly healed some of the injuries but the radiation was emptying her large pool Health bar so it was necessary to leave this place. Although she was at first, once she felt the familiar Dark Magic coming from that silhouette, Lucy felt relieved. Arthur held her and checked the condition of her body before forcing her to drink one of the highest Healing Potion in his storage. It didn''t do much but coupled with the Life Energy he could wield, it allowed his wife to recover her full Health in merely a minute. "Where is he?" She asked while studying Arthur''s condition. He may appear alright but the butler''s sword attack did considerable internal damage which may take time to heal. "He was flung by the explosion but he''s not deadˇ­ yet." ˇ­ A fair distance from the couple, the old man stood there while coughing some blood. He noticed a stinging black tattoo appear on his right hand. He creased his brow as the tattoo wouldn''t disappear despite using his Nether Energy to remove it. It made him uncomfortable and upon closer inspection, it had the same feel as the dark blade in Arthur''s possession. The elderly raised his head and gazed at the area but was unable to see naught but a dark and green fog which blocked the view and slowly weakened him. He tried clearing the dust and poison with his Nether Energy but to no avail, whatever Arthur used, it didn''t rely on Energy. While it''s true it required Mana to shoot the bullet, it doesn''t mean the bullet itself is made from Energy. His sense, which is supposed to stretch to all corners of this small Secret Realm, was unable to even bypass the poison fog, going as much as ten miles then stopping as if blocked by something. Arthur and Lucy, who were mentally tired after the fight with the Holy Dominion and the butler, didn''t flee from there but located the lost old man and started preparing their last attack. ˇ­ Only thirty minutes later did the old man escape the large poison fog. His skin became green and contaminated while his Celestial Body was visible shaking ever-so-slightly. Ever since a while ago, his senses were alarming him yet he continued to advance, unwilling to stay inside this fog any second longer. "She''s as crazy as her motherˇ­" When he recalled the savage killing intent Lucy unleashed, the butler remembered her mother, who''ll do anything to protect her family. As he saw the light of the day close by, the old man knew he was finally going to leave this godforsaken place. Unfortunately, the moment he stepped outside, he was greeted by an astonishing spectacle. The amount of Nether Energy concentrating here was so thick it made him flush. His target and her husband were floating in the sky, three hundred meters away from him. What made the butler speechless was the ''thing'' above the couple. Arthur was behind Lucy, holding her soft hands while both of them took the stance of shooting an arrow. This, without a doubt, is the ultimate attack of the combined strength of two overpowered beings. An attack they only used once for it consumed too much and destroyed a whole island back then. A figure so big it pierced the clouds and caused Spatial Vibrating was behind the couple. It was illusory but the pressure it was emanating was realˇ­ Chapter 431 - 381 : Cupids Arrow 2 ''It'' was like a God, standing high and looking down on everything else. It imitated the couple''s stance but unlike them, it was holding a half-white half-black bow. The bow was as big as this ''thing'' if not bigger, it split the very sky in two and heavily affected the environment. The ground started shaking, causing everyone inside the secret realm to be alert. As he stared at them, the old man was visibly affected by the sheer pressure of this figure. Slowly but surely, an arrow started materializing, it was firmly held by its left hand, pulling with all its strength and aiming at the Overgod. Sensing the imminent danger, the butler didn''t stay still wait for them to finish, his figure vanished as he tried to appear next to the couple and subdue them. Unfortunately, he was barely able to cross a hundred meters before he was flung off inside the poison fog. He didn''t even see what hit him. Once he got a closer look, he was dumbfounded yet again. It actually robot, a literal robot. One made from strange metal that had countless changing numbers on it. The robot wielded a long golden spear which controlled Gravity and emitted a dangerous amount of Earth Energy. ''Hurry up! I won''t be able to last long.'' Claud, who changed the ARK''s form and took the Spear of Terros, was panicking as time was ticking and battling an Overgod isn''t a feasible feat, he could only delay him for a few seconds, at most. ''T-that''s from the System?!'' Shocked by the presence of the robot, the butler carefully inspected the transformed ARK, and hesitated a bit. ''If they''re high rankers in the System then it''ll be much more troublesomeˇ­'' The System Universe isn''t known as the strongest Universe for nothing. The advanced robots and airships they can deploy are not only numerous but also individually strong and that''s while excluding Lv10,000 players too. When the mind-numbingly big arrow was reached half its completion, the ARK finally crumbled under the old man''s hands. The spear was dim and had cracks while the robot lost both its legs. It quickly returned to Arthur''s consciousness and went offline to recuperate the heavy damage it suffered. Wielding both his purple and silver swords, the old man glared at the ''being'' behind the couple and crossed his weapons in an ''X'' form. The two swords radiated two brilliant flashes, one purple, and the other silver, which soon became enlarged and started flying toward the illusory figure piercing the clouds. Just by looking at the shattered ground and cracking space around the ''X'' blinding sign that flew toward its target, you could see how devastating it is. When it was about to hit the illusory being, an ominous aura spread to all direction, completely stopping the advancing sign. Countless sword appeared in the sky, all pointed at the sign. In the center of these swords was the main one, Evil Wind, Makaze. Each and every one of these swords was extraordinary, some were even Mysterious-ranked. Each sword has its unique aura and when they all merged inside of Makaze, the dark blade started vibrating intensely before slashing two times. The dark blade seemed to be provoking the Overgod as a colorful X sign clashed with the one the Overgod unleashed. Although Makaze''s own attack wasn''t weak, it was still lacking compared to the Overgod''s. Nevertheless, it bought the couple more than enough time to finish their ultimate skill . ˇ­ Initiating [Cupid''s Arrow]ˇ­ 98% The arrow was jet black in color but was covered in Lucy''s special flames. The half-grey half-white flames covered every inch of the arrow, creating a weird scene. The weather alternated between hot and cold. The snowflakes and the unimaginable heat didn''t opposite each other and coexisted peacefully. As for the condensed Dark Magic which was the main body of the arrow, it was giving off dangerous vibrations which were stronger than the Natural Spatial Laws of the Secret Realm. The heavy shaking of the whole world alarmed all the cultivators and made them scared. Thankfully, the exit was miraculously opened, allowing them hastily leave. Only the brave ones chose to stay here regardless of what''s going to happen. "Miss Eva wouldn''t have got involved with the System if it weren''t for youˇ­" As he misunderstood their origins, the old man assumed they were high-rankers of the System''s Universe. He angrily glared at Arthur, who smiled back at him and retorted "It''s madam for you." This only incensed the old man, whose aura increased to its maximum, finally planning to dispose of Arthur and forcefully subdue Lucy even if it means breaking her cultivation. If the clan were to get entangled with the System, it''ll get messy even if other powers of the Divine Planet were to lend a hand. Fortunately, the System rarely interacts with people and doesn''t initiate wars on other Universes, however, its manpower is limitless and that''s why excluding all the secondary powers living there. Two large illusory flowers appeared above the old man, one was purple and the other was silver. They wrapped around each other and became a beautiful white rose. Just like what happened with the flowers, the two swords merged into a white longsword. The old man slashed down with his sword, sending a sword blast which demolished everything in its way. It was such a simple movement yet it intensified the shaking of this small world. Seeing this monstrous attack fly at them, Arthur raised one of his hand and clutched it, causing him to cough a lot of blood. He didn''t pay any attention and held Lucy''s hands again once he activated one last skill. The turbulent winds and shattering space abruptly vanished, leaving nothing but absolute darkness, which started contracting into a single point. Forcefully stopped, the sword blast unleashed by the butler extinguished the contracted darkness but wasn''t unable to stop explosion caused by Dark Rizaki. Rizaki was only able to take out a third of the sword blast before it vanished, leaving only some scattered black flames. Fortunately, Cupid''s Arrow was done and ready to be shot. The couple, hands together, pulled the invisible bowstring and once the arrow''s condition reached its absolute peak, they finally let it go. It was like a beast got loose, the arrow let out a deep growl which contradicted its lovely name. The sword blast and the arrow clashed and despite the weakened blast, it was still able to block the arrow. ''It''s time to do your job now!'' Arthur yelled at the unresponsive Claud, who got to work the moment Arthur''s berating voice resounded inside the ARK. The sleeping cube soon got to work, it flew outside of Arthur''s consciousness and wrapped itself around his hand. It changed forms, quickly covering his body then jumping to Lucy. The two couple were enveloped in some kind of advanced black armor. They looked like some kind of aliens as they were covered from head to toe. Countless numbers were engraved on their new armors. Still standing in that stance, the couple pulled the string again and quickly let out, this time shooting nothing but the air condensed by the simple string pull. It''s such a simple and perhaps idiotic way of attacking but due to the cheat power created by the dark armor, that wind ''arrow'' was enough to push its predecessor and break the Overgod''s sword blast in two. It happened then, an explosion never before seen, it exceeded Star Nova, Rizaki or any of Arthur''s Sword Waves. A blinding flash caused everyone on the Secret Realm to cover their eyes. The deafening sound only came later as it took the sound waves some time to travel to all directions. The very fabric of this reality shattered, destroying with it the whole Northern Part of this small world. Surprisingly, the floating island, also known as, the Paradise Garden, remained unscathed and still proudly remained in its usual position. ˇ­ Compared to earlier, only a few cultivators remained inside the dragon''s lair. A dozen were roaming the large cave and searching for treasures and the rest were still trying to bypass Arthur. The Space Dragon was almost done with its birth and it was at its weakest state, perhaps any one of the ones present can kill it with enough effort. The thing with dragons is that they became extremely vulnerable when giving birth, all the Nether Energy dedicated to protecting the body is spent on protecting the newborn. Half of the baby dragon already appeared, it was very small and had beautiful silver scales just like its mother. It was then, when people were getting restless and annoyed, did the huge explosion happen. They were getting used to the heavy shaking of the cave but it suddenly got worse, some big rubble was about to fall on the dragon only for it to turn into black ash and quickly dispersing in the air. The sound of the explosion was enough to shatter what remained of spatial restriction set up but the Natural Spatial Laws. Everyone could feel their cultivation rise which made them feel incredibly delighted. With their real strength back, they turned their head to Arthur, who stood and put his hand on the sheathed dark blade. He seemed nonchalant but the suffocating killing intent emanating from his eyes indicated his strong resolution to slaughter anyone who dares to cross the line. Angelina, who was also surprised by the explosion, knew that it could only be the butler and the couple. After one last glance at ''this'' Arthur, she turned around and hastily left. What was left was Shu Ru, Emily, the princess, the Flame Crown Prince and another familiar person. This person wasn''t hostile and wasn''t greedy about the treasures, his sole focus was Arthur, who never paid him any heed. He had bandages covering his body and exuded a rather creepy and chilling aura. It was none other than the nameless Ghost whose target was Arthur. No one knew his real intentions but he it was clear he wasn''t an enemy. The Whisperer King tasked him to ''try'' and bring Arthur to the Ghost Nation and the ghost didn''t plan to fail. Just as he regained his cultivation, the ghost didn''t hesitate to cross the line, forcing Arthur to personally make a move. A sharp dark blade came slashing at the ghost, freaking the hell out of the ghost, who used his soft bandages to successfully block the ominous blade. The other cultivators tried to grasp this opportunity and steal the treasures but the moment they crossed the line, they were either beheaded or dismembered. Contrary to them, the Flame Crown Prince and his juniors surrounded Arthur, planning to aid the ghost. Seeing their futile attempt, Arthur burst out in laughed and said "You better scram in the next five seconds or you''re dead."Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. His words were directed toward everyone but the ghost. The Flame Crown Prince wasn''t fazed as fists were enveloped by his sect''s special flames. The others from his sect didn''t back away as they prepared themselves for a fight. Shu Ru hesitated for a second before leaving this area. Emily was also about to leave but the prince was rather stubborn. Isadore''s little sister glared at Arthur and was about to help the Flame Crown Prince only for a dark-haired middle-aged man to appear out of nowhere and knock her unconscious. As he threw the girl on his shoulder, he signaled for Emily to follow him and quickly left this place. He didn''t even spare a glance at Arthur. Wrath wasn''t particularly afraid of Arthur but a million-year-old dragon is a whole other matter. Even if it was greatly weakened and can be killed, it doesn''t mean it''s as easy as others might think. After all, it was a fully adult dragon that lived for a long, long time. Moreover, he got to see a lot of interesting things that must be reported to the Crown Prince immediately. Whether it''s the fight between the butler and the couple, this Arthur, who traveled through time, and his plans for coming here. Wrath, one of the seven deadly sins, glanced North, where everything became just a chaotic void, and grinned. ''Ah Zodiak! Perhaps you weren''t lying when you talked about a Great Warˇ­ I very much look forward to that.'' Chapter 432 - 382 : The Baby Dragon Somewhere North-East of the Secret Realm, a group of five cultivators stumbled upon two unconscious people. One was a scarred man and the other was a silver-haired woman. The leader of this group was momentarily surprised as he looked at the familiar faces. The group was composed of three men and two women and they barely escaped the destruction caused by Cupid''s Arrow with only a few scratches. One of the two females could use Healing Magic but it was futile as it did close to nothing. With no other options, the two women laid the injured couple on a comfortable bed inside a newly-put tent. A muscular and tall black man sighed as he examined the two of them and then said "We''ll camp here for a few days, perhaps they''ll wake up soon." He didn''t seem to believe much in his words. Although they didn''t have any apparent serious injuries, their skin was that of a corpse and their temperature couldn''t be colder. Jace let out a sigh and left the tent only to see comrades looking at him with a strange gaze. "What? You want to leave them for death like that?" No one protested and went about their business. Jace benefited greatly from the Paradise Garden, his two friends and their new females ''companions'' were lucky enough to find a rare herb in that snowy field under the floating island. As the five them were busy eating some roasted meat, one of Jace''s friends asked "Do you think they caused ''that''?" He was referring to the obliteration of the Northern Part of the Secret Realm. Anyone foolish enough to step into the ominous Void caused by the destruction would instantly die therefore the garden could no longer be accessed. Jace shrugged his shoulders and answered "It matters not. The restrictions are gone so they probably fought some powerful opponents." He got the shivers every time he thought about that explosion, it was strong enough to injure even an Overgod. Furthermore, there was no one but them in this wasteland and coincidentally stumbling upon Arthur and Lucy could only mean that they were one of the fighting parties. It was only through a fluke that they survived. Being a strong Body Cultivator, Jace felt the turbulent flow of Nether Energy and opted for a quick retreat, trying to get as far away from the source of the fluctuation as possible. It turned out to be that his decision was life-saving, however, they never thought they''ll find their past ''companions'' here. ˇ­ South-West of the Secret Realm, there was a cross-legged old man silently meditating. There was some dried blood scattered around him, cleary the signs of injuries. His body didn''t look injured but there were serious burn marks which can only be healed if he goes back to the clan. Only after half a day did the butler finish healing himself and recover 80% of his strength. Unlike the unconscious couple, he had a Celestial Body which was able to withstand the arrow despite suffering some injuries. ''That strange flameˇ­ I''ve never seen it before.'' He circulated his Nether Energy and examined the burns marks only to feel both heat and cold, making him confused. After a short while, a shocked expression appeared on his aged and scarred face. ''W-wait! Could it be?'' Just the thought of fusion two opposed attributes is absurd, to say the least. The old man was able to speculate such only due to the burns marks on his chest. The two attributes were peacefully coexisting and even complementing each other. The continuous stinging pain reminded him of that fearful arrow. There was also that poisonous fog which is deadly even for a Overgod is he''s exposed to it for a long time. ''They were only Sovereignsˇ­ I think the Madam won''t be pleased about the presence of that man near her daughter. It''s becoming much more troublesome.'' An hour later, the old man finally stood up. He was sure that the couple was still inside the Secret Realm, as for their location, he didn''t know, for now. ˇ­ Only after three days did the couple finally wake up. Arthur woke up four hours before his wife but he accompanied her and never left the tent. ''The arrow managed to fling him far away but it certainly didn''t kill him. You must leave immediately. It''ll be easier to escape from him in Green-Leaf.''-Claud Arthur didn''t argue with his copy and promised to leave as soon as Lucy woke up. Fortunately, neither of them was heavily injured. The last attack emptied their Nether Energy pool and Mental Power thus weakening them mentally and the explosion knocked them unconscious. Lucy, who was soundlessly sleeping, suddenly woke up while profusely sweating. She looked around and only felt relieved after seeing a smiling Arthur. He caressed her hair and reassured her they''re safe. She seemed to have had a nightmare, probably about their last fight. "Where are we?" After tightly hugging him for a few minutes, Lucy curiously asked. Once she spread her sense, she came to know the identity of their ''saviors''. "What a coincidence, huh."Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. Arthur was also surprised when he sensed Jace and the others. He never thought he''s see them again yet they were actually ''picked up'' by these body cultivators. As the couple left their tent, the five others were startled. They just gazed at the two of them without saying a thing. After a bout of silence flowed between the two parties, Jace cleared his throat and talked "Hahaha I''m glad you two are fine. Come comeˇ­ eat with us!" He walked up to them and handed each of them some freshly-roasted meat. Body cultivators heavily relied on the meat of God Beats as it greatly benefits them. Arthur and Lucy didn''t refuse, they sat with the rest and enjoyed the delicious meat. The mood lightened and the awkwardness disappeared as Jace started rambling about his achievements, he even boasted about his recent breakthrough. The muscular man is officially a peak God body cultivator, an existence that can even content with Peak Sovereigns. "What''s the situation in here?" Hearing Arthur''s question, Jace grinned and gave an honest reply "After the explosion and the disappearance of the spatial restriction. Everyone regained their cultivations and were able to safely leave the secret realm. Some, like us, decided to stay here a bit more to try and obtain a few more treasures but the condition of the world is worsening every day. It seems the Space Dragon is finally given birth and from the looks of itˇ­ it''s about to abandon this world." Even without Jace telling him, Arthur noticed the intense spatial fluctuations. It''s very similar to what happened to Bucama''s world but this time, the process is much slower. This world is crumbling due to the damage it suffered and the loss of the dragon''s energy support. "We''re going to leave very soon, what about you?" Arthur was grateful and had already changed his opinion about Jace and his simple comrades. This muscular black man didn''t like leeches and only relied on strong people which is why he didn''t like them when they were disguising. He was a simplistic muscle-brain, more or less. Jace''s group was planning to go back after roaming for a bit but after finding the couple, they were forced to camp for a few days. Bringing the unconscious couple through a spatial tunnel could prove to be difficult and dangerous. In the end, they decided to go back together after conversing for a bit. It took them twenty minutes to ready themselves and store their scattered tentsˇ­ Leaving the Secret Realm isn''t hard now that the restriction is gone. A cultivator needs a stone called Spatial Stone, it can open small Spatial Tunnels which send anyone who enters it to a world linked with the one you''re already in. However, Jace and the rest didn''t need to use the stone since Arthur was here. His mastery of Space Magic was high enough to create Spatial Tunnels. They stood behind the grey-haired man, who raised his hand then clutched his fist, shattering the space and creating a smooth tunnel. After repeatedly thanking Arthur, they stepped inside the tunnel, disappearing from the couple''s sight. Arthur and Lucy glanced at the half-destroyed Secret Realm for one last time before vanishing. ˇ­ Back inside the dragon''s lair, most of the cultivators left. With the exception of Arthur, the ghost, and the dragon. There was one group of cultivators still roaming the large cave. It was Elo Huo and his close brothers, the one-armed youngster was busy fighting a creepy grey-skinned monster which was protecting a very small pond. This was Huo''s goal from the very beginning. It is said that the water of this pond can purify everything, including the Dark Magic inside of his body. He just wants to force the Dark Magic outside of his body so he can regrow that lost limb with a special liquid he acquired after accumulating wealth for five years. Although the monster they were fighting was at the God Monarch Realm, they fought together and refused to abandon Elo Huo, who, despite losing an arm, was decently strong. The Phoenix flames raged inside that room, melting the walls and scorching the screeching monster. ˇ­ Unlike earlier, Arthur wasn''t fighting the ghost. The bandaged man backed away and remained motionless, waiting for Arthur. His goal was more or less achieved as Arthur promised to follow him to meet the Whisperer King. It wasn''t the same ''Arthur'' the king wanted but it mattered not to the ghost. Not even once did the ghost glance at the mountain of treasures behind the weakened dragon. He wasn''t interested in them and for a ghost, they rarely relied on material objects. At last, the Space Dragon finished giving birth. A cute and small silver dragon which was squeaking laid next to its mother. The mother tenderly rubbed her head on the little dragon, forcing it stand up. After several failed attempts of walking, the newborn finally succeeded. As much as she wanted to accompany her child, the Space Dragon still pushed it toward the waiting Arthur and said "It''s timeˇ­" Arthur crouched down and picked up the cute silver dragon, which wasn''t hostile toward him. It licked his face while trying to flap its minuscule wings. As she stared her baby, the Space Dragon "Born from a Geo Space Dragon and an Empyrian Lightning dragon, thy name will be Yamak." Still holding the baby dragon, Arthur respectfully bowed and said "Yamak it shall be. I will make sure he becomes a powerful dragon." He gazed at the mother for some time before noticing several Time Wraiths circling above the dragon. He bowed again and added "Now then, if you''ll excuse me." He waved his hand, creating a dark spatial tunnel and stepped inside, followed right after by the ghostˇ­ Chapter 433 - 383 : Tricked Arthur, Lucy, and Jace''s group appeared near the entrance of the Secret Realm. Not many cultivators were present, some were mourning the loss of their friends and others were anxiously waiting for their comrades'' return. While cupping his fists and smiling, Jace said: "We will be heading back to our sect. You''re welcome to join us." Although Arthur was a bit curious about a sect that only has body cultivators, it isn''t the time to go there as they have more important matters. The couple cupped their fists to express their gratitude and refused the invitation. Jace didn''t seem too bothered, he glanced at the closing portal then said "My sect is called The Blood Bull Sect and it''s in the Blood High-Realm. You can come whenever you want." With that said, the group of five left the area, leaving the couple alone. ''The Blood High-Realm is ranked 8 amongst all the High Realms and it''s the territory of vampires. Apart from special sects like Jace''s, which relies on Body cultivators, there aren''t many powers there.''-Claud The Copy gave a short explanation to the oblivious Arthur, who only knew a few things about the High Realms. Left alone, Arthur and Lucy decided to leave this area before more trouble arises. The butler still hasn''t showed up and fighting him again is disadvantageous. In fact, beating that Overgod is close to impossible. Previously, they went to great lengths just to push him away to the point of losing consciousness. There''s also the matter with the Holy Dominion, which won''t give up after losing so many God Monarchs and even an Overgod. That old man who was killed by Arthur was truly an Overgod but one has to take into account the secret realm''s restriction, which greatly limited the Cardinal''s powers. Losing a Cardinal is a great deal to the Holy Dominion, after all, they aren''t as numerous as Deacons or Holy Knights. ˇ­ This place radiated a pure and thick amount of Light Energy, the trees, rivers, and mountains were affected by it and remained alive for thousands of years. This planet was called the Holy Planet and it''s the territory of the Holy Dominion, it''s HQ, to be more precise. Its size is a third of the Divine Planet but one of the strongest beings in the Cloud Sea Universe lives here. Currently, an injured woman just appeared at the center of the Holy Altar. This altar is like a teleportation array used only in emergencies. The stationed knights were startled upon seeing the woman, they quickly started healing her. A youngster in his twenties, who was peacefully training near the altar, reacted to the sudden fluctuation of energy so he went to check what''s happening. This young man was one of the powers individuals of the Holy Dominion. His task was to guard this altar until the Cardinal Zeves came back. Upon seeing the injured woman and no one else, he creased his brows and waited for one more minute but no one else showed up. He belonged to the Holy Order and wasn''t very pleased with the task he was given. The youth was a 9-Star God Monarch and is considered a genius yet he was treated like a mere soldier. Just when he was about to go back to his peaceful spot, he caught the sense of a stranger. This invader wore a grey-robe and a green mask that had two holes for the eyes and an arching smile. With just one glance, he recognized this person, it was none other than the Green Seat of Justice! At first, he thought he was the target but when the grey-robed assassin ignored him and walked up to the injured Deacon, he became a bit surprised. For one of the nine seats to personally come here just to kill a Deacon, it was an overkill. The youth did nothing as Artid walked up to the surprised Holy Knights, who surrounded the woman, trying to protect her. Unlike the youth, they didn''t recognize the Green Seat so they recklessly attacked him only to immediately fall on the ground with twisted necks. Artid crouched next to the heavily breathing Deacon and examined her injured body before grinning under the mask. He stretched his hand and held her neck, tightening his grip while watching her slowly suffocate. "You''ve seen things you shouldn''t have." Those were the last words the woman heard before she died from suffocation. Artid took the corpse with him and casually left without even glancing at the silent God Monarch not far away. The youth didn''t interfere due to many reasons, the main one being his hate for the Holy Echelon, which is composed of only self-centered and arrogant people. Anyway, he''ll just report that he arrived too late. ˇ­ ''When ill luck begins, it does not come in sprinkles, but in showers.'' This is what happened to Arthur and Lucy ever since setting foot inside the Secret Realm. Only half a day after leaving the dragon''s lair, they met with their worst enemies. A silver-haired woman and a scarred old man appeared before the couple. Unlike his usual leisurely, the old man was cautious of the two so he bound them both, rendering them unable to move or use any skill. As she stared at her sister, Angelina said "You have no choice but to come back with us." Lucy glared at her sister with dagger-like eyes, albeit being bound by the Overgod, a chilling coldness was emanating from her. If she was free, she would have jumped on Angelina and tore her apart. "What part of ''I don''t want to come'' don''t you understand? Are you retarded or what?" Lucy uttered vulgar words while ignoring Angelina''s expression, which was slowly turning uglier. Even though she lived most of her life apart from her family, she doesn''t have to behave like this and treat her big sister so cruelly, or so thought Angelina. If she knew Lucy''s current thoughts, she would certainly freak out. "Miss Eva, I''m tasked to bring you home. Please excuse my rude actions." As she heard his words, Lucy snorted and retorted "I''m not Eva so don''t call me that. Furthermore, I''m not going back even if it means dying!" Seeing such strong refusal, Angelina was left with no choice but to use threats. She walked up to Arthur and pointed her finger at his forehead while saying "It''s not who''ll lose her life butˇ­ him." Angelina didn''t seem to be bluffing as energy started condensing around her index, ready to strike Arthur''s defenseless body. At first, Lucy remained headstrong but when the energy caused Arthur''s forehead to bleed, she said "Stop." Angelina stopped her advancing finger but didn''t put it down. "So you''re willingly coming with us?" "Yes." Only then did Angelina drop her hand but she was still suspicious, not of her sister but of Arthur, who remained silent and unresponsive. He had an expressionless face and didn''t even bother stopping them from taking his wife, which is contrary to his usual behavior. The old man met Arthur''s gaze and said "I sincerely apologize but some things are just not meant to be."Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. He loosened the bind but didn''t completely remove it, still feeling wary of Arthur and Lucy''s combined attacks. Just from her expression, you could tell that Lucy was restless, sad, and unwilling to go. "Would you give us some privacy? At least let us have a proper goodbye." Angelina was about to refuse only to be dragged by the old man. They didn''t go far away, just a few dozen meters but they didn''t try to eavesdrop. "I guess this is the end, huh." Arthur caressed her soft cheek while smiling at her. She couldn''t bear parting with him but it in this situation, there was nothing that could be done. After conversing with each other for a minute or two, they tightly hugged each other for one last time. Arthur didn''t bid farewell to the butler and the woman, he just flew far away without even looking back. The old man breathed a sigh of relief after he confirmed that Arthur is gone for good this time. Without further ado, the trio started heading toward the Divine Planetˇ­ ''If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither of the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.'' Neither the butler nor the woman did know how things will unfold. Trying to separate the inseparable is something not even Overgods can do. One must know when to trick his enemiesˇ­ and it''s definitely when the enemy is certain of their victory... when they know you have no choice but to give up. The White Specter Clan didn''t know that with bringing the Matriarch''s lost daughter, they also brought a calamity hiding inside of her. Arthur needs to know the enemy, their numbers, the structure of their clan, everything there''s to know about it. Fleeing from the Overgod is impossible, much less killing him, however, there''s always a way out. He made perfect use of the Dark Cloud and possessed Lucy even before the old man arrived. Now, both the husband and the wife are heading toward the White Specter Clan. Chapter 434 - 384 : Bard Realm The events that occurred inside the Secret Realm spread far and wide in just a few days. The heavy shaking and the destruction of that treasure trove. Many blamed Arthur, who stopped them from entering the main room and get their hands on the best treasures. Although they didn''t know his name, it wasn''t that easy to refer to him by a title. His brutality and Dark Magic are unique thus he was named ''The Dark Butcher''. The Holy Academy was furious upon hearing the news regarding their top disciple. The death of the Sacred Priest would greatly hinder their progress in Green-Leaf and drop their status. They won''t be able to complete with the other powers in the future. The Holy Dominion lost an Overgod, a half-Overgod, and more than ten God Monarchs. It''s the one that suffered the most from this, the loss of a Cardinal is no small matter. Hence, a bounty was put up on Arthur''s head. The Holy Echelon was the one who publicized it to increase the range of their hunting area. They don''t have enough manpower to search every nook and cranny but if every cultivator is helping them, it''ll be much easier, or so they thought. Whoever captures Arthur alive or brings his head, they''ll get 300,000 Top quality Red Spirit Stones. It''s a humongous sum which will allow any person to live lavishly and buy whatever he or she wants. *** Inside the office of the Crown Prince, Wrath, who just barged in, was momentarily surprised by the presence of a guest. He glanced at calm blond youth then at the ''visitor''. She wore a tight black robe and was busy reading some documents, forgetting to even greet him. This person was none other than Taliya, the head maid of the Demon Royal Family of Astria. Many things happened behind the scene so they ended up cooperating together. Despite the great difference between their status, Isadore insisted that she speaks casually as they''re considered allies now. The dark-haired middle-aged man sat on his personal sofa while gazing at the silver-haired woman. She bore a striking resemblance to Lucy but this one didn''t emit any specter scent which intrigued him. "E-emm Your Highnessˇ­ who''s this?" Only when Wrath talked did Taliya notice his presence. She hastily got up and performed a ninety-degree bow toward one of the seven sins while saying "I am Taliya, a demon." She gave a rather short and unsatisfying introduction but since she was the prince''s guest, he could only nod his head. She was weak so he wasn''t afraid that she''ll try anything. Just as Isadore was about to talk, someone hastily knocked on the door a few times before barging in. This person was like a ball of fat, his running made him look like a rolling ball. This man had a flushed face and was sweating profusely from the excessive running. He took deep breaths before saying "Prime Minister! His Majesty has welcomed an envoy from the Holy Dominion. They''re about to meet in a few minutes." This fat man was the Minister of Finance and Isadore''s most trusted friend and subordinate. The Crown Prince unconsciously tapped his index on the table while deeply pondering about what to do. He looked at the Prime Minister, who was named Christopher, and said "What of Dan? Did he return?" Christopher shook his head while displaying a worried expression: "Not yet." The King of Green-Leaf wasn''t a man that easily accepts defeat. Isadore never expected his father to let the Holy Dominion enter the capital so easily. ''Is the Holy Dominion truly so infuriated that it dares to pressure us?'' He couldn''t help but try to think of a reason his father would raise his hand in defeat so soon. Taliya, who just heard that, became slightly afraid, after all, she''s a demon. Although she''s a mortal Demon, it doesn''t mean that she''ll be spared if they find her. "Who''s leading the envoy?" Christopher fidgeted for a few seconds before answering "I-it''s Bishop Karth." "What? That necrophilia-loving fogey?" It was Wrath who talked, from the ugly expression on his face, it was apparent that he didn''t have a favorable opinion of Bishop Karth. **** Ten minutes later, Isadore, Wrath, Christopher were seated around a table in the Royal Hall. A few more individuals were also present, such as the King, his adviser, and two white-robbed men. One of them had a bald head and a somewhat long white and unkempt beard. The other seemed to be in his fifties with a large build and a bronze skin. This was supposed to be a private meeting between the King and the Envoy yet Isadore barged in uninvited. "Your Majesty, we''ve come here seeking help from your great kingdom." The old man, Karth, talked with a respectful tone but Isadore didn''t miss his confident tone as if the former knew his request would be accepted. Only after a minute did the Crown Prince get the answer for his questions and confusion. ''Your Highness, that''s not the King!''Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. Shaken by the revelation, Isadore glanced at the King but could see no visible difference. He was but a mortal so he didn''t have the Godly Sense or special eyes. However, if Wrath said it then it must be the truth. ''To be more precise, it''s the body of the King but his soul is gone. Basically, he''s just a puppet.'' Isadore tightly clenched his hidden fists, barely able to contain his anger. After taking deep breaths, his gaze returned to normal. Not once did he talk or voice out his opinion, he let things proceed as planned by the Bishop. ''It''s not the time to act rashly. Yes, slowly, I''ll get rid of them all in one swoop.'' ******** One of the Overgods guarding the Royal Family was now roaming Astria''s skies. He appeared to be a youngster wearing an old straw hat. At some point, Dan even forgot to chew on the piece of dried meat that he was holding. In fact, he didn''t even notice that it fell from his hand. His gaze was fixated on a motionless army of undead. Whether it was their uncountable number or the death energy accumulated in the air, it truly frightened him. They covered the land, the sea, and the sky. Dan only glanced one or two times yet he spotted thousands of Bone Dragons and that''s while excluding all the other formidable undead. Furthermore, he could feel even more undead East of Astria, they seemed to have spread to all corners of this world. He appeared above the destroyed Itas Continent only to witness an immense tree that was being burned by a malicious fire. He waved his hand, causing the ominous fire to stop spreading to the top of the tree. His cultivation was more than enough to completely stop it but he was surprisingly unable to extinguish it. ''World Tree? But it''s too small to be oneˇ­ I should investigate more.'' ************* Half a day after Arthur ''left'' Lucy''s side, the butler and the two sisters finally left Green-Leaf. They took a Spatial Portal which took them to a High Realm called ''Bard Realm''. Directly traveling to the Divine Planet isn''t possible. Any person needs to travel to a world close to the planet then continue their journey by ''foot''. Meaning, they''ll leave the Bard Realm and fly toward the Divine Planet. They need to cross a slightly dangerous area that envelops the Divine Planet but it''s purposely put there so that not anyone can enter this place. Of course, many sects and clans may have set-up secret Spatial Tunnels and portals but they''re usually instable and can malfunction thus leading every person who takes it to a random place. The butler glanced at Lucy''s waist then said "Did he gift it to you? I don''t think you two are compatible." The old man was referring to an ominous black sheath that was hanging on Lucy''s waist. It made both the butler and Angelina comfortable, it''s as if the blade will act on its own and suddenly attack them. Lucy chose to ignore the old man, her hand was resting on the dark blade, which showed no signs of resistance. Lucy was connected to Arthur through a Soul Bond and the dark blade was sentient enough to know that Lucy is close to Arthur and that she should be protected no matter the cost. The 65th Ranked High Realm, the Bard Realm was a peaceful world ruled by an Intellectual race called the Vrath. As the name of the realm suggests, the Vrath are Bards hence their love for poems, music, and songs. They aren''t as powerful as other races but they''re always united and very rarely fight among themselves. They aren''t hostile toward visitors hence their popularity in the Cloud Sea Universe. If one had enough Spirit Stones, they could live a fulfilling and comfortable life in the Bard Realm. There''s also another reason that this world is rather popular and it''s because of the small distance separating it from the Divine Planetˇ­ Chapter 435 - 385 : Whisperer King Inside the office of the Vice-master of the White Specter Clan, a blond-haired middle-aged man angrily banged his fist on the table. "What do you mean she refused?!" Opposite of this man stood a woman who wore a silver robe with three lines, indicating that her status isn''t that low. Each line represented a position and three meant she''s an Inner disciple. She''s the man''s niece and one of his confidants. She bowed and replied: "Miss Angelina rejected the proposal and even threatened me. I''m afraid if she speaks of the matter to the Matr-" The man cut her off while yelling again "She won''t tell that woman! She''s too proud to ask for her mother''s damned help! Send her to me when she comes back." The man then waved his hand dismissively, signaling the woman to leave. She slightly hesitated, which was something that the man clearly noticed. He creased his brows and asked her: "What''s the matter? Do you have something else to report?" The woman''s mouth opened and closed a few times but she didn''t speak a word. After seeing the mood of the middle-aged man worsen, she was left with no choice but to speak: "A-actually, I''ve heard some news that might interest you. Apparently, Miss Eva was found and is bring brought back to the clan." Confused, the man asked again: "Who''s Eva?" This time, the woman was slightly shocked. Her already low opinion of the man sank even lower. "It''s your daughter, uncle." With a hand rubbing his beard, he mumbled with a low voice: "My daughter? Hmmˇ­ Oh! Ohhhh!" He cracked a cold grin while saying: "The heavens do favor me, after all! Good good! I''ll prepare a warm welcome for my precious daughter." The woman forced a smile and quickly excused herself. ''Ughˇ­ to think the Matriarch married such a personˇ­ and he''s also my uncleˇ­ disgusting!'' The woman loathed everything about this man. He only carries about his benefits and considers his family as tools he can control. He''s been lucky enough to marry the Matriarch of the White Specter Clan hence becoming the Vice-Master of the clan but he barely has any followers or loyal subordinates. All his confidence comes from his backing, another great power of the Divine Planet, though it isn''t nearly as powerful as the specter''s clan. **** In a gloomy yet colossal hall, there were three silhouettes, one with them being as big as a mountain. The other two were standing before this gigantic figure, also known as the Whisperer King, one of the strongest beings in the Multiverse. He''s known to be an immortal, not dying even he''s cut into countless pieces. Although not as efficient as Fate ''herself'', the Whisperer King can also alter the fate of people using an ability called ''Strings of Fate''. He''s been living for more than five hundred thousand years and is the one and only ruler of the Ghost Nation. "We finally meet, Zodiak''s successor." He spoke with a deep and domineering voice while staring at Arthur, who nonchalantly sat before the king and took out a bottle of ale. "What I presume will be a long conversation won''t be interesting without booze, don''t you think so, O''King of Ghosts." The Whisperer King burst out in laughter, he signaled for the bandaged ghost to leave then retrieved a cup even larger than Arthur. Very soon, two cups, different in size, were filled with ale. Only when they emptied their cups did the two start talking again "I have to stay, I didn''t expect you to be so unfazed by my presence. Only when I saw it with my eyes did I believe that you''re not the Arthur I was looking for." "Hahaha trivial things like that don''t matter. You were looking for me so I came, isn''t that enough?" The King chuckled and replied: "Enoughˇ­ more than enough. I was curious about youˇ­ a person who can use Dark Magic but I was yet again met with another surprise. A Race extinct since the ancient times, Parasites." Arthur laughed again and poured another cup for himself and the king before speaking: "Hahaha now this is a much more interesting topic." After a short silence in which the King pondered about something, the Whisperer spoke again "Since you complied to my request and came here, you''re free to ask anything." Arthur''s lips arched upwards, he gulped his cup before opening his mouth: "I won''t hold back, then." ˇ­ After spending half an hour asking the Whisperer King, there arrived a moment where no answer was given, at least not instantaneously. "Hmmˇ­ how he died? Now I think about it, it''s quite ironic. The ones who killed him are none other than your kin, parasites. However, since you''re his successor, I don''t think they killed him but fatally injured him." "And where are they now?" "Exiled, of course. The Joker appeared and smote half of them but was unable to completely annihilate them. Only when the Nameless Knight appeared, did the two of them succeed in banishing the evil to the remnants of a destroyed Universe." "A destroyed Universe? You mean the Omega Universe?" "Yes, that one. Although it''s called a Universe, it''s actually an incredibly big world, it is from there that the System originated. After its destruction, the so-called ''Heavenly Scientists'' of the past managed to re-create the System to defend against the calamities." "I thought the Omega Universe was destroyed by Cthulhu Race. Do the parasites have a relation with them?" "Indeed they do. After all, they''re all from the same world." The Whisperer King waved his big hand, isolating the Hall and then asked "Do you know about ''Oblivion''?" ˇ­ "Where are we?" Anastassia, now with a jet black long hair and skin as white as snow, just like a corpse''s, stood next to the old man, Death, and glanced around her while asking. "In an age before the Void Era, more precisely, 2,300 years before that." Confused, she asked again "I thought traveling through time will cause the Time Wraiths to come after you. How come you can freely go whenever you please." The old man chuckled and explained "We didn''t travel through time but are merely ''seeing'' the past. We can''t affect it or change the future." Hearing the explanation, Anastassia remained silent and glanced at the beautiful valley they were in. The greenery stretched as far as the eye can see. Apart from the flowers and lush trees, there was a beautifully decorated grave. Anastassia walked toward it and read the name of the deceased. Death waved his hand, causing more time to pass until a man appeared next to Anastassia. Startled, she took a few steps back. She became flabbergasted by the appearance of the man. "A-arthur?" The old man shook his head and answered "No, he''s called Claud Vince." The man suddenly clutched his head and crouched on the ground, he started screaming loudly while blood leaked out of his facial orifices. Only after a long while did the man calm down, he laid on the ground and took a small piece of paper and a pen then started writing.Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. "What''s he doing?" Death gazed at the heavily panting man while replying "Writing Propheciesˇ­ as is his wont." After writing the ''Prophecy'', the man gazed at the grave for a long time before muttering a few words then unhesitatingly killing himself, freaking out the confused Anastassia. Although she tried to stop him, her hands simply passed through him. "As I previously told you, interfering with the past is not possible." The old man crouched next to the lifeless corpse and took the small piece of paper. He just said that no one can interfere with the past yet he was able to hold the paper, which greatly confused the woman. "This is something unaffected by the laws of time or anything else. In fact, it can''t be burned, torn, or devoured. It''s eternal." Death handed her the piece of paper and said "With this done, we''ll go forward 2,300 Years and show you what caused the Void Era." Anastassia tightly grabbed the piece of paper and read its contents. The power of destruction did rend the baleful star, and peace doth reign near and afar. Yet twenty-three centuries hence shall it come anew, and certain doom is sure to ensue. Chapter 436 - 386 : The New King ''What do we do?'' Lucy talked to Arthur, who''s dormant inside of her. He wasn''t noticed by the butler as and the little bit of Dark Magic he usually emits is directed to Makaze. ''I need to know the clan''s location, its structure and how powerful the people there are.'' Lucy agreed with him, to wreak complete havoc, they need to know the enemy''s strength. The White Specter Clan is amongst the powerful powers of the Divine Planet so it won''t be easy to cause chaos. Since the moment they started relentlessly chasing after them, Arthur swore to pay back what was done to him tenfold. They refused to leave them alone so he has to resort to more aggressive means. Lucy''s mother, the Matriarch of the clan and the strongest person there, is, fortunately, in secluded cultivation so they don''t have to worry about her interfering. The trio didn''t linger in the Bard Realm, they remained there for barely two hours before heading directly toward the Divine Planet. With the help of the Overgod, they were met with no difficulties. Even the raging storm of Nether Energy surrounding the ginormous planet didn''t obstruct them. As she stared at the Divine Planet, Lucy was truly shocked, the size of this planet was mind-numbing. It was so big to the point that its spheric couldn''t be seen even when they were in the Bard Realm. Moreover, there was an over-abundance of people either leaving or entering it. No one was foolish enough to provoke the butler, who''s apparently rather famous in both the Divine Planet and the Bard Realm. Despite needing to overcome the storm, there are only certain locations people can pass through. At the end of these locations were massive gates that are guarded by strong cultivations originating from the strongest power in the Cloud Sea Universe, the Cloud Sea Sect. Although they arrived at the Divine Planet, the place was far too big so they needed two whole weeks to arrive at their destination. Not even once did Lucy converse with her sister or the butler, who tried to initiated a conversation but miserably failed. *** During these two weeks, a huge piece of news traveled to all corners of the Cloud Sea Universe. It''s about the middle-realm, Green-Leaf, where the Crown Prince revolted and assassinated his father, the king. He took the crown for himself and became the ruler of that land. At first, there was some public opposition but the harsh and merciless actions of Isadore rendered everyone silent and obedient. He killed not only his father but three other ministers without even giving a reason. Surprisingly, the one and only sibling of Isadore, his sister, wasn''t enraged and actually supported her brother, facilitating his rise to the peak. This was but the first part of this news, the second part was the crushing defeat of the Holy Dominion, which was permanently banished from Green-Leaf. Isadore publicly stated that any person from the Holy Dominion who dares to enter Green-Leaf will be killed on the spot. Everyone and anyone who has an affiliation with the Holy Dominion will be executed. More shocking was that this king, a human mortal, assigned a demon as his adviser. Furthermore, the Holy Dominion envoy was killed in the Imperial Capital and their naked bodies were hanging on the main gates of the city, causing even more uproar. As one would expect, the Holy Dominion was infuriated by Isadore''s ruthless actions and demanded an explanation to which the King publicly stated: "I don''t need a reason to kill spineless vermin." ******** "Motherfuckers! How dare you steal my sword!" A tall woman angrily crushed the head of a robot then pulled its arms, breaking it. Another robot punched her stomach but didn''t even make her flinch, she glared at it and kicked it, pulverizing it. "I won''t leave till you fucking hand me the sword!" She glared at a large airship from which countless robots were descending from. The airship was the size of a plane with many advanced rockets at its front. A mechanical barrier was surrounding it, defending it from any exterior attacks. This was a moving fortress which is one of the main powers of the system. Surprisingly, amongst the countless robots, there was a human. He was a man in his forties wearing a thick golden armor. He held a flaming longsword embedded with six silver gems. "We''re just borrowing it for some time, what''s the big deal?" The man flashed a hideous grin that made him look uglier. He beckoned Losha with his pinky, clearly provoking her. "A lv10,000 dog dares to talk big in front of me?" What happened after could only be described as a complete and absolute beatdown. The man was beaten black and blue, his armor broken, his sword snapped in half and his face like a panda. She mounted him and continuously punched his face, breaking his jaw and nose yet not stopping even for a second. She didn''t want to hear his pleas or excuses, after all, it''s a refreshing feeling to demolish these ''players'' that belonged to the System. As the reincarnator was busy slowly killing the player, a silhouette approached her behind. It wasn''t the robots that were demolished even before they could move, but a more powerful individual. While witnessing the sight before him, he hugged his arms and moaned: "Ahhh! What a show! What a spirit! What Determination!" Startled by the sudden appearance of the strange man, Losha turned her head only to suffer another shock. She hastily got up and stared back at the Joker, unable to say or do anything. Just like the Nameless Knight, the Joker is another strong being, albeit very eccentric. His mood may change in a second and he doesn''t differentiate between friend or foe. "Oh please don''t mind meˇ­ do continue." He pointed at the bloodied ''player'' while grinning. In response, Losha shook her head and said "No need, I''m done relieving my anger." With closed eyes and a finger on his forehead, the Joker seemed to be pondering about something. He walked to the player and pressed his foot on the man''s face while speaking to the uncomfortable reincarnator "Come on, don''t be like this. You were so energetic just a second ago."Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. Losha forced a laugh but was unable to think of something to say. "Tch! You''re famous for your fiery attitude, where''d go to? Anywaaaaaaayˇ­ take this." He fiddled with a card in his hand, which transformed into an exquisite-looking red letter. "Your strength rose so I needed to personally come. You''re invited to my Red Tower! Make sure to come, aight?" After saying that, he pressed his foot and pulverized the player''s head. Then, he raised his head and stared at the still-standing airship, he raised his hand, which was holding a card, and casually vertically slashed the air. Losha gawked at what happened next; the floating airship was split in two and slowly fell while the Joker vanished from that area, leaving a speechless reincarnator. She only snapped out of her daze when she heard his voice one last time "Take this as a giftˇ­ I don''t want you to come empty-handed, after all." Her divine sword, Grail, appeared in front of her, waiting to return to its owner and partner. ******* Lucy stared at the grandiose gates erected before her. They were at least 50 meters in height and several meters thick. Two disciples wearing white robes were guarding it. When they noticed the butler and Angelina, they bowed and treated them with absolute respect though they were surprised too another person that looked very identical to the Matriarch''s daughter. The butler nodded to the two disciples and, at last, entered the White Specter Clan. He was in a bit of a rush to tell the Matriarch about Arthur and Lucy. Unfortunately, the second they stepped inside the clan, the disciplinary elder rushed toward them. "Greetings, butler Hobson, Miss Angelina, andˇ­" He smiled at Lucy and introduced himself "I presume you''re Miss Eva. You''re as beautiful as your mother. I''m Benson Album Larva, your maternal uncle." He stretched his hand, expecting Lucy to reciprocate but she threw him a quick glance before ignoring him and his hand. Benson wasn''t bothered, his smile widened as he resumed talking "Your father heard that you''re coming so he prepared a warm welcome for you. Please follow me." Both Hobson and Angelina frowned, clearly not believing Benson''s words but they still followed him. Lucy curiously looked around, inspecting the beautifully built houses and the tall pagodas in the horizon. The territory of the White Specter Clan is huge and this area is where the Outer Disciples reside. Some left their homes and gazed at Lucy before starting to guess her origins. The rumors of her return had already spread and many speculated that she''s the Matriarch''s daughter from another man. ''From the look on your sister''s face, I don''t think your father is that ''good-willed''.'' Meanwhile, Arthur was talking to his wife about his father-in-law, who''s never been mentioned by the butler or Angelina. ''Hmpf! It doesn''t matter if he''s ''good-willed'' or not, I''m going to leave sooner or later.''-Lucy Chapter 437 - 387 : Thordan After walking for a while, they arrived at the second largest pagoda in the clan. Arthur found it weird since the architecture used is varied and unfit with the few sky-high pagodas at the center of the clan. Lucy''s uncle, Benson, kept talking about the prosperity of the clan and giving his niece a small tour of their territory. Literally, he was the epitome of arrogance, he talked as if he owned all of that yet he was only a Disciplinary Elder. Yes, he was in charge of punishing the crimes of the evildoers but he doesn''t have as much authority as a real elder. Nonetheless, Benson Album Larva kept boasting about the White Specter Clan while continuously saying that ''Lucy is lucky to be part of the clan''. The niece in question became disgusted and hated this ''uncle'' of hers even more. He seemed childish and haughty, contrary to what a loving uncle should be. Although it''s the first time they met, all he did was talk, talk, and talkˇ­ not even once did he ask how she was doing until now. Furthermore, Hobson and Angelina remained silent but their frowning faces couldn''t be hidden. From the looks of it, they weren''t on the same side as Benson. The pagoda not only was over 700 meters in height but also had a wide interior, able to fit hundreds of people. As one would expect, this wasn''t a place anyone could enter hence the lack of any people. There were only a few servants tasked to clean and arrange stuff. Benson directly guided them toward the highest floor, where Lucy''s father is. As said previously, a small ''banquet'' was prepared for the return of his ''precious'' daughter. However, it was better to call it a small feast as there was no one but a middle-aged man on that floor. He stood on a chair that resembled a throne and looked down at his new guests. His gaze instantly locked into Lucy, whose appearance is very similar to her sister and mother. A cold glint flashed across his eyes as he cracked a smile and got up from his, ready to warmly welcome his daughter, who has been missing for a long time. ''Overgod?'' ''Yes but his cultivation is unstable, he must have broken through not too long ago. His foundation is shaky tooˇ­ a person like that, although an Overgod, can be killed with Makaze. One attack, swift and silentˇ­''-Claud ''We''ll have to wait and seeˇ­'' The middle-aged man walked toward the guests and was about to hug his daughter only to halt his steps three meters away from her. The blade was on her waist was releasing an ominous aura while menacingly growling at him, clearly making think twice before approaching Lucy. Even the close Angelina and her uncle had to step back, only Hobson was able to resist the dark blade''s aura. "Miss Eva is still not used to all of this. Give her some time." The butler butted in and uttered those words to calm the situation. The middle-aged man, named Thordan, warily looked at the silver-haired woman before him then forced a laugh. "No worries no worries. We have ample time to spend together from now on." Thordan beckoned them to the table then sat at the main chair, curiously glancing at Lucy then Angelina, who never paid him any heed. "Eva, don''t you remember m-" Before her father could finish, Lucy cut him off and coldly said: "I''m not Eva, my name is Lucy. Lucy MoonStar." Startled by her very disrespectful attitude ad impolite tone, Thordan frowned and said "MoonStar?" To explain the situation, Hobson stated: "She''s married to someone hence she got his surname." The kind attitude Thordan just had seemed to have vanished into thin air as he banged his fist on the table while speaking with a slightly loud and irritated tone "What nonsense is this? How can she marry without the approval of her parents?" The man closed his eyes for a second before sighing and adding: "That marriage is null and void!" Unfortunately, Lucy wasn''t just going to listen to his words, she harrumphed and retorted "And who are you to tell me who to marry? I don''t need or want to hear your opinion. I''m Lucy MoonStar and there''s nothing you can do or say to change that." Veins started popping from Thordan''s reddened face. Even Angelina, who rarely interacts with her father and is stubborn and unruly, never spoke to him like that, moreso in front of Benson and Hobson. "Is that how you speak to your father!?" "You are not my father." The more he listened to her and saw her attitude, the angrier Thordan became. He got up from his seat and shouted: "Unfilial child! I was happy to see you after such a long time yet you''re treating me, your father, like this?" Lucy glared at him with dagger-eyes and retorted: "Call yourself my father one more time and see what happens?" Even Hobson, Angelina, and Benson were shocked by Lucy''s attitude. Although he wasn''t that respected in the clan, Thordan was still the Matriarch''s husband so no one dares to talk him like that, much less threaten him. It''s true that they always talk bad about him but none is brave enough to voice their opinions when he''s present.Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. With a flushed face, Thordan was hyperventilating, his body shaking and his fists clenched. He glared back at her and said "I''m your fa-" Before he could even finish, Lucy disappeared from her seat. With a soft white saber in her hand, she appeared in front of him, ready to stab his neck with Twilight''s Vow. For someone who only relied on rare medicines and pills to increase his cultivation, Thordan is considered a weakling and has close to no battle experience. He only realized what was happening when the saber was about to penetrate his throat. Fortunately, Angelina kind of grasped her little sister''s character so she was able to predict this. Just when the saber was about to kill Thordan, a soft hand grasped Lucy''s wrist, barely managing to stop it. Angelina had to activate her Physique and use all of her Strength, coupled with Nether Energy, just to stop Lucy''s advancing hand. The second she bought was enough for Hobson to restrain Lucy and push her away from her father, who only snapped out of his shock after the white saber disappeared from his sight. Honestly, he never expected his daughter to be this dangerous. He already sensed her cultivation yet the speed she just displayed was out of the norm. Benson, who was watching these events unfold, was equally speechless. Parts of his clothes became frozen by the thick amount of Yin emanating from Lucy. Although she was restrained, her Physique started affecting her surroundings, freezing the table, food, and even the chairs. "You''re crazy! You actually dare to attack me?!" Thordan walked toward the restrained Lucy''s, who''s glare is enough to cause him to feel chills down his spine. He locked his eyes onto her and raised his hand, clearly about to hit her. It was at this moment that Angelina interfered, again, and stopped her father. She held his raised his hand while shaking her hand and saying "She''s still uncomfortable in this environment." Angelina''s tone wasn''t of a pleading daughter, she was actually warning him and telling him to think twice before hitting her. Unlike Thordan, Lucy''s mother greatly cares about her children and never once raised a hand against Angelina. In fact, the Matriarch and Thordan are still married but haven''t talked for a long time. Their relationship worsened ever since the father slapped Angelina that one time when she refused to marry a young man from another sect. He didn''t care about her opinion and wanted to use her as a tool to boost his influence and gain benefits, unfortunately, the Matriarch was so enraged by his actions that she almost killed him. Were it not for Angelina''s pleading, he would have died that day. In the end, Thordan put down his hand and angrily stormed out of the room. Hobson removed the restraints, setting Lucy free though she didn''t move her spot. She wasn''t shocked but was talking with Arthur, who was about to leave her about and really murder her father. No matter who it was, he won''t let them touch his wife, much less hit her! He was really about go all out and obliterate the whole pagoda even at the cost of his life. Fortunately, Lucy convinced him to stay put no matter what happens lest he gets discovered and their plan fails. ''You have to promise me to not reveal yourself.'' ''*sigh* Alright, I won''t.'' ''No! You have to promise!'' After a short silence, Arthur said ''ˇ­ I promise.'' ˇ­ "I''ll guide you to your room. I''m sure you''ll like it." Angelina guided her sister to the room that was prepared for her. Hobson went to meet the Matriarch and Benson followed the leaving Thordan. As her sister said, the room was inside the largest Pagoda in the sect. The room was on the 59th floor and was not only luxurious but very large too. The room lacked nothing, whether it''s the thick and pure amount of Nether Energy, the necessary tools to cultivate or the special food that facilitate the circulation of energy inside the Meridians. "For now, please don''t leave your room." With a worried look, Angelina said that only to hear a sneer come out of Lucy''s mouth. "Room? Isn''t this a prison?" Angelina could only bite her lips and leave the room. For now, Lucy has to be locked here until she meets the Matriarch. Chapter 438 - 388 : Five Thousand "Dan hasn''t come back yet?" Although he became King, Isadore preferred his old office so he kept using it even after ascending to the throne. He just asked Christopher, the minister of finance and his long-time friend. "No, Your Majesty." The fat minister shook his head while saying that. "Oh come on, no need to be polite when we''re alone." Feeling a bit uncomfortable, Christopher said "N-no can do, Your Majesty. You''re our king an-" Isadore cut him off while retorting "Before we''re a ''king and his subjects'', we are friends. It is for this reason that I only allow you to come here and speak of my secrets to you." The fatty scratched the back of his head while smiling "I''m flattered, Your Majesty." Seeing the stubborn attitude of his friend, Isadore could only let out a helpless sigh. He glanced at the silent silver-haired woman sitting at the corner of the office before unfolding a small piece of paper he received a few minutes ago. After carefully reading it, he sucked a deep breath and shifted his attention back to the busy Taliya. "Taliya." Hearing him call her name, the new adviser put down the papers in her hand and walked to him. He handed her the piece of paper he just got and said "What do you think?" After she finished reading the contents of the paper, the demon frowned and replied "Are you sure of their authenticity?"Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. She was talking about the content of the small paper. "Surer than sure." Without realizing it, Taliya sat next to the king and started reading the small paper again and again. "I, I don''t think it''s true. Arthur would never let Lucy go alone." She looked at him and asked "What about you? What do you think happened to them." Isadore raised his hand innocently and retorted "Hey, I''m not the one who''s close to them. You should know them better than I do." After that, Taliya spent a long time pondering before speaking again. "No, it''s impossible. Arthur would rather die than separate from Lucy." Isadore creased his brows and asked "To that extent?" She nodded her head while confirming his suspicions "More than you think. He would stop at nothing to guarantee her safety and it is for this reason that I think this information is either false or incomplete." Hearing this, Isadore burst out in laughter, startling the focused Taliya who looked at him with a strange gaze. "I also think the probability of them separating is close to zero. You mentioned that he can freely change appearance? Perhaps he''s following them? Then again, how come the Overgod hasn''t noticed him? Moreover, how will he infiltrate that place, after all, it''s not a second-rate clan." Taliya shook her head, indicating that she doesn''t know what the hell was going on. With one finger unconsciously tapping the table, Isadore kept pondering ''Did he follow them or return to Astria? He isn''t foolish enough to try and fight them alone butˇ­ who''ll help him? The Kangs? Impossible, they aren''t that deeply involved yet. Then why''d he let Lucy go back? Is it a trick? Did he send a clone? I need more information from Dan!'' *** Arthur accompanied the Whisperer King for a whole day before leaving the Ghost Nation. Time was running out and the Time Wraiths are becoming more and more numerous. He heard what he need to hear from the Whisperer King so he needs to complete the last task before succumbing to the Wraiths. With a silver baby dragon in his arm, he teleported to a peaceful place devoid of any person. He rubbed the dragon''s cute head while saying "Never did I think I would spend my final days with you, Yamak." The dragon licked his face, covering it with saliva. Yamak was as energetic as ever, its growth speed is truly monstrous. In just a short period of time, his size almost doubled and his strength rose by leaps and bounds. As he glanced around, Arthur let out a sigh and mumbled "It shall end just like it began." *** A few hours after Lucy was ''guided'' to this room, someone knocked three times on the door. Although Lucy completely ignored them, whoever was there refused to leave and patiently waited for her. A minute passed, then an hour, then five hours. Feeling uncomfortable about this stubborn stranger who''s still waiting outside of her room, Lucy was left with no choice but to open the door. What welcomed her sight was a boy who looked fifteen or sixteen years old. He was short and looked weak and fragile especially with his reddened face and half-open mouth. He hesitated for a few seconds before speaking "H-hello Miss Eva. F-from now on, I''m your p-personal servant." Not only he lacked confidence, he didn''t even dare raise his dropped head, much less look at her. He heard that she''s the Matriarch long lost daughter who finally returned home. Surprisingly, this boy was a 6-Star God Monarch who supposed to be her ''servant'' and ''guardian''. Although he looked young, Arthur could see his real age, which is different from what he looks like. This boy is Teit and isn''t a White Specter but a human. The clan recruits strong humans who are willing to serve the higher-ups. Those who are recruited are commonly fugitives who are blacklisted by their previous clan or sect. Teit is actually 65 years old but he behaved like a total child for some reason. Lucy contemplated what to do before saying "I''m not ''Miss Eva'' but Lucy MoonStar and I don''t need a servant." She paid him no heed and slammed the door to which the boy became startled, taking a few steps back then falling on his butt. He tried to convince her to let him serve her but was too late to do that. The only thing left to do was wait in front of the door until she acknowledges him. ''We could use someone like him.''-Arthur ''Hmpf! Aren''t you usually against me interacting with other men?''-Lucy ''Wellˇ­ he seems harmless and timid. He''s not threatening.''-Arthur ''Still, I feel disgusted by all men, young or old so I''ll find someone else, a female who''s willing to spy for us.''-Lucy ''I don''t think it''s going to be that easy. They''re closely monitoring you.''-Arthur ˇ­ A day passed yet neither Hobson nor Angelina visited her. Teit remained standing outside of the door, not budging or saying anything. He was told to serve Lucy and he mustn''t fail. Although he is quite strong, he''s still treated poorly due to his Race. Although not all of the specters, a few of them treat the Humans quite harshly. Coincidentally, those ''few'' happen to be those at the top of the clan, those who pull all the strings and control everything. The Matriarch is still the absolute ruler of the clan but due to her frequent absence, the matters of the clan are usually handled by Thordan and some others. Time was pressing and the couple needed information about the clan sooner rather than later. In the end, although unwilling, Lucy had to use Teit, who was immensely happy when Lucy opened the door and told him to come in. "M-miss E- I mean Lucy, I''m glad that you''ve finally accepted me. I''ll be loyal and serve you properly!" He did a ninety-degree bow and remained like that for ten seconds before raising his head. It is hard to believe that he''s 65 years old but the results of Appraisal can''t be faked especially if it''s used with Arthur''s eye. ''Claud, how much time do you think the ARK can isolate us?''-Arthur ''Isolate? Probably three hours but I can stretch it to four. Why? Are you going to do it now? Isn''t it too soon?'' ''Not now but I need to prepare.''-Arthur Lucy crossed her arms and coldly stared at Teit, who dropped his head, too embarrassed to meet her gaze. "How many people are there in the sect?" The boy thought for a moment before replying "Three thousand White Specters and a thousand humans." "What about theirˇ­" Lucy started questioning him and only stopped after one hour. Although he always replied, she couldn''t fully trust his words, he could be a spy sent by someone antagonistic to her mother. Still, the information he gave her was terrifying. Two thousand of those White Specters are actually the elite army of the clan and are always on standby. Almost all of them are God Monarch with the exceptions of three, who are Overgods. The remaining thousand specters are either children or elderly and their cultivation varies. The thousand humans all have a cultivation above the God Realm and are like a ''cannon-fodder''. There''s also the Elders, which are divided into two types, Peak Elders and Regular Elders(like Benson). Peak Elders are strong Overgods and Regular Elders are ''new'' Overgods. Any White Specter who breakthrough the Overgod Realm will become a Regular Elder. The territory of the White Specter Clan is truly humongous but only a small part of it is habitable. The rest is used for resources, trials, or tournaments. There''s also a forbidden area only accessible by the Matriarch. After getting the much-needed answers, Lucy sent Teit out, telling him to bring her information about the terrain around the sect. What is the closest sect or clan? Are there nearby cities? Forests? Mountains? She wanted to know everythingˇ­ ˇ­ Inside the ARK, Arthur sipped some tea which was prepared by his copy and stared at the endless white space around him. "What are you think about?" Artur chuckled and replied with an absent-minded look "Her mother brought her yet didn''t even come to see her personally and her father is an asshole. I wish not for my wife to live in such a place and I''m sure she doesn''t want to too. You ask me what I was thinking about?" He leaned closer to Claud and spoke with a chilling tone "I''m thinking about the day I bring my undead army here and demolish this place. I will make them regret bringing herˇ­ let''s see if five thousand people can defend against an army of millions." "Are you thinking of killing them all?" A cold glint flashed across Arthur''s eyes. "Whoever raises a weapon to fight is an enemy. It matters not if it''s a kid or a dying old woman." Chapter 439 - 389 : Ism Bored An injured woman laid on a large bed, sometimes wriggling, sometimes coughing blood and more often than not falling unconscious from the excruciating pain. Inside the room she was in, there was a middle-aged man who tried everything to heal her wound but to no avail, whatever was inside of her couldn''t be removed with normal means. Despite his high cultivation, he was rendered helpless and could only watch his only disciple slowly die before his eyes. Never did he think she would return like this after traveling to Green-Leaf to investigate the Kangs and try to locate the cane. She returned three days ago and was barely conscious. A hideous black sword slash was engraved on her chest, the wound emitted a dense amount of dark fog, ominous and dangerous. "It''s definitely that Dark Magic user!" The middle-aged man clenched his fists as he glared at the lingering fog. He already condemned Arthur to death for fatally injuring Ranka Hnach. She was the woman who was caught by Arthur and barely escaped but at what cost? The slash from Makaze was enough to critically wound her soul and weaken her Dantian. Since she wasn''t able to get rid of the Dark Magic as soon as it entered her body, it became close to impossible for any exterior forces to try and extract it. Her situation worsened as the Dimensional Stone teleported her to a barren place hence her late arrival. "He must know where the cane is!" The man treated his disciple harshly but that''s only because he cared for her and didn''t want to her to grow into a soft-hearted person. She was the first and last disciple yet she was dying before his eyes, which greatly saddened him. ˇ­ Four days after Ranka''s arrival, the middle-aged man chose to hire Black Rose to track Arthur and bring him alive. Unfortunately, Black Rose flatly rejected his request, causing him to became even more enraged. The most important issue now is curing Ranka so he started looking everywhere for a capable Physician. Although the Holy Dominion may be able to heal her, he didn''t want to be implicated with them. *** ''Are you sure it won''t be discovered?''-Arthur ''Yes, the ARK doesn''t use Energy so there''s zero chance of being noticed. However, it''ll take some time.''-Claud Arthur pondered for a moment before agreeing to let the ARK leave his consciousness and investigate the clan on its own. Its results are guaranteed and 100% authentic. It''s better than trusting Teit''s words, after all, better be safe than sorry. With Arthur''s approval, the strange cube inside of his consciousness flew out of his chest and quickly disappeared, beginning its assigned task. Lucy would ask Teit a few questions every now and then to which he''ll honestly reply. Although still a bit timid, the boy managed to raise his head and stare back at her when they''re talking. He was supposed to be much stronger than her but he couldn''t help but feel overwhelmed by her pressure. The coldness she emits is enough to dig deep into his bones. Moreover, her cultivation is increasing by leaps and bounds. Despite the lack of Mana here, Lucy still managed to reach the peak of Fusion Sovereign, a hair''s width away from becoming a High Sovereign. ˇ­ In the forbidden area of the White Specter Clan, where no one but the Matriarch can enter, the butler, Hobson, stood at the entrance and waited for his master to leave. Unlike others, he''s allowed to enter as she gave him permission but the Overgod was fully aware that she was trying to break through and any kind of disturbance would cause all her efforts to become in vain. The old man didn''t know when she''ll breakthrough but he hoped it''ll be soon as the situation will probably worsen if she doesn''t show herself. Thordan was running rampant, doing whatever he wants and from the way he was treated by Lucy two days ago, he definitely won''t let it go. *** In a gloomy and dark room that lacked any kind of illumination, eight people were sitting around a table. Each seat had a specific color with the biggest one being the black one, which merged with the environment. "So you directly made him into one of the nine seats? Without holding the council and voting? Not even a test?" There was a woman sitting on the white seat, she glared at the green seat and spoke disrespectfully, displeased with Artid''s decision. All the others remained silent, neither opposing or agreeing with what Artid did. The Green Seat of Justice chuckled while retorting "I don''t think I need your permission. He''s more than qualified to join us, moreover, he''s a Dark Magic user." Out of nowhere, someone started laughing, this person glanced at the other seven and said: "I believe I already met him. He''s indeed unfathomable and worth having him with us. A wise decision, Green Seat." It was the person sitting on the Blue Seat who said that. The darkness covered his face so his real appearance couldn''t be distinguished but from his voice, it was clear that he was a middle-aged man. "What? He''s a Sovereign! What can a trash like that do?!" The White Seat remained stubborn, still unwilling to accept Arthur. "And let''s not talk with his enemies. The Holy Dominion is hunting him like a dog! Like we don''t have enough enemies!" The Blue Seat shrugged his shoulders and retorted "It''s not like we''re not antagonistic against some of the people in the Holy Echelon so stop your whining, White Seat." Although she dared to talk back to Artid, the woman could only bite her lips and stay silent when the Blue Seat talked. Although they had equal authority, there was some kind of hierarchy which should be respected and the Blue Seat is way above her. "When can we expect him?" The Black Seat spoke, causing the others to quieten down. Artid thought for a moment before saying "He''s kind of ''busy'' right now but it shouldn''t take too long." The Black Seat nodded his head and switched the topic "Any other news that we should be aware of?" Artid is considered the brain of Black Rose, whether it''s his unusual strength despite his low cultivation or his extremely vast information network. He''s always able to investigate anyone and find their location, basically, nothing escapes from him. The Green Seat''s countenance drastically changed, he handed the seven of them a piece of paper while saying "The Void Behemoth is on the move." The Blue Seat frowned and asked: "Hm? Last time I checked, it was still hibernating." The Red Seat, who seemed to be way shorter than the rest, spoke: "If it woke up then it must have sensed something." ˇ­ "Amidelˇ­ that sly fox! He must have known about this!" Dan, the Overgod guarding the royal family of Green-Leaf, was currently staring at Astria from afar. He thoroughly searched the world but apart from the forgotten continent, which couldn''t be accessed, he wasn''t able to find something that would push the Kangs to secretly ally with Arthur. Only when he left the small world and tried to look around it did he discover a shocking thing. After staring at it for a long while, he was prepared to leave only to feel a threatening presence appear before him. Before he could summon his weapon or even lift a finger, the Overgod found himself immobilized. As he laid eyes on the person before him, Dan became speechless. "S-seniorˇ­ w-what brings you here."Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. His usually leisurely countenance was nowhere to be seen, the man spoke politely without any hint of arrogance. Facing this straw-hat wearing Overgod was a youth clad in dark armor. He stared at Dan and said "I''m quite bored, why don''t you follow me for a chat?" Dan could feel the pressure that was binding him slowly disappear. He repeatedly nodded his head and wiped the cold sweat off his forehead. He didn''t even dare think about fleeing, after all, it wasn''t an Overgod that was facing him but the Nameless Knight. With no choice but to comply, Dan followed the youth, unable to understand why he would appear out, and so suddenly, at that. So, just like that, the two drifted away from Astriaˇ­ Chapter 440 - 390 : Five Lakes Sec It took the ARK 15 hours to get all the information Arthur needed. It safely returned to his consciousness and showed him all the obtained results. *White Specter Clan: Location: Cloud Sea Universe ; Divine Planet 4,587 buildings, 604 caves, 5 forests, 42 mountains, 30 rivers. 5,761 living being; 3,298 White Specter, 2463 Human. Defense: 2 Large formations (0.2% chance of breaking them) Attack: No offensive formations/arrays. Teleportation: No teleportation formations/arrays. Probability of successfully destroying this place alone (0.05%) Probability of successfully destroying this place with the user ''Lucy MoonStar'' (0.18%) Probability of successfully killing everyone in this place alone (7.9%) Probability of successfully killing everyone in this place with the user ''Lucy MoonStar'' (9.99%) Probability of successfully raiding this place with 100,000,000 Undead (65%) (Variation of the Undead is included in the calculationˇ­)* Arthur thought for a moment before saying "What if I add thisˇ­" After spending some time to integrate what he said, the ARK gave him the answer. *Probability of successfully raiding this place with (100,000,000+ Undead) + (The Four Divine) + (Midolf and Radolf) : (98.5%)* ''This settles it, then.''-Claud Arthur felt confident after seeing the results with his own eyes. If everything goes according to his plan then obliterating this clan is only a matter of time. Moreover, the ARK also took into account the Matriarch, who''s the strongest person here. Lucy already approved of the plan and agreed to fully help him with the time comes. The White Specter Clan brought this upon themselves, she never asked to be brought back yet not only did they forcefully drag her here, but they also imprisoned her in this room and left her to rot. Her supposedly ''caring'' mother is nowhere to be seen but it''s not like she wants to meet here. The sooner they get done with this the better. Of course, the couple thought of escaping but for how long? 1 year? 10 years? It''s better to get rid of the root than continuously flee when danger arises. "Miss Lucy, the Vice-Master has invited you to dinner." Teit knocked on the door and said that, from the way he spoke, it was apparent that he was barely able to squeeze those words out of his mouth. After talking to Lucy for a few times, he was able to see her hate for the clan and everyone inside so it''s to be expected that she''ll not be pleased when he says that. ˇ­ On the 60th floor of the largest Pagoda in the clan, Thordan excitedly waited for Lucy to come. He was grinning from ear to ear while sometimes glancing at the silent Angelina, who was also invited. "It''s such a shameˇ­ I wanted you to marry Young Master Lex." Angelina only snorted as a response, choosing to ignore her father. For several times already, he tried to arrange a marriage between her and a genius young man from the Five Lakes Sect. The Five Lakes Sect is situated in the Divine Planet but it isn''t as powerful as the White Specter Clan but it has one of the best Alchemists in the Cloud Sea Universe. They are vastly wealthy and respected by the powers, who always request pills and medicine from them. It is rumored that Lex, the rising talent of the Five Lakes Sect is infatuated with Angelina ever since he was young. Moreover, Thordan himself is from the Five Lakes Sect. He''s the son of the elders there so the relation between the clan and sect is rather good. All kinds of food was presented on a large table and many seats were prepared as if there''ll be some visitors, which is actually the case but neither Lucy nor her sister were aware of that, yet. Very soon, Lucy also arrived, she glanced at her sister then at Thordan, who smiled back at her and spoke with an apologetic tone "Aigoo my sweet daughter. I was rash and didn''t think about your feelings, please forgive my prior actions." Unlike last time, he didn''t attempt to hug her. He just signaled her to sit opposite of Angelina while saying "I''ve prepared a delicious feast, enjoy."Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. Lucy sat there while keeping her silence, choosing to do nothing but stare back at Angelina. The big sister very much wanted to fix her relationship with Lucy and deepen their bond but the latter was hell-bent on hating everyone, including her. She didn''t know what her Lucy went through but she''s already trying her best yet she wasn''t even given a second chance. Sensing the presences of a few people approaching the 60th floor, Lucy said to Arthur ''I already know what''s going to happen.'' ''I must say, he acts pretty fast.''-Arthur Around five minutes later, a group of people wearing exquisite silver robes entered the large room. They bowed to Thordan, who nodded back at them before they shifted their attention to the pair of sisters. There were exactly three visitors, one young man, and two middle-aged men. The young man was handsome and refined but you could see a hint of haughtiness in his actions. He didn''t notice Lucy, as his eyes were glued to Angelina, only after one of the middle-aged men loudly coughed, did the young man snap out of his daze and glance at the other silver-haired woman only to receive another shock. He was never told that Angelina had a sister that looked like her. While it''s true they had some points of difference, you would only notice them if you looked very carefully. From afar, the two looked like twins, identical twins. "This is Young Master Lex from the Five Lake Sect, go greet him." As Thordan introduced the young man to Lucy, he was met with nothing but silence. She didn''t even get up from her seat, much less glance at Lex or greet him. The awkwardness only remained for a brief moment before the young man walked to Angelina and shamelessly sat next to her. His eyes were locked onto Lucy, mesmerized by her beauty. "Nice to meet you, I''m Lex." "ˇ­" Just like what happened with Thordan, the young man was met with nothing but silence. He forced a laugh and turned his head to talk to Angelina only to find out that she changed her seat, choosing to stay away from him. "Come on, Angelina, we''ve known each other for a long time." "Get away from me, you creep." Although he was insulted, Lex didn''t feel angry as he was used to her temperament. Just as the youngster was about to go sit next to Angelina again, Thordan said "As you know, young master Lex, I invited you today to finally bond our two families." Hearing this, Angelina frowned and glared at her father while retorting "I already said that I''m not marrying him." Thordan broke into a wide smile while saying "I know, since you''re so opposed to this then I won''t force you." Even Lex was confused by what''s happening so he eagerly waited for Thordan to continue speaking: "As you see, this is my daughter. She''s called Eva." He pointed at Lucy then continued "Due to a problem in the past, she went missing but, fortunately, we''ve managed to locate her and bring her back home safe and sound." Lex wasn''t stupid so he quickly caught up to what Thordan was implying. To be honest, whether it''s Lucy or Angelina, it''s fine by him as they were both beauties. He has been in love with Angelina for a long time but only due her background and pretty face. If he can marry her sister, who''s equally beautiful then it''s still a win-win situation. Thordan paused for a second to study Lex''s reaction before continuing "So, instead of marrying Angelina, how about you marry my youngest daughter?" Hearing this, Angelina got up from her seat and angrily glared at her father. "You better stop this, father." Thordan tilted his head and said: "Hm? Stop what? I''m thinking about my daughter''s future. To marry young master Lex is a blessing for our two families." Left with no choice but to use her mother, Angelina threatened him "Do you think my mother will agree?" The father coldly snorted and retorted: "Your mother is in secluded cultivation. It may even take her years to leave." What Thordan meant is that the Matriarch can''t be bothered to take care of this matter. She may leave seclusion in five years and by that time, Lucy would have married Lex and bore his child. He was fully aware that even Angelina can''t enter that forbidden area so there''s no way she can go snitch. What made Angelina even more worried is that Lucy didn''t voice any objection. She sat there and remained silent, not voicing out any opinion which was an unusual behavior, to say the least. Knowing her fiery and ruthless behavior, there''s no way that her sister would marry another person. Angelina was sure that Lucy was up to something but she didn''t know what exactlyˇ­ Chapter 441 - 391 : Killed "So, young master Lex, what do you think?" Thordan was grinning as he asked the pondering young man. Honestly, Lex was totally up for it as Angelina and Lucy looked practically the same. A hot and kind of disgusting gaze landed on Lucy, who chose to act normal instead of showing the usual contempt. "It''s a pleasure to be part of your family, father-in-law." Delighted, Thordan burst out in laughter while beckoning for Lex to sit next to him. Now that the two families finally joined, they all need to finalize the marriage and reveal it to the public. Contrary to the joyful father, Angelina was feeling down, unable to come up with something that''ll stop her father''s schemes. She would glance at Lucy every now and then, however, her sister was acting strangely. At some point, after talking with Thordan for a while, Lex walked toward the motionless Lucy, ready to get to know her and deepen their new relationship. As to welcome him, perhaps, Lucy got up and showed a soft and alluring smile which shocked Lex, who thought that she was against the marriage. Now that he knew she approved of him, the young man felt even more confident thus widening his steps as he made his way toward her. Lex stopped in front of her and cupped his fists while showing his handsome smile. "Eva, let''s get along well." "Yes, let''s." The youngster failed to notice the coldness that flashed across her eyes. Unlike her sister, Lucy''s pupils were blood red, just like a vampire, this only added to her beauty as the silver and blood red colors complimented each other. Not expecting her to be like this due to her behavior from earlier, Lex didn''t know what to say exactly. He stretched his hand, planning to kiss the back of her hand but he caught naught but air. By the next second, the smiling Lucy was no more, the atmosphere around her drastically changed as if it was a completely another person. Before anyone else could react, a silver revolver appeared in her handˇ­ ''BANG!'' A bloody hole appeared on the young man''s forehead. The bullet passed from his forehead all the way to the back of his head, creating a ''tunnel''. Lex lifelessly fell on the ground only to be caught by the two middle-aged men, who were too late as they only managed to catch him when it was all over. No one did expect the calm Lucy to suddenly take out a foreign weapon and kill Lex with no hesitation whatsoever. He''s a famous figure even in the Divine Planet and the Five Lakes Sect values him greatly. Even Angelina wouldn''t dare kill him yet here he is, laying on the ground, deader than dead. Thordan''s face contained disbelief and shock, he only processed what happened when one of the two middle-aged men jumped on Lucy, planning to catch her. Since she killed Lex, she has to be punished by the sect so it was his duty to at least bring back the criminal alive. Unfortunately, before he could even reach her, half of his body was frozen by Yin Power, rendering him unable to take another step. The lower part of his body became a block of ice which couldn''t be broken. Lucy''s eyes, which were smiling a second ago, were emitting a thick killing intent that covered the whole room, making even the two expert guards shiver from fear. She just killed Lex a moment ago so there''s nothing to stop her from eliminating them too. However, this one was but the beginning of a series of shocking events. The enraged Thordan appeared in front of Lucy and.. ''SLAP'' She was literally sent flying for a dozen meters before falling on the ground with a red mark on her face. For the first time since they met, Lucy was slapped by another man, and it was none other than her own biological father. ''Don''t move, Arthur!'' Lucy warned Arthur, who was barely contained. If things were to go south right now, it''ll only worsen their situation. Lucy held her reddened cheek and glared at Thordan but didn''t act yet. However, the father suddenly raised his hand and frowned as he started feeling pain. Upon a closer look, a creepy tattoo appeared on the back of his right hand, indicating that he''s marked by the Dark Blade.Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. From now onwards, the fate of Thordan has been sealed, he has been condemned by both his daughter and her husband. Even if he seeks atonement and begs for forgiveness, he will still die by Arthur''s blade. ''You promised me, didn''t you?'' Lucy talked to the unusually silent Arthur, who remained dormant inside of her but the vibrating Makaze on her waist clearly showed his emotions. The Dark Blade was releasing an absurd amount of black flames that consumed everything around her. Thordan wanted to slap her again but stopped mid-way due to the flames that surrounded her, blocking his way and even threatening him. "You actually dare!" Although he was wary of the black flames, he just can''t stand there and watch after his ''daughter'' killed Lex. He was about to grab Makaze and get rid of it only to be stopped by Angelina, who grabbed his hand while saying "You should stop, father. Any more and it''ll be the end for you." Last time he hit her, he almost died by the Matriarch''s hands so if he dares to hit Lucy again, he definitely won''t be spared. Just when things were about to calm down, a deep and loud growl reverberated across the whole White Specter Clan, alerting everyone, including the waiting Hobson, who frowned and started heading toward the source of the noise. The growl emanated from none other than the vibrating Dark Blade, which suddenly calmed down only for the whole room to turn into absolute darkness. Countless specks of lights then started appearing. These specks were actually swords of different shapes and colors, whether it''s short swords, daggers, or even longswords. They floated a few inches in the air before rotating until their sharp tip was pointed at the flabbergasted Thordan. The Overgod tried to get rid of the encroaching darkness and the countless blades but to no avail, his energy did naught in this dire situation. "Stop it, Lucy." Angelina told her sister to stop but the response she got made her even more worried. "I''m not the one doing this. If you can, you can try to stop it yourself." Lucy glanced at Evil Wind, which was floating vertically in front of her, it also pointed at her father, who was slowly backing away. He only stopped when his back hit the wall, which blocked his way of escape. Sharp sword essence twirled around the swords, which remained like that for merely three seconds before they all rushed at the target. Unfortunately, the Overgod was unscathed as several silhouettes appeared out of nowhere and joined forces to distinguish the darkness and push away the swords. Exactly three people appeared, all Overgods and they all had an illusory whitetail that was enveloped by white flames. Their eyes were sky-blue and their bodies were transparent. This was the transformation of White Specters which strengthens their senses and increases their power. All the blades vanished but the main one still managed to hit its target, causing a small bloody hole to appear on Thordan''s chest. In the end, even Makaze was flung off but it quickly stabilized itself and returned to Lucy''s waist. A suffocating power wrapped itself around Lucy and bound her, rendering her unable to lift a finger. It was the same restriction Hobson used on her back then. One elder appeared before the Thordan, supporting him and trying to heal the bloody wound. The father''s face was pale as blood leaked out of his lips. He glared at the expressionless Lucy, who was staring at him with a dagger-like stare. Although she very much wanted to kill Thordan right now, she had to hold herself as it''s still not time yet. Were she to act, it''ll ruin everything and increase the probability of them discovering Arthur. After all, they are Overgods so their soul sensitivity is much higher than normal cultivators. One expert in Soul attacks is enough to sense the presence of a second living soul residing inside of her body. The Dark Blade, Makaze, started experiencing a change as dozens of black talismans started appearing. The talismans wrapped themselves around Evil Wind, forcing it to calm down. Unlike Arthur, Makaze reacts strongly to its owner''s emotions and it cannot simply be stopped using normal means hence he used the Dark Magic talismans to contain the blade, for now. If not, it''ll continue attacking until Thordan is deadˇ­ "Youˇ­*cough* will regret-" Thordan couldn''t even finish his sentence and fell unconscious. A large amount of Dark Magic invaded his body and started doing its job. Although he''s an Overgod, his foundation is shaky and his Celestial Body is incomplete. A person like him is an easy target for Dark Magic, which is the boon of weak bodies. Unless Arthur personally extracts it, Thordan will continue to suffer and feel an excruciating agony. Yes, he will not die and will probably return to his peak state in a few days if he takes high-level recovering pills, however, he''ll still go through unimaginable pain every now and then. Moreover, if the Dark Magic resides in his body for a few more years, it''ll become part of him and at that time, he''ll definitely die. Chapter 442 - 392 : Operation Due to assaulting the Vice-Master of the White Specter Clan, Lucy was sent to the harshest place in the clan; The Winter Prison. It''s a place where criminals of the sect are sent to. It''s a freezing cold cell that will kill whoever is in there in a week or less. There was close to no Nether Energy in that place and special chains are binding the prisoner, making him or her unable to use their energy. Basically, anyone sent there will most likely spend the rest of their short life there. Thordan showed no sympathy to his daughter and stated that Lucy will remain there for three months. Not only that but she''ll be sent to the Five Lakes Sect and receive punishment from them too. However, it''s clear that he''ll be sending her to her death. Both Angelina and Hobson objected to these decisions but the three Peak Elders who witnessed everything were on Thordan''s side. They didn''t belong to his faction but they couldn''t tolerate a clear breach of rules. No one is allowed to attack an elder, much less the Vice-Master of the clan, even if it was his own daughter. Thus, Lucy was sent to the Winter Prison and locked there with no way out. Her high-stats and infinite Stamina allowed her to easily resist the coldness, which was different from the Yin power. This coldness seemed to be born from something else, something dangerous. With no one here but her, Arthur didn''t bother hiding inside of her body, he appeared next to his wife and wrapped his arm around her back while saying "It''s a much better place than that room, don''t you think?" In response, the woman snorted and retorted: "Hmpf! So you can do whatever you want?" He innocently waved his hand and added: "I haven''t done a thingˇ­" Then he grinned and continued "ˇ­ yet." Unfortunately, their conversation was cut short when a first visitor came, at last. It wasn''t her sister or the butler but a young looking timid boy who was actually much older than he looked. Teit''s worried expression lessened when he saw that Lucy was unscathed. Though, he wasn''t able to notice Arthur, who was still next to Lucy but in [Stealth]. "M-miss Lucy, please forgive me! I couldn''t defend you." The boy bowed toward her and remained like that, waiting to be forgiven. "It has nothing to do with you so you don''t need to apologize." Lucy thought for a moment before asking "How''s the situation out there?" As if he knew she''d ask that, Teit replied instantaneously: "The Five Lakes Sect is pressuring the Vice-Master, demanding that he hands you to them. Fortunately, many Peak elders and almost all of the Regular Elders are against this, saying that it''ll be demeaning to listen to the Five Lakes Sect and that they should wait for the Matriarch to leave seclusion." Lucy nodded her head but didn''t say speak. Teit remained standing there, resisting the freezing cold and waiting for instructions. Although she was imprisoned, he''s still her servant and it''s one of the unwritten laws that if someone becomes a servant, they should follow their master to death, even if it means betraying the clan.Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. **** "Woaaah!" Saly gawked at the sight of the tower in front of her. To dizzying heights it rises, the gleaming spire, its tip threatening to pierce the blinding canopy. The tower was red and had four large symbols on it, each taking a big part of the humongous tower. From the lowest to the highest it went like this : ?=>?=>=>?=>?. The girl stared at the tower before her eyes with a half-open mouth, unable to believe that such a thing existed. "Amazing, isn''t it? I, your uncle, and your father joined hands to build this beauty. It''s by far the most advanced thing in the multiverse. It has its own System and is composed of 52 floors. Each floor is a world of its own." The Joker smirked as he saw the speechless little girl. He paused for a second before continuing. "There''s nothing, dead or alive, that can destroy it. Even your uncle is unable to do that. Soon, there will be a competition and I want you to come here and watch it. By the way, your parents will participate too so it''ll be a good show." **** In the main hall where ceremonies are usually held, four Peak Elders and four Regular Elders were present. Thordan, whose complexion became much better after a few days passed, was glaring at Lucy, who was a distance away from him. Since she behaves so ruthlessly then it must because of her past. He hired a Shaman who''s adept at sealing memories to force his daughter to forget everything. With one elder restricting her so she does nothing, the Shaman proceeded in sealing the memories. Unfortunately, the moment the Shaman began, weird flames that were half white and half grey enveloped his hands, causing him to amputate to freak out. Fortunatelyˇ­ or not, the elders helped him by amputating his hand and saving his life. The Shaman was shouting from pain, the flames brought him an agony that almost made him go crazy. He angrily left the hall after demanding a good compensation from the shocker Thordan. To begin with, tampering with someone''s memories required the user to grasp their soul and since Lucy fused the two beads, her soul is eternally protected. Perhaps no Overgod would be able to hurt her soul. Arthur chose to remain in the Winter Prison as he could be discovered if he accompanied here. She''ll be sent back to the prison sooner or later so it was better to wait for her there than risk being exposed. Enraged that he not only lost money but face, Thordan banged his fist on the throne but didn''t dare to slap his daughter again. The dark blade was still on her waist and no matter what they tried, they couldn''t separate it from her. To think that not even Overgods were able to get rid of a single blade, it made them feel embarrassed but also greedy. It only took them one look to ascertain that Makaze is a powerful weapon, the best, actually. It was even able to act on its own and injure the Vice-Master so if it''s wielded by an Overgod, the results will be unimaginable. Due to his status as a butler, Hobson couldn''t do anything to support Lucy. Although he was one of the strongest people in the sect, he was in no position to object to Thordan''s decision. After all, Thordan was the Vice-Master and her father. However, one thing is for sure, when the Matriarch appears, Thordan is definitely screwed. He''ll probably be kicked out of his position and that''ll be the least of his worries. After hearing Thordan nonsensical rambling, Lucy was sent to the prison, where her husband was waiting. Although not feeling cold, Arthur forced her to wear a thick coat. Countless miniature void mouths appeared and ate the chains binding her hands, allowing her to feel the flow of energy yet again. Then he conjured an illusion that''ll fool anyone''s eyes and make them think Lucy is still bound. "When are you leaving?" She asked while staring at him. "There''s one more thing to do before going." The ARK left his consciousness and glued itself on the prison bars, forming some kind of illusion that Lucy is alone. The image that the ARK showed would even fall Overgods but it''ll not last for long. He signaled for Lucy to lay on a hospital bed that appeared out of nowhere then he retrieved a lot of medical tools. He possessed all those doctors on Earth just for this moment, to successfully complete this operation. At first, Claud wondered what Arthur wanted to do but when it was explained to him, he showed no opposition. Sure, it''ll weaken Arthur but at least it''ll guarantee Lucy''s safety when he''s gone and that''s what''s important for him. Using his gained medical expertise, Arthur heavily sedated to Lucy, who''s supposedly immune to sedatives. He used Dark Magic to weaken her body and told her to lower her stats to a mortal''s. In three and a half hours, Arthur was able to pull out Lucy''s left eye and replace it with his own. Theoretically, Lucy should be able to gain [Eyes of Tranquility] and use it perfectly. As for him? He took her eye. As he expected, he got a notification from the system telling him that he temporarily lost the skill but once he heals his scarred eye, he''ll get it back. Basically, he switched his eye with Lucy to grant her his ability as she needed it more than he does. For what he''s about to do, the skill isn''t absolutely necessary and he can make do without it for a while. Furthermore, he planned to heal it before bringing the undead army here. A wound from Primordial Energy required either a miraculous consumable that heals everything or someone who can control such energy. After a few minutes, Lucy regained consciousness and immediately felt the changes. Just like Arthur, she''s now able to see other people''s stats and can slow-down time. To stop it, she needs practice. Plus, her differently-colored eyes added more points to her exceptional beauty. One pupil was blood red while the other was sky-blue, in a way, it was perfectly suited for her as she was someone who can use Fire and Water Magic and fuse them together. Chapter 443 - 393 : Separation Arthur caressed her soft cheeks while softly smiling at her. She knew that he''ll definitely come back but she couldn''t bear to see him leave. They''ve reunited a short while ago yet they''re forced to separate again. Against her will, tears started running down her cheeks, nonetheless, she showed him a smile. "This will be the last time, I promise." "En! I know." Lucy nodded her head and planted her lips on his, giving him one last kiss before he disappears. Next time they''ll meet, things will be chaotic, the war between the dead will rage on and when everything is settled, they''ll go and live a peaceful life. ''One way or another, it''ll end.'' "Here, keep him with you at all times." He handed her Evil Wind, which was wrapped with numerous dark talismans. Confused, she said "Don''t you need it more than I do? I can manage, you don''t have to have him babysit me." Seeing the pouting Lucy, Arthur chuckled: "It''s just a precaution and it''ll be my trump card later on." She took the black sheath and put it on her waist. Makaze showed no resistance and remained silent, choosing to follow his master''s will. So, after five days of his wife''s imprisonment, Arthur left the Winter Prison, heading toward Astria. However, he has to leave the Divine Planet first as using Space Magic is not only forbidden, but it''s also very difficult. **** Fifty angels, each with at least four wings, stood outside of Astria. There was three distinctive figure that led this big group, they were six-winged angels. After the disappearance of a six-winged angel in this area, Heaven sent even more people to investigate. The probability that the World Tree became higher when the higher-up confirmed the death of the six-winged angel that led the previous group. As the three stared at the small world, they warily looked around, expecting to meet some resistance but no such things happened. When they felt safe and were about to enter the world, the fifty or so angels suddenly halted. There was one blue-haired woman that led the whole group, the aura she emitted was a bit stronger than the other two six-winged angels. "Sir, how can we help you?" She spoke with the utmost respect, her aura almost vanished and she looked no different than an obedient child. The other angels quietened down too although they couldn''t understand why would that woman, who''s almost an Archangel, would speak like that. They were fully aware of the identity of the youth that appeared out of nowhere but they were angels, beings created by ''God'' so they felt superior to this human, no matter how strong he is. Clad in jet black armor and a thick sword on his back, the youth stared at the woman and clicked his tongue: "Tsk! This isn''t even your Universe. Go back where you came from." The blue-haired angel bowed and added: "Sir, we suspect that the World Tree we''re looking for is in that world. Our comrades went missing around this place, too." Still uncaring about her reasons, Leiu spoke again "Do I look like I care? Go back where you came from, this is my second warning. The angel remained silent for a few seconds before slightly bowing her head and saying: "Yes, sorry to bother you, sir." She signaled the others to leave while she followed right behind, not daring to remain there for another second. Since the Nameless Knight ''kindly'' sent them off, there''s no reason to force their way in. ˇ­ Only when they were a great distance away from Astria did the angels start protesting, the first two being the two six-winged angels. "Why did you listen to his words? We have ''God''s Verdict'' with us. We could have temporarily sealed him while we investigate that world!" The woman scoffed at his words, she pointed to the direction of Astria and mockingly said "Oh really? Go use it, then. I''ll wait here for the good news." "ˇ­" The angel who just objected to his leader''s previous actions could only gaze at her with a strange gaze. He noticed her slightly shaking her hand, which she tried to hide. He was well aware of the knight''s true strength but even someone like Leiu isn''t able to resist God''s Verdict, or so he thought. ˇ­ "What took you so long?" Why tapping his index on the table, as usual, Isadore asked the straw-hat wearing Overgod, who fell on the comfortable sofa while biting an apple and ignoring his King. Dan stared at the nothingness in front of him, lost in thought and unable to hear Isadore''s voice. Only when Taliya raised her voice and asked him, did he snap out of it. "How''s the situation on Astria?" Dan lifted his head and stared back at the anxious demon while saying "Deathˇ­ it''s ruled by death." She misunderstood his words and began panicking. She didn''t want to hear anymore and immediately started preparing to go back there. If not for Isadore, who held her wrist and stopped her from leaving the office, she would really have left. "Let him finish before jumping into conclusions." Wrath, who was leisurely dozing off on the corner, started sniffing the air before saying "Indeed, there''s a thick scent of death coming from you. It''s giving me goosebumps ughˇ­" What the others didn''t know is that Dan wasn''t in this state because of what he had seen on Astria but due to what he talked about with the Nameless Knight. After taking a bit of time to compose his thoughts, the Overgod said "Don''t worry, the evil race was repelled, more or less. The Death I was talking about was an army." With creased brows, Isadore tilted his head and asked in confusion "An army?" "Yes, an innumerable army of undead. There must be at least a hundred million and there aren''t just skeletons but there''s almost every kind of undead there, however, they''re motionless." When he heard that, Isadore closed his eyes and pondered for a few minutes before bursting out in laughter, startling the worried Taliya. "An army you say? An army that can''t die? Very clever." He turned to look at his adviser and asked "You previously mentioned that Arthur can use Necromancy?" She nodded her head and replied "Yes but I''ve rarely seen him use it. It''s usually used to do manual labor rather than fight." "Figuresˇ­ someone like him doesn''t need Undead to help him fight. But I thought there''s a limit to how much undead can a person summon?" Wrath butted in again and said/ "Yes, there should be a limit. The summoned undead usually come from the Underworld since there''s an abundance of them there, however, in some cases, they come from other places, it all depends on the means used to summon them. I''ve rarely seen Necromancer but any Necromancer who reached the God Realm can summon around ten thousand Undead. An Overgod can summon a million but that''s only because they don''t have a Celestial Body so they rely on numbers, instead." "Still, an army of a hundred million undead is enough toˇ­"-Isadore The king looked at Wrath and asked "Do you think you can handle a hundred million undead?" Wrath shrugged his shoulders and replied "I get stronger the longer I fight so I can handle that many but there''s a strong chance I''ll be weakened for years due to the excess of Death Energy." Isadore closed his eyes and started to think againˇ­ "No wayˇ­"Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. Wrath frowned, not understanding Isadore''s exaggerated expression "What?"-Wrath "He couldn''t be thinking to face the White Specter Clan, could he?" Wrath denied this almost immediately "That''s impossible. It ain''t easy to move such a large army, he''ll be noticed in less than a day. The Holy Dominion will reciprocate and send a resistance army. His army won''t even reach the Divine Planet." The worried Taliya covered her mouth as she seemed to think about a crazy thing. "W-what if you add four undead Divine Beasts?" What his adviser just said allowed Isadore to think outside the box and come up with many more speculations about Arthur. ''What if he can''t transform into those Divine Beasts? What if they''re only corpses in his possessions and he can bring them back to life through special means? Is he crazy enough to show that army to the world and have it march to the Divine Planet? A hundred million is a big number but it isn''t enough to face the worldˇ­ Does it have a relation with him going to the White Specter Clan?'' Chapter 444 - 394 : It Will All Begin Anew Arthur successfully left the White Specter Clan without being noticed, he appeared from the ground and returned to his original body. He was a safe distance away from the clan, precisely in the middle of a lush forest that''s filled with many dangerous beasts. He was about to possess a small plant and get farther away only to feel a suffocating pressure lock into him. Before he could react, to figures appeared above him, both way stronger than him. One was an old man with a scarred face and the other was a tall silver-haired woman that looked similar to Lucy. Hobson may be strong but there''s a high chance that he can escape but against that woman, Arthur was left with no choice but to remain still. ''She''s an Exalted God, don''t do anything foolish!'' Arthur lifted his head and stared back at the expressionless woman, who was inspecting him from head to toe. "I have to say, you almost slipped through." Hobson praised Arthur while letting out a sigh. Arthur just happened to leave when the Matriarch broke through, unfortunately, she immediately sensed him and gave chase with the butler. Honestly, Hobson was curious about the means Arthur used to escape his detection. He came out of the clan so that can only mean he was with Lucy all long yet an Overgod like himself failed to discover anything. Moreover, the opponent was only a Sovereign! "So you''re Eva''s husband?" The Matriarch''s eyes contained no contempt or hatred, she looked emotionless but her gaze was enough for Arthur to feel as if a mountain was pressing down on him. It was different from the pressure of Overgods, this showcased the big difference between the two of them. Even his strongest attack wouldn''t even scratch her clothes, at least that''s the feeling Arthur got. "Indeed, I am andˇ­ she''s not Eva but Lucy, Lucy MoonStar." "You''ve got a mouth on you, huh." The woman descended from the air and landed in front of Arthur. Her black pupils seemed to see through everything, just like the Joker. "I see that you''re special but special doesn''t mean good. I''ve heard from Hobson that you''ve caused many problems and refused to let go of my daughter." In response, Arthur sneered and retorted "It''s actually you who refused to let go. Lucy never asked you to look for her, much less drag her here by force. She''s happy and doesn''t need your interference of any of your ''motherly love''." The woman didn''t seem bothered by his disrespectful tone, she kept staring straight into his eyes while saying "Who are you to say that?" "I am her husband. It''s not you but I, who was there where she needed help. While it''s true I wasn''t there since the beginning, at least I changed her world just like she changed mine. You claim to be her mother but you did nothing for her so stop trying to come up with an excuse to explain your unwelcome actions." "You better start speaking politely to th-" Hobson was about to berate Arthur only for the woman to raise her hand, signaling him to stop talking. The butler closed his mouth and bowed his head. "You also don''t know the circumstances that separated her from me." Arthur snorted while retorting again "I know that despite having a human father and a specter mother, she''s a half-demon. Whatever you did to her, it ended up screwing her life and causing her to live in despair ever since she''s young." Arthur''s revelation totally shocked the Matriarch, who''s body shook violently upon hearing that. She frowned and asked "She''s a half-demon?" Even Hobson didn''t seem to be aware of that. Although she''s a half-demon, Lucy didn''t have any demonic characteristic and even if there were, they''re permanently hidden which is why no one noticed. The woman bit her lips and mumbled with a very low voice "It''s all my faultˇ­" "Since you know it''s your fault then stop this nonsense before it''s too late." She shook her head while saying "No, I plan to fix everything. It''s my responsibility as her mother." Arthur found this ludicrous, he laughed while mocking her "So you''re doing this out of duty and not love? This is getting more and more pathetic!" "I love my daughter and would stop at nothing to create a world where she can live comfortable and happy. That''s what I plan to do now that she''s back to her real home." She paused for a split second before continuing: "I don''t want her to be tied by her past and remember those horrible memories and that is why I cannot tolerate you. As my daughter, she needs to marry someone of equal status and not someone like you." The Matriarch looked at him from head to toe before resuming; "I don''t doubt that you''re very strong, stronger than those wuss on this planet. However, I don''t trust you, not after hearing things about you and seeing what you are with my own eyes." What her eyes currently saw was not his appearance but what''s inside, absolute darkness, ominous and malevolent. "An abomination, that''s what we call your kind. You only exist to kill and control others, I simply cannot let my daughter''s future be ruined by you." The Matriarch was fully aware that Arthur was a parasite, coupled with the Dark Magic and the Quad-Spirit inside of him, it only worsened her view of him. Arthur remained silent but his glare couldn''t be colder. He very much wanted to attack her but he knew that he would be defeated before even lifting a finger. She raised her hand while saying "Believe me, I don''t hold any grudges against you butˇ­ I cannot let you live." The woman stared at the unfazed Arthur, who kept glaring at her. She let out a sigh while saying "Any last words?" His eyes locked onto the silver-haired woman, Arthur said "This will not be the end. I will come back." It was the last words Arthur said before while flames covered his bodies, burning it until he was turning into nothingness. Although a spark of orange flames appeared out of nowhere and tried to heal him, the white flames prevailed and turned him into ash. *** Inside the Winter Prison, the ever-so-silent Makaze emitted an ear-deafening cry that shook the whole prison, including the Pagoda on the surface. Even Lucy was startled and before she could react, the dark blade transformed into a black shadow that flew out of the Winter Prison, breaking everything in its way and flying toward Arthur''s location. All the people of the clan could see was a black shooting flying across the gloomy sky. Within seconds, the blade appeared right next to the Matriarch and started vibrating intensely while emitting a black fog. The Matriarch looked at it for a few seconds before saying "He''s dead, let''s go." Hobson hesitated for a second before saying "Aren''t you going to take it?" While walking further away from the blade, she said "You could try to." She vanished from his sight a second later. The butler stared at the vibrating blade which was emitting low growls, before sighing and leaving the area. After a long while, the Dark Blade, which remained in that chaotic state, was enveloped by dark flames before pointing to the sky. With incredible speed, it flew into the sky, where a huge black gate appeared. The gate opened for a split second, letting Evil Wind before closing against and vanishing right after. ***** "This will be our last meeting so you must remember my words!" A stern Arthur warned a big silver dragon which obediently listened to him. "When the time comes, you will fight me. Make sure to lose when the blast occurs." Arthur waved his hand, creating a motionless body identical to the dragon in front of him. The body was lifeless and was heavily injured but it''s definitely Yamak''s body. "Don''t forget to go easy on them, understood?"Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. The silver dragon bowed its head then rubbed it against Arthur, showing its affection. Arthur played with it for some time before bidding goodbye. The dragon was reluctant to go of him but it knew that he couldn''t take care of it forever. Although it''s still unable to talk, it''s very intelligent and very strong as he personally trained it. ˇ­ Laying on a grassy field, Arthur looked at the blue sky while softly smiling. The calming sound of the nearby river and the birds made his mind feel at ease. Slowly but surely, beginning from his feet, Arthur''s body started disintegrating. It was the fast passage of time that was turning his body into nothingness. He felt no pain, only fatigue, he chuckled and mumbled "So this the endˇ­ where it all beganˇ­" A minute later, there was nothing but golden ash. Upon a closer look, this place was where Arthur appeared the moment he was reincarnatedˇ­ **** In an unknown world, three shooting stars appeared in the middle of the day. They descended from above and landed centimeters away from each other. They didn''t cause a huge disturbance and only a few trees were crushed around them. Upon a closer look, the three shooting stars were actually three people. "Arghh what the fuck just happened!" One of them got up and loudly cursed while getting rid of the grass on his head. The second to wake up was Arthur, who was confused as he didn''t expect to come here. He glanced around him only to notice the presence of two familiar faces. One was a man with a weird white costume and tattoos under his eye while the other was a pale-faced youth wearing jet black armor. There, it will all begin anew, between the pure and the corruptˇ­ the one true struggle. END OF VOLUME 6 VOLUME 7 : Three Brothers Chapter 445 - 395 : Real Magic VOLUME 7: THREE BROTHERS Three people stared at each other for a while, trying to understand what''s going on. Arthur recognized them both with a single glance but the pain that suddenly struck him snapped him out of his daze. He fell from the sky but it shouldn''t be nearly enough to cause him to feel like this. Furthermore, this shouldn''t have happened, he should be in another place and not here. It wasn''t only Arthur that recognized the two, the pale-skinned youth also looked at those two familiar faces while frowning. Only the Joker seemed oblivious, he scratched his head and got up, dusting his clothes and looking around.Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. "Fucking hell! I nearly died!" He inspected the two of them and rubbed his chin while talking: "Strangeˇ­ I feel different." Leiu and Arthur also got up but didn''t start roaming this unfamiliar forest. They started another staring contest before Arthur said: "Let''s try to understand our current situation first." "Yes yes! I agree!" The Nameless Knight remained silent but he softly nodded his head. "Your face is kind of familiarˇ­ I have a good memory but I can''t seem to remember you." The Joker leaned closer to Arthur and inspected his face but he still couldn''t recognize him. "Let''s introduce ourselves first." After saying that, the Joker took a comical pose with his back leaning backward, a hand on his chest and his left leg raised then started talking: "I am the Magician ''Extraordinaire'', the Playful Trickster, The Joker!" Both Arthur and the youth beside him listened to his cheesy introduction while furrowing their brows, not knowing whether to take him seriously or not. The person in question ''beautifully'' ended his introduction and glanced at the other two, waiting for them to do their part. Arthur coughed and cleared his throat before saying "I''m Arthur MoonStar." He didn''t know why those two didn''t recognize him but it was not the appropriate time to ask to he refrained from saying anything unnecessary. The only one left was the silent youth, who took quite a bit of time to talk. "I''m ''Nameless''." "Nameless? You don''t have a name? Come on, man. We''re in this together, we should get along!" The Joker walked to the youth and patted his back while heartily laughed. He received a glare from Leiu, who shoved away the other''s hand, not bothering to explain himself. "What? Did I say something wrong?" The Joker''s question was directed at Arthur, who seemed more rational than this youth in black armor. As if he remembered something, the Joker retrieved a deck of card from his back pocket and looked at one particular black card only to find it completely blank. He flipped it upside down several times but the results didn''t change. "Hm? The System is gone?" His words were heard by the two others, who tried to view their window status only to fail. Not only that, their powers seemed to disappear as if they became mortals. The Nameless Knight tried to reach to the sword on his back only to find nothing but air. Zodiak''s ring also disappeared, leaving Arthur confused about what happened. No matter where he went, the system always accompanied him. From the surprised looks the other two were showing, they were also experiencing the same thing. "Oh well! At least I still have my cards." The Joker didn''t seem to be that bothered but the frown on the youth''s face was unsettling. His mood seemed to have worsened. "We should look for a settlement or a city and investigate." Arthur voiced his thoughts while reading their expressions. Neither of the two objected so, the three chose a direction and started walking. The forest was peaceful, they met no monsters whatsoever, only the occasional wild boars or deers. A bout of silence flowed between the three of them which made the atmosphere quite awkward, fortunately, that didn''t last long as the Joker was quite the talkative person. "Aww man, this sucks! I was enjoying my hunt yet I somehow land in this boring place." His endless whining was rather annoying but Leiu didn''t seem bothered by it. He kept following the other two while thinking about something. He definitely saw them back then so they must have a relation with what happened to him in the past. Only the Joker remained oblivious, nonchalantly playing with his cards while whistling. "Hey, Arthur." He nudged Arthur''s back while grinning. At first, he was ignored but after he repeated that a few times, Arthur had to reply "What?" "Pick a card." He stretched his hand and showed him a deck of cards. Arthur hesitated for a second before randomly picking a card and looking at it. "Memorize it well then put it back." Arthur did as told, expecting to see the oldest magic trick in the book. He stared back at the Joker, who smirked and pointed upwards. When he raised his head, Arthur saw a ginormous 6 of hearts floating in the sky. It remained as so for a few seconds before exploding into countless red specks of light that dispersed right after. "That''s your card, right? Hahahahaha" The Joker loudly laughed as he saw Arthur''s shocked expression. "I thought you aren''t able to use your System, much less your skills." Even the silent and grumpy Leiu was equally surprised by what just happened. As he, too, was interested in hearing the Joker''s answer, he walked closer to the two. "I did lose my skills and stats but that''s part of the system. As for thisˇ­" He threw the cards in his hand in the air, which didn''t fall on the ground but floated in front of him before they started rotating around him, obeying his will. "This is real magic." Arthur almost face-palmed himself when he heard that answer. He expected to hear an interesting answer but he only got such a childish reply. Nonetheless, it was an intriguing thing, after all, the three of them are unable to use any of their skills and they practically become mortals so how is it possible to do that? Even his Enigma skills were gone so it shouldn''t be some inborn skill like Telekinesis. As he saw both Arthur and Leiu''s expressions, which clearly indicated that they didn''t believe him, the Joker said: "I''m telling you, this is real magicˇ­ honest to god!" *** Thirty minutes later, the three arrived at what seemed to be a town. Unfortunately, they were blocked by the guards at the front gate. Apart from Arthur, who was wearing ''normal'' clothes, both Leiu and the Joker were strange. One was clad in jet black armor from head to toe while the other was wearing a strange white costume. Honestly, it was their mistake since they let the Joker do the talking. He almost got into a fight with the guards were it not for Arthur''s intervention. They had to go through the trouble of registering themselves since they didn''t have IDs. "The guards talked about an Adventurer''s Guild, wanna check it?" The Joker asked the two of them but the sad thing was that he was heading toward the tall building, which could be seen from afar. Both Arthur and Leiu let out a sigh at the same time but still chose to follow that lunatic as it''s better to stick together in this unknown place. Apparently, this town was called ''White Raven'' and is the biggest settlement around here. Arthur didn''t ask for this world''s name as it''s better to check the library if there''s one, that is. There must be a reason they were sent here and it''s definitely not to sightsee. They to adapt and learn everything about this world to be able to get out. Lucy is waiting for him and the more time he''s here, the worse it is for her. The Joker brazenly entered the Adventurer''s Guild only attract the attention of everyone inside. His weird walk and overly energetic actions, coupled with his costume, made him a laughing-stock. Especially when two others followed right after him, clearly his companions. "Hey there, beauty! Mind helping me out?" He winked at the receptionist lady, who frowned, uncomfortable due to his tone and actions. "Do you want to do it or should I?" For the first time since his introduction, Leiu spoke. He glanced at Arthur and asked that, not wanting to let Joker handle this matter. Already having a headache due to this lunatic, Arthur massaged his temple, sighed and replied "I''ll handle it." He walked forward and grabbed the Joker''s shoulder, pushing him away from the woman. "Stay back, I''ll talk to her." "Hey he-" Before he could talk back, Leiu covered his mouth and dragged him away. It wouldn''t be surprising to see him pick a fight with everyone here. Many of the adventurers here were already giving them unwelcoming glares after what he just said to that lady. "Please forgive him." Arthur apologized and added: "Can you help us register?" The lady''s mood shifted after the Joker''s face was replaced with Arthur''s, who not only handsome but manly-looking with his blood-red pupil. ''Back then, the three didn''t know that the shadow of doom draws nearˇ­'' Chapter 446 - 396 : Riarravar "You only need to press your thumb on the card and it''ll show your stats. They''re all subject to change if you work hard." The lady seductively smiled at Arthur while explaining how to register for the Adventurer''s Guild. Apparently, every adventurer has such a card and your beginning stats determine what kind of rank you''ll be. The stronger you are, the higher your rank. Unlike the previous system, this card shows the stats using the alphabet and it''s not really that accurate. Nonetheless, it''s pretty useful. This world is similar to Astria, where Magic exists but the technology isn''t as advanced as Earth. Arthur was the first to try that out. Along with the other two, he was guided to an empty and small room as the first registration needs the person to be focused. The Joker curiously watched the unfolding events, eager to see their stats too, though the excitement couldn''t be seen on the Leiu''s deadpan face as if he couldn''t care less about such useless things. The results must be shown to the woman so she can determine the person''s rank, however, other information such as the race and inborn skills can be hidden for the sake of privacy. Arthur MoonStar Physique: S Magic: C Endurance: SSS+ This is what the lady saw only to be startled. This is a rare result for someone who just registered, nonetheless, she felt happy that such a person joined the Guild. Her attitude became more respectful but the seductive smile never disappeared from her face. Next one in line was the Joker, who was treated rather harshly by the receptionist lady. His previous actions weren''t excessive but his attire and random lines he utters made him look like a crazy person. The woman wanted to get done with him as soon as possible so she handed him the card and backed away. He paid her no heed and pressed his thumb on the weird magical card. The Joker Physique: SS Magic: SSS+ Endurance: A- Flabbergasted, the woman rubbed her eyes a few time but the results didn''t change. Although still disgusted by him, she changed her attitude and tried her best to remain calm. Two of the three have absurd results, enough for them to immediately become S-rank Adventurers. With heavy breathing, she glanced at the youth clad in black armor and hesitantly beckoned him. The Nameless Knight approached the lady, took the card and pressed his thumb just like the other two. Nameless Physique: SSS+ Magic: SS Endurance: A+ Arthur''s endurance is probably due to the infinite Stamina he had. Although the cards displayed unexpected results, Arthur didn''t feel particularly strong. Maybe because he got used to the sky-high stats from before, his current strength seemed insignificant. Moreover, it''s been so long since he felt physical fatigue or hunger. The other two also excelled in one or two categories. The mind-numbing results caused the lady to fall on her butt and start mumbling nonsensical words. Only after a while did she snap out of it, bowed toward the three and hastily left the room. A short while later, a tanned muscular man entered the room, planning to see the results for himself only to find no one. The three disappeared, most likely left. Neither of three could be bothered to talk to him and they had much more urgent stuff to do. They didn''t come here to flaunt their stats. ˇ­ "Hehehehe I''m the Magician ''Extraordinaire'', such a stats are to be expected!" The Joker boasted about his Magic stats, which the highest thing one could get. Arthur was impressed but he didn''t talk to him, as for Leiu, he merely clicked his tongue and retorted "What''s the use of it if you can''t use it?" Grinning, the Joker wrapped his arm around the youth''s shoulder while saying "I never said I can''t use it." Leiu shoved him away and proceeded to walk faster, choosing to ignore the overly-talkative lunatic. "Ahhhhhhhhh I''m starving! Let''s go eat." "We''re penniless, how would we pay?" Although the three were hungry, they didn''t have their belongings. The currency here seemed to be bronze, silver, and gold coins but none of them had a penny. "Hehehehe don''t worry about that." The Joker confidently stated that while making a detour and entering a nearby high-class restaurant. Arthur thought for a moment before following the strangely clothed man. Only Leiu stood there, gazing at the building the library was at and sighing. Growling sounds came out of his empty stomach, this forced him to click his tongue and enter the restaurant. The three were warmly welcomed and given a suitable table. The Joker didn''t even glance at the menu, he just ordered everything. Arthur leaned his head closer to the Joker, who was building a pyramid with his cards and whispered: "So, how are you going to pay?" Strangely enough, Arthur found himself comfortable when talking with these two. Normally, he''d be cautious and would rarely talk but here, he says whatever pops in his mind. "I''m the Trickster, so I''m going to trick them, obviously! Hahahaha" He pulled a card at the base of the newly-build pyramid and showed it to Arthur. Surprisingly, the pyramid remained standing even after that card was pulled. ''5? Cape of Deception.'' An illusory white cape appeared for a split second before it transformed into rainbow light. The beautiful multi-colored radiance caused a pouch full of coins to appear on the table, surprising both Arthur and Leiu. The Joker smirked and opened the pouch, showing the ''real'' gold coins to the other two. "ˇ­ It''s real?" This time, it was Leiu who asked. He stretched his hand and felt the pouch and the content inside of it. It was definitely real but the question is; how did he do that? "Of course it''s real, for now, that is." ˇ­ After enjoying a hearty and delicious meal, the three left the restaurant and headed to the library, a place the Joker objectively refused to go to, saying that it''s ''a boring place'' and ''it''s only for bookworms.'' Still, he didn''t want to be left alone so he was forced to accompany them. Meanwhile, the cashier at the restaurant, who was happy after he was paid by the Joker, looked at the shiny cold coins, pleased that they paid much more than the actual cost of the whole meal. Unfortunately, his joy lasted for a short while as the gold coins suddenly disappeared and what replaced them was a white card with a Joker flipping at him. Enraged, he banged his fist on the table and hastily left the restaurant, hoping to catch them but by that time, it was far too late. ˇ­ Unlike their companion, both Arthur and Leiu were interested in this world and wanted to know what''s going on. So, the second they entered the library, they started searching for history books. Meanwhile, the Joker dozed off in a secluded corner after telling them to wake him once they''re done. The two meticulously read every History book, which didn''t take them much time as the library was small, to say the least. There were barely fifty books, most of them about combat or magic. "Find anything worthwhile?" Arthur asked the nearby Leiu, who stared back at him and said "Yes, apparently, this world is called ''Riarravar'' and there are two continents. What about you?" While flipping the pages of an old book, Arthur said "The oldest event mentioned here dates back to three thousand years ago. There''s a mention of some calamity that destroyed half of the Eastern Continent." ˇ­ After reading for three more hours, the two woke up the Joker and left the library. The sky turned black and the weather became colder, so, the three had to go to a local inn. While enjoying roasted meat and some ale, the three chatted amongst themselves. After gazing at Arthur for five whole minutes, he snapped his fingers and said "I remember you now!" Confused, Arthur tilted his head, not understanding what the Joker was on about. They already met in the past and they even fought so it''s was strange that he didn''t remember him. "Well, not ''you'' but another you. From another timeline!" As if he didn''t want to remember anymore, the Joker stated: "Arghh he was one crazy fuckerˇ­ I''m having goosebumps!" Since this topic opened again, Leiu said: "I also know both of you."-Leiu Hearing the quiet one talk, the other opened their ears and listened. "Back when I was doing some trial, I saw both of your livesˇ­ I think." Then he pointed at Arthur and said "You also handed me my swordˇ­ so I owe you a favor." Even more confused, Arthur decided to keep his silence for now until he understands more about this situation. ''Did I meet other versions of them? Or did they time-travel like my future ''me''?'' They didn''t dwell too much on that topic as there wasn''t much to talk about. Moreover, there was another important matter they had to discuss "So, what do you think we should do?" "I''m itching for a fight, I say we go hunt some monsters!" He was ignored by Arthur, who''s question was directed to Leiu, the reasonable person out of the two. "We may be sent back after some time but I think there''s some kind of objective to leave this place." Arthur nodded his head, agreeing to what the youth said: "I also think so. We weren''t randomly picked, we are somehow connected and it''s definitely tied to this world. Though, I''m not sure what we''re supposed to do." The Joker butted in again and said: "Perhaps we should kill someone." "Plausible. We can go to a bigger town or a city, and see if we discover anything abnormal."-Leiu Arthur shook his head and explained: "We appeared here out of all places, there must be a clue. Our best choice is to look for anything strange that happened here recently." The Joker retrieved his deck of cards whilst saying "Lemme check." He spread the cards face-down on the table then closed his eyes. ''Is he a fortune-teller?''-Arthur Slowly, he started flipping the cards but every single one of them was showing an ''X'' in red color. "Mismatch. Mismatch. Mismatch." The Joker kept repeating that until a green circle card appeared. "Ha! It''s this!'' He covered the card for a second before removing his hand only for the circle to be replaced by a picture, almost like a miniature painting.Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. The picture depicted a half-destroyed old church. A few seconds later, the card disappeared, leaving two confused people and one slightly excited Joker "I guess that''s our destination." "On what basis?"-Leiu "Heh one of my abilities is to glimpse at the future." Chapter 447 - 397 : Mother and Daughter ''What''s going on?'' Arthur sat on the bed while staring at his Adventurer''s card. It clearly showed that he was a parasite but why is he unable to possess people or use any of his abilities? He still has his memories and knowledge about some skills. For example, due to possessing countless corpses, he can play the piano, sing, dance, or fight without needing the skills, however, magical skills that required energy cannot be used. Furthermore, he could feel neither the ARK, the orb or Curtis. No matter how much he tried, he wasn''t able to unleash Dark Magic. Each of them took a room so they could rest for the night. The Joker ''paid'' again and said that the trick will last much more time this time so they shouldn''t be worried about being discovered. **** In a rocky mountain range filled with powerful beasts, monsters that are capable of killing even God Monarchs, the sky was suddenly split and a black gate appeared. The doors of the black gate opened and a shooting black shadow descended from above, drilling in one particular mountain. It cut everything in its way until it reached its destination, a gloomy and dark cave that lacked any form of illumination. Every part of this cave was corrupted by the over-abundant Dark Mana lingering in the air. The earth turned jet black and the walls were consumed by Dark Magic. The most eye-catching thing in this place was a big black box that merged with this strange environment. There was one shadow sitting next to the black box. This silhouette was startled by the sudden earthquake, it suddenly got up and prepared to fight, thinking that it was a monster. This person was surprised when he saw an ominous black sheath floated in the air before it started rotating around the black box. The ugly-looking Pigolo, Gutcha, stared at Evil Wind with confusion, not understanding what''s happening. "Is it finally time?" Apart from rotating around the black box, the blade did nothing else. The pigolo started shivering, not from fear but excitement as the Dark Magic the blade was emanating was beneficial to him. He ignored Makaze and sat down to meditate again, each time absorbing a little bit of the fog emitting from the blade. He has been here for months and thanks to the seed Arthur planted in him, his cultivation soared. He grew much taller and his aura drastically changed, resembling Arthur''s. He wasn''t able to fully control Dark Magic yet so he couldn''t stop the aura from affecting his surroundings. Fortunately, the weird black box seemed unaffected by the Dark Magic so Gutcha loyally followed Arthur''s orders and remained here. Although, at first, he felt bored, the increase in his strength brought him some hope and encouraged him to become stronger. He already broke through the God Realm and his speed showed no signs of stopping. His compatibility with Dark Magic was high which is why Arthur decided to plant that seed, believing that it''ll benefit the pigolo and change him into a loyal and powerful trump card he could use later. Before leaving his tribe, Gutcha fabricated some lies and made everyone believe that he died. He got rid of anything related to him as if he never existed, plus, he never had anyone he had close to so that made things much easier. He''s allowed to leave this place only when the black box breaks but even with Makaze''s arrival, it didn''t seem to be that time, yet. **** Back in the White Specter Clan, Lucy, who was startled by Makaze''s sudden cry and its disappearance, was worried. A short time after the Dark Blade escaped the prison, the bond that connected her consciousness to Arthur''s, disappeared for a split second before appearing again. This made her heart drop but seeing the thin black thread still present inside of her consciousness made her relieved. However, her mind was filled with dangerous thoughts. Makaze''s previous actions meant that something happened to Arthur and although she believed in him, she couldn''t help but feel worried about his safety. ''It hasn''t been that long since he leftˇ­ was he captured?'' There''s no way Arthur would let himself be captured. He would stop at nothing to leave even if it means showing all his trump cards. The strange thing was that she heard no commotion, which made her confused. About 5 minutes later, two silhouettes appeared inside of the Winter Prison. Lucy, who''s been lost in thought, raised her head only to see a tall silver-haired woman and a scarred old man. Her eyes turned icy as she glared at the woman, who''s definitely the Matriarch and the person who ordered Hobson to bring her here, even if it means using force. Were it not for her, they wouldn''t have to suffer like this. Despite getting glared like that, the woman''s looked at her daughter with a soft and tender gaze. "Eva."Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. Even her tone was soft and a bit shaky, barely containing the woman''s welled emotions. "What did you do?" A chilling aura, different from the one in the prison, emanated from Lucy, who was barely holding herself from jumping at the woman. "It isn''t a suitable place to talk." The Matriarch waved her hand, somehow teleporting herself and Lucy to an unfamiliar place. It was a quiet courtyard and a forbidden place that only Angelina and Hobson can enter. This was the mother''s private residence and the place she cultivates at. Katrina Album Larva, Lucy''s mother, stared at her daughter and force herself to not hug her. She knew better than anyone that it''s a bit too late to do that, they need to slowly fix their relationship before thinking of doing that. She wanted to make things right and for her daughter to live a happy and fulfilling life, a life she owes her after abandoning her for so many years. She was a bit shorter than her mother, but her face was the spitting image of Katrina. The Matriarch walked up to her daughter and stopped inches away from her before lifting her hand, wanting to caress Lucy''s cheek. Unfortunately, her hand was slapped away by the angry Lucy, who repeated: "What did you do to him?" It was no coincidence that Katrina appeared minutes after Makaze disappeared. She was sure that Arthur was still alive but something definitely happened to him. The mother didn''t try to hide the truth or sugarcoat what happened. She sighed and answered "I killed him." Lucy''s pupils constricted, her heart was rapidly beating and her mind was in total chaos. Lightning fast, her hand headed toward her mother''s chest, planning to kill her. Sadly, her hand hit her mother''s chest but it was as if she hit a metal wall. Her hand wasn''t able to penetrate the chest and rip Katrina''s heart. "You can hit me if you want but I did what''s best for you." She didn''t even try to block Lucy''s hit or back away. Silent Moon was taken out and the trigger was instantly pulled. Unfortunately, the bullet turned into a bent piece of metal the moment it hit Katrina''s clothes. Lucy continuously hit her mother but she did no damage. In the end, she started slapping the motionless woman, who accepted everything. Only after a while did Lucy calm down. From the look on her mother''s face, she didn''t seem to be lying, which means that she wasn''t aware that her husband was still alive. The moment the bullet was so easily blocked, Lucy understood that she wasn''t Katrina''s match, which is why she acted like that. It was partially a spectacle to show that she''s enraged and sad about the loss of her husband. Her mother mustn''t know that Arthur is still alive no matter what. Tears tricked down her cheeks, her eyes became wet and red from crying and strength left her legs. Katrina tried squatted down and tried to comfort the devastated Lucy but her hands were showed away yet again. "Don''t touch me!" So, Katrina silently watched her crying daughter, her heart was feeling as much pain as her daughter. She knew that killing Arthur would result in this but she had no choice, she just couldn''t tolerate the relationship between Lucy and Arthur. Were he a human, she wouldn''t have minded but a parasite was another thing. If the world were to find out, it''ll bring a calamity to the White Specter Clan. Everyone on the Divine Planet or even the Cloud Sea Universe would try to destroy them just because of one parasite. It was clear that Lucy was deeply in love with that man but time heals all wounds. Sooner or later, she will forget about him and begin a new life here. Katrina vowed to try her best to make that happen. She would stop at nothing to provide her poor daughter the happiness she deserves. She felt guilty about what happened in the past and always blamed herself for losing Lucy, nevertheless, she never gave up and always searched for her everywhere. The multiverse was vast, almost limitless and to search every nook and cranny isn''t easy. For dozens of years did she travel alone, trying to find her lost daughter, the amount of time, effort, and resources she spent is nothing to scoff at yet Katrina didn''t care. All she wanted is to be reunited with her daughter and it finally happened, which is why she felt that it''s her fault that Lucy ended up with an abomination, something that is the root of all evil. Chapter 448 - 398 : SS-ranked At dawn, the three met in front of the inn, ready to start investigating. Since they only had one clue, they decided to go to the Mission Board, which is where the Adventurers take missions. First, though, they have to go to the Guild to check their rank. Only high-ranked adventurers can take difficult missions, nevertheless, none of them was worried that they get a low-rank, after all, their stats were outrageous. "Aghhh I''m really not used to this peaceful place." The Joker whined as he walked and stretched his numb limbs. He was used to constant battles and he rarely slept in a calm and non-threatening place. The lunatic glanced at the youth clad in armor and asked "Is that armor your lover or what? I''ve never seen you without it." All he got in response was a cold snort from Leiu, who didn''t bother explaining himself. Arthur was also a bit curious about that too as the pale-faced youth always wears that armor, whether he''s eating or reading. The only thing that''s missing is the helmet, which was stored in another place ever since they entered this town. "Hey did you hear about the new adventurers?" "Yes, I heard there are three SS-ranked adventurers that appeared here yesterday." People were whispering to each other about the arrival of three powerful adventurers. "I thought that Bela denied those claims." "Pfft she''s just jealous because she''s just S-ranked." The Joker listened to them while gloating over the fact that he became SS-ranked. It''s a fresh experience for an eccentric person like him. "I guess our ranks have been decided." Unimpressed, Arthur nodded his head and said "It appears so." ˇ­ The lady from yesterday slightly bowed her head seeing the three enter the building. As instructed, she was about to go and call over the Guild Master but the three vanished right after taking the special SS-ranked badges. The Mission Board was just outside the Guild, so, after receiving those useless badges, the three went to check the board, searching for any mission that mentions a church. There was only one S-ranked mission, few were A-ranked, and the rest were shabby and a waste of time for the trio. Fortunately, not many adventurers were standing in front of the Mission Board so they didn''t have to wait in line or anything like that. However, as Claud always said, bad fortune always follows Arthur. Coupled with the not-so-great luck of the other two, it''s to be expected that trouble would come knocking on their door sooner than later. Contrary to Leiu and Arthur, who wanted to avoid problems and get on with this matter quickly, the Joker was quite a playful fellow who always welcomed challenges. "Hey, are you the three newcomers?" A sexy-looking woman with long red hair and a fiery gaze walked up to them. She wore a long dark red robe and wore four shiny rings and a big pendant that emanated a bit of Mana. Arthur and the youth chose to back away and ignore her but the Joker reacted differently, he looked at the incoming woman and grinned. "Wassup beauty." As she saw this tall and strangely-clothed man talk informally like that, she frowned and stopped in her tracks. "I asked you a question." Some low-ranked adventurers recognized the woman and started whispering to each other, trying to guess what''s going to happen. "She''s Bela, the S-ranked solo mage." "I heard she''s got a bad attitude." Arthur listened to them and exchanged glances with Leiu, who rolled his eyes and muttered "I hate meddlesome people."Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. "Not as much as I do."-Arthur Shamelessly, the Joker examined the woman from head to toe before excitedly whistling and saying "Ya got some hot body, ma''am." The woman''s lips slightly shook, she glared at him and spoke with a shaky voice "M-ma''am?" Confused, the Trickster around then behind her before replying: "I see no other ma''am. Oh! Perhaps you don''t like to be called that? Aigooo" He slapped comically slapped himself while correcting his previous words "My bad my bad, little girl." The woman was practically fuming now, she barely held herself back. While pointing at the three, she asked again "I asked you if you''re the newcomers." The Joker stretched his hand and put down her raised index while saying "Little girl, don''t you know that it''s disrespectful to point at others. Ah! I''m too old to teach manners to kids. I heard there''s a nursery close by." After looking at her up and down a second time, he added: "Little girl, this old man is bored and has been itching for a fight. What say you? Wanna go at it?" The woman angrily stomped the grand and left after saying a few last words "The arena, thirty minutes." In response, the Joker only laughed and waved his hand as a goodbye. His brazen behavior attracted the attention of many adventurers, who thought that he brought doom upon himself. Some of the more knowledgeable ones were able to guess his identity so they became eager to witness this fight. A battle between an SS-ranked adventure and an S-ranked mage is not common, moreover, The Joker''s fighting style is still unknown to everyone. Even Arthur wanted to see that man''s fighting style. He already fought him but he was consumed by rage and the fight didn''t last for a long time. He just knows that he relies on his cards and has an incredibly Physique, the toughest, in fact. "Are you sure you want to expose yourself?" After they separated themselves from the crowd, Arthur asked the grinning Joker. In response, the man shrugged and gave an honest answer "We''re going to stay here for a short time so why not enjoy ourselves? What''s better than fighting a powerful person?" ˇ­ Thirty minutes later, the usually half-empty arena was full of people, both adventurers, and normal citizens. Arthur and Leiu seated themselves at the very front so get a better view. The arena wasn''t that large but it should be enough for the incoming fight. Both contestants stood thirty meters away from each other. The adventurer, Bela, was still incensed and wanted to beat some sense in this provocative man. As for her opponent, he comically bowed to the audience then faced the mage, who started preparing herself. two cards appeared on his hand, they shone with an ominous black light and a blinding red radiance before they mysteriously fused together. ''2? Heart''s Haze! 3? Serpent Creed!'' A five of diamond card slightly bigger than a normal card appeared before the Joker. ''?5 Magician''s Hat'' The card transformed into a puff of smoke and was replaced with a strange black hat. The Joker elegantly held the hat and retrieved a weird white cane from god knows where. The referee, who was watching this magic show, snapped out of his daze and dropped his raised hand, signaling the beginning of the fight. Bela, who was ready to bombard the Joker, was shocked to see feel nothing but air in her hand as her big magical staff vanished all of a sudden. To be more precise, a pigeon came out of the black hat and instantly switched place with the staff in the opponent''s hand. "Lemme seeˇ­" The Joker examined the staff while ignoring the shocked gaze of both the audience and the mage. He tentatively waved the staff around, causing the ground to shake and several fireballs to materialize around him. "Ugh it''s a waste of time." He pointed the staff at the speechless Bela, causing the fireballs to fly at her, ready to scorch her. Although she lost her weapon, she was still able to use her spells. A barrier made of fire was raised from the ground, protecting her from the incoming fireballs, which literally turned into fireworks the moment they hit the barrier. This further confused the audience, who didn''t know what the hell was going on. Even with his previous knowledge and good senses, Arthur was still unable to understand what the Joker did. He glanced at Leiu only to find the youth totally restless as if he was sitting on sharp spikes. "What''s wrong?" What Arthur was unaware of was that Leiu was a battle maniac, more than even the Joker himself. The Nameless Knight was a naturally born fighter, a killing machine, so, when faced with a mysterious yet powerful opponent, of course he''ll want to fight him. However, Arthur was different, he never found joy in fighting. Every time he fought, it''s for a reason, and he never considered battling a fun ''hobby''. Chapter 449 - 399 : Killing Machines The battle didn''t last long, merely three minutes and in that short amount of time, the Joker humiliated the mage in every sense of the word. He didn''t directly hit her but he made her feel totally powerless and helpless. She willingly gave up but refused to apologize, instead, cursing him and calling him a ''prick''. Since no missions mentioned a church, the trio had to go around and ask the townspeople about any suspicious place. Upon further inquiry, they came to know why there wasn''t a mention of a church. Apparently, there''s a low-ranked mission about a bandit camp a few kilometers South of White Raven. They built a base around an abandoned church and have been living there for months. Many low-ranked adventures tried clearing that place but none of them returned. The mission was raised from C to B and apparently, there''s a group of adventurers that are going to raid that place two days from now on. Unfortunately, time was pressing and Arthur wanted to go back as soon as possible so he isn''t going to wait for two whole days just to join another group. The receptionist lady suggested that they go with a group for safety purposes but neither of the three wanted to go with weak strangers. Although they''re SS-ranked adventurers, she warned them not to be full of themselves lest they get killed. After all, it''s a bandit camp and there must be hundreds of them, excluding their leader, who''s apparently an ex (A+)-ranked adventurer. Still, it''s not like any of the three cared, the Joker just defeat an S-ranked mage so easily so a measly bandit group shouldn''t cause a problem. What''s more dangerous, probably, is what''s hiding in that church. The card clearly showed an ancient church and it''s their clue in this unfamiliar world. Individually, they were all strong, so for something or someone to summon them here, it must be to accomplish something absurdly difficult if not impossible. "This better be worthwhile."-Arthur "Hahaha don''t worry, my cards are never wrong." "Let''s go to the weapon shop, I need a sword."-Leiu "Come to think of it, I''m in need of a weapon too." The Joker cheekily grinned at them while boasting: "Unlike you two, my cards are all I need~~~" ˇ­ Arthur bought a katana-like blade and Leiu bought a huge greatsword and casually put it on his back. As for paying, the Joker tricked the poor cashier yet again. The trio didn''t remain there for too long, they bought some rations to last them a few days and started heading South. The Joker some of his weird magic to store all the food and water in his cards. With his hands behind his head and leisurely walking next to the other two, the Magician glanced at their two blades and asked "So both of you are sword users? Interesting. Wanna fight?" "It''s not the time or place for that." Arthur tacitly refused but Leiu kept staring at the Joker, clearly wanting to battle. Stuck between these two battle-hungry lunatics, Arthur sighed and explained: "Look, where''s here to investigate the church. You two can fight when we figure out what''s going on." They continued heading South and were met with no danger. There were some dangerous beasts such as bears or tigers but they avoided them to not waste any energy. Unlike outside, their bodies are of mortals which means they feel hunger and fatigue so there''s no need for pointless battles. After a few hours, the trio arrived near the bandit''s base. They started seeing some dirty-looking man with shabby armor patrolling the area. It''s inconvenient to sneak like this, with the absence of his skills and or racial abilities, which allowed him to possess other bodies but Arthur had to make do what he had now. Fortunately, the three were experts and moved with soundless steps, totally used to sneaking around. This made things easier as no one had to lecture the other or complain. All the patrols they met were disposed of by the Joker, who threw his card and hit their forehead. The card easily slashed their skin and penetrated their skull, killing them on the spot. It was an efficient and silent method which attract no attention whatsoever. Very soon, they appeared in front of a 2-meter tall wooden wall which is neither sturdy nor thick. The Joker cut a hole through the wood using his card and entered the base along with the two. They could see a big and dusty church that was half-destroyed, just like yesterday''s picture depicted. The Joker killed 9 bandits but the place was still full of those mean-looking bastards. As they hid behind a big boulder, the three discussed their plans.Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. "Soˇ­ quiet or loud?"-Joker "It''s tiring to stealthily kill them one by one."-Leiu "Right, we should kill them all then properly investigate. They aren''t a threat to us."-Arthur As they agreed on doing the same thing, the trio wasted no time and immediately got to action. Their sudden appearance startled the busy bandits, which were either dozing off or doing some labor work. When three armed strangers appeared inside of their base and started slaughtering them left and right, the bandit panicked and sounded the alarm. Unfortunately, the killing speed of the three was just too fast. Though they didn''t have their skills, both Leiu and Arthur were still physically strong and are very good at using their blades. Arthur''s slashes were precise and swift, as for Leiu, he was an absolute monster. His greatsword, which has an incredibly heavy weight, was held by one hand. He was waved his hand around, killing two or three bandits at the same time and causing slight tremors. If Arthur''s style is silent and deadly, Leiu''s is aggressive and overbearing. As for the Joker, he was going around and dismembering the bandits using his card. At times, he would throw his cards and kill the far away archers and then he would leap at someone and start throwing punches and kicks. He seemed adept in weaponless close-range combat, so much that his movement seemed natural and too fast for the naked eye to grasp. In ten minutes, all 135 bandits, including their leader, were killed. The ground was dyed red with their blood yet the three didn''t bat an eye at such a sight. "Hahahaha it''s the first time I''ve met merciless bastards like me! Hahahahah" The Trickster joked around while patting Leiu''s back. The youth shifted his gaze to the eerie and silent church. Apparently, the bandits camped around the church and didn''t enter it, for some reason. Even the leader was in a big tent at the center, which was strange since fortifying the church is better than mere tents. "Strangeˇ­" As the three inspected the church and their surroundings, they noticed something abnormal and out of place. Whether it''s near the wooden walls or at the center, there''s was an over-abundance of Mana crystals. Bandits prefer money, gold coins, not some Mana Crystal which will do them no good. Staring at the crystals, Arthur had a very bad premonition. "I think I know what we''ll find." He voiced his thoughts while thinking of the past, about that incident in the emperor''s palace. He gazed at the other two and from the looks on their faces, they were aware of something too. "It''s those fuckers again!" The Joker loudly cursed while spitting on the ground. As for Leiu, he clenched the hand that was holding the greatsword. "Cthulhu. Is that why we were sent here?"-Leiu "You''re talking about those ugly looking monsters with many arms right? They''re called Cthulhu?" Arthur nodded his head and explained: "Yes, they''re abominations that shouldn''t exist. Last time I met them, they were storing large quantities of those Mana Crystals though I didn''t get to know their use." "We''re still not sure if it''s them or not but the probability is high."-Leiu Silence dominated the atmosphere for a minute or so before Leiu talked again: "We should prepare ourselves. With our current strength, fighting them isn''t going to be a walk in the park. Are you sure you want to enter?" The Joker excitedly smashed his fists together and said "I''m always up for a thrilling challenge!" The two stared at the silent Arthur, who was pondering about something. He glanced at the closed door then at the two of them before speaking: "We''re in this together. Better finish it till the end." The Trickster laughed while the youth nodded his head. The three walked toward the destroyed church and pushed the dusty door, which creaked. For a normal door, it seemed heavy and a bit abnormal but it didn''t cause a problem for Leiu, who was the one who pushed it. Their three silhouettes disappeared in the darkness beyond the door, which slammed shut. Chapter 450 - 400 : Hidden Civilization "What the hell?" The Joker exclaimed as he looked around the interior of the broken church. Apart from some dusty and destroyed seats, there was nothing but blue crystals of all sizes and shapes. There was even one big crystal that almost reached the ceiling at the far end of the room. Strangely, this wasn''t like a normal church as there was a weird painting on a partially destroyed wall near the big crystal. They couldn''t see the whole picture as the wall had countless cracks but they could see two entities fighting each other, one light and one dark. "The concentration of Mana is very high." Leiu commented as he picked one crystal and examined it. There were no monsters or enemies, just this eerie room and the numerous crystal scattered all around. "I read that, in some cases, these crystals can summon evil Gods through faith and prayer."-Leiu "Why would they summon a god though?"-The Joker "Many reasonsˇ­ to annihilate this world or rule it."-Arthur They were merely speculations but they couldn''t be ruled out. Each of the three chose a corner and started searching clues. Arthur searched through the old documents, which only had incomprehensible incantations. Leiu toured the room and was checking if there''s a hidden room or a portal. As for the Magician, who''s sensitivity to Mana is the highest out of the three, he stopped next to the big crystal and planted his palm on it. He stood still for five minutes before he started moving his hand, trying to locate something. After a while, his finger clicked on a hidden button which caused the crystal to violently shook. Beautiful crystalline stairs that led underground appeared from within the crystal, causing the Joker to laugh. "HAHAHA there''s nothing that can escape my eyes!" He beckoned for the other two then started descending the stairs. Leiu quickly followed, leaving Arthur, who did the same after stuffing the documents in his pockets. "It''s getting thicker."-Leiu While examining this strange place, which was too illuminated by the stairs and shiny walls, Leiu commented. The concentration of Mana here was so dense that you can see small blue particles in the air. **** "What''s wrong?" A figure with dark-skin and pointy ears which was staring at some kind of a map, raised its head and glanced at its kin, which barged in with a frown on its face. "There are invaders." The leader waved his hand dismissively and said "Deal with it, I have no time to waste on ants." "Chief, they''re not the bandits." "It doesn''t matter who they are! Just get rid of them!" As the chief angrily banged his hand on the table, the subordinate bowed and hastily left. **** The trio descended the stairs for two whole hours before they finally reached the end of this long staircase. What met their sight was a civilized place with buildings and an outrageous amount of Mana Crystals. However, what really caught their attention was an enormous crystal that was at least one kilometer in height. It resembled a tower and it emitted a mind-numbing amount of pure Mana. Just as they appeared, the trio suddenly jumped, each toward one direction. In the place they were at a second ago, three fast bolts struck, causing a small crater. "Three!"-Leiu "East, North-West, South-West."-Arthur Arthur relayed the enemies'' position while darting toward the East, not bothering to explain what to his companions. The Joker threw a grey card upwards, which burst into a red light that dispersed into three directions, locking onto the opponents like glue. ''Ghost Rat Trail: Activated!'' Each ran toward one of the enemies, Arthur unsheathed his katana and leapt at the dark-skinned creature. The enemy started retreating the moment they missed their bolts, unfortunately, the invaders were much faster than they had initially thought. Meaning, these creatures greatly underestimated the trio''s strength. The first who successfully killed their opponent was neither Leiu nor Arthur but the Joker, who easily caught up to his enemy using his cards. He used the card like a magical flying carpet and appeared before his enemy. Four cards were simultaneously thrown, each meant to hit a limb. Surprisingly, the enemy was fast and stronger than those weak bandits. Two cards missed their target but the other two successfully hit the left hand and leg of the monster, who rolled on the ground and tried to jump away only for a monstrous force to drop on him. The Joker spared no second and grabbed the monster''s throat before pulling the head out of the body. Arthur threw the katana at the dark-skinned monster then jumped from behind and kicked the back of the katana''s hilt, causing it to impale the monster in the ground and finish it once and for all. Leiu''s kill, however, was more brutal as his greatsword causing a cyclone that pulverized the enemy, leaving nothing but some meat paste and blood. Arthur dragged the dead monster and dropped it next to the other two, who grouped together. "They''re a bit similar to elves."-Leiu "Dark Elves?"-The Joker "No, Dark Elves have lighter skin color." He raised the monster''s hand and showed them the tall nails "They also don''t have such tall and sharp nails. There''s also this weird tail." This creature was similar to elves in more than a way but it definitely wasn''t a dark elf. Furthermore, it was much stronger than a regular dark elf. Although they easily got rid of them, that doesn''t mean they''re easy. In fact, each of the three who attacked them could defeat an A-ranked adventurer. "Since they tried to sneak-attack us, they must be aware of our presence."-Leiu "I don''t like this placeˇ­ let''s blitz it and get the hell out." "That gigantic crystal is a bad omen. We''re outnumbered. We should leave, for now."-Arthur Even Arthur opted for leaving as it''s not advantageous to fight numerous unknown enemies in unfamiliar terrain. There were dozens of buildings so there must be a whole civilization living here, barging it and killing everyone just to gather some clues is nothing but reckless and suicidal. The three agreed to do a tactical retreat and rethink their plan before returning here. At least, there was no Cthulhu and these dark-skinned monsters seemed to be the nocturnal type, meaning that they probably won''t go to the surface or try to cause trouble. The Joker was reluctant to leave without a proper fight but the uneasiness he was feeling forced him to accompany Leiu and Arthur and leave this place. So, after one last look at the ginormous crystal tower, they climbed the stairs and reappeared in the old church after two hours. "What do we do?"-The Joker As they left the church and walked around in the bandits'' camp, the three looted some gold for their daily necessities and went back to the town. "We still don''t know everything about this world. The library in White Raven isn''t enough, we should go to a bigger one."-Arthur "I heard there biggest library is in the capital. Apparently, the king''s personal library has all records of the past."-Leiu "I guess it''s decided then?"The Joker Arthur''s suggestion was enticing and, in their current situation, they must gather information about Riarravar or they won''t be able to go back. ****Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. "They killed three of our own then left?" The chief glared at the shaking subordinate and then glanced at the mutilated corpse that was killed by Arthur. "They simply came in to kill those three and then leave?" The chief kept asking but the subordinate had no answer so he just maintained his silence and prayed not to be punished. Fortunately, the chief had more important matters to think about. "Cover what happened and tighten the security near the tunnel. We can''t tolerate any mistakes before the summoning." "Yes, chief!" **** The Kingdom of Calvanar ruled the Central Continent for five hundred years and is prospering every year. White Raven is one of many towns that are near the capital of Calvanar. The Capital is called Calv-City and is the home of the royal castle and many other Guilds. The main branch of the Adventurer''s Guild is situated there and that''s where Arthur and co planned to go before visiting the local library. The Bandits were quite rich as the trio looted over 200 gold coins from the corpses, which was an astronomical amount, enough to let them leave like princes. Arthur used some of the money to buy a few hidden weapons and the rest were stored. They boarded a carriage which took three days to arrive at Calv-City. Their minds were still troubled by the underground city near White Raven but lingering would do them no good. They weren''t invincible and fighting an army of those creatures isn''t feasible, for now, at least. Chapter 451 - 401 : Yesterday and Tomorrow One day after Arthur''s ''death'', Lucy was told to live in her mother''s private residence as Katrina wanted to see her daughter every day. Stuck in that beautiful courtyard, Lucy stared at the starry sky, lost in thought. She was interrupted by a fairy-like figure which appeared behind her. She ignored this visitor and kept thinking about Arthur and his whereabouts. "You should forget about him." Angelina said to her sister, who paid her no heed and didn''t even spare her a single glance. A sigh came out of the sister''s mouth, she wanted to deepen her relationship with Lucy and take care of her but the latter was blocking everyone outside, creating a wall between her and her family, unwilling to let anyone inside. "You will regret this." After saying those words, Lucy got up and entered her room, leaving a lonely Angelina there. ****** In the White Specter Clan, the second-largest pagoda, where Thordan usually is, a white-robbed tall woman with silver hair appeared at the highest floor, startling the busy man. His face changed in color once he laid eyes on Katrina, who appeared out of nowhere. He still thought that she''s still in seclusion hence his extreme shock. "D-dea-" He didn''t even finish his first word before his body was flung from the desk, crashing into the wall. He coughed blood while trying to stand up. He held his chest and looked at his ''wife'' with fear. Thordan immediately knew the reason for her actions. Not only did he dear to secretly arrange a marriage for Lucy, he even tried to hit her two times, succeeding in the second time. "Listen to m-" He fell on the ground again, kneeling in front of the angry Katrina, who didn''t let him gasp for air. Her pressure pressed on his body, damaging it beyond repair. "There''s no reason for me to listen to your poor excuses." She glared at him and continued: "Last time I spared you because of your daughter''s pleading but not this time. You miserably wasted the chance you were given." She pointed her index at his abdomen, which freaked Thordan so much. He bent his back and was about to beg only for a light to shot from her finger and hit his Dantian, pulverizing and destroying his cultivation. She was an Exalted God, one rank higher than Overgods. Moreover, Exalted Gods are almost non-existent nowadays. Only a few exist in the Divine Planet and almost none elsewhere. "You''ll leave the clan today and return where you came from. You are no longer the father of my daughters." In response, while groaning in pain, Thordan hysterically laughed and said "You think sending back won''t hurt your status? I''m your husband! You think you can get rid of me?!" Katrina snorted and pressed her foot on his chest, leaned her face closer to his while warning him "If I see your face one more time, you''re dead." She then kicked his body, sending him flying out of the room. Coincidentally, a woman was about to room only to be startled once she saw the Vice-Master in such a state. This woman was none other than his niece, who hated Thordan''s guts. She noticed Katrina and quickly understood what''s going on. The niece respectfully bowed toward the clan master and was about to leave, not bothering to help Thordan only for Katrina to say "Go tell the others that he has been revoked of his status as a Vice-Master. Also, arrange for him to be sent back to the Five Lakes Sect." "Yes, Matriarch." ˇ­ Later that day, due to the threats of the Five Lakes Sect, Katrina personally went there. They wanted to punish Lucy for killing Lex but after the Matriarch''s visit, everything changed as they publicly said that everything was a misunderstanding. They even apologized for their rude behavior and send some gifts to the White Specter Clan. Once they saw that Katrina became an Exalted God, coupled with her fiery attitude, no one dared to anger her, especially after seeing what happened to her ex-husband.Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. Everyone knew the bad relationship between the couple, however, none thought that she''ll resort to such cruel means. For her to cripple her husband and send him back to his family as an injured and dying mortal, it was a slap to their face but all they could do is bear with it and accept the shame. ***** "Teacher, you promised to tell me about the story is I did well!" Saly angrily protested when she saw the Joker avoiding her gaze. She clung onto his legs and persistently told him to start speaking. After relentlessly trying, she succeeded in her persuasion. "Alright, sit sit!" As she sat on her usual desk, the grown little girl opened her ears and listened carefully. "For your father, it may be recent but for me, it was a long, long time ago yet I dare not forget." He sat opposite the excited little girl, gazed at her shining sky-blue eyes and sighed. All of a sudden, a black figure entered the classroom and sat on the corner while reminiscing about something. Saly found the action of her uncle quite strange but she didn''t comment. "Breaketh thy chains of captivity."Leiu "And become the wings of rebellion."- The Joker automatically continued, however, the last verse was missing, so was the person who should say it. "What are you talking about?" Confused, the girl tilted her head and tried to understand their words but was unable to. "You know, there''s something your father always used to say ''A person lives three lives, the first ends with the loss of naivete, the second ends with the loss of innocence and the third ends with the loss of life itself. What happened in that world caused us to lose our innocence. We lost the last shred of hope we clung onto for a long time, it''s kill or be killed." **** "Hm? What are they doing?" An old man with black circles under his eyes yawned and glanced at the planet far away from him. He hugged his pink cushion and pondered for a moment before shrugging his shoulders, too lazy to go check what''s happening. Sloth noticed the abnormality occurring on Earth but it wasn''t threatening but rather beneficial to the humans so he didn''t bother personally checking the situation. Breaking news spread to all corners of the earth, a fortunate event that happened not long ago caused an uproar. The legions of undead that dominated 90% of Africa suddenly vanished without a trace. Although they caused total devastation and slaughtered many, at least they''re gone so the developed countries started compensating and helping the remaining countries that managed to hold off against the armies of death. *** "Oh fuuuck this is a lot!" Midolf rubbed his eyes while looking at the countless undead standing below him. The Itas continent was filled to the brim with Undead. Their number in the hundreds of millions, there were at least 50,000 bone dragons that were quietly waiting to be awakened. "You could raze a High Realm to the ground with such a big number. I''m afraid the Death Energy would start leaking and affect the inhabitants here, we should seal them."Midolf Radolf(Swain) agreed with the roc and raised his hand, absorbing almost all of the death energy thus turning all the undead into stone statues. The quantity of Death Energy was just too much, even the World Tree would be damaged if this continues. The flames of the evil god were halted by Dan, however, they weren''t completely extinguished. They were stopped, for now, at least, so there wasn''t the danger of the tree turning into ash, nonetheless, it is greatly injured and can''t properly use its powers. **** In a place littered with dead bodies, a bald boy was heavily panting while checking if there''s anyone alive. He was covered injuries and could barely move yet he held on and dragged his wounded body. Fire was spreading and in no time, it''ll cover this whole place so he has to flee before he''s trapped here. Unfortunately, his body didn''t obey him and his strong will wasn''t enough as his nervous system was severely damaged. He dropped on the ground and hit his face, causing him to bleed from his nose yet this kid, who just killed dozens of people, kept trying to escape. He used his slightly functional hand to drag his body inch by inch. His mind was focused on doing just that so he failed to notice the hooded figure standing a couple of meters in front of him. Only when his hand touched the stranger''s boots did the bald boy raise his head and look at the hooded-man with desperation. The man removed his hood only to reveal a middle-aged man with short grey hair and two strange pupils, one blue and the other red. "Oft hope is born when all is forlorn." The boy wanted to ask for help but he was only unable to open and close his mouth. The man grinned, squatted near the kid and said: "Boy, I sense great anger and rage welled up inside of you. How about making use of that?" Without waiting for him to reply, a dark talisman appeared and latched itself on the boy''s back, quickly entering it a few seconds later. The boy''s body wriggled from the agony, hoarse whimpers escaped his mouth as he clenched his fists, trying to resist the pain. "Dark Magic is it called, and to you, it is given." The man left after saying those words, not paying any heed to the fire, which was approaching the boy. ˇ­ If we could see yesterday and tomorrow, the origin and the end, the entire universe in a single moment, we might find answers to the biggest questions of all. Hitsuzen it wasˇ­ and Hitsuzen it shall be. It began like that but one''s end is the other''s beginning. Like that, the two fates became connected for eternity, how Dark Magic initially came to be. Speculations said that Zodiak created it yet only a few knew that it wasn''t born from nothing but was given. Chapter 452 - 402 : Cards Never Lie Excluding The Joker''s nonsensical rambling which happened more often than not, their trip to Calv-city was rather peaceful. They didn''t have to fight, so they either spent their time sleeping or discussing the strange things about this world. Their mind topic is the disappearance of all of their Systems, which rendered them unable to use their skills. Only The Joker wasn''t hindered that much, both Leiu and Arthur relied on their skills and previous stats. When Arthur asked them about their cultivation, both shook their head and told him that they didn''t follow the cultivation route. "I''m not sure but I surpassed the 10,000th Lv a few years ago." "Aigooo you two are lucky. It''s been a long time since I advanced in strength."-The Joker The Trickster whined while fiddling with his card, absent minded. From their answers, Arthur could conclude that the Nameless Knight still didn''t reach the apex but he was still considerably strong. "31"-Leiu "Three centuries." Just after he replied, the Joker stared at the youth beside him with a strange gaze then added: "What? 31? You''re really a freak, after all." Basically, a Lv10,000 player is usually thousands of years old and in some cases, centuries old. For Leiu to surpass such a lvl when he''s so young, it''s definitely abnormal and freakish. "What about you?" Leiu asked the silent Arthur, who was trying to guess from ''when'' they were. In the present, both of them were peak existence in the multiverse so they must have been from the past, which explains why both of them denied meeting him. "I''m a Sovereign." The Joker glanced between a card on his hand and Arthur before saying: "Strangeˇ­ my cards are never false yet you don''t seem to be lying. You must have some secret!" In response, Arthur shrugged his shoulders and retorted "Don''t we all have something to hide?" "I, for one, don''t have a single thing to hide."-The Joker "ˇ­"-Leiu ***** As one would expect from the capital of such a large and prosperous kingdom, Calv-city was bustling with people, especially merchants. Thick walls surrounded the city, protecting it from any foreign attacks. There''s also a large number of guards patrolling the city night and day, capturing any evil-doer they find. In a moderately large room of a famous inn in the capital, three men were discussing their future plans while enjoying a delicious meal. Since they didn''t want others to eavesdrop, it was better to talk here. "The biggest library is West of the city and it should have many history books."-Arthur "No no no I won''t be going!"-The Joker The lunatic objected while crossing his arms, unwilling to go to that boring place ever again. Helpless, Arthur sighed and said "How about you go around the castle and see if there''s a place we can sneak from?" The Joker clapped his hands and nodded his head : "Fantastic idea!" "I''ll go to the library." Arthur planned to go there but since Leiu was so adamant, he let the youth do what he wants and decided to tour the city and visit the Guild, trying to see if there''s any mission that mentions the Cthulhu or the disappearance of large amounts of Mana Crystals. **** The next day, inside the library, Leiu was carefully reading every book, trying to figure out what''s going on. Unknowingly, he spent more than six hours inside, unaffected by the passage of time and wholly focused on the contents of the book. Only when his stomach started growling did he close the book and leave. He was to meet with the others in the inn when the curtain of night falls so it''s a bit soon. Fortunately, he did discover a few things about the past, things that clarified many things but still didn''t help him figure out the reason they were sent here. ''I meanˇ­ why us three? There must be a lot more qualified people.'' Apparently, the calamity that struck this world 3,000 years ago was caused by ''aliens'', which suddenly appeared and started causing chaos. The aliens weren''t that strong but they had the advantage in numbers, moreover when a hero appeared and started eradicating the invading race, they summoned their god in retaliation. A fierce battle occurred between the evil god and the hero but in the end, the latter emerged victorious. Ever since that fight, the descends of that hero were named Kings or Queens of Calvanar. After his victory, that hero established this kingdom, which rose into power and after 2,500 years, managed to absorb all the nearby kingdoms and become the absolute ruler of this continent. ''The alien race, couldn''t be the Cthulhu?'' Leiu pondered about the invaders but no book mentioned monsters with multiple arms. It was said that these aliens had different shapes and sizes and were quite resilient. **** Arthur wandered around the city but the rumors he heard were unimportant, moreover, there were no strange missions in the guild so he just kept touring the city. As he was examining the food stalls and weapon shops, Arthur''s happened to land in a small shop that sold all kinds of paintings. By no means was he interested in them, however, one particular painting grabbed both his gaze and soul, shocking him to the core. He stood there, dazed, for several minutes, snapping out of it only when a passerby pushed him by accident. With unsteady steps and slightly trembling body, he walked toward that painting, not withdrawing his gaze for even a split second. "Beautiful, isn''t it?" "ˇ­"-Arthur Even when he heard the shopkeeper, Arthur gave no response, his attention still glued to the painting. "It''s a new painting made by the royal family''s personal painter. It depicts both the beauty and majesty of our Queen." "This is the Queen?" The shopkeeper shook his head in disappointment while replying "For you to not even recognize the Queenˇ­ you must be from the Eastern Continent. Indeed, she''s our Queen, Margaret and although she''s not the descendant of Hero Calvanar, she still became the current ruler after the death of the King." Still visibly shaking, Arthur questioned: "How did the King die?" "He was sick ever since he was young. He died before they had any children so, after some kind of vote, she ascended to the throne." "I see I seeˇ­ and when did she marry the former King?" The shopkeeper pondered for a few moments before saying "I''m not sureˇ­ I think it was three years ago." Arthur handed him a gold coin before leaving the shop and disappearing amidst the crowd. He entered an empty and narrow alley and retrieved some kind of cloth mask and covered all of his face, excluding his eyes. He was unaware that his body was emitting black fog, though it could barely be noticed due to the environment. ***** Inside the gloomy cave, Gutcha suddenly opened his eyes and turned his head, glancing at the rotating Makaze, which suddenly began acting strangely. It started emitting deafening cries, shaking the very being of the startled Pigolo. He got up and tried to somehow appease only to be flung a couple of meters away. "What''s wrong with it?" The cries were getting more intense and the cave started violently shaking, black flames enveloped the dark sheath and then stretched to all direction, covering the scared Pigolo. Unexpectedly, the black flames didn''t harm Gutcha, who thought he was done for. His body shook from fear, although the rage of the blade was not directed at him, he still felt an inexplicable dread. **** Back in the White Specter Clan, precisely inside Katrina''s private residence, there occurred a small disturbance that alerted the owner. The Matriarch appeared in Lucy''s room and locked her gaze onto the meditating daughter, who paid her mother no heed. She was an Exalted God so she was able to feel the huge disturbance inside Lucy''s consciousness even when the latter tried hiding it. ''This isˇ­ huh?'' Although she tried sensing the origin of the disturbance, she was unable to. "Youˇ­ you''re bound to something?" "ˇ­" The mother was ignored by Lucy, who wasn''t in the mood to talk to her mother. She remained in that meditating position while trying to figure out why the Soul Bind was reacting like this. The thin black thread that connected her consciousness to Arthur''s, was reacting fiercely, covering her whole consciousness with a thick black fog. ''It''s like that timeˇ­''Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. **** Two men stared at each other while listening to the excited adventurers which were whispering to each other in a table near theirs. One was a youth clad in black armor and the other was a tall man wearing a funny-looking white costume. "Hey hey, did you hear about the recent news?" One burly adventure leaned closer to his friend and whispered with a low voice "I heard that someone invaded the royal castleˇ­ the situation is unclear but everyone is trying to capture him." "Are you sure it''s true? It isn''t easy to infiltrate that place. There is at least a thousand guard." The adventurer''s friend didn''t quite believe this rumor. In response, the burly men looked around before speaking again: "I''m telling you, it''s true! He already killed over thirty guard!" Both the Nameless Knight and the Joker stared at each other, confused and surprised. Arthur was supposed to come dozens of minutes ago yet he was absent, then there''s this shocking piece of news. It didn''t take a genius to piece two and two together. However, they couldn''t think of a reason that pushed Arthur to recklessly enter that place. They were supposed to sneak into the royal library but Arthur was brazenly killing everyone in his way, or so the rumors stated. "Isn''t he being too rash?"-The Joker "There must be a reason for his actions."-Leiu Just as the Joker was about to talk again, a short haired youth barged into the inn, attracting everyone''s attention. While gasping for breath, he said "S-someone tried to assassinate the Queen!" Before anyone could react, the youth added: "He''s still fighting the royal knights in the throne room b-but it''s expected that he''ll be killed or captured very soon." ˇ­ While looking at the large castle standing taller than the other building the capital, The Joker asked "What are you thinking?" He glanced at the youth, who''s gaze was locked in the shining moon hanging in the night sky. He raised his hand, where a black helmet appeared, he slowly put it on his head while replying "There must be a reason we three were sent together. Plus, I owe him a favor." Hearing that, the Joker burst out in laughter and said "Hahahahah you''re such a sentimental person." "Shut up." The Joker lifted a hand that was holding a card and muttered "Cards never lieˇ­ someone like him won''t be hindered by mere Royal Knights butˇ­ I suppose I could lend a hand. He seemed strong and I think we got along pretty well." Chapter 453 - 403 : Kin Arthur didn''t go back to the inn to meet up with his two companions, instead, he headed toward the royal castle, where the current ruler of the kingdom current is. He never thought things will become problematic this quickly, nonetheless, debts must be paid back in full and what he''s about to embark on is not only dangerous but reckless too. He didn''t know how such a thing is possible but he''s not going to sit around and try to decipher the past. He had one goal for now and that''s to eliminate the target. Fortunately, with the disappearance of the system, the oath was no more so he''s able to use weapons, which will greatly facilitate the mission. As one would expect, the castle was heavily guarded but the soldiers weren''t that strong so it wasn''t hard to get rid of them. He chose the time when the sun was going down and the soldiers replacing their comrades to sneak inside. However, he still was discovered after merely five minutes, causing a bloody fight to occur. There were three causalities, which were carefully hidden behind some bushes. The shadow of the night was covering the horizon and the black fog emitting from Arthur went unnoticed. His katana was slowly but surely cracking, clear signs of destruction. It simply wasn''t able to handle the bits of Dark Magic around Arthur. The castle was bigger than one might expect and even with his comparatively high stats, Arthur wasn''t able to reach the throne room quickly due to the absence of his stealth and teleportation skills. Sure, it was a hassle but his raging emotions left him with only a bit of rationality, which fully recovered by the time he sneaked deep into the castle. By this time, he killed sixteen soldiers, ten of them died by a sneak-attack. Unfortunately, he wasn''t that careful in the last fight and the guard managed to alert the others, throwing the whole castle into absolute chaos. A loud ringing sound reverberated across the whole area, causing many patrolling soldiers to group near the main areas of the castle. The good thing is that all soldiers were melee-fighters, there was no diversity, though, the deeper he went, the stronger they became. The captains are as strong as A-ranked adventurers. A-ranks posed no threat to Arthur but their numbers were weighing him down and limiting his advancement. They have yet to know the identity or an exact number of the invaders so they didn''t focus much on guarding the throne room. Arthur didn''t know where the Queen was but she''s definitely in the throne room or her private room. As he gazed at the thirty or so soldiers guarding the entrance of the throne room, Arthur took a deep breath and was about to show himself only to hear a cracking sound. The katana he bought a few days ago couldn''t handle the pressure anymore and crumbled into dust. He helplessly looked at the dispersing dusk before noticing a black layer covering the hand that was holding the katana. ''Dark Magic?'' It was then that he remembered Zodiak''s words. ''Dark Magic is but the manifestation of intense emotions into energy. As such, it can be used to attack or defend, it isn''t reliant on skills, a system, or anything like that, it feeds on emotions and nothing else. If it''s integrated into your body, the conversion will happen automatically, all you have to do is feel extreme anger, sadness, rage, etcˇ­'' Suddenly, the aura around Arthur drastically changed, affecting the bushes and alerting the wary soldiers. Just as three of them approached the hidden Arthur, several black spears appeared out of nowhere and penetrated the defenseless victims. Before all the others could react, countless black spears descended from above, piercing their armors and impaling them on the ground. More than half died while the rest groaned painfully, unable to get up and protect the entrance. Arthur slowly advanced toward the closed door without as much as glancing at them. He was holding a strange blade covered in black flames, it isn''t as strong as Makaze but it''s still a weapon conjured from Dark Magic. Although he regained control of Dark Magic, not only it isn''t permanent, but he can''t use the powerful skills. He can just execute normal attacks but it should be enough to deal with everyone in this castle. ˇ­Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. The majestic throne room was eerie and devoid of souls, only a lonely dark figure was standing at its center. Although he felt no presence, Arthur''s instincts warned him of the imminent danger. He felt a strange yet familiar feeling, something he hadn''t felt for a long, long time. As he was pondering what to do, several shadows appeared around him, four, to be precise. The four were humans on the outside but the moment Arthur laid eyes on them, he became speechless. An elegant and voluptuous figure slowly descended from the stairs before him. "With whom do I have the pleasure of speaking with?" Her steps halted for a split second before chuckling and saying "You''re one of our kin tooˇ­ but you seem oddly familiar." While glaring at her, Arthur removed the dark cloth covering his face, causing a shocked expression to appear on the woman''s face. She only remained as so for a few seconds before she burst out in laughter "And here I was wondering who''s brave enough to barge into my castle brazenly like this." She paused for a second before adding: "Never did I think I would meet you so soonˇ­ and as a parasite too. No wonder you were so strong back then." This woman, the Queen of the kingdom, is none other than Claudia, his ex-wife, who''s supposed to have died on Earth. This is why Arthur was so shaken when he saw that painting. He was sure it was no mere coincidence, after all, it couldn''t be. Her words confirmed his suspicions and made him sure that she was the same one he knew. Though, how did she end up here, moreover, she, and the four surrounding him were all parasites. The feeling he was getting from them was familiar, they were his kin, most definitely! "Now that we''ve exchanged pleasantries, I''m curious to know why you''re here." She crossed her arms and said "What happened between us is in the past. Each went their way so why dwell on something you want to forget?" She grinned and added: "You''ve extracted your revenge, killed me and my son, isn''t that enough? In fact, I should be the one angry right now yet I''m not. I want us to part ways on good terms." Hearing this, Arthur clicked his tongue and retorted "I''m supposed to believe that?" He glanced at the four parasites around him before saying; "I know how you operate and letting go is never something you do." She shrugged her shoulders and stated: "Wellˇ­ things change." She examined him from head to toe while talking again "I''ve never heard them mention you so they must not know that you''re a parasiteˇ­ interesting. How about joining hands with me?" In response, Arthur''s figure disappeared, lunging directly at her with a flaming blade ready to decapitate her head. Unfortunately, he wasn''t fast enough to kill her before the four others could react. Two of them suddenly transformed into two tall and muscular cyclops which blocked Arthur''s way. The other two stood in front of Claudia, protecting her from all danger. The black magic sword slashed down at the big cyclops, causing it to stagger a few steps and hold its chest. Black Magic quickly invaded its body and caused it to fall on one knee while groaning. The other cyclops swung its club, causing the air to whistle and the ground to shake. Arthur was no god of speed anymore, his movements become limited and to handle two SS-ranked monsters such as cyclops is no easy deal even with the help of Dark Magic. A burst of Dark Magic was unleashed from his free hand, pushing him to the left, barely dodging the club, however, the cyclops followed its swing with a kick, which sent Arthur flying dozens of meters. "Why are you clinging onto old grudges? Everything is in the past." Although she was saying that, Claudia''s eyes failed to hide the joy she was feeling when looking at the injured Arthur. She seemed to find it exhilarating that he''s getting beaten up by her subordinates. Unlike Arthur, who''s a parasite, these parasites are much weaker and can only transform into the first monster they possessed. As for their humanoid form, it''s merely a low-level skill that''s able to fool mortals. Chapter 454 - 404 : Dragonic Form The first cyclops, which was hit by Arthur''s Dark Magic, suddenly succumbed, not expecting to be weakened this fast. He fell on the ground and started wriggling before dying, at last. This startled the four other parasites, including Claudia, who became more vigilant of Arthur''s Dark Magic. It only took him one hit to eliminate one of them and this shows how deadly his magic is. The remaining cyclops didn''t last long either, after being struck by three slashes, it followed its comrade to the afterlife. Now, the two parasites guarding Claudia, their Queen, had to make a move. However, she decided to join them to ensure their victory. Just like she proclaimed, Claudia was indeed a parasite and a stronger variant than the ones responsible for her safety. Red scales that emitted some heat started growing on her body, covering more than 80% of it. A long dragonic tail grew from her lower back and a ring made of red flames surrounded her. Unfortunately, Arthur never saw this skill but he had heard of it from Vince. It can be used by humans who have one dragon as one of their parents, this grants them this overpowered ability. Not only does it strengthen the user''s physique, but it also allows them to use dragon skills such as the infamous [Dragon Breath]. The two other parasites also finished their transformation, one was a gigantic flying fish and the other was a white leopard. Before he could react, the leopard appeared before him and struck his body, causing him to crash into the wall behind him. The flying fish followed right after, sending big water waves that, not only caused blunt damage but also made Arthur drenched and suffocating as he swallowed a lot of water. "Isn''t this nostalgic?" While seductively saying that, Claudia raise her hand and unleashed a flame blast, which somehow was blocked by a half-transparent Dark Barrier. The barrier didn''t hold up for long but it bought him enough time to jump to the side and raised his katana with both hands. He concentrated all his accumulated Dark Magic and vertically struck the air, precisely at the direction of the flying fish. A deafening whistling sound resounded inside the throne room and born from Arthur''s simple move was an ominous black beam, which traveled with lightning speed, and was supposed to finish the flying monster. Unfortunately, the white leopard jumped between them and intercepted the attack by forcefully diverting the beam''s trajectory using its glowing body. Seeing his ultimate attack fail, Arthur leaned on the cracked wall and took a deep breath. He closed his eyes and let go of the dark katana. "It''s useless to fight back. Just accept defeat and let us continue what wasn''t finished in the past." She chuckled and vanished from her spot, appearing in front of Arthur. Her tail wrapped around his waist and raised him a few centimeters above the ground. He wasn''t fatally injured but he still broke a few bones and had a bloody wound on his back. She stared at this scarred grey-haired man while saying "I was magnanimous and wanted to let bygones be bygones yet you chose the cruel path. We''re both parasitesˇ­ aren''t we supposed to work together?" She shook her head then gazed at him while licking her lips : "I''m so going to enjoy torturing you again, after all, I''m curious about many things likeˇ­ how did you get here, who sent you, etcˇ­" Just as she was about to snap his legs to permanently cripple him, a foreboding feeling struck her, causing her body to shiver. Her bestial instincts repeatedly warned her to retreat and retread she did. The tail unwrapped itself and the woman abruptly backed away but she wasn''t fast enough to dodge the whole blow. A malevolent and big dark arrow appeared from within the wall and flew straight at her. She crossed her arms and retaliated by unleashing large amounts of flames, which were successful in momentarily stopping the arrow. The flying fish used its body to strike the arrow but it only led to agonizing pain and instant death. Literally, the fish turned jet black before dark flames covered it then consumed it, leaving only nothingness in its place. Dumbstruck by what just happened, Claudia''s face turned pale as she widened the distance between her and Arthur, afraid that another arrow appears out of nowhere again. Fortunately, by sacrificing itself, the flying fish managed to get rid of the dark arrow, which became very small upon killing the parasite. Its momentum weakened and the sea of flames was able to scorch it. Still, Claudia felt terrified by Arthur''s ominous magic, not only is it unusual, it''s deadly, especially to parasites, for some reason. The white leopard jumped at Arthur, planning to slash him with its claws only to hit nothing but black smoke. Arthur literally transformed into black smoke which easily bypassed material things and wrapped itself around the leopard, suffocating it within seconds. The only remaining parasite, Claudia, witnessed this and couldn''t understand what''s going on. She was unaware that Arthur, who was losing a moment ago, became stronger only due to his intensifying emotions. Though he was losing his rationality, his strength was rising by leaps and bounds. In no time, he''ll become controlled by his anger and would stop at nothing to kill her. That''s how terrifying Dark Magic is, it feeds on emotions, mainly anger, and grants an almost endless amount of power to its user. As long as it''s fueled by intense emotions, there''s no telling how strong Arthur can become. The black smoke condensed into Arthur, who straightened his back and held a black spear with both of his hands. An overbearing aura enveloped him as he glared at her and took the first step while sweeping the spear in the air. Upon a closer look, Arthur was imitating his copy''s movements, it was the skill Vince used against the Divine Beasts. Instead of the golden radiance that was supposed to emanate from the tip of the spear, an encroaching darkness spread to all directions, getting rid of any kind of illumination, basically turning this room into a world of darkness. ''First step, Dragon Sweeping the Earth'' Claudia felt as if someone was holding her neck and suffocating her, she shook her body then opened her mouth, ready to use [Dragon Breath]. Thick amount of Mana concentrated in her mouth before red flames appeared. Without any hesitation, she spat the red flames, splitting the world of darkness and flying toward Arthur. Just as the flames were about to scorch him, Arthur took the second step while raising the spear. ''Second step, three-headed Dragon devouring the Land.'' The dark spear left its hand and transformed into a three-headed black dragon that clashed with the dragon breath. The clash caused the whole castle to violently shake and half of the throne room to be obliterated. Both Arthur and Claudia were pushed back but the former was forced to kneel on the ground as his body wasn''t perfect like the past, it wasn''t a suitable vessel for the ever-growing Dark Magic. He ignored the pain and forced himself up, however, his neck was suddenly grasped by an angry Claudia, who had a bloody wound on her abdomen. She spat some blood and tightened the grip on his neck while wrapping her tail around his waist, making sure to not let go. "Never mind, it''s too dangerous to let you alive." At first, she planned to enjoy her time torturing him but he turned out to be much more dangerous than she thought. Even someone like her, who''s considered strong amongst her peers, was injured by him when he was in such state. Deliberately sparing his life would only hinder her future plans so she decided to get rid of the root of the problem rather than keep him on a tight leash. Just as she was about to kill him, the sensation in her hound slightly changed. The black figure in front of her was replaced by a taller man wearing a white costume. He was showing her a wide grin while saying "My my, isn''t too fast for ''that''? We just met hehehehe" Before she could react, the man grabbed her stretched hand and casually threw her away. As for Arthur, he was teleported to the Joker''s position, meaning, they exchanged places.Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. He wasn''t in his right mind, so, when he saw Claudia sent flying, he was prepared to jump at her only for someone to hold him. "We should go."-Leiu An authoritative voice entered his ears and just by hearing it, his body was forced to obey. It wasn''t a skill but something different, something overwhelming just like dragon words. Even after hearing that, Arthur''s body started shaking, forcefully breaking the binds that were making him obey the Nameless Knight. As for the Joker, he was staring at a figure which caught the flying Claudia. Just like the woman, this cloaked-figure was a parasite and from her body curves, it was apparent that she was a female. She seemed to be as powerful as Claudia or maybe slighter stronger, nevertheless, the Joker wasn''t the least bit anxious. He inspected the two women while saying "You two are just like my companion right hereˇ­ but why is it that I don''t like you?" He massaged his temple while seriously pondering about the matter. Claudia leapt at the Joker, using her monstrous strength to punch him only for the lunatic to retaliate with a kick. The two were equal in terms of raw power but when the other parasite joined, the Joker had to resort to other ''means''. "I would like to fight youˇ­ alas, it''s not time yet." He blew a kiss toward the cloaked female parasite before flipping a card from his deck. The card flashed with a grey light which caused him, Arthur, and Leiu to be enveloped by a white circle. The cloaked parasite figured out what''s happening so she darted toward Arthur, planning to snatch him before they are teleported away. Unfortunately, she was met with a youth clad in dark armor who used one hand to raise his sword and horizontally swing it. This simple move caused a raging wind cyclone to push the parasite dozens of meters away. When everything calmed down, the two females found themselves alone in the destroyed throne room, which lacked the majesty it once had. Chapter 455 - 405 : Revival @@ "Let me go!" Consumed by rage, Arthur tried to get up and return to the castle only for the Joker to sit on his back, rendering him unable to free himself. Moreover, whatever Leiu did to him previously, it''s still taking effect, causing his body to feel extremely heavy as if it refused to obey him. "Calm down, will you." While grinning, the Joker raised his hand and chopped on the back of Arthur''s neck, surprisingly knocking the enraged beast unconscious. As he sat on his companion''s motionless body, the Magician laughed and proudly stated: "There''s no one in the world who can resist my ultimate chopping move hahahaha" Leiu, who was on the other side, could only shake his head and sigh. He was relieved that everything went according to plan, however, the discoveries they made were truly frightening.Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. The two women inside that throne room weren''t weak and they should not be underestimated, especially the hooded-one, who tried to snatch Arthur at th@@ Chapter 456 - 406 : Caught! @@ "My grumpy student, what''s wrong?" The Joker, leisurely playing with his cards, glanced at the absent-minded Katrina, who paid him no heed ever since he abruptly appeared out of nowhere. "Are you perhaps thinking about Arthur?" Hearing his name, the woman instinctively looked at him and gazed at him with a surprised expression, wondering how he knows about Lucy''s husband. "How do you know him?" In response to her expected question, the man burst out in laughter while patting her back, causing her to groan and glare at him. "How can I not know him?" He smirked at her and added: "What troubles your mind?" After pondering for a moment, she replied: "I think he didn''t die." As if she stated the obvious, the Joker confirmed "Of course he hasn''t." This was like dropping a bucket of cold water on Katrina, whose eyes grew wide. The Trickster tilted his head and said:Find authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. "Did you really think you could kill him @@ Chapter 457 - 407 : Help @@ "This is weird, there''s no mention of any other world except this one."-ArthurFind authorized novels in WebnovelŁ¬faster updates, better experienceŁ¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting. Arthur read the ancient book and creased his brows, finding not a single information about the multiverse or what lays outside or Riarravar. "I think they either hid or got rid of the truth or there''s none, to begin with." Leiu passed a book to Arthur while adding: "The oldest thing ever recorded dates back to 4,000 years ago. Aliens races invaded the land and wreaked havoc, seeking domination and wanting to enslaves the inhabitants of this world. So, amidst the normal bunch, a ''Hero'' appeared, he resisted the relentless attacks of the monsters and emerged victorious at the end. However, there is very little information about the alien races, it isn''t even mentioned if they were eradicated or are still here." "It''s not that hard to guess. The Parasites are surely one of them, there''s also the suspicious dark-skinned monsters underground. They use the same method as the Cthul@@ Chapter 458 - 408 : Final Battle Arthur, Leiu, and the Joker spent two days to recover to their peak state before initiating their plan. As an enemy, the female parasite was executed by the Joker, after all, dragging her around would be such a hassle, or so he said. The plan was clear and simple; get rid of all the parasites in Calv-city. From the parasite''s memories, Arthur was able to see where the secret rooms and hidden mechanisms were located so infiltrating the castle became much easier. It unknown when they''ll summon their God so the trio decided to finish them before they do it lest they have to go through the trouble of fighting a summoned God. "Tsk! I knew she wasn''t dead!" The Joker clicked his tongue and angrily stomped the ground. Almost all the soldiers left their posts and went to defend the castle as if they were expecting them. There were thousands of them and at least a hundred mutants, a terrifying force that would annihilate even any SS-ranked adventurer. Unfortunately, the kingdom''s enemies this time weren''t simple adventurers but literal killing machines. To access a hidden tunnel that leads to where the Mana Crystals are hidden, they need to first get rid of all the useless flies protecting the outer perimeter. Left with no choice but to reveal themselves, two dark silhouettes appeared from behind a well, startling a group of soldiers. Before they could react, the large group was either swallowed by Darkness or hit by sharp Dark Spears. In just a few seconds, a hundred or so soldiers died, leaving the nearby ones both shocked and afraid. Arthur and Leiu didn''t stop, anyone who raised a weapon against them died. As for the Joker, he leisurely followed them, killing anyone who tried to attack from behind. When more than four hundred soldiers died and the rest decided to back off, clearly afraid of these invaders, the real monsters finally showed themselves. Six cloaked figures beckoned for the trio to follow them as these parasites didn''t want to reveal their true forms to the soldiers outside. Since they warmly welcomed them, they didn''t have any reason to refuse their invitation, after all, it was their goal to get rid of any living parasite in this city and all of them are currently hiding in the castle. Yet again, Arthur found himself in the throne room, which was repaired and back to its glorious state, however, it was about to be annihilated for good this time. Before any of the two parties could talk or ready themselves, Leiu was like a rocket, jumping at the closest parasites and cleaving them with his greatsword. Two of them were hit and killed on the spot but his cleave continued onward, destroying the wall and creating a large crater on the ground. Without stopping, he held his greatsword with both hands then slashed horizontally, unleashing a blinding white light which shot toward the remaining four parasites. They instantly took their real forms but it was too late, the white light unleashed from the greatsword was unstoppable, pushing them against the wall then cutting the ''new'' bodies in piece. Only one lucky parasite who was a diamond turtle, managed to resist the attack but it was still heavily injured. Sadly, it was the end for this poor turtle as a rain of Dark Spears befell on it, not stopping until the parasite stopped moving. "What the hell! Can''t we have some fun with you two?!" Seeing the enemies dead within seconds, the Joker loudly complained while hugging himself. Neither of the three had anything to do here so just as they were about to advance, a tall figure with scales covering her body appeared out of nowhere. It was none other than Claudia, who''s already in her dragonic form. Her current form seemed more advanced than the last one as every inch of her body was covered in scales and her tail was lengthier. "You two go ahead, I''ll take care of it." Arthur walked opposite of the silent Claudia while signaling them to proceed without him. Each person has a job to do and his was surely to face her and kill her. It was time to end this farce once and for all. Unlike last time, he''s completely sane and will be able to grasp what''s happening. The Joker and the Nameless Knight left glancing one last time at their companion. In fact, even Claudia didn''t try to stop them even when they passed next to her. Her full attention was focused on Arthur and Arthur alone, anything else was deemed secondary and not worth wasting time on. "So we meet againˇ­ such a troubling fate we have." "Quit trying to sound wise and mysterious, it doesn''t suit you."-Arthur Unlike the past Claudia, who got provoked by anything he said, the current one was calm and a bit different but that''s probably due to the dragonic form which may have slightly affected her mind. "I really do wish to join hands with you. Together, we can achieve many great things." Despite their past feud, Claudia wanted to ally with Arthur more than those parasites, for some reason. "Why are you so persistent? Are you so eager to betray your current allies?" "Allies? Don''t make me laugh! They are nothing but monsters blinded by their fanatical beliefs. Just hearing them ramble about their almighty God makes me sick!" Having enough of her talking, Arthur slowly walked toward her while black flames slowly enveloped him. "Claudia, one way or another, it ends today." Feeling his ever-growing aura and the thick killing intent emanating from his jet black pupil, she snorted and said "Hmpf! Bring it on." Although he can''t fully unleash the skill, Arthur still tried his best to use [Eternium] by repeatedly repeating the verse. ''Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires." It cannot be seen, cannot be felt, Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt, It lies behind stars and under hills, And empty holes it fills, It comes first and follows after, Ends life, kills laughter.'' ****** After entering a hidden tunnel and going downwards for a few minutes, both The Joker and Leiu found themselves in a large circular room filled with broken Mana Crystals, probably defected ones. A single figure blocked their way, causing both of them to halt their steps. When his pair of eyes landed on the enemy, the Joker burst out in laughter. "Ain''t this a motherfucking good day! HAHAHAHAHA" He retrieved his deck of cards while licking his lips, excited by what''s to come. He knew that she hasn''t died, after all, she was the second in command and one of the strongest parasites in here. "I guess you''ll be taking this one?"-Leiu "Of course, no one can snatch my prey!" Leiu shrugged his shoulders and was about to walk by the female parasite only for her to jump at him, trying to stop him. Unfortunately, her body clashed with the Joker, who blocked her away and even pushed her dozens of meters. She tried leaping at Leiu again but her tries were met with nothing but failure. When Leiu finally left this circular room and headed deeper into this complicated place, the Joker started laughing again while saying "Come on! It''s boring if you don''t go all out! Show me your real form! Show me the wolf!" His words astonished the female parasite, who remained still for a few seconds. Never did she imagine that he''ll be able to guess her real form like that. It''s not that he guessed but that he ''saw'' it, after all, there''s nothing the cards can''t show him. With sufficient luck and strong belief, any masquerade could be seen by the Magician. The parasite complied and removed her hood, quickly transforming into a beautiful white wolf with four tails. White flames burned on each tip of the tails and her body emitted a gentle and refreshing aura. None would dare say this was a parasite, quite the opposite, this seemed like a heavenly being. The Joker clapped his hands while enjoying the great sight. "I''ve fought a nine-tailed fox in the past, alasˇ­ it was a piece of trash. I hope you''re strong as you appear to be." ******* Leiu, who was left alone, felt the ground heavily shaking due to his two other companions, who were going all out against their opponents. His acute senses got the presence of a particularly strong individual right under him, which seemed rather confusing as the only forward is by following the tunnel on his left. After pondering for a few seconds, he used his greatsword and banged it on the ground, breaking it and falling into a shiny room. This place was filled to the brim by Mana Crystals, ones that are bigger than even carriages. When the dust cleared, he found himself surrounded by many enemies, all of the parasites. At his front was a green-haired middle-aged man, the one who seemed to the commander of the parasites. Although dealing with the other parasites coupled with their leader would be a pain, he''s a person who''s used to fighting multiple enemies. If only he had his greatsword then such weaklings would be killed in just one swoop. "Hmm young but so ferociousˇ­" The middle-aged man rubbed his chin while assessing Leiu, who put on his helmet and raised his greatsword, ready to begin the massacre. Chapter 459 - 409 : Magic, Cards, and Swords Black flames covered Arthur from head to toe and his strength was greatly boosted. He decided to rely on long-range attacks since Makaze is absent and replacing it with a sword made from Dark Magic isn''t that effective. More than a hundred spears and blades from Dark Magic materialized behind Arthur and with his signal, they flew at the target, who jumped from one place to another, easily avoiding them. They just weren''t fast enough to hit the transformed Claudia, who''s already in her strongest dragonic form. Just as she was to dodge the last spear, thin chains sprung from the ground and wrapped around her left feet hence slowing her movements and immobilizing her for a split second. The time bought by those chains allowed the dark spear to clash with Claudia''s crossed arms and despite resisting and dispersing the Dark Spear, direct contact with it was all what Arthur needed. Now, a tiny bit of Dark Magic invaded her body and all he needed was time for it to consume and corrupt her body. She''ll be focused on fighting him so getting rid of it immediately is practically impossible, plus, she hasn''t even discovered yet. Although his physique was strengthened, Arthur was no match for the dragonic form, so, when Claudia appeared before him and punched his chest, all he could was use his arms to block the incoming strike. He was sent flying dozens of meters before falling on the ground and coughing a bit of blood, nonetheless, he quickly stood up and clutched both of his fists, causing two spinning black whirlpools to appear around him. The whirlpools headed toward Claudia, who retaliated by spitting large amounts of fire that did nothing to the whirlpools which absorbed everything in its way. Left with no choice but to get away from them, Claudia tried to escape only for the ground to turn black and for countless creepy dark hands to hold her feet. The black whirlpools hit her from both sides and fused together, dealing much more damage. Unfortunately, she was much more resilient and only a few scales were corrupted and fell from her bodyˇ­ **** ''3? Serpent Creed!'' A serpent-like weapon appeared on both the Joker''s hand. Both the serpents had their mouths open and the fingers were transformed into sharp and long fangs. "Let this party get started!" He jumped on the wolf, unfazed by the suffocating aura the latter was emitting. In retaliation, the wolf also leapt at its opponent, swinging its claws at the strange man while one of its tails unleashed a barrage of white flames. The fangs of the serpent, albeit short compared to the wolf''s claws, still managed to resist the big wolf along with causing strong and intense vibrations that demolished the ground. Each one of them was trying to overpower the other, however, the Joker never liked clich¨¦ clashes like this, he quickly retracted his hand and struck with the other. This time, the fangs released a green miasma which instantly covered the wolf, causing it to cough. He grasped this moment to jump upwards and use his sharp fangs again to stab the back of the coughing wolf. Lots of blood gushed from the two deep wounds induced by the Joker. As it wanted to get rid of the Joker, who pulled the fangs and was about to stab its back again, the wolf used its four tails to attack the Joker. For some reason, the white flames did no damage to the lunatic, who ignored the incoming tails and stabbed again. After two additional stabs, the Trickster was forced to unmount and evade the tails which transformed into sharp white spikes that were as fast as lightning. Feeling that the serpents in his hands have done their purpose, he threw them away only for them to turn into black smoke. He then raised another card ''2?Heart''s Haze!'' The four tails, which were lengthened and kept chasing him, hit nothing but air as two other Jokers appeared from behind the original one. The tails focused on one of the three while the wolf opened its mouth and seemed about to use some sort of long-ranged attack. Unfortunately, before it could prepare its attack, its mouth was forcefully closed by a Joker who fell from the ceiling and pressed his body on the upper mouth of the startled wolf. "So slow and stupidˇ­ tsk!" Another Joker attacked from the wolf''s rear, literally kicking the beast on its butt and sending it flying in the air. The finisher was done by the third Joker, who was busy dealing with the tails just a second ago. He raised another card in the air, prepared to deal a devastating blow. ''8? Hex Dice!'' The card was converted into a grey dice which showed a random number from 1 to 6. As he saw the number with the symbol next to it, the Magician grinned and said "The irony! Ah! I can''t believe it!" The dice emitted a blinding radiance which slowly grew in size until it turned into a creature. Seeing its white fur and non-intimidating appearance, the Joker became even more excited. While pointing at the incoming wolf, he ordered the animal before him "Dumb Sheep go get him!" Indeed, the dice turned into a sheep that looked normal in every sense of the world. Whether it''s its size, behavior or non-existing Mana inside of its body, anyone would describe it as a normal sheep. "Baaa!" It gave such a response and strangely flew in the air and headed straight at the big wolf, which opened its mouth and was about to use the same attack it couldn''t unleash few seconds ago. *** Surprisingly, the other parasites surrounding Leiu didn''t attack, only their leader was the one prepared to fight him. "What a coincidence! The first body I possessed was of the first Sword Saint that ever appeared!" The green-haired man held a 1.5 meter-long blue sword and took a fighting stance then waited for Leiu. "You know I-" Before he could finish, the youth cut him off and said "You talk too much." The Nameless Knight rushed at the green-haired man, who welcomed him with a swing of his blue sword. Just a simple swing caused the ground to freeze and the air to become frosty yet it those changes in the environment were destroyed by Leiu''s greatsword which split the ground in two and pushed away all the frosty air. A simple swing of that normal greatsword caused a wind cyclone strong enough to push away all the spectating Parasites, which were motionless and unresponsive. This was, of course, suspicious and Leiu wasn''t the kind of person to let the enemy do as he pleases. While their leader was pushed back a few steps, he grasped this opportunity to strike the closest parasite. His greatsword descended upon a non-resisting parasite which was turned into a bloody mist when hit by the greatsword. Seeing his shameless actions, the green-haired man angrily said: "This is a fight between sword-users, where''s your honor and pride?" "ˇ­" He was met with nothing but silence as Leiu jumped on another parasite and finished him off. Feeling enraged, the leader''s aura suddenly erupted, causing half of the room to become frozen yet a dark aura was enveloping Leiu, rendering him immune to all exterior forces. The youth did a backflip then raised his free hand and clutched the air, releasing a terrifying darkness that gobbled up the expanding ice and even killed three more parasites. From within the chilling air, the green-haired man appeared, leaping at Leiu and swinging his sword which released a thick beam of light that hit the ground under the target''s feet. A hole suddenly appeared, causing Leiu''s body to fall while the enemy was coming down from above, ready to stab the youth''s head. Unfortunately, a large hand made from nothing but darkness appeared from Leiu''s back, it grabbed the man''s feet and pulled him downwards while the greatsword finished the combo by slamming into the parasite, who desperately used his sword to block the incoming attack. Instead of the enemy, it was he who fell into that ice pit while the youth relied on strange and long dark hands that grabbed the surface and pulled him back into the room. The parasite coughed some blood and held his chest, in which a severe wound appeared. Some sort of Holy light shone upon the wound, healing it in a few seconds and restoring the leader into his peak state. Chapter 460 - 410 : Back Then "I, Arthur, and Leiu were ''sent'' to Riarravar for a purpose. At first, we were clueless so we searched for an answer. I had never met them before that event and the two of them only met once prior to that time. We''ve lost most of our powers and became weak, mortalsˇ­" The Joker, sitting opposite of Lucy, recounted the events of what happened in full details. The listener, Lucy, opened her ears wide and quietly listened to the eccentric man. "Why did you lose your powers?" "Well, we didn''t ''lose'' our powers, per say. We couldn''t access them because they didn''t exist." To better explain the past circumstances, he laid out multiple cards in front of her, each with a different symbol and color and upon a closer look, each card indicated an attribute. "Let''s take an easy exampleˇ­ you''ve been to Earth, right?" She nodded her hand in confirmation. "So you''re familiar with electricity and how it works, more or less." Lucy repeated the same actions without talking. "Let''s say you take an object which requires electricity to function to a past before electricity was discoveredˇ­ do you think it''ll still work?" "Obviously, it won''t work."-Lucy "Bingo! It will not for there is no electricity in that period of time. However, were you to take Benjamin Franklin to a past prior to when he discovered electricity, will he be able to reproduce the same results?" "ˇ­"-Lucy "The answer is yes and no. It all depends on the resources and the time he was sent in. Many variables played part in his discoveries and if you remove them, there''s a strong chance he won''t be able to repeat his feats. It was the same with us, as back then, the natural laws had yet to be born." Confused, Lucy asked: "I thought if you''re sent back in time, you''ll still keep your powers and skills." In response, the Joker laughed and replied: "That is true but I never said we were sent back in time." He paused for a split second before resuming: "Technically, we were sent back in times. However, it was not ''us'' but our memories. ''Copies'' of us were created while adding one variable which was our memories from the future." Feeling even more overwhelmed, Lucy tilted her head, not quite understanding his words. "It is complicated and perhaps even ludicrous. After all, ''creating'' living beings is nothing but an absurd thing to say but that''s the only way I can explain it. Anyway, skills and spells we acquired in this present weren''t accessible, however, for both Leiu and Arthur, re-developing their main powers was a hard but not an impossible thing to achieve. Dark Magic is based on using emotions as a catalyst and then materializing in the form of Dark Mana to either attack or defend. As for Leiu, his powers were vastly different and much more frightening and, unlike his brother, he could manipulate the darkness. It may seem similar to Arthur''s Dark Magic but it''s definitely not." The Joker pointed at a slightly dark corner of the room while explaining: "While Arthur can create Darkness, Leiu can ''access'' it, meaning that he''s the darkness. Of course, to use it without the help of the System is difficult but he''s freakishly perceptive so he managed to control it after much effort." "Then, what about you?"-Lucy "Hahahaha I did lose part of my strength but it wasn''t that big of a deal. I don''t rely on the elemental laws, my powers are wholly reliant on my cards and cards alone. I do have a few powerful artifacts but those are just part of my collection, I mostly never use them. My body was greatly weakened but when I was ''created'', my cards appeared with me." He spread his hand on the table and magically spawned two cups of tea while saying: "Magic is about tricking the mind then the heartˇ­ anyway, it''s going to be a long story so let me rejuvenate my dry throat." The Trickster gulped the cup in one go then took a deep breath before continuing with his story: "As I was saying, we found clues and ended up meeting a detestable woman who was actually the queen of a rising kingdom." A frown appeared on Lucy''s face. She didn''t know who exactly the Joker was referring to but she soon got her answer. "It was Claudia, Arthur''s ex-wife." A chilling aura emanated from the previously calm Lucy though it was retracted after a few seconds. To calm herself, she gulped the cup of tea and gazed at the expressionless man before her. "It was nothing but a fortunate coincidence for that woman, whose soul got picked by the parasites. Eventually, she was turned into one and joined their ranks. After a few skirmishes, we three decided to raid said kingdom and get rid of the parasites in hope of discovering a way out of that place or a clue to why we were ''sent'' there." *********** In just a couple of minutes, both Arthur and Claudia exchanged a few hundred punches and kicks. Although he was much better at fighting than her, he was still at a disadvantage due to her superior physical strength. When he lands a punch on her abdomen, she would reciprocate, causing both of them to be pushed a few steps. It was a fight to the death between two mad dogs. Arthur showed no mercy or hesitation, he hit the face, chest, limbs, whenever there''s an opening, he''ll aim for it. It was the same thing for his ex-wife, who became much more ferocious and even a bit emotional. "Do you even know why all of this started?!" As she whipped him with her long tail and sent him crashing into a nearby wall, she hysterically continued: "Do you know why I resorted to such cruel means? You think it was only for money?!" Arthur wiped the blood off his lips and raised his hand, unleashing large waves made of black flames. The black flames clashed with Claudia''s dragonic flames, which scorched the ground and spread to all corners of the throne room. Long chains made of Dark Magic appeared in Arthur''s hands, he ignored Claudia''s rambling and swung them down. After swiftly dodging the first strike, Claudia used her sturdy body to the other chains coming from her right. She tried grabbing them but caught nothing but air as they dispersed the moment she tried touching them. A wall of darkness rose from under her feet, elevating her and destabilizing her body thus rendering her unable to dodge or block countless Dark Spears which hit her all at the same time. Her figure was sent flying like a kite, only stopping when she was met with a fragile wall which turned into rubble the moment she made contact with it. Perhaps from anger or the raging emotions, Claudia''s pupils shone with a savage red light which increased her strength and healed some of her new wounds. "You did this to me! You were the one who started it all!" She struggled to get up while saying: "We were a happy couple at first but that was only my imagination. You robbed me of my innocence and pretended to be in love with me and all for what? Just to get the support of my family? Thenˇ­ what about me? Have you ever thought of how I felt?" "What you claim I have done to you doesn''t even hold a candle to what you did to me. Inhumanly torturing me for months, only a sick and obsessed bastard like you would do that." Contrary to her, Arthur was calm and composed, choosing not be controlled or overwhelmed by the emotions he was feeling right now. If he loses himself to the anger and rage, it would only complicate things not only for him but for The Joker and Leiu. This is his personal matter and he should finish once and for all, no need for pointless talking or thinking about the past. "Then tell meˇ­ did you ever have feelings toward me? Have you ever considered me your wife?" She chuckled and added: "I only saw you once or twice a month and whenever you were home, you never as much as greeted me. You treated me as if I didn''t exist. While you were busy managing that company of yours, I was suffering! I had to quietly endure the mocking of the others and hear them talk behind my back." She gazed at the man covered in black flames, snickered and spoke again: "When you heard about the rumors and media saying that your wife was a slut, did you even do anything to stop them from spreading? Did you ever try to suppress them? You had enough power to do whatever you wanted yet you did nothing! Absolutely nothing! You watched from the sidelines while your wife was mocked and cursed!" Chapter 461 - 411 : Glory To Parasites "Do you think all these excuses allow you to torture someone to death?" Arthur spat on the ground and mocked: "In the end, you''re just an obsessed psychopath." The two leapt at each other, exchanges dozens of punches and kicks, their clashes destroyed the whole place which no more resembled a throne room. Half of the room was gone and what remained either got scorched by the dragonic flames or corrupted by the Dark Magic. The more Claudia fought, the more savage her attacks became, she was like a lunatic on the loose, letting her accumulating emotions control her. Fortunately, all the soldiers were ordered to remain outside of the castle lest they get killed by the collateral damage. It is no longer a fight mere mortals like them can join in. After one final exchange, the two of them were pushed back a few steps. Eternium started wearing off so the black flames covering Arthur slowly but surely started weakening and disappearing. Claudia, who was holding her chest and screeching from the rage and pain, suddenly roared loudly, causing the whole place to shake violently. More and more scales covered her exponentially growing body and in just a few seconds, she no longer resembled a human. She was becoming a dragon, a Fire Dragon, to be more exact. Her height surpassed 6 meters and her eyes emitted a dangerous and savage red light. "See? You''re just a monster." He snickered while waving his hand, conjuring a Dark Barrier which protected him from the heat and flames surrounding him. He created two daggers made of Dark Magic and lunged himself on her. Although he no longer had his Mastery skills, it doesn''t mean the experience and knowledge gained from all the corpses he possessed had vanished. Despite becoming stronger and faster, her large size greatly decreased her speed so when she tried to hit him with her long tail, Arthur dodged to the side and slashed a few times with his daggers, leaving black marks on the dragon''s body. The daggers suddenly merged, transforming into two-handed axe which Arthur used to cleave down. His attempt to cut the tail was unsuccessful, however, large amounts of blood gushed out of the fresh and severe injury. The ground underneath Claudia became jet black and numerous sharp black spikes sprung from it, causing the dragon to flap its wings, trying to getaway. Expecting such an outcome, Arthur''s axe transformed yet again, becoming an ominous longbow. Arthur pulled an invisible thin thread and fired two arrows which flew straight at the dragon''s eyes. Though they did manage to hit their target, they did close no damage and in retaliation, the dragon spat a fireball half of its body. Due to the cramped place and the short distance between him and Claudia, Arthur couldn''t dodge so he conjured a second Dark Barrier and raised the bow high in the air. The bow became a shield covered in black flames, he slowly advanced while using the shield to resist the huge fireball. Unlike earlier, the flames were much more dangerous as they melted the ground and stopped in his tracks for a moment before sending him flying. Just one fireball was enough to get rid of the black flames covering him, returning him to his original appearance. He had severe injuries all over his bodies and his vision was dyed red from all the blood covering him. He couldn''t use his ultimate skills, moreover, he didn''t have Makaze so his fighting prowess was greatly reduced, nonetheless, Arthur swore to take her down today, no matter the cost. If it were back then, before meeting Lucy, he wouldn''t have cared if he lost his life in the process, however, it is different now. He has a place and a family to return to and he can''t afford to lose his life in this foreign world. ****** The innocent sheep which rose into the air and faced the angry wolf suddenly transformed into a creepy and terrifying monster. Its teeth became sharp and lengthy and its fur was dyed with the color red. Like a shooting red star, the sheep dived inside the wolf''s body and suddenly exploded resulting in the plummeting of the four-tailed beast. It no longer has its majestic aura revolving around it, the parasite whimpered as it tried its best to get up only for three Jokers to appear in front of its face and ruthlessly punch it. The huge beast was pushed back as blood flowed from its mouth and nostrils, the opponent was just too strong even for a parasite like her. "To be honest, I expected a better fightˇ­ *sigh*" He cracked his knuckles, patted the dust off his costume then added: "Let us finish this!" He took a deep breath, took a weird pose similar to throwing a baseball and mumbled "Second move of the Trickster Series: Winners above all!" A ball made of mysterious black light appeared in his hand, he locked his gaze onto the wolf then threw the ball with all his strength. Whatever was thrown was too fast for the injured opponent to block it or dodge, so, before anything could be done, the ball penetrated the wolf''s skull and turned into a statue made of dark gold. While whistling, the Joker walked toward the statue and flashed a blank card it, which in its turn, sucked the whole thing. This resulted in a picture of a beautiful four-tailed fox to appear on the blank card. "Another one to my collection! Hahahahahahaha" After laughing for a while, he randomly walking around the circular room then stopped in its center, glued his ears closer to the ground and closed his eyes, seemingly trying to locate something. His hand took the form of a claw then it hit the ground which had countless cracks on it. The cracks spread to all corners of the room before crumbling, causing large amounts of rubble to fall along with Joker, who elegantly jumped from one boulder to another until he found himself standing at the deepest room in this complex place. Two pairs of eyes landed on the Trickster, who grinned at the youth clad in dark armor. The enemy, however, was shocked, to say the least, as he didn''t expect the female parasite to lose, much less in such a short amount of time. "Don''t mind me, please continue." The Joker was really not going to butt in for he knew that Leiu wouldn''t want that. His words only alarmed the anxious green-haired man, who was already having trouble dealing with the youth before him. "Go get rid of the other pests." While still smirking, The Joker did a military greeting while sarcastically relying "Sir yes sir!" He vanished right after, going after the other parasites which dispersed soon after Leiu slaughtered some of them. From the beginning, not all the parasites were hiding in this room, there were others that were tasked to do other things and they were the Joker''s target. As for why he didn''t go help Arthur? It was obviously because the feud between him and Claudia was personal and both his companions knew better than to interfere. Left alone, yet again, the parasite leader and Leiu glared at each other for a moment before the former stabbed his sword in the air, sending some sort of flying water sharks at the latter. In retaliation, Leiu slashed his sword at the incoming projectiles, pulverizing them with one sweep. However, the opponent failed to notice that Leiu''s attack actually contained two slashes and the second was not invisible and much deadlier than the first. His instincts warned him so he backed away but it wasn''t enough to dodge the invisible strike, which came crashing at him like a mountain, flattening him on the ground and causing a hideous bloody slash mark on his chest. Just like before, a holy light covered the parasite and healed his new wound only for a dark hand to appear from the dark ground, immobilizing him. Though he struggled and tried to free himself, he couldn''t and by the time he realized it, Leiu''s greatsword was already upon him, impaling him and causing him to cough a lot of blood. With the greatsword going through his chest and penetrating the ground, the parasite could only flail his hand, trying to reach his blue sword. Unfortunately, Leiu wasn''t going to sit around and watch him, he pressed his foot on the enemy''s hand and leaned his head closer to the parasite. "Why do you want to summon your God?" His cold and chilling voice rang inside the parasite''s ears, causing him to slightly shiver. "You think you won just because you managed to land a few hits on me?" Despite the blood leaking out of his lips, the parasite flashed a disgusting smile and grabbed Leiu''s sword, stabbing it further down his chest. A few moments, the parasite''s body laid on the ground, limp and lifeless. A soft sigh escaped Leiu''s mouth, he pulled the sword and was about to get rid of the body only for it flash with a blinding holy light which healed it instantaneously. The body flew a distance from Leiu before it floated in the air with life coming back to it. The parasite raised his hand toward the blue sword, which flew toward its master. "We, parasites, are immortals! Inferior lifeforms such as you humans are only here to serve as out stepping stone toward glory!" Chapter 462 - 412 : Anduril, Eternal Darkness The parasite leader gotten much stronger after his ''rebirth'', his speed matched Leiu''s and his blue sword started causing cracks on the youth''s greatsword. After a few exchanges, the greatsword was on the verge breaking, no longer able to resist the pressure from the opponent. Leiu let out a sigh and let go of the sword, which turned into dust the moment it touched the ground. It held on until now only because he supplied with his power, nonetheless, it''s still a normal greatsword and can only do this much. "Not only am I a parasite but I''m also a sword saint! You stand no chance!" The green-haired man flashed a vicious grin at Leiu while raising his blue sword, about to finish his opponent once and for all. The only thing that was troubling him was Leiu''s greatsword which causes a tremendous amount of damage. It was like a moving mountain, demolishing everything in its way, it''s a wonder how Leiu is able to lift it. Dozens of flying water sharks leapt at the nearby Leiu, ready to tear him into shreds, however, they reached a few inches away from him before crashing into a mysterious spiraling darkness. The darkness was revolving around Leiu, creating a pillar of black light that penetrated the broken roof and pierced the sky-high, high above. The Nameless Knight, still staring at the parasite with a chilling look, stretched his hand and said "To live by the sword is to die by the sword. There is time enough for regret in the flames of hell." With this calling, something traveled through the rivers of time and space, disrupting the laws and splitting the heavens in its way. An existence no weaker than the Nameless Knight, a weapon that has no beginning nor end, the only one of its kind; Anduril, Eternal Darkness. It was the same greatsword Arthur handed to Leiu in the forgotten continent, the same sword that accompanied the Nameless Knight most of his life and possibly the strongest weapon in the multiverse. Unlike Makaze, Anduril was a non-materialistic blade, meaning that it''s literally a part of Leiu. They aren''t bound by an oath but are the very same being. It took him great effort to be able to summon Anduril but he finally succeeded and with his calling came a shadow that cast over the capital, blocking the rays of the sun and splitting the city in two. From the heavens above, a shooting star came diving down, drilling into the earth and perfectly falling in Leiu''s hand. "Let me show you what the epitome of sword mastery really is." Cold sweat running down his back, the parasite slowly backed away. His eyes were staring at the large greatsword in Leiu''s hand. It was eerily silent and emitted no pressure whatsoever, however, his instincts repeatedly warned him, even forcing his body to slowly back away. With Anduril pointed at the green-haired man, Leiu used both of his hand to hold the greatsword before horizontally sweeping the air, sending a blow so devastating it shook the whole castle. A red beam of light faster than the parasite''s thoughts flew at the monster, turning it into nothingness. The red beam didn''t stop, it cut the walls and whatever was beyond them, resulting in absolute destruction. Even after obliterating the enemy into nothing but emptiness, Leiu wasn''t convinced that he won. Just like last time, a holy light floated several meters away from him and after a few seconds, the parasite appeared again, unscathed, of course. "Hahahaha I already tol-" Leiu''s figure turned illusory as he waved Anduril countless times, literally cutting the parasite into countless pieces. Blood and gore spattered in the surroundings as the youth frowned and focused on the numerous body pieces, trying to locate whatever was reviving the parasite. **** Somewhere else in this complex labyrinth, the Joker was leisurely checking every room. He already killed three parasites so not many remain alive. However, something was strange, whenever they''re caught, they just let themselves be killed. They don''t fight back, attempt to flee or beg for mercy, confusing the Magician. Along with the abundance of Mana Crystals, The Joker noticed other small objects scattered everywhere, even in the cramped halls. They were hanging on walls or hidden beneath the ground. He picked one up, intending to inspect it and see exactly what it isˇ­ ''0? Masquerade!'' His eyes shone with a golden light as they landed on the strange round object. A few seconds later, he creased his brows, a bit shocked. "This is advanced stuff compared to the medieval world outsideˇ­" He carefully held the object and entered a spacious room before throwing it at the far corner, resulting in a loud and pretty strong explosion. It wasn''t enough to injure him but if there were hundreds of such miniature bombs, it''ll not only kill him but also kill everyone in the city. The quantity of these bombs he stumbled upon was staggering, to say the least. They were hidden in every inch of this place and if they were to explode at the same time, he won''t be able to escape, much less live. "Perhaps they''reˇ­" A dangerous thought sprung in his mind, causing the Joker to frown. He retrieved his deck of cards and randomly picked a card ''Ghost Rat Trail: Activated!'' The Joker started the hunt for real, fearing that the parasites'' goal was to blow up this place if their summoning failed, which it will since Leiu will kill their leader. *** At first, it was bearable and not risky to remain here, however, ever since Makaze appeared, Gutcha started feeling restless. The Dark Blade was acting strange, very strange, in fact. It wouldn''t be a lie to say it was trying to find a way to enter the black box but the object seemed to reject everything around it, including the rotating Evil Wind. This wasn''t enough to alarm the pigolo but it only got worse as Makaze started emitting soul-shaking cries, loud enough for the powerful beasts outside to hear it. One day, the whole cave started violently shaking and before the pigolo could process what''s happening, the roof split in two, revealing a dark and gloomy sky. To Gutcha''s shock and amazement, an archaic gate appeared on the sky, facing down, exactly toward him. The restless Makaze fly like a kite toward the gate, which welcomed the Dark Blade. A cold and suffocating aura came out from whatever was on the other side of the gate, such aura scared the shit out of the nearby beasts, which turned tail and ran. As for the pigolo, he stood there, flabbergasted and confused on what just happened. The roof, which was split in two, regained its normal form and the place returning to being a calm and gloomy cave. ********* Back in Riarravar, the fight between Arthur and the Red Dragon, which was, in fact, Claudia, reached its climax with the two of them going all out to kill the enemy. The place no longer resembled a throne room, actually, the castle was heavily affected by their fight and even the soldiers guarding the outside were alarmed and forced to retreat. They were more surprised when they saw a red-dragon fly in the air and spit enormous fireballs at one particular man. The enormous fireballs either missed their target or clashed with strange and big waves made of Dark Magic. After spitting several fireballs, the dragon spent a few seconds to conjure a stronger fireball before spitting it at Arthur. This fireball was much, much bigger than the rest and the heat coming out of it was suffocating and enough to affect the royal garden way below, which already started showing of being scorched. As he faced the incoming attack, Arthur held a bow made of Dark Magic and pulled the string countless times, sending a rain of arrows straight at the fireballs. As a last touch, he fired an arrow that had a length of 5 meters, it slightly resembled the Heavenly Arrow but lacked the other attributes. The clash between the arrow and the fireballs caused a loud and deafening explosion as Dark Magic and dragonic flames scattered to all directions, even hitting some of the soldiers and killing them on the spot. This fight was being witnessed by most of the citizens and they were unable to choose a side for they knew naught who''s siding with the Queen. However, seeing a human and a monster, most of them inwardly cheered for Arthur, who looked more harmless than his counterpart. Chapter 463 - 413 : Pride The parasite leader just revived and was about to attack Leiu only for the latter to appear before him and speak with an authoritative voice. "Kneel down." Against his will, the man knelt before the youth and gazing at him with bewilderment. He wasn''t shocked by his crushing defeat but how he was defeated. For the first time since the fight started, he stared at the Nameless Knight with hollow eyes. "Y-youˇ­ Pride?" All he got in response was silence and silence alone, making him uneasy and confused. "Pride! Can''t you recognize me?!" In the end, Leiu scoffed at the green-haired man and mockingly said: "Pride? Are you talking about the fool who wanted to subdue me?" Refusing to believe what he said, the green-haired man hysterically said "No no no this isn''t possible! Pride is one of the strongest beings! How can a meager human defeat him!" Pride was one of the seven deadly sins but; in the present, Leiu had already killed him and stole his power, just like Makaze devoured Gluttony and obtained the latter ability. Obviously, the Pride the parasite was talking about is still alive and well at this time. "Kill yourself." This cruel order entered the man''s ears, making him kill himself only to be revived seconds later. Unlike his earlier arrogance, the parasite seemed confused and unable to process what''s happening. Pride''s ability cannot be replicated and he was sure that Leiu was currently using it, which means that he defeated one of the seven sins. If he defeated one of the seven sins then killing him(parasite) shouldn''t be impossible, or so thought the green-haired man. Having enough of this long farce, Leiu vertically raised the black sword, Anduril, ready to finish this once and for all. ''Shredding the Abyss!'' It was then that the parasite realized that he would not escape doom, even with his revival ability. What''s about to come is bigger and stronger than what he imagined, his body momentarily shivered and his instincts warned him. Feeling desperate and accepting his death against this superior human, the man fleshed out a strange object from his pocket and unhesitatingly pressed the one and only button. He expected to hear a series of explosions that will end both him and the enemy but he heard nothing but eerie silence. It was not because the bombs were disposed of but Leiu''s attack was so strong that momentarily broke the space-time continuum. The sky-high above the castle was split in two, startling not only the spectators but Arthur and the Red Dragon. As if God descended upon this mortal realm to punish the sinners, a black, illusory dragon came flying from behind the clouds, passing through everything in its way. It was purely spiritual but the fear it brought to the citizens was enough to make more than half fall unconscious. Even the Red Dragon, which was in the way, hastily dodged to the side, unwilling to clash with the descending black dragon. The target of this attack was a green-haired man who instinctively felt the incoming death, he lifted his head but saw nothing but falling rubble. He repeatedly pressed the button and only after a few seconds did the explosions start occurring. Although he doesn''t have the main remote control which explodes everything, this one was enough to cause devastation that would bury the Nameless Knight under the castle. When the illusory black dragon was finally upon him, the man tried to resist only to be swallowed whole, never to appear again. The dragon vanished right after, leaving a tired Leiu, who supported himself using Anduril while glancing at the shaking ground and falling boulders. This place was about to crumble and the successive occurring explosions are worsening the situation for the youth. The last attack severely exhausted him and the explosions made it almost impossible to escape this place alive. He removed his black helmet and coughed a bit of blood, his face much paler than usual. Slowly, he started advancing but in just a few steps, he seemed about to fall down only for a hand to wrap around his chest, lifting him off the ground. "It''s going to be rough, hold on." The Joker''s voice rang in his ears and by the next second, like a shooting white star, the lunatic leapt upwards. His movements were strangely elegant, jumping from one falling rock to another, swiftly and easily dodging the big ones. Unfortunately, it wasn''t going to be an easy ride as countless explosions occurred, flinging both of them left and right, were it not for the Joker''s cards, which were sharp enough to cut any falling projectiles, they would have died long ago. *** Back at the sky above the castle, which was replaced by an abyssal chasm that violently shook due to the still occurring explosions. The red dragon and the man stared at each other, each having their own thoughts. Unlike him, the red dragon was barely unscathed except for a few minor injuries that were healed thanks to the dragonic fire. As for Arthur, he over-exhausted himself by using a lot of Dark Magic, especially Eternium, which didn''t last long. If this continues, it''ll definitely be his end so he needed an alternative, another pathˇ­ Distressed, he glanced at the back of his right hand but saw nothing. The oath was absent which rendered him unable to call his partner and blade, Makaze. Were he to get his hands on Evil Wind, it''ll make things much, much easier. Even if Claudia is two times stronger, he''ll still be able to kill her with the help of the Dark Blade. Unable to levitate anymore, Arthur descended on a destroyed and dusty field while keeping his focus on the red dragon, which followed him while spitting more of its dangerous flames. Like any other place, this field became scorched due to the spreading fire, leaving Arthur no choice but to repeatedly switch places and try his best to dodge. He was bidding his time and recovering some of his powers, which need strong emotions to work. A few minutes later, Arthur was enveloped by black flames, indicating that Eternium was activated again. A black bow appeared on Arthur''s hands, he lifted his head and glared at the floating red dragon and fired a few dark arrows which were burned by Claudia''s flames. The bow transformed into long and thick chains which were quickly thrown at the enemy. Arthur successfully wrapped around the dragon''s legs so he unhesitatingly pulled it toward him and watched as the big-sized beast fell in his direction. The chains vanished and a long dark spear appeared, he jumped in the air and swept toward the target. The tip of the sweeping spear let out countless black threads which covered the red dragon and pinned it on the ground. Arthur used the dragon''s body to jump higher before pointing his falling body toward the wriggling Claudia, his spear became much lengthier and all the black flames covering him were sucked by his weapon. A loud roar emanated from the spear as it came flying down at the immobilized red dragon, it perfectly hit its chest, creating a large and gaping black hole. The scales were broken and Dark Magic corrupted the dragon''s insides, causing it to cry from the agony. Panting heavily, Arthur landed next to the dragon, barely able to stand. Unfortunately, his last hit wasn''t enough to finish the dragon, which managed to use its tail to hit him, sending him flying toward the bottomless chasm. Blood-soaked and tired, Arthur gazed at the darkened sky while his body fell like a kite deep into the chasm. For a second, he seemed about to fall unconscious only for his eyes to suddenly open, in those few seconds he was falling, he thought about countless things, mainly his wife and current situation. Just what does he need to do to win? Does he for his companions help? Then again, he''ll be the one dragging them down since he''s the only one who wasn''t able to get rid of his enemy. Each was given a job and they must complete it, for him to even think about getting help is pathetic, or so he thought. ''Believe in your infinite potential. Your only limitations are those you set upon yourself. It doesn''t matter whether your a human, demon, a dwarfˇ­ or even a parasite.'' Those were the words Leiu said when they met in the dragon''s lair. In his current situation, they carry a deep and unfathomable meaning yet it is also what allowed Arthur to break free from his shackles and call forth his other half. At the top of his lungs, while still falling, Arthur shouted: "Oathbinder! Bear witness and see this man kept his word, true to his last breath, full to his blood''s last drop! Let his life by the sword be his confession! Let his death by the oath be his absolution!" Just as he said those words, a large and archaic gate appeared under him, and from within it, a shooting black star came flying at him, supporting him and stopping his falling his body. As he clutched the handle of the intensely vibrating Dark Blade, Arthur, covered in black flames, loudly laughed and said; "Come! Let us finish this together!" Chapter 464 - 414 : Oathkeeper "Then what happened? Did he kill her?" Lucy was literally on the edge of her seat as she listened to the Joker''s story, not noticing the silhouette standing behind the transparent door of her room. Angelica came here to check on her sister only to hear shocking things. Obviously, the Magician felt her presence but chose to remain silent and continue with his story. He smirked at the no-longer expressionless Lucy and thought ''So she can display such emotionsˇ­ Hahaha it''s like telling a bedtime story to a child.'' He raised one finger and said: "First, let me explain the types of parasites." Four cards appeared on in his hand, each with a picture of a minuscule life form. "The most basic and weakest parasites are called Minor Parasites, they''re basically cannon fodder and unlike Arthur, they can only possess one corpse and stick with it. Though they control it, if the host dies, they die along with it and they only one random skill from the host''s arsenal." He pointed at the card at the right which showed a picture of a small red parasite, which had a form very similar to a centipede. "The second type are Calypso Parasites, they''re called ''halfies'', I believe there existed only three and one was killed by me and Leiu. They''re born from a Titan and a parasite and their abilities are like Arthur''s, more or less." His finger shifted to the second card which showed a fish-like being. "The third are the ones we fought, they can possess only one host but they get their abilities. However, they get a bonus and that''s infinite evolution. In the right circumstances, they can endlessly evolve and become superior to the Calypso Parasites. They were just called Parasites and Claudia was one of them." The Joker was about to hide the cards, clearly not going to introduce the fourth type. "What about the fourth?" In response, he chuckled and gave a vague answer: "We''ll get to that later." He gulped another cup of tea and resumed: "That day, Calv-City was no more and 1.2 million people were killed." This revelation shocked the carefully listening Lucy, who didn''t expect him to drop a bomb just like that. His leisurely expression was no more, it shifted to a melancholic one. "I was never a hero or sage but I also cannot tolerate what the parasites have done to that many people." ***** Claudia, who became a red dragon, was still enraged even after ''killing'' Arthur. The dragon faced the speechless soldiers, who were either running away or watching it, and opened its mouth, ready to unleash its flames. From the looks of it, a massacre was about to begin. The dragon''s body grew in size and the savage aura emanating from it started affecting the mortals, weakening their soul and knocking them unconscious. Everyone on a radius of five hundred meters of the dragon was incapacitated and the rest attempted to flee for their lives. Unfortunately, the flames were faster than them and in just a few seconds, a couple of hundred soldiers were burned alive, leaving nothing but black ash. Before it was able to unleash its second attack, a shooting black star rose sprung from the bottomless chasm, crashing into the dragon. A deafening and painful cry reverberated across the area, shaking what little remained of the castle. A man covered in black flames and wielding a vibrating dark blade crashed into the dragon and caused a hideous large wound to appear on the monster''s back. Claudia, who no longer was in control of her actions, turned to face the floating Arthur and spat large fireballs, which were easily split in two by Makaze. Arthur sheathed Makaze, bent his back and with a speed faster than lightning, unleashed a furry of golden slashes that landed on the dragon''s wings, severing them within seconds. Fountains of blood gushed from the dragon''s new wounds yet the beast didn''t seem too bothered by the pain and its body grew larger in size and another, bigger pair of wings instantaneously grew from its back. ***** With Leiu under his arm, the Joker was almost out of the chasm, he could feel the violent tremors coming from above. The heat was also unbearable, causing parts of his costume to ignite. As he was making his way upwards, he happened to catch a glimpse of a ginormous cubic object laying inside a crumbling cave. A heavily injured man was coughing blood as he dragged his body, trying to reach a remote control a few meters away from him. When he saw that enormous object, which was very similar to the strange bomb found underground, The Joker thought to himself ''No fucking wayˇ­'' If that thing were to blow up, never mind him, the whole city would disappear. Just as he was about to make his way toward the man, large boulders fell from above, blocking his way and forcing him to continue jumping from one place to another. If they were lucky, one of those boulders fell on that dying parasite but the Joker didn''t want to bet on that. The best thing they could do is get the hell out of this place, sooner than later. Some minutes later, The Joker and Leiu finally appeared on the surface only to witness a devastating fight between Arthur and a gigantic red dragon. "Let me down." Leiu shook off his body and supported himself with his sword as he struggled to get up. He raised his head and looked at the two clashing figures, one wielding his blade and the other controlling flames and turning the sky as red as blood. "The city is about to blow up, I''ll help him get rid of the dragon so we can leave." The Joker was about to join the fight only for Leiu to stretch his hand and tightly hold his shoulder while shaking his head. "It''s not your fight, stay put." "It''s not the time for that! The explosion will happen at any time." "If you don''t want to die, feel free to leave. I''m going to wait until it''s done." Hearing this, the Joker flinched, gazed back at the pale youth: "Hmpf!" He snorted, sat on the scorched ground, crossed his arms and looked at the two fighting parties. "If we end up in Hell, you better don''t regret your choice." The Nameless Knight sat next to the Joker and uttered those words, his eyes glued on the red dragon and the man covered in black flames. "I''m fine with dying, what about you?" In response, the youth shrugged his shoulders and said: "Death before dishonor, that is my creed." ˇ­ High up in the skies, the sky was split in two, one part was a sea of flames and the other was an encroaching and chilling Darkness that barred any form of light. With Evil Wind in his hand, Arthur glared at the dragon, which suddenly flapped its wings and roared loudly as a large burning tattoo appeared on its chest. This was the mark of the Dark Blade, indicating that Claudia is officially one of Arthur''s enemies and is to be killed soon, very soon. Once someone is marked, it cannot be undone, were they even an entity stronger than real Gods, no one can get rid of the mark for it is caused by the Oath. ''For sworn good or evil, an oath may not be broken and it shall pursue oathkeeper and oathbreaker to the world''s end. Devour thy enemies and banish them into oblivion! I call upon thee, Devourer of worlds!'' Arthur let go of the dark blade in his hand, which quickly vanished into nothingness. ... Something even bigger than the red dragon appeared in the sky, it seemed very ancient, predating everything and everyone. It was none other than the gate from earlier but much bigger. The closet shut archaic doors opened wide and a large dark blade came out of it. The blade was as swift as darkness and cold as ash as it flew towards its partner. Makaze''s current size didn''t match Arthur''s body but he still held the incredibly big blade, resulting in an endless supply of power surging to come from Evil Wind. ˇ­ "Now that''s a terrifying blade." The Joker commented as he gazed at the huge blade, fascinated. As for Leiu, he glanced at Anduril, which was showing an unusual reaction as if, finally, it has met its match. "I''ve heard a tale of a blade called ''Devourer of Worlds''ˇ­ to think it actually existed *sigh*" All of a sudden, Calv-city and everything around it was covered by an ominous darkness. This unusual darkness lasted for only three seconds before it was absorbed by the Dark Blade. ''First wave, Black as night, Calamity Descends!'' The dragon couldn''t handle the pressure, much less defend against the huge dark blade, which sent a malevolent burst of Dark Magic which consumed it within seconds, leaving nothing but a fragile-looking Claudia covered in blood from head to toe. Unfortunately for her, Arthur''s wasn''t done with her. Still present, the blade flew from Arthur''s hand and used its sharp and pointy tip to hit her chest, devouring her just like any other sword. Seeing this, Arthur felt a great sense of relief as if he just got rid of a heavy burden. The black flames covering him vanished and Makaze returned to its sheath. His figure fell from the sky, crashing dozens of meters away from his two companions. With great difficulty, heavy and rapid breathing and veins bulging out of every part of his body, Arthur stood up and glanced around him only to spot two equally tired men coming towards him. Chapter 465 - 415 : Leave Just before his two companions reached him, the ground started violently shaking, causing the three of them to glance at the chasm dozens of meters away. The Joker''s face distorted, he threw a card in the air which quickly transformed into a floating card very similar to a flying carpet. "Hop on!" He signaled for Arthur to jump while he grabbed Leiu''s and leapt on top of the card. Arthur used his last bit of Dark Magic to push himself on the strangely floating card before he collapsed, barely keeping himself conscious. By the time the card took flight, the explosions coming from the chasm have reached the surface, destroying everything in its way. Whether it''s the castle, the city or the fleeing citizens, none survived. The scale of the explosion was so big that it razed Calv-city to the ground, the causalities surpassed one million and only the people miles away from the city managed to live. As for the trio, the card acted as some sort of a barrier but it was still flung off far away. It was like a nuclear bomb dropped on the capital, leaving nothing but a bottomless abyss. Fortunately, neither of three died but the card didn''t hold on for long so they still suffered a couple of serious injuries, especially the Joker, who was the one directly controlling the flying card. In fact, the explosions sent them flying dozens of miles, landing only when the previously gained momentum died down. Like three meteors, they crashed on a peaceful green valley, each rolling on the ground a few times before stopping. A bout of long and uneasy silence flowed between the three of them, who remained motionless. The first to break this atmosphere was the Joker, who suddenly started loudly laughing, uncaring about his wounds or the situation they were in. Though they did kill the parasites, it only led to this pathetic result yet he laughed like he always has when he survives such a life-threatening ordeal. "Hahahahahahahaha" Their personalities were vastly different yet when the Joker started laughing, the other two joined him. Their laughter contained many emotions and it continued for a long timeˇ­ a very strange indeed for they, who survived a disaster but caused the death of millions. *** "You laughed?" As she heard the Joker speak of what happened, so, confused, Lucy asked such a question. The Trickster chuckled and said "Laugh and the world will laugh with you. What better to do is laugh when you''re still alive? It''s refreshing! You should do it sometime. Anywayˇ­ we laughed for such a long time, so long, in fact, that we ended up losing consciousness." Seeing her unusual expression, The Joker added: "Strangeˇ­ is it? You would never expect Arthur or Leiu to laugh like that yet they didˇ­ we all did. Did you know? Laughter cures sadness, it gets rid of any stress and is the best thing to do when you''re stuck in a situation like back then." After pondering for a moment, Lucy asked again: "What happened after?" The smile on the Joker''s face vanished, it was replaced by a melancholic expression as he replied: "When it rains, it pours! We were sent in a time of strifeˇ­ one million people died that day but such a number was nothing compared to the ones who died later. The fall of the parasites alerted their allies who immediately initiated their plans and started turning Riarravar upside down." He took a sip of another cup of tea, cleared his throat and continuedˇ­ *** Due to what happened in the Itas Continent, Robin decided to relocate the HQ of her merchant company in the MoonStar City. The calamities that hit Astria caused it to lose two of its continents while the remaining two struggled to survive. The threat of the Cthulhu is not completely gone so everyone was on alert, ready to start another war. The once childish woman became more mature and was always followed by Rey, who benefited greatly from the powers Arthur granted him. Though he''s lacking compared to Gutcha, he still managed to become one of the powerhouses of Astria. While the boy was busy eating some fruits on the side, Robin was playing with baby Ragnar, who was a lovely and silent newborn. It has been one month since he was born and surprisingly, Jackob didn''t try to look for Anastassia and instead, took over his position and took care of the MoonStar sect. Sonia became his assistant and the two of them managed to calm down the uneasy citizens and smoothly run the city. With the loss of his wife, Jackob became much less talkative and sacrificed much of his time in cultivation. He would either play with his son or meditate non-stop, totally ignoring Sonia who repeatedly told him to take it easy. One day, visitors appeared on the roof of the High Tower of the MoonStar sect. One was Taliya and the other was a blond young man accompanied by a grumpy-looking middle-aged man. Seeing the prosperous city before his eyes, Isadore was shocked as the architecture and the roads were vastly different from the ones found on any High or middle-Realm. Using his Lost Magic and relying on a few intelligent people, Arthur brought some of Earth''s technology to Astria to facilitate its growth and pave a better path for his sect. The hierarchy of the sect remained the same but, following Arthur''s orders, Jackob set up a separate government that takes care of the people''s needs and provides security and order. Anastassia was quite a ruthless and strict leader, she executed any corrupt higher-up and replaced them with her most-trusted confidants and for this reason, the state of the current MoonStar Sect couldn''t be better. Especially the High Tower, which was a monument of its own as it stood at the center of the city, dwarfing everything around it and piercing the clouds high up in the sky. The moment the three appeared, a bronze-skinned man with a muscular build, tall height and two weapons on his back appeared before them. This was none other than Jackob, who''s hair grew long and his countenance slightly changed, becoming much sharper. Although he was but an Immortal, nothing in front of Wrath, one of the seven deadly sins, he still exuded the aura of a real leader. Jackob checked the newcomers before staring at the familiar face of the silver-haired demon. Isadore walked a few steps toward the man before slightly bowing his head while introducing himself "I am Isadore Marfront, King of the Green-Leaf World." Jackob didn''t reply to the former prince, he glared at Taliya and coldly said "You know well that strangers aren''t allowed here." Expecting such words, Taliya replied: "He''s a valuable friend who can help us now and in the future." "You''re still not allowed to bring anyone to Astria, make them leave." Jackob''s retort made the demon frown, unable to understand why he''s so opposed to her decision. Clearly angered by the Immortal''s disrespectful attitude toward his king, Wrath was about to butt in only for two figures to landed next to Jackob. They had similar appearances except for their hairs, once was a red-haired short youth while the other had a long white hair. One had a suffocating aura of death while the other was vibrant with life, they were polar opposites but the energies leaking out of their bodies were harmonious. Moreover, Wrath was about to tell they weren''t human and this wasn''t their clear form. "Thy visit is unwelcome, go back." "Bitch ass motherfuckers! You think you can come and go whenever you want? Fuck off of here!" Midolf raised his middle finger at them while using spitting a bunch of vulgar words. Even for someone as patient and tolerable as Isadore, he felt uncomfortable with their attitudes, however, before he could explain himself, Wrath whispered in his ear. "We should leave." After letting out a sigh, Isadore bowed again before entering a portal, finally disappearing from that place. Taliya chose to stay here and investigate what happened. She didn''t expect to see Arthur''s confidants here as they were missing for quite a while. "Thank you for your help." Jackob thanked the two youngsters and was about to leave only for Taliya to grab his wrist and saying "Why are you so opposed to this?" "No, it''s why you''re so persistent." He shoved her hand away and left the place. The demon turned to face the two silent youngsters and asked "We should welcome any help we can get, why did you chase him away?" "Mayhap thy decision is right but we must follow the leader. Following a list of command, in absence of Master, Madam Lucy, and Madam Anastassia, Sir Jackob is who we must obey." "Still! It doesn''t make sense to kick him out before listening to what he has to offer!" Despite her protest, the two youngsters turned a deaf ear to the demon and vanished, leaving an angry Taliya alone there. **** In a deserted altar of the Pigolo Tribe, both Wrath and Isadore appeared from within the portal, one was absent-minded and the other was unhappy after failing to negotiate with Jackob. "So, tell me why you wanted to leave." The King crossed his arms and talked to his guardian. Wrath snapped out of his daze and explained "Those two are powerful, very powerful." Isadore frowned and retorted: "Stronger than you?" "I may be able to defeat them but it''ll take much time. One controls death and the other manipulate Life, it''ll be a pain in the ass to kill them. Moreover, I''ll have to go all-in so I won''t be able to protect you." "Who said we have to resort to a fight?" Wrath shrugged his shoulders and answered: "Those two were ready to start fighting at any time. If we stayed a second longer, they would''ve attacked." Chapter 466 - 416 : Red Sky Unbeknownst to Arthur and his two companions, the fall of the kingdom and the end of the parasite''s reign reached their allies in less than a day. Such a large scale explosion and the death of more than a million people was a noticeable event which forever is recorded in history, if Riarravar is destined to have one, that is. One full day after they fell unconscious, the three woke up by an explosion occurring a few hundred meters from that devastated valley. After spending a few moments, they swiftly got up, appearing quite healthy despite their near-death experience yesterday. Only Leiu seemed a bit tired than the other two, who has an insane recovery power. The first thing the trio noticed was the ominously red sky, vastly different from the usual blue and clear sky. The temperature rose by a few dozens degrees and an unsettling aura loomed over the whole land, making them feel uneasy and slightly weakened. "Is it because of the explosion?" Leiu asked The Joker who was looking at his cards with a serious expression. The Magician shook his head and explained "No, something more dangerous was summoned here. The heat is from a nearby fire." "Must be those dark-skinned monsters."-Arthur The three walked for a few minutes only to be met with a sea of dangerous flames which scorched a third of a nearby forest and didn''t show any signs of stopping. The fire was red like blood and some of it was dozens of meters tall, threatening to burn even the clouds. No matter how much they tried, they were unable to find a suitable path to tread as the fire seemed to cover everything. Furthermore, the Joker''s magic didn''t work on this fire, which seemed to be eternal and inextinguishable. When they finally found a path that has close to no fire, another obstacle barred their, a rather hostile obstacleˇ­ "It''s those fuckers." The Joker clicked his tongue and glared at the hideous-looking monsters patrolling the area. They several arms and were taller than any human, their skin ranged from dark brown to black and their faces were uglier than pigolos. They were none other than the Cthulhu, the same savage and evil race that invaded Astria. "What the hell are they doing here?" Dark Magic revolved around Arthur and in an instant, several Dark Spears flew straight at the Cthulhu, impaling them and ending their life once and for all. They weren''t a worthy opponent and were vulnerable to Dark Magic, however, despite their individual weakness, they had an advantage in numbers. Literally every minute, the trio stumbled upon a group of Cthulhu either chasing after helpless humans or checking the area. They already took control of this whole area and claimed it as their own. "It''ll take forever if we kill every single one of them."-Leiu They had no clear destination in mind but they decided on ''visiting'' the underground city again. "Got a better idea?"-Joker "We can try sneaking through."-Arthur His suggestion was quickly rejected as not only the road is too narrow, the numbers of the Cthulhu was simply overwhelming. "I say we get rid of all the vermin in our way."-The Joker "I second that."-Leiu "*sigh* Alright." To minimize the energy they expend, especially Leiu and Arthur, they decided to only rely on their physical strength and save their special abilities for powerful opponents. In the course of ten minutes, the three killed 128 Cthulhu and their numbers showed no signs of decline. At some point, they reached a crossroad which had an astronomical number of Cthulhu but that wasn''t what made Arthur and his companions stop. No, it was the small mountain of corpses just next to the Cthulhu. Just like Arthur saw in Bucama''s world, the Cthulhu already started creating living statues of the captured humans. In fact, one of them was a familiar female whose eyes became hollow and full of despair. She was naked and her body had bruises all over itˇ­ heck! Even one of her organs was hanging down, a gory and unpleasant sight. She was on the brink of death while the Cthulhu were enjoying this show, grinning amongst each other and poking the female, causing her to groan from pain. She was none other than the S-ranked mage who fought the Joker and miserably lost. While it''s true she was arrogant, she still didn''t deserve to be treated like this, no one deserves to be toyed with in such a cruel and inhuman manner. The mage wasn''t the only one who was put like a statue, there were two other men next to her, each in a disgusting and shameful position. "So it wasn''t just anyoneˇ­ they ''value'' the strong humans like thisˇ­"-Arthur mumbled to himself while the other two silently stared at what''s happening in the crossroad. Excluding the hundred or so Cthulhu, there was a tall figure, sitting right at the center of the intersection. From its appearance, it was a Cthulhu but had six arms and a jet black skin, its eyes were tightly closed and legs crossed. "That one seems to be a bit of a problem." The Joker pulled three cards and said "We''ll divide our roles. Whoever draws a blank card will deal with the small fry and the other two will kill the leader." Arthur and Leiu didn''t object, they complied and each stretched a hand and pulled one of the cards. In the end, the Joker was the one who was left with a blank card and although unsatisfied, he simply grumbled. Before they showed started their assault, Arthur asked: "What of the survivors?" In response, the Joker retorted: "Survivors? Do they look like people who want to live? Finish them if you have a chanceˇ­ and if they''re used as meatshields then don''t hesitate." After taking a couple of seconds to regulate their breathings and prepared themselves, the trio initiated their attack. The first one was Leiu, who swung down Anduril, causing violent tremors that reached the crossroad and caused half of the Cthulhu to fall down but it also alerted the leader, who opened its eyes and stared right at the pale youth. Still using the thick trees as a cover, the Joker would throw four to five cards a second, each one accurately hitting its target and killing one enemy. As for Arthur, he joined Leiu and used [Golden Lone Sheath], sending a blinding sword arc at the tall monster, who clutched raised his hand and clutched the flying golden light, disintegrating it so easily. Unfortunately, this was only the beginning of the joined combo as Anduril was swung down again, splitting the earth and sending a burst of Darkness at the leader. The Cthulhu retaliated by stretching his hand again, this time releasing a purple miasma which stopped Leiu''s strike but only for a split second. The miasma was made of Void Magic, however, even such a powerful attribute wasn''t strong enough to resist Anduril, which pushed the enemy and severely wounded the pigolo. Before it could raise its injured body, a creepy jet black skull came flying down from above, crashing directly into the leader and devouring it in just a few seconds. Arthur''s Heavenly Slash ended the short fight and sealed the Cthulhu''s fate. From beginning to end, the fight lasted for eleven seconds but the Joker was able to finish the small fries in merely nine seconds, an amazing feat considering he only used his cards. Each Cthulhu had a card stuck deep into its skull while their leader served as a meal for the hungry Makaze. The awakened dark blade no longer distinguished between swords and living beings, its ability evolved, allowing it to devour anything it wanted, including souls. The downside, however, is that it''ll constantly become hungry hence the need to feed it on a daily basis. Fortunately, it got to devour all the corpses scattered around except for the lifeless humans. The Joker wasn''t as talkative as before, he swiftly ended the lives of the still-living yet suffering humans and buried them using his magic. Chapter 467 - 417 : Brawl "The thing is, with the sudden change that occurred in Riarravar, the map suffered a drastic change which made us disoriented and lost in that wasteland." The Joker continued recounting the story while letting out a sigh. He lifted his head gazed back at the silver-haired woman before him while raising four fingers "Four years, that''s how long it took us to locate the origin of the problem. After one year of continuously fighting the Cthulhu day and night, we started stumbled upon those dark-skinned creatures that slightly resembled Dark Elves. Not only were they more powerful, they heavily relied on teamwork and showed more intelligence than their idiotic and barbaric allies." Curious, Lucy asked: "Were you alone for the whole four years?" "That''s the tragic thing about thisˇ­ we never, ever managed to save one person. We always arrived too late and by the time we killed the enemies, the survivors had been brutally tortured." *** Three visibly tired figures sat around a small campfire, each biting some roasted meat, however, it wasn''t any meat but human meat! Anyone would probably say that cannibalism is immortal but these three didn''t care, not after all that happened. In this world, where anyone around them has become an enemy and all the animals were killed by the still active fire, they had to resort to such means to survive. For some, especially ancient beings, four years is a small amount of time which would pass in the blink of an eye but for Arthur and the other two, it seemed to be an eternity. The fighting never stopped and the battles grew crueler and harder for them, who suffered a heavy toll on their mental state. Despite their indisputable prowess, they were still mortals, capable of feeling hunger and fatigue so it''s without a doubt that they suffered a few injuries along this hazardous journey. Bored and with nothing to do in their precious free time, the three, who grew much closer to each other after four years, talked about their past achievements and boasted to each other. The Joker showed a card to the other two while speaking: "I killed this beauty a long time ago and it''s definitely one of the hardest fights I ever had." The card showed a picture of a nine-headed hydra, its size was enormous and each head emitted a different aura. "Took me six days to kill this beauty." After staring at the hydra for a while, Leiu spoke: "I killed a 11,000 years old Black Dragon." "Oh? A Black Dragon? I heard it''s the strongest Race of dragonsˇ­" Interested, the Joker listened to Leiu, who briefly talked about that fight. Although he tried to hide, the youth was proud of his feat. Arthur was the last to talk, he cleared his throat and said: "I fought the four Divine Beasts." The Joker and Leiu were very shocked, they stared at Arthur with disbelief. "Wellˇ­ they were only copies." "Still, I heard they''re quite hard to deal with together." The three continued chatting for an hour or so before being forced to fight yet again when dozens of silhouettes starting stealthily making their way toward them, clearly wanting to ambush them. **** A couple of months later, in a familiar town, the three were inside were sitting around an unscathed table in the middle of a desert road. This was White Raven Town, a checkpoint for them and their presence here indicated that they were closer to their destination. By sheer luck, Arthur found some ale in possession of one of the ''Dark Elves'', it was a real delicacy for the three, who only ate human meat for the past two to three years. Water was provided by The Joker''s Magic as none existed due to the red flames. "This calls for a celebration!" Arthur grinned while putting the ale on the table, making the two others excited. It was just one bottle but it was enough to quench their thirst for alcohol. "I believe we''ll reach the underground city in no timeˇ­ It''s the perfect time to celebrate an early victory." The three couldn''t wait to leave this godforsaken place but that doesn''t mean that all the time they spent here was for nothing. Their friendship grew with time and they became an unstoppable force. Their teamwork reached perfection and despite their tragic pasts, they learned how to trust each other with their lives. It didn''t a day or two but years for them to reach this result, where they fight with their lives on the line and know that their comrades will protect their blindsides. A lunatic, a reserved and silent youth, and someone with severe trust problems managed to achieve something many others wouldn''t. They survived this hellish place despite the odds and even mastered quite a few unique techniques from each other. Three transparent cups appeared in front of each of the three. Arthur filled them up and took a deep breath before reaching his hand to the cup, about to gulp it in one go only for the Joker to stop him. "Wait!" Both Leiu and Arthur stopped and stared at the man with confusion. "It''s almost the end so If you allow me, I would like to re-introduce myself." He got up from his seat and softly bowed, his face containing a serious expression. The atmosphere around him was clearly different from the usual. "My real name is Wolfram Sakamoto." Contrary to his expectation, both Leiu and Arthur showed were flabbergasted which made The Joker crease his brows. The youth and Arthur have heard of this name in one or several occasions. "You brought Hell Gate to Earth?"-Leiu Before The Joker could respond, Arthur asked a question of his own "You brought that chip to Earth?" Hearing their unexpected questions, the Joker smile and nodded his head. He sat down and said "If we survive, I''ll tell you the whole story. After all, it''s quite a long one." Wolfram paused for a moment before saying "Before we empty our cups, how about we do something first?" The two stared at him and waited for him to continue, clearly complying with his words. "We''ve been here for 52 months and went through a lot together. I admit that I always have been and will be an arrogant prick but I still do know how to respect my equals." "Soˇ­ I, Wolfram Sakamoto, sincerely want to become brothers with you two." Ever since he began talking, the two kinds of predicted he''ll say such words though it''s a bit unlike him. The Joker raised his cup and waited for their response, which didn''t take long. "Then, brothers." Arthur followed right after, raising his cup and grinning. As for Leiu, he followed a second after Arthur, softly banging his cup with the other two before all three cups were emptied with one swift gulp. "So, now that we''re officially brothers, a hierarchy must be set!" "Hierarchy?"-Arthur "Yes, who''ll be considered the eldest and who''s the youngest." Arthur pondered for a few seconds before saying: "Hmmmˇ­ age cannot be a factor so let''s choose another method." While displaying a crafty smirk, Leiu said: "How about a brawl?" "Hahahahaha now that''s what I''m talking about! A free for all brawl! No weapons or Magic!" Both Arthur and Wolfram agreed so after inspecting the area and setting up dozens of deadly traps, they chose the location of the brawl. Neither Makaze nor Anduril are allowed, The Joker''s magic and cards are banned too. Basically, it''s a street fight and whoever wins will be declared as the eldest brother, a simple and effective method. ˇ­ The ''brawl'' last for two whole hours and it sure was bloody and violent and in the end, one person remained standing despite being bruised all over his body. The other two were heavily panting while their faces were beaten and back blue and blood leaked out of their lips. One of them let out a few coughs before speaking: "You''re some freakish shit, my brother, you really are." The other one remained silent, trying to catch his breath and recover from the painful yet not deadly injuries he received. The next day, another the two losers brawled to decide on who''ll become the youngest brother. The results of the two brawls were as follows; Leiu won the first brawl and Wolfram won the second which means that the youth became the eldest brother. Between them, who consider each other equals, only strength matters, age has no meaning to people like them. As long as someone was powerful, even if it was a baby then he or she deserves to be treated equally and with respect. "This settles it." While patting the dust off his clothes, the Joker stretched his hand and helped a grumpy-looking Arthur up while grinning. The three sat around the same table yet again and finished what little remained of that bottle of ale. "We three agreed to become brothers soˇ­" Leiu paused for a second and glanced at the other two before continuing; "If even one of us gets out of here alive then he will do what he must. Our goals are now intertwined and if one falls, the other two must accomplish them in his stead. Soˇ­ speak, what are your goals?" After a long talk between the three brothers, the Joker curiously asked "Hey hey Arthur, tell me, is your wife a beauty? If so then her sister must be pretty too!" Arthur grinned and started boasting about Lucy''s charms and her unique talent. In the end, they spent the whole day talking about their pasts and promising to help each other out if they all get out of here alive. Chapter 468 - 418 : Devil "When I met you last time, I saw what you''re like and I knew that you''re deserving to be my brother''s wife." As she heard that, Lucy frowned and asked: "I thought it was the first time you''ve met us." The Joker burst out in laughter and retorted: "Naaah I tricked you two. I already knew Arthur but it was the first time I saw the old you." He paused for a second before resuming the long story: "It not long after we became brothers that we reached the underground city." Still standing behind the door, Angelina was listening to the narrating Joker and becoming more and more dumbfounded. To think that Arthur was the Joker''s brother, if her mother were to hear of this, she would certainly flip out. In terms of status, Arthur is her son-in-law but also the brother of her teacher, which makes him someone she should treat with respect rather than kill him at their first meeting. **** Fifteen days after the brother''s brawl, the trio managed to reach the old church which became heavily fortified and surrounded by countless guards. This place seemed to be the territory of those dark-skinned creatures as Arthur and co haven''t met a single Cthulhu ever since they arrived in White Raven. "Do we slaughter our way through or?"-The Joker "There''s too many of them, we won''t be able to hold on for long."-Arthur Leiu was about to suggest something only for a violent tremor to occur, startling the hiding trio. The red sky was split in two as an evil and suffocating aura spread to all directions. The ground under the church cracked and a large hand sprung from the underground, it used the surface to support the body coming from below and in the process, killed dozens of those dark-skinned creatures. It didn''t take long for a gigantic monster-like creature to appear before Arthur and his brothers. This being had dark skin and long white hair, it was carrying a blood-red bow and its pupils were golden like the sun. The second it appeared on the surface, it immediately spotted the stealthy invaders as it turned its head towards them, staring at them with its golden eyes. Having been discovered, the three jumped in front of the gigantic creatures, ready to fight, however, the creature was as sentient as its followers. "I thought you''ve got rid of all those low-lives." It had a deep voice that resounded across the whole area, making its kneeling followers tremble with fear. One of them was different than the others, it was taller and had countless scars on its body. It was definitely their leader and the one who facilitated the summoning. "My liege, please rest assured. We will get rid of them right now." It motioned for the kneeling creatures to apprehend the invaders and put them to rest but its actions were a bit late as Arthur, Wolfram, and Leiu already started their assault. Each of them unleashed a devastating strike, killing many of the defenseless enemies. By the time they picked their weapons and were about to fight, more than a third of them were slaughtered. In reality, the trio''s goal was to eliminate the boss first so after getting rid of some of them, Arthur and Leiu leapt at the gigantic beings, each swinging down their weapon. Makaze sent out a creepy jet black skull while Anduril unleashed a strike that split the very fabric of this world, causing the fragile space to shatter in pieces. Alas, this ''Devil'' was way stronger than any of their other opponents. It simply used its blood-red bow to block the two strikes, not even flinching when it was hit by their combined assault. Just as it blocked their two strikes, a large chicken came flying from above and crashed into the Devil. Just as the two clashed, the chicken exploded, causing the target to take a few steps back. By the time the dust cleared, countless Dark-skinned creatures appeared from underground, the surrounded their ''God'' and raised their weapons. "A bunch of flies!" An arrow made of white light materialized in the Devil''s hand, it swiftly raised its bow and readied itself. Despite its enormous size, its movements were nimble and fast. The Devil pulled the string and released the arrow, sending it flying at the prepared trio. The might of the arrow was so strong that the collateral damage it did was enough to kill many of the Devil''s followers, however, it was uncaring about their miserable lives and only wanted to get rid of those invaders. Leiu stabbed Anduril on the ground, resulting in a thick wall made of darkness to sprung from below and block the incoming arrow. However, it wasn''t enough to totally resist it so Arthur conjured a semi-transparent Dark Barrier which not only strengthened the black wall but also acted as another layer of defense. The Joker added the last touch by throwing one of his special cards at the wall before him. The card flashed with a red light before it melted inside the dark wall, causing it to change color and rise even higher, piercing the clouds and splitting the sky. In the end, the arrow was only able to penetrate half of the wall before it vanished, nonetheless, the Devil wasn''t done with them. It started bombarding them with numerous white arrows, each one stronger than the last. By the time the wall was obliterated and a hole big enough for arrows appeared, the trio was ready to launch their counter-attack. Arthur was the first to attack, he tightly held Makaze, which became much larger than its master. Black flames covered them both as the red sky was covered by an encroaching darkness. Stuck in that world of absolute darkness, the Devil started firing arrow everywhere, obliterating the forest surrounding the church and killing many of its followers. The darkness lasted for a brief moment before it was absorbed by Arthur, who injected into Makaze and slashed down, sending a devastating strike at the Devil. This time, the hit was enough to damage the opponent and cause a bloody scar to appear on its stomach but this was but the beginning as The Joker flashed a card at the Devil while mumbling "First move of the Magician Series: The Devil Within!" The card turned into countless specks of light and in its stead appeared an equally large being, very similar to the devil but its skin was red instead of black. It ran toward the Devil and pushed it on the ground then mounted it before starting a bombardment of punches. Unfortunately, the Joker''s ''summon'' lasted for five seconds but dealt considerable damage as the Devil''s face had been beaten into a pulp. Last but not least was Leiu, who surprisingly discarded Anduril and pulled what seemed to be a pulsating black heart from his chest. He crushed the heart then used the Darkness within it on the ground, causing it to transform into a dangerous black whirlpool which devoured everything. Everyone in their surroundings was sucked into the whirlpool, including the injured Devil. Unlike its followers, which were dead for sure, the Devil managed to break free from that whirlpool after an intense struggle, however, it suffered heavy damages and was on the brink of dying. "Fools! You don''t know who you''re facing!" He glared at them while snickering, uncaring about its current state. It hysterically laughed while stating: "My death will be your reckoning!" He stabbed his hand on its chest, ending its own life and lifelessly falling the ground. Before they could catch a breather, the three noticed that the corpse of the Devil started ballooning in size, clearly about to explode. Left with no choice, they swiftly retreated, easily dodging the explosion that occurred right after. Sadly, when they thought this will finally be over, the trio was met with another thing that shocked their very souls. An earth-shattering earthquake occurred seconds later and a majestic city rose from below. The shimmering Mana Crystal pierced the blood-red canopy and stretched as far as the eye could see. Affected by the red sky, the crystal shone with a malevolent red light before it started shattering, revealing a figure as big as the crystal. It was a dark-skinned creature with surprisingly handsome facial features and a strange-looking golden and red bow on its back. Its height surpassed 100 meters and the pressure it emitted was truly frightening and suffocating. To make matters worse, several silhouettes appeared around this god-like figure, they had the same size as the Devil the trio had just killed and there were at least ten or fifteen of them. It was then that the three brothers tasted real despair but it only lasted for a second before each of them picked up their weapon, ready to fight again. There''s no place to run to and no one to lend a hand, they were on their own and they truly believed they can get out of here alive. "We must live together as brothers or perish together as fools!"-The Joke Chapter 469 - 419 : Light and Darkness 1 "So, what happened after? Did you survive?" As the Joker slowly narrating what happened in Riarravar, Lucy couldn''t help but ask that question as she was curious about the outcome. The Joker let out a forced smile and replied: "Unfortunately, we did not. We were not powerful enough to fight against legions of Cthulhu and armies of other evil races. However, we were still able to fight for ten continuous days before succumbing to our injuries." *** In a battlefield filled with mountains of corpses, whether it''s weird-looking monsters or rivers of blood, three men laid on the cold ground, barely breathing as their bodies had dozens of injuries. The Joker, who sustained the heaviest wounds, coughed lots of blood while trying to open his mouth and talk. As he gazed at the red sky with an absent-minded look, he noticed that the shade of red that dominated the sky was slowly but surely disappearing. He sacrificed most of his power and ended up killing that gigantic god-like being but the cost was too great. "*cough* *cough* the clouds have parted *cough* and the skies clearedˇ­ it is time I bade you farewell *cough*." A pool of blood appeared underneath the man, who was on his last breath, barely able to maintain his consciousness. The other two were in no better condition but they still forced themselves to stand up. As they faced the dying man, both of them bowed their heads, each saying what''s on his mind. "We tried our best, at least we won''t have any regrets."-Leiu "If there is an afterlife, I very much hope to become brothers with you again." All they got in response was a soft smile from the Joker, who''s heartbeat was becoming slower and slower. He mustered all the strength he had left to utter those last words. "I shall become the wings of rebellion." This was the last thing the Joker said before his eyes closed shut and his life ended. With one of them gone, the two glanced at each other before turned to face the West, where a suffocating pressure was slowly creeping on them. Though they successfully got rid of the forces of the Dark-skinned creatures, the Cthulhu sent reinforcements albeit a bit late. A ginormous figure, just like the one killed by the Joker, was heading toward them, its appearance different from the last one. This one had eight arms and was holding a large lantern that contained red flames. From the looks of it, it was this being that created the fire which engulfed the entirety of Riarravar. "Breaketh thy chains of captivity!" "And fight to erase not the sins but the misdeeds!" Both of them let out a laugh as they tightly held their weapons and readied themselves for this battle, which probably is their last. They will soon follow their brother and although it''s a shame to die when they have come this far, they couldn''t just turn around and run away. Their dignity won''t allow them to do that, not even Arthur, who swore to return safely to his family. A day later, after a bitter struggle, a joint attack of Arthur and Leiu managed to seriously injure the big monster but they were still overwhelmed but the enemies'' numbers. ***** "Is this the end?" Lucy, who''s breathing became fast and complexion worsened, asked with a strange tone. The Joker shook his head and replied: "Oh no, there''s still an important piece left untold but before thatˇ­" He flicked his fingers, causing a carefully listening Angelica to appear before her little sister, who was shocked to see her. "You have heard enough, it''s time you go. What I''m about to say is only for Lucy and Lucy alone." Lucy didn''t snap at her sister or give an intense reaction, she just glared at Angelica for a few seconds before waving her hand, causing a chilling gust to push the shocked woman out of the room. The Joker snapped his fingers against, isolating this place so that no one can eavesdrop, not even the powerful Matriarch. "Listen carefully, what I''m about to tell you concerns the destiny of this worldˇ­ what happened before time and anything before it, how everything came to be and what led to the complete destruction and domination of Riarravar." ***** It was a world of nothingness, there were no trees, skies or seas. Just a complete and endless white, just like inside of ARK yet vastly different. There wasn''t any kind of energy, no natural laws, even time didn''t exist in this strange place. Three bodies were randomly floating in this foreign plane. Their bodies were illusory, or more precisely, spiritual, meaning that they didn''t really exist in that place but were pulled there. The three suddenly woke up, oblivious to whereabouts and ignorant of what''s happening, the only thing they knew is that they died fighting the evil races in Riarravar. Although the Joker died first, the three awakened at the same time and even when everything around them became clear, they were still confused, wondering what the hell was happening. "Is this the so-called afterlife? It''s not very entertainingˇ­" The Joker grumbled before he started laughing loudly while trying to pat his brother''s shoulders only for his hand to pass through their bodies. Leiu glanced around him but found nothing too eye-catching, it was just endless white space that stretched as far as the eye could see. "Perhaps this is where we''ll get an explanation for what happened in Riarravar." Arthur speculated as he inspected his floating brothers and their semi-transparent bodies. He felt inexplicably weak and a bit dizzy, it''s as if this dimension wasn''t welcoming him. It was just him, the other two were experiencing the same thing. The concept of time didn''t exist in this plane so it could have been years and seconds felt pretty much the same time. "You are right, Arthur MoonStar." A melodic voice rang in their ears, startling the trio and causing them to turn toward its origin. The sight they were met made them momentarily speechless. It was actually a woman, blond hair that reached her legs, soft and snow-white skin, and a mesmerizing figure. To add more shock to the trio, she was butt-naked and didn''t seem too embarrassed as she elegantly stood before them, inspecting each of them with her two breath-taking golden pupils. Arthur always claimed that Lucy is the prettiest woman in this world but even his wife paled in comparison to this Goddess. Her beauty was truly out of this world, any men would be charmed by her face and drawn by her gaze. The three, speechless, maintained their silence, waiting for the woman to explain what''s happening. "I''m sure you have a lot of questions but let''s start from the very beginning. I will answer everything later." She let out an alluring smile that shook the very souls of strong-willed men like those three. The woman raised her hand and magically drew something in the air, somehow altering this plane and splitting it in two. One side was of darkness and the other was of light, two polar opposite harmoniously existed for eternity, or that''s how it seemed to Arthur and his brothers. "Before anything or anyone existed, there was only Light and Darkness, two opposite yet equal thingsˇ­" *** "Wow! You''ve grown so big!" Saly hugged Astrith, whose size almost tripled and the aura around him multiplied. He now had three tails and he was no longer covered in lightning, instead, it was stored inside of him, ready to be used at any time. The little girl became more mature and no longer had that childish look. Her hair and fur became as white as snow and her eyes were sky-blue. The heights this girl reached would astound any person, even her father. The Joker even stated that she''s his most talented disciple, in terms of fighting, that is. She was a bit dull and slow in learning so it took him a lot of time to pass his vast knowledge onto her. He had left a while ago so she was left with Astrith and her uncle Leiu, who passes the whole day either staring at the jet black sky or swinging his greatsword. Astrith has finished his training and both the wolf and the little girl were soon going to leave this place. Though she hated this place when she first arrived, her feelings greatly changed over the course of the past few months. She has grown by leaps and bounds and knew that the Joker was harsh for her sake. She formed some kind of attachment toward this unusual world and unwilling to leave so abruptly. Unfortunately, Leiu repeatedly told her that she has to leave pretty soon and her role was very important in the upcoming fight. Her wish will soon become true and she''ll get to fight alongside her parents, as for the outcome of the fight? No one knew. Chapter 470 - 420 : Light and Darkness 2 Crow note : So, it took me a LOT of time to write this chapter as it has a lot of lore. From now on, I''ll be posting chapters called ''Lore Chapters'' which don''t have any direct relation with the story but they''ll delve deeper into the lore about some individuals or objects. Keep in mind that you don''t have to read those lore chapters to grasp the whole plot, they''re just for the sake of diversity and more depth to the story as a whole since dumping dozens of paragraphs in an important chapter will be a waste of time for you readers. **** "Before the natural and elemental laws were born, there existed nothing but this Light and Darkness, both harmoniously existing together. There was no time, no life, no death, nothing but these two things." Arthur, Leiu, and the Joker remained silent and carefully listened to the naked blond woman, who seemed more like a Goddess than a normal human. Strangely enough, the darkness they were witnessing had the same aura as Leiu''s darkness. As if she could hear their thoughts, the woman explained "Yes, that is the same as his darkness, the origin of it, more precisely." She said that while focusing on the pale youth standing floating in the middle. After pausing for a slight second, she resumed her explanation "From this Light and Darkness, ''we'' were bornˇ­ or created. As for who ''we'' are, we were called ''Ancients'' or ''Gods'', what matters is that we were the beginning. We were not born infants and didn''t go through evolution or anything like that, we had no names, families, or memories, everything was eternal and harmonious. Some were created from the Darkness and others were created from the Light. Actually, there were twelve of us in total and with our birth, many things changed. We created life and death, worlds and stars, the natural and elemental laws, however, we were unaware that our creations will serve as our restriction in the future." This mysterious plane, which was split into Light and Darkness, slightly changed as twelve figures appeared. Six born from the Light and Six from the Darkness, each six were equally distributed into three males and three females. "At first, we knew not of those mortal feelings human experience such as sadness, angerˇ­ love. However, it forever changed when something happened." Her melancholic gaze shifted to Arthur, she seemed to be resenting him yet also thanking him for something. "Youˇ­ Arthur MoonStar, appeared in that plane and with your appearanceˇ­ the Time-Space continuum followed, causing the wheel of time to start, recording the beginning of time itself." "I appeared there? Why?" The Goddess let out a sigh before resuming: "It was by accident but what you brought with you is a big change. Not only did you eternally change our mindset but you also were the cause of everything, good and bad. At first, after hearing your introduction, we started naming ourselves then we started naming our powers and creating new ones but there were limitationsˇ­ limitations that we so foolishly set upon ourselves. That was only the beginning as shortly after that, some of us began competing with each other. A few of us began creating worlds and giving life to new Races. The most notable Race is the Humans, created by one of the six born from Light, he was the one who never named himself and was named ''God'' by all the others. He was also the one who created the God Race. Amongst the twelve of us, he was the most mysterious and reclusive, his character drastically changed right after you appeared." The woman paused for a second and studied their expression. The Joker, whose expression wasn''t unusually serious, asked; "So you''re saying this ''God'' is the same preached by the human on Earth?" "I do not know what this ''Earth'' you''re speaking of but he''s the one who ''created'' the Human race. Also, please refrain of speaking about anything that happens in the future as it''ll disturb the flow of time and may lead to serious consequences. Whatever you know of the future, please keep it to yourself and don''t speak of it in my presence." "I thought the God Race was the one who created Humans."-Arthur "That is a common misconception." Leiu, who has been keeping silent ever since a while ago, finally spoke. "What does all of this have to do with Riarravar and us?" Hearing this, the woman chuckled and said: "Hahahaha shrewd questions warrant honest answers. Riarravar, a small world, insignificant compared to all the big stars and gigantic planets, is the first world ever created. Two of the six born from the Light worked together to build Riarravar. One of them was the previously mentioned ''God'' and the other named himself Tiarius, The GameMaster. Tiarius was the very first ''being'' who created the System, which progressively strengthens Humans and other Races. They created Riarravar as an experiment to see how the weak races will adapt in this world with the presence of a basic game-like system. ''God'' helped Tiarius only to see what his creations, humans, were capable of. Their achievements were definitely out of his expectations. As time passed and Riarravar flourished, the rest of us grew interested in said world and wanted to add some of our ''touch'' to this peaceful world. I, for one, wanted to grant the humans knowledge, knowledge about their world, their history, however short it may beˇ­" "With all of that said, you''ve still not told us who you are."-Arthur The woman flashed a heart-melting smile at the three while answering: "I am Quhea, Creator of Knowledge." As he heard his answer, Arthur seemed to have thought of someone. He stared at this inexplicably beautiful ''Goddess'' and asked again "Do you know Katrina, the Overgod of Knowledge?" In response, the woman nodded her head and replied: "Yes, she''s my daughter." Arthur''s speculation was more or less correct. He knew that Katrina had some relation to Quhea but he needed to ascertain of his guess before trying to link everything together. ''Does that mean that the Overgods in ''X''s orb are special? Not humans who achieved the Overgod Realm but naturally born Overgods?''-Arthur For now, Arthur decided to keep his thoughts and theories to himself. He''ll question Quhea after listening to everything she had to say. "Before I get any further, let me tell you about the Twelve. The six from the Light are; I, Quhea ''Creator of Knowledge'', Tiarius ''The GameMaster'', ''God'', Sedos ''Lightbringer'', Thyddor ''The Fighter'', Dimitra ''Mother Nature''. As for the one six born from the Darkness, they''re; Timos ''''Savagery'', Medtris ''Demon Queen'', Ventus Malum ''Gale Devourer'', Moriah ''Shadow Emperor'', Zaarae ''Parasite Empress'', and Xyktia ''Assassin''." After introducing the Twelve, Quhea snapped her fingers, changing the environment from a plane of Light and Darkness into a peaceful and beautiful lush forest. "For the first few centuries, Riarravar knew nothing but peace and prosperity. However, ignorant as we are, we wanted to join in and put out creations in this miraculous world. Though we were unfathomably powerful compared to your standards, not all of us were skilled in all fields. Just because ''God'' created humans doesn''t mean that all of us are capable of the same feats. So, in attempt to copy ''God'', Timos created a race of his own but the result was a defective and barbaric race. Something that was Evil and only yearns for death and destruction, they were called the Cthulhu, a malevolent race that was discarded by their creator. Although they were abandoned by their ''God'', the Cthulhu kept worshiping Timos and tried to wreck havoc in Riarravar in attempt to please him. Zaarae also created the Parasite race but the first and second batch were weak so they were deemed useless and were thrown into Riarravar. Though, in the end, Zaarae was successful in creating an all-powerful race that pleased her so, she joined hands with Medtris to create a world for Parasites and Demons, which was a Race created by the Demon Queen." Before Quhea could continue, the Joker cut her off and said: "What about those dark-skinned creatures we found in the underground city?" As if expecting such a question, the woman gave an immediate answer. "Those are lesser beings, a mix of the Demon Race and the Shadow Race, hence their name; Shadow Demons." "Why didn''t ''God'' or Tiarius stop the Cthulhu from wreaking havoc in Riarravar?" "Because their goal was to observe humanity and see how it copes with any situation. Though it pained them to see the destruction of a once-beautiful and peaceful world, they could do nothing but watch as everything crumbled. In fact, the meddling of the parasites, shadow demons, and especially the Cthulhu had greatly angered Tiarius, who went and attacked Timos." While letting out a sigh as the peaceful environment around them transformed that of death and destruction. "It was then that the conflict between the Twelve began. Everybody started seeking supremacy and power, most notable of them was Moriah. As I said earlier, we were all born equal but the powers we granted ourselves ended up differentiating us. Moriah''s powers allowed him to infinitely strengthen himself so he quickly became the strongest of the Twelve. Fortunately, Moriah never cared about the conflict between the rest of us and only sought to reach the apex of strength. Time passed and the conflict between us until it reached a point where we split into two sides. One consisting of those born from the Light and the other born from the Darkness. However, there were still neutral parties such as Moriah, ''God'', and Ventus Malum." Chapter 471 - 421 : sChampionss "There were many clashes between us and them and, at some point, it became an all-out war. With the assistance of ''God'', the six of us created four Universes, each had its master. The Heaven and Hell Universe was ''God''s territory and it was a neutral party that wasn''t involved in the war. Tiarius was the master of the Omega Universe, as for the remaining two, they were overseen by I, Sedos, and Thyddor. Just like we did, the four enemies created words of their own, but, without God''s help, they couldn''t achieve the same results as us hence their one and only Universe not only was defective but it was dangerousˇ­ too dangerous for the weak races." "You still haven''t told us why you brought us to Riarravar."-Leiu The youth cut her off, wanting to know the reason he was sent here. From his point of view, this history lesson could be narrated later, when the important things are said. Quhea turned around, her back facing the three brothers. The environment changed, showing a place of void and destruction, lifeless bodies of all shapes and sizes could be seen floating everywhere around them, there was even gigantic Titans that were either decapitated or brutally killed. "I am incapable of ''bringing'' you here from the past. What we did wasn''t pulling you through time but creating you from scratch based on a few facts we knew about you three. I am neither omnipotent or omniscient and my power isn''t strong enough to achieve such a featˇ­ It was actually the cumulated effort of ''God'', I, and Dimitra. We created temporary ''copies'' of you to show you the fate of a doomed world. Even if you were ten times stronger, you wouldn''t have been able to save Riarravar." "You''re from the past, how come you knew about us?"-Arthur In response, Quhea glanced at Arthur sideways and replied "You told us about yourself and your two brothers. When we heard the story, we understood that it was all a cycle, a loopˇ­ it''s not the first time we had this conversation and I hope it''ll be the last." "In the end, what do you want from us?"-The Joker "What do we want? I may not know everything but it''s a fact that we aren''t present in the future so the least we can hope for is for our creations to live in a peaceful world and not be burdened by our mistakes. And for this to happen, you must stop the Cthulhu, Parasites, and all the restˇ­ their ''Gods'' may not interfere in mortal battles but they won''t sit still. The boundary between the four Universes and the other plane is weakening and when it''s finally time, they will assault this place and raze it to the groundˇ­ I''m sure it''s not something you wish to see." Hearing this, the Joker scoffed and retorted: "So you want us to become some kind of saviors? Hah!" He didn''t try to hide his mocking tone and unwillingness to do what Quhea said. "We''ve all got our own problems, why would we go on a suicidal mission to fight them?"-Arthur Arthur waited for the full explanation to come to a decision but just like his brother, he wasn''t too fond of what he''s hearing. He has to deal with the White Specter Clan and ''X'', the last thing on his mind is the Cthulhu and parasites. "You, your families and friends will exist no more were the boundary between the two planes to break. There''ll be war everywhere and everyone will be slaughtered in a few years."-Quhea "I''m not sure I understand. You''re seeking our help yet I''m sure there are better candidatesˇ­ the multiverse is vast and there''s no lack of powerful individuals. If everyone joins hands, it won''t be impossible to resist the enemies."-Leiu The Nameless Knight took a neutral stance, neither accepting nor refusing to help Quhea. The Creator of Knowledge let out a sigh and explained: "Humans, Elves, dwarves and all the other races living in the ''multiverse'' you speak of are inferior to the enemy races. The parasites created by Zaarae are incredibly powerful, in fact, one of them was even able to equally fight Dimitra." She paused for a moment and stared at the pale youth: "Let''s talk about you for a secondˇ­ we sought your help because you''re special, much more than you think. Your powersˇ­ your ''Black Heart'' originates from the Darkness that predates everything. Each and every one of you is chosen for a good reason." She shifted her gaze to the Joker and added: "Wolfram Sakimoto, a normal human who can use Tiarius personal card system and inherited his powers." Then she focused and Arthur, staring at him with a strange gaze. "Last but not least, an unexpected variable. One who stole Zaarae''s powers and claimed it as his own." This revelation shocked Arthur, who frowned and asked: "I stole her powers? How?" Quhea shook her head and gave an honest reply: "This, I do not know. It wasn''t long after the all-out war began that we heard the news about Zaarae and how her domain was attacked. Although she survived, her powers were stolen." "Are you not worried that since I have Zaarae''s power, I will side with the enemy?" An unsettling smile appeared on Quhea face "I am sure that you will not." "What makes you so certain?"-Arthur The woman refused to answer and merely smiled at the confused Arthur. After a short silence, Quhea continued with her story: "What you saw in Riarravar is nothing compared to what will befall on the ''multiverse'' if the boundary is broken. Despite our advantage in numbers, the enemies'' powers are unique and battle-oriented whereas, I, for example, cannot even stand head to head against the weakened Zaaraeˇ­ my job is to pass on knowledge and create a history for the future." As if he couldn''t keep listening to all this nonsense, the Joker clicked his tongue and spoke with a harsh and loud tone "Do you honestly and seriously believe we''ll lay down and obediently fight them to fix your stupid mistakes? Even if they do invade the multiverse, we can still guarantee our safetyˇ­ why would we fight someone else''s war." With a hand on her mouth, seemingly pondering, Quhea gazed at Wolfram and retorted: "The first person that they will look for will be none other than your brother." She pointed at Arthur and stated: "He''s the root of everything and Zaarae''s main target. I may not fully know you but I''m certain you won''t do nothing when millions of monsters are chasing after your brother." Hearing this, the Joker chose silence over arguing with Quhea, who was giving him a strange smile. "I''m right, aren''t I? From my perspective, you are an eccentric man but I know for certain that you value brotherhood more than anything." "Still, we can hide from them, there''s no need to fight a losing war."-Leiu "That may be true but such a solution is merely temporary. Sooner or later, they''ll find you. One of the four is Xyktia, an expert in tracking anyone wherever they are."-Quhea "Aren''t you contradicting yourself? You just said that ''they'' won''t interfere with the war between the mortal battles."-Arthur "Yes, they consider themselves higher beings so they will just let their creations do the job. However, you three and a few other individuals are an exception. Just like Wolfram inherited Tiarius powers, there are individuals who obtained their powers, they''re like their ''champions''. When you go back, you need to check if any of the four is still alive or if someone managed to acquire their powers." Still refusing to go with the flow and accept everything as is, the Joker snorted and added: "I''m not going to fight for your sake. If they do come after my brother, I''ll defend him with my life but I won''t go out of my way to protect everyoneˇ­ it''s simply bullshit!" Then he proceeded to ignore Quhea, who responded with nothing but silence. After an unknown amount of time passed, she asked "What about you two?" Leiu crossed his arms and said : "I''ll wait and see." As for Arthur, he pondered for some time before asking: "Is there any way to get rid of the barrier or strengthen it so they cannot enter the multiverse?" The woman sighed, shook her head and answered: "Unfortunately, the only way is to fight them." "How can you expect us to fight them all with just the three of us?" "I never said you''ll be alone. There will be some people who''ll support you but you three will be the main force. Given enough time, I''m sure you guys will reach great heights and become equal if not stronger than Zaarae and the rest." She paused for a second, pointed at the sheathed Dark Blade before saying "After all, you not only got Zaarae''s powers but also Ventus Malum." Arthur followed her gaze and stared at the silent Makaze, which didn''t react to her words. "Ventus Malum, the Gale Devourer died of grief and sadness and his body transformed into a powerful blade, mightier than any other weapon." "You''re telling me Makaze is one of the six born from the Darkness."-Arthur "That blade was born from the body of Ventus Malum and inherited his powers. It is by far stronger than the Eighteen swords created by him." Chapter 472 Lore - The Twelve 1 Hey, Crow here! This chapter and the next will explain more things about the Twelve. The Twelve; Moriah ''Shadow Emperor'': Strongest being that ever lived, presumably stronger than even the Nameless Knight of the present. Despite his unequaled strong, his thirst for power led to his demise. He created ''Shadows'' and the Shadow Attribute, making it one of the most mysterious that ever existed. The Shadow Demons, which were a joint creation of both Moriah and Medtris, were able to manipulate Shadows but only to a small degree. The Shadow Emperor rose to the apex thanks to his unique ability to steal and devour other people''s shadows, which, in return, greatly strengthened him. His ability is different from Zaarae''s racial powers as the shadows Moriah devoured represented what his targets will become in the future. For example, if a farmer is to become a Sword Saint in fifty years, Moriah would obtain a Sword Saint''s strength regardless of when he devours that person''s shadow. Despite belonging to the faction that originated from the ''Darkness'', Moriah was never interested in neither Riarravar nor the war that happened not long after the annihilation of that world. He sought strength and strength alone, in fact, early on, he attempted to devour Thyddor''s shadow but returned empty-handed. Thyddor ''The Fighter''''Father of Titans'': Thyddor was the first of his kind and the one who created a nearly perfect race: the Titans. They had a monstrous inborn strength and were masters of Magic, especially Earth and Lightning. Amongst the six born from the Light, Thyddor was the strongest and the was considered a battle freak, always asking the rest to battle him. It came at no surprise that his interest was picked when Riarravar was created. He followed Tiarius and God''s footsteps and created a Race of his own but the result was something the former two could not tolerate. Uranus and Gaea were the first titans created by Thyddor, however, they had incredibly large sizes so they were forbidden from entering Riarravar. Records have little mention about Thyddor''s fate after the ''War of the Twelve''. Xyktia attempted to assassinate him but was discovered by Zeus, a young titan which was personally taught by Thyddor. Sedos ''Lightbringer'': He''s the one and only God worshiped by the Holy Dominion and is the origin of anything that is Holy or related to Light. He inherited a portion of the Light he was born from hence his title. He created Spiritual creatures, Light/Holy Laws, Light Energy, Saber Essence and the concept of religion. He was someone who liked to be worshiped by mortals, especially Humans as their faith resulted in the automatic creation of another, more powerful kind of energy: Faith Energy. He relied on said energy to deal a devastating blow to Medtrisˇ­ a blow so strong it broke the very fabric of reality and banished the Demon Queen in an unknown place for more than a hundred thousand years. Little is known about his relationship with his allies but there has been a period where Sedos threatened ''God'', wanting the latter to aid him in his cause. Nothing too detailed was said about this matter but there surely has been a fight between the Lightbringer and the mysterious ''God''. Medtris ''Demon Queen'': She''s a dominatrix and wanted to lead the six born from the Darkness but wasn''t strong enough to subdue them. She stopped dreaming of achieving that after nearly being killed by Moriah, who grew tired of her persistence and behavior. However, Moriah''s thrashing was nothing compared to the suffering she received from Sedos, who banished her into a world devoid of anything. It took her 100,000 years to escape and by the time she returned to her plane, everything changed. If we''re talking about pure physical force, Medtris is equal to Thyddor if not stronger. After a prolonged study about physical bodies, Medtris created the Physiques but wasn''t able to acquire all of them. Actually, she mastered six Soldier-ranked Physique, three King-ranked Physiques and two Emperor-Ranked Physique, officially becoming the strongest of the Twelve after the fall of the Shadow Emperor. Furthermore, Medtris was amongst the few first ones who started creating Races and powers. She sacrificed a small portion of her power to create the Seven Deadly Sins. Demons, Devils, and Gargoyles were races she personally created too. After returning from that banished-world, The Demon Queen unleashed her wrath upon Sedos, assaulting him in his domain and fatally injuring him. Were it not for Dimitra''s interference, Sedos would have been killed. The blow she dealt to the Lightbringer was too powerful so he ended up dying not too long after that. Tiarius ''GameMaster'': An eccentric being, fond of games and pranks. He created Riarravar with ''God''s help and also invented the System. A normal System was put in Riarravar, allowing its inhabitants to slowly strengthen themselves by killing wild and dangerous beasts or doing miscellaneous jobs. The first System ever created was actually a simple yet dreadful card system that relied on something he called ''Real Magic''ˇ­ this ''magic'' wasn''t bound by the natural and elemental laws, making it even more unique and sought after. Even ''God'' highly praised Tiarius'' Card System, calling it ''A wondrous thing''. After Riarravar was invaded by the Cthulhu, Tiarius was infuriated by the savages'' cruel acts so he went and attack Timos. A fierce battle took place between the two entities but it was short-lives as Ventus Malum interfered and stopped their recklessness. When the first world was overrun by the evil races, Tiarius gave up on that world and created a whole Universe controlled by an artificial intelligence he poured all of his efforts into creating. Unlike the three other Universes, the Omega Universe was a boundless and vast world that was filled with various Races. In fact, Tiarius threw a couple of malevolent Races in that world to create a hurdle for the humans there. He wanted them to face danger so they can work to empower themselves and resist the enemies Chapter 473 Lore - The Twelve 2 Xyktia ''Assassin'' : A very secretive person who rarely interacts with her creations or allies. She was strong enough to fight Thyddor and had countless means to escape from any of the Twelve, no matter the situation. Her expertise lied in absolute Stealth and going around undetected, she was quite the adventurous type and only joined the war to hone her skillsˇ­ her real goals laid elsewhere. She created summoning Magic, Black Magic, and the undead. She didn''t literally create a race but used the lifeless corpses of the fallen from Riarravar to build an unshakeable empire. Her Necromancy skills were advanced and very dreadful, making her one of the main threats and a major factor that strengthened the ''Darkness Faction''. When the war of the Twelve began, Xyktia tried to assassinate Thyddor but was surprisingly discovered by a young but almighty titan named Zeus. He was a figure that would rise to the apex sometime later and he could wield a special kind of Lightning which was the nemesis of Xyktia''s abilities. Although she failed in her task and was forced to fight Zeus, Xyktia was still able to safely retreat. Ever since that fight, Xyktia changed her target from Thyddor to Zeus and attempted to kill him on several occasions. She''s one of the few whose death is confirmed as Ventus Malum personally killed her after she had done a heinous act that greatly angered the Gale Devourer. Timos ''Savagery'' ''The Black Devil'': He was the most unlikable amongst the Twelve, even his allies weren''t too fond of him. He was as arrogant as Sedos and hated Humans to the bones. He never justified his race but some said that he felt threatened by this fragile race which showed an infinite potential. In an attempt to copy God''s feats, he created a defective race: The Cthulhu, however, he wasn''t pleased with the result. He dumped them in Riarravar clearly with some hidden intentions which he repeatedly denied when Tiarius attacked him. He was stronger than most the Twelve but weaker than the battle-oriented ones such as Thyddor, Xyktia, and Ventus Malum. Timos created the Void Attribute, the strongest attribute ever recorded in history as it is capable of devouring everything, or so everyone proclaims. With Medtris'' help, he mastered the Void Physique and became much stronger, causing him to become more rampant and reckless. Although the war of the Twelve lasted for quite a long time, Timos never left his domain, unwilling to step foot into any of the four Universes. He sought refuge in the other Universe, the one created by the ''Darkness Faction''. He''s slowly amassing his armies of Cthulhu and waiting for an opportunity to strike the enemy. Dimitra ''Mother Nature'': She was the one who created all of the basic attributes (Fire, Water, Earth, Wind) and if she didn''t create these attributes, ''God'' wouldn''t have been able to create Riarravar. In fact, the attributes she created caused the natural elemental laws to materialize. These laws were a restriction that laid the base for the rest of the Twelve, which branched some powers based on the attributes or imitated Dimitra, allowing them to come up with more creative abilities. When Riarravar was turned into a mess and the mountains, forests, and seas were scorched by the evil flame, Dimitra was infuriated but she didn''t act on impulsive and instead, sought the help of others. It was said that her healing abilities were unparalleled, she was even able to bring people back to life with her tears. She was the one who saved Sedos from the Demon Queen, who was almost able to kill the Lightbringer. Zaarae ''Parasite Empress''''The Lady Who Reaps'': Prior to losing her powers, Zaarae was the second strongest of the Twelve, falling right behind the Shadow Emperor. Her abilities allowed her to possess anything, whether it''s living beings or spiritual creatures. Her powers were so overpowered that she could possess literal worlds, gaining all the present attributes and energies in that world. So, it came at no surprise when she became able to wield every attribute, energy, and Physique. She wasn''t particularly strong in one or two areas but the diversity she had allowed her to rise to dominance. She was in pretty good terms with Medtris and Ventus Malum, however, she grew apart from the latter when the war started. The Gale Devourer voiced his strong objections and refused to aid Zaarae, saying and I quote ''If you continue on this road then you''ll lose your life because of this pointless war''. Although many claimed that the Titans were the strongest Race ever created, it''s only because they don''t know the ancient parasites, the truly frightening ones. The parasites are, without a doubt, the strongest Race ever created, however, not every parasite created was flawless. Zaarae failed two times before she was able to create a unique specimen capable of displaying unrivaled strength and unmatched intelligence. In a tense period right when the war began, Zaarae''s domain was invaded by an individual, who not only caused a lot of disturbance, he was even able to trick Zaarae and Timos. He fought Timos for sometime before Zaarae joined the fight and only then did she realize that she fell into his trap as her powers were stolen a few seconds after their first meeting. No one was able to stop that person, who safely left the Empress'' domain after acquiring what he needed. As for Zaarae, despite losing her powers, she was still strong but was soon regarded as an outcast by Timos and Xyktia, who always mocked her, calling her a ''mortal''. Thankfully, she had her creations, which loyally served her and fought her battles. One particular parasite who served her was able to exact revenge on Timos, who attempted to take Zaarae as his ''mistress'', saying that she''ll be more useful if she used her body instead of her head. The relationship between the parasites and Cthulhu worsened but they''re still considered allies, more or less. Chapter 474 - 424 : Think and Act Wisely "So, in the end, did you agree to help her?"-Lucy Hearing Lucy''s question, the Joker chuckled and replied: "No way, we weren''t fools or heroes wannabes, we just wanted to return to our worlds and solve our own problems. Sadly, we were ignorant back then and we didn''t know the consequences of our actions, especially I and Leiu, which spent most of our growth period in the past." "How did you leave that place?" "We didn''t ''leave'', the memories were transferred back to our original selves. They were vivid and realistic, when it struck me, a wave of emotions assaulted me and slightly changed my mindset." "What about Quhea? Did she give up on trying to convince you?" The Joker shook his head and added: "She didn''t even try to convince us, she merely answered our question and explained a few things. It''s as if she knew we''ll face the other faction sooner or later, it was just a matter of when." Having reached the end of this long story, the Trickster gulped another cup of tea while waiting for Lucy to ask what''s on her mind. The silver-haired woman was lost in thought, pondering about many things. After a few minutes passed, Lucy asked: "When the time comesˇ­ will you face them?" The Joker spread his hands in helplessness while giving an honest answer: "I and Leiu have nothing precious to protect, we just have to move forward. We already promised each other to try and stop ''them'' when the boundary breaks. Butˇ­ fear not, Arthur will not be included as, unlike us, he has you, Saly and a home to go back to. Even if he insists on joining, we will not welcome himˇ­ for his sake." "If he really considers you two as brothers, he won''t stay still and watch you two protect him."-Lucy "Hehehe true but, what if he has to choose between his brothers and his wife?" The Joker stopped for a second before resuming "It''s not even a question worth asking! Though he may treasure our brotherhood, you''re everything for him. Which is why, when the calamity strikes, it''ll be you who''ll stop him from going." Hearing this, Lucy couldn''t help but retort "What if I encourage him to go fight and accompany him?" Before replying to her, Wolfram cleared his throat and spoke with a slightly harsh tone "Lookˇ­ in terms of judging an individual''s strength, talent, or future potential, there''s no one in this multiverse better than I and when I look at you, I see a one-of-a-kind genius, a talent with unlimited potential but please believe me when I say that there''s ALWAYS a limit." He pointed at himself then continued: "Look at me, for example, I''ve reached the apex of power a few thousand years ago. Even if I were to consume a heavenly, miraculous fruit that would give me the power of a thousand Overgods, it''ll still do naught for me. The same applies to you, who, in the future, will reach a threshold that cannot be broken. Perhaps you''ll be the strongest person in the multiverse but it''ll still not be enough to fight against armies of parasites, Cthulhu, etcˇ­ and that is while excluding their creators. I, Leiu, and Arthur have inherited the powers of the Twelve and that is the only reason we stand a chance." As he saw her expression, the Joker let out a sigh and added: "Fineˇ­ let''s say you become outrageously powerful, do you seriously think Arthur would let you go with us? What about Saly? Your friends and family?" Several cards floated before the unstable Lucy, who gazed at the card which showed her a picture of Saly, whose eyes become sky-blue and her long snow-white hair. "One would fight a losing war only when he has nothing to lose." At last, the Joker got up from his seat, ready to leave this room after saying his part. Just as he was about to turn around, Lucy abruptly got up and locked her gaze on him. After a few moments of silence, Lucy surprisingly stretched her hand while saying "Let me formally re-introduce myself. I am Lucy MoonStar, wife of Arthur MoonStar, it is a pleasure to meet you." Confused by her actions, The Joker furrowed his brows and hesitantly asked: "I thought you can''t touch other men." For the first time since their meeting, Lucy flashed a mesmerizing smile at the strangely-clothed man. "It''s not that I can''t but I don''t want to. Moreover, it only applies to strangers whereas you''re a person who helped my husband and saved his life on multiple occasions." In the end, the Joker reciprocated her actions and shook hands with Lucy, who, for the first time in years, touched a man other than her husband. "Wolfram Sakimoto, at your service." While shaking her hand, he performed a strange bow while softly chuckling. ˇ­ A distance away from the White Specter Clan, the Joker was nonchalantly wandering a deserted forest while whistling and glancing around in boredom. After a few minutes of walking around, he glanced toward his left and said "If you want to tail me, at least be more discrete." A woman that slightly resembled Lucy appeared a distance away from Wolfram. She was taller than Lucy and looked more mature and domineering. This woman was none other than the Matriarch, Katrina. "I heard a few interesting and surprising things from Angelina." Uncaring about her cold tone and serious expression, the Joker kept whistling after uttering one word "So?" The Matriarch walked closer to the Joker, a threatening aura emanating from her. "Whether he''s alive or not, I won''t allow him to approach my daughter or my clan." "Oh, okay." The Joker didn''t seem to care about what she had to say as he continued walking while she followed him. "Never did I think that one of the brothers you spoke so highly of is Arthur. I guess he''s much more special than I thought but so what?" She gazed at him with a piercing glare while continuing; "I want to know if you''ll interfere if I a fight really breaks out." As he listened to her, Wolfram scoffed at her before retorting "Why? You''re okay with oppressing the weak but afraid to face the strong? I don''t remember teaching you to be a coward." She shook her head and explained: "No, if it''s not necessary then I don''t want to fight my teacher." The Joker shrugged his shoulders and stated: "Well, rest assured, I''m in no position to interfere. Plus, it''ll disrupt the course of time if I lend him a hand." The man suddenly turned around, leaned his face closer to the woman and gazed at her with an unusually serious expression before whispering: "When the times comes, you must know who to spare and who to kill. This feud is between Arthur and you, so, think and act wisely, Katrinaˇ­ because if you kill someone you shouldn''t have, then believe me when I say that I won''t be the only one chasing after your life." Right after be said that, The Joker vanished from the Matriarch''s sight, turning into a puff of red smoke. ****** Green-Leaf World, capital, Royal Castle. A blond young-looking man was absent-minded as he stared at the glorious city behind the window while tapping his index on the table. He''s the king of this Medium-Realm, Isadore Marfront. Ever since he was kicked out of Astria by Radolf and Midolf, he''s been waiting for Arthur to show himself. As usual, his bodyguard, Wrath, was taking a nap on a nearby couch while the king''s childhood friend, Christopher, was taking care of some documents, walking in and out of the office in a hurry. Everything seemed calm and peaceful until the napping Wrath abruptly jumped from the sofa as if he had been electrocuted. All his hair stood erect as he turned his head toward the closed door leading out of the office. Even a mortal like Isadore felt a chilling aura which snapped him out of his daze and caused him to stand up. After a few intense moments of silence in which neither the king or his bodyguard dared to move or talk, a knocking sound could be heard by both men. Chapter 475 - 425 : Caretaker The person on the other side of the door didn''t barge in but politely knocked three times and patiently waited. Wrath remained rooted in his spot, perhaps too shocked or overwhelmed to speak or move. Isadore did feel a strange aura lurking from behind the door but he couldn''t feel the same thing Wrath was experiencing so he was able to get a hold of himself and slowly walk toward the door. Seeing the pale face of his bodyguard, Isadore knew that something was wrong but he still went to open the door. This uninvited individual didn''t cause a ruckus and even knocked on the door so it was safe to assume that he came bearing no hostile intentions. It seems to have taken an eternity to reach that door and finally open it with his sweat-soaked hand. Though, when he finally saw the person behind that door, Isadore couldn''t help but frown as the youth before him seemed unfamiliar. There was even a short-haired girl that belonged to the beastmen Race standing behind the clad-armored youth. It is indeed the first time Isadore saw Leiu in person but he heard the tales of the Nameless Knight so it didn''t take him too long to reach a conclusion, especially after noticing Wrath''s unnatural reaction. It is widely known that the Seven Deadly Sins are antagonistic to Leiu as the latter had killed Pride. However, when he came face to face with the Nameless Knight, even an entity like Wrath was unable to lift a finger, much less attack him. Furthermore, he was serving the King right now so he''s obligated to follow the rules and keep his personal matters to himself, just like when he saw Makaze but didn''t make a move and simply watched from the sidelines. "King Isadore Marfront of Green-Leaf, I presume?" "Yes yes! Please come in." Isadore didn''t dare act arrogantly in front of the youth before him. He welcomed the two guests in and signaled for Wrath to leave but the middle-aged man kept standing there like an idiot. "I didn''t come here for you so calm down." Leiu waved his hand dismissively while glancing at Wrath and uttering those words. Only then did the middle-aged man dare move, he bowed toward the youth clad in jet black armor then walked to a corner of the room and stood there, motionless like a pillar. Isadore didn''t know why would a mysterious person like the Nameless Knight come here out of all places. He sat opposite of the youth and the little girl and waited for the other party to talk. Leiu didn''t beat around the bush or waste any second, he just gazed at the young King and said: "Very soon, there''ll be a war and I''m simply here to ask you." Isadore carefully listened to Leiu and nodded his head: "Please ask." "What I want to ask is; are you going to participate or merely watch?" Confused, Isadore tilted his head and said: "I''m not sure I understand." A chilling aura emanated from the silent youth, who maintained his silent for a full minute before speaking again: "There is no need to hide things from me, I know that you''ve been to Astria and you''re currently seeking Arthur. All of that is meaningless, in the end, all that matters is what you''ll do when war breaks out. To put it bluntly, will you help Arthur fight the White Specter Clan or back away?" Isadore didn''t know how to give an appropriate response, he pondered for a few seconds before answering: "Wellˇ­ depending on the circumstances, I will-" Before he could finish, he was cut off by Leiu, who retorted: "I need a short and honest answer. Yes, you will help him or No, you don''t think he can win even with your assistance." While it is true that Isadore wanted to befriend Arthur and ally with him, it was kind of unexpected for the Nameless Knight to come up to him and ask for an immediate and straightforward answer. In all honesty, the king felt confused and curious about Leiu''s intentions which is why he hesitated. What if he gives the wrong answers which will lead to dire consequences? After a long bout of silence, Isadore gave raised his head, glanced at the girl then at the Nameless Knight and opened his mouth, about to give his replyˇ­ ******** It was a medium-sized room filled with monitors, remnants of snacks and sweets covered almost the whole floor and the walls and roof were dyed with a pink and red color. There were lots of large-sized pillows that were soft and comfortable to sit on. Currently, a man, who''s been unconscious for a long time, struggled to open his fluttering eyes only to witness a strange thing. A pink roof and the sound of several running computers. A short figure with long hair entered his sight, she was inspecting his face with a curious expression. "Oh! You''re finally up!" The girl seemed familiar to the man, who thought he died only to awake in this strange place. The girl had a familiar face and the decoration of the room reminded him of a certain person, a person who disappeared a long time ago. The girl was pouting as she crossed her arms and harrumphed: "Is that the way you look at someone who saved your life?" She snorted again while turning her head toward the large monitors and adding: "If I was a second later! Those remnants would have sucked your body then your soul!" Surprisingly, this girl, who looked like a child, was Lolitta, the half-human half-AI who disappeared from Earth after spending quite some time investigating the chip brought by Wolfram. As for the man who just woke up from a coma, it was Arthur, but not the Arthur of the present. He was the one who accomplished his goals and laid on the grassy field, accepting her death and handing himself to the Time Wraiths. Never did he expect himself to be saved by Lolitta, who vanished from Earth, never to appear before him again. After a short silence, the girl said "I see that you''ve discovered this place too!" The only answer she got was complete silence from the weak-looking man. Not only did he feel incredibly weak, his partner, the Dark Blade, was nowhere to be seen. A strange feeling it wasˇ­ to wake up alive when one accepted their fate and readied themselves for eternal torment. For those ''devoured'' by Time Wraiths, it''s said that their fate is worse than Hell itself. "H-how did you save me?" "It wasn''t just meˇ­" She pointed at the door leading outside of this room while saying "He said that he wanted to repay a lifetime favorˇ­" Though he felt weak, Arthur still forced himself to stand up and slowly walk toward the door, which automatically opened, showing him a spacious underground field. The first thing that he caught his attention was an enormous beast covered in silver scales. Its large size and majestic appearance matched its race and title. This was a silver dragon, more precisely, a lightning-dragon named Yamakˇ­ A soothing energy enveloped Arthur and helped him move easily, alleviating much of the pain he was feeling. A deep voice soon rang inside his ears. "Caretaker, thy tale hath not ended yetˇ­" ***** MoonStar Sect, Astria. Two figures were busy bickering with each other, one had a red hair and the other had a white hair. Their appearance was similar but their behavior was polar opposites as one had a foul mouth and aggressive attitude while the other was calm and composed. Randolf and Midolf, who accomplished their master''s task, spent their days guarding the sect and doing miscellaneous work. However, everything seemed to change in one single, brief moment. It was like being struck by lightning, their bodies momentarily trembled and their very souls were shaken. It was a calling, albeit from a great distance, they still felt it clearly. The two wasted no time and transformed into red and white shadows which traveled through space and headed toward the source of this urgent calling. ****** A gloomy gave, spacious yet cold and lacking any kind of illumination, this is where Gutcha has been quietly cultivating for the past couple of months. Everything returned to normal after Makaze caused that loud disturbance. As per Arthur''s orders, Gutcha has been protecting the strange black box and never budged from his place. His cultivation surprisingly reached the peak of God Realm, only a step away from becoming a Sovereign. Despite his fast advancement, Gutcha didn''t feel that things were becoming harder. Every breakthrough was the same, instantaneous and smooth. Dark Magic invaded every part of his body, almost becoming one with the pigolo. He still hasn''t used Dark Magic in actual battles but Gutcha knew that doesn''t pale in comparison to other Peak Gods. In fact, the lethality of Dark Magic will become a great advantage to him in every fight. One particular day, the peacefulness was suddenly broken. At first, Gutcha started hearing low, cyclic sounds and slowly but surely, they were becoming louder and clearer. When he stopped meditating and started focused on the sound, he found out that it was actually a heartbeat, more surprising is the fact that it was coming from the large black box. This continued for ten minutes before the whole place started to shake. A deafening yell akin to a banshee reverberated across the whole cave, startling Gutcha and force him to retreat a few steps. Things only got stranger as the small cracks started appearing on the top of the black box. Witnessing this, Gutcha grew excited as he knew it was finally time! The cracks stretched to all corners of the black object before its top finally shattered as a hand appeared from within the box. The person inside supported himself using the edges of the box and slowly stood up. All the bones of his body cracked as if they didn''t move for a millennial. In this dark place, the man stretched his limbs then stared at his hand while letting out a chuckle. The only source of light was his red-colored eye which landed on the speechless Pigolo, who bowed toward his boss. Fifteen seconds after the shattering of the black box, two silhouettes appeared before the man, surprising the excited pigolo. Midolf knelt before the man while Radolf handed him a black robe. The man seemed aware that he was naked but didn''t seem to be bothered by it but he still took the robe and wore it. Radolf and Midolf bent the knee and dropped their heads, paying respects to their master. Feeling out of place and forced to do something to express his sincerity too, Gutcha copied their actions. "Welcome back, Master."-Radolf "Is everything ready?"-Arthur Still kneeling, the red-haired youth nodded his head and replied: "Yes, thy orders were carried to the last latter." "Good." A cold smile appeared on the man''s face, he clutched his fist, seemingly thinking about something. A malevolent aura emanated from Arthur''s body, it was bone-chilling and ominous. Gutcha recognized it yet felt it was slightly different than Arthur''s past Dark Magic, this one seemed more ''alive''. The aura stretched to all corners of the cave, corrupting it within seconds and causing to crumble along with the whole mountain. In just dozens of seconds, the whole area turned into a jet black land, even the nearby beasts weren''t spared. Arthur spent some time feeling the passing breeze and staring at the cloudy sky before declaring: "We''re going to war." END OF VOLUME 7 NEXT VOLUME : VOLUME 8 : Rise of the Undead Act 2 ; I shan''t forget, I shan''t forgive. Chapter 476 - 425 : The Prince of Brutality "A wise decision thou hadst made." The silver dragon talked to the Water Empress, who was following, intrigued about their destination and confused about her role in all of this mess. Yamak barged into her region, frightening the citizens and demanded her help which came as a shock for this woman, who didn''t even know the dragon. She heard him talk about an ancient scroll and he needed her to use it on him but it was clear that he wasn''t going to be the only target of this scroll. "Isn''t it time you tell me things I want to know?" As she flowed this enormous silver dragon, the woman coldly spat those words while gazing at the non-hostile flying beast. "Thou art very impatientˇ­ very well, ask." "Who''s the ''caretaker'' you spoke of?" "Someone who saved my life when I was a newborn and taught me many things." "That''s not what I want to know! Tell me his name, his background." After a momentary silence, Yamak let out a chuckle which sounded very terrifying. "He had many titles but some were more infamous than others. I doubt thou knowst anyone of them so I''ll tell you the one given to him by the whole world." "ˇ­."-Empress "He was called ''The Prince of Brutality''." Just as he said those words, the Water Empress halted her flight and stared at the dragon with a surprised expression. The reason that everyone knows of this prince is because of his past deeds. His story would be told to naughty kids as a means to scare them and make them behave. Apparently, he''s the archenemy of everyone in the eighteen regions and the High Rules forbid anyone of speaking his name publicly. The Empress never thought that this dragon, who came seeking her help, is actually the ''student'' of the Prince of Brutality. It''s a well-known fact that this cruel prince caused the death of countless people and it took the effort of all the ancient factions to take him down then create the eighteen regions. ********* "I''ll give you one chance to stop him." Katrina sat opposite of the expressionless Lucy and warned her. She didn''t want to make things more complicated for her and her family so it is better to solve the situation before it worsens. In response, the daughter coldly smiled and snickered: "Don''t even dream of it. When he comes, it''ll be the end for you and your clan." Lucy didn''t even try to hide the killing intent she harbored toward her mother. She knew that her strength was insignificant compared to the Matriarch so she didn''t try anything reckless, however, oft than not, words hurt more than weapons. Katrina sincerely loved and treasured Lucy and didn''t want her to get involved with Arthur due to his race. If an outsider were to discover about their relationship, it''ll ruin everything. Parasites are the archenemies of any person on the Cloud Sea Universe so even if she wanted to, she simply cannot tolerate their relationship. "Even if he''s special, his end will be the same if he dares to attack this place so now that he''s alive, why don''t you try to keep him like so?" A chuckle escaped Lucy''s lips as she listened to her mother. She crossed her arms and said: "Who are you to talk when you don''t know anything? It''s pathetic seeing you like this. I''m ashamed to be your daughter, truly!" A pained expression plastered itself on Katrina''s face, she wasn''t angered by her daughter''s rude attitude. She let out a helpless sigh then added: "I know it was my fault for losing you but I searched for you everywhere. I don''t know what you have been through but I know I can make it up for you so why can''t you let me try?" Seeing her mother''s desperate tone, Lucy glared at the woman opposite of her and banged her fist on the table, freezing it along with half of the room. "You lost that right the moment you laid hands on my husband!" After a momentary pause, Lucy continued: "I never asked for your motherly love or to be brought to this damned place! I wanted to live a peaceful life with my husband and daughter, your repeated interference only messed things up." Katrina silently listened to the outburst of her angered daughter without doing or saying anything back. A bout of silence flowed between the mother and daughter and when the former was about to say one last thing, a chilling and ominous aura enveloped her. Even her high cultivation wasn''t able to block or resist that aura which invaded her body and headed toward her right hand. Startled, Katrina raised her right hand and stared at its back only to find strange black flames forming a symbol. A few seconds later, the flames vanished and were replaced by a jet black symbol, the one and only mark of the Dark Blade. Lucy also witnessed everything that happened and once she saw the mark caused by the oath, she knew that her mother is officially one of the targets of Arthur. "That will be your doom."-Lucy **** "Hey hey! Missy! It''s nice seeing you here, alive and safe!" A bald man wearing a monk''s outfit waved at Angelina, who thought that he''s some of her ''admirers''. Unfortunately, the bald monk was quite the persistent one as he followed her around and spoke a lot of nonsense. At first, Angelica ignored him but when she pieced together some of the things he said, a crazy idea struck her. Abruptly, she snatched by the back of his neck and dragged him into an isolated alley before saying "Speak, who''re you!" The surprised monk scratched his bald head, flashed a disgusting smile at her then introduced himself: "I''m Gobu! Did you already forget about me? Did you lose your memories after all the commotion that happened in that tournament?" (Author''s note: Chapter 63) Honestly, Angelina didn''t know what he was on about. He was clearly familiar with her but she never met him which can only mean one thingˇ­ he was an acquaintance of a friend of her little sister. Sadly, the truth was far from that, he only participated in the same tournament as Lucy, they never actually spoke. Though the fight that occurred at the end made the whole trip to that lower world quite an unforgettable experience for the penniless Daoist. After thoroughly inspecting the bald monk, Angelica asked "You''re from the Thousand Buddha Sect?" Gobu cupped his fists and greeted her in a traditional way, his actions and clothes were enough to prove his identity. "Speak, when and where did you see me?" His cultivation was quite low so when he was faced with Angelina''s suffocating aura, the monk''s face turned red and his body slightly shook. "A f-few years ago in a lower realm." "Which world?!" "I-I don''t knowˇ­ it was part of our Buddhist trial. The world we''re sent to is random." Angelina crossed her arms, pondered for a few moments before talking again: "Tell me everything that happened and don''t miss any detail!" Her threatening aura and suffocating pressure left the monk with no choice but to recount everything. ***** The Underworld, The Silent Graveyard. This place, controlled by the Lich King, was filled with undead of all types. Usually, any Undead summoned by a necromancer is brought from here and when it''s dead it''ll simply return to this eternal graveyard. However, there are exceptions as not all the undead summoned by Arthur are from the Underworld. Today, the eerie graveyard had an unexpected individual who directly headed toward the ancient black castle situated at the center of this land of death. Aborak, the Lich King, is at all-time inside of that castle unless an urgent situation calls for him to personally act. ˇ­ A blurry silhouette was sitting on a throne made of bones, upon a close look, this figure wore a rugged black robe and had a skeletal body. Its eye-sockets were filled with ominous purple beams and a jet black crown was at the top of the skull. Even when the uninvited guest appeared before the Lich King, the latter wasn''t perturbed or scared despite the big difference in strength. He calmly sat on the throne and slowly raised his head, his non-existent pair of eyes landing on a man with short grey hair and an eye with the color of blood. "I did not expect you to come here." The Lich had the demeanor of a king, an ever-lasting aura lingering around him and his voice was bone-chilling. Arthur, who just barged in here, put his right hand on his chest and bowed toward the Lich King. "It is good to see you too, Lich King." When he heard that, Aborak scoffed at Arthur and retorted: "Good to see me? I don''t remember our last parting being on good terms, not after the mess you caused at the Grand Banquet." The purple beams filling the Lich''s eyes changed color, becoming blue as restlessly and creepily moved around. After studying Arthur''s friendly expression and seeing his overly-polite behavior, Aborak added: "Nevertheless, it''s all in the past. I''m not a person who dwells on such things, after all, I wasn''t as affected as the others by all the ruckus." Strangely, even though Aborak was only at the God Realm, Arthur felt slightly threatened by him. It wasn''t the same feeling he''s got from Katrina but his instincts were still warning him. In fact, Aborak felt similar to the Grim Reaper, a being who can manipulate death and harvest souls. ''Indeed, I made the right choice by coming here.'' A great army needs a good commander and vice-versa. Arthur couldn''t think of a candidate better than the Lich King himself, an expert in this field and probably the only one who can control the army stationed in Astria. He felt confident in convincing Aborak and if all goes well, he would have advanced another step toward the completion of his plan. The army he would create and organize would be unstoppable, there cannot be a single mishap. Everything needs to be calculated and all factors are taken into account. Arthur knew that the enemy won''t be just the White Specter Clan and for this reason, he wasn''t content with just an army of undead. Chapter 477 - 426 : Overkill "What brings you to this land, traveler?" Neither of the two parties held a grudge against the other which made their conversation less likely to end up in a dispute or a battle. "Let me introduce myself first." Arthur bowed again and said: "Arthur MoonStar." The Lich King listened to his guest without saying a word. As for Arthur, he collected his thoughts then started speaking: "I came here seeking your help. I''m in need of a good commander, someone who can help me win a war." In response, Aborak let out a chilling laugh before replying: "Me? A good commander? I don''t know who told you that but that''s completely wrong. Furthermore, I''m in no position to involve myself in a war." Arthur didn''t give up yet, he smiled at the undead lord and stated: "Perhaps you''ll change your mind if you hear what I have to offer." "Your trip was futile, I can''t help yo-" Arthur interrupted the Lich King by saying "Three hundred and sixty million undead and it''s still growing. That''s how big the army I need you to command is." Such a number, even for the Lich King, was outrageous because if you combine all the undead in the Underworld, they''ll barely reach fifty million. That number is constant, more or less, because necromancers from many worlds are summoning undead day and night, causing the number to plummet then rise. Aborak studied Arthur''s expression, quickly discovering that he didn''t like a person who was joking. After a long silence, the Lich asked: "How did you get your hands on such a big army?" Arthur answered by raising his hand and summoning a normal skeleton warrior which sprung from a bottomless hole that appeared on the ground. "You see, I''m a Necromancer andˇ­" A red light emanated from Arthur before a silhouette exited his consciousness and appeared before the Lich King. Feeling the thick Death Energy emanating from the figure before him, Aborak was truly shocked. "A creature of death?" "The name is Radolf." The red-haired youth bowed his head to the Lich King before he faced the motionless skeleton warrior. A red fog was released from the tip of the youth''s index, it enveloped the undead for a few seconds before it disappeared. Not only did the undead''s appearance change, it became much stronger, equaling a person at the Heavenly Realm. The skeleton was clad in blood-red armor and it seemed to be more sentient. "Radolf? The Mythical death creature?" Seeing Aborak''s expression, Arthur''s smile widened. A few seconds later, another youth appeared next to Radolf, his appearance was similar to the creature of death but the aura around him was totally different. Midolf felt pretty uncomfortable in this death infested castle but he still held himself from cursing outloud. "If you accept my offer, these two will be your direct subordinates until the war is over. I''ll also hand half of the remaining Undead to you." For a long time, the Lich King maintained his silence and glanced at Arthur and the two youths. He seemed to be pondering about something. "With almost four hundred million undead and two mythical creatures, just who are you planning to face?" There was no need to hide the truth from a potential ally so Arthur spilled the beans the moment that question was asked. "My main target is the White Specter Clan but there''s a strong chance many other powers will join in." "What?" As if he couldn''t believe what he heard, Aborak spent some time processing what he just heard before he sighed and said: "I can see that you''re determined to begin this war but even if it was only the White Specter Clan, it won''t be possible to defeat them. An advantage in number won''t do you any good against Overgods." The Lich King paused for a slight second before resuming: "Even if you stand a chance, no one will tolerate the presence of such a huge army of death in the Divine Planet. I doubt even Death will tolerate your actions. You''re asking me to wage war against the whole worldˇ­" "Yes, I am butˇ­ you don''t have anything to lose, after all, they won''t dare attack the Underworld." Hearing this, Aborak flinched, focused his eerie gaze on Arthur while chuckling "Hohoho it seems you know a few things. While it may be true that I have nothing to lose, I also have nothing to gain." "I told you I''ll give you half of the remaining undead army." "That is still not enough for all the trouble I''ll have to go through. The enemies I''ll make will surely cause trouble in here, one way or another." "Then, what do you want?" "Why don''t you tell me the reason behind this large-scale war?" Aborak dodged Arthur''s question by switching the topic, choosing to know about the whole matter before giving a definitive answer. "I just want to get my wife back." "And I presume she''s the woman who was with you last time? If you only care about getting her back, there are many easier solutionsˇ­a war is a bit too extreme." "Unless you get rid of the root of the problem, it''ll last forever."-Arthur After that, the Lich King spent a while thoroughly thinking about everything while taking into consideration the pros and cons of Arthur''s offer. ˇ­ The very next day, the Lich King of the Underworld left his castle and headed to Astria along with Arthur. No one but his closest confidants knew about his abrupt departure. "You better manage things properly when I leave." A middle-aged man caressed a large creature''s head. Upon a closer look, this creature had an enormous body and a purple skin, it was none other than the legendary Void Behemoth, a mysterious and extremely powerful that is constantly hibernating in the Underworld, never interfering with the conflicts and silently watching from the sidelines. Everything that happened between Aborak and Arthur was seen by the middle-aged man, who was interested in Arthur, or more precisely, something inside of him. He stared at an illusory image which showed a grey-haired man opening a Spatial Tunnel and getting ready to enter it along with the Lich King. The middle-aged man was able to see through everything so his gaze was focused on an almost non-existent violet light leaking out of Arthur''s consciousness. "It''s almost satiatedˇ­ its reaction will occur soon enough." ****** As he came faced the sea of undead, Lich King Aborak was left speechless. He expected to see an army of normal skeletons but the countless bone dragons ruling the sky and the innumerable kinds of Undead roaming the desolate land left him flabbergasted. The whole Itas Continent was overflowed with Undead, furthermore, more than a thousand ghost ships were on the Western coast of the continent, each one filled with Death Knights and Bone Demons. To facilitate his control over the army of the dead, Arthur summoned to Lesser Lich Kings that will loyally follow Aborak''s orders. As the Lich King began his job and emitted an archaic power that enveloped all of Astria, Arthur secluded himself in an underground cave and started readying himself. Ever since he woke up from that long and vivid dream, there have been many changes that occurred to some of his powers. The first, most noticeable thing is Dark Magic, which drastically changed, becoming more easily accessible. Perhaps witnessing Leiu''s use of Darkness affected Arthur''s Dark Magic, slightly changing its effects. Thanks to spending a couple of years with The Nameless Knight, Arthur gained a skill the moment he woke up. [Deceptive Of Darkness] is an area of effect skill that can only be used by Dark Magic-users. It basically festers everything around him with Dark Magic, corrupting every obstacle and sucking the energy of the environment. What''s fascinating about this skill is that it replenishes a third of his Mental Power in an instant. He also got a title called ''Brotherhood'' which boosts his stats by 20% if he fights with either Wolfram or Leiu. Another pleasant change was a decent increase in his stats, which were further boosted when he possessed the lifeless Divine Beast that Radolf brought from another world. He obtained [Dragon Breath], [Divine Dragon Breath] and the most helpful skill for a humanoid body was a movement skill called [Azure Step] which not only creates copies of himself to fool the enemy but it also grants him a significant increase to his movement speed and evasion. The last piece of Arthur''s plan is the divine body of a leader Black Turtle. With four leader Divine Bodies in his possession, along with his knowledge about formations, he''ll create an unstoppable force that''ll act as a vanguard for the undead army. Of course, the Elemental Wheel formation will be used to facilitate the flow of energies between the soon-to-be revived Divine Beasts. 4 Divine Beasts, 2 Mythical Creatures, 400,000,000 Undead, 3 Lich Kings and last not but least, a plethora of Mini-Nuclear Bombs, that is what Arthur intends to use against the White Specter Clan. **** Information about the Undead Army: (ARK CALCULATION) 18,501 Bone Dragons (Peak Deity Realm-3rd Grade Immortal Realm) 85,997 Death Knights (Peak Deity Realm) 5,167 Bone Demons (1st Grade Immortal Realm-1st Grade Divine Realm) 13,652 Skeleton Lords (Peak Deity Realm) 500 Zombie Kings (Peak Immortal Realm) 350,458,920 Skeletons (Spirit Realm) 2,818,141 Blood Skeletons (Peak Spirit Realm-Peak Deity Realm) 1,007,972 Wraiths (Mortal Realm) 2 Lesser Lich King (Peak Divine Realm) 1 Lich King [Commander] (Peak God Realm) Radolf (No Cultivation) (Mythical Creature (Death) Midolf (No Cultivation (Mythical Creature (Life) 150,000 Zombies enhanced by miniature Elemental Wheels (Peak Immortal Realm) 4 Divine Beasts enhanced by a formationˇ­ Estimated strength: (Overgod Realm) Quad-Spirit (Fire, Death, Dark, Earth) (God Monarch Realm) Arthur MoonStar (Realm: 1-Star God Monarch) Chapter 478 - 427 : Cowards On top of a lonely mountain peak, a middle-aged man descended from the sky, landing a distance away from a black-haired girl who was crazily swinging her sword around. This girl was Jian Si, soon-to-be the leader of the Mountain Ba Sword sect. As for the man, he was the current Patriarch and he was the only one who was on good terms with Cold Sword. "Jian Si, get ready, the king summoned us both." His tone was light and friendly, he didn''t behave like a Patriarch but more like a friend. Jian Si heard him but kept swinging the sword, not bothering to give a reply. After a few minutes of watching her repeat the same thing, the man sighed and said: "Look, I know you hate the royal family but the current king is different and his unexpected summon is worrying me." "Hmpf! If he needs to talk to us, why doesn''t he personally come? We''re not his subjects!" None of the sects and clans of Green-Leaf world are publicly obeying the royal family, however, many were brought under Isadore''s wing after he promised them many benefits. The Mountain Ba Sword was one of the exceptions as not only was it strong enough to stand on its own, it is situated outside of the capital so the king''s influence can''t reach it that easily. "We''re not obligated to go but it seems to be an important matter." The man paused for a second before adding: "Wrath was sent here to personally escort us." The red sword in the girl''s hand came to a sudden halt, she turned her head toward the man and staring at him for some time before sheathing her sword. The two didn''t linger there any longer, they went to the sect''s entrance where Wrath was patiently waiting. After a brief greeting between the sect master and Isadore''s personal guard, both the Patriarch and the disciple were led to the royal castle at the center of the capital. The King, Isadore Marfront, was waiting for them in a spacious courtyard. He was leisurely sipping some tea while throwing a couple of curious glance at the mysterious girl brought by the Nameless Knight. Before Leiu left, he entrusted the girl to Isadore, saying that he has to protect her until the time comes. Though, from what Wrath said, the girl doesn''t need protecting as she''s extremely strong and has awakened the bloodline of Fenrir. Her identity is still unknown to the King but he didn''t dare directly ask her anything or try to investigate her background. The last thing he wants is provoking Leiu as it''ll bring doom to all of Green-Leaf. "I see that you have arrived on time, please have a seat." Isadore motioned for the two guests to sit but Jian Si kept looking at him with an unfriendly expression. She didn''t seem too interested in coming here and her attention soon shifted to Saly, who was quietly meditating. "Please excuse my sudden summon but the matter is rather urgent." The King seemed to be talking to Jian Si rather than the Patriarch, who was confused. After a slight pause, Isadore continued: "I believe we have a mutual acquaintance." Though her attention was focused on Saly, Jian Si still heard the young King but gave no reply. "Arthur MoonStar." Only when he uttered that name did Cold Sword have a reaction. Though she tried to hide it, her minuscule change in her expression was noticed by the keen-eyed Isadore. The Patriarch was oblivious to the relationship between Jian Si and Arthur hence his confused expression. He chose to maintain his silence and listen to what the King has to say. "I don''t know your exact relationship with him which is why I summoned you here. I also summoned Patriarch Buera because whatever will happen will affect your sect." Isadore took another sip from his tea before he crossed his arms and started explaining: "As you know, Arthur has a wife, which you also met. She''s the daughter of the Matriarch of the White Specter Clan and not long ago, she was forcefully brought back to her clanˇ­ which is something Arthur did not and will not tolerate." It was the first time Jian Si heard about this so she was really surprised. She never thought that her teacher''s wife, that overbearing silver-haired woman actually belonged to the White Specter Clan. Even without hearing everything, Cold Sword could kind of guess what Arthur will do. She didn''t have that many interactions with him but he sure was a vengeful and stubborn person. Someone who will use any means to achieve what he wants. Back when she wanted to kill him inside the Kang''s family ancient tomb, he managed to shift the situation to his favor and successfully escape with his life. Furthermore, each time they meet, his strength seems to have dramatically increased. Everything about him was strange, from his mysterious dark powers or his ruthless sword skills. The skill he imparted her last time had become her ultimate trump card, something that could even kill Sovereigns. Noticing that the girl was no longer feigning the fact that she didn''t know Arthur, Isadore smiled and resumed talking: "Arthur has already declared war to the White Specter Clan and will soon attack." Feeling overwhelmed by all the new information he was hearing, Buera, asked: "He declared war on them? Does he have some sort of a special background?" Isadore shook his head and replied: "Not at all, he originates from a low-Realm." "Then isn''t his declaration of war merely a joke? How can he expect to attack the White Specter if he has no one to help him? We''re not talking about a normal sect but one of the top ten in the Cloud Sea Universe." "Wellˇ­ soon, you''ll see how and with what he plans to attack. Plus, I didn''t summon you here to discuss that but another matter." "What do you want?"-Jian Si "Hahahaha It''s not what I want but what you can do." For the first time since they came, Isadore switched his gaze from Jian Si to the Patriarch. "This war will change everything, it''ll be a great change, however it may beˇ­ and seeing your sect is somewhat acquainted with Arthur, I believe this will be a great opportunity for your sect, and my kingdom, to rise to great heights." Buera waved his hand while massaging his temples, trying to process the king''s words. "Wait waitˇ­ are you asking us to help that Arthur?" "It''s simply an offer, you''re not obligated to do as I say."-Isadore Buera let out a sigh, got up and said: "Then we refuse your offer. Whatever the outcome of the war, it''ll not affect us. If it''s as you say, it''s not a battle for us and the enemy is the White Specter Clan, judging from what I have heard about the Matriarch, that Arthur or whatever won''t stand a chance even if he brings exceptional individuals." Buera turned around to leave and Jian Si remained silent, choosing not to voice out her opinion and obediently accept the Patriarch''s decision. As they were making their way out of the courtyard, Jian Si heard a small, almost unnoticeable voice. "Cowards." She abruptly turned around only to see the little girl from earlier glaring at her. Despite her appearance, her glistening sky-blue eyes brought with it an invisible pressure that weighed down on the frowning Cold Sword. ********* Arthur knelt before a well-decorated tomb, his eye closed and his aura eerily contained. He remained in that position for a very long time, not saying or doing anything. He only stood up when a tall and muscular figure appeared behind him. "Why are you here wasting time? Shouldn''t you be preparing for the war?" A smiling Jackob patted Arthur''s back while saying. In response, Arthur gave him a wry and forced smile while saying "This is the least I can do." "Come on, man! It''s not your fault. You were busy dealing with many serious problems, we cannot expect you to be here every time something happens." Arthur didn''t give a reply, he reciprocated Jackob''s actions and patted the muscular man on his shoulders before leaving him alone, fully aware that behind that smile is a lot of sorrow and grief. They haven''t been married for long but Anastassia disappeared, leaving a healthy Ragnar behind. Instead of looking for his missing wife, Jackob steeled his heart and took care of the sect and his son. ˇ­ Arthur held a cute baby in his arms, grimacing at the laughing newborn and playing with him. This was Ragnar, Jackob''s son, a healthy boy. As he gazed at the innocent baby face, Arthur''s whispered: "Don''t worry, your uncle will find your mommy, it''s a promise." "Oh! You''re here!" A mature woman wearing glasses and a gorgeous black dress entered the room and walked toward Arthur. A black-haired and grumpy looking youngster was following the woman. They were Robin and Rey, the kid who empowered by Arthur using Dark Magic. As his gaze landed on Rey, Arthur nodded his head, satisfied with the progress the boy made. As for Robin, she didn''t seem too different, just more responsible and less emotional. "Rey, take Ragnar and go play with him outside." The youngster didn''t dare disobey the strict-looking Robin, he took the baby from Arthur''s hand and swiftly left the room. This only left her with Arthur, who was confused by her actions. Her gaze contained accumulated anger and rage for some reason. Then, out of nowhere, a hand came flying at him, violently slapping his cheek, causing a crisp sound to reverberate across the empty room. Even Rey, who just left the room could hear it but he didn''t try eavesdrop and merely brought Ragnar elsewhere. Though he could have dodged her slap, Arthur chose to accept it, thinking that there must be a good reason behind her actions. Seeing his confused expression, Robin''s was further incensed. "You really don''t realize what you have done?!" ''SLAP!'' She ruthlessly slapped his other cheek, not caring about his feelings. "You''re so focused on your wife that you ignore everything else! Do you never think about the consequences of your actions? Do you not care about those around you? Have you ever asked yourself about the reason all of this happened?!" ''SLAP!'' She kept slapping him while slowly pushing his body, not even restraining her strength. Arthur only reacted after getting dozens of slaps, he stretched his hand and stopped Robin''s incoming hands. "Just what have I done to infuriate you this much?" Robin violently freed her wrist from his hand while letting out a crazed laugh "What you have done? I don''t even know where to start!" Her reddened face and heavy breathing clearly showed how angry she was. After taking a deep breath, she stared at him with a piercing glare while saying "Do you know that Anastassia''s disappearance is your fault? The millions that died on Itas Continent? Your fault. You''re so busy thinking about your shitty war that you forgot to ask about your missing daughter! Where was she last seen? Is she alive? How can you be so obsessed with your wife and forget about your friends and family?" Chapter 479 - 428 : Revival? "So, what do you expect me to do?" Arthur was still unfazed by Robin''s outburst, he stared back at her, his face deadpan and his tone emotionless. Robin, still hyperventilating, spat on the ground and left after saying a few last words "You truly disgust meˇ­ you can''t even admit your mistakes." She stormed out of the room, leaving a motionless and absent-minded Arthur. A while later, another person entered the room and threw a couple of glances at Arthur before sitting at the corner while saying "You can''t blame her for that, a lot of things happened and were it not for Anastassia, everyone would have died." Taliya wasn''t like Robin but she didn''t really agree with Arthur''s way of doing things. "It''s not that everything you''ve done is wrong but it''s the way you did it." "For me, it doesn''t matter what happens as long as I can protect my family."-Arthur "Really? Because the way I, no, we see it, you''re putting your family in danger instead of protecting it." Arthur shook his head while retorting "You won''t understand." The demon crossed her arms and said back: "I don''t need to understand to know if it''s right or wrong." She paused for a second before adding: "Last time, before you went to Green-Leaf with Lucy, Anastassia clearly warned you about the evil race invading the Eastern Continent but you haven''t even tried to investigate the matter. In the end, not only did they burn half of the World Tree, more than 70% of the population of the Itas Continent died. In fact, Jackob and Sonia died." Hearing this, Arthur was surprised, he raised his head and looked at the head maid. "What? They died?" "Yes. We don''t know how but Anastassia managed to bring them back to life then disappeared." As he listened to Taliya, Arthur redirected his questions to Claud, who also heard everything. ''Is it even possible to revive people?'' ''Impossible, only one entity can do that but it''s a bit far-fetched to think he helped Anastassia.''-Claud ''Then how did they come back to life?'' '' I don''t know.'' ***** "Reviving people?" "Yes." Arthur was facing the Lich King, waiting for the latter to give him the much-needed answers. Aborak thought for a moment before explaining: "Nothing or no one can revive a person, even Death itself. However, if their souls are kept within their bodies right after they died, then it is still possible to ''revive'' them but that''s a feat only Death could do." The Lich King studied Arthur''s expression then glanced at the sea of undead behind them before stating: "This quantity of undead in such a small world definitely alerted Death so it won''t be surprising if it had come here to get rid of all the undead as the presence of such an army is enough to kill everyone on Astria within a few days. From the looks of it, not only did it not get rid of the undead, it also contained their deathly aura." Arthur nodded his head and asked another question: "Any reason for such an ancient entity to help me?" Aborak spent a long time thinking about everything Arthur told him then came out with a speculation: "You said that a woman was responsible for summoning the undead daily, right?" "Yes, I provided her with a pendant capable of bringing undead to this world." "If that''s the case then the continuous use of the pendant probably affected that woman, corrupting her Dantian and slowly turning her into a creature of death, much like that double-headed lizard which follows you around. Some time ago, I''ve heard rumors about Death seeking a successor but they were never confirmed. I''m not sure but perhaps that woman struck a deal with Death hence the revival of the people you spoke of and the restraint put on the army so it won''t affect Astria as a whole." "Struck a deal with Death? Is that even possible?" "Yes, it''s rather common for Death to strike deals with people, however, usually, the deal is unfair to the other party." Aborak stopped talking for a moment, raised his hand, isolating the area around them before whispering with a bone-chilling voice. "You''ve heard of the Nameless Knight, right? A very long time ago, he struck a deal with the previous Death but the latter didn''t abide by the rules. The end was miserable for Death as, after a bitter struggle, he was killed by the knight." "Killed? How can Death be killed? That doesn''t seem right."-Arthur "Anything and anyone can be killed, even Death itself. After all, Death is originally a person who was given the ability to kill anyone, basically, the control over the Death Laws."-Aborak ''Actually, I''ve heard of that too. It happened in the second Era, it was said that The Nameless Knight not only killed Death but obliterated his domain, causing countless trapped souls to escape and wreak havoc in the Omega Universe.''-Claud ***** ''So, aren''t you going to tell me what happened?'' Claud kept insisting as he wanted to know what happened to Arthur after he was killed by the Matriarch. Unfortunately, Arthur refused to tell him anything about Riarravar or the twelve. "Tell me about you, the ARK, and if I''m satisfied, I''ll think about telling you what really happened." No matter how resourceful Claud was, he couldn''t look through Arthur''s memories, which were brought from the past. They seemed to be locked and only accessible by the owner, Arthur. Whatever happened, not only did it change Arthur''s mentality, it greatly strengthened him and made him look more mysterious to the Prophecy Holder. Just as Claud was about to talk again, Arthur suddenly stood up and looked at a ball of bright light which appeared at the center of the room. Without having to ask, Arthur immediately knew who it was. Contrary to last time, the ball of light was smaller and weaker due to the fire that burned half of its body. "I expected you to contact me as soon as I came." Arthur gazed at the ball of light while speaking. Truthfully, he felt a bit guilty about what happened in the Itas Continent but he was unaware of the previous war so he couldn''t rush back here and fix things. "You seemed busier than usual so I waited for the perfect time." The ball of light circled around Arthur before speaking again "You have not forgotten about our oath, right?" "Of course not." "Then I expect you to be here when the Angels strike. I will not blame you for the damage caused by the Cthulhu but the angels are another matter. For me, it doesn''t matter if your family is in danger or you''re dying, when the time comes, you must be here to protect me." "I know, a deal is a deal and-" Before he could continue, the World Tree interrupted him by stating "No, it''s not a deal but an oath and let me tell you, the consequences of breaking an oath are not something you can handle. You were given power in exchange for protecting me and just like that ominous oath with your blade, ours is equally important." ****** A tall woman appeared at the entrance of the White Specter Clan, she inspected the thick white gates then violently banged her fist on them, causing the whole place to shake. Two panicking guards soon appeared and pointed their weapons at the woman, who crossed her arms and glared at them. "Call your Matriarch." A suffocating and overwhelming aura emanated from the woman, who didn''t seem to be afraid of the incoming guards or the punishment she''ll receive for acting so arrogantly at the entrance of such a strong clan. As they felt her aura and were unable to even move their weapons, the guards slowly backed out and planned to call for reinforcements only for a middle-aged man to appeared a distance away from the woman. It hasn''t been long since he broke through and became an Overgod but he still felt pressured by the woman. Unlike the inexperienced guards, this man immediately recognized the domineering woman. He signaled for the guards to put their weapons then bowed his head toward the woman while saying: "Miss Losha, what brings you to our humble clan?" He was Lucy''s uncle and Katrina''s brother, Benson Album Larva. Very few people didn''t know about Losha in the Divine Planet, however, not many knew her appearance as she rarely appears in public. Nevertheless, her past accomplishment and her heaven-defying talent made her rising star, furthermore, she was an unbeatable person, never losing, even again Overgods. "Oh? At least a decent person showed up. I''m here for Lucy, bring me to her." She was going to call for Katrina as she was the master of the clan but since a higher-up like Benson appeared, calling for the Matriarch was no longer necessary. Benson forced a smile and gave a polite reply "I wonder what relationship does Miss Losha has with my dear niece?" "She''s my direct disciple so stop dawdling and lead the way." Her snappy attitude and short-temper made her rather infamous but this red-haired woman had the strength to back her arrogance. Coupled with unquestionable strength, her blacksmithing skills are top-notch so many powerful factions seek her help which is why almost no one dares to provoke her or get on her bad side. Benson hesitated for a moment but still led her inside the clan while trying to think of a way to get rid of her. Lucy was currently inside Katrina''s residence which is a forbidden place so even if he wants to, he can''t lead Losha to meet her disciple. Fortunately, after walking a few steps, a graceful figure landed next to Benson and faced the reincarnator. The person who just appeared didn''t hold back their aura and unleashed toward Losha, who fought back, causing cracks to appear on the ground and the winds to whistle loudly. Katrina sensed Losha''s arrival but didn''t pay her much attention, only when she saw her attitude and heard her reason for coming here did she personally show herself. Surprisingly, even though she''s an Exalted God, Katrina felt threatened by Losha, who''s a God Monarch. This reminded her of Arthur but this red-haired woman was much more dangerous. Moreover, she had one of the Divine Swords, further elevating her threat-level. "Please excuse our shallow welcome, Miss Losha." Katrina softly smiled at Losha while retracting her aura. "Hmpf! Enough chitchat! Take me to my disciple." The Matriarch didn''t mind her arrogant attitude, she signaled for Benson to leave before she floated in the air while Losha followed right behind her. Chapter 480 - 429 : Ready It didn''t take long for Katrina to guide Losha to where Lucy was staying. After she took the master to meet her disciple, the Matriarch left, leaving the two alone. Instead of immediately striking a conversation, Losha kept gazing at Lucy, more precisely at her sky-blue pupil. She noticed the change that occurred to her eye, which seemed to be very special and profound. "That''s a dangerous eye you''ve got." Losha chuckled while sitting opposite of Lucy, who performed a bow to show her respect. Though they''re no longer master and disciple, that doesn''t change the fact that the woman before her did train her and impart her with powerful abilities. "It''s a gift from Arthur." "You better use it wisely, it''s not something that should be used openly." Lucy agreed with Losha and nodded her head. After a short bout of silence, Losha spoke again: "You seem very calm so you must know about your husband''s plans?" "I can more or less guess what he''s up to." As she saw her disciple''s calm reply and expressionless face, Losha couldn''t help but ask. "Aren''t you worried?" "Why should I? I''m sure he''ll succeed in coming here and demolish this whole place." "Is that what you really want?" "It was never about what I want but what they''re forcing me to do." ********** "Sometimes, when I look at this army, I don''t regret accepting your offer." Aborak let out sigh as he gazed at the sea of motionless undead dominating the Itas Continent. Almost four hundred million undead, all ready to battleˇ­ just the sight of them made the Lich King feel confident despite knowing the fact that the enemy was none other than the White Specter Clan. Furthermore, it is for certain that a lot of more powers will ally with the specters to get rid of the dead army. Most if not all people view death as something corrupted or evil, something that shouldn''t be exist. From their point of view, undead are nothing but abominations that should be erased from existence. "You''re not having cold feet, right?" Arthur, who was standing next to the Lich King, smirked at uttered those words, fully aware of the answer he''s going to hear. "Why should I? Like you said, I''ve nothing to lose and there''s no way anyone of them can kill me, not even the Matriarch herself." Unlike normal undead, the Lich King Aborak has a soul though it''s different from normal souls and as long as it''s intact, it is practically impossible to kill him. The commander of the army glanced at Arthur and asked; "So, when are you planning to start marching toward the Divine Planet?" "An important piece is missing, once I acquire it, we''ll be ready for whatever comes at us." "Oh? And what is this ''important piece''?" "A corpse of a leader Black Turtle." Aborak pondered for a few moments before saying: "I don''t think it''ll be that easy to find it. Most of the corpses of leader Divine Beasts are safely kept by the strong sects." Arthur shrugged his shoulders while speaking: "If I can''t find it within two weeks then I''ll have to replace it with something else." Unfortunately, he has no leads and roaming the whole universe in search for the corpse is a waste of time and energy. Apart from the black turtle, he already got his hands on the other three, and the presence of the last one is crucial for the success of this war. After all, he wasn''t confident enough in facing the Matriarch, however, the four Divine Beasts can certainly contend against her, especially if they''re boosted by a strong formation. Not only will they face his strongest opponent, they''ll be the backbone of the army, protecting it from all four sides. ˇ­ A week later, Arthur managed to get his hands on the body of the Black Turtle after a lot of effort. It was only through a fluke did he manage to acquire such a priceless corpse. It all started from a meeting with a wandering Minstrel that originated from the Bard Realm. Despite Arthur''s cold attitude, he was still able to become a friend with that Minstrel and after a short yet exciting adventure, the two managed to achieve their goals. **** "What are you doing here?" Arthur, still feeling weakened and barely able to move, questioned the silver dragon standing before him. "Caretaker, I still have not completed my duty." Arthur frowned and asked again "Your duty was to fool the past me and that''s it. You are not to appear before the old me anytime s-" He stopped talking mid-way as he noticed something different about Yamak. "Youˇ­ you''re not the same one I left a while agoˇ­" "That is correct." Arthur gazed at Yamak for some time before letting out a sigh and saying: "Anyway, why exactly did you save me? I''ve completed all the tasks and it''s time for me to go." "Caretaker, thy future is unclear yet there is no denying that thy time has not come yet. Before thou rush to the end, let us finish an old feud." With creased brows and tilted head, Arthur looked at the dragon with confusion "Old feud?" "Thou hast been preoccupied with fixing the past and forgot about a certain individual. Soon, he''ll strike again and I think it''s time to end it once and for all." "ˇ­" "I am talking about ''X''. When the war begins, he''ll want to acquire thy orb no matter the means and it falls on us to stop him." Arthur thought for a moment before saying "Even if we interfere and try to kill him, it won''t change anything since I remember meeting him after the war." ****** "Hey, uncle! Spar with me!" Saly clung onto Wrath''s legs, wanting him to ''spar'' with her again. The middle-aged man tried to leave the room while dragging his heavy leg on which Saly was clinging like a monkey. "Ugh! Leave me alone already!" "Please! Just one more time! Come on!" The little girl actually became good friends with one of the seven deadly sins. At first, he sparred with her out of boredom but she was actually a battle freak. Her attacks are not only deadly but are also aimed at his vitalsˇ­ sadly, she didn''t know the meaning of a friendly spar. Were he not a bit strong, he would''ve already been killed by her. Being a unique entity that lived for a very long time, Wrath doesn''t have a cultivation and his strength is always constant so he couldn''t gauge her strength but he knew for sure that she was a heaven-defying genius, furthermore, she was a Fenrir! Nevertheless, he had trouble ''sparring'' with her without being a little serious. The problem was that he didn''t want to hurt her since she''s a friend of Leiu so every time they spar, he becomes a literal sandbag. "I''m sleepy! Let go of me and go bother Dan instead!" "No no no I want you to fight me! Fite meeeeeeee *bite*" "Arghhhhhhhhh!" In the end, she ended up biting his thigh, causing him to shriek like a wounded beast. He angrily glared at her only for her to reciprocate with a playful smile while snickering at him. ******* "Everything is finally ready." Aborak gazed at the sleeping army of undead while waiting for Arthur to finish setting up the formation. Thanks to the ARK''s help and Arthur''s knowledge about formations, he managed to create a support formation which will lay the foundation for the whole army as well as the four soon-to-be-revived Divine Beast leaders. The army was outrageously big but the Itas Continent could still fit 400 million undead, more or less. "As long as the formation is active, your stats will be decreased by 15%."-Claud "It''s definitely worth it so I don''t care." Arthur burned the final piece of material using his Alchemy fire then he put his hands on the corrupted ground and started activating the newly built formation which enveloped the whole army, focusing specifically on the North, East, West, and South. Bright and blinding lights rose from the ground and pierced the skies, causing a multi-colored whirlpool to replace the clustered clouds high-up in the air. All that is left is to awaken the beasts so, with the help of his Quad-Spirit''s death abilities, Arthur quickly got to work. He floated at the center of the army and raised his arms in the air, closed his eye and unleashed an absurd amount of Nether Energy, emptying his outrageous pool within a few seconds! The lifeless bodies of the four divine beasts, which were in position, were hit by the outburst of Nether Energy released by Arthur. A violent earthquake hit the Eastern Continent then spread to all corners of Astria, quietening down only after one full minute passed. "Now this is a sight to behold, heheehehe" Aborak, who was watching from the sidelines, chuckled with a soul-shaking voice and enjoyed the fireworks spectacle. Slowly but surely, the bodies of the four divine beasts started shaking then rising in the air, each body emitting a different color. The Black Turtle was enveloped by a green, semi-transparent barrier, the Vermillion Bird bathed in a sea of orange flames which emanated a suffocating heat. A golden cocoon enveloped the White Tiger and a majestic, overbearing aura circled around the roaring Azure Dragon. The heavy tremor came to a sudden halt when all four Divine Beasts opened their eyes and roared simultaneously, excited to be revived and ready to battle. Not only did the formation set by Arthur strengthen them, but it also replenished any energy they might lose and slightly increased their Health Recovery. The last piece of this unstoppable army was a ginormous Elemental Wheel which encompassed the whole land the undead were standing on. The black arrow which was constantly rotating suddenly stopped at a grayish color, which caused the wheel to release an abundant amount of decaying aura that strongly resembled a fog. This ''fog'' covered the whole Itas continent blocking anyone''s view and, at last, awakening this sleeping ''beast'' from its eternal sleep. All at once, the undead felt the surging death energy and reacted to it with enthusiasm. The wraiths screeched, the skeletons banged their bony feet on the ground and the bone dragons flapped their wings and rose to the sky, rotating around Arthur in an orderly manner. Arthur opened his only eye and gazed at the fog and the four bright light, each coming from a specific direction. He knew that everything went according to plan and it''s finally time to take the first step and start marching toward the White Specter Clan. Without a doubt, there''ll be many who''ll try to stop him, however, their end will be the same as they''ll be turned into dust by this unstoppable force that he created. Due to overworking himself, Arthur couldn''t help but spit some blood but it was nothing serious, he''ll recover in no time. "As a commander, I''ll lead the way." Using a strange artifact in his possession, Aborak teleported the whole army, including Arthur, to a quiet forest located in the Green-Leaf World. Arthur was familiar with this terrain and they could head directly from Green-Leaf to the Bard Realm, furthermore, Isadore will most likely not block his way so it is by far the best way to start from. So, with the Lich King at the front, commanding the millions of undead, and Arthur at the center, the army finally started walking. Two Mythical Beasts could be seen following Arthur, one was a double-headed red lizard and the other was a white roc that had extremely lengthy wings. The land was dominated by orderly skeletons, bone demons, zombies lords and so on, while the sky was ruled by the thousands of Bone Dragon, undead ships and most importantly, the four Divine Beasts, which stood at their initial position, ready to start battling at any time. Chapter 481 - 430 : Death vs Light 1 In less than a day, the news about the army of death reached the ears of every person in Green-Leaf, however, it didn''t stop there. The unstoppable moving force which encompassed hundreds of millions of moving corpses grabbed the attention of several powerful factions, including the Holy Dominion. What was especially eye-catching was the sight of the Lich King Aborak, the two mythical beings and the four Divine Beats guarding each direction of the army. Surprisingly, Isadore Marfront, King of Green-Leaf, didn''t deploy any forces to stop or resist the incoming army, which was clearly heading toward the capital. In fact, he remained unusually silent, neither comforting his subjects or doing any public statement. Though the army was incredibly huge, its marching speed was fairly moderate. The Bone Dragons already started circling around the capital, freaking out its citizens, who persistently tried to convince the king to make a move as they were afraid of the incoming doom. One more strange thing is that almost all of the sects residing inside the capital took the same stance as the king as if they were previously notified about this huge event. The sole exception was the Five Phoenix Kingdom, which actually sent its top experts to try and stop the moving army. The newly appointed Patriarch of the Five Phoenix Kingdom heard the reports talking about a grey-haired man at the center of the army. He was protected by the two mythical beings and didn''t personally make a move yet. Though there was a lot of objection, most of the powerful individuals of the sect still sided with the young Patriarch, choosing to believe in him and try to exact revenge on Arthur, who killed the last Patriarch a while ago. Unfortunately for the Flame Crown Prince, there were another factions there rose to power inside his sect a while ago. Its leader, none other than Elo Huo, the prince''s cousin. He was firmly opposed to facing Arthur''s army so he gathered his troops and successfully raided the HQ of the Five Phoenix Kingdom, taking control of it while the experts were outside the city, preparing to face the undead. Many people witnessed the short, one-sided fight that occurred a few miles away from the capital. More than thirty experts of the Five Phoenix Kingdom, including an old ancestor, were slaughtered within seconds. The Undead didn''t even have to make a move as the Divine Beast guarding the North of the Army was able to dispose of all the enemies with one simple attack. The Black Tortoise of the North easily subjugated the enemies and trapped them in illusion then spent a few seconds personally taking care of the old ancestor. What was more astonishing, however, is that Arthur, who was at the center of the army, appeared before the corpses of the fallen experts and actually revived them! Even the old ancestor, who was a half-Overgod was brought back to life as an undead. Though it consumed a lot of his Mental Power and he required the help of his Quad-Spirit, Arthur''s attempt was still successful and the new soldiers he just got were a considerable boost to his army''s power. Though the revived ancestor wasn''t as strong as when he was alive, he was still able to fight Peak Sovereigns, which made him a valuable soldier. Many sects, clans, and citizens spectated this fight and were absolutely terrified of this army, which was a small distance away from their home. Contrary to everyone''s expectation, the army of death didn''t siege the city or do anything, it just started floating in the air, heading directly toward the humongous portal West of the capital. **** Standing at the top of the Royal Castle, Isadore gazed at the enormous shadow of the floating army, unconsciously swallowing some saliva. "It seems the army''s aura is containedˇ­ that''s a relief." Wrath, who was standing behind the king, commented while letting out a sigh. He wasn''t someone easily amazed yet even his soul was shaken by the sight of this great army. Whether it is the white roc which shook the city with its shriek or the ominous-looking double-headed red lizard which was silently following Arthur. "It seems my doubts were for nothing. If it''s this army, I''m sure it''ll cause quite the impact on the Divine Planet." Isadore chuckled and glanced at the white-haired Saly, who was also speechless when she saw the army and especially her father. "Aren''t you going to join him now?" She shook her head, eyes still glued on her father, and replied: "Uncle said not to interfere until the time is right." The young king pondered for a moment before he turned around and faced Christopher, his childhood friend and one of most his trusted confidants. "It''s almost time, start preparing." The fat minister wriggled his body while trying to stop his body from shaking and hesitantly replied: "Y-your Majesty, a,are you sure this is the right decision?" In response, Isadore smiled and added: "Of course it is. We have common enemies and despite our different goals, joining hands can only benefit both of us." Then he swiftly left the room, seemingly ready to set his plans into motion. **** It took Arthur''s army exactly two days to arrive at the capital of Green-Leaf and use the portal to transport the whole army. Furthermore, it''ll take quite a while to teleport all the undead from Green Leaf to the Bard Realm. In the meantime, these shocking news reached the ears of many powers but only a few started mobilizing forces to stop this army. It''s not like they had anything against Arthur but they simply cannot tolerate the existence of such an evil army. One has to know that the aura of this army, if it''s not contained, can kill a whole city without having to attack a single person. A faction like the Holy Dominion, for example, despises anything related to Darkness and Death and considers corrupted or ''Unholy'' so it came at no surprise when it was the first party to act. After a brief public statement, a sizable army composed of Holy Knights were dispatched to the Bard Realm, fully ready to meet the undead army. Unfortunately, the reports they received from other parties and spies were not that accurate so the number of Holy Knights wasn''t nearly enough to stop such a malevolent force. The army of the Holy Dominion had more than 500 Holy Knights, two Commanders, and Three Cardinals. Five Overgods were sent to get rid of this unusual enemy, plus, they were going to ambush Arthur as soon as he appears. Clearly, he was the leader of the army so he was their primary target. From their perspective, if he falls then the army would be like a headless chicken. Sadly, they didn''t take into account Aborak''s role and the four Divine Beast, which remained oddly silent and unresponsive. ****** "How accurate are the reports?" Katrina was reading some documents while questioning her little brother, Benson. Unlike her, he didn''t know that Arthur was leading that army toward the White Specter Clan so he was confused as to why his big sister, the Matriarch, was interested in this matter. After all, the Divine Planet was vast and it is still not confirmed yet that the army''s destination is this place. "They''re accurate, alright." He paused for a slight second before asking "But sister, why are yo-" She cut him off mid-sentence and coldly said "Stop asking questions and start preparing. We need to stop that army." Benson frowned and asked again "Why? It''ll be a huge waste of resources. It doesn''t concern us so why try to stop it? Furthermore, the Holy Dominion already sent a strong force to annihilate the undead." "Hmpf! Do you think I don''t know? Sooner or later, the Holy Knights will perish. We have to prepare for the worst!" She didn''t even let him talk again as she vanished from his sight. **** Inside a well-decorated room which was equipped with everything a cultivator wants, Lucy sat cross-legged, her eyes closed and her aura contained. She was still unaware of what''s happening on the outside but she knew that Arthur will come for her. Her meditation was cut short as a figure knocked on the sliding door a few times before entering the room. It was none other than her mother, Katrina. Lucy opened her eyes, gazing at her mother, whose expression was different than usual. Lucy''s eye shone with a blue luster as it focused on her mother''s face. A crooked smile appeared on the daughter''s face as she snickered and said: "Panicking, are we?" "Do you realize what you have done?" Still smiling, Lucy stared back at her mother and retorted "I''ve done nothing to be ashamed of." Katrina massaged her temples and let out a sigh before talking again; "Look, I was like you in the past, helplessly in love with a man, however, there are things that are not meant to be in this world. If he was a human, I wouldn''t have been against your relationship with him but he''s a parasite! An abomination that is only meant to ruin this world and its people." Lucy scoffed at her mother and said: "Don''t kid yourself, regardless of his Race, you would have acted the same. Love was never about race, age, or background and if we have to kill thousands to be together then so be it!" Katrina shook her head while lamenting: "Ah! Eva, why must you act like this." Lucy only got more triggered after hearing her mother call her by ''that'' name. While clicking her tongue, she said with a bone-chilling voice "I told you my name is Lucy!" Her eye shone with blinding blue light which alarmed Katrina. Unfortunately, by the time she reacted, a strange grey and white flame already struck her chest. Due to the big difference in cultivation, the flame wasn''t able to kill her but it still managed to burn her clothes and push her back a few times. What''s strange is that she wasn''t even able to see her daughter move, much less cast that flame. What she was unaware of is that Lucy''s eye allowed to her to momentarily stop time but the cost was too high as she wasn''t used to her new ability yet. Nevertheless, she still managed to land a blow on her own mother and was planning to attack again. Before Lucy could initiate the second attack, she was struck by an overwhelming aura that immobilized her, rendering her unable to open her mouth or lift finger. Katrina stared at her daughter with a gaze that contained many emotions, she walked close to the latter and took a close look at her face. She attempted to caress her cheek but Lucy''s glare made her halt her actions and retract her hand. In the end, the Matriarch let out a helpless sigh and said: "You''ll stay here until the matter outside has been taken care of." She turned around and left right after, though she didn''t forget to isolate this place, making anyone or anything unable to enter or leave this private residence. Chapter 482 - 431 : Death vs Light 2 The gate that transported the undead from Green-Leaf to the Bard Realm wasn''t big enough to teleport the whole army at once, nevertheless, it was able to teleport a few millions every few seconds. Aborak accompanied the first bulk and appeared in the Bard Realm only to witness an organized army composed of Righteous Holy Knights. Five differently clothes figures stood at the front of the army, each and every one of them emitted a powerful and unique aura. The Lich King wasn''t the least bit fazed by this sight, he banged his dusty staff on the ground, causing all the present undead to unsheathe their weapons and bang their foot on the ground, ready to finally start fighting. There was only ten million undead, more or less, however, every dozen of seconds, the gate behind the Lich King would flash with a blinding light and another batch of undead appears. One of the three Cardinals glanced at the excited army before focusing his gaze on the eerie Lich King. "This is not a place for you to do as you please. Let us not resort to bloodshed and end this peacefully." Unfortunately, Aborak turned a deaf ear to the Cardinal. The commander of the undead army pointed his staff at the army of knights before them and released a loud and chilling screech. Like a pack of hungry wolves, all the undead ran toward the Holy Knights. Although there were only five hundred or so Holy Knights, their individual strength was extraordinary. Sadly, they greatly underestimated the number of undead as the normal skeletons would descend on the knights and cling onto their limbs, bounding them while their comrades finished the job. It was a horrific sight as even these god-like knights weren''t able to defend against ten million skeletons. Furthermore, with each passing second, the number of undead drastically increased. Within a minute, a third of the Holy Knights were killed, as for the undead, one million were turned into ash. However, what was more astonishing is that Aborak would re-summon those falling undead in a split second. The five leaders of the holy knights finally decided to make a move and personally target the Lich King. Three Cardinals joined hands to execute a powerful light attack while the two commanders of the Holy Order raised their swords and flew at the undead leader. Five Overgods, experts in their own fields and experienced fighters launched a joint attack. Were Aborak alone amidst this army, he surely wouldn''t have been able to resist but the truth was completely different. The Cardinals'' attack was faster than the commanders'' as a blinding arrow of light flew at Aborak, obliterating anything in its way and even purifying the nearby undead just by its aura. When it was about to clash with the motionless Lich King, who showed no signs of resisting, a golden enveloped him and easily stopped the strengthened Holy Arrow. In the end, the arrow wasn''t able to penetrate through the barrier so it dispersed into countless specks of lights. The two commanders, who had incredible speed and were clad in golden armors were stopped in their track by a gigantic entity. It stood proudly and majestically before the two Overgods, its abyss-like eyes locked onto them and its mouth wide open, showing its long and terrifying fangs. It was none other than the White Tiger, the Divine Beast that specializes in speed and offense. However, it wasn''t just the White Tiger, just next to the flashing gate was an enormous Black Turtle that quietly floated in the air while supporting the Lich King and defended the army from dangerous attacks. Using its Gravity Magic, the turtle caused the two commanders to plummet downwards and this opportunity was grasped by the White Tiger which appeared before the commanders and slashed with its claws. The two Overgods weren''t newbies, they raised their shields and successfully blocked the strike but they didn''t expect the tiger to spit some lethal acid at them. They managed to block most of the incoming acid by conjuring a Holy Barrier but such a measure lasted for a few seconds before it crumbled like glass. The two commanders didn''t retreat as that would make the Divine Beast attack the army of Holy Knights. Such a decision was definitely foolish as the Tiger suddenly disappeared from their sight and by the next second, one of them was sent flying toward the Black Turtle. The other commander wanted to save his comrade but the large figure which blocked his sight while angrily growling caused him to abandon such thoughts and focus on the opponent before him. The commander who was sent flying toward the turtle met his end merely seconds later. He was trapped in an illusion which he was unable to break from. In the end, he was killed by fifty Bone Dragons which relentlessly attacked him from all sides. Normally, an Overgod can''t be killed this easily but this commander was trapped in an illusion, his mind was elsewhere and his body was motionless and without protection. Moreover, Holy Magic is vulnerable to Death Magic so it wasn''t that surprising to see fifty fully-grown Bone Dragons rip the commander into shreds. *** The three Cardinals wanted to join the fight but were unable to as the Lich King cast some sort of a strange technique that imprisoned the three of them. A small case made of bones appeared around them, trapping them like rats. Although it didn''t last for long, the time Aborak bought was enough for the Divine Beasts to finish the two commanders. It only got worse for the Holy Dominion when Arthur appeared along with Radolf and Midolf. Arthur first glanced at the Holy Knights then at the two dead commanders before letting out a laugh. From then on, it was totally one-sided and a cruel sight to behold. The Vermilion Bird and the Azure Dragon unleashed a torrent of attacks on the trapped Cardinals, literally roasting them alive and leaving them no chance to beg for forgiveness or retaliate. As for the Holy Knights? Midolf''s raging winds and Radolf''s eternal black flames finished the remaining Holy Knights within minutes. 25 minutes after the beginning of this fight, all the undead appeared in the Bard Realm and the army of the Holy Dominion was thoroughly destroyed. There were many spectators watching from afar but none dared to lend a hand or provoke Arthur after seeing what just happened. Some were even smart enough to record the fight in a crystal. The sequence of the fight spread to all corners of the realm in less than an hour, bringing fear to its inhabitants, who didn''t know what Arthur''s intentions were. "A good fucking gain!" Midolf waved his winds in excitement while angrily stomping on the dead cardinals. Arthur smirked and agreed with the white roc. With the help of Aborak, Radolf, and his Quad-Spirit, he closed his eye and raised his hands to the sky. An absurd amount of Death Energy emanated from their bodies and spread to all corners of the battlefield, quickly entering the lifeless corpses of the Holy Knights. After ten minutes, the five hundred Holy Knights rose from the ground, picked their weapons and stood in an orderly manner while greeting their new leader. As for the three Cardinals and two commanders, only three of those five were revived, and only after a great effort from Arthur''s part. Expanding more Mental Power to forcefully revive them will only hinder him later on. Nonetheless, his feat shocked the spectators and increased their dread. *********** "What? They were defeated? This fast?!" Benson massaged his temples while hearing the reports coming from his spies. Never did he think the Holy Dominion would lose this quickly! It hasn''t even been half a day yet there were thoroughly extinguished. "Anything else?" A black-clothed white specter stood before Benson and retrieved a crystal from his back pocket. He immediately activated it and showed the fight to his superior. With a frown on his face, Benson watched at the crystal, becoming more and more surprised after seeing the might of the undead army. By the end, he became totally speechless, especially after seeing Arthur revive the dead Holy Knights. It was said that only old and experienced necromancers, with great difficulty, are able to revive Overgods yet Arthur was doing it so easily. After pondering for a while, Benson said: "Go back there and try to see what''s their destination. Who are they planning to attack." "Yes!" ************ Inside a gigantic golden pagoda situated at the center of the Thousand Buddha Sect, Katrina sat opposite of a bald monk with a white beard that reached its legs. Unlike her usual demeanor, she seemed reserved and didn''t dare act arrogant or cold. "So you''re saying you require our help to avoid casualties?" "Yes, we cannot tolerate the existence of such evil." The old monk stroked his beard while looking at the events unfolding inside the crystal. "Hmmm it is indeed troubling to have such an army roam our dear planetˇ­" He paused for a second, raised his head and studied the Matriarch''s face before continuing: "But I don''t find it particularly threatening. As long as their leader isn''t planning on wreaking havoc then I find it pointless to go out of my way to get rid of them." Katrina''s face remained expressionless but her mind was filled with all kinds of thoughts. In the end, she decided to spit some of the truth to convince this monk. "That man, the one who revived the dead knightsˇ­ he''s a parasite." When he heard that, the old man''s body momentarily flinched before he started chuckling. "Hehehe now this is a surprise." Still stroking his beard and smiling at Katrina, he said "Very well, I''ll provide you with three of our Senior Monks to help you, howeverˇ­" He raised one finger while his countenance changed: "We won''t provide assistance in fighting them and will only assist you in opening the gate of Oblivion. Our job will be to banish the parasite, anything else will be your problem." Katrina bowed her head and replied "Yes, thank you for your help." Her goal was exactly what he said, after all, the Thousand Buddha sect is pretty far away and even if a fight breaks out, they won''t be affected. Chapter 483 - 432 : Captured After the crushing defeat of the Holy Dominion, no other factions dared to block the undead army''s way. Most of them followed from behind, silently watching the army and reporting to their higher-ups. Not only did the Holy Knights lose, but their bodies were also added to the undead, empowering Arthur''s forces and increasing his chances of success. He didn''t personally act as he needs to save his skills for the ultimate fight against the White Specter. His main priority is safely saving Lucy then focusing on the clan. He already warned Katrina so the death of whoever is going to die is solely the Matriarch''s fault. Along with the three Overgods he revived, there was an extra two that belonged to the five Phoenix Kingdom. They will be responsible for the strong individuals of the White Specter Clan, the four Divine Beasts will fight Katrina and the two mythical beings will provide support. Everything was proceeding as planned and even if there are some forces who will aid Katrina, no faction will go out of their way to dispatch their strongest experts to fight a war that doesn''t involve them. At most, they''ll sacrifice a few disposable pawns that can be replaced. Someone like Katrina obviously is aware of this but she''ll still welcome their help. Although she''s incredibly strong, she still can''t face 400 million undead, it''s just too much for her. Unlike Arthur or Lucy, she''ll get tired sooner or later, it''s just a matter of time. ******* Back on Astria, Jackob was standing on the roof of the High Tower, seemingly contemplating something. It hasn''t been long since Arthur departed with the army and despite his pleading, he was flatly rejected. Jackob became a strong warrior but Arthur didn''t let him come with him, telling him that he has to take care of the sect and especially his newborn son. Suddenly, his closed eyes abruptly opened as if he sensed something. He quickly crouched and retrieved the long sniper rifle from his back. He laid on his stomach and instantly readied Ace(the name of the weapon) before taking aim. The scoop of Ace is very different from the normal weapons that existed on Earth. It boosted the user''s Dexterity and allowed him to see target miles away from his location. Within a few seconds, he located his target and focused on the descending figure. At first, when his eye landed on that figure, he was momentarily shocked, unable to think straight. She had silver hair and looked exactly like Lucy, however, Jackob knew better. There''s no way Lucy would show up here out of all places, and so randomly, at that. It just didn''t make senseˇ­ Arthur didn''t go through all that trouble just so his wife would spontaneously appear on Astria just like that. So, the only explanation is that it''s either an illusion or a trap. Nonetheless, Jackob hesitated for a slight second before he pulled the trigger, sending a powerful rotating bullet flying straight at the woman''s throat. No matter who it was, be it the king of Green Leaf or this mysterious woman, are not allowed on Astria. It''s an iron rule set by Arthur and being his temporary replacement, Jackob would resort to any means to get rid of unwelcome invaders. Just as the bullet was about to hit Angelina, she raised her hand and blocked the fast projectile with her bare hands. The difference in strength was so big hence the miserably failed attack of Jackob. In times like this, where a strong person happens to invade Astria, Arthur prepared many precautions. He can''t always be here so the best way to handle such situations is formations. Not only was the MoonStar City protected by a very powerful defensive formation, but there are also many formations laid in the sect''s remaining territory, guaranteeing its safety from hostile creatures. Even if the Cthulhu were to strike again, they wouldn''t even be able to get past the first formation. So, being the temporary master of the sect, Jackob was the one in charge of controlling the formations. If an opponent he can''t handle were to appear, he''s free to use any means to subdue them or kill them, those were Arthur''s exact orders. Angelina, who just appeared on Astria, was immediately attacked. Fortunately, the assailant wasn''t strong but he was a fair distance away from her. She stretched her senses and discovered a big settlement dozens of miles away, however, before she could locate the exact location of the attacker, the ground under her started shaking violently. By the time she reacted, two gigantic hands made of black earth rose from the ground and tried to squash her. She swiftly flew into the sky, successfully dodging the large hands but that was only the beginning. ˇ­ A few hours later, after several failed attempts, Jackob managed to subdue a heavily injured Angelina. She was decently strong but she was unable to do nothing but continuously dodge the attacks of many formations. In the end, she exhausted all her energy and was ruthlessly bombarded by many heavy attacks that paralyzed her. Currently, she laid on a dark ground, bloodied and barely able to move. A prison made of bones was trapping her inside while the ground under her was slowly but surely sucking the remaining energy out of her body and weakening her. It was only when he was certain that she''s no longer a threat did Jackob show himself in front of Angelina. With the sniper rifle pointed at her, he approached her with slow steps while coldly saying "Who are you and what are you doing here?" Her vision red, her breathing ragged, Angelina raised her head and gazed at the muscular bronze-skinned man approaching the prison of bones. "I-is this Astria?" "Why do you care?" Despite her miserable situation, she stared at him with an unwavering gaze and repeated: "Is this Astria?" ''BAM'' Jackob pulled the trigger, shooting her at the right side of her chest, causing a lot of blood to gush out. In her current state, even a bullet from Ace can kill her, much less injure her. Angelina spent a couple of minutes to catch her breath and spit some blood before saying: "I, I''m Lucy''s sister." "So?" Honestly, Jackob didn''t care if she''s Lucy''s relative or not, what matters is that she came here uninvited. Furthermore, didn''t Arthur go to save Lucy from her family? This was more of a reason to eliminate this threat. Just as he was about to finish this once and for all, a person appeared next to him and lowered the long sniper rifle. "Stop it! She means no harm." It was none other than Taliya, who arrived at the nick of time. Jackob shoved her hand away and raised the weapon again, ready to shoot. He was forced to stop only when Taliya stood between him and the wounded Angelina. "Are you really going to be like this?" "Arthur left me in charge so either move or face the consequences." The demon snorted, crossed her arms and retorted "What? Are you going to kill me too?" Jackob coldly glared at Taliya, Ace still raised and pointed at the latter. Only after a minute or so did he lower his weapon but the killing intent emanating from him was still present. "If something happens, you''ll take full responsibility." He threw one last glance at the imprisoned Angelina before taking off, leaving the two women alone. Chapter 484 - 433 : Hostage "You''re here again, young man." An old man glanced at the incoming figure while letting out a chuckle and motioning for the latter to sit beside him. This elderly had wrinkles all over his face, unusually pale skin and a bent back. His limbs were extremely thin, showcasing how old and perhaps malnourished he was. Moreover, the old man was blind and his eyes were jet black like a bottomless abyss though he rarely opens them for he knew that anyone who sees his eyes will cower in fear. The ''young man'' he was talking to was none other than Jackob, who captured Angelina a while ago. He was eerily silent and would come here every time he had a lot of things to think about. It could be described as a place of relaxation. In response, Jackob merely glanced at the old man but said nothing. He sat next to the elderly and gazed at the bustling city, which was shining with all kinds of light despite the fall of the cloak of night. "Facing another hurdle, are we? Ohohohoho" The old man chuckled at the grumpy Jackob, who didn''t seem too bothered by the former''s remarks. The temporary leader of the MoonStar sect let out a sigh and said: "In the end, what is the right thing to do?" Though he wasn''t staring at the blind old man, the question was most certainly meant for the person next to him. After a short bout of silence, an answer, albeit complicated, was given; "The right thing? There is no such thing. Our different opinions, past experiences, and standpoints are what separates from whom we call ''enemies''. Our perspectives are different so we blame each other and each one is thinking he''s doing the ''right'' thing. Right? Wrong? Those are words invented to justify their actions." "ˇ­"-Jackob Jackob kept his silence and pondered about the answer given by the old man. He felt conflicted on what to do in the future, how will things proceed? Who will live and who will die? An unknown amount of time passed yet neither of the two opened their mouths. When the weather started getting a bit chilly, the old man shakily get up, threw one last glance at Jackob before saying "For we who walk before may lead those who walk after." ************ It didn''t take long for Angelina to be transported to the High Tower. She was still trapped inside the prison of bones but that didn''t stop Taliya from trying to communicate with her. In an underground and spacious room under the High Tower, Angelina was surrounded by several people. There was Robin, Sonia, Mary, Taliya, Jackob, and Gutcha, who was shrouded in darkness. "Is she still not responsive?" Robin asked Taliya, who repeatedly tried to talk to Angelina but the white specter kept her mouth shut for some reason. Furthermore, Angelina was glaring at Jackob, clearly bearing a grudge against him. The man wasn''t fazed and completely ignored her, appearing more interested in what to do with her instead of pointlessly trying to force answers out of her mouth. "Let''s let her recover, she''ll talk when she''s ready."-Taliya "We cannot afford to wait, Arthur will reach the Divine Planet very soon." Hearing this, Angelina suddenly raised her head and spoke "W-what?" "What do you mean ''What''? You guys abducted Lucy to Arthur went to get her back."-Mary The female beastmen glared at Angelina and gave a quick explanation of the situation. "He''ll die." "Yeahˇ­ I ain''t sure about that." This time, it was Gutcha who talked. He walked close to the prison of bones, crouched to meet the woman face to face then stretched his hands, which released a large amount of Dark Magic which wrapped itself around the victim''s body. After making sure her Dantian and Meridians were corrupted with his Dark Magic, Gutcha stood up and said to the silent Jackob "From what I''ve heard, the Matriarch highly values her daughter. We can use her as a hostage to boost Arthur''s chances of survival." "What? How can you say that?"-Taliya Gutcha gave the demon a chilling glare while retorting "Woman, we''re at war, so we''ll use anything to assure our victory. Even if the enemy is a sage, he''s still our enemy and should be killed or used accordingly. Sect Master didn''t spare her life just because you begged." Taliya, incensed, was about to talk back to the pigolo only for Jackob to interrupt her and say "Fine, deliver her to Arthur as fast as possible." "Right away, sect master."-Gutcha The pigolo bowed to Jackob and waved his hand, causing the Dark Magic to completely envelop Angelina, who couldn''t even move, much less resist. Within seconds, both Gutcha and the white specter vanished from that room. Although Sonia agreed with Taliya and thought it was wrong to use Angelina as a hostage, she still kept her silence. As Gutcha said, this was war and they want Lucy to be saved so dawdling over the means to do that is only a waste of time. ˇ­ Gutcha didn''t waste any second, he appeared on Green-Leaf and immediately started heading toward the capital, planning to join Arthur''s forces. Angelina, who planned to break free once she recuperated some of her energy, was left in a helpless situation as the Dark Magic sucked the life out of her, slowly turning her into a mortal. She may be stronger than Gutcha if they fight on equal terms but it was never about fairness. No one forced her to appear on Astria, she was driven there out of curiosity and it clearly cost her much. ******* Zutis Galaxy, Clock Planet. This was a planet shrouded in darkness and devoid of any souls, it is a forbidden place many would willingly avoid. Somewhere on this planet, there was an enormous black castle, ominous and eerily quiet. This was ''X''s planet and his ''headquarters''. Only his trusted confidant, Belos, is allowed to enter this place and report to his master. Currently, X was pacing around in his office, pondering about something while his servant was preparing things for his departure. "Master, you were right, Arthur is indeed leading that undead army. However, his appearance is very different and he seems to be the Dark Magic user that appeared on Green Leaf a while ago." X''s steps came to a sudden halt, he turned his blurry face toward his servant and asked "The Dark Magic user? Are you sure?" "Absolutely. In addition, he seems to be in possession of Evil Wind." Clearly a little bit angry, X banged his cane on the floor while clicking his tongue. "Well, it matters not. If things get complicated, I will just snatch the orb and leave, there''s no need for a fight. Though, I''m curious about his whereabouts for the last few yearsˇ­" Belos, who was half-kneeling, raised his head and added: "We''re still investigating his background. From the looks of it, he has a feud with the White Specter Clan hence his present actions. There is also news about the Matriarch, who visited the Thousand Buddha Sect yesterday." As if he heard a joke, X burst out in laughter while saying "Hahahahahaha does she really think those impotent old men will help her? Simply ludicrous!" Chapter 485 - 434 : The Mark "Arghhh stop it stop it!" From the agonizing pain, Thordan wriggled his body and pushed the skilled Physician. Although Katrina did destroy his Dantian and cripple him, that doesn''t mean he''ll give up that easily. He belongs to the best alchemy sect in the Cloud Sea Universe so they obviously have many means to restore his lost cultivation. It was supposed to be simple yet a hurdle appeared and caused everything to crumble. The mark of the Dark Blade''s oath was sucking all the medicinal energy that enters his body, rendering it completely useless. Fortunately, Thordan''s status within his sect is quite high so even after becoming a cripple, not a soul dared to mock him. Furthermore, they shared his hate as they, too, lost a precious talent under the hands of the White Specter Clan. Thordan turned toward a young man standing at the corner and angrily asked: "Did you send them?" The young man bowed his head and replied: "Yes, they should have arrived already. Please rest assured, the task will be completed without any mishap." Thordan waved his hand dismissively and let out a sigh. He shifted back his attention to the Physician sitting next to him and said: "How''s my condition?" The Physician dropped his head and hesitated on whether to spill all the truth or try to reassure his patient. "Just tell me, It''s not like I haven''t figured out a few things by myself." The Physician nodded his head and gave a brief explanation: "Your body is in perfect condition, the only problem is that mark. It constantly releases Dark Magic which affects your emotions and consumes any kind of energy that enters your body. Moreover, it is slowly corrupting your mortal body, if this continues I''m afraid the worst will happenˇ­" Though he didn''t directly say it, it was clear what he was implying. Thordan snorted but didn''t lash out at the Physician, who excused himself a bit later. As he sat alone in his room, Thordan clenched his fists and mumbled "Soon, I''ll get back everything I lost." ***** The White Specter Clan, Forbidden territory. Inside Katrina''s residence, which became Lucy''s home and prison, sat a lonesome figure. She was staring at the front in a daze while one of her eyes emitted a blue luster every now and then. It took her great effort just to activate the eye''s ability, stopping time is too mentally taxing. Everything was quiet and peaceful, as it always had been. However, this serenity was cut short by a small, almost unnoticeable sound which was clearly heard by the silent Lucy. Her Dexterity was high enough for her to hear things even Overgods couldn''t but the people who caused this noise were unaware that they were facing a Sovereign with inflated stats to the point that it''s absurd! The origin of the noise was far away from the residence but it was still a strange occurrence. She was trapped here but she knew that no one but Katrina, Angelina, and sometimes Hobson, are allowed to enter this place. Furthermore, the ''guests'' were trying to cause minimal sound which made the situation even more suspicious. Due to restrictions put by Katrina, most of Lucy''s powers were sealed, nevertheless, she could still defend herself. The silver revolver appeared in her hand while her blue-colored eye started scanning her surroundings. As expected, a few seconds later, several hooded figures managed to bypass the array protecting the residence and safely appeared around Lucy, clearly intending to harm her. They didn''t immediately attack and instead, inspected her from head to toe to confirm that she''s their target before they took strange ropes made of literal lightning and circle around her. Their actions were careful but it didn''t seem they were worried about her but afraid of Katrina, who may appear at any time. They only dared to enter this place only because their sources informed them that the Matriarch is in the Thousand Buddha sect, still, they couldn''t help but feel restless. As they were closing in on her, Lucy abruptly raised the hand holding the revolver and pulled the trigger. Although her cultivation was weakened, her stats only decreased by 20% so she was still able to use the weapon. Unlike the powerful bullets, Lucy used normal bullets that are injected with a monstrous amount of Mana. They aren''t attribute-related but their penetrative power cannot be denied. The moment the loud sound of the gunshot reverberated across the room, one of the figures around her fell on the ground with a large hole in his forehead. He couldn''t see the bullet, much less move out of the way or try to block it. As for the remaining enemies, once they saw the instantaneous fall of their comrades, they instinctively backed away and became highly-alert. Lucy wasn''t going to dawdle around and watch them as they collect their thoughts and gang up on her. She pointed the gun at another individual and started firing. Approximatively thirty seconds later, Lucy empties her barrel but was able to kill three of them. The ones who''re still alive have higher cultivation, furthermore, the commotion occurring him forced one additional enemy to enter and check on the situation. Unlike the rest, he didn''t hide his appearance and seemed to be much more powerful than them. Upon seeing three of his subordinates dead, he glared at the expressionless Lucy before saying "Go secure an escape route, we''re leaving now." "B-but Si-" One of them, scared of Lucy''s weapon, tried to warn his boss only for him to be yelled at "Do as I say, there''s no time to waste!" The remaining hooded individuals dispersed soon after, leaving only their boss with Lucy. He was a man in his fifties, a thick black beard with some traces of white hair, sharp eyes and a somewhat lengthy dark hair. The most noticeable thing was his robe, which belonged to Thordan''s sect. "I''ve no intention to hurt you. You better come with me willingly or else I''ll be forced to use extreme measures." Just as he finished, he found out that Lucy was fiddling with her revolver. She readied the powerful bullets and was about to attack again only for the man to throw a weird grey powder. The effect of this weird concoction was almost immediate as Lucy fell on her knees, her skin reddened and her breathing quickened. A few seconds later, the man let out a sigh and walked up to Lucy, crouched down and was about to pick her up only for a loud, ear-deafening gunshot to enter his ear. He was pushed backed three steps before falling on his butt, a bloody hole appearing on his left shoulder. Along with the new injury he just suffered, his whole arm became frozen from the after-effect of the Yin bullet. The man didn''t panic or get angry, he retrieved a pink pill and gulped it down while spraying some white ash on his wound, immediately dissolving the ice and stopping the bleeding. He slowly got up and focused on Lucy, who was supporting herself using her saber, Twilight''s vow. From the looks of it, she was hell-bent on resisting him or at least buy some time at least Katrina or Hobson arrive. ****** A few hours later, Katrina, who just appeared within her clan''s territory, suddenly frowned and vanished from her spot, appearing inches away from a secluded forest. This forest was the entrance to the forbidden territory which no one is allowed to enter. Right beside the entrance laid a heavily wounded Hobson, who noticed the appearance of his master so he struggled to get up but his wounds were too severe to properly move. Katrina enveloped the old man with her energy, aiding him in healing his injuries while spreading her sense, quickly discovering the state of her residence, which was turned into a complete mess. More than half of the magnificent pagoda and the courtyard were destroyed either by ice or flames. She also wasn''t able to locate her daughter so she could only ask the servant for an explanation. "*cough* people came and abducted Miss E-*cough* Eva" A ghastly aura started surrounding the usually calm Matriarch. Illusory white wings and a long tail materialized behind her, a clear indication of her unstable emotions and her rising anger. "Who was it?" "The Five Lakes Sect." The woman creased her brows, appearing confused for a slight second before she guessed the real perpetrator behind all of this. It wasn''t that hard to guess, as for their motive? It was more or less clear. "Go to Elder Presley to get treated. I''ll take care of this." Soon after, Katrina disappeared from Hobson''s sight. She wasn''t foolish enough to barge into the Five Lakes Sect, demanding her daughter back. Such behavior is predictable and will put her at a disadvantage. She was a mother who deeply cared for her daughter and if she were to cause a mess in Thordan''s sect, there''s a strong chance he''ll harm Lucy. ****** Five Lakes Sect, Thordan''s room. The man stared at the bound young woman while grinning from ear to ear. It''s not like he was pleased to see his daughter but he was happy that his plan worked as intended. He crouched down to meet her piercing glare and softly caressed her hair while saying "Oh my dear daughter, I won''t harm you, don''t worry. I just need your husband to remove this mark." He showed her the ominous mark on his right hand and was about to continue speaking only to feel an inexplicable chilliness. Without a doubt, it was emanating from her. Knowing her crazy and reckless actions, Thordan cowardly backed away then said to a man standing right behind Lucy. "Are you sure she''s harmless?" The man who subdued Lucy and brought her here in one piece nodded his head and replied: "Yes, she uses the cultivation ladder and the System but the latter is more dangerous. Her cultivation was already restricted so all I had to do is make use of this crystal to reduce her stats." He retrieved a weird-looking jet black crystal and passed it to Thordan. "As long as you have this crystal, her life is in her hands." The father grinned while repeatedly saying "Good goodˇ­" As for Lucy, she remained silent and only glared at the man in front of her eyes. He clearly needs Arthur''s help to remove the mark of the Dark Blade so there will come a time when her husband will free her of her current shackles and at that time, she''ll kill this man. He didn''t seem to care about Lucy or Angelina and only sought power, it truly made her disgusted and added the number of reasons that justify killing him. Chapter 486 - 435 : An Eye for an Eye 1 The Divine Planet is surrounded by raging winds and unforgiving storms and there are only a few areas where the intensity of this hellish weather is slightly toned down. This ''gap'' isn''t nearly enough to fit the whole undead army but Arthur wasn''t worried for he knew that no one is foolish enough to attack him in the middle of this disadvantageous environment. If Katrina is planning to attack first, the best timing would be when he''s entering the Divine Planet and slowly guiding his army to his unimaginably big piece of land. The White Specter Clan may not have many people but each and every disciple is strong. Furthermore, there are a considerable amount of elders who reached the Overgod Realm. There''s also Katrina, who''s an Exalted God. Of course, Arthur took into account other nearby sects and clans which may lend a hand to the Matriarch. They won''t send all their forces but they''ll dispatch a few exceptional foes which will definitely cause some problems later on. When the decisive fight finally begins, there will be no turning back and everyone will be someone or something. Lich King Aborak will be the one leading all the undead and coordinating them while making use of the Elemental Wheel. Radolf and Midolf will support Arthur and the four Divine Beast will defend the undead from Katrina, who''ll surely try to get rid of Arthur or Aborak first to weaken the army of death. On the 11th day, when Arthur was just about to leave the Bard Realm and start heading toward the Divine Planet, a figure came running from the back. It left a trail of black flames behind it and dived straight through the undead, directly heading toward the center of the army, precisely Arthur. Arthur already sensed the figure and was confused at first, however, when he saw who the pigolo was bringing with him, he was momentarily surprised. With a creased brow and deadpan face, Arthur gazed at the smirking Pigolo, who politely performed a short bow before presenting a bound and weakened Angelina to his boss. "What happened?" Arthur wasted no time and asked the pigolo, who gave a brief explanation: "She was captured by Jackob on Astria. We discussed it and concluded that she''s a valuable hostage that could be used as a bargaining tool if things go south." Arthur glanced at the bound and silent Angelina, who was also staring back at him venomously. Due to the Dark Magic weighing down on her, she couldn''t even open her mouth, much less move. Though, it''s not like Arthur wished to hear her opinion on the matter. After pondering for a few moments, Arthur nodded his head and dragged Pigolo to the side and whispered a few things into his ear. Sometime later, the army started flying in the sky and only Gutcha remained behind. When he made sure the army successfully left the Bard Realm and was making its way to the ginormous planet in plain view, he glanced around and smirked right before an ominous darkness enveloped him and vanished right after, leaving no trace whatsoever. ****** Unlike any other day, the White Specter Clan was currently in total chaos. Almost everyone was gearing up and readying themselves. The Matriarch just publicly said that the army of undead was heading toward their way so they should prepare for the upcoming fight. She didn''t force anyone and even told the elderly and children to hide in the Ancestral Grounds, which is a small dimension unaccessible by none but the clan master. Without her approval, no one can enter or leave the dimension and even someone as powerful as the Joker cannot break into it using brute force or clever tricks. Only a few higher-ups knew the reason this war was happening, as for the common soldiers? They just wanted to protect their home from the corrupt living dead. There was one more thing that greatly boosted everyone''s morale. It was the presence of three senior monks floating above the sect. They were holding intersecting golden silk and repeatedly praying to their God. Senior Monks are peak Overgods and their presence here reassured the white specters, who believed that the undead army will surely crumble before the might of the Matriarch and the monks. ˇ­ "A Mi Tuo Fo, I can sense their aura from here." One of the three monks glanced North-West while clenching the golden silk in his hands. He was the youngest of the three and had the least experience but his prowess shouldn''t be underestimated. "Amitabha Amitabha, what you''re sensing is the aura of the corrupt. Their miserable cries as they''re forced to fight even after death still echoes in my ear." A monk with a mustache and frail physique and short height commented on the incoming army while focusing on the golden silk. The last monk to talk was the oldest, he looked like a 90-year-old old man and had an extremely long grey beard. He chuckled and uttered: "Hohoho by Buddha''s name we shall banish the Parasite and return things to their course. The walking dead will be dealt with by the esteemed Matriarch." The two others nodded their head while repeatedly saying "A Mi Tuo Fo!" ***** Along with the Thousand Buddha Sect, only one other power sent experts to lend a hand. It''s neither a sect, a clan, or a kingdom but a race that managed to win a place in the Divine Planet and remain strong for a long period of time despite their irreparable feud with the parasites since times of old. For more than one occasion, this race, who built a city called the Sea Citadel, resisted the attacks of several parasites despite losing a considerable number of their own. Their hatred for the parasite is deeply rooted and the moment they heard about Arthur being a parasite, they immediately sent a few of their strongest warriors to eliminate the ''abomination''. Oddly enough, after their crushing defeat, the Holy Dominion remained silent, neither publicly commenting about what happened nor sending a larger force to take care of the army of death, which they deem as an evil existence that should be purified. **** As per his prediction, Arthur was able to safely get the army to the Divine Planet without being ambushed. It seems Katrina decided to face him in her territory rather than go to him. Moreover, she seems aware that it''s past the time of trying to solve this with words which is exactly why she started readying her forces. Katrina was confident in being able to deal with Arthur and his Divine Beasts but getting rid of 400 million undead along with the few unique beings accompanying is a bit too much, even for an Exalted God. If it were only 400 million undead minus the divine beasts and the mythical beings, she wouldn''t have been this meticulous and would have just gone to fight by herself. Due to the immensity of the Divine Planet and the big distance between the landing of Arthur''s army and the White Specter Sect, it took Arthur ten whole days to arrive. During those ten days, the news about his arrival on the Divine Planet spread like wildfire. In the dominating force of this planet, the Cloud Sea Sect was informed but it remained neutral and strangely unresponsive. To begin with, the White Specter Clan and the Cloud Sea Sect were never friendly with each other so it''s quite expected to see the latter behave like this. Almost every part of the Cloud Sea Universe heard about the marching dead and their leader, a mysterious grey-haired middle-aged man whose origins and name are still unknown. On the 5th day, a rumor stating that the leader of the undead was none other than the infamous Dark Magic-user and most likely Zodiak''s successor. Many rogue cultivators and smaller factions wanted to witness the battle between the specters and the undead. Unfortunately, Katrina declared that anyone seen near her sect would be killed on sight, no matter who they were. So, unless someone was insanely brave, they wouldn''t dare trespass into the territory of the white specters. ******* Bard Realm, Velvet City. This city was not only prosperous but it''s also the city of desires. Whatever one wishes, they''ll find here, whether it''s pleasure, money or women. The best inn in the vicinity was a ten-story building made from shiny violent stone and heavily decorated with banners and all kinds of symbols. Inside one of the expensive and luxurious suites, there sat two females, one was sickly-looking and had a pale face while the other was frowning and lost in her thoughts. Both of the females were gazing at a recording crystal, which showed them an outrageously big army that had countless kinds of undead. At the center of the army stood a scarred man who was protected by two enormous beings. "It''s him, right?" The pale-faced woman asked her sister, who snapped out of her daze and nodded her head while saying "It''s definitely him. I didn''t think he''ll resort to such extreme means to get her back." These two women were none other than Delia and her sister, who was heavily injured by both Arthur and Lucy. Though she was a genius and an expert in battles, she still couldn''t prevail against the monstrous couple. Delia not only backstabbed the Holy Dominion, but she also dragged her sister out of the fight so these too were deemed as traitors and are currently being chased by the Holy Dominion/ Ever since what happened in the Dragon''s lair, the two disappeared and laid low to avoid the prying eyes of the dominion. "What should we do?" As she heard her sister ask her with a worried expression, Delia caressed her cheek then used both of her hands to start healing her sister again. "There''s nothing we can do. First, you should recover then we''ll decide on how to proceed." As the sick woman laid on the bed and closed her eyes, Delia''s hands started emitting a blinding light that covered the whole room. The once foolish and carefree Goddess was pouring her heart and soul in healing her dear friend, who''s like a sister to her. Chapter 487 - 436 : An Eye for an Eye 2 Both were parties were ready to fight, one was protected by a gigantic barrier that enveloped the whole area and the other was surrounded by four divine beasts and commanded by a Lich King. The army of death finally finished its march toward the White Specter Clan and stopped a mile or so from the entrance. Almost all of the disciples of the clan were standing in an orderly fashion in front of the gates, fully equipped with powerful equipment. Even so, some of them couldn''t help but feel anxious and a bit afraid after witnessing the enemy''s prowess with their own eyes. There was just no end to the undead, they stretched from North to South and every single one of them looked domineering. The revived Holy Knights were also standing at the very front, their shields and swords now corrupted but still effective. Every Overgod that was revived will provide assistance to Arthur as the enemy will mainly focus on him. Aborak is to lead the army and slowly demolish this place, turning it upside down. Amidst this intense and nerve-wracking silence, a chilling breeze passed through the two parties, alarming the specters, who clutched their weapons and mustered their courage. They''re here to defend their home and Katrina made it really clear that not all of them will remain alive by the end of this sudden war. Arthur appeared in front of the army and gazed at the floating figure of the Matriarch, who was glaring at him with eyes filled with contempt and killing intent. She loathed the parasites and despite having a human soul, she still considered him an abomination, an atrocity that shouldn''t exist amongst the living. His very act of leading such a large army of dead goes against the unwritten rules of the multiverse as the very existence of this many undead can automatically kill millions of mortals. "What? Are you so unhappy to see your ''son-in-law''?" Arthur crossed his arms and taunted her while smirking, unaffected by the aura of the Exalted God or her piercing glare. In response, Katrina snorted and said "I have no relation with no monstrosity like you." "I believe your daughter will say otherwise."-Arthur "You should have pretended to be dead and continued on with your life without causing this much trouble and destruction." Hearing this, Arthur shrugged his shoulders and replied "Initially, I didn''t want to implicate myself with you but it''s you guys who persistently chased after us. You can only blame yourself for what''s about to happen." Just as he finished talking, a burst of energy smashed into him with the intent of killing him with one blow. Unfortunately, Arthur turned into a strange-looking dark cloud, which swiftly returned to its owner. Arthur wasn''t foolish enough to defenselessly appear before the leader of the enemy. Knowing her aggressive character, it''s wasn''t difficult to predict her actions. She''ll want to get rid of Arthur as soon as possible so a sneak attack like this is to be expected. When her attack failed, a loud laugh reverberated from afar: "Hahahaha you had one chance to kill me before and you failed so don''t expect to succeed this time." Arthur, who already unsheathed Makaze, declared that then glanced at Aborak, who nodded his skeletal head. The Lich King banged his cane then emitted an ear-deafening screech, signaling the undead to start their assault. The flying bone dragons started diving toward the white specters while the countless skeletons raised their weapons and madly ran at the thousands of disciples standing at the front. Before the two parties could clash, Katrina waved her hand and pulverized the running undead and the flying bone dragons, causing them to turn into nothingness. However, it wasn''t nearly enough to stop the incoming force. Moreover, the undead felt no fear so they weren''t fazed by Katrina''s demonstration of power. The Matriarch knew that it was useless to try and stop the whole army herself, there were just too many of them to defend all sides. Dozens of seconds later, the undead finally clashed with the disciples, who were much stronger, individually. The experts of the White Specter Clan remained on standby, waiting for the Divine Beasts or Arthur to make move. The only people who were reckless and rushed toward Arthur were the sea people originating from the Sea Citadel. They resembled fish but had a humanoid body covered in blue scales. Arthur was about to send Radolf and Midolf to deal with the weird-looking fish but Aborak stopped him and said "I''ll handle them, take care of the Senior Elders, they''re more dangerous." Arthur nodded his head and vanished from the fish men''s sight and dived into the army of undead, possessing one of them and diving underground, quickly escaping the enemies'' senses. Before they could turn around and make chase, Aborak already made his move. The enormous elemental wheel which was imprinted under the undead''s feet started acting, the black arrow started spinning and stopped on the flaming red color. Countless tall zombies standing at the back jumped in the air, each one of them covering in flames. These were the Elemental Zombies, a special combat force that is extremely strong. In total, there were 150,000 Elemental Zombies and once they''re strengthened by the Elemental Wheel, they''re an unstoppable force. Fortunately, the fishmen from the Sea Citadel weren''t Overgods but they were nevertheless strong. There were 4 fish men and when they saw the descending zombies, they took formation and wrapped themselves with a bubble of water. Each passing second, dozens of flaming zombies fell on the bubble of water and exploded, however, the explosions did close to no damage. Only when a thousand zombies exploded next to the bubble did it start showing signs of shaking. Though, by this time, the fishmen were already able to reconstruct it and launch a counter-attack. Sadly, the number of zombies was too much and it was an old Lich King who was controlling them so it was too early for the fishmen to celebrate their victory. A violent tsunami was unleashed by the four fishmen, it engulfed not only the flying zombies but thousands of skeletons below. When everything cleared, there were no signs of the flaming zombies, which made the fishmen breathe a sigh of relief only to feel an unimaginable heat come from below them. Before they could react, a 10-meter long red zombie appeared, it was holding a flaming halberd and staring at the fishmen. Slowly, it raised its halberd and smashed it on the bubble of water, shaking it and destroying half of it. Through the newly-made gap, several flaming zombies fell from the sky, exploding right next to the fishmen. ***** "Matriarch, what do we do?" Several elders stood behind the silent Katrina, waiting for her answer. After gazing at the brutal battles happening a distance away, she pointed at the Divine Beasts and said "Get rid of those four, I''ll kill that parasite and if I can''t, I''ll subdue him until the Senior Monks are done with their preparation." Indeed, the three Senior Monks were still praying right above the clan. They paid no attention to the war occurring at the entrance and solely focused on finishing with their chant. Though it was barely noticeable, a transparent and outrageously large archaic gate started appeared above the three old men. ***** It took Katrina a few seconds to locate Arthur, who was madly drilling into the ground, trying to escape her sense. Unfortunately, he failed but when she started taking actions, an Azure Dragon appeared before her, opened its mouth and spat a massive amount of illusory-looking red flames which spread to all directions. The elders standing behind her were about to take actions only for them to suddenly plummet in the ground and before they could retaliate, a white shadow passed through them and spat lethal acid which went through their clothes and melted their skin. It wasn''t enough to heavily injure them or kill them, however, it rendered them useless for a couple of seconds. Seeing the interference of the Divine Beasts, which demonstrated flawless cooperation and incredibly strength, Katrina frowned but wasn''t afraid of the Dragon''s Breath. She raised her hand and unleashed flames of her own, the unique flames of the White Specter. They were illusory white flames which pushed away the dragon''s flames and even landed on the Azure beast, causing it to writhe from agony. A loud screech reverberated across the area and by the next second, a bird covered in flames descended from the sky, directly charging at the calm Matriarch. Still not moving, Katrina simply waved her hand yet it was enough to send the Vermilion Bird to be sent flying in the other direction. Just as the bird was flung away, a white shadow appeared behind the woman and slashed its claws at her. Unfortunately, this attack was also a failure as the long and golden claws of the White Tiger weren''t even able to cause a scratch on the Matriarch. She turned around, clutched the sharp claws with her bare hands then spun around, throwing the enormous beast far away. "Did you really think they could stop me?" Her sense was still locked into Arthur, who was making his way inside the clan. Like a bullet, she dived straight at the army of undead, precisely where Arthur was, planning to attack him only for her to come face to face with a creepy-looking rotten hand that appeared from thin air. The hand was small but it was actually able to halt her movement for a few seconds. She snorted and chopped the ''thing'' with her and, causing it to vanish. Her stopped descent was about to continue only for a surprisingly dangerous wind storm to block her. Katrina was actually forced to stop mid-way and glance at an enormous white roc that was waving its wings. "Bitch! Come at me!" Midolf taunted her while Radolf raised its two heads and spat two over-sized red balls that flew high in the sky and started emitting dense blood fogs. Chapter 488 - 437 : An Eye for an Eye 3 Author''s note : Sorry I didn''t post the last few days, my pc broke so I had to borrow one from a friend. There will be another chapter in two hours, more or less. Enjoy. ***** Katrina wanted to chase after Arthur but the timely intervention of Midolf and Radolf rendered her unable to focus on them and ignore the main opponent for a bit. Actually, the Matriarch thought that Arthur was planning to search for Lucy and save her first before dealing with the clan but that couldn''t be more wrong. He knew that Lucy was safe and he has no doubts that he''ll save her, what''s more urgent is the White Specter Clan, which needs to be obliterated. For that reason, he bypassed all the enemies, including Katrina, and dived underground, heading directly toward the residential area of the clan. He was planning to destroy this place and cause it to crumble with the use of Atomic Bombs created by his Lost Magic and the assistance of the Quad-Spirit. There is a strong protective formation laid around the clan, protecting from all sides like a dome but penetrating through it or breaking it isn''t a difficult feat for Arthur, who possessed ancient formation masters who were well-versed in this kind of field. Furthermore, he has the Demonic Lightning, a special power that has a high chance of shattering arrays, formations, and illusions. Were he still in possession of the eye, it would''ve been much easier to breakthrough. A large shark made of spiky blackened bone drilled through the soft ground until it was met with a semi-transparent white wall. The frontal tip of the bone shark started crackling with black lightning and after a few seconds, a thick thunderbolt was unleashed, violently hitting the transparent wall. Unfortunately, it did no damage and didn''t even crack the barrier, nevertheless, Arthur didn''t give up and started banging the sharp tip of his body onto the barrier while wielding the black lightning and continuously striking the formation. He could feel violent tremors occurring every now and then, probably due to the destructive fight between the two mythical beings and Katrina, who was still locking her sense on Arthur. One minute later, Arthur managed to successfully create a hole into the semi-transparent wall. He immediately left his current body and started drawing strange rune then pushed them into the hole, stopping its rapid contraction. Slowly but surely, the runes started expanding the hole which quickly became big enough to pass through. Without hesitation, Arthur entered it and retrieved the large-sized Atomic Bombs he previously prepared. "You know what to do."-Arthur "Yes, Master, I''m on it." The Quad-spirit left his consciousness and began its preparation. The Atomic Bombs maybe be feared and destructive on Earth, however, their damage is minimal in a high-realm such as the Divine Planet. Nonetheless, that doesn''t mean they''re completely useless. They don''t rely on any kind of energy so they cannot be negated by traditional means, plus, the quad-spirit will make sure the whole area will fall into a bottomless abyss. Even if Arthur''s army were to lose, at least he would have demolished this place and got rid of their precious home. Very soon, using the ARK''s calculative abilities, he started planting the atomic bombs in strategic locations while the quad-spirit flew straight at the largest Pagoda and started acting. ***** Above the crazily fighting specters and undead, Katrina was pissed as she was relentlessly attacked by Radolf and Midolf, who didn''t let her breathe for even a second. What made things worse were the Divine Beasts, which, despite their weak attacks, are still dangerous if one were to ignore their perfect coordination. A thick fog made of blood covered the skies and blocked Katrina''s view, Radolf''s black flames spread across all direction, surrounding the Matriarch. Midolf was the aggressive type, choosing to go all-out to trap Katrina and buy some time for Arthur, who should be done really soon. "Stop it, while I''m still asking nicely." Katrina floated at the center of this dense fog and spoke with a cold voice while glaring at the double-headed lizard, which was silently looking back at her while opening both of its mouths. "Thy actions contradict thy words, mortal." Radolf seemed unfazed by the thick killing intent revolving around the white specter, who frowned upon hearing his words. "Yeah bitch! You can''t do shit to us!"-Midolf What the roc said was actually true, unless she gets rid of them both simultaneously, she''ll never defeat them no matter how strong she is. Being a create born from Life Energy, Midolf''s recovery ability is unmatched, better even than a Phoenix. As for Radolf, he can control Death, so if they join hands, they can support themselves and recover from any wounds in a matter of seconds. The illusory tail behind Katrina and the phantom shadow above her head became more realistic, causing her aura to drastically increase. For the first time since this war started, Katrina was about to get serious. Her eyes became white and an ear-deafening screech reverberated across the whole battlefield, causing all the other specter to follow her actions. Her scream was akin to a banshee''s, powerful and soul-shaking. Much of the blood-red fog was dispersed for a second before it started clustering around the Matriarch again. All the other disciples and elders who heard her scream transformed too, unleashing a continuous streak of screeches. Though they were doing fine despite their lower number, the white specter still lost a considerable amount of soldiers, however, when they awakened, their strength was boosted and caused them to slowly start pushing the incoming undead. They started obliterating the skeletons left and right so Aborak had to change tactic, choosing to deploy the special blood skeletons that were physically enhanced by none other than Radolf. These skeletons were quietly sitting in the back and awaiting for their turn, so, when Aborak''s cane hit the ground and signaled them, they unsheathed their weapons and charged at the enemies. All the other undead opened a path for this battalion of strange-looking skeletons. There were around 2.8 million blood skeletons and they were all clad in a blood-red heavy armor and wielded large black shields and long lances. Moreover, some of these skeletons were riding special sturdy steeds that spat Radolf eternal black flames though only in small quantities. ****** Around the center of the undead army, the fishmen were still struggling against the elemental zombies, which were endlessly striking the enemy, not leaving them a second to take a breather or counter-attack. Aborak marvelously controlled these zombies and made great use of them, managing to kill one of the four fishmen. In addition to the humongous flaming zombie which sprung from the ground, two more equally threatening zombies made their appearance. One was covered in sticky mud and the other was wearing a golden armor. The three zombies bombarded the fishmen and used all kinds of abilities while the flying exploding zombies were still falling from above. As long as the zombies successfully get rid of all the fishmen, they would have finished their job so Aborak didn''t hold back and went all out. Meanwhile, the fight between the Four Divine Beasts and the elders grew fiercer and bloodier. In fact, at some point, there was an explosion which alerted everyone, including Arthur and Katrina. It was followed by a blinding light that momentarily halted all the fights and scared the white specters. Upon a closer look, a miniature red sun appeared in the sky but it only lasted for a second before it exploded into a sea of flames which engulfed two elders, turning them into ash in a matter of seconds. One additional elder was hit by this attack but managed to successfully escape death and just when he was about to breath a sigh of relief, a large flying bird covered in flames descended on him and used its sharp claws to slash at him. Fortunately, the head of elders, who was an old man called Talos, intervened just in time and clashed with the bird. The old man wielded a lengthy jet black spear which was swept at the assailant''s claws, breaking half of them and pushing the Divine Beast away. A white shadow appear next to the bird and opened its mouth, spitting acid on Talos, who used the white specter flames to push the incoming liquid then he made use of spear techniques to slash the empty air before him, strangely causing a large bloody hole to appear on the White Tiger, which madly roared and vanished from its spot, choosing to retreat. Before Talos could give chase, an irresistible gravitational force causing his body to become unstable and plummet a few meters toward the ground then he suddenly found himself in an empty icy field. Obviously, Talos knew he was trapped inside a very realistic illusion so he tightly grasped his spear and stabbed the frozen ground, causing black threads to come out of the spear''s tip and slowly shatter this false reality. Chapter 489 - 438 : A Parasites Prowess 1 "I hafta say, choosing Aborak was the best decision he made." A tall man wearing a white and purple costume was crossing his arms and commenting on the show occurring a distance away from him. He looked relaxed as he spectated the fight between the numerous undead and the awakened white specters. This man was none other than Arthur''s brother, the Joker. Just next to the Joker was a youth clad in a jet black armor, he was silently gazing at the bloody fight while letting out a sigh. "If you taught your disciple properly, none of this would have happened." Hearing this, the Joker frowned and retorted "How is this my problem? I''m not the one who has an inflated ego and thinks they''re superior just because they became an Exalted God. Tsk tsk! Though, if I knew she would turn out like this, I wouldn''t have trained her." "Well, what''s done is done. Let''s see how it will proceedˇ­ if things go out of order, be ready to rescue Arthur but get rid of that ARK." The Joker shrugged his shoulders and replied "I know I know, you don''t have to nag all day long." "Ohohoho ain''t this a surprise." An old voice interrupted their conversation, it was soon followed by two figures which appeared from the void and stood before the two brothers. One was a thin and pale-skinned old man wearing a black robe and the other was a young woman with jet black hair and cold air emanating from her body, more precisely, her Dantian. Seeing the two guests, the Joker laughed and said "Lookie here, it''s the dumb fucker!" Leiu maintained his silence but he was giving an unfriendly look to Death, who was smiling back at the two of them. "Is that how you''re supposed to be talking to an entity that could end your life?" "Hahahahahaha I''d like to see you try!" The Joker held his deck of cards and walked closer to the short elderly. Death didn''t back off as he started emitting an archaic and withered aura, however, their exchange was short-lived as Anastassia intervened. "Master, this isn''t why we''re here." Death gazed back at the smiling Joker for a few more seconds before letting out a cough and backing out while glancing at Leiu, who was giving him a truly chilling glare. "Thoroughly think about what you''ll do next because I don''t give second chances."-Leiu Hearing this, the old man chuckled and replied: "Don''t worry, I''m not going to interfere, I just came here because my disciple begged me to come here." He turned to look at the massive undead army and commented: "As this rate, I don''t doubt the win of your friend, however, there are a lot of prying eyes and they''re all waiting for the perfect moment to show themselves." ******** *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* As if things couldn''t get worse, a series of long explosions were heard by the busy Katrina, who was finally gaining the upper hand against the two mythical beings. Those explosions originated from the residential area of the clan and the moment she turned her head, she saw a truly shocking sight. At first, it was a powerful tremor followed by countless cracks that split the ground and swallowed many of the houses. However, this was but the beginning, it was like there was a humongous beast devouring the whole area as it started sinking underground. Even the tall and majestic pagodas weren''t spared and started slowly crumbling. Katrina tried to fly there to stop it to be stopped yet again but not by Radolf and Midolf. The unsettling sky was covered by countless Dark Arrows which all descended upon the Matriarch, each one stronger than the last. In retaliation, Katrina raised her hand and clutched the air and pulled it, diverting the directions of the incoming arrows and even shattering a few in the process. Just as the arrows were easily deflected, a golden beam flew straight at her head, intending to finish her. Just like earlier, she made use of her racial flames to block the golden slash which wasn''t strong enough to cause her any worry. Arthur, who has been throwing long-ranged attacks, retreated a few hundred meters then raised Makaze, intending to unleash the first wave of [Thousand Waves]. As for Katrina, she grew annoyed so she pointed her index at Arthur and fired bullet-like projectiles which were covered in illusory white flames. Just as she counterattacked, an enormous tornado made of Midolf''s winds and Radolf''s blood magic spun around the Matriarch, distracting her. A rotten hand that was half the size of the double-headed lizard sprung from beneath Katrina and clutched her body, momentarily immobilizing her. Unfortunately, Katrina wasn''t playing around as both the rotten hand and the tornado was dispersed two seconds later. All she did was unleash the aura of the Exalted Aura, which was way superior to the duo''s combined skills. The projectile she threw at Arthur'' wasn''t intimidating but it had a terrifying amount of concentrated energy and was able to heavily injure Arthur if not kill him. Just as it was about hit him, a strange jet black cube appeared from nothingness and trapped him inside, protecting him from any exterior attacks. In addition to the cube, the ground started moving by itself and formed a dome around the cube. Last but not least, a wall of thick flames blocked the flying projectile, stopping its flight for a few seconds before crumbling. This was the handy-work of the Quad-Spirit, which finally showed itself and started retaliation against the Matriarch. Though it may not be as strong as Arthur, it is still powerful enough to threaten Overgods. **** "We pray that you grant us your acceptance!" The oldest of the monks said those words and the other repeated it while closing their eyes and holding the golden rope-like object in their hands. This artifact was emitting more and more golden light, becoming more noticeable even from afar. Furthermore, a terrifying blood-red gate started appearing above them, it was covered in dried blood in all sides and thick black chains were wrapped around it, stopping it from opening. A chilling and savage aura was seeping through the small gaps in the gates but it wasn''t threatening, it only indicated that whatever was behind this gate was a monstrosity, something that shouldn''t exist. "Amitabha! We seek the path of enlightenment and purify whatever evil enters our world!" Slowly but surely, the chains wrapped around the gates started loosening and the dried blood was becoming fresh and disgusting. The smell was nauseating and the savage aura lingering around the gate was mentally damaging. If you look closely, you''ll see that there are exactly seven chains sealing the closed-shut red gate. All seven were loosened by they were still acting as a seal and it falls on the senior monks to temporarily snap the chains. "A Mi Tuo Fo! Our faith is the price, our heart is the path! Break the first Heaven!" Just as the oldest monk finished his prayer, one of the chains started wriggling before it snapped in half and fell down. As that happened, the closed gate opened by a bit, causing a suffocating heat to come out from within and spread into the sky, however, it was quickly absorbed by the golden rope the monks were tightly holding. ***** The projectile thrown by Katrina only managed to destroy the flame barrier and the dome, as for the black cube, it was still unscathed. Arthur, who was inside, raised Makaze and swung it down, splitting the cube in two and turning the sky jet black. A malevolent energy revolved around the dark blade before it was unleashed as a strike targeting the Matriarch. Unlike her previous actions, she took this attack quite seriously as she flew straight at the incoming black arc and clashed with it with her bare hands. She was trying to use brute force to break it but it was useless as Dark Magic seeped into her body and caused her to let out a painful groan. Unfortunately, the Dark Magic was quickly expelled out of her body and the first wave was successfully blocked. Arthur wasn''t a person sit around and watch after he unleashed an attack, in fact, the moment he finished the first wave, he waved Makaze five more times, sending creepy looking black skulls flying at the silver-haired woman. Furthermore, dozens of detonators followed the flying skulls and once they were close enough to her, they all exploded. Sadly, the woman''s defense was unbreakable by such attacks and her white flames were able to deflect almost everything. It was then that Radolf and Midolf made their move, each attacking from one side. The lizard changed his form and became a youth, as for Midolf, he transformed into an invisible figure that merged with the wind. Using his red halberd, Radolf stabbed Katrina while Midolf latched himself into Arthur, greatly boosting his movement speed. In addition to the mythical being''s support, Arthur used a Space and Lightning Talisman, further increasing his Agility. Green Lightning covered him for a split second before it was replaced by black flames that were conjured by activating [Eternium]. As for the final touch, it was [Griffin''s Bloody Switch] which converted his Wisdom and Intelligence to Agility for some time. Arthur knew that despite the power of [Thousand Waves], he''ll have to unleash the latter waves and she''ll definitely not sit and watch as he starts casting them. So, the only way is to rely on pure, unmatched speed. Though she may be an Exalted God, there''s no way she can''t rival his Agility. One has to know that even the reincarnator, Losha, highly praised him for his speed. Chapter 490 - 439 : A Parasites Prowess 2 "Look at you, how are you any different from an abomination?" As she saw his transformation, Katrina uttered those words and grabbed the incoming halberd. She waved her hand and sent both Radolf and his weapon crashing into the ground, her actions were swift and seemed extremely natural as if she was blocking a punch from a baby rather than a deadly strike a creature of death. Arthur ignored his ''mother-in-law'' and spread his wings, one jet black like a bat''s and the other majestic and pure white like an angel''s. With Makaze in his hand, Arthur vanished from his spot and appeared before his opponent. He used the dark blade to stab her and despite her late reaction, the tip of Evil Wind was resisted by the white flames, which automatically moved on its own to protect its owner. Like a ghost, Arthur disappeared against and attack from the behind but his attack was once against resisted. Nonetheless, he kept attacking from all sides, his speed so fast that not even an Exalted God was able to follow him with her eyes. As he swung down the whistling dark blade, Radolf joined in and used his rotten hand to absorb a portion of the white flames, creating a small opening for his master. Arthur successfully grasped this opportunity and managed to slash Katrina. Though the blade cut her clothes and touched her skin, it still didn''t cause any blood to come out. Makaze was one of the sharpest blades that ever existed but the huge disparity in cultivation allowed her to remain unscathed even after being slashed down. She has a Celestial Body which is coated by a pure and dense amount of Nether Energy, so, to injure her, simply relying on continuous slashes won''t cut it. As Arthur vanished again, disappearing from the Matriarch''s sight, she clutched the air and pulled, causing the space to distort and pushing away the missing Arthur and Radolf. Both were flung dozens of meters away, unable to resist the sudden shift in the space fabric. She was merely using her high cultivation to launch simple attacks yet they were effective and dangerous, to say the least. Unexpectedly, Katrina was suddenly sent flying and crashed into the ground. A small bloody wound appeared on her back, indicating that Arthur''s previous blow was effective. Actually, the one who injured her wasn''t Arthur but Midolf, who went through the gap opened by Radolf and used his wind abilities to attack. He waited for her to counterattack and initiated and successful sneak-attack. Arthur''s different-colored wings started flapping at a rapid pace and emanating a grey and white auras which merged together and formed a strange whirlpool which slowly closed in on Katrina. Out of the blue, the woman released an ear-deafening screech just like earlier, however, this one was damaging. The sound waves were potent, shaking the ground and causing Radolf and Arthur to bleed from their ears and feel slightly dizzy. Radolf''s body became unstable as he fell on one knee and held his head, however, Arthur''s managed to resist this ''stun debuff'' thanks to the passives he gained from possessing the White Tiger. Fortunately, her screeching was cut short and a black cube rose from the ground and trapped her inside, blocking the spreading sound waves. The Quad-Spirit was aware that one cube wasn''t nearly enough so it continuously conjured several cubes layered on top of each other. Moreover, as if it read his thoughts, the spirit opened a gap for Arthur to unleash one of his ultimate skills, Rizaki. He appeared before this minuscule gap and immediately used [Assault of Darkness] then activated a Rizaki that was fueled by the Vermilion Bird''s flames. [Assault of Darkness] would trap the target in a world of darkness for 10 seconds, however, considering the difference between the caster and the target, it''ll only last for two or three seconds at most. Those three long seconds quietly passed and when Katrina was freed from that skill, she saw a very small speck of red light that was emitting dangerous heat. Before she could free or get rid of it, the speck of red light exploded, shattering the layered black cubes and pushing Arthur and Radolf a couple of hundred meters. It was like a firework show as the orange flames rose to the sky and spread to all directions like a raging sea. The clouds were dispersed and the sky turned red, furthermore, you could see an enormous crater at the very center of the explosion. Standing at the center of the crater was a single silhouette, covered in orange and white flames. The orange flames lasted only for a few seconds before they were overpowered by Katrina''s fire, nonetheless, some of her clothes were burned and her usually snow-white skin was a bit blackened. While Katrina was getting rid of the remnant fire resulted from Rizaki, Arthur disappeared from the area and in just a matter of seconds, traveled all around the battlefield, throwing what seemed to be over-sized gas bombs. The gas bombs exploded in the air and transformed into a green fog that covered the whole place. In less than a minute, this fog started showing pleasant results as the white specters were weakened and started coughing a bit of blood. Though the effects of these gas bombs were minimal, any slight distraction would cause to one''s death in such a bloody battle. Plus, the undead had the advantage in number and they could fight for days so it was only a matter of time before all the white specters are wiped. Up to this moment, six hundred white specters were killed, which is not a big number considering that more than 25 million skeletons were defeated. The stronger white specter could obliterate thousands of the normal skeletons in one sweep so it is not surprising to see such Arthur''s army suffer such a big loss, nevertheless, the Divine Beasts are still here and there are much, much more skeletons still ''alive'' and kicking. ***** After throwing the bombs, Arthur was planning to return to Katrina only to stop flying and raise a Dark Barrier. He used [Faster Than Death] while leaving a Shadow Clone in his original position. His instantaneous reaction to the incoming danger was spot on as the Shadow Clone was engulfed in white flames and vanished a second later. Relying on his fast speed, Arthur was about to distance himself only for a suffocating pressure to immobilize him. Katrina appeared before him and was about to grab him only for thick black chains to appear from within Arthur''s chest and attempt to hit her the enemy. Sadly, the chains were crushed by her ever-increasing pressure, however, it wasn''t the end as a large double-headed lizard came flying from the back and hit the Matriarch. In response, she used one hand to completely stop Radolf''s charge then she kicked him, shattering many of his bones. Growing annoyed by him, Katrina raised her hand and faced her palm toward the falling mythical beings, trying to kill him once and for all. A beam of red light emitted from her palm and went straight at Radolf but when it was just about hit him, an invisible gale of wind appeared in between the two and diverted the beam''s direction with great difficulty. Midolf, who faced the beam head-on, was also flung away, however, he quickly regained his senses and started healing himself as the red beam contained some sort of malicious kind of energy which was rapidly spreading inside all of his body, aiming straight at his vital spots. After getting rid of the two annoying defenders, Katrina turned her head toward Arthur, who didn''t seem too anxious despite being bound by her. "When I learned that you''re alive, I could''ve given chase but I didn''t, do you know why?" Arthur chuckled and replied: "Look around you, are you really in a position to be this bossy?" He glanced at the residential area of the clan, which turned into a mess as half of it suck underground and the other half was hit by the flame Rizaki and received much collateral damage. Katrina kept staring at him and raised her hand and swung down, clearly about to stab his chest. She didn''t want to kill him but to destroy his cultivation by shattering his Dantian and ripping his Meridians. Just as she was about to do that, Arthur said "Stop." Unexpectedly, her hand stopped mid-way but it wasn''t because she listened to his words. In fact, Katrina found herself unwillingly obeying his order. It was an uncontrollable thing, the unique power of the dragons; Dragons words. It is like Pride''s ability yet different, and the good thing about it is that it works on almost anyone. If a mortal had a strong mental power, he could subdue an Overgod with just dragon words, however, no mortal could use this ability, after all, it is only meant for dragons. Though, Arthur is an exception since he''s a parasite. Chapter 491 - 440 : Cornered 1 Using the language of dragons is one thing and mastering is a completely another thing. Arthur may be able to use thanks to the System''s support but there are limits and he only managed to learn a few words, and amongst them, only ''stop'' is useful in this current situation. Thankfully, it worked wonders and managed to stop Katrina from doing anything. She just stood there, stupefied and unable to even lift a finger. As stared at her helpless state, Arthur, who was still covered in black flames, flashed a creepy grin and added: "Though I cannot deny your resemblance to Lucy in terms of looks and behavior, at least she''s not delusional like you. You can''t expect to live a happy life with your so-called ''family'' after everything you''ve done, there''s no ''redemption'' or ''forgiveness''." "Shut your mouth, parasite." "Mad, are we? You refuse to hear the bitter truth and blindly do whatever you feel is right regardless of others'' feelings." The Matriarch gritted her and gave him a venomous glare as if she''s about to eat devour him alive. "What do you know?! I treasure my family and would stop at nothing to secure them a good life." In response, Arthur scoffed at her and slowly but surely started moving his body. The ''shackles'' binding his body were weakening and very soon, he''ll be freed. His two large wings wrapped around him and shone with different lights. One landed on Arthur, healing his body and increasing his recovery while the other circled around the woman then stuck into her skin. A Few seconds later, Arthur''s body started shaking then released a burst of energy, breaking him free, at last. However, before he could take the first step, Katrina''s hand lunged toward him and grabbed his neck though a third her arm started showing signs of withering. The light emanating from his black wing was withering magic, a rare attribute that is a sub-category of Death Magic. In a matter seconds, her hand started feeling numb as the blood circulation was halted and her bones started becoming soft, nevertheless, her grip around his neck remained tight. "For the sake of your past relationship with my daughter, I was planning to only cripple you, however, I''ve changed your mind. Your kind has no place in this place, begone." Just as she said that, she was about to finish his life only for a yell to come from afar, attracting the attention of both Katrina and Arthur. Upon turning her head, Katrina was shocked to see Thordan and her daughter, Lucy. Her ex-husband was surrounded by multiple figures, each with a high cultivation, there was even the Overgod who captured Lucy. This ''father'' of her daughters was holding a needle to Lucy''s throat while glaring at Katrina. "Stop, Katrina!" What the Matriarch didn''t understand was why Thordan was stopping her from killing Arthur. As far as she knew, the two didn''t know each other and were definitely not friends. Though she may be strong, with the presence of the unusual Overgod standing behind Thordan, she didn''t attempt any risky moves, fearing that it''ll lead to her daughter''s death. In fact, even Arthur was flabbergasted when he saw this scene. He didn''t know Lucy was abducted, and that it was her own father who did this heinous act. Feeling the close proximity of its target and the rising anger of its partner, Makaze started vibrating intensely while releasing ghastly cries. "I need him alive so you better hand him over right now!" While pointing at Arthur, Thordan stated that then glanced at his needle, clearly threatening his wife, who was giving him a chilling glare, unlike anything he had ever seen. Although he was afraid, he didn''t back off for he knew she wouldn''t try to save her daughter in this situation and the only thing she could do is comply. While Katrina was trying to come up with a solution, Arthur already started instructing Midolf and Radolf to start acting and safe Lucy no matter the cost. It was apparent that Lucy was in no condition to fight, her face was paler than usual and she seemed to be absent-minded as her gaze was locked onto Arthur. The more time passed, the more impatient Thordan grew. When half a minute passed and he saw the lack of response from his wife, he yelled again "You better listen to me or else I''ll end her life and I can guarantee you it''ll be a painful death!" The Matriarch was aware that Thordan was not a good father but she never expected him to stoop so low and threaten her to kill his daughter if she doesn''t obey him. It was truly twisted and disgusting. In the end, Katrina decided to comply and let go of Arthur. She let out a sigh and backed away while letting Arthur fly toward Thordan, who raised his other hand and warned him "You better not try anything fishy, I only need to push it a little deeper and she''ll die." Arthur nodded his head and deactivated all his active skills, returning to his original appearance. As she slowly made his way toward Lucy and Thordan, countless thoughts rampaged inside of his head. A mutual exchange of glance between him and Lucy was enough to establish a simple plan. He knew what Thordan needed him for and he definitely won''t remove the mark, in fact, he''ll kill him. However, saving Lucy took full priority. The only thing Arthur was wary of was the man behind Thordan, he was an Overgod but he seemed kind of different and very dangerous. The man seemed calm even in such a tense situation, he even smiled at Arthur while slightly bowing his head. The distance between the two parties grew shorter and Katrina who was far away still hasn''t given up. The moment Lucy is released, she''ll make her move and dispose of both Arthur and Thordan. After one full minute, Arthur arrived before the father and Lucy, he stabbed Makaze on the scorched ground then raised his hands while saying "I''m here so how about you let her go?" Thordan laughed and retorted "When you properly do your job, I''ll release her." He raised his hand, pulled his sleeve and revealed an ominous mark on top of his right hand. "All I want you to do is remove this mark." Arthur frowned and said back: "How can I trust your words? You either release her now or I won''t do a thing." Thordan creased his brows and pondered for a moment before turning around and pushing Lucy toward the Overgod before saying "Kill her if anything happens." The man nodded his head and put his head over her head and gazed at Arthur, who was pleased with this result. Nonetheless, he walked toward the fragile Thordan and raised his hand, acting as if he''s really going to remove the mark. Meanwhile, the people escorting Thordan all unsheathed their weapons and got close to Arthur, each of them pointing at his vital spots, ready to strike at any given second. "Are you this afraid of me that resort to such extreme means? Hehehehe, I''m your ''son-in-law'', how could I even think of hurting you?" Arthur innocent smile and truthful words were but a comical act which Thordan didn''t buy as he lashed out at the former: "Stop babbling and remove the mark!" Arthur''s stretched hand suddenly shifted direction and gripped his victim''s neck while the invisible Midolf wonderfully did his job and sent all the escorts flying away. Still holding Thordan, Arthur glanced at the silent Overgod and said "Release her or I''ll kill him." In response, the Overgod unexpectedly shrugged his shoulders and replied: "He''s my employer and my job is to kill her if anything happens and not protect his life." Then, without any hesitation, the Overgod''s hand released a dark light which struck Lucy''s head, causing her to limply fall on the ground. Chapter 492 - 441 : Cornered 2 "Noo!" Arthur threw away Thordan''s body and jumped at the man, who vanished almost instantaneously. Arthur didn''t give chase but crouched next to Lucy and held her body, which was incredibly cold and lacking a constant pulse. Whatever the man just used on her, it was killing her life and Arthur was completely helpless. His hand shone with a golden light as he activated his healing skills and used Life Energy but it was all pointless as it it wasn''t able to stop whatever was ending his wife''s life. A white-haired youth appeared beside Arthur and leaned his head closer, sniffing her for a few moments before muttering "It''s destroying her muscles and bones!" The plan was for Lucy to use her eye ability to temporarily freeze the Overgod then Arthur would teleport to save her. He never thought that the mysterious man would be so decisive, he didn''t even care about Thordan''s life. ''You''re knowledgeable! Fix this!'' Arthur talked to Claud, who remained silent ever since the fight began. ''I can''t just clap my hands and save her life! I need to diagnose her.'' After pausing for a slight second, Claud said ''Forfeit ownership of the ARK, quick!'' ''I do! I forfeit ownership of the ARK!'' Just as he said that, the rotating cube inside Arthur''s consciousness changed forms, becoming a weird grey triangle. It exited his consciousness and landed on Lucy''s chest before slowly melting inside her body. Claud knew how desperate Arthur was so he had to resort to such extreme measures. In fact, Arthur could barely think straight, however, he wasn''t the only one who was panicking. Katrina, who was at the back, was also shocked by the unfolding events. As she saw her daughter''s limp body, she charged toward her but was blocked by Radolf and Midolf, who were determined to stop her. "Move out of the way! I don''t plan to fight!" The two didn''t reply, they just retrieved their weapons and took a fighting stance. They could sense Arthur''s desperation and unstable emotions and it is their job to protect him until Lucy''s life is saved. "I SAID MOVE!" Katrina''s energy burst forth, pushing away the two mythical beings and rendering them unable to even get close to her. With lightning-speed, she headed toward Lucy only for a malevolent dark aura to clash with her, stopping her from advancing any further. A violent energy was revolving around Arthur, boosting his stats and allowing him to face Katrina head-on. He didn''t need to talk or explain his actions, he just stood there, Makaze in hand, while glaring at the Matriarch. "I have the means to save her so stop blocking me." Time is pressing so pointlessly clashing with him will only cause her to lose her daughter, whom she got back after a very long search. Unfortunately, Arthur wasn''t going to comply as he had complete faith in Claud and knew that his copy will be able to get rid of whatever was killing her. With a distressed expression, Katrina kept glancing at Lucy, whose body started floating in the air before a strange-looking cocoon enveloped her. The cocoon was unlike anyone had ever seen, it was made of strange black metal engraved with countless changing numbers, basically, it resembled the technology used by the System. A few more seconds passed before an inexplicable thing happened. The Matriarch, whose attention was on her daughter, was suddenly pushed back a hundred or so meters and when she looked at what caused this disturbance, she was shocked to see a large purple orb rotating above Arthur. She has lived for a very long time and the savage and dangerous aura emanating from the orb cannot be faked. Katrina wasn''t the only one who recognized the orb, the praying monks were also surprised but they were focused on praying so they didn''t dare to comment. On the other hand, the prying eyes watching the fight from afar finally showed their true colors and decided to jump in. They didn''t expect Arthur to be in possession of such a priceless treasure and only wanted to ''aid'' Katrina at the end of the fight to reap some benefits later on. Who would have thought the infamous orb would appear here out of all places. Several lights flew across the red sky and appeared around Arthur, each and everyone had a threatening aura. To make matters worse, these people brought with them small armies that well-equipped and nothing to scoff at. These armies joined the white specters and started fighting the skeletons. Aborak, who just got done dealing with the annoying fishmen, was surprised as a thick and long chain fell from the sky and hit several thousand skeletons, obliterating them and even ripping the large zombies in half. The thick chain drilled into the ground and linked the earth with the slowly opening gate. ******** Including Katrina, three more people appeared around Arthur, gazing at the orb above him with greedy eyes. "To think the Orb of the Fallen Overgods is here!" A woman wearing tight dark blue clothes commented while crossing her arms and inspecting the rotating purple orb. "It is to be expected for an abomination to possess such an evil thing. Today, it will be purified by the Dominion!" A bald old man with a small white beard raised his cane and was about to attack only to be interrupted by the last ''guest''. It was a man clad in white armor, he had long black hair and was holding a long silver sword. He was a famous figure in the Divine Planet as well as all of the Cloud Sea Universe. He belonged to the Cloud Sea Sect and was called Marshall Albert, known for his chivalry and kind spirit. "This item is confiscated by the Cloud Sea Sect, no one is allowed to interfere." Unlike the two others, his words seemed genuine and he didn''t harbor any greed toward the orb. Though shocked, Katrina didn''t join them and decided to back away, heading toward the cocoon enveloping her daughter. As for Arthur, he warily stared at the new enemies, not daring to do any sudden moves. All of them seemed to be as strong as Katrina and they were all focused on him, which left him in a dire and tricky situation, nevertheless, he is not going to give up. In fact, Arthur very much wanted to chase after the man who attacked Lucy and finish him but he couldn''t as the latter seemed to have vanished. Furthermore, the sudden reaction caused by the orb worsened the whole situation. ******** ''X'' just appeared in the stormy area around the Divine Planet, he suddenly glanced at one specific direction while saying "It''s finally time for our reunion, O''my dear Arthur!" He was about to bypass the raging winds and enter the planet only for a lonely silhouette to block his way. Upon seeing who it was, ''X'' frowned and clicked his tongue, clearly unhappy to see whoever was in front of him. "Look, we don''t have any enmity between us and I''m not in the mood to fight you so let us part ways peacefully." The figure blocking ''X''''s way let out a sigh and retorted "I''m afraid that is not possible." "Hmpf! Don''t tell me you want the orb too?"-X "Want it? No. Need it? Yes." The man facing ''X'' was none other than the person always accompanying the Void Behemoth in the Underworld. He was a friend of Zodiak and was aware that the orb will act soon which is why he came here and patiently waited for X to come. "Well, it just so happens that I need it soˇ­" ''X'' retrieved a short grey cane and prepared himself to fight the opponent before him. The middle-aged man let out a chuckle and before the fight commenced, he uttered: "Of course you need it, after all, it''s the only existing artifact that is able to kill the Nameless Knight and knowing the feud between you two, it''s not surprising seeing you so desperately trying to get it." Not only is the orb capable of killing the Nameless Knight, but it can also but used to enter the Garden of Words one time. So it isn''t surprising to see top figures greedy about it. For the longest time, ''X'' had been hiding from Leiu for fear of being killed. He sought the orb, acquired it and even strengthened it, however, it needed to be charged by a mortal''s soul but not any mortal. This was the reason he forsook it to Arthur while planning to retrieve it later on. Unfortunately, he didn''t expect things to turn out this way, nevertheless, he finally located Arthur and the orb is ready to be used. ''X'' only needs to get his hands on it then go find the Nameless Knight to finish their feud and exact revenge. Chapter 493 - 441 : Those Forgotten 1 Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Arthur didn''t know to proceed. He had trump cards that could save his life but it''s a bit too soon to use them now, furthermore, all three enemies were focusing on him, rendering him unable to perform a sneak attack. When the Marshall stated his reason for coming here, the other two were displeased but didn''t object and maintained their silence. The man clad in armor started approaching Arthur, his face calm and his longsword hanging on his back. He only felt a bit threatened by the energy released by the orb, as for Arthur, he wasn''t considered a dangerous or worthwhile opponent. As the Marshall got closer to both Arthur and the rapidly rotating purple orb, a shooting black star came flying from afar and crashed into the Albert, causing him to be pushed back a few steps. However, this wasn''t the end as two other streaks of light followed right after, one clashing with the woman and the other with the old man from the Holy Dominion. The Archcardinal was suddenly struck by countless thunderbolts, stunning him for a split second before the incoming blue light clashed with him and flung him a distance away. As for the woman, she was more prepared than the old man as she swung down her whip in an attempt to block a small figure which tried to kick her away. After a few seconds cleared, everything became much clearer, revealing the identity of the new incomers. To Arthur''s big surprise, both Astrith and Saly were present, moreover, his daughter''s appearance drastically changed and the aura around her was unlike anything he''d ever seen. Her hair became much longer and snow white, her eyes blue as the sky, and face a bit mature than before. He was dumbstruck as he saw the little girl viciously kick the woman many times before backing away. Though she wasn''t able to injure her enemy, she was still able to grab her attention, buying him enough time to deal with the orb. Fortunately, he had his pain immunity active or else he would have felt an unimaginable pain as the rotating orb was affecting his body as well as his soul. Due to being linked to his consciousness for a long time, the orb formed some kind of reliance and its reaction was somehow changing his body. Whether it''s for the better or the worse, only time will tell. "Saly?" Arthur tried calling out for his daughter but he was interrupted by a black-haired man wielding two short swords. He was the one facing the Marshall and seemed to be much stronger than his two other companions, Astrith and Saly. He was none other than Wrath, one of the seven deadly sins and the personal guard of Isadore Marfront, King of Green-Leaf. In addition to these three, there was a sizable army composed of many cultivators which followed the trio shortly after. Leading this army was a familiar figure, a girl with long black hair and a red one-handed sword. Not long ago, she was appointed as the sect master of the Mountain Ba Sword Sect and after a bitter internal struggle, she finally decided to lend a hand and join forces with Isadore. Basically, she chose to bet on Arthur and hoped he''ll prevail against the White Specter Clan. "This is not the time for a happy reunion, hurry up and hide that damned orb!" Wrath shouted at Arthur then turned to face the Marshall, who was momentarily startled by his new opponent''s sudden appearance. "Sin, are you going to defy the Cloud Sea Sect?"-Albert Wrath shrugged his shoulders and retorted: "What I do has nothing to do with you crazy people. Now, why don''t we spice things up?" The dark-haired man grinned and charged at the Marshall, brandishing his swords and going all out. In a matter of seconds, the two started fighting, exchanging hundreds of attacks. The more Wrath fights, the stronger he gets, furthermore, he''s an ancient entity who battled countless people and is definitely not someone to underestimate. His speed may be slower than Arthur''s and his defense may be lower than Losha''s, however, he''s still one of the seven deadly sins and by no means he''s a pushover. A distance away from the two battling freaks, a large wolf covered in a dark blue fur was facing the old man from the Holy Dominion. "An unusual lightning beastˇ­ interesting." Unfazed by Astrith''s blue lightning and he''s ferocious appearance, the Archcardinal chuckled and raised a short golden cane while chanting a spell. Due to the urgency of the situation, neither Astrith nor Saly got to greet Arthur, they immediately started fighting their opponents, who are Exalted Gods. No matter how much they trained, the two of them weren''t as strong as their enemies, however, their reckless and almost suicidal way of fighting allowed them to hold on for a decent amount of time. The red sky was covered by a net of blue lightning and every few seconds, several red thunderbolts would rain from above, hitting the old man''s Holy Barrier. **** "My my, I''m not one to hurt little kids." The woman facing Saly seductively laughed while brandishing her long whip, she examined the little girl from head to toe before talking again "I have to say, your aura is special andˇ­ delicious." She licked her lips and swung her whip at Saly, who crossed her arms to block. The moving whip emitted deafening sounds as it whistled in the air and hit Saly, sending her flying dozens of meters away. The girl''s arms became bloody but this was nothing compared to the agonizing beating she endured from her merciless teacher. She may be in possession of a few powerful skills but the Joker repeatedly told her that relying on them will only hinder her. To win a fight or to kill the enemy, one must have fast reflexes and a calm mind capable of coming up with the best decisions no matter how desperate the situation was. Though she was flung away, Saly flew at her enemy with lightning speed and punched the woman, causing cracks in the space around the two of them and emitting violent wind waves. The woman raised her hand and easily grasped Saly''s fist while smiling, clearly not feeling threatened. The strength of the Exalted God was far beyond what Saly could handle, nonetheless, the little girl did something that shocked her enemy. Her fist still held by the enemy, Saly twisted her body then raised her lower half, kicking the woman''s head. A cracking sound could be heard as her harm bent in a weird way and her bones broke yet she didn''t even groan from the pain and focused all her strength in that kick. The close combat her teacher taught her is the peak of any martial arts and it allowed her to use a momentary burst of strength to injure enemies far above her level, or so said the Joker. ***** Meanwhile, the battle between the undead and the white specter grew fiercer as many variables were introduced. Jian Si led the army provided by Isadore and valiantly clashed with the reinforcement brought by the Holy Dominion. The Archcardinal only brought fifty or so Holy Knights but they were all Sovereigns and very well-equipped. Still, the girl dived straight into their ranks and crazily waved her sound around like a mad dog. Her murderous and violent sword essence slaughtered everything in her way, sparing nothing but the dead. As for the undead, their numbers drastically decreased and their forces were slowly breaking as the awakened white specters were struggling all their might. What made matters worse was an orderly squad of soldiers brought by the Marshall, they used large-sized cannons that released a burst of Holy Magic which pulverized thousands of undead at once, even the Bone Dragons weren''t spared and turned into nothingness. Fortunately, the Divine Beasts were almost done with the elders, they managed to defeat every last one of their enemy except the head elder, who was very resilient. What made him last long was an ancestral weapon provided by Katrina. It was a flute which could lock several targets in place and deplete them of all their energy. His constant use of the flute wore him out but he still persisted for a long time until Katrina finally appeared and lent a hand. She instructed him to guard the cocoon enveloping Lucy while she took care of the raging Divine Beasts. The constant flow of energy provided by the formation set by Arthur allowed them to endlessly. As long as the formation stands, none of the Divine Beasts would suffer a lack of energy hence their reckless and continuous use of powerful abilities. At this point in time, the whole place turned into a complete messˇ­ the winds raged, thunderbolts rained from the sky and flames danced from West to North. This place no longer resembled the once-majestic and beautiful White Specter Clan, chaos reigned all over and the body never ceased increasing. The strong fought the strong, the weak fought the weak and the nauseating stench of blood spread across the whole battlefield, sending shivers down the weak-willed ones. Amidst this grisly war, the prayers were heard and the cries were answered, and soon, the gates of Oblivion will open... Chapter 494 - 442 : Those Forgotten 2 When Katrina and the elder exchanged places, the Divine Beasts started having a hard time. An awakened White Specter which reached the Exalted God Realm is on whole other level than the old men they were fighting a while ago. Furthermore, the matriarch was determined to dispose of the four Divine and permanently weaken the undead army. Sadly, just as she was about to attack them, she caught the sense of a very familiar person. Upon stretching her sense a bit further, she was shocked to see a bound Angelina, who was covered by Dark Magic and only her face could be sen, barely. A pigolo was standing behind her daughter and staring right back at the matriarch with a fearless expression. He was certain of safety as long as Angelina is next to him. After all, Katrina wouldn''t dare risk her daughter''s life. While clenching her teeth and glaring at Gutcha then at the four Divine Beasts, she backed down but still kept an eye on the enormous beasts, keeping them in check and blocking their way. The situation reached a stalemate as the Divine Beasts surrounded Katrina while she crossed her arms and maintained her passive stance. "Matriarch, what are you doing? Finish those pests." The old Archcardinal shouted at Matriarch while blocking the endless blue thunderbolts descending at him. "I can''t, they have my daughter as a hostage." "Tsk" The old man clicked his tongue and pointed his cane at the four beasts before chanting a quick spell. The red sky above the Divine Beasts quickly became covered in arrows made of golden lights. The arrows rained down on the four monsters, however, they only lasted for a short time before a storm made of Death Energy absorbed half of them. A violent and invisible gale of wind shattered the other half, ending this dangerous and swift spell of the Archcardinal. After deflecting the old man''s attack, Radolf joined Astrith and Midolf stuck close to Saly. **** "I hate annoying brats like you!" The woman fighting Saly was seething with anger as a bloody injury could be seen on her shoulder. Her opponent was already covered in blood but she showed no signs of exhaustion, in fact, she became fiercer the more she fought, frightening the woman. The disadvantageous situation of Saly was gone the moment Midolf joined the battle. His supportive skills and deadly attacks were exactly what the little girl needed. "Don''t worry about avoiding her attacks, just kicks her motherfucking ass." Midolf whispered into Saly''s ears while gluing himself into her back and readying himself. Saly nodded her head, wiped the blood leaking out her lips and lunged at the annoyed woman. Another thorny whip appeared on the woman''s free hand, allowing her to attack the incoming little figure with two lightning-fast whips. The crisp sound of the swinging whips and their speed were just too much for Saly. She closed her eyes and raised her hand, intending to receive the blow head-on only for her body to be pushed by a gentle gust of wind, surprisingly allowing her to dodge the snake-like whip. The girl''s fist started glowing with a silvery light which then went all the way to her shoulder and covered all of her arms. Midolf, who was on her back, used his wind skills to push her faster toward the enemy, rendering the enemy unable to back away in time or retract her whips to block. Nonetheless, the woman was still an Exalted God, she let go of the whips and flashed a bracelet at the incoming Saly. A pink color emanated from the bracelet and within a split second, a pink dome enveloped the woman and protected her from the enemy. Saly''s bright fist clashed with the pink dome, shattering it instantly and hitting the woman''s abdomen. Though the power behind Saly''s punch was monstrous, it was still unable to heavily injure a Celestial Body. Nevertheless, the woman was pushed back a few steps and held her stomach while groaning in pain. As for Saly, she jumped back and held her fist, feeling a bit of pain. It felt like she hit a metal wall rather than someone''s body. ******* The Orb of the Fallen Overgods'' spinning speed never ceased increasing. It was rotating so fast that it became hard to see it, furthermore, a pillar of light was unleashed by the orb, piercing the bloody canopy and continuing all the way up, seemingly about to grab the high heavens. Arthur, who was the center of this all, was still unable to move freely, however, something strange started to happen outside and inside of his consciousness. The bright blob of light inside of his consciousness started pulsating with a purple light, clearly in synch with the strange orb. However, this wasn''t everything, the stranger occurrence was the countless cries coming from within him. They reverberated across the whole battlefield and alerted everyone. The cries were a mix of monsters and humans but one thing they had in common is that they were ear-deafening and filled with a suffocating aura. After a few minutes passed, illusory images started appearing next to Arthur, each had a different form, size, and color. There were bears, wolves, fish, dragons, gargoyles, humans, etcˇ­ As he witnessed this sight, Arthur was confused and very much wanted an explanation, which he isn''t going to get, of course. The countless appearing forms around him were resonating with the big orb above him and granting him unimaginable power. It was different from the increase in states or cultivation, this felt distinct and heavily relying on his soul. His physical prowess remained the same but he could feel his sense stretching farther than the whole battlefield, moreover, he could clearly pinpoint anyone''s location and the state of their soul. In a way, this was like an upgraded state of the past Ethereal state as it calmed his mind and relieved him of all his anxiousness. Very soon, a blinding light emitted from his chest before it transformed into a flashing silhouette. Holding a golden sword in one hand and a white shield in the other, a blond-haired chivalrous knight stood before Arthur and faced all the other surprised enemies. This was none other than Curtis, who heard his master''s call and summoned himself to do his duty. "A T-transcendent knight?" The Archcardinal was flabbergasted when he saw Curtis and felt the Holy aura revolving around him. In comparison, his aura was like contaminated trash which could only disintegrate before the knight''s brilliance. "You can rest at ease, I will take care of them." Curtis bowed toward Arthur before he focused his gaze on the surprised old man, who even forgot the existence of Radolf and Astrith. The two beasts used this opportunity to strike the Archcardinal. In addition to the blue tail Astrith had, two other tails suddenly appeared, one covered in purple lighting and the other in red thunder. The wolf howled loudly before he transformed into a bolt of multi-colored lightning which rose high-up and became part of the interconnected thunderbolts dominating the sky. As for Radolf, his two creepy looking heads bit each other and strangely became one. The newly formed head, made of only blackened bones, opened its humongous mouth and unleashed a death storm. Every passing second, the death storm became larger in size until it reached the lightning-covered sky. With the old man as its center, the death storm depleted the old man of his Holy Magic and created a path for Astrith to strike. From within the net of lightning, An enormous wolf covered in red thunder descended and like a falling meteor, struck the Archcardinal, who appropriate retaliated despite being stuck in a tight spot. He made use of the Holy Chapters and summoned several white silhouettes which surrounded him and blocked Astrith''s way. Loud and deafening thunderclaps resounded across the whole area and when everything cleared, you could see a lonely figure standing amidst the charred ground and corrupted earth. It was none other than a bloody old man who waved his cane around, quickly healing himself while spitting some blood. Unfortunately for him, Curtis appeared dozens of meters away and raised his sword above his head and swung down, showing no hesitation or mercy. The old man, surprised by Curtis'' antagonistic actions, tried to explain himself only to be cut down by Curtis'' slash and being engulfed by a golden light. After several seconds, there Archcardinal was no more and Curtis'' figure became a bit illusory, after all, he expanded quite a bit of energy to kill an Exalted God. Astrith and Radolf may have injured the old man but the latter could have healed himself and continued to fight. Curtis'' decisive slash was what mattered most in the previous battle. What was left now was the woman fighting Saly. As for Marshall Albert, he won''t be able to escape from Wrath anytime soon. They drifted far away from the battlefield but the collateral damage caused by their violent fight could be felt even from this place. Literally, it was a battle between two old and undying warriors and to expect to see a victor this early in this fight is but wishful thinking. Chapter 495 - 443 : For you 1 Although he managed to kill an Exalted God once, it is unlikely that Curtis will be able to do it a second time. After disposing of the Archcardinal, the Transcendent Knight shifted his attention to the woman fighting Saly. Meanwhile, Arthur started rampage down below. He was like a raging beast, transforming into different creatures and wreaking havoc inside of enemy lines. One second, he''s a dragon spitting a sea of flames and the other he''s a huge metal golem stomping on the specter and slaughtering his way through the countless opponents. He was like a killing God, unstoppable and unbeatable. He was way stronger than the awakened specters or the Holy Knights so, for a while, he killed thousands of them until he was resisted by the Marshall''s army. They were unafraid of the parasite as they brandished their bloody weapons and surrounded him, each one of them throwing powerful skills and tried to pin Arthur down. ******** Far away from the battlefield, Death caressed his beardless chin and muttered "Is that the infamous Metamorphosis of Zaarae? It''s my first time seeing it." The Joker, who was also watching his brother''s onslaught, nodded his head and said: "It''s not complete but it''s indeed the Metamorphosis state. When a parasite can immediately take the form of a host he previously possessed, basically, literally becoming said host. It''s one of the abilities that contributed to Zaarae''s rise in power." Death glanced at the Joker and asked: "Though, I''m still curious about how your brother managed to get his hands on her powers. It happened before my ascension so I couldn''t get a glimpse of it." Hearing this, Leiu snorted and retorted: "Hmpf! It''s better than you didn''t see a thing. Your babbling mouth causes too much trouble already. Also, some things are better left forever in the dark." As if he remembered something, Death faced the Nameless Knight and asked: "Speaking of the past, I''m curious about the feud between you and ''X''. Just what did he do to you to make you chase him all around the Multiverse?" The old man ended up receiving a chilling glare from the pale-faced youth, who refused to answer and stretched his hand and grabbed Death by his neck. The thin old man continuously coughed as he was being suffocated, however, a creepy grin was plastered on his face. "What? You want to kill me? Go ahead and try." Anastassia tried to interfere only to be stopped by the Joker, who grabbed her shoulder and shook his head. "Better stay put, little bird." Still smiling, Death glanced at the far away Arthur and added: "I wonder what brother of yours will do if he has to choose between you and his dear wifeˇ­ will he destroy that orb so that no one can kill you or will he use it to save himself and his wife?" ˇ­ Unbeknownst to Leiu and co, Arthur, who was busy fighting, actually heard their conversation thanks to the boost in his sense provided by the rotating orb. Their conversation was cut short but its contents greatly shocked him and made stop moving for a few seconds, causing him to be bombarded by all kinds of deadly spells. Unfortunately for his enemies, Arthur regained his senses soon after and transformed into a sharp which dived underground then shifted form again, becoming a large venomous plant which stretched its vines and bound numerous of his enemies. The vines pierced the armored soldiers and amputated their limbs, finishing more than third of them in one attack. ***** Outside of the Divine Planet, the battle between ''X'' and the middle-aged man didn''t last for long as the former made use of his Time abilities to emerge victorious. Despite his blurred face, his mocking laugh showed how pleased as he stared at the half-kneeling man before him. ''X'' was totally unscathed by the man was in a terrible state, his legs trembling and his skin wrinkled due to a long passage of time. ''X'' wasn''t interested in his enemy and was about to enter the Divine Planet at last only for his whole left arm to be amputated without his realization. He only reacted to this sudden act after a few seconds. Lots of blood gushed out of his shoulder yet he didn''t seem to be bothered. He lifted his face and focused on a large winged beast which seemed unaffected by the violent storms in the surroundings. Next to the winged figure was a grey-haired man staring back at ''X''. Although he looked slightly different, ''X'' was able to recognize the man with just a glance, this made him burst in loud laughter, unable to hold back his excitement. "What a pleasant reunion!"-X Arthur nodded his head and said: "Indeed, what better place for two ''friends'' to meet after a long time." ''X'' inspected Arthur and immediately knew that he wasn''t the same one leading the army. Not only did he not have the orb, but he was also much stronger and emanated a different aura. "I''m quite in a hurry, you see, soˇ­ what brings you here? If it''s not too urgent, I say we schedule our happy reunion for later." Arthur crossed his arms, focused his gaze on ''X''s blurry face and spoke: "As crooked as your actions were, I cannot deny that your intervention was timely and helpful to me." ''X'' clapped his hands and said back: "So you know I meant you no harm! Then why do I sense a bit of hostility?" "Quite simple, actually. I cannot let you have the orb, not now, not in the future." ''X'' spread his head innocently and replied: "I don''t get you, Arthur. Our paths happened to cross but that doesn''t mean we have to be enemies. You live your life and I mine, there''s no need for needless and pointless fights." As he listened to ''X'', Arthur let out a sigh and asked: "Then, just to confirm, let me ask you, what do you plan to do with the orb?" "ˇ­" All he got as a reply was total silence as ''X'' stood there and gazed at Arthur. Expecting not to hear an answer, Arthur added: "You want to use the orb''s power to kill the Nameless Knight, am I right?" "Why do you care?" "I just care." As if he couldn''t wait any longer, ''X'' tried to bypass Arthur and directly enter the Divine Planet. He began slowly turning illusory and just when he about to disappear, Yamak flapped his silver wings and disturbed the Space, negating ''X'' ability and pushing him out of the hidden dimension he was going to use. "Do you really want to do this?"-X His tone became a bit irritated and his aura started manifesting. The blood gushing out of his shoulder froze mid-air and his amputated arm slowly went back to its original place. Put simply, X rewound time, easily recovering from the injury caused by the dragon. ******* Back on the battlefield, Arthur felt conflicted and didn''t know what to do exactly. At this point in time, the orb was slowly merging with his soul, soon to become one with it. However, that doesn''t mean it can''t be taken away in the future. Someone well-versed in Souls can still separate the orb and use it for his own benefits, like ''X'', for example. From within the ground, he gazed at the spinning orb and thought for what seemed to be an eternity before he resolutely took his decision. ''Do it, Makaze!'' The dark blade heard its partner''s call and immediately started acting. A black shadow sprung from the ground and released a loud roar, scaring off the nearby enemies and mentally dizzying them for a few seconds. Evil Wind transformed into its real appearance, a lengthy blade fit for a giant.It was covered in black flames and its hilt had archaic runes engraved on it. Once the Gale Devourer, the blade rose in the air and unleashed its flames in the sky, casting a dark shadow on this whole area and limiting everyone''s vision. This abrupt and strange actions of the dark blade alerted everyone, including Leiu and the Joker. The man wearing a weird white costume was shocked by Makaze''s actions. He advanced one stop and was about to stop the ominous blade only for his brother to stop him. "Leiu, why are you being like this?!" "You cannot interfere." The youth''s tone was serious as he held back Wolfram and shook his head. In response, the Joker clenched his fists and retorted "Don''t you fucking see what that blade is doing? It''s going to shatter the orb!" "It is his decision, you should respect it." Leiu didn''t mind the Joker''s outburst. He kept a calm demeanor while locking gazes with the frustrated trickster. "What do you mean, respect it? It''s bloody connected to his soul, shattering it is fatal to him!" The Joker retrieved a card and was about to raise his hand only to be forcibly stopped. The hand gripping his shoulder tightened, rendering him unable to take another step or activate his card. "I cannot tolerate any of your recklessness right now, stay put!" The Joker glared back at his brother but ended up putting the card away. Chapter 496 - 444 : For you 2 Marshall Albert was the first to notice Makaze''s behavior and was able to guess the blade''s intentions. He brandished his longsword and clashed with Wrath, pushing him back a few steps before saying "The Cloud Sea Sect will make sure your ''King'' will be given a deserving punishment." In response, the sin spat on the ground and retorted "Hah! I''d like to see you try!" In reality, the Marshall truly wanted to acquire the orb and bring it back to his sect, however, he was unlucky enough to meet a tough opponent who wouldn''t budge. Furthermore, the longer he fought Wrath, the more disadvantageous the situation became. The Marshall was the strongest person on the battlefield but he never expected to be stopped by one of the seven sins. If he knew beforehand that Isadore will side with Arthur, he would''ve brought another Marshall. Now, the orb is about to be shattered and all hopes of acquiring it will be lost not only to the Marshall but also to the woman battling Saly. Seeing more enemies gang up on her, the woman finally went all out. She transformed into an enormous pink-ish snake covered in lengthy scales. In fact, she resembled a wingless dragon more than a snake but her loud hissing and sharp and tall fangs protruding out of her mouth were distinct features of a snake. Despite her large body, she was as fast as lightning, attacking all three opponents at once. Saly was supported by Midolf, who used his abilities to protect the little girl. As for Curtis, he raised his shield and took the hit head-on, causing him to be sent flying to the back. The snake hit all three and dived straight at the Makaze, trying to stop it. Unfortunately, her path was stopped by two equally large beasts. Several thunderbolts landed on her but they did close to no damage, same thing for Radolf''s eternal black flames, which tried to burn the snake''s scales but failed. **** Makaze''s sharp tip was pointed at the large orb, it stopped a distance away from the ancient artifact and strangely stopped emitting its loud growls. After a few seconds passed, countless kinds of swords and sabers appeared around the Dark Blade, all pointing at the orb. When enough blades appeared, they all flew at the orb and stabbed it, Makaze hitting the very center and causing a small crack. Through the minuscule hole, a dense amount of savage energy leaked and shattered most of the blades stabbing the orb. In less than 5 seconds, only Makaze remained, unaffected by the savage energy which tried to push it away. ˇ­ Under the battlefield, Arthur was writhing in pain, he felt as if his soul was pierced and being pulled out of his body. The pain was unlike anything he had ever felt and it was slowly destroying both his body and consciousness. Numerous notifications errors popped in front of him, warning him of the consequences of his actions. The orb was tightly linked to his soul and shattering it by no means a beneficial thing. However, Arthur wasn''t going to kill himself just to destroy this artifact, he had a plan in mind. With the ARK gone, his last evolution was automatically canceled, causing him to become weakened and this was like a golden opportunity for him. If he can also get rid of the orb and immediately evolve, he can restore his body and heal his weakened and partially complete soul. While struggling and gripping his chest, Arthur raised his hand with great difficulty and tapped on the roof beneath his head. This simple movement activated the Elemental Wheel and moved the motionless arrow. The dark arrow started spinning like crazy until all the colors became jet black, completely changing the function of the formation. The wheel, which was initially under the undead, left its place and started floating in the air while releasing a malevolent darkness. This was supposed to act as a restraint for Katrina but Arthur was forced to use on the orb. The incredibly large black wheel became smaller in size until it matched the rotating orb, then it enveloped it like a dome. The black dome covered both Makaze and the orb, sealing both of them for a short amount of time. Arthur leaned against a wall and vomited some blood before opening his lips and mumbling with an inaudible voice "Consume and devour, destroy and empowerˇ­ the power to uplift the downtrodden, by the Dark Oath, I order you to feed!" *** "I can feel it! It''s him! Gluttony!" Wrath excitedly laughed while looking at the black dome above the battlefield. He could feel the nostalgic and familiar feeling of one of his past comrades, the fallen gluttony. It is not literally him but it''s his innate ability, the power to devour everything and anything. ˇ­ While it is true that the Orb of the Fallen Overgods was very beneficial to him, he still couldn''t keep it hidden with the risk of it being stolen and used against his brother. His actions may have been reckless but if it''s for the sake of his brother then it''s definitely worth it. Lucy was still stuck inside the cocoon and there was no response from Claud, however, he had no doubt that his copy will successfully pull Lucy from death''s grasp. As the situation was reaching its climax and the orb was going to be devoured by the awakened Makaze, the silent Katrina made a sudden move. She abruptly stretched her hand, bypassing all the hurdles in the way and getting hold of Arthur. Before the Divine Beasts could move, a large white hand was already holding Arthur. The Matriarch paid no attention to the surrounding beasts and directly glared at Gutcha, who was taking Angelina hostage. Though his boss was captured and could be killed by the Matriarch, Gutcha showed no fear or hesitation. Arthur clearly and repeatedly told him to prioritize Lucy and when Saly appeared, he also told him to do anything in his power to get her out of here if things went downhill. As he was held by Katrina, Arthur coughed some blood and chuckled, not worried about his life. "*cough* it seems you don''t value your *cough* daughter''s life. Gutcha, kill her." Though he was far away from Arthur, he still heard him so, without any hesitation, Gutcha stretched his hand, which was covered in Dark Magic, and attacked the semi-consciousness Angelina. "No!" Katrina didn''t think Arthur would actually kill her and this decisively too. With a speed that even surprised Gutcha, she flew straight at him but she wasn''t father than his hand. The pigolo was about to stab her heart with his hand and end it once and for all only to meet some kind of resistance. This resistance wasn''t done by the Matriarch but something else. Before he could react, Gutcha was flung away by the anxious Katrina, crashing into the undead. Her strike was enough to break most of his bones and render him unable to fight, in fact, he was on the brink of death. Worried about her daughter''s life, Katrina held Angelina''s body and inspected chest only to find a strange cube protruding out of her heart. The cube was visible for a slight second before it entered her body. The Matriarch recognized the cube and knew it was the same one which created a cocoon around Lucy, so she instinctively turned her head toward where Lucy was supposed to be only to see naught but air. By the next second, the hand holding down Arthur disappeared as a chilling coldness spread to all corners of the battlefield, freezing both undead and specters. Lucy knelt on the ground while holding Arthur''s body. Not only was she in top form, but she was also wearing a black metal armor from head to toe. The only way to recognize her was the long silver hair coming out of the metallic helmet. Chapter 497 - 445 : Bodiless Although he could barely move and had difficulties breathing, Arthur raised his head and gazed at the far away Angelina. He stretched he''s boosted sense and tried talking to his copy. ''Claud! What''s the meaning of this?!'' There is no way Lucy would have instructed him to save her sister. He knew that she didn''t love this family of hers and wouldn''t forfeit the ARK just so it could save her big sister. The only explanation is that Claud on his own and purposely interfered, saving Angelina at the very last second. He knew Arthur and his Dark Magic so he surely knew of a way to negate Gutcha''s attack and secure her life. Unfortunately, Arthur received no answer so he didn''t press any further and focused his attention on the black dome. Seeing Lucy''s anxious gaze, he let out a chuckle and said: "Don''t worry about me, go help Saly." After hesitating for a split second, Lucy nodded her head and glanced at the large snake flying at the trapped orb, intending to get its hands on it. Even after Saly, Midolf, Astrith, and Curtis joined hands, they still were unable to stop the raging snake, which seemed determined to obtain the ancient artifact. Emperor G''am Tir, the ruler of the once-prosperous Buria Empire was the one who created the orb of the fallen Overgods. Just after the Void Era, feeling the imminent thread of the arrogant Gods, the weaker races joined hands and eliminated those higher beings, causing them to go extinct. G''am Tir''s influence spread far and wide and he was one of the leaders of the past alliance. Using the remnants of the fallen Gods, he created a powerful artifact that contributed to the rise of his empire. Sadly, the emperor was killed by Zodiak, who, back then, was the Black Seat of Death. No one knew who hired the black seat and the price they had to pay but almost everyone was thankful for the emperor''s death and the end of his tyranny. Right after the fall of the empire, the whereabouts of the orb was unknown but that didn''t stop people from searching for it and obtain unimaginable power and fortune. The legends state that without the orb, G''am Tir wouldn''t have been able to reach such amazing heights which is why many people are obsessed with the orb. *** The flying pink snake stopped in its tracks as it was attacked by an incoming petite figure. Though its scales were tough and resistant, they were still affected by Lucy''s Yin power, which spread across the whole area. Sadly, the snake vibrated its body and got rid of the ice in an instant, nonetheless, Lucy didn''t give up as she unsheathed her thin white saber and charged at the monstrous creature. Her speed was unparalleled and the metal armor covering her body drastically boosted her physical capabilities. Seven ice lotuses floated around Lucy''s head as she brandished her saber and relentlessly attacked the enraged snake, which used its enormous body to retaliate. Their exchange was brief and ended up with no favorable results for the two parties. Just as Lucy was about to attack again, several whip-like vines sprung from the snake''s scales and bound Lucy. The snake opened its mouth and unleashed a powerful blast that cracked the space around it and pushed away Saly and co, who were trying to free Lucy and support her. Left alone to block this blast, Lucy made use of seven beautiful lotuses, which fully bloomed and formed a crystalline shield which protected her front. The snake''s blast was destructive and almost unstoppable, it crashed onto the shield like a tsunami and shattered it within a few seconds. Its next target was Lucy, who was sent flying until she heavily crashed onto the ground. One would expect her to be dead or seriously injured, however, she rose from the shattered earth and charged at the snake. High up in the red sky, several flaming boulders descended upon the pink snake. Despite its large size, the snake paled in comparison to the incoming boulders, which hammered down on the angry beast, pushing it on the ground and engulfing it in golden flames. Lucy followed with another powerful attack, she raised both her hands and condensed a miniature golden sun which appeared above the still immobilized snake. Before the enemy could retaliate, the golden sun exploded, ravaging everything in its way. The explosion spared none in its way, turning both specters and undead into nothing but ash. The golden flames danced in the sky and illuminated the area with its radiant splendor. It took one glance to recognize these ancient and powerful flames belonging to the Golden Crow. Lucy wasn''t done yet, she beckoned for Radolf and Midolf, who answered her call and appeared behind her. "Supply me with energy." The two nodded their heads and raised their hand, injecting their unique energy in Lucy, who madly absorbed everything. In response, the metal armor covering her body changed shape and separated itself from Lucy. It no longer resembled an army as it slowly changed form and transformed into a large jet black cannon. Lucy gripped the cannon with both her hands and poured all her Mana and energy into it, causing it to lit up with a blinding radiance. The flashing light was the sign that the cannon was ready to be used, however, Lucy patiently waited for the snake to show itself. As expected, from within the sea of golden flames down below, a hissing pink snake showed its head and glared at Lucy. Before it could fight back, Lucy took aim and activated the cannon, resulting in a thick red laser beam to be unleashed by the black cannon. The beam went straight at the pink snake and hit its head, nailing it in the ground then melting many of its scales, causing the beast to shake violently and roar in pain and anger. The ground heavily shook and the golden flames surrounding it made the situation worse for the wounded snake. The laser beam continued for ten full seconds before it disappeared along with the cannon. A small, almost unnoticeable black cube appeared before Lucy, it slowly spun in the air, trying to locate its main core. After several seconds passed by, the black cube flew at Angelina and yet again transformed into a metal armor, protecting her from any harm. It was at this point in time, when everything was in total chaos, that the black dome started cracking. Arthur, who was leaning on a broken boulder, clutched his chest and rolled on the ground, unable to handle the agonizing pain. ''Ting'' *Your race has devolved into Void Parasite, please wait until the system finishes calculating all the open possibilitiesˇ­* Arthur was hanging on his last thread while waiting for the system to provide him with the evolution choices. His body is slowly breaking and half of his soul was eaten by Makaze. If left alone, he''ll surely die. Second after second passed and when the one minute mark was reached, the pleasant sound of the system notification rang in his ears. *Calculation completeˇ­ please choose one of the following possibilities : Spirit Parasite Dark Void Parasite Soul Parasite* Without any hesitation, Arthur chose the last option and waited for the results. He didn''t have time to read the description of each option and the last one seemed the most helpful one in this current situation. Inside his consciousness, his dim soul suddenly shone with a bright light, illuminating the whole starry night sky and recovering to its previous state almost instantaneously. Arthur felt a bit numb as the pain disappeared all of a sudden, his buzzing mind remained unclear for a few seconds as he struggled to process what the system was telling him. *As a soul parasite, your real body is your soul, unless your soul is extinguished, you cannot die.* *Please choose a host to possess within 5 minutes.* .. *Please choose a host to possess within 5 minutes.* .. *Please choose a host to possess within 5 minutes.* Arthur glanced around him and found out that he had left his body and was floating in the air. Lucy was holding his body while checking his pulse. The soul bound was still present but it didn''t point to his body, which frightened her. After pondering for a few moments, he tried entering his previous body and by the next second, he was able to feel his limbs and feel the passing hot breeze. Chapter 498 - 446 : Once Human Hello, Crow here! So, I''ve been away for a week and I apologize for that. As I said previously, I had to take care of my father and he''s much better now so I''m back! I''ll post three chapters a day (or more) for the next few days so stay tuned! There will be a chapter 1-2 hours later! **** From start to finish, it fell unrealistic, almost like a dream. Everything was a bit blurry and out of place, even his feelings seemed to have momentarily vanished. The sensation of his usually beating heart and the flow of energy through his Meridians was almost non-existent. Fortunately, he still maintained his sharp senses but it was a bit uncomfortable for Arthur, who evolved into a new type parasite, a creature with a soul and no body. Possessing his body was an instantaneous action yet it felt like an eternity for Arthur, who was still processing everything that''s happening. The good thing is that he avoided a calamity and even strengthened Makaze, which finally broke through from the dark sphere and flew toward its owner and partner. It didn''t experience any changes regarding its appearance, however, Arthur could feel its excitement and eagerness to unleash its new devoured power. Both the dark blade and the parasite evolved, boosting their powers into another level and increasing their probability of winning this power. His wife, Lucy, was confused as the soul bind between her husband and she was unstable for a second but when she saw him abruptly wake up, she broke into a smile, relieved that he''s alright and full of vigor. Just as she was about to hug him, Arthur grabbed her wrist and used [Faster Than Death], teleporting both of them 150m to the East, barely dodging an incoming object. The object was a very long and thick chain that descended from above, it was the third one and despite the couple''s strong defenses, Arthur still felt extreme danger from them. He didn''t know what exactly the monks are doing and he very much wanted to stop them but there is an abundance of enemies and he has to take care of them one by one, beginning from Katrina and that devilish pink snake. The Matriarch crouched next to her unconscious and inspected the metal armor. She tried getting rid of it but no kind of energy seemed to affect it, not even the specter''s special flames. In the end, she raised her head and stared at the couple, her eyes filled with anger and sadness. She did expect things to become worse but Angelina shouldn''t have been involved in this gruesome war. In fact, when she saw Gutcha holding her daughter hostage, not only did she become flabbergasted, she acted upon her raging emotions and worsened the situation. The bloody battle between the undead and the enemy forces was reaching its climax as Aborak started attacking with all the skeletons, trying to end this war as fast as possible. The Lich King was pretty sensitive to all kinds of energy, especially those harmful to him, so, when he took a glance at the terrifying gate above the monks, he grew uneasy and a bit afraid. Whatever was locked inside, it was more dangerous than anything he had ever seen, even the legendary Void Behemoth wouldn''t have such a savage and suffocating aura. Just as Arthur was about to attack the still living snake, a small figure came flying at him. "Daddy! Mommy!" An injured yet happy Saly flew toward them with the thought of fighting alongside of them and finally greeting them. Unfortunately, she didn''t get to cross half the distance separating them before a ringing sound reverberated across the area followed by golden specks of lights which surrounded the girl. Seeing this, Arthur and Lucy frowned, they didn''t waste any second and started acting. With Makaze in his hand, he shot out like a star toward the source of the golden specks of light, as for Lucy, she headed toward her daughter. The golden specks actually seemed harmless but that didn''t let the couple drop their guard. In fact, Arthur raised his free hand and pulled the space and causing his daughter''s body to be pulled to the left, away from the specks. Just after that, he held Makaze with both hands and executed a newly acquired attack. By devouring an ancient and powerful artifact, not only did Evil Wind obtain new skills, it was also able to demonstrate one of the proprieties of the Orb of the fallen Overgods. [Beyond Worlds] is a spiritual sword attack that is not meant to attack but to defend targets. If used at the right time, it''ll lock the target in several layers of artificial worlds, rendering them invincible for a couple of seconds and boosting their defense by a whopping 150%. A purple sword essence was by makaze, it rapidly spiraled in the air and hit the unsuspecting Saly, who still didn''t know what''s happening. Before the little girl was able to react, she found her surrounded by multi-colored layers, blocking her sight of the outside and protecting her from all exterior dangers. Lucy followed right after, as she flew toward her daughter, her seven lotuses were a step faster than her, surrounding the white-furred girl and blooming instantaneously, forming an illusory crystalline mountain to envelop the small figure. ˇ­ "Hmpf! Why does he always have to be so reckless and suicidal?" The Joker crossed his arms and harrumphed, displeased by Arthur''s previous actions. Seeing his brother''s behavior, Leiu shrugged his shoulders and explained "No matter how intelligent and powerful someone is, in the midst of battle, he can''t always come up with the perfect and safest choices. From our perspective, his actions may have been out of place but don''t forget with just spectators while he''s the one fighting and risking his life so it''s natural for his mind to be preoccupied with many things." From the side, Death rubbed his chin and stated: "I have to say, a Soul parasite is really an outrageous race. He''s practically immune to all physicals attacksˇ­" The black-haired woman standing behind her teacher stared at Arthur and asked "Isn''t it bad for him? In the long term, I mean." Death nodded his head and replied: "Yes, though it may be a powerful race, perhaps even the most powerful of allˇ­ its drawbacks are obvious and harmful to the person. If he doesn''t evolve again, there are only two paths ahead of him and neither is a good one." Anxious and worried about her friend''s safety, Anastassia asked: "What are the two paths?" This time, it wasn''t Death who answered by the still annoyed Joker. "Either he follows Moriah''s steps and absorbs more power than he could handle or he becomes deprived of all emotions and sensations." The Trickster turned toward his quiet brother and said: "Is it even possible to evolve to a higher race now that he''s a parasite?" In response, Leiu only gave a vague answer: "Depends on the circumstances." ***** "NO NO NO NO!" While holding his bloody chest and spitting some blood, ''X'' yelled hysterically as he sensed the disappearance of the orb, which was devoured by Makaze. He glared at the figure before him and said: "Damn you! You''ve ruined everything!" Arthur, who was in a poorer state than his opponent, grinned and said back: "Do you really think you can kill ''him'' with only the orb? You have to be more creative, ''friend''." ''X''s blurry face started distorting and some facial features started appearing, however, it was still difficult to see his real appearance. The space around him started shattering and time was once again reversed, bringing his injured back to its unscathed state. The man raised his cane and held it with both of his hands then pulled its lower part, revealing a thin blade engraved with countless undecipherable runic symbols. His attention was focused on the far away Makaze, wanting to acquire it and pull the orb from within it. "It''s not over yet, Arthur." Then, without waiting for a response, ''X'' slashed his palm and spat some incomprehensible words. A few seconds flew by and his figure started vanishing, apparently being transported to another place. Arthur was barely able to move properly so he didn''t bother chasing after him. He glanced at the equally wounded Space Dragon and said "It''s all up to you now." With its deep voice, Yamak responded: "Fear not, caretaker." The silver dragon transformed into a silver streak, which flew at the Divine Planet, precisely in the direction of the occurring war. Having finished his job, Arthur floated toward the mysterious man who fought ''X'' earlier, slightly bowed his head and said with a respectful tone: "Senior G''am Tir, it''s a pleasure to meet you." The man was surprised upon hearing that, he creased his brows and assessed Arthur before letting out a sigh. "Just call me Tiran, that name has long been forgotten." Chapter 499 - 447 : Angel of Death 1 The golden specks of light kept surrounding Saly and after a few seconds, a pillar of light descended from the red sky, striking the crystalline mountain and trying to hit the protected Saly. Arthur headed directly toward the perpetrator, who was one of the senior monks. As their prayer almost ended, there was one room for one of them to join the battle and try to smoothen the situation. The bald monk held a long wooden staff decorated with what seemed to be golden and silver bells. He was standing a distance away from the other monks and staring at the grey-haired man coming his way. He didn''t seem worried about the incoming threat, he closed his eyes, held the staff diagonally across his chest and recited "Amitabha Amitabha! Grant me the strength to purify evil and banish abominations!" His short prayer was heard and his call was answered as a blinding radiance shone from his staff. He tightly held his weapon and clashed with Arthur, who was holding an enlarged Dark Blade. A turbulent wave of energy was created from their explosive clash but it was only for a brief moment as Arthur was sent flying far away. Despite his monstrous brute strength and high Agility, he didn''t even last two seconds against the monk. Nevertheless, the hit wasn''t able to defeat him, much less kill him. His immunity to Physical damage was shown at this moment as he stabilized his body mid-air and lunged himself at the monk. His arm was bent in a strange way but it was instantly healed as if the previous clash never happened. Moreover, there was a golden energy that entered his body, however, it was pushed away but the abundant Dark Magic dominating every part of his body. It seemed that not even the unique Buddhist energy was able to counter the Dark Magic. With Makaze in hand, Arthur slashed a few times at the monk, sending creepy flying black skulls at the bald old man. The flying skulls were letting out chilling sounds as their mouths opened and closed repeatedly and black fog surrounded them. In addition, Arthur unleashed a furry of attacks, including dozens of detonators, Void Mouths, and Vermilion fire, filling the sky with all kinds of flames and explosions. His skills had a large area of effect so even the army beneath him suffered greatly as many of the Marshall''s army suffered from the raging sea of flames. On the other side of the battlefield, Curtis, Radolf, Midolf, and Astrith were still facing off against the pink snake. After suffering the devastating blow of the cannon and Lucy''s golden flames, the beast was severely injured, nonetheless, it was still raging all around the place and causing unimaginable havoc. Tens of thousands of undead were squashed underneath the monster''s body and its strange pink scales. Right after the orb was swallowed by Makaze, the pink snake had a qualitative and drastic change, its body became smaller until the woman from before could be seen. Her expression was ugly to behold and her two eyes were shining with pink light. Under the gazes of her enemies, she underwent another transformation, this one much more dangerous than the last. Instead of becoming another variation of a snake, she grew a tail and some of her body became covered in pink scales. She kind of resembled Claudia''s dragonic form and the only difference was the unusually long tail, the missing wings and the wild and ear-splitting hissing she letting out. "Although I wasn''t able to get the orb, there are still things to gain from this war." She hissed dangerously at the several figures blocking her way. Her gaze wasn''t focused on them but on the Saly, who couldn''t be seen as she was surrounded by Arthur''s sword skill and Lucy''s crystalline mountain. If she were to devour the little girl, she would definitely become much stronger. Heavenly snakes have the unique ability to devour auras and strengthen themselves and this woman was no exception. Previously, she found Saly''s aura delicious but she was much more interested in the orb, which could bring her many benefits. Now that the artifact is gone, her attention shifted to the little girl, who''s hiding a delicious aura inside of her. Unfortunately, before she could get a taste of the little girl, she has to get rid of the enemies blocking her path. They''re resilient and quite annoying... unless she kills them, they won''t let her pass and will keep pestering her over and over. Like a shooting star, the woman charged at the four of them, her hands spread wide and her tail splitting into multiple long whips, each targeting an enemy. In retaliation, Curtis took the front and used enlarged his shield in an attempt to resist the shield while the lightning wolf howled loudly and used his web of blue lightning to trap the incoming snake woman. Radolf and Midolf were in a worse state than their fight companions due to suffering many injuries. Although Midolf can use his Life energy to heal his energies, they still don''t have an infinite amount of energy and can''t fight forever, nevertheless, they made the best of what they have. The two stood behind Curtis, held hands and started chanting a weird chant. Though her size may have become smaller, the woman was like a meteor, hitting her the knight''s shield with an explosive force, splitting in half and almost causing Curtis to vanish. Using his last bit of strength, the Transcendent knight discarded the broken shield and raised his sword to the sky and swung down at the woman in front of him. The sword hit the woman''s body and momentarily stopped her, however, she opened her mouth and let out a purple miasma, breaking the sword and getting rid of the blond youth once and for all. Thankfully, the time Curtis managed to buy allowed Astrith to control his massive web of lightning and envelop the woman, rendering her unable to advance any further or attack the chanting mythical beings. Like a mad dog, the woman continuously banged on the web of lightning, trying to destroy it but to no avail, her attempts were unsuccessful. The wolf floated in front of the snake woman and opened its mouth, spitting several red lightning orbs which entered the net and hit the woman, paralyzing her for a couple of seconds. Although he managed to stun the woman, she was still able to counter-attack despite being trapped. She used her bare hands to open a small hole in the net then followed with her tail, which was like a python, slithering toward Astrith, stabbing his chest and coming out of his back. No blood came out of the wolf but its painful groaning was a clear indicating that he was heavily injured. Astrith tried to shake off the whip penetrating his chest but it was like a tight leash, allowing him to nothing but wriggle in pain. It was at this time that Midolf and Radolf finished their chant, their two figures become transparent then they started merging together. Due to the red and white fog surrounded the two youths, it wasn''t possible to see the result of their merging but you could still see a large silhouette from within the dense fog. A few seconds flew by and the fog finally dispersed, revealing what hid within. It had a large body covered in jet black fur, three heads with the one at the middle being covered in white fur. It had differently colored pupils and there was a symbol engraved on the beast''s head. This creature was very similar to the Cerberus guarding the gates of Hell but the aura around it was vastly different. The middle head emanated a soothing aura, full of life, while the other two heads were emitting an aura of decay and death. The beast roared to the heavens and jumped at the woman, even the web of lightning didn''t obstruct its way as it ripped it using its fangs then attacked the visibly shaken woman. Her countenance became more serious as she gave up on heading toward Saly and decided to eliminate this imminent threat. Even the praying monks and the one facing Arthur were surprised when this creature appeared. The Matriarch gazed at the large beast which constricted pupils and half-open mouth. Ancient legends and myths mentioned a creature born from Death and Life. Due to its ferocious nature and corrupt origins, the Gods and Demons of the past actually joined hands and tried to banish it only to fail so they locked it up for a very long time. No one knew how it escaped or where it went but one thing for sure, it was an existence that should not exist. A being that controls both Life and Death will break the Natural Laws and disturb the flow of energy hence the cruel actions done by the people of the past. This ''monster'' was called many names but the most common one was'' The Angel of Death''. Chapter 500 - 448 : Angel of Death 2 Author''s note: Last chapter of the day but it''s a bit longer than usual, so enjoy. Three chapters tomorrow (possible four). Good night! ******* Against the ferocious creature, the woman crossed her arms, trying to block its blow. Despite her current strengthened form, she was unable to fully block the blow and ended up being pushed quite the distance. She clicked her tongue and glared at this creature, which she recognized almost immediately, just like anybody else. "Nine shadows cast. Nine fates foretold. Yet at the end of the road lies death, and death alone!" A ghastly voice came out of the creature''s mouth, sending chills down everyone''s spines. Just when the last word echoes throughout the whole battlefield, a white transparent skull appeared above the woman''s head, acting like some kind of permanent marker. The moment the skull made its appearance, the snake woman let out a painful groan and held her rapidly beating heart. She let out a wild hiss and tried to get rid of the skull but to no avail, her hands passed through the strange thing as if it didn''t exist. Before she could grasp the role of the transparent skull, the ''angel'' lunged at the woman, trying to rip her apart with its claws. At the same time, the white head at the middle and spat a silvery leaf which latched itself on the skull. "Nine lives lost. Nine fates foretold, at the end of the road lies life, and life alone!" The silver leaf stuck onto the skull''s forehead and emitted an ominous brilliance which was a mix of two opposite energies. The snake woman, who was about to block the creature again was abruptly frozen mid-action, helpless and defenseless. So, just like that, the sharp claws of the ''angel'' dug deep into the woman''s toughened skin, ripping it apart and breaking many bones in the process. Her figure was sent flying until it crashed in the ground, leaving a fountain of blood in its pain. The ground shattered and dust accumulated yet even after some time passed, there was no sign of movement from the heavenly snake. Nevertheless, the angel remained cautious as it gazed at the huge crater caused by the crash. ******* "Vile being, your existence is like a plague."-Monk The bald monk fended off against Arthur''s relentless attacks using his strange-looking wooden staff. Though Arthur''s attacks were incredibly powerful, he was still not a match for the monk who solely relied on his prayers to negate the Dark Magic and resist all types of skills. The two clashed hundreds of times but it didn''t appear that a victor will arise any time soon. Furthermore, the monk wasn''t fighting to win but to buy time, after all, their plan was to banish the parasite and not kill it. Just a distance away from Arthur and the monk, there stood a worried Lucy, who tightly hugged Saly and inspected her body. She handed several healing potions to the little girl while repeatedly asking her if she''s alright. "Mom, don''t worry, I''m fine." Saly smiled at the anxious Lucy and hugged her back, very happy to finally reunite with her mother. After making sure her daughter wasn''t fatally injured, she asked again "Why did you come here?" In response, Saly pouted and replied "Obviously to help you and daddy! I can''t let you fight alone." Lucy shook her head while adding: "This is not a safe place, you should leave and we''ll meet later, alright?" Unexpectedly, Saly wasn''t obedient this time. She showed her refusal by shaking off her mother''s arms and activating Fenrir''s aura which healed her minor injuries and restored much of her used energy. It wasn''t the time to question her daughter about the changes that occurred to her so Lucy patted the little girl''s fluffy head, softly smiled. "Listen to mommy, ok-" She stopped mid-sentence, pushed Saly then kicked the ground. From within the scorched earth appeared a woman covered in pink scales, her two pupils were glued onto Saly, wanting to devour her. Contrary to her earlier condition, the snake woman appeared heavily injured and the skull coupled with the silver leaf were still present, floating above her head. Lucy activated her Yin Physique and made use of the seven lotuses to attack the nearby woman. The area abruptly turned into a snowy field with countless snowflakes slowly falling into the frozen ground. The silver-haired woman grabbed her thin saber and slashed down at the heavenly snake, causing the latter to retaliate by using the long thorny whip. Saber and whip clashed, splitting the ear and pushing the two parties away from each other. Lucy didn''t pause for a second as she discarded the saber, retrieved the silver revolver and held with both of her hands then shooting at the enemy continuously. She poured an outrageous amount of Mana into each bullet, intending to get rid of the snake woman. Sadly, the bullets only managed to graze the enemy, however, they bought Lucy a few seconds, which were crucial in this situation. From afar, an ear-splitting roar could be heard and by the next second, a large figure landed on the snake woman, whose face paled and her body slightly trembled. Violent winds flattened the snake woman on the ground while the vicious beast followed with its claws, penetrating the woman''s chest and nailing her there. The two black heads glared at the target and spat two tiny death storm which spun around the enemy and sucked the life out of her. Within a few seconds, the woman''s skin became wrinkled and her pink and vibrant scales showed signs of decay. When the ''angel'' was about to deal the last blow, something came out from above and wrapped itself around the creature''s body, pulling it into the air. This ''thing'' resembled a tentacle, it had a brownish color and was twice thicker than the angel of death. Upon a closer look, this tentacle came out of the red gate above the senior monks and once ''it'' made its appearance, the three old men were shocked. "To think he''s so close to the gate!" The oldest of the monks wasn''t pleased but he still kept holding the golden rope and urged his partner to quicken the process. The angel of death struggled to free itself but the tentacle was just too strong, absurdly strong, in fact. Apparently, its goal wasn''t to kill it but to pull it to the other side, however, before it managed to drag it, it was hit by a powerful slash made of pure Dark Magic. The whole place turned momentarily dark before Makaze unleashed the first wave of [Thousand Waves]. Unfortunately, it was only able to stop the tentacle for a split second, it didn''t even injure it, much less cut it. "Lucy, help me stop it!" Arthur called it for his wife then held the Dark Blade with both hands, executing the second wave and third wave successively. A storm of flames enveloped the tentacle while a Godly sword made out of white thunder descended from above, hitting the red gate and causing it to shake for a moment. Lucy heard his call so she flew high up in the sky and summoned her Godspirit. A humongous beautiful lotus appeared next to the tentacle, it started blooming and freezing everything around it. Even the black tentacle wasn''t spared, its movements were stopped for a brief moment before all the ice broke into countless pieces and this dangerous thing continued its dragging process, fully intending to get a hold of the angel of death. As things were worsening, one of the chains wrapped around the gate fell from the sky and wrapped around the tentacle, also trying to stop it completely and pull it back to its Oblivion, the world on the other side of the enormous gate. Sadly, not even the chain nor the couple were able to stop the persistent tentacle, which was almost able to pull the angel into the other side. Arthur gritted his teeth and prepared to unleash the fourth wave while at the same time activating a Dark Rizaki, which turned the whole place into the world of Darkness, surprisingly stopping the tentacle''s movement. Unexpectedly, the world of darkness lasted for a second before it was negated by an even stronger power, a blinding illuminating which sprung from below and jumped at the tentacle, ripping some of it off and causing it to wriggle in pain. The source of this blinding light turned out to be a large wolf, unlike Astrith, this one was too eye-catching and the moment it made its appearance, it grabbed the attention of everyone. Its size was simply incomparable, dominating the whole sky and its aura was archaic and suffocating, even to the likes of the monk. This wolf had two sky-blue eyes and was covered in white fur, no one could deny its majestic appearance or its soul-shaking appearance. Since ancient times, it only had one name, Fenrir, the being that could devour suns and moons, the wolf that would stop Ragnarok. ******* "The smartass motherfucker is actually close to the gate. How fucking bold!" The Joker cursed loudly when the tentacle appeared, he cracked his knuckles and tapped his foot on the ground, barely able to contain himself from attacking. Even Leiu wasn''t pleased to see the strange tentacle, a frown appeared on his usually expressionless face. An ominous darkness spread from his legs and covered the area around him, clearly indicating that he was in a very bad mood. "He hasn''t recognized Arthur, fortunately." Death glanced at the two brothers and pondered about something. Obviously, he also knew who was behind the red gate but decided not to comment, choosing to merely spectate. ****** A few thousand kilometers away from the battlefield, X was flying with a fast speed toward Makaze''s location. He halted for a split second when he saw the tentacle but he steeled his heart and was determined to obtain the orb. Unfortunately, he was blocked yet again as a silver streak fell down from above and crashed into him, shattering the space. Before he could recover, the space kept shattering, disrupting the space-time continuum and rendering X unable to see the assailant. Just when he got a glimpse of the assailant, a silver whirlpool appeared and sucked both the attacker and the annoyed ''X''. "Yo-" Before he got to talk or retaliate, ''X'' and a silver dragon were absorbed by the whirlpool and transported into an isolated dimension, far away from the Divine Planet. Yamak had to sacrifice most of his powers to teleport both himself and ''X'', however, it was a necessary risk to be taken. No one would know but the battle that occurred between the lightning dragon and ''X'' in that isolated world lasted for a very long time and the consequences were much more than both of them could handle. Chapter 501 - 449 : How it Shall End 1 "F-Fenrir!" The snake woman shrieked with a high pitch as she stared at the white wolf, bespectacled by the legendary creature''s sudden appearance. As she felt Fenrir''s domineering aura, she was able to link it with Saly but the latter''s was almost non-existent and she never thought that the small figure fighting her previously is actually a damned Fenrir! No longer did she rage around trying to chase after Saly, she retracted her fiery aura and slowly backed away, unwilling to face the ginormous beast dominating the whole sky. "This is actuallyˇ­" Gob-smacked, the oldest of the three monks stared at the white wolf with wide-open eyes and a frozen body, unable to believe what he was witnessing. After remaining at this shocked state for several seconds, he snapped out of it when an ear-splitting explosion was caused by the Fenrir, who used its body to bang on the brownish tentacle. "Devotee, get yourself together! Amitabha!" The monk''s thundering voice rang inside his comrade''s ears, making his body tremble and calming his wavering gaze and unsteady aura. As for the monk fighting Arthur, he was closer to Fenrir than the other two so he was more affected and in a much worse state. The beast''s mere presence was enough to crush the old man''s morale and cause him to fall on the ground, violently shaking from fear. Though Fenrir''s wrath wasn''t directed at him, it was still hostile and it is dangerous even for Exalted Gods, moreso for Overgods. Arthur and Lucy didn''t just sit by and watch, they tried to assist the Fenrir but were unsuccessful as the Fourth Wave and a 3rd Grade bullet shot by the revolver were sucked into a strange wormhole which surrounded the white wolf and the tentacle. As for the Angel of Death, it was freed thanks to Saly''s interference. It tried to attack the large slithering ''python'' but it was flung back by the wormhole, which blocked everyone from joining the monstrous battle between two ancient and powerful entities. Although it was but one tentacle, it was still resilient and tough to beat. The Fenrir slashed at the tentacle, taking some of its skin and causing terrifying wounds, however, it was also wounded in several places, mainly its front legs, which were bleeding excessively. Seeing that they were unable to help their daughter, the couple shifted their attention to the praying monks. The best solution is to stop the monks'' prayers and let the red gate close on its own. Without the old men''s chanting and the use of the golden rope, the gate won''t have the support it needs and it''ll return where it came from. An enlarged Makaze released a deafening roar as it started vibrating intensely in Arthur''s hands. The black flames covering it abruptly vanished and were replaced by a suffocating amount of Sword Essence, a multi-colored brilliance covered the edge of the dark blade and was ready to be unleashed. This was the fifth wave of [Thousand Waves], an attack that cost too much Mental Power and energy and is exhausting to the boy, though, fortunately, Arthur became a Soul Parasite so the burden was halved, more or less. ''Fifth Wave, a rainbow after the rain, a song after the pain; Supernova!'' A seven-colored light covered Makaze then flowed toward Arthur, enveloping him whole then rotating around him like a whirlpool. Arthur slowly raised his dark blade toward the sky, splitting it in two and shattering the already turbulent space, causing the whole to turn into an absolute mess. For a split second, the aura of light revolving around Arthur surpassed even of Fenrir, grabbing the monks'' attention. Unfortunately, the monk that was fighting him before stood between Arthur and his comrades, clearly planning to block the fifth wave. Sadly, he didn''t take into account the true might of [Thousand Waves] and Lucy, who stood behind Arthur like a ghost and loaded the revolver with only one bullet, one stronger than most. The cost of firing this bullet is too much even for her absurdly tough physique, not only is the Mana requirement over the top, but also the amount of Mental Power needed is higher than her current pool which made the execution of this shot theoretically impossible. It is at this time that her race comes shows its benefitsˇ­ the white specter can transform, strengthening themselves, granting them immunity to spiritual damage, and slightly increasing their energy pool and, in Lucy''s case, her Mental Power too. After several seconds, Arthur unleashed an unstoppable blast, blinding the red sky and spreading to all corners of the battlefield, freezing everyone and momentarily depleting them of their energies. This seven-colored light spun in the air as it made its way toward the praying monks only for an old man holding a strange-looking wooden staff to appear in its way, clearly intending to stop it. However, before he could do anything, Arthur activated [Assault of Darkness] and trapped the man in a separate world where he could do nothing but wait for the cooldown to pass, or so thought the caster. After merely two seconds, a golden radiance split the world of darkness and revealed a monk with closed eyes and a shaking wooden staff. Just as he was about to raise his weapon and resist the incoming fifth wave, a white shadow came down from above and heavily crashed into the old man, pushing him away. Before he could retaliate, the old man saw a vermilion bird join in and spit a sea of flames which quickly enveloped him and pushed him further down, rendering him unable to block the fifth wave in time. His body became even more unstable when the Gravity suffered a drastic change, causing his body to plummet and crash into the ground. His limbs felt heavy and he felt a bit dizzy, when he tried to stand up, an Azure Dragon filled his view, opened its mouth and spat illusory red flames which melted the earth and burned his Taoist robe. As he was quite unprepared, the monk was thrashed by the interfering Divine Beast, which surprisingly weren''t stopped by the oddly quiet and unresponsive Katrina. The Matriarch was looking the ferocious Fenrir, her eyes glued onto the wolf, seemingly thinking about something. She didn''t even notice the Divine Beasts'' actions or the battle between Arthur and the monk. **** The spiraling fifth wave finally reached target and hit the two praying monks, enveloping the whole area in a blinding light and pushing away the clustering dark clouds and the making the floating gigantic red gate clearer than ever. As for the two victims, they tightly held the golden rope and closed their eyes, repeatedly praying to their God and taking the blow head-on. If they were to get distracted or try to defend themselves, all the previous work they had done would go to waste. The oldest of the monks was the strongest but even he was injured by the fifth wave as countless small bloody slashes appeared all over his body. As for the other monk, he was in a worse state as his abdomen was pierced by the seven-colored light and the agonizing pain caused by the spiraling light almost made him faint. Were it not for his strong will and unshakable belief, the monk would have fallen unconscious. The fifth wave continued for a while before everything cleared up, showing two monks in bloody and tattered clothes, nonetheless, they were alive and still praying for Buddha. Just when Lucy was about to execute her attack, one of the chains wrapped around the red gate fell from above, clinging onto the corrupt earth, acting like some sort of a link between the two realms. Chapter 502 - 450 : How it Shall End 2 The falling chain was like a huge meteor, destroying everything in its way and sparing no one, living or dead. Actually, the four hundred million undead were reduced to only fifty million, however, those 50 million were the cream of the crop, the best and strongest undead. As for the white specters, they were supported by the Holy Knights and the Marshall''s army so they weren''t completely wiped, yet. The battle between the two struggling powers continued and the collateral damage done by falling chains obliterated more than a hundred thousand undead, if not more. The chains were absurdly big, just like the tentacle that came out of the red gate. Speaking of the disgusting thing, it was still in a bitter struggle with the Fenrir, each going at the other and attacking relentlessly. The tentacle was only a part of the monster''s real body and it was under many limitations so it wasn''t able to do much against a real Fenrir. After what seemed an eternity, the tentacle was torn into countless pieces by the Fenrir, which dealt the final blow and bit down the whole thing, ripping it from its main body. Probably, the only person who had time to watch the battle between the Fenrir and the tentacle is the Matriarch, who was absent-minded from start to finish. She only reacted when a large part of the tentacle fell from above so she was forced to use her flames to get rid of it. At the same time, she seemed to have snapped out of her long daze. Katrina looked around, inspecting the still unconscious Angelina before shifting her attention to Lucy, who stood next to Arthur, raised her arm, ready to pull the trigger. A foreign-looking firearm was held by her daughter, it was made from a silver material and was definitely a top grade artifact. Though the distance separating them was big, Katrina could still feel the outrageous amount of Mana flowing through the revolver. At last, Lucy used her free hand to press on her wrist while clenching the revolver then pulled the trigger with great difficulty. Her target? None other than the two monks, whose faces paled when they saw the incoming projectile. It had a minuscule size, non-threatening appearance and a severe lack of energy, however, were one to look closer, they would notice a monstrous amount of Mana. The role of Mana was merely to support the bullet and allow it to reach its destination, the rest will be done when it detonates and obliterates its target. In fact, the gunshot was so loud that time seemed to have frozen for a second or two, every heart stopped beating, every eye stopped blinking, everything and everyone became immobile. At this point of time, a pillar of silver light rose from the ground and stood erect in front of the flying bullet, blocking it from reaching its target. However, what the enemy didn''t know is that the bullet will detonate the moment it meets an obstacle, so, when it was met with the silver pillar, a devastating wave spread to all directions, pushing away Arthur, Lucy, Katrina, and everyone else who was close to the impact. The one who erected the silver pillar was the thrashed monk, who managed to get rid of the Divine Beast for some time and intervene in time so that his comrades can continue their prayers in peace. Unfortunately, by interfering, he caused the bullet to detonate several meters away from him, shattering his silver pillar and flattening his body in the ground while creating an incredibly large crater which had a radius of several dozens of miles. Dust accumulated in the sky and the red gate was shrouded by the turbulent and whistling winds, the two praying monks were safe, more or less, however, there were no signs of the other monk. He seemed to have completely vanished. As for Lucy, she was breathing heavily as Arthur supported her with his arms. Right behind them stood a three-headed creature that crouched its body and released a white light which enveloped the woman, healing her disabled arm. The veins were blocked, blood disappeared from her whole right arm, her muscles were split and her bones turned into dust. Only a being like the Angel of Death can alleviate the pain and slowly heal such a permanent injury. ˇ­ The tentacle was gone and all that was left was the still breathing old monks. Saly, who transformed into Fenrir, still had some time before the effect wears off so she decided to attack the old men only to suddenly retreated to the back as a chain thicker than the rest fell from the red gate and drilled into the ground. The closed red gate started slowly opening, showing the world on the side; Oblivion. Its sky was bloody red, its earth scorched and corrupted and you could see countless grotesque monsters clustering together, most noticeable were the ugly abominations that had multiple arms, the Cthulhu. When the red gate was fully opened, the golden rope held by the two monks seemed to have a reaction as it escaped their hands and flew down below. A distance away, Arthur noticed a golden brilliance heading for him so he raised Makaze and slashed down, releasing several dark arcs which cut down the golden brilliance. After a moment of eerie silence, the golden radiance appeared again but this time, it was brighter and bigger. When it was close to him, Arthur could see that it was a shiny rope that had a length of around 20m. He brandished his dark blade and cut the illuminating rope, dispersing its golden light and causing it to vanish into nothingness. Sadly, the same thing repeated itself as another rope, taller than its predecessor, appeared from the void and quickly wrapped itself around his leg. Arthur let out a cold snort and used Dark Magic to consume the golden rope, which did work wonders. Ten seconds flew by and when he saw that nothing was out of place, Arthur was about to let out a sigh of relief only for another rope to appeared around his chest, this time binding his arms and immobilizing. The man didn''t give up, he made use of his superior strength to rip the tightening rope, turning it into a useless mess, however, he soon came to know that no matter what skill or action he did, the rope won''t disappear. Lucy joined in and used her Yin to freeze the rope but it simply vanished and reappeared again, longer and stronger. After one minute passed, Arthur was bound by a golden rope, unable to properly move his arms or legs, this annoying thing wrapped itself around him and made him look like a mummy except his head was exposed. Seeing the parasite finally apprehended, the oldest monk nodded his head and let out a sigh, relieved that it''s finally over. He grabbed his overly-exhausted partner and shifted away from the open red gate, unwilling to be influenced by the savage leaking out of Oblivion. As their eyes were on the bound Arthur, the two monks were unable to react in time when a humongous white wolf appeared above them. The beast roared loudly and used its long tail to hit the two monks, sending them flying like broken kites. The exhausted monks were barely able to hold on so Fenrir''s blow was like a death sentence to him. As for the other monk, the oldest of them and the strongest, he was about to save the other monk only to see Fenrir devour his partner then turn his head toward him. The wolf''s sky blue eyes contained uncontrollable rage and anger, it made an old existence like this old man shiver in fear. He was about to turn tail and flee but his movements were slower than the legendary beast which appeared before him and slashed down. Sadly, just when the sharp claws were about to rip the old man into a bloody mess, the white wolf vanished and was replaced by a little girl whose face was pale and her complexion bad. The old monk was momentarily stupefied, unable to comprehend what just happened. When he saw a weak-looking girl with white fur and sky blue, he kind of understood the situation. The fearful expression he had vanished and his eyes flashed with a cold light. He approached the half-conscious girl and said "Little girl, you seem to be fatigued. By Buddha''s way, I shall guide you to our temple so you can recover." He raised his hand and released a golden light which enveloped Saly, binding her movement and causing her to cry in pain. Unfortunately, Lucy wasn''t able to hear her as she was far away and preoccupied with Arthur, who was being dragged inside the gate by the golden rope. The Angel of Death also tried getting rid of the binding artifact but to no avail, it would always come back in a stronger state. Chapter 503 - 451 : How it Shall End 3 As she saw a bound Arthur being bulled into that hellish world, Lucy was in a state of panic. "What to do what to doˇ­" She repeatedly mumbled those words while following the golden rope. She didn''t dare to use her power to get rid of the rope, afraid that it''ll come back tougher than before and worsen the situation of her husband. As for Arthur, he tried his best to come up with a solution but time was pressing and the situation was definitely not in his favor. The rope was tightly binding his four limbs and limiting his movement, he even lost hold of Makaze, which was stabbed in the ground and vibrating intensely, clearly aware of its owner''s state but also helpless to do anything. At first, neither Arthur nor Lucy heard Saly''s cries, however, when Arthur was around two hundred meters away from the red gate, the painful wails of the little girl could be heard. She was being dragged by the monk, who had difficulties managing the struggling girl. "Hurry up and get her to safety." Saly''s face had a drastic change as he heard Saly''s cries. She hesitated for a split second before nodding her hand and flying towards the retreating old monk. The woman left a trail of falling snowflakes, her aura increased by several folds and an illusory white tail made its appearance. As she charged at the monk, she let out a wild and deafening screech akin to a banshee, this screech stopped the monk and momentarily locked him in place. Several gunshots reverberated across the area as Lucy didn''t hesitate to deplete her Mana and shoot at the dazed monk. Her arm, which hasn''t fully recovered yet, turned into a bloody mess, covered in blood and ballooning veins and shredded muscles, it was a horrifying sight to behold. After she fired multiple shots, her hands fell down, unable to be used anymore. Lucy didn''t care, she grasped her saber with her other hand and jumped at the monk, who''s been hit by some of the bullet, creating bloody holes in his abdomen, shoulder, and thighs. The old man chanted his Buddhist mantra, protecting himself from the incoming Lucy while counter-attacking by using a dangerous palm technique. In a way, it was like Arthur''s palm skill as the old man''s hand shone with a blinding light and clashed with the thin white saber, shattering it instantaneously. Lucy discarded the broken weapon, crossed her arms and braced herself for the impact. Meanwhile, seven ice lotuses stealthily made their way toward Saly, they bloomed in a split second and frozen the shackles binding the little girl then they enveloped Saly and brought her away from the old monk. The little girl was helpless to do anything, she could only watch as her mother was sent flying and her father being dragged into Oblivion. After he got rid of the silver-haired woman, the monk was about to depart only for a large, looming shadow to cover his view. Just the mere sight of the three-headed creature blocking his path gave him chilling shivers down his spine. Before he the old monk could grab the little girl, who was being dragged by the ice lotuses, the angel of death intervened and jumped at the monk. Strange grey tornados spun around the old monk while the white-furred middle head spat a blinding light which landed on the monk, surprisingly healing his body in an instant then turning his skin black. In retaliation the monk retrieved a strange instrument and banged his palm on it, causing it to emit a continuous deafening ringing noise. Golden mantras appeared around the old man, purifying the blackness covering his skin and enveloping him in some sort of semi-transparent sphere covered with an unknown language. The monk spent a few seconds chanting with a low voice and when he was finally done, the sky up above split and a figure as large as the angel of death descended. This ''thing'' was similar to Buddha, it was sitting cross-legged and had multiple-arms. Its closed eyes abruptly opened, showing to savage red pupils directed at the angel. The statue''s eyes were filled with a suffocating killing intent, slowly but surely, the pressure from this Buddhas-like statue started weighing down on the three-headed creature, pushing it toward the ground. Meanwhile, Saly was dragged into a rather safe location and the seven lotuses, being separated from their owner for a long time, automatically returned to Lucy''s side. Her arm was bloodied and mangled and the previous attack of the monk severely wounded her. A palm imprint could be seen on her chest, a golden energy leaked out of the imprint, dispersing into the air. Lucy used her Yin Physique to get rid of the imprint but it was all futile, she used most of her Mana and her condition was worsening. Seeing that Saly was out of the monk''s reach and in a good physical condition, Lucy let out a sigh of relief and glanced at Arthur, who was but meters away from the red gate. With great difficulty, she supported herself up and was about to head towards him only for a tall figure to block her path. The woman lifted her head and glared at the person blocking her path, her eyes cold and her face expressionless. "It ends here, Eva." Katrina gazed at her injured daughter with a mixture of sadness and guilt. Her stubbornness and actions caused this war but she didn''t regret her decision. Although many were lost, it was for a good cause, or she thought, trying to convince herself and come up with a believable excuse. "It will only end when you die." Lucy gritted her teeth and tried to fly up only for an overwhelming force to bind her down, rendering immobile. ***** Saly looked around, her face pale and her body trembling, not from fear but pain. She saw her father on the brink of being banished to a foreign, hellish world, and her mother being obstructed by the Matriarch. The little girl clenched her fists and was about to transform again and try to save them only to be stopped by a person. He was a man who was hiding underneath a few corpses and when he noticed her presence, he pondered for sometime before he showed himself. From his aura, Saly noticed that he was a mortal and was heavily injured, obviously, his presence in this chaotic battlefield confused her but she maintained her silence and waited for him to speak first. This man was none other than Thordan, Lucy''s biological father, who was thrown by Arthur earlier. Surprisingly, no one chased after him so he grasped that opportunity to hide and wait till everything is over. "A-are you Saly?" He had a worried expression as he walked toward her and inspected her body, seemingly concerned about her wellbeing. In response, the trembling girl took a step back while frowning, confused by his actions. The man pointed at himself and said "D-don''t you know me? I''m Ev-*cough* Lucy''s father. Your grandfather." Thordan wasn''t actually worried about her, he wanted to use her to get out of here. Unfortunately, even after he introduced himself, Saly showed no signs of getting friendly with him. In fact, she seemed more keen on avoiding him. While groaning in pain and holding his reddened neck, Thordan added: "I, I''m just a victim hereˇ­ I only wanted u-" Before he could finish, a malevolent darkness sprung from the ground and devoured him and within seconds, only Thordan''s bones were left. This sudden turn of events shocked little Saly, who backed away only for a gentle force to hold her back. She turned around only to see an ugly creature staring back at her. "The situation isn''t good, we need to get out of here." This was none other than Gutcha, who was able to recover a bit from Katrina''s earlier strike. He was still in critical condition but killing a mortal like Thordan was no big deal. What was most important right now was guaranteeing Saly''s safety. His boss, Arthur, repeatedly told him to prioritize his daughter over anything else, furthermore, things were getting troublesome so retreating is the best and safest option. Chapter 504 - 452 : Cast To Oblivion 1 Author''s note : Last chapter of the day but it''s considerably longer than usual, enjoy! ***** Marshall Albert and Wrath kept fighting, exchanging thousands of blows and despite wrecking the whole empty area around them, there were no signs of any victor anytime soon. Things got complicated when another variable appeared next to Marshall Albert. He wore an armor resembling Albert but his armor was jet black, his hair was very long and his face lacked any kind of emotions. This was another Marshall, someone who usually acts alone and doesn''t have a special army like Albert. The dark-haired man sized up Wrath before he glanced East, where the battlefield was. "I''ll hold him off, you go secure the Fenrir."-Albert In response, the man let out a cold snort and retorted "I don''t take orders from you." Then he darted toward the battlefield, his eyes locked on the far away Saly. Wrath looked helplessly at the departing Marshall, unable to stop him. He wasn''t strong enough to stop both of them, moreover, that dark-haired individual was a notorious figure in the Divine Planet and one of the old experts of the Cloud Sea Sect. Although the place Albert and Wrath were fighting at was a bit far from the actual battlefield, the dark-haired man crossed that distance in a few seconds, appearing in the center of all the chaos. He glanced at Arthur with an uninterested gaze then turned his head toward the Matriarch, who noticed his presence but didn''t greet him or say anythingˇ­ she was more focused on Lucy, who was struggling to free herself. The Marshall then gazed at the Lich King, who also stared back at him, his burning eye-sockets flickering for a moment before returning to their normal calmness. The two locked gazes for half a minute before the undead leader raised his cane and banged it on the ground, causing his followers to start retreating. Except for the four Divine Beasts, all the undead started backing away while minimizing their losses. As for the white specter, then didn''t chase after the enemy and simply held their ground. The Matriarch, who was dealing with her daughter, was suddenly lifted off the ground and then hit by several flame arrows, which burned her already tattered clothes. A strong dizziness assaulted Katrina and before she could counter-attack, a white shadow passed by her, pushing her farther away. Lucy glanced at the ferocious Divine Beast and noticed that the Azure Dragon didn''t join its comrades and curled its body around her, slowly but surely dispersing the aura binding her body. In less than ten seconds, the dragon was able to free Lucy but it looked visibly weaker, missing its usual majesty and grandeur. It roared to the skies and twirled in the air, following the figure of the flying Matriarch. Unlike previously, the Divine Beasts became much more aggressive, even suicidal as they blocked the Matriarch, not allowing her to touch Lucy. **** High up in the sky, Arthur gazed at the whole battlefield, his gaze seemingly calm yet containing various hidden emotions. He noticed the Marshall''s appearance and saw Katrina''s attempted efforts to bind Lucy, those images were deeply imprinted in his mind, fueling his hate and angering him. While still bound by the unbreakable golden rope, Arthur stared at those enemies of his and spoke with a domineering and loud voice, akin to a dragon''s. His words reverberated across the whole battlefield, even reaching the ears of the battling Albert and Wrath. "Enemies of mine, don''t you forget this moment." He saw that he grabbed the attention of everyone, including the dark-haired Marshall who was making his way toward Saly. "I will not forget and I will not forgiveˇ­ Let the world be my witness that when I come, I will hunt each and every one of you!" Arthur''s body was slowly dragged beyond the red gate, pulled into Oblivion. Till the last second, he showed no fear, only confidence, confidence that hell'' be able to come back and stay true to his words. Just as he disappeared, the dark blade which was stabbed into the ground, released an ear-splitting roar and unleashed a vast amount of dark flames. In just a few seconds, all the people who were deemed as enemies by Arthur were marked by the Dark Oath. Whether it''s the unknown Marshall, Albert, or the old monk. The Matriarch''s countenance changed when Lucy flew straight at the gate, fully intending to join Arthur. She released a loud screech and transformed again, this time fully awakened. Her skin turned snow-white and white flames burned in her eyes, two horns protruding from the back of her head, an illusory tail, and two large wings. Katrina''s figure vanished, bypassing the four Divine Beast and living a trail of white flames in its way. The white flames enveloped the Divine Beast and burned them, causing them to groan painfully. **** Seeing that the end has been reached, Aborak scanned his surroundings and let out a long sigh. He gazed at the red gate, which was slowly closing and mumbled "Arthur, I have tried my best." After one last glance at the battlefield, he chanted a few verses with a hollow and chilling voice then banged his cane on the ground nine times, successively. By the next second, a dark fog spread from the Lich King, covering the struggling Divine Beast and all the Undead. The dark fog remained for less than ten seconds before it vanished, leaving an emptiness in its place. Every undead seemed to have vanished, the ground they were standing on became corrupt and decayed, however, with their abrupt disappearance, the tense white specters calm down and shifted their attention to the remaining enemies. When he saw what just happened, Gutcha frowned and gritted his teeth, unhappy that Aborak bailed out without taking them with him. Nevertheless, there''s still a chance to escape. Though she kind of knows the Pigolo, Saly didn''t want to leave without her father and mother so she tried struggling out of Gutcha''s grasp, wanting to transform again and save everyone. However, it''s not as easy as it seems, transforming into Fenrir for a second time may bring disastrous consequences and there''s no guarantee that she can bring back Arthur from Oblivion. The pigolo applied more force and put the little girl under he arm before turning around and leaving, using Dark Magic to camouflage himself. Sadly, he got to cross a hundred meters or less before a burst of sword essence came flying down from above, hitting the pigolo''s back, digging deep into his bones and causing him to roll on the ground. A dark-haired man landed before Gutcha, his gaze was on the little girl in the pigolo''s arms. He didn''t consider Gutcha a threat and didn''t even pay him any attention. The man lifted his hand and pointed his index at the pigolo then shot a sharp sword essence, which penetrated his chest and caused him to cough large amounts of blood. As he was feeling agonizing pain and was rendered immobile, Saly fell from his arms and tried to get up but her body failed to obey her. The dark-haired man pointed his index at Saly and shot again, striking her with a sword essence which was directed at her legs, crippling her on the spot. A painful shriek was let out by the injured girl, she held her legs and held back her tears, trying to show the enemy that she was badly hurt, just like her teacher taught her. ******** A distance away from the battlefield, the Nameless Knight''s face was colder than usual. Currently, the pale youth was pressing his knee on the Joker''s back while his hand was grabbing his brother''s head, pushing it on the ground and restricting his movements. The Joker was forced into this position but he didn''t care, he spat some of the dirt he just tasted and lifted his head with great difficulty, gazing at the sorry and miserable figure of his student. His voice filled with anger and killing intent, Wolfram said: "O''brother of mine, you better hold me tightly or else I''ll go kill that-" Leiu sensed that the Joker tried to free himself to he applied more force, smashing the latter''s head even deeper into the ground while using his Darkness to bind the legs. Though he knew what his brother was feeling, he still couldn''t let him interfere. While staring at groaning little figure, the youth let out a sigh and muttered "Foolˇ­" ******* The dark-haired man was just about to pick up Saly''s body when a streak of lightning sprung from the ground, hitting the man''s legs. Just as that streak hit the Marshall, countless thunderbolts descended from the sky and formed a prison around the target. A lightning wolf appeared before the Marshall, its three tails were cracking with lightning, each had a color. Without wasting any second, Astrith opened its mouth and spat several balls of red lightning which rotated around the prison with fast speed. Very soon, those strange lightning balls started emitting countless thin thunderbolts that revolved around the prison, creating a literal storm, which scorched the earth and pulverized the ground. As for the nearby Saly, she was dragged by Gutcha, who was barely able to hold himself from falling unconscious. He pressed his free hand on his chest, where there''s a gaping hole where blood unceasingly gushed from. Dark Magic started surrounding the fatal injuries and lessening the pain, allowing him to stand up and get a better hold of the semi-conscious Saly, who was calling for her parents'' names. The pigolo gritted his teeth to bear through the pain then turned around, slowly distancing himself from the Marshall. ˇ­ A couple of miles away, Radolf and Midolf stood next to each other, both were covered in injuries and panting heavily. They stared toward the direction the monk fled at, pondering what to do exactly. After some time passed, the red-haired youth stared at the desolate battlefield and was about to continue fighting only for Midolf to hold his shoulder and say "It''s all over now, neither you nor I can do a fucking thing in this situationˇ­ let''s go." Though reluctant, Radolf bit his lips and turned around, leaving this place along Midolf. They looked fine on the outside but their condition was serious and they were barely holding on. In fact, in a way, Gutcha was in a better condition than they. ***** The dark-haired Marshall didn''t chase after Gutcha but the white specters did. He entered a lush forest and used the thick trees as a cover, trying to escape from their eyes. Unfortunately, he was bleeding like crazy so it wasn''t that hard to locate him, furthermore, he was incredibly slow, so the distance between them was shortening with every passing second. As he heard their loud screeches and felt the incoming specters, Gutcha suddenly halted his steps. He put down the mumbling Saly and held her shoulders, shaking her violently to snap her out of her daze. "Listen to me, LISTEN TO ME!" After a few seconds, she raised her head and looked at him with hollow eyes. Once he got her attention, the pigolo raised his hand, which was covered by an ominous darkness, and said: "From this point on, you''re no longer Saly, do you hear me?" Then, without hesitation, he stabbed her head and unleashed his Dark Magic. This malevolent magic invaded every corner of her body, changing the color of her fur to jet black and severely weakening her. Gutcha controlled the Dark Magic well so it won''t actually hurt her, only slightly change her appearance. He turned her body around and put his hand over her mouth then used a dagger to cut her tail. "Listen to me! You and I are travelers, nothing more, nothing less!" He looked at her with a strict gaze then said one last thing "You''re a boy! A boy called Madris!" She couldn''t fully comprehend was he was saying but she still nodded her head while sobbing silently, her eyes wet from all the tears. Gutcha applied some strange ointment all over his face, which drastically changed his appearance, making him resemble a middle-aged man. He retracted his Dark Magic, lifted the injured little girl and darted toward a relatively safe direction. Behind them, the shrieking of hundreds of specters followed, chasing their trail like a group of blood-hungry wolves. **** A distance away from the closing red gate, a wolf with blue fur was trying to free itself from countless thin black threads made of sword essence. These threads were keeping him in check, binding his body and rendering him unable to nothing but howl. The wolf''s cries resounded across the whole battlefield, it desperately tried to untie itself but no avail, the Marshall''s power were just too strong. The dark-haired man glanced at the lush forest where Gutcha ran off to then focused his gaze on the lightning wolf. "A good harvest, nonetheless." Chapter 505 - 453 : Cast To Oblivion 2 Wherever he went, all he could see were countless trees, tall and thick bushes. The pain coming from every part of his body and the nauseating smell of the blood leaking out of his fresh wound confirmed to him that this situation was, in fact, real. His rapidly beating heart and the shrieking of the incoming enemies made the pigolo feel desperate, nevertheless, he never stopped even for a second. He was mentally exhausted and physically fatigued yet his legs kept running, jumping, and leaping over large boulders, trying to lose the chasers off his trail. Unfortunately, he used a considerable amount of his energy and he had to protect the little girl under his shoulder so it was to be expected that he was slower than the still energetic white specters. As for flying to the sky? That would make him an open target and reveal his location to the enemies, who sealed off the whole forest, cornering him and trapping him like a rat. Twenty minutes passed by and Gutcha''s running turned into limping, barely able to shake off the specters, which were but a hundred meters away. Their flickering white flames illuminated the dark area, following the pigolo like some sort of ghosts. Not even a minute later, a large group of specters finally caught up and circled around Gutcha, baring their teeth at him and raising their weapons. He tightened his grip around Saly''s fragile body and held a weapon which seemed to be a mixture of a spear and an ax, covered in Dark Magic polluting the environment around it. At this point in time, running became pointless and trying to hide behind a human''s appearance won''t work. It could be said that his fate was sealed the moment he entered the forest but what choice did he have? It was either that or facing off the dark-haired Marshall. "Drop your weapon, Shapeshifter!" A white specter adorned in a grim-looking armor covered in numerous slash marks advanced forward and pointed his weapon at Gutcha, telling him to surrender. "ˇ­" The pigolo maintained his stance, refusing to admit defeat or hand over Saly. He raised his head and gazed at the gloomy sky, the arm wrapped around Saly became covered in dark flames. Obviously, he was up to something and this alerted all the specters. Actually, Gutcha was going to deplete all his remaining energy to throw Saly, hoping that she''s flung far from here and by the time she lands on the ground, she''s able to retreat on her own. He glanced at the unconscious girl and let out a sigh, unable to follow up with the crazy plan he just came up with. Just as their supposed leader of the specters was about to talk again, a blinding radiance appeared out of nowhere and pushed away all the specters. The radiance concentrated on the pigolo, enveloping him in some kind of Holy Light, healing some of his energies and allowing him to regain some clarity. Then, dozens of thick arrows made of pure light descended from the sky, hitting the white specters, pushing even further away from the cornered duo. Before they could comprehend what just happened, a graceful figure darted from within the lush bushes, a black robe covering the entirety of her body, however, her golden hair was noticeable even with the hood over her head. The woman appeared next to Gutcha and, without asking for his permission, snatched Saly out of his arms before saying "Hurry up and follow me." Without wasting any second, she raised her hand and sent out a spark of light which blinded all the specters and caused them to cover their eyes while yelling like banshees. Though momentarily stunned, the pigolo picked up his dazed senses and quickly followed the blond woman. ******** "You will stay here." Katrina facing her anxious-looking daughter and calmly said those words while blocking the path toward the closing gate. In response, Lucy crazily charged at her mother, unleashing an absurd amount of Yin power, which froze everything, from the sky to the scorched earth, turning the whole area into a snowfield. Her uncontrollable emotions strengthened her powers and her actions more savage, she relentlessly attacked the motionless Matriarch, who stood there and easily blocked all the blows. In less than a minute, the red gate will close and Lucy will lose her chance to join Arthur, who''s been banished to an unknown and hellish world. She HAS to be with him, no matter the cost, so, she retrieved the silver revolver and held it in her still intact left arm, intending to unleash a furry of high-grade bullets to immobilize Katrina. The mother knew the consequences of using that foreign firearm so when she saw her daughter unhesitatingly raise it and aim at her, she frowned and waved her arm, intending to take Silent Moon out of Lucy''s hand. Unfortunately and unexpectedly, her powers didn''t work, startling the Matriarch. Even Lucy found herself unable to move for a split second then, after two seconds, a figure appeared three meters away from her. His expression cold, his skin oddly pale, his body clad in a jet black armor, covering everything but his head. "This is enough." Though it wasn''t loud, his voice reached the ears of every single living being present in this place, whether it''s a white specter or a human. None of them dared to move, they just gazed at this mysterious figure, some wondering who he was, others to see this living calamity disguised as an expressionless youth. The dark-haired Marshall glared at Leiu with dagger-like eyes, not withholding his killing intent or the hostility he bores toward the Nameless Knight. The youth stared back at the Marshall before speaking again, with an almost robotic voice. "I don''t like your stare, boy." It was kind of ironic coming out of a youth''s mouth but none dared to mock him or laugh, after all, they were in the presence of a literal killing machine, an unbeatable person unequaled in all of the multiverse. Though the Marshall didn''t show respect for Leiu, he also didn''t regard him with contempt and disgust like the weakling around him. "Bite me." Katrina''s face remained calm but deep inside, she was curious and confused about why someone like the Nameless Knight will come here and intervene. Nevertheless, his arrival was timely as he froze everyone, including Lucy. Unfortunately for the mother, Leiu turned toward her daughter and said "Go on, no one will stop you." The woman nodded at him and, like a shooting star, flew straight at the closing red gate, barely squeezing her body inside before the doors slammed shut, dispersing the savage aura and causing the chains to start shaking, about to seal it once again. "No!" The Matriarch''s face paled, she desperately struggled to free herself but Leiu''s power was just too strong. She could only glare at him with a deadly stare as if she wanted to devour him alive. In response, the youth remained pretty nonchalant as he scanned the bloody battlefield and added: "This war has dragged on long enough. It ends now, go back where you came from." Not far away from the Nameless Knight, the old monk from before cupped his fists, bowed toward the figure clad in black armor and said "A-Amitabha! Thank you for your gracefulness. This devotee will excuse himself now." "Hmpf!" Leiu snorted but still let the monk scurry away like a pardoned criminal. As for the mysterious Marshall, he kept staring at the knight, not hiding his rising battle spirit. Sadly, his ''rival'' was in no mood to fight, he let out a sigh and talked to the Marshall. "You better scram before I change my mind." An ominous darkness leaked out of Leiu''s body, turning the space around him into an abyss, canceling every law or form of energy. A suffocating killing intent spread from the youth, hitting the Marshall like a truck, even pushing him back a few steps and making him sweat profusely. Right after that, almost everyone dispersed with the exception of the still-frozen Matriarch, who was bloodthirsty and wanted to attack Leiu. The youth didn''t want to deal with this woman so raised his hand, indicating for his brother to come. With Leiu''s signal, a tall man wearing a weird costume appeared before Katrina. Unlike his usual friendly expression, his face was inexplicable cold, filled with all sorts of emotions but mostly anger. His hand blurred before it grasped the woman by her neck, he leaned his face closer and spoke with a chilling voice "O'' my dear Katrina, I''ve warned you beforeˇ­ there are people you shouldn''t hurt and you know very well how I deal with people who go against my words." The woman struggled and tried to attack him out of rage and desperation but he wasn''t the least affected by her white flames or deafening screeches. He glared at her with a disgusted expression while continuing: "What war? What family? You''ve hidden everyone and used puppets, how very brave and honorable!" Without waiting for her to talk, he raised one card and crushed it, causing a light to envelop both of them, turning them illusory until they vanished, leaving Leiu alone. The pale-faced youth landed on the ground and looked at the chaos, the destroyed building, split earth and scorched mountains. The passing cold breeze, the falling snowflakes, the stench of death and blood, mixed together to form a nauseating odor. After a minute or so, Leiu let out a long, melancholic sigh and muttered "My brother, if onlyˇ­ if onlyˇ­" He covered his eyes with his hand and let out a hoarse chuckle before speaking with an almost inaudible voice "Those must be the two saddest words in the world." ˇ­ Just when Leiu was about to leave, the red gate, which almost vanished from the sky after all the chains wrapped around it, was hit by an enraged thing. Upon a closer look, the youth saw a dark blade covered in dark flames, banging continuously on the red gate, rendering it unable to disappear or do anything. The roars of the angry Makaze echoes across this empty and ghastly place, causing anyone to hear them have the chills. As he gazed at Evil Wind, which repeatedly hit the red gate, trying to force it open, the Nameless Knight slowly raised his hand and faced his palm toward the sky, precisely at the gate. He pushed his palm a few inches forward yet these simple actions caused the whole Divine Planet to shake violently. The stormy areas around the planet momentarily ceased to exist and the hearts of every one of its inhabitants tightened, making them feel uneasy. The closed gate was ever-so-slightly opened despite the thick chains sealing it. Through this minuscule gap, the dark blade released an ear-splitting cry as if to thank the youth before it dived straight into the gap, entering Oblivion. A few seconds later, Leiu retracted his palm, threw one last glance at the vanishing red gate before he departed, leaving behind him a desolate land filled with artificial corpses, those belonging to the white specters. ****** "And you''re asking me why I''m not reaping? Obviously, because there''s nothing to repeat, nothing important, at least." The old man, Death, gazed at his black-haired student and uttered those words. Though she clearly heard him, she didn''t quite understand the situation or what happened exactly. The teacher shifted his gaze toward the passing youth, who ignored the duo and disappeared into the horizon, and explained: "You see, my dear student, the Matriarch never intended to fight Arthur fairly. The white specters who fought the undead were real, however, their bodies were ''created''. Basically, they''re like second bodies, so to speak." Shocked by this revelation, Anastassia covered her mouth and seemed to be lost in thought, deeply pondering about something. As if he read her thoughts, Death rubbed his beard grey beard and said in confirmation: "Yes, from the very beginning, Katrina was the winner of this war but, Arthur was still able to ''save'' his wife. Though, they''re both in Oblivion and I really can''t see them surviving there, much less getting out. It''s an isolated world which has been sealed for countless years, if escaping was that easy, it wouldn''t have been that difficult to open the red gate in the first place." He paused for a second and studied the woman''s unreadable expression before resuming: "Then there''s the issue with the person waiting for them at the other side. Even with a miracle, they won''t be able to live so I suggest you stop thinking about them and move on." Chapter 506 - 454 : Honor Your Death He stood on the unusually hot ground, feeling the eerie passing breeze and the ominous and familiar energy dominating this world. For the first couple of moments, the man stood there, dazed, deep in thought, his eyes glued onto the blue and illusory window floating inches away from his eye. Despite his lack of sensation, he vividly felt an uncomfortable tingling all over his body and inexplicable suffocation caused by the atmosphere of this foreign yet familiar world. Even without the System''s reminder, it would have taken him but a few moments to recognize this broken world. His memories of it were deeply imprinted into his mind, never to be forgottenˇ­ the strange and demonic flames eternally burning this whole place and turning it into ash, the corrupted earth and the withered vegetation, which couldn''t handle the passing of time or the effects of the monsters lurking around. Many, if not all, called this world Oblivion, a place that no one could live in, a place of pure evil, a place reigned by truly sadistic and malicious beings. Its history long forgotten and its name never remembered, only those who lived here would know of it, of its glorious past, how it was once a flourishing and peaceful place where all races coexisted. This was the first world ever created, though it was small compared to the vast realms that exist in the present, its past splendor could not be deniedˇ­ Riarravar, it was called. *Welcome to Riarravar, please proceed with caution.* *Due to the nature of Riarravar, your stats are decreased for as long as you''re here: -10% All Stats.* Arthur took a deep breath, his got rid of the countless thoughts rampaging in his mind and gazed at the incredibly large figures slowly marching toward him. Without a doubt, they were the higher variations of Cthulhu, the ones which killed him and his two brothers and ended their long journey in this world. Never did he think that Oblivion was actually Riarravar, however, his situation was different from the past. He has access to all skills and the minor debuffs can be negated with [Eternium] and other skills, not like he needs to use them against those opponents. Although they weren''t a real threat to the current Arthur, their numbers were absurd, especially those hideous Cthulhu with multiple arms. They were madly running toward him, stretching their long arms and waving their weapons. Arthur immediately got into actions, raising both of his hands and sending dozens of creepy-looking fireballs that detonated all around him, causing hundreds of Cthulhu to explode into a bloody mess. Just when he fly into the sky, to get a better view of his surroundings, he was petrified by the sight before him. Far, far away from him, there was an excessively gargantuan being, its shadow cast a shadow over the whole area. Its face was ugly and its lower half had hundreds of tentacles, similar to the one which attacked the angel of death earlier. It supported itself using two thick and robust arms which were bigger than mountains, its eyes pulsated with orange light as they focused on Arthur. For the first time ever, Arthur was actually afraid of an enemy, truly afraid, to the point of being unable to move or gaze directly at this massive entity. After a few seconds passed, which seemed like an eternity to the petrified Parasite, a deep voice rang in his ears. "My honorable guest, let''s play a game." This being, whose presence was enough to fill Arthur with dread, had the qualifications to scare anyone, living or dead. He wasn''t known for his strength but for his intelligence, a being deserving of worship and for many years was he imprisoned here, bored and waiting for someone to come and entertain him. By a few, he was called ''Timos'' and by most, he was referred to as the ''Strategist'', one of the six born from the Darknessˇ­ **** In a world of absolute darkness, precisely inside a black manor which melted with this singular dimension, there were two males, conversing with each other. One was laying on a bed, had a sickly face, a fatally injured body and a limited time to live, while the other sat next to the former, his face expressionless yet his clenched fists were a clear indication of his turbulent emotions. After having fought ''X'', Arthur was aware that now, it was truly the time for him to die. No deity, no matter how great it was, could save him from his imminent death. He played with time more times than he could handle and, fortunately, managed to achieve his goals, though at the cost of his own life. With nowhere to go, he decided to pass his last moments next to his brother. The youth gazed at Arthur in silence, his eyes lacking their usual calmness and his breathing unusually out of rhythm. Seeing this, Arthur let out a chuckle, which led to a series of cough, and talked after he cleared his throat: "You''re not going to cry, are you?" In response, Leiu replied: "It is natural to cry from sadness, laugh from happiness. I''m not immune to such humane emotions." "Well, that''s rare thing for you to say, hehehe" A bit of blood leaked out of Arthur''s lips, his face as white a sheet of paper, like a corpse. His limbs thinner than ever, his skin withered and his bones fragile, no tougher than broken wood. A short of silence flowed between the two brothers before Leiu raised his hand and hid his watery eyes, however, his ''attempt'' was unsuccessful as Arthur was able to see the tears falling from his eyes and trickling down his face. "I-I truly am sorry, Arthur. I''ve failed." Before Arthur could reply, the youth continued "I''ve failed you bothˇ­ I, I wasn''t there when you needed me." It was the first time Arthur saw his brother in such state, his shoulders slightly trembling and his desperate tries to hide his wet eyes, filled with tears. "You failed no one, brother. I, no, we can''t expect you to be there for us whenever trouble arises." Leiu shook his head and explain "No, you do not understand. I could''ve helped you back there but I didn''tˇ­ I was afraid, afraid that things would repeat themselves again, I''m tired of reliving the same tragedies, never to escape this loopˇ­ then there''sˇ­" He stopped mid-sentence, dropping his head and still covering his eyes. "I wasn''t thereˇ­ I wasn''t there for my own brother! When he desperately needed me, I was away, unaware of the tragedy that befell on him!" The youth took a deep breath, gazed at the ground and spoke with a shaky voice: "He lost his friends, family, home, everything! He fought for days, expecting me to come yet the only ones that came were more enemies, trapping him, almost killing him, forcing him to flee. If I had answered his silent calls, the Omega Universe wouldn''t have been destroyed, he wouldn''t have been alone with no place to return toˇ­" The bedridden Arthur stretched his hand and, with a bit of difficulty, patted the youth''s head while saying "It''s the first time I see you like this and I''m glad you emptied your heart and said what''s on your mind. Now, after you''re done feeling guilty about yourself, why don''t you hear his opinion on the matter before you continue blaming yourself for eternity." Hearing this, Leiu''s body jerked and his head turned around, landing on the tall figure who was leaning against the door. He was massaging his temples, his eyes closed and his brows creased. "Seriously, I was waiting for an awesome speech but all I heard was a bunch of nonsense from a man I deeply respect." He walked up to the youth clad in black armor, wrapped his arm around the latter''s neck and dragged him off the chair. "I can''t believe you''re feeling guilty about that. That disaster had nothing to do with you, furthermore, you were busy that Gu fucker." Leiu didn''t resist the Joker which led to both of them falling the ground, the latter trying to ''suffocate'' his brother, wanting to snap out of his pitiful lamentation. A meter away from the two brothers, Arthur, who was laying on the bed, motionless, broke into a soft smoke, his gaze fixated on the two figures wrestling on the ground. Merely a few seconds later, the two battling brothers suddenly stopped, both their head turned toward Arthur. His eyes were closed and all signs of life in his body expired, however, that soft and calming smile hanging on his face proved that he had a peaceful death. Without arguing or making any noises, the two of them faced the deceased Arthur, silently knelt and remained in that position for a very long time. After a while, Leiu snapped his fingers, to which a woman whose face was covered in a black veil appeared in the room. She imitated their actions and knelt toward Arthur, not even raising her head or emitting a sound. His eye still glued onto Arthur, the youth spoke with a soft yet authoritative voice: "Prepare the ship, we''re going to Heaven." In response, the woman, still kneeling, replied: "As you wish." A couple of seconds later, the woman stood up and left the room, leaving the two brothers alone again, still kneeling, showing no signs of standing up anytime soon. Chapter 507 - 455 : Ship of Honor As things were turning violent and bloody in the Divine Planet, the situation on Earth also became complicated and confusing. At first, it started with a few random deaths to which the pathologists were unable to find the cause, nothing too alarming as the occurrence of such cases isn''t that uncommon. However, when these mysterious and similar deaths were happening all over the globe, the humans started worrying. The top organizations and scientists started searching for a cure or solution but to no availˇ­ whatever was causing these deaths were untraceable and unstoppable. At the top of the Moon, an old man who was peacefully taking a ''nap'' abruptly jumped off his illusory bed and stared at the large planet not far away from him. He frowned and scanned the space around Earth before he wiped the drool at the side of his lips and vanished from the Moon. He appeared on Earth, precisely in Paris, capital of France. He was meters away from a popular hero recognized by the whole country and currently, this individual was having difficulties breathing and the ''aura'' around him was slowly dispersing as if it was being canceled. As he witnessed this with his own eyes, Sloth''s face turned extremely ugly. He teleported a few times and saw the same thing happened to multiple people, the symptoms were always the same and the victim will die within a week, if he''s lucky, that is. After confirming his suspicions, the old man retrieved a strange-looking microphone from his pocket and pressed on a large red button. When he started hearing buzzing sounds and a clear picture of a woman wearing a strange helmet appeared before his sight, Sloth snapped at her angrily. "''Human Life Resources'', what''s happening?" The woman acted like a robot, never blinking or showing any reaction. When she heard him, she gave a perfunctory answer "Due to the protocol, I cann-" Visibly angrier, the old man''s expression became worse, he glared at the woman and vulgarly said: "Don''t fucking give me that bullshit and report what''s happening, I''m in no mood for your trashy protocols." After a short silence, in which the woman tapped on a shiny blue keyboard, she said "The source is unknown but the B-32 virus has been unleashed. We''re minimizing the damage and-" She was interrupted again by the incensed sin: "What ''minimizing'', all I''m seeing here is people dying. In three months, the human race will go extinct on Earth! You better act quick!" Still expressionless, she added: "The department is trying its best. Currently, two C-2 airships have been dispatched." The old man let out a sigh and turned off the ''microphone''. He can''t do a thing on his own, after all, his responsibility is to protect Earth from foreign invaders. Dealing with a deadly virus like the B-32 is out of his expertise. Sloth''s sense stretched all corners of Earth, he inspected all the inflicted target and clicked his tongue "Curse it! It''s targeting the strong onesˇ­" ***** In a big luxurious room filled with all kinds of ancient antics, there was a blond young man laying on a large bed while clutching his chest and turning upside down. He was none other than Usui, the Flame Emperor and one of the first targets struck by the B-32. Unlike others, he managed to resist it for some time due to his high stats, which took quite some time to decrease to 0. Currently, he was on death''s door, barely holding his diminishing life. A few hours of agony passed and when it was finally time for him to die, a blue light suddenly covered him, trapping his body in a block of ice and sealing off his consciousness. Usui wasn''t the only one, every human afflicted by the Virus was frozen and vanished from their residence. This was followed by a strange and truly shocking occurrence which startled all the inhabitant of Earth. The starry night sky and the illuminating Moon were nowhere to be seen, instead, you could see a massive airship surrounding the entirety of Earth. The planet was probably a third of this mysterious airship, which was emitting all sorts of colorful lights. The airship was present for less than an hour before it vanished, taking with it more than 10,000 humans, most, if not all, on the brink of death. ***** "Immediately start searching for her!" With a stern look and authoritative voice, Isadore ordered a group of cloaked figures, all experts in scouting, gathering information and assassinations. Right now, their only mission and top priority are to locate Saly and safely bring her to the King''s castle. Without wasting any second, they bowed toward the king and vanished from his sight, melting with their surroundings. The blond young King turned to face Wrath, whose hair was disheveled and his clothes were ragged and torn. "You had one job." The deadly sin raised his hands in innocence and explained himself "What was I supposed to do? I had my hands full with Marshall Albert. Moreover, it''s not like she needed my help, she was the bloody Fenrir!" Unfazed by his explanation, Isadore crossed his arms and glared at the dark-haired man before him: "What she is has nothing to do with the task of protecting her! If something were to happen to her, we will lose all of our credibility!" The king coldly snorted and proceeded to ignore the haggard Wrath, who let out a sigh and fell on the sofa, physically and mentally tired. A chubby figure entered the office and walked up to the King, fidgeting, and hesitating. Isadore glanced at his friend Christopher, who was also was one of the ministers, and said "If you''ve come bearing news, good or bad, then spit it out." The chubby man became momentarily tongue-tied as his face flushed, after a long internal bitter struggle, he finally opened his mouth "T-the two youngsters with similar faces were spotted leaving the Cloud Sea Universe, their destination remains unknown. There''s also a huge event happeningˇ­" Isadore frowned and faced his friend, waiting for him to continue: "The Ship of Honor is being usedˇ­" This shocked both the King and the napping Wrath. "Are you sure?" Christopher repeatedly nodded his head and replied: "Yes. It already started heading toward Heaven." "Who''s the deceased? And who''s the sailor." "T-that''sˇ­" The minister hesitating, afraid to answer his King. Only when Isadore gave him a cold glare, ushering him to speak, did he answer: "T-the deceased is Arthur MoonStar and the sailor is The, Thˇ­ The Nameless Knight." Hearing this, the blond young man sucked a deep cold breath and fell on his comfortable chair, lost in a daze. Only after a while did Isadore snap out of it and, like always, he unconsciously tapped his finger on the desk while thoroughly pondering about his choices. After an unknown amount of time passed, he seemed to have come to a decision as he raised his head and stared back at the cowering chubby man. "Doesn''t matter, we''ll proceed with the plan." As he listened to his King, the minister was confused, unable to understand why Isadore was still supporting Arthur even after he was declared dead. "B-but, Your Majesty, Arthur Moons-" "Dead? Maybeˇ­ and maybe not. Either way, our ''alliance'' still stands." Chapter 508 - 456.1 : A little game Unaware of the identity of the entity standing at the other edge of this forsaken world, Arthur gazed at the looming shadow far away and the moving tentacles, his brow raised and his expression indecipherable. The being was talking to him telepathically, its tone wasn''t hostile, quite friendly, in fact. As he heard the first words of Timos, Arthur took a few moments to collect his thoughts before opening his mouth. "Who might you be, honorable Sir." At this point in time, Arthur could only feel fear, the shaking of his body, his alert bestial instincts and his unstable Soul, which was trying to distance itself from that massive entity. He couldn''t afford to die here, not after all that happened. Lucy and Saly were still out there, in imminent danger and in desperate need of immediate help. It''s rare for him to speak so respectfully to a strange, and a monster, at that yet he did, his back straight and his gaze unwavering, trying to hide his emotions. Again, using some sort of telepathy, Timos replied: "Honorable? Hahaha, now that''s a first!" His absurdly thick and long tentacles danced in the air, indicating that he was in a good mood, or so it seemed from his voice. "My Honorable guest, as you can see, this world is ruined, devoid of any kind of entertainment, so, your arrival is much-welcomed, even desired. Finally, someone has come to relieve my boredom and elevate my spirits. So, fancy a little game? Nothing harmful, just something to pass time." Arthur, ignoring the approaching armies of Cthulhu and giants taking big strides towards him, answered: "I will have to decline, unfortunately. I am in a bit of a hurry and would like to leave, if that doesn''t bother you." The parasite was growing more and more nervous, he felt suffocated and inexplicable thirst, however, not for water but for blood. The aura of Riarravar was affecting him negatively and seemed to be perfectly compatible with his current Race. It wasn''t threatening, yet, nevertheless, a long stay may affect his mentality. After a long silence, Timos let out a sigh and expressed his sadness over Arthur''s ''unexpected'' reply. "Too bad, I was craving for a game. Nothing I can do about it, I guessˇ­ go on, then, I''ll just sulk in my corner and wait for another visitor." Just as he finished talking, a white figure appeared from behind Arthur, stopped next to him, her dress dyed red and a nauseating smell of blood reeking out of her. Her right arm was in a horrible state, her face pale and her breathing uneven. She coughed a few times then glanced at Arthur, her eye pulsating with a sky-blue light as it scanned his body, searching for any fatal injuries. Only when she made sure he was unscathed did she face the enormous monster far, far away. Her pupils constricted and her body twitching, noticeably. She controlled her voice and stopped her trembling lips then asked Arthur: "What is that?" "Beats me." The red gate a distance vanished for good, leaving in its place a red fog which dispersed in the air, turning into nothingness. Standing back to back, the couple faced the incoming enemies, black flames burst from the parasite''s body and a bone-chilling coldness froze the ground and petrified the air, stopping dozens of madly running Cthulhu, transforming them into crystalline, unmoving statues. Two giant monsters wielding red clubs came at Arthur, both shrieking and speaking with a foreign, incomprehensible language. A mixture of Dark Magic and Vermilion flames burst forth, enveloping the giants and pushing away, one of them consumed by Darkness, fell to its knees and wailed in pain, the other, scorched by the orange flames, waved its hands and swung its club, magically dispersing the sea of fire. Lucy made great use of her elemental skills, she turned the unsteady ground into mud and oil then unleashed a torrent of golden flames which spread into the ground, causing various explosions and igniting the earth, resulting in vast amount of bright flames which rose into the bloody canopy, piercing it and illuminating this area, shrouded by the Timos'' shadow. Hundreds, if not thousands of Cthulhu were turned into ash yet not even this torrent of golden flames were able to stop the advancing army, which didn''t care about the fire and headed straight into it. Their superior numbers allowed them to sacrifice much of their own to build a relatively safe path toward their two sole enemies. "Ah! Another guest, welcome to my humble abod-, well, technically, it''s not my abode but I''ve resided here for a long time so I consider it my home, but I digress. Cherished visitor, care for a little game? If you agree, I can spare you the effort of dealing with these senseless abominations." Lucy gave no reply to the chatty monster, who wiggled its over-grown tentacles and gazed at the graceful figure of the silver-haired woman, who was bombarding the Cthulhu, not letting them get close to her or Arthur. If you look from the top, a bird''s view, you would see an outrageous amount of Cthulhu, the normal ones or the giants, which were a stronger, tougher variation, superior in every way. Even with infinite Stamina, devastating skills and heavenly spells, no one is able to get rid of them. This world became infested with Cthulhu, to the brim, and that is an understatement, its cities burned to the ground, its forests scorched and turned into ash, its earth infertile and corrupted, its inhabitants are long gone, erased from history. Minutes felt like hours, the nonstop use of skills, the suffocating aura and the uncomfortable feeling surging from his soul took a great toll on Arthur, whose movements were becoming a tad slower, noticeable by no one, except the silent Timos, who watched the unfolding events, his thoughts known to none but him. At first, it was going well for the couple, however, as time went by, the situation reversed. The whole area was divided by a clear black line, one part was covered in a raging blizzard and the other was an eternal, ominous, and malevolent encroaching darkness. The Cthulhu which entered the darkness couldn''t be seen anymore and they never came back either, however, their hoarse cries of agony couldn''t be clearer. Unfortunately, due to the battle against the specters, the couple wasn''t in the best shape, especially Lucy, whose arm was crippled and her body was visibly weak. Basically, she was holding onto a thin thread and barely able to use her Yin power. Were it not for her special Physique, which greatly supported her, she would have fallen unconscious already. It reached a point where the two of them became practically cornered, meters away from their enemies, which crazily wielded their weapons, attempting them to defeat them, but not kill them. The Cthulhu were notorious for apprehending their targets, torturing them in all kinds of ways then letting them rot in some hell hole. At last, one of the two received a frontal blow, albeit not devastating, it caused some damage. Arthur staggered a few steps and used his Life energy to heal the injury he just received. With a cold glare, he lifted both of his hands and released countless white thunderbolts which stunned all nearby enemies and scorched the giant which hit him a second ago. Just a few paces behind the parasite, Lucy was grazed by a sharp two-handed axe wielded by a brown-skinned giant with multiple arms. Just as she was about to dodge another of its slow yet dangerous attacks, a lengthy arrow pulsating with a bloody light pierced her shoulder and sent her flying a couple of meters away, landing in the midst of several Cthulhu, who maliciously grinned and lunged at her. Arthur reacted in time, using [Faster Than Death], teleporting next to her, then raising a Dark Barrier while his Quad Spirit used its Gravity Magic to slow down the enemies. Though its attempt was splendidly successful, the arrows coming from far away were unaffected by anything, even the Dark Barrier, as they made their way toward the couple, hitting Arthur''s back and temple. Arthur spat some blood and wrapped his hand around Lucy''s waist, pulling her in his embrace and tightening his grasp, in a futile attempt, the parasite tried to rip the Space to deflect more of the arrows but the result remained almost identical to before, arrows rained down on them, mainly hitting Arthur, who shielded his companion. Semi-conscious, Arthur coughed a lot of blood and glanced at the Dark Barrier, which was bombarded by all the grotesque monsters around the duo. He felt his vision becoming blurrier and his body turned unusually cold. Actually, he wasn''t worried about himself but about Lucy, after all, he was a Soul Parasite so even if this body perishes, he can still live. However, Lucy was a totally different matter, which is why he''s trying his best to protect her from any critical or fatal damage. When all seemed lost and death grew nearerˇ­ amidst this total chaos, weapons clanking, shields raised and arrows fired, the loud noises of the mad monsters and their joyful yet unpleasant cheering, it happened. To the surprise of these hideous creatures which were about to strike Arthur and Lucy, after finally getting rid of his barrier, there was a bright radiance that blinded everyone and anyone near it, including the parasite and his wife. This light, although harmless at first glance, had an astonishing effect on these grotesque monsters, who dropped to their knees, their skins melting and their eyes burning. Before he could react or try to open his eyes, a swift figure bypassed the motionless Cthulhu and darted toward the couple. This silhouette was as fast as lightning, grabbing hold of Arthur and magically melting in the air, pulling the two the ground. A somewhat empty field miles away, the same silhouette sprung from the ground, carrying both Arthur, who was tightly holding Lucy. Upon a closer look, this person had face full of dirt and a few permanent slash marks, under all this filth, you could see young facial features and clear eyes. Without his beard and the totally changed countenance, Arthur would have recognized this person, who was cast out from Green-Leaf and through an unfortunate coincidence, ended up here. He was none other than Vyncent. A few seconds later, the source of the blinding light hurting all the Cthulhu appeared next to Vyncent. She had a thin, frail body, as if a simple breeze would take it away, a long hair, as black as ink, and a frosty expression. Once a fall God, now a mere mortal, Lissandra. Chapter 509 - 456.2 : Black Sea Though the White Specter clan didn''t suffer any losses, half of their residential territory was demolished, turned into dust and ash. Even after one day, no one dared to visit the place to inspect the damage, everyone stayed clear of this area, choosing to wait for the Matriarch to publicly announce the results of the war. This once prosperous and beautiful place turned into a mess, rubble everywhere, bottomless chasms, scorched earth and polluted air. It is definitely not a place for anyone to live in, which is why Katrina started relocating the disciples or her clan. The clan''s territory was unimaginably huge so Katrina chose a relatively quiet place that had abundant Nether Energy and was suitable to live in. ˇ­ Going back to the battlefield, where it stunk of blood, there appeared a lonely silhouette, slowly walking amidst the dusty and foggy place, unaffected by the nauseating smell or the unsteady ground he was treading. The man wore no armor or enchanted armor, his clothes were normal, plain, even. What caught attention, however, was an unusual hat adorned by three feathers, white, red, and purple. His attire resembled those of the troubadours roaming the Bard Realm, and the lute in his hand confirmed his obvious profession. After walking for a long while, the man let out a sigh and pinched his nose, unable to bear the stench, nevertheless, he continued randomly wandering around, inspecting overly-damaged areas. Only when half a day has passed did the bard stop roaming and retrieved his lute, ready to sing. He needed to see this with his own eyes so he can come up with a good poem that will rile the crowd, as usual. "My dear Arthur, didn''t I tell you that your efforts will be of no use? Why must you go against destinyˇ­" Indeed, this individual was a recent acquaintance of Arthur, someone the parasite meant when he went in search of the Azure Dragon''s body. They coincidentally met and surprisingly hit it off, becoming friends after experiencing a few dangerous situations together. Their encounter was brief, however, the memories of their short adventure won''t be forgotten anytime soon. Aneirin was his name, and, contrary to his appearance, he was old, very old, and mysterious, at that. The bard adjusted his lute, put his delicate fingers in their rightful place and started singing. His sweet and pleasant voice echoed across the empty battlefield, bringing a tinge of life to this desolate and broken place. ''Once a human, he had been Now a parasite, none had ever seen Lacking faith, like a simple machine Facing destiny, fate, and all in-between He failed to see the path Alone and consumed by his wrath Seeking vengeance, causing a bloodbath Once a human, he had been Now a parasite, banished in a place unforeseen Meeting a creature, mad, sly, and obscene Soon to be forgotten, cursed, and never seen.'' **** Unaware, there were two figures watching the singing bard, their breaths steady and silent, and their bodies camouflaged by the dense fog and countless scattered boulders. The shorter of the two, a young man with a fair, delicate skin, a humble smile and clear eyes, glanced at the man beside him and said "You didn''t have to go that far." This young man, who wore a grey robe and looked harmless, was none other than the Green Seat of Justice from Black Rose, the famous Artid, the person who invited Arthur to their organization. Facing the green seat was a middle-aged man with a relatively thick beard, two jet black pupils which sucked everything that looked at them, a robust body and two eye-catching eyebrows. This was the man hired by Thordan to kidnap Lucy, he was also the person who hit her and almost killed her were it not for the ARK''s help. This man, who didn''t have any suffocating aura like other Overgods and such, lacked the pressure of an expert, and was missing the domineering attitude of a cold-blooded killer, was the Black Seat of Death and the strongest existence in Black Rose. Hearing Artid, the man shook his head and retorted: "You said she''s perfect for the White Seat. Unlike Arthur, I needed to test her, however, a normal test was out of the question because her circumstances were special, so the best choice was to test her survivability." The youngster didn''t seem very convinced, he frowned and looked at the middle-aged man with a doubtful expression. "I may not be as great of a character as you are, but in our line of business, succeeding in our mission and getting out alive are our two main priorities." "There are other ways of testing her ''survivability''. You almost killed her with that blow." The black seat shrugged his shoulders and said back: "But I didn''t, that''s the most important." "You would have if that strange cube didn''t he-" "No." The black seat interrupted Artid and explained: "That artifact did nothing and was unsuccessful in its attempt to expel my energy. She relied on herself and saved her life, that is all. Getting into the details like ''How'' or ''When'' would be unnecessary and a waste of time." The grey-robbed young man remained silent, pondering about the previously said word. As for the Black Seat of Death, he glanced at the walking bard, his expression unreadable and his abyssal pupils concentrating on Aneirin. After some time passed, Artid asked "Isn''t he afraid that the Matriarch will come and kill him for coming uninvited?" He was clearly referring to the singing troubadour. In response, the man, his gaze still locked onto the blurry silhouette of the far away poet, answered: "No one would bother killing troubadours, they''re harmless andˇ­ they make history with their poems and songs." **** The place was like a fairyland, the trees were colorful, overgrown, and breath-taking. The land of this ''world'' was fertile and magically enhanced so it feeds off corrupt energy and let out pure Nether. The animals coexisted with each other, eating the lush grass or the delicious fruits hanging from the different kinds of trees. This blessed world was the ancestral land of the White Specter Clan, it didn''t exactly suit such a race, nonetheless, it belonged to them. Currently, all of the disciples, including the higher-ups such as the elders, were camping in an open field. Temporarily, they inhabited a massive pagoda which pierced the white clouds high up in the sky. This pagoda was large enough to accommodate tens of thousands of people, so, housing the White Specter Clan was no big deal. Currently, in a spacious room that was well-decorated and filled with all kinds of archaic antics, there laid a silver-haired woman, peacefully sleeping. Her delicate face regained some color and her breathing was steady, unlike before. Unseen by anyone, including her mother, there was a strange cube inside the woman''s consciousness, silently rotating, causing no harm whatsoever. This person was Angelina, who was brought here by Katrina and has been in this comatose state for several days already. The Matriarch would visit her every night and check her pulse and body and see if there were any abnormalities, fortunately, there was nothing to worry about, however, despite being healthier than ever, Angelina didn''t wake up. Chapter 510 - 456.3 : A Wolfs Whimper The specter had a long and vivid dream, it wasn''t something horrifying but pleasant and warm. Though she''s not used to such sweetness, what she experienced in this so-called ''dream'' wasn''t as displeasing as she expected it to be. Her rapidly beating heart, the warm touch of his caressing hand, his breathing, and above all, the sweetness of his kisses. Angelina never experienced the thing they call ''romance'' for she deemed it unimportant and unequal to other matters such as cultivation. The days she passed with him, the unforgettable cute face of the baby she held in her arms, the angelic newborn which smiled every time she picked him up. It was the kind of life any young lady, poor or rich, would wish to live, however, Angelina was different, which is exactly why, from her point of view, everything was but a passing, pleasant dream, soon to be forgotten. Butˇ­ ah! She was sorely mistaken, she had no idea that her reunion with the ARK is the beginning of the end. As it should be, the two were to be separated for eternity albeit the destiny that once bound them together. "Ah!" Angelina jumped off her bed, her body soaking with sweat, her face pale and her heart about to burst out of her chest. She looked at her fingers, clenched her fists then put a hand over her heartˇ­ each beat was like a thunderclap to the confused white specter. Though she woke up, she could remember every single moment of her long dream, making her feel momentarily lost. ******* "Damned Dragon! You successfully and most definitely, non-intentionally, screwed both of us!" ''X'', bound by chains which negated all of his skills, spat on the ground and glared at the large beast next to him, also bound by ominous black chains. They were both heavily injured, haggard-looking and imprisoned in this cell, which reeked of piss and blood, further annoying ''X''. In response, Yamak merely snorted and ignored the rambling ''X'', he wriggled his body, trying to free himself using brute force but his attempt was futile. ''X'' and Yamak weren''t the only ones imprisoned here, there were at least five others, bound by chains and injured all over their bodies, rendering them unable to retaliate or talk properly. ''X'' let out a sigh as he saw his ripped tuxedo and the blood staining his expensive shoes. He abhorred dirty places like this and the outcome of his fight couldn''t much worse, literally. To think they ended up being captured and thrown here like helpless rats, the thought of him incensed him even more. ***** Back in Oblivion, just when Arthur and Lucy were saved by Vyncent, a shooting black star came from the red sky, crashing into the ground, pulverizing everything in its way, including the mad Cthulhu, which were consumed by the stretching black flames. An ear-splitting wild cry emanated from a vibrating dark blade, then, as if it felt something, it flew East. At the other edge of this world, the massive entity gazed at the flying Makaze, its pupils constricted for a split second before they regained their usual calmness. Timos focused his attention on the Dark Blade and only when Evil Wind vanished from its sight did he show a reaction. His tentacles became wilder as they danced in the air then thrashed the land around it, killing every Cthulhu around. "O''Malum, to think you''ll end up in such a stateˇ­ your dignity stomped, your name forgotten, what a tragedy." The strategist closed its eyes, seemingly reminiscing about the past. "Again and again and againˇ­ countless times have I warned you. Why did you not listen? Why did you use such lame excuses to deny my advices?" The enormous entity seemed to become agitated as it mumbled to itself. "Feelings? Those are nothing but excuses to explain one''s actions. What? You loved her? Such a thing doesn''t exist! And even it doesˇ­ WE should not be able to feel it. Pain, anger, happiness, sadnessˇ­ those are things mortals claim to feel but we''re different. We''re physically and mentally superior, so why did you degrade yourself? You even went as far as killing Xyktia for her butˇ­ I wish you could tell me your thoughts at that time. Did you think it will bring her back? That she''ll love you? Jump in your arms?" Timos stopped for a few moments, his tentacles finally calming down and his eyes opening, gazing at the scorched world. "With the birth of elements and the beginning of time, it is true that the Twelve of us drifted apart, however, was it really necessary to turn on each other? We''re ''created'' from the same thingˇ­ how is it that some of you became so foolishˇ­ so greedy and so blindedˇ­ I so wish to know." ***** Divine Planet, Cloud City(Capital). At the deepest part of the public prison belonging to the Cloud Sea Sect, there laid a large wolf with three tails, its body wrapped by countless chains. They rubbed against its body, their tightness caused blood to ooze out of all parts of his body. Its large mouth was stabbed by a silver lance, which impaled the beast and rendered it unable to even howl, it could only whimper painfully. Astrith''s state couldn''t be more miserable, he was robbed of his power, imprisoned and tortured more than one time. At first, they wanted to know more about Arthur, his home planet and so on, however, after they received no answer from the lightning wolf, they drastically changed their tactic. In fact, they offered Astrith a position in their ranks, promising enticing rewards, including freedomˇ­ sadly, the wolf repeatedly refused their propositions, causing them to become more brutal, not caring about his life anymore. He knew they needed him for something or else he would have been discarded a while ago, so, with an ever-weakening body and sliver of life remaining, the wolf persevered, waiting for the perfect time to counterattack and get out of here. END OF VOLUME 8 Chapter 511 - 457 : Cooperate Inside a gloomy and cramped cave, which, by no means, is a habitable place, there were four figures, all in a bad state, however, two of the four were laying on the rough earth, clearly unconscious. Two days ago, Vyncent and Lissandra somehow managed to rescue the newcomers but ended up revealing themselves and using their trump card. They were planning to use their powers to flee East, where it''s much safer than this forsaken land, infested with monsters. When he saw the identity of the incomers, Vyncent decided to save them for he knew Arthur''s powers and their necessity to get out of here in one piece. Lissandra didn''t show any objection, she helped the young man and did her best push away the Cthulhu and teleport them from that battlefield next to the red gate, which had disappeared a while ago. Approximatively a day ago, the cave they were in shook violently, alarming the two of them, however, it turned out to be a vibrating dark blade which cut everything in its way and stuck next to Arthur, stabbing the ground and releasing low, inaudible growls. The man and woman remained silent, recuperating a bit of energy and waiting for one of the two to wake up. ˇ­ Despite his new race, Arthur felt an unbearable headache which made it difficult for him to move properly, much less stand up. With a half-closed eye, he glanced at the two silhouettes a distance away from him, his pupil constricted, unable to believe the presence of Vyncent in this unfamiliar place. It took him a few moments to collect his thoughts and try to speak only to find out that his mouth is inexplicably dry and the old yet familiar feeling of hunger assaulting him, making his stomach growl unceasingly. Sensing this, Vyncent crouched next to Arthur, lifted his head and poured some liquid into the parasite''s mouth. It was simple water but to Arthur, it felt like a heavenly elixir that completely rejuvenated him, giving him just enough strength to utter a few words. "Where are we?" Though Vyncent''s presence is confusing, Arthur was more worried about his current situation. The last thing he remembered was being saved by a speeding figure then he passed out, probably from exhaustion. He over-worked himself and excessively used a lot of powerful skills. His foundation became unstable and if he doesn''t solidify it, he''ll return to being a Sovereign. Furthermore, the mortal feelings he was currently feeling startled him. The pain, hunger, thirst, fatigue, and sleepiness, they are things he shouldn''t feel thanks to his limitless Stamina and beneficial passive skills. "A world called Riarravarˇ­ or, as others call it, Oblivion." "Hah! I thought as much." A ridiculing laugh escaped Arthur''s mouth, it wasn''t directed at Vyncent but at himself. Arthur tried to sit up only to be stopped by Vyncent, who pushed him on the ground and softly said: "You need to rest, there is no need to rush things." Arthur moved his stiff head, trying to find Lucy and see if she''s okay. It was at this time that Lissandra entered his line of sight, making him suck a deep breath and stared at her for a few seconds before retracting his gaze, seemingly uninterested. "Lucy''s condition is stable but her body is a complete mess. She needs more than a simple rest to recover." Lissandra moved out of the way, revealing an unconscious Lucy just behind her. The specter''s body was covered with bandages, especially her arm, which was mangledˇ­ truly an ugly sight to behold. After several failed attempts to get up and check on her, Arthur laid on the cold ground and asked with a softer tone: "Is her condition that serious?" In response, the frail-looking Lissandra nodded her head and explained: "More than you could think. I''m a herbalist but this place lacks any kind of vegetation so I can only alleviate some of her pain. Fortunately, she has a good constitution or else she would''ve diedˇ­" A bout of awkward silence flowed between the trio before Vyncent broke it by saying: "We can''t stay here for much longer. We''ll live as soon as Lucy wakes up." "Where to?" As far as Arthur knew, there was no safe place in Riarravar, at least not after it was invaded by the Cthulhu. "East of here, there''s a group called the Resistance, they have food, shelter, and enough forces to defend against the relentless attacks of both parasites and Cthulhu." When Arthur came here with Wolfram and Leiu, he read about a strong kingdom led by an unstoppable shogun. Not even Claudia dared to trifle with that kingdom as she knew that she lacked the necessary strength to face the shogun and his army. "How far is it?" Vyncent abruptly laid on the ground and put his ear against the ground, seemingly sensing something abnormal. Lissandra pushed back her long black hair, leaned against the wall and replied: "Very far. We expanded our powers to rescue you two so getting past the hordes of Cthulhu outside will be harder than anticipated. It is for this reason that we require your powers, which is why you need to rest and recover a bit." "I''ll need a couple of hours to he-" Arthur was interrupted by a tremor which was followed by numerous cracks appearing on the roof. Lissandra quickly picked up the unconscious Lucy then started chanting, blinding radiance enveloping enveloped the two females, protecting them and distorting the space around them. As for Vyncent, he picked Arthur and melted in the ground. They had a consensual agreement and it was definitely not a wise idea to waste time talking about what to do or where to go. The best and safest option is to separate so they can distract the attackers. Just after the four vanished from this dark cave, two silhouettes appeared, one was a tall and burly black-skinned man, a thick beard and two sharp swords hanging on his waist. The other was an elder wearing tight leather clothes, his skin covered in flames, though, strangely, this fire didn''t affect his surroundings or his clothes. "Tsk! They escaped again." The burly man clicked his tongue and examined the bloodstains on the ground and sniffed the air, smelling the aura of two additional individuals. "We must capture them before those barbaric and brainless monsters." The elder, hands behind his back, gazed at the location Lissandra and Lucy were at, then whistled, resulting in a dog-like flaming beast to appear next to him. The beast growled in annoyance, not pleased to be given such a trivial and boring task, nevertheless, it followed its master''s orders and started tracking the targets. ******* Unfortunately for Vyncent, the place he appeared at after using his secret technique wasn''t the least bit favorable. Along with the suffocating heat, the savage aura lingering in this world, there were dozens of Cthulhu running at him, all armed to the teeth and madly roaring at him. He put Arthur on the ground and faced the incoming enemies, his hands forming a golden seal which was pushed against the ground, raising sturdy walls which blocked the Cthulhu and hindered their crazy advance. After ensuring Arthur''s temporary safety, he was about to jump over the wall to face them only to be stopped by Arthur, who grabbed his ankle. Vyncent glanced at Arthur''s suspicious behavior and frowned, clearly wanting an explanation. The parasite panted heavily and held his right hand, pressing his thumb on a jet black ring, causing it to shine with an ominous black light that sucked everything around it, like a black hole. Although his energy pools were depleted, Arthur forced himself and somehow managed to retrieve a few rings from Zodiak''s storage. These storage rings rolled on the ground, near Vyncent''s feet. "U-use them." After he said that, Arthur coughed some blood then fainted, unable to resist the pain assaulting his mind or the sleepiness dominating his consciousness. Without any hesitation, Vyncent picked those rings and injected a bit of his energy in them, trying to see what''s inside. To his astonishment, there was an abundance of artifacts, armors, and weapons. All of them were of good quality and priceless, furthermore, in this dire situation, they''re literally life-saving. In less than three seconds, Vyncent chose what a few items that were compatible with him and immediately equipped them. His body shone with a magical light and his tattered clothes were replaced by a golden armor, not too thick but like what knights wore but sturdy enough to block heavy attacks. He discarded the rusty sword he used to fight and held a long one-handed sword that emitted pure Earth Energy. Last but not least were special boots which made his body feel lighter than ever and supplied him with Nether Energy. Those three items all had special formations which facilitated his use of energy and lowered the consumption of his techniques, including the secret one he commonly uses to escape. Fully equipped, Vyncent jumped high in the air and brandished his new sword, slashing multiple times in the air, which caused golden stricks to descend on the Cthulhu, cutting their bodies into pieces and paving a clear way for the young man. He stepped in the air as if it was a staircase while holding Arthur under his arm. Countless arrows flew at him but they were blocked by his armor which would release a burst of Earth Energy every time it sensed any incoming danger. Vyncent was lucky as there was only the normal Cthulhu, there were no signs of the giants or the special bow-wielding monsters which were the deadliest of them all. A while later, Vyncent managed to carry the parasite to a relatively safe location, devoid of any life. The place reeked of blood, mountains of corpses scattered all around him, severed limbs and head in every corner and, surprisingly, a complete absence of any kind of energy. This was a place not even the Cthulhu dared to tread for it affected them too. Vyncent too, wasn''t keen of this lifeless area, however, it was better than being discovered by the higher Cthulhu, those who could threaten his life. Furthermore, the parasites were on their trail so they have to constantly keep moving. ******* ''X'' was inspecting this disgusting prison, still in a very bad mood. The silver dragon next to him maintained its silence, neither commenting on their situation or complaining about its current state. "Enjoying your stay?" Out of nowhere, a graceful figure wearing traditional Chinese-like clothes appeared in front of the duo''s cell. Her face covered with a veil and her hair, just like her clothes, snow-white. She had flawless curves, hair that reached her thighs and delicate skin, making her look no different than a Goddess or a fairy. Her soft and melodious voice would anyone, even the craziest people. ''X'' spent a couple of seconds staring at her before he coldly snorted and retorted "What stay? You ugly and stinky whore." Though he was captive and should maintain a respectful attitude in the presence of what seemed to be the person who threw him here, X didn''t show any politeness, using vulgar words and an aggressive tone. The woman flinched as she heard his words, keeping her silence for a while before speaking again "Why so impolite?" Though his face was still blurry, one could speculate X''s current expression, which contained disgust and contempt. "Stinking whore! You reek of Black Magic! Don''t try to that cute act with me. You''re all the same." This time, the woman was visibly surprised, not expecting him to ''smell'' the aura of Black Magic. Though she was repeatedly insulted, the woman wasn''t the least bit angry. "I actually came here to discuss the matter of your release." X kept glaring at her but didn''t say anything, ''allowing'' her to continue. "You came uninvited and caused a big ruckus, destroying most of this place. The master wasn''t pleased which is why she threw in these dungeons." "Hmpf!"-X "She that as long as you complete a small task, she''ll release both of you." Yamak bared his sharp teeth at the woman and spoke with a deep and threatening voice "I won''t work with you people." The white-haired woman let out a sigh and said "What a shameˇ­" "Wait. I''ll cooperate."-X Before she could leave, X said that, clearly wanting to get out of this hell hole. Unfortunately, her next few words made his situation much complicated. "The master said that she needs both of your help. As long as one of you refuses to cooperate, you''ll remain here." She turned around and left right after, not leaving a chance for X to talk. The man wriggled around and tried to shake off the chains but to no avail. In the end, he faced the silver dragon crouching next to him and said "Hey, don''t you want to get out of here?" "ˇ­" He received no response, so he asked again. "I''ve got a plan, you just need to say that you''ll cooperate with them." "ˇ­" Chapter 512 - 458 : Broken Husk "Your condition has not stabilized yet, stay still." As Lucy tried to get up, a cold voice penetrated her ears, startling her. Once she glanced toward the source of the voice, the silver-haired woman became dumbfounded, her eyes containing disbelief as she stared at the fragile-looking woman sitting next to her. Never did she imagine to run into Lissandra, a former enemy, in this kind of place. She knew that the fallen God deserted MoonStar city and went to live her life, as a mortal, so what confused her is how a weak woman who can be killed by a wind breeze ended up in Oblivion. Furthermore, she was being taken care of by her, making Lucy a bit uneasy as their relationship couldn''t be considered ''harmonious''. As if she read her thoughts, the woman added: "Fear not, I bear no grudge against you. What happened in the past shall remain as so, moreover, in a place like this, it''s better and practical to ally together to make it out alive and in one piece." Though told not to move, Lucy struggled and tried to look for any signs of her husband only to fall back down, groaning from pain. In the last battle, she didn''t receive a frontal attack which knocked her out, instead, she fell unconscious due to overworking herself. Continuous nonstop use of Mental Power several exhausted her, and the pain only added more fuel to the fire, worsening her condition and rendering her in this helpless state. Her right arm didn''t even resemble an arm anymore, it was just a gory mangled piece of meat, covered in blood and lacking any kind of energy. The bones were either shattered or broken, the muscles were ripped and the skin was torn, revealing the disgusting sight underneath. The rest of her body was in no better condition, failing even to do the most basic of movements. Although her energy pool recovered to full, she was unable to use it as the mental backlash resulted from the gruesome fights was still present and heavily affecting her, both mentally and physically. "Your husband is with Vyncent. We had to separate to confuse our pursuers." Lucy struggled to open her mouth and utter a few words but all that got out was a lot of blood, mostly black and sticky blood. Seeing the poor state of the white specter, Lissandra felt neither joy nor satisfactionˇ­ she already forgot about the past and never wanted to discuss it. Her actions were foolish and rash, she shouldn''t have been that arrogant. Her short mortal experience changed her thought process, allowing her to see the world in a new light. While it''s true that she resented the couple at first, those hateful feelings she harbored slowly but surely vanished and were replaced by hope and curiosity. She didn''t know why but she was inexplicably curious about Astria and its origin. This small and remote world seemed fine from the outside, however, it had terrifying secrets which would frighten anyone, especially the cave she found underneath the Eastern Continent. The pictures on the wall depicted the future, the book and its connection with Riarravar. ********** "How do you feel?" The bearded young man gobbled up a dried piece of meat while asking another man sitting opposite of him. The man''s hair was grey and had an unsightly scar on his face, his slow movement and trembling body indicated that he wasn''t in his best shape. While controlling his shaking hand, Arthur ate some meat and replied: "I''ll need a few hours to regain enough power to fight." He recovered all of his Nether Energy and Mental Power but, for some reason, his current ''body'' was rejecting him and not fully obeying him. Strangely, his skin showed signs of cracking, like glass, which alarmed him. Without the assistance of the ARK or the knowledge of Claud, Arthur wasn''t able to guess the reason behind the crumbling of his physical body. ''Must I change hosts?'' He does have other humanoid bodies but he would rather keep using this one until he finds a better alternative. Now that he''s a Soul Parasite, he didn''t have a real physical body so his current host was temporary and after what suffered in the war, it''s to be expected that it''s in this condition, however, it still didn''t explain the rejection he was experiencing. In fact, even after being almost killed in one more than occasion, his body should have fully recovered in a few hours, at most. ˇ­ Coincidentally, three hours later, when the trembling ceased and the parasite regained enough strength to defend himself, the two of them received uninvited and unwelcomed guests. This desolate place was like a graveyard, due to its peculiar nature, not even the Cthulhu dared to come yet there were two silhouettes who appeared a distance away from Vyncent and Arthur. "You caused a lot of problems then bailed, inferior organism." The muscular black-skinned man from before stared at Vyncent with an unfriendly gaze, a dangerous pressure revolving around him. Next to the muscular man stood a silent elder who glanced at Arthur with interest, wondering how another human managed to enter Riarravar. Surprisingly, neither of the two, who were also parasites, managed to discover Arthur''s real identity. Probably due to his special race, something that never existed. Arthur glanced at the expressionless Vyncent and said: "What did you do?" The young man shrugged his shoulders and whispered: "I did nothingˇ­ I was framed." "By whom?" "ˇ­" Vyncent glanced at the two parasites and kept his mouth tightly shut, refusing to answer in their presence. Arthur let out a sigh and shifted his attention to the two hostile guests, trying to gauge their strength only to fail. Appraisal showed him absolutely nothing so he tried using his Sense only for it to be negated by a formless thing surrounding the two entities. "What do you want?" Said Arthur with a chilling voice, his only eye emitting suffocating killing intent. It was only when he heard him speak did the muscular man pay any attention to Arthur, he squinted his eyes and examined the grey-haired man for a few moments before mockingly said: "You''re a broken husk yet you dare to talk in my presence?" Arthur remained expressionless, his aura rising and his skills ready to be unleashed. Evil Wind, which was sheathed and hanging on his waist, started vibrating, about to attack on its own. This staring confrontation continued for a few more seconds before the black-skinned man jumped at Vyncent, his big hands transforming into long and sharp claws. Unfortunately, before he reached his target, a dark shadow blocked his way and before he could react, he was sent flying like a kite, a grievous wound appearing on his abdomen. The man rolled on the ground a few times then hastily got up, holding his bloody abdomen and gritting his teeth, his face incredibly ugly. "Fucker!" Sadly, Arthur wasn''t going to sit by and watchˇ­ his figure appeared next to the black-skinned man, Makaze in hand, he stabbed the target''s throat. Just as the dark blade was about to execute the parasite, flames rose from the ground and forced Arthur to retreat a few steps. When everything cleared, the elder was found standing in front of his comrade, his face still calm, unperturbed by what just happened. "Stranger, our feud is with the man over there, there is no need to shed unnecessary blood." Arthur glared at the old man covered in flames for some time before he sheathed Makaze and nodded his head. He turned around and got out of the parasites'' way. The old man kept his gaze on Arthur, only retracting it when the former was a distance away. The injured man was seething with anger, his focus shifting entirely to Arthur. Were it not for the old man who held his shoulder and whispered something in his ear, he would have already attacked the far away Arthur. As for Vyncent, he stood rooted to the ground, sword in hand and ready to retaliate were anything to happen. The old man raised his hand and was about to attack the bearded young man only for a fountain of blood to appear next to him, splattering him with the disgusting and nauseating liquid. He saw a man wrapped in black flames, his hand holding the head of the black-skinned man, as for the rest of the victim''s body? It exploded. Arthur used Shadow Magic to create a clone and dived underground, attacking when the old man no longer paid him any attention. Though this strange parasite was truly strong, he still couldn''t compare to Arthur''s arsenal of skills. He only needed a tiny bit of Godly Thunder to make the black-skinned man explode into a pool of blood. As he saw his companion die like that, the old man''s face turned extremely ugly. He swiftly retreated away from Arthur and retrieved a dagger covered in flames, his aura exponentially increasing. Just as he was about to attack Arthur, the old man''s body froze in the ground as the Gravity had a drastic and unexpected change. His body became inexplicably heavy and his movements very slow, nevertheless, the old man muttered a few inaudible words, causing his body to turn illusory, becoming unaffected by the Gravity. Even the black chains which sprung from the ground did nothing at all, they merely passed through his body. Seeing this, Arthur was reminded of Angelina''s Physique, which rendered her immune to Physical attacks for a period of time. Chapter 513 - 459 : Lost Chance "Can you move?" Lissandra helped Lucy and worriedly asked her. The fallen God wasn''t like Vyncent, she was still a mortal with some special powers acquired here, however, these powers are meant for combat so their situation was quite tricky. Lucy was breathing heavily as sweat soaked her bloodied clothes. Her face was paler than usual and her movements were a bit stiff, nevertheless, she mustered all her strength and nodded her head to ease Lissandra''s worries. "Where are we going?" Asked the white specter while hiding her trembling hands behind her back. "Anywhere but here." Lissandra left the cramped place to survey the place while Lucy leaned against a wall, trying to regulate her breathing and activate her Physique. Unfortunately, her energy just wouldn''t circulate as if there was something blocking it. Furthermore, the feeling of hunger and thirst worsened with every passing second, sucking every last bit of strength she desperately tried to muster. Less than a minute later, Lissandra entered the cave to signal Lucy only to find the latter in a semi-conscious state, barely able to stand up. Just as she was about to talk, Lucy fell on the ground, unable to hold on any longer. Thankfully, she was caught by Lissandra, who held her in her arms and checked her pulse only to find it inexplicably and dangerously slow, almost non-existent, even. As she examined the unconscious Lucy, Lissandra let out a sigh and shook her head, unable to come up with a solution. After pondering for a few minutes, she put Lucy on her back and used a thin rope to bind their bodies to ensure that she doesn''t fall. Lissandra took a few deep breaths, straightened her bent back then left the cave only to be assaulted by a gust of suffocating heat which made her sweat and pant heavily. The fragile woman persisted and continued to slowly march, a pulsating white light emanating from her hands, enveloping her and Lucy and erasing their presence. ******* "You''ve called for me?" The white-haired woman was a bit surprised, she didn''t expect ''X'' to be able to convince Yamak in just two days. She frowned and glanced at the silent dragon, which was motionlessly crouching next to its inmate, unperturbed by her appearance. "F*ck! Can''t you at least take a bath? You smell worse than horseshit." The man comically held his blurry nose and waved his hand in annoyance. He signaled for her to stand a bit farther as the unpleasant smell was something he couldn''t tolerate. "Enough." She said with a triggered tone, unwilling to bear through his pointless nonsense anymore. "Have you resolved your issues?" ''X'' wriggled his body in discomfort and only replied when he found a more comfortable position. "Mhm yes yes, we agree to help your master in whatever he or she needs. Let us out." The veiled woman sized him up then added: "Very well. I''ll guide to master." She retrieved a snow-white ribbon and swung at it at the cell. The ribbon went through the cage and easily cut the binding chains, turning them into beautiful white roses. ''X'' swiftly got up, patted the dust off his dirty black tuxedo then massaged his wrists and ankles. He was nonchalantly humming, happy that he was finally released and doesn''t have to remain here any longer. Yamak let out a groan and lifted his head, his piercing pupils focusing on the white-haired woman, who wasn''t afraid of the two of them even though they were unbound. "Let me make this clear, you cannot talk to my master with that nasty attitude of yours." ''X'' waved his hand dismissively and retorted "Ok ok as long as you don''t stand next to me, I''ll refrain from ''nasty'' comments." She let out a snort, turned around and left, expecting the two to follow. ''X'' threw an unreadable glance at Yamak then left cell. As for the dragon, due to the narrow place, it cast a spell on itself, making it size much smaller, the size of a lion pup, actually. A small silver dragon floated behind ''X'', appearing more like an obedient pet than a dangerous beast that could obliterate cities with one breath. ******* "LET ME OUT!" A tall silver-haired woman angrily shrieked, her hair disheveled and her robe tainted by the mud inside this gloomy and uncomfortable place. After the war ended, she tended to her daughter, who''s still unconscious but the ''peaceful'' days were interrupted by her teacher, who barged in and threw her here. She was a distinguished individual in the Divine Planet and many feared her yet she was treated like a criminal and imprisoned here against her will. It has been a week already yet the Joker never showed up, leaving her here, unable to do nothing but call for him. Though she was an Exalted God, this place restricted all her powers and made her high cultivation irrelevant. Katrina was about to shout again only for a dark silhouette to enter the prison, startling her. As the figure made its way toward her, her expression drastically changed. She didn''t dare shout out loud and maintained a calm countenance while wondering why such an individual appeared here. "I can understand why you find this place so distasteful and unpleasant, however, it is one of a few places which can bind you." His cold and emotionless face echoed in this empty place, ringing inside her ears. He stood inches away from the prison bars, his penetrating gaze focusing on her, making the Matriarch unconsciously take a step back. After a short silence, the pale-faced youth said: "If it were up to me, you''d already be dead." Upon hearing this, Katrina frowned but didn''t utter a word, obediently choosing to listen to what he has to say. "Let me make this perfectly clear O''venerable Matriarch, the woman you claim is your daughter, Lucy MoonStar, has nothing to do with you or your clan. She doesn''t want to associate with you, doesn''t want to meet you, doesn''t want your motherly love, she only wants to be left alone and live happily with her own family." His eyes narrowed as he took one more step, his face almost touching the cold bars. A dangerous and soul-shaking darkness emanated from him, creeping closer to the stiff Katrina. "I think my words were crystal clear, right?" After a few moments, Katrina reluctantly nodded her head. Leiu kept staring at her, his eyes almost tearing hole through her frozen body. "If you understand then listen carefully, from this point in time until the day you die, you will not meet her. If by some sort of ungodly coincidence, you two meet, you''ll turn around and leave. You won''t say a word, you won''t seek her or anyone close to her intentionally." Katrina mustered some courage and was about to object only to hear him say "Do not speak." These three words held unobstructed authority which weighed down her, rendering her unable to utter anything. "I do not want to hear your voice, much less your reasons or excuses. I said my part and, you, Katrina, will listen to my words and obey. You''ve lost your chance for reconciliation so don''t you push yourself off the cliff and lose your life too." He turned around, the darkness leaking out of him retracting almost immediately. Before his figure vanished, he added: "Farewellˇ­ and let this be our final meeting." Only when he left did she regain control over her body. She fell on the ground, kneeling, panting and holding her chest. Though, supposedly, her teacher, The Joker, is just as strong as The Nameless Knight, the feeling she got from the latter was completely different. She felt overwhelming dread, to the point of being paralyzed in his presence, it was definitely an unfamiliar feeling for someone of her status, someone who''s used to being feared. Chapter 514 - 460 : Lady of Darkness "You didn''t have to be so aggressive." The Joker leaned against the wall and glanced at the passing youth, who paid him no attention as he made his way upwards, toward his mysterious manor. Hearing no response, the Magician grew impatient and annoyed, he followed Leiu and continued: "Listenˇ­ she may have been wrong but you can''t blame someone for following their beliefs." He held the knight''s shoulder, trying to stop him only for his hand to be shoved away by the latter, who abruptly turned around and gazed deep into his brother''s eyes. "Wolfram, try repeating that to Arthur while looking straight into his eyes." Feeling a bit ashamed, the tall man dropped his head, not daring to lift it or meet the chilling glare of the youth. "There''s no more room for reconciliation. She may be your student but HE IS your brother, I don''t think I have to tell you whom to support? Or is it that you feel pity?" Though there was no response from the Joker, Leiu continued talking: "Tell me, who was the one who came to rescue thousands of times? Is it her? No. It''s not, and it''ll never be. Six times did he lose his life to get you out of that cursed coffin and yet you''re showing hesitation? Really? Perhaps you also need some time off in that prison to think things overˇ­" Slightly irritated, the Joker pushed his brother and angrily said: "You don''t know how I feel so why are you judging me?" "I''m not judging you, only warning you. I trust you more than anyone in this world, after all, you and Arthur are the only things I have left, so don''t you betray my trust." ****** Amazed, ''X'' started whistling as he saw the grandiose place he was currently in. The archaic and priceless materials used to decorate the floor and tall walls, the neatly ordered dark gold pillars and the incomprehensible runes engraved on them, it was a rare sight even for an old being such as him. Along with the silver dragon, he followed the veiled woman who kept her distance from them, mainly because of ''X''s nagging. The woman reeked of Black Magic, something he abhorred as it''s against his ideals and pollutes the world, slowly corrupting it. Twenty minutes later, the three arrived at a spacious hall which lacked any form of illumination and had a dense amount of Black Energy, making X puke on the spot, dirtying the unhallowed ground. Suspended at the center of this gloomy hall was a large figure, a female, to be exact. She was three to four times bigger than an average human, her skin that of a corpse''s, her hair, as black as ink, reached the ground down below. Yamak didn''t know her, however, ''X'' was the total opposite. His hidden pupils constricted as he stood there, paralyzed, either from shock or fear. His nonchalant attitude vanished and his movement became stiff, though only temporarily. After ten seconds, he took a deep breath, resisting the urge to vomit again, and saluted the silent motionless woman. The female''s closed eyes slowly opened, focusing on the new guests, her pupils like a bottomless abyss, sucking everything it lands on. "Two lifeforms well-versed in Space Magicˇ­ good." Her ghastly voice made both Yamak and ''X'' shiver as a formless pressure forced them to kneel before her. They didn''t resist and complied by lowering their heads, not daring to meet her dangerous gaze. "Master, they both agreed to assist you." The white-haired woman knelt before the suspended figure, also lowering her head and speak with the utmost respect. Her previous arrogance was nowhere to be seen, she also paid no more attention to the dragon or ''X''. "Very well, you''re excused." The woman swiftly left right after, leaving her master alone with the two ''guests''. "You do know that barging into someone else''s home and causing a ruckus is impolite and unfitting for accomplished people such as yourselves, right?" Her domineering voice echoed in the spacious hall, making the dragon and his companion twitch. "It was but an unfortunate coincidence, O''lady of Darkness." Hearing him call her by her old title, she furrowed her brows and focused her gaze on ''X'', who was soaking with cold sweat. He inwardly cursed Yamak, who brought him to this ungodly place. His previously concocted plan wouldn''t work on someone like her. "It''s rare to see a lifeform of this modern age who knows about me, should I be flattered?" "My lady, your fame spre-" She cut him off by saying "Oh spare me your pointless flattery." Although she very much wanted to move, she was able to do nothing but move her lips. Her chest was pierced by an invisible weapon, rendering her in this miserable state. Albeit being bound, she was still able to demonstrate monstrous power as long as it''s within her realm. She was the one who captured the two of them and threw them in the dungeon. Nonetheless, their unexpected appearance is a good thing for her as their assistance will quicken her plans and soon set her free. "Let us not waste time speaking nonsense. What I require you to do is pretty simple, so simple, in fact, that any child could do." Though she made it look easy, ''X'' was pretty sure that it''ll be an impossible task. After pausing for a split second, she resumed: "I want you to gather the Nine Cursed sword and the Nine Divine Sword." "ˇ­"-X ''X'' knelt there, dumbstruck and unable to process what he just heard. No matter how powerful he is, accomplishing such a thing is nothing short of impossible. One has to know that the locations of the swords are unknown, except for a few. Even if he finds them, their owners are bound to be terrifying individuals, like Losha, for example. ''X wasn''t crazy to the point of trying to get Losha''s Divine swords, he would be killed in a few seconds, after all, there are just some people he can''t offend. The woman grew impatient as she heard no satisfactory answer: "What? Can''t you even accomplish such an easy task? Or would you rather rot in my dungeons?" "No no no, my lady, I already started devising a plan and forgot to give you my answer, please forgive me." Right after he said that, ''X'' felt an excruciating pain coming from his brain. Yamak was also in a similar situation, the two of them laid on the ground, their bodies convulsing and bleeding like crazy. Two black lights were emitting from the woman''s eyes, directly penetrating her two guests. After one full minute, the agony vanished, relieving the two of them, who remained on the ground, feeling inexplicable numbness in their head. "I''ve marked you both, now make haste." The dragon stubbornly tried to raise its head and glare at her only to be dragged outside by ''X''. The man didn''t waste time and quickly teleported himself and Yamak to another Realm. "Sh*t! Why is my luck so freaking sh*tty!" "You don''t have to be so dramatic." "Do you even know who she is? F*CK!"-X "ˇ­" The silver dragon at X with a dumb look, unable to reply. The man angrily stomped the ground and retrieved his cane, drawing weird symbols on the ground. "She''s bloody Xyktia! Now let me, AS USUAL, try to think of a plan!" After a short silence, Yamak asked: "What about the swords?" "What swords? If you want to get them then do it yourself, I don''t want to die yet!" "You''ll die either way." "There''s a difference between a quick and slow death." ******** With great difficulty, Lissandra dragged Lucy and slowly walked between the clustered Cthulhu, which didn''t notice her presence. After a long while, she reached a desolate area so she decided to take a small rest to recuperate. She glanced at Lucy but the latter was still in a comatose state, unlikely to wake up anytime soon. Her body needs to be healed and her consciousness needs to be nourished, her best option is to reunite with Vyncent and Arthur. ''Perhaps he knows how to wake her upˇ­'' The frail woman emptied what was left of the small bottle of water then scanned her surroundings. After making sure everything was clear, she was about to lift Lucy''s body only to hear an ear-splitting and wild roar coming from not far away. This loud cry definitely belonged to a beast, furthermore, it seemed to be making its way towards her. Lissandra hastily fixed Lucy on her back and prepared to run only for a dog-like beast to jump at her. The monster''s body was covered in flames and its mouth was fully open, ready to rip her body into pieces. She clumsily jumped to the side, falling on the ground along with the unconscious Lucy. Lissandra raised her hands and emitted a blinding radiance, which stopped the charging beast, slowing its movements and buying her enough time to flee. Chapter 515 - 461 : Healing Lissandra dragged Lucy''s body and tried her best to get as far away from the flaming beast as possible. Unfortunately, the spell she cast won''t last forever and she was too weak to run, especially with someone on her back. Her abilities weren''t combat-oriented and although the monster wasn''t particularly strong, it was still able to easily kill her. The unbearably hot weather and the exhaustion made her movements sluggish as she dragged the unconscious Lucy and scanned the area, trying to find a safe location to hide in for some time. Sadly, the dog-like beast regained its ability to move thirty seconds later, it growled angrily and rushed at the two women, its mouth wide-open, spitting several large size fireballs. The frail woman weakly raised her weapons and conjured a shield of light which blocked the fireballs but shattered in the process. She attempted to conjure another only to miserably fail as her body fell on the ground, unable to support her any longer. With desperate and hollow eyes, Lissandra stared at the incoming beast, which pounced at her. It completely disregarded the unconscious Lucy and mainly focused on her. Her pursuers weren''t aware of Lucy''s presence, furthermore, they only sought Lissandra, or more precisely, what''s inside her. That power of light is something she stole from the parasites'' base when it was raided by the Cthulhu. She and Vyncent stealthily sneaked in and acquired a few good things, mainly this mysterious power and an old key. Just when the claws of the vicious beast were about to stab the helpless Lissandra, the monster strangely burst into flames. Shocked and confused, the woman looked around only to see nothingness, she was alone in this unfamiliar and eerie place. The howls of the flaming beast and the heat from its flames completely vanished. She stared at dispersing flames, which lingered in the air for some time before they were pushed away by the passing hot breeze. With a back soaking with cold sweat, she slowly stood up, looked around multiple times then headed toward Lucy, about to pick her up and leave this place with haste. When Lissandra was about to pick up the unconscious woman, a tall figure flashed from behind her and appeared next to Lucy. Additionally, another silhouette sprung from the ground, appearing right next to the startled Lissandra. Only when she saw their appearances did the woman''s expression ease up. She let out a long sigh and fell on the ground, her legs finally giving in to the fatigue. "Fortunately, we arrived on time." Vyncent crouched next to Lissandra and inspected her body using her sense, finding no signs of any fatal wounds, however, she was very exhausted and needed a lot of rest. In her current condition, it''ll be hard for her to use her abilities. As for Lucy, she was being taken care of by Arthur, who pressed his left hand on her mangled arm, using his Life Energy to restore her crippled limb. Though the process was slow, to say the least, results started showing up after half an hour. The muscles were healed and the skin was growing back, the bones were straightened and strengthened and Mana started flowing through her right arm. After dealing with her cripple arm, Arthur used his Metal Magic to conjure a sharp and thin needle which was coated with a dense amount of Death Energy. He was following the Quad-Spirit''s advice and clearing the impurities in her body which will greatly facilitate her recovery. With precise and fast movements, he stabbed several parts of her abdomen and chest, injecting Death and Life energy in those holes. At the same time, his other hand was releasing a gentle and soothing light which healed minor injuries all over her body. "64 holes, 32 for Death and 32 for Life." Said the old ancient earth spirit, which now fused with the rest of the spirits. Through Arthur''s eye, he attentively looked at his master''s action, advising him and explaining the operation. "She has a Yin Physique but the Golden Crow flames provide enough Yang to reach the required balanced. You only need to use Death Energy to separate them once, then Life Energy to merge them. In the past, they perfectly merged but whatever that man did, it caused all her Meridians to become corrupt and half-destroyed, I''ve never seen anything like this." Arthur was wholly focused on Lucy, more than half of his energy was poured into Lucy''s body, first controlling the unstable Death Energy to forcefully separate the chilling Yin concentrated in her body and pushing away the golden energy mainly situated in her abdomen. The process was difficult and the slightest mistake could potentially cripple her cultivation. Fortunately, her constitution was nothing to scoff at so Arthur was able to successfully complete the first task. Sadly, the second one was much more difficult, mainly due to Arthur''s physical body, which failed to properly circulate the energy from his Dantian to his Meridians. In fact, when he returned to his senses and checked his body, he was startled to see his lower body full of cracks, literally on the verge of breaking. As he tried moving his legs, they crumbled and he was ejected from his previous body. Arthur was more preoccupied with Lucy than acquiring a host so he possessed her, making the completion of the second task easier as he could see everything clearly. Approximatively six hours later, Arthur finished the second task, not only cleansing Lucy''s body of all the impurities but also strengthening it and healing it. As per his calculations, Lucy would wake in a few hours, at most. Having finished this straining operation, Arthur exited Lucy''s body and retrieved a skeletal body from his Zodiak''s storage. This corpse resembled Lichs and belonged to an old Necromancer. Arthur wore Zodiak''s black robe and held an ominous staff then banged it on the ground, causing more than fifty skeletal dogs and birds to appear. This shocked Vyncent, who was about to question Arthur only to see this. After ordering the new summons to scout the area, Arthur turned to face Vyncent and Lissandra then raised his hand, releasing a blinding light which enveloped the weakly frail woman. This nourishing light got rid of the bruises in her limbs and gave her the necessary energy to move properly again, basically, it rejuvenated her. Though Life energy isn''t able to satiate thirst and hunger, it still able to slightly alleviate them. "We''ll rest until Lucy. You should eat in the meantime." The bearded youngster nodded his head and used the ring Arthur handed to him to retrieve some fruits and lots of roasted meat. The mere sight of such ''delicacies'' made the dazed Lissandra salivate. Like a ghost, she snatched the meat out of Vyncent''s hand and started gobbling it like a hungry wolf. Arthur raised a Dark Barrier around the four of them, then swiftly created a concealing formation which made them undetectable. He used Lost Magic to create a few seats and a comfortable bed for Lucy then joined Vyncent and Lissandra. "I believe we need to talk." Unlike in the past, Arthur''s tone lacked any hostility or coldness when talking to either Lissandra or Vyncent. They saved him and he was grateful, it was as simple as that. Whatever happened in the past shall remain so. Currently, their situation demanded that they joined hands, furthermore, Vyncent and Lissandra are more knowledgeable than him about Riarravar. It''s true that he lived here a long time with his brothers but, after being invaded by the alien forces, the terrain of Riarravar would continuously and randomly shift so reaching their destination would prove harder than just blindly heading East. "Yes *munch* we do." While fully enjoying a large piece of meat, Vyncent nodded his head, his mouth dirtied by the food. Were it not for the shiny armor he was wearing, he would have looked like a miserable homeless. His beard was thick and long, his eyes lacking any light, as if they lost their innocence, and his golden hair reaching his shoulders. "I would also like to talk with you." A domineering voice rang inside Arthur''s ears, causing him to abruptly stand up, startling the eating Vyncent. "What''s wrong? Did you detect nearby enemies?" The young man became alert as he comically stood up and glanced around, still munching the food and tightly grasping the hot piece of meat. Seeing that Vyncent didn''t hear the voice, Arthur grew confused and uneasy. Due to the nature of this world, his Sixth Sense could only stretch for 400m, however, even without it, he could guess the identity of the person behind that voice. In one of the empty eye-sockets of the host he was possessing, there appeared a green and eerie flickering flame. It creepily danced around in that big eye-sockets, seemingly searching for something. "What do you want? I already refused to play your game." "Are you sure? Once your reach your desired destination, my offer will no longer be available." "I am sure." Arthur could hear a sigh followed by an unnoticeable tremor which affected the whole world. "Well, you still have time so do think over, thoroughly, if you please. After all, in this boorish place, there''s nothing better than a small gameˇ­ a game, if won, will grant you a lifetime of benefits and rewards. Trust me, you won''t regret playing." Arthur snickered and retorted: "What if I lose the game?" The creature chuckled and replied: "I can guarantee that none of your humble companions will be affected. Plus, you''ll also retain your life." Chapter 516 - 462 : Help and Desire After having said his part, Timos no longer spoke, leaving a spooked Arthur alone. The parasite spent some time to collect his thoughts then sat back on the chair, waving his hand to Vyncent, signaling him that everything is alright. The bearded young man finished his last piece of meat, licked his fingers then drank a bit of water. When he was fully satiated, he took a deep breath and shifted his attention to the eerie silent moving skeleton that was gazing at him, attentively and unobstructively. When he was certain that he got Vyncent''s full attention, Arthur said: "How long have you been here?" The blond man shrugged his shoulders and gave a vague answer: "Months? Years? Time flows differently in this world and I, for one, haven''t been keeping count. Got other things in my mind, things more important than counting how much time I spent in this hell." "Then how did you end up here?" Vyncent lifted his head and watched the sky, bloody red, illuminated by an ominous moon, so very close to the worldˇ­ seemingly about to crash into it. "An unfortunate accident. Honestly, if I can go back in time, I would still follow this path. It''s either this or dying by the King''s assassins." His face lacked its craftiness and previous brightness, under the bloody light coming from above, his expression was dim and his face devoid of any innocence. This world hardened his heart and changed his mentality, for the better or worse, nobody knows. Arthur glanced at Lissandra, who was still eating, only to hear an answer to his thoughts almost immediately. "I accidentally found her when I was scouting an enemy base. She told me she came from a world called Astria, there was a portal that connected the two worlds." Lissandra, albeit busy filling her belly, still heard their conversation. She cleared her stuffed throat and explained: "Under the Eastern Continent, there was a cave from which the Cthulhu arrived. Deep inside, there''s an orange portal that brought me here." With one hand under his skeletal chin, Arthur pondered for a few moments before asking again: "This cave? Where is it exactly?" The women expected such a question so she honestly answered: "Apparently, there are many entrances. The one I used is located far North, somewhere around ancient elven ruins." She paused for a second, trying to remember the cave, then resumed: "Apart from a few simple traps, there was nothing special about the cave. Howeverˇ­" As she stopped once again, the green flame inside Arthur''s eye-socket started restlessly flickering, giving Lissandra the creeps. She knew it wasn''t on purpose but, as a mortal, emotions such as fear, anger and such, are a common occurrence. Cultivators can, more or less, control their emotions, however, mortals heavily relied on emotions, which define their existence. After struggling for a bit, Lissandra managed to spit the words which got stuck in her throat. "However, at the end of the cave, I stumbled upon shocking things. Wall paintings. To be precise. You''d have to pay them some attention to know their meaningˇ­ they relay the past and present eventsˇ­ as well as future ones." "Future events? Could you elaborate?" "Yes, sure." She nodded her head and stated: "There weren''t many paintings but each one of them was too accurate. I cannot recreate them but I can speak of what I saw; An army of undead, millions of them, as well as the four Divine Beasts, all marching toward the same direction. The World Tree attacked and scorched by alien forces, mainly angels. A man in black using a scroll on top of a valley." "Anything else?" "Yes but uhˇ­ it was a long time ago for me and I can''t properly remember them." Arthur waved his hand reassuringly and added: "It''s fine if you can''t remember, I''ll personally investigate the cave once we''re back." "What makes you think we''ll come back? I''ve been here for a long time, more than you can imagine. As I said previously, time flows differently from the outside. It may have been a few days since I vanished from the Cloud Sea Universe while several years passed here." Arthur glanced at the unconscious Lucy then confidently said: "We''ll be able to leave, trust me." Unconvinced, Vyncent retorted: "Don''t get me wrong, it''s not that I don''t trust you, butˇ­ I want to bet on your abilities and not on your confidence. If there''s one thing I learned here then it''s that having hope is akin to signing your death certificate. Through the hard and rough way, I''ve learned not to make a move only when your survival is certain. People who ''hope'' not to be captured or to escape this hell are but delusional idiots." The man unsheathed the sword he got from Arthur, gently caressed it while coldly looking at the parasite. "Lissandra and I saved you both not out of pity or our past ''relationship''. No. We did it because we believed in your strength, in what you could do for us, how you can facilitate our hazardous adventure, if I may call it so. Arthur, I''ve seen what you''re capable of and I know a fair bit about your powers, however stranger they may be. I chose to bet on them because we desperately need them, especially in such an unfavorable and unfamiliar world." Arthur wasn''t the least bit angry over Vyncent''s words, he knew the man''s reasoning and he had no right to blame him. "Your actions are justified. I, too, if I were in your position, wouldn''t have saved a soul if they can''t prove to be useful in the future." "Yes, we risked it big by saving you two. Lissandra had to store her power for one whole year to teleport such a big distance, and twice, at that." "I know, and I''m grateful for what you did. I thank you for my and Lucy''s behalf. You can consider those rings as partial compensation." Still looking at Arthur with an expressionless face, Vyncent sheathed the sword then said "Since you said so then, these rings, I will keep. However, please do not misunderstand me, I did not ask for your gratefulness but your help. With you here, even if we can''t leave this world, we can at least reach the remaining base East of here." The bearded young man stood up, fixed the sheath on his waist then glanced at Arthur, saying his last bit. "One last things, Arthurˇ­ I''m no position to lecture you but don''t get too attached. In here, anything can happen so you should always prepare for the worst, always." His figure melted in the ground, leaving a silent Arthur and a nonchalant Lissandra, who savored the food as if it was her last meal. ˇ­ "Your desire to leave my ''turf'' is stronger than ever. What happened, dear guest, someone bothered you?" Timos deep voice reverberated inside Vyncent''s ears. He was scanning the area when he suddenly heard this voice, invading his mind, reading his thoughts. "Bugger off." "Come now." The entity sounded a little hurt as it continued; "You don''t have to be so aggressive. I''m trying to be helpful here. Don''t you want to leave? Start a new life? Not everything is lost, you know." Vyncent ignored the voice, pretending as if it didn''t exist. However, the one speaking knew better than to stop, it could see the man''s turbulent emotions, his hidden desires, and masked expression. "Do you have some bad blood with the new guests?" Timos remained silence for a few moments, seemingly trying to see through Vyncent. "Hmm, it doesn''t seem to be the case, then.. what''s pushing you so hard? You used to be docile, unperturbed by mortal emotions. You do know that one simple ''outburst'', as you people like to call it, would lead to your miserable and very unwanted to death." The man kept his eyes focused, inspecting the terrain, his body merging with the earth, catching the tiny vibrating all around him. Seeing that he got no reactions from his first guess, Timos let out a sigh and added: "Treat wisely, my dear guest. ''Tis a treacherous path and an unfair life but waste not the potential given to you. Do not let yourself be controlled by your emotions. Think, think, and think before you act. You''ve entertained me so I want to see the day you leave this forsaken place." Chapter 517 - 463 : Departure Her eyes fluttered then slowly opened, she remained in a dazed state for a few seconds as she was trying to remember what happened before she fell unconscious. Her memories were disorderly and the pain assaulting her head was slowly disappearing. Strangely, she felt refreshed, her body as light as a feather and her supposedly crippled arm in a perfect, working state. Her right eye pulsated with blue light as it focused on the red and ominous sky, contemplating something, unaware of the unwavering gaze directed at her. Half a minute later, she sat up only to see a tall skeletal body sitting next to her, its only eye confirmed the person''s identity. The woman flashed a mesmerizing smile at the undead, stretched her hand and grasped his, unaffected by the coldness coming from the old bones. Lucy tried to stand up only for Arthur to stop her while saying: "Rest for a few minutes. Let the Mana circulate inside your body." "En." She obediently nodded her head while staring at him. Seeing her fiery gaze, Arthur chuckled and jokingly said: "Not so pleasant to the eye anymore, huh?" Her soft smile widened as she pushed back her long silver hair which fell on her eyes then retorted. "No." She tightly clenched his skeletal hand while continuing: "To me, no matter what body you''re using, you''ll always be the same. My Arthur." "Hahahaha, that''s good to hear because I''ll need to use this bodyˇ­ at least until I find a better alternative." This host, albeit ugly and inefficient in many ways, is one of the best available host options for him. It greatly boosts his Necromancy and Dark Magic and isn''t affected by hunger, thirst, or the brutal weather. Without going too much into the unnecessary details, Arthur recounted his last trip Riarravar and all that happened after. He spoke of the Twelve, his relationship with Wolfram and Leiu, and about Anatassia''s disappearance. "Weird, she''s not the kind of person to disappear so abruptly and without prior notice." Lucy had a very close relationship with Anastassia. Sonia''s big sister, the master of the Ma Clan was never a rush person, though she can be emotional at times, she always makes the wisest decisions. So, her sudden disappearance was a strange occurrence. "What are Jackob''s thoughts?" Expecting such a question, Arthur let out a sigh and said: "He seemed to have given up. He''s meticulously handling the sect and taking care of his son. He seemed to have changed, drastically." "Of course he has, he lost his wife and can''t abandon his son and roam the world, hoping to find her." "That is why I promised him that I''ll find her."-Arthur "I''m afraid it won''t be easy. We have to leave this place first." The half white specter stood up, scanned her surroundings then raised her hand, emitting chilling white energy which spread toward all directions, decreasing the unbearable heat and cooling the weather, making it much more manageable. Lissandra and Vyncent, who just came back, took a deep breath and enjoyed the refreshing coldness brought by the beautiful falling snowflakes. As she was too engrossed in this snow-like ''world'', Lissandra failed to notice the graceful figure marching toward her. Only when Lucy stopped before the frail woman did the latter snap out of her daze and unconsciously take a step back. Lucy''s gaze contained no hostility, just the usual coldness, which seemed to have slightly melted as she looked at the woman before her. While stretching her hand, she said: "The past is the past. You saved my life so I will restrain from expressing my thanks with words and, instead, protect you until we leave this world." Though a bit hesitant at first, Lissandra still shook Lucy''s hands. The two women shook hands for a good ten seconds before they separated, their gazes also shifting to something else. "With the two of you conscious and healthy, I reckon our trip to the East will be much easier." Vyncent nodded back to Lucy, who glanced at him, and uttered those words. "The terrain is constantly changing, how are we to head East?"-Arthur Arthur knew that Riarravar''s terrain was continuously and randomly changing. One second they''re heading East, the other they''re going the opposite way, there''s no way of telling they''re on the right track. The System''s map was non-functioning ever since he entered Oblivion, making any kind of navigation almost impossible, especially with this environment, which looked the same everywhere you go. "I can lead the way but we have to go in a straight line." "Which means we''ll encounter enemy camps and armies."-Lucy "Exactly." Vyncent nodded his head and retrieved an old yellow-ish paper from his pocket. He straightened it then put it on the chair while explaining: "Ever since I arrived here, I''ve tried reaching the East resistance camp but due to the shifting mountains and treacherous roads, all my attempts were unsuccessful. Nevertheless, I noticed that the enemy camps were always the same, which means that I''ve been running in a circle. There are a few Cthulhu patrols roaming the land but they''re of no threat to us. What worries me are this and this." He pointed at two black circle surrounding a large area of the map. "The nearest one is a large Cthulhu camp, the same one Lissandra appeared in. A big army is stationed there with dozens of generals and a commander, which is the real problem. The small fries are manageable but the commander uses a special bow and fires arrows from miles away. Believe me, Arthur, one arrow from that monstrosity can even injure someone like you, heavily, too." Arthur remembered a giant that wielded a terrifying Arrow the last time he was here. Though the giant was dangerous, it isn''t really a threat to the current him, who can pulverize everything with one ''simple'' Rizaki. As for Makaze, he decided to not use it here. Ever since it reached his side, the dark blade has been behaving strangely, very strangely, in fact. It would constantly vibrate and sometimes became uncontrollable. It wasn''t due to devouring the orb but because of this world, it was doing something to it. For that reason, Arthur stored it in Zodiak''s storage, only to be used in extreme emergency situations. "What about the second obstacle?"-Arthur Lissandra snorted and Vyncent clicked his tongue, visibly angry. "Parasites." He replied, frowning and gritting his teeth. "A troublesome bunch. Very resilient and way smarter than the barbaric Cthulhu. They''re more coordinates and we have no concrete or detailed information about their base, much less they." "Alrightˇ­ so we have to get past these two and we''ll arrive East?" Vyncent shook his head and corrected him: "No, that''s not a certainty. What I can tell you, however, is that the two enemy bases will chase us down like dogs and we won''t be able to get past them, stealthily, I mean." Curious about what she had previously seen, Lucy asked: "What about that massive monster?" Lissandra knew who Lucy was talking about. She looked at the shadowed sky and answered "Timos won''t interfere. The Cthulhu may be his creation but he''s not interested in them." The woman stopped, then, as if she remembered something, added: "If he telepathically talks to you, ignore him." .. Half an hour later, after everyone readied themselves, they finally departed. To make sure Lissandra is absolutely safe, Arthur conjured a Dark Barrier around her and hid three Death Knights in her shadow. Furthermore, he built a simple, offensive formation that can deal with the weaklings. The formation uses thirty-six swords which follow his will. The swords do not have any attributes and are fed with Sword Essence, it is an efficient killing formation, something used back in the old days, when the Buria Empire was still prosperous. **** "What is this place?" As he heard her expected question, the old man chuckled and said "See for yourself." They elevated in the air, having a much clearer view of the land before their eyes. There was a vast, lush forest, clean rivers and snowy mountains. Anastassia, confused, kept scanning the area but this peaceful place was unfamiliar. Her spiritual body followed the calm old man, who took her to various places of this world. Just when they were about to head West, a small, pinkish figure blocked their path. With an angry expression, one hand on her hip and the other pointing at them, she loudly yelled. "What are you doing here? Scram! It''s not a place for stinky people!" The Lolitta coldly snorted and waved her hand, signaling for them to immediately leave this place. Her face telling them that she didn''t even want to hear an explanation. It''s either she truly didn''t stomach them or wanted to vent some accumulated anger at the first people she ran into. Seeing this she-devil rage at him and his disciple, Death frowned and inspected her. Unfortunately, he found nothing suspicious, she was an office AI hired by the System to manage this world. However, her strange and eccentric attitude was definitely abnormal. "Little day, we''re just sightseeing, we won''t bother anyone." He kindly smiled and mouthed his sentence quite well to not incense the Lolitta. "What sightseeing! This isn''t a park! You better leave before I make yo-" She halted mid-sentence, her gaze focusing on Anastassia. "Wait." With a hand on her chin, she stared at the black-haired woman from head to toe before adding: "I know you! You''re one of the parasite''s friends!" Just as she said that, the old man''s eye narrowed. His countenance became much more serious as a cold gleam flashed across his eyes. He lifted his hand, which magically reached the Lolitta and grabbed her by the throat. With a chilling voice and a piercing glare, he said "Who are you?" He knew all of Arthur''s entourage yet this girl, who''s also an AI, seemed to be awfully familiar with Arthur, to the point of recognizing Anastassia. As she was suffocating under his deathly grip, the little girl''s face reddened. She helplessly moved her hand and legs, trying to free herself. After a lot of effort and a bitter struggle, she managed to squeeze out a few words "P-perverted freak! I''ll s-show you!" A simple red card fell from under her dress, falling a few meters before it froze mid-air then started emitting a red light. Before the old man could react, a monstrous force hit him from above, sending his flying like a kite while at the same time releasing his grip, finally setting the little girl free, unwillingly, of course. "Jeeeeeez! Never thought I''ll be called so soon." The Joker stared at the haggard old man, who swiftly got up and glared at him. "Don''t try to frighten me with your old eyes!" The Joker''s hand flashed and grabbed the startled Anastassia. He held her from the back of her neck while mockingly saying "What? You hold one of my people yet I can''t do the same?" He paused, glanced at the distressed and angry Lolitta then said "Now, you''re going to be a good old man and sincerely, I repeat, SINCERELY, apologize to her. Hmmm, and give her a gift too, she''s still young so a present would certainly please her." Chapter 518 - 464 : Commander "You''ll stay behind and wait for my signs." Lucy wanted to object but a gentle, harmless force pushed a few steps back. She didn''t even have time to open her mouth before Arthur vanished, leaving an inky black fog in his stead. Sure, her help would facilitate many things, however, she has to remain here and guard Lissandra. As for Vyncent, he''s more than capable of defending himself, especially after getting a gear upgrade from the parasite. The trio hid in a secluded area, bereft of anything, living or dead. They were a fair distance away from the Cthulhu base, which could be seen from their location. Unlike his companions, Arthur recognized this place, this broken city, once prosperous and bustling with people of all races. He fought Claudia here and the aftermath razed the whole place to the ground, leaving a few, very lucky survivors. The causalities that day surpassed anyone''s imaginations, innocents were slaughtered due to the conflict of otherworldly beings. It wasn''t Arthur wasn''t the one who caused the catastrophic explosion, his arrival and invasion of the castle did push the parasites into doing such a terrible thing. However, he didn''t blame himself for he knew that one city massacred is still better than letting all of Riarravar fall into the parasites'' hands. Unfortunately, they changed the fate of one place but couldn''t alter the ending. Their contribution, if it may be called so, was unnecessary, untimely, and consequential. Currently, the barbaric monsters built shabby looking huts and tents, regarding this area as their ''home'', a safe place where they can do whatever they wish. As expected, even though there were fewer and fewer humans remaining in this world, that didn''t stop the Cthulhu from capturing a few and torturing them in inhumane ways. An eerie black fog traveled through the air, unnoticed by any of the resting monsters. The evil race was busying himself with food, torture, or other miscellaneous things, disgusting to even describe. The parasite passed through them and paused for a few seconds when he got too close to one of the giants. ˇ­ "I don''t think it was a good idea to let him go alone. Their commander is dangerous." Vyncent glanced at the Cthulhu base, his brows furrowed and his foot repeatedly tapping on the ground, clearly tense. "It should be soon."-Lucy Lucy raised her head and gazed at the red sky, her eye, strangely started emitting a blue light which startled Lissandra and the bearded youngster. The light coming out of her eye enveloped the trip and turned everything around them grey as if time and space were stopped. From this point onwards, anything outside of the blue sphere''s range of interference won''t affect anything inside, no matter what it is. Lissandra followed the woman''s eyes and was shocked to see the sky turned disturbingly black, blocking the moon and dispersing all the clouds. This sudden change was followed by a passing breeze, ghastly and soul-shaking. As they were inside the blue sphere, they weren''t affected, however, they were able to see the nothingness caused by the darkness. Hear the deep and threatening growls coming from the Cthulhu base. The darkness lasted for a few seconds before it was absorbed by a minuscule thing right at the center of the enemy base. It was a speck of strange black light, devouring every inky blackness around it. The Cthulhu also sensed the change in weather and environment but, sadly, before they could react, the earth started to violently shake and the sky cracked. All sound was cut off and the world was stripped of any source of light, enveloping it in total gloom. It was an explosion using compressed Dark Magic and as per the parasite''s expectation, it was able to demolish everything in its way. Turning all the monsters into absolute emptiness, even the half-dead humans were killed, leaving literally nothing behind. The base was built on a large crater, however, even this crater disappeared, leaving behind it a dangerous black fog, negating all light. Nothing was able to get past the black fog, not even the suffocating heat that dominated the whole world. ˇ­ Inside this black fog, there was a tall, blurry silhouette, its body even bigger than the giants. Its eyes releasing a golden glow piercing the fog and attempting to locate the source of everything. It took the commander but a few breaths to find a lonely figure floating above the fog, its flickering green eye dancing in the empty socket. Without hesitation, the commander retrieved a silvery bow from its back and pulled the metal strings. It raised its weapon, aimed at the parasite and pulled the string, releasing an arrow of light that dispersed all the fog in its way and whistled as it made its way toward its target. Before it could hit the floating skeleton, the arrow bumped into a transparent barrier, stopping it for three seconds. Arthur raised his staff and pointed it at the arrow, resulting in countless bony spikes to surround the arrow and hit it. Though it had monstrous force behind it, the arrow crumbled before all the spikes, dispersing into countless specks of light. Arthur banged his staff three times, sending ghostly silhouette at the commander, who fired three more arrows, each one stronger than the last. The screeching ghost-like creatures passed through the arrows and emitted deafening and wild sound waves that pushed back the Cthulhu, then, they entered his body, causing it to shake for a few moments before a cluster of blood was spat by the surprisingly handsome commander. As the fog cleared up, the appearance of the infamous commander could be seen. He had long silver hair, brown skin, and golden pupils, totally unfit to be called a Cthulhu or a barbaric, brainless monster. "What are you?" With a piercing glare, the commander readied his bow again and asked, using the common language used by the humans. Alas, he didn''t get an answer from Arthur, who sent dozens of bone spikes at him while filling the sky with fiery vermilion flames. The Cthulhu bent his back, pointed his weapon upwards and shot three arrows at once. They twirled around each other and clashed with the falling sea of fire, breaking it and splitting the sky. It wasn''t the end of the arrows as they fell back down, ready to disintegrate the undead. As for the bone spikes, the commander, while making use of flawless footwork, agilely most of them while deflecting the rest. "You have no idea who you''re messing with. This isn''t a world for your kind." The commander roared and shot more arrows at Arthur. The parasite vanished, teleporting of few times and easily dodging the arrows. "''Tis not a world for your crude race too."-Arthur "So you can talk, vermin!" The battle grew fiercer as Arthur unleashed a torrent of spells, mostly Dark Magic. As for the commander, he kept bombarding the parasite with his arrows. The Cthulhu was incredibly fast and wasn''t the least bit injured even after being hit by two detonators, six bone spikes, and thirteen lengthy Dark Spears. His skin was tougher than metal and his movements were unfit for a creature of his size. Chapter 519 - 465 : Human history "Now you understand how your victims feel when you invade their home and mercilessly slaughter every last one of them." Arthur spoke to the commander, who somersaulted, and, mid-air, fired arrows at the unmoving parasite. Unfortunately for the Cthulhu, not one of its arrows managed to get past Arthur''s defenses. They either struck his Dark Barrier or were deflected by half-transparent grey tornadoes, also knows as death storms. "You come, uninvited, wreak havoc like an abomination and explain your actions through such lies!" The enormous monster snickered at Arthur, showing a row of straight white teeth. His lips curved upwards as he lowered his bow and continued: "Before you come lecturing me or my kin about our actions, take a thorough look at the history, the true history, not the fabricated one." Arthur listened to the rambling commander, his eye fixated on the enemy and his staff raised but no attacks were unleashed. Deep inside, he knew that this strange being, leading the bunch of barbaric and mindless aliens, was most likely spouting nonsense, however, there was something about his tone. He didn''t seem to be acting or trying to buy time, his words genuine, containing anger and frustration as if he was the one being blamed. Unfortunately, even if there was a sliver of truth in his words, that doesn''t change anything. They still massacred a whole world, eradicated all races but themselves and top it all, took joy in the weaklings'' suffering, using them as ''decoration'' to liven their mood. "I don''t need to look at history to understand. I saw enough to know that you and your race are evil, filth that does not belong here." The commander snorted, glanced at the scorched and bloodied remains of the ''lucky'' Cthulhu which weren''t engulfed by the Dark Rizaki, and retorted: "Just because we''re different, mentally and physically, doesn''t mean we''re evil. We have different perspectives, we do not view the world like humans, elves, or dwarves. We were created this way, it''s not our fault that we seek violence instead of peace. Furthermore, even without our interference, this world was bound to break, either by our hands or the humans. A greedy race, pretending to be peaceful but is actually the most dangerous of them all." His golden pupils glared at Arthur, his gaze unwavering and he clenched his teeth. "Tell me, undead, how are we different to the humans, who, at the very beginning, massacred almost the entirety of the elven race, fearing their magic. It was only after a bitter war that took half of the population that the two races settled, finally choosing to ''cooperate''. Although I say cooperate, it was hardly any different from a cold war that lasted until our arrival. Humans sought dominationˇ­ power, they wanted to enslave anyone and anything that didn''t look like them." After a few seconds of silence crept by, Arthur said: "Yes, they fought, over and over, however, there were still boundaries. I won''t defend the humans but they sure as hell didn''t want to destroy this world. It''s their business if they wanted to dominate it but they didn''t resort to cruel means like you did." As if he heard a joke, the commander let out a sarcastic laugh and countered: "Cruel means? Then what do you call the White Plague? An artificial disease that killed thousands of humans and elves alike, causing them to suffer for days. The weapons they created and used against anyone who opposed them. Actually, did you know that we learned about torture from humans? We merely imitated them. We weren''t born outright defected." "Anyway, it''s not like bickering like this will change anything. Raise your bow." Arthur pointed his staff at the commander and fired several, successive blasts conjured from death energy. They were formless and swift as they instantaneously hit the Cthulhu, causing him to take a few steps back. He tried to retaliate by shooting an arrow, however, his hands were frozen by invisible, soft yet unbreakable threads. He only needed to let go of the metallic string but such a simple action wasn''t possible. His whole body fell into a net of threads. When he took a few steps back due to Arthur''s previous attack, he fell right into the parasite''s trap. While the commander was explaining himself, Arthur used his threads to form an invisible war, like a spider''s web. Even with his over-sized body and monstrous strength, the Cthulhu was rendered immobile and defenseless. Having caught the enemy, Arthur floated closer to the commander, his flaming green eye dancing an in an unsettling manner. "If all of your race was half as intelligent as you are, maybe it wouldn''t have come to this. Maybe, just maybe, you could have reached a compromise." Though he was captured and surely about to be killed, the being remained unfazed, even when he was facing death. His gripping golden eyes remained locked on the robbed-undead making its way toward him. "You don''t understand. We were blamed since our creationˇ­ and not only us, our magnanimous God wasn''t spared too. Those naysayers, foolish and restless, wanted to find a target to incriminate, and we were just unlucky to be created at such a time, the perfect time for them." "As I told you before, I shall repeat it again. Your words won''t change a thing, they never willˇ­ it''s over now." The commander flashed a hideous smile at Arthur, his body wriggling and his tied hand balling into clenched fists. "No, it''s not over. It will only be so when the humans are gone. Undead, with time, you will come to understand how dangerous and corrupted humans are, how one second they wave their innocence flag and the other, they stab you in the back, ruthlessly and mercilessly. Beware." The commander didn''t wait for Arthur''s final attack and, instead, freed one of his hands and stabbed an arrow into his heart, killing himself. Arthur looked at the lifeless body of the commander laying on the ground and let out a soft sigh, waving his hand, storing the Cthulhu''s body then sending a blinding light high-up in the sky. This radiance was the signal meant for the three hiding in the back. A few seconds later, Lucy, accompanied by Lissandra and Vyncent, appeared next to Arthur. The silver-haired woman''s gaze was on Arthur, who was lost in his thoughts. "To be honest, I didn''t expect it so end so quickly andˇ­ easily." Vyncent let out a surprised whistle as he saw the scatted bodies of the dead Cthulhu, most of them scorched or missing a head or a limb. "Let us go, I do not the smell of this place." Arthur landed on the ground and started walking North-East, seemingly still absent-minded. Sadly, his pondering was cut short as a disembodied voice rang inside of his head. "My dear guest, do you feel happy now that you got rid of one obstacle? Relieved after massacring thousands of my children?" As he heard this familiar voice, Arthur knew that it was Timos, the massive being that could be seen from all corners of this world. ''They simply got what they deserved.'' "Yes yes, don''t misunderstand me, I do not blame you or resent you. It was a necessary action to get to your destination and I fully support your direct and swift means. It''s just thatˇ­ I''m curious about your thoughts, your ''feelings''. Unlike your humble and dear comrades, I cannot see through you. You''re like an impasse, blocking me and everyone, and, this picked my interest. A hot and interesting topic which can distract me for a while, decrease some of my unrestrained boredom." ''I''m not obliged to talk to you, much less reply.'' "Of course not! What you do is entirely up to you. I''ll talk and you, unwilling to converse, will quietly listen to me. You''re free to deny my words if you ever want to, too." Chapter 520 - 466 : Good and Bad "My dear guest, right and wrong are made-up things, they do not separate us and our enemies. It''s our different standpoints, our perspectives isolate us from each other. Both sides blame each other. There is no good or bad, just two different views that happen to contradict. If that is true then it explains why, in wars, for example, both sides do not feel guilty when they battle each other to the death, unaware that they are pointlessly spilling blood. And, obviously, with the occurrence of wars, countless innocents and powerless peasant die, for no reason, just because they were at the right time and place. Then, why, you would say, that weaklings are always the first to die, to be tortured, or to be used or taken advantage of? Is it because they relinquished the right to acquire power? Nay, perhaps they did not have the ''privilege'' for such right, undoubtedly meant for Kings, most nobles would say. Mayhap, as the elves preached, one must respect nature and yearn for peace to be able to live a good, fulfilling life, regardless of their power, physical or verbal. Do we blame the ones doing the killing? The ones ordering the killing? Or both?" Arthur slowly marched along with the other silent three, each minding their business. Vyncent was scanning the area, searching for any signs of enemies. Lissandra closed her eyes and would take deep breaths every now and then, the reason behind her strange actions remains unknown. As for Lucy, she gazing at Timos'' silhouette, which hung a looming shadow over the whole area. His thick and outrageously tall tentacles randomly danced in the air, the smallest of them was the size of a normal village. The land around Timos was ravaged, turned into rubble and countless craters. No living beings dared to go near him, no, nothing and no one is able to get close, whether they wanted it or not. His aura, though restrained, was stronger the closer you get to him. Furthermore, if one of the tentacle were to accidentally hit you, it will only leave a mist of blood in its path. The one that tried to snatch the Angel of Death could barely called a tentacle, it was a small part of Timos, like a single hair of someone''s head, insignificant and totally harmless. As he listened to Timos, Arthur let out an inaudible grunt but chose not to comment, deeming it as useless to argue. "As I said before, you do not need to talk. Listening is enough for me, after all, the basis of every conversation is hearing what the other party has to say. I consider interrupting others as rudeˇ­ only people who can''t defend themselves or don''t have convincing arguments tend to cut-in, only wanting to be heard yet refusing to listen. Idiocy, but I digress. My precious invitee, I don''t blame you for the death of my children, however, I do not condone your means. Believe it or not, this ''base'' you considered as an impasse, something that blocks your path, didn''t need to be so mercilessly destroyed, causing more harm to this broken world. Everything can be solved using words, even with non-sentient beings. You can''t communicate so you use violence? That''s absurd and unsophisticated. True, you don''t feel guilty but that doesn''t change the fact that you did something unnecessary." ''Don''t lump me with those freaks who kill anyone and everything. I''ve made the best choice in my current situation, the choice which requires less time and energy. Their deaths were not necessary but obligatory. Even if they weren''t in my way, they would have been killed for what they did to humans.'' Arthur heard a low chuckle, which sounded like the growl of a beast. "Ohˇ­ so you want to be some kind of vigilante? Vanquishing the ''evil'' and stopping the reign of terror. Roaming the land and getting rid of all the filth in the world. If it''s like that then what''s your reason? Protect humanity? Self-satisfaction? Atoning for past sins? It''s always something within those lines." ''ˇ­'' Arthur didn''t reply, or, more accurately, couldn''t. Partially, Timos'' words were true, he could have spared most of the Cthulhu but he didn''t. Why? Because he felt angry at them, for what they did to the humans, elves, and all other races who fell into their hands. For him, the Cthulhu were an evil race, end of the line. From his perspective, there was no need for any explanation, not for Timos or anyone else. Though, it''s not like anyone would demand such a thing for they don''t care, they don''t give a damn about the Cthulhu, or anyone else. People only care about themselves, their benefits. It wouldn''t be surprising to see humans allying with Cthulhu as long as they receive good rewards. Some have morals, firmly believing in justice but they''re few and far between, and, in some cases, fanatics who do twisted things to achieve what they assume is ''true justice''. "I don''t like what you did but I cannot judge it as a ''wrong'' or ''evil'' thing. It''s something done out of necessity, to survive. Now, let me speak about something else that bugs me a bit." After a short silence, Timos continued "Your petulant individualism. Do you think it''ll achieve anything? Even beings such as myself never dared to always act alone, much less you, my dear guest. Relying solely on yourself, thinking that your impudence and overbearingness is enough to push away those around you. I can see who you hold dear and who you do not care about, it''s pretty easy to notice through your actions. Over time, those feelings you so dearly cling onto will slowly yet surely disappear. Not on their own, of course. It''ll be you who will crash everything, that is, if you continue to conduct yourself soˇ­ so incomprehensibly." ''Now that you''ve said your piece, can you shut up?'' Annoyed by the endlessly talking Timos, Arthur snapped at him. He didn''t to be educated by a monster who pretends to be intelligent using his pitiful eloquence. "I will, if you answer one question of mine." ''ˇ­'' Timos regarded Arthur''s silence as acceptance so, without beating around the bush, asked: "What is better? To be born good or to overcome your evil nature through great effort?" Arthur didn''t give an immediate reply. He spent an inordinate amount of time thinking before saying: "There''s no such thing as to be born good. The experiences you live through determine whether you''re good or evil. Your actions prove your nature." "Then, how do you explain the existence of my children? You said that none can be born good then it''s right to assume that, also, none can be born evil. Why is it that my children were called evil, defective, abominations." "Because they are. Their actions proved what they are." "Their actions, yes. Them? Not so much. There''s no denying they''ve became ''evil'' but they weren''t outright evil. There must have been a process that led them to be like this. This process, either natural or caused by someone''s machination, is, from my perspective, the true evil. The mastermind." Chapter 521 - 467 : Summoning "What, my dear guest? Are you not convinced? Just like any other being, my children were born innocent. The cruel environment they''ve been set in is exactly what twisted their minds. Mind you, we''re talking logically hereˇ­ there is no room for emotions or biased perspectives." ''So? Do you want to defend their actions? Or are you trying to explain to me the process they went through to become like this? I''m not interested.'' Arthur retorted. He felt a chill run down his exposed spine, harmless but dreadful. He could feel Timos'' gaze lock onto him, pierce his shrouded mind and peek into hidden thoughts. "Do not misunderstand. Please. I''m bored so I''m voicing opinions, which are, undoubtedly, facts." ''Hmpf! Just because you say they are facts doesn''t mean they are. The Cthulhu may have evolved, mutated, it makes no difference. I''m judging them based on what I''ve seen.'' "Honored invitee, you''re getting a bit agitated so I''ll refrain from saying anything else. Let my words sink in. Plus, you''ll be staying here for a bit longer so why don''t you look around. Explore. Only then will you make sense of something, perhaps even everything." "Hey." Lucy stopped Arthur, her face showing a look of worry, clearly from his eerie silence and the visibly perturbed train of thought. "Are you okay? Tell me." Through his non-existent lips, Arthur spoke with a warm and reassuring tone: "It''s nothing. Just pondering about the parasite camp. Back then, I''m sure we eradicated them." Vyncent, who was close enough to hear Arthur, said: "Either a few slipped in or they came from another world. I''m more inclined to the second probability, though." "They are normal parasites, not as many as the Cthulhu. Now that we got rid of the real danger, getting past them won''t be that bothersome." Lissandra cut-in, her hands releasing a pulsating white glow which beautifully danced around her, seemingly searching for something. "At most, there a few dozen of parasites. They are protecting an artifactˇ­ the powerful kind." She continued while mysteriously moving her hand, injecting a speck of light in each of the other three. Seeing their confused expression albeit their non-resistance to the incoming light, she explained: "It''s a trivial thing that be handy in desperate situations. Basically, it grants you a minor immunity to the mental attacks of the specialized parasites." Arthur, for one, didn''t need it thanks to his special race. Not only is his mental much stronger than the rest, but his Magical and Soul defense are also higher than an Overgod''s. Moreover, Curtis is guarding his soul, which is the main target of mental attacks. Generally, there are three kinds of attacks; physical attacks, mental curses and soul strikes. The last two are closely tied to each other, in fact, mental curses are considered a sub-category of soul strikes. So, as long as one has an impenetrable soul, he or she should not fear meager curses. Lucy''s Physique partially affected her soul, causing it to become filled with Yin power, the main catalyst for mental curses. Besides that, her stats are high enough to negate any mental assault. Vyncent can fend for himself using his cultivation, however, Lissandra is but a mortal, a frail one. Were it not for her mysterious ability, she would not even be able to walk properly in Riarravar. "Any idea about the purpose of the tightly-protected artifact?" Arthur asked the bearded man cautiously walking behind him. In response, Vyncent stopped warily glancing around and turned his pair of eyes to the tall undead in front of him, his expression unreadable. "A large crystal. It''s to be used a fuel for a summoning ritual." "Summoning? Summon what? Their God?" Vyncent shrugged his shoulders, indicating that he also doesn''t know, oblivious. ''That can''t be right. Timos is here, why would they summon Zaarae? Didn''t she lose her powers?'' Arthur returned to being lost in his thoughts, trying to figure out the parasites'' plan. The old man with flaming skin refused to speak a word so he was immediately killed. ''If she''s coming here then there must be a change of plansˇ­ damnit!'' Unlike Timos, who doesn''t recognize him, Zaarae is another matter. She hold a personal grudge toward him and would definitely pursue him to the end of the world. She''s known to be a ruthless and powerful Empress, a peak fighter even without her racial abilities. "Worried about Zaarae?" Lucy asked him, her eyes staring at the open scorched field all around them. "It seems we can''t just pass through the parasites. I need to make sure they won''t summon her. However, I can''t find a good reason they''ll summon her here. There''s nothing left to obtain." "Maybe they knew about your arrival beforehand."-Lucy "I don''t know. Having her come here will complicate everything." Lissandra cut the couple off, her expression that of confusion. "Wait, who are you talking about? Who''s this Zaarae?" "The Parasite Empress." Arthur gave an immediate and honest reply. As she heard him, Lissandra and Vyncent kept silent, neither stopping Arthur nor questioning him about knowledge about said Empress. They already knew he was parasite but way different than the rest, more powerful and mysterious. From the way he just talked, it was clear that he had issues with Zaarae, who should not be brought here. "What do you want to do?" Lucy asked her husband, waiting for him to speak of a plan before voicing out her thoughts. "Check the parasite base and destroy the summoning crystal." Lucy frowned, thought for a moment before responding: "That''s a bit rush, isn''t it? We''re still not sure if they''ll summon herˇ­ or if that''s even possible. Why don''t we investigate first." Arthur didn''t reply to her, instead, he abruptly halted his steps, looked around and said: "That''s not an option anymore." Lucy didn''t get enough time to reply as several swift shadows appeared all around them, each focusing on one of the four. Their faces were covered by a black veil and and their clothes were inky black. Their speed was out of the ordinary, however, to their misfortune, they couldn''t reach their target as their legs got mingled into vines that sprung from the ground. Two of them rolled on the ground and were bound by thick thorny vines while the other two managed to jump away and safely land a distance away from the instantaneous field of poisonous plants created by Arthur. "What have we here?" The undead faced the motionless assailants, his feet slowly marching toward them. They cautiously raised their weapons, a pair of silver daggers, and tried to slowly back away only to meet an invisible way. "We are still far from your base, why the need to come to us, so quickly and aggressively?" Arthur''s voice became ghastly, his cane monotonously banged on the ground with each step taken. A black fog materialized around him, shrouding his figure and releasing an ominous aura. Actually, Arthur expected them to commit suicide but the reality was much different and surprising. They raised their hands, threw their daggers and knelt on the ground. Seeing such suspicious behavior, Arthur felt uneasy. He isn''t used to such behavior, especially from parasites, who would rather die than submit. Lucy joined him as two crystalline lotuses flew from her side to the two kneeling parasites, rotating around them and freezing the ground, slowly creeping into their bodies, starting from their lower limbs. "We mean you no harm, please stop!" One of them yelled with a feminine voice. Although the freezing process was momentarily stopped, the two closed lotuses remained near the surrendering parasites. Arthur stopped a few meters away from the parasites, glanced at the other two, who were caught by his vines and fell unconscious, then coldly said. "I would like to believe youˇ­ were it not for your previously raised arms, hostile actions and covered faces." The undead raised his bony hand, malevolent darkness emanating from the spiky tip of his fingers. Vyncent, staying at the back, hurriedly said: "It''s pointless to argue with them, finish them off and let us go. There will be more coming." As they heard him, the female parasite who just yelled shook her head and pleaded again: "No! We came alone! Please believe us. We really meant no harm, we were just testing you." With a trembling hand, she pointed at the fallen daggers and explained: "Those daggers are fakeˇ­ they''re made of fragile glass. They can''t even hurt a corpse." Arthur followed her gaze and stared at the fallen daggers. One of them flew up to him, stopping inches away from his eerie eye. He stretched his hand and felt the dagger, which easily shattered the moment it made contact with a tiny bit of Dark Magic. Indeed, the parasite was telling the truth, nevertheless, that doesn''t make them any less dangerous. Chapter 522 - 468: Emir "So, let me get this right. You wanted to test us so you attacked when we''re aware, wielding harmless weapons to prove you held no hostile intentionˇ­ Do you truly believe we''re going to accept such a reason and warmly welcome you?" Arthur coldly looked at the defenseless parasite, his voice toneless and hand unleashing threads of Dark Magic which danced in the air, slowly closing on the two bound parasites. "Please! You have to listen to us." The female prisoner begged again, sounding quite miserable. She didn''t try to free herself or resist the encroaching darkness creeping towards her. "Nonsense! Finish them off, Arthur." Vyncent was totally against letting them live for another second. With hurried steps, he marched in their direction, his swords unsheathed and ready to strike. "Up until this point, you haven''t given me a convincing reason to stop him." Arthur didn''t stop the incoming Vyncent, who''s eyes were emitting unrestrained killing intent. His hatred for parasites was equal to Cthulhu, if not more. They weren''t as numerous as their supposed allies, however, they chased him relentlessly and, more than one time, almost succeeded in killing him. "You don''t understand! We-" "Yes, I don''t understand and I don''t need to, actually. You are enemies and I see no outcome where you get out of here alive unlessˇ­" He took one step forward, stopping inches away from her. He crouched down, meeting her eye-level and ripping the excessively long hood hiding her face. Under this weak disguise was a female, a very young one, in her teens, probably. But, parasites age differently, so, for all he knows, she could be well over a thousand years old. The parasite, clearly terror-stricken by the scary undead staring at her, its eye seemingly peeping into her thoughts, clutching her soul. After an internal struggle which seemed to last an eternity, she bit her lips and hesitantly said: "W-we''re deserters." Maybe it was a hallucination born from her growing fear, the talking female parasite noticed the green flame burning in his socket twitch ever-so-slightly. She glanced at the approaching Vyncent, who was but a few meters away. Having no choice but to spill the entirety of the truth, she continued: "We, along with a few others, didn''t want to follow the orders so we left the base." She was forced to stop talking as Vyncent''s sharp sword was swung down at her sister, about to behead her. Just as the head was about to be sent flying, the sword froze-mid-air, startling the bearded youngster. "Arthur, why are you being like this?" Without even looking at him, Arthur replied: "My job is for us to safely reach the eastern resistance base. Whatever happens in the road is my responsibility so stay out of it." "Are you really going along with their nonsense? All because of the previously mentioned crystal?" "It doesn''t concern you, Vyncent. Politely back off." Hearing Arthur''s chilling voice, the young man snorted but still complied. He withdrew his sword and took a few steps back, nonetheless, his eyes were still glaring daggers at the parasites. "Our time short so you better be quick about whatever you''re going to say." Unknowingly, the parasite let out a sigh of relief then scanned the desolate vicinities before speaking: "You are aware of the crystal so I''ll cut through the chase. They want us to summon but the process consumes the crystal and requires a big sacrifice from our part. The majority didn''t object but a small portion of us didn''t want to be sacrificed for what they call the greater good." "Whom do they want to summon? Zaarae?" As she heard him mention their Goddess, the parasite became momentarily dazed. She didn''t know how an undead knows their Goddess'' name but she didn''t question and kept her curiosity to herself lest it gets her killed. "No, it''s impossible to summon our Goddess with only one crystal. They want to call for a Calypso Parasite by the name of Emir. He''s one of our Goddess most-trusted confidants and due to the nature of this world, he cannot descend on his own." "Calypso parasite Emir? Why do you want to summon him?" "They called it greater good but in reality, they want, noˇ­ they need the Strategist''s help. As we are considered lower lifeforms, he won''t even speak us, much less hear our pleas. He would only consider talking to someone like Emir, a being from his time and worthy of respect." Arthur, facing the female parasite, glanced at the other bound and silent parasite. He couldn''t believe themˇ­ to desert, it just seemed to cliche, a reason many would use to save their necks. However, he can''t rule out the possibility of her saying the truth, or, at least, a portion of it. It has nothing to do with him if this Emir is summoned. All he needs to do is pass through their base and get to the human settlement East of here. "You''ve explained the reason for your desertion, however, I still haven''t heard the motive behind ''testing'' us, as you phrased it." The parasite was about to reply only to see Lucy bolt towards a specific direction, leaving a frozen trail behind her. The two lotuses floating above the parasites followed right after the silver-haired woman, their speed no slower than hers. .. Approximatively seven hundred meters away from Arthur and co, Lucy blocked the path of a scholarly man. His skin looked delicate and whiter than hers, his face young and his eyes inky black. He wore a green long robe which his hands and seemed over-sized for him but still added more to his charm. As he saw a beautiful woman with long silver-hair block his path, the man flashed a soft smile at her, did a strange bow and politely said: "To whom do I have the pleasure?" Unfortunately, Lucy didn''t respond. She looked at him with a deadpan face, seven lotuses rotating around her body, gradually freezing the corrupt earth under her feet. The man''s abyssal eyes scanned every inch of Lucy then spoke again "It is rare to see a human from the resistance camp in here. I can''t say I''m surprised but I am most definitely intrigued." He didn''t seem to be worried about the lotuses as he marched in her direction. "Although I very much want to converse with you. I''ve got some business to attend to." He bowed again and added: "Now then, if you''ll excuse me." The scholarly man disregarded the freezing weather which started affecting his robe and was about to bypass her only to abruptly halt his steps, his body suddenly growing heavier than usual. He curiously glanced downward only to see that his feet were frozen by the expanding Yin emanating from Lucy. "You can''t go that way." The man gave a pained expression, spreading his hands and retorting "At least give me a good reason." Instead of talking again, Lucy started acting. Four of the lotuses around her bloomed, instantly freezing half of the man''s body. The other two spun above him, letting out countless white specks that fell on his shoulders and made him drowsy, barely able to open his eyes. Without waiting for any kind of retaliation, Lucy stretched both of her hands, concentrated her Mana and after a few seconds, unleashed a grey flame. It was only a tiny spark, the size of a pinky, however, it managed to cause considerable damage to the non-resisting man. It violently hit his body, scorching his head and chest while turning his lower body into an unbreakable block of ice which became dyed with scarlet blood. Lucy stared at the unrecognizable body of man, strangely feeling a chill down his spines. After scanning her surroundings, she left the area, leaving behind a snowy field centered by a lifeless corpse. ***** "My dear and humble guest, I''m very interested in what you''ll do." Arthur, who was pondering about all the details said by the parasite, was interrupted as Timos'' voice entered his head, uninvited, of course. "You''ve subdued your ''enemies'', which are, in fact, the same race as you are. They are bound, defenselessˇ­ or as human like to say, trapped weaklings. They provided you with an excuse, a reason, which can be either true or false. And, let me tell you that your judgment is bound to be detrimental, either to yourself or to them." He ignored the talking devil and asked the parasite: "Why do you need Timos'' help?" "They want to get into the ancient ruins under the Rift sea East of here. Problem is, they cannot beat the humans without the help of the Cthulhu." "I thought you and the Cthulhu are allies." "Only superficially. They''re savage beings that only obey their God. Moreover, they absolutely refuse to attack the humans there." As she said that, Timos joined again, giving a better explanation. "It''s not that they refuse but they are aware of the consequences of eliminating the remaining humans. No matter how ravaged a world is, it would remain as long as there''s balance. Ending the tiny bit of life in Riarravar will shake the unsteady balance. Unlike the greedy parasites, my children subconsciously know when to back off." Chapter 523 - 469 : Omitted "This world, or any other one, requires an unseen balance. There needs to be as much darkness as there is light. This applies to everything, including living beings. With the extinction of vegetation and the disappearance of stabilizing natural elements, the only holding Riarravar is the remaining humans. You take them out and the game is over, everything will crumble. I won''t deny the cruelties my children had done but they knew when to stop, when to draw a line. Zaarae, on the other hand, does not care about this tiny place." ''Are you implying that the parasites only want to destroy Riarravar? For no reason?'' "I''m not implying anything, I''m only speaking the truth like I always do. And to answer your question, no. The parasites, or rather, Zaarae, seeks something hidden here but she''s unable to come herselfˇ­ not that I''d welcome her though." After a short silence where the two parties kept their inner thoughts to themselves, Timos spoke again: "Enough about this. Tell me, dear guest, what are you going to do with these two parasites? I''m very curious." Unfortunately, Arthur gave no response, he focused on the trapped parasite before him, the Dark Magic around him becoming more violent. "Please don''t do this! Please!" With tears in her face, the woman pleaded, her expression appearing quite genuine. Vyncent kept his silence, not showing any sympathy for the strangers'' difficult situation. Lissandra was zoning out, her gaze lingering on the scarlet sky. As for Lucy, after being absent for two minutes or so, she came back to Arthur''s side. "You''ve thoroughly explained your situation but I have no reason to let you guys, who are potential threats, live or escape." The ominous darkness dancing around the undead started spinning, forming a whirlpool which drifted closer to the two parasites. At first, their energies were absorbed then, when it was about to consume their bodies, the other parasite, the one who hasn''t talked ever since being captured, opened her mouth and spoke with a childish clarion voice: "No! Don''t do this! W-weˇ­" She hesitated for a brief moment but when her eyes landed on the approaching whirlpool and felt the chills down her spines, she was forced to continue: "We can help you! I, I know a safe way." Sadly, the primordial darkness creeping out on her didn''t stop, making her think that she spoke too late. Just when they thought it was their end, the black whirlpool turned transparent and was sucked by the undead''s hand. "I am listening." Arthur''s bone-freezing voice rang inside their ears, making them shudder. It took them a few moments to process what happened and realize that they''re still alive. The older female parasite kept her silence and stealthily let out a sigh of relief. As for the other one, she had her cloak removed too, showing a young immature face, two emerald eyes and long brown hair. As she was uncomfortable being coldly stared at by the creepy undead, the young parasite looked around, foolishly trying to evade his piercing eye. Subconsciously, she knew that it was futile to try and look away, so foolishly and childishly. However, she cannot be blamed as she''s simply too young and isn''t experienced in dealing with overbearing people. Arthur''s dark magic was enough to freak out any mortal, and a newly born parasite isn''t that different. Furthermore, his current appearance was that of a tall undead whose eye was a ghastly green flame. "If you won''t speak then you''re just delaying the inevitable." Once she heard that, the girl bit her lips and after a long internal struggle, responded: "I can guide you to the Eastern resistance campˇ­" She paid for a moment before continuing: "B-but I want you to take us with you." "And why would I take you? The resistance camp only welcomes humans." Only after he said that did he realize that he''s not one to talk, especially with his current frightening appearance. The girl looked at him with a strange expression, clearly having the same thoughts as him, still, she didn''t voice them out. "Never mind that. Where is the safe path you mentioned?" He asked her and waited for an answer, which never came. She remained tight-lipped, fully aware that if she told him the path''s location, he would dispose of her as her presence would be needless. "Are you sure you don''t want to tell me?" Even if she doesn''t talk, Arthur has many ways to extract the information, either by torture or forbidden spells. "Stop pressuring her. She, no, we won''t talk unless you guarantee our safety. We share a common destination, and a temporary cooperation could prove time-saving." The older parasite seemed to have become a tad braver, raising her head and staring directly at Arthur. Now that she saw his previous action, she concluded that they ''needed'' a safe path to the East. "What makes you think I won''t kill you both and just go raze that base of yours to the ground." In response to his taunt, the woman chuckled and retorted: "If you wanted to do that, you wouldn''t have wasted time speaking with us." Arthur backed away from the two parasites, turned to Lucy and pondered for an inordinate amount of time. Using a basic Telepathy skill, easily interruptible by an expert, Lucy conversed with him: "I don''t think they''re lying but there''s still a risk." "Indeed. However, I can''t see any reason for them to try and trick us like this." Lucy glanced at the innocent-looking girl and the older female parasite before adding: "This could also be what they want us to think. Sending their experts would defeat the purpose of their planˇ­ assuming this is really a ruse." The two discussed their next steps and finally reached a common conclusion. Arthur wasn''t that happy as he let out a snort and stretched his hand toward the unconscious parasites, retracting the thorny vines harming their bodies and binding them. Lucy walked up to the two female parasites and coldly said: "You''ll guide us to that safe path. As your entree to the resistance, you''ll handle it yourselves." They nodded their heads, slightly excited. After being released from Arthur''s grasp, they walked up to their comrades and checked up on them. Fortunately, apart from a few cuts caused by the thorns, the two parasites were healthy. To gain a bit more trust from Arthur and his companions, they also removed the hoods of the unconscious parasites, choosing to reveal their appearances to their ''escorts''. The remaining unveiled parasites were actually middle-aged. One was a woman and the other a man a two long dark horns protruding out of his forehead. ˇ­ "Why the frustration? The hate? Does being racially different irritates you that much? Why must everyone fear what they can''t fathom?" Timos, being as talkative and intrusive as ever, talked to Vyncent, who was in a bad mood after the parasites joined them. ''No. I''m being rational here, clearly more than Arthur.'' Surprisingly, he talked to Timos, which is, in fact, a very rare occasion. "Rational? I don''t rationality is succumbing to one''s emotions." ''Four enemies appeared out of nowhere, attacked us and spat a bunch of lies to lure out into a trap. I don''t know why he let them live and actually believed what they said.'' "But, my humble guest, what you see and hear isn''t necessarily the truth. And, in my opinion, what he did is ''right''. All life is precious and, if you can, you should always spare thy enemies." ******* "It''s through here." The young parasite, marching at the front, pointed at an average hole randomly situated in the ground, amidst a field filled with rubbles and broken buildings. This hole was ordinary in every sense of the world, plus, there are dozens if not hundreds of such holes. Arthur suspicious looked at the girl then examined the hole, sensing nothing wrong. He stretched his sense underground but alas, he discovered naught. As she was being gazed by Arthur and his three companions, the girl, flustered, reassured them: "I-it''s really through here. I coincidentally stumbled upon it when I was p-playing." "And? Did you go all the way? Are you sure it leads to the Eastern camp?" Arthur''s domineering voice made the young parasite restless. "It should be about right. One thing is for sure, it won''t lead us back to our camp." The horned male parasite spoke, his countenance calm as he wasn''t affected by Arthur like the others. He may be weak but he lived long enough and saw all kinds of things so even though Arthur is overbearing, it''s still tolerable. "If you say soˇ­ but don''t forget about what I planted inside of you." Instead of the loud detonators which can attract a lot of unwanted attention, Arthur put a lethal poison in their bodies. It merges with their blood and can be activated with his Sixth Sense. Such poison is useless against God Monarchs and higher but it can be fatal to Divine Beings and hindering to Gods. Chapter 524 - 470 : Metal Doors "No! Why''d you let him go!" The pink-haired Lolitta loudly whined, displeased about the Joker''s actions. She tried to punch him but he held her face with his large hand, stopping her from coming closer. This left her swinging her small fists around, trying to hit him. The tall man wearing a strange costume frowned and berated: "Why are you blaming when you couldn''t even handle him by yourself! Jeez, it hasn''t been long since I''ve given you my card yet you already got yourself in serious trouble!" The girl''s face became flushed, and, after a while, she managed to free her covered face, her small chest going up and down from hyperventilating. "Hmpf! I was about to kick that pervert''s ass!! I didn''t need your help!" With one hand on her hip, she harrumphed while comically glaring at the Joker, who wasn''t paying her much attention. He played with his cards while saying: "I was summoned, either by you or automatically. My card was set to activate when your life was truly in danger hence my presence here." "No! You''re wrong! I didn''t ask for your help!" "Are you deaf or what? My appearance here doesn''t require your call for help. Now be silent for a moment." "Who''re you to order me out?" She jumped at him again, this time using her power to immobilize him. Unfortunately, the Joker''s hand blurred and hit the back of her neck, immediately causing her to fall unconscious. After taking care of her, he clicked his tongue and gazed at the vanishing black fog a distance away. Only when the fog was fully gone did the Joker leave the area. Lolitta causes too much trouble and leaving her unmonitored may complicate things. It''s troublesome enough now that death knows of her existence. If he were to snitch to the System, it''ll endanger this place. ******* Right after the young female parasite entered the hole, Arthur followed, his sense locked onto her. The interior of the hole was just as shabby as the exterior. The temperature was a bit higher and there was a serious lack of illumination, making it difficult for Lissandra and Vyncent to see anything. As for the parasite leading them, her eyes turned bright and her pupils became thinner and vertical, like a cat''s. She adapted to this darkness and took steady and silent steps. Behind the hole was a cramped path, devoid of anything. It definitely wasn''t something natural, something that was born due to the changes happened in Riarravar. Their formation was a straight line with the girl at the front, Arthur right behind, Lissandra squished between him and Lucy. Vyncent was at the far back, cautiously watching the three parasites marching before him. After walking for three minutes or so, the path became narrow, unable to fit Arthur''s undead host or even the horned parasite. Nevertheless, such a problem was easily fixed by Arthur''s quad-spirit, who reformed the path ahead, making it much more spacious and luminous. "This was built by humans?" Arthur asked the startled girl, who slightly fastened her steps and gave a perfunctory reply. "Maybe." "What about the metal doors up ahead." Once she heard those words, the girl became surprised, her lips quivering "H-how did you know?" "Doesn''t matter. Where do they lead to?" "I don''t know. I''ve never tried entering them." Two hundred meters away from Arthur, there was tiny metal doors on the walls and ground. Only children could fit through these doors which were made from a yellow, almost golden material which remained unscathed by the decay and passing of time. His sense wasn''t able to peer through the doors'' inside. In fact, the moment his sense reached the metal doors, it couldn''t scan anything anymore as if it was being blocked. It was like some sort of deadzone, negating everything. This made him grew more cautious as he walked closer to young parasite. Thin invisible threads stealthily wrapped around her neck and limbs, any sudden movements from her would cause her head to fall, Arthur just needs to exert a bit of force and pull the threads. Sometime later, they reached the metal doors and momentarily inspected them before continuing. With the exception of the horned parasite, no one said anything. "It is said that an ancient civilization lived underground and used a very advanced technology. Their current whereabouts are unknown and even their appearance is open for speculation." "And how do you this?" Facing Arthur''s question, the parasite lightly coughed and explained: "I''m not versed in combat but I studied a lot of history." Hearing this, Arthur let out a chuckle, which sounded more like a devil''s laugh, and said: "As for as I know, history is closely tied with geography. How come you''re not aware of this path?" The parasite glanced at the silent girl then replied: "It is prohibited to leave the camp without permission. If you''re caught then you''ll be severely punished if not killed." This led to Arthur also looking at the girl who dropped her head, perhaps from embarrassment or guilt. She discovered this path by herself so that means she sneaked out of her camp, unnoticed. "Anyway, it is said this civilization didn''t believe in any God and sought proper using unconventional means. They abruptly vanished from Riarravar a millennium before the red moon, leaving their eternal legacy behind." "Legacy?" "Ancient artifacts, advanced cities, and several undecipherable prophecies." "If they''re indecipherable, how come they''re called prophecies?" "It''s what our God called them. They may be incomprehensible to mortals but they''re merely stupid writing to Gods, or at least that''s what the Black Devil said." Before Arthur could talk, Timos'' voice resounded in his hand, as thunderous as ever. "I never called them stupid writings. They''re unnecessarily lengthy and filled with inconvenient riddles. A self-created language with the purpose of sounding mysterious and superior to the common one used by all. Wellˇ­ if they wanted to achieve greatness then they certainly did." Hearing the overly-enthusiastic Timos, Arthur snickered: "You''re much talkative than beforeˇ­ do they bother you that much?" "Bother me? No. Irk me? Yes. They denied my existence, saying that I''m something born out of a combination of will and energies. They forsake the ability to wield magic for knowledge and science, disbelieving in any kind of God and mocking those of us who dared to face them." Facebook Twitter Tumblr Pinterest Chapter 525 - 471 : The Frozen Keep The rest of the trip, albeit gloomy and awkward, proceeded smoothly. They marched for half an hour before they arrived at the other side of the unusual mountain erected in the middle of the wasteland. From the girl''s words, the human camp shouldn''t be too far from here, however, entering it wouldn''t be as easy as imagined. There is a relatively big bridge which was heavily fortified and always guarded by strong experts. Vyncent, who wasn''t in his best mood ever since the parasites joined, became a bit excited when they got closer to the resistance camp. "How many survivors are there?" Arthur first asked Vyncent, who shook his head in response, so he directed his question to the young parasite. This innocent looking girl was more knowledgeable than she looked. Not only did she know how the camp looked, but she was also aware of the defenses put around the entrance. "You''re coming too?" The young parasite curiously asked Arthur, who looked like a Lich. The humans were antagonistic against all the different looking races so they''ll surely attack Arthur on sight. She was wondering why he''s so brazenly going heading to the camp, appearing quite relaxed. "What? You can come but I don''t?" As she heard his cold voice, she quickly shook her head and tightened her lips, choosing silence over the satisfaction of her curiosity. In fact, it wasn''t only the girl who was intrigued, the other parasites wanted to know how exactly Arthur will enter the resistance looking like that. Their unasked questions were silently answered by Arthur, who halted his steps and was abruptly shrouded by darkness. When the Dark Magic dispersed, what replaced the undead was a body that looked very similar to Arthur''s previous body. He created it using the Dark Cloud and it can''t technically be called a host but it worked, nonetheless. Gawking, the parasites stared at the dark-haired man standing before them, a hideous scar on his left eye while the right one was blood red, like a vampire. "As per our agreement, you''ll manage yourselves once we arrive." Unfortunately, they couldn''t hear his voice for they were too shocked. They genuinely thought he was an undead yet he altered his appearance so quickly and they couldn''t feel the previous creepy aura of the previous host. It was truly magical. Parasites have high sensitivity so they can recognize their skin almost immediately but it wasn''t the case with Arthur, who was a superior, unique variation. "Yes, you don''t have to worry about us." The slightly older female parasite assured Arthur. The horned parasite, with one hand on his chin, examined Arthur from head to toe before mumbling "Interestingˇ­ not a shapeshifter but maybe a Ratiga?" He didn''t mean as a question and was only talking to himself. He was the only one not afraid of Arthur, showing nonchalantness in his action and words. He was just too engrossed in his own world, pondering about anything unknown. ˇ­ Beyond the mountain, the suffocating weather started cooling down and there appeared signs of snow, surprisingly. The ground was no longer scorched, it became snowy and frozen. The temperature had a drastic change as it plummeted to a dangerous degree, causing Lissandra and the parasites to literally shiver. In the end, they clustered around Lucy, whose body was emitting a warm heat that melted the snow under her feet. "It shouldn''t be long before we arrive, Arthur." Vyncent suddenly stopped Arthur, his face showing some hesitation. The bearded youngster didn''t whether to speak his thoughts or not. In the end, he convinced himself and resolutely spoke: "Lookˇ­ I think it''ll be better for me to speak and allow us entry." His face still expressionless, Arthur retorted: "And why is that?" "Wellˇ­ you could be a bit overbearing and I don''t think they''ll accept a behavior other than respectful." Actually, Vyncent hit the nail on the head. While it''s true Arthur can be respectful, he finds no meaning in being so to random strangers. "My dear guest, what he said is very, very reasonable. Maybe unwillingly, but you come out as a cold and aggressive personˇ­ must be related to your past, which I guess is grim. After all, not everyone can become a Soul Parasite! It''s even the first time for me to see such a race and it fascinates me." Arthur gave no response, he stared at Vyncent for two seconds before continuing his march. The young man sighed but didn''t insist, inwardly hoping Arthur would let him lead, just this once. If they end up provoking the humans, it will be irreparable for this is the only safe place in Riarravar. Approximatively an hour later, the group arrived at what seemed to be their destination. There was a massive frozen bridge that connected this area to a floating piece of land. Built on that floating land was an equally large fortress that rose to the heavens. There were huge chains coming from the fortress and wrapping around the bridge. "This is definitely not what I pictured." Vyncent comment while taking a breath of the chilly air. No wonder the parasites weren''t able to defeat the remaining humans. If the bridge is destroyed, there is no way for them to attack the humans. Furthermore, such an enormous fortress is difficult if not impossible to destroy. Even if the Cthulhu decided to eradicate the resistance, it''ll cost them dearly. "The Frozen Keep is what they call it. A fortress built with anti-magic black steel, its walls are thicker than you could imagine. It is truly an unequaled masterpiece, or so I think. I would need at least four of my arms to take it down and, believe me, that''s saying something." Timos spoke to Arthur, sharing his opinion about the fortress before him. As he stared at this perfectly Frozen Keep, Arthur felt inexplicable easy. ''I don''t like it.'' Such was his thoughts, contrary to everyone around him, who were amazed and stupefied. The closer he was to it, the more uncomfortable he became. It felt like a prison of some sort. ************** His surroundings filled with nothing but absolute darkness, something he''s very accustomed to. His eyes glowed with a golden radiance, scanning every inch of the small cave he found himself in. His breathing rapid and his bony and thin fingers holding papers that melted with the surroundings. With heavy steps, he marched deeper into a path at the end of the cave. The only sound was the monotonous banging of his cane each time he took a step. At some time, the cane hit a metal object, causing the old man to halt and curiously look around. "Ras''va Tik" He muttered incomprehensible words, causing two small white flames to appear above him, illuminating this narrow corridor. Sadly, the white flames lasted for a few seconds before they dispersed, to the old man''s surprise. He retrieved a small torch from his long black robe then lit it and warily waved it around. He crouched next to one of the metal doors and attempted to open it but they didn''t open it, probably because he was physically weak. "Cunning bastards, you actually hid it here." He clicked his tongue, massaged his temples while pondering about a solution. After what seemed to be an eternity, he put the torch on the ground and knelt on the ground, his two hands unleashing two whirlpools that landed on the metal door, slowly corrupting it. Unfortunately, the Dark Magic was also negated, the whirlpools only managed to corrupt a third of the door before their resistance kicked in. However, his unsuccessful try alerted whatever place he was in. Spinning yellow lights appeared at the top of the narrow place he was in. This was followed by a series of strange sounds and dense steam leaking from the metal doors. Before he could react, the metal doors abruptly opened and several silhouettes sprung from within. They were humanoid and made from a green stone-like material which caused the old man to shake. The puppet-like figures jumped at the old man, who already prepared a few dark talismans. He swiftly backed away and threw his talismans, slowing down the assailants. His cane emitted a violent light which, at the last second, formed a transparent shield in front of him, blocking the closest puppet. Nevertheless, the old man was sent flying a few meters, his body rolled on the ground and before he could get up, the green figures jumped at him. Their unbreakable legs and hands hit his body, breaking his bones and cracking his skull. What they didn''t realize was that their target was only a decoy. The real one slipped through their ranks and passed through the metal doors. Chapter 526 - 472 : A Path Zodiak stood at the edge of an artificial cliff, his mouth wide-open and his eye full of disbelief. The sight before him jolted him, making stand there, in a daze. Unfortunately, he hadn''t the time to enjoy the marvelous city as numerous flying bee-like objects were shooting lasers at him. Due to his invasion, the whole city came back to life. Everywhere he looked, he saw something strange, purely mechanical and utterly void of any kind of energy. The city was running by itself, however, not magically. Even though his powers are all-rounded, they became very weak in this mysterious place, rendering him in a helpless situation. All he could was bait the protectors and run around for a few hours until his resources were finally depleted. He was cornered, captured but not killed. The old man, bound by green handcuffs which negated his Dark Magic, was thrown into an advanced prison. Through a small hole in his cell, he was given food and water and the prison wasn''t that bad, to be honest. In total, the old man passed 728 days inside that prison, planning and preparing his escape. He needed to not only escape but also acquire what he came for. It wasn''t something for him but he had to finish this job, no matter what. After a bitter prison break and a violent battle with the endless protectors, Zodiak miraculously obtained the treasure. He barged into the second level of the fortified treasure vault and got his hands on a thick jet black longsword. The strongest weapon ever crafted, also known as Anduril. In addition to Anduril, there were other powerful artifacts but he was only able to steal one before hastily leaving. He was curious about the third and fourth levels of the vault but it was practically impossible to get in without permission. So, heavily injured, the old man escaped a place he called the city of light. He didn''t remain a second longer in Riarravar, choosing to end this hellish journey as soon as possible. And, as per the agreement he previously made, this story was to not be recorded in his journal. Although very few people knew, many years later, Zodiak the Mythical, who reached a self-created Realm, was killed by the Nameless Knight. Apart from the Whisperer King, no one witnessed their fight or knew the reason behind it. It was from that point onwards that everyone started fearing Leiu. As for the Whisperer King, he was spared on the condition that he utters not a single word about what he heard or saw. **************** X, who was free after a relatively long imprisonment, just appeared in the Zutis Galaxy, his territory, only to be welcomed by an unwelcomed and unexpected guest. "Come on, you don''t have to react so intensely." The Joker hugged his arms and mockingly said, his lips arched upwards. He had an expression of interest as he gazed at the blurry figure of X. Although the guest already stated that he didn''t come to cause trouble, X still felt uneasy. He straightened his back and supported himself with his cane. "Why are you here?" He wasn''t courteous or polite, after all, he wasn''t weak and chose not to believe in the absurd rumors about the Joker''s powers. Sadly, the rumors were actually an understatement as he''s as strong as his brother, the Nameless Knight. "I heard you''re the best Time-controller around. I''ve come seeking your helpˇ­ I''ll pay, of course." The Joker knew the connection between Arthur and X but still chose to ask for the latter''s help. No matter, he needs to prevent what''s about to happen even if he needs to resort to a sly fox like the man currently facing him. "I decline." As he heard the instantaneous reply, the Magician burst out in laughter, totally ignoring X, who was slowly retreating. "Sorry but the negotiation is only about the price." Then, before X could react, the Joker picked him but the back of his neck and vanished. The teleportation lasted for a split second before they found themselves in a small room filled with monitors and cablesˇ­ and an over-abundance of the color pink, whether it''s in the walls or the scattered objects. Through the blurry face, X gazed around for a few moments before saying "Isn''t this an office?" He seemed to have gotten used to being thrown in random places and didn''t even bother fleeing from the Joker, who fell on one of the round and soft couches. "Blurry stranger, you smell nice!" A short and young girl with pink hair walked next to X and sniffed him while speaking. Strangely, she didn''t react so fiercely to the appearance of X, who inspected her, his head tilting to the side. "An AI, no, a human?" He mumbled to himself, his unseen eyes focusing on Lolitta. "An AI and a human? Now that''s a shocker." "Yes yes, it is but I didn''t bring you here to guess who''s this and that. Brat, get on with it." He glared at the Lolitta, who pouted but didn''t protest. She rummaged through a bunch of boxes before retrieving a dark capsule. "I need your help to open a traversable path." Without waiting for X to reply, Lolitta put the capsule in a round slot behind her then started quickly tapping on a pink keyboard. The several big monitors started showing lots of stuff, including images of people, locations and weapons. "T-this is Arthur''s data?" "Yes, it''s that stinky parasite''s!" X remained silent for a few moments before talking again: "You want me to open a path to his location? It depends where he is." "Riarravar." The Joker said, his eyes lazily opening and closing. Irritated, X banged his cane on the metal ground, his head slightly moving, shifting from move monitor to the other. "Don''t worry, I mean him no harm now that he doesn''t have the orb, however, that blade of his is another thing." He reassured the Joker, who hasn''t said a word about his feud with Arthur, then he continued: "I''m afraid a path to Riarravar is difficult if not impossible. Timos is still trapped there and I can''t afford to mess with a being like him, it''s simply too risky for me." "I will deal with Timos."-The Joker As if he heard a joke, X snickered and retorted: "Deal with him? He''s always ten steps ahead. Furthermore, I''m opening a path to his domain, it''s like I''m asking to be killed!" "I said I will deal with him. He''s not as strong as he''s portrayed." ********* ''What''s happening to me? Why am I dreaming about him?'' Angelina held her chest and sat up, her body soaking with sweat. It must have been the tenth time she dreamed about a man similar in appearance to Arthur but the total opposite in terms of behavior. She lived with him for a while, their house was small but peaceful and warm. They even had a kid, a boy whose name she can''t remember. Whenever she woke up, it made her heart race and her face flush, the feelings were genuine but they weren''t directed toward Arthur. One day, having enough of what she called ridiculous dreams, she picked her spear and left the Ancestral land of the White Specter Clan. Her mother was still missing so the elders are managing the clan and, thankfully, there were no more attacks from the undead. She wanted all of this to end so she followed listened to her heart and followed her soul, which was unknowingly guiding her, pulling her to a special place. Very soon, she left the Cloud Sea Universe and arrived at the border between two universes, an unstable space which is full of peril and has an abundance of powerful and deadly Spatial Beasts. unbeknownst to anyone, Angelina was heading toward a hidden place, a place that holds many secrets known to none. Inside her consciousness, a rotating cube was pulsating with a silver light, it was the source of everything and the beginning of the strange events revolving around her. Chapter 527 - 473 : Go Away As the group got closer to the enormous bridge, several figures came running at them, they were surprisingly fast and wore strange unfamiliar armors. In a way, their attires were a bit similar to the Earth''s past samurais. Very quickly, they surrounded the group of eight, their katanas raised and ready to strike. The only reason they didn''t attack was because Arthur and the rest looked like humans and their ruler, the shogun, instructed them to not act rashly when met with humans. While it''s true that parasites can look like humans, most of them usually have some deformities such as horns, tails, or elongated claws. Apart from the male parasite, who wore a hood to cover his horns, the rest''s appearances were clear and it was impossible to mistake them for a Cthulhu. "Who are you?" A broad man took two steps forward and asked Vyncent, who stood at the front of the group. "Greetings, we''re humans, just like you. We came here to seek shelter." His voice was toneless, containing neither arrogance nor politeness. He scanned the people surrounding him, his eyes momentarily resting on a slender figure at the back, silently watching them. He only felt threatened by that person, who most likely was a female. After a short bout of silence that flowed between the two of them, the man slightly lowered his katana and said: "It is too early to say you''re humans. We have a device that can test how much truth your words contained." Just as he finished saying that, he retrieved a circular object from under his thick armor. He pressed a few times on some specific locations, causing the object to emit a small white light which soon projected itself above it in the form of a single word. ''Human''. This simple looking device could determine the race of its holder. It isn''t flawless, however, most of the time it the results are genuine. Once he finished preparing the device, he handed it to the nearest person, Vyncent. The bearded young man was about to take the device only for the opposite man to retract his hand for a moment while warning him: "Any sudden movement and you''re all dead." In response, he just nodded his head and took the device. The process took around ten seconds before the word ''Human'' appeared in front of Vyncent, showcasing his true Race. The next on the line was Lissandra, who successfully passed the test too. The broad man along with his companions became a bit relaxed when they saw the good results. Their weapons were no longer raised but they were still behaving with cautiousness. Arthur didn''t know how exactly they did it but the parasites were able to trick the humans, somehow using the device to their advantage. In fact, as per the patrols'' request, the horned parasite removed his hood, showing his facial features, which totally lacked any kind of oddity, including the previous horns. No one but Arthur knew that Lucy was a half-demon and half-white specter so they assumed that she''ll easily pass the test. To their surprise, the words ''Half-Specter/Demon'' actually showed above the device, causing everything to become a bit chaotic. The broad man raised his katana and was about to point it Lucy only for the weapon to disintegrate into nothingness. With the exception of Lucy, the only man who hasn''t used the device yet walked forward, shielding the woman and saying. "As far as I know, your enemies are the parasites and the Cthulhu." The man paid Arthur no attention as he treated back and signaled for his companions to ready themselves. "Demon or Cthulhu, what difference does it make?" Everyone raised their weapons and took a battling stance, patiently waiting for their leader''s order. "You see now, my dear invitee. Humans are just as foolish as any other race, blinded by their stupid and hypocritical beliefs. If I were to choose, I would definitely side with the demons, Xyktia''s children. They are extraordinary magic users and a truly noble race who doesn''t rely on something as idiotic as religion to survive. They respect their Goddess but do not blindly worship her." Arthur paid no heed to the talking Timos, instead, his scarlet eyes shifted from the broad man to the slender figure standing at the back. Unlike Vyncent''s hunch, Arthur was able to feel that woman''s powers, which were carefully hidden but not impossible to detect. "We came in peace and only want to cooperate. No need for pointless fighting." His words were directed to the female, who maintained her silence. As for the broad man, he refused to listen to reason as several thoughts rampaged inside of his mind. He started suspecting the others who came with Arthur, however, Vyncent couldn''t let that happen so he hurriedly explained: "We traveled together but we were unaware of her race. Plus, they helped us kill a few parasites along the way." He stole a glance at Arthur before focusing on the humans'' leader. Even though he heard Vyncent''s words, the man remained skeptical and didn''t want to risk it. "As you said, we don''t need to fight so why don''t you go away." "That is not a possible. Why don''t you call someone with authority, I''m sure I can be of great assistance." "I''m sorry but we don''t welcome you in our ranks." Just as Arthur said his bit, a clarion voice resounded in the area. The woman standing at the back lifted her head and uttered those words. "On what basis?" Arthur retorted, his single eye staring back at the woman, who, unlike the others, didn''t wear a thick armor but simple yellow cotton clothes that barely protected her from the coldness. "Those are not my words but the shogun''s." She didn''t seem to mind Arthur''s cold stare as she shrugged her shoulders. "And where is this shogun? Too busy to say those words with his own mouth?" Arthur mockingly said, his head turning toward the sky-piercing fortress. "We''re done here. Welcome the new humans and explain to them our situation." She said her last piece before turning around and leaving, no longer bothering with Arthur, who didn''t bicker with her or try a more aggressive approach. "I can say, with certainty, that this is the best result for you two. It is not a place that suits you both, your abilities will be heavily restricted and you''ll be treated with contempt. Despite its beauty, it is a rotten place full of arrogant people."-Timos As Lissandra and co were guided to the Frozen Keep, Vyncent turned one last time, exchanging gazes with Arthur. ''I''m sorry, Arthur, but just like you, I''ll do anything to survive and sticking with you and roaming this treacherous place isn''t exactly safe.'' Due to the people around, he kept this thought to himself, nevertheless, Arthur was able to understand everything through the young man''s eyes. It''s not like he blamed him, after all, their deal was for Vyncent to guide them here, that''s it. The young female parasite also turned several times, looking at Lucy and Arthur, hesitating. Were it not for the other older female parasite, who dragged her, she would have spoken for the couple. "You could be considered homeless now so why don''t we play a game? I''m sure it''ll relieve your stress and freshen both of you up." Timos'' voice echoed inside their heads, causing Lucy to frown and Arthur to click his tongue. Seeing their not-so-friendly reactions, Timos corrected himself "Oh don''t misunderstand! This isn''t the game I was talking about when you two entered my humble abode. This one is different, harmless and without any consequences. This, I promise. If you win, I can give you a hint that will help you leave Riarravar." "And what if we lose?" Lucy asked, her tone showcasing her irritation. She wasn''t angry at Timos but at the humans, whose behavior is absurd. "You win, you get a hint. You lose, nothing happens." "And you expect us to believe you?" After a short silence, Timos said: "Then I''ll make you believe me. North-West of here, there''s an intact ravine that can benefit you. I''m sure it''ll make you change your opinion of me." The couple gave no response to the bored entity. They telepathically conversed and after an inordinate amount of time, they started heading North-West. After all, it''s not like they got anywhere to be. Chapter 528 - 474 : The Free Space "My dear guest, I can see what motivates you but I want to know what kind of end do you seek." Arthur inwardly snorted and snapped at the talkative Timos. ''Can''t you stop talking for a moment?'' "I''m genuinely curious. A person of your strength can achieve many things so it shouldn''t have been hard to hide your race and live ''happily ever after''. As boring as it seems to me, that kind of ending is wildly fantasied about, strongly desired by most, if not all, mortals. I mean, look at me, I''m eternally living a peaceful life without worries but it bores me to death! Where''s the ''happiness'' they talked about?" "You wouldn''t understand. It requires emotions, something you obviously do not have." "It''s here that you''re wrong, invitee. I chose not to have them for they are a hindrance, something that clouds judgment and makes anyone do foolish, perhaps even suicidal things." "Then how can you expect ''happiness'' when you refuse to feel?" Arthur snickered at Timos, who was actively talking to him almost every day. "Happiness can come in many forms. I mean, should I consider myself currently happy now that I''m less bored? Or is it relief that I can finally talk to someone? The whole existence of emotions is illogical and contradicting to everything. The greed that causes wars, the grief that causes revenge, the anger that causes chaosˇ­ wouldn''t it better not to feel anything? Wouldn''t it facilitate everything? You sacrifice emotions and you earn something greater." "If you discard your emotions then you''re no longer a human." "Ha! I spit on this humanity you talk about. You''re no longer humans? What? Aren''t you the one being illogical here? It''s not only the humans who have emotions. Every other race can feel something, including the worms under your feet and the cows, chicken, and pigs they slaughter to feast on. It''s never been something exclusive for humans." "Does this topic interest you that much?" Arthur rolled his eyes and dropped his head, gazing at his hand, which he was slowly clenching. Strangely, there was an almost unnoticeable numbness which stole his sense of touch. "Oh but it does! Very much, actually. However, I can see that you''re replying half-heartedly so I will end it with a question, as usual. My dear guest, what would you do when the emotions you hold so dearly suddenly vanish? Will you be an empty, emotionless shell? Or will you still convince yourself that you''re still like most ''humans'', able to feel anger and joy." "I''m not obliged to answer." "Of course you''re not. And, in fact, you''ve given me a clear and satisfying answer without even realizing it." After that, fortunately, Timos ceased talking, leaving Arthur be for quite a while. The couple didn''t engage in any obscenity along the way due to the suffocating weather and the peeping being who was following after their steps and talking from time to time. As they took Timos'' advice, the couple headed North-West but were met with no favorable results even after half a day. The Black Devil didn''t specify the distance needed to reach the ravine so the two of them continued traveling nonstop. They Stamina was infinite so they didn''t feel physical tiredness and the savage aura lingering everywhere wasn''t potent enough to affect their mentality. The sight remained unchanged, a wasteland covered in inextinguishable fire, decayed ruins, and scorched, corrupted earth. Surprisingly, they didn''t meet any Cthulhu, much less parasites, which made their trip smoother and less time-wasting. .. A full day after their departure, Arthur and Lucy took the first step into an unscathed and unknown region. It was like stepping from one world to the other as there was a clear line separating the hellish area from a tropical and calm forest. The couple heard the noise of cicadas and rustling of nearby enemies. Even more astonishing was the scarlet sky which drastically changed, becoming clear and blue, like Astria. "What do you think? Isn''t it a good place to rest and relax. There are many things to gain here." Actually, what the couple did was circling around Timos'' body and end up here. The forest was lush, serene and seemed like a totally different world. "Most of Riarravar was built by the GameMaster and ''God'', however, it doesn''t mean that the rest of the twelve didn''t contribute. This forest, in particular, was the handiwork of Ventus and I. ''Tis a land of opportunities and only a handful of people were invited here, including you." Before Arthur could spend some time contemplating the beautiful sight, the Strategist spoke again: "I''m sure you do not believe me but it remains a fact that I created this land which I call The Free Space. I did fail in creating a functioning Race, however, just like anyone else, I''m capable of learning." The forest was humming with life, totally opposite to the rest of Riarravar. The bright canopy, the birds that sing sweetly, or the unseen sun lighting up the dirt path ahead of the couple. It was decorated with outgrown roots, wildflowers and fallen leaves that crunch beneath their feet. The smell of blood was replaced by the fragrance of the minty grass and the damp earth. Each breath is like water, cleansing and fresh. "Now, go forth. Explore." Arthur and Lucy didn''t wait for him to say that before they began wandering around, enjoying this new environment. They didn''t have to be so tense or on guard around the clock, it was apparent that this place is void of dangerous beasts. They did stumble upon deers, boards and such but they only stared at them from afar, neither interfering with their lives or killing them. They had plenty of food in their storages and uncorrupted place shouldn''t be poisoned by their arrival. As the Black Devil said, they were invited here to rest and, if they''re lucky, chance upon unique opportunities. ******* "I found something! I found something!" The Water Empress lifted her head and gazed at her lively short subordinate who was jumping around while holding a dusty old book. They found a bunch of ancient diaries, mostly belonging to the Bard Aneirin, and they''re currently reading the comprehensible ones and deciphering the gibberish. "What did you find?" The empress kept a deadpan face while speaking, having heard the girl repeat the same thing for a while now. "It''s about the Star Empress!! Apparently, she''s friends with The Black Devil!" A frown appeared on the flawless face of the tall woman. She stood up and read the book presented by her subordinate. She flipped through a few pages before mumbling: "It couldn''t be Timos, right?" The short girl retorted: "No! It''s definitely him. Who else but him is called the Black Devil?" "Anyway, whether she''s really friends with him or not doesn''t help our case." Chapter 529 - 475 : Trading Game "As a token of my boundless sincerity, I''ll guide you to a place which can heal your injured eye." Timos'' voice echoed in Arthur''s head which was followed by a noticeable pulsating light coming from a specific direction. The marked place wasn''t that far away and inside this forest, it was like a walk in the park for the couple. After around twenty minutes, they arrived near a calm lake. It lay without a ripple in the silver-blue water as time itself had been frozen. There was also the refreshing fragrance of jasmine, adding more beauty to this heavenly place. Without a doubt, this was no natural lake as the mere look of it made the two couple shiver from the energy lingering in the air. It was unfamiliar but serene and non-oppressive. Their bodies weren''t able to naturally absorb it and could only bask in its aura. "Before you lays a lake of diluted Primordial Energy. It''s the only one in all existence and no being, including myself, can absorb it all. Now, I''ll give you just one piece of advice; Take what you need and leave what you can." Arthur looked at the crystalline surface and stood there, momentarily dazed. The deep voice of the Black Devil snapped out of his daze and made him suspiciously glance around, fearing that this may be a trap. "What? Still not believing me? I literally presented you with the greatest gift and was generous enough to give you some liquefied Primordial Energy." "Your notorious reputation precedes you, how do you expect us to trust you?" Arthur clearly stated. Next to him, Lucy leaned closer to the lake then added: "You''re known as the Strategist. It won''t be surprising to see you tricking us at the very end, if not now." Once they voiced some of their thoughts, the two heard a low emotionless chuckle. "I don''t need you to trust me. Just believe that I mean you no harm. In fact, do I really need to resort to pathetic tricks to eliminate you two? Don''t forget you''re in my domain and inside a place I personally built." "Then why the sudden generosity? Nothing is ever free." "Yes, you are totally right. To achieve balance, there must be a ''give'' and a ''take''. I only want you to thoroughly think about my offer and if you''re up to it, play a game with me. That is my ''take''." "What if we refuse?" "You''re free to refuse or accept anytime. I don''t expect an immediate answer." The two parties stopped talking after that. Arthur and Lucy inspected the lake and circled around it a few times before sitting down. Due to the nature of Riarravar, the System was malfunctioning so the use of Appraisal was impossible. However, even without Appraisal, it was easy to confirm Timos'' words as Arthur''s wound started itching. After an inordinate amount of time, Arthur carefully pulled a drop of water from the translucent lake. The process turned out to be extremely difficult as the drop was inexplicably heavy as it took him several attempts to pull it toward him. Once it was close enough, it flew into his chest and pushed him a few meters. His body shook violently for a few moments before it calmed down when he sat cross-legged and started ''digesting'' it. At first, this simple-looking drop caused huge tremors across his body before it calmed down and was slowly absorbed by his Meridians and his revolving Dantian. As time passed, the hideous scar on his face vanished and his eye was being treated by the Primordial Energy. When half a day passed and night befell on the Free Space, Arthur''s left eye opened at last. It emitted a sky-blue light that fell on the breath-taking lake. Arthur let out a breath containing a lot of steam then stood up and stretched his limbs. Although he couldn''t see his stats or his Realm, he was sure that he broke through. He circulated his Nether Energy then raised his hand, conjuring four golden stars above him. This clearly meant that he''s a 4-star God Monarch. Lucy, who was meditating next to him, also successfully pulled a drop of water and was currently using it to heal the internal damage left by her silver revolver. Having absolutely nothing to do, the man sat next to his wife and enjoyed the view. A sea of shimmering stars, diamond strews across a raven gown boundless and beautiful. His thoughts wandered as he gazed at the starry night sky, his mind reminiscing about the past, about all that happened, good and bad. It happened so fast that he couldn''t keep up. Enemies were getting much stronger and he''s jumping from one mess to another. The whereabouts of his daughter are unknown, the fate of Astria is shrouded and he''s stuck with Lucy in Riarravar. Sometimes, he regrets meeting her and dragging her into this chaotic world, full of dangers. Maybe if he hasn''t met her on that fateful day, everything would''ve been different, much different indeed. "Congratulations on your fast recovery, dear guest." Absent-minded, Arthur didn''t reply so Timos continued speaking: "Why are you so obsessed with me? Surely there are many others who are willing to play your game." "That is where you''re wrong. Only you can play the game." "Care to explain?" "I''ll only explain if you agree." Arthur spent a few moments to ponder then said: "I agree to play the second game. The one you claimed hasn''t got any consequences if you lose." This time, Timos took some time to reply. His voice seemingly much softer for some reason "Actually, it''s not a game but a small request of time. I just need one of your belongings and in return, I''ll handsomely compensate you. It''s a trading game." Arthur didn''t immediately object, he looked at the serene lake while responding: "One of my things? Which one." "The Dark Blade." Once he heard that, Arthur voiced his instantaneous rejection to which Timos explained: "Wait till I finish first, please. Personally, I do not need the blade and I have no use it for it. I merely want to return it to its home, where it belongs. You see, that blade isn''t really a weapon but a person, a living being, like you and me. Ventus Malum is his name, he''s the father of all swords and the one in the blade you call Evil Wind." "ˇ­" Arthur kept his silence as he listened to the narrating Black Devil. "Ventus is one the Twelve and someone I consider as a friend, a kin of mine. Unlike the rest, we two were close enough hence the existence of the Free Space. Basically, I was the mind and he was the body. Sadly, the fool fell in love with a mortal, and a human, at that. Countless times did I try to stop him but he was blinded and wouldn''t listen to reason, unfortunately. I will skip the tragedy and say that it ended badly, even after he crafted Eighteen swords for her sake. Nine to protect her. Nine to attack. Together, they were the epitome of power, something truly unstoppable which is why many of the Twelve wanted to get them, especially when their stupid war started. After exacting his revenge on Xyktia, who killed the love of his life and turned her into an undead, he brought her remains and eternally imprisoned himself in a dark, cold place. With enough time to feel absolute loneliness and despair, he became a blade and before it was completed, it was stolen by a greedy bunch. I recounted the story so you can understand my reasoning. That blade in your possession is powerful and irreplaceable but it''s not meant for you, at least not now. It needs to return home and reach completion and, only then, on its initiative, will it head toward the person it deems as a true partner." Arthur sighed and said back: "Do you think recounting a story is enough for me to give up my weapon? The blade and I are bound by an oath." "The oath, I can see. It''s relatively new and unknowingly takes a toll on you both, limiting the power you can unleash while wielding it. I can break it and free both of you but only if you agree to release the Dark Blade form your possession." Timos paused for a brief second before resuming: "Though I don''t know what this ''love'' exactly is. I''ve seen many examples and I can ascertain that you, like anyone else, want to spend the rest of your life with the woman next to you. I''m willing to bet that even in death, you''d want to be by her side. Forever." "Dear guest, I know you don''t care about strangers but this matter concerns you. Didn''t you notice that your partner is acting awfully mysterious ever since entering this world? It''s because its home is close and it started a bit of peace after an eternity of torment. Like I said, if you''re truly meant for each other, this will not be the end, I promise you that." Chapter 530 - 476 : Out of This World "Again, I''ll have to refuse this trade. Your reason is convincing but it''s not enough for me to temporarily separate from Makaze." Arthur remained firm, unwilling to hand over Makaze over such a brief story. Sure, Timos may be telling the truth but the Dark Blade greatly contributes to Arthur''s prowess and his strongest skill [Thousand Waves] requires an unbreakable blade. Furthermore, Evil Wind may be the only one of its kind which can process Dark Magic and manipulate it, making it a perfect match for Arthur. "You refuse without even seeing what I have to offer. I''m someone who believes in equivalence so If you were to return the Dark Blade, I can assure you that you won''t be losing. In fact, I''m prepared to give you more and even teach you a few things that may come handy in the future." Seeing that Arthur showed no signs of changing his mind, Timos added: "Alright, we''ll do it like this. I''ll lend you a few things and you try them out. By then, if you''re still unsatisfied, I''ll stop talking. What do you say?" Only silence came out of Arthur''s lips. He stood there, his arm crossed and his eyes lingering on the night sky. Timos took the parasite''s silence as acceptance so he immediately made his move, controlling the peaceful forest. Within a few seconds, thin vines sprung from the ground, wrapped around a shabby wooden box. "The first thing I''ll lend you comes in two pieces. The first one is the object before your eyes. A wooden box unlike any other, unique and priceless. This thing, albeit shabby, can be broken by no one, including The Twelve. Once you put your blood on it, it belongs to you and you''ll be the only one who can open it at will. Mind you, it can store anything, even stars, worlds, planets. Actually, the ring on your finger was made from the same wood." Arthur glanced at the jet black ring that once belonged to Zodiak. It didn''t feel or look like the normal wooden box but it''s certainly different than the normal storage rings. Inside this ring, there are countless things and to inspect them one by one would take an eternity. That would leave anyone wondering how Zodiak managed to acquire so many things. "Before she learned how to properly harness her power, Dimitra mistakingly used a huge portion of her power to create a medium-sized piece of wood. Seeing no purpose in keeping all to herself, she traded some with me and kept the rest to herself. Obviously, I gave her something of equal value, my blood essence with which she helped Tiarius create Riarravar. Very few people knew but that wooden chunk she accidentally created took a great toll on her, making her weak." "You''re speaking of a big deal as if it''s nothing. Are you sure you want to speak of such ancient secrets?" Arthur snorted, not knowing whether to believe Timos or judge all his words as nonsense, deceitful lies. "Secrets? Hahaha. A secret stops being so the second a third person knows about it. Furthermore, what I spoke about are past events, the history that is no longer important." The Black Devil waited for a few moments, watching Arthur stare at the box and trying to probe it using his sense. "Just like the Dark Blade, this is a piece of Dimitra so there''s nothing capable of affecting it. Moriah helped me change its form and turn it into a storage. Now, let''s look at the thing inside, an unparalleled masterpiece that transcends anything." Arthur knew that Timos was over-glorifying whatever was inside to appeal to him, nevertheless, he maintained his silence and waited for the box to open. The parasite looked at the opening wooden box with half-interested expression. He walked closer and leaned his face, wanting to peek inside but such action was needless as the object was reflected into his eyes almost immediately. To be honest, one would expect a heaven-defying item with an exceptional appearance, however, what Arthur saw was the definition of mediocrity. A fairly short, wide, slightly curved blade made of a silvery material is held by a grip wrapped in gilded, navy blue skin. It lacked any kind of decoration, its appearance very basic. Ordinary. "It doesn''t have a name, an origin, or characteristics. No one ever used it, besides me, and, in my case, I only wielded once before storing it in this box. It was given to me by a certain entity that I will refrain from mentioning for the sake of safety." "How come you were so open about the box yet strangely secretive concerning this sword?" Expecting such a question, Timos gave an immediate response. "Because it''s rather unnecessary to talk about its origins. If you agree to trade then, when the Dark Blade returns to you and I come to retrieve this sword back, I''ll tell you a bit about where it came from. And, no, it wasn''t crafted by any of the Twelve and the materials it was made from are unknown even to Quhea. Now, before you try it out let me warn youˇ­ this is a blade that does not rely on attributes or uses energy. It cuts and kills, nothing else. It can pierce anything you can imagine but its fuels on the user, meaning you, so you need to be careful when using it because each swing costs dearly. In the past, when I used it, I didn''t know its true power so I ended up weakening myself for ten millenniums and the attack I unleashed demolished my whole domain along with Moriah''s, going as far as severing his arm. I, the weakest of the twelve, managed to hurt the strong existence ever with just one swing. No one would have believed me so I kept quiet about the matter and blamed Xyktia, who, at the time, was experimenting with Black Magic." "And why exactly are you giving such a powerful sword to me?" "As I said previously, it''s part of the trade. It will go back to the box the moment the Dark Blade reaches completion and seeks you. Moreover, I''m lending it to you because I know, in the time you''ll be using it, you won''t be able to cause what I consider ''real trouble''. At most, you''ll cut a few heads and wreak some worlds, it isn''t a big deal." "I''m aware of the trade but you could have offered me a different sword." "You make it sound easy to produce powerful swords such as the Dark Blade. Apart from this oddity, there''s only Anduril and the combined effort of the eighteen Divine and Cursed swords that are worthy." Arthur pondered for some time before stretching his hand toward the silver sword. He was about to lift it only for his hand to momentarily freeze. He was experiencing a feeling that had long since vanished, the helplessness one goes through when they can''t lift a heavy object. He was only incapable of lifting it for the first three seconds because he exerted little force but when he mustered all of his strength, he was still able to properly hold it but his muscles were twitching and his veins popping. "I''m surprised you were able to lift it on your first try. Good job. It requires a titan''s strength to be able to swing it around. Oh don''t try swinging it here, I don''t want my forest to disappear." Arthur was a bit eager to test it out so when he heard Timos'' words, he couldn''t help but inwardly snort. He raised it in the air but after a few seconds, he started feeling tiredness albeit his infinite Stamina. "Don''t show such a surprised expression, I already told you that it''s something out of this world. The limitless Stamina you''re so proud of is useless against it." "Does that mean I can only use basic sword attacks without resorting to skills?" "No, skills can be used but the cost is probably more than you could handle with this fake body of yours. I reckon that a serious swing will suck the life out of your arm and it''ll need some time to recover." Chapter 531 - 477 : Triple Evolution "In your case, there are two things weighing you down and rendering the use of the sword inefficient. The first is the absence of a real physical body due to your special, nonetheless, it shouldn''t be that much of a problem if you learn how to manipulate the life force inside it. The second thing is the rip-off system you''re using, looking at it is a joke in itself." Arthur listened to Timos, who was explaining a few things, though he still hasn''t agreed to hand over Makaze, the Black Devil assumed otherwise. "It automatically calibrates the usage of any kind of energy and though it seems helpful, it actually isn''t. This is a lower version of the System created by Tiarius, whoever created it clearly has no clue what he''s doing. Let me show you bad it is." The blue window showing his stats appeared before the Parasite. The system was supposed to be malfunctioning yet it suddenly popped without his consent. The numbers started changing and in a few seconds, they all turned into ''0'' but Arthur didn''t feel the least bit weakened. "It can easily be hacked or altered." "I thought only Tiarius can do such things?" "No, you''ve got the wrong idea about the Twelve. We can all use or create a System but the GameMaster outdid everyone. The same applies to other powers such as Sedos'' light or Xyktia''s necromancy." After a brief pause, he resumed: "Anyway, the System you''re using is, in my opinion, a malware. Not only does it hinder your skill usage but it also spies on you and store all the personal information, automatically sending it to some sort of an artificial hive." "Tell you whatˇ­ I can create a personal system for you that doesn''t interfere in anything and only show you numerical values of your prowess. I''ll make it simplified and harmless. Consider it as a bonus." "No." Arthur blatantly rejected the offer, his expression remaining oddly deadpan. If the current system can spy on him then wouldn''t Timos'' do the same? "Fear not, dear guest. The system I''ll create is centered around you and your partner. Furthermore, I don''t use Systems as they aren''t ''accurate'' and they don''t factor everything. A mortal, with enough willpower, can do astounding things yet the system will only show his physical capabilities, crushing the person''s confidence or stopping him from doing something he may very well regret." Arthur remained headstrong and didn''t accept this alluring ''bonus''. Just as Timos was about to speak again, a blinding light flashed next to Arthur, it stretched to the cloaked heavens and nestled there, creating an illuminating spider web made of pure silver light. The parasite turned toward Lucy, the source of this abrupt occurrence. Her long silver hair started floating as if it was being pulled by the sky, her skin became crystalline and her special eye enveloped her with a blue dome that seemed to stop time. "A breakthrough in both her Physique, Soul, and Dantian. Truly a beautiful sight to behold." Timos commented as he, like Arthur, was watching Lucy''s evolution. Her aura kept rising but it was contained by the dome of time, stopping the energy from leaking outside. As Arthur was focusing on his wife, Timos'' voice resounded in his head again: "Now will come the time to see if you truly believe my words. As you can see, your wife is in the midst of a triple evolution and, were it in any other place, it would incur the wrath of the jealous heavens. If nothing interferes, everything will proceed smoothly and she''ll reach a stronger stage, however, her body will only absorb a third of produced energy, at most. This is where you come, acting as a catalyst, forcing her body''s capacity to unknowingly act." A frown appeared on the man''s face, not understanding what the entity was talking about. Nevertheless, he didn''t object bit quietly listened, his two eyes fixated on the woman undergoing a massive change. "The Twelve weren''t born perfect so we were able to evolve but it was very difficult. Only Moriah was able to such a feat but I digress. In the process of any kind of evolution, the body only absorbs the necessary energy to reach a new stage and discards all the rest of the energy which it initially produced but didn''t deem as ''important''. What many do not know is that an evolution is called so only when someone absorbs all the energy and reach perfection. To do that, the body must be under pressure, it needs to feel threatened so that it frantically inhales everything for the sake of ''precaution''." "Pressure? What kind?" "Anything will do. Attack her with all your strength." As he heard that, Arthur had a dumb look and momentarily was unable to reply. Though Timos made it sound beneficial, he still won''t Lucy, just thinking about it was absurd. "I can see your obvious reluctance so I''ll do it myself. You can thank me later, invitee." Just as he finished talking, Arthur''s body was suddenly immobilized by an invisible force and from high-up in the sky, a thick and long tentacle came flying down, violently striking Lucy. Fortunately, the tentacle was stopped by the blue dome, nonetheless, it didn''t cease attacking Lucy, slowly pushing her away but inflicting no injuries. "Can you see? No matter how much you attack her, it won''t cause any damage. This is the uniqueness of a triple evolution." The silvery light around Lucy was being madly absorbed by her crystalline body. Her hair shone brightly and her eyes, one azure, and the other blood-red, ever-so-slightly opened, falling on the incoming tentacle which was thicker than the trees. Mid-way through, her right arm, which was healed not long ago, started changing appearance. The snow-white skin was replaced by Scarlett scales, six-inch long claws appeared on her fingers and a big spiky blood-red shoulder guard spawned. Her whole arm suffered a drastic change as it was raised in the air and clashed with the incoming tentacle. The impact between the two force caused the place to slightly shake and the sky to be covered by a golden flames. "Marvelous, too marvelous! A devil arm. You''ve exceeded my expectations, girl." Timos sounded delighted as he spoke to the silent Lucy, his tentacle finally retracting and disappearing into the dark sky. Dozens of seconds later, the devil arm vanished and the blue dome was sucked by her eye. Lucy stared at her right arm and clenched it a few times before standing up and looking around until she located a worried Arthur. "What''s wrong?" Seeing her in perfect condition, Arthur breathed a sigh of relief and shook his head: "Nothing. Congratulations!" In response, the woman flashed a smile at him then checked her body. She activated her Yin cultivation technique only to see 9 ice lotuses rotate around her, this meant that she reached the last stage of the Nine Star Yin Technique. Furthermore, when she manipulated her Mana and focused on her Dantian, 7 blood red stars materialized, indicating that she jumped from a Sovereign to a 7-star God Monarch. With her current prowess, fighting an Overgod on equal terms is possible. As she nestled in her arms, Lucy could hear Timos talking to her and Arthur. "Your partner benefited greatly from the drop of Primordial Energy but I can''t say the same for you. She overtook you in less than a day so the best thing you can currently do is not let yourself get behind and become a hindrance. Although you didn''t believe in my words, I think the results are enough to prove my honesty. Her Devil Arm is something I saw only once and the owner was actually Medtris herself which means that the Demon Blood that runs through her veins is somehow tied to the Demon Queen, not that I care though, I''m just pointing it out." To this day, Lucy and Arthur didn''t know how Lucy is not a pure-blooded White Specter. Her father was human and her mother was a White Specter yet she was half-demon, which is totally illogical. Moreover, Katrina didn''t explain the circumstances of Lucy''s disappearance, or more accurately, she wasn''t given the chance to." *********** "Is it still not talking?" Marshall Albert asked his subordinate while reading a few documents. The soldier bowed and replied: "Sir, it refuses to utter a word." The Marshall waved his hand dismissively while saying: "Then plan a public execution. We can''t have an unrestrained beast lurking inside our prison." This piece of news traveled far and wide and in less than a week, all of the Divine Planet were aware of the execution. No one dared to object the Marshall''s actions, after all, he was a powerful figure of the Cloud Sea Sect. ˇ­ "No! Let me go!" Saly, her hair now black due to the pigolo''s Dark Magic, loudly protested as she held a tiny piece of paper. The news of Astrith''s fate reached her so she became hell-bent on saving him, refusing to hear reason. Delia, her face flushed, restrained the little girl while saying "We can''t risk exposing ourselves! They''re only using him as bait. The real target is you!" Unfortunately, the blond woman wasn''t able to hold down the furious Saly, who successfully freed herself only for a big silhouette to appear and smash the petite figure on the ground. Ominous threads of black light wrapped around Saly''s limbs, restraining her. She could only grit her teeth and glared at the hideous face looking down at her. "Let me go!" Gutcha stared at her without saying a single word, his mind preoccupied with something else. Although Saly was oblivious, their current situation was dire, perhaps even desperate. With the addition of the Cloud Sea Sect, there are many others powers hunting them down, wanting to get their hands on Fenrir. If they could harness Saly''s powers, it would easily make them rise to the peak and become a dominant force. So, it came to no surprise that there was no lack of pursuers. They had to relocate every few days and it even got worse in the last period as there a group of black-clothed individuals following him on the clock. Fortunately, they remained passive but that doesn''t mean they''re allies. Chapter 532 - 478 : The Wind In a rowdy tavern, there stood a bard happily singing and chugging ale from time to time. He wore a green and violent costume and looked out of place, nonetheless, everyone in this place appreciated his famous poems and engaging melodious voice. "Sing with me, my dear invitee! The story of a conflicted man, Never honest, and always bland Protecting love, never grand Uncaring of the moving sand Not bothering with the unseen hand." A long while later, the bard left the tavern, humming and caressing his precious lute. The poet walked for a dozen meters before his path was blocked by someone wearing a jet black armor, a pale-faced youth, to be more precise. "Ah! If it isn''t grumpy boy!" The bard, Aneirin, flashed a smile at Leiu and loudly greeted him, not behaving respectfully or showing fear. Unlike the rest, he and the Nameless Knight were old acquaintances, furthermore, he was a troubadour, harmless, only seeking the thrilling mysteries. Back in the past, he traveled with Leiu to forgotten lands and sealed tombs, looting priceless treasures and discovering shocking revelations. "Do you have some time?" Leiu, his face still expressionless, talked to the energetic Aneirin. "I always have time for you. Come, let me buy you a drink." The bard dragged Leiu to a relatively quiet restaurant and ordered some food and win. Once the table was filled with plates, the bard started devouring everything while gazing at the motionless and silent youth. "So, what brings you to this far away land?" "I want you to tell me a few things." "What things? As far as I''m aware, you know everything I know." Seeing the bard''s honest expression, Leiu chuckled and retorted: "Not quite." A frown appeared on Aneirin''s face as he stopped munching the food, wiped his oily mouth then said: "If you want to know about normal things then I can talk all day but you very well know that I''ve made a few oaths about certain matters and divulging anything about them will break my voice. Literally." "Don''t worry, it isn''t about them." After Leiu''s confirmation, the bard breathed a sigh of relief, drank some wine then focused back on the armored youth sitting opposite of him. "I want you to recount your experiences with him." "Him? Who''s him?" "Zodiak." Aneirin''s brow creased as he heard that name. He tilted his head, pondered for a few moments before asking: "I thought you were on bad terms with him. Why are you suddenly so curious?" The Nameless Knight shrugged and answered: "Maybe I was wrong about himˇ­ who knows." Before talking, the troubadour spent a while collecting his thoughts and weighing what to say and not to say. "I think all that needs to be said was mentioned in my book. If you''re not that much of a reader than I''ll tell you the shorter version. The man was eccentric and very amnesic. He would sometimes talk gibberish, say random names and would disappear for a few days before coming back all bloodied. I clearly remember that every time he sleeps, he would have a nightmare, yelling loudly and vanishing yet again. Oh yes! He seemed to bear a grudge against all humans in generalˇ­ it''s kind of ironic since he was also a human. There was also the notebook, he would always write his experiences there. I once asked him why he''s doing that and he said that someone told him to do so, as to not forget who he was." "Did he ever speak of his origins? His home?" While tapping on the table, Leiu asked. "No, he avoided such topics. There was also something elseˇ­ he seemed to be desperately looking for someone." "Who?" "No idea. I only know it''s a blue-haired girl." ˇ­ "Parasites, my dear guest, are a race that can only survive with evolution. Not only do they require a host but it''s also necessary to evolve in order to adapt to the ever-changing environment. In your case, you absorb your targets'' powers but that doesn''t make you them. You can also impersonate them to a certain degree, especially if they''re powerful individuals. Sure, your race makes you immune to death by physical damage, however, there are some cases where physical damage is also categorized as soul-based, eradicating both the body and its consciousness. Plus, for you to get stronger, you would require fresh victims, something this place lacks so we''ll try a different, unorthodox approach." Lucy was trying out her new devil arm and testing it with Lonely Moon, the silver revolver. As for Arthur, he was dragged to the side by Timos, who spoke of a new kind of training, a tactic that is guaranteed to enhance his powers. "First of all, you need to know that your Dark Magic is categorized as a mental-attack, mainly prioritizing the target''s emotions. Sure, it can inflict physical damage but it''s real purpose lies in disturbing the enemies'' mind, rendering them unable to think properly. In what we''re about to do, you''re only allowed to use your main attributes and nothing else." Arthur remained silent, listening to the Black Devil, who repeatedly warned him. The parasite was led to wide cave illuminated by numerous torches, the air was cold and the ground unsteady. "What you need to do is simple; don''t get killed." Just as Timos said that, a violent gust of wind struck Arthur, sending crashing into a wall behind him. Before he could get up, another gale dragged him from the rubble and throw him to the other side. When he was about to hit for the third time, a wall made from blackened earth sprung from below, barely stopping the invisible wind. Sadly, it lasted for a brief moment before it was turned into dust, however, Arthur managed to manipulate the earth and create two large hands that blocked the whistling whirlwinds. Earth beats Wind so Arthur focused on the former attribute. Unfortunately, he barely lasted for a minute before he was sent flying like a kite, his body bloodied. Even if he were to receive a fatal physical attack, he won''t die so Arthur wasn''t worriedˇ­ until a strange gust of wind entered his body and perturbed his consciousness, causing him to feel an agonizing pain which made him crawl on the ground while holding his chest. "The best and most basic way to strengthen yourself is through a never-ending battle. Since you''re immune to anything physical, your soul and consciousness need to be hurt so they can suck energy to replenish themselves and heal the wounds. It''s a forceful method but very effective." Since he shouldn''t use Life Energy, he could not heal his wounded soul which made his movements slower and sluggish. Hours passed and Arthur was treated like a toy, being flung from one side to another. His clothes became scarlet red and his body filled with horrifying scars. .. Outside, Lucy was calmly standing next to the lake, her right arm now covered with scales as it held the gun. Besides singing cicadas, everything else was awfully quiet. Her eyes, which were closed for a long time, abruptly opened, her left one emitting a blue brilliance. Almost instantly, a blue dome surrounded her, dangerously slowing the flow of time. Although her movements were slightly affected, she still was able to swiftly raise her hand and fire multiple shots all around her. The bullets that left the gun seemed frozen mid-air as they were trapped inside the blue dome. Once her eye''s ability wore off, the bullets, which were frozen, flew at several thin tentacles that sprung from the ground. As they were fired when time was slowed, the might of the bullets was ten times stronger, shredding the disgusting tentacles, turning them into bloody mists. Just when she thought she was done, another tentacle attacked her from below, hitting her abdomen and flinging her high-up in the air. Thankfully, she managed to stabilize her body and step on the nine lotuses floating around her. "Your reaction time is slow and you abandoned everything to defend the attacked spot. Girl, you can fool everyone but me." Chapter 533 - 479 : The Fire "Why do you care?" Lucy coldly retorted, her hand softly pressing on her abdomen. "Oh I don''t care, I''m just curious. Expecting a child is considered a joyful occasion that should be shared with your partner. Almost all races celebrate such an event but here you are, keeping it from him." Lucy maintained her silence, unwilling to explain the reason behind her secrecy. "You know what I think? You''re afraid that, by knowing the truth, he''ll focus more on protecting you and getting you out of here even if it costs him his life. It''s just how he is and there''s nothing you could say to change his mind. So, you''ll only reveal your pregnancy once you two are out." She proceeded to ignore him as she sat cross-legged and entered meditation. "Actually, what''s shocking me is the fact that you''re truly pregnant. You''re half-demon half-white specter so the probability of ''it'' happening is low but not impossible. The real catch is your husband, a bodiless parasite. Do you know, pretty invitee, that parasites infertile. No matter to what mutated kind he evolved into, he''s still a parasite, a being incapable of reproducing." Her closed eyes slightly fluttered as she listened to Timos. Lucy knew when the unborn baby was conceived, it must''ve been when they were in the Mountain Ba sword sect as they didn''t engage in any sexual activities after that. "Now let us stop talking about the case and try to foresee the result. A child or a monster?" When she heard the last word, Lucy''s aura exploded, freezing everything around her, clearly incensed by what the Black Devil said. "Wow, no need to get angry. I''m talking about the law of probability, what will the child be? A quarter demon, half a parasite, and a quarter specter? That doesn''t seem logical. There are inheritances stronger than others, for example, demon is stronger than human, specter is stronger than both. As for a parasite''sˇ­ I honestly don''t know. Of course, he or she may turn out to be a human as the soul can be influenced by the parents'' souls. In case of the parasite, he recently evolved so I guess when the deed was done, his soul was fully human." After a brief silence in which he studied Lucy''s twisting expression, he resumed: "Though I cannot deny your physical and mental power, it still won''t be enough to negate the savage aura lingering in this world. It''ll be best to leave before the embryo develops and gets affected. Unlike humans, your pregnancy lasts much longer but it''s advised to pass in the safest environment, especially since the father is a parasite, a race that adapts itself to the environment which makes them vulnerable to bad and good influences." "I don''t need to hear an explanation about the cause and the effect. I''m aware of the situation and I know what to do." Once he finished, Lucy interjected, her face frowning and her aura wildly unstable. ˇ­ Arthur struggled against the violent gales for half a day before it finally stopped, returning the gloomy cave to its eerie silence. His body was covered in cuts, blood oozing from every corner, nonetheless, his high Vitality quickly healing his wounds and recovering all the lost energy. "It''s a shame, reallyˇ­ as the partner of the Dark Blade, your wind proficiency is supposed to be the highest yet such a simple trial shredded your body." The parasite listened to Timos, his breathing heavy and his body trembling. The gale attacks were peculiar, their physical damage is high but they also seemed to touch his consciousness and hurt his soul. "The wind attribute is by far the hardest to master. In fact, I once met a young and simple-minded mage who reached perfection in Wind Magic. That idiot was able to cut six of my tentacles. Now, enough of this chitchat, let us start with the Trial of fire." As his words ended, an unimaginable heat assaulted Arthur, causing his body to profusely sweat. "You''re probably wondering why a simple heat is stealing your Health and affecting you. Your petty resistances are useless against true fire, one that has been around since the beginning of time. Yes yes, the Phoenix, Vermilion Bird, and Golden Crow, do indeed have special flames but they pale in comparison to Dimitra''s fire of beginning. The Hell Fire you have is a bit higher-grade than the rest and it''s certainly dangerous but you can''t control it properly. In a fight, one uses the things he''s most good at, whether it''s magic or martial arts. Throwing around all kinds of powerful skills will do you no good against an opponent who truly mastered his art." The dark cave was suddenly illuminated by a fire that rose from the ground, filling the whole place and engulfing Arthur, who conjured a bubble of water to resist the heat. Sadly, the bubble was instantly vaporized and his body was soon scorched by the fire, his hand turned into ash and his legs were slowly but surely disappearing. "It''s common knowledge that Water counters Fire, that is, if they''re equal in terms of power. You have no talent in Water manipulation, just seeing you, desperately trying to resist the fire with your weak skills is a truly, truly saddening sight. My dear guest, do you realize it now? Without your precious partner and your Dark Magic, you''re nothing special." Arthur gritted his teeth and created several layers of water barrier then he used the Wind Attribute to push away the raging fire, which dominated the whole place and released low, chilling growls. It looked like any normal fire but Arthur''s health pool was drastically decreasing. Half a day slowly passed and by the end of the Trial, Arthur''s body was turned into black ash. Of course, he didn''t die and the lost body was quickly recovered by using the White Tiger''s special ability which instantly healed a large portion of his Health. Somehow, someway, after fully recovering, this artificial body created using the Dark Cloud, crumble and shattered like glass, forcefully ejecting Arthur. "Good, you''re in your real form. Do remain like that, we''ll start the Trial of Lightning." Lightning smites evil and counters all kinds of Ghosts or spiritual being. Arthur, being a Soul parasite, is extremely vulnerable to lightning, however, his immunity to this magic guaranteed his safety against enemies that wield thunder. Unfortunately, it wasn''t the case this time. A bright blob of light circled around the dark cave, it seemed restless as it spun around, unable to sit in one place due to some unknown reason. "In exchange for the Dark Blade, I promised to fairly compensate you and I plan to keep my words. This series of Trials is an ancient ritual us, The Twelve, used on our very first children. Of course, many failed but those who prevailed became legendary figures, such as Zeus the champion. I''m aware that you do not fully trust me, however, dear invitee, do not think that your race gives you an advantage. Just like they have powerful racial abilities, the parasite race have innumerable downsides and the first of them is the severe lack of self-improvement. You rely on your hosts to get stronger which is an efficient method in the short run but, sooner or later, all those who you had left behind will surpass you, beginning from your wife." ******* "Everything is almost ready." ''X'' crossed his arms and let out a helpless sigh as he glanced at the napping Joker, who flinched once he heard his words. Once he saw the Trickster sit up and stare back at him, the blurry-faced man continued: "The second we open the path, the Black Devil will sense it. He may even break it." "He won''t." The Joker confidently stated. "W-what? Why?" "Because he''s the welcoming type. The last thing he''ll do is push away incoming guests." As he was unable to hold his curiosity, ''X'' asked: "Anyway, why do you want to go there? I know that Arthur is trapped there but it''s not like going there will save him from Timos." Hearing the talkative X, The Magician coldly snorted and retorted: "Who said I''m saving him from Timos?" Facebook Twitter Tumblr Pinterest Chapter 534 - 480 : The Lightning "Then why are you going?" X''s curiosity got the better of him as he asked one question after the other. "Why? Do you want to join me?" The Joker playfully winked at him, his hand holding several cards that showed him the general stats of the man before him. "You seek the Dark Blade so isn''t it a good opportunity for you?" X flinched and kept his lips shut for some time before speaking again: "I do need the orb but I value my life more than everything else." The Trickster clapped his hands while laughing, agreeing with what this strange man just said. "Indeed, you''re one of the wariest people I''ve ever encountered. Perhaps that''s what kept you alive and away from the Nameless Knight, though it''s not like he''s looking for you or else you would''ve died a long time ago." Lolitta, who was busy tapping on the keyboard, suddenly stopped, turned her head to X and said: "You''re a good man! Don''t fight that scary dude, he''s a monster!" She stood on her tiptoes and patted X''s shoulders to comfort him, however, you could hear the latter gritting his teeth and clenching the hand holding the cane. "Although you did try to trick Arthur, you were not planning on killing him, at least. Which is why I don''t consider you as an enemy. As for Leiu, he already forgot what happened in the past so you should do the same and move on." "Move on? Do you even know what he did?!" ''X'' became emotional as his aura increased and became threatening. In response, the Joker crossed his arms, let out a sigh and replied: "Yes, I''m aware of everything. He killed your parents, not because of the grudge you thought he held against you, but because of another reason." ''X'' scoffed at the strangely-clothed man, angrily banged his cane on the ground before retorting: "It doesn''t matter the reason! I will kill him!" Seeing that he couldn''t reason with X, Wolfram shrugged his shoulders and signaled for the absent-minded Lolitta to begin the process of creating a path. ************ Thunderclaps resounded inside the now illuminated cave, dozens if not hundreds of bolts struck the fleeing blob of light, trying to incinerate it. At some point, the Quad-Spirit inside Arthur intervened, using its powerful Earth Magic to resist the incoming attacks. Each thunderbolt was met with spears made of stones, blocking all of them. The ground shook and the earth moved on its own, defending Arthur''s soul and pushing down the lightning till there was none. Everything happened so quickly and the trial, which was supposed to last 12 hours, was done in 10 minutes. "That''s quite a nice spirit you have there. A smart one. Earth counters everything for there is nothing that can totally destroy it, this is why Dimitra''s natural elements do not include Earth. In fact, the Earth attribute appeared mysteriously and unknowingly when the Twelve started creating worlds. Earth is the source of everything and no one, however talented he or she may be, can master it." Arthur''s soul, which was quietly being guarded by the moving earth, was finally exposed once the trial was over. The Dark Cloud materialized next to him against and slowly yet surely it transformed into his old body. "I do want to finish the trials but it requires a real body and not fake one so we will stop here." Arthur was confused as he found no point in those trials which didn''t help him in any way. Without needing to hear him, Timos knew Arthur''s thoughts just by looking at his puzzled face. "You won''t understand the meaning of those trials, at least not right now. However, when you come across someone who mastered their attribute, you''ll get to experience what ''resistance'' really means." The parasite was ''thrown'' out of the cave once the trials were finished. He soon located a nearby Lucy who was silently meditating, her face slightly frowning for some reason. As he got closer, the half-demon opened her eyes and smiled at him. "Did everything proceed well?" Arthur nodded his head while saying "More or less." "Now that we''re done with the training stuff, it''s about time I present you with my last compensation. After you see it, you''ll decide whether you want to trade or not. Of course, you can consider the rewards from trials as a ''gift''." Dozens of tentacles sprung from the ground, each one longer than the other, they twirled in the air with the couple at the center. A formless aura started revolving in the area, changing the peaceful atmosphere of the Free Space. "Do not worry, this will do you no harm." Very soon, a red tornado was spinning around Arthur and Lucy, though it was absolutely ginormous, it didn''t affect the forest but it still created a heavy, almost suffocating atmosphere. "My dear guests, I bestow upon you the blessing of I, the Black Devil." As he said that, the couple fell on their knees and clutched their heads for some time before they fell on the ground, their bodies ever-so-slightly twitching. Fortunately, the pain lasted for a brief period then the two fell unconscious, only waking up the morning of the next day. They woke up at the same time and spent some moments to clear their dizzy heads. The first thing they heard was Timos'' deep voice. "You two are totally immune to my children''s aura and the damage you receive from their attacks is reduced. In addition, the Devil arm can now unleash a special skill created by me, I hope you use it wisely. Also, check the spatial ring in front of it." Arthur stretched his hand and injected a bit of Nether Energy into the strange wooden ring. To his surprise, there was nothing but an enormous corpse, a lifeless body of a deceased dragon. It was by far the biggest dragon he had ever seen, its skin jet black and though it was dead, its archaic aura remained. "This is a body of a fully grown Black Dragon. I fought it in the past and barely managed to kill it." Arthur furrowed his brows and asked back: "Barely?" "Yes, barely. There are many things you don''t know and dragons are definitely one of them. I don''t want to talk about it so I''ll just give you a small hint: The records mention the birth of The Twelve and explain our creations, however, why was there no mention of Dragons? Vampires? And other powerful speciesˇ­ how did they come to be?" The Strategist paused for a second, inspecting Arthur''s system before adding: "You seem to already have the Dragon Breath so it''s good. When you possess it, do not even think about try about taking its stats. Black Dragons are shrewd and stealing its stats may result in the loss of your consciousness, which will be controlled by the already-deceased dragon. Be content with the strong body and only use in a dire situation as its appearance will catch the attention of other dragons." Arthur gave no response as he retracted his sense from the ring and stared at the wriggling tentacles, which looked disgusting. "So you''re offering all of this for Makaze?" "No, I''m offering all of this in exchange for the return of the Dark Blade to its home. I won''t even touch it, you''ll be the one who does it." Chapter 535 - 481: The Shogun (1) Their brief stay at the Free Space, which was more of a training and a lecture than relaxation, ended when the two couple left the peaceful forest and went back to the Frozen Keep. "The humans actually want to reach an inaccessible place beyond the keep. It''s actually an old monument that was used to hold my soul. My presence here is what''s keeping Riarravar intact and they plan to destroy it and force a way out of here. Of course, if this world starts breaking, there is no way every one of them would survive, however, from their perspective, it''s better than staying him for all eternity." Timos explaining the humans'' goal, not hiding from the couple the consequences of freeing the soul. "Wouldn''t you want to be set free?" Seeing that Timos wasn''t that optimistic about being freed, Arthur curiously asked. From how he behaved, it was apparent that the Black Devil was bored of this place and wished to leave. "I do want to be set free but there are other ways. When ''God'' and Quhea sealed me here, they made sure that my freedom comes at the cost of Riarravar so they tightly bound my soul and kept me here. As a human who transcended immortality, the man who calls himself the Shogun is almost as old as I am but he had reached his limits thousands of years ago or else he would have done the task all by himself. Be careful and don''t be deceivedˇ­ that''s all I have to say." Before leaving, Arthur was guided to an underground room that was awfully eerie and deadly. The silent winds ripped his clothes and even cut off his arm, only when Makaze was shown did the wind blades stop attacking him but they still smashed into the unbreakable walls. The moment it came out of the storage, the Dark Blade released a deafening cry then flew out of Arthur''s hand and stopped at the only illuminated area of the room. It was a small circular altar with Evil Wind at the center, its sharp tip stabbing the cold ground while the rest of it heavily shook, from excitement and forgotten grief. ˇ­ The way back to the keep didn''t long as they weren''t bothered by any ambushers. Arthur, wearing Zodiak''s ominous black robe which covered him from head to toe, stood next to Lucy, who, surprisingly, wore white light armor. Timos told her that rather than plain clothes, an armor would suit her better then he motioned for her to take out one of the armors in her storage and throw it in the crystalline liquid. The piece of equipment didn''t change much in terms of appearance but Lucy could feel that it contained a small percentage of Primordial Energy which can protect her in dire situations. The couple stood before the long bridge for a couple of seconds before the guards from last time appeared, however, this time they didn''t bother with greetings as they nervously raised their weapons and readying themselves for a battle. There was no need for Arthur and Lucy to come back after being chased out, so the only reason the guards could come up is that this weird duo wanted to cause trouble and harvest lives. Arthur paid no attention to these samurai-like patrols and, instead, gazed at the woman at the back, whose face remained expressionless. "We want to talk with the Shogun." The woman was uninterested as she shrugged her shoulders and was about to talk only for the robbed Arthur to suddenly vanish. She felt chills down her spines as she tried to retreat only for a dark shadow to appear inches away from her. She attempted to kick him but alas, he vanished again, his body being replaced by a formless darkness which assaulted. Though the woman was faster than the creeping darkness, she still wasn''t able to outrun Arthur, who teleported behind her and reached his hand to her neck, easily grasping it. The strong woman was about to counter-attack but her body didn''t obey her. Her limbs refused to move and a painful snake-like energy invaded her body and caused her to momentarily shake. Arthur didn''t hold her for long as he soon released his grasp and coldly said: "Take us to the shogun." The woman, blood coming out of her lips, glared at Arthur but didn''t dare attack or retort. She could feel strange lightning tightly wrapping around her heart and despite her desperate tries, the lightning would not budge. Lightning-users were rare and the man seemed to be some sort of a mage. She was more like a warrior so she wasn''t adept at manipulating therefore she ended up falling victim to the parasite''s Natural Lightning. Once Arthur planted enough Natural Lightning into someone, their lives would be in his hands. Even if they tried to forcefully push it out of their bodies, it''ll automatically detonate, ripping their insides and ending their lives. The guards at the back were shocked when they saw the woman captured so easily. They were about to interfere only to hear ear-splitting gunshots coming from behind them. Before they could react, the bullets hit the back of their head and made them fall unconscious. As Arthur didn''t come here to massacre but to talk with the Shogun, he found it unnecessary and troublesome to kill the guards hence Lucy''s ''benevolent'' actions. Although she wasn''t chained, the woman still felt like a hostage as she led the couple to Frozen Keep. She didn''t know what they wanted but felt a bit relieved when she saw Lucy knock the patrols instead of killing them. After they crossed the bridge and arrived in front of the gigantic metallic gate, another group of patrols stopped them, clearly noticing something strange. However, the woman shook her head and said: "Go bring Lous and the others." After eying her for a few seconds, the man who seemed to be their leader quietly complied. He glared at Arthur and Lucy but the couple ignored him and followed the woman. Seeing that she was purposely slowing her steps, Arthur pushed to the front and warned again: "The place isn''t big so either you obediently guide me or I''ll do it myself." ˇ­ Unexpectedly, though there was a fair number of surviving humans, the place seemed quite deserted and devoid of any souls. Arthur saw a couple of people carrying some provisional sacks but there was a serious lack of guard inside of the fortress. In less than ten minutes, he was brought to the main building, which was heavily fortified using magic and all sorts of stuff. In fact, ever since he stepped inside, he could feel his body tingling and distorting as if it was rejecting this place. Lucy didn''t experience anything which is why he was sure of their safety even if things turn chaotic. She was a 7-star God Monarch with a Pure Yin Physique and can use the Golden Crow flames. Furthermore, she has Lonely Moon, the eye, and her perfected Cultivation technique which now has a terrifying, almost unstoppable might. *** "You didn''t need to act so aggressively, I was going to invite you anyway hahahaha" A middle-aged man with long black hair, a beard and two green and narrowed eyes laughed as he gazed at the guests. He seemed very calm even though two powerful individuals barged into his keep and appeared in his private room. He sat cross-legged next to a small wooden table, where there was a hot cup of tea ready to be gulped. The Shogun wasn''t threatened by Arthur and Lucy, instead, he motioned for them to sit next to him while saying: "There is no need for fights, we all have the same goal." Arthur inspected the room then focused on the nonchalant, sensing an invisible pressure coming out of him. He certainly seemed strong but he didn''t fear or helplessness like that time when he first encountered Timos. If he could compare him to someone then it''d be the Black-Haired Marshall who arrived at the end of the war between the Specters and the Undead. Of course, this was but a speculation but Arthur was certain of his hunch. With him and Lucy, they could definitely overpower the Shogun, however, it''s still too soon to think about the outcome. "That''s not what you said the last time we came." As he heard Arthur''s emotionless voice, the Shogun momentarily frowned before explaining himself "Ahh.. That! It my friend acting discourteously due to our current circ.u.mstances. At that time, I was battling a few rats that managed to sneak into our keep." The man sounded genuine but for some reason, Arthur couldn''t bring himself to believe him. The Shogun stared at the woman next to the couple and said: "We''ve had it rough ever since the parasites started getting active so my friend here became overly-cautious. Please forgive our previous rudeness." He bowed his head toward the couple before laughing again, his face containing nothing but genuine honestly. Chapter 536 - 482: The Shogun (2) After he finished ''apologizing'', one more person entered the room and stood behind the Shogun. He was a slightly old man, his appearance average and easily forgettable yet the moment Arthur saw him, his pupils shook and his aura became momentarily unstable. Once could see that the years took a great toll on the man''s tired face, in fact, he was pitifully weak in comparison to the woman or the shogun yet here he was, dutifully serving someone he considered as his master and leader. Arthur''s memories drifted to the past, just when he and Lucy got separated. The Emperor''s castle got invaded by a bunch of monsters called Khin but were in fact the Cthulhu. There was a man who guided Arthur into their world yet he tricked him and teleported his people and himself, causing the world to crumble. It was one of the few times Arthur almost died were it not for Anastassia''s intervention later, he would have been killed by Bucama. "Ah! Let me introduce you. He''s one of my closest friends, Elias." The old man smiled at the couple and lightly bowed his head showing the necessary amount of respect. In response, Arthur''s chilling gaze fell on the man, causing the latter to shake for a moment. Even Lucy was surprised by his unusually hostile behavior. Through the invisible Soul Bind, she could see the Dark Magic boiling inside Arthur, ready to devour the man named Elias. Although the man sacrificed Arthur to save his people, the parasite didn''t care and now, he added Elias to his kill-list. He vowed to not leave Riarravar until this benign-looking old man is dead. A very long time ago, when Arthur was resting with his brothers in a desolate cave, the Joker proudly narrated his adventures saying: "Life without enemies is very boring which is why I tend to make one almost every day. However, an enemy is someone or something that needs to be killed, no matter the cost. If they escape then you hunt them down and kill them in the second meeting because in the third one, and believe me when I say this, you won''t be able to finish them off." ˇ­ "Something wrong?" The Shogun noticed Arthur''s strange reaction so he calmly asked while glancing at the confused old man, who shook his head. Fortunately, Elias didn''t notice Arthur as the parasite''s appearance did change drastically since last time. Furthermore, he didn''t expose his Dark Magic and Makaze returned to his home so unless he say it himself, there''s no way the old man will recognize him. Nevertheless, Arthur didn''t forget the past grudge as he added one more step to his plan. "Before we get down to business, I''ll introduce myself. I am Sol''dhin and this one is called Sivenna." He pointed at the woman previously captured by Arthur. She left the couple''s side and stood next to the easy-going Shogun, who heartily laughed as he saw her venomously glaring at Arthur. "Don''t force yourself, you''re not his match." He softly stated, causing her to sigh and take a step back, nonetheless, he gaze remained on Arthur, who totally ignored her. As he heard the man''s name, he became even more shocked. It was very similar to the cane, the one he found near Zodiak''s corpse. Its name was Sol''khin''s cane, he was certain it''s not just some coincidence. "I am Bilgart." Arthur reciprocated by giving his last name from his first life, not even his expression changed as blatantly lied. By hearing him say a fake name, Lucy joined in and introduced herself: "I''m Eva." After a brief and awkward bout of silence, the Shogun faked a cough and said: "Ahem, I''m sure your goal is the same as ours. We want to leave this broken world and live a proper and peaceful life. This word, Riarravar, is completely isolated so the only way to escape is by destroying the seal trapping the Black Devil''s soul. Once he''s released, this place won''t be able to handle his power and it''ll crumble and, at that time, we''ll create a Spatial Tunnel and swiftly leave." "And how exactly are we going to do that?" Expecting such a question, the Shogun grinned and replied: "We''ll talk about the plan when the last guest arrives." "The last guest?" The man enthusiastically nodded his head while explaining: "Yes, in addition to your esteemed selves, we need the help of another party." After a brief pause, Sol''dhin said: "The Calypso Parasite, Emir." Quite surprisingly, Arthur wasn''t didn''t show any reaction when hearing that. It was because Timos already told him about what was supposed to happen. Although the Shogun was extremely strong, he''s not well-versed in Magic so he needs Emir, who''s said to be an old Archmage. "Please rest well and enjoy your time until he arrives." The Shogun signaled for Elias, who marched forward and motioned for the couple to follow him. The short road to their rooms was silent as neither Arthur nor the old man spoke. In fact, Elias didn''t dare look behind him as he kept getting the chills. He didn''t know why but Arthur was looking at him with eyes that contained unrestrained killing intent. The elder remained oblivious and swiftly left after taking them to well-decorated rooms which were prepared for them before their abrupt visit. Sol''dhin was about to go look for them anyway so their sudden arrival saved him a lot of trouble. After Arthur entered the room, he used his Space Magic to envelop the whole room and block any noise from getting out. He reinforced it with a silencing formation, as a precaution. "Do you know him?" Obviously, Lucy was asking him about Elias, whom Arthur was acting hostile toward. "He''s a bastard who tricked me when I went to save his people." Arthur told Lucy everything but his trip to Bucama''s world. The suffering he saw there should not be described to anyone so he just briefly went over what happened, not mentioning any names and passing it as ''no big deal''. "So what will we do?" Seeing Lucy frown, Arthur sat up next to her, caressed her head and softly said: "The same plan. I''ll just make sure that the old man stays here forever." The only reason Arthur was agreeing to go along Sol''dhin''s plan is because, currently, it''s the only way to leave Riarravar. Though Timos told him there are ''many ways'' to escape, he refused to tell them how so the couple decided to try this one. Sure, it''ll lead to lots of causalities and the destruction of Riarravar, nonetheless, Arthur didn''t care. The only thing that will remain unscathed is the Free Space, which is an independent dimension that will follow Timos once his soul is freed. The next day, another individual was invited into the Frozen Keep. He came alone and no one blocked his path as he traversed the long bridge and slowly walked to the Shogun''s residence. He had a serious countenance, a handsome face, and a sky-blue long hair. He wore a dark blue robe with golden lines on the shoulders, the materials it was made of were top-notch as it emitted something called ''Mana Pressure''. ''Mana Pressure'' are invisible vibration that leaks out of items that contain an unimaginable amount of Mana. Even Lucy''s Lonely Moon, which is infamous for its high Mana reserve, didn''t have ''Mana Pressure'', this indicates that the robe, alone, was a unique and priceless equipment. In addition to the robe, Emir had a silver wand hanging on his waist, it was decorated with dozens of shiny and colorful rubies. The Shogun and the Archmage talked for less than two minutes before Arthur was invited. The moment Arthur got close, Emir''s body twitched, seemingly noticing something. The parasite''s gaze fell on Arthur, examining him from head to toe. '' He knows !'' Arthur didn''t need to ask as Emir''s gaze was enough to tell him that this robbed-individual knows about his real race. He remembered Timos and his long talk about parasites.'' "Dear Guest, Calypso parasites are extremely rare and are the strongest existences under Zaarae. Emir is a loyal but eccentric subordinate of hers. He''s very well-versed in magic and the only one in his time who''s been called an Archmage. Although he''ll be weakened in Riarravar, his prowess will still be superior to you and the Shogun combined. Though he''ll still require your help to get his people out of here." .. The Shogun smiled at the couple, who just entered the room, and introduced them: "This Bilgart and his partner Eva, they''ll be helping us destroy the seal." Unexpectedly, Emir didn''t show contempt or arrogance but actually did a noble''s bow towards the two. "He''s the one I was talking about. His magic will destroy the seal and we''ll be the ones protecting him." Sol''dhin vaguely went over the plan to which the old man, Elias, coughed and held his master back. As he saw the couple''s confused gazes, he apologetically said: "Please excuse him, he''s not that good of a strategist. Please wait a moment, I''ll thoroughly explain the plan." Elias disappeared from the room for fifteen seconds before coming back with a large parchment that was laid on the biggest table. The parchment was a map of the Frozen Keep and the place Timos'' soul was trapped. Once he confirmed that Emir and the couple got close and are attentive, the old man coughed and said: "The Black Devil''s soul is trapped in a spiritual prison. East of here, there is a broken bridge and beyond that, there is a floating piece of land." He pointed at a rectangular area on the parchment before continuing: "The Spiritual Prison will be destroyed by Sir Emir, however, the place is guarded by two guardians and a fair number of angels. Sivenna along with our strongest warriors will deal with the angels, as for the guardians, our master will deal with one while the other is for Sir Bilgart and Madam Eva." To this point, everything was clear yet Arthur had a foreboding. There will be a lot of backstabbing as he knew Elias'' true nature. He only cared about himself and his people so it won''t be surprising to see him deceive Emir and them just so the humans could escape. This is why he needed an ally, a powerful ally, someone he could rely on in this battle. Coincidentally, Arthur''s gaze met with Emir, who smiled back as if he could real his kin''s thoughts. Chapter 537 - 483: The Voice of Deceit (1) Three days after Emir arrived at the Frozen Keep, the humans started mobilizing their strongest forces and preparing to leave. There are approximatively a thousand living humans in the fortress and less than a tenths had enough power to defend against the angels. As pert Elias'' plan, each party had their own task with the hardest one falling on the Archmage parasite, who showed no objection. The remaining parasites were also going to leave Riarravar for good, part of the deal the Calypso Parasite made with Sol''dhin. Fortunately, there weren''t many parasites, numbering less than a hundred, however, there are a few of them who are exceptionally strong. Of course, before the appointed day, Arthur didn''t forget to pay a secretive visit to Emir, who very much welcomed him. The two thoroughly discussed their cooperation and how they''ll proceed. Despite the notoriety of the Calypso parasites, Emir was quite friendly and cooperative after confirming that Arthur was his kin. He was curious about the mutation which changed Arthur''s race but he didn''t pry too deep and was satisfied by a vague answer. Furthermore, his focus laid on the spiritual prison and the shrewd humans, who, from what he said, will definitely try something in the middle of the battle. As he''ll be busy destroying the prison sealing Timos'' soul, Emir requested Arthur to pay close attention to Sol''dhin and make sure the parasites do not suffer to much. Their talk lasted for less than twenty minutes before left the room like a ghost, returning to his chamber. "Hm?" Arthur frowned as he saw Lucy caressing her abdomen, lost in a daze, not even noticing his appearance. He pretended to see nothing and lightly coughed, causing the silver-haired woman''s body to twitch and face him, her expression that of serenity. "How did it go?" She asked the smiling Arthur, who sat next to her and briefly talked about his conversation with the Archmage. "Everything is in order. Let us finish our preparation too." He took out a complex medium-sized machine and put it in the ground before he got to work. Lucy sat next to him every time he signaled her, she spilled some blood on the noisy machine, which absorbed the red liquid like a hungry beast, it even made disgusting slurping noises. This thing is a unique bullet-making machine created by Arthur using his knowledge and the Lost Magic. It is capable of converting almost everything into suitable bullets for Lonely Moon, the silver revolver. With the addition of the Devil Arm, the backlash of the gun became negligible, moreover, the arm even boosted Lucy''s storage capacity. Right now, Arthur is in the process of making a special kind of bullet, one that can kill anyone, including an immortal and old being like the Shogun. Even without the System, Arthur could tell that Sol''dhin is unimaginably power which why he threw away the thoughts of confronting him head-on. Of course, it''s not necessary to fight him but he and Lucy must always take precaution. After pumping Nether Energy for five continuous hours and sacrificing two Blood Essences, one from him and one from Lucy, the expected result came out of the machine. It was named ''The Slaying Bullet'', which had the same color as Lonely Moon. It was inexplicably heavy and had several vein-like red lines on its tip. "Soˇ­ it ends tomorrow?" She looked at him with an unreadable expression before leaning her head on his shoulder and letting out a sigh. Arthur wrapped his arm around her and enjoyed this moment of peacefulness where only the two of them existed. He purged all the negative thoughts and closed his eyes, choosing to answer her with silence. His rubbed his finger on the jet black storage ring, hoping to not use the mysterious sword given by Timos. Although it was extremely powerful, it''s still a very dangerous thing which can kill him if used wrongly. ********** The usually quiet keep is eerier than usual as humans and parasites stood a distance away from each other, both standing behind the keep, on the broken long bridge leading to the far away prison. Apart from the prepared fighting forces, all the rest shivered in the cold as they stared at their experts with hopeful eyes. The vanguard was composed of three parties, the first one was the Shogun, proudly standing at the center and wearing a purple chest piece. At his right were an unknown couple, one was wearing a long black robe and the other was a silver-haired woman with a green dress, however, she didn''t seem bothered by the passing cold breeze. The last party was a lone figure wearing a robe that matched his hair, he floated a few inches above the ground while raising his wand. The bridge that supposed to be broken was slowly yet surely being reconstructed as magical rubbles started forming a steady path toward the other side. In a matter of seconds, a new bridge was formed, creating a spacious path leading to the enemy. A small group of humans and parasites started marching, their weapons raised and their fighting spirits ignited. Arthur and Lucy walked at a slow pace, following behind the serious shogun whose hand was placed on his unsheathed blade. The Archmage was the last as his body floated behind this small army, his eyes fixated on the silhouettes of the prison, from which numerous flying humanoids appeared. The flying shadows grew closer until their appearance could clearly be seen, a pair of white feathery wings and a holy aura enveloping them. They wielded long spears and had faces that slightly resembled humans though they were totally expressionless. There was also one more enemy to be wary of, they had larger builds and were made of white stone. They are known as gargoyles, usually creatures of darkness but these ones are different, mutated after absorbing too much light. Their appearance was similar to stone statues but their glowing red eyes and unsettling growling confirmed that they are indeed living beings. The three main parties didn''t move even when the enemy attack, it was the small army that jumped in the air and resisted the attacks. Amongst them, Arthur noticed a young female parasite accompanied by a few of her kin, moreover, there seemed to be a handsome young man wielding a glowing sword and wearing a good protective armor. He was none other than Vyncent, who has shaved his beard and tidied his greasy long hair, this caused his appearance to became much pleasing to the eye. "When we''re two hundred feet away from the prison, the first guardian will appear, it''ll be your turn then." Without looking back, Emir spoke to Arthur and Lucy, his wand emanating a blue radiance which shot toward the prison, which was actually a large white sphere enveloping a green blob of light. The Shogun, the couple, and Emir advanced forward without any hindrance from the angels or gargoyles, their speed wasn''t fast but remained consistent. Around ten minutes later, when the battle started heating up between the creatures of light and the small army, the first guardian finally made its appearance. Like the ones fighting behind, the guardian was a large white gargoyle that wielded an axe-like weapon. It sprung from the abyss down below and blocked the path of the Shogun and the rest. Before it could attack the assailants, two shadows leapt at it, each from one direction. A series of violent explosions caused its massive body to take a few steps back then, as it swept its spear to get rid of the source of the explosion, its hand was frozen in mind-air, covered by a thick layer of ice. The gargoyle roared and glared at Lucy, whose Yin ability immobilized the guardian''s whole arm. Its two glowing red eyes shot out two beams which were faster than Lucy''s reaction. Fortunately, she managed to activate her Time ability, creating a blue sphere around her, which, when hit by the two beams, caused them to become much slower hence allowing her to step to the side. This, however, was only the beginning of the guardian''s counterattack as it kept shooting thick red beams from its eyes. The beams were following Lucy, whose figure became illusory as she jumped from one place to another. "Let''s move forward." The Shogun, who was lost in a trance, snapped out of it when he heard Emir''s voice. As he saw the couple fighting, he let out a sigh and clenched the hilt of his sword, inwardly wanting to fight them. As for the Calypso Parasite, he didn''t even glance at the couple as his eyes locked on the white sphere, unleashing vast amounts of power from all sides in an attempt to pulverize it. After a few unsuccessful tries, the Archmage chuckled and whispered to himself: "I knew that such foolish tries won''t work but it didn''t hurt to try." Then he held the wand with his two hands and somehow elongated it, transforming it into a long staff. He pointed the staff at the abyss down below, causing the winds to rage and the artificial bridge to shake. A dragon''s cry could be heard from down below, it was so wild and ear-deafening that it caused many of the angels and gargoyles to lose their will and helplessly fall into the primordial darkness. Chapter 538 - 484: Voice of Deceit (2) The only one left with nothing to do was the shogun, whose opponent showed itself when got very close to the strange white sphere. Unlike the large gargoyle, the second guardian was a monstrous angel with two pairs of wings, all painted with gold. The feathers released a beautiful white aura as they fluttered against the wind, the angel grasped its weapon, a golden longsword and looked at the pitifully small Sol''dhin standing before it. Though its appearance was frightening, the shogun wasn''t fazed as he cracked his neck and said: "Been a while since I fought you beautiful guys." He smirked at the expressionless angel, unsheathed his blade and leapt at it, his body emitting a powerful pressure. Unlike the usual sword essence, Sol''dhin''s was the color green though it had nothing to do with the Wind or nature, in fact, it was pure condensed Qi. He had a body very compatible with Qi, just like Lucy was with Mana. Were it not for her flashy Yin power, one would see small particles each time she unleashes a skill. The battle between the couple and the gargoyle was proceeding well as the guardian clearly wasn''t strong enough to resist the duo''s bombardment. Arthur didn''t even use Dark Magic to not alert the far away Elias, who''s too weak fight but Arthur knew very well that the old man was strong enough to defend himself from the angels. There''s another thing that surprised him but in a pleasant way. The Life Energy in his left hand was reacting to the white sphere and the angels all around him. Arthur stepped on the air and lunged himself at the gargoyle, which just received a heavy blow from Lucy, and punched him, his fist emitting a small green l.u.s.ter coupled with unnoticeable white thunder. The moment the fist connected with its target, a deafening thunderbolt descended from above, hitting the guardian''s head. Furthermore, Arthur''s monstrous strength caused a huge part of the creature to be obliterated, resulting in big amounts of white liquid to gush out of its new wound. As he saw that the Guardian was in no condition to fight for the next few seconds, Arthur shifted his attention to the angels and gargoyles and raised his left hand. An aura full of life and vitality was released from his hand, quickly reaching the numerous creatures and causing them to freeze in mid-air. Some were caught off guard and ended up being killed by the humans and parasites as for the rest, they magically followed Arthur''s command. Even Arthur just discovered this new ability as the System never mentioned anything related to Death or Life energy. So, without needing to spend any energy, Arthur and Lucy backed off while dozens of angels and gargoyles attacked the injured guardian. Arthur could only control a third of them but they were more than enough to pin down the helpless Guardian, soon putting him out of his misery. The life energy coming out of his hand seemed to have strengthened them and there was no resistance whatsoever coming from them. "You are full of surprises." Emir commented as he glanced at the angels and gargoyles flying around Arthur, showing no signs of hostility. "Heh, you''re one to talk." Arthur smiled at the Archmage and looked down below, catching a glimpse of a large shadow pushing away the darkness flying toward the sky. Soon enough, a majestic dragon made of water made its appearance, its body was easily double the size of the Azure Dragon Arthur fought in the past. The beast cried loudly as it spun in the air then turned to face the white space. Many of the nearby angels and gargoyles tried to attack the dragon but their spells and weapons went through its liquefied body. Emir could not talk anymore as his attention was solely focused on the dragon, trying his best to control it. His forehead was sweating and the hand holding the staff was slightly shaking. The dragon''s might could be felt by everyone, including Arthur, who sucked a deep breath, feeling chills down his spine. The dragon''s presence was almost similar to the Black Devil, making Arthur feel true fear from an existence created by an ancient Archmage. Once the Water Dragon appeared, even the Shogun and the angel fighting him got out of the way, knowing that there''ll be nothing left if they tried to block its attack. The body of the beast was twice the size of the spiritual prison, which seemed to fortify itself as the light sphere became denser, making it harder to see Timos'' trapped soul. "Dear guest, behold the true power of an Archmage. Trulyˇ­ truly the peak of magic mastery. Even I, can''t help but feel amazed." Timos voiced his thoughts as he gazed at the large dragon from far away. He didn''t condone the humans'' action but didn''t interfere, after all, they were willingly freeing him. Things started heating up as most enemies have been killed and only the angel guardian and the prison remained. The dragon waited for no one as it wrapped its body around the white sphere with its head pointing at the center. The body made of water tightened around the sphere, causing it to crack but those cracks were healed almost instantly. Nonetheless, the dragon kept doing the same thing while opening its mouth, where a violent aura started manifesting. Arthur stood a short distance away from Emir, both he and Lucy were secretly guarding the busy parasite. The Shogun managed to successfully kill the guardian and was currently returning to the bridge. Now was the deciding momentˇ­ who''ll backstab who? The two parasites already talked over this and decided to cooperate rather than trust the humans, or more precisely, Elias and Sol''dhin. Honestly, the Shogun seemed like a friendly and truthful guy but it could be a facade, after all, the man lived for a long, long time so it''s not hard for him to put up such a believable act. Half a minute passed and the dragon breath was finally prepared and unleashed, wreaking havoc all around the prison. Everyone backed off as the bridge, which was initially fixed by Archmage, was destroyed, as for Emir, he remained at the same spot, floating in the air. Arthur used his wings to fly and Lucy stepped on her crystalline lotuses. The Shogun couldn''t fly so he returned next to his people, his face showing a satisfied smile. Everything was proceeding smoothly so why wouldn''t he feel happy? A mix of water energy and turbulent Mana were spat by the dragon, its gaping mouth facing the spiritual prison. The Dragon Breath dispersed the chilling air around the whole area and shook the Frozen Keep, seemingly about to destroy it but the fortress managed to barely hold on, its sky-piercing top releasing unseen vibration which negated the dragon''s area of effect attack. The prison was resilient but it still couldn''t resist a dragon''s breath so it crumbled into nothingness after twenty or so seconds of resistance. As for the green soul lingering at the center, it quickly flew on its own, heading directly toward Timos, who very much welcomed it. "Ah! True freedom, at last!" The Black Devil sounded truly happy as he released an ear-piercing cry which shook all of Riarravar. The ginormous body laying on the horizon started to slowly move whilst the enormous tentacles danced in the air. It was at this moment that the expected happened, one of the present powerhouses was backstabbed. The man held his chest and puked blood, there was a hole in his armor and a brilliant thing seemingly wanted to leave, or to be more precise, it was being pulled toward an irresistible source. The victim was none other than the Shogun, however, it was neither Arthur nor the still busy Emir who did this. Arthur and Lucy turned toward the group of humans and spotted an old man holding a strange coin. ''It''s that damn coin again!'' Although this ambush wasn''t directed him, he still can''t risk it so Arthur immediately got to action. An ominous darkness was unleashed from his body, rapidly creeping to the expressionless Elias. The old man noticed the Dark Magic and seemed to be momentarily startled, nonetheless, he wasn''t afraid. A shadow sprung from behind and blocked the Dark Magic, resisting it with a purple shield that devoured everything. '' Void Magic !'' Arthur recognized unstable magic emitting from the shield. He backed away while signaling Lucy. Sol''dhin was still holding his chest and resisting the effect of Elias'' artifact. He was puking so much blood that he couldn''t talk to the traitor, he merely glared at him, his expression clearly demanding an explanation. "Master, please do not blame me. For the survival of my people, I need your soul to replace Timos''." Obviously, the Shogun was confused and wanted to talk back but only blood came out of his lips. "You''re strong so traveling through the spatial tunnel won''t hurt you but my people are mere mortals so I have to guarantee their safety first. I know how you are so you definitely won''t care the lives of a few mortals. Unlike you, Sivenna joined my cause and decided to help me. It seems that even someone who''s been with you ever since the beginning doesn''t want you to leave Riarravar." The old man chuckled and walked closer to Sol''dhin, the coin in his emitting a strange black light. Just as Elias took three steps, there was a loud sound of a gunshot and before he could react, a fountain of blood splattered on his fact and body, dying him scarlet red. He only snapped out of it when he heard chain noises coming from under his feet. Before the jet black chains could bind him, the coin in his hand strangely extinguished them. Right behind the old man, there was a small group of weak humans shyly following him with their heads dropped, not daring to look at the Shogun. Chapter 539 - 485: The Voice of Deceit (3) Sivenna, the woman who just protected Elias, was turned into a fountain of blood by Lucy, who fired at her using Lonely Moon. Seeing the gun pointed at him and Arthur ready to strike again, the old man raised his hands and said "Wait! No need to complicate things, I was only after Sol''dhin." His face showed true fear as he was confident enough about the coin''s ability to protect him from the assault of both Arthur and Lucy. Furthermore, the people behind him were mostly mortals and weaklings, none of them are powerful enough to resist the duo. The coin was his last hope and, from the looks of it, he wanted to ally himself with Arthur. "His soul will last for some time and we''ll use that opportunity to leave Riarravar. This world is wildly unstable so the moment Timos'' soul fully returns to him, everything will be automatically obliterated, we won''t have time to create a spatial tunnel." Besides its ability to attack a strong person like Sol''dhin, Arthur knew that the strange coin could mass teleport so, basically, Elias was lying to his face. In all cases, he was going to kill this old man before leaving this world and the opportunity presented itself. Elias picked up the shield containing Void Magic but didn''t raise it to defend as he saw Arthur contemplating his offer, or so it seemed. Before he could react, Arthur appeared before him, his hand stabbing at his heart, planning to finish it swiftly and without any mishap. Unfortunately, just when Arthur got too close, the coin released more black light which flung Arthur away then enveloped the old man, whose face became deathly pale, not expecting Arthur to be so ruthless. Though he was relieved the coin acted on its own, he was still inwardly panicking as Arthur seemed uninjured by the previous counterattack. By the next second, several gunshots could be heard as Lucy unhesitatingly fired at Elias. The target raised the shield which absorbed all the bullets except one particular purple one, which penetrated the artifact and ripped a hole through the old man''s shoulder. He cried out in agony and dropped the now useless shield, blood gushing out of his shoulder. The Void Magic inside the bullet quickly ate away his organs and muscles, causing him to vomit a lot of blood, however, the coin yet again interfered, using the black light to get rid of all the void magic inside its holder''s body. "Y-you.." He tried to talk but, just like the Shogun, he kept coughing blood. Lucy darted at the old man, nine lotuses circling around her, slowly blooming and freezing everything in the surroundings. Sadly, when she was meters away from the old man, a lightning-fast silhouette blocked her path and, before she could react in any way, stabbed her right through her chest. "Aigooˇ­ I told you they''re not gullible." A nonchalant voice could be heard, it actually belonged to the person who just attacked Lucy out of the blue. The man was about to twist the blade and finish off Lucy only to be pushed away by an enormous force that assaulted him from the side. A man covered in green lightning and black flames managed to not only push him away but also cause slight injuries on his flawless body. The man let out a chuckle, licked the blood on his lips while having an amused expression. This was none other than the Shogun, who was supposed to be dying. As for Lucy, the stab she received was more fatal than it looked, especially duo the coin, which was sucking something out of her body, causing it to violently shake. Uncaring about the unscathed Sol''dhin, Arthur held Lucy''s body while using his left hand to heal the injury. No matter how much Life energy his poured, the energy wouldn''t disappear and soon enough, blood dyed the ground as well as her dress. Arthur couldn''t continue his healing as a fast figure leapt at him, swinging a sharp blade at both he and Lucy. Before the Shogun could reach them, a seemingly normal bubble of water sprung from the ground and turned into a spike that clashed with the attacker. A robed man appeared next to Arthur, his expression unusually serious. Emir looked at the Shogun then at the coin in Elias'' hand, a bit surprised that such an artifact was actually here and that he didn''t sense it earlier. "We should leave, the coin is a soul-hungry artifact and it clearly wants her soul. The farther she is from it, the better." Several parasites appeared around the couple and Emir, all raising their arms and preparing to face the Shogun. Furthermore, those weak-looking mortals behind Elias took out unfamiliar red orbs and raised them, preparing to retaliate. As he heard no reply, Emir glanced at Arthur but the latter was wholly focused on Lucy. The Archmage could hear the sound of grinding teeth, as well as the inhumane growling originating from the parasite kneeling beside him. "What do you think now, dear guest? Isn''t it fascinating how humans act? I didn''t expect such a ''foreplay'' but it was obvious that they were going to deceive you and the Archmage, it was only a question of howˇ­ though, I don''t understand why he targeted your partner and not you." Unlike Arthur''s current mental state, Timos sounded calm as he spoke rationally, stating facts and kind of insulting humans in general. As he saw his wife suffering and his healing not taking effect, Arthur planned to end Lucy because, unlike everyone else, he knew that she won''t really die. Just like he created a body for him, he also created one for her and tasked Gutcha to hide so if she were to die, she''ll be reanimated elsewhere, for sure. However, his thoughts were miserably crushed by the Archmage''s next words: "If we make it in time, we can heal her but we can''t save them both, sorry." It took some time for Arthur to process what he just heard. "ˇ­both?" He lifted his head and stared back at Emir, who frowned and thought for a moment being realizing something. "Ohˇ­ you didn''t knowˇ­" The Archmage didn''t know what to say as he saw Arthur''s twisting expression. His face was already hideous due to the black flames covering most of his body but it became much more terrifying after this abrupt and not-expected revelation. "She''s pregnant?" Arthur tried to control his shaky voice while asking Emir, just to confirm his already answered suspicions. "Yes." The Calypso Parasite let out a sigh and shifted back his attention to the Shogun, who was playing with his sword, not caring about what he did or what they were talking about. As for Elias, he gasped for breath as he spat more blood before calming down. The coin got rid of the Void Magic but his shoulder was still severely wounded, making him in a bad mood. It wasn''t supposed to be like that, nonetheless, his artifact will soon absorb Lucy''s soul and be upgraded. Emir signaled for one of his subordinates before walking toward Sol''dhin, planning to hold him off until his people teleport out of Riarravar. "My people already created a suitable Spatial Tunnel so quickly go with them!" The Archmage urged the dazed Arthur before waving his staff and creating a water barrier that easily blocked the Shogun, who jumped at them while releasing a maniacal laugh. Surprisingly, the young female parasite who, supposedly, escaped her base and joined the humans at the keep, walked up to Arthur and said: "There''s no time to waste, let''s leave." She nudged the silent Arthur, who lifted Lucy''s body and presented it to her, his face distorting and his eyes blackening. "Take her with you, I''ll catch up." The young girl wanted to object but stopped herself as she felt a chilling and suffocating aura emanating from the man before her. While holding Lucy''s bloody body, the girl hastily walked away, directly toward the group of parasites which already opened a large Spatial Tunnel at the edge of the broken bridge. Amongst the group, there was Lissandra, who somehow allied herself with parasites and guaranteed herself a spot. "Hahahaha you won''t get away." Several water droplets flew at the Shogun, who deflected them all then flew at the group of parasites, precisely aiming at Lucy. Just before he could reach her, a silhouette appeared in his sight and slashed him. He knew it was Arthur but wasn''t scared so he raised his arm to block, unfortunately, what happened next totally caught Sol''dhin unprepared. He could see his arm flying in the air then falling into the abyss. Thankfully, Arthur didn''t continue without another attack, nonetheless, the Shogun remained flabbergasted as lots of blood gushed out of his shoulder. He stared at the blade in Arthur''s hand, trying to sense something from it but the sword looked and felt completely normal. It was no different than a steel sword forged by a mortal blacksmith yet it easily cut his arm a second earlier. The blade met no resistance as it cut through everything and easily got rid of one of the Sol''dhin''s arms. However, the cost was equally terrifying as Arthur knelt on the ground and held his chest. Both [Eternium] and [Transmutation] disappeared as he reverted back to his original appearance. His current unstable body started getting blurry and his soul was hurting like hell, causing him to cough one mouthful of blood after the other. Chapter 540 - 486: Death Emir was equally surprised by Arthur''s unstoppable attack but he regained his composure fairly faster than Sol''dhin. As the Archmage was about to follow up with a spell of his own, Arthur interrupted him by saying: "No need, go join your people." The parasite hesitated and questioned Arthur''s words but before he could talk back, the latter told him something telepathically which made him turn around and leave through the tunnel. Moreover, the tunnel created by the parasites disappeared a few seconds later, leaving Arthur alone with Elias and his group. "You seemed strong but I didn''t expect such fierce power!" Unlike his previous nonchalantness, Sol''dhin turned serious as he pressed his hand on his bleeding shoulder, closing the wound and stopping the severe blood loss. As for Arthur, he stored back the sword and glared at the enemy. The two didn''t exchange any more words and, instead, lunged at each other, violently clashing on top of the small area behind the Frozen Keep. The old man, Elias, though still very pale, managed to order his people to open up a large Spatial Tunnel. They were well-prepared and the portal to the outside was quickly opened. Unfortunately, just as they were about to step into it, Arthur hammered Sol''dhin with a large bronze platform above him then raised his hand and pulled the empty air. This simple movement caused the Spatial Tunnel to shake and shatter, killing two humans who tried to hastily enter it. Elias'' face turned grim as he saw the tunnel easily break like that, he turned toward Arthur while mumbling: "He''s a Space Magic userˇ­" The old man recognized Arthur the moment the Dark Magic appeared, which is why he didn''t dare provoke him. The Shogun was holding him off but, apparently, he was being overwhelmed by Arthur''s ruthless bombardment. Like a ghost, Sol''dhin appeared before Arthur and swung down his sword, unleashing a torrent of silver threads which were about to hit Arthur only for countless green thunderbolts to envelop the parasite and fend off against the attack. Furthermore, the humans at the back were also attacked by a massive sea of flames that engulfed the whole place, incinerating the ground and melting part of the fortress'' towering wall. Elias was able to block the flames using his coin but only a small portion of his people survived the fire. Dark red flames dominated the ground while a miniature orange sun rose in the sky and exploded, obliterating the already unsteady floor. Elias grit his teeth and backed away, choosing to lead his people inside the safe, which was way safer than remaining here and getting hit by Arthur''s destructive spells. Sadly, the moment he led his people into the Frozen Keep, the old man could hear loud shrieks coming from a few middle-aged men walking at the front. They were clutching the strange red orbs and rushing inside only for several tall silhouettes to appear from out of nowhere and indiscriminately kill anyone in their way. These slaughter machines were fully-armored Death knights, and, in addition to these undead, the ground turned dark and creepy hands immobilized the fleeing mortals. Arthur spared no one as his summons turned the place bloody, beheading the humans and sucking the life out of them. In the air, next to the keep, Arthur and the Shogun faced each other, however, the former was handling both Sol''dhin and Elias, hell-bent on killing the shrewd elderly. He was only able to do that thanks to the Quad-spirit, which was controlling the four elements and destroying everything. Even the supposedly unbreakable keep which was built using anti-magic stones was being devastated from inside out. "Hehˇ­ you''re a crazy one!" The leader of the humans wiped the blood leaking out of his mouth and snickered at the silent Arthur. The place turned more chaotic as dozens of fireballs with creepy faces were ejected from Arthur''s hand, heading toward the Shogun and exploding, letting out both Dark Magic and the flames of hell in the process. Sol''dhin''s clothes were scorched but his body wasn''t severely injured, with the exception of his missing arm and a few minor scratches. Nevertheless, he had to resort to a special wind skill and constantly jump in the air as he couldn''t fly like Arthur, who was using his invisible thin threads freely fly around. The threads acted on their own as they became sturdy spider webs that allowed Arthur to fly and even trap the Shogun. In addition to the detonators, several thick white thunderbolts descended from above and hit the target, leaving him no choice but to raise his sword to defend. Arthur used this opportunity to teleport next to him and attack with his palm. An image of an illusory golden palm could be seen in front of Arthur, the slightly gigantic palm crashed into the unfocused Sol''dhin, sending him flying into the abyss down below. Arthur didn''t even look at the disappearing figure of the enemy and, instead, flew at Elias, who was using his coin to extinguish the rampaging death knights. The old man''s body trembled as it suffered the frontal assault of a suffocating pressure coming from above. Like a falling meteor, Arthur descended on the old man, his fist glowing with a green light as it slowly made its way toward the defenseless victim. Just as Arthur was about hit him, the coin materialized a semi-sphering black barrier which stopped Arthur fist, however, it only lasted for a few seconds before it broke and flung away both Elias and the attacker. Arthur quickly stabilized his body but the old man couldn''t, he rolled on the ground and coughed more blood before getting up with much difficulty. "I really didn''t expect you to go through my advice." Timos'' voice echoed inside Arthur''s head. The Black Devil''s soul was almost fully integrated inside his body and it was soon the time from the self-destruction of Riarravar. After a momentary silence, the old being spoke again: "You kind of remind me of Zaarae. Your crazy fighting style is a carbon copy of hers but, unlike her, you''re not laughing like some crazy witch." He followed that with an unsettling chuckle as if he remembered something funny. ˇ­ A few days ago, when Arthur and Lucy were still in the Free Space, Timos gave an absurd advice to Arthur. It was when the trade was finally done and Makaze returned to his home. "You seek power, I meanˇ­ who doesn''t, right? But, dear guest, you''re a soul parasite and you''ve already reached the peak of physical strength. Even if you gain more stats, the increase would be insignificant. To properly get stronger, one must focus on his core. A body-cultivator trains their body, a necromancer tries to bond with death and so onˇ­ in your case, your soul needs to be nourished, to enlarge, and the best way to do that is either from extremely rare and miraculous herbs which I doubt you''ll find any, or through death." Arthur thought he heard the end of the sentence wrong, he frowned and asked back "Death? I need to die?" "Yesˇ­ well, technically, it''s dying but you won''t really ''die''. A soul is something that gets much stronger through reincarnation. I can sense that someone used a reincarnation artifact on your a while ago so even if you''re killed, you''ll be reborn somewhere else. Furthermore, a final death will unlock the ''unbound'' passive skills which even I, don''t know what really is." "ˇ­" Arthur gave no answer as he listened to Timos'' nonsense, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Death? He''s doing everything in his power to not die yet this being was shamelessly telling him to die and reincarnate. "I can assure you that through just one reincarnation, your story will become unimaginably stronger and you''ll have enough strength to overpower anyone in your way." "Yeah but I''ll have to dieˇ­ I can''t do that." "And why can''t yo-ah! Because of your partner? I didn''t say you have to die now or here, anyway, just think about it." ˇ­ "This is sooner than expected but it''s nice to be so determined." Arthur paid no heed to the blabbering Timos, he was about to attack Elias again only for a blade to appear inches away from his neck. Before it could decapitate him, his eye emitted a blue light and the sword was frozen and so was its holder. The eye''s ability was activated to its maximum, making the Shogun totally motionless in mid-air. Arthur conjured a dark sword and stabbed the enemy''s chest. It went through the hole Sol''dhin made previously to fake his injury and cut through his skin and bones, invading his organs. It was at this moment that the time stop effect wore and the Shogun regained control over his body. He attempted to back off but Arthur didn''t let him, he let go of the sword and unleashed countless small void mouths which devoured the half-broken armor. Arthur quickly followed by an unseen kick that hit Sol''dhin''s hand and flung his sword away. The parasite crouched to dodge a clumsy counterattack before punching the Shogun''s lower chin, sending him flying in the air. [Faster than Death] was used again and Arthur appeared above his target, a lengthy black spear in his hand. He bulged his muscles and threw the spear which whistled in the air and struck the unresponsive man. Arthur did land a lot of hits but most didn''t do any significant damageˇ­ even if they did, he was someone who will only stop when there''s nothing left of his opponent. As the Shogun''s body was falling, a threateningly large dark arrow appeared next to Arthur, its sharp tip pointing at Sol''dhin. The parasite controlled his trembling hand and threw the Heavenly Arrow, following after it with a Dark Rizaki. A serious of ear-deafening explosions occurred as the sky was shrouded by an ominous darkness, the Frozen Keep and everything in the area disappeared and all you could see was an inky blackness. This short period was coupled with an eerie silence which lasted for a few brief seconds before the occurrence of a loud explosion. A huge chunk of the fortress vanished and the rest of it was dyed by the corrupt Dark Magic, weakening it and causing it to start crumbling, slowly but surely. As for the Shogun, his figure could be seen jumping from one falling boulder to the other. His body was covered in blood and his face didn''t look too good. "I only wanted to play with you yet you''re so savagely serious." Arthur could see him grit his teeth yet he didn''t care, he clenched his shaky hand and used another Rizaki, this time containing the fire of the Vermilion Bird. His body was in such a terrible state was solely due to the backlash suffered from the blade, apart from that, he didn''t get hit by the Shogun even once. Part of the reason was because Sol''dhin was fighting in an unfavorable location, forcing him to focus on finding a steady ground rather than facing Arthur. Moreover, the parasite had a large arsenal that allowed him to simultaneously attack from long and close range. There was also Arthur''s previous sword slash which got rid of Sol''dhin''s arms, severely handicapping him. Chapter 541 - 487: Wheel of Reincarnation (1) The angry Shogun didn''t wait for Arthur to recover and jumped at him with his bare hands, an absurd amount of condensed Qi revolving around his hand. His speed was a bit slower than Arthur''s, nonetheless, he did reach him in a split second and unleashed a torrent of straight punches. The first few were successfully blocked by the Dark Barrier and a transparent watery surface, however, the rest directly struck Arthur, who retaliated by crossing his arms and using Godly Thunder to momentarily stun the enemy. The power behind those punches was monstrous yet they weren''t able to break Arthur''s boosted defense. In fact, before Sol''dhin could even finish, the parasite suddenly vanished from his sight but since his sense was locked onto Arthur ever since the beginning, he managed to pinpoint his location. A small black rat teleported behind the Shogun and pierced his back with its minuscule fangs, resulting in a poisonous bite mark to appear. "Heh, do you really think such a tri-" The man was about to scoff at Arthur''s pointless attack only for his body to stagger then fall from mid-air. Arthur grasped this opportunity and threw dozens of detonators which exploded upon contact. Even a body as strong as the Shogun''s couldn''t resist the hundreds of poisons injected in that bite attack, furthermore, Arthur''s relentless assault seemed to have finally taken a toll on the previously unscathed Sol''dhin. The man spat some blood and was about to jump in the air again only to feel an imminent threat heading towards him. Sadly, just like last time, he couldn''t react time and ended up seeing his other arm fall on the ground. Arthur had taken out the sword again and casually swung it yet such a simple movement not only cut Sol''dhin arm but it also struck the keep behind him, easily penetrating the walls and literally separating it in two pieces. The Frozen Keep, having lost its balance, started falling piece by piece, beginning from its sky-piercing tip which directly fell into the bottomless abyss. Armless, the Shogun glared at Arthur, his eyes emitting unrestrained rage and shame, after all, a strong man like himself was reduced to such state by a mere parasite. It was a huge disgrace for him yet without his arms, he could do nothing but retreat. He glanced at Elias and the rest only to find the place totally bloody, dozens of heads rolling on the shaking ground with only a few humans still alive but struggling against the ever-increasing number of undead. Arthur paid no heed to Sol''dhin and dived straight at the busy Elias, a series of thick white thunderbolts descending from above, hitting the strange coin and deactivating its barrier. The old man was cut off-guard and was a second too late in reaction to the disappearing barrier. A strong, suffocating grip held his neck, quickly followed by agonizing pain that originated from his four limbs. His legs and his arms were gone, devoured by some creepy void mouths. After Arthur ordered them, they reluctantly stopped eating the body and vanished into nothingness, leaving a bloody Elias who was shrieking and gasping for air. The coin fell on the ground but was totally ignored by Arthur, whose attention was focused solely on the red-faced old man. "I''ll show you true hell." Arthur spoke with a ghastly voice, his hand tightening around Elias. His free hand grasped the old man''s hand and then, a massive amount of Dark Magic invaded the latter''s head, inflicting even more pain. In fact, the victim was about to fall unconscious but Arthur did something that caused him to remain awake and experience this hellish agony for what seemed to be an eternity. Time seemed to have stopped as Elias'' boy convulsed and blood leaked out of all of his orifices. On the other side, the Shogun saw all of his people were killed and only Elias was remained, however, his state was even worse than his. He very much wanted to attack Arthur but his blade was lost and his arms were cut off so the best solution is to leave Riarravar and look for another chance. Unfortunately, it was at this time that Timos was finally freed and the world turned upside down. A black hole appeared at the center of Riarravar and started ravaging everything, absorbing the whole place within seconds. This destruction was happening way faster than what Arthur experienced in Bucama''s world. While holding the half-dead Elias, Arthur looked at the distorting space and flying rubbles, his eyes containing no emotion. Chaos dominated all of Riarravar and it won''t be long before he''s also sucked into the small but devastating black hole. The Shogun struggled to take out a silver ruler from his pocket, however, just as he was about to use it and leave, a rain of large dark arrows fell down on him, pushing his body closer to the black hole and forcing the ruler out of his hand. Arthur could hear the man''s loud cries as he was slowly being pulled into the black hole, helplessly trying to use his legs and flee from the creeping death but to no avail. "So it is finally time." Timos spoke to Arthur, his voice seemed a bit emotional. "It has been a fun ride, Arthur MoonStar." Ever since their meeting, it was the first time he uttered Arthur''s name. "What of my belongings?" While dragging the convulsing Elias on the breaking ground, Arthur talked to the unseen entity. "Hah, don''t worry about them. Well then, see you soonˇ­ maybe." A few seconds briefly crept by in which, Elias, who could only let out an inaudible whimper, finally met his end. Just to make sure the bastard was dead, Arthur made his body explode, leaving literally nothing. The Frozen Keep was no more and Arthur''s body, against his will, was being dragged into the black hole, which left nothing untouched of the once peaceful world. Arthur didn''t try to resist and wasn''t really that afraid of dying. He was about to close his eyes and let things proceed as planned only to notice a rapidly moving silhouette relying on the flying boulders to escape from the black hole. Upon a closer look, Arthur saw a blond young man with a handsome face, wearing a shiny armor. It was Vyncent, the only human who actually stayed and helped him get rid of Elias'' people. As he was busy dealing with the Shogun, Arthur paid the youngster little attention. Vyncent was clutching Elias'' strange coin while distancing himself from the center of this world. His heart was beating like crazy and his body was bloodied as the black hole was pulling everything inside of it, including the energy inside its body and even the molecules so even if he gets far away, his body will still become unstable and explode. It was far too late to create a Spatial Tunnel so Arthur couldn''t help even if he wanted to. With one last look at the desperate young man, Arthur closed his eyes and let things beˇ­ Chapter 542 - 488: Wheel of Reincarnation (2) Not long after the black hole appeared, the entirety of Riarravar was sucked into it, leaving nothing unscathed or alive. Arthur''s body and disintegrated and his soul magically vanished. However, neither his black robe nor his storage ring were destroyed and, instead, they were dragged into a small dark whirlpool which appeared only momentarily. With the disappearance of Arthur''s soul, the quad-spirit naturally clung onto its owner but the guardian couldn''t do the same. Curtis tried to follow but he was suddenly grasped by an illusory hand. By the next second, the blond youth found himself inside a serene and beautiful forest, the personal space of Timos and the only area that wasn''t affected by the black hole. The Black Devil took it with him and left Riarravar, at last. "Fancy seeing you here." A human with long brown hair and average appearance grinned while talking to the confused Curtis. Seeing that the knight was still feigning ignorance and innocence, Timos clicked his tongue and said: "Come on, it''s pathetic seeing you try to act like this." After a few seconds of pointless fearful behavior, Curtis'' face became expressionless as he faced Timos, who took a humanoid form for convenience''s sake. "Every time I look at you, I feel disgusted, do you know that?" Timos grimaced while talking to the blond and handsome youth before him. In response, Curtis fixed his armor and scanned his surroundings before saying "What are you up to?" Hearing such a random question, the man pointed at himself and replied: "Me? Nothing. I was just a bit surprised to see a comrade playing around here." "Comrade? Hmpf!" Curtis coldly snorted, unwilling to acknowledge the connection between him and Timos. "What? Mister ''Holy Godfather''ˇ­ eh, Sedos, are you so bored to the point of sticking into a parasite?" "I can do whatever you want, mind your business, devil." The brown-haired man appeared hurt as he clutched his chest and staggered a few steps: "You wound me, Lightbringer. I was but a tad curious, that''s it. Though I can see why you''d accompany Arthur, he is indeed an interesting person." Before Curtis, or also known(in the past) as Sedos, the Strategist continued: "However, being a spectator isn''t your job, I''m sure you know that." His eyes narrowed to a dangerous agree, however, he didn''t try raise his aura to threaten the blond youth, seeing no purpose in provoking someone stronger than him in strength. "When the time comes, I will go on my way but for now, I want to see how it proceeds." Then, without waiting for the other party, Sedos was enveloped by a blinding light and disappeared from the forest. As he remained alone, Timos shrugged his shoulders and mumbled: "Whatever, don''t blame me if you''re caught." ******* "What''s going on?" Emir frowned upon seeing his people circled around a bloodied figure. He walked toward the unconscious Lucy but even before he reached her, his sense noticed her lack of pulse and breaking Dantian. It was too late to interfere or do anything that could bring her back. The wound she received from the Shogun was severe but it was the coin which rendered her body unable to self-recover. A frail black-haired human woman was holding Lucy''s body while examining her abdomen. The Archmage also felt the unborn life residing inside the w.o.m.b but with her death, it won''t be long before this new life is extinguished too. He let out a sigh and asked again, this time directing his speech toward the woman: "What happened?" After an inordinate amount of time, Lissandra snapped out of it and spoke with a toneless voice: "I don''t know, she died the moment we arrived here." Emir maintained a short silence before saying: "We''ll provide her with a proper burial." He signaled for the young female parasite from before then unleashed a bright blue light which exploded in the sky like a signal of some sort. Lissandra and the young parasite were about to lift Lucy''s body only for a strange portal open up next to Emir, startling him. Before he could react, a brown-haired man exited the distorted space and scanned the area before gazing at the lifeless Lucy. "It''s such a waste for a miracle to be buried before its birth." He ignored the surprised parasites, who were about to attack only for Emir to stop them, and crouched next to Lucy. "Sir Timosˇ­" The Archmage wanted to say something but seeing the serious expression of the Black Devil, he just swallowed back his unsaid words. "I''ll safe-keep it until our next meeting, pretty guest." After saying that, his hand brutally stabbed the corpse''s stomach and pulled a minuscule, unrecognizable lifeform. It was the size of his fist and enveloped by an unbreakable dome covered on the right by chilling ice and the on the left by golden fire. Seeing the dome, the Black Devil laughed and said: "No wonderˇ­ no wonder she died." Lucy could have survived the coin''s effect but the unborn baby would have perished so she used most of her powers to create this dome, which ascertained her child''s survival. Uncaring about the blood soaking his sleeve and hand, the man held the shiny dome and looked unsuspecting person. "The path of Hopeˇ­ what an unusual way for a fallen God, well good luck with that." His words were obviously directed at the surprised Lissandra, who could do nothing but fidget around. Second later, Timos left along with the dome, leaving a bunch of dumbfounded parasites behind. ******* "This is craziness." Delia sighed and stated, her forehead sweating and her fists unknowingly clenched. Currently, she was at the main hall of the Kang Clan, waiting for the Patriarch to come and meet them. Surprisingly, just like Saly said, when they exposed their identity to the Kang clan, they were welcomed and told to wait here. Unlike her, Saly remained calm and patiently wait for the man to arrive. As she saw the little girl, Delia still couldn''t believe what was told to her a couple of days ago. ˇ­ Along with Saly, Delia was with Juli, who was injured inside the Dragon''s lair but seemed to have recovered almost all of her powers now. Juli didn''t blame Delia for betraying the Holy Dominion and didn''t insist on going back there and ask for forgiveness as she knew such a thing was impossible. So, Juli, the Holy Knight, decided to accept her situation and tagged along with Delia, protecting Saly while fleeing from their relentless pursuers. Today, Saly started talking about her hellish training but focused more on the classes given by the Joker. The little girl didn''t give up on Astrith so she told Delia that they have to go the Kang Clan, which will most likely aid them. When Delia questioned her, Saly forced them to make death oaths to not tell a soul about what she''s going to say. ˇ­ "Hey, focus!" The Joker violently smacked the sleepy Saly''s head before sternly saying: "You have to memorize everything I''m saying!" While rubbing her head with teary eyes, Saly meekly nodded her head. "Ahem, as I was saying, in the past, I became friends with a special entity and even helped him hide. Now, tell me, who was it?" Saly thought for a few moments before hesitantly saying: "I-it''s the titan, right?" "Indeed, the only surviving Titan in this age. However, Titans were peculiar beings and not all of them chose a material formˇ­ some preferred spirituality and others were actual worlds, literal worlds. The one I befriendedˇ­ hahahaha a really crafty motherf.u.c.ker-ops! Don''t tell your uncle I cursed or I''ll smack you." He sneaked a couple of glances to the entrance of the room before continuing: "Anyway, that Titan was a world and that was part of the reason no one ever found him. Now then, Saly, what do you think his name was?" Saly, confused, couldn''t answer and only stared at the grinning Joker. After some time, the teacher chucked and said: "His name was Astria, hahahahaha" The little girl''s round eyes fully opened in disbelief. She knew that her homeworld was called Astria which is why she found that name surprising. "Yes, it''s your homeworld! Isn''t it fascinating?!" He cleared his sore throat and resumed: "Now then, let''s get to the good stuff. When I hid Astria, another party helped me, however, I never told them where I exactly hid it. They were the Kang Clan and ever since that day, they kept searching the Titan. Back in the 3rd Era, Astria helped them avoid total destruction so they remained grateful which is why they''re trying to find him or ''it'', and protect it from death. Recently, they seemed to have found it and are definitely more inclined to help, so, if something happens in the future and your parents are not there, make sure to head to the Kangs." As the Joker insistently repeated this topic, Saly ended up memorizing all of his words. After she briefly talked about ti Delia and Juli, the Goddess and Holy Knight were dumbstruck, especially the former, who thought Astria was only a cast out world. ******* At the bottom of a lake with unknown depth, a seemingly large white box started shaking, heavily affecting its environment and freezing the whole lake. What was worse a miniature golden sun dominated the night sky, illuminating everything and anything. The mortals living in a nearby village became frightened, kowtowing on the ground and praying. They thought that was God was punishing them, however, this disturbance lasted for one night before the sun vanished and the lake returned to its monotonous serenity. That night, the villagers definitely saw a bright streak of light flying across the sky, leaving a trail of falling snowflakes in its path. A few days later, at the execution of the lightning wolf Astrith, the Cloud Sea Sect prepared a grand ceremony as to show an example of the beast. Many citizens were present at the enormous plaza, even the Emperor himself was seated some distance away from the execution ground. Although the Cloud Sea is a sect, they called themselves an ancient kingdom so the Emperor is considered their leader, that is, if you exclude the secluded ancestors, however, those old fogies rarely come out. Basically, the Cloud Emperor is the public ruler of Cloud Sea and the Divine Planet. Most of the Marshals were present, including the two who intervened in the war between the specters and the undead. On a well-decorated stage, there laid a chained wolf which had a body covered in lightning, furthermore, it also had three tails, each emitting a different kind of thunder. The beast growled as it was stared at by thousands of people, all eager to see the ''show'', or so it was called. The executioner was a robbed individual who hid his face and held a big scythe which seemed to cut air itself. The loud cheering and surprised gasps were quietened down by the Emperor, who raised his hand. "Today, we shall rid the world of another enemy of our prosperous empire." He kept it brief as his golden eyes locked onto Astrith. The marshals orderly sat next to The Emperor''s right while, on his left, there were two guests and some officials. ˇ­. Amidst the cl.u.s.tered crowd, there was a dark-haired little girl who was getting very restless. As she saw the wolf''s bloodied body and heard the excited yells of the citizens, Saly was about to jump in only for a hand to hold her body, totally immobilizing her. "What did I say? You cannot and will not show yourself today, no matter what happens." The one who talked to her was a man with very long dark hair. In fact, he was Gutcha, the pigolo, in disguise. The Kang Clan agreed to help them so all they have to do is sit back and watch from the sidelines, at least that''s what their Patriarch said, word for word. The anticipated moment finally arrived as the executioner raised his scythe while many soldiers tightened the chains around Astrith. The sharp-looking scythe was easily-handled by the professional, who readied himself then swung it down, aiming for the wolf''s neck. This scythe was a very special weapon which can even kill special beasts like Astrith, who can''t be killed by physical attacks. It was a weapon stolen from one of the Grim Reapers long ago and although its efficiency lessened by a great deal, it was still able to kill almost anything. When it was time for the beast to finally die, the sunny sky suddenly changed and an ear-deafening explosion startled every soul in the plaza. The mortals could not react in time but the Marshals and the Emperor saw a fast figure descend from high-up in the sky, like a meteor. One of the Marshal stood up from his seat and went to meet the incoming invader, however, before he could do anything, his body was slammed by a monstrous force, sending him crashing into the ground, blood coming out of his mouth. The scythe-wielding executioner''s fate was more miserable than the Marshall. Before he could retaliate, he was engulfed by a golden flame and turned into ash within a second. A graceful figure landed next to Astrith and instantly turned all the chains along with their holders into ice, which soon crumbled into thousands of pieces, releasing the wolf from its bind, at last. "Mom-" Saly was about to yell for her mother, who just caused a ruckus and came out of nowhere, only for Gutcha to hold her mouth and slowly back away from the crowd. The Emperor looked at the silver-haired woman standing next to the wolf and spoke to the Marshal closest to him "Isn''t she Katrina''s daughter?" "Yes, your Imperial Majesty." Before the Emperor even talked, all the marshals disappeared from their seats and surrounded Lucy, blocking all her escape routes. Seeing one of their own getting overpowered, they were forced to step up. Moreover, they needed to show their dominance in front of the watching citizens so they could not go easy on Lucy. Lucy remained unfazed as she glared at the marshals, nine ice lotuses floating above her head. The marshals around her gasped in surprise as they her right arm drastically change. Scales appearing from her shoulder all the way to her fingers and what seemed to be broad shoulder guards emanating a dangerous kind of energy. The woman raised lifted her head and released an ear-piercing cry echoing across the whole city. The unsuspecting citizens fell unconscious and the marshals blocked their ears and backed away, their faces totally pale. ******** "Ahhhh!" The short girl who was the direct subordinate of the Water Empress, jumped in panic as someone suddenly appeared in the office, exactly behind her, like a ghost. With shaky hands and a pale face, she turned her stiff neck only to see a beautiful black-haired woman wearing a dress that matched her eye and hair color. She didn''t know who she was but her master, the Empress, who was busy deciphering a doc.u.ment on the other side of the large room, stood up from her seat, appearing visibly shocked. "Madam Death Region ruler." She bowed and addressed her by her title as she didn''t know the visitor''s real name. The blue-haired tall woman didn''t know the reason behind the guest'' visit, nonetheless, she behaved courteously and talked with respect, aware that the Death Region ruler is an entity rarely seen and extremely dangerous, furthermore, she did help her last time she went to the land of death. The black-haired woman gracefully sat next to the Empress, her face as expressionless as ever. The two stared at each other for a while before the guest said: "I need you to do something for me." In response, the Water Region Empress retorted: "Will I be able to do something you could not?" The dark-haired woman smiled and said: "Even for me, there are things I''m unable to do or achieve." In reality, she was able to accomplish the task herself, however, she didn''t want to, for various reasons, though she kept such thoughts to herself, of course. After thinking for a bit of time, the Empress spoke: "If it is within my power, I''ll try." It''s only natural to pay back an old favor, furthermore, the Empress felt that helping her would provide her with some clues to the forgotten history. Without wasting any more time, the Death Region ruler, stood up and snapped her fingers, spawning a coffin, a very creepy and dusty one. With a confused expression, the Empress tilted her head, not knowing what to say or do so she just waited for an explanation. ˇ­. Exactly a week later, the Water Empress appeared on a secluded archipelago West of her territory. This part of her region was rarely visited by either experts or cultivators, moreover, there were mostly mortals living her yet she was tasked to come here and find a person. Her sense was strong enough to cover the whole group of islands, which were four, to be exact. Following the words of the Death Region ruler, she appeared on the island to the far West, which seemed to be some kind of wasteland, and located her target after a few minutes of thorough searching. The blue-haired tall woman appeared inside of a small tent, barely able to chilly wind of the night, and stared at a young boy sitting on a corner. He had a bronze-skin, probably due to long exposure to the sun, a frail body lacking muscles, and hair as black as ink. The teenager was startled by the Empress'' appearance and the first thing he did was shield an old woman sleeping next to him. She seemed to be very sick as she kept coughing, unaware of what''s happening around her. Without beating around the bush, the woman took two steps forward and said "Are you Jackob?" The boy hesitated and remained tight-lipped but ended up nodding his head when he started feeling a suffocating pressure coming from the woman. "I will give you gold if you do something for me." On the mention of gold, the boy''s expression changed, brightened, even. He enthusiastically and innocently nodded his head while standing up straight. "You only have to hide a coffin somewhere on the continent East of here." Back then, the boy, Jackob, didn''t know what exactly he did, however, his actions led to many, many things. ***** A woman with long silver-hair gasped for breath and supported herself with a silver spear as she made her way into a large temple which gave her the creeps. Angelina fought endlessly against the insanely powerful shadow beasts yet even after killing thousands of them, they still kept coming. Only when she arrived in these temples, which were all the same, did they stop their assaults. It was as if they feared the temples, not daring even to approach them. They glared at her from hundreds of meters away, circling around the temple and cornering her. The white specter ignored them and entered the small yet luxurious building. The ground was made from white marble and remained clean even after a long time had passed. Inside the temple, there was nothing apart from several statues, each with a unique appearance. Angelina didn''t know how but she was able to read the runes engraved on the stones under each statue, and, from the looks of it, each one spoke of a certain being. There was one of a large entity with tentacles and a creepy face, another was a handsome knight wearing a thick armor and holding a shield and a one-handed sword. "Sedos, Timos, Dmitra... what were they?" She gazed at the statues then focused her gaze at the central one, the biggest of all them and the creepiest, by far. In total, there were thirteen statues and all were made from the same marble under her feet but the statue at the middle was created using metal as its left side was dark and the right side was white. Unlike the description under all the statues, the central one only had two words. "''The Watcher''?" Moreover, it had the most basic appearance yet when she looked at its eyes, Angelina felt weakened and her soul shaken. ***** The Wheel of Reincarnation is a mysterious thing, unaffected by anything, even time itself. When a soul died and is set to reincarnate, it''s not necessarily uniquely in the future, it can also take form in the past. However, as most reincarnates come back in the future, everyone assumes the Wheel is also subjected to Time, which cannot be more wrong. In the case of Arthur MoonStar, formerly known as Arthur Bilgart, his reincarnation was supposed to happen when he died on Earth, however, due to the machinations of his two brothers, he was sent to Astria, becoming a parasite. Now, with the destruction of Riarravar, the first-ever created world, Arthur died along with it and his soul was extinguished but pulled by the Wheel of Reincarnation and subjected to its effect, as it should have been a long time ago. The artifact used by ''X'' to reincarnate Arthur''s soul was purposely made imperfect as to maintain Arthur''s obliviousness. This caused Arthur''s soul and memories to be reborn as imperfect, however, it was only temporary. When he first opened his eyes, he saw a frail and pale-faced woman with long black hair. As for the figure of a father, it was missing, there was only the baby and the crying woman, his mother, gently holding him in her embrace. "My dear boyˇ­ let not fate decide your path." Her eyes were wet from all the years yet she brightly smiled and held the baby high in the air. "Your name will beˇ­" The baby wasn''t intelligent so it only looked at its mother, dumbly and innocently. Back then, no one, not even his happy mother, knew what the boy will become. He was born in a miserable environment and a cruel, abusive father. Not long after that, the mother died, leaving the boy alone, suffering in this hellish world. It''s a saddening story of someone bitterly hanging on a thread just to live, not even wishing for a peaceful or happy life. He didn''t have or need a last nameˇ­ as for his name? It was Zodiak. **** END OF VOLUME 9 VOLUME 10 : ZODIAK THE MYTHICAL Chapter 543 - 489: Recorder of History "We''re on time." The Joker cursed as he saw the flying trees and boulders, all getting sucked by the black hole at the center of Riarravar. Behind him, there stood ''X'' and the short pink haired Lolitta, who didn''t seem too bothered by the destruction around her. "So? We go back?" ''X'' asked the frowning Joker, who raised his hand and crushed a card, causing the whole place to quieten, severely limiting the black hole''s monstrous absorption affecting the vicinities. "No, he''ll be here in a bit. Let''s wait." The trio stood there, each one thinking of something while looking at the unrecognizable world which was turned into nothingness. However, what was surprising was the presence of some intact places, ones that even the black hole could not suck in. One was a medium-sized colorful forest which was flying far away and the other was an underground golden city that seemed to be still functioning. The highest tower of the city was emitting blinding light which was being madly absorbed by the black hole. While this radiance was being sucked in, the city slowly moved further from the source of danger. After less than a minute, a figure sprung from the surface of one of the flying boulders and jumped closer to the Joker and his party. He was a young man with a blond hear and handsome face that was very pale at the moment. His body was shaking and blood unceasingly leaked from his lips due to his injured and misplaced organs. Vyncent looked at the Joker and co, not entering the protected area, seemingly hesitating. Seeing that the target finally showed himself, the Joker grinned and said: "No need to fear, come here." Sadly, this only made him hesitate more, his feet rooted on the shaky ground. Seeing that his body was reaching his limit, Vyncent clutched the strange coin and glanced between the black hole and the Joker before finally choosing to march forward. "So you came all the way here just for him?" Displeased, ''X'' asked Wolfram as he found nothing special with Vyncent. It was then that he caught sight of the coin, which slightly surprised him but it still wasn''t good enough to explain the Joker''s desperate attempt to come here. "Each person has a job in history, but, for it to be so, there needs someone to record it. As average as he may seen, apparently, he''s more resilient than the Nameless Knight. He''s lucky too." Just as Vyncent entered his sphere of protection, Lolitta and X joined hands and reopened the path, teleporting all of them out of this place. Unlike a Spatial Tunnel, this path take more time but is much safer and tougher. As were going through what seemed to be an endless wormhole, an incoming silhouette suddenly appeared, stopping a few meters away from them. ''X'', Lolitta and the semi-conscious Vyncent didn''t recognize him but the Joker did. The usually nonchalant Magician was furrowing his brows and standing up straight, even unleashing his suffocating aura. "My my, I almost thought you''re Tiarius but I guess he''s not someone to wear suchˇ­ unique outfit." "What do you want?" The Joker faced Timos, the brown-haired man, his face frowning and his hand holding three cards. The Black Devil raised his hand and retreated a few steps while explaining himself "Wait, I did not come here to fight. I''m well aware that my power is inferior, nonetheless, I''m confident in my ability to escape unscathed." It was then that a shiny orb appeared from behind Timos, it had two opposite sides, one was affected by the Golden fire and the other by the condensed Yin power. "That''sˇ­" The Joker gaped at the orb, immediately knowing what it is. He knew about its existence but no one knew who kept it before its birth, so such a revelation was truly a shock to the usually all-knowing Trickster. "Never mind this. I''m more interested about that coin my humble guest just acquired." The man pointed at the coin in Vyncent''s hands. The artifact was releasing a light that pulsated like a heart, moreover, it seemed to be aiding Vyncent, whom it recognized as its new owner. "What does an entity like you need with a mere soul-artifact." The Joker really could not understand Timos'' strange actions. Though the coin was strong, it wasn''t to the point of making one of the Twelve greedy about it, after all, there are many other artifacts way better than it. He glanced at the injured youth then focused his eyes on the coin but even after using his personal appraisal, he couldn''t find anything special. "It''s sort of a personal keepsake of a comrade of mine." "So, you want it back?" The Joker walked in front of Vyncent and bent his back, ready to pounce at the Black Devil. "No, just wanted a final look at it. After all, I believe it has fallen into the perfect hands, aren''t I right, my humble guest?" The brown-haired man stared at Vyncent, his eyes seemingly able to see through anything and everything. The blond young man didn''t reply and only tightened his grip on the coin, clearly unwilling to hand it over. ************ On a small island somewhere in the Water Region, precisely in a peaceful forest devoid of any strong beasts, a skinny youth with a bronze skin was dragging a large coffin. He was following a map given by the blue-haired scary woman and doing exactly what she said. It took him a while to find the cave and it was only taxing due to the heavy coffin, which was truly heavy. As he had promised, he didn''t question this task and didn''t even dare open whatever he was dragging. His body, soaking with sweat, finally relaxed after he came face to face with a normal, empty cave. He warily entered it, inspected the gloomy interior before taking out a one-time use wand and drilling into the cold walls, doing as the Empress instructed. Half a day later, he managed to drill a corridor which ended into a medium-sized room. For the next couple of days, he painted the door connecting the corridor to the room then dragged the coffin all the way inside. The final touch was to put two extremely heavy chests at the corner of the room. The reward was more than he could hope for, furthermore, he made a special oath to never speak of this matter to any soul, so, after completing everything, the young Jackob went back to his mother with a purse filled with gold coins. Chapter 544 - 490: Psychopath "What are we? What is the true purpose of our existence? God, why won''t you speak to me?" A boy stood in the middle of a snowy field, his bare feet touching the freezing ground. His head lifted, staring at the starry sky with his jet black eyes filled with nothing, not even emotions. He only wore a single piece of ragged cloth, if it can be called so. He was dirty and visibly malnourished, his arms thin like a skeleton and fingers filled with scars, especially his knuckles, which were bloodied due to fighting over thrown food with the other homeless kids. No, this boy wasn''t homeless but he''d rather spend the night outside than in his home, a hellish place inhabited by a foolish drunkard. The boy, named Zodiak by his mother, was, at first, a believer and hoped that God will watch over him and his mother. Sadly, life was never fair and fate has chosen him to be the victim of a miserable, almost pitiful life. His father abused him and his mother and it didn''t take long for the latter to die by his hands, her body was frail and she was sick yet the cruel man would do anything to get what he wants. Zodiak tried to retaliate but, what can a boy do against an a.d.u.l.t? Nothing. Every time he revolted, he''d get beaten black and blue then thrown to the snowy road to pass the night in the chilling coldness. Not a day passes without seeing cruelty that no child has to ever witness. Young girls abducted in broad daylight then sold to the greedy nobles, who only want to satisfy their greedy fetishes. A year ago, Zodiak had a group of friends but, without exception, all of them were captured and killed. Three girls forcefully dragged to a noble''s house East of the city while the two innocent boys were slashed to death by the slave trader, in fact, Zodiak escaped only through a fluke. With a shivering body and reddened feet, the boy dragged his body while covering his bald head. He was thirteen years old this year but never once did he eat what people call normal food, it''s always a small piece of dried black bread or rotten cheese found on the trash bin behind some back-alley restaurant. Seeing the minority(which claim they''re nobles) lavishly enjoy their life while all the rest struggle to get past today, the boy grew a bloody grudge against the higher-echelon. His hatred grew every time he got beaten up by a bodyguard due to a random reason or get mocked by a noble kid younger than him. His mother, his only pillar of support, died a long time ago and ever since then, things only got much, much worse. Today, on this wintery day where the usually luminous city was eerily quiet, Zodiak went back homeˇ­ a small hut that could barely be called a shelter. It stunk of alcohol and there was a severe lack of furniture, furthermore, the door leading inside was riddled with holes, letting the chilly wind pass through and turn this place into a freezer. The boy''s face had a gaunt of expressionless as he stared back at a tall figure a couple of meters away from him. The man facing Zodiak was bald, ugly and had a black eye(apparently, recent). The father swayed left and right, clearly in a drunken state, he slowly walked up to the short figure at the entrance of house then, without any warning, delivered a vicious punch for no goddamned reason. The boy didn''t resist as he was pushed to the back then fell on the ground, blood leaking out of his lips. He was only thirteen years old and very unhealthy so getting struck like that caused him agonizing pain yet he didn''t even let out a squeak. The punch was but the beginning as the man stood before Zodiak and kicked his stomach. The child curled his body and protected his head, not bothering to dodge or do anything else. A cold streak flashed across the hidden boy''s eyes, unseen by the unreasonably violent parent. After venting his acc.u.mulated anger, the man gasped for breath and finally stopped beating Zodiak. He reached for a nearby cup, wanting to drink more alcohol but found it empty, infuriating him again. He glared back at the boy, who was dragging his injured body to a small hole which seemed to lead to a minuscule room. "Hey! Ungrateful filth! Go get me alcohol!" He spoke with a loud and domineering voice, his tone indicating that it was an order with no room for objection. Zodiak ignored the shouting man and slipped through the hole, soon disappearing from his father''s view? Nevertheless, the man continued blabbering for while then left the hut himself after spitting at Zodiak''s room. Inside that small hole which was filled with ripped papers and unrecognizable broken objects, the boy leaned against the rough wall and stared to the front with a blank expression. After a while, he grabbed one of the paper and started clumsily reading "Happiness: a state of well-being and contentment: Joy. Regret: To be very sorry forˇ­" He continued going over various words defining emotions. He tried, very hard, to experience such things but it didn''t work out, not even once. He was unable to feel emotions, good or bad. He cared only about his survival and socialized just for the sake of itˇ­ to seem normal, like anybody else. The winds whistled outside and the room became dark to the point that the boy could not see anything anymore. The candle burning in the other room seemed to have been extinguished, robbing the last bit of illumination. "No family, no life, no futureˇ­ curse everything. Where is this hope they desperately cling onto? My sight is filled with darknessˇ­ darkness that consumes everything." Sometimes, he would have nightmares, too vivid and totally bone-chilling. He''d see a world filled with black fire, the sky, and the ground were consumed by the domination gloom, leaving nothing untouched. Even his body was consumed, merging him with that scary yet comfortable world. However, that was not everything, he would also another world, different and fascinating but it was blurry and only lasted for a brief moment, leaving the young Zodiak confused and sweat-soaked the next morning. ********** "In the end, who created Dark Magic?" The Joker, who was sitting next to the Nameless Knight, asked his brother while staring at the ever-expanding crack in the space-time Continuum. "Who do you think it was?" Leiu smiled and glanced at his curious brother. The matter was much more complex than it seems because to know the truth, one must know what happened in the first cycle. "Come on, you know I''ve joined a bit lateˇ­ you''re the only one who managed to keep the memories of all the cycles." "If we trace it back to the beginning, we''ll see that Arthur passed Dark Magic to the young Zodiak but that very same Arthur got it from Zodiak''s body. It''s like the chicken and the egg. To understand properly, do you know why Zodiak was called a Mythical being and not a human?" "Because he reached a self-created Realm? I think he diverged from the orthodox route and was able to construct a whole new type of strengthening, solely relying on Dark Magic." "No, you''re wrong. It''s true that he had many believers but none could inherit his powers, moreover, he wasn''t called ''The Mythical'' for such a feat. He wasn''t regarded as human because he really wasn''t so." Hearing this, the Joker frowned and retorted: "But he''s definitely humanˇ­ he didn''t mutate or anything." "Yes, he did not but he was incapable of feeling emotions. It wasn''t due to the tragedies he went through but something he was born with. Maybe it was a defect of that ridiculous reincarnation, which is, essentially, something that shouldn''t have happened. He is something that should not have existed, so, despite being human, feeling emotions were beyond him." "How is that possible? I thought Dark Magic relies on emotions, mainly anger." "It certainly does but that''s in Arthur''s case, as for Zodiak, I really don''t know how he did it. In any case, he was what many call a Psychopath, incapable of empathy and remorse." "Alright, so what does this have to do with Dark Magic?" The Joker got even more curious as he listened to the calm Leiu. "Unlike its successors, the first cycle was a bit different. The reason Dark Magic is feared is because it made Zodiak sacrifice a whole world just create it. It wasn''t intentional but when it had burst, it consumed everything and finally came into existence. That is how it came to be, by his hands." "What about Arthur? What did he do in the first Cycle?" Hearing this, Leiu chuckled and answered with a question that had no relation with the previous topic: "Tell me, Wolfram, have you found out who Arthur''s parents were?" In response, The Joker shrugged his shoulders and maintained his silence. Chapter 545 - 491: The Day They Met (1) "At the beginningˇ­ the price to pay seems so very meager." Zodiak let out a sigh, got up from that dark corner and searched for a few objects. One of them was a tiny metal objects, seemingly harmless but very dangerous to the frail mortals. He scratched on the wall riddled with holes then looked to the exit of this room, hearing the yelling of his drunk father. With emotionless eyes, he peeked through the hole and patiently waited till the man fell asleep after rambling for quite a while. With soundless steps, he walked toward his father and slashed down with his dagger, showing not even a tiny bit of hesitation. First, he cut the man''s throat, causing him to wake up and clutch his injury, try to stop the gushing blood which resembled a beautiful red fountain dying the whole ground scarlet. Zodiak''s face was splashed by blood yet he didn''t care, he struck again with the self-created weapon, this time focusing on the wrists and abdomen. It was long after that the father died miserably like a dog, his body convulsed for a few brief moments before it ceased breathing, the last bit of life finally extinguished. The kid, Zodiak, stared at the man''s lifeless corpse for a very long time, doing nothing but stand there, blood-soaked and motionless, his inky black pupils never leaving the body laying before them. "Living such a lifeˇ­ you quickly come to understand that it''s not only the nobles who are corrupt and twisted. Red blood flows through all of their veinsˇ­ they''re all humans, same nature and same behavior. If that is what it means to be human then I don''t want to be one." He threw the sharp metal object next to his father''s lifeless body before taking out a small match pack and lighting a few of them. He emptied the alcohol bottle in a tiny haystack, causing it to immediately catch fire. Less then five minutes later, the hut was engulfed by ever-so rising flames, turning the body into ash. As for Zodiak, he left empty-handed, not even taking what he considered precious belongings with him. This was his way of declaring his permanent decision, letting go of the past and his humanity. He willingly chose to become a monster so that he can survive and live a proper life. He just murdered his father in cold-blood and even though his body was turned into ash, the mage brigade will easily be able to trace him. Like a ghost, the short silhouette of the boy left the gates, noticed by no one. His steps were slow as he marched on the cold snow with bare, reddened feet, moreover, his clothes were thin and barely covered a third of his body, nonetheless, he didn''t even let out a groan as he clenched his fists and disappeared. ****** "Faster!" A group of young boys was currently looting corpses of the empire soldiers, from the looks of it, there were at least fifty or so dead men. Zodiak was amongst these looters, he was ''recruited'' not long after leaving the city and his job here was to help bandits loot corpses after a long battle. He was given the bare minimum of food, as for shelter, he''d sleep in a cage along the other kids. The others were either orphans or slaves who had escaped from one hell to another, only Zodiak was an exception. In fact, one night, one of the boys, the oldest of the group, saw a sharp object hidden in Zodiak''s sleeves. He relentlessly threatened to tell the bandits, eager to get a reward but his end was truly gruesome sight. The rest of the boys watched from the corner of the cage, unwilling and afraid to either help or stop this dispute. They never thought that the mute Zodiak would hide such a dangerous weapon which can cause their end, which is part of the reason they didn''t step up to defend him, after all, in this place, to survive you have to be obedient. There have been cases of revolt but anyone who tried escaping or retaliating was tortured then killed. When the boy, who was one head taller than Zodiak, walked up to him and was about to forcefully take the weapon, all he received was a clean slash on his neck. The bronze-skinned boy fell on the ground, writhing and desperately holding his neck. Zodiak walked up next to him, crouched down and plunged the weapon into the victim''s skull, killing him on the spot. After one last glance at the dead kid, he left the supposedly locked cage and started a killing spree before disappearing from that camp. That night, one boy and seven men were brutally murdered, and the assailant? A kid who''s not even fourteen years old. What Zodiak didn''t expect was the stubbornness of the bandits, who gave up on attacking the merchants and started chasing him, over and over again. It turned out that the bandit chief was a vengeful person, he couldn''t tolerate losing face, more so by a young boy who was working under him. This cat and mouse chase lasted for three full months, in which Zodiak had to survive alone, not daring to enter civilized settlements or show his face. However, no matter how witty he was, he could not outrun a big group of pursuers who had a magic-user amongst them. Aware that his chances of survival are very low, Zodiak led them to a beast''s lair, a mutated fire crocodile, to be more precise. The monster was over ten meters in length and bathed in a lava pool in a secluded part of a place called the Lav Forest. The bandits'' arrival awakened the slumbering crocodile and angered, causing a fight to break out. The young Zodiak watched from far away, fully determined to bring down every single bandit present in this forest. He simply couldn''t live while knowing that people are searching for him so his best chance was to take care of them all in one sweep. He saw the crocodile breath a tsunami of fire which burned down trees and evaporated the rivers. Both the bandits and the boys acting as looters were struck by the fire, they fell on the ground and rolled around, crying in agony. Zodiak didn''t even bat an eye when he saw the innocent kids dieˇ­ from his perspective, it''s either them or him. He didn''t feel guilt or pity, actually, he felt nothing, not even the satisfaction of getting rid of his enemies. Sadly, the end wasn''t so fortunate as the bandit chief was more powerful than expected. A fierce fight occurred between him and the monster, devastating the forest and exposing Zodiak''s small figure. The chief attempted to rid of him but the crocodile was ferocious, lashing out with its tail and spitting one fireball after the other hence forcing the bandit to retreat. Everything happened in thirty minutes or so and by the end, both the monster and the bandit died, one was beheaded and the other engulfed in flames. As for Zodiak, he was trapped inside the flames with no way to escape route. *************** Somewhere on Earth, inside a popular shop that sold detailed and expensive figurines, a handsome man wearing a black-suit checked the displayed merchandise. He was accompanied by what seemed to be his personal secretary, she was holding some doc.u.ments while quietly following him. She was already used to his strange behavior but didn''t let her curiosity get the best of her and maintained silence whenever she''s with him. In fact, she only spoke when spoken to. The man checked one figurine after the other until he found one that pleased him a lot. As he leaned his face closer and stared at the figurine, he started laughing, probably from joyˇ­ "Get me this one." He pointed at the figurine, to which the clerk started preparing it almost immediately. Upon a closer look, the figurine was that of a red alligator enveloped in flames. It wasn''t that special compared to the other ones, which are much more famous, nonetheless, the worker did as asked and soon transferred to a more luxurious glass interior. Cynthia finished the payment and was about take the figurine with her only to hear her boss'' voice behind her. "Isn''t it beautiful?" The young girl grimaced and forcefully nodded her head, not knowing what exactly to say. The figurine looked creepy and probably had been abandoned for a long time, she really didn''t know what''s beautiful about it. At that time, if she knew what his thoughts were, she would have been dumbfounded. Chapter 546 - 492: The Day They Met (2) The boy, Zodiak, was injured due to the massive collateral damage done by both the dead bandit chief and the beheaded crocodile. This left him trapped in a sea of fire, unable to locate any safe route he could slip through. The trees were burning and falling all over the place and the magma river overflowed and started reaching everywhere. His young skin started showing a few sideburns while his body was soaking with sweat. While covering his mouth with a small ripped piece of cloth, Zodiak breathed the air with great difficulty, barely able to remain conscious due to his dizzy mind. He didn''t feel the pain from his fractured ribs or burnt skin, nonetheless, he could not force himself to remain conscious. After a bitter and pretty pointless struggle, he fell on the ground, his hand reaching to the front, trying to drag the whole body farther from the creeping flames. As the end was close and his death was nothing but imminent, Zodiak kept crawling on the ground, barely able to move his exhausted body. He wasn''t a magic user and his body was weak and fragile so a small blow of the bandit chief would''ve killed him, moreso for an ultimate technique. At some point, Zodiak raised his body and stared to the front, seeing nothing but high-reaching flames which dominated his sight. His emotionless eyes scanned the vicinities but there didn''t seem to be any place he could crawl to. Just as he was about to lay on his back, he caught the sight of a black silhouette coming from within the flames. The figure slowly approached him and extinguished a small part of the flames in its way, replacing the fire with ominous black flames. In a matter of seconds, the mysterious individual stood inches from the collapsed young Zodiak, staring down at him with a face drained with a gaunt of expressionlessness. "As someone hated by both the Heavens and Fate, you should at least get the chance to fight back." Though Zodiak clearly heard him, he had no strength to speak or turn his head to get a proper look at this man. And, magicallyˇ­ as if he heard the boy''s thoughts, the man used his power to turn Zodiak''s body upside down, making the kid''s face directly face him. Then, he crouched down and leaned his face very close to the panting Zodiak, his sky-blue eyes seemingly able to see through everything. Not even the permanent gloom filling Zodiak''s eyes was able to block that man''s gaze, which penetrated all the way to the boy''s soul, scanning every ''inch'' of it. "Zodiak, do you want power?" The man cut through the chase and asked the silent boy, his face demanding an immediate and clear answer. In fact, for a second, the abyssal eyes of Zodiak wavered when he heard the man''s question. As he was really not able to talk, the boy slowly raised his shaky hand, trying to grasp the man. "Your desire is apparent but, as a certain friend of mine always says, everything comes at a price. In your case, the price is by no means a small one." Time passed and the fire stretched farther away but wasn''t able to reach either the man or the injured boy laying next to him. Zodiak mustered all his strength and slowly opened his dried lips: "I''- I w-will give my s..soul." Hearing this, the man chuckled and retorted: "Soul? Why would I need your soul? I''m not a devil, you know. Actually, the price you''ll be paying isn''t for me." As he said that, the man stabbed his hand into Zodiak''s chest and released a malevolent black energy which consumed the boy''s whole body in a few brief seconds. Zodiak''s body convulsed but he couldn''t feel any pain, he just knew that his body wasn''t faring too well. The man, named Arthur MoonStar, stood up, stared at the struggling kid for some time before throwing an empty diary right next to his head. "From now on, every night, record any important thing that you do. When the time comes, I''ll come and demand you to pay the price so do not forget." After saying that, Arthur vanished into a dissipating black mist, leaving Zodiak alone. The fire continued its course, approaching the convulsing Zodiak. Apart from that young kid, no one knew what happened that day but, that forest had a drastic transformation and soon changed names, becoming a forbidden zones inhabited by mutated monsters. The scorched trees and corrupted ground returned to normal but became jet black in color, even the dead crocodile returned to life. ***** There existed humans who are bad at magic, there also many who can''t use it, however, a case like Zodiak''s was truly unique. As someone born in a world filled with Mana, he should''ve been able to use spells, especially after acquiring Dark Magic, however, it was the total opposite. His body lacked any kind of energy, excluding Dark Mana, which Zodiak created for himself. Since he could not use normal Mana, he converted it with his powers into an energy he could use as a catalyst to enhance his Dark Magic spells. Since the meeting between him and Arthur, Zodiak spent the next two years alone, roaming a zone devoid of any humans. He resolved himself to become stronger then go back to his city and eradicate all the filth. He didn''t have any proper goal but he wanted to pay back all the nobles who mocked him and treated him like an animal. One of the reasons his mother died was because of their arrogance and twisted nature. In these two years, Zodiak became a real killing machine, something that lacked emotions and only sought death. His manipulation of Dark Magic reached a very high-stage and he even invented new, formidable uses for it. He was able to control beasts, change the structure of his bones and fully protect his heart, which changed location. Though he recorded his daily activities, he didn''t mention his training and even when he acquired the system later on, he made sure not to register them. When Zodiak left seclusion and headed back to his ''home'', the city ruled by the nobles who oppressed the beggars and poor, he never thought that he''ll meet another person whom he''ll rely on in the future. It all began when he purposely let himself be captured by a famous slave trader right at the entrance of the city. Seeing his fighting potential, the trader was joyous and promised him that some noble will certainly buy him and provide him with more than he could wish for, he just needs to fight and win in the Colosseum. It didn''t take long for the fifteen years old Zodiak to be bought by a pig-like noble lady. In addition to him, another boy, younger than him, was also bought. The boy had jet black hair and brown eyes, he had a horrifying scar on his neck all the way to his stomach and seemed physically fit for his age. His name? It was Forne. ****** "Greetings, Madam." A man that emanated a truly dangerous aura stood before Lucy, bowing respectfully. His hair was jet black and his eyes were lowered, lacking any arrogance, a surprising thing for someone of his position. The only reason Lucy didn''t attack was because of the youth standing next to this man. He wore a grey robe and seemed innocent but, in reality, he was a skillfull assassin, the Green seat of Justice of Black Rose. As for this man? He was the leader, the Black Seat of Death and also the man who almost killed her in the war. He was the one who attacked her and used a destructive energy which was barely stopped by the ARK and herself. "You are?" Though she nodded to Artid, who she was previously acquainted with but she didn''t show the same level of respect to the tall man standing in front of her. "My name is Forne. A half-vampire and the Black Seat of Death, pleased to make properly meet you, Madam MoonStar." Lucy, arms crossed didn''t reply, she only stared at him, her blue eye pulsating with light. Thanks to the eye gifted by Arthur, she was able to use Appraisal and get satisfactory information about this man, who was really strong, the strongest person she had ever met, excluding Timos and Arthur''s brothers, of course. He was also over 50,000 years old and had an insane amount of titles. "Arthur isn''t here yet, I wonder to what do we owe this visit of yours?" Knowing that this Forne is the leader of Black Rose, or at least the strongest out of all the seats so his word held a significant amount of power, Lucy talked directly to him despite her unwillingness. "Your husband has obtained the Red seat of Blood and as promised by Artid, the White seat is yours if you want." The White seat had already betrayed them and joined forces with Xyktia so it was left vacant, and Lucy was the perfect fit for this position. "I refuse, I''ve got more important matters to attend to than assassinating." Forne bowed again and replied: "We''re aware that your circ.u.mstances are a bitˇ­ unique." He glanced at the slightly large figure at the corner of the room. It was a blue wolf soundlessly sleeping, the tip of its three tails each let out differently-colored sparks of thunder, disturbing the air around them. "Which is why we won''t fault your husband for not coming to the HQ or performing the promised jobs. We believe that joining forces can be beneficial for all sides, especially in these times of turmoil." Chapter 547 - 493: Chimera "I paid a heavy sum for you so don''t embarrass me out there!" The pig-like lady who bought purchased a small group of slaves, which included Zodiak and Forne, was currently warning them repeatedly, her hands moving randomly in the air, showing off her expensive and loud jewelry. The over-sized bracelets, pendants as big as her hand, and the clothes made from the finest silk showed how wealthy she was. There was a decently-sized Colosseum in the city and almost daily, the nobles would buy slaves then pit them against each other. However, the cruel thing is that there will never be a winner since the last surviving individual will have to fight a monstrous beast. Zodiak purposely let himself be captured so that he can show the happy spectators what it means to fight for your survival. Not long after the ''encouragement'' talk of the rich madam, Zodiak, the quiet Forne and a few other slaves were thrown in the wide battling area. Along with them, there were at least forty other ''contestants'', all wearing shabby clothes and holding rusty armors. There were a few exceptions such as a tall and muscular man wielding a large ax, still, Zodiak didn''t feel threatened. Actually, he didn''t even plan on attacking them. Though he quickly backed away to a corner, the rest started a gory fight for survival, even Forne was no exception. The young boy was as agile as a cheetah, leaping from one target to another, slashing their necks with a blade that was merely four to five inches tall. The desperate and angry shouts of slaves echoed inside the Colosseum while the safe nobles watched from above, drinking their wine and enjoying their gr.a.p.es. There was a magical barrier erected around the battlefield, rendering it impossible for any of the slaves to reach their masters. Unfortunately, Dark Magic wasn''t affected by the barrier so, after merely five minutes, Zodiak started acting. In total, there were twenty or so nobles, some sitting alone and others enjoying the show while chatting. Unbeknownst to them, an ominous energy crept toward them from underground and before they, or they bodyguards could react, they were all, simultaneously thrown into the pit. Their unpleasant cries reached the fighting slaves, momentarily halting their savage battles. "Only like this would it be equal." Zodiak grinned and stared at the dumbfounded nobles, very much enjoying their expressions. Of course, their loyal bodyguards attempted to jump and save them, however, the whole place seemed to have disappeared as a jet black dome enveloped the area, blocking anyone from entering. As he saw the pale-faced nobles and the confused slaves, Zodiak knew that there was no going back to the quiet life now. He had to purge the nobles. Seeing that they were trapped in this dark dome with no one to interfere, they found the perfect opportunity to rid of the filth claiming to be their masters. Some slaves noticed Zodiak''s strange action and knew he was behind all of this yet they didn''t say anything. In fact, only he remained standing in the same position, all the rest charged at their masters and started a truly frightening massacre. Anything awful thing that can happen occurred that day, inside the dome. Some were directly beheaded, others tortured and a few were even r.a.p.ed by slaves who already became twisted. One truly needed a strong will to witness what happened and still remain sane. Zodiak leaned against the wall and watched everything, uncaring about what happens to either parties. Approximatively thirty minutes later, all the nobles died and all that remained were the slaves. "We''ve finished everything, can you let us out?" The muscular slave from before walked closer to Zodiak and flashed a friendly smile. He didn''t dare to act overbearingly as the boy before him was clearly a mage, and a powerful one, at that. "Why should I do that? I''m not some humanitarian. Finish what you already started." Hearing this, the axe-wielding slave frowned and glanced at the remaining slaves. Even though they were not all strong, some were exceptionally dangerous. Seeing the cold look Zodiak was giving him, the man''s smile broadened as he raised his arms and continued approaching him. Sadly, when he was but ten steps away, a formless darkness sprung from the ground and enveloped the man. It soon disappeared but it took with it the whole body, leaving nothing but absolute nothingness in his place. Even his armor and weapon vanished, making the slaves shake from dread. The only way out is to kill so the slaves continued their previous battles, stepping on the dismembered bodies of the nobles and their puddles of blood. ˇ­ "P-please do-" The slave knelt before the boy, begging him while bowing his head but Forne showed no mercy. He slashed the man''s neck, causing a fountain of blood to gush out. At last, everyone but him were killed, so, the quiet boy faced the motionless Zodiak, his blade raised, clearly ready to fight. "Strong butˇ­ it isn''t enough to destroy everything." Zodiak chuckled and walked toward Forne, who wasted no time and jumped at the former, his weapon aimed at the heart. Just when the weapon connected with the target, Zodiak transformed into a black cloud which vanished soon after, taking with it the black dome. The little kid, Forne, raised his head, staring at a tiny black dot far away in the sky. ˇ­ That day, it wasn''t catastrophic for only the Colosseum but the whole city. Zodiak headed for the castle of the lord, planning to eradicate all the abominations, nonetheless, he was going to spare the presumably young daughter, who''s said to be kind and caring. Unfortunately, the rumors about her were baseless and false. He came through the main door, slaughtering everyone who dared to raise a weapon. The guards were engulfed in the ominous darkness and the protective magic was either destroyed or easily bypassed. It wasn''t as hard as he had imagined, however, he was stopped when he stumbled upon a small, remote shack. He didn''t willingly stop but because he faced a rather particular ''being''. It looked completely disgusting, multiple arms, an eagle''s wings and the head of a lion-like creature. The one who created this monstrosity? A young girl who hasn''t even reached 15 years old, younger than Zodiak! Her face looked exceptionally ugly as she snickered at the young intruder, mocking his idiocy and promising him that she''ll take ''good'' care of him. She wasn''t too knowledgeable about the monster the creature she created so when she released it, it immediately attacked her. It ripped her arms then ate her head, leaving nothing but her bloody chest and bent legs. "I do want to sympathize but I can''t." The creature was sentient but it suffered too much damage, in fact, even breathing seemed hard and agonizing. Zodiak faced the monster, who glared back at him, his aura rising to its maximum, quickly corrupting the earth and enveloping him in a semi-transparent black sphere which floated inches above the ground. Not even Zodiak imagined that his battle with the desperate monster would obliterate half of the city, killing countless of people. No matter how much he attacked it, the creature refused to attack and persistently retaliated. When it reached it stalemate, Zodiak, who held his chest and coughed blood, started laughing loudly. He was oblivious to the dead bodies all around him or the half-conscious monster meters away, crouching down, ready to leap at him. "I get itˇ­ I finally get it." He raised his head and glared at the entity with his inky pupils "So you want to live? Looking like that? In such a world? I wanted to relieve you of the pain and suffering. You were artificially made, something that should not have existed. Even if I do not finish you, there will be a time when someone will." Ironically, that time, Zodiak didn''t know that his situation was exactly the same, if not more pitiful. Just like that chimera, he was an existence that should never have existed, a human being devoid of any emotions, a killing-machine. As for that monster? Despite what the young Zodiak said back then, it managed to outlive him and become an infamous being, a ruler. Sure, it suffered many tribulations and fought more times that it had lived yet it managed to persist. Its encounters with Zodiak were brief and always ended up in dispute but it cannot be denied that it felt grateful for that boy, who saved it that day, although unwillingly. That is exactly why, at the present, that ''chimera'' had awakened again and started acting, however, unlike back then, its appearance changed and it was given a name: The Void Behemoth. Chapter 548 - 494: All Life is Precious "Excellent." A tall brown-haired man sat on a small rock while nodding his head and staring at a little girl, or to be more precise, a kid who''s no older than years old, in appearance, that is. However, her real age was less than a year, a shocking fact, if she were a human. "Why is it blue though?" Unexpectedly, she spoke fluently despite her age. Her skin was snow-white and her hair matched the sky''s color. She was small, as a baby should be yet she was able to speak, write, and walk on her own. What''s more fascinating are her inborn abilities. "A good question indeed, little one." Hearing him, she angrily stomped her foot on the ground and protested: "I''m not little." "Oh but you are but I digress. To answer your question, the Mana is actually blue because it originates from water. Just like Qi is green due to its relation with nature. Nether Energy, the most frequently used comes from Space Magic hence it''s colorless appearance. Though, average people cannot see the color of any kind of energy, only those with a strong affinity to one of them can perceive the real color and harness it to perfection. If I remember correctly, your mother was proficient at Yin power and her Mana was unusually pure." "What about my father?" "I already told you he''s a parasite and no matter how talented you were destined to be, you were not able to inherit his Dark Magic. Even if you try, I doubt you can acquire it as it isn''t fit for you. Nonetheless, you did get the monstrous Strength of Titan and a few more interesting bloodlines." ********* A young boy with short dark hair sat in a small yet peaceful garden, his figure, standing there, lonely and pitiful. "When can we leave?" He raised his head and asked, however, there was no one but him in this place. The answer came briefly after, the speaker was seemingly disembodied. "When the times comes, my dear." The voice came from everywhere and nowhere, it sounded like neither a woman or a man, strangely. "What am I supposed to do, then?" "Read. Knowledge is the only infinite thing in this world." The boy sat near a clear pond and took out a thick golden book then, with difficulty, started slowly reading it. Time crept by and the boy became engrossed in this incomprehensible book. From time to time, he would stop and ask the unseen speaker. "Why was there only twelve?" "Only twelve were needed. Any more would''ve been a hindrance and any less would have caused a ''malfunction''." "And why did they fight?" "For power, my dear. If they remained unmoving, the world we live in right now would not have existed. To pave a way for the future generation, the creators must disappear, leaving only a trace of them to reminisce about." "Disappear? Do you mean die?" "No. They needed to get out of the way, leave things be. Just like the ground below you, a world of insects where one step from a giant can end them all, even unintentionally. Every life is precious, no matter how insignificant it is. Even the things that came to existence through a mistake or an accident deserve a chance." "Where are they now? The Twelve, I mean." This time, the voice didn''t reply immediately but maintained a brief silence. "Some are dead, others trapped and the rest wandering around." "The book mentions a long war, did no one understand the meaning behind everything?" "One of them did. He reached his destination and ended ''it'' peacefully." "Who was it?" "Moriah." ************ Six months after Lucy came back from Riarravar, many things changed in the Cloud Sea Universe. However, everything was overshadowed by a shocking occurrence which turned the attention of the inhabitants towards it. Lucy officially became a member of Black Rose, taking the White Seat for herself. The soul bind vanished completely but she knew Arthur would come back, definitely. As she expected, the signs appeared after half a year, the peacefulness broke and it was finally time to act. The heavens were moving, the dark clouds started cl.u.s.tering and moving toward a specific direction, alarming everyone. It was a Celestial Tribulation but this one seemed oddly different, much stronger than the rest and very frightening. Each world it passed by, it hid the light of the sun and caused horrible after-effects. "Let me go with you, Madam." Astrith, who fully recovered his strength and was in perfect condition, pleaded to Lucy. In response, the silver-haired woman caressed the now white hair of the sleeping Saly while saying: "There is no need. Take care of Saly and protect the sect." They were currently in Astria, in the MoonStar city. After her recent raid, Lucy located her daughter and brought her back home along with Delia and the knight. "The Cloud Sea Sect and several other powers will follow the tribulation. I believe my assistance is requir-" "I told you there is no need." Lucy cut him off and spoke with an authoritative tone, shutting up Astrith once and for all. ****** "Are you sure?" Isadore tapped his finger on the table, unconsciously, as usual, while listening to Dan''s report. The beggar-looking Overgod looked exceptionally pale as he stood before his king, not very sane after encountering many powerful individuals, including the Nameless Knight. "Yes, with the exception of a few place, it''s definitely identical. The only missing thing is the piece of land North-East." The king massaged his temples and wracked his brains trying to find a meaning to all of this. Ever since he got sucked in Arthur''s world, everything became chaotic. The more he tried to dig, the more surprised he became. "Which one do you think is the real Astria?" The overgod shrugged his shoulders and replied: "Both, I think." "Even a Titan cannot be in two places at once." Isadore let out sigh, stood up and left the office, closely followed by the grumpy Wrath. Chapter 549 - 495: Well of the Lost A teenager dressed in a ragged black robe dragged his injured body while supporting himself with the nearby trees. His body was littered with injuries and his face was unusually pale. Zodiak''s fight against the chimera was gruesome and almost resulted in his death. Their battle destroyed half the city and killed countless people yet the boy didn''t feel any guilt whatsoever. As he gasped for breath and slowly marched, a lightning-fast figure sprung from a nearby bush and attempted to ambush him. Alas, before the assailant could reach him, it was quickly enveloped in a fog of darkness, binding the body and causing it to freeze mid-air. Through the large hood, Zodiak raised his head and stared at the young face glaring back at him. "I''ll kill you!" This was none other than Forne, the young slave who was also bought by the now-dead noble lady. He managed to escape unscathed and, all in all, suffered only a few minor, non-fatal, injuries. His chilling eyes were locked onto Zodiak, ready to devour him whole. In response, the robbed teenager, with an expressionless face, looked back at the angry Forne and said: "Kill me? I don''t think we had a past grudge." "You''ve killed thousands of innocents! People like you should die!" Yelled back Forne, his face flushed. Hearing this, Zodiak snickered while retorting: "Innocents? No one is innocent in this world, and even if there were some, I don''t really care. I did what I had to do in order to maintain my life and no one, including you, is allowed to judge me, much less blame me. Thousands die, you say? Well, even more die by the hands of those arrogant nobles. Plus, I did it out of necessity while they did it out of pleasure!" Though many people died, most of them belonged to the high-echelon. The collateral damage caused by the fight between Zodiak and the chimera demolished the nobles'' district and killed almost all of them. The slums remained untouched and only a small portion of the citizens were unintentionally killed. So, in a way, those who died deserved that fate, or so Zodiak thought. Zodiak didn''t want to argue with Forne anymore so, after one last glance at the latter, he disappeared from that quiet forest, leaving a frustrated boy. Not long after that, Zodiak managed to fully awaken the Dark Magic, causing an unprecedented catastrophe to befall on that world, killing every life on it. In fact, it was sixteen months after the fight that Zodiak''s Dark Magic burst, insanely boosting his strength by sacrificing billions of lives. Literally, nothing remained of that world, an absolute emptiness which was both eerie and chilling. Zodiak, who, at that time, was seventeen years old, found himself floating in the empty space, surrounded by a starry sky, unable to control his body, which was being sucked by the gravity of the closest planet. Fortunately, he managed to protect himself as to not suffocate but this led him to enter some sort of hibernation, not waking up for the next ten years. However, that long slumber wasn''t simple. Zodiak dreamed of strange and inexplicable things, and these dreams were vivid and seemed to have a relation with the nightmare he frequently had when he was much younger. He would see different worlds, monsters, and truly horrifying things. In particular, there were people who kept resurfacing, making him feel oddly uncomfortable as if he had forgotten something important. **** After a long time of loneliness, Zodiak met the first living being and perhaps the one and only person he truly considered a friend throughout his bitter life. It all began when he fell from the sky like a meteor and crashed in an empty valley filled with colorful flowers. Just next to the place he crashed into, there stood a man with a mustache and a small beard, he held an unfamiliar musical instrument and looked at the unscathed Zodiak, his mouth was wide-open. This man, who was surprised by Zodiak''s lack of fashion rather than what actually happened, was a troubadour by the name of Aneirin. He was a very talkative and comical person who shouldn''t have gotten along with Zodiak but, surprisingly, the two became friends shortly after that incident. The minstrel brought the unconscious Zodiak to a broken shack and patiently waited for him to wake up, which didn''t take long, by the way. "Good morning, O''alien." The singer spoke with a mocking tone as he gazed at the expressionless Zodiak. The seventeen years old boy sat up and looked around him before focusing his gaze on the mustached man next to him. "Where am I?" One could see a creeping darkness revolving around Zodiak''s hands but Aneirin showed no fear whatsoever. With his chin resting on his hand, looking pretty bored, he rolled his eyes and answered: "Somewhere quiet in a planet called ''Serenity''." The bard knew that Zodiak came from outer space so he gave just the perfect answer for the listener. "And who are you?" "Aneirin, a bard extraordinary, at your humble service." The man did a comical bow before studying Zodiak''s young face, which was drastically changed with every passing second. In half a minute, the face of a teenager became that of a middle-aged man, strangely. Actually, Zodiak noticed this change only when he saw the weird look he was getting from Aneirin. He curiously touched his face only to feel a beard and almost unnoticeable wrinkles. Zodiak thought he understood the intention behind Aneirin''s actions so he raised his hand and magically transformed the creepy darkness into dozens of gold coins which fell on the rough bed. This ''trick'' fascinated the already curious Aneirin, who leaned closer and excitedly clapped his hands. "What was that? Alchemy? Do it again!" Zodiak frowned, thinking that the bard was greedy for money so he just did it again in order to rid of this ''savior''. Although he felt no emotion, he was still a bit grateful for this troubadour and thought that by giving gold, he''d just go away. Unfortunately, he couldn''t be more wrong. "You have the philosopher''s stone? Cool!" The bard became hyped as he examined the cold coins then looked at the darkness revolving around Zodiak''s hands. "Emmˇ­ it''s not alchemy. Really nice, I''ve learned something new today. Stranger, what''s your name?" Zodiak looked back at the noisy Aneirin for a long time before unconsciously saying : "Arthu-" Only to stop midway and hold his head, which was aching like crazy. After it somehow calmed down, he properly said: "Zodiak." "Very nice to meet you, Zodiak." The singer held out his hand, ready to shake Zodiak''s but the latter ignored him completely. Nonetheless, Aneirin grabbed Zodiak''s hand and made it shake wit his own, acting as if it was a normal thing to do. ***** "What are you doing?" Several days later, after Zodiak regained the ability to move properly and all the numbness caused by the long slumber disappeared, he hit the road. What he didn''t expect is that clingy Aneirin, who persistently followed him. Aneirin rolled on the ground a few times, slowly got up while rubbing his butt and saying: "Ouch! You don''t have to be so aggressive!" He was attacked by Zodiak''s Dark Magic but he seemed unscathed. Although Zodiak did go easy on him, that didn''t change the fact that this wandering bard was actually resistant to his attacks. Aneirin looked normal and was definitely not a mage yet he was mysterious. At first, he behaved normally but Zodiak grew cautious of him ever since he resisted his Dark Magic. "Come on! Traveling alone is boring. Let us ease each other''s loneliness!" He hugged himself and walked behind the grumbling Zodiak, showing no signs of giving up his ''pursuit''. In the end, Zodiak didn''t due anything extreme like trying to kill Aneirin as he deemed it as unnecessary. Moreover, after wandering this land for some time, he even grew a bit fond of this companion, who was knowledgeable about many things. In their short night talks, Aneirin would talk about the vast universe, and the existence of three others, each one bigger than the other. Currently, they were in the Heaven and Hell Universe, far North, in a zone called the White commandment. Serenity was a planet utterly void of conflicts and apart from the breath-taking scenes, it was very unsettling. The inhabitants seemed dazed as if they were controlled by something. They didn''t speak much and never fought, maintaining the current ''quiet'' state of the planet. Sadly, things became complicated with Zodiak''s appearance. His Dark Magic unintentionally canceled the effects of the magic cast on the inhabitants, causing them to became insane, literally. It happened two months after Zodiak started this journeyˇ­ blood started dying the earth of Serenity, breaking this artificial balance, at last. ˇ­ "My friend, look at what I caught!" Aneirin held a large orange rabbit in his hand while flashing a satisfied smile at Zodiak, who busy writing his daily activities in his diary. "It''s a sky rabbit! It''s the most delicious rabbit in existence!" The troubadour patted a golden net which hung on his back while putting the corpse on an even wooden block. He skillfully skinned it then started preparing dinner, not forgetting to add the necessary seasoning. Although he didn''t look like it, Aneirin often boasted about his culinary skills, telling Zodiak that he''s an unmatched cook. Though, his words weren''t without proof as Zodiak could really feel the effects of his cooking. He couldn''t cultivate like normal people, nevertheless, his physical body was strengthened beyond his imagination. His control of Dark Magic was also slightly increased, which truly fascinated Zodiak. "Now then, eat!" He presented him with a big dish filled with well-cut vegetables, meat with an addictive odor and a side dish that was as plentiful as the main one. While they were quietly enjoying their lavish dinner, Aneirin stared at the night sky, his eyes locking onto two-winged silhouettes which were monitoring them. "So, what are your thoughts about our new friends?" When he heard that, Zodiak glanced at the far away angels and grinned. "I don''t care about themˇ­ as long as they don''t attack." "Oh but they will! Angels need permission to interfere with planets such as ''Serenity'' which is why they''re merely monitoring us. I reckon that they''ll properly ''welcome'' us in a week, at most." "Then we''ll retaliate. I do not think that the bard extraordinaire is afraid of a couple of angels." Aneirin shook his head repeatedly while retorting: "I''m not cut for battles. Unless it''s absolutely necessary, I''d rather not dirty my hands. Also, it won''t be long before we reach the Well of the Lost. If we enter it, they won''t dare to chase us inside." Hearing the name of their destination for the nth time, Zodiak became absent-minded. "The Well of the Lost, huhˇ­" As someone who lived for a long time, Aneirin doesn''t just wander around without any destination in mind. He''s an explorer who seeks thrilling experiences in order to come up with good and real poems. He needs to be in the heart of the action, which is why he usually seeks dangerous places that are rumored to have heavenly treasures. The Well of the Lost is one of them, however, its origins are mysterious. Back then, Zodiak didn''t know that this well will start an unstoppable chain of events which will drag him from one place to another. The first one being a world unlike any other, a place that only existed in the past before it was ravaged by continuous disasters. At that world, there was his destined meeting with a certain person, a very special mortal, cast out from society. No one, including Arthur, Wolfram, or Leiu, knew that Zodiak and Claud Venice actually met. In fact, Zodiak never recorded that journey in his diary. Chapter 550 - 496: Escaped "I figured that I''ll find you here." An old man wearing a very old black robe riddled with holes appeared next to a black-haired woman. He didn''t stare at her but looked at the person she was watching with an absent-minded look. "I''m not stopping you so why don''t you go talk to him?" Death looked at his student, Anastassia, and spoke, his tone gentler than usual. For some time, the woman didn''t talk and only looked at the frail and thin young man who was doing harsh manual labor to support himself and his sick mother. Seeing that he got no response, the elder spoke again: "That is right, the current him hasn''t met you yet." "ˇ­" Anastassia jet black pupils shook as her eyes became a bit watery but she turned her head away, afraid that the old man might see. "You had only one path and you chose it. It is too late for regret now, child." After he said that, both he and his student vanished, appearing in a desolate place far away. The two crossed the river of time and went back to one fateful day. "It is almost time to pass my duty to you. You''ve learned almost everything and it is time to harvest the first soul." He raised his bony hands and pointed a figure shrouded in black not far away from them. They were floating in space with only darkness surrounding them, the only source of light was of the faraway stars. The woman looked at the two silhouettes a distance away, her hands slightly shaking. "In fact, the one and only way to become Death itself is by erasing that which should not have existed." The old man sighed as he stared at the shrouded silhouette. Facing the target was a youngster wearing a jet black armor which made him merge with his surroundings. He was holding a two-handed sword which was soaking with fresh blood. "I, I can''t." Anastassia staggered a few steps and hid her shaky hands under her sleeves. She didn''t even dare look at Zodiak, who had a gaping hole in his chest and was soon about to die. "He''s my-" The old man cut her off and retorted: "Arthur is, no, was your friend. Zodiak is not him and if you wish for your friend to return, you must do this!" Without even realizing it, both she and Death were getting closer to the old man, Zodiak. As for Leiu, he glanced at them before turning around leaving. ******** It was a sky-piercing mountain, its size was truly absurd. It towered over everything on this planet and remained unscathed despite the Celestial Tribulation hovering around it. Red and purple lightning danced in the air, sometimes striking the mountain but damaging only a minuscule part of it. Currently, this place, which was the boundary between the Cloud See Universe and the System Universe, was filled with people. It''s a dangerous place where only the strong can enter but in the recent period, many cultivators and players have come, expectantly waiting for the tribulation to erupt. In the sky, you could see a massive spaceship which was a third of this ginormous mountain. It was moved relying solely on very advanced technology, it even had thousands of cannons ready to fire. Both on the peak and foot of the mountain, there stood numerous people, most notable of them were Marshals belonging to the Cloud Sea Empire and high-leveled players belonging to the System. However, many other factions were quite curious about the tribulation so they sent their best experts, eager to witness what''s going to happen. There were even second-grade clans and sects but they stood a distance away from the mountain, afraid to anger the big heads. "Is this distance enough?" Jian Si, now officially the sect master of the Mountain Ba Sword Sect, spoke to a woman standing next to her. The woman had black hair and was wearing a mask which covered the entirety of her face. "Yes." Cold Sword didn''t know what exactly happened to Arthur but she did hear about Lucy''s raid and how the Cloud Sea Sect put a hefty bounty on her head. It wasn''t surprising to see her cover her appearance but she didn''t know why she''d come here, moreover, she even personally came and requested her help. As it was quite a dangerous place, Jian Si only brought the grand elder of the sect with her, excluding Lucy, of course. The elder was curious about the sect master''s friend but he remained silent, fully trusting Cold Sword. Lucy''s reply was short as she was busy cleaning the silver revolver, which seemed a bit different. She didn''t know how exactly but when she came to her senses, she found her saber and gun next to her body. Her first guess was Timos, who highly praised this masterpiece crafted by her husband. "What exactly are you going to do?" Though she was usually brave and didn''t fear anything, Jian Si felt intimidated by the suffocating tribulation and the several powerhouses present today. "Pay back my debt." Before he was pulled in Riarravar by the chains, Arthur said it clearly. He will never forgive or forget what they did and it was time he and Lucy stay true to their words. When the times comes, those who need to die will die, no matter what. ******* "Ahˇ­ you''re really good at tracking, the best one after Xyktia, actually." A brown-haired man and gulped down one big bottle of alcohol before saying that. He wiped his lips and stared at the man holding a cane and hiding his face, which was very blurry. "Your compliments are an honor, Sir." ''X'' politely bowed to Timos before walking closer, his eyes curiously glancing at a nearby girl with blue hair. He could feel dangerous fluctuation emanating from her but he refrained from asking anything. Timos didn''t need to hear anything from ''X'' to know what he wanted. "I assume you want the Dark Blade? But, let me ask youˇ­ I even took it from Arthur so what makes you think I''ll give it to you?" After a brief silence, ''X'' replied: "Sir, with all due respect, I only need something inside the blade. The extraction will only take a short time." "Maybe if I like your reason, I''ll allow you. Here, sit and empty your heart." Timos smiled and motioned for ''X'' to sit opposite of him. Although reluctant, ''X'' still sat and gazed at the bonfire, which was the only separating him from the Black Devil. "Sir, actually, it''s about your son, Sol''khin." The moment he mentioned that name, Timos'' smile vanished and an ugly frown appeared. "Why are you mentioning him? Speak." "Heˇ­ escaped." ''X'' immediately regretted saying that as a suffocating pressure spread from Timos, shattering the earth and splitting the sky. Only the little kid remained unaffected, she was so long in her mysterious trance that didn''t notice anything. "Escaped, you say?" Though he appeared very angry, he managed to calm himself surprisingly fast. He took a deep breath and regained his calm expression before speaking again: "Explain." ********** "Ah! It hurts! Ouch!" Aneirin jumped around while holding his aching butt. They had inspected the Well of the Lost before jumping in but they ended up in this strangely normal place. The fall did hurt a bit but it didn''t really cause any serious injuries. Zodiak slowly get up and studied his surroundings, curious about mysterious and small moving things. They appeared to be in some kind of laboratory but their vision was blurry due to a lot of steam caused by some kind of explosion. Their attention was soon grabbed a machine which was emitting a loud noise while sucking all the steam inside of it. Soon, there appeared a middle-aged man in a lab-coat, a disheveled hair and a pair of round glasses. Aneirin found him unfamiliar but Zodiak was shocked. He dumbly stood there, staring at this man, who was very similar to the one he dreamed aboutˇ­ their faces looked exactly the same, more or less. "I succeeded, hahahaha" The man joyfully celebrated while circling around the two oblivious guests. "I must say, stranger, your sense of fashion is lacking but your room is fascination so it''s a plus for me." Aneirin studied the place while nodding his face, clearly not bothered by this sudden and very strange chain of events. As an explorer, he had been in situations much weirder and illogical than this. "Ah-please pardon my late introduction." The man wearing a white lab coat stretched his hand to the troubadour while saying: "I am Claud Venice. A human scientist." Chapter 551 - 497: Dont You Want to Know? "Yes yes, my name is Aneirin, a bard extraordinaire." The troubadour warmly shook hands with Claud Venice, the two happily smiling. When it was Zodiak''s turn, he neither spoke nor raised his hands, turning the atmosphere awkward. "Don''t mind him, he''s a bit shy."-Aneirin "A-ah, alright." Claud nodded his head then guided the two upstairs, to his respectable home. He prepared two cups of hot tea for them then waited for them to calm down before talking. Zodiak remained oddly silent and unresponsive while Aneirin was looking around, fascinated by all the foreign machines decorating the room. "That''s called a TV. It can broadcast many things like movies and news from all over the world." Claud was patient as he explained some of the things to the curious bard. At some point, the silent Zodiak raised his head and stared at Claud with his usual expressionless face. "Where are we?" It was the first thing he said ever since coming here. In response, the scientist gave an immediate and detailed answer. "You''re on a planet called Serenity and, correct me if I''m wrong, but you also came from the same planet, right?" "Yes, that is indeed the case."-Aneirin "Would you mind telling me the date? Which Era are you from?" "5th Era, Year 1694." After a short pause, the bard asked: "Did you summon us to the future?" Claud smiled and corrected him: "Quite the opposite, in fact. You''re in the past." Zodiak flinched but the troubadour didn''t seem that surprised. "What do you want from us?" Zodiak didn''t trust this friendly scientist and fell uncomfortable in this cozy place, fearing that it may be some kind of trap. "Honestly, when I attempted my summon, I didn''t expect it''ll really work. After all, Theoretically, time-travel is possible but no one was able to succeed yet. Anyway, you''re here because I want to ascertain something." "Ascertain of something?"-Aneirin. "Yes. This planet is crumbling and I kind of predicted that there will be many disasters coming here. If you''re from the future and also from a planet called Serenity, it means I was wrong." "Disasters? What kind?" "Both natural and artificial disasters." While the two were conversing, Zodiak was examining the place. Though there was an abundance of these ''scientific machines'', there was an alarming absence of any kind of energy. "Why can''t I feel any Mana?" Just as Zodiak said that, Claud hurriedly motioned him to stop talking. He stealthily closed the curtains then spoke with a low, almost inaudible voice. "Please don''t speak of anything magic-related." "And why is that?" The scientist seemed troubled as he replied: "Magic is banned here and anyone who as much as mutters the word will be punished." "Banned? Why is it banned? From where we came from, Magic is a universal thing." Hearing this, Claud let out a sigh and spoke again: "The inhabitants of Serenity despise Magic and think it''s dangerous and unreliable. The truth is that they can''t find a scientific explanation for its existence so they deem it as a defect, an evil thing." "You don''t seem like you share their opinion though?" Aneirin inquired while looking at the anxious Claud. "Yes, I don''t. I do like science and believe it''s much suited for our civilization but Magic can do wonders too, we just have to know when and where to use it." Just as he finished speaking, the door of the room and a graceful figure entered. She had long silver hair and a small mole under her eye, adding more to her beauty. "Ah, this is my wife, Angel." Claud swiftly stood up and walked up to his wife, who was startled by the presence of the two strangers. "Hello." She softly smiled and bowed toward Zodiak and Aneirin. Her husband, Claud, seemed excited as he introduced them to Angel. "These two gentlemen are from the future. I successfully managed to summon them." The woman let out a shocked gasp as she accessed the cheerful bard and the grumpy Zodiak, who was wearing an over-sized black robe. "They''re also from Serenity so it means my visions were false." Claud affectionately held his wife''s hands while briefly explaining the situation. The more she heard him, the happier she became, her soft smile widened and become heart-warming. "Wait wait, we''re still not sure your predictions are not wron-" Aneirin wasn''t even able to finish as Zodiak pulled him closer and whispered: "Are you really going to involve yourself with them?" In response, the troubadour shrugged his shoulders and said: "Why not? The treasure which was supposed to be at the bottom of the well is perhaps hidden here." Zodiak glared at his companion but didn''t say anything else. Aneirin took this silence as acceptance of his actions so he resumed his actions. ˇ­ Honestly, Claud gave them comfortable accommodation and provided them with food and a map of the city they were currently in. At night, Aneirin went out to explore the truly shiny city, as for Zodiak, he remained at the living room, staring at the starry night sky. Claud, who helped his tired wife fall asleep, entered the room and sat opposite of the silent Zodiak, who now looked like a middle-aged man despite his real age, which was less than twenty years old. "You know I spoke about my predictions, right?" The scientist broke the silence by saying that, his gaze lingering on Zodiak''s face. I don''t what it really is but I''ve got an ability that not many know of. He lowered his head, removed his glasses and looked at his hands. "I can predict thingsˇ­ it''s not entirely accurate but most times it is. Especially with people." After a slight pause in which he glanced at Zodiak only to see the latter look back at him, he resumed: "Back then, when I shook hands with your friend, I caught a glimpse of his recent past. Sometimes I see someone''s past, the visions vary and are not always specific. However, what I saw was a planet almost void of humans. Somehow, it felt calmˇ­ peaceful. At that moment, I felt content because, the disasters I foresaw, even if they did happen, weren''t able to eradicate everything." The two looked at each other for an inordinate amount of time before Claud spoke again: "Which is whyˇ­ will you do me the honor?" He stretched his hand toward Zodiak, clearly expecting a handshake. "There is nothing to look at." Zodiak blatantly refused. "There is always something. It can be either good or bad, don''t you want to know which one?" Time crept by and the hand was left hanging, not moving even an inch. When Claud was about to retract it, Zodiak did the unexpected and actually held it, causing the former''s eyes to close for around ten seconds. When he opened them again, he appeared troubled, sad, and a bit confused. At first, he hesitated but when he saw Zodiak''s expectant gaze, he asked: "Do you perhaps know someone called Arthur Bilgart?" The one who replied wasn''t Zodiak but Aneirin, who appeared in the room like a ghost. "Bilgartˇ­ I''ve heard that somewhere but I can''t remember when or where." The poet tried to remember but it was futile, all he could do was wrack his brains for nothing. He put down his lute and sat next to Zodiak while stretching his exhausted limbs. "I don''t know him." Zodiak gave his answer, fully certain that he never heard this name in his entire life. "But, your face is familiar." As he listened to him, Claud chuckled, stood up and starting pacing around the room. "No scientist believes in God or Destiny but when I hear and see such thingsˇ­ I truly cannot help but doubt myself and everything." He looked at the expressionless Zodiak, his face containing apparent melancholy. "Zodiak, right? That is your name." As he heard his own name, he twitched but gave no reply, nonetheless, Claud knew that he was right. "Strange as it may be, I saw things that either happened or are going to happen. A man who had my face, a woman that resembled my wife, cruel wars andˇ­" He wanted to spill the last thing but he couldn''t. He didn''t know if Zodiak wanted to hear it or not, making him feel conflicted and apprehensive about Zodiak''s future. "I saw your death, it was the most vivid of them all. I know the date, the place, and even when." Aneirin noticed the serious atmosphere so he neither joked nor talked. He sat there, motionless and listened to this one-sided conversation. "Then tell me."-Zodiak Chapter 552 - 498: The Red Tower "Arthur Bilgartˇ­ who are you and why are you in my dreams?" Zodiak laid on the sofa, his eyes facing the ceiling, unable to close them or think about anything else other than what he heard a few hours ago. He sat up, retrieved his journal and was about to write but couldn''t, his fingers refused to obey him as if some sort of mystical force was stopping him from writing about his death and yesterday''s events. ˇ­ Claud told them about many things about this planet and how the world functions. They were sent from the 5th era to the Era of Beginning, or so it was called by everyone. Unlike in the future, the inhabitants of Serenity didn''t discover any lives outside of the planets despite many desperate tries. Their technology was advanced enough to explore the space for a limited amount of time but all they could find was meteors and planets utterly void of any life. The scientist spoke about this society, in which a government rules over the citizens and, unlike the future, it''s not the strongest who rule. There''s a council of officials and scientists who manage everything. Furthermore, Magic is prohibited anywhere on Serenity and anyone caught experimenting or wielding it is sentenced to death, immediately. Apparently, some hundred years ago, there was a faction of mages who decided to resist the current system and caused a lot of damage, slaughtered thousands and experimented on innocents and this caused almost everyone to hate the word ''magic'' and anything related to it. In the end, this mage faction was obliterated and the few survivors went hiding. Up to this day, the government is still searching for their remains and finishing them one by one. This was part of the reason Claud was hiding his ability, which can be regarded as magic and this will lead to his execution. He was part of said council though he rarely attends it and is usually busy with his experiments. His wife highly praised his intelligence and talked about his innovative inventions. In fact, Angel was an alchemist but wasn''t as famous as her husband, she just had a small shop which sold miscellaneous things. The next morning, Claud acted a bit different, hysterical even. It was his silver-haired wife who, after several bitter attempts, managed to calm him down and explained to the guests that it''s a normal thing for him whenever he dreams about those called disasters. This time, however, he repeatedly spoke about the disasters and set out to warn the council, sure that the time of doom is upon them. As for Zodiak and Aneirin, they ventured outside, trying to locate the treasure that supposedly was at the bottom of the well. It was a talisman that belonged to an ancient being and, from what Aneirin persistently said, can help increase Zodiak''s control over Dark Magic. This Talisman belongs to the first person who picks it and enters their body, feeding off the energy in the owner''s surroundings and converting it to whatever the user wants. "Where do you think it can be?" While licking a gigantic lollipop, the troubadour asked his not-so-talkative companion. "It could be anywhere."-Zodiak "Nop. Since the well guided us here, it should be near. I trust my explorer''s sense." "We weren''t guided here but summoned." Zodiak correct the bard but the latter retorted "Hm I wonder about that." **** "Ahhhh you''re so cute!" Saly pinged little Ragnar''s cheeks, her tail wagging happily. She was baby-sitting this newborn baby, who was usually quiet and very rarely cried. Jackob is busy some important matters related to the sect so she volunteered to take care of his son. Ragnar had his mother''s dark red hair and his father''s eyes, he adorably smiled at Saly, who held him in his arms and danced. Although she wanted to accompany her mother, she couldn''t and ended up staying him, at the High Tower of the MoonStar sect. It wasn''t that bad as she didn''t worry about anything, unlike in the past, where there were pursuers everywhere she went. Delia and her sister, the Holy Knight, were also brought her and well-taken care of. Lucy never believed that the Holy Goddess betrayed them, in fact, Delia even saved her daughter when she was about to be caught right after Arthur was dragged into Riarravar. The young Saly suddenly stopped dancing and looked at the entrance of the room, through which an individual entered. Seeing the guest, Saly clumsily bowed and said: "Hello, your Highness." "It''s your Maj-" Another person at the back wanted to correct her but the one at the front stopped him while laughing. "No need, it''s not like she''s from my kingdom." Isadore smiled at Saly and sat on one of the empty seats after glancing at the large wolf napping on the corner. He knew it was the infamous lightning beast that was about to be executed by the Cloud Sea Sect only to be saved by Lucy. While still holding Ragnar, who was clutching onto her snow-white hair, Saly curiously asked: "What brings you here?" "Oh nothing in particular. Just sightseeing and talking over a few matters with the Vice-sect master." "I see." Saly cheerfully nodded her head then resumed playing with Ragnar, not paying much attention to the King of Green Leaf, who tenderly smiled while looking at the two innocent kids. As for Wrath, he walked over to Astrith and snickered, clearly provoking the wolf. However, the sleeping beast paid the man no attention and kept his eyes closed, not feeling threatened or in the mood to battle. "Say, miss Saly, you said your teacher was the Joker, right?" "That''s right!" "Then have you received some kind of invitation from him?" Saly thought for a moment before taking out a red envelope and waving it around. "I think you''re talking about this. It''s an invitation to the Red Tower but I''m forbidden from participating." "Forbidden?" "Yes, teacher said I''m not strong enough yet so I''m just going there to watch." Chapter 553 - 499: Cycles "Are you sure about this place?" Zodiak was skeptical as he looked at the abandoned inn, doubting his companion''s words. Apparently, Aneirin was in possession of an object that could detect nearby treasures and it was pointing toward this old building, which could crumble with a simple breeze. "Yeah, it''s here for sure." The bard nodded his head then cleared his throat and retrieved one of his musical instruments which kind of resembled a guitar made from black wood. "As I said before, you''re the vanguard. I''m only here to watch." Zodiak snorted but didn''t object as he knew that Aneirin was kind of a scaredy-cat despite being decently strong. He never saw him fight but the poet had many treasures that could save his life and even resist Dark Magic. Soon after, the two entered this seemingly empty inn, one prepared to fight and the other ready to flee. This place was located right outside the advanced city and was even ignored by the beggars so there was no one to stop them. As they set foot inside, the creaking door closed and ghastly noises echoed throughout the shabby and small interior of the inn. The bard tightly held his instrument while Dark Magic danced around Zodiak. "Why are you so afraid?" Zodiak frowned as he saw Aneirin shake so much, wondering how he''s actually an explorer. In response, the poet pointed at one particular corner and said: "G-ghosts!" The moment he said that, several illusory white silhouettes jumped at the duo. The ghosts released chilling cries as they all attacked at once, focusing mainly on the vanguard, who appeared to be more dangerous. Their hands resembled long claws as they headed at the shrouded Zodiak, who transformed into a black cloud the moment the attack struck him. As if sentient, the cloud moved on its own and formed into Zodiak again after swiftly circling around the ghosts. In total, there were four ghosts and all had the same appearance, an invisible lower half, and the figure of a woman with long black hair, very typical but still scary. Zodiak''s stretched his hand and released a burst of Dark Magic which enveloped the ghosts, trapping them in some kind of a black sphere. It didn''t take long for Aneirin to hear ear-piercing wails coming from within the sphere, whatever Zodiak did, it was definitely effective. The cries lasted for half a minute before the sphere vanished along with the ghosts inside. "I hafta say, that Dark Magic of yours is scarier than the ghosts." Aneirin felt chills down his spines as he saw the Darkness revolving around Zodiak''s hands, ready to devour everything in its way. It was similar to Void Magic but emitted a cold and uncomfortable aura which made him retreat further to avoid its range of effect. Though he was able to resist it back then, it didn''t mean he can completely negate it. In fact, he can''t win against his companion and, at most, he can defend for a while before he''s forced to flee. Once the pests were dealt with, all that was left was the eerie and lonely room which had old tables and chairs, broken counter and the inaudible sounds of the cold wind coming through the minuscule cracks all over the walls. While ignoring the hesitant and motionless Aneirin, Zodiak searched turned the whole place upside down but found no secret bas.e.m.e.nt or any signs of the Talisman. ˇ­ "What the hell did you do?!" Angry, Zodiak shouted at his companion while raising his hand and creating a dark wall that protected them from the flying debris which were purposefully aimed at them. A few minutes earlier, the troubadour took out a strange red box and opened, causing the whole inn to break into countless pieces and a gigantic wraith to appear. It came out from underground and obliterated the inn, using it to attack the uninvited visitors. "Why are you blaming me? I was trying to find the talisman!" Aneirin yelled back while striking a comical pause and activating his instrument. As he saw the loudly shrieking wraith, he unconsciously swallowed some saliva and added: "It was the damn inn! It was the talisman!" As he informed his companion, he started playing inaudible musical sounds which were directed at Zodiak. Visible musical notes traveled from the bard to the target, magically enhancing his powers and making his powers feel inexplicably light. Zodiak grumbled as he stared at the disgusting wraith, its body a mix of green and gray, its skin rotten and its eyes white with a total absence of pupils. The wall continued blocking the incoming projectiles while several copies of Zodiak made purely from Dark Magic appeared around the wraith, each one holding a different weapon. They jumped at the enemy from all directions and swung down their weapon. Swords were slashed, spears thrust and arrows fired. Unfortunately, all the attacks went through the wraith dealing no damage, contrary to the case with the ghosts. **** "A common misconception is that Time is strictly uniform, a straight line that goes from A to B." The disembodied voice spoke to the young boy, who was dangling his feet in the cold pond, enjoying the chilling weather while listening to the speaker. "But didn''t you create it to be so?" "What I created is something imperfect. In fact, Time can be bent, broken, or even bypassed and the means always and I mean always, vary. It was never a straight line but a circle, where the beginning is linked to the end and vice-versa." Curious, the boy asked again: "Then why does the Twelve think Time was born when the stranger came to the past. Did you purposefully let them think that?" "I never said anything about it so they ended up concluding that on their own. After all, how exactly can Time be created, right?" "Yes, how did you do it?" Hearing this, the speaker chuckled and vaguely said: "Just like everything else was created. How did the Twelve came to be? How were they able to form stars and create Races? It''s a complex thing difficult to explain in words. It just happened, intentionally or not." The boy stood up and raised his head, looking at the one and only tree in this garden. It was tall and strangely thin with gray-colored branches and white leaves. "Why are you always hiding? Why are you refusing to show yourself to me? I want to see whom I''m speaking to." "You''ll see me when the time comes, child." The boy stomped his feet, annoyed of hearing the same words over and over again. "You always say that and I''m bored. You no longer teach me anything and I have ran out of books to read." ˇ­ "Most living beings have one life that revolves around one cycle." The voice spoke to the absent-minded boy, explaining things to him yet again. "What''s a cycle?" "A cycle is a period of time that follows a unique path, and, in it, time usually isn''t disturbed. For example, someone is born, grows and lives happily or miserably then he or she dies. That''s a cycle. It differs for each individual and it can either be very long or pitifully short. However, in certain cases, a person''s life is cut into different parts and each part is a cycle." "What about me?" "Your life revolves around two cycles and soon, you''ll enter the second one. With the beginning of the new cycle, time reverts back but the second beginning line is randomized, for the most part. Furthermore, no two cycles are identical. Even if whoever experiences them thinks they''re the same, there has to be some kind of change, which can be minuscule or absurdly big." The boy thought for a moment before asking: "Then what about reincarnation? If someone reincarnates, does it mean they enter another cycle?" "No, to reincarnate is to have your soul travel from one body to another while keeping all the memories or a portion of them. A cycle is different, it is something not affected by time yet strongly reliant on it. I know, it''s illogical but that''s how it is." Chapter 554 - 500: Ill See you In Hell "You mean you want to finish off that monstrous dude wandering around? I can feel his power from here!" Timos seriously said as he faced the docile ''X''. "I would need at least two more of the Twelve to take him down and they need to be battle-oriented. There''s also that maniac with him, it''ll be suicidal." The Black Devil was speaking about the Nameless Knight, who''s strong enough to cause one of the Twelve to feel threatened. "We don''t need to kill him, just bind him for some time." ''X'' carefully explained, hoping Timos would aid him. "You''re saying he''s not aware of it? Hm, he certainly doesn''t look like he knows." The brown-haired man rubbed his small beard while monitoring the very faraway Leiu. After pondering for a while, Timos sighed and said: "Nah nah, I''ve retired. His aura alone is creeping me out. I will hand you the orb but it''s up to you if you get it out of him." He waved his hand, retrieving a purple orb which lacked its past-l.u.s.ter and the archaic aura, nonetheless, ''X'' still took it, feeling slightly excited. "The Dark Blade devoured most of the powers inside but I don''t think you''ll need those. You just need its primary function, the power to extract anything." "Yes, thank you for your help. I will not forget it." ''X'' stood up, respectfully bowed before leaving, though he didn''t forget to throw one last cursory glance at the quiet blue-haired girl. Once the stalker disappeared, Timos stared at the rising sun and the orange sky, his hands unconsciously clenching the branch in his hand, snapping it in half. "O''Sol''khin, it seems you finally met your match. As your father, I''ll personally visit you when you''re sent to Hell." **** "F.u.c.k." The woman couldn''t help but curse as she stared at the tower before her eyes. It was blood-red and had massive card symbols on all four sides of it. To dizzying height it rises, the gleaming spire, its tip threatening to pierce the blinding canopy. This ''chef-d''oeuvre'' is the Red tower created by the joined forces of the Joker and the Nameless Knight but its official owner is Wolfram. It is a masterpiece that surpasses everything in this multiverse. It contains vast worlds, bigger than one''s imagination, dangerous trials that, if completed, reward you with treasures that would make even Exalted Gods swoon. Only those who received the invitation can enter it and participate and, in fact, there weren''t many people invited. This woman, a renowned blacksmith called Losha, Lucy''s previous master, already arrived at her destination. She was one of the lucky few who were given the red envelope and can do nothing but wait till this much-awaited event begins. The Joker didn''t specify when but he said it''ll be soon and since she has got nothing to do, she decided to come here. She was a bit interested in the Celestial Tribulation but decided not to go as it''ll be quite noisy there. The zone around the Red Tower is called, by the Joker, ''the Tutorial'' and, apart from her, there was only one person waiting. He was covered in a gray robe and even his face was hidden but it''s not like she was that interested in him. Despite being only a God Monarch, Losha was still a reincarnator and can easily content with Exalted Gods, however, she felt uncomfortable every time she looked at this hooded-individual, purposefully choosing to stay as far away from him as possible. Every person invited to this competition is definitely someone powerful. It didn''t matter what their status are, as long as they met the Joker''s requirement, they can enter, which is why Losha didn''t dare drop her guard. It won''t be surprising to see people trying to eliminate potential threats before even entering, after all, it''s not a prohibited thing. ***** Right outside of the luminous city, the sky darkened and the atmosphere became gloomy. The large wraith wanted to fly higher but the creeping darkness shackled while Zodiak''s flew at it and struck it with his hands. He was holding two black whirlpools which spun and sucked everything inside, like a black hole. His face was twisted and very pale as he pushed the whirlpools toward the large wraith, slowly yet surely sucking its life-force. It wildly shrieked and waved its illusory hands, flinging Zodiak''s away and causing him to crash on the ground. He didn''t seem to mind it as he flew at it again, his hand unleashing a jet black vortex which flew on its, setting itself high-up in the sky. The long-range of effect of the vortex along with the change in weather alerted the city, resulting in armed patrols and flying machines to come within minutes. Zodiak was like a raging beast, conjuring chains which bound the wraith then bombarded it with flying dark spears and water-like waves of Dark Magic. The place turned into an inky blackness where the earth and sky couldn''t be seen, the only visible thing was the struggling Wraith, which perished after bitterly and persistently trying to free itself. When the monster finally disappeared, a talisman appeared, it looked ordinary as it laid on the corrupt ground. The Dark Magic in the surroundings had an immediate effect on it as it instantly turned black and plastered itself on Zodiak''s chest, soon going inside of him. It seemed the shock from the talisman was too much for Zodiak as he fell on the ground, violently shaking, unaware that more than a hundred humans circled the area, their weapons raised and pointed at him and Aneirin. Through a loudspeaker, a human male wearing a black suit meant for battling spoke to the duo: "Surrender!" Hearing no answer, he shouted again: "Raise your hands and get on your knees." Seeing the swarm of people ready to fire at him and Zodiak, Aneirin panicked. He raised his hand and walked closer to Zodiak, who remained unresponsive. "Shit shit, we''re in trouble." The bard glanced at the small buzzing objects flowing in the air. They were releasing red lasers which covered his body, frustrating the poet and making him hesitant. This small army got closer to the duo, their advanced firearms never leaving their targets. Clearly not wanting to be captured, Aneirin waited for the perfect moment and waved his hand, throwing a white powder around him. The second he did that, everyone fired at them but the lasers and bullets hit nothing but air. The confused soldiers and machines searched the blackened area but found no signs of the two strangers, only countless debris and several small craters. ˇ­ A long-distance from the luminous city, Aneirin appeared next to a pond. He threw Zodiak''s body to the side and angrily cursed: "These unsophisticated humans! They fired at me, the nerve!" He looked at his costume, which was riddled with holes. Right under it, there was a golden armor which blocked most of the bullets but it looked a bit damaged. "I even used the Mortal Ashes! What a waste." The bard glanced at the comatose Zodiak then let out a sigh. After pondering for a while, he undressed and jumped in the pond, wanting to take a sunny bath and get rid of all the acc.u.mulated dust and dirt. Chapter 555 - 501: Disaster "Wow, that''s new." The bard commented as he watched Zodiak demonstrate his new abilities. There were dozens of black talisman circling around him, all emitting a devilish fog that polluted the air. He tried hitting a normal tree with a talisman and the result was shocking. The whole tree along with the vegetation surrounding it was consumed by the seemingly sentient darkness, leaving nothing but a permanent black fog in its place. In addition to this, Zodiak gained a new, unexpected ability, it was the power to summon undead. Although he could only bring simple skeletons with blackened bones, it was still a frightening ability. Surely, there was other things Zodiak obtained but wasn''t openly showing them, considering them as trump cards. Something used as a last resort. After what the two had done next to the city, the duo were branded as criminals and the authorities are definitely searching for them which rendered them unable to go back to Claud. They didn''t know much about the machines used by the scientist and trying to bypass their detection could be dangerous, perhaps even suicidal. As Zodiak and Aneirin were on the run, things became heated back in the city. Claud caused a ruckus while trying to convince the council of the incoming disasters. Due to being ignored or ridiculed by his peers, Claud ended up blurting about his ability which caused him to be locked up in a tightly guarded prison though it''s not like he can escape. Normally, he''d have been executed but since he contributed very much to the society, they only imprisoned him, for the time being, at least. However, what he was unaware of is that his wife, Angel, got involved and was actually executed. They accused her of being an accomplice to a mage and, without even a trial, she was sentenced to death. Claud Venice learned of the truth only from the mouth of a recent inmate and this caused him to almost go insane. His mind became twisted and his hatred grew endlessly as they didn''t only kill his wife but his two-year-old girl, who was nothing but an innocent newborn. For days, he hysterically shouted, cursed and swore to exact revenge on the council, however, it didn''t look like he''ll be left alive any longer. It happened on the day of his execution, exactly when he was being led by the guardsˇ­ the ground shook and the walls were pulled by a monstrous force. When everyone realized what''s happening, it was far too late as the whole city was obliterated. The cause of this? A tornado that was three to four times bigger than the city, it demolished everything in its way and didn''t discriminate between a scientist or a beggar. Even the chained Claud wasn''t spared, his body was sent in the air, like a feather guided by the unstoppable winds that whistled and destroyed all in its path. It didn''t take long for the human scientist to fall unconscious, waking up only days later, a couple of miles away from the city, which didn''t look one after the tornado struck. With a dizzy mind, the man sat up and touched his aching head. The foul stench of blood assaulted his nose and its dry sensation could be sensed on his hair, indicating that the injury he got wasn''t light. Miraculously, he had no broken bones, nevertheless, he didn''t feel the least bit relieved. He already lost everything and the only joy he felt was from seeing the demolished city, which lacked its majestic aura. The sky-high building, tall and well-built towers along with the thick walls all vanished, leaving nothing but large debris and countless lifeless bodies. Claud didn''t know what exactly happened to his ability but it apparently mutated after his breakdown, causing him to predict almost everything he touches. He would see how even the grass around him will end, which caused him to because mentally unstable. Angel never ceased telling him that every life is precious and not all people are evil so he embarked on a journey to warn the rest of the world about the rest of the disasters, which are no less dangerous than the terrifying tornado. In his slow and treacherous journey, he would get visions about the man named Arthur and they were vivid, too realistic to even consider them dreams. He saw an army of undead marching toward the unknown, a battle against four massive beasts, and how things proceeded in Riarravar. "No, this cannot be the end. Angel, I will find you." It was only a year later that Claud decided to take his own life after properly burying his wife and daughter. No matter how much he tried to persuade the stubborn fools, they didn''t believe him and tried to apprehend him. They deemed the tornado as an unpredictable natural disaster and didn''t think something like that would happen twice in such a short time. Unfortunately, they were wrong. Intense earthquake struck half of the planet, splitting the earth and devouring cities. The population was decreasing at an alarming rate and the disasters were getting more frequent and violent. No one knew why they happened and they didn''t care, they only wanted to flee and survive. It was then that the remaining leader started searching for the missing Claud, calling him the Prophecy Holder and seeking his urgent and needed help. Sadly, Claud was long dead, and their efforts were pointless. Meanwhile, Zodiak and Aneirin were stuck in some sort of illusion, or so they thought. In reality, when traveling to the past, especially through means like the Well of the Lost, there''s a boundary and you can''t really go anywhere you want. The two couldn''t even go back to the city, they kept walking in a circle, always returning to the same place, a deserted green hill with a lonesome tree at the top. "I''m tired of this shitty place!" The troubadour threw his instruments on the ground and sat, his chest going up and down due to hyperventilation caused by his rising tension. He wouldn''t react like this if they were stuck for days or weeks but it''s been a whole year and they''re still going around. The animals they kill will spawn again and the anything destroyed will recover the next day, it was a situation worse than hell. "If the past is guided us here then there should be something we''re supposed to witness." Zodiak remained calm as he sat next to his friend and played with a black talisman, clearly as bored as the bard. Chapter 556 - 502: Artificial Reincarnation Kapsul "W-wait! I hear something!" Aneirin quickly dragged Zodiak behind a thick bush and looked at the origin of the noise. Zodiak grumbled but remained hidden, also shifting his attention to a silhouette climbing the hill. To their surprise, it was the man who summoned them here, Claud Venice. He looked haggard with a pale face and a messy long hair. He walked to the top of the hill, looked at the sky for a while before he started digging a hole which seemed to be a tomb. It did take his weak physique to finish the hole in which he threw a few sunflowers before filling it up again. Claud then took out a bottle of alcohol and chugged it down before writing on a small piece of paper. The two silently watched him as he got drunk and quietly wept, uncaring about anything around him. The next day, at dawn, the scientist took out a dagger and actually took his own life. Zodiak was about to step up and stop him only for Aneirin to forcefully hold him while indicating for him to remain silent. The troubadour pointed at a certain direction, in which there appeared two shadows which became clearer the closer they got to the hill. They descended from the sky and landed right next to the dying Claud. One was a young boy and the other was a thin old man with a wrinkled face and bony fingers. "To properly become death, you should reap that which should not have existed." The elder talked to the confused boy, explaining to him the process. Zodiak and Aneirin listened but it didn''t seem like the newcomers sensed their presence. "That''s Death! That old man!" Aneirin whispered to Zodiak before focusing back on what''s happening near the almost-dead Claud. The old man, also known as Death, took out a long black scythe and was about to swing it at Claud, who finally passed away only for a lightning-fast figure to shatter the space and dive at the elderly. Like a meteor, the assailant struck Death and flung him a couple of meters away. Though he was attacked, the old man didn''t seem to mind as he slowly got up and faced the attacker. "You cannot kill Death. Stop it." There was a youngster facing him, a young man who wore a jet black armor and wielded a thick two-handed sword that had the same color as his inky black hair. Leiu seemed to be enraged as he leapt at Death, his sword, Anduril, penetrating the latter''s chest and coming from his back. He bashed the old man''s body on the ground continuously while releasing countless black needles which hit the old man, causing his body to become riddled with holes, no longer resembling a human. Even in such state, Death didn''t seem to be fazed as he calmly spoke: "I told you to stop it, bo-" Before he could finish, Leiu released a loud shout and poured all of his power in his long sword which emitted a primordial darkness that enveloped the two of them. Seconds after that, you could hear the panicked cries of the old man, death. "Are you trying to break the balance? Fo-" Yet again, he was interrupted as the sky above the hill split in two and an illusory black dragon descended, heading straight at Death, which materialized a distance away from the darkness surrounding Leiu. Sadly, Death wasn''t able to resist the dragon and was engulfed whole, however, before he perished, he threw his Scythe at the young boy accompanying him. As if he understood what his teacher wanted him to do, the boy swung down the scythe at the dead Claud, causing its tip to hit his chest and extracting a shiny blob of golden light. "F.u.c.k! What''s happening?" Everything seemed to happen too fast for the dumbstruck Aneirin. As for Zodiak, he was equally surprised when he caught sight of the Nameless Knight. His eyes were glued onto that armored young man who seemingly took care of death so effortlessly. That domineering power and the dangerous weapon he''s wielding were what will end Zodiak''s life and he was well aware of it. Although Claud told him when and how he''ll die, Zodiak still didn''t dare to show himself and confront the Nameless Knight because, for the first time in his life, he felt fear. If he were to show himself right now, he''ll definitely be killed, at least that''s what he was currently thinking. Leiu didn''t seem to mind the boy''s actions and only focused on the old man, who no longer was able to recover. "What are you?!"-Death The knight didn''t reply, he held the old man by his head and dragged him next to the tree then, viciously and continuously bashed his head into the tree trunk. It was a gory and brutal sight which only stopped when the head disappeared and there was only a mass of brain matter and blood in its place. In fact, Leiu was only satisfied after pulverizing the head then using his sword to cut the body into countless, minuscule pieces. When he was done, he flew into the sky and vanished. As for the young boy who accompanied death, he fled the moment he reaped Claud''s soul, afraid that Leiu will attack him. ******** "Where am I? Who are you?" Angelica looked around but saw nothing but an endless white space. She remained cautious and walked for a while before she met a familiar person. It was none other than Arthur. Of course, it was absurd for Arthur to be actually here which is why she thought of this man as an illusion to trick her. She knew this must be one of the vivid dreams she''s having as remembers still being in that world dominated by the shadow beasts. She still hasn''t arrived at the last temple and currently, she must be asleep. "Angelˇ­ it''s very good to see you again." The man spoke with a gentle tone, his lips arching upwards and his expression affectionate. "For now, I will not introduce myself but I believe you''ll know my name soon enough." He waved his hand, materializing a table and two chairs then nonchalantly sat on one of them, his eyes never leaving the confused Angelica. "Where are we?" "We''re inside something called the ARK: Artificial Reincarnating Kapsul. It''s a device I built to meet you again." Hearing this, Angelica frowned and said: "Meet me again? I don''t know you." "Oh but you do, and very much, at that. Anyways, I only exist in the ARK and cannot appear in reality and my primary goal for creating this is to warn Arthur, your sister''s husband." "Warn? Warn him of what? And how can I trust you?" Claud shrugged his shoulders and explained: "Unlike him, your body cannot handle the ARK properly, it needs time to stabilize which is why I can''t stay here for long. You have to hurry and tell Arthur that he''s looking at the wrong enemy, tell him not to hesitate!" Angelica, still not convinced, snorted and retorted: "And why don''t you tell him this yourself?" "I could not for it was not time yet. Only with his full memories will he understand the meaning of my words." After saying that, Claud vanished, leaving a skeptical Angelica alone inside the ARK. Chapter 557 - 503: Power is Finite "Why does everyone want to obtain more power?" The boy yawned and asked a random question, not fully grasping the mentality of other races, like the greedy humans. "To conquer. Rule over other species, dominate everything. There''s also revenge, punishment, or even to protect one''s family but such cases are rare because those people would know when to stop." The disembodied voice calmly answered the curious boy. "How come I''m not like them? I can obtain more power but I don''t want to, it''s boring." "It''s because you''ve only lived in this courtyard ever since your birth so you didn''t meet other people and were not influenced by anything or anyone. Perhaps, if you go outside, which you will, you''ll change your mind." "No! It''s tiresome to train and get more power, I see no point in becoming the strongest." Seeing such strong objection, the speaker let out a sigh but chose to not comment. "Isn''t it power something finite? When they reach the end, what will they do?" "Their greed for power will continue and they''ll not care about the consequences... which is why their end is their death." "What if they cannot die?" "Not dying is a curse in itself. An eternal life is never a blessing, no matter how enticing it may seem to mortals. It is being imprisoned in the deja-vu of solitude." *********** After witnessing the brief appearance of Leiu and the death of the old man and Claud, Zodiak and Aneirin found themselves standing next to the Well of the Lost. Everything around them was foggy, limiting their vision and forcing them to take the only path laid ahead, which was inside the Well. "So that''s the end?" The Troubadour sighed and look at his silent companion, wondering what he was thinking. "Let us get on with it." Zodiak jumped inside the well, followed right after by the energetic bard. Just like the first time, the trip inside was dizzying and blurry, this time causing them to fall unconscious. When they appeared on the other side, they were both peacefully sleeping and, from the looks of it, they returned to the Serenity of the present. Aneirin was the one to wake up first, he lazily scanned the surroundings only to suddenly jump up. "I didn''t expect such a warm welcome." The poet''s expression wasn''t good as he stared at the squadron of angels surrounding the well. Leading the winged beings was an angel stronger than the rest, he had four pairs of wings and emitted a majestic aura condensed from something very similar to Holy Magic. "This is not a place for you. Leave, bard." The leader of the angel spoke with a cold tone, not sparing even a glance at the fuming Aneirin. The angels standing behind quickly marched forward and bound the troubadour. "You actually dare? Do you think I''ll let this slide?" While being dragged far away, the bard kept cursing and warning the leader. "You''ll regret this! I''ll bring hell down on you guys!" Aneirin knew that the angels won''t dare to harm him but it wasn''t the case for Zodiak, which was their target from the very beginning. He just didn''t expect them to be so bold and actually make a move when he''s next to Zodiak, which left him thinking that they had enough time to lose the clingy pursuers. Very soon, Aneirin was forcefully thrown out of Serenity with the use of a special transportable gate in the angels'' possession. As for Zodiak, he was heavily chained and dragged somewhere else. ˇ­ When he came to his senses, which, in comparison to Aneirin, was a long time after their brief return through the well, Zodiak found his four limbs wrapped in thick chains. Obviously, he was momentarily confused only to remember the angels who followed him before he traveled to the past. He tried activating Dark Magic but his attempts were futile, the chains were restricting the flow of energy inside his body which rendered him unable to transform normal Mana into Dark Mana. Still, with the use of the recently acquired Talisman, he was still able to release an almost unnoticeable darkness that loosened the chains and granted him a tad of freedom, at least enough to stretch his arms and legs, and even turn his head. To his surprise, there was a familiar prisoner chained right opposite of Zodiak. He was a young man with dark hair, black pupils and an unusually pale skin. The last time he saw him was a long time ago, when he participated in the Colosseum back in his hometown. The young boy, Forne, had grown bigger and stronger, from the looks of it. Nevertheless, he ended up being captured by the angels, for some reason. "Guess destiny really wants us to meet." Zodiak chuckled as he spoke to Forne, who was, at first, absent-minded, only to snap out of it when he heard a voice interrupt the long silence he was used to. The youngster didn''t recognize the middle-aged Zodiak so he frowned and stared back at this new and quite creepy prisoner. "What? Already forgot about me? Let me refresh your memory, then." The moment Zodiak said that, the Dark Magic coming from the Talisman started acc.u.mulating and circling around the user, surprising Forne. The moment he laid eyes on that Dark Magic, he knew it was the person who he tried to kill back in the Colosseum. "It seems you listened to my advice." Zodiak''s eyes turned into black flames as he looked at the young Forne, able to see the circulation of energy inside the latter''s body. Aneirin explained to him many things but the energy seen inside the boy''s body was all but familiar. It was a mix of red and orange and the moment it made contact with his Dark Magic, it started disintegrating it though the process was very slow. "It''s unfortunate to get captured before you complete whatever is inside your body." Though the situation seemed dire, Zodiak remained calm as he praised whatever Forne. After a long silence, Forne finally opened his mouth and asked: "Why are you here?" "I don''t know and I''m not going to wait and find out." After he finished answering, the thick chains immobilizing him were consumed by the Darkness, finally granting him his freedom. Though he wasn''t able to convert Mana into Dark Mana, the Talisman can act as a power supply so it was able to bypass the effects of the chains. Forne looked at Zodiak, who seemingly freed himself with total ease and seemed about to leave this prison. "Wait!" He saw black fog enveloping the middle-aged man and knew it was his teleportation ability so he quickly stopped him. Zodiak glanced at the bound young man and creased his brows. "Set me free, please." In response, Zodiak grinned and retorted: "And why would I?" "I know where we are and how to get out. I can be useful." "You can be useful but not trusted, which is enough of a reason to not let you out." Zodiak seemed uninterested in Forne''s request and simply vanished, not bothering to hear the young man''s next words of plea. Seeing that his last hope of survival just left, Forne became even more desperate, violently shaking his body and continuously activating his power, trying to free himself. Chapter 558 - 504: Prison Break (1) "Activate the alarm! A prisoner is breaking out!" The leader of the squadron angels, the same one who captured Zodiak, ordered his subordinate before vanishing. Along with dozens of armed angels, he flew towards the 4th underground level of the prison. This place was a prison, the biggest and most fortified of its kind, in fact. It was situated right outside of Heaven, on a solitary and inhabitable planet called ''Lost Cause''. This prison had countless dangerous beings that tainted the history and caused irreparable damage to the world. The deeper the level, the more powerful the criminals are. As they could not properly gauge Zodiak''s power and only felt it from a distance, they threw him to the 4th level. The deepest level is, apparently, the 13th level, where, in the past, two of the Twelve were imprisoned. "Circle around him! Don''t let him breathe!" The angel leader signaled for his subordinates to hurry up whilst grabbing the lance hanging on his back and readying himself. In just a few seconds, the motionless Zodiak was surrounded from all corners, his ominous Dark Magic suppressed by the ever-so-increasing aura of the angels. Whatever it was, it was able to resist the Dark Magic though they need a great quantity of it. The first one to make a move was the angel with four pairs of wings, he rushed at the prisoner like a bullet and stabbed with his lance, releasing a blinding white light which pushed back all the Dark Magic. The moment the sharp tip of the lance struck Zodiak, he became dark cloud which easily circled behind the angel leader. The eight-winged angel was about to reflexively dodge but he couldn''t as he mistakenly stepped on invisible talismans which exploded, destabilizing his body and actually turning his leg bloody. Zodiak appeared from behind and stretched his hand, unleashing a black vortex which instantly pulled the angel. Unfortunately, before it managed to completely corrupt him, several angels jumped in and helped their leader though, in the process, two were sucked inside the vortex, never to appear again. Sadly, Zodiak couldn''t keep it for long, nevertheless, this was but the beginning of his assaults. The dozens of angels became frightened as they saw countless black arrows fly at them with lightning speed, they swung down their weapon and raised their shields, successfully blocking the arrows but alas, they were but a distraction which bought Zodiak enough time to finish casting the next skill. The whole abruptly turned jet black and, from out of nowhere, dark spikes sprung from the ground, stabbing all the angels, either turned them into bloody mist or consuming their whole. Only a few resilient ones survived, along with the leader, of course. "Tsk! We made a mistake. He''s too dangerous to be in the 4th level." They were currently at the 3rd Level and they definitely lacked the man-power to stop Zodiak. Nonetheless, the squadron angel leader didn''t give up or retreat and instead, he made use of his eight wings, which started flapping and released golden particles. Everything the particles touched, it instantly reverted back to its healthy state, whether it''s the environment or the half-dead angels. The user was no exception, his leg fully recovered and his body was rejuvenated as if he was never hit by the black vortex. "Don''t let him get to the second floor. Reinforcements are coming." The eight-winged angel retreated to the back while ordering the remaining angels. He raised his lance and pointed it upwards before closing his eyes and mumbling incomprehensible gibberish. Zodiak didn''t remain idle and continued his bombardment. The angels became suicidal as they executed their ultimate attacks, uncaring about their bodies. However, they could not resist the Dark Magic lurking around Zodiak, consuming everything and stopped their attacks. Even if one managed to somehow bypass the Dark Barrier, it will be blocked by a thick wall made from black bones. One angel was lucky enough to get close to Zodiak and attempted to cut him in pieces but he ended up being impaled by a bone spear. Zodiak grumbled and walked up to him, curious about the wings'' function. "It''s funnyˇ­ they seem artificial." He crouched down and ripped the wings from the angel''s body, causing a lot of blood to gush out, nevertheless, the feel of the wings was metallic and unlike his expectations. From what Aneirin said, Angels were creatures that belonged to the Heaven and Hell Universe and are considered God''s children. They carry out his will and absolutely loathe anything related to the demons so it isn''t surprising to see them lock Zodiak here, after all, his Dark Magic looks and feels evil. "It seems like the perfect time to try it." Zodiak discarded the bloody wings and looked at the last angel, who changed in appearance. The angel became like a giant, his eight wings now surrounded by some sort of golden metal armor. The lance was cut in two and became blade-like weapons. Honestly, Zodiak didn''t feel threatened, he dumbly looked at the spectacle before stabbing his chest and slowly pulling out a small black sphere. He threw it on the ground, which caused it to shatter then be replaced by something ominous and malevolent. The angel, now done with its transformation, took large strides and slashed down with both the blades. Just as the enormous weapons were about to hit Zodiak, an equally large hand sprung from the ground and punched the angel''s gut, pushing him back a few steps. Zodiak grinned and jumped in the air but he didn''t fall back and, instead, landed on the back of a humanoid black creature which rose from the ground. Whatever he summoned, it didn''t have a face and was made from Dark Magic though it had some necromancy in it as there were bones spikes protruding out of its chest. The now large angel and the massive monster summoned by Zodiak faced each other and exchanged several blows, each time they clashed, the whole 3rd level violently shook and the roof showed signs of breaking. Zodiak assisted the monster by throwing talismans and turning the ground into dark spikes, limiting the angel''s movement and finishing the battle rather quickly. In less than five minutes, the fight was over and the angel, now back to his normal appearance, laid on the blackened ground, coughing blood while struggling to get up. The escapee coldly looked at the dying angel before ordering the monster to squash him. A few minutes later, Zodiak appeared on the 2nd level and even more angels appeared, this time fully prepared to take him down. There were two four-winged angels and sixteen three-winged angels. However, before anything broke out, the whole prison fiercely shook and the deafening sounds of thunder could be heard coming from above. Zodiak didn''t know what''s happening but the angels panicked. The weaker ones withdrew while the tough ones took defensive stances, afraid to be hit by the incoming tribulation. "Halt! It''s a Celestial Tribulation." A female angel with eight wings, all shining with golden light, shouted loudly while conjuring a shield of light above all the remaining angels. She paid no more heed to Zodiak and considered him as a dead man. Angels had full faith in the Heavens, which is the source of all tribulation, so, when they heard the wild thunderclaps, they sheathed their weapon and retreated to a safe location. As for Zodiak, he remained in the dark and, to make matters worse, he seemed to be in the tribulation''s way. He wasn''t the cause of it but that doesn''t mean he won''t be hit by it. He dismounted from the motionless monster and raised his head, looking at the breaking roof. His body involuntarily shivered, which indicated the start of a disaster. He raised both of his hands and created a thick dark barrier, moreover, the dark monster used its body to block thick red thunderbolts that descended from above. The loud and ear-piercing sounds of thunderclaps resounded across the whole prison, causing all the guards and prisoners to hide in a corner. In the meantime, Zodiak''s barrier along with the dark monster were able to successfully block the incoming projectiles. Chapter 559 - 505: Prison Break (2) For several minutes, Zodiak blocked all the thunderbolts, making it impossible for the tribulation to reach its target and frightening the watching angels. The summoned black monster was barely able to move properly, nonetheless, it used its body to stop any thunder coming its way. Although Zodiak wanted to leave, there was an army of angels circling around him so the safest place seemed to be the most dangerous one. As long as he''s within the thunder''s reach, they won''t dare to get close, which made him feel a bit at ease as he doesn''t have to worry about interference from their part. At some point, there was a loud thunderclap which numbed Zodiak''s ears and momentarily blinded him. When he came to his senses, he saw a thunderbolt as thick as the black monster. It destroyed everything in its way and quickly reached him. Unlike its predecessors, this special one seemed specifically for him because it didn''t head to the monster but directly towards him. Zodiak''s hands moved in the air, releasing several small black whirlpools which rotated around him. There were illusory black threads linked the whirlpools to him, furthermore, the black monster roared and jumped in the air, trying to intercept the aerial assault. Unfortunately, it was only able to stop it for a short time before it was extinguished by heaven''s thunder. When the attack finally reached him, Zodiak was fully prepared as the threads acted like some sort of a net, freezing the thick bolt while the whirlpools slowly sucked some of the thunder. The process was fast but seemed incredibly slow, allowing all the spectators to see what exactly happened. When everything ended, Zodiak stood alone, unscathed and in perfect form. He retracted the black whirlpools and let out a sigh as he glanced at the terrorized angels. "He''s the new 4th level prisoner?" The female angel with eight wings asked one of her close subordinates, to which the latter replied: "Yes, his name is unknownˇ­ so are his powers. The report only mentions a harmful darkness very different from the one that can be unleashed using Darkness Magic. Apparently, it can consume anything and just being near it can affect one''s mental, slowly corrupting them." The leader angel, who was, in fact, the warden of this prison, stared at the hooded-Zodiak, her eyes seemingly able to see through everything. "The tribulation will most likely tire him but he''s not its target so there is a high chance he''ll be able to escape. I want the 1st level filled with people!" "Yes!" ˇ­ On the 4th level, Forne was clutching his chest and rolling on the ground, the chains that were previously binding could no longer be seen. There was a strange dark red energy coming out from his body and disintegrating everything around him, whether it''s he walls, prison bars or even the air. This destructive energy was the cause of the sudden tribulation, it is reaching its final stage of completion and seemed to have incurred the wrath of the Heavens. The young man''s body convulsed as several wounds appeared all over his body, turning it scarlet from all the gushing blood. The ground was destroyed but Forne remained at the same spot, floating mid-air while wailing from the pain. ''Strong but it isn''t enough to destroy everything.'' That is what Zodiak told him when he managed to kill everyone in the Colosseum. The look he got was that of pity, it was as if Zodiak never considered him as a threat. That was what drove the young Forne to strive for more power, something unique and unbeatable under the heavens. He spent the last ten years traveling around the Universe, defeating countless enemies and building up this new, strange destructive energy. His desire to live and the fear of the imminent death were the last requirements to complete this power and anger the heavens. "I m-mustˇ­" While coughing blood, Forne started mumbling, his hands clenching into fists, causing more of that energy to appear and destroy even more of this 4th level. Merely seconds later, numerous thunderbolts descended from above and struck him, however, they didn''t manage to hit his body and only clashed with the dark red energy acting like a defensive layer. The moment the thunder made contact with it, it instantly disintegrated. As the distance between the 2nd level and the 4th one isn''t big, Zodiak and the rest of the angels were able to see what happened. "Yes! Show me your true self!" Zodiak grinned and stared at the bloodied Forne, his Dark Magic going out of control after feeling the pressure from the latter''s power. The area around him became covered in Darkness, negating everything, including light. Zodiak''s figure vanished and all that could be seen was a mass of wriggling darkness which increasing its range, ready to engulf the nearby angels. The rain of thunder kept pouring on Forne, who, despite being able to resist for some time, wasn''t capable of completely protecting himself. Seeing this, Zodiak chuckled and loudly said: "The power of destruction! Let me see its might!" Then, before anyone could react, he dove straight at the struggling young man. The darkness changed forms and became a gigantic black fist, ready to punch the relatively small target. Forne was busy dealing with the incoming thunderbolts and his uncontrollable power so he could not protect himself. As for Zodiak, he held nothing back and used all of his power with the intent to kill Forne because only like that would ''it'' manifest itself, granting the boy what he desired. Like a meteor, the black fist covered in dark flames ruthlessly hit Forne, sending himself flying to the 5th level. The weakened body of the youngster was fatally injured, almost all the bones were broken and a large portion of the destructive energy was sucked by the Dark Magic. Nevertheless, he still hasn''t died, though his current state was pitiful, to say the least. The tribulation also wanted to finish this, sending three successive thunderbolts that were purple in color and thicker than the whole level. All the angels retreated but Zodiak will definitely be hit if he does not back away. The Dark Magic user ignored the tribulation and charged at Forne again, this time holding a dark spear and spiraling in the air, quickly forming an inky black tornado. Right behind him, the first thunderbolt followed, faster than Zodiak or his attack. Its target was Forne so it didn''t interfere with Zodiak and actually seemed to welcome his help. The moment it touched his body, it released a screeching sound then exploded, destroying everything around it. Zodiak was very close but the tornado negated everything and continued its way. By now, Forne''s lower body vanished and his organs could be seen, his eyes lost any signs of life but the dark red energy was still present. "Hahahahahah" As he saw the lively destructive energy, Zodiak laughed out loud and stabbed the spear right in Forne''s chest. The tip of the spear was blocked for a second or two before it pierced the target''s chest, going for his still surprisingly still-beating heart. Zodiak''s actions may seem antagonistic but it was quite the contrary. Even the tribulation was unaware of Forne''s ability which is why it attacked relentlessly, not knowing that the boy''s ability feeds off anything that can cause destruction, meaning that all the damage he''s receiving is actually empowering it. The final stage was completed when Zodiak''s black spear reached Forne''s heart, which started to beat so loudly that all the prisoners of this place could hear it. It was then that it was exploded, releasing all the acc.u.mulated destructionˇ­ That day, the first 6 underground levels of the prison ceased to exist and half of the angels stationed there died, including two eight-winged and three six-winged. Two prisoners managed to escape and the angels didn''t have enough manpower to chase after them as they were busy dealing with what was left of the prison. Floating in the space far away from the prison, Zodiak stared at the black sky filled with distant stars and sighed. He seemed to be slightly injured but even those wounds were quickly healing. Under his arm, there was an unconscious body, that of Forne''s. The young man''s appearance remained unchanged but the destructive energy grew thicker and could barely be contained by the Dark Magic. Chapter 560 - 506: Cooperation "No, I''m not going to do that." Lucy glared back at the Black Seat of Death while folding her arms. He gave off a dangerous and ominous but she didn''t back away and, instead, directly faced him and objected to his proposal without a second thought. Forne stood before her, his black pupils staring holes at her, displeased by her uncooperative behavior. "In refusing to do this, you''ll be condemning him." Hearing this, she coldly snorted and retorted: "So you want me to trick him? Not going to happen!" Artid stood by the side, trying to calm both of them but hesitated after being suffocated by their rising aura. A second longer and a fight would surely break out, which is definitely something he hoped for when they invited her here. She officially claimed the White Seat and proved her worth, nevertheless, whatever Forne asked of her wasn''t unreasonable, even from Artid''s perspective. "I''m not asking you to trick him but merely avoid him for a while. If you help us, it will all end well." Sick of hearing vague things, Lucy snapped at him "What will end well? You''re purposely sounding mysterious and refusing to tell me anything. I and Arthur know each other very well, there is no way I can or will trick him!" "This isn''t about him but if he knows of this matter, he''ll definitely not stay still and will also not cooperate. In fact, knowing his relationship with our target, he''ll try to stop us." "Instead of blabbering endlessly, why don''t you tell me the truth?" "ˇ­" Forne gazed at the silver-haired woman, his lips tightly shut. He didn''t know whether it''s wise to let her in or not, however, if she were to help them, it''ll make things much easier. They already got their hands full so, someone who can hold down Arthur is necessary, and who is a better candidate other than his wife, who knows his powers and is strong enough to content against him. ˇ­ With eyes filled with disbelief, Jian Si stared at Lucy while sucking a deep, cold breath. The mask she was wearing melted into her face and drastically changed her appearance, including her silver hair, which was now pink. Her arm became slightly bigger and covered in scales, steam coming out from minuscule holes in the shoulder area. Lucy held Lonely Moon, which was modified by the Yellow Seat of Black Rose and was able to transform into another form. The revolver was now a long silver sniper rifle, madly sucking the Nether Energy around it like a vacuum. Lucy laid on the ground and readied herself while leaning her face closer to the scope and fixating her arms, the left one on the trigger while the Devil arm tightly holding down the unstable weapon. The tribulation was about to strike so it was the best time to distract everyone. "Like I said before, I never came here, okay?" Lucy warned Cold Sword, who obediently nodded her head. She was tasked with Arthur''s safety as, for some reason, Lucy wasn''t going to be present. The Celestial Tribulation, which was releasing random thunderbolts everywhere, started moving, though its main core remained above the towering mountain. The direction it headed to was where Lucy and Jian Si were. It felt threatened by something and separated itself from the core to get rid of Lucy, who was preparing herself to shoot one bullet. Were it not for her Devil Arm, which will take almost all the backlash of the shot, she would not have been able to use this new form of Lonely Moon. "Now, get away from me." Jian Si and the elder accompanying her flew further away from Lucy, leaving her alone, laying on a high hill, totally in the open. ******* "Hey, why do you hate nobles so much? Not all of them are bad." Forne asked his newest companion, Zodiak, while chewing on some freshly roasted meat. In response, the middle-aged man, who never ate or slept, looked at the young man who has been following him ever since the tribulation, and answered: "I don''t hate nobles but their system. Elf, Dwarf, or Human, when born, are all equal. Who gives anyone the right to dictate privileges to those they deem as ''noble blood''? They think of themselves as a higher-species while, in reality, they are more fragile than most humans. In my eyes, a beggar is no different than a king, it''s just that fate favored one over the other." "Yes, it''s fate''s fault so why do you always blame them?" "So, just because fate is on their side, they can do whatever they want? Slaughter the innocent, enslave the weak and treat other races like toys? I agree that there are some nobles who do more good than bad but those are in the minority. The stories about how a noble married a peasant are rare if not non-existent, life doesn''t work that way, it never has." Forne understandably nodded his head while savoring the delicious meat. At first, he felt hesitant about his choice of following the ominous Zodiak but after a while, he grew used to his grumpy attitude and strange way of thinking. From what he had seen so far, Zodiak harbored great hate for nobles and anyone who abuses their powers but he didn''t go out of their way to punish them. Apparently, he was looking for someone, a girl to be more specific. "Do you really think we will find her here? Although Castra Obis is called a world, it still encompasses all of the Omega Universe. It''ll take us years to go from East to West. Also, what makes you think she''s here?" "I know she''s here! I''ve dreamed of it!" Zodiak sounded very certain so Forne didn''t add anything else and quietly finished his meal. It has only been a few months since the tribulation yet Forne grew unreasonably strong, nonetheless, he was still unable to beat Zodiak. His power, self-named, is Destruction Magic, a new and unique kind that only he can use. In their recent battles against either bandits or lurking old monsters, they discovered that Destruction magic can counter every element, disintegrating it into nothing. Furthermore, once it enters someone''s body, it''s a matter of time before they die. Forne can also use it to explode things, like some sort of unlimited bombs with insane destructive powers. Dark Magic is also vulnerable against this ability yet Zodiak was victorious every time they fought, which deeply confused Forne. ************ "Well, ain''t this a surprise!" ''X'' nonchalantly walked around while looking at the patiently waiting contestants. In his hand, there was a glowing red envelope, proof that he, too, was invited to the Red Tower. Amongst the people present here, he saw many extinguished individuals that came from other Universes. Thanks to Timos'' help, he was able to get back the orb and all that was left was enter the tower and finally be done with this. "Greetings." Like a ghost, a young man wearing a tattered grey robe appeared behind ''X'', freaking him out. ''X'' banged his cane on the ground and retreated a few steps before turning around and glaring at the young man. "Hmpf!" ''X'' snorted at Artid but didn''t dare act arrogantly. This young-looking individual may have very low cultivation but his abilities should never be underestimated. Amongst the Nine Seats, ''X'' was only wary of him and the Black Seat. "It seems you came in early, mister ''X''." "So it would seem." Artid smiled at the man whom he could not see the face before signaling him to follow. The two walked further away from the small crowd and arrived at a secluded location South-West of the enormous glowing red tower. ''X'' politely bowed his head to the motionless Forne. "Artid insisted that we cooperate with you so don''t let me regret this. Don''t get lost in your revenge and forget who the real target is." ''X'' listened to Forne talk before chuckling and replying: "Yes yes, everything shall proceed smoothly." Chapter 561 - 507: Nova Although it is called a Universe, the Omega Universe is only one world, not a planet, a star, or even a galaxy. The world was called Castra Obis, unimaginably vast and unaccessible by higher being like the Twelve. In the Era of Beginning, some speculated this world wasn''t the handiwork of the Twelve but something else. Others explained how Castra Obis came into existence through a series of natural and scientific events. Whatever the truth was, it can be said, for certain, that the Omega Universe was never fully explored due to its absurd size. Zodiak and Forne, who recently became companions, traveled around 15% of Castra Obis in around sixty years. They''ve encountered countless people and became much stronger, especially the once-young Forne, who grew up and became a middle-aged man. While Zodiak chose an unorthodox route to strengthen himself, Forne started cultivation right after obtaining Destruction Magic. In less than a century, he managed to swiftly climb the cultivation ladder, leapfrog dozens of grades and become an Overgod. Despite getting a Celestial Body and even managing to train in one of the King Physiques called the Starlight Physique, which allowed him to control stars, Forne was still incapable of completely overpowering Zodiak due to Dark Magic. In these sixty years, Zodiak managed to break out of his bubble and became more socially active though his grumpiness never disappeared. Their search for the blue-haired girl bore no fruit, nonetheless, throughout the last several decades, Zodiak discovered much more things about the dreams he had in the past. Arthur and Lucy, their meeting and their brief struggles. There was an inexplicably urge pushing him to find the little girl, who''s supposed to be the couple''s daughter. However, there was still something left unexplained which is his knowledge of the girl because, as far as Arthur knew, Lucy was merely pregnant and didn''t give birth yet. What is more confusing is what Claud told himˇ­ the blue-haired girl is apparently with Timos, the Black Devil and he definitely saw them somewhere in Castra Obis yet even after sixty years, he found no signs. Forne never complained and always followed Zodiak, whom he considered as a mentor and a close friend. "So you''re saying that the Nameless Knight will kill you?" At some point, Zodiak spoke of his death by the hands of Leiu. "It''s a long time from now but, from what I saw, there''s little chance to stop him." "How can you give up being even trying? Why not try to not go to that place when the time comes? Perhaps the future will change for the better." "No, it does not work like that. Some things are set in stone in a way that even Fate cannot interfere." "Then why don''t you try fighting him? I''m sure that if the two of us fought, we can win." Hearing this, Zodiak chuckled and retorted: "I wish it was that easy." He witnessed Leiu''s strength firsthand, it was borderline impossible to contend against him. Even with thousands of years remaining till his death, he won''t be able to reach the desired level of strength to evenly battle The Nameless Knight. Even at this point in time, Leiu''s title would bring fear to anyone who hears him. In fact, it is said that the strongest power right now does not even dare to provoke the Nameless Knight. The Buria Empire dominated almost all of the Cloud Sea Universe and was extending its reach to the other universes but it suddenly stopped after a confrontation between the emperor and Leiu. This happened seven years ago and ever since then, the Buria Empire laid low and even stopped conquering the rest of Cloud Sea. Seventy years after the Celestial Tribulation, the two companions were forced to leave Castra Obis due to an ominous thing Forne had sensed. His power allowed him to ''smell'' incoming destruction, for example, before something is destroyed, he can, more or less, predict it. At first, the ''smell'' was barely noticeable but after two years, Forne could barely move properly. His face was constantly pale and his body shaking from dawn till dusk. The aura of destruction loomed over all of Castra Obis, sealing its fate and forcing the duo to hastily leave. Zodiak was reluctant to leave before finding the girl, nonetheless, he had to, reassuring himself that Timos won''t let the girl perish in the Omega Universe. ˇ­ Indeed, as predicted by Forne, two months after they left Castra Obis, the whole Omega Universe ceased to exist. Everything and everyone ceased to exist, causing the era known as the Void Era to commence. The destruction of the universe hugely affected its neighbors, the explosion, which was thousands of times stronger than a nova, caused the endlessly stretching Void to devour everything. Zodiak and Forne were forced into seclusion due to the unfavorable circ.u.mstances. Actually, they weren''t the only ones who hid as almost every living being chose to a world or a planet and remained there for a long time, waiting for the storm to pass. The Void made it impossible for anyone to cultivate and anyone born in that era could, at most, reach the Divine Realm. Many Gods, Sovereigns, and God Monarchs perished and the Overgods were severely weakened due to their inability to absorb any Nether Energy. When the Void Era ended, Zodiak discovered that the destruction of the Castra Obis wasn''t the only reason for the absurd amount of Void looming over everything. Moreover, there was a single individual who managed to survive that terrifying nova. He was the named the Joker, a mysterious man with a strength that equaled the Nameless Knight but those were mere speculation as the two never really fought or interfered with each other. Right after ''that'' era, there were several gruesome wars, one was to eliminate the God Race then the remaining races allied to get rid of the Titans. In the end, only the Buria Empire remained standing and, as if it forgot Leiu''s warning, continued to conquer everything again. It was at that point in time that Zodiak and Forne showed themselves, though not very willingly. The Destruction Magic user actually got an invitation from a secret organization with the name of Black Rose, offering him one of the Nine Seats. While Forne went to meet Black Rose regarding the offer, Zodiak was left alone in the Imperial Capital of the Buria Empire. It was then, when he was seemingly walking down a road bustling with people that he met him for the second time. The mysterious benefactor who passed him Dark Magic, a man wearing a black robe just like the one he made and emitting a dangerous aura containing Dark Magic that was a bit different than his. One would think that they would go to a secluded area to talk but no, they entered a famous restaurant and sat opposite of each other. Zodiak stared at the man, who took his hood off and gazed back at him, a smile forming on his stoic face. "Arthur MoonStar. I knew it was you." Zodiak spoke with an toneless voice, his gaze containing neither anger not resentment, just curiosity. "Of course you knew, after all, aren''t we the same person?" "No, we are not. I''m your reincarnation but that doesn''t mean we''re the same, even though I''ve regained some of your memories." Arthur kept smiling, not disagreeing with any of what Zodiak had said. "We share the same soul, you have my memories but I don''t have yours. So, tell me, does that make me an incomplete version of you?" After a brief silence, Zodiak replied: "Who am I doesn''t matter now, right? I do not think you''ve came all the way from the future to talk about this." "Indeed. I''ve come here to reclaim a past favor, which I hope you did not forget." "ˇ­" Zodiak gave no answer, he only watched this nonchalant man, who was exactly like the Arthur in his dream. Various thoughts went through his mind, he wondered about Arthur''s intentionsˇ­ whether they''re harmful to him or not. "You''re not in the memories of the past or future Arthur, which means you reincarnated again, right?" Arthur chuckled and truthfully answered: "Of course I did. You died, or rather, you will die, and our soul will go through another reincarnation. The final one, hopefully." "So I did die by the Nameless Knight''s hands?" "Seems like it." Time crept by and the two maintained an awkward silence before Zodiak broke it by saying: "What do you want from me?" In response, Arthur took out a very detailed picture of a black two-handed sword and showed it to Zodiak. "I want you to go and retrieve this." Chapter 562 - 508: Bilgart "Bloc A! REPORT!" On the peak of the mountain below the Celestial Tribulation, one of the highest-leveled players was panicking as he watched a disaster befall on the spaceship floating a distance away. It all began when a deafening gunshot was heard several miles away from the mountain. To begin with, it was suspicious that part of the tribulation headed there but, before it could reach wherever it was going, there occurred a catastrophic explosion. Whoever did this was a woman, she was holding onto a large silver rifle and the moment she fired, she turned around and swiftly left. Some level 10,000 players tried chasing her away but went back empty-handed, claiming that her speed was simply out of this world. The problem wasn''t the woman, however, but was actually the spaceship, which was hit by the single bullet. The spaceship was monstrously huge yet a third of it instantly vaporized, triggering all the alarms and destabilizing the whole ship, making it slowly fall to the side. Due to its massive size, no one of the present people could stop its descent so they could only move away from the mountain. The powerhouses standing on the peak refused to leave and activated their powers to defend from the impact. As one would expect, when the spaceship crashed into the mountain, it violently shook as if a volcano was about to erupt. ''Twas at this moment that the thunder started roaring and raging, raining down on the peak, showcasing literally heaven''s wrath. Everyone present looked at the mountain''s peak, where 8 blinding stars rose from under the earth and started rotating monotonously. "It''s the creation of a Celestial Body!" Nobody knew who but a random person excitedly shouted those words, making the spectators even more eager to see the cause of this tribulation. If it''s a treasure then everyone will fight for it and if it''s a person then they''ll either try to rope him or kill him. Whoever incurs the anger of the Heavens is bound to be someone with limitless potential, a person capable of reaching the epitome of strength. "It''s a 8-star God Monarch." An old monk who hails from the Thousand Buddha sect looked at the flashing stars and commented, fascination could be seen within his old yet lively eyes. A small distance away from the monk, there sat two figures, one was a young man with an innocent but determined face while the other was a middle-aged man with long black hair. The older one is a supreme existence in the Cloud Sea Universe, one of the four living Sword Gods and a respected individual. As for the youngster with him, it was actually Syth, the only son of the deceased Human Emperor of Astria. "If you continue training at the same pace, you''ll be able to build 8 stars too. Watch carefully." The man instructed his one and only disciple, who enthusiastically nodded his head, not knowing that the origin of those blinding stars is actually his first mentor. The Sword God was about to talk again only to see a hand dig through the unstable earth and appear on the surface. He was not the only once to notice this peculiarity. At this time, everyone ascertained that it''s not a treasure but a living being who managed to invoke the tribulation. ********** As instructed by Arthur, Zodiak traveled to the past Riarravar and, after being locked for some time due to the mechanism of the luminous city underground, he successfully obtained Anduril and swiftly left the world. However, this feat was done a long time after his meeting with his benefactor. In fact, his brief journey in the Imperial Capital can be said to be more intriguing and action-packed. It all started when Forne joined Black Rose as the Purple Seat of Malice, and as he was a good friend of Zodiak, it didn''t take long for the latter to become one of the Nine seats too. To be precise, he dueled the Red Seat and emerged victorious, claiming the position as his own. At that time, Zodiak immersed himself in research, trying to fully comprehend Dark Magic. He put the matter of the blue-haired girl to the side because he had no leads. Surprisingly, Emperor G''am Tir, ruler of the Buria Empire, was actually the Black Seat of Death at that time. Along with the Yellow Seat of Patience and Zodiak, after a one year long bitter research and countless failed experiments, managed to create an artifact, or, to be more accurate, an orb. It was made from the souls and remains of dead God and Titan Races. Zodiak wanted to use it to stop Leiu, however, G''am grew greedy and wanted to use it to conquer more land. This quickly led to a conflict between the two, which was sorted out in a gruesome battle. The fight lasted a whole week and, in the end, the Black Seat was defeated but spared by Zodiak on the condition that he declares himself as dead and secludes himself. Zodiak also his place as the Black Seat and properly managed Black Rose until one day, he vanished right after handing his position to Forne, who was left confused. As for the Orb of the Fallen Overgods, it was supposedly kept by the Yellow Seat until, someday, it simply vanished, presumably stolen. ***** When he died, Arthur knew he''ll reincarnate but didn''t know what ''reincarnation'' really met. He thought it''ll be just like the first time but he couldn''t be more wrong. After what seemed to be an eternal slumber, he opened his eyes but couldn''t focus on what''s around him as his mind was flooded with new thingsˇ­ memories. No, they weren''t memories of Zodiak''s but of himself, his young self, before he entered the orphanage. Though he couldn''t remember what he experienced prior to the orphanage, he never questioned anything so when he finally found out the truth, he was really flabbergasted. It all started when he was baby, the second he appeared in this world, there wasn''t the warm embrace of a mother nor the happy cries of a father. He laying alone on a bed, his eyes incapable of opening and his surroundings empty. He adapted to the environment and, for the first two months, couldn''t feel hunger, strangely. There was a voice talking him, it was soothing and melodious though it was hard to guess whether it''s a man or a woman. When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a medium-sized room with just enough furniture but an absurd amount of books scattered everywhere. "Read and learn." The voice talked to him while presenting a book, which opened by itself. While flipping the pages, it taught him again, again, and again. For days, weeks, months, Arthur didn''t keep count as his hunger for more knowledge eclipsed everything. He learned of energies, cultivation, the system, the elements and forbidden techniques. When he was one-week-old, he successfully managed to control Nether Energy and absorb it. After two weeks, he stabilized his minuscule Dantian and strengthened his Meridians. When two months had passed, he already reached the Spirit Realm but due to the small place he was living, he couldn''t try out any skills or spells, and it''s not like the disembodied voice allowed him to wreak havoc in this humble abode. Five long years'' worth of memories entered Arthur''s head and caused him to remain dazed for a couple of minutes. "Didn''t I say that, when the time comes, you''ll be the first one to know?" It spoke to him, the voice now originating from the top of the tree. Arthur, half smiling, lifted his head and looked at this entity which can be considered as his parent. "Bilgart, is that you?" In response, the speaker chuckled and replied: "It seems you have finally regained your childhood memories. Congratulations." The current Arthur wasn''t a child anymore, he had the appearance of a middle-aged man and all his powers are accessible, including Dark Magic. However, there was an additional thing inside his body, it brought him serenity and filled him with confidence. "What the System called Lost Magic wasn''t obtained from Dark Magic but from your childhood. It''s the power of creation, the same one all the Twelve had." Arthur quietly listened while raising his left hand, from which an invisible aura emanated, shaking the space and cracking the ground underneath his feat. "As for that, it is purely condensed Nether Energy, the strongest form, I daresay. I believe it''ll be useful. Now then, I''m sure that some of the questions you''re eager to ask are slowly being answered your memories but I don''t mind doing it too. Go ahead." Just like his young self, Arthur removed his boots and sat near the calm and beautiful pond, put his feet in the cold but refreshing water before asking: "So I''m about to enter the second cycle of my life?" "Yes." "Will things be different?" "That is up to you." "How about Zodiakˇ­ did he die?" "Your soul returned to ''you'' which can only meanˇ­" It didn''t need to continue for Arthur to understand the meaning behind his words. After letting out a sigh, Arthur asked again: "Did you orchestrate everything?" "Orchestrate? What a funny word. I''m only a watcher, whatever happened, happens, or will happen, is not up to me. It never has, my dear child." "Then what about me? Did you create me?" "I did." "Why?" "Hm? Would you rather not being born at all? Don''t you want to live with your wife and children? It is a weird question to ask a parent, don''t you think?" "Parents give birth but in my case, you created me." Arthur spoke with a sad tone though his face remained stiff, not showcasing his true emotions. "I don''t think there''s any difference between the two. The first two humans were created, so were the first demons and dwarves, etc. Just like any living being, you''re able to love, hate, and grief." "Then am I considered a human?" "I intended for you to be a human. So, yes, you are human." Then, Arthur maintained a long silence, his mind drifting away. Only after an inordinate amount of time did he speak again: "I still don''t understandˇ­ what is the purpose of my existence?" "Purpose? There is no need for a purpose. I did not create you to do something specific but to only enjoy life as it is. Love and be loved, my child." Chapter 563 - 509: Alliance Like a shooting star, Angelina rushed past the hundreds of raging Shadow Beasts, her destination only a hundred meters away. Her silver spear was sweeping the air, leaving a beautiful but deadly arc in its way. Any monster that got close to her was flung away, however, due to their sheer number, she couldn''t fend herself from all directions. Her Physique was activated, rendering her immune to physical attack, nevertheless, the Shadow Beasts were still able to slow her down by pulling her shadow, somehow restricting her movements. The beast-like monsters weren''t the problem, what was troublesome was a tall shadowy silhouette that bombarded her with attacks while also controlling the lower and weaker species. "Almostˇ­" She jumped in the air, trying to dodge dozens of leaping beasts only for the gravity to multiply, forcing her body to quickly descend right into the enemies'' bosom. While falling to the ground, she clenched her spear and used her ultimate skill while activating her race''s unique ability. An Illusory white tail and long ears appeared, her pupils now snow-white and white flames burning under her feet, Angelina let out an ear-piercing screech and stabbed her spear. Both the weapon and its user was enveloped by a suffocating aura which took the form of a two-headed dragon, one head was the whole spear while the other was Angelina herself. Like a falling meteor, she crashed into the mass of beasts, causing a loud explosion and pushing all the enemies away. The White Specter crashed into the ground then hastily got up and dashed toward the majestic black temple a short distance away. She left behind a large crater with a minuscule yet bottomless hole at its center. As for the Shadow beasts, they tried to attack again but by the time they realized what happened, the woman was already at the entrance of the temple, which was a forbidden zone none of them could trespass into. "It''s different *cough*" Angelina coughed some blood while inspecting the vicinities. Unlike the other temples, this one was, at least, five times larger and looked inexplicably clean and less eerie. Both the floor, roof, and walls were made from a black, crystalline marble, adding more beauty to this archaic place. Before going deeper, the woman rested for half an hour to heal her wounds and recuperate some Nether Energy. Though, her specter transformation was active and her long tail was dancing in the air as if it was some sort of a radar. Once she was ready, Angelina cautiously entered the temple, her spear ready to attack anything that moves. Her quiet breathing abruptly halted when a voice rang inside her ears, startling the woman and causing her body to twitch and retreat a few steps. "I don''t think it''s respectful to brazenly enter a tomb with a weapon in hand." "Who are you?" She tried to locate the source of the voice but apart from the usual statues, there was nothing else. Fortunately, whoever or whatever was speaking to her wasn''t adamant about remaining hidden. To Angelina''s surprise, the small statue at the center twitched before it started moving or, to be more precise, the wings flapped three times before the tiny head turned around, facing the flabbergasted woman. Words got stuck in her throat as she tried to process what just happened. When she heard the disembodied voice, she expected the presence of something but never did she expect that it was actually the statue. The entity flapped its wings again then flew in the air, heading not for Angelina but a throne that she just had noticed. It was three to four times to size of a normal throne and, sitting on it, was the strongest being that had ever existed, Moriah, the Shadow Emperor. He had a humanoid body but didn''t look particularly human, with a dark blue skin, an absurdly long black hair that reached all the way to the ground, and ears that somewhat resembled an elf''s. The entity that just talked to Angelina headed toward the throne and comfortably landed at the top of the throne, right above the lifeless body of Moriah. "Come here, Angelina Album Larva." Though it beckoned for her, she only moved after dozens of seconds, her steps clearly showing her reluctance. Though she felt no danger from the entity, it doesn''t mean she wasn''t afraid. The woman stopped a few meters away from the throne, her head lifted and gazing at the creature looking back at her. The reason she was first confused when she saw the statues was because the central one, which belonged to the Watched, Bilgart, didn''t look as threatening as the rest. In fact, the statue was that of a crow, a very normal crow except for its color, half black and half white. Even right now, it was still vertically split in two colors, from the top of its head all the way to its tiny feet. The eyes were also pure white or jet black but, apart from that, the crow didn''t have anything special, in terms of appearance, that is. "You came here seeking answers, right?" Angelina nodded her head but didn''t speak. "But, do you know what this place is?" She pondered for a few brief seconds before replying: "The tomb of the Shadow Emperor?" "Yes, it is his tomb but before that, it was an ordinary planet. Its name was Serenity, a special place for you and your husband Claud Venice." "Husband?" "Is it that difficult to believe? I suppose not because, by coming here, you''ve unknowingly accepted what you''ve dreamed of. Deep inside, you knew they weren''t mere dreams, after all, no mind can create memories so vividˇ­ so heart-wrenching." ***** "Soˇ­ what now?" Arthur stared at the crow standing on the thin branch of the only tree in the courtyard, his gaze locked onto the mysterious white and black pupils of this entity known as the Watcher. "Now you move on. This is only a spiritual boundary, its only purpose was to explain a few things to you. The real second cycle will start when you open your Just as Bilgart finished speaking, Arthur started feeling sleep, his eyes slowly closed and his muscles relaxed. The urge to sleep overpowered his desire to remain awake, so, again, he entered another slumber. ***** "Hey, old man! Are you sure you got the invitation? Show us!" A bunch of arrogant youths who were loitering around Losha and pestering the old man wearing a grey robe. They were the only two in the vicinities until a while ago, where these second-generation kids showed up and immediately started causing trouble. Losha, the reincarnator, was sure that they either bought the invitation or illegally acquired because they were not strong enough to qualify for the Red Tower and get a red envelope from the Joker. As they obviously had nothing to do, they started mocking the cross-legged elder and circling around him. Their intentions were clear yet neither Losha nor the old man reacted in any way. Things escalated pretty as words turned into violence like pulling his long robe and lightly kicking him while laughing outloud. Having had enough, Losha furiously got up and walked up to them. However, before she could harshly reprimand them in the form of a beating, they swiftly fled. At first, they only glanced at her but when they had a clear look at her face, they recognized her and chose to back away. "Hey, are you alright?" Though she found him a bit creepy, Losha still decided to talk to him. Seeing that he didn''t react to their ''bullying'', she thought that he simply didn''t want to offend them as maybe they come from powerful families, which is most likely the case. The old man stood up and removed his head then softly smiled at the blacksmith, who found his face a bit familiar. "Thank you for your help miss Losha." He stretched his hand, planning to properly greet her. Losha looked at this shockingly thin hand and bony fingers and reciprocated as she found it disrespectful not to shake his hand after he had thanked her. "You know me?" She stared at his face, which was riddled with wrinkles and unusually pale like that of a corpse. In fact, she sensed no power coming from him, on the outside, he seemed very weak as if a simple breeze could take his life, though Losha knew better than this and decided not to judge him based on his appearance. "I''m a big fan of your past achievements." He let out a chuckle after saying that, creeping her out even more. Losha decided not to fret much about it and was about to retreat after shaking his hand only for him to add: "Ah, please forgive my manners, I haven''t introduced myself." While slightly bowing his bald head, he said: "The name is Zodiak, very nice to meet you, miss." For a moment, Losha was shocked as parts of her memories become clearer, giving her more clarity and causing her body to momentarily shiver. "Zodiak?" "I guess you do remember me, old friend." Though he said that, Losha remained oblivious, still trying to piece together her fragmented memories of her past life. "It is better not to dwell too much on the matters of the past. We didn''t part ways on friendly terms, however, I do wish you do not get consumed by your greed once more, G''am Tir." Right after saying that, he sat cross-legged and closed his eyes, no longer paying any attention to the dumbstruck woman before him. ********** Death and his recent disciple, Anastassia, stood before the dying Zodiak. "I''m surprised he still can hold on." The robbed old man gazed at Zodiak, who was all bloodied and trying to use what little remained of his Dark Magic to get rid of the malevolent Darkness unleashed by Anduril, Leiu''s sword. "You will separate the soul from the body then I''ll give you the Scythe to harvest it." Death explained the process to Anastassia. The woman, after slight hesitation, crouched next to Zodiak, who''s almost dead, and stretched her hand, about to pull out his soul. Unfortunately, the moment she got close enough, a hand grabbed her throat, suffocating her. Before she could do anything, her body was assaulted by a monstrous amount of Dark Magic which sealed all of her movements. The old man, Death, tried to stop Zodiak''s sudden attack but he was a second too late. Both the assailant and the now-hostage Anastassia appeared a distance away. "What do you think you''re doing, Zodiak!" Very angry, Death glared at Zodiak, who''s barely able to breathe while gripping Anastassia''s neck, and shouted. In response, Zodiak coughed a bit of blood before saying: "You attempt anything, she dies." He tightened his grip, causing Anastassia''s face to turn red, there even a black fog coming from her nose and ears. By now, Death knew that she had been corrupted and not even he, is able to extract all the Dark Magic. "What do you want? I can neither save you nor heal that wound!" "I knew you to do what you''re good at, harvesting souls." Zodiak pointed at his chest then continued: "After Arthur reincarnated into me, our soul became larger and stronger. I want you to split it in two!" "Are you crazy?!" The old man frowned, revealing a twisted expression, clearly finding whatever Zodiak said absurd. "I can''t do that!" "You can and you will." Zodiak threatened the old man by using the now unconscious Anastassia, who couldn''t handle the pain. Her life was now entirely in the Mythical''s hands and the only one who can save her is Death. "It''s not like your souls merged, it''s the same one. It''s not possible to separate it in two." "Is that so?" The hand gripping the woman''s throat tightened even more, shredding the skin and damaging her larynx. Seeing this, Death panicked and hurriedly said: "Stop, I will do it!" He gritted his teeth, retrieved a large scythe and marched toward Zodiak. "Try anything else and I''ll make sure she joins me!" While still holding Anastassia and breathing really heavily, Zodiak made it so his chest is exposed to the incoming Death. Actually, what Zodiak wanted wasn''t an impossible thing, however, it goes against the natural laws of Death so by doing that, Death will be condemning himself. The only thing that can get rid of Death are the very same laws that made him. The large and sharp scythe was swung at Zodiak, going through his chest and striking his consciousness. It has to be said that Death was very accurate as he pulled half of the soul, bringing with it Arthur''s memories. This caused Zodiak to fall and clutch his chest, unable to bear through the agonizing pain. As for the old man, he caught the falling Anastassia and made sure her hand was holding the Scythe, which the only thing that symbolizes true Death. His figure slowly started vanishing he completely disappeared, leaving only an unconscious Anastassia and a struggling Zodiak. A long while later, the woman woke up, feeling confused about the condition of her body. She felt refreshed and no longer sensed her Dantian or anything else, it''s as if she was no longer a human. She surveyed the surroundings and happened to see the lifeless body of Zodiak laying a distance away. In her hand, there was a Scythe, though contrary to the one from earlier, this one was jet black and emitting thick amount of Death Energy. ****** When he opened his eyes again, Arthur saw a two-story building that was not only dirty but riddled with holes. The walls were creaking and the door could not be closed due to its poor, shattered state. There was a heavy downpour which made him all wet and limiting his view of the vicinities, nevertheless, he recognized this place with only one glance, it was the orphanage he grew up in. "Bilgart, I seeˇ­ I finally get what you meant." He looked at his tiny hands, those of a very young boy, then walked toward the entrance. "Lucyˇ­ if this is what it takes to meet you again then I''ll gladly choose the same path."* ******* "Dear contestants, the Red Tower will open its doors in three days, please ready yourselves." A robotic voice of a female came out of the red envelope handed by the Joker. The thousand people in possession of the envelope clearly heard the voice and started heading toward the tower. Most of them had already reached the destination and were patiently waiting. As the Red Tower was absolutely ginormous, its surroundings were equally large so the several hundred people were quite a distance away from each other, unwilling to fight and merely meditated in silence. There was some friction between rivals and enemies but they didn''t fight to death and decided to contest inside this marvelous artifact before them. Around three hours ago, Lucy arrived near the tower and joined with Forne, Artid, and one more person belonging to the Nine Seats. It was the Grey Seat of Decay, a woman by the name of Celes. "You''ve come, which means you agree to our plan." Forne spoke to the silence Lucy, whose face was changed thanks to the special mask. "Hmpf!" She snorted but didn''t object, which made Forne grumble, disliking her attitude but choosing not to comment. A couple of minutes later, other people joined their small camp. One was a person Lucy was very familiar with, a man wearing a black suit and holding a small cane, his face blurry, hidden by magic. There was also the middle-aged man residing in Underworld, he brought with him the Void Behemoth, which took a much smaller form as to not attract attention. Three of the Nine Seats of Black Rose, Lucy, ''X'', G''am Tir, and the Void Behemothˇ­ these seven decided to form an alliance in order to take down one entity. "Remember, our goal is to reach the top floor safely. Our target is the Nameless Knight." Forne solemnly said while looking at everyone present. "Didn''t you say he''s not our target?"-Lucy "Well, technically, he''s not. The real danger is what''s inside himˇ­ a pest that only emerges rarely. Its name is Sol''khin." VOLUME 11 : The Red Tower ***** Hey, Crow here. I want to say that I wasn''t going to write this volume(10) but decided to do so because it helps explain many things in the story. In the beginning, Arthur found Zodiak''s body but I don''t want to just call him ''lucky'' for finding a cave that has the body of a mythical being. I wanted to explain how the body arrived there, who is the owner and what''s his relation with Arthur. Before you ask, I''ll say that the next volume will have Arthur and it''ll not be a flashback of some sort. I don''t want to lengthen the story more than needed, whatever I have in mind will be written and all that I deem unnecessary will not be mentioned. I''m not saying the story is almost finished, neither is it still at the beginning phase. What I want is a satisfying end that, when read, will explain anything mysterious in the story. Of course, something will remain hidden and will only be revealed in Leiu or the Joker''s story. Now, Let me explain a few things so that some of you will not remain confused. In this volume, there was a scene when Arthur was shopping and found a figurine that resembled the crocodile Zodiak encountered when he was young. This scene happened right after the end of Volume 10, when the second cycle began and Arthur is reliving his life on Earth while choosing the same path, purposely getting close to Claudia in order to get kidnapped, etc... From the looks of it, albeit having the soul separated in two, he still regained some of Zodiak''s memories. The scene where Zodiak and Aneirin witnessed Leiu kill Death (in Serenity/past), the boy who escaped at the end was the same old man who took Anastassia as his disciple, grooming her to be the next Death. If you have any more questions, please ask in the comment and I''ll try to answer. Thanks for reading so far! I appreciate it. Chapter 564 - 510: Back "Boss, what''s wrong? It''s the first time you''re treating me to such an expensive meal!" Cynthia, Arthur''s secretary curiously inquired as her boss surprisingly brought her to one of the luxurious restaurants and told her to eat as much as she wants. "Can''t I pamper my subordinate? Hahaha" He laughed while looking at her comical expression, which clearly showed that she didn''t believe a word of what he said. Ever since she took this job, he''d make her work day and night so, such a rare occasion, which was definitely out of the norm, kind of frightened her. In fact, she even thought she''s going to get fired due to her clumsy actions. "B-boss, I kno-" Before she could finish, Arthur cut her off by saying: "It isn''t what you think so enjoy the dishes." Cynthia sighed and did as told, though her mind was busy thinking about something else. Anyway, it didn''t take long for her to fill her stomach and savor the delicious desserts. When she was about to go wash her hands, Arthur grabbed her hand, his face looking a bit more serious. He pulled her back in the seat and pushed a relatively large envelope towards her. "I don''t need you or want you to question any of what I''ll say. Take this and leave the country tonight, I''ve already booked a flight to Switzerland for you. You always wanted to live there, right?" Dumbstruck, Cynthia looked at the envelope then at Arthur, not knowing how to react or what to say. "I''ve arranged everything for you there so you can live comfortably. This gentleman here will drive you to the airport." He looked at a middle-aged man who walked up to the table and bowed to him before facing Cynthia. "See you." Without even waiting for her reply, Arthur stood up and left the restaurant. As for his secretary, despite her unwillingness, she was still taken to the airport and flew to Switzerland the very same night. Actually, that very same day, Arthur was kidnapped in front of his home. A group of muscular mercenaries bound him and threw him into a large white van. Of course, Arthur neither fought back nor said anything as he expected all of this to happen. Like the past, he was brought back to that room and tortured while Claudia enjoyed the sight. Using his still vivid memories of the first cycle, Arthur acted the very same and questioned his wife''s actions, eagerly waiting for the fateful day to arrive. Months passed and Arthur''s body slowly broke down until ''X'' finally appeared and offered Arthur a second chance, which he obviously took. However, when he reincarnated, he wasn''t brought back to Astria but to another place. **** With the mountain in a demolished, unstable state and the tribulation pouring down on the peak, the spectators grew curious about this 8-star God Monarch who''s currently rebuilding his body into a Celestial one. At first, a hand sprung from the earth then it was followed by a second hand, they were stained from the dirt but apart from that, they resembled a human''s. Like an awoken zombie, a man appeared from the earth, he had short hair that was jet black with a bit of white strands. Before his face become clear, he vanished from everyone''s sight. "I told you that I will come back, right?" Arthur appeared before the elder monk from last time, the one who banished him to Riarravar. Due to his sudden attack, the monk wasn''t able to escape. Arthur''s hand stabbed the monk''s abdomen and literally pulled his organs then Dark Magic followed, engulfing the whole lower part of the old man. The monk tried to speak but only blood came out of his mouth, his cultivation was being lost and he couldn''t even take out his artifact to defend or flee. While holding the top of the dying monk''s head, Arthur glanced at the flabbergasted spectators, a soft smile plastered on his now clean face. A strange black spatial tunnel opened next to him and, from within, a small jet black ring and a robe attached themselves to Arthur. "I didn''t think I would have a lot of fans." Arthur chuckled and raised his hand, releasing an absurd amount of Godly Thunder which clashed with the incoming tribulation. The white and red thunder struck each other, cracking the space and destroying the surroundings. Not all of the people present recognized him, however, those who did, became shocked and frightened. One of them was the black-haired Marshall who appeared at the end of the war between the white specters and the undead, his countenance changed as he glared at Arthur, not bothering to hide his hostility. The target of his fiery gaze remained nonchalant as he looked at the raging thunder up above and mumbled: "It''ll be better to get rid of this before the fun begins." He retrieved the sword given to him by Timos, held it with both of his hand and flew into the sky, directly at the tribulation. What happened after left everyone gob-smacked, like a wheel, Arthur spun in the air and slashed with his sword, releasing a devastating invisible blow which cut down everything in its path. The hundreds of thunderbolts and the cl.u.s.tered dark clouds were split in two and vanished within ten seconds, leaving nothing but the rumbling sounds of the disappearing thunder. Just like that, a Celestial Tribulation which can evaporate an Overgod was taken care of. This only deepened the dread of the spectators, especially those who are not strong enough to content against this unfamiliar man. The players that came from System braced themselves and took out a lot of expensive items, planning to defend themselves if Arthur decided to attack them next. The Marshall changed into a fighting stance as he knew he would be next. Very few people remained calm, one of them was the Sword God, Syth''s teacher. At first, he was surprised but didn''t feel that much threatened by Arthur, however, when his disciple told him something, he retreated to a safe corner and merely watched the events unfold. After he got rid of the tribulation, the eight stars rotating around Arthur started forming his Celestial Body. The process took less than a minute, moreover, not even one person dared to disturb Arthur, who was becoming an Overgod before their eyes. His eyes shone with a blue l.u.s.ter while his body emitted an outrageous amount of Dark Magic which shrouded the sky and corrupted half of the demolished mountain, which could barely hold on. Any more damage and it''ll crumble, no one would have ever thought that an ancient monument would be destroyed to such a sorry state. "Time to collect some debt, Marshall." Arthur spoke with a mocking tone as he sheathed his sword and faced the enemy. Unfortunately, the Marshall wasn''t alone as two other silhouette jumped next to him. The two were unfamiliar to Arthur but thanks to Appraisal, he was able to see their status, including the realms. Both were peak Overgods, supreme existences in this Universe but the parasite didn''t feel worried. He could hear the calling of the red envelope given by the Joker, which meant that the Red Tower will open soon. He didn''t know where Lucy was but it was safe to assume that she''ll be waiting for him there. The first to initiate an attack was the Marshall, who charged at Arthur, his sword releasing tiny silver threads made of sharp Sword Essence. In retaliation, Arthur punched the air in front of him, cracking it and breaking all the threads, then he teleported next to the man and violently kicked his legs before using his new power which allowed him to release a purer form of Nether Energy which can damage enemies. The Marshall was hit by the kick but managed to somersault in time to dodge the second attack. The two others, both old men, each rushed from one direction, one wielding a long halberd and the other a long lance. When they got too close to Arthur, their movement became incredibly slow, allowing Arthur to easily position himself and counter-attack. Within a split second, the two were flung away, one enveloped by green lightning and the other waving his weapon around, trying to get rid of a get rid of the Dark Magic. Sadly, Arthur wasn''t done as he teleported again, appearing behind the old man wielding a lance and opened his mouth, spitting some sort of acid. The deadly acid splattered all over the old man, melting his clothes and skin, causing him to wail loudly, unable to handle the pain. Even before such a gory sight, Arthur didn''t bat an eye as he punched the old man, planning to finish him only for the Marshall to dive from the air, his sword releasing a loud cry then unleashing a white blast. Arthur changed his target from the old man to the Marshall, his fist clashing with the sword. The result was an annoying ringing sound caused by the cracked sword of the Marshall, who gasped and swiftly retreated. Sadly, his body plummeted below, and before his body could crash in the ground, the earth moved on its own, changing into sharp and long black spikes. He trying rotating his body mid-air to avoid them but the ever-increasing gravity rendered him unable to move freely. A distance away, the lance wielding Overgod was overwhelmed by a large flame tornado and a lightning dragon, both bombarding relentlessly. He was able to protect himself but he could not join the other two and attack Arthur. ˇ­ "He''s multitasking. Never saw anyone actually do it." One of the players chatted with his friends while watching Arthur''s fight. Another player, a woman with a long green hair and a light silver armor, nodded her head and added: "He can use lots of elements too. I see lightning, fire, earth, Space, darkness, Life, death." "Isn''t he that parasite who got banished? How''d he come back?" Hearing this question, the woman shrugged her shoulders, uninterested. She took out a red envelope and said: "We''ve got no business here, let''s head to the Red Tower." Some of the players under her didn''t object and obediently followed her. ˇ­ The old man who got hit by the acid perished less than a minute later, as for the lance wielding Overgod, he was targeted next by Arthur. The parasite, while receiving the Marshall''s sword slashes, was able to hit the far-away old man. Small and colorful tornados appeared above his hands, they spun with great speed and, when thrown, became extremely large and devastating. Around six tornados headed toward the old man, each containing an attribute with the most terrifying one being the Death Tornado. It withered everything in its way and kind of weakened the other tornados, nonetheless, they ended up reaching the target and trapping him. Unfortunately, the old man didn''t die that easily, he suddenly emitted a blinding red light and swept his lance, breaking all the tornados before leaping at Arthur. The old man''s speed became absurd as he appeared next to Arthur and stabbed him, the spear going through Arthur''s chest. Glad that he finally defeated the target, the old man looked at Arthur only to find the latter smiling, unperturbed by the lance going through his chest. "Got you." The moment Arthur said that, the ground under the old man turned jet black and started to suck him in like some sort of a black hole. In fact, this was an ability Leiu often used and Arthur managed to successfully imitate it using Dark Magic. The old man struggled and tried jumping away but to no avail, the more he moved, the faster the suction became. A couple of seconds passed and all that remained was an emptiness in his location, even his desperate cries could no longer be heard. The Marshall, angry, became much more serious as his blade turned invisible and his aura multiplied. Like a ghost, he zigzagged around the spikes blocking his away before stabbing Arthur with the unseen blade. Sadly, his weapon hit only air as Arthur vanished yet again and when he reappeared, he was possessing the body of the old man who was killed by the acid. Arthur took a throwing stance and, after applying all of his strength into the arm holding the lance, he shot it at the incoming Marshall. It whistled in the air and shattered the space around it as it directly clashed with the enemy, breaking into pieces but still managing to fling the Marshall away. Furthermore, the tip of the lance had a fire Rinotsu hidden in it, which engulfed the whole target. Being an Exalted God, the Marshall wasn''t heavily injured by either the Rinotsu or the lance, nonetheless, he did suffer minor wounds and still had to get rid of the Hell flames burning his clothes and disturbing his flow of energy. Chapter 565 - 511: Unstoppable "What do you *cough* want?" The black-haired Marshall coughed blood as he faced Arthur, who was possessing the body of the dead Overgod. "Revenge, sweet revenge." The old man flashed an ugly smile at the distressed Marshall, whose sword skills were countered by Arthur. He stealthily retrieved a Dimensional Stone, planning to leave this area before he get fatally injured by the rampaging Dark Magic. Using the overgod''s body, Arthur dashed at the middle-aged man and attacked with his palm, emitting a blinding golden light followed by a large illusory palm that twice his size. The Marshall swung his invisible sword, unleashing a silver beam which clashed with Arthur''s palm attack. The beam emerged victorious and headed toward Arthur, striking his body and causing a lot of blood to gush out, nevertheless, the parasite continued his charge, uncaring about the damage dealt with his body. He neither felt pain nor threatened because, as a Soul Parasite, Physical attacks can''t kill him. Moreover, his stats were now outrageous to the point that even an Exalted God''s attacks do very little damage. With the acquisition of the Celestial Body, a higher cultivation and his incredibly physical body, a fresh Exalted God like this gloomy Marshall can''t really defeat him. Although his charge was slowed, Arthur still managed to reach his target and raise both of his hands, releasing a formless energy that shattered the space and locked the enemy in place. This was followed by a sprayed deadly acid, three exploding detonators and a large black whirlpool which hit the man''s face, completely disfiguring him and consuming all the sword essence he planned to use to resist. In the end, the Marshall was sent flying two hundred meters away and before he could stabilize his body, Arthur was already upon him, shackling him with the use of tiny black threads that wrapped around his limbs. Arthur also activated his eye ability, slowing time around him and the enemy, rendering him unable to crush the dimensional stone and getaway. Very calmly, he snatched the stone from the Marshall''s hand, pocketed it then mockingly said: "This trick has been used so many timesˇ­ did you really think I would let anyone else escape?" Then he put his hand over the Marshall''s head and used Dark Magic, corrupting the man and causing him to die a very painful and miserable death. Once he was done with the enemy, Arthur looked around before focusing his gaze on a solitary man wearing an armor that had the Cloud Sea emblem. He was a God Monarch who accompanied the Marshall, his strength was weak and after witnessing what happened to his superior, he didn''t dare act arrogantly or even try to run away. "This is only the beginning. Tell your sect, empire, or whatever, that I''ll come back." Arthur then looked at the crowd of experts, all looking at him, and spoke with a more domineering tone: "The Thousand Buddha Sect, the Heavenly Snake Clan, and the Cloud Sea Sect, I''ll uproot every single of them. Please help me relay this message to them." He did a slight bow before adding: "Now then, I''m off." He was enveloped in a green lightning then flew away, leaving a black fog in his path. All the onlookers remained surprised for some time before they came back to their senses when the sky-piercing mountain started heavily shaking then crumbling into literal dust. ***** "We received an urgent message from the scout. The target will pass through here in an hour." A man covered in a thick silver armor talked to his superior, an old woman wearing a normal white robe. In response, the old woman nodded her head, turned to face an army of a hundred experienced Holy Knights, and spoke with a loud and crisp voice, contrary to what one might expect from a sack of old bones like her: "Prepare the shield and solidify the formation!" The knights shouted in union, all energetic and ready to battle the incoming enemy. It was actually a Dark Magic user and a parasite, an existence that is absolutely evil, or so it was deemed by the Holy Dominion. The news about Arthur traveled far and wide in just two days and, of course, the Holy Dominion learned of his reappearance. They mobilized an army of experts to capture him, or kill him if the first option was possible. It wasn''t that hard to guess his destination, which was the Red Tower, so the Holy Dominion blocked the one and only route. They won''t be relying on ambush but on a frontal clash with the use of a strong army. The old woman was a High Cardinal and someone who had fought Zodiak in the past so she''s quite knowledgeable about Dark Magic. Unfortunately, when the time came and the parasite showed, it didn''t go as they had expected. They raised a humongous magical white shield which blocked both the ground and the air, allowing no soul to pass through. The hundred Holy Knights raised their shield and unsheathed their blades, ready to initiate the attack. Sadly, Arthur didn''t care about them, he was like a meteor, destroying everything in his way. The hundred Holy Knights were instantly pushed away before they could do anything. As for the white shield, it actually halted Arthur''s flight, locking him into place for a couple of seconds. Just as the old woman, the High Cardinal, was about to cast a spell, two wings appeared on Arthur''s back, increasing his aura even further. With the use of the wings conjured by [Angel of Death], Arthur was able to crack the shield and open a hole big enough for him to fit through. Without looking back, he continued straight ahead, his body becoming a thin lightning bolt which traversed the space at an unreasonable speed. Even if they wanted to chase, the Holy Knights were didn''t have the needed speed to catch up. Even the highest grade Spirit Boat isn''t able pale in comparison to Arthur''s speed. [Angel of Death] and [Transmutation] boosted his already sky-high Agility, which is, currently, slightly above 50 billion points. So, like that, the Holy Dominion suffered a loss by having their shield cracked and several of their knights injured, though, thankfully, none died. **** "To all contestants, the Red Tower competition will begin in 50 minutes 57 seconds, please remain close so you can be teleported inside once the countdown ends." Arthur could hear the robotic voice speak every ten minutes, warning the contestants to remain near the tower. Actually, the Red Tower was situated in the System Universe, more precisely, in a solitary planet in the Andromeda Galaxy. Apart from the Red Tower, there was nothing in this place, no forests, mountains, or living beings. Out of the thousand who received the invitation, 988 arrived and are ready to begin. Some people decided to ally with each other but they remained oblivious to how the tower works. They didn''t know if they''ll be pitted against each other or will have to cooperate to climb to higher floors. Arthur activated [Eternium], further accelerating his flight as he went through a self-created Spatial Tunnel leading directly to SPX-48, the name of the planet where the Red Tower was. "To all contestants, the Red Tower competition will begin in 9 minutes 50 seconds, please remain close so you can be teleported inside once the countdown ends." At this point in time, Arthur finally reached the end of the tunnel and appeared on the outer region of the planet, a yellow fog blocking his way. He possessed a bird covered in purple spikes then started spinning in the air, pushing away the fog and entering the planet''s hemisphere. He could already see the unshakable glowing tower, which had cards symbols engraved on its four sides. The bird was like a beam of light as descended from up above and madly flew at the Red Tower. When there was only one minute remaining, Arthur was able to reach the needed distance to be able to teleport inside so he landed on the ground and scanned his surroundings, sensing no soul nearby. "Please ready yourself, the competition will begin in 10 seconds." "9" "8" "7" "6" "5" "4" "3" "2" "1" "Lo, seekers in days unborn, god-bladed bearers. Know this, this tower challenges the sky. Ware the watcher, the peak awaits, soul-hungry, unsated!" Chapter 566 - 512: Cheetah and Drake Ever since his reincarnation, the soul bound with Lucy vanished without any explanation, which made it harder for Arthur to locate his wife. Nevertheless, they''ll surely find each other inside the Red Tower so he didn''t worry that much. There were only a thousand participants so it shouldn''t be that hard to locate her. The only problem was the floors, which were worlds of their own, unimaginably vast and inhabited by strong monsters and, supposedly, humans and other peaceful races. Currently, at the top of the tower, the Joker helped Saly sit on an overly large chair before glancing at the quiet Leiu and saying: "Who do you think will reach the top floor?" It wasn''t the youth who replied but the energetic Saly: "My parents, of course!" "Don''t be so sure. The tower was built by the two of us but we cannot control it so we cannot do anything if danger befalls on them." Even after hearing that, the little girl remained cheerful while looking at the numerous screens displaying all the participants. "Hm? Why can''t I see mother?" In response to this, the Joker and Leiu also looked at the monitors but found no signs of a silver-haired woman. "Maybe she''s didn''t come orˇ­ in disguise."-Joker Although Lucy couldn''t be located, the two brothers weren''t worried and were, in fact, more interested in Arthur, who was standing all alone. "I reckon that 10% will reach the top floor."-Leiu ***** "Welcome to the first floor, contestants." The robotic voice spoke directly inside the 989 people''s head the moment they appeared inside the Red Tower. "To proceed to the second floor, please eliminate the Earth Cyclops, Fire Python, and Wind Drake." The people who were grouped up before the competition got teleported into the same place, as for the loners, they appeared in a random place of the first floor. Arthur was in a normal desert, where the temperature is higher than average and the sun was shining brightly. He didn''t know how the tower functions and how could they possibly put a real sun inside, nonetheless, he didn''t spend much time pondering over useless stuff. The task seemed simple and as it''s the first floor, it shouldn''t be that hard. The moment the clearing goal was said, everyone started moving, some wanted to get rid of potential enemies as soon as the competition begins and others immediately started searching for the three targets. "Master, Earth Cyclops are actually mutated versions of normal cyclops. They absorbed too much Earth Energy and adapted to their environment, they should not be too difficult to kill." Arthur listened to his Quad-Spirit, which gave him a brief explanation about the Earth Cyclops and its unique abilities. He was in a desert, which is, most likely, where the first target is. Moreover, he isn''t the only one here and there''ll be more people grouping up to clear the floor. However, he isn''t either going to disguise himself nor group up, he''ll try to finish things quickly and, hopefully, meet with Lucy soon. Three minutes after appearing in the desert, Arthur chose a random direction, possessed the body of a cheetah and started madly running. As luck would have it, a group of second-generation, silver-spooned, young masters was also in the area. They were the same ones who mocked Zodiak before the competition starts and were shooed away by Losha. There were three of them, one was an Overgod but his foundation was very unstable, indicating that he reached this stage only thanks to expensive elixirs. The other two were God-Monarch and, overall, they weren''t really a threat to Arthur''s, who just passed by them, unwilling to waste time on pointless talks or fights. "Wait! What''s that?" A young man with long red hair pointed at the speeding cheetah, both excited and curious. He retrieved a staff and cast a spell in the form of long invisible wind blades, which were supposed to hit Arthur but missed the mark as their speed was a joke. "I want it! Help me catch it." The three tried to chase after Arthur, who was the cheetah, only for the ground under them to start moving. A wave of sand rose from the ground and literally engulfed the three, burying them under it for a couple of seconds. By the time they got out, the cheetah could no longer be seen. The trio''s troubles have not ended, however, as large snakes sprung from the ground and ganged up on them, leaving them with no choice but to fight. A few kilometers away from the battle, Arthur stood atop of a sandy hill, confused about something. ''I definitely sensed traces of Dark Magic inside the three of them, but it''s definitely not mineˇ­'' "Master, maybe someone found Zodiak''s hidden powers." ''No, it''s different from the artificial one acquired by his followers.'' ˇ­ A woman with flashy pink hair stood near the edge of a canyon, gazing at large beast flying in the air, surrounded by violent cyclones, protecting it from all sides. This was a drake, a lesser version of a dragon but can still be considered a strong opponent. Lucy neither used Lonely Moon, Yin Power, or the Golden Crow flames, she opted for an easier solution which will not reveal her identity. She jumped off the cliff, heading toward the Wind Drake like a bullet while forming a fist enveloped by magma. Her body left afterimages as she first entered the range of the cyclone, which couldn''t stop her thanks to her unreasonable speed, then it spun in the air, evading the fangs of the beast that tried to bite her, before striking it with a monstrous punch. The attack left a sizable hole in the target''s abdomen, making a lot of blood gush out, and causing the beast to roar in anger and pain. Due to the inability to fly in this floor, Lucy made use of the countless expensive items handed to her by Arthur. She took out a big white feather and used it to fly in the air, rotating behind the flailing drake, and unleashing a torrent of bubble made from Lava. The drake controlled the cyclone to get rid of the incoming projectiles but wasn''t fast enough to defend against Lucy, who descended from above, punching it again, this time on its head, pulverizing it instantly. The headless beast fell from the air and the cyclone vanished seconds after. As for Lucy, she landed back on the feather and swiftly left the area. Right after she killed the Wind Drake, the robotic voice belonging to the Red Tower spoke again: "The Wind Drake has been killed." Chapter 567 - 513: Unbound "The Fire Python has been killed." ''X'', Forne, Celes, and G''am Tir were grouped and managed to easily dispose of the second target, leaving only one remaining. The poor monster died with just one hit from the Grey Seat, Celes. In fact, the woman merely touched it, causing the python to turn into ash within seconds. "Death Physique, now that is a truly rare thing to see." ''X'' chuckled as he gazed at Celes, who snorted, disliking his whole being, for some reason. "The Cyclops should be killed soon, prepare yourselves for the second floor. Knowing the Joker, this beginning was purposefully made easy but it won''t be the next later on." Forne warned the group before sitting in a corner and silently meditating, uncaring about the gazes he was getting from ''X'' and G''am Tir. **** *Congratulations! You unlocked the passive [Unbound].* *[Unbound(passive)]: The user is no longer able to reincarnate but, when facing an enemy with the Death or Life attribute, all stats are doubled. When below 20% Health, all the physical stats are increased by 30% and Nether Energy recovery is increased by 150%.* *[Parasitic Soul Shift]: Any host you possess will be added to your [Soul Shift] List. You can transform into anything recorded in the Soul Shift]. Please note that there is a cooldown of 2 seconds when you change from one form to another. This cooldown can be negated if [Angel of Death] is activated.* *[Soul Shift(passive)]: A record of everything possessed by Arthur.] *You obtained a new skill [Nether Aura(active)]: Control Nether Energy to your advantage. The user can dispel skills, spells, and technique that are about to be cast.* *Status Window: TITLE: MEAT GRINDER / SEEKER OF KNOWLEDGE / ONE WITH THE SWORD / ARK HOLDER / LIVE WITH HONOR, DIE WITH GLORY / BREAKER OF CHAINS / HOLDER OF THE DARK BLADE''S OATH / MAD DESTROYER/PSYCHOPATH/DRAGON RIDER / UNSEEN BOND / ONE STALKED BY THE REAPER / DIVINE HERALD Level: ?? Class: Dark ARK Parasite Realm: Overgod (Formation) Celestial Body: 15% - Strength: 38.7B Intelligence: 41.09B Agility: 46.7B Wisdom: 29B Vitality: 45B Dexterity: 20.2B - Health: 59.4B// Health Regen: 33.3m/s Nether Energy: 11B // Nether Energy Regen: 19m/s(+100%) Mana: 12.6B // Mana Regen: 29.99m/s Stamina: Infinite /Stamina Regen: ??? ----- Creation: 1000 ---- Attack: 36.8B (+35% damage [Dark Flame Ring]) (+20% if Dark Magic is used) (+5% [Warrior''s Cry[LvMax](Passive)][+2% from Breaker of Chains Title] Defense: 40.9B (+25% Damage Reduction) (+5% [Solid [LvMax](passive)] (+10% [Golem''s Wall(LvMax)(Passive)] Magic Defense: 3.9B Soul Defense: 29m --- Enigma abilities : Telekinesis / [Light Operation/ Righteous Death ] / Sixth sense / ARK(Activated) - Mental Power: 42350 --- Elemental Resistances(+) Fire: 100% Darkness: 100% Wind: 35% Water: 75% Earth: 75% Light/holy: 65% Shadow: 30(+20%)% Lightning: 100% Ice: 30% Death : 19.9% Crowd Control : 50% Life: 19.9% --- Possessions (472,085) --- Races: ?Divine Beasts (4) ?Humans (283,044) ?Demons (84,997) ?Beasts (+)(101,529) ?Unique Beasts (2510) ?Mythical beings (1) **** In addition to his stats, which sky-rocketed, Arthur became an Overgod and acquired quite a few useful abilities. The one he favors the most right now is [Parasitic Soul Shift], which makes him much more versatile and flexible. Now, he doesn''t need the body of the Divine Beasts, for example, in order to use their abilities. He''ll just transform into one of the four and use their overpowered skills, like the Vermilion Bird''s ''revival'' or the insta-heal of the White Tiger. As he was busy looking at the blue window, filled with numbers, a person approached him. Arthur, being a cheetah right now, faced the incoming figure, neither attacking nor running. Seeing the red haired woman, Arthur returned to his original form and bitterly smiled: "I guess I should''ve expected to see you here." In response, Losha frowned and retorted: "What? It''s not like I wanted to meet you here." Arthur was never a fan of this outrageously powerful reincarnator, however, he didn''t want to provoke her either. "Honestly, I could never stomach you but due to Lucy''s past circ.u.mstances, I had to put up with you." Hearing this, Losha shrugged her shoulders and said: "Same." After a brief and awkward silence, Losha asked: "So? Do we fight or what?" "Nah, too bothersome, right?" "Exactly." Arthur nodded his head then glancing at the empty desert around him before focusing back on her. Seeing that she hasn''t moved and was staring at his with hesitation, he mockingly said: "Please don''t tell me you want ally with me or whatever." The reincarnator creased her brows, finding what he said absolutely absurd. She let out a sigh and corrected his statement: "No, I was just sizing you up. You''ve gotten much stronger since we last met, though I''ll still beat you into a pulp." After saying her piece, she swiftly left, not bothering with the parasite anymore. Arthur returned to the cheetah form and returned to his crazed running, taking large strides and jumping from one hill to another in search of the Cyclops, which was surprisingly difficult to find. The two other targets were out in the open but the cyclops remained hidden, making almost every participant head to the desert, trying to locate it. ˇ­ "Is this it?" A woman originating from the System pointed at a large humanoid monster with yellow skin and one gigantic eye with her sword, ascertaining that it is indeed the cyclops. "Yes, it should be the Earth Cyclops." The woman was a Lv13,481 player tasked to enter the Red Tower and reach the highest floor to get the Blessing Stone and the Wish Star. These two are the rewards for reaching the peak and completing all the tasks given by the Red Tower. Rumors say that the Blessing Stone is artifact created by The GameMaster, it has the ability to randomly generate cheat buffs which can make an Overgods easily defeat someone a whole realm higher than them. As for the Wish Star, it''s the name of a hidden place that, if visited, can grant you any wish you want. This high-leveled female player is named Maxine Bull, born and raised in the System. She''s a century and a half old and had spent all of her life killing monsters and completing missions given by the System hence why her level is high. In fact, she''s the strongest player that entered the Tower and despite not having authority over the Lv10,000+ players who also joined the competition, they still respect her and consider her opinion whenever they''re about to do something important. "Max! Ain''t this a sorry f.u.c.k.i.n.g sight!" Another player, a thief, to be exact, spoke out loud as he watched the cyclops, which was struggling to leave a pit that was filled with snakes half of its size. Though it had amazing strength and could use its eye to temporarily petrify its target, the number of snakes was too much for it to handle. Even if Max and her friends don''t interfere, the Earth Cyclops will die nonetheless. "The Earth Cyclops has been killed. 979 Contestants will be teleported to the 2nd floor in 1 minute." Chapter 568 - 514: Dwarf "Welcome to the second floor, the World of Pillars. To proceed to the next floor, please do not fall. Any participant that manages to knock down others will gain Card Points which can be used in the shop of the 4th floor." The robotic voice briefly explained the rules of this floor just as the nine hundred plus participants. When Arthur appeared on the 2nd floor, he found himself standing on a very tall pillar, his feet nearing the edges. Below him, there was a bottomless abyss painted by an inky blackness which brought anyone the shivers every time they look at it. It was safe to assume that falling meant losing the competition and also dying. The rules were simple but it was bound to be a bloody battle between everyone. Apart from the abyss down below, there were only countless pillars, about fifteen meters away from one another. He transformed into a bird and tried to fly but he wasn''t instantly and forcefully brought back to the cheetah form, clearly indicating that flight is prohibited here. The voice only told everyone not to fall but didn''t say how to proceed to the 3rd floor, which made some confused. Around six pillars away from Arthur, there stood a dwarf with a thick red beard, holding an axe bigger than himself while eyeing the targets close to him. Although he could stay his ground and wait for others to leap at him, Arthur decided to take a more offensive approach. The whole cheetah became enveloped in green lightning as it jumped at a robbed-old man, who seemed to be a mage. He waved his staff and was about to use [Blink] to teleport to another pillar only for his spell to break as Arthur used his Space Magic to disturb the Space in the area. Left in the open, the old man could not defend against a violent frontal impact from the cheetah, which sent him flying in the air. He was about to stabilize his body and land on another pillar but there appeared multiple fireballs with creepy faces which detonated, heavily damaging him and causing him to fall into the abyss. The dwarf witnessed everything and knew he was the next target when Arthur leapt again, this time rushing at the short target like a bullet. The bearded man clenched his axe and used it to block the lightning cheetah, stopping its mad charge and locking it into space. The dwarf was proud of his monstrous physical strength but when Arthur''s slam overpowered him and almost pushed him off the cliff, he became surprised. "Ugly animal! Get away!" His forearm muscles bulged as he swung his axe, throwing the cheetah in the air then initiating a comical yet surprisingly swift jump, attacking with his big axe again. A red energy erupted from his body, enveloping the axe and increasing his rising aura. Unfortunately, when he attacked the beast, it vanished, appearing on the pillar the dwarf was on a moment ago. Arthur returned to his human form and used black chains that were created with Dark Magic to quickly bind the airborne dwarf, limiting his movements. Once the enemy was trapped inside the chains, Arthur swung them down, attempting to get rid of another target. It was almost a successful attack as the dwarf fell into the abyss but before he vanished into the darkness, he managed to break the chains and hold on to the stone pillar before he started crawling up like a monkey. When he saw Arthur looking at him with a smile, the dwarf inwardly cursed and used the pillar as a stepping stone to jump to the closest pillar. Arthur tried to hinder him by throwing several white thunderbolts but target''s thick armor warded them all off. ******* "What a pleasure to meet you!" Maxine stabbed her sword at Losha, whose body became a big diamond block, resisting all the attacks of the high-leveled player. The two happened to appear next to each other and immediately started fighting, though it was more appropriate to call it a one-sided battle. This confrontation between two powerhouses was deemed as pointless by Losha, who was really interested in fighting the crazed player. They jumped from pillar to another, one was relentlessly attacking while the other was calmly defending. At some point, Max retrieved a potion, quickly drank it then attacked the reincarnator again, her one-handed sword was swung at the blacksmith, emitting a vertical green slash. This time, however, this sword attack was able to penetrate through the unbreakable Diamond Physique and cause Losha to slightly bleed. In retaliation, the reincarnator grabbed the still within-reach blade and pulled it towards her then kicked Maxine, flinging her far away. The green-haired woman, Max, coughed some blood and drank a special Healing potion then retrieved some sort of a grey cannon and fired a large blast at Losha, who was landed on one of the pillars. "It''s fun, isn''t it?" Joked Maxine as she saw how the pillar got obliterated and the target was sent flying toward the abyss. Max thought she managed to win but a few seconds later, a blinding streak of light rose from the shrouded abyss, breaking multiple pillars and then crashing into her. ****** A pink-haired woman motionlessly stood atop the flat pillar, neither looking at battling contestants or bothering to gain points. On the pillar right next to her, an individual wearing a grey robe which covered his head and most of his body, turned to face her then said: "It''s the first time we meet, right?" In response, Lucy tilted her head but didn''t reply. She looked at him but could not recognize him through his appearance or elderly voice. Upon seeing her furrow her brows, the old man chuckled whilst adding: "Did the boulder make that mask for you? It is indeed very deceitful." Just as she heard that, Lucy grew more cautious as she released a threatening aura, not even hiding her Yin power anymore. Whoever it was, he knew her and was able to see through the mask procured by the Yellow Seat of Black Rose. "Who are you?" In response, the old man took down his hood, showing his wrinkled and oddly pale face. "I don''t suppose you''ll recognize me even if you see this old face, but, I believe you know me very well." Dark Magic oozed out of his body, shrouding his body to give a brief demonstration to the startled Lucy. "Zodiak?" "It is I." Forne did tell her that they have an additional ally who''ll help them with the plan but never revealed his identity. Now that Lucy saw who it was, she was able to piece things together, however, the very fact that Zodiak is still alive still gave her quite the shock. Seeing that she gave no vocal reply, Zodiak spoke again: "Fear not, I''ve no business with Arthur. I just hope he won''t interfereˇ­ later on, I mean." She stared back at this old man, who had a bald head and a not-so-friendly face, feeling rather uncomfortable. "I will make sure he won''t." "Hahaha that is good to hear." Just as he finished speaking, someone lunged at him from behind, trying to sneak-attack him but it ended up in absolute failure as the assailant just went through Zodiak''s, who''s body seemed to be made out of a black and dense cloud. The attacker didn''t fall to the abyss but closed in on Lucy only to be hit in the face by a large bubble of lava, disfiguring him and causing him to wail in agony. When Lucy shifted her attention back to Zodiak, he was no longer here as he transformed into a black fog which seemed to defy the rules of the Red Tower as it flew in the air, unrestricted by anything. ****** Astria, MoonStar sect. "You still haven''t found him?" Sonia was distressed as she asked Robin, expecting a happy answer. Unfortunately, the glass-wearing businesswoman shook her head, appearing confused about the whole situation. "He didn''t seem troubled when I last saw him. I don''t think he did it willingly." Rey, who grew up since last time and became less childish, strangely sniffed the air and said: "The whole tower reeks of Death." A while ago, Jackob and his newborn son, Ragnar, disappeared without leaving any traces, causing the sect to become a bit chaotic. He was the temporary master of MoonStar and took of a lot of matters concerning the external and internal affairs, especially after Arthur tasked him to start expanding beyond Astria. "We''ll go check with King Isadore, maybe he can help us."-Sonia Chapter 569 - 515: The Mage and The Thief "F.u.c.k.i.n.g let go!" The dwarf, who tried to send Arthur away, became irritated as the parasite became a monkey and clung onto his axe while screeching loudly. The armor protecting him became charred due to the bursts of lightning coming from the monkey''s mouth. Furious, the dwarf continued inaudibly cursing and chose to let go of the axe, thinking that it''ll get rid of Arthur. Sadly, when the axe fell into the abyss, the monkey held his ankle and started pulling him down. He tried kicking him but the beast swiftly crawled around the pillar and transformed into a centipede, which released a poisonous fog, weakening the target''s senses and numbing his hands. Feeling desperate, the dwarf punched a large hole inside the pillar and entered it. As for Arthur, he decided not to continue this little play, moreover, the dwarf was by no means a weak opponent. He had an advantage right now due to the unfavorable terrain, so if they fought in another equal environment, it''ll definitely be a difficult fight for the parasite. Though he may not look like it, the dwarf was Lv12,659 and had four titles, making him quite the powerhouse. Arthur went back to the top of the pillar and looked around, trying to locate easier targets. Fortunately, there was quite an abundance of them, participants there just reached the Overgod Realm or were still God Monarchs, they, for Arthur, are free points. For the next ten minutes, Arthur eliminated six more targets before meeting one of the stronger opponents. He was also a player from the System Universe, a really skilled mage who started attacking Arthur the moment he saw him. He was amongst the people present at the Celestial Tribulation and had been eager to find him ever since. In fact, were it not for Maxine, who pressured him to head to the Red Tower, he''d have battled the parasite at that mountain. The mage blinked next to Arthur then used an ice spell to temporarily lock him on the ground. Then, from behind, an invisible figure revealed itself and back-stabbed Arthur with two daggers, both with a black, sticky liquid on their sharp edges. It was a thief belonging to Maxine''s group, he was the third strongest player in the Red Tower and has mastered his class to perfection. Just as the two daggers were about to stab Arthur''s back, they were met with a Dark Barrier, which slightly slowed their fast advance and this gave Arthur enough time to transform. Although he was impaired, he wasn''t stunned so he could still use skills, thanks to that, he became a thin skeleton. The daggers went through the jet black bones and totally missed, which made the thief let out a gasp. Unfortunately, Arthur was still hit by several ice spikes followed by a violent snowstorm that immobilized his feet again. In retaliation, he unleashed an absurd amount of Dark Magic which resisted the storm and pushed away the thief, plus, he used [Nether Aura] on the mage, dispelling his next spell. Two seconds passed and Arthur was freed but the thief used the back of his dagger to knock on his head, this time performing a flawless stun. After successfully doing that, he dealt a continuous combo of slashes, breaking the bones and decreasing Arthur''s Health bar. The mage also cast a spell on Arthur, a wolf made of ice leapt at him and bit his arm though it was unable to rip it off due to the parasite''s tough skin and resistant bones. Arthur lost more than 40% of his Health and he was still stunned, however, when the debuff time run out, the thief tried to stun again only for it to fail, surprisingly. It wasn''t that he missed the skill or that Arthur dodged, it just meant that the passive obtained from the White Tiger, which increased the chance of negating Crowd Control skills, was activated. Finally free, Arthur used [Faster than Death], appearing in front of the mage, who tried to use [Blink] only for it to fail due to the unstable Space. Nevertheless, the caster''s reaction was top-notch as he raised an Earthen wall then turned the ground muddy in an attempt to hinder Arthur. The layer of defense separating him from the mage crumbled after hitting it with a Fire Talisman and when the target was defenseless in front of him, he threw five Dark Talismans at once. Two were blocked by an ice barrier while the other three hit the mage''s body. Arthur wanted to follow-up but the thief exited his invisibility yet again to intercept him, throwing powder in the air while using the dual daggers to attack. It has to be said that his attack speed was impeccable, nevertheless, Arthur was also in a league of his own. Not only did he boost his stats with [Angel of Death], he also used the buff Talismans, increasing his movement and attack speed. He blocked four hits from the thief before transforming into a monster with long arms that had long, sharp claws. The red-skinned monster waved its black and white wings, unleashing a death storm to the behind, blocking the mage, while the white wing healed Arthur''s Health at an accelerated rate. "F.u.c.k! Where is Maxine!" The thief crossed his daggers and tried to back away but the red monster kept slashing at him left and right, its long-reaching claws shredding clothes and cutting his skin. To make matters worse, the ground turned jet black and his legs were getting sucked in, further binding him in place. The mage wanted to land a hand but the Quad-Spirit was doing a marvelous job in keeping him busy. His exotic dark blue robe was burned by the spirit''s fire and his forehead was sweating due to the increased gravity, heavily slowing his movements and making the staff weigh a ton. Arthur relentlessly attacked the thief, who efficiently protected his vitals but there reached a point where he couldn''t block the fast slashes and received a deep and serious injury in his shoulder. The parasite was about to finish him up but the mage cast a spell which made him switch places with his teammate. Now, he was the one receiving the full and frontal blows of the monster, which vanished, dodging dozens of ice spikes that only hit his afterimages. The thief retreated to a safe distance and signaled for the mage to get away too but the latter was hit by a white thunderbolt which stunned him. Like a ghost, Arthur appeared behind him and cut down with his claws but the mage somehow got rid of the stun effect and waved his staff in the air, enveloping himself in a blue spheric bubble before unleashing a violent and explosive burst of mana. The red-skinned monster was sent flying, its body bloodied. It landed on a pillar and roared loudly but didn''t give chase as the two players headed toward Maxine, who was leaping from pillar to another, seemingly ready to engage in another fight. "What damned regenerative powers!" The thief cursed as he looked at Arthur, who''s body was healing at an absurd speed. The wounds caused by the mage''s last attack were gone in a few seconds, making even the caster astonished. Unlike her two teammates, Maxine was eager to fight the parasite, who transformed into a lightning bolt, soon disappearing from her sight. "Ugh! You couldn''t handle him?" "Max! You haven''t seen him fight so you can''t blame us. He injured me and survived Tula''s Mana bomb, are all parasites supposed to be like that?" The green-haired pondered for a moment, her gaze lingering on the direction Arthur headed to. "He still hasn''t used his real powers. There is also that swordˇ­ the competition will be full of excitement! I can feel it." ****** "Teacher! She resembles you!" Saly grinned as she looked at Maxine through the screen. Her hunger for constant battles was very similar to the Joker''s thirst for strong opponents, though it can be said that he calmed down a lot compared to the past. "Pft! She''s nothing like me!" The Joker jokingly said, but his eyes betrayed him as they lingered on Maxine, happy to see someone like him. His fighting spirit was ignited and he could barely hold himself from going there and fight. They were all weaker than him but that doesn''t mean he cannot have fun, after all, he can always adjust his strength. The thrill and thirst that dominated him in the past had died down due to the lack of opponents that are equal to him strength. Even if he went to the strongest individuals in the three Universes and demanded to fight them, they''ll refuse as they only care about their own benefits. Occasionally, he''ll fight Leiu but that will end up in him being sent to a faraway place, just like last time, when his brother blasted him to Astria, where he pretended not to know Arthur and Lucy. He knew Leiu had done it purposely but he didn''t mind as he got to fight an enraged and out-of-control Arthur. Chapter 570 - 516: Hachara "Fancy seeing you here!" ''X'' waved his hand to Arthur, who landed on the pillar to his. The parasite returned to his original appearance and gazed at the man whose face cannot be seen, neither reciprocating the greeting or reacting. "Don''t tell me you still bear a grudge? It''s not like I tried to kill you." "You''ve used me and that''s enough of a reason to treat you like an enemy." ''X'' scoffed at Arthur words and retorted: "Oh please! Don''t pretend to be righteous in front of me, it really doesn''t suit you. I tricked you and you fell for it, moreover, I still granted you a second lifeˇ­ just like I promised. You should be thankful rather than behave with hostility." Arthur harrumphed but spoke no more, his eyes glancing around, seemingly in search of someone. Noticing this, ''X'' chuckled and added: "You''re looking for your wife? I don''t think she entered the Red Tower." Although he said that, Arthur kept ignoring him, pretending not to hear him. "It''s true. Eleven people didn''t show up and I''m sure I saw all of the restˇ­ not one of them was her." "See, the more you insist she''s not here, the surer I am that she joined the competition." After saying his bit, Arthur took off, leaving a sighing ''X'' alone. "Now I understand why they said he''s stubborn. Oh well, I tried my best." ''X'' shrugged his shoulders, took out a chair and sat on it while humming, uncaring about the people who leapt at him. Everyone who got close to his pillar would be teleported hundreds of meters away and have their five senses temporarily disoriented. ''X'' didn''t even budge and wasn''t interested in gaining points either, though he was fortunate enough that no Exalted God was in the area. ***** Six hours after all the contestants entered the 2nd floor, the Red Tower announced the completion of the task, which wasn''t stated at the beginning. To proceed to the 3rd floor, one hundred people must be eliminated one way or another. As only a minority were God Monarchs, it took more time than one might expect from such a thing to happen. "All contestants will be teleported to the 3rd floor in one minute." "I will announce the players with the highest points: Ranked 1st: Arthur MoonStar: 27 points. Ranked 2nd: Maxine Bull : 25 Points. Ranked 3rd : Hach''ara : 19 points." "I will announce the players with the highest elimination combo BSD: 10 points in 9.8 seconds.* Exactly one minute later, all 879 participants were teleported to the third floor, this time randomly separated into another vast world. Unlike the two first floors, Arthur was surprised to see himself inches away from another person, a woman, to be specific. She had a grey hair despite looking in her twenties, her eyes seemed lifeless and her expression stiff. *Celes Ardberg(Race: Human): Realm: Exalted God (Link Stage) Age: 299 years old Titles: Moving Decay - Physique Mastery - Soul and Body Skills : Killing Touch (LvMax) / Truthful Copy (Lv430) / Death Blast (LvMax) Information: She is the notorious Grey seat of Decay of Black Rose. Born in a prestigious family in the Heaven and Hell Universe and was once a priestess but was excommunicated due to her rare Physique, which negates anything related to Holy Magic. Hates talking and despises crowded areas.* Arthur quickly read through the contents of the appraisal then looked at Celes, who was also staring at him with an expressionless face. "Read enough?" Her voice was even more chilling than when Lucy talks to strangers(males), her piercing gaze made him feel uncomfortable but he didn''t act arrogantly as he remembered having a connection with Black Rose. He became the Red Seat of Blood but never met with Artid ever since, which made him think that they sent Celes specifically for him, though, unfortunately, he was completely wrong. Celes had heard of Arthur but never actually met him. She wasn''t interested in fighting him and, from the looks of it, they need to cooperate to clear this floor. "For the 3rd floor, each one of you will be randomly paired with another contestant and cooperate together to find whatever the tattoo in your hands is. If the paired contestants are more than 15 meters away from each other, they''ll be disqualified and sent outside the tower. If more than one pair have the same tattoo, whichever acquires the target first is considered to have passed the task. Please note that killing in the 3rd floor, the Ancient Land, is prohibited and is punished by immediate disqualification. Good luck." Arthur looked at the back of his right hand and found a tattoo of a fat bee which had four transparent wings. Celes had the same exact tattoo but, unlike Arthur, she didn''t seem to be ready to move. He walked a few steps and when he noticed her not following her, he frowned and looked back only to find her sitting on the ground, on which a colorful tablecloth was spread. "I''m exhausted from all the fights in the second floor. We will move after a short break." Then she took teacups, hand-made sandwiches, and fresh fruits, ordering them in front of her and ignoring the dumbfounded Arthur. "We have to move no-" She cut him off by saying: "It never gave us a time limit. Finding the bee may take days if not weeks and I don''t want to move around with an empty stomach." With a hand on his temples, Arthur paced around, pondering about this outrageous situation. No one would think she''s do something like that if they saw the appraisal status or her face, which was utterly void of any emotion. The phrase ''don''t judge a book by its cover'' applies well in this kind of strange situation. ''I could still force her to come with me. She''s a Death Magic user so [Unbound] will give me advantage butˇ­ if Lucy sees me carrying a woman on my shoulderˇ­ ugh'' In the end, he sat a distance away and patiently waited for Celes to finish her sudden picnic. ****** Hach''ara was a very strong Exalted God, his appearance was that of an old man with green, poisonous skin and lengthy and dirty nails. He had an horrendous smell and looked borderline grotesque as flies and other buzzing insects floating around him. Mind you, these insects were his ''pets'' and the strongest thing in his arsenal. Basically, Hach''ara controls his insects to attack his targets, however, his melee fighting is not to be underestimated either. He has the Rat Poison Physique, a rather weak Physique which seemed to have been drastically altered, making Hach immune to anything poisonous and allowing him to move his organs all over his body. Currently, Hach''ara found himself paired with an old man wearing a grey robe. Just by standing next to him, he felt an uncomfortable eeriness that forced him to jump ten meters away, unwilling to be influenced by the black fog emitting from him. Even his insects took a rather defensive stance, some even clinging onto his sticky clothes. "You know, I''ve traveled to all kinds of places to procure precious materials for my petsˇ­ in one of them, I''ve stumbled upon a temple that had a statue with a face just like yours, hehehehe" Zodiak glanced at the nervous yet excited Hach''ara, not confirming the former''s suspicion. He looked at his hand and saw a jet black circle that lacked any necessary description. "We should move." "Yes yes, of course, we should. I''m sure this meeting is a fortunate event for us both, Zodiak." "Quit your rambling and come on." Chapter 571 - 517: Black Moon "Are you done yet?" A bit annoyed, Arthur asked the calm Celes, who was backing her things very slowly, clearly taking her sweet time. They''re probably the only pair who still has not started searching for their target, which kind of frustrated Arthur, who did not want to be disqualified due to this woman''s easy-going behavior. "I told you there''s no time limit. As long as we find the Bee, we''ll proceed to the next floor so why are you in a rush?" "Unlike you, I didn''t come here to have a picnic but to rich the highest floor." "You will reach itˇ­ if you behave accordingly and stop the urge of getting everything done within a day. The competition may last months if not years and it''s pointless to burnout yourself right at the beginning." He didn''t how to properly retort so he snorted and kept waiting for Celes, who finished packing two minutes later. After she finished eating, her hair magically changed color, becoming beige, her face also brightened and her expression lightened, no longer grim and expressionless. Soon, the two embarked on their journey to find this normal-looking Bee, which is quite a small thing to search for in this world. The third floor was called the Land of Ancients and, to sum it up, it''s an old-world, desolate and lacking any vibrant life. The green vegetation was nowhere to be seen and even if you stumble upon a tree, it''s a mutated kind that''s dangerous and aggressive. The place was a series of half-destroyed mountain ranges, enormous canyons, and ancient ruins inhabited by strange and powerful monsters. It is a deadly place to tread for a God Monarch, though an Overgod can manage if he or she exercise a bit of caution. As for Exalted Gods, they shouldn''t encounter any problems, however, that doesn''t mean there aren''t living beings that can threaten them. "Any idea what this Bee is?" Seeing her carefully look at the tattoo on the back of her hand, Arthur asked her, hoping she can facilitate the search. Unfortunately, Celes shook her head while turning around and walking ahead. "You know nothing so why are you heading to that direction?" She halted her steps, slightly turned her hand, glancing at him while replying: "It''s a hunch." "A hunch? Hah!" Arthur stood his ground, refusing to follow her up just because of a hunch. In terms of locating something, he was much more suited than Celes, who spoke and acted abnormally. Irritated, she glared at him without saying anything, however, he could feel a slight change in the air. Understanding what''s going on, he grinned and mockingly said: "You better try harder, this fog is useless." She creased her brows, both startled and confused, unable to understand how he saw the colorless fog or was even able to resist it. In the end, she concluded that he was a Death Magic-user but not an experienced one, which is, sadly and actually, quite the opposite. "Honestly, since we''re a pair now, I don''t want to fight you or drag you around like a rag so, I humbly request that you do not resort to any aggressive actionsˇ­ like the one you just did. You may be one of the Nine Seats but don''t forget that I''m one too." In the end, Celes let out a sigh and followed Arthur, who, after meticulously stretching his sense and using various detection skills, found an area that is inhabited by various kinds of insects, though he was unable to sense the presence of any Bees. Nevertheless, in this situation, it''s the best place to search into, and the probability of finding the Bee is high. ********* "Wow! I like your hair." Maxine leaned closer to the pink-haired woman, admiring her long and bright-colored hair. She was paired with this strange, whom she was unfamiliar with but knew was decently strong. Her ability to judge people with one look is one of her talents and the moment her eyes landed on Lucy, the player was sure that her temporary partner is a strong and capable individual. "Thanks! Yours isn''t bad either." Contrary to her usual attitude, Lucy took a more friendly approach as to not alert Arthur or anyone familiar with the way she behaves. She smiled back at the talkative Maxine, who didn''t seem to worried about the target and was more focused on getting to know Lucy. "Where are you from?" "Bard Realm in the Cloud Sea Universe." "Are you part of any sect?" "No, I prefer not to be restrained by sect or clan rules." "So you''re a cultivator? How come you''ve got the System." "I once visited the System Universe so it was automatically added to me." What Lucy said was believable because it was the truth. If anyone goes to the System Universe, they''ll get the System. Of course, it''s possible to remove it using powerful cultivation techniques or unique artifacts, which is why no one was worried about having it permanently. "The system is useful, right? It tells you exactly how strong you are." Lucy seemed rather doubtful as she sighed and complained: "It''s helpful but I''ve heard bad rumors about it. Like secretly planted malwares that hinder the future progress of the users or programs that spy on special people." As she heard that, Maxine chuckled but didn''t deny any of those claims. She sized up this pink-haired woman before speaking again: "I see you''ve gathered quite a bit of info." "No no, it''s nothing like that. Those are just stuff I''ve heard in my travels." After a short silence in which neither of did anything in particular, Max said: "Well, it matters not now. Let us find this Bee or whatever." ********* Zodiak and Hach''ara traveled a long way until they found the remnants of a city. There was rubble everywhere and the buildings were way too over-sized for humans to live in. This can only man that the previous inhabitants of this worlds had a ginormous size, at least tens of meters in height. The disgusting old man kept pestering Zodiak and talking every five minutes, though his words and questions received no reply from the ever-so-silent Dark Magic user. "Anywayˇ­ what do you think this black circle means?" Surprisingly, Zodiak did reply this time. He lifted his head and pointed his index at the sky, more precisely at the jet black moon which was visible in broad daylight. "What?! We need to get the moon?" Hach''ara didn''t quite believe Zodiak as it''s impossible to fly, much less fly all the way to the moon. While it''s true that it resembles the tattoo on their hands, it''s not yet confirmed that the literal moon of the third floor is what they need to acquire, nonetheless, that possibility can''t be ruled out, which made the insect master a bit angry. "There are cases when somethings are not actually what they seem. There is no such thing as Black Moon, I think it''s an illusionˇ­ a mirage of some sort." "So we need to find the case of this..mirage?" Zodiak inspected the mountain-like buildings and towering doors, his mind thinking about a certain extinct race. He motioned for his partner to go the side before crouched down and stabbed his hand into the ground, immediately corrupting it and turning it jet black. The area of effect of Dark Magic became larger until there was a dark circle with a radius of 50m around Zodiak. Before Hach''ara could react, he and Zodiak were sucked into the ground, appearing in a luminous city filled with machines, some pumping energy and others doing various miscellaneous jobs. The place was so very bright, almost blinding, it was truly a breath-taking and shocking sight. Chapter 572 - 518: Bend to my Will The room, or rather, the laboratory, was dusty and had the smell of something that was recently burnt. A bunch of books and papers were laying around every corner, exotic goods and strange antics stored in wooden boxes, and the most eye-catching of everything were the scientific machines that were used in various experiments. ''Tis a secluded and secretive place that belongs to a very old being, a self-proclaimed scientist who passes all of his time in this laboratory, his only goal is to uncover the unknown. His thirst for knowledge was never sated, fueling his ever-so-rising ambition. Lucy was guided here by Forne, who left shortly after, leaving her alone with a strange-looking entity. He had a humanoid figure but was actually a rock, a literal boulder that managed to reach this state through luck and constant hard-work. He was the oldest member of Black Rose and one of its founders, the Yellow Seat of Science,ˇ­. "You must be the newest member of our organization, Lucy MoonStar." Contrary to the stereotypical scientist, his lab coat was the color of mud, he was a bit short with messy orange hair, golden eyes and a body covered in stones. Unlike the other seats, Lucy didn''t feel pressure from this man, who appeared to be easy-going and didn''t behave with arrogance or dominance. "Nice to meet you." Lucy didn''t act coldly and properly greeted him though she didn''t get too close to him as he appeared to be in some kind of experiment that was affecting his surroundings, polluting the air and disturbing the Nether Energy. "I''ll finish in a sec, please wait." She stood at the entrance, watching him as he was in the middle of poking a black cube with two very thin, almost invisible, needles. A few minutes later, the cube was successfully opened but by doing this, the scientist seemed visibly tired. He let out a long sigh as he sat on one of the chairs and actually took out a banana from under his sleeve. He slowly peeled it while gazing back at Lucy. "I''ve heard the main parts of your plan from Forne. Attacking the Nameless Knight? It is truly a reckless endeavorˇ­ one where the consequences are much more disastrous than you lot can imagine, but I digress. After all, I''ve nothing to do with that." "We are not attacking the Nameless Knight but Sol''Khin." Lucy tried to correct him but the boulder man chuckled and retorted: "Is there a difference? Sol''khin is inside him so the moment he senses danger, he''ll surface. Even if all the Nine Seats team-up, I doubt you''ll take him down if he were to control that boy." "We''ll be catching him unguarded." "Unguarded? Miss, no, Madam Lucy, I don''t think you understand the absurdity of your words. Do you think he''s called the strongest living being in all three Universes just because he defeated a few baddies? Or through a fluke? I''ll warn you again, he''s not someone you should mess with. I don''t know him very well but I am certain that he''s aware of his situation and since he couldn''t fix it himself, I don''t think your attempt will. Sure enough, the Orb of the Fallen Overgods can extract Sol''Khin but do you think he''ll watch you do that to him? No, he''ll try to escape or kill all of you. Sol''Khin is a deceitful being who inherited his father''s slyness, a signal from him and you''ve got an army of Cthulhu in your hands. Look, I know he''s- *sigh*, never mind, I''ve said enough." He beckoned for her to come closer, which she silently and obediently did. Her mind was thinking about Arthur and how to handle him inside the Red Tower. The soul bound no longer exists so, as long as she doesn''t attract too much attention, he shouldn''t be able to recognize her. The scientist took a pair of glasses and leaned his head closer to take a good look at Lucy. "A half-white specter, half-demon. Mana user and a Yin Physique. Magma, Darkness and fire Attributes? I can sense the Golden Crow fire. Ohhˇ­ what''s this?" He fixated his kind-of falling glasses and frowned as he focused on her right arm. "Interesting, very interesting. I see that you''ve met the Black Devil." Honestly, Lucy was surprised to see him deduce so much with just one look. It reminded her of an ability Arthur spoke. Apparently, with the use of a specific card, the Joker can also see everything about a target. Whether it''s their stats, hidden powers, physiques, etcˇ­ "Compared to the rest of the Twelve, which most are hot-blooded, Timos is a cool and reasonable guy. However, he doesn''t go around giving Devil arms to anyoneˇ­ which means you did something to him. You and your husband were banished to Riarravar but managed to return." With a hand on his rocky chin, he pondered for ten seconds or so before laughing: "So the first world is no more? I guess it''s about time for me to travel tooˇ­ mayhap I''ll meet Timos again." Without needing her to say anything, he figured everything out and came out with the right conclusion. "By the way, I heard that your mother is the Matriarch of the White Specter Clan. Your father is Thordan from that alchemy sectˇ­ have you ever wondered why you''re half-demon? Your father was human yet you don''t have a drop of human blood inside of you. A peculiar matter, right? Honestly, it picked my curiosity." Seeing her slightly frown, the scientist smirked and added: "Your mother, Katrina, only had one man in her life so your father cannot be some mysterious demon hiding in someplace." "Forne said that you have something that can help me hide my identity?" Lucy quickly switched the topic, unwilling to discuss this matter with a stranger. The scientist didn''t seem to mind as he shrugged his shoulders and retrieved a mask from his storage. He presented it to Lucy while explaining something: "This darling is one of my finest works. With the exception of one person and one thing, it can fool everyone. It can alter the System so that when Appraisal is used on you, fake info will appear. However, you must know that it must always be active, meaning that using your Time ability, which can freeze time, will stop its effect for a short period of time, so refrain from doing that." "What or who are the exceptions you spoke of?" "Ahˇ­ you don''t have to worry about them. One is the Red Tower, which won''t act against you, and the other is one of the Twelve." ********* The boy did as told, he carried the coffin to the continent in East, which was inhabited mostly by humans. Fortunately, there weren''t a lot of dangerous beasts in the forest, and that made the job easier. He already got the promised gold and all that''s left is to complete the task. He dragged the big coffin to peaceful and lush forest, found the cave after a while and started digging. First, he dug a long corridor then built a shabby door and painted a symbol on it. Lastly, he built a miniature room and placed everything like the note handed by the Empress said. The coffin in the center, two chests in the corner and a simple table and chair. He ascertained that everything was in order before leaving this place and forcing himself to forget about all that he did and happened, like the oath he made stated. Jackob didn''t know that by building Zodiak''s fake tomb in the Human continent of Astria, he started a long chain of events. ˇ­ "Arthur, this is the only thing I can do for you. Please understand." An old man stood in the room built by Jackob. He looked at his skeleton laying inside the coffin, his face filled with melancholy, he stretched his and caressed the bones. After a while, he retracted his gaze and removed his robe, along with a few other items. He put them neatly next to the corpse before taking out the final thing, a cane with a creepy skeletal head on its top. This was Sol''Khin''s cane that Arthur found when he stumbled upon this tomb. "There will come a day where I''ll take this back." Later, Zodiak left the cave and flew to the sky, stopping only when he reached a self-made boundary. He withdrew a large golden scroll from his ring and poured almost all of his energy inside it, causing his skin to start withering and blood to come out of his nose and lips. "Twist Time and bend to my will! I wish for thee to take the titan to the pastˇ­ ten thousand years from now!" A minute later, the continent below Zodiak, along with three others disappeared from the Water Region. Actually, they weren''t continents but islands that were in the edge of the region, isolated from the world and rarely frequented by powerhouses, so when they vanished, no one really noticed. Chapter 573 - 519: Merman After traveling in the plain lands for approximately an hour, Celes and Arthur reached the insect-infested area. There was a large swamp that was situated at the center of the area, it looked disgusting and the smell was nauseating, to say the least. In addition to the countless types of insects found here, there were also all kinds of poisonous plants and water-creature that were able to adapt to his harsh environment. "Are you sure the Bee is here?" Celes looked disgusted, frowning and waving her hand around, trying to get rid of the flies cl.u.s.tering around her. She looked uncomfortable and unwilling to spend an extra second in this place. Unfortunately, Arthur replied with words she most likely didn''t want to hear. "I never said I''m sure but considering how many insects there are here, the Bee should be hiding somewhere in the swamp or in its vicinities." Currently, the two were inside an unusual small forest around the swamp, their footsteps were light as to not alert any enemies. While it is true that they were both very strong, Arthur didn''t dare behave recklessly as he was able to sense several monsters that are able to equally fight Overgods. Thanks to his detections skills, he''s able to locate the threats and make a detour. After all, fighting would only alert other monsters and, possibly, contestants too. Up until now, Arthur didn''t see or sense any pairs that have entered the swamp beside them, which made him a tad relieved. As the two were silently walking, a small tree, which reached their waist, suddenly moved, latching itself onto Celes'' ankle, its branches becoming poisonous thorns. Before this half-sentient plant could do anything, it disintegrated into dust. The moment it made contact with the woman''s skin, its body ceased to exist due to the latter''s Death Physique, which is able to turn anything she touches into nothingness. Actually, it accelerates one''s growth and makes it die much faster than it should. Such plants do not live for a long time so Celes didn''t do anything as the Physique automatically took care of the attacker. If it was human, he wouldn''t die so fast unless he''s much weaker than the Grey Seat. Arthur witnessed everything but didn''t comment, choosing to continue walking without minding his silent and grumpy companion. ˇ­ Ten minutes later, Arthur abruptly halted his steps, motioned for Celes to remain silent as his body vanished, transforming into a large praying mantis with two long scythe-like limbs and two transparent wings. Before the Grey seat could say anything, the mantis disappeared, leaving afterimages as it traversed the forest with incredible speed. The place was a bit narrow for Arthur but he managed to easily zigzag between the trees until he reached the Southern part of the swamp. Unlike what they do invaders, the weaker insects and plants didn''t try to attack Arthur and, instead, backed away, leaving him standing alone on the edge of swamp, which had dirty green water and felt ominous. Without even needing to look, Arthur felt the presence of at least two strong monsters deep into the swamp. One seemed to be gauging him while the other was uninterested, simply laying on the floor of the swamp, these two, at least, had the power-level of a peak Overgod, if not more. Such monsters can easily fight against Exalted Gods and leave unscathed if they ever wanted to. Fortunately, none of the two was a Bee so Arthur doesn''t have to provoke them, furthermore, the more problematic matter is the arrival of another pair. If it were two people that Arthur deemed as non-dangerous, he wouldn''t have acted like this, however, one of the incomers was Maxine. She the boss of the mage and thief who attacked him on the 2nd floor and the Appraisal results from last time told him more than enough about her. She was one of the strongest contestants and seemed to be mentally unstable. She kind of reminded him of his brother, Wolfram, and that is very good news. She was a battle-freak and won''t stay still if he and Celes were to meet with her. As for the woman accompanying her, the pink-haired one, she was totally unfamiliar to Arthur. Maxine and her companion were standing on the other side of the swamp, three to four hundred meters away. They seemed to be preoccupied with something. Plus, the monster who was gauging his strength seconds earlier has shifted his attention to the two women. It slowly crept towards them, its body magically slithering in the water, smooth and almost unnoticeable, it seemed about to merge with the transparent water, becoming one with it. ''It''ll make them busy for some time but I shouldn''t get my hopes up.'' Maxine and the woman beside her didn''t seem weak and even if the monster were to initiate a fight, they would be able to deal with it sooner or later. "Hey, the Bee is not here so let''s go." Celes followed Arthur and shrouded himself in Death Energy while talking to the praying mantis from a distance. "Wa-" Arthur was about to reply only for his insect-eyes to meet with the pink-haired woman, who, unlike air-headed Maxine, was sharp and very aware of her surroundings. The distance between them wasn''t that big, however, the sheer number of insects and monsters in-between made it quite difficult for anyone to notice him, in addition, he was using skills that lowered his presence. Like a shooting star, Lucy kicked the ground, launching herself toward the praying mantis though he target wasn''t the insect but something close it. Sadly, before she could even cross half the distance, the swamp water rose into the air and an enormous monster revealed itself. It actually resembled a very ugly and grotesque merman. Its upper body was humanoid with long dark green hair and light green skin, its eyes were jet black, as for its lower body, it was like a fishˇ­ or a mermaid, albeit more unsightly. It used its kind of slimy body to block the incoming Lucy, who punched a hole through the merman''s abdomen. Her fist enveloped by Lava, melting the tough skin and reaching deep into the organs. The monster screeched loudly and retaliated by lashing out with tail, its speed faster than Lucy''s reaction. She was flung in the air but wasn''t seriously injured and just when the merman was about to follow-up, another monstrous force attacked it, cutting parts of its scale-riddle tail and pushing back into the water. Maxine smirked as she drank a green potion before falling in the water, surprisingly not drowning and actually walking on it as if it''s solid. As for Lucy, she managed to stabilize her body and retrieve the flying feather, using it to move freely. Arthur didn''t have the time to watch the fight as was shocked to see a seemingly normal Bee appear out of nowhere. The moment the pink-haired woman noticed him, the insect appeared from the emptiness and started buzzing around him. He remained motionless and patiently waited for it to get within his range. Of course, he could still jump and catch it but the task was definitely not as easy as it seemed. The Bee looked normal but he couldn''t appraise it and it didn''t seem afraid of him at all as it flew from one flower to another. Chapter 574 - 520: Ber Von Xin Arthur used his invisible thread in an attempt to catch the Bee, however, the moment they got too close, the insect started buzzing loudly and literally vanished. Fortunately, Arthur''s Sixth Sense was locked on to it so he was able to know what happened. The praying mantis turned blurred as it left afterimages, confusing Celes, who only saw the Bee disappear. She thought it just vanished but the reality was that this normal-looking and harmless target had a speed that even made Arthur flabbergasted. His scythe-like limbs cut everything in his way, whether it''s trees, thick grass or hiding monsters. The Bee was intelligent enough to traverse a path full of obstacles to hinder the incoming parasite. The problem is; Arthur cannot kill it, he has to capture it alive so that the mission is completed. It definitely looked exactly like the tattoo and its fast and absurd response to danger ascertained his suspicions, the only thing left is to not let it escape his sight and, of course, catch it. HE could only continue chasing, he didn''t use [Faster Than Death] because there''s a probability it''ll suddenly shift direction, moreover, this kind of teleportation isn''t that efficient in this cat and mouse chase. Celes, who was left alone near the swamp, let out a sigh as she looked at the direction Arthur darted to, not knowing whether it''s wise to follow or not. She was strong but that doesn''t mean she''s as fast as them, which made her practically useless in this problematic situation. There was even the matter of Maxine and Lucy, who seemed interested in the Bee. Speaking of them, the high-leveled player managed to cut down the Merman, killing it in less than a minute. She and Lucy swiftly crossed the Swamp and wanted to get the Bee but they were blocked by the Grey Seat of Decay. "You stop her, I''ll go after the Bee." The pink-haired woman darted toward the forest while leaving Max alone with Celes. "Yes yes, you do that. Fighting her seems more fun." With her a sword in hand and ready to attack, the player sized up her opponent, her spirit ignited and her eyes restlessly examining every inch of Death Magic user. As for Lucy, she was like a bullet, running through everything and leaving her path filled with Lava that melted the vegetation and even caused a small fire, which will most likely spread due to the poisonous gas lingering around the swamp. Arthur ran after the Bee for three minutes, the two even left the whole Swamp area and entered an open area filled with small mountains made from countless small white stones. In the midst of this chase, he changed forms, becoming a large White Tiger enveloped by green lightning and black flames. Two wings massive wings could be seen erected from its back, one was vibrant and majestic like that of an angel while the other was inky black, bony, and grotesque. In addition, he used [Griffin''s Bloody Switch], converting all of his Wisdom to Agility, making him attain a speed that would any spectator dumbstruck. ˇ­ "This should be the area." A middle-aged man with long black hair, a fully-grown beard, and simple dark blue leather clothes just entered the rocky area along with his partner, a young man wearing a mage''s robe and holding a magical wand. The first one was an exceptional and famous individual often called Sword God. He had a very high status across all the three Universes thanks to his domineering and invincible sword skills. A long time ago, he even battled the Nameless Knight and, from what the rumors claim, it''s the only loss he suffered in his entire life. Sword God Ber Von Xin, he''s someone who reached the peak of sword mastery and is the strongest participant of the Red Tower. He got paired with the mage that came with Maxine, the quiet yet strong Tula. He was the second in command of Maxine''s group and a talented Magician who excels especially in Ice and Water magic. Ber Von Xin chose to enter the Red Tower to fight either Leiu or the Joker. However, when he saw Arthur and how he cut down the Celestial Tribulation, another goal was added to his list. He could never forget the sight of that simple yet devastating sword slash. From anyone''s point of view, it seemed slow and clumsy but perfection has always been in simplicity, moreso for a sword user. This pair needs to obtain a special white rock that has a star symbol engraved on it, which is why they immediately came here. Tula didn''t object any of his companion''s decision and obediently followed, knowing that it''s wise to listen to the expert rather than try to find the rock using his magic, which isn''t really suited for ''treasure-hunting''. The two didn''t waste time and started meticulously going through every rock, neither complaining or slacking off. Approximately ten minutes after they began, they heard an awfully loud explosion occur a short distance away. One of the small mountains blew up and a massive Divine Beast showed itself. Its appearance was unique and rather frightening, an ominous aura enveloping it as sped toward one direction. Tula remained expressionless but his wandering eyes indicated that he was shocked and wasn''t able to follow Arthur. However, Ber Von Xin could see the shadow of the White Tiger chasing after a minuscule insect. Without needing any confirmation, they knew it was the parasite who caused the Celestial Tribulation. The mage had already confronted him on the second floor but the Sword God never faced him, neither was he going to anytime soon. It wasn''t a good time and place to initiate a battle so the middle-aged man remained still and merely watched everything unfold. ˇ­ Arthur was only a few meters behind the Bee despite using multiple skills to drastically boost his Agility. The Bee was able to shift direction without losing any momentum but that wasn''t the case for him, moreover, every time he tried freezing time to slow it down, it''ll just break free easily and increase its speed. He just crashed into another mountain of stone, which the Bee managed to pass through using tiny holes. Sadly, Arthur wasn''t able to destroy the mountain as it was actually a sleeping, humongous golem. As countless rubble flew into the air, Arthur activated the White Tiger''s special ability, allowing him to pass through physical objects. Unfortunately, he was able to travel a short distance before the golem managed to somehow grab his body and slam it in the other direction, clearly doing it to buy time for the fleeing Bee. By the time Arthur stabilized his body, the insect was no longer in sight, it actually managed to successfully escape. Feeling irritated over this, Arthur unleashed his anger upon this moving boulder. His appearance changed again, becoming an enormous Azure Dragon that unleashed a deafening cry. Before the golem could do anything else, the dragon opened its mouth, in which a violent and transparent red energy was quickly forming. The moving rock seemed a bit sentient as it crossed its arms to block the dragon''s breath. Less than five seconds later, an unstoppable blast was shot from Arthur''s mouth, flinging the enormous body of the golem in the air. When it heavily crashed into the ground, the earth restlessly shook and mountains of stones crumbled. Though more than half of its body vanished due to the dragon''s breath, the golem used the favorable terrain to restore its body. Arthur transformed into the Vermillion Bird and flapped his wings, filling the ground and sky with bright orange flames that incinerated everything in their way. A blinding orange sun rose from the bird''s chest and shone in the sky, covering the real sun''s light and bringing a suffocating heat. By the time the golem stood up, the miniature sun of fire exploded, resulting in a truly frightening shock wave. Tula protected himself with several layers of ice barrier which quickly melted, causing him to be pushed a few hundred meters. As for the Sword God, he remained motionless like a statue, neither affected by the heat of the flames surrounding him. He seemed to be admiring the sight, his body covered by a thick layer of sword essence, protecting him from all damage. When the area cleared a bit, this rocky area was gone, it was replaced by a blackened ground. However, right where the golem miserably perished, there was a shiny white rock that stood out. Arthur paid no attention to the rock as he turned his head to the side, his eyes focusing on a pink-haired woman which stood at the edge of the damaged area. He returned to his human appearance and deactivated the skills, seeing no more purpose in chasing a lost target. Just as he was about to leave, he noticed a black-haired man walk toward the golem''s non-existent corpse and pick up the shiny rock. When he touched it, the tattoo on the back of his hand reacted and soon, he surrounded by a pulsating blue light. Knowing that the task was completed, Ber Von Xin smiled at Arthur, showing no hostility whatsoever. He politely bowed to the parasite before he, and the faraway Tula, were teleported to the 4th floor. ˇ­ Lucy wasn''t able to immediately catch up to Arthur as she didn''t have high stats like before. When the soul bound was gone, the stats bonus she gained from Arthur no longer took effect either. Nevertheless, she was still an Overgod with a strong Physique, she also has her Devil Arm. Thanks to the past Soul Bond, her limiter was automatically broken so her stats didn''t go under the 1 billion mark. They weren''t as high as before but she kind of compensated that with her cultivation and over-the-top techniques. The only down-side is a massive down-grade to her physical abilities. Seeing that Arthur had lost the Bee, she didn''t chase after him anymore and was about to go back only for a fast silhouette to head her way. Her fists were enveloped by hot Lava as Arthur rushed toward her, his hand releasing colorless and unseen energy that shook the space and restricted the range of her Magma attribute. Seeing his frontal attack, she thought he was going to attack so she punched him. Her retaliation had missed as he vanished, appearing behind her, though before he could do anything, the ground underneath his feet became liquid Lava, boiling hot and melting his boots. Like a fountain, the Lava exploded, forcing him to retreat only for Lucy to swiftly turn around and violently kick the right side of his waist. Having a good grasp of what he could and couldn''t do, Lucy was surprised that her attack managed to hit. Her feet, which became actual magma, hit his body and melted the clothes, skin and even the bones, causing a lot of blood to gush out. Arthur showed no reaction to his injury, his eyes focusing on her now-retracing leg and incoming fist. Seeing her fist going for his chest, he grasped it and dispelled the skill, finally getting rid of the magma. He used his leg to attack the leg which was keeping her standing, quickly making her fall. He followed up by applying more force and pushing her to the ground and pinning both of her hands. "What are you doing?"-Lucy His eyes were glued to hers as he totally immobilized her. "No, Lucy, what are YOU doing?" He spoke with a calm and a certain tone as if he knew he got the right person. Appraisal gave him information about this pink-haired woman, moreover, with his eyes, he should be able to see the real appearance of any target yet all he saw was an unfamiliar face, nevertheless, he sure of his guess, of his intuition. After all, it just didn''t make sense that he hasn''t met her yet. Chapter 575 - 521: Mad Seeing no reaction from her, Arthur let out a chuckle but his stoned expression didn''t change. He released her hands, slowly get up while saying: "I know you, Lucyˇ­ you would not try to trick me over something simple." His eyes never left hers, his attention wholly focused on her. Her expression was neither cold nor angry, she just looked back without saying anything. "From your walk to your voice, I can recognize anything with a glance. Did you really think whatever you used will fool me? Why? Didn''t we promise to go through everything together?" He took a step closer to her, his head inches away from hers. "Thinking about it, there are not many things that will push you to do something extreme. It''s either related to you, Salyˇ­ or me? Tell me, Lucy." She remained unfazed as she retreated and spoke with angry tone: "I don''t know what you''re talking about. You must be mistaking me for someone else." She turned around and was about to leave only for Arthur to say "Fineˇ­ let''s see how long you can keep that act." Her steps momentarily halted, her head slightly turned, glancing at him. He wasn''t about to forcefully stop her and, instead, took out the sword given to him by Timos. The thing Lucy hates seeing the most is Arthur getting hurt hence her overprotecting behavior and over-the-top jealousy. "You know what this is, right? Our dear ''friend'' gifted me this. You were there so you know what it is capable of." Without hesitation, he held it with both of his hands and pointed the tip toward his chest. The woman''s expression, she tried to act quickly but Arthur acted without any hesitation, stabbing his chest with the normal-looking sword. Even though he has an incredible defense, the blade easily cut through everything and even damaged his insides, instantly disturbing the flow of Energy inside his body. A lot of blood gushed out of his chest as he fell onto his knees, all bloodied and choking on the scarlet and bitter liquid. Lucy, who didn''t think he''ll do such a suicidal thing, panicked as her face turned as pale as a sheet of paper. She dashed toward him and held his body, which couldn''t handle the injury and fell on the ground. Thanks to the pain immunity, there was no agony, however, the self-inflicted injury was truly fatal. "W-what are you doing?!" She pressed her hands on the bloody wound while looking at him, demanding an explanation. For a moment, he was unable to reply but he felt, inwardly, he felt relieved when he saw her reaction. He was sure that she was Lucy and this suicidal move brought everything to light. His shaky hand slowly rose in the air and grasped hers, his face containing a serene smile. Not long after that, he fell unconscious but right when that happened, orange flames rose from his the injury and enveloped him, healing the injury within seconds and getting rid of the sword, which was still stuck there. The Vermillion Bird''s rare healing skill was activated by Arthur right before his consciousness was lost. Although he was back to his normal state not even five minutes later, Arthur didn''t wake up, which made Lucy restless. She forgot about the plan and ignored everything around her, her eyes never leaving her husband. When she noticed that he seemed to be sleeping while tightly clutching her hand, she calmed down and moved to a safer and more isolated locationˇ­ of course, while bringing him with her. .. When Arthur woke up, he felt something soft under his head, which he soon discovered that it''s Lucy''s lap. He turned his head and saw a silver-haired woman look back at him, her face slightly flushed and her eyes wet and a bit swollen, probably due to crying for a long time. "See, I was right." As she saw him smile cheekily, she retracted her feet, causing his head to fall on the ground. She stood up, patted her the dust off her clothes and seemed about to leave. Arthur also got up and spoke again: "Are perhaps mad? Really? In this situation, I should be the one wh-" Before he got to finish his sentence, he was harshly slapped by an angry-looking Lucy. "Why did you do that!" He saw her half-furious half-sad expression, something that is very rare to see. This time, he chose to maintain silence, neither apologizing nor demanding an explanation for her actions. Lucy looked at him, her eyes soon welling up with tears and her berating voice choking up. As he saw her in this state, Arthur was reminded of the past, his expression turning into that of guilt. He walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her trembling shoulders, hugging her tightly in a way that she can''t escape his grasp. "Come now, why are you crying? I''m not dead right? I''m in a perfect shapeˇ­" **** While their two partners were looking for them, Arthur and Lucy remained in that secluded location. The two sat next to each other and talked, like they always did. Seeing no purpose in hiding the truth after being discovered, Lucy recounted what happened to her after she left Riarravar. How she got recruited to Black Rose and the real reason behind her disguise, which turned out to be not-so-successful, after all. "So Sol''Khin is hiding inside my brother and they want to force him out using the orb then kill him?" "Yes, one he''s out, he''ll control Leiu''s body so they needed a lot of experienced fighters." "And how many people are there, besides you." "The Black Seat, the Grey Seat, G''am Tir, ''X'', and the Void Behemoth. They are the ones I know but there could be more. I seem to have met one of the hidden ones but I can''t seem to rememberˇ­" Lucy held her head and tried her best but she couldn''t remember the person whom she encountered on the 2nd floor. "What about the Joker? Did he agree to help?" "From what Forne said, he only agreed to let them try. He said that he won''t act against his brother no matter what." Lucy looked at Arthur''s serious expression, wondering what he''s thinking. After a brief silence, she asked: "ˇ­ what will you do?" Arthur chuckled, lifted his head and stared at the clear blue sky while speaking: "You know, we three once brawled to determine who should be the older brother. It''s kind of a stupid way as we didn''t use our real powers but it was fair and we swore to respect the results, no matter what they were. I came last and Wolfram was secondˇ­ Leiu beat us black and blue and ever since that day, we showed him the respect he deserved. Since Wolfram decided not to do anything then, as the youngest brother, should do the same." Chapter 576 - 522: The Last Moment "That''s a relief. I, too, am not going to participate in their battle, my role was only to stop you." As he listened to her, Arthur looked straight into her eyes and asked: "Why did you accept his offer in the first place?" "If I hadn''t, you would have defended your brother and that would''ve made things easier for Sol''khin. Forne said that the enemy can travel from one host to another so it''s not impossible for him to control you. All I wanted is to keep you away from this big mess." ***** The thief who was part of Maxine''s group was currently shaking from head to toe, obviously from fear. When he appeared on the third floor, the first thing he saw was a beast at least five times his size, its skin was purple and its appearance was the definition of fear. Fortunately, it didn''t attack him, however, he soon discovered that it was actually his partner. For an experienced player such as him, he recognized this monster, which purposely made itself smaller as its real size was burdensome in the Red Tower. As luck would have it, Patio, the thief, had the Void Behemoth as his temporary companion. Communication was impossibleˇ­ heck! The thought of leading the way never crossed his mind. He became a mute as he obediently walked behind the large beast, afraid to anger it in any way. The tattoo on the back of his hand depicted a purple hexagon-like object. It was the first time Patio saw such an object so he didn''t know where to search, which frustrated the dread-stricken man even more. At that time, the thief didn''t know that what he''ll witness on the 3rd floor will almost make him piss his pants. His adventure with the Void Behemoth was neither brief nor absurdly long as, in just two hours, they arrived at a large area filled with all kinds of ruins. Guided by the Behemoth, they marched toward the biggest ruin and when they tried entering it, the large, motionless statue at the entrance reacted. It stood up from its kneeling position, its two emotionless eyes locking onto the two invaders. "H-heyˇ­ why don''t we-" Patio couldn''t even finish as the Void Behemoth loudly roared and leapt at the statue, pushing it on the ground and spitting Void blasts from its mouth, turning the enemy into nothingness. The blasts were made from Void Magic, which devoured everything in its way, whether it''s solid, liquid, or gas. Just like that, in a matter of seconds, the strong guardian protecting the main ruin was defeated, allowing the two to roam the place without any hindrance. The thief didn''t know much about this place and felt rather insecure so he maintained a safe distance from the Behemoth while still following him, hoping for some sort of protection, after all, if something happens to him, his partner should be disqualified too. A few minutes later, a golden light sprung from the ground and enveloped both the beast and the man, taking them to an underground city, where they came face to face with two other contestants. This city, which was luminous and very majestic, was a nest for countless types of machines. Some meant to do labor work and others to protect the safety of this eternal settlement. In more than a way, this underground hidden city resembled the place Zodiak visited to retrieve Anduril, which was created by the same race that invented everything here. Hach''ara was busy dealing with the hundreds of buzzing and flying machines trying to capture both him and his partner so when the Void Behemoth appeared along with the thief, he didn''t show any reaction. He had heard of the ancient beast living the Underworld but never personally saw him so he didn''t recognize it. Zodiak, however, was totally the opposite. The aura of Void oozing off the behemoth was enough of a sign to know the beast, even if its appearance was slightly different. He paid no heed to the unremarkable thief and, instead, glared at the growling beast. "What? Do you want to fight here too?" The hostility emanating from the behemoth could not be faked, nevertheless, apart from its deep growling, it didn''t anything reckless. After a few moments of intense glaring, it turned his head, focusing its attention on an open area a few hundred meters north of its location. It was an enormous circular fountain with a shiny, transparent water and jet black floor. At its top, there was a purple gem that was very similar to the hexagon from earlier, however, the problem was the tight security around the fountain. There were countless golden pipes pumping water from the eternal fountain to the rest of the cityˇ­ as if it was a power supply. What made it rather confusing was why would a power-supply be in the open and, a fountain, at that. "F.u.c.k.i.n.g hellˇ­" The thief cursed with a low voice as he saw titan-like robots rising from their slumber and circled around the four of them. In addition, the number of minuscule yet fast flying machines reached the thousands and despite Hach''ara destructive retaliation, the numbers weren''t dwindling. ***** "Damn! I really couldn''t recognize herˇ­ it must be something the rock scientistˇ­ or whatever he is, invented." Fortunately, Saly was asleep when Arthur self-injured himself. Though, Wolfram and Leiu witnessed the whole event, from start to finish. They were spectators but apart from seeing, they can''t really do anything elseˇ­ even the sound was cut off. "Sister-in-law is really something, don''t you think?" He jokingly said while sneakily glancing at the stone-faced and silent Youth calmly sitting next to him. "Why do you think she did that?" In response, Leiu snorted and retorted: "You already know why, stop with the oblivious act." "Ehh, come on, at least pretend not to notice." The two brothers were aware of Forne''s plan but neither of them commented. The Joker already stated his non-interference, as for Leiu, he maintained his silence, as usual. "Arthur and Lucy won''t participate, isn''t that a good thing?" The Joker chuckled while saying that but, out of the blue, he felt a hand tightly holding his collar. "I''ve already warned you, Wolfram. If something happens, you must act!" The youth''s hand was slightly shaking and his expression was different from the usual, his eyes were wavering and his breathing was unsteady. In response to this, the Joker''s smile vanished and his face became filled with a gaunt of expressionlessness. He pushed his brother''s hand away, fixed his clothes and said: "Act? How will I act? You want me to kill you? Really? The mighty Nameless Knight is giving up like thisˇ­" "You know very well what will happen if Sol''khin gets out." "Yes, I do know. He''ll kill everyone present but I don''t care. I will protect Arthur and his familyˇ­ the rest, I don''t care. What is this look you''re giving me? You think I haven''t killed any innocents before? I spit on the thing they call ''humanity''. All I care about are those close to me so even if the worst happens, I and Arthur will make sure to free you. The whole world can be your enemy but we cannot!" After saying his piece, Wolfram clicked his tongue and left the room, not forgetting to violently slam the door. ***** "I want every inch of their bodies chained! DO YOU HEAR ME?!" The warden of the prison yelled at the low-ranking angels, his temper rising every time he thought about the causalities they suffered to capture the two monsters kneeling before him. Their bodies were heavily injured and riddled with holes that were used for magical chains to pass through and bind their movements and dangerous abilities. "S-sir Habs, which floor should they be locked into?" "What do you mean what floor?! The deepest one! Hurry up!" Habs managed to reach such a high position despite not being angel due to this strength and past military merits. He fought the demons for two hundred years and killed more than fifty thousands by himself, earning him the position of the warden of the Last Moment Prison. It was quite a cheesy name for an infamous prison but it was named so because everyone who''s locked here will live their past moment in their cell. Throughout history, only three people managed to successfully escape, two of them are Forne and Zodiak, who achieved such a feat only because they were imprisoned on the 4th floor. As per their boss'' order, the two newly-captured prisoners were dragged to the deepest floor. Each one was held by four angels and chained from head to toe, they could barely breath properly, much less lift a finger. Two had identical appearances except for their hair colors, one was snow-white while the other was scarlet red. They were Midolf and Radolf, who were hunted down by the angels ever since they escaped the war versus the specters. Someone must have snitched to their angels, causing them to relentlessly chase them to the ends of the world. Unfortunately, after a long and bitter struggle, they were surrounded by three commander angels and captured, at last. Now, they were imprisoned in the Last Moment Prison, more precisely at the deepest floor, where only the most dangerous and powerful criminals are held. The place was illuminated by white light sparks which couldn''t illuminate the whole floor, which, by the way, was much smaller than the rest but guarded by at least five hundred fighter angels. "Hahahaha I''m finally getting new roommates!" As the two youngsters were thrown into metal cells that were totally empty, a womanly voice echoed inside the cave, startling the nervous angels. Radolf remained unresponsive, his eyes staring at the dark ground. However, Midolf was much more talkative despite his current, miserable state. "Who the f.u.c.k are you?!" He cursed at the chained woman, who didn''t seem bothered by the nails stabbed into her bones or the chains stabbing his forehead and chest. "My dear, handsome boy, I am Zaarae, hahahaahaha" "Quiet! QUIET!" The angel leading this floor banged his baton on prison bars while warning Midolf with his eyes, though he didn''t even dare to face the restrained Zaarae, much less get close to her cell. "Mhmm, you''ve got a nice and familiar smellˇ­"-Zaarae **** Author note: Zaarae; Parasite Empress, the Lady who reaps. Chapter 577 - 523: Birdcage "Where were you? I searched everywhere!" Maxine''s hair turned half-white but it was gradually regaining its original color. She looked a bit older and was holding her abdomen, clearly not as lively as before. She went around looking for Lucy but the latter showed up out of nowhere, totally unharmed. Of course, she wore the mask and the pink hair and the bland face returned. After a thorough talk with Arthur, she decided to remain hidden to not arouse Forne''s suspicions. If he knows that Arthur had recognized Lucy, he''ll try to force him out of the Red Tower just to make sure he doesn''t interfere later on. Arthur stated that he won''t participate in the battle against Leiu, however, that doesn''t mean he won''t be present. As his brother, he must assure that nothing happens to the Nameless Knight because Forne and the rest may try to kill him to permanently get rid of Sol''khin. It''s a plausible solution but very hard, if not impossible, to achieve. After all, they''ll be facing the strongest person in the multiverse, even with flawless cooperation and a bunch of powerful experts, it''s still difficult. "The Bee escaped. Also, it''s not our target." Lucy pointed at the tattoo on the back of her hand, explaining to Max how their target has three pairs of wings while Arthur''s has only two. "Whatever, let us find it." The player''s mood seemed a bit down after fighting the Grey Seat. Apparently, whatever happened in that swamp made Maxine a bit cautious and no-longer carefree and hungry for constant fights. ˇ­ "My my." Arthur chuckled while looking at his partner''s miserable condition. She was puking blood, her hair messy and clothes ripped, revealing a lot of skin. The woman ignored his mocking, clenching her fists and mumbling inaudible words. "We''re still here so that means you lost it?" "Yes, a golem blocked my way, though I''ll catch it next time." "What next time?! What if we don''t find it!" "Hey, woman, don''t vent your frustration on me. At least I chased after it while you were getting your ass beaten." Celes ground her teeth, incensed even more by Arthur''s words. "She''s lucky we are not allowed to kill other participants on this floor." The parasite shrugged his shoulders and patiently waited for her to recover, which didn''t take long. Surprisingly, when she ate a few fresh fruits, her recovery accelerated and her body returned to its peak state. Around ten minutes later, the two were on the road again, choosing the direction the Bee escaped to. Arthur knew that trying to use speed to catch the insect won''t be easy so he came up with a better plan, one that is guaranteed to work. In fact, he doesn''t even need Celes'' help but had to keep her close. The confusing thing is the rule he heard when he entered this floor. It clearly stated that a pair cannot be far from each other yet when he chased after the Bee, Celes was left behind and the distance was much greater than the one mentioned in by the tower. So why were they not disqualified? ''Maybe the rule only applies when they''re in possession of the target?'' The pair walked at a moderate pace, soon arriving at the foot of a medium-sized mountain covered by large pine trees. The place was filled with monsters and non-dangerous animals such as deers, it was quite a strange area to exist in the Red Tower. The monsters weren''t dangerous to God Monarchs, much less Overgods, moreover, it seemed that they weren''t alone in there. Arthur and Celes sensed two more pairs wandering around the mountain, searching for something. The first pair didn''t even notice the arrival of new enemies, however, the second pair was composed of two people Arthur had already met. One was a short and bearded dwarf wearing a thick dark red armor and the other was a tall woman with hair matching her partner''s armor. She was the reincarnator, Losha, who remained nonchalant even after detecting Arthur and Celes. "It looks like you have to be close when I catch the Bee." "I can''t keep up with your speed." "You don''t have to." As he said that, Arthur''s body melted into the ground and a small plant grew in his place. In the blink of an eye, it grew to a big tree, equal in size to the pine trees present all around them. One of the tree''s branches, one thicker than the rest, descended from above, signaling for Celes to get on. The woman did as told and managed to keep her balance despite the non-stop moving and growth of this tree. It towered over everything and its branches were stretching to all of the mountain corner''s. Actually, Arthur was imitating what the World Tree did in Astria. Using the countless branches he''s able to grow, he''ll be able to comfortably chase and trap the Bee in his domain. When it''s finally cornered and has no room for escape, capturing it will be a piece of cake. "It''s that monster again! Damn his grandmother!" The dwarf cursed as he saw a tree rising to the sky, its branches dominating the blinding canopy and blocking the sun rays. "Don''t mind him. The white deer should be hiding in the peak."-Losha Using Nature Magic and the Detection skill along with his Sixth Sense, Arthur located the Bee in just a minute but he didn''t immediately act. He manipulated the root of the tree and was slowly taking over the whole mountain, changing it into his domain. The Quad-Spirit facilitated this job as it could use Earth Magic and get rid of anything that attempts to resist. "Did you find it?"-Celes Arthur telepathically replied to the woman, his voice resounding inside her head: "Yes but I need more time so I can barricade the mountain." The tree grew so big to the point that the mountain was like an ant, its branches enveloped the whole area like a birdcage, letting not even a worm escape either form the air, or the ground. The earth hardened and became jet black and very solid, rendering impossible for to dig through it. Meanwhile, Losha and the dwarf swiftly climbed to the top and circled around the deer, which was snow-white and had a red horn protruding from the top of its head. The dwarf pulled his axe and leapt at the animal while his partner remained standing in the opposite direction. ˇ­ "It''s done, brace yourself." Just as he said that, an ear-piercing and deafening thunderclap echoed, making Celes momentarily shudder. The ginormous tree was truck by a thick green thunderbolts, which enveloped it whole and affected the whole forest and mountain, pulverizing all the pine trees and revealing all that was hidden. The Bee, which was quietly flying from one flower to another was alerted and started speeding up, heading directly outside of the area. Unfortunately, its path was blocked by thin branches with lightning on them, which forced it to hastily change direction. Alas, Arthur already finished his trap and all that was left was capture it. Branches rose from the blackened ground, causing the Bee to bump into them and became unstable for a brief moment. The thick branch on which Celes was standing on was like a descending dragon, shooting at the Bee. The insect buzzed and its four wings started flapping even faster once it sensed the incoming projectile. The branch wasn''t as fast as the Bee, however, Arthur was able to manipulate thousands at once, easily controlling the target''s movements. As previously discussed with Celes, she''ll be the one capturing the insect. Using branches that appeared out of nowhere, she jumped from one to another, shortening the distance between her and the Bee. Her body started releasing a dense fog which hindered the Bee, making it bump into more obstacles. So, like that, Celes was able to get very close to the Bee, which desperately turned around, attempting to flee only for electric vines to stop its mad flying, paralyzing it for a few seconds. Celes'' fingers unleashed two invisible blasts that made the target''s wings decay, finally making the insect fall on the ground. At last, the Grey Seat picked the minuscule insect, causing a light to envelop her and the lightning tree. Not long after, the birdcage made of branches along with the massive trees vanished, leaving behind a jet black mountain utterly void of any vegetation. The animals and monsters ran for their lives, getting as far away from the peak as possible. Chapter 578 - 524: Memories "It''s so fast!" Maxine swung her sword at the Bee, which was ten times the size of the one Arthur and Celes captured. It looked ominous with its six wings flapping endlessly and emitting yellow particles in the air. The area they were in was previously a desolate land, an ancient battlefield, though it drastically changed due to Lucy''s magma. It''s as if a volcano erupted here, the ground was filled with red hot Lava and the heat was suffocating, it even made the female player sweat profusely. Lucy changed the environment, making it unfavorable for the insect, which couldn''t fly properly and ended up falling into a pool of lava after having four of its wings cut by precise attacks of Max. Before it died, Lucy managed to touch the Bee, allowing her and her partner to enter the 4th floor, at last. **** "Contestant, welcome to the 4th floor, Alliance." Arthur found himself standing in a luxurious room with a lot of furniture, tables filled with foods and drinks, large and beautiful paintings, and golden and silver statues of what seemed to be commanders of various races, be it dwarves, elves, demons, or even fishmen. Obviously, he wasn''t the only here as he noticed the presence of many of the contestants. Some were unfamiliar and others were individuals he met or previously read or know about, like the Sword God, Tula, or the thief. There was even a large purple beast sleeping on the side, undisturbed by anyone, though many were throwing cursory glances at it. *On this floor, your skills, techniques, spells, cultivation, levelsˇ­ will be temporarily disabled. The task will be to defend the city from the foreign attacking force. To reach the fifth floor, you''ll have to pass through the Sky Door. Cooperation of all the contestants will be needed to fight against the aliens and emerge victorious. You''ll obtain points by killing the enemies and they can be spent in the luxury shop accessed on the menu. Anything bought in the store will be accessible on the 5th floor. The event will begin once 501 contestants appear in the waiting room. Current number of contestants: 389* Arthur listened to the voice of the Red Tower, trying to understand what needs to be done. ''It mentioned a task but it didn''t say that it''s obligatory to complete it. Can I go directly to the fifth floor if I pass the Sky Door?'' He contemplated over what was said, ignoring the gazes he was getting. Ever since his fierce battle on the 2nd floor, Arthur became notorious, moreover, he was already infamous in the Cloud Sea Universe. He was the parasite banished by the monks to Riarravar, so his appearance here surprised many people. The system was locked and, just like it was mentioned, almost everything was disabled. The only thing he could use was Dark Magic, it was available because it wasn''t categorized as a skill or a technique. To use Dark Magic, he needs Dark Mana, which is something acquired by converting normal Mana. Fortunately, the talisman inside of him is capable of storing Dark Magic and, currently, there''s a decent amount acc.u.mulated there. He just needs to use it wisely and not unleash all in one-go. The Luxury Store is something any contestant can use, it functions like the system and can be opened anywhere. It''s a small icon on the bottom left of Arthur''s sight, it can be hidden and isn''t really that bothersome. On the 2nd floor, he obtained a decent amount of points, however, it didn''t seem to be enough to buy anything useful. It has to be said that there were a lot of useful and miraculous items displayed in the store. There were vials and elixirs that permanently increase your stats, empowers your cultivation, or even widens your meridians to increase your future potential. He even found blood droplets belonging to Divine and mythical beasts, though the prices were exorbitant, to say the least. The true blood of a phoenix costs 5 million pointsˇ­ a frozen feather of an Ice Phoenix is 15 million points. Of course, there were equipment and even something that shocked Arthur, it was a seed of Dark Magic, something that only he can make. From the description written under it, Arthur realized that it''s a more powerful variation of the ones he''s able to conjure, moreover, it actually grants the user real Dark Magic, not artificial one like the Gutcha''s. The price for this was a whopping 200 million points, the fourth most expensive thing. The first was a Blessing Stone, the prize for winning the competition. Quite surprisingly, it can also be obtained if you have enough pointsˇ­ that is to say, 2.5 billion points. The second one was the Star Void Physique manual, the strongest of all physiques. What makes it special is that anyone can acquire it, you don''t need to meet special requirements. As for the third item, it a Void Spirit. Whoever buys it, will gain ownership and properly use it for his or her benefits. Void is the strongest magic so a spirit born from such an attribute is bound to be unimaginably powerful, it even made Arthur wonder how the Joker managed to capture one and put it in the store. **** "In the end, what do you want from me?" Angelina looked at the crow sitting atop Moriah''s head, her face frowning and confused. "What I want? Aren''t you the one who came here seeking questions? You visited my child''s tomb looking for answers. Be responsible for your actions." "Responsible? I didn''t want to come here. I''ve been having those weird dreams and there is this thing inside of me." Her tone was loud and berating as she lashed at the calm crow, also known as Bilgart. "The thing, which you refuse to accept, is now a part of you. A machine created by Claud Venice, a human that lived in the Era of Beginning, precisely on this place, a planet called Serenity. He had the ability to see the future, hence the title: ''Prophecy Holder''. You two were married and your name was Angelˇ­ don''t you think it''s a coincidence? Angel and Angelina." The white specter remained silent, glaring at the entity with clear hostility. "Tell me, what is it that differentiates sentient beings from non-sentient ones? Is it intelligence or power? No, it''s memories. Eternal things that make you who you are. You can deny your existence and your destiny but the memories engraved so deep into your mind cannot be erased. Angel was reborn as Angelina, her race changed and new memories were formed but through a series of events, she also remembered her past-life. Whether it''s a good or bad thing, it''s for you and only you to decide. Quit burdening yourself with your sister or other people''s lives and think of yourself, at least for once." "What is that supposed to mean? Burdening myself? I only want what''s best for my sister!" "No, you don''t. If you do, you would not have brought her to the clan." "She needs to live with her familyˇ­ not with some monster. Oblivious to everything." "She has the right to live with her family, she doesn''t need to. Her destiny is with Arthur, it has and always shall be. Your interference was predictable but untimely, in my opinion. Then again, I only watch and whatever happens is up to the one making the decisions." After saying that, a bright light emitted from the crow, shooting at the unsuspecting Angelina. Before she disappeared from the tomb, she heard Bilgart''s voice again: "You can either continue your life as it is or seek the truth behind the ARK. Farewell, child." When she regained consciousness, she was laying on a beautiful land filled with colorful flowers, the sky was blue and the sun was shining brightly. Everything seemed peaceful and her body was in perfect condition, no longer injured or whatsoever. In her hand, there was a small piece of paper with a few words. The first part was something Bilgart engraved while the rest was a prophecy made by Claud. ''One card to turn the tables One slash to cut the heavens One strike to end his brethren'' Chapter 579 - 525: Real or Fake? "Say, teacher, isn''t that woman G''am Tir?" Saly, who had woken up some time ago, pointed at Losha, who sitting in a quiet corner of the Waiting Room and reading a book in peace. "She is, why?" The young student, scratched her head in confusion before pointing at a middle-aged man dozing off not far from the reincarnator. "His name is also G''am Tir. Aren''t they the same person?" The Joker laughed and patted her shoulder though the force he used caused Saly to fall from the chair and look at him resentfully while pouting. "My student has become so sharpˇ­ I wonder it''s thanks to who. Hahahaha" After laughing for a while, his gaze fell on the man, contemplating whether to answer his student''s question or not. In the end, he decided to spill the truth, after all, there was no reason to hide it. "One is real and the other is a fakeˇ­ a clone. You have Fenrir''s eyes so why don''t you try distinguishing who''s the genuine one?" "But teacheeeer! You know I can''t use them through a screen like this." Her eyes became that of a puppy as she walked up next to him and leaned closer, trying to force it out of him. Seeing this, Wolfram flicked her forehead, yet again causing her to stumble backward. "Alright, stop with that fake shit." "No cursing." Leiu, who was sitting next to them, glanced at his brother and warned him before shifting his attention back to the screen. "Hmpf!" The Magician snorted, displeased but still refrained from using any vulgarities. "G''am Tir was a genuine scientist who invented many miraculous things. His goal was immortality through science alone though he died before he managed to achieve that. However, he was still able to clone himself and store many fragments of his memories into them. That man you see there is one of the ''non-defective'' clones and the last of his kind too but I doubt he''ll last long." "But, if he''s going to die soon, why not enjoy life instead of entering the Red Tower?"-Saly "Because there are duties and responsibilities to uphold. You can escape the hands of fate but can''t fool Time. An artificial thing can live long but not forever." ***** After going through all the items in the Luxury Shop, Arthur turned his focus to this waiting room, which resembled a very big office room of some filthy rich businessman. There were dozens of bookshelves, comfortables leather chairs and sofas, and tables filled with all sorts of delicacies. He very much wanted to spend more time with Lucy but held himself back even after seeing Max and a pink-haired woman appear at the center of the room. The number limit is soon to be reached and all the contestants who''re still on the 3rd floor will be disqualified. Though, the distinguished individuals all managed to clear the given task and be teleported to the waiting room. There was the nonchalant ''X'', whose appearance roused suspicions, the napping and terrifying Void Beast, the quiet Blacksmith, the feisty Maxine, and even the cross-legged Sword God. Without exception, everyone present in the Waiting Room was a powerhouse and excelled in whatever they do. So, clich¨¦ battles that happen between arrogant young masters didn''t exist here. Every one present kept their cool and minded their own business. Of course, they would size up anyone they find interesting but they did not openly provoke or cause a fight. They wanted to reach the top floor so any battle occurring here is totally pointlessˇ­ this made the atmosphere inside the Waiting Room rather peaceful and easy-going. Most took a corner and either meditated or rested while others tried to create temporary alliance. Arthur wasn''t approached by no one, and it was pretty obvious why. He was a parasite, something universally hated by all races, so no one in their right mind would go talk to him. In fact, many were glaring at him but, apart from those piercing stares, they remained passive. **** "Is this really a dangerous place?" A blue-haired girl with an emotionless face that strongly resembled her mother''s, looked around, sensing or seeing no threat, contrary to what her guardian said. A brown-haired man with a small beard nodded his head while correcting her: "Of course it is! The only reason you''re still alive right now is because the monsters are afraid of me." Timos pushed away some large leaves that were on the way while dragging the stubborn girl by her hand. She wanted to cultivate in quietness but he insisted that she accompany him on his travels. He promised her that if she beats him, she can go wherever she wants but, alas, no matter how much she tried, she wasn''t able to scratch him, much less defeat the Black Devil. After traveling through dozens of Spatial Tunnels for the last week, they arrived at this star, where the vegetation is way too big to the point that a single leaf is twice the size of an average human. "Your mother and father are so amazing so you can''t be left behind. You inherited your mother''s Yin power but you''re much more talented in Water Magic which is why we came hereˇ­ it''s time for you to gain something unique. An ability that will facilitate the path ahead." "And what''s this ability you speak of?" She cutely rolled her eyes, seemingly uninterested but her body betrayed her as, despite him letting go of her hand, her feet didn''t stop walking and followed right after him. "Fire is over-popularized due to its different yet strong variations. There''s the Phoenix, dragon, Vermillion Bird, so on and so forthˇ­ however, water only has one kind ever since the beginning. This is why mastering is difficult, almost impossible. In fact, throughout my life, I only met one person who perfect Water Magic, he''s a parasite with the deserved title of an Archmage." He pointed at the dirt beneath his feet then said: "This Star is the source of the first water ever created by Dmitra. Its healing properties are unmatched and its force is unequaled." He raised one finger, smiled and added: "One finger and an ocean will move. One fist, an a star will split." The strategist was about to finish only for a rustling sound to be heard from not far away. He frowned and glanced at the source of the sound only to hear an even louder, explosive sound. Several leaves and large trees were cut down and the ground slightly shook, actually surprising Timos. He raised his hand, causing the vegetation to move on their own and reveal the cause of this disturbance. The area before them was supposed to be lush and filled with tall grass but, right now, there was only blood and a dying beast. A two-headed lion covered in flowers, its feet were cut and it was profusely bleeding from its head, clearly about to die soon. Meters away from the beast was a young man, who was using a flashy sword to support himself. His clothes turned red from all the blood, his hands shaking and his breathing very heavy. "It couldn''t be just luck that brought us together for a second time, right? My ex-guest." Timos ignored the curious blue-haired girl and walked to the young man, who, with great difficulty, turned around and stared back at him. His beard was now gone and his blond hair was gone but those fiery eyes were instantly recognizable. This was Vyncent, who was last seen when Riarravar was being destroyed. "Looking at you nowˇ­ you must''ve gone through a baptism. It is quite good for you as it strengthens one''s mentalityˇ­ but I must say, you''re one tenacious fella. Really, I am not joking." "Who''s he?" The girl ran to Timos'' side and timidly asked, her cold demeanor no longer apparent. "He, my dear, is something that should not exist but still exists. A bit like you but less favored by the natural laws hence his current state." Chapter 580 - 526: Black Fog "Contestants, welcome to the 4th floor, Alliance City. In three days, the aliens will lay a siege to this city, please defend its inhabitants to gain points. The gain will depend mainly on your kill count. Join hands and cooperate to protect the weak and purge the evil." Arthur heard the voice of the Red Tower just as he appeared in the middle of a busy street. Apparently, all the participants were randomly placed across Alliance City, which was big enough to house at least a hundred thousand people. In this unfamiliar environment, Arthur was about to wander around to learn a bit about the military power of the city, however, he took one step then fell on the ground, his body refusing to obey him. His skin turned blurry and his vision unstable, moreover, all sensation vanished, leaving him with a certain numbness that felt very uncomfortable. It was the same feeling that he experienced when he was banished to Riarravar. As he supported himself with a nearby wall in order to stand up, Arthur remembered something Timos told him. ˇ­ "My dear invitee, do you think parasites are hated because of their infinite potential?"-Timos "They can possess anything and gain their stats, isn''t that the reason?" "Not all parasites can do that. Zaarae''s children or the Calypso Parasites are able to possess anything that breathes, however, the other races abhor parasites because of their fast evolution. In terms of potential, every one is equal and that is proved by the current, still living powerhouses, which most are humans or elves. Yes, parasites gain the host''s techniques, skills, stats, etcˇ­ but what''s really fearsome is how fast they can progress. With enough corpses, a Parasite can become an Overgod overnight and that''s a feat feasible only by them. Of course, I''m still talking about the higher-variations." "What exactly do you want to say?" "You''re a Soul Parasite hence your non-existent physical body, but everything that lives has a body and a soul, each one has important functions. Spirits and ghosts are drastically different so you can''t be categorized with themˇ­ one reason is because your still vibrant and lively soul while theirs merged with their very being. Much like how a Godspirit fuses with their user in the Sovereign Realm. You must have experienced it, right? The feeling of nothingness? No pain, no angerˇ­ no love. Unlike what others think, the body is an essential think to be considered a being that''s able to feel." "ˇ­" Arthur listened without giving any reply, choosing to listen till the end. "Soon, you''ll be largely dissociated from feelings of sincerity and vulnerability- emotions which are central to forming strong romantic bonds. That is the one and only downside of being a Soul Parasite, which, in my opinion, is one of the strongest races in existence, if used correctly, that is. You get double the stats of the hosts and no longer need to actual bodies to transform from one appearance to another. That, and many other benefitsˇ­ just for the sake of abandoning the ability to feel. My dear guest, I know what you''re thinking. For you, family is more important than power but how can one protect their close ones without enough strength? It''s a bit contradictory, nevertheless, it''s the plain truth. The more time you spend in your current form, the sooner you''ll become an empty shell." "What am I supposed to do, then?" "Have you ever heard of the Garden of Words? You have? Fantastic! Go there and ask for the path you yearn for, I''m sure you''ll get a good answer. Though, be warned, when the last emotion disappears, there is no coming back." *** A few minutes later, Arthur''s state recovered but he was sure he lost something. an Emotion vanished but he had no idea what it is since he can no longer recognize it or experience it. With a dumb look and absent-minded, he remained in that position for an inordinate amount of time and only snapped out of it when a passerby bumped into him. He looked around before choosing a random direction and starting to walk while inspecting the merchants and stores. He saw many races such as dwarves, elves, humans, and even demons, furthermore, they surprisingly got along with each other, seemingly very peaceful and easy-going. His powers were sealed but Dark Magic was available which made him feel a bit more secure as he can defend himself if the need arises. ''Lucy must be somewhere in the city tooˇ­'' Even after fifteen minutes of walking, he didn''t meet any of the participants, though it''s not like he had met all of them. While it''s true that their skills and techniques were disabled, this case wasn''t like Riarravar, which turned them into mortals. This means that Arthur won''t feel hunger or fatigue as his stats were indeed lowered but, considering his how high they previously were, the difference wasn''t much. As everyone was dramatically weakened, Arthur''s is more or less the strongest person on this floor. His physical strength alone is able to pulverize anyone, and that is without taking into account his ominous Dark Magic. Speaking of Dark Magic, the parasite was startled as his eyes landed on small black fog under his feet. After a further inspection, he found out that it was a purposely made trail created to lure him into someplace. The mere existence of Dark Magic in the Red Tower deeply shocked him so Arthur followed the black fog without any hesitation whatsoever. The more he looked at it, the surer he was of its authenticity. It felt and looked the same but its concentration was a lever higher than his, making him unable to absorb it as his own or immediately figure out the source. In the end, he walked for around an hour before arriving at the slums, where he was getting hostile gazes, which he ignored, of course. The black fog led him to a shack that seemed to have been burned a long time ago. Amidst the rubble and ash, there stood a dark silhouette with its back facing the curious and surprised parasite. Chapter 581 - 528: Choose For some time, words got stuck in Arthur''s throat as he stared at the black-robed old man gazing back at him. The Dark Magic lingering in the area, which his body was strongly reacting to, was proof that this was not a mere hallucination. "Z-Zodiak?" The old man flashed a smile as he walked toward the dumbstruck parasite, his wrinkled face having an unusual serenity. "We meet at last, Arthur." "W-whatˇ­ how are youˇ­" He couldn''t even ask a proper question due to the shock. He never expected to see a dead person here, much less Zodiak himself, in the flesh. "I''m sure you''re confused but before we begin, can you give me back something?" The old man stretched his hand then continued: "Sol''khin''s cane, which you found near my corpse back on Astria. Please give it back." Arthur''s mouth opened and closed a few times, not knowing what to do or say in this kind of ridiculous situation. "This is a matter of utmost urgency, Arthur." Surprisingly, the parasite took out the creepy-looking cane and handed it to Zodiak, who inspected it then covered it with his Dark Magic, changing its color and causing it to pulsate with an ominous black light. After dealing with the cane, Zodiak sighed and spoke again: "I''m well aware that you kept some of my memories. Don''t you think this place is a bit familiar?" He turned around and pointed at the cindered rubble and broken down shack. Just as Zodiak said, Arthur''s mind drifted to the faraway past, vivid images flashed inside his head. The shack was put on fire by a young and frail-looking boy, who, after doing the deed, left without ever looking back. "This is your home? So this means that the whole city is also part of the past?" "Yes. I have to say that Wolfram is highly skillful. To be able to recreate everything perfectlyˇ­ it certainly isn''t easy." Arthur kept a short silence before talking again: "Waitˇ­ the person whom Lucy is met was you? You''re with Forne with and the rest." Zodiak didn''t deny anything, he just nodded his head while explaining. "Indeed, I''ve entered the tower to end thing once for all." "End? As far as I know, Sol''khin is Leiu''s problem." "You see, Arthur, when your brother was invaded by Timos'' child, I was there. When the previous Death was killed, it jumped from the victim to the perpetrator. It was all a plan orchestrated by the Nameless Knight and Death to contain the monster." "Why does it have to be Leiu?" "Because he''s strong enough to contain Sol''khin. If it were any other person, they would have been completely controlled by him and the world would''ve been destroyed." "And how are you related to any of this?" "How do you think Sol''khin became this strong? It''s not just because he''s the Black Devil''s child. When the Dark Magic consumed my world, Sol''khin happened to be present and managed to devour the remnants, gaining some of my and your powers, hence his ability to possess hosts. In other words, it''s my fault and I do not intend to rest until he''s put downˇ­ even if it means killing your brother." Zodiak took another step, stopping exactly in front of Arthur. Despite his shorter height, the old man appeared rather calm even when getting glared at by the parasite. "Don''t give me that look, Arthur. It''s either your brother or everyone else. By saving one, you''re saving none." "Do you honestly think I and Wolfram will stand and watch you kill our brother? It''s fine if you want to get rid of Sol''khin but that doesn''t mean we''ll throw Leiu''s life." "I''m not saying we''ll kill him. We''ll be forced to only if the need arises, moreover, the probability of getting rid of the Nameless Knight is rather low so don''t get so worked up. I know how much your treasure your brothers and family, however, when the time comes, whom will you chooseˇ­ Lucy or Leiu?" After saying that, Zodiak turned into a dark cloud and vanished from Arthur''s sight. "Damnit!" Frustrated, Arthur punched the closest thing to him, which happened to be a still-standing yet fragile wall of the burned shack. His strike unleashed a lot of Dark Magic which consumed everything in its way and turned the whole area into an inky blackness, eerie and ominous. ******* After his little chat with Zodiak, Arthur toured the large city and discovered that there was a large number of soldiers, especially atop the 20m-high walls. They were fully armored and readying themselves for the upcoming invasion. Unfortunately, it wasn''t really the case for the participants, who will most likely try to get pass through the Sky Door instead of facing the enemies. Sure, there may be some who''ll stay to secure some points but to risk their lives for this city is unreasonable. A while ago, some royal knights appeared before Arthur and invited him to the castle, by the king''s order, of course, though they were refused by the parasite, who wasn''t interested in meeting anyone. Contrary to him, many of the contestants accepted the proposal and were given luxuriously accommodated in the royal castle. Exactly 287 of the 501 people accepted the invitation, the rest either entered an inn or wandered around. Arthur was one of the people who stayed at an inn. He wasn''t able to use his storage and use the gold inside, nonetheless, it wasn''t that hard to rob a few coins from some wealthy, unaware merchants. Coincidentally, the parasite happened to meet Ber Von Xin, the famous Sword God. At first, he wasn''t going to greet him, much less talk to him but the latter was the one to initiate a conversation. The sword user left his crowded table and sat down opposite of Arthur, who was drinking some beverage, lost in thought. "Greetings, Mr. Arthur." Arthur snapped out of it when he heard an unfamiliar voice. He lifted his head and looked at the middle-aged man smiling at him. He had the demeanor and composure of a true expert, he was neither arrogant no aggressive. "I suppose you''re the Sword God." "Yes, it is I. I wanted to thank you for your help on the 3rd floor. You''ve saved us a lot of time." "It wasn''t intentional but you''re welcome." Arthur didn''t behave coldly or ignore Ber Von Xin. He seemed to be an easy-going dude and, truthfully, it wasn''t a bad idea to befriend a powerful individual such as a Sword God. At the very least, by forming a friendship with him, he won''t have to worry about any interference in the foreseeable future. "I have to say, I am a bit fan." Hearing this ridiculous statement, Arthur frowned. "Fan?" "Yes, I witnessed what you did the Celestial Tribulation and, honestly, it left me with awe. If the circ.u.mstances were not so unfavorable, I would have invited you for a friendly sparˇ­ if you wouldn''t mind, of course." "Ah, yes yes, unfortunately, we cannot do it here." Arthur awkwardly scratched his head while replying. The Sword God chuckled and raising his ale bottle toward Arthur. The parasite reciprocated then the two chugged down the alcohol, immersing themselves in the lively atmosphere of the restaurant. For a short period of time, Arthur forgot about his worries and had some fun while talking with Ber Von Xin, who turned to be a really good and talkative guy. Basically, despite their different races and origins, the two hit it off well, Arthur even managed to learn a few things about the participants and how the Red Tower works. Chapter 582 - 528: Team of Perfection (1) "We will pass through the Sky Door the moment it appears." Forne calmly said, his gaze jumping from one person to another. There were multiple individuals facing him, all are part of a group and intend to take down Sol''khin. There was X, the Void Behemoth, G''am Tir, Lucy, and Celes. Zodiak was missing but he wasn''t part of their ''alliance'' though his intentions are similar to theirs. "What about the city?"-Lucy Hearing her out-of-the-blue question, the Black Seat frowned and retorted: "What about it? Our job is to climb the tower and not protect an unknown territory." X also butted in, mockingly saying: "Don''t tell me you want to protect the people here?" "No, I was just asking." Without even looking at the blurry-faced man, Lucy snorted and maintained her silence. "Anyway, the enemy forces will siege this place at dusk, most likely. We''ll move together and secure a safe path." After going through the rather simplistic and straightforward plan, they all dispersed, each minding their own business. It has been two days since the contestants were teleported to this city and, from what the Red Tower said, the siege will occur very soon. Some positioned themselves above the walls, along with the mix-raced soldiers, wanting to gain points and protect the city for some time. Others hid inside the city, unwilling to participate, their only goal was the Sky Door, which nobody knew how to it looked like or where it is. One thing is for sure; the Sky Door is bound to appear with the alien race. It wasn''t obligatory to kill or protect the city, however, it was highly advised to obtain some points for the sake of a better journey to the top floor as the goods from the Luxury Shop are useful and overpowered, even. Arthur spent two days doing nothing in particular. At night, he''ll chat for a bit with Ber Von Xin then go wander around the city, sometimes meeting participants lurking in dark places, doing shady and unnecessary things. Time crept by and, finally, with the rising bright sun, D-day began. It all began with a loud alarm echoed across the whole city, waking up and soldiers and alerting all the inhabitants. Excluding the contestants, there were quite a few distinguishable and strong characters standing atop the high walls. The city lord was one of them, he was adorned in a grey and thick armor, a dark gold helmet and a long two-handed white sword on his back. Despite having their skills and techniques ''disabled'', none of the present contestants is powerlessˇ­ in fact, they should be able to annihilate the enemy forces if they all joined hands. Unfortunately, only a meager amount allied with the army while the rest stood at the back and watched the show. As the light of the sun started to illuminate the dark sky, the ground started lightly shaking before it transformed into violent tremors. North-east, East, and South-east of the city, the terrain was rocky, making it rather disadvantageous to attack from there, so the aliens all came the West. The thousands of archers prepared their arrows, some burning and others coated with poison or enhancement-magic, drastically increasing their damage. The wall was crowded with people, so was the ground, on which fifteen to twenty thousand soldiers unsheathed their weapons and raised their shields. Arthur, who stood at the far edge of the wall, calmly looked at the beginning of this siege, his gaze lingering on the enemy forces. Their size was twice if not thrice that of beastmen and humans, they had four, six, or eight arms and their face is hideous, to say the least. They brought with them a savage and barbaric red aura that affected anyone weak-willed and even affected the environment. ''Should''ve expected them to be here.'' "Master, they''re different from the normal Cthulhu. They move in a precise formation and seem to be much more intelligent." The Quad-Spirit could see them clearly due to its high Earth Magic mastery. Through the shaking ground, it managed to study their marching formation and located what seemed to be the leaders. ''Intelligent or not, it matters not. Their creepy laughter and the nauseous smell of blood remains present. They''re monsters.'' "It''ll be harder than expected. The Sky Door is well-protected." Though he couldn''t see what the spirit was talking about, Arthur still trusted its words. Several minutes later, a looming shadow came from afar, bringing with it an enormous shadow reaching all the way to the high wall surrounding the city. Gargantuan Cthulhu were using chains to drag a massive black metal door, its height easily reached 50 meters if not more. "Master, aren''t you going to participate?" ''It''s still too early. The big shots have not shown themselves eitherˇ­ well, except for that freak.'' As he replied to the Spirit, Arthur glanced at a green-haired woman standing at the front of the vanguard. She has unsheathed her sword and laughing while waiting for the Cthulhu to come closer. Right behind her, there was the mage Tula, the dwarf, the thief, and two others. One was a woman wearing a long white and red robe, a priest, from the looks of it, while the other was a tall and muscular man covered in blue tattoos. ''Have you found any traces of Zodiak?'' "No, he''s either not in the city or in a place void of Earth and Fire." ''Tsk!'' Arthur clicked his tongue, feeling a bit uneasy. Ever since he found out that Zodiak is alive and kicking, he couldn''t sit still. Furthermore, that old man wants to kill Sol''khin too, making him sort of Arthur''s enemy. Unlike Celes, X, and the rest, Zodiak is different in a way that can threaten Arthur. The parasite still had some of his reincarnation''s memories so he knew what the old man is capable of with Dark Magic alone. His attainment in that malevolent ability is nothing short of extraordinary. Sure, Arthur can utilize Dark Magic well too but many of Zodiak''s skills didn''t get passed to him. For example, the ability to dodge attacks by changing parts of your body into an untouchable form such as gas or liquid. It sounds simple but it allowed Zodiak to counter many, many enemies, easily passing through ultimate attacks and forbidden spells. The White Tiger''s skill is similar to this but it''s temporary and costs an absurd amount of Mana and Nether Energy. Chapter 583 - 529: Team of Perfection (2) Unlike Maxine''s party, the soldiers remained next to the wall, their job was only to protect the city walls. The first clash happened between her team and the closest Cthulhu, which were the typical ones but seemed more cooperative as they quickly surrounded the team of six and threw long javelins. The young-looking mage, Tula, retaliated almost immediately, his lips spelling one incantation after another at an insane speed. The ground became slippery, making half of the nearby Cthulhu fall then, it transformed into mud before instantaneously hardening, immobilizing the targets. The Red Tower did indeed disable the skills of Tula, however, this world is still considered a Magic world that has an abundance of Mana. As long as he repeats the necessary incantation, it is still possible to use a weaker version of his usual skills, however, this method doesn''t work on everything. Ultimate skills that can obliterate half of this Cthulhu army should be inaccessible. Maxine and the rest followed, each taking out five to six enemies at once. The flashiest ones were the green-haired woman and the armored dwarf, each taking a direction and started a destructive rampage. The leader, even without her sword and martial skills, she was able to devastate the enemy lines, beheading several of these monstrosities with one swing. It has to be said that her sword mastery is nothing to scoff at, it should be a level above Sword Saint but a bit lower than Sword God. In the other direction, the dwarf''s axe rumbled as it struck the ground, splitting the earth and opening a bottomless hole that swallowed all the targets around him. Unlike their teammates, the thief, priest, and the shaman didn''t attract much attention as they withheld their power and acted with caution. The priest rarely attacked and preserved the stored Holy Energy for emergency situations. As for the thief, he was like a ghost, appearing behind the large Cthulhu and slitting their throats with one clean slash. "What''s the deal with the one at the back?" Arthur stared at the guy with blue tattoos, wondering what he''s doing exactly. Instead of attacking or supporting his comrades, he went around and erected some runic pillars that were half of his height. They surrounded him like a circle and once he started chanting with his closed, they vibrated and flashed with the same color as his tattoos. "Shamans are basically people who forsake their consciousness for a much greater affinity for all the elements. They lose the chance to reach a high cultivation stage but for players, they rely on Levels so it''s a win-win situation. In addition to having a vast arsenal of strong elemental skills, they can summon totems that act like a stationary turret shooting targets."-Quad-Spirit "Yes yes, I know that but isn''t it supposed to be impossible to use skills?" "Shamans, like druids, communicate with the nature therefore, the only skills they have are meant for support. He doesn''t need the System to unleash offensive and defensive skills, which are mostly reliant on those small totems." In a minute or so, more than a hundred Cthulhu were defeated, however, Maxine''s group couldn''t stop the full assault of the enemy forces. Their attacks were devastating but the more they killed, the more Cthulhu surrounded them, elevating their threat level from the alien''s point of view. Thousands of Cthulhu rushed at the city walls, soon clashing with the soldiers, causing the ground to start turning red and the smell of blood to scatter across the whole battlefield. As they advanced too much, Maxine and her comrades were at a great disadvantage, especially when the strong variants of Cthulhu made their appearance. One of them was very familiar to Arthur, a tall monster with a humanoid form, a skin that resembled a Dark Elf and two golden eyes. it held a red bow and looked exceptionally calm as it pulled the metal string, resulting in an arrow of light to start forming. His target was Maxine''s party, which seemed to be unaware of it. Back in Riarravar, Arthur fought this kind of Cthulhu, which is able to talk and assess the situation quite well to determine whether it''s better to flee or fight. Fifteen seconds quickly passed by and a whistling arrow that was over 4m in length was fired at the small and crowded area where Maxine and co were. The blow will not only kill its kin, it''s bound to get rid of its enemies too, or so thought the massive Cthulhu Archer. Right before the arrow was about to hit them, Maxine jumped in the air and stabbed her sword exactly at the top of the arrow made of light. It seemed to be such a simple movement yet it managed to instantly divert the arrow in the opposite direction, sending it back to the shooter. The golden-eyes monster swayed to side, dodging the incoming arrow then he started bombarding the players with more arrows, weaker than the first one but much faster. A downpour of arrows descended upon the team, some successfully hit the dwarf, who drifted a bit far from his comrades, and the rest was blocked by a thick layer of water cast by Tula. The armored dwarf was unharmed even after getting hit, he cursed out loud then swiftly got up and madly spun around, sending all the Cthulhu around him flying in the air. As for the bow-wielding Cthulhu, its arrows were blocked by Tula and, to make matters worse, it became the main focus of the four totems erected by the Shaman. These small, unimpressive runic pillars each released a uniquely colored smoke before unleashing thin beams of light right at the monster. Before it could dodge or react, the beams hit its chest and created fatal gaping holes, ending the Cthulhu''s life within seconds. This wasn''t the end of this totems as after pausing for ten to fifteen seconds, they fired again, taking dozens of Cthulhu at once and clearing the area a bit. **** As the participants saw how well Maxine''s team was doing, they joined the fray and started killing left and right, though some had awfully effective methods. Amongst them, Arthur noticed a guy standing atop the wall and throwing javelins made of light. The shocking thing was how fast he''s doing it and how powerful they actually were. Before the first javelin reaches its target, the second and third ones were already thrown. Not only that, the light javelin would vanish only after it impaled three to four Cthulhu. This lancer was wearing a long robe which covered his head and hid his face. Arthur had seen him in the waiting room, he was chatting with two other people also wearing white robes. His supposed comrades were nowhere to be seen, however. ''It''s such a shame that I can''t use Appraisal.'' With that precious skill, he''ll be able to inspect everyone and know a few things. Judging based on appearance won''t work and there''s no telling who wishes to harm him amongst all the present contestants. "Master, here they come!" As the Quad-Spirit spoke, a group jumped from the wall, they were all enveloped by a thick grey fog but you could still their silhouette. Arthur didn''t need a confirmation to know that it''s Forne and the rest. The fog was the result of Celes'' Physique and the red particles enveloping it was the infamous destruction magic. Indeed, when the group amidst a cl.u.s.tered group of Cthulhu, the area exploded, leaving a large crater. This wasn''t the end as ground heavily shook then, like an eruption, a lot of magma sprung from below, melting the monsters in a diagonal line. Without wasting any time, they dashed at the Sky Door far away, wrecking everything in their way. Whether it was the tall Cthulhu Archers or the gargantuan club-wielding ones, they didn''t stand a chance against them. The Void Behemoth took the front, its body becoming massive, bigger even than Cthulhu dragging the door. It spat purple orbs which expanded in size then exploded, devouring everything in the area, literally leaving nothing but an eerie emptiness. Chapter 584 - 530: That One Boulder In just a few minutes, a clear and clean path was created after the total obliteration caused by Forne and the rest. The ground was turned into lava, the air filled with exploding red particles and the purple orbs which acted as some sort of black holes, sucking everything close to them. The usually mindless Cthulhu didn''t recklessly charge at them after witnessing this bloody massacre, their forces slowly backed away, shocking obvious signs of dread. The tall and golden-eyes ones kept firing arrows which decayed before they even crossed half the distance. So, just like that, Forne''s team arrived before the Sky Door within three minutes, more or less. The giants dragging the massive chains weren''t able to defend themselves so they were cruelly killed by the rampaging Void Behemoth, which ripped their heads, leaving nothing but lifeless and headless corpses. The gigantic metal door stopped its advance and remained tightly shut while facing the destruction magic of the Black Seat of Death. "It seems we need more firepower to force it open." He motioned for ''X'' and G''am Tir, who haven''t participated in the battle against the Cthulhu. The enemies grew warier when they saw Lucy and co attempt to enter the door, causing the far away generals to personally step in. Silhouettes that were 3 to 4 meters tall rushed at the group, their speed insanely faster, to the point where you could only see a black shadow. "We''ll deal with them. Begin with haste!" Forne jumped in the air and performed a simple punch in the air, causing the sky to rumble and an absurd explosion to occur, momentarily stopping the incoming generals. When they were struck by the explosion, Forne was able to see their appearances, which was drastically different than the normal Cthulhu or the humanoid archers. Their skin was jet black and they wielded curved red blades, moreover, there were dark red flashing crowns above their heads. In total, there were three of these generals, two coming from the front and tried to stealthily attack from the back. Celes, Lucy, and Forne took one each while the rest prepared for the big blow meant for the Sky Door, which is very difficult to open using brute force. "Insect-like livestock!" One of the generals spoke with a ghastly voice as its body blurred, almost melting into nothingness. "Hmpf! We''ll see about that!" Forne was like a raging beast, shooting into the sky and unleashing one explosion after the other, turning the luminous canopy into a scarlet curtain filled with cracks. Celes didn''t pale in comparison as she made full use of her rare Death Physique. Despite not having access to her techniques, the Death Magic released from her body was enough to push away the invisible general, forcing it to maintain distance and only circle around, trying to find an opening that he won''t find any time soon. The only one who slightly struggled was Lucy and that was only because she was hiding her true powers such as the Yin Physique and the fusion flame. There''s also Lonely Moon but it was stored in her ring, which was currently disabled, unfortunately. The black-skinned general descended upon the White Specter like meteor, continuously waving its blades at Lucy, leaving her no time to retaliate. Its attacks were fast and precise, mainly aimed at her vital parts, though, due to her unusually resilient body, the successful hits didn''t do any severe damage. "Why isn''t she attacking?" Celes, who was standing at the same spot, frowned upon seeing Lucy in a difficult situation. She mumbled with a low voice but the supposedly busy ''X'' chuckled and replied with a crisp voice: "Wait for itˇ­ wait for it!" He raised his head and stared at the bloody sky, where you could see numerous mushroom clouds. Thirty seconds later, Lucy''s clothes became bloodied from all the injuries she received, nonetheless, her movements remained oddly monotonous. Either crossing her arms to block or dashing away from the general, which was enjoying this exciting hunt, contrary to the other two. Even Arthur, who was watching from afar, wasn''t worried about Lucy. Just like ''X'', he stared at the sky and smiled, already knowing what''s going to happen. "I expected no less from the Madam." The Quad-Spirit, having a strong affinity to Earth and Fire, was the first to grasp what''s going to happen. Right after it spoke, the clouded red sky was split in two by a massive descending projectile. It was an absurdly large meteor covered in magma, its sheer size and speed added more to its pressure. Even the explosions repeatedly occurring in the sky did nothing to the massive boulder, which seemed to distort space itself. "Oi oi, I said take it f.u.c.k.i.n.g easy!" Seeing the meteor coming straight at where he was, Forne panicked and loudly cursed before an ear-piercing explosion to push himself far away. The Grey Seat of Decay remained on her spot for several seconds before snapping out of it and enveloping herself in a fog, appearing next to the Void Behemoth, which roared loudly and raised a spheric violent barrier, which seemed to be strong enough to absorb anything. The only ones exposed to the meteor were the two still-alive generals and the rest of the Cthulhu that were too slow and cl.u.s.tered together to escape in time. When the magma-filled rock finally crashed into the earth, the destruction preceded the deafening sound of the explosion. Large bubbles of magma flew into the air before hitting dozens of those hideous monsters, melting them on the spot. The radius of the meteor was no less than two hundred meters so the devastation it caused was seriously no joke. When dust covered the area and the temperature dramatically rose, you could hear nothing but an eerie quietness. Whether it''s the defending soldiers or the Cthulhu, they weren''t able to process what happened. Everything resumed its course when the agonizing cries of the enemies were heard, surely caused by the spreading Lava which turned the whole earth into a ground where no one could walk on. Even the closed Sky Door opened was 20% opened but after a few seconds, it started closing again. Thankfully, ''X'', G''am and the Void Behemoth already finished preparing the blow. The behemoth supplied G''am Tir with an unlimited amount of Void Magic, which in his turn, the ex-Emperor converted it into a black liquid. As for ''X'', he hesitated for a brief moment before retrieving a minuscule coin from his pocket. "It''s such a waste to use it on the doorˇ­ *sigh*" Albeit his unwillingness, ''X'' still carried his task and threw the coin at the door, causing it to stop closing. The coin emitted a loud clicking sound then went through the opened crack and expanded in size, becoming as big as the Sky Door. Thanks to whatever ''X'' threw, the door was unable to close due to the coin making it remain in that semi-opened state. The final touch was initiated by G''am Tir, who, after chanting a few incomprehensible verses, splattered in liquid on the ground. Like some sort of a sentient being, the liquid rose in the air then transformed into a faceless and extremely short humanoid. It was made of the black liquid and behaved childishly. G''am Tir pointed at the door while talking to the short black humanoid, which responded with actions rather needlessly talking. It released creepy laughter before flying toward the massive door, its hands raising in the air and grabbing an enlarged needle that appeared from within his liquefied chest. The ''boy'' stabbed the black needle on the door before disappearing. Seconds later, the needle exploded, unleashing purple tentacle-like things which covered the whole door and, surprisingly, devoured it whole, leaving nothing but a welcoming entrance for the participants. Without wasting any more time, Forne and the rest went through the Sky Door and disappeared from everyone''s view. Though, right behind them, several clever participants followed their footsteps, not caring about the incoming Cthulhu that wanted to block their path. "Still no signs of Zodiak?" "Are you fond of talking to yourself?" Right after he asked the Quad-Spirit, a dark cloud descended from the sky, landing right next to the startled parasite. An old man wearing a tattered grey robe revealed himself, his face riddled with wrinkles and his pupils contained some sort of primordial darkness that brought fear to anyone who stared back at them. "Took you long enough."-Arthur "Long enough for what? I was watching the battle, just like youˇ­ just from a much higher viewpoint." Arthur glanced at his reincarnation and spoke after a brief silence. "Aren''t you going to through the Sky Door?" "It''s still too early for that, don''t you think so?" "Don''t you want to climb to the top floor in order to get rid of Sol''khin?" Hearing this, the old man chuckled and retorted: "Unlike that impatient boy, I have to do things in order. Did you know? Each floor has a meaning but not all are meant for one person." Zodiak looked at the rumbling sky before continuing: "And I believe this one is for me." "What can you hope to achieve by staying here? Earn points?" "Absolution, my dear benefactor. What I could not do in the past, I shall do now." Chapter 585 - 531: Absolution (1) "You have to be careful, Arthur, there are some powerful individuals who want to bury you in this tower." Zodiak looked at the man next to him, his expression containing genuine concern. "Since when were you a person to worry about another''s well being?"-Arthur Zodiak switched the subject by saying: "The Holy Dominion is stronger than it looks. You would think they gave up after suffering multiple defeats but that''s definitely not the case. Even if they have to sacrifice one of their strongest warriorsˇ­ as long as you''re dead, it''s worth it for them." Hearing this, Arthur frowned and questioned the old man: "Just what sort of enmity do I have with them?" "Enmity? There''s no such thing. That''s just how they are, never accepting things like Dark Magic, Demonsˇ­" The old man let out a sigh before continuing: "When I was publicly alive, they chased me but couldn''t capture me because I didn''t have any weaknesses. Family, friends, they''ll use everything to get to you, which is why you have to end it once for all. For everyone''s sake." "I don''t why all of you have such a high opinion of me. I''m not going to wander around and massacre every oneˇ­ I don''t think I have enough power to do that." As he listened to grumpy Arthur, Zodiak heartily laughed, finding what Arthur said quite ironic considering what the parasite had done in the past. "I''m not responsible for you or what happens in the future. The advice was given and it''s up to you whether to accept it or ignore it." ***** "Max! The gate is open, let''s roll!" The thief appeared behind the leader of the group and shouted with a deafening, causing the green-haired woman to violently smack him. "I told you to stop doing that!" While rubbing his aching head, the thief stood up, looking quite miserable. "There''s no end to them and we can''t use potions!" Though they were doing very well in eliminating the attacking Cthulhu, these players can''t fight forever due to the restrictions put by the Red Tower. Fortunately, none were injured by the blast from the earlier meteor did push all six a distance away from their prior battle area. "Leader, Rody is right, the strong ones are showing themselves. We won''t be able to handle all of them." Tula calmly spoke, his blue eyes gazing at dozens of tall black-skinned monsters dashing towards them. Almost all the contestants were heading toward the opened Sky Door, unwilling to spend more time than needed on this floor. Yes, each and every one of them was an expert, however, even after Lucy''s attack, the number of Cthulhu didn''t diminish. In fact, it seemed to have doubled or triple and the golden-eyes archers became much more numerous. The unstoppable arrows hit the walls of the city, slowly crumbling it and killing many of the elven archers firing from the top. On the ground, the battle grew fiercer as dwarves and humans clashed with the Cthulhu, which were physically stronger than their counterparts. "F.u.c.k.i.n.g cowards! Go ahead, I''ll catch up." Max cursed at her teammates but in response, they glanced at each other before acting up, each one of them holding of Maxine''s limbs and dragging her with them. She tried freeing herself but it was totally futile as Tula and the Shaman cast some binding magic, further immobilizing her. A few minutes later, with the dwarf leading the way, Maxine''s group enter the Sky Door and vanished. The path to the door was relatively empty as many of the participants were in that area, clearing any nearby enemies and going to the 5th floor. The only ones left were the greedy ones who wanted to gain more points. Oddly enough, there were some who still have not acted and only stood at the top of the western wall of the city. Arthur looked at Ber Von Xin, who was holding a simple wooden sword and slashing his enemies with ease. Unlike the flashy attacks everyone uses, his movements were simple and only took down one or two enemies at once, however, he faced no difficulties and was going around finishing one target after the other, showing no signs of going to the Sky Door. ˇ­ An hour later, the situation suddenly shifted to the Cthulhu''s favor as the sky turned jet black and the sun''s light vanished, making the defenders unable to grasp what''s around them or who''s attacking. The fifty or so remaining contestants grew uneasy as ghastly laughter echoed across the whole floor, bringing shivers even to the strong willed ones. Arthur, however, find this dramatic change shocking as he recognized this ominous darkness. "As I told you before, each floor is meant for a person. What you''re seeing now is the result of a Dark Magic explosion, something more dreadful than even your Dark Rizaki. It happened on its own though I was the origin. It basically devoured everything before Sol''khin got his hands on it." As Zodiak was recounting the tragic past, the contestants gave up on fighting and entered the Sky Door. The Sword God jumped high in the air then, like a shooting luminous star, headed straight into the entrance. The last one was the mysterious lancer, who shot out a big bright javelin straight at the door but this one wasn''t meant to eliminate an enemy but rather as a transportation. Just as he threw it, he swiftly jumped on it, soon disappearing into the door like all the rest, leaving only Zodiak and Arthur. Of course, the soldiers and the city lord were still present, however, amongst the participants, only the parasite and his reincarnation were here, still unscathed. "It seems the Dark Magic spoiled itˇ­ aren''t you going to leave?" Zodiak curiously asked the silent and motionless Arthur, his brow creasing. "Hmpf! Why ask when you already know the answer?" "You''ve always been bad with showing emotions. Is it really wrong to have compassion, sympathy, and pity? Why can''t you do things because you want to rather think of a million reasons not to?" With the appearance of Dark Magic, it wasn''t only the mix-raced soldiers who were affected, the Cthulhu were vulnerable too. The siege was halted and only the dark-skinned generals or the golden-eyes archers maintained their deadly attacks. You could hear the wails of the defenseless soldiers and continuous explosions sounds caused by the destructive arrows shot by the humanoid Cthulhu. Despite the ever-lasting gloom shrouding the floor, both Arthur and Zodiak were able to see very clearly as the Dark Magic was having no effect on them. At last, both jumped from atop the wall and landed amidst the flailing soldiers, which were being sucked by the darkened earth. Zodiak took out a long staff and stabbed it on the ground, causing the devouring effect to stop immediately. The half-conscious soldiers were then magically teleported out of the battlefield, literally leaving only the old man and the parasite facing the thousands of confused monsters and their snickering leaders. The normal, hideous Cthulhu were of no problem to the two dark magic users, however, the generals and commanders sitting at the back were a real headache. Furthermore, the real boss still has not shown himselfˇ­ like everything existing here, he also belonged to the past and is but a fragment of his real self, nevertheless, he''s still an entity that should not be underestimated. "I guess it''s the first time we''re going to fight together." Hearing this, Arthur shrugged his shoulders, uninterested. "Seems like it." Chapter 586 - 531: Absolution (2) Unlike with the usual Dark Magic, neither Arthur nor Zodiak were able to absorb it, however, it didn''t take long for it to slowly contract into a singular black sphere floating far away above the enemy forces. This sphere was actually an entity known as Sol''khin, the first son of Timos, the Black Devil. He was only a fragment of the past but that doesn''t mean he can''t hurt them. Quite the contrary, in fact, this Sol''khin is not only strong but he''s dangerous to both Arthur and Zodiak, who can only rely on Dark Magic, which basically what the current enemy is made of. **** "Come to think of it, I have always noticed a difference between Arthur and Zodiak''s Dark Magic." The Joker commented while watching the two individuals facing the countless disoriented Cthulhu. "Technically, it''s the same Dark Magic but it''s indeed that the difference is rather huge." Leiu, who was also watching the unfolding events on the 4th floor, explained, his chilling gaze lingering on past Sol''khin. "Zodiak relies on the Spirituality of Dark Magic, making it less effective in fast battles. He can feed off the opponent''s fear to recover while Arthur uses his Dantian. However, that is only a slight different, the truth lies behind the effects of each one''s Dark Magic. Arthur''s can consume thingsˇ­ a bit like Void Magic. As for Zodiak''s, it is more like a permanent curseˇ­ something that, once it touches something, neverˇ­ ever, disappears." "You think Arthur''s was affected by his Void Magic?" "It must be, after all, the two have a lot of similarities. The reason I consider Zodiak''s Dark Magic as more lethal is because he only focused on it while Arthur uses multiple types of Magic due to his race." ˇ­ The first to attack was Zodiak, who transformed into a large dark cloud which enveloped hundreds of Cthulhu, floating from one area to another, leaving nothing but blackened and lifeless bodies of the aliens. As for Arthur, he took a more frontal tactic, charging at the nearby golden-eyes archer and unleashing an absurd amount of Dark Magic. A wave of rising darkness emanated from his body, shrouding part of the sky then falling like a tsunami, engulfing four archers and even one of those invisible and fast generals. When the darkness vanished, the dark-skinned Cthulhu was still alive but unable to move. His body convulsed on the ground, a dark fog coming out of all his pores, he has clearly been consumed by Dark Magic and will perish very soon. The onslaught continued for ten to twenty minutes, in which the army of Cthulhu was totally massacred. The city lord watching from afar was flabbergasted, not knowing whether to celebrate or evacuate. Though they were killing the enemies, the magic they were using seemed more evil and malicious than those hideous monsters. While Zodiak was feeding off the fear of the fleeing Cthulhu to replenish his Dark Magic, Arthur could only rely on the amount stored inside the black talisman inside his body. Just when the last one of the enemies was about to fall, the dormant Sol''khin finally made his move. A suffocating pressure was unleashed by the floating sphere, which was quickly followed by a devastating and lightning fast that struck Arthur instantaneously. The parasite wasn''t even able to dodge and ended up being sent flying until he crashed into the thick city wall. The black sphere started heading toward the two while initiating another invisible attack toward the fallen parasite, though before it managed to hit him, Zodiak intervened, creating a black cube which trapped the unseen Sol''khin and blocked his attack. "Be careful, he not only can use our Dark Magic but has your abilities too?" "What do you mean my abilities? Wh-" Before Arthur could finish, the black cube shattered into pieces and, from inside, a black wolf descended from the sky. Its body covered in black flames and its eyes were shining with a scarlet, malevolent light. "What is this? Both Zodiak and Arthur hereˇ­ isn''t it a fortunate encounter?" A ghastly voice came out of the wolf''s mouth. It slowly walked toward the old man and the parasite, its eyes locked onto its two targets. "The soul is separated, it''s a perfect opportunity for me to eat it whole!" As he finished speaking, Sol''khin shot at them with an absurd speed. Zodiak jumped in again, slapping two talismans on the ground before pointing his staff at the incoming wolf. In the meantime, Arthur successfully imitated [Eternium] without having to resort to the disabled System. His body became covered in Dark Flames, boosting his physical and magical powers for some time. Zodiak unleashed countless intertwining black threads at Sol''khin, stopping his mad charge, then he jumped to the back while bombarding the enemy with dozens of dark and lengthy spikes. Sol''khin''s body changed, becoming a rat, easily dodging the spikes but the talismans that hit the ground did a great job at hindering him. Like moving sand, the rat was pulled by the blackened and corrupted earth, drastically slowing its speed. Arthur used this opportunity to attack, making great use of his sky-high stats to rain down punches and kicks at the defenseless rat. Finding it disadvantageous to be a rat, Sol''khin changed into a large rhino but his limbs were still stuck into the moving ground, causing him to recent all of Arthur''s ruthless and devastating attack. The parasite''s fists cracked the rhino''s armor and were about to finish it but it suddenly unleashed a burst of Hell flames which forced Arthur to retreat. His resistances were gone now so the flames damaged him, nevertheless, he didn''t suffer any fatal wounds. Fortunately, Arthur backed off in time as Sol''khin pretty much turned this place into a purgatory, dying both the sky and ground into dark red flames that incinerated everything. Even the Western wall of the city crumbled within seconds, burning hundreds of soldiers to death. The city lord positioned the mages to a safer place then ordered them to create as much water as possible to stop the flames of hell, which were spreading way too fast. At this pace, in less than an hour, the whole city will be turned into cinders. Zodiak became a dark cloud and rose high-up in the sky, merging with the cl.u.s.tered red clouds. In just ten seconds, an unusual rain took place, black droplets fell on the hell flame, extinguishing it and causing Sol''khin to yell in agony as the strange liquid was hurting him. Seeing no purpose using the hell flame anymore, Sol''khin changed into another attribute. His body became that of a blue phoenix with massive crystalline wings.Arthur stared at this form with shock, not understanding what''s happening: "That is not something I possessed." Zodiak grumbled and retorted:"Who said he only has your abilities?" "F.u.c.k." The moment the blue Phoenix made its appearance, the temperate fell down and the suffocating heat was no longer present. Instead, a blizzard made its appearance, not only canceling Zodiak''s black rain but also freezing the ground and causing Arthur''s body to became extremely slow. Even when he tried activating his Dark Magic, it didn''t work. Zodiak was able to cope as flew around in the dark cloud form but when he attacked using Dark Magic, it would vanish before even reaching Sol''khin. It was at this moment that the Quad-Spirit took action, making good use of its strong Fire powers. The area was soon split into sides, one was a world of fire while the other a freezing blizzard. The blue phoenix screeched and waved its massive wings as it faced off against a humanoid covered in fire. Chapter 587 - 532: Arthur and Zodiak (1) "Another plate to the table!" Sol''khin snickered as he unleashed a freezing burst which extinguished the fire and pushed the quad-spirit, it then followed with a skill similar to [Absolute Zero], turning the whole area into a gigantic block of ice. Even Arthur was instantly frozen though he managed to break it in a few seconds. Zodiak wasn''t as lucky as the flying cloud became sky-blue then crashed into the ground, no longer being in its untouchable state. However, it wasn''t that easy to defeat Arthur''s spirit, which is proficient in more than one or two attributes. It quickly got back up, pulled a golden spear from the ground before facing the blue phoenix again. A dark armor materialized around its flaming body and a grey crown appeared above its head, drastically transforming its appearance. Sensing a bit of danger from the spirit, Sol''khin gave up the phoenix form and changed into a more ridiculous appearance. A golden and blinding brilliance emanated from his body, he seemed like an unshakable statue, motionless but extremely deadly. "Buddha?"-Arthur Seeing this ludicrous sight, Arthur''s shock deepened, even feeling a bit of helplessness. He glanced at Zodiak and found him back on his feet but, strangely, he seemed to be in a not-so-good condition. Buddha and the quad-spirit clashed with each other, shaking the whole floor and causing unprecedented devastating. A third of the Western part of the city was destroyed but there were few if no casualties thanks to the lord''s quick evacuation. It was clear that there''s no room for normal soldiers to join this battle of giants so the city lord wisely ordered the retreat of all the forces to the royal castle, where most of the citizens were too. There''s no telling what will be left of the city once everything ends and the safest area is the castle, which is protected by a tough magical barrier constantly being nourished by more than 500 mages. Sol''khin continued to defend using Buddha''s golden light, easily blocking the spirit''s attacks of four combined attributes and, at some point, it retaliated, firing a thick blast from the heavens. It struck the unsuspecting spirit, pinned it on the ground and not only shattered the dark armor but also broke the crown in two pieces. Before any further damage was done, Arthur intervened by conjuring two dark hands that appeared above the spirit and blocked the rest. Half-conscious, the spirit automatically returned to its owner consciousness after its best. If the floor didn''t restrict the skills and techniques, it could have defeated Sol''khin but, unfortunately, it isn''t the case right now. The situation soon returned to the beginning with Zodiak and Arthur battling Sol''khin. "He''s going to change again as Buddha''s magic is vulnerable against Dark Magic."-Zodiak Who, after coughing a bit of black blood, returned to a healthier state, straightened his back and warned Arthur. Right after his warning, the ginormous Buddha statue vanished, leaving in its place a dense fog that blocked their visions. A few seconds later, black wings that were, at least, 200 meters in length, rose high up in the sky, followed by a deafening dragon roar. Before Sol''khin''s appearance was shown, the ground started heavily shaking and the gravity became ten times stronger, causing Zodiak''s body to fall while Arthur managed to resist thanks his high affinity with Earth Magic. The skills were disabled attribute affinities are an inborn thing and, thanks to his race, he has a high affinity with all the basic attributes. ***** "What the hell are they doing?!" Celes, who was along with the others in the waiting room, looked at the big screen displaying the events happening on the 4th floor currently. Not only here but everyone who passed through the Sky Door was teleported here and waiting for the last two to come so the next task is given. Sadly, both Arthur and Zodiak showed no signs of passing through the door and only focused on taking down whatever that shape-shifting monster was. "This isn''t part of the plan." Even the usually calm Forne was troubled, letting out a helpless sigh as he watched his friend Zodiak persistently attack Sol''khin. "That one is fake, I don''t see the purpose in even fighting it. If the Sky Door is destroyed then they''ll be disqualifiedˇ­ is that even worth it?" ''X'' also butted in, kind of feeling annoyed over Zodiak''s selfishness. He didn''t care about Arthur as he wasn''t part of the plan but Zodiak was crucial to the success of their task, especially the cane in his possession. G''am Tir maintained his usual silence while the Void Behemoth was growling while looking at the screen. Lucy stood to the side, her fists clenched, regretting not staying there to lend a hand even at the cost of exposing herself. If Arthur is out then there is no need for her to continue climbing the tower either, which is why she was so frustrated right now. Dozens of meters away, in a corner filled with buzzing flies and crawling insects, Hach''ara enjoyed some of the presented fruits while enjoying the show. His eyes were glued on Zodiak and Arthur, wondering how they are related. Their appearance may be different but their actions were oddly similar, though it takes a sharp perception to notice that. "I seeˇ­ hahahaha" He started crazily laughing, not minding the weird gazes he was getting. The insect and poison master was not the only one who noticed the similarities in action and in soul. Ber Von Xin sipped some of medicinal tea he just prepared while focusing on the grey-robbed old man. His serene eyes contained a deep glint as they jumped from one target to another, seemingly able to fathom everything. **** "What''s wrong, uncle?" Saly, who was biting her nails, happened to see the pale-faced youth crush the chair''s handle as he watching the fight happening on the 4th floor. Only when he heard her voice did he snap out of it and dismissively wave her hand to indicate that it''s nothing. "Leave him be! He''s just excited to see your father fight." "Is that so?" **** Wild and powerful sound waves reverberated across the whole area, splitting the ground and dramatically changing the terrain. Zodiak was shaken off balance as he was busy chanting a spell, causing him to fall and roll on the slippery and unsteady ground. "What''s wrong? No more Dark Magic?" Seeing the weak state of the old man, Arthur became confused, not understanding why such an earthquake managed to get him. In response, Zodiak grunted and held onto one of the rock, barely saving himself from falling into the abyss down below. Unfortunately, it was at that time that an absurdly massive black dragon showed itself, its golden eyes glaring at the weakened old man. It opened its mouth and fired a strange black blast which was different from Dark Magic. When it was about to hit Zodiak, several thick dark walls appeared in the air, stopping the blast while Arthur slid down and caught Zodiak''s hand. "Huh! Who would have thought!" Seeing the hand tightly holding his own, Zodiak commented. Arthur snorted and pulled the old man while swiftly climbing the slope and landing on the steady ground. "Is there any reason to save me?"-Zodiak With his back facing the standing old man, Arthur stabbed his hands on the ground while answering: "Is there any reason not to?" Hearing this, Zodiak chuckled and removed his over-sized grey robe, revealing tight and black leather clothes fitting for a martial artist. "In the end, we are very alike, don''t you think?"-Zodiak While listening to the other''s rambling, Arthur smirked and manipulated the Dark Magic. Six hundred meters away, precisely where the Sky Door was, the ground turned jet black and countless black spikes sprung from within, stabbing every part of the door and corrupting it. Within seconds, the enormous and opened door vanished, causing the previously given task to end, at last. *All the contestants who managed to pass through the Sky Door will be teleported to the 5th floor. The restrictions will be lifted shortly.* Chapter 588 - 533: Arthur and Zodiak (2) FLASHBACK "What do you mean ''go do whatever I want''?" Arthur looked at the two-colored crow named Bilgart, not quite understanding his words. In response, the Watcher flew down from the tree and landed on a rock just next to Arthur, its two strange eyes focusing on the man it created and basically raised for a few years. "You don''t have to go around doing this and that. Even for an undying person, life is always too short and it''s wasteful to do nothing but fight for peace." "So I''m just supposed to give up on everything? Is that what you really want me to do?" "Give up? Of course not. Just be responsible for your actions and do not mind the others. Take your family and go live somewhere quiet, a place utterly void of wars and conflict. You have to understand that even without you, there will be someone else who''ll fill your place. A nameless hero who rises from the ashes and defeats the source of ''evil'', it doesn''t necessarily have to be you." "You tell me to do whatever I want then advise me to live peacefullyˇ­ isn''t that contradictory?" The crow opened its beak, emitting serene and mysterious music that filled the lonely courtyard. "You said it yourself, I''m only advising you. If you continue like this, I''m afraid you won''t be able to handle the truth and by attempting to fix things, you''ll only hasten the time of doom." ***** Seeing Zodiak take a martial fighting stance, Arthur said: "So you''re finally going to fight seriously?" The old man looked at the parasite, whose body became enveloped in green lightning and dark flames. "Looking at you like thisˇ­ how can I not?" Though Zodiak''s self-empowerment abilities were not as flashy as Arthur''s, it still increased his aura by several folds, making him look much more energetic and threatening. Black lines revolved around his body, dancing around as if they were sentient. The last battle commenced when Sol''khin, the fully grown Black Dragon, attacked again. Despite its great size, the monster moved with surprising agility, damaging the environment around him with just the wind waves caused by his massive wings. Instead of dodging the incoming massive beast, both Arthur and Zodiak lunged at Sol''khin, each performing a punch. Arthur''s fist started glowing with a green light then was enveloped by crackling white thunder, boosting its already monstrous might. As for Zodiak, his hand vanished and its place was some sort of a black hole sucking all the light around it. With the restrictions disabled, the two became much stronger so it wasn''t surprising to see the dragon sent flying by their attacks. Arthur struck Sol''khin forehead while Zodiak hit the lower jaw thus making the dragon looked miserable. Blood flowed from its gigantic mouth as it stabilized its airborne body and tried to counter-attack only for an unstoppable force to pull its wings. The parasite teleported above Sol''khin and used his inhumane strength stat to grab the black dragon''s wings, spin around before throwing at it Zodiak. The old man was more than ready as he rotated around himself, resulting in a transparent dark magic sphere to surround him. When the target was in his range, the sphere broke and a black-clothed old man jumped in the air, a thick jet black gauntlet on his right hand. Before Sol''khin could do anything, his body was struck again by Zodiak, whose gauntlet dealt considerable damage. The tough black scales along with sturdy bones shattered like glass, causing the beast to roar in pain as it was yet again sent flying high-up. A series of explosions occurred at the same time, all originating from dozens of creepy-faced fireballs detonating one after the other. Although they did not that much damage, they still stopped Sol''khin from stopping the parasite''s next attack, which was in the form of a dragon. A beast made of blue and white lightning twirled in the air, let out a deafening roar then clashed with the black dragon, which was thrice it''s size. The beast was a lightning dragon created by Arthur, it had an absurd damage potential if it accurately hit the target, which, this time, it did not, unfortunately. At the very last second, Sol''khin changed forms, became a much smaller and faster creature. It was also a dragon but the black skin vanished and was replaced by shell-like emerald scales that resisted the lightning dragon. The new form was some sort of a drake or wyvern, it had thin wings and an unusually long jaw riddled with protruding red spikes. Sol''khin charged at Arthur, resisting all the attacks unleashed by the latter, however, when it was about to hit him, it was stopped by a watery-like surface coupled with a very thick dark barrier. The green shells started vibrating and within seconds, both of Arthur''s layers of defense crumbled. The parasite had already retreated far back as its speed was faster than the enemy, moreover, Zodiak finished his follow-up attack. With a speed that even Arthur paled in comparison to, the old man shot at Sol''khin and stabbed a long dark spear into his abdomen. It all happened with a split second, before neither his fighting companion nor his target could react. While still holding the spear, Zodiak dragged the wyvern-like monster around, the black lines dancing around him shooting at the wings and corrupting them, rendering them practically useless. Sadly, before he could finish Sol''khin, the latter released an awfully ear-piercing cry and took a spiritual form that was untouchable by Dark Magic. Arthur swiftly intercepted by using a combination of Space and Lightning magic. The sky was filled with thunderbolts hitting everywhere, the space magic provided support by locking the present dimension and making it impossible for the monster to escape. Indeed, a few seconds later, Sol''khin was forced to switch forms again, this time looking like a human. He had azure hair that reached the ground, a fit build, and two strangely closed eyes. "Let us finish this." Zodiak talked to Arthur then retrieved a few black talisman, throwing them around the motionless Sol''khin. Arthur took a more passive approach as he retreated a hundred meters then started writing runic silver symbols on the air. Soon, the area around him flashed with a blinding sight and a hundred sword made of silver light made their appearance. They followed Arthur''s will and were part of an offensive and pretty strong formation that belongs to the Mirage Era Hall sect. As Sol''khin took out thin chains that had scythe-like blades at their very end, Zodiak started attacking. He vanished from his initial position and appeared from one of the talismans closely surrounding the humanoid monster. In retaliation, Sol''khin swung the chains in a try to stop Zodiak but they just passed through him as if he was made of gas. It ended up with the enemy taking the first hit, his shoulder was struck by a violent kick from Zodiak, which pushed him back a few steps. Right after finishing the first attack, Zodiak disappeared again and rushed from another talisman. Meanwhile, Arthur manipulated the hundred swords and began assaulting Sol''khin, who did his best to fend off against the continuous attacks. Even when he tried getting away from Zodiak''s talismans, he failed as they followed his every movement and always surrounded him. Furthermore, the silver swords were not only numerous but too fast for him to block all of them, diverting his attention and making him suffer Zodiak''s punches and kicks, which were embedded with Dark Magic. Two minutes later, Sol''khin was pinned to the ground with more than twenty swords stabbing his body and dark magic chains wrapped around his neck and waist. He wasn''t able to change form as Arthur and Zodiak did their best to block any kind of transformation. The green-haired monster struggled to break free while crying loudly but it was totally futile. At some point, it was about to self-destruct but Zodiak managed to stop it by throwing a gigantic black ball made of Dark Magic which struck the immobilized enemy and everything around him. All that was left of the fight was a split earth which seemed like an opened and bottomless mouth, a blackened and scarlet sky, and a devastated city. Half of the western part of the city no longer existed as it was swallowed by the earthquake, nonetheless, there few if no casualties and all the enemies were successfully eliminated, ending this battle once and for all. After making sure that Sol''khin was really gone, Arthur landed next to Zodiak and inspected the area, neither of them saying any congratulatory word. Only after a while did Arthur speak, his head facing the other way. "You said it''s absolution? I feel like there''s more to it than that." The old man calmly wore back his grey and tattered robe, hid the talismans under his sleeves then answered: "What if there''s more? It concerns me and although I''m grateful for your help, that doesn''t mean you''re eligible to hear a truth that you don''t need." Chapter 589 - 534: Shes Here After a long, long wait, the last expected person joined the two brothers. Both the Joker and Leiu stood up and looked at the newcomer, who was covered in blood from head to toe and not looking particularly healthy. Before anyone talked, Wolfram crushed a card which released a blinding light that enveloped Arthur and healed some of the injuries. It took five cards to completely heal his younger brother and it has to be said that even one of such cards is extremely rare and has a miraculous effect. One has to wonder what kind of injuries did Arthur suffer to be in such a miserable half-dead state. While smiling, Arthur said: "I hope that the wait wasn''t too long." The youth snorted but the tall magician wrapped his hand around Arthur''s shoulder and jokingly said: "It was so boring with this quiet dude, I felt like I was talking to myself." "Hahaha I can imagine that." Unfortunately, this light mood was quickly broken by the Nameless Knight, who reproachingly looked at the parasite while saying: "In the end, you decided to come?" "Why wouldn''t I? My two brothers are betting their lives on the line yet you want me to hide?" "Yeah how can you say that?" The Joker butted in, trying to lighten the mood again but his older brother still had a chilling expression as if he wasn''t really pleased by Arthur''s arrival. "It''s not like there''s anywhere to hide, after all, everyone knows of the Dark Lord." "Ugh stop that, it''s so banal."-Arthur Arthur looked at the gargantuan red crack far away then shifted his attention to a blinding sun right above it, temporarily stopping the expansion of the incoming doom. "Saly already left?" "She insisted on staying but I sent her away."-Wolfram Hearing this, Arthur breathed a sigh of relief and caressed his marriage ring, which wasn''t expensive or flashy but held a deep meaning. "It''s not going to hold it for long, we better begin."-The Joker "Ready yourselves."Leiu The Nameless Knight wore his helmet and retrieved his black sword, Anduril, from his back and wore his helmet. As for the Joker, he threw dozens of cards in the air, each one having an overpowered buffing affect. "These should last for one year. I''ll save the best for last." He laughed out loud, uncaring about what''s about to happen or what they''re going to face. Last but not least, Arthur removed the ring given to him by Lucy and used Dark Magic on it, erasing it from existence and officially releasing himself from the past. "I shall become the wings of rebellion."-Leiu "Breaketh thy chains of captivity."-Wolfram "And release yourself from what has been done!"-Arthur ****** "My son, you have grown up." A deep voice came out of a shiny silver dragon curled on the ground with its piercing eyes focused on another dragon half of its size but with the same silver scales as it. Yamak grew bowed its head in respect as he faced his mother, whom he''s seeing for the first time. Seeing no purpose in following Xyktia''s unreasonable order, he fled to the Dragon Realm but it''s not like he can escape her grasp. "It''s good to see you, mother." "Have you been well? Did that parasite take care of you?" "Yes, there is no need to worry." There was a tinge of awkwardness as Yamak wasn''t really used to such talks. Arthur wasn''t harsh when he raised him but he wasn''t what you call ''motherly'' so when he felt his mother''s love, the lightning dragon didn''t know how to act. "Normally, dragon''s won''t meet their parents until they became an a.d.u.l.t but, seeing that you willingly came here, there must be a problem, which I can kind of guess." Even without Yamak saying anything, the ancient Space Dragon was able to see the thing inside her son''s body. "I guess the Twelve do not really care about their treaty with the Dragon Race. Who''s the one who did this to you?" "Xyktia. She wants the Divine and Cursed swords." "To hell with what she wants, take me to her!" None of the Twelve created the Dragon Race and the latter is not known to be a formidable race for nothing. A grown dragon like Yamak''s mother can pose a great threat even to the Twelve, moreso for the trapped Xyktia. "W-well.." For a while, Yamak hesitated before resolutely saying: "She seems to have went somewhereˇ­" "Where? There''s nowhere I can-" Before she could finish, her son said: "The Red Tower." "What? Why would she go there?" "I don''t know. As far as I know, only the Divine Sword, grail, is there." Last time Yamak saw Xyktia, she was definitely trapped, however, when he went back, there were no signs of her or her white-haired servant. He tracked her only to arrive at the Red Tower. "Back then, Ventus definitely killed her. How can she be alive? Are you certain it was her?" "Definitely." **** "Hey, aren''t you going to do anything about her? I don''t like her face." The Joker complained while pointing at a black-haired woman amongst the contestants. She didn''t stand out and was neither too strong nor too weak, in fact, not even the Red Tower''s system was able to see through her. The Trickster was able to recognize her only thanks to his Card Magic. As for the Nameless Knight, he''s considered to be an acquaintance of hers though you can''t say they parted on friendly terms. "What about her?" "What do you mean ''what about her''? Isn''t this supposed to be a fair competition? She''s way too strong for them. If it''s going to be like this then I might as well go down too!" The Joker stood up, seriously considering joining the participants. "Sit down." Like an obedient, the Magician snorted and obediently sat back up, appearing quite comical and childish. "What''s happening? Who''s she?!" Saly, who was silently watching their interaction, grew curious and asked the pale and stiff-faced uncle. "Just an old friend, don''t mind her." "Old friend? Try old lover! Hmpf!" Wolfram crossed his arms and leaned against the chair, clicking his tongue at what his brother said. Seeing that Leiu didn''t give an honest reply, Saly went to her teacher and act pitiful to quench her curiosity but the weirdly dressed man ignored her and said: "It''s quite fortunate that Arthur didn''t bring Makaze. If that blade gets near Xyktia, all hell would break loose." "It''s a good thing that it isn''t the case, then."-Leiu ******* "I said not to bother me!" The Yellow Seat furiously turned toward the laboratory''s entrance and shouted, though when he had a good look at the visitor, he was shocked. "What brings you here?" He quickly retracted his anger and shifted back his attention to the experiment while talking to a short man standing next to the door. This was none other than the Red Seat of Supremacy, someone who rarely interacts with the other seats and quite a hateful fellow. He does not have a good relationship with most of the other seats and no one really knows why Forne still keeps him. "It''s lonely with everyone gone so I came here to talk." "Talk? You''ve never visited me here and now you say you want to talk?" The scientist frowned but didn''t chase away the short man. "You''ve always been someone who believed more in number rather than emotions so don''t you think the probability of taking down the Nameless Knight is extremely low?" "That''s a fact so what''s your point?" The Yellow Seat pulled his sleeves and sat on a squeaking chair while gazing at the short man pacing around with his hands behind his back. "I''m just saying that this emptiness may become permanent if things go wrongˇ­ don''t you think it''s time for a ''refill''?" "ˇ­" After a short silence, the scientist opened his mouth and said: "Continue." The Red Seat chuckled and walked closer, revealing his face to the small light illuminating only a part of the laboratory. He had a bald head and several long sword scars across his not-so-handsome face. Chapter 590 - 536: Land of Rabbits "Thank you! Thank you!" With tears welling up in his eyes, the city lord repeatedly thanked both Arthur and Zodiak, who insisted that he stopped kneeling again and again. After finally getting him to stop with that, he patted his armor before saying: "You want to get to the higher floors, right?" While Zodiak maintained his silence, Arthur actively interacted with other people, even strangers, finding it more efficient than relying on simple movements as if he''s a mute. "Yes, is there another way besides the Sky Door?" The city lord grinned and answered: "As a matter of fact, we have a door right under our city but we don''t know where it leads." "Can you lead us to it then?" "Why the hurry? Stay for the celebratory banquet!" Seeing as he''ll probably insist on them staying, Arthur waved his hand dismissively while adding: "All the others have already gone up to the next floor, we must move with haste. Please guide us to the underground door." Reluctantly, the city lord did as request and took Zodiak and Arthur to a secret and well-guarded place two hundred meters under the castle. There were old mages guarding the entrance and constantly the barrier protecting the whole area. Fortunately, with the city lord with them, the two were able to smoothly enter the room and witness a really massive door, as big as the destroyed Sky Door. However, this one was one with the ground and facing the roof, it was golden and closed-shut, just like its counterpart. "The city was purposely built above the door to hide its existence but I honestly don''t know where ti leads or what it does." "It''s alright, we just need to open it and go through." Zodiak ignored the two conversing men and stepped closer to the door, which didn''t react to his arrival. Slowly, he pulled a large black talisman from his heart and put it right at the center of the golden door, which soon caused it to lightly shake then submissively open. With their powers no longer restricted, it wasn''t as difficult to open the Sky Door or this one hence the instantaneous and effective result caused by the talisman. Shortly after, the two contestants passed through the golden door and vanished from the city lord''s sight. **** Right when Sol''khin was defeated, the screen displaying what''s happening on the 4th floor was cut off and the Red Tower informed everyone present at the Waiting Room that they''ll be taken to 5th floor in half a minute. Lucy wasn''t very worried about her husband as she knew he could handle all kinds of troubles, especially with Zodiak tagging with him. In total, there were 479 contestants who passed through the Sky Door and safely reached ''Haven'', which is what the 5th floor is called. Presumably, this floor is like a checkpoint where it is possible to recuperate and gather more data about the Red Tower, specifically the higher floors. Forne and the rest wanted to quickly reach the top floor, however, when they appeared in Haven, the robotic voice didn''t give any task or say how to reach the next floor, which kind of irritated the Black Seat though he could only sigh and patiently wait. As the name suggests, Haven is a place of safety and refuge, where one does need to worry about an enemy attack. Fighting each other is strictly prohibited and, apart from a few literal humanoid robots setting stalls to sell some merchandise, the place was rather barren. The sky was permanently dark with shimmering stars across the canopy, a grassy yet empty area that could fit all 400+ contestants. Obviously, some were confused while others immediately started searching for a solution or an escape, wanting to reach the next floor before anyone else. Sadly, none of them managed to achieve that and their hopes were crushed as the Red Tower gave out a notice only 15 minutes after they all appeared in Haven. *Contestant Arthur MoonStar and Zodiak have successfully passed through the Earth Door and arrived at the 6th floor.* **** To their surprise, Arthur and Zodiak leapfrogged over the 5th floor and appeared on the 6th floor, named ''Land of Rabbits''. Like always, the tower spoke to the newcomers, explaining the rules and the task. *On the 6th floor, the contestants need to catch a randomly generated number of rabbits. Please be warned that there''s a limited number of rabbits and once they''re all caught, all the contestants who didn''t reach the given quota will be disqualified. Please warned that a rabbit can bite, two can stab, and three can kill.* For a while, neither Arthur nor the old man next to him said anything. "What is this ''one can bite, two can stab, and three can kill''?" The parasite questioned his reincarnation, who shrugged his shoulders, pulled the hood over his head before replying: "Figure it out yourself." Right after saying that, he transformed into a flying dark cloud and vanished from Arthur''s sight. The place they were at was a bamboo forest which was surprisingly big. Arthur''s sense covered only a small portion and even his map didn''t show anything useful, nonetheless, the parasite didn''t remain idle for a second longer and, like Zodiak, started searching for said rabbits. The number of rabbits he needs to catch is 120, which is either too much or too little depending on the number of rabbits currently in the forest. Arthur took the form of a rare monster called treant, which actually a moving tree with the height ranging from 2 to 6m. Although it severely decreased his movement speed, it won''t alert said rabbits, if they are actually rabbits, that is. Unlike Zodiak, who went around wrecking the place to find the target, Arthur took a more subtle approach and wanted to capture the rabbits while they''re unaware. After all, there has to be a meaning to the tower''s warning and recklessly attracting attention may be dangerous if not suicidal. As he had expected, ten to twenty minutes later, the parasite located and closed in on a small furry creature that looked like a normal rabbit in all aspects. It looked totally harmless and the moment it heard a slight rustling nearby, it hopped away with a speed that was laughable compared even to Arthur''s current form. Confused by this, Arthur followed whilst stabbing his hands, which were actually long branches, in the ground. Several brown vines drilled through the soft earth and caught up to the rabbit, quickly binding it. Arthur didn''t know if he had to kill it or what but such thought vanished when the creature turned into a flashing light then disappeared. The given quota, which was shown as part of his system, changed and the number 0 was replaced by 1, indicating that he successfully captured one target. Seeing how easy it turned out to be, Arthur actually felt worried that this may be a trick. Despite catching a rabbit without any effort, he wandered the forest with the utmost caution, fully aware that this 6th floor is not what it really seemed. Chapter 591 - 536: Green, Orange, and Purple With only he and Zodiak on the 6th floor, Arthur didn''t encounter any problem and caught as many as 30 rabbits all thanks to the treant appearance, which didn''t alert any of the furry and adorable white animals. Moreover, as this forest is vast, he has not heard or saw any signs of fighting which can only mean that Zodiak is either far away or had already finished the randomly given quota. Unlike the rest, Arthur was not in a rush and wanted to wait a bit for Lucy just to see how she''s doing. Obviously, he''s not going to openly interact with her, nonetheless, it wouldn''t hurt to go a bit slow. He managed to catch thirty rabbits in half an hour, which equals to one per minute, a decent pace, or so he thought. There was no warning from the system that other contestants have passed the 5th floor, meaning that ''Haven'' is not as simple as it seems. Just like that, an hour quietly and peacefully passed and Arthur managed to reach half of the quota while wandering around and discovering new areas, which didn''t look any different from the rest. There were just a few pine trees and a staggering amount of bamboo trees that kind of hindered his movement due to his size. Anyway, at some point, Arthur stumbled upon two rabbits nibbling some half-grow grass, unaware of the parasite lurking close to them. Arthur maintained a safe distance and used his long-reaching vines that moved underground and swiftly attacked the unsuspecting animals. Unfortunately, unlike earlier, the situation didn''t proceed as smoothly. Arthur expected such an unfavorable outcome when he saw two rabbits at once and, as the tower said, two rabbits can bite. The meaning is peculiar but enough for the parasite to tread with cautiousness and maintain what he deemed as a safe distance to escape or properly react in case something happened. The vines that sprung from the ground touched naught but air as the two rabbits magically fused together and became a horned rabbit with a green fur. It was then that Arthur heard a whistling, almost ear-piercing sound, followed by an abrupt dizziness. A monstrous force had sent his large body flying to the back, breaking all the bamboo trees and stopping only after a whopping kilometer. Arthur''s treant form distorted and reverted back to his human appearance, which was all bloodied with his two arms bent to the back. In just a few seconds, the arms returned to their normal state but Arthur, who was still processing what just happened, was stupefied to see 70% of his health gone. His high recovered quickly restored his health but the mental and physical shock remained for half a minute. He only snapped out of it when he heard the tower''s voice speak directly to him. *Contestant Arthur MoonStar, you completed the necessary requirements to hear more details about the rules. Two rabbits can bite; A green(50%) bites once, an orange(30%) bites twice, a purple(20%) bites thrice. Once fused, rabbits attack the nearest source of danger.* After pondering for a few moments, Arthur changed into a White Tiger that was rather small in size, spiraling lightning appeared under its feet as it roared then vanished, its speed simply astonishing. *** "Teacher, what''s the purpose of Haven?" Saly handed a large bowl filled with popcorn to the Joker while asking him. "Well, they''re all strong but there is something even a powerful person does not have." The Magician smirked and winked at the white-haired innocent beastmen. "What is it?" Her eyes grew wide from curiosity and her tail was wagging left and right, clearly showcasing her impatience. "Luck, my dear student. It''s luck." ˇ­ Back on the 5th floor, many grew bored and frustrated as the tower informed them of no task or rules. Many roamed the barren land in search of clues but even after a two hours, which is more than enough time to go around the area more than ten times, not a single soul discovered something of interest. Forne, G''am Tir, ''X'' and Celes were grouped together and waiting for instructions while Lucy and the Void Behemoth were going around. Unbeknownst to the Black Seat and his party, there was a pair of eyes watching them from a distance. Even with Forne and X''s high perception, they failed to notice the gaze of the stranger, who was a woman with a black hair that reached her ankles. She entered the tower alone and none bothered her as she was average in terms of appearance and strength. She had the cultivation of an average Overgod and excelled in melee combat though she never used any flashy techniques. This unfamiliar woman was, in fact, a terrifying being, the master of Stealth and the founder of necromancy, Xyktia the Assassin. Her devoted follower wanted to tag along but there was a big chance that Forne would recognize the former White Seat so, in the end, she was left outside. Unlike the rest of the contestants, Xyktia knew the way to the next floor but refrained from going first to avoid arousing any suspicions. Her identity must be kept a secret until she reaches the last floor and any unwanted attention will be problematic. Sure, she is strong but if she goes around defeating everyone, the Joker will definitely not stay still and she''s not someone who can beat him in her current state. Being imprisoned for thousands of years definitely weakened her and forcefully leaving the prison like this is affecting her, which is why she can''t be out forever. If this matter wasn''t so urgent, she wouldn''t have hurriedly come here. Fortunately, she didn''t have to wait that long as a bulky contestant who wasn''t wearing any top luckily found a trigger which enveloped him in light and teleported him to the 6th floor. The rest went to his spot but it instantly returned to normal, sadly. Nonetheless, pretty much every one kind of understood the way to the next floor. There are hidden spots which can be accessed by stepping on them with moderate force. All they needed was to find the hidden triggers and go up, which turned out more difficult than they imagined. In the next few minutes, six to seven people found triggers and were also teleported, which only riled up the desperately searching contestants. "Ahh this is too boring for a task!" Maxine grumbled while going around and randomly stomping spots in the barren ground, a sigh escaping her mouth every ten seconds. The armored dwarf was nonchalantly drinking alcohol, The thief was invisible and searching for a trigger while Tula, the young and quiet magician remained standing like a pillar, his hand clutching his magical staff. He was trying to use his high magic sensitivity to find the triggers, which won''t work, unfortunately, as this task relies purely on luck. The only reason Xyktia was able to locate triggers is because of the magic used to create the tower is the same as the creation magic all the Twelve have and this allowed her to see the constantly moving triggers that are being moved randomly every three to four seconds. Fifteen minutes after the first lucky contestants were teleported, the Assassin also stepped on a trigger and went to a higher floor, unwilling to waste more time than needed. **** "Ha!" Zodiak raised his staff and conjured a sturdy black barrier which completely negated the supersonic attack of a green rabbit. Whether it fails or succeeds its attack, the rabbit automatically disappears, however, before it was gone, Zodiak quickly captured it, earning two points. While Arthur''s quota was 120, Zodiak was not that fortunate. The old man needs exactly 790 rabbits, a relatively high number to reach, especially if more contestants arrive. Arthur won''t purposely hinder him but he knew of a few individuals who are antagonistic such as that lancer who pulverized thousands of Cthulhu alone. ****** "Is there something on my face?" Vyncent, who shaved his beard and fixed his dirty and unkempt hair, frowned upon seeing the little girl''s intense gaze. He was busy devouring the freshly roasted meat to fill his rumbling stomach and only noticed her stare a second ago. He wasn''t acquainted with her and only knew the brown-haired man, who was actually the Black Devil, Timos. Thanks to Timos'' interference, Vyncent was saved and got some much-needed rest. Surprisingly, the little girl used Water Magic to heal all of his injuries and get him back to a healthy state, further invigorating him. Obviously, the young man was grateful but confused about why Timos or the girl would help him. "Nothing, I just sense a bad aura from you." After thinking for a moment, Vyncent retrieved a strange coin from his pocket and flipping around in order to show it to the curious girl. "That''s some dangerous thing you got." Timos came from the side and sat opposite of the blue-haired girl while commenting, though his eyes were focused on the fire at their center. "I got it from Elias."-Vyncent "I''m neither demanding an explanation nor in need of details about the coin. It''s yours so do it what you see fit." "I don''t know what it does, though."-Vyncent Although he managed to acquire it after Elias died, he still doesn''t exactly know its functions. It just felt eerie and seemed inexplicably evil. "Lass, what do you think?" Timos grinned and asked the quiet girl, who examined the coin from a distance. "It seems like a soul transmitter." When hearing that, The Strategist chuckled and corrected her: "Not quiteˇ­ but close." Chapter 592 - 537: The Four Divine (1) An hour or so after transforming into the White Tiger, Arthur caught a decent amount of rabbits, reaching the 90 mark, however, he didn''t close to the two or three rabbits he stumbled upon. Even with his high stats, there was a high chance he''ll get blasted. Sure, he can try to pass through the attack using the divine beast''s unique ability but take a risk and see if it actually works. Till now, Arthur doesn''t know if it''s a mental, soul, or physical attack. His consciousness wasn''t affected but when the green rabbit sent him flying, a huge chunk of his health was depleted and it wouldn''t be surprising to see the orange or purple rabbit straight out one-shot him. If his health reaches zero due to a physical attack, he won''t die but that doesn''t mean it doesn''t affect him at all, which is why he behaved with such wariness. It was long after catching the 95th rabbit that Arthur started sensing the presence of other contestants actively seeking targets. Moreover, the number of rabbits in the vicinity was slowly declining, making it more problematic not for him but for his wife, who has yet to arrive on the 6th floor. What made matters worse is Zodiak, who crazily unleashed an absurd amount of Dark Magic, capturing a lot of rabbits all at once and immediately moving to the 7th floor. Arthur is also able to showcase such destructiveness using Rizaki or the other ultimate skills but, in doing so, it''ll further decrease the chance of Lucy clearing the task. Furthermore, there''s no need to act like that as he''s almost done with the quota and is only lingering in the area for his wife''s sake. Zodiak''s Dark Magic blast engulfed about 1/4 of the whole forest and turned into a corrupt place covered in a deadly fog. The rabbits weren''t the only ones affected, two other contestants were hit but didn''t die, nevertheless, they suffered heavy damages. One was a scythe-wielding man from the Heaven and Hell Universe while the other was cultivator originating from the ''Treasure'' High-Realm. **** He was an elder from a sect called the Soaring Star sect and was a peak Overgod, because of what he unintentionally did, things became quite chaotic on Haven. He was delighted to see his foot step on a trigger and a light appear but that happiness was all but brief as there was an explosion which erased him from existence. The only thing left was a small piece of his taoist clothes falling from the sky. Such an esteemed and powerful individual was killed in a split second due to the trigger, which was supposed to teleport him to the 6th floor. The spectators first felt confused then understood that there are two kinds of triggers, lucky and unlucky ones. Most stopped carelessly stepping everywhere and readied themselves for a violent impact. Zoln, the dwarf in Maxine''s party was pretty lucky as he was teleported to the Land of Rabbits unwillingly. He was sitting on a corner and chugging one bottle of alcohol after the other only for his butt to press a random trigger, enveloping in light and taking him elsewhere. Seeing her comrade gone, Maxine got triggered as she wants to go too but she could only frustration by mumbling a few inaudible curse words. The thief, Tula, and the Shaman already went ahead and only she and the priest remained, further incensing the player. The rate of which the contestants were getting teleported drastically increased, leaving only a few behind. Plus, the exploding traps became more abundant therefore increasing the fatality rate and endangering the remaining unlucky ones. Amongst the Black Seat''s group, only he and Lucy were still on Haven, unable to find the right spot even after going around the area multiple times. **** "Soˇ­ what do we do?" With his eyes focused forward, the thief asked the mage Tula, both of them gazing at a growling White Tiger that had electric currents dancing around its feet. "ˇ­" The young man raised his staff and started injecting Mana just in case Arthur attack, which he didn''t. He crossed paths with them yet again but this time, none initiated a battle. They just appeared on the 6th floor and the parasite was in no mood to fight these two players. After a long round of staring, the divine beast turned blurred before vanishing from their sight. It dashed in the opposite direction, easily bypassing the countless bamboo trees and continuing its hunt of rabbits. Only ten were left to finish the quota and he was planning to leave only one or two before comfortably waiting for Lucy. Her late arrival was making him worry and hesitate on whether to stay or head to the 7th floor, which is, presumably, a free for all meant to reduce the still ballooned number of contestants and, basically, fish out the tough ones. ˇ­ The reincarnator, Losha, was just about to grab a fleeing rabbit only for a white shadow to pass by her and swiftly steal the target, making her frown and give chase for a few seconds before realizing who it actually was. Seeing the White Tiger and its absurd speed, she managed to easily guess its identity and gave up on mindlessly chasing a troublesome target such as Arthur. She had no enmity with him but she did dislike him and want to beat some sense to him but it wasn''t the right place, just like last time. As for Arthur, he, of course, did that on purpose just to irritate the female blacksmith. He was just passing by and saw her thanks to his map so he decided to do such a childish thing, which turned out to be not that hard since Losha wasn''t really taking this ''hunt'' too seriously, after all, she''s neither activating her Physique nor taking out her Divine Sword, also known as, Grail. Less than a minute after encountering Losha, the leaping White Tiger was stopped by a rapidly flying light lance heading towards it. The parasite activated the beast''s unique ability, which caused the lance to pass right through his body, however, doing so made the projectile hit two rabbits, which instantly fused. Arthur turned to look at the man wearing a big white hood and holding a lance made of Holy Magic. He was the same lancer that was pulverizing Cthulhu back on the 4th floor and, from the looks of it, the lance was aimed at him and not the rabbits. Speaking of the rabbits, an orange one appeared the moment the spear got close. Sadly, the lancer''s attack disintegrated when it made contact with the rabbit, which glared at the tiger close to it. Seeing the rabbit preparing to attack again, Arthur ignored the assailant and instantly changed forms. The White Tiger was replaced by a black tortoise double its size and covered in black shells that emitted a pure Earth Energy. Fortunately, Arthur made just in time to block the rabbit''s first attack, which, unlike last time, didn''t fling him far away and only pushed him dozens of meters to the size, breaking a few trees on the process. Some shells cracked but none were destroyed, moreover, his health decreased by a meager 5%. Now, Arthur was further away from the rabbit than the lancer was so, the small orange-furred animal unleashed its last attack on the man, who threw a couple of lances at Arthur only for them to explode when hitting the unbreakable earthen layer surrounding the Divine Beast. Noticing the drastic change in the situation and the direness he was currently in, the man tried to turn around and flee only for his body to fall on the ground due to the abruptly changing gravity. His muscles bulged as he tried to resist but his surroundings distorted and his senses were lost as Arthur cast a realistic illusion which bought enough time for the rabbit to attack. Chapter 593 - 538: The Four Divine (2) The lancer didn''t have an incredibly high defense like other, neither could he take the form of the Black Tortoise, which is famous for its unbreakable body, so it didn''t come at a surprise when he was blasted far, far away, leaving only a trail of blood in his way. He was sent flying so fast that Arthur could not follow him with his eyes, nevertheless, the result was positive, as he expected from a blow from the orange rabbit. Even with the Holy Attribute, the man focused purely on the offensive and was not fast enough to evade or block a supersonic blow hence his miserable and fully deserved demise. His body became a bloody rag as it rolled on the ground dozens of times before stopping near the feet of a black-haired woman, who snorted and crushed his head as if it was nothing. He couldn''t even groan from the pain or beg for mercy and ended up dying like a dog. After confirming that the man was directly hit, Arthur paid him no attention and left the area, without forgetting to return to the White Tiger form, of course, as it is more practical in this crowded terrain. Meanwhile, just when the lancer perished, things became a bit chaotic outside of the tower, which was no longer empty and, instead, was filled with several rows of Holy Knights, priests, Bishops, and Cardinals. "Edd died." A middle-aged woman wearing a clean set of white armor reported the death of her comrade to a calm young man standing in front of her. He was admiring the shining Red Tower, unaware of the unwelcome gazes he was getting from nearby cultivators. Many people waited in the vicinities of the tower, hoping that their clan or sect member succeeds in obtaining good rewards. However, their number paled in comparison to the staggering army stationed all around the massive tower. The pope ordered for the army to seize Arthur MoonStar alive and bring him to the Holy Cathedral situated in their HQ but this righteous looking youngster who was in charge of this operation had no interest in capturing the parasite. Yes, he was definitely curious about this rising enigma who caught the interest of many powers but he found it ludicrous to try and capture him alive and bring him back. Such an infamous individual is bound to have powerful allies just like he has terrifying enemies and repeatedly provoking him will only bring a disaster upon the Holy Dominion. On the outside, the young man didn''t object the Pope''s direct order but his real opinion on the matter has yet to be voiced and, as a matter of fact, it''ll for sure anger the leader of the dominion and make him regret sending this young man named Seraph, titled ''The Light General''. While the few individuals with a rank lower than Seraph were nervous about the lancer''s death, a funnily-clothed man walked up from afar, unperturbed by the suffocating Holy energy lingering in the air. He wore an over-sized hat that had multi-colored feathers like a peac.o.c.k, purple pants that looked like sacks and a flute on his right hand. "Sup." The troubadour raised his hand in greeting whilst smiling at Seraph, who remained expressionless. Unlike the Light General, many didn''t know of Aneirin and found his casual behavior rather impudent, which led to one of the higher-ranked Holy Knights to step up to the bard. Sadly, before he could finish the second step, the woman behind Seraph blocked him with his hand and signaled him to return to his position. "But Com-" Before he could finish, she snapped out him by saying: "Go back to your position and wait for further instructions." The cause of this problem was chuckling while witnessing the comical interaction. He sized up Seraph from head to toe then said: "My my, aren''t you a handsome dude." In response, Seraph frowned and retorted: "Bard, what is it that you want?" Usually, the youngster was a calm person but, unfortunately, he didn''t have a sense of humor and disliked people who seek attention. Aneirin pointed at himself, confused about the question. "Me? I don''t remember asking for anything. Anywayˇ­" He whistled as he glanced at the large army behind Seraph before continuing: "These are some fancy armors. The Dominion really has fat pockets." The woman, a commander under Seraph creased her brows and angrily said: "It is not a place for you to wander around." Hearing this, the poet laughed and walked toward the woman, stopping inches away from her. "Soˇ­ what are you going to do about it? Are you going to hit me?" He leaned his face closer and motioned for her to hit it. "Come on, do it! I dare you! I double dare you to touch me!" In the end, the woman remained motionless but her face was flushed from embarrassment and rage. She was gutting for him, especially what he just did but she couldn''t bring herself to do anything. "Tsk! No balls. Even with such a big army, you''re still all bark but no bite. Though, at least you''re wise." He removed some dust that acc.u.mulated on the commander''s shoulder guards before retreating and shifting his attention to Seraph, who kept his cool and expressionless. "I presume all of this is for my friend Arthur? Woaah, it really is a big surprise party. I expected no less from you guysˇ­''always'' one step ahead." ***** "What are you doing here?" A very handsome man with long blond hair and wearing a white and golden armor flinched upon hearing the familiar voice come from behind. He turned around only to see a crow stare back at him, making him sweat and open his mouth a few times, trying to speak but the sudden shock rendered him momentarily mute. "Since when has it been your hobby to watch mortals?" The crow spoke again, this time with a more aggressive tone. It was at that time that Sedos remembered Timos'' warning but then again, it''s too soon for the Watcher to appear. "Y-you seeˇ­ I, I''m just looking around." "Kid, don''t try that trickery with me. I know everything about you and it''s very clear for me what you''re doing. Stop it while I''m still being civil." Feeling desperate, Sedos got on his knees and bowed his head while pleading: "Bilgart, p-plea.." Before he could finish, a darkness enveloped him and made him cry before disappearing into a very distant place. The only thing left was the Crow, which stared at the massive red tower for a while before disappearing too as if nothing had happened. Chapter 594 - 539: The Four Divine (3) Fortunately, no one attacked or bothered Arthur after the lancer''s death, making the rest of his hunt worry-free. He stopped at 118 rabbits and started thoroughly searching for Lucy, though it didn''t take much longer to receive a pleasant notification. *Contestant Beatrice Lokmov invited to join her party. Do you accept?* Arthur immediately accepted as he knew that Beatrice is Lucy''s cover name. Actually, you can purchase a one-time used item from the Luxury Store that allows you to party with others to increase efficiency and facilitate the completion of a certain task, which may require cooperation. Just like a game, Lucy''s name was added to the side and her location now shown on his map. They can''t communicate yet but he felt relieved that she finally arrived on the 6th floor. Hopefully, the number of rabbits she needs to catch is not staggeringly high as many contestants already arrived and it''s not as easy as before to find the tiny white animals. Less than five minutes later, Arthur and Lucy met up in a spot like any other. Bamboo trees were still abundant and you could notice one or two thick pine trees in the area, as for rabbits, there were no signs of them. "Hey." Arthur lightly hugged the excited Lucy then caressed her head as she smiled. Her face and hair were different but her reactions didn''t change, giving him a sense of the usual familiarity. "Did you receive the quota?" "En! It''s 200." "Hmm it isn''t much." Arthur looked around, stretching his Sixth sense but found only a few scattered rabbits. "There''s no point searching for every rabbit individually." Hearing this, Lucy creased her brows, not quite following him. "What do you propose then?" "Well, Zodiak used a very effective method. If we blast the whole place, you''ll instantly reach your quota and we''ll both advance to the next floor." After thinking for a couple of seconds, Lucy said: "Forne and the rest are also here. They''ll notice us for sure." "Yes, they''ll notice me but they don''t know we''re in a party. I''ll be the one destroying things, you just need to stay put." The White Specter frowned, disliking his idea. Not because it wasn''t good but due to what he said a second agoˇ­ about her not doing anything. She doesn''t want to be too reliant on Arthur, especially when she has enough power to complete the task by herself. "How about this?" She leaned closer to Arthur and whispered something to him, soon making him change the plan. What Lucy proposed is that, instead of incurring the wrath of almost all the contestants by blowing up the floor, it''ll be better to act as if the two were fighting. After all, to the public, the two were strangers so it won''t be surprising to see two contestants fights, plus, the tower didn''t forbid battles. "The rest won''t be suspicious but Forne will know about us."-Arthur "Yes, he probably will." She shrugged her shoulders, appearing rather unperturbed: "But so what? It''s not like he can do anything. You''re part of Black Rose and my role was to stop you. I don''t think he''ll openly do anything because he knows he can''t face us both." "There are also ''X'' and the rest."-Arthur "''X''? He most certainly will never involve himself with you. He finds you to be troublesome and not worth the effort. Contrary to what you might think, he''s actually lazy and never takes unnecessary risks. The behemoth only cares about Sol''khin and G''am Tir isn''t that powerful. Only Celes is will follow Forne in times of need." "Alright. You used the Party Ticket, right? How much points did you gain from the last floor?" "5,700 points. The ticket only costs 200. There''s also a ticket that can force you out of the tower if you ever wish so. It''ll be used in emergency situations but the weaker groups. How about you?" "A little bit less than 60,000 points. Apparently, defeating Sol''khin netted me and Zodiak a lot of points but I found nothing of use to me in the store. If you need anything, do let me know." Lucy chuckled and shook her head, also considering the Luxury Shop as not that useful, especially if you have a small number of points. The really good and miraculous artifacts cost exorbitant amount and they''ll not be able to get their hands on those anytime soon. Honestly, she wanted that Ice Phoenix Blood but it can wait for later. The Yin Power can merge well with the phoenix'' ice and boost her powers by a significant amount, perhaps even allowing her to break through to the Exalted God Realm. The couple initiated their plan ten minutes later in a populated area of the forest that has a large number of rabbits. In fact, excluding Arthur and Lucy, there were a few contestants fighting for various reasons, which most are idiotic. Though, the more powerful ones such as Ber Von Xin were going around and hunting one rabbit at a time without minding the nearby conflicts. Unfortunately, things became messier when a miniature orange sun rose into the sky and attracted the attention of most of the present contestants. The sun released an unbearable heat and shone brighter than the artificial sun hanging in the sky. It rose two to three hundred meters, became two times larger than violently exploded. Many were alarmed and hastily retreated to not get hurt by the explosion or the spreading vermilion flames. The trees were incinerated and many rabbits died but the caster of this sun, Arthur, wasn''t teleported to the next floor even after finishing his quota. As he was in a party, he was given the option to remain and help his teammate, which he obviously accepted. Furthermore, the sun didn''t hurt the nearby Lucy, who should have been injured but thanks to party buff, which rendered deactivate ''friendly fire'', she escaped unscathed. Nonetheless, to make the act more believable, she purposely burnt part of her clothes and coughed some fake blood. The deafening exploding sun caught the attention of many people like ''X'', the Sword God, Losha, and even Xyktia. ****** "Greetings, milady." A brown-haired man bowed before a prison cell while smiling. On the other side of the bars, with chains binding every part of her body, there was a woman with black and purple hair, some flashy muscles and a unique and eye-catching beauty. She was one of the Twelve, also known as, Zaarae. "What are you doing here?" Timos lifted his head and acted hurt, uncaring about the gazes he was getting from two identical youths that were locked inside the cell adjacent to Zaarae''s. "Is that a way to greet an old friend?" The Parasite Empress burst out in laughter as she saw him act so intimately. "Tell me, Black Devil, when have we ever been friends?" "Huh, you still got that venomous mouth." "What else would I have in this filthy place?!" She wriggled around, trying to make herself more comfortable but that only made the magical chains restrict her even more and inject weakening fluids that are very effective against her. "Yes, it is indeed an unwelcoming place. I''ve thought a lot before coming hereˇ­ I cannot say that I didn''t hesitate." "ˇ­" Zaarae only gazed at Timos, not saying anything for a long while. "What is it that I, the one imprisoned here, can do for you that makes you come all the way here? If it''s you, I doubt it''ll be something simple." "Oh please don''t get me wrong! I''m free after such a long time so I came here to see an old friend who''s still struggling in solitary confinement too. Back then, didn''t you do the same?" He paused for a split second before clearing his throat and resuming: "Unlike me, you''re more active person who seeks and provides help. I''m just wondering if your beliefs have changed." "Why does it matter?"-Zaarae "It truly does, very much so." He walked closer to the cell, took a strangely long and deep breath before crouching down and meeting the woman''s stare. "You remember Arthur, right?" The moment he uttered that name, Zaarae flinched but didn''t say anything. Timos chuckled and spoke again: "I suppose you do. It was foolish of me to think you forgot about him, after all, you and Moriah were particularly fond of him." "Hmpf! It depends which Arthur you''re referring to." "Well of course the one who gave us our names! Hahahaha." "Get to the point!" The Black Devil passed through the cells as if they didn''t exist and stopped in front of the bound Empress. Though she disliked his way of talking, the two weren''t really enemies, so Zaarae merely watched him with a frown on her peerless face. "That dayˇ­ I bet you remember it as vividly as I do. And, unlike the rest of us, you clung onto himˇ­ what is it that you called it? Ah, yes! Love." Chapter 595 - 540: The Art of Stealing "Ugh can''t you two lay low for one damned floor?" ''X'' grunted and retreated away from the sea of fire. He teleported hundreds of meters away and clicked his tongue, unhappy that he got forced out of a good spot, nevertheless, he didn''t interfere in their fight and quickly resumed the hunt. Ber Von Xin remained rooted in his spot, uncaring about the fire which did touch him but did close to no damage. He was admiring the fire bird stretching its beautiful and wide wings while releasing a wild screech which shook the whole forest. The Divine Beast dived from the sky, flying directly at a pink-haired woman who counter-attacked using Earth. Using Lava against the Vermilion Bird''s fire is a waste of Mana as it''s vulnerable against special kinds of fire, still, Lucy managed to properly defend herself by raising a thick and tall wall that momentarily stopped the incoming beast. A minuscule human and a massive bird clashed with each other but it ended up with Lucy being flung in the air then hit with an absurdly big flame tornado which turned the whole area into ashes. Arthur purposely made it this big and devastating so that the rabbits are ''caught'' instantly. In just a minute or so, the damage he did was enough for Lucy to reach more than half of the quota and force the other contestants out of the area. No one wanted to meddle into their affairs and very few had ample time to watch this flashy spectacle. After staring at Arthur for ten or so seconds, Xyktia became uninterested. Her figure turned invisible and her steps became soundless as she merged with the environment and wandered the forest, not particularly in a hurry to reach the given number. In the end, everything proceeded smoothly and as planned for the couple. Lucy caught the necessary rabbits and after a confirmation from the red tower, both the specter and the parasite were teleported to the next floor, however, right after they went up, another more brutal fight broke out. It wasn''t as destructive as what Arthur did, nevertheless, the two parties were top powerhouses and very famous in their Universe. It all began when Hach''ara stole a couple of rabbits from Maxine, which triggered the high-leveled player. Even after half an hour, they were still going at it with the insect and poison master having a clear advantage. Even after chugging numerous potions to negate the dreadful poison of Hach''ara, Max was still unable to completely resist it and was ended continuously being attacked when her senses when weakened. The ugly-looking old man never got close and controlled his various sized insects to hinder the relentless woman, who swung her sword around, unleashing one blast after another, killing hundreds of those small creatures at once. ***** Unlike most of the mysterious floors of the Red Tower, the 7th floor was publicly known. Of course, they didn''t know how the world looked but what''s sure is that it''s a battle royal to decrease the number of remaining participants. Only a hundred people were needed from the 8th floor onwards so the goal of the 7th floor was to eliminate the extra ones. It is bound to be a bloody and difficult battle as not one of the contestants is considered weak and everyone will probably fight seriously. As they were still in a party, both Arthur and Lucy appeared near each other and, like all the rest have arrived before them, the tower briefly explained what the 7th floor is all about. It is called ''The Art of Stealing and the Beauty of Murder'' and it was indeed a battle royal. Each contestant would have a small flag on their body and if you manage to steal someone else''s flag, you get 25,000 points. If you kill another person without taking their flag, you get 5,000 points, and if you steal the flag of someone who has more than one, the value of each flag in his possession will be increased depending on the number of flags. For example, you steal from someone who has two flags then you''ll get 100,000 points, each gives 50,000, and if you steal from one who has three then you''ll get 75,000 points for each flag. In addition, the floor was kind of a massive chest board with white and black areas, each one has a width and length of 20m. When a player is on the black area, the number of flags in his possession will be shown above their head and his stats or cultivation will be increased by 20%, however, when they are on the white area, the number of flags will be hidden, including their own and they''ll get no buffs whatsoever. Basically, standing on the black areas is risky but advantageous, especially if you''ve stolen a considerable number of flags. The ''game'' was complicated but the rewards are generous and with enough points, one can buy really good items from the Luxury Shop. When only 100 participants remain, everything will end and they will be teleported to the 8th floor. Although not everyone completed the quota on the 6th floor, it didn''t stop the event from starting, putting Arthur and Lucy in danger. There appeared small white flags on their chest, near their heart, and since they were standing black area, their flags were openly shown. Before the couple could talk or think of a strategy, an invisible figure materialized behind Arthur. It was the thief from Maxine''s party, he was aiming at Arthur, precisely the back of his neck. He didn''t want to kill him but stun him so that stealing the flag becomes easier. Right before the dagger could hit Arthur, the latter clicked his tongue and mumbled "It''s about time you''re thrown out." The parasite snorted and activated his Time ability, dramatically slowing down the thief''s movements and rendering him defenseless. ****** "Teacher, why is the name of the floor so strange?" The Joker chuckled and replied: "It''s the name of an old book I''ve read. I actually met the author too." Saly pondered for a moment before asking again: "So just because you read the book you created a floor for him?" "Hahaha of course not! I''ve met that man. He was the best thief that has ever existed." His hand, which was empty, was now holding a card sideways while grinning at his young student. Saly curiously stretched her hand and snatched the card. When she looked at it, she saw nothing but a white flag, visually unimpressive. "He was fond of flags and when stealing, his targets are always random. He would distribute the flags in an unorthodox way and the ones who got a white one got robbed. The few unlucky ones who received a red flag were killed too. I found his method quite interesting and overall, he wasn''t a bad personˇ­ if you exclude his psychopathic actions." "Ehmmm so why did you create this floor?"-Saly "Each floor has a meaning for one or many people. This one is about Trickery and is perfect to see who''s a good thief amongst those participants, who consider themselves noble and even righteous." Chapter 596 - 541: No Harm Done The thief who planned to sneak-attack Arthur using his Stealth didn''t know that the parasite''s Sixth Sense is constantly active and warns him of any incoming danger. Unless it''s an opponent that can attack as fast as the rabbit on the 6th floor then Arthur will definitely react in time. His Agility is way above his peers and, only the ones who broke through the physical limit or using a skill or a technique that greatly boost speed can match him. The thief did two things that were wrong, first, he attacked someone whose perception of the surrounding is very sharp, and, second, he engaged in a battle alone while being a squishy thief. With no one of important around, Lucy didn''t need to hold back, especially after seeing some aiming for Arthur. Just as the thief''s movements were slowed by the Time skill, Lucy quickly spun and kicked the poor assailant. Her leg struck the side of his abdomen, sending him flying like a kite, however, before he could stabilize his body, his ankle was grabbed by an irritated Arthur, who smashed his body on the ground, breaking many bones in the process. By now, the only thing the thief could do was groan as he tried to reach into his pocket to retrieve something but a sudden burst of Dark Magic invaded his body and forcefully stopped all his body functions rendering him paralyzed. The parasite crouched next to the wide-eyed thief, who didn''t expect it to go this bad, and said: "We''ve got no enmity so when you attack me once because of the task given by the tower, I don''t really mind butˇ­" He took a deep breath and leaned closer, his eyes flashing with a cold glint: "Your persistent attacks on every floor are getting annoying. I''ve got enough things to handle right now so your childish attacks are really no fun." Arthur''s hand snatched a white flag from under the thief''s clothes then he gripped his throat, about to kill him. The competition was never a fair one to begin with and keeping him alive would only complicate things later when he leaves the tower. Just as Arthur was about to snap the thief''s neck, a powerful Mana explosion came from out of nowhere and was about to hit him only for it to clash with a wall of golden flames. The flames completely blocked the Mana combustion and protected both Arthur and its caster, Lucy. Dozens of meters away, there stood a robbed young mage with his staff out and ready to attack again. "Stop!" Tula was not a talkative person but when he saw his teammate half-dead, he was forced to open his mouth. Surprisingly, Arthur listened to the youngster as he stood up and lifted the weakened thief in the air. The parasite stared back at the distressed Tula, who didn''t dare attack again for fear of losing his friend. "Spare him and we will leave the tower." "Spare him? Don''t you think your request is absurd." The mage raised threw his staff on the ground and raised his hands. He had a distressed expression and didn''t dare try anything sneaky lest Arthur does something heinous. "I''ll give you my flag and we''ll use the Escape Ticket. There''s no need to bloodshed." Slowly, Tula marched toward the couple, his eyes leaving the thief suspended mid-air. When he got within a meter of Lucy, she pointed her index at his chest and released a blue beam which made him stop his walk. A freezing energy invaded his body and wrapped around his heart, making the young man cough some blood. "Try anything and you''re dead." With a pale face, Tula nodded his head then glanced at the expressionless Arthur. "Like you said, we share no enmity so please let it remain as so. We''ll forget about all that happened here and won''t cross paths again, hopefully." Just as said that, a loud and unpleasant shout came from the side. A short figure engulfed in raging flames shot at Lucy, aiming at Arthur. It was the axe-wielding dwarf whom Arthur faced on the lower floor. He didn''t aim at Arthur but just wanted to separated the latter from the thief in order to save his comrade. Tula was about to stop him but a swift figure lunged at the incoming dwarf, stopping his crazy charge and pushing back a couple of steps. The flames enveloping the short warrior was overpowered by Lucy''s golden flames, which melted the massive axe and forced the dwarf to take out magical items that poured Holy Water that extinguished the suffocating golden crow fire. "Hot hot hot!" He spun around like a lunatic while trying to put the fire off, he didn''t even notice that he worsened the mood by attacking out of the blue. Unfortunately, just as he got rid of Lucy''s fire, a cold beam struck him and, just like Tula, Lucy''s Yin Power invaded his body, rendering him unable powerless. "Soˇ­ three flags, is it?" Arthur talked to the young mage, who''s expression became much worse after the dwarf''s unwanted and unsuccessful interference. "Yes, please." Tula bowed his head and begged, sounding very sincere. Though, Arthur didn''t accept the plea immediately. Personally, he didn''t want to keep such troublesome people alive, however, their leader can be more than problematic, especially if starts another revenge cycle. "Maxine is one of the top players in the System Universe. I don''t think we should take the riskˇ­. Let''s just drop it since it didn''t escalate much." Lucy telepathically talked to her husband, finding it better to accept Tula''s request. Forne and the rest are more than enough to handle and, if Maxine also becomes an enemy, the couple won''t be able to defend themselves. In terms of strength, Maxine is above even the Black Seat and if she really puts her heart into it, she''ll catch up to Arthur and fight him in no time. Three minutes passed by and Arthur still has not made a decision. As for Tula, he was extremely nervous and apart from his heavy breathing, his expression wasn''t so good either. At last, Arthur let go of the thief, whose face became flushed due suffocating for some time. When he saw his friend safe and alive, the mage breathed a sigh of relief and walked up to him but before he do anything, Arthur stopped him and said: "The flag." The young man pulled a small white flag from under his robe''s sleeves and handed it to Arthur, uncaring about the consequences. He forced the panting thief to chug a Healing potion then used the Escape Ticket to leave the area. The dwarf was the last and his unwillingness was apparent as he spat on the ground in anger and inaudibly cursed. While shivering because of Lucy''s Yin Power, he threw the flag on the ground and used the Escape Ticket, his eyes glaring at the couple looking back at him. Chapter 597 - 542: Robot The three flags they just received were all given to Lucy as she''s less likely to be attacked by strangers. Arthur was infamous amongst the contestants and there could be more people like the dead lancer who are aiming for his life. "This event won''t last for long so let''s get more flags." Soon after, Lucy jumped on Arthur, who transformed into a big Azure Dragon. In such a large body, it won''t be that easy to steal the flags from him, furthermore, this Divine Beast can use many ultimate skills such as the Dragon Breath or the Dragon Words, which some sort of absolute authority that no one can resist. Due to their little act on the previous floor, Forne most likely knows about their reunion but he won''t try anything funny. Arthur and Lucy decided to remain together and clear this floor by eliminating the other contestants and stealing their flags. With the two of them joining hands, there is only a few individuals who can stop them, one of them is the Sword God, who Arthur abstained from even getting close to. Yes, the they recently become friends but this is a competition and there''s not a convincing reason for Ber Von Xin to not steal the parasite''s flag, or even Lucy''s. Two minutes after Arthur started flying over the massive chest board, he found the next target, a lone figure standing on the white area. Surprisingly, he was the scythe-wielding man from the previous floor, the one who got hit by Zodiak''s Dark Magic. Apparently, he managed to recover and seemed to be in a healthy state. His lengthy and curve scythe was vertically facing him while he had his eyes closed. Unfortunately, the peaceful experience he was in didn''t last long as a dragon came flying at him, startling the man. The beast opened its mouth and spat a sea of transparent red flames that fell down on the panicking man. In retaliation, the scythe-wielding contestant did a back-flip while at the same time swinging his weapon, sending multiple green arcs made of concentrated elemental energy. Whatever the man unleashed, it didn''t seem that impressive but those arcs were able to split the dragonic flames in two and head toward Arthur. Just as the dragon was about to get hit, two ice lotuses flew from above the dragon and blocked the green arcs, turning them into countless blue particles that dispersed within seconds. The cultivator didn''t linger there any longer and tried to get away from the large dragon but the latter was just too fast. Despite its massive body, it managed to fly with incredible speed and crash into the tiny fleeing figure. The scythe was swung yet again, unleashing an even greater blast which locked both Arthur and Lucy for a few moments. The man used this time to attack again, raising the staff with one hand and holding a spiky red ball in the other. Normally, the effect of the man''s technique would last for at least ten seconds but due to the passive Arthur gained from the White Tiger, he was only frozen for five seconds before breaking free. Invisible Nether energy emanated from the dragon and shook the scythe, which showed signs of breaking. Seeing this, the man grit his teeth and stored his weapon before injecting more energy into the red ball then throwing it at the dragon, which opened its mouth, ready to execute its breath. The red ball in the man''s hand started brightening, making him throw it Arthur, who just cast the Dragon''s breath and blasted an unstoppable violent fire upon the area before him. The minuscule red ball emitted a red light which seemed to distort reality and suck all the dragon''s fire, however, it was only able to do so for a short while before it shattered, causing the rest of the skill to hit the man and fling him far away. Arthur was about to follow up only for the wounded man to quickly get up, his body shaking all over and burnt. He raised his hand, indicating his surrender. The dragon''s fangs were about to bite down the small human body it stopped at the very last second. Seeing the parasite stop, the man let out a sigh and threw his white flag on the floor while saying: "I lost." He didn''t attempt anything and just used the Escape Ticket, soon disappearing from the floor. "They''re really strong." Commented Lucy as she glanced at a red spot left by the strange red ball. It might have looked like a one-sided battle but the scythe-wielding man was powerful. It''s just that Arthur has a wide variety of skills that allows him to counter most enemies. Moreover, he had Lucy with him to provide timely support hence the easy win. An opponent such as the Black Seat or the Void Behemoth could prove to be more difficult, however. Anyways, after getting their 4th flag, Arthur left the area along with Lucy, who was now in possession of five flags in total. The Azure Dragon was twirling in the area and looking for another target only to hear a deafening gunshot followed by a blast that sent him crashing into the metallic black ground. His stats were increased and the flags started emitting a bright white light that showed their exact locations. The unseen attack took a huge chunk of Arthur''s help and even broke the Dark Barrier almost instantly. Right after he fell on the ground, a silhouette came running from afar while firing actual laser beams at the Azure Dragon. The assailant was a real humanoid robot equipped with various technologically advanced weapons. It also had a strange-looking sniper rifle on its back. Arthur changed form and returned to being human, however, the gunshot was visible and would not recover even when he cast Life Magic. It hit the lower right part of his chest and broke some ribs, there was even a lot of blood leaking out. While holding his chest, he glared at the incoming robot, which lacked any kind of face and its place was some sort of a cannon, which was readying itself. A graceful and swift figure went pass Arthur and faced the robot, which fired multiple beams, trying to get rid of the white specter. Unfortunately, the beams were stopped by the nine lotuses protecting Lucy, and just when she reached it, a bigger lotus came to life and froze everything around her. The robot was momentarily frozen but, it broke free within seconds and fired the cannon at Lucy, who was ready to receive it. She stretched her hand and unleashed a mysterious white flame that engulfed the cannon blast and directly hit the robot. It was only a small fireball but the damage it did was truly frightening. More than a third of the robot either melted or turned into ice and it soon started Livingston, barely able to stand still. Instead of finishing it, Lucy appeared before it and struck with her legs, destroying several parts with each hit until the victim could only wriggle. It didn''t feel pain but it was broken beyond repair though Lucy showed no signs of stopping. A distance away, Arthur was still struggling to heal his injury. At first, Water or Life energy weren''t able to get rid of the bullet inside of him so he had to resort to a more forceful way. He used the minuscule Void Mouths to get rid of the internal damage, disregarding the risks involved. While it worked, the Void Mouths only vanished after devouring some of his organs, further lowering his health. Nevertheless, he successfully got rid of the problem, and thanks to his high recovery, he went back to full Health in ten or so minutes. "Master, the bullet had Dark Matter in it. It is superior to Nether Energy and can''t be affected by elemental Magic." Hearing the Quad-Spirit, Arthur grit his teeth and said: "Yeah, I noticed that." After confirming that his body was back to its peak state, he walked to Lucy. She turned the robot into an absolute wreck and was now holding what seemed to be its core in her hand. The core was a jet black orb that was incredibly heavyˇ­ to the point that Lucy was able to hold it only for a few seconds before it fell from her hand. "I didn''t know the robots from the System are also here."-Lucy "I did notice a few back in the Waiting Room but I couldn''t gauge their power. They also don''t seem to be in cahoots with Maxine." Chapter 598 - 543: Body Cultivator (1) "Why did it aim for you? I''m the one with the flags." Lucy was confused about the robot''s actions, which seemed illogical. Arthur had no enmity with them and as one of the contestants, it''s more beneficial to take down the one with the most flags. Even Arthur didn''t know why he was attacked, nonetheless, he didn''t dwell too much on the matter. He walked up to the robot and transformed into a small black whirlpool that attempted to enter robot only for it to be pushed back. The robot didn''t resemble its original form, however, with Arthur''s current race, he just needs a main part of a host to be able to possess it. For example, if he were to possess a head, the rest of the body will instantly recover, it''s an advantage he didn''t have back in the day. Sadly, when he tried to possess the robots, it didn''t work at all. "Not working?"-Lucy "Apparently not." He sighed and appraised the robot but the results were unsatisfactory and too little. "I think it''s considered an object and not a living being. It''s unfortunate." That was the only explanation for the rejections he just experienced. The robot was strong and it had interesting skills, some which can be very helpful to the parasite but it didn''t seem he''ll be able to get his hands on them anytime soon. "I''ve heard that robots such as this one are the main force of the System Universe. The players are not as obedient as those mindless machinesˇ­ come to think of it, wasn''t Lolitta half-human half-machine?"-Lucy She mentioned the pink-haired little girl who was annoyingly loud and talkative. She disappeared from Earth and up to this day, Arthur has no idea where she went but it certainly had to do with the capsule he entrusted her to safe keep and decipher. "There''s also this core." As he had more Strength than Lucy, Arthur was able to lift the robot''s black core and inspect it. Appraisal gave no results and the energy lurking inside the ball was ominous and very dangerous. It made his Dark Magic turbulent and momentarily unstable. "This should be the infamous Dark Matter?" "En! On the Cloud Sea Universe, Nether Energy is commonly used, followed by Mana and Qi. However, in the System Universe, most players rely on Mana while robots use Dark Matter, a volatile and powerful type of energy. I''ve heard my sister once mention Antimatter, a unique kind of energy that''s very hard to produce and can counter everything. Supposedly, only a few expensive robots can use it in all the multiverse." Arthur tried probing the black robotic core using different kinds of attributes but none worked. It couldn''t even be stored inside Zodiak''s ring so he was forced to give it up. When she had beaten the robot into a wreck, Lucy retrieved its flag and once again increased the expected number of points she''ll receive when this event is over. Quite surprisingly, even after lingering in this area for ten minutes, there was no one who attacked them or even got close. It wasn''t that people were scared but the place was insanely huge and the number of contestants isn''t proportionally smaller. When the couple was about to leave, the voice of the Red Tower rang inside their head. *All the rabbits on the 6th floor have been caught. 59 contestants will immediately be disqualified.* After a very brief silence, it spoke again. *129 contestants are on the 7th floor. The event will end when only 100 are left.* *Special notice: Contestant Losha Alpenwatcher was able to kill three rabbits (merged) and earned 2,000,000 points along with a special pass to the 8th floor.* "Tsk! I really don''t like her." Arthur coldly commented, causing Lucy to chuckle at his childish behavior. Though she was only Losha''s disciple for a short time, she was eternally grateful and knew that the female reincarnator was a good person despite her grumpy attitude and overbearing arrogance. ˇ­ A couple of minutes later, Arthur and Lucy found two presences, both engaged in a heated fight against each other. One was a familiar middle-aged man with long black hair and piercing eyes, the Black Seat of the Death, while the other was a woman with extremely long dark hair. As she was facing a person using Destruction Magic, the woman was struggling and barely able to defend herself. Lucy was about to dash at the woman in order to steal her flag but Arthur held her hand, his gaze focusing on the woman. "What''s wrong?" Even Arthur didn''t know why he did that. He closed his eyes and massaged his temples, feeling a bit uncomfortable. It''s the first time he''s feeling like this but the source was definitely the creation magic handed it to him by Bilgart. "Let''s not interfereˇ­ for now." Seeing his serious expression, Lucy didn''t insist and remained next to her husband, though they didn''t get to watch Forne''s battle for long as a loud roar came from the side, alarming the couple. Arthur reacted first, his body became enveloped in lightning as it shot toward the assailant, which a tall and muscular beastmen. His fur was on fire and he emitted a suffocating pressure as he struck with his large fist. The beastmen looked like a lion except for his humanoid figure, his height was nearly double an average human and his muscles were exceptionally big. Arthur met this giant head-on, also striking with his fist, which was glowing with a green light. In comparison to the lion, Arthur''s fist was going at a slow pace but the force behind it was simply monstrous. It didn''t take long for the two to clash, releasing a loud explosion and pushing Lucy a few steps to the back. They remained at a momentary stalemate before Arthur was sent flying a hundred or so meters. Although he landed safely on the ground and didn''t seem injured, the very fact that he was overpowered in terms of strength greatly surprised him. Lucy was about to join in only for him to stop her, signaling her to watch from the side. The lion did attack out of nowhere but his punch wasn''t meant to kill and seemed more like a test. Indeed, just like Arthur had suspected, the beastmen grinned at the parasite and said: "I''ve looked everywhere for you!" Hearing this, the parasite creased his brow and retorted: "What for? I don''t recall meeting you in the past." "Hahaha we haven''t met but that doesn''t mean I don''t know you. For body cultivators like me, only parasites, who can steal other people''s power, can physically match us so we don''t get to enjoy exciting fights a lot, you see." As the lion as rambling, Arthur activated Appraisal Noktox Zhacruc (Race: Beastmen/ Golden Fire Lion Ancestry(99.9% Awakened): Realm: Overgod Realm Age: 1,203 years Titles: Eternally Chief, King of the Forest, King of the World, Master of Combat, Godly Punch(Active) Abilities: Godly Punch (Max Lv)/ Enhanced Martial Artist (Max Lv) / Spin (Lv4971)(Damage +590%)(100% Crit) Short Info: The chief of the Golden Fire Lion tribe and the ruler of Forest High Realm and Green Planet. Exceptionally talented in Body Cultivation and undefeated in 1v1 melee combat, it is rumored that he beat a Calypso parasite in the past but, with enough calculations, it''s very unlikely. Chapter 599 - 544: Body Cultivator (2) FLASHBACK "Hey, Wolfram, you still haven''t told me about the fourth type of parasites." Arthur was facing his brother, the two filling their stomach with some freshly cooked meat. Leiu, as usual, was endlessly swinging his huge sword on the size, not minding the eerie atmosphere or the suffocatingly hot weather. As he heard Arthur, the Joker seemed to have remembered that topic. He pretended not to notice his brother''s intense gaze and slowly enjoyed the rest of the food before licking his fingers then finally answering: "In terms of Hierarchy, Calypso parasites are considered the highest. There''s only three in existence and they are born infertile, one was killed but I doubt the other two will die anytime soon. In fact, Zaarae only created two types and the rest were born of mutations or copulation between a parasite and a different race. The records mention the Calypso parasites and the Night Parasites." "Night Parasites? What a strange name." The Joker laughed and continued: "It really is. However, don''t be mistaken, they were undeniably strong. Only eighteen were created and they are unable to reproduce either, furthermore, they can only exist in the night. Meaning that any environment that is subjected to the sun''s light is deadly for them, extremely deadly. For this reason, Zaarae put them in a special realm that has an eternal night and let them live peaceful there. I don''t know much about them but from what I''ve read or heard, they''re a strong bunch that does not care about the outside, they properly manage their realm and are hostile to outsiders." "Have you met one of them?" "Hell no! Their individual strength is equal to the Calypso parasites. If I go to their home they''ll gang up on me!" As he heard the much-awaited answer, Arthur pondered for a while before asking again: "Then what type of parasite am I classified at?" The Joker retrieved a card, pointed its back at Arthur then glanced between the two of them. "In my eyes, you have the body of a parasite but the soul of a human. While the body can be replaced, the soul is unique for each living being. Basically, you''re a human, at least from my point of view." ********** "So, what do you want?" Arthur asked back the energetic lion named Noktox, kind of guessing what he''ll hear next. "A fight, obviously. You and me." He pointed at himself then at the parasite, his mouth arching upwards, showing his sharp and deadly fangs. The golden fire covering his back, limbs, and a long tail became bigger, showcasing the beastmen''s rising emotions. Honestly, he didn''t look like a bad guy and he didn''t hide his intentions, something Arthur liked. Moreover, when he was defeated in that short exchange earlier, he had been itching for a rematch so Noktox''s proposal wasn''t so bad, after all. With Lucy nearby, there''s no need to be cautious of sneak attacks and it''s not like their fight would last a long time. "So, what do you say, parasite?" Arthur cracked his neck and said: "The name is Arthur." "Hahaha I''m Noktox. Let''s have fun!" The parasite smiled back at the beastmen and readied himself, taking a fighting stance. His body was enveloped by the Green Natural Lightning and his hand covered by twirling Dark Magic. The two shot at each other at the same time, their speeds causing loud rumbling that affected their quiet surroundings. Noktox threw a punch again but Arthur jumped high in the air, spun like a wheel before axe kicking the opponent. His leg was like a thunderbolt, descending on the lion and clashing with the big fist emitting golden flames. The fire and lightning faced each other but in the end, the two disintegrated and what was left was the parasite''s leg and the beastmen''s fist. A few seconds passed by before Arthur was forced to jump back, feeling a small numbness from his leg. The enemy also clenched and unclenched his fist, surprised that Arthur''s kick affected him, though only slightly. "You''re really the perfect opponent!" Noktox roared then lunged at Arthur again, his body crazily spinning, resulting in a fire tornado rising in the air. The parasite didn''t face the lion head-on and, instead, opted for a safer tactic as the spin was dangerous. If he''s carelessly hit, it would cause serious damage. The skill''s level was over 4000, something Arthur had never seen. Sure, he has a variety of skills to counter the spin but when he decided to fight Noktox, he wanted to win using physical advantage and not those absurdly devastating ultimate skills and techniques, such as Rizaki, Dragons words, and so onˇ­ The spinning was becoming faster and the golden fire''s range was widening, forcing Arthur to do nothing but retreat for ten seconds. At some point, Noktox started catching up to Arthur as his speed increased with every passing second. There was no point wasting more time dodging so Arthur used [Griffin''s Bloody Switch], converting all of his Intelligence and Wisdom into Strength and Agility respectively. In addition to that, he changed forms, becoming a Tiger beastmen covered in a red medium armor from head to toe. When the spinning lion got close enough, Arthur used his newly acquired long claws to slash at the opponents. It was a simple attack but it was backed with his insane speed and overpowered brute force, breaking the metallic white ground and sending supersonic sound waves to all sides. Unlike the previous impacts, this one was brief and flung both parties in the air. Noktox had bloody slash marks on his abdomen while Arthur, who was in the form of a tiger beastmen, had his left arm and some of his ribs shattered. Both crashed on the ground but Arthur was able to recover faster than his opponent. Life Energy entered his body and healed the injuries within seconds, as for Noktox, he growled and held his bloody, chanting some incantation. The golden fire burned the claw marks and, slowly but surely, got rid of them. "Arghhhh so exhilarating!" Noktox took his usual martial fighting stance and faced Arthur, who changed forms again. The tiger appearance became a humanoid cat with silver and white fur. The cat tribe is secretive and very rare to encounter, nevertheless, Arthur managed to unknowingly possess one of them in the past, allowing him to use their abilities and good and agile bodies. "Veracity cat tribe, good good!" Arthur ignored the lion''s comment and rushed at the latter with a speed that defied all logic. Even a body cultivator such as Noktox wasn''t able to react in time and ended up getting hit in the chin by a powerful punch which sent him staggering a few steps. The cat left afterimages as it bombarded the lion with kicks and punches from all sides. In fact, were it not for his tough body, Noktox would''ve been defeated already. The lion beastmen crossed his arms and defended his vitals while staying rooted to the ground, receiving the full might of Arthur''s super fast attacks. This continued for half a minute before Arthur unleashed a devastating blow in the form of a spiraling kick that hit the lion''s knee, forcing him to kneel. The parasite grasped this opportunity and used a skill called [Beggar''s mercy], which is a special skill that belonged to the cat he possessed. He somersaulted to the back a transparent image of a cat appeared before him, it was thrice his size and was facing the kneeling Noktox. Arthur didn''t waste any time and unleashed the sky, making the transparent grey cat lunge at the opponent. It was as if a mountain slammed onto Noktox, a feeling that he never experienced. His body was sent flying hundreds of meters away, rolling dozens of times and becoming all bloodied, nevertheless, he quickly got up while coughing blood. The lion beastmen didn''t seem angry or sad, in fact, he was still grinning from ear to ear. Chapter 600 - 545: Be their Bane "Aaaaah!" Noktox looked to the colorless sky and wildly roared, his muscles becoming bigger to the point that they ripped his cotton clothes, showcasing his massive and impressive body. The golden flames died down but his aura increased by several folds, even his eyes started emitting a red l.u.s.ter as if he was enraged. ''They didn''t lie when they said that body cultivators are just muscle-heads.'' "Master, it''s because they focus more on strength than any proper education butˇ­ don''t you prefer simple-minded people." ''You bet I do!'' After his overbearing and brief transformation, Noktox took large strides toward the humanoid cat. His feet left deep marks on the metallic ground, which is not easily damaged but ended up being treated like sand under the lion''s feet. Arthur got on all fours, let out an unintentional hiss before charging at the opponent, leaving a trail of fading stars behind him. Noktox clenched his fist and punched the incoming parasite while loudly shouting. Unfortunately, his fist went through the cat, which was nothing but an after-image, however, despite his failed attack, the lion beastmen didn''t seem troubled as he violently banged his left foot on the ground, causing a golden circle to appear around him and instantly combust. This area of effect spell forced Arthur of his momentary stealth and revealed his location to Noktox, who wasted no time and used his long tail to attack. The long tail wrapped around Arthur''s ankle and slammed his body on the ground right in front of the lion. The large beastmen was about to kick the parasite but leg went through the latter again but this time it wasn''t an afterimage but a clone created at the very last second. It was a shadow clone meant to divert Noktox''s attention and it replaced Arthur right after he was slammed onto the ground. Like a ghost, a humanoid cat appeared from Noktox''s side and slammed him with an illusory bronze platform. The first strike only caused the lion to groan, however, Arthur didn''t stop and repeatedly used the platform until the target fell on the ground. Instead of finishing him off, Arthur retreated to a safe distance, unwilling to risk it as he knew Noktox isn''t easily defeated, especially after he just empowered himself. Not only did he have ridiculous defense, but his attack power is also extremely high. Just his tail was easily about to fling his body like a rag and decrease 10% of his health bar. ***** "How do you know so much about parasites?" Arthur asked his copy, Claud Venice. It was during the long training session he went through right after his fight against the Divine Beasts. When Claud took hold of his copy, he showed him how a parasite should fight, how to change bodies at the very last second, and choose the right ones depending on the situation and the enemies. "I''ve never been a parasite but I''ve spent a great deal of my life researching them. Knowledge exceeds everything, and after being inside of you, I''m more or less adapted to the parasitic abilities hence my fighting style." "I still don''t understand how you choose the perfect host in a chaotic battle. I''ve possessed hundreds of thousands of bodies and each has their unique abilities." "Yes, that is true and that is why I said knowledge is important. You need to study everything you possessed, even the weakest ones but they can also be beneficial. A worm can defeat a drake and a cat can defeat a lion, you just need to know how to efficiently use the hosts. Rather than trying to force yourself to understand skills and races, why don''t you try feeling it?" "Feeling it? How so?" "When you possess a Naga, for example, you''re supposed to become a Naga, not pretend to be one, after all, you''re no shapeshifter. If this or that host was strong before you possess it, you need to be able to demonstrate the same amount of firepower when you''re in control, if not more. In my opinion and after enough calculations, I''ve concluded that parasites are naturally more suited for long-range combat but that doesn''t mean they don''t excel in close range. In your case, if you don''t screw anything up, you can even face a body cultivator thanks to your stats." "How am I supposed to face them?" The Prophecy Holder shrugged his shoulder and nonchalantly said: "Obviously by using their bane." ****** ''This should be enough testing.'' Arthur glanced at the overbearing tiger coming toward him. The cat appearance vanished and its place was a creepy wraith that was missing its lower body. Although not many people are aware of it, most body cultivators are bad at mental and soul-attacks, moreover, only a few of them that wield special equipment can touch spiritual things like ghosts or wraiths. The parasite was going to push his transforming ability to the limit and properly beat Noktox in a melee-combat. The wraith form will allow him to avoid any physical damage while the cat form will inflict damage upon the lion beastmen. The enemy leapt at Arthur, using his large feet to feet the wraith, however, he just passed through Arthur, who quickly returned to being a cat and landed on top of the lion. Sharp claws dug deep into the back of Noktox, who jumped in the air then used a wind skill to step on the air and push his body, precisely his back, on the ground in order to get rid of the clingy parasite. Unfortunately, the cat slipped through at the very last second and before it landed on the ground, it became a grotesque wraith floating in the air. For the next several minutes, Arthur used this dirty tactic and managed to injure Noktox and push him to the limit. At some point, the beastmen knew that he won''t be able to win at this rate so he stopped attacking and said: "I admit that you''re fast but do you dare confront my attack head-on?" Still in the wraith appearance, Arthur spun in the air as if he was taunting the lion: "Why would I do that?" "To see who''s stronger, of course! I use my strongest technique and you use yours." For some time, Arthur remained silent so Noktox thought that his proposal was rejected, however, it didn''t seem to be the case as Arthur returned to his human appearance, an innocent smile plastered on his face. "Alright, go for it." Hearing this, the lion beastmen burst out in laughter, uncaring about his body, which was covered in all kinds of injuries, whether it"s slash marks, bruises, or holes. He took a deep breath, faced the motionless Arthur, and raised his fist, which was acc.u.mulating all the golden fire inside Noktox. After three seconds, a shiny golden flame enveloped his fist, the lion was sweating and panting heavily as it seemed to have exhausted his energy. Nonetheless, he charged at Arthur while pulling his hand and readying to perform the Godly Punch, which was affecting the surrounding. The metallic ground started cracking and the air became tempestuous before the attack was even unleashed. Arthur stood rooted to the ground, not preparing any skill or even crossing his arms to defend. When Noktox was upon him and the fist was about to hit his body, his figure blurred for a split and by the next second, Noktox''s figure was sent flying to the back like a kite. When he landed on the ground far away, he seemed to be unconscious and his whole arm was filled with cuts. Chapter 601 - 546: Not Mine "Are you alright?" Lucy worriedly asked the smiling Arthur, who reassured her while glancing at the unconscious Noktox. "Nothing too serious." She followed his gaze and looked at the beastmen, who should not wake up anytime soon. "He''s physically strong, huh." "Yes, a worthy opponent if we''re using only melee attacks, otherwise I could have handled him way faster." The last unseen attack of Arthur wasn''t a skill but a super-fast kick that hit Noktox''s head. Using the skill [Griffin''s Bloody Switch], Arthur converted everything into Agility, choosing to bet on unmatched speed rather than absolute strength. As he suspected, he was able to counter the enemy with his attack, which was aimed at a vulnerable part. Furthermore, the beastmen focused most of his power in his fist so the rest of his body was less protected. He thought Arthur would try to clash with his fist but the latter launched an attack that struck its target before the Godly Punch could fully unleash itself. The couple stopped next to the knocked out beastmen and retrieved his white flag, which wasn''t carefully hidden. This time, Arthur kept the flag for himself, considering as the victory prize of that melee fight. Arthur was about to check what happened between Forne and the black-haired woman only to see a figure flying from far away, crashing into the ground then rolling dozens of times. Upon a closer look, it turned out to be the Black Seat, who lacked his usual dominance and was covered in injuries. He hastily got up and thoroughly searched inside his clothes but couldn''t find his personal flag. Surprisingly, for the first few seconds, he didn''t do anything and remained silent and even a bit dazed. Only when he realized his situation did he clench his fists and glared at a black silhouette standing four hundred meters away. Forne was about to rush at her but she vanished from his sight, making him stop in his tracks and looking around, only now noticing Lucy and Arthur''s presence. The Black Seat looked at Arthur for a few seconds, snorted and left the area, clearly unwilling to waste time dealing with the parasite. They weren''t really enemies and as long as Arthur doesn''t interfere later on, there is no reason for them to fightˇ­ only if the Red Tower forces them to in order to climb to a higher floor. "What''s up with him? Trying to seem threatening when he got his ass handed to him?" "Don''t mind himˇ­ he acts like that most of the time." ***** On the other end of the massive chest board, the black-haired woman, who just played with Forne for a little while, exited her stealth and looked around. Xyktia already acquired more than eight flags but it wasn''t as exciting as she thought it would be because the targets are very dumb and unsuspecting. This time, she happened to locate a suitable next target, an old man wearing a tattered grey robe. She saw him fight Sol''khin back on the 4th floor and was a bit interested and now that an opportunity has arisen, she wouldn''t mind taking it. She entered her stealth again and using an unmatched speed, appeared next to Zodiak. She stretched her hand, trying to swiftly steal the flag under his sleeves, however, just when she when her fingers were about to reach it, Xyktia abruptly retracted her hand and jumped to the back. The woman looked surprised as she was forced out of her stealth and was even discovered by the old man, who acted as if he sensed nothing. Now that she could be seen, Zodiak turned around to face her, his black pupils looking at ''The Assassin''. "What do we have here?" He spoke with a light, easy-going tone, not worried about who his opponent is. From the look he was giving her, it was apparent that he''s aware of her real identity. "Were the rumors actually true?" Xyktia didn''t reply and, instead, charged at him again. Without a doubt, her speed was infinitely faster than Zodiak but thanks to his Dark Magic, she would get blasted then forced to back away. Unlike normal magic, Dark Magic corrupts the soul and body and the Lady of Darkness is already weakened to it would do her no good if she gets hit. The woman spat a strange darkness from his mouth which she grasped with her hands then changed its form, it was a weird sight that even made Zodiak frown. In a matter of seconds, the darkness became a black tablecloth that was thrown over Zodiak''s head, blocking the light and trapping him. He tried to resist but was bound by large bony hands that sprung from the ground and immobilized his legs. In the end, the inky black cloth fell on the old man and remained like that for half a minute before dark blue Dark Magic descended from the colorless sky, ripping the cloth and consuming the undead bones. Zodiak didn''t look too well, his face was pale and blood was leaking out of his lips. "Hahaha I expected no less from you." He didn''t wait for her to attack again and hastily used ''Blur Ticket'', an expensive item from the Luxury Store. It teleports the user to a random location of the floor and grants him immunity to all damage for a full minute, basically guaranteeing his safety. ********* "She really is unlikable!" The Joker cursed with a low voice that only Leiu, who was sitting beside him, could hear. Saly grew bored and was silently meditating in the corner, no longer bothering her teacher with questions nor demanding to participate in the tower competition. "Mhm."-Leiu "What''s that supposed to mean? ''Mhm''? Is that you agreeing to my statement or simply grunting?" The youth glanced at the Magician with an uninterested look then resumed watching the large monitor displaying the events occurring on the 7th floor. "Hey! Communicate with me! Is she still a lover or what?" After spending half an hour pestering him, the Joker finally managed to force an answer from his brother. "We''re no longer together." "Then why the hell is she in my tower?" "ˇ­" "There you go again with that damned silence!" ***** "It really was stinky in there." Timos stood atop a small mountain right next to the prison where Zaarae was held. He looked at the blinding canopy and sighed, disliking the eternal light ruling over this planet''s sky. Just as he about to leave, he heard the flapping of wings followed by a familiar and overwhelming presence. Without needing to confirm anything, he immediately knew who it was. "What brings you here, Bilgart?" "You''re as carefree as ever, Timos." Hearing this, the man chuckled and added: "That''s how I like to be. Never minding other people''s business and just enjoying what''s out there." "Is taking Arthur''s daughter also considered ''not minding other people''s business''?" In response, the Black Devil turned to face the motionless crow. "That''s called repaying a favor. He and his wife freed my soul and I paid them back by saving their daughter, then again, I don''t need to tell you since you''ve already seen everything." After a brief silence, the crow, which was half black and half white, said: "Don''t get too much involved." "Come on, Bilgart, you know me bestˇ­ I dislike complicated scenarios. Now that I''m free, I just want to explore this different multiverse in peace." "What about Sol''khin?" "What about him? Don''t try to blame it on me, Watcher. We both know only Sol''dhin was my doing, as for Sol''khinˇ­ that''s your mess, one that I accepted in your place." Chapter 602 - 547: H & S The place didn''t resemble anything, the ground and the sky were snow-white and the light seemed to be coming from all directions, illuminating this whole ethereal dimension. Here, there was a middle-aged man surrounded by twelve small figures, each had a unique appearance but they all looked harmless due to their size. One had long tentacles and hidden eyes while another was a boy made from white stones that looked like metal, he was holding a round golden shield, waving it around playfully. "There are a lot of attributes but none are easy to master. However, only a few are considered universal ones because they''re the ones which made the world as it is." The man raised his hand, above which a red and shiny fire symbol appeared, it was followed by a blue water mark, an earthen yellow stone, and a green runestone symbolizing wind. "Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind. The four main elementsˇ­ now, anyone wants to try?" All twelve maintained their silence, some not understanding his words and others were simply shy. After a short period of time, a timid girl that had a skin made of wood and hair made of green leaves stood up and walked up to the man. She pulled the shiny symbols toward herself and meticulously followed his detailed instructions. For the man or the spectators, the concept of time didn''t exist. Maybe a second passed or maybe a thousand years, no one knows. "Marvelous! As the first one who succeeded, I shall name you Dmitra ''Mother Nature''. Do you like it?" Once given a name, the girl became a woman and the aura around her became stronger, fascinating the rest. Dmitra smiled at the man and retreated to the back, letting the others try as well. They didn''t know what gratefulness or happiness is but the more they listened to the man, the stronger and more sentient they became. They also chose a different path than Dmitra, they wanted to be unique and distinguishable. An inordinate amount of time passed and, one by one, each of the twelve gained something new and refreshing. The last person was peculiar and the most fascinating because he was the first to talk. He had two small horns protruding out of his forehead and a light blue skin, a large black cloth was covering the entirety of his body. He faced the man, pointed at a black thing behind him and said: "What''s that?" Hearing the young voice, the man was shocked beyond belief and spent some time collecting his thoughts. The boy wasn''t impatient and calmly waited for the man to answer, which he did. "That''s a shadow." ***** Not long after taking down Noktox, the Red Tower declared the end of this short event. *The required number of contestants have been met. You will shortly be teleported to the 8th floor; ''Hide and Seek''." Arthur and Lucy remained in a party, however, the moment they vanished from the 7th floor, everything was canceled, meaning they can''t join hands for the next task, unfortunately. Unlike last time, they weren''t put in the Waiting Room but were directly teleported to the 8th floor, which was a world dominated by an eternal obscurity. It seemed ghastly and eerie with the night sky, the dense fog, and the rustling black bushes. Basically, it was a world out of a horror movie, at least that''s what it looked to Arthur. *On this floor, the hundred contestants will be evenly split into two groups, Seekers and Hiders. Every Seeker will get a piece of paper with the name of his target, and he needs to find it within an hour. For fairness purposes, the Hiders will be given thirty minutes to hide, in the meantime, all the Seekers will not be able to move or see. To proceed to the 9th floor, you must either find your target within the allocated amount of time or never be found. Any Seeker who finds the contestant Losha Alpenwatcher will proceed directly to the 10th floor and will be awarded 3,500,000 points. Good Luck.* Arthur felt a piece of paper in his hand so he looked at it. Only a few short words were written but were enough to explain his role. He was a seeker and his target was the Shaman that belonged to Maxine''s team. With his vast arsenal of skills, Arthur shouldn''t have any problem. There''s the Space Bender title which makes him invisible, and that is without counting the Stealth skills obtained from countless thieves. On the other hand, Lucy was a Hider so she immediately started looking for a secluded and unnoticeable spot. Maxine, ''X'', G''am Tir, and Celes were all hiders whilst Forne, the Void Behemoth, Zodiak, Xyktia, and many others were tasked to seek their targets. The tower didn''t mention if fights were allowed or if the hiders can escape. Arthur didn''t know if he just needs to find his target or physical contact is necessary, everything was so vague. It would be foolish to just consider it a normal hide and seek game as it''s a floor inside the Red Tower and there''s bound to be things that arise from out of nowhere. Slowly but surely, thirty minutes quietly passed and, at last, Arthur was able to move and see his surroundings again. Due to the fog, the vision was severely limited and not even his special eyes were able to bypass it. The first thing Arthur did was enter an isolated dimension with the help of Space Magic, then he transformed into a transparent and ugly creepy. Less than a minute after the countdown started, Arthur was already roaming this ghastly place and looking for the shaman. He didn''t know how big this place it but considering there are only a hundred contestants, it shouldn''t be as big as the 7th floor, for example. *** "ˇ­ Teacher, it''s not a simple hide and seek game, right?" The Joker laughed while nodding his head: "Of course not! There''s gotta be something unexpected and thrilling!" Saly glanced at the monitor and asked: "What''s the unexpected thing?" In response, he handed the little girl, which she inspected only for it to explode, sending small red fireworks in the air. As she didn''t expect this, Saly fell on her butt, bewildered. "Surprise surprise! Hahahaha why would I tell you? It''s more fun when you don''t know." Chapter 603 - 548: Reverse "Master, I sense several powerful presences nearby. They seem to be seekers." ''Only a hundred remain so it''s normal to see strong people.'' "There''s a particular one who completed the Earthen Mastery, his energy is dangerously pure." ''Completion?'' "Yes, his cultivation isn''t high but his Earth Magic is definitely unbeatable." Just as the Quad-Spirit finished speaking, a man appeared from a nearby big bush. He glanced at Arthur''s direction but didn''t do anything and continued searching for his target. His face was easy to forget and apart from a transparent yellow energy spiraling around him, he looked normal, perhaps even weak. He did notice Arthur even though the latter was invisible and using skills to hide himself but he didn''t seem interested in a pointless fight and soon vanished from the parasite''s sight. That man wasn''t the only strong person Arthur met in that ghastly place. There were two robots that seemed more advanced than the one he faced on the previous floor, a very well known puppet master and even an actual pirate captain. Each looked unique and wielded different weapons but the one thing they had in common is that they were very strong, as much as a peak Overgod if not more. Apart from a few dark horses, the majority of the remaining contestants were clan master, sect leaders, or part of some organization and they didn''t lack any wealth, their goal was only the top prizes, which cannot be found anywhere else in the multiverse. Location his target, the shaman, isn''t easy as it seems even for someone like Arthur. He was given no clue and although this place isn''t particularly big, there are many places to hide and the dense fog made it close to impossible to see anything thirty to forty meters away. Unlike the parasite, many Hiders were already caught and, surprisingly, Hach''ara found his target in less than a minute. The Red Tower would make a short announcement every time a Seeker found his or her target and proceeded to waiting room. Till now, exactly 7 were caught so 14 contestants are no longer on this floor. Arthur searched every corner, he stretched his sense underground and even managed to find other hiders, who he didn''t bother interacting with. After twenty minutes, Arthur grasped the layout of the map and was now entering the only unexplored area. The ground was muddy and filled with tall inky black bushes that emitted a nauseating odor. Arthur didn''t get too close, he floated several meters above ground and stretched his Sixth Sense while looking at his map, which was practically useless on this floor as if the tower was purposely limiting its functions. "Master, there are totems a few centimeters underground. They act as detectors." "Then the Shaman is definitely here." "I cannot pinpoint his presence but there is more than one Hider in this area."-Spirit The invisible wraith circled around the area, taking some precautions in case the Shaman tried to leave. Arthur planted a two-layer formation to isolate his target and block his escape route. He still doesn''t know if he just needs to find the Hider or physically touch him and although the Shaman isn''t as strong as Maxine, for example, it''s still not a reason to rush in recklessly. Fifty or so meters from where Arthur was, the tattoed shaman was laying on the ground and holding a charm, ready to flee if things go awry. He planted five totems in strategic locations and they should be able to buy him enough time, however, that thought didn''t last long. The muddy ground slightly shook then his connection with the totems was cut off, the last thing he sensed was large vines which wrapped around his creations then turned them into dust. Without needing to ascertain anything, the Shaman jumped from the ground, barely able to dodge two vines that sprung from the ground. He held the charm and chanted a short verse, making his tattoos shine with a blue and conjuring some sort of a flying boat made of water. Without looking back, he controlled the boat and headed to the opposite direction but the rustling came from everywhere. Dozens of long vines appeared around him, blocking his path and trying to immobilize him. The Shaman took a deep breath, chanted something again then spat a wave of flames that incinerated the vines. A short distance away, there was another Hider who was disturbed by these events and was forced to reveal herself. She had long green-hair and wore a medium-sized armor, she was none other than Maxine, who knew that her companion was nearby but was too preoccupied about her situation. She couldn''t jump in and help him since she didn''t know who her Seeker was. If it''s someone like Ber Von Xin then showing will only complicate things, she could only hope the Shaman would successfully escape. After one last glance at her teammate, Max gritted her teeth and tiptoed, trying to leave the area without arousing any suspicion. Of course, Arthur did notice this female player, who was really bad at Stealth but he didn''t pay her any attention. Had she intervened, the Quad-Spirit was more than ready to block her until Arthur caught his target. When the vines were turned into ash, the water boat increased in speed, piercing through the fog and about to leave this small area only to smash into a white wall made of light. Half of the boat vanished and the shaman lost his balance, almost falling into the bosom of the countless never-ending vines. He held his charm and was about to chant again but his body suddenly plummeted to the ground. In a split second, his body was covered by his vines and only his face was shown. Arthur was just about to go and touch him only for a deafening alarm to echo across the whole floor. *30 minutes have passed, from this point onwards, the roles will be reversed. The new Seekers can catch any Hider and they''ll be teleported to the next floor. The new hiders need to remain hidden for half-an hour.* Arthur was flabbergasted, not knowing how to react. ''What the hell is this?'' He was just a step away from succeeding only for this to happen. As he was lost in thought, a rapid figure came rushing at him, however, before she could strike the parasite, her body suddenly slowed down then was blasted by raging flames. Maxine grunted and cut the flames in half before smiling at Arthur, who just snapped out of his daze. "I never expected such a twist! Hehehehe" Her laugh sounded evil rather than innocent, she got rid of the vines binding the shaman and signaled for him to corner Arthur. "You do know that one single physical contact is enough, right?" In response, Arthur stared back at the green-haired woman, his palm releasing Dark Magic. The player charged at him again but even two steps, her body fell again, not because of the spirit''s interference but a result of what Arthur said. "Ok''od (Kneel)." He used Dragon Words, something that even Maxine cannot resist. Her knee touched the ground and her body was forced to stop moving, a visible expression of confusion plastering on her face. The Shaman tried to do something but he couldn''t resist Arthur''s Dark Magic, which was like a tsunami, engulfing him within seconds. In the end, he was trapped in a world of darkness, unable to do anything but wait. Chapter 604 - 549: Ascended Royal Vampire While the contestants were climbing the Red Tower, things weren''t as peaceful in the System''s universe. In fact, there was one individual who caused a huge mess and forced the System to lock down the whole universe and tighten the security around the PE-50 Galaxy, where the majority of the forces and the main controlling unit is situated. "Airship KX-09 down! All combat units requested in the AT zone." A human female was speaking through the microphone, passing the orders to players and alike. The invader appeared out of nowhere and killed everyone without any discrimination. The casualty toll was over a thousand in less than an hour and it''s still growing every second. Right after she passed another order, she leaned against her chair and let out a long sigh. She looked at her partner, who''s also in charge of passing emergency orders. "What the hell is happening?" In response, the partner wiped the sweat off her forehead and replied: "I don''t knowˇ­ he uses high leveled Blood Magic, maybe a vampire?" "Noˇ­ why would a vampire attack us?" She was about to continue only for alarm to start going on and off again, causing her to slightly tremble. "Invader has broken through to the Core Factory! Airship KX-08 Down! Antimatter barrier Num.608 Down!" **** Core Factory, entrance "We had to use our precious concentrated Dimensional stone for ONE person?" A tall male player wearing light golden armor complained, not happy that he was urgently summoned. Next to him were two women, both wearing robes and seemed to be mages. Unfortunately, they didn''t get to say anything as a fast figure came running, stopping a couple of meters away. It was none other than the invader, who looked no different than a human. He had long scarlet hair, snow-white skin, and two blood-red pupils. The male player, who was very high-leveled, even stronger than Maxine, appraised the man but got confusing results. "Hm?" He frowned and read the notification again, ascertaining that he wasn''t mistaking. "Arthur Bilgart? Isn''t that the parasite in the Red Tower?" Like him, Melinda and Syra were startled and chose not to recklessly attack. They couldn''t see the Level of their target and what made them even more surprising was his race "Ascended Royal Vampire / Half-parasite?" Eric, the male player was really shocked as such a race wasn''t recorded in their system, the name was too strange. There exist Royal vampires but Ascended and half-parasite are totally new, especially the latter, which isn''t logically possible. One cannot be half-parasite, even through evolution. "Get out of the way." The vampire wore luxurious noble clothes that looked clean and unscathed despite his fights for the last hour or so. He didn''t seem to be bothered by Eric and the other two as he started walking towards them, his eyes pulsating with a scarlet light. "What are you?" Eric took out his bow and pointed at the incoming enemy, ready to shoot, however, his body was suddenly hit by an unstoppable force, sending him crashing into the wall. He was knocked unconscious due to the powerful blow, as for the two female mages, they dropped their staffs and clutched their throats, unable to breathe due to a bloody fog emitting from Arthur. The vampire didn''t even glance at them as he entered the factory and started wrecking everything in the search of something specific. That day, the System suffered unexpected losses, something that hasn''t happened for thousands of years. More than thirty airsh.i.p.s were destroyed and two colossal spacesh.i.p.s were broken beyond repair. Eighteen core factories were annihilated, 241 players perished and 3,690 robots were ruined, all by the hands of a single individual. The vampire seemed to have found what he came looking for so he swiftly left. The System was unable to track him down as he simply vanished into nothingness. Later on, it was discovered that he didn''t even come from this world and that fact was proven by a few lingering Time Wraiths which were slowly being consumed by a poisonous blood. ******* Red Tower, 8th floor Before he left the area, Arthur used an offensive on Maxine, which should keep her busy for a fair amount of time. His appearance changed, the human became a white tiger which jumped in the air, magically disappearing into the air. Inside the isolated dimension, the white tiger was like a bolt of lightning, distancing itself from any nearby presences. Maxine, who was relieved that the dragon words effect finally wore off, was assaulted by sentient-like golden blades. There were sixteen of them and they all attacked at the same time, forcing her to retreat while swinging her sword, attempting to block. While she fared well against the formation, she was still hit by three swords at the same time, flinging her dozens of meters away. This infuriated the player, who drunk a potion then unleashed a blinding sword which broke half of the formation. The remaining sword fused into one then descended upon Maxine, directly hitting her again and even causing her to cough some blood. "Damned Parasite! Wait till I catch your ass!" She wiped the blood off her lips then glared at the disappearing golden sword, wondering how many tricks Arthur actually has. What she saw as a simple formation was actually a complicated one that required precious materials and preparation, however, Arthur already created many formations and stored them in his ring for later usage, such as this one, for example. As for the Shaman, due to Arthur''s Dark Magic, he was forced to use the Escape Ticket to bail out of the tower and save himself. In addition to allowing the user to leave the tower, the ticket also got rid of any debuff he or she received inside it. Fortunately, after his encounter with Maxine, Arthur didn''t run into any trouble and successfully completed the task. Including the hidden Losha, fifty one contestants passed to the 9th floor and the rest were disqualified. Arthur looked at the people inside of the Waiting Room, some were familiar and others he knew nothing about. Forne and his group were all present, so was the woman was very long black hair, Zodiak, the guy who mastered Earthen Magic, and even the two advanced robots. Noticing her husband sitting alone in a corner, Lucy went and sat next to him. As she saw his dazed face, she asked: "Did something happen?" Hearing her soft voice, he looked back at her and answered: "Nothingˇ­ just wondering how things will proceed now that only the best remain." Unlike the previous floors, there probably won''t be a mass disqualification due to the strength of these contestants. Each and every one of them mastered one field, if not more, and they were opponents that can match Arthur and make him go all out. Whether it''s Ber Von Xin, the strange woman who stole Forne''s flag, or Zodiak, they were not to be underestimated and, except for Lucy, everyone is an enemy. They were still on the 9th floor and the top floor is the 50th, the hard challenges will begin very soon, at least that''s what Arthur guessed. He knows a fair bit of how The Joker does stuff and since he''s the one who built the tower, it won''t be surprising to see unbeatable floors. After all, you can''t expect the competition to be a walk in the park when the rewards are miraculous things that can even make the Twelve greedy. **** Author''s note : Hello, I know you''re probably confused when reading the first part of the chapter which is why I''m writing this... to provide some needed clarification. We''ve already 600 chapters into the story and I won''t lie and tell you it''s just the beginning. Quite the contrary, in fact, we''re nearing the end with every chapter and with how the story is written, one end won''t explain everything but I''m not saying it won''t be satisfactory. There are many mysteries and the stuff with the time travel that are still left unexplained, which they will be in the future, in detail, too. Before you ask... no, the Arthur you saw is not our Main Character but he is indeed the very same Arthur Bilgart, strange, right? Do you guys know a game called Nier Automata? Basically, my story will be like that. There will be Ending A and B, and more if necessary, to explain the complete story of Arthur Bilgart and Eva Album Larva(Lucy). What happened to them in the past, present, and what will happen in the future. Mind you, Ending B will have relation to A but as a reader, you can stop at A if you''re satisfied with what you''ve read. You can consider B as a bonus route that expands the world and adds a lot of lore and characters, it will also explain many events that happened so far in the story. Like the briefly mentioned B-32 Virus lurking in the System. PS: Don''t panic, I said the ending is near but it''s not like... around the corner. Chapter 605 - 550: Two Wasted "Code red! Code Red!" Hundreds of angels stationed around the prison all headed toward the entrance to capture the unwelcome invader, who, surprisingly, didn''t offer any resistance whatsoever. Even Warden Habs was confused, nevertheless, he apprehended the individual and swiftly locked him in the deepest floor. The new prisoner didn''t talk and fully cooperated, letting himself be chained and his magic to be sealed. His expression remained calm and the only notable thing about him was his long azure robe and his nonchalant demeanor. Not even an hour after his sudden appearance, he was thrown into the cell next to Zaarae and chained to the wall, leaving only his face unscathed. This was none other than the Archmage Emir, one of the three Calypso Parasites and a loyal follower of Parasite Empress. "My liege." Though he tried to bow his head to the direction of Zaarae, he couldn''t due to the thick chains binding almost all of his body. "Emir, what brought you to this rat hole?" Zaarae didn''t seem surprised to see her follower here, neither was she worried about his safety or wellbeing. She was uninterested and didn''t even glance at him, her mind thinking about something else. "We need you, my liege." "Need me? I don''t feel like returning now." After a brief of silence in which Emir hesitated on whether to talk or not, he added: "My liege, the Watcher locked Sedos and is closely watching the Red Tower." "So?" Seeing no reaction, Emir bit his lips, seemingly struggling to say something. "ˇ­''God'' was killed." Zaarae knew that the Archmage was never someone to joke about such matters so when she heard his words, her expression drastically changed. In fact, it''s the first time she was this shocked about something. "Dead? How and when?" "The B-32 virus." "What?! That bug in the System? But it shouldn''t be able to reach him." "It''s not more dangerous than we initially thought. It''s able to corrupt any System within its reach and the effects are irreversible." Emir paused for a split second before resuming: "It has already spread to our realm. We need you, my liege." This time, Zaarae didn''t reject him like earlier but maintained a very long silence. "I''ll be out soon, my white knight is soon to arrive." "We will be waiting, my liege." Right after he said that, Emir''s body became liquid water and easily left the prison, unnoticed by any of the angels. ******* Heaven and Hell Universe, Heaven. The most high-ranked angels and spirits were all gathered together, their expression differed but it was apparent that none was happy. The atmosphere was heavy and even the emotionless Spirit was very restless due to the recent events. The news about ''God''s death reached Heaven this very day and an emergency meeting was called by a being whose rank is second only to his creator. He was an angel with ten wings and has been alive since the Era of Beginning, he''s the first of his race and a distinguished figure in the multiverse. His name is Alatraz, a strict angel who''s very devoted to his creator and wants nothing but peace for all races, however, his methods are sometimes questionable and unethical. "I''m sure you have all heard about what happenedˇ­''God'' died at the hands of a Virus originating from the System." After hearing his verbal confirmation, the place became noisier and there was even some angels who started losing faith. The future of Heaven has become unpredictable now that its creator is gone, moreover, the death of one of the Twelve is a very serious matter that would turn everything upside down. "A new ruler for Heaven must be appointed with haste!" A transparent figure standing a distance away spoke with a deep and domineering voice. It was an old Life Spirit and a high-ranking entity so its words weren''t brushed off by anyone, including the silent Alatraz. While everyone kept giving their opinions, Alatraz had his eyes closed and didn''t react to anything. After a while, his stare focused on a young-looking male angel who was so startled that he tripped and fell. "Syon, you said that you found the World Tree?" When the tree was mentioned, they all turned to look at the timid Syon, whose mouth and opened closed but no words were said, probably due to stress and embarrassment. "Speak, did you find it?" With Alatraz''s insistence, Syon swallowed some saliva and hesitantly said: "Y-yes!" "Its condition?" "It still hasn''t experienced its full growth but it''s not young either." "Why are we hearing about this now?" An old human woman banged her fist on the table while lashing out at the scared Syon, who accepted the harsh berating without responding. "Syon! Why have you not reported such an important matter to me?!" An eight-winged angel frowned and yelled at his Syon, his subordinate. He was infuriated about the fact that Alatraz knew about this before him, the person who manages the external affairs. "The World Tree is the only thing that can revive him. We must get it."-Alatraz ********** "He died?" Timos, who was humming a second ago, suddenly stood up and looked at the night sky. The blue-haired girl looked at him and furrowed his brows, finding his constant mumbling rather strange. "Who died?" The man ignored her and raised her hand toward the sky, firing a pillar of red light into the sky, splitting it in two. Only after a while did he retract his hand, resulting in the pillar of light to vanish and the starry sky to return to its usual beautiful glimmer. The Black Devil walked next to the sleeping Vyncent and slapped his head, startling the young man and making him look around in confusion. "I need to be away for a short while, take care of the sassy brat." He didn''t even wait for a response and just disappeared, leaving behind a pouting kid and a sleepy young man. ˇ­ In less than a minute, Timos appeared in a dangerous area at the far end of the System''s Universe. The place was infected with a dense amount of Void Magic which can even be lethal to him. Apart from massive meteors filling the endless black space, there was nothing here, making the brown-haired man confused for a second. Several seconds passed and what he was waiting for finally appeared. Before he was able to react, Timos'' body was hit by a scarlet liquid, flinging him hundreds of miles away. He successfully stabilized his disoriented body while coughing a few times then raising his head, meeting the stare of a very familiar man. "Are you crazy? Have you ever heard of something called balance?" For the first time in a long time, the Black Devil was angryˇ­ not because of God''s death but because of the consequences that are bound to happen now that a strange caused such a big mess. The vampire wasn''t fazed by the savage aura emanating from Timos, he glared at the devil and said: "Get out of the way." "There was no need to kill him if the core is what you needed." "Don''t be mistaken, I didn''t kill him, the virus did." ********* Inside an obscure cave, there was a black slightly curved black blade stabbed onto the ground. The violent gales whistling inside the cave have died down a couple of hours ago and even the silent passing breezes were no longer present, everything seemed to have halted and all of this was the blade''s own doing. It stopped its completion process on purpose, it wanted to honor a comrade that had just died, after all, the will of Ventus Malum still lives in Makaze. This place, situated out of the reach of all but one person, was deadly quiet for three whole days, the darkness was eerier than usual and the air itself seemed to have been frozenˇ­ ***** Angelina looked at the endless white space all around her, still not used to it, then shifted back her attention to the man nonchalantly playing with cards a couple of meters away. "You called me multiple times saying that a prophecy has just begunˇ­ is that true?" After her confrontation with the Watcher, Bilgart, Lucy''s sister thought a lot about this strange matter and have come to accept it, slowly, little by little. She just returned to her clan''s Ancestral land but Claud startled her by claiming that one of his prophecies started. She asked around about any news of catastrophes or disasters but the Cloud Sea Universe was oddly peaceful. Unfortunately, she doesn''t have the means to inquire about the other two universes but if something major really happened, it won''t take long before it reaches her ears. "Of course it''s true, I would never lie to you." Angelina sat opposite the man and asked again: "What''s the prophecy? What will happen?" In response, he grabbed a piece of paper and started writing, not bothered by the woman''s intense stare. "Misfortune hangs heavy on a head once held high. Such is a poor cover for when the heavens fall." "What''s that supposed to mean? Is that the prophecy?" He shook his head while handing her the piece of paper. ''Three faces but one soul Two hearts but one road The heavens are lost and the insect has crossed'' Chapter 606 - 551: Red Sand Ogre Arthur and Lucy were peacefully conversing only to be interrupted by an unwelcome individual with an unseen face. He put his cane on the side and sat opposite of the parasite while saying: "Since there is still time till the next event, I don''t see why we don''t solve our feud, if you want to call it that." ''X'' didn''t speak with any hostility, in fact, he sounded calm as he faced the frowning Arthur, who was particularly fond of him. Though he heard no response from both of them, ''X'' continued talking: "I can understand why you dislike me but, considering all the evil in the world, my deed can''t be considered as bad, don''t you think?" He put his hand under his blurry chin, sighed then added: "Yes, I did sort of trick you but I never intended to kill you. Actually, I didn''t even force you to reincarnate, you willingly accepted my offer. I granted you a second chance and, in return, you fed the Orb for a period of time." "So you think I can forget about the fact that you played me?" "Played? Hmm, I wouldn''t call that. I lied to you and that''s it. Furthermore, the trouble you gave me by disappearing is a good payback." He pointed at the quiet Lucy and stated: "Look, thanks to me, you married this beautiful white specter and are living happily ever after." "ˇ­"-Arthur The parasite glared at the mysterious man without uttering a word, though the blue light emanating from his pupils were not a good sign for ''X''. "What do you want?" "I want a reconciliation." "Not gonna happen." "Then a truce. We''re not mortal enemies and even if the tower pits us against each other, there''s no need to kill. Considering our personal goals, I''m sure we''ll fight, however, I don''t plan to die for my cause." "As long as you don''t get in my way, I, too, don''t want to kill." Arthur clarified himself while withdrawing his cold glare, finding it pointless to behave angrily in here. What ''X'' said is true, kind ofˇ­ and Arthur wants to protect his brother, moreover, knowing the former''s attitude, he''s likely saying the truth. He only cares about his benefits and, from the looks of it, Leiu was never his goal. Nevertheless, he won''t let his guard down and if an opportunity arises, he''ll definitely kick ''X'' and his group out of the tower. They want to get rid of the evil inside his brother but, if necessary, they''ll kill his family and that''s not something Arthur can tolerate. ''X'' happily clapped his hand then swiftly left, not adding a single word. He seemed a bit relieved as he started humming while playing with his odd cane. *To all contestants, the next event will begin in 1 minutes, please ready yourselves.* *Each ten floors, there will be a short elimination round to reduce the number of contestants.* *For the next floor, contestants can form a party and cooperate to complete the task. Fighting is not prohibited and if you kick out a contestant, you will lose a third of your points and if you kill, you''ll lose half.* As usual, Arthur partied with Lucy while Forne invited his companions. Excluding those two groups, there were a few others who formed an alliance and there were some who preferred venturing alone, such as Zodiak and Xyktia, for example. One minute quickly passed and all fifty-one contestants were teleported to the 9th floor, which looked like a large circular arena. There were no spectators as the place was half-destroyed and very ancient, the earth had dark red sand and the walls were made from orange cubic stones that were engraved with small defensive formations. *Welcome to the 9th floor; King''s Fury. You will be given 15 minutes to defeat the Ogre, 30 minutes to defeat the gladiator, and one hour to kill Zurak, the incompetent King. The contestants who deal the most damage will be rewarded more points. The three lowest damage dealers will be disqualified.* *The Ogre will be released in 15 seconds.* Right after the Red Tower finished speaking, the ground started shaking then a large hole appeared. Loud mechanical noises echoed across the arena followed by a big metal cage being lifted to the surface. Imprisoned inside was a monster over 10 meters in height, he had a skin similar to the sand and six eyes. He wasn''t holding any weapon but the pressure he was emanating was truly frightening. ''Appraisal.'' *Red Sand Ogre (Race: Half-Ogre/Half-Titan): Realm: none Lv: 15,000 Health: 150,000,000,000 Skills: ???? ???? ???? Info: Mismatch. Titles: none* "I don''t understand. Does it want us to defeat it? Isn''t it a bit of an overkill?" Hach''ara wasn''t threatened by the ogre, he sized down the latter before curiously looking. He wasn''t the only one confused by the given task, after all, they were amongst the strongest people in the multiverse yet they want them gang up on an ogre. "Arthur, it''s not that simple." Lucy focused on the trapped ogre while whispering to her husband. In response, Arthur activated [Transmutation] boosting his stats, he also prepared a Rizaki and hid it inside a spatial dimension, ready to be used anytime he wants. Fifteen seconds crept by and the ogre was finally released from his prison. The cage broke down and the monster''s rage exploded, shaking the whole arena and forcing all those around him to retreat. However, this was but the beginning as the red sand under their feet started moving and dozens of spikes sprung from the ground, hitting all fifty-one contestants. Considering their Lv or cultivation, they managed to block the spikes using barriers or other defensive techniques. Lucy countered the sand using Yin Power, which froze them, as for Arthur, he just used his speed to easily evade it. The spikes were only meant for distraction as the ogre''s six eyes shot out red beams that rebounded and multiplied every time they hit an obstacle. In a few seconds, there were countless beams flying all around, there were even some who hit some of the contestants. This area of effect was stopped a bit later when the Sword God acted. He jumped in the air and waved his around, which was coated with his Sword Essence. Just like a real sword, his hand unleashed thousands of white particles that got rid of all the flying beams. Another figure joined the battle, he charged at the ogre and struck with his fist, a simple but surprisingly devastating attack. He was the guy who mastered Earth Magic, he was wearing golden gauntlets that suited his magic and boosted his power. His strike managed to push away the ogre and make it roar in angrily whilst trying to stabilize its body. Not wanting to lose out to the others, the rest unleashed their attacks simultaneously. Zodiak used Dark Magic to bind the ogre while Losha slashed with her sword, Maxine threw a bomb, etc.. The air was filled with numerous differently colored skills, techniques, and curses, all aimed at the ogre, which didn''t go down even after receiving all of that at the same time. After one full minute of absolute destruction, the ogre was pushed into a miserable state. It lost its right leg and four of its eyes were gone, nonetheless, it still stood up and controlled the sand to retaliate. All the sand under their feet rose to the air and was about to cling onto the ogre only for a thick bolt of white thunder to descend from above, stunning the monster. Lucy followed by shooting a deafening bullet from her revolver, aiming exactly at the ogre''s forehead. Fortunately, it successfully hit its target and knocked it on the ground but it was still not enough to kill it. It was at this time that thousands upon thousands of flying insects cl.u.s.tered around it the ogre, eating its flesh. They were abnormally fast and in five seconds, there were only bones left. The ogre perished under Hach''ara deadly summons. The insects seemed pleased after a good and delicious meal so they went back under their master''s robe, while the person in question was taking deep breaths. It did take him a bit of energy to summon them but it was more than enough to turn the ogre into nothing but dry bones. Right after the monster was killed, there was a loud explosion followed by something descending from the sky. A golden light fell at the center of the arena and, upon a closer look, it seemed to be an armored knight. His head was lowered, looking at the ground while his hands were resting on his greatsword, which was stabbed onto the ground. *The Knight will awaken in 30 seconds.* Chapter 607 - 552: The Incompetent King *Knight of The Hyde Empire(Race: Human): Realm: None Lv: 25,000 Health : 475,000,000,000 Title: Arena Champion Skills: Hyde Sword Mastery (LvMax) Short Info: Mismatch Just like his predecessor, the knight was eventually defeated but the fight wasn''t as smooth as the first one. One of the contestants got seriously injured and had to leave the competition of his own volition. If they had to fight the knight alone, it''s rather unlikely than all would be able to defeat him albeit their great strength. The second opponent truly showed how monstrous the enemies in the Red Tower are. It''s actually a blessing that they''re allowed to gang up on him, nevertheless, it took them a painstaking 24 minutes, six more minutes and they would have lost. "I think we overdid with the rules of this floor." The Joker wasn''t pleased after watching the fight between the knight and the contestants. It''s just too unfair and really not fun to spectate, at least from his point of view. He glanced at the silence youth and complained again: "Do you even know how time it took me to bring him here? I had to defeat the f.u.c.ker fifty times to get his summoning crystal!" "Language!"-Leiu The Magician clicked his tongue and glanced at Saly, who pretended not to hear the curse words and just watched the final fight. "Let''s tweak the rules of the 19th floor." "Not going to happen." Hearing such a strong and immediate rejection, the Joker sat closer to his brother and lightly nudged him, trying to look pitiful but it was nothing but a downright shameless and pointless action. "Please please!" "We are going to wait years for them to climb to the top. The higher floors are hard as it is so increasing the difficulty of the lower ones will slow down their advancement. ˇ­ *The Incompetent King, Zurak, will appear in one minute.* Maxine glanced at the contestants before whispering to her only remaining teammate, a female priest who wasn''t very high-leveled and lacks strong offensive skills. "Stay behind me and use the Escape Ticket if things get rough." Unlike the other two enemies, the king was in a league of his own as even before his appearance, his aura dominated the whole arena. The sun seemed to have come down, floating above the arena and emitting a blinding light and a suffocating heat. Not even Lucy''s Yin Power was able to block its debuff effects, which lowered the cultivation and stats of everyone, without exceptions. Arthur coated his body with Dark Magic using the Dark-Star Strengthening technique, he also created a Dark Barrier and a Spatial Dimension, isolating himself and Lucy. "Use Engulfing flames!" Right after Arthur said that, he transformed into a large Vermilion Bird covered in flames and flew toward the blinding sun. Lucy jumped on the divine beast''s large head and prepared her golden flames *Requesting permission to fuse [Engulfing Sun]+[Quiet Flames] Cost: 4500 Mental Power Cooldown: None Y/N* The couple accepted the fusion, causing a sea of golden and orange flames to spread across the whole sky, dying the canopy with a mixed beautiful glow. Arthur used the White Tiger''s golden barrier, blocking 80% of any damage they''ll receive, then flew straight at the sun. The countdown was almost finished and the king is going to show himself. The ''sun'' was ballooning and, most likely, Zurak is going to appear from there which is why Arthur wanted to strike first. Just as a hand appeared from within the sun, the bird opened its mouth and spat a shiny golden ball of fire that, by no means, was less bright than the ''sun''. The ball of fire was golden and has orange flames engulfing it, and just its appearance made the whole floor violently shake. It struck the blinding sun and exploded, destroying a large part of the arena and dying the gold with a orange and golden light, surprising many of the spectators. Unfortunately, Zurak, who managed to successfully get out of the sun, grasped what seemed to be a spear and spun in the air, sweeping with his spear. Both Arthur and Lucy were flung away, heavily crashing on the ground while their fusion skill, called [Star Nova], was extinguished by the king''s retaliation. However, he also sustained damage as his armor had many burn signs and the hand holding the lance was profusely bleeding. Thanks to the barrier Arthur prepared beforehand, the blow didn''t injure them and only pushed them away, moreover, they were not the only enemies of Zurak. The Incompetent King landed in the arena and swept his gaze across everyone, his eyes holding nothing but contempt. "Ruination is come!" Zurak shouted with a clear and loud voice before jumping forward while waving his land around, aiming at both of his sides, from which Losha, and the Void Behemoth were attacking. His actions were simplistic but extremely, perhaps even absurdly, strong and devastating. His lance blasted the large purple Void beast and the reincarnator, sending them flying far away, though this was but the beginning as Hach''ara insects died before even reaching their target and Zodiak Dark Magic barely managed to reach Zurak before it vanished. Fortunately, it did have an effect as a small part of it managed to invade the king''s body and slow down his moment for a few seconds. ''X'' used his Time and Space Magic to freeze Zurak''s hand then break it by shattering the space, which is a very difficult thing to do inside the Red Tower as it''s more stabilized than the outside world. In fact, ''X'' is perhaps the only one who can properly break space and use it as a mean to attack, all the other contestants are not that well-versed in Space Magic to achieve such a feat. Even Arthur''s high mastery isn''t enough, which shows how tough and stable the space inside the tower actually is. As the king''s hand was rendered useless, an elf archer fired an lightning-fast green arrow at Zurak''s knee, forcing him to kneel. The king roared and forced himself to stand up then tightly grabbed the lance with his remaining hand and used it as support to jump in the air then bang his weapon on the ground, shattering the red earth and blasting more than 10 contestants who got close to him in order to attack. At this point, dozens of small, unnoticeable sparks appeared around Zurak, they lasted for a second before they exploded. Surprisingly, this time, the king was thrown to the back with blood covering his whole body. Destruction magic engulfed him and cracked his lance and broke his armor. Arthur followed and Lucy didn''t sit still either, the parasite became an Azure Dragon and cast [Dragon Breath], forcing all the nearby contestants to back off to not get hit. The illusory red flame was like tsunami, it crashed right into the king, scorching his body and making him cough one mouthful of blood the other. The White Specter threw a minuscule, thumb-sized, white flame which reached Zurak after five seconds. Although it was slow, when it entered the king''s body, he started shrieking and flailing his body like a crazy person. Part of his body became frozen while the other literally melted, nevertheless, he managed to somehow resist and stand up again. "Ruination!" Shouted Zurak as he threw his lance in the air then stabbing his chest. The sight was gory as he pulled his still beating heart then crushed it, the blow turned golden then covered him, instantly healing his injuries. This wasn''t the end as his land came back down, bringing with it countless light lances that covered the sky. Arthur returned to his humanoid form, teleported behind Lucy and grabbed her closer to him before retrieving two formations from his storage and putting them around him. A multi-colored barrier coupled with a brown shield appeared before the couple, shielding them from the descending lances. Losha activated her Diamond Physique, easily blocking all the damage while ''X'' kept breaking the space hence diverting the projectiles'' directions. Each person used something to protect themselves but not all were lucky or tough enough. The priest accompanying Maxine used the Escape Ticket, decreasing the number of contestants yet again. Chapter 608 - 552: Memories of a Cherished Past (1) "What''s the deal with Zurak? From where did you bring him?" Wolfram stared at the king, who was over 3 meters tall and looked different than any Race he had seen. Unlike the previous two enemies, the Incompetent King is someone Leiu personally brought and put on the 9th floor, assuring his brother that it''s the right opponent for the contestants. "Is he some kind of acquaintance? He''s dead though so it''s not possibleˇ­" "Teacher, what do you mean he''s dead?" Saly, who didn''t comprehend his words, asked her not-so-king teacher. After all, Zurak was currently fighting Arthur and the rest and he clearly looked very alive. "Well, most enemies inside the towers andˇ­ well, copied fragments." The white-haired beastmen wagged her tail while furrowing her brows, still not understanding. The Trickster rubbed her fluffy white ears while explaining: "Copied fragments are generated copies of past individuals or things. Their attitude and strength is maintained but not all memories remain, it''s basically related to luck. Sometimes they keep everything and sometimes they''re like empty shells meant for fighting. Non-playable-charactersˇ­ something like those things?" "Then are there enemies that kept their memories?" "Yeahˇ­ dear old Pride and venomous L.u.s.t are locked in here." Surprised, Saly glanced at Leiu before asking, with a much lower voice: "B-but, aren''t they already dead?" "They''re ''supposedly'' dead but your uncle is a vengeful person. Death is the easy-way out for his enemies, hahahaha" ******** Whatever Zurak did, it made him recover within seconds and continue to wreak havoc amongst the contestants. He''s entered an enraged state and started sweeping left and right, blasting anyone who got close, basically forcing all the melee-fighters to stay back. It fell to the long-ranged ones to finish the king, who was targeting anyone who got close. Having a vast arsenal of skills, Arthur stood at a safe distance with Lucy and bombarded Zodiak with all kinds of skills. Detonators had no effect but Dark Magic would slow down the target''s movements, rendering him vulnerable to other spells. As for Lucy, she made great use of her nine ice lotuses, which were sharper than a sword and deadlier than a bomb. Like annoying flies, they flew around Zurak, slowly covering him in ice while also dealing a decent amount of damage. The fight continued for another twenty minutes and when the king was about to heal himself again, Arthur unleashed the stored Dark Rizaki. The amount the spatial dimension vanished, the whole floor was covered in an ominous darkness, alarming every one but Lucy and Zodiak. "Get away!" Boltz, the guy who masted the Earth Magic, invoked his unbreakable earth armor and retreated to the edge of arena. Most people readied themselves and defended against what''s about to come because they knew how troublesome Dark Magic is. The only one who wasn''t worried was Zodiak, who chuckled and retrieved a talisman, throwing it in the air. Slowly but surely, the darkness started gradually disappearing or rather, focusing on a small point in front of the frozen Zurak. Before he let out Rizaki, Arthur made sure to lock down the king using his Eye''s time-stopping ability, which costs a lot but has a very good effect and a decent duration. By the time Rizaki explodes, the king won''t be able to escape nor heal himself. In just a few seconds, the dark magic was sucked into a small ball of darkness which vibrated for a brief moment then exploded. The devastation it brought was nothing to scoff at, the red earth beneath their feet turned jet black, the blinding canopy was replaced by a looming darkness, and the target itself was devoured by Dark Magic, leaving only his upper body and his two arms intact. "The hell! No need to sink us all with him!" Hach''ara lashed out at Arthur while spitting blood on the ground and making his insects eat the Dark Magic inside his body. "As flashy as ever." Forne commented while glancing at the immobile Zurak, who looked dead. His aura was still present, which confused a lot of the contestants. There was one particular person who was surprised by the overpowered Rizaki that Arthur just cast. She looked at Arthur, who reminded her of Zaarae, the Parasite Empress. "A strong skill but takes too much time, what a shameˇ­" She let out a sigh and looked at the sky, from which a meteor-like things was falling towards them. Whatever it was, it slowed down before reaching the ground and struck the motionless Zurak, who didn''t react at all. Upon a closer look, it was a white and golden spear that looked different. It had three spiky tips, each in the form of a dragon and each with a unique color: Red, gold, and black. "Ugh, is he still not dead?" Celes has had enough of this tiring fight and wasn''t particularly fond of prolonged battles like this one. Moreso in this case, where she can''t get close to the opponent to be able to affect him with her Death Physique. "Not quite."- ''X'' "You don''t say.."-Celes Zurak, who should not be able to move due to losing his waist and two legs, suddenly grasped the spear and wildly roared. A golden light covered and healed his body yet again, recovering him to his peak state. Before anyone could do anything, three transparent dragons flew from the left, right, and front of the king. They weren''t that big but each carried a pure type of energy. The red one left a trail of red fire while the golden dragon spat dozens of light lances, however, the black dragon was odd as it dove onto the blackened ground. Whatever it tried to do, it was unsuccessful as a second after it vanished into the ground, you could hear its miserable cries while it''s being consumed by the dense Dark Magic still lingering underground. The Void Behemoth jumped to intercept the golden dragon, it faced it head-on and even got struck but wasn''t injured. Its body let out a purple burst of Void Magic that devoured the head of the golden dragon, extinguishing it. The only remaining dragon was pulverized by Losha''s diamond fist, who continued all the way to Zurak. The king was way taller than the reincarnator, moreover, he was prepared to counter-attack. He stabbed his spear at Losha, clashing it with her unbreakable and unstoppable fist. At first, there was a brief stalemate before she was pushed back, a small trace of blood leaking out of her hand though Zurak didn''t fare well either as he was hit by multiple attacks while he was busy dealing with the reincarnator. Chapter 609 - 554: Memories Of a Cherished Past (2) FLASHBACK The shimmering firmament was as breath-taking as ever, the moon hung high up in the sky, adding more beauty to the starry night sky. The couple was sitting on the only bench in the courtyard and enjoying this quiet and peaceful time. Lucy was lost in thought as she caressed the ring Arthur gifted to her earlier, it was the proof of their relationship and eternal keepsake. Though they didn''t have a grand marriage or a celebration, they were now officially married. Everything has been chaotic after what happened in the magic academy but now they can rest for some time in the Ma Clan. "Do you like it?" Arthur nervously asked, not sure if a normal ring is enough. Sure, there were many expensive rings in his storage but he chose this one due to its simplicity, he also added small carvings on it without changing too much of its original appearance. "En! Very much!" "I''m relieved, hahaha" Seeing his laugh so heartily, Lucy couldn''t help but a plant a kiss on his lips, to show her appreciation and affection. They were uninterrupted so they didn''t hold back from doing such things, however, they didn''t go far and nothing obscene was done as they wanted to keep appropriate tonight despite it being their wedding night, which, in many cases, is when the newlyweds sleep together. "Arthurˇ­" She stared at him with an expression very different from her usual cold one. He could see a new shine in her eyes, one that portrayed her boundless happiness, which made him not regret his earlier actions. At first, he hesitated and didn''t know if he should propose or not but it turned out to be well, fortunately. "Hm?" "Now that Saly is with usˇ­ how about we create a sect?" He didn''t give an immediate answer as he was thoroughly thinking about her proposition, which didn''t seem that bad, in fact. They can''t say in the Ma Clan forever so creating a sect would provide shelter to their daughter and expand their power, moreover, it''ll be like a home for themˇ­ a new and fresh beginning. "Yeah, let''s." "Really?" Lucy''s eyes slightly shook as she didn''t think he''ll agree so fast. In response, he caressed her head and replied: "Yes, I think a sect would suit us." "Then let us think of a name!" Like a little girl, she sounded very excited, which melted his heart and made him chuckle. "Any suggestions?" She looked around, thinking about something before saying: "We''ll name it after things we like." "I like you so it should have Lucy in its name." "No no, I didn''t mean people but things you like." "Hahaha alright alright." He lifted his head and stared at the gleaming stars, making him momentarily entranced: "I like starsˇ­ they''re like a beacon of hope." She followed his gaze and looked at the shiny stars filling the dark sky. "I like the Moonˇ­ its light is different from the sun''s. I find it soothing." After a while, Arthur clapped his hands and added: "Then shall we name MoonStar?" "MoonStar? Thenˇ­ MoonStar sect. En! I like it!" ********* "Don''t do it!" Arthur pulled back Lucy, who wanted to attack the king using her evolved Revolver, which can turn into a powerful sniper rifle. He wasn''t the only one to notice the oddity happening within their ranks. The two robots originating from the system fused together, becoming some sort of a large cannon. *Initiating countdownˇ­ 5 4 ..* A robotic voice came from within the cannon, alerting all those around it. Arthur took Lucy to a safe spot and watched the unfolding events. Maxine wasn''t pleased with the robots'' attack too, she cursed at the unresponsive machine then withdrew from the area. Five seconds quickly passed and the cannon finished readying itself. It shot a black projectile that wasn''t that fast but it devoured everything in its way. The way it ate things was drastically different than Void Magic, it was also affecting its surroundings, canceling any type of energy nearby. Arthur''s Dark Barrier remained but any other skill was deactivated due to lack of Nether Energy, which acts as fuel. Zurak waved his spear around, trying to chop the projectile in two, however, his spear wasn''t spared by the Dark Matter, which ate it in a split second. The target tried to jump back but the projectile exploded, emitting a light that blinded all the contestants. This was quickly followed by a piercing sound that made Arthur and Lucy bleed from their ears and stagger, trying to maintain their balance. Everything cleared after half a minute, the king was no longer here and most of the participants weren''t in a good state due to the spreading Dark Matter. Arthur enveloped himself and Lucy in Dark Magic, making them unreachable while the other contestants flew in the air to avoid it but it wouldn''t take long before it reaches them. Fortunately, the Red Tower informed them of their victory and teleported them to the waiting room shortly after. As it had previously mentioned, the three lowest damage dealers were disqualified. One of them was the priest accompanying Maxine while the other two were two old cultivators that belonged to the same sect. Whatever that cannon was, it allowed the two robots to steal the top spots for damage done, granting them a buttload of points. Arthur was the 6th damage dealer and Lucy was 8th, as for the third, it was Forne, followed by Zodiak then the elf archer. After they got to rest for ten minutes, the Red Tower teleported them to the 10th floor, which wasn''t a game or ''task'' like the rest but more of a test to further decrease the number of contestants to the required amount. The 11th floor needs only 42 contestants so 4 need to be kicked out. The test wasn''t complicated or innovative, they just had to attack a large cubic boulder and whoever gets the lowest points will be disqualified. It was simple and straight-forward, furthermore, all kinds of attacks are allowed, as long as they hit the target, of course. Chapter 610 - 555: Beatdown The test on the 10th floor proceeded smoothly and didn''t take much time. Each contestant was given three minutes and in a bit over an hour, everyone was done. The result of each hit was shown on the target, which was the large cubic stone. The highest points one can get is 99 points but none managed to score more than 40 points. The top score was the Sword God, who slashed with his score and got 40.9 points, followed by Forne then Hach''ara. Arthur didn''t use Rizaki or any other destructive skills, he unleashed the blue lightning dragon, an offensive and strong technique. He made sure to convert his Strength stat into Intelligence to boost the damage and managed to score 32.6 points, ranking him 5th. The lowest 4 dealt, respectively, 17.9, 17.5, 17, and 16.2, which wasn''t much compared to the top ones but their attacks seemed strong enough to injure an Exalted God. Unfortunately, they were disqualified, bringing down the number of contestants to 42. Pretty much all those in the Red Tower know a thing or two about their opponents and kind of grasped how each one fought. Arthur showed many of his forms but he still has a few hidden ones that came in handy later on. Zodiak too, didn''t showcase the true might of the ominous Dark Magic, making some of the contestants skeptical about his identity, however, the past rumors about Zodiak were dreaded as many were proven true but the current Zodiak wasn''t as strong as they had initially thought. After finishing the test, they were given a short rest before the tower teleported them to the 11th floor. Things were somewhat chaotic with several fights here and there but nothing major happened, neither on the 11th or the ones after it. Arthur and Lucy stayed together when they could and always helped each other, facilitating the task and increasing their overall safety. Unlike the lower floors, from 11 and above, it took much more time to complete the events, which kept getting harder and sometimes ridiculous. You could be a fighting an ancient a boss then find yourself playing a board game, it was that absurd. The Red Tower wasn''t built just to gauge your power but to force you to do many tasks you''re not used to, like Hide and Seek, for example. Anyway, Five days later, all 42 contestants managed to reach the 18th floor and were pitted against each other. The party function wasn''t disabled so, as usual, Arthur and Lucy were close to each other and roaming the floor together. The place was called ''The Last Symphony'' and the task was to the pieces of the whole Symphony, which are randomly hidden around the floor. The couple weren''t enough to find even one piece but they did locate a person who did. "A bit to the left." Arthur was laying next to Lucy and telling her of the location of Xyktia, who was standing far away while in invisibility. As Arthur had to pour all his Intelligence and Wisdom into Dexterity, he noticed her from a long distance and, from the looks of it, the Lady of Darkness noticed nothing. He didn''t have any strong skill that could reach her before she reacts so he asked Lucy to do it using her sniper rifle. Its burst damage and long-range are very useful in this situation but, unlike him, she could not sense or see the black-haired woman so she had to listen to her husband and try to guess the target''s accurate position. A silver rifle was positioned on the ground, pointing at Xyktia''s direction. Lucy''s eyes were near the scope as she listened to Arthur and slightly shifted the weapon to the left. "A bit more to the leftˇ­ yes, this is perfect!" He had a humanoid body but his eyes were of an eagle, tripling the view distance and giving him a clear image of Xyktia, whose stealth ability didn''t work on Arthur thanks to his special eyes. "As soon as you shoot, I''ll go and retrieve the symphony piece." Lucy nodded her head and started injecting Mana into the weapon, ready to shoot at the unseen target. Ten or so seconds later, a dense and suffocating Mana burst from the rifle, which had a specially crafted silencer, and a rapid bullet was shot at Xyktia. The Lady of Darkness didn''t expect to be attacked, she didn''t even sense the presence of any nearby enemies. Alas, her reaction was a second slower than the bullet, which hit her shoulder and flung her dozens of meters away. When she was about to fall on the ground, a lightning bolt struck her body but dealt no damage and, instead, robbed her of the symphony piece, which resembled a scroll. Although Arthur successfully stole the item, he wasn''t able to escape in time and was struck by a monstrous force that made his body plummet into the ground. He was flabbergasted to see a third of his health disappear with just that one strike. Xyktia attacked him again but a golden barrier negated most of her damage, nevertheless, Arthur still lost another ten percent of his health. He was enveloped by a white and golden light, healing all of his injuries and restoring the lost Health. He wanted to retaliate but an arrow made of white bones hit his two legs and immobilized him, he didn''t know how but the Dark Barrier and his high defense weren''t able to block the projectiles. Xyktia harrumphed and pressed her hand on her shoulder, pulling the bullet from inside her body and healing herself. She was about to thrash Arthur but another bullet came from far away and hit her abdomen, pushing her a couple of steps to the back. When she regained her senses, Arthur was nowhere to be seen, the only thing left was a large hole that could fit a whole elephant. "Tsk! This is why I hate parasites!" After that short encounter, Arthur and Lucy found another piece of the symphony and then went into hiding, preferring not to waste time wandering around in fear of being attacked someone who hasn''t found a piece yet. They completed the task and all they had to do was wait for night to fall. ˇ­ Four days later, 39 contestants managed to reach the 22nd floor, one was eliminated on the 18th floor and two disqualified on the 20th floor after dealing the lowest damage at the same power test. Arthur acquired more than 10 million points while Lucy had a staggering 134 million but that''s only because Arthur helped her obtain more when it''s possible. He didn''t need anything from the Luxury Shop but Lucy was interested in that Blue Phoenix Blood, which can greatly enhance her Yin Power and boost her constitution. Sadly, Arthur wasn''t able to perform the soul bound inside the tower so he had to wait until they get out. Lucy is strong enough to handle strong opponents but if her stats increased even more, she''ll be stronger than him, which is something he wished for, of course. He wasn''t the jealous type who doesn''t want others to surpass him, especially if those others are his wife. ˇ­ "Let go of me!" Celes angrily shrieked as she tried to free her hand from Arthur''s grasp. They were after the same item so she had to fight him to obtain it but the result was something she didn''t expect. Basically, she was beaten so easily because her Physique was countered by Arthur''s skills. Her Decaying magic had no effect on the parasite, who had the book of the damned and can use Life Energy, which can reverse any decaying or withering effect. He was physically stronger and his lightning magic, which is her bane, was strong enough to stun her for enough time for him to subdue her. "Arthur, just let her go." Lucy sighed as she witnessed the angry and embarrassed Celes, whose hand was held by Arthur while her body was kneeling on the ground due to the increase gravity. She was completely overpowered, making the Grey Seat lose a lot of face. "Well, if you say so." He casually let go of Celes'' hand but the moment he did so, she jumped at him, throwing punches left and right. She didn''t use any strength and didn''t seem hostile, the woman was just venting her frustration on the nonchalant man. She didn''t get to vent all her anger as Arthur teleported away, leaving her hyperventilating, her bulging chest going up and down. "I could''ve kicked you out but I didn''t. You owe me one." Arthur left after saying that, as for Lucy, she threw one last glance at Celes before following her husband. "I owe you nothing!" *** "Teacher, how much will I score if I took that test?" Saly pointed at the cubic stone and asked her teacher, eager to try it herself. The Magician looked at the girl''s wagging tail then said: "In your Fenrir form, I reckon you''ll get 15 points or so." The moment he said that, Saly''s ears went down and her tail froze, showcasing her disappointment. "ˇ­ Only 15 points?" "That''s considered a lot. Enough to kill an Overgod." "Then how much can you score?" Hearing that, he pointed at himself and laughed: "Me? Hahaha, 99 points, obviously." "He''s lying, he can''t score 99 points. I would say 80 or 81 points."-Leiu The youth joined their conversation, correcting his brother''s absurd statement. "Uncle, how about you?" "Last time I tried it, I scored 89.7 points. I doubt it has changed since then." "And what''s the highest score?" The Joker though for a moment before responding: "I think Moriah achieved the highest scoreˇ­ 95.8 points." **** "Radolf and Midolf, ahhhh really nostalgic names!" Zaarae gazed at the silent identical youth while speaking. She didn''t seem that dangerous but her nonchalant act despite her miserable situation really seemed odd, even to peculiar people like the two mythical beings. "Is that boy still going around sending his divine beasts every ten or so thousand years?" "Our master has changed." "Ah is that so? What a relief. At least you''re intelligent enough to get away from that crazy boy. I was never fond of him anyway." "Watch your mouth! Witch!" Midolf couldn''t hold himself back and ended up cursing at Zaarae, who furrowed her brows when hearing that. After a short silence, she broke into a loud laughter. "Pahahaha you still talk to vulgarly! What a strange bird." "Wench! I''m not a bird but a roc!" "You have wings and feathers, that qualifies you as a bird in my dictionary. Now then, let''s talk about more fun stuffˇ­" Chapter 611 - 556: Same Body and Soul The Joker made sure to cast a spell on Saly to make her unconsciously fall asleep. He didn''t want to hear what he''ll talk about the slightly nervous Leiu. "Do you think he''s entered it?" "The trial has began so it''s safe to assume so." The youth was tapping his finger on the table, while he was restlessly trying to find a comfortable position while looking at the large monitor, which displayed an empty waiting room. The contestant were teleported to an isolated space, which was the 34th floor, a dimension unique and different for each individual. In it, they''ll be pitted against an enhanced version of their past enemy. Arthur arrival on the 34th floor is one of the main reasons the Red Tower was built and, unlike the rest, he didn''t get to fightˇ­ no, he experienced a whole different thing. "In the past you always said it, right? ''Each person has a truth that cannot be told even to themselves.'' Do you think the end of this cycle would be any different?"-Wolfram "It has to be differentˇ­" "You, Arthur, and I, do you think it''s destiny or something else? Is it right to call it a coincidence? Can''t it be the work of a higher being? Something or someone we can''t fathom. Beyond our comprehension." Hearing this, Leiu chuckled and replied: "Perhaps there is, who can tell? Do you want to pray? Beg? You think that would make a difference? This is not the first time we''re going through this events, maybe we did pray in one of the past cycle but so what? Our very presence here mean that it didn''t work! It never will!" The Nameless Knight got up from his seat and walked in front of the joker, his finger pointing at the latter''s chest, slowly pushing him to the back. "What are you trying to say, Wolfram? I should have faith? Because it''s not faith that allowed me to obtain power. It''s desire, so don''t pray and do what you must! Let it endˇ­ for our sake." When he finished saying his piece, he passed by the dumbstruck Magician and exited the room. ******* Confused, Arthur looked around, instantly recognizing this unforgettable place. The shimmering sky was as beautiful as ever and the quiet atmosphere brought him a refreshing serenity. His gaze fell on the bench which he sat on with Lucy in the past, at the night of their marriage. Truly, it felt like yesterday, making the parasite emotional for a few moments. He snapped out of his daze when a fragrance entered his nose, it calmed his beating his heart and purged his thoughts. Arthur saw a man sitting next to a table near the empty bench. Surprisingly, the man looked exactly like his human appearance and he didn''t feel odd like Claud, for example. "Come and sit." He motioned for Arthur to get closer and pointed at a wooden chair right next to where he''s sitting. Arthur obediently did as told, not knowing what exactly is happening, his mind was filled with questions he withhold for the time being. The man poured some tea for Arthur and put the cup in front of him, neither saying anything and simply studying the parasite''s face. "Here, drink." Again, Arthur did as told and sipped some of the tea, which tasted really magical, easing his emotions yet again. Only after looking around did Arthur ask: "What is this place?" "What do you think it is?" The man, who had the same face as his, smiled and replied with a question. "This is one of the courtyards of the Ma Clanˇ­" The man drank some tea before speaking again: "Indeed it was, however, now it''s but a memory inside your head. It''s vivid and eternal." "So what is this about? Who am I supposed to fight?" "No, you won''t be fighting anyone or anything. You''re here to listenˇ­ and understand." "Listen?" The man nodded his head, took another sip before clearing his throat, and asking: "Tell me, Arthur, do you think you have achieved enough?" The questioned man tilted his head, not knowing what to say exactly. He stared back at his own face for an inordinate amount of time before muttering: "I achieved nothing." "From what I''ve seen, you did quite the opposite. Whether it''s your fight with the Divine beasts, your struggle in Riarravar or the war against the White Specters. Each time, you do more than you''re expected, which is why you end up in a very bad situation, usually beaten half-dead. Don''t get me wrong, I''m not criticizing you, quite the contrary, I''m proud of what you have become." Arthur raised his hand and interrupted the man from speaking any further. "I don''t understand, just who are you to tell me you''re proud of my actions?" The man wasn''t angry, his lips arches upwards as he looked back at the parasite. "I look, sound, and think like youˇ­ isn''t it obvious who I am?" He gulped down the rest of the tea before taking a deep breath and adding: "Let me clarify, then. I am you, your inner consciousness, your soul, and your body." "You''re me, and? Is there a reason for me to be here?" Noticing his impatience, the man chuckled and calmly replied: "Of course there is. Our meeting is predetermined and, dare I say, necessary." "Necessary?" "There are things you need to know about what''s to come. I''m sure you know a few things already, like how you''ll go to the past to do many things. Just like it happened, it will happen again, without any errors. The motive remains the same but the result is always subjected to change." "What do you want from me?" Arthur spoke with a louder tone, his face slightly frowned. He was never a fan of these mysterious encounters and this riddle-like type of talking. "Calm down, I''m doing this for you, after all, we''re one and the same." ˇ­ While Arthur was conversing with himself in that memorable courtyard, Lucy was facing the very same wingless earth dragon who attacked her and Arthur back on Astria. It was when they were heading to the Nemia Academy. She didn''t personally fight it but the tower registered it as one of her past enemies, moreover, it greatly boosted its power and slightly its appearance, making it bigger than more frightening to look at. As for the old man Zodiak, he was surprised to see his drunken father appear before him. Contrary to his real ragged state, the father looked sober and was even wearing an armor. ''Tsk! It''s just twisting things however it likes.'' He inwardly cursed the Red Tower and retrieved a talisman from under his sleeve, ready to get rid of the danger right away. Chapter 612 - 557: Timelines and Cycles "Bilgart told you that he created you and he even gave you a reason but, do you know what you are? A human? A parasite? Or something like the Twelve, who are born to be creators and forever eternal." The man''s smile widened as he gazed at the quiet and listening Arthur. "Did you know? ''God'' wasn''t the one who created humans, neither did Medtris create Demons, it''s all a believable lie convince the future generations. Sure, there were Races that were created but they were very twisted and defected, like the Cthulhu. It is possible to create a temporary living thing but to create a whole race out of nothing? That''s absurd and is against the Natural Laws, which even the Twelve are shackled by. "What about parasites, then?" "Parasites? They weren''t created, per se, but are a part of the Zaarae. I''m not talking about all of them, of course, just the main and first ones. Just like a Tree grows on its own and can produce seeds, parasites can multiply. Humans copulate and Phoenix''s lay self-created eggs, each Race has a mean to keep itself alive." "You said you are me, how do you know things I don''t?" The man took out a feather that had some ink on its tip and then drew a line on the table. "To explain it to you, I''ll have to teach you a bit about time." He pointed at the line and continued: "This is a timelineˇ­" He drew circles on the line, all small and have the same size : "These are cycles, with a beginning and an end. A single timeline can have a limitless amount of cycles, however, the opposite is not true. A cycle can only have one timelineˇ­ the one it exists in. It is possible but very difficult to jump from one timeline to another and the consequences are irreparable even to mighty beings like Bilgart. Each Timeline is very different from the other and they''re all parallel, meaning that they never interfere with each other, unlike cycles. To give you a good example, cycles are similar to books. Living through one is like reading a mystery book, when you jump into another cycle, it''s like reading another book but with the same genre. In your case, your life is separated in two parts that exist in the same timeline, obviously. However, your life didn''t begin when the first cycle started, after all, there''s Zodiak, who''s your reincarnation but is still considered part of you. I, the person you''re speaking to, am you but slightly different." "Different? How so?" "While you experienced only one cycle, I''ve experienced 62." "62? How is that possible? I thought I''ll only live through two." "Yes, but when the second cycle ends, that doesn''t mean your life ends, it just repeats itself. The memories of the past repeating cycles are always stored, that is, to not repeat the same mistakes. My existence is to assure that you reach the true end and leave this never-ending spiral of life and death. This means that I have the memories of 31 Arthur, who, just like you, lived what you went through and ended two cycles but were not able to complete them and break out." "So, what''s your point? How did I fail?" "There many, many reasons but if I had to point out the one thing that traps you here then it''s definitely Leiu, your brother." "ˇ­" Arthur didn''t say anything, he just stared back at his carbon copy, still processing everything that was being said. "I see that you''re still confused and that''s a normal reaction. Let me explain, again." He pointed at Arthur''s heart and stated: "The soul inside your consciousness is not complete, yes?" The parasite shook his head in confirmation. "As far as you know, Zodiak is in possession of the other half but that is also not the truth. You''ve got one third of the main soul, Zodiak has a third, and **** has a third." The moment he said that, Arthur''s pupils shook and he shot up from his seat, glaring at the man. "What makes you say that? Do you have proof?!" "Of course I have, otherwise I wouldn''t be sitting here and telling you the sad truth. You must not repeat the same mistakes and end it whatever the meansˇ­ even if it means sacrificing your loved ones." As he heard that, Arthur was further angered, he grabbed the man by his collar and raised him in the air. The man didn''t retaliate and his expression didn''t change, not minding any of Arthur''s aggressive actions. "If it means Lucy and Saly live, I will sacrifice anything, even myself." "And you think your death will save them? Mind elaborating how?" He shook off Arthur''s hand, calmly sat back and poured some tea for himself. "You''ll get provide them with a peaceful place to live in after you acquire enough strength? You''ll hide them somewhere? You''ll protect them somewhere? The reality is not as easy as you portray it to be. Even if you''re the strongest person, there will always be a problem. Your brother is a living example of that. He can defeat anyone but why is he struggling? Why can he not get rid of Sol''khin? I''m sure, by now, you know why, or at least must have some idea. In those 62 cycles, Saly and Lucy died many times and they were a reason for your failure. Their deaths destroyed you and made you someone without a goal so you did not seek an end. In this cycle, there may come a time when they''ll die, it''s only a possibility but if it happens, you must remember my words and never give up." "So I''m just supposed to forget about them and end the cycle so you can get the memories again?!" "No, if you end the cycle for good, I will disappear. However, if you sink into oblivion, what happened to all your predecessors will happen to you, without a doubt." "You keep telling me to succeed but what am I supposed to do?" "Rejoining and closure. First, complete your soul then you''ll know how to break free. You may try to live peacefully with your family but you''ll soon understand that tragedy will follow you everywhere, it''s just how cycles work." "What about Wolfram and Leiu, are they trapped in the cycles too?" "It''s not their cycles but since they willingly entered them, they''re imprisoned and can only escape when you do. Unlike you, they don''t die and repeat but travel back in time and orchestrate the whole thing, trying a different ending. They made this meeting happen by using the Red Tower, they also reincarnated you in Astria by threatening Fate." Chapter 613 - 558: One Third Each *Congratulations! You cleared the floor. Teleportation to the Waiting Room will begin shortly.* Arthur ignored the tower''s voice as his mind was preoccupied with all the information he heard from himself. It was just too much for him to forget or ignore, everything that was told was backed by proofs and the more he thought about it, the more he dreaded the incoming future which he won''t be able to escape from. Things are becoming complicated and, to make matters worse, the second he appeared in the Waiting Room, he noticed that one of his emotions was erased again, however, he didn''t know which one as he couldn''t recognize it anymore. Fortunately, his feeling toward his wife, Lucy, are still present, making him breathe a sigh of relief as sat in a corner and looked at the System notification popping out of nowhere. *Through sufficient acc.u.mulated information, you''ve gained a new Racial skill: [Multiplication(active)].* *[Multiplication(passive): As a soul parasite, you''re able to create identical clones that share your skills and stats but are without a soul. They are a version of yourself and if they''re killed in battle, their memories are sent to the main host: Arthur MoonStar. Number of clones you can create: 2 Clones created: 0/2 Cost: 1500 Mental Power will be deducted until the clone dies. Cooldown: None. Please note that while the clones have the user''s stats, any benefits gotten from Blessings or Oaths will not be applied.* Arthur read the description and became momentarily awed. He very much wanted to try it but there were a lot of peering eyes in the room and showcasing his new skills might cause troubles laterˇŞon, if he ever wants to trick others, that is. "What''s troubling you?" Zodiak came and sat next to Arthur, his robe was all bloodied but he didn''t seem to mind as black fog covered it and erased all the traces of the disgusting and nauseating liquid. "Did you know?" Arthur stared at the old man and asked him out of the blue. "About what?" "Our soulˇ­ we each have a third." Hearing this, Zodiak sighed, retrieved a dark talisman, and put it on the table, which created an inky black cube that separated them from the other guests. "So you heard. I''m curious about who told you." "Does that matter? Tell me, is it true?" "Unfortunately, it is. I told you the truth is never easy to handle." "So you want to tell me that we''re the same entity?" "Are we though? We share a soul but we''re so very different." The old man stopped talking and waved his hand, getting rid of the cube. Lucy just appeared here and immediately located Arthur and Zodiak. The latter smiled at the silver-haired woman then got up and left, leaving a frowning Arthur, who only noticed Lucy when she patted his back. "Did the fight go well?" For a second, he didn''t reply as his eyes were glued on a line he drew on the table. "A-ah, yes, it wasn''t that hard." "Hahaha then I''m glad. I got rewarded 15,000,000 points, I''ll soon get the phoenix''s blood." She softly smiled and sat next to him, who smiled and purged all the troublesome thoughts from his mind, focusing on his wife as he didn''t want to get her too much involved. He didn''t even tell her the truth, fearing what she''ll do to change the inevitable. After all, all he wishes for is her happiness and safety. Honestly, he wanted to tell her to leave the Red Tower but he kept such thoughts to himself because he knew she''ll refuse no matter what he says to convince her otherwise. It''s no that he didn''t trust her or her ability to defend herself, however, he couldn''t help but worry, especially after what he heard in that courtyard. His disappearing emotions may turn him into an emotionless monster and he didn''t want her to see him like that. The only solution is the Garden of Words, his next destination after leaving the Red Tower, though it is said to be a secretive place that very few managed to reach. It has all the answers in the multiverse and can solve any problem you ask it so, as long as he asks the right thing, he''ll get a satisfactory answer about his evolution and get rid of the disadvantage of being a soul parasite. "Lucyˇ­ you know that I love you very much, right?" He uttered those words while caressing her rosy cheeks. In response, a mesmerizing smile appeared on her pretty face, she enjoyed the warmth of his hand and his affectionate words. "I love you too. Very very very much." She giggled and gave him a light hug before stuffing his mouth with white cake, which she liked to eat whenever she''s in the waiting room. "I heard that the next floor is tiring so you have to fill your stomach!" Arthur chewed the delicious cake and complained: "But I don''t need to eatˇ­ you know that." "No buts!" "Insteadˇ­ I wouldn''t mind tasting another thing." He leaned closer to her, his lips almost touching hers but, unfortunately, she stopped him with her index finger. She coquettishly said:" "Maybe if there is a secluded spot later thenˇ­" Her right eyes emitted a blue light as her finger ran down his chin and lifted his head. ****** "That robe really suits you, woman." The Joker nodded his head as he stared at the uninvited guest who appeared at the top floor of the Red Tower. She had a skin similar to a corpse''s and a hair darker than night. Although she recently became Death, she didn''t dare behave arrogantly and, instead, bowed toward the two seated brothers. Wolfram unceremoniously waved his hand while Leiu ignored her, because he did hate what she became but he didn''t dislike her personally. "Pardon the intrusion." "Nah, it''s fine, at least you don''t behave like your master, ''God, don''t bless his non-existent soul''." Anastassia ignored that comment and glanced at the large monitor before asking: "I''ve seen enough of the past to know that both of you are strong enough to get rid of Sol''khin. Why are you hesitating?" While the Nameless Knight kept his silence, the Joker furrowed his brow and retorted: "Hesitating? Who said we''re hesitating? We just don''t want to. You can''t force us to do something, can you?" "I''m not here to ask you to do anything. I was just curious." "As Death, it''s not your job to be curious. You harvest souls and end the existence of which that should not exist. Any interference with other matters will automatically make the Death Laws strip you of your title and replace you." For the first time, Leiu talked while still looking at the monitor. His voice was cold and utterly void of any emotions. "I have the Grim Reapers to harvest the souls." "That doesn''t mean you can wander around, visible to anyone." Anastassia showed no fear as she took a step forward and talked back: "Before I became Death, I was a human and a friend of Arthur. I am worried about him and Lucy." "Worried? It''s just a lingering emotion that will disappear soon. Death has no emotions." "Why are you being so mean?" The Joker clicked his tongue at his brother before standing up and signaling for Anastassia to sit beside him. "Don''t mind his grumpy attitude, he''s socially inept. You''re my younger brother''s friend so a proper welcome is needed. Please sit." The Joker sounded genuine as he crushed a card, causing a table filled with all types of food to appear. He also presented many beautiful clothes to Anastassia, saying that it''s a small gift from him. From the entrance of the room, a short figure came flying into Death''s hands, hugging her tightly while her white tail wagged left and right. "Auntie!" Saly was happy to see Anastassia, whom she thought disappeared from Astria. The little girl was very delighted as she guided Death to her seat and started talking to her. Anastassia reciprocated and acted friendly as she was also happy to see her friend''s daughter. She taught Saly many things in the past and they were very close. "You seem to have evolved?" The woman noticed the archaic aura emanating from Saly as well as her white fur and sky-blue pupils. "I am Fenrir now!" Saly giggled and flexed her small muscles to Anastassia, who was gob-smacked. She glanced at the Joker, who nodded his head and confirmed her suspicions: "It''s true, she''s the real Fenrir, the devourer of the Sun and Moon. I can''t have a shabby disciple, after all." "I-I see." Chapter 614 - 559: Arwen Floor 36th, Singularity Laboratory Arthur couldn''t party with Lucy and was randomly allied with one of the contestants, the elven archer, to be exact. Their task was to escort a machine loaded with power cores from location A to B. The machine needs to be unscathed and all the enemies must be eliminated to guarantee their success. The parasite didn''t mind having the elf as a temporary companion because he wasn''t just strong, he wasn''t that arrogant either. He seemed different from the normal elves and not very talkative, but not a complete mute either. "How come I don''t bother you? I heard Elves abhor parasites." As he didn''t sense any hostility from his new teammate, Arthur curiously asked the elf named Ar''wen. In response, the elf, who was busy enchanting his wooden that was covered with ivy, shrugged his shoulders and nonchalantly said: "Most elves are what you call ''Religious''. They worship nature and, in particular, Dmitra, who''s titled Mother Nature. As a race that has a grim history of corrupting and harming the environment, the elves do indeed loath parasites but that doesn''t apply to everyone. I consider myself open-minded and don''t judge someone purely based on their races, after all, how is that different from what the Dominion is doing, right?" "I like your way of interpreting things." "Thanks for the compliment." Just as he said that, Ar''wen readied his bow and fired three arrows, destroying three machine-like flying centipedes. "4 o''clock, two targets." "On it." Arthur shot two green bolts of lightning at the enemies, breaking them into dozens of pieces. They were both standing on top of the large and broad machine, which was moving on its own toward the destination. It looked like a vehicle and was loaded with multi-colored sphered that contained large quantities of Dark Matter. Arthur didn''t know if all the contestants got the same task but it seemed rather unlikely as it''s too simple. The laboratory was too big and to navigate on your own is difficult as it was like a maze. The system''s map was disabled and his sense was restricted due to the Dark Matter negating the spreading of Nether Energy, or any other energy that is weaker, such as Mana or Qi. So, far, the enemies weren''t that strong but the more they advanced, the stronger they got. Their number also substantially increased, so was their appearances. The flying centipedes filled the air but they weren''t as troublesome as the neon giants, which were slow but very hard to break. Dark Magic had no effect on them as they weren''t living beings and the Natural and Godly lightning grazed them, at most. Even so, Ar''wen''s arrows managed to hinder them and the stronger ones broke down the giants, called Prototypes-R2 with one hit, at times. The elf didn''t look strong but he was extremely skilled in archery, he''s able to fire multiple arrows simultaneously and change their trajectories even after shooting them. By far, he was the best archer Arthur had ever seen and was truly a strong individual. Apparently, he doesn''t belong to any elven tribe and, like an poet he knew in the past, he''s a traveler who received a personal invitation from the Joker. "This won''t do, you need to stop them. I''ll support you from here." It didn''t take long for them to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of aerial and terrestrial enemies coming from all directions. Arthur was doing his best to keep them away but he had to hold back a bit as his destructive skills may damage the slowly moving machine, which is quite vulnerable. A single hit from one tiny centipede took a third of its health, which, fortunately, gradually recovers. Apparently, the vehicle has a function that allows it to self-repair but it has to be immobile and not attacked in the process. The place was over-run with the prototypes and machine insects and due to the blocked path, the moving vehicle was forced to stop. Arthur retrieved the sword he got from Timos, jumped in the air, and slashed one time before quickly storing it. That one attack caused his arm to became as thin as a branch and his body to slow down for a couple of seconds. He felt suffocated and his heart tightened due to the severe consumption, nevertheless, he managed to successfully blast away all the enemies blocking the front. An unstoppable and invisible gust of sword essence cut down countless centipedes and close to ten giants, rendering them useless. The vehicle started moving again but the fight wasn''t over as there were still enemies coming from both sides and behind. Ar''wen pointed his bow to the roof and pulled the string but didn''t fire, he was readying his technique, which took five seconds to cast. When he released it, hundreds of green arrows cascaded upon the enemies, stopping their charge and breaking them. The parasite transformed into a praying mantis that had a special armor made of empowered golden threads. The insect''s two wings were made of green lightning and its sharp claw-like wings had the White Tiger''s acid on them. Like a ghost, Arthur flashed from one place to another, cutting the enemies in pieces. His speed was too much for the machines, which either crumbled in one or two hits. The acid was highly effective as it bypassed their tough shell and melted down the cores. ˇ­ *You have completed the task. Please wait until all the cores are unloaded.* *Bonus task: defeat Prototype-R0 to receive bonus points.* "What do you say, wanna give it a try?" Arthur asked the male elf, whose ears twitched as he turned around and faced the parasite. Ar''wen glanced at the motionless giant machine that resembled a Cerberus. It had three heads made of dark golden metal and looked ferocious, to say the least. It seemed to be slumbering but if they accept the bonus task, it''ll wake up, of course. "I don''t see why not." The elf seemed like a very easy-going person and didn''t consider Arthur as an enemy. They were rivals but, currently, they were allied together and it won''t hurt him to obtain more points, if the opportunity arises. Arthur accepted the task, causing the boss to open its gem-like eyes and glare at them. He was about to lunge at the enemy only for Ar''wen to stop him and say: "Wait, I''ve got something that will help you." He handed him a white pocket that was similar to a charm, it shone with a bright light the moment it made contact with Arthur''s hand. *You received the buff: [Nature''s Blessing]: All stats +10% for one hour. Nature Magic will deal 150% more damage. Nature Magic has a 30% chance to inflict a damage over time effect for 30 seconds.* Arthur accepted the buff and transformed into a large thorny treant which rooted itself on the ground and attacked the incoming boss. Thick green vines sprung from below and stabbed the machine, they stopped its mad charge and even pushed it a bit. Since Nature Magic was buffed, he would not mind using it, after all, it''s very strong but can easily be countered by Fire or Magma, for example. Ar''wen jumped on one of the treant large branches and fired his a big wooden arrow which hit one of the cerberus'' heads, breaking a part of it in the process. The fight wasn''t easy, however, thanks to their flawless cooperation, they managed to ware down the boss and pulverize two of its heads. It took them half an hour to reduce its heal to a third before it entered some sort of an enrage mode that boosted its damage. At some point, it reached Arthur and tried to bite down the treant''s trunk, however, it bumped into a watery and invisible surface, causing it to bounce off and miserably roll on the ground. It was then bombarded with a rain of arrows that pinned it down on the ground. Arthur followed with his Nature Magic, he made grass grow from the metallic ground, they wrapped around the cerberus and ten or so seconds, the boss was completely bound. Ar''wen grasped this opportunity and shot a truly powerful arrow that even startled Arthur. The fast arrow was unimaginably big as it spiraled in the air and struck the target, destroying its last head and finishing it once and for all. "Beautifully done."-Arthur "Thanks." The elf jumped down from the brunch and calmly put the bow back on his back, he didn''t appear to be tired as he went next to the headless boss to examine it, not bothered by the destruction around him or the twitching body, which was frightening but harmless, nonetheless. *You defeat Prototype-R0. You will be rewarded with 25,000,000 points. Arthur MoonStar and Ar''wen will shortly be teleported to the Waiting Room. Team 13 is the 6th to complete the 36th floor. Clear time: 3 hours, 48 minutes, 2 seconds.* Chapter 615 - 560: Top 21 "It seems that pretty much everyone''s score has gone up since the first attempt." Lucy commented as she looked at the board displaying the results of contestants who already took the test. They already reached the 40th floor and it was time to kick another contestant. Only 23 remain and one has to be disqualified for them to proceed to the next floor. At this point, only the best of the best are left and all got familiar with each other, either in a positive or a negative way. In the 38th floor, there was a strong guy from the Holy Dominion who was kept chasing after Arthur, wanting to disqualify him, however, the means he used were tricky and annoyed everyone, including the parasite himself. Before Arthur took any action, the poor guy was beaten black and blue by six other contestants, who forced him to use the Escape Ticket and leave the Red Tower. On that floor, fighting was not prohibited but if one contestant attacks another, all will lose points, which was something no one wanted hence their aggressive and expected retaliation. He asked for it and definitely got what he deserved. With him gone, Arthur didn''t have to worry about having pests following after him, trying to kick him out and the rest of the participants played fairly and wanted to climb to the highest floor using their strength alone. Currently, half of the 23 contestants took the test, and, like usual, the one who has the highest score will be disqualified. Compared to the 10th floor, the score slightly increased with the Sword God maintaining his first top for four consecutive times. This time, he scored 44 points, which is a relatively high number. In fact, most were aware of his strength and they didn''t purposely fight him, much less provoke him. His nonchalant attitude made him approachable and his lack of arrogance is probably why he doesn''t have any enemies, at least not in this tower. Arthur''s turn still hasn''t arrived but Lucy already hit the strange large boulder. Surprisingly, her score was second only Ber Von Xin, she used her fusion fire and scored a staggering 42 points, guaranteeing her the second post, for the time being, that is, though it is rather unlikely that anyone can break her score unless they use an ultimate skill. Her special fire is already known to the contestants so they weren''t surprised to see such a high score, the only thing they couldn''t understand is how she managed to create it, after all, it should be impossible to fuse to opposite attribute. Arthur tried doing it but it neither worked with Life and Death or Water and Fire, this made him even more proud of his prodigious wife. Time crept by and, at last, all the results were shown. As expected, Lucy was the second boss followed by Zodiak and Forne. The one who got disqualified was a woman who was half-human half-fairy named Chu An, she used Music Magic like Aneirin but, from Arthur''s point of view, she wasn''t as strong as the talkative poet, who pretends or actually thinks he''s weak. *Congratulations on passing the test. The 21 contestants who will proceed to the 41th floor are: 1 Ber Von Xin: 44.1 points (100.3 million points) 2 Lucy MoonStar: 42 points (201 million points) 3 Zodiak: 40.9 points (65 million points) 4 Forne: 40.6 Points (60 million points) 5 Ar''wen : 38.7 points (99 million points) 6 Arthur MoonStar: 38 points (75 million points) 7 Maxine : 37.9 points (88.7 million points) 8 Hach''ara : 37.8 points (91 million points) 9 Celes : 37.7 points (55 million points) 10 Void Behemoth : 37.5 points (50.8 million points) 11 Losha Alpenwatcher : 37.5 points (66.6 million points) 12 Sickle Bart : 37.4 points (20 million points) 13 ''X'' : 37 points (1 million points) 14 King of Jade Amtir : 37 points (12 million points) 15 Lightning Spirit, Raad: 37 points (23 million points) 16 Demon Lord Setros : 37 points (75 million points) 17 Maktis : 36.9 points (36.1 million points) 18 Leo : 36.9 points (800k points) 19 Saber Saint : 36.9 points (80 million points) 20 : G''am Tir : 35.5 points (9 million points) 21 : AXYT-48 : 35.4 points.* (69.5 million points) Unsurprisingly, Lucy has the highest amount of points because Arthur pretty much gave her all of his points every time they met up. He wasn''t interested in any of the items in the Luxury Store, moreover, she finally has enough to buy the phoenix blood, which costs 195 million points. With it, she''ll hopefully boost her Yin Power and breakthrough to the middle stage of the Overgod Realm. She''ll need some time to process the blood and doing it during an event will make her vulnerable even if Arthur was protecting her. All those who remain are extremely strong so it''s not possible for Arthur to protect her from more than one contestant. The only exception is G''am Tir, who isn''t strong individually but since he''s the behemoth''s companion, they can be considered as one entity. Furthermore, their low scores don''t mean they are weaker than the top spots because they haven''t revealed their trump cards yetˇ­ at least not all of them. AXYT-48 are the two robots, which fused into one and are not an opponent to scoff at. The robot has an absurdly high resistance to all kinds of attributes and is able to fire cannon blasts embedded with Dark Matter. ˇ­ "I finally have it." Lucy with brimming with joy as she held a transparent vial containing a small blue drop of blood. A freezing energy was emanating from the vial, just touching it would freeze anyone though Lucy was a unique exception thanks to her special Physique, which was very compatible with the Blue Phoenix blood. Just like its counterpart, the Blue Phoenix is a mythical creature that uses mainly Ice Magic and although it cannot self-revive, its attack and defensive power are a level above the Fire Phoenix. With the phoenix Ice and the Golden Crow flames, Lucy''s fusion flame will become too overpowered but controlling will also become harder. "It''s not a good time to consume it."-Arthur "I know, I''ll do it after leaving the tower." Lucy laughed and gave him a small peck on his lips before continuing to admire the frozen drop of blood. ***** "I reckon she''ll reach Peak Overgod is she consumes the blood."-The Joker "No, her foundation is solid and the quantity of Mana her Dantian needs is higher than the average. She''ll reach the peak of middle stage Overgod, any more would be difficult without any kind of catalyst. But, I do agree that she''ll get significantly stronger." "Hehehe mommy will soon surpass youˇ­" Saly giggled as she looked at Lucy, who was happily chatting with Arthur. Without a sound that could barely be heard, Saly glanced at the Joker and muttered: "I''ll tell her to kick your ass thenˇ­" Unfortunately, Wolfram clearly heard the little girl. He stretched his hand and grabbed her little held and pulled her closer "Aw aw teacher that hurts!" "What did you say? She''ll kick my ass?" "N-no, I didn''t say anything!" "It seems you forgot your placeˇ­ you need a thorough spanking!" Saly''s eyes turned teary as she tried to escape her teacher''s hand but to no avail, she ended up getting spanked until her butt felt numb. Chapter 616 - 561: The Elf and The Specter The last ten floors are supposed to take significantly more time to clear, the tasks were very difficult and demanded the contestants to go all out lest they want to die or get disqualified. Slowly but surely, each person started showing their trump cards and trying to reach the top floor first. *Contestant ''X'' was teleported to the 43th floor using the Golden Frog.* The Luxury store had an item called the Golden Frog which allowed the user to jump to a higher floor but it only worked from the first floor to the 45th, moreover, its price was exorbitant so with the exception of ''X'', no one wanted to waste their precious points to buy it. Although he had an advantage over the rest, that doesn''t mean he''s going to hold that first stop forever as Zodiak was finally showing his true colors. The old man started hindering the annoying contestants and almost killed the lightning spirit, Raad. Right after they took the test on the 40th floor, the 21 individuals were taken to the next floor, which was some sort of a battle royal against unknown enemies that were extremely strong. The goal was to take down ten target without any help but Arthur was unlucky enough to encounter a group of robots that belonged to the System. They were a realistic imitation created by the tower and their power was nothing to scoff at. The parasite was seriously injured and had to flee for his life for the first time since his entering this ginormous structure. Were it not for the White Tiger''s instant recovery spell and its golden barrier, he would have been forced to use the Escape Ticket. With the disappearance of the Waiting Room, it became a race where only the faster contestant will receive the generous rewards that await them at the top. Both the Joker and Leiu were also on the 50th floor, patiently waiting for the final show to begin. Arthur believed in his brother''s strength, however, he still worried about his brother, who is a quiet but loving person. Zodiak and Forne definitely had something that could awaken the Nameless Knight, such as Sol''khin''s cane, which will be playing a big role in capturing the evil within the youth. "Master, are you really going to fight them?" The Quad-spirit asked the meditating parasite, who opened his eyes, sighed, and said: ''I just want to stop them. I don''t care about Sol''khin but if they''re planning to take down Leiu with him then I won''t sit still. I don''t think the Joker will watch either.'' ******* "Tsk! What an annoying brat!" Xyktia''s clicked her tongue and pulled the air, causing an unstoppable energy to grab hold of Ar''wen legs and flip him outside down. The elf retaliated correspondingly and fired three arrows after freeing himself using a black dagger which cut through the formless energy of the Lady of Darkness. The arrows flew in a line, each one shattering one layer of the woman''s defense. The last one hit her hand, ripping a hole through it and causing a lot of blood to gush out. The assassin snorted and activated her stealth, turning invisible, her unseen figure appeared next to the archer in a split second. Unfortunately, before she could attack him, someone interfered and attack them both with the user of a highly destructive assault. He was a man that had scissor like arms and feet, his body was made of a metal and his eyes shone with an orange light, his name was Sickle Bart one of the top 21 contestants. Countless razor-sharp small metal pieces cascaded on Ar''wen and Xyktia, dealing considerable damage but it wasn''t enough to push them out of the moving thing everyone was currently on. Around 15 contestants were now on the 45th floor, which was actually a massive moving train and the task was simple. They had to safely reach the destination without getting pushed off the train, which was separated into six large carriages. Fighting wasn''t prohibited and, instead, encouraged, as the Red Tower wanted to decrease their number so that only 10 will reach the 50th floor but from how things were proceeding, it seemed rather unlikely for only 10 to arrive at the peak. ''X'' was still in the lead, struggling alone on the 46th floor, which demanded cooperation. The remaining 5 contestants were still on the 44th floor, which was a world of cards and the contestants had to battle each other using cards that had their skill engraved on them. Some battles took seconds while others took hours, it only depended on the users. ˇ­ "Ha!" Sickle Bart performed a deadly dance that emitted violent gales which forced both Ar''wen and Xyktia to retreat. He jumped on the black-haired woman, who stopped his sharp metal legs using a short black sword that she pulled from nowhere. As the two were busy clashing, Ar''wen retreated to a safe position then shot a big arrow of light that engulfed his two target, sending them all the way to the other carriage. Each time he damages another contestant, he''ll obtain points based on how many injuries his target suffered. His last arrow netted him a whopping 5 million points, which is enough to find quite a few miraculous items. The elf turned around and was about to head to another carriage only for his legs to be frozen. His reaction was a second too late as a fast white shadow came from the side and kicked his abdomen, flinging him in the air. He tightly held his bow and shot an arrow in the sky, which transformed into countless arrows of light that descended upon the assailant. Unfortunately, the arrows were stopped by a beautiful blooming ice lotus that was big enough to cover a third of the carriage they were on. Lucy glanced around, making sure no one was present before attacking the archer again. She had no enmity against him but they were competing against each other so there was no reason not to attack a target when an opportunity arises. Arthur warned her about the people she should be wary off, nevertheless, she was strong enough to defend against anyone. Nine lotuses danced around the White Specter, who grew an illusory whitetail and two horns that were actually beautiful to see. Two arrows that were fired god-knows-when, managed to bypass the ice lotuses and hit her but were split in half by an ear-piercing cry that she released. Still in the specter form, Lucy flew at the incoming Ar''wen, her hand holding a fully-loaded silver revolver. She fired three times at the elf, who blocked her bullet using metallic arrows that were stronger and faster, surprisingly. Usually, a gun is faster than a bow but it wasn''t the case this time, sadly. Four of Lucy''s lotuses were destroyed after blocking the metallic arrows, the other five shone with a white light then slowly bloomed, freezing the air and the ground, even the movement of the train slightly decreased. [Absolute Zero]! For a few moments, the whole world was frozen and the rapidly moving elf turned into a block of ice, no longer able to move or shoot arrows. Lucy''s right arm became a bit bigger and covered in red scales, it released a lot of steam as it sucked all the energy in the air. By the time Ar''wen broke free, Lucy appeared before him and attacked with the Devil''s arm. She used the overgrown claws to slash at the target, sending him flying like a kite, leaving a trail of blood behind. Just by that one strike, the elf looked very miserable as he covered the terrifying injury on his chest. He threw two pills in his mouth then swiftly retreated from the carriage but right before he disappeared from Lucy''s sight, his back was shot by a dark bullet. He was sure he was going to dodge it but his movement were slowed hence the result. Lucy''s skills were efficient as they focused on slowing down the target, after all, she could freeze them or stop time, which is why her victory was guaranteed against Ar''wen, then again, it was all thanks to her surprise attack at the beginning. ˇ­ On the 6th carriage, Arthur was fighting toe to toe with Amtir, also known as, King of Jade and ruler of the Jade Realm. More than his strength, this person is known for his wealth, which he acc.u.mulated for generations. Amtir an Exalted God that had the appearance of a middle-aged man despite his old age, he likes to flaunt his money and is not afraid to use it to get rid of any arising troubles. This time around, it wasn''t Arthur who was randomly attacked but his enemy, Amtir. It was a good opportunity for the parasite to gain points and if he manages to take down the king, he''ll obtain all of his points but it was rather unlikely to defeat him now as there are many prying eyes, one of them being the annoying Losha, who''s standing in the corner, her arms crossed while she calmly watched the two fight. Chapter 617 - 562: King of Jade "You''re pushing your luck, parasite!" Amtir angrily shouted as he jumped back and wiped some blood off his lips. A large White Tiger that was enveloped by green lightning was blocking his way and relentlessly attacking him. The King of Jade was able to resist Arthur''s monstrous attacks using only his weapon, which was a ruler made of translucent jade. Arthur ignored whatever was said and lunged at the man, his large figure transforming into a thin bolt of lightning which pierced through a violent blast unleashed by Amtir''s ruler. Seeing no use in continuing with his attack, the king used his weapon to block the lightning bolt and fired an arrow from a hidden crossbow under his over-sized sleeves. The large figure of the Divine Beast bashed into Amtir, pushing him back a few steps then spitting deadly acid all over the carriage. The liquid melted a tiny part of the area but Amtir''s jade was strong enough to resist the tiger''s acid. The crossbow'' arrow was fast but it ended up hitting Arthur''s afterimage as he retreated and changed forms. Two lengthy flaming wings spread in the sky, bringing with them a suffocating heat. The King of Jade was engulfed by a sea of vermilion flames which burned his clothes and part of his hands, however, his ruler started getting bigger and released a green energy which extinguished the parasite''s flames. As he held the elongated ruler, Amtir swung at the Vermilion Bird flying in the air. The simple weapon made of Jade unleashed a powerful burst which focused only on Arthur, ripping a large holes through his wings and causing him to fall. Amtir wanted to follow-up but by the time Arthur crashed into the ground, all the wounds had disappeared. A lightning-fast silhouette charged at the king and kicked him from the side, causing him to stagger. Arthur teleported behind the target and punched using [Dark Burst] and [S-Void Mouths]. This combination managed, for the first time, to overcome the ruler''s jade and directly hit Amtir. Small and creepy mouths ate away parts of the Jade then jumped on Amtir, ripping through his chest. Unfortunately, the victim had a quick reaction as he retrieved another ruler which was also made of Jade but had a different color. This new ruler was pink-ish and seemed considerably stronger but just holding it made it extremely tired. Amtir sacrificed the first ruler by breaking it apart and using the shards to get rid of the void mouths while the second ruler slashed his own skin and sucked all the Dark Magic. Arthur, who had been standing still for the last couple of seconds, pointed both of his palms at Amtir. Soon enough, two dragon cries echoed across the train, and from within the parasite, a lightning and fire dragons appeared, both flying at the King of Jade. In mid-air, they twirled around each other and merged, becoming an even larger entity. Sadly, they couldn''t do anything as Amtir held the pink ruler with both of his hand and vertically slashed at the incoming dragon. In a way, his retaliation was very effective as the blast he unleashed was similar to Arthur''s sword, which was given to him by Timos. The Parasite used the White Tiger''s Golden Barrier along with the Dark Barrier to block most of the incoming damage yet he still ended up injured. It took him a bit more than ten seconds to heal himself using Life Energy and when he looked up, Amtir had already fled. The parasite opened the Red Tower''s system and checked his points, smirking only when he noticed a significant increase. The brief fight netted him 35 million points, which is considered a decent amount. ****** "Do you admit your loss now?" Losha''s foot was on Maxine''s chest, the latter was severely injured and breathing heavily. She was beaten in a fair fight against the reincarnator, who didn''t hold back and finally showcased the true might of the Diamond Physique and the Divine Sword; Grail. "Do you?" The blacksmith repeated her words while leaning her closer to Maxine, who, strangely, had a bright smile on her face. "T, the terrain is not good but I admit itˇ­ I lost." As she said that, Losha retracted her hand and stretched her hand to the player, who accepted it, not withholding any hard feelings. They never planned to fight to the death and, in some ways, their character was a bit similar, though Maxine was on the crazier side. "But tell me! What was that mo-" Maxine suddenly stopped talking and looked to the side, precisely at the edge of the carriage. A person appeared out of nowhere and was staring at them but she couldn''t feel any hostility. "Huh? Isn''t she that White Specter? Lunaˇ­ no no, Lucy, right right!" Maxine sized up the incoming Lucy, not very interested in a fight but still keeping her guards up. The silver-haired woman stopped before the player and Losha, then slightly bowed her head to the latter. "Teacher." In response, Losha waved her hand dismissively while saying: "I''m not your teacher anymore so stop doing that." "ˇ­" Lucy raised her head and stared back at the red-haired blacksmith, who acted nonchalantly. Maxine used a skill similar to Appraisal to check Lucy''s info and when she read the displayed information, her opinion of the specter changed. "You''re really something, huh." She nodded her head as she inspected her from head to toe before backing off and leaving the area. Her behavior was strange and inexplicable but since Lucy didn''t come for the player, she didn''t comment and quietly watched the green-haired woman leave while whistling. "It''s rare to see you alone." Losha looked around before asking: "Where is that detestable husband of yours?" "I don''t know." Lucy shook her head while answering truthfully. They got separated on the previous floor and the train is just too big to search every nook and cranny. *Contestants, the train will reach the destination in 15 minutes. Please hold tight." Right after the tower spoke, the whole train started violently shaking, making many of the contestants lose balance. Unless you''ve got a special skill, flying is not possible using only energy, moreover, there were some large wraiths that would attack you if you leave the train''s protection range. When the trembling started, the screeching wraiths appeared from the shrouded sides and attacked everything that moved. Lucy took out her revolver and fired at the wraiths, which were momentarily stopped by the bullets but weren''t extinguished. Losha unsheathed Grail, the White divine sword, and stabbed the nearest wraith. A blinding light burst from the blade''s tip, it caused the monster to wildly cry before disappearing into nothingness. "Spiritual monsters can be killed using lig-" Before she could finish, Losha saw a blue cloud that appeared above the carriage. The cloud appeared from a blue bullet, this was but the beginning as countless lightning bolts descended upon all the attacking wraiths, slowly killing them, their bodies were emitting steam as they tried to flee but the zapping blue lightning was merciless, sparing none. Chapter 618 - 563: Sprout By the time the first contestant reached the 47th floor, three were eliminated, leaving only 18 inside the Red Tower. In addition to ''X'', Maktis, who''s Xyktia, also caught up and they started competing for the lead. The 16 others were on the 46th floor, where things got really bloody. Arthur fought Amtir again and managed to kick him out of the tower, though he had to hit him two consecutive times with his sword, which consumed a great deal of energy and sucked a lot of his life essence. While he can recover it with time and Life Magic, the backlash was even a parasite like him couldn''t resist. He felt incredible dizziness and fatigue which greatly slowed his movements and rendered him vulnerable for a few minutes. Using an expensive defensive formation and the body of the Black Turtle, Arthur was forced to receive the joint frontal attacks of Leo and the Saber Saint, who teamed up and clearly wanted to take him down. Leo was an experienced martial artist who used two hardened wooden batons, he was from the Heaven and Hell Universe and his fighting style could be described as strange. As for the Saber Saint, he obviously used a saber and was truly a strong individual. His saber attacks are deadly and faster than any of Arthur''s attacks. The two didn''t have any personal grudge against the parasite, they just wanted to eliminate the parasite because he''s considered a big threat to them as he can transform into many things, which can be troublesome later on. Fortunately, before they could breakthrough Arthur''s multi-layered defense, the robot AXYT-48 intervened and started indiscriminately attacking everyone. ***** "Is that supposed to scare me?" ''X'' leaned on his cane and mockingly said to the black-haired man gazing back at him. For a split second, she revealed her real appearance to him but he wasn''t the least bit afraid. She was the one who forcefully tasked him to search for the Divine Swords and, at that time, he had to obey or die, however, the situation was different inside the tower. "I can feel that you''re not as strong as when you were trapped. Oh, and I could care less about your motiveˇ­ just don''t bother me, eh?" He turned around and was about to leave but a black shadow lunged at him. The attacker''s sword went through the target as ''X'' teleported a distance away then glanced at the tall undead standing in his previous position. The undead was a Death Knight specially summoned by the creator of Necromancy. It boasted a monstrous strength and a great speed and that is without including its flawless control over Death Magic. It wasn''t like Arthur''s summons, which, at most, can fight against a new God. This Death Knight can fight and even defeat an Overgod and it''s but one of her undead, if she were to summon her strongest servant, she would be able to defeat all the contestants. "That''s a strong undead but I reckon it''s the only one you can summon here. The Joker is watching and I don''t think he''ll allow you to bring forth something that could break the balance of the competition. Now thenˇ­" He waved his hand and vanished, leaving an expressionless Xyktia behind. "What a strange man." She snorted and turned invisible, her summon was also affected by the stealth and followed right behind her. ˇ­ The competition inside the Red Tower began a bit less than two months ago and it was almost time for the grand show to begin. Although those who''re outside didn''t know what''s happening inside this massive structure, they could feel that the end is nigh. The Red Tower was glowing with a blinding crimson gold glow, the card symbols were continuously changing colors and expanding in size, covering almost the entirety of the sky-piercing tower. The army of Holy Knights doubled in size and blocked all sides of the tower and waited for the parasite to emerge for more than a month. The peaceful atmosphere and their dominance was broken when a thousand or so cultivators wearing the same attire appeared out of nowhere and attacked them. Apparently, they all belonged to the Kang Clan and were above the God Realm. Individually, they were very strong end managed to push back the dominion''s forces out of the area surrounding the Red Tower. Seraph, the man leading the Holy Knights battled someone both Arthur and Lucy were quite familiar with. He was a middle-aged man they met in the Underworld, he went by the name of Azure Bai. He was the vice-master of the Kang Clan and the Blue Seat of Wisdom of Black Rose, those the second identity was known only to few people. Despite having the numerical advantage, the Holy Dominion suffered one loss after the other and, to make matters worse for them, the Overgod Dan and Wrath, both trusted confidants of Isadore Malfront, King of Green Leaf, appeared in the battlefield and openly helped the Kang Clan. Although Seraph''s army was defeated multiple times, they didn''t back down, instead, they called for more reinforcements, fully determined to get Arthur, dead or alive. "Rin, how''s it hanging?" Bai poured some tea for the bard sitting next to him. From the way they talked to each other, you could see they were close friends. Aneirin''s attention was focused on a beautiful woman who accompanied Azure Bai here. She was the second-in-command and had a mature look and a revealing dress that exposed much skin. For a womanize like the wandering poet, he simply couldn''t take his eyes off her, he couldn''t even hear what his friend said. The woman stood next to her leader and pretended to ignore the stranger''s fiery gaze. As for Azure Bai, he chuckled and said: "I''ll properly introduce you two later so how about you tell me why you''re here?" He waved his hand in front of the poet''s face, snapping him out of his long daze. "Ehm I''m just meeting an old friend." "And who might that be?" Bai tried to probe further but the bard just dropped his head on the table and closed his eyes, trying to take a nap. ***** "You think this is a good place?" Sonia, the current vice-master of the MoonStar Sect, looked around while asking her Robin and Mary, who accompanied her here. They appeared in the desolate Eastern lands of Green Leaf, where only a few old races live, like the Pigolo and the Nagas. As per Arthur''s instruction, it''s finally time to expand the sect and there''s no better starting place than here. Isadore offered his help in establishing the first branch here and provided them with soldiers and materials to start the construction. Robin pushed back her glasses, crouched down and touched the dirt, which lacked any type of energy. The land was infertile and the weather is always hot but Arthur insisted to start here because he knew how to change it. The wasteland took a big portion of Green Leaf and it''s pretty much uninhabitable so the sect manages to dominate this land, it won''t be hard to expand to the outside world. "I smell nothing. There''s no grass or even insects." Mary sniffed the air but ended up shivering, clearly disliking how this place felt. It was no different from a land of death and without the talisman provided by the king, they wouldn''t be able to survive on their own. In addition to the three women, the young Rey, who looked more mature, there was also a few strong individuals in the air. There dozens of wraiths and three large bone dragons, the very first Arthur ever summoned. The main one had a body that was over four hundred meters in length and can even fight against a God, which is more than enough to guarantee the safety of its master''s friends. "It doesn''t matter as long as we use what Arthur gave us." Rey was playing with a ball of Dark Magic while saying that but he ended up getting smacked by an angry Robin, who berated: "I told you to call him Sir Arthur." The boy shrugged his shoulders and kept his lips tightly shut, unwilling to anger his guardian. This small group changed locations a few times until they stumbled upon a piece of land surrounded by rocky hills, the perfect place to build a thriving city. The workers sent by Isadore were confused but they didn''t voice their opinion and just followed Sonia, who didn''t look particularly strong. The red-haired vice-master took out a sprout from her storage and meticulously planted it on the lifeless ground. Within seconds, the sprouted grew bigger and bigger and affected everything around it, beginning from the ground. Grass and trees started rapidly growing, all kinds of vegetation covered the area, making it look more pleasant. As for the source of this, the sprout grew into an incredibly large tree which started changing forms until it became a tower similar to the one on Astria. It was made from white magic-resistant bricks and the symbol of the sect on its center. The king''s people were flabbergasted as they witnessed this magical sight. They thought they had to build everything from scratch but within minutes, a tower and a few large buildings rose from below, moreover, the lifeless earth showed signs of recovery, and the sky was soon covered by clouds, from which rain started pouring down. "It really works." Rey stood there in disbelief, amazed by the effects of a single sprout. It was given to them by Arthur, who created it using his spirit''s help along with Nature Magic. The largest dragon landed on the tower''s roof and crouched down, entering a slumber as its body started resembling a statue. It was tasked to protect Sonia and co and now that part of the city was built, it only had to rest and act if trouble arises. As for the workers, Sonia told them to start building the rest of the city using the materials provided by Isadore. They were the best in their respective fields and it won''t take long for this small city to be completed. Chapter 619 - 564: Fallen Gods and Rising Devils Floor 49 : Fallen Gods and Rising Angels This was the last floor before they reach the top of the Red Tower. 18 contestants out of 1000 managed to reach this floor and every one of them had seen everything to see in this otherworldly structure. Not all entered the floor at the same time but the sheer difficulty of the task made it hard even for the leading contestants to hastily complete it. In fact, what they had to do was simple, they just needed to survive inside a calamitous world. "Master, these are not normal disasters." The moment Arthur appeared on the 49th floor, he was knocked off balance and fell into a bottomless abyss. He quickly transformed into a bird and, with great difficulty, flew out of the crack. There was a violent earthquake assaulting the area, furthermore, the gravity was increased by fivefold, at the very least, and not even his spirit could negate the effect. "I can sense firestorms, earthquakes, whirlpools, and even black holes." As it had a high sensitivity to certain elements, the spirit''s sense caught the disasters occurring simultaneously all over the floor. Arthur looked at the shrouded sky, where there was a scarlet moon very close to the surface, and, from the looks of it, it was about to explode. "These disasters are similar to what Claud spoke about." Arthur''s guess was spot-on as this world was a recreation of past eventsˇ­ tragic events that wiped countless races off the face of the multiverse. Basically, these disasters were the retaliation of the natural laws after the balance was broken. The sheer magnitude of the disasters caused every living thing to cower and hide far away as not even the God Race managed to resist them. "I can sense Madam Lucy North of here." ''Is she alone?'' "She seems to be with the blacksmith." Arthur clicked his tongue and flew toward where Lucy, after all, he just needed to survive and it would be better to stay with his wife. Unfortunately, he just traveled for a few minutes only to be attacked by beings made of an ominous black light. They are corrupted versions of the God Race, a once-prominent race which was cursed by the Darkness Laws. Only two blocked Arthur''s way but they were strong enough to stop the speeding parasite and even cast a curse on him, which shouldn''t work thanks to his passives and high resistances. His movement speed was slowed but he negated the effect by buffing himself with the talismans. He unleashed a torrent of Dark Spears followed by several exploding detonators, which did no damage to the Fallen Gods. Not only were they very tough to beat, their attacks were destructive and complicated the situation as Arthur also had to deal with the unfavorable terrain affected by the disasters. He had left the range of the earthquake and was now affected by a massive wind whirlpool hanging in the sky. It released violent gales that rendered Arthur unable to fly properly and forced him to stick to the ground. To swiftly end things, Arthur used a fire Rizaki, engulfing the area with the hell flames, slowing down the spinning whirlpool and pushing away the Fallen Gods. He didn''t try to defeat them and, instead, activated [Transmutation] and [Eternium], before transforming into a lightning bolt that disappeared into the scarlet horizon. Apparently, Lucy was right under the moon-like thing high-up in the sky, even from his current distance, Arthur was able to see countless black dots, which actually were Fallen Gods. ******** "Those disasters happened in the Era of Beginning but no one knows their cause." Anastassia looked at the ravaged world and curiously commented. The previous Death showed her many things but she still didn''t know why disasters started hitting multiple words, sparing none. While Leiu maintained his silence, the Joker explained: "The balance was brokenˇ­ in a way, it''s the way the natural laws were administrating their punishment." "And how did the balance get broken?" "Well, there are many reasons, for example, the conjunction of two or more cycles, messing with time, etcˇ­" He paused for a second and studied Death''s face before continuing: "In this case, it''s because the natural laws couldn''t handle the Shadow Emperor''s existence. The Shadow Laws were getting out of hand and affecting the other ones hence the appearance of those disasters. Facing extinction, the laws started acting on their own, though what they had done didn''t really affect Moriah, who chose to end his own life." "So it''s just because of Moriah?" "What do you mean ''just because of Moriah''? It''s more than enough of a reason. He became so powerful that his existence started erasing everything else, just thinking about it gives me the chills." "I thought Moriah died because he couldn''t handle his own power." As she said that, the silent Leiu corrected her: "If he didn??t end his own life then he wouldn''t died anyway. He absorbed too much from the shadows and wasn''t able to contain it all regardless of how tough his shell was." After saying that, the youth stood up and waved his hand while adding: "It''s almost time. You should leaveˇ­ and take Saly home. Safely." He didn''t wait for Anastassia to reply and quickly left the room, followed by the Joker, who didn''t want to leave his brother''s side. They were heading to the 50th floor; the World of Darkness. Left alone, Death looked at the sleeping little girl then at the monitor. She enveloped the young beastmen with her magic and left the Red Tower second later. ****** An enormous illusory golden palm struck two Fallen Gods, flattening them on the ground and when they were about to get up, thick jet black chains sprung from the ground and bound their bodies, the gravity was also increased, further decreasing their mobility. Arthur descended from the sky, hitting one of the targets'' faceless heads with his glowing fist. A thundering explosion echoed across the area when his fist connected with the mass of black light, which was tougher than Amtir''s Jade. Arthur clenched his teeth and punched again, this time unleashing a burst of Dark and Void Magic. The Fallen God''s head slowly vanished but its body continued its struggle to break free from the chains. As for the other God, it managed to shatter the chains and attack the parasite only to be hit by a meteor-like fireball created by the Quad-Spirit. As flames engulfed the Fallen God, a grey tornado appeared from within Arthur''s body and flung the enemy in the air before it started eating what little was left of its Life essence. Without wasting any second, Arthur transformed into a White Tiger and leapt far away, leaving only one headless Fallen God wriggling on the ground. He left the perimeter of the whirlpool and entered another area flagged by a disastrous ash-colored rain. The heavy pouring liquid slowly decreased Arthur''s health and even when coated himself with Dark Magic, it didn''t work. In the end, he had to continuously use Life Energy to regenerate the lost Health. He was getting closer and closer to Lucy, who seemed to be in the middle of battling Fallen Gods along with Losha. ˇ­ Several minutes after finishing those two Fallen Gods, Arthur finally arrived at where his wife is. His eyes glowed with a blue light, freezing one of two enemies next to Lucy and her teacher, he teleported three times, appearing behind the target then used the White Tiger''s massive body to bash the Fallen God then he returned to his human form and flew next to Lucy, holding her wrist and spinning around. He spun 180 degrees before letting go of her hand, causing her body to fly in the air, directly towards one of the enemies. The White Specter made use of Devil Arm to slash at the mass of black light, ripping it into pieces. Surprisingly, the energy released by her arm was highly effective against the Fallen Gods. As for Losha, she didn''t face any troubles as her body was able to block all the attacks while her Divine Sword purged those malevolent entities. Once the few enemies were disposed of, Arthur looked at the massive scarlet moon above him, focusing mainly on the black dots fighting each other. There appeared to be two sides, one was composed of Fallen Gods and the others were humanoid-like monsters with horns and long tail. The shape of their hands and the scales covering them were a bit similar to Lucy''s devil arms but theirs didn''t release steam or has a shoulder-guards made of dark red scales. Chapter 620 - 565: The Good and The Evil (1) "It''s going to explode soon." Losha commented while activating her physique, which covered her body in unbreakable diamond. The scarlet moon which was very close to them was slowly cracking but the Gods and Devils fighting below it didn''t seem to care and continued crazily fighting each other. "Then we''ll be off." Arthur didn''t feel like talking with the reincarnator, he transformed into a shark made of bones and dove underground right after Lucy jumped on his back and tightly grabbed one of the thinner bones. Unlike him, she couldn''t navigate well under the unstable ground, and considering that the surface is filled with enemies, it''s much safer to travel underground. The tip of the shark was drilling through the tough earth, creating a large tunnel as it headed farther from the soon-to-explode moon. Unfortunately, minutes after Arthur left that area, the place was obliterated by a meteor shower caused by the moon, which split in two. Losha was prepared, however, she was still blasted far away and half of her body became bloodied. No one and nothing was spared, not even the parasite fleeing undergroundˇ­ Arthur and Lucy were hit by a flattening force which crushed the earth and turned the whole area in an unrecognizable mess. By the time the couple came to their senses, they were falling into the abyss along with countless boulders of all shapes and sizes, there were also corpses of both Gods and Devils. Arthur automatically returned to his human form and unconsciously held Lucy tight while activating the Angel of Death wings that allowed him to fly, though he had to dodge the innumerable things falling from above. The situation got even worse when a falling meteor that had a radius of several kilometers came crashing down. Lucy activated her Godspirit and used it to slow down the flaming boulder but, sadly, it didn''t last long as the ice lotus was soon shattered. The parasite held his wife''s hands as they faced the sky while falling... without needing to talk, the two started readying their energies. A massive and illusory humanoid figuer appeared behind them, it was holding a blue bow and was slowly pulling the unseen strings of the weapon. They didn''t get to complete the whole skill as the meteor was closing down, nonetheless, the fired arrow was incredibly destructive as hit the center of the boulder. From the point of impact to all over the target, Yin power started freezing everything and quelling down the crimson fire which kind of resembled the Hell flames. "It''s not stopping!" Arthur gritted his teeth and used two consecutive Rizakis, one made of Dark Magic and the other of Wind. He had to unleash them immediately as danger was nigh so their effect wasn''t at its peak either, nonetheless, the result was satisfactory as a third of the meteor vanished. Dark flames clashed with the crimson ones while violent invisible winds were getting big chunks off the meteor. Lucy didn''t remain idle either, through Arthur''s help, who granted her a momentary lightning buff which greatly increased her speed, she flew at the boulder like a shooting star. Her Devil Arm was emitting a lot of steam as she clenched her hand and poured all of her Mana into it then struck the unimaginable big target. Her appearance slightly changed as she activated her racial ability, further boosting her power and, at last, with a loud cry, she punched. A deep rumbling could be heard the moment her fist made contact with the meteor, it was quickly followed by an absurd amount of steam which enveloped the whole area. The second she hit her target, Lucy and Arthur simultaneously used the Time stop ability to weaken the red flames and the speed of the boulder. Fortunately, Lucy''s attack managed to split it then make it explode like fireworks, allowing the couple to take a breath. ˇ­ A distance away, a meteor no smaller than the one Arthur and Lucy had to deal with was frozen mid-air, or more precisely, it was stopped by a minuscule figure covered in diamonds. With blood covering her vision and most of her body, Losha was using her bare hands to stop the boulder. Slowly but surely, she was diverting the meteor''s trajectory with sheer physical strength. Although it took her a bit of time and she sustained several injuries, Losha still managed to throw away the meteor and then fell on the ground, panting heavily while clutching her rapidly beating heart. "That sneaky f.u.c.kerˇ­ this is the last floor!" She didn''t curse often but when she felt the energy emanating from within the half-destroyed moon, she instinctively knew this was not something as simple as surviving. It has been a long time she felt true fear, moreover, a single one of these countless falling meteors made her go all out. She threw a green pill in her mouth, sat cross-legged for ten seconds then got up after puking a mouthful of black blood. Feeling a bit refreshed, she looked around, looking for any contestants?? ??? A woman with a black hair that reached her feet looked at the crumbling sky and splitting earth before focusing on an unimaginably large wing hidden within the scarlet moon. "How the hell did he catch it?" She thought for a moment before mumbling: "Wait a minuteˇ­" As if she realized something, she gasped, unwilling to believe her speculation. "Leiuˇ­ you can''t fight fire with fire." Without any hesitation, she took out a scissor made of bones and her a big portion of her long hair then she spilled some of her blood on it. The result of her actions was instant as a void-like whole appeared on the earth and, from within, an undead was summoned. This was her strongest undead and it is even more powerful than her current weakened self. "You protect him and never leave his side, understood?" She coldly ordered the undead, which was actually a short girl with white eyes and hair. She had a thin white longsword made of bones on her back and wore a beautiful black dress. "Yes, milady." The girl bowed and vanished into a dispersing black smoke, breaking the space of the Red Tower and immediately appearing next to Leiu, who didn''t seem too surprised to see her. ˇ­ "ˇ­ Soon, I will not be myself so-" The Joker cut him off by saying: "Sure sure I know. I''m not interfering unless you''re in danger." The youth sighed and explained: "You don''t understand. It won''t work unless I''m in danger." "Sigradzomr''s presence is enough to force Sol''khin out." In response, Leiu shook his head and looked at an empty spot not far away. His brother followed his gaze only to see a robbed old man silently standing there, not showing any fear or hesitation. "There''s more than Sigradzomr." Zodiak, who was the first to arrive at this final place, also known as the World of Darkness, where Leiu''s manor actually is, stared at the armored youth and said: "You released the Elder Dragon Sigradzomr so you actually know that we''re not enough to take you down once you''re out of control butˇ­ an enslaved and vengeful monster won''t discriminate." "We''re not forcing anyone to be here. If you don''t want to be part of this then leave."-The Joker "Hehehe how can I leave? I need to reclaim what''s mine first." Dark Magic emanated from Zodiak''s body, it transformed into black flames that merged with the dark environment, almost camouflaging the old man. Zodiak wasn''t here to talk so after saying his piece, he took out a creepy cane from his storage and pointed it at the motionless Leiu. The moment it was taken out of the ring, Sol''khin''s cane started releasing an ominous purple light which even affected Zodiak, who grasped it more tightly. The light coming out of the skull atop the cane resonated with something Leiu, who clutched his chest and knelt on the ground. Very soon, the purple light started spinning around Zodiak and his target, seemingly about to take them elsewhere. Unfortunately, before the process was completed, the Joker appeared before the cane and blocked its purple light. He stretched his hand and fired a white beam which overpowered the cane''s light and stopped the teleportation. "If you want to take down Sol''khin then, sure, I won''t meddle but I''m not going to take my brother somewhere else. Whatever happens, I need to be present." Zodiak snorted and pulled the skull from the cane, he held it in his hand and injected a large amount of Dark Magic, causing the purple light to intensify. A few seconds later, a ghastly laughed could be heard from behind the Magician, who took a few steps back while looking at his brother, who was no longer conscious. "Ah! So it''s not Arthur but Zodiak? It''s really a surprise!" Though Leiu''s mouth didn''t open, Sol''khin''s voice echoed across this dark world. He stood up, uninterestingly glanced at the Joker then focused on the old man, who shattered the pulsating creepy with his hand. After a few seconds, Sol''khin was confused, using the youth''s body, he looked around then frowned: "I can sense Arthur''s soul tooˇ­ so invigorating!" Dark Magic was shot from Zodiak''s hand, targeting the still speaking Sol''khin, however, before it could reach him, it was cut by a white sword. The undead summoned by Xyktia reached her target and stood before the Nameless Knight, her sword in hand as she faced the angry Zodiak. He wasn''t in the mood to deal with extras so he went all out from the beginning, unleashing a monstrous amount of Dark Magic that engulfed everything and made the whole place shake. Faced with the calamitous and malevolent magic, the girl remained calm and swung her sword multiple times, each time splitting the big waves of Dark Magic as if they were nothing. As Zodiak was about to attack again, the white-haired undead girl was suddenly blasted by a destructive magic. She wasn''t injured but the blow pushed her to the side and opened a path for Zodiak, who was more than prepared. Forne made a timely appearance and started fighting the powerful undead. His destruction magic lightened the dark world as several loud explosions happened one after the other. Chapter 621 - 566: The Good And The Evil (2) As things started getting heated, the situation on the 49th floor wasn''t getting any better either. Arthur and Lucy met with three other contestants but they didn''t fight as they were too preoccupied with the meteor shower and the thing that''s trying to escape from the breaking scarlet moon. A wheel made of blue lightning was floating next to the couple, this was Raad, the lightning spirit and one of the contestants. In addition to the spirit, there was also Demon Lord Setros and Hach''ara, who both were frightened. The ginormous wings which stretched from within brought with them dread that scared even the most powerful individuals. Arthur looked at the trembling Lucy, not understanding what the fuss was really about. It was then that he discovered that he was unable to feel any kind of fear so he wasn''t affected by the aura of the monster inside the moon. "T-that can only Sigradzomr, the Elder Dragon." "Sigradzomr?" Arthur had never seen a living being this big, moreover, this one didn''t seem to belong to any of the three dragon races. The upper part of the wings was made of a yellow-ish armor while the rest had an illusory red shade. The sheer size of the wings alone is enough to cover all of the MoonStar city, if not more. "Supposedly, he''s the father of the Dragon Emperor. He disappeared a long time ago, I never thought he''s imprisoned here."-Hach''ara "He''s a supreme entity which had existed ever since the Era of Beginning. If it''s really him, we better leave immediately."- Setros The Demon Lord, which, for the sake of his title, always behaved elegantly and wore a black suit, glanced at the large wings and commented. With the exception of Arthur, everyone was shaking from head to toe, it was the kind of instinctive fear that everyone feels when they meet an entity that is superior to them. Arthur held Lucy closer to him and raised a few barriers of different attributes just in case. The moon was slowly being destroyed and the figure of the Elder Dragon started showing up. The contestants were afraid but no one used the Escape Ticket as they wanted to reach the top floor and receive the prizes. Apart from this group, several other contestants were currently freaking out and getting as far from source of danger as possible. Meanwhile, things were getting pretty rough in the World of Darkness. In addition to Forne and Zodiak, Celes also appeared and started helping the old Dark Magic-user. The Black Seat of Death was still dealing with the white-haired undead girl, who was very strong and was able to defend against the violent Destruction Magic cast by her enemy. The Grey Seat of Decay charged at Sol''khin and tried to grasp his hand to use her ability, however, when she got close to her target, she was blasted to the other side by one of Leiu''s fingers. Sol''khin released a formless force which easily countered the incoming enemy, then he jumped back, easily dodging a large hand made of Dark Magic. "Come on, Zodiak, do you really think such childish actions are going to work? We''re supposed to think alikeˇ­" In response, the old man snorted and took out several talismans, which he then split in two, causing his body to be enveloped by Dark Blue flames, his aura also increased by several folds. "Go help Forne!" He motioned for Celes to aid the Black Seat while he vanished from his spot and instantly appeared before the grinning Sol''khin. The dark blue flames cascaded upon the armored youth, who raised his hand and blocked a part of it but when Zodiak spun in the air and kicked him, the attack dealt enough damage to push the surprised enemy. "Kekekeke you''re really lively today." He calmly retrieved Anduril from his back and swung at Zodiak. It was a simple attack but the power unleashed by the two-handed sword was more than enough to extinguish the wave of flames and sent the target flying hundreds of meters away. Sol''khin played with the black sword in his hand, pleased to see it demonstrate such destructive and unstoppable power. The expressionless face of Leiu became disgustingly twisted as he licked his lips and hysterically laughed, basically, a typical clich¨¦ of how an evil person should act. Zodiak''s body rolled a few times on the ground but he managed to stabilize himself as he was enveloped by a black tornado. Very soon, he revealed himself, covered in the same dark blue flames and ready to attack again as if nothing had happened. A distance away from them, Forne and Celes were ganging up on the undead, whose sole duty was to protect Leiu, even if he wasn''t fully conscious now. Despite being in a disadvantage, she managed to hold on for a quite some time and even inflict some damage. Forne''s destruction magic acted like some sort of defense layer which pushed off any nearby enemies, however, Celes'' Physique wasn''t so practical so she ended up being hit by the girl''s sword. A deep slash wound appeared on her chest and though she managed to heal some of it using her Death Magic, the sword essence sunk deep into her bones and will only be removable using external and efficient means like miraculous pills or an even superior sword essence. "[Death Touch] isn''t working?" Questioned Forne while furrowing her brows and throwing red orbs which exploded after crossing some distance. He was basically blasting away the undead each time she rushed at either of them. "She''s an Undead! Of course it''s not working!" Celes inwardly cursed him for asking a dumb question, she retrieved some grey ash and put it on her bloody wound before getting up and activating her physique to the fullest. Her figure became illusory and her skin became decomposed, making her look quite ugly. She floated high up in the air and stretched her hand, from which two massive skeletal heads appeared. They screeched loudly as they slowly made way to the undead girl, which was trapped into a small area due to the continuously exploding Magic of Forne, done purposely to momentarily lock her in place. ****** Unfortunately, Arthur and co weren''t able to get that far away as the rest of world was obliterated into nothingness. Many of the contestants gathered up, finding it safer to group up and join hands in case something bad happens, which will most likely happen judging from the current dire situation. "I don''t mind it fighting, you know." Unlike her fellow peers, Maxine was excited as her eyes gleamed every time she looked at the enormous wings high up in the sky. She was afraid but the urge to fight an ancient dragon surpassed the instinctive dread. "You, no, we don''t stand a chance against him." Losha healed most of her injuries but her complexions wasn''t looking that good. Like all the rest, she didn''t want to give up after coming all this way but once Sigradzomr is freed, there''s no telling what will become of them. Sure, they were strong but this was an Elder Dragon and just the mere sight of it made them shake in their boots. Only Arthur remained oblivious and didn''t feel threatened by the monster, in fact, he felt nothing but numbness. "It''s not like we attacked him so there''s no reason for him to come after us." Said Sickle Bart while shrugging his shoulders. "He''s been imprisoned and enslaved for millenniums, he''ll attack anything that moves and I don''t want be there to witness that." The Saber Saint was nervous as he caressed his weapon and stole a couple of glances at the crimson moon, he seemed about to leave the Red Tower at any second. "There must be a way to get to the next floor safely."-Arthur "The task was to survive so I don''t think it''ll happen."-Setros "No, the task is to survive but the tower didn''t say that it''s the only way to proceed to the next floor. Considering the current circ.u.mstances and that Elder Dragon, I reckon that the path is somewhere near it, perhaps even above it." Chapter 622 - 567: The Split Soul The concept of time was born when Arthur traveled to the past, exactly when the Twelve just came into existence. His appearance changed many things and allowed them to distinguish themselves using magic or names. He taught many things, beginning from energy to magic to creation, which they learned quickly and perfectly. At that time, Bilgart, also known as the Watcher, was present and he, too, was fascinated by the things Arthur said. He was born before the Twelve but his knowledge was limited due to his age, which didn''t increase as there was no concept of time before the parasite''s arrival. He watched from afar and mastered everything Arthur talked about, be it the dreadful Shadow Magic or the laws of space, which allow you to teleport and even mess with the space-time continuum. He also learned that there are many things that can threaten him, like the Time Wraiths, for example, which are remnants of past victims who succ.u.mbed to the punishment of the Time Laws. The Watcher very much wanted to travel to the future but he refrained from doing so and gave more priority to the Twelve, which he considered as his childrenˇ­ the next generation that will pave the way for all the weaker races that are bound to appear. Actually, it wasn''t much after Arthur''s departure that Bilgart witnessed the appearance of foreign races, creatures that have limitless potential, and hold great power. Xyktia and Dmitra tried imitating those races but the result was neither satisfactory nor strong enough to please their creator. Two of these races are the Dragons and the Vampires, the former had a greater number and were quite arrogant but the blood-sucking race was extremely secretive. They held no enmity against Bilgart when he went to visit them and even spoke of their former world, a plane of existence separate from the multiverse they were in. As for the dragons, at first, only four appeared and they were respected by all the rest. The most memorable was a humongous Elder Dragon by the name of Sigradzomr and the father of the other three, which were, respectively, a Geo Dragon, a Black Dragon, and an Empyrean Dragon. A millennium after their arrival, a new Dragon Lord was appointed, it was the Geo Dragon; Vizumat. The Black Dragon was his older brother Xedieg, and the Empyrean Dragon was the little sister Fryzai, though the age difference wasn''t that big. The reason a new Dragon Lord had arisen was because Sigradzomr after a devastating fight with a highly intellectual civilization. When their battle over, the civilization completely vanished, leaving only their advanced machines and luminous golden cities, likewise, the Elder Dragon couldn''t be found. This was when the Twelve were creating their Races and Realms and familiarizing themselves with their powers. Bilgart wasn''t interested in creating something special and only wanted to imitate Arthur, the time traveler who taught him everything. At first, the result was pleasant as a baby male human was created but the Watcher couldn''t calibrate the newborn''s powers and ended up giving him many blessings. "What''s this? Is it yours?" Timos happened to stumble upon the baby and the crow next to him, he inspected the crying baby before asking Bilgart. In response, the crow flapped its wings and answered: "It''s just an experiment." "Well, it can''t be an experiment if the result is perfect, and in the first try, too." After a brief silence, Bilgart said: "I created a flawless thing but ''he'' wasn''t devoid of faults."The mistake Bilgart made was that he made the young Arthur too perfect, he granted him everything and equipped him with every possible attribute and power that had ever existed. For most, the result was pleasant but the Watcher wanted to imitate the a.d.u.l.t Arthur and not create a perfection test subject. "It doesn''t seem that you''ll keep it so how about you give it to me?"-Timos Bilgart didn''t reject the Black Devil''s offer and ended up giving him the baby so he can raise him. It was only a few years later that the crow went back to Timos to retrieve Arthur, finally realizing his mistake after pondering for quite some time. Unfortunately, the baby drastically changed and was affected by the Cthulhu''s savage aura. Timos also never expected the innocent newborn to be easily influenced and after only a couple of years, a monster was born inside of the young Arthur, totally changing his nature, twisting to an unimaginable degree. Obviously, Bilgart was infuriated with Timos and ended up locking him into Riarravar as a punishment but the latter freed himself sometime later. As for the baby, which was named Sol''khin by the Strategist, he was taken by the crow. Getting rid of the corrupted part was impossible without killing the victim so Bilgart had to use extreme measures. He separated the soul in two and sealed the evil part then brought the other part to a place that wasn''t affected even by the Time Laws. That second part was the very same Arthur raised by Bilgart, that courtyard was a separate plane in which Time didn''t flow hence why his young appearance never changed even after a long time passed in the outside. ***** "If we were to talk about your adventurous journey through time, there is a lot to talk about." Explained Arthur''s copy, who sat opposite to him in this peaceful courtyard that existed everywhere and nowhere. Arthur was more and more surprised the more he heard. To think that his last piece of soul was actually Sol''khin, the very same thing that Forne and Zodiak want to kill. It also explains why the Joker and Leiu refused to do anything and allowed the Black Seat and his group to come at them. "You went back to the Era of Beginning twice. The first trip was when you taught the Twelve and the reason behind the second isˇ­ a bit complicated and better not spoken right now. Anyway, the soul is not split 1/3 for each, nay, you have 1/4, Zodiak has 1/4, and Sol''khin has 1/2, which is why he''s able to absorb all your powers and can even control your dear brother." "You said that Leiu is the reason I can''t break free from my cyclesˇ­ why is that?" "He''s fully capable of killing Sol''khin but if that were to happen, do you think you''ll still exist? Each part of your soul is essential and without it, the rest will slowly disappear too. Considering that Sol''khin has 1/2 of the soul, if it were to vanish, the smaller parts will dissipate sooner or later. He knows that by killing the enemy, he''ll end up killing his brother too." "So what do you suggest doing?" "Combine it together, of course. You and Zodiak can overpower Sol''khin and absorb half of the soul but only if it''s inside Leiu''s body. When Sol''khin''s host dies, the soul will be severely weakened and it''ll be the perfect time to attack." "Are you telling me to kill Leiu?" The man shrugged his shoulders and retorted: "It''s one way or the other. There''s no outcome where you both survive." ***** BONUS: LORE Arthur Bilgart: Created in the Era of Beginning by Bilgart (The Watcher), a being that''s very similar to the human race but internally different. He was the perfect creation, surpassing even the Twelve and in possession of every magic that ever existed. Later on, he was given the name Sol''khin by Timos and ended up being corrupted by the savage and violent aura of the Cthulhu, his personality and appearance drastically changed and became very twisted. He was the incarnation of true evil and were it not for The Watcher''s intervention, Sol''khin would''ve cause a big mess. The soul was split in two, one was sealed and the other was taken to a special dimension, where it went back to its original and innocent appearance. When the separation occurred, Arthur was no longer a perfect being and the abilities were split between the two souls. After an inordinate amount of time, Arthur was taken to Earth, where he was raised as an orphan in the Philippines. He grew up to become a successful businessman but, unfortunately, his end was tragic and miserable as he killed himself after months of torture planned by his wife, Claudia. However, death wasn''t the end for Arthur, who was reincarnated into Astria thanks to the Joker and the Nameless Knight''s interference. They went to Heaven and threatened Fate, who forcefully put reincarnated Arthur to the world designated by the crazy assailants, who almost killed her. Arthur was given a new as a parasite and as destiny would have it, he met Lucy, who will later become his eternal partner. One event after the other happened and the parasite evolved more than a few times, becoming a Soul Parasite, which is a Race that''s slowly erasing his humane emotions. Dark Soul Parasite: A new Race automatically created by the System when Arthur reached the necessary requirements. It''s able to obtain double the stats of any hosts possessed and it allows the user to transform into anything(n the catalog) without needing a real corpse. Additionally, soul parasites cannot be killed by physical attacks, However, if their Health reaches 0 due to a physical attack, they will be severely weakened and their stats will significantly decrease for at least a day. Soul parasites can avoid any physical attack if they remain in their soul form, however, they become very vulnerable to Soul and mental attacks so it is not advised to use this ethereal/soul form. Chapter 623 - 568: Sword and Dragon "This is going nowhere, Zodiak." Sol''khin swung Anduril at Zodiak, sending him flying for the nth time but the latter would just charge again, regardless of the injuries he suffered. It was a one-sided beating, no matter how much Zodiak strengthened himself, he wasn''t able to inflict any damage to Leiu''s armor. On the other side, the undead girl finally started showing signs of weakness as Forne''s destruction magic was becoming more violent. The sparks which exploded upon contact were cracking the bone longsword and slowly rendering here incapable of moving as fast as a few minutes ago. ˇ­ "Tell me again, how is this supposed to work?" Maxine was questioning the plan told by the lightning spirit. All the contestants present on the 49th floor were holding hands in a circle with Raad in the middle. Apparently, he''ll use them as fuel and strike Sigradzomr, who was close to being freed. More than half of the moon was gone and the frightening and massive body of the Elder Dragon could be seen high up in the sky. Its sheer size brought shame even to the Titan Race of the past, who boasted of size similar to planets, though not all of them preferred being big. The Elder Dragon had a yellow body with some parts seemingly transparent with a bit of a red shade. His eyes were not open yet but his enormous wings were twitching and affecting the prison-like moon, which caused a meteor that transformed the 49th into a chaotic place utterly void of a steady ground. The sight of this place was even worse than Hell itself, the sky was filled with falling meteors and the ground no longer existed, it was just a bottomless dark abyss. "This is ridiculous." None of the contestants wanted to actually hold hands like little kids but from what Raad said, this method has a high probability of working. They just need to pour their unique magic into the spirit in their center, which will combine their energies and unleash a powerful joint attack. Unfortunately, they neither had the time to think about it or hesitate as the dragon was almost free and wasting any more time will only complicate things. Arthur held Lucy and ''X''s hands, Lucy held Losha''s hand, who, in her turn, held Maxine hands, et cetera.. It was a comical thing to witness but after a few seconds, all kinds of colorful energies emanated from the 13 contestants and were sucked into a lightning vortex created by Raad. There was Dark Magic, Yin Power, Fire Magic, pure and sharp Sword Essence, Space and Time Magic, Wind, and Dark Matterˇ­ they all went through the center of the vortex, disappearing within. After one minute passed, Raad, who had the appearance of a head made of blue lightning, merged with the vortex, which expanded in size and pushed away all the contestants, forcing their hands apart. At the very same time, an ear-piercing reverberated across the floor, causing everyone to hold their bleeding ears and kneel down, unable to handle the pressure or the wild sound waves. Following the loud dragon cry were unstoppable gales produced by the moving wings. They moved once yet they released wind waves that could even injure an Overgod. Fortunately, Raad was finally done, the lightning head opened its mouth and fired a multi-colored beam which became larger in size the more distance it crossed. After it crossed half the distance, the colors separated and each took a form. There was a flame snake that spit freezing ice, a black dragon covered in Dark Magic, a spinning sword which periodically turned invisible, and an arrow covered in Raad''s blue lightning. They simultaneously hit the humongous Elder Dragon, resulting in multiple loud explosions. The massive target was even pushed a little bit and the rest of the moon shattered, sending its large debris all over the place. The lightning spirit tried to use its magic to take the others to the slightly visible portal above the dragon but the moment they got close, Sigradzomr''s wings started flapping again. Wind blades that were a kilometer in length covered the sky, they were innumerable and unstoppable as they hit the thirteen contestants. Although they did defend themselves, the wind blades were too sharp and only Ber Von Xin was able to fully block them using his sword, though he was still pushed back. Right after doing that, the Elder Dragon spit a literal black hole which surprisingly didn''t affect its surroundings and, instead, pulled the people on the 50th floor to this ravaged world. ˇ­ Zodiak, Sol''khin, and the rest were busy fighting only for a miniature black hole to appear out of nowhere and pull them towards it. Regardless of their power, none, including the Joker, were able to resist the suction force and in a few seconds, they ended up being taken to the 49th floor. Despite what happened, The Trickster didn''t seem surprised as he backed away the moment he appeared in the middle of the crimson sky, he played with his cards while eyeing the ginormous and dreadful dragon. Some contestants were confused and others were surprised. Most were far from the awakened dragon but could still its overwhelming aura. The first one who acted was Sol''khin, who didn''t seem afraid of Sigradzomr. "Did you seriously think we''ll fight? We were frie-" Before he could finish, the dragon''s large mouth struck him, literally sending him dozens of kilometers away. Leiu''s jet black armor wasn''t damaged but Sol''khin, the one controlling him, didn''t seem completely fine as he held his chest and coughed some blood. Just from that one attack, he appeared quite angered as he glared at the vengeful dragon. "So, you were saying?" The Joker smirked and pointed at the dragon, which seemed to disregard everything and attack Leiu, for some reason. Seeing the incoming dangerous beast, Sol''khin held Anduril and flew at Sigradzomrˇ­ their clash was on a different scale to anything that ever happened in the Red Tower. The two were just too strong, whether it''s the Darkness wielded by Leiu or the Elder Dragon''s Wind and Fire Magic. The sky was no longer scarlet as it was split into two sides, one was an inky black night while the other was a literal sea of fire that dominated both the non-existent ground and the blinded canopy. Despite its absurd size, the dragon was able to move with a fast speed, it clashed with Anduril dozens of times but the black sword was able to inflict serious damage. Each time Sol''khin swung his sword, a huge chunk of the dragon was cut. Things got even more flashy when Sol''khin used one of Leiu''s skills, he held the sword with both hands and slashed horizontally, resulting in a black arc to cover the sky and hit the dragon from the neck all the way to its stomach. Sigradzomr''s body was sent flying to the bottomless abyss as a bloody sword scar appeared on his body. He released loud shouts as he flapped his wings and stabilized his body only for Sol''khin to strike again, this time throwing Anduril, which transformed into a small but fast black dragon that spun around as it descended upon its target. Without any resistance whatsoever, the sword went through the Elder Dragon, leaving a gigantic hole from which a lot of blood gushed out. While smirking, Sol''khin raised his hand, signaling Anduril, which obediently flew back to his owner. He watched the struggling dragon, which wasn''t able to attack anymore before turning his head and staring at the small group of contestants watching the unfolding events from far away. The pair of inky black eyes focused especially on Arthur, who couldn''t feel fear but still felt mildly uncomfortable. ****** BONUS LORE : The system to rank the weapon users is universal and applies for most of the commonly used weapons in the multiverse. If one is in possession of the System and has maxed the Level of the sword mastery, then that person is considered a Sword Apprentice. If you can wield Sword Essence then you''re a Sword Master. (Sword Master=> Sword Grandmaster) If you can develop your own unique Sword Essence then you''re a Sword King. (Sword King=> Sword Emperor) If you can coat your whole body with your own unique Sword Essence, and also cut down God spirits, then you''re a Sword Saint. The last rank is known as Sword God and only a few people have reached it. Apparently, you need to enter a special kind of enlightenment to reach that stage. So far, only one person managed to reach a stage beyond Sword God but said stage still remains nameless. Chapter 624 - 569: Antimatter (1) Sol''khin ignored everything else and charged at Arthur, prioritizing him over everyone else. As Arthur was significantly weaker than Zodiak, it''ll be much easier to get his soul. Within a split second, a dark shadow manifested itself in front of Arthur but Sol''khin didn''t strike with his sword, instead, he stretched his arm toward the parasite''s soul, attempting to stab his chest. This swift attack was almost successful were it not for the interference of several individuals, the first of them being Zodiak, whose body became bigger and unrecognizable as Dark blue flames covered him from head to toe. The old man held Leiu''s hand and tried to fling his body far away but an unusual kind of unstoppable darkness enveloped Zodiak, isolating him for some time. Sol''khin snorted and used his the other hand to block an incoming sword. Surprisingly, this sword managed to cut the youth''s hand and even pushed him back a few meters. The Sword God, Ber Von Xin, appeared in front of Arthur and swung his sword again, releasing a pure white sword essence that partially canceled Leiu''s darkness and blasted him even further away. Losha and Maxine also attacked, each using their full power in order. Grail, the Divine Sword, emitted a pillar of light which hit the target''s right side while Maxine''s sword stabbed the empty air, magically forming three floating green circles directed at Sol''khin. The circles slowly rotated for a second before unleashing a waterfall-like attach which was made of shiny green energy. The two attacks simultaneously hit Sol''khin, dealing enough damage to send him flying but, unfortunately, weren''t strong enough to pass through the thick black armor. Excluding those who knew about Sol''khin, the rest of the contestants were perplexed and didn''t know who was the enemy and what must be done to clear this floor. "Long story short, something evil is controlling the Nameless Knight and if we get rid of it, we clear the Red Tower."-X Seeing the dumb looks everyone was having, ''X'' spouted gullible lies to trick them into helping him. Sigradzomr was almost back into the battle but from the previous exchange, it was clear that Sol''khin has the upper hand thanks to Leiu''s overwhelming power. While some believed the blurry-faced man, there were others who were skeptical of his words, like Losha, for example. "Yeahˇ­ I don''t think you''re right. You want us to defeat him? I think the real problem is that thing." She pointed at the humongous dragon rising in the air and preparing to attack again. The Elder Dragon''s eyes focused on the youth wearing black armor and seemed ready to strike again. ˇ­ "What do we do?" Lucy whispered to Arthur while witnessing the unfolding events. She didn''t know who to side with, especially now that things got very complicated. "Let''s standby, for now." He wrapped his hand around her waist and used skill provided by the Space Bender title, quickly turning invisible along with his wife, and disappearing from everyone''s view. He made sure to activate his stealth abilities to their full so that Sol''khin won''t be able to locate him amidst the chaos. Even though he was using his brother''s body, he wasn''t accustomed to the power nor the skills, moreover, it won''t be easy to track him down with all these people attacking from all directions. "What do you think Zodiak will do?"-Lucy After a short silence, Arthur sighed and replied: "I really have no idea." He turned his head and looked at the big dark blue silhouette rushing at Sol''khin. In addition Zodiak, Sigradzomr also descended upon the relatively small Sol''khin, however, contrary to his allies, the dragon didn''t care about anything else and unleashed attacks that hurt both his target and everyone else. Zodiak was a step faster than the dragon as he wielded the dark blue flames and relentlessly attacked Sol''khin, who used Anduril to block the fire and negate the corruption effect of Dark Magic. As for the Elder Dragon, its threatening descent was stopped by a black-haired woman. She stepped in the air as if it was the ground and wielded dual long red daggers, she was crazy fast and all you could see was her dissipating after-image. By the time the dragon reacted, its left-wing was shredded by countless red flower petals that came out of Xyktia''s daggers. Even after damaging the massive left-wing, she didn''t stop as she danced in the air and filled the sky with countless raging rose petals which hit the dragon''s head, blinding it for a few seconds. Sadly, the Lady of the Darkness wasn''t able to do more than that as she faltered and was hit by a beam of golden light emitting from the top of the Sigradzomr''s right-wing. Her body was sent flying like a kite across the sky and fell into the bottomless abyss. "Tsk tskˇ­ the things we do for love."-The Joker Despite her disappearance, the sharp and deadly petals didn''t vanish and kept attacking the Elder Dragon, leaving it no choice but to cover itself with its remaining wing to lessen the suffered damage. As the contestants were backing away, unwilling to involve themselves in a this fight, which was beyond their capabilities, Zodiak was becoming stronger the longer he fought. Anduril and Leiu''s darkness were slowly but surely having little effect on the transformed old man, whose sole goal was to get rid of Sol''khin. "Hahaha Zodiak! It''s no fun if only the two of us are fighting!" Using Leiu''s body, he wielded the thick dark sword, swinging it left and right, continuously, deflecting the dark blue flames and pushing away the madly attacking Zodiak. After one last exchange, Sol''khin threw Anduril in a specific directionˇ­ the sword crossed dozens of miles within a second and when it reached its target, Leiu appeared behind it with his hand tightly grasping it. A loud sound of two metal clashing with each other echoed across the flour as Arthur was forced out of his stealth. The parasite was clenching his teeth and holding a normal-looking sword while facing Sol''khin, who was smirking at the distressed Arthur. Were it not for the mysterious sword given to him by Timos, he wouldn''t have been able to block that seemingly normal attack. In fact, Arthur''s sword remained unscathed even after coming in contact with Anduril, which is supposedly the strongest sword in the multiverse. Thanks to his sky-high strength and the sword, Arthur was able to block Anduril for three seconds before someone interfered. Lucy and Ber Von Xin attacked at the same time, the latter used her left hand to clench her right wrist and unleashed a small wave of white fusion flame, as for the Sword God, he raised his sword to the sky and swung down, releasing a devastating strike which split the sky and any type of energy in its way. The flames hit Sol''khin''s front while the sword attack accurately hit the target''s head, dizzying Sol''khin for a split second. Arthur jumped a little to the back then slashed with his swordˇ­ Although he didn''t use any skill, the attack blasted both the nearby Lucy and Ber Von Xin but it, fortunately, didn''t damage them. It passed through the wide Anduril and hit Sol''khin in the chest, causing him to stagger a few steps and even cough some blood. For a few seconds, he stood there, dazed, as if he couldn''t believe he was injured by Arthur. ******* BONUS LORE Darkness and Dark Magic. Many people think that these two are the same thing because, on the outside, they have many similarities, however, the truth couldn''t be more wrong. Dark Magic is reliant solely on Dark Mana, which is actually converted normal Mana. It affects and is affected by emotions and it is able to corrupt material and spiritual things such as Earth, Water, and even ghosts. Once it invades a target''s body, Dark Magic can weaken their energy circulation and slowly corrupt their Dantian, it is like a ticking bomb which can be detonated at the user''s will. Only its caster can cancel its effect and very few attributes can resist its potent effect. Void Magic, Dark Matter, and Antimatter are all able to cancel or even reverse the effect of Dark Magic. Darkness, or Darkness Magic, is something unique which is rarely used by cultivators or even high-leveled players. Mastering Darkness Magic is very hard and finding or creating skills suited for it is close to impossible due to its nature. Not only is it easily countered by many attributes, but it can also backlash if the environment is not favorable. What most people know about Darkness Magic is it that it revolves around curses and debuffs, however, that is only a portion of it. The true darkness is when you can shroud the sun and turn the sky blacker than night. It is when you wield the real darkness however you want, whether it''s making a powerful skill vanish or erasing things from existence. Anything in existence emits light and the role of darkness is to get rid of that light so, essentially, Darkness is one of the strongest, if not the strongest, attribute. However, ever since the Era of Beginning, there are only a few who mastered and a handful who displayed its true deadly potential. Chapter 625 - 570: Antimatter (2) *Disabling safety optionsˇ­ 100%* *Enabling auto-destruct mode.. 100%* *Enabling auto-battle mode.. 100%* *Mana and Nether Energy conversion.. 100%* *AXYT-022 ready to engage in 5..4..3..2..* The two robots which fused into one finally made their appearance though they looked very different from the last time they were seen. The big cannon which replaced their head was nowhere to be seen as they changed into a humanoid dark figure. The body was made of black metal, very similar to the ARK, and there were 1s and 0s rotating around the waist. It levitated above what little was left of the ground and locked its focus on Sol''khin, which is its sole threat, and the only reason it climbed the Red Tower. Most of the robots that belong to the System obey only to one thing and it''s the main control hive, they followed the orders unconditionally and are basically immortal so they can be repaired endlessly if parts of their bodies get destroyed. When Sol''khin was hit by the joint attack, he didn''t have enough time to dodge the incoming robot. AXYT-022 flew towards its target and raised its hands, from which a new and dominant type of energy was manifesting itself. It''s a very rare and hard to produce kind of energy, also known as Antimatter. Its sole purpose is to cancel every obstacle it meets, it doesn''t devour like Void Magic but it negates everything. When a spell is being cast, a type of energy flows in a certain way for the spell to be successfully unleashed, however, Antimatter purposely goes against the flow. In fact, there has never been a case when a living being was able to control it due to its uncontrollable and self-harming nature. The System''s robots can barely manipulate it and that''s at the cost of thousands of failed experiments. Anyhow, Antimatter was, at first colorless, and when a large quantity was cast by the robot, tiny white sparks surrounded the metallic hands and quickly spread around the flying machine. Whether it''s Von Xin''s sword essence or Arthur''s strike, they all vanished without trace. Even the eternal darkness revolving around Sol''khin was nowhere to be seen. Unfortunately, that''s all the robot could do, and if it actually wants to defeat its target, its shallow control of Antimatter is not enough, not at all. It managed to reach Leiu within seconds and strike with its heavy body, attempting to crack the black armor defending its user. Sadly, the machine bounced off the moment it made contact with Sol''khin, who pointed his hand at the robot and fired a strange black light. It penetrated the robot''s chest and momentarily turned off all its functions and that is when Sol''khin raised Anduril and casually swung it at the unresponsive machine. Just by slashing down his sword at a faraway target, he was able to produce a powerful attack filled with Darkness and highly refined Sword Essence. Arthur felt a bit conflicted as Sol''khin was attacking him but he didn''t really want to side with Forne and Zodiak because they only want to kill Sol''khin and it doesn''t matter if Leiu perishes with him. Nevertheless, the circ.u.mstances were pushing him to battle against his ''brother'', especially now that the enemy was focusing on him. It was obvious that Sol''khin wanted to get his soul as that will greatly strengthen him but it won''t be easy even with Leiu''s body as most of the contestants, including Sigradzomr, were ganging up on the evil being. Speaking of the contestants, some chose to back away and watch while others were trying to hit Sol''khin, though their attacks were easily deflected by the ominous darkness surrounding him. The only people that forced Sol''khin to move and properly block were the Sword God, Zodiak, and the Elder Dragon. Ber Von Xin only attacked when a good opportunity arises while Zodiak and Sigradzomr were going all out. Moreover, the two seemed to have reached a mutual agreement as the dark blue flames merged with the dragon''s wingsˇ­ Zodiak stood atop the Elder Dragon and prepared himself. A spear that was over 5 meters in length was held by Zodiak, who tapped the dragon''s head, signaling for it to begin. In response, Sol''khin repeated his unpleasant laugh and held Anduril with both hands. He disregarded everything else and jumped into the air while swinging his weapon at the colossal dragon which covered his view and pretty much the entirety of the sky. Sol''khin''s sword slash was supposed to wreak havoc and stop the Elder Dragon, however, it suddenly vanished as tiny white particles surrounded the armored youth, locking him into place and canceling all of his powers. It was then that Zodiak and his new companion struck with all of their powers, the former threw his spear, which was embedded with all of his Dark Magic, whilst the latter opened its mouth and used its unique breath. Illusory yellow flames pushed the dark blue spear, making it faster as it struck Sol''khin within a second, as for the dragonic flames, they engulfed him, pushing him into the bottomless abyss. This wasn''t the end, however, as the robot dived into the darkness and initiated its self-destruct, ready to trade its own life to kill the enemy. Everything happened so fast and by the time Arthur and the rest realized what just happened, a blinding flash came down below, followed by a staggering amount of Antimatter which canceled everything and caused most of the contestants to fall from the air as they were incapable of flight. Arthur quickly changed into the Azure Dragon and helped Lucy and the nearby Ber Von Xin and Losha. The three stood atop the wide and majestic dragon as it rose into the air, trying to avoid a powerful blast which heavily injured everyone without exception. Even the Joker was forced to use one of his cards to protect himself. He was stepping on a floating card while clicking his tongue, clearly unhappy with what the robot just did. Sadly, when everyone came to their senses and thought that this was all over, a sinister laughter reverberated across the floor. Arthur noticed a red light emerging from his chest, it was none other than the card given to him by his brother. It was meant to summon the Joker in case he met one of the Deadly Sins but it automatically activated itself when a life-threatening danger befell on the parasite. "No good!" Losha was panicking as she felt shills down her spines, she retrieved the Escape Ticket and hurriedly said: "We must leave now!" She ushered Lucy to leave then, without any hesitation, left the Red Tower. The Sword God, despite his exceptional prowess, didn''t lag behind either as he could feel that whatever was coming should not be faced head-on. With the exception of Forne and his group, all the other contestants swiftly left. A thick pillar of crimson light shot down from below and, most unexpectedly, behead Sigradzomr before he was even able to do anything. The Elder Dragon''s humongous head along with its body instantly turned into black ash and dissipated. A second attack made its appearance, going straight at Zodiak, who trapped himself in a large dark blue cube, which shattered the moment it made contact with the red pillar. The old man''s body was directly hit and all the dark blue flames were extinguished. These successive and terrifying attacks were nothing but the beginning as as darkness crept from the abyss and dominated the whole tower, making it violently shake as it''s about to collapse at any moment. This was one of Leiu''s signature attack, it''s called [The Blackest Night] and it can even kill someone like Timos or Xyktia. Speaking of the Lady of Darkness, she also left the Red Tower but her undead was able to seriously injure Celes and Forne before she ''died''. The two members of Black Rose were barely in a condition to fight but they still didn''t leave the tower. ''X'' used his Time Magic to freeze himself in a separate special, rendering him immune to everything for a short period of time. The darkness released a deep and chilling growl as it covered everything on the 49th floor and even affected the lower flowers. Even the tiniest speck of light was gone as Sol''khin cast one of his host''s strongest attacks. It wasn''t destructive or loud and didn''t last long either, apart from that growl, there was nothing but the cold darkness, which lasted for about a minute before everything went back to ''normal''. However, those who remained, with the exception of Arthur and Lucy, who were protected by the Joker''s card, and the Joker himself, everybody else was heavily if not fatally injured. Forne was holding his chest and coughing one mouthful of blood after the other. Celes was shaking and about to collapse at any second while ''X'' lost his arm and was trying his best to heal himself. He didn''t look as miserable as his companion but that lost arm can never be restored, even with his Time Magic. G''am Tir and the Void Behemoth were floating next to each bother, both bloodied. The big purple beast was roaring and unleashing Void Magic, trying to purge the darkness from within its body but it wasn''t working at all as its skin was slowly turning jet black. From down below, a fast figure shot into the sky and stopped a distance away from Arthur and Lucy. Sol''khin''s armor was shattered in several places and his complexion didn''t look good. Zodiak''s spear and the robot''s self-destruction clearly did significant damage. "The meddling outsiders were taken care of so how about we chat for some timeˇ­ for old times'' sake, eh?" ******* BONUS LORE : The Eras When Arthur traveled to the past, he brought the concept of time with him and make things flow linearly, sort of. The first phase of history was called the Era of Beginning, it was when the Twelve showed themselves and started creating planets, star systems, and realms. Throughout the whole history, the Era of Beginning was by far the longest and it built the foundation for the next eras. A new era is born was a disastrous calamity affects the whole multiverse and that''s exactly how the Era of Beginning came to an end. The war between the light and dark factions lasted a long time and when the final battle occurred, many of the Twelve disappeared and the people of that time named the new age; the first era. Arthur''s cycles mainly revolve around the 6th era, which is the present, though Zodiak''s lived in mainly in the 4th and 5th era. The 4th era, also known as the Void Era, was a harsh one for all inhabitants of the multiverse. The Void Magic spread across every star and realm and greatly diminished the amount of energies, whether it''s Nether Energy or the natural elements, this rendered the cultivators unable to reach the God or Overgod Realm. The players were also unable to level up, so it was to be expected that the number of experts significantly decreased as many died trying to forcefully strengthen themselves. Many speculate that the Void Era was caused by Castra Obis, the Omega Universe, which exploded, killing every single person in it. The death count was in the trillions and the only supposed survivor vanished without a trace, appearing only in the far future. To be continuedˇ­ Chapter 626 - 571: Soul (1) "What? You don''t want to talk? I reckon you have a lot of questions in your mind." Sol''khin grinned at Arthur, he seemed unbothered by the glares he was getting and raised his hands innocently. "Talk, Arthur, tell me what troubles your mind?" He walked closer to the couple while adding: "It''s understandable that you don''t want to associate with me but you can''t change the truth." Lucy, who was standing next to Arthur, was perplexed as she still doesn''t know the secret between her husband, Zodiak, and Sol''khin. She furrowed her brows and readied herself to fight only for the enemy to glance at her and say: "Missy, I presume you''re Arthur''s wife, eh? Are you sure you want to get rid of me?" In response, she tilted her head, becoming even more confused. She looked at Arthur but his expression was stiff and filled with internal conflict. "I suppose there''s no harm telling her, right?" He flashed a disgusting smile at Arthur before pointing at his chest and explaining: "You seeˇ­ I, he, and Zodiak are actually one person! Hahahaha" He spoke with a joking tone but Lucy could tell that he wasn''t looking by seeing Arthur''s grave expression. Zodiak, who was panting heavily and trying to fly in the sky, heard everything but was powerless to do anything. The last attack heavily injured him and he has to spend a bit of time recovering using his Dark Magic. "You don''t seem surprised." He saw that Lucy wasn''t as surprised as he expected. It didn''t take her long to piece this and that together and Arthur discovered this not long ago or else he would have told her so Lucy didn''t fuss about it and although it''s a big revelation, that doesn''t make Sol''khin an ally. "You want to save your brother and I want your soul so how about a trade." "Not gonna happen." Lucy immediately rejected him and took two steps forward, her hand releasing a white flame that had the characteristics of both Ice and Fire. The enemy was impressed by the magical flames but didn''t feel the least bit threatened. Just as he was about to talk again, the space around his arm shattered and the jet black armor was actually destroyed. The spatial tear was even able to deeply cut Leiu''s arm, from his elbow all the way to his palm. This was the handiwork of ''X'', who quickly stopped time around Sol''khin and attacked using the blade hidden within his cane. Unfortunately, before it managed to cut off Leiu''s wounded arm, the cane was engulfed by a creeping darkness, which also froze ''X'' mid-air. A lightning-fast hand grabbed his neck, suspending the blurry-faced man mid-air. "Honestlyˇ­ aren''t you tired of this?" Sol''khin sounded very angry as he tightened his grip around the helpless ''X''. He tried freeing himself but the monstrous strength was beyond his capabilities so all he could do was flail his arm and try to escape. From afar, a blackened beast roared and lunged at Sol''khin, its long claws ripped the air and devoured everything in their ways. The Void Behemoth, despite its weakened state, was able to force its target to release ''X'' and retreat. It was apparent that Sol''khin was very wary of Void Magic, unlike Dark Magic, which he can control just as well as Zodiak. Sadly, the timely intervention was all the behemoth could do as shortly after, he was flung away just by one Sol''khin punches. Using the Nameless Knight''s swift and resistant body, Sol''khin struck the monster with several punches, breaking a lot of bones and completely trashing it, basically beating it into a pulp. When it was time for the finishing blow, a deafening explosion came out of nowhere and pushed away Sol''khin, separating him from the behemoth for a few seconds. G''am Tir, the weakest one of Forne''s weakest teammates. He isn''t as strong as the rest but he''s still a clone of an emperor. For the first time since he entered the Red Tower, he unleashed his true power against their one and only enemy. A brief golden light enveloped G''am Tir then he transformed into a shooting star which purged the darkness emanating from Sol''khin. The star went through Leiu''s body, breaking the chest part of his armor and going through his body, leaving behind a gaping hole. For the first time since all of this started, Sol''khin seemed very injured as he knelt down and coughed a lot of blood. He tried to talk but the gushing blood didn''t stop, leaving him vulnerable. G''am Tir, who transformed into a man of blinding gold light, didn''t stop after this attack. He charged at Sol''khin again, with the same speed and momentum. Unlike the last blow, Sol''khin managed to raised Anduril and block the empowered G''am Tir, though he was still blasted a couple of hundred meters. "This damned clone!" The half-conscious Celes unleashed a last desperate attack in the form of a hideous death wraith which invaded Sol''khin''s body while Forne mustered up all of his energy and used his strongest skill. A Blood-red bolt of lightning descended from above and clashed with the raised Anduril. It flung the weapon off Sol''khin''s hand then hit his head, as for the wraith, it managed to make him hyperventilate and grasp his chest, clearly in pain. In just a few seconds, Sol''khin was heavily wounded and bloodied all over. His body rolled on the ground and was soon engulfed by Zodiak''s dark blue flames, which quickly bound all four limbs and sealed the rising darkness. Forne''s bolt of lightning did considerable damage, making the target feel dizzy for more than a minute, he was not even able to retaliate or process what happened. It was kind of Sol''khin''s fault as he wasn''t proficient in controlling Leiu''s real power and only knew how to use a few skills. Celes and G''am Tir weren''t able to hold on any longer and left the Red Tower, leaving only X, the behemoth, Forne, Zodiak, and the couple. Arthur did nothing from start to finish and Lucy stood in front of him, ready to do anything to protect him from danger. Chapter 627 - 572: Soul "If it''s one thing Sol''khin will want from you then it''s can only be your soul. You should be careful around him, especially when your transforming from one thing to another because that split second it takes you to change appearance is when he''ll try to get to you. It''s not easy to extract your soul if you were to resist, however, the same applies to him and Zodiak too." The man with the same appearance as Arthur explained the process to the latter while tapping the table to keep him focused. "I don''t know about Zodiak but when cornered, Sol''khin will definitely try to leave your brother''s body even if it''s too risky. He would rather flee than die with his host, it''s just in his nature, just like any parasite, including you, of course. Zodiak and Forne will try to immobilize Sol''khin and then the former will use a spell that forcefully pulls the target''s soul out of Leiu''s body but the process can be difficult and long, especially if there''s interference, which there will be, by the way." Perplexed, Arthur furrowed his brows and asked: "I thought they wanted to kill Sol''khin, not extract his soul." "Yes, in order to kill him, it''s way easier when he''s in his real, spiritual form. Forne''s Lightning of Destruction is lethal to immaterial beings, moreover, Zodiak''s Dark Magic can act as a temporary prison. I don''t know for sure but I reckon they''ll first bind Sol''khin then the old man will try absorbing the soul and claim it as his own." "What will happen if he absorbs it?" "Difficult to say, really. Zodiak is, more or less, you and Sol''khin so theoretically, he''ll become much, much stronger but that''s only if Sol''khin doesn''t win the internal battle that''s going to happen in Zodiak''s consciousness. As it''s his territory, there''s a big chance he''ll win but, in cases such as this, more often than not a mishap will occur. Do not forget that Sol''khin soul is stronger and bigger than Zodiak." "So, if I absorb Sol''khin''s soul, the same thing will happen?" In response, the man shook his head and smiled: "Incorrect. Although you only have a third of the whole soul, you''re still the main ''host'' and can easily ward off Sol''khin if that were to happen. But, I do not advise you to do that as that will quicken the process of your loss of emotions and though you''ll become strong, you''ll become an emotionless being. If you want to, then do it after visiting the Garden of Words and evolving your current race." Seeing Arthur''s complex look, the man added: "Don''t be discouraged. You wished for power to protect your family and that''s what you got when you became a soul parasite. The lost emotions will go backˇ­ in fact, true love can make miracles. Truly." ****** Zodiak stopped in front of the bound Sol''khin and stretched his darkened hand, which had dark blue flames enveloping it. He stabbed Leiu''s body, precisely where the heart was and unleashed a staggering amount of Dark Magic which even caused Sol''khin to loudly shout. The Dark Magic directly hit the soul situated in the consciousness, making it continuously flicker and try to escape the flames'' grasp. The old man snorted and widened his reach, causing the flames to spread across a big part of Leiu''s consciousness. At some point, the dark blue fire reached another soul inside the consciousness, this was one a mass of strange black light ominously floating in this vast immaterial place, unbothered by anything else. This was owner''s soul and something that made Zodiak''s flames cower and head into a different direction. Fortunately, it didn''t long for Zodiak to catch Sol''khin and begin to pull him out of Leiu''s consciousness. Zodiak regained his normal, old appearance as he focused most of his Dark Mana into the hand that was pulling the enemy, and this made him vulnerable to Leiu''s bound body, which started self-retaliating. It wasn''t Sol''khin''s doing but the body itself trying to survive by getting rid of the nearby danger. A malevolent darkness emanated from Leiu''s eyes and spread across the area, making the ground, air, and space disappear. Even the time was stopped for a second before Forne, who was standing at a safe distance, used his Destruction Magic again. He sucked a deep breath then violently punching the air, resulting in a unidirectional explosion to appear. It traveled faster than the sound and clashed with Leiu''s darkness, making the time and space very turbulent as dangerous spatial tears started appearing everywhere. ***** Outside of the Red Tower, most of the contestant were still present and waiting for the winner to emerge. The army of Holy Knights was still present but a few of the contestants weren''t happy with their presence. Maxine, Losha, and even the Sword God frowned upon seeing the large army and the prepared Holy Knights, but for now, they did not act. Seraph, the one leading this army, didn''t dare act arrogantly in front of these powerhouses and returned their glares with a friendly smile and slight bow of his head. A bit after Celes left the Tower, an unconscious G''am Tir and the behemoth appear with the former on the latter''s back. Forne, who looked pale and barely able to walk also left the tower, leaving only the couple, Zodiak, Sol''khin, and the Joker. Actually, the moment Forne exited, the Red Tower started acting strange. It suddenly change color and started shaking left and right as if it was about to take off into the starry night sky. The card symbols were now replaced by three massive symbols. The first was a creepy purple skull, the second was a beautiful blue moon, and the last one was a crimson arc that resembled nothing in particular. Each emitted a unique aura with the third one being the most overwhelming, it was much like the Cthulhu''s savage aura and it even affected some of the weak-minded people in its range. The moon emanated a soothing light and basked In its breath-taking luminosity, last but not least was the skull, which only released a dark blue flames that rose into the starry sky, cloaking it with its illusory blue color. "What''s happening?" Mumbled Maxine. "I feel Yin power!" The thief that was part of her team commented while gazing at the moon''s beautiful light. Unbeknownst to them, things became much more chaotic on the 49th floor. The moon engraved on this colossal sky-piercing tower was but the first part of the symbol as a star started forming inside of it, giving off an aura of death and darkness. "It''s the final showdownˇ­" Contrary to his usual optimism, the Bard Aneirin looked a small black talisman in his hand, appearing quite sad. The talisman was half-gone and beginning to turn transparent, signaling that the life of its owner is withering way as time slowly passes. "Zodiak, you have to make it outˇ­ you have to!"-Aneirin ***** The few seconds Leiu''s body counterattacked was enough for Sol''khin to regain control over it and blast away Zodiak. He was about to lunge at the old man again only for Arthur and Lucy to intercept him. Lucy''s appearance slightly hanged as her right arm was covered in scales and emitting steam, an illusory white tail grew and white spectral fire was burning in her eyes. She activated her eye''s time stop ability, momentarily stopping the target mid-air while she punched with the devil''s arm, managing to push away Sol''khin and even crack his armor, which was repairing itself at an insane speed. Arthur followed from behind, releasing dozens of white thunderbolts and striking with a large illusory golden palm. The thunderbolts stunned the already dazed Sol''khin while the palm flattened the enemy''s body on the ground. The Quad-Spirit also participated as countless thick black chains sprung from the ground and cl.u.s.tered around Sol''khin, a circle of fire exploded under him and a Death Storm sucked the Darkness emanating from his eyes. For a few seconds, they managed to bind him, however, Zodiak was not in a good shape as he knelt on the ground and coughed blood. Arthur didn''t need to check to know that the old man''s soul was weakening by the second, probably because he not only strengthened himself for a long period of time but also because he failed in his attempt to pull Sol''khin soul, which caused a serious backlash. The parasite went to the old man and crouched, checking on him. A white light emanated from his left hand, healing the bloody old man and quickly getting him back in shape, but, unfortunately, he couldn''t do anything about the soul. After doing his best, Arthur saw Lucy getting sent flying hundreds of meters away and was about to go and restrain Sol''khin again only for Zodiak to pull his arm and mutter with a weak voice: "What I can doˇ­ is only buy you time, Arthur." He looked straight into the parasite''s eyes and spoke with a serious tone: "Later on, do not hate me, please." Chapter 628 - 573: MoonStar (1) Zodiak said his piece then charged at Sol''khin, covering himself in the Dark Magic flames and going all-out. Arthur followed behind him and overtook the old man thanks to his Lightning magic, once he was upon his target, he slowed time and unhesitatingly slashed with his sword. Anduril was used to block the attack but it wasn''t fully able to resist Arthur''s strike due to the slowed time, causing Sol''khin to be flung in the air. Zodiak''s flames cascaded on Sol''khin, engulfing him entirely and forcing the black sword out of his hand, at last. The last to attack was Lucy, who managed to quickly recover and unleash her fusion flames which overwhelmed Leiu''s darkness and actually melt and freeze the thick black armor protecting his body. The three coordinated their attacks flawlessly, not leaving Sol''khin even a second to take a breather. Lucy''s devil arm intensely vibrated then released an invisible and destructive sound wave from her elbow, which cracked the space then headed towards her target, which tried to block it only to be sent flying like a kite. Arthur used [Faster than Death], appearing behind Sol''khin, he manipulated Gravity to sink the latter''s body then he unleashed hundreds of tiny Void Mouths which creepily surrounded the enemy and started devouring everything in their way. In retaliation, Sol''khin twisted his body and shot laser-like beams from his fingers, disintegrating the Void Mouths and hitting Arthur. Fortunately, before getting hit for the second time by the beams, Zodiak interfered, his body now resembled a black phoenix as it screeched and crashed into Leiu. A sea of dark blue flames spread across all directions, consuming everything and even pushing both Arthur and Lucy away. The claws of the black phoenix were clashing with Sol''khin''s arm, which managed to stop the monstrous force behind this inky black flaming monster. "This is a matter between us threeˇ­ soˇ­." While blocking Zodiak, Sol''khin spat a minuscule yet frightening black hole from his mouth, which almost instantly sucked him and Zodiak into it. Arthur, who was about to attack, was close enough to be pulled too but Lucy wasn''t fast enough to join them as it quickly vanished from the 49th floor. The White Specter stood there, perplexed, and unable to come up with a solution. She only snapped out of it when the Joker landed next to her and said: "What he said is actually trueˇ­ sadly. Don''t worry though, Arthur will return safely. You just have to wait outside." He handed her one of his special red cards then waved his hand, enveloping her in a white light which teleported the unwilling Lucy outside of the Red Tower. ***** "Isn''t this better? No one to bother us or interfere in our personal matter." Sol''khin laughed as he faced both Arthur and Zodiak. They appeared in a world totally opposite to the world of darkness. This place very much resembled the endless white space inside of the ARK but Arthur felt uncomfortable, even Zodiak''s flames were slightly suppressed. Sol''khin looked around in happiness while saying: "Can you feel it? This shackling sensation! It''s practically an immaterial prison!" The old man and the parasite didn''t talk and, instead, attacked the enemy from both sides, bombarding him with all kinds of attacks. Arthur transformed into the Vermilion Bird while Zodiak was a black phoenix, the two divine beasts were much bigger than their tiny target, who wielded unimaginable strength capable of resisting their special flames. Hellfire and vermilion flame fused together as they covered the sky and strengthened Zodiak''s flames, these three types of flames were harmonious and compatible as they descended upon Sol''khin who raised his hand and released an absurd amount of Darkness, which canceled the incoming wave of flames. Using their massive bodies, Zodiak and Arthur attacked their enemy, pushing him back bit by bit and breaking the armor. No matter how powerful Sol''khin was, he wasn''t able to deal with them simultaneously so he ended up being thrashed even when he tried counterattacking with Leiu''s darkness, which was neither easy to control nor strong enough to block Zodiak''s Dark Magic or Arthur wide variety of skills. Without needing to communicate, Arthur and Zodiak behaved like one entity, supporting each other and attacking at the perfect moments. The vermilion bird wildly screeched then transformed into an Azure Dragon which opened its mouth and spat is illusory red flames. As for Zodiak, he created a black cube which trapped Sol''khin inside whilst the dragonic flames engulfed him. Unfortunately, it wasn''t enough to weaken the enemy but it did considerable damage to the armor protecting his body, charring it and angering him even more. "It seems that this body is unwilling to obey anymoreˇ­ hmpf! Not like it matters!" While kneeling on the ground, Sol''khin spat some blood then ripped a small piece of armor that remained around his chest before stabbing his chest and pulling a strange object. "He''s going to use his Godspiritˇ­ his real form!" Finally, it was the golden opportunity to attack Sol''khin as he was discarding Leiu''s body, however, when Zodiak tried attacking, his body faltered and the dark blue flames quietened down for a few seconds, buying the enemy enough time to complete his brief ritual. As for Arthur, he found himself immobilized as the emerging God Spirit was affecting his inferior and incomplete soul. A crimson tear which emitted a suffocatingly savage aura appeared above Leiu''s body, which fell on the ground the moment Sol''khin revealed his true appearance. A faceless head showed itself from within the tear, which was like a portal to another dimension. The violent energy pushed away both Zodiak and Arthur, sending them all the way to the end of this strange dimension. Arthur was able to catch Zodiak''s body but when he tried using Life Magic, it wouldn''t enter the old man''s body. "It''s no useˇ­ I''m reaching my time limit." Arthur frowned and didn''t know what to say. The old man stood up with great difficulty, his breathing was heavy and his body was shaking, clearly not in a state to fight. What made it worse is that Sol''khin didn''t wait for them as the tear released an unstoppable blast which clashed with Arthur, who used the black turtle body to try and block it. The shells disintegrated but they managed to resist the first strike and protect Zodiak. ***** Lucy looked around and once she confirmed her surroundings, she took out a small metallic object that she received from a lower floor. In front of her was a monitor which displayed the events unfolding in the white isolated floor where Arthur and co were. The object she was holding was round and had two colors, one was blue and the other was crimson. It was actually the symbol of their sect, a Moon and a Star. Chapter 629 - 574: MoonStar (2) Once he showed his true form, all Sol''khin cared about was to get the weakened Zodiak then deal with Arthur. As for Leiu''s body, it was ignored and unaffected by anything around it. The broken armor and the bloody wounds were instantly gone the moment the invader left Leiu''s consciousness. The space next to the unconscious Leiu distorted and a mesmerizing woman with a very pale skin and a hair that reached her ankles made her appearance. She knelt next to the youth and briefly examined him before she put him over her shoulder. After one last glance at the fight occurring not far from her, Xyktia disappeared with Leiu, clearly not caring about what''s happening on this place. In just a few seconds, she entered the tower again, alone, and then left with the unconscious Leiu. She swiftly left the planet where the Red Tower was situated but even when in Stealth, her path was blocked by a tall man wearing a strange white costume. Of course, she instantly recognized him and was forced to stop. The Lady of Darkness glared at the Joker but didn''t dare force her way or provoke him. Wolfram appeared next to her and checked his brother before pressing a black card on the youth''s hand then retreating a few steps. "Let this be our last meeting, assassin." After saying that with an unusually serious tone, he vanished into a puff of red smoke. ******* "*cough* *cough*" Arthur knelt on the ground and coughed a big mouthful of blood, his right arm and a large portion of his abdomen was gone, though it was self-regenerating. He''s heavily injured and even his soul was injured by Sol''khin''s attacks, which were very fast to dodge or even block. They were all the same and always strike both his physical body and his consciousness, rendering him unable to continuously block within the short period of time it takes the enemy to unleash the very same attack. As for Zodiak, he took out his last black talisman and ripped it in half then put it on his chest, enveloping himself in dark flames yet again. To fight against Sol''khin, the old man even took out his Godspirit, which was a massive black and purple skull which emitted a lot of black fog and corrupted everything around it. The floating skull acted on its own and was even able to block Sol''khin''s attacks but still ends up being a bit to the back. Though Sol''khin remained consistent with his attacks, Zodiak soon realized that they were getting stronger and that his soul was being sucked by the savage aura embedded within these invisible blasts. At some point, while Zodiak was blocking Sol''khin attacks, a crimson arrow came out from the red tear and headed straight at Arthur, who was still recovering and unable to move properly. He activated his eye ability and tried to stop time but it didn''t seem to work on the incoming projectile, which boasted an insane speed and an overwhelming pressure. Just as it was about to hit the parasite, it suddenly turned blue as it was instantly frozen then disintegrated into countless pieces, soon falling on the ground and vanishing. A graceful white figure descended from above and landed next to Arthur. Seeing the long illusory white tail, the silver hair and the glowing blue eye, Arthur was surprised as Lucy was supposed to be elsewhere. "You thought I''ll hide while you have all the fun?" Lucy jokingly said while kneeling next to him and holding his hand while at the same time handing him the circular object. A bit confused, Arthur looked at it, not knowing what it was even when a system notification popped up. "A parasite does not have a Godspirit but you have a human soul. This will help you." Although this object does grant him a permanent Godspirit, it''ll still allow the couple to summon a powerful Godspirit. Without wasting any time on needless talks, Arthur nodded his head and clenched the metallic object, which started brightly glowing with a red and blue light. The parasite and the White Specter were bathed in blue and red light cracked this endless white space and caused everything to start shaking. The strange white sky was replaced by a dark gloom and its center, a blinding moon made its appearance. It emitted a chilling energy which froze all the ground and pushed away the savage aura coming off the large crimson tear, which was, in fact, Sol''khin''s form. After a few seconds crept by, a red star appeared inside the blue moon, finally completing this abnormal Godspirit, which seemed to drastically change the environment. Actually the whole place couldn''t handle the presence of all three Godspirit and soon started to crumble. Deafening alarms were sounding inside and outside the Red Tower as it slowly yet surely started crumbling from top to bottom. The process was supposed to be slow but when Zodiak and the couple''s Godspirits started clashing with Sol''khin, the tower couldn''t handle it. Everyone around it was flabbergasted by the surprising sight as a blinding light illuminated the night sky. A big crimson tear was clashing with a purple skull and a bright moon and a red star. Zodiak roared and merged with his Godspirit, further strengthening it and causing an absurd and truly frightening amount of dark blue flames to emit from him and engulf Sol''khin. The faceless head within the tear started evilly laughing as Zodiak got closer and started weakening his target. As for Arthur and Lucy, they supported the old man with the help of the Godspirit, which used a special kind of energy that overpowered everything in its way and trapped their enemy into a corner. When everything seemed about to end, the red tear high-up in the sky expanded in size and countless crimson arrows struck the ghastly purple skull, stopping its charge and clashing with the dark blue flames. In retaliation, the MoonStar started emitting an even more blinding light before unleashing a white pillar of light which defected all the arrows and hit the faceless head. The MoonStar Godspirit slowly came down from the shrouded sky and got closer to Sol''khin while still unleashing the white pillar. At the same time, the purple skull opened its mouth and from within, a skeletal hand stretched toward the red tear and started pulling Sol''khin''s soul. To the spectators, everything happened to fast and the battle came to an abrupt end when the Red Tower exploded, blasting everyone away. The Holy army, the contestants, and the spectators were all sent flying to across this planet. Even Arthur and Lucy were not spared, their Godspirit slowly vanished, the same thing happened for the purple skull but not before it successfully pulled a strange black light from the red tear. Chapter 630 - 575: The Calling (1) The last exchange between the Godspirits and Sol''khin caused a lot of chaos, furthermore, the exploding Red Tower made things even worse as it spared no one. Apart from very few individuals who retreated in time, all the rest were injured and some were killed on the spot due to not being able to handle the explosive force. Arthur supported the heavily injured Lucy and looked up to the sky, precisely at a dense amount of black flag strangely twirling around. Only Zodiak wasn''t affected by the explosion and, in fact, he managed to pull Sol''khin''s soul inside of him but it wasn''t the end yet. The old man''s body was convulsing intensely as he clutched his chest and was barely able to support himself and not fall from the sky. Including Arthur, everyone else was watching the unfolding events with curiosity and astonishment. "C-commander! Those are the tower''s rewards!" The second-in-command of the Holy Army pointed at two bright lights while speaking to Seraph, the commander. Just as she said that, the attention of all those who were present, focused on two lights, one red and the other white. Upon a closer look, one was a red stone and the other was an immaterial object that emitted a blinding white light, like a star. They are the Blessing Stone and the Wish Star, two miraculous items that would make anyone greedy. Apart from a selected few whose goal was Sol''khin, the rest of the contestants all craved for these two heaven-defying items. So, it should not come at a surprise to see them go insane when these two items made their appearance after the tower was gone, for good. As if drawn by something, the Blessing Stone and the Wish Star shot straight at Zodiak. They started spinning around the black fog and waiting for something to finish, however, many of the contestants refused to stay still and started acting. They wanted to get their hands on these two items and they didn''t care about Zodiak and whatever was inside of him. The first ones who acted were Hach''ara and Sickle Bart, two vicious and powerful individuals. The hideous looking old man controlled his insects while he wielded a lengthy poisoned dagger, as for Sickle Bart, he attacked using his scissor-like metallic limbs. Neither of the two assailants cared about the unresponsive Zodiak and, from the looks of it, their attacks were about to cause a lot of collateral damage. When they were but a few meters away from the spinning stone and white light, the two were suddenly faced with a colossal black silhouette which blocked their view and sent them flying in a split second. The sudden appearance of this humongous black-figure brought fear to everyone. The sheer size of this monster was second only to Sigradzomr, its huge inky black wings and the dark scales covering its body made it even more frightening. In every sense of the word, it resembled the fearsome black dragons, the fully grown and powerful ones. The pressure was that of a dragon and its blood-red eyes were a confirmation that it was fully awake and alive. ****** "My dear guest, remember to not steal its stats. Not only are they more than you can handle, it can also lead to an avoidable backlash. Black Dragons are skilled in mental attacks and even though this one is dead, it can still control anything that invades its body. When the time comes and you have to use this dragon''s body, be careful of the enemies outsideˇ­ and inside." Timos warned Arthur while handing the massive black dragon corpse to him. In response, the parasite examined the dragon before saying: "Who''s this anyway?" "The Black Dragon Xedieg, son of the Elder Dragon Sigradzomr." It was the first time Arthur heard of such names and as he wasn''t very interested in the matter, he didn''t ask the Black Devil anything else related to the dragons, which was unfortunate. ***** "What''s happening? Wasn''t that Arthur?" Forne, who was semi-consciousness and unable to even fly, was currently being carried atop of the Azure Dragon. With the exception of ''X'' and the Void Behemoth, everyone else was riding on Arthur, who transformed into the Divine Beast. Lucy was also present but she seemed to be absent-minded as she kept looking back. ˇ­ Going back a few minutes to the past, right after the explosion occurred, Arthur activated his new ability and created clones of himself. One of the clones was sent to take care of the rest while the main body remained next to Zodiak to protect him and finish this once and for all. Although Lucy was a bit unwilling, Arthur managed to convince her to go ahead in order to take care of something for him. The moment Arthur left the Red Tower, alarms unceasingly echoed inside of his head, they belonged to both the system and the oaths he made in the past. It didn''t take him long to figure out what''s happening. Lucy needs to wait for him in the boundary between the System and the Cloud Sea Universe, while this clone will head directly to Astria. There was also a second clone which was tasked with an additional matter. ˇ­ "You owe me now." With a deep voice, Arthur replied to the tired Forne, though his words were meant for everyone else, excluding his wife, of course. "Owe?" "Yes, and I expect you to return the favor really soon. In a few days, actually." After leaving the planet and finding a relatively empty and safe spot, the Azure Dragon stopped its mad flight. A soothing white light enveloped Forne and healed some of his injuries, as for G''am Tir and Celes, their bodies rejected Life Energy so they had to resort to other things. Actually, the Grey Seat of Decay was currently unconscious but she didn''t seem to be in danger, though the emperor''s clone was turning transparent periodically. "You still have not told me if Sol''khin is gone or not!" Forne glared back at the massive azure dragon, wanting to hear a confirmation from the parasite''s mouth. "He will die. You did your best and, honestly, the moment Sol''khin''s soul was pulled from the Nameless Knight''s body, it no longer became your guys'' business. Now then." The Azure Dragon swiftly turned around and disappeared from their sight seconds later. As for Lucy, she politely bowed her head to the Black Seat of Death before flying to the opposite direction. Chapter 631 - 576: The Calling (2) "Parasite, what is the matter with you?!" Hach''ara was fuming as he glared back at the Black Dragon. Although he knew Arthur was the one controlling him, he couldn''t help but feel threatened, after all, the pressure coming off the dragon was enough to make him feel nervous. This was the case for most of the spectators and contestants, whether they were allies or enemies. Thanks to her incredible physique and high recovery, Losha recovered to near perfect healthy state but she didn''t leave the scene yet. Maxine and her teammates also remained on standby, curious about what''s going to happen, though the high-leveled player did show a bit of interest toward the Blessing Stone in particular. Arthur didn''t reply to the insect user and, instead, spread his marvelously big wings and loudly cried, shaking the whole planet and even causing more than half of the Holy Knights to instantly fall unconscious. Black Dragons excel in mental attacks, many myths speak of how a single gaze from them can petrify a God or kill a Devil. Dozens of powerful individuals, including Hach''ara, Sickle Bart, the Jade Emperor, and the Saber Saint, jumped at the Black Dragon, wanting to get rid of him in order to obtain the rewards. Arthur made sure his body covered both the stone, the star, and the black fog in which Zodiak was in. Unlike the Wish Star, the black fog was slowly but surely letting the Blessing Stone get closer to Zodiak, however, this was Arthur''s doing. He was forcefully pushing Zodiak''s dark magic and opening a path for the stone. It was the only thing that could help Zodiak prevail against Sol''khin as, currently, the two were fighting each other in the former''s consciousness. The Black Dragon opened its mouth and spat a thick black beam which disintegrated Hach''ara''s insects, the saber essence, and the incoming Jade projectiles. Though some attacks did end up hitting the beast, they did close to no damage and could have been avoided but Arthur refused to budge as that would endanger Zodiak. Without waiting for anyone to recover, Arthur used two successive Rizaki, A Dark and newly acquired Space Rizaki. It did take them thirty or so seconds to fully complete and explode, but Arthur was able to hold on and counterattack using his vast arsenal of powerful skills, however, he did also sustain severe injuries, after all, he was battling over ten Exalted Gods. Seraph was wise enough to retreat to a safe location, Maxine and Ar''wen also did the same but did not interfere. When the area abruptly turned jet black and the space cracked, all hell broke loose. The two successive Rizaki were initially underestimated which led to the death of 4 peak Overgods, there was even an Exalted God that was fatally injured. Unfortunately, Hach''ara was unscathed as summoned a special armored Beetle which resisted the two blasts and even spat a purple liquid which melted dozens of Arthur''s scales and made him body tremble for a few seconds. Even with the Pain immunity activated, the beetle''s poison caused him an agonizing pain, it somehow seemed to bypass his passive skills and even hurt his consciousness despite it being a physical attack. ˇ­ A few chaotic minutes passed and apart from the greedy Hach''ara, the rest decided to back off as Arthur clearly showed that he wasn''t kidding around. His attacks were dangerous even for the best of them, in fact, Hach''ara had lost a hand but managed to rip a third of the black dragon''s arm using a praying Mantis that used Void Magic. Though Arthur''s body could self-regenerate, it needs time, which was a luxury he could not afford. Furthermore, controlling the Black Dragon was taking a toll on his mental and making him a lot slower. The situation got much worse when ten minutes passed and he was forcefully ejected from the Black Dragon''s body. Arthur quickly stored the massive corpse then took out the sword given by Timos. He was ready to use [Thousand Waves] and sacrifice his arm but he, fortunately, didn''t have to as the Blessing Stone finally and successfully entered Zodiak''s body. This miraculous item would grant the beneficiary a blessing of his choice and if the user can''t choose then the stone would choose what he needs most. In Zodiak''s case, it''ll certainly grant him something that can make him overpower Sol''khin. A couple brief moments of restlessness passed as Arthur looked at Zodiak''s motionless body with anticipation. He tried getting closer but suddenly halted when he saw the black fog vanish into nothingness and a black tentacle stretch from Zodiak''s body. The tentacle was faster than Arthur, who was currently weakened and had a slower reaction time. The disgusting thing stabbed the parasite''s chest and brought him closer to Zodiak, but Arthur managed to swing the sword and cut it off before it did any more damage. ''Impossible! How did Sol''khin win?'' He saw a red light emanate from Zodiak''s eyes, coupled with the ghastly laugh, Arthur knew that Sol''khin had emerged victorious. Just as Sol''khin was about to attack Arthur again, an ear-piercing cry reverberated across the three Universes. It lasted only for five seconds but it had a clear effect on Sol''khin and Arthur especially. The black tattoo on the back of his right hand expanded in size and devastating black flames engulfed him and Zodiak, causing Sol''khin to loudly cry in pain as if something was pushing him back and restraining his power. "Master! It''s the Dark Blade! It''s calling you!"-Quad-Spirit "I know." The wild and frightening cry of the Dark Blade was heard by everyone and anyone, no matter what they were. The planet Arthur was in was especially affected as the night sky was replaced by an ominous gloom which made those in it uncomfortable and greatly weakened. This was a golden opportunity for Arthur, who stabbed Zodiak''s chest and started mumbling with a cold voice "Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black desires. It cannot be seen, cannot be felt, Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt, It lies beyond stars and under hills, And empty void it fills, It comes first and follows after, Ends life, kills laughter!" The black tattoo belonging to the Dark Oath was expanding and causing the dancing dark flames to become more violent. Sol''khin''s cries became weaker and weaker until they stopped and the red light coming from Zodiak''s eyes was replaced by the original owner''s clear pupils. Arthur did manage to push Sol''khin back into Zodiak''s consciousness but the two souls didn''t merge yet. Zodiak was greatly weakened and even with the powerful blessing, he wasn''t able to win, sadly. Nevertheless, Arthur''s timely help did allow Zodiak to gain control and seal Sol''khin for sometime. "Thank you." The old man weakly smiled at Arthur before pushing the latter''s hand back and shooting in the sky with an abnormal speed. Within a few seconds, he had left the planet''s atmosphere and was getting further and further away from everything, purposely choosing to be in an isolated place as to not affect the innocent bystanders. Zodiak didn''t know but not far behind him, a tall man in a white costume was quietly following him while holding a card in his hand. The Joker had a serious look on his face and the killing intent emitting from his eyes was truly bone-chilling. Chapter 632 - 577: Departure of a Friend "Are you alright?" Lucy support Arthur and worriedly asked. Although she was supposed to follow Arthur''s clones, she just couldn''t sit still and let him face all of them together so she ended up returning almost immediately. Her nine lotuses released a clear blue aura which enveloped him and conjured a powerful defensive barrier. The moment Zodiak succeeded in trapping Sol''khin''s soul, Arthur felt incredibly weakened and oddly dizzy. His breathing was uneven and heavy and his hand was pressed against his heart. "It''s nothingˇ­ nothing." He bit his lower lips and raised his head, meeting an eye to eye with Seraph and several other contestants which circled around him, all eyeing him greedily. The Blessing Stone vanished by the Wish Star was still floating next to the parasite, strangely unwilling to leave his side. "Hand over the Wish Star!" Hach''ara spat some black blood and loudly spoke, his aura multiplying by several folds as he showcased his dominance. He wasn''t the only one as the Saber Saint and Jade Emperor were also displaying hostility, only Sickle Bart remained at the back, not because he gave up but due to the fatal injuries he sustained from Arthur when he was using the Black Dragon''s body. "Hand it over? It doesn''t seem to want to leave his side." Lucy glanced at the blinding blob of light circling around Arthur and mockingly said to the cultivators surrounding her. There were seven to eight Exalted Gods and the number of Overgods was staggering, many of the contestants there were eliminated early didn''t want to let go of this golden opportunity but they didn''t behave as brazenly as Hach''ara and the rest as they were much weaker. Even if they don''t get the Wish Star, they can still help the powerhouses and earn their favor, which is also something very valuable to them. The Sword God Ber Von Xin showed no interest in the Wish Star, he was staring at the half-kneeling Arthur while pondering about something. "Your partner, Arthur MoonStar, isn''t the winner of the competition. He already caused us enough trouble by allowing Zodiak to get the Blessing Stone! I advise you to take a step back and let us get the Wish Star." A praying mantis and a golden beetles appeared in front of Hach''ara, they had huge builds and emitted an aura that wasn''t the least bit inferior to their master. The Saber Saint unsheathed his weapon and prepared to fight too. "There''s no need to talk to her. Let''s just attack together." The King of Jade shamelessly said that before taking his jade weapons and leaping at Arthur simultaneously with the Hach''ara and the Saber Saint. The remaining Exalted Gods were also greedy about the Wish Star but they didn''t attack immediately. The first ones that reached Lucy were the two insects of Hach''ara, the mantis slashed with its elongated poisoned claws, however, they didn''t reach their target as nine lotuses clashed with the claws, causing a ringing metallic sound to echo throughout the area. The Golden Beetle turned illusory and passed through the mantis, heading directly at Arthur but it was also stopped by Lucy, who released golden flames which spread across all directions. Unfortunately, Lucy couldn''t rest for even a split second as she manipulated the flames and pushed away the golden beetle. She left afterimages in her path as her eyes emitted a blue light which froze time and locked the King of Jade mid-air. Her spectral form made its appearance next to Amtir, her devil arm materialized itself and violently struck the king''s side, sending him flying dozens of miles away, leaving a fountain of blood in his way. Lucy withhold nothing of her power and aimed to kill every person who dared to attack Arthur. She became an enraged beast as the Golden Crow flames exploded in her sky, illuminating the area and pushing away the Saber Saint and Hach''ara, who were only a couple of meters away from Arthur. ******* "Sir, what are you trying to do?" The bard, Aneirin, appeared a couple of meters away from The Joker, who trapped the greatly weakened Zodiak in a dark and unbreakable space. Seeing the calm poet and the serious look on his face, Wolfram snorted and retorted: "It''s not a place for you to meddle." "Oh but I don''t want to meddle." Said Aneirin while innocently raising his hands: "I''m only here for my friend, which I humbly request you let go." "Request? Who are you to request anything from me?" "We may not know each other but I''m still a friend of Arthur and an acquaintance of Leiu. Doesn''t that make us allies rather than enemies?" The Joker''s aura elevated and locked onto the bard, who was powerless to do anything but he didn''t seem to be worried about his fate. "Zodiak is no more. It''s time for their two souls to be extinguished." "Is it really something for you to decide? It''s your brother''s soul and it can be helpful inˇ­ many ways." He empathized the last part while softy smiling. It was quite obvious that the poet knew more than he showed but he didn''t speak of any details. The Joker frowned but didn''t say anything, he seemed to be thinking about something as he glanced at the unconscious Zodiak and the crimson tear on his chest. An indeterminate amount of time passed and after harrumphing one last time, the Magician turned around and left, leaving Zodiak, who was no longer imprisoned, and Aneirin. The bard supported the old man and poured a vial containing golden liquid into the latter''s mouth. The red tear shining on the chest started fading away and Zodiak''s consciousness started slowly returning. When he fully woke up, he found himself leaning against a withered black tree and facing Aneirin''s young face. "It''s nice to see you again, friend." In response, Zodiak actually chuckled as his expression eased up. Even though the red spear completely vanished, he knew better than anyone about his current condition, the Blessing Stone granted him something that allowed him to entrap Sol''khin but it wasn''t permanent and that effective. "I thought you hated danger." Said Zodiak while sitting up and drinking a cup which was handed to him by his friend. The cup had a unique alcohol which the bard specially brewed, it''s something that Aneirin was willing to gift only to Zodiak as he was the one who encouraged him and helped him reach this point. In a way, their adventure began at the same time and the encounter could be considered as destiny. "Heh! This is not dangerous though." He paused for a few breaths before adding: "It''s a farewell." "ˇ­" Zodiak remained silent and stared back at the handsome young man, who''s expression remained the same and his smile was filled with unfathomable serenity. "I plan to head back home and take a long break." The bard played with his lute and shared his thoughts with Zodiak. He seemed to be distracted as he continued speaking: "I''ve traveled to all corners of the multiverse and, honestly, I''m tired and bored. I guess it''s time to go back to my roots too." "Aneirin, youˇ­" Zodiak didn''t continue his words as he saw the bard''s expression. "You know, as much as I pity Arthur, I truly wanted you to be a bit selfish and hide. Cycles or whatnot, there still many things you could doˇ­ life is beautiful, with all its fortunes and tragedies." Although the old man gave no reply, the bard continued talking: "Even without your help.. your soul, Arthur would have found a way. He has his wife, who''s as exceptional as him, he has friends and brothers, I''m sure that one day he''ll attain a level of power that would allow him to achieve his goals. I find your sacrifice unjustified and unnecessary." The poet''s tone became a bit emotional but he managed to control it with a light cough. He emptied another cup of alcohol and let out a long sigh. "I want to die." Said Zodiak, surprising even Aneirin. "Is that a good enough reason for you?" The old man dropped his head and looked at the wrinkled and bone-like hand, a small black fog was emanating from his nails. "Even if it was unintentional, Arthur created me. He was also the one who gave me Dark Magic, which helped me start a new life, which many would find miserable but when I acquired the power I sought, I was really, really happy. It''s true that life has always been chaotic but I cannot say that I did not enjoy it, quite the contrary, I don''t regret it. Some sought fame, powerˇ­ and love but I wanted an answer for my existence, a purpose maybe but by finding naught, I found and understood everything." Zodiak sighed and waved his hand unceremoniously at his friend: "Give it a rest, Aneirin. My time is up so don''t be so foolish as to follow me." After a momentary silence, Zodiak laughed and said: "Let??s change this grim topic. You recently told me that a woman caught your eye?" As per Zodiak''s request, the bard talked about various others things and the two spent a whole day chatting and laughing. Chapter 633 - 578: Raging Devil In order to protect Arthur, Lucy transformed into a raging beast, withholding nothing of her strength. The might she demonstrated even brought fear to those watching, some even contemplated finishing her off before she grows even more strong. The harmony between her blinding golden crow flames and the freezing Yin Power made the spectators question their eyes and senses. She was enveloped by a lot of steam as he Devil Arm absolutely pulverized the golden beetles and sent the mantis flying far away like a kite, leaving only a trail of black blood in its path. She was only an Overgod yet she managed to battle three Exalted Gods at an advantage. The pressure of Amtir, Hach''ara, and the Saber Saint pressed down on the White Specter, who unleashed a terrifying wave of golden flames which blinded her opponents and disintegrated everything in its wake. Unfortunately, no matter how heaven-defying she was, there was still a limit, more so after what happened inside of the Red Tower, which forced her to expand a sizable amount of her Mana. "Tsk tsk, you really are the Matriarch''s daughter!" Hach''ara clicked his tongue and glared at Lucy, whose hair was floating in the air and her eyes were covered in white flames. Her spectral form made her look even more frightening as the Devil Arm was releasing dangerous spatial vibration and emitting steam through the tiny holes situated in the large scale-like shoulder guards. The one who got the most injured amongst the three Exalted Gods was the Saber Saint, who was hit by two bullets of Lonely Moon, Lucy''s specially crafted silver revolver. The bullets had a staggering amount of Yin and were fired from a very close distance hence his inability to dodge or block them. Not even his Saber Essence was able to shield him so he ended up getting shot two times, causing blood to gush out from the two small holes in his stomach and right shoulder. The hand that was holding the saber was intensely shaking and his left hand was pressing on his bloody stomach, trying to heal himself and extract the bullet. Slowly but surely, ice started covering him and his teeth were clattering from the chilliness. His eyes were glaring at Lucy, no longer paying attention to the Wish Star, the enmity he harbored against Lucy peaked as he faces such a humiliation in front of the powerhouses of the Cloud Sea Universe. "Your name wasˇ­ Lucy, right? Tell you what, let us get the Wish Star and we''ll leave immediately." Hach''ara had felt a bit of urgency as the Wish Star was getting closer to the unresponsive Arthur and seemingly about to integrate inside of him. Furthermore, it doesn''t look like he''ll be able to get close as Lucy was like a raging devil, attacking anything or anyone who got too close. She stood next to the parasite and dutifully protected him against all dangers. Although she managed to resist the enemies, she was still injured as her left thigh was poisoned and slightly trembling, moreover, she sustained a severe injury from one of the Saber Saint''s strikes. As she no longer had Arthur''s stats, her recovery was greatly slowed, plus, these were wounds inflicted by Exalted Gods so the aura embedded in them isn''t easy to get rid of, regardless of whether her Vitality Stat is high or not. This precarious situation continued for a bit of time as Hach''ara and the other stared at Lucy, who was panting heavily and bleeding from her shoulder. The poison caused by the insect user was spreading through her body and making her condition much worse. As if things couldn''t become worse, the army of Holy Knights has gotten close to Arthur and Lucy. Their leader, Seraph, landed dozens of meters away from Lucy and said: "Miss Eva." He was staring at Lucy, displaying no hostility whatsoever. "I hope you can reach an agreement without the need for violence." After pausing for two breaths, in which he glanced at Arthur, he continued: "The Pope has something to discuss with your partner Arthur. We''ll safely escort him there. Any bloodshed is truly unnecessary." His words carried no threat, he didn''t even release his aura as he spoke politely to Lucy. In response, she coldly retorted: "My name is Lucy MoonStar and it''s Madam Lucy for you." She snorted, raised her hand and released a ball of white flames which seemed both suffocatingly hot and strangely chilling. "If you or anyone else takes another step toward me, I''ll slaughter them!" She showed no hesitation as the steam releasing from her devil arm increased, shrouding the area around her in a dense fog but it wasn''t able to block Seraph''s eyes, which penetrated through it and locked onto the couple. "We have no grievance with the White Specter Clan." This time, his tone contained a bit of threat, which was obviously directed at Lucy, more specifically, her clan. Alas, she couldn''t care less about the fate of her clan as she considered herself part of the MoonStar Sect. "Holy General Seraph." Hach''ara bowed his bald and hideous face to the young man while showing his row of dirty yellow teeth. In response, the youngster nodded his head in reciprocation but said nothing. The old man didn''t mind this as he suggestively said: "You wish to escort the parasite and we want the Wish Star. I reckon a cooperation is beneficial." In response, Seraph snorted and coldly replied: "That won''t be necessary." Right after he said that, a white light shot from the ground. It was none other than Lucy, who grabbed Arthur and made a run of it, pouring all of her strength into her movement technique. However, she didn''t forget to leave a special ''present'' in her place, it was a small white fireball which hit the ground, causing it to split in two half, each with a unique color and energy. A second after he swift departure, the place turned into a raging inferno and a soul-chilling blizzard which hit everyone indiscriminately. Seraph raised his hand and erected a thick shield made of white light which blocked the uncontrollable golden flames. Surprisingly, he didn''t chase after Lucy and instead, looked at the sky west of his location. He could sense an overwhelming aura press down on him, rendering him unable to do anything but move his neck. It took him only a breath to recognize the owner of this aura, an unparalleled existence which would frighten anyone. Unlike the Holy general, Hach''ara and Amtir hastily chased after Lucy, furthermore, two more auras belonging to two peak Overgods also rose into the sky. The Saber Saint, who was supposed to harbor a deep grudge, was unexpectedly nowhere to be seen. In fact, ever since that day, no one had ever heard about him. He was last seen next to the remains of the Red Tower, severely injured, but he abruptly vanished. The truth about this matter was only known about the perpetrators who caused his disappearance, more precisely, Black Rose. As he was too focused on Lucy and the Wish Star, the Saber Saint didn''t notice the transparent creepy hands which suddenly bound his ankles and quickly pulled him into the ground within a split second. When he came to his senses, a young man wearing a grey robe was facing him. Before the saint could do anything, the youngster stabbed the dagger into the former''s chest, killing him on the spot. After finishing off the man couldn''t even yell before his death, Artid let out a sigh and vanished from this special dimension which he created just to eliminate this minor threat. He was but a God Monarch yet he easily killed an Exalted God in one attack. Although he looked young, this youngster, the Green Seat of Justice, was the oldest member of Black Rose and has always been a loyal adviser of Forne. Though, no one knew why his cultivation is stuck at the God Monarch Realm. "Azure Bai was really actually rightˇ­ what a surprise." From amongst the large crowd of cultivators and players alike, he gazed at the white flying star shooting off in the horizon, his mind pondering about something. Chapter 634 - 579: Silver Star City Although Lucy was strong, her cultivation was still lower than her pursuers so not long after her departure, two shadows appeared a few kilometers behind her. It was Hach''ara and the Jade King Amtir, the former summoned two other insects while using a mass of black flies to fly at a faster pace. As for Amtir, he took out a large boat made of green jade, boarded it, and went after the white specter. The speed of the Green Jade Spirit Boat was absurd as it caught up to Lucy in just a few seconds and seemed about to crash into her too. Lucy erected a barrier and braced herself for the impact while shielding Arthur with her back, but just as she was about to be hit, a domineering aura appeared out of nowhere and crashed into Amtir''s boat, causing it to stop its fast charge. In fact, before the King of Jade could even see what happened, a colorless energy pressed down on the boat, causing it to crack. Amtir was forced to store it and hurriedly around only to a white figure with a long white tail and long pointy illusory ears facing him. She had long silver hair and looked very much like Lucy but the pressure around her was truly frightening. Lucy immediately sensed the person who interfered but her speed didn''t slow down at all, it actually accelerated and in a few seconds, she left the area. As for Amtir and Hach''ara, who just caught up, they didn''t pursue the young white specter as their path was blocked by the Katrina, the Matriarch of the White Specter Clan. Ever since the war between the undead and the specters, she has been missing so many assumed she seclude herself in order to cultivate but she was actually imprisoned by the Joker, who released her right before the competition of the Red Tower began. "What a surprise!" Hach''ara was displeased by Katrina''s arrival but considering his current cultivation, he wasn''t that afraid of her, after all, he was stronger. Sadly, his complexion had a drastic change as the silver-haired woman released her aura, fully showcasing her cultivation. The Exalted God Realm is formed of five small realms, each with a unique name. They are; Condensing Stage, Expulsion Stage, Stagnation Stage, Exalted Stage, and Transcendency Stage. Currently Hach''ara is an Exalted Stage Exalted God while Amtir is just at the Expulsion Stage. Katrina has been an Exalted God for a sizable amount of time but it isn''t easy to breakthrough the next stage, in fact, it takes decades if not centuries. At the war, she was at the Exalted Stage but now, she actually has broken through the Transcendency stage, making her a peak Exalted God, an existence that rivals Ber Von Xin, the Sword God. The difference between each stage is difference, especially the last two as the cultivator''s energy will start changing, becoming a new type which is more powerful and dominant. "Your chase ends here!" Katrina snorted and waved her arm, releasing a formless white energy which blasted both Hach''ara and Amtir. It was just a simple motion but the white energy caused the King of Jade''s body to turn bloody. What shocked Hach''ara even more is that the Matriarch attacked again without warning again. He thought she was just going to stop them but the boundless killing intent she released made it blatantly obvious that she wants to kill. Amtir shouted in pain as he coughed a lot of blood but before he could do anything, Katrina was upon him, her hand stabbed his chest, causing his body to explode into a bloody mist within a couple of breaths. Even though she was at the last stage of the Exalted God Realm, killing Amtir shouldn''t have been this fast. Cold sweat tricked down Hach''ara face as he innocently raised his hand and hurriedly said: "I concede I concede! I won''t chase your daughter anymore!" He sounded genuinely afraid and honest. He retracted his aura and even summoned back the two insects guarding both of his sides. The white specter glared at him before snorting and turning around, but once she made that, a cold smile appeared on Hach''ara wrinkled face. His bony fingers released an invisible aura which slowly made its way toward Katrina. It was a special kind of poison he created, it was a spiritual and incredibly deadly, even to being superior to him. It was also one of the reasons of Arthur''s sudden fall. Normally, even if Zodiak''s loss to Sol''khin affects his soul, it shouldn''t have made him half-conscious and barely responsive. When he was controlling the Black Dragon, Hach''ara actually used his invisible and unnoticeable poison called the Smiting Invisible Poison. The old man flawlessly controlled the unseen poison but just as it was about to touch Katrina, she vanished from her location, shocking the grinning Hach''ara. By the next second, his arm was severed and a hole appeared in his chest. Thousands of flies appeared from within his tattered robe, stopping blood from gushing out and enveloping him. Katrina wanted to finish him off but her next strike hit nothing but air as Hach''ara seemed to have used an instantaneous teleportation technique. Nevertheless, her two previous attacks did fatally wounded him, basically sealing his fate. ***** The destruction of the Red Tower and the events that unfolded on that planets had traveled far and wide and reached the ears of the three Universes. The Mythical Zodiak got the Blessing stone but completely vanished from the face of the world, as for Arthur, it was rumored that he got the Wish Star but it wasn''t confirmed as there were many who chased after him. Although she didn''t know where her parents were, Saly wasn''t overly worried as her teacher assured her they were safe. She was taken to Green-Leaf, where the MoonStar''s first branch was created. The city situated in the wasteland became bustling with people, moreover, vegetation started growing on its surrounded and the weather became much better. Arthur''s nature magic seemed to affect the corrupt earth and the dry rivers, bringing a new life to this scarred land. Quite unexpectedly, three days after the Red Tower''s destruction, Arthur appeared in that city, now called Silver Star City. "Daddy!" Saly happily jumped in her father''s arm, her tail wagging left and right. She was delighted to finally reunite with father after such a long time. The girl was beaming with joy as he caressed her long snow-white hair. Although she became a bit mature, she behaved like a child whenever Lucy or Arthur is with her, and this time was no exception. Arthur led her to the newly self-constructed tower of Silver Star city, where he met with Mary and Robin, who were managing this place whilst Sonia was gone. The Arthur who came here was actually one of the two clones, each was tasked with something and they were literally no different from the main one. Apart from not being able to use a few certain and unnecessary skills, the clones could have the parasite''s states and memories. Basically, they were no different than the original, in every sense of the word. The reason he came here was to meet his daughter and the World Tree, which sent him a strong signal and urgently called for him. The oath he made in the past sounded an uncomfortable alarm and this made him certain that there are going to be invaders coming to Astria very soon and as per their agreement, he needs to defend the World Tree. Arthur spent only a day in Silver Star city before heading to Astria, although Saly was reluctant to part with him, he promised her to come back once he settled his business. He wanted to bring her along but there was a strong chance she could be in danger, despite her mighty strength and the Fenrir''s power, which came at a cost, obviously. ˇ­ "Was there any disturbance outside of Astria in the last few months?" Arthur asked the not-so-handsome looking Gutcha, who bowed respectfully before his boss. The pigolo was different from the past, whether in terms of cultivation or behavior. He was no longer a scaredy-cat and his loyalty to his benefactor, Arthur, is unquestionable, as he, metaphorically, gave him a new life and a meaning. "Nothing at all." The pigolo answered with certainty but he was puzzled over why he was asked such a question, though he didn''t dare question the parasite. "What about the Cthulhu, they didn''t come back??? "Ever since they escaped last time, there has been no signs of them. In fact, the portal leading to their world vanished completely." Arthur pondered for a few seconds before asking: "Alright, what about the Eastern Continent, is there any one living there anymore?" "I haven''t checked but there seems to be a few elven tribes who chose to settle around the World Tree. Apart from them, I don''t think there''s anyone else, as far as I know." Gutcha handed Arthur a crystal which recorded images of the current Eastern Continent. They showed a desolate and ashen land which looked worse than the Western continent, which became a bloody wasteland after countless war occurred in it. "The World Tree suffered a lot due to the Cthulhu''s strange fire but King Isadore dispatched an Overgod which helped quieten them." "Isadore?" Arthur''s brows knitted as he recalled the blond and young king ruling over Green Leaf. "What about the Kang Clan? Has they sent anyone?" The pigolo shook his head before saying: "The Kang Clan is oddly quiet, however, a girl from the Mirage Era Hall did come looking for you." "Mirage Era Hall? Who was it?" "She was called Shu''ru. I told her I''ll pass the message but she vehemently refused. She said that it needs to be personally delivered to you and returned right after." Arthur was a bit confused as he doesn''t remember having a close relationship with either Shu''ru or her sect. He has been there for a short time and their interaction was brief and almost forgettable. He put this matter in the back of his mind as the problem with the World Tree is more urgent. It''s a shame he can''t create more clones and both the main body and the first clone need to accomplish equally important matters. After talking with Pigolo for a bit more, Arthur went to meet with the World Tree, both curious and nervous to hear what it has to sayˇ­ Chapter 635 - 580: Another One "How do you feel?" Lucy worriedly asked Arthur, who sat up and answered her with a bright smile. He felt refreshed, the weakening and the uncomfortable feeling had vanished after he went comatose for a week or so. Lucy brought him to a small planet which had only mortals in it. They were currently inside a small hut situated in a normal, peaceful forest. While grasping her soft snowy-white hand, Arthur said: "I''m perfectly fine." A white glow came out of his hand and entered her body, healing the injuries inflicted by both Hach''ara and the Saber Saint. Only a bit of Saber Essence remained but the old man''s poison could not be expulsed even when she used her Pure Mana. Fortunately, there was nothing Life Energy could not purify so the deadly poison was extinguished in fifteen minutes. This was the first time in a while since they got together in a peaceful place utterly void of any kind of danger. Arthur was in no hurry depart immediately even though the Dark Blade''s oath kept flashing on the back of his right hand. After a short silence where both of them simply gazed at each other, Arthur lowered his eyes, which were filled with a bit of guilt. "I''m sorry." "Nn?" Lucy was startled to hear a sudden apology and didn''t know why he would say that. She leaned her face closer to the point where she could feel his hot and a bit unsteady breath. "For what? Why are you apologizing?" "ˇ­" Feeling guilty even to look at her eyes, his hand tightly clenched her hand as he voiced his turbulent thoughts: "Back on Riarravarˇ­ you were pregnant but I.." Before he could finish, she cut him off by saying: "I was pregnant and I didn''t tell you. It was never your fault, I just thought that you''ll focus more on protecting me if you know I was carrying our child." "Of course I would do that!" He protested as guilt showered him. A simple inspection of her body told him that she was no longer the child, so she probably had a miscarriage. They didn''t talk about it when they were in the Red Tower but they couldn''t avoid this tragedy forever. Lucy died by Elias'' coin and she has no idea what happened to the unborn baby but it was safe to assume it died along with her, after all, it was but a fetus a few weeks old. Back then, when she woke up, Lucy would cry from time to time but only no one was looking. After a while, she managed to steel her heart and look for Arthur, who was still missing. Yes, it was very sad that she lost her child but she never lost hope and neither blamed herself nor Arthur. Everything she went through in the past taught her that anything can happen and it''s up to her how to deal with misfortunes. Seeing his incredibly sad expression, Lucy gently caressed his cheek and softly smiled. Her spotless and mesmerizing face would steal the soul of any man, even in the multiverse, where beauties are as many as the stars. She was the most beautiful woman in the world but her unique charm is definitely exceptional. "It''s in the past now. We can always make another one." Her voice was clear and resolute as if she was stating a fact. She didn''t even wait for his reply as she planted her lips on his while her hand slid down his chestˇ­ Of course, Arthur didn''t resist or push her awayˇ­ No one, including him, would resist a breath-taking woman as she seductively lungs at them. Although their conversation was cut off short, it didn''t matter, at least not to him, after all, they can continue later. Further details will be omitted. ˇ­ A week later, Arthur and Lucy arrived at the Rose Sea situated between the Cloud Sea Universe and the System Universe. It''s a forbidden region filled with dangers, only God Monarchs and above can enter this plan and not be affected by the deadly fog lingering in the air. Even Exalted Gods do not venture too deep and, in fact, Arthur and Lucy didn''t come here to search for some unimaginable artifactˇ­ it''s just that Makaze was here. The more he got close to Evil Wind, the stronger the signal from his partner was. He didn''t know why would Timos would put his forest here but he didn''t care, he just wanted to recover the Dark Blade and be able to use his strong sword skills again. The sword given to him by the Black Devil was strong but the cost to use it was too much, even for a parasite like him, whose stats are borderline absurd. "So this is the Rose Sea." "I didn''t think the name literally described the place." Lucy was fascinated by the sight before her. The horizon was painted with a pink-shade as a vast sea spread everywhere. It was strangely calm and emitted an unfamiliar energy which made the couple slightly uncomfortable. "Master, this place is not as peaceful and welcoming as it looks."-Quad Spirit Arthur''s pupils focused on the pink water, trying to see what they were hiding but not even his sense could penetrate through these waters. **** Heaven and Hell Universe, Pact Galaxy, Southern Angel Region Arthur floated in the endless dark space while scanning the empty area. Everywhere he went, there was angel troupes patrolling the area, moreover, their individual strength was truly eye-opening to the parasite. He activated his Stealth Mode, turning invisible and unnoticeable and bypassed the angels. This region was a restricted place where only the angels can enter and it''s also his destination. More accurately, he was looking for a specific planet. ˇ­ FLASHBACK A man that was a carbon copy of Arthur leaned on the wooden chairs and asked, his gaze never leaving the parasite. "So, got any more questions?" In response, Arthur thought for a few breaths before saying: "The Garden of Wordsˇ­ can''t you give me a hint on how to reach it?" For an indeterminate amount of time, the man didn''t reply, he seemed to be weighing his options. After what seemed to be a long, long while, he smiled and said: "I can tell you thatˇ­ you need Life and Death." Arthur knitted his brows, not understanding the man''s meaning. "Life and Death?" "Yes, Life that could heal anything and bring the damned. Death which could finish the holiest of beings. I think I''m making it quite obvious." Arthur thought for a moment before he let out a gasp and said: "You can''t meanˇ­" "Yes, the twins, Radolf and Midolf. I know what you''re going to say, they both disappeared after the war but they''re currently imprisoned by the angels. Get them out." "And then what?" "When you get them out, the answer will naturally reveal itself." ****** "What''s that?" A blue-haired girl which looked no older than seven pointed at a large structure far, far away from their location. After Timos had left, Vyncent and the girl were left alone and had no choice but to travel together to ensure their safety. With the use of unique and powerful water magic along with Vyncent''s cultivation and the coin, especially, they managed to travel from one planet to another. They had been chased by many things and ended up landing here, a planet devoid of life and very eerie. The two were shrouded by a fog unleashed by the coin but just to make sure they don''t get spotted, they used a few thick bushes as a cover. They gazed at the large black structure and the sky-tall fences surrounding it from all sides. "I don''t know. It appears to be a prison." "Hmpf! You''re old, aren''t you supposed to be knowledgeable?" Although she was much younger than him, the girl always behaved arrogantly and never wasted an opportunity to flaunt her superiority in talent. Vyncent had long since grown accustomed to her childish behavior and, at first, he used to bicker with her but now he would just remain silent. "Should we go in?" She was more intelligent than a genius child or the average one, however, due to the special circ.u.mstances surrounding her birth, she was curious about any unknown thing or place. "Why should we?" He furrowed his brows and showed an instant injection. One look at the prison would make you want to go the other way. He truly couldn''t understand what''s going inside of her little head. The two were so busy with the prison that they didn''t a presence which quickly grew closer to them. When a faint rustling came from behind, the two abruptly turned around, both comically covering their mouths. What met their eyes was a man with grey and black hair, black clothes and two abyssal pupils. The girl didn''t recognize him but Vyncent was flabbergasted as his lips opened and closed a few times. "What are you doing here?" Arthur scanned the young man and the girl, wondering why they''re here out of all places. ********** END OF VOLUME 11 Note : The next three volumes can be considered a ''real'' volume, each revolving around the three Arthurs and do take in mind that they happen simultaneously. Volume 12 : Prison Break and Affai Chapter 636 - 581: Shen Shen Faced with this Vyncent and the unfamiliar girl, Arthur was truly surprised as he never expected to the former here, in such a barren and tightly-guarded place. Strangely enough, he felt a sense a familiarity when he looked at the girl but he was certain he had never seen her in the past. When he used appraisal, the results were unexpected but confusing at the same time. Shen Shen (Race: half-human/half-demon): Cultivation: none Lv: none Age : 8 Title: Lord of the Ocean / Water of Origin / Eternal Blue Soul Holder Short Description : none The titles were intriguing but her young age and the aura emanating from her body betrayed the results given by the appraisal. Even after Arthur activated his eye ability, the results didn''t change, perplexing the parasite. He didn''t dwell on the matter and shifted his attention back to the dumbstruck Vyncent. "So? Why did you come here?" In response, the young man gulped some saliva and muttered inaudible words before hesitantly saying: "I, I don''t know where we are. We landed here by accident." Arthur tried to read through him but his tone and expression were genuine. "Who are you?!" Unlike Vyncent, the girl was unwelcoming of the stranger, whose aura was cold and ominous, making her feel a bit uncomfortable. Arthur''s Dark Magic leaks out of his body permanently, whether he likes it or not, however, a person needs to be extremely perceptive to feel it, especially when Arthur conceals himself. Arthur sized this blue-haired girl, who wore a simple black dress and stood arrogantly before him. She didn''t attack immediately as she could sense the difference in power but she didn''t back down either. Her name was weird and the aura inside of her body made the parasite feel a slight pain in his hurt, but it remained inexplicable, sadly. "Little lady, you should introduce yourself first.??? Arthur couldn''t get angry at the young girl as he broke into a smile and took a few steps forward. Shen Shen raised her hand and released a formless pressure to push away Arthur but it did nothing to him. "Hmpf! You look and feel evil!" She coldly snorted and impolitely retorted, not even caring that her attack was pointless. It was at this time that Vyncent butted between them by saying: "Arthurˇ­ how about you? Why are you here?" The two weren''t close to exchange secrets but they weren''t strangers either. They helped each other in Riarravar, nevertheless, they can''t be considered true friends. "I''m going there." He pointed at the black structure dozens of kilometers away, not bothering to hide his intentions. From what the man in his ''dream'' told him, Midolf and Radolf are imprisoned here and they''re essential to reach the Garden of Words, a miraculous place which has all the answers in the multiverse. Any answer you seek, however impossible it is, you will find it there. When he was with Wolfram and Leiu, they spoke of the Garden and how they attempted to reach it but their search was fruitless. It''s not a place for everyone and the cost is not cheap, at least that''s what the Nameless Knight said. The Garden of Words is not a place created by the Twelve or the Watcher, in fact, no one knows how or when it came into existence. They just know it exists because there has been people who went there and obtained answers which shocked anyone and everyone. "You want to go in there? Why?" Vyncent couldn''t help but ask, his brows furrowing as he glanced at the massive black structure and the fences which were enveloped by white lightning. "ˇ­" Arthur stared back at the young man but chose not to reply this time. "Don''t come closer or I will.."-Shen Shen "You will what?" Retorted Arthur, raising his hand and using Telekinesis. It''s not useful against powerful enemies but this rare Enigma ability, at his current stage, can even affect a peak God. An overwhelming aura pressed down on the girl, causing her movement to slow down and her pupils to contract. Vyncent stepped to the front, shielding her and saying: "Please don''t mind her. She''s still young and doesn''t know how to interact with strangers." Arthur chuckled and retracted his power : "I was just playing with her." He only applied a bit of pressure to scare her, it wasn''t even enough to cause pain. Although she had no cultivation and Lv, the girl was oddly strong. ''I''m not imagining it, right?'' "Yes, master. Whatever she used a few seconds ago can defeat Immortals. I also sense the Water of Origin from her." ''Water of Origin? What is that?'' "It''s Water created by Dmitra. It''s just like the wood used to make the box which held the sword given to you by Timos. While Wood symbolizes defense and sturdiness, Water is all about flexibility and clarity. Its healing powers are even superior to your Life Energy. Actually, when she reaches the God Realm, she can produce special droplets called Origin Water Droplets. They can cure crippled Meridians and destroyed Dantian and significantly and drastically increased one''s cultivation." ''What about the other two titles?'' "I don''t know the first one but the third one is unimaginably rare. In fact, ever since everything came into existence, there has only been two other people which had the Eternal Blue Soul. It''s a special kind of soul which affects the holder''s Physique and consciousness. When they reach a certain age, their body will obtain the Silent Water King Physique. Additionally, the talent of those in possession of the Eternal Blue Soul is unparalleled, even the Madam''s prodigious feats cannot compare. An Overgod or above can easily discover the soul and if they discover her, they''ll surely want to get their hands on her. In case she doesn''t die, she''ll become an Exalted God Within a century, at most, and that is if she cultivate normally without any assistanceˇ­ I wonder what''s her origin." The Quad-spirit sounded amazed and even a bit jealous. As an existence which defies the logic, its affinity with Earth, Water, and Death is at its peak but it couldn''t held but envy this girl called Shen Shen. Arthur remained silent as he internally talked to the spirit so Vyncent became a bit restless. He briefly remained silent before saying: "Can you help us leave this place?" Before the parasite could reply, Shen Shen stomped her feet and said: "Hey! Why are you asking him for help? He looks like a bad guy!" It''s truly a shame that Timos, the one who raised her in the past few months, didn''t talk very much about parents, especially their appearances. He did say that her father was a parasite but she had no way of knowing if Arthur was a parasite or if he''s the person the Black Devil talked about. "Little Lady, you shouldn''t talk like that to your seniors." Shen Shen crossed her small arms and turned her face to the side, unwilling to converse with the stranger anymore. This led to a chuckle to escape Arthur''s lips as he tried to probe her with his sense for the nth time only to failˇ­ again. Seeing that Arthur completely ignored him, Vyncent bit his lips but didn''t insist. He grabbed the girl''s hands and was about to leave only to hear the parasite say: "There''s an angel troupe coming from that direction." The young man''s abruptly halted, he spread his sense but couldn''t sense anything, though he didn''t dare to doubt Arthur''s words, after all, he had seen what this terrifying man is capable of. "We escaped Riarravar together so perhaps the same fate shall befall us hereˇ­" Arthur said his piece before raising his hand and unleashing a large quantity of hell flame which turned the trees and bushes into ash and alerted the angels not far away. Within a few seconds, the trio was surrounded by dozens of angels, all fully armored and very strong. Actually, the weakest amongst them emitted a pressure similar to an Immortal Cultivator. The method of strengthening in the Heaven and Hell Universe is much more complicated compared to the Cloud Sea or the System Universe. The angels, especially, relied on Commandment, and the more they got, the stronger they are. Arthur doesn''t know much but the little bit of knowledge he has allowed him to gauge their strength and determine if they''re a threat or not. Currently, his aura was that of a Divine Being and none of the angels suspected anything, still, they raised their weapon and pointed them at the three invading strangers. "On your knees!" They didn''t even question them and demanded they surrender on the spot. Anyone caught in this place will be imprisoned regardless of their identity. It''s a place prohibited for travelers and the consequences of getting caught are not to scoff at. Seeing the angels all around him, Vyncent grit his teeth and got on his knees while throwing a blaming glance at the parasite. Shen Shen was more stubborn but when the pressure of the angels fell down on her, she surrendered too. In less than an hour, they were caught and quickly transported to the prison but since they didn''t fight back and were judged not to be a real threat, they were put on the first underground floor, where most of the common criminals are. *********** Unbeknownst to Arthur, the moment he set foot in the prison, there was one person who sensed his arrival and became exhilarated. The woman bound on the deepest floor burst into happy laughter, her body was shaking from excitement and she could barely hold herself from breaking free and going to meet him right now. "Ah! My dear! You''ve finally come." A seductive and enchanting smile plastered on her breath-taking face as her sense locked onto the unknowing parasite. Zaarae, the parasite Empress, knew the reason Arthur came here but she couldn''t help but feel incredibly impatient. As for the twins locked onto the adjacent cell, they maintained their silence but both felt their master''s aura albeit its faintness. ****** Above the unrecognizable human continent of Astria, which now but a bottomless abyss filled with eternal fire and raging waters, a graceful figure scanned this destroyed place before taking out a clear sky-blue crystal covered in white flames. Katrina actually managed to find Astria, her daughter''s homeworld and personally came here without being noticed. She poured all of her Nether Energy into the crystal, which caused her surrounding to rapidly starting changing, or more accurately, reverting back as the flow of time was broken. In just a few seconds, a peaceful continent manifested itself in front of the Matriarch, who disappeared into white steam, appearing somewhere south-east. "Show me, Eva, what really happened for you to become like this." What she had used with the Divine artifact of the White Specter Clan, something that would allow the user to see past events of all the white specters. However, the cost to use for a prolonged amount of time is very great, sometimes even fatal. Nonetheless, Katrina didn''t care as she was wanted to know why did Lucy reject her so vehemently. Chapter 637 - 582: Blood Sworn Mercenaries Vyncent, Shen Shen, and Arthur were thrown into the same cell, which had dozens of other prisoners. Almost every one of them had hideous faces and scars all over their bodies but they weren''t that strong. Surprisingly, there only a few people from this universe, the rest were players and a couple of rogue cultivators. The angels weren''t perceptive enough to discover Arthur''s race, which he hid pretty well so it was to be expected to be thrown in here, on the first underground floor. The angels warned the trio to not cause noise before violently shutting down the metal doors of the cold cell. It''s kind of ironic as angels are supposed to be merciful and majestic beings but their behavior was no different than arrogant thugs. Except for their appearances, everything else was the opposite of what one would expect from angels, then again, they are the a low-ranked angels, whose duty is no different than guards or cannon fodder soldiers. Vyncent felt helpless when he was captured but when he was forcefully dragged here, he knew that escaping is going to be difficult but not impossible, if he were to use the coin, that is. As for the little blue-haired girl, she was in a very bad mood and glaring daggers at the parasite, who was motionlessly standing with his eyes closed. His sense could only reach the 4th floor but he could pinpoint all the patrols and bypassing them won''t be that hard, however, there''s bound to be stronger ones much deeper into the prison. He could also a domineering aura coming from above. The aura belonged to Warden Habs, a human who''s in charge of the biggest prison in all of the multiverse. In fact, ever since its creation, only six people managed to escape, two of them being Forne and Zodiak. Arthur''s memories of Zodiak were fuzzy, nevertheless, he managed to remember a few things, like how three six-winged angels and one eight-winged one are permanently guarding the deepest floor, which is where the twins are. Midolf and Radolf could not escape alone which kind of explains how strong the beings here, especially the Warden and the eight-winged angels, which are can rival Exalted Gods in Strength. Moreover, this planet is close to a military base that belongs to the angels so if the alarms go off, reinforcement will arrive within minutes. In addition to angels, demons, and devils, the Heaven and Hell Universe also has an abundance of humans and dwarves. Actually, the largest mercenary corporation is situated in this universe and it''s definitely a great force that even the angels dare not underestimate. It has been growing in force for two whole eras and its strongest members are truly frightening. "The leader of the Blood Sworn Mercenary Corp is a woman who fully absorbed a drop of Thyddor''s blood and is in possession of the Cursed Sword, Famine." There was a rumor that the angels hired the Blood Sworn Mercenaries but Arthur wasn''t able to confirm it before coming here. Furthermore, he''ll be able to quickly escape swiftly using the fragment of the dimensional stone and his Space Magic. Only inside the prison is his Space Magic restricted so the moment he leave, the angels won''t be able to catch him, he''ll also have the support of Midolf and Radolf, who are by no means weak, after all, they are mythical beings. "Hey!" An unpleasant voice originated from the center of this cell, which could fit forty to fifty heads. Someone standing at the front of a group of haggard prisoners called the three newcomers but only Vyncent and Shen Shen turned around. "Aren''t you going to greet your new cellmates?" A man over two meters tall and a body riddled with ugly scars looked at the frail-looking Vyncent and the small Shen Shen, not hiding his contempt and feeling of superiority. Although the prisoners weren''t chained, they still couldn''t use their cultivation or magic and this applies to everyone. So, the only one who dominates is those with great physical strength hence why this muscular man was flaunting his arrogance needlessly. Arthur was also unable to access all of his arsenals, nevertheless, some skills remained, moreover, Dark Magic wasn''t affected by the seal placed on the whole prison. His Enigma skills, racial abilities, a few passives, and Dark Magic were unaffected. Moreover, if he were to transform, he''ll still be able to unleash some powerful bestial skills, such as Dragon Breath, Vermillion bird''s flames, and the White Tiger''s acid. In response to the man''s harsh tone, Vyncent knitted his brow but didn''t respond. Shen Shen''s powers were also restricted bu the Water of Origin could still be used, she smirked as she puffed her chest and retorted: "You''re ugly, turn around!" Unfortunately, her defying behavior had no effect on the man or the other prisoners, who burst out in laughter, finding her act cute rather than threatening. "Esco, why don''t you let me handle her?" A skinny-man with corpse-like skin, pointy nose and small eyes appeared from behind Esco, the muscular and tall man, who''s most likely the ''leader'' of these prisoners. He looked like a walking stick with his thin body and bony limbs, he was staring at Shen Shen with a strange, almost disgusting look. "Mhm, do whatever you want." Esco spoke heartily as he shifted his attention to Arthur, the only one of the trio who was making him feel uncomfortable. Vyncent and Shen Shen didn''t look threatening but this black-clothed man was giving a sense of great danger, making him hesitate. "I''m Slick Hand, what about you, pretty lady?" The skinny man introduced himself as he marched toward Shen Shen while rubbing his fingers and displaying an unpleasant grin. Shen Shen didn''t reply and was about to use her unique water Magic only for Vyncent to hold her raising hand and whisper with a very low voice. "Stay still!" He pulled her behind him, faced Slick Hand, and coldly said: "We want no troubles. Don''t force my hand." Arthur was watching from the side, slightly amused. ''Heh, he changed a bit.'' Back in the day, Vyncent was cowardly and wouldn''t risk his life for strangers but he was protecting this girl, for some unknown reason. "Force your hand? Hahaha" The man sinisterly laughed before lunging at Vyncent, his bony fingers in the form of a claw aimed at Vyncent''s throat. What Esco and the others expected didn''t happen, in fact, the opposite happened. Slick Hand''s body was sent flying and crashed into the wall, his hand was broken and blood leaked out of his lips. He was knocked unconscious with one hit, astonishing everyone. They didn''t even see Vyncent move but the result before their eyes frightened the weak bunch, even Esco. The muscular man''s body shook before he prostrated himself on the ground, not even daring to look at the blond youngster. "I surrender! Please forgive me!" His attitude has a 180 degree change as he shook like a leaf. He wasn''t that strong but he immediately knew the difference with that one-sided exchange. He liked to rule over the weaklings but Vyncent was on a different league and the only thing Esco wanted was to keep his miserable life. "Hmpf! Serves you right!" Shen Shen stood proudly as she threw a glance at Arthur. She wanted him to know the consequences of offending her but the parasite chuckled and shrugged his shoulders as if he expected such an outcome. Vyncent didn''t want anything to do with the prisoners so he waved his hand dismissively and sat on the cold ground, wondering what to do to escape. His eyes watched the motionless Arthur, who was walking toward Esco. The parasite stopped a few inches away from Esco''s head, which was plastered on the ground. He crouched down and said: "There''s no harm having a useful informant." He softly patted the man''s head, sending a wisp of dark magic into the latter''s body. "How long have you been here?" "Reporting to the venerable one! Six years." Arthur kindly smiled, making Esco shiver even more intensely. "Then you must know a great deal about the prison." "Yes yes! Of course!" Esco didn''t even dare to reply to a moment too late as he did his best to be truthful and obedient. "I want to know too!" Shen Shen appeared next to Arthur and looked at the big man before her. "Little lady, children should remain quiet." Arthur patted her small head, causing her to try and get away but her attempt was unsuccessful. Only after he retracted his hand did she angrily look at him and say: "You''re evil! Wait till I tell my parents about youˇ­ they''ll make you regret this!" In response, Arthur laughed, finding her even more likable "Hahaha sure sure." Shen Shen pointed at him and added: "My father will grind you into dust! When he comes, you won''t be able to escape!" Chapter 638 - 583: Buo Buo Down "U-uhm, there are 13 underground floors in this prison, but they''re generally divided into five levels and each level is three floors, with the exception of the 13th floor. Us, prisoners of the first level are put here for relatively minor crimes and aren''t strong. Venerable''s strength is mighty so if I had to take a guess, he''ll be put in the third or fourth level." Esco raised his head and explained the structure of the prison and how it functions. For a weak prisoner, he was knowledgeable, at least enough to satisfy Arthur''s curiosity. "Each level is handled by a chief guard and if they sound the alarm, the rest will replicate within seconds." "And who''s the strongest in here, no, let me rephrase it, how strong is the Warden and the Chief guards." "The Chief guards are as strong as eight-winged angels, as for Warden Habsˇ­ I really don''t know." The muscular prisoner paused for a moment before hesitantly saying: "But he''s a very ambitious person." "Ambitious? What makes you say that?" "He has no special background but still managed to climb all the way here, moreover, he''s human yet managed to rule over angels. He''s the only person Heaven trusts to manage this godforsaken place." ***** The prison was split into two parts, the underground one is where prisoners are held and the black structure Arthur and co saw is where the personnels live. The Warden''s office is also at the top of this massive ominous building. "Anything new?" A man with long crimson hair and sword-shaped eyebrows was resting on his leather chair while listening to an angel''s report. The angel had eight white wings spreading from his back and emitted an aura no less threatening than an Exalted God. "The situation in Heaven is still unresolved, however, there have been talks about a possible solution." "Which is?" Habs fiddled with a dagger while listening to handsome male angel. "A young World Tree was found in a low-realm somewhere in the System Universe. Actions has not been taken yet as there is a strong chance the System may retaliate if a large force of angels appear uninvited." "Interesting. Very interesting. Do they expect some kind of resistance? Is that why they''re planning to send numerous forces?" "That''s most likely the case." The warden tapped the dagger''s hilt on the table, continuously and almost periodically as he was lost in thought. After an indeterminate amount of time, he added: "Anything else?" "Three unknown individuals were discovered and caught within the prison''s vicinities but their strength is negligible so they were put on the first level." "Hmm negligible you say?" Seeing Habs'' strange reaction, which is different from his nonchalant one, the angel furrowed his brow but didn''t speak. "In the prison''s vicinity and negligible strength? That doesn''t make sense now, does it?" The angel listened to the warden without uttering a word. By now, he was used to how Habs behaves and how he talks to himself. "Just entering this planet is a feat of its own yet you say ''negligible'', I find thatˇ­ worrying. Are they human?" "They appear to be so but since the proper procedure hasn''t been done yet, we can only assume so." Although the prison is undoubtedly huge, it isn''t every day that prisoners are captured and brought here. In fact, it rarely happens, especially special cases where they''re discovered kilometers away from here and this definitely prickled Habs'' interest. ***** Instead of immediately heading deeper into the prison, Arthur stayed for a few hours in the cell along with Shen Shen, Vyncent, and the rest of the cowering prisoners. The number of guards was staggering and every fifteen minutes exactly, a patrol of six angels would pass in front of the cell to check on the situation. They weren''t strong but were highly vigilant and didn''t drop their guard even though the prisoners were trapped and severely weakened. Arthur cannot use Space Magic, however, [Faster Than Death] didn''t qualify as a teleportation and was accessible, fortunately. Moreover, Arthur could easily bypass the thick floor under his feet by transforming into a plant or an ant but his disappearance would be discovered soon and that would complicate things. The best solution is to infiltrate the deeper floors by possessing some one of high status, like one of the Chief Guards. Esco said that they are no weaker than Exalted Gods so he needs take down one of them swiftly and without being noticed. It''s going to be hard but if done meticulously and thoroughly, it''s definitely possible. Sadly, the Dark Cloud which can act as his substitute is with the main Arthur so he has to resort to the shadow clone, which is temporary and noticeable by stronger individuals. The clone remains for two minutes at most, so within 120 seconds, he needs to take down the Chief Guard and come back here. Once his target has been taken down, the rest will smoothly proceed. By possessing someone with a lot of power, he can transfer ''himself'' into another safer place so he won''t have to worry about potential mishaps. Apparently, the Chief Guard of the first level is, surprisingly, a goblin named Buo Buo. Apart from his distinguishable appearance, little information is known about him as he isn''t as active as the other Chief Guards, nevertheless, Arthur chose him as his first target since he''s the closest. Buo Buo is also rumored to be the weakest amongst the five. ˇ­ A very short and hideous-looking blue-skinned goblin sat on a comfortable sofa while enjoying a lavish feast. He was surrounded by pretty elves who served him food and satisfied his desires. The chief guard was so engrossed that he didn''t the approach of an invisible figure. Arthur easily bypassed the barriers put around this place and successfully infiltrated Buo Buo''s private room. "Buoyoyoyoyoyo pour me more wine!" His unpleasant laugh echoed across the large and luxurious room, which was unbefitting of the prison. He noticed nothing as the parasite got within fifty meters of him, the latter''s aura was non-existent and he was currently in the form of a tiny snake that can turn invisible. Arthur thought that''s it''s going to be easier than he expected but, out of the blue, Buo Buo suddenly got up and looked around. "Did something bother you, master?" After looking around for a few breaths, Buo Buo shook his head, grinned while showing his disgusting teeth and said: "It''s nothing nothing buoyoyoyoyo!" A split second later, something flashed before the goblin''s eyes, startling him. Buo Buo''s body slightly shook before his eyes turned livid and his liveliness vanished. His body remained motionless for sometime before he returned to his laughter as if nothing happened. Arthur converted all of his strength into Agility and Intelligence and activated [Transmutation], granting him speed that far surpassed the goblin''s reaction time. He unleashed a concentrated green bolt of lightning which headed straight for the target''s brain. It was a swift and clean attack which was not resisted or blocked, it allowed Arthur to end Buo Buo and possess his body. This time, Arthur purposely chose to obtain the goblin''s stats and skills as he needs to act like the real chief guard. The increase in stats was significant, moreover, he gained powerful skills in the goblin''s possession. The interesting ones were [Goblin''s Gold Bag], [Apex Slavery], and [Handler''s Telekinesis]. In fact, the last one was an Enigma skill which caused a reaction with his own [Telekinesis]. *Permission to fuse [Handler''s Telekinesis] and [Telekinesis] Y/N?* ''Yes.'' *Process of fusion.. 1%.. 15%.. 45%.. 75%..100%. Completed. [Handler''s Telekinesis] and [Telekinesis] have successfully fused into [Thought Telekinesis]* *[Thought Telekinesis(Enigma ability)]: An advanced form of Telekinesis that allows the user to control things from a distance. It can affect anything, material and spiritual and is highly effective against those with weaker Mental Power than the user.* *[Goblin''s Gold Bag(Passive): Can duplicate Gold, Red Spirit stones, crystals, talismans, etcˇ­ Earning will be increased by 15% +3% luck.* *You''ve obtained a new stat: Luck: The chance for a unique artifact to spawn somewhere around the user. The chance to solve puzzles through thought has been increased. The chance of being cursed have been decreased.* [Apex Slavery(active and passive)]: a low-damage ability that can enslave anyone weaker than the user by one entire realm or if the user hits a target 300 times, consecutively. Info: Regardless of the target''s cultivation or Lv, if they''re hit by Apex Slavery three hundred time then they''ll be the user''s slave. The slave imprint can be retracted at any time.* *You''ve obtained a new title ''Slave Master'': All your slaves will earn 5% of the user''s stats (the bonus can be slightly adjusted)* *You''ve obtained a new title ''S.e.xual Friend'': The ability toˇ­* Arthur didn''t even continue reading the last title and just adjusted himself to the goblin''s body before spending a bit more time with the elves then leaving the room, heading directly to where his clone was. Chapter 639 - 684: Ratika Race ''Great! Lucy is going to scold me once she sees the last title.'' He didn''t know if the skills or stat increase will apply to the main body but Lucy will definitely not ignore the ''s.e.x.u.a.l fiend'' title. After spending a few seconds grumbling to himself, Arthur adjusted himself to the short body of the blue-skinned goblin and left his private room. As he is currently disguising himself as the chief guard of the first level, none of the angel guards stopped him, though they didn''t greet him either, indicating that the deceased Buo Buo wasn''t exactly popular amongst these winged beings. Nevertheless, the several hundred million stats he obtained and the Mental Power that increased were nothing to scoff at. Arthur''s cultivation jumped directly to the late stage of early Overgod Realm, though his real power could content with Exalted Gods. Buo Buo had a power that rivaled a first stage Exalted Gods but, unfortunately, he was still a parasite''s match. Arthur''s incredible stealth and his unparalleled speed allowed him to easily take down the unsuspecting target. If it was a fair fight, Arthur wouldn''t have been able to defeat the goblin this fast, nonetheless, he would have emerged victorious. The large burst of Natural Lightning he used to take down the Chief Guard cost him more than three billion Nether Energy and ten thousand Mental Power. Sure, he can use lightning magic without a cost but if he infuses them with Nether energy and Mental Power, its effectiveness drastically increases depending on the cost. In less than a minute, Arthur appeared before the cell his clone was at. An angel was standing behind him, confused about the goblin''s sudden appearance and unusual behavior, nonetheless, he complied with everything the Chief Guard said. After opening the cell, the angel was sent away, leaving Vyncent and rest with the goblin, who didn''t look strong but emanated a suffocating aura. "Oyoyoyoyoyo you four, follow me." He pointed at himself, Vyncent, Shen Shen, and the informative Esco before turning away and starting walking deeper into the floor. Apart from his shadow clone, the three slightly hesitated before following the blue-skinned goblin. While Vyncent and Esco were feeling threatened and restless, Shen Shen was a bit curious about the Chief Guard, she eyed him with wide eyes. "How did you do it?!" She appeared surprised as she walked beside the goblin and asked with an exclamatory voice. The goblin knitted his bushy brows as he turned his small head toward the blue-haired girl, who didn''t appear scared at all. "It''s you, right?!" Shen Shen pointed at the silent shadow clone before uttering those words. This made Arthur surprised, though he didn''t say anything and just waved his hand, causing a nearby empty and small cell to open. It was better to put his clone and his ''companions'' in an isolated place then shroud it with his magic so that the angel won''t interfere. Soon, they''ll know that the chief guard imprisoned a few prisoners here and they won''t dare question his actions. Perhaps the only one frightened out of his wits was Esco, who was shaking like a leaf. He was the first person to enter the small cell and choose the farthest corner from the goblin. It took some time for Vyncent to understand the situation, especially after Shen Shen said that. When all entered the cell, Arthur accompanied them then raised his hand and unleashed a dense fog that plastered itself on the prison bars, making anyone from the outside unable to see a thing. "How''d you know?" He looked at the blue-haired girl and asked, sounding genuinely curious. In response, the girl giggled and proudly said: "It''s easy to tell!" Arthur found her response lacking and not satisfactory. "Teach me how you do it!" As she said that, the goblin evilly chuckled before retorting: "I thought I''m a bad guy." Shen Shen cutely pouted and said back: "W-well, you still areˇ­ but I will consider not telling my parents if you teach me your trick." "Oh? Is that so?" A wide grin was displayed on the goblin''s ugly-looking face, in fact, it made him look even more hideous, more than poor Gutcha. "I can''t teach you because it can''t be taught." Arthur gave her an immediate reply which made the girl''s expression a mix of sadness and anger. "Then you''ll get beaten by my father!" She sulkily turned around and proceeded to ignore Arthur, who laughed at her behavior before turning around to leave. He was just about to exit the cell only for Vyncent to stop him. "Wait!" As Arthur turned to face the youngster, the latter asked: "Why did you come here? What do you plan on doing?" Vyncent knew that whatever Arthur will do, it''ll cause chaos, after all, that''s what happens whenever he meets him. Whether it''s on Green Leaf or Riarravar, it always happened. After a brief silence, the goblin said: "I suppose there''s harm telling you. I''m going to help two people escape the prison." "W-what!" An loud gasp escaped Esco''s mouth as he kind of figured the situation but still couldn''t help but become surprised once he heard Arthur''s words. Seeing their eyes fall on him, he coughed a few times and dropped his head, embarrassed and afraid. ''What did I get myself into? I''m doomed! DOOMED!'' Even though he knew Arthur was incredibly strong, what he said was borderlines absurd and unfeasible. The prison was guarded by extremely strong beings like the chief guards and Habs, there''s also the nearby military camp which will respond if anything were to happen. There''s literally no chance to escape this hell hole, even a peak Exalted Gods won''t be able to leave. The last prison break that happened forced the angels to make the security tight and increase the number of powerhouses guarding this place. The very fact that Zaarae is still imprisoned here explains how difficult it is to escape, though Esco or anyone else were unaware that Emir managed to enter and leave the prison unharmed, then again, it''s to be expected as he''s an Archmage and existence that is above Exalted Gods. After spending a moment of contemplation, Vyncent said with a serious tone: "What of us?" "What about you?" "We can''t escape on our own. When you leave, I hope that you''ll help us too." Yes, Vyncent and Arthur weren''t particularly close but the former knew that if he asked for help, the parasite wouldn''t turn the other way. Their relationship was strange but Arthur won''t forget that Vyncent did help him and Lucy back on Riarravar, albeit for a short time. Furthermore, he was the one who caused him and Shen Shen to get caught in the first place. Additionally, despite their constant bickering, it was obvious that Arthur was quite fond of Shen Shen, though he did little to show that. Vyncent didn''t know everything about Arthur but he was well aware that the parasite isn''t amicable to strangers yet he still treated the young girl with kindness and didn''t get angry at her remarks, which gave Vyncent a bit of hope to cling onto. They were unlucky enough to land on this planet and unless they leave the prison, at least, he won''t be able to escape even with the coin''s help. Elias'' coin had a lot of functions and one of them was instantaneous teleportation at a great cost. However, the seal put around and inside the prison rendered him unable to do anything but circulate a bit of his Nether Energy, which isn''t nearly enough to fight, much less use the mysterious artifact. "As long as you don''t cause any trouble then I see no reason to keep you entrapped here, don''t worry." Arthur waved his hand dismissively before leaving the cell. Vyncent sighed and sat on the ground while Shen Shen was still pouting. Seeing that Arthur''s shadow clone dispersed, she turned to the blond young man and asked: "Hey you! You know him, right? Then tell me how he did that." Vyncent wasn''t in the mood to quench the girl''s curiosity but he still replied honestly after glancing at Esco, who also wanted to know what exactly happened. "He''s a parasite. It shouldn''t be hard for him to possess anything that moves." "A parasite? Really?" Shen Shen was only a bit surprised, she rubbed her chin and looked at the dense fog blocking her view while pondering about something. ****** It was more comfortable to transform into the goblin than possessing its lifeless body so Arthur did just that. He proceeded to the deeper floors and none of the angels or exceptionally few human guards blocked his way. He was getting gazes of disgust and contempt from the winged majestic beings but the humans were surprisingly docile and unresponsive. It didn''t take Arthur long to figure out that Buo Buo had a few subordinates which he secretly dominated using his Slave Imprint. Their freedom was sealed and their will sealed, they were no different than eternally loyal tools which obeyed his orders to the letter even if it means costing their life. As he didn''t have any use for them now, Arthur ignored them and soon enough, arrived at the fourth floor, which is also the beginning of the second level. From this point onwards, this was the second chief guard''s territory, however, there was no reason any of the other chief guards will interfere unless he did something to provoke them. Esco previously said that the relationship between the five Chief Guards isn''t exactly harmonious but they weren''t enemies either. The only odd chief guard was the one ruling over the fourth level, he was of a Ratika race, a human that resembled a serpent and someone more seclusive than Buo Buo. It has been decades since he showed himself and is said to be as strong as the chief guard of the fifth level. The chief guard of the second level is a woman named Fariya. She''s of the succubus race, which surprised Arthur as the succubus race is one of the races ruling the demon realm. Technically, succubus are considered demons so it made no sense for a succubus to be working on angels. ''I guess they don''t care about the race as long as someone works for them.'' "Master, Heaven isn''t only ruled by angels, it just happens that they are numerous, that''s all. Actually, there''s a unique race called Light Demons, which is one of the ten Races managing Heaven, they do look like demons but are absolutely loyal to ''God''. Unlike the Holy Dominion, not everything associated with darkness is viewed as evil in this universe. Angels are much more understanding and open-minded, all they care about is to maintain peace and stop the spread of slaughter and maliciousness." ''What will they think of Dark Magic?'' "I don''t think they would welcome you with open arms. Master''s Dark Magic influences one''s emotions and will so, in more than a way, it can be considered as evil and no different than a devil''s control magic." The Quad-spirit paused for ten seconds before saying: "Master, I should you be careful of the succubus. I know that you are immune to beautiful women except for the Madam but a succubus'' charm magic is highly effective against men, especially master. You have many bestial desires obtained from possessing countless monsters so a succubus'' seduction may be fatal." Arthur chuckled and retorted: ''Don''t worry about that. You can even bring me the most devilish and seductive succubus and ''it'' won''t even get up, I assure you. It''s not about instincts or desires but a mental problem.'' What he said was none other than the absolute, undeniable truth. Apart from Lucy, he doesn''t get aroused by other women, no matter how heavenly beautiful they are. It must have something to do with his tragic pasts, which made him close-minded. It''s just that Lucy is the sole exception, the only woman he can ever copulate with and make him s.e.x.u.a.lly excited. The quad-spirit gave no response as it saw Arthur''s certainty. It was useless to try and explain, furthermore, it didn''t doubt its master''s words. "What brings dear old Buo here?" A devilish voice entered Arthur''s head, it was soft and pleasant to the ears, unlike the goblin''s. A silhouette materialized a couple of meters in front of Arthur, and in just a few seconds, it became crystal clear. It was a woman wearing almost no clothes, just something like a black bikini which covered her n.i.p.p.l.es and lower parts, even her pose was seductive as she crossed her slender arms under her massive b.r.e.a.s.ts while smiling at the goblin. Fariya Shaker (Race: Succubus): Cultivation: none Lv: None Astral Force: 6 Purple stars 94 Golden Stars Age : 548 Skills : Seduction (Passive Max Lv) / Charm(Passive Max Lv) Titles: Sadist / Ravenous Hunter / Old V.i.r.g.i.n Short Info : None The only thing that shocked Arthur was that she''s a v.i.r.g.i.n, contrary to what her appearance and behavior portray, nevertheless, he didn''t show his shock and behaved normally. Buo Buo is known to be l.u.s.tful so the parasite acted as so, focusing his gaze on her impressive assets. ''Thank god Lucy isn''t hereˇ­'' His wife would get angry if he stared at another woman so if she were to see what he was currently doing, all hell would break loose. He wouldn''t even be surprised if he gets beaten into a pulp then ignored for a whole month. It''s the same thing for him as he didn''t like men getting close to Lucy but as she hates the opposite s.e.x, she tends to distance herself and act coldly toward all men. Chapter 640 - 585: Star Acc.u.mulation Like the Cloud Sea Universe and the System Universe, the Heaven and Hell Universe has a unique strengthening system which is efficient but difficult and more complicated than the rest. In essence, the inhabitants of this universe acc.u.mulate stars of various colors and shapes. Of course, this applies to everyone but spirits and angels, which are born strong from the get-go. Angels obtain more wings through the completion of special commandments they get from Heaven. As for other races, they rely on Star Acc.u.mulation, which is, in more than a way, a good way to become stronger. Players increase their stats and gain more levels while cultivators absorb Nether Energy to strengthen their Meridians and fill their ever-expanding Dantian. Star Acc.u.mulation, however, is wildly different as a person need, at first, to locate their unique stars then build up from there. It is said that every individual has their unique star since the moment they came into existence, either from scratch or from their mother''s w.o.m.b, no beings is exempt from this rule. If done properly, an individual can find their star at the age of five and start absorbing its aura for a period of time until it''s fully inside the host. The first star is called the Birth Star and is the foundation for everything else. The Cultivation System is divided into Mortal Realm, Spirit Realm, and so on, but Star Acc.u.mulation is measured by the color and number of stars. The weakest ones are white stars, then there''s, Silver, then Gold and Purple stars. To be able to acc.u.mulate Silver Stars, for example, one needs a hundred White Stars. When you acc.u.mulate ten white stars, you''re no longer a mortal and can contend with Spirit Realm cultivators or players above Lv1000. From the appraisal, Arthur could see that Fariya acc.u.mulated 6 purple stars, which are the equivalent of an Exalted God at the second stage. For instance, Buo Buo only had five purple stars and a few dozen Gold Stars so this seductive woman was definitely stronger than the goblin. There are also cases where you cannot measure someone''s power based on their cultivation or Lv, these beings wield special powers which make them rival experts without the need to resort to orthodox methods. Midolf and Radolf are a good example as they have no cultivation but can use their unique powers to defeat Overgods. As he faced Fariya''s question, Arthur only took two breaths to reply while trying to imitate Buo Buo''s behavior; "Oyoyoyo I have a small matter to attend on the lower floors." For a very short period of time, the succubus did nothing but stare intently are the goblin, her thoughts were known only to her. Her smile widened as she marched toward Arthur, her bulging chest going up and down with every step. "I''m feeling awfully lonelyˇ­ can''t dear old Buo accompany me for a bit?" Once she got within two steps of Arthur, an insurmountable telekinetic force stopped her march. The goblin''s powerful ability rendered her unable to get close but she didn''t seem to mind as she pursued her lips. "Maybe laterˇ­" The goblin displayed a disgusting smile as he scanned every inch of the succubus'' body before waving his hand dismissively and casually walking past her. Sadly, this wasn''t the end of their encounter as Fariya turned around and boldly said: "I''m sure dear old Buo will find my company very pleasing." She stretched her fingers toward him, emitting intertwining pink-ish threads of light which were harmless. They danced around Arthur, making blood rush to his head but that only lasted for a split second before a cold and refreshing sensation covered him and negated whatever Fariya did. The succubus remained unfazed as she put one hand her hip, seductively pouted while speaking with a wronged tone: "I actually never liked Buo Buoˇ­ but you, you''re much more charming." The moment she finished speaking, a monstrous force locked onto her and instantly bound her body. Incredibly thin but dangerous threads wrapped around her whole body, binding her in a split second, however, Fariya did nothing to resist despite expecting this to happen. Her smile widened as she saw the goblin glare at her, an ominous aura emanating from his body. The threads tightened around her neck, making her gasp for breath as her face became redder yet she didn''t resist at all. "Iˇ­ do notˇ­ want to antagonizeˇ­ you." She spoke with great difficulty as she stared back at Arthur, who showed naught but decisive ruthlessness. Seconds after she uttered those words, the succubus fell unconscious as a vibrating, and electrocuting lightning invaded her body and numbed her nerves and severed her connection with her consciousness. Arthur was about to kill her but the Quad-spirit stopped him, advising him to use her as she could prove very useful. It''s the first time the spirit intervened with his actions so Arthur didn''t ignore what was said and just knocked the target unconscious. He still doesn''t know how she discovered him but having her speak to anyone else would complicate things a lot. He managed to locate her private room and teleport there along with her. The place wasn''t guarded or protected by any kind of barrier, though it has to be said that it was different from what he had imagined. The whole place was filled with strange artifacts, whether it was vases, old swords, or medicinal grass. It''s like a well-decorated museum as everything was neatly ordered and placed a specific distance from each other. Arthur laid the succubus on the large king-sized bed before using a wisp of Dark Magic to invade her body and seal her fate. Even if she were to wake up and quickly retaliate, the Dark Magic hidden inside her would slowly corrupt her and end her life, without any interference of the parasite. Of course, he could accelerate the process if he ever wished so. ˇ­ Two hours later, her eyelashes fluttered and her body momentarily trembled but she slowly opened her eyes. She was still bound by Arthur''s threads, which were wrapped around her ankles and abdomen. Her hands were also bound and behind her back but she didn''t seem to mind at all as she kind of sat up and leaned against the soft pillows. She gazed back at the goblin, her lips arching upwards as she winked, appearing untroubled by her current situation. "So you didn''t kill me." She spoke with an amused tone as she faced the parasite. "Speak, how did you discover me?" Fariya didn''t hide anything from him as she gave him an immediate answer: "It''s very simple. You could even call it a fluke." She lowered gaze, precisely toward Arthur''s groin, before continuing: "Dear Buo would get an erection the moment he saw me. He wouldn''t even try to hide it or is ashamed of it. As someone who knew him for more than fifty years, your disguise was bound to failˇ­ at least with me." She stopped talking for a bit as her ruby pupils focused on Arthur. "Let''s talk about you insteadˇ­" She licked her lips in a seductive manner. "I would love to spend some quality time with youˇ­ your scent is making poor old me go crazy." Chapter 641 - 586: I Want To Stay Here Unfortunately for Fariya, her seductive words didn''t work on Arthur, who tightened the threads around the succubus'' neck, making her cough and gasp for breath. Only after half a minute did he loosen the unbreakable threads, leaving the woman red-faced and barely able to remain conscious. "JˇŞjeezˇ­ why are you so violent?" Even after all of that, Fariya maintained her non-aggressive attitude as her eyes seemed to shine when looking at the goblin, or more precisely, the parasite hiding within. "Stop acting like that. You can fool everyone but me, after all, you''re just a v.i.r.g.i.n." Once she heard the last word, the succubus twitched and her pupils contracted, but only momentarily as she regained her cool faster than ever. A charming smile was plastered on Fariya''s peerless face, her pink tongue ran over her rosy lips before she spoke again: "I never meant to fool youˇ­ I actually need and want your help." "ˇ­" Arthur didn''t speak and only watched at her with a piercing gaze. His silence allowed the succubus to explain her words more properly and state the reason of her non hostility toward a total stranger. "You may have noticed that a succubus working for Heaven is not a common thing." She sat up into a more comfortable position while stretching her slender white legs and calibrating her breathing. "I''m not guarding this hellhole because I want to, it''s merely to pay a debtˇ­ a debt that''s already been paid." Her countenance turned a little serious as she mumbled a few incoherent curses before continuing: "I was supposed to guard the second level for forty years but double that amount passed yet they still wouldn''t let me go." She let out a long helpless sigh while unconsciously clenching her bound hand: "I only requested to leave once but the damned warden shamelessly refused. Knowing his sick personality, I just remained here, waiting for an opportunity." Her eyes locked onto Arthur, who said back: "And why are you telling me all of this? Did you think you''ll gain my trust with this?" "Not at all. You came here for a reason and, undoubtedly, you''ll leave soon. Justˇ­ when you''re planning your prison break, take me along. I can be of great help, I even know everything about this place." She pursued her lips while smiling again: "Actually, I was going to rely on the prisoners of the last floor but it''s too risky as they''re wildly uncontrollable." "I''m not helping you." Arthur rejected her almost immediately, causing Fariya to pout and sulk. "Don''t be so fast to reject. It doesn''t take a genius to know that you''re a parasite, though a bit special than the rest. You can use Buo''s telekinesis so you can also use his Slavery Magic. I''m willing to become your slave until we leave, that way, I won''t betray you or lie to you." Hearing this, Arthur was genuinely surprised as becoming a slave isn''t as simple as on Astria. Buo Buo''s slavery magic is strict and if the slave even thinks of betrayal, the master will immediately know. Moreover, it''s permanent unless the master removes it personally so by becoming his slave, it''ll doom her fate. ''To think she''s willing to become my slave just to leave.'' "Master, she''s really an intelligent woman. She''s fully aware that becoming your slave is much better than staying here, even if you go back on your word and keep her as a slave forever." ''Do you think she''s worth the trouble?'' "Definitely. There''s literally nothing to lose if she becomes your slaveˇ­ well, Madam Lucy must not catch wind of this though." Arthur marched toward the bound succubus as his appearance returned to the original one, a tall middle-aged male human with grey and dark hair. His eye was pulsating with a blue light as it landed on the devilish figure of the succubus, who didn''t hide her s.e.xy curves or her soft and snow-white skin. "You''re willing to sell yourself just to leave?" Fariya scoffed and retorted: "Sell myself? I''d do much worse just to get out. Once they don''t need me anymore, the things they''ll do to a Demon is far worse than you think. Becoming your slave isn''t a bad outcome, in my point of view." She crawled closer to the motionless Arthur standing straight and right next to the bed. "So this is what you look like. Mmmh, I must say that my decision couldn''t be more perfect." She winked at him but he didn''t react at all and instead, raised his hand and made a small pulling motion with his index, causing Fariya to start groaning from the abrupt and agonizing pain. She felt an ominous energy lurking inside of her body and severely weakening her. "Don''t forget that, in addition to the slave mark you''re going to get, this is still inside of you and it''s more potent than Buo''s slavery magic." Although still in pain, Fariya giggled and said back: "Yesˇ­ you can be inside of me as much as you want." Arthur coldly snorted and put his hand above her head before a grey floating rune emanated from his palm and slowly entered the succubus'' head. It didn''t cause her any pain but she could feel a heavy feeling in her consciousness and around her heart and brain. This uncomfortable feeling lasted only for a short few seconds a cool and refreshing feeling surged inside of the woman. As she became his slave, she was automatically granted the system, and her stats dramatically increase, to the point that Fariya remained shocked for half a minute. Arthur got most of his power thanks to his sky-high stats, which defies logic. Any person''s stats shouldn''t surpass the one billion mark, what makes them strong are their mastered techniques, powerful skills, pure and unique energy essence, or godly artifacts. In Arthur''s case, he could content again Exalted Gods because his stats are so absurdly high that his body is able to demonstrate strength unlike any other. Now that Fariya became his slave, she gained 5% of his stats, which is still a staggering amount. After all that happened inside the tower and the several power-ups and possessions he did, the lowest main stats of Arthur was around 14Billion points and 5% of that is 700 million. For the succubus, it''s like her body became twice or thrice faster, stronger, and more resistant. It''s definitely a huge power-up which now allows her to fight 3rd stage Exalted Gods, possibly even those at the Transcendent Stage. "Arthur MoonStar? I can''t say I''ve ever heard of such a name." Feeling the restraints binding her body vanished, Fariya stretched her limbs and properly sat up. She was looking at the blue notifications windows floating in front of her eyes. It''s the first time she''s ever used the System so she was excited and curious. Even without needing to check her stats, she easily could tell that she was stronger, making her happy. She abruptly stood up and was about to hug her new master only for her body freeze mid-air as an unstoppable telekinetic force was surrounding Arthur. "Don''t get close to me or touch me. That is my first order." Reluctance showed on the succubus'' face but she still replied: "Yes, master." After a brief silence, the woman let out a gasp as she sensed something else connected to Arthur. "M-masterˇ­ what''s that?" She pointed at his chest but her words were obviously about the quad-spirit dormant inside Arthur''s consciousness. "A spirit." He gave a non-satisfactory short reply. However, before Fariya could talk again, a deep voice that seemed to belong to an old man echoed in her head: "Succubus Fariya, welcome to the team." This only deepened her shock as she covered her mouth and creased her brows. She feeling four kinds of energies emanating from the spirit, making her questions this reality. "As you can see, I am a quad-spirit and a loyal follower of my master. I hope we do get along." The only thing Fariya did was slowly nod her head before mumbling something to herself. Her seductive pose and manner of speech were completely gone as she was discovering one absurd thing after the other since she became a slave in such a short notice. Even the tinge of regret she was supposed to feel was non-existent as the power-up and the thought of finally leaving this place relieved her turbulent mind. ********* "F.u.c.k f.u.c.k did you feel that?!" Midolf turned his stiff neck to the quiet Radolf and loudly spoke, causing his words to reverberated across the gloomy and partially empty floor. "Pipe down." Sadly, the white-haired youngster, who was actually a mythical roc, was surprised by what he felt. "Master is close! I can also feel another entity linked to him!" He closed his eyes and concentrated for a few seconds before speaking with an ever louder tone: "My sweet f.u.c.k.i.n.g feathers! It''s a damn succubus! We''re f.u.c.k.i.n.g doomed!" He nudged Radolf repeatedly, sounding kind distressed. "Madam Lucy will pluck both of your heads andˇ­ and she''ll feed me to the sharks!" Facing the hysterical roc, Radolf shook his head and sighed. "I doubt master will do anything that will betray the madam''s love. He must have enslaved the succubus for a reasonˇ­ different than the one in your mind." "What different! Why would you enslave a f.u.c.k.i.n.g succubus? To have her clean the damn house?! Forget it! I''m not leaving the prison. I''m staying here! I''m-" His voice cut off by a feminine snort which made Midolf seal his lips and close his eyes. "Will it kill you to speak more quietly? A lady is trying to sleep." Midolf didn''t say anything as he pretended to be asleep while Radolf ever-so-slightly bowed his shackled head and apologetically said: "Empress, please forgive his rude behavior. It won''t happen again." ˇ­ A while later, the bound Parasite Empress raised her head, staring at the dark ceiling while thinking of something. "You can''t be favoring a mere succubus over meˇ­ right?" Chapter 642 - 587: Edward Ortberg (1) "So what are you going to do here, Master~~?" She stretched the last word and said with a seductive tone but Arthur ignored her and transformed back into Buo Buo. Unlike Fariya, the chief guard of the third level is an annoying and close-minded angel and checks the prisoners on every floor each month. He also terribly dislikes, no, he abhors demons, including Fariya so their relationship is straight-up hostile. In fact, from what the succubus said, she did clash with the angel a few times but Habs would interfere and separate them. "If I step foot into his floors, he''s bound to appear. Though he has made a few deals with Buo in the past." Arthur thought for a moment before saying: "If I kill him, his absence will quickly be noticed. Is there any way to bypass him?" The person in question is called Erandil, an eight-winged angel, who can be described as a prick. He''s a bit stronger than Fariya, but now that her stats increased after becoming Arthur''s slave, she''s certain she can handle him and even kill him but their fight will attract attention. Furthermore, Erandil has high awareness and his three floors are blinded with angels. The master and the slave spent some time talking and thinking of a plan and, finally, they found a plan which may work. Half an hour later, Fariya appeared on the 7th floor while dragging a chained prisoner behind her. A smile was blossoming on her beautiful face as she winked at the angels, who, despite being majestic beings, weren''t able to resist her charm, especially the males. They would get fl.u.s.tered and instinctively look away, in fact, they didn''t even try to stop her as she seemed to be escorting someone. Unfortunately, the chief guard showed himself less than a minute after her arrival. He was a tall angel with eight golden wings curled up behind his back, he had a long golden hair that rested on his shoulders and his face didn''t suit his race. He was expressionless as he glared at Fariya then at the prisoner with an unusual appearance. Hostility and killing intent emanated from his eyes as he looked at Arthur, who had the appearance of a Devil. The parasite managed to retrieve one of the devil corpses on the 49th floor of the Red Tower, however, he got no stats or skills, surprisingly. Nevertheless, his appearance was more enough to rile up Erandil''s emotions. "What''s this?" He sternly questioned the smiling succubus, who lightly pulled the chains, causing Arthur to stagger a few steps to the front. "I''m escorting him to the fourth level, where he belongs." "Oh?" Erandil frowned as he marched toward the devil and examined him from head to toe before speaking: "I''ll do it. Go back to your level!" He was about to snatch the chains from Fariya only for her to pull her hand away and retorting: "The Warden personally instructed me to do it. If you have any objections, go to him." Not only was Erandil in bad terms with Fariya, but he also didn''t get along with the Warden, who was a human. Erandil considered himself superior and righteous and didn''t approve of many things Habs had done in the past. Sadly, when he tried objecting, he would only get beaten by Habs and punished by Heaven, who ordered him to always obey the Warden. "ˇ­" The blond-haired angel glared at the succubus, his eyes never drifting toward her revealed curves and seductive parts. He seemed immune to her charm as a domineering aura emanating from him, apparently, he wanted to use force but he was startled as the succubus released an energy that overwhelmed his pressure and caused him to take a step back. "Stick to your duties, Erandil." Unlike how she interacted with others, Fariya hated the angel to the bones and wasn''t interested in charming him, much less talking to him. Arthur quietly watched their interactions without saying anything, though he was prepared to act in case things go awry. Erandil was focused on the succubus so he made a move, he was confident in dealing a fatal blow to the angel, however, that will only complicate his plans. Furthermore, there were a few angels not far from here and they would sound the alarm before he can reach them. Angels were telepathically connected so a single thought from one of them would alert the rest and that would result in the prison going into complete lock down. Plus, the most fearful person, Habs, would come here within minutes. Fariya repeatedly told him that the Warden is really a terrifying person. He''s much stronger than all the chief guards and is a merciless person, but he wasn''t downright evil and his goal was to reach Heaven and spread his fame. Actually, Habs originated from the Demon Realm, which part of the reason Heaven didn''t invite him despite his astonishing accomplishments and godly powers. At most, Arthur could fight equally with an Exalted God at the Transcendent Stage, maybe even kill him. If Habs is stronger than that then breaking out Midolf and Radolf would be impossible, especially if he''s discovered now. Half a minute of silence passed before Erandil stepped to the side, indicating that Fariya could pass. The succubus snorted and dragged the chained Arthur, not bothering to spare the angel another glance. Unsurprisingly, Erandil followed up till the end of the 9th floor, his piercing gaze was glued onto Arthur until the latter disappeared from his view. "I can''t stand him." Said Fariya while loosening her grip of the chains. "I''m not surprised." "Ra''zi is the chief guard of the fourth level. Even if he feels my presence, he won''t do anything. Unless there''s an urgent matter, he''ll never show himself, and as there are only a few prisoners here, he doesn''t have to personally take care of them." The 10th, 11th, 12th floor have a few dozen prisoners, which were infamous criminals and had great cultivations or amassed a lot of stars. They are weakened now, of course, but they are still extremely dangerous so all of them are tightly chained and are allowed to move only once a month, and only for a few hours. "I can only you take you to the end of the 12th floor, the last lev-" Fariya stopped talking and looked behind her. Arthur halted his steps and was looking at one particular small cell, which had one human in it. He had thin build, dirty skin, and orange shirt and pants, similar to the one the prisoners on earth wear. What surprised Arthur was that this man was a mortal! He was sure of it and his eyes confirmed his suspicions. He had no cultivation, No lvl, or anything related to that. The succubus knitted her brows and whispered: "That''s Edward Ortberg, a serial killer." "A serial killer? What''s he doing here?" "He has a special soul so it wasn''t able to put it in Hell so he ended up here, eternally being imprisoned. As he''s a mortal, he''s constantly starving but cannot die, that is the punishment declared by Heaven." "Why is he on the 12th floor though?" The succubus'' expression turned serious as she stated: "Master, he''s more dangerous than he looks. He even led the previous chief guard of the fourth level to his death using only words! Compared to other evil races, which kill thousands of innocents, he only killed 48 humans but he''s very intelligent and calculative." Just as she finished speaking, the serial killer, Edward, lazily raised his head and opened his sleepy eyes. He glanced at the succubus then at Arthur before returning to his uncomfortable sleep, his rumbling stomach could be heard from meters away! ''Appraisal!'' *Edward Ortberg (Race: Human): Cultivation: none Lv: None Titles: Psychopath / Strategist / Sinner / The High-way Killer/ Chess master / Heaven''s Mandate Soul Holder Short info : A notorious killer who killed 48 humans between 1980 and 2004. He turned himself three times and escaped the prison three times. In the end, Heaven sent angels to apprehend him and throw him into Hell but as a holder of the Heaven''s mandate Soul, he couldn''t be put in Hell so he was put here as an eternal sinner. ''Heaven''s Mandate? Do you know anything about it?'' "Of course I do, master!" The Quad-Spirit seemed more surprised than we he saw Shen Shen''s soul. "The Heaven Mandate Soul is the purest and holiest of souls. It does not have any effect on one''s Physique but it is able to absorb and harness Primordial Energy, furthermore, it can automatically convert any kind of energy into its purest form, allowing the user to get stronger ten or even twenty times faster than average people. It is known as a gift bestowed only by ''God'' and, usually, its holders are known as ''Heroes''. Angels revere and respect those with the Heaven Mandate''s soul and do their best to invite them to Heaven." Chapter 643 - 588: Edward Ortberg (2) "Master, I know that he can be useful but he doesn''t look like the type to be used as a tool." The Quad-Spirit knew what its master was thinking but it warned him as Edward, despite being a mortal, is dangerous. Arthur pondered for some time before turning to face the half-sleeping serial killer. The loud noise of chains caused Ed to lift his head for a second time, his black pupils gazing back at the devil standing a distance away. "Is this what they call a devil? A fearsome appearance indeed." As a human who lived most of his life on Earth, before it was subjected to the system and its magic, Edward wasn''t that knowledgeable about those fantasy races and heard a couple of things in his long stay on the 12th floor. At first, he clearly glanced at Arthur but didn''t say anything yet, this time, he took the initiative to talk. "Be careful, master, he''s very manipulative." Arthur inwardly snorted and walked closer to the cell. ??Almost all serial killer are talkative, they lack to brag and maintain control. They are intelligent, yes, but after passing a long time in absolute solitude, it''s not surprising to see them talk to themselves or turn mad.'' It''s not that Arthur never possessed a serial killer, it''s just that this one, Edward Ortberg, was a peculiar one, to say the least. The look on his eyes wasn''t of despair, no, it was something else entirely. They contained a mix of curiosity and amus.e.m.e.nt. "Edward Ortberg, the High-way killer." Uttered the parasite with a calm tone. "That is me, and who might this devil be?" Ed cracked a smile as he rubbed his cold palms to provide some warmth to himself. The chains restricted his movements but he was still able to properly stand up, albeit with a bit of difficulty. Arthur ignored the question and asked: "Why would you turn yourself if you were going to escape the prison anyway?" At first, Edward creased his brows then shrugged his shoulders and answered: "If I didn''t turn myself, they would never have caught me. It''s better to get caught then escape from between their fingers. Ah! The looks on their faces each time I left. They didn''t even learn their lessonˇ­ they had put me in the same prison!" ''Well, he definitely seems talkative.'' "So, in essence, you turned yourself and escaped just to show them you''re in control?" "Yes, and to let the world know about my feats." "Feats? You consider murdering people as feats?" Hearing this, Ed chuckled and retorted: "That''s awfully hypocritical coming from a devil. I only took a few heads, nothing to brag about in front of someone like you." "Not all devils slaughter innocents." Said Arthur while squinting his eyes. "And not all humans are killers. They''re conditioned to be." "Conditioned?" "Yes. You think I was born a killer? Please! That''s what those religious people think! Like myself, each serial-killer has a tragic past and a trigger which made the urges surface. I doubt not that the devils, or other races, are the same as us, humans. Each human, at least once in their life, think of killing someone, either in a cruel or normal way. Anger and frustration are what lead to those thoughts, however, only a few act upon those ''desires''." The devil''s eye emitted a blue light as it focused on Edward, who didn''t seem impressed or afraid. Additional information was added to the appraisal but it was only related to the murders committed by him. "Your desires.. Were they beheading then dissecting the people traveling on the highway. Did you enjoy it?" Ed spread his hand as if Arthur was stating the obvious. "Why would I do something I don''t like? If I thought I would regret those actions, I wouldn''t have continued, or turned myself, even." Fariya didn''t know why Arthur was wasting his time speaking with the prisoner but she didn''t interfere and quietly stood by her master''s side. "If you were so good at escaping prisons, why are you still here?" "There''s a limit to what a mortal can do. I can''t say I haven''t thought of escaping but this isn''t earth, the laws there do not apply here. Humans are, more or less, equal in physical strength but here, there are supernatural beings and wit isn''t enough to outsmart absolute strength. You seem to be optimistic about something which I may be interested in." Seeing his uncomfortable stare, Arthur turned around while saying: "Forget it." As the spirit say, Edward was too dangerous. He couldn''t read him at all and even a brief exchange of words, he felt disadvantaged. The killer didn''t continue speaking either, he knelt on the floor and resumed his sleep right after Arthur and Fariya disappeared from his view. ˇ­ "Master, you have me, you don''t need his help. He''s only a mortal!" Fariya abruptly objected, seemingly wronged. Her demonic long tail swayed left and right in front of Arthur as tried to grab Arthur''s attention, which was elsewhere entirely. ''Is there anyway to get his soul if I possess him?'' "No, even a parasite cannot steal a person''s soul. However, there is a clan under the Whisperer King, it''s known as the Soul Stealer Clan. They''re wraiths capable of robbing the souls of living beings and use them to get stronger." ***** In Habs'' office, the Warden was napping on his chair but it wasn''t long before the door was opened and a tall blond man entered. The warden sighed as he knew who it was without needing to look, after all, there''s only one person who consistently comes here to complain, almost daily! "Warden." Another sigh escaped Habs'' lips as his eyes remained closed. "Erandil, what else do you want?" "Why did you not task me to escort the devil?" The Warden opened his eyes and looked at the angel, appearing confused. "What devil?" "The one that succubus was escorting to the fourth level!" Erandil didn''t hide his displeasure as he whined to his superior. In response, Habs frowned and looked at the new list of prisoners, checking if there was indeed a devil. "You must be mistaking, there are no new devil prisoners." Erandil''s expression twisted as he grit his teeth and after a few seconds, he spoke again: "That wench! What is she doing?" The warden waved his hand dismissively and said: "Do not concern yourself with her and go back to your post. This is an order." Even if there was an error, it would be unwise to let Erandil handle it as it''ll most likely end up in a fight. Habs would rather handle it in a much more peaceful manner, furthermore, it could be a mistake in the report. **** "Hey hey psssst! HEY!" Midolf forcefully nudged the dormant red-haired youth. Radolf grumbled and glanced at the energetic roc, he was unhappy to be imprisoned with this vulgar person. "What?" The white-haired youth pointed at Zaarae''s cell and spoke with a low voice: "What''s she doing?" Radolf followed his inmate''s gaze and saw a relatively tall woman stretch her limbs and check her new outfit. She was previously wearing a ragged cloth that barely covered her body but now she had an exquisite black dress which made her look even prettier. Her skin was as white as snow and her features were exceptional and mesmerizing. She was really a beauty, more than their master''s wife. She did nothing to hide her charming curves, inky black hair which reached her round bottom, or the well-developed chest which would make any man salivate. The empress had casually undone the restrictive thick chains and changed into a beautiful dress which he retrieved from god knows where. A mesmerizing and excited smile was plastered on her face as she stretched her numb limbs and got rid of the dust acc.u.mulated in her ??room''. As she felt the gazes of the two youngster fall on her, she said: "It''s nigh time to depart. You two, ready yourselves." "What is this monster up to?" vulgarly mumbled Midolf as he pulled his gaze away and wriggled his body, trying to free himself but to no avail. Zaarae made it look so easy but a mythical roc like himself could do nothing but remain in that kneeling and pathetic position. "You really got a sharp tongue, boy." Midolf trembled and sealed his lips while avoiding her meaningful gaze. As for Radolf, he forced a smile and said: "Empress, are you leaving?" Zaarae enthusiastically nodded her head and replied: "He''s almost here, I can barely wait. My heart is about to burst." She put her hand on her rapidly beating heart and tried to calm down but the closer Arthur got, the redder her face became. ************** A transparent figure of a tall woman was quietly watching the realistic and past events unfolding before her eyes. Everything started from the beginning, when a small and young girl was madly running from her persistent armored pursuers. Her clothes were bloodied and her face was incredibly pale from the severe blood loss. Unfortunately, she was caught on several occasions and imprisoned more times than anyone could count. Several years passed and the girl turned into a charming woman but the harsh environment affected her mentality. At some point she met a fine man and thought that the series of tragedies had finally ended but, alas, things only got worse and Katrina, the mother of that girl, witnessed everything, at last. Her usually expressionless face was long gone as she saw how her daughter was betrayed, violated, and tortured for a long time. Time continued passing and Lucy became a slave and was bought by a robed figure, who turned out to be a skeleton. The Matriarch almost instantly recognized Arthur, who was much weaker than now. The master of the White Specter Clan understood why her daughter had even forsaken her true family for that man, who risked everything for her just like she did for him. Katrina saw what happened in the Nemia Academy, how they almost died, and everything after that. She even saw the devastating fight between Arthur and the Divine Beasts, which wrecked the Human Continent and turned into a bottomless dark abyss filled with ever-lasting flames. "W-why didn''t you just tell me?" With a shaky voice, Katrina whispered to herself as tears tricked down her face. She was aware that Lucy had a harsh past but she didn''t know that it was this miserable. Everything before Arthur''s arrival was but a long nightmare that no one would want their child to go through. It became much more understandable why Lucy acted like that and why Arthur stopped at nothing to get his wife back. In addition to Lucy''s past, Katrina now had a better grasp of Arthur''s behavior and powers but she didn''t intend to use it against him, not anymore, at least. ˇ­ Astria, MoonStar City, main Commercial District A graceful figure with long silver hair was walking at the side of the street while looking at the several shops and stalls, neatly ordered on the side so it doesn''t hinder the customers. Many curious gazes fell on the woman but none went to talk to her as most were cultivators and they knew she was very strong just from the domineering aura emanating from her. Currently, Katrina was touring the bustling MoonStar city and although it was lively and peaceful, it wasn''t as grand as the massive cities found in the Divine Planet or High-Realms. The woman raised her head and looked at the sky-piercing tower situated at the center of the city, it stood proudly, layered by dozens of protective formations and surrounded by high walls enveloped by wriggling poisonous vines and moss. An enormous bone dragon laid dormant atop the High Tower, unaware that a pair of spectral eyes was probing it. Chapter 644 - 589: Follower "Master, this is as far as I can go. The fifth level can only be accessed by the chief guard, be careful of him. I''ll be waiting for you here." Fariya sweetly smiled at the devil-like Arthur, she bowed her head and waved his goodbye. Before he entered the final floor, Arthur''s body instantaneously shrunk, becoming a small brown rat that sniffed around before slowly and cautiously advancing forward. Out of all the chief guards, the one guarding the 13th floor is said to be very sensitive to his environment and there will be a high chance Arthur is discovered even if he relies on his usually undetectable stealth. Even with Radolf and Midolf, it would still be difficult to jailbreak as all the remaining Chief guards will stop him until Habs and the reinforcements arrive. If he could at least leave the prison then even the Warden came, he''ll still be able to escape easily, after all, his speed is rivaled only by a few immortal existences. If Arthur pours all of his power to flee then not even a peak Exalted God can stop him. Additionally, he still has the grown Black Dragon body, which is very strong, though its cost is great too, which is why it''s only meant for emergency situation. Timos previously told him that once he reaches the peak of the Overgod Realm then absorbing the dragon''s stats won''t do him any harm and will significantly boost his stats. Fortunately, the 13th floor is the smallest out of all of them and had no more than three prisoners, each put in a solitary cell. The minuscule rat used its small legs to walk toward the cells, stopping at their entrance to sniff around before advancing once it confirmed that no one was there. Around ten minutes later, Arthur''s eyes lit up as he found two young men bound by thick chains and kneeling on the floor. The range of his sense here severely restricted so relied on the rat''s racial ability, which allowed him to sniff the mythical beings. He located them the moment he stepped onto the floor but he acted like that to not attract the attention of the chief guard. Arthur was about to enter the cell of the two youths, who looked at him at the same time. Midolf was slightly excited while Radolf wryly smiled, they didn''t say anything and merely watched the approaching rat. The parasite glanced at the adjacent cell only to see a mesmerizing beauty wearing a short dress and smiling while looking at him. "You have come!" Arthur knew she was talking to him as her eyes were so fixated on him that it made him feel a bit uncomfortable. The appraisal showed no results and the fact that she''s locked here made him wary as he looked at her for three breaths before he continued heading for the twins. Even after being ignored, Zaarae didn''t seem to mind at all as she walked to the edge of the cell and very ''casually'' stretched her hand and bent the supposedly unbreakable black metallic bars. Her actions seemed normal but Arthur''s body froze as he raised his little head to gaze at her for a second time. Even with his strength, it shouldn''t be possible to bent the bars, they were embedded with a staggering amount of Energy, making them practically immovable. The Parasite Empress ignored the dumbstruck mythical beings and stopped before the rat. Before Arthur could do anything, she shot a ray of light from her finger, causing the latter to return to his human appearance, startling him even more. He unconsciously took a step back but wasn''t about to say anything as the shock was too much for him to bear. A split second after he reverted to his real appearance, a feminine fragrance entered his nose and snapped him out of it. He stiffly turned his head and looked at the giggling woman who wrapped her arms around his and affectionately clung closer. A couple of meters away, Midolf nudged his comrade and whispered with a resentful tone: "See? I f.u.c.k.i.n.g told you!" He paused for a second as he looked at Zaarae press her b.r.e.a.s.ts against Arthur''s arm. "We''re doomed! I''m not going back! Not going!" He grabbed the chains and wrapped them tighter around his neck and waist then pretended to be unconscious. As for Radolf, his face a bit pale but he didn''t jump into conclusion like the roc. Although secretly, Lucy did indeed tell them to take care of Arthur and the past and not let woman get close to him. From the way she said it, it was apparent that they''ll be punished if something like this happens. Knowing her ruthless behavior, it wouldn''t be surprising to actually see her pluck Midolf''s feathers and decorate the room with them! The twin-headed death lizard unconsciously gulped saliva and took a deep breath. "Who are you!" Arthur quickly came back to his senses and pushed Zaarae away, he used a monstrous force but the woman wasn''t affected. He did, fortunately, break himself from her grasp and distanced himself but Zaarae pouted, pursued her lips and said: "You have to allow me to do this at least! I''ve missed you so much!" She tried to hug him again but Arthur walked further away while using his Telekinesis to get rid of her but none of his skills worked, she seemed to be able to negate everything. The unfamiliar woman wasn''t hostile but that doesn''t mean he''ll allow her to as she pleases. "Master! That''s the Parasite Empress!" The Quad-spirit sounded surprised as it sounded surprised while warning its master. When he heard those words, Arthur''s pupils constricted as they focused on the charming woman, who was no shorter than him. "I don''t know you! Don''t come closer!" Arthur raised his hand to stop him, which was actually more effective than his skills. Zaarae stopped in her tracks and looked back at the middle-aged man, her eyes containing longing and affections. She really didn''t seem to be faking it, or so Arthur thought. ''What the hell is happening?'' Cold sweat soaked his body as he thought of various scenarios but he couldn''t figure out why one of the Twelve was acting like this. One second after the other passed but Arthur remained motionless, his eyes never leaving the woman''s figure. What made him even more confused is that his body feel the slightest bit uncomfortable when she held his arm. He shook his head, purging the unnecessary thoughts before saying: "What do you want?" He glanced at the narrow corridor in- between the cells while stretching his sense, worrying that the Chief Guard noticed this ''disturbance''. Zaarae noticed his every movement, she giggled and assuredly said: "Don''t worry, that old foggy won''t do a thing! Even if he did, I''ll protect you." She sounded genuine but Arthur could trust her at all. This was too abrupt and his thoughts were in total disarray. "Anyway, don''t get close to me or touch me." Thankfully, Radolf interfered and respectfully said: "Empress, our master is already married." Hearing this, Zaarae frowned but didn''t look angry. She just said: "What if he has a few women? I don''t mind." ''What few women? Is she actually crazy? Damnit!'' For the first time, he was happy that Lucy wasn''t here with him. If she saw Zaarae hug him, a death-match would have already started between the two women. Knowing that the other party is one of the twelve and someone who he couldn''t offend, Arthur corrected his tone and politely said: "Empress, I think you''ve mistaken me to someone else. I''m a married a faithful man." He didn''t know why he was talking about this topic in such a gloomy place but if he doesn''t make himself clear then Zaarae would repeat the same actions. As if she was wronged, the woman crossed her arms and retorted: "It doesn''t matter to me! I just want to accompany you and have fun." She seductively winked at him while changing her pose to another one which revealed her thighs and her perfect curves. A sigh escaped Arthur''s lips as he shook his head, truly not knowing what to do. ''There is no way to get rid of her for now. What do you think? Should we use her?'' Although he, more or less, took a decision, Arthur wanted to hear his spirit''s opinion. "Master, she''s very dangerous but I feel no ill intent from her. In fact, she is purposely sealing her aura to not hurt you. If she tags along, we can leave this place easily." ''I hope you''re rightˇ­''-Arthur "ˇ­" After a minute or two, Arthur sighed again and told her: "You can come but DON''T touch me." Zaarae vigorously nodded her head then went next to Arthur, her excited eyes never leaving him. She was more obedient than he had thought, making him question the reality of the current events. How can one of the Twelve act like this? Isn''t it absurd? Illogical? Chapter 645 - 590: Kass Boler Arthur walked in front of the Midolf and Radolf and raised his hand. Tiny black threads made of Dark Magic wrapped around the chains and slowly corrupting them. In less than a minute, the chains were inky black, and when Radolf wriggled, they disintegrated. As for the white-haired youth, he was reluctant to move at all. He gave a hesitant look to Arthur, his lips opening and closing without saying anything. "What''s wrong with him?" Arthur was fully aware of the roc''s weird personality so he asked Radolf, who''s calmer and more reasonable. "He- he''s just too lazy to move." The red-haired youth lied to Arthur as he couldn''t speak of the real problem when Zaarae is meters away. She seemed to only care about Arthur and it would do them no good to provoke her. Radolf violently nudged Midolf before getting up and politely bowing toward his master. The white-haired youth was a second too late but he still imitated the same actions, though his eyes kept looking at the ground. "I know you haven''t recovered yet but we need to leave now." Arthur waved his hand, motioning for them to follow him as he left the small cell. Zaarae walked just inches left of him, her body ever-so-slightly lagging behind, on purpose. She didn''t speak anymore but her eyes showcased her emotions as they lingered on Arthur''s back and face for minutes. The 13th floor wasn''t big so it took them a very short time to reach its entrance, however, there was a silhouette waiting for them. Arthur prepared himself as he coated his body with Dark Magic and prepared to attack at any given second. He wasn''t in the range for appraisal but the pressure emanating from the figure was alarming enough. Even Zaarae momentarily knitted her brows but her expression soon returned to normal. Arthur stopped ten meters away and stared at an old man with a bent back, long white hair, a face that was suffering from the vicissitudes of times, and a short wooden cane that helped him move around. "Master, he''s the Chief Guard of the fifth level," Radolf warned Arthur, who relied on appraisal, to get some useful information. *Kass Boler (Race: Half human/ Half God): Cultivation: none Lv: none Astral Force : ???? Titles : none Skills : God Handle (Max Lv) Short Info : none* ''God Race? Isn''t it extinct?'' "Yes, master, the god race is current extinct but there are small tribes which are the Gods'' descendant, sort of. They only have a fraction of their ancestor''s powers and are persecuted against by many races, mainly humans, elves, and demons." The old man, Kass Boler, turned his head toward Arthur, his old eyes looking at the tall middle-aged man wearing black leather pants and an unfamiliar armor which protected his top side. Arthur wasn''t the type to rely on equipment but since the environment wasn''t suitable for large hosts, he could only rely on this armor, which grants a decent boost to his defense and can block a couple of attacks from an Exalted God. It has other miscellaneous functions but they probably won''t work inside the prison. Kass glanced at Midolf, who was emitting a small white light that healed him and Radolf. He couldn''t fully use his Life Energy but this amount was enough to slowly recover their bodies and allow them to fight in case an enemy appears. "Arthur MoonStar?" With an archaic hoarse voice, Kass used a polite tone to ask the parasite, who was startled by these words. ''Does he have Appraisal too? No, it shouldn''t be possible. He doesn''t even have the System!'' "ˇ­" For a couple of breaths, Arthur didn''t reply and only studied the Chief Guard, who appeared calm and non-hostile, but it can be a facade to trick him. "You''ve got the wrong person." Arthur calmly replied. However, right after saying that, the pressure from the old man increased and pressed down on him but it only lasted for a split second before a cool and refreshing aura enveloped him. This aura emanated from behind, precisely from Zaarae, who snorted and said: "Old foggy, you better behave yourself! The only reason I haven''t killed you yet is because you treated me well in the past!" The aura emanating from the Empress easily suppressed Kass, who chuckled and apologetically bowed. "These old bones were just curious. I happen to have a matter to discuss with him, that''s all." A kind expression was plastered on the old man''s face as he flashed an elderly smile while looking at Zaarae and Arthur. In fact, he didn''t seem to care about the escapees standing behind. "I don''t care! He doesn''t want to talk so how about you roll out!" Zaarae finally showed her fierce attitude as her aura increased by several folds, to the point that Kass Boler was forced to take a few steps back and defend with his Astral Force(It''s like Nether Energy or Mana). "Wait!" Arthur signaled for Zaarae to back down before adding: "What do you want?" The old man was strange, he not only recognized him but was also acting polite towards him. It wasn''t the attitude you''d expect from a Chief Guard. The Parasite Empress sweetly smiled at Arthur and obediently stood next to him, her arms folded under her b.r.e.a.s.ts and her eyes intensely glaring at Kass, warning him not to do anything foolish. In response, the chief guard chuckled and said: "Please follow me." He slowly turned around and supported himself with the cane as he went upstairs. Arthur and the rest followed after him and in a few minutes, they reached a medium-sized dusty room filled with thousands of books. There was barely any space to move around due to the staggering number of the books and the indecipherable scrolls. Seeing that Zaarae casually entered, Arthur breathed a sigh of relief as he thought this may be a trap. He didn''t know why but he felt that the Empress seemed trustworthy, at least he was sure that she will not hurt him. "Please, sit." Kass courteously guided them to another open which had more space than the first one. Midolf and Radolf remained standing while Arthur sat on a wide red leather sofa which was very comfortable. Zaarae also sat next to him, her shoulder rubbing against his but even when she received a warning glare from him, she pretended not to see. The old man sat on one of the chairs and deeply looked at Arthur, trying to see through this artificial shell but, in the end, he gave up. If Zaarae wasn''t here, he''d be able to discover some of the parasite''s secrets but the Empress was closely watching and was ready to take his life in case he tried anything tricky. While it''s true she''s been locked here for a long time, it was done willingly and she could have escaped but she decided to stay for no apparent reason. Now that she''s leaving, not even Warden Habs can stop her, much less someone like him, whose feet are already in the hereafter. ******** A young man who seemed to be in his twenties suddenly opened his eyes and sat with lightning speed. He looked down and saw that his upper body was n.a.k.e.d, plus, there were strange but familiar black bandages around his waist. Leiu, who was in comatose for the past few days, instantly knew who bandaged him and he confirmed his guess when he looked around and saw the luxurious room filled with old antics and priceless treasures. There was even a massive painting hanging on the biggest wall, it depicted an undead that was no smaller than a titan, its bones were spiky and it wielded a crimson club. Seconds after he woke up, a graceful curvy figure entered the room, her black hair reached her ankles and her skin was a mix of blue and white. This was none other than the Lady of Darkness, Xyktia ''Assassin'', she brought Leiu here to treat him and get him away from all the fights occurring around the Red Tower. "You''re awake!" She softly smiled as she sat next to him and replaced the black bandages with newer ones. Leiu did nothing to stop her as his inky black pupils gazed at her then at his chest. He could feel that Sol''khin was no longer inside of him, which made him a bit restless. "Don''t worry, Sol''khin wasn''t able to get the parasite. He did manage to escape though." "Inside of Zodiak, right?" Hearing this, Xyktia was a bit startled. "How did you know?" Leiu sighed and mumbled: "How can I not know?" He wasn''t in a hurry to leave as his body still hasn''t fully recovered. Only after recuperating for one whole week did he leave Xyktia''s castle, heading toward one specific and unforgettable place. As for the Lady of the Darkness, she didn''t have much time left outside as the real she is still trapped, so after getting separated from the Nameless knight, both she and the castle vanished into nothingness. Leiu reached his destination in three hours, his silhouette, which was wrapped in darkness, materialized right next to the Joker, who was sitting on a floating leather chair and humming a song. "Is that him?" The Joker glanced at the pale-faced youth before nodding his head and replying: "Yes, Zodiak died not long after you were taken. As you had previously said, he managed to imprison Sol''khin but not forever." He pointed at a minuscule crimson tear million of kilometers away: "You see that? It''s slowly expanding. I reckon we have a few years, at best." "Whatever." The youth shrugged his shoulders and disappeared right after, leaving the Joker alone again. Chapter 646 - 591: Fallen God Clan Arthur looked at Kass, his eyes urging the latter to start speaking instead of sitting there with a shit-eating grin plastered on his old and wrinkled face. "Arthur MoonStar, have you heard of the Fallen God Clan?" "No." The parasite gave an immediate reply, in fact, his expression did show that he wasn''t even interested in that name. Time was tight and were it not for the old man''s hospitable yet peculiar actions, he wouldn''t have come all the way here. After all, it was best to talk with Kass rather than fighting him and alarming the rest of the chief guards. While it''s true that Zaarae is extremely strong and can deal with the strong individuals, that doesn''t mean that she can stop the alarm from sounding off. Actually, she doesn''t seem to be the type to think before taking actions, at least that''s how she seemed to Arthur. Sadly, he couldn''t be more wrong as the Parasite Empress is said to be second only to Timos in terms of strategies and deceitfulness. "It''s an ancient clan created at the end of the 1st Era. Philos, the God of Sand, is its creator. He was exiled by the other Gods because he fell in love with a human and, in the end, he took her far away and created his own clan, away from the wars and skirmishes. His descendants, obviously, were only half-gods and many of them were defects and had incurable diseases." "It''s to be expected. Gods are spiritual beings, so copulating with humans is not possible unless you use something special, which I assume he did." Commented Zaarae as she pondered for a moment before adding: "I remember that the Golden Sheep was stolen from the God Race, was it Philos'' doing?" The old man''s expression became melancholic as he slowly nodded his head, affirming the Empress'' words. He sighed and continued explaining: "The Golden Sheep allowed him to take a physical form and live with human, however, there were a lot of consequences. Furthermore, the God Race fiercely retaliated and Zerk, the God of Fury, dealt a fatal blow to Philos. Using the little bit of power her partner left, that human female took care of the God Fallen Clan and protected it for ten thousand years." "How''d she live for ten millenniums?" asked Arthur. "Philos left her with a bit of his power, which granted her something close to immortality. If I remember correctly, she''s the Sand Queen Karima, right?"-Zaarae Kass nodded his head again. "Our queen was forced to relocate our clan and fend off against Zerk and his subordinates. She managed to do the unexpected by slaying the God of Furyˇ­ unfortunately, she perished not long after and was buried by her descendants. At that time, I was but one of the butlers but as time passed, the clan declined even more and the diseases got contagious and more fatal." As the elderly paused, Arthur couldn''t help but ask: "Why are you telling me all of this? Are you expecting me to do something for you?" The parasite didn''t need an answer as the look Kass was giving him was more than enough. He shook his head and was about to get up only for the chief guard to say: "I don''t want you to protect our clan, just deliver something to them. In return, they''ll allow you to possess Karima''s body along with the other ancestors. I''m sure that for a unique parasite such as yourself, it can be very beneficial." Arthur didn''t say a word but Zaarae smiled and stated: "The power to control the sand is indeed rare and spectacular. Additionally, Karima was a legendary fighter. If you possess her, you won''t even need to fear the likes of Habs." Zaarae softly nudged the rooted and silent Arthur, her lips got closer to his ears as she whispered: "Accept his offer. I''ll go with you so you won''t need to worry about being back-stabbed. The old man is telling the truth but there''s no guarantee that his clan will treat you as hospitably as he did." Arthur clearly heard the Empress'' words but he gave her nor Kass any answer. He was contemplating the offer but was a bit reluctant as he needs to get to the Garden of Words first. Approximatively a minute later, he sat back on the sofa and said: "Fine, tell me more." Kass'' expression eased and his smile widened. He seemed to be more relaxed than a few seconds ago, he leaned against the chair, taking a more comfortable posture before resuming: "My clan is beyond the Black Kraken Sea, in the Land of Golden Sand." Arthur was oblivious to the geography and realms of this universe but, fortunately, Zaarae was here to explain. She seemed to be aware of his ignorance and was quite passionate as she said: "The Black Sea is actually a normal but vast sea South of the Heaven and Hell Universe. There are not as many galaxies and planets in this universe in comparison to the rest. It''s divided in two parts, the Demon Realm and the Heaven Realm, as for the rest, it''s scattered stars and planets inhabited but a few exiled sects and races. This planet is a bit special though, but I digress. The Black Kraken Sea is South of the Demon Realm and borders with the Gargoyle Country, the Minotaur Tribe, and the Land of the Golden Sand. Basically, the desert can be reached only by crossing the sea, which is considered a danger zone." "Yes, it''s the Kraken''s territory and many other powerful sea monsters."-Kass "The Kraken?" "Master, the Kraken is like us, one of the twelve Mythical Beings. It also wasn''t subjected to multiple reincarnations. It has always lived in the Black Sea and notorious for its aggressive behavior." "What notorious? It''s just a damn squid! If it dares to attacks then I''ll skin it then eat it. Hmpf!" Zaarae didn''t consider the Black Kraken as a dangerous entity, then again, she''s one of the Twelve so there aren''t many beings that are her equals. If we were to grade the Kraken and the Empress, the former is a grade under her. Mythical Beings are equal if not a little bit stronger than the original creations of the Twelve, like Emir, the Archmage, for example. ************ Author''s note: Since we''re talking about Mythical Beings, why not tell you a bit more about them. Bonus Lore: In total, there are 12 Mythical Beings, however, not all were born from the same source. Some spontaneously came into existence while others were born. The Fire Phoenix and Ice Phoenix, for example, were the creations of the natural laws of their respective attributes. The Twelve Mythical Beings are: The Fire Phoenix(1), the Ice Phoenix(2), the Black Kraken(3), the twin-headed Death Lizard(4), the Insidious Roc(5), the Queen Arachne(6), The Rainbow Qirin(7), the Spectral Bone Ghost(8), The Monkey King(9), The one-eyed flamingo(10), The Frog of Destiny(11), The Headless Soldier (12). There is also a 13th mythical being, which is Zodiak, but as he appeared many years after the appearance of the rest, some still don''t consider him as ''mythical''. Obviously, the power of the twelve Mythical Beings varies as not all of them specialize in absolute strength. Some have heavenly powers which can even defy the natural laws, like the Frog of Destiny, which is rumored to be the most mystical and mysterious of all 12. It has only been sighted a handful of times but those who are lucky and witness it, they are granted to change their very destiny, something that not even Bilgart, The Watcher, is able to do. There is also the Headless Soldier, which is a mythical being born after the war between the Twelve. Their acc.u.mulated and overpowered powers fused together and created the monstrosity known as the Headless Soldier, who still roams the land and kills everybody in sight. Far, far back in the past, in the 2nd or 3rd era, the soldier had single-handedly slaughtered four Gods and one Titan but since the corpses, no one was able to confirm this. Amongst the twelve beings, Midolf and Radolf disappeared a long time ago only to appear with Arthur again. The two phoenixes always fought each other and ended perishing more than dozens of times but thanks to their Nirvana abilities, they always resurrect and become stronger. Author''s note: What I''m going to talk about now has nothing to do with reality and science, it''s made up by me to better explain this story. Multiverse and Omniverse: The first one is just what''s considered the whole world of existence, which includes the three remaining universes and the destroyed Castra Obis, the hidden and secret Realms are no exception too. It''s a term invented by ''God'' and has been commonly used by the knowledgeable inhabitants ever since the Era of Beginning. Omniverse, however, is a totally different concept. It''s only related to time, and time aloneˇ­ the omniverse is the combination of all the parallel timelines. When one travels to the past or future, they are still their own timelines and there is only a slight deviation in the space-time continuum. But, when one jumps from timeline X to timeline Y, it can cause serious consequences and possibly even the destruction or the merge of the two timelines. Not only that but also the omniverse will automatically try to regain balance by eliminating the source of the severe deviation, sometimes it can even end one timeline to save the latter, in case one is more important than its counterpart. Chapter 647 - 592: Zen Treasures "And? You want me to deliver what exactly?" Arthur looked straight at the smiling Kass, who raised his hand and moved his index and thumb, causing stand to rise from the ground and spin around like a tornado. This small sand tornado floated above the chief guard''s palm for a few breaths before vanishing, leaving in its place a sandglass. Unlike a normal sandglass, this one had red stand inside of it and was decorated by exquisite yet minuscule golden cloths that were engraved with a foreign language. Kass held the sandglass and said: "This is our Zen Family Treasure; The Tactical Reverse Sandglass." Arthur knitted his brow but didn''t say anything. The term ''Zen Family Treasure'' is foreign to him so he turned to Zaarae, who understood his thoughts with but a glance. "Zen Treasures are supreme items that are created by one of the Twelve or people who reached the apex of strength. They can be used only by certain individuals who are in possession of the inventor''s bloodline. Even us, parasites, cannot use them even after possess the said individuals. The bloodline is like a unique power granted to the leader of the inventor''s clan, family, or whatever. They are not only rare but very powerful, at least enough to injure someone like me, though not all are offensive artifacts, some have supportive abilities. If I remember correctly, this sandglass was made by Philos and it''s able to reverse time. It can reverse time but only a couple of secondsˇ­ still, it''s pretty useful." Seeing Zaarae patiently explain the important aspects of the Zen Treasure, Kass Boler grinned and said: "It seems my explication wasn''t needed. This is indeed our God''s creation and it''s time for it to return to its proper owner, my grandson and the current master of the Fallen God Clan." "I have to ask thoughˇ­ why don''t you do it yourself?" The old man chuckled and replied: "The chief guards of the fifth level and eternally bound to this prison. Even if I want to leave, I can''t, which is why I need you to do this favor me. Of course, you''ll be rewarded as promised." "What if your grandson refuses to let me possess Karima''s body?" Kass shook his head and took out a scroll he personally created. "This and the sandglass are enough proof to get rid of any suspicion he may have. Moreover, I believe my grandson is not foolish enough to make enemies of you and the Empress." Arthur kept silence but Zaarae wasn''t that convinced. She seductively rested her chin on her hand while saying: "There''s still the chance he resists usˇ­ or takes the Zen Treasure then turns against us. If that were to happen then you can say goodbye to your clan and your grandson, whom you seem to cherish so much." She said those words so casually and with absolute confidence, making Kass force a smile while nodding his head, unwilling to retort or say anything that may incense her. While Arthur is somewhat manageable and isn''t strong enough to annihilate his clan, Zaarae is very different. Kass knew that she''s a reasonable woman who doesn''t act on impulse but that doesn''t mean she''ll forgive anyone who demeans her. Furthermore, she seems to hold a special attachment to Arthur, so she''s most likely to side with him if anything bad happens. The scroll and the sandglass floated to Arthur, who stored them in his normal storage ring. Zodiak''s special black ring was in possession of the main Arthur so he had to resort to a normal high-grade spatial storage, which is more than enough to accommodate his needs. "I''m sure you have better things to do than stay here so I''ll escort you out. He waved his hand, making one of the wall shake then turn blurry until it vanished, showing a long and dark staircase leading upwards. "This is a secret emergency exit which only the Warden and I are aware of. You can take it to safely arrive to the surface." Arthur didn''t immediately take the staircase and, instead, said: "There a few more people that I would like to take." In response, Kass smiled back and replied: "Sure, tell me their names and which level they are on." "Three on the first level and the chief guard of the third level, who should be somewhere in the fourth level." At first, Kass wasn''t surprised but when he heard Arthur''s last words, he creased his brows. "Fariya?" "Yes, she''s going with me." Kass didn''t comply immediately, he pondered for a couple of breaths before agreeing, though a bit reluctantly. It seems it''s going to cause him some problems but Arthur''s didn''t really care that much. It would be a waste to let a powerful slave like her stay here. "Fariya? That succubus?" Zaarae frowned and didn''t seem pleased by hearing this. She did smell a succubus'' scent on Arthur but didn''t pay it much heed as he left her alone before arriving to the fifth level. However, now he clearly wanted to take her with him, which didn''t sell with the Empress. Arthur glanced at the enchantress next to him and mockingly repeated her words: "What if have a few women, right?" He chuckled and walked away only for her to stick close to him like super glue. "No! Any other woman but definitely not a succubus!" ˇ­ "Hey, Radolfˇ­ bro, let''s just stay here, please!" Midolf was practically begging to the red-haired youth as he dragged him to the side. The roc''s eyes were pleading to his partner, not wanting to be involved in this matter any longer. "W-what if she burst out in anger and snaps my neck! I''ve had enough of dying, I tell you!" Radolf looked at his distressed friend and retorted: "Calm down. As long as Master goes back alone then it''s fine." Unfortunately, Midolf wasn''t the least bit comforted. "What ''fine''?! I''m not going! That''s it!" He was about to walk toward Arthur and voice out his thoughts only for Zaarae to momentarily glance at him, making him shiver and shrink back next to Radolf. "Y-you know what? I''ll just let the Kraken eat me when we''re at the Black Sea." He seemed convinced of his new and ingenious plan. He repeatedly nodded his head and mumbled "Yea, that''s for the best. I''ll die and reincarnate after a long time. It''s not a bad end now that I think about it." Hearing his partner''s crazy talk, Radolf just clicked his tongue and said: "You sure you''re the Insidious Roc?" Chapter 648 - 593: Bootstrap Paradox FLASHBACK "Do you know the Bootstrap paradox?" The man crossed his hands and asked Arthur, who was looking back at him. "No, what is it?" "On earth, it''s just a theoretical paradox of time travel that occurs when something sent back in time becomes trapped in an infinite loop of cause and effect. The origin of whatever is stuck cannot be determined so it''s said to be uncaused or self-created. This applies to Dark Magic, for example. As you know, Zodiak received the black seed from the old you, who went back in time, and you got it from the fake corpse. Even if you trace it back to the first cycle, it''ll still remain indiscernible." "What are you trying to say exactly?" asked back the confused Arthur. "The two cycles you''re stuck in are not necessarily uniquely connected but they are always successive, which makes it almost impossible to escape when you''re jumping from the first cycle to the second one, however, this ''transfer'' process is relatively slow and can be affected by outside forces." The man with the same appearance as the parasite took a deep breath and continued: "You, and your two brothers are stuck but it''s not the case for Lucy or Saly. With enough momentum and the perfect timing, they can break you out of this illusory shell." "And?"-Arthur "You have to understand that the cycles are not a material thing, they exist within the timeline. It''s not like a mountain which can be destroyed, they exist everywhere and are crucial to the continuation of this particular timeline but since you''re their main cause, the existential balance within them won''t interfere if Lucy, for example, tries to disturb their systematic flow." "How can Lucy break them?" "First, let me tell you that this has never been tried for reasons you''ll know in a second. To make it work, after the second cycle ends, Lucy needs to travel exactly when you''re going to be reincarnated as Zodiak and ??cut'' the timeline." "Cut the timeline?" "Separate it in two, basically. Zodiak will exist within the second, which will have a different future generated to it by time itself, while you''ll be saved and free and live in the original one. I can''t say it''ll work but the probability is high." "What about Lucy?" "Balance must be restored. Time wraiths will suck her vitality but only the future her will disappear." "That''s not what I heard. When time wraiths get you, they''ll erase your trace from your origin timeline." The man seemed to be aware that Arthur knew about this hidden truth. He let out a sigh and retracted his gaze, his folded arms stretched toward the hot teacup, rocking it back and forth before taking a small sip. ************ "Who are they?" Zaarae curiously looked at Esco, Vyncent, and Shen Shen. Her eyes stopped on the blue-haired for a couple of seconds, she seemed to be aware of all the secrets within the young kid but, apart from a smile, she didn''t say anything. The next one that caught her attention was a woman wearing very revealing clothes, her demonic tail swaying left and right as she sweetly smiled and went next to Arthur. Sadly, before she could reach her new master, Zaarae blocked by standing between her and Arthur. "What?" Fariya creased her brow and looked at the Empress up and down. She quickly figured out that Zaarae and Arthur were kind of teaming up so she wasn''t afraid of being attacked, nevertheless, the feelings of inferiority were deeply engraved in her bones, after all, the woman facing her is an otherworldly terrifying existence. "You''re his slave but don''t stand too close!" The Empress warned Fariya with a serious tone. Surprisingly, the Empress'' hair slightly changed color as some strands of her became purple, somehow, it seemed related to her mood. In response, the succubus snorted and took a step back, unwilling to talk back to the woman before her. As for Arthur, he couldn''t be bothered to interfere in their pointless dispute. He wasn''t to get together with either of them and it would be better for all sides if nobody touched him. "Let us go." Kass beckoned for them to follow him as he entered the narrow staircase. Arthur walked right behind him, followed Zaarae, the mythical beings, Fariya, Vyncent, Shen Shen, and Esco, who was overjoyed now that he''s leaving this dark hole. He didn''t think Arthur would bring him along but he kind of underestimated his worth as from Arthur''s point of view, this red-haired muscular man knew a thing or two about the vicinities of this planet and could prove useful to the MoonStar Sect in the future. The path to the surface was long but the group took only ten minutes and were finally met with a thick metallic door which was opened with a flick of the old man''s hand. This secret exit led them outside of the prison, precisely in the forest where Arthur and co were ???discovered''. "I hope you safely deliver the treasure." These were the last words Kass said before hurriedly closing the door and disappearing. Midolf and Radolf were silently standing side by side and eyeing Vyncent and Shen Shen, while Zaarae stretched her limbs and took a deep and fresh breath of air. "Who''s she?" Zaarae looked at the strangely quiet Shen Shen and asked Arthur, who was making sure that he was able to use his skills again. "A girl I picked up." "She''s definitely intriguing. I fancy her." Zaarae walked to Shen Shen, who wasn''t as rebelling as she was with Arthur. The short girl raised her head and stared back at Zaarae, her aura increasing as if she wanted to seem strong. Unfortunately, Zaarae wasn''t affected as she leaned closer to Shen Shen and rubbed her head while saying: "Little girl, what''s your name?" Shen Shen tried to escape the Empress'' hand but found that she could not. While clenching her little hands, she reluctantly said: "Shen Shen." "Shen Shen? That''s a cute name!" Vyncent and Esco were unaware of Zaarae''s identity but it doesn''t take a genius to know how powerful she is. After all, just by looking at how she casually interacted with Arthur made them understand that she''s his equal, if not his superior. "From now on, your duty is to guard those three until we''re out of here." Arthur the mythical beings, who respectfully bowed and went to stand at the sides of Vyncent, Shen Shen, and Esco. "Master, where are we going?" Fariya winked at Arthur and softly asked. She glanced at the busy Zaarae before standing closer to Arthur, trying to rub her shoulder against him and ignite desires. The moment the two bodies were about to touch, the succubus felt a chill which made her momentarily tremble and instinctively distance herself. Arthur''s face didn''t change as he opened his mouth and replied: "The Land of Golden Sand." "Hm? Then we''ll have to cross the Black Sea." "Yes, is there a problem?"-Arthur "No no, as long as I''m with master then I don''t mind anything!" Fariya covered her mouth and giggled, seemingly very happy. Out of the blue, a hoarse voice originated from the side. Esco, who felt uncomfortable and totally out of place, didn''t disappoint Arthur as he said: "S-sir, I''ve actually been to the Land of Golden Sand." "You have? I thought it''s not easy to cross the Black Sea." "Sir, there are safe routes taken by goblin merchants and imp pirates. The Black Sea is separated into three levels of danger, and although the fastest by going in a straight line, you can reach the other side even if you take a long detour, which is a much safer option." Hearing this, Arthur smirked and commented: "You do have your uses, after all." Esco embarrassingly rubbed the back of his head while bowing. "Sir, I''m just speaking about what I know." "And that is exactly, what I needed from you." Arthur waved his hand, summoning an exact copy of the dark cloud. It functions like a Spirit Boat but it''s not as fast, though it is protected by a sturdy Dark Barrier. He jumped on it, followed by all the rest. Zaarae seemed to be busy talking with Shen Shen, who opened up to the kind Empress and started asking about many things she was curious about. Chapter 649 - 594: Fariyas Charm The moderately wide imitation Dark Cloud slowly rose into the air and was about to piece through the planet''s atmosphere only for three domineering presence to rush from below. The one leading was a middle-aged man wearing simple black clothes, he had hawk-like eyes and seemed to be stronger than the other two. Arthur recognized one of them, which led him to easily guessing the identity of the person in the middle, who was undoubtedly human. In the end, they were discovered by Warden Habs was step too late as the prisoners had already escaped and were about to leave the planet. Esco and Vyncent were nervous, Shen Shen curiously looked at the Warden and the two behind him while Zaarae only frowned but didn''t say anything. As for the mythical beings, they dutifully stood side by side and were prepared to engage in battle if necessary. "Halt!" Unsurprisingly, the first to talk and stop Arthur was the self-righteous Erandil, who unleashed his angelic aura in an attempt to forcefully stop the escapees. His eyes wandered around then locked onto Fariya, who was expressionlessly standing next to Arthur, unbothered by anything. "Master, would you let me the honor, please?" Since the moment she met him, Fariya hated the angel''s guts and always wanted to teach him a lesson. Now that she got stronger thanks to the boost granted by Arthur, she was confident enough in her abilities, furthermore, Arthur wouldn''t stand still in case things went awry, or so though the succubus. Arthur glanced between the angel and the succubus before subtly nodding his head in acceptance. The moment she received her approval, Fariya disappeared, her figure leaving a beautiful purple energy in her path. She attacked so suddenly and swiftly, her hands rapidly swung down a black whip, which instantly struck the unsuspecting Erandil. The poor angel was sent flying below, his thick white armor now had an ugly dent. In fact, the force behind her blow reached his internal organs and caused him to spit a bit of blood. Seeing Fariya''s assault, neither Habs nor the man on his left acted. One was looking at Zaarae while the other was examining Arthur with an interested look. Habs'' unfamiliar companion had vertical pupils and golden eyes, like a snake, his ears were a bit long like an elf''s and his body was inexplicably thin. This was the chief guard of the fourth level and a member of the Ratika Race, an odd person named Carpentine. "I didn''t expect that amongst that famous Arthur MoonStar is amongst the new prisoners. Forgive my late introduction." Habs chuckled as he spoke to Arthur, appearing quite relaxed and unbothered by the fact that a few prisoners escaped, including the Parasite Empress. "To think that the Warden knows of my name. I''m flattered." "How can I not? You and you''re army of undead are the talk of everyone in the multiverse for the period. Now that I had a good look at you, I can say with certainty that the rumors were not wrong. Actually, your power wasn''t given enough credit." Arthur looked at the Warden, who was smiling at him without a care in the world. He tried appraising him but it didn''t work at all, just like with Zaarae, however, he could feel the difference in their strengths. The man was no ordinary human, he was beyond the Exalted God Realm, an entity that should not be trifled with. Even with Zaarae present, the parasite still felt a bit of invisible pressure. Zaarae walked in front of Arthur and arrogantly said, "Are you done with your bullshiterry? We are in a bit of a hurry." Habs continued smiling while politely replying, "Empress, you know that I can''t let you go just like that." He pointed his finger to the sky and continued, "The ''top'' would blame and that would beˇ­ tiring." He chuckled as he remembered the annoying rulers of the heavens, who always looked down on him despite their inferiority in strength and their apparent lack of wisdom and intelligence. "And? Am I supposed to care about you? If you don''t want to get smacked then roll out!" She waved her hand, causing both Carpentine and Habs to be pushed hundreds of meters away. The two couldn''t even resist as an unstoppable gale seemed to control their bodies and sent them flying like a pair of feathers. While Habs managed to stabilize himself within a second, Carpentine wasn''t as lucky. His body was flung ten miles away and he had to fly back next to the Warden while wryly smiling. He knew too well of the Empress'' capabilities and that she can finish him and Habs in an instant but she won''t because it can bring trouble not to her but to her people, who are busy fighting another enemy. Yes, she''s very powerful but she''s not the same unrivaled being of the past, there are things she can''t accomplish with her current strength, which is why Habs dared to show himself here. ˇ­ Dozens of miles away, Fariya was fiercely fighting Erandil, who spread his wings which shone with a golden light, quickly healing his injuries. No matter how much he fought back, he found himself at a serious disadvantage, the succubus'' whip would attack him from all sides and break his armor with each strike. He didn''t know how Fariya got this strong but the difference in power was more than he could handle. "I''ll beat some sense into your stupid mind!" Fariya was delighted as she underestimated the recent power-up, her increase in stats allowed her to easily cope with Erandil and consistently gain the upper hand. Her figure danced in the air as she evaded the angel''s flashy sword attacks, her whip beautifully spinning around her body before zigzagging in the air and striking the enemy. The whip directly hit the angel''s face, causing a red mark to appear on his cheekˇ­ he even lost two teeth and though he tried to retaliate, a large pink snake leapt at him. The snake was triple his size and within a second, it wrapped its body around his and suffocating him. He tightly held his sword and attempt to slash the beast but it was futile, his armor shattered and many of his bones were broken. A few seconds passed and the snake vanished but the whip remained, it was wrapped around Erandil''s neck. Fariya appeared in front of the angel, she winked at him and raised her free hand. The whip loosened for a split second, causing the angel to gasp for some air and consequentially inhaling some of the purple energy leaking out of the succubus. In less than a minute, the angel''s face flushed and his body started shaking. Even after Fariya retracted her whip, he remained unresponsive as his wings repeatedly covered him in golden light but it wasn''t able to expulse Fariya''s charm magic. In a way, her magic was similar to Dark Magic, once it enters a victim''s body, it becomes something else and cannot be negated using normal means. Erandil''s face became redder as he felt blood rushing into his head then a strong feeling of arousal overcame himˇ­ Chapter 650 - 595: Serpent and Parasite (1) What made Erandil''s situation worse is Fariya, who was standing only a meter away. Her clothes, which only covered a small part of her b.r.e.a.s.ts and genitals, made her look seductive, enough for him to be s.e.x.u.a.lly excited. It is not only shameful but demeaning for an angel him to become like this, what''s more, he couldn''t control the arousal and barely held himself back from jumping at her. He grit his teeth and resisted the feeling but the purple energy unleashed by Fariya became stronger and almost robbed him of his rational thinking. "Under that fake majestic shell, you''re still a manˇ­ an animal in heat." Fariya mocked the angel while chuckling, seemingly not afraid that he''ll do anything to her. Once her Charm starts affecting her enemies, it''s basically game over. Especially if they''re men, even if they''re cold-blooded and don''t care about women, they''re still men and abandon themselves to their bestial desires. In fact, a succubus'' worst enemy is those who cut off their genitals, in that way, the charm won''t have any serious effect. Some angels who have a deeply-rooted hate for succubus would get rid of their manhood. Like humans, angels are not exempt from s.e.x.u.a.l intercourse, plus, female angels can get pregnant but the probability is very low, just like their archenemies, the demons. Not once or twice did Fariya see Erandil torture other criminal succubus and his method were cruel. He won''t always do the torturing but he showed no mercy even after the victims spilled all the information they knew. Some were violated, mutilated, beheaded, and the list goes on and on. This only fueled her hatred for this angel, who considers himself above all other races and thinks his methods righteous and for peace and prosperity of Heaven. Erandil stood defenseless and helpless in front of Fariya, who used her whip to strip him of his armors. She glanced at the throbbing ''thing'' under his abdomen before taking out a common recording crystal. She forced him into various positions and recorded everything then, she took out a thick circular wooden stick and unhesitatingly stuck it in his ass, causing him to let out an ear-piercing cry that was different than a woman''s scream. "Oh? Is this pleasurable enough for you?" As she heard his m.o.a.ns and groans, Fariya grinned and continued ˇ­ "Empress, please don''t misunderstand my intentions. Even if you leave, I''m helpless to do anything but the others must return with me." Seeing his disgusting fake smile, Zaarae clicked her tongue and retorted, "I''m not going to repeat this again. Roll. Out!" She waved her hand, this time using a bit more power but unlike earlier, Carpentine intervened and emitted a peculiar light from his eyes. By the next second, the Empress found herself trapped in a strange world filled with nothing but thousands upon thousands of hissing snakes of all colors and sizes. The Empress harrumphed and stomped her feet, causing this world to shatter like glass and immediately return her to reality. Carpentine''s intervention did block her attack but his unique power, which can even imprison Habs for several minutes, was broken so easily and instantaneously by Zaarae, and with just a casual stomp! The chief guard''s face became ugly as he looked at Zaarae, who paid no attention. Arthur, who kept a short silence, shifted his attention to Carpentine, his eyes like that of a hunter which found its prey. He heard quite interesting things about this serpent man from Fariya, his ability was one of a kind and very useful, to say the least. The parasite turned his head toward Zaarae and was about to speak his thoughts only for her to telepathically say: "Want me to hold him down for you?" Her being here and warding off Habs is more than enough for Arthur, who shook his head and said: "I can manage him. Just don''t hold off the Warden." The Empress nodded her head and pointed at Habs with her index, causing his smile to vanish. He crossed his arms, on which silver scales started growing at a rapid rate. He knew that she was going to try something so he spared no thought and immediately defended himself. What he expected didn''t happen as a red beam shot from Zaarae''s finger. It reached the target in a breath and transformed into a spheric cage made of thin and pulsating blood vessels. "Empress, are you really going to interfere?" His tone was more serious than before as he took out a straight short sword with a white hilt. His aura increased but wasn''t able to leak from the cage made of blood vessels, the Warden''s thick sword essence focused on his sword as he raised his hand and slashed. Unfortunately, the moment his short-sword made contact with the cage, nothing happened, it seemed to absorb the sword essence like a bottomless hole. Habs frowned and looked at Zaarae, his expression twisting. The target of his glare no longer bothered with him, her eyes glowed with excitement as she looked at Arthur, who attacked Carpentine, fully intending to get his stats. Neither Midolf nor Radolf interfered as they also trusted their master''s abilities. Additionally, Zaarae will save him if anything dangerous happens. Even Shen Shen was watching the parasite, her eyes glued onto his figure as he transformed into a yellow bolt of lightning which shot straight at the serpent man. Since Habs got imprisoned, Carpentine expected to be attacked, his two hands sneaked from within his long sleeves and turned into two brown serpents, ready to meet with the incoming Arthur. They stretched their head and bit down at the lightning bolt but hit nothing but air. Like a ghost, Arthur appeared behind Carpentine and rotated his body, striking with his leg, which was covered in black flames. When his feet touched Carpentine''s abdomen, he felt as if he touched rubbed as he bounced back. By the next seconds, dozens of black snakes which were inches long appeared all around him but before they touch him, he unleashed dark red flames from his hands, turning the small and venomous creatures in cinder. Carpentine had enough time to swiftly turn around and raise his left hand, which turned into a snake. The brown snake''s mouth opened and from that tiny hole, a two-edged blade made its appearance. It was so fast that Arthur was unable to block but didn''t manage to injure him as it was first blocked by the Dark Barrier, which slowed it down. Even after it hit Arthur''s neck, it was only able to graze it, causing a bit of blood to leak out, though even that minuscule wound healed instantly. Carpentine''s eyes shook as he witnessed his sight. Seeing lightning coming off Arthur''s hand, the serpent man retreated and activated his unique ability. As Zaarae''s forcefully broke it previously, he could only activate it after recuperating for a short time. In the blink of an eye, Arthur found himself in that mysterious world filled with innumerable snakes. Their hissing was loud and disturbing, they seemed to sense the enemy as they jumped together but some were faster than others. Arthur moved his hand and unleashed green lightning from all sides. The deafening natural lightning pulverized the snakes, turning the whole place bloody as the scarlet liquid poured from above like rain. Chapter 651 - 596: Serpent and Parasite (2) "I''ve always wanted to fight a para-" Carpentine wasn''t even able to finish his sentence as a massive dragon made of blue lightning flew at him, its mouth open wide, ready to devour him whole. The serpent man was able to defend himself by instantly summoning a scaled red snake that had the same size as the dragon. The two monsters crashed into each other, one side burst in lightning while the other was covered in a sea of orange flames. The scaled snake managed to get rid of the lightning dragon and spit flames at Arthur, who remained immovable like a mountain. The flames soon hit him but did no damage, further surprising the chief guard. These were normal flames and Arthur had complete immunity to normal fire. In fact, even if it was an ultimate fire technique, it''ll still not harm himˇ­ quite the opposite, it''ll help replenish his Nether Energy and even slightly strengthen him. Beginning from his foot, green lightning covered the parasite, then two wings, one white and the other black, sprung from his back. His appearance drastically changed and his stats increased, Arthur raised his hand, which was now holding a six-meter long dark javelin. Arthur threw the javelin, which whistled in the air and reached Carpentine within a split second. The projectile was faster than the chief guard''s reflexes, it ended up piercing his abdomen and creating a gaping bloody hole. However, hundreds of disgusting black snakes plastered themselves on that hole and regenerated the serpent man. The parasite wasn''t fazed as he threw one javelin after another, his speed simply absurd. Carpentine could only gasp as the rain of javelins flying straight at him. In retaliation, he raised his left hand, the brown snake hissed and sat a weird black ball which expanded into a protective sphere, resisting all the javelins. Sadly, Arthur wasn''t done as his figure vanished like a ghost, and by the next second, Carpentine''s ankle was held by a monstrous force which crushed his bones. He saw the world spin then, like a kite, his body was thrown hundreds of meters away, exactly towards ten creepy-faced orange fireballs, which evilly grinned then detonated. Deafening successive explosions resounded inside this mysterious world. The chief guard''s clothes were incinerated and a third of his body was burned by the hell flames. He managed to get rid of the dark red fire as one of the snakes below jumped beside him and gulped the flames then burped. The snake was only 1.5 meter long, grey in color and had six inky black eyes. It had an unusual appearance for a snake, it wasn''t even threatened by Arthur, whose finger stretched to the front and pulled the space, causing the surroundings to shatter like glass. His space attack was enough to disturb the world but it didn''t break him free. The grey-sn.a.k.e.d was unaffected by the space tears all around it as it flew at Arthur and spat a fireball that was at least two hundred meters in radius. The massive ball of flames was green and had a poisonous smell radiating from it. Arthur''s body transformed into a majestic white tiger, which dived at the fireball, literally passing through it as if it didn''t exist. The Divine Beast''s speed was unrivaled as it reached the snake and cut it in half using its elongated golden claws. Arthur didn''t stop as relied on the White Tiger''s unique ability to ignore all the snakes lunging at him from below, his figure turned illusory as bypassed all the hurdles and reached Carpentine, who took out a lantern. *Item: Offensive type Name: Lantern of Doom Rank: Mysterious Grade:3* The appraisal gave him simple and not satisfactory information about the lantern. Although he was aware of its dangerous aura, Arthur still attacked the chief guard. The tiger''s mouth opened and a deadly acid fell on the serpent mine. The Lantern shook left and right before a gloomy red light burst from it, however, it wasn''t able to stop the acid, which fell on the victim and his artifact. To Carpentine''s surprise, the lantern melted within three seconds and his right hand was gone, not even the bones were spared. With a pale face, he hastily retreated and used the brown snake on his left hand to counter-attack. The brown snake was very fast as it bit the white tiger''s face but what the chief guard expected didn''t happen. The Divine Beast remained still for a short period before trembling and puffing out brown smoke out of its big nostrils. The poison of his snake was ineffective, moreover, Carpentine''s body was hit by the White Tiger, which slashed at him with its claws. He was pushed a hundred meter or so but black slash mark could be seen on his shoulder and left side of the chest. The black snakes tried to heal him but it was too late, only the exterior wounds recovered, the Dark Magic infiltrated his body and immediately started weakening him and affecting his judgment. Arthur returned to his original appearance and looked at the chief guard, who was throwing up mouthfuls of blood. "Quietly let me possess you." The parasite became a lightning bolt which reached Carpentine and zapped his body, flinging him further away but before Arthur could continue, a two hundred meter long snake sprung from below, blocking his way. Its fang made of purple gems and its body crystallized. It seemed even more dangerous than its master, Carpentine. Arthur distracted the snake by using [Cascading Flames], which is the Vermillion Bird''s unique ability. The Divine Beast''s flames shone in the sky before falling on the snake like a tsunami. All the other weaker snakes turned into ash while the ginormous monster hissed and curled its body, using its crystal body to resist the orange flames. It successfully resisted the flames but by the time it raised its head, a black arrow which was over 100 meters in length came flying at it. Its tip was purple and an unstoppable absorption was emanating from within it. Moreover, the arrow had two feathers made of white godly thunder at its back. The serpent met the arrow head on as opened its mouth and spat a black light but it was devoured by the Void Magic at the Heavenly Arrow''s tip. Arthur''s projectile easily pulverized the snake''s head and hit the ground, splitting it and causing the whole world to shake. A fast shadow attacked Arthur behind but the latter''s body turned illusory before an ugly wraith made its appearance. Carpentine dumbfoundedly looked at the wraith, which couldn''t be touched by his snakes. He was about to retreat again but the wraith shrieked loudly before flying at him like a creepy ghost. It was much faster than him as it stopped before his face and before he could defend, a hand penetrated his chest, causing him to cough a lot of blood. Arthur grinned as he calmly looked at the serpent man, who looked at him with shaken resolve and a pale face. Now that he was subdued, Carpentine''s world crumbled and the two returned to reality. ˇ­ Habs was still imprisoned, his attacks were fruitless and he could only wait for Arthur and Carpentine to finish fighting. Their battle lasted a bit over two minutes and when they reappared, the parasite was standing in front of the chief guard, the former''s hand stabbing the latter''s chest. The Warden''s face became uglier as he glared at parasite. The short sword in his hand shook as he amassed all of his energy, trying to break free and attack Arthur or at least try to capture him. He has an item which can immediately send a target to the fifth level of the prison but it has to make contact with its victim and the distance between Habs and Arthur isn''t that easily crossed, at least not with Zaarae present and keeping a lookout. Chapter 652 - 597: Petrification "Mhmm very handsome!" Zaarae let out a m.o.a.n while licking her lips and gazing at Arthur. Midolf and Radolf heard her words and both instinctively shivered, finding her behavior quite disturbing and bone-chilling. Arthur spared no time as he possessed the defenseless Carpentine. His body transformed into a black whirlpool which entered the victim''s body. The possession process only took a few seconds, in which Arthur gained the chief guard''s stats and abilities before swiftly leaving the host. A flood of notifications covered his view but he discarded them for now and held Carpentine by his throat. He seemed to be contemplating what to do with the enemy, who gave up any kind of resistance and lifelessly let himself be held by the parasite. The chief guard''s eyes were dim, blood leaked out of his half-opened lips, and the hole inflicted by Arthur while slowly killing him. Dark Magic made him powerless and the vibration of Natural Lightning ruptured his organs and shattered almost the entirety of his bones. Arthur glanced at angered Habs then at Zaarae, wanting to see her opinion about this matter. The Empress shrugged her shoulders and casually said, "His life was forfeit the moment he appeared here." Arthur smiled and exerted a bit of force, snapping Carpentine''s neck and ending his life on the spot. This brutal action made Habs enraged as he breathed heavily, his eyes glaring at Arthur like a starving beast. No matter how angered he was, he could not break free from the blood cage put up by Zaarae. "Arthur MoonStar, your actions will not be without consequences." Surprisingly, he spoke with a chilling and strangely calm tone as he sheathed his short sword and regulated his breathing. ˇ­ "His name is Arthur MoonStar?" The most shocked of all was Shen Shen, who, previously, thought she misheard but now Habs spoke Arthur''s name again, she was utterly dumbstruck. She was barely able to control herself as she turned to look at the silent Vyncent, who nodded his head. With an inaudible voice which no one could hear, the blue-haired little girl mumbled, "Thatˇ­ that means he''s my daddy?" Her eyes focused on Arthur''s figure while her mind was in a tempestuous state. She heard many things about her parents, their feats, and their names, obviously. Timos praised her parents but didn''t tell her their appearances, which is why she didn''t recognize Arthur when they first met. But, undoubtedly, that man was her biological father. He was very powerful like the Black Devil said, he was a parasite and was named Arthur MoonStar. All of these were enough for the young but intelligent Shen Shen to conclude his real identity. However, she didn''t cry happily or spill the truth and, instead, she maintained absolute silence while her gaze lingered on his silhouette. .. Arthur was delighted to gain a unique ability which will be very useful in the future. To actually be able to entrap enemies in that mysterious world, it automatically became one of his ultimate trump cards. If he''s surrounded, he can always isolate one of the stronger targets and defeat him so to make it easier to deal with the rest. It can also help him escape powerful foes by buying a bit of time for himself, and that is without including the countless special snakes living in there. His stats only increased by several hundred million points but he gained an absolute immunity against all kinds of fatal points and has a new enigma ability. It was called Petrification and it allows him to turn targets in stone, like the infamous Medusa. At first, he was confused because Carpentine didn''t use it on him but that shouldn''t be right, the only explanation is the passive ability he gained from the White Tiger, which allowed him to negate debuffs. Moreover, his eye also had a chance to block petrification, illusions, and visual deception. Arthur jumped back on the dark cloud and waited for Fariya, who just finished humiliating Erandil. She didn''t forget to cripple him, making him no different than a mortalˇ­ the poor angel was reduced to a pathetic and miserable state, even a homeless dog would look better than him. The succubus was beaming with joy as she stood behind Arthur, a wide grin plastered on her beautiful face. She stored the recording crystal in her storage then looked at Habs, whose face was twisted from angel and rage. "Bye bye!" Zaarae waved her hand at Habs, flinging him and the cage all the way down. The warden won''t be able to chase after them anytime soon, not after he was injured by Zaarae, furthermore, he has to explain things to the higher-ups, who would also severely punish him for not properly managing the prison. **** The dark cloud broke through the planet''s atmosphere and quietly traveled the starry space, bypassing blinding stars and weirdly-shaped uninhabited planets. Thanks to Zaarae, who cast an invisibility magic on the group, they were able to bypass the angel patrols scattered here and there. The speed of the cloud was moderate and the Heaven and Hell Universe is vast, even with Arthur''s top speed, it''ll take some time to reach the Demon Realm. Moreover, their destination was far south of the Demon Realm, however, Fariya and Esco did say that that place isn''t as strictly guarded as the Heaven Realm. Only the border has a bit of demons but they won''t bother them, actually, they can''t even bother them as the soldiers are pitifully weak. In the blink of an eye, three days of peace passed. Arthur would occasionally chat with Zaarae or Fariya, asking about things he was curious about. Esco was quite acknowledgeable, he also made an extra effort to seem useful as to not be abandoned in the middle of nowhere. Vyncent kept silent, he sat cross-legged and would study the Elias'' coin. As for the mythical beings, they were like statues, immovable, and mute. "Little Lady, come here." Arthur smiled and beckoned for Shen Shen, who was looking at the endless space around him with amazement. The sight grabbed the interest of the curious girl, who would ask the Parasite Empress about anything she''s unfamiliar with. Unlike their first meeting, the girl became less talkative and rebellious, she would also sneak glances at Arthur, who noticed her but pretended not to. Shen Shen patted her pretty green dress and walked to Arthur, her head hanging low. Now that she discovered he''s her father, she didn''t curse him or talk disrespectfully, but also didn''t disclose the truth. Perhaps she was afraid he would abandon her after she acted rudely to him, or maybe he''ll refuse to believe her. Shen Shen stopped in front of Arthur, who was sitting on the dark cloud. She held the tip of her dress and didn''t look back at him. "Where are you from little lady?" Zaarae smiled as she heard Arthur''s question while the succubus studied the girl. "Blue-Water Kingdom." Shen Shen didn''t have an origin as she was born in the middle of nowhere but, thankfully, Timos did tell her about places with abundant Water energy, locations which can help her get much stronger. Blue-Water Kingdom is, obviously, a prosperous kingdom in the System''s universe. It''s situated in the local group, which is a group of galaxies that include the milky way galaxy, where the Earth is. More precisely, the kingdom is in a star called BTA-18947. The living conditions on that star are harsh and not many people can enter it due to the unstable climate. 90% of the star is covered in water and the kingdom is actually under the vast blue-ocean, inhabited by sea mermaids, water spirits, and the Sharhuman Race. Chapter 653 - 598: Friendship "And where are your parents?" Asked Arthur as he motioned for Shen Shen to sit beside him. "They died." "Ohˇ­" Arthur looked at her sad expression and sighed. He stretched his hand and rubbed the top of her head to comfort her. "If you want, you can come with me." He stopped for a second before continuing, "My homeworld isn''t big but I''m sure you''ll fit in. Also, you and my daughter are quite alike." As he said that, Shen Shen''s body twitched as he raised her head and looked at him "You daughter?" "Yes, I have a daughter who''s a bit older like you but she''s talented, like you." Timos never spoke of Saly so it''s the first time Shen Shen is hearing of this. She became more depressed as she felt left out, like she didn''t belong with her parents. ''Did they purposely leave me behind?'' Slowly, tears started flowing down the girl''s cheeks, startling Arthur, who involuntarily retracted his hand, thinking that it''s his fault. "W-what''s wrong?" Shen Shen tried her best to control her tears as she rubbed her ears and shook her head, indicating that she was fine. Unfortunately, her eyes became wetter and she ended up sobbing even more. Zaarae looked at Shen Shen then slightly moved her index, causing a gentle force to push the little blue-haired girl into Arthur''s arms. The parasite didn''t push Shen Shen and, instead, softly patted her back, trying to calm her. "There there, everything going to be alright. Don''t cry." Arthur wryly smiled and spoke with a tender voice, "You''re a big and smart girl, don''t cry." Zaarae palmed her forehead as she heard his ridiculous words, which only made Shen Shen cry even more. Fortunately, she stopped after ten or so minutes, but she remained in Arthur''s embrace. His chest became wet because of her tears but he paid it no heed and continued patting her back, feeling inexplicably sad and sorry for her. She did come out as a rude girl when he met her but that was probably because of the tragic events that may have happened to her. She was trying to seem outwardly strong to not get used or deceived, or so thought Arthur. "I, I''m fine n-now." Shen Shen''s face a shade of red as she tried escaping Arthur but he pulled her right back and put her on his lap while saying, "Don''t cry anymore, okay? As long as I''m here then no one will bully you. Here, show me a smile." He smiled at the girl and pointed at his lips, wanting her to imitate him. His comical actions, which are the opposite of his usual coldness when interacting with others, caused Shen Shen to giggle and feel more relaxed. ˇ­ "Ah! I wish master would treat me like that too." Fariya complained as she looked at the warm atmosphere between Arthur and Shen Shen. It''s the first time she saw the parasite behave so kindly, after all, he''s usually grumpy and rarely talks. Zaarae glanced at the succubus and muttered, "Blood is thicker than water." "What?" "Nothing. It doesn''t concern us." The Empress turned around and looked at the wall of darkness far away from the drifting dark cloud. This wall was the boundary between the Demon Realm and this desolate space which houses countless stars and barren planets. *** Two more days passed, the relationship between Arthur and Shen Shen deepened and the latter opened up to her father. She showed him a few interesting tricks she learned from Timos, like the unique water magic which is capable of miraculous feats. It''s even more effective than Midolf''s Life energy, which is supposedly the best for healing injuries, both physical and mental ones. "Arthurˇ­ Arthur! Did you finish it?" Shen Shen excitedly jumped up and down, trying to see if the parasite finished the item. He promised her that he''ll craft a beautiful necklace for her and he''s been busy for ten straight hours, making the girl impatient. She wanted to see the shape of the pendant but his broad back blocked and although she could circle around take a peek, Shen Shen refrained from doing so, considering it as ''cheating''. "Hold on, I''m almost done." Arthur chuckled and did the last touch before appraising the necklace. He felt very satisfied with the result, furthermore, the item looked exquisite and very beautiful, a perfect thing which matches the girl''s blue hair. The necklace was embedded with a wisp of his Ethereal State, which makes the wearer feel calm and resistant to mental attacks. Additionally, a personalized defensive water-formation was hidden inside, only to be activated if the wearer is in danger. However, this was not all as the pendant, if injected with a bit of Water Energy, is able to teleport the user to a random location thousands of miles away. It also facilitates the flow of Water Magic and helps the wearer acc.u.mulate energy at a faster rate. The necklace was graded as a 1st-grade Godly-ranked Artifact and named ''Friendship'' by the crafter, Arthur. Shen Shen''s mouth opened wide as Arthur presented her the breath-taking necklace, which was made from an ocean-blue crystalline material and shiny silver metal. It was a circular necklace with ten of those blue crystals engraved inside, while silver covered the rest. "Do you like this?" "Like it! I like it!" The girl jumped in joy as she immediately put the necklace on only to feel a cool and refreshing energy enter her body, resulting in the relaxation of her muscles and the regulation of her energy and blood circulation. "Good good!" He caressed her head and said, "Don''t ever take it off, okay?" "Yes! I won''t! I promise!" A wide happy smile could be seen on the young girl''s face as she clutched the necklace and danced around. Zaarae walked up to the girl and crouched down, also handing her a gift. "Here, little Shen, a gift from me too." Zaarae softly smiled as she gifted a wrist bracelet to the youngling. The bracelet was also blue in color but had three black lines, each with an incomprehensible letter from a foreign language. Shen Shen accepted the gift and hugged Zaarae before putting on the bracelet too and gazing at it. The gift of the Empress and the parasite urged some of the rest to give a precious and protective thing to Shen Shen. Fariya blew a kiss on Shen Shen''s hand, causing a minuscule, almost unnoticeable purple heart-shaped tattoo to appear. It''s literally a protective charm which will entrance any victim as long as they aren''t too strong. Midolf and Radolf jointly gifted a thin saber just like the one Lucy''s uses. It was half black and half white and complimented Shen Shen''s water magic, boosting its efficiency. Any one of these gifts will sell for an absurd amount of spirit stones yet they were given to a young girl, who doesn''t know their true worth yet, nevertheless, none of them regretted it as they received a warm hug from the excited Shen Shen. Chapter 654 - 599: Dark Coast Seven days after escaping the prison, Arthur and co reached the barren and gloomy coast of the Black Sea, also known as the Black Kraken Sea. As the name suggests, the water was the color on ink, you can''t see anything under the blackened surface. Moreover, the canopy seemed to be split into two sides, one was bright and the other, the one above the sea, was cloudy and grey. "Sir Arthur, there is a small town North-East of here. You can hire a captain or some sailors or pay some spirit stones to board with other travelers." Esco respectfully explained to Arthur a few things while stating the importing things. He grew accustomed to his role and didn''t dare ask anything about Arthur or the others and would remain quiet if he''s not needed. The only one who he was kind of friendly with was Vyncent, who''s also a bit of an outsider too. Arthur never talked to the blond young man but he didn''t kick him out of the dark cloud either. "I don''t see the point in boarding with others, it''ll only make the route longer. We can just go straight to the Land of the Golden Sand. If the Kraken shows up then I''ll deal with it." The parasite looked at her but didn''t speak or agree. Unexpectedly, it was Radolf who stepped forward and politely said, "Empress, with all due to respect, I don''t think it''s worth it to anger the Kraken. Its violent by nature and causing a loud ruckus will only attract unwanted attention." "So?" Radolf hesitated for a brief moment, glanced at Shen Shen, who was curiously looking at the black sea, before adding, "We can board a boat that will pass through the second danger zoneˇ­ I know of a place called the Waterfall of Youth and Old. I''m sure Little Shen will like it." Only when she heard that did Zaarae hesitate as she looked at Shen Shen, who listened to the mythical being. Her eyes gleamed as she looked expectantly at Zaarae as if she was waiting for her approval. In the end, the Empress relented with a sigh. "Alright." Arthur secretly gave Radolf a thumb-up then said, "Let''s go find a boat then." The parasite attempted to fly into the black sea but the moment he flew above the black water, his body started falling uncontrollably as if something was pulling him down. Fortunately, a gentle aura enveloped him and brought him back atop the dark cloud. "The Black Sea''s gravity is fifty-five times stronger than here and the space is very unstable. Flight is difficult but if you use one of your abilities, it is still possible to do it but it''s necessary and costly." Zaarae smiled at Arthur and explained the reason behind his sudden fall. ˇ­ A few minutes later, the Dark Cloud landed next to a relatively large town bustling with mainly demons. Actually, the word ''demon'' is a general term for all the races originating from the demon realm. Whether it''s beastkin, succubus, devils, ghosts, skeletons, zombies, undead, orcs, goblins, imps, kobolds, lizards, etcˇ­ The village was called ''Dark Coast'' and isn''t ruled by anyone, it''s only a place for demons to rest and merchants to reload their goods. Though Arthur''s group looked no different than humans, no one bothered or provoked them. They quickly reached the medium-sized port and found a relatively large black ship which is going to depart soon. "Next." A short and fat green-skinned goblin holding a long yellow sheet of paper wrote the names of new passengers while beckoning for the next in the queue to come closer. Arthur wasn''t bothered by waiting but Zaarae seemed extremely bored and wanted to just started get on the ship already, nevertheless, she didn''t flare up and obediently stood behind Arthur. It has to be said that her exceptional beauty did cause a few curious make demons to sneak a couple of glances but that was all. It was the same thing for Fariya, whose clothes were revealing but, as she was standing next to the Empress, her charm was rendered ineffective. The goblin raised its head and looked at the tall man standing before him. "Names and number of passengers." "Arthur and they are with me. We''re 8." The goblin looked at the group, his eyes pausing for a second on Zaarae and Fariya before saying "That will be 72 red spirit stones or 1,600 gold." Spirit stones are a common currency in all of the multiverse but demons also like gold and use it a lot too. Goblins are especially fond of the shiny golden metal and like to collect it, like the deceased Buo Buo, who was quite wealthy though it''s too bad his possessions ended up in Arthur''s hand. Arthur flicked his hand and threw a small bag of red spirit stones to the goblin, who excitedly caught it. The demon carefully counted before nodding his head and signaling for Arthur to board the ship. ˇ­ Along with his group, there were around twenty other people on the ship, mostly goblin merchants. There were three orcs warriors wearing thick red plated armors but they seemed to be protecting one goblin who had a fake long mustache and was wearing extravagant clothes. "Ah! We''re finally departing." Zaarae''s mood was slightly elevated as the black ship started moving after thirty or so minutes. She held Shen Shen''s hand and went to the side of the ship. The little girl wanted a closer look at the black water so the Empress accompanied her just to make sure nothing happens, after all, this black sea is still a dangerous zone and although this is a safe zone, mishaps can still happen. ***** At the center of the Black Sea, hundreds of kilometers under the surface, amidst the primordial shrouded waters, a pair of eyes slowly opened, they glowed with an ominous red light as they illuminated a small area. A creature that was bigger than a mountain has awoken from its slumber. Its thick and absurdly lengthy tentacles started moving, slowly stretching to the surface. A deep and orotund voice emitted from the sea creature, "Emmmpressssssssssˇ­.." Chapter 655 - 600: Thought and Effect "Not interested." Fariya dismissively waved her hand at a goblin merchant her group with a not-so-good intentions. But, just when the first one left, a second one, who has an appearance that was almost identical to the first one, tentatively approached the charming succubus. "I said NOT interested!" A gust of wind pushed the goblin, making him fall on his buttocks. The merchant was angry but he didn''t do anything and just turned around and left, though he didn''t forget to glare at the woman. Arthur was sitting cross-legged, his eyes closed and his index caressing his marriage ring, it seemed obvious that interrupting him will only lead to problems so Fariya took it upon herself to shoo away anyone who got close. Midolf and Radolf had disappeared, while Vyncent and Esco went to their respective personal room. The black ship was big and could house hundreds of passengers but the captain, which was, surprisingly, a mutated ghoul, only welcome a dozen or so of people aboard his ship. As for Zaarae and Shen Shen, they were at the front of the deck, looking at the calm black waters, utterly void of waves or the expected monsters. "Tsk! Maybe I should kill all of them?" Quietly muttered the succubus as she looked at the disgusting and annoying stares she was getting from almost all of the passengers. They were eyeing their group, especially Arthur, who seemed to be the leader. They were wondering about his identity as he had two gorgeous women accompanying him. Fortunately, no one else made an advance on Fariya, who was like an unbreakable wall, allowing no one to come close to her master. In the blink of an eye, half a day passed, the grey and gloomy sky turned inky black and it became much harder to navigate the sea so the captain slowed down his ship. Shen Shen accompanied Fariya inside the ship to sleep, leaving only Arthur and Zaarae. The Parasite Empress sat inches away from him, her eyes glued on his face. ??What do you want?"-Arthur "Can''t I just look?" She replied, a soft smile blossoming on her face. "ˇ­" Arthur felt a bit uncomfortable to be stared at so intensely but he couldn''t tell her to stop. Even if he changed locations, she''ll just follow himˇ­ it happened back when they were traveling atop the dark cloud so he learned the hard way that he can''t avoid this woman. "You still haven''t told me why you''re acting like this." "Hm? Acting like what?" Arthur glanced at her and said, "Acting so clingy and oddly affectionate." "Well, Arthur, can''t a woman be in love?" "She certainly can but not like thisˇ­ not like you." "It''s not because you have never fallen in love at first sight that it can''t happen." She leaned her face closer to his, her lips an inch from his ear. "I''m so very in love with you but it hurts me that I can''t do anything." Seeing his strange and unreadable expression, the woman giggled and added, "If it were up to me, I would bring you to bed before supper.(Literally means she''ll jump at him right now.)" Arthur looked back at her and solemnly retorted, "Enough." His stare became colder as he spoke again, "I am grateful for your help, however, this behavior of yours is exactly what makes me unable to trust you." Zaarae didn''t seem bothered as her smile widened, she seductively put a finger under her lower lip and responded, "What can I do to make you trust me? Tell me, I can do everything." She chuckled and looked at the night sky, "Do you want to possess me and take my stats and skills? Do you want me to bring you the kraken and make it your pet? Just tell me." He intently looked at her but no words came out of his lips. After an inordinate amount of time, he asked, "Did we meet in the past? Or in the future?" "Ohˇ­ we sure did. In the past, to be precise." She paused for a split second before continuing, "I thought you were aware. Back when I and the others were born, you came and showed us many things. You even named us." Actually, Arthur was aware that the old him traveled in the past and to many periods, but there were many still-unexplained matters so this revelation came as a bit of a shock to him. "I did?" "Yup!" She enthusiastically nodded her head as she remembered the fond memories of the complicated past. "Bilgart was against your arrival but he didn''t interfere. I met you for the first time there thenˇ­ then you came back to me and I fell for you." Arthur didn''t need to ask anything as the Empress spoke without stopping for almost an hour. She left nothing unsaid, telling him about dangerous secrets and hidden past events, like how she lost her parasitic powers and why it happened. "Now, do you believe me?" She smiled as she asked him, her voice containing a bit of anxiety which she couldn''t hide. In response, Arthur sighed and just nodded her head, there was a lot to process so he excused himself right after. The Empress looked at him disappearing back, her smile slowly vanishing, and her expression saddening for some reason. Perhaps seeing his lack of affection and coldness, she felt like she didn''t belong by his side, at least not in this time period, not with Lucy in his heart. ******* "Captain! We''ve spotted three pirates sh.i.p.s!" An orc wearing average sailor clothes reported to the short and pale-skinned captain, who looked West, where you could three black silhouettes heading towards them. "Imps?" "It appears to be so, captain." The ghoul thought for a moment before saying, "Turn 45 degrees left and increase our speed!" Mutated ghouls are actually normal ghouls which kept their conscience and are able to think like humans and other intelligent species. They are a higher variation of undead and can be as strong as Lich Kings if they train really hard. Captain ''Faded Grass'' is strong but he, after all, he was still a captain of a traveling ship. At best, he can fight people that acc.u.mulated 70 or 80 white stars, which is equivalent to someone at the Immortal Realm. As for the merchants'' guards, their only duty is to protect their employer. To not suffer big losses, merchants would just offer a few their goods to the pirates and be done with it. If they attempt to fight, their guards would get injured, basically, it isn''t that beneficial. This was also another reason why Captain Faded Grass wanted to escape the pirate sh.i.p.s rather than take them head-on. They just departed from the coast yet the imps appeared, it was awfully bold of them and problematic. "Master, want me to take care of them?" Fariya glanced at the pirate sh.i.p.s and nonchalantly said. Such a minor threat can be taken care of with just a finger, she was an otherworldly existence in comparison to the captain and the rest and only the Kraken and a few deep-sea kings can threaten her. "No need." Arthur looked at the pirate sh.i.p.s, which were only a few hundred meters away and kept getting closer. The goblins merchants and the rest of the passengers were panicking and changing their clothes into less extravagant, some even went to hide inside their rooms. ''It''s a good opportunity to test Buo Buo''s Telekinesis.'' His body blurred and appeared at the corner of the central deck, facing the incoming pirate sh.i.p.s. Of course, his actions were noticed by the orc guards and the captain. The parasite raised pointed his palm at the closest ship, which had ugly red imps excitedly jumping on it. They were celebrating before they even obtained the loot as they didn''t expect any resistance. Sadly and unfortunately for them, they weren''t aware of the fate that was going to befall on them. Arthur''s palm was slightly pushed forward and, at the same moment, an invisible and terrifying force struck the pirate ship. The sight was no different than an egg being squished into pieces. The ship crumbled almost instantaneously, the imps were crushed to death by the invisible force and fell on the water. In just a few seconds, all that was left were sinking rubbles, the only thing that remained from the pirate ship, which was no way smaller than Fade Grass'' ship. The other two pirate sh.i.p.s hastily tried to turn around but Arthur moved his hand again. The two sh.i.p.s were lifted in the air then crashed into each other before something sharp cleanly cut them along with all the imps. Just like the first one, they fell on the black water and were sucked into the bottomless sea. Arthur also noticed that the black waters were like a vacuum, first pulling a handful of lucky imps that managed to survive, then absorbed what remained of the black sh.i.p.s. Seeing this frightening sight, the present passengers, sailors, and even the mutated ghoul were dumbstruck. The undead was soaking with cold sweat as he looked at Arthur''s emotionless face, the latter just went back to his initial position and sat back as if nothing happened. Faded Grass that he had unfathomable individuals aboard his ship, making him dreadful and a bit excited. If he could curry favor with Arthur and co then it would bring him endless benefits but, unfortunately, the moment he walked toward the black-haired man, he was stopped by the succubus. "I, I would just like to thank sir Arthur for his help." "Master does not want to be bothered, just go away!" She coldly dismissed him but the captain just wryly smiled and left. All in all, the safety of their trip was guaranteed as long as he had them here. ''It''s pretty strong considering that I only used a bit of it.'' Arthur was thinking about the goblin''s enigma ability, which was truly a strong power. He reckoned that, at full power, it can even injure an Exalted God. As he was thinking about the Telekinesis, Zaarae sat next to him but he didn''t pay her any heed. Only when her face was dangerously close did he open his eyes and glare at her. The Empress ignored his warning as she whispered, "That Telekinesis of yours is strong but let me gift you something even better." She winked at him as leaned her face even closer. Arthur was about to jump back but he found himself completely bound. His eye shone with a blue light and time was slowed, however, even after succeeding in doing that, he still couldn''t escape the grasp of the invisible power pressing down on him. In the end, the woman''s lips pressed on his cheek for one full second before slowly and reluctantly retracting. Feeling that he was no longer bound, Arthur jumped back like a frightened chicken, his heart beating insanely fast but his expression was completely frosty. He was about to attack Zaarae but was stopped by the sudden appearance of a row of system notifications. *[Thought Telekinesis] has evolved into [Psychic Mind]* *[Psychic Mind] has evolved into [Thought and Effect]* *Creation Magic has affected [Thought and Effect]* *[Thought and Effect] is now [Thought and Effect+]* *You gained a new title: The Empress'' Sweetheart *You gained a new title: Lord of Parasites *Your stats increased, please check the status window for more details.* TITLE: MEAT GRINDER / SEEKER OF KNOWLEDGE / ONE WITH THE SWORD / ARK HOLDER / LIVE WITH HONOR, DIE WITH GLORY / BREAKER OF CHAINS / HOLDER OF THE DARK BLADE''S OATH / MAD DESTROYER/PSYCHOPATH/DRAGON RIDER / UNSEEN BOND / ONE STALKED BY THE REAPER / DIVINE HERALD / THE EMPRESS'' SWEETHEART / THE LORD OF PARASITES / SLAVE MASTER Level: ?? Class: Dark ARK Parasite Realm: Overgod (Formation) Celestial Body: 26% - Strength: 41.9B Intelligence: 45B Agility: 48.1B Wisdom: 33.3B Vitality: 50.1B Dexterity: 26.7B - Health: 66.6B// Health Regen: 39.7/s Nether Energy: 14B // Nether Energy Regen: 23m/s(+100%) Mana: 13.4// Mana Regen: 29.99m/s Stamina: Infinite /Stamina Regen: ??? ----- Creation: 1000 ---- Attack: 39.4 (+35% damage [Dark Flame Ring]) (+20% if Dark Magic is used) (+5% [Warrior''s Cry[LvMax](Passive)][+2% from Breaker of Chains Title] Defense: 48.2B(+25% Damage Reduction) (+5% [Solid [LvMax](passive)] (+10% [Golem''s Wall(LvMax)(Passive)] Magic Defense: 4.2B Soul Defense: 29m(-29m ''no soul, clone'') --- Enigma abilities : Thought and Effect / [Light Operation/ Righteous Death ] / Sixth sense / - Mental Power: 44000 --- Elemental Resistances(+) Fire: 100% Darkness: 100% Wind: 35% Water: 75% Earth: 75% Light/holy: 65% Shadow: 30(+20%)% Lightning: 100% Ice: 30% Death : 19.9% Crowd Control : 50% Life: 19.9% --- Possessions (472,097) --- Races: ?Divine Beasts (4) ?Humans (283,054) ?Demons (84,991) ?Beasts (+)(101,529) ?Unique Beasts (2511) ?Mythical beings (1) **** [Thought and Effect]: An enigma ability that allows the user to control things with their mind. It can deal significant damage to spiritual beings (Ghosts, wraiths, etc..) and deals 5% more damage to material beings and objects. Highly effective against those with lower Mental Power than the user(Arthur MoonStar). It cannot work against those with the title ''Death''s Beckon''. It cannot work against those with the ''Feather Wind'' Physique. It cannot work against those with the ''Emerald Soul''. Can be fused with *Dark Magic* and *Natural Lightning* but the cost will increase from 0 to 500 Mental Power/s. * *The user (Arthur MoonStar(clone) cannot continue the formation of the Celestial Body. The real host will acquire the Celestial Body when the formation is completed.* *All increase in stats will be applied to the real host when the clone is called back or dies.* *Please note that in case of the death of the user (Arthur MoonStar(clone)), the obtained skills, titles, and stats will be automatically transferred to the original within a period of 1-7days. Additionally, the memories of the user (Arthur MoonStar(clone)) will be instantaneously sent to the main host. Any disruption to the System may lead to a problem in the transfer phase, please proceed with caution.* Arthur had just read this long list of notification only for another louder blue window to appear again, blocking his sight. *To all System users, please maintain a safe distance from the X-TR500 Universe for the foreseeable future. We are currently taking care of the B-32 Virus and advise all players to avoid each other for the time being.* *To all System users, the Tamtar Galaxy, Milky Way Galaxy, Andromeda Galaxy, Kamstar Galaxy, and the T-99 Supercl.u.s.ter are under quarantine. Any player seen entering or leaving it will be attacked on sight, please be aware.* *To all System Users, the general System under maintenance and therefore absent tomorrow from 1AM to 1PM* ********* The day Arthur and co escaped the prison. The place was chaotic when Habs was sent flying and was injured by Zaarae. Although the injuries weren''t that fatal, they still slightly weakened him and, to make matters worse, there seemed to be another invader, one who was much bolder and destructive than Arthur. This mysterious individual broke in when he was away and brought one prisoner back with him. He attacked any angel that retaliated and didn''t hesitate to kill. The human Warden held his short sword and glared at the black figure, his face ugly to the extreme. He was humiliated after Arthur killed Carpentine but now another person was worsening the situation for him. "Who are you? What are y-" His words got stuck in his throat as he saw an unconscious man laying on the invader''s shoulder. Surprisingly, it was none other than Edward Ortberg, the serial-killer from earth. The Warden''s eyes sharpened as he charged at the enemy, who was wearing a strange black suit made of metal and had many changing numbers all over it. The unknown invader held a silver spear and swept at it Habs, cracking the space and unleashing a silver burst which clashed with the warden. ˇ­ "You won''t be leaving this place!" Habs spat some blood and looked at the enemy, who was also bleeding from his shoulder and knee. Although Habs knew he was stronger than the enemy, he still couldn''t win due to that black suit, which fired laser beams that are only found in the System universe. "You''re a white specterˇ­ is this the White Specter Clan''s doing? Do you know that you''re offending Heaven?" An illusory white tail enveloped in white flames was swaying from behind the individual. The White Specter''s transformation was famous and easily recognizable. He didn''t know who this masked person was but it was definitely a specter and not a strong one, at that. Were it not for that technological suit, he would have already won but the fight lasted for more than two hours and he was even injured in the chest. The silver spear pierced his chest, exactly where Zaarae hit previously. ''If I''m dying here then it''s your damn fault!'' Cursed Angelina as she looked at Habs and his increasing aura. She had to fight this Warden with Edward on her shoulder and make sure he doesn''t die. She was talking to Claud, who was behind her arrival here and her current unexpected actions. She learned to believe in him and, especially his prophecies, furthermore, his recent one made her come all the way here and break out Edward. Angelina threw the man''s body to the side before swiftly jumping in the air and holding the spear with both hands. A majestic dragon cry reverberated across the area, it was quickly followed by the splitting of the sky and the appearance of an enormous silver dragon. The woman was inside the dragon''s mouth, her spear pointing at Habs, who bent his body and coat his sword with sword essence. He pressed his foot on the shaking ground, shooting at Angelina with lightning speed. His short sword glowed with black light as it was raised toward the heavens, ready to the meet the dragon. The clash between the two was explosive and pulverized half of the area, even taking a big chunk of the black structure above the prison. In the end, both sides were injured but Habs was much better off, nevertheless, he wasn''t able to pursue Angelina, who turned around and hastily fled. While holding his bleeding arm, Habs shouted at the angels: "Chase after her and find Edward! NOW!" ˇ­ Ten minutes later, Edward, who was supposed to be unconscious, slowly opened his eyes and checked if there was anyone around. Ever since the beginning, he was just pretending to be comatose and wondering what''s happening. Angelina thought she cut his consciousness but not even she was able to control someone with a soul like his, she underestimated him because he was but a fragile mortal. The man got on his feet and looked at the lush and eerie forest surrounding him. "Should I just go back? I don''t see the point in wandering around." He let out a sigh and looked downward, noticing a small piece of paper which was totally out of place. Chapter 656 - 601: Here He Comes "That looks on your face tells me that my gift pleased you, hehehe" Zaarae cheekily laughed as she looked at the dumb and surprised look plastered on Arthur''s face. He stood motionless for a solid five minutes before he lifted his head and looked at the Empress, who blew another kiss in his direction. "Was ''that'' even necessary?" He looked angry but his tone indicated otherwise. "Emmˇ­" She giggled and replied, "It''s a give and take. I gift you a useful thing and you give me a ''kiss''." "Youˇ­" She signaled for him to stop talking as she put her finger on her lips. "One more word and I''ll take you to my room and eat you." Arthur glared at her but he didn''t dare speak another word. He let out a helpless long sigh and sat, wanting to read more about the new skills and ambiguous titles. Buo Buo''s Telekinesis was already strong but the one Zaarae just gifted him seemed overpowered, to say the least. "With that, you don''t need to fear anyone with Purple Stars or any Exalted God but do be careful of those who mastered their techniques, they''re the most dangerous." Just as Zaarae finished speaking, her expression abruptly changed. She appeared in front of Arthur and unleashed a domineering aura which made the calm black waters became turbulent. Ten seconds or so passed before a red light pierced through the grey clouds and stopped dozens of meters above the black ship. The Empress'' face seemed unusually serious as she glared at the mysterious individual who was looking down at all the crew and passengers. "What a pleasant surprise!" The man was wearing a funny costume that had a mix of red and purple, cards danced around him as he heartily laughed while looking at Arthur then at Zaarae, who recognized him. She never met the Joker but definitely knew of his existence, moreover, she felt inferior now that he''s before her. Her figure blurred and by the next second, she was in front of the Joker, punching his chest. Unfortunately, her fist stopped inches away from his body, a small card absorbed the force behind her attack, shocking the woman. "There''s no need for violence, I''m just passing by." He waved his hand before vanishing and appearing in front of Arthur. Zaarae''s face twisted as she was about to attack again only for Arthur to stop her with his hand, "It''s fine, I know him." She fully trusted the parasite but didn''t dare drop her guard. Her figure stood next to Arthur and her aura was still unleashed, causing most of the passengers to faint, with the exception of her companions, of course. "Oh! You''re a clone! Nice!" The Joker patted Arthur''s shoulder while smiling, appearing very happy. The parasite also smiled back at his brother and responded, "What brought you here?" "The octopus is safeguarding something for me. I''ve come back to retrieve it." "Octopus? You mean the Black Kraken?" "Yeah yeah whatever, it''s the same thing." The Joker curiously looked at the nearby Shen Shen, who was also looking at him. He then shifted his attention to Fariya, whose face was incredibly pale. "Bro, I get that Zaarae is with you but a succubus will surely anger sister-in-law. Just make sure to hide her well." Arthur chuckled and retorted. "There''s nothing to hide, she''s a slave but I''m not planning to bring her back." "Good good!" The Joker snapped his fingers, causing a wide golden table and big leather chairs to appear around him. He sat on one of them and motioned for Arthur and the rest to sit too. "I happen to have some good whiskey with meˇ­ how about a few glasses? Like the good old days." "Sure." Arthur immediately agreed as he laughed and sat opposite of his brother. Zaarae, still stone-faced, sat at Arthur''s right while Shen Shen sat on the left, her blue eyes glued on the Joker, who acted strangely and comically. Glasses filled with whiskey were pushed toward Arthur, Zaarae, and Fariya, while Shen Shen had a cup of hot milk. The little girl glanced at milk then creased her brows, she didn''t want to be treated like a little kid, despite the fact that she is. "I want that too." She pointed at the glass of whiskey but the Joker laughed and stated, "Brat, just drink your milk, ''kay?" "I''m not a brat!" Protested Shen Shen but the man ignored her and emptied his glass, which was automatically and immediately filled again. "Shen Shen, you''re a bit young for this. Next time, okay?" Only when Arthur spoke did the blue-haired girl calm down and obediently drink the hot milk, although reluctantly. However, her expression betrayed her, she licked her lips and looked at the empty cup with a disappointed look as soon as she emptied it. "You see? You''re a brat!" The Joker mocked her and pointed his finger at the empty cup, filling it with chocolate hot milk this time. "So, what brought my lil brother here?" "Little brother?" Zaarae frowned and looked at Arthur, who just shrugged his shoulders. "Got a little errand to do in the Land of Golden Sand." "Is that so?" He swept secondary glances at the succubus, the Empress, and Shen Shen, then added, "Lively company you have here, especially the rude bratˇ­ she falls a little short in comparison to Saly." ˇ­ The Joker and Arthur talked for several hours before the former bid farewell as his matter was a bit urgent. "I didn''t know you were brothers." Zaarae was very interested in Arthur''s relationship with The Joker and she didn''t hold back her questions but the answers she got were nothing but silence. ***** "Hey! Wake up!" The Joker kicked the gigantic head of the black Kraken, which violently shook before it opened its red eyes and looked at the man. "Move your fat ass so I can enter." The Kraken obediently and slowly moved its body to the side, revealing some sort of a whirlpool blacker than the mythical being itself. It was half of the Kraken''s size and resembled a wormhole, though it emanated no light or energy. The Joker was about to enter but, at the very last second, he turned to look at the black Kraken and said, "Oh, lay a finger on that black ship and I''ll cut, roast, and eat your useless tentacles." He snorted and dived into the wormhole, disappearing the moment he got too close. The trip through this strange portal lasted three seconds and when the Joker appeared on the other side, he was standing on a moon-like planet, the sky was a vast black starry space. "Time to fix the line conjunctionˇ­ what a mess." He sighed and looked at an entity shrouded in a crimson fog. "Wassup man!" He energetically waved his hand at the man enveloped by that fog. He had the same appearance as his brother but the Joker knew better than to act recklessly and get close. "Geezˇ­ vampires here are so scary." 54 cards appeared from his hand and spun around his body like a tornado, each emitting either a red, grey, or black light. "I don''t think you''ll let me do my business quietly, right?" A crimson beast soaked in blood leapt at the Joker, causing him to jump back and throw three cards, which were ripped by the blood droplets spat by the ferocious beast. "Yeahˇ­ of course you won''t." ******* "Lemme seeˇ­" Edward Ortberg held the piece in paper and read it for the tenth time, feeling lost. "''The past kingdom now within reach, for the golden sand will rise, its glow full of praise. The tomb raider now here, and the thief''s identity is clear. Since time immemorial the leaf is unshaken, it''s time for it to be taken.'' I mean, isn''t this a bit cheesy and out of place? What am I supposed to speculate from this?" He looked at the awfully quiet forest then took out a brown apple and took a large bite, fully savoring the taste. "What golden sand and past kingdom? I''m bored and stuck hereˇ­ what the hell woman, can''t you explain a bit before throwing me here?" He chuckled, finishing the apple in three more bites before leaving the area, heading towards a random direction, which seemed to be the safest. Chapter 657 - 602: Poseidons Tears Captain Faded Grass was having a serious headache due to his current situation. Usually, a trip from the ''Dark Coast'' to the golden desert takes around seven to eight days if the ship passes through the third danger zone, which is the safest and has way less sea monsters, however, Arthur wanted to see the Waterfall of the Youth and Old, which is in the second danger zone. Faded Grass already accepted the fact that Arthur and his group are powerhouses which shouldn''t be provoked so he obeyed the parasite and unwilling sailed the ship toward where the waterfall is supposed to be. The rest of the passengers were scared shitless of the parasite and especially Zaarae, whose aura made them fall unconscious, waking up only several hours later. Even the orc guards protecting their employers didn''t dare glance at the Empress and stood as far away from the strange group as possible. Three days after their departure, the black ship reached a unique and strangely beautiful place. The black waters seemed to be stopped by an invisible barrier, which protected a small floating island, from which fell a breath-taking shiny waterfall. The clear water fell into the bottomless abyss down below, however, what makes this particular waterfall special is that it''s eternal, it keeps flowing until the end of time itself. It''s a magical place not easily reached or entered, in fact, were it not for Arthur''s presence, the captain wouldn''t have come here, after all, the sea is crawling with monsters, there were even sea kings. He didn''t see any in their way here but that''s only because Arthur killed them the moment they got too close. Furthermore, some of the intelligent ones kept a safe distance and only watched the passing black ship, it was as if they were ordered not to interfere with the ship or its passengers. "It''s beautiful!" Shen Shen''s eyes shone as she watched the falling translucent waters, her soul and body were being drawn to the waterfall as if it was calling her. "Let''s get a closer look." Zaarae held her hand and walked on the air with Shen Shen. Arthur and Fariya followed but Esco and Vyncent remained on the ship. Radolf and Midolf were still nowhere to be seen, presumably at their rooms or invisible somewhere around. When the little girl was a hundred meters or so from the waterfall, her hair starting floating upwards and a blinding white light emanated from her chest. Zaarae smiled and gave the girl a gentle push "Have fun." Shen Shen didn''t respond, her eyes were closed and her heartbeat significantly decreased. When she passed the 50 meters mark, the shiny water slowly went to her direction and started ''dancing'', enveloping her but not hurting her. Actually, it seemed to be careful as to not startle the girl, which was in the midst of enlightenment. "I told you she''ll like it." Zaarae spoke to Arthur, who was standing next to her and looking at Shen Shen. "What''s this place anyway?" "The waterfall is the tears of Poseidon. It''ll cleanse her body and strengthen her soul." "Poseidon? On earth, he''s the Greek God of Sea." The Empress nodded her head and explained, "Yes, he''s the God of Sea and, overall, a good person in my opinion. He''s one of the higher-gods but wasn''t the creation of Dmitra or ''God''." "Did he die?" curiously asked Arthur. "I know what you''re thinking but his body merged back with the sea and only his tears still remain. It may look harmless but a single drop of that water can kill you." Hearing this, Arthur instinctively took a step back, which caused the woman to giggle. "Don''t worry, as long as you don''t purposely get too close then it won''t do anything. Plus, it recognizes you as Shen Shen''s companion so the possibility of being attacked is non-existent." Zaarae paused for a breath before stating, "There was this old legend with a mysterious origin??? it says that Poseidon''s tears, Dmitra''s Origin Water, the dust of the First Star, a Devil''s blood, and the Seed of the World Tree, if properly fused together, can produce a miraculous thing." "What''s this miraculous thing?" She shrugged her shoulders and answered, "I don''t know. Some say it''s eternal life, invincibility, the ability to control the space-time continuum. No one really knows. I reckon that the Garden of Words knows the true answer." Now that the garden was brought up, Arthur couldn''t help but ask. "The Garden of Wordsˇ­ do you know anything about it? How to reach it or where is it?" Zaarae felt happy that Arthur was more talkative than usual, she sweetly smiled, stepped closer to him, and replied. "The Garden of Words holds more knowledge than Qihea amassed in her entire, long life. It''s a place outside of this existence, the multiverse, I mean. Unaffected by the natural, unbreakable elemental laws, or even time and space. I have visited once but there''s a rule to not disclose anything about it so even if I wanted to tell you, I can''t. The restriction is beyond my understanding or anyone else''s, that is. However, I can tell you that it''s in the boundary between Life and Death but I think you already know that." She briefly paused before resuming, "The elemental laws affect all the living but time doesn''t spare the dead. It''s not a simple question of ''where'' is itˇ­ or even ''when''. Anyway, those two followers of yours may come in handy later. Their assistance is essential but, Arthur, reaching the Garden is not an easy feat. Many tried but ended up falling into a place opposite of their expectation." Arthur nodded his head and asked again, "What about its origin? How was it created? By whom?" "Let me answer you with a question, then. Who created the dragons? Vampires? Blood Magic? No one knows. They just appeared. It''s just the same for the Garden of Words, it is its mysticality that makes it so sought for and unique." Zaarae looked at the spiraling shiny water flying in the air and questioned. "Have you heard of the Frog of Destiny?" "Isn''t that one of the mythical beings?" "Yes, but it is the most mysterious of all the twelve. In the past, I spent ten thousand years looking for it but I found nothing. If it wants to appear then it appears, that''s just how it is. The frog is able to take you where you desire, no matter where it is. It''s one of the ways to reach the Garden of Words but I really doubt you''ll stumble upon it. As far as I know, the only one of the Twelve who met the frog was Moriahˇ­ geez, one meeting and look how he turned up. Its ability is really ''heaven-defying''." Chapter 658 - 603: Ramel Kingdom Poseidon''s tears considerably strengthened Shen Shen''s already powerful soul, it also cleansed her body of any impurities. The girl''s Lvl or Realm remained non-existent but her foundation was solid and perfect so if she embarks in one of three orthodox strengthening routes, she''ll power-up at an absurd speed. In fact, Zaarae said that by the time she reaches twenty and if she trains diligently, she''ll become an Overgod or a Lv10,000 player. Surprisingly and despite the Empress'' objection, Shen Shen wanted to become a player as cultivation seemed too boring for her taste. She''s the curious and adventurous type and killing mobs to become stronger is much more fun than cultivating in an empty cave for months or even years. So, Zaarae ended up providing a personal system only meant for the little girl as, per her words, the universal system isn''t that good and could possibly endanger her later on. Anyway, the black ship of captain Faded Grass reached a lively port situated on the East Coast of the Land of Golden Sand. Beyond the port laid a golden land which would take anyone''s breath away, the grains were shining under the blinding rays of the sun hanging high-up in the sky. "Sir Arthur, I think the Fallen God Clan is in the Ramel Kingdom. It''s the only kingdom here and it rules over the whole area." Esco explained a few things to Arthur, he also spoke of the neighboring lands and the forces which they may potentially encounter in their travels. Though Arthur paid him little attention as he''s strong enough to take care of simple armies, moreover, Zaarae is still accompanying here. Unless it''s a truly powerful being then there should be no problem. Apparently, the Land of Golden Sand is considerably big and neighbors two other equally big pieces of land. The first is the Phantom Treant Demonic Forest, and the second is a mountain range that houses a few second-rate sects and clans which immigrated from the Cloud Sea Universe. Unlike the Black Sea, flight is possible above the desert, furthermore, traveling by foot is dangerous as the earth is crawling with all kinds of underground monsters and non-sentient demons. Also, just like the Cloud Sea Universe, the most common method of traveling here is by Spirit Boats, which are fueled by Spirit Stones or Energy crystals. The Chief Guard Buo Buo had two Spirit Boats, both prestigious and big enough for hundreds of people. The flying ship was made of silver and had black gold exquisite lines on both of its sides. The group has no business to do in the port so they got on the Spirit Boat and departed almost immediately. "What are your plans?" Only now did Arthur talk to the quiet Vyncent, face to face and alone. The blond-haired man looked at the golden desert stretching as far as the eye could see, then replied, "Thanks for your help. I think I''ll leave when we reach the Ramel Kingdom." Arthur nodded his head and spoke again, ??You can stay if you want. I''m not forcing you to leave, we date way back, after all." "No, now that I lost my sect, I want to explore the world." "Sure, you do that thenˇ­" Arthur paused for a second then added, "But it''s up to Shen Shen if she wants to go with you or stay." Vyncent wryly smiled and said back, "Coming with me isn''t safe for her. I''ll just leave quietly, don''t worry." The young man bowed his head toward the parasite then left the room, his face containing a determined expression. Arthur remained alone for a brief period, pondering about a few things, all about Vyncent. Noticing the arrival of a relatively tall and gorgeous woman wearing a short black dress, Arthur asked, "What do you think about him?" Zaarae furrowed her brows, not understanding him at first. "Him? Oh.. Ah! You mean that boy?" She crossed her arms and thought for ten full seconds before replying. "There is nothing to say really. I''m not sure what you want to knowˇ­ if it''s his talent then he''s average but he does have an incredible Corrupted Zen Treasure in his possession." Arthur wasn''t surprised, he turned his head and looked at her. "It''s that grey coin, right?" "Indeed. Corrupt Zen Treasures are just like Zen Treasures but they don''t require a unique inheritance. Plus, they tend to be malicious and inflict self-harm upon the user. I don''t know anything about that coin but it does have something to do with Space and Souls. Were it not a corrupt one, I would have given it to you as it may be useful in reaching the Gardenˇ­ a real shame, really." Arthur just waved his hand as if he didn''t care. "He''s a sly but good kid. I owe him." "You do? I thought you brought him because you needed him. Should I give him something special then?" The parasite shook his head, disagreeing with her. "Leave it. He walks his own path and if it''s meant to be then we''ll meet again. Hopefully under good circ.u.mstances." ˇ­ The silver Spirit Boat was unquestionably fast, much faster than even Arthur''s full speed. The cost was an exorbitant amount of Spirit Stones, which Arthur didn''t have much of as Zodiak''s storage is with the original, nevertheless, the goblin''s ring did have enough for the boat to function for at least a year. There was also a lot of gold, shiny treasures and books about some techniques, which aren''t useful at all for the parasite. The Ramel Kingdom is the ruler of this golden desert and the group''s destination is precisely the kingdom''s capital. The Fallen-God is actually the real power behind the kingdom and the King is none other than the son of Kass'' grandson. Unlike the desert, the capital city was grand and majestic, truly deserving of a kingdom which existed since the Era of Beginning. It was surrounded by walls so high that they pierced the clouds, they were made of solidified golden sand and were emitting rich Earthen Energy. As for the entrance to this city(Ramel City), it was an equally large gate made from black obsidian. What was more awe-inspiring was the two life-like statue standing at the left and right of the gate. They were holding spears made of sand and facing each other, their height easily surpassing one kilometer. If you look at them from the ground, you can''t even see their faces. Arthur''s sense wasn''t able to penetrate inside the city, it seems that the walls were not only meant for protection as they were embedded with magic that negates everything, which means that trying to probe the forces of the city from outside isn''t possible. Even his Sixth Sense didn''t work, moreover, the two statues made him a bit uncomfortable. "They''re Sand Protectors. There are 12 of them across the whole city and 21 in the whole kingdom." Said Esco as he gasped at the sight of the wall and statues. He''s knowledgeable but he can''t help but be shocked at the marvelous before him. "No, I feel 13 protectors inside the city." Zaarae glanced at the statues and commented but a frown soon appeared on her face. "Hahahaha what luck! My man!" Hearing this, Arthur creased her brow and looked back at her with confusion. The one who answered his question was Radolf, who materialized right behind him. "Master, there''s a mythical being in the city." "Oh? Which one is it?" "The Monkey King. I''ve met him only once but he isn''t the aggressive type." Midolf butted in and coldly stated. "He''s cool but for a mythical being, his actions contradict his nature. He fools around too much, all he knows is drinking and f.u.c.k.i.n.gˇ­ ugh." The white-haired youth spat on the ground, clearly not satisfied with the way the monkey king behaves. Arthur was just about to speak again only to hear a deafening cry coming from within the city. A silhouette appeared from far away and in just a few seconds, it became clear enough to distinguish its appearance. He had a humanoid body but the features of a monkey. His ears, nose and skin resembled a monkey but what made him eye-catching was the dark red tight clothes he was wearing, on his back there rested a golden staff with a round ball on both its edges. "My Empressssss!!!" The monkey king''s voice reverberated across the whole area, he didn''t decrease his speed and, instead, opened his arms and charged at Zaarae, ready to hug her. Unfortunately, Zaarae snorted and raised her kick, striking him with a sideway kick and sending him flying like a kite. His body violently crashed into the thick wall, leaving a deep hole that resembled his figure. The monkey king didn''t seem bothered as he recovered and shot back again but didn''t repeat the same action. He stopped before Arthur''s group, a wide smile plastered on his animalistic face. "Monkey King Sun Wukong." Radolf spoke the mythical being''s, causing the latter to look at him then at Midolf. "Oh it''s the inseparable duo! Good seeing you." After casually saying that, he shifted his attention back to Zaarae. He didn''t even spare a glance at Arthur, Shen Shen, or the rest. ******** The man cautiously looked around before focusing his attention back on the fist-sized creature three meters away from him. It had a hundred green eyes, a slimy white body and a slippery thin tongue which was licking the grass around it, though those eyes were all gazing at Edward Ortberg, whose breath was taken away and his body was frozen, shocked by the strange creature before him. It was similar to a frog but looked scary to the mortal, who only saw fantasy-like creatures in books or movies. "Awfully creepy and unsettling. Best to leave it alone." He retracted his gaze and turned around, slowly distancing himself from the frog. Alas, Edward wasn''t able to escape from the frog, which leapt a great distance, landing right behind him. He ignored it and quickened his steps but the white and small creature kept following him even after he started madly running. Twenty minutes later, the man was gasping for breath and sweating profusely, his hand resting on a tree and supporting his fatigued body. ********** BONUS LORE The 12 Mythical Beings are often talked about and ranked based on their mysterious powers and their offensive and defensive abilities. Some are incapable of battling and can be easily defeated but that doesn''t make them weak, in fact, those that have non-oriented battle powers are more sought for and revered. However, if we were to rank them based on their battle strength then the first one is definitely the Headless Soldier, who has an ability that can infinitely strengthen him as long as he fights. The Queen Arachne, Spectral Bone Ghost, and the Monkey King tie for the second place. As for the third place, it''s taken by Radolf and Midolf, who are often regarded as one entity as they are always together. Fourth place is Fire Phoenix, followed by the Ice Phoenix, the Black Kraken, the One-eyed Flamingo, the Rainbow Qirin, then at last place, it''s the Frog of Destiny. Chapter 659 - 604: The Thief "Monkey, what are you doing here?" Questioned Zaarae as she looked at two silhouettes coming from the same direction Sun Wukong flew from. "Nothing special, my dear Empress! I was invited as an honorary adviser for the current king." "Oh?" Zaarae nodded her head then looked at the two men who appeared right behind the mythical being. One was wearing a full set of brown armor and was holding a greatsword in his hand, his piercing eyes sizing her up and the rest. The other one was wearing a robe and an unusually long black and pointy hat. "Venerable one, did something happen?" The man in thick armor politely asked the monkey king, his gaze never leaving Zaarae, who was the only one he couldn''t see through. "I came to greet the Empress." He glanced at the two men and snorted. "Behave respectfully before her!" "T-the Empress?" The two were surprised by the monkey''s sudden shift in attitude. He was usually arrogant and never bowed to anyone but he''s behaving like an obedient puppy, making them question the reality of the current event. "We have business with the master of the Fallen God Clan, lead us to him." It was actually Arthur who talked, his eyes assessing the two men then the mythical being, who couldn''t be appraised, as expected. "Sect master? Who are yo-" The armor-wearing army commander, named Tuili, was interrupted by Sun Wukong, who also didn''t like how Arthur spoke so casually in Zaarae''s presence. He raised his aura and was about to do something only to be smacked by Zaarae again, she coldly glared at him and warned. "This man is my husband! His words are higher than mine." She seriously declared, confusing the oblivious men from the kingdom but astonishing the monkey king, who''s face twisted in surprise and hidden anger. He loved Zaarae since the day he met her but he has always been rejected and now, she appears in front of him with a man she claims is her husband! In the end, he managed to hold himself and bowed his head, not daring to act recklessly. His golden pupils were inspecting Arthur but the parasite didn''t seem that special or strong, at least not enough to stand toe to toe with Zaarae. "Kass Boler, you know him, right? He sent me here to deliver a Zen Treasure and I am to deliver it only to his grandson. Lead the way." Arthur briefly explained the reason behind his visit, however, Tuili didn''t outright believe him, though he didn''t rudely retort either. He turned to Sun Wukong for help only to see him nodding his head, signaling for him to comply. Although he still felt skeptical, both the commander and the mage led Arthur and his group directly toward a massive royal castle made of golden sand situated at the center of the capital city, which looked like a real maze filled with millions of people. Under two minutes of moderate flight, they reached the majestic sandcastle, where they were welcomed by no less than a hundred well-trained soldiers. They were royal guards and even one of them was able to fight against a cultivator at the God Realm, they were the pride of the kingdom and its strongest strength, excluding the protectors. As they saw the commander return safely, the soldiers relaxed but didn''t disperse as strangers appeared. Tuili waved his hand, dismissing them, before guiding Arthur, Zaarae, Fariya, the mythical beings, and Shen Shen inside the castle. As for Esco and Vyncent, they remained aboard the silver spirit boat. "Woah!" Shen Shen was fascinated by the place, which was decorated using the finest and most expensive material. It has to be said that this castle was a unique piece of art, unlike anything Arthur had ever seen. Even Isadore''s castle back in Green-Leaf paled in comparison to this structure made of golden sand. The ground was made of countless white cubic plates, exquisite and engraved with different things, sometimes a mountain or even a lion''s head. Soon, they reached a tightly protected room, which was where the current king was hiding. Sun Wukong''s sudden departure alarmed everyone, including the king, who chose to hide until the danger is gone. Arthur and the rest patiently waited as Tuili entered the small room and brought the king, who controlled his shaking body and tried to look domineering as he faced the strangers. "This king greets the honorable guests." His gaze shifted across everyone, stopping on Fariya for five full seconds, his l.u.s.tful gaze unable to be hidden. A wide smile was plastered on his young face, he was only twenty years old but he was purposely appointed as a king because his father, the current sect master of the Fallen God Clan, was no longer interested in running the kingdom and he also wanted his son to learn how to rule a nation and prosper it. As Arthur didn''t speak, neither the succubus nor Shen Shen opened their mouths. The Parasite looked at Tuili and said, "I said I wanted to meet the clan master, not a king." "Honorable guest, my father is absorbing the stars and is unable to come out. If the matter is urgent, you can still talk to me." From the way Tuili treated the guests and when he saw the monkey king stand by the side without interfering, King Craus didn''t behave angrily or rudely but deep inside, he didn''t like how these people barged in his castle, uninvited and demanding to meet his esteemed father. "No, I don''t need you." Arthur shook his head and retorted. "If that''s the case, why don''t you stay at this king''s humble castle until my father finishes. I''ll prepare a banquet to welcome your arrival." The Parasite turned around and headed outside of the castle, leaving those words behind, "Just notify me when he''s out. Don''t expect me to wait for long." To begin with, he wasn''t in a hurry and he was interested in exploring this ancient city. As long as the sect master doesn''t take long, he doesn''t mind waiting. Shen Shen and Fariya followed Arthur but Zaarae remained, though Arthur didn''t ask her to follow him, figuring that she has some business to attend to. ˇ­ "My king, should I send people to monitor them?" Tuili knelt before Craus and asked but the latter shook his head and coldly replied, "No, didn''t you see the two youths? They were mythical beings!" Craus was young but more knowledgeable than the commander. As they had Sun Wukong ''advising'' him, he was naturally aware of the other mythical beings and how they look in their humanoid forms. "If possible then go notify my father." "Yes, my king." Tuili left shortly after, leaving only the very quiet mage with a pointy hat with the king. "Anything I should take note of?" The mage caressed the short golden wand on his waist and calmly answered, "The man and succubus are stronger than me but weaker than the venerable one. I couldn''t gauge the woman''s strength but from the way the venerable one acted, she should be of an even higher than he is." "Higher than him? The only ones who are above mythical beings areˇ­" "Yes, the Twelve and the dragons. I speculate that she''s the Parasite Empress, Zaarae. I once read that the venerable one is infatuated with her and has been courting her for a long time, which explains his previous behavior and his obedience." "I see." King Craus felt conflicted and unable to come up with a good decision. After spending a few minutes pondering, he turned around and left, heading toward the sacred grounds of the Fallen God Clan to pray. ***** "Speak, why are you here?" Zaarae was sitting in front of Sun Wukong, who respectfully stood before her, his eyes wandering across her body. "Empress, the kingdom hired me as an adviser but it''s only a cover. Recently, there has been a thief roaming the kingdom and stealing all kinds of priceless treasures. The king is worried that the thief will infiltrate the castle and enter the treasury." Hearing this, Zaarae frowned. "A thief? Really?" "Yes, Empress. He''s not a normal thief." "I can tell that he''s not an ordinary thief but I didn''t sense anything unusual inside the city, he''s not here, at least. So, you were goofing around instead of catching him?" Embarrassed, the monkey king scratched the back of his head and replied. "Empress, a-actually, I''ve met with him but was unable to do anything. He''s deceptive and is as fast as that flamingo!" "Interesting. To think there is an existence that can even escape from you. Was he human?" "I don''t know. He looked like a human but it could have been a fake appearance. He''s basically looted all the treasuries of the kingdom''s large cities so his next target should be the royal treasury." The woman snickered and said, "Heh, even if he''s good, it would take a remarkable skill to enter the royal treasury." Chapter 660 - 605: Unaware "Arthur, this place is awesome!" Shen Shen was looking at every shop and food stall, barely able to hold herself. She was holding Arthur''s hand as they walked around shopping district and sightseeing. Arthur didn''t force Esco and Vyncent to accompany him but Fariya stuck close to him, claiming that wherever her master goes, she follows. Her outfit garnered a lot of attention so she was ordered by Arthur to change into a more respectable clothes, which she did, in the end. The succubus was now wearing a flamboyant green dress, which wasn''t as revealing as her original clothes but still pulled the gazes of almost every men, causing the parasite quite the head-ache. Fariya wasn''t a heavenly beauty but her charm caused by her race naturally grabbed the attention of every male around them. **** "Are you sure you want to go?" Asked the red-haired Esco. Vyncent was his only friend in here and it didn''t seem like he''ll be able to go convince him to stay. He could go with him but he was weak and can''t protect himself out there, furthermore, he can''t hope to always count on Vyncent. "I can''t linger here forever. There''s a time and place for separation and I think it''s here and now." Vyncent kindly smiled at the criminal, patted his shoulder, and jumped off the silver Spirit Boat. The flying ship was still outside of Ramel City and its only passenger was Esco, who obediently remained aboard and patiently waited for Arthur and the rest to come back. He trusted his instincts and knew that sticking with the parasite would him to the best outcome and guarantee his safety. Fortunately, no one was foolish enough to attack the massive silver Spirit Boat and its interior was able to accommodate the red-haired man, who was extremely bored now that he has no one to talk to. ˇ­ Vyncent safely landed on the golden sands, his long brown robe fluttering in the wind as he took a deep breath and looked at the sky-piercing black gate hundreds of meters away. After an inordinate amount of time, a sigh escaped his lips as he took out the grey coin, which was a corrupted Zen Treasure. It was giving off an ominous black light, pulsating like a real heart. The black light entered his body and seemed to be telling him to head South, wanting him to reach a certain place. The blondie didn''t have a clear destination in mind to he listened to the coin''s wishes, his body melted into the sounds as he used his secret technique. With incredible speed, the unseen Vyncent departed from the entrance of the capital city, his presence soon disappearing from the vicinities. **** "Arthurˇ­" Shen Shen timidly pulled Arthur''s sleeve, her eyes were looking at a pitiful figure standing at the side of the road. It was a sun-weathered elder wearing dirty clothes, his face suffering from the vicissitudes of times, his eyes half-open as he hand was stretched, his palm opened as he silently begged anyone who passed by. "It''s no use taking pity on any beggar you see." Arthur shook his head, unwilling to do anything. Unlike her, he had seen this sight everywhere, even on Earth and, from his point of view, helping one would only lead you to help another, which will make you fall into a never-ending cycle. "Butˇ­" The girl''s expression turned into a sad one as she refused to give up. Her puppy-like eyes looked back at Arthur, making him let out a long sigh as he pulled her hand and walked to the elderly beggar. "This is the first and last time, okay?" Unbeknownst to him, the girl was a newborn and it''s the first time she saw such a sight. She was far too innocent and could not ignore the old man, who was thinner than a stick and appeared dead on the outside, were it not for half-open eyes. Arthur stopped in front of the beggar, crouched down, and put a gold coin in the latter''s palm, causing him to flinch. The old man smiled and bowed his head but didn''t say anything. Shen Shen was relieved but Arthur didn''t feel any emotion, he stood back up and left the area along with the little girl and the slave. ˇ­ "How much is it?" Pointing a beautiful swaying blue flower. It wasn''t for him but for Shen Shen, who wanted it to buy it but had no money on her. "3 silver coins, sir." Arthur didn''t care about the price, he was about to retrieve the money from his storage only to feel nothing. He was shocked as he looked at his middle finger but didn''t see the storage ring. ''I''ve been robbed!'' He looked around and stretched his sense but found nothing suspicious. Arthur''s face twisted in anger as he remembered the sun-weathered old man, the very fact that he has been robbed and only discovered it now infuriated him even more. Even if the ring was taken, he should have noticed it almost immediately but it wasn''t the case. "What''s wrong?" Shen Shen asked him but Arthur just wryly smiled. He turned to Fariya and said, "Buy it for me." The succubus sweetly smiled and bought the flower before presenting it directly to Shen Shen, who put it on her hair and giggled. "Take care of Shen Shen for a moment." Right after saying that, Arthur vanished from Fariya''s sight. He was like a ghost as his figure instantly appeared where the beggar was but he found the place empty. "That mother f.u.c.k-" He held back his curse and looked at everyone around him, his eye emitting a blue l.u.s.ter. Unfortunately, the people were normal and harmless, which means that the thief had long since fled the scene. ''How come I didn''t notice a thing?'' His awareness was higher even than Exalted Gods. Moreover, if the beggar was really a thief then his eye should have warned him, it was truly weird. After a minute or so passed, Arthur harrumphed and muttered. "Let''s see whether you can escape or not!" Invisible and small snakes came out of his sleeves and dispersed, each taking a direction, some even drilling into the sandy ground or passing through the walls. Chapter 661 - 606: Caught These invisible snakes belonged to Carpentine, they live in that sealed world and their only purpose is to track targets. Arthur was in possession of a thousand of them and as long as he dedicates all his power, even that thief can''t escape from him. Sooner or later, that old man will show himself again inside the city and that''s when the parasite will strike. With all thousand invisible tiny snakes dispersed, each searching in an area, Arthur returned to Shen Shen''s side and continued shopping. Although the king invited him to stay over, Arthur preferred the inn because it felt much safer than entering a tiger''s den. Zaarae isn''t with him yet and it''s too early to trust the Fallen God Clan, then again, there''s no need to purpose provoke them either. ˇ­ In Ramel City, precisely in the slums, there was an area called the ''Garbage Drain'', it''s actually a sizable piece of land surrounded by a black and dirty wall over 10 meters in height. Around midnight of the same day, a short figure with brown greasy hair, a filthy thin body and smelly clothes was rummaging through the trash, trying to salvage something to eat. Unbeknownst to him, there was an invisible snake lurking next to him, it silently hissed at him and projected its sight to its owner, Arthur. The distance between the inn and the slums was no less than 10 kilometers but Arthur''s space magic allowed him instantaneously cross that distance. He was like a ghost, appearing behind the boy and stretching his hand, which was covered in a mass of ominous darkness. The boy''s face paled as he raised his hand, seemingly wanting to defend himself. He didn''t look threatening and appraisal indicated that the kid was a mortal but Arthur was sure of his instincts, which is why he showed no hesitation. Just when his hand was about to strike the boy, the latter vanished, leaving a blurry afterimages as he dashed away. Unfortunately for him, Arthur already prepared himself for this, ten defeaning thunderbolts descended from the night sky, hitting the area around Arthur in a circular manner. He didn''t know which way the boy will escape toward so he aimed at all directions and it worked, thankfully. The thunderbolt, which was as thick as an a.d.u.l.t, descended upon the thin boy, who had an astonished expression as he retrieved a silver sword less than a meter in length, and swung it at the thunderbolt. Quite surprisingly, the white godly thunderbolt was deflected but allowed Arthur to creep on the boy. For the first time since he acquired it, Arthur used [Thought and Effect], causing the boy''s body to float in the air then violently smash into the ground. Loud sounds of breaking bones and rupturing muscles could be heard as the small figure coughed blood and glared at Arthur. A monstrous force was pressing down on the boy, whose face was plastered on the ground, unable to move. The enhanced Telekinesis and the Quad-Spirit''s gravity rendered the thief unable to lift a finger, much less escape, nevertheless, after a few seconds, he seemed to be relaxed. "How did you know it was me?" "ˇ­" Arthur didn''t reply as he used Telekinesis again, forcing the thief''s storage ring out of his finger and equipping it. He glanced at the immobilized boy before coldly snorting and raising his hand and clenching it. A suffocating and overwhelming force entered the thief''s body, affecting his blood circulation and stagnating his Mana flow, rendering him unable to use his skills. "I don''t care who you are, just die." Arthur didn''t want to talk with him or know how he tricked him. He''s an enemy, someone who has to be killed, that''s all that matters. Unfortunately, he wasn''t able to finish it as the boy abruptly turned into black dust and no matter how much he looked around, he found no traces of him. "Master, it''s a Dimensional stone." "What? I thought it needs to be manually activated and what''s with this black ash?" "The one he just used belongs to the System. It''s modified in a way that it auto-activates when the player is near-death. Actually, a lot of high-leveled players use it." "Is there any way to negate it?" "If timed perfectly, Master''s Dark or Red Rizaki should cancel its spatial transportation. A Void Heavenly Arrow can intercept it too. There''s also Carpentine unique ability but master needs to try it first." Arthur looked at the large garbage dump before vanishing. It mattered not now that he escaped, the thief will come back reclaim his ring and that will be the time he dies. Arthur heavily injured him and even if he''s in possession of miraculous healing potions, he''ll still need time to recover. Moreover, Arthur didn''t even go all-out, he just used Telekinesis, which became one of his strongest offensive powers thanks to Zaarae''s ''blessing''. Back in the inn, Fariya took one room for herself while Shen Shen stayed with Arthur. The little girl was sound asleep, she didn''t even notice Arthur''s brief disappearance. As he appeared next to the blue-haired girl, Arthur chuckled and caressed her head for a while before checking the contents of the thief''s storage. ''Thisˇ­'' He sucked a deep breath, feeling genuine shocked. Even Zodiak, who has countless treasures in his storage, paled in comparison to what this thief had. There were all kinds of treasures, whether it''s swords, sabers, armors, gloves, boots, hats, masks, potions, poisons, jewelry. Most seemed to belong to the system but some originated from the Cloud Sea Universe too. There was also a staggering amount of Top Red Spirit Stones. Arthur thought for a moment before separating the useful things from the useless ones, then he put the ring in Shen Shen''s finger. Now, the thief''s storage contained a few things and even, by some fluke, he manages to claim it back, he''ll be very disappointed. ******** Evening of the next day. - "Empress, do you know what this is?" The Monkey King crossed his arms and looked at the strange sight in front of him. It was a hole that had a width of fifty to sixty meters but what was strange about it was the mud-like puddle moving on its own and the creepy faces on its surface, they were looking back at the mythical being and the Empress. They continuously shrieked as if they wanted to get out, it was truly a bone-chilling sight. Zaarae frowned, her eyes emitted a purple light which pierced the mud but did nothing. "I can''t say I do." She got closer to the large puddle and the faces became louder and more restless. When she was within twenty meters of the hole, one of the faces shot up at her, opening its mouth wide. However, before it reached her, a golden beam struck it and turned it into falling dirt. "Please be careful, Empress. Not all of them are powerful but two months ago, something more powerful attacked and almost dragged me inside." "Two months? When did you discover this?" "I passed by it when I was heading to the capital. It was about seven months ago and, apparently, it''s getting bigger. When I first saw it, it was smaller than my head." "This is not a simple mutation or a beast." She looked at the land surrounding the hole but apart from barren earth, there was nothing to comment on. The puddle of mud absorbed the golden sand and was expanding size, moreover, those hideous faces were giving her the creeps. Never had she seen something like this, something that made her, one of the Twelve, feel threatened. "Does anyone else know about this?" "No, no one." Zaarae looked at the puddle for the third time before taking out a small piece of blackened slimy skin and burned it using strange green flames. The resulting smoke rose into the air and spun in a circle, quickly transforming into a whirlpool. This was an emergency signal meant for another one of the Twelve, one who''s more knowledgeable than Zaarae and is close to her. He was the Black Devil, Timos. The Empress was just about to go back to the capital with Sun Wukong only for both of them to hear a frightening dragon cry that resounded across half of the Ramel Kingdom, it was so powerful that it caused the land to shake and the sand to rise into the air. It was soon followed by a force wave which enraged the winds and cracked the earth. "Arthur?" Zaarae wasn''t as strong as before, nevertheless, as soon as she heard that dragonic shout, her form distorted and she appeared above the capital city of Ramel in a split second. The Monkey King wasn''t able to replicate her teleportation so he had to run all the way back here, which may take some time. The moment the Empress appeared, she saw a ginormous inky black dragon dominating the capital''s sky. Its size was mind-numbing as it bit one of the kingdom''s protectors, turning it into something akin to shattered glass. The city right under the dragon was turned into nothing but absolute devastation. The dragon showed no hesitation as it razed everything in its way, not even the protectors were able to do anything. ************ "Hey, Shen Shen, are you alright?" The short girl with bulging chest worriedly asked her leader, the ruler of the Water Region. She was the only person allowed to call the Empress by her real name, which was childish but the woman decided to keep nonetheless. "It''s nothing." The tall blue-haired woman waved her hand and told the girl to leave her alone for a while. As she was left alone, the woman caressed a beautiful pendant hanging on her neck, her mind drifting to the clouds. There were many reasons about her recent actions, one of them was to find out about her origins. She was sure her childhood memories were fabricatedˇ­ they didn''t seem real and she was sure the answer was in the encrypted book she found in the past. "Vyncentˇ­ Vyncent, I know that name, I''m sure of it!" No matter how hard she tried to remember, she couldn''t. Ever since she cooperated with that Silver Dragon called Yamak, the whole situation became more complicated and incomprehensible. That boy called Jackob and that small piece of land disappeared so abruptly and further investigation led to nothing but more confusion. She thought about visiting the Death Region again but the probability of reaching the manor a second time, especially without a guide, is close to non-existent. ˇ­ Under the majestic crystalline blue castle inhabited by the Water Empress, there was a sacred area accessible only by the ruler of the region. Inside this place, which was exquisitely decorated and filled with shiny white crystals, there was a corpse that was twice as big as a normal human, it was frozen and suspended mid-air. The body was that of a female with fair facial features and a graceful body. She was the first ruler of the Water Region and a person the current Empress deeply respected. The blue-haired woman knelt before the frozen body and silently prayed, hoping to get some answers soon. The ''founder'' of this region had many titles but the most common one was ''The Queen of Ice'', however, very few knew her real name, Sonia. Chapter 662 - 607: Facade At the dawn of his second day at Ramel City, two royal guards came to the inn and specifically called for Arthur. The parasite was talking with Shen Shen, who woke up quite early. The guards were adamant on only bringing alone Arthur but when he gave them a chilling glare, they swallowed back their words and quietly led the way. Fariya didn''t leave her room neither did Arthur call for her as he''s enough to protect Shen Shen in case something bad happens. This could go in two ways; one, they obediently call the master of the clan and the deal is properly done, and two, they try to forcefully take the Zen Treasure from him. Zaarae still hasn''t shown up but Arthur was confident in his ability to fend off against himself even if those sky-piercing protectors made a move. The guards walked at a moderate speed and in half an hour or so, they reached the entrance of the royal castle. With just one look, Arthur noticed the abundance of guards and the motionless protectors proudly standing at the entrance. Unlike last time, they were oozing an aura of life as if they are awakened. "Master, it doesn''t seem to be a warm welcome."-Commented the Quad-Spirit. "Master, say the word and we''ll f.u.c.k.i.n.g blow them!" Midolf barked from within Arthur''s consciousness. In addition to his spirit, the two mythical beings were constantly with him, adding more to his power and assuring his safety. Even if Habs was here, he won''t be able to take down Arthur. Arthur glanced at the two guards walking in front of him then looked at the other guards standing at both sides, their weapon sheathed and their back straightened. ''If anything happens then I want everyone in the castle dead, am I clear, Radolf?'' "Your wish is my command, master." A tiny, unnoticeable double-headed bone lizard sneaked from under Arthur''s sleeve and landed on the ground, soon turning invisible. No one knew that in just a few minutes, the lizard will infect the whole golden royal castle with a thick amount of Death Energy, enough to end the lives of anyone who intentionally or unintentionally absorbs it. At the throne room, King Craus was sitting on a grandiose golden throne embedded with countless gems, he was looking down at the two new guests, his eyes especially fixated on the middle-aged man. "Welcome, Arthur MoonStar." In just one day, the king managed to investigate Arthur''s identity but nothing could be found on the blue-haired girl. As for Fariya, she was quite notorious in the Demon Realm, after all, she was one of five chief guards. "Where is your father?" "Wellˇ­" Craus let out a sigh as he signaled the mage standing next to him. In five or so seconds, at least thirty heavily armored guards appeared on both sides of the parasite but they didn''t emit any hostility, in fact, they showed respect. Amongst them, there was Tuili, the one who led Arthur here yesterday. The only one who was slightly stronger than the rest was the mage next to King Craus but Arthur was confident in killing him in ten seconds, at most. The moment his target is trapped in the snake-world(named by Arthur), then there is no escape. Hearing no answer, Arthur knitted his brows and said, "Your Majesty, there''s no need to over-complicate things. Bring your father or I''ll just leave." "Arthur, my esteemed father is busy at the moment soˇ­" Before he could finish, an unstoppable force enveloped King Craus and, in an instant, brought his body before Arthur. The young man was suspended mid-air, his face pale and full of shock. The guards unsheathed their weapons but the weapon raised his hand, signaling them not to act rashly. "It''s fine by me if you want to act mighty in front of your subjects but don''t try that with me. I could not care less about your status or you." The Telekinesis effect wore off and King Craus fell in front of Arthur, his body shaking like a leaf. Suffering such humiliation in front of his guard did infuriate the king but he didn''t lash out at Arthur. "E-even if you need to immediately meet my father, you can''t." "Oh really? Even when I have this?" Arthur took out the Tactical Reverse Sandglass, dumbfounding the King and the robbed mage, but the guards were oblivious to the origin of this eye-catching treasure. "It''s our sandglass!" King Craus was totally dumbstruck, his mouth wide-open as he stared at the Zen Treasure. "Go bring your father." "Is that really our lost Zen Treasure? Where did you get it?" The king had so many questions but all were lost unanswered by the expressionless Arthur, who stored back the treasure and retorted, "This is the last time I''m saying this, go bring your father here." Craus quickly stood up, composed himself, and seriously said. "My father is currently out of the city so, as his direct descendant, I''m the one in charge of the clan-" "Your Majesty, you should call the elder-" The mage interrupted the king but ended up being yelled at. "Silence!" King Craus waved his hand dismissively at the mage before angling himself in front of Arthur. "You came here to deliver the sandglass?" Arthur grinned and replied. "It''s a trade. I return it and you take me to Karima''s tomb." "What? Preposterous!" King Craus heavily shook his head, showcasing a strong rejection, not even willing to listen to another word from Arthur. "It''s a fair trade." "No one can trespass into our Goddess'' tomb, not even I. I''m sure my esteemed father will refuse too." "That''s not what your great-grandfather said though." Arthur sighed and took a step back, unwilling to waste more time with this ignorant young man, who''s capable of taking important decisions, clearly. In fact, Arthur about secretly sneaking into Karima''s tomb but Zaarae told him that it''s impossible. That place is protected by an unbreakable barrier, so powerful that only direct descendants of Philos can enter by using their blood essence. Even one drop of blood essence is costly and is considered a permanent loss so the clansmen rarely sacrifice their power to enter the sacred grand of the legendary female fighter. Even if he possessed Craus, he cannot imitate his blood essence, which is conjured from the unique powered granted by his ancestor. As he saw Arthur turn around, King Craus panicked and hurriedly said "Please wait. I''m sure we can offer you something that can satisfy you." Still walking toward the exit of the throne room, Arthur casually said, "Not interested." "Mr Arthur, wait!" Craus called out for the parasite, who turned a deaf ear to him. In the end, a robbed figure materialized in front of Arthur, startling the silent Shen Shen, who read the situation and maintained her silence as she knew it wasn''t her place to speak or butt in. "So it''s going to be like this?"-Arthur "Mr. Arthur, please do not misunderstand. I just want you to wait until-" The poor king couldn''t even finish speaking before a crisp cracking sound could be heard. The youth''s neck twisted in a strange way before his lifeless body fell on the ground, surprising the commander and the mage. Tuili ran up to the king but felt no pulse or aura, causing his face to turn incredibly ugly. As for the mage, he clearly sensed his king''s death but was unable to do anything. A creeping darkness emanated from Arthur, enveloping him and Shen Shen, blocking her sight and freaking out the guards. ''I want her safe and sound.'' Two youngsters appeared on both sides of Shen Shen, one bursting with vibrant life energy while the other emitting a decaying grey energy. The experienced mage, who was about to retaliate, found himself trapped in a strange world riddled with countless snakes. Only five seconds passed since Arthur''s disappearance yet he appeared again, his hand holding the bent neck of the dead mage. "Why are you doing this?" Tuili''s face paled as he shouted at Arthur, who was like a slaughter god, making everyone shiver with dread. From his point of view, Craus'' death was unnecessary, so were Arthur''s brutal actions. "You seeˇ­ I''m much sensitive to killing intent than you think. Blame your foolish king." Albeit faint, the now-dead king harbored malice toward Arthur when he saw him leaving. It was barely noticeable but it was sensed by Arthur, who didn''t hesitate at all. If the fool just brought his father, maybe it wouldn''t have turned like this. Tuili felt desperate but didn''t dare to run, he signaled the thirty royal guards before he unsheathed his weapon. Just as he was about to jump at the parasite, a mass of sand rose from the ground and cascaded on Arthur, who raised his hand and used [Thought and Effect] to completely disintegrate the sand. An elderly figure with long white hair made its appearance. The old man wore a robe similar to Craus but he seemed stronger and much wiser. The old man''s emotions were in total disarray as he sensed no life from Craus, whose neck was bent 180 degrees. His heart hurt and his turbulent and angry feelings were only blaming Arthur. Unbeknownst to the parasite, Craus'' words and everything revolving around him was but a facade meant to trick Arthur. The moment he arrived inside of the castle, Kass'' grandson, who''s also the master of the Fallen God Clan, felt the existence of the sandglass. However, they didn''t know what Arthur wanted in return but they could speculate a few things based on his race. The most plausible was, as expected, possessing Karima''s body. Arthur''s notoriety and his unique parasitic abilities have even reached all the way to the Ramel Kingdom, which is why they didn''t dare to attack him on the spot. Moreover, there''s a whole undead army behind himˇ­ such a large force can turn the kingdom into nothing but a barren land of death. ˇ­ Arthur eyed the old man for a couple of breaths before showing a wide grin. "Your grandfather highly praisedˇ­ I guess he wasn''t wrong, unfortunately." "You''ll be damned, parasite! I''m not letting you escape!" In response, Arthur burst out in laughter and retorted, "Who said I''m escaping?" The man suddenly expanded in size and just two seconds, a mind-numbingly massive black dragon which shattered the golden royal castle made its appearance. Even Ram Su, Craus'' father, was shocked stiff. The Black Dragon''s appearance alone was enough to make the royal guards and even Tuili, stagger and fall on the ground, absolutely dominated by terror. The two motionless and tall sand statues made their moves, they lunged at the black dragon but when they got too close, they got flung away by an invisible force. Their massive bodies fell miles away, shattering building and injuring countless citizens. Chapter 663 - 608: Mummy "The idea of being able to make free choices is imaginary in your case. No matter what you do or think you will do, it''ll still be no different than the Arthur before you, the Arthur who already lived through the two cycles and joined with ''us''. You can will what you want but you can''t will what you will." The man chuckled as he saw Arthur''s puzzled expression. He clasped his hands and intertwined his fingers, leaned closed, and said. "Let me make it easier to understand. In the near future, you''ll be bringing something to someone but it''ll end up into a mass slaughter. At that moment, you might think everything proceeded in accordance with your judgment but, nay, the reason it happens is because it was meant to, quite literally. The things occurring within the cycles are forever unchangeable, and, of course, there might be slight changes but, ultimately, they won''t affect the ''ending''." "So you''re saying I''m basically a puppet?" ??No, you''re the puppet master, the one who controls how this flows. It''s your sense of judgment and choices that cause this and that and it''s quite difficult to change the future because your character, at least now, is stubborn so your choices, or perhaps mistakes, tend to repeat themselves." **** The frightening a.d.u.l.t Black Dragon roared, shaking the whole golden royal castle. The master of the Fallen God Clan, Ram Su, along with fix other long-bearded robbed elders appeared around Arthur. Dangerous golden sand rose in the air and started spinning around the dragon but it was quickly blasted off by an unstoppable wave of Telekinesis. In fact, Ram Su and the other five old men were sent flying away too, the royal castle and its all ancient and majestic glory was nowhere to be seen. As it was hit by a meteor, the place was stripped n.a.k.e.d and turned into a mass of rubbles, but there was an area which remained unscathed. Arthur opened his bottomless fang-riddled mouth and spat the famous [Dragon''s Breath], filling the sky with a sea of transparent half-black half-red flames. The flames, like a tsunami, cascaded on Ram Su but the latter was more than prepared as he took out a pyramid-like yellow treasure and pulled its sharp tip, causing it to start emitting a faint golden shine. The ground rumbled and all the ground united together, forming a dome-like wall which fully resisted the dragonic flames. Seeing this, Arthur moved his massive body and violently slammed it against the dome, not forgetting to unleash lightning bolts and Dark Magic. The dome was quite resistant, however, Arthur''s combination of several ultimate attacks caused the thick sandy defense layer to shatter, revealing the clan master and the pale-faced elders. Arthur''s eyes emitted a purple beam which bound the elders, causing half of their lower bodies to turn into stones. Unfortunately, this was only the beginning as the parasite followed with [Thought and Effect], using the monstrous invisible force to crush the elderly, literally turning them into a mist of blood. Ram Su was luckier than the rest as the pyramid treasure formed a smaller sand dome which seemed stronger and unaffected by the Telekinesis. Before Arthur could attack again, two other protectors intercepted him, they wielded long spears and were particularly strong. The faster one stabbed its weapon at Arthur''s left wing, which was bigger than the moving statue. The big spear did strike the wing but it wasn''t able to rip it apart as the latter unleashed ominous black flames, forcing the protector to jump back. The second protector angled itself for a direct attack but that only made it Arthur''s main target. A blue, unnoticeable light emitted from the dragon''s eye, it enveloped the protector and severely slowed its movement, almost freezing in mid-air. Then, the black dragon opened its abyssal mouth and spat a black fireball, which hit the statue like a meteor and flattened it on the ground. The dark magic flames weaken the targets and have a burning effect too so when the protector was struggling to get rid of the flames, two other fireballs, equally as large but this time dark red, crashed into it. The poor statue turned into cinders within five seconds. Everything was supposed to be proceeding smoothly for Arthur, however, all of a sudden, he felt his body plummet to the ground. He retaliated with Telekinesis and Dark Magic but it was futile as vast quantities of Sand covered his body, wrapping around every inch of his body and infiltrating it. Not wanting to further ruin the black dragon''s body, Arthur transformed into a black leopard, he was covered in green lightning. The animal roared and zigzagged with insane speed, dodging the moving and floating sand while making its way toward Ram Su, who was controlling the sands with the use of the pyramid. A tree-sized hand made of golden sand sprung from the ground and tried to attack the leopard but the latter just passed through it as it became an untouchable wraith. A deafening screech caused Ram Su to stagger and block his ears, the small pyramid was letting an unpleasant regular alarm the closer Arthur got. When the wraith was just a couple of meters away, the pyramid unleashed a blast which forced Arthur out of his non-real current host. He became an unseen blinding blob of light, which was his soul, he felt an agonizing pain but managed to bear through it and change his appearance before he''s attacked again in this vulnerable form. A three-meter tall praying mantis with all limbs in the form of a curved black scythe made its appearance. Its six eyes were focusing on Ram Su, who poured his Astral Force into the Pyramid, which was actually another Zen Treasure that belongs to the Fallen God Clan. At first, the praying mantis was able to cut down the incoming sand but, soon, the razor-sharp scythes surprisingly broke down and a small amount of sand invaded Arthur''s body, slightly slowing his movement and allowing a lengthy sand spear to penetrate his chest, nailing him to a nearby golden pillar. ****** A distance away, a graceful figure was watching the destructive parasite without making a move. She was Zaarae, who also held back Fariya and told her to just watch. "Master can''t compete with what seems to be a fully charged Zen Treasure." The succubus was panicking a bit, especially when more protectors joined the fray. Moreover, another member of the clan made his appearance. He was wrapped in bandages, no different than a disgusting mummy, his back was bent and his eyes were fully white, lacking any pupils. Additionally, sixty royal guards readied themselves and charged at the bloodied large insect, but, sadly, their fate ended sooner than they expected. They started bleeding from all their orifices then fell on the ground, deader than dead. They didn''t even get to cry or know how their lives ended, it was a painless but relatively swift death. It wasn''t only the royal guards who died, more than four hundred seasoned soldiers also experienced the same fate. Radolf spared no one, for they are undoubtedly his master''s enemies. "Why aren''t you helping him?"-Fariya "Because he still hasn''t gone all-out." ˇ­ Noticing the mummy-like bald old man, the four incoming protectors, and Ram Su, Arthur clicked his tongue and spread his differently-colored and shaped wings. He returned to his human appearance, [Eternium] was activated, further boosting his stats. He raised his arms, palms facing the left and right. Slowly, his hand balled into a fist, resulting in an invisible power to hit the four protectors. Two were crushed into nothingness on the spot while the remaining ones lost their feet or arms, basically rendered useless, or so thought Arthur. Unfortunately, sand covered their missing parts and restored them almost instantaneously. Furthermore, the mummy vanished from his mid-air, appearing before Arthur, bandages dancing in the air, attempting to immobilize the parasite. Long and sharp black spikes made of Dark Magic sprung from Arthur''s body, ripping the bandages and pushing back the mummy. It was followed by a rain of white thunderbolts which trapped the bald elderly. Arthur crept on the mummy and stretched his hand, which turned into a bestial purple claw. Feeling the unstoppable devouring power of the claws, the mummy hastily retreated but Arthur opened his mouth and spoke a domineering dragonic word. "Stop moving." For one full second, the mummy wasn''t able to go against Arthur, though when the claws were about to reach their target, an extremely thin sand wall appeared out of nowhere. Arthur dodged to the side but he lost a couple of hair strands which were cut by the side of the wall, which was inexplicably and unexpectedly very sharp. Thanks to Ram Su''s intervention, the mummy was able to retreat but only a short distance before Arthur''s Telekinesis pulled him back in. Before he realized what happened, the Void Claws penetrated his bandaged body and devoured his organs. Arthur grinned, opened his mouth, and spat deadly acid which melted the mummy''s face, causing the old man to cry in agony. Arthur pulled the claws and unleashed a mass of darkness which covered the mummy, weakening him even more. The parasite grasped this opportunity and possessed the victimˇ­ a black whirlpool invaded the mummy and soon, the old man''s last bit of consciousness vanished and Arthur assumed full control of the new host. The mummy turned to the shocked Ram Su and threw dozens of bandages, which wrapped around his feet and pulled, causing him to fall. The pyramid was thrown out of the clan master''s hand and before it reached the ground, it was snatched by a fast figure. Zaarae smiled as she applied force and quietened down the Zen Treasure before looking at Arthur, who already fully immobilized Ram Su. It took only one moment of faltering for Arthur to defeat the most troublesome opponent. The moment the small yellow pyramid was deactivated, the protectors returned to their initial position and the moving sand fell on the ground. Midolf and Radolf appeared too, both standing next to Shen Shen, who was surprised to see the destroyed castle and the lifeless bodies scattered here and there. Her pupils shook as she saw a mummy-like figure walking toward the Empress but she soon realized that it was Arthur. The parasite used the bandages to drag the struggling Ram Su, his appearance slowly changed into a fair-faced middle-aged man. "There are still a couple of elders hiding." Zaarae casually commented while sweetly smiling at Arthur, who looked at the strange pyramid in her hand. "I''ll go take care of them!" Midolf excused himself and was taken by a gust of wind. "Evil creature!" Ram Su cursed at Arthur, his bloody eyes emitting such intense hatred and sorrow over the loss of his son and father, who was actually that hideous mummy. "Shut up." Arthur pulled the bandages, which tightened around the old man''s throat, they also covered his mouth. They can''t enter Karima''s tomb without the blood essence of Philos'' descendant so if Ram Su died, the hope of possessing the legendary fighter will vanish. Chapter 664 - 609: Heavens Mandate (1) Zaarae stretched her right hand, about to hand the Zen Treasure to Arthur, however, the moment she did that, a fast shadow appeared in between the two and snatched the small yellow pyramid, startling both Arthur and the Empress. Zaarae was the first to act as she stomped her foot on the ground, causing the speeding shadow to roll on the ground, then she grabbed the air and pulled it, making the thief fly closer to her. Unfortunately, it wasn''t enough as the unseen enemy dispersed into hundreds of black particles which flew a distance before forming into a humanoid silhouette. Arthur used his Telekinesis and the Quad-Spirit Gravity to slow down the thief but neither seemed to work as he disappeared into the horizon within seconds. What was fascinating was how even the Empress was unable to stop him. "A thieving shapeshifter."-Commented the Empress while frowning, clearly not pleased with losing the Zen Treasure. "He''ll come back." Arthur pointed at his exquisitely carved storage ring, which belongs to the thief. Even though the value of a Zen Treasure is priceless, Arthur was sure that the thief will return to reclaim is belongings. "He stole the Zen Treasure on purpose. He''ll want a trade of some sort." Said Fariya while looking at the dark yet faint footstep traces left by the shapeshifter. The parasite shrugged and casually said, "I don''t need the Zen Treasure so there will be no trade." ˇ­ Around fifteen minutes later, Arthur, Zaarae, Shen Shen, Fariya, and Radolf, appeared in front of the Karima''s tomb, which was protected by a unique barrier. Ram Su was still wrapped in bandages, able only to whimper and glare at the perpetrators behind his clan''s fall. "If you accepted the sandglass and obediently let me inside, none of this would have happened. I guess Kass was very short-sighted to think there''s hope for you guys." Arthur sighed and shook his head, disappointed but not regretful over the death of the Fallen God Clan. It wasn''t a strong clan but it had an ancient and respected heritage, after all, its founder is none other than Philos, the God of Sand. After he possesses Karima''s body, not only will his stats increase, his cultivation should reach the peak of the Overgod Realm and his Celestial Body should reach completion but since he''s a clone, it won''t be perfected, at least not until he fuses back with the original. Additionally, he''ll be able to control the sand and demonstrate its destructive and flexible powers. At first, Ram Su didn''t want to unlock the barrier but Arthur''s Dark Extraction, which allowed him to see the victim''s memories and inflict and hellish pain, made the clan master as obedient as a dog. Of course, Zaarae made sure Shen Shen saw nothing of this brutal sight as she''s still a little kid. The barrier took two minutes to fully deactivate, showing a grandiose golden room where its walls, ground, and roof, were engraved with archaic symbols belonging to the Gods. At the center of this room, there laid a coffin that was over three meters long and two meters wide, seemingly belonging to a giant rather than a human. The tomb was rich with pure earthen energy, making the Quad-Spirit exhilarated as it madly absorbed all of it. "Master, when you possess Karima, I should also be able to control Sand too." "Her body should be inside the coffin, go ahead." Zaarae smiled at Arthur and motioned for the rest to not move as it''s not that safe in here. This still remains the resting place of Karima, Philos'' wife, and were it not for the use of the blood essence, not even the Empress could have entered. Arthur walked to the closed coffin, slowly opened it with a push of his hand, revealing the still intact corpse of the legendary Karima. Even after the passing of time, her skin looked healthy, it was a shiny bronze, utterly void of any speck of dust. She had a fair long black hair and two round and relatively long golden earrings which reached her shoulders. She seemed to have something similar to cosmetics in her eyes and eye-lashes, even her lips were red, adding more to her beauty. Karima wore a simple brown robe with three vertical lines around the chest, there was also a pendant-like golden object wrapped around her slim neck. Even Arthur, who''s used to seeing beauties on a daily basis, was captivated by her mature charm and fair and memorable features. "Don''t fall for her." Berated Zaarae as she snorted and turned her head away. "Master, fighting!" The succubus the opposite, she raised her fist and encouraged her master while giggling. Without further ado, Arthur transformed into a small black whirlpool that invaded the corpse and possessed it. The next second, an incredibly long flood of notifications covered Arthur''s view. He could also feel his Nether Energy and Mental Power pool became bigger, his muscles tightening and relaxing in a cyclic manner as they were strengthened. Although what he just did is considered improper, Arthur only wanted Karima''s stats and skills. He wasn''t going to sully her body or ruin the place. After making sure the possession proceeded successfully, Arthur reappeared next to the coffin and closed it as if nothing happened. "Good?" asked the Empress "Yes, but I feel a bit strange." "It''s because this artificial body of yours isn''t able to break through without the presence of the soul." Arthur nodded his head and was about to say something only for a mass of Dark Magic to burst from his body, covering him and attempting to latch to his nearby companions. Fortunately, Zaarae was able to resist it by raising a translucent violet shield but the shock didn''t disappear. The parasite suddenly fell on the ground and clutched his chest, he was tightly gritting his teeth, holding himself from yelling but his expression clearly indicated that he was in so much pain. The Empress wasn''t the only one surprised, Fariya and Shen Shen were also confused and startled. The little girl wanted to go help him but was stopped by the Empress. "What''s happening to Master?" The only one who might have an idea was the quiet Radolf, who was knitting his brows and appearing quite restless. "There''s nothing we can do. Technically, there''s nothing wrong with the current ''him'' but the main body is the problem, I think the real him is dying and the clones cannot continue to exist without the living soul." "Can''t you do something? Please!" Shen Shen clung to the red-haired youth, tears welling up in her eyes. Arthur was laying on the ground, the Dark Magic was going out of control and he was turning illusory every few seconds. The mythical being sighed and apologetically said, "I''m not eligible to interfere nor can I do anything in this situation." Even the usually composed Zaarae was restless. Yes, she was powerful but she had no clue how to stop Arthur''s suffering. Time crept by and the tomb was soon enveloped by total darkness, eerie and ominous. Zaarae and the rest were forced to retreat out of the tomb, Arthur was the only source of light in that inky blackness, his body was giving off faint lights. The Quad-Spirit was doing its best to stop the dissipation of the clone, it went all-out and was able to hold for some time. A strange multi-colored object, which was the Quad-Spirit, spun above Arthur''s chest. It gave off a grey, red, and yellow radiances, which slowly expanded and subdued the Dark Magic. This, however, was only the beginning of the series of shocking events as a blinding white light made its abrupt appearance. The first one to react and gasp was the Empress, whose eyes were glued onto a white frog with more than a hundred eyes. Just one glance made her instinctively shiver and recognize this rarely seen mythical being. Right next to the Frog of Destiny, a mortal man wearing prisoner clothes was dumbly standing, momentarily confused before clarity filled his eyes. "Geezˇ­ prophecies are really scary." He nonchalantly retrieved a normal, plastic orange scissors from behind his back and walked toward Arthur. He gazed at the parasite for less than five seconds before he crouched down and seemingly cut the air. This simple action of his caused the world of darkness to instantaneously vanish along with the Frog of Destiny. Chapter 665 - 610: Heavens Mandate (2) Edward''s timely intervention caused everything to calm down but Arthur was still laying there, half-conscious as if his soul was sucked out of him. "This should do it." The serial-killer pocketed the scissors and looked at Arthur before he felt his whole body enveloped by a monstrous pressure which rendered him immobilized. "Who are you?" The Empress appeared before him, her eyes glaring at him with suffocating killing intent. She didn''t know what he did but it didn''t really look that helpful. In response, Edward innocently raised his hand and jokingly said "Whoa there! I just followed the frog''s instruction. It told me to cut the connection." "What connection?!" "I don''t know." "Empress." Fariya walked to Zaarae and explained, "He''s Edward Ortberg, one of the prisoners. He''s just a mortal so I don''t know how he got here." "Edward Ortberg?" Zaarae never heard of that name but the appearance of the Frog of Destiny was an undeniable fact and something that shocked her to the core. The man in question wasn''t able to do anything but look around curiously. Despite being threatened, he looked totally calm and care-free, as if he had nothing to do with all of this. Unable to control her anger, Zaarae''s hand sn.a.k.e.d toward the man''s throat, holding it tight and raising him above the air. "What did you to Arthur?!" Edward, still unfazed, squeezed a few words, his face totally red. "I don''t knowˇ­" Fortunately, the succubus managed to calm down the Empress and made her let go of the human mortal, who fixed his dirty prisoner clothes and took a step back. "You should be grateful, I think I saved him. He looks much better now." Edward pointed at Arthur, who sat up while heavily breathing. The parasite was checking his body and frowning, appearing a bit confused. After a dozen seconds, he raised his head and stared at Edward, who had average facial features, long brown hair, bushy eyebrows, and a pointy nose. "My connection with the original body was severed." "Severed? What do you mean?"-Fariya "It means he''s an independent clone now, for better or worse." Zaarae sighed as she stated. She looked at Arthur and added, "Something must have happened to the original body. What are you going to do?" "I''m not sure. I think I''ll try to reach the Garden of Words before returning to him. I know myself, I won''t go down that easily." Zaarae knelt down and emitted a faint violet light from her right palm, to which Arthur didn''t resist at all. The light entered his body and spread a cool and refreshing feeling across his whole body, making him feel energetic. "In any case, I''ll accompany you." "Me too! Master!" Fariya seductively winked while stepping closer to Arthur. Their interaction was cut short as a small figure crashed into Arthur, her tiny arms tightly hugged the surprised Arthur. "Are you alright?" Shen Shen appeared quite worried, she even used her Origin Water, which glistened inside this tomb as it spun around Arthur before latching itself on his back. Arthur gently patted her back and comforted her. The little girl was strong-willed but she was particularly close with Arthur and when she saw him get hurt, she was the most anxious of them all. "So, what''s this about a Garden? I''ve never heard of it." Casually said Edward as he walked around the massive coffin. He took out a small piece of paper and read its content then pocketed it again, unaware of the weird gazes he was getting from everyone in the room. "Why are you here? How did you get here?" Hearing Arthur''s questions, the man spread his hands and replied. "Didn''t you see? That frog brought me here against my will, though I must say, it feels good to leave that gloomy place. I was about to go back to the prison, that forest brought me the creeps, I tell you!" As he listened to the serial-killer complaining, Arthur was confused, he glanced at Zaarae, who was creasing her brows, appearing even more puzzled than him. "Master, the Frog of Destiny, which is a mythical being, like us, just appeared here. I think his special soul is the cause." "The Heaven''s Mandate soul?" Radolf nodded his head and clarified, "His first meeting with the Frog must''ve awakened his soul hence the current outcome. I just don''t understand why he was brought here specifically." Arthur shifted back his focus on Edward and asked, "What''s with the scissors?" "Ah, those?" Edward held the plastic orange scissors, which looked no different than the cheap ones found on earth. "I found them near the frog. Since they might be useful, I kept them. Soˇ­ what are we going to do? Is it time to catch the thief?" "Thief? How do you know about the thief?" "Hmm" The man rubbed his chin, trying to appear wise, "The birds told m-" Before he could finish, Arthur appeared before him like a ghost and snatched the piece of paper containing the prophecy. Unfortunately, it was totally blank, which made Arthur instinctively raise his head and stare back at Edward. "I was about to tell you but you''re so irritable." "This is empty?" "Empty?" Edward glanced at the paper and still saw the small English words. "No it''s not." The Empress walked next to Arthur and spoke, "Tell us what it says." "Ehm, alright. The past Kingdom now within reach, for the golden sand will rise, its glow full of praise. The tomb raider now here, and the thief''s identity is clear. Since time immemorial the leaf is unshaken, it''s time for it to be taken." After a brief silence, Edward muttered, "Isn''t it a bit corny?" Arthur didn''t reply as he memorized the said words and tried to decipher them but it wasn''t that easy. The general meaning could be grasped but why was the thief mentioned and what''s this about the leaf? The tomb raider is none other than him and the said kingdom is the Ramel Kingdom but it said that the sand will rise while, in reality, the whole Fallen God Clan was massacred. "Where did you find this paper?" "Literally on the ground." "Where exactly?" "Damn woman, at least let me breathe and eat." Edward inwardly cursed and closed his eyes, unwilling to talk to Zaarae anymore. The Empress was further incensed but she didn''t do anything and maintained an eerie silence. ******* One hour later, in one of the local inns in Ramel City, Arthur, Zaarae, Edward, and the rest were sitting around the table but only one was nonchalantly filling his stomach, which has been empty and craving for food for a long, long time. The clan''s treasury was emptied but the tomb was left unscathed as to not anger Karima''s spirit. Zaarae did say that although the woman is dead, her spirit can still appear and fight off any danger that may threaten the peace of this land. She did specifically say ''peace of the land'' rather than ''the safety of the clan'', which means that, for her, at least, this golden desert is what''s precious. Obviously, what happened in the royal castle, which was no more, made the whole city turn chaotic. Many fled outside while the greedy ones attempted to enter the destroyed castle, hoping for some gains. Sadly for them, there were two remaining protectors which attacked anyone who got close, though they didn''t trouble Arthur, not after he possessed Karima and obtained her powers. In addition to the shock of being severe from the real body, Arthur was flabbergasted when he saw his stats increase by billions of points. Apparently, Karima did break the limiter too, and her physical body was undoubtedly monstrously strong. Just as the Empress said, with his current stats, he doesn''t have to fear the likes of Habs. Actually, if he were to fight the Warden, he was 60% sure of his victory, if he went all-out, of course. "Ahh! This is delicious! Too delicious!" The man gobbled up everything in the table, stopping only when his stomach started bulging forward. He licked his finger, burped then looked at Arthur, who was coldly watching him. "So, there''s a thief?" Edward pondered for a moment before adding, "It says his identity is clear but if we were to follow the words chronologically from top to bottom then the rise of the sand will happen firstˇ­ then again, from what I heard, you did a bloody job and exterminated the royal family." He looked at Shen Shen and brightly smiled at the little girl, who was quietly drinking some juice. "Maybe the meaning is literal? I don''t know much about this fiction-like world but sand can rise in the air, right? It can be golden too, yes? I''m thinking there must be a trigger." His eyes narrowed his smile widened. "Perhaps your actions were that trigger. Mayhap the gods are angered? Some sort of automatic retaliation? Ah! I really don''t know, I''m new to all of this." "What if you are the trigger?" retorted Arthur. "Me? Highly unlikely. You previously said my soul is special but, on earth, the existence of the soul is in relation to beliefs. It isn''t something that can be seen so there''s little to know about it. Anyway, it seems our destinies are linked, Arthur, so how about you teach me how to fly and spit fire? I think that''s kinda cool and useful." "I''m not going to teach anything to a psychopath and a murderer." "Come now, being a psychopath isn''t a sin. I''m unable to feel sympathy or remorse but that doesn''t make me bad. As for being a murderer, I can''t argue against that but you did kill lots of people too, innocents included." "I did it out of necessity while you did it for pleasure." "Is that supposed to make a difference? Cuz it''s not. Look, there''s a little girl here so how about we switch the topic, eh?"-Edward "I''m not a little girl." Hearing this, Edward seemed genuinely surprised. He knitted his brows and asked Shen Shen "Oh? Are you one of those old people who always look young? Wowˇ­ that''s the first time I''m seeing one." "I''m not old!" protested Shen Shen as she emptied her glass of juice and snorted. ******** "Hahahaha now I really can''t contribute our meeting to just luck!" A man with long brown hair and a young-looking face laughed loudly as he stood before a blond youth. Timos casual black leather clothes with a grey cape hanging on his back, he looked at the astonished Vyncent, his pupils glowing with a golden radiance for a split second before returning to normal. "Why are you here?" Asked Vyncent as he contained his shock. "Why, for the same reason as you, of course." The Black Devil pointed at a strange and moving pit filled with hideous and twisting faces. "I don''t know if the Heavens favor you or Hell hates you." "ˇ­" Vyncent frowned but didn''t say anything, the grey coin in his hand was intensely beating, like a living heart. It became incredibly restless as he got closer to the ominous sandpit and it seemed to be telling him to jump inside, something he would rather not do. "This is the first time I''m seeing such a dangerous thing but I have a hunch about what it is." Timos clapped his hands, turned around, angling himself toward the pit, before saying, "I''m jumping in, you coming or not?" Vyncent thought for a moment before slowly nodding his head and standing next to The Black Devil. *** BONUS LORE : After what is commonly known as the Hour of Creation, the eighteen regions are created. The ruler of the Water Region is titled ''The Governor of the Ocean'' but not many know that her real name is Shen Shen. The Moon and Star Regions are ruled by the same person, the Star Empress. The Eighteen Regions are: The Water Region The Fire Region The Demon Region The Death Region The Earth Region The Wind Region The Lightning Region The Light Region The Space Region The Clockwork Region The Singularity Region The Fairy Region The Saint Forest Region The Golden Sand Region The Mortal Region The Star Region The Moon Region The Beast Alliance Region Chapter 666 - 611: Whos The Thief? (1) The next day after the massacre that occurred in the Royal castle and, especially, the death of the Emperor and the fall of the Fallen God Clan, which only had a few remaining members outside of the kingdom, Ramel city became more restless and the number of crimes significantly increased, even with the interference of the soldiers, who no longer had a ruler to serve or a command to follow. Only after making sure that Edward Ortberg properly ate and had a good night''s sleep did Arthur instruct the mortal to sit down for a serious chat. The man had a very nonchalant attitude and he wasn''t even scared of the Empress, who definitely had an unfavorable impression of him. Arthur remembered that the man briefly spoke about a prophecy, which means that, at some point in time, he must''ve met Claud Venice, the man living inside the ARK, also known as the Prophecy Holder. The Prophecies foreseen by the dead scientist tend to always be true and precise to every said letter. Moreover, the serial-killer was even helped by the Frog of Destiny, a mystical being that is seen once every tens of thousands of years, if not more. "It''s really funny, you seeˇ­" Edward stretched his sore over-rested arms while speaking. "You didn''t strike me as a talkative man when we met at the prison. I also never thought you''re some sort of fantasy shapeshifter." Arthur didn''t correct the man and, instead, asked with a deadpan face. "You said that you found the piece of paper somewhere in the forest close to the prison. How did you escape in the first place?" "I didn''t intentionally escape, per se." Edward widely grinned at the parasite and continued, "A woman came in and broke me out. Yes yes, you''ll want to see how she looks likeˇ­ let me try to remember." He tapped his index on his forehead while crossing his legs, appearing quite relaxed, to say the least. "She had long silver hair but that was all. The rest of her body was covered in some mecha-like black armor with all many numbers." "Silver hair? Are you sure?" "Yes, I''ve never seen a hair like that so the sight of it was very memorable." Arthur maintained an inordinate amount of time pondering about what was said in silence. ''Could it be Lucy? No, she''s with the original body. Thenˇ­ is it Angelina? The ARK was automatically transferred to her in the war.'' Arthur could remember some of Zodiak''s memories but only vaguely as they were not his own. In fact, in the past, Zodiak did travel to a Claud''s planet and there was a woman who had an identical appearance to Lucy. ''She was named Angel. Then is she her reincarnation? But she''s not the type of person go out of her way to jailbreak a serial-killer. While Arthur was in deep-thought, Edward cut him off by saying. "I''m important, right? I do realize I''m not as strong as you and your ''associates'', however, there must be a reason for my arrival to this magical kingdom. Maybe you''ll be in need of my intellect? I can do many things, you know." "We''ll see about that. You''ll be coming with me for the time being." "Sure, it''s not like I can venture on my own." Edward spread his hands as if he was stating the obvious. ˇ­ As he was done with possessing Karima''s body and the situation in the capital was going out of control, Arthur and the rest left on board of the Silver Spirit Boat, heading North. Zaarae didn''t ask anything about Edward and just chatted with the lively Shen Shen. Fariya was absent-minded as she stood at the edge of the speeding boat. "''Sup''." Edward greeted the quiet Esco, who reciprocrated with a bow as he thought the mortal was one of Arthur''s real companions and not someone that had to be brought along due to the confusing circ.u.mstances. "You one of them too?" . Edward saw how Esco acted around Arthur, he seemed to be an outcast and rarely got close or even talked so he got a bit curious, as is his wont. "Wait! Don''t answerˇ­ let me guess." The mortal looked at the muscular red-haired Esco up and down a few times before spouting "You''re a prisoner too!" In response, Esco frowned but neither confirmed nor denied the statement. "You have to be. From what I''ve seen or gathered, Arthur purposely infiltrated the prison." Edward pointed at the s.e.xy succubus. "She was one of the chief guards but ended up ''leaving." Then he switched to Shen Shen and Zaarae. "That woman called the Empress, although she does not have a good attitude, her status is the highest out of all of us. I also think she was one of the prisoners held in the 13floor. Those twin youngsters are recent prisoners who are devoted followers of Arthur so he must''ve come to break them out. As for that little girl called Shen Shen, I honestly have no idea. What do you think? Did I get it right?" The man had astonishing observational skills and amazingly on-point theories. It''s surprising to see him reveal the truth with just a couple of interactions. "Anyway, what''s up with your outfit?" The mortal knitted his brow as he gazed at Esco''s clothes. The ex-prisoner wore a blue leather shirt, black and tight pants and jacket-like cloth which was slightly oversized. "They are my original clothes." Hearing this, Edward nodded his head while repeatedly muttering ''I see''. Not long after that, Esco excused himself to his room, saying that he needs to recuperate for some time. Of course, neither Arthur nor any of the rest bothered with him as he was only an informant, no more, no less. ... "What are you going to do?" Late at night, Zaarae sat next to Arthur and wanted to lean her head on his shoulder but he swiftly distanced himself and threw a cold glance at her. After a bit of time, she asked him while gazing at the starless sky. "No idea. I need to reach the Garden of Words but the prophecy cannot be neglected. Trying to ignore it will only lead to much worse problems. "Not all prophecies come true, Arthur." The man shook his head in denial while retorting. "No, you don''t understand. ''His'' prophecies are always true, to the very last letter. Edward was sent here but I don''t know what his role is in this. "That may be true but that doesn''t mean the prophecy will happen tonight or tomorrow." "Then what about the timing? Why did Edward appear now of all times? From what I''ve experienced in the past, the first part will occur in the near future, at the very least." As she listened to him, The Empress thought back to that dangerous pit filled with creepy faces and the moving mud-mixed sand." *** The next day at sunrise, the Silver Spirit Boat came to an abrupt halt as the desert below them started acting strangely. The golden and shiny sand quite literally rose in the air in a very slow manner. "It''s happening." Arthur emotionlessly spoke as he gazed at the golden grains of sand surrounding the Spirit Boat, blocking their view of the surroundings. This, however, was but the beginning as the sand became violent and big, solid cubic blocks bumped into the silver floating boat, clearly acting hostile. Zaarae stood next to Shen Shen and held her hand, a translucent purple layer protected both the Empress and the blue-haired girl. The succubus was next to Arthur, enjoying his protection without doing anything. A Dark Barrier was more than enough to resist the sand cubic blocks but the more time passed, the faster and bigger they became. "This is seems to be out of an old fiction book, wow!" Edward loudly laughed as he stood behind Midolf and Radolf, his eyes shining as he witnessed this ''spectacle.'' Ten minutes crept by and the unceasingly violent sand dispersed the clouds and covered the blinding canopy with its golden radiance. The sun''s eternal illumination was replaced by a magnificent sea of sand, which some may see it as a sign from the God while others will consider it a bad omen. Arthur cast his eyes below only to see something that made him gasp. He wasn''t the only one shocked as the rest of the crew stared at a ginormous hand. One of the fingers was hundreds of meters thick and kilometers long, though the skin looked decayed to the point that even the bones could be seen protruding out of the yellow-ish dead layer. "I-is that a hand?" Shen Shen was terribly shocked as chills run down her spine. She clutched the Empress'' hand while taking a step back. Even someone with a purified soul like hers couldn''t handle the aura emanating from below, more specifically, that hand. "Is that God''s hand?" questioned Edward as he peeked through the edge while putting a hand on Radolf''s shoulder as to not fall. "Depends on which damned God you''re talking about." retorted Midolf, appearing as distressed his twin companion. "I understand why they always said Karima protects only the land of Golden Sand and not the clan." Radolf sighed as he glanced at the thick layer of sand domination the sky above them. "Philos is buried here." "No he''s f.u.c.k.i.n.g not! Can''t you see?! He IS the desert! Question is, what the f.u.c.k is happening?" ˇ­ Zaarae looked at the massive hand then thought for a moment before casting her sight. "It''s not about what''s happeningˇ­ but why?" Even a knowledgeable person like she, wasn''t unable to comprehend the reason behind this extraordinary yet dangerous occurrence. "Prepare for impact!" Arthur shouted out loud as he raised his hands, which emitted a mass of total darkness that transformed into a jet black cube that enveloped that whole silver Spirit Boat. His reaction was, fortunately, just in time as the golden sound came crashing from above, aiming only at Arthur''s boat, for some reason. The passengers, a bit prepared, held into something as the ship intensely shook and the black cube, which was meant to entrap enemies, managed to hold on for a few breaths before shattering like broken glass. "Huh? It''s aiming for us?" Edward, visibly confused but not at all afraid, looked at the moving and cl.u.s.tered sand, which changed into a hand no smaller than the one down below. Hundreds of thoughts rampaged inside the mortal''s mind. He didn''t know much about this magical world but nothing happens like that and even if it was because Arthur possessed Karima''s body, the retaliation is not only late but exaggerated. This time, Arthur and Zaarae acted at the same time. The Empress, still standing next to Shen Shen, pointed her finger at the incoming large hand and shot a violet light. The light became a rapidly-moving greatsword which hit the hand''s palm, stopping it and disintegrating it into nothingness. As for the parasite, he transformed into a medium-sized bluebird that was half-covered with crystalline scales. The bird wildly screeched and waved its lengthy wings, which caused a formidable wave of water to drop from the sky, falling onto the sound all around them, solidifying and weakening it at the same time. This was but the beginning as Arthur then took the form of the Vermillion Bird and conjured a sky-piercing flame tornado which forced all the sand out of the area, clearing it for a brief amount of time. ˇ­ "Strangeˇ­ very strange." commented Edward as he looked at the closed door leading to the interior of the ship. He cautiously walked toward Zaarae, lightly tapped her shoulder, causing her to turn her head and furrowed her brows. "I think I know why it''s attacking us." "You think it''s time to hear why it''s crazily encircling us?" The Empress spouted back at the serial-killer then shot two purple swords made of lights, crushing other sand hands coming from far away. Edward looked at the vanishing hands, which were pulverized by the swords, nodded his head and added, "Yup, it''s definitely the time." He pointed at the closed boat cabin and explained, "''The thief''s identity is clear''. That''s enough to know that the prophecy was talking about a close person, who is, in fact, the thief you''ve encountered. That quiet man with the red hair, Esco, was it? Why is he inside when hell is breaking loose? Ever thought of that? Oh, you''ll say that he''s weak and hiding inside but it''s much safer outside, with you freaks. I still don''t know why he hasn''t been discovered by you guys yet but, in my opinion, his involvement in this mess is more than you think." Zaarae wasn''t that convinced but she still focused her sense inside the boat, precisely where Esco was supposed to be but he, to her surprise, the place was empty. Chapter 667 - 612: Whos The Thief? (2) Arthur also heard what the mortal said but he had no time to deal Esco, who disappeared without anyone noticing him. The form of the Vermillion Bird vanished, being replaced by a black tortoise with countless pointy and sharp scales covering its massive back which stretched for hundreds of meters. The Divine Beast let out a deep threatening growl and positioned itself above the Spirit Boat. The sand continued is relentless attacks, becoming more variant and ruthless. The ginormous solid sand hands were but the beginning as a mud giant sprung from below and attempted to grab the ship and pull it down. The black tortoise, along with the Quad-Spirit attacked at the same time. Dark Magic emanated from the Divine Beast, crashing into the giant like a meteor whilst the spirit used its Gravity Magic to slow down the monster and followed up with death storm. Furthermore, another giant, no smaller than the enemy''s, made its appearance. This one enveloped by orange flames from head to toe and wielded the famous Spear of Terros, which had a dragon coiling around it. The flame giant was sentient and had its own awareness, after all, it originated from the Fire Spirit absorbed by Arthur when he was in Green-Leaf. With the spear in its hands, the giant swept it horizontally, unleashing a wave of flames and attempted cutting the target in two but the spear just passed through the sand as if it was air. Arthur was forced to focus on other enemies as the spirit boat was soon surrounded by a couple of sand giants and dozens of those slow but big hands which mainly floated high-up in the air. Fortunately, Zaarae was also providing needy assistance as Arthur wasn''t able to handle everything on his own. Additionally, Radolf joined the fray but his twin companion stayed on the deck to protect Edward in case something happens. The origin of the problem was most likely Esco, who should have escaped the boat but what''s confusing is that the golden sand didn''t stop its attacks and didn''t chase after the culprit. "That thief must''ve stolen something precious, it''s the only explanation." The only thing that Edward was missing was a bucket of popcorn. He was no different than a person watching a 3D movie, his eyes would shift from one explosion to another, totally fascinated by these ''fireworks'', which all humans dream about but can never witness. "Arthur! Find the rat and I''ll deal with the rest." Zaarae telepathically spoke to the parasite as she jumped in the air right after gently pushing Shen Shen next to Midolf. The white-haired mythical being inwardly cursed and raised his hand and emitted a burst of white blinding light which enveloped the little girl. This light was filled with a pure and dense amount of Life Energy as well as a self-acting wind. Just like Shen Shen, who''s now in possession of the Origin Water, Midolf too, as a creature born from the Wind and Life Energies, he''s able to manipulate the Origin Wind, also known as the Zero Gale. The Empress'' gorgeous black dress was replaced by a light red armor which protected her chest, shoulders, thighs, knees, and neck. Her aura rose to the skies, splitting it and blasting all the nearby sands with an unstoppable shock wave. She was one of the twelve, albeit weakened, so when she goes all out, there''s little that can stop her. Her form distorted as she appeared simultaneously as several places, one punch from her would turn the sand giants into nothing but air. ˇ­ Inside the ship, a half-transparent wraith with no lower body and a face made of brown decaying skin and two black eyeballs was roaming the quiet yet shaking place. Arthur used [The Griffin''s Bloody Switch] and temporarily converted his Wisdom and Intelligence into Dexterity and Agility, raising his senses to an alarming degree. Since the sand continued to attack then Esco, who''s actually the thief he encountered on several occasions, was hiding here, most likely in total Stealth. There were several inconsistencies about Esco being a thief. How, like, before they even arrived in the Ramel Kingdom, the thief was already known by Sun Wukong and the royal family as they tried to catch him. He roamed the kingdom and stole many valuable treasures. As for Esco, he had been imprisoned and always in close proximity to Arthur so it made no sense how he was in many places at the same time. Furthermore, how was he able to fool both him and Zaarae and act like a weak bystander. Not even his special eyes, which are able to uncover all illusions and appearance-changing artifacts were able to break the thief''s masquerade. A minute after the other passed yet there were no signs of anyone hiding in the boat''s cabin. Arthur''s mastery with Space Magic is high enough to detect the presence of any isolated dimension, plus, with his current perception, which was backed by an unbelievable Dexterity, allows him to feel the moving and minuscule bacteria and lifeforms found inside every material and even the air. Seeing no purpose in continuing to search for him secretly and using this method, Arthur''s form changed as he latched himself into the metallic ground, cracking some of it. A few breaths later, a small jet black sprout sprung from below and quickly grew into a spiky poisonous tree. A green fog emanated from its branches while Dark Magic spread like crazy all over the Spirit Boat, turning it into a world of absolute darkness where you can''t see a thing. The Darkness was ominous as, one by one, one meter long spikes came out of all sides, stabbing the empty air. Even with no successful result, Arthur didn''t stop as the space cracked and the air was filled with a dangerous amount of paralyzing poison. Time crept by and, at some point, with any warning, a swift shadow dashed toward the tree and attacked. Unfortunately, the attack was futile as the weapon he used melted the moment it made contact with the unseen black tree, which melted with its surroundings and was covered in the White Tiger''s acid. Long and thin vines appeared from the ground and tried to capture the assailant but he hastily backed away and easily cut away anything that got within a meter of him. Arthur, who was able to see clearly in this darkness, which was his own handiwork, used Carpentine''s unique ability. In a split second, both the tree and the attacker found themselves in massive world filled with all types of snakes, their hisses resounding across the whole place. Arthur saw the red-haired individual, clothed strangely and holding some sort of a green and short scycle. He was about to use Telekinesis to corner the target and finish him off with one Heavenly Arrow but the latter just stood motionless before letting go of the scycle and slowly falling on the ground. Esco''s skin suffered change as it turned wooden and his facial features vanished. "A puppet?" Arthur recognized this humanoid object and instantly understood the situation. It turns out that thief was actually a puppet master, and a high-leveled one, at that. Thinking logically, Esco was just an imprisoned puppet and its master was the shape-shifting thief. "He should be a shapeshifter puppeteer." Arthur changed back to his real form and left the snake-world but upon his reappearance inside the boat''s cabin, he was hit by a silver spear in his chest, and cut by a dagger from the back. The assailants also seemed to be puppets as they didn''t seem as strong as the thief from back then. Furthermore, their attacks weren''t even able to pierce through Arthur''s defense, which was empowered by the Black-Star Strengthening technique. The spear broke the black layer protecting his skin but wasn''t able to inflict any kind of injury. As for the dagger, it literally snapped in half and fell on the ground. Using [Thought and Effect] coupled with the Natural Lightning and the invisible threads, Arthur was able to defeat the puppets in one move. The one behind him wanted to retract his hand but the threads wrapped around it and the lightning zapped him and burst his head. As for the spear-wielding one, it was subjected to the monstrous of the Telekinesis. The puppet was flattened on the ground and stabbed by multiple black spikes. Arthur swept his sense but found no other enemies, moreover, the one controlling them isn''t inside the cabin. ''Where could he be?'' In a flash, the parasite reappeared on the deck, where Midolf and co were. "You didn''t find him, right? Figured." Edward looked at stone-faced Arthur and guessed the outcome almost immediately. He glanced at the rampaging Zaarae before stepping closer to Midolf and Shen Shen. His actions seemed natural, as if he wanted to feel more secure, however, he abruptly retrieved his seemingly normal plastic scissors and stabbed at the blue-haired girl, freaking out Midolf. The Zero Gale protecting the girl retaliated, sending the mortal flying until he the study walls of the boat''s cabin. Edward had broken many bones and wasn''t even able to get up but his scissors were blasted with him and were actually able to pass through the Origin Wind and reach its target. Shen Shen, who was equally startled, took a step back but the scissors, which seemed to have a conscious of its own, swifty followed her and reached her shoulder. What was expected didn''t happen and, instead, the girl''s form distorted and was replaced by countless other appearancesˇ­ a female orc, an angel, a male bearded-dwarf, and so on. "Hahaha" Edward laughed while coughing blood, feeling proud of his discovery. Midolf was scared out of his wits as he jumped back, not knowing whether to continue protecting the little girl or attack. It was clearly not Shen Shen, however, Arthur''s pendant and Zaarae''s bracelet, which were on the little girl''s body, were definitely real. Arthur frowned and appeared before the distorting Shen Shen. He didn''t hesitate as he used Telekinesis to crush the target''s whole legs, making it kneel. A dangerous violent whirlpool appeared in his hands and although it was minuscule, it was madly devouring the air and the grains of sand lingering all around them. "Where''s she?" The whirlpool closened on the shapeshifter, who knelt there, defeated and surprised by this sudden shift of events. He never thought he''ll be discovered as long as he took Shen Shen''s appearance but Edward, out of everyone, was the one did the unexpected and revealed the shocking truth. "Where did you hide her?" Only when he felt his insides being sucked into the Void and his whole life-force being sucked away did the shapeshifter start giving up. With a shaky voice and ever-changing face, he muttered, "S-she''s not h,here." Arthur was extremely angry as he held the shapeshifter by his throat and applied more force than necessary, a bit more and he could end the thief''s life. He didn''t even notice that Shen Shen was just a fake, he even wondered when she was taken and ''replaced''. She accompanied him since the moment they left the prison and they''ve been separated only when he chased after the thief back when he was tricked by that ''old man'' and robbed of his storage. The spirit boat was falling from the sky and the golden moving sand was becoming stronger, though Zaarae was able to defeat anything that got close. "Speak! Where did you take her? Where is she?" The Shapeshifter''s body was invaded by Dark Magic and Natural Lightning and despite being a high-leveled player, his high defense could not negate the weakening of the Dark Magic or the lethal vibration of the green lightning. A sorry-looking bloody figure, with a lot of difficulties, managed to drag his body next to Arthur. Edward spat more blood, still grinning, he said "The girl can wait. We must know what he did to incur the God''s wrath!" Just as Edward spoke, a deafening noise echoed, followed by a golden light which flew from afar and instantly landed meters away from the parasite. She had a graceful body, bronze skin and wore a shiny armor. Her long black hair fell on her shoulder, she was a real beauty with an exceptional appearance. The parasite recognized this woman, who''s known to be a legendary fighter and the wife of Philos, the God of Sand. Chapter 668 - 613: The Garden of Words (1) The woman''s eyes were solely fixated on the shapeshifter in Arthur''s hands. Clear hostility was emanating from her half-golden eyes, which made anyone who looked at them fall into a bottomless abyss. Karima disregarded everyone and, step by step, she made her way toward the powerless distorting thief. When she got close enough, her lips opened and a chilling voice could be heard. "Give back the scepter." The woman didn''t seem to realize that the thief was in no position to answer as his throat was being held by Arthur and his body was broken beyond repair. "Scepter? What scepter?" questioned Arthur but the answer he got was just silence and a quick glance from Karima. When she appeared, the sand giants and the enormous floating hands seized all kinds of assault, seemingly being ordered to stop. "It''s pretty obvious what happened. He stole something precious and this is the God''s retaliationˇ­ or the God''s wife." Edward fell on his buttocks and took deep breaths as he held his hurting chest. Fortunately, Midolf appeared next to him and used his Life Energy, healing the mortal within seconds. Although it was his Zero Gale that inflicted those close-to-fatal injuries, it was just a self-defensive magic cast on the fake Shen Shen, who he had thought it was the real one. "I don''t care about the scepter! Where is Shen Shen?" Arthur asked again, this time his killing intent rising to the skies as a scarlet aura spun around his body, causing even Edward to cower back in fear. The thief opened and closed his mouth a few times but didn''t reply, not because he didn''t know where she is but due to the absolute dread dominating every fiber of his being. The parasite was about to use Dark Extraction but, all of a sudden, a domineering force enveloped his body and attempted to push him away from the shapeshifter, however, he managed to stand his ground and not be affected. A slight frown appeared on Karima''s body, she used her powers again while exerting more force but it didn''t end well as her body was attacked from the left side. Zaarae, still wearing her armor, kicked Karima, sending her flying out of the boat, though the latter managed to stabilize herself and dash back again only to be blocked by the Empress. "Karima." The legendary fighter glared at Zaarae but didn''t attack, her eyes focusing on the woman before her as she deeply thought about something. "This isn''t a matter related to you, Empress." "Oh." Zaarae chuckled, crossed her arms and said, "So you know about me? That''ll make it easier. Back off while I''m being niceˇ­ that scepter or whatever can wait, there are more important matters at hand." "Without the scepter, this land will perish. The longer it takes to return it, the worse it''ll become here. All the people living here will be killed by the aftermath. My husband didn''t create this land just for it to kill millions of innocents." "I don''t care about their lives. We need to know where he hid Shen Shen first." "Shen Shen?" Karima knitted her brows and closed her eyes for a few breaths before resuming. "Is it that blue-haired young girl? She was thrown into that corrupted pit. Not long ago, your ''associate'', the Black Devil, jumped inside too." "The pit? What pit?" Arthur let go of the shapeshifter after tightly binding him with thick dark chains, threads and increased gravity. His expression was inhumanely twisted as he had hoped Shen Shen would be alright. "It''s a small mud pit not far from the capital. I don''t know its origin but it''s dangerous." The Empress stared at Karima for some time before reluctantly nodding her head and turning toward Arthur. "We don''t need him anymore, let us go." Arthur didn''t stubbornly hold onto the shapeshifter. He teleported next to him, swiftly possessed him before throwing his limp body in front of Karima, who landed back on the boat''s deck. Two minutes later, the silver Spirit Boat flew at where the mud pit was situated. As for the shapeshifter, Karima held his ankle and dragged him toward an unknown location. ˇ­ It took the speeding boat approximately two hours to reach the mud-spit, which was a bit suppressed by the chaotic sand. "What''s this? Does it lead to Hell or something?" Edward, who was feeling better and more energetic, looked at the mud and hideous faces with a tinge of curiosity. Though, unlike him, Arthur and the two mythical beings were keeping their distances from this ominous pit. "It''s a stretching portal mixed with contained resentment. It''s the first time I''m seeing something like this." The Empress explained what she knew to Arthur, her finger emitting a faint purple light which tried to penetrate the mud but failed. "I''ve called Timos to investigate. I don''t think we should enter it, at least not until he comes back." Zaarae held Arthur''s shoulder, stopping his advance while speaking with a serious and worried tone. "We don''t know where it leads and how dangerous it is. It seems to be similar to Void Magic and is affecting my life force, which is illogical considering my existence as one of the Twelve. How about thisˇ­ let me go first and you wait here for 24 hours." For an inordinate amount of time, Arthur maintained silence and, at the end, he sighed and agreed as he, too, felt the ominousness of the pit to the point that even his Dark Magic was pulling him away from this area. ********* Hours passed since Zaarae''s departure, Arthur, Fariya, and the rest camped a distance away from the pit. It was slowly but surely expanding, even more after the golden sand went back to the ground. Karima must have gotten that scepter back, as for the shapeshifter, his fate is probably worse than death. Arthur was barely holding himself from jumping back. Furthermore, Edward was very talkative and couldn''t be silenced by anyone. He was just too nonchalant and uncaring about the situation. "I mean, how could you live like this everyday? Isn''t it way too thrilling and pain-inducing? Even when I was on the run, it wasn''t like this." "Can''t you just shut up?" Arthur coldly berated the mortal, who turned a deaf ear to him. "The first part of the prophecy is mostly done but how come this pit was never mentioned? Should I try to cut it?" He took out his orange plastic scissors and walked toward the pit but was eventually stopped by Midolf. "F.u.c.k off to the back, will you?" ************ After passing through the strange portal, Zaarae found herself in a place that shocked her to the core. It was a battlefield but, most importantly, most of the corpses belonged to none other than her creations, the parasites. The sky was painted with a gradual gloom and the land was barren and corrupted to its very core. "This is my realm?" She creased her brows and stretched her senses but apart from some weak corpse-eaters, there was no one of importance around. A few seconds later, her form vanished as she dashed toward a specific direction. The Empress was surprised by the fact that her realm was connected to the Land of Golden Sand through that pit. As it was her realm, Zaarae was able to move freely around without being restricted to the Spatial or Time laws. In just seconds, she appeared in gloriously city floating in the darkened sky. The first one who appeared to welcome his liege was none other than the Archmage Emir. A wide smile was plastered on his face as he knelt before the woman, his face showing nothing but absolute veneration. "My liege, you''ve finally come back!" Zaarae waved her hand and looked around before asking. "Did Timos come here?" "The Black Devil? No." Hearing this, the woman got even more confused. Before Emir could react, she vanished again and stretched her aura over all the realm but found no sighting of Timos or Shen Shen. ****** "Master, I think we should depart immediately." Radolf walked to Arthur and respectfully and signaled his twin companion to come convince the parasite too. "What''s wrong?"-Arthur "Master, the thing isˇ­" Midolf dropped his head, not daring to meet Arthur''s eyes. "If you still want to reach the Garden of Words, I think that now is the perfect time." Arthur pondered for a dozen seconds before shaking his head and retorting, "I need to jump into the pit. The Garden can wait." "No, master, it cannot. The lands at the North are being subjected to abnormal change so the laws of Life and Death and weakening. If you enter the boundary between the two then it''s now or never." Radolf briefly explained the situation before briefly pausing and hesitantly adding, "I''m sure that the Empress will find and protect Shen Shen. Please do not divert from your original goal. The Garden is mandatory for your evolution, it will answer anything you ask it. If you ever want to find where Shen Shen it, then you can still ask it." Chapter 669 - 614: The Garden of Words (2) Although he was unwilling, Arthur had to relent and accept Radolf''s proposal. After all, he had no idea where the pit leads and if his current strength is enough to protect him inside, even with the mythical beings and the succubus by his side. "We''re leaving now." Arthur and the rest jumped back on the Spirit Boat, which darted toward the North with insane speed. Arthur was still worried about Shen Shen but there is a strong chance his unwanted interference may lead to more problems for the girls so he decided to wait for Zaarae to come back and inquire from her about the situation. "Explain it again for me." The parasite called the twin mythical beings, wanting a detailed explanation about what was said earlier. For a better demonstration, Radolf stretched both hands, so did Midolf, and in a dozens of seconds, the atmosphere around the ship drastically changed. The sky split in two, one turned white snow, the clouds and all the environment became one color, on the opposite side, it was a gloomy mix of grey and black, like that of death. "Master, we, as beings close to Life and Death, have a stronger connection to the natural laws and the boundary between the two isn''t accessible by real, material beings, per se. It''s a place meant for souls to briefly passed through when the body dies. Basically, it''s another plane of existence completely separate from our own. One way to reach it is when the balance between the two existing forces is weakened by a specific degree. In other words, when the quantity of Life and Death energies are no longer systematically co-existing. Now, there is such an occurrence in the Northern Lands, which is the perfect opportunity for Master to try and reach the Garden of Words. Furthermore, as you''re, essentially, a Soul Parasite, your chances of entering that boundary are dramatically increased." ***** In the area between Ramel Kingdom and the Northern Lands, there was a very small mountain, its peak just over 500 meters. It was inhabited by a few wild beasts and, surprisingly, a declining clan composed of barely a hundred people. They were living at the foot of this mountain and were rarely visited by people as most tend to ignore them and casually pass through, which is partially why they managed to exist despite being weak. Arthur was able to sense that the strongest was an elderly at the 2nd grade of the Immortal Realm. It was obvious that they immigrated from the Cloud Sea Universe and despite not having a strong heritage, they seemed pretty happy. The children were playing together in a quiet area of the forest surrounding the mountain, and some were cultivating or sparring against each other. The parasite looked at Radolf and asked, "Is this the place?" "Yes, it''s inside the mountain." "Alright, I''ll go in with you." Arthur turned to Edward and Fariya and said, "You two stay here until I come back." He briefly paused as he saw the mortal curiously look at the settlement below them. "And don''t cause any trouble." While Edward didn''t reply, the succubus bowed her head and wished her master a good and safe trip. ˇ­ Arthur teleported inside the mountain along with the two mythical beings, who transformed to their realm forms but with smaller sizes. Midolf looked majestic with his snow-white feathers and golden break, however, Radolf was the total opposite, he was a twin-headed bone lizard with black flames burning in his tail and decayed skin here and there. The trio found themselves inside a pretty-normal cave with nothing eye-catching. There was an obvious lack of illumination but, besides that, Arthur found no particularities. "Master, you need to first transform into your soul-form." Arthur nodded his head and became a blinding blob of light floating in mid-air. The lizard and the roc raised their heads and looked at the parasite, who was bouncing around as he moved around the cave. "Please do not resist, master." Both said the same words simultaneously and, by the next second, the lizard opened its mouth and spat a mass of grey liquid which splattered on the soul, while the roc spun around like a tornado and then burst with a light more radiant than the sun itself. The sticky liquid and the light each took one side of the soul, making it look like a round ball with a strange appearance. Arthur started feeling dizzy then his vision turned black as he lost consciousness shortly after. An indeterminate amount of time later, Arthur woke up and found himself in his human appearance. Although there was no mirror, he was sure he looked exactly when he back on Earth, before his first reincarnation. The man was butt-n.a.k.e.d and felt a bit chilly but he paid that no heed and started marching forward in this unfamiliar place. All that surrounded him was a mix of grey and black fog, the ground was pure white and rough to walk on, seemingly unsteady, like a steep slope. Step by step, meter by meter, Arthur continued his walk, feeling neither hungry nor tired. Inexplicably, his mind was clear as if he knew where the destination laid, and the more he walked, the clearer the fog became. His connection with the Quad-Spirit and the mythical beings were temporarily severed, meaning that he was all alone in this separate plane of existence. Fortunately, after what seemed to be a very long time, Arthur arrived in front of a door, unimaginably big and dyed with dried blood. It was constantly shaking and made him feel mildly uncomfortable to say the least. The moment he saw this, Arthur knew what it was. As per Radolf''s words, when a soul dies, it can go to one of two places, Heaven or Hell, and in some special cases, to the Void if it''s subjected to an intervention. This door was one of the first gates leading to literal Hell, the place where the evil souls are tortured for eternity. Of course, there are several levels to even a place like Hell, and the higher the level, the more evil the soul hence the need to contain it in a harsher environment. Arthur looked at the door for some time before turning around and leaving. He kept walking forward until he was met with a second door, this was shiny gold and decorated with lengthy silver wings on both its edges. It is called Heaven''s door and it opens by itself when a reaches certain qualifications. Arthur''s goal was the Garden so he didn''t dwindle there for too long, but it''s not like the concept of time existed here. ***** As Arthur was venturing into that foreign world, Fariya unknowingly caused a disaster just by teaching Edward a small, common thing that most of the people in this Universe know. As A Star Force practitioner, she knew how one needs to locate their unique star and start absorbing it in order to get stronger. Under Edward''s persistent questions, she ended up telling him how to do it, unaware of the consequences. Edward Ortberg was the holder of the Heaven Mandate soul so when he quietly sat down and did as instructed, it caused the whole world to drastically change. The clear blue sky was painted with a white glow that cascaded on the forest and transforming into millions upon millions of tiny white particles floating around. This alarmed the small clan living here and forced them to hide in the patriarch''s house. The old man, whose long hair had long since turned white, was staring at the blinding white radiance with awe and fear, inwardly hoping that no disaster befalls on his people as they had gone through enough already. "H-hey! You.. Stop." The succubus held the sitting man by his shoulders and fiercely shook him but he didn''t react at all, seemingly entranced. Fariya was even pushed back by the white particles, which enveloped every part of the mortal, shredding his clothes and covering him whole, like some sort of a God. Fortunately, after ten minutes, everything calmed down and Edward woke up and shouted like a mad man. "Aw aw! My bones hurt!" He jumped around like a lunatic and rubbed his shiny skin, clearly not liking the sensation he was experiencing. The succubus watched him from the side, pressing her finger on her temples and shaking her head. "Wear some clothes, will you!" The man calmed down after he heard her and looked at his exposed parts. He showed no embarrassment and, instead, breathed a sigh of relief as the pain slightly subdued. "So this is what pain feels like!" He burst out in unpleasant laughter as he looked at the frowning succubus. "It''s exhilarating! Fascinating!" In the end, he was left one on the deck as she retreated back to her room after throwing a robe at his direction. Edward could feel that he became much stronger but he only touched the tip of the iceberg and even a cultivator at the Spirit Realm can crush him easily, nevertheless, the feeling of power made the serial-killer overly-delighted. Chapter 670 - 615: The Garden of Words (3) "What do you seek here, traveler?" At last, Arthur arrived in a place completely clear of fog but still strange to the eyes. There was a short fence made of scrolls surrounding a breath-taking garden made of nothing but books and papers. At the gates leading inside, there stood two animals, both made of white paper, though one was missing its eyes and the other without ears and mouth. The one who just talked to the parasite was one of the two, a cat without eyes raised its small head and stood up. "I came seeking answers." Just as he replied, the cat spoke again. "The world holds answers for all the unknown." "What I need can only be provided by the Garden of Words." The cat didn''t talk again, it sat back up and dropped its head, no longer minding the n.a.k.e.d man standing before it. The animal next to it, a dog with scroll-like limbs and no tail, blinked its eyes as it sized-up the parasite for an inordinate amount of time. Then, a disembodied voice reverberated inside Arthur''s head. "The Garden welcomes the Seeker and not the Needer, the Garden welcomes the Honest and not the liar, the Garden Welcomes neither the living nor the dead." The dog briefly paused then continued with a lower voice. "Arthur Bilgart, you do meet two of the qualification but your situation and special Race render your unwelcome. Go back." Hearing this, the man frowned and retorted, "I cannot just go back. I need immediate answers." "And how are you going to get them? You must be aware that your extraordinary strength isn''t applicable here. It''s a matter of judgment and not power." "Then, how am I supposed to enter?" "Die." Replied the cat as it yawned and laid its head on its front paws. "Only after death will the soul be liberated and qualified to get entry." "I cannot die yet." "Then you will not enter." Right after it finished saying its piece, the dog imitated the cat and proceeded to ignore Arthur, who rambled a bit more before quietening down. Although he felt irritated, he didn''t dare do anything rush nor force his way, he just stood there like a statue. He remained motionless like the two animals, thinking of a way. "I have the Wish Star, can''t it help me get in?" When he said that, both the cat and the dog raised their heads. "We know about the Wish Star but unless you wish for your death, it''s practically useless in your hands. Using it isn''t as simple as making a wish, don''t be fooled by the name." Just as the dog finished talking, another voice, a bit further away, was heard by Arthur. It was familiar and very soothing, in fact, it immediately reminded him of a woman he met once in the past. It was back when he was transported to the past with Leiu and Wolfram, right at the end of their journey. "Quhea?" Quhea, the Creator of Knowledge and one of the Twelve, she was one of the most mysterious one amongst them and she wasn''t as powerful but her knowledge is forever expanding and she''s second only to the Garden of Words. There''s almost nothing she can''t answer and though her end remains a mystery, many speculate that she perished during the war against Medtris and the rest. Arthur was surprised to hear Quhea, who revealed herself right after speaking. Unlike last time, she now looked like a normal human mixed with other races. She had ears slightly shorter than elves, ruby-like pupils, and a white tinge that had a tad of green in it. The woman wore a simple long white robe and her golden hair was tied into a bun. "Is that really you?" Flabbergasted, Arthur squinted his eyes, and only when she got a bit closer could he confirm her identity. "It is nice to meet you again, Arthur MoonStar." "Yeah, likewiseˇ­ but why are you here?" Quhea chuckled and replied, "The purpose of my existence is to amass knowledge so what places are better than here?" "Her excellency is a special guest."- Explained respectfully bowing its head to Quhea. "He is someone I know, can''t you let him enter for a short time?" Although they treated her with respect, that didn''t mean she can do whatever she wanted in here, which is why even a person like herself was pleading to two animals literally made of paper. ***** Right when Arthur met Quhea, a day has passed in the outside world and when Fariya thought that everything calmed down, the situation got even more shocking. The old patriarch of the clan living in the forest flew to the silver Spirit Boat and politely called its owner, wanting to know what happened yesterday, however, right after he appeared, the sky split again and a small white star fell from above, directly landing in front of Edward, who was equally startled. To Fariya''s surprise, it was the Frog of Destiny again. It stared at the man with its hundred eyes before letting out an inaudible croak. The mortal attempted to retreat but in a split second, both he and the frog vanished into nothingness. It all happened in a couple of breaths, rendering the succubus unable to do anything but gawk. ˇ­ When Edward came back to his senses, he was at the top of a sky-piercing tower. His attention was attracted by a domineering roar of a gigantic bone dragon which was glaring back at him. He stiffly moved his neck below, focusing on a young woman wearing a long blue robe. "Who are you?!" Three ice cycles were above Sonia, all pointing at the puzzled Edward, who couldn''t comprehend anything. Feeling her hostility, the man raised his hands in surrender and hurriedly said, "Wait wait! Don''t be so quick to attack! Let me explain!" He glanced around but the Frog was nowhere to be seen. In addition to Sonia, there was a hideous monster next to her, it was taller than her by two heads and was holding a jet black sword. Gutcha looked at the mortal man with confusion but didn''t attack and waited for Sonia. Although Edward didn''t recognize the two, he saw Arthur''s Dark Magic more than once. "Do you perhaps knowˇ­ Arthur?" On the mention of the parasite, the two twitched and furrowed their brows, though in Gutcha''s case, it looked like an ugly grimace. "He sent me here, actually." Seeing that they seemed more relaxed, Edward dropped his hands and smirked. "I don''t know why I was sent here but he did say that my help is needed. By the way, where are we?" He looked around and saw the bustling and glorious city along with the desolate plains stretching into the horizon. "Green-Leaf." Perfunctorily replied Sonia, still feeling a bit cautious of the man. "Green-Leaf? Hmm Leaf? That does ring a bell. Hahahahaha" Chapter 671 - 616: How To Evolve "In simple words, this Garden is a self-aware entity capable of thought and action. It''s not precisely a living being but it''s not an inanimate place eitherˇ­ it''s a bit hard to explain in words but you get what I mean, right?" Quhea led Arthur inside the Garden of Words while briefly explaining. In fact, this mystical place wasn''t that big but its appearance was pretty unique, to say the least. The small trees were totally made of folded yellow scrolls and the grass was thin white paper, as for the ground, it was snow-white and had countless words of hundreds, if not thousands of languages. "The will of the two guardians at the entrance isn''t the same as the Garden''s will. Although they refused to let you enter, there may still be a chance for your questions to be answered, it''s all up to destiny." The woman walked with Arthur for barely one minute before stopping in front of a circular area shrouded by a wall of cl.u.s.tered paper acting like walls. "It''s up ahead." She said while breaking into a soft smile. "Ask what you shall and wait." He nodded his head and marched forward, his eyes wandering from one corner to another. It only took him a couple of steps to enter this area, which quickly isolated itself and barred the only entrance. Arthur''s steps halted as he gazed at a normal grey pillar on which there was a simple closed book made of brown leather. The man didn''t approach and just stood there, as if he was waiting for a reaction. "Arthur Bilgart." A feminine yet emotionless voice echoed inside his head, sobering up the absent-minded Arthur. "In possession of a third of his once original soul. Zodiak Veilleur now has the rest of this soul right after sealing up Sol''khin, also another personification of the whole soul. Race; Soul-Parasite. Age; 2.397,007 years. Currently lived 8 years, 6 months, and 29 days after his first reincarnation." Right after it finished stating a few things about Arthur, which slightly startled him, it paused for a short amount of time. "Your entry to the Garden was unauthorized but I am aware that the nature of your question requires naught but the knowledge found here, therefore, you will be allowed three questions and no more. You may take time to think about your questions, there is no rush." The disembodied voice returned to its silence after saying its piece, leaving Arthur a bit confused and delighted that he was given a chance. One of the main reasons he came to this place is to find a solution about his Race and how to evolve and get rid of the side-effects of the soul parasite, which are not affecting the current him as he''s a clone and his current ''soul'' is just an imitation. A fake, to be blunt. "How can I evolve in a way that negates the negative side-effects of being a soul-parasite? I want to know the fastest and best way." "Are you sure you want to ask that? You''re free to know anything you want, no matter what it is. There is nothing I cannot answer." "Yes, please answer that question." Arthur patiently waited while the Garden processed the question and less than a time for a candle to burn, it answered. "A soul-parasite can evolve into 22 other unique kinds of parasites, 15 of them have side-effects, another 3 grant a significant boost to stats but permanently change the appearance, and the remaining 5 are the only harmless but slightly weaker variations. To begin with, the reason you are losing the ability to feel emotions is that, a soul-parasite, in essence, is a soul race and souls aren''t eligible to mortal emotions. It''s not really a side-effect but a balancing issued by the soul itself. It is trying to calibrate you, the host, to a better condition that suits its environment and practicalities. Consequentially, a soul-parasite won''t be able to feel anything but will be able to make more rational and better decisions which will highly improve his survivability but, as a former human, you regard emotions as a natural thing hence your inability to forsake them, which is totally understandable. Anyway, there are two paths you can take to get rid of the ''side-effects''. As you asked, they''re the best and fastest options, furthermore, they require no sacrifice or prior achievement, then again, only the original body can do it, which means that the current you can only pass on the details to ''yourself''. "I am already aware of that." Replied Arthur as he crossed his arms and listened. "The first option is the Plague Parasite. Your real body will still remain that spiritual soul form but the side-effects will be reversed and no longer hinder your life. To become a plague parasite, you just need to kill ten-thousand living beings at once using any poison, then the option to evolve will be automatically unlocked. The second option is The Singularity Parasite, which is a bit harder to become but still doable if we take in account your currents skills stats. To become a Singularity Parasite, you need to find a diminishing star and destroy it using solely Space Magic then, like the first option, the evolution will be unlocked too. These two options are, as you requested, the best and fastest methods to evolve and get rid of the side-effects." "What''s the best type of parasite to evolve into?" Arthur unconsciously blurted as he wondered about the remaining 20 parasites types he can become. "Are you sure you want to ask that?" As he heard that, Arthur shook his head. "My mistake, I''ll change my questions." He forgot that he was eligible for only three questions and, fortunately, the Garden didn''t immediately process what he asked as the second question. The parasite thoroughly pondered before voicing the second question. "I want to know all the methods to break out of my cycles." "I cannot answer that answer for there are innumerable methods. Please rephrase it or change it." Hearing this, Arthur frowned because, previously, his copy inside that mysterious world in the Red Tower, clearly told him that there only a few methods and not all are bound to succeed. "Tell me the easiest and best methods to break out of my cycles." ***** Arthur was unaware of this but, on the outside world, more than a month passed since he entered the Garden of Words. Radolf, Midolf, and Fariya waited for him and never left the spirit boat. They also built a friendly relationship with the master of the clan living in that small forest. Actually, it was only Midolf and Fariya who were accommodated, the red-haired youth preferred to stay aboard the floating boat. Though the clan was by no means rich, they provided the succubus and the mythical beings with comfortable and luxurious rooms, the master didn''t even hesitate to serve them the best food despite their poor living necessities. Part of this was thanks to what Midolf did half a month ago when a second-rate sect living in the Northern Lands came here and demanded payment for ''security purposes'' or whatnot. The sect sent weak individuals who were absolutely thrashed by Midolf, however, this only led to them sending even more so, in the end, the Roc changed back to his realm form and traveled North, coming back a few hours later. Apparently, he decimated that clan and warned all the rest not to step into the forest between the Ramel Kingdom and the North. Chapter 672 - 617: Changes in the Leaf A month after Edward Ortberg''s appearance in Green-Leaf, things started heating up in the Wasteland, more than anyone could have imagined. Many people, especially those roaming or living in that barren land, were surprised by the aggressive and alarming behavior of the newly established MoonStar sect. The only thing that was publicly known is that the Vice-Sect master, Sonia, recruited a mortal who was put in charge of the army, which is only composed of a few tens of thousands of Undead. Before Aborak, the Lich King returned to his Realm, he left a few of Arthur''s undead and took the rest with him, as agreed before the war against the White Specters. With just a small and relatively weak army of undead under his command, the mortal did the unthinkable and before anyone could react, he marched South-West and took the wasteland by storm. His decisive thinking and flawless strategy allowed him to totally and one-sidedly win against the Naga Tribe, one of the three forces dominating this place. Many called his way of fighting as dirty and unorthodox but it was effective and definitive. The only strong undead under his command were two bone-dragons, a squadron of earth and fire-using zombies, and a skeletal Lord. The Bone Dragons were no longer enhanced by Death Energy, neither were they controlled by a Death-Magic user so they could only contend against Divine Realm cultivators, nevertheless, Edward managed to beat the two Naga Leaders, who are both at the God Realms. If this was it then the serial-killer wouldn''t have been the talk of Green-Leaf. The crazy human didn''t even rest as he took the Army East and attack the Pigolo Tribe next, showing no mercy or hesitation. Although the battle was much harder, he managed to emerge victorious after losing close to three thousands undead. Even Sonia, who cautioned him to expand their territory without provoking nearby factions, were startled and couldn''t stop him in time. Edward''s leadership and conceited strategies are, without a doubt, fascinating, however, it would them no good to incur the wrath of the forces outside of the wasteland, which are much stronger than the Nagas or Pigolos. Plus, if the Holy Dominion were to heart about this, they would stop at nothing to eradicate the newly built city and everyone living it. Arthur and Lucy became well-known in the Cloud Sea Universe, especially after the war in the Divine Planet and Lucy''s abrupt arrival at Astrith''s execution. ˇ­ Sonia banged her fist on the table, causing Robin, Rey, and Gutcha to twitch and take a step back. It''s the first time they''ve seen the usually calm Sonia this enraged. Her face was flushed and she was trembling as she glared at the nonchalant man sitting opposite of her and munching the fruit as if he wasn''t the origin of this whole mess. "I told you to slowly expand!" Edward shrugged his shoulders and coldly retorted, "Am I not supposed to eat the foot presented in front of me? Think about all the loot and prizes I''ve brought back. There has even been people from both tribes who forsake their homes and joined my army! I think you should be thanking me!" "What thanking! You bastard! You don''t even know how much danger you''ve brought us!" Sonia seemed about to pounce at the weak mortal at any time. Were it not for Robin, who lightly coughed and held the woman''s shoulder, she would have already choked the man. He said many things to prove his identity and when he requested to be put in charge of the army, Sonia never thought he''ll do something this absurd, after all, who would expect anything from a mortal? Seeing him still maintaining that casualness, Sonia snorted and kicked him out of the room before sitting back on her chair. Rey and Gutcha left, leaving her alone with Robin, who massaged her shoulders while saying, "The King will surely visit us soon." Sonia groaned and replied, "Ugh, I know, I will deal with him. We must block the news from leaving Green-Leafˇ­ the situation is already bad in Astria and I don''t think Arthur can handle both the angels and the Dominion at the same time." The vice-master paused for a couple of seconds before asking, "Is Taliya back yet?" "No, not yet. You know her relationship with the King is deepening and that''s something good for us. Even if things turn for the worse, we can count on her to provide help using the King''s forces. ********** "Cycles are actually a fraction of a timeline that is repeating itself. It can be interpreted as a ''glitch'' hence the existence of countless fixes. In your case, your life is revolving around two cycles, both relatively short but still impact the whole timeline due to your nature and origin. To better understand the methods I will provide you later, let''s first go back to the beginning. You, named, at first, Arthur and given the last name of your creator, Bilgart. When you came into existence, your soul was whole but through a complicated series of events, it was split in two and one became Sol''khin after being influenced by The Black Devil''s savage aura and his defected ''children''. Up to that point, your cycles have yet to begin and time was advancing smoothly, as it should be. The ''Glitch'' I mentioned is the conjunction of two reincarnations happening to the same person, meaning that when Patrick Jones appeared on Earth and offered you another life, the cycle began. When you accepted his offer and ended your life, it disrupted the balance because even if you refused, you would still have been reincarnated. Maybe you''re unaware of this but Wolfram Sakimoto and Leiu had forced Fate to reincarnate your soul in Astria so there was no need for Patrick''s interference. Basically, the first cycle was created when Fate''s powers and the Patrick''s Symmetric Wheel of Reincarnation clashed. However, even that is not enough to form a real ''Glitch'', or a loop, some would call it. The catalyst was something many call it ''Luck'' but it''s really an unfortunate coincidence. Being reborn as Parasite instead of so many other options was the finisher, the thing which started and caused all the rest. Now, let me jump to the second cycle, which is tied to the first one but wasn''t born the same way, per se. The second cycle is because of Zodiak''s large impact on the timeline, which caused a successive loop to contain the first one, it can be interpreted as a self-protection measure put by the world, the existence itself. Are you following me?" "Yes, please continue." "Cycles are like holes inside a straight and flat ruler, for example. It can be patched up, filled up, replaced, and so onˇ­ The best way is to create another timeline but that is a very difficult yet effective and safe method. Now, for your case, you can break out using many ways. I''m sure you have been told this by your other self but one of the method is for an outsider to break the cycles when it''s the second one is beginning as, at that time, the link between the two is at its weakest. There is also death, by dying at not the right time and place, it can break the cycles but you''ll cease to exist, of course. I''m sure you know this is not the first time ''you'' come here and the Garden of Words is not a place restricted by Time and Space so the repeating cycles do not affect it neither does it reset anything. You''ve come here many times before and the questions are, more or less, the same as the last time. It''s the same for the answers I''m giving you. Also, let me tell you a bonus thing unrelated to your questions. The Arthur of the first cycles, albeit failing, still managed to achieve an inconceivable thing and made it so that a certain person is like me." "Like you? What do you mean?" "I told you that I''m not bound by Time and Space so I retain the memories of all previous cycles and everything that precedes them. Understand what you will and if you can''t come to a conclusion then forget what I said." Chapter 673 - 618: Four Methods "Now, let me tell you about the ''easiest and best'' methods as you requested." The voice cut down for a short time, leaving Arthur thinking about what was previously said, especially the last part. "Excluding the unfeasible and difficult methods, there remains four doable ones. The first; Acquire the Pot of Blasphemy, it''s an Advanced Zen Treasure owned by the System, it could be found in the Andromeda Galaxy, Star ZTTIB-1094, Northern Post, Artificial Construction, Room 451. It allows the user to store their memories there for an infinite amount of time. Right before the second cycle ends, put your memories there and use the Wish Star to send it back to the ''you'' which is beginning the first cycle and, like that, you''ll be able to relive your life with all your memories intact. Then, when Patrick Jones appears, refuse his proposal. The reincarnation tool he used or will use, requires the user''s approval so there will be no mishaps. "The Second method; Beyond the Exalted Realm stage, there are two others, the Mysterious Realm, and the Mortality Transcendent Realm. The last known realm to cultivator can be considered unachievable as there has been no one in the last 187,000 years who reached it and in total, only 6 stepped into it. You can reach that stage before the end of the second cycle. I calculate that you need to possess 12,000 Overgods or 3,000 Exalted Gods to reach it, however, that number far exceeds the number of currently existing Overgods or Exalted Gods but there is an alternative. Possess every living being you can find, whether it''s a mortal, a player, a cultivator, it doesn''t matter as you''ll still get stats. Technically speaking, the peak of cultivation or the apex of the physical body doesn''t differ much, just that the former can a bit more things than the latter, but the two can help you break the cycles through sheer force. Time can be bent and broken through several means and one of them is absolute power. If you follow this method, the alternative, I mean, you''ll need to non-stop possess everything in your way for about two and a half years. It will have a big toll on your body but, with enough time, you''ll learn to adapt to the overbearingness of uncontrollable power, just like Moriah did in the past. "If I find cultivators that reached the Mysterious Realm, how many do I need to reach the Mortal Transcendent Realm?" "No less than twenty but the problem remains the same, there are less than twenty living cultivators at the Mysterious Realm. Retrospectively, there have been fewer people that reached the Mysterious Realm than the Mortal Transcend Realm. It sounds illogical but amongst the aforementioned six, four of them reached the apex through exterior means such as unique heritages, powerful Zen Treasures, or inheritances from The Twelve, Dragons, and so on. Point is, this method is the fastest and safest but it''s mind-numbing and is highly reliant on ''Lucky'' encounters, if they can be called so. For mortals, you''ll need 497,517,488,158 of them to achieve that stage, or 192,000,482,766 Spirit Realm Cultivators, or 85,887,524,916 Heavenly Realm Cultivators, or 76,480,532,457 Deity Realm Cultivators, or 62,899,007,002 Immortal Realm Cultivators, or 58,500,600,200 Divine Realm cultivators, or 45,101,908,764 God Realm Cultivators, or 37,837,921,666 Sovereign Realm Cultivators, or 11,258,982,982,100 God Monarch Cultivators." "That much?" "500 billion mortals is nothing compared to their overall number, it''s barely 0.1%. Furthermore, you''re not going to kill them, just possess them so, when choosing this method, I did consider your morals into account." "If it''s about saving my life and my close ones, I don''t mind killing innocents." "You may not mind but others will. 0.1% is an insignificant amount but a large portion may turn into future influencers which will turn the course of time. I am here only to answer questions and not to judge your actions or gauge your determination. Whatever happens on the outside has nothing to do with the Garden. The third method; Do nothing. Just wait. It''s a simple method that requires non-interference with the cycles. You''re not the first to be stuck in one or more cycles and there is an explainable reason for their end or disappearance. Whether it''s after ten or a thousand more cycles, there come at a time where the Space-Time Continuum will make a move and correct the re-occurring imbalance, it''s just a matter of when. I give answers but I cannot predict the future so I cannot tell on which cycle it will happen. However, when it finally happens, everything will reset and you''ll regain the memories of all of the cycles and will be set free. The fourth method: Process through Imagination, also known as Physical Ideology or The P-I effect. It''s a very rare ability that is not well-studied by the outside people due to its rarity. It allows the user to transform his thoughts or imagination into a physical manifestation. For example, Edward Ortberg, the man who appeared next to you not long ago, his scissors are able to cut Karma. As for you, you''ll be able to create something that will break the cycles. Usually, every one or so million years, someone with incredible talent will be able to obtain it but your case is special. By possessing different monsters and living beings, you acquire a bit of their talent and, right now, you have more than enough to achieve ''Process through Imagination''. You just have to have the right mindset and the perfect conditions, such as a quiet place filled with rich Dark Matter or Primordial Energy, a worry-free mind, and absolutely zero distractions. Those are the fourth methods but there is a fifth one, which is a bit harder. Secure enough Primordial Energy then blow it right after you crack a turbulent Spatial tear. I didn''t speak of this method first because of the difficulty of acquiring Primordial Energy, nonetheless, its success rate is very highˇ­ 96.204%, to be exact." When the voice stopped talking, Arthur stood there dazed for some time before speaking. "I didn''t expect such a detailed explanation. Thanks." "There is no need to thank me. All questions asked here warrant detailed answers, no matter how vague or absurd they may be. You may ask your third question if you already thought about it." "I want to know where is Shen Shen and if she''s safe or not." Arthur already achieved what he wanted and the only thing weighing on his mind is that cheerful and curious blue-haired girl who he got very close to and wanted to keep safe. She can be naive sometimes but she''s also innocent and still hasn''t seen the real world, which is why Arthur sacrificed this golden opportunity for her. Even though Zaarae also jumped into the pit, there''s no guarantee that she found Shen Shen. It''s better to be safe than sorry. The Garden spent the same time as usual processing the question before giving him a brief description of the girl. "Shen Shen, half-human, half-demon. 8 years old, blue-hair, 112cm in height, holder of the Origin Water, and the holder of the Eternal Blue Soul. Birth parents are Arthur MoonStar and Lucy MoonStar." At first, Arthur listened carefully but when he heard the last part, his pupils constricted and his body intensely trembled. "Birth parents? What are you talking about?" "As I said, she is your biological daughter." "How is that possible? I don''t have a d-" He stopped mid-sentence as he remembered that Lucy was pregnant back on Riarravar, however, she told him that she lost the child as she ended up dying and reanimating back inside the second body he created for her. ''How was she born then?'' Arthur thought to himself but didn''t ask the Garden, which may consider that question as the third one instead of the other one. "Do you want to know the specifics about her birth? I can include it in the answer if you want." "Please doˇ­ and thank you." "No thanks are needed, again. When your wife, Lucy MoonStar, perished in the Parasite Realm, the Black Devil saved the unborn child and increased its growth, which is why your daughter looks older than she actually is. Furthermore, as she''s half-demon, she was bound to physically grow fast regardless of The Black Devil''s interference. She was taken by him and roamed the world until the day she met you, not long ago. My answers are nothing but facts so do not doubt their authenticity. It may have come as a surprise to you but, as it''s related to your third question, I deemed it necessary to tell you, especially after you further expressed your willingness to hear the whole truth." Chapter 674 - 619: Daughter The voice stopped talking, letting Arthur rest for some time and process what he just heard. He looked so shocked, his face incredibly pale and his body shaking intensely, clearly showcasing his turbulent emotions. Arthur managed to calm himself down and raised his head, his eyes a bit teary. "Please answer my question." The Garden didn''t delay and told him what he wanted a second later. "Shen Shen MoonStar was thrown into the pit by the Shapeshifter Alister Rosw. That pit acts like a portal which sends the person in one of two places, either the place they deeply want to go to or the place they inwardly or outwardly want to avoid forever. In your daughter''s case, it was the latter, unfortunately. Sometimes, the place people end up is non-existent or non-accessible, such as a nightmare or even a separate timeline, it all depends on the individual and their personal thoughts, fears, and beliefs. In most cases, it''s either Heaven or Hell, it can even be this place, the Garden of Words. Shen Shen MoonStar is currently in another plane of existence, totally different from the multiverse you exist in. That place is called the Binary Dimension. I cannot determine if she''s safe or not but I can tell you she''s alive." "How can I go to that dimension?" "I''m sorry but you''ve used all three questions." Arthur clenched his fists but didn''t insist as he knew that he won''t be answered. "Perhaps if you manage to break out of your cycles, I can tell you." The man raised his head and looked at the book standing atop the short pillar, his expression complicated and unreadable. After a while, he bent his back and respectfully bowed before turning around and leaving this isolated place, which automatically opened and let him out. ˇ­ "Did you hear what you wanted to hear?" Asked Quhea as she saw the grim expression plastered on the parasite''s face. Arthur stiffly nodded his head and bid her farewell as his time is limited inside the Garden. Just as he was about to step out, the disembodied voice rang inside his ears for the last time. "Arthur MoonStar, I wish you the best." **** When he came back to his senses, Arthur was laying inside the dark cave, his body sweating buckets but, soon, a refreshingly cool sensation spread across his hole body, making him feel much more comfortable. He changed into a new set of clothes and teleported back to the spirit boat, where Radolf was waiting for him. The red-haired youth bowed to his master and said. "Master, a few things happened in your absence. Firstˇ­" The Mythical being briefed him about Edward''s situation then what Midolf did, to which Arthur just nodded without saying anything. After Radolf finished talking, his master retired to his room and told him to call Fariya and the roc as soon as possible. The Parasite spent almost a day in his room, thinking about all the Garden had said. The method to break out of the cycles, how to evolve, how he granted someone the ability to remember all the past cycles, how Shen Shen is actually his daughter. Now he understood why he felt a strange closeness to the little girl and why he got close to her so fast despite meeting her not long ago. The more he thought about the little girl, the more pained he became, especially now that the truth came out. To think his daughter was next to him all along but he was oblivious and didn''t protect her well enough. Arthur regretted it so much but, in the end, there was nothing he could do but grief and try to overcome the sadness, hoping that he''ll be able to find her in the future. ˇ­ The very next day, Arthur departed from that area, heading directly to Astria, where he, the original Arthur, and the second clone were supposed to meet after four months of their separation. He learned that he was inside that separate boundary for close to months, adding to that the time he spent in the prison and in the Ramel Kingdom, it adds up to three months, more or less. He just needs to join back with the original Arthur and fuse back with him so that his memories become his and he evolves then breaks out of the cycles. He was sure that, just like him, the other two Arthur powered-up two and with Makaze back in his possession, he''ll become much stronger, strong enough to become a true powerhouse even in a place like the Divine Planet or the Cloud Sea Universe as a whole. ****** At the same time, Arthur was coming back to Astria with Fariya and the two mythical beings, many things happened in the Cloud Sea Universe, most notably the complete annihilation of the White Specter Clan. The Cloud Sea Sect initiated a very bold move and sent their best forces to the specter''s ancestral land, stopping at nothing and ending up slaughtering the whole clan. With the Matriarch, Katrina, absent, their assault was easier than expected. Moreover, with the exception of one person, they took no prisoners. The one they caught? None other than the Matriarch''s daughter! Angelina. She was being used as a bait to finish the last person, who''s Katrina. She''s a really strong person and unless they kill her too, she''ll cause them a real headache in the future, especially if she gets stronger. Her execution was set a week after her capture and although many were against the ruthlessness of Cloud Sea, none dared to voice their thoughts out loud. Apparently, the reason behind the mass-slaughter was because, allegedly, The White Specter Clan was secretly working and assisting the parasites, which is something the inhabitants of the Divine Planet cannot tolerate, or so they said. On the decisive day, Angelina, chained neck to toe, was put in a high pedestal, before the citizens of the Cloud Sea Empire. Moreover, the Emperor himself appeared and was the one proudly carrying the execution. The silver-haired woman had an ugly scar on her face and her body was bloodied, her cultivation crippled and her face pale like that of a corpse''s. The gracefulness and beauty she originally had were all gone, replaced by despair and sadness. ˇ­ "Is this really the end?" Angelina looked down at the white ground, she was sitting opposite of Claud, who sighed as he saw her in this condition. "Does it have to be?" He sat next to her and held her hand, causing her to lift her head and stare back at him, a soft and a bit forced smile was on her face. "Although I cannot stop the execution, it doesn''t mean I can''t save you." He tightly held her hand and made her stand up. He waved his free hand, changing the endless white space into a green plane and a clear blue sky. "I can sometimes predict the future but it''s always not mine, nevertheless, there will come a day when I''ll be able to properly reincarnate you soˇ­" He smiled at her and continued, "Won''t you stay with me here for a bit? I know of your reluctance and attachment to the outside world. How dearly you love your mother and sister but all things end, one way or another." An inordinate amount of time passed before Angelina slowly nodded her head. "Alright then. You''re unjustly killed so, as your husband, it''s my duty to retaliate, right?" The man burst out in laughter and suddenly brought her into his arms, hugging her tightly. At the same time, in the outside world, the Emperor of Cloud Sea unsheathed his sword and unhesitantly stabbed Angelina''s chest, killing her on the spot. It was supposed to be a glorious moment but none of the citizens cheered. The place was eerily silent as the Emperor smirked and whipped his sword to get rid of the fresh blood on the edges. When everyone thought this was the end, an almost inaudible ticking sound came out of the dead Angelina. The ticking got louder and louder until it reverberated across the whole capital city then the whole Divine Planet. At first, the Emperor frowned and crouched down to inspect but very quickly, his expression worsened and he hastily jumped back but it was far too late to escape the incoming doom. The ARK had activated its self-destruction mechanism, unleashing a devastating bomb, so strong that it annihilated the capital within seconds, killing everyone. The barriers and the powerhouses which were quick enough to defend themselves could do nothing but stare at the red shock wave coming straight at them and disintegrating them into nothingness. The bomb didn''t destroy the whole planet, however, the famous capital of the Cloud Sea Empire, along with the Emperor and many more people from the Cloud Sea Sect were killed on that incident. Close to a hundred million people perished due to the sudden explosion, which, later on, was said to originate from inside of Angelina. Many saw it as God''s retaliation against the Emperor, who cruelly massacred the White Specters. In addition to the citizens of the capital and the people from the Cloud Sea Empire and Sect, there were many other powerhouses visiting places which ended up dying too so many factions directed their wrath as Katrina and started hunting her down. As for Lucy, very few knew where she was or if she was even alive, plus, her bad relationship with her family and how all of that caused a bloody war. ***** A few hundred kilometers from the Capital of Cloud Sea, which turned into a charred black land with a constant grey fog, a toddler was traveling with his merchant father. They were taking a break and the toddler was playing around in the grass only to stumble upon a circular black object, like a disk with many incomprehensible scribed on it. "Fatherˇ­ father! I found something!" He picked it up and waved it around, proud to have found something that looked exquisite and pricy. Chapter 675 - Recap and Info The purpose of this chapter is to explain a few things and tell some lore to get more knowledge about the multiverse and so on. ˇ­ Astria: The name of the last living Titan, which took the form of a world and was hidden in an abandoned area somewhere in the System Universe by none other than the Joker. In this existing timeline (the present), there are two Astria. One was brought from the future using the elven time scroll obtained by Zodiak in the past and used by Yamak in the future (with the help of the Water Region Ruler, also known as Shen Shen). The future Astria is the one Arthur got reincarnated in and where most of the beginning of the story unfolds. The current Astra is also in the System Universe and was visited by the future Arthur, the Joker, Lolitta, and Yamak. When the Divine Beasts struck almost all the worlds, stars, and planets in the Cloud Sea Universe and the System Universe, the two Astria were attacked and the present one had it easier than the future one, which Arthur protected. This explains why Arthur heard of the catastrophe back in the past. Basicallyˇ­ Catastrophe hits Astria then ten thousand years pass and we''re in the future, where there''s the Eighteen Region. That Astria got sent back in time, which is why its people speak of the past catastrophe, which happened some time after Arthur''s reincarnation. Also, most of the people of Astria are from the future and that includes, Jackob, Robin, Anastassia, Sonia, etcˇ­ Lucy had special circ.u.mstances and was thrown to the future Astria (which exists in the present) due to an incident so she doesn''t exist in the future. Eighteen Regions, A peek ten thousand years later. The eighteen regions were created a bit more than ten thousand years after Arthur''s first reincarnation. Little is known about their locations and rulers. Shen Shen rules the Water Region. Anastassia Rules the Death Region and is also still Death itself. **** At the end of Volume 11, Arthur conjured two clones identical to him in stats and skills. While he went with Lucy to retrieve the Dark Blade, Makaze, one of the clones went to the Heaven and Hell Universe to break out Radolf and Midolf then reach the Garden of Words while the remaining clone, accompanied by Astrith, went back to Astria The A.d.u.l.t Tree activated the oath and urgently called him back as the Angels were preparing to attack Astria in order to get the Tree and revive ''God''. In Volume 12, Arthur''s clone successfully reached the Garden of Words and asked three questions. He ended up learning that Shen Shen, the girl he met in his travels was actually his biological daughter, whom he had thought she died when the pregnant Lucy perished right after leaving Riarravar. Zaarae unknowingly went back to her realm, where the war between the Parasites and the Cthulhu was getting bloody and much worse. Despite her desire to accompany the man she loves, the Empress was forced to stay in her territory and manage things before her kin is slaughtered. The Black Devil, Timos, along with Vyncent, also jumped into a mysterious pit, the same one Zaarae used, and never returned. Shen Shen, Arthur''s daughter, early on, was kidnapped by the shapeshifter and thrown into the same pit. As per the Garden''s words, the little girl ended up in a separate plane of existence called the Binary Dimension, a place inaccessible even by The Twelve. Edward Ortberg, an infamous serial-killer of the 20th century, who was locked into the prison due to the angel''s inability to throw him into hell because of his Heaven''s Mandate soul, was jail broken by Angelina, Lucy''s sister. Coincidentally or not, the Frog of Destiny appeared before him and altered his fate, bringing him next to Arthur only to appear for a second time and transport him to Astria, where he showcased his strategic skills and unrivaled intelligence. The mortal man was appointed as the only commander of the MoonStar Sect army and led a small army of undead to defeat both the Naga and Pigolo Tribe. Although his feats were worthy of praise, his actions brought unwanted attention to the sect''s newly established branch located in the wasteland of Green-Leaf (The strongest Middle-Realm in the Cloud Sea Universe.) The White Specter Clan was assaulted and slaughtered by the Cloud Sea Sect. Angelina was the sole survivor, she was captured and publicly executed in front of the empire''s citizens, however, right after her death, a lethal bomb razed the capital of the Divine Planet to the ground, killing millions in the process and ushering the beginning of a new era and, perhaps, a rise of a new ruler for the Cloud Sea Universe. With the new information obtained from the Garden, Arthur''s clone set out to Astria, where he agreed to meet with the original body four months after their separation, however, it is uncertain whether the original body already returned or is still retrieving Evil Wind. ******* Volume 13 : A Hand of Ice and A Heart of fire. The next volume will focus on Arthur and Lucy''s adventures in the Rose Sea, a dangerous region situated between the Cloud Sea Universe and the System Universe. The Oath of the Dark Blade keeps calling its owner and it''s originating from the deep sea, which was uniquely colored pink. ***** Bonus Lore : After talking to The Garden, Arthur learned that ''X''''s real name is actually Patrick Jones. The Cultivation Realms are : Mortal Realm => Spirit Realm => Heavenly Realm => Deity Realm => Immortal Realm => Divine Realm => God Realm => Sovereign Realm => God Monarch Realm => Overgod Realm => Exalted God Realm => Mysterious Realm => Transcendent Mortal Realm. Players above Lv10,000 are as strong as Overgods. Players above Lv15,000 are equal to peak Exalted Gods. Players over Lv20,000 are stronger than Cultivators at the Mysterious Realm but weaker than those at the Transcendent Realm. Star Practitioners, which are common in the Heaven and Hell Universe, use the power of stars to strengthen themselves, it is also called Astral Force. When someone absorbs more than 100 purple stars, they can contend against Mysterious Realm Cultivators. Due to his nature and ominously strange Dark Magic, Zodiak was never considered a human and has been listed as one of the mythical beings. Shortly after the fall of the Ramel Kingdom and the obliteration of the royal castle, the mythical being, Sun Wukong, took charge of the place and stabilized it before taking control of it. Chapter 676 - 620: The Rose Sea "Is it far?" Asked Lucy as she gazed at the pink-colored sea, which seemed harmless, contrary to the rumors they heard about it on the way here. "It''s definitely in this sea but I can''t pinpoint the exact location." Makaze was constantly calling for him and the closer he got, the more intense the callings became. They were standing at the edge of a steep cliff and looking at the calm sea. This place was a boundary between two universes so there were no mortals here and as it''s dangerous, not many merchants are willing to pass through it. Furthermore, you can fly above this sea so sh.i.p.s are rendered useless in this environment. The two didn''t linger there for too long, they took flight, heading forward, where the blade''s signal was coming from. Actually, both Arthur and Lucy knew very little about this place but they had enough confidence to defend themselves if dangerous arises along the way. Despite it being called a boundary, the Rose Sea is unimaginably vast stretching for millions upon millions of kilometers. Moreover, there are many inhabited islands scattered all over, some ruled by tyrants or rare races and others are simply resting places. "How about this?" Lucy, who was sitting in front of Arthur aboard the flying Dark Cloud, grinned and flashed her new hair, which was colored pink, just like the sea below them. "Hmm, it''s beautiful but I prefer silver." "Is that so?" She pouted and after pondering for a few seconds, she changed into a more ambiguous pose before speaking again, "Not even like this?" She was wearing a long robe but the way she was sitting, her thighs were exposed, she even purposely unbuttoned the top, showing a bit of her snow-white skin to Arthur. The man wryly smiled and turned his gaze away while replying, "If you keep this up then there''s no telling what will happen to you." "Ah! Please tell me." She leaned closer to him, her hot breath brushing against his neck, making his heart beat faster. Before he could do anything, the woman planted her lips on his neck and lightly bit down but, surprisingly, Arthur showed great restraint and only hugged her without delving into the ''uncharted territories''. ˇ­ Four hours later, the Dark Cloud arrived at what seemed to be a small archipelago. There seemed to be a sizable amount of people present, players, and cultivators, though the latters were more numerous. The couple jumped from the Dark Cloud and landed on the coast, one or two kilometers away from a medium-sized settlement. The reason behind their stop is none other than Lucy, who needed a relatively safe place to absorb the rewards she received the Red Tower. She already started merging with the Ice Phoenix''s drop but haven''t fully finished the process. Arthur''s sense was able to cover the entirety of the island. None of the people present could threaten him as the strongest individual was an old man at the peak of the God Monarch Realm. Although he considered all the rest as weaklings, they were still Sovereigns, Gods, and High-leveled players, nevertheless, they cannot threaten the parasite. Everyone was split into groups and there was at least one God Monarch protecting them as the atmosphere around the Rose Sea can affect the passing travelers. It seemed to have a permanent effect on one''s mind but a simple Dark Barrier was more than enough to negate that. The duo didn''t head to the town and, instead, swiftly built a decent and habitable place inside an abandoned cave. Arthur decorated the place with luxurious and comfortable furniture and built a solid formation which amassed Mana for Lucy, who sat cross-legged on the bed and started meditating. It was a critical time for her and there must be no distractions. Unfortunately, trouble always follows the parasite, who was woken up of his meditation the very next day of their arrival. His form blurred then vanished, appearing a couple of hundred meters outside of the cave. It was a dry forest with a ground that lacked grass and trees that had no leafs or fruits. The parasite, in his human appearance, gazed at three people barely fifty meters away. They couldn''t even sense him as they were preoccupied with their own troubles or desires. The group of three was composed of two males and one female. One of the males was a young man while the other was a middle-aged man who seemed to be in his late forties, though his real age is older, of course. As for the woman, she could be considered a beauty, her body was voluptuous and she was wearing lots of gold jewelry in her neck, ankle, and wrists. "You bitch!" The youngster slapped the living daylights of the woman, causing her to fall on the ground, her cheek totally red. Arthur knew that she was stronger than the young man but she didn''t retaliate, probably afraid of the other man, who was a God Monarch. "You dare trick me?" The youth showed no mercy, he mounted the woman and slapped her face again. "So what if I slept with another man? It''s not like I''m yours!" "You''re still talking?" He slapped her a third time then ripped her clothes, apparently going to do the unspeakable as his eyes were burning with l.u.s.t. The middle-aged man was crossing his arms and calmly watching from the side. The woman noticed what the youth intended to do and was about to struggle only to feel an inexplicable heaviness inside her body. Her cultivation was suppressed by the youth''s guardian, who was at the God Monarch Realm. "Don''t think of resisting me! I''ll play you then feed your corpse to the fish!" Within a minute, the young man ripped all her clothes, exposing her bulging b.r.e.a.s.ts and fair skin. He was so engrossed in his l.u.s.t that, unlike his guardian, didn''t notice the arrival of an unfamiliar black-clothed man. The man, Bradaris, frowned and stared at the incoming Arthur. He couldn''t gauge the other party''s cultivation, making him feel slightly nervous, still, he softly smiled and politely said, "Senior, please do not mind this." "I''m not going to mind this. Go do this somewhere else." Arthur pointed at the way opposite of the cave and coldly spoke to the God Monarch, who frowned but didn''t retort. Only when the parasite spoke did the youth sober up and turned his head. His genitals were already exposed and he was ready to begin. "Save me! Please save me! Senior!" The woman loudly shrieked, her face full of tears as she begged Arthur, who didn''t even flinch. Involving himself in these minor problems will lead to nothing but more trouble. He appeared here because Lucy was in a half-enlightenment state and even a bit of sound, like the shouts of this woman, can disturb her and hinder her progress. Basically, it''s better that she meditated in a totally quiet and peaceful place. "Save me! I beg of you! PLEASE!" "Shut up!" The young man slapped her again, causing her lips to become bloody. She groaned and tried to open her mouth again but he blocked it. "Didn''t you hear me? Leave this place." "Right away, Senior." The middle-aged man was about to order the youth to contain himself only for the latter, who was lost in his desires, to loudly shout. "Senior! I''m just going to finish real soonˇ­" Unfortunately, the youth wasn''t able to finish his sentence. His head dropped to the ground and his limp and lifeless body fell on the startled woman. "If you don''t leave this second, you''ll be next." Shocked to see his nephew die so suddenly, Bradaris was infuriated but he didn''t dare do anything. He quickly collected his thoughts and left the area, not even minding the woman. After seeing the God Monarch leave, Arthur vanished, appearing in the cave again. As for the woman, she regained her cultivation and also swiftly escaped this place before more enemies arrive. ˇ­ Chapter 677 - 621: Instant Death "Are you sure it''s here? I don''t sense anyone." A broad-shouldered man with long black hair asked Bradaris, his young brother, as he surveyed the place. The only thing here was his son''s corpse, which decomposed within a day due to the unique environment of the Rose Sea. The place was as quiet as ever with no signs of Arthur. The two brothers advanced a bit more only for a catastrophe to befall on them. When Bradaris explained what happened to his older brother, who''s also the dead young man''s father, he just said that he couldn''t gauge the man''s cultivation. The father guessed that Arthur must be a peak God Monarch who''s also forming his Celestial body, after all, real Overgods are hard to come by, especially in remote places such as this small island. The ground below the two suddenly turned jet black and thick chains sprung from it, wrapping around them and sucking them below within seconds. The two couldn''t even cry before they perished. Arthur stood a few meters away, his sense covering the whole island, trying to see if they had more allies but it didn''t seem to be the case, which made him a bit relieved that no more people will come. Sadly, the very same day, late at night, the woman from yesterday appeared near the cave again but, this time, she was accompanied by a girl and two men, one of them being an overgod, unexpectedly. The woman was dressed more appropriately than yesterday and looked much better. "Alda, if this man is as strong as you claimed then we could use his help." The Overgod, a short man with brown hair and a thick beard, spoke to the woman, who stood before the group and looked at the darkness surrounding them. "Sen-" The woman took a deep breath and was about to shout at the top of her lungs but she was immediately cut-off. A suffocating pressure enveloped everyone, including the Overgod. A large silhouette made its appearance, causing all of them to turn pale, especially the short man. The beast had a beautiful white hair and golden lines on its body, its mouth big enough to devour three to four of them whole. Its height was over three meters and its Divine aura could clearly be felt by the terrified and unwelcome visitors. The monstrosity standing before them caused them to be rooted, unable to even flee. The Overgod was the only one who acted, he retrieved a one-handed hammer from his storage ring and jumped at the White Tiger but after merely two steps, he was immobilized. His legs were caught between dozens of black vines and even when he tried getting rid of them, even more came out. In just a few seconds, the Overgod was unarmed and wrapped into the vines from head to toe. "I clearly told you to leave yet you boldly came back. Don''t expect to leave this place alive." "Senior! Please have mercy!" The woman started begging again, his eyes teary and incredibly pale. The others didn''t even let out a sound as they shook in their boots, heads down, unable to look at the horrifying Divine Beast, which appeared out of nowhere. If they initially knew a powerful beast inhabited this forest, no one would dare to trespass, not even Overgods. The woman hoped to get Arthur''s help and get rid of her enemies but her decision will apparently cost her life and the others''. "Mfmhg" The man wrapped in vines tried to talk but all he let out were pitiful and incomprehensible groans. Slowly but surely, the vines were tightening around his body and breaking his bones. He tried to resist by erupting his energy and maximizing the efficiency of his technique but nothing worked. He didn''t know that the moment the vines made contact with his skin, Dark Magic invaded his body, infiltrated his Meridians, and started weakening him. His mental was also crumbling little by little. The second Arthur was about to finish them off, he heard a familiar voice from behind. "It''s fine, just let them go." A graceful figure wearing a beautiful scarlet dress walked from behind the white tiger. She had long silver hair, her eyes, one crimson and the other sky-blue, making her look more mesmerizing, especially in the darkness of the night, she was like an otherworldly fairy. Her sudden appearance captivated the woman and her group, which was mostly made of young people, with the exception of the Overgod, of course. Delighted that Lucy managed to finish meditating and seemed to have gotten much stronger, Arthur didn''t finish off the strangers and turned his whole attention to his wife. The white tiger distorted before changing into a man wearing black leather clothes. A faint but noticeable cold aura was emanating from Lucy, proof that she fully merged with the ice phoenix'' blood. Furthermore, through his special eye, Arthur could see a golden fire burning inside of the White Specter. This fire''s aura wasn''t as intense as her Yin, nevertheless, it still belonged to the Golden Crow. "Why are you here?" Although she told Arthur to spare him, Lucy never looked positively at the women sticking close to her husband, it''s partially due to her over-protective nature and the way she easily and quickly gets jealous. "S-senior!" The woman bowed toward Lucy, somehow managing to control her fear and shock. The white tiger literally changed back into a human before her eyes, plus, the silver-haired woman looked no weaker than the man beside her. "I, it''s nothing! Please excuse our intrusion!" The woman bowed again and began to retreat. The Overgods was also free of the vines, he deeply looked at Arthur then at Lucy before returning next to his group. He was an esteemed Overgods but lacked any kind of arrogance for he knew the difference between this mysterious couple and himself. The others didn''t know it but the way his body reactedˇ­ he was sure that the woman was an Exalted God, and a powerful one at that! Chills ran down his spines as he barely contained his emotions. If they could get these two to help them, all their problems will be easily solved, however, it''s never easy to gain the favor of such strong individuals, especially after you start at the wrong foot. Chapter 678 - 622: Retour Poisson Lucy was floating two meters above the pink-colored sea, her eyes lingering on the spot Arthur dove in three minutes ago. Another sixty seconds crept by before Arthur appeared next to her, drenched in water and a bit pale-faced. He quickly dried himself before clicking his tongue and saying, "After all, it''s not possible. I tried both Dark Magic and the Hell flames but they had no effect on the water. I can''t see even see properly." He shook his head then looked at an island several kilometers away from them. It has been four days since their encounter with the Bradaris and the woman''s group. They continued advancing and getting closer to Makaze but they reached a point where they have to go under the pink sea, which, apparently, wasn''t feasible without the help of a common fish known as the ''Retour-poisson''. It''s a massive fish able to travel freely inside this dangerous region and can coat itself and the passengers on it so they can explore what''s below these calm yet dangerous waters. It''s considered as a domestic beast and many managed to train it and hire it for travelers for an exorbitant sum. Arthur had previously thought that his incredible defense and his large arsenal of skills would allow him to swim freely. However, it wasn''t the case, unfortunately. Even after he transformed into a shark, fish, or even a whale, he would still lose Health at an alarming rate and his Mental Power would decrease exponentially. Forced to imitate the other travelers, the couple landed on a relatively large island that had a bustling city in its center. The island was called ''The Whale''s mouth'' and it''s, apparently, ruled by a famous organization known especially in the System Universe. This organization is separate from the system and its advanced spacesh.i.p.s and robots, nonetheless, it has a big amount of players working for it, there are even cultivators willing to do some odd jobs for some special treasures or access to certain forbidden places, either in the Rose Sea or other danger zones. This organization, also known as the Bull''s Eye Enterprise has stationed two overseers in the Whale''s mouth, though they were mainly in charge of selling or renting the Retour Poisson to travelers or selling rare metals and ores. It''s not a strategical place as there weren''t many merchants but, surprisingly, there are a lot of rich people that pass by this place and, more often than not, they tend to hire the Retour Poisson. Arthur and Lucy headed directly towards a fifteen story-tall building that belonged to the Bull''s Eye Entreprise. The building was luxuriously decorated and its interior was no less extravagant with a red carpet covering the whole floor and well-clothed clerks standing at the entrance and welcoming the guests, or so they were called. "Welcome, guests." A young girl with short red hair bowed toward the parasite and the white specter, a sweet smile plastered on her innocent face. "We''d like to-" Arthur couldn''t even finish his sentence as Lucy cut him off and said, "We want to buy a Retour Poisson." It has to be known that the price for renting the fish is way less than actually buying it. Only the filthy rich people would want to waste so much money on something they''ll use once or twice in their whole lives. Though the girl was momentarily surprised, she quickly collected herself and respectfully told them to follow her. She led them to a wide underground room that resembled an aquarium and, from there, a bespectacled man replaced her. He behaved politely as he guided the couple around and showed them multiple types of Retour Poisson, all trapped in an aquarium. In fact, some of the larger ones couldn''t fit here so he brought a catalog and explained everything to the couple. "Retrospectively, the older variants of Retour Poissons are more expensive but are more durable and can dive up to 2,000 kilometers deep." "What''s the best one you''ve got?" The man sighed and shook his head, "Unfortunately, the best Retour Poisson was rented just an hour ago. If you want, I can give you their contact information and you can negotiate. Also, we have another Retour Poisson which is slightly worse but can still the job. Its price is 56 million Gold or 1.2 million Low Red Spirit Stones or 95,000 High Red Spirit Stones." Unlike the Cloud Sea Universe, Gold is very relevant in the System Universe as the operating System itself offers its players many things that can only be bought with Gold. It may be a common thing in other places but gold is still gold and none can deny the things it is capable to buy. Furthermore, there is another currency used in the System Universe and it''s called S-Ch.i.p.s. They are, quite literally, thumb-sized ch.i.p.s that can slightly enhance stats either permanently or for a specific duration of time. They are very hard to come by and are usually installed in the robots procured by the System. "How deep can the available fish dive?" asked Arthur "1,700 kilometers." Before deciding, he turned toward Lucy, who remained as expressionless as ever. After pondering for a few breaths, Arthur spoke again, "I reckon that''s enough. We''ll buy it." "Right away, sir." The man retrieved a small stack of doc.u.ments from his storage and briefly explained the buying procedures before getting Arthur to sign. The gold was transferred from Arthur to the man right after that and, from what the clerk said, the Retour Poisson will be brought back soon, they just have to wait for a little bit. 56 million gold is truly a big amount but for Arthur, who has an infinite amount thanks to Zodiak, it''s still an insignificant amount. Furthermore, he can use the Gold Attribute, which is an extremely rare Magic, which he had gotten from only one of all the hosts he possessed ever since his reincarnation, this can prove how hard it is come by a person who''s able to convert Nether Energy or Mana into Gold. Excluding the Gold Magic, Arthur can also use Zodiak''s ability to create gold from nothingness. It relies on Dark Mana and is more efficient than Gold Magic, however, he won''t need to use it anytime soon as the mountains of gold coins in his storage amounts to a mind-numbingly absurd amount. As the couple was patiently waiting for the clerk to come back with the Retour Poisson, another group of people was led inside this underground aquarium by the same girl as before. Arthur and Lucy were chatting with each other, paying no heed to anyone else, but it wasn''t the case for the unexpected newcomers. The one leading them was a short man and a woman, both familiar to the parasite. They were the very same people Arthur was about to kill several days ago. Upon seeing the black-haired man and the silver-haired specter, the short Overgod''s expression drastically changed and his body froze, startling the female clerk, who thought she unknowingly said something wrong. The woman, called Alda, also stood rooted in her place, her two eyes locked on the chatting couple. For a few seconds, she forgot to breathe, and only when her young companion lightly nudged her did she snap out of it and avert her gaze. Whatever happened that day was still deeply engraved in her memories and the dread she felt still lingers, urging her to leave this place at once. In the end, both the Overgod and Alda managed to hold themselves back and follow the female clerk, who introduced the Retour Poissons. ˇ­ "What a coincidence, huh." Arthur mumbled with a low tone as he glanced at Alda, the Overgod, and the rest. Lucy also swept a quick glance at them but wasn''t interested, she even seemed to have forgotten who they were, showing how little she cared about that night''s events. "I thought you''d want to make a few friends in case you need them in the future." Said Lucy while caressing her marriage ring, which was a new and unintentional habit of hers. "I would indeed like to make a couple of friends but not just anyoneˇ­ preferably males too." "What do you mean?" Her eyes flashed with a cold light which soon disappeared. Arthur coughed and explained, "I meanˇ­ I want to make new friends but only males. Women are out of the question." "Good. As long as you know that." She smiled and nodded her head, not noticing Arthur''s weird grimace. Of course, Lucy wouldn''t really forbid him from making new friends, even if they were female but he knew she would feel uncomfortable. She feels threatened by any female that gets close to her husband and if someone besides her touched him, all hell would break loose, that''s for sure. In fact, Arthur considered her possessive nature of hers as a good thing, because just like in his case, he also would not like to see Lucy act very friendly with another man. Maybe it has to do with their tragic pasts and how they were betrayed, how they consider each other the only good thing in their lives and wouldn''t want it to be stolen by another person. Chapter 679 - 623: Unconscious "Out of the question." Arthur replied coldly to Alda, who slowly approached him after talking with the female clerk for a couple of minutes. He was able to clearly hear their conversation and easily guessed the woman''s motive. "Seniorˇ­" Words got stuck in her woman as she saw Arthur and Lucy get up and walk toward the bespectacled clerk who just came back with a storage ring containing the live Retour Poisson they just bought. The parasite received the ring and put the fish in his before leaving the underground room along with his wife. Alda and the short Overgod followed them while keeping their distance but just the second the couple left the building, they literally vanished, rendering the other group unable to trace them. "Alda, what do we do?" A young girl with short red hair nudged the distressed woman and asked with a low voice. "We need to dive a deep so an average fish won''t do the job. Although it''s dangerous, we must try to join with those seniors, no matter the cost." She cast a glare at the Overgod, who shrunk his neck and lowered his head. "Which means that you must forget your status and act accordingly, understood?" Alda was much weaker than the short man but he accepted her words and didn''t object at all, not after meeting Arthur head-on and experiencing his magic, which still lurks inside his body to this very moment. Unless the parasite personally and willingly removed the Dark Magic, it''ll remain inside his body forever, eating his energy and affecting his moral. "B-butˇ­ they could kill us!" Another youngling, a boy who looked no older than 15, also joined the conversation, appearing as afraid as the rest. "We''ll be killed either way, at least dying while trying is better!" Alda clenched her fists and continued walking and looking around, trying to locate Arthur and Lucy, who were already on the coast and ready to depart. ˇ­ "Arthur! What''s wrong?" Lucy supported Arthur, who was about to fall while holding his chest. His face was as pale as a sheet of paper and strangely convulsing. It happened so abruptly which startled her. "It''s Makaze!" He spat some blood and was gently laid on the ground by Lucy. She slowly poured a High-grade healing potion in his mouth, her expression very different from the usual cold and emotionless one. "What happened to Makaze?" "I can feel itˇ­" Black flames were covering his body then disappearing in a systematic matter. "Someone is trying to take itˇ­ they''re trying to break into the cave!" "Who are they?" "I don''t know but they''re strong!" Arthur coughed one final mouthful of blood before falling unconscious, black flames totally enveloped him, causing even Lucy to back away. They re-did the Soul Bind, however, those black flames originate from Evil Wind and it seemed to be both enraged and desperate as it repeatedly called to its partner. The very next day, early morning, Lucy was still standing three to four meters away from the still-unconscious Arthur. A small group of people landed a distance away and eyed the two before letting out a decent-sized scaled fish into the waters. It was docile as it waited for the passengers to board its back. Unfortunately for them, Lucy immediately noticed their arrival and appeared right next to their leader. The woman named Alda took a step back as she saw the silver-haired woman. She also saw the seniors from afar but decided not to meddle but it seems trouble came knocking at her door. The fish Lucy and Arthur bought was in the latter''s storage, which was currently inaccessible. Lucy wanted to reach the location where Makaze is being held so she could stop the assailants and help Arthur reunite with his partner. "Senior." Alda bowed toward Lucy and didn''t raise her back, waiting for Lucy to respond with anything. "Let us come with you." It''s quite ironic, after all, the situation was the opposite just yesterday but here she is, requesting to go with them. Of course, Lucy could forcefully take it but she decided against it. The Overgod and the rest kept their mouths shut, as for Alda, she thought for a few breaths before politely replying. "With pleasure, senior." She motioned Lucy to the fish with her hand and then glanced at Arthur, who was still laying there, clearly unconscious. Lucy waved her hand, enveloping Arthur in a silvery-blue aura which raised him above ground then slowly put him on the Retour Poisson''s back. With the exception of Lucy, everyone else avoided Arthur due to the black flames covering him from head to toe. They were curious about his condition but none voiced their thoughts or even got closer to Lucy, who sat next to her husband and ignored the rest. Very soon, the fish dived underwater and conjured a semi-transparent spheric barrier which blocked the Rose Sea''s aura as well as the water from getting in. In just a few minutes, the environment around the fish became inky black and the barrier around the fish was slowly but surely dimming. Alda took out a creaky small lantern and raised it in the air before injecting it with a bit of Nether Energy. The lantern was like a flashlight, illuminating the way ahead of the fish and making the rest feel a bit more secure now that they saw where they were going. Unlike Arthur, Lucy had no way of pinpointing Makaze''s exact location even if she got closer to she had to rely on her instincts. It doesn''t matter if Alda''s group had the same destination as her, she''ll do anything to reach Timos'' world, which was hidden somewhere in the Rose Sea. That paradise where she and Arthur trained back in Riarravar, it''s a separate world which must have a two-way portal. She wasn''t experienced in Space Magic but her Realm was high enough for her to sense it and even use it. An hour after their departure, the fish''s speed was slower than a turtle but that''s to be expected as it''s not a rare one and the water''s pressure was increasing the deeper they went. ***** Four hours after the Retour Poisson entered the pink-colored waters, something so massive that it blocked the sun rays appeared above the Rose Sea. Its sudden appearance alerted almost all the travelers and forced most of them to leave. It was one of the special combat Spacesh.i.p.s belonging to the system. It was hundreds of kilometers long and its size cast a big shadow over the shiny and calm sea. "Report; C-Spaceship N-228 reached the specified coordinates. Beginning the search for the target; Arthur MoonStar in 1999 minutes and 48 seconds." A robotic voice was transmitted from the spaceship to the commanding System far away from there. After a couple of seconds, the spaceship received an answer. "Approval of the search. Must capture the target, Arthur MoonStar, alive and bring him to the X-TR500 planet. Reinforcements are on standby." "Requesting approval of the use of the ''device''." "Approved. The ''device'' is only to be used in emergency situations." Chapter 680 - 624: Real Identity "Umm, Senior, where are you heading to?" Alda hesitantly approached the quiet Lucy and asked after mustering her courage for more than an hour. It has been six hours since the Retour Poisson started diving deep into the Rose Sea and, a few minutes ago, they reached the 1,000-kilometer mark. It will soon start getting dangerous and the sea monsters are very active here and empowered by the Rose Sea, making them a threat even to the Overgod. Actually, despite their bad encounters, Alda felt relieved that someone as strong as Lucy was accompanying them. If things turn for the worse and a sea king appears, she was sure that the silver-haired woman will take care of it. "Don''t mind us." Lucy spat those three words before proceeding to ignore Alda and gaze at Arthur. The black flames were sometimes subduing and other times rising three to four meters above, even breaking through the fish''s translucent barrier but, fortunately, not affecting it. "Alda!" Karol, one of Alda''s companion and, apparently, the youngest out of all the group, loudly shrieked as she pointed at the front of the Retour Poisson. A large black silhouette made its abrupt appearance, its size was twice of the diving fish and it was heading straight at them. Without any delay, the Overgod grasped his one-handed hammer and left the barrier. He appeared in front of the gigantic monster within seconds. His weapon glowed with a blue light as it slowly struck the monster, which became more visible now that it got closer. It slightly resembled a star fish but its skin was sticky brown and it even had a hideous face that would cause anyone to have nightmares. The Overgod showed no fear as he struck with his hammer, dealing a strong blow which pushed the monster and dyed the waters with black blood. Sadly, the Overgod can''t stay outside of the barrier for long so he was forced to retreat after that one blow, nevertheless, that starfish-like monster didn''t return and just watched them from a distance before disappearing. ˇ­ "H-hey Aldaˇ­" Peter, a youth in her group, softly nudged her sleeve to grab her attention. As she turned to face him, the young man hesitantly said, "I think I know who she is." Alda knew that Peter was talking about Lucy so she carefully listened to him. "I''ve seen a recording of the war between the White Specters and the Undeadˇ­ she''s Eva, or Lucy. If my guess is true then that man is the parasite Arthur MoonStar." The moment she heard that, Alda had a realization, after all, Arthur and Lucy are quite famous in the Cloud Sea Universe. The Undead army which marched on the Divine Planet is still remembered by both its inhabitants and the other realms and planets. ''That explains how he transformed into the White Tiger.'' Alda called for the Overgod and asked him with a very low voice. "Weren''t Lucy and Arthur MoonStar banished to Riarravar?" "That''s old news. It wasn''t long go that the white specter raided the capital and saved that Lightning wolf. There also has been sighting of them in the Red Tower. Why are you asking about the-" The Overgod blocked his mouth and glanced at Lucy, also coming to a revelation. "It''s a good thing we didn''t befriend themˇ­ they have a lot of enemies!" Hearing this, Alda was still convinced that being on the couple''s good side is better than maintaining a passive approach like right now, however, Lucy left no room for talking and was wholly focused on the unconscious parasite. A few more hours passed and each time a monster had appeared, it was swiftly taken care of by the Overgod but, as the pressure of the water drastically increased, the Retour Poisson''s speed was way too slow. It has been 14 hours since their departure and they only dove 1,250 kilometers, which is a good place to search for lost artifacts and treasures. Furthermore, a Sea King finally made its appearance, causing the big fish to freeze and start shaking like leaf. Even the barrier was going on and off, alarming the passengers. The Overgod tried to attack the Sea King but his attack literally bounced off the creature''s skin. "Senior, please help." Alda walked toward Lucy, bowed body ninety degrees, and patiently waited to Lucy to reply. Auspiciously, the silver-haired woman didn''t disappoint. Her figure blurred and vanished from aboard the Retour Poisson, appearing dozens of meters in front of the Sea King. The monstrosity looked like a shark with big and small green circles covering its whole body. Its size was comparable to the Divine Beasts and its aura was domineering, to say the least. The White Specter stood before the Sea King, nine crystalline ice lotuses spun around her, temporarily blocking the Rose Sea''s mental effect and the water''s pressure. Lucy didn''t try to show off or waste time, her figure flashed with blue light before two of the lotuses slowly bloomed and in a few breaths time, the sharp was turned into a block of ice, which was swiftly stored in her ring. This one-sided battle made Alda and the rest gawk, their pupils constricted and mouths half-open. They only sobered up when the Retour Poisson regained its senses and continued diving at a slow pace. This astonishing happened two more times, no different than the first one. Lucy would appear before the Sea King and freeze using the crystalline lotuses. It appeared so natural and worry-free, which even made Peter and Karol start to admire the White Specter. On the other side, The Overgod was certain that Lucy was at least at the Exalted God Realm. He couldn''t even see her dash at the Sea King, it seemed more like a teleportation. Ten minutes after Lucy disposed of the third Sea King, an unstoppable current came from above and pulled the Retour Poisson with it. While Lucy frowned, Alda and the rest were overjoyed as if they were expecting it, or rather, hoping for it to appear. "What''s going on?" Hearing the woman''s chilling voice, Alda''s body twitched for a second before she replied. "Senior, this is a rare current which leads to a secret Realm hidden called the Vow of the Rose Sea. It''s our destinationˇ­" She hesitated for a moment before continuing, "Actually, Senior, we''re looking for an artifact that fell in that Realm in the past." ''The Vow of the Rose Sea?'' Lucy had never heard of that secret Realm and it didn''t seem like Timos'' world but, as she doesn''t know where the Dark Blade is, it''s safe to assume that it''s hidden in a dangerous place. Moreover, the black flames covering Arthur were getting more intense right when the current arrived so she didn''t object Alda''s decision to let the Retour Poisson get pulled away to an unknown place. Chapter 681 - 625: Purple Seat The Retour Poisson didn''t escape unharmed by the violent current, parts of its scales were shattered and even bits of flesh were slashed by tiny invisible blades, nevertheless, it managed to resist until they reached what seemed to be their destination, however, they weren''t alone. Close to twenty Retour Poissons, of all shapes, colors, and sizes, were floating in the deep waters motionlessly. Aboard each of them, there was either a group of cultivators or players and, surprisingly, one of them was familiar to Lucy, who creased her brows as she cast a long glance at their leader. She wore plain black cotton clothes under a long azure robe. Her long black hair fell on her shoulders and her abyssal pupils emitted an abnormal amount of suffocating killing intent. She was the new master of the Mountain Ba Sword Sect as well as Arthur''s student, Jian Si, also known as, Cold Sword. She matured a bit and her cultivation had risen to the peak of the Sovereign Realm. She managed to best all her peers and with the help of the teachings Arthur left her along with her clan''s efforts, she became an indisputable expert in swordsmanship. Her cultivation may seem low compared to the people present here but none dared to look down at her, after all, when Lucy and Arthur were inside the Red Tower, this girl had single-handedly slaughtered a group of God Monarchs on her own, gaining more infamy than ever. Noticing spine-chilling gaze fall on her, Jian Si turned her head to the size and focused on one of the smaller fish only for her pupils to constrict. Only after a few seconds did she snap out of it and command her fish to get closer. Cold Sword quickly confirmed Lucy''s identity and didn''t try to ignore her, after all, they were never enemies. Lucy never looked favorably at other women close to Arthur but it was clear that Jian Si was wholly focused on the way of the sword and never had ulterior motives, moreover, she accompanied her to that mountain where Arthur was going to reincarnate. "Lucy?" "Mhm." With her hands crossed, Lucy nodded her head as she stared back at the black-haired girl with a red sword on her back. Including Jian Si, there were five more people on clan master''s Retour Poisson. One of them was the Grand Elder of her clan and the strongest person. He just reached the Overgod Realm and he and Cold Sword allowed the Mountain Ba Sword Sect to become the number one power in Green-Leaf, excluding the kingdom, of course. "What''s wrong with Master?" Jian Si jumped aboard Alda''s Retour Poisson, startling her but as she the former seemed to be friends with Lucy, she kept her silence and didn''t interfere, nonetheless, the clan master''s sudden action did harbor the attention of the other groups, making them pay more attention to Lucy and the unconscious Arthur covered in ominous black flames. In less than five minutes, almost all the cultivators and players learned of their identities but no one tried to provoke them as Lucy and Arthur''s prowess and vindictiveness are very well known. "It''s a bit complicated to explain. What brought you here?" "I''m just bringing my clan members to the secret Realm so they can explore it and, hopefully, chance upon good artifacts." Jian Si gave a brief reply before stepping closer to Arthur only to be stopped by Lucy, who held wrist and pulled her back. "It''s dangerous." The girl eyed her master for a bit before casting a sound-isolating barrier then asking again, "Aren''t those the flames belonging to master''s blade?" "Yes, we''re here to retrieve it." "Do you need my help?" In response, Lucy softly smiled and shook her head. "No need, I can manage." Jian Si didn''t insist and, instead, looked at Alda and the rest. "Who are they? I don''t recognize their sect emblem." Cold Sword looked at the unfamiliar symbol on Alda''s clothes, which had the shape of a sun with a hammer in its center. "No idea too. Arthur has our Retour Poisson so I had to tag along with them." Jian Si examined Alda and the rest one more time before speaking again. "They look shifty as hell. Wanna come with me?" "Sure." Lucy accepted the proposal almost immediately. Traveling with Jian Si is much safer, furthermore, her Retour Poisson seemed much bigger and better. In case she needs to dive in deeper into the Rose Sea, the fish will do a better job than Alda''s, for sure. The White Specter casually nodded at Alda before taking Arthur''s body and leaving the Retour Poisson. The short Over God was a bit relieved that the two calamities were gone but also slightly depressed that they couldn''t build a friendly relationship. ˇ­ The Vow of the Rose Sea, which a secret Realm accessible only through the random current that appeared deep into the pink-colored waters, is a small world riddled with all kinds of dangerous monsters and rare magical herbs. In terms of appearance, it looked no different than a big mountain range which circled around a pair of wide valleys filled with rose and red roses which made them look breathtaking. The mountains looked similar, as if they were a copy of one another. Their peak was shrouded by a red cloud and their base was filled with a sea of broken and ancient bones. Lucy, Jian Si, and the rest, appeared somewhere in the first valley. Upon their arrival, an earth-shaking roar resounded near them and a massive six-legged griffin leapt at them. Sadly for the monster, before it was able to finish its sudden attack, its forehead was shot by Lucy''s revolver. The Mana-filled bullet went through the monster''s head and killed it on the spot, causing its body to lifelessly plummet next to the group. The young disciples were scared out of their wits but Jian Si was only impressed and itching for a fight, not against Lucy, of course. "There may be another secret Realm in here, I think that''s where Makaze is." Lucy speculated as she admired the surroundings. The black flames enveloping Arthur took the shape of big dark blade stabbing his chest. They were slowly becoming more condensed and the aura they emitted was stretching further, causing all the weak-willed ones to keep a moderate distance from the unconscious parasite. "I think that''s the case too. We''ll split up and look for it." Jian Si agreed with the specter then faced her juniors and instructed them to accompany the Grand Elder and carefully explore the outer-region of the two valleys, which is much safer for those with low cultivation. That six-legged Griffin was a peak God Beast and its presence here meant that they are in the Inner-region of the two valleys. Although this place is a secret Realm, they way to reach it isn''t particularly hard so there were a lot of information about itˇ­ like the monsters that inhabit it, the type of herbs you can findˇ­ hidden tombs and so on. ˇ­ Lucy had to carry Arthur with her so she didn''t fly around or run at full speed for fear of injuring her husband. Nevertheless, her senses were on high alert and none of the monsters was able to get within two hundred meters of her, however, that was about to change very soon. Less than ten minutes after her separation from Jian Si, Lucy was ambushed by a masked man. He was different than the cultivators she had seen outside, he looked and felt strong and his intention was clear from the start. "Hello there, Lucy MoonStar-" He briefly paused as he glanced at Arthur, "... and Arthur MoonStar." "You are?" "Ah! Pardon my late introduction." He politely bowed toward Lucy but, at that very exact moment, an ear-piercing gunshot resounded in the area. The man hastily jumped back and took out a small round shield, which was able to block the second bullet. Despite resisting her second bullet, it was still not able to defend its aftereffects. A dark and spiky web made of Dark Magic burst from the frozen bullet. The web bypassed the round shield and attempted to trap the masked man but he managed to escape, though his shield had to be discarded as a portion of the dark magic had touched it. He seemed to be aware of the dark magic''s effect and was very unwilling to let it touch him. "Haha please let me finish. I am the Purple Seat of Debauchery." "I don''t care!" An illusory white tail and long ears appeared on Lucy, both of her eyes were covered in white flames and one of them was pulsating with a blue light. Her form distorted before it reappared before the masked man, who crossed his arm to block her punch but, to his surprise, the force behind her was simply monstrous. His body was sent flying like a kite, leaving a trail of blood behind. He had gravely underestimated her physical strength and ended up suffering a lot. Lucy rarely engages in close-combat so very little was known about her stats. "We''re not enemies!" The man spat some blood, wiped his lips before looking at Lucy with a strange expression that contained both curiosity and fear. He was confident in his abilities but the disparity was just too big so he gave up mid-way. "I am from Black Rose!" "And?" Lucy raised her hand again, a miniature golden sun was slowly raising to the sky and emitting an alarming heat. Seeing this, the masked man clicked his tongue, turned around and fled like a startled bird. Only after making sure he was really gone did Lucy retract the golden sun and return next to Arthur, who was protected by her Nine Lotuses and a wall of her unique fusion flame. She had to fight that masked man while spending Mana on her fusion flame and the nine lotuses, which was costly but necessary to guarantee his safety. Chapter 682 - 626: Black Hole After the masked man from Black Rose fled, Lucy went to check if Arthur was safe before continuing to wander around the secret Realm. The monsters lurking in the inner area of the valleys were quite strong but Lucy just incinerated them before they even got to attack or move a muscle. Despite having to carry Arthur around with the use of the nine lotuses, her speed was alarming, like a shooting star which flew from one place to another. The cultivators who witnessed this was dumbstruck, shrunk their necks and didn''t dare block her path for fear of meeting the same fate as the monsters. Lucy wanted to find the entrance to Timos'' small world, where the Dark Blade is located. She used the black flames covering Arthur to see if she''s either further or close to the destination. In less than an hour, she went around the two valleys then headed for the circular mountain range. As she got closer to one of the mountains, the black flames along with the condensed blade made of black light piercing Arthur''s chest reacted fiercely, causing Lucy to abruptly stop and study them. The White Specter heard a faint sound come from the nearby forest so she focused her sense but found nothing unusual. As she shifted her attention back to Arthur, she was shocked to see naught but air. The place where his body was floating was not empty, her nine ice lotuses returned to her side. Lucy frantically looked around but Arthur seemed to have vanished into nothingness. To make matters worse, an annoying person appeared, causing Lucy to become even more infuriated. Her body soundlessly laid on the ground and the silver revolver transformed into a long silver rifle. She stuck a bullet inside, leaned her eye closer to the scope and aimed at the masked man from earlier. He was following her but was neither fast nor perceptive enough to pinpoint her exact location. Without any hesitation, Lucy poured her Mana into the rifle then fired, causing an ear-piercing sound to come out right after the bullet was shot and struck the man right in the chest. His body was sent flying like a kite, a gaping hole in his bloody chest. He rolled hundreds of time on the ground before he coughed a lot of blood and struggled to get up. Lucy readied another bullet and was about to attack only for the whole secret Realm to start violently shaking. Out of the blue, the sound of shattering glass reverberated across the whole world, it was immediately followed by an unstoppable suction force coming from high above. "Something destroyed this world!" Lucy''s expression worsened as the nine lotuses fully bloomed and emanated a blue aura which enveloped Lucy, who fly into the air and looked around. Since Arthur disappeared, he must''ve unconsciously entered Timos'' world, as for her, she cannot stay here much longer as the world is crumbling, just like what happened in Riarravar. As expected, a black hole made its horrifying appearance. It was like a vacuum, sucking the air, mountains, rivers, and so onˇ­ Lucy activated her specter transformation, further boosting her stats and adding more to her defense. With lightning speed, she crossed a big distance and appeared next to the puzzled and struggling Cold Sword. The black-haired girl was about to resist the suction using her Sword Essence but sooner or later, she would be pulled inside. "L-lucy!" Seeing the silver-haired woman appeared next to her, Jian Si was a bit relieved but she continued to defend herself. Fortunately, Lucy was there and provided a timely assistance. "Please help my clan members." Seeing Lucy about to leave and bring her along, Cold Sword had to plead lest everyone else dies. The White Specter frowned and momentarily closed her eyes before waving her hand. Right after doing that, she left the area, leaving behind a rising sun covered in blinding golden flames. The Golden Crow flames should be able to slow the black hole''s suction for a few seconds, which should be enough for Lucy. Cold Sword was unable to resist the force which wrapped around her body and made her fly behind Lucy. Fortunately, they were able to find Jian Si''s clan members along with the Grand Elder, whose face as pale as a sheet of paper as he expanded all of his energy to conjure a barrier which protected his clansmen. "How are we going to leave?" Although they were temporarily out of danger thanks to Lucy, they are still stuck in this realm and the exit was probably destroyed. Lucy didn''t reply and, instead, took out the silver revolver, loaded it with a silver bullet and fired the air in front of her. The bullet instantly disintegrated and magically opened a spatial portal in front of the panic-stricken group. Without any delay, Lucy ushered all of them inside then followed behind. To everyone''s surprise, when they appeared outside, which should be deep inside the Rose Sea, the place looked dramatically different. The water was completely gone and high-up above, there was a ginormous spaceship that emitted countless white and red colors. Furthermore, the place was surrounded by dozens of robots just like the one Lucy saw inside the Red Tower. "What''s this? What''s happening?" Cold Sword held her crimson blade as she glared at the faceless robots holding large cannons. "Everyone here is under arrest for breaching Law 418 of-" A robot that was larger than the rest was speaking with a loud voice. it was made of black metal and seemed to be the leader. Sadly, before it could continue, Lucy''s figure flashed before it. She was holding a thin white saber which was thrust into the target''s head. At first, it met some resistance but the tip of the saber quickly melted the robot''s head thanks to the grey fusion flame Lucy had used. In just a split second, Lucy disposed of what seemed to be the strongest robot, however, this was but the beginning as, like a ghost, her figure blurred before appearing next to a bunch of robots. Golden flames danced in the air as they burned the retaliation robots, which raised strange-looking barrier that barely held on for a few seconds. Lucy manipulated both the golden crow fire and Yin energy, turning the whole place into Hell. The onlookers were rooted in their places, able to only gawk at the unfolding events. Chapter 683 - 627: Dawn and Eraser While Lucy was busy destroying the robots that surrounded the group of cultivators, Arthur was transported inside Timos'' world, which was that very peaceful forest devoid of any dangers. He didn''t willingly teleport, it was the Dark Blade''s doing as it wanted to reunite with its partner as soon as possible. It is no longer dormant and could be said to be whole again and, as Timos said, if the blade wants to fight alongside Arthur, it''ll naturally call for him when the time is right. Unfortunately, Arthur wasn''t the only one inside this miniature world. Two other presences immediately sensed Arthur''s arrival and appeared beside his body within seconds. They looked like two young human males, bright and short green hair and identical facial features, they were, without a doubt, twins. They didn''t wear any sect or clan-related clothes, just casual grey leather outfits. The youth on the right was holding a one-handed sword with an orange hilt in his right hand, while the youth on the left gripped a one-handed sword with a white handle in his left hand. The sight from left to right was symmetrical, with the exception of the color of the blades. It was as if they were the same entity. "Brother, isn''t that Arthur?" The youth raised his sword and pointed it at Arthur while asking his twin sibling. "It is. It definitely is. What''s a fortunate coincidence." The second youth grinned and replied, his hand rising into the air and a swirling white Sword Essence dancing around his body. "Kill him! If he dies, the oath is lifted!" A croaky voice came out of the sword with the orange handle. It spoke with clear malice as a burst of orange sword essence came out of its sharp tip and shot at the unconscious Arthur laying on the bushy ground. The owner of the sword was momentarily startled but didn''t do anything to stop the orange sword essence. However, to everyone''s surprise, when it got closer to Arthur, it clashed with the black flames then disintegrated into nothingness. It couldn''t even touch Arthur''s clothes, much less kill him. Even Lucy was unable to get close to her husband, much less these two twins. "The blade is complete! You need to kill him right now!" The sword with the white handle joined the conversation and harshly ordered the twins, which couldn''t understand what was exactly happening but still did as told as they were aware that their swords would never do anything that harms them. In fact, these two swords were two of the Nine Cursed Swords. The one with the orange handle was called Dawn, while the other sword was named ''Eraser''. Without any hesitation, the twins jumped at Arthur, their bodies emitting a staggering amount of Sword Essence, specifically directed at the unresponsive Arthur. The two were sword cultivators and were considered strong, especially when they combine their powers. When the cursed sword reached Arthur, they were able to push away the black flames, however, the moment they made contact with Arthur, the attackers felt as if they hit an unbreakable block of steel. They applied a lot of strength in their stabs but the Cursed Swords were only able to cut the clothesˇ­ that''s it. Dumbfounded, the two leapt away and looked at Arthur then at swords. "Attack again!" Roared Dawn, unwilling to let this opportunity slip. "Use all of your powers!"-Dusk The Twins'' expressions turned serious as they held the one-handed swords vertically across their chests and amassed their sword essences. In less than five seconds, the place was split into two sides, one filled with a blinding white light and the other with an orange radiance. Slowly but surely, the two sides fused as the twins leaned against each other''s back then shot at Arthur, their swords held to the front in a stabbing motion. Unlike the last attack, the joined attack of the twins managed to wound Arthur, the two cursed sword dug deep into the parasite''s chest and caused a lot of blood to gush out. The twins pulled their weapons and were about to stab the same place again to finish the target but it didn''t proceed as expected. The new wound disappeared within two seconds, it just healed under the twins'' eyes, making them unconsciously take a step back and stare at the man with a flabbergasted expression. Unfortunately for them, their second attempt was enough to affect Arthur''s consciousness and wake him up. The parasite''s body blurred and, before the two youths could react, they felt a monstrous force hit their bodies, sending them flying in the air. It only took a split second for them to be fatally wounded and suspended in the air with invisible threads which wrapped around their ankles, wrists, waists, and necks. The parasite appeared before the two, his face expressionless and his abyssal eyes glaring at them. Although he managed to bind them, their Cursed Swords didn''t give up. They escaped their owner''s hands, fused together into a long silver sword, and then shot at Arthur''s head. In retaliation, Arthur raised his hand and unleashed a burst of Void Magic, which caused the incoming Silver Sword to divert its flight and try to flee but it soon found itself trapped in a small black cube made of Dark Magic. "P-please have merc-" One of the twins managed to squeeze a few words but that only caused his head to fall from his body. Seeing this horrible sight, the remaining youth was enraged, he wriggled his body and tried to get out but that only led to his miserable death too. Arthur snorted and waved his hand, storing the two bodies in his storage before floating closer to the dark cube and having a good look at the restless Cursed Swords "O-great parasite! Let us join hands!" "That''s right! It''s impossible to destroy us! Let us serve you instead!" The two begged Arthur again and again but he turned a deaf ear to them. He left the dark cube and went toward the cave Makaze was in, after all, the blade''s cries were becoming louder and louder, almost deafening him. ˇ­ Soon enough, Arthur arrived at gloomy cave utterly void of anything but a dark blade stabbed at its center. An eerie gale whistled inside the place, it was gradually becoming louder and more violent but, when Arthur set food inside, it abruptly became much quieter as if it was welcoming him. Step by step, he marched toward Evil Wind and when he was standing in front of it, he raised his right hand, which was covered in black flames. "Welcome back." Arthur uttered those words then stretched his hands, held Makaze''s black handle and gently pulled it off the cold the ground. Arthur thought this was it but he couldn''t be more wrong. The moment Makaze left the ground, the parasite''s environment drastically changed. The first thing he noticed was the passing breeze ''touching'' his skin. The gloominess around him was replaced by endless greenery and a beautifully clear sky. He stood there, dazed, for a few breaths before he snapped out of it when a voice entered his ears. "We meet at last." Arthur turned his head and looked at the origin of the voiceˇ­ a middle-aged man with long black hair, rough skin, and sword-like eyebrows. His eyes were naturally narrowed and he was oddly thin, almost like a skeleton. This man, who was wearing ragged white clothes, was the person who invented the concept of blades, in general. He was Ventus Malum, The Gale Devourer. Chapter 684 - 628: The Raging Lucy (1) Ventus Malum grinned as he stared at Arthur. "That look on your face tells me that you''ve figured out who I amˇ­ that''s better, at least I don''t have to introduce myself." Arthur maintained an odd silence for an inordinate amount of time before his lips parted and his voice echoed inside the calm yet eerie cave. "Your presence here means that I won''t be getting Makaze that easily, right?" Hearing this, Ventus frowned and tilted his head in confusion. After thinking for a few breaths, he nodded his head and replied, "You seem to be misunderstanding something. Evil Wind is in your hands, it''s eternally yours and the Dark Oath binds you two forever. If you want, you can leave right now. No one will stop youˇ­ certainly not me." "Then why are you here?" "In essence, Makaze is I and I am Makaze. The blade was born from my body and although my soul still remains, it''s a fact that it holds my love, despair, hate, anger, and so on... It is a living thing before being a weapon." Arthur quietly listened to the Gale Devourer, who walked closer to the parasite, his dark blue eyes focusing on the blade covered in black flames. "I have to say, Arthur, that you were lucky. Makaze is very compatible with your Dark Magic hence the birth of the Dark Blade Oath. However, what this blade excels at is Lightning and Wind. If you can master those then I daresay you''ll be unbeatable. Not even Anduril, the greatest sword in existence, will match you." "I''ve already mastered Lightning and Wind." Ventus laughed as he heard Arthur''s answer. "Are you talking about the Mastery from Tiarius'' downgraded system? That''s not called Mastering an Attribute. For example, you can be said to have mastered Dark Magic right now. Your different kinds of lightnings and thunder aren''t bad too but your Wind Magic isˇ­ severely lacking. Wind is the hardest to learn and master. Besides that talkative Roc, Midolf, I was the only person who reached the apex in Wind Magic. Wind is formless and colorless, fast and lethal. It can kill cut everything, even the very fabric of realityˇ­ even the cycles you''re desperately trying to break from." Ventus Malum sensed a slight reaction from Arthur, whose face remained as expressionless as ever. "Unfortunately, I cannot pass my mastery to you because it has to do with a person''s mind, how he thinks and views things, his thoughts about the environment and how each attribute acts, its role and reaction to various other things. However, I can still help youˇ­ what do you say?" As he said that, Ventus was enveloped by a soundless wind tornado which made him float several inches above the ground. "Help? Explain, please." "Sure, I will explain everything but do know that it won''t be easy, nor will it be instant. It all depends on your willˇ­ your true emotionsˇ­ your love and yearning for those close to you." ****** As Arthur was conversing with Ventus Malum, things became very chaotic in the area where the entrance to the secret Realm was supposed to be. Lucy was like a raging devil, jumping from place to another, each time pulverizing a robot or incinerating a large cannon. Her prowess made all the present cultivator gawk and take a defensive stance, afraid they''ll be hit by the collateral damage. The White Specter single-handedly fought the army of robots. Her Nine Ice lotuses would freeze anything that got close to her while her golden flames rose into the sky and cascaded on the enemies. Close to one hour has passed since Lucy started massacring the robots from the system but she showed no signs of exhaustion. The number of enemies increased even after she had taken out a large bulk. Moreover, the enormous spaceship up above was providing assistance and shooting thick red lasers at the silver-haired woman, who was so fast that only her blurry after-image could be seen. "What do we do, Clan Master?" The elderly man accompanying Jian Si stared at Lucy with fear, his feet shaking. He could, at best, deal with two or three robots but the white specter was destroying one or two robots with each attack, furthermore, she was getting more and more ferocious. "Take the disciples and leave when an opportunity comes." "What about you?" "I can''t leave her alone. They are after Arthur and not her." Cold Sword glanced at the strange black whirlpool which spawned at the area below Lucy. It was slowly getting bigger and some of the robots were firing at it continuously but the shots were all blocked by a large crystalline Lotus, which Lucy''s Godspirit. It fully bloomed and summoned a violent blizzard, turning the area snowy and absolutely bone-freezing. Usually, Overgods and Exalted Gods rarely summon their Godspirit as it''s way weaker than them and needs to be controlled manually, however, Lucy was able to use it despite being busy with the countless enemies. The moment Jian Si finished talking, a deafening explosion took place several hundred meters away from the cultivators. Fortunately, they raised multiple shields and barriers so they managed to block the impact but the robots were blasted far away and some even exploded into hundreds of pieces. "Go! Now!" Cold Sword ushered the grand elder then retrieved her red sword from her back and unleashed her murderous blood essence, coating herself with a savage crimson aura. "Clan master!" The elder hesitated but a threatening glare from the black-haired girl, who''s still to young to manage a big sect like Mountain Ba, forced him to leave with the frightened disciples. Instead of directly going to help Lucy, Jian Si flew at the enormous spaceship, who paid her no attention. The explosion caused by none other than Lucy, was the result of the miniature sun enveloped by the golden crow flames. It covered the area in a sea of golden flames, blinding and suffocating. The flames burned everything in its way, melting the still surviving robots and temporarily clearing the place of the persistent metallic robots. Lucy glanced at the expanding black whirlpool before grabbing Lonely Moon and pointing it above. A thick beam of red light shot straight at her. Lucy injected her Mana into the silver revolver and shot two times, her right arm, which changed appearance, was letting an alarming amount of steam from the holes in the shoulder area. The devil arm was even bleeding a lot as firing two shots exhausted Lucy, who took a deep breath then wiped the bit of blood leaking out of her lips. The two bullets, both colored purple, clashed with the laser. The first bullet transformed into a large disgusting toothless mouth which devoured the whole thick laser. As for the second bullet, it shot at the enormous spaceship. Although the spaceship was pretty far away, you could see a series of explosions occur in its base. The deafening alarms rang continuously as hundreds of black dots appeared in the sky, all well-equipped robots which changed their target from the whirlpool to Lucy. To make matters worse, two special robots made their appearances. One was over a hundred meters tall and holding a black metallic shield bigger than itself, while the other was wearing a brown suit of armor, in its hands, there was something similar to an advanced rifle, like the ones seen in Sci-Fi Movies. Chapter 685 - 629: The Raging Lucy (2) The arrival of the two threatening robots, which emitted a constant and dangerous stream of Dark Matter. This energy, which is by no means weaker than Nether Energy, looked like a mass of darkness, very similar to Dark Magic but highly unstable, to say the least. The black shield held by the big robot seemed to be made purely from Dark Matter. It vibrated, causing the space to shake and shatter before fixing itself instantly. The two robots faced the silver-haired woman, who had an illusory white tail swaying behind her and her eyes were enveloped by white flames. The first one to attack was the gun-wielding robot. It raised its rifle-like weapon and pulled the trigger, shooting bullets that were even faster than Lucy''s, moreover, the bullets were actually invisible. Although she couldn''t see them, Lucy was able to dodge with the use of her Time ability, which froze the area around her, severely slowing down the bullets and giving her enough time to evade and even retaliate. The silver revolver emitted a blinding blue brilliance before a devastating bullet was shot. The bullet instantly became a ginormous golden crow which used its three legs to cascade at the robot wearing the brown suit of armor. The mechanical and half-sentient soldier retreated behind its companion before firing three times at the golden crow. The other robots moved the black shield towards the incoming golden crow. Unfortunately for them, not even the shield made from the Dark Matter was able to fully block Lucy''s bullet. Blinding sun-like flames covered the area, breaking more than half of the shield and eating up the dispersing dark matter. The massive robot waspushed two to three hundred meters, its metallic body charred by the golden crow flames. ˇ­ Lucy remained motionless as she held Lonely Moon in one hand and the recently enhanced thin saber, called Twilight''s Vow, on the other hand. Her emotionless eyes were focusing on the big robot, which struggled to stand up, however, what she didn''t expect is for the other robot to literally vanish and appear in front of her. It whipped with its thick armored leg, aiming at the specter''s waist. Its attack was swift but Lucy managed to twist her body and use the saber to block. Although these robots were physically strong, when its leg met with Lucy''s saber, it actually bent to the other side before being cut by the weapon and falling down below. Lucy activated her Time Magic again, trapping the robots before stabbing the target with the saber, which had the fusion grey flame on its tip. The robot had amazing reflexes as it managed to dodge being hit but, its fate remained the same. Lucy''s fusion flame still managed to reach it and within two seconds, the thick brown armor along with the tough materials it was made of was gone, either incinerated or frozen into a block of beautiful white ice. Lucy didn''t even stop, her figure blurred as she flew to the sky, heading directly at the ginormous spaceship. She completely ignored the massive robots and the other robots, which didn''t interfere for a bit. When they tried chasing after her, they were met with a shocking meteor shower which pulverized everything in its way. The shield-wielding big robot was defeated with just one flaming boulder, the lava covered its body and turned it into a puddle of melted metals. Lucy''s unconceivable speed allowed her to quickly arrive under the spaceship, which kept dispatching hundreds of robots and shooting at her using the enormous cannons situated all over its base. Even when she had no place to run to and had to meet the shots head-on, Lucy was still able to get out unscathed thanks to her absurdly high defensive stats and her Yin Physique. Lucy wasted no time, she stored the revolver and the saber, readied her Devil Arm and used all of her strength to punch the Spaceship. She was smaller than ant in comparison to the target but her strike caused considerable damage. The whole spaceship shook for a few seconds and the place of impact was destroyed beyond recognition. The nearby robots and cannons were frozen along with a huge area of the spaceship, causing the alarms to turn silent and things to quieten, but that only lasted for less than ten seconds before Lucy savagely punched again. Her ''Devil Arm'' let out clouds of steam, so much that the sky was filled with a dense fog that blocked everyone''s sight. Every time her fist hit the spaceship, it would cause a ringing sound to reverberate then an unstoppable Ice to spread from one place to another, freezing everything in its way. When Lucy just finished her fifth punch, she paused and looked around, her chest going up and down as she was panting heavily. She expanded a lot of energy but there were no signs of her stopping anytime soon. She clenched her transformed and scaly hand only to see the spaceship elevate higher in the air. A massive hole opened in at the front of the base and, from within, a cannon that was, at least, two kilometers long, made its appearance. **** Inside the spaceship, although things were very chaotic outside, the robots were silently guarding specific areas. The robots present here were much weaker than those outside so Cold Sword was able to assassinate them and go deeper inside. The place was very well-guarded but as the ones in charge were focusing on Lucy, who was slowly demolishing this advanced fighter Spaceship, they didn''t pay any attention to intruders. Jian Si held her red sword and slashed horizontally, cutting three robots in two before appearing before them and crushing their remains with her unique murderous Sword Essence. "Where is the Control Room?" The black-haired looked around but found nothing of importance. The spaceship kept shaking and the more she advanced, the more alarms sounded, and the more deafening they became. After a few minutes, she arrived at a huge circular area with many robots trapped inside large tubes filled with water and suspended mid-air. The robots looked very human but the metallic objects on their forehead and abdomen were proof of their real nature. *Initialization of the Buster Cannon.* A robotic voice echoed inside the relatively wide room, startling Cold Sword, who clenched her sword and hid in a dark corner. She saw two tall and armless robots walk from one of the many doors leading to this place. The robots had hair made of countless thin strands of brown cotton, which was very odd to sea, moreover, they wore purple dress disproportionate to their builds. Jian Si watched them for a while and only made a move when they took out cubic objects and engrossed themselves in preparing something. The girl was like a ghost, appearing next to the robots almost instantaneously. Her savage aura caught the two robots by surprise, however, her sword, surprisingly, hit nothing but air. By the time she reacted, Jian Si sensed danger coming from above so she twisted her body mid-air, making herself face the roof, then used her sword to block the incoming fast attack. The red sword clashed with the robot''s unusually big leg. Jian Si resisted for a second before her body smashed on the ground. She clenched her teeth and quickly rolled to the side, barely dodging the second robot, which used the same attack and tried to hit her with its long and robust leg. Chapter 686 - 630: False Reality (1) Jian Si didn''t hold back at all, she jumped back and held her sword with both hands then unleashed her crimson Sword Essence. She raised the sword and used [Heavenly Slash], one of the skills Arthur imparted on her and by far the strongest skill in her arsenal. Unlike Arthur, she doesn''t use the System so [Heavenly Slash] is treated as a technique by her and is slightly harder to use, nevertheless, the girl managed to master in such a short amount of time. Furthermore, the attack didn''t resemble Arthur''s. While his was a creepy and big flying black skeletal head, Jian Si''s [Heavenly Slash] was actually a Translucent red world. The wolf released a deafening howl before leaping at the two armless robots. The unstable murderous sword essence was uncontrollable, devastating everything in its way and even pushing the two target a distance from the center of the circular room. ˇ­ At the same time, Lucy was struggling against the retaliation spaceship, which no longer dispatched the fighter robots and used the hundreds, if not thousands, of cannons to blast the white specter away. Her appearance dramatically changed, her spectral flaming tail became lengthier, her clothes were now made of golden fire and the scales covering her Devil Arm were now crystalline blue, emitting small white particles, which, upon a very close look, turned out to be minuscule ice lotuses. Lucy was about to strike the spaceship again but her body momentarily frozen, causing three cannon shots to hit her, however, they did no damage whatsoever, she was just sent flying a few kilometers below. After stabilizing her body, Lucy vanished and reappeared a long distance away, a blue leaf appearing under leg. Her movements seemed slow but with each step, she would teleport to another place, rendering the auto-functioning cannons unable to locate her, much less fire. In just a few breaths, Lucy appeared where the black whirlpool was supposed to be, however, in its place, there was an unconscious Arthur. Lucy quickly checked his condition but he appeared perfectly fine, in fact, he seemed about to wake up very soon. His eyes were fluttering and he was letting out audible groans. Lucy wrapped her left arm around his waist and ''teleported'' again, barely evading no less than nine red lasers coming from all directions. The nine ice lotuses spun around her whilst her Godspirit took the front, fully blooming and bursting with a bone-chilling breeze which transformed into a violent blizzard that affected this area''s weather. The sky darkened and the spaceship started shaking then was slowly but surely being frozen from one part to another. In less than twenty seconds, the massive floating ship was turned into a block of ice. Unfortunately, the ice shattered soon after that and the enormous cannon which remained silent ever since its appearance, started letting out unpleasant buzzing sounds. Black particles appeared around the cannon then fused together and merged with the buzzing artifact. Lucy snorted and raised her devil arm, which released a blue aura that formed a direct connection with the Godspirit, causing it to become double its size and increase its Yin Powers. A translucent barrier the couple and just as the cannon was about to shoot, it suddenly went silence, making Lucy confused, nevertheless, she used this opportunity to turn around and flee. With Arthur back safe and sound and Makaze sheathed on his waist, there was no reason to keep fighting the spaceship anymore. ˇ­ Back inside the spaceship, in the secondary control room, Jian Si was heavily panting as she ruthlessly kicked the unresponsive bodies of the defeat armless robots. She used all of her strength and emerged victorious, fortunately. However, her invasion was finally noticed and countless robots started appearing from all the doors leading to the control room. Seeing the guns pointed at her, Cold Sword grasped her red sword and mumbled something before jumping in the air and sweeping her crimson sword. A tornado made of sharp red sword essence made its appearance, it slashed apart from the nearby robots and allowed Jian Si to escape through an opening but not even two minutes later, she was surrounded again, this time by an even stronger variation of robots. A bit after that, Cold Sword was cornered and unable to counterattack anymore. She was heavily wounded and her hand was shaking as she clenched her grip on her sword, afraid to drop it. Knowing that there was no way out, Jian Si was about to self-destruct her Dantian and kill as many of the enemies as possible but the sudden appearance of a large phoenix covered in fire startled her and the robots equally. The phoenix screeched loudly then crashed into the hundreds of robots, turned them into nothing but ash. This wasn''t the end, however, the fire bird flew again and tore a hole through the spaceship, creating a tunnel leading directly outside. Before she could react, someone grabbed Jian Si and flew out of there. The phoenix remained behind, spreading its fire all over the already breaking ship. Only when they were outside did Cold Sword manage to have a good look at her ''savior''. He was a young man with short blond hair, blue eyes and handsome facial features. Actually, if Arthur or Lucy saw him, they would instantly recognise him. He used to be a very famous figure on Earth but after being inflicted by the virus and taken by the System, he seemed to have simply vanished. He was none other than Usui, formerly known as the Flame Emperor. It wasn''t just Cold Sword who contributed in stopping the Buster Cannon. Usui also went all out and even betrayed the System in order to help Lucy and Arthur. As he was very devoted to the System and did everything that was ordered, his companions didn''t expect him to suddenly start rampaging and even attack them. ***** An hour after her fight against the System''s Spaceship, Lucy used a special Spatial bullet to teleport herself and Arthur to a random low-realm. When she exited the spatial tunnel, they found themselves in some kind of a dusty storage room filled with half-filled sacks. Lucy gently laid down Arthur then checked his condition again and it was at that time that the parasite mumbled something before slowly opening his eyes. The first thing he saw was a mesmerizing silver-haired woman staring worriedly back at him and, quite unexpectedly, he didn''t react the usual way. In fact, he freaked out and, unable to control his strength, jumped back down. His eyes were cautiously looking around before focusing on Lucy. "You!! Who are you?!" Seeing his actions, which didn''t seem like an act or a joke, Lucy creased her brow. It was easy to guess what was happening to him but difficult to figure out the reason behind it. ''Was it because of retrieving Makaze? Or did something else happen in Timos'' world?'' Whatever happened, Lucy wasn''t going to give up or abandon him, obviously. "Don''t you remember? I am Lucy." She didn''t approach him as she saw him glare at her coldly, not a hint of trust displayed in his eyes. It was exactly like when they first met, when he distrusted anyone and anything. "Lucy? I don''t know you!" From the looks of it, it didn''t seem like he only forgot about Lucy. He noticed that black sheath on his waist so he hurriedly unsheathed the sword and pointed it at Lucy, though his form was wrong and not a hint of Dark Magic could be felt. It wasn''t that he lost his powers, he just didn''t know how to use them or rather, forgot how. Chapter 687 - 631: False Reality (2) The confusion lasted only briefly before Lucy understood what was happening, more or less. The puzzled and cold expression on Arthur''s face was enough proof to explain his current actions, which were that of an amnesiac person. She stood rooted to her place and didn''t try anything that may startle the man. Her usually emotionless expression melted and was replaced by a gentle one coupled with a soft, beautiful smile. "What do you remember?" In response, Arthur backed away until his body was glued to the wall, his hands still holding Makaze and pointing it at Lucy. Seeing his clear hesitation, Lucy raised her hands innocently and added, "Don''t worry, I''m here to help. Please tell me what you remember?" Even after saying that, Arthur showed no signs of dropping his extreme caution. He frantically looked around before glancing at Lucy one last time then darting out of the room. As he had no idea that he had magical powers, he ran no faster than a mortal. His enhanced physical body didn''t take effect as the parasite still thinks he''s normal. Lucy watched him leave but didn''t try to stop him because that may complicate things later. Nevertheless, she wasn''t going to lose sight of him either. While it''s true that he''s going to be suspicious of her and pretty much everyone else, the only thing she can do now is following him around and try to gain his trust. She had pictures of the two of them together but he may not believe and, instead, it can lead to a more violent reaction, which is something she doesn''t wish for. His memories were temporarily forgotten, or so assumed Lucy. Moreover, it seems he doesn''t remember anything so it''s safe to assume that it''s the Arthur from before she met him but after his first reincarnation because the presence of the sword or the medieval-looking inn didn''t affect him as much as Lucy. A bit less than five minutes after Arthur left the room, Lucy saw him standing in the middle of the road and staring dazedly at the front, probably shocked to see his absurd stats. He spent three or so minutes reading a few things before activating a couple of Stealth skills and testing them on the passerby. When he was done, with nothing but explore this foreign world to do, Arthur headed toward the biggest building of this bustling town called White Bloom. This planet was a small once situated in the System Universe. All its inhabitants have the System and there''s even a fight between the humans and the Demon Lord. As he was missing most of his memories, Lucy speculated that he must want to learn more about this new place then he''ll surely leave the town and go test his skills then go around because that''s what he did before she met him. As for how she knows? Arthur obviously told her about his short-lived adventures before their first meeting. It even sometimes leaves her wondering how he would have fared if they never met? Would he have gone to the Nemia Academy? Would he have been struck by ''Judgment''? Back then, he used his superior physical body along with the invulnerability skill to protect her so if she''s not there, he would have surprised in a much safer condition. Many things could have or have not happened without her presence and, right now, she may be able to witness how the distrustful amnesiac Arthur will act all alone. Though, technically, he isn''t really alone as she''s close behind him and planned to reveal herself very soon. If he''s left alone, he may not be able to remember so she needs to be the catalyst and help him. He may act coldly but slowly, she was sure that she can change his mind. ***** Arthur entered what seemed to be the Adventurer''s Guild but just as Lucy was about to follow, the world around her suddenly turned dark and before she could react, a silhouette appeared a couple of meters away from her. At first, she was on guard but once she saw the visitor''s unusually pale and young face, she was relieved but confused about his sudden arrival. "Greetings, Lucy." Leiu slightly bowed his head to Lucy, his expression never-changing as usual. His face was like a statue, more emotionless than Arthur or even Lucy. Lucy reciprocated with a bow too then replied, "Hello, Leiu." As they were family, more or less, there was no need to act like strangers so neither the woman nor the youth did behave coldly. Leiu calmly motioned for Lucy to sit on an illusory-like golden chair which appeared out of nowhere. She was still inside a world of total darkness, illuminated only by the radiant chairs and a spinning silver sphere a hundred meters above her. The place should give the creeps to anyone, its aura is enough to cause anyone to mentally break but as she was an ally of the Nameless Knight, he didn''t direct this place''s effects at her, obviously. "What brings you here?" Asked Lucy while trying to study his expression. The youth crossed his arms, leaned his back on the chair, and sighed. "I am sure that you have an idea about what happened to Arthur today. It''s easy to tell that he has amnesia but my arrival here was not to repeat the already-known facts." He directed his gaze at her and resumed, "The reason behind the amnesia is Makaze, or more precisely, Ventus Malum. Don''t worry, it wasn''t meant to harm Arthur but to help him. The key to mastering the Dark Blade and all its abilities is to known the difference and the connection between strength and emotions. ''Tis a blade created with emotions of hate and, especially, love. Basically, what Ventus Malum wanted is for Arthur to value his love for his friends and family more, value it so much that even without his memories, he''ll still feel it. Are you with me?" Lucy nodded her head, though she was creasing her brows, finding it a bit unnecessary to make Arthur forget his past in such a tight situation, after all, the System was clearly targeting him and is bound to strike again. They are vulnerable as they are still in the System Universe, however, Lucy can''t leave it since her Space Magic is not advanced and the spatial bullet lead to random location, which are not that far away from the initial one. As if he could read her mind, Leiu chuckled and said, "You don''t have to mind the System. Nothing and no one will bother you andˇ­" He sighed, paused for a few breaths then continued, "Please, stay by his side." "Of course I will." affirmed Lucy with a totally serious look. "I don''t mean only now. Always side with him, no matter the circ.u.mstances and no matter who''s right and who''s wrong." Lucy remained silent for an inordinate amount of time before standing up, turning her back to him and saying "You know that I will." For the first time in a long time, Leiu laughed, stood up and waved his hand, causing the dark world to disappear. Before he left, he added, "I''m glad to hear that again. Farewell." Chapter 688 - 632: No Trust By the time Lucy finished talking to Leiu and the latter vanished as fast as he appeared, Arthur exited the Adventurer''s guild. The parasite was overly cautious and even after activating his Stealth skills, which rendered him basically undetectable by almost everyone, he still looked around after ten or so steps. Lucy noticed the green card on his hand, which indicated that he officially became an Adventurer and was able to gather a bit of info about this small world. She kind of predicted what he would do but she still followed him out of curiosity and affection. Even if his stats are still absurdly inflated, he doesn''t know how to properly use them and even though there is nothing that can threaten his life here, she still remained very close. Only when Arthur left the bustling village and stopped in a random place inside the eerily quiet forest did Lucy choose to reveal herself. When the man''s eyes landed on the mesmerizing silver-haired woman, he hastily jumped back and looked at her with a frown. He knew she was the woman from before but the caution he was showing was to be expected knowing his character. "Why do you keep following me?!" He coldly spoke to her while unsheathing Makaze, which had a bit of lightning dancing around it. Seeing this, Lucy softly smiled, spread her hands innocently and replied "I told you that I''m your ally so it''s only natural that I accompany you." "I don''t need you! Scram out of here!" "It won''t happen!" Seeing her stand her ground, Arthur''s eyes narrowed and, by the next second, he jumped at her with a moderate speed and swung his sword, which burst with yellow lightning. The Dark Blade whistled in the air and soon reached Lucy, who didn''t react at all. Just as Evil Wind was about to strike her, it was easily stopped by a frosty layer which covered Lucy''s skin. Arthur panicked a bit and swung his sword again but the result was the same so he anxiously retreated and looked at her with an unreadable expression. ''It seems he''s contemplating whether to continue fighting or run away.'' As the parasite started slowly backing away, Lucy spoke again, "I have no intention of hurting you. Just let me follow you." "No. I don''t trust you." "You don''t have to. Furthermore, it''s not like you can stop me." She pointed at a random direction and continued, "Go ahead, try running. I guarantee you that you''re not faster than me." For an inordinate amount of time, Arthur stood there like a log, not saying or doing anything. Lightning buzzed around him but he remained unresponsive until Lucy took a couple of steps towards him, causing him to snap out of his daze. He glared at her for a few brief breaths before clicking his tongue, sheathing makaze and leaving, not bothering with her anymore. Although he wasn''t skilled in fighting anymore, it didn''t take a genius to know and ''feel'' that Lucy is much stronger than him. From Arthur''s point of view, he reincarnated not long ago, and provoking a powerhouse won''t help him at all. Of course, he doesn''t trust her at all but, also, he can''t stop her if she wants to follow him. Earlier, when Arthur entered the Adventurer''s Guild, he only registered himself as an adventurer and asked a few things about the town''s vicinity, he didn''t take any tasks. After his short confrontation with Lucy, the parasite walked farther from the settlement, and in a bit less than an hour, he met with an overgrown lion with a red fur and a flaming tail. It was a Lv46 monster that can threaten the townspeople and its appearance made Arthur hesitate for a couple of seconds but when he decided to attack, the poor beast was turned into sliced meat with just two slices from Makaze. Its skin was charred and its bone turned into ash, though when Arthur possessed it, its body quickly regenerated. As he witnessed the incredibly meager increase in stats, Arthur left the new host and let out a sigh before glancing at Lucy, who stood three meters away, her blood-red and sky-blue pupils never leaving his figure. "Until when are you going to follow me? Are you that bored?" Hearing this, Lucy giggled and retorted, "Who said I''m bored? It''s quite entertaining to see you go around and slay this and that." After that, Arthur proceeded to ignore her again and killed a few more monsters, each time he learned a new thing about his arsenal of skills. First, he relied on Makaze but then he mastered the already mastered magic skills. He used the Hell flames, which had a deep dark red color. He used Lightning, Water, Wind, and even Space Magic but the last one was difficult to handle. Even Dark Magic was used but it wasn''t as strong as before as he doesn''t know how it works. In the end, he stuck with the Vermillion Bird''s flames, which seemed to be the most effective against the monsters found in the forest. He would shoot a small but fast bullet made of the Divine Beast''s fire. It was always a one-shot and although the increase in stats was small, Arthur always possessed his dead victims. As Arthur was about to search for the next prey, he heard a nearby rumbling sound which was followed by the fall of multiple big trees. Less than half a minute later, three swift silhouettes appeared from the base of a mountain not far off, they were all profusely sweating. The middle one, a woman with long red hair and a kind of revealing armor that matched her crimson hair, looked at the motionless Arthur, her expression turning joyous for some reason. She signaled for her companions to follow her lead before they stopped before the unresponsive Arthur, whose attention was focused on the trees, which kept falling and the loud noise was getting closer, which means that something is definitely chasing those three. "Hey friend! Are you an Adventurer?" The woman flashed a smile at Arthur, who glanced at her but didn''t reply. Lucy was just behind him but the woman didn''t seem to notice her, or rather, none of them could see the camouflaged specter. "You''re Lv31 so you must be one, right?" She looked above Arthur''s head, where his ''Lv'' was displayed thanks to her Appraisal skills, which is much inferior to Arthur''s. Once he appraised all three, he saw their Lvls, names, age, titles, and so onˇ­ Without even waiting for the parasite to reply, the woman stretched her hand, which was holding a strange-looking brown grass. "Hold this and wave it around." She expected Arthur to comply, after all, she''s considered famous and he must have recognized her, however, the reality was way different than her expectation. The man looked at her as if she was an idiot or a lunatic. He even comically tilted her head and gave her a dumb stare, causing the woman to crease her brows and try to force the grass on him. On the side, Lucy was about to interfere as the thought of having another woman close to Arthur bothered but, from the looks of it, she didn''t need to act at all. Arthur slapped the woman''s hand away then raised his hand, which burst with orange flames. The woman couldn''t even let out a squeak as she and her two companions were enveloped by the fire and turned into cinder within two seconds. Chapter 689 - 633: Love and Brotherhood Author''s note: First of all, I would like to apologize for the long absence. I''m finally back and daily updates are back with me. I''ve had a few personal problems and now that they''re solved, I can focus back on this story. *** Arthur''s merciless and instant actions didn''t surprise Lucy, who broke into a knowing smile as she saw the now incinerated bodies of the adventurers get blown away by the turbulent and hot wind. Considering that Arthur was currently amnesiac, it''s his first murder, from his point of view, however, he didn''t show any reaction and proceeded to shift his attention toward the incoming large beast right after throwing a cursory glance at Lucy, who winked at him and crossed her arms. Facing the grotesque beast charging in his direction, Arthur attempted to use his Space Magic but the result was more devastating than he had thought. He pinched the air with his thumb and index and caused the space to shatter and a fountain of blood to appear. The unsuspecting parasite was momentarily startled and about to be blown away but nothing too dangerous happened to him as Lucy, like a ghost, appeared behind him and wrapped her arm around his waist before slowly backing away from the blast. He tried to struggle, at first, but it was but a futile try as he couldn''t match her monstrous Strength. Everything ended so quickly but the ruckus he caused was large enough to alert the relatively far town and, in no time, several high-leveled Adventurers would definitely show up. "Let go!" Arthur wriggled his body and ''managed'' to break free from Lucy''s arm. He glared at her for a couple of seconds before transforming into a bolt of lightning and leaving the area. ˇ­ The same day, late at night, Lucy was maintaining her silence but frowning as she looked at her husband, who was laying on the bed, his body slightly twitching. Makaze was letting inaudible cries and flashing with an ominous dark light, making the White Specter perplexed. Though it hasn''t been long since he ''met'' Lucy, Arthur quickly grew accustomed to her persistent presence and continued to act as if she wasn''t here. He had laid on the bed and wanted to rest as he felt a bit tired, mentally, that is. This and his trembling body made Lucy confused about his situation. He barely used any Mental Power and with his infinite Stamina, he shouldn''t feel exhaustion so the current situation was illogical. His amnesia shouldn''t have affected his stats or strong mental state. The parasite tried to fall asleep but, in the end, the silver-haired woman standing next to his bed like an immovable mountain did get on his nerves. For a short while, everything was eerily silent and even a bit awkward but the atmosphere drastically changed when Arthur jumped out of his bed and attacked her. He mustered all of his strength and pushed her against the wall, one hand on her throat and the other pressing on her shoulder, trying to immobilize her. Lucy was so deep in thought that she only reacted after she was caught but breaking free was an easy thing to do, nonetheless, she didn''t do anything and only stared back at his cold eyes. "What are you? What do you want from me?" In response, a mesmerizing smile blossomed on the woman''s face. "Can''t I just join your adventure? I''m sure you''ll need the presence of a womanˇ­ sometimes." Right after saying that, an unstoppable force pushed Arthur''s hands away and, before he was able to retreat or react, Lucy retaliated. Her two arms stretched forward, interlocking behind his neck and pulling him towards her. The parasite''s pupils constricted as the woman planted her lips on his but it only lasted for two seconds before he pushed her away, his expression worsening with every passing second. He was about to say something else but was unable to as a head-splitting pain assaulted him, forcing him to stagger back a few steps. Vivid images flashed in his mind, making the man let out a groan before staring at the wall for an inordinate amount of time. When clarity returned to his dazed eyes, he stared back at Lucy, who was still smiling at him. "I know you cannot trust me but that''s not what I''m telling you to do." She took a few steps forward, stopping right before the silent parasite. Her finger touched his chest before gently going all the way to his chin. "Use me. I''m very powerful andˇ­ I can have many other uses." She pushed the unresponsive Arthur on the bed before mounting him. This was but the beginning of the pretty active night the two experienced. Lucy pretty much forced herself on him and did all sorts of things to provoke his s.e.x.u.a.l desires, causing him to finally succ.u.mb and unleash his repressed desires. **** The next morning, Arthur woke up from the comfortable sleep and the first thing he saw was a half-n.a.k.e.d Lucy in the midst of wearing a s.e.xy red bed robe. He instantly remembered the events of last night and felt a bit regretful over losing control. Noticing the man''s gaze, Lucy turned around, smirked and confidently said, "If you''re still unsure, we can form a slave contract. That way, you''ll be certain that I won''t betray you." Arthur remained silent for a bit before replying, "Fine, let us do that." As if she expected such an answer, Lucy retrieved a white slave collar from her ring along with a written contract. She calmly handed it to Arthur, who thoroughly read it before the two proceeded to do it. He was a bit nervous as he thought she''ll try something or hesitate but the woman accepted all the conditions he mentioned and showed no objection whatsoever, though this only raised his suspicions. Only when the contract was finalized did he let out a sigh of relief. As for Lucy, she used simple Magic to hide the collar before giggling and nonchalantly sitting on his lap, causing him to furrow his brows. "What? Are you still adamant about refusing my love even after I became your slave?" Arthur clicked his tongue and proceeded to ask all sorts of questions, after all, as his slave, Lucy cannot lie to her master. However, the answers she gave him were the same as the ones from before, meaning that she never lied or hid anything from him. She told him how they first met and how they''re a married couple but the absence of the memories made Arthur unsure about the truth even after hearing it. ˇ­ The same day, at noon, Arthur and Lucy left the town for good and headed East, where there have been sightings of unidentified and hostile machines. Unlike Arthur''s attitude yesterday, he changed his goal and wanted to learn about his masked past and what happened after he died on Earth, though his relationship with Lucy was still shaky and not built on mutual trust yet. ***** Meanwhile, inside a gloomy room which had nary furniture and was illuminated by a few torches with either green or purple flames. A youth was sitting on a rusty metallic chair and unlike his usual appearance, he wasn''t wearing the jet black armor and, instead, he had a simple white shirt and long brown leather pants. Leiu leaned on the chair and let out a long sigh, his mind preoccupied with many things. On a small table right next to him, there stood a small creature, half black and half white. The Watched, Bilgart, flapped his wings before turning his head toward the silent youth. The crow gazed at Leiu for a very long time before speaking with a deep voice, "She really is an exceptional woman but, will she be able to do it?" Leiu snickered and retorted, "What makes you think she won''t?" "You and I know very well why she won''t follow the same path. Were Arthur to regain his memories through falling a love with her a second time, it''ll only trigger the rest of the following events, however good or bad they are. Knowing the unfavorable future that awaits her lover, will she really go through with it or opt for a safer way to save him?" "That''s the thing about Love, Watcher. It makes people do the unthinkable andˇ­ never mind." Leiu let out a sigh, slowly got up, and exited the room, leaving the two-colored crow alone. As he saw the vanishing back of the Nameless Knight, Bilgart flapped its wings one last time before disappearing while leaving behind a couple of words that were heard but none but himself. "What will happen when Love and Brotherhood clash? I wonderˇ­" Chapter 690 - 634: The Metropolis "How do I restore my memories?" Arthur and Lucy was sitting around a small campfire, both taking an unneeded rest before they continue their new journey. Now that she became his slave, Arthur became less wary of the White Specter and didn''t suspect that she''s lying, nonetheless, he still didn''t fully trust her. His behavior towards her, however, became relatively better and less aggressive. Moreover, Lucy would use any opportunity to get close to him and try to seduce him. Whether it''s linking her arms around his, jumping on him or performing seductive poses. In fact, even right now, she was doing it. She was wearing a very short white dress which revealed almost the entirety of her thighs and her well-developed but not bulging b.r.e.a.s.ts. The parasite, at first, would look away but after experiencing this more often than not, he would just enjoy the sight but restrain from doing anything, unfortunately for his wife. "I don''t know. Perhaps by experiencing past events, you''ll slowly regain them." "Past events? Like what exactly?" Lucy put her index on her lips and giggled before winking at him and responding, "Like repeated s.e.x.u.a.l intercourse? Or cuddling?" Hearing this, Arthur let out a long sigh, stood up and got rid of the campfire, seemingly not paying attention to what was just said. Actually, both were heading toward ancient but mysterious ruins on the edge of this world. From what they''ve gathered, it''s a dangerous zone riddled with perils and the active machines protecting the place managed to even kill some of the high-leveled adventurers. Arthur was very interested in the ruins and wanted to go no matter what. As for Lucy, her only goal was to accompany him wherever he goesˇ­ the destination and enemies mattered little to her. ˇ­ Five days after their departure, with the use of a very fast Spirit Boat in Lucy''s possession, the couple reached the edge of this small and neglected world. Unlike planets or stars, a realm like this one has an end and when you reach it, you''ll be able to gaze at the empty Void, which is not easily reached, never mind breached. What welcomed the sight of the parasite and the white specter was a mess of void and a shiny, glorious metropolis dyed in a golden, eye-catching radiance. The city seemed to be in its own Spatial Dimension, which was somehow connected to this world through a narrow passage riddled with thousands of fly-sized buzzing machines wandering around. "Legends speak about a very old race well-versed in architecture and crafting all sorts of stuff. One day, all the members of that Race blinked out of existence, never to be seen. They left their belongings here and cities such as this one are built by that intellectual race." Lucy pointed at the minuscule yet fast and powerful machines while adding, "Those machines too, were built by them." "I can''t see their Levels." "It''s because they don''t have a Level. They are unrelated to the System and, in your current state, you can, at most, handle ten of them so stay behind me and let me lead the way." Although unhappy about being underestimated despite his sky-high stats, Arthur still decided to follow his new ''slave'' and let her clean up the cramped passage. Thanks to Lucy''s cultivation and her absurd stats, breaking through the passage and eliminating the machines was a piece of cake. The moment she set foot inside the passage, all the targets were instantaneously frozen and rendered useless. The thousands of fly-sized machines crashed into the ground and broke into blue particles. Within less than a minute, Lucy and Arthur passed through the supposedly well-guarded passage and entered the other dimension, their eyes were welcomed with an almost blinding light coming from above, the one originating from a ginormous sphere-like object no different than the sun itself. Arthur wasn''t used to his overpowered body and ultimate skills, he couldn''t even properly use his Sense, however, Lucy was the total opposite, which is why, when they arrived in that dimension, her body shuddered as a genuine dread surged inside of her. She was an Exalted God and her Sense was able to stretch to all sides of the city, which wasn''t really that big but the source of the feeling of fear she was experiencing wasn''t coming from the machines guarding this place. Her reactions were swift as she turned around, grasped Arthur''s hand and immediately flung him, precisely toward the way they just came from. The parasite only reacted when he was flying in the air, back in the other small world. He managed to safely land and arrive back in front of the passage leading to the golden metropolis but before he could figure out what happened, a burst of energy reverberated across the area, sending him flying hundreds of meters away. **** Back inside the metropolis, Lucy, who just successfully shot Arthur out of this place, wasn''t able to defend herself in time. A crimson silhouette appeared next to her and with just one blow, she was sent flying like a kite, leaving a trail of blood in her wake. The blow was so powerful that her ribs and two of her limbs were no longer functional. She wasn''t even able to activate her Devil Arm. Her increased recovery wasn''t able to heal her serious injuries. The assaillant attacked a second time and it was then that Lucy''s body burst with the fusion flames, which momentarily clashed with the attacker but it only lasted for a short period before the White Specter was flung again, her body crashing into one of the golden buildings. Her body, now dyed with the scarlet liquid, was limp and in a pitiful state, her eyes were closed as she had fallen unconscious. The crimson silhouette which attacked her wasn''t the merciful type. It arrived in front of her unconscious and broken body. Only when it stopped moving around did its appearance become much clearer. Its savage aura which was strong enough to split the earth just by its very existence, the pungent smell of blood which would even make Vampire vomit. This was a special existence with the appearance of a soldier wearing bloodied armor, a rusty bronze sword and a missing head. One of the thirteen Mythical Being and, by far, the strongest of them, the Headless Soldier. He showed no hesitation as he raised his sword and slashed down at Lucy, planning to finish her off. The bronze sword wasn''t coated with Sword Essence but the being''s bloody energy, which easily overpowered Lucy''s fusion flame. Just as the sword was about to cut her body in half, it was met with a subtle resistance, which grew stronger with every passing second. The Headless Sword retracted his sword and stabbed again but the outcome didn''t change. The source of this resistance showed itself in no time, it was a simple red card with the picture of a joker holding his forehead while grinning evilly. Black and grey threads of light burst out of the card and quickly enveloped the Headless Sword, which jumped back and cut a few of them but wasn''t able to escape. In the end, the threads of light bound the Mythical Being, which released an earth-shattering cry. Chapter 691 - 635: The Mad Dog and The Angry Wolf (1) Right outside the golden metropolis, Arthur stared at the passage, which heavily shook for some time. He was pondering whether to go inside or not. He knew that Lucy, which he considered his slave, saved him from something but he can''t just sit around and do nothing. He desperately wanted to restore his memories to know how he obtained those stats and what happened with Lucy in the past. He felt like there was a forgotten gap in his memories and that made him uncomfortable and unable to roam around and do whatever he wanted like he previously wished so. After thoroughly weighing his options, Arthur entered the passage and flew in a straight line before appearing in the city again. The moment he appeared, he transformed into what he deemed the best host to defend himself in, the black turtle, which was one of the four Divine Beasts he can transform into. The ginormous black turtle conjured a translucent yellow barrier and its thick scales were enveloped by a green defensive layer. Although the current Arthur isn''t as efficient in using the good skills as the old one due to his inability to get accustomed to his cultivation and Realm and the sheer amount of skills in his arsenal, all which seem overpowered. After making sure he is well-protected, Arthur looked around and apart from two falling buildings, everything else seemed perfectly fine. The huge Divine Beast slowly descended toward the broken golden building and in no time, Lucy''s figure could be seen. She was laying in a pool of blood and was unconscious, a bit of small rubbles had fallen on his left shoulder and thighs. A distance away from her, in mid-air, there was a crimson silhouette bound by black and grey threads. The moment Arthur caught wind of it, his body froze. It was easy to guess that this was the source of what happened. The parasite warily circled around the bound Headless Soldier before floating closer to Lucy from the other side. The serene and calming Life Energy wrapped around Lucy and healed her while Telekinesis raised her in the air and pulled her closer to the gigantic black turtle. Once he had gotten hold of the unconscious white specter, Arthur left the area, heading deeper into the shiny yet eerily quiet city. Strangely enough, the passage was littered with the dangerous buzz-sized machines but the city''s machines were either unresponsive or are doing their job without bothering with the intruders or ''visitors''. In a breath-taking open plaza decorated with silver ornaments and statues made from dark gold, a black turtle, which became smaller in size, landed on its center. Arthur used Telekinesis and put down the unconscious Lucy, his Life Energy was slowly healing her but the damage done by the Mythical Being was more than it was shown. Normally, Lucy''s high recovering ability along with Arthur''s Life Energy would heal her back to full within minutes but even after a whole hour, Lucy was still wounded. With nothing in particular to do, the parasite sat down next to Lucy and gazed at her face, his mind lost in thought. No matter how much he tried to remember, the memories wouldn''t come up, which, sometimes, made him wonder if everything that was said by Lucy was just a lie. Then again, as his slave, she cannot lie, moreover, his high stats and his current state is proof that many things happened after he killed himself back on Earth. ˇ­ Even more time passed but Lucy showed no signs of waking up so Arthur just put a barrier around her before leaving the plaza to explore other areas of this hidden golden metropolis. The city wasn''t that big, especially for the parasite, who can move around very fast and can even teleport, nonetheless, he decided to wander around slowly so as to not alert the busy machines. Plus, he didn''t come here to cause trouble and only hoped to find a way to restore his memories. The reason he came here was because the race which built this city is known for its exceptional intelligence so it was safe to assume that they crafted something that allows the user to peek through his past memories. Arthur, back in his human form, entered a special district with dome-like houses and a frightening amount of humanoid machines, all armed to the teeth. They held rifle-like black objects and tight golden armors which made them merge with their radiant environment. The amount of gold in this city would make anyone on Earth drool with greed but, for Arthur, it was unnecessary and uncomfortable to look at. Even without the artificial sun hanging way up, the illumination of the golden city is enough to see everything. All was well and calm for Arthur but it didn''t continue to be so, of course. He abruptly stopped marching and groaned while holding his head. A splitting yet momentary pain assaulted him and it brought with him a joyful thing, something that he hoped but did not expect right here and right now. They were vivid images, memories of the past but they were brief. They depicted a golden city a bit different than this one, a gigantic snake that spits fire, a fire giant andˇ­ "Black Rose? Red Seat? When was this?" Arthur tried to remember but those images vanished as fast as they had appeared, making the parasite slightly disappointed, nevertheless, he didn''t give up and kept looking around, trying to find some clues. It seems that he visited a place similar to this one in the past so there''s a strong chance that he''ll experience the same thing again the more he ventures in. Five minutes later, Arthur was assaulted by the pain again and saw other memories, which explained to him a few more things. Like how that golden city was in a world called Green-Leaf and used by one of the sects there. ˇ­. While Arthur was touring the golden metropolis, the Headless Soldier was soon about to break free. The grey and black threads originating from the Joker''s card were being ripped one by one and some even turned blurry, seemingly unable to handle the pressure. The Mythical Being, which was missing his head, angrily growled, his hand clenched the bloodied rusty sword. ****** Author''s note: Hello, I just wanted to say that this volume isn''t long but is necessary for the next one, which is the conclusion of Arthur''s adventurers and the next step for the grand final of the story. Thanks for reading and stay tuned! Chapter 692 - 636: The Mad Dog and the Angry Wolf (2) Bit by bit, Arthur was remembering past and forgotten things. Every image, every sensation was as vivid as it can get and it would last for a brief moment before disappearing, however, he ascertained his suspicions. The silver-haired woman who was so affectionate to him and wasted no opportunity to show her love did indeed appear in those memories, which means that what she said, or, at least, part of it, was true, or so thought Arthur. After 6th time, the parasite no longer experienced this strange occurrence so he decided to go back to Lucy and check on her. As he walking back with rapid steps to the open plaza, Arthur felt a suffocating pressure that alerted all his instincts. All kinds of alarms were ringing inside of his head and before he could grasp the situation, a crimson silhouette flew into the sky, not towards him but at the plaza, where Lucy was. The parasite also shot from the ground and tried to clash with the Headless Soldier but he was a slower than his target, nevertheless, when he approached the mythical being, it automatically changed its target to him. One would expect precise and strong blows from the strongest mythical being but it was a far cry from that. The Headless Soldier was like a crazy dog, attacking relentlessly and blowing things up left and right. Arthur blown up away with the first strike and when he managed to stabilize his body again, he was flung away yet again. His Health Pool decreased with every hit but he recovered it almost instantly and, when he was going to be struck for the third time, he was able to retaliate. His fist enveloped by a green lightning, it clashed with the Soldier''s sword, however, the result was no different than the rest. Arthur''s body, like a kite, crashed into one of the building, crumbling it. He coughed blood and struggled to get up but a rusty bloody sword penetrated his chest, impaling him. The Headless Soldier pulled out the sword and slashed again, cutting off Arthur''s left arm. Thanks to the Pain Immunity Passive, the parasite didn''t feel pain but he was at death''s door and even his crazy regeneration and Life Magic weren''t quick enough to negate the massive damage he was suffering every second. Feeling helpless and restrained, Arthur went all-out, using a Fire Rizaki and [Heavenly Arrow], which were unleashed three seconds after the second slash of the enemy. He had only 20% Health left and his body was in a mess but, fortunately, the Rizaki blew up just in time. The golden city was overshadowed by dark red flames which dominated the skies and cascaded on the mythical being, blowing him up away from Arthur. The Heavenly Arrow followed after the Rizaki, made from Void Magic and Lightning, it whistled and twirled in the air. The Headless Soldier tried dodging it but it followed him wherever he dashed and, in the end, he was forced to take it head-on. Arthur vomited lots of blood then got up and used his right hand, which emitted a blinding white light which covered him and healed his injuries. His cut-off arm grew within ten seconds and his Health was recovered to full after half a minute but the Mental Power he used was not so easily restored. Instead of flying at the opponent, Arthur wanted to return to the plaza and see if Lucy had woken up. They had more chance to survive if they gang up of the Headless Soldier, who Arthur didn''t know and was confused on why he''s attacking them. Sadly, Arthur had just flown a small distance when a crimson light blocked his way, a rusty and unimpressive sword incoming towards him. A crimson pillar of light was unleashed from the sword, to which Arthur unsheathed Makaze and swung it horizontally. The two blades violently clashed but Arthur was unable to keep hold of his partner, which flew out of his hand and disappeared within a split second. The pillar of light continued its rampage and struck the parasite, who was able to raise a barrier just in time to resist a bit of the damage. Arthur followed with [Faster Than Death], teleporting next to the enemy and whipping with his leg, accurately hitting the soldier''s hand and also forcing the sword out of his hand. From then on, the battle turned into a dog fight, the two became totally mad, throwing punches and kicks without restraint. No flashy attacks or ultimate moves, just a bloody brawl in which the mythical being was dramatically getting stronger. One of the downsides of fighting the Headless Soldier is that, the longer the fight lasts, the stronger the mythical being becomes. If he fights long enough, the soldier can even defeat the strongest person in existence, the Nameless Knight. The golden metropolis, once majestic and full of radiance, was turned into a place no different than hell itself. The dark red flames burned down everything to cinder and the clash between the crazed dog and the angry wolf transformed this place into ruins. Arthur would punch the soldier''s chest, blowing him hundreds of meters away then, in retaliation, the mythical being would kick the parasite in the air then grab his leg and smash him on the ground. This inhumane and savage brawl continued for about fifteen minutes before it was interrupted by a freezing energy which made the Headless Soldier stop mid-charge. He tried to back away but the Yin Energy spread too quickly and turned him into a statue, which intensely shook and was about to break only for a massive blooming lotus to appear above it and solidify the ice again, trapping the enemy inside. A graceful figure dressed in a long blue dress landed next to Arthur. Her Yin energy enveloped him and expulsed the crimson aura out of his body. "We can''t beat himˇ­ we should leave." Arthur stared at the frozen mythical being before nodding his head, his right hand emitting an abundant amount of Life Energy, which healed him. Lucy glanced at Arthur and noticed a subtle difference but decided not to ask for the time being. The longer they stay here, the more dangerous it''ll become. There was something which confused her about this situation. The Headless Soldier knocked her unconscious with a couple of attacks but Arthur was able to contend against it, which isn''t logical. In his current state, he is definitely not as strong as she is so how could he battle the mythical being? ''Did he purposely weaken itself in order to fight Arthur? Or does he scale depending who he''s facing?'' Chapter 693 - 637: A Hand of Ice (1) The couple didn''t linger there any longer than they should have. With the Headless Soldier temporarily frozen and the golden metropolis now in ruins, there was no reasons for the parasite or the white specter to stay, especially with the mythical being behind their backs. More or less, Arthur got what he wanted and, after experiencing those vivid flashes of memories, he was sure that most of what Lucy said was true. It could be said that the negative feeling and distrust he harbored towards her had dramatically diminished but it didn''t completely disappear. "Are you alright?" The moment the two left the golden city and appeared in the forest at the edge of the small word, Lucy checked Arthur from head to toe with an overly worried expression plastered on her face. In response, Arthur tried shrugging her off but after two unsuccessful tries, he just stood there, a bit confused and slightly embarrassed now that he''s aware that she''s not faking her extreme affection. "Ifˇ­ if all what you said is true then we''re actually married." "Mhm! That''s right!" Lucy affirmed with an enthusiastic nod and a bright smile which can entrance any man. Arthur faked a couple of coughs and turned around. He changed into a cleaner outfit, a long azure robe with silver lines on it before speaking again, "Let us go." "Where to?" She peeked her head from the side, a smile still aimed at him. "Take me to familiar places so I can recover all my memories." Unexpectedly, Lucy didn''t immediately agree with him like usual. She gazed at the gloomy and darkening sky then explained, "I''m afraid that''s not possible at the moment. Before we ended up here, we were attacked by the System''s spaceship and if we were to leave right now, it''ll most likely locate us and we won''t be able to defeat the sheer amount of fighting robots it can dispatch." "Then what do you propose?" "We''re not in a hurry so you can do whatever you want. I, as your loyal and loving slave, I''ll follow you everywhere." She tried to link his arms with his but Arthur stepped away and threw a piercing glare at her before jumping in the air and flying East. What happened over the course of the next two weeks couldn''t be said to be interesting. Arthur and Lucy traveled from one place to another, discovering new places and occasionally fighting monsters which were basically killed with one skill. Arthur no longer cared about possessing those monsters, which had pathetic stats and, instead, aimed to recreate past events in order to remember what he had forgotten. In one fateful night, a memory clearer than all the rest flashed inside the parasite''s head. He was quietly meditating while Lucy was sitting opposite of him and wearing only a s.e.xy red nightgown, obviously, trying to seduce him. Ever since that night when she jumped on him, the two didn''t do anything obscene as Arthur showed a great amount of restraint and didn''t want to succ.u.mb to his carnal desires, nonetheless, Lucy attempts were completely futile either. While Arthur was trying to calm his racing heart and turbulent mind, a memory from long ago appeared in his head and it was coupled with the head-splitting pain. It showed him a brief fight with a silver dragon then a blinding blast which blew him and Lucy. He saw how he was nursed and how his relationship with that woman deepened due to that incident. Their first kiss and so onˇ­ it was so realistic that he momentarily fell unconscious and let out a painful groan. When he came back to his senses, those memories disappeared but strangely enough, like its predecessors, he remembered some of them, not in the normal sense but he just knew that this and that happened. When he opened his eyes again, the parasite found himself laying on Lucy''s lap, her relatively small hand on his forehead. "It''s okay, I''m here. Just rest for a bit." Her gentle voice, which can only be heard by him, made him close his eyes again and caused his consciousness to drift into the abyss as he fell asleep, genuinely feeling very tired. The very next morning, when he woke up, he was sleeping on the bed with a half-n.a.k.e.d beauty practically hugging him like a pillow. Both her arms wrapped around his chest and her head glued to him, inches away from his neck. Not used to this, Arthur tried to push her away at first but the woman wouldn''t let go so, in the end, he resigned and just remained like that, a bit stiff as he gazed at her sleeping face and wondered many, many things. ****** The world Arthur and Lucy were in is a nameless place in the middle of nowhere but it''s still considered inside the System Universe. After the couple fled from the spaceship, which was aiming for the parasite, the System dispatched even more robots and players to apprehend the targets but everything ended up with a devastating failure. Out of nowhere, the Nameless Knight appeared and destroyed two of the large-sized spacesh.i.p.s along with all of its passengers before warning the System to stop its pursuit. Unfortunately, his warning didn''t work at all and even though he''s the strongest existence, the System was hell-bent on getting its hands on Arthur. Apparently, its adamance on getting the parasite was due to what happened recently. Someone who looked exactly like Arthur invaded many of the System''s factories and had stolen important test subjects so the System assumed that it''s him after running many tests. The truth isn''t far from everyone''s assumptions. The Arthur who appeared at that time is indeed the parasite Arthur but he''s not from this timeline but, for now, only the Joker, Leiu, and Timos were aware of that. ˇ­ After searching for a bit more than two weeks, the System managed to locate the hiding couple but it didn''t launch an immediate attack. Two spacesh.i.p.s, no smaller than the one from before, positioned themselves around the entrance and exit of the small world and countless robots readied themselves. In order to catch the parasite, the System was ready to annihilate the whole world with just one cannon blast. The cannon was called ''Bio Blasted'' and though it doesn''t cause any apparent damage, the advanced chemicals inside the blast will kill every living being in that world. The robot in charge of this, a unique kind called the G-1 type, had all the information it needed on the couple and calculated the likelihood of their survival. Although they may be close to death, it''ll still count as a success. Chapter 694 - 638: A Hand of Ice (2) Five more days passed and the vision, or more accurately, the vivid memories of the past became much more frequent, to the point that Arthur could barely rest. The head-splitting pain would come out of nowhere and would last much longer, causing him to be bedded almost all day long with Lucy nursing him. Furthermore, he became more open to his wife though he still refused skinship but it''s not like he could stop Lucy as he could barely move. There was one more thing which was drastically changing and experiencing things a bit similar to Arthur, it''s none other than his partner and blade, Makaze. At first, it was calmer than water but a few days ago, it started intensely vibrating and damaging the inn''s room, so Lucy had to relocate to a safer and more secluded hideout. There were no black flames emanating from the dark blade but another, more dangerous thing spawned off of it. It was wind, pure wind energy which was sharp enough to cut everything in its way. There was lightning too, a bit of crimson lightning very similar to the one Arthur faced when he was attacked by the Celestial Tribulation, the very same Astrith can use. "Are you feeling better?" As she wiped the sweat off his forehead, Lucy leaned closer and checked his pulse before putting another blanket on him. "Iˇ­ I really don''t know but I''m starting to know why this is happening." "Oh, why?" The parasite didn''t answer his question and closed his eyes, preferring to rest. It''s like there is some sort of barrier around his heart, rendering him unable to trust anyone, including this silver-haired woman, whom he ascertained she''s his wife. Maybe because the tragic memories of the past are still lingering in his mind or the fear of experiencing the betrayal again. Nevertheless, the current Arthur didn''t want to get involved but it''s a bit too late to think that. Lucy, who was about to use her Yin body to cool his burning body, suddenly stood up and gazed at the dark ceiling of the cave. She unleashed her sense and immediately caught sight of numerous robots flying in the air. She didn''t attack them immediately as she knew there is an even stronger power behind them, moreover, it''ll expose their locations. Opting for a safer way, she followed one of the robot squadrons and discovered that they were dragging the inhabitants of this planet away. In just five to ten minutes, a blinding white light would envelop a city or a town and then everyone would disappear. After seeing this process three times, Lucy hurried back to Arthur as she kind of guessed what the System wanted to do but, unfortunately, a few kilometers away from what her husband was, she was intercepted by a tall robot holding a lengthy metallic spear with a sharp black tip. "Lucy MoonStarˇ­ Target confirmed. Proceeding to capture the target." The robot spoke with an emotionless voice as its eyes shone with blue light. It grabbed its spear and pointed it at Lucy, who dashed at it and violently punched it using her devil arm. A large amount of steam emanating from the specter covered the area and a devastating clash occurred when her fist clashed with the black tip of the spear. Lucy managed to blow the robots thirty or so meters away but it quickly stabilized its body and jumped at her only to be frozen mid-air by nine blooming lotuses, which quickly spun around the woman. Half of the forest was frozen in a split second and when the robot managed to break free, Lucy had already fled and retrieved Arthur, who woke up. The parasite was confused but he readied himself when he saw Lucy''s panicked expression. He stored the unstable Makaze and, once he left the cave, he transformed into a massive and majestic azure dragon, which rose in the air with a terrifying speed. Lucy stood atop the dragon and fired the silver revolver multiple times, shooting down countless robots which were charging at them. At this point in time, they were already discovered so it was futile to use Stealth. Arthur listened to Lucy''s advice and charged high-up in the sky, wanting to leave this world before more reinforcements arrive. Unfortunately, the Divine Beast bumped into an invisible wall, which pushed it back and forced Arthur back to his human form. He unleashed a Heavenly Arrow infused with Void Magic at the unseen wall while Lucy shot a 2nd-grade bullet at it but the two attacks did no damage at all. They floated in that sky for less than a minute but hundreds of robots circled them, leaving not even a tiny gap in between. "Just why are they after us?"-Arthur "..."-Lucy Lucy activated her White Specter transformation, causing an illusory flaming white tail to appear, her two eyes were covered with white fire too. The devil arm scaled changed in colors, becoming grey and the steam became crimson. "You''re in no condition to fight. We''ll have to create an opening and escape." "How are we going to do that?" Lucy smiled at him and replied, "Just blast everything." After saying that, she flew high in the sky and let out her Godspirit, which was an enormous ice lotus. The Godspirit instantly bloomed and released an unstoppable wave of Yin, powerful enough to freeze all the nearby robots, albeit momentarily. Arthur followed with a fire Rizaki and Space Magic. He broke the space, making the enemies disoriented before the deafening fire explosion erupted, causing the sky to turn red and the Hell flames to cascade on the unmoving robots. As they had no feeling of fear, the countless robots advanced forward and sacrificed each other to get close to their targets. The couple''s attacks were truly strong and defeated more than a thousand robotos but even more came in their places. "They''re not attacking usˇ­" Lucy was perplexed by the robots'' behavior but she had no time to contemplate things. Both she and Arthur chose a direction and charged at the mass of enemies. The Godspirit froze everything while she used the golden crow flames to scorch the metallic machines. As the two were equipped with deadly attacks, it wasn''t hard to break through the encirclement. Furthermore, the robots weren''t individually strong, they just had a lot of numbers. Sadly, the moment of relief lasted only for a split second as the couple heard an ear-splitting sound which made them fall from the sky and crash into the burning forest. When they managed to get back to their senses, all the robots had stopped functioning and rained down from the sky but this wasn''t the end. Twenty seconds of silence passed before Lucy and Arthur, who were thousands of kilometers away using Arthur''s Space Magic, abruptly stopped and fell on the ground again. Arthur was the first to be affected. He grabbed his throat and seemed to have trouble breathing, his energy was totally out of control and his health was decreasing rapidly. Lucy felt the change fifteen seconds after him and, like him, her body limply fell on the ground and she couldn''t breathe anymore. Chapter 695 - 639: A Hand Of Ice (3) Time slowly passed and, before even the couple succ.u.mbed to the cannon shot called ''Bio Blaster'', the rest of the inhabitants of the world, those who weren''t dragged away by the System''s teleportation, died in five seconds or less. The trees withered, rivers dried, and the small organisms vanished from existence, killed by the toxic attack launched by the System. In five minutes, the world didn''t resemble its former peacefulness and became a barren land full of death and eerie emptiness. Arthur and Lucy laid next to each other, both unconscious for a prolonged period of time as the System refrained from dispatching any robot to retrieve them until the effect of the blast lessens a bit and becomes non-lethal. One day passed and the first to somewhat wake-up was Arthur, who had a lot of difficulty breathing, much less properly moving, nevertheless, he tried his best to sit-up and move a bit closer to Lucy, checking if she''s still alive or not. Fortunately, the silver-haired woman had a bit of life in her but it was rapidly diminishing and if she were to remain in this fatal environment any longer, she''ll definitely die. Unlike her, she doesn''t have countless resistances to poisons and all kinds of stuff so the attack affected her more than him despite her high cultivation. The parasite raised his head and saw the massive spaceship covering the grey sky. Its shadow was enough to cover hundreds of kilometers and it was giving multiple red lights which seemed like alarms. Even the wind which blew on his face was inexplicably hot and highly toxic. The ground under him was lifeless, the trees withered, the branches fell down and the leaves were nothing but ash. ''Just what do they want from us?'' Arthur tried to use Life Magic on himself and Lucy but it didn''t work. In fact, after making a couple of simple movements, he fell back down and lost consciousness again. One more day passed and when Lucy was truly on the verge of dying, a sudden phenomenon occurred around the couple. It all began with Evil Wind, which left Arthur''s storage and started letting out desperate cries while circling around Arthur and Lucy. It used its black flames to protect Arthur but Lucy was still exposed and perishing. Her skin was turning green and blood was oozing out of all of her orifices. The sentient Dark Blade''s cries became extremely loud, almost deafening and when night was about to fall, it hovered above Lucy. The sharp tip of the blade was pointing at her chest and, slowly but surely, it stabbed the white specter but it didn''t want to kill her, quite the opposite, it was saving her life. When half of the blade penetrated Lucy''s chest, her eyes fluttered and after a few breaths, she came back to her senses, heavily panting. She looked at Arthur then at Makaze, which didn''t stop and, seeing her in a better condition, completely entered her body, causing the woman to cry from the agony she was going through, nevertheless, she didn''t resist the Dark Blade. A period of total silence passed before, in the middle of the night, a burst of blue light exploded forth, reaching the spaceship and freezing a small portion of it in a split second. Back on the ground, next to Arthur, Lucy was back on her feet, her clothes were cleaner than ever and her complexion was back to normal, however, her appearance had drastically changed. Her right arm, the Devil Arm, had much smaller crystalline scales and, instead of the steam, there were black flames in a circle around her feet. Her silver hair grew much longer, almost reaching her feet and both her eyes were now sky-blue. Her right hand was tightly holding Makaze, which had drastically changed in appearance. The blade wasn''t curved anymore and resembled a straight one-handed sword, its black handle now silver with a blue phoenix wrapped around it. Furthermore, it was emanating Lucy''s fusion flames from its tip. "I never thought that you''ll be the one breaking the oath butˇ­" She looked at the sword in her hand, smiled and added, "I have to thank you for trusting me. Now then, shall go kick some ass?" Nine silver lotuses were spinning around Arthur, creating a sphere which was impenetrable, even by the toxic air lingering in this world. Like a shooting star, Lucy shot at the spaceship, leaving a trail of beautiful silver particles in the air. She stabbed the sword to the front, releasing a beam of pillar of blue light which became larger and struck the spaceship, which retaliated with its countless cannons. Unfortunately for it, the cannons weren''t able to stop the sword tab, which, when it reached its target, ripped through the ship''s metal and caused dozens of large explosions. Moreover, it froze anything it touched while the fusion flames followed by turning anything in its way into nothingness. Lucy''s one strike caused the spaceship to naught but a destroyed scrap, which slowly started falling downwards. The White Specter, with an inconceivable speed, she appeared inside and slashed horizontally with Makaze then let go at the very last second. The sword slash was so strange that it cut everything in its way and, from outside, it looked like the spaceship got cut in half. But, this wasn''t the end as the sword released an ear-splitting screech and literally transformed into a majestic blue phoenix, which wielded its ice Magic to freeze half of the ship and all its passengers before spitting blue flames. As for Lucy, she couldn''t join Evil Wind as her path was blocked by a tall and domineering robot. The only one which wasn''t affected by the earlier attacks. This was the perpetrator behind the Bio Blast and the one commanding this mission. Lucy glared at the silent robot and coldly said, "I just need one touch and you''ll be gone." "Target, Lucy MoonStar, ready to-" Before it could finish talking, Lucy appeared before him like a ghost and stretched her right hand, which was glowing with a blinding blue light. The robot swiftly jumped back but it wasn''t as far as Lucy and, before it managed to land, Lucy''s right hand had touched its elbow. The moment it made contact with her freezing cold fingers, the commanding robot, which was supposed to be as strong as an Exalted God, was turned into an ice statue, which fell down from above and shattered into thousands of pieces. Seeing the fall of their leader, Lucy snorted and continued disposing of all the rest, planning to let none escape this place. ********** Down below, Arthur, who was unconscious, was experiencing the last stage of this supposed test given by Ventus Malum. It didn''t require him to have a lot of power, after all, it tested his heart, his feelings, and his cherished memories. The Gale Devourer empathized that the strongest thing is and will always be love. It is what motivates everyone and you can''t achieve what you want if you forsake it. He wanted Arthur to fall in love again, he wanted him to experience that feeling again so he may never forget it. Of course, slowly recovering his memories was part of the test but memories are not enough for you to love someone, some may even ignore them or erase them, however, Arthur did not. And although he didn''t really fall in love with Lucy again, it can''t be denied that he cares for her a little now and, from Ventus'' point of view, that''s the first step. From within the sphere put by Lucy, the sound of a beating heart could be heard and it was getting louder and louder. The parasite''s chest started glowing with a golden color and a harmless heat surged inside of his body, traveling from part to another until it covered him whole. "Lucyˇ­ Salyˇ­" Arthur groaned as he muttered his name, his eyes opening abruptly and his body twitching once every two seconds. Each words he muttered carried a strong and unstoppable wind which ripped Lucy''s sphere and cut down the ground under him, reaching deep inside. Chapter 696 - 640: Love and Disappearance The glow emanating from Arthur''s chest became brighter and brighter then it took the shape of the same MoonStar he and Lucy used outside of the Red Tower. Arthur, who''s been unconscious for some time, finally opened his eyes wide. His right eyes glowed with a blue light while his right one was a mix of blue, red, and grey. Slowly but surely, his body floated in the air, the winds raging around him became calmer but a lot deadlier. Their whistling totally quietened down but their range dramatically increased, reaching thousands of kilometers away. All of a sudden, Arthur''s figure vanished and almost instantly reappeared next to Lucy, who was busy disposing of the remaining robot fighters. "I''m sorry for arriving so late." The cold expression he constantly had on his face was no longer present and, instead, a sweet smile blossomed on his usually stiff face. He grasped her delicate and small hand and brought her closer to him. "I remember nowˇ­ I remember everything." His voice cracked a bit as he felt ashamed about what he did to her and how he treated her. Of course, he knew that she didn''t blame him but that doesn''t make his past actions right, nevertheless, it''s all back to normal now. Lucy, who''s both startled and happy about his arrival, hugged him back but furrowed her brows about seeing the golden glow emitting from his heart. She also noticed how quiet the surroundings became, they became dead silent, forcing her to look around only to see the empty space and countless rubbles, which were actually the remains of the spacesh.i.p.s she demolished. Apparently, the gales circling Arthur cut down everything, whether it''s the tough materials of the ship or the still resisting robots. Everything just ended so quickly and, fortunately, both of them were safe and sound. However, this only lasted for a brief period, in which the two couples just embraced each other. Just like her husband, Lucy''s chest now glowed with a golden radiance and she started feeling a warm and cozy heat enveloping her heart. The Soul Bind they re-did recently was being subjected to a big and good change. If you look at their consciousness, you would see the two connected by a thick black thread made of condensed Dark Magic but, now, it was different. The thread was now a mix of gold and blue and the Dark Magic took the form of a black phoenix which wrapped its incredibly lengthy wings. Half of the beast lived inside Arthur while the other lived inside Lucy. Moreover, the strange yet powerful MoonStar was present in both of them, hanging in their lively consciousness, providing their with a new type of energy never seen before. "It has not ended yet." Lucy tightly held his hand while standing next to him, both gazing at two massive spacesh.i.p.s making their ways towards them. The spacesh.i.p.s were identical to the destroyed one and they had their cannons prepared and aimed at the couple, which looked smaller than ants in comparison. "You don''t need to do anything. Just watch." Arthur raised his hand and pulled down Makaze, which instantly went back to its original form but with a new and eye-catching addition. A black phoenix and a black dragon were wrapped around its now dark green handle and the black flames, which could usually be seen around its sharp edges, was no longer present. Although Makaze was very compatible with Dark Magic, it doesn''t mean that it works best with it. Evil Wind was mainly created using Ventus'' Gales, which means that the Dark Blade''s speciality is Wind Magic, something Arthur rarely used in the past due to it being much weaker than his other attributes. Now, however, it''s different, perhaps even the opposite. With Makaze completed and Ventus'' soul fully integrated into the blade, Arthur''s Wind Magic is stronger than everything else. The only thing that could probably rival it is the MoonStar which has to be used by the couple at the same time. The parasite didn''t even move, he just held Evil Wind and raised it then slashed down. It was a simple and very slow movement, which didn''t cause devastation, at first. In fact, nothing happened for the couple of the seconds after the slash but, the still far away spacesh.i.p.s didn''t remain unscathed. Usually, the amount of Wind Magic outside of plans, stars, and worlds, is meager if not non-existent but now was not the case as a truly enormous tornado appeared and cut down the two spacesh.i.p.s in a matter of seconds. These two massive machines were like two helpless leaves being carried by the wind. They crashed into each other then were cut down to pieces, literally. By the time Arthur put down his hand, the spacesh.i.p.s were blown far away and the couple were left alone. "So what do we-" Lucy wasn''t able to finish talking as Arthur planted a light kiss on her lips before wrapping his arm around her waist. By the time she came back to her senses, the two were far away from their previous location. Arthur used Space Magic to open a Spatial Tunnel and teleport to a peaceful but desolate star. "A moment, please." Arthur let go of her then took two steps forward before letting go of Makaze, which floated vertically in front of him. Wind whistled and after three breaths, an illusory silhouette with blurry facial features made its appearance. This was the departed Ventus Malum, he stared at Arthur for an inordinate amount of time before he chuckled and congratulated him. "I hope, no, I knew that you will succeed. Love is truly a fascinating thing. With my gales at your side, you need not fear anything from now on, for where the wind blows, you will surely follow." Arthur respectfully bowed his head and replied, "Thank you." "No need to thank me. It wasn''t me who has chosen you but Makaze." In essence, Ventus and Makaze are the same entity but throughout the years, the Dark Blade became sentient and created its own living soul. "You two still have a long road ahead of you but don''t ever let go of each other''s hand. That''s all I''m going to say." Once he finished his piece, the silhouette fused back with Makaze and the blade returned to its sheath after vibrating twice. *********** Unbeknownst to the couple, there was someone watching everything that happened without interfering. The creature was smaller than a human and was black in one side and white in the other. "Now that you have the strength to defend yourself, what will be your first step?" .... The main Arthur and the two clones agreed to meet four months after their separation but retrieving Evil Wind took less time than expected. Nonetheless, with Astria being attacked by the angels, Arthur didn''t opt to wait and decided to directly head back to Astria along with Lucy. With his newfound powers and Makaze back in his possession, he could contribute a lot, especially now that Lucy is accompanying him, after all, two pairs of hands are better than one. After resting for half a day, Arthur and Lucy wanted to go back to Astria but, surprisingly, the parasite wasn''t able to locate the secluded world. He already had the coordinates for it but when he tried creating a Spatial Tunnel, it led to naught but nothingness. As an alternative, they went back to Earth and tried teleporting to Astria but it didn''t work either, confusing the two. Furthermore, the popular VRMMO Hell Gate apparently caused a huge ruckus on Earth. The virus which caused a lot of people to disappear was a devastating blow to the planet but the mysteries around this game made its founding company, LobiSoft, go bankrupt and its CEO disappear all of a sudden. When Arthur tried investigating the matter, he was only able to find a few useless clues. "How about going through Green-Leaf? Isn''t there an unstable portal leading to Astria somewhere in the Pigolo Tribe? The one you used with Gutcha." "We could try that but I suspect that Astria was transported to another place." "Transported? By whom and for what reason?" "I''m not too sure. Maybe my clone wanted to trick the angels or something happened. Anyway, it''s no longer where it used to be, that''s for sure, and without its coordinates, we can''t reach it." Currently, it has been a bit more than forty days since Arthur separated from his clones. Chapter 697 - 641: The Rising MoonStar (1) One month prior to Arthur''s meeting with his two clones, the reverberating news about what happened to the White Specter Clan reached Arthur and Lucy''s ears. The two stayed at Green-Leaf for some time and tried to find a way to Astria. The one who relayed these shocking news to them was none other than Isadore, the king of Green-Leaf. The blond youth sat opposite of the couple, his back straight and showing no fear of hesitation as he talked. Right behind him stood Wrath and Dan, one was a deadly sin and the other one an eccentric yet strong Overgod. "Right after the execution of Angelina Album Larva, there was a big explosion which razed the Imperial Capital to the ground. The number of casualties is incalculable and the damage the Cloud Sea Sect suffered will surely bring them down from the throne. Very soon, the struggle for power will start again." While Arthur remained oddly silent, Lucy frowned and asked, "So, the White Specter Clan was massacred? What about the Matriarch?" "There''s been no sightings of her ever since the war between you twoˇ­" Isadore sighed and looked at Lucy, who neither griefed nor cried for the loss of her relatives. In truth, Lucy wasn''t sad but she did feel a bit bitter as not every person belonging to the White Specter Clan deserved to die. Nevertheless, she isn''t going out of her way to exact revenge as there were much more pressing needs. "What do you two intend to do?" Isadore asked the couple, who both looked at him with unreadable expressions. "I''m more curious about what you expect us to do, Your Majesty." Arthur coldly smiled at the youth, who lightly coughed then forced a laugh. "I assume you still haven''t found a way to Astria, right?" "What do you think?" retorted Arthur, who stole a couple of glances at Taliya. The demon was still wearing the maid uniform and though she became Isadore''s advisor, she dutifully stood behind the parasite, clearly showing where her loyalty lays. After a short bout of awkward silence, Isadore spoke again "Haven''t the Kang Clan contacted you yet?" "I don''t they will. They must be busy making moves in the Divine Planet." Hearing this, Isadore shook his head and explained, "For them, Astria is far more valuable than supremacy on the Divine Planet." "Your Majesty, what about you?" Arthur glanced at Wrath, who glared back at him, and mockingly said, "I think you can easily secure a spot in the Divine Planet." "Nah, that''s unnecessary. Lending you a hand takes precedence over anything else." The parasite laughed and retorted, "You slick bastard. I''m quite fond of you." "Hahaha likewise likewise!" The two laughed while gazing at each other, both knowing what''s going inside the other''s head. **** Later that day, Arthur sat down with Lucy, Robin, Rey, Sonia, Delia and her sister, Saly, and, last but not least, the newcomer, Edward Ortberg, who took this world by storm. "Please meeting you again!" The serial-killer sarcastically bowed to the parasite then to Lucy, though he was much more cautious when dealing with the White Specter as she seemed to be in a very bad mood. In fact, when he got a bit close to her, he started shivering due to the Yin Power emanating from her. "I''m very interested to hear what happened to my clone."-Arthur As everyone sat around a spacious round table, Edward recounted his experience with Arthur''s clone. He hadn''t missed a detail and spat one shocking thing after the other. "I knew it was a bad idea to let you go alone, hmpf!" Lucy crossed her arms and snorted when she heard about the succubus slave the clone ''Acquired''. Arthur tried to signal Edward to stop mentioning the ''hot succubus'' but the latter wouldn''t shut up. In the end, Arthur forced a laugh and shifted the subject. "Is there anything you want me to do?" Sonia, who was in charge of the sect while the couple was gone, looked very exhausted, both physically and mentally. "There''s a month until the meeting. Since Astria is gone, I''ll wait for the clone to come. As for you all, just take a good rest, I and Lucy will manage the sect for a while. Oh and youˇ­" He looked at Ortberg and pondered for a moment before saying, "I don''t fully approve of your crazy actions but I do have to admit that your achievements are remarkable. I''m sure we''ll need a good strategist against the angels." "What? Angels again? I hate those f.u.c.kers!" Edward sighed and dropped his head down but he didn''t object to Arthur''s decision. He had nothing special to do and he liked managing the undead army and defeating one enemy after the other. Furthermore, he already had an old grudge with the winged-beings. **** Late at night, Arthur gazed at Lucy, who was busy reading countless doc.u.ments related to their sect and how it is flourishing. "Are you sure?" Lucy tilted her head and looked back at him. "Sure about what?" "The White Specter Clan. I understand that you hold no special sentiment to it, nevertheless, they were falsely accused and even your sister was publicly accused. If you want, we can raid the Cloud Sea Sect and I''m certain no one will interfere." In response, Lucy smiled and shook her head before speaking, "My family is here. It doesn''t matter if I''m blood-related to them or not." "How about your mother? Knowing her attitude, she won''t sit still and will most likely attack them." "No, she won''t. At least not now. She hasn''t appeared yet so I suspect she was in Astria when everything happened." Arthur thought for a moment before agreeing with Lucy. Since she didn''t want revenge, he didn''t insist and just sat close to her while helping with the stack of doc.u.ments. ***** Now that the important problems were temporarily put on-hold, Arthur and Lucy returned to being the official leaders of the MoonStar Sect and started taking care of things in order for it to expand quickly. Isadore Malfront had proposed to Arthur that they join hands and create a tournament. It''ll begin in two weeks and last for one week. Furthermore, any cultivator above the God Realm can participate. The king wanted it to be a flashy and big tournament, better than even the ones done on the Divine Planet. Although it''s called a tournament, Isadore described it as a celebratory event for the rise of the MoonStar Sect, which will soon shake the whole multiverse. Chapter 698 - 642: The Rising MoonStar (2) Before the proposed tournament, Arthur and Lucy started expanding the city and going through all unfamiliar important figures of the MoonStar Sect. Fortunately, Sonia was quite thorough and careful in her recruitment so, even after using Appraisal, Arthur didn''t find anything suspicious with the current elders. In total, there were 4 elders, all were old men and their cultivation is between the Immortal and Divine Realms. Three originate from Astria and one from Green-Leaf. The last one was a traveling cultivator who never associated himself with any of the sect but, somehow, the Vice-master of the sect managed to persuade him. Although he wasn''t particularly strong, he was good in handling internal affairs and was very respectful to the parasite and his wife. He looked like a kind grandpa with long white hair and a small beard. His name was Carl Bulong Arkis, he was over 200 years old and had acc.u.mulated a terrifying amount of cultivation books and artifacts, which most were put in the sect''s treasury. Even Arthur, who was in possession of an astonishing amount of books, was dumbfounded once he saw the amount of techniques the old man had. This made him curious about Carl, who remained humble despite his position and never went against Sonia''s orders. Strangely enough, he seemed to care for the young woman and took her side no matter what but it wasn''t just the case of ''love at first sight'', it seemed to be something more than that. Anyway, after a quick interview with the four elders, Arthur went to upgrade the city''s defense and make it more habitable while Lucy handled the recruitment process and dealt with Isadore to complete the preparation of the tournament in time. The look that Isadore had on his face when he found out that he''ll be dealing with the cold-faced Lucy was truly priceless. Though he brightly smiled, you could see invisible tears running down his stiffening face. Unlike her husband, Lucy behaved strictly with people she doesn''t know, moreover, her Yin power would bring the chills to anyone who stayed close to her. Unless they have a dense amount of Nether Energy, they can''t resist the freezing Yin. "Is this even necessary?" The bespectacled Robin fixed her glasses and frowned while looking at the parasite, who raised both his hands in the air and caused a slight tremor to assault the city. "Of course. We have to make sure the city stands even if powerful enemies attack. Better be safe than sorry." In response to his words, Robin shrugged her shoulders. As for Rey, who matured a lot and looked more like a youth than a kid, stood closer to her. Though he still pales in comparison to Gutcha, Rey still achieved small mastery in Dark Magic and has enough prowess to contend against Divine Beings. A sky-high wall made of solidified Dark Magic appeared around the newly built city. It was as tall as the one in Astria but stronger as Arthur didn''t have time to reinforce the other one. In addition to the appearance of the wall, which already shocked the travelers and new habitants of the flourishing city, Arthur also put three formations, two of which are defense while the last is an offensive one. Countless silver swords into the sky and shone brighter than the sun, they danced in a circle before exploding into countless silver particles which formed a dome that later turned invisible. This formation was backed by another one, which looked like three massive golden shields. Last not but not least was a new skill formation he acquired after Makaze was completed. It''s called [Dark Dragon Formation] and it is permanent. *[Dark Dragon Formation](Active Skill): The user ''Arthur MoonSta'' can combine his formation skill mastery and Evil Wind, Makaze, to create an offensive formation which deals damage to any hostile targets detected near it. If the user is close to the formation, his stats will increase by 0.5% Attack power +10% Cost: 1000 Mental Power Cost: 1m Mana/s Cost: 2m Stamina/s Cost: 2 Creation Points (permanent) Cooldown: 20 hours. Right after putting down the three formations, Arthur used his Nature Magic to fill the ground and the mountain surrounding the city with poisonous vines, though they will only react if the city is in real danger. After ascertaining that everything was in order, Arthur proceeded to other tasks. His Creation stat, which is still hard to explain, has now a new function that is hard to come by. In addition to being able to create modern weapons and clothes, Arthur now can use Earth Magic, Metal Magic, and Creation Magic to create sturdy and good-looking buildings, no different than the ones found on Earth. Nevertheless, he didn''t abuse this power and just created a sky-scr.a.p.er which will be the new headquarters of this MoonStar Branch City. The other tower, which was fascinating as is, will be where the top disciples live. This sky-scr.a.p.er, which had an architecture so different than one found on worlds like Green-Leaf, caught the attention of almost everyone. It pierced the clouds and was made from black glass with a massive black dragon at its top, its two wings wrapped around its roof. This dragon was the Dark Dragon Formation, though it looks like a statue, the dragon will come to life when it senses danger. ˇ­ After spending almost all day long upgrading the city, Arthur returned to his room and found Lucy still engrossed in paper-work, as usual. "Rest a bit, will you." Arthur sat on the bed and took out a moderately small napkin then proceeded to clean Makaze after unsheathing it. He doesn''t know why but after the dark blade was ''reborn'', he always got the urge to clean it everyday when night falls. It somehow helps him calm himself and collect his thoughts. "I willˇ­ I''m just checking the current top and promising disciples. Look at this." Lucy stood up and pushed her long silver-hair to the back while walking toward Arthur. Her wet clothes and hair, along with the sweet fragrance emitting from her was entrancing, to say the least. Arthur controlled his urges and looked at the list presented by Lucy. "What''s this?" "It''s the list of the young cultivators that want to join our sects. Each person has to mention their real name, background, age, cultivation. Most are average but the ones in this list are rather unexpected, especially this oneˇ­" She pointed at the third one, which had a picture of a pretty girl with golden hair and breath-taking eyes. Arthur was able to recognize her immediately, after all, he met her on several occasions in the past. This person was none other than Shu Ru, the top disciple of the Mirage Era Hall. Chapter 699 - 643: A Week In Hell (1) "Shu Ru? Why is she applying to join our sect? I thought she''s the top disciple of the Mirage Era Hall." Arthur appeared genuinely confused as the description about her before tilting his head. "I should be asking that. Hmpf! Didn''t you spend quite a bit of time with her?" "Sure but we are not particularly close." Lucy deeply stared at him before turning her head back to the list and muttering. "I''ll have to ''personally'' ask her." "Hm? Did you say something?" Lucy sweetly smiled, shook her head and went back to her seat. ****** Currently, the MoonStar sect has a bit more than 15,000 disciples with 10% of them being inner disciples, who are more privileged than the outer disciples. To become an inner disciple, two factors are needed; one, you have to be at least at the Immortal Realm or higher, and second, you have to swear your loyalty to the MoonStar and sign and exclusive contract, which is quite restrictive of your freedom but it grants you countless benefits, such as the myriad of techniques present at the sect''s library. One week before the tournament, the city welcomed a staggering amount of cultivators, both famous and powerful ones. As the tournament was going to happen in a newly-built area right beside the city, even the king of Green-leaf personally came. Kang Amidel and his two children also arrived, but they were accompanied by an esteemed elder of the main branch of the Kang Family. Due to being extremely busy with the preparation of the tournament grounds, Arthur couldn''t meet the elder, however, Lucy did but she didn''t show the needed respect. Nonetheless, the elder, who looked very old and coughed once every three seconds, was always smiling and treated the White Specter with politeness. He even brought a couple of priceless treasures, meant to be offered to the winners of the tournament, to which Lucy nonchalantly accepted. It was also today that those who applied to join the sect will get their results. Out of the 20,000, only 200 were approved. Those youngsters hailing from rich families or powerful clans weren''t pleased but one look at the parasite, whose aura alone gave them the shivers, made them shrink back and swallow their frustration. As he faced the two hundred new disciples, Arthur, who wore a simple green t-shirt and black pants, appraised every single one of them before nodding his head and saying, "Welcome to the MoonStar sect. I''m sure you''ve been warned but I''ll say it again, once you join, you cannot just leave the sect whenever you want, especially you guys and girls." The youngsters remained calm and quiet as they stared at the parasite, who was so infamous that almost all the sects in Cloud Sea heard of him. His attack against the White Specter Clan or his battle in the Red Tower, all of it was spread far and wide. Although he wields a dangerous power called Dark Magic, many people admired him and wanted to follow in his footsteps, just like Zodiak in the past. "The information you wrote was all basic and does not determine your real prowess. I came here solely to see what you''re capable of and if I''m disappointed, you won''t become an Inner disciple." Arthur clapped his hands, suddenly causing the space to shake and before they could react, the new disciples found themselves standing in a wide green plane. The plane stretched as far as the eye could see and, apart from one lonesome silhouette standing a couple of hundred meters away from them, there was nothing else. This place was actually an illusion created by Arthur. It isn''t unbreakable but Arthur was able to strengthen it using his eyes and a couple of formations. Since he had a bit of time today and the tournament grounds were completed, at last, he wanted to test those newcomers and determine who''s qualified. He took his duties as the co-sect master very seriously and truly wanted to nurture strong people so they could help him in the future. Even if he''s not here and a disaster befalls the sect, he won''t be worried. Of course, the MoonStar sect, currently, is protected by many strong individuals. Although Jackob disappeared along with his son, Ragnar, Sonia managed to break through the Mortal Realm a long time ago and even reached the Deity Realm. Rey was as strong as an Immortal Cultivator and the undead dragons, if together, can equally fight a God. There''s also the undead army and its general, Edward, who swept through the wasteland and conquered all of it in a short period of time, allowing Arthur to rest assured about the safety of his and Lucy''s sect. There were other powerful people missing, such as Delia and her friend, which departed a while ago to take care of personal problems. Saly, who''s presumably with Arthur''s clone in Astria, and, last but not least, Astrith, who''s also accompanying the clone to defend against the invaders. Arthur pointed at the Death Knight standing three hundred meters away from the group, and explained, "Each one of you has 3 minutes to attack that undead. Just give it your best and I''ll be the judge." He left them with no time to think or question about this sudden trial, he just snapped his fingers, teleporting a startled youth closer to the undead. The threatening Death Knight was at least 3 meters tall, wore a thick set of black armor and wielded a thin rusty sword and a huge spiky shield with a skull on its center. The Death Knight was an undead he summoned just earlier. It was incredibly strong, so strong, in fact, that it could face a peak Sovereign. It cost him a considerable amount of Mental Power and, so far, it''s the strongest undead he summoned. Obviously, he ordered it to not go all-out and only counter-attack with light and ''harmless attacks''. So, like that, each of the two hundred disciples were given three minutes but, in the end, Arthur was very disappointed. Apart from a few distinguishable ones, the rest couldn''t even reach the undead and were blasted by its sword, which unleashed a weak wind blast. Though Arthur regarded it as ''weak'', for those youngsters, who were in the Divine and God Realm, the undead was monstrously powerful and resembled a moving fortress with its big size, heavy armoy, and absurdly massive shield. "You, you, you, youˇ­" Arthur pointed at six people and ordered them to move to the side before he sighed and waved his hand, teleporting the rest back to where they were previously. There was one more reason Arthur was doing this. He wanted the MoonStar sect to win the tournament. Amidel told him that this up-coming tournament has caught the attention of not only the sects of Green-leaf but of all of Cloud Sea. Isadore did a fantastic job in advertising the tournament, which became known universe-wide. The rewards haven''t been disclosed yet but many suspected that they originate from the Red Tower. So far, three sects originating from the Divine Planet already sent their respective disciples and planned to participate. There was also something that astonished Arthur. The Holy Dominion sent two youngsters and also wanted to join the tournament. They were hell-bent on killing Arthur so this move was confusing, to say the least. The two youths were brought by a middle-aged man wearing a long white robe, he was a High Cardinal and had the cultivation of a peak Overgod. This cardinal, named Patrick, brought a ''non-enmity seal'' from the pope himself. This seal was like an oath made by the dominion, swearing not to attack the MoonStar sect during the tournament. ˇ­ Lucy stood atop the eye-catching tower raised by Arthur and gazed at the flourishing city. With the influx of visitors, Arthur spent most of his days expanding the city, which became even bigger than the one in Astria. Even the mountain right next to the city wasn''t spared as hundreds of buildings were built on it, as well as cement roads and magical lights put on the side of the main roads. The population of the city already exceeded 1 million and it didn''t seem to be stopping. The only downside was the wasteland surrounding it but even that was being subjected to great change. Arthur''s nature magic was powerful enough to force the dead earth to regenerate. Grass started growing again and flowers were ready to bloom, though the range of his nature magic wasn''t big enough to encompass the whole wasteland. Chapter 700 - 644: A Week In Hell (2) "You have heard my warning and I have given you enough time to think about it. Now that you''re here, do not think about leaving or begging for mercy, it''s too late." Arthur faced the six youngsters he picked. The competition is to be held in six days and he had given them 24 hours to think about what he said. The six youths maintained their silence, their backs straight and all wearing simple training uniforms. There were 2 girls and 4 boys, and amongst them, Arthur recognized three. The first was the bright and gorgeous-looking girl, Shu Ru. She''s supposed to be the next head of the Mirage Era Hall, however, she opted to join the MoonStar sect and learn from Arthur and find out the connection between him and her grandfather. The second person the parasite recognized was rather odd. It''s not that his appearance was strange, his presence here was surprising, to say the least. This youth, who was fairly handsome and had crimson hair, was a former ''enemy'' of Arthur. This was none other than the cousin of the Flame Emperor, his arm was cut off by Arthur a long time ago but many things happened after that, things that Arthur was unaware of. The young man had forsaken his sect and his former name and, along with his trusted friends, formed a small sect. Formerly known as Elo Huo, Ho Qing, let go of the grudge he bore against Arthur and wanted to learn and become stronger. Appraisal *Ho Qing (Elo Huo)(Race: Human): Lv: ??? Realm: 3rd Grade God Realm. Age: 53 Titles: The Last kindled Flame - Holder of the Phoenix Tear - Unbending Will Skills: Fire Storm (Upgraded)(Max Lv)(Damage Enhanced by ''Holder of the Phoenix Tear) - Kindled Flames (Max Lv) Description: One of the former top disciples of a fallen sect, now the head of the Last Flame Sect, an unknown and weak power barely surviving in the wild forests of Green Leaf. He''s an exceptional individual who yearns for power to survive in what he deems an unfair world.* ''Heh, that''s quite a lengthy description.'' Arthur smirked as he looked at the appraisal results. It''s undeniable that Ho Qing became a special person but he''s still too weak, nevertheless, he deserves a second chance and his brave appearance before him proves that. The third person Arthure knew was a girl with long purple hair and striking facial features. Her pupils were colored differently, one was pink and the other jet black, she''s someone he met a very long time ago. Back then, he had not left Astria and went with Lucy to join the competition. The girl was one of the participants and what made her unforgettable was her unique pink ice magic. Back then, here participant''s name was ''SilentFlower'' and she was stronger than the rest. *Rosea Larist (Race: Half Human/ Half-spirit): lv??? Realm: 5th Grade God Realm. Age: 40 Titles: Holder of the Flower Yin Physique - Last Noble of Brita Pelv - Last Princess of the Magical Cherry Kingdom. Description: The 5th princess of the Magical Cherry Kingdom. Now that all her sisters and brothers are dead, she''s the next in the line for inheriting the throne.* ''I doubt she remembers me though. I don''t look the same.'' The Arthur from back then had a very different appearance than the current one. Anyway, the remaining three weren''t average either. Two belonged to the same sect from a High Realm called Dark Blaze. They were friends, the girl, named Cristina, wields a long black spear and the boy, Bora, has a metallic bow. Last but not least, a youth with long white hair, grey pupils and a white robe that matched his hair. He introduced himself as Ardor, a lone traveler. He only had a sheathed azure sword on his waist and behaved politely. He''s the least talkative one but the strongest of them all. "I''m not going to discriminate between boys or girls, neither will I care about your status outside of these training grounds. If you don''t listen to me, be ready for a beating before I throw you out. Now then, let us begin." Arthur pointed at Ardor and spoke with an authoritative tone. "Show me your strongest Swordplay. If you hold back then you''re outˇ­ I''ll also take your swordˇ­ mine is quite hungry, you see." The parasite chuckled as he patted the vibrating Makaze, who wanted to devour the youth''s azure sword. Ardor nodded his head, a serious expression on his young face. He marched toward Arthur and stopped when the distance separating them was thirty meters or less. With an incredible speed, he unsheathed his azure sword and charged at Arthur, a sharp and dangerous sword essence swirling around his weapon. ''He''s able to demonstrate power that''s equal to a Fusion Sovereign. Interesting.'' A devastating blast was unleashed by the azure sword as it came stabbing toward the motionless Arthur. The target didn''t even move yet Ardor didn''t hesitate and used all of his power in his attack. The figure of the youth was enveloped by a formidable radiance, which transformed into countless white swords which flew at Arthur from all sides, even the air. Unfortunately, Ardor felt a big resistance the moment his sword reached Arthur. As if he hit an unbreakable wall, the youth was pushed back a few meters but he managed to somersault and land properly. The numerous white swords disintegrated into nothingness just as they touched Arthur''s attire and in just a few seconds, everything returned to normal. "Your master taught you well." Ardor stood there, dazed for a few seconds before he forced a smile and bowed his head then retreated back to where the other five were standing. "I can''t criticize the execution but your sword essence is lackl.u.s.ter." Arthur stated the truth, which made Ardor frown but he didn''t retort and quietly listened to the parasite, after all, the man was infamous for his world-shaking power. Moreover, Ardor knew what kind of blade Makaze was and how strong it actually is, though its appearance is a bit different, especially the handle, which had a creature wrapped around it. "Basically, you are talented and you can perform the difficult and powerful technique very well, however, your energy is lacking and your sword essence isn''t honed. Next is you. Arthur pointed at the spear wielding girl and patiently waited. Chapter 701 - 645: A Week In Hell (3) It didn''t take Arthur a long time to finish testing the six new recruits and if he were to rank them then the strongest is, of course, Ardor, followed by Cristina, Shu Ru, Bora, Rosea, and Ho Qing. Cristina, especially, had a unique spear technique which greatly empowered her and allowed her realm to jump by a few grades. Furthermore, her black spear was a 2nd grade Mysterious-ranked artifact, something which is very rare to find, even in the richest sects. Before he brought them to this training ground, Arthur had a small talk with each and every one of them and, apparently, the two friends, Cristina and Bora, deserted their sects due to some ''complications'' and vowed to never betray Arthur if he protects them, which he agreed, obviously. The Dark Blaze High Realm houses many strong sects, like the Dark Blaze Sect, the ruler of the realm and the place the duo originally hail from. There''s also another interesting fact; Bora is deeply in love with Cristina but, it''s not mutual, unfortunately for him. To sum it up, Cristina is a cold and slightly haughty girl who''s confident in her techniques and, amongst the six, she''s the one who mastered her spear technique almost to perfection. She even has the title ''Spear Destroyer'', which is equal a grade below ''Sword Saint''. When her attack couldn''t even penetrate through Arthur''s clothes, the girl wasn''t that pleased, nonetheless, she didn''t try anything funny. Bora, on the other hand, was a calm and polite youth, full of energy and very optimistic about becoming part of the MoonStar sect. He also didn''t hide his love for the girl and tried to get close to her whenever there''s a chance. Shu Ru and Rosea were two rare beauties and became friends in a matter of minutes. The only one who stood in his corner and remained absolutely quiet was Ho Qing. He didn''t interact with the rest and even when talked to, he would answer perfunctorily. ˇ­ When the testing was done and Arthur criticized their execution of the skills and in which category they were lacking in, he clapped his attention to gather their attention and spoke with a clear voice. "The tournament isn''t going to be a series of one versus one. There''s many stages and there needs to be cooperation soˇ­ we''ll begin with that." ˇ­ In the blink of an eye, two days passed, Arthur faced the six youngsters with arms crossed and an ugly expression on his face. He did nothing and watched them bickeringˇ­ "It''s your fault! I''m not the one who got caught by the vine!" "What do you mean it''s my fault? It was you who threw it at me!" "Y-you guysˇ­ calm down." Cristina and Rosea were disputing and Bora tried to calm them down but the two girls were furious and almost started fighting each other. In the end, the two were forced into submission as Arthur smacked the back of their heads with his hand. It wasn''t a fatal blow but, inexplicably, it hurt the two females so much that they fell on their butts and held their heads while begrudgingly glaring at him. They didn''t dare curse at him and swallowed back their anger. "One, two, threeˇ­" As he started counting, the two hurriedly stood up, straightened their backs and apologetically bowed their heads to him. Cristina''s defiance could be seen on her face as she gave him a piercing glare but Rosea''s eyes were a bit teary as the pain was truly excruciating. Arthur chuckled as he noticed Cristina''s face, he raised his hand and smacked her again, this time knocking her unconscious. He waved his hand, causing her body to float next to him before he ordered them to continue while disappearing with the girl. When the two came back, three to four hours later, Cristina''s face was red from all the tears. The cold and indifference that she usually had was nowhere to be seen, she just looked like a wronged teenage girl who got punished by her parents. "That''s two strikes for both of you. If I see you fighting again, you''ll both be thrown out, understood?" Cristina dropped her head and joined her new comrades while Rosea forced a smile and nodded her head continuously. Actually, it wasn''t only those two who always fought. Bora and Ardor would sometimes bicker too as the former would miss his target and accidentally hit the sword-wielding youth. Only Shu Ru and Ho Qing were very obedient and followed Arthur''s orders to the letter. The hellish training they were going through was made of several stages. For the first day, he transformed the terrain into a poisonous area filled with thorny and moving vines, occasional earthquakes, erupting magma, cracking space, and told them to survive for at least 24 hours. He didn''t let them rest even when they used all their Nether Energy and that''s because he wanted to force cooperation on them. When one cannot fight, another will protect him or her till they recover, and so onˇ­ Actually, not even a Sovereign can escape unscathed from the transformed terrain so it goes without saying that the six were on the brink of death by the time Arthur brought them to safety. Their bodies were fully healed thanks to his Life Energy but they were mentally exhausted, however, Arthur refused to let them rest and told each one of them to hit a dummy he created. The dummy was glued to the ground and was the size of a normal tree. It didn''t attack and its only function was to empty their Nether Energy pool. And so, like that, everyday for the six youngsters was no different than hell itself. Their bodies were beyond tired and they would fall unconscious more often than not but that would only result in being brought to a separate dimension by Arthur and subjected to Dark Magic. Arthur would use Dark Magic and make them feel an agonizing pain, so much in fact that they''ll sober up and force themselves to complete the task within the time limit. It''s a very cruel way to train his new disciples but it was effective and by the 4th day, they significantly improved. Two of them even managed to achieve a breakthrough. It was Ho Qing and Cristina. "The first test is just basic survival. You''ll need to dodge flying metallic projectilesˇ­" Arthur stopped talking and by the next second, the sixth youths were blown away dozens of meters, their foreheads were reddened due to being hit by a supersonic metallic object. "Of course, it won''t be as fast as this one but it''s still not something anyone can dodge." Arthur could have shown them the speed of the bullets without hitting them, or so thought the six but none dared to complain, they just stood up real fast and lined up within two seconds. Bora hesitantly raised his hand and when Arthur signaled for him to talk, he asked, "Teacherˇ­ aren''t you supposed to keep the stages of the tournament?" The parasite spread his hands and replied, "I''m the organizer, moreover, it''s not like I told you everything. I just gave you a tip about the first stage." He furrowed his brows and asked back, "Or perhaps you don''t want me to help?" "Nonono! Teacher, I, I was just c-curious." The youth hastily dropped his hand and kept his mouth shut. "The tournament begins the day after tomorrow and since I''ve taught you the basics and although I''m not that pleased with the results, your performances weren''t that bad." As he finished speaking, a graceful figure appeared next to him, her long silver hair shining under the setting sun. Lucy, who has been busy dealing with other things, rarely came to the training grounds and barely spent time with her husband. Also, without exception, the six disciples were fearful of the White Specter, who wasn''t as talkative as their teacher and is known to be a merciless killer. The parasite is also cruel and a very harsh and violent teacher, nevertheless, he seemed to be more social than his wife. Even the rebellious Cristina wouldn''t dare acted arrogantly in front of Lucy, who was more like a demon than a goddess. "Beginning from this moment, Lucy will be training youˇ­" Arthur grinned at the six youngsters, who were startled by his statement. "Heheheˇ­ good luck!" After saying that, the man vanished, leaving an expressionless silver-haired woman in his place. Lucy looked at the six of them, her eye glowing with a blue light, which frightened them even more. She didn''t even say anything and just vanished from their sight and when they came back to their senses, all six were sent flying in a direction, while Lucy motionlessly stood in the location they were standing at. Chapter 702 - 646: Phoenix Nirvana "Not enough. Again." Lucy wiped the blood off her sleeves before expressionlessly repeating the same words. The sixth youngsters were heavily injured and barely able to stand up. They were beaten back and blue by Lucy, who attacked without notice and inflicted almost fatal wounds. She didn''t use any magic and relied solely on her physical body, which is equal to her husband''s. The couple''s stats had long since surpassed the limiter and, if she wished for it, Lucy can even break down Mysterious artifacts with her bare hands. "T-teacher can''t we rest for a bit?" Bora, who had enough of being beaten half-dead, hesitated once before voicing his true thoughts. Though the rest didn''t say anything, the look on their faces clearly showed that they shared the same thoughts. "No rest. Again." Their energies were depleted and both Shu Ru and Ardor had their right and left arms, respectively, broken. Actually, a while earlier, Cristina''s spear snapped in half when it struck Lucy''s palm. This made the girl fly into a rage, relentlessly leaping at the unresponsive Lucy. She only calmed down when the White Specter reassured her that Arthur will be able to repair in an instant. Nevertheless, the pain from seeing her beloved weapon snap made Cristina dislike and fear Lucy even more. Even Ardor refrained from using his sword and swapped it with a sword made from his own Sword Essence. All of this happened in just two hours, which made the disciples despair. Lucy refused to speak and just attacked. ˇ­ Three hours in, five of the six disciples fell unconscious. The last person managed to stand with a lot of difficulty, his body on the verge of breaking, blood coming out of his nose and mouth. The youth, who''s red hair matched the crimson liquid covering his clothes, clenched his shaking teeth and slowly raised his hand, unleashing several fireballs at Lucy, which were dispersed the moment they touched her clothes. "Arthur did not lie when he said you''re exceptional." For the first time since her appearance, Lucy softly smiled and used her magic. Golden flames burst out from her hand and rose into the sky, appearing more blinding than the shining sun. This sight seemed to mesmerize the half-conscious youth, his eyes reflecting the golden radiance of the flames. "In the past, you were Arthur''s enemy, right?" Ho Qing didn''t reply, his body shaking more intensely, the flames that were coming out of his hand now vanishing, completely overpowered by the Golden Crow fire. "I can''t have someone like you alive. Die." After saying that, the golden flames cascaded on the defenseless youth, enveloping him within seconds. Ho Qing didn''t even let out a sound as the fire burned his clothes and invaded his body, making him unable to naught but at the sky. After a few minutes, a screech reverberated across the training arounds, followed by a divine pressure, emanating from none other than the red-haired youth. Noticing this, Lucy increased the intensity of her flames but that only made the pressure increase by several folds. "The end." Lucy spoke the two words then clutched her open hand, making the blood turn Ho Qing into naught but ash. However, not even ten seconds after his miserable death, an orange spark rose from the spark and a thick pillar of orange clear flames rose to the sky. "Interesting. This is the first time I''m seeing a Phoenix''s Nirvana." Lucy crossed her arms and retracted her flames, enjoying the spectacular sight. Ho Qing n.a.k.e.d body appeared within the pillar of flames, his eyes releasing a crimson gleam. An illusory phoenix, which was backed by a pressure strong enough to threaten Lucy, hovered above the youth. A couple of minutes later, everything calmed down and Ho Qing stood a dozen meters away from the silver-haired woman. He looked at his unscathed body then casually wore a robe that he retrieved from his storage ring, which was affected by Lucy''s fire. Then, the youth bent his body ninety degrees toward Lucy and sincerely said, "Thank you." In response, Lucy shook her head and retorted, "I don''t need your gratitude. I was seriously trying to kill you." Ho Qing remained expressionless and was about to speak again only for the woman to vanish. Knowing that he''ll be hit, he unleashed a burst of flames much stronger than his previous ones, nevertheless, he still got blown away. "Don''t move for now." As Lucy said that, she waved her hand, sending five pills flying into the disciples'' mouths. A minute later, all their wounds were healed and their energies were restored. They simultaneously woke up when a chilling energy crawled into their bodies. They appeared momentarily dazed before they spotted Lucy standing close to them. They instinctively backed away then, after glancing at each other, they jumped at the White Specterˇ­ **** A day later, it was finally the time for the competition. The city was filled to the brim with people from all over the Cloud Sea Universe. Even people from the Holy Dominion and Divine Planet were participating, which showcased how grand this tournament was going to be. It was happening in the desolate land of Green-Leaf, a place that some never thought of visiting but, here they are, excited and eager to witness geniuses compete against each other. Everyone, including King Isadore, his two protectors, and the MoonStar leaders, were present at an artificial yet massive plateau made from reinforced black steel. The whole area of the tournament was created by none other than the parasite, who stood at the very top with Lucy right next to him. Dozens of sect and clan masters, powerful cultivators, and countless spectators, were gazing at the couple, some envying them and others looking up to them. "Today marks the beginning of a tournament made by the MoonStar Sect and the ruling kingdom of Green-Leaf. I won''t waste time on useless stuff and just say that no one is allowed to interfere or lend a hand. Anyone who tries to misbehave will be personally handled by me. I hope I made myself clear." After saying his piece, Arthur and Lucy sat down next to Isadore, who had a disgusting grin plastered on his young face. He seemed to be in a very good mood and could not wait until the tournament began. "Considering that the enemy is right at our door''s step, you seem to be enjoying this, Your majesty." Hearing Arthur, Isadore chuckled and replied, "Their presence matters not to me. Soˇ­ do you want to make a bet?" "A bet?" "Yes. Who''ll emerge victorious? Which team will surprise the world?" Arthur turned his gaze toward a well-protected part of the plateau, right where the teams were standing. Chapter 703 - 647: Teams "Of course I think the disciples of my sect are going to win." Arthur answered with absolute confidence as his gaze rested on the six youths standing next to each other. "What about you?"-Arthur In response to the parasite, Isadore chuckled and agreed by saying "I''m the same." "Quit screwing around, I know that you don''t mean that." Hearing Arthur''s vulgar and rude words, Isadore laughed and corrected himself, "Alright you got me! Although I sent a team of my own, I genuinely think it''s either the Buddha Sect Team, the Demonic Team, or the Siren Kingdom team that will win." As he mentioned these three teams, Arthur gazed at the first one of them. A team of 5 cultivators, all were males and bald, their ages ranging from 50 to 80. By the way, the maximum age for participating is 100, which is considered young for the long-time cultivators. Although, previously, the buddha sect had grievances with Arthur and even banished him to Oblivious, which was, in fact, Riarravar, they didn''t come here this time to cause trouble. Not only did they publicly apologize to the couple, they also brought compensation in the form of spirit stones and a few rare artifacts. The one in charge of their team was, unsurprisingly, a monk, and an old one at that. He was at the Exalted God Realm, he had average appearance and wasn''t that talkative. Actually, even when the tournament was beginning, he was sitting in a corner, cross-legged, praying to Buddha. The second team, called the Demonic Team, hails from the Demon Realm in the other universe. There''s no restriction to join the tournament and your background does not matter so demons and devils were allowed, despite their enmity with many other races, such as the angels, for example. The demonic only had two participants, just like the Holy Dominion. Both were girls, they had long black hair and an exceptional beauty. Arthur appraised them and the results were fascinating, nevertheless, they weren''t the strongest out of the bunch. Last but not least, the Siren Kingdom Team, which was composed of 9 mermaids that had the lower body of a fish, which was currently not visible as they used a specially crafted elixir to grant them temporary lower limbs. It came as a side-effect but it''ll bring less disgust from the public, which was discriminating against races that looked different than humans. After all, the most common race in Cloud Sea is humans. The nine pretty mermaids were the main focus of the young cheering crowd. They weren''t arrogant or cold as they reciprocated by waving their hands and smiling at the spectators. In addition to these three teams, Arthur''s team, Isadore''s team, and High Cardinal Patrick''s team, there were 6 other teams, each composed of exceptional individuals that were the top of their sect, clan, organization, etcˇ­ "Hey! Are you here?!" Only when Isadore rudely waved his hand in front of Arthur''s face did the latter snap out of his daze and frown at the king, who was behaving childish, totally unbecoming of a supreme ruler. ***** "This place is heavily fortifiedˇ­" A woman sitting right next to the High Cardinal, commented as she gazed at the golden shields surrounding the massive plateau along with the city. There was also the barely visible shadow of a black dragon staring down at them. "..." Cardinal Patrick also glanced at the formation but didn''t speak, feeling uncomfortable and slightly pressured. He was a peak Overgod and didn''t come here to cause trouble, nevertheless, he was instinctively disgusted by the lurking dragon made of dense Dark Magic. He was a devout believer of Sedos and anything that defies light is nemesis to him so it''s natural that Dark Magic would affect him. It wasn''t threatening to a dangerous degree but the formation laid by Arthur will definitely weaken the two youths he brought. "I hope he doesn''t attack us." The woman rubbed her arms together as she got the chills after glancing at Arthur and Lucy. **** "So they are the infamous couple! Hmpf!" The sect leader of the Dark Blaze Sect, ruler of the Dark Blaze Realm, snorted as he glared at the parasite and his wife. He was unhappy that his top disciples suddenly fled without any warning and wanted to forcefully bring them back. Even when facing what he deemed as enemies, the middle-aged sect leader didn''t feel oppressed and behaved arrogantly. He was also an Exalted God and both elders that came with him were in the same cultivation realm, making them one of the strongest groups present here. "S-sect leaderˇ­ we should not do anything for now." One of the elders was feeling apprehensive and didn''t want to cause trouble so soon. They brought a good team with them but the probability of them winning was honestly low, or so he thought. Not only Arthur and Lucy were individually terrifying, they were backed by King Isadore and also the Kang Clan. Trying to provoke them will only lead to misfortune. **** "Hahaha pardon my lateness." The old man that came with Kang Amidel, sat next to Isadore and coughed while apologizing to the hosts of the tournament. He was a kind old man and showcased his goodwill in several ways. It''s the first time Arthur saw him, though Lucy did speak of him. The Kang Clan were supporting the MoonStar sect and did their best to promote this tournament to further increase the influence of MoonStar. "It''s alright. A please to meet you, Elder Nord." Arthur politely greeted the elder and kindly waved for him to sit. "What do you think?" Lucy telepathically spoke to Arthur seconds after Nord''s arrival. "He''s strongˇ­ stronger than the rest. I do agree that his arrival here is not just for the tournament." "On several occasions, he wanted to privately talk to me concerning a sensitive matter but I declined. I thought that we should both be present to hear what he has to say." "Sure, we''ll do it after the tournament." After a brief silence, Lucy spoke again, "Arthur, don''t you think the stance of the Kang Clan is suspicious?" "It definitely is. They are supporting us a lotˇ­ even if it''s because of Astria, it''s still strange." "Could they be plotting something? Maybe we should take precautions."-Lucy "Oh, don''t worry about that. I already prepared myself for the worst scenario. In anycase, no one can wreak havoc here, not with you and I here and the formations in place." Chapter 704 - 648: The Bridge In total, there were 51 participants composed of 6 races; Humans, Demons, Mermaids, Dwarves, Elves, and Imoogis. (Imoogi are dragons that resemble snakes (No wings)) The grand opening ceremony was prepared by King Isadore, who spent a lot of effort into inviting famous dancers and renowned bards. The cheering of the cloud was getting louder and the atmosphere was reaching its climax, which warranted the beginning of the first stage. The main host and the supervisor for the tournament won''t be Arthur or Lucy but, surprisingly, Gutcha. The ugly pigolo looked as hideous as ever but after being granted a part of the parasite''s Dark Magic, which was highly compatible with him, his cultivation increased by leaps and bounds. Currently, the pigolo is a 4-star God Monarch and has enough power to contend against peak Overgods. Although at first, Arthur didn''t fully trust him, such feelings changed with the passing of time. The pigolo, albeit slick, was a loyal person deserving of the couple''s trust. Not only did he save Saly, he also hid the two intact bodies of Arthur and Lucy in very secretive places, which granted them a second chance even if they died, which they did, by the way. Gutcha wore a unique robe of the MoonStar Sect. He wasn''t officially integrated into the sect, nevertheless, his position is higher than elders. It''s equivalent to Sonia''s position of Vice-Master. "You will be teleported to a small dimension where the first stage will take place. Each stage has its rules and anyone who tries to break them or wreak havoc will be immediately disqualified." As he said that, Gutcha pointed his massive open palm at the participants, and released a mass of Dark Magic. "Do not resist! This is a precaution." The Dark Magic invaded all of their bodies, without exception. Some were unhappy while others didn''t care at all. "Let us begin." Gutcha retrieved a specially-crafted spatial stone in the form of a hexagon. It was embedded with three formations, two of them were meant to transport the participants from here to other dimensions. ˇ­ It didn''t take long for the preparations to be completed and the 51 participants to appear in the first stage. They stood at the edge of a large cliff with a strong, whistling gale and an unsteady and creaking bridge which stretched for two to three hundred meters. The bridge connected two cliffs but it was in very bad condition and continuously shaking, almost about to fall. "In the first stage, you need to individually cross the bridge. Each one of you has a maximum of three minutes and the less time it takes you, the more points you will get." Gutcha also appeared beside them and briefly explained things before clapping his hands and displaying a disgusting grin on his frightening face. "First one; Cosima of the Demonic Team." The pigolo waved his hand, pulling the girl closer to the bridge, then stepping back and motioning for her to begin. **** "Isn''t it too simple?" Isadore looked at the unsteady bridge then asked the silent Arthur. "Is it?" "Of course! They can just fly and-" Before he could finish talking, the king saw Cosima try to fly over the bridge only for her body to plummet and crash into the ground. Fortunately for her, she safely landed back on her feet but the increasing gravity made her softly groan. "Did you really think I would go easy and create an easy first stage? I poured my heart and soul into all the stages and not everyone can pass the bridge." Isadore wryly laughed then glanced at the sheathed black blade. "Those galesˇ­ are they?" "You have keen eyes, your majesty." "Isn''t that a bit of an overkill?!" "I only used a bit, don''t worry." **** "Isn''t this a bit shallow? I expected something grand." The woman accompanying Cardinal Patrick looked at the wooden bridge and sighed, clearly not impressed. Contrary to her, the old Cardinal was frowning. "It''s not as simple as that." He cleared his throat, briefly paused before explaining, "Believe it or not, that whistling wind can cut you into piecesˇ­ I assume he toned it down." ***** The Demonic Team only had two members, both girls. Cosima and Marjory, and it goes without saying that they''re both exceptional, in terms of beauty and prowess. For even Isadore to think that they could win the tournament already proved how powerful these two young girls really are. Nevertheless, Cosima was startled as the gravity pulled her downward with an unstoppable force. She immediately realized that flying isn''t possible so she tentatively stepped into the bridge and after crossing less than ten meters, she saw incoming projectiles. They were thumb-sized black metallic balls that flew with high-velocity. Cosima had no problem dodging the first couple of ones but the more distance she crossed, the more projectiles shot at her. By the time she crossed half the distance, hundreds of those metal balls were coming from the front. The bridge was narrow and unsteady so it became difficult to dodge everything. In the end, Cosima used her demonic, which she didn''t expect to use at the very first stage. Her eyes glowed with crimson radiance then she literally shot beams of light that pulverized all the projectiles incoming at her. 2 minutes 2 seconds, that''s how much time it took Cosima to reach the other cliff. She didn''t seem that tired but she looked unhappy as was forced to resort to her demonic powers so early. ˇ­ After Cosima successfully completed the first stage, her comrade, Marjory, was next. Unlike her friend, Marjory was nimble and was pretty agile, managing to reach the end within 100 seconds. ˇ­ A bit less than an hour later, all the teams, except Arthur''s, tried their luck in the first stage. Unexpectedly, everyone succeeded, which proved how talented and capable these youngsters are. *** "I will make it so that you''ll be the last team to pass the first stage but, in return, I want each and every one of you to show me good results." A few days ago, Arthur said that to the six disciples, who dropped their heads, unable to refute or argue back. "If one of you betrays my expectations thenˇ­ be prepared for a True beating. Am I understood?" "Yes, teacher!" The six replied in unison then got back to training. **** "Next, Rosea of the MoonStar Team." The purple-haired girl nervously stepped to the front. She didn''t look that confident as her movements were brimming with hesitation. However, when remembered the punishment she''ll receive if she fails or does badly, she hardened her will. With a half-determined expression, the princess of the Magical Cherry Kingdom walked on the bridge without invoking her powers. When the projectiles started coming at her, she dodged them with absolute ease, which even surprised her. In comparison to Lucy''s absurd speed, the metallic balls were nothing at all. Only when she experienced this herself did she realize how great she became. So, like that, Rosea reached the end of the bridge within 95 seconds. It wasn''t the best time, paling in comparison to a youth named John. This John was a peculiar youth with mysterious description. He is the only member of the Ancient Federation Team. Speaking of the Ancient Federation, it''s actually a monstrous but neutral and non-aggressive power South of Cloud Sea, right at the border. As it is situated so close to the stretching Void, not many cultivators visit it, however, the federation has countless resources and strong individuals working for it. It''s definitely a power worth befriending and that''s what Arthur planned to do. He didn''t expect them to join this tournament and send an exceptional young man like John. Chapter 705 - 649: Doors and Numbers Although Rosea didn''t not beat John''s record, she passed the bridge with relative ease, unlike some of the other participants. She didn''t even resort to her powers or use Nether Energy, it was a pure display of her physical capabilities. Right after her was the aloof Cristina, with her black spear in hand, she recklessly charged head-on, sweeping her weapon horizontally and deflecting all incoming projectiles. Her speed was commendable but she underestimated the miniature metallic balls and was slowed down at the very end. By the time she reached the other side of the bridge, 97 seconds passed. When her time was announced by pigolo, the girl unhappily harrumphed and glared at Rosea, who was widely grinning, pleased that she beat her new rival. The third one was Ho Qing, who didn''t not struggle at all. Two large phoenix wings appeared on his back, allowing him to jump high and glide a considerable distance but the balls were still aimed at him. His time was worse than his two predecessors, nonetheless, he seemed content as he nodded his head once and went to stand next to the two bickering girls. Shu Ru and Arden did it in 94 seconds but, unexpectedly, Bora managed to stun the audience as well as his own teachers, Arthur and Lucy. The Archer''s speed was incredible as he slipped through the tiny gaps between the balls'' trajectory and easily arrived at the end in just 79 seconds, beating John''s record of 83 seconds. "Bora of the MoonStar sect, 79 seconds. 43 points." Actually, the way the points were attributed was based on the difference between the highest and lowest individual scores. Cosima from the Demonic Team was the slowest, taking 122 seconds, whilst Bora''s was 79 soˇ­ 122-79 = 43. The closer your time is to Cosima''s, the less points you are, basically. Moreover, as the worst one of the bunch, the demon girl got only one pitiful point. *** "I didn''t know that kid had it in him." Seeing the proud and cheerful smile on Bora''s face, Lucy chuckled and spoke words that seemed like a compliment. Even Arthur was pleased but he chose not to comment, after all, the first test is the easiest and it tests Agility and reflexes. "Color me impressed." Isadore was rubbing his chin and looking at the MoonStar team, seemingly lost in thought. "Don''t forget our bet, your majesty." "About thatˇ­" The young golden-haired king faked a few coughs and avoided Arthur''s gaze. "Nevermindˇ­" **** "Welcome to the second stage." Gutcha had an ugly smile on his hideous face, enjoying the puzzled looks on the participants'' face. They were teleported again, this time appearing in an area filled with swamps with all shapes and sizes. "For the second stage, the goal is to escape this place. Each team will be given a number from 1 to 12 and there are 10 numbered doors, which are, 15(5+10), 17(6+11), 6(2+4), 16(9+7), 20(8+12), 8(1+7), 12(10+2), 14(9+5), 3(1+2), 23(11+12), and they are the combination of two specific numbers that will be in possession of the teams. Meaning, you need your number plus another appropriate one to open one of the doors. Note that only the team that opens the door can pass through it and when it has been used, it''ll disappear. Additionally, a door can be opened by only two numbers, no more, no less. Good luck!" Just as he finished explaining the rules, Gutcha activated a device in his hand, causing the twelve teams to be enveloped in a white light then vanishing, each randomly teleported to an area of the stage. ˇ­ Rosea and co appeared near a very small swamp, they were surrounded by strangely bent trees. They could hear the croaking of several frogs and barely audible roars of faraway monsters. "What''s our number?" Cristina frowned and looked at her teammates. At first, they were confused but, soon enough, a giant silver card that was thrice their size descended from above and kept hovering a couple of meters away from their heads. The card had the number 9 engraved on it. "It''s 9ˇ­ which means we can either enter door 14 or 16." Shu Ru gazed at the silver card and commented. "So, what''s the plan? Do we separate and look for the team that has number 7 or 5?" The spear-wielding black-haired girl was pumped, holding her weapon in hand. In response, her friend, Bora, shook his head and, while carefully choosing his words, said, "It''s better to stay together. This is a team competition and if one of us gets caught alone, it''ll only decrease our chances of winning." "Wait, if we separate, the card follows who?" All curious about this, they distanced themselves from each other and noticed that the silver card was drifting slowly to Bora''s direction. "It must be because he got the best score in the last stage." remarked Shu Ru. "Alright, it''s decided that we''ll stay together, right?"-Bora The other five nodded their heads in agreement. They chose one random direction and started walking, their guards-up. They did not know how big this swampy area is but, considering that they soon started hearing explosions and fighting noises, it shouldn''t be that big. In this stage, it''s definitely advantageous to have a team composed of many members, and it was done by purpose. Just like there are stages that favor numerical advantage, there others which the smaller your team is, the better. ˇ­ After ten minutes of walking, the MoonStar team stumbled upon their first enemies. A group of five bald youth wearing brown and yellow long robes were circling a swamp and carefully tapping the water. Above them, there was also a silver card with the number 1 on it, which means that Cristina and the rest need not waste time or energy battling with the Buddha Team. "Let''s make a detour." Proposed Ardor as he retracted his gaze from the group of bald youths. They took the opposite direction and were about to leave but one of them raised his hand. "Wait." Ho Qing, who rarely talks, motioned them to stop before pointing at an area on the other side of the swamp, right in-between the cl.u.s.ter of strange trees. There, he spotted short silhouettes peeking from the trees. It was hard to hear what they were whispering to each other but, it was clear that they were dwarves. Chapter 706 - 650: Number 7 The Blossom Merchant Company sent a team of three dwarves, all with bushy beards and looking way older than their actual age. The three were Gradir, Dodir, and Sandir, each respectively equipped with a two handed mace, two one-handed axes, and, surprisingly, a bow. It is rare to see a dwarf using a bow as they excel most in close-combat. Nevertheless, none of the other participants dared to underestimate these three despite how comically they behaved and their weird, thug-like accent. "Can you see their number?" Standing right next to Ho Qing, Cristina whispered with a low voice, to which the youth shook his head once and maintained his gaze on the three dwarves, which were not very good at hiding or masking their presence. It wasn''t just the MoonStar team who noticed them, however, as the bald young monks took out their identical wooden staffs and readied themselves. The first one to act was the bow-wielding dwarf. He was standing on a thin branch, aiming his exquisitely-decorated bow, which seemed to be made of sapphire. An explosive whistle burst from the bow and flew straight at the group of five monks. When the unseen arrow was close enough, it split into five pieces, each targeting a monk. Ready to engage, the five youngsters, in unison, put their staffs in front of their chest and rotated them diagonally, which resulted in the appearance of some sort of golden whirlpools. Unexpectedly, when the pieces of the arrow struck the whirlpools, nothing happened, much to the monks'' surprise. After a couple more seconds passed, the pieces, which fell on the floor, shot a black net that caught the Buddha Team unguarded. The nets managed to immobilize them for enough time for the two other dwarves to close the distance and unleash their attacks. Upon seeing the silver card with the number 7 hovering above the mace-wielding dwarf, the MoonStar team already decided to interfere, but not now. It''s better to wait for both teams to tire out then launch a decisive sneak attack. Of course, killing is not allowed and Gutcha is there to assure that but, that doesn''t mean the participants can''t use their full strength. It''s just, when someone is about to be fatally attacked, the pigolo will interfere. Additionally, the one who''s going to die from said attack will be disqualified. And if a participant attempts to finish off an already incapacitated opponent, he or she will be disqualified too. The disqualification of participants is unrelated to the whole team so, for example, if Bora breaks the rules, it won''t cause the whole team to lose. "I''m sure we''re not the only ones watching the fight."-Shu Ru The girl, titled the Goddess of Green Leaf, was a bit nervous. While a favorable number had appeared, the fight that just broke out is bound to attract other teams, which will eventually complicate things. This means, the sooner they acquire the number 7, the better. There are pros and cons to either options and it''s up to them to weigh them and act accordingly. ****** "Damnable brats!" The sect leader of the Dark Blade Sect banged his fist on the chair, very infuriated. The reason he sent a team of his own was not to win the tournament but to hinder Bora and Cristina and force them to be disqualified. Only when they are outside of the world created by Arthur will he be able to act. It''s true that their sudden desertion angered him but what mattered most are their weapons, which were precious artifacts that belonged to the sect and not them. The sect leader was named Casim Anykol and had recently broken through to the Exalted God Realm, making him an extinguished powerhouse. He was an arrogant individual but, he knew that he''s not a match for the other experts here, most notably Arthur and Lucy. The Black Dragon formation put by Arthur was enough to kill him in a split second. There is also the Kang Clan elder, who will surely assist the couple if something happens. The reason behind Casim''s anger was the team of the Holy Dominion, composed of only two youths. One was a girl and the other was a young boy that had an eye-catching light-green short hair. ˇ­ "Mr. Arthur, your disciples are truly amazing." Out of nowhere, the elder of the Kang Clan complimented the team of six, which startled Arthur, who was focusing on the fight between the monks and dwarves. It was awkward hearing a person so much older than him speak with respect and politeness. In response, the parasite smiled and glanced at two guests belonging to the Kang Clan. They sat a distance away and were engrossed in their own worlds. "I could say the same for the young ones from your clan. But I can''t help but to wonder why you have not let them participate." Elder Nord rubbed his small beard while contemplating something before he offered an honest answer. "It''s true that Amidel''s children do not fall short on the geniuses there but they''re a bit rash and their techniques need honing. The Patriarch wanted you to take them under your wing and train them properly but he was a bit too late as you already handpicked your team. He did not want to impose and force them on you so I''ve brought them here to watch." Isadore, who was sitting close to Nord, joined the conversation, his gaze falling on Emily, the young prodigy. "I have heard of her groundbreaking achievements. She''s the youngest Sovereign in the Cloud Sea Universe and is blessed with the Water Flow Physique. If the Kang Clan approves, I can pull some strings and grant her an entry to the School of Wonders." Elder Nord chuckled and, very politely, declined, "The Kang Clan appreciates your Majesty''s offer but there is no need for that." Hearing an immediate rejection, Isadore did not insist and just let out a sigh while retracting his gaze. ******* Bonus Lore: School of Wonders. A private teaching institution located far North of the Cloud Sea Universe, precisely in the Gleaming End Star. Owned by the Star''s End Consortium, which is funded by a group of people referred to as ''The Assembly''. The School of Wonders is quite literally, a school meant to teach the geniuses and young cultivators of Cloud Sea but, on very rare occasions, it accepts people from the System or the Heaven and Hell Universe. The requirements to enroll are extremely harsh and, even with a strong backing or wealth of infinite wealth, your chances of getting accepted aren''t that high. The number of students never exceeded 50 and, each one of them excels in something, whether it''s Physiques, Energy Manipulation, Formations, and so onˇ­ Students there study for a maximum of two decades and, without exceptions, they all become extinguished individuals that eventually reach the Exalted God Realm or even a higher realm. The School of Wonders dates back to the 4th Era, where it was initially built and funded by a single individual, who later created the Star''s End Consortium. This person''s name remained unknown even after his name but he was commonly called ''The Sage''. Retrospectively, the title of ''Sage'' was presented to a handful of individuals since the Era of Beginning. This sage, especially, was rumored to have reached the last stage of cultivation, the Mortal Transcendent Realm but he disappeared at the end of the 4th Era. Some historians claim that his search for a special world, called ''The Binary Dimension'', bore fruit and he managed to reach his destination, never to return. Chapter 707 - 651: Hes here, at last Shu Ru and co did not have enough time to debate and come to a decision. The fight between the three dwarves and the young monks was heating up and if they don''t use this opportunity to launch an ambush, another team surely will. "Our targets are the dwarves so let us not unnecessarily fight the Buddha team. We must execute this swiftly then leave or else we''ll become their primary target." Ardor voiced his thoughts while grabbing his sword, ready to engage. Cristina, Ho Qing, and Bora all did the same while Rosea and Shu Ru opted to remain at the back in case other participants decide to do something. "Bora, can you hit the dwarf with the number over his head?" "Definitely." "Then, on my mark, you shoot." Ardor raised his hand, his eyes fixated on the Dodir, the dwarf wielding two one-handed black axes. He was simultaneously battling two monks, his Godspirit manifesting itself above his head and unleashing roars that split the ground and periodically protected him. "Readyˇ­" Two bald young monks attack from the left and right of Dodir, their wooden staffs sweeping horizontally. The short and bearded Dodir spun around, unleashing a burst of black aura. "Shoot!" When Ardor dropped his hand, signaling his friend, Bora, who had ample time to prepare, shot an arrow fully made of silver material. The strings of the greatbow shook intensely just as the projectile was shot. The arrow traveled at a high-velocity, emitting no sound whatsoever and, in just a breath, it hit its target, going through Dodir''s shoulder and blowing him dozens of meters away. Right at the same time, both Cristina and Ardor showed themselves. The former leaping high-up in the air then, with her spear pointed downwards, descended on the injured dwarf like a dragon. As for Ardor, he wasn''t as flashy as his teammate, but he was definitely faster. He moved with a commendable speed, his figure blurring like a phantom. A well-condensed arc of sword essence shot from his sword, hitting Gradir, the mace-wielding dwarf. Upon seeing his companion get ambushed, Gradir leapt away from the monks, wanting to provide assistance, however, he was blocked by Ardor. Just like Dodir, Gradir invoked his Godspirit, which actually was a gigantic crimson warhorn that released a deep, whale-like sound. The dwarf and Ardor clashed with each other, causing violent shockwaves and even pushing the swamp waters away. Last but not least, Ho Qing rose into the air, a phoenix cry echoed before a wave of flames hit the Buddha team and Dodir. Without any hesitation, the red-haired youth rushed at the fallen dwarf and touched the number above his head, making it instantly change owners. However, though the acquisition of the number was smooth, the battle was far from over. Sandir, the hidden bow-wielding dwarf shoots a rain of arrows, aimed at none but Ho Qing, though before they could hit him, a wall of crystalline pink ice surged from the ground. The wall blocked some of the arrows but was eventually destroyed, not by Sandir''s arrows but a large illusory golden silhouette. One of the monks, a youth with green eyes, showed his Godspirit and attacked Ho Qing. The Godspirit had eight golden arms and was sitting cross-legged like Buddha. Its hand moved at a speed that none of the people participating could fathom. Apart from the first hit, which was blocked by Rosea''s ice, Ho Qing wasn''t able to block the rest, his body was crushed under the mountainous force of the golden palms. He was all-bloody and clearly not fit to fight anymore so the green-eyed bald monk stopped his bombardment and, with one step, appeared next to Ho Qing. Just as he was about to touch the number ''7'', there was an abrupt explosion that filled his vision with orange flames. A flaming fist struck the monk''s chest, sending him flying like a kite, leaving a trail of blood behind. ***** "Too careless." Although, from anyone''s point of view, the ambush of the MoonStar team was successful. Arthur wasn''t pleased with his disciples cooperations. They seem to be doing well and helping each other but it still isn''t enough, at least not for him. "Give them a break. They can do it." Lucy softly smiled and nodded her head, approving of the six youngsters. "I''m not saying they won''t. Just that they can do better." "Oh, Arthur, come on! Your team already caught the attention of everyone. I mean, just look at those phoenix flamesˇ­ I did not know that young man had Phoenix blood in him." Isadore Malfront chuckled, his eyes gleaming with excitement as they reflected the sea of flames that spread around Ho Qing. ******* The four monks surrounded their wounded friend, raised their staff above their heads and mumbled incomprehensible gibberish. Within a couple of breaths, the ground started shaking then it split open, revealing a bottomless ravine from which a beast-like creature showed itself. A distance away, Ardor managed to overpowered the dwarf, going as far as slicing his mace in half, however, the dwarf didn''t seem to mind as he took out a brand new one with an identical appearance and aura. Ho Qing, with the support of Bora, who repeatedly shot his arrows, successfully backed away from the battle area. Obviously, it was high time for them to retreat, were it not for Cristina''s stubbornness, which, unsurprisingly, complicated things. The arrogant girl, after having her attack blocked by the monks, refused to leave before retaliating appropriately. She tightly held the black spear and, like a bullet, shot at the golden and massive beast. The relatively minuscule girl clashed with the beast, her spear piercing its body and causing it to angrily roar and shake. Admittedly powerful, Cristina''s recklessness caused her to fall into the ambush of another team. A black fog filled her view before three shadows shot from the nearby cl.u.s.ter of trees. The girl pulled her spear from the beast and stabbed it on the ground while using it to support herself and spin around, kicking all three assailants at the same time. They were weaker than her and just her kicks made them stagger to the back, however, the golden beast summoned by the monks did not sit still. It disregarded the black fog and crashed into the unprepared Cristina, blowing her all the way to the swamp. Fortunately, Rosea turned the water into ice so Cristina ended up rolling over a dozen times before laying there, seemingly unconscious. Upon a closer view, the unknown attackers turned out to be the Dark Blade Team. Seeing the beast block them from reaching Cristina, they shifted their attention to the closest MoonStar Team member, Ardor. The youth was busy fighting Gradir but when Cristina''s assailants charged at him, he somersaulted and slashed the air multiple times. Several white bursts of lights fell from above, precisely around the three participants.Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #''s-here-at-last_51330075525695843 for visiting. Surprisingly, Ardor''s technique wasn''t an offensive one, it was only meant to trap them for a short time. The one who finished them off was Rosea, who literally dropped a massive boulder made of pink ice right at them. In a futile attempt to destroy it, the three youngsters unleashed their techniques but the boulder was just too resistant. In the end, they were knocked unconscious and their bodies were wrapped by dark flames, signaling that they were officially out of the competition. ******** Arthur, who was quietly watching the unfolding events, suddenly twitched and looked East. He felt a domineering yet familiar presence closing in on the city. It wasn''t only him who felt this, Lucy also followed his gaze, a cold smile forming on her face. "You are finally here butˇ­ why do I sense a woman close to you? She has your imprint too." Arthur faked a few coughs and dared not meet her gaze, he just inwardly cursed his copy, who was foolish enough to bring a woman with him. Chapter 708 - 652: Unforgotten Memories Author''s note: First of all, I apologize for the long wait but I promise you I''m back for good and there will be daily updates starting from today. I will post a short summary of what happened previously in case some of you forgot. ... There was a discernable and tense atmosphere flowing in the air. The riled crowd watching the competition seemed to have been quietened as the real Arthur and the clone stared at each other but opted to maintain their silence, both fearful of Lucy''s reaction. ''Damned idiot! How could you bring a woman?!'' As someone with the same opinions, thoughts, and beliefs as him, Arthur''s clone should know better than to bring a woman in here. To make matters worse, the woman was a succubus and had his imprint, making the two Arthurs shrink down, their bodies stiff. In order to save his skin, the clone stood there for a couple of seconds before disappearing, all his memories and the skills he gained transferred to the original ''You bastard! You cause a mess then expect me to take care of it?!'' Arthur vainly cursed the clone in his mind, though that changed of the fact that he''ll be the one providing an explanation. As the influx of memories hammered his mind, his vision blackened for a couple of breaths. The vivid images of all that happened, whether it''s the prison break, the matter with Zaarae, the shapeshifter, the Fallen God Clan, and, especially, the Garden of Words and Shen Shen. Lucy''s eyes were narrowed, glaring at the smiling Fariya, as if she wanted to eat her alive. When she glanced at her husband, clearly demanding answers, she was surprised to see him tearing up. He was staring to the front, a single tear tricking down his cheek. At first, Lucy thought he''s acting in order to lessen her anger, however, he had a genuine expression of sadness and relief. Out of nowhere, the parasite stretched his arms and pulled her into his arms, tightly hugging her while whispering. "Lucyˇ­ our daughter is alive. She didn''t dieˇ­ she didn''t dieˇ­" It took her a few moments to process what happened, but since she didn''t see what he saw, she was confused and surprised. She hugged him and buried her face in his c.h.e.s.t, softly smiling while controlling her welling emotions. It wasn''t the time or place to have such a s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e conversation, and both the parasite and the white specter knew that, therefore, they left the area shortly after their hug separated. Of course, Fariya followed after them but didn''t dare to say anything. She acted as a proper servant and flew behind the couple, her interest soon shifting to the competition and the dozens of strong auras emanating from the plateau. ˇ­ The competition was still ongoing but Arthur had a more important matter to discuss with Lucy, privately. Fariya was ordered to stay outside, while the couple entered the bedroom, in which Arthur told his wife about everything, not missing a single detail. It took the couple a great deal of time to digest everything, especially the part regarding Shen Shen and her disappearance. Lucy wasn''t a crybaby but as she got learned the truth, she was bawling for a long time, happy that her child survived but saddened over what happened. She didn''t blame Arthur, it wasn''t his fault for he didn''t know she was his at that time. However, now, they have yet one more motive to break from the cycles. The Garden of Words told Arthur that it''ll answer more of his questions were he to break free from the shackles of time that are currently binding him and his two brothers. The Garden of Words provided the parasite with five methods, with one of them being more difficult than the rest. One is possessing every lifeform he comes across for approximately three years, which, in return, will make him grow infinitely stronger, to the point of reaching the apex of physical and magical power. Either it''s the highest level recorded in the system, or the peak of cultivation, also known as, the Transcendent Mortal Realm. This method could be considered easy, however, it is mind-numbing and may result in permanent side effects on his mind. With his current condition, which is definitely not alright, choosing this method will only complicate things and perhaps even force him into an unwanted path of blood and murder. The second method is absolute non-interference, just continue repeating the cycles until they are systematically removed by the Space-Time Continuum. ˇ­ Arthur recounted every letter spoken by the Garden then discussed their choices with Lucy. They spent the whole night talking about what transpired, about Shen Shen, how she looks and sounds, etcˇ­ The couple seemed to have forgotten about the competition, no longer paying it any heed. Amongst the arsenal of skills in Arthur''s possession, there were ones that turn some memories into vivid projections. [Unforgotten Memories] is such a skill, allowing Arthur to show Lucy how Shen Shen looked and acted. At the sight of the lovely and rebellious blue-haired girl, Lucy cried even more, unable to contain her emotions. He held her in his arms and the two quietly watched the images, one by one, for hours on end. By the time the sun rose, Lucy had calmed down though her face was reddened and her eyes a bit swollen from all the bawling. She was combing her long silver hair and looking at the pondering Arthur. "What method should we choose?" "I still don''t know. I need to retrieve the last clone firstˇ­ he hasn''t come back yet which means Astria isn''t faring well. We may need to go there." "Alright. We can go whenever you want." The man stood up and walked toward his wife, took the comb from her hair, and proceeded to continue the simple job, being as gentle as possible. "We have become strongerˇ­ but we need just a bit more. Just a bit to break free and live life how we pictured it." ˇ­ Updated Status Window. TITLE: MEAT GRINDER / SEEKER OF KNOWLEDGE / ONE WITH THE SWORD / ARK HOLDER / LIVE WITH HONOR, DIE WITH GLORY / BREAKER OF CHAINS / HOLDER OF THE DARK BLADE''S OATH / MAD DESTROYER/PSYCHOPATH/DRAGON RIDER / UNSEEN BOND / ONE STALKED BY THE REAPER / DIVINE HERALD / THE EMPRESS'' SWEETHEART / THE LORD OF PARASITES / SLAVE MASTER Level: ?? Class: Dark ARK Parasite Realm: Overgod (Formation[Peak]) Celestial Body: 31% - Strength: 49.9B Intelligence: 51B Agility: 53B Wisdom: 36B Vitality: 52.1B Dexterity: 33.3B - Health: 70B// Health Regen: 43.1m/s Nether Energy: 22B // Nether Energy Regen: 26.4m/s(+100%) Mana: 15.9B / Mana Regen: 30.1m/s Stamina: Infinite /Stamina Regen: ??? ----- Creation: 1050 ---- Attack: 46.8B (+35% damage [Dark Flame Ring]) (+20% if Dark Magic is used) (+5% [Warrior''s Cry[LvMax](Passive)][+2% from Breaker of Chains Title] Defense: 50.5B(+25% Damage Reduction) (+5% [Solid [LvMax](passive)] (+10% [Golem''s Wall(LvMax)(Passive)] Magic Defense: 6B Soul Defense: 29m --- Enigma abilities : Thought and Effect / [Light Operation/ Righteous Death ] / Sixth sense / - Mental Power: 46805 --- Elemental Resistances(+) Fire: 100% Darkness: 100% Wind: 35% Water: 75% Earth: 75% Light/holy: 65% Shadow: 30(+20%)% Lightning: 100% Ice: 30% Death : 19.9% Crowd Control : 50% Life: 19.9% --- Possessions (472,129) --- Races: Divine Beasts (4) Humans (283,086) Demons (84,991) Beasts (+)(101,529) Unique Beasts (2511) Mythical beings (1) Chapter 709 - 653: Thank You "Leave us alone for a bit." Last night, Arthur somehow explained Fariya''s situation to Lucy. Back then, Lucy was too preoccupied with other, more relevant news, so she didn''t question him longer than necessary. However, when the sun had risen and they left their room, the half-n.a.k.e.d succubus was standing outside, like any dutiful slave. Her eyelashes flapped, a seductive smile appearing on her face as she lightly bowed her head to the couple. The parasite grimaced, not knowing how to react, but his wife, Lucy, coldly snorted and stepped forward. She uttered those words then approached the clearly unafraid succubus. Unwilling to be present for what''s about to happen, Arthur excused himself, soundlessly backing away, not even trying to eavesdrop. Left alone for a while, Arthur had time to converse with Midolf and Radolf, as well as the Quad-Spirit. "Congratulations on retrieving Makaze back, master."-Radolf "Yes yes! gratz!"-Midolf The Dark Blade, its hilt now slightly changed in terms of appearance, emitted an unseen but deadly aura, akin to wind vibrations, capable of cutting anything in their way. Now that the clone was integrated back into the original host, Arthur received a bunch of new skills, but the notable ones are the Sand skills, and [Thought of Effect], which is the upgraded Telekinesis ability the clone had gotten in the prison. Despite not reaching the Exalted God Realm, Arthur was more than confident in being able to defeat and even kill any Exalted God, no matter who it is. Makaze is as strong as a Zen Treasure, and there are also the two Mythical Beings hiding inside of him, as well as the Quad-Spirit, which is a self-sentient entity known only to a few people. Amongst the extinguished individuals that graced him with their presence, none can threaten him, even if they threw a timely ambush. The formation he put beforehand will make sure there is no disturbance throughout the competition. There is also Lucy by his sideˇ­ she''s a strong cultivator and an opponent that even he would find difficult to overpower. Basically, it could be said that he reached a praiseworthy level of power, allowing him to protect himself, his family, and his friends. All that is left is to peacefully finish the competition then head to Astria and see what''s going on. The last clone may return before they depart, which could be nothing but a good sign and a step toward a better future. He still hasn''t decided which method he''s going to use but it would be a lie to say he''s not inclined toward a particular one; the one involving the Zen treasure located in the System Universe. "I reckon the madam will tear the succubus apart, what do you think, master?" Midolf snickered, the mere thought of seeing the Succubus get owned made him exhilarated. Arthur, however, didn''t feel the time, he shuddered and shook his head, trying to purge all the bad thoughts. "I don''t know and don''t care. I''m not responsible for my clone''s actions." "But your clone is you, is it not?"- curiously asked the Quad-Spirit. "It''s different. I wouldn''t make a slave out of a succubusˇ­ or travel along with the Empress." "But you did... I''m starting to feel bad for you, master. I''ll pray for your safety."-Midolf. "Shut it, will you." "Yes master. Sorry, master." Robotically replied Midolf, barely holding back his laughter. Were it not for Radolf, the wiser one, who rebuked him, he''d have continued acting like that and enjoying his master''s critical situation. Thankfully, the clone did not engage in any a.d.u.l.tery and hardly touched any woman, which greatly lessened the consequences and perhaps even minimized Lucy''s anger and jealousy. In any way, the best he could do is apologize and accept whatever is going to happen, that''s what any loyal and loving husband would do after a screw-up. ˇ­ The woman was busy writing something, her office smelled like old paper and wood, but it felt cozy and warm. Her focus was disturbed by three light knocks on the door, making her raise her head and softly say "Yes, come in." "I hope I''m not interrupting you." Said the man while chuckling. "Not at all." Arthur walked forward, sitting opposite Sonia, who has grown since their first meeting. Back then, although the principal of the Nemia magic Academy, she was too emotional and did many wrong things. Now, on the other hand, she seemed to have become more responsible and wiser. She went through many tragedies, especially the disappearance of Anastassia, her own sister, and only family. Still, she has Maria, Robin, Rey, and the others by her side. Their support helped her greatly and made her what she is todayˇ­ someone fit to be the Vice-master of the MoonStar sect. In the couple''s absence, she was the one who managed this city, made it prosper, and recruited appropriate disciples from all over the globe. She took care of the political and financial part of the sect, and though she''s a mage, she still looks tired all the time, with large black circles under her eyes. Thanks to the elixirs and skill books and cultivation scriptures Arthur had previously handed to her, Sonia was able to reach the Immortal Realm, further extending her lifespan and making her stronger. However, she wasn''t interested in power for she found joy in managing the sect and doing what she''s best at. "We''ve not had much time to talk you and I.," Said Arthur, his hand raised ever-so-slightly, casting an effective healing spell that restored some color to the woman''s face. "Well, we don''t have much to talk about, right?" Sonia put down the pen and gave a faint smile, her back slumping back on the comfortable and large chair she was sitting on. "I saw a woman standing by your bedroom. Did one of the clones return?" "Yes, he didˇ­ and unfortunately brought with him a slave succubus. Lucy and she are currently talking." "So you came to me for advice? You do know that I''m still single and bad with matters concerning romance, yes?" Upon seeing the odd and helpless expression on the man''s face, Sonia giggled, finding it comical to see a tough and ruthless man such as Arthur behave like this. "I guess it is true that all men are afraid of their wives." "Honestly, it''s not my fault." "Yes yes, that''s what they all say." "But it isn''t though. It was the clone who messed up. I was with Lucy the whole time." "Then try telling her that." Sonia said, her laughter never stopping.. "You can''t. Lucy is just too overprotective of you, always getting jealous. It''s not a bad thing, you know. I sometimes envy you guys." "Really? I thought you''re not interested in marriage and love." "All women yearn for love but it''s just not for everyone." Sonia sighed and looked outside of the window, which was on her right. Her gaze fell on the plateau, which was starting to fill up as the competition was resuming after a good night''s rest. "I''m sure that, if you look, you''ll find a man suitable for you." "No thanks, I have my job and I am more than satisfied with it. Maybe in the future." "Sure, but if there''s a man you fancy then tell me right away. I''ll drag him to your doorstep if necessary." "Hehe thanks, Arthur." After a short bout of silence, in which both looked at the plateau, Sonia spoke again. "Thank you. For everything." "You don''t need to thank me. You''re part of the family." "After what I did to you and Lucyˇ­ I tried to kill you two yet you saved me countless times. You saved the Clan and gave us refuge. I owe you guys my life." "There''s no need to be so dramatic. We did what''s right. You, your sister, your clanˇ­ you''re good people, deserving of a good life. I believe that we helped each other, through thick and thin, up until this moment, and hopefully in the future too." "Yes. Thank you again." "Okay, now you seriously have to stop thanking me." Arthur laughed and stood up, waving his hand at Sonia as he left the office. Chapter 710 - 655: Third Trial After briefly talking with Sonia, Arthur met back with Lucy and Fariya. The two women talked for a little while and, unlike before, the succubus was acting more reserved. Even her clothes were changed into more appropriate, less-revealing ones. She was standing behind Lucy, her whole demeanor radically changed and the smile that was constantly on her face was nowhere to be seen. "Let''s go back to the plateau. It''s about time the 3rd Trial begins." Arthur voiced no objection, he nodded his head and walked beside his wife. As for Fariya, she maintained a distance of five meters, keeping quiet and not even looking at the Parasite. ''What did you tell her?'' The husband telepathically talked to his wife, who inwardly snorted. ''Nothing that should concern you, my dear husband.'' The succubus looked unharmed but the sudden and big change in character made Arthur promise himself not to get involved with other women, no matter the circ.u.mstances. Fortunately, Lucy''s jealousy and anger weren''t directed at him, or else he''d have been shunned for a couple of days, if not weeks. It didn''t take long for the couple to reach the plateau, where the remaining 10 teams were getting ready for the next trial. As he expected, Arthur and Lucy''s team was successful in acquiring the required number and were able to safely pass the door without losing a single member. Although 10 teams were qualified, there have been a few participants disqualified, like the three from the Dark Blaze Team. Surprisingly, however, the last member of the Dark Blaze Team was able to get the needed number and pass the door, thanks to nothing but sheer luck. The two teams which lost were the Buddha Team and the Eternal Rouge Team. The latter is to be expected, as its members weren''t particularly strong and barely garnered any attention. The Buddha Team, on the other hand, was a surprise to almost everyone, including Arthur and Lucy. The team of bald young men, all wielding the same weapon and wearing the same outfit, were defeated by a joint attack of three other teams, including the MoonStar Team. Even with their peculiar praying techniques and the golden beast they had summoned, the five young monks were defeated. They got cornered, their number stolen and forced to fight for a long while, till their very last breath. This brought the remaining number of participants from 51 to 38. Three of the four members of the Dark Blaze Team were out, two from the nine mermaid team, and the rest were all the members of the Eternal Rouge Sect team and the Buddha Team. "Welcome back!" Isadore cheerfully greeted the couple, the usual bright smile on his lively face. Though, his gaze soon fell on the approaching succubus, becoming curious and surprised. He may not be as knowledgeable about the couple as Sonia or those close to them, nonetheless, the fact that Lucy does not tolerate other women close to her husband is already known to many people. In the end, the mortal King of Green-Leaf swallowed his curiosity and did not ask any unnecessary questions. "Won''t you go talk to your team? Perhaps they need some advice?" "There is no need. They can manage." Answered Arthur while softly chuckling. "Really? That reckless girl wielding a spear got seriously injured though. Would it not be better to pull her out of the competition? I doubt one night was enough for her to recuperate." "..." The parasite offered no response, he kept smiling and looking at the remaining teams. The guardians of each team were having a serious talk with the youngsters, offering pointers and encouraging them. The only person who stood alone, unperturbed by the unpleasantly loud and energetic crowd, was John, the sole member of the Ancient Federation team. It''s a shame that Arthur did not get to see him in action due to his clone''s arrival, nonetheless, he was certain that the youth would pass the trial. Just one look at the results from the appraisal skills were enough for Arthur to know that the young man was an exceptional genius, leagues above his peers. Furthermore, John was the second youngest participant and though it''s an unnecessary remark, Arthur had to admit that the boy was handsome, as pretty as an elf. He had a slightly tanned skin, short brown hair, and a unique pair of golden-colored eyes. He had a simple attire, a black leather jerkin, and tight pants of the same color. Holstered in his waist were blade about half a meter in length, shallow appearance and emitting no aura whatsoever. As per Arthur''s calculations, it''s either John, the Imoogi team, or the Holy Dominion Team, who will pose a threat to his team. The rest aren''t weak, but they still fall short, making him confident that Ho Qing, Rosea, and the rest, can manage them. .. "Ladies and gentlemen! It''s finally time for the 3rd Trial! Esteemed guardians, please return to your seats." The pigolo displayed an ugly grimace as he motioned for the teams to neatly group before him, which they immediately did. A barely noticeable distance separated every team, each one minding their business and readying themselves. Gutcha gave a short, unremarkable speech to rile up the crowd even more, then he teleported the teams to where the next trial will be occurring. The teleportation was instantaneous and the remaining 38 youths found themselves standing in an enormous arena, with a square-like shape made from cubic grey tiles, highly- resistant to Magic and practically impenetrable. "For the third stage is called ''Boss Fight'' and the goal is to try and defeat a randomly chosen monster. Even if you don''t succeed in defeating the monster, do not worry, as the damage you''ve inflicted will be calculated. Each team will be given five minutes and a participant is knocked unconscious or gets seriously injured, he or she will be out. If the entirety of the team is out, it will be considered as a failure; immediate disqualification." "It''s a simple test. Keep in mind that killing the monster will be enough to qualify you for the next trial and give the maximum amount of points, which is 100. Good luck to all of you." Gutcha enthusiastically clapped his hands, signaling the beginning of the trial. He fished out a wheel twice his size from the storage ring, put the large object before him and beckoned to the MoonStar Team. "The order of the teams will be the opposite of the one in the first stage. Each team will spin the wheel and whatever the arrows points at will be the monster said team will face. Understood?" Chapter 711 - 655: Hell Griffin "Knowing your nature and Race, I do understand how you''re able to create the isolated small worlds for the trials but I''m still confusedˇ­" Isadore crossed his arms and pondered for close to a minute before turning his head to the quiet parasite. Arthur was watching the wide screen hanging in the air, allowing every spectator to see what''s happening. "Did you catch some monsters in the past or what?" It didn''t make sense for the young King, after all, storage rings can''t store living beings, and although Arthur is a parasite, he can''t simply bring the corpses back to life. True, Necromancy exists and can be used by the parasite, but the monsters on the wheel are not undead, only two of them are, therefore, Isadore Malfront was perplexed and consumed by his unending curiosity. "It''s temporary reanimation." Perfunctorily replied Lucy, her eyes still fixated on the MoonStar team. Although she didn''t outwardly show it, she was still a bit worried for the youngsters. She only trained them for a week but she got attached to themˇ­ they are a lively bunch, sometimes annoying, but hard-working nonetheless. The term temporary reanimation sums up this trial, or at least the summoned monsters. Initially, they were fresh corpses stored in Arthur''s ring, countless monsters he possessed in the past. Through Arthur''s left hand, which can use Life Energy, he was able to achieve this thanks to a useful skill called [Short Life]. When used on a corpse, it will bring it back to life for a limited amount of time, but its stats will be 80% of the original and some of the monster''s skills will not be available, especially the soul-related ones. "Interestingˇ­ would you be willing to offer more details, Madam Lucy." Contrary to the way he speaks to Arthur, Isadore was much more respectful to Lucy. They barely spoke to each other but what made him act like that was her constantly cold attitude and chilling eyes, which restrained him from acting overly-friendly or in a joking manner. After he politely asked the silver-haired woman, Isadore instinctively jerked his body backwards, a bit startled as Lucy turned her head and stared back at him. She maintained a brief silence before giving a satisfactory explanation about [Short Life]. It wasn''t only Isadore who was listening to this, the Kang Clan, sitting relatively nearby, also perked their ears and listened, clearly interested in this topic. Kang Amidel, his two children, and the old man accompanying him, were pretending to be focusing on the screen but their whole attention was diverted to Lucy. When the White Specter finished her explanation, which was fast but to the point, the old man softly chuckled. "Such an ability could prove useful in waging wars." Lucy did not comment on this, however, Isadore shook his head and corrected the elder. "It is useful but not better than summoning Undead. Necromancy is unrivaled in reanimation." "Wise words, your majesty." ˇ­ "Spin the wheel, please." No one from the MoonStar team discussed who''ll spin the wheel. The bold Cristina stepped forward and, with a serious and determined expression, spun the large wheel. She didn''t use any force but the wheel spun at a rapid pace for twenty seconds before progressively slowing down, at last stopping. The short white arrow pointed at one particular monster, named ''Hell Griffon''. As luck would have it, the monster which will be facing the MoonStar team is one of the two undead displayed on the wheel. It''s also the griffin Arthur usually used in the past. After the wheel stopped, Gutcha picked it up and teleported away, taking the other team with him. They were brought to the back, outside of a large formation protecting them from anything that might happen in the square-shaped arena. Time crept by, the members of the MoonStar Team spread out, their eyes focusing on the middle of the arena, from which an immense black hole appeared, and from within, a ferocious beast made of bones crawled forth. "Well, shit!" Cristina couldn''t help but curse as the Hell Griffin appeared, two winged bones flapping slowly, causing the wind to rage. This, however, was but the beginning as black and red flames started covering the entirety of the monster, making it look more demonic and terrifying. The Hell Griffin didn''t wait for them to attack, its enormous body pounced on the closest human, Shu Ru. The Goddess of Green Leaf, the fairy, as people called her, retaliated before she was struck. Her two raised were raised, her Godspirit materializing in front of her, blocking the incoming monster. Shu Ru''s Godspirit looked like a blinding pillar of white light, almost as big as the enemy. It floated in front of its caster, immovable, resisting the full blunt crashing of the Griffin. Ardor and Bora were the next to act, the latter shooting two successive arrows, each embedded with a swirling green light. As for sword-wielding youth, he jumped in the air and stabbed his sword to the front, shooting a burst of concentrated Sword Essence at one of the griffin''s bony and flaming wings. The arrows struck first, momentarily distracting the griffin, whereas Ardor''s attack managed to push the griffin a bit to the side, allowing the remaining members to follow-up with equally devastating attacks. Cristina, though still injured and slower than usual, grabbed her spear with both hands and spun around, sweeping the spear horizontally and transforming into a black tornado made of an eerie black aura. The tornado shot at the griffin''s back, clashing with the black and red flames and even extinguishing them for a couple of breaths. Cristina''s spinning sweeping spear hit the griffin''s bones, shattering two and cracking a third one, causing the beast to angrily roar and turn its body to face her. It was then that a phoenix'' cry was heard, coupled with a cascading wave of flames crashing into the Hell Griffin, engulfing it whole and making its roars louder than ever before. ˇ­ "That''s some unsightly abomination, alright." Isadore threw a remark, both fascinated and surprised by the Griffin''s appearance and power. The members of the MoonStar steam were at the God Realm yet they couldn''t take it down, at least not easily. It required joint effort and flawless cooperation, which means that the Hell Griffin is at least a God Monarch Beast. If the rest of the monsters in the wheel were as strong as this one then, as the Kang''s elder had previously said, it''ll be easy for Arthur to create an army of monsters using only the temporary reanimation. "It still hasn''t done anything." Calmly said Arthur, an evil grin forming on his usually expressionless face. "So they can''t defeat it? Isn''t that unfair?" "It''s not. They have to attack it for five minutes then they''ll be given a score. The prerequisite for success is not to kill it but to survive."- Arthur "Aren''t you afraid they''ll get fatally injured?" "Not really. Gutcha is there to keep a close watch." Isadore nodded his head once, diverting his eyes back to the screen. ''Cristina''s arm is heavily injured. Her bones are broken and if she over-exerts herself, it''ll be harder to heal it.'' The powerhouses present here, including Arthur and Lucy, were able to see more than the normal cultivators. They didn''t miss any details, so it wasn''t difficult to notice Cristina''s injury. She was trying her best to persist but it seems the injury is more serious than expected. Before trying anything, Lucy first talked to her husband, who didn''t give an immediate reply. ''I can still heal her but if you''re that worried then I don''t mind.'' Hearing this, Lucy frowned for a second and telepathically spoke again, ''Are you acting non-sympathetic because of what happened with Fariya? She and Cristina are not the same. The girl is our apprentice, are you really not worried about her?'' ''It''s not that I''m not worried, but I''m hoping that she uses this hardship to improve or perhaps even achieve a breakthrough.'' ''It''s still not worth it.'' ''Alright then, I''ll get her out.'' ''No, wait. It''ll be better if I do it.'' Lucy abruptly stood up, much to everyone''s surprise. No one questioned her but the look on their faces indicated how curious they were, especially Kang Amidel and Isadore Malfront. Even Fariya, who was standing at the back, flinched, thinking that Lucy was about to do something to her. Fortunately for the succubus, the silver-haired woman didn''t even spare her a glance, she vanished from her spot and reappeared barely five seconds later. In the screen hanging in the sky, above the plateau, the spectators saw how Cristina, who was enveloped by the black tornado, suddenly disappeared. The black-haired, rebellious girl was, at first, confused and dazed, staring at the woman before her. She was panting heavily and even her arm was trembling, incapable of holding the spear for any longer. Seconds later, the pigolo''s voice resounded across the plateau, informing everyone of what just happened. "The participant Cristina from the MoonStar team was pulled from the Trial and is now disqualified." "I can still fight. I can-" Cristina was cut off by the White Specter, who pulled her toward Arthur. From head to toe, the girl was covered in white light, which belonged to Life''s Energy. By the time Arthur dropped his left hand, Cristina''s body was fully healed. The wounds she sustained in the brief clash against the Hell Griffin were nowhere to be seen, her outfit now clean and her spear repaired, back to its original state. "Sit here and watch, we''ll talk later." Hearing Lucy''s voice, which was softer than usual, the girl, although still displeased and feeling wronged, dropped her head and obediently sat down. Chapter 712 - 656: Hell Griffin (2) The MoonStar team had no time to lament over the disappearance of their comrade. Gutcha''s declaration was loud and clear, at least making them slightly relieved that Cristina is in safe hands. With one less person, the difficulty of the trial significantly increased. Cristina and Ardor are the main vanguard of the team and now one is gone, leaving the sword-wielding youth with all the pressure. The Hell Griffin, no longer bothered by the black tornado and the spear sweeps, directed its attention toward the closest human, Ardor. Its wings flapped faster, unleashing bursts of dark and red flames, covering the sky and the arena, even pushing everyone to the back. Each person used a technique to defend themselves, Shu Ru''s Godspirit extinguished the flames, Bora''s arrows split the fire, Ho Qing''s Phoenix fire clashed against the Griffin''s and resulted in sparks and blast waves. Last but not least, Rosea, who stood at the far back and protected herself with a thick dome made of her signature pink-colored ice. Unfortunately for the youngsters, the Hell Griffin had just started attacking seriously, its enormous body was being lifted to the air, its mouth, made of only bones, opening wide and spitting what seemed to be fingernail-sized moving mouths. The Void Mouths numbered in thousands, covering the sky and opening and closing with an unseen speed, making them even creepier. Not knowing what to do against this unfamiliar power, the youngsters retreated to the back while using their defensive abilities. To their surprise, the void mouths easily devoured everything in their path, be it Sword Essence, ice, fire, or even intangible Energy the Godspirit was made of. The onslaught of the Hell Griffin began, startling not only its disadvantaged opponents but also all the inside and outside spectators. "You expect us to defeat something like that?" Cosima, one of the two members of the Demonic team, creased her brows, visibly worried and stupefied. She turned her head and asked the motionessly standing Pigolo. Most of the other teams opted to stay away from the pigolo, disliking the ominous and sinister aura of Dark Magic which was emanating from his body. "Not defeat, just fight for five minutes." "That monster can defeat a God Monarch!"- Cosima "Quiet, Cosima." Marjory nudged her junior and signaled for her to keep her mouth shut, however, the demon girl didn''t stop. "Teams like ours will fail if we fight that. The ones with more numbers clearly have an advantage." Hearing this, Gutcha snickered and shrugged his shoulders. "So what? Some Trials favor big-number teams and others do the opposite. I have no say in this. Perhaps you''d like to talk to my boss? Should I schedule a private meeting?" The last spoken questions were obviously to mock the angered Cosima. The pigolo motioned for her to sit down and added, "If you don''t like it then you''re free to leave, no one''s going to stop you." "That''s no what-" Cosima was dragged to the side by Marjory, she was even forced to sit down, her body unable to fight back against her senior''s domineering power. ˇ­ "I could''ve been there to helpˇ­ I could haveˇ­" Cristina muttered begrudgingly, sneaking a couple of glances at Arthur and Lucy. Now that she''s been healed, she felt refreshed and in peak state. The pain and exhaustion were replaced by a sensation of clarity and power. Sadly for her, she was disqualified and could only watch her comrades struggle against the Hell Griffin. The immense undead made of flaming bones had gone on an absolute rampage. One of its wings became jet black then it unleashed a huge amount of black flames, covering the sky and extinguishing Ho Qing''s flames then blowing him to the ground, his body crushing on the arena''s unbreakable tiles then rolling a few times before laying there, seemingly lifeless. The next to get attacked was Rosea, who vainly retaliated by shooting over a dozen icicles at the incoming beast. The girl let out a desperate cry, raising another ice barrier, which barely blocked some of the blunt, though she was still hit, her left leg broken as one of the relatively large bones of the griffin''s foot had stepped on it. The only one was somewhat managed to completely block and even injure the enraged undead monster was, surprisingly, Bora. He shocked the audience for the second time as he dodged the griffin''s flames and the Void Mouths by zigzagging in a slippery manner while at the same time pulling his bowstring and firing one arrow after the other. He always hit the same place, the bones on the griffin''s leg wing, and after several successful attempts, they shattered in pieces, resulting in the fall of the large monster. Bora''s didn hesitate, invoking his GodSpirit, which a peculiar one, disposable after one use. His GodSpirit was actually an arrow, which can be used once every a long period of time as it takes time to recover, or so he told Arthur, at least. The GodSpirit, or more precisely, the arrow, had a simple, unimpressive appearance. He put it in his bow and pulled the bowstring for the nth time, his hands trembling from exhausting and the extreme Nether Energy consumption. Still, the youth persevered and was able to shoot the arrow, which enlarged as it made its way toward the falling Griffin. It traveled at a high-velocity, its size half of the griffin''s wing and pulsating with a high concentration of Nether Energy. The falling beast was unable to defend itself, rendering it helpless against the incoming projectile, which totally pulverized its right wing and nailed it to the arena. Knowing that this is their best chance to inflict as damage as they could and perhaps even defeat the undead, the rest of the MoonStar Team joined Bora, each person using their strongest skill or technique. Ho Qing, half-conscious and burned by the black flames, summoned the screeching Phoenix then immediately fell flat on his face. Rosea unleashed a series of pink ice that surged from the ground and, at a quick pace, made its way toward the target. As for Shu Ru and Ardor, they cooperated, the former assisting the latter by significantly boosting his Sword Essence using her sect''s mysterious cultivation technique. Mirages of the sword-wielding youth appeared next to him, all of them imitating his actions, jumping in the air and stabbing their swords forth. They weren''t just intangible mirages, however, as all of them were able to piece the griffin''s bones and, though not as strong as the main Ardor, still did considerable damage. Chapter 713 - 657: Cristinas Story (1) The multiple attacks unleashed by the youngsters were effective, strong enough to break some of the Hell Griffin''s bones and considerably slow down its movements. It roared unceasingly, the flames engulfing it growing more intense by the second, however, it still wasn''t enough to protect it from the joint attacks. The fight continued, sometimes one of the members of the MoonStar team would be attacked or blown away, but overall, everything proceeded smoothly. Five minutes, signaling the end of the third trial. Unfortunately, the Hell Griffin wasn''t defeated but it was injured pretty badly, so much that it could no longer perform big leaps or use two of its bestial bony limbs. Gutcha appeared amidst them, sending back the beast into that ominous, bottomless black hole and congratulations Shu Ru, Ho Qing, and the rest. "The MoonStar team''s results: One members disqualified, five passed." The one who''ll calculate the inflicted damage is neither the pigolo but a useful object integrated into the Griffin''s points, allowing it to display damage values after the time was up. A large, translucent golden number appeared dozens of meters above the arena. It shone brightly and indicated the numerical result earned by the MoonStar team. "70 points. That''s good, right?" Isadore turned to look at Arthur, not knowing if that number, which was close to a 100, the perfect score, is relatively good or bad. The other teams need to undertake the trial to as it''ll allow the King, and the equally curious spectators to compare the rewarded points and conclude on which the strongest team actually is. "The next team will begin in 10 minutes." Declared Gutcha with a loud and clarion voice. The MoonStar team, instead of being teleported to where the rest of the teams were, were taken to the plateau. There, the exhausted and wounded youngsters laid on the ground, breathing heavily as they wiped their sweaty foreheads and stretched their sore and tired bodies. "Good job." Lucy and Arthur appeared next to the MoonStar Team, Cristina standing a little behind the couple, her head dropped, feeling ashamed. "We did well, right teacher?" Bora proudly smiled, comically puffing his c.h.e.s.t as he stood up. It was rare to see Lucy praise them or smile, so this made the youth energetic and satisfied with his efforts. The rest were also pleased, whether it''s the silent Ho Qing, the shy and reserved Shu Ru, or the arrogant Rosea. "I feel we could have done better ifˇ­" "If what?" Asked Arthur, his eyes slightly narrowed, startling the youth. "Cristina was injured and had to be pulled out of the competition. I don''t want to hear anything about that, understood?" As he said that, the five of them meekly nodded their heads and maintained their silence. "It will take for the other teams to finish. Arthur will heal you and, after that, either go recuperate or go watch." Once she voiced her thoughts, Lucy turned around and disappeared along with the silent Cristina. **** Lucy stood before Cristina, not talking for an indeterminate amount of time. She changed her hairstyle, making a pony-tail out of her long silver hair. She also changed her outfit, from the exquisite dress to a simple black tank top and casual shorts, which only covered half of her t.h.i.g.hs. "I''m sure you''re frustrated. I will lower my cultivation to match yours." At first, Cristina was perplexed, raising her head and frowning at the now-changed Lucy. "What''s wrong? Did you not want to vent your anger?" In response to Lucy''s provocative question, the girl let out a roar and charged at her teacher with her spear. Everything she couldn''t do in the arena, she did it here, whether it''s her strongest techniques or her spectacular moves, which were degraded due to her rising anger and current emotional state. No matter from which angle Cristina attacked, how powerful and explosive her aura and spear techniques were, they didn''t graze Lucy. The sports clothes remained intact, a bit sweaty but that was it. After 10 minutes, Cristina started feeling helpless and incredibly weak. She was hyperventilating, her arms shaking and her eyes watery. "Don''t cry, attack." Lucy''s voice, which was softer than usual, snapped the girl out of her momentary daze. She shot forward, her black spear releasing an ear-piercing screech as it could through the air itself, its sharp edges coated with a dark grey aura, swirling like a vortex and expanding in size. The aura wanted to engulf Lucy whole, however, the moment it touched her skin, it shattered into nothingness. Time passed and the fight continued, one side attacking and the other defending. It lasted until Cristina had no strength to lift her finger, her Stamina and Nether Energy were depleted, and if she had the System, she''d have noticed that. Despite that, the stubborn girl refused to give up, forcing her body to stand up, grab her spear, and attack again. "Do you know what your problem is?" Hearing Lucy''s rhetorical question, Cristina looked at her with half-opened eyes, the tiredness already forcing her consciousness to shut off. "You''re too mistrusting. In the second trial, you relied too much on yourself and ended up injured. You don''t trust your team and think you''re better off alone." "I understand that you''ve just met them, but, if you want to stay in the team, you''ll have to learn. Learn how to cooperate and trust your back to them. If you cannot even do that, you won''t reach far." Lucy briefly paused, thinking about something, then added, "Arthur didn''t want to pull you out of the competition but I did. And, mind you, he and I rarely disagree on something. He saw potential in you but he disregarded your character, while I did the opposite, I judged your character before your talent and achievements." She walked toward the kneeling Cristina, stopping right in front of her. "I started to suspect that you''ve come to our sect to seek refuge. You were never planning on joining a team or taking the tournament seriously. Now, I think it''s more complicated than thatˇ­ maybe you can tell me the full story yourself?" She supported Cristina, who kept her silence, and took her to a large room somewhere at the base of the tower situated at the center of the city. Even without Arthur''s Life Energy, Lucy had Potions, Elixirs, and Pills, which, though not as effective as the Parasite''s magic, can still heal a patient and restore some of their energy and Stamina. Lucy patiently waited for the girl to recover, have a shower, and change into a set of new and comfortable clothes, though they weren''t suitable for fighting. When everything was finished, Cristina was motioned to sit next to Lucy. Although Lucy was a strict teacher and never easy on the whole team, she did care for them. In fact, her current actions prove that she wanted to help Cristina. Strangely enough, Cristina felt the urge to speak her head, and speak she did. Chapter 714 - 658: Cristinas Story (2) Cristina Ver Castro, daughter of a Duke of the Tartania Kingdom. The Dark Blaze Realm is a High-realm and is bigger than Green-leaf, housing clans, sects, and even mortal Kingdoms. Cristina''s home is the Tartania Kingdom, one of many kingdoms and empires in that realm. In the Dark Blaze, specifically, each kingdom, although inhabited and ruled by mortals, the royal family and its entourage are all blessed by unique abilities or prodigious talents, and Cristina''s family was no exception, of course. The strongest sect in the realm, the Dark Blaze Sect, would secretly send powerful cultivators to forcefully abduct young talents and integrate them into the sect. Generally, the families of the abducted youngsters would rarely object, after all, it''s a good thing to enter a huge sect such as Dark Blaze. You''ll be treated with a lot of respect and in a century or two, you''ll grow into a capable and strong cultivator, who''ll be able to defend his home from invading forces. Cristina''s father, along with the King, were adamant and refused to give up neither Cristina nor any one from their kingdom, which led to a one-sided massacre. A genocide. The capital was razed to the ground and only a handful of people were spared, two of them being Bora and Cristina Ver Castro. Of course, young Cristina and her childhood friend were unwilling to die in vain so they were taken to the Dark Blaze Sect. Furthermore, the two displayed astonishing talent, becoming two of the best disciples there in just three years. The Patriarch of the sect, along with the elders, paid close attention to the two youngsters, providing them with priceless pills and extraordinary cultivation technique, as well as magical artifactsˇ­ high-graded Weapons, such as the spear or the bow, in possession of, respectively, Cristina and Bora. All seemed well, at least on the outside, till Cristina and Bora fled the sect. They still have not forgotten what the sect did, how they killed their families, friends, and everyone else. In fact, the Patriarch already knew that the two of them would attempt something, but, unfortunately for him, he underestimated what they could do, hence, when they escaped the realm, he only sent one elder after him, which, apparently, wasn''t enough to capture and bring back their two most extinguished disciples. The gist of the storY is; Cristina was forced to enter the sect that destroyed her home kingdom, and killed her loved ones. As Lucy initially predicted, she came with Bora to the MoonStar sect for protection. Arthur and Lucy were very famous in the ClouD Sea Universe, as unstoppable monsters which were able to destroy the White Specter Clan and wreak havoc in the Divine Planet. Even though the peculiar couple had countless enemies, including the Holy Dominion, Cristina knew that the Dark Blaze Sect wouldn''t dare to provoke the MoonStar Sect. Put simply, the Patriarch and the elders weren''t strong enough to take them back if they are under Arthur and Lucy''s protection. Cristina Ver Castro wasn''t that knowledgeable about the couple, however, she knew that the parasite and the white specter could kill Exalted Gods with ease, and this fact was clearly showcased when the Red Tower was destroyed. Although cornered, Lucy and Arthur had managed to fight their way out and safely return home, proving to the whole Universe that they''re not pushovers. There is the matter concerning the banishment to Oblivion, which should have imprisoned the parasite forever inside, but, against all odds and to everyone''s astonishment, he returned unscathed and stronger than ever. These reasons, though not numerous, were backed with undeniable evidence, thus making Cristina bet her life and Bora''s on the MoonStar Sect. With her fists clenched tightly and head lowered, eyes shamefully looking at the ground. The young girl, only 19 years of age, felt guilty and embarrassed as she recounted the full story to the carefully listening Lucy. "I was going to lay low butˇ­" She slowly and hesitantly lifted her head, meeting Lucy''s gaze. "But when I was picked to be part of the team, I was excited. I felt that I was finally recognizedˇ­ I was even happier when I saw myself progress with your training. I knew that, with enough effort, I could grow as strong as you and kill those bastards. All of them." The girl paused, c.a.r.e.s.sing her arm, which was previously injured. "But when they attacked me in the second trial, I wanted to kill them. To show the Patriarch that they could no longer take me back. I didn''t want to implicate the others. Really, that was all I was thinking about." "Whether you like it or not, Bora and the rest will get involved. You''re part of a team, and a team acts as a single entity, sharing a common goal. In the future, there may come a day where Shu Ru or Ardor would need help in their personal matters and I believe you won''t shy away from helping." "I don''t want my friends to be hurtˇ­" Cristina''s eyes were watery as she spoke with a barely audible voice. Lucy softly smiled back at her and c.a.r.e.s.sed her head, "That''s not up to you." Lucy thought for a moment then took out a white handkerchief, gently wiping the girl''s wet eyes and the tears trickling down her cheeks. "You''ve been with them for only a week but you see them as friends. That''s good because I''m sure they feel the same too. The only thing you have to tone down is your hot-temperedness." Lucy ended with a joke, to which Cristin, still quietly whimpering, chuckled then started coughing as she choked on her tears. "Don''t worry, Cristina. As long as you''re in the sect, no one can hurt you. No one. You do trust me, right?" "En!" "Good girl. Before I forget, try this for me." Lucy walked away for a few seconds and returned with a plate filled to the brim with brown and beige cookies. "I made this for Arthur but I need someone to taste them first." Cristina nodded her head and took one cookie, taking a small bite and slowly munching it. "It''s delicious." "Really?" "Yes!" "Thank you." Said the silver-haired woman, winking at the girl and putting the plate on the table. Actually, Lucy already knew that they tasted good. When she started cooking, a long time ago, she wasn''t that good, however, after spending time on Earth and learning from the best, her culinary skills became practically unrivaled, at least in the mortal realms. She asked for Cristina''s opinion only to lift her spirit and change the topic into a more light-hearted one. "You can eat more if you want." "It''s okay, I''m full." Shyly said Cristina. She looked different than her haughty and proud self, perhaps her emotions still in disarray. "Okay. When you''re ready, let''s go watch the rest of the competition. I''m sure your friends will be happy to see you cheering for them." **** "Your team is struggling, Your Majesty." Arthur chuckled as he gave a side glance at the blonde youth, sitting there, looking nervous and slightly restless. After the MoonStar Team passed the third trial and earned 70 points, the elves fought next. They were lucky, the white arrow of the large wheel stopping at the mutated earth dragon. The nine elven ladies were all bow users and were able to kill the dragon with relative ease, thus earning them a perfect score. The next team on the list was Isadore''s, four youngsters, two girls and two boys, all dressed in matching black and golden robes, not too loose nor too tight, perfectly fitting their slim bodies. The four were all at the God Realm, between the 3rd Grade and 5th grade. They worked flawlessly together, however, they weren''t as strong as the other teams, not individually, that is. The King''s personal team had to fight a white spawn, a being born from Life and Light energies. It looked like an angel; Two large and holy white wings, a heavy set of silver armor, and a handsome gendereless face. The creature wielded a small round shield on its right hand and a longsword on its left. "What terrible luck!" Said Isadore, visibly annoyed at the mere sight of the white spawn. "It''s not that strong." Mockingly retorted Arthur. "For you, not for them. Hmpf!" The young king snorted and straightened his back, leaning to the front and instinctively clenching his fist. It''s not to say that his team was weak, just that they were matched against an airborne monster, agile and dexterous. Unfortunately for the King, by the third minute, the four members were seriously injured and had to be escorted to the outside by the pigolo. "The Green-leaf team Has been disqualified." With Gutcha''s declaration, the crowd''s cheering became louder, either happy that one team lost or excited to witness the next fight. As for Isadore Malfront, he stood from his seat and bowed toward Arthur, "I''ll excuse myself for a second." The parasite waved his hand nonchalantly, "Do what you mustˇ­ just don''t forget our bet." Chapter 715 - 659: The Kang Clan (1) In the second Trial, two teams were disqualified, which is to be expected since there were only ten numbered doors. The third trial, however, didn''t force any team out of the competition, at least not in the normal way, per se. Hypothetically, all teams could possibly complete the trial by either surviving for five minutes or defeating the summoned monsters. Unfortunately, some teams were unlucky enough to face a monster that counters them, or more precisely, their techniques and ability, like what happened with Isadore''s team, for example. As Gutcha had previously said, each time was to fight for five minutes, or less if the monster defeats the youngsters. A ten minutes-long break was to be held after each fight, so, in total, the trial took exactly 133 minutes. Out of the ten participating teams, two more were disqualified, leaving only eight. The defeated teams were King Isadore Malfront''s team, named the Green-Leaf Royal Team, and the Blossom Merchant Company Team, which is composed of the bearded but young dwarves that had battled Shu Ru and the rest in the second stage. The Demon Team, composed of the two demons girls, Cosima and her senior, Marjory, fought last. Their opponent was a two-headed poisonous snake, which, thanks to their high resistance to toxins, were able to defeat with relative ease, hence earning the perfect score, just like the elves. With the third trial officially done, the host of the competition, Gutcha, displayed a detailed ranking of the teams and their earned points. The Ranking wasn''t for only the third Trial but all three Trials, which means that the points the participants had earned previously also count. 1 The Imoogi Clan: 249 points (5) 2 The PoMo Forest Team: 222 Points (7) 3 The Ancient Federation : 200 Points (1) 4 The MoonStar team : 186 Points (5) 5 The Demon Team : 182 Points (2) 6 The Holy Church Team : 176 Points (2) 7 The Mermaid Team : 170 Points (9) 8 The Dark Blaze Team : 124 Points (1) The number of participants decreased to 32 but there was a large gap between the first and last place, but that''s to be expected since the Dark Blaze Team only had one member remaining. Nevermind the spectators, even Arthur was surprised to see that remaining youth last so long. He was able to survive for five minutes and inflict little to no damage to the monster. Actually, the sole remaining member of the Dark Blaze Team wasn''t that talented, at least not like Cristina or Bora. Sure, he was still one of top disciples of his sect but, compared to his talented and skillful peers, he''s, at most, mediocre. Apart from the Elves and the Demons, who got a perfect score in the third Trial, John was the next, earning a whopping 95 points. He would have gotten a 100 were it not for the time limit, which ended right before he dealt the finishing blow. Relatively speaking, MoonStar''s score was on the lower part of the spectrum, as only two teams have gotten less than they did. Furthermore, it was only Arthur''s team that had lost a person in the trial. Their overall prowess was weakened now that Cristina was disqualified, however, that doesn''t mean that they''ll fail in the next trial. "Those reptilian kids are a bit eerie for my taste." Said Isadore, who somewhat recuperated from the failure of his team. "I''ve never seen them speak as much as a word. Their Guardian, too, is as peculiar as they are. Look at him." Isadore glanced at a middle-aged man, beardless, thin and tall, very tall, over two meters in height. His arms, neck, and legs, were covered in black and greyish scales, and so was his meter-long tail, protruding from the lower part of his back. "I thought your Majesty wiser than to judge people by their appearances." Replied Arthur, scoffing at the young ruler, who simply snorted. "Still brooding over your team''s loss? You must''ve known they won''t rich the final." "I most certainly did but I can''t help but feel shame. They lost so miserably, and to a White Spawn, at that. As their Guardian and the King of Green-leaf, I have an image to maintain." "Your image has hit rock-bottom a long time ago, I reckon." "What is that supposed to mean?" Arthur covered his mouth in a vain attempt to mask his wide smile. Isadore Malfront, though, was still feeling bitter over what happened. "Mister Arthur, would you be willing to spare us a bit of your time?" Elder Nord, the elder belonging to the Kang Clan, leaned his old body forward and politely asked the parasite. Kang Amidel, who sat beside the old man, pricked his ears while pretending to be engrossed in the competition, which has come to a halt as all teams were given one hour of rest and recuperation. Some Guardians joined their teams, offering them advice and providing them with high-graded artifacts for the next trials. The rules of the competition didn''t prohibit the use of any kind of artifact, including Zen Treasures, which, if used properly, can allow a God-Monarch to injure an Exalted God. Arthur had delayed his inevitable discussion with Elder Nord for long enough, to when he was politely asked, he did simply nodded his head and stood up. Soon enough, the parasite, Kang Amidel, and Elder Nord were seated in a quiet and isolated room at the top of the tower, completely outside of the competition''s premises, including the plateau. Truthfully speaking, Arthur didn''t know why the elder from the Kang Clan wanted to talk to him. Nevertheless, it''s high time they sorted the misunderstandings between them and established what their peculiar relationship actually is. It''s already a fact that the Kang Clan wants to help and maintain the safety of the last surviving titan, Astria. However, their way of approaching things is suspicious, to say the least. "First of all, I''d like to apologize again for my sudden appearance. I''ve been sent here by the Patriarch to clear many things and provide a detailed explanation, which, I believe, would satisfy you and provide you with the answers you want." Chapter 716 - 660: The Kang Clan (2) "Okay, go ahead and begin, Elder Nord, I''m all ears." Arthur made himself more comfortable by leaning back on the chair, folding his arms, and prickling his ears. Lucy should have been with him right now but he didn''t call her because Cristina''s matter was equally important and demanded great care and patience. "It all began in the first Era." Elder Nord c.a.r.e.s.sed his beard at a very slow pace, not wasting time with unnecessary topics and delving directly into the crux of the matter. "When the Titans were viewed as a noble and extinguished race. Our Kang Clan were supporters of the secondborn titans. We helped them with many things and, to return the favor, they granted us powers beyond mortal capabilities. The strength to vanquish our hateful foes, to live thousands of years, to split skies and seas, flatten mountains and even change travel through stars and planets." Upon seeing Arthur''s expression, Elder Nord nodded his head. "Yes, mister Arthur." A knowing smile plastered on the wrinkled old face. "In that era, the Kang Clan was a mortal clan that served the titans and were granted powers." "Granted or blessed?" Asked the parasite, his eyes never leaving the elderly. "Is there a difference? Both lead to the same results." Calmly said Elder Nord. "Our faith in the Titans grew stronger than ever. We promised them our ever-lasting servitude but they refused, all of them. My clan''s records mention the first ancestor, who spent dozens of years traveling the worlds, visiting every titan and bowing his head, asking to be a servant for those godly beings." "I find such behavior quite shameful. I mean, to travel world after world just to be a servant? Pardon my rudeness, but your ancestor seemed to be eager to work for someone else instead of sacrificing all that time to train and better himself." "Our ancestor, was a wise man. In the First Era, the humans were not the dominant raceˇ­ in fact, they were the weakest. Oppressed and helpless, their great numbers decreasing significantly every day, either by plagues or due to the revenge exacted by other races, mainly Demons. Our ancestor could have lent a hand but he knew that his power alone won''t be enough, so he sought protection from the titans." "And did he find this oh-so-precious protection? Looking at the present facts and how the Kang Clan still sands, glorious and mighty, I assume it''s a yes." "None of the secondborn Titans accepted, but the thirdborn ones did protect our ancestor and even welcomed him into their stars." "Is there a difference between firstborn titans, secondborn, and thirdborn? Also, I thought Titan lived together and were not separated into multiple realms or stars." Elder Nord stopped c.a.r.e.s.sing his beard, resting his bony hand on his c.h.e.s.t, and inhaled deeply. "Titans." He said, his gaze landing for the standing Amidel for a couple of breaths. "were different than Humans. They did not live together because their opinions and values differed, however, that didn''t make them enemies. They had accepted each other and chose simplistic solutions, that''s all. As for your first question; the firstborn Titans are the first of their kind, the secondborns were birthed by the firstborn, so on and so forth." Sensing that Arthur had no relevant questions that needed answering, Elder Nord continued with his story, or better call it: explanation. "Our ancestor married a mortal woman and created the Kang Clan, and for more than one era, there was peace and prosperity. But, after, and even before, the Void Era, things changed for the worse." "You mean the war launched by the human, right?" "I won''t call it a war, mister Arthur." Corrected the old man. "It''s more like a massacre. The titans, albeit powerful beings, were too few to fight the humans, who were given more than ample time to learn their own techniques and advance their technology. Hence, shortly after the Void Era, almost all Titans were killed." "So not all perished?" "The majority. The ones that remained were the weakest of the bunch. The genes of the Titans were present in their bodies, ethereal or not, but to call them Titan is only half-right. They were a mix of Titans and humans, Titans and Elves, Titans and other races, basically. So, just like they helped our ancestor, we helped them. The Kang Clan was amongst the strongest clans back then, we''ve even had a Patriarch who had reached the Mysterious Realm." "But they still died, right?" Arthur said, linking what was said with the facts he was aware of. "You''re absolutely right, mister Arthur. They weren''t just killed, but they were captured, tortured, then publicly executed. It was a showcase of human superiority and dominance." "I thought it wasn''t just the humans were attacked the Titans. Also, the reason behind the war was said to be the Titan''s arrogance, oppression, and aggressiveness." "What aggressiveness might you speak of? The Titans never interfered with the Humans. Never touched them or ruled over them." "It''s hard to believe such words when historians and scholars say otherwise. You can''t mean to tell me that the Titans did not retaliate, did not spill human blood." "Mister Arthur." Said Nord, intently staring back at the parasite. "I think we''re diverging from the main topic but if you want to debate then I won''t spare you. The Titans retaliated only later on, after the Void Era when it was clear that their extinction is nigh. They were being hunted and our Kang Clan wasn''t able to protect all of them. Some of the remaining Titans hid in ungodly places, outside of anyone''s reach, others changed into intangible forms, allowing them to live by unnoticed. In spite of that, the allied races were relentless, sparing no effort into finishing off all the Titans and erasing their trace from the multiverse. No race wanted the Titans, which were considered the perfect beings, to continue living. I guess you could call them cowards, afraid of what the Titans could or could not do in the futureˇ­ because if the Titans really wanted, they could have conquered every world, planet, stars, or realm." "But they did not." Solemnly stated Arthur. "And that does answer my question." "It does, mister Arthur. It does. If Titans were truly oppressive, wouldn''t they have subdued the humans when the first of their kin were slaughtered? Wouldn''t they have eradicated the humans entirely?" "Perhaps, by then, it was too late. As you know, it takes but a few decades for humans to increase their numbers. Titans, on the other hand, procreate at a much slower pace. I heard that their pregnancy lasts 9 years instead of 9 months." "Procreation and numbers are irrelevant. Titans, as you very well know, mister Arthur, are strong beyond imagining. Even Titans born much later on, and relatively young-aged, wield powers that could smite an Exalted God in the blink of an eye. Don''t you think that such prowess is largely capable of offering the protection Titans necessitated back then?" "I don''t think so, Elder Nord. You''re a human too and you ought to know that humans have an infinite potential for evolution? Yes, not all of them grow into Exalted Gods or Transcendent Mortals, but that doesn''t necessarily mean that they would not have been able to defend themselves were the Titans have retaliated." "It''s not about their individual power, but their motives. As a human, I''m ashamed of what my race, and other races, have done. Based on their baseless observation, they feared what may never come. They did not want a Higher race to exist alongside them. There''s no justification and will never be. If you look closely at the history after the fall of the Titan, the Humans turned their wrath to the Elves and Fairies, which were initially their helpful and irreplaceable allies." Chapter 717 - 661: The Bloodletting Experiment "It''s how the nature of the Human race works." Replied Arthur, releasing a heavy sigh. "Regardless of other races, whether they exist or not, Humans will always wage wars, conquer and kill. They''ll do it to themselves if it comes down to it. But, Elder Nord, enough about this. Pray tell me what this is all about. What is the Kang Clan''s stance? And why is it acting as such?" "The Kang Clan." Said the old man, his old but lively eyes focusing on the parasite. "Stands with Astria, not the MoonStar Sect." "I take it that you won''t involve yourself with my sect?" "We hope it doesn''t come to that. As you may know, Mister Arthur, we have as many enemies as you do, all waiting for a slip. Just one slip. That''s all takes it for them to attack us." Hearing this, Arthur scoffed, frowning and folding his arms. "And that slip is siding with the MoonStar Sect, which has a White Specter and a Parasite as leaders?" "Precisely so." "Then what about your visit here? I doubt they''re unaware." "A visit is a visit." Answered the elder, shrugging and not bothering to explain himself properly. "I''m still as confused as before this discussion started. What are your intentions? And please choose your next words carefully because they will decide whether the MoonStar Sect will see you as an enemy or an ally." "Hohoho, mister Arthur, I see you''re not afraid of the Kang Clan. Very well, I shall tell you as clearly as possible. Listen well. The Kang Clan will support Astria, the titan, in times of crisis. If- and I hope not - a disaster was to befall on your esteemed sect, you will see from us nothing but encouraging words." "That concludes it, then." Arthur''s eyes narrowed, he straightened himself and clapped his hands. He glanced at the still-standing Kang Amidel, visibly nervous and wanting to express his thoughts but unable to do such due to Nord''s presence. "Mister Arthur, I don''t think we''re done yet. Astria concerns the Kang Clan and the MoonStar Sect. The recent events - currently inexplicable - which happened to the Titan, rendering it unreachable, should be solved by a joint effort." "No. The Kang Clan should remain holed up in the Divine Planet or wherever the hell it is. You speak of your intentions but not once have I seen you act." "I''d advise caution, mister Arthur." Elder Nord disliked the parasite''s change of tone, which became aggressive and mocking. "Caution from what? I know nothing about your clan, not even why all of you are empty shells. Yes, I can see what you truly areˇ­ something is not human, hence your unrestrained contempt for them." "I never meant to trick you, mister Arthur. Our secret is irrelevant to the topic and there was no need to divulge something which is obvious to your special eyes. Above anything else, we want to assure Astria''s safety and we hope you feel the same." "Oh really? Funny that you say that, because when the Divine Beats attacked, I don''t remember anyone coming to the Titan''s rescue." Upon hearing this, the old man helplessly sighed and vainly tried to explain in his clan''s stead. "There were some unanticipated complications regarding that matter. Our hands were tied. Fortunately, you were there." Arthur snickered and tore his eyes away from Nord. He waved his hand dismissively and unceremoniously while adding "Fortunately, yesˇ­ Fortunately. Tell your Patriarch to mind his own business from now on. And I catch but a whiff of the Kang Clan in Astria thenˇ­ well, consider yourselves warned. We''re done here." "Again, mister Arthur, I advice cautio-" "We''re done, elder Nord. The door is open so see yourself out." Elder Nord slowly stood up and meaningfully stared at the parasite before excusing himself. Amidel, however, stayed behind and only spoke after the Kang clan''s elder had left. "Now I see why you came to this wasteland, in the middle of nowhere. It''s certainly better to raise your kids here, at least they''ll have a normal lifeˇ­ and remain human." "Mister Arthur." Kang Amidel courteously bowed, lowering his head more than necessary. "The Kang Clan is enigmatic and though its intentions remain unclear, I assure you that they mean well." "Are you actually defending them? What will happen when they summon you back? No, let me- considering that you''re bound to the city - rephrase that. What if they drag your son and daughter there? What if they subject them to whatever blasphemous and inhumane rituals they conduct on everyone? Will you still be saying the same words to me? It''s time you wake up, Amidel." "..." Instead of retorting, the man stood there in silence, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with the parasite. "I have eyes, Amidel. I have the System. I can see many things with just one glance. The cultivators may not deign to acknowledge it, but the System is capable of showing one''s deepest secrets, easily and without effort. I looked at Elder Nord and I''ve seen enough, more than enough, in fact. The Kang Clan is dangerous and even if you guarantee it, I would''ve never accepted them as an ally." Kang Amidel maintained his long silence, listening to Arthur''s words, which could not be denied for they were the truth and he knew it, which is exactly why he kept his mouth shut. "I can assure you, however, that were the Kang Clan were to b.u.t.t in into my affairs and were I to exact revenge, I won''t attack you. I don''t know about the circ.u.mstances but it''s crystal clear that you isolated yourself from the main branch." ˇ­ "Wow! Arthur MoonStar in the flesh! As stoic and grim-faced as usual." Edward Ortberg, the military general of the MoonStar Sect and - currently- a notorious person who marched the undead army in every corner of the Wasteland, conquering small and big tribes alike. He was sent away for a special mission and came back just today. Despite being but a mortal, the man wasn''t scared to fight Immortal and Divine beings, relying on his tricky yet deadly strategies to achieve one victory after the other. Edward Ortberg laid siege to every fortress and stronghold that could be found in the wasteland, defeated the Pigolo and Naga tribes. "Is it done?" Said Arthur, walking past the mortal serial-killer, who followed him while enjoying a delicious and juicy red apple. "Yes, all in order. Since the beginning, we lost 3,205 undead, 7949 are incapable of normal movement, 25,000 are stationed right outside of the city. 15,000 undead are at the Naga Tribe, keeping those humanoid snakes in check. I also had to station 10,000 in the fallen Pigolo Tribe. They attempted resistance but were defeated the very same day, poor fellas. In addition to this, 4,50-" "Oh spare me the arithmetics and tell me the results." "The results are pleasing, O'' mighty parasite. The warriors of the Naga and Pigolo Tribes joined our ranks, though their numbers aren''t particularly high. In total, there are 3,000 of them. I have to, however, praise their individual prowess, especially those chieftains or whatever they call themselves as." ... Appraisal results of Elder Nord, an elder from the Kang Clan.¦Ě *Nord Radivsca (Race: Empty Hollow) Nord Radivsca Kang (Race: Empty Hollow) Cultivation: Exalted God Age: 2,670 years old. Titles: Inhumane / Viscious Killer / Blood Seeker / Holder of the Hollow Oath / Guardian of the Kang Clan / The Merciless Man Skills: Evisceration (Lv: EX)(Upgraded)(+680% damage) / Atomic Incineration (Lv34) / Hollow Bite (Max Lv) Description: The Guardian elder of the Kang Clan, in charge of the diplomatic affairs and assuring the protection of his kin. Born and raised in the Kang Clan, son of Jajnrar Radivsca Kang, the 29th Grand Elder of the Kang Clan (Now deceased). Nord was human until the age of 6, where, like anyone of his age in the Kang Clan, subjected to the Hollow Ritual, an ancestral and secretive experiment passed down from the grandson of Manxois Kang, the ancestor and founder of the clan. The System detected and linked facts known by the Parasite for a better overview and explanation of the appraisal of the target: Nord Radicsva Kang. The Hollow Ritual (Genetic experiment, also known as, The Bloodletting Experiment): The experiment was initially invented by excommunicated prists of the Night Church (2n Era, Year 1373-1374), then improved by Black Mages in Year 1386. Year 1401, it was found by the grandson of Manxois Kang, Steffan Abra Kang, who integrated it into the clan as a mandatory ritual for all children between the age of 5 and 8. The success rate of the experiment was increased over the years, now reaching 75%. The subjects, however, will experience an unimaginable amount of pain for a prolonged period of three to six months, depending on the body. The first step is to inject unknown genes into the body then immediately suck all the blood while still keeping the heart beating. Then, the c.h.e.s.t is carefully opened so that the genes could be injected into the heart as well. The scalp is next, lastly followed by the neckˇ­ the second important step is removing the body''s skin and, quite literally, letting it dry then pouring 5 liters of black magic residue, which must first be liquifiedˇ­. the third step is... Chapter 718 - 662: The Theme "By any chance, you wouldn''t mind if I joined you on the plateau, right? I''m eager to watch those energetic youngsters compete. It makes my blood boil just thinking about it!" Edward Ortberg hugged his arms and smiled, to which Arthur grunted but did not object. He didn''t even wait for the mortal, he just teleported back to the plateau, precisely in front of his seat. The only difference from before is that Elder Nord had left, though Amidel and his children were still sitting there and enjoying the competition. The fourth trial was about to begin, the remaining participants healed from their injuries and recovered their Nether Energy. Even Lucy was back, with Cristina to her right, her face brighter than before. No more did she look begrudged and wronged, a soft, encouraging smile was displayed on her face as she stared at her team. "Ladies and gentlemen, it''s finally time for the fourth stage! I will explain the rules shortly." As usual, Gutcha brought the remaining teams to where the trial will take place. "Something the matter? You looked much grumpier." Isadore noticed Arthur''s deep frown, which wasn''t present before he had left. The observative young king also saw Elder Nord''s empty and was able to piece things together even without hearing any answer. "Greetings! Greetings! Greetings! Greetings, your Majesty. Greetings, Madam Lucy." Edward Ortberg appeared a minute after Arthur, as excited as before, greeting every person in his way, even though he knew not their names, only Isadore Malfront and Lucy were the exceptions. Lucy nodded back at him but did not utter a word, but the King of Green Leaf was different, he sized the mortal up and down, curiosity welling up inside of him. "Edward Ortberg, Commander of the Undead Army of the MoonStar Sect, I presume?" "In the flesh, Your Majesty." "I have heard of your recent achievement. Truly commendable. I''ve been wanting to talk to you abou-" Isadore was interrupted by the grumpy Arthur, who signaled the mortal to sit with narrowed eyes. "There''s nothing to talk about, Your Majesty." "I didn''t know you''re so protective of your subordinates, O''parasite." The King grinned unpleasantly and kept his eyes fixated on Ortberg. "There''s no need to pretend, I''m sure you''ve done a thorough investigation. I see no reason for you to talk to him. For once, mind your own business, Your Majesty." "Yes yes, sure. I was merely curious." ˇ­ "The fourth trial, my dear participants, is simple and easy." The pigolo declared with a truly hideous smile, pointing at the misty forest at his front. In response to what he said, three or four youngsters snorted, clearly disliking Gutcha''s tasteless humor. Ever since the beginning, he kept repeating the same words, stating that said trial is simple and whatnot. However, the truth is, literally, the opposite of whatever he says. Whether''s passing a bridge, finding a door, or fighting a random monster. "The goal to pass the fourth Trial is, put simply, crossing the forest. You''ll have to pass through the mist and emerge from the other side. I told you, eh? It''s easy and direct. No tricks. All teams will begin from the same starting point, they''re free to fight each other and whoever gets seriously injured will be disqualified, of course. Cooperation, even between teams, is likewise advised for there are no small amount of dangers lurking here and there. The time limit is two hours and whoever reached the end succeeds the trial." Eager, Gutcha joyfully clapped his hands and vanished from their sight. The remaining 8 teams, 32 participants in total, warily looked at each other for an indeterminate amount of time. No one dared to make the first move, fearful to be attacked or followed. Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, the youth named John, belonging to the Ancient Federation, was the first to step forward. Within but a couple of breaths, his silhouette vanished amidst the dense mist enveloping the entirety of the forest. The second to tread inside the mist were the five young Imoogis, all-male and with short black hair, long tails, and jet black scales covering parts of their bodies. "Do we go inside too?" Bora, the bow-wielding youth as well as Cristina''s childhood friend, looking around cautiously, his weapon in hand and an arrow already held by the tip of his outstretched fingers. "We have no choice. Shu Ru and I at the vanguard, Ho Qing and Bora will take the rear and Rosea in the center." None disagreed, they quickly got into position, each person guarding a direction. With slow and careful steps, they made their way into the thick mist, which made it impossible to see beyond a couple of meters. The forest was lush, with thick bushes, tall trees, and the ground riddled with holes and human and animal bones. "Did you not create that place? Why is there bones?" Edward turned to the parasite and asked, genuinely confused. "The sight of bones and cadavers incite fear and worry, even amongst such talented youngsters." "So it''s just decoration? Shame, if you''d let me do it, they''d be pissing their pants already." "The goal is not to horrify them using the environment, the goal of the Trial is to defy and overcome themselves." "Overcome themselves? What''s that supposed to me?" "..."-Arthur "Come on, you know I''m new to all of this. At least offer a good explanation devoid of riddles or philosophies." "It''s not a riddle or a philosophy." Corrected the blonde-haired Isadore. He was intently looking at the wide screen hanging on the sky, his mouth explaining his point of view and what he understood of the trial so far. "If I''m not wrong- and I don''t think I am - each trial has a theme. The first tests the reflexes and how to cope with danger when the ability to fly is absent. The secondˇ­ hmm, the second is definitely luck. As for the third, clearly, it''s cooperation and strength, though it has elements of luck too. How is it, Arthur?" "Close but not to correct."-Arthur "The second Trial was not about luck. All teams had an equal probability of succeeding, they just had to obtain the required number from another team to pass through the numbered door." "What was its theme then? Argh! Those Naga really made me miss the spectacle." Lucy looked at the serial-killer, her piercing eyes were coupled with a chilling frost, which even made someone like Edward, who''s not scared that easily, shiver momentarily and avoid her gaze. He didn''t have the chance to meet her a lot but, in his opinion, she''s scarier and way more mistrustful than her husband. It''s as if her eyes would turn him into an ice "There was no theme. Basically, it was a battle royal, nothing more." "I guess I was overthinking it, then." "What about the fourth trial? Is there a theme, Madam Lucy?" "There is." She perfunctorily answered, maintaining silence for a few seconds before, unexpectedly, giving a rather detailed explanation for the mortal. "Each person has a contradicting inner-self, called a demon in this Cloud Sea Universe. It symbolizes their deepest and most twisted d.e.s.i.r.es. It comes in many shapes and forms and is usually a hurdle for cultivation, barring their way into the next Realm. If they manage to defeat it, or accept it, their future cultivational endeavor will become much easier." "Oh ohh! I understand. Does that mean I have a demon living inside of me?" "You''re the demon." Commented Arthur, giving the man a half-hearted glance. "That is not true. I have sinned and I paid for my wrongdoings. I regret killing those people and, in my humble opinion, I paid my due." "Congratulations, mister Edward. You''re now a reborn man, liberated from his crimes." Isadore butted in, again, speaking with a half-sarcastic half-serious tone. "After leaving the prison, I have discoveredˇ­" Edward paused, looking at the spectators than at the King and, at last, at the parasite. "That my crimes are nothing compared to the godly beings living in the universe. In comparison, I killed but a few, a minuscule, unnoticeable amount." "While that may be true, mister Edward. There''s a difference between killing out of necessity and killing out of p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e." "Nah, don''t think so! Killing is killing. The means don''t justify the ends. There is no evil in this world, just two parties with different perspectives and beliefs." "That''s debatable. You can kill one person to save a million, and there''s killing one person just to feel p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e. For the trill." Edward shrugged his shoulders, disagreeing with the King''s words. "By saving that one million, you''ll kill even more. One millionˇ­ that''s a big number, Your Majesty. Some of them will kill people - hmm- let''s say a thousand of them kills ten each. That''s ten thousand. So, keeping the killer alive will give the best result." Chapter 719 - 663: Ho Qing ''"Stay close!" Ardor repeated again, his eyes jumping from one spot to the other but all he could see was a dense mist. Ghastly howls and strange croaks reverberated from all directions, making the group of five tense and on full alert. They walked in the same formation for ten minutes before one of them vanished. Ho Qing seemed to have disappeared into thin air, even when his companions called for him, they were answered by a brief and eerie silence. This was but the beginning of mysterious and sudden disappearance. Rosea, who was at the center, also evaporated into nothingness, leaving in her place the ever-so-spreading thick mist, separating Bora from the rest. Like that, one after the other, the members of the MoonStar got separated, all within fifteen minutes, at most. ˇ­ The youth, quietly breathing, cautiously and carefully inspected his surroundings, which seemed to have dramatically changed. He was no longer in a misty forest but in a grandiose hall, a very familiar hall. He didn''t call for his membres or move unnecessarily, he stood still, held his breath for a couple of seconds, and circulated his Nether Energy, ready to retaliate in case something attacked. The hall was exquisitely decorated, orderly pillars made of shiny crimson granite, silver marble under his feet, and the rest was emptiness, purposefully made to glorify the pillars and the floor. The youth, red-haired, sharp facial features, a slim body, and fully-opened eyes, showcasing vigilance and a slight anxiousness. Ho Qing kept holding his breath, afraid that any sound might lead to the expected inevitable result, which is being attacked by the unknown enemy, lurking somewhere around, shrouded by invisibility. More time crept by and the hidden enemy could wait any longer, lunging at Ho Qing, enveloped by a burst of orange flames. Ho Qing retaliated almost immediately, moving both hands and punching the incoming enemy, also unleashing flames, though his were stronger and more ferocious, as is every fire belonging to the Phoenix. The youth''s fist clashed with the enemy, hitting his face and blowing him dozens of meters to the back. It was only then that Ho Qing had a clear view of the assailant, who, surprisingly, was his carbon copy, more or less. The fake Ho Qing resembled his past selfˇ­ the missing arm, the unrestrained anger, and the ferocious eyes blazing with anger and rage. Ho Qing didn''t speak or question what''s happening, he backed away and shot two large fireballs, which split into multiple smaller ones once they were close to the target. Wave after wave of phoenix flames engulfed the copy, making him writhe and wail, his clothes burnt and his expression distorting inhumanely. "How could you go under him? He''s our enemy! He destroyed everything!" "..." Instead of needlessly replying, Ho Qing attacked again by leaping into the air and spreading his arms like a bird, his Nether Energy exploded forth, enveloping him wholly by a gigantic screeching phoenix. The granite pillars and the marble ground melted, the phoenix fire spread to all corners of the hall, turning it into a hellish inferno. The copy wasn''t even able to resist, his body turning into ash as the descending phoenix crashed into him. It was supposed to be a long and tiresome fight, however, Ho Qing chose the quickest alternative, which is using his strongest technique to put an end to it. He didn''t want to hear what his copy wanted to say, didn''t want to understand him or reach a common ground. He never regretted his decision, even if it was wrong. He had forsaken his sect, friends, and family, and that''s because he knew that Arthur is not someone they could provoke and getaway. What he wanted to keep wasn''t his useless pride but his life. His goal was to become strong, infinitely strong, everything else did not matter and should not matter. Unlike the Patriarch or the elders, who sat in their caves and meditated, he wanted to explore the Cloud Sea Universe, uncover mysteries and achieve the peak of cultivation. Yes, he had been arrogant in the past, which, consequently, made him lose an arm, nonetheless, he swallowed back his anger, took his closest friends, and left. "How could I not?" The youth muttered, his eyes gazing at the scattering black ash, which was all that was left of the furious copy. A few seconds later, Ho Qing found himself standing at the forest again, however, the mist wasn''t blocking his view. He turned around and soon found out that he was automatically transported to the end of the forest, therefore completing the trial. "Congratulations, you''re the first to arrive." Gutcha picked his nose and took out a large and disgusting booger, but what''s worse is that he patted Ho Qing''s shoulder with the same hand. The youth frowned but did not comment, his eyes resting on the misty forest, hoping that the rest of the team succeeds. ˇ­ "That''s unexpected." Said Isadore while s.u.c.k.i.n.g a deep breath. Out of all the participants, Ho Qing was the first to arrive at the end, and in such a short amount of time. "Not for me." Calmly said Lucy, a rarely seen faint smile displayed on her face. Ever since she personally trained the youth and pushed him to the brink, she knew that he was the most special out of the whole team. He discarded his pride and sought naught but power and power alone, which is precisely why he managed to acquire the unique Phoenix Fire. "He''s kind of handsome." Surprisingly, Fariya, who stood a few paces behind the couple, opened her mouth for the first time. Her eyes momentarily shone as they focused on the red-haired youth. Unfortunately for her, she couldn''t say anything else as Lucy gave her a cold side-way glance. "I thought fighting one''s demon is supposed to be hard." Said Edward, visibly perplexed. "Not for everyone. Some have it easier than others. Of course, it could be easy but still be done relatively fast." Explained Arthur. He chuckled and nodded his head, proud that one of his team was the first to complete the trial. "You think I could do it too?" Cristina leaned closer to Lucy and whispered with a barely audible voice. In response, the silver-haired woman nodded her head once but did not speak. Ten minutes after Ho Qing, John and one of the youngsters from the Imoogi Team appeared at the same time. The two looked at each other then focused their gaze on Ho Qing, who also looked back but only for a second. "Hey you." John, the young man from the Ancient Federation, approached Ho Qing. "..." Although he got no response, he still asked. "Do you want to join the Federation? We''ll welcome you wi-" Before he could finish, someone pulled him a few steps backward. The youth was startled as a hideous grinning face appeared before his eyes. "It''s prohibited to recruit members from the other team." Gutcha snickered and fixed John''s slightly disheveled clothes. "You''ve misunderstood me, venerable host. I didn''t want to recruit him now but-" Yet again, he was cut-off by the Pigolo. "I understood and understand what you meant to say. Either way, you can''t do it. Before asking the disciples, ask their master first." John was irritated but didn''t flare up, he coldly stared at the pigolo, nodded then respectfully bowed, then backed away. Chapter 720 - 664: The Golden Room "I''m curious about something." Said Edward, turning his head toward the Succubus, who, instead of wearing the usual overly-revealing clothes, was wearing the MoonStar robe that''s worn by the Inner Disciples. The robe was half black and half silver, certainly not pretty but it''s definitely unique. There was a huge symbol of a Moon and a Star on the back, and thin lines at the front, beginning from the abdomen and stopping at the right shoulder. "..." Fariya did not reply, she was quietly watching the unfolding fourth Trial with interest and fascination. Although she''s much stronger than those participants, she felt the urge to undergo those wondrous trials and see if she how she fares. "Succubus Fariya, hello! I''m talking to you." "I heard you, criminal. I don''t want to talk to you." "Hey, that''s unnecessarily rude. I''m no longer a criminal, errr, let''s say I''m an innocent fugitive as well as a commander of a sect army. You may be strong but, technically, my status is higher than you, a slave." "What''s you say?" The woman glared at him but did not apply any pressure, not wanting to cause trouble and get punished by Lucy, whom she now fears. Fariya is as strong as an Exalted God yet against Lucy, even without trying, she knew she could do nothing. The disparity in strength is just too big, rendering the succubus unable to do nothing but bow her head respectfully and act docile, which is against her instinctual nature. "As I said, I''m curious. Will you indulge me with an honest answer?" Fariya snorted and didn''t reply, no longer paying any attention to the mortal. "The way I see it, in that prison, you were living in luxury. There was no reason for you to leave, was there?" "..." "You''re obviously strong. A demon succubus, capable of stealing the hearts of Gods and Devils alike. Was becoming a slave a better option? I simply can''t fathom it." He paused for a couple of breaths, scrutinising the woman and grunting. "Mahap you were bored? But that''s still enough to enslave yourself. Or was it love at first sight? I can''t see that happening too. Whether it''s on Earth or here, humans or demons, they all think the same." "Shut up and let me watch." She retorted, keeping her voice down and vainly taking a step forward to get away from him. Edward followed after her while sneaking a glance at the sitting Lucy. ˇ­ The place was luminous, too luminous, in fact. Every corner, every wall, even every speck of dust, looked as if it was made of Gold. The place wasn''t big, the ceiling was five to six meters above the youth''s headˇ­ pipes and strange objects were lined and intersected under his feet, covering almost the entirety of the room''s floor. The four walls were not that different either. The bright light illuminating the room originated from strange-looking light bulbs, big and linked to countless wires, also golden in color. This room, the intense smell of steam, the loud rumbling of the pumps coming from below his feet, the unpleasantly bright golden color of the place and everything in it, the rotating tree-sized sphere hanging in the air, were all but unfamiliar to the youth. The young man stood there, silent and calm, gripping a single-handed sword and breathing soundlessly, his expression the epitome of serenity. This was none other than Ardor, one of the members of the MoonStar team, also teleported to a place inside of his consciousness, which as of yet unbeknownst to him. Ardor, who''s the only one of the MoonStar Team who didn''t come from a sect, a clan, or organization. He was a lone wandering cultivator, 38 of age and a genius amongst genius, someone who reached the level of Sword Master at the age of 35. In terms of appearance, Ardor was average, the only striking thing about him was his unusually short height. The youth - who would be considered a fully-grown a.d.u.l.t in mortal realms and planets- was no taller than 170 centimeters. He had brown eyes, slightly long raven-black hair, thin eyebrows, pointy nose, pale lips, and a cleanly-shaved beard and mustache. The very moment Ardor appeared in this place, he knew it was an illusion. Apart from him, only one person stepped into this place, and that person, who was his teacher, had sacrificed his life to save him, unfortunately. A long time passed, the young man was motionless, gripping his sword and looking ahead, seemingly absent-minded. The loud rumbling of the underground pumps came to an abrupt halt, instantly followed by the appearance of golden figures rising from below with the help of some sort of a circulated elevator. The golden figures, three in total, immediately rushed at the youth, who counterattacked before they even reached him. He swung his arm, shooting a condensed burst of translucent white sword essence, which accurately hit one of the incoming attackers. The assailants looked like automated machines, made from the same materials as this mysterious room. They wore heavy golden armors, wielded a long double-edged sword and a large shield. The one hit by the sword essence raised its shield and successfully blocked the attack but he was pushed to the back, staggering a few steps. The other two, however, never stopped their charge, one swinging its sword at Ardor and the other waving his shield vertically, planning to bash the target''s head. Ardor took a step forward and spun, evading both the shield and the sword. His marvelous evasive movement allowed him to appear behind their back and unleash a lightning-fast thrust. This time, however, his attack was able to hit and destroy one of the automata. Even after finishing one, Ardor had time to unleash another attack, slashing his sword diagonally, another burst of milky sword essence came forth and sliced the back of the golden heavy armor but it was not enough to incapacitate the machine. The other machine, the one which was initially attacked, jumped in the air and banged its sword on its shield, sending an invisible blast wave. Like a cannonball, Ardor was sent flying away, crashing into the pipe-filled wall and then falling on the ground. The youth puked some blood but nonetheless hastily stood up, still tightly gripping his weapon, which is something he should never - under no circ.u.mstances- lose or let go of. He g.r.o.a.n.e.d in pain, having difficulty breathing and feeling that his hand and the sword it was holding became much heavier. Ardor persisted, standing straight and brandishing his sword, clashing with one of the machines. He managed to overpowered it by parrying and accurately striking a gap between its armor, momentarily immobilizing it. He kicked the ground, leaping into the air and slashing the air, shooting wide milky arcs at the defenseless machine, finishing off, at last. With only one enemy remaining, Ardor kept his distance, his back against the wall as he circulated his Nether Energy. Chapter 721 - 665: Ardor It wasn''t what one would call an en easy fight, even for a strong and young cultivator such as Ardor. Nonetheless, he was able to prevail and defeat the three opponents. However, fighting one''s demon, especially in Ardor''s case, wasn''t going to be done this fast and with just one fight. This fragmented piece of his past still haunts the youth, who, like Cristina, was quite arrogant when he entered the MoonStar Sect. Back then, Ardor had thought that apart from his master- now deceased- no one would surprise him, no matter how strong they were. So wrong he was, ignorant of the true prowess of the true experts, unable to accept that there are people who could beat his master. When he witnessed Arthur''s myriad techniques, which were just as weird as they were heaven-defying, Ardor knew that he, despite traveling to many a place - dangerous and well-hidden- was still an inexperienced youngster. There''s also Lucy MoonStar, the wife of the notorious Parasite. A woman from the White Specter Clan, and a woman equipped with absurd physical strength and an arsenal of unique skills, such as the Golden Flames, for example. Ho Qing''s ultimate goal was to become an independent and strong cultivator, able to protect himself and his friends. He wanted to explore the mysteries of the world and reach the peak of cultivation. Ardor''s goal wasn''t that different either. The youth sought after the title of ''Sword God'', which, since ancient time- precisely the Era of Beginning- only one person truly deserved such a title. It was, of course, the Nameless Knight, a terrifying existence that makes anyone shiver with fear and in awe with admiration and fascination. He''s, without a doubt, the strongest living being in the current Era Ardor deeply wished to achieve such strength; To be able to flatten mountains and split seas with a casual swing of his sword. In fact, there hasn''t been a book, story, or a fleeting rumor about The Nameless Knight that Ardor hasn''t heard or read. His current teacher, Arthur MoonStar, was also a strong sword-user, a monster. A freak of nature. He may not be as strong as the Nameless Knight but Ardor was certain that there are many things he could learn from the Parasite. When he but a toddler, his master warned him to never join any sect or clan, repeatedly telling him that the pursuit of strength requires constant fighting and non-stop traveling. Secluding yourself in a cave and cultivating can only do so much. It isn''t an efficient way and, nowadays, it''s only practiced by old decrepit, hermits, and those who are no longer interested in what''s going on outside. And so, Ardor broke the rule and joined the MoonStar sect. His demeanor, slowly but surely, was changing for the better. He got rid of his arrogance and persevered, seeing a hopeful future at the end of the road. The youth, mumbling inaudible words under his breath, lifted his head and calmly watched three more opponents appear from the rising elevator. ˇ­ Riddled with wounds, his robe tattered and shredded around the waist and knees, Ardor sat on the ground. He has been continuously for eighty minutes, defeating more than twenty-one of those machines. He didn''t overexert himself and survived till now, which, fortunately, was the end. The surroundings blurred and, in the blink of an eye, he found himself sitting on the dirt, at the finish line. The two hours were almost up but not all participants had appeared. "Hey! You good?" Bora approached Ardor and offered his hand, which the latter tightly held and stood up. "Did everyone make it?" "Rosea and Shu Ru are still not here." Replied Bora, his voice showcasing his nervousness. Ho Qing, standing a few meters away, nodded at Ardor but did not utter a word, as usual. "I''ve got good news, though. Ho Qing was the first to complete the Trial. That ought to give our team bonus points, right?" "Maybe." Responded Ardor, taking a deep breath as he raised his head, staring absent-mindedly at the cloudy grey sky. ˇ­. "Arthur, I''ve been wondering about something." Curiously said Isadore Malfront, maintaining his eyes on the screen. "Shu Ru belongs to the Mirage Era Hall. Did she quit her sect.. or was there something I''m not aware of? Quite frankly, I was surprised to see her in your team." Arthur didn''t reply immediately, he also looked at the screen. Unlike the spectators, who couldn''t see what the participants were facing, he- as the creator of the Trial- could see everything. "I don''t see anything that warrants you''re incessant wondering, your Majesty." "There''s an unwritten rule about being at two sects at once. It''s understandable if you''re in a clan and joins a sect, but it clearly isn''t the case with that girl." The parasite softly chuckled and retorted, "I sense the worry in your voice, Your Majesty. Are you angry that I stole the Goddess of Green-Leaf?" "Stole? Hah! I''m just intrigued." Isadore snuck a swift glance at the silent and cold-faced Lucy, who did not react to Arthur''s words, which- he thought- were going to make her angry. "You''re the King of Green-Leaf and the Mirage Era Hall is in the capital and is under your wing and authority. They say each sect in the city is independent but I highly doubt that. Anyway, there''s nothing worth mentioning about her transfer here. And before you ask, I had nothing to do with this. Shu Ru came here out of her own free will and I merely welcomed her." "What about you, Madam Lucy?" Isadore mustered some courage and asked Lucy, who''s someone he felt reluctant to look at, much less converse with. "Nothing in particular. The girl is hard-working and has a lot of promising potential." "Yes yes, that''s true!" The King agreed, plastering a faint smile. .. "Say, succubus, how strong is she?" Edward Ortberg pointed at Lucy with his chin and whispered with a low voice. Fariya sneered at him and, unexpectedly, answered. "Strong enough that, if you keep asking about her, she''ll kill you with just a stare." Edward shuddered and retracted his gaze from Lucy''s back, whistling and scanning the other guests. "I still don''t understand how their power is evaluated. I mean, they''re all like Gods." "It''s too complicated for your tiny mortal brain." Unfortunately, Fariya soon regretted saying those words as Edward started rambling almost immediately. "Actually, my brain is no different than yours. I think and feel like everyone here. But ever since I was introduced to this magical world and my perspective was broadened, I started feeling a bit sad and disappointed. You see, Succubus Fariya, I wasn''t what you''d call a religious person, but I did suspect the existence of such Godly beings. Mind you, I never imagined they weren''t any different than the Humans on Earth. They act-" "Enough! I don''t want to hear your pointless opinions." "They''re not pointless, you didn''t let me finish declaring my point. I''m trying to explain to you that-" "And I don''t want to hear it. Share whatever you want to say with someone else." She shifted he gaze to the mortal King of Green-Leaf and continued, "I''m sure he''d be interested. After all, you two are mortals." "Err, that''s true. Maybe laterˇ­ hopefully." He finished, cackling like a crazy person. ****** "I told you not to smoke here!" Sonia, who just left her office and about to head to her room, snapped at the man leaning against the wall and puffing smoke. It''s not the first time this happened. In fact, this was the 7th time yet the man, Edward Ortberg, didn''t want to listen. It''s always the same place and the same time, smoking and looking at the brick wall in a daze. Arthur had already told Sonia, the current Vice-master of the sect, about the mortal man and his circ.u.mstances. His past and the sins he committed, she knew everything, and that''s why she was aggressive. "Miss Sonia! Glad to see your lovely face! Heading to bed already?" With the cigarette''s b.u.t.t between the corner of his lips, he approached the fuming woman. He didn''t seem to be worried that she''ll attack him, after all, she never did it in the past, no matter how angry she had been. Indeed, Sonia, though not as strong as her peers, was still an Immortal. Nonetheless, she didn''t use her magic on Edward, fearing that she injures his fragile body and that could, possibly, anger or annoy Arthur. "Smoking is prohibited here! Especially in front of my office!" She was huffing and puffing, her little hands clenched into fists, and her eyes cold and fixated on the smirking man. "Where did you even get the cigarettes?" "That''s a good question, Miss Sonia! I''ve recently found out that people of this world are not fond of smoking, unsurprisingly. But I, being resourceful, managed to acquire a decent amount. All thanks to Arthur and the gold he gave me." "Throw that cigarette and stop blowing at my face!" "Okay okay! I''m sorry." Edward reluctantly threw the cigarette at the wall then stepped on it to extinguish the little bit of flame. Seeing this, Sonia''s mood became slightly better, though she was giving the man a piercing glare. After snorting, she walked ahead and ignored him. "Ah! Wait! Miss Sonia!" He caught up to her, putting his hand in his pockets and laughing. "It''s a wonderful night and too early to sleep. How about we chat?" "No. Stop following me or I''ll turn you into an ice statue." "You''re joking, right? You must be! Hahaha" The two disappeared into the dark hall, the woman increasing her walking pace whereas the man was glued onto her, talking non-stop. Chapter 722 - 666: Time Wraiths Thirty-two participants undertook the fourth trial, but not all of them succeeded in defeating their inner demons. By the time the pigolo Gutcha, the host of the competition, announced the end of the two hours timelimit, three participants had still not appeared at the end of the misty forest. One of the mermaids, one of the Elves, and one of the MoonStar team, were the three disqualified. The first two were brought back to their Guardian, however, the girl from Arthur and Lucy''s team was in critical condition. Known as the Goddess of Green Life, or the Fairy, Shu Ru from the Mirage Era Hall. Once Gutcha got her out of that trial stage, he immediately took her to the parasite, who was as surprised as the pigolo. Including the King of Green-leaf, all nearby guests were startled by Shu Ru, who looked on the brink of death. She didn''t sustain any physical injuries, however, her skin was paler than snow, her breath heavy and incredibly. She was suffering from seizures every couple of seconds and her Life Essence was s.u.c.k.e.d dry, leaving naught by but a sliver, which was exactly what was keeping her alive. "There''s only one thing that can do thisˇ­" Isadore frowned and was about to stand up and get a closer look but stopped as Arthur and Lucy teleported away, with Shu Ru, of course. "Jeez, she looked like a breathing corpse. Hey, what could''ve done that?"-Edward Fariya, after a momentary silence, muttered with a low voice. "Time Wraith." "Ha? What''s that?" Isadore turned his head and looked at Edward, a grave look plastered on his face. "Mysterious monsters born from Time Laws. They relentlessly chase anything or anyone that plays with time." "You mean time-travel? That exists too?" Edward was befuddled, glancing at the spot Shu Ru was at, unable to hide his curiosity. ˇ­ "What''s wrong with her?" Lucy was able to see the results provided by the Appraisal Skill, but as they were not satisfactory, she asked the frowning Arthur. "It''s a Time Wraith. I don''t know how it got here, though." He pressed his left hand on her c.h.e.s.t and poured large quantities of Life Energy. Although Life Energy did make the girl''s condition slightly better, it could not replace Life Essence. Shu Ru was still half-conscious, breathing with difficulty, suffering from seizures, and groaning painfully. "Master, Time Wraiths are coming." Warned Radolf, appearing behind Arthur, a sinister grey fog swirling around him. Midolf appeared too, cursing inwardly as he lifted his head and glared at the roof. They were inside the tower, in one of the rooms that were allocated to the MoonStar Team. The Quad-Spirit joined the two mythical beings, the three vanishing from the room and shooting toward the bright canopy. The sky cracked and two silhouettes appeared from within a wormhole, their sizes bigger than the average human, rotten grey skin. The wraiths were faceless, croaking and screeching loudly, their lower body illusory and their slimy arms abnormally thin and long. The two Time Wraiths stopped for a split second, their faceless head turning toward Midolf and Radolf, then the Quad-Spirit, which looked like a large misty black sphere. "Smite the f.u.c.kers!" Roared Midolf, waving his hand in the air, causing the peaceful weather to change dramatically. Strong and unstoppable gales manifested themselves, actually affecting the Time Wraiths and pushing them dozens of kilometers away from the city. Radolf and the spirit attacked in unison, the former transforming into his real appearance, a ferocious twin-headed bony lizard, which spat the signature black flames, covering the sky with them. The Quad-Spirit relied on Dark Magic and Flames, invoking sinister darkness which trapped the Time Wraiths in jet black cube along with the black flames. An explosion erupted inside the cube, dark red flames raged left and right, so intense that the cube was tinged with a bit of red. .. "Something must''ve happened. She didn''t fight her inner demon. She''s not in critical condition anymore butˇ­" As he removed his hand, Arthur clicked his tongue and stated with an angered voice. "You think someone had a hand in this?" "Unlikely." "You said you were acquainted with her grandfather. He might know something." Said Lucy, her eyes falling on the now-unconscious girl. "It''s been a long time since I''ve met him. I''ll ask Isadore first." The second Arthur returned, Cristina almost jumped at him, appearing worried about Shu Ru. "How is she?! Please tell me she''s okay!" It''s rare to see the cold and arrogant Cristina act as such, she was tear-eyed and speaking with an unstable tone. Arthur sighed and reassured her that Shu Ru is no danger, speaking with a loud and clarion tone so that the curious people nearby could hear too. "Boss, shall I continue?" Gutcha appeared behind Cristina, bowing respectfully then asking. "The fifth trial will be postponed till tomorrow. I need to inspect everything." "Gotcha! I''ll go announce that to everyone." The pigolo, hideously smiling, gave another bow then vanished. Seconds later, his loud voice reverberated across the plateau, calming down the cheering crowd and instructing the participants to go rest. ˇ­ "Hmpf! So his trials are not as safe as they''re claimed to be!" The Patriarch of the Dark Blaze Sect, inside a large inn room, snorted as he glared at the sky-piercing tower at the center of the city. Excluding him, there was the remaining participant of the sect''s team, as well as the grand elder. The Grand Elder was a short old man, bushy and long white beard, an oversized pointy hat like those fictional wizard wear, and a thick five-foot-long wooden staff, shabby and lacking any decoration or magical runes. "Patriarch, it would be wise not to insult the Parasite in here. Even the walls have eyes and ears." "So what? It''s not like he can attack me just because of defamation! That parasitic monster! Ha!" Unlike the angry Patriarch, the Grand Elder was calm and unperturbed. He was sitting on a short chair and drinking an iced lemonade. The youth, named Holand Dark Blaze, the very son of the Patriarch of the Dark Blaze Sect, Rasnod Ak Dark Blaze. Once Rasnod was done cursing Arthur behind his back, he turned to his son, his mood changing so suddenly. "Son, you did well in passing those trials by yourself. Your father is proud." Holand, as expected of the son of a great sect, was pampered since childhood, provided with the best techniques and elixirs. However, he wasn''t arrogant, just an indifferent person who seldom speaks. He wasn''t as talented as Cristina or Bora but, being able to survive on his own for two trials proves that he''s got some commendable skill. "That thieving wench was disqualified but the idiot remains. You need to force him out, understand?" Holand silently nodded his head and made sure his father had nothing more to say before excusing himself out of the room. Unlike his father, Holand wasn''t interested in forcing Bora and Cristina out of the competition or bringing them back to the sect. He had another reason, a personal one, which he had told no one about. Yes, he wanted to bring one of them with him but not by using force, and that''s why he was participatingˇ­ all to prove that he''s worthy. ****** "Try this!" Bora was touring the bustling city along with the rest of his team, though his attention was wholly focused on pleasing Cristina, his childhood friend, and his crush. They were touring the bustling city, visiting all kinds of shops, buying foreign yet incredibly mouth-watering food(especially sweets), and checking the displayed artifacts, which were exorbitant and unaffordable by the MoonStar Team, even Rosea and Shu Ru, who hailed from pretty wealthy backgrounds. Unfortunately for dear Bora, Cristina didn''t like him romantically. She considered him a close friend, a brother, and she would always reject his confessions, which tended to happen once a month, at least. The six of them stopped before a doughnut stall, Rosea offered to buy them one each. Even Ho Qing was enjoying himself, finishing the sweet pink doughnut in less than a minute and even going out of his way to buy five more, stuffing the box into his already full Storage Ring. "A-ah! What are you doing here?!" Bora, cheerful just a second ago, narrowed his eyes and stood in front of Cristina, shielding her from a solitary youth standing two meters away. The youth, named Hold Dark Blaze, had long black hair, an average face, but a unique demeanor, unaffected by anything, even danger itself. Holand didn''t speak back, at least for the first couple of seconds. He stepped forward, his eyes focused on Cristina and Cristina alone. No heed was paid to the scowling Bora, who seemed about to lunge at him at any given second. The competition was starting tomorrow and the majority of the participants were touring the city and enjoying all it had to offer. The city was big so there shouldn''t be coincidences like this one, where two teams would meet each other, though Holand was alone and not accompanied by his team members. The young man bypassed Bora and stretched his hand, offering an exquisite silver box to the confused Cristina. "A gift." He said, seemingly not noticing the surprised looks of Ardor, Bora, and the rest. After doing what he wanted to do, he backed away and spoke again. "Good luck." Soon after, he vanished into the large crowdˇ­. Chapter 723 - 667: The Head of Military Intelligence Four individuals seat in a large circular room, three seated and the last was standing near the one and only door leading inside. King Isadore Malfront pushed back his long golden hair, slumped on the chair, and let out a long sigh. He had large black bags under his eyes, his complexion looking worse than ever before. "It''s a disaster!" He said, helplessness and puzzlement lingering in his half-opened eyes. The competition has been postponed longer than expected. It has been two days since the twenty-eight participants passed the fourth trial. Before continuing, Arthur did a thorough inspection of the remaining trials and dispatched the two Mythical Beings and Gutcha around the city. They were to ascertain that no Time Wraiths were lurking nearby, and so far, fortunately, there have been no sightings or attacks. "The Mirage Era Hall is as empty and soulless as a graveyard. No signs of intruders, no signs of fighting. It''s definitely the Time Wraiths'' doing." Said the King as he grit his teeth, clearly infuriated but too physically tired to display his anger. Dan, the Overgod and Isadore''s personal guard, was fixing his oversized straw hat and chewing sum gun without a care in the world. Lucy and Arthur, on the other hand, wore serious faces and deep frowns. Shu Ru managed to survive but she''s still unconscious and expected to remain as such for a while. The abrupt and unanticipated appearance of the Time Wraiths was a shock to everyone, including the MoonStar couple. However, what was more surprising is the fall of the Mirage Era Hall Sect. Not a soul was left in the sect, everyone seemed to have disappeared into thin air. The treasury was untouched and, in fact, no one from the other sects in the capital noticed the peculiar occurrence. Only when Dan went and checked the sect did this shocking news break out. "Was it only the Mirage Era Hall?" Asked Arthur even though he already knew the answer. "Yes. If it was an enemyˇ­ an organization, even, then we could''ve retaliated. But Time Wraiths? Ah damn!" Isadore kept silent for a brief period then he jerked his head forward and, slightly excited, asked, "Aren''t you two part of Black Rose? Maybe you could find some-" Before he could finish, sadly, he was interrupted by a stern Arthur. "No. There were complications between us and them. It''s best we don''t cross paths with any of the big heads there." "Then what do you want me to do about this?" Retorted back the King. "I don''t know. We''re not the rulers, you are." "Yeah, but at least help me out! All eyes are looking at Green-leaf. With the competition and you two staying here." "They can only look. None will dare to actˇ­ not even the Holy Dominion." Coldly said Lucy, snorting and standing up. She didn''t even look at Isadore, her body soon vanishing. "Will you be continuing the competition?" Gingerly asked the young blonde king. "Of course. I have nothing else to do." "What about Astria?" "What about it?" Spat back Arthur, narrowing his eyes. "Err- didn''t you want to go there? You said your clone is there, right? I thought you''re in a hurry." "Indeed I am." Arthur spread his hands and took out a strange object which Isadore recognized as the Magical Warping Device. It is what, back then, Gutcha used to go from The Green-Leaf middle Realm to Astria. "Its coordinates changedˇ­ meaning that it''s no longer there. I need to locate it first." "And how are you going to do that? Ah- never mind, I forgot that you''re good at Spatial Magic too." "Well, technically, I''m not the one searching for it." ˇ­ "Hello." Lucy didn''t apparate inside the dusty and small room, which was filled with countless books, so much that it was hard to move around. She knocked thrice then opened the door, softly greeting the bespectacled woman sitting behind a desk, wholly engrossed in reading a thick book. "Greetings, Madam Lucy." Rey, the boy who, in the past, worked along with the Black Magicians, politely and respectfully greeted Lucy, bowing his head and stepping back. He was no longer a boy, his raven-black hair grew much longer and, thanks to the seed of Dark Magic Arthur had granted him, he became much stronger. He still stuck next to Robin, never leaving her side and dutifully doing his job as a guard. "Yy-yes, Hello Madam." Robin was fl.u.s.tered, trying to stand up and bow but was stopped by a gesture from the silver-haired White Specter. "Everything''s alright?" Lucy went and sat opposite the black-haired woman, who looked even more tired than poor Isadore. "Still nothing, madam Lucy. Even with the device Arthur had given me, I couldn''t find anything remotely useful. What I can tell, however, is that Astria is no longer in the System''s universe." Robin emptied the last bit of Tea Rey had prepared for her, closed the thick book, and leaned against the chair. "You look tired. Do rest from time to time, please." Lucy faintly smiled and looked around, seeing nothing but books stacked on each other. The room was small but Robin refused to change it, saying that she liked cramped places and already got used to her office. Unlike Sonia or anyone who is considered as part of Arthur and Lucy''s entourage, Robin was still a mortal. Her level was increased using Elixirs and other Alchemy concoction, however, she wasn''t interested in power. She was a merchant and, without a doubt, her assistance was one of the factors that allowed the MoonStar to rise to its current prominence. Her status, albeit being a mortal, was second only to Sonia, the Vice-master of the sect. Basically, Robin was the head of the military Intelligence and the Head of the Finance Department of the sect. The former hasn''t developed yet as there is a lack of trustworthy individuals, but that doesn''t mean it''s completely useless. The latter, however, is blooming with every passing day, but it''s not like the sect is in dire need of money, either gold or spirit stones, after all, Arthur inherited all of Zodiak''s wealth and treasures, which could bring the strongest of sects to shame. *** "Now that I got a closer look, she''s really pretty!" Commented Edward as he leaned his head closer to the unconscious Shu Ru. He grinned and glanced at the Succubus, adding, "She''s prettier than you. But she''s a bit flat for my test, you know?" "Shut up and back away." Rebuked Fariya, hissing at the man. In addition to the of them, Gutcha was also present. His large fingers were pressing several spots of Shu Ru''s body, trying to reinforce her vitals. A few hours ago, after the competition was postponed, she unwillingly introduced to the pigolo, who''s a trusted confidant of Arthur. Moreover, she was ordered to obey his every command. Not only was Gutcha unbelievably hideous, but he was also weaker than her! He was only a God-Monarch and although he could use Dark Magic, he''s certainly incapable of defeating her. It was demeaning for a strong Demon such as herself to be slaved around by a random pigolo. Edward, however, didn''t seem to mind anything. He was curious about everything, rambling unceasingly and commenting about anything he laid his eyes on. "You''ll stay here and guard her. Except for the Boss and his wife, no one is to enter this place." Fariya shrugged her shoulders and walked away, sitting on a soft pouf and begrudgingly folded her arms. "Suck to be you!" "You. Follow me." Without waiting for a response, Gutcha left the room, leaving a trail of black fog behind him. Edward made sure not to get close to the fog, comically hopping around while throwing mocking grimaces in the succubus'' direction. "So, what do you have in store for me?" Edward Ortberg seemed eager, cackling and jumping from the right side of the corridor to the left, still trying to get away from the ominous black fog. **** "What are you hiding?" Robin fixed her glasses and scrutinized the fidgeting teenager. "N-nothing!" Rey stepped back but he had no way to run as his back hit the wall. He kept both hands behind his back, clearly hiding something. "You better show me. Don''t make me get up." She warned him with a cold look, however, Rey was adamant, furiously shaking his hand and keeping his lips tightly shut. In the end, Robin stood up and walked toward him, she stretched her hand toward his head and pulled his ear, causing him to groan painfully. "You better not be up to mischief again!" Rey had an unusual habit and that is to prank people, especially his guardian, Robin. She grew tired of his tricks and would punish him every time something odd or bad happens, even if it wasn''t his doing. As he learned the hard way, Rey became a bit obedient but his pranks didn''t entirely stop. Robin had misunderstood his current suspicious behavior, which led to thisˇ­ "What''s this?" She snatched a letter from his hand, a folded letter that had a unique fragrance. It smelled of Cupid Lilac. "Hm?" The bespectacled woman swiftly read the letter then looked at the youngster, whose face was dyed crimson-red. Too embarrassed to say anything, he stormed out of the room but didn''t manage to run far as Robin, panting, caught up with him. "You''ve got a girlfriend?" She inquired, a rare smile on her tired face. Though still embarrassed, Rey meekly nodded his head but didn''t deign to provide an explanation. "Who is it? Is she part of the sect?" Yet again, he nodded his head but maintained silence. "..." Robin meaningfully looked at him before handing the letter back. She gave him a hug and left rightly after, much to his confusion. He thought she''ll berate him or try to ask more questions but she did not, surprisingly... Chapter 724 - 668: Trippy Pumpkins "Ladies and gentleman!" Gutcha, wearing the shabby host outfit, bowed toward the cheering crowd as he displayed his uniquely hideous smile. "Excuse us for the untimely delay. The competition will finally resume and the Fifth Trial will begin shortly! Participants! On the stage, please!" Gutcha gestured for the young participants to appear, and appear they did, all twenty-eight of them. They were given more than enough time to prepare themselves, mentally and physically. They recovered their exhausted Nether Energy, healed from whatever injuries they sustained when they had battled their demons, and were now back to their perfect and healthy state. Except Arthur, the one who created the trials, Lucy and Gutcha, no one really knew how many Trials there were exactly, though it wasn''t hard to tell that they were nearing the end. After all, the number of participants had decreased by a substantial amount and ere long, there will only be a few remaining. "The ranking of the teams sorted by points!" Loudly declared Gutcha, pointing at the humongous screen hanging in the sky. 1 The Imoogi Clan: 280 points (5) 2 The Ancient Federation : 265 Points (1) 3 The PoMo Forest Team: 255 Points (6) 4 The Demon Team : 240 Points (2) 5 The MoonStar team : 225 Points (4) 6 The Mermaid Team : 210 Points (8) 7 The Holy Church Team : 200 Points (2) 8 The Dark Blaze Team : 154 Points (1) The Imoogi Clan Team was in the lead, but John, the only member of the Ancient Federation Team was able to steal the second place by performing flawlessly in the Fourth Trial. Unfortunately, Arthur''s team was pushed back to 5th place after losing yet another member. Nonetheless, the points are not the only deciding factor as they can be used to gain advantages in certain Trials, or exchanged for a bunch of strong artifacts he looted from people he killed in the past. Before long, the ugly host teleported the participants to the next stage; a fairly large room, dimly lit and filled with thick black boxes randomly scattered all around. Gutcha clapped his hands to get their attention then proceeded to explain, as usual. "The Fifth Trial is as simple as it can get." He raised his hand and pointed to a large pumpkin, which was half the size of a normal human. It had a distinctly creepy face and a wide grin as it soundlessly laid either on the black boxes or the ground. "Those are Trippy Pumpkins and the goal is to catch them. As I said, simple and to the point. There are no traps or tricks, be assured and trust me." The Pigolo paused, grinning at the confused and frowning participants. Even the breath-taking mermaids and beautiful elves, all of whom are females, looked uncomfortable, clearly disliking the feel of this strange room. "There are a total of six Trippy Pumpkins. When all of them are caught, the Trial will end and the two empty-handed teams will be disqualified. That''s about it." Gutcha excitedly clapped his hands again and vanished into thin air. With his departure, however, the dimly lit room was illuminated by flying torches, which were actually miniature flaming Trippy Pumpkins, cackling unpleasantly. The first to make a move were the Mermaids and the Imoogi, each of them shooting toward a Trippy Pumpkin. The fastest of the Imoogis, a youngster with raven-black named Eirz, reached the target in just three seconds, however, just as he was about touch it, the Trippy Pumpkin''s empty eyes glowed with a blinding orange light then it shot at Eirz, hitting his chin and blowing him to the back. His teammates, startled, retreated from the pumpkin''s way and closely followed it. The Mermaid had it worse as the Trippy Pumpkin they were after managed to hit two mermaids, both in the head, unfortunately. They were immediately knocked unconscious and before they even fell to the ground, Gutcha appeared and took them out of the stage. One more team was just as unfortunate as the Imoogi and the Mermaids. The girl and boy from the Holy Church Team targeted a Trippy Pumpkin sitting on one of the large black boxes but were hit with an equally strong hit as the previous ones. The boy, who had long golden hair, was hit in the shoulder and flew to the side like a cannonball, his body crashing into the stone wall. On the other hand, the girl barely managed to avoid the madly flying pumpkin, she twisted her body mid-air and unleashed a burst of blinding white light. The Holy Magic was able to accurately hit the Trippy Pumpkin but it wasn''t enough to slow it down, much less stop it. In fact, it only made it faster and more furious as it circled around and shot at the girl, who shrieked and urgently backed away. The remaining five teams stood in place, witnessing this unexpected spectacle. Seeing the Trippy Pumpkins act like that, they thought twice and thrice before making a move. Plus, Gutcha never said anything about attacking each other or stealing the pumpkins from other teams, which can only mean that a fierce battle will inevitably happen inside this small room. "Do we wait or?" Bora looked at his teammates, grabbed an arrow and prepared himself in case there was an attack from both sides. The other teams were just as nervous as the MoonStar team, with the exception of one person. John wasn''t looking at the pumpkin but at Ho Qing, his eyes fixedly staring at the red-haired competitor. He still has not given up on recruiting Ho Qing but didn''t try to do it openly after getting rebuked by Gutcha. He talked to his guardian about this and the two shared the same opinion. Unfortunately, they can''t take him by force, especially since none other than Arthur was his master. John''s guardian was a strong cultivator, someone at the middle-stages of the Exalted God Realm, but even he was fearful of the parasite and his wife. He repeatedly warned John not to act rashly or provoke anyone, just stick to his role as a participant and try to win. **** The temperature inside the room was warm, there were candles illuminating the medium-sized room, making it feel cozier. A n.a.k.e.d Lucy was laying on Arthur''s c.h.e.s.t, both of them sweating a bit, most definitely due to the s.e.x.u.a.l activities- which will be omitted- they were performing for a decent amount of time. There was a bedspread covering half of their bodies as they snuggled close to each other and talked. She laid her head on his c.h.e.s.t while he c.a.r.e.s.sed her long silver hair. Recently, the two were busy with the competition and training Shu Ru and the rest so there haven''t been many chances to spend time with each other. It wasn''t just about m.a.k.i.n.g. .l.o.v.e, there are many things they do together. Sometimes they can talk all day without getting bored. Fortunately, today, they were able to be together. Excluding the time they spend m.a.k.i.n.g. .l.o.v.e, all the rest was dedicated to talking to each other, without moving. Lucy enjoyed this position, hugging her arms around his c.h.e.s.t and listening to him talk about Shen Shen and Saly, who are a bit similar. "She''s as stubborn as you, you know." He said, chuckling as he remembered the small blue-haired girl, who would act all haughty and proud, curious about every little thing she set her bright eyes upon. "I can''t wait to meet her." Lucy smiled and raised her body, leaning her face closer to his. "You never told me how many children you want." "Errˇ­ I don''t know. As many as we could have?" "Oh?" She pursued her lips and touched his cheek. "You should go easy on your wife." Arthur gave a wry smile, jerking his head upwards. "I should be the one saying that." "Are you accusing me of being nymphomaniac? Hmpf!" Chapter 725 - 669: Head of Combat Division The gloomy room was small and cramped with unorderly-placed black boxes. The illumination was no longer a problem as the participants were using their techniques, showering the air and ground with colorful lights. In the first minute, two Mermaids were knocked down and disqualified. The Trippy Pumpkin was rapidly rolling on the ground or circling in the air, their speed was too fast to follow. They let out unpleasant cackling, their eyes-sockets releasing a sinister glow. The MoonStar team targeted a motionless pumpkin at the far back of the room, sitting on a medium-sized black box. Bora shot an arrow at it but before it was able to hit, the Trippy Pumpkin sprung into motion, flying straight at him. Pink ice surged from the ground, trying to freeze the flying pumpkin but it slowed down before shattering into pieces. Ho Qing was about to use his Phoenix Fire but was suddenly attacked from the side. John, from the Ancient Federation, appeared next to Ho Qing and punched. Before his fist could land, however, Ardor appeared, thrusting his sword at the black-haired youth. The sword released a milky-white twirling Sword Essence as it clashed with John''s fist. The two participants were pushed to the back. "What are you doing?" Solemnly said Ardor, his eyes fixated on John. "I want to fight Ho Qing. Do not b.u.t.t in." Calmly and truthfully answered John, displaying a friendly smile. "We''re in the midst of a trial! Back off!" Bora too, wasn''t pleased with John''s ambush. The tanned Bora was jumping from one spot to the other, trying to avoid the crazily flying Trippy Pumpkin, which was relentlessly pursuing him. ˇ­ "That motherf.u.c.k-" "Language, Cristina." Interrupted Lucy, giving the infuriated girl a chilling glare. Though still furious, the girl snorted and swallowed back the curse words she was about to say. She was cheering for her friends, of course, and certainly didn''t like how John attacked out of the blue. Arthur shifted his gaze to a tall and slim man wearing a jet black robe. He was standing alone, his hands behind his back and seemingly enjoying the show. This man was John''s guardian, Paul of Irfondor, the Head of Combat division in the Ancient Federation. Paul had long greasy brown hair and, at first glance, didn''t look like a kind person. When he was looked at by the Parasite, he turned his head and gave a friendly wave without forgetting to display a soft smile that didn''t suit him at all. ''It seems that hoping to cooperate with the federation is no longer feasible.'' Lucy spoke to Arthur using the Telepathy skill. She glanced at Paul for a split second before directing her attention back to the large screen. ''We''ll see about that. They''re interested in Ho Qing.'' ''We''re giving them no one.''-Lucy She angrily snorted, making Isadore twitch and look at her with confusion. He thought he unconsciously said something inappropriate thus annoying Arthur''s wife. For the next ten minutes, he kept throwing cursory looks at her but, fortunately, she didn''t say anything. Back in the Fifth Trial stage, things became more heated. All the teams started acting and fights broke out. You couldn''t even see who''s attacking who, or what''s really happening. The place was blinded by bright spells and techniques, whether it''s Ho Qing''s scorching flames, the Elves'' Nature Magic which filled the place with thick roots and large leaves, or the Golden-white Light unleashed by the duo from the Holy Church Team. John seemed to have forgotten about the trial, he was in full pursuit of Ho Qing, repeatedly shouting at him, demanding they fight. Unfortunately, the place and time he had chosen were- quite literally- the worst. The room was too small and the explosions continuously happening did not break the walls, nor the roof and the ground. The black boxes were unbreakable and the Trippy Pumpkins were ferociously attacking everyone. In just ten minutes, three more Participants were disqualified. When Gutcha appeared, one of the flying Pumpkin shot at him but was easily stopped his b.a.r.e hands, which was enveloped by sinister darkness. The Pigolo tutted and nonchalantly threw it against to the side, causing it to release a deafening shriek. Rosea somersaulted, leaving a trail of rising pink ice behind her, which was able to block dozens of thick vines coming at her. Just as she landed on the ground, one of the Imoogi youngsters appeared behind her and spun around, kicking her in the side of the abdomen. Rosea let out a groan as she smashed in the wall, her robe becoming colored with blood-red. The attacking Imoogi wasn''t that better either as he was struck by an arrow in the c.h.e.s.t then engulfed in phoenix flames. He howled loudly and before he could be injured any further, Gutcha appeared again and brought him outside. The Imoogis weren''t happy with this but they didn''t continue attacking the MoonStar team. Eirz, the Imoogi youngster- miraculously- was able to catch a Trippy Pumpkin that passed right before him. He hugged, thus getting dragged around along with it, his body crashing into the ground. After a few seconds, the pumpkin calmed down and laid still in his arms. The host resurfaced again, snapping his fingers, which made what remained of the Imoogi Team to vanish. Seven Teams remained, but only five Trippy Pumpkins were still flying and rolling around. Rosea and Bora were injured, though they weren''t the only ones. Twenty minutes in, John grew tired of pointlessly chasing after Ho Qing. He shot at one of the Pumpkins, taking out a glistening silver chain from his Storage Ring. The boy made it looks effortless as he swung the chains, easily wrapping them around the Pumpkin. He tugged the chain and pulled, quickly grasping the rocketing Pumpkin in his hand. Soon enough, he too, was teleported outside of the room, officially becoming the second "winner" of the Fifth Trial. "That one is ours!" Yelled Cosima, one of the two girls of the Demon Team. She was madly chasing after a Trippy Pumpkin, a dark purple aura was swirling around her body, dramatically boosting her speed. She was forced to stop as a rain of arrows descended upon her. Cosima retreated to the back and glowered at Bora, who was panting heavily. After he made sure the demon girl was out of the way, he took out a golden net from his ring and, with some effort, threw it in the air. He managed to predict where the Trippy Pumpkin will fly off to and successfully entrap it. Even while it was trapped by the golden net, the pumpkin thrashed around. Were it not for Rosea and Ardor, who assisted Bora, it would have escaped. The pumpkin was first frozen in a large pink cube of ice then it was enveloped by Ardor''s milky-white sword essence. Ho Qing, however, was a distance away, busy dealing with the other Demon girl. She was Cosima''s senior and considerably stronger than her, nonetheless, she was incapable of defeating the stoic red-haired youth. His Phoenix Flames were endless, covering a third of the room and pushing her farther and farther from her target. Eventually, Bora and Rosea were able to catch the Pumpkin. Bora was ecstatic whereas Rosea was too tired to celebrate. She was impatiently waiting for Gutcha to appear and take them away, which he certainly did, a few seconds later. "Congratulations, Arthur!" Isadore happily clapped his hand and laughed. Even though they were lacking two members, the MoonStar team was able to complete the trial, becoming the third team to catch the Trippy Pumpkin. However, their departure made the other teams more restless and aggressive. They no longer hold themselves back, they started using their trump cards and going all-out, hoping to catch that damned creepy-looking pumpkin. "Excuse me for a moment, your Majesty." Arthur stood up and left, first teleporting to where his team was to praise then appearing close to Paul of Irfondor. The Head of the Combat Division, Paul, wasn''t surprised to see the parasite. He was busy talking to John, patting his shoulder and congratulating him. "Mister Arthur MoonStar, it''s a p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to formally make your acquaintance. I am Paul of Irfondor, Head of the Combat Division of the Ancient Federation." "Arthur MoonStar." Bluntly said Arthur, neither offering his hand nor using polite speech. "About what happened with John. On his behalf, I apologize. He''s still too youngˇ­ you see." "Sir, I apologize." Both Paul and John apologetically bowed, though the latter didn''t look the least bit sorry. He still had the same expression, seemingly not afraid of anyone or bothered by his provocative actions, both after the Fourth Trial or in the Fifth Trial. Chapter 726 - 670: Cheating "Mr Arthur, what seems to be the problem?" Paul, still eerily smiling, nicely asked as he feigned confusion. John, on the other hand, was frowning as his black pupils were so intensely focused on the parasite. "I would like to John for a second. I don''t suppose you mind, yes?" "Of course not, Mr Arthur." As he said that, he turned to John and sternly warned him "Be respectful and don''t cause any trouble." When he finished, he softly pushed the youth toward Arthur, who did a simple gesture, causing both he and John to vanish. When they were gone, Paul remained standing there, seemingly dazed. His eyes jumped to where Arthur was, wondering what''s going to happen. When he finally snapped out of it, he looked at the VIP box only, his gaze falling on the silver-haired woman. His body instinctively trembled, feeling a wave of chilling frost momentarily cover him. Lucy was glaring at him, not even trying to mask her hostility. ''Maybe this was a bad idea, after all.'' Thought Paul, politely lowering his head to Lucy and smiling. When he felt his bow lasted long enough, he turned around and left. .. "Mr Arthur, I apologize again for my rash actions. I didn''t mean to ambush your team, I just wanted to spar with Ho Qing." Now that he was alone with Arthur and no one, including Paul, could hear them, John became excited rather than nervous. He was face to face with the notorious parasite, someone who shocked the whole world on more than one occasion. Whether it''s his attack on the White Specter Clan or his demonstration of power in the Red Tower. Arthur was slowly pacing around, his eyes resting on the black-haired youth. There was a mysterious smile on his face as he continuously nodded his head, seemingly understanding something. "Don''t worry about that. I didn''t bring you here to talk about that." "Emmˇ­ then what?" John couldn''t help but smile, his hands tingling and his heart beating fast. He wasn''t powerful enough to fight the parasite but he an unstoppable urge to try and attack. There were no ulterior motives, just a pure d.e.s.i.r.e to battle the strongest. "You know, John, I really don''t understand people like you and them. Do they think I have no eyes or what? I mean, I''m a parasite and my eyes, you seeˇ­ are very special." The more he listened to Arthur, the more confused John became. The tingling he was experiencing seemed to have completely disappeared, replaced by an unimaginable dread. Before he could utter a sound, his surroundings changed. He heard unceasing and loud hissing from all around, the sky was crimson-red and his body was shaking. He jumped into the air and, without any hesitation, swung his chains at dozens of snakes that jumped at him. He was able to pulverize them but couldn''t defend his back, which was bitten by a snake twice his size. The snake, green in color and very slimy, dug its fangs deep into his back and flung him in the air. The youth let out a painful groan, bore through the pain, and summoned his Godspiritˇ­ ˇ­ "Ah!" When he came back, John was injured and bleeding profusely. He felt a hand tightly hold his shoulder then, miraculously, his body was restored to normal. The blood, injuries, and ripped clothes were unscathed again. "Are you satisfied now?" This time, John didn''t dare look into the parasite''s eyes. His head was lowered and he was still shaking. He could''ve sworn he had died in that strange world, yet here he was, healthier than ever. "Mr Arthurˇ­ I didn''t" "Didn''t mean what?" Coldly retorted Arthur. He retracted his hand and continued pacing around. "I knew from the beginning that you were breaking the rules but I still turned a blind eye, do you know why? It''s because you weren''t that much stronger than the other Participants. I wanted to see how they will fare. Now, if you''ll excuse me, I lied earlier. Part of why you''re here is because you attacked my team. A 6-star God Monarch who faked his age and repressed his cultivation. Isn''t it humiliating? Tricking the host and even cheating?" Only when he heard the last words did John instinctively raise his head, his mouth half-open. "What? think I won''t find out? Lucy and I saw everything. And I don''t doubt a few others saw you too." "Mr Arthur, please forgive me!" John attempted to kneel but couldn''t. An invisible force kept him standing against his will, wrapping around his whole body and rendering him unable to do naught but move his eyes. "Funnily enough, John, I''ve dealt with a puppeteer not long ago. Though even if I had not, the situation would''ve been exactly the same, I reckon." Now, only Arthur was talking, his smile getting wider as he paced around. "The Ancient Federation, a strong and hidden power situated at the end of the world. I was a bit surprised to see them send a young participant. I had high expectationsˇ­ alas, they turned out to be not that different from the Sects and Clan in the Divine Planet-" The parasite stopped and faced the frightened youth. "Actually, here''s what I don''t understand. Why cheat? It''s not like you don''t have capable and talented youngsters? Were the competition awards that lucrative? Probably not. Then why?" "..." "I asked you a question, John. Don''t think of leaving this place alive if you don''t talk." After what seemed to be an eternity, John mustered some courage and responded. "M..m-my teacher''s idea. He told me it..it-it''ll help me to join the competition." "Did he tell you to cheat too? And hide your real age?" "N-no. He didn''t know about the rules. I was excited too but the participants were too weak so I wanted to...." "What did you want?" "I wanted to fight you, Mr Arthur." Hearing this, Arthur burst out in laughter. He laughed for a long time as if he heard the funniest joke. "Did you even do research before having that thought? You can''t even beat Gutcha." As much as he wanted to object to that statement, John just bit his lips and maintained silence. "You may be slightly older than the rest of the participants but you''re not wiser, unfortunately." He approached John and stopped right in front of him, gazed down at his pale face. Arthur was at least a head taller and, especially right now, he looked absolutely dreadful to the previously excited John. "You''ll continue the competition, but if I see you cheating again then I assure you that you''ll meet a fate worse than death. If you know even a little bit of me then you must know that I always keep my words, right?" Fearing that Arthur might change his mind, John frantically nodded his head. He felt his body ease done, no longer bound by the parasite''s Telekinesis. "Sorry, Mr Arthur." "Whatever." The talk between the two didn''t last long, only fifteen minutes. Arthur teleported back to the VIP box whereas John returned to the plateau, where the rest of the winning teams were currently at. "How did it go?" Lucy looked at Arthur and calmly asked, to which he winked at her and whispered. "How did you think it went?" She turned his gaze to John, who stood amongst the participants, his fists balled and his face as pale as earlier. "You scared the boy shitless." "He had it coming." He replied, chuckling to himself while remembering John''s fear-filled eyes. "Ladies and Gentleman! The six Trippy Pumpkins have finally been captured. The Sixth Trial will begin an hour!" Surprisingly, both the Elves and Mermaids were out of the competition. They were the teams that had the highest numbers of participants yet they came out empty-handed, quite literally. 1 The Imoogi Clan: 330 points (3) 2 The Ancient Federation : 320 Points (1) 3 The Demon Team : 300 Points (2) 4 The MoonStar team : 275 Points (4) 5 The Holy Church Team : 260 Points (2) 6 The Dark Blaze Team : 199 Points (1) Thirteen participants remain, though the ranking didn''t change by a lot. The Dark Blaze Team, or rather, Holand, pulled it off yet again, shocking everyone. His perseverance and resilience were commendable, he managed to best both the Mermaids and Elves and caught the Trippy Pumpkin all by himself. Consequently, however, he was gruesomely injured by one of the Demon Girls, his whole left arm shredded and his shoulder bleeding profusely. "I never imagined he''ll make it to the Sixth Trial!" Even Isadore was shocked, tapping his seat with his index as he eyed the young man. "What do you think, Arthur? Could he be cheating?" "No. It''s sheer will." "Will? It''s not like it could help you catch a Pumpkin or fight a monster." "It could do many wondrous things, Your Majesty." As Arthur said that, he glanced at the quiet Cristina. The girl was sitting next to Lucy and looking at her celebrating friends. She was sad that she couldn''t join them but nonetheless felt happy that they are winning. Chapter 727 - 671: The Dark Maze (1) "Do you want to continue?" Arthur asked the beaming Bora, whose condition was by far the worst of the bunch. He consumed the pills he was given and getting treated by Life Energy, he was still mentally exhausted, even after the passing of an hour. Still, the tanned youth was acting all energetic and his excitement from passing the Fifth Trial had not gone down yet. "Yes, teacher!" He gave an enthusiastic response and looked at the remaining members of the team; Rosea, Ho Qing, and Ardor. They had come a long way and their bond deepened considerably over the course of the five trials. It''s too late to give up or blame himself over the complications that they had gone through, all he could do right now is persevere and hope they make it. "Good." Arthur patted his shoulders and after giving a couple of words of encouragement, he returned to the VIP BOX. The Sixth Trial was nigh and all the participants returned to the square-shaped platform at the center of the plateau, all of them looking much better and ready to continue. "Ladies and gentlemen! I hope you''re enjoying this glorious competition and are ready for the upcoming Trial, which I don''t doubt will impress you and entertain you as much as its predecessors." The Pigolo host bowed toward the loudly cheering crowd then took out Arthur''s device, soon teleporting the thirteen participants to the next stage, which was also a separate and small world created by the parasite. "S-sirˇ­ I really don''t think it''s a good idea." A beautiful female elder belonging to the Dark Blaze Sect stepped closer to the Patriarch, Rasnod, and, while stuttering, muttered her honest thoughts. They''ve been in the city for a while now and the hopes of causing any kind of disturbance were unlikely. The Black Dragon Formation looming over their heads was more than enough to obliterate them into nothingness if it''s activated, and it as hell would if Rasnod tries something. Even while thinking optimistically, they really had no chance of getting out of here alive were they to launch a pre-emptive attack, it would lead to nothing but death. The woman, Jenny Dark Blaze, Holand''s aunt, and Rasnod''s little sister, was skeptical and nervous. Her older brother, the Patriarch of the team, was getting more and more restless and it won''t be surprising to see him flare up and start his suicidal and rash plan. Even she, his sister, didn''t know why he''s so obsessed with Cristina and Bora, hellbent on capturing them both and bringing them back to the sect. Sure, they broke the rules and deserted, taking with them high-graded Artefacts, nonetheless, it''s not worth the trouble of getting them back, especially if it means making an enemy out of the MoonStar Sect and Isadore Malfront, both of which have numerous experts, including Overgods, under them. "Stop nagging! I haven''t done a thing!" Rasnod was red-faced and breathing loudly, he hissed at Jenny and shoved her hand away. When she tried to convince him again, the Grand Elder sighed and pulled her back, silently shaking his head. This old man, who was always dressed strangely and was more than eccentric, was a powerful cultivator and has been the Grand Elder of the sect for three generations. He''s over ten thousand years in age and is currently stuck at the middle stages of the Exalted God Realm. He''s undoubtedly powerful but he''s also wise, wise enough to know that there will be nothing good coming out of the foolish plan concocted by Rasnod. However, much to Jenny''s surprise and confusion, the Grand Elder, Edward Jonathan Dark Blaze, tagged along and never objected to anything the Patriarch said. ˇ­ "Elder, lookˇ­ it''s her." The woman accompanying Cardinal Patrick shifted her gaze to the third VIP box, her eyes resting on a golden-haired woman. The Cardinal, a balding but muscular old man wearing a white robe with three red lines on it, slightly tilted his head and stared at Delia. Not only did she betray the Holy Dominion but she also convinced her sister to come with her, which enraged many of the Priests and the devout believers. While Delia may not have been an important member, her sister played a big role and her absence is unmistakeably noticed. "Leave them alone." He solemnly said, soon returning his gaze to the large screen. The Holy Church Team, though not ranking in the first place, was still faring well. They were affected by the absurd quantity of Dark Magic looming in the environment, thus consequently weakened. Nevertheless, they performed admirably and none of them was disqualified, fortunately. Furthermore, neither Arthur nor Lucy were showing any hostility toward the Dominion''s envoy, which is also a good thing, considering the two parties'' bloody past. "Elder, about the Kang Clan." The woman hesitated for a couple of breaths as she snuck glances at the parasite. "Elder Nord seemed to have departed. Maybe we can use this to ou-" "Stop talking, Melissa." "But-" "Don''t think! Just watch." He gave her a chilling glare, causing her to tightly close her lips and lower her head. "We are here to watch. Anything that happens has nothing to do with us. Don''t forget that our mission is to ensure the safety of Leo and Veia." "Yes, Elder." *** "Come on! I don''t want to go back there! Ughh!" Edward Ortberg, like a child, was throwing a tantrum. He kept stomping his foot on the boat''s deck and pacing around, restless and annoyed. "Shut your gob! We should be the one complaining!" Midolf was as frustrated as the serial killer. He spat on the ground and piercingly gazed at Edward. "Don''t be like that! We used to be cellmates! You''ll protect me, right? Right?" Midolf snorted but did not reply, his twin, however, nodded at the mortal and reassured him. "Master tasked us to take you there and try to uncover the truth. It''ll take us a while to arrive so better save your energy and rest." "But I hate that desert! Last time I was there, I was almost killed by those giant hands!" Edward turned to look behind him, his grumbling instantly replaced by a wide smile. "Miss! I couldn''t believe my eyes when I saw that you''re also tagging along!" Sonia appearing from inside, wearing a long azure robe. She was stone-faced, calmly cleaning her glasses and looking at the ever-changing plains. They took Arthur''s fastest Spirit Boat and were heading back to the Ramel Kingdom. Sonia, surprisingly, volunteered to go, saying that she''s not that busy and since Arthur and Lucy were there, she can be at east. The mission wasn''t that hard, they were to go to the desert and inspect that ungodly pit in which Shen Shen and Zaarae jumped into. It was highly unlikely that the little girl would come back, however, the Parasite Empress is another thing. Arthur could use Zaarae''s help in the fight against the angels. **** "Focusˇ­ focus on me!" Gutcha yelled with a hoarse and deafening voice, making all the participants turn their attention to him. "As you can see, this is a very simple maze. The goal is simple, find this." "This is considered a point. There are twelve of them." "That''s it?" Cosima frowned and suspiciously looked at the grinning host. "More or less. The Sixth Trial is a bonus one, meant to further decrease the number of participants. Good luck!" He cheerfully waved his hand and vanished right after, leaving the confused youngsters standing there. The maze was made of thick twisting black vines, forming walls that were no less than thirty feet high. Even without being told, all of them knew that flying is not possible. Still, one of the Imoogi attempted to fly or at least jump above the wall of vines only to immediately plummet from above and viciously crash onto the ground. There was an eerie silence for a whole minute, in which they warily looked at each other, waiting for someone to take the first step and enter the maze. There were more than ten entrances, but it was hard to see where they led as darkness covered the air and the corners. A burst of blinding white light rose above the duo from the Holy Church Team. The boy and girl didn''t waste any time, dashing inside the maze and disappearing into the looming blackness. Not even a few seconds later, the sound of fighting could be heard from inside of the maze, further alerting those who stood still. Chapter 728 - 671: The Dark Maze (2) "They''re behind." Said Rosea, turning her head to the rear and shooting five icicles. They had two pursuersˇ­ the two Demon girls, Cosima and Marjory. Apparently, they were still angry over what happened in the Fifth Trial and wanted to exact revenge. Cosima was agile and flexible, jumping in the air and easily dodging the pink-colored icy projectiles. As she soundlessly landed on the ground, she swiftly threw two daggers at the closest MoonStar member, which was Ardor. The sword-wielding youth abruptly stopped running, rapidly rotated his body and thrust his sword upwards. A stream of milky-white sword essence shot in the air then, like a tsunami, cascaded onto Cosima. Unfortunately, though Ardor''s retaliation did stop the thrown daggers, it wasn''t able to inflict any damage upon Cosima. Her senior, Marjory, interfered in the nick of time and unleashed a burst of Neon light, which was faster than Ardore''s Sword Essence. The Demon''s neon light spread across the air and the ground, not dealing any physical damage but it was able to significantly slow down the MoonStar team. It seemed to be some type of a curse, rendering the targets helpless and defenseless. "I''ve got you now!" Cosima cackled as she whipped her leg at Ardor, blowing him against the creepy thick vines. Not only was his c.h.e.s.t hurt, his back was also pierced by the ever-moving vines, which didn''t stop at that. The vine-infested walls were trying to pull the youth inside, trying to devour his body whole. Fortunately, Bora was able to shoot a blinding and scorching hot arrow, incinerating many of the vines and giving Ardor enough time to free himself. "Go on, I''ll deal with them." Now covered in orange flames- from head to toe- Ho Qing gestured for his three friends to continue while he confronted the incoming Cosima. "You''re not getting awa-" The demon girl couldn''t finishˇ­ not expecting Ho Qing to move so fast, she was punched right in the face, her body blown in the air then crashing into the ground, temporarily limp. This wasn''t the end, however, as waves of turbulent Phoenix flames spread from Ho Qing''s hands, clashing with Marjory''s strange curse. Blast waves emitted from the point of impact, pushing the two demon girls and Ho Qing back. "Cosima! Back! Let''s go back!" Marjory helped her friend up and just when they were about to leave, they heard an ear-piercing bird screech then felt a suffocating heat coming from above. The magnificent flaming phoenix wasn''t stopped, its flames incinerated the neon light and the sound waves sent by the drum. In the end, Cosima and Marjory went all out by holding hands and chanting a short incantation. A pillar of dark violent light rose into the darkened canopy, dispersing the phoenix and its trail of flames. Although they were able to defend against Ho Qin''s ultimate attack, they were exhausted. Ho Qing wasn''t any better either too, he was bloodied and limping, nonetheless, he still moved toward the incapacitated girls, ready to finish them off. "What''s he doing?" Isadore was getting nervous, his eyes, as well as everyone else''s, were glued onto the screen. They were staring at John, who was slowly marching toward the injured Ho Qing and tired demon girls. The youth was expressionless and didn''t look like he was going to fight. The King of Green-Leaf turned his head but was surprised to see that Arthur had vanished. Lucy her legs crossed and arms folded, a truly dangerous and murderous aura emanating from her eyes, which were, likewise, glued onto the screen. ˇ­ Seeing the heavily wounded Ho Qing, John was in deep contemplation, at least for some time. He paid no attention to Cosima and Marjory, only the red-haired youth interested him. His d.e.s.i.r.e to fight him had already died downˇ­ no, he wanted to revenge on Arthur. He was indeed frightened by what he saw and what was done to him, but, as a prideful person, John could not and did not want to forget what had happened. A chance presented itself for him so he just needs to do this flawlessly. His invisible puppet will do the job, it will kill Ho Qing without anyone noticing. Of course, there''s bound to be people with keen eyes, nonetheless, as long as the majority of the crowd doesn''t see anything, he can later on claim innocence. Furthermore, Paul won''t stand by and let him get persecuted by the Parasite and his wife. Even the Ancient Federation will back him up and it''s definitely an organization that the MoonStar cannot contend against. It seemed John had forgotten Arthur''s warning or what the latter was capable of. The dread that dominated him in that snake-infested world had completely vanished, now replaced by the d.e.s.i.r.e to prove he''s over everyone. Not even Arthur MoonStar could look down at him, that''s how confident and arrogant John was. Maybe his confrontation with the Parasite turned him into a lunaticˇ­ no one really knows. But, everyone saw John stop a distance away from Ho Qing and slowly raise his head, his jet-black pupils resting on the bleeding and panting crimson-haired Qing. His puppet, which not only could turn invisible, but is also enchanted by several ancient runes, all of which considerably boosts its movement speed. John thought it''ll end in a second, however, his invisible and small puppet shrieked unpleasantly then was flattened into the ground. Before he could react and summon it back, it exploded into countless small pieces, which, in their turn, were dispersed by a bone-chilling breeze. "So it had come to this, John." Arthur looked at Ho Qing first then drifted his eyes to the dumbstruck John. Cosima and Marjory were supporting themselves as they sat on the ground, surprised to see the parasite appear here. "Boss! What happened?" Gutcha appeared second later, looking as astonished as anyone else. He kept looking between Arthur and John but couldn''t figure out the situation. "It''s nothing. It''s already been taken care of." As he said that, Arthur unceremoniously waved his hand, causing a mass of darkness to engulf the anxious John. The victim tried to resist but it was pointless, only his desperate cries could be heard, lasting no more than three seconds. The Dark Magic left nothing of the boy, consuming his vitality, body, bones, blood, and even Nether Energy. This frightening sight shocked the crowd and even Paul, John''s guardian, who didn''t think Arthur would dare to publicly kill one of the participants. Unfortunately, he had massively underestimated the parasite, which led to this unwanted outcome. Chapter 729 - 673: The Mysterious Pit As soon as John from the Ancient Federation was killed in front of everyone, his guardian appeared in the VIP box. He was glaring at Lucy, barely able to contain his aura. "I demand an answer!" He shouted, alarming the stupefied crowd, which already stopped cheering and was now focusing on him. Dan, the Overgod guarding Isadore Malfront, as well as Amidel and Gutcha all appeared around Paul, giving him threatening glares. Arthur stayed behind to make an announcement, which echoed throughout the plateau merely seconds later. "John from the Ancient Federation Team has been caught cheating and breaking the competition rules. Not only did he fake his age, he also used a puppet to win the Third Trial." Still standing in-between the Demon girls and Ho Qing, Arthur''s voice paused for a second, his bone-chilling gaze falling on Cosima and Marjory for a couple of breaths. "I will tolerate any attempt to assassinate any of the participants. This is a friendly competition and killing blows are strictly prohibited, especially if the opponent is already incapaciated. Let it be known that anyone who dares to disturb the flow of this competition will be dealt with appropriately. I believe John was a clear demonstration of how much I value the rules." "This is preposterous! Do you even know what you did?!" Paul seemed even angrier after listening to Arthur''s brief speech. "I advise you to calm down." Lucy stood up from her seat and stared back at the man, a frosty aura emanating from her hands and enveloping the VIP box. "Calm down? You just murdered one of the participants without a proper investigation! As the federation''s delegate, I won''t stand for this!" "And what are you going to do about it?" Arthur appeared next to Lucy, his eyes dangerously narrowed as he glared at Paul. "John broke the rules and cheated. He was about to kill one of the participants. His punishment was as severe as his crimes." "You''re not the one who decides that." Paul was gritting his teeth and controlling his aura, trying not to attack. He knew that it was a losing battleˇ­ there''s no way he''ll make it out of here alive if he acts rashly and attacks first. Even if it was just Lucy, she''s more than capable of killing him and Paul was more than aware of that. Nevertheless, he couldn''t bear such a massive loss of face, especially as the only delegate dispatched by the federation. John was an important member of the Ancient Federation young generation and coming back without him will cause repercussions that he could not handle. At the very least, he''ll be punished and sacked immediately after. The worst case is the guillotine, quite literally. Honestly, he didn''t expect John to act like that and try to inflict fatal harm on one of the participants. That''s not what they agreed upon. In fact, ever since his secretive meeting with Arthur, John had been behaving strangely. "You won''t be able to get out of this, Arthur MoonStar." "We''ll see about that." Arthur waved his hand dismissively at Paul then turned around and sat down. "Why are you shivering, your Majesty?" Once Paul of Irfondor left, Arthur chuckled and asked the young king. "A-ahˇ­ it''s nothing." Isadore didn''t want to say that it''s due to Lucy''s aura, which was bone-chilling. She released it to frighten Paul but it affected him more, even with Dan''s protection. "Here, a token of my appreciation for your help." Arthur did a simple gesture which caused a wave of warmth to wash over Isadore. "Don''t mention it. We''re friends, are we not?" "More like allies." Corrected Arthur while shrugging his shoulders. "Isn''t it the same?" Added Isadore while beaming at the Parasite. "Let''s take another route." Marjory helped Cosima up, the two slowly backing away while warily looking at the motionless Ho Qing. The red-haired youth remained like that for an indeterminate amount of time, trying to recover some Nether Energy and reflect on his unsaid mistakes. Although he managed to fend off the Demon Team, he ended up getting separated from his Team, which complicated the situation. Gutcha clearly said that there were twelve points to find so only one person will be disqualified. However, now that John is dead, it''s possible for everyone to pass the Sixth Trial, which was actually a bonus trial meant to decrease the number of the participants. ˇ­ "This is it, right?" Bora tentatively approached a glowing blob of light, circled around it before asking Rosea and Ardor. "It must be." Rosea kept looking to her rear, afraid that they would get ambushed. "Who should take it?" "I can continue." Said the girl with determination. "I can too."-Ardor The two looked at the tanned youth, who scratched his head then shook it. "I can still fight too." "You stay here and wait for a bit then. If someone appears then take it." Bora agreed with Rosea''s proposition and stood guard very close to the floating blob of light. **** Ten days after their departure, Midolf, Radolf, Edward and Sonia have finally reached the Ramel Kingdom. They directly headed toward the mysterious pit. "Where the f.u.c.k is it?" Midolf stomped the ground as he looked around, spotting nothing but mountains of sand. "It should have been here. Maybe it disappeared." Edward grabbed his orange scissors made of plastic and started cutting the air, trying to discover something. Only Sonia remained calm and aboard the Spirit Boat, surveying the vicinity with interest and fascination. "We should report back." Radolf scouted the area and came back an hour later, ordering them all back on the boat. Since the pit is gone, they had nothing else to do here, much to Midolf and Edward''s elation. Both of them did not like the climate and the never-ending masses of golden sand. Sonia, on the other hand, showcased a lot of interest in the history of the Ramel Kingdom and secretly wanted to visit the capital. Unfortunately, it wasn''t the right time for that so she ended up keeping her mouth shut and her thoughts to herself. *** "What are you writing?" Timos was pacing around and seemingly deep in thought, however, he suddenly stopped and glanced at the youth that has been accompanying him for a period of time now. Vyncent raised his head and put down his pent. "All my experiences so far." "Don''t they say that the unforgettable experiences stick around even if you don''t write them?" The Creation God cackled like a lunatic and kept pacing around, but Vyncent merely snorted and continued writing. "What are your theories about this place?" He gestured with the desolate land surrounding them, the grey and gloomy canopy, and the blood-red ground, made from crumbled ruins and lotˇ­ absurdly lots of blood. "I think the pit was a crack or a hole in the fabric of realityˇ­ that''s why it keeps transporting us to different times and places. Is my theory correct?" "If I knew I wouldn''t be asking you. But what you said does hold some truthˇ­ I wonder if in the future or the past." "For a Creation God, I thought you''d be able to handle yourself." Scoffed the bearded youth, continuing his unceasing scribbling. Timos spread his hands and shrugged nonchalantly. "This is out of my hands. There are things that not even Creation God can control." "So we''ll be stuck here forever." "Hopefully not." Timos folded his hands and focused his gaze on a half-black half-white Crow circling in the air before flying closer to them. "No need to panic." He chuckled as Vyncent abruptly stood up and was about to attack. "It''s time you showed up, Bilgart." Chapter 730 - 674: The Seventh Trial The Sixth Trial- a bonus one- lasted for approximately two and a half hours, which was more than Arthur had expected. Since there was no time limit, the remaining twelve participants were able to pass, fortunately for them. The number of blobs of light was equivalent to the number of participants so there really was no reason for the teams to fight and wear themselves out. Arthur''s declaration was heard by every one of them so they knew that, with John gones, their chances of completing the Sixth Trial is no less than a hundred percent. Apart from the fights that broke out at the beginning, nothing of importance happened later. The only reason it took over two hours for the Trial to finish was because the Dark Maze was incredibly huge, rendering it the navigation particularly hard, especially since the blobs of light- the participant''s target- was relatively small and hard to see amidst the wriggling thick black vines surging from the ground and aimlessly moving around. Sometimes a blocked path would open and another would close, making it hard to backtrack or try to memorize the safe routes. "Will the next Trial be the last?" Isadore was brimming with visible curiosity as he turned his head and looked at the parasite. He was faintly smiling and tapping his chair, a bad habit of his that indicated he''s excited and restless. "I''ve prepared a total of nine Trials but the last two are not for the participants." "For whom is it, then?" This time, Arthur maintained silence and Lucy was the one who answered. She glanced at Rasnod, the Patriarch of the Dark Blaze Sect, then at Cardinal Patrick. "For the brave ones wanting to challenge the MoonStar Sect, of course." She displayed a mesmerizing smile, her luscious pink lips arching upwards, giving Isadore chilling goosebumps. "I can decline, right?" Hesitantly asked Isadore as he looked at Dan. The straw-hat wearing Overgod was as nonchalant as ever, his mind seemingly wondering about something irrelevant. "It''s a friendly competition, no need to panic, Your Majesty. Only the guardians of the teams can participate and since you''re a mortal, you''re exempt." "And will you be participating?" "Lucy will. I''m a spectatorˇ­ very much like you." ˇ­ "Ladies and gentlemen! We''ve reached the final trial! The most exciting of them all! Five teams remain and only one will emerge victorious! Individual contribution and the ranking you see on the board up above will be the determining factor! Please, enjoy!" Gutcha did a clumsy bow then stepped off the stage, leaving the twelve youngsters bathe in the spotlight and hear the loud cheering of the crowd. Unlike earlier, the participating teams were given only half an hour to recuperate before the beginning of the Seventh and last Trial. "We made it!" Bora, as always, laughing and beaming with joy of triumph as he hugged the reluctant Ho Qing and Ardor, though when he approached Rosea, she gave him a piercing glare that stopped him dead in his tracks. He scratched his head and awkwardly laughed then, with more force than he intended, patted the princess'' back, causing her to scowl at him. "Good job." Arthur, along with Lucy and Cristina, appeared right behind the youth, startling him. Ho Qing and Ardor bowed at the same time, Rosea did the same albeit a second later. Bora was the last, smiling widely and performing an exaggerated bow. "Although not all of you reached the end, you still did it. So far, your performance- though not flawless- is nevertheless commendable. You''ve made us proud." Arthur softly smiled at the four of them, he lifted his hand and released a white light that enveloped them all. Ho Qing''s injuries were instantly healed and a minuscule amount of his Nether Energy was restored. "I know you guys could do it!" Cristina walked to her friends and happily congratulated them, seeming genuinely relieved that the MoonStar team, despite losing two of its members, was able to achieve success and reach the final. Although Rosea and Cristina would constantly bicker, the former didn''t shy away from voicing her thoughts and inquiring about the latter''s arm injury, which had long since been fully healed, fortunately. In addition, Cristina''s mood became much better after speaking her heart to Lucy. "I trust that you''ll not betray our expectations and win the competition." Added Arthur as he thoroughly scrutinized each of them. "Teacher, I''d like to withdraw from the competition." Out of nowhere, Ho Qing spoke those words, surprising not only his teammates but also Arthur and Lucy. "What''s the reason?" With one eyebrow raised, Lucy meaningfully looked at the red-haired youth, who was stoof straight and didn''t avoid her eyes. "I believe I''ve achieved what I wanted from this tournament. I need some time alone to think about my mistakes and to cultivate. Please excuse my presumptuous request and I beg you to accept it." After saying that, he turned toward Bora, Rosea, and Ardor, and added, "Even without me, I know that you''ll win. Please do not be angry with me, however, I''m doing what I think is best for me." "Don''t you think it''s a bit selfish?!" Rosea was not at all happy with Ho Qing, she walked to him and angrily glared at his face as if she''s going to slap him at any given second. Rosea was about to continue lashing at him but was stopped by Arthur, who raised his hand and gestured for her to step back. "If that is what you want then so be it. You''ll be disqualified." "Thank you, teacher." Ho Qing respectfully bowed two times, one for Arthur and one for Lucy. The youth didn''t stay there for any longer, he politely excused himself and returned to the tower. "Teacher, how could you let him go? We need him!" Rosea was firmly objecting to Ho Qing''s withdrawal. Having one less member significantly decreases their chance of winning. "I''m not obligating anyone to participate. This competition aims for the participants'' improvements above all. Ho Qing achieved what he wanted and if he says it''s enough then I won''t object to his decision. After all, he knows himself best." "But-" "Stop complaining. We''ll just have to do it without him." Ardor interrupted her with a serious and sharp tone, leaving her no room to argue back. The princess bit her lips and balled her fists but didn''t dare to cause a ruckus after Arthur declared his intentions. She looked at Lucy, seeking for another positive answer but the female White Specter was completely expressionless and eerily silent. "What you''ve been waiting for has finally arrived! The Seventh Trial will begin shortly." Gutcha declared with his croaky deafening voice, not forgetting to showcase his hideously ugly grin, fangs bared and eyes half-opened. "The final Trial is individual fights between the remaining teams. Each victory counts for 50 points soˇ­" The Pigolo directed his gaze to the team with the lowest points, the Dark Blaze Team. Holand was quietly standing a distance away, seemingly not interested in hearing the rules or anything about the last Trial. "Even a team with one participant can rise to the top. Furthermore, in the case of being defeated in an individual battle, the loser will also earn points depending on his performance. The fights between the participants will be assigned randomly and three defeats will lead to disqualification!" "Isn''t it too basic?" "It certainly is." Arthur, now back to the VIP box, let out a long sigh as he replied to the young King. "But it''s what the crowd wants and , ultimately, one-on-one fights are what really matters. Those who qualify are the true winners." "Indeed. I wish my team wasn''t disqualifiedˇ­" Isadore shook his head in disappointment, which made Arthur chuckle and jokingly say, "So they can use the overpowered artefacts you provided them? Your Majesty, your vast wealth is not a secret, you know." "So what? It''s not like it''s against the rules. Look! Even the duo from the Holy Dominion have high-graded accessories and gear." Chapter 731 - 675: Demon and Holy As expected of the last trial of the competition, the stage was grandiose and, unlike the other trials, it wasn''t happening in a separate dimension or miniature world. An intense tremor spread from the plateau, causing the crowd to momentarily panic. Thankfully, Gutcha calmed them down and explained that this strange occurrence was because the last stage is surfacing. Slowly but surely, part of the plateau rose into the air, much to everyone''s astonishment. Even Isadore sat there, agape, as a huge chunk of the plateau hovered toward the canopy. It seemed to be magically changing its form, transforming into a massive floating island, circular and protected by a rainbow-colored defensive formation. "You really did your best, huh." Isadore Malfront glanced at Arthur and nodded his head. He couldn''t help but admire the myriad and miraculous things the parasite was able to do. Then again, such feats are not that surprising, especially to those who knew Arthur really well. After all, he had possessed hundreds of thousands of lifeforms and the number of skills he has in his arsenal is simply staggering. Yes, a while ago, a bunch of his skills fused together for better efficiency, but, ever since, he possessed even more corpses and living beings, which made him gain dozens of skills at a time. From anyone''s point of view, creating this plateau or the other dimension might seem hard, though- in truth- it was not. It does consume a lot of Mental Power and Nether Energy but it''s definitely worth it. With the help of his special ''Creation'' stat, along with the high proficiency in Spatial Magic, and dozens of miscellaneous skills, Arthur was able to create a separate dimension and fill it with a bunch of things, like reanimated monsters or small pieces of lands. The widescreen displaying the last stage was in full view, showcasing the whole floating island and the remaining teams, which were as baffled as everyone else. Gutcha was grinning from one ear to the other, clearly enjoying the exaggerated reactions of some of the participants. "Get ready!" The pigolo loudly shouted, snapping the youngsters out of their daze and garnering their full attention. "The individual fights are randomized. Which means that even if you fought the first fight, there is a chance you''ll fight in the second one too. I will briefly repeat the rules. One victory equals 50 points, defeat can also gain you points based on your performance. Three losses and you''re out. Is that clear?" Most of them nodded their heads, while the rest raised their eyebrows and looked questioningly at the hideous host. "Let''s begin!" He added excitedly, his hand fishing out a strange white cube from an oversized back pocket. The cube flew from the pigolo''s hand and rapidly spun before shooting a subtle light that transformed into flashing letters. *Leo from the Holy Dominion Team versus Marjory from the Demon Team.* As they saw their names flashing brightly, the golden-haired youth ''Leo'' and Marjory were instantly teleported to the middle of the stage. The battling arena wasn''t as grandiose but it was big enough for them to fly around and use their strongest techniques and spells. Furthermore, it was protected by a strong defensive formation, which assured the safety of the crowd watching from below. "This calls for more bets, what do you think, Arthur?" Isadore cackled, his eyes darting toward the parasite, trying to place a bet for the second time. Although he lost the first one, he still has not given up and wanted to showcase his superior sense of judgment. "Bets? I don''t mind. What do you want to bet on?" "The participants, of course. Each fight, you and I will choose a participant and if he or she wins, one of us will have to pay the other." "That''s straight out gambling, Your Majesty." "All bets are gambling." "No, they are not. Look, even your Guardian doesn''t like this idea of yours." Isadore half-heartedly glanced at the usually nonchalant Dan, who was frowning and, very subtly, shaking his hand toward the King. "Are you in or out?" Isadore was very persistent. It''s no secret that Arthur was vastly wealthy, much more than Isadore, who was the king of the biggest Middle-Realm in the Cloud Sea Universe. Before dying, Zodiak was generous enough to leave all of his possessions in his unique storage ring. Arthur had mountains of gold and an astronomical amount of Spirit Stones, and that''s while excluding all the treasures and artifacts he kept for his personal use. Even without Zodiak''s riches, Arthur was wealthy nevertheless. He had looted many storage rings and high-graded gear from the people he found dead or killedˇ­ if you amass all of that together, it easily makes him one of the ric.h.e.s.t people in this universe. Furthermore, he rarely spends things on gear and such, which is why his wealth unceasingly increases. "Of course I''m in." Right after he responded, Lucy- just like Dan- gave Arthur a strange look coupled with a visible warning, which he pretended not to see. He averted his eyes, looking at the young blonde-haired king, a faint smile plastering on his face. "Each round, one of us will get to choose first, yes?" "Why, yes! Fairness is my motto." "Okay, then. You choose first." "I''ll bet 5,000 High Red Spirit Stones on Leo." "Sure." Arthur didn''t seem bothered, he directed his gaze to the huge screen and began watching the fight, which had just begun. *** Marjory''s fighting style was different from her junior, Cosima. The demon girl used debuff and curses to hinder her opponent, then she would strengthen her body. Leo, on the other hand, was the aggressive and explosive type, which didn''t suit his calm countenance. Just as Gutcha signaled the beginning of the fight, the young man shot at Marjory, brandishing two one-handed golden swords, both coated with thick sword essence. He reached his target within a couple of breaths, crossing his swords in front of him and unleashing a devastating torrent of golden slashes. In retaliation, Marjory moved her hands mysteriously, writing a purple runic symbol before slowly pushing it forward. The symbol burst with intertwining violent threads of energy, clashing with Leo''s slashes and blocking them with ease. Unfortunately, Marjory didn''t expect Leo to suddenly teleport to her side and unleash the same attack without any kind of prior preparation. The girl was blown hundreds of meters away, a bloody wound could be seen on the left side of her abdomen and on her shoulder. Even with such a severe wound, Marjory swiftly jumped back on her feet and drew more symbols, larger and brighter ones. The symbols orderly lined themselves before abruptly vanishing, much to Leo''s confusion. The young man was charging at her for the second time before was forced to halt his steps and jump back. Alas, he was a tad too late as the curse reached him in a split second and injured him. He didn''t know what exactly happened but an excruciating pain assaulted his internal organs, causing him to puke blood and kneel on the ground. His head was still lifted, eyes locked onto Marjory, but he was unable to defend himself as the girl was already upon him, her legs sweeping horizontally. She sent him flying like a kite, and before he stabilized himself and counterattacked, she appeared before him like a ghost, her hand tightly holding his ankle and then brutally slamming his body on the ground. He let out a groan of pain, his hand waving the two swords and shooting Holy Magic, though it was all in vain. Marjory was more than prepared this time, applying another curse that greatly slowed his movement, rendering his attacks practically useless. For the next fifteen seconds, Leo was thoroughly thrashed by the demon girl. His body was flattened on the ground and he lost hold of one of his swords, his body becoming a bloody mess. Yet, surprisingly, he was still conscious and capable of retaliation, more or less. "It''s all due to that Dark Magic formation!" Melissa, the woman accompanying Cardinal Patrick, gritted her teeth and glared at the spheric black-ish formation enveloping the whole city. The dense amount of Dark Magic lingering in the air was greatly affecting Leo, who specializes in Holy Magic. Although Holy Magic was supposed to be the bane of Dark Magic, it wasn''t the case this time. There was just too much Dark Magic for Leo to handle, and its sinister effects were indirect, it nonetheless hindered his Holy Spells and significantly decreased his physical prowess. In fact, the longer he''s subjected to Dark Magic, the weaker he becomes. Such a consequence applied not only to Leo and Veia but also the cardinal and Melissa, but the latter two had much higher cultivation so they came somewhat resist it. Chapter 732 - 676: Genesis Imoogi The battle between Marjory of the Demon Team and Leo of the Holy Dominion/Church Team was still underway, however, the outcome was quite apparent. The handsome blonde-haired youngster was getting one-sidedly beaten. He looked absolutely miserable, his body riddled with wounds and one of his swords was lost. The beginning of the fight wasn''t so bad, for him and the excited crowd. However, it suddenly took a surprising turn when Majory strengthened her body and engaged in close-ranged combat. Actually, Leo was more focused on melee too but he wasn''t on Marjory''s level, sadly for him. He was thrashed in front of thousands of people but what angered him and embarrassed him the most was the Cardinal Patrick was also watching. Leo looked up to the Cardinal and wished to become his disciple, which was one of the motives for his participation. Alas, his future was looking grim and even though he managed to remain conscious, he couldn''t fight back against the demon girl. Marjory excelled in debuffing and hindering her enemies, at least that''s what the crowd thought till now. So far, she supported her junior, Cosima, and didn''t reveal her true prowess. Her ability to hide her trump cards up until this point was certainly commendable. Even Arthur, who had bet on her, was slightly surprised. King Isadore Malfront, on the other hand, was cringing in his seat, his hands balled and his expression grave. He kept glancing at Arthur but that only made him irritated by the latter''s wide grin, which seemed to be indirectly mocking him. Two minutes later, Marjory finally stopped flinging poor Leo''s body left and right. When she let go of his body, he limply laid on the ground, groaning and spitting dirt and blood. Although he did try to stand up, Gutcha appeared and loudly declared the winner of the first battle. Sure enough, Leo tried to protest and say that he still could continue but he was ignored. Put simply, the young man''s body was wrecked and even if he managed to stand up, there was no way he would win against Marjory. The demon girl was expressionless, she nodded her head to the host before getting teleported outside of the arena. "Alright! The next fight will beˇ­. Sansal From the Imoogi Team Versus Bora from the MoonStar Team." The two participants soon appeared on the stage, one was looking a bit anxious and the other was brimming with confidence. The Imoogi race was said to be a descendant of the majesty Dragon Race. There were many variations of the Imoogi Race but the most frightening was the humanoid type, also known as Genesis Imoogi Race. The youngsters belonging to the Imoogi Race were all part of the aforementioned race. Not only were they equipped with an outrageously strong physique but they also can master Magic easily. They were born with enough talent and power to reach the Exalted God Realm much earlier than their prodigious peers. In fact, the youngest Exalted God that ever existed had been a Genesis Imoogi, but that record was recently seized by none other than Lucy MoonStar. "Get ready!" Gutcha raised his hand and looked at the two of them, both of which changed into a fighting stance. Bora readied an arrow and already pulled the elastic and soft string of his bow, whereas Sansal crouched down and put his hand on the ground. After a couple of seconds of intense staring, the pigolo signaled the start. Bora immediately shot an arrow at the young Imoogi, but it struck nothing but air. The one thing that archers must never do was lose sight of their target, and that''s exactly what Bora tried to do. Just as he shot the arrow, Sansal literally disappeared, he charged at him like a cannonball. Bora performed a long backjump, just in time to dodge the incoming imoogi. As he was in mid-air, he pointed the arrow to the sky and fired dozens of arrows made of an orange light. A rain of arrows cascaded on the imoogi but, again, none of them hit him. Sansal didn''t hesitate to use Magic and deflect all the energy arrows. A strong wind wave was invoked, dispersing the projectiles as well as blowing Bora to the side. As he fell on the ground, Bora somehow managed to shoot an enormous silver arrow which managed to slow down the imoogi and push it to the back, though it dealt no substantial damage. The several seconds bought by that shot allowed Bora to summon his unique Godspiritˇ­ A Godspirit that was actually capable of changing forms, and in each form had its special effects on both the opponent and the user. A gorgeous horned deer landed next to Bora; The spiritual animal was made of hazy green light and though it didn''t emit any pressure, it still did something that disturbed and astonished Sansal. With the Godspirit, Sansal didn''t dare get close to his enemy, at least not before he figured out what the deer actually did. A gentle light enveloped Bora, alleviating the pain and healing the superficial wounds. On top of that, his longbow''s attack power and his attack speed were significantly boosted. Then again, the details of the Godspirit''s effects were only visible to Lucy and Arthur, who were the only ones that can use an advanced version of the Appraisal skill. With the buff in full effect, Bora started shooting arrows like crazy. His blurry hands seemed to be moving slowly as one arrow after the other was shot at Sansal. The young Imoogi couldn''t even get close to Bora. He tried his best to dodge the projectiles but he still got hit continuously, thus he was getting blown farther and farther away from Bora. When the distance was deemed appropriate, Bora''s Godspirit changed into a small arrow which he snatched from mid-air and shot at the target. However, instead of flying at the Imoogi, it literally struck his c.h.e.s.t instantaneously as if it teleported. Blood gushed from Sansal''s c.h.e.s.t but he didn''t cry or react in any way. Instead, he summoned the unstoppable gale and coupled it with a simple punch he performed from such a long distance. The clash between the magma and the arrows was brief and, surprisingly, Bora''s arrows were able to emerge victorious, but they couldn''t reach Sansal. Chapter 733 - 677: Thunderbolt The battle was reaching its climax as both opponents were going all out. Bora was performing rapid and impressive leaps from one spot to the other while shooting high-velocity arrows that whistled in the air. Meanwhile, Sansal was maintaining the use of his strong Wind and Magma Magic, fusing the spells to hinder the archer and possibly immobilize him. In contrast to his relatively unscathed opponent, the young Genesis Imoogi was bleeding profusely. The wound he had sustained in his c.h.e.s.t was serious enough to stiffen his movements and slow him down. This final trial did not prohibit flight when fighting an opponent, however, most participants would remain in the ground for many reasons. Firstly, their bodies are more stabilized, especially in Bora''s case as he was an archer. Secondly, while in mid-air, one would be an easy-target, easier than when you''re sticking to the ground. Last but not least, flying in this arena, which was decently big, was limited, rendering the participants unwilling to rise in the air. "The kid has an impressive control over Wind Magic." Isadore Malfront nodded his head continuously, seemingly approving of Sansal. He cast a cursory glance at the parasite, silently seeking his opinion, but the answer he received was nothing but silence, at least for an indeterminate while. "It''s nothing special." Unexpectedly, it was Lucy who commented on Isadore''s remark. She stared at Sansal for a couple of seconds before redirecting her gaze toward the rapidly-moving Bora. "By the way, who do you think will win? Or will you side with your student?" "The winner of the battle is obvious, don''t you think, Your Majesty?" "I don''t know about that. Sansal might be injured but he''s still a Genesis Imoogi and he has yet to trans-" The young king could not even finish his sentence, he just sat there, gawking at the large screen. The battle came to an abrupt end as Sansal raised his hand and forfeited, much to everyone''s surprise. "Isn''t this too soon?" Isadore frantically turned his head, trying to see someone who might agree with him. He was the only one who genuinely thought that Sansal stood a chance after sustaining such grave wounds. Gutcha appeared in-between the two participants and loudly declared the winner before he transported them outside the arena. Excluding Arthur, Lucy, a few other people, the rest were shocked to see the brief battle and its astonishing result. While it could not be denied that Bora was a talented youngster who excels at archery, none could predict that he''d be able to defeat his opponent with ease. Actually, by the time the fight ended, he still had Nether Energy to spare and his body was but slightly injured. The third battle of the last Trial had begun not long after Bora''s victory. Holand from the Dark Blaze Team versus Cosima From the Demon Team. Unlike the previous fight, this one lasted no less than forty minutes, and by its end, both participants were too exhausted to remain standing. "I like him." "Ah?" Isadore turned and looked at the parasite, confused by his words. "That kidˇ­ Holand. He''s a hidden gem." "Does that mean you want to recruit him?" "..." Arthur did not give an immediate reply, he cast his gaze toward Rasnod and his group. The Dark Blaze Sect was still aiming for Bora and Cristina so a clash was inevitable. Apart from the eccentric and weirdly-dressed Grand Elder, no one else was threatening to Arthur or the MoonStar Sect as a whole. After spectating the fight between Holand and Cosima, Arthur was truly surprised. He didn''t expect the silent and gloomy black-haired youth to reach the last Trial, much less defeat the demon girl. He suffered a grievous wound to both his hands but he won, and that''s what mattered. The spells and martial techniques he used were average but mastered to perfection. He wasn''t strong in terms of cultivation, purity of Nether Energy, or even the arsenal of techniques in his possession. No, what kept him going was sheer will and unmatched resolve to win, and, for Arthur, that was worthy of praise. It''s a shame that he belonged to the Dark Blaze Sect and was even the son of its Patriarch. That made it difficult, if not impossible, to try and rope him into the MoonStar Sect. Holand may not win the tournament but he was the black horse no one expected. His achievements over the course of the last couple of days will definitely make him famous throughout the Cloud Sea Universe. Subsequently, the Dark Blaze Sect will be positively affected too, but only if it isn''t destroyed before that happens. Gutcha brought Holland''s aunt, who tended to him, providing him with healing elixirs and recovery pills. Unfortunately, it wasn''t enough to completely heal his hands, nevertheless, the young man vehemently refused to forfeit. He stubbornly glared back at his pleading aunt and slowly stood up, scanning the two participants that were about to battle. The fourth battle was between Veia from the Holy Dominion Team and Rosea from the MoonStar Team. The two girls walked to the center of the stage and faced each other, one wore light golden armor while the other had a pink-ish white attire that offered no defense. Rosea stood confidently, a chilling aura revolving around her body. Meanwhile, Veia was serene and ''holy'', her hands clutching a wrapped around her elbow and an unusually thin sword that looked like a needle or a spike. "Ready?" Gutcha raised his hand, looked at the two girls, then with a swift motion, signaled the beginning of the fight. Block of pink ice appeared all around Rosea, just in time to slow down Veia. The slim and tall girl had her long golden hair tied into a pony-tail, her whole demeanor dramatically changed as she shot toward her opponent like a bolt of lightning. The princess took flight and fired dozens of icicles at Veia, however, all of them were destroyed in the blink of an eye. All Veia did was elbow the air, sending an explosive shock wave which got rid of the projectiles and even blew Rosea higher in the air. Before she could stabilize herself and retaliate, Rosea was suddenly hit by a thick golden thunderbolt. Veia was clasping the sword close to her c.h.e.s.t, positioned vertically with its sharp tip pointing toward the ground. She was mumbling inaudible words, which resulted in that unstoppable thunderbolt. The crowd cheered loudly as Rosea''s figure fell on the ground, almost the entirety of her attire was charred. She laid on the ground, unmoving for a couple of seconds. Veia charged at her again but before she could reach her, a mass of darkness surged from thin air and locked her in place. The pigolo host appeared close to Rosea, looked shocked with a deep frown on his face. After a long couple of seconds in total silence, he turned to Veia and said, "Rosea from the MoonStar team is unconscious. You win." Veia silently nodded her head and sheathed her sword, though her body was still immobilized by Dark Magic. "W-wellˇ­" Isadore nervously looked at Arthur, expecting to see him angry or shocked, but it didn''t seem to be the case. Both he and his wife sat on their respective seats, looking unperturbed as if they expected such an outcome. Chapter 734 - Chapters 678: Clash of Swords "Are you okay?" Not long after her fight, Rosea sluggishly woke up only to see Arthur looking right back at her. Her body, which was wrecked by Veia''s attack, was almost healed to full thanks to her teacher''s Life Energy. Some of the more serious internal injuries would need a day or two to heal due to the lingering Holy Magic inside, but it was of no consequence. When the princess woke up from her brief ''nap,'' she didn''t ask any questions regarding her battle. She sat there, half-dazed and half-disappointed. She had great confidence in her unique ice ability, however, she wasn''t able to properly gauge her opponent''s strength, therefore getting knocked up very early on. Nonetheless, neither Lucy nor Arthur were mad at her. The parasite helped her stand up while his wife patted her on the back and said a couple of comforting words, which she didn''t seem to hear. Losing was so humiliating, especially for a proud girl like Rosea, but losing so quickly and like that was even more of an embarrassment. Even as she was led to the VIP box and sat next to Cristina, the princess, who processed what had happened, could not accept it. Reality had hit her hard and she felt like all her painstaking training over the last couple of weeks was for nothing. Even though losing doesn''t mean she was disqualified, Arthur and Lucy took it upon themselves to get her out of the competition, for her own good, of course. It was crystal clear that she wasn''t in a position to fight again, no after such a devastating loss, and even she knew that which was why she did not protest. So far, two participants were disqualified from the last trial. The first was Sandal, who, despite protesting, was pulled away by his guardian due to the grievous injuries he sustained against Bora. The young Genesis Imoogi was still in a condition to fight, however, he could not force his opinion on his worried guardian. The second was Rosea, whose defeat mentally scarred her, thus rendering her unfit to continue. All in all, nine participants remainds; Leo and Veia from the Holy Dominion Team, Cosima and Marjory from the Demon Team, Ardor and Bora from the MoonStar Team, Holand from the Dark Blaze Team, Eirz and Luke from the Imoogi Team. The next fight was between Eirz, the youngest Imoogi in his team, and Ardor, the sword-wielding youth from the MoonStar Team. The two youngsters appeared on stage, both were sword-users, though their stance and aura were dramatically different. Ardor was calm, his aura bringing serenity and clarityˇ­ in more than a way, it resembled Arthur''s Ethereal State. On the other hand, Luke''s aura, which was mainly emanating from his thin jet black sword, was more brutal and violent. With Gutcha''s signal, the two participants charged at each other, black and milky white sword essences sprung in the air and clashed against each other. Their swords didn''t collide, they stopped inches away from each other, one enveloped in translucently white energy whereas the other was bursting with sharp needle-like black light. They didn''t taunt each other, they let their swords do the talking. The loud cheering sound from the crowd or the screeching sound of colliding sword essences wasn''t heard by either of the two young men. They were so engrossed in their fight, dancing around and performing impressive yet no flashy sword skills. Luke and Ardor were enjoying this, more than they should have, actually. They jumped around, unleashing one technique after the other, flew in the air and clashed against each other hundreds of times. It may have been boring for those who did not understand what they were doing, but for fanatical sword-users, it was truly a spectacle to behold. Neither of them deigned to summon their gods spirits, they just relied on their skills and physical bodiesˇ­ not even Nether Energy was wasted on blinding long-ranged spells. Put simply, it was a twenty-minute long sword dance, in which both of them were injured multiple times but none dropped their swords or backed away. Even up until the last second, Luke never used the unique abilities of his race, and Ardor refrained from summoning his Godspirit, which would have definitely put him at a great advantage. In the end, Ardor won the fight, though it was a very close one. The two participants supported themselves with their swords and stared at each other, both happily and uncaring about the result of the battle. Win or lose, it did not matter to them for they had gained much by battling each other and learning subtle but useful things. With the battle won, Ardor, just like Bora, gained 50 points, which put them at a big advantage compared to other teams. The only person who has yet to fight was Eirz from the Imoogi Team, but it was because the number of remaining participants was uneven to begin with. Nonetheless, the youth would be given a chance to battle one random person. Since there was a slim chance he could be chosen to fight again, Gutcha allowed Ardor to rest and recuperate for a couple of minutes. So far, the Holy Dominion Team and the Demon Team won one fight each. The MoonStar team won two fights, The Dark Blaze Team won one fight, and the Imoogi Team lost two fights. However, there were more fights to come and being in the lead right now doesn''t necessarily mean it''s their win. ˇ­ Fortunately, Ardor wasn''t picked to fight Eirz, that job fell to Cosima, who was itching to prove herself after her unexpected loss against Holand. Suffice to say, the young demon girl did indeed prove her real prowess by absolutely and one-sidedly defeating the youngest Eirz. Eirz excelled at speedy attack, however, it didn''t work against Cosima, who was equipped with an impressive physical and magical strength. Eventually, the fight, which lasted merely five minutes, ended with Cosima''s victory, thus allowing her to increase her team''s overall points by fifty. Chapter 735 - 679: Energy Transfusion The girl''s eyes fluttered and body twitched for a moment. She let out a soft groan and slowly moved her stiff arms to sit up. "How are you feeling?" A soothing voice echoed inside Shu Ru''s head, startling her and sobering her cloudy thoughts. She turned her head to the source of the voice only to see several people looking back at her. All of them were familiar faces, beginning for Arthur and Lucy to Cristina and the downcast Rosea. Bora and Ardor were still competing whereas Ho Qing retreated to his personal room to cultivate. In fact, he had not been seen ever since he secluded himself, but since Arthur gave his approval, no one, not even the objecting Cristina, raised a complaint. "Only a bit dizzy." The girl shook her head and cracked a faint smile, feeling embarrassed to be the center of everyone''s attention. "You need to rest for a bit more." Lucy held the girl''s hand and reassured her with a simple nod, to which Shu Ru lowered her head and bit her lips. "There is no need to feel down. Our team reached the final and you did a great job, all three of you." Arthur''s compliment, which was a rare thing to hear, made Shu Ru hesitantly raise her head back again and gaze right into his eyes. "Thank you, teacher." Stoic-faced, Cristina wryly smiled and spoke a couple of words, however, both Rosea and Shu Ru maintained their silence, one was ashamed and the other guilty. The atmosphere was turning a little awkward so both Arthur and Lucy left the infirmary. Although they had become friends only recently, the three girls were still capable of comforting each other and overcoming their mental hurdles. "You remember our bet, yes?" "Yes, and before you tell me, I already know that the Holy Dominion Team is leading." "Ohˇ­ how?" Arthur chuckled as he sat down, "Just because I did not see it doesn''t mean I don''t know what happened. If anything happens within the city, I''ll be the first to know." "Well, whateverˇ­ I had placed a bet on the Buddha Team and the Holy Dominion Team." "Yes, there''s no need to repeat everything, Your Majesty." "Oh, then look!" He pointed at the large screen, precisely at the bench specific to Veia and Leo. The quiet girl was currently meditating, but what was surprising was her blinding Holy Aura and her abnormally-increasing Cultivation. "No rules disqualify a participant that breaks through mid-trial, right?" "..." Instead of replying, Arthur''s eyes shifted to Veia. Whatever was happening inside of her body, and despite the great distance separating him from his target, he could see everything. It was unknown what she consumed or what was done to her, however, her cultivation was rising insanely-fast. She leap-frogged from the peak of God Realm to being a Fusion Sovereign, and it did not seem to be stopping. "Arthurˇ­" Lucy nudged her husband and motionned at Cardinal Patrick. The white-robed skinny old man was, as usual, sitting in the same spot, motionless but strangely pale-faced. ''It seems to be some sort of temporary Energy Transfusion.'' As to not let other people hear her, she used Telepathy, but she only got a response after half a minute or so. ''I don''t know about temporary. It seems to be a permanent thingˇ­ The Cardinal is sacrificing his Blood Essence and own vitality to strengthen her. I''m starting to understand their planˇ­ it has become obvious by now.'' ''I get what you mean, but what is their motive? Even if Veia reaches a cultivation realm strong enough to allow her to participate in the last two trials, it''s not like it''ll achieve anything. Moreover, the rewards are not lucrative enough for a Cardinal of the Dominion to sacrifice his Blood Essence.''-Lucy ''Maybe they just want to frighten us?'' ''It could be, but I must say that it''s not working. Even if that girl reaches the Exalted God Realm, it won''t make a difference.''-Lucy ''It''s not about the result but the process of achieving it. They are showing us they can turn youngsters into Overgods and whatnot. Of course, our assumption could be wrong.'' ''Hmpf! It better be or else they won''t be living this place alive.'' "Is it true?" Isadore, who was excitedly watching Veia''s power-up, frowned and looked at his protector, both surprised and confused. "She''s already a peak Sovereign? Isn''t that against the rules?" "Leave her be." Arthur''s voice silenced Dan, who was about to respond. Even Isadore closed his mouth and look at the parasite, who had a sly grin plastered on his face. "I really don''t like that expression." "Whatever do you mean, Your Majesty? I thought winning the bet would be a happy occasion for you." "Yes, but not like this. It has become unfair for the other participants." "Greetings, I''m Melissa, the High Priest accompanying Cardinal Patrick." She elegantly bowed toward Lucy and Arthur then patiently and politely waited for a response. After witnessing what happened to Veia and, consequently, the Cardinal, Lucy and Arthur expected someone to come. Their brief yet elaborate telepathic conversation helped them speculate about the Holy Dominion''s motive and goals. "I''m listening." Arthur did not speak, it was Lucy who stood up and faced Melissa, who maintained a straight posture and resisted the White Specter''s bone-chilling aura. "In regards to one of our participants, Veia. If the hosts do not mind, we would like for her to participate in the last two trials." Melissa, who prepared a couple of arguments to provoke and convince Lucy and Arthur, was met with an immediate and unexpected response. "Sure, but you cannot blame us or the other guardians if she gets injured." "As the spokesman of the Holy Dominion Team, you have my deepest gratitude. I will excuse myself now." Melissa bowed again then returned back to the Cardinal''s side, her face filled with a mix of perplexion and astonishment. While it was a worrying matter for some, neither Arthur nor Lucy were troubled by the Dominion''s actions. No one could threaten them or anyone else as long as they were inside the cityˇ­ and even outside, they had little chance to do that either. No one would have expected that Arthur and Lucy would have gotten infinitely stronger since their last public appearance. Lucy had broken through to the Exalted God Realm and had solidified her foundation and honed her destructive spells. Meanwhile, Arthur retrieved Makaze and fused with one of his clones, which had brought him a handful of overpowered skills, such as the ability to control Sand and even the fearsome Telekinesis. Chapter 736 - 680: Third Place By the time the process of powering up had ended, Veia''s cultivation already reached the middle-stages of the Overgod Realm, but she had yet to complete her Overgod Body. Nonetheless, she had a monstrous quantity of Nether Energy, so much that a constant golden aura was revolving around her body. Quite the opposite of his pupil, Cardinal Patrick looked extremely tired and b?r?ly able to lift a finger. He sat there, breathing heavily and trembling every now and then, his long robe and its cloak did a good job at hiding his pale face but could not mask his turbulent energy and unstable cultivation. Excluding the fight Veia participated in later on, which ended with her opponent''s immediate surrender, the remaining fights were exciting and did not betray the crowd''s expectation. Of course, the Holy Dominion Team took first place even though Leo one only one fight and lost four. The second place was actually a tie between the Demon Team and The Moonstar team. To decide who gets to keep the second place, the two teams, after consulting the host of course, agreed on a two versus two fight. Thus did Ardor and Bora battle against Marjory and her junior Cosima. By far, it was the most entertaining fight as the four participants went all in and actually managed to shatter the supposedly unbreakable arena. The cheering of the crowd reached its climax when the canopy was filled with blinding white and dark red lights violently clashing against each other. It was a sublime sight for anyone and everyone, and when it ultimately ended, Marjory was the only one on her feet. When Gutcha appeared and declared the winner, the girl could not hold it any longer and immediately fell unconscious. However, despite losing against the demon girls, Ardor and Bora were in a very good mood, laughing like maniacs as they were being treated by Arthur. The two of them managed to achieve a breakthrough amidst the fight and, by then, they did not care much about the result of the fight or their team''s position in the competition. Winning or getting first place had been their number one goal, but after personally experiencing what it was like to increase the potency of their techniques and fight different kinds of opponents, they yearned more to get stronger than to win the competition. "You did wellˇ­ third place isn''t bad." Arthur smiled at the two youngsters and swiftly treated their wounds. On the other hand, Lucy, who was also smiling, gave the two of them the chills. Her smile was vastly different from her husband''s, it was as if she would beat them up in any given second. "I agree with Arthur butˇ­ you will need more training. There were things I taught you that you did not heed of." A bone-chilling aura spread from her hand and invaded their body and wrapped around their hearts, making them profusely sweat and not dare to laugh any more. "There will be another long session of training after the competition. Why don''t you prepare for that?" Ardor and Bora did not even reply, frantically nodding their heads and sped off to the distance, ready to inform Cristina and co of their up-coming hell training. "You did not need to scare them off like that." Upon hearing the parasite, Lucy let out a soft chuckle and stared back at him, looking particularly pleased with herself. "Since you''ve decided to be the sweet teacher, I have to take the role of the strict one. Plus, being scary suits me." "Oh, really?" He stretched his hands and jokingly pulled her cheeks while adding "You don''t look scary, though." "Iz becwz yu puvvi-" She couldn''t say any coherent words so she tried shaking her head to make him stop but that only made her cheeks get pulled with more strength. ˇ­ "Arthur is talking to the guardians and preparing for the last two trials. Are you all alright?" Excluding Ho Qing, who was still holed up in his room, Lucy grouped the remaining five and made them sit in front of her. Bora and Ardor seemed to be in a good mood, Cristina looked much better than before, Shu Ru was absent-minded, whereas Rosea still had her head lowered and hands tightly clenched. "Third place is an amazing achievement considering you''ve trained for only a week. I''m really proud of you all." "Thank you, teacher!" They all replied in unison, though it was clear that some voices were louder and more cheerful than others. "Now that the compliments are over, let me make a couple of things clear." Lucy''s tone drastically changed, so much that even Rosea had to lift her head and pay attention. "I will start with Rosea. I''m sure that they spoke to you and tried to lift your spirits, but, as I yet see, it did not work. If one defeat was all that took to crush your determination that your place is not here. Either you stop sulking and start training or you will have to leave, there are no two ways about it. Arthur is too kind to directly tell you this but I will tolerate weak-minded pupils." The girl opened her mouth, tried to say something, but, in the end, only a long silence left her lips. Lucy wasn''t waiting for a response, instead, she shifted her gaze to Bora and Cristina. "The matter with the Dark Blaze Sect will be solved shortly. You two will stop worrying about them and focus on trainingˇ­ that is not a request but an order. As for Ardor and Cristina, I personally have nothing to say, at least concerning your overall performance, but Arthur did say he wanted to have a private talk with you." *** "To be honest, I expected more of you to participateˇ­ oh well, whatever." Arthur swept his eyes across the eight Guardians who agreed to join the last two trials. Considering how many teams actually joined the competition, the number of guardians willing to participate was relatively low, but it''s not like Arthur cared. The last two trials were a bonus, an entertainment for the guardians, who had been spectating so far, and the crowd, which wanted to see real experts fight. "Please make your acquaintance, sir Arthur." A green-haired elven beauty took a step closer to Arthur and elegantly bowed, a gentle smile plastered on her snow-white face. The parasite reciprocated with a wry smile and tried to stealthily distance himself from her. For their first meeting, she was acting a bit too friendly, whether it was her expression, her subtle movement, or her sweet and overly-amicable tone. Unlike her, however, the rest of the guardians were either neutrally silent or giving him a hostile glare, especially the Patriarch of the Dark Blaze Sect. Chapter 737 - 681: The Demon From Hell "Please do remember that this is a friendly competition so fatal attacks on already incapacitated opponents is strictly prohibited. Feel free to go all out butˇ­ ehm, within the limits, yes?" Arthur was met with casual nods or silence, which he didn''t particularly mind. Most, if not all of the present guardians have lived for a long time so the absence of the excitement emitting from their young pupils is to be expected, more or less. After adding a few more words and explaining simple things, Arthur left the eight guardians and rejoined with Lucy. She was done talking with Shu Ru, Rosea, and co, and it was finally time for the trial to begin. Unlike the previous trials, Arthur will take Gutcha''s place as a host. If there needs to be an interference mid-trial, Gutcha won''t be able to stop the guardians. While it''s true that the Pigolo, thanks to the seed of Dark Magic, can compete with Overgods albeit only being a God-Monarch, he still has not enough strength to completely subdue the participating guardians, especially those at the Exalted God Realm. Including Lucy MoonStar, there were nine guardians who wished to partake in the last trials; Halone, the Ageless Elven Maiden of the Katrisan Grand Forest, Buolong of the Blossom Merchant Company, Veia of the Holy Dominion, Rasnod Ak Dark Blaze Patriarch of the Dark Blaze Sect, Lakandro The Serpentine Patriarch of the Eternal Rouge Sect, Dan of Green-Leaf, Celina, Mother of all Mermaids, and the one of the 72th demons of Hell, The Blood Duke, Xavier Landres. While not all guardians joined the competitions, those who did were renowned across the multiverse. Whether it''s Ageless Elvan Maiden, who was basically like a God to all the Elven Race, or the notorious Blood Duke, who had actually managed to trick Arthur''s eyes and fool the system. Arthur was able to figure out the man''s identity only thanks to Isadore, who was fairly knowledgeable about the 72 Demons. Now that the truth was spilt, Arthur paid more attention to the tall and stoic-faced red-haired demon. Unlike his reputation, the demon behaved like a common noble, elegant and slightly arrogant. He wore a thick black furred coat and an expensive attire, which wasn''t suitable for combat. Even Arthur, who hasn''t paid any heed to their warfare, which had been ongoing for hundreds of thousands of years, had heard of Solomon, the strongest living demon. It was documented, as well as rumored, that Solomon had a power equal if not stronger than the Mythical Beings, making his prowess equal to the ancient and Creation Gods. Then again, one needs to experience Solomon''s prowess firsthand to ascertain said rumors. "I can''t sense his aura at all." Lucy, who learnt of Xavier''s identity, tried to probe the demon but came out empty-handed, but that didn''t discourage her. Amongst the eight soon-to-be her opponents, only Xavier and Halone could prove to be a challenge. Furthermore, as she had been resting for quite a while, Lucy had been itching to fight a strong opponent for a while, which was also why she replaced Arthur as one of the participating guardians. After giving his wife a warm hug, Arthur wished her good luck and, soon, the two of them teleported to the rising plateau, in which the new participants were waiting. "Let us begin." Arthur''s voice reverberated across the city, igniting the excitement of the chit chatting crowd and grabbing their attention. The parasite warned the guardians not to resist then, with a swift snap of his fingers, he teleported them all to a vast and flat green plain with massive red circles engraved on the grass. "This trial is simple; Capture the flying flags, take them to their respective bases and defend them until the timer runs out. Basically, it''s a battle royale." None of the guardians questioned Arthur''s words or objected to the rules. Some curiously inspected the green plains whereas others, like Rasnod, were giving him a piercing glare. The first timer was merely two minutes, in which the guardians readied and distanced themselves. Their auras burst forth, flattening the fluttering grass and distorting the space. This artificial world created by Arthur was clearly not strong enough to contain their combined aura, which caused a chain of spatial tears to appear all over the place. Not all of the old participants were of the same universe, therefore, accurately measuring their strength was a bit difficult than usual. Nevertheless, they could be categorized into two groups; Those who have, more or less, the same power as an Overgod, and those who were equal to Exalted Gods. Lucy, Xavier, Halone, Celina, and Rasnod, belonged to the latter, which means the rest were weaker, both in terms of purity of Nether Energy, cultivation, and overall physical and mental powers. However, a higher cultivation does not necessarily mean an ?ssured victory, and Lucy was the living example of that. Back when she was an Overgod, she was still able to contend and even defeat Exalted Gods and the System''s advanced combat robots. With a distance of a hundred or so between each of them, the timer hit zero, at last, and the aforementioned floating flags appeared all over the spacious plains. In total, there were five circles and five flags, each flag with a unique beast symbol. Six of the nine participants shot in the air, charging right at the closest flags. The remaining three, however, stood motionless. Lucy, Xavier, and Halone did not budge. The Elven Maiden was sweetly smiling, her hands crossed, seemingly calm and unperturbed by the urgency of the situation. Meanwhile, Xavier was intensely staring at Lucy, though his eyes lacked any kind of expected hostility. Even Lucy was slightly surprised to see him act as such. He had an unreadable expression, which did not match the suffocating pressure and the twirling red aura around him. ''First, I should pay her back for what she''s done to my pupil.'' As she wasn''t interested in either Xavier nor Halone, Lucy shifted her attention to Veia, the quiet girl from the Holy Dominion. By now, she had fully become an Overgod, though her Nether Energy was extremely unstable, so much that her Holy Magic was affected by it. Very much like her husband, Lucy was a vengeful person and she never forgets grudges. Although Veia did what she did to ?ssure her victory, that did not mean Lucy was happy with the result. Although it may have been unintentional, or simply her normal attitude, Lucy still did not like the way Veia behaved. She was silent but behind her mask of purity there definitely was subtle hints of arrogance. And even if it were not the case, Lucy would have gone after Veia purely due to the fact that she had defeated Rosea, condescending as it may sound. As Veia and Buolong were busy fighting each other close to a large white flag with a lion symbol, Lucy changed her stance and pressed her feet against the ground. She didn''t channel her Nether Energy or ready her Devil Arm, she was purely relying on her physical stats, which should be more than enough. Like a lightning bolt, the White Specter shot toward Veia, reaching her within a blink of an eye. The golden-haired girl was able to notice the bloodthirsty aura charging at her, however, she was too slow to dodge and only managed to forcefully spin her body and raise her small round shield just in time to meet Lucy''s punch. The shield did its job wonderfully and deflected most of the incoming damage, but Veia was still blown away, her body crashing into the grass and creating a massive crater. She swiftly stood up and started praying with her sword crossed near her ?h?st, but, unfortunately for her, she could not finish in time as Lucy was already upon her for the second time. "Dear Gods, are ye freak or what?" Buolong was shocked by Lucy''s sudden interference. He wasted a couple of breaths staring at Lucy before snapping out of it and flying toward the flag, snatching it and instantly retreating to the back, where its designated circle was located. Chapter 738 - 682: Koed It was a one-sided beating, quite literally. The other guardians did not even dare Lucy or get in her way. Veia tried her best to defend herself by swinging around her sword or raising her shield to defend, however, her opponent''s raw strength was simply too monstrous. In just a matter of thirty seconds, Veia was beaten into a bloody pulp. There were bruises all over her body, which was now exposed due Lucy''s kicks and punches. The resistant armor that was supposed to defend her had broken in pieces, and even her shield was on the verge of shattering. There were occasions when the girl managed to land a hit, but even that did not cause a single scratch on Lucy''s skin. "You defeated my pupil using that thunderbolt, yes?" "..." "I''ll let you summon it. Go Ahead." The white specter displayed a devilish smile as she stood a couple of paces away from the bloodied girl. Not an ounce of Nether Energy or Mana was emitting from Lucy, she was totally exposed. Veia gritted her teeth and, with a lot of difficulty, stood up and took the stance of prayer with her sword positioned vertically across her half-broken br??stplate. With no one stopping or interfering with her brief, Veia was able to quickly conjure the thick thunderbolt, which soon descended upon Lucy. Even at that point, Lucy did not make use of Ice Lotuses, her exceptional and deadly fusion fire, her devastating silver revolver, or even her Godspirit. Her right arm drastically changed in appearance and thick steam burst from the miniature holes throughout her frightening devil arm. Just like earlier, she merely clenched her right hand and punched the incoming thunderbolt, resulting in an earth-shattering shock wave that sent Veia blowing hundreds of meters away. It all happened within a couple of seconds and when the steam and dust cleared out, Lucy was standing still, unscathed and unperturbed. "Is that it?" "..." She was like a ghost, her silhouette blurring and instantaneously appearing right in front of the fallen Veia. "So much confidence and yet nothing to show off?" It was apparent that Veia was beginning to taste the bitter taste of defeat, desperation and urgency showcased on her face, which lacked its usual composure. The girl was glaring daggers at Lucy, her Holy Magic exploding forth, coupled with a loud war cry. It did not take a genius to figure out what she was doing; Veia was using her Blood Essence, consequently, weakening her future potential and shortening her lifespan, in order to gain a brief but explosive burst of power. **** Outside of the trial stage, Cardinal Patrick, who was rendered dumbstruck by the miserable defeat of Veia, was currently panicking, especially after he witnessed his pupil''s foolish attempt to retaliate against Lucy. Very much like Veia, a threatening amount of Holy Magic emanated from his body and shining staff, but before he could do anything, an invisible and mountainous pressure weighed down on him. "Cardinal, I don''t think you should do that." Arthur appeared a couple of meters away, his eyes locked onto the old man. The High Priest, Melissa, attempted to interfere and explain things but one glance at Arthur made her lose the will to speak or even move. She dumbly stood there, trembling in fear and sweating profusely. It wasn''t the effect of the Black Dragon Formation, it was only Arthur and his unseen Dark Magic. It was so concentrated and seemed to devour everything in its way, including the Cardinal''s pure and supposedly unrivaled Holy Magic. "No one is allowed to interfere in the trials. I think I''ve made myself clear before." "I want my pupil out." The Cardinal, who was already weakened due to sacrificing much of his power to strengthen Veia, was b?r?ly able to squeeze those words before coughing a mouthful of blood and falling back on the chair, his expression extremely pale. "Out? I''m afraid that''s not possible, Cardinal. Unless a participant falls unconscious or willingly surrenders, there''s no way out. Also, wasn''t it you who wanted that girl to participate? I''m not pointing fingers butˇ­ such an outcome is to be expected when you throw an inexperienced young girl amidst a fight between experts." "I-if Veia dies, the Dominion won''t stand fo-" "I''m sure I also told you that threatening anyone with your background is forbidden. I''ll let this slide but if it happens one more time thenˇ­" The parasite winked at Melissa and Patrick then added with a chilling voice, "You won''t be able to return to your lovely home." **** "Did you have fun scaring them?" Seeing both the Cardinal and the High Priest pale-faced, Isadore chuckled at Arthur, who had just come back to his seat. "I was only reminding them of the rules." "Is that soˇ­" The young King rolled his eyes and shifted his gaze back to the screen. He had to admit that Lucy''s fighting capabilities were beyond his expectations, even as someone particularly close to the MoonStar couple. "Your wife is really going all out." "All out? No wayˇ­ hahaha" ˇ­ Thanks to consuming her own vitality and Blood Essence, Veia''s cultivation increased again but it could not break through the limits of the Overgod Realm. She was enveloped by a majestic golden light, her sword now elongated and her shield transformed into a bigger, square-shaped one. Veia no longer cared about the flags or the trial, she was wholly focused on Lucy. When her transformation, which took a fair amount of time, was done, she lunged at the White Specter while thrusting her shining sword. Alas, before she could grasp what just happened, Veia found herself flying backwards, her aura diminishing at insane pace and her sword nowhere to be seen. Mid-air, the girl, still in-shock, saw Lucy appear right above her and spin around, lashing out with a lightning-fast kick which struck her abdomen. It was a series of simple attacks but it was more than enough to incapacitate and defeat the young girl. Before she even touched the ground, Veia had already fallen unconscious. The golden aura vanished and her gear along with her weapons were completely broken. "What a waste of time." Lucy coldly looked at the girl and clicked her tongue, not feeling as good as she had expected. Veia had strengthened herself multiple times but she could not fight back or provide enough entertainment, which meant that it was time to switch targets. Lucy wasn''t that interested in capturing or defending the flags, so she opted to attack those who successfully acquired one of the flying flags. There were a decent amount of targets she could fight, but, by far, the most interesting ones were the Elven Maid and the Demon, both were still standing still and nonchalantly talking to each other. Chapter 739 - 683: The Ageless Elven Maiden Lucy and Arthur knew that the Dark Blaze Sect did not participate in the competition just to gain fame or to showcase their talented youngsters. They were after Cristina and Bora and their special weapons, which had previously belonged to the sect. Rasnod Ak Dark Blaze, the Patriarch of the sect, was the guardian participating in the last two trials. In comparison to his other peers, he was relatively weaker, both in terms of cultivation and overall magical and physical prowess. Still, when the timer had hit zero, no one chased after Rasnod, which allowed him to safely catch one of the flying flags and swiftly take it to its respective circle. Now, all he had to do was defend it for a short amount of time. It has only been two minutes since the trial had started and, excluding Veia, who had been overpowered and knocked unconscious, the rest of the guardians were still either fighting each other or defending their flags. Xavier Landres and Halone did not budge from their spots, the rest, however, were determined to qualify for the last trial to uphold their reputation and increase their prestige. The rewards, albeit lucrative, were of no interest to wealthy and distinguished individuals such as them. Buolong, the armored and thick-bearded dwarf belonging to the Blossom Merchant Company, was currently defending his flag from the relentlessly attacking Lakandro. The Patriarch of the Eternal Rouge Sect had the unique ability to transform into a massive black-scaled and five-headed serpent. He stood at a towering thirty meters and emitted a dangerous poison mist. Buolong was a minuscule, b?r?ly noticeable in front of the humongous figure of Lakandro, however, he was still able to hold his ground and defend the circle and the flag with the sole use of his expensive and flashy gear. Though not the head of the Blossom Merchant Company, Buolong still had a high status and was well-respected, both for his prowess and intelligent economical decision. Lakandro Serpentine and Buolong were evenly matched so the other guardians did not interfere in their explosive fight and just watched from the sidelines. There were only five circles and five flying flags, Bulong was defending one, and so was Rasnod Ak Dark Blaze. As for the other three remaining flags, one was caught by Celina, Mother of all Mermaids, and one by Dan, the loyal protector of Isadore Malfront, King of the Green-Leaf Realm. After thoroughly inspecting the other seven guardians, Lucy finally picked her next target. She did not take the same approach as before, meaning that she did not recklessly get close to her target. Instead, she summoned her Godspirit along with the rotating ice lotuses then channeled her pure Mana, which caused a chain of actions to burst forth from her body and affect her vicinity. A half-blue half-white mist covered her and her surroundings, then there was a soft explosive sound followed right after by a bone-chilling aura which froze the grass and cracked the space. [Absolute Zero] was a high-leveled Ice-aspected spell used by the strong mortal mages on Astria and other similar worlds. Such a spell would not normally work on powerful cultivators, however, thanks to Lucy''s Godspirit and her vast quantities of Mana, the spell was empowered to an unimaginable degree. The freezing ice and the mist spread at a fast pace, creeping closer to Halone, the Ageless Elven Maiden. Xavier Landres chuckled and jumped to the back, however, Halone did the opposite. She took out two gauntlets made from what looked like emerald, then shot straight into the incoming ice and mist. Only when she got close enough did the elf realize how effective Lucy''s mist and ice were. Her movements significantly decreased and, for a split second, she was even rooted to the icy ground. She did manage to break free and continue her charge, though she was soon met with dozens of massive icicles shooting at her. One would expect a graceful elven maiden to rely on Nature Magic or archery, like most of her race. Halone, however, didn''t follow the orthodox route, she was a melee-fighter, and a very strong one, at that. "It''s a p???sur? to meet you, Madam Lucy." Halone somersaulted to the back and sweetly smiled at the White Specter. Contrary to her soothing voice and bright expression, her actions were intense and savage; She violently banged her left foot on the ground and changed her stance, swiftly crouched down and punched the ground, obliteration it and causing countless miniature plants with creepy laughs to jump from below, exploding left and right. This attempt forced Lucy to retreat and use the ice lotuses to block the incoming damage, meanwhile her GodSpirit, which had taken its time in blooming, released a thick and massive snowstorm. It resembled a tornado more than a snowstorm; A chilling and unstoppable gale, needle-shaped snowflakes, and a threatening pressure encompassed the area, grazing Halone''s clothes and piercing her skin. The elf was fast to respond, but it was still not enough to defend against everything the snowstorm launched at her. Thirsty seconds, Lucy was startled to see a glowing silhouette surge from the ground and strike her rear. She spun her body and tried to defend with the ice lotuses but she wasn''t fast enough, unfortunately. Thus she was blown away like a cannonball, her body crashing into the icy ground and rolling several times. Still, she quickly stood up and regained her balance, her clothes slightly shredded but no wounds, light or severe, were sustained, much to the elf''s surprise. "I had heard that you and yours trained your body beyond the limit butˇ­ this is just ridiculous." Halone expected her attack to deal some substantial damage, but it didn''t seem to be the case. Even when she had caught Lucy off-guard and hit her with the gauntlets, the latter wasn''t the least bit injured, which goes to show how resilient and absurdly strong her body actually was. "Mother of Mermaids, please do not take this personally." He stared back at the cautious mermaid and apologetically bowed, a soft smile plastered on his face. "..." Celina did not reply, she glared at him and invoked her magic. First there was a forty-meter long tsunami that appeared out of nowhere, from which flying sharks burst from within and crashed into the motionless demon. Xavier had stopped dozens of meters away from the circle and did not resist the incoming sharks or the massive tsunami. "Hmpf!" Upon noticing that her attacks did practically nothing, Celina mumbled an inaudible chant then pulled a unique-blue spear from a black circle-shaped hole. Although he was not attacking or retaliating, Celina still did not give him the time to react to her attacks. A dangerous amount of energy revolved around her, soon concentrating on the spear and elevating its already impressive aura. The preparation took but a couple of breaths, and when they were done, the mermaid raised the spear and threw it at the Duke. The second it left her hand, the spear became distortedˇ­ It was so strong that the space around it was not able to withstand the pressure. It was accompanied by a pillar of azure light, causing the gentle weather to turn into a disastrous storm. Chapter 740 - 684: Forfeit Chaos unfolded in the stretching green plains, which were either frozen by Lucy''s ice, destroyed by Halone''s fists of fury, or wrecked by Celina''s gigantic water wave. The battle between Lucy and her opponent has reached its climax, with the two finally going all out. The elven maiden cast a spell on herself, which wrapped her body with an armor made of literal plants and significantly boosted her speed. Meanwhile, Lucy preferred to maintain her distance and bombard the enemy with the explosive elemental bullets from Lonely Moon, the silver revolver specifically crafted to her by none other than Arthur. It has been a while since the revolver has been upgraded, nevertheless, every bullet shot from its glistening barrel was truly frightening, no matter the attribute used. The ice lotuses were rapidly spinning around Lucy, deflecting the incoming shock waves caused by Halone''s fists. They were an effective defensive measure, which made Lucy practically untouchable. Although Halone''s agility and strength were strengthened, she still could not catch up to Lucy, thus did she resort to long-ranged blasts that had a wide radius and dealt substantial damage to the environment. Lucy loaded another bullet, aimed at the speeding elf, and fired a red bullet with three spinning magical circles in front of it. The second the bullet was shot, a scorching heat and a blast of purple flames encompassed the azure-colored canopy, slowly cascading onto Halone. In retaliation, the elf rooted her feet onto the icy ground, mumbled a couple of words then shot right into the sea of flames. She met the purple flames head-on and surprisingly managed to split it with a torrent of blurry punches. Meanwhile, the ground down below cracked and from within, a moving enormous tree appeared. It was actually a Treant, a higher-variant of the plant-type monsters. This Treant, however, has impressively long and thin limbs, the face of an old man, and an absurdly long white beard. The vines were too fast for Lucy to evade them so she swiftly loaded another bullet and shot it at them. The bullet didn''t directly affect the vines, but it did shatter the space and cause a series of large spatial tears to appear all around her. The spatial tears easily su?k?d the vines and even forced Halone to circle around them. Unfortunately for the elf, this bought Lucy enough time to cast her next spell. The White Specter channeled her Mana and, within seconds, a miniature golden sun manifested itself, wrapped in blinding flames of the same color. The sun slowly rose into the air, its light shadowing the artificial sun of this small dimension. Lucy wasted no time and, with her signal, the sun exploded, bringing forth a storm of golden flames which blew Halone away and even spread to Dan, who was minding his own business and protecting the flag in its respective circle. The Treant down below suffered the same fast as its master, its massive body crashed into the ground and was struck by the raging golden flames. The Golden Crow Fire caught the attention of all the participants. Xavier and Celina stopped fighting, the former backing away and the latter protecting herself with a small bubble of water. Lucy''s spell affected half of the green flat plains, scorching the earth and grass and spreading across the sky, in which the artificial sun was replaced by a real, burning one, emitting a suffocating heat. Lucy calmly landed on the ash-covered ground and looked around, spotting no traces of the treant. Halone, on the other hand, was still there, but she didn''t look unscathed. Her clothes and her whole left arm had burn marks, she didn''t have the same easy-going expression and her breathing was heavy and uneven. It was apparent that Lucy''s attack dealt a considerable amount of damage to the elf, though it wasn''t able to defeat her, unfortunately. "I''m impressed, madam Lucy." "I have to admit that I didn''t expect to be thrashedˇ­ and so badly, at that. My apologies for underestimating you." "..." Lucy maintained her silence, she kept her guard up and cautiously looked at the elven maiden. "I forfeit." Halone raised her hand and surrendered, her aura vanished on the spot and, soon, she was teleported out of the stage. With one more opponent down, Lucy, albeit a bit tired from the previous fight, focused on another participant. ** "What are you doing?" Holand was meditating in silence but soon stopped upon seeing his grandsire take out a bunch of ritual materials from out of his ring. "Come on, Holand. We''re leaving." His aunt grabbed him by the elbow and tried to drag him outside. There was urgency in her tone and actions, which made the situation even more confusing for the youth. "I asked you what you are doing!" Even though he already knew the answer, Holand insisted, but he got no answer. His usually kind grandfather nonchalantly waved his hand at him, which made both he and his aunt get dragged outside by a gentle magical wind. "We have to leave the city." It was obvious that his aunt wasn''t in cahoots with his grandfather, nevertheless, Holand refused to cooperate. Those materials were a bad omen and trying anything within the parasite''s territory was simply suicidal. "He''s going to summon our ancestor''s avatar, right? Why? Is my father still after Cristina and Bora?" Holand bombarded his aunt with questions but she kept her lips tightly shut. Although Holand vehemently refused to leave, his cultivation was eventually sealed and he was forcefully taken outside. "Forgive me, Holand." "Let me go! I need to warn them." "There''s no need to. I''m taking you outside because I know my brother will fail. They will get killed but at least you will surviveˇ­" Chapter 741 - 685: One Hit The Dark Blaze Sect was founded by the Evil God of Dark Flames, Phantro. He mated with a human, thus creating a slightly malformed and rather infamous lineage. The reputation of the Dark Blaze Sect was rock bottom during the second and third eras, and despite being decently strong in terms of manpower and cultivation techniques, they were regarded as spawn of Phantro. Slowly but surely, the prejudice disappeared and the sect rose to prominence, becoming one of the highly-distinguished powers in the Cloud Sea Universe, though it fell short in comparison to the clans and sects in the Divine Planets, or even a handful of others all around the universe. Still, every Patriarch that took over the sect was always an Exalted God, which solidified their position and reputation, as well as drive some rogue but talented cultivators and explorers to seek refuge and knowledge in the Dark Blaze High-Realm. Randuin Ak Dark Blaze, grandsire of Holand and father of Rasnod, wasn''t lucky enough to inherit the special Dark Blaze Technique of his ancestors, nevertheless, he managed to rise to the apex by learning the mysterious mystical arts. Although eccentric and unsocial, Randuin deeply cared for his sect and, very much like his son, was angered by Cristina and Bora''s desertion. However, what mattered most were the Twin-snake Black Snake Spear, and the Unbreakable Bow of Faith, which were two priceless artifacts lent to two of their strongest disciples. The Dark Blaze Sect wasn''t wealthy, but it had a decent amount of artifacts, however, the bow and the spear were special as they dated back to the second era. The records briefly mention their origin and how they belonged to an antagonistic clan which had waged war against the whole of the Dark Blaze Realm. Apparently, that reason, along with the massive loss of face, had driven Rasnod to concoct a sinister plan and execute it in the MoonStar Sect out of all places. By now, there hasn''t been any cultivator who has not heard of Arthur and Lucy MoonStar, the couple of century. Two monsters, one was a White Specter and the other was a Parasite, two people who were banished into Oblivion yet came back stronger and totally unscathed. Unfortunately, Rasnod did not conduct a thorough investigation on Arthur and Lucy. He saw them as slightly talented cultivators who just founded a sect in a random middle-realm. He has severely underestimated the duo and only when he witnessed the Black Dragon Formation and seen them with his own eyes did he feel their might. Nevertheless, with Randuin, a peak Exalted God, along side him, Rasnod refused to back down or change the plan. While he was participating in the last two trials, his father would perform a costly summoning to call forth the avatar of their one and only ancestor, the Evil God of Dark Flame, Phantro. Although the avatar was not real and wasn''t as strong as the real one, it would still wreak havoc in the city and cause the parasite a lot of trouble. Not even the Black Dragon Formation covering the entirety of the city will be able to retaliate against the avatar. While things were progressing smoothly for Lucy in the Trial stage, Arthur no longer sat down and watched. As he had confidently proclaimed, there was nothing in the city he couldn''t feel, see or hear. So, when Holand was dragged away by his aunt, Arthur saw it, but that wasn''t the end, he also noticed the suspicious Randuin, holed up in his room and positioning the materials to begin the summoning. "I will be back shortly." The parasite stood up from his seat and soon vanished into thin air, his body appearing a couple of paces away from the startled Randuin. The eccentric old man had laid a formation that should have covered his presence, but such trivial trickery wouldn''t work on Arthur. Even if his Sixth Sense wasn''t able to notice anything, his special eyes would have seen through the formation. However, Arthur did not immediately attack the old man. Although Randuin was wearing a strange wizardly outfit and looked harmless, he was still an Exalted God. A bout of silence flowed between the parasite and the old man, and when the latter was about to make a move, he suddenly found himself in a totally different environment. No longer was he standing in the inn room, surrounded by a bunch of materials; He was unwittingly brought to a foreign dimension, in which the sky was a mix of grey and crimson, and the hissing of countless snakes reverberated repeatedly. "I thought you were wise enough not to attempt anything." Finally, Arthur spoke, his expression grim and his body enveloped by sinister black flames. "Hohoho, it appears I failed to fool you." The parasite shrugged and unsheathed Makaze, looking unfazed by the old man''s rising pressure. "I wouldn''t want my precious city to be destroyed by our fight. How do you like this place?" Randuin Ak Dark Blaze looked around, his hand holding a lengthy staff and tapping it on the ground, which was enough to disintegrate any snake that got too close to him. "It''s not a bad pla-" Unfortunately for him, Arthur didn''t wait for him to finish, his figure blurred and the dark blade was swung with full force. Randuin was fast enough to raise a white crystalline shield, but it was all in vain as Makaze cut through it with ease and slashed his ?h?st, causing a fountain of blood to splatter on the parasite. As he faced an Exalted God, even in such advantageous circumstances, Arthur held nothing back and immediately used [Thousand Waves]. The intensely vibrating dark blaze, happy to be used after a long rest, was raised upwards, its glowing tip pointing toward the canopy. In a matter of seconds, the world was covered by a looming darkness, su?k?n? the light and even the energy dwelling within. Even though he was attacked by surprise and sustained a heavy injury, Randuin was composed and counter-attacked by summoning an enormous illusory green tiger, which fought back against the threatening darkness. Alas, it was eventually crushed and the first wave of [Thousand Waves] was unleashed at the stiffened silhouette of the old man. ''First Wave: Black as Night, Calamity Descends!'' Makaze was swung vertically, splitting the very fabric of reality in two and unleashing a devastating and unstoppable gale along with a swirling darkness. It all happened in the blink of an eye, and when Arthur finally returned to the inn room, he was standing alone. Not even a piece of Randuin was left, he was ripped into shreds by the Dark Blaze''s gale then swallowed by the darkness. It was an underwhelming battle considering that his opponent was an Exalted God. Nevertheless, Arthur wasn''t the least bit surprised. Before he even retrieved Makaze, he had been able to face an Exalted God, so it''s to be expected that after getting such a huge power-up, he would be able to one-shot someone like Randuin. In fact, it was the enemy''s fault, after all, he was the one who underestimated Arthur. Then again, the parasite used all of his strength, going as far as activating [Eternium] and using [Thousand Waves], which was arguably his strongest skill. Just like that, the threat was eliminated before anyone could be harmed. Randuin Ak Dark Blaze, the Grand Elder of the Dark Blaze Sect, was killed and his corpse was turned into nothingness. The only one left was Rasnod, who would be finished by Lucy. Chapter 742 - 686: Weak Resolve After Halone surrendered, there were seven participants remaining. The two defeated guardians lost to none other than Lucy, who soon turned her attention to Rasnod Ak Dark Blaze. The man chose the farthest circle from Lucy and when he noticed her chilling gaze, he snorted and immediately sprung into action. He did not hesitate to take out his strongest weapon, a thick spiked club enveloped by black flames. In addition, he used other artifacts to erect more than two spherical translucent barriers, protecting himself, the flag, and its circle. Rasnod, along with the other five, all witnessed Lucy''s prowess and what she was capable of, and as arrogant as the Patriarch might be, he was aware that he stood no chance against the White Specter. After spending a couple of seconds recovering Mana, Lucy''s right devil arm manifested itself again, letting out bursts of dense steam, which twirled around her like a tornado. Like a shooting white star, Lucy charged at Rasnod and reached him within a split second; She clenched her right hand and punched the barriers, breaking them instantly and destroying the ground in the process. Fearful and shocked, Rasnod took flight while swinging his club at Lucy, who flew at him like a lightning bolt. Alas, his attempt was poor and unsuccessful as his club hit nothing but air. He simply wasn''t fast enough to react to Lucy''s absurd speed, thus getting hit in the spine by Lucy''s punch. The physical hit was enough to incapacitate the Patriarch and break his bones, but since Lucy wanted to kill him, she did not hesitate to use her fusion fire. Rasnod''s body crashed into the ground, rolled a few times then limply laid on the ground, seemingly lifeless. The poor man did not even let out a groan, he fell unconscious and his spiked club was blown far away. Just when the spectators thought the battle was over, Lucy landed next to Rasnod and hovered her left hand above his body, emitting a spark of greyish of fire, which invaded the victim''s body and, in just a couple of breaths, scorched his insides and froze his skin and clothes. The fight was over before it had even begunˇ­ then again, Rasnod, despite being an Exalted God, would never have stood a chance against Lucy. It was surprising to see Lucy outright kill Rasnod, which was prohibited, but the outcome of the battle was expected by almost everyone. "We apologize for the unexpected sight. The Dark Blaze Sect has been caught trying to cause ''mischief'' in our city so, my wife and I, took it upon us to exert the appropriate punishment." Arthur explained what had just happened with an orotund voice, which was enough to quieten the curious crowd. His voice not only was heard by the spectators but by the participating guardians too. "So they really were trying to do something?" As Arthur returned to the VIP box and sat back on his seat, Isadore, unable to hold back his curiosity, eyed the parasite and commented. "They should''ve tried it elsewhere. They got what they deserve." "I seeˇ­" The King of Green-Leaf nodded his head in agreement and after a momentary silence, asked again, "Soˇ­ did you kill Randuin?" "Yes." "Was he any trouble? I thought he was a Peak Exalted God." "He was alright." "What do you mean by alright? Likeˇ­ did he put up a fight?" "He did tryˇ­ nevermind that. Let''s watch the trial." ˇ­ "Oh look who''s back!" Cristina angrily stomped her foot at the ground and glared at the red-haired youth who just entered the room. Ho Qing was supposed to be meditating in his room, but since he came back, it means his period of enlightenment and learning was short-lasting. However, his cultivation was significantly higher and even his aura had a qualitative change, which meant it wasn''t all for nothing, fortunately. Ho Qing did not retort at the girl''s snappy attitude, he walked closer to the bed and stared at Shu Ru. "How are you feeling?" "I''m great, thank you!" She sweetly smiled at the youth, but after her quick response, the atmosphere was dominated by an overwhelming awkwardness. All the members of the MoonStar team were finally in one room, but no one talked. They stared at each other in silence, some hesitating to talk, some looking crestfallen, and others simply lost in their thoughts. At last, Bora, who looked the most cheerful of them all, broke the silence and said, "I think we should leave." "What? Leave? What are you on about?" Cristina looked at her smiling childhood friend, a frown surfacing on her slightly exhausted face. "We can''t be under our teacher''s protection forever. We have to leave Green-Leaf and visit other realms to hone ourselves and get stronger." "I concur." Ardor raised his hand and agreed with Bora, but the rest of the team members kept their mouths shut. "I heard about what happened." He walked in front of the princess and coldly looked down at her. "..." The girl did not even glance at him, she kept absent-mindedly staring at the ground. "If you''re going to be like this then it''s better to leave." "Hey!" Cristina attempted to stop him but was stopped by Bora, who shook his head and signaled for her to stand still and listen. "Such a weak resolve after one defeat. You acting like a kid is embarrassing to us and even our teachers. I''ll say it again, if you don''t have the will to continue then leave right now. I don''t want you in my team." The girl was unresponsive, though her body twitched ever-so-slightly, clearly affected by Ho Qing''s harsh words. Even the others were shocked by this display; Cristina broke free from Bora''s grasp and lunged at Ho Qing, grabbing his collar and shouting at him. Shu Ru furrowed her brows and worriedly looked at Rosea whereas Bora was nervously looking at Cristina. The only one who did not react was Ardor, he stood at the back and calmly watched everything. Even though Ho Qing was going overboard, he still chose to sit still and watch everything unravel, not because he enjoyed it but because this was necessary. They had tried talking some sense into Rosea but it didn''t work at all. This might be the only effective method to snap her out of it and push her to make a decision. By now, the six of them established a close relationship and if they were going to continue training and getting stronger together, they need to be of the same mind. Rosea wiped her bleeding lips then looked at her hand, tears trickling down her cheek. She suddenly leapt to her feet and rushed at Ho Qing, who was still held by Cristina. Just like what he did to her, the girl viciously slapped him, separating him from Cristina but causing him to fall on the ground. She did not even let him time to react as she mounted him and unleashed a torrent of slaps, which he tried to resist but failed. "Who said I wanted to leave?! You arrogant prick!" She kept crying, slapping him, and insulting him over and over again. "I tried my best! Alright! I want to get stronger too!" "I like staying here and learning from Madam Lucy and Mister Arthur! Who are you to tell me what to do?!" "Just because you showed off in front of everyone, you think you can order me around?!" "Y-youˇ­ you ungrateful idiot! Not everyone is as lucky as you! Damn you!" ˇ­ By the time Rosea stopped, Ho Qing''s cheeks were red and his lips were bleeding. Nevertheless, his face was expressionless and he no longer tried to push her away. Thankfully, Bora and Cristina stepped in and separated Rosea from Ho Qing, the former was choking on her tears but looked much better than before. Chapter 743 - 687 : The Demonic Shades One would have thought that Ho Qing''s mocking words and Rosea''s punches and slaps would have eventually caused a rift to form between the six youngsters, but it wasn''t the case, fortunately. Although Rosea failed to notice it at first, it was crystal clear that Ho Qing deliberately uttered such provocative words to rile her up and make her vent her frustration. However, he didn''t expect her to actually lunge at him and slap him until his cheeks were reddened, bleeding, and puffed. "I-it''s not right to dwell on what happened." After a pretty long and awkward silence, Bora spoke up, breaking it and gaining everyone''s attention. "We began this together and I believe we have the strength and capability to continue. Every team faces troubles at the beginning, but if we manage to overcome them, we will rise to greater heights!" With the five of them focusing on him, the tanned youth gained confidence and raised his voice a little louder. "We can do this, guys! Let''s not let our loss or failures get the better of us! If our teachers saw this, they would surely be disappointed! We must forge our own path and prove to the whole world that we''re the best.". "..." "..." "..." Once he voiced his thoughts and puffed his ?h?st proudly, poor Bora was met with only silent gazes. In the end, Ardor could not hold it any longer and burst out in laughter. The others too laughed, even the stoic Ho Qing "Seriously! Is that supposed to be an encouraging speech? It was really bad." Ardor wiped his teary eye and snickered at the embarrassed Bora. "Yeahˇ­ it was lame." Rosea joined in, giggling and stealing glances at the others. ; ***** Once Rasnod was taken care of, Lucy did not rest. Instead, she targeted yet another guardian, both to showcase her prowess to the world and battle those considered her peers. So far, only the Ageless Elven Maiden proved to be a challenge. Veia and Rasnod were relatively weak in comparison, and they never really stood a chance against Lucy. Even if Lucy had a mediocre talent and did not have the fusion flame, the Devil Right Arm, or the Ice Lotuses, she would still be unimaginably strong thanks to Soul Bond with Arthur. Her stats had already broken through the mortal limitations and gone beyond one billion points. That means her physical body and absurdly large Mana Pool allowed her to be a force to be reckoned with. After Arthur recovered the upgraded Makaze and his first clone, he had become stronger than Lucy, but the disparity between them wasn''t that large. After all, Lucy excels in Magic and destructive areas of effect spells whereas Arthur''s fighting style was versatile and ever-changing. His unique ability to change forms and cast all types of skills, spells, and techniques, allowed him to be unpredictable and hard to manage in a fight. With Rasnod, Halone, and Veia gone, six participants remain. The thick-bearded dwarf clad in an over-sized enchanted armor was holed up in his own circle and apprehensively eyeing the motionless Lucy. If they could, everyone could pick a flying flag and simply wait for the timer to hit zero. However, most, if not all of the participating guardians did not come here to win like that but to demonstrate their power and fight, much like Lucy. Apart from the Serpentine Patriarch of the Eternal Rouge Sect and his feisty opponent, Celina, the rest were spectating. ; Lucy deemed Dan and Buolong unfit so she locked her gaze onto the Demon Duke. He was ??r?ssing his long cane and faintly smiling back at her, looking as relaxed and nonchalant as before. From all the opponents, Xavier was the strangest and most mysterious of them all. Lucy could not properly gauge his strength even after his brief fight against Celina. "Lucy MoonStar, I had hoped our first meeting would''ve been different. More amicableˇ­ at least." "..." She coldly glared at him, her Mana exploding forth and the nine blooming Ice Lotuses were back behind her. The freezing aura was unleashed with full force, accompanying Lucy as she shot at Xavier with an impressive agility. She was like a lightning bolt, reaching Xavier within the blink of an eye. She did not hold back her strength and performed a punch with the Devil Arm, consequently releasing a lot of dense steam and a devastating shock wave. Her fist clashed with the demon''s cave but it was eventually able to push it back and blew its holder several hundred meters to the back. However, Xavier wasn''t injured, he properly landed on the ground, looking amused. "Please bear in mind that I mean no harm or malice. This shall be a contest to determine who''s strongerˇ­ agreed?" "You talk too much." "And rightly so, Lucy MoonStar." A swirling translucent crimson aura emanated from Xavier''s body, soon taking the shape of skeletal shape thrice his size and linked to his back via countless thin crimson threads. "Please do not hold back." As he uttered these words, he jumped in the air and swung his cane vertically, which made the skeletal shape behind him lunge at Lucy with a newly-formed scythe. The incoming illusory scythe cut the freezing aura and the steam, reaching its target almost immediately as if it teleported. Lucy braced herself and performed another, much stronger punch, embedded with the fusion flame. The ominous and small spark of grey flame clashed with the illusory scythe, disintegrating it upon contact then dispersing. Lucy flew at the skeletal shade and made use of the Ice Lotuses, which rapidly spun and unleashed [Absolute Zero] for the second time today. ; For a couple of breaths, this miniature dimension was dominated by an azure color and a bone-chilling coldness. ; The land below Lucy as well as the air itself were frozen, even the skeletal shade wasn''t spared. However, this wasn''t the end as Lucy cast an enormous golden fireball right at Xavier. The demon frowned, stabbed his cane on the ground and performed an unfamiliar sign with both hands. Another crismon and illusory shade manifested itself; This time, it was a bestial shape with human hands holding a shield. With the Demon Duke controlling it, the beast raised its shield and blocked the fireball and the ever-spreading coldness. ; Just when Xavier thought he succeeded, he saw the shield and its holder literally explode as a large cloud of darkness appeared from nowhere and consumed everything. After firing the 2nd-grade Darkness Bullet, Lucy distanced herself to not get affected and watched as Xavier''s bestial shade was devoured. ; Now that two of his shades were defeated, Xavier looked pale. He wiped the blood leaking out of his lips and chuckled. "We will finish with this one, Lucy MoonStar." He concentrated all of his swirling aura in the cane then removed it from the frozen earth. It shone with a bright blood-red light then escaped his hand, transforming into a real shade this time, taking the shape of half-naked hideous and large horned devil with red skin. Lucy changed her stance and readied herself to punch again. The devil arm was releasing an absurd amount of steam, so much that it became an enormous fog shrouding her within, but only for a couple seconds as a blinding golden radiance dispersed it. A miniature blazing sun appeared in her hand, however, instead of rising in the air then exploding like before, Lucy grasped it with her right hand and crushed it. The Golden Crow Fire was injected into the Devil arm, enveloping it with the flames and greatly strengthening it. The force of the explosion was so big and intense that Arthur''s dimension broke apart, blasting everyone within it outside. ; All that was left of it was a sea of golden flames, soon su?k?d by the ever-appearing spatial tears. ; The participants were shocked by this outcome but, fortunately, none was injured. Lucy''s flames shone brighter than Green-Leaf''s sun, spreading across the canopy like a golden carpet. Although it was soon dispersed by Arthur, the spectacle was astonishing and unforgettable for every single person in the crowd. Soon, everything cleared up; Lucy was floating in the air, looking exhausted but not injured. Meanwhile, Xavier was a distance away, also hovering but in a worse condition. His clothes were ripped and his breathing heavy. "I forfeit." He kept smiling and reassuringly waved his hand. ; "The winners of the Trial are Lakandro of the Eternal Rouge Sect, Buolong of the Blossom Merchant Company, and Dan of Green-Leaf." Technically, only those who defended their flags till the end were victorious. However, the crowd was more excited about Lucy''s fight against Xavier and almost forgot about the other guardians. "Are you okay?" After declaring the winners, Arthur appeared next to Lucy and took her elsewhere. She spent the entirety of the Mana, but that was about it. After a brief rest, she will recover to peak state. Chapter 744 - [Bonus ] 688 : The Blood Duke Read novel online free fast updates at novelhall.com or NovelTeam.Net The tournament hosted and prepared by the MoonStar Sect has come to an end. It concluded with a flashy and exciting spectacle. Undoubtedly, everyone from the crowd was provided with a show worthy of their contribution. Whether it was the Trials in which the youngsters participated in, or the last stage where the Guardians fought and displayed their prowess. Of course, there were some complications, mainly originating from the Dark Blaze Sect and John from the Ancient Federation. Nonetheless, Arthur dealt with those without inciting too much fear or distress. There was a grand celebration for the crowd to enjoy, but neither Arthur nor the guardians were interested in participating. After checking on Lucy and- despite her protest- using Life Energy to hasten her recovery, the couple met up with their team. The six disciples were standing next to each other in an orderly fashion, and once their teachers entered the room, they performed a bow of respect. Arthur softly smiled and nodded, proud and satisfied. Lucy, however, was frowning as she noticed the visible bruises on some of their faces. "You fought?" Her voice was bone-chilling and her eyes were narrowed to a dangerous degree. For a couple of breaths, none of the six dared to open their mouths. "Weˇ­ we sorted it out, teacher." With a bit of mustered courage, Ardor spoke up but kept his head lowered. He knew that she forbade them from fighting each other no matter the reason. True, it wasn''t a ''real'' fight, but the fact that they resorted to violence was enough for her to be angry. "It was my fault!" Rosea took one step forward and bowed again, this time bending her head lower than ever before. She was a royalty, a Princess, but in front of Arthur and Lucy, she did not dare to act arrogant. She had indeed gone overboard, like Ho Qing, and because she was conflicted and doubtful, they had fought. Fortunately, everything had been, more or less, cleared up. Admittedly, Rosea and Ho Qing still refused to look at each other and the atmosphere was slightly tense, nevertheless, they chose to stay togetherˇ­ as a team. "I did not agree to teach you just for you to end up fighting." Lucy raised her voice and swept her piercing gaze across all six of them. She let out a soft sigh and added, "You made many mistakes during the Trials and many things could have been done better. Howeverˇ­ I am satisfied. For now, at least." "You heard her. Cheer up. There''s room for improvement and, as long as you''re willing, I know you will achieve your goals. Be it becoming the strongest or gaining the respect of the masses." Arthur''s speech, which wasn''t anything impressive, resonated with the youngsters. They responded with smiles and enthusiastic nods. "We will resume training tomorrow! Go rest now." After saying those words, which changed their expressions, Lucy left the room along with a grinning Arthur. ˇ­ It was a long day for everyone, therefore, Arthur and Lucy planned to retreat to their room. However, they were suddenly called by Edward. "Someone would like to meet the Madam." The man maintained a safe distance from Lucy and muttered those words. He nudged the succubus next to him, thus urging her to continue. "It''s Xavier Lander, the Demon." "What does he want?" Asked Arthur as a frown surfaced on his face. Xavier was undoubtedly strong, but he was a man shrouded in mystery. He specifically wanted to battle Lucy and though, on the outside, he seemed kind and amicable, Arthur was wary of him. He thought the Demon would leave after the competition was over but it clearly wasn''t the case. Lucy thought for a moment then looked at Arthur, who solemnly nodded. Before long, the two were in another room, in which Xavier was patiently waiting. The Demon was sitting on a sofa and fiddling with a half-empty glass of wine. "Ah, greetingsˇ­ again." When the couple entered, the Demon, in appreciation, smiled at Edward and Fariya. "I believe this is our first official meeting, Arthur MoonStar." Xavier put down the glass and approached the parasite. He stretched his arm and kept the same smile, "I am Xavier Landres, the 29th Demon of Hell. My formal title is ''The Blood Duke''. Pleased to make your acquaintance." He shook hands with Arthur then elegantly bowed. He did glance at Lucy but, aware that she disliked touching other men, he did not deign to get too close or say anything out of place. "Would you please sit down?"-Xavier The parasite and his wife sat across the Blood Duke, and after a brief silence, the latter spoke again. "I was genuinely impressed by your prowess, Lucy MoonStar. Not to boast, but I am amongst the strongest of my kindˇ­ to be bested in front of so many eyes is a bit embarrassing, hahahaˇ­" "..."-Lucy She looked at him in silence, still wondering why he had called them here. He did not seem like a bad person, but since she and Arthur had limited knowledge regarding the Demons of Hell, they couldn''t properly evaluate Xander. "Counting this year, I am 12,521 years old and I have held my title for half that time. Excuse this unnecessary remark but I deem it necessary for what I''m about to say next." Arthur crossed his arm and perked his ears, awaiting for the Demon to continue. "It might seem ridiculous or too sudden, but, I believe that Madam Lucy and I share a connection. Please don''t misunderstandˇ­ what I meant was; She might be my biological daughter." "I beg your pardon?"-Arthur "I believe a proper exposition is in order." Xander sat straight and cleared his throat, "Long ago, Katrina, the Matriarch of the White Specter Clan and I shared- for want of a better word- a special relationship. Now, I do not know for a fact that Madam Lucy is my daughter, butˇ­ recent affairs suggest she is." He looked at Lucy and chuckled, "You arm. I saw how it can transform." Xander Landres pulled his sleeves and, after a second or two, the strange scales and miniature holes appeared. It was strikingly similar to Lucy''s devil arm. "This is a unique trait for the Sanguis Demon Family. A heritage from my family. Only direct descendants can use this." Arthur, surprised, looked at Xander''s devil arm but did not speak. Lucy too, was startled, her lips opening and closing but not saying anything. "I truly understand that this might be a shock and I did not come here to demand anything. In fact, I just learned that I have a daughter. Katrina did not deign to reveal the truth to me." "It doesn''t make sense, though." Arthur interrupted the Demon as he kept looking at his Devil Arm. "Lucy''s father is confirmed to be Thordan." "Yes. Thordan was indeed Katrina''s husband and the father of her children. That''s what I thought too. However, the Devil Arm could not be a coincidence." "When I was young, there was an accident and I was lost. It was then that I was ''poisoned'' by a Demon, or so Katrina had said." Lucy seemed composed as she calmly uttered those words. "Mayhap she lied to you to protect you? Or did not want the truth to come out?" Xavier looked a bit nervous, unlike his previous self. Seeing Lucy deny what he said and lack any kind of positive reaction made him less enthusiastic. Still, he did not burst out in anger or insist. "If you do not mind, I have the means to confirm if we are related by blood or not." He took out a triangular red device and put it on the table. "This is a practical magical artifact, often used by Demon Royalty. Once cleased, two people can sacrifice a drop of their blood and, in a matter of seconds, they can see if they are related or not." "How convenient." Arthur snorted as he glared at the Demon, clearly not believing him. "I will not force you to do anything, Lucy. Even if we are related, I will not ask for anything. In your times of need, you can call for me and I will help you the best I can." Xander let out a heavy sigh as he added, "You have your own life and family now and I am in no position to interfere. I just want to make things right and be responsible for a past mistake." "Mistake?" Retorted Lucy as her eyes were fixated on his. "Yes. It was honestly a mistake born out of inconvenient circumstances. Everything happened in the heat of the moment. Nevertheless, having a daughter is a welcome surprise. Believe me." "..."-Lucy Sensing her getting a bit emotional, Arthur grabbed her hand and gently whispered, "You don''t have to do this, Lucy. Whatever you decide, I''ll support you." She turned her head ever-so-slightly and faintly smiled at him. There was a long silence, in which Xavier sat there and said nothing whereas Lucy gazed at the device resting on the table. Finally, she stretched her hand and, with a simple gesture, a drop of blood fell on the triangular artifact. "Thank you." Xavier bowed his head then did the same, which caused the artifact to rapidly spin then magically open; When it had stopped spinning, it magically opened and revealed an unfamiliar golden word. Upon reading it, Xavier breathed a sigh of relief and said, "We are indeed related by blood. You are my daughter, Lucy." "And? I don''t think it changes anything."-Lucy "You are right. As I had said, I demand nothing." The Blood Duke stood up and performed one final bow. "I will remain here for a few days. If you want to talk, you need but call. By infusing that device with a drop of your blood, you can notify me even after I leave. That way, whenever you need help, I will come. That''s all I can do. Now, if you''ll excuse meˇ­" ˇ­ "I will not talk to him." Said Lucy, late at night. Her head was resting on Arthur''s shoulder as they were soon about to sleep. Arthur did not ask for her opinion or anything yet she voiced it nonetheless. "It''s fine." "Stillˇ­" Lucy snorted and moved her head closer to his chest, "At least Thordan is not my father. I abhorred that man." "I didn''t like him either." You can read the novel online free at novelhall.com or NovelTeam.Net CH 745 Read novel online free fast updates at novelhall.com or NovelTeam.Net The tournament hosted and prepared by the MoonStar Sect has come to an end. It concluded with a flashy and exciting spectacle. Undoubtedly, everyone from the crowd was provided with a show worthy of their contribution. ; Whether it was the Trials in which the youngsters participated in, or the last stage where the Guardians fought and displayed their prowess. Of course, there were some complications, mainly originating from the Dark Blaze Sect and John from the Ancient Federation. Nonetheless, Arthur dealt with those without inciting too much fear or distress. There was a grand celebration for the crowd to enjoy, but neither Arthur nor the guardians were interested in participating. After checking on Lucy and- despite her protest- using Life Energy to hasten her recovery, the couple met up with their team. The six disciples were standing next to each other in an orderly fashion, and once their teachers entered the room, they performed a bow of respect. Arthur softly smiled and nodded, proud and satisfied. Lucy, however, was frowning as she noticed the visible bruises on some of their faces. "You fought?" Her voice was bone-chilling and her eyes were narrowed to a dangerous degree. For a couple of breaths, none of the six dared to open their mouths. "Weˇ­ we sorted it out, teacher." With a bit of mustered courage, Ardor spoke up but kept his head lowered. He knew that she forbade them from fighting each other no matter the reason. True, it wasn''t a ''real'' fight, but the fact that they resorted to violence was enough for her to be angry. "It was my fault!" Rosea took one step forward and bowed again, this time bending her head lower than ever before. She was a royalty, a Princess, but in front of Arthur and Lucy, she did not dare to act arrogant. She had indeed gone overboard, like Ho Qing, and because she was conflicted and doubtful, they had fought. ; Fortunately, everything had been, more or less, cleared up. Admittedly, Rosea and Ho Qing still refused to look at each other and the atmosphere was slightly tense, nevertheless, they chose to stay togetherˇ­ as a team. "I did not agree to teach you just for you to end up fighting." Lucy raised her voice and swept her piercing gaze across all six of them. ; She let out a soft sigh and added, "You made many mistakes during the Trials and many things could have been done better. Howeverˇ­ I am satisfied. For now, at least." "You heard her. Cheer up. There''s room for improvement and, as long as you''re willing, I know you will achieve your goals. Be it becoming the strongest or gaining the respect of the masses." Arthur''s speech, which wasn''t anything impressive, resonated with the youngsters. They responded with smiles and enthusiastic nods. "We will resume training tomorrow! Go rest now." After saying those words, which changed their expressions, Lucy left the room along with a grinning Arthur. ˇ­ It was a long day for everyone, therefore, Arthur and Lucy planned to retreat to their room. However, they were suddenly called by Edward. "Someone would like to meet the Madam." The man maintained a safe distance from Lucy and muttered those words. He nudged the succubus next to him, thus urging her to continue. "It''s Xavier Lander, the Demon." "What does he want?" Asked Arthur as a frown surfaced on his face. Xavier was undoubtedly strong, but he was a man shrouded in mystery. He specifically wanted to battle Lucy and though, on the outside, he seemed kind and amicable, Arthur was wary of him. He thought the Demon would leave after the competition was over but it clearly wasn''t the case. Lucy thought for a moment then looked at Arthur, who solemnly nodded. ; Before long, the two were in another room, in which Xavier was patiently waiting. The Demon was sitting on a sofa and fiddling with a half-empty glass of wine. "Ah, greetingsˇ­ again." When the couple entered, the Demon, in appreciation, smiled at Edward and Fariya. "I believe this is our first official meeting, Arthur MoonStar." Xavier put down the glass and approached the parasite. He stretched his arm and kept the same smile, ; "I am Xavier Landres, the 29th Demon of Hell. My formal title is ''The Blood Duke''. Pleased to make your acquaintance." He shook hands with Arthur then elegantly bowed. He did glance at Lucy but, aware that she disliked touching other men, he did not deign to get too close or say anything out of place. "Would you please sit down?"-Xavier The parasite and his wife sat across the Blood Duke, and after a brief silence, the latter spoke again. "I was genuinely impressed by your prowess, Lucy MoonStar. Not to boast, but I am amongst the strongest of my kindˇ­ to be bested in front of so many eyes is a bit embarrassing, hahahaˇ­" "..."-Lucy She looked at him in silence, still wondering why he had called them here. He did not seem like a bad person, but since she and Arthur had limited knowledge regarding the Demons of Hell, they couldn''t properly evaluate Xander. "Counting this year, I am 12,521 years old and I have held my title for half that time. Excuse this unnecessary remark but I deem it necessary for what I''m about to say next." Arthur crossed his arm and perked his ears, awaiting for the Demon to continue. "It might seem ridiculous or too sudden, but, I believe that Madam Lucy and I share a connection. Please don''t misunderstandˇ­ what I meant was; She might be my biological daughter." "I beg your pardon?"-Arthur "I believe a proper exposition is in order." Xander sat straight and cleared his throat, "Long ago, Katrina, the Matriarch of the White Specter Clan and I shared- for want of a better word- a special relationship. Now, I do not know for a fact that Madam Lucy is my daughter, butˇ­ recent affairs suggest she is." He looked at Lucy and chuckled, "You arm. I saw how it can transform." Xander Landres pulled his sleeves and, after a second or two, the strange scales and miniature holes appeared. It was strikingly similar to Lucy''s devil arm. "This is a unique trait for the Sanguis Demon Family. A heritage from my family. Only direct descendants can use this." Arthur, surprised, looked at Xander''s devil arm but did not speak. Lucy too, was startled, her lips opening and closing but not saying anything. "I truly understand that this might be a shock and I did not come here to demand anything. In fact, I just learned that I have a daughter. Katrina did not deign to reveal the truth to me." "It doesn''t make sense, though." Arthur interrupted the Demon as he kept looking at his Devil Arm. "Lucy''s father is confirmed to be Thordan." "Yes. Thordan was indeed Katrina''s husband and the father of her children. That''s what I thought too. However, the Devil Arm could not be a coincidence." "When I was young, there was an accident and I was lost. It was then that I was ''poisoned'' by a Demon, or so Katrina had said." Lucy seemed composed as she calmly uttered those words. "Mayhap she lied to you to protect you? Or did not want the truth to come out?" Xavier looked a bit nervous, unlike his previous self. Seeing Lucy deny what he said and lack any kind of positive reaction made him less enthusiastic. Still, he did not burst out in anger or insist. "If you do not mind, I have the means to confirm if we are related by blood or not." He took out a triangular red device and put it on the table. "This is a practical magical artifact, often used by Demon Royalty. Once cleased, two people can sacrifice a drop of their blood and, in a matter of seconds, they can see if they are related or not." "How convenient." Arthur snorted as he glared at the Demon, clearly not believing him. ; "I will not force you to do anything, Lucy. Even if we are related, I will not ask for anything. In your times of need, you can call for me and I will help you the best I can." Xander let out a heavy sigh as he added, "You have your own life and family now and I am in no position to interfere. I just want to make things right and be responsible for a past mistake." "Mistake?" Retorted Lucy as her eyes were fixated on his. "Yes. It was honestly a mistake born out of inconvenient circumstances. Everything happened in the heat of the moment. Nevertheless, having a daughter is a welcome surprise. Believe me." "..."-Lucy Sensing her getting a bit emotional, Arthur grabbed her hand and gently whispered, "You don''t have to do this, Lucy. Whatever you decide, I''ll support you." She turned her head ever-so-slightly and faintly smiled at him. There was a long silence, in which Xavier sat there and said nothing whereas Lucy gazed at the device resting on the table. Finally, she stretched her hand and, with a simple gesture, a drop of blood fell on the triangular artifact. ; "Thank you." Xavier bowed his head then did the same, which caused the artifact to rapidly spin then magically open; When it had stopped spinning, it magically opened and revealed an unfamiliar golden word. Upon reading it, Xavier breathed a sigh of relief and said, "We are indeed related by blood. You are my daughter, Lucy." "And? I don''t think it changes anything."-Lucy "You are right. As I had said, I demand nothing." The Blood Duke stood up and performed one final bow. "I will remain here for a few days. If you want to talk, you need but call. By infusing that device with a drop of your blood, you can notify me even after I leave. That way, whenever you need help, I will come. That''s all I can do. Now, if you''ll excuse meˇ­" ˇ­ "I will not talk to him." Said Lucy, late at night. Her head was resting on Arthur''s shoulder as they were soon about to sleep. Arthur did not ask for her opinion or anything yet she voiced it nonetheless. "It''s fine." "Stillˇ­" Lucy snorted and moved her head closer to his chest, "At least Thordan is not my father. I abhorred that man." "I didn''t like him either." You can read the novel online free at novelhall.com or NovelTeam.Net